cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
"Working for Patients": the National Health Service in the 1990s.

The National Health Service in England is on the verge of sweeping changes that would apply free-market methods to the state-financed health care system. The government proposal, WORKING FOR PATIENTS, would bring about the most far-reaching changes in the NHS since it was founded following World War II. This paper examines a number of important issues and questions raised by the White Paper on the NHS. One cannot understand the proposed changes in the NHS in abstraction from the broader context of the basic principles upon which the NHS was originally established: universalism, equality, accessibility, and continuity of care. The so-called reforms contamed in the White Paper potentially threaten an internationally unique national health care system.
A Preliminary Report on Control of the Western Twelve-Spotted Cucumber Beetle in Orchards

For a number of years the western twelve-spotted cucumber beetle, Diabrotica 11-punetata (Man.), has been known to be a serious pest of deciduous fruits in several localities in California. Not only has much damage been done due to direct feeding, but large losses have resulted through the spreading of brown rot. In the Brentwood area of California the losses were so great in 1938 that the farmers in that region asked that the problem be investigated. Work was started late in the harvest season and, although of a limited nature, information was obtained which indicated that it should be possible to control the insect with certain contact insecticides applied as dusts. In 1939 a serious infestation of the pest failed to develop and for that reason it was impossible to carry on any extensive control experiments. However, population trends were followed and observations were made on the reaction of the beetles to dusting in relation to weather conditions. Large populations were encountered in 1940 and this report deals principally with the results of that season's work.
A new argument for animalism

Though Aristotelian in spirit, the view known as animalism is a relative latecomer to the debate over personal identity, having been defended only within the past 25 years or so. Its advocates make the following straightforward claim: we are animals. According to the intended reading of this claim, the ‘are’ reflects the ‘is’ of numerical identity (not the ‘is’ of nonidentical constitution); the ‘we’ is intended to pick out you, me and others of our kind; and ‘human animals’ is meant to refer to biological organisms of the Homo sapiens species. According to animalism’s most sophisticated rival, neo-Lockean constitutionalism, we persons are non-identically constituted by human animals, rather like the way statues are said to be constituted by the lumps of matter with which they coincide. The standard argument for animalism is commonly known as the Thinking Animal Argument (TAA). Very roughly, TAA registers the implausible multiplication of thinkers to which anyone who rejects animalism is committed. Recently, however, a structurally analogous line of argument has been shown
Review of the Study Literature of the Immune Effect and Safety of Oral Rotavirus Vaccine

Objective To evaluate the immune effect and safety of Oral Rotavirus Attenuated Live Vaccine(ORV). Methods Studies about the immune effect and safety of ORV from www.cnki.net, CJFD, www.wanfangdata.com.cn and other databases were searched electronically for Meta-analysis. Results A total of 9 literatures were included, of which there were 5 vaccine protection rate studies, 4 of vaccination on clinical studies, 4 safety studies. The vaccine protection rate in most studies was above 74%, up to 86.4%. The qualitative detection result of Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ, LLR antibody positive conversion rate was 75.00%, 66.67%, 63.16%, 75.86%, 76.47%, respectively. Quantitative detection of the four times growth rate of antibodies was 60.38%, 50.94%, 45.28%, 52.83%, 47.17%, respectively. According to the reports of the researchers, the side effects of ORV mainly were 2 kinds, temperature response and digestive tract reaction, no serious adverse reactions and death report. Conclusion Vaccinating ORV can reduce the incidence of rotavirus diarrhea to varying degrees, reduce the severe cases and shorten the course of disease; and the reactions after vaccination are mild, mostly transient response, which has good protective effect and safety.
STUDY OF THE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF INJECTION AND PRODUCTION ON IGNEOUS-ROCK RESERVOIRS

Igneous-rock reservoirs in China are mainly distributed in XinJiang, where they have been under water injection recovery for several years. Performance data show that these reservoirs are characterized by: great variation in productivity among oil wells, quick decline of producing ability for both oil wells and oil field, non-existence of a stable production period, and marked difference in absorption capacity among injection wells. Furthermore, during injection production, a few producing wells would experience severe water channeling or be quickly flooded out while most other wells would not witness injection effect for a long time. And the oil recovery is typically around 8~13%. All these are consistent with the geological character of well-developed fractures and strong heterogeneity of the reservoirs. In accordance with such characteristics, it is strongly suggested that in the development of these reservoirs water injection be carefully planned, more attention be given to the management of the high-production wells, and water injection into the well groups experiencing severe water channeling be terminated or kept at interval.
Thermochemistry of HO2 + HO2 → H2O4: Does HO2 Dimerization Affect Laboratory Studies?

