cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hematologic changes in rat following administration of desoxypyridoxine, aminopterin, oxythiamine and 6,7-dimethyl-9-(2'-acetoxyethyl)isoalloxazine.

1. Administration of aminopterin to rats at a level of 100 γ/Kg./day for a 10 day period produced leukopenia which was rapid in onset and led quickly to death, whereas the leukopenia produced by the administration of desoxypyridoxine at the level of 40 mg./Kg./day for a 2 week period or at 100 mg./Kg./day for a 4 week period was not accompanied by toxic effects such as loss of appetite, diarrhea and hemorrhage and was characterized by lymphocytopenia and granulocytosis. 2. The results of combining the administration of aminopterin (70 γ/Kg./ day) with desoxypyridoxine (40 mg./Kg./day) for a 2 week period indicated an additive effect of the two in the production of lymphocytopenia; the granulocytosis resulting from desoxypyridoxine administration was counter-acted by the granulocytopenic effect of aminopterin. Also, the leukopenia produced by the combined administration of aminopterin and desoxypyridoxine was not accompanied by the toxic effects which follow aminopterin administration. 3. Oxythiamine alone or in combination with desoxypyridoxine or aminopterin did not influence the leukocyte count. 4. Administration of aminopterin with 6, 7-dimethyl-9-(2'-acetoxyethyl)isoalloxazine (U-2112) produced marked lymphocytopenia and granulocytopenia accompanied by toxic effects such as loss of appetite, diarrhea and hemorrhage. See PDF for Table
Evolution, Infection, and Cancer

A balanced approach to the causes of cancer requires assessment of genetic, environmental, and infectious influences and the interactions among them. An evolutionary perspective provides a framework for such assessments because evolutionary selection acts on cells during the process of oncogenesis, on individuals to generate protection against oncogenesis, and on pathogens in ways that compromise mechanisms of protection. By distinguishing barriers to oncogenesis from restraints, essential causes can be distinguished from exacerbating causes, and the relative importance of interfering with genetic, environmental, and infectious causes can be assessed. The relevance of this framework is illustrated by evidence derived from populations in Utah that differ in their exposure to risk factors, particularly sexually transmitted pathogens and tobacco smoke. These considerations and assessment of the evidence for infectious causation of cancers lead to the conclusion that greater effort needs to be made to identify and prevent infectious causes of cancer, particularly infectious agents transmitted in sexual partnerships and by contaminated needles.
Thatcher’s US Policy I: The Diplomacy of Support

Britain’s success in the Falklands War thrust foreign policy upon Thatcher and launched her international career, but neither would have been possible without US support. Haig’s mediation may have troubled the British, but the materiel assistance and intelligence information provided by the Pentagon and other US agencies greatly reduced the severity of the military challenge which confronted the British. Without it, their task would have been much harder and more costly. More importantly, had the Americans decided to oppose Britain’s recovery of the Islands, then the war would have been impossible and Thatcher’s political demise all but assured. That American support was eventually forthcoming is attributable to the Special Relationship which exists between the two countries. Britain and the US are allies, but the term suggests they are more than that. Precisely what, however, is a matter of some controversy.
Scottish Business and Empire

Business was at the heart of the British Empire. Trade helped build the empire, both formal and informal, and remained its raison d’etre even as other notions, such as the civilizing mission, grabbed the headlines as well as the hearts and minds of many British people. According to the historiography, the strong connection between capitalists and government actually led business pressure groups to agitate for safe markets in the empire and demand Westminster backing when searching for new opportunities to invest their capital in previously untapped areas.1 This close connection between capitalists and the British Government meant that economics played a crucial role in the development of imperial policy. This, however, raises an important question. Since British business was intimately connected with the British Empire, how did its leaders react to the winding down of empire during the era of decolonization? More specifically, how did Scottish businessmen view the end of empire?
Cultural Oppression and Human Trafficking: Exploring the Role of Racism and Ethnic Bias

ABSTRACTHuman trafficking is maintained within a context of intersecting forms of oppression. Cultural oppression, including racism and ethnic bias, creates additional risk for human trafficking and generates unique challenges for prevention and intervention. There are, however, cultural strengths that survivors of human trafficking have that may be utilized to aid their recovery process as well as psychotherapeutic interventions. In addition to traditionally recognized legal and economic strategies, ending human trafficking requires engagement in interrupting the factors that increase vulnerability to human trafficking, including racism and ethnic bias. By combating oppression, abolitionists can work to create a society that is committed to ending slavery.
HT proteins contribute to S-RNase-independent pollen rejection in Solanum.

