cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Accounting ethics education: Integrating reflective learning and virtue ethics

This paper explains the use of reflective learning techniques to create and deliver a new ethics course. Students apply virtue-based reasoning with reflective thinking to resolve conflicts faced by accounting professionals. Teaching techniques include class discussion, minute papers, reflection journals, role playing, and case analysis. Students express their thoughts orally and in written form, interact with other students, receive feedback during and after assignments, and demonstrate what they have learned. Reflective learning helps to transform existing ideas and understandings to come to a new understanding of a situation. As a tool for ethics education in accounting, reflective learning provides the link that may enhance ethical understanding and enable students to apply virtue and reflective thinking to a variety of situations discussed in accounting courses. For students, reflective learning slows down classroom activity giving them more time to process the material, linking it to prior ideas. Instructors benefit from frequent student feedback and greater involvement in the learning process.
The Hermeneutical and Rhetorical Nature of Law

This article was presented at a Symposium at Villanova Law School devoted to Jean Porter's book, "Ministers of the Law: A Natural Law Theory of Legal Authority (2010). Porter engages the natural law philosophy of the early Scholastic period from our modern perspective and its attendant problems. Her approach provides helpful resources to deal with contemporary dilemmas such as gay marriage, but it also opens new possibilities for the development of natural law thinking. Her book is erudite, artfully presented, and provocative.In this article I view Professor Porter's successful resuscitation of a plausible account of natural law through a particular lens. My thesis is that we can productively extend her work by more strongly acknowledging the hermeneutical and rhetorical nature of law by drawing on the philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Chaim Perelman. I argue that natural law is best understood as "naturalized rhetoric." The ontological claims made by Gadamer and Perelman establish that human nature is radically hermeneutical and rhetorical, and it is this nature that should serve as the focus of an inquiry into the natural law. Simply put, it is our persistent human condition to continuously recreate ourselves and our society through rhetorical exchanges with others. A naturalized rhetoric embraces the paradox that nonessentialism is essential to our being, that we can find a foundation for reflection in antifoundationalism.My discussion is divided into three parts. First, I survey Professor Porter's argument and establish that she regards hermeneutical and rhetorical practices as critical features of her natural law account. Next, I develop my conception of a naturalized rhetoric. Finally, I explore how this account expands and deepens Professor Porter's natural law account of legal authority. I conclude that we should recognize law's rhetorical and hermeneutical nature, but that Porter has demonstrated the necessity of taking into account the Scholastics' natural law philosophy as part of this project.
Trauma Response and Recovery Certificate Program: Preparing Students for Effective Practice

ABSTRACT This paper describes an innovative approach to preparing MSW students for work with traumatized clients via a trauma certificate program. It explores conceptual and ethical principles of the program and presents results of the formative evaluation done with faculty, field instructors and students from the program's pilot year. Students reported gains in self-ratings of their efficacy in working with trauma in children, adults and communities, as well as articulating what parts of trauma theory were most useful to them in post-graduation. Field instructors were enthusiastic about the knowledge and skills students were building, and suggested further refinements to the program, including increased communication and networking on the topic of trauma.
Via formation in green ceramic dielectrics using a YAG laser

A high-speed laser drilling process has been developed for producing fine-pitch vias of dimensions equivalent to fine-line screen printed conductors. Drilling speeds as high as 150-220 vias per second have been demonstrated on thick film and Green Tape dielectrics using an Nd:YAG laser. Throughputs greater than 300 vias/s could be achieved when multiple layers of Green Tape were drilled at once. There are a number of laser parameters which are critical to achieving high via formation rates while maintaining the accuracy of the via positioning. In addition, the electric composition and its thickness determine the beam power and number of pulses needed to drill each via. The quality of the drilled vias was improved by including a laser absorbing pigment in the dielectric formulation. Overall speed was also dependent upon design parameters such as via pitch, the symmetry of the circuit design, and the drilling sequence. >
Geobacter metallireducens accesses insoluble Fe( iii ) oxide by chemotaxis

Microorganisms that use insoluble Fe(iii) oxide as an electron acceptor can have an important function in the carbon and nutrient cycles of aquatic sediments and in the bioremediation of organic and metal contaminants in groundwater1,2. Although Fe(iii) oxides are often abundant, Fe(iii)-reducing microbes are faced with the problem of how to access effectively an electron acceptor that can not diffuse to the cell. Fe(iii)-reducing microorganisms in the genus Shewanella have resolved this problem by releasing soluble quinones that can carry electrons from the cell surface to Fe(iii) oxide that is at a distance from the cell3,4. Here we report that another Fe(iii)-reducer, Geobacter metallireducens, has an alternative strategy for accessing Fe(iii) oxides. Geobacter metallireducens specifically expresses flagella and pili only when grown on insoluble Fe(iii) or Mn(iv) oxide, and is chemotactic towards Fe(ii) and Mn(ii) under these conditions. These results suggest that G. metallireducens senses when soluble electron acceptors are depleted and then synthesizes the appropriate appendages to permit it to search for, and establish contact with, insoluble Fe(iii) or Mn(iv) oxide. This approach to the use of an insoluble electron acceptor may explain why Geobacter species predominate over other Fe(iii) oxide-reducing microorganisms in a wide variety of sedimentary environments5,6,7,8.
Innovations in Hydrologic Research: Lessons from the World of Business

