cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Semi-autonomous teleoperation of multiple cooperative robots for human-robot lunar exploration

We propose a semi-autonomous teleoperation framework, developed in (Lee & Spong 2005), as a means for robotic missions to establish infrastructure and preparations for the sustained presence of humans on the Moon. This semiautonomous framework consists of the two control loops: 1) local autonomous control and interagent communication on the Moon ensure secure cooperative manipulation of objects by the multiple slave robots regardless of communication delays and human commands; and 2) a bilateral teleoperation loop enabling a remote human operator (on the Earth, in lunar orbit, or on the Moon) to tele-control the grasped object via the delayed communication channels. This architecture will be useful for tasks requiring cooperative manipulation, such as construction of human habitats, assembly of solar photovoltaic panels, and cooperative handling of excavated rocks for in-situ resource utilization, to name a few. Simulation results are presented to highlight properties and capabilities of the proposed framework.
How Student Beliefs in Giftedness and Teacher Competence Affect Writing Self-Assessments

“I suck at writing. I’m good at math, though!” “Writing papers is not fun, it’s hard. I never get to write about cool stuff, we have to write about a stupid book or something.” “I love writing.” “I don’t like to write at all. It takes me too long.” “I was born with no interest in writing and never want to do it again.” “I hate writing.” “I don’t mind writing, but I seem to always get bad grades, no matter how good or bad I do.” “I like to write, but only about things I enjoy . . . get me excited to write.” “I pretty much hate writing, unless it’s a topic that I choose or am interested in.” “I absolutely love writing, but that’s no thanks to my teachers.” “I really enjoy writing.” “I like writing when the topic is good.” “I avoid writing.” “I’m really bad at writing!” “Writing is hard work and for the patient.”
Opioid antagonist treatment modulates the brain responses to baby schema in opioid-dependent patients

Vivitrol®) for reducing cocaineuse inparticipantswhometDSMIV criteria for cocaine dependence and past or current opioid dependence or abuse. Methods: This multi-centered, double-blind, placebocontrolled study provided XR-NTX to 302 participants before random assignment to 1 of 3 daily sublingual BUP conditions: 4mg BUP (BUP4, n=100), 16mg BUP (BUP16, n=100), and 0mg BUP (PLB, n=102). Participants received pharmacotherapy for 8 weeks, with thrice-weekly clinic visits for observed dosing, provision of takehome medication, urine drug screening (UDS), and assessments. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was provided weekly. Follow-up assessments occurred at 1 and 3 months post-intervention. Results: Planned primary analyses of self-reported cocaine use corrected by UDS found no difference in cocaine use during the last 4 weeks of medication (weeks 4–8) between placebo and each BUP group (BUP4 vs PLB, p=0.143, BUP16 vs PLB, p=0.165). Secondary longitudinal analysis of UDS found a significant difference between BUP16 and PLB (p=0.030), but no difference betweenBUP4 and PLB (p=0.529). No differences across groupswere found for adherence, retention, or adverse events. Conclusions: Although the primary outcome analysis did not find a treatment effect, other analyses suggest that treatment with buprenorphine/naloxone, used in combination with naltrexone, may be beneficial in reducing cocaine use for some individuals. Future studies to evaluate this medication combination pharmacotherapy for cocaine use disorder appear warranted. Financial support: DA13045.
Dissemination and implementation of put prevention into family practice

Introduction The Put Prevention into Practice (PPIP) program was developed and disseminated to address patient, clinician, and office barriers that result in less than optimal delivery of preventive services in the United States. Methods To study the dissemination of PPIP by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), pre- and post-dissemination surveys of knowledge about PPIP and purchase order data were obtained from the AAFP. In addition, a mail questionnaire was sent to a random sample of purchasers to study their use of PPIP. Results After two years of active promotion, 27% of AAFP members had heard about PPIP, and PPIP components were purchased by 2,004 individuals during its inital dissemination. Flow sheets, health guides, exam room wall charts, and the Clinician’s Handbook of Preventive Services were the PPIP items most frequently purchased and used. Excluding the Clinician’s Handbook of Preventive Services , 58% of purchasers used one or more parts of the kit with an average of less than four items used per purchaser. Conclusions Initial dissemination and implementation of PPIP among family physicians was limited; continued promotion will likely improve dissemination of PPIP. However, this study and others suggest that the simple availability of a kit of materials is not sufficient to enhance the delivery of preventive services as envisioned by clinicians or policy makers. Additional strategies for dissemination and implementation of preventive services will be required, such as providing external consultation services to practices, incorporation of preventive services into HMO organizations, and training of residents in strategies for change in their future practices.
Evaluation of working fluids in an indirect combined cycle in a very high temperature gas-cooled reactor

