cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Notes on the Path to Competence Comments on Ridley and Colleagues’ Major Contribution

Focusing on the challenges of training counseling psychologists, Ridley and colleagues offer in this issue a review and critique of microskills training, the dominant training model in counseling psychology graduate programs. Recognizing the role of higher order cognitive and affective functions in expert practice, they propose a hierarchical model of considerable complexity. In these comments, the author offers some thoughts about their model in light of the range of roles and interests that competency models serve, the definition of competence, and the idea of metacompetency.
Klinische Untersuchungen über die Ventrikeltätigkeit bei Vorhofflimmern

Noch immer sind die Anschauungen uber die Ventrikeltatigkeit beim Vorhofflimmern nur ungenugend abgeklart. Aus den Ausfuhrungen Monckebergs (Handb. der pathol. Anat. Bd. 2/1), ergibt sich, dass die pathologisch anatomischenUntersuchungen der Flimmerarrhythmie noch zu keinem befriedigenden. Abschluss gekommen sind. Bezuglich der klinischen Anschauungen ist dies, wie ein Blick auf die Literatur zeigt, erst recht der Fall. Haufig begnugen sich die, mit diesem Gegenstand sich beschaftigenden Autoren (z. B. Mosier und Sachs Klin W. 1926, 32) damit, einzelne Typen der Kammertatigkeit von einander zu unterscheiden, ohne weiter auf den Mechanismus der Erscheinung einzugehen, wobei allerdings meist die Erscheinungen als rein muskular bedingte aufgefasst werden. Eine sehr ausfuhrliche und eingehende Ubersicht der verschiedenen Ansichten und Theorien nebst einer interessanten Darstellung seines personlichen Standpunktes hinsichtlich dieser Frage, gibt Semmerau (Erg. d. inn. Med. u. Kinderhlk. Bd. 10), der einerseits in der Zahl und der Intensitat der Vorhofserregungen und im Zustand des a. v.-Bundels sowie in der wechselnden Anspruchsfahigkeit der ungleichmasig ernahrten Ventrikel, anderseits in den Schwankungen des Vago-Sympathikustonus die Ursache fur das Verhalten der Ventrikel findet. In neuester Zeit stellt sich Bard in Lyon (Arch. d. malad. en couer 1926, 412) auf den Standpunkt, dass wie fur die meisten Arrhythmien vor allem fur das Verhalten der Ventrikel bei der Arrhythmie perpet. irregular. das intrakardiale Nervensystem (die intrakardialen Reflexe) die ausschlaggebende Rolle spielen.
Constructing E-learning Tools From Heuristic Methods: Multiple Whys, Circle of Analogies and Stepwise Convergence

I discuss various methods which may benefit from online implementation, supporting e-learning in the area of creativity and effective thinking at all educational levels, from kindergarten to graduate programs. All procedures comprise a virtual laboratory, capable of generating actual creative solutions to real problems. Tools for creative thinking may be implemented as online procedures allowing the user to conduct heuristic group sessions. I provide examples of individual-user heuristic methods (multiple Why? questions, circle of analogies) and a group-based method (discussion 66 which involves stepwise convergence of ideas generated by semi-independent subgroups).
A case of rupioid syphilis.

The first syphilis epidemic dates back to the 16th century, and was first known as lues venerea, translated literally as venereal pest.1 Schaudinn and Hoffman first described spirochaeta pallida as the etiologic bacterium in 1905. The incidence of the disease declined dramatically with the advent of penicillin and reached an historic low in 2000.2 Since 2001 syphilis rates have increased dramatically, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM), and among ethnic minorities in urban centers.3 Despite centuries of experience with syphilis, effective early diagnosis and treatment remain difficult, in large part because of the ability of syphilis to mimic other cutaneous eruptions. We present a case of a rare presentation of syphilis, coined rupioid syphilis, because of its likeness to the outer layer of an oyster shell. This case highlights the importance of recalling the diverse presentations of syphilis and its recent nearly epidemic resurgence and public health threat, particularly among MSM.
Case Comment, Fourth Amendment – Exigent Circumstances Exception: Kentucky v. King

The Fourth Amendment requires police officers to obtain a warrant before they conduct a search or seizure within a private residence. However, law enforcement agents may conduct warrantless searches in emergencies, a rule known as the “exigent circumstances exception to the general warrant requirement.” In order to protect the integrity of the warrant requirement, lower courts developed a variety of tests to disqualify “police-created” exigencies from the scope of this exception. Last Term, in Kentucky v. King, the Supreme Court held that police officers may not rely on the exigent circumstances exception to justify a warrantless search if the officers created the exigency by violating or threatening to violate the Fourth Amendment. The Court considered six possible tests to identify when the police impermissibly create exigent circumstances. Unfortunately, the Court never mentioned a seventh option: “none of the above.” Rather than craft a separate police-created exigency rule, the Court could have improved this area of Fourth Amendment law by simply merging the analysis of police causation into the determination of whether an exigency existed at all.
In vitro Inhibitory Activity of Soluble ICAM-1 for the Numbered Serotypes of Human Rhinovirus