This paper is designed to help readers understand the state of innovation in hydrologic research and relevant lessons from the popular literature of business. We use citations to a paper as a measure of the impact in an area of research. Looking at the citations to all papers for a given year in a journal, they follow a power-law relationship, poorly cited papers being common and highly cited papers being rare. The power law develops because the selection of papers to cite is being biased by the citations of others. Quite remarkably, the slopes of these power laws are the same from journal to journal. Research strands have a life cycle that begins with an important, paradigm-shifting paper. Early papers that also contribute to an emerging research strand are usually well cited. As the number of papers in a strand increases, their impact begins to fall off. Eventually, interest in the strand wanes and researchers drift off to the next opportunity. It is essential for scientists to understand where their re...
Can Iachello’s Idea of a Spectral Supersymmetry Be Extended into the Relativistic Domain?

Supersymmetry is a symmetry structure relating fermions and bosons, but this general structure can take different forms. Spacetime supersymmetry, realized by Z2-graded Lie algebras, is a fundamentally new, and fruitful, symmetry that has been introduced in quantum field theory1,2. Because this new symmetry structure could resolve a number of basic field-theoretic difficulties (tachyons, convergence, anomalies,…) it soon became the basis for present supergravity theory and quantum string theory. Space-time supersymmetry implies strong constraints on particle spectra: every fermionic state must have a bosonic partner. To date there is unfortunately no experimental evidence whatsoever that such a supersymmetric structure is realized in the elementary particle domain for which it was devised.
Prognose der kurzfristigen Geldnachfrage mit einem neuronalen Netz

Die langfristige Geldnachfrage in Deutschland bzw. ihre Stabilitat ist ein Gebiet, das von einer Vielzahl theoretischer und empirischer Arbeiten kontrovers bearbeitet wurde.1 Jungere Ansatze konzentrieren sich auf die Mitgliedslander der europaischen Union.2
Possible “New” Quantum Systems — A Review

The current status of the theory of the possible “new” quantum systems, helium-six and spin-aligned hydrogen, is given. Results of ground-state calculations are combined with finite temperature experimental data to give an over-all view of quantum systems which obey both Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics. An essential feature of this work is the use of the quantum theorem of corresponding states, which allows one to treat the quantum parameter η = η2/meσ2 as a “Conceptual” thermodynamic variable. In this context, the liquid-to-crystal and liquid-to-gas transitions are discussed for quantum systems and shown to be affected profoundly by the statistics. Further, the construction of the phase diagram for 6He and 6He-4He mixtures is reviewed and the possibility of detecting superfluid 6He is discussed. Finally, the predicted properties of spin-aligned hydrogen are reviewed and a brief discussion of the experimental problem of preparing it is given.
Optimal state estimation for boolean dynamical systems using a boolean Kalman smoother

This paper is concerned with state estimation at a fixed time point in a given time series of observations of a Boolean dynamical system. Towards this end, we introduce the Boolean Kalman Smoother, which provides an efficient algorithm to compute the optimal MMSE state estimator for this problem. Performance is investigated using a Boolean network model of the p53-MDM2 negative feedback loop gene regulatory network observed through time series of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data.
Achieving academic control in two languages: Drawing on the psychology of language learning in considering the past, the present, and prospects for the future

This paper first considers what it means to become truly proficient in a language other than the native one. It then looks briefly at the evolution of dual language programs. Next, it focuses on the issue of whether the first language (L1) or the second language (L2) serves as the language of mediation. Other dual language program issues are then discussed, such as how proficient learners actually become in academic and social language in the L2, their proficiency in grammar and pronunciation, and possible administrative constraints in the design and execution of such programs. Finally, attention is given to a guidebook written directly for dual language learners and for their teachers in which learners are encouraged to take a proactive role to ensure that they make the most of their dual program language learning and use experiences.
Uncertainty and Response Surface Approximations

An approach addressing response surface approximation errors due to model inadequacy is presented. The approach seeks to determine locations in the design space where the accuracy of the approximation may be poor. A study of the mean squared error yields an eigenvalue problem where the maximum eigenvalue at each point provides a bound for the bias error. A polynomial example and optimization of wing structural weight is used to demonstrate the approach. Positive correlation between the maximum eigenvalues and the absolute residuals was found.
Steric hindrance of photoswitching in self-assembled monolayers of azobenzene and alkane thiols.

