cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mitigation of Prion Infectivity and Conversion Capacity by a Simulated Natural Process—Repeated Cycles of Drying and Wetting

Prions enter the environment from infected hosts, bind to a wide range of soil and soil minerals, and remain highly infectious. Environmental sources of prions almost certainly contribute to the transmission of chronic wasting disease in cervids and scrapie in sheep and goats. While much is known about the introduction of prions into the environment and their interaction with soil, relatively little is known about prion degradation and inactivation by natural environmental processes. In this study, we examined the effect of repeated cycles of drying and wetting on prion fitness and determined that 10 cycles of repeated drying and wetting could reduce PrPSc abundance, PMCA amplification efficiency and extend the incubation period of disease. Importantly, prions bound to soil were more susceptible to inactivation by repeated cycles of drying and wetting compared to unbound prions, a result which may be due to conformational changes in soil-bound PrPSc or consolidation of the bonding between PrPSc and soil. This novel finding demonstrates that naturally-occurring environmental process can degrade prions.
On the delay time for the onset of radiographic spot size growth

We have revisited the physical mechanisms, which lead to a time delay of the onset of the undesirable spot size growth in high-dose X-ray radiography. In our theoretical model, the delay time is partially due to the time needed for the electron beam to thermally ionize the target spot resulting in target ions and partially due to the time needed for the ions to form a column of at least a quarter of the betatron wavelength of the electron beam, Based on our model, an analytic formula is derived, and it has been found to be consistent with experimental observations for different target materials and beam parameters. Our analysis shows that the delay time is directly proportional to the beam spot size at the target and inversely proportional to the beam current. Our calculations further show the spot size of the DARHT-1 beam with 2 kA current should be stable because the delay time of about 69 ns is longer then the beam pulse length.
The development of developmental neuroscience.

### Introduction Forty years ago in the emerging field of developmental neurobiology, neuroanatomists studied cellular development in their favorite brain region by annotating static Golgi preparations at different time points. Cell biologists examined how growth cones grow in tissue culture,
Benchmark Cyclic Plastic Notch Strain Measurements

Plastic strains at the roots of notched specimens of Inconel 718 subjected to tension-compression cycling at 650 C are reported. These strains were measured with a laser-based technique over a gage length of 0.1 mm and are intended to serve as 'benchmark' data for further development of experimental, analytical, and computational approaches. The specimens were 250 mm by 2.5 mm in the test section with double notches of 4.9 mm radius subjected to axial loading sufficient to cause yielding at the notch root on the tensile portion of the first cycle. The tests were run for 1000 cycles at 10 cpm or until cracks initiated at the notch root. The experimental techniques are described, and then representative data for the various load spectra are presented. All the data for each cycle of every test are available on floppy disks from NASA.
Inhibitory control in high-functioning autism: decreased activation and underconnectivity in inhibition networks.

Background Inhibiting prepotent responses is critical to optimal cognitive and behavioral function across many domains. Several behavioral studies have investigated response inhibition in autism, and the findings varied according to the components involved in inhibition. There has been only one published functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study so far on inhibition in autism, which found greater activation in participants with autism than control participants. Methods This study investigated the neural basis of response inhibition in 12 high-functioning adults with autism and 12 age- and intelligence quotient (IQ)-matched control participants during a simple response inhibition task and an inhibition task involving working memory. Results In both inhibition tasks, the participants with autism showed less brain activation than control participants in areas often found to be active in response inhibition tasks, namely the anterior cingulate cortex. In the more demanding inhibition condition, involving working memory, the participants with autism showed more activation than control participants in the premotor areas. In addition to the activation differences, the participants with autism showed lower levels of synchronization between the inhibition network (anterior cingulate gyrus, middle cingulate gyrus, and insula) and the right middle and inferior frontal and right inferior parietal regions. Conclusions The results indicate that the inhibition circuitry in the autism group is activated atypically and is less synchronized, leaving inhibition to be accomplished by strategic control rather than automatically. At the behavioral level, there was no difference between the groups.
Preliminary Phylogeny of the Forcipulatacean Asteroidea 1

SYNOPSIS. The superorder Forcipulatacea (Asteroidea, Echinodermata) includes two orders, the Brisingida and the Forcipulatida. The Forcipulatida is diverse, including the Asteriidae, Coscinasteriinae, Pedicellasteridae, Labidiasteridae, Neomorphasteridae, Pycnopodiinae (Asteriidae), Heliasteridae, and the Zoroasteridae, whereas the Brisingida is limited to the Brisingasteridae, Brisingidae, Freyellidae, Hymenodiscidae, and Odinellidae. A phylogenetic analysis of forcipulataceans using morphological characters resulted in 12 most parsimonious trees at a tree length of 68 steps. The Brisingida, recognized as basal in one early analysis and derived in another, is here considered to be derived. Two genera of pedicellasterids emerged as the sister group to the remaining Forcipulatida. Bremer and bootstrap measures show strong support for the brisingidan and zoroasterid plus neomorphasterid clades. Certain other traditional taxonomic groupings, including the Pedicellasteridae, Labidiasteridae, Asteriidae, and Pycnopodiinae, are not supported as monophyletic. Support for the pedicellasterids as a sister group to the remainder of the Forcipulatida is not robust. Morphological data suggest widespread homoplasy and therefore comprehensive generic or even species-level analyses are required to further evaluate questions of derivation and relationships among these taxa.
Protonation of Bases in Clay Suspensions