The U.S. Department of Energy and Idaho National Laboratory are developing a very high temperature reactor to serve as a demonstration of state-of-the-art nuclear technology. The purpose of the demonstration is twofold: (a) efficient, low-cost energy generation and (b) hydrogen production. Although a next-generation plant could be developed as a single-purpose facility, early designs are expected to be dual purpose, as assumed here. A dual-purpose design with a combined cycle of a Brayton top cycle and a bottom Rankine cycle was investigated. An intermediate heat transport loop for transporting heat to a hydrogen production plant was used. Helium, CO 2 , and a helium-nitrogen mixture were studied to determine the best working fluid in terms of the cycle efficiency. The relative component sizes were estimated for the different working fluids to provide an indication of the relative capital costs. The relative size of the turbomachinery was measured by comparing the power input/output of the component. For heat exchangers the volume was computed and compared. Parametric studies away from the baseline values of the cycle were performed to determine the effects of varying conditions in the cycle. This gives some insight into the sensitivity of the cycle to various operating conditions as well as trade-offs between efficiency and component size. Parametric studies were carried out on reactor outlet temperature, mass flow, pressure, and turbine cooling.
A Venn Diagram Model That Allows Triple-Label Immunophenotypic Analysis of Cells Based upon Double-Label Measurements

Using Venn diagrams derived from set theory, a mathematic model is presented that allows triple-label immunophenotypic analysis of cells based upon double-label measurements. Practical applications of this method are illustrated and discussed. Using this model, triple-label data concerning Leu-8 and Leu-9 (CD7) antigen co-expression by Leu-4+ (CD3+) leukocytes were derived from double-label measurements obtained with a single laser flow cytometer. Mean values were as follows: Leu-4+8+9+ (62%), Leu-4+8−9+ (36%), Leu-4+8+9− (0%), and Leu-4+8−9− (0%). Examples are given of additional models based upon similar principles.
Identification of a New Toxin in a Strain of Staphylococcus aureus S130 Isolated from a Patient with Nonmenstrual TSS

The extracellular products of a toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1)-negative isolate of Staphylococcus aureus (strain D4508) from a patient with nonmenstrual toxic shock syndrome were shown to possess toxic activity capable of producing shock and death when injected into rabbits. Fractionation of the extracellular products and the production of polyclonal antibodies to individual polypeptides identified the toxin as a single polypeptide of molecular weight 26,000. Immunoblot analyses showed the toxin to be antigenically related yet distinct from enterotoxins A, B, C, D, and E and unrelated to TSST-1.
Design and Implementation of Inner Net Security Monitoring Platform in Power Secondary Systems

In view of the status quo of power secondary system security protection lacking in central control and means of statistical analysis,a design and implementation scheme for an inner net security monitoring platform in power secondary systems is proposed.The security monitoring platform consists of two major parts,wide area network(WAN) security monitoring and local area network(LAN) security monitoring.The former carries out real-time monitoring of the operation status of secondary system security devices by log collection of these devices,gives real-time alarm and analysis of security incidents.The latter performs real-time monitoring of the security operation status of important dispatching support system equipments by log collection.Operation practice in Jiangxi power grid shows that the security monitoring platform can help operators learn about the operation conditions of secondary system security devices and remove hidden security hazards in time,which is of great significance to ensuring safe and stable operation of the power grid.
Relationship among Perceived Stress and Social Support and Self-Efficacy in Militiamen during the Period of Maintaining Social Stability in Xinjiang

Objective To survey the relationship among self-efficacy,perceived stress,social support in militiamen during the period of maintaining social stability,to provide theoretical evidence for stability militia psychological intervention.Methods 832 militiamen were investigated as cluster sampling with perceived stress scale,perceived social support scale(SPSS)and general self-efficacy scale(GSES)to data statistical analysis.Results 1There was significant positive correlation among self-efficacy and support in the family,family support,age,management attitude,the service time(P0.05 or 0.01);and there was significant negative correlation between self-efficacy and job title(P0.05 or 0.01),father's cultural degree,mother's cultural degree.2The family support,management attitude,service time,father's cultural degree and job title were the effective factors of self-efficacy.3Sense of predict had a direct effect on self-efficacy(0.11);the sense of overload and self-efficacy between the intermediary effect value of 0.0255 in support in the family,accounting for 24.2%(0.1055).Conclusion Among the various factors affect militia perceived stress,support in the family effect is more apparent.Support in the family has a partial intermediating role between the sense of overload and self-efficacy.Which has a complete mediating effect between the sense of control and self-efficacy.
In vivo induction of terminal differentiation of malignant myelopoietic progenitor cells by CSF-inducing biological response modifiers

