cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differential Feature Space in Mean Shift Clustering for Automated Melanoma Assessment

Malignant melanoma is one of the most dangerous forms of skin cancer. However, an important aspect of this type of cancer is that, if detected early, it can be successfully treated. This characteristic makes automated early melanoma detection systems clinically desirable. Therefore, a novel technique for melanoma segmentation based in Mean Shift clustering methods along with a complete melanoma detection system was implemented. Mean Shift main benefit over other clustering techniques is that it does not need a known number of clusters, instead, a distance function and bandwidth value are defined affecting the number of clusters that are calculated. Conducted studies which focused on diagnostic assessment consider two implementations of the Mean Shift algorithm; one that takes the color of the image as the feature space and another that uses the color and texture information to create a two-dimensional feature space. The segmentation algorithm was used with a database of 200 images including unaltered dermatological images and illumination corrected ones in order to study the effects of two widely used illumination correction methods in the segmentation stage. The first illumination correction technique was developed by making use of morphological operators, specifically the morphological closing. The second illumination correction technique was the algorithm known as Retinex. Performance measurements of the Mean Shift implementations were included with further comparisons of two existing segmentation techniques; image thresholding using Otsu’s method and Gradient Vector Flow (GVF) Snakes. The classification results of using two different classifiers are also demonstrated as part of the complete melanoma detection system. The first classifier was based on Support Vector Machines (SVMs). The second classifier used linear discriminant analysis with various discriminant functions: linear, quadratic and mahalanobis distances. This approach demonstrates enhanced classification capabilities of melanoma detection which can also be extended to other dermatologic applications.
A New Course to Enhance Pre-Clinical Dental Hygiene Learning Experience

As a result of feedback from students and faculty, a few areas of clinical preparation needing more proficiency were identified. A new program was developed to enhance the preclinical dental hygiene (DH) learning experiences. Traditionally, all preclinical skills were taught in one academic quarter. The new program continued preclinical teaching to the first half of the following quarter. In addition to didactic teaching, individual skill assessments were added so that students could have one-on-one instruction in instrument sharpening, removing calculus, and the use of the ultrasonic scaler. Since the skill assessments were evaluated, students were well prepared, thus allowing the instructors to take the skills to a level of practical application. Senior DH practicum students assigned in the course were responsible for creating dental charting scenarios and helped guide beginning students in completing appropriate paper work. A 4-point Likert survey was given to the 30 DH students, 9 clinical faculty, and 5 practicum students to identify their perception of preparedness for aspects of clinical care. While the majority of students felt prepared in most aspects of clinical care, some interesting information emerged. The majority of practicum students felt the class they helped teach was more prepared than they had been in the areas of instrument sharpening (80%), use of the ultrasonic scalers (80%), and completion of paper work (60%), while the majority of the beginning students did not feel prepared in the use of the ultrasonic scaler (97%) or completion of paper work (87%). Faculty (86%) felt the students were more prepared in these areas than in previous years. It appears that both faculty and practicum students feel that students are more prepared than in the past, but the beginning students still do not feel adequately prepared in all aspects of patient care.
Contact Toxicity of Three Plant Extracts to Pteromalus puparum L. and Influence on Its Parasitism

The contact toxicity of chloroform extracts of Brucea javanica(L.) Merr.,Annona squamosa L.and Gelsemium elegans Benth to Pteromalus puparum L.were evaluated in laboratory by the method of dry film bioassay,and influence of the plant extracts on the parasitism of the wasp was also tested,with the chemical pesticide beta-cypermethrin as control.Results showed that the three plant extracts were safe to P.puparum and did not affect its parasitic effect.The mortality of the wasp 24 h after being treated with the three plant extracts were 13.2%,8.2% and 2.0%,respectively.Beta-cypermethrin had significant contact toxicity to the wasp and the mortality reached 100% 3 h after treatment.Beta-cypermethrin also reduced the wasp's ability to parasitize host pupae,rate of treated host pupae from which wasps emerged was only one sixth of that of plant-extracts treated pupae.
Computerized nutrient data bases: II. Development of model for appraisal of nutrient data base system capabilities.