Surface-bound azobenzenes exhibit reversible photoswitching via trans–cis photoisomerization and have been proposed for a variety of applications such as photowritable optical media, liquid crystal displays, molecular electronics, and smart wetting surfaces. We report a novel synthetic route using simple protection chemistry to form azobenzene-functionalized SAMs on gold and present a mechanistic study of the molecular order, orientation, and conformation in these self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). We use vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) to characterize their vibrational modes, molecular orientation, and photoisomerization kinetics. Trans–cis conformational change of azobenzene leads to the change in the orientation of the nitrile marker group detected by VSFG. Mixed SAMs of azobenzene and alkane thiols are used to investigate the steric hindrance effects. While 100% azobenzene SAMs do not exhibit photoisomerization due to tight packing, we observe reversible switching (>10 cycles) in mixed SAMs...
Limitations of Supermarkets in Spain

Will successful marketing institutions in economically advanced nations succeed when introduced into less developed economies? A study of Spain's recent experience with supermarkets reveals some of...
Assessment of linear emulators in lightweight Bayesian calibration of dynamic building energy models for parameter estimation and performance prediction

Abstract Calibration of building energy models is widely used in building energy audits and retrofit practices. Li et al. (2015) proposed a lightweight approach for the Bayesian calibration of dynamic building energy models, which alleviate the computation issues by the use of a linear regression emulator. As a further extension, this paper has the following contributions. First, it provides a brief literature review that motivates the original work. Second, it explained the detailed calibration methodology and its mathematical formulas, and in addition the prediction using meta-models. Third, it introduced new performance metrics for evaluating predictive distributions under uncertainty. Fourth, it used the standard Bayesian calibration method as the benchmark, assessed the capability of regression emulators of different complexity, and showed the comparison result in a case study. Compared to the standard Gaussian process emulator, the linear regression emulator including main and interaction effects is much simpler both in interpretation and implementation, calibrations are performed much more quickly, and the calibration performances are similar. This indicates a capability to perform fast risk-conscious calibration for most current retrofit practice where only monthly consumption and demand data from utility bills are available.
Incidence of and Risk Factors for Developing Idiopathic Macular Hole Among a Diverse Group of Patients Throughout the United States

Importance Idiopathic macular holes (MHs) are a cause of decreased vision among older Americans. A better understanding of risk factors for MH may help clarify the pathophysiologic factors of MH and identify potential new avenues for preventing and treating idiopathic MHs. Objective To determine the incidence of and risk factors associated with the development of idiopathic MH requiring surgical repair with vitrectomy among a large group of managed care plan beneficiaries throughout the United States. Design, Setting, and Participants A retrospective, longitudinal cohort study was conducted of all beneficiaries 40 years or older who were continuously enrolled for 3 or more years in a nationwide US managed care network between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2012, who had 2 or more visits to an eye care professional. The managed care network was queried starting in 2009, and data analysis was conducted from December 1, 2014, to August 15, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures Development of idiopathic MH requiring surgical repair with vitrectomy. Results Of the 659 357 enrollees who met inclusion criteria (391 674 females and 267 683 males; mean [SD] age, 56.2 [9.2] years), 144 (0.02%) developed an MH requiring vitrectomy. After adjusting for confounding factors, females had a 64% increased risk of developing MH compared with males (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.11-2.43; P = .01), with the effect of sex varying across ages. Compared with white participants, Asian-American enrollees had a 177% increased risk of developing MH (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.27-6.02; P = .01). Conclusions and Relevance In this large cohort, sex was confirmed to be associated with developing an MH requiring vitrectomy; the effect varies across ages differently for females vs males. These differences may be the basis for the underlying pathophysiologic factors contributing to the development of MH.
Hypofractionated (HRT) versus standard (SRT) radiotherapy with or without temozolomide (T) for elderly patients with glioblastoma (GBM).

2065 Background: No randomized trials among elderly GBM patients using HRT have compared efficacy to the Stupp regimen of SRT+T, and many elderly patients in the United States receive SRT+T. Method...
Cascades in metaphor and grammar: A case study of metaphors in the gun debate

Public discourse on highly charged, complex social and political issues is extensive, with millions of sentences available for analysis. It is also rife with metaphors that manifest vast numbers of novel metaphoric expressions. More and more, to understand such issues, to see who is saying what and why, we require big data and statistically-based analysis of such corpora. However, statistically-based data processing alone cannot do all the work. The MetaNet (MN) project has developed an analysis method that formalizes existing insights about the conceptual metaphors underlying linguistic expressions into a computationally tractable mechanism for automatically discovering new metaphoric expressions in texts. The ontology used for this computational method is organized in terms of metaphor cascades , i.e. pre-existing packages of hierarchically organized primary and general metaphors that occur together. The current paper describes the architecture of metaphor-to-metaphor relations built into this system. MN’s methodology represents a proof of concept for a novel way of performing metaphor analysis. It does so by applying the method to one particular domain of social interest, namely the gun debate in American political discourse. Though well aware that such an approach cannot replace a thorough cognitive, sociological, and political analysis, this paper offers examples that show how a cascade theory of metaphor and grammar helps automated data analysis in many ways.
Activation of NADPH oxidases leads to DNA damage in esophageal cells