We studied the antirhinovirus activity of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) against all 100 numbered human rhinovirus (HRV) serotypes in human embryonic lung fibroblast (HEL) cells. sICAM-1 inhibited replication of 88 of 90 HRVs belonging to the major receptor group with 50% effective concentrations (EC50) ranging from 0.1 to 41.1 μg ml−1 (~0.002 to 0.8 μM). No inhibition at 100 μg ml−1 (~2 μM) was observed for HRV belonging to the minor receptor group, type 87, and two serotypes of the major receptor group (types 23 and 25). Yield reduction assays done with five HRV serotypes in human adenoid expiants found that sICAM-1 had concentration-dependent inhibitory effects that correlated closely with the activity observed in HEL cells (r2 = 0.99, P < 0.001).
Compatibilizing Effects of Maleated Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) on Properties of PLA/Soy Protein Composites

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/soy protein concentrate (SPC) composites were prepared using a twin-screw extruder. Extra amounts of water and glycerol were added to SPC prior to compounding with PLA to ensure that SPC behaved like a thermoplastic during subsequent mixing. Free radical grafting of maleic anhydride (MA) onto PLA was performed by reactive extrusion, and PLA-g-MA was used as a compatibilizer in the composites. The effects of compatibilizer concentration and degree of functionality on the tensile, morphological, and thermal properties of PLA/SPC composites were studied. The tensile strength of the composites containing 4 phr compatibilizer increased by 19% compared to that of the uncompatibilized one. Also, the presence of compatibilizer resulted in finer domain sizes of SPC and a lower damping peak, both of which suggested that good interfacial adhesion between the two phases was achieved. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis indicated that SPC induced and accelerated cold crystallization of PLA.
The role of intercalated water in multilayered graphene oxide.

A detailed in situ infrared spectroscopy analysis of single layer and multilayered graphene oxide (GO) thin films reveals that the normalized infrared absorption in the carbonyl region is substantially higher in multilayered GO upon mild annealing. These results highlight the fact that the reduction chemistry of multilayered GO is dramatically different from the single layer GO due to the presence of water molecules confined in the ∼1 nm spacing between sheets. IR spectroscopy, XPS analysis, and DFT calculations all confirm that the water molecules play a significant role interacting with basal plane etch holes through passivation, via evolution of CO2 leading to the formation of ketone and ester carbonyl groups. Displacement of water from intersheet spacing with alcohol significantly changes the chemistry of carbonyl formation with temperature.
Study of Lightweight Workflow Engine Based on .Net and Database

The workflow technology is a rapidly developing technology of business process automation currently.In order to improve the efficiency of software development and the flexibility and robustness of software,the paper presented a framework of lightweight workflow engine based on.Net and database through analysis the problems existing in the process of software development and implementation,(discussed) how to use.Net platform and databse technology to develop workflow engine in detail,and gave the design principle and detailed methods of denotation and implementation.The workflow engine has been(applied) in practical applications,and the practice has proved it can significantly shorten the development(cycle) of business-critical and meet the demand of use of user structurally.
Missing, presumed killed in action (or the report that never was).

The Home Office Inspectorate's Report, which stems from concerns raised from the undercover BUAV investigation at Imperial College London, has so far not been published. This current lack of transparency by the UK Government is completely unacceptable.
Cutaneous manifestations of neurologic infections in children.

Neurologic infections in children are frequently accompanied by cutaneous findings that may direct the physician toward the correct diagnosis. In some instances, the appearance of an eruption (such as erythema chronicum migrans and Lyme disease) is specific or a rapid bedside diagnostic test (Tzanck preparation for herpes simplex) is extremely helpful in sorting out the differential diagnosis of a child’s illness. In this article, cutaneous clues to some of the more important childhood infections will be reviewed.
Two-photon ghost image and quantum cropto-fax

The reported experiment is a two-photon optical imaging experiment1 in which a spontaneous-parametric-downconversion light beam, which consists of pairs of orthogonally polarized signal and idler photons, is split into two diverging beams by a polarization beam splitter, so that co- incidence detections may be performed between two distant photon-counting detectors. An aperture (mask) placed in front of one of the detectors is illuminated by the signal beam through a convex lens. Surprisingly, an image of this aperture is observed in the coincidence counting rate when the other detector is scanned in the transverse plane of the idler beam, even though both detectors’ single counting rates remain constant.
The National Library of Medicine: Accelerating Discovery, Delivering Information, Improving Health.