We have investigated the mechanisms by which colony-stimulating factor (CSF)-inducing biological response modifiers (BRM) may have beneficial effects on tumor-bearing hosts undergoing anti-tumor therapy. First, we have documented that treatment of mice with the chemically defined BRM maleic anhydride divinyl ether copolymer (MVE-2), which induces CSF secretion by macrophages (M phi) and bone marrow cells (BMC), significantly increased growth and differentiation of normal myelopoietic cells and counteracted the myelosuppressive effects of cyclophosphamide (CY). Second, we established that MVE-2 may exert CSF- mediated antitumor effects on certain leukemic tumor cells. Serum from mice pretreated in vivo with MVE-2, which contained CSF, induced terminal differentiation of cloned tumor cells from the CSF responsive WEHI-3B D+ subline in vitro, but not from the WEHI-3B D- subline, which is unresponsive to CSF. In vivo experiments showed that treatment of mice bearing the WEHI-3B D+ tumor first with CY and three days later with the CSF inducer MVE-2, significantly increased their survival time and rendered 20% to 50% of the tumor-bearing mice disease free. No such effects were obtained in mice bearing the WEHI-3B D- tumor. Thus, the induction of CSF or other differentiation factors by some BRMs may result in therapeutic effects against certain leukemias based on at least two distinct mechanisms: In addition to their restorative effects on normal bone marrow functions, CSF-inducing BRMs may also prevent further leukemogenesis by induction of terminal differentiation of leukemic cells.
Measuring fish and their physical habitats: versatile 2D and 3D video techniques with user-friendly software

Applications of video in fisheries research range from simple biodiversity surveys to three-dimensional (3D) measurement of complex swimming, schooling, feeding, and territorial behaviors. However,...
Combined reactor, wafer, and feature scale simulation of selective silicon epitaxial growth

A combined approach to the modeling of selective epitaxial silicon growth (SEG) is presented. The simulations consider the following effects: reactor fluid dynamics, gas chemistry, mass transport in the stagnant layer, and device profile evolution. Reactor-scale, wafer-scale and feature-scale simulations are used to model these mechanisms which have a wide range of physical dimensions. Experiments to identify the effects of HCl on silicon growth rates have been performed. The experimental results show that the main effect of HCl is modulation of reactant gas composition, and they provide the rate constants necessary to simulate local loading effects in the stagnant layer simulation. >
Living on the Edge: A Toy Model for Holographic Reconstruction of Algebras with Centers

We generalize the Pastawski-Yoshida-Harlow-Preskill (HaPPY) holographic quantum error-correcting code to provide a toy model for bulk gauge fields or linearized gravitons. The key new elements are the introduction of degrees of freedom on the links (edges) of the associated tensor network and their connection to further copies of the HaPPY code by an appropriate isometry. The result is a model in which boundary regions allow the reconstruction of bulk algebras with central elements living on the interior edges of the (greedy) entanglement wedge, and where these central elements can also be reconstructed from complementary bounda ry regions. In addition, the entropy of boundary regions receives both Ryu-Takayanagi-like contributions and further corrections that model the $$ \frac{\delta \mathrm{Area}}{4{G}_N} $$ term of Faulkner, Lewkowycz, and Maldacena. Comparison with Yang-Mills theory then suggests that this $$ \frac{\delta \mathrm{Area}}{4{G}_N} $$ term can be reinterpreted as a part of the bulk entropy of gravitons under an appropriate extension of the physical bulk Hilbert space.
Non-Chemical Control of Plant Mycoplasma Diseases

The population of the world will exceed six billion by the year 2000. Food resources that were once taken for granted and other resources. such as energy and water are gradually being exhausted or contaminated and the Earth’s capacitv is certainly not unlimited. Therefore, the need for restoring damaged resources becomes verv urgent, and the need is obvious for protectinq plants that are used for food, as well as perennial forest trees, from diseases. The primary aim of plant diseases control is the reduction or elimination of losses. Additional aims include the elimination of pathogens, vectors, alternate hosts, and reservoirs of pathogens. Chemical approaches to control have been used successfully against fungal and bacterial diseases, but only rarely against viral and mycoplasma disease. Some of the describe methods have been used successfully long before the mycoplasmal nature of plant disease became recognized. Other control methods are now being tired or contemplated. New strategies will be needed to cope with the problems and to counterbalance the damage caused worldwide by mycoplasma diseases.
InterVar: Clinical Interpretation of Genetic Variants by the 2015 ACMG-AMP Guidelines

In 2015, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) published updated standards and guidelines for the clinical interpretation of sequence variants with respect to human diseases on the basis of 28 criteria. However, variability between individual interpreters can be extensive because of reasons such as the different understandings of these guidelines and the lack of standard algorithms for implementing them, yet computational tools for semi-automated variant interpretation are not available. To address these problems, we propose a suite of methods for implementing these criteria and have developed a tool called InterVar to help human reviewers interpret the clinical significance of variants. InterVar can take a pre-annotated or VCF file as input and generate automated interpretation on 18 criteria. Furthermore, we have developed a companion web server, wInterVar, to enable user-friendly variant interpretation with an automated interpretation step and a manual adjustment step. These tools are especially useful for addressing severe congenital or very early-onset developmental disorders with high penetrance. Using results from a few published sequencing studies, we demonstrate the utility of InterVar in significantly reducing the time to interpret the clinical significance of sequence variants.
Age-related alterations in the genetics and genomics of the male germ line

