cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Improvement of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) transformation efficiency and determination of transgene copy number by relative quantitative real-time PCR

The biolistic method is reliable for delivering genes of interest into various species, but low transformation efficiency can be a limiting factor in its application. To test various conditions that could improve peanut transformation via particle bombardment, embryogenic tissues of the peanut cultivar Georgia Green were co-bombarded with two plasmids: one containing a green fluorescent protein gene and one containing a gene of interest plus a selectable marker. The fluorescence in bombarded embryogenic tissues was measured to evaluate transformation efficiency. A 4.6-fold improvement of transformation efficiency was achieved in stably transformed peanut lines by introducing protamine instead of conventional spermidine in a bombardment mixture with 70 ng/shot plasmid DNA and 50 μg/shot gold. Unexpectedly, the reduction of plasmid DNA from 700 to 70 ng/shot produced transgenic lines with significantly increased numbers of transgene copies. To determine the transgene copy number during plantlet regeneration, relative quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was established using fluorescently labeled universal library probes. A correlation of 95% was found for estimation of copy number between Southern blot and qPCR data. Given its speed and high-throughput nature, qPCR can be employed as an effective screening tool to separate high copy number events from low copy number events as early as the shoot formation stage of regeneration.
Feasibility of a brief, intensive weight loss intervention to improve reproductive outcomes in obese, subfertile women: a pilot study

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of a brief, intensive weight loss intervention (IWL) to improve reproductive outcomes in obese subfertile women. Design Pilot study of IWL versus standard-of-care nutrition counseling (SCN). Setting Single-site, academic institution. Patient(s) Obese women (body mass index, 35–45 kg/m 2 ) with anovulatory subfertility. Intervention(s) Women were rigorously prescreened to rule out secondary causes of subfertility. Eligible women were randomized to IWL or SCN. IWL consisted of 12 weeks of very-low-energy diet (800 kcal/day) + 4 weeks of a low-calorie conventional food-based diet (CFD) to promote 15% weight loss. SCN consisted of 16 weeks of CFD to promote ≥5% weight loss. Women were transitioned to weight maintenance diets and referred back to reproductive endocrinology for ovulation induction. Main Outcome Measure(s) Feasibility of recruitment, randomization, intervention implementation, and retention. Result(s) Thirty-nine women were screened; 25 (64%) were eligible to participate, and 14 of those eligible (56%) agreed to be randomized, seven in each group. One withdrew from the IWL group and two from the SCN group. Percent weight loss was greater in the IWL group than in the SCN group (13% ± 5% vs. 4% ± 4%). Three of six women in the IWL group conceived and delivered term pregnancies. No pregnancies occurred in the SCN group. Conclusion(s) After rigorous screening, 44% of eligible women completed the study. IWL was associated with greater percentage weight loss and improvements in insulin sensitivity. Clinical Trial Registration NCT01894074.
Self-Deception and Mistakes

Although the phrase ‘self-deception’ has a puzzling sense and may seem paradoxical, ‘deception’ still implies a mistake of some sort; just as ‘deceiving someone’ and ‘being deceived’ does.
Recent thermochemical studies of the binary alloys of Er with group IVB elements by high temperature direct synthesis calorimetry

Les enthalpies standards de formation de quelques alliages d'Erbium dans les systemes binaires Er-X (X=C,Si,Ge,Sn,B) ont ete determinees par calorimetrie de reaction a 1473+ 2 K. Les valeurs suivantes de Δ Hf 0 en kJ/moles d'atomes sont reportees: ErC 2 :( - 28.8± 1.6); ErSi:( -84.9± 2.5); ErSi 2 :( -62.6± 1.8); Er 5 Si 3 :( -70.7± 3.1): Er 5 Ge 3 :( -95.6± 2.0); Er 5 Sn 3 :( -72.3± 2.1); ErB 2 :( -27.3± 2.2). Les resultats sont compares avec quelques recentes valeurs experimentales deduites de spectrometrie de masse, et mesurees par reduction thermique avec des donnees calorimetriques disponibles pour des composes comparables de lantanide et avec les valeurs estimees a partir du modele semi-empirique de Miedema et al. Nous avons aussi teste la possible correlation entre les enthalpies de formation, les volumes molaires relatifs et les temperatures reduites des composes comme cela a ete suggere par Gschneidner.
Street Youth in Different Countries

