cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chebyshev Collocation in Polymer Field Theory: Application to Wetting Phenomena

An efficient numerical self-consistent field theory (SCFT) algorithm is developed for polymer systems subject to nonperiodic boundary conditions. The method involves collocation with a Chebyshev polynomial basis in order to solve the modified diffusion equations of SCFT and relax the fields experienced by polymer segments to a consistent mean-field solution. For Dirichlet boundary conditions on a block copolymer film, we demonstrate that the Chebyshev scheme preserves spectral accuracy, unlike existing methods based on collocation with a Fourier sine basis or finite differences. This advantage is shown to translate into significant benefits for accuracy, computational cost, and memory requirements in high-resolution SCFT simulations of meso and nanostructured polymer thin films. As a nontrivial application of the new Chebyshev method, the static wetting behavior of a two-dimensional fluid polymer droplet on a solid surface was investigated via SCFT simulations. The interaction between the surface and poly...
Comparison of Multivariate Means across Groups with Ordinal Dependent Variables: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is a widely used technique for simultaneously comparing means for multiple dependent variables across two or more groups. MANOVA rests on several assumptions, including that of multivariate normality. Much prior research has investigated the performance of standard MANOVA with continuous, nonnormally distributed variables. However, very little work has examined its performance when the dependent variables are ordinal in nature. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the performance of standard MANOVA with ordinal dependent variables, and to compare it with several alternatives that might prove superior in this context. Results of the simulation study demonstrated that methods based on ranks, and spatial ranks and signs were optimal in terms of controlling the Type I error rate and maintaining reasonably high power. All of the methods considered here were applied to an existing dataset, and implications of the study results for practice are discussed.
Muslim Modernism and Trans-regional Consciousness in Bengal, 1911–1925: The Wide World of Samyabadi

Histories of Marxism in South Asia often focus on the great men of colonial Indian politics, such as M. N. Roy, who imagined political futures away from nation or identity, or narrowly on activists like Muzaffar Ahmad, the founder of the Communist Party of India, without consideration of the regional-historical and intellectual contexts out of which such activism and imaginations sprang. Using the Bengali Muslim context of the early twentieth century, this article examines how Muslim activists imagined their identity outside of and beyond normative frameworks such as nation or religious community. This article specifically analyses Samyabadi, a left-oriented journal published in Calcutta from 1922 to 1925, in the larger context of communist developments in Bengal and throughout India. The findings offer exciting support for new research approaches to regional and religious identity in late colonial South Asia.
Exploring the Effectiveness of Outreach Strategies in Conservation Projects: The Case of the Audubon Toyota TogetherGreen Program

ABSTRACTSuccessfully engaging target audiences represents a key challenge for environmental conservation projects. In this study, we examined 354 conservation projects implemented across the United States with the intention of systematically exploring the relationships between different forms of outreach (in particular, message content and delivery) and self-reported project outcomes. Using end-of-program retrospective surveys, we found that experiential engagement and directly demonstrating and/or communicating the ease of potential conservation actions were most consistently related to achieving desired project outcomes. Although it was thought to be largely effective by project managers, we found that focusing on equipping audiences with new knowledge was negatively related to conservation outcomes. Measured outreach variables explained between 15% and 17% of the variance in project outcomes, suggesting a wide variety of unmeasured factors at play. We discuss insights relevant to engaging target audien...
Interventional Radiology Patient Throughput QI Project

PURPOSE: The Interventional Radiology Center team performs up to 700 invasive procedures every month. Due to various inefficiencies and system limitations, procedure room downtime between patient cases averages 65 hours per week. Subsequently, the department experiences delayed case starts, reduced capacity, delayed inpatient discharge, patient and staff dissatisfaction, and significant financial cost. The purpose of this project is to achieve a 15% short term and 50% long term reduction in room downtime. Additional areas of focus include patient delays, patient volumes, staff satisfaction, and financial cost.
Genetically engineered crops and pesticide use in U.S. maize and soybeans

The widespread adoption of genetically engineered (GE) crops has clearly led to changes in pesticide use, but the nature and extent of these impacts remain open questions. We study this issue with a unique, large, and representative sample of plot-level choices made by U.S. maize and soybean farmers from 1998 to 2011. On average, adopters of GE glyphosate-tolerant (GT) soybeans used 28% (0.30 kg/ha) more herbicide than nonadopters, adopters of GT maize used 1.2% (0.03 kg/ha) less herbicide than nonadopters, and adopters of GE insect-resistant (IR) maize used 11.2% (0.013 kg/ha) less insecticide than nonadopters. When pesticides are weighted by the environmental impact quotient, however, we find that (relative to nonadopters) GE adopters used about the same amount of soybean herbicides, 9.8% less of maize herbicides, and 10.4% less of maize insecticides. In addition, the results indicate that the difference in pesticide use between GE and non-GE adopters has changed significantly over time. For both soybean and maize, GT adopters used increasingly more herbicides relative to nonadopters, whereas adopters of IR maize used increasingly less insecticides. The estimated pattern of change in herbicide use over time is consistent with the emergence of glyphosate weed resistance.
A state space decomposition algorithm for approximate FSM traversal