A model was developed that can be used to review a nutrient base system. By following the model, one can detect errors in procedures commonly used by computerized dietary analysis systems, identify some of the specific routines included in a system, and determine the approximate release date of the nutrient data.
An interactive graphical method for community detection in network data

The detection of community structures within network data is a type of graph analysis with increasing interest across a broad range of disciplines. In a network, communities represent clusters of nodes that exhibit strong intra-connections or relationships among nodes in the cluster. Current methodology for community detection often involves an algorithmic approach, and commonly partitions a graph into node clusters in an iterative manner before some stopping criterion is met. Other statistical approaches for community detection often require model choices and prior selection in Bayesian analyses, which are difficult without some amount of data inspection and pre-processing. Because communities are often fuzzily-defined human concepts, an alternative approach is to leverage human vision to identify communities. The work presents a tool for community detection in form of a web application, called gravicom, which facilitates the detection of community structures through visualization and direct user interaction. In the process of detecting communities, the gravicom application can serve as a standalone tool or as a step to potentially initialize (and/or post-process) another community detection algorithm. In this paper we discuss the design of gravicom and demonstrate its use for community detection with several network data sets. An "Appendix" describes details in the technical formulation of this web application built on the R package Shiny and the JavaScript library D3.
Clinical Competence Assessment in Radiology: Introduction of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination in the Medical School Curriculum

Abstract Rationale and Objectives Traditional oral and written examinations can be limited in predicting future clinical performance. Therefore Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) have been introduced in other specialties. The authors assessed their value in radiology. Materials and Methods The study includes 122 Harvard medical students who undertook 1-month compulsory clerkships at one of three hospitals (A, B, or C) in their 3rd and 4th year and a compulsory OSCE in their 4th year. The OSCE was constructed from five cases. Each had eight or nine standardized questions designed to test, within a set time, the perception of essential findings, their interpretation, and clinical judgment (maximum possible score, 100). Clerkship grades were high honors (score of 3), honors (score of 2), satisfactory (score of 1), and fail (score of 0). Predictors of OSCE scores—clerkship grade and affiliated hospital—were modeled as linear functions. Time elapsed between clerkship and OSCE was modeled as a nonlinear function. Results Although there was a positive relation between clerkship grade and OSCE grade, it accounted for an increase of only 5.7% in OSCE score per clerkship grade and did not predict performance of individual students. Students who trained in hospital B showed significantly higher OSCE grades. OSCE scores were highest when the examination was taken 8 months after the clerkship. Conclusion The OSCE may be useful to uncover deficits in individuals and groups beyond the ones detected with traditional clerkship evaluations and provide guidance for remediation. The improved performance after additional clinical exposure suggests that the OSCE may be well suited to test the integration of radiologic and clinical knowledge.
Immigration Restrictions and Political Mobilization Among Second-Generation Iranian Immigrants in the USA

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, some Islamic Mosques were vandalized, hate crimes against Muslims increased, thousands of Muslim men were placed into deportation proceedings, and civil rights for Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans were violated. Moreover, a majority of anti-terrorist policies and initiatives executed during the first year after 9/11 targeted Arabs and Muslims. Much like other Middle Eastern immigrants since 9/11, Iranians have been victims of discrimination, prejudice, hate crimes, and racial profiling because of their national origin and the political tension between Iran and the USA. In response to the legal changes, discriminatory immigration practices, and violation of civil rights after 9/11, instead of hiding, second-generation Iranian advocacy groups and organizations responded to this backlash through political activism and legal challenges. This chapter describes the various ways young second-generation Iranians sought to become politically engaged to protect their civil liberties, receive legal assistance for immigration issues, and oppose discriminatory policies. Since then, Iranian immigrants matured politically and gained a new perspective on political processes in the USA. Whereas first-generation Iranians remain politically divided, preoccupied with political events in Iran, and in search of support for their political causes, second-generation Iranians are gradually socializing into American political institutions and are working to enter mainstream politics in the USA. They are not only working to protect the civil rights of naturalized Iranians in the USA but also to reclaim, retain, and redefine the Iranian ethnicity that has been under attack for the last 35 years.
An Investigation on the Use of i-vectors for Robust ASR

In this paper we propose two different i-vector representations that improve the noise robustness of automatic speech recognition (ASR). The first kind of i-vectors is derived from ``noise only'' components of speech provided by an adaptive denoising algorithm, the second variant is extracted from mel filterbank energies containing both speech and noise. The effectiveness of both these representations is shown by combining them with two different kinds of spectral features - the commonly used log-mel filterbank energies and Teager energy spectral coefficients (TESCs). Using two different DNN architectures for acoustic modeling - a standard state-of-the-art sigmoid-based DNN and an advanced architecture using leaky ReLUs, dropout and resealing, we demonstrate the benefit of the proposed representations. On the Aurora-4 multi-condition training task the proposed front-end improves ASR performance by 4%.
Consultation with the Specialist: Extrinsic Spinal Cord Mass Lesions