This chapter analyzes the diverse lives of street youth in different countries. In various countries, street youth may live at home, go to school, and work in the streets or live and work on the streets without going to school. In many cases, street youth’s participation in family, school life, and street activities changes over time. In different countries, regions, and cities, the meanings of street life vary in different settings. The notion of living on the street can differ in various parts of the same city. This chapter assesses the conditions that may increase the risk that young people will live and work in the streets. Such factors as demographic characteristics, family abuse and neglect, family conflict, low socioeconomic status (SES), behavioral problems in school, the lack of educational and occupational opportunities, and child trafficking are analyzed. In this chapter, the problems of street life are discussed. This chapter also discusses the role of governments and organizations in developing policies and interventions to assist young people on the streets.
Abstract CT016: Abexinostat (ABX) as a means to reverse pazopanib (PAZ) resistance: a phase I study in advanced solid tumor malignancies

Background: PAZ is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGFR, PDGFR, and c-KIT approved for use in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). ABX is a potent pan-HDAC inhibitor (HDACi). Pre-clinical models suggest that HDACi-mediated epigenetic modulation of VEGF expression prevents PAZ resistance and potentiates efficacy. We therefore designed a Phase I clinical trial combining ABX with PAZ in pts with advanced solid tumors with an expansion cohort in RCC. Methods: The primary endpoint was the maximal tolerated dose (MTD) of PAZ plus ABX. Secondary endpoints included pharmacokinetics (PK) and efficacy. PAZ was dosed days 1-28 and ABX days 1-5, 8-12, and 15-19 of 28-day cycle (schedule A) with at a starting dose of 400 mg/day and 45 mg/m2 orally twice daily respectively. An alternate ABX dosing schedule days 1-4, 8-11, and 15-18 was investigated (schedule B) due to toxicity of Schedule A. Results: 52 patients (pts) (RCC; N = 23) with advanced solid tumors were enrolled (N = 22 schedule A; N = 30 schedule B). There were six dose-limiting toxicities including fatigue (N = 2), thrombocytopenia (N = 2), and elevated AST/ALT (N = 2). The most common grade ? 3 related adverse events observed were fatigue (13%), thrombocytopenia (12%), and diarrhea (10%). The MTD was PAZ 800 mg/day + ABX 45 mg/m2 BID on schedule B. 8 evaluable pts (19%) (N = 6 RCC; 2 thyroid; median number of prior lines of therapy = 3) achieved partial tumor response (PR), with median duration of response of 9.2 months (1-33.2+). 7/9 (78%) of pts with prior disease progression on PAZ monotherapy had reduction in tumor burden on study. 15 out of 48 evaluable pts (31%) experienced stable disease or better for ? 6 months, and two previously PAZ-refractory pts with PRs remain on study for > 20 and 37 mos respectively. PK analyses did not reveal drug-drug interaction. Degree of histone acetylation and metabolomic profile are being evaluated. Conclusion: The combination of PAZ + ABX was well tolerated and durable tumor control (> 3 yrs) was observed in RCC and thyroid cancer. Tumor regressions observed in majority of PAZ-refractory tumors preliminarily support the potential of ABX to reverse therapeutic resistance. A randomized phase 2 study with cross-over design is planned to further evaluate the combination of PAZ + HDACi. Citation Format: Rahul Aggarwal, Scott Thomas, Jennifer Grabowsky, Armand Harb, Jim Leng, Anne Reinert, Ilaria Mastroserio, Thach-Giao Truong, Pamela N. Munster. Abexinostat (ABX) as a means to reverse pazopanib (PAZ) resistance: a phase I study in advanced solid tumor malignancies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr CT016.
Methane emissions measurements of natural gas components using a utility terrain vehicle and portable methane quantification system

