cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Variations by state in physician disciplinary actions by US medical licensure boards

Objective To investigate the variation in the rate of state medical board physician disciplinary actions between US states. Methods Longitudinal study of state medical board physician disciplinary action rates using the US National Practitioner Data Bank and American Medical Association estimates of physician demographics across all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2010 to 2014. Results were reliability adjusted using a multilevel logistic model controlling for year of disciplinary action, physicians per capita in each state and the rate of malpractice claims per physician in each state. Results From 2010 to 2014, there were a total of 5046 506 physician licensure years present. Medical boards reported a total of 21 647 disciplinary actions, of which 5137 (23.7%) were major disciplinary actions involving revocation, suspension or surrender of licence. The mean, reliability-adjusted rate of all disciplinary actions was 3.76 (95% CI 3.21 to 4.42) with a significant variation between states. State rates ranged from 2.13 (95% CI 1.86 to 2.45) to 7.93 (95% CI 6.33 to 9.93) actions per 1000 physicians. The mean rate of major disciplinary actions was 2.71 (95% CI 1.93 to 3.82), ranging from 0.64 (95% CI 0.53 to 0.76) to 2.71 (95% CI 1.93 to 3.82) actions per 1000 physicians. The correlation between the rate of major disciplinary action and minor disciplinary actions was 0.34. Conclusions There is a significant, fourfold variation in the annual rate of medical board physician disciplinary action by state in the USA. When indicated, state medical boards should consider policies aimed at improving standardisation and coordination to provide consistent supervision to physicians and ensure public safety.
The landlady confirms the diagnosis.

A 43-year-old man with a long but poorly characterized psychiatric history presented to the emergency room complaining of nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and hearing things. The age of the patient, the available history, and the major symptoms lead one to think about several categories. Assuming that the patient has an organic as opposed to a psychiatric illness, I'd worry about whether metabolic derangements could create these symptoms. Given his psychiatric history, I'd be con-cerned about abnormalities in sodium or calcium balance and acid–base abnormalities. The reason for thinking about these metabolic derangements is that the patient may consume excessive . . .
Acute Toxicity of Choline Chloride Administered Orally to Rats.

Summary1. 413 albino rats were given solutions of choline chloride by stomach tube. Four concentrations, viz., 670, 500, 400, and 200 mg/ml were used. A significant increase in the toxicity with in...
Diagnostic Algorithm for Kawasaki Disease in Febrile Children

Ling XB, Kanegaye JT, Ji J, et al. Point-of-care differentiation of Kawasaki disease from other febrile illnesses. J Pediatr. 2013; 162 (1): 183– 188; doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.012[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3] Investigators from Stanford University and the University of California at San Diego studied the pattern of clinical findings and laboratory test results in prospective cohorts of febrile children to develop and validate an algorithm to differentiate Kawasaki disease (KD) from other febrile illnesses. They postulated that such an algorithm could be incorporated into information technologies as an inexpensive point-of-care tool to assist clinicians in diagnosing KD. Four cohorts of children were randomized: children thought to have KD for the training phase (development of the algorithm) (n=276); children with fever not due to KD (febrile controls [FC]) for the training phase (n=243); children thought to have KD for the testing phase (to validate the algorithm internally) (n=136); and FC for the testing phase (n=121). The KD cohorts included children diagnosed within 10 days of fever onset using the American Heart Association guidelines (fever for ≥3 days … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DJ%2BPediatr%26rft.volume%253D162%26rft.spage%253D183%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252Fj.jpeds.2012.06.012%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F22819274%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.012&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=22819274&link_type=MED&atom=%2Faapgrand%2F29%2F4%2F44.atom
Productivity Analysis of the Distributed QoS Modeling Language.

Model-driven engineering (MDE), in general, and Domain-Specific Modeling Languages (DSMLs), in particular, are increasingly used to manage the complexity of developing applications in various domains. Although many DSML benefits are qualitative (e.g., ease of use, familiarity of domain concepts), there is a need to quantitatively demonstrate the benefits of DSMLs (e.g., quantify when DSMLs provide savings in development time) to simplify comparison and evaluation. This chapter describes how we conducted productivity analysis for the Distributed Quality-of-Service (QoS) Modeling Language (DQML). Our analysis shows (1) the significant productivity gain using DQML compared with alternative methods when configuring application entities and (2) the viability of quantitative productivity metrics for DSMLs.
Alternate wetting and drying in high yielding direct-seeded rice systems accomplishes multiple environmental and agronomic objectives