Summary Plants have mechanisms to recognize and reject pollen from other species. Although widespread, these mechanisms are less well understood than the self-incompatibility (SI) mechanisms plants use to reject pollen from close relatives. Previous studies have shown that some interspecific reproductive barriers (IRBs) are related to SI in the Solanaceae. For example, the pistil SI proteins S-RNase and HT protein function in a pistil-side IRB that causes rejection of pollen from self-compatible (SC) red/orange-fruited species in the tomato clade. However, S-RNase-independent IRBs also clearly contribute to rejecting pollen from these species. We investigated S-RNase-independent rejection of Solanum lycopersicum pollen by SC Solanum pennellii LA0716, SC. Solanum habrochaites LA0407, and SC Solanum arcanum LA2157, which lack functional S-RNase expression. We found that all three accessions express HT proteins, which previously had been known to function only in conjunction with S-RNase, and then used RNAi to test whether they also function in S-RNase-independent pollen rejection. Suppressing HT expression in SC S. pennellii LA0716 allows S. lycopersicum pollen tubes to penetrate farther into the pistil in HT suppressed plants, but not to reach the ovary. In contrast, suppressing HT expression in SC. Solanum habrochaites LA0407 and in SC S. arcanum LA2157 allows S. lycopersicum pollen tubes to penetrate to the ovary and produce hybrids that, otherwise, would be difficult to obtain. Thus, HT proteins are implicated in both S-RNase-dependent and S-RNase-independent pollen rejection. The results support the view that overall compatibility results from multiple pollen–pistil interactions with additive effects.
The Examination, Differential Diagnosis, and Management of Toothache Pain

The most common reason given for dental emergencies is a toothache. This pain is usually associated with dental caries which has caused inflammation in the dental pulp and/or progressed into the periradicular region. Pulpal and periradicular diagnoses contribute to more than 90 % of reported toothache pain. Dental emergencies can be treated efficiently, and pain relief can be provided. There exists a significant subset of reported toothache pain which is not associated with caries, pulpal, or periradicular structures. Patients in this subset are reported to have experienced little or no relief of their pain as they have received different dental procedures including endodontic and exodontia often without a clear diagnosis. There are three other main groups of diagnoses that need to be considered in addition to the pulpal and periradicular diagnoses: referred pain, neuropathic pain, and nonodontogenic pain. A dilemma may occur when diagnostic criteria are not well understood, the signs and symptoms are not a clear match for any diagnostic criteria, and when health-care practitioners provide treatment without a clear diagnosis.
Genetic confounding of the relationship between father absence and age at menarche

Abstract Research in evolutionary psychology, and life history theory in particular, has yielded important insights into the developmental processes that underpin variation in growth, psychological functioning, and behavioral outcomes across individuals. Yet, there are methodological concerns that limit the ability to draw causal inferences about human development and psychological functioning within a life history framework. The current study used a simulation-based modeling approach to estimate the degree of genetic confounding in tests of a well-researched life history hypothesis: that father absence ( X ) is associated with earlier age at menarche ( Y ). The results demonstrate that the genetic correlation between X and Y can confound the phenotypic association between the two variables, even if the genetic correlation is small—suggesting that failure to control for the genetic correlation between X and Y could produce a spurious phenotypic correlation. We discuss the implications of these results for research on human life history, and highlight the utility of incorporating genetically sensitive tests into future life history research.
A new micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometer for in vivo elemental analysis in plants

In vivo micro X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) on plants is aimed at mapping spatial ion accumulation, eg. in plant leaves to minimize artifacts arising from sample preparation and to be able to detect changes occurring under environmental stress. To obtain reliable results, a spectrometer and sample setup that maintain the plant in good physiological condition are necessary. We have built a micro-XRF spectrometer, in which analyses are performed in air, thereby allowing for in vivo micro-XRF measurements in plants. Mapping is performed with full spectrum acquisition in each pixel and is automated and controlled by computer software developed for this micro-XRF unit. Limits of detection were found to be comparable to those found previously at second-generation synchrotron facilities using a freestanding film reference from 0.04 ng/mm2 for Fe to 0.20 ng/mm2 for Pb. The spot size was determined to be less than 14 μm at Rh Kα line (20.214 keV). Relative sensitivities were determined for elements from S to Pb using the freestanding film reference and a 13-element standard dried droplet deposition. For in vivo measurements, a dedicated sample holder was developed by 3-D printing. Here, we present the in vivo elemental analysis capabilities of our micro-XRF spectrometer by mapping elements in Arabidopsis thaliana plants and by assessing their physiological state before and after scanning. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hydrometeorology organizes intra-annual patterns of tree growth across time, space and species in a montane watershed