Abstract A new mechanism is proposed to explain the observation that protonation of bases in clay suspensions often proceeds to a much greater extent than that predicted from the pH of the bulk solution phase. Thermodynamic measurements made by spectroscopic titrations show that this phenomenon has its origin in the ability of the clay to interact with and stabilize the protonated form of the base to a much greater extent than the neutral form. The degree of this stabilization depends on the apparent magnitude of the negative charge on the clay as encountered by the basic compound. This relative difference in stabilization then results in a displacement of the equilibrium toward production of the protonated form of the base. Present ideas concerning protonation of bases in clay-water systems as expressed in terms of “surface acidity” are discussed in light of the proposed mechanism.
An implementation of artificial neural-network potentials for atomistic materials simulations: Performance for TiO2

Abstract Machine learning interpolation of atomic potential energy surfaces enables the nearly automatic construction of highly accurate atomic interaction potentials. Here we discuss the Behler–Parrinello approach that is based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) and detail the implementation of the method in the free and open-source atomic energy network (ae net ) package. The construction and application of ANN potentials using ae net is demonstrated at the example of titanium dioxide (TiO2), an industrially relevant and well-studied material. We show that the accuracy of lattice parameters, energies, and bulk moduli predicted by the resulting TiO2 ANN potential is excellent for the reference phases that were used in its construction (rutile, anatase, and brookite) and examine the potential’s capabilities for the prediction of the high-pressure phases columbite (α-PbO2 structure) and baddeleyite (ZrO2 structure).
Public finance and monetary policies as economic stabilizer: unique or universal across countries?

This study examines dynamic effects of fiscal and monetary policies on growth of two distinctive groups: industrialized with high-income and non-industrialized with medium-income economies. The literature is mixed in recommending fiscal and monetary policies to stabilize a national economy, especially for non- industrialized countries. Unlike high-income and industrialized countries, in the non-industrialized countries, capital markets are imperfect; and hence, setting interest rates to target inflation or mitigate recessions will be ineffective because the level of cash flows do not reflect true investment demands, leading to failed monetization. Data were derived from 36 countries over a 31-year period. Panel Vector Auto Regression (PVAR) was used to mitigate endogeneity which is an inherent problem of panel data. The results confirm the major hypothesis.
Parliamentary Opposition Under Hybrid Regimes: Evidence from Egypt

Why do opposition political parties choose to run for parliament in semiauthoritarian systems? Existing literature emphasizes the benefits that these parties derive from campaigning and running for elections, while paying little attention to the politics that occurs within legislative institutions under these regimes. Supplementing election-centric theories, we argue that opposition actors in semiauthoritarian systems also benefit directly from serving in weak parliaments and that this helps explain their participation in biased elections. We demonstrate this by examining the Muslim Brotherhood's legislative performance in Mubarak's Egypt, highlighting the mechanisms through which it used its minority presence in parliament to its advantage.
Some Observations on the Impact of Antitrust Merger Policy on Marketing

The impact of a government economic policy is an extremely complex question, but obviously an important one for rational decision making by enforcement agencies and firms. Facts on the real product...
First Principles Calculations of Atomic Nickel Redox Potentials and Dimerization Free Energies: A Study of Metal Nanoparticle Growth

The redox potentials and dimerization free energies of transient transition metal cations in water shed light on the reactivity of species with unusual charge states and are particularly pertinent to understanding the mechanism and feasibility of radiolysis-assisted metal nanoparticle growth from salt solutions. A combination of quasi-chemical theory and ab initio molecular dynamics thermodynamic integration methods are applied to calculate these properties for nickel. The reduction potential for Ni(2+) (aq) is predicted to be between -1.05 to -1.28 V, which is substantially lower than previous estimates. This suggests that Ni(2+) reduction may possibly occur in the presence of organic radical anion electron scavengers and hydrogen atoms, not just hydrated electrons. In contrast, Ni(+) is found to be stable against disproportionation. The formation of dimers Ni2 and Ni2(+) from Ni and Ni(+) are predicted to be favorable in water.
Flight Behavior of the Citrus Blackfly

The citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby, has a diurnal flight activity apparently stimulated by light at dawn. Males dominated in flight in the morning hours and females in the afternoon. The vertical flight zone of citrus blackfly was generally restricted to the height of the tree canopy since 96% or more were caught between 0.6 and 2.4 m above the ground within an infested citrus grove with a tree canopy height ranging 3–4 m. A significantly greater number of adults was trapped at a height of 1.5 m compared with other heights. Thus 1.5 m was proposed as the optimal height for hanging citrus blackfly traps for detection survey in citrus groves. There was no difference between sexes in height preference.
Countering Objections to Health Promotion Programming: The Objection/Rebuttal Approach

(1996). Countering Objections to Health Promotion Programming: The Objection/Rebuttal Approach. Journal of Health Education: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 190-193.
Culture and Personality of the Industrial Products

The industrial product and its design is designed,manufactured,improved,and developed in the process of the practice activity with the designer as the subject under the mutual effect of personality,culture,society and ecology,and it finally prove-tested by the social activity of human being.In nowadays information society,the research on the significance of "choice" and "decision-making" has become the important content of the development of the enterprise.
Observations on the effects of longtime administration of aspirin and cortisone on the secretion rate and chemical composition of saliva.

Concentration of mucin was changed in proportion to the frequency of electrical stimulation until 20 cycles per sec was reached. Injections of small amounts of pilocarpine evoked saliva consisting of quite different composition of carbohydrate fractions compared with that produced by nerve stimulation. Administration of aspirin and cortisone caused significant decreases in most of the components of protein-bound carbohydrates. The most marked difference observed in the effects of aspirin and cortisone injections on the carbohydrate components was that observed with sialic acid. With aspirin the sialic acid fraction showed the greatest decrease while with cortisone this fraction gave the least change. Aspirin and cortisone caused no significant change in the total protein content and rate of secretion of saliva.
Changing Morphology of Graves and Burials in Samoa

Of the most important ritual events among Samoans, referred to as fa‘alavelave , funerals are often the most elaborate. In this article, I examine the factors that influence decisions about graves and the location of grave sites, and the most recent option of cremation, rather than burial, in the context of migration and social change. I also argue that place as identity is intimately bound up with conceptions of kinship that define where the ‘ āiga (extended family, kindred) are buried, fa‘asinomaga (identity, belonging) and fanua (land).
Teen Perceptions of the Promotion of Safer Sexual Practices: A Focus Group Study

ABSTRACTTeens' own thoughts on fostering safe sexual practice are important perspectives in promoting adolescent sexual health yet are relatively absent in the literature. This focus group study explored teens' perceptions about the supports and challenges that exist as teens strive to engage in healthy sexual practices. Seventy-five teens participated in 11 focus groups using a semi-structured interview guide. School-based health centers provided the setting and facilitated sample recruitment. Focus groups were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using the focus group guide as a template and typologies, or clusters of concepts, were extracted to establish teen perceptions of the factors that support and challenge their ability to engage in safe sexual practices. The socio-ecological model provided the framework to identify these factors within the individual, family/parent, relational (peer/partner), community, or societal spheres of influence. Results discussed the importance of p...
Performance evaluation of linear and multi-linear subspace learning techniques for object classification based on underwater acoustics

Underwater object identification based on acoustic sequence is a complex task, mainly, because of the non-stationary nature of the underwater environment. Moreover, the ambient conditions contribute heavily to varying temporal and spectral characteristics of the source. Further, the characteristic features of a source lie within its spectrum whereas pure spectral contents are more robust to variations along the time and frequency axis. In this work, performance of two different class of learning approaches i.e. linear and multi-linear subspace learning, have been evaluated. Moreover, spectral features are used as inputs to both the said approaches. Two linear subspace learning techniques, namely, principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) along with one multi-linear subspace learning (MSL) technique, namely, multi-linear principal component analysis (MPCA) have been used. Performance of the system was evaluated using two sets of data i.e. raw acoustic dataset having samples belonging to 4 distinct classes of ships and a synthetic dataset downloaded from DOSITS, having acoustic samples belonging to 20 distinct classes of underwater objects i.e. sea species and man-made objects. For raw acoustic database, ships signatures were collected in the Indian ocean. Further, two-pass split window (TPSW) method was used to remove background noise from the processed raw acoustic samples. For classification, two neural classifiers were used, namely, robust variable learning rate feed-forward neural network (RVLR-NN) and convolution neural network (CNN). All simulations have been conducted in MATLAB. Further, the system was evaluated under the effect of noise i.e. additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) at different levels of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, dimensions of the feature set were also varied and effects of dimensionality reduction on classification accuracies were observed. Simulation results observed have shown that the combination of MPCA-CNN produced best classification results with an accuracy of up to 99.4%.
HIV Infection and Bone Abnormalities