Approximate FSM traversal is very useful in many applications of interest, when the size of the problem to be solved is too large to be handled by exact methods. The quality of the approximation strongly depends on how state variables are partitioned to decompose the state space, and exploiting circuit structure appears to be the most promising technique to determine a good state variable partition. In this paper we formulate the state space decomposition problem as a graph problem to be solved on the latch connection graph the FSM under investigation. Structural analysis on that graph is used to determine an initial partition; breaking and aggregation, based on seed generation, clustering, and iterative refinement of the current result, are then performed on the initial solution. Approximate FSM traversal results obtained on the largest ISCAS89 examples show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. >
Context-dependent foraging and enemy-free space: Grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) searching for grasshoppers (Acrididae)

Aspect diversity and enemy-free-space hypotheses (Ricklefs & O’Rourke, 1975; Jeffries & Lawton, 1984) predict that predation pressure on coexisting prey taxa should result in prey communities composed of dissimilar appearing species because of competition for enemy-free space (traits that reduce a species’ vulnerability to natural enemies). For cryptic prey, the aspect diversity hypothesis further specifies that overall searching capabilities of visually oriented predators are best when prey are morphologically similar in appearance. This study examines searching efficiency by the insectivorous Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) in a community context when foraging for multiple, cryptic grasshopper species (Acrididae) as prey in an outdoor aviary. I tested the prediction that these birds search more efficiently when faced with morphologically similar versus dissimilar combinations of prey species. Different prey species combinations significantly altered bird searching ability, indicating that Grasshopper Sparrows forage in a context-dependent manner. However, results did not generally demonstrate foraging behaviors expected from the aspect diversity hypothesis, in that searching efficiency was not significantly better when confronted with a group of morphologically more similar (versus dissimilar) prey taxa. Searching efficiency increases with higher prey densities at naturally occurring levels, but the impact of different prey species associations appears to be more important. No statistical interaction was observed between grasshopper species combination and overall density for any of the measures of foraging efficiency, suggesting that the impact of these two factors on the success of Grasshopper Sparrows at finding prey are independent. Additional factors that also affect prey assemblies must be factored in to understand predator-prey community dynamics.
Drosophila models of prionopathies: insight into prion protein function, transmission, and neurotoxicity

Prion diseases (PrD) are unique neurodegenerative conditions with sporadic, genetic, and infectious etiologies. The agent responsible for these pathologies is a misfolded conformation of the prion protein (PrP). Although a process of autocatalytic “conversion” is known to mediate disease transmission, important gaps still remain regarding the physiological function of PrP and its relevance to pathogenesis, the molecular and cellular mechanisms mediating neurotoxicity and transmission, and the PrP conformations responsible for neurotoxicity. New Drosophila models expressing mammalian PrP have revealed physiological insight into PrP function and opened the door to significant progress in prion transmission and PrP neurotoxicity. Importantly, flies expressing human PrP showing a robust eye phenotype will allow performing genetic screens to uncover novel mechanisms mediating PrP neurotoxicity.
2 – Nitric Oxide Complexes of Metalloproteins: An Introductory Overview

This chapter provides an introductory overview to nitric oxide complexes of metalloproteins. A large number of iron-containing proteins form nitrosyl complexes. Heme proteins, iron-sulfur proteins, and other iron proteins such as nonheme iron dioxygenases all form characteristic nitrosyl complexes. In enzymes in which the metal center has an open coordination position, NO often can be bound without severe disruption of the site. Iron-sulfur centers form NO complexes that require the disruption of the complex and almost certainly at least some unfolding of the polypeptide. Reversibility of NO binding in these proteins is not enough to regain function; it would be necessary to reform the clusters and partially refold the proteins. This chapter begins with a discussion on nitric oxide as a paramagnetic ligand. It explains concepts related to nitric oxide complexes of ferrohemes in proteins. The chapter also describes nitric oxide complexes of iron-sulfur proteins. An overview of nitric oxide complexes of other nonheme iron proteins is also presented in this chapter. The chapter elaborates, in detail, copper complexes, and concludes with a discussion on electron paramagnetic resonance.
A case report of unexpected pathology within an incarcerated ventral hernia.