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the strongest known risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma. In the center of tumorigenic events caused by GERD is repeated damage of esophageal tissues by the refluxate. In this study, we focused on a genotoxic aspect of exposure of esophageal cells to acidic bile reflux (BA/A). Analyzing cells generated from patients with Barrett’s esophagus and human esophageal specimens, we found that BA/A cause significant DNA damage that is mediated by reactive-oxygen species. ROS originate from mitochondria and NADPH oxidases. We specifically identified NOX1 and NOX2 enzymes to be responsible for ROS generation. Inhibition of NOX2 and NOX1 with siRNA or chemical inhibitors significantly suppresses ROS production and DNA damage induced by BA/A. Mechanistically, our data showed that exposure of esophageal cells to acidic bile salts induces phosphorylation of the p47phox subunit of NOX2 and its translocation to the cellular membrane. This process is mediated by protein kinase C, which is activated by BA/A. Taken together, our studies suggest that inhibition of ROS induced by reflux can be a useful strategy for preventing DNA damage and decreasing the risk of tumorigenic transformation caused by GERD.
Identifying Axial Spondyloarthritis in Electronic Medical Records of US Veterans

Objective Large database research in axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) is limited by a lack of methods for identifying most types of axial SpA. Our objective was to develop methods for identifying axial SpA concepts in the free text of documents from electronic medical records. Methods Veterans with documents in the national Veterans Health Administration Corporate Data Warehouse between January 1, 2005 and June 30, 2015 were included. Methods were developed for exploring, selecting, and extracting meaningful terms that were likely to represent axial SpA concepts. With annotation, clinical experts reviewed sections of text containing the meaningful terms (snippets) and classified the snippets according to whether or not they represented the intended axial SpA concept. With natural language processing (NLP) tools, computers were trained to replicate the clinical experts' snippet classifications. Results Three axial SpA concepts were selected by clinical experts, including sacroiliitis, terms including the prefix spond*, and HLA–B27 positivity (HLA–B27+). With supervised machine learning on annotated snippets, NLP models were developed with accuracies of 91.1% for sacroiliitis, 93.5% for spond*, and 97.2% for HLA–B27+. With independent validation, the accuracies were 92.0% for sacroiliitis, 91.0% for spond*, and 99.0% for HLA–B27+. Conclusion We developed feasible and accurate methods for identifying axial SpA concepts in the free text of clinical notes. Additional research is required to determine combinations of concepts that will accurately identify axial SpA phenotypes. These novel methods will facilitate previously impractical observational research in axial SpA and may be applied to research with other diseases.
Principal component analysis of coagulation assays in severely injured children.

Abstract Background Trauma-induced coagulopathy is common and associated with poor outcome in injured children. Our aim is to identify patterns of coagulation dysregulation after injury and associate these phenotypes with relevant clinical outcomes. Methods We performed principal components analysis on prospectively collected data from children with the highest-level trauma activation June 2015–June 2016. Parameters included admission international normalized ratio, platelet count and thromboelastograms. Variables were reduced to principal components; principal component scores were generated for each subject and used in logistic regression with outcomes including mortality, disability, venous thromboembolism, and blood transfusion in the first 24 hours. Results We included 133 subjects with median interquartile range age =10 (5–13 years), median interquartile range Injury Severity Score =17 (9–25), 73.5% boys, 70.8% blunt trauma. principal component analysis identified 3 significant principal components accounting for 75.0% of overall variance. Principal component 1 reflected clot strength; principal component 2 reflected abnormal fibrinolysis, both hyperfibrinolysis and fibrinolysis shutdown; principal component 3 reflected global clotting factor depletion. High principal component 1 score was associated with increased mortality (odds ratio =1.63) and blood transfusion (odds ratio 1.36). Principal component 2 score was correlated with Injury Severity Score (rho 0.4) and associated with venous thromboembolism (odds ratio 1.84), functional disability (odds ratio 1.66), mortality (odds ratio 2.07) and blood transfusion (odds ratio 2.79). PC3 score was associated with increased mortality (odds ratio 1.92) and blood transfusion (odds ratio 1.25). Conclusion Principal component analysis detects 3 patterns of coagulation dysregulation using widely available laboratory parameters: (1) abnormalities in clot strength; (2) abnormalities in fibrinolysis, and (3) clotting factor depletion. While all were associated with mortality and transfusion, fibrinolytic dysregulation was associated with injury severity and portends particularly poor outcome including venous thromboembolism and disability.
Point: Treating Human Genetic Disease One Base Pair at a Time: The Benefits of Gene Editing