Self-reaction is an important sink for the hydroperoxy radical (HO2) in the atmosphere. It has been suggested (Denis, P. A.; Ornellas, F. R. J. Phys. Chem. A, 2009, 113 (2), 499–506) that the minor product hydrogen tetroxide (HO4H) may act as a reservoir of HO2. Here, we compute the thermochemistry of HO2 self-reactions to determine if either HO4H or the cyclic hydrogen-bound dimer (HO2)2 can act as reservoirs. We computed electronic energies using coupled-cluster calculations in the complete basis set limit, CCSD(T)/CBS[45]//CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ. Our model chemistry includes corrections for vibrational anharmonicity in the zero-point energy and vibrational partition functions, core–valence correlation, scalar relativistic effects, diagonal Born–Oppenheimer, spin–orbit splitting, and higher-order corrections. We compute the Gibbs energy of dimerization to be (−20.1 ± 1.6) kJ/mol at 298.15 K (2σ uncertainty), and (−32.3 ± 1.5) kJ/mol at 220 K. For atmospherically relevant [HO2] = 108 molecules per cm3, our ther...
Cleaning patch-clamp pipettes for immediate reuse

Patch-clamp recording has enabled single-cell electrical, morphological and genetic studies at unparalleled resolution. Yet it remains a laborious and low-throughput technique, making it largely impractical for large-scale measurements such as cell type and connectivity characterization of neurons in the brain. Specifically, the technique is critically limited by the ubiquitous practice of manually replacing patch-clamp pipettes after each recording. To circumvent this limitation, we developed a simple, fast, and automated method for cleaning glass pipette electrodes that enables their reuse within one minute. By immersing pipette tips into Alconox, a commercially-available detergent, followed by rinsing, we were able to reuse pipettes 10 times with no degradation in signal fidelity, in experimental preparations ranging from human embryonic kidney cells to neurons in culture, slices, and in vivo. Undetectable trace amounts of Alconox remaining in the pipette after cleaning did not affect ion channel pharmacology. We demonstrate the utility of pipette cleaning by developing the first robot to perform sequential patch-clamp recordings in cell culture and in vivo without a human operator.
So It “Became White Activists Fighting for Integration?” Community Organizations, Intersectional Identities, and Education Reform

Community-based organizations have long influenced education reforms, and urban areas are especially vulnerable to community work that transcends racial and economic boundaries. The purpose of this study is to explore how The League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley, a mostly White, middle-upper-class women’s organization, worked to pursue one of the most prominent urban education reforms in the last half century—school desegregation. Using interview and archival data, this historical case study is theoretically framed by various critical constructs to examine how the organization’s racial and economic privileges, and in some cases oppression, coupled with gendered systems of patriarchy and misogyny, influenced the process and outcomes of school desegregation reform in Las Vegas between 1966 and 1972. The organization’s intersectional identities afforded them unique opportunities and barriers. Nevertheless, they ultimately compromised on an inequitable policy that burdened Black children and their families for close to 20 years. These findings suggest that the intersectional identities of organizations can both empower and hinder community engagement in education reform. Because interests often diverge, organizations undertaking education reform should do the collective work necessary to address unintended policy consequences of education reform efforts.
PATIENTS WITH NON ST-SEGMENT ELEVATION MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION UTILIZING MEDICARE/MEDICAID HAVE LOWER ADJUSTED ODDS OF IN-HOSPITAL MORTALITY: A NATIONWIDE ANALYSIS

Background: There have been no studies looking at the type of insurance utilized by patients in Non-ST-segment Elevation Myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). The aim of this study was to look at insurance as an independent risk factor in outcome of NSTEMI patients. Methods: This was a retrospective
Abstract 131: A microRNA Targets the Epigenetic Reader BRD4 to Suppress Transcription Elongation in the Heart

BRD4 is a member of the BET family of proteins, which contain tandem reader domains (bromodomains) that bind to acetylated histone tails within chromatin. We recently demonstrated that JQ1, a small molecule that prevents BRD4-chromatin interaction, potently blocks pathological cardiac hypertrophy and improves cardiac function in pre-clinical models. BRD4 functions as a nodal regulator of the transcriptional program for cardiac hypertrophy by recruiting P-TEFb to gene regulatory elements, resulting in phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), and subsequent transcription elongation. Here, we describe a signal-dependent mechanism for regulation of BRD4 in the heart. BRD4 protein expression is dramatically upregulated in cardiomyocytes exposed to cues for pathological, but not physiological, hypertrophy. In unstimulated cardiomyocytes, BRD4 protein expression is maintained at low levels by a microRNA, which directly targets the 3’ UTR of the BRD4 transcript, thereby preventing translation of this acetyl-lysine reader. In response to signals for hypertrophy, expression of the microRNA is down regulated through a histone deacetylase (HDAC)-dependent mechanism, resulting in robust induction of BRD4 protein synthesis. Whole genome analyses establish a crucial role for the microRNA in the control of Pol II elongation in the heart via BRD4 down regulation. These findings define a novel chromatin signaling axis that can be targeted at multiple levels (epigenetic reader, microRNA or HDAC) for the treatment of heart failure.
Histopathology in Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction With and Without Crossing Vessels.