Abstract Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) cultivation is critically important for global food security, yet it also represents a significant fraction of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water resource use. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) of rice fields has been shown to reduce both methane (CH 4 ) emissions and water use, but its effect on grain yield is variable. In this three-year study we measured CH 4 and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions, rice grain total arsenic (As) concentrations, yield response to N rate, and grain yield from two AWD treatments (drill-seeded and water-seeded) and a conventionally managed water-seeded treatment (control). Grain yields (average = 10 Mg ha −1 ) were similar or higher in the AWD treatments compared to the control and required similar or lower N rates to achieve these yields. Furthermore, AWD reduced growing season CH 4 emissions by 60–87% while maintaining low annual N 2 O emissions (average = 0.38 kg N 2 O–N ha −1 ); N 2 O emissions accounted for 4 emissions and approximately one third of annual GWP on average. The AWD treatments reduced annual GWP by 57–74% and growing season yield-scaled GWP by 59–88%. Milled grain total As, which averaged 0.114 mg kg −1 in the control, was reduced by 59–65% in the AWD treatments. These results show that AWD has the potential to mitigate GHG emissions associated with rice cultivation and reduce rice grain total As concentrations without sacrificing grain yield or requiring higher N inputs; however future research needs to focus on adapting AWD to field scales if adoption of this technology is to be realized.
Hazardous Drinking and Violent Mortality Among Males: Evidence from a Population-Based Case-Control Study

The goal of this study was to determine the risk of homicide victimization associated with an underlying pattern of hazardous drinking. Data were from the Izhevsk Family Study (IFS), a large-scale, population-based case-control study. There were two sets of cases: all men aged 25 to 54 years living in Izhevsk during October 2003 through October 2005 who were (1) homicide victims ( n = 45) or (2) homicide victims or died of injuries of undetermined intent ( n = 156). Controls were selected at random from a population register. The exposure, an ongoing pattern of hazardous alcohol consumption, was variously defined as drinking more than 20 liters of ethanol in the prior year, consumption of non-beverage alcohols at least once per week, and a set of behavioral measures of problematic drinking. Extensive information was obtained via interviews with proxy informants living in the same household as cases and controls. Each measure of hazardous drinking was associated with increased risk of violent death, and nearly 60 percent of homicides were attributable to hazardous drinking. Results provide strong evidence of an association between an underlying pattern of hazardous drinking and vulnerability to violent death.
Delayed type hypersensitivity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Our study examines the relationship between in vivo delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) and clinical and laboratory variables associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Eleven patients with RA were examined. They were receiving no disease modifying drugs, immunosuppressive agents or corticosteroids. Skin tests were performed with the Multitest CMI system employing 7 antigens simultaneously. No patients were truly anergic, however, 3 of the 11 patients were hyporesponsive
3D characterization of EMT cell density in developing cardiac cushions using optical coherence tomography (Conference Presentation)

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common birth defect, affecting between 4 and 75 per 1,000 live births depending on the inclusion criteria. Many of these defects can be traced to defects of cardiac cushions, critical structures during development that serve as precursors to many structures in the mature heart, including the atrial and ventricular septa, and all four sets of cardiac valves. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the process through which cardiac cushions become populated with cells. Altered cushion size or altered cushion cell density has been linked to many forms of CHDs, however, quantitation of cell density in the complex 3D cushion structure poses a significant challenge to conventional histology. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a technique capable of 3D imaging of the developing heart, but typically lacks the resolution to differentiate individual cells. Our goal is to develop an algorithm to quantitatively characterize the density of cells in the developing cushion using 3D OCT imaging. First, in a heart volume, the atrioventricular (AV) cushions were manually segmented. Next, all voxel values in the region of interest were pooled together to generate a histogram. Finally, two populations of voxels were classified using either K-means classification, or a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). The voxel population with higher values represents cells in the cushion. To test the algorithm, we imaged and evaluated avian embryonic hearts at looping stages. As expected, our result suggested that the cell density increases with developmental stages. We validated the technique against scoring by expert readers.
Training Online Physical Educators: A Phenomenological Case Study

Online physical education (OLPE) presents a unique set of challenges in translating traditional physical education to a digital space, all while meeting the same benchmarks, curriculum, and assessment standards of traditional courses. Currently, limited research exists investigating how physical educators are formally trained to deliver content online. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the experiences and perceptions of students and instructor of a graduate-level OLPE teacher education (OLPETE) methods course. A phenomenographic research design was employed to examine the social phenomenon of one OLPETE methods course at a midwest midmajor college. Participants in this study were an instructor of OLPETE methods course and former students who had completed the course. Data for the case study were collected through semistructured interviews and inductive content analysis was employed to analyze the qualitative data. Results revealed four categories describing the lived experiences of those involved: (1) Modeling Online Instructional Practices, (2) Instructor and Student Interactions, (3) Transitioning Pedagogical and Content Knowledge Online, and (4) Navigating Instructional Tools and Technology.
Following the Contour of Concepts Toward a Minor Inquiry