The observation that the human genome can be mapped represented a major inflection point in biology. The decision to sequence the human genome was met with excitement and trepidation. The arguments for and against sequencing included whether the technology was sufficiently advanced, whether it would divert resources from elsewhere, and whether it could have unknown negative societal benefits. Some 2 decades later, the delivery of the first draft of the human genome was received as a crowning achievement of science. Now, high-throughput genomic technologies have potentiated mutation discovery across many disorders and have carried with them the promise that treatments for these ailments will eventually follow. Indeed, terminology such as “individualized medicine,” “precision medicine,” “personalized medicine,” and other similar terms abound, and these imply that by reading the genome; integrating worldwide data sets with clinical observation; and real-time biometric readings, diagnosis will be expedited and treatments will be tailored to the needs of each individual genome. Reflecting on the genome journey, there is no question that giant advances in diagnostics and therapy have been made. We celebrated gene therapy trials such as Ashanti DeSilva's to treat adenosine deaminase deficiency in 1990 (1) and some forms of retinal degeneration (2). We cheered when enzyme replacement therapy and allogeneic stem cell transplants showed some effectiveness in catastrophic inborn errors of metabolism (3) such as Pompe disease, and, as RNA therapeutics emerged, we marveled at the early successes of antisense oligonucleotides delivered intrathecally to treat spinal muscular atrophy (4), to name but a few exemplars. Unfortunately, these successes represent a handful of “solutions” in the backdrop of 10000+ rare and ultrarare genetic diseases (https://rarediseases.org/). Under current paradigms it is difficult to see a path to more …
Bio Nanotechnological Intervention: A Sustainable Alternative to Treat Dye Bearing Waste Waters

Waste water treatment issues have been a growing problems these days. It has become stringently important to treat waste water prior its release into adjoining surface water bodies. In recent past, bio nanotechnological solutions have proved to be of paramount importance in circumventing the issues associated with dye bearing waste waters. Nanoparticles have a great potential to be used in waste water treatment. Its unique characteristic of having high surface area can be used efficiently for removing toxic metal ions, disease causing microbes, organic and inorganic solutes from water. Various classes of nanomaterials have been efficiently utilized for above cited facts including treatment of dye bearing waste water released from textile industries like metal-containing nanoparticles, carbonaceous nanomaterials, zeolites and dendrimers. The paper presents a comprehensive review of recent advances on different nanomaterial based mitigation strategies. Special emphasis has been given to green synthesis of nanoparticles aimed to address problems associated with textile effluents through nano bioremediation.
Factors Affecting the Spread and Maintenance of Plague

Plague is characterized by its potentially explosive spread during human epidemics and rodent epizootics. Recent research has suggested how this spread is likely to occur and what factors are associated with the onset of plague outbreaks and the continued spread of the disease. Among the apparent drivers of these outbreaks are climatic variables, host and vector densities, percolation thresholds, and the ability of many fleas to transmit efficiently soon after taking an infectious blood meal and before Yersinia pestis biofilm-related blockages appear in their guts. This presentation discusses each of these topics and their likely contribution to the rapid spread of plague to humans and in natural systems.
Cardiac: Coronary Stents

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent placement is the leading technique for nonsurgical myocardial revascularization therapy. Despite a technical success rate of more than 95%, in-stent restenosis remains a major clinical problem. Restenosis rates of up to 46% have been described in patients receiving non-drug-eluting stents.1 Although the incidence of early in-stent restenosis may be significantly reduced when drug-eluting stents are employed, the early detection of restenosis is important to avoid recurrent myocardial ischemia and infarction and thus to improve the long-term prognosis after revascularization therapy. Furthermore, patients who previously underwent PCI often suffer from progression of atherosclerosis at other sites and may therefore require repeated imaging studies for the assessment of arterial patency. Currently conventional catheter coronary angiography remains the reference standard for the assessment of stent patency and overall for the evaluation of coronary artery stenosis. Due to its invasiveness, conventional coronary angiography is associated with rare but potentially serious side effects such as retroperitoneal bleeding, arterial rupture, myocardial infarction or stroke. Therefore, a non-invasive alternative for imaging of the coronary artery system would be highly desirable. Coronary magnetic resonance angiography is of limited value for the assessment of stent patency due to susceptibility artifacts generated by the metallic stent material, which usually obscures the stent lumen. Electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) has been employed for the display of coronary artery stents. However, EBCT does not allow the accurate visualization of the stent lumen and is therefore of limited value for the diagnosis of stent restenosis.2 Compared with EBCT, multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) allows acquisition of image data with thinner slice thickness and less noise.
Substance Abuse among Juveniles

The use of psychoactive substances to alter mood, perception, and behavior has become an integral part of the coming of age in Western society. Whereas the majority of adolescents have experimented with drugs, drug use patterns vary widely in response to a multiplicity of societal, psychological, and biological factors. Many adolescents experiment with particular drugs for a period of time and then cease drug use. Others use drugs periodically or regularly in a controlled manner and may or may not suffer adverse consequences of this behavior. Still others develop compulsive and dangerous drug use patterns and often experience subsequent physical and psychosocial deterioration.1 Currently, drug abuse may well be considered the primary cause, direct or indirect, of preventable premature death among adolescents in the United States.
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PERSONALITY OF VICTIM AND ELDER ABUSE.