Abstract Introduction Incidence of hernial appendicitis is 0.008%, most frequently within inguinal and femoral hernias. Up to 2.5% of appendectomy patients are found to have Crohn’s disease. Elucidating the etiology of inflammation is essential for directing management. Presentation of case A 51-year-old female with achondroplastic dwarfism, multiple cesarean sections, and subsequent massive incisional hernia, presented with ruptured appendicitis within her incarcerated hernia. She underwent diagnostic laparoscopy, appendectomy, intra-abdominal abscess drainage, and complete reduction of ventral hernia contents. She developed a nonhealing colocutaneous fistula, causing major disruptions to her daily life. She elected to undergo hernia repair with component separation for anticipated lack of domain secondary to her body habitus. Her operative course consisted of open abdominal exploration, adhesiolysis, colocutaneous fistula repair, ileocolic resection and anastomosis, and hernia repair with bioresorbable mesh. She tolerated the procedure well. Unexpectedly, ileocolic pathology demonstrated chronic active ileitis, diagnostic of Crohn’s disease. Discussion Only two cases of hernial Crohn’s appendicitis have been reported, both within Spigelian hernias. Appendiceal inflammation inside a hernia sac may be attributed to ischemia from extraluminal compression of the hernia neck. This case demonstrates a rare presentation of multiple concurrent surgical disease processes, each of which impact the patient’s treatment plan. Conclusion This is the first report of incisional hernia appendicitis with nonhealing colocutaneous fistulas secondary to Crohn’s. It is a lesson in developing a differential diagnosis of an inflammatory process within an incarcerated hernia and management of the complications related to laparoscopic hernial appendectomy in a patient with undiagnosed Crohn’s disease.
Deep learning inspired prognostics scheme for applications generating big data

In this paper, the relevance of deep neural network (DNN) is studied in big data scenarios, specifically for prognostics applications. It is observed that fault predictions can be performed more efficiently when DNN is used with a pre-processing step. A novel hierarchical dimension reduction (HDR) approach is therefore proposed as a pre-processing step to DNN. This two-step approach is shown to be effective in extracting value from complex and uncertain big data. It is shown that use of HDR prior to DNN improves convergence and allows for the possibility of reduction in model size without any drop in accuracy. A comprehensive methodology is developed to facilitate prognostics using DNN. Simulation results are included to demonstrate the overall methodology using big data-sets.
Advances in basic and clinical immunology in 2008.

We reviewed selected reports in the field of basic and clinical immunology published in 2008. Research progress in the immunologic mechanisms of allergic disease included the modulation of T H 2 responses by specific transcription factors and receptors associated with the innate immunity, underscoring the importance of the interactions between adaptive and innate immune mechanisms. Investigations of the pathophysiology of hereditary angioedema included a variety of host factors with roles in bradykinin metabolism and vasomotor activity, explaining the variable severity of the clinical presentation. The research focus in HIV infection has shifted from control of disease progression to the barriers for viral eradication, and the search for vaccine designs that provide immunity in the short window between infection and establishment of viral reservoirs. HIV-infected individuals who receive antiviral treatment develop a high incidence of asthma, resembling the inflammatory processes associated with immunoreconstitution. The correlation of molecular diagnosis and clinical presentation was analyzed in 4 relatively rare primary immunodeficiencies: hyper-IgE syndrome; immune dysfunction, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked disease; cartilage-hair hypoplasia; and nuclear factor-κB essential modulator deficiency. Studies of patients with partial DiGeorge syndrome and chronic granulomatous disease unveiled subclinical deficiencies that might have an impact in their care. Long-term outcomes from patients with severe combined immunodeficiency who received bone marrow transplants were considered successful compared with the alternative of no intervention. However, the occurrence of adverse events reinforces the need for coordinate efforts to develop optimal protocols for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for severe immune defects.
Inhibition of azoxymethane-induced colonic aberrant crypt foci formation by silibinin in male Fisher 344 rats

4975 Colon cancer is one of the major causes of cancer mortality in the United States of America. Early detection and prevention are the important alternative approaches to control colon cancer. Recently, substantial attention has been focused on identifying naturally occurring chemopreventive compounds capable of inhibiting early events involved in malignant transformation. Of late, laboratory studies have demonstrated that silibinin exhibits various biological activities and significantly inhibits tumorigenesis at various organ sites in several rodent models. The present study is an attempt to investigate the dose-dependent effect of dietary silibinin on azoxymethane (AOM)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) formation in Fisher 344 male rats. In addition, we analyzed the effect of silibinin on cell proliferation and the induction of apoptosis by immunohistochemical staining during AOM-induced ACF formation. Five-week-old male F344 rats were randomly divided into 12 groups and fed AIN-76A control diet (group 1) or diet supplemented with 0.033, 0.1, 0.33 or 1% (w/w) silibinin (groups 3-6) till the end of the study. Two weeks later, rats in groups 2-11 were given s.c. injection of AOM once a week for 2 weeks at a concentration of 15 mg/kg body weight. Two weeks after the last AOM injection, rats in groups 7-11 were fed with diet containing 0.033, 0.1, 0.33 or 1% silibinin or 0.032% sulindac. Rats in group 12 were fed with diet containing 1% silibinin alone throughout the study. At 16 weeks of age, the rats were sacrificed, and their colons were evaluated for ACF. The results of this study revealed that silibinin significantly (P
Dexmedetomidine promotes biomimetic non-rapid eye movement stage 3 sleep in humans: A pilot study