1. Paul C. Francel, MD, PhD* 1. 2. *Chief, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital of Oklahoma, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK. Extrinsic spinal cord lesions have been classified via various methodologies. Most recently, spinal cord tumors have been divided anatomically into those that are intramedullary and those that are extramedullary. By definition, intramedullary lesions encompass all tumors that are situated within the parenchyma of the spinal cord. By far the most common of the intramedullary tumors are various types of gliomas. This article focuses on extramedullary lesions, which includes all tumors that lie outside the spinal cord proper. Unlike intramedullary tumors, extramedullary tumors are an extremely heterogenous group and can be divided into several subcategories for both pathologic and prognostic reasons. As can be seen in the Table⇓ , intradural tumors range from histologically benign tumors, including congenital tumors, meningiomas, nerve sheath tumors, and vascular tumors, to malignant lesions. In this case, benign does not mean that the tumor cannot have significant detrimental effects, including death, but rather that it is localized to the one area, as noted by the imaging study, and does not spread diffusely to other portions of the central nervous system (CNS). In contrast, metastatic tumors can be either of neural origin or of extraneural origin and spread diffusely through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pathways, frequently involving the entire CNS. Extradural tumors include derivatives from tissues that normally are closely located in an extradural position. These tumors arose from either precursor cells or cells that have shown malignant transformation, such as neural crest precursors, soft-tissue tumors such as sarcomas, and various types of bone tumors. View this table: Table 1. Extramedullary Tumors Tumors of the CNS are common and constitute approximately 20% of all pediatric malignancies. Ones involving the spinal canal are far less common than ones located intracranially; the ratios of intracranial to intraspinal tumors range from 20:1 to 5:1. Spinal canal tumors appear to account for about 12% to …
The effect of fetal heart rate on cardiovascular function during hypoxemia

The effect of heart rate changes on cardiovascular function during hypoxemia was studied in lamb fetuses. In chronic preparations, we determined fetal heart rate, descending aortic blood flow (by electromagnetic flowmeter), Po 2 , Pco 2 , and pH and calculated fetal cardiac output (CO) and organ blood flows (with the use of 15 μ nuclide-labeled microshperes). Observations were made during control and hypoxemic states either alone or in the presence of parasympathetic blockade by atropine. Fetuses exposed to moderate hypoxemia (ewe breathing 10% oxygen) developed a significant bradycardia which was prevented by atropine pretreatment; no significant change in CO occurred in either case. Fetuses exposed to severe hypoxemia (8% oxygen) developed bradycardia and a significant decrease in CO; atropine pretreatment prevented the bradycardia but failed to prevent the decrease in CO. Atropine administered to the already severely hypoxemic fetus increased the heart rate but did not restore the depressed CO. The redistribution of blood flow from low-priority (e.g., viscera) to high-priority (e.g., myocardium) tissues correlated with the degree of hypoxemia. Myocardial blood flow was greater during hypoxemia when bradycardia was prevented by atropine than during hypoxemia alone; otherwise, blood flow distribution in response to hypoxemia was unaffected by atropine blockade.
Trends and Patterns of Disparities in Cancer Mortality Among US Counties, 1980-2014

Introduction Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and results in a high economic burden. Objective To estimate age-standardized mortality rates by US county from 29 cancers. Design and Setting Deidentified death records from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and population counts from the Census Bureau, the NCHS, and the Human Mortality Database from 1980 to 2014 were used. Validated small area estimation models were used to estimate county-level mortality rates from 29 cancers: lip and oral cavity; nasopharynx; other pharynx; esophageal; stomach; colon and rectum; liver; gallbladder and biliary; pancreatic; larynx; tracheal, bronchus, and lung; malignant skin melanoma; nonmelanoma skin cancer; breast; cervical; uterine; ovarian; prostate; testicular; kidney; bladder; brain and nervous system; thyroid; mesothelioma; Hodgkin lymphoma; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; multiple myeloma; leukemia; and all other cancers combined. Exposure County of residence. Main Outcomes and Measures Age-standardized cancer mortality rates by county, year, sex, and cancer type. Results A total of 19 511 910 cancer deaths were recorded in the United States between 1980 and 2014, including 5 656 423 due to tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer; 2 484 476 due to colon and rectum cancer; 1 573 593 due to breast cancer; 1 077 030 due to prostate cancer; 1 157 878 due to pancreatic cancer; 209 314 due to uterine cancer; 421 628 due to kidney cancer; 487 518 due to liver cancer; 13 927 due to testicular cancer; and 829 396 due to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer mortality decreased by 20.1% (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 18.2%-21.4%) between 1980 and 2014, from 240.2 (95% UI, 235.8-244.1) to 192.0 (95% UI, 188.6-197.7) deaths per 100 000 population. There were large differences in the mortality rate among counties throughout the period: in 1980, cancer mortality ranged from 130.6 (95% UI, 114.7-146.0) per 100 000 population in Summit County, Colorado, to 386.9 (95% UI, 330.5-450.7) in North Slope Borough, Alaska, and in 2014 from 70.7 (95% UI, 63.2-79.0) in Summit County, Colorado, to 503.1 (95% UI, 464.9-545.4) in Union County, Florida. For many cancers, there were distinct clusters of counties with especially high mortality. The location of these clusters varied by type of cancer and were spread in different regions of the United States. Clusters of breast cancer were present in the southern belt and along the Mississippi River, while liver cancer was high along the Texas-Mexico border, and clusters of kidney cancer were observed in North and South Dakota and counties in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Alaska, and Illinois. Conclusions and Relevance Cancer mortality declined overall in the United States between 1980 and 2014. Over this same period, there were important changes in trends, patterns, and differences in cancer mortality among US counties. These patterns may inform further research into improving prevention and treatment.
Critical Encounters: Negotiating Textual Connections in a Student-led Discussion of The Circuit