AbstractElder abuse is a pervasive and significant public health issue. The relationship between personality of victims and elder abuse remains unclear in literature. This study aims to examine the association between neuroticism, conscientiousness, and elder abuse. Data were derived from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly (PINE), a community-engaged, population-based epidemiological study of 3,157 US Chinese older adults aged 60 and above in the greater Chicago area. Elder abuse was assessed by a ten-item instrument modified from the Hwalek-Sengstok Elder Abuse Screening Test (H-S/EAST) and the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS). Subtypes of elder abuse include psychological, physical, financial and sexual abuse, and caregiver neglect. The assessments of neuroticism and conscientiousness were derived from the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Logistic regression models were used. Higher neuroticism (OR: 1.18, 1.15–1.21) and lower conscientiousness (OR: 0.96, 0.95–0.98) were associated with higher risk of elder abuse. With respect to different forms of elder abuse, higher neuroticism was associated with increased risk of psychological abuse (OR: 1.17, 1.14–1.21), financial exploitation (OR: 1.04, 1.00–1.07), and caregiver neglect (OR: 1.08, 1.05–1.12). Higher conscientiousness was associated with higher risk of financial exploitation (OR: 1.02, 1.00–1.05) and lower risk of caregiver neglect (OR: 0.98, 0.96–1.00). This study added new insights to interventions on elder abuse by testing personality traits of victims. Intervention programs could modulate neuroticism and conscientiousness of elder abuse victims.
Using an Injury Prevention Model to Inform a Public Health Approach to Child Protection

In this chapter, we draw on the epidemiology of child abuse to make the case for the importance of taking a public health approach to the problem. From there, we describe the elements of a public health approach and apply them to the prevention of child abuse and neglect, distinguishing the public health perspectives from those of other disciplines. This includes focusing on key elements of a public health approach in general, including population level interventions, primary prevention, and attention to underlying disparities and social determinants of health problems and relying on evidence-based practice. More specifically, we introduce concepts and models from injury prevention within a public health context and explore some of the dilemmas in applying these approaches in general and, specifically in the context of child abuse prevention.
Food Addiction Is Associated with Irrational Beliefs via Trait Anxiety and Emotional Eating.

Irrational beliefs (IB) are believed, in cognitive behavioral therapies, to be a prime cause of psychopathologies including anxiety, depression, problem eating, and alcohol misuse. “Food addiction” (FA), which has been modeled on diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder, and emotional eating (EE) have both been implicated in the rise in overweight and obesity. Both FA and EE are associated with anxiety. Thus, in the present study, the hypothesis that IB is associated with FA and with EE was tested. Furthermore, possible mediation of these relationships by trait anxiety and depression (and EE for IB and FA) was examined. The responses of 239 adult participants to questionnaires measuring FA, IB, EE, depression, trait anxiety, and anthropometrics were recorded. The results revealed that IB was significantly positively correlated with FA and EE (and depression and trait anxiety). Furthermore, only EE mediated the effect of IB on FA and this was not moderated by BMI. Finally, trait anxiety (but not depression) mediated the effect of IB on EE. Exploratory analysis revealed a significant serial mediation such that IB predicted higher FA via elevated trait anxiety and emotional eating in that order. The results of this study suggest that IB may be a source of the anxiety that is associated with EE and FA and suggest that clinicians may find IB a target for treatment of those persons who report experiences of EE and FA. IB may play a role in food misuse that leads to elevated BMI.
The Importance, and the Challenges, to Ensuring an Inclusive School Climate