Abstract Objectives Sleep, which comprises of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM stages 1-3 (N1-N3), is a natural occurring state of decreased arousal that is crucial for normal cardiovascular, immune and cognitive function. The principal sedative drugs produce electroencephalogram beta oscillations, which have been associated with neurocognitive dysfunction. Pharmacological induction of altered arousal states that neurophysiologically approximate natural sleep, termed biomimetic sleep, may eliminate drug-induced neurocognitive dysfunction. Methods We performed a prospective, single-site, three-arm, randomized-controlled, crossover polysomnography pilot study (n = 10) comparing natural, intravenous dexmedetomidine- (1-μg/kg over 10 minutes [n = 7] or 0.5-μg/kg over 10 minutes [n = 3]), and zolpidem-induced sleep in healthy volunteers. Sleep quality and psychomotor performance were assessed with polysomnography and the psychomotor vigilance test, respectively. Sleep quality questionnaires were also administered. Results We found that dexmedetomidine promoted N3 sleep in a dose dependent manner, and did not impair performance on the psychomotor vigilance test. In contrast, zolpidem extended release was associated with decreased theta (∼5-8 Hz; N2 and N3) and increased beta oscillations (∼13-25 Hz; N2 and REM). Zolpidem extended release was also associated with increased lapses on the psychomotor vigilance test. No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions Pharmacological induction of biomimetic N3 sleep with psychomotor sparing benefits is feasible. Significance These results suggest that alpha2a adrenergic agonists may be developed as a new class of sleep enhancing medications with neurocognitive sparing benefits.
High-ACE Low Wage Workers: Occupational Health Nursing Research and Praxis Through a Trauma-Informed Lens.

Individuals with a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) disproportionately have poor mental and physical health outcomes. These experiences affect individuals across the life span extend...
Limitations of teaching endoscopy.

Background and aim Endoscopic procedures of the gastrointestinal tract represent a category of diagnostic tests that considerably rely on skills and dexterity of a human tester. The present analysis aimed to delineate factors that affect the success of teaching endoscopy and potentially limit the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. Methods The performance of the endoscopist is described in terms of sensitivity and specificity. The outcomes of sequential testing and acquisition of new knowledge are calculated using matrix algebra. Teaching is modeled as an iterative process with an incremental improvement in a fellow's performance matrix. Results As a diagnostician, an endoscopist cannot measure beyond his/her own level of competence. The cognition and endoscopic skills of both the fellow and the attending physician determine how fast the fellow's endoscopic performance improves over time. The better the fellow's and the attending's abilities are to recognize and amend residual deficiencies, the faster the fellow's endoscopic performance improves. Severe or even complete diagnostic incompetence by either party can draw out the training process or even result in a complete standstill, respectively. Conclusion The description of endoscopic performance in terms of test characteristics provides valuable insights into the influence of endoscopic performance characteristics on the outcome of endoscopy and on the constraints of teaching endoscopic skills.
Unifying separation logic and region logic to allow interoperability

Framing is important for specification and verification, especially in programs that mutate data structures with shared data, such as DAGs. Both separation logic and region logic are successful approaches to framing, with separation logic providing a concise way to reason about data structures that are disjoint, and region logic providing the ability to reason about framing for shared mutable data. In order to obtain the benefits of both logics for programs with shared mutable data, this paper unifies them into a single logic, which can encode both of them and allows them to interoperate. The new logic thus provides a way to reason about program modules specified in a mix of styles.
Innovative Strategies: Targeting Subtypes in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Metastatic breast cancer continues to be a life-threatening diagnosis that impacts hundreds of thousands of patients around the world. Targeted therapies are usually associated with less toxicity compared with cytotoxic chemotherapies and often induce response or durable disease control in estrogen receptor (ER) and/or HER2+ breast cancers. Drugs that target CDK 4/6 either alone or in combination with endocrine therapy have demonstrated substantial improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with endocrine monotherapy. Most recently, PARP inhibitors have shown longer PFS compared with physician's choice of chemotherapy in BRCA-associated cancers, leading to the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a targeted therapy with the potential to benefit a subgroup of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Finally, newer drug delivery strategies using antibody drug conjugates have also allowed a "targeted approach" to deliver moderate to extremely potent cytotoxins directly to sites of metastatic disease, with less toxicity.
The Historical Setting