Summary Tree radial growth is often systematically limited by water availability, as is evident in tree ring records. However, the physiological nature of observed tree growth limitation is often uncertain outside of the laboratory. To further explore the physiology of water limitation, we observed intra-annual growth rates of four conifer species using point dendrometers and microcores, and coupled these data to observations of water potential, soil moisture, and vapor pressure deficit over 2 yr in the Northern Rocky Mountains, USA. The onset of growth limitation in four species was well explained by a critical balance between soil moisture supply and atmospheric demand representing relatively mesic conditions, despite the timing of this threshold response varying by up to 2 months across topographic and elevation gradients, growing locations, and study years. Our findings suggest that critical water deficits impeding tissue growth occurred at relatively high water potential values, often occurring when hydrometeorological conditions were relatively wet during the growing season (e.g. in early spring in some cases). This suggests that species-specific differences in water use strategies may not necessarily affect tree growth, and that tissue growth may be more directly linked to environmental moisture conditions than might otherwise be expected.
Adeno-associated viral serotypes differentially transduce inhibitory neurons within the rat amygdala

Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (AAV) are frequently used to make localized genetic manipulations within the rodent brain. It is accepted that the different viral serotypes possess differing affinities for particular cell types, but it is not clear how these properties affect their ability to transduce specific neuronal cell sub-types. Here, we examined ten AAV serotypes for their ability to transduce neurons within the rat basal and lateral nuclei of the amygdala (BLA) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). AAV2 based viral genomes designed to express either green fluorescent protein (GFP) from a glutamate decarboxylase (GAD65) promoter or the far-red fluorescent protein (E2-Crimson) from a phosphate-activated glutaminase (PAG) promoter were created and pseudotyped as AAV2/1, AAV2/4, AAV2/5, AAV2/6, AAV2/7, AAV 2/8, AAV2/9, AAV2/rh10, AAV2/DJ and AAV2/DJ8. These viruses were infused into the BLA and CeA at equal titers and twenty-one days later tissue within the amygdala was examined for viral transduction efficiency. These serotypes transduced neurons with similar efficiency, except for AAV4 and AAV5, which exhibited significantly less efficient neuronal transduction. Notably, AAV4 and AAV5 possess the most divergent capsid protein sequences compared to the other commonly available serotypes. We found that the Gad65-GFP virus did not exclusively express GFP within inhibitory neurons, as assessed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), but when this virus was used to transduce CeA neurons, the majority of the neurons that expressed GFP were in fact inhibitory neurons and this was likely due to the fact that this nucleus contains a very high percentage of inhibitory neurons.
Enabling Sensing and Interaction with Everyday Objects

The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to revolutionize the way people interact with their environment and the objects within it by creating a ubiquitous network of physical devices. However, current advancement in IoT has been heavily targeted towards creating battery-powered electronics. There remains a huge gap between the collection of smart devices integrated into the IoT and the massive number of everyday physical objects. The goal of my research is to bridge this gap in the current IoT framework to enable novel sensing and interactive applications with daily objects.
A low complexity and flexible implementation of 2 n -QAM for software defined radio applications

A low complexity and flexible implementation of Gray-coded 2n-QAM with rectangular constellation is proposed and discussed, where it drastically saves the required storage at the cost of very low complexity. The proposed approach introduces a unified implementation algorithm for Gray-coded 2n QAM, V n, where it is favorable when the radio needs to adaptively increase or decrease the modulation code-word size based on the required data rate and the channel status. The performance of a successive interference cancellation algorithm is evaluated as optimal detector using computer simulations. The proposed approach has flexibility for selectively loading the codeword's bits with unequal error rates. It is shown that for the odd values of n, stretching the constellation simultaneously reduces the peak to average power ratio (PAPR), and improves the bit error rate. An experimental implementation of the modulation on a low power ARM microcontroller is presented.
Hepatotoxic Dose Thresholds by Positron-Emission Tomography After Yttrium-90 Radioembolization of Liver Tumors: A Prospective Single-Arm Observational Study

To define a threshold radiation dose to non-tumoral liver from 90Y radioembolization that results in hepatic toxicity using pair-production PET. This prospective single-arm study enrolled 35 patients undergoing radioembolization. A total of 34 patients (27 with HCC and 7 with liver metastases) were included in the final analysis. Of 27 patients with underlying cirrhosis, 22 and 5 patients were Child–Pugh A and B, respectively. Glass and resin microspheres were used in 32 (94%) and 2 (6%) patients, respectively. Lobar and segmental treatment was done in 26 (76%) and 8 (24%) patients, respectively. Volumetric analysis was performed on post-radioembolization time-of-flight PET imaging to determine non-tumoral parenchymal dose. Hepatic toxicity was evaluated up to 120 days post-treatment, with CTCAE grade ≤ 1 compared to grade ≥ 2. The median dose delivered to the non-tumoral liver in the treated lobe was 49 Gy (range 0–133). A total of 15 patients had grade ≤ 1 hepatic toxicity, and 19 patients had grade ≥ 2 toxicity. Patients with a grade ≥ 2 change in composite toxicity (70.7 vs. 43.8 Gy), bilirubin (74.1 vs. 43.3 Gy), albumin (84.2 vs. 43.8 Gy), and AST (94.5 vs. 47.1 Gy) have significantly higher non-tumoral parenchymal doses than those with grade ≤ 1. Liver parenchymal dose and Child–Pugh status predicted grade ≥ 2 toxicity, observed above a dose threshold of 54 Gy. Increasing delivered 90Y dose to non-tumoral liver measured by internal pair-production PET correlates with post-treatment hepatic toxicity. The likelihood of toxicity exceeds 50% at a dose threshold of 54 Gy. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02848638.
An mHealth Platform for Supporting Clinical Data Integration into Augmentative and Alternative Communication Service Delivery: User-Centered Design and Usability Evaluation.