This commentary from the new Director of the National Library of Medicine discusses the Library's commitment to accelerating discovery and achieving the promise of precision medicine.
Molecular-biology approaches to genetic defects of the mammalian nervous system

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the molecular-biology approaches to genetic defects of the mammalian nervous system. One effective means for studying brain molecular function is the isolation and characterization of genes encoding neuroactive substances, their synthetic enzymes and receptors, and molecules that share sequence relationships with these proteins. These studies amount to a direct extension of classical biochemical analysis and represent a major endeavor of modern molecular neurobiology. A limitation of this research is that it can only produce information about the molecules for which there are already known functions, and hence assays. It is, thus, uninformative about a considerable portion of neural molecules for which functions have not already been postulated. Two alternative strategies that can be informative about novel brain proteins use complementary approaches. One involves the isolation and characterization of genes defined by neurological mutations, allowing direct correlations to be made between mutant neural phenotypes and protein structure. The second is the study of genes whose products are restricted to neural tissues, but whose functions are unknown. Recent advances in technology indicate that these approaches can be potentially as illuminating as more traditional studies on known brain proteins.
Dialogic Authorial Approach to Creativity in Education: Transforming a Deadly Homework into a Creative Activity

We argue that conventional conceptual frameworks to creativity do not fit the phenomenon because they view creativity as the given. To address this problem, we present our attempt to develop a dialogic authorial approach to creativity in education. In contrast to most existing monologic approaches to creativity known to us, we consider four dialogic aspects of creativity: (a) the addressive—as an act of addressing and responding to somebody in an ongoing dialogue; (b) the existential—dialogic recognition of someone’s act as creative; (c) the axiological—dialogic evaluation of creativity as good or bad, moral or immoral, and so on; and (d) the cultural (meta-axiological)—dialogic valuing innovation over tradition preservation or vice versa. In our chapter, we develop our theoretical approach as we describe and ethnographically analyze an educational event involving Latino/a children doing disengaged homework in an afterschool program, and discuss its pedagogical implications.
Postmastectomy radiation therapy technique and cardiopulmonary sparing: A dosimetric comparative analysis between photons and protons with free breathing versus deep inspiration breath hold

Abstract Purpose Dosimetric studies have suggested greater cardiopulmonary sparing with protons over photons for left-sided postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT). Modern techniques such as deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) can help spare the heart. This analysis compares photon and proton delivery with and without DIBH. Methods and materials Ten women with left breast cancer referred for PMRT on a prospective clinical trial with unfavorable cardiac anatomy underwent free breathing (FB) and DIBH computed tomography simulation. A partially wide tangent photon (PWTF) during DIBH, passively scattered proton during FB, pencil-beam scanning (PBS) proton during FB, and PBS proton during DIBH plan was completed for each patient. Plans were designed to achieve 95% prescription dose coverage to 95% of chest wall and regional lymphatics while maximally sparing heart and lungs. Results All techniques resulted in similar target coverage, although protons improved homogeneity indices and cardiopulmonary sparing (omnibus P Conclusions For left-sided PMRT, passively scattered or PBS protons with or without DIBH improves homogeneity and cardiopulmonary sparing without compromise in target coverage compared with PWTF photons with DIBH. Furthermore, the addition of DIBH to proton therapy did not provide a significant dosimetric benefit.
Insects, oxygen, and iron

Konrad Bloch developed an interest in insects because they are unable to make sterols, and in yeast because these cells need oxygen to make sterols and unsaturated fatty acids. Insects, like all other organisms, must deal with the toxic effects of oxygen in the presence of iron, which itself is a vital nutrient. They do so by making proteins with high affinity for ferric or ferrous ions. Two such proteins are transferrins and ferritins. Insects produce both of these proteins, but use them in different ways from most other organisms. Insect transferrins appear to be involved in innate immunity, perhaps by sequestering ferric ions to prevent pathogens and parasites from utilizing them. Insect ferritins, unlike those of any other group of organisms, are exported into the extracellular space (hemolymph). They may be involved in iron transport and/or protection against iron overload in the diet.
Davidson and a Twist of Wittgenstein: Metaontology, Self-Canceling Paradox, and Settled Insight

The paper proposes with Davidson that the talk of metaontology is literally meaningless, but with Wittgenstein that it is so in a way that grants a unique type of insight. More specifically, it argues both that Davidson’s arguments have a cogency that is hard to dismiss, and also that, since his own arguments are metaontological, they are self-referential, and consequently in turn undermine their own meaning as well. The paper argues further that metaontological statements cannot be avoided. Consequently, this kind of statement constitutes an unavoidable self-referential paradox that means what it also excludes as capable of meaning. The result is a reinstatement of the meaning of ontological insight and in fact, the paper argues, a deep enrichment and also a particularly cogent justification of it. In addition, the logical peculiarity of the paradox involved has further useful consequences for the outcome of this justification, including a mutually illuminating commonality with some versions of metaethics.
Radical Pedagogical Homesteading: Returning the ‘Species’ to Our ‘Being’