Early in the present century the public schools were asked to serve as the principal agency for inducting the youth of European immigrants into the social and economic ways of a new land. More recently, institutionalized education has been given an opportunity to contribute toward improving the quality of life for the non-European grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those Americans who were not principal beneficiaries of the earlier thrust. A key difference is that the present challenge also requires a basic restructuring of attitudes and policies across the entire social order, a process likely to produce mental anguish among both majority and minority elements of the population. Schools historically have been expected to serve as agencies for social preservation and for inducting youth into the ways of society. In the present they are also being called upon to help produce a basic reform in the way Americans behave toward one another—a rare and fateful challenge indeed.
Proteases for Neuropeptide Precursor Processing in Bovine Adrenal Medullary Chromaffin Granules

Neuropeptides acting as neurotransmitters and endocrine hormones are synthesized as protein precursors1,2. These precursors require specific proteolytic processing at dibasic (Lys-Arg, Lys-Lys, Arg-Arg, and Arg-Lys) and, less frequently, at monobasic arginine cleavage sites to generate the smaller active peptides. Processing of the prohormone occurs primarily in secretory vesicles1,2 where the physiologically relevant peptide is stored for secretion. It is also noted that some processing has been found to occur in the Golgi apparatus3,4.
Collaborative Edge-Cloud and Edge-Edge Video Analytics

According to YouTube statistics [1], more than 400 hours of content is uploaded to its platform every minute. At this rate, it is estimated that it would take more than 70 years of continuous watch time in order to view all content on YouTube, assuming no more content is uploaded. This raises great challenges when attempting to actively process and analyze video content. Real-time video processing is a critical element that brings forth numerous applications otherwise infeasible due to scalability constraints. Predictive models are commonly used, specifically Neural Networks (NNs), to accelerate processing time when analyzing realtime content. However, applying NNs is computationally expensive. Advanced hardware (e.g. graphics processing units or GPUs) and cloud infrastructure are usually utilized to meet the demand of processing applications. Nevertheless, recent work in the field of edge computing aims to develop systems that relieve the load on the cloud by delegating parts of the job to edge nodes. Such systems emphasize processing as much as possible within the edge node before delegating the load to the cloud in hopes of reducing the latency. In addition, processing content in the edge promotes the privacy and security of the data. One example is the work by Grulich et al. [2] where the edge node relieves some of the work load off the cloud by splitting, differentiating and compressing the NN used to analyze the content. Even though the collaboration between the edge node and the cloud expedites the processing time by relying on the edge node's capability, there is still room for improvement. Our proposal aims to utilize the edge nodes even further by allowing the nodes to collaborate among themselves as a para-cloud that minimizes the dependency on the primary processing cloud. We propose a collaborative system solution where a video uploaded on an edge node could be labeled and analyzed collaboratively without the need to utilize cloud resources. The proposed collaborative system is illustrated in Figure 1. The system consists of multiple edge nodes that acquire video content from different sources. Each node starts the analysis process via a specialized, smaller NN [3] utilizing the edge node's processing power. Whenever the load overwhelms the node or the node is unable to provide accurate analysis via its specialized NN, the node requests other edge nodes to collaborate on the analysis instead of delegating to the cloud resources. This way the high latency is avoided and other edge node processing power is utilized by splitting the NN among the different edge nodes and distributing the processing load between them. The main contribution of this proposed approach is the alternative conceptualization of collaborative computing: instead of building a system that allows collaboration between edge nodes and the cloud, we explore the prospective of collaboration between edge nodes, minimizing the involvement of the cloud resources even further.
Post-inflammatory mucosal hyperplasia and appendiceal diverticula simulate features of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms

Post-inflammatory mucosal hyperplasia and appendiceal diverticulosis simulate mucinous neoplasms, causing diagnostic confusion. Distinction between neoplasia and its mimics is particularly important since many authorities now consider all appendiceal mucinous neoplasms to be potentially malignant. The purpose of this study was to identify clinicopathologic and molecular features that may distinguish appendiceal mucinous neoplasms from non-neoplastic mimics. We retrospectively identified 92 mucinous lesions confined to the right lower quadrant, including 55 non-neoplastic examples of mucosal hyperplasia and/or diverticulosis and 37 low-grade neoplasms. Presenting symptoms, radiographic findings, appendiceal diameter, appearances of the lamina propria, non-neoplastic crypts, and epithelium, as well as mural changes were recorded. Twenty non-neoplastic lesions were subjected to KRAS mutational testing. Non-neoplastic appendices were smaller (p < 0.05) and more likely to present with symptoms of appendicitis (p < 0.05) than neoplasms. While post-inflammatory mucosal hyperplasia and diverticula often showed goblet cell-rich epithelium, extruded mucin pools, and patchy mural alterations with fibrosis, they always contained non-neoplastic crypts lined by mixed epithelial cell types and separated by lamina propria with predominantly preserved wall architecture. On the other hand, mucinous neoplasms lacked normal crypts (p < 0.05) and showed decreased lamina propria (p < 0.05) with diffusely thickened muscularis mucosae and lymphoid atrophy. Six (30%) non-neoplastic lesions contained KRAS mutations, particularly those containing goblet cell-rich hyperplastic epithelium. We conclude that distinction between neoplastic and non-neoplastic mucinous appendiceal lesions requires recognition of key morphologic features; KRAS mutational testing is an unreliable biomarker that cannot be used to assess biologic risk or confirm a diagnosis of neoplasia.
Flexibility of undulating magnetic microbeads swimmers