Background: The recent trend of increasing health care costs in the United States is likely not sustainable. To make health care more economically sustainable, attention must be directed toward improving the quality while simultaneously reducing the cost of health care. One of the recommended approaches to provide better care at a lower cost is to develop high-quality data collection and reporting systems, which support health care professionals in making optimal clinical decisions based on solid, extensive evidence. Objective: The objective of this project was to develop an integrated mobile health Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) platform consisting of an AAC mobile app and a Web-based clinician portal for supporting evidence-based clinical service delivery. Methods: A questionnaire and interviews were used to collect clinicians’ ideas regarding what constitutes their desired “clinically relevant” data. In response, a Web-based portal was designed by combining mobile and Web technologies with an AAC intervention to create an integrated platform for supporting data collection, integration, and reporting. Finally, a usability study was conducted with health care professionals. Results: A Web-based portal was created and integrated with a tablet-based AAC mobile app and data analysis procedures. In the usability study, all participants agreed that the integrated platform provided the ability to collect comprehensive clinical evidence, automatically analyze collected data in real time, and generate clinically relevant performance measures through an easily accessible Web-based portal. Conclusions: The integrated platform offers a better approach for clinical data reporting and analytics. Additionally, the platform streamlines the workflow of AAC clinical service delivery.
Chapter 14 – Analyzing the Ergodic Secrecy Rates of Cooperative Amplify-and-Forward Relay Networks over Generalized Fading Channels

Wireless physical layer security approaches can prevent eavesdropping without upper layer data encryption. However, such techniques are hampered by time-varying wireless channel conditions and they are typically feasible only when the legitimate partners in the Wyner’s wire-tap channel model have an advantage over the source-eavesdropper channels. Node cooperation is an effective strategy to overcome this challenge and enhance the performance of secure wireless communications. This chapter addresses secure wireless communications of a source-destination pair with the help of multiple cooperating amplify-and-forward relays in the presence of one or more eavesdroppers. The role of channel fading is characterized in terms of average (ergodic) secure communication rates. Overall, this work establishes the utility of node cooperation for improving secure wireless communications and provides a unified analytical framework for assessing the ergodic secrecy rates of cooperative amplify-and-forward relay networks in a generalized fading environment with independent but non-identically distributed channel fading statistics.
Questioning Retribution, Valuing Humility

Book review of "Punishment and the Moral Emotions: Essays in Law, Morality, and Religion" by Jeffrie G. Murphy
Hydrological and nutrient budgets of freshwater and estuarine wetlands of Taylor Slough in Southern Everglades, Florida (U.S.A.)

Hydrological restoration of the Southern Everglades will result in increased freshwater flow to the freshwater and estuarine wetlands bordering Florida Bay. We evaluated the contribution of surface freshwater runoff versus atmospheric deposition and ground water on the water and nutrient budgets of these wetlands. These estimates were used to assess the importance of hydrologic inputs and losses relative to sediment burial, denitrification, and nitrogen fixation. We calculated seasonal inputs and outputs of water, total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) from surface water, precipitation, and evapotranspiration in the Taylor Slough/C-111 basin wetlands for 1.5 years. Atmospheric deposition was the dominant source of water and TP for these oligotrophic, phosphorus-limited wetlands. Surface water was the major TN source of during the wet season, but on an annual basis was equal to the atmospheric TN deposition. We calculated a net annual import of 31.4 mg m−2 yr−1 P and 694 mg m−2 yr−1N into the wetland from hydrologic sources. Hydrologic import of P was within range of estimates of sediment P burial (33–70 mg m−2 yr−1 P), while sediment burial of N (1890–4027 mg m−2 yr−1 N) greatly exceeded estimated hydrologic N import. High nitrogen fixation rates or an underestimation of groundwater N flux may explain the discrepancy between estimates of hydrologic N import and sediment N burial rates.
Quantitative Inter-Comparison Between GPM Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar Observations and Polarimetric Ground Radar Measurements