Objective To determine if the histopathology of the ureteropelvic junction differs between those with and without crossing vessels who present with a ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO). Materials and Methods Our database was queried for patients undergoing pyeloplasty (Current procedural terminology 50400, 50405, and 50544) between June 1, 2002, and March 10, 2016. We excluded patients with other renal anatomic abnormalities and patients undergoing surgery for upper tract tumor. One genitourinary pathologist reviewed all slides for muscle hypertrophy, fibrosis, edema, and inflammation. Statistics were modeled in SAS 9.4 (SAS, Cary, NC) using logistic regression with maximum likelihood. Results A total of 178 patients met the inclusion criteria, and pathology slides were available for 136 patients. Thirty-three patients had crossing vessels in association with a UPJO. The degrees of muscle hypertrophy (P = .89) and fibrosis (P = .17) were not predictive of etiology. The odds of a crossing vessel increased by 4.3 times (95% confidence interval 1.8-9.9) when edema was present (P = .009) and by 4.4 (95% confidence interval 1.4-13.7) times when inflammation was present (P = .0103). Conclusion In the largest pathology series to date, histopathology showed increased inflammation in the presence of a crossing vessel but a similar composition of muscle and fibrosis. These data suggest that UPJO with an associated lower-pole vessel may represent a chronic process, which would explain why patients with a crossing vessel present later in life.
Comparison of abdominal muscle activity during abdominal drawing-in maneuver combined with irradiation variations

Many experts have used an indirect method for enhancing strength and performance of muscles in clinical practice. The indirect method, which called an irradiation is a basic procedure of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, there is little research related the effects of irradiation. This study investigated abdominal muscle activity during abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) combined with irradiation variations. The study recruited 42 healthy, young adults who were divided randomly into three groups according to which intervention they received. The first group performed the ADIM combined with coactivation of the pelvic floor muscle. The second group performed the ADIM combined with the irradiation resulting from dorsiflexion of the ankle. The third group performed the ADIM combined with the irradiation resulting from bilateral arm extension. Electromyography data were collected from the rectus abdominis, external oblique abdominis, and transversus abdominis/internal oblique abdominis (TrA/IO) muscles during ADIM combined with irradiation variations. There were significant differences in the abdominal muscle activity and the preferential contraction ratio of the TrA/IO among the three groups (P<0.05). ADIM combined with irradiation resulting from bilateral arm extension may be effective for enhancing the deep and superficial abdominal muscles of healthy people and athletes. The ADIM without the irradiation is advantageous for recovering motor control of the TrA/IO.
Response of soil microbial community composition and function to a bottomland forest restoration intensity gradient

Abstract Terrestrial ecosystems are globally under threat of loss or degradation. To compensate for the impacts incurred by loss and/or degradation, efforts to restore ecosystems are being undertaken. These efforts often focus on restoring the aboveground plant community with the expectation that the belowground microbial community will follow suit. This ‘Field of Dreams’ expectation – if you build it, they will come – makes untested assumptions about how microbial communities and their functions will respond to aboveground-focused restoration. To determine if restoration of aboveground plant communities equates to restoration of belowground microbial communities, we assessed the effects of four forest restoration treatments – varying in intensity from unmanaged to interplanting tree species – on microbial (i.e. prokaryotic and fungal) community composition and function (i.e. catabolic profiles and extracellular enzyme activities). Additionally, effects of the restoration treatments were compared to both degraded (i.e. active arable cultivation) and target endpoint communities (i.e. remnant bottomland forest) to determine the trajectory of intensifying aboveground restoration efforts on microbial communities. Approximately 16 years after the initiation of the restoration treatments, prokaryotic and fungal community composition, and microbial function in the four restoration treatments were intermediate to the endpoint communities. Surprisingly, intensification of aboveground restoration efforts led to few differences among the four restoration treatments and increasing intensification did not consistently lead to microbial communities with greater similarity in composition and function to the target remnant forest communities. Together these results suggest that belowground microbial community composition and function will respond little to, or will lag markedly behind, intensifying aboveground restoration efforts. Reliance on a ‘Field of Dreams’ approach, even if you build it better, may still lead to belowground microbial communities that remain uncoupled from aboveground communities. Importantly, our findings suggest that restoring aboveground vegetation may not lead to the intended restoration of belowground microbial communities and the ecosystem processes they mediate.
Female Sex Determination: Molecular