This study uses the effect of flexibility on the propulsive efficiency of swimmers that consist of superparamagnetic particles and which are subjected to an oscillating field to control the movement in a low Reynolds number environment. To achieve nonreciprocal motion for a flexible swimmer using a simple and stable structure, two types of artificial flexible swimmers are constructed using self-assembled beads without links and the flexibility and the bending rigidity are investigated under various frequencies. At a low frequency, both the head and the tail oscillate almost synchronously with the field, which leads to a nearly rigid and reciprocal oscillation. The phase angle trajectory for the head significantly leads the tail at a higher frequency of oscillation, which results in a prominent flexible structure and propulsion generation. Furthermore, the flexibility initially increases linearly with the frequency and then reaches the highest value at a specific frequency. The instantaneous velocity of the swimmer almost linearly increases with its flexibility. The most effective oscillating frequency to manipulate the locomotion for the magnetic microbeads swimmer would be at f=7-10 Hz, which resists the amplitude and enhances the flexibility of the microswimmer. Finally, a flexible swimmer associated with a moderate high oscillating amplitude is a favorable configuration for propulsion generation.
Narrative Authority: A Key to Culturally Competent Healthcare

Medicine is in the throes of disruptive change as it responds to the forces of globalization, multiculturalism, and dizzying technological progress. However, the practice of medicine and the design of healthcare remain problem-solving-oriented and mired in patriarchal, prescriptive responses to illness. In doing so medicine remains very directive, physician-oriented, and often blind to the various needs, beliefs, and understandings of the cultural and religious perspectives that patients bring to the examining room. In this changing landscape, contemporary healthcare needs revised practices and procedures to become narrative driven, i.e., founded on soliciting patients’ personal narratives, and guided by clear organizational narratives. In turn, the organization and the providers must become culturally competent and globally responsive, ethical, and attuned to the humanness of the other.
A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Engineering Identity in Students from Varied Academic Environments

Objective. The objective of this study is to correlate the variations in engineering identities in students from five different academic backgrounds with their likelihood to persist in engineering after graduation.
Evaluation of fosphenytoin, levetiracetam, and propofol as treatments for nerve agent-induced seizures in pediatric and adult rats.

Abstract Multiple recent instances of nerve agent (NA) exposure in civilian populations have occurred, resulting in a variety of negative effects and lethality in both adult and pediatric populations. Seizures are a prominent effect of NAs that can result in neurological damage and contribute to their lethality. Current anticonvulsant treatments for NAs are approved for adults, but no approved pediatric treatments exist. Further, the vast majority of NA-related research in animals has been conducted in adult male subjects. There is a need for research that includes female and pediatric populations in testing. In this project, adult and pediatric male and female rats were challenged with sarin or VX and then treated with fosphenytoin, levetiracetam, or propofol. In this study, fosphenytoin and levetiracetam failed to terminate seizure activity when animals were treated 5 min after seizure onset. Propofol was effective, exhibiting high efficacy and potency for terminating seizure activity quickly in pediatric and adult animals, suggesting it may be an effective anticonvulsant for NA-induced seizures in pediatric populations.
SLATE: Monitoring Distributed Kubernetes Clusters

The SLATE (Services Layer at the Edge) accelerates collaborative scientific computing through a secure container orchestration framework focused on the Science DMZ, enabling creation of advanced multi-institution platforms and novel science gateways. The goal of the SLATE project is to provide a secure federation platform to simplify deployment and operation of complex and often specialized services required by multi-institution scientific collaborations, utilizing where applicable open source, cloud native tooling such as Kubernetes. This paper outlines the design and operation of a monitoring infrastructure suitable for application developers and resource providers which gives visibility to resource utilization and service deployments across a network of independently managed Kubernetes clusters.
Structure and Mechanics of Bundled Semiflexible Polymer Networks

Fibrous networks of semiflexible polymers are prevalent in biological materials such as connective tissues, the cytoskeleton, and biofilm extracellular matrices. While the mechanical behavior of pe...
A multi-task deep-learning system for predicting membrane associations and secondary structures of proteins