The dual-frequency precipitation radar, also known as DPR, on board the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Core Observatory is capable of taking measurements simultaneously at both the frequency channel of 13.6 GHz (Ku-band) and 35.5 GHz (Ka-band). Since the DPR is limited to operate only on single polarization, most of the retrievals are based on back scattered power measured by the radar. Accurate retrieval of rainfall rate and various microphysical properties requires minimizing the uncertainties in reflectivity measurements. In this study, GPM-DPRs simultaneous observations are evaluated quantitatively against measurements from well calibrated dual polarization ground radars. It is bit of a challenge to compare the space and ground radar's observations. Owing to their difference in viewing geometry, alignment and resolution volume it is difficult to perform a quantitative comparison on a point by point basis. To this end, a volume matching technique is applied to align and resample the data to a common grid. Comparison studies of measurements such as radar reflectivity and radar rainfall rate are performed. As a result of this comparison, the GPM-DPR's attenuation correction algorithm is also assessed. Finally the errors in DPR measurements are quantified and presented in terms of statistical scores.
Proceedings of the 10th national conference on anticoagulant therapy

The 10th National Conference on Anticoagulant Therapy sponsored by the Anticoagulation Forum was held in San Diego, CA on May 7–9, 2009. The Anticoagulation Forum’s conference provided a unique opportunity to network and learn with professional colleagues with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic disorders. The 3-day conference included an outstanding roster of international expert speakers, whose presentations are published in these proceedings. As in the past, members had an opportunity to present abstracts of original research and case reports. Over 50 abstracts were presented and are reprinted in this supplement. The Anticoagulation Forum was founded in 1991 by Dr. Jack Ansell in response to the need for a professional group to focus on the discipline of anticoagulation management and related therapies. The AC Forum is a multidisciplinary nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of care for patients taking antithrombotic medications. The goals of the AC Forum are to provide education and networking opportunities for health care professionals, to promote the clinical application of evidence-based practices, to facilitate research aimed at improving health outcomes, and to inform healthcare policy, regulatory agencies, and industry about best practices. The AC Forum has been an advocate for improved anticoagulation care through the establishment of anticoagulation clinics, the hosting of web-based education sessions, and the development of clinical guidelines. In addition, the AC Forum has served the interest of patients taking anticoagulants by promoting increased availability of self-monitoring, and by advocating for appropriate reimbursement from third-party payers. Many members of the AC Forum are actively engaged in clinical trials testing new and exciting antithrombotic drugs for the treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolism. These new drugs may have a major impact on the traditional responsibilities of anticoagulation clinics, as highlighted by presentations at this year’s conference. The AC Forum has also been an active supporter and partner in the development of a national certification program for providers who manage oral anticoagulation. At this year’s meeting, approximately 60 individuals sat for the examination delivered by the National Certification Board for Anticoagulation Providers. The Anticoagulation Forum wished to express its gratitude to the pharmaceutical and device manufacturers’ industry for their generous support of the meeting: ARYx Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer, CSL Behring, GlaxoSmithKline, Inverness Medical Innovations, ITC, Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientifc Affairs, Philips Remote Cardiac Services, Roche Diagnostics, SanofiAventis, and Tapestry Medical.
Development of the Labor and Delivery Outcome Scale (LDOS): Validity and reliability of an intrapartal measurement tool for research use in developed nations.

AbstractDespite numerous scholarly attempts to understand and improve the health outcomes of childbearing in highly technical, developed countries, a theoretical and methodological deficit persists...
Optimal Control for Speed Harmonization of Automated Vehicles

This paper addresses the problem of controlling the speed of a number of automated vehicles before they enter a speed reduction zone on a freeway. We formulate the control problem and provide an analytical, closed-form solution that can be implemented in real time. The solution yields the optimal acceleration/deceleration of each vehicle under the hard safety constraint of rear-end collision avoidance. The effectiveness of the solution is evaluated through a microscopic simulation testbed and it is shown that the proposed approach significantly reduces both fuel consumption and travel time. In particular, for three different traffic volume levels, fuel consumption for each vehicle is reduced by 19–22% compared to the baseline scenario, in which human-driven vehicles are considered, by 12–17% compared to the variable speed limit algorithm, and by 18–34% compared to the vehicular-based speed harmonization (SPD-HARM) algorithm. Similarly, travel time is improved by 26–30% compared to the baseline scenario, by 3–19% compared to the VSL algorithm, and by 31–39% compared to the vehicular-based SPD-HARM algorithm.
Cooperative CO2 Scission by Anomalous Insertion into a Rh–Si Bond

Pincer-type [P2Si]Rh complexes featuring a rhodium–silicon bond are shown to facilitate well-defined stoichiometric reductions of CO2 with Si–O bond formation by two different pathways: (a) hydride transfer to CO2 followed by formate migration to silicon, or (b) complete scission of the C═O bond at the Rh–Si unit to afford a product with siloxide and carbonyl ligands. A combined experimental and computational study shows that the latter process occurs by anomalous insertion of CO2 into the polarized Rhδ−–Siδ+ bond, a finding that is confirmed by extending the reactivity to an unchelated system. The siloxide carbonyl product can be further elaborated by reaction with water or pinacolborane to give structurally distinct CO2 reduction products. Taken together, these results demonstrate how metal/main-group bonds can be tuned to direct migratory insertion reactivity.
Educational Practices and the Making of National Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine

Schools are vitally important in the transmission and dissemination of historical memories, myths, and symbols, all of which foster a sense of nation-ness. The cultural knowledge schools transmit is a critical factor in formulating identity and crystallizing membership in a particular generation. By targeting education for reform, political leaders capitalize on the potential to incorporate into the very experience and memory of the first post-Soviet generation elements of Ukrainian culture, language, and historical memory to naturalize a Ukrainian identity among children of Russian-speaking families.
Sex Positive Social Work Education: Integrating Content into HBSE Courses and Beyond

Sexuality is an integral part of human behavior throughout the lifespan, with sexual health and well-being having an important impact on overall health and well-being, including increased life sati...
The Biomechanics of Multi-articular Muscle–Tendon Systems in Snakes

The geometry of the musculoskeletal system, such as moment arms and linkages, determines the link between muscular functions and external mechanical results, but as the geometry becomes more complex, this link becomes less clear. The musculoskeletal system of snakes is extremely complex, with several muscles that span dozens of vertebrae, ranging from 10 to 45 vertebrae in the snake semispinalis-spinalis muscle (a dorsiflexor). Furthermore, this span correlates with habitat in Caenophidians, with burrowing and aquatic species showing shorter spans while arboreal species show longer spans. Similar multi-articular spans are present in the prehensile tails of primates, the necks of birds, and our own digits. However, no previous analysis has adequately explained the mechanical consequences of these multi-articular spans. This paper uses techniques from the analysis of static systems in engineering to analyze the consequences of multiarticular muscle configurations in cantilevered gap bridging and compares these outcomes to a hypothetical mono-articular system. Multi-articular muscle spans dramatically reduce the forces needed in each muscle, but the consequent partitioning of muscle cross-sectional area between numerous muscles results in a small net performance loss. However, when a substantial fraction of this span is tendinous, performance increases dramatically. Similarly, metabolic cost is increased for purely muscular multi-articular spans, but decreases rapidly with increasing tendon ratio. However, highly tendinous spans require increased muscle strain to achieve the same motion, while purely muscular systems are unaffected. These results correspond well with comparative data from snakes and offer the potential to dramatically improve the mechanics of biomimetic snake robots.
A cost-efficient approach to building in continuous integration

Continuous integration (CI) is a widely used practice in modern software engineering. Unfortunately, it is also an expensive practice --- Google and Mozilla estimate their CI systems in millions of dollars. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for reducing the cost of CI. The cost of CI lies in the computing power to run builds and its value mostly lies on letting developers find bugs early --- when their size is still small. Thus, we target reducing the number of builds that CI executes by still executing as many failing builds as early as possible. To achieve this goal, we propose SmartBuildSkip, a technique which predicts the first builds in a sequence of build failures and the remaining build failures separately. SmartBuildSkip is customizable, allowing developers to select different preferred trade-offs of saving many builds vs. observing build failures early. We evaluate the motivating hypothesis of SmartBuildSkip, its prediction power, and its cost savings in a realistic scenario. In its most conservative configuration, SmartBuildSkip saved a median 30% of builds by only incurring a median delay of 1 build in a median of 15% failing builds.
Effective Field Theory and the Nuclear Many Body Problem

We review many body calculations of the equation of state of dilute neutron matter in the context of effective field theories of the nucleon-nucleon interaction.
Bariatric Surgery Reduces Cancer Risk in Adults With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Severe Obesity

Background & Aims Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with obesity and increased risk of cancer. The impacts of bariatric surgery on cancer risk in NAFLD patients are unknown. We investigated the effect of bariatric surgery on cancer risk in patients with NAFLD and severe obesity using the MarketScan database. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 18 to 64 years old newly diagnosed NAFLD patients with severe obesity between 2007 and 2017. We used Cox proportional hazard models to examine the association between bariatric surgery, modeled as a time-varying covariate, and the risks of any cancer and obesity-related cancer, while accounting for confounding using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Results A total of 98,090 patients were included in the study, 33,435 (34.1%) received bariatric surgery. In those without surgery, 1898 incident cases of cancer occurred over 115,890.11 person-years of follow-up, compared with 925 cancer cases over 67,389.82 person-years among surgery patients (crude rate ratio, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77- 0.91). The IPTW-adjusted risk of any cancer and obesity-related cancer was reduced by 18% (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.76–0.89) and 25% (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.56–0.75), respectively, in patients with versus without bariatric surgery. The adjusted risks of any cancer and obesity-related cancer were significantly lower in cirrhotic versus non-cirrhotic patients who underwent surgery. In cancer-specific models, bariatric surgery was associated with significant risk reductions for colorectal, pancreatic, endometrial, thyroid cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma, and multiple myeloma. Conclusion Bariatric surgery was associated with significant reductions in the risks of any cancer and obesity-related cancer in NAFLD patients with severe obesity.
Disease and Social Media in Post-Natural Disaster Recovery Philippines