This article presents an analysis of two fourth-grade students discussing The Circuit (Jimenez, 1997) and finding ways to express their understandings and misunderstandings with a critical encounter in the text. The students’ use of freestyling enabled them to recontextualize (Dyson, 2001, 2003; Gilmore, 1983) the literature discussion. This recontextualization provided the students with a way to remain engaged in the discussion and with each other when tension arose from having different interpretations. The student selected format and use of quality Latinx children’s literature, enabled the students to draw on multiple literacies.
Single Molecule Investigation of Kinesin-1 Motility Using Engineered Microtubule Defects.

The structure of the microtubule is tightly regulated in cells via a number of microtubule associated proteins and enzymes. Microtubules accumulate structural defects during polymerization, and defect size can further increase under mechanical stresses. Intriguingly, microtubule defects have been shown to be targeted for removal via severing enzymes or self-repair. The cell’s control in defect removal suggests that defects can impact microtubule-based processes, including molecular motor-based intracellular transport. We previously demonstrated that microtubule defects influence cargo transport by multiple kinesin motors. However, mechanistic investigations of the observed effects remained challenging, since defects occur randomly during polymerization and are not directly observable in current motility assays. To overcome this challenge, we used end-to-end annealing to generate defects that are directly observable using standard epi-fluorescence microscopy. We demonstrate that the annealed sites recapitulate the effects of polymerization-derived defects on multiple-motor transport, and thus represent a simple and appropriate model for naturally-occurring defects. We found that single kinesins undergo premature dissociation, but not preferential pausing, at the annealed sites. Our findings provide the first mechanistic insight to how defects impact kinesin-based transport. Preferential dissociation on the single-molecule level has the potential to impair cargo delivery at locations of microtubule defect sites in vivo.
REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on reproduction and development. The hypothalamus has both “tonic” and “cyclic” controls over the release of gonadotropic hormones (GTH) in the rat. The tonic control resides within the arcuate–median eminence region, and it is responsible for the basal release of GTH. The cyclic control is present within the pre-optic-suprachiasmatic region, and it is responsible for the preovulatory release of the luteinizing hormone (LH) and the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Cell bodies of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH–RH) neurons reside in the pre-optic area and suprachiasmatic nucleus, which synthesize LH–RH. Thereafter, LH–RH is transported via axons of these cells to be stored within their terminals within the median eminence. The newly accumulated ME–LHRH is released to induce preovulatory LH and FSH surges. Two independent systems are involved in the preovulatory surge of GTH on proestrus: (1) a system that manufactures newly releasable LHRH and (2) the catecholamines system, which triggers the release of the newly synthesized LHRH.
High-risk metastatic gestational trophoblastic tumors: Current management

Aggressive multimodality therapy with an appropriate combination of chemotherapy and adjuvant radiotherapy and surgery has resulted in a cure for most patients with high-risk, metastatic gestational trophoblastic tumors. The EMA-CO chemotherapy regimen, employing etoposide, high-dose methotrexate, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide and vincristine, is highly effective and well tolerated. Complete response rates of 80-94% and survival rates of 82-100% have been reported. For patients with central nervous system metastases, whole brain irradiation is given simultaneously with the initiation of combination chemotherapy employing a high-dose methotrexate infusion. Surgical procedures, especially hysterectomy and thoracotomy, may be useful for the purpose of removing known foci of chemotherapy-resistant disease. Subsequent salvage chemotherapy with cisplatin and bleomycin in combination with etoposide will result in a cure for almost all patients. The factors that are most important in determining response to treatment in patients with metastatic, high-risk disease are metastases to sites other than the lung and vagina, more than eight metastases, previous failed chemotherapy and a World Health Organization score > or = 8.
Performance Accuracy Scores in CAISO and MISO Regulation Markets: A Comparison Based on Real Data and Mathematical Analysis