In this article, I describe how following the contour of concepts can enable a minor inquiry in which voice might be rethought as what Deleuze and Guattari called a “collective assemblage of enunci...
The Age of Aspiration? Music Classes and the Limits of Gendered Self-transformation in Mumbai

Abstract: Contemporary India is marked by salient aspirational discourses, yet not everyone is understood to be capable of aspirational transformation. This article focuses on middle-aged “housewives” studying Hindi film song in a Mumbai music institute. Analyzing the professional visions they held alongside the domestic constraints they faced, I show how gender, generation, and life stage complicated their aspirational mobility. Yet, even as these housewives were marginalized within “Aspirational India,” they used training in Hindi film song to remake themselves as singers and expressive selves. This work of musical self-transformation, I argue, made them visible as aspirational subjects in liberalizing India.
Cardiac recovery via extended cell-free delivery of extracellular vesicles secreted by cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells

The ability of extracellular vesicles (EVs) to regulate a broad range of cellular processes has recently been exploited for the treatment of diseases. For example, EVs secreted by stem cells injected into infarcted hearts can induce recovery through the delivery of stem-cell-specific miRNAs. However, the retention of the EVs and the therapeutic effects are short-lived. Here, we show that an engineered hydrogel patch capable of slowly releasing EVs secreted from cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells reduced arrhythmic burden, promoted ejection-fraction recovery, decreased cardiomyocyte apoptosis 24 hours after infarction, and reduced infarct size and cell hypertrophy 4 weeks post-infarction when implanted onto infarcted rat hearts. We also show that the EVs are enriched with cardiac-specific miRNAs known to modulate cardiomyocyte-specific processes. The extended delivery of EVs secreted from iPS-cell-derived cardiomyocytes into the heart may help understand heart recovery and treat heart injury.
Superfluidity in Thin Helium Four Films

I wish to discuss in these lectures the experimental aspects of superfluidity in thin films of adsorbed helium. I will be concerned mainly with those films ranging from about five atomic layers down to the thinnest which show evidence of superfluidity. I shall begin with a brief review of the superfluid properties of bulk helium as these ideas are well understood and form the conceptual basis for our understanding of superfluidity in films. The experimental methods used for observation of the superfluid properties of films will then be surveyed. In the final lecture, I will discuss the nature of the superfluid transition in films, and, in particular, the evidence for both two and three dimensional superfluid phase transitions in films, depending on the topology of the adsorption substrate.
Dihedral angle measurement in microgravity liquid phase sintered microstructures

Liquid phase sintered materials are characterized by a connected microstructure composed of contacting grains in a solidified matrix phase. Characterizations on the sintered microstructure are typically performed by two-dimensional cross sections. A new dihedral angle model based totally on the geometry of the spherical solid grains without any further assumptions is presented in this paper to determine the dihedral angles measured in two-dimensional sections vs. the dihedral angles in three dimensions. The result shows that the average dihedral angle measured on sections is 14/15 the dihedral angle in three dimensions. The expected frequencies of the simulation are favorably compared with the experimental results obtained from microgravity liquid phase sintered Fe-Cu alloys with four different solid volume fractions (50, 60, 70, 80 vol% Fe balanced with Cu) and six different sintering times (10, 20, 30, 40, 60 and 330 minutes) when a 3-D dihedral angle with a standard deviation of 10°, in our case, 40° ± 10°, was employed in the model. The goodness of fit of the theoretical 2-D results with the experimental data was determined by chi-squared test. The fit of the data is good since all the computed values of χ2 are smaller than the critical value.
The Kinetics of Pollutant Formation in Spark­ Ignition Engines

Consideration of chemical equilibrium thermodynamics within the context of the spark-ignition engine cycle leads to the expectation that fuel and air should be converted completely to carbon dioxide and water. Thus, the observed appearance in exhaust gases of significant quantities of such undesirable components as unburned hydrocarbons, nitric oxide (and carbon monoxide under chemically correct or fuel-lean conditions), points to a deviation from the equilibrium situation, and implies the significance of rate controlling chemical reactions during the course of engine cycle events. Such reactions are directly responsible for the emission of exhaust pollutants. For this reason the study of mechanisms and processes responsible for pollutant formation and/or destruction necessarily includes detailed consideration of the field of chemical reaction rate theory or chemical kinetics.
Assessing Students' Understanding of Variability in Graphical Representations That Share the Common Attribute of Bars.

ABSTRACTEveryday encounters with graphical representations include a variety of graphs that superficially appear similar due to their use of bars. This article examines students' conceptions and misconceptions regarding the interpretation of variability in histograms, bar graphs, and value bar charts. A multiple choice assessment with brief written justifications was administered to students in an introductory level college statistics course. Assessment items included comparisons of variability among same-type graphs and questions regarding students' ability to identify key features of the graphs. The study revealed that students struggle to make sense of the underlying structures of the various types of graphs and often disregard graph type as they transfer correct conceptions of variability for one type of graph erroneously to other types of graphs.
Selection pressures of vancomycin powder use in spine surgery: a meta-analysis.