Abstract Introduction The Philippines is plagued with natural disasters and resulting precipitating factors for disease outbreaks. The developing country has a strong disease surveillance program during and post-disaster phases; however, latent disease contracted during these emergency situations emerges once the Filipinos return to their homes. Coined the social media capital of the world, the Philippines provides an opportunity to evaluate the potential of social media use in disease surveillance during the post-recovery period. By developing and defining a non-traditional method for enhancing detection of infectious diseases post-natural disaster recovery in the Philippines, this research aims to increase the resilience of affected developing countries through advanced passive disease surveillance with minimal cost and high impact. Methods We collected 50 million geo-tagged tweets, weekly case counts for six diseases, and all natural disasters from the Philippines between 2012 and 2013. We compared the predictive capability of various disease lexicon-based time series models (e.g., Twitter’s BreakoutDetection, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Explanatory Variable [ARIMAX], Multilinear regression, and Logistic regression) and document embeddings (Gensim’s Doc2Vec). Results The analyses show that the use of only tweets to predict disease outbreaks in the Philippines has varying results depending on which technique is applied, the disease type, and location. Overall, the most consistent predictive results were from the ARIMAX model which showed the significance in tweet value for prediction and a role of disaster in specific instances. Discussion Overall, the use of disease/sick lexicon-filtered tweets as a predictor of disease in the Philippines appears promising. Due to the consistent and large increase use of Twitter within the country, it would be informative to repeat analysis on more recent years to confirm the top method for prediction. In addition, we suggest that a combination disease-specific model would produce the best results. The model would be one where the case counts of a disease are updated periodically along with the continuous monitoring of lexicon-based tweets plus or minus the time from disaster.
The Administrative Risk Analysis Index (RAI-A) Does Not Predict Reintervention or Mortality Within 30 Days in Patients Who Undergo Elective Open or Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair.

Abstract Objective Frailty scores are increasingly utilized to predict postoperative complications. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the administrative risk analysis index (RAI-A) can be used to predict reintervention or mortality within 30 days in patients who undergo elective open or endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. Methods The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was used to query data from elective open or endovascular aortic aneurysm repairs from 2011 to 2018. The administrative risk analysis index (RAI-A) score was calculated for each patient using two approaches (conservative versus liberal) due to discrepancies in NSQIP data categorization. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to determine whether there were statistical or clinical significance for incremental increases of RAI-A for both the open and endovascular repair group. Outcome measures were re-intervention or death within 30 days. Results Data from 4106 and 11,733 patients who underwent open and endovascular repair, respectively, were included in the analysis. The number of reinterventions within 30 days was 9.1% (375 out of 4106 patients) in the open repair group and 4.0% (463 out of 11,685 patients) in the endovascular group. Thirty-day mortality was 4.7% (192 out of 4106 patients) in the open repair group, and 0.9% (109 out of 11,685 patients) in the endovascular group. In the conservative calculation of RAI-A scores, the open and endovascular repair groups had median RAI-A scores of 7 (mean 8.31) and 9 (mean 9.51), respectively. There was no significant association between RAI-A scores and outcome measures in either group. For predicting 30 d reintervention, the C statistic was 0.535 (OR 1.02) for the open repair group and 0.532 (OR 1.02) for endovascular repair. For predicting 30-day mortality, the C statistic was 0.626 (OR 1.07) in the open repair group and 0.701 (OR 1.09) in the endovascular repair group. In the liberal calculation of RAI-A scores, the open and endovascular repair groups had median RAI-A scores of 6 (mean 6.19) and 7 (mean 7.65), respectively. There was no significant association between RAI-A scores and outcome measures in either group. For predicting 30 d reintervention, the C statistic was 0.527 (OR 1.02) for open repair and 0.529 (OR 1.02) for endovascular repair. For predicting 30-day mortality, the C statistic was 0.625 (OR 1.07) in the open repair group and 0.695 (OR 1.08) in the endovascular repair group. Conclusions The RAI-A is not useful in predicting 30 d reintervention or mortality in patients who undergo elective open or endovascular AAA repair.
Optimization of direct aging temperature of Ti free grade 300 maraging steel manufactured using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF)

Abstract Maraging steels are of interest to the tool and die industry owing to their high strength, toughness and machinability. Additive manufacturing technologies like laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) can result in a paradigm shift in the design of maraging steel tools. The lack of precipitates, in combination with solute segregation and non-equilibrium microstructure in Grade 300 maraging steel fabricated via LPBF makes the steel amenable to strengthening via direct aging post fabrication instead of the conventional solution treatment and aging. In this study we have focused on optimizing the direct aging temperature for a Ti-free Grade 300 maraging steel fabricated via LPBF for two different aging times. Through strain hardening analysis and detailed microstructural characterization, we show that direct aging at a temperature of 440 ∘C for 6 h resulted in the best strength-ductility combination. Aging samples at a lower temperature or shorter time resulted in no strain hardening prior to necking as a result of lower fraction of reverted austenite, whereas aging samples at a higher temperature resulted in extensive recrystallization of martensite, coarsening of precipitates, and extensive austenite reversion, resulting in softening of the fabricated parts.
Gestures of Concern: by Chris Ingraham, Duke UP, 2020, 254 pp., $26.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1478009511