This chapter engages with Marx’s critique of capitalism from the perspective of worker alienation from their own free conscious activity. Given that the unequal power dynamics of social class under capitalism permeate all aspects of our society, Marx’s insight can be applied to academia where much of the labor done by students is ‘estranged labor’, hence estranged learning. Since this estranged learning happens in the classroom and around course work, this chapter invites instructors to explore ways that they can return students’ ‘species’ to their ‘being’ by practicing ‘radical pedagogical homesteading’ (RPH). The inspiration comes from Shannon Hayes’s work Radical Homemakers (2010) in which she argues for the reuniting of the ‘day job’ with the ‘creative self’ in order to serve a “life-giving economy” for the workers and the planet, as opposed to an alienated one that is subsequently destroying both.
Health-Related Quality of Life among Chronic Opioid Users, Nonchronic Opioid Users, and Nonopioid Users with Chronic Noncancer Pain.

Objective Evaluate the association between opioid therapy and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in participants with chronic, noncancer pain (CNCP). Data sources Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Longitudinal, Medical Conditions, and Prescription Files. Study design Using a retrospective cohort study design, the Mental Health Component (MCS12) and Physical Health Component (PCS12) scores of the Short Form-12 Version 2 were assessed to measure mental and physical HRQoL. Data collection Chronic, noncancer pain participants were classified as chronic, nonchronic, and nonopioid users. One-to-one propensity score matching was employed to match chronic opioid users to nonchronic opioid users plus nonchronic opioid users and chronic opioid users to nonopioid users. Principal findings A total of 5,876 participants were identified. After matching, PCS12 was not significantly different between nonchronic versus nonopioid users (LSM Diff = -0.98, 95% CI: -2.07, 0.10), chronic versus nonopioid users (LSM Diff = -2.24, 95% CI: -4.58, 0.10), or chronic versus nonchronic opioid users (LSM Diff = -2.23, 95% CI: -4.53, 0.05). Similarly, MCS12 was not significantly different between nonchronic versus nonopioid users (LSM Diff = 0.76, 95% CI: -0.46, 1.98), chronic versus nonopioid users (LSM Diff = 1.08, 95% CI: -1.26, 3.42), or chronic versus nonchronic opioid users (LSM Diff = -0.57, 95% CI: -2.90, 1.77). Conclusions Clinicians should evaluate opioid use in participants with CNCP as opioid use is not correlated with better HRQoL.
Displaying Invisible Objects: Why People Rarely Re-read E-books

This study of paper and e-books investigates how specific affordances of physical and digital objects relate to people's valuations and uses of those objects over time. We found that while the visibility of paper books amplified the meaningfulness of organizational and display actions taken with regards to those objects, the systems that supported interactions with e-books instead tended to make such actions less meaningful. We argue that these systems also discouraged re-uses of e-books for most participants -- the important exceptions being several participants who used the book-focused social networking site Goodreads. This paper details how the affordances and limitations that resulted from the material constructions of paper and e-books impacted participants' uses of and feelings towards those objects, and examines the implications of using a supplementary online system for displaying digital objects.
Native Americans: Manifestations of White Influences

Currently, Native Americans represent approximately a fraction of 1% of the US population. That representation is minute compared to their numbers when European settlers arrived in the Americas from Europe. Today, some Natives reside in urban areas, such as Minneapolis and San Francisco, while others are inclined to live out their lives on reservation lands set aside by the US federal government. While the term Native American is used in reference to a particular population, they are in fact a very distinct and diverse assemblage characterized by a unique set of cultures, and languages, previous to the New World era.
Identifying Critical Factors That Predict Quality Management Program Success: Data Mining Analysis of Baldrige Award Data

Organizations are trying to increase their competitiveness by improving their quality and organizational performance levels.
The Ultraviolet Curing of Coatings

Rapid chemical changes at or near room temperature are the basis of present industrial applications of visible or ultraviolet light in photography, photocopying and photo-printing. The potential of using rapid photo-induced reactions that do not depend on thermal energy for the cure of coatings is attractive for three principal reasons: the steady economic drive for faster curing coatings, the increasing need to coat heat sensitive materials, such as plastics, and the mounting requirements for pollution-free processes. In a non-thermal process, liquid, solvent-free “100 percent solids” formulations can be converted into solid coatings without loss of the volatile low molecular weight components. Development of light-curable formulations over the last few years has led to uv-curable systems which have found successful commercial applications in specific areas both in Europe, Japan and the U.S. The present paper reviews some of the aspects of this new uv-curing technique.
Psychological Distress Independently Predicts Prolonged Hospitalization After Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of psychological distress on hospital length of stay (LOS) in joint arthroplasty (TJA). Methods A retrospective review of 863 patients who underwent primary, unilateral TJA at a single tertiary academic center was performed. Two groups were compared: patients with or without psychological distress defined using the Short Form-12 mental component summary. The primary outcome was the rate of hospital LOS exceeding 2 days. Secondary outcomes were rates of in-hospital complications and 90-day emergency room visits and readmissions. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results The prevalence of psychological distress was 23%. The mean LOS was 2.44 days. Patients with psychological distress were younger (P 2 days (P = .049 and .006 for total hip arthroplasty [THA] and total knee arthroplasty [TKA], respectively). There were no differences in the rates of in-hospital complications (P = .913 and .782 for THA and TKA, respectively), emergency room visits (P = .467 and .355 for THA and TKA respectively), or readmissions (P = .118 and .334 for THA and TKA, respectively). Conclusion Psychological distress is an independent predictor of prolonged hospitalization after primary TJA. The Short Form-12 mental component summary is a good screening tool for identifying patients with poor mental health who may not be appropriate candidates for outpatient surgery. Efforts to address psychological distress before surgery are warranted.
Solitons and Gibbs Measures for Nonlinear Schrodinger Equations