This letter investigates the fundamental differences between how California Independent System Operator (ISO) and Midcontinent ISO calculate performance accuracy scores in their performance-based regulation markets. Both ISOs tend to follow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order 755 to pay regulation resources—whether conventional generators or distributed and demand side resources—based on their actual performance. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are systematically explained. First, real-world ISO data are used to show that there may exist major differences between these two methods in scoring accuracy under similar regulation performance scenarios. Next, the root causes for the observed differences are studied mathematically. Finally, some suggestions are made to improve these scoring methods; should these or other ISOs seek to refine their scoring formulas.
Tuning the Anisotropy of In-Plane Thermal Conduction in Thin Films by Modulating Thickness

Anisotropic thermal conductivity would be useful for thermal management of electronic devices, but few naturally occurring materials show much anisotropy between the in-plane directions of a thin film. In this study, simulations reveal that phonon scattering from features engineered by modulating thickness leads to significant anisotropy in heat flow. This approach can tune the anisotropy ratio across an order of magnitude without sacrificing the mechanical robustness of the continuous film, and the proposed structures are well within the capabilities of available silicon-based nanofabrication techniques, with no need for exotic or expensive materials.
Development and pilot testing of a decision support intervention for men with prostate cancer.

132Background: We evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of a decision support intervention designed to help men with low-risk prostate cancer consider active surveillance and standard treatments. The intervention incorporated a decision aid with coaching and question-listing. Our decision aid is the first to include data on long-term survival and side effects from men with prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance, surgery, and radiation. Methods: To develop the intervention, we conducted focus groups using the Nominal Group Technique. We used a survey instrument from the International Patient Decision Aids Standards to measure the stakeholder endorsement of our intervention. To test the intervention, we administered it to newly diagnosed men with low-risk prostate cancer (Gleason sum < = 3+4, stage < = T2N0M0, PSA < = 10 ng/ml) seen at UCSF. Before and after the intervention, we administered a survey with questions from the Decision Quality Instrument for Prostate Cancer. Our primary outcome was ch...
Individual Adoption of HR Analytics: A Fine Grained View of the Early Stages Leading to Adoption

AbstractHigh performing organizations are using analytics for evidence-based decision-making. However, the human resource (HR) function in many organizations has been slow to adopt this innovation....
Salary and Organizational Level Effects on Job Evaluation Ratings

The effects of salary level and organizational level on possible bias in job evaluation were investigated in two studies. In Study 1, 328 undergraduates were provided with salary information, low or high, and then asked to generate a label for a job description before making job evaluation ratings. The effect of salary level on total points was mediated by perceived organizational level. In Study 2, 48 undergraduates were provided with salary level and organizational level information and rated perceived organizational and salary level and made job evaluation ratings. Perceived organizational level mediated the effect of manipulated organizational level on total points.
Estuarine Fishery Resources and Physical Estuarine Modifications: Some Suggestions for Impact Assessment

A review of economically important fishery resources which are estuarine dependent in some life history stage is given and the potential value of these resources is considered. Some physical changes and consequences of estuarine modifications are categorized. Major probable fisheries impacts are described with some indication of tolerance by various life history stages.
Toxin Analysis Using Mass Spectrometry

Publisher Summary A toxin is a poison from a living source that has the potential to be used as a bioweapon. The chemical structures of toxins are diverse, and there are numerous methods to classify them, such as by their respective biological sources, toxicity, molecular mass, and structural characteristics. Because a toxin cannot be grown in vitroand does not contain DNA, microbiological techniques such as culture or polymerase chain reaction are not applicable for toxin detection. The amount of toxin needed to cause lethality may be quite small and is often less than 1 milligram per kilogram of human body mass. So any effective method for toxin analysis must be able to detect trace concentrations of toxin and be both highly sensitive and specific to prevent generating false-negative or -positive results. Primary challenges to measuring toxins are fundamental and will continue to focus on analytical sensitivity and selectivity. More sensitive methodologies are needed to detect toxins for a longer period of time after generation, especially when toxins are reduced in concentration due to environmental influences, matrix stability, or metabolism. To increase sensitivity, mass spectrometry instrumentation will continue to be developed with more efficient ion source designs, mass analyzers with rapid and precise scan rates, and improved detector response. Greater analytical selectivity is needed to ensure fewer false-positive results and will probably be addressed by the development of more selective immunoaffinity separations.
Personas on the Move: Making Personas for Today’s Mobile Workforce