Abstract Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are a growing problem in the United States (US). Methane (CH4) is a potent GHG produced by several stages of the natural gas sector. Current scrutiny focuses on the natural gas boom associated with unconventional shale gas; however, focus should still be given to conventional wells and outdated equipment. In an attempt to quantify these emissions, researchers modified an off-road utility terrain vehicle (UTV) to include a Full Flow Sampling system (FFS) for methane quantification. GHG emissions were measured from non-producing and remote low throughput natural gas components in the Marcellus region. Site audits were conducted at eleven locations and leaks were identified and quantified at seven locations including at a low throughput conventional gas and oil well, two out-of-service gathering compressors, a conventional natural gas well, a coalbed methane well, and two conventional and operating gathering compressors. No leaks were detected at the four remaining sites, all of which were coal bed methane wells. The total methane emissions rate from all sources measured was 5.3 ± 0.23 kg/hr, at a minimum.
Double Cortex Syndrome

The incidence of mutations in the X-linked gene doublecortin in patients with “double cortex” syndrome (DC; also called subcortical band heterotopia or laminar heterotopia) and familial DC with lissencephaly was investigated in a cohort of 8 pedigrees and 47 sporadic patients with DC examined at the Division of Neurogenics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, and multiple centers in the US and abroad.
Utilization of a submental island flap and 3D printed model for skull base reconstruction: Infantile giant cranio-cervicofacial teratoma

Transcranial masses in the infant population can leave considerable skull base defects following resection. Traditional reconstructive techniques can result in significant morbidity or poor cosmetic results. We present a case of a large skull base defect in a six week-old infant, after removal of a giant cranio-cervicofacial teratoma, which was reconstructed using a versatile submental island flap. Additionally, preoperative planning and intraoperative navigation was advanced with the use of a 3D constructed model of the patient's mass.
"Thank You for Being Republican": Negotiating Science and Political Identities in Climate Change Learning.

When engaging with socioscientific issues, learners act at the intersection of scientific, school, and other societal communities, drawing on knowledge, practices, and identities from both in and o...
Advances in Plant ER Architecture and Dynamics

Recent advances highlight mechanisms that enable the morphological integrity of the plant ER in relation to the other organelles and the cytoskeleton.
Rarefaction Effects for Transonic Airfoil Flows at Low Reynolds Numbers

The quantification of rarefaction effects for low-Reynolds-number (Re∞<10,000) transonic (M∞∼0.8) flows is essential for the aerodynamic design of vehicles moving in vacuum environments approaching...
Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumor in the Thyroid: Report of an Incidental Diagnosis

Secondary tumors of the thyroid are quite rare with an estimated prevalence of < 1%. Herein, we describe the incidental discovery of metastatic small cell lung cancer in a non-toxic multinodular goiter. A 57-year-old lady has had a non-toxic multinodular goiter for over 10 years. She has had two thyroid fine needle aspirations (FNAs) in the past, which were reported benign. As the goiter was increasing in size and causing compression, she underwent a total thyroidectomy. Pathology revealed multi-centric high grade carcinoma with small cell/neuroendocrine features with the largest focus being 1.1 cm. Calcitonin staining was negative. Further imaging revealed a 68 × 37 × 51 mm soft tissue mediastinal mass and an 18 × 10 mm left upper lobe pulmonary nodule. She was then initiated on chemotherapy and radiation therapy for extensive stage small cell cancer of the lung. After two cycles of chemotherapy, restaging chest computed tomography (CT) showed interval improvement in lung masses. This rare presentation of small cell lung cancer with multi-centric metastasis to the thyroid highlights the need to obtain nodule directed FNAs, as the two non-directed FNAs done prior to surgery were benign. It also points out to clinicians that rapidly growing goiters are a cause for concern, and should be evaluated, even if patients are not symptomatic. J Endocrinol Metab. 2017;7(6):190-193 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem468w
Why a hierarchy-of-effects model is still the best approach to managing and optimizing the impact of corporate social responsibility strategies

Since the early calls for the use of a hierarchy-of-effects approach to assessing and then strategically guiding corporate management in its oversight of CSR endeavors by the enterprise, research r...
Association of transforming growth-factor alpha gene polymorphisms with nonsyndromic cleft palate only (CPO).