Although three articles in this special issue address three very different social groupings—gender, ethnicity, and academic needs—they all highlight why inclusion is important for students’ healthy...
Assessment of Airway Inflammation in Real World Patients Undergoing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Background: Patients undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) breathe 100% oxygen at a higher atmospheric pressure level (ATA) resulting in having O2 molecules to dissolve into the plasma almost 15 times higher than normal. Thus patients should experience some degree of biochemical toxicity resulting in airway inflammation (AI) and having nitric oxide (NO) levels to be regarded as an indirect marker for up-regulation of AI. Previous studies assessed Fraction of Exhaled Nitric Oxide Levels (FENO) pre and post HBOT in either animal or healthy human studies. The purpose of this study is to assess the changes and trend values in FENO values among unhealthy patients undergoing HBOT in the clinical setting noninvasively. Methods: This study is approved by Loma Linda University Health Institutional Review Board. Inclusion criteria were any patients referred to HBOT for any indication, conscious and able to perform FENO test, and 18 years or older. Critically ill patients were excluded. Subjects who are referred to receive HBOT were recruited to the study. FENO levels were measured pre and post HBOT at baseline and every 5 treatment sessions (i.e. 1, 5, 10). HBOT total ordered sessions varied based on the indication. FENO was measured using NIOX VERO device by Circassia. Results: A total of 7 subjects were recruited into the study, 2 were excluded due to the inability to perform the FENO test. Mean age was 54.2 ± 18.8, 3, (60%) female. The mean ATA level was 2.3 ± 0.27 with 90 minutes of total treatment time. HBOT indications were soft tissue radiation necrosis (n = 2), hearing loss (n = 1), necrotizing soft tissue (n = 1), and osteomyelitis (n = 1). A total of 43 data points were collected. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of all FENO levels at baseline was (Pre = 23.6 ± 8.9; Post = 21.3 ± 14.5), table1. Significance were found in two subjects at treatment 15, and 25 (P .05) in all subjects from baseline to their last session. Conclusions: The results in this ongoing study shows that HBOT causes no significant changes in FENO level trends in real-world patients. Significant changes were only seen in some patients midway between baseline and treatment 15 and 25. More research having a higher sample size and data points should help us understand the trends in FENO levels more clearly.
Moving Mountains: Land, Extraction, and the Regimes of Visuality in Global Image Economy

To move a mountain: an old proverb considers this an impossible feat. Only when endowed with supernatural, spiritual qualities can a human accomplish the task of such magnitude. Lima, Peru, 2002: the Belgian Mexican artist Francis Alys realizes one of his now most famous projects, When Faith Moves
Variations in use of "water soluble contrast challenge" for small bowel obstruction among academic radiologists: results of a national survey

To assess the frequency and indications for use of oral water-soluble contrast challenge as a diagnostic test for small bowel obstruction in four regions of the USA. We distributed a 9-question web-based survey to the abdominal section heads of academic radiology departments throughout the USA (N = 97). The questions pertained to use of water-soluble contrast for management of small bowel obstruction. Descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact tests were used for data analysis. The overall response rate was 46%. Eighty percent of the responding hospitals had more than 500 beds in operation. Water-soluble contrast challenge was considered standard of care for management of non-operative small bowel obstruction in 60% of the responding radiology departments. The majority of the responding departments (41%) performed 2–8 contrast challenge studies per month on average. The most frequent indication for the study was distinguishing partial vs complete bowel obstruction. Eighty percent of the responding radiologists believed that the contrast challenge is useful for management of small bowel obstruction. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in frequency and indication for use of water-soluble contrast challenge based on geographic location. The water-soluble contrast challenge was considered standard of care for non-operative management of small bowel obstruction in majority of the academic radiology departments represented in this survey. Surgeons were referring clinicians in every case. The most common clinical indication for the study was distinguishing partial versus complete small bowel obstruction.
Prime clock: Encoded vector clock to characterize causality in distributed systems

Abstract The vector clock is a fundamental tool for tracking causality in distributed applications. Unfortunately, it does not scale well to large systems because each process needs to maintain a vector of size n , where n is the total number of processes in the system. To address this problem, we propose the prime clock, which is based on the encoding of the vector clock using prime numbers and uses a single number to represent vector time. We propose the operations on the encoded vector clock (EVC). We then show how to timestamp global states and how to perform operations on the global states using the EVC. Using a theoretical analysis and a simulation model, we evaluate the growth rate of the size of the EVC. The EVC is seen to grow very fast and hence it does not appear to offer a general purpose practical replacement of vector clocks. To address this drawback, we propose several scalability techniques for the EVC that can allow the use of the EVC in practical applications. We then present two case studies of detecting memory consistency errors in MPI one-sided applications and of dynamic race detection in multi-threaded environments, that use a combination of two of these scalability techniques. The results show that the EVC is not just a theoretical concept, but it is applicable to practical problems and can compete in terms of both space and time requirements with other known protocols.
Characteristics and outcomes among a hospitalized patient cohort with Streptococcus pneumoniae infection.