Paternal aging is associated with increased risk of genetic disease transmission to the offspring. The changes associated with aging arise predominantly through formation of single nucleotide variation through DNA replication errors, as well as possibly chronic exposure to environmental toxins and reactive oxygen species exposure. Several age-related reproductive factors are also contributory, including the systemic hormonal milieu, accumulation of environmental toxin exposure, aging germ cells, and accumulation of de novo genetic and genomic abnormalities in germ cells. In this article we review the age-related genetic and genomic changes that occur in the male germ line.
Abstract 15520: The Association of a Genetic Risk Score With Presence of Polyvascular Disease

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) often affects > 1 arterial location (polyvascular disease, PVD). The risk of adverse outcomes increases with the number of arterial territ...
A Biologically-Inspired Architecture for Reactive Motor Control

This paper deals with the ability of the Central Nervous System to quickly and efficiently react to unforeseen external events that require online modification of motor plans and with the ability to react in a parallel coordinated fashion with different actuators. Inspired by many experimental data on limb and eye movements I present a distributed modular architecture based on the idea that different actuators would despite their different goals share some of the mechanisms that generate their motor programs. Other mechanisms are on the contrary actuator-specific and would require dedicated hardware and software. I present some preliminary simulation results obtained with a simpler architecture.These results are supportive of some of the general principles outlined in the paper.
CCL3 augments tumor rejection and enhances CD8 + T cell infiltration through NK and CD103 + dendritic cell recruitment via IFNγ.

ABSTRACTInflammatory chemokines are critical contributors in attracting relevant immune cells to the tumor microenvironment and driving cellular interactions and molecular signaling cascades that dictate the ultimate outcome of host anti-tumor immune response. Therefore, rational application of chemokines in a spatial-temporal dependent manner may constitute an attractive adjuvant in immunotherapeutic approaches against cancer. Existing data suggest that the macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1 family and related proteins, consisting of CCL3 (MIP-1α), CCL4 (MIP-1β), and CCL5 (RANTES), can be major determinant of immune cellular infiltration in certain tumors through their direct recruitment of antigen presenting cells, including dendritic cells (DCs) to the tumor site. In this study, we examined how CCL3 in a murine colon tumor microenvironment, CT26, enhances antitumor immunity. We identified natural killer (NK) cells as a major lymphocyte subtype that is preferentially recruited to the CCL3-rich tumo...
Stereotactic Magnetic Resonance-guided Online Adaptive Radiotherapy for Oligometastatic Breast Cancer: A Case Report

We present a case of durable local control achieved in a patient treated with stereotactic magnetic resonance-guided adaptive radiation therapy (SMART) for an abdominal lymph node in the setting of oligometastatic breast cancer. A 50-year-old woman with a history of triple positive metastatic invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast, stage IV (T3N2M1), underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, mastectomy, adjuvant radiotherapy and maintenance hormonal treatment with HER2 targeted therapies. At 20 months after definitive treatment of her primary, imaging showed an isolated progressive enlargement of lymph nodes between hepatic segment V/IVB and the neck of the pancreas. Radiofrequency ablation was considered, however, this approach was decided not to be optimal due to the proximity to stomach, and pancreatic duct. The patient was treated with SMART for 40 Gray in 5 fractions. Two and a half years later, the patient remains without evidence of disease progression. She experienced Grade 2 acute and late toxicity that was successfully managed with medications. This experience shows that SMART is a feasible and effective treatment to control the abdominal oligometastatic disease for breast cancer.
Germ Line and Somatic Mutator Activity: Are they Functionally Related?

Results of experiments to test for a relationship, if any, between somatic Mutator (Mu) activity (somatic mutability) and germline Mu activity are described. Somatic Mu activity was measured by the intensity of the mutable pattern in unstable al-Mum aleurone mutants. Germinal activity was determined by the frequency with which a Mu plant transmitted new mutants to its outcross progeny plants. None of the experiments demonstrated tight linkage between these two Mu-regulated phenomena. Not all plants with intense somatic mutability patterns exhibited germline activity. Nor did all plants that had little or no somatic mutability lack germinal activity. In one inbred lineage, which had retained an intense somatic mutability pattern for four generations, there was a sudden shift to low somatic mutability in the progeny of the fifth generation. Some representatives of this lineage, taken from different generations but all with intense mutability, had germinal activity, but others did not. The same was true for the low-intensity lines observed in the progeny of the fifth generation. The lines with a low-intensity somatic mutability pattern had Mu elements that were modified at their HpaII sites. This modification was found in “low” somatic mutability lines with and “low” somatic mutability lines without germinal Mu activity.
METHANE GAS FROM UNDERGROUND COAL MINES: A CLEAN SOURCE OF ENERGY