Abstract BACKGROUND CONTEXT Surgical site infection (SSI) is a serious and costly complication of spine surgery. Many surgeons apply vancomycin powder to the surgical wound to prevent SSIs. While multiple studies have reported reduced rates of SSI, others have suggested that widespread use of intrawound vancomycin may increase the incidence of vancomycin-resistant, gram-negative, or polymicrobial spinal infections. PURPOSE To systematically review the current literature on vancomycin powder in spine surgery and its impact on SSI culture profiles. STUDY DESIGN Meta-analysis. Sample We included observational studies, retrospective chart reviews, and randomized controlled trials of patients who underwent spine surgeries with and without vancomycin powder application to surgical wounds and reported SSI rates. OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome was postoperative SSIs. Subgroup analyses compared rates of postoperative SSIs. METHODS We performed a comprehensive search of numerous electronic databases and conference proceedings pertaining to this topic. Our meta-analysis was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. Inclusion criteria consisted of spine surgeries with or without use of vancomycin powder, case-control design, sample sizes of at least 10 in each arm, SSIs identified with bacterial cultures, and follow-up of at least 1 month. Data extracted from eligible studies included, but was not limited to, SSI rates, cultured organisms, and vancomycin powder dose. Chi-square analyses were used to assess pooled risk-estimates of intrawound vancomycin powder on reducing SSIs and selecting for gram-negative and/or polymicrobial organisms compared to controls. Pooled odds ratios, relative risks, and relative risk increase for observed outcomes were calculated. A meta-analysis was then performed with a forest plot to determine risk estimates’ heterogeneity with I2 index, Q-statistic, and p value under a fixed-effects model. Funnel plot was used to assess publication bias. None of the authors received funding or other support for this review. RESULTS After reviewing nearly 400 titles and abstracts, 28 articles met inclusion criteria. They included two randomized controlled trials, one observational study, and 25 retrospective analyses. There were 412 cases of SSI (3.8%) in the control group (N=10,846) compared to 197 SSIs (2.3%) in the vancomycin powder group (N=8,456). The pooled odds ratio was 0.60 (95% confidence intervalCI 0.51–0.71, p CONCLUSIONS Widespread use of prophylactic intrawound vancomycin may increase the incidence of gram-negative and polymicrobial SSIs. Vancomycin powder should likely be restricted to procedures and patients most at risk for infection.
Targeted Killing and the Criminal Law

The moral justification for targeted killing turns on it being justified as an act of self-defense. That justification can be assessed by addressing five questions: (1) Is the targeted person a threat who lacks the right to threaten? (2) Has the targeted person forfeited some of her claim not to be killed? (3) Even if the answer to the first two questions is positive, is targeted killing a necessary and proportionate response? (4) Is the evidence in favor of targeted killing high enough to meet the relevant standard of proof (SOP)? (5) And insofar as a person is selected for targeting from a larger group of possible targets, is the selection justifiable? The legal justifiability of targeted killing should aim to track, as much as problems of administrability and limiting unwanted effects allow, the answers to those moral questions.
Categories of Success: How Do We Make Who Listen?

Definitions of risk vary widely from person to person and from group to group. How then can disaster researchers prescribe effective actions and relevant information sources for all who seek to avert risk and disaster? Traditional strategies for matching particular “types of people” and/or “types of groups” to information they might find relevant to themselves have included, but are not limited to age, race, gender, and socioeconomic status. This chapter challenges the traditional group categories used to assess who will find what information relevant, the manner in which information is presented, and the places the information can be found by those seeking it. We propose that the four cultures presented by social anthropologist Mary Douglas can not only shed light on the failures to deliver salient information on averting risk and disaster to those who seek such information, but also help shape (1) which information is pertinent to whom, (2) how the information can be shaped to prompt action, and (3) where to post such information so that it reaches those who are interested. These four cultures are described as “Hierarchist,” “Individualist,” “Fatalist,” and “Egalitarian.”
Outside Advisers Inside Agencies