We review some recent results concerning Gibbs measures for nonlinear Schrodinger equations (NLS), with implications for the theory of the NLS, including stability and typicality of solitary wave structures. In particular, we discuss the Gibbs measures of the discrete NLS in three dimensions, where there is a striking phase transition to soliton-like behavior.
PICU Follow-Up: The Impact of Missed School in a Cohort of Children Following PICU Admission.

For children and their families, PICU admission can be one of the most stressful and traumatic experiences in their lives. Children admitted to the PICU and their parents experience sequelae following admission including psychologic symptoms and lower health-related quality of life. The impact of a PICU admission on school attendance and performance may influence these sequelae. The purpose of our study was to examine how community supports from pediatricians and schools influence school success after critical illness. Design Parents were recruited during their child's admission to the PICU. Three months after discharge, parents completed follow-up questionnaires via telephone. Setting PICU in an urban academic children's hospital. Subjects Thirty-three parents were enrolled in the study, and 21 (64%) completed phone follow-up. Measurements and main results Forty-three percent of children missed 7 or more days of school while admitted to the PICU. Sixty-seven percent of parents reported that their pediatrician did not ask about missed school, and 29% felt their child's grades worsened since admission. Twenty percent of respondents felt that their child's school did not provide adequate services to help their child catch up. Conclusions There are missed opportunities for care coordination and educational support after critical illness. The transition back to school is challenging for some children, as reported by parents who described inadequate support from the school after PICU hospitalization and a subsequent decline in their child's school performance. Additional studies are needed to develop proactive community supports to improve the transition back to school for a child after critical illness.
Continuous Security and Configuration Monitoring of HPC Clusters

Continuous security and configuration monitoring of information systems has been a time consuming and laborious task for system administrators at the High Performance Computing (HPC) center. Prior to this project, system administrators had to manually check the settings of thousands of nodes, which required a significant number of hours rendering the old process ineffective and inefficient. This paper explains the application of Splunk Enterprise, a software agent, and a reporting tool in the development of a user application interface to track and report on critical system updates and security compliance status of HPC Clusters. In conjunction with other configuration management systems, the reporting tool is to provide continuous situational awareness to system administrators of the compliance state of information systems. Our approach consisted of the development, testing, and deployment of an agent to collect any arbitrary information across a massively distributed computing center, and organize that information into a human-readable format. Using Splunk Enterprise, this raw data was then gathered into a central repository and indexed for search, analysis, and correlation. Following acquisition and accumulation, the reporting tool generated and presented actionable information by filtering the data according to command line parameters passed at run time. Preliminary data showed resultsmore » for over six thousand nodes. Further research and expansion of this tool could lead to the development of a series of agents to gather and report critical system parameters. However, in order to make use of the flexibility and resourcefulness of the reporting tool the agent must conform to specifications set forth in this paper. This project has simplified the way system administrators gather, analyze, and report on the configuration and security state of HPC clusters, maintaining ongoing situational awareness. Rather than querying each cluster independently, compliance checking can be managed from one central location.« less
Using immersive virtual reality to improve the beliefs and intentions of influenza vaccine avoidant 18-to-49-year-olds: Considerations, effects, and lessons learned.