ABSTRACT Many coal seams contain methane gas which, released by mining, enters into the mine atmosphere where it creates an explosive mixture with air. Methane thus renders the underground working environment dangerous and must be diluted by mine ventilation. It has been estimated that about 7 Mm3 of methane containing 252 TJ of heating value is wasted daily in the United States alone. Some of this gas can be harnessed by methane drainage, a methane removal technique independent of the conventional ventilation systems. Methane drainage has been practiced in Europe for over 30 years and the gas is used mostly for heating purposes. This paper describes the methods of determining the methane content in coal seams, the methods of methane drainage currently used in the U. S. A., and the various end use technologies for utilization of the methane gas as a clean source of energy.
Rotationally Inelastic Scattering Of Nitrogen From Fe(111)

The electron beam-induced fluorescence technique has been used to measure the angular distribution and internal energy of rotationally cold (~ 19 K) nitrogen scattered from a clean Fe(111) surface. The scattering is found to be direct inelastic. Rotational state distributions are found to be non-Boltzmann with excess energy in higher rotational states. As the surface temperature is increased from 400 to 700K, the measured rotational temperature of the specular beam increases from 148 ± 30 to 172 ± 30 K. Rotational temperatures measured at several exit angles and incident beam energies show increasing temperatures as the exit angle moves toward the surface normal. These results are interpreted as evidence for a surface corrugation in the nitrogen molecule/iron interaction potential.
Air-Liquid Interface Method To Study Epstein-Barr Virus Pathogenesis in Nasopharyngeal Epithelial Cells.

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous gammaherpesvirus that establishes a latent reservoir in peripheral B-lymphocytes with sporadic reactivation. EBV also infects epithelial cells, predominantly resulting in a lytic infection, which may contribute to EBV transmission from saliva. In the nasopharynx, EBV infection can lead to the clonal expansion of a latently infected cell and the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The mechanisms governing EBV pathogenesis in nasopharyngeal epithelium are largely unknown. An advanced understanding would depend on a physiologically relevant culture model of polarized airway epithelium. The recent application of the organotypic raft culture in keratinocytes has demonstrated great promise for the use of polarized cultures in the study of EBV permissive replication. In this study, the adaptation of an air-liquid interface (ALI) culture method using transwell membranes was explored in an EBV-infected NPC cell line. In the EBV-infected NPC HK1 cell line, ALI culture resulted in the completion of EBV reactivation, with global induction of the lytic cascade, replication of EBV genomes, and production of infectious progeny virus. We propose that the ALI culture method can be widely adopted as a physiologically relevant model to study EBV pathogenesis in polarized nasal epithelial cells. IMPORTANCE Lifting adherent cells to the air-liquid interface (ALI) is a method conventionally used to culture airway epithelial cells into polarized apical and basolateral surfaces. Reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) from monolayer epithelial cultures is sometimes abortive, which may be attributed to the lack of authentic reactivation triggers that occur in stratified epithelium in vivo. In the present work, the ALI culture method was applied to study EBV reactivation in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. The ALI culture of an EBV-infected cell line yielded high titers and can be dissected by a variety of molecular virology assays that measure induction of the EBV lytic cascade and EBV genome replication and assembly. EBV infection of polarized cultures of primary epithelial cells can be challenging and can have variable efficiencies. However, the use of the ALI method with established EBV-infected cell lines offers a readily available and reproducible approach for the study of EBV permissive replication in polarized epithelia.
Parameter-free Regression-based Autonomous Control of Off-the-shelf Quadrotor UAVs

Autonomous flight in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) generally requires platform-specific knowledge of the dynamical parameters and control architecture. Recently, UAVs have become more accessible with off-the-shelf options that are well-tuned and stable for user teleoperation but due to unknown model parameters, they are typically not ready for autonomous operations. In this paper, we develop a method to enable autonomous flight on vehicles that are designed for teleoperation with minimal knowledge of the dynamical and controller parameters. The proposed method uses a basic knowledge of the control and dynamic architecture along with human teleoperated trajectories as demonstrations to train a thin-plate spline (TPS) regression model, which is then used to manipulate the pre-trained commands to generate new autonomous input commands for autonomous navigation over new trajectories. A statistical approach is also presented together with a satisfiability modulo theories (SMT) solver to assess the learned prediction error and correct to minimize errors in the input generation. A robust control-based strategy is also proposed to adjust autonomous input commands during run-time for closed loop trajectory tracking. Finally, we validate the proposed approach with trajectory-following experiments on a quadrotor UAV.
Enantioselective Iridium‐Catalyzed Allylation of Acetylenic Ketones via 2‐Propanol‐Mediated Reductive Coupling of Allyl Acetate: C14‐C23 of Pladienolide D

Highly enantioselective catalytic reductive coupling of allyl acetate with acetylenic ketones occurs in a chemoselective manner in the presence of aliphatic or aromatic ketones. This method was used to construct C14-C23 of pladienolide D in half the steps previously required.
Opioid-prescribing Practices in a Graduate Endodontic Clinic before and after Implementation of the Federal Schedule II Prescribing Mandate