Advisory committees are a ubiquitous yet understudied feature of the administrative state. More than seventy-five thousand experts from outside the federal government serve on over one thousand committees across the executive branch, providing agencies with informed “second opinions” to complement their in-house experts in the civil service. By law, these committees must be “fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented.” The administrative law literature fails to reveal, however, whether advisory committees live up to this standard and how these panels influence agency decisionmaking. This Article sheds light on the composition and operation of advisory committees, applying a mix of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. We begin by gathering data on the campaign contribution histories of more than one thousand randomly selected advisory committee members over twenty-one years and across four administrations. We find—notwithstanding the statutory fair-balance requirement—that these committees lean left during Democratic administrations and right during Republican ones. We then examine the formation, utilization, and funding of advisory committees over the same timeframe. Combining this data with information on the political preferences of career civil servants, we find that agencies create, convene, and finance committees at higher rates when the preferences of civil servants and the presidential administration diverge. In other words, Democratic administrations appear to rely more on advisory committees at agencies with relatively conservative career staffs (e.g., the Pentagon), while Republicans rely more on these outside panels at agencies with liberal-leaning careerists (e.g., the Environmental Protection Agency). We supplement our quantitative analysis with case studies of four advisory committees across four different agencies and presidential administrations. Our case studies show how the political appointees at the helms of agencies use advisory committees as substitute sources of information and expertise when career civil servants at their agencies resist the administration’s agenda. Taken together, these results point to a new view of advisory committees as important instruments of presidential administration. In contrast to the so-called “deep state” of career civil servants who persist at agencies across presidencies, we suggest that advisory committees constitute a “shallow state” whose composition ebbs and flows with the political tides. This “shallow state” presents both a contrast with and a counterweight to the “deep state” of agency careerists. At the same time, advisory committees serve a legitimating function for the administrative state, increasing agency responsiveness to electoral politics. We conclude by considering the implications of this account for judicial review of agency action and for long-running separation-of-powers debates.
A Physiological Basis for Nonheritable Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics constitute one of the cornerstones of modern medicine. However, individuals may succumb to a bacterial infection if a pathogen survives exposure to antibiotics. The ability of bacteria to survive bactericidal antibiotics results from genetic changes in the preexisting bacterial genome, from the acquisition of genes from other organisms, and from nonheritable phenomena that give rise to antibiotic tolerance. Nonheritable antibiotic tolerance can be exhibited by a large fraction of the bacterial population or by a small subpopulation referred to as persisters. Nonheritable resistance to antibiotics has been ascribed to the activity of toxins that are part of toxin-antitoxin modules, to the universal energy currency ATP, and to the signaling molecule guanosine (penta) tetraphosphate. However, these molecules are dispensable for nonheritable resistance to antibiotics in many organisms. By contrast, nutrient limitation, treatment with bacteriostatic antibiotics, or expression of genes that slow bacterial growth invariably promote nonheritable resistance. We posit that antibiotic persistence results from conditions promoting feedback inhibition among core cellular processes, resulting phenotypically in a slowdown or halt in bacterial growth.
Financial wellness programs in the workplace: Evidence from employers in the caregiving industry

Employee financial wellness programs (EFWPs), a new type of employee benefit, claim to address workers’ financial challenges and improve business results. However, evidence of such advantages remai...
Optical imaging of stimulation-evoked cortical activity using GCaMP6f and jRGECO1a.

Background Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs), especially the GCaMP-based green fluorescence GECIs have been widely used for in vivo detection of neuronal activity in rodents by measuring intracellular neuronal Ca2+ changes. More recently, jRGECO1a, a red shifted GECI, has been reported to detect neuronal Ca2+ activation. This opens the possibility of using dual-color GECIs for simultaneous interrogation of different cell populations. However, there has been no report to compare the functional difference between these two GECIs for in vivo imaging. Here, a comparative study is reported on neuronal responses to sensory stimulation using GCaMP6f and jRGECO1a that were virally delivered into the neurons in the somatosensory cortex of two different groups of animals, respectively. Methods GCaMP6f and jRGECO1a GECI were virally delivered to sensory cortex. After 3-4 weeks, the animals were imaged to capture the spatiotemporal changes of neuronal Ca2+ and the hemodynamic responses to forepaw electrical stimulation (0.3 mA, 0.3 ms/pulse, 0.03 Hz). The stimulation-evoked neuronal Ca2+ transients expressed with GCaMP6f or jRGECO1a were recorded during the baseline period and after an acute cocaine administration (1 mg/kg, i.v.). Results Histology confirmed that the efficiency of jRGECO1a and GCaMP6f expression into the cortical neurons was similar, i.e., 34%±3% and 32.7%±1.6%, respectively. Our imaging in vivo showed that the hemodynamic responses to the stimulation were the same between jRGECO1a and GCaMP6f expressed groups. Although the stimulation-evoked fluorescence change (∆F/F) and the time-to-peak of the neuronal Ca2+ transients were not significantly different between these two indicators, the full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) duration of the ∆F/F rise in the jRGECO1a-expressed group (0.16±0.02 s) was ~50 ms or 46% longer than that of the GCaMP6f group (0.11±0.003 s), indicating a longer recovery time in jRGECO1a than in GCaMP6f transients (P<0.01). This is likely due to the longer off rate of jRGECO1a than that of GCaMP6f. After cocaine, the time-to-peak of Ca2+ transients was delayed and their FWHM duration was prolonged for both expression groups, indicating that these are cocaine's effects on neuronal Ca2+ signaling and not artifacts due to the property differences of the GCEIs. Conclusions This study shows that both jRGECO1a and GCaMP6f have sufficient sensitivity for tracking single-stimulation-evoked Ca2+ transients to detect neuronal activities from the brain. Since these GECIs are emitted at the different wavelengths, it will be possible to use them together to characterize the activity of different cell types (e.g., neurons and astrocytes) to study brain activation and brain functional changes in normal or diseased brains.
Deep neural networks for accurate predictions of crystal stability.