Abstract Female versus male sex, and therefore, ovary versus testis formation is determined during early embryonic development. At first, the gonad is bipotential and expresses factors associated with both female and male pathways. Shortly thereafter, the balance between the female and male factors shifts toward one outcome. Rspo1 and Wnt4 are the first genes to increase in the female; both stimulate transcription of new genes via β-catenin signaling. Next, another transcription factor, Foxl2 , is expressed and is independent of β-catenin. Together, they advance normal ovary formation while they also block production of male-promoting factors. This review highlights discoveries made in mouse, human, and goat that detail important molecular pathways that promote successful ovary formation for fertile and healthy female individuals.
The Reduction of Sulfate and the Oxidation of Sulfide

The sulfhydryl-containing amino acids, Met and Cys, are needed by all life forms for protein synthesis and a myriad other tasks. Under the oxidizing conditions found over most of this planet, sulfur is present in the geosphere in the form of sulfate. Reduction of sulfate is expensive, requiring approximately 840 kJ·mol−1. The inability of multicellular animals to reduce sulfate to sulfide is part of a general lack of reductive capability. Such organisms are also unable to reduce nitrate to ammonia (142 kJ·mol−1) and carbon dioxide to carbohydrate (460 kJ·mol−1). The animal kingdom must rely on the plant and bacterial kingdoms for provision of the reduced forms of these elements.
Pineal region choroid plexus carcinoma: MRI, CT, and pathology correlation

A 30-year-old woman experienced severe headaches, hearing loss, incoordination, vertigo, and diplopia for 1 year and amenorrhea for 4 months leading to concurrent CT and MRI. These revealed a pineal choroid plexus neoplasm causing compression of the tectum and obstruction of the aqueduct of Sylvius, with obstructive hydrocephalus. These findings allowed a correlation between CT and MRI explaining the patient’s symptoms and providing a precise surgical/anatomic approach with good clinical result.
Possible Implications for Bundled Payment Models of Comorbidities and Complications as Drivers of Cost in Total Ankle Arthroplasty.

Background:The Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model provides bundled payments for in-hospital and 90-day postdischarge care of patients undergoing total ankle arthroplasty (TAA). De...
Economic Collapse 2007–2008: Would 1929 Be Reborn in Anemic Growth?

Our move to Chapman coincided with the start of the Great Recession. In the run-up, we had experienced a debt-financed housing expansion not seen since the 1920s, but much larger and potentially more damaging than the Depression. While the Federal Reserve intervened massively and cushioned the decline, it erred badly in rescuing investors from the consequences of their own decisions. The widely expressed outrage over banking-government cronyism failed to recognize that it assured that incumbent investors would survive to share the return on new growth with new investors. The effect always is, and was, to dilute that growth, assuring in this outsized case our long, painful growth recession exacerbated by too late, and excessive bank lending restrictions. Policy in the Depression had inverted this error by failing to act even to protect depositors. That collapse was deep, although the wave of bankruptcies cleared the decks for a resumption of growth, albeit from a deep hole. By late 2007, new housing expenditures had declined for seven straight quarters, noticed by the Federal Reserve, but badly mis-diagnosed in failing to see that it was evidence of an insolvency crisis not a liquidity crisis.
Suicide Decedents in Correctional Settings: Mental Health Treatment for Suicidal Ideation, Plans, and/or Attempts

Based on 2005 to 2014 data from the National Violent Death Reporting System, this study examined mental health treatment status of suicide decedents in correctional settings, focusing on those with...
Spatiotemporal control and modeling of morphogen delivery to induce gradient patterning of stem cell differentiation using fluidic channels

The process of cell differentiation in a developing embryo is influenced by numerous factors, including various biological molecules whose presentation varies dramatically over space and time. These morphogens regulate cell fate based on concentration profiles, thus creating discrete populations of cells and ultimately generating large, complex tissues and organs. Recently, several in vitro platforms have attempted to recapitulate the complex presentation of extrinsic signals found in nature. However, it has been a challenge to design versatile platforms that can dynamically control morphogen gradients over extended periods of time. To address some of these issues, we introduce a platform using channels patterned in hydrogels to deliver multiple morphogens to cells in a 3D scaffold, thus creating a spectrum of cell phenotypes based on the resultant morphogen gradients. The diffusion coefficient of a common small molecule morphogen, retinoic acid (RA), was measured within our hydrogel platform using Raman spectroscopy and its diffusion in our platform's geometry was modeled using finite element analysis. The predictive model of spatial gradients was validated in a cell-free hydrogel, and temporal control of morphogen gradients was then demonstrated using a reporter cell line that expresses green fluorescent protein in the presence of RA. Finally, the utility of this approach for regulating cell phenotype was demonstrated by generating opposing morphogen gradients to create a spectrum of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation states.
Vitamin Infusion Therapy

Vitamin deficiencies have long been associated with various painful conditions, such as abdominal pain in the case of vitamin B deficiency or soft tissue pain in vitamin C deficiency. However, vitamins have also been used in the treatment of various painful conditions beyond simple deficiencies, including cancer-associated pain, neuropathic pain, and pain resulting from viral infections. It is theorized that the antioxidant, energy metabolism, and neuroprotective properties of vitamins may be beneficial for modulating pain transmission. However, the available data is somewhat limited, and further research is needed to better identify and characterize the analgesic effect of vitamin infusions.
Randomized Clinical Trial: Effect of Walnuts on Semen Parameters and Male Fertility (P18-042-19)