Abstract Introduction Opioid prescriptions have the potential for misuse. In October 2014, the federal schedule II prescribing mandate reclassified hydrocodone combination products from schedule III to schedule II drugs that required a written prescription. The aim of this study was to evaluate the opioid-prescribing practices in a graduate endodontic clinic (GEC) before and after the mandate. Methods Electronic health records from all patients treated in the GEC from 2010 to 2018 were reviewed retrospectively for opioid prescribing, the date of prescription, and the Current Dental Terminology code. Where opioid prescribing was documented in the electronic health record, additional data were extracted about pulpal and periapical diagnosis, pain level, opioid type, and prescription details. Prescribing rates were calculated and analyzed by using chi-square, analysis of variance, logistic regression, and multivariable analysis. Significance was set at P Results Overall, 4851 patients underwent 7841 procedures; 92.2% of patients were never prescribed opioids. The remaining 380 patients underwent 420 procedures, and 509 prescriptions were provided. Prescribing rates were 7.5% (228/3021) before versus 4.0% (192/4820) after the mandate (P Conclusions An overall reduction in opioid-prescribing rates occurred coincidentally with the 2014 federal mandate. The lack of correlation between prescribing and pain level highlighted the need for evidence-based rather than habitual prescribing protocols in the GEC.
Work-Life Balance in Women Physicians in South Dakota: Results of a State-Wide Assessment Survey.

Introduction/background There is currently a high prevalence of burnout among women physicians. This is associated with factors related to job satisfaction and work-life balance. Female physicians are more likely to experience burnout and related negative consequences. Preventing burnout among physicians improves wellness in both doctors and patients. The goal of this study is to determine burnout among physicians in South Dakota and identify possible burnout prevention strategies to improve work-life balance. Methods South Dakota State Medical Association (SDSMA) physician members were emailed a survey with anonymous responses in November 2017 and January 2018. Survey questions were based on a 5-point Likert scale with two open-ended questions which were evaluated by qualitative measures. Results A total of 1,989 surveys were administered with 433 responses (21.8 percent). Of the 433 survey responses, 133 individuals provided additional comments regarding work-life balance. A slender majority of male and female physicians are satisfied with their work-life balance (54.7 and 55.4 percent, respectively). Both men and women physicians would choose the same specialty again (78.2 and 74.8 percent, respectively) as well as choose to be a physician again (79.4 and 78.7 percent respectively). Overall, women suggested more time for administrative tasks, more flexible hours, offering daycare at the hospital. Conclusions Possible workplace interventions to prevent physician burnout include hiring scribes, allocating time for administrative work, and allowing less work hours. Personal strategies aiding in work-life balance include utilizing daycares, having supportive families, and hiring individuals to assist in daily home tasks.
Colonoscopy Leading to the Diagnosis of AL Amyloidosis in the Gastrointestinal Tract Mimicking an Acute Ulcerative Colitis Flare

The 2 most common types of amyloidosis are light chain (AL) and reactive (AA). AL is associated with plasma cell dyscrasias; reactive (AA) is associated with chronic inflammatory conditions. A few cases have described AL amyloidosis mimicking colitis. However, endoscopic findings leading to the diagnosis of AL amyloidosis are rare. We report a 77-year-old woman with a medical history of ulcerative colitis who presented with recurrent nonbloody watery diarrhea. Colonoscopy revealed features suspicious for amyloidosis. Bone marrow biopsy showed multiple myeloma and AL amyloidosis. This case demonstrates the importance of generating a broad differential and the pivotal role of endoscopic findings in diagnosing uncommon diseases.
Insight into the Reductive Quenching of a Heteroleptic Cu(I) Photosensitizer for Photocatalytic H2 Production

Heteroleptic Cu(I) photosensitizers undergo photoinduced electron transfer through either an oxidative or reductive quenching mechanism. We have previously shown that visible light excitation of [C...
“There’s Always Going to Be Uncertainty”: Exploring Undergraduate Student Parents’ Sources of Uncertainty and Related Management Practices:

Framed by uncertainty management theory, the present study explores the uncertainty issues and management practices of undergraduate student parents. Results from 40 narrative interviews reveal sev...
Structural elucidation of the Clostridioides difficile transferase toxin reveals a single-site binding mode for the enzyme

Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive, pathogenic bacterium and a prominent cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in the United States. The symptoms of C. difficile infection are caused by the activity of three large toxins known as toxin A (TcdA), toxin B (TcdB), and the C. difficile transferase toxin (CDT). Reported here is a 3.8-A cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of CDT, a bipartite toxin comprised of the proteins CDTa and CDTb. We observe a single molecule of CDTa bound to a CDTb heptamer. The formation of the CDT complex relies on the interaction of an N-terminal adaptor and pseudoenzyme domain of CDTa with six subunits of the CDTb heptamer. CDTb is observed in a preinsertion state, a conformation observed in the transition of prepore to β-barrel pore, although we also observe a single bound CDTa in the prepore and β-barrel conformations of CDTb. The binding interaction appears to prime CDTa for translocation as the adaptor subdomain enters the lumen of the preinsertion state channel. These structural observations advance the understanding of how a single protein, CDTb, can mediate the delivery of a large enzyme, CDTa, into the cytosol of mammalian cells.
Chapter 26 – Genetic Diagnosis of Growth Failure