Predicting the stability of crystals is one of the central problems in materials science. Today, density functional theory (DFT) calculations remain comparatively expensive and scale poorly with system size. Here we show that deep neural networks utilizing just two descriptors—the Pauling electronegativity and ionic radii—can predict the DFT formation energies of C3A2D3O12 garnets and ABO3 perovskites with low mean absolute errors (MAEs) of 7–10 meV atom−1 and 20–34 meV atom−1, respectively, well within the limits of DFT accuracy. Further extension to mixed garnets and perovskites with little loss in accuracy can be achieved using a binary encoding scheme, addressing a critical gap in the extension of machine-learning models from fixed stoichiometry crystals to infinite universe of mixed-species crystals. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of these models to rapidly transverse vast chemical spaces to accurately identify stable compositions, accelerating the discovery of novel materials with potentially superior properties. Crystal stability prediction is of paramount importance for novel material discovery, with theoretical approaches alternative to expensive standard schemes highly desired. Here the authors develop a deep learning approach which, just using two descriptors, provides crystalline formation energies with very high accuracy.
The association between sarcopenia and bladder cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality after radical cystectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To compare cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and all-cause mortality (ACM) between patients with and without sarcopenia who underwent radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.Materials and me...
Reverse Transcriptase Real-Time PCR Assay for the Rapid Enumeration of Live Candida auris from the Healthcare Environment

ABSTRACT Ongoing healthcare-associated outbreaks of multidrug-resistant yeast Candida auris have prompted development of several rapid DNA-based molecular diagnostic tests. These tests do not distinguish between live and dead C. auris cells, limiting their use for environmental surveillance and containment efforts. We addressed this critical gap by developing a reverse transcriptase (RT) real-time PCR assay for rapid detection of live C. auris in healthcare environments. The assay targets the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) cDNA of C. auris, amplified by obtaining pure RNA followed by reverse transcription and real-time PCR assay. The assay was highly sensitive, with the detection limit of ten colony-forming units (CFU) per RT real-time PCR reaction. In C. auris viability studies, ITS2 cDNA was detectable in heat- and ethanol-killed C. auris cells, but not bleach-killed cells. Validation studies showed no cycle threshold (Ct) values were obtained from samples on a sponge matrix spiked with either dead C. auris (105/ml) or other Candida species (105/ml), while most environmental samples spiked with 102 to 105 CFU of live C. auris yielded positive Ct values. Finally, 33 environmental samples positive for C. auris DNA but negative by culture were all negative by RT real-time PCR assay, confirming concordance between culture and the assay. The RT real-time PCR assay appears highly reproducible, robust, and specific for detecting live C. auris from environmental samples, and could be an invaluable tool in surveillance efforts to control the spread of live C. auris in healthcare environments.
Global Leadership in Real Estate and Design

Within the global constellation of increasingly connected urban centers, shifts in cultural preferences, design thinking, and spatial signification often reflect parallel transitions in capital forces and economic realities, locally and across the globe. The premise of the Global Leadership in Real Estate and Design course at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design lies in the belief that globalization inexorably imposes unprecedented forces and tensions that directly impact the formation and production of the urban built environment. The pedagogical focus of this course is twofold: to establish an intellectual framework for students to understand and embrace the interrelationship between real estate and design so that creativity and design thinking become a value-adding and differentiating component in real estate thought leadership and development; and to encourage students to rethink, anticipate, and reinvent practice paradigms in an academic setting that respond to exigent and transformative environmental, market, and cultural changes, while fully leveraging a semester-long, active engagement with contemporaneous but ever-shifting global urban contexts.
Elevated risk of substance use disorder and suicidal ideation among Black and Hispanic lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults.