Objectives Infertility affects ∼8–12% of couples worldwide with ∼40% attributed to male factors. Recent studies suggest a role for paternal diet in fertility. Walnuts contain a variety of nutrients essential in the development of spermatozoa. We conducted a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to determine if consumption of walnuts improves semen parameters and fertility in men seeking clinical care for male factor infertility.
The Implications of Paraspinal Muscle Atrophy in Low Back Pain, Thoracolumbar Pathology, and Clinical Outcomes After Spine Surgery: A Review of the Literature:

Study Design:Literature review.Objectives:Paraspinal muscle integrity is believed to play a critical role in low back pain (LBP) and numerous spinal deformity diseases and other pain pathologies. T...
Bidirectional Interleaved Buck/Boost DC-DC Converter Design to Improve Power Density in High-Current Applications

Interleaved topologies are popular in high-power, high-current applications due to the reduction in device current stresses and filter sizes. Despite its popularity, a proper design procedure for bidirectional interleaved dc-dc converter operating in CCM including the selection of appropriate number of phases and passive component design to optimize converter efficiency is missing in the literature. This paper presents a comprehensive design procedure for a bidirectional interleaved buck/boost dc-dc converters for high-current applications. Use of silicon carbide devices in the converter will further improve its efficiency and power density.
Bringing unity to the classroom

Unity is a game engine, created by Unity Technologies, that makes it possible to develop a wide range of games on diverse platforms. While used extensively in industry, it also has a number of features that make it particularly appealing for use in the classroom. Unity embraces the concept of object-oriented programming, but how it uses objects is somewhat non-standard, raising intriguing object-oriented design questions that can be addressed at a number of different levels. From a practical standpoint Unity is inexpensive, easy to use, has a fairly shallow learning curve, accommodates multiple scripting languages, and ships with intuitive prototyping tools. All this makes Unity attractive for those interested in teaching game programming. This paper will explore these features in depth, and look at the logistics and experiences of those attempting to bring Unity to the classroom.
Mechanistic Understanding of the Interactions of Cationic Conjugated Oligo- and Polyelectrolytes with Wild-type and Ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli.

An in-depth understanding of cell-drug binding modes and action mechanisms can potentially guide the future design of novel drugs and antimicrobial materials and help to combat antibiotic resistance. Light-harvesting π-conjugated molecules have been demonstrated for their antimicrobial effects, but their impact on bacterial outer cell envelope needs to be studied in detail. Here, we synthesized poly(phenylene) based model cationic conjugated oligo- (2QA-CCOE, 4QA-CCOE) and polyelectrolytes (CCPE), and systematically explored their interactions with the outer cell membrane of wild-type and ampicillin (amp)-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli). Incubation of the E. coli cells in CCOE/CCPE solution inhibited the subsequent bacterial growth in LB media. About 99% growth inhibition was achieved if amp-resistant E. coli was treated for ~3–5 min, 1 h and 6 h with 100 μM of CCPE, 4QA-CCOE, and 2QA-CCOE solutions, respectively. Interestingly, these CCPE and CCOEs inhibited the growth of both wild-type and amp-resistant E. coli to a similar extent. A large surface charge reversal of bacteria upon treatment with CCPE suggested the formation of a coating of CCPE on the outer surface of bacteria; while a low reversal of bacterial surface charge suggested intercalation of CCOEs within the lipid bilayer of bacteria.
Why Multilayer Networks Instead of Simple Graphs? Modeling Effectiveness and Analysis Flexibility and Efficiency!

We are on the cusp of analyzing a variety of data being collected in every walk of life - social, biological, health-care, corporate, climate, to name a few. We are also in search for models and analytical techniques that can accommodate more complex and increasingly large size data (scalability). Our ability to analyze large complex, disparate data for a broad set of analysis objectives differentiates big data analytics from mining which is narrow in scope. Hence, flexibility of analysis (different from scalability) is important. Concomitantly, efficiency is important due to large number of analysis needs. Our ultimate goal is to go from vertical analysis of data individually (corresponding to one of the 4 V’s) to holistically (also termed fusion-based) analyze that corresponds to all or a subset of V’s!
Using the otolith sulcus to aid in prey identification and improve estimates of prey size in diet studies of a piscivorous predator.