Personas are fictitious characters that are created to document the goals, behaviors, desires, and limitations of a real group of users. They are an important part of product development because they help keep focus on key user needs. Currently, most personas focus exclusively on desktop users from one geographic area. A new approach was used to create five personas that emphasize mobile usage and unique cultural traits. The personas were created after conducting ethnographic research in India, Singapore and the United States. The layout of the persona highlights the mobile work style, tasks, and use cases. Instead of setting all personas in a single country, each persona is localized and framed in a detailed cultural context. In addition, we included forward thinking aspects into our personas that projected what mobile users will be doing in the future based on expressed needs and the latest technologies.
Teaching game programming using XNA: what works and what doesn't

In 2006, Microsoft became the first large gaming company to offer free of charge a professional development toolset for game programming called XNA. The pre-release version came out in March of 2006, and was followed by versions two, three, and four in 2007, 2008, and 2010 respectively [7]. XNA provides the ability to program directly on the graphics processing unit (GPU) using High Level Shader Language (HLSL). XNA also has a plug-in for Visual Studio that provides extensions to C# for developing games that run on the Xbox 360. In this paper, experiences learned while teaching game programming at the undergraduate junior/senior level in a CS Department using XNA 3.0 are related. This paper should be of interest to any computing instructors who are thinking about incorporating game programming into their curriculum.
Laparoscopic Management of Uterine Perforation with Incarceration of the Fallopian Tube

Abstract Background: Dilation and curettage (D&C) is a safe, common surgical procedure. Complications occur rarely, but outcomes depend upon prompt recognition and management of such complications....
Compartmentalized Nanoreactors for One-Pot Redox-Driven Transformations

This contribution introduces poly(2-oxazoline)-based shell cross-linked micelles (SCMs) as nanoreactors to realize one-pot redox-driven deracemizations of secondary alcohols in aqueous media. TEMPO and Rh-TsDPEN moieties are spatially positioned into the hydrophilic corona and the hydrophobic micelle core, respectively. TEMPO catalyzes the oxidation of racemic secondary alcohols into ketones, while Rh-TsDPEN catalyzes the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of these ketones to afford enantioenriched secondary alcohols. Both catalysts, the Rh-TsDPEN complex and TEMPO, are incompatible with each other and the SCMs are designed to provide indispensable catalyst site isolation. Kinetic studies show that the SCMs enhance the reactivity of the immobilized catalysts, in comparison to those for the unsupported analogues under the same reaction conditions. Our nanoreactors can perform deracemizations on a broad range of secondary alcohol substrates and are reusable in a continuous manner while maintaining high...
Volatile Memory Extraction- Based Approach for Level 0‐1 CPS Forensics

Most security analyzers operate on system state that is far removed from end-point components in cyber-physical systems (CPS) identified as level 0‐1 in the Purdue Architecture Reference Architecture (PERA) [1]. For example, many operate on system logs and other data dumps to disks. Tremendous value that can be gained in cyber security forensics if low level details such as dynamic changes to volatile memory can be extracted and provided to more sophisticated analysis tools. However, obtaining detailed and dynamic system state at the level of volatile memory is extremely challenging [2]. Here, we attempt to apply IT memory forensic mechanisms to CPS end-point devices and statistically evaluate them. Our focus is to extract volatile and dynamically changing internal information form CPS 0‐1 level devices, and design preliminary schemes to exploit that extracted information. This new capability of generating a sequence of volatile memory snapshots for offline, detailed and sophisticated analysis opens a new class of cyber security schemes for CPS forensic analysis. As a case study for our ongoing research, we apply the proposed methodology to Modicon PLC using Modbus protocol. We extract the memory layout and subject the device to read operations at the most critical regions of memory. Similarly, write operations are initiated to carefully determine memory locations (for example, bytes that hold the firmware version number). This capability of generating a sequence of volatile memory snapshots for offline, detailed and sophisticated analysis opens a new class of cyber security schemes for CPS forensic analysis. Also, the ability to dynamically make controlled modifications to specific memory locations opens the potential for new mechanisms such as taint analysis and watermarking.
Identifying Opportunities for Healthier Kids, Families, and Community: An Analysis of the Health Needs of a Rural School and its Community

Background: A higher percentage of children in rural areas compared with urban areas face developmental challenges. Recent studies show that 1 in 6 rural children have a diagnosed mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. These children are more likely to have parents who experience financial difficulties meeting basic needs such as food and housing. They, compared to their urban peers, also have a parent in poor mental health or live in a resource low neighborhood. Schools often serve as focal point for rural communities. However, based on their increased risk …
Telehealth Is a Sustainable Population Health Strategy to Lower Costs and Increase Quality of Health Care in Rural Utah.