Abstract Objective Only one-third of adults 18–49 years old in the United States receive a recommended annual influenza vaccination. This study examined whether supplementing vaccine information statements (VIS) with an immersive virtual reality (VR), short video or electronic pamphlet story designed to convey the community immunity benefits of influenza vaccination would improve influenza vaccine avoidant participants’ influenza-related perceptions as well as their influenza vaccination-related beliefs, confidence and intentions. Method A one-way between-subjects experimental design compared the effects of adding a supplemental education experience prior to VIS exposure with flu vaccine avoidant 18-to-49-year-olds. The 171 participants recruited from the community were randomly assigned to one of three modality treatment conditions [VR, video, or e-pamphlet (i.e., story board presented via electronic tablet)] or a VIS-only control condition. Results Compared to the modalities, the VR intervention created a stronger perception of presence (i.e., feeling of “being there” in the story), which, in turn, increased participants’ concern about transmitting influenza to others and raised vaccination intention. Increased concern about transmitting influenza to others was associated with positive effects on influenza vaccination-related beliefs, including confidence that one’s flu vaccination would protect others. Neither the e-pamphlet nor the video intervention were able to elicit a sense of presence nor were they able to improve the impact of the VIS on the outcome measures. Conclusions Immersive VR has much potential to increase understanding of key immunization concepts, such as community immunity, through creative executions that increase a sense of presence. Given the need to increase influenza vaccination uptake among 18-to-49-year-olds, and the projected growth in VR accessibility and use, additional applications and assessments related to vaccination communication and education are needed and warranted. By increasing the ability to convey key vaccine and immunization concepts, immersive VR could help address vaccination hesitancy and acceptance challenges.
Identification of a Heme Activation Site on the MD-2/TLR4 Complex

Myeloid differentiation factor-2 (MD-2) binds lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and initiates toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) pro-inflammatory signaling. Heme also activates TLR4 signaling, but it is unknown if heme interacts with MD-2. Therefore, we examined MD-2 for a potential heme activation site. Heme-agarose and biotin-heme/streptavidin-agarose pulled down recombinant MD-2, which was inhibited by excess free heme. UV/visible spectroscopy confirmed MD-2-heme binding. To determine whether MD-2 was required for heme-mediated TLR4 signaling, HEK293 cells were transfected with MD-2, TLR4, CD14, and an NF-κB luciferase reporter, and then stimulated with heme or LPS. Heme or LPS treatment elicited robust reporter activity. Absence of MD-2, TLR4 or CD14 plasmid abolished NF-κB reporter responses to heme or LPS. In silico analysis identified two potential heme docking sites on MD-2 near conserved amino acids W23/S33/Y34 and Y36/C37/I44. Heme-induced NF-κB activity was reduced by 39 and 78% in HEK293 cells transfected with MD-2 mutants W23A and Y34A, respectively, compared to WT-MD-2. NF-κB activation by LPS was not affected by the same mutants. Biotinyl-heme/streptavidin-agarose pulled down 68% less W23A and 80% less W23A/S33A/Y34A mutant MD-2 than WT-MD-2. In contrast, at the Y36/C37/I44 MD-2 site, heme-induced NF-κB activity was significantly increased by mutants Y36A (191% of WT-MD-2) and unchanged by mutants C37A and I44A (95 and 92%, respectively, of WT-MD-2). In conclusion, these data suggest that heme binds and activates TLR4 signaling at amino acids W23 and Y34 on MD-2.
Developing human cellular tools for studying and understanding jordan's syndrome

Background & Aim Jordan's Syndrome (JS), also known as PPP2R5D-related intellectual disability (ID), is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused primarily by de novo missense mutations in the PPP2R5D gene. PPP2R5D encodes a 602-amino acid protein PPP2R5D (also known as the B56δ subunit), which is a regulatory subunit of the heterotrimeric enzyme serine/threonine-protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). Mutations in phosphatases are known to cause human overgrowth due to their involvement in cellular regulation. With the recent identification of Jordan's Syndrome using Whole Exome Sequencing, PPP2R5D mutations specifically have been associated with various patient intellectual disabilities (IDs), malformations, autism spectrum disorders, seizures, and behavioral challenges. The wide range of the severity of patient IDs, along with the association of PPP2R5D to Alzheimer's, autism, Parkinson's-like symptoms, and cancer, has generated an impetus for further research to elucidate the specific cellular pathways that are affected by PPP2R5D. In order to study JS in vitro, various biological tools need to be generated including neural cellular models. Methods, Results & Conclusion Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are highly proliferative cells that can differentiate into all three germ layers in vitro. Reprogramming patient somatic cells in to iPSC offers a means of generating difficult to source neural stem cells and neurons to study PPP2R5D mutations. Our team has generated five chromosomally stable iPSC clones from JS patient-derived skin fibroblasts representing four of the most common PPP2R5D disease-causing mutations. We have also generated chromosomally stable isogenic clones of these iPSC lines using precision CRISPR editing to provide genetically matched unmutated cells as controls. Neural stem cell (NSC) lines and neurons have been derived from each line to help study disease biology and novel therapeutic agents in a disease relevant cell type, as well. iPSC and NSC provide a theoretically unlimited supply of disease-specific cells that can be used to study JS. They are important and necessary tools for advancing the field of JS research and developing therapies for this debilitating disorder.
Deriving bathymetry and water properties from hyperspectral imagery by spectral matching using a full radiative transfer model

Many existing techniques for estimating the optical properties of a body of water directly from a hyperspectral remote sensing spectrum are based on the idea of ‘spectral matching’ – that is, input...
A rare case of dual expression of CD5 and CD10 in primary central nervous system diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma with prominent starry sky appearance

This case highlights the need for both tissue biopsy for diagnosis in suspected CNS malignancy and comprehensive immune profiling for accurate subclassification.
1.6:1 bandwidth two-layer antireflection structure for silicon matched to the 190-310 GHz atmospheric window.