Diet studies are fundamental for understanding trophic connections in marine ecosystems. In the southeastern US, the common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus is the predominant marine mammal in coastal waters, but its role as a top predator has received little attention. Diet studies of piscivorous predators, like bottlenose dolphins, start with assessing prey otoliths recovered from stomachs or feces, but digestive erosion hampers species identification and underestimates fish weight (FW). To compensate, FW is often estimated from the least affected otoliths and scaled to other otoliths, which also introduces bias. The sulcus, an otolith surface feature, has a species-specific shape of its ostium and caudal extents, which is within the otolith edge for some species. We explored whether the sulcus could improve species identification and estimation of prey size using a case study of four sciaenid species targeted by fisheries and bottlenose dolphins in North Carolina. Methods were assessed first on otoliths from a reference collection (n = 421) and applied to prey otoliths (n = 5,308) recovered from 120 stomachs of dead stranded dolphins. We demonstrated in reference-collection otoliths that cauda to sulcus length (CL:SL) could discriminate between spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) and weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) (classification accuracy = 0.98). This method confirmed for the first time predation of spotted seatrout by bottlenose dolphins in North Carolina. Using predictive models developed from reference-collection otoliths, we provided evidence that digestion affects otolith length more than sulcus or cauda length, making the latter better predictors. Lastly, we explored scenarios of calculating total consumed biomass across degrees of digestion. A suggested approach was for the least digested otoliths to be scaled to other otoliths iteratively from within the same stomach, month, or season as samples allow. Using the otolith sulcus helped overcome challenges of species identification and fish size estimation, indicating their potential use in other diet studies.
Big Data and Predictive Analytics in Fire Risk Using Weather Data.

The objective of this article is to study the impact of weather on the damage caused by fire incidents across the United States. The article uses two sets of big data--fire incidents data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-to obtain a single comprehensive data set for prediction and analysis of fire risk. In the article, the loss is referred to as "Total Percent Loss," a metric that is calculated based on the content and property loss incurred by an owner over the total value of content and property. Gradient boosting tree (GBT), a machine learning algorithm, is implemented on the processed data to predict the losses due to fire incidents. An R2 value of 0.933 and mean squared error (MSE) of 124.641 out of 10,000 signify the extent of high predictive accuracy obtained by implementing the GBT model. In addition to this, an excellent predictive performance demonstrated by the GBT model is further validated by a strong fitting between the predicted loss and the actual loss for the test data set, with an R2 value of 0.97. While analyzing the influence of each input variable on the output, it is observed that the state in which a fire incident takes place plays a major role in determining fire risk. This article provides useful insights to fire managers and researchers in the form of a detailed framework of big data and predictive analytics for effective management of fire risk.
Quantitative measures of health policy implementation determinants and outcomes: a systematic review

Public policy has tremendous impacts on population health. While policy development has been extensively studied, policy implementation research is newer and relies largely on qualitative methods. Quantitative measures are needed to disentangle differential impacts of policy implementation determinants (i.e., barriers and facilitators) and outcomes to ensure intended benefits are realized. Implementation outcomes include acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, compliance/fidelity, feasibility, penetration, sustainability, and costs. This systematic review identified quantitative measures that are used to assess health policy implementation determinants and outcomes and evaluated the quality of these measures. Three frameworks guided the review: Implementation Outcomes Framework (Proctor et al.), Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (Damschroder et al.), and Policy Implementation Determinants Framework (Bullock et al.). Six databases were searched: Medline, CINAHL Plus, PsycInfo, PAIS, ERIC, and Worldwide Political. Searches were limited to English language, peer-reviewed journal articles published January 1995 to April 2019. Search terms addressed four levels: health, public policy, implementation, and measurement. Empirical studies of public policies addressing physical or behavioral health with quantitative self-report or archival measures of policy implementation with at least two items assessing implementation outcomes or determinants were included. Consensus scoring of the Psychometric and Pragmatic Evidence Rating Scale assessed the quality of measures. Database searches yielded 8417 non-duplicate studies, with 870 (10.3%) undergoing full-text screening, yielding 66 studies. From the included studies, 70 unique measures were identified to quantitatively assess implementation outcomes and/or determinants. Acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness, and compliance were the most commonly measured implementation outcomes. Common determinants in the identified measures were organizational culture, implementation climate, and readiness for implementation, each aspects of the internal setting. Pragmatic quality ranged from adequate to good, with most measures freely available, brief, and at high school reading level. Few psychometric properties were reported. Well-tested quantitative measures of implementation internal settings were under-utilized in policy studies. Further development and testing of external context measures are warranted. This review is intended to stimulate measure development and high-quality assessment of health policy implementation outcomes and determinants to help practitioners and researchers spread evidence-informed policies to improve population health. Not registered
G-quadruplex ligands targeting telomeres do not inhibit HIV promoter activity and cooperate with latency reversing agents in killing latently infected cells

Altered telomere maintenance mechanism (TMM) is linked to increased DNA damage at telomeres and telomere uncapping. We previously showed that HIV-1 latent cells have altered TMM and are susceptible...
Efficacy of enfortumab vedotin in advanced urothelial cancer: Retrospective analysis of the Urothelial Cancer Network to Investigate Therapeutic Experiences (UNITE) Study.