In September 2019, my family and some friends participated in a project led by Blast Theory, an interactive art collective that often blurs the boundary between art and everyday life, between audie...
Parallel volume rendering for curvilinear volumes

Presents results of investigations into techniques for volume rendering using parallel processing on a multiple-instruction, multiple-data (MIMD) architecture that has a non-uniform access, shared memory. In particular, two parallel algorithms are given for volume rendering of curvilinear volumes. These two algorithms have been implemented on a BBN TC2000, and their performance has been measured and analyzed. >
Redex capturing in term graph rewriting (concise version)

Term graphs are a natural generalization of terms in which structure sharing is allowed. Structure sharing makes term graph rewriting a time- and space-efficient method for implementing term rewrite systems. Certain structure sharing schemes can lead to a situation in which a term graph component is rewritten to another component that contains the original. This phenomenon, called redex capturing, introduces cycles into the term graph which is being rewritten—even when the graph and the rule themselves do not contain cycles. In some applications, redex capturing is undesirable, such as in contexts where garbage collectors require that graphs be acyclic. In other applications, for example in the use of the fixed-point combinator Y, redex capturing acts as a rewriting optimization. We show, using results about infinite rewritings of trees, that term graph rewriting with arbitrary structure sharing (including redex capturing) is sound for left-linear term rewrite systems.
Clinical and Radiographic Findings in Adults With Persistent Hypophosphatasemia

A serum alkaline phosphatase value below the age-adjusted lower limits of normal (hypophosphatasemia) is uncommonly encountered in clinical practice. The electronic and paper medical records of 885,165 patients treated between 2002 and 2012 at a large, rural, multispecialty health clinic were interrogated to estimate the prevalence and characterize the clinical and radiographic findings of adults whose serum alkaline phosphatase was almost always low (persistent hypophosphatasemia). We hypothesized that some of these patients might harbor previously unrecognized hypophosphatasia, a rare, inherited condition of impaired mineralization of bones and teeth. Persistent hypophosphatasemia (serum alkaline phosphatase ≤ 30 IU/L) was found in 1 of 1544 adult patients. These adult patients had more crystalline arthritis, orthopedic surgery, chondrocalcinosis, calcific periarthritis, enthesopathy, and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis than a general adult patient population. A gender effect was observed. The clinical and radiographic findings of adult patients with persistent hypophosphatasemia resemble those of the adult form of hypophosphatasia. Clinicians should take notice of persistent hypophosphatasemia, consider the diagnosis of hypophosphatasia, and be cautious when considering potent anti-remodeling therapy in these adults. This population warrants further evaluation.
Real-time temperature compensation control system for tunable cavity-based high-Q filters

In this paper, a real-time temperature compensation control system for a tunable high-Q cavity-based filter is designed, implemented and experimentally validated. A high-Q (Q = 400) bandstop resonator that can be tuned by a piezoelectric actuator from 1.27 GHz to 1.79 GHz is monitored in real time by an integrated monitoring resonator that shares the same piezoelectric actuator. Consequently, the RF resonance has a one-to-one correspondence to the monitoring resonance. A VCO is coupled with the monitoring resonator resulting in an oscillatory output signal at a frequency that depends on the RF resonator frequency. The monitoring resonance is controlled by comparing it to a user-provided resonance through a closed-loop in real-time. The system resolution varies from 2 MHz to 13 MHz depending on the resonators center frequency with a 1.6 µs sensing period and averaging set at 512. The system is capable of compensating for frequency drifts by adjusting bias voltage to the piezoelectric actuator for a wide range of temperatures between −40°C and 40°C. The frequency control error at 1.5 GHz is measured at 4 MHz (0.25%), which is much smaller than the open-loop change of 195 MHz (12.97%) for the same temperature change.
Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence: A Case Study Using the OT PAL

Children who witness domestic violence experience a variety of negative effects. These include maladaptation in the areas of behavioral, emotional, social, cognitive, and physical functioning. The Occupational Therapy Psychosocial Assessment of Learning (OT PAL) is a tool that can be used to evaluate the psychosocial functioning of a student's performance in a classroom environment. Presented is the case study of a child witness of domestic violence and the use of the OT PAL in measuring the psychosocial aspects of his performance in a non-traditional classroom setting.
Neo-Functionalism and Supranational Governance

Wayne Sandholtz and Alec Stone Sweet examine the evolution of Neofunctionalism, as it was modified in the 1990s, and discuss the theory's contributions to the study of European integration.