Although high-resistivity, low-loss silicon is an excellent material for terahertz transmission optics, its high refractive index necessitates an antireflection treatment. We fabricated a wide-bandwidth, two-layer antireflection treatment by cutting subwavelength structures into the silicon surface using multi-depth deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE). A wafer with this treatment on both sides has <−20 dB (<1%) reflectance over 187–317 GHz at a 15° angle of incidence in TE polarization. We also demonstrated that bonding wafers introduce no reflection features above the −20 dB level (also in TE at 15°), reproducing previous work. Together these developments immediately enable construction of wide-bandwidth silicon vacuum windows and represent two important steps toward gradient-index silicon optics with integral broadband antireflection treatment.
Etomidate Use for Rapid Sequence Intubation Is Not Associated With Nosocomial Infection

Introduction:Etomidate is commonly used for induction of anesthesia for rapid sequence intubation (RSI). It has little impact on hemodynamic status, making it a widely used agent. Due to the inhibi...
The shaping of a molecular linguist: How a career studying DNA energetics revealed the language of molecular communication.

My personal and professional journeys have been far from predictable based on my early childhood. Owing to a range of serendipitous influences, I miraculously transitioned from a rebellious, apathetic teenage street urchin who did poorly in school to a highly motivated, disciplined, and ambitious academic honors student. I was the proverbial "late bloomer." Ultimately, I earned my PhD in biophysical chemistry at Yale, followed by a postdoc fellowship at Berkeley. These two meccas of thermodynamics, coupled with my deep fascination with biology, instilled in me a passion to pursue an academic career focused on mapping the energy landscapes of biological systems. I viewed differential energetics as the language of molecular communication that would dictate and control biological structures, as well as modulate the modes of action associated with biological functions. I wanted to be a "molecular linguist." For the next 50 years, my group and I used a combination of spectroscopic and calorimetric techniques to characterize the energy profiles of the polymorphic conformational space of DNA molecules, their differential ligand-binding properties, and the energy landscapes associated with mutagenic DNA damage recognition, repair, and replication. As elaborated below, the resultant energy databases have enabled the development of quantitative molecular biology through the rational design of primers, probes, and arrays for diagnostic, therapeutic, and molecular-profiling protocols, which collectively have contributed to a myriad of biomedical assays. Such profiling is further justified by yielding unique energy-based insights that complement and expand elegant, structure-based understandings of biological processes.
Historical Evidence for Anthropogenic Climate Change and Climate Modeling Basics

Data on mean global surface temperature relative to the 1951–1980 average indicate an increase of 0.98 °C (1.76 °F) by 2019 with a clear upward trend since the late 1970s and nineteen of the twenty warmest years having occurred since 2001. The IPCC concluded that there is low confidence that average precipitation over global land areas had changed between 1901 and 1951 and a medium confidence that it had changed afterwards. Global mean sea level had risen by about 0.23 m (9 in) between 1880 and 2019, with the rate of rise having increased since the middle 1990s and is reported to have been 3.6 mm/yr over the period 2006–2015. The foundation for climate change projections is general circulation models (GCMs). The most recent IPCC reports have been supported by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), an international collaboration of climate modeling groups in which simulations were run with different GCMs using the same set of future emissions scenarios. CMIP3 and the IPCC AR4 used a suite of SRES (Special Report on Emissions Scenarios) scenarios. CMIP5 and IPCC AR5 used four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs).
Selection of the Best under Convexity

We propose elimination-based algorithms that work for any \textit{selection-of-the-best} problem with convex structure, with the guarantee of finding a near-optimal decision with high probability given any precision level. The proposed algorithms require no knowledge about the suboptimality gap, which is often hard to acquire in real-world applications a priori. Specifically, an adaptive sampling algorithm is developed whose worst-case sample complexity is proven to be logarithmically dependent on the problem scale, which improves upon the linear dependence for general selection problems. In addition, a uniform sampling algorithm is proposed based on a novel elimination criterion where the worst-case sample complexity is asymptotically independent of the problem scale, which matches the best achievable performance up to a constant. We show that the sample complexity and optimality results still hold in the generalized problem of selecting the best $m$ decisions and for the instance-dependent analysis. Our theoretical findings are illustrated by numerical experiments on both synthetic and real-world examples.
Array-comparative genomic hybridization analyses of chromosome 18q in prostate tumor samples