More than 36 million people are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection worldwide and 50% of them have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). While recent advances in HIV therapy have reduced the viral load, restored CD4 T cell counts and decreased opportunistic infections, several bone-related abnormalities such as low bone mineral density (BMD), osteoporosis, osteopenia, osteomalacia and fractures have emerged in HIV-infected individuals. Of all classes of antiretroviral agents, HIV protease inhibitors used in ART combination showed a higher frequency of osteopenia, osteoporosis and low BMD in HIV-infected patients. Although the mechanisms of HIV and/or ART associated bone abnormalities are not known, it is believed that the damage is caused by a complex interaction of T lymphocytes with osteoclasts and osteoblasts, likely influenced by both HIV and ART. In addition, infection of osteoclasts and bone marrow stromal cells by HIV, including HIV Gp120 induced apoptosis of osteoblasts and release of proinflammatory cytokines have been implicated in impairment of bone development and maturation. Several of the newer antiretroviral agents currently used in ART combination, including the widely used tenofovir in different formulations show relative adverse effects on BMD. In this context, switching the HIV-regimen from tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) showed improvement in BMD of HIV-infected patients. In addition, inclusion of integrase inhibitor in ART combination is associated with improved BMD in patients. Furthermore, supplementation of vitamin D and calcium with the initiation of ART may mitigate bone loss. Therefore, levels of vitamin D and calcium should be part of the evaluation of HIV-infected patients.
A Contact-Based Method for Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into an Endothelial Cell-Phenotype

Adult stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are known to possess the ability to augment neovascularization processes and are thus widely popular as an autologous source of progenitor cells. However there is a huge gap in our current knowledge of mechanisms involved in differentiating MSC into endothelial cells (EC), essential for lining engineered blood vessels. To fill up this gap, we attempted to differentiate human MSC into EC, by culturing the former onto chemically fixed layers of EC or its ECM, respectively. We expected direct contact of MSC when cultured atop fixed EC or its ECM, would coax the former to differentiate into EC. Results showed that human MSC cultured atop chemically fixed EC or its ECM using EC-medium showed enhanced expression of CD31, a marker for EC, compared to other cases. Further in all human MSC cultured using EC-medium, typically characteristic cobble stone shaped morphologies were noted in comparison to cells cultured using MSC medium, implying that the differentiated cells were sensitive to soluble VEGF supplementation present in the EC-medium. Results will enhance and affect therapies utilizing autologous MSC as a cell source for generating vascular cells to be used in a variety of tissue engineering applications.
Self-reported quality of life as a predictor of survival in renal cell carcinoma.

595Background: Quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients has gained increasing attention and may provide prognostic value above and beyond traditional demographic and disease parameters. We evaluate the utility of self-reported QOL to predict mortality in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: The Medicare Health Outcomes Survey was linked to SEER data to identify patients who completed a QOL questionnaire after the diagnosis of RCC from 1998-2014. Mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) scores were classified as high (≥50) or low ( < 50) based on a population mean score of 50 points. Patients were classified into four groups: 1) high MCS, high PCS; 2) high MCS, low PCS; 3) low MCS, high PCS; and 4) low MCS, low PCS. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression evaluated associations between QOL and all-cause mortality (ACM). The Harrell’s concordance statistic (C-index) estimated predictive accuracy. Fine and Gray competing risks models adjusted for stage, demo...
Association between physician characteristics and the use of 21-gene recurrence score genomic testing among Medicare beneficiaries with early-stage breast cancer, 2008-2011.

We sought to determine whether physician-level characteristics were associated with 21-gene recurrence score (RS) genomic testing to evaluate recurrence risk and benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with estrogen receptor-positive, node-negative breast cancer. Retrospective cohort study of a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program-Medicare data linked with the American Medical Association physician master file. The main outcome was receipt of genomic testing within 1 year of diagnosis as a function of physician-level factors. A total of 24,463 patients met the study criteria; they received care from 3172 surgeons and 2475 medical oncologists. Of 4124 tests ordered, 70% were ordered by a medical oncologist and 16% by a surgeon. In multivariable regression models, multiple variables were associated with receipt of testing, including having a medical oncologist (odds ratio [OR] 2.77; 95% CI 2.00–3.82), a surgeon specializing in surgical oncology (OR 1.20; 95% CI 1.09–1.31), and a female medical oncologist (OR 1.10; 95% CI 1.02–1.20). Having a medical oncologist with 5 or more years in practice was associated with lower odds of testing (OR 0.83; 95% CI 0.76–0.92). Surgical procedures performed at academic centers were associated with higher odds of testing (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.02–1.20). Although most RS testing was ordered by medical oncologists, physicians in other specialties ordered roughly one-third of the tests. Physician characteristics, including gender and time in practice, were associated with receiving testing, creating opportunities for targeting interventions to help patients receive optimal care.
The nature of cytoplasmic vacuoles in chordoma cells. A correlative enzyme and electron microscopic histochemical study.