Growth hormone (GH) insensitivity can result from molecular defects at multiple levels, including the genes for the GH receptor (GHR), signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)5B, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF1), the acid-labile subunit carrier protein for IGF (IGFALS), or the IGF-I receptor (IGF1R). This chapter summarizes molecular defects at each of these levels. A database and website for all published cases is available at www.growthgenetics.com.
Anatomy of susceptibility for shelter-in-place households facing infrastructure service disruptions caused by natural hazards

Abstract This paper provides empirical information for understanding the susceptibility of households to the infrastructure service disruptions caused by natural hazards. Understanding household-level susceptibility is critical to determine the risks associated with staying shelter-in-place during disasters. This information is essential for various stakeholders such as community leaders, emergency planners, and utility managers to prioritize and restore infrastructure services for the public. However, there is limited empirical information regarding the susceptibility of shelter-in-place households to the disruptions of different services. Hence, this study presents an exploratory analysis of empirical data collected from affected communities to identify the influencing factors of the households' susceptibility. We utilized survey data collected from Hurricane Harvey (850 respondents), Hurricane Florence (362 respondents), and Hurricane Michael (583 respondents) to study the anatomy of susceptibility to eight infrastructure service disruptions. The descriptive analysis compared the similarities, such as rating the sewer and water systems as most important services, and differences, such as the varying levels of expectation for the service disruptions, of the three regions impacted by the disasters. Correlation analysis considered which underlying factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, protective actions and adjustments, previous experience and previous damage, social capital, and need for service of individual households along with the contextual and communal factors of the community, such as urbanization and previous disaster declarations, were associated with the ability of residents to respond to and withstand service disruptions. Although there were consistencies in the relationship of influencing factors to the level of susceptibility, the findings highlight that some variation in the influence of these factors was event-specific or service-specific. Finally, the contextual and communal factors of a community can bring unique insights to the anatomy of susceptibility to the service disruptions, as each location has inherent characteristics that would, directly and indirectly, influence households’ susceptibility to service disruptions. These findings provide the necessary empirical information to inform infrastructure prioritization decisions and emergency response actions to reduce the societal impacts of infrastructure service disruptions on vulnerable populations.
Pretreatment with yeast derived complex dietary-polysaccharide leads to suppressed gut inflammation, altered microbiota composition and increased immune regulatory short-chain fatty acid production in C57BL/6 mice

ABSTRACT Background β-Glucans (BGs), a group of complex non-digestible polysaccharides, are considered to have beneficial health effects due to their immune modulatory properties and are considered as dietary supplements. However, the impact of oral administration of high-pure, well-defined BGs on gut inflammation, and the influence of intestinal microbiota and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) on the therapeutic effect are largely unknown. Objectives The aim of this study, using a mouse model of chemical induced colitis, was to investigate the impact of oral administration of high-pure yeast BG (YBG) on the susceptibility to colitis, gut immune function, and structure and function of microbiota. Methods To determine the impact of oral administration of YBG on colitis susceptibility, eight week old C57BL/6 (B6) mice were pre-treated with YBG (250 μg/mouse/day) and given dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water (2.5% w/v) and examined for the symptoms and features of colitis. To assess the effect of oral administration of YBG on gut mucosa and microbiota structure and function, and gut immune regulation, we determined the microbiota composition, fecal SCFA levels, and intestinal T cell phenotype and cytokine secretion. The role of gut microbiota in YBG treatment induced modulation of gut inflammation and immune function were determined in B6 mice treated with broad-spectrum antibiotic cocktail (1 g/L ampicillin, 0.5 g/L vancomycin, 1 g/L neomycin, and 1 g/L metronidazole) in drinking water. Results Compared to untreated mice, B6 mice that received prolonged pre-treatment with YBG showed diminished severity of different features of DSS-induced colitis including overall loss of body weight (P Conclusions Oral consumption of high-pure BG promotes a healthy gut homeostasis and immune regulation, and minimizes susceptibility to DSS induced colitis in B6 mice in a microbiota (and microbial SCFA) - dependent manner. On the contrary, YBG consumption when gut mucosa and microbiota are compromised not only reverses this protection but also increases the susceptibility to gut inflammation and disease severity, perhaps through its direct interaction with gut immune cells. In conclusion, while YBG consumption may be beneficial for gut health and to prevent gut inflammation in healthy individuals and under intact microbiota, this immune stimulatory dietary supplement may not have any health benefits in individuals with active gut inflammation and could cause adverse effect in those who are on oral antibiotics.
MORPHOMETRY OF BLUE LAND CRAB (CARDISOMA GUANHUMI) BURROWS: ICHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