PURPOSE:A telehealth oncology practice was created to care for patients in rural communities to improve access to health care, decrease financial burdens, and save time.PATIENTS AND METHODS:Patient...
Spatial biases in crowdsourced data: Social media content attention concentrates on populous areas in disasters

Abstract The objective of this study is to examine and quantify the relationships among sociodemographic factors, damage claims, and social media attention on areas during natural disasters. Social media has become an important communication channel for people to share and seek situational information to learn of risks, to cope with community disruptions, and to support disaster response. Recent studies in disaster informatics have recognized the presence of bias in the representation of social media activity in areas affected by disasters. To explore related factors for such bias, existing studies have used geo-tagged tweets to assess the extent of social media activity in disaster-affected areas to evaluate whether vulnerable populations remain silent on social media. However, less than 1% of all tweets are actually geo-tagged; therefore, attempts to understand the representativeness of geotagged tweets to the general population have shown that certain populations are over- or underrepresented. To address this limitation, this study examined the attention given to locations based on social media content. The study conducted a content-based analysis to filter tweets related to 84 super-neighborhoods in Houston during Hurricane Harvey and 57 cities in North Carolina during Hurricane Florence. By examining the relationships among sociodemographic factors, the number of damage claims, and the volume of tweets, the results showed that social media attention concentrates in populous areas, independent of education, language, unemployment, and median income. The relationship between population and social media attention is characterized by a sub-linear power law, indicating a large variation among the sparsely populated areas. Using a machine-learning model to label the topics of the tweets, the results showed that social media users pay more attention to rescue- and donation-related information; nevertheless, the topic variation is consistent across areas with different levels of attention. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the spatial concentration of social media attention regarding posting and spreading situational information in disasters. The findings could inform emergency managers and public officials to effectively use social media data for equitable resource allocation and action prioritization.
Enduring value of perfectionism and maturity fears for predicting eating disorder maintenance over 10-, 20-, and 30-year follow-up

Objective The Eating Disorder Inventory provides a theoretically informed multidimensional assessment of eating disorder symptoms and associated psychological factors widely used to examine the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Yet, mixed findings for some factors raise questions about whether their prognostic value varies as a function of duration of follow-up or type of eating pathology studied. Method The current study compared prognostic value of perfectionism, maturity fears, and interpersonal distrust as predictors of restrictive versus bulimic symptom patterns at 10-, 20-, and 30-year follow-up in N = 127 individuals diagnosed with eating disorders at baseline. Multivariable regression analyses and statistical comparison of effect sizes were used. Results Drive for Thinness at 10- and 30-year follow-up was predicted by higher Perfectionism and higher Maturity Fears at baseline. Baseline Maturity Fears also predicted higher Drive for Thinness at 20-year follow-up and higher Bulimia at 10- and 20-year follow-up. Interpersonal Distrust did not demonstrate prognostic significance in multivariable models. Comparisons of effect sizes support that some differences in statistical significance reflect differences in prognostic value of psychological factors. Discussion Both duration of follow-up and type of pathology impact the predictive value of psychological factors and have important implications for understanding illness maintenance. Findings support the utility of targeting Perfectionism for restrictive symptoms. Developing interventions focused on Maturity Fears may provide a novel approach to reducing both restrictive and bulimic symptoms.
Restoration of the mycobiome of the endangered Hawaiian mint Phyllostegia kaalaensis increases its resistance to a common powdery mildew

Abstract Beneficial microbes such as plant mutualistic fungi, hold the promise of ameliorating challenges faced in native plant conservation such as disease management. As an alternative to costly chemical pest control, conservation efforts could potentially harness the benefits of plant mutualistic fungi to aid in defense and disease resistance, but there are few tests of this notion. We set out to test the efficacy of controlling a common foliar pathogen, the powdery mildew Neoerysiphe galeopsidis, by inoculating the endangered Hawaiian plant species Phyllostegia kaalaensis with potentially beneficial members of its wild-type mycobiome. We tested whether inoculating plants with above or belowground fungal mutualists, or both, led to increased disease resistance in the host. We found that while all treatments reduced average disease incidence, colonization by the foliar yeast Moesziomyces aphidis was the only treatment to do so significantly. These results provide an exciting new strategy for plant conservation practices.
From Haiti to Detroit Through Black Immigrant Languages and Literacies

This article undertakes a textual analysis of an autobiographically informed novel, American Street, to analyze the process of identity formation of a Black Haitian immigrant youth in the United St...
Recognition and Resentment in the Confucian Analects

Early Confucian “moral psychology” developed in the context of undoing reactive emotions in order to promote relationships of reciprocal recognition. Early Confucian texts diagnose the pervasiveness of reactive emotions under specific social conditions and respond with the ethical-psychological mandate to counter them in self-cultivation. Undoing negative affects is a basic element of becoming ethically noble, while the ignoble person is fixated on limited self-interested concerns and feelings of being unrecognized. Western ethical theory typically accepts equality and symmetry as conditions of disentangling resentment; yet this task requires the asymmetrical recognition of others. Confucian ethics integrates a nuanced and realistic moral psychology with the normatively oriented project of self-cultivation necessary for dismantling complex negative emotions in promoting a condition of humane benevolence that is oriented toward others and achieved through self-cultivation.
Re: Koga et al. A case of primary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the prostate.