Genetic analysis and tissue-specific expression studies support a role for transforming growth-factor alpha (TGFA) in craniofacial development. Previous studies have confirmed an association of alleles for TGFA with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) in humans. The authors carried out a retrospective association study to determine whether specific allelic variants of the TGFA gene are also associated with cleft palate only (CPO). The PCR products from 12 overlapping sets of primers to the TGFA cDNA were examined by using single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis. Four DNA polymorphic sites for TGFA were identified in the 3[prime] untranslated region of the TGFA gene. These variants, as well as previously identified RFLPs for TGFA, were characterized in case and control populations for CPO by using X[sup 2] analysis. A significant association between alleles of TGFA and CPO was identified which further supports a role for this gene as one of the genetic determinants of craniofacial development. Sequence analysis of the variants disclosed a cluster of three variable sites within 30 bp of each other in the 3[prime] untranslated region previously associated with an antisense transcript. These studies extend the role for TGFA in craniofacial morphogenesis and support an interrelated mechanism underlyingmore » nonsyndromic forms of CL/P. 46 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs.« less
The Chemistry of Therapeutic Radiopharmaceuticals

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatments to control malignant cells. Historically, the three main divisions of radiation therapy are (1) external beam radiation therapy (EBRT or XRT) or teletherapy, (2) brachytherapy or sealed source radiation therapy, and (3) systemic radioisotope therapy or unsealed source radiotherapy.
Getting better, getting well : Understanding and managing partial and non-response to pharmacological treatment of non-psychotic major depression in old age

In general, the pharmacological treatment of non-psychotic major depressive disorder in old age is only partially successful, with only approximately 50% of older depressed adults improving with initial antidepressant monotherapy. Many factors may predict a more difficult-to-treat depression, including coexisting anxiety, low self-esteem, poor sleep and a high coexisting medical burden. Being aware of these and other predictors of a difficult-to-treat depression gives the clinician more reasonable expectations about a patient’s likely treatment course. If an initial antidepressant trial fails, the clinician has two pharmacological options: switch or augment/combine antidepressant therapies. About 50% of patients who do not improve after initial antidepressant therapy will respond to either strategy. Switching has several advantages including fewer adverse effects, improved treatment adherence and reduced expense. However, as a general guideline, if patients are partial responders at 6 weeks, they will likely be full responders by 12 weeks. Thus, changing medication is not indicated in this context. However, if patients are partial responders at 12 weeks, switching to a new agent is advised. If the clinician treats vigorously and if the patient and clinician persevere, up to 90% of older depressed patients will respond to pharmacological treatment. Furthermore, electroconvulsive therapy is a safe and effective non-pharmacological strategy for non-psychotic major depression that fails to respond to pharmacotherapy. Getting well and staying well is the goal; thus, clinicians should treat to remission, not merely to response. Subsequently, maintenance treatment with the same regimen that has been successful in relieving the depression strongly improves the patient’s chances of remaining depression free.
CHAPTER 120 – Low-Molecular-Weight Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases

The eukaryotic low-molecular-weight protein tyrosine phosphatases (LMW PTPases) are cytoplasmic enzymes with molecular weights of approximately 18,000. This family of PTPases shares no sequence identity with the various high-molecular-weight (HMW) families except for the CXXXXXR signature sequence of the phosphate binding site. In the HMW PTPases, the conserved signature sequence, HCXAGXGR(S/T), is typically found in the C-terminal third of the protein, while in the LMW PTPases the related invariant motif XCXGNXCRS is found close to the N terminus. This motif forms the phosphate binding loop (P-loop). The P-loop peptide backbone in LMW PTPase has effectively the same structure as that found in a representative HMW PTPase from Yersinia, with Ca positions exhibiting only 0.37-A root mean square deviation. Thus, despite apparent differences in the consensus sequences, the phosphate binding regions of these proteins are surprisingly similar. Bovine liver and brain and human