Abstract Objective Black and Hispanic persons who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) experience health disparities relative to non-Hispanic White and heterosexual groups respectively, including higher rates of suicidal ideation (SI) and substance use disorder (SUD). To elucidate intersectional risk, we used a large national sample to examine rates of SI, SUD, and their co-occurrence (SI + SUD) at the intersection of sexual identity and race/ethnicity. Method Data were from five years (2015–2019) of the National Survey of Drug Use and Heath (unweighted N = 189,127). Multinomial logistic regressions with persons without SI and SUD as references were stratified by gender and controlled for survey year, age, education, marital status, and income. Results Compared to same-race and same-gender heterosexual adults, White, Black, and Hispanic LGB men and women showed higher odds of SI (AOR = 2.86–4.45), SUD (AOR = 1.23–3.01), and SI + SUD (AOR = 2.72–6.85). Compared to same-gender White heterosexual adults, Black and Latinx heterosexual men and women showed lower odds of SI (AORs = .54–.65), SUD (AORs = .52–.78) and SI + SUD (AORs = .41–.57). Compared to same-gender White LGB adults, Black and Hispanic women, but not men, showed lower SI odds (AORs = .58–.72). Compared to same-gender White heterosexual adults, Black and Hispanic LGB men and women showed higher odds of SI (AORs = 1.71–2.51) and SI + SUD (AORs = 1.91–2.97). Conclusions Consistent with research showing effects of multiple minority stress on behavioral health, adults with intersecting racial/ethnic and sexual minority identities showed increased odds of SI, SUD, and SI + SUD relative to Non-Hispanic White heterosexual peers. Black, Hispanic, and White LGB adults may benefit from screening and intervention for SI and SUD.
Advancing research on recurrent pregnancy loss: Overcoming obstacles and opportunities for translation.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is one of the most complex and challenging scenarios in reproductive medicine. New theories about the mechanisms behind RPL have recently emerged, highlighting the multifactorial nature of this serious pregnancy complication. Unfortunately, these preclinical observations are rarely validated in the human scenario, where treatment remains ineffective and empirical. New technologies such as organoids, organ-on-a-chip, and 3D printing can be used to characterize the molecular cross talk between the uterine environment with its unique inflammatory cells and the developing embryo. Understanding the mechanisms behind RPL and identifying mediators and effectors and validating these targets for prevention and therapy in humans will have a profound impact on women's health.
Study of delayed hypersensitivity to myxoviruses induced by vaccines.

Abstract The delayed hypersensitivity response of guinea pigs to Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and myxovirus vaccines was investigated by use of the techniques of skin testing and inhibition of macrophage migration. A serum antibody response to the injected vaccines was readily demonstrable. Parainfluenza type 2 virus consistently failed to induce a delayed hypersensitivity state in 15 animals, even with the use of a virus adjuvant emulsion. Respiratory syncytial virus occupied an intermediate position in that positive delayed type skin tests of an erythematous nature were elicited following inoculation, but only two of seven guinea pigs yielded a positive migration inhibition test. In mumps-inoculated animals, skin testing gave rise to erythematous delayed skin reactions which varied from 0 to 20 mm in size. Migration inhibition could be demonstrated in 7 of 21 animals. In almost all guinea pigs inoculated with BCG, large, indurated, erythematous skin reactions were elicited, and inhibition of macrophage migration was readily demonstrated. The degree of skin reactivity was positively correlated with inhibition of macrophage migration. If the skin reaction to a specific antigen exceeded 9 mm of erythema, that antigen also inhibited macrophage migration. Skin testing proved to be the most sensitive indicator of viral hypersensitivity. Migration inhibition was demonstrated only when a greater than 8-mm skin reaction was evoked. This cellular hypersensitivity appeared to be a qualitative phenomenon, the expression of which could be heightened by the use of adjuvant. The applicability and sensitivity of the migration inhibition technique is considered relative to its use for in vitro monitoring of effects of viral vaccine inoculations.
SiGe profile optimization for low noise using microscopic noise simulation

This paper explores the RF noise physics and SiGe profile optimization for low noise using microscopic noise simulation. A higher Ge gradient in a noise critical region near the EB junction reduces impedance field and hence minimum noise figure. A higher Ge gradient near the EB junction, together with an unconventional Ge retrograding in the base to keep total Ge content below stability, when optimized, can lead to significant noise improvement without sacrificing peak f/sub T/ and without any significant high injection f/sub T/ rolloff degradation.
Experimental systematics of particle lifetimes and widths