Accurate prediction of secondary structures and transmembrane segments is often the first step towards modeling the tertiary structure of a protein. Existing methods are either specialized in one class of proteins or developed to predict one type of 1D structural attributes (secondary structure, topology, or transmembrane segment). In this work, we develop a new method for simultaneous prediction of secondary structure, transmembrane segment, and transmembrane topology with no a priori assumption on the class of the input protein sequence. The new method, Membrane Association and Secondary Structures of Proteins (MASSP) predictor, uses multi‐tiered neural networks that incorporate recent innovations in machine learning. The first tier is a multi-task multi-layer convolutional neural network (CNN) that learns patterns in image-like input position-specific-scoring matrices (PSSMs) and predicts residue-level 1D structural attributes. The second tier is a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network that treats the predictions of the first tier from the perspective of natural language processing and predicts the class of the input protein sequence. We curated a non-redundant data set consisting of 54 bitopic, 241 multi-spanning TM-alpha, 77 TM-beta, and 372 soluble proteins, respectively for training and testing MASSP. For secondary structure prediction, the mean three-state accuracy (Q3) of MASSP is 0.830, better than the Q3 of PSIPRED (0.829) and that of SPINE-X (0.813) and substantially better than that of Jufo9D (0.762) and RaptorX-Property (0.741). The mean segment overlap score (SOV) of MASSP is 0.752, gaining at least 7.7% improvement over all the other four methods. For transmembrane topology prediction, MASSP has a performance comparable to OCTOPUS and substantially better than MEMSAT3 and TMHMM2 on TM-alpha proteins, and on TM-beta proteins, MASSP is significantly better than both BOCTOPUS2 and PRED-TMBB2. By integrating prediction of secondary structure and transmembrane segments in a deep-learning framework, MASSP improves performance over previous methods, has broader applicability, and enables proteome scale predictions.
The Application of Good Agricultural Practices of White Pepper and Factors Affecting Farmer Participation

The productivity of white pepper plants and the low quality of yields are the main problems that should be corrected in the management of smallholder plantations in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province. This study aims to determine the factors affecting farmer participation in implementing GAP, as well as how the GAP was implemented. The study was conducted in 3 districts namely West Bangka, Central Bangka, and South Bangka as a center of white pepper production. The respondents consisting of 142 farmers who applied GAP and 82 non-GAP farmers. By using the logit model, it is found that older farmers, more educated, have more family members, have larger planting areas and farmers who are more active in participating in GAP socialization will have more chances of deciding to implement GAP. The implementation of white pepper GAP for each component, on average ranged from 67 to 95 percent.
Were British Cotton Entrepeneurs Technologically Backward? Firm-Level Evidence on the Adoption of Ring-Spinning

I study the slow adoption of ring spinning in Great Britain's cotton industry at the end of the 19th century, which has been used as evidence of British entrepreneurs' declining efficiency and conservatism (Musson, 1959; Aldcroft, 1964; Lazonick, 1981, 1981b). To this purpose I use firm-level data from all of Lancashire's cotton firms over several years. The data are from Worrall's The Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers' Directory for the years 1885, 1886–1887, 1890, 1894, 1902, and 1910. First, I show that the vertical organization of the industry, with its firms specializing in spinning or weaving, did not act as an impediment to the adoption of the ring spinning technology, as was argued by Lazonick. In particular, I show the following: i) non-integrated firms were the first to adopt rings in Great Britain; ii) the large majority of firms that adopted rings were incumbents; iii) vertically integrated firms that were spinning only either twist or weft yarn were still in existence in 1910; and iv) only a negligible number of firms changed their organizational structure upon adopting ring spinning. I also show that a large fraction of firms installed very small numbers of ring spindles upon the adoption of ring spinning, suggesting that firms were slowly adopting ring spindles to replace old mule spindles rather than transitioning over to ring spinning at a single point in time. Then, I show that the rate at which vertically integrated firms adopted rings suddenly accelerated after 1902. I interpret this as evidence that British entrepreneurs were fully aware of the technological complementarities between rings and automatic looms. These complementarities could only be fully exploited by vertically integrated firms.
Perioperative outcomes of laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy with and without hysterectomy: a secondary analysis of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Database.

The objective was to compare 30-day perioperative complications in women undergoing minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy with and without a concomitant hysterectomy. Using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, we identified women undergoing minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy between 2014 and 2018. Women were then stratified into two groups: sacrocolpopexy only and sacrocolpopexy + hysterectomy. The primary outcome was the occurrence of any 30-day postoperative complication. Group comparisons were performed using Student’s t test, Mann–Whitney U test, and Chi-squared test. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent factors associated with the occurrence of any complication. A total of 8,553 women underwent laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy, 5,123 (59.9%) of whom had a concomitant hysterectomy. Median operative time was longer in women who had sacrocolpopexy + hysterectomy compared with sacrocolpopexy alone (185 [129–241] versus 172 [130–224] min, p < 0.001). The rate of any 30-day postoperative complication did not differ between groups (sacrocolpopexy + hysterectomy 5.5% versus sacrocolpopexy alone 5.8%, p = 0.34). Likewise, organ space, deep, and superficial surgical site infections did not differ between groups. There was also no difference in reoperation or readmission rates between groups. On multivariate logistic regression, sacrocolpopexy + hysterectomy were not associated with increased odds of 30-day postoperative complications relative to women who underwent sacrocolpopexy alone. Complication rates during the first 30 days after minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy are low and concomitant hysterectomy is not associated with increased risks of 30-day complications after surgery.
Realizing the Power of Text Mining and Natural Language Processing for Analyzing Patient Safety Event Narratives: The Challenges and Path Forward.