A large brachyuran, the blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumiLatreille, 1825) is a keystone species and a prolific burrower in a variety of low-latitude supratidal habitats; however, few studies have addressed its ichnological aspects. Here we present a detailed morphological assessment of C. guanhumi burrows and make comparisons to Macanopsis plataniformis, a trace fossil thought to be constructed by a similar brachyuran. Using nine burrow casts from a mangrove wetland on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, 29 dimensionless morphometric parameters were compared. Results of Bray-Curtis tests show high overall similarity index (0.85) between casts, with complexity, tortuosity, and opening inclination angle having moderate to high similarity (> 0.8). End chamber angle of the blue land crab has highest similarity both within the modern morphometric parameter dataset (> 0.9) and to that of M. plataniformis (0.88). The large terminal chamber is particularly important because of its high preservation potential, as a repository for organic remains, and as a reliable water table (∼ sea-level) indicator. Cluster analysis suggests size-independent Macanopsis-resembling burrow morphology among different extant taxa can be discriminated via quantitative neoichnological methods. Our findings demonstrate how a quantitative assessment of modern burrows and their likely counterparts from the sedimentary record can help constrain tracemaker identity and aid paleoenvironmental reconstruction of low-energy microtidal settings.
"Pass the Buck" on a Rooted Tree

The Stochastic Abacus is can employed to compute winning probabilities for each vertex of a rooted tree in the game "Pass the Buck", with the starting vertex being the root of the tree. For all but the simplest trees, the abacus can't really be implemented due to the large number of steps needed for completion. In this paper, a technique for anticipating the outcome is introduced.
Immune Response to Enterococcus gallinarum in Lupus Patients Is Associated With a Subset of Lupus-Associated Autoantibodies.

Interactions between gut microbes and the immune system influence autoimmune disorders like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Recently, Enterococcus gallinarum, a gram-positive commensal gut bacterium, was implicated as a candidate pathobiont in SLE. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of E. gallinarum exposure on clinical parameters of SLE. Since circulating IgG antibodies to whole bacteria have been established as a surrogate marker for bacterial exposure, anti-E. gallinarum IgG antibodies were measured in banked serum samples from SLE patients and healthy controls in the Oklahoma Cohort for Rheumatic Diseases. The associations between anti-E. gallinarum antibody titers and clinical indicators of lupus were studied. Antibodies to human RNA were studied in a subset of patients. Our results show that sera from both patients and healthy controls had IgG and IgA antibodies reactive with E. gallinarum. The antibody titers between the two groups were not different. However, SLE patients with Ribosomal P autoantibodies had higher anti-E. gallinarum IgG titers compared to healthy controls. In addition to anti-Ribosomal P, higher anti-E. gallinarum titers were also significantly associated with the presence of anti-dsDNA and anti-Sm autoantibodies. In the subset of patients with anti-Ribosomal P and anti-dsDNA, the anti-E. gallinarum titers correlated significantly with antibodies to human RNA. Our data show that both healthy individuals and SLE patients were sero-reactive to E. gallinarum. In SLE patients, the immune response to E. gallinarum was associated with antibody response to a specific subset of lupus autoantigens. These findings provide additional evidence that E. gallinarum may be a pathobiont for SLE in susceptible individuals.
An Inrush Current Limit Method for SiC-based Multi-level Grid-connected Converter During Low-Voltage Ride-Through

Low-voltage ride-through is one of the grid requirements for grid-connected converters, and during the transient of grid voltage change, a large inrush current could be induced due to the control delay of the converter. This inrush current is more severe in SiC-based multi-level converters due to the small filter inductance, which is selected based on harmonics consideration. In this paper, a PWM mask method is used to limit the inrush current of a cascaded H-bridge-based grid-connected converter during the transient of grid voltage change. Simulation and experiment results are provided to validate this method.
Differential influences of dietary sodium on blood pressure regulation based on race and sex

There are clear differences between men and women, and differences among races, in the incidence and prevalence of hypertension. Furthermore, there is extensive inter-individual variability among humans in the extent to which sodium ingestion alters blood pressure. Orthostatic intolerance and orthostatic hypotension are more common in women; these are often treated with a high salt diet, which has variable efficacy in increasing blood volume and blood pressure. Conversely, people with certain forms of hypertension are often counseled to decrease their sodium intake. Non-Hispanic Black men and women have higher rates of hypertension compared to non-Hispanic White men and women and other racial/ethnic groups. In aggregate, Black women appear to have better orthostatic tolerance than White women. In the present paper, we summarize and evaluate the current evidence for mechanisms of blood pressure regulation in men and women, as well as differences between Black and White groups, with a focus on cardiovascular responses to salt and differences among these groups. We also provide a brief review of factors that are not traditionally considered to be "biological" - such as socio-economic disparities resulting from historic and contemporary inequity across racial groups. These non-biological factors have direct and substantial influences on cardiovascular mechanisms, as well as implications for the influences of salt and sodium intake on blood pressure and cardiovascular health. We conclude that both biological and socio-economic factors provide critical modulating influences when considering the impacts of sodium on cardiovascular health as functions of race and sex.