cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Labeling Educational Content with Academic Learning Standards.

Learning standards (frequently referred to as academic standards, course curriculum etc.) define the specific structure of an educational program. Learning standards contain a list of instructions specifying various skills that students should learn at different points during their learning progression. For example,“calculate the area of a triangle” is one such instruction in a 6 grade geometry curriculum. Currently these instructions are imparted using prescribed textbooks or lesson plans which have been labeled with learning standard instructions. Teachers and students use this labeled learning content to identify relevant material for teaching and studying. However with an increasing amount of users as well as publisher generated content in recent days, teachers and students may want to refer to additional content apart from prescribed textbooks for their teaching/learning needs which is not labeled with learning standard instructions. Manually identifying the appropriate learning standard instruction for each learning content is time consuming and not scalable especially since learning standards frequently contain thousands of instructions, and subject to periodic revision. In this paper, we address the problem of automatically labeling digital learning content with the learning standards. Towards this goal, we first build semantic representations of the learning standard instructions using external knowledge sources such as Wikipedia and domain text books. These semantic representations are then used in a framework which utilizes structural constraints imposed by the hierarchy of the learning standards to assign labels to the learning materials. We demonstrate the usefulness of our approach on a collection of high school learning materials that were labeled by curriculum experts from a US school district according to a publicly available learning standard. The system developed has been deployed and is in use by the school district. To the best of our knowledge we are the first to attempt this novel task and develop such a system.
High ambient contrast ratio OLED and QLED without a circular polarizer

A high ambient contrast ratio display device using a transparent organic light emitting diode (OLED) or transparent quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED) with embedded multilayered structure and absorber is proposed and its performance is simulated. With the help of multilayered structure, the device structure allows almost all ambient light to get through the display device and be absorbed by the absorber. Because the reflected ambient light is greatly reduced, the ambient contrast ratio of the display system is improved significantly. Meanwhile, the multilayered structure helps to lower the effective refractive index, which in turn improves the out-coupling efficiency of the display system. Potential applications for sunlight readable flexible and rollable displays are emphasized.
Practicing Mental Strengthening: Learning Effective Thinking Strategies (Session 7 of the Treatment Manual)

This chapter continues to educate clients on the practice of cognitive and mental strengthening by teaching effective thinking strategies. Instead of calling this chapter cognitive strengthening, the manual emphasizes the term mental strengthening, which tends to be more holistic and inclusive of our mind’s total experience. Specifically, mental strengthening includes not only cognitions, but also the strengthening of all the emotional and intellectual components of our experiences (eg, feeling, learning, reasoning, decision-making, and problem-solving). By changing the way we think and focusing on effective ways of thinking, we are able to learn skills and techniques that make our minds stronger, reduce the impact of stress, increase our interpersonal effectiveness, and decrease the likelihood of emotional suffering.
Prognostic Value of Pleural Effusion in Hodgkin's Lymphoma Patients

Abstract Background: There has been little investigation into the incidence or prognostic significance of a pleural effusion when present with the diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. In our small clinical practice we had two patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma who presented with pleural effusion and subsequent poor outcomes, including relapse and eventual death. These events stemmed this retrospective study investigating the incidence of pleural effusion with the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease and whether the presence of pleural effusion at the time of diagnosis would reveal any association with outcomes in a larger cohort of patients. Procedure: A single centered retrospective chart review of 134 patients' age 0-50 with confirmed Hodgkin's lymphoma was performed. Charts were evaluated for the presence of any radiographic evidence of pleural effusion at the time of diagnosis, along with the patient's eventual outcome. Result: 8/133 (6%) patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma had a pleural effusion at the time of diagnosis. Death is dependent on pleural effusion (p= 0.019) with 3 of 8 (37.5%) of patients that had pleural effusion who died.There is an 8.77 (CI 1.8 - 43.5) times greater odds of death for patients with pleural effusion versus those without pleural effusion. Recurrence is dependent on pleural effusion (p= 0.0061) with 5/8 (62.5%) of patients that had pleural effusion who experienced recurrence.There is an 8.75 (CI 1.9 - 39.6) times greater odds of recurrence for patients with pleural effusion versus those without pleural effusion. Of the 5 patients who had recurrence, as stated above 3 patients died, 1 patient was salvaged by stem cell transplant and another patient was recently diagnosed with relapse thus, clear outcome is yet to be determined Conclusion: The presence of a pleural effusion at the time of diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma is a rare finding, yet when present, was associated with death and recurrence. This finding may suggest a more aggressive initial treatment be required given the association with poor outcomes. An evaluation of a larger cohort of patients, along with a determination of the diagnostic stage, will be required to confirm prognostic potential. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Producing Sicily as Europe: Migration, Colonialism and the Making of the Mediterranean Border between Italy and Tunisia