ABSTRACT Patient safety event (PSE) reports are a useful lens to understand hazards and patient safety risks in healthcare systems. However, patient safety officers and analysts in healthcare systems and safety organizations are challenged to make sense of the ever-increasing volume of PSE reports, including the free-text narratives. As a result, there is a growing emphasis on applying text mining and natural language processing (NLP) approaches to assist in the processing and understanding of these narratives. Although text mining and NLP in healthcare have advanced significantly over the past decades, the utility of the resulting models, ontologies, and algorithms to analyze PSE narratives are limited given the unique difference and challenges in content and language between PSE narratives and clinical documentation. To promote the application of text mining and NLP for PSE narratives, these unique challenges must be addressed. Improving data access, developing NLP resources to practically use contributing factor taxonomies, and developing and adopting shared specifications for interoperability will help create an infrastructure and environment that unlocks the collaborative potential between patient safety, research, and machine learning communities, in the development of reproducible and generalizable methods and models to better understand and improve patient safety and patient care.
Inflammatory and Thrombotic Blood Markers and Walking‐Related Disability in Men and Women with and Without Peripheral Arterial Disease

Objectives: To determine whether higher circulating levels of thrombotic and inflammatory markers are associated with greater disability. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Academic medical center. Participants: A total of 346 men and women with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and 203 without PAD. Measurements: Disability measures were the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ) distance, speed, and stair-climbing scores and the 36-item Short-Form (SF-36) physical functioning score. The SF-36 and WIQ are scored on a 0 to 100 scale (100=best). Results: In persons with PAD, higher D-dimer levels were associated with lower WIQ speed scores (P<.001), lower stair-climbing scores (P<.04), and poorer SF-36 physical functioning scores (P<.01), adjusting for known and potential confounders. In participants without PAD, higher D-dimer levels were associated with lower WIQ distance scores (P<.03), lower speed scores (P<.05), and poorer SF-36 physical functioning scores (P<.02). Higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels were associated with lower WIQ distance (P<.02) and speed scores (P<.001) in persons without PAD. Most of these associations were attenuated after additional adjustment for objectively measured functional limitations. Conclusion: Higher circulating D-dimer and hsCRP levels are associated with greater disability in walking and physical functioning in individuals with and without PAD. Physiological changes that result in walking disability may mediate these associations.
Ainu Spirits Singing: The Living World of Chiri Yukie's Ainu Shin'yoshu

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Sarah M. Strong Year: 2011 Pages: 314 Publisher: University of Hawai'i Press ISBN: 9780824835125 (hard cover).
A Speck in the Crowd: Black Athletes on White Campuses.

(1977). A Speck in the Crowd: Black Athletes on White Campuses. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 48, Including Leisure Today, pp. 66-69.
Different DCCT‐aligned HbA1c methods and the GMS contract

Summary Background: Previously, different analytical methods could be compared on statistical and clinical grounds. Since 2003, the UK Departments of Health and general practitioners agreed a new primary care contract. This contract utilises clinical targets resulting in a third way to compare analytical methods. Methods: We compared two DCCT-aligned HbA1c analysers (Variant II analyser and a Tosoh G7) using 161 randomly selected patient specimens to see if different methods could lead to a difference in the classification for glycaemic control. Results: Ninety-seven (60.2%) and 109 (67.7%) patient specimens had a HbA1c ≤ 7.4% with the Variant II analyser and Tosoh G7 respectively, that is, the two methods differed according to the DM6 GMS target by 12 patients or 7.5% of the total number of patients in the study. When McNemar’s test was performed, the difference between the two methods was statistically significant with p < 0.00083. Conclusions: The National Glycohemoglobin Standardisation Programme has used clinical limits to set standards for HbA1c based on a clinical recommendation from the American Diabetes Association and has resulted in improved generalisability of results. The difference found in this study would not have affected payment under the current GMS contract. However, if the maximum threshold for payment was increased from 50% and/or the HbA1c target was decreased from 7.4%, then payment may be affected. It is important that policy makers and healthcare professionals appreciate the limitations of DCCT alignment for HbA1c methods.
The Abell 35-Type Planetary Nuclei

The nuclei of the low-surface-brightness PNe A 35, LoTr 1, and LoTr 5 are binaries containing rapidly rotating late-type subgiants or giants and extremely hot (T eff ≳ 100,000 K) companions detected by the IUE satellite. All three objects show low-amplitude, periodic photometric variations in the optical band (with periods of 0.76 or 3.3, 6.6, and 5.9 days, respectively).