Letter to the editor regarding the recent publication of Koga et al. A case of primary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the prostate. Rare Tumors 2009; 1:e55.
Expanding School Improvement Policy to Better Address Barriers to Learning and Integrate Public Health Concerns

This article stresses that current school improvement policy in the USA marginalizes development of the type of system of student support necessary for enabling student success and well-being at school. Then we discuss how education policy can be expanded and operationalized to correct this deficiency. Finally, we explore the implications of the expanded policy for connecting overlapping public education and public health concerns.
Deubiquitination of NLRP3 by BRCC3 Critically Regulates Inflammasome Activity

NLRP3 is an important pattern recognition receptor involved in mediating inflammasome activation in response to viral and bacterial infections as well as various proinflammatory stimuli associated with tissue damage or malfunction. Upon activation, NLRP3 assembles a multimeric inflammasome complex comprising the adaptor ASC and the effector pro-caspase-1 to mediate the activation of caspase-1. Although NLRP3 expression is induced by the NF-κB pathway, the posttranscriptional molecular mechanism controlling the activation of NLRP3 remains elusive. Using both pharmacological and molecular approaches, we show that the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is regulated by a deubiquitination mechanism. We further identify the deubiquitinating enzyme, BRCC3, as a critical regulator of NLRP3 activity by promoting its deubiquitination and characterizing NLRP3 as a substrate for the cytosolic BRCC3-containing BRISC complex. Our results elucidate a regulatory mechanism involving BRCC3-dependent NLRP3 regulation and highlight NLRP3 ubiquitination as a potential therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases.
Two-Electron Atoms. I. Perturbation Study of the Ground State

A variational perturbation method used by Hylleraas has been extended to include 70-term basis sets as approximations to the first-order wave function of the two-electron atomic species. An upper limit of -${0.15766625}^{+}$ a.u. has been found for the second-order perturbation energy coefficient. It is estimated that this value is converged to at least two units in the seventh decimal place. A value of the third-order perturbation energy coefficient of 0.00869868 a.u. is calculated from the same variational first-order wave function. A number of expectation values to first-order for certain operators [e.g., $\ensuremath{\delta}({\mathrm{r}}_{1})$, $\ensuremath{\delta}({\mathrm{r}}_{12})$, ${{p}_{1}}^{4}$, ${{r}_{1}}^{n}$, ${cos\ensuremath{\theta}}_{12}$, etc.] are computed, and compared, where possible, to known values. A variety of basis sets is studied, including a set that contains negative powers of the metric variables ("Kinoshita" type) and one that contains only positive powers ("Hylleraas" type). A scheme is proposed that uses first and higher order expectation values for the analysis and characterization of approximate wave functions. This scheme, which is not restricted to two electrons, also opens the possibility of a nonenergetic variational procedure for obtaining wave functions.
A microcalorimetric investigation of the thermodynamics and kinetics of hydriding-dehydriding reactions

A microcalorimetric technique was used to study the thermodynamics and kinetics of the hydriding-dehydriding reactions of some AB5-type alloys. The effects of Ce, Co and Sn substitution were analyzed. Co and Sn substitution increase the stability of the hydride state, while Ce substitution has the opposite effect. These observations are rationalized on the basis of the rule of reversed stability and by the unit cell volume changes upon substitution. Co substitution decreases the hydrogen diffusion coefficient due to the smaller volume expansion of the alloy during hydrogen absorption. Ce substitution for La results in a show hydrogen chemisorption rate on the surface of the alloy. In order to use the microcalorimeter to study the kinetics of the hydriding reaction. A correlation due to a smeared function of time-delay effect of equipment through a convolution integration was necessary. The rate-determining step changes during the course of the hydriding reaction. The validity of the shrinking-core model was tested. The diffusion coefficients of hydrogen in the β-hydride phases of the tested alloy phases are in the range of 100 to 1010 cm2 s1.
Periodontal tissue acceptance of plastic tooth implants in primates

The day may come when teeth will be replaced with plastic implants. Experimental dogs, monkeys and baboons wear them now; one even has a bridge supported by implants.