Infection due to Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) requiring hospitalization is common. However, recent clinical studies describing patient characteristics and outcomes for SP infection in adults requiring hospitalization are lacking. Our goal was to evaluate patient characteristics, contemporary antibiotic resistance, and clinical outcomes among hospitalized adults with SP infections.A retrospective cohort study was conducted at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (1350 beds) in St. Louis, Missouri, USA for years 2012 through 2016. During the study period, 358 hospitalized adults, excluding those with meningitis, were identified with SP infection. Forty-four patients (12.3%) died within 30 days of the identification of their infection. Among these infections, 99 (27.7%) were assessed to be hospital-acquired and 259 (72.3%) were community-onset infections. The majority of infections involved the respiratory tract (88.5%). Azithromycin resistance was the most common antibiotic resistance at 51.4%, followed by enteral penicillin resistance (45.3%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (34.1%), second-generation cephalosporin (cefuroxime) (30.7%), and meropenem (22.6%). There were 70 isolates (19.6%) classified as multidrug resistant. Independent predictors of hospital mortality included increasing weight in 1-kilogram increments (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01 - 1.02; P = .048), increasing Charlson Comorbidity Index scores (AOR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.21 - 1.42; P = .001), and the presence of septic shock (AOR, 3.89; 95% CI, 2.31 - 6.57; P = .009). The median [interquartile range] hospital length of stay was 8.1 days [4.5 days, 16.8 days].Hospitalized patients with infection attributed to SP have significant 30-day mortality and use of hospital resources. Antibiotic resistance is common among isolates associated with infection. Determinants of mortality are primarily severity of illness, underlying comorbidities and increasing patient weight. Efforts to improve the treatment and prevention of SP infections are needed.
Cosmetic gynecology-a systematic review and call for standardized outcome measures.

Cosmetic gynecology, a field which has garnered substantial attention over recent years, lacks a universally accepted nomenclature. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate techniques, outcome measures reported, and adverse events in patients undergoing cosmetic gynecology procedures and offer recommendations to improve reporting metrics. A systematic literature search was performed using electronic databases from inception to April 2019. The search was based on 51 unique cosmetic gynecology keywords such as: “labiaplasty,” “vaginal rejuvenation,” and “liposuction mons pubis.” All English full-text prospective and retrospective observational and interventional studies with at least five subjects that describe a cosmetic gynecology procedure were included. Only full-text articles were included. This protocol has been registered with PROSPERO (CRD 42019131860). A total of 1837 articles were identified from the search strategy with 42 included in the quantitative synthesis. Procedures described included: labia minora reduction with or without clitoral hood reduction, labia majora augmentation, surgical vaginal caliber reduction, mons pubis reduction/suspension, and energy-based therapy for vaginal laxity or vulvar laxity. Efficacy and satisfaction metrics were highly variable ranging from validated questionnaires to no outcome subjectively or objectively quantified. Complication rates varied by procedure but were generally low and ranged between Clavien-Dindo grades I–III. Although there is a breadth of literature on cosmetic gynecology surgical techniques and short-term complication rates, the terminology and outcome measures utilized are heterogeneous. To address this, standardized terminology along with uniform cosmetic and functional endpoints must be developed.
Analysis of Computed Tomography-Based Technique for Measuring Femoral Anteversion: Implications for Measuring Rotation After Femoral Intramedullary Nail Insertion.

Objectives To assess the reliability of the current computed tomography (CT) based technique for determining femoral anteversion, and quantify the prevalence and magnitude of side-to-side differences. Design Cross-sectional cohort study. Setting Academic trauma center. Patients We reviewed CT scans from 120 patients with bilateral full-length axial cuts of both femurs. Two hundred forty femurs with no fractures or other identifying features in their femora were included. Ten unique data sets were created to measure anteversion of the left and right sides. Main outcome measurements Intraobserver and interobserver reliability were calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and pooled absolute differences. The mean absolute difference between the sides was determined using a fixed-effects model. Results Interobserver reliability was high (ICC: 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.83-0.88). The pooled mean absolute magnitude of variation between reviewers was small at 1.6 degrees (95% CI: 1.4-1.8 degrees) per scan. The intraobserver reproducibility was high (ICC: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.88-0.93) with a mean error of 2.7 degrees (95% CI: 2.2-3.1 degrees) per repeat viewing of the same scan by the same person. The magnitude of side-to-side variation was 2.0 degrees (95% CI: 1.5-2.6 degrees). Twenty-one subjects (18%, 95% CI: 12-25%) had a mean side-to-side calculated femoral anteversion difference of ≥10 degrees, while 6 (5%, 95% CI: 2-10) subjects had a calculated mean side-to-side difference ≥15 degrees. Conclusions CT based femoral anteversion measurement techniques demonstrate good precision. Only 1 in 20 patients had side-to-side differences of 15 degrees or more. Level of evidence Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
A simple and cost-effective protocol for high-yield expression of deuterated and selectively isoleucine/leucine/valine methyl protonated proteins in Escherichia coli grown in shaker flasks.

A simple and cost-effective protocol is presented for expression of perdeuterated, Ile/Leu/Val 1H/13C methyl protonated proteins from 100 ml cultures in M9 ++ /D2O medium induced at high (OD600 ~ 10) cell density in shaker flasks. This protocol, which is an extension of our previous protocols for expression of 2H/15N/13C and 1H/13C labeled proteins, yields comparable quantities of protein from 100 ml cell culture to those obtained using a conventional 1 L culture with M9/D2O medium, while using three-fold less α-ketoisovaleric (1,2,3,4-13C4; 3,4′,4′,4′-d4) and α-ketobutyric (13C4; 3,3-d2) acid precursors.