3578 Chromosomal alterations, such as amplification and deletions, are frequently observed during the progression of cancer. Although prostate cancer has a major genetic component, many of the specific genes involved in prostate cancer incidence and progression have remained elusive. Several studies revealed that loss of chromosome 18q occurs in approximately 19% to 48% of prostate cancer cases and that this loss is associated with metastasis. Allelic imbalance (AI) analysis of metastatic prostate cancer samples revealed at least two distinct regions of loss, one located at 18q21.2-q21.32 (7 cM) and the other at 18q22.3 (6 cM). Somatic cell genetic experiments have demonstrated that the introduction of chromosome 18 into prostate cancer cell lines affect both the growth and metastatic potential of these cancer cells. These data support the presence of one or more tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 18q. To localize the tumor suppressor gene(s) on 18q, we are using comparative genomic hybridization on a high-resolution genomic array (Array-CGH). The array contains 160 bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) which covers the two regions of 18q identified by AI analysis. This high resolution array allowed us to identify individual BACs which were amplified and deleted in prostate cancer specimens. In particular, BAC RPCI11 25L3 was found to be deleted in 50% of the human prostate tumors analyzed (10/20). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis on paraffin embedded tumor samples verified the homozygous deletion of the BAC clone in the 4 prostate samples analyzed. Using flanking markers, the region of loss in the tumors is being further characterized. The identification of this tumor suppressor gene will help us better understand the molecular basis of prostate cancer.
Opioid Usage and Pain Control in Benign Oropharyngeal Surgery: An Observational Prospective Study.

Objectives Little data is available on opioid usage in the adult population for benign oropharyngeal surgery. The objective here is to evaluate opioid prescribing patterns, opioid consumption, and patient pain patterns following benign oropharyngeal surgery, specifically tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy alone, and expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty. Methods Patients aged ≥18 years old and received a tonsillectomy, tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, or expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty between November 2019 and August 2020 were included. Patients were provided a survey which included a visual analog scale for recording their pain postoperatively and the amount of opioid they had remaining. Results About 103 patients completed the post-operative questionnaire. Patients were prescribed 38 837 morphine milligram equivalents and used 28 644: approximately 26% went unused, which is the equivalent of 1346 5 mg oxycodone pills. Opioid consumption correlated with the initial dosage: patients consumed 12% more narcotic on average as the initial prescription went upwards by 50 morphine milligram equivalents. Obstructive sleep apnea, history of smoking, and being female predicted increased opioid usage in this cohort. Pain was reported the highest on postoperative day 1. A prescription of approximately 225 morphine milligram equivalents (150 mg oxycodone) was associated with decreased opioid use in this cohort. Larger initial prescriptions did not result in fewer requests for refills. Conclusion A significant amount of opioid medication went unused in this study. A prescription of 225 morphine milligram equivalents (or 150 mg oxycodone) provided appropriate analgesia for the majority of patients. Larger prescriptions may result in increased opioid consumption and may not reduce the amount of refills. More study is needed to confirm these findings.
The Achilles Heel of the U.S. Food Industries: Exposure to Labor and Upstream Industries in the Supply Chain

The modern day food industries are part of a complex agri-food supply chain, where food production has become efficient, yet potentially vulnerable to supply chain risks. The COVID-19 pandemic is a testament to that end. This article measures and identifies the U.S. food manufacturing industries' vulnerability to upstream industries and labor occupations by (i) calculating a food industry's diversification of intermediate input purchases across upstream industries, (ii) quantifying the relative exposure of food manufacturing in a given industry and location to upstream input suppliers and labor occupations, and (iii) estimating each food industry's gross output elasticity of inputs. Among our results, we find the evidence that the animal processing industry's output is relatively vulnerable to production labor which is consistent with the observed disruptions to the meat packing sector during COVID19, which were largely caused by labor issues. Our results may help academics and practitioners to understand food industries' vulnerabilities to upstream industries and labor occupations.
Visit Entropy: comparing a novel method to existing continuity of care measures

Introduction: Continuity of care is a key characteristic of primary care yet there is little agreement on an accepted measure of continuity. Density (Usual Provider Continuity, Primary Provider Continuity), dispersion (Continuity of Care Index), and sequence (Sequence of Care Index) are often used measures, but they each have specific drawbacks when applied to patients with multi-comorbidity who are cared for within a patient-centered medical home practice. Methods: A new measure of continuity called Visit Entropy was developed using mathematical constructs from information theory and physics. This was compared to four existing measures of continuity in a dataset of 811 hospitalized primary care patients. Results: Visit Entropy is inversely related to other measures of continuity of care. It has a less skewed distribution and it helps differentiate the substantial number of patients at the extremes of other measures of continuity of care. Visit Entropy also eliminates the problem of undefined values caused by division by zero seen in other continuity measures. Conclusions: Visit Entropy solves many of the shortcomings of existing continuity measures when applied to a dataset of primary care patients cared for within a medical home practice. Further study is indicated to determine if Visit Entropy is associated with the benefits commonly ascribed to continuity of care and if it matches patient and physician perceptions of continuity of care.