By comparing the lifetimes of the metastable (τ>10−17 s) elementary particles with one another, we find experimentally that these lifetimes occur both as ratios of 2 and as ratios of α=e2/ħc, with supposedly dissimilar particles grouped together, and with no experimental counterexamples. When short-lived (τ ∼ 10−22 s) meson and baryon resonances are studied, it is found that the width is a key identification symbol. Grouping together resonances that have similar (narrow) widths, we obtain very accurate linear mass intervals. This mapping can be extended to include essentially all of the observed narrow-width meson and baryon resonances in a comprehensive pattern. These results suggest a weak-binding-energy approach to elementary-particle structure. This is the same conclusion that emerges from a broad overview of the successes of the quark model. The empirical level spacings point to the existence of two basic mass quanta, a spinless quantum μ ⋍ 70 MeV and a spin-1/2 quantumS ⋍ 330 MeV. Electromagnetic properties of nucleons also indicate the existence of the 330 MeV mass quantum. In reconciling a 330 MeV mass quantumS with a 939 MeV nucleon mass and a 1795 MeV\(\bar pn\) bound-state mass, we are led to the Fermi and Yang formulation of the nucleon rather than to the formulation of Gell-Mann and Zweig. The observed spectrum of narrow-width meson and baryon resonances can be reproduced by forming suitable combinations of the quanta μ andS. Broad-width resonances are interpreted as rotational excitations. Basis states 3 ≡ 3μ and 4 ≡ 4μ, initially selected to account for observed level spacings in hyperon resonances, are shown to have significance with respect to strangeness quantum numbers and with respect to basic characteristics of baryon and meson resonances. These basis states can also be used to account phenomenologically for the observed factors of 2 and α in the lifetimes of the metastable resonances. The predictive power of the present linear systematics is illustrated in a «meson excitation tower» for narrow-width resonances. First published in 1970, this excitation tower is shown with separate groupings for the resonances that were identified in 1970 and for the resonances that have subsequently been identified.
Comparison of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase from human, rat, pig and cow liver. Biochemical and immunological properties.

Abstract Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD, EC 1.3.1.2) is the initial and rate-limiting enzyme in the catabolic pathway of pyrimidines and has an important role in cancer chemotherapy with fluoropyrimidine drugs. Recently, we purified and characterized this enzyme from human liver and raised a rabbit polyclonal antibody against the purified human enzyme (Lu et al ., J Biol Chem 267 : 17102-17109, 1992). In the present study, using this purification procedure, DPD was purified to homogeneity from three other mammalian species, i.e. pig, rat, and cow. Comparison of the biochemical properties of these purified enzymes was conducted. Molecular masses of DPD from human, pig, rat, and cow liver were: 210, 204, 210, and 216 kDa, respectively. DPD from all four species appeared to be composed of two subunits. The apparent pI values were 4.6,4.8,4.85, and 5.25, respectively. Kinetic studies with uracil, thymine, 5-fluorouracil, and NADPH were carried out with the purified DPD preparation, suggesting species differences in kinetic parameters. Amino acid composition of these purified enzymes also demonstrated slight species differences. In the present study, a rabbit polyclonal antibody against rat liver DPD was raised. Using polyclonal antibodies against human and rat liver DPD, immunoblotting demonstrated cross-reactivity among the four species. In summary, purification and comparison of DPD from different mammalian species will provide a basis for further biochemical and molecular studies of this enzyme.
Refugees and legal reform in Iraq: The Iraqi Civil Code, international standards for the treatment of displaced persons, and the art of attainable solutions

A recent report by Refugees International notes that Iraq is currently faced with one of the most acute displacement crises in the world, with over 5 million Iraqis displaced by violence - 2.7 million of whom are internally displaced within Iraq. Such a situation creates not only a humanitarian crisis but also a perverse opportunity for insurgents and militia groups to exploit the displacement crisis in order to legitimate themselves and achieve geo-political goals. It is critical, therefore, to find adequate remedies for displaced person and forge a sustainable, long-term solution to the ongoing displacement crisis. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the Pinheiro Principles provide an articulation of the rights and obligations relating to displaced persons under international law. Those instruments make certain demands on a nation's substantive civil law, primarily in the way the nation's legal architecture frames the nature of ownership; the means of restitution; and the protection given to secondary occupants. The existing Iraqi civil law system is an adequate legal scheme for providing restitution to property owners who have been displaced or who have suffered a loss due to damaged property. Although it contains a major "blind spot" in a lack of remedies for those who lose property due to military action, such a blind spot is not due to any organic defect in the Iraqi legal system but, rather, the imposition of legislation by the CPA. This exception notwithstanding, the provisions of the Iraqi Civil Code provide a legal scheme to effect restitution that is compliant with the demands of international law.
Dementia among elderly apolipoprotein E type 4/4 homozygotes: a prospective study

The E * 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene on chromosome 19 has been shown to be an age- and dose-related risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Of 870 elderly women participating in an osteoporosis study, 13 were previously found to be homozygous for the APOE * 4 allele; 1 was deceased and the rest were assessed for dementia in a piggyback study of dementia. One had moderate [clinical dementia rating (CDR) = 2], 2 had mild dementia (CDR = 1), and 2 had possible dementia (CDR = 0.5). All 3 women over 80 years were definitely demented (CDR ≥ 1). Typically, genetic studies of Alzheimer's and other dementias require the identification and diagnosis of large numbers of demented subjects, at considerable expense, followed by genotyping or phenotyping with a relatively low yield of individuals with rare alleles. We demonstrate a more cost-effective approach in which the population is first phenotyped and then stratified by phenotype, so that diagnostic evaluation can be restricted to individuals with the phenotype of interest.