ABSTRACTThis article studies the relationship between the production of the Mediterranean border between Italy and Tunisia, and Italy’s internal geographies of uneven development, commonly known as the 'Southern Question’. Through a study of contemporary Tunisian migration to Sicily in relation to turn of the 20th century Sicilian southward migration to French Protectorate Tunisia, it claims that Sicilians were made into Italians and Europeans through their relationship with Tunisians, and that Sicily was produced as Europe through the progressive demarcation and fortification of the Mediterranean border. Drawing on literature on colonial socio-spatial differentiation, internal colonialism and postcolonial analyses of migration to Europe, this article reframes current debates around the ‘integration’ of migrants as part of longer-term questions around the incorporation of ‘difference’ into the body-politic of the nation—questions that were historically posed in relation to colonial subjects and population...
MODIFICATION OF THE PRELIMINARY INCUBATION TREATMENT FOR RAW MILK SAMPLES1

Bacteria growing actively in raw milk during preliminary incubation at 12.8 C for 18 hr are usually strongly aerobic. Consequently, increasing the ratio of surface area to volume of sample during preliminary incubation results in a significant increase in count. As the initial Standard Plate Count increased in magnitude, the percentage of samples showing more than a 10-fold increase after preliminary incubation also increased. Aging of samples at low temperatures before subjecting them to preliminary incubation results in a marked increase in count in certain samples.
Variation in the advanced fiber information system cotton fiber length-by-number distribution captured by high volume instrument fiber length parameters:

Variation in cotton fiber length impacts processability at the mill and the quality of spun yarns. The High Volume Instrument (HVI) and Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) are cotton fiber qua...
THE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER: Competition Versus Cooperation

First paragraphs: Cooperation has emerged as a new watchword of the sustainability movement. Those who are concerned about sustainability are encouraged to cooperate rather than compete. Food-related cooperatives include regional food hubs, local food networks, food box schemes, food buying clubs, farmers' markets, community supported agriculture operations (CSAs), and farmer-owned cooperatives. Cooperation is a logical response to the obvious ravages of cutthroat economic competition in the American food system. However, we cannot afford to ignore our basic human tendency to compete. Obviously, unrestrained competition is not sustainable — in the economy, society, or nature. Contrary to popular opinion, Darwin was not referring solely to competition when he wrote about the origin and evolution of species. Individuals often need to compete for the opportunity to pass on their genes, but cooperation is necessary to actually accomplish conception and successful reproduction. Even organisms that reproduce by simple cell division must have a cooperative environment for the offspring to survive and thrive....
Sexual satisfaction predicts quality of life: A study of adult amputees

Research provides ample evidence that limb amputation poses serious threats to psychological and psychosocial adjustment. However, very little is known about the effect of amputation on sexual activity. In this study, 77 amputees completed measures assessing a variety of amputation-related, functional status, and psychological variables. Satisfaction with one's sexual relationships with others predicted overall quality of life. Results are discussed in terms of implications for interventions aimed at improving adjustment to limb amputation.
Sexual monomorphism in wing loading and wing aspect ratio in Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) and Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

Abstract Sexual dimorphism patterns in wing area, wing loading, and wing aspect ratio of Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) and Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) are unknown but are of particular interest given the prevalence of these species in scavenging communities in the Western Hemisphere. I assessed these variables in sexed specimens from wintering populations in Nashville, Tennessee. Black Vultures exhibited higher wing loading and a lower wing aspect ratio than Turkey Vultures. Neither species exhibited significant age-related or sexual dimorphism in body weight, wing span, wing area, wing loading, or wing aspect ratio. The relatively low variance observed in the pooled sample of immatures (∼9–21 mo old) and adults suggests that definitive wing size and shape are acquired several years before individuals develop the bare rugose skin and head caruncles characteristic of adults. In a broader context, this study tentatively suggests that variance estimates for wing morphology obtained from unsexed vultur...
Management of behavior problems in elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

The overall treatment and management of behavioral problems in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is discussed. Three basic tenets of treatment are described. First, dementias should be considered as behavioral and functional disorders as well as cognitive ones. Second, treatment of these disorders must be multifaceted and utilize a variety of modalities. Third, optimum treatment must involve the caregiver as well as the patient.
Trait Procrastination, Hoarding, and Continuous Performance Attention Scores