443Background: Enfortumab vedotin (EV) is an antibody-drug conjugate targeting Nectin-4, which is FDA approved for patients (pts) with treatment-refractory advanced urothelial cancer (aUC). The act...
Church Life: Pastors, Congregations, and the Experience of Dissent in Seventeenth-Century England: edited by Michael Davies, Anne Dunan-Page, and Joel Halcomb, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019, i–xviii + 222 pp., $93 (hardback), ISBN 9780198753193

During the last half of the seventeenth century, England saw the birth of what would become religious denominations in competition with the Church of England that was re-established in 1662 followi...
Brownian motion with a horizontal Bessel drift in a parabolic-type domain

Abstract We extend the results of Lifshits and Shi for Brownian motion in parabolic-type domains by including a Bessel drift in the horizontal direction.
Worldviews of Adult Learning in the Workplace Through a Mormonism Lens

The problem and the solution. With membership exceeding 12 million individuals in 170 countries, it is increasingly likely that Mormons will be found in the workplaces of organizations around the w...
Adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of pluripotent stem cells on multi-walled carbon nanotubes

This article studies the adhesion, growth and differentiation of stem cells on carbon nanotube matrices. Glass coverslips were coated with multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) thin films using layer-by-layer self-assembling techniques. Pluripotent P19 mouse embryonal carcinoma stem cells were seeded onto uncoated or MWNT-coated glass coverslips and either maintained in an undifferentiated state or induced to differentiate by the addition of retinoic acid. The authors found that cell adhesion was increased on the MWNT-coated glass surfaces, and that the expression patterns of some differentiation markers were altered in cells grown on MWNTs. The results suggest that MWNTs will be useful in directing pluripotent stem cell differentiation for tissue engineering purposes.
Integration of Low-Skilled Immigrants to the United-States and Work-Family Balance

The role played by immigrants in the American economy is well documented and, to a lesser extent, the effect of the migration experience on the families of immigrants. However, little is known of the connections between work and family when it comes to immigrants, especially immigrants in low-skilled jobs, whether it is the effect of labour market experiences on the family or the effect of family patterns on integration into the labour market. Yet, the issue of balancing personal life with professional responsibilities is of growing interest among scholars and policy makers, given the increasing participation of women in the labour market, the increase in non-standard work and the high proportion of immigrants in these work arrangements.
Aluminum Oxide (Alumina), Activated

The activated aluminas comprise a series of nonequilibrium forms of partially hydroxylated aluminum oxide, Al2O3. The chemical composition can be represented by (OH)2x where x ranges from about 0 to 0.8. They are porous solids made by thermal treatment of aluminum hydroxide precursors and find application mainly as adsorbents, catalysts, and catalyst supports. Activated alumina, for purposes of this discussion, refers to thermal decomposition products (excluding α-alumina) of aluminum trihydroxides, oxide hydroxides, and nonstoichiometric gelatinous hydroxides. The term “activation” is used to indicate a change in properties resulting from heating (calcining). In general, as a hydrous alumina precursor is heated, hydroxyl groups are driven off, leaving a porous solid structure of activated alumina. The physical properties of the material are set by the choice of precursor, the forming process, and the activation conditions. Activated alumina is a relatively innocuous material from a health and safety standpoint. It is nonflammable and nontoxic. Normal precautions associated with handling of nuisance dusts should be taken. Activated alumina is normally shipped in moisture-proof containers because of its strong desiccating action. Keywords: aluminum oxide; alumina; activated; aluminum hydroxide; catalysts; membranes; adsorbents; bachmite
Dynamic DNA Methylation

The methylation of DNA during plant development is a much more dynamic process than previously assumed.
Ion exchange equilibria and kinetics in zeolites: influences of framework flexibility and charge density*

Abstract A few areas of research pioneered by Richard M. Barrer will be discussed in relation to Barrer's original publications, and the work of others influenced by his work. Particular aspects of ion exchange equilibria discussed include zeolite framework flexibility leading to limited mutual miscibility of end members of exchange reactions and the ramifications to ion exchange behaviour, and the effect of framework charge density on ion exchange. A brief discussion of the kinetics of exchange into materials with high charge density is given.
Ordering fuzzy sets generated by a neural network algorithm