Summary Enzyme histochemical study revealed that a sacrococcygeal chordoma not only was rich in oxidoreductive enzymes but also in the enzymes (phosphorylase, hexokinase, phosphoglucomutase, glucose phosphate isomerase and UDP-glucose dehydrogenase) leading to the synthesis of stromal glycosaminoglycans from glycogen. UDP-glucose dehydrogenase is particularly important in oxidizing UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid, the building block of hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfates. These enzymatic activities were consistent with the ultrastructural findings of abundant membrane-bound glycogen as well as large intracytoplasmic vacuoles with occasional residual glycogen particles. Furthermore, ultrastructural histochemical study using high iron diamine (HID) specifically localized the sulfated glycosaminoglycans (SG) extracellularly as well as intracellularly in distended Golgi saccules and 187–320 nm mature secretory vesicles. No HID staining was noted in the large intracytoplasmic vacuoles or rough endoplasmic reticulum. This study not only supports the hypothesis that the vacuoles of physaliphorous cells are the result of breakdown and utilization of membrane bound glycogen in the biosynthesis of SG, but also demonstrates that intracellular synthesis and storage of SG in chordoma are not in large vacuoles as previous investigators have believed.
Addendum: Changes to Garnet Since November, 1990

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses changes to Garnet Toolkit project since November, 1990. There have been a number of improvements to the constraint system. In particular, it was discovered that an important problem was the space overhead of constraints, but that up to 95% of the constraints were evaluated only once at object creation time. Therefore, a unique mechanism was added that eliminates the constraints that only depend on constant values. The Opal object system has been enhanced with objects to support multiple-font, multiple-line text editing, including embedding arbitrary graphical objects in the string, and a special mode to support Lisp code editing. This new object removes the restriction that Garnet not be used for applications with significant text components. To make Garnet practical for use for maps and visualizations with thousands of graphical objects, a special feature was added to eliminate most of the per-object overhead when there are lots of similar objects.
Inverse Dyamics of Non-Minimum Phase Systems with Non-Zero Initial Conditions

A method is presented forcomputing the inverse dynamics of a linear non-minimum phasesystem with non-zero initial conditions. The method is also usedto change or correct a trajectory after it is already in motion,and consequently, it will allow for real time control by continuallyupdating the inverse dynamics computation.
Understanding the Career Aspirations of Diverse Community College Students

The purpose of the study was to examine the relative contributions of career predictors (self-efficacy, career barriers, and coping-efficacy for overcoming barriers) in predicting educational and a...
Continuous Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Environmental Pollutants Using Surface Ionization

An instrument for real-time analysis of trace impurities in air, including particulates was constructed and evaluated. The sampling system impinges a beam of particles and air on a heated Re ribbon and the resulting ions analyzed in a 7.6 cm radius magnetic sector mass spectrometer. Oxygen in the air raises the work function of the Re to about 7.2 eV at 1,000°K allowing analysis of elements and compounds with ionization potentials as high as 8 eV. For some low ionization potential elements, particles containing 1,000 atoms, particle concentrations of less than 1 per cm3 and average concentrations of 10-12–10-13 g/m3 can be detected. Organic compounds can have ionization efficiencies as high as 20% and can be detected in concentrations as low as 0.001 ppb. Water is analyzed by forming an aerosol. Alkali metals and other easily ionized metals can be detected at concentrations of 10-13 g/cm3 of water.
Ankle Motion and Offloading in Short Leg Cast and Low and High Fracture Boots

Background:Short leg casts (SLCs) and fracture boots are used to treat foot and ankle injuries, but the decision to use one device over the other is often subjective. This study compared the impact...
Enhanced antibiotic activity of ampicillin conjugated to gold nanoparticles on PEGylated rosette nanotubes.

Purpose This work presents the preparation of a nanocomposite of ampicillin-conjugated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and self-assembled rosette nanotubes (RNTs), and evaluates its antibacterial properties against two strains of drug-resistant bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus [S. aureus], methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA]). Materials and methods Small, nearly monodisperse AuNPs (1.43±0.5 nm in diameter) nucleated on the surface of polyethylene glycol-functionalized RNTs in a one-pot reaction. Upon conjugation with ampicillin, their diameter increased to 1.86±0.32 nm. The antibacterial activity of the nanocomposite against S. aureus and MRSA was tested using different concentrations of ampicillin. The cytocompatibility of the nanocomposite was also tested against human dermal fibroblasts. Results Based on bacterial inhibition studies, the nanocomposite demonstrated enhanced antibiotic activity against both bacterial strains. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the nanocomposite against S. aureus was found to be 0.58 μg/mL, which was 18% lower than ampicillin alone. The nanocomposite also exhibited a 20 hrs MIC of 4 μg/mL against MRSA, approximately 10-20 times lower than previously reported values for ampicillin alone. In addition, at concentrations of 4 μg/mL of ampicillin (70 μg/mL of AuNPs), the nanocomposite showed negligible cytotoxic effects. Conclusion Our findings offer a new approach for the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria by potentiating inhibitory effects of existing antibiotics, and delivering them using a non-toxic formulation.
Pharmaceutical Options for Stress Urinary Incontinence

We review the currently available pharmaceutical options for SUI. Pharmaceutical options for SUI are either drugs that manipulate hormones or those that impact neurotransmitter levels. Local estrogen replenishment has been associated with improved OAB symptoms in postmenopausal women, but its impact on SUI is unclear. Subjective improvement may be noted, while objective outcome indices are typically unchanged. There is weak evidence to suggest that any adrenergic agonist is better than placebo in improving objective incontinence measures. Both alpha- and beta-adrenergic agonists are associated with significant side effects. Duloxetine, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), has been shown to improve both objective and subjective outcome indices, but it is associated with significant side effects and is not FDA-approved. Evidence for the use of TAS-303, a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, is currently in the early stages and its clinically significant improvement and durability are unknown at this time. Finally, selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM) have shown promise in both animal and early human studies; however, a preliminary report from a large, multi-institutional, placebo-controlled trial of one of these agents (enobosarm reported that this drug did not achieve statistical significance in its primary endpoint compared to placebo. Overall, the drug was well tolerated. The majority of drugs available for SUI treatment are associated with limited improvement, unknown durability, and potential for significant side effects. There is some evidence for efficacy of both SNRIs and SARMs; however, more research is needed. At present, any use of medications for SUI is off-label in the USA.
Shifting focus: The influence of affective diversity on team creativity

Abstract We propose and test a theory of how diversity in a team’s initial affective composition impacts its creativity by examining how team members’ qualitatively different affective states converge to influence their team’s creative process and outcomes. Three studies involving 1625 participants on 427 teams support an activation-regulatory focus explanation. Team members experiencing activated promotion-focused affect – whether positive (e.g. happiness) or negative (e.g. anger) – tend to focus their teams on idea generation, resulting in the selection of more novel ideas. Alternatively, team members experiencing activated prevention-focused affect (e.g. tension, fear) shift their teams toward idea selection, resulting in reduced idea novelty. When multiple affective states exist within the same team, more activated states dominate the creative process. Prevention-focused states also tend to dominate promotion-focused states with a few exceptions. We discuss our findings in terms of their implications for the study of team creativity and affective convergence and divergence in teams.
Monitoring Pavement Changes in a Rehabilitation Project with Continuous Rolling Dynamic Deflectometer Profiles

The success of a rehabilitation project that involves replacement of the asphalt concrete (AC) overlay on a concrete pavement often depends on the assessment of the existing conditions and the repair of critically weak locations. In a case study, a rolling dynamic deflectometer (RDD) was used to collect continuous deflection profiles at different stages in such a project. The project, conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation, was located in the Atlanta District. The condition of the pavement was monitored with an RDD in each stage. The stages ranged from before milling of the original AC overlay to 22 months after the placement of a new overlay. The deflection profiles measured after milling were used to identify locations with a high potential for reflection cracking. After the new overlay was placed, profiling was repeated at three different times to (a) monitor changes at locations of previously high deflections, (b) evaluate the effectiveness of full-depth repairs, and (c) group different AC test sections of the new overlay according to the condition of the underlying concrete pavement. It was found that the continuous deflection profiles obtained at the start of a rehabilitation project can be used to identify high-deflection locations that, if not repaired, will likely deteriorate rapidly after the new overlay is placed. The continuous deflection profile measured on the concrete pavement after milling was particularly helpful in identifying high-deflection locations that were irregularly spaced. Continuous deflection profiles, measured at various times after placement of the new overlay, effectively tracked the zones of deterioration.
Between the Facts and Norms of Police Violence: Using Discourse Models to Improve Deliberations Around Law Enforcement

Police violence and protests of police violence have become a common feature of today's news cycles and have led to widespread critique and distrust of the law enforcement apparatus and police practice. States and municipalities have responded to the delegitimization of police practice with community-police dialogues. This Article argues that such dialogues can only restore the legitimacy of the police practice if they are deliberative in the Habermasian sense and also address the entrenched power asymmetries between communities and the police. This Article uses the community listening sessions of the Minnesota Governor's Council on Law Enforcement and Community Relations to ground its argument that community-police dialogues that are non-deliberative and dismissive of the discourse models of the affected community are unlikely to result in the restored legitimacy of police practice. Rather, such non-deliberation and exclusion are more likely to delegitimize the attempt at dialogue and to amplify rather than reduce community perceptions of the invalidity of the law enforcement apparatus. This Article conjoins the sociolinguistic concept of discourse models with Jilrgen Habermas's discourse theory of democracy to argue that restoring the legitimacy of police practice in the aftermath of police violence incidents requires monitoring and countering the discursive marginalization of community narratives indexed by transgressive discourse models. In this context, discourse models are defined as the presuppositions about the world that one must ascribe to individuals in order for their truth claims to be intelligible and coherent. Habermas's elements of validity-truth, authenticity, and normative rightness-are used to illustrate the potential of inclusive approaches to discourse models to reveal and redress communicative distortions in police-community deliberations created by power asymmetries. This Article concludes with a set of best practices designed to ensure that community-police deliberations can function as sites of consensual truth and equal political autonomy.
Incidence and neighborhood-level determinants of child welfare involvement.

Abstract Background Child maltreatment is a global public health issue that has been linked with multiple negative health and life outcomes. Objective This study evaluates the association between children placed in out-of-home care and neighborhood-level factors using eight years of administrative data. Participants and setting Between 2011–2018, 33,890 unique instances of child welfare involvement were captured in a department of child and family services database in a southern state in the United States. Methods Removal addresses were geocoded and linked to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to obtain census tract socioeconomic factors. Incidence overall and stratified by individual and neighborhood-level factors was computed. Rate ratios, relative indexes of inequality, and concentration curves quantified disparities in incidence of child welfare involvement by neighborhood-level factors. Results Incidence of children less than 19 years old placed into out-of-home care was 255 per 100,000 person-years (95 % CI: 252, 258). At the individual level, incidence was highest among children Conclusions Incidence of children placed into out-of-home care is disproportionally higher for those who live in disadvantaged communities. Understanding neighborhood-level risk factors that may be linked to child welfare involvement can help inform policy and target prevention efforts.
LongGF: computational algorithm and software tool for fast and accurate detection of gene fusions by long-read transcriptome sequencing

Long-read RNA-Seq techniques can generate reads that encompass a large proportion or the entire mRNA/cDNA molecules, so they are expected to address inherited limitations of short-read RNA-Seq techniques that typically generate < 150 bp reads. However, there is a general lack of software tools for gene fusion detection from long-read RNA-seq data, which takes into account the high basecalling error rates and the presence of alignment errors. In this study, we developed a fast computational tool, LongGF, to efficiently detect candidate gene fusions from long-read RNA-seq data, including cDNA sequencing data and direct mRNA sequencing data. We evaluated LongGF on tens of simulated long-read RNA-seq datasets, and demonstrated its superior performance in gene fusion detection. We also tested LongGF on a Nanopore direct mRNA sequencing dataset and a PacBio sequencing dataset generated on a mixture of 10 cancer cell lines, and found that LongGF achieved better performance to detect known gene fusions over existing computational tools. Furthermore, we tested LongGF on a Nanopore cDNA sequencing dataset on acute myeloid leukemia, and pinpointed the exact location of a translocation (previously known in cytogenetic resolution) in base resolution, which was further validated by Sanger sequencing. In summary, LongGF will greatly facilitate the discovery of candidate gene fusion events from long-read RNA-Seq data, especially in cancer samples. LongGF is implemented in C++ and is available at https://github.com/WGLab/LongGF .
Collective Synchronous Spiking in a Brain Network of Coupled Nonlinear Oscillators.

A network of propagating nonlinear oscillatory modes (waves) in the human brain is shown to generate collectively synchronized spiking activity (hypersynchronous spiking) when both amplitude and phase coupling between modes are taken into account. The nonlinear behavior of the modes participating in the network are the result of the nonresonant dynamics of weakly evanescent cortical waves that, as shown recently, adhere to an inverse frequency--wave number dispersion relation when propagating through an inhomogeneous anisotropic media characteristic of the brain cortex. This description provides a missing link between simplistic models of synchronization in networks of small amplitude phase coupled oscillators and in networks built with various empirically fitted models of pulse or amplitude coupled spiking neurons. Overall the phase-amplitude coupling mechanism presented in the Letter shows significantly more efficient synchronization compared to current standard approaches and demonstrates an emergence of collective synchronized spiking from subthreshold oscillations that neither phase nor amplitude coupling alone are capable of explaining.
Quantum oscillation of thermally activated conductivity in a monolayer WTe 2 -like excitonic insulator

Recently, quantum oscillation of the resistance in insulating monolayer ${\mathrm{WTe}}_{2}$ was reported. An explanation in terms of gap modulation in the hybridized Landau levels of an excitonic insulator was also proposed by one of us. However, the previous picture of gap modulation in the Landau levels spectrum was built on a pair of well nested electron and hole Fermi surfaces, while the monolayer ${\mathrm{WTe}}_{2}$ has one hole and two electron Fermi pockets with relative anisotropy. Here we demonstrate that for system like monolayer ${\mathrm{WTe}}_{2}$, the excitonic insulating state arising from the coupled one hole and two electron pockets possesses a finite region in interaction parameter space that shows gap modulation in a magnetic field. In this region, the thermally activated conductivity displays the $1/B$ periodic oscillation and it can further develop into discrete peaks at low temperature, in agreement with the experimental observation. We show that the relative anisotropy of the bands is a key parameter and the quantum oscillations decrease rapidly if the anisotropy increases further than the realistic value for monolayer ${\mathrm{WTe}}_{2}$.
Fatal decision made under pressure

A life-or-death choice determines the fate of reproductive cells. It has long been assumed that the choice is genetically regulated, but it now seems that the decision may instead be controlled by intracellular pressure.
Weathering the perfect storm: management of heart failure in patients with substance use disorders.

Co-occurring substance use disorders (SUDs) and heart failure (HF) create a perfect storm: the drug drives cardiac pathophysiology, while complex psychosocial factors interfere with treatment efforts. Patients with SUDs and HF are less likely to engage in care due to chaotic use patterns, poverty, co-occurring mental illness, mistrust in the healthcare system and decreased social support. The stigma of drug use can also negatively bias providers, further complicating the care alliance. SUDs complicate at least 15% of HF hospitalisations.1 At our safety-net hospital in San Francisco, methamphetamine use is an independent predictor of HF readmission (OR 3.62, 95% CI 1.40 to 9.38).2 High rates of co-occurring HF and SUDs contributed to our hospital having some of the worst HF readmission rates in California. Using strategies discussed in this article, we decreased our HF readmission rate by 30% in 2019. Along the way, we learnt valuable lessons about managing co-occurring HF and SUDs, most importantly that successful treatment demands multidisciplinary attention to both disorders. Providing non-judgemental, patient-centred care is key to developing a therapeutic alliance. Providers should avoid stigmatising language and instead use person-first, medically accurate terminology (ie, ‘person with methamphetamine use disorder’ instead of ‘meth addict’).3 Respecting the patient is key. Arguing, shaming and providing unsolicited advice should be avoided. Instead, we use motivational …
Heightened Sensitivity of Germline BRCA Mutant Patients Treated With Concurrent or Adjuvant PARP Inhibition and Radiotherapy for Brain Metastases.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) Limited data exist regarding the effect of radiotherapy (RT) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibition (PARPi) for brain metastases (BM). However, RT is known to elevate PARP levels and thus, PARPi may have radiosensitizing effects. We hypothesize that among BRCA germline mutant (BRCAgm) patients, receipt of adjuvant and/or concurrent PARPi and RT for BM delays time to intracranial failure. MATERIALS/METHODS With IRB approval, we reviewed BRCAgm patients and BM who received oral PARPi and RT-whole brain (WBRT, 30 Gy/10 fractions) or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS, 21-27 Gy/1-3 fractions)-between 2010-2020. Of 33 patients identified, 12 were excluded for any progression on PARPi, requiring salvage RT; and 6 were excluded for > 2 month interval between RT and adjuvant PARPi. We stratified into groups based on timing of PARPi relative to RT: 1) Patients on PARPi prior to RT and maintained on PARPi thereafter ("Concurrent"); and 2) Patients who initiated PARPi after completion of RT ("Adjuvant"). Primary outcomes were intracranial progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) with estimates generated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Secondary outcome was toxicity. BrainGPA was used to predict median survival in patients with eligible histologies. RESULTS Fifteen patients (female, N = 12; male, N = 3) met inclusion criteria. Median (range) KPS was 80 (70-90), and age at radiation was 50 years (32-76). Median follow-up was 10.9 months (3.1-27.8). Sixty-three percent had breast cancer (N = 10) and 87% received Olaparib (N = 13). Among 8 concurrent patients, 5 received SRS and 3 received WBRT; median intracranial PFS was 5.7 months (1.9-17.5) and median OS was 10.4 months (3.1-17.5). Among 7 adjuvant patients, 4 received SRS and 3 WBRT; median intracranial PFS was 9.9 months (4.0-18.2) and median OS was 10.9 months (4.0-28.4). Median time to PARPi after RT was 2 weeks. Of 10 patients with histologies eligible for BrainGPA calculation, 90% exceeded the predicted median survival. There were no cases of grade ≥3 toxicity, including radionecrosis. CONCLUSION In this small series of BRCAgm patients, RT with concurrent and/or adjuvant PARPi for BM was feasible and safe. Several patients had long intervals of intracranial PFS suggestive of heightened sensitivity to RT particularly with adjuvant PARPi. Future prospective studies in larger cohorts are warranted to determine the optimal timing of PARPi relative to brain RT.
Defying Convention: US Resistance to the UN Treaty on Women's Rights

1. Introduction 2. A scaffolding for women's rights, 1945-70 3. Geopolitics and the drafting of CEDAW 4. An evolving global norm of women's rights 5. CEDAW impact: process, not policy 6. Why the United States has not ratified CEDAW 7. CEDAW and domestic violence law in the United States? 8. Conclusions.
Applications of Topology to Physics

We now turn briefly to applications of topology to quantum field theory, many of which were discussed in Part II.
Large Families of Cospectral Graphs

Seidel switching is an operation on graphs G satisfying certain regularity properties so that the resulting graph H has the same spectrum as G. If G is simple then the complement of G and the complement of H are also cospectral. We use a generalization of Seidel switching to construct exponentially large families of cospectral graphs with cospectral complements.