We examined the relationship between chronic procrastination, hoarding, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a computer measure of continuous performance with 84 adult patients evaluated for diagnoses. Patients were administered the General Procrastination Inventory, the Saving Inventory-Revised, the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale and the IVA + Plus Continuous Performance Test. Procrastination scores correlated negatively with auditory attention scores, while self-reported hoarding tendencies correlated negatively with visual attention. Measures of procrastiation, hoarding, and ADHD were positively correlated. Implications and limitations of findings are discussed as well as directions for futher research.
Consideration of Physical Stressors in Cumulative Risk Assessment

Physical stressors represent an important class of factors that can affect the health of humans or ecosystems and should be considered in cumulative risk assessment. Physical stressors are defined here as biological agents (e.g., bacteria, viruses) or external forces (e.g., radiation, noise) that can modify exposure and/or elicit a physiological response from the exposed organism. Physical stressors can intersect with chemical stressors in at least three ways: (1) by directly interacting with chemicals to modify exposure (e.g., photoreactions of sunlight with air pollution), (2) by interacting with the same target system as a chemical stressor to elicit joint effects (e.g., noise and chemicals can both affect the physiological mechanism leading to hearing disorders), and (3) by interacting with the target system to alter its susceptibility or response to chemical exposure (e.g., virus-initiated disease leading to hyper-responsiveness to chemical insult). In this chapter, physical stressors will be discussed in terms of their actions on biological systems, modification of exposure or effects of chemical stressors, and suggestions for incorporation into cumulative risk assessment.
From tweets to stories: using stream-dashboard to weave the twitter data stream into dynamic cluster models

Social media has recently emerged as an invaluable source of information for decision making. Social media information reflects the interests of virtual communities in a spontaneous and timely manner. The need to understand the massive streams of data generated by social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, has motivated researchers to use machine learning techniques to try to discover knowledge in real time. In this paper, we adapt our recently developed stream cluster mining, tracking and validation framework, Stream-Dashboard, to support detecting and tracking evolving discussion clusters in Twitter. The effectiveness of Stream-Dashboard in telling stories is illustrated by analyzing a couple of stories related to the Louisville Cardinals' basketball championship. We further validate the detected story lines, that are automatically mined from user-generated tweets using as an alternative source, Google Trends, which are based on search queries.
Strengthening Ov-6a Semantics with Rule-Based Meta-Models in Devs/Dodaf Based Life-Cycle Development for Enterprise-Service Architectures

The development of a distributed testing environment would have to comply with recent DoD mandates requiring that the DoD Architectural Framework (DoDAF) be adopted to express high level system and operational requirements and architectures Unfortunately, DoDAF and DoD net-centric mandates pose significant challenges to testing and evaluation since DoDAF specifications must be evaluated to see if they meet requirements and objectives, yet they are not expressed in a form that is amenable to such evaluation. DoDAF is the basis for integrated architectures and provides broad levels of specification related to operational, system, and technical views. In our earlier work, we described an approach to support specification of DoDAF architectures within a development environment based on DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification) for semi-automated construction of the needed simulation models. The result is an enhanced system lifecycle development process that includes both development and testing in an integral manner. We also developed automated model generation using XML which paves the way for OVs to become service-providing components in the Web Services architecture. In this paper we present the semantic structure for one of the Operational View documents OV-6a that would aid the development of these semi-automated models. We will describe how OV-6a can be structured in a more generalized meta-model framework such that every rule is reducible to meaningful code which is automatedly constructed through Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods and further be reduced to DEVS based models. The paper also presents an overview of the Life-cycle development methodology for these enterprise architectures and how a common enterprise domain-model can be used in customized business/domain-specific rules and policy structures.
7 – Modeling Interconnected Systems: A Functional Perspective

This chapter contains a particular viewpoint on the mathematical modeling of systems that focuses on an explicit algebraic description of system connection information. The resulting system representation is called the component connection model. The component connection approach to system modeling provides useful ways to tackle a variety of system problems and has significant conceptual value. The general applicability of this viewpoint to some of these system problems is presented in this chapter at a conceptual level. Additional references are provided on specific applications of the component connection philosophy to system problems.
The role of parental financial assistance in the transition to homeownership by young adults