Ordering fuzzy subsets is an important event in dealing with fuzzy decision problems in many areas. This issue has been of concern for many researchers over the years. Also, in the last several years, there has been a large and energetic upswing in neuroengineering research aimed at synthesizing fuzzy logic with computational neural networks. The two technologies often complement each other: neural networks supply the brute force necessary to accommodate and interpret large amounts of sensor data and fuzzy logic provides a structural framework that utilizes and exploits these low-level results. As a neural network is well known for its ability to represent functions, and the basis of every fuzzy model is the membership function, so the natural application of neural networks in fuzzy models has emerged to provide good approximations to the membership functions that are essential to the success of the fuzzy approach. This paper evaluates and analyzes the performance of available methods of ranking fuzzy subsets on a set of selected examples that cover possible situations we might encounter as defining fuzzy subsets at each node of a neural network. Through this analysis, suggestions as to which methods have better performance for utilization in neural network architectures, as well as criteria for choosing an appropriate method for ranking are made.
Reduced Levels of Norepinephrine Transporters in the Locus Coeruleus in Major Depression

The norepinephrine transporter (NET) is a membrane protein responsible for termination of the action of synaptic norepinephrine and is a site of action of many drugs used to treat major depression. The present study determined whether the binding of [3H]nisoxetine to the NET is altered in the locus coeruleus (LC) in major depression, using brain tissue collected postmortem from subjects diagnosed with major depression and from age-matched normal control subjects. Thirteen of the 15 major depressive subjects studied died by suicide. The distribution of [3H]nisoxetine binding along the rostro-caudal axis of the nucleus was uneven and was paralleled by a similar uneven distribution of neuromelanin-containing cells in both major depressives and psychiatrically normal control subjects. The binding of [3H]nisoxetine to NETs in the midcaudal portion of the LC from major depressive subjects was significantly lower than that from age-matched, normal control subjects. The binding of [3H]nisoxetine to NETs in other regions of the LC was similar in major depressives and control subjects. In contrast to reductions in binding to NETs, there were no significant differences in the number of noradrenergic cells at any particular level of the LC between major depressives and normal control subjects. The decreased binding of [3H]nisoxetine to NETs in the LC in major depression may reflect a compensatory downregulation of this transporter protein in response to an insufficient availability of its substrate (norepinephrine) at the synapse.
Measures of Central Tendency

The mean of a set of scores is computed by adding up all the scores and dividing the result by the number of scores. In symbols, X = ΣXN, X is the sample mean, ΣX is the sum of the X scores, and N is the total number of scores. This chapter illustrates computation from a regular frequency distribution. In general, means and other statistics should not be computed from grouped frequency distributions, which do not give the exact value of every score; however, they may be approximated by treating all the scores in any interval as if they fell at the midpoint of the interval. One important attribute of a set of scores is its location, that is, where in the possible range between minus infinity and plus infinity the scores tend to fall. This can be described in a single number by using either the mean, the best measure in most instances; or the median (the score corresponding to the 50th percentile), preferable when data are highly skewed or there are extreme data whose exact values are unknown, and when the objectives are purely descriptive.
Y‐Chromosome Short Tandem Repeats

Y-chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) are a class of genetic markers present on the nonrecombining portion of the male-specific Y chromosome. They are thus inherited in a patrilineal manner and can be used in a variety of specialized casework situations in which standard autosomal STR analysis is of limited (or no) probative value. They are particularly useful for cases involving admixed male and female DNA for which a separation of the male- and female-derived cells is unsuccessful or not feasible. This article briefly describes the basic biology of the Y chromosome, the common Y-STR markers incorporated into commercial kits, the probative value of a Y-STR “match,” and typical casework applications of the technology. Keywords: Y chromosome; forensic science; short tandem repeats; Y-STRs
Conditional Capture Probability of Pallid Sturgeon in Benthic Trawls

AbstractLong-term population monitoring assumes that relative abundance reflects trends in the population. Sampling efficiency and capture probability are assumed to be consistent so samples can be temporally and spatially compared. Benthic otter trawls are being used for a long-term monitoring project on the Missouri River. To estimate the capture probability of Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus, we used acoustic telemetry to locate and target tagged sturgeon with benthic otter trawls. Conditional capture probability (pi*) of a fish in a known location was only 0.08 on the first pass, increased slightly (pi* = 0.18) on the second pass, and again on the third pass (pi* = 0.26). Individual habitat parameters or their interactions did not explain when Pallid Sturgeon were successfully or unsuccessfully captured. Our study suggests that otter trawls are a highly inefficient gear for capturing Scaphirhynchus species. Therefore, relative abundance indices based on otter trawl captures need to be assessed ca...
On the eventual invertibility of timed Petri nets

We view a Timed Petri Net (TPN) as an input-output system, where the input is a set of transition lifetimes and the output is the resulting system trajectory. We observe the output trajectory through an observation map. The trajectory is represented by a sequence of transitions, markings, and transition epochs. In a previous paper, we introduced the concept of "inversion" of TPNs, which is the process of extracting transition lifetimes from observation of a system trajectory, and investigated invertibility of TPNs. In this paper, we introduce the notion of "eventual inversion" of TPNs, which is less restrictive than inversion. We provide a necessary and sufficient condition for eventual invertibility of a TPN and an algorithm to check it from the coverability graph of the system. >