Abstract This study examines the role of direct parental assistance in their adult children's home buying, net of other resources. Past research has cited the importance of down payment constraints, but often has not included data on parental wealth and direct transfers. Using both the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) and Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we first confirm other research that children whose parents have more resources are more likely to buy homes themselves. In addition, we find that financial transfers increase the probability of home buying among adult children, net of parental wealth and other characteristics of parents and children. Results from the HRS suggest that receiving a transfer greater than $5000 for any purpose increases the probability of transitioning to homeownership by 15.1%. Results from the PSID suggest that this effect was magnified after the recession.
Uric Acid Predicts Carotid Plaque Stability, Cerebrovascular Events, Cardiovascular Events and Death in Patients Undergoing Carotid Endarterectomy (P5.224)

Objective: We aimed to determine whether baseline uric acid predicts plaque stability, acute ischemic cerebrovascular events (CVA), cardiovascular events and death in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Background: Serum uric acid is a risk factor for atherosclerosis, a marker of oxidative stress, and may serve as a marker of cardiovascular outcomes. Design/Methods: We enrolled 327 patients undergoing CEA between 2/2002 and 6/2017 with complete laboratory work up at baseline prior to CEA. Through the electronic chart as well as via regular nursing follow-up for a median of 10.9 years (IQR 7.3, 13.4), patients were followed for the development of CVA (including stroke and transient ischemic attack) and for cardiovascular events. Patients were stratified according to plaque stability as unstable (those who presented with a history of ≥1 CVA) and stable (those with no history of CVA). Results: Baseline uric acid was significantly higher in patients presenting with unstable plaque vs. stable plaque (6.5 (IQR 5.6, 7.9) vs. 5.8 (IQR 4.8,6.6); p Baseline serum uric acid levels were significantly higher in patients who developed cardiovascular events vs. those that did not [6.87±2.29 vs. 6.39 ±1.61);p=0.047). Baseline serum uric acid was independently associated with cardiovascular events when adjusting for age, creatinine, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia (L-R 4.0, p=0.04). Conclusions: Our data suggest that uric acid may be a novel risk factor for CVA, cardiovascular events and death after CEA. Further investigation is necessary to determine the role of uric acid as a modifiable risk factor and the therapeutic potential of reducing uric acid levels in these patients. Disclosure: Dr. Nardi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Prasad MD has nothing to disclose. Dr. Meyer has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lerman MD PhD has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lerman MD has nothing to disclose.
Buyer Behavior in Technology Markets: Technology Proximity in Licensing

Markets for technology promise to increase productivity by better allocating innovative capacity across firms. Research on the demand side of these markets, however, has been limited. In this paper...
Safety of Outpatient Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is being increasingly offered on an outpatient basis. However, the safety profile of outpatient ACDF remains poorly defined. OBJECTIVE To review the medical literature on the safety of outpatient ACDF. METHODS We systematically reviewed the literature for articles published before April 1, 2018, describing outpatient ACDF and associated complications, including incidence of reoperation, stroke, thrombolytic events, dysphagia, hematoma, and mortality. A random-effects analysis was performed comparing complications between the inpatient and outpatient groups. RESULTS We identified 21 articles that satisfied the selection criteria, of which 15 were comparative studies. Most of the existing studies were retrospective, with a lack of level I or II studies on this topic. We found no statistically significant difference between inpatient and outpatient ACDF in overall complications, incidence of stroke, thrombolytic events, dysphagia, and hematoma development. However, patients undergoing outpatient ACDF had lower reported reoperation rates (P < .001), mortality (P < .001), and hospitalization duration (P < .001). CONCLUSION Our meta-analysis indicates that there is a lack of high level of evidence studies regarding the safety of outpatient ACDF. However, the existing literature suggests that outpatient ACDF can be safe, with low complication rates comparable to inpatient ACDF in well-selected patients. Patients with advanced age and comorbidities such as obesity and significant myelopathy are likely not suitable for outpatient ACDF. Spine surgeons must carefully evaluate each patient to decide whether outpatient ACDF is a safe option. Higher quality, large prospective randomized control trials are needed to accurately demonstrate the safety profile of outpatient ACDF.
Ionic Conduction in Cubic Na3TiP3O9N, a Secondary Na-Ion Battery Cathode with Extremely Low Volume Change.

Isotropic mobility of Na at room temperature is demonstrated for Na3TiP3O9N which is prepared by solid state reaction of NaPO3, TiO2 (molar ratio of 3.05:1), and ascorbic acid (quartz boat, 850 °C, 20 h, flowing NH3).
Change Detection in Large Evolving Networks

Research is funded through federal, state and private organizations including NSF, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, MD State Highway Administration
Taking KLF9 to “Cort” for crimes against metabolism

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are essential for proper glycemic control, but in excess, can lead to hyperglycemia and diabetes. In this issue of the JCI, Cui et al. elucidate a mechanism by which GCs regulate gluconeogenesis utilizing the transcription factor Kruppel-like factor 9 (KLF9) in physiology and disease settings. They report that KLF9 is a GC-inducible factor that ultimately increases the transcription of proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1 α (PGC1α), resulting in gluconeogenesis. Given the high incidence of GC-induced diabetes, identification of this signaling axis provides, not only critical scientific insight, but also a foundation for preventative therapies for patients receiving chronic GC treatment.
Translating Item Response Theory Findings for Clinical Practice

This issue contains two articles that use item response theory (IRT) methods to draw conclusions about the psychometric properties of assessment instruments. Specifically Black (2019) uses IRT anal...
Difficulty of the pure ρ -Regge-pole exchange model in forward π − p → π 0 n at 20-200 GeV/ c

The combination of new data for ${(\frac{d\ensuremath{\sigma}}{dt})}_{t = 0}^{\mathrm{CEX}}$ with those for $\ensuremath{\Delta}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{T}({\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}p)$ at 20-200 GeV/c shows that the pure $\ensuremath{\rho}$-Regge-pole exchange model is not sufficient to explain the ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}n$ mechanism.
When Students Write for Money: Reflections on Teaching Grant Writing Through Experiential Learning

Experiential learning plays a significant role in our professional writing pedagogy, as the pedagogical strategies of EL situate students within authentic purposes, audiences, and consequences for their writing. These authentic contexts provide students with opportunities to understand unfamiliar genres and written conventions of professional discourse as well as the ethical and social commitments of writing with accuracy, clarity, and concision. One especially successful approach to experiential learning in professional writing is through community-engaged grant writing. In this project, students collaborate with community partners to identify a funding need, target a donor, and write a grant proposal on behalf of a community organization. Along the way, students have guided practice in research methods to solicit organizational information, persuasive communication, writing in multiple new genres (meeting agendas, progress reports, grant narratives), strategies for collaboration, and project management. This discusses the ways we have employed grant writing as an community-engaged experiential learning project over the past decade. We attend to how grant writing projects serve as a way of fulfilling institutional learning goals and the goals of the Common Academic Program (CAP) as we outline the sequence of activities and that students produce as they develop a grant proposal for a community partner. Finally, we discuss our personal reflections on the significance of grant writing as well as students’ reflections on the impact of grant writing on their vocational choices and professional preparation.
End-to-End Direct Digital Synthesis Simulation and Mathematical Model to Minimize Quantization Effects of Digital Signal Generation

Direct digital synthesis (DDS) architectures are becoming more prevalent as modern digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and programmable logic devices evolve to support higher bandwidths. The DDS architecture provides the benefit of digital control but at a cost of generating spurious content in the spectrum. The generated spurious content may cause intermodulation distortion preventing proper demodulation of the received signal. The distortion may also interfere with the neighboring frequency bands. This article presents the various DDS architectures and explores the DDS architecture which provides the most digital reconfigurability with the lowest spurious content. End-to-end analytical equations, numerical and mathematical models are developed to determine the location and power levels of spurs. Afterwards, the analytical equations, numerical and mathematical models are shown to be consistent with the experimental data. A developer can use the information to design a DDS architecture that meets their minimum requirements.
Challenging the binary: Gender/sex and the bio-logics of normalcy.

BACKGROUND We are witnessing renewed debates regarding definitions and boundaries of human gender/sex, where lines of genetics, gonadal hormones, and secondary sex characteristics are drawn to defend strict binary categorizations, with attendant implications for the acceptability and limits of gender identity and diversity. AIMS Many argue for the need to recognize the entanglement of gender/sex in humans and the myriad ways that gender experience becomes biology; translating this theory into practice in human biology research is essential. Biological anthropology is well poised to contribute to these societal conversations and debates. To do this effectively, a reconsideration of our own conceptions of gender/sex, gender identity, and sexuality is necessary. METHODS In this article, we discuss biological variation associated with gender/sex and propose ways forward to ensure we are engaging with gender/sex diversity. We base our analysis in the concept of "biological normalcy," which allows consideration of the relationships between statistical distributions and normative views. We address the problematic reliance on binary categories, the utilization of group means to represent typical biologies, and document ways in which binary norms reinforce stigma and inequality regarding gender/sex, gender identity, and sexuality. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS We conclude with guidelines and methodological suggestions for how to engage gender/sex and gender identity in research. Our goal is to contribute a framework that all human biologists can use, not just those who work with gender or sexually diverse populations. We hope that in bringing this perspective to bear in human biology, that novel ideas and applications will emerge from within our own discipline.
A 44-Year-Old Woman With Multiple Neoplasms and Cystic Lung Disease.

Case Presentation A 44-year-old woman with a history of renal cell carcinoma and thyroid cancer was referred to our institution for evaluation of cystic lung disease. She was an active smoker with a 15-pack-year of tobacco use. Two years before her presentation, she underwent a left nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma, clear cell type. Four months before, she had a total thyroidectomy that showed nodules consistent with noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary like nuclear features. She had no previous pulmonary complaints. Her family history was positive for breast cancer in her grandmother. There was no family history of pneumothorax. She complained of mild shortness of breath with exertion and occasional nonproductive cough. As part of her oncologic work up, she underwent a chest CT scan of the lungs ( Fig 1 ).
An assessment of the United States Preventive Services Task Force cervical cancer screening guidelines

Objectives: United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) screening guidelines are widely used to establish standards of care. There are gaps, however, in the study populations on which the 2018 USPSTF cervical cancer screening guidelines are based. The purpose of this study is to: 1) conduct a systematic review of the studies that comprise these guidelines, focusing on high risk United States (US) populations as defined by self-identified race or ethnicity, age ≥65, and insurance status, 2) analyze the generalizability of the guidelines to high risk US populations. Methods: We accessed the USPSTF 2018 Cervical Cancer screening guidelines and the evidence summary and reviewed the seven randomized control trials (RCTs), four cohort studies, and one cross-sectional analysis that provided the evidence for these recommendations. We identified demographic data specific to self-identified race or ethnicity, age ≥65, and insurance status. Additionally, we reviewed the latest cervical cancer screening guidelines published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), American Society for Colposcopy & Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ACOG), American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), and the American Cancer Society (ACS). Finally, in August 2020, we searched PubMed for RCTs, meta-analyses, clinical trials, systematic reviews from 2015-2020, focusing on our pre-identified demographic data. Download : Download high-res image (242KB) Download : Download full-size image Results: Two of the 14 studies used as the basis for the 2018 USPSTF cervical cancer screening include race or ethnicity data (Table 1). Of these two studies, one was a US-based cohort study and the other a cross-sectional study from the United Kingdom (Table 1). None of the RCTs used for the USPSTF guidelines included race or ethnicity. All seven RCTs were conducted in countries with less racial diversity than the US, except for Canada (Table 1). Four studies included participants age ≥65. Eleven of the 14 studies were conducted in countries with some form of universal health care coverage. Of the non-USP-STF organizations, the 2019 ASCCP guidelines used three cohorts that included majority White participants, low-income patients, and individuals age ≥65. Of the 629 PubMed articles reviewed, 18 studies suggested that the application of current cervical cancer screening guidelines to high risk populations may lead to underscreening and delay in diagnosis. Conclusions: While the screening guidelines from USPSTF and non-USPSTF organizations discuss the existence of broad disparities in cervical cancer screening, few of the studies used to comprise these guidelines specifically include high risk populations in the US as defined by self-identified race or ethnicity, age ≥65, insurance status. In addition, the generalizability of these guidelines to a US population remains limited given the participant demographics enrolled in the studies that comprise these guidelines.
Reducing surface depletion of superconducting SrTiO3 films with EuTiO3 capping layers

Doped SrTiO3 thin films are of significant scientific interest for their superconducting, ferroelectric, and thermoelectric properties. Air-exposed thin films of doped SrTiO3 suffer from surface carrier depletion that makes it difficult to obtain thin, conducting films, especially at low doping densities and temperatures. Here, we show that thin (10 nm) EuTiO3 capping layers can prevent surface depletion and allow for conducting heterostructures with SrTiO3 films as thin as 10 nm. We also investigate the superconducting properties of EuTiO3 capped SrTiO3 films. We show that the superconducting transition temperature decreases systematically as the SrTiO3 film thickness is reduced, which is likely due to proximity effects.
Allografts for Skin Closure during In Utero Spina Bifida Repair in a Sheep Model.

Objectives: Use of off-label tissue graft materials, such as acellular dermal matrix (ADM), for in utero repair of severe spina bifida (SB), where primary skin layer closure is not possible, is associated with poor neurological outcomes. The cryopreserved human umbilical cord (HUC) patch has regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-scarring properties, and provides watertight SB repair. We tested the hypothesis that the HUC is a superior skin patch to ADM for reducing inflammation at the repair site and preserving spinal cord function. Methods: In timed-pregnant ewes with twins, on gestational day (GD) 75, spina bifida was created without a myelotomy (functional model). On GD 95, repair was performed using HUC vs. ADM patches (randomly assigned) by suturing them to the skin edges. Additionally, full thickness skin closure as a primary skin closure (PSC) served as a positive control. Delivery was performed on GD 140, followed by blinded to treatment neurological assessments of the lambs using the Texas Spinal Cord Injury Scale (TSCIS) for gait, proprioception, and nociception. Lambs without spina bifida were used as controls (CTL). Ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging of spines at the repair site were performed, followed by quantitative pathological assessments. Histological assessments (blinded) included Masson’s trichrome, and immunofluorescence for myeloperoxidase (MPO; neutrophils) and for reactive astrocytes (inflammation) by co-staining vimentin and GFAP. Results: The combined hind limbs’ TSCIS was significantly higher in the HUC group than in ADM and PSC groups, p = 0.007. Both ADM and PSC groups exhibited loss of proprioception and mild to moderate ataxia compared to controls. MRI showed increased pathological findings in the PSC group when compared to the HUC group, p = 0.045. Histologically, the meningeal layer was thickened (inflammation) by 2–3 fold in ADM and PSC groups when compared to HUC and CTL groups, p = 0.01. There was lower MPO positive cells in the HUC group than in the ADM group, p = 0.018. Posterior column astrocyte activation was increased in ADM and PSC lambs compared to HUC lambs, p = 0.03. Conclusion: The HUC as a skin patch for in utero spina bifida repair preserves spinal cord function by reducing underlying inflammation when compared to ADM.
Clinical Legal Education in Afghanistan: Next Steps

Law and Shari’a faculties in Afghanistan now have a critical mass of professors trained in the principles of interactive teaching and experiential education. Many deans and other administrators are keen on the idea of hosting a legal clinic or an innovative educational model. Piloting a clinical program requires a team of junior and senior faculty members who remain in continuous and long-term contact with their peers and practitioners across the nation, and with clinicians in the Global South and North. This should include a partnership with a reputable law school abroad for study, clinical practice and clinic tutorials; assistance from in-country administrative staff; and periodic visits by consultants who offer hands-on technical assistance and critique. In addition, the legal faculty and university administrators need to nurture clinical education by facilitating changes in policy and practice that spur the development of new curricula, service learning and interdisciplinary and inter-university collaboration and exchange. Many policies and procedures can be plucked from clinics operating elsewhere in Afghanistan, or adapted from those in Central or South(east) Asia or across the globe. As for the actual clients and socio-legal issues to be addressed, data are already available from governmental, non-profit and academic sources. This should allow the start-up clinic to focus on service areas (without reinventing the wheel on documenting the problem) and on modes of advocacy and service delivery. The temptation to purchase durable goods will be great, whether donor-driven or grantee-generated. Rather than routine acquisition of equipment, furniture and books, the clinic should be much more strategic about ways for students, staff and clients to access information and to access a space for consultation, training and work. An essential but arguably elusive goal for successful clinicians is to maintain a relationship with donors marked by candor and coordination of activities with other funders. Finally, clinical legal education cannot be divorced from the rest of the curriculum. The groundwork should be accomplished through skills-based, interactive education, in moot exercises and competitions, and in clinics, both inside and outside the classroom.
Auditory and Visual Influences on Phonemic Restoration

Phonemic restoration was studied using a version of Samuel's (1981a) psychophysical paradigm. We examined the influence of specific acoustic correlates of voicing and place of articulation on phonemic restoration (d') and response bias (Beta). The influence of a higher-level, phonotactic constraint was also examined. All of the stimuli were presented in both auditory-only and auditory-visual conditions, allowing the investigation of potential benefits of vision on phonemic restoration. The results support the predictions of an interactive-activation model, combining both top-down and bottom-up factors. As predicted, voicing and place of articulation significantly affected d': Voiceless stop consonants received greater restoration than voiced stops, and alveolar stops were less restorable than bilabial and velar stops. The phonotactic, top-down constraint affected neither d' nor Beta. Visual information, however, appeared to reduce the bias to report an item as intact.
Arias-stella phenomenon in spontaneous and therapeutic abortion

Abstract Endometrium from 100 abortions was examined histologically for evidence of the Arias-Stella phenomenon. This reaction was present in 78.9 per cent of spontaneous (predominantly incomplete) abortions and 81.3 per cent of therapeutic abortions, not a significant difference. This high incidence of the Arias Stelle phenomenon in therapeutic abortions is o Fered as a rebuttal to the suggestion that it appears only when there is disturbance of trophoblastic tissue, as in spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy. Both the present study and other publications which are reviewed suggest that the Arias-Stella phenomenon is an exaggerated proliferative and secretory response to elevated hormonal levels, rather than an involutional and regressive sequel to fetal death.
Pilot symbol aided QPRS for digital land mobile applications

The performance of a narrowband partial response signaling system in a frequency selective fading channel is studied for different receiver structures. Bit errors caused by Rayleigh fading are mitigated by periodically inserting pilot symbols that are used to provide amplitude and phase references at the receiver. It is shown that the delay spread tolerance of a quadrature partial response signaling, (QPRS) system is comparable to that of pi /4-quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) systems. Analytical and computer simulation results indicate that the performance of bit-by-bit detection is the same as that of maximum-likelihood receivers in a fading channel, whereas the lattice has nearly 2.5-dB gain in the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. The performance gain of two-branch maximum-ratio (MR) combining and selection diversity receivers which can be implemented in the baseband is also studied. >
To Make a Spotless Orange: Biological Control in California

To Make. Spotless Orange: Biological Control in California Richard Sawyer. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1996.
Nucleus-Specific Differences in GABAA-Receptor-Mediated Inhibition Are Enhanced During Thalamic Development

Inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) mediated by GABAA receptors are much slower in neurons of the thalamic reticular nucleus (RTN) versus those in the ventrobasal complex (VB) of young rats. H...
Reengineering training for performance improvement

Summary form only given. Training Magazine estimates that 1995 direct expenditures for formal training were $59.8 billion, a staggering performance investment in the human capital of our workforce. Inspired by the Japanese, leading manufacturers now spend 3% to 5% of their payroll for training as a matter of policy just to remain competitive and conversant with rapidly emerging technology. But the issue of return on that investment remains. What return should companies expect? How much? How soon? How will they know that they achieved the target payback? Or any payback? Clearly the answers to these questions lie with the design of training, its deployment, its relation to employee performance and measurement of its results. However these considerations themselves are thorny issues to resolve and are easily (and often) dismissed as the province of the training expert. The real issues then are delegated to the human resource department who is simply asked to provide training on a generic topic. We must understand how training amplifies and improves performance and how effective it is in doing so. We must be able to measure its results, adjust our efforts, and determine whether more, or less, training improves our bottom line. That can be accomplished but it requires the same amount of attention to detail that we unflinchingly dedicate to the machines, the processes and the information systems in our plants and operations centers.
Application of the general fluid circuit theory to the chloride-bromide-deuterium oxide experiment

The general fluid circuit theory of active chloride absorption is applied to an experiment in which chloride, bromide, and deuterium oxide were simultaneously absorbed from the lower ileum, chloride only moving against a concentration gradient. The conclusion is reached that the constant for active absorption of deuterium oxide is equal, within reasonable limits of error, to the constant for active chloride absorption in accordance with the assumption that the absorption of water carries chloride out of the intestinal lumen without changing its concentration.
Government Is Good: Citizenship, Participation, and Power

(1993). Government Is Good: Citizenship, Participation, and Power. Journal of Urban Affairs: Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 385-386.
42. Laboratory immune parameters of normal humans vary by cytokine receptor polymorphisms

It has been demonstrated that Th1/Th2 cytokine imbalance is correlated with excess psychological stress although there are clearly individual differences in the responses to the same stressor. These differences may derive from cytokine receptor configuration and/or binding affinity, which could be influenced by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We categorized differences in immunoregulatory profiles from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 209 normal volunteers according to various cytokine receptor polymorphisms including T-56C and G-611A of IFNGR1, Q64R of IFNGR2, and Ile50Val, Q576R and S503P of IL4R. Genotyping of each polymorphism was performed by allelic discrimination real-time PCR, and Th1, Th2, Th1/Th2 ratio, and CD3+CD4+CD25hiFoxp3+ cell numbers were also measured using flow cytometry. Results showed that Th1 levels were higher for males than for females in CC group but not in TT and CT groups of T-56C ( p = 0.002) and in AA group but not in GG and GA groups of G-611A ( p = 0.013). In Q64R, Th2 was positively correlated with age in Gln/Arg genotype but not in Gln/Gln ( p = 0.009). For Q576R, Th1/Th2 ratio was lower for Arg/Arg compared to Gln/Gln ( p = 0.035). For S503P, Th1/Th2 ratio decreased with an increase in age for Ser/Ser but not for Ser/Pro ( p = 0.030). We conclude that SNPs from various components of the stress-immune network may be useful for categorizing baseline immune responses to more accurately evaluate immunological components of stress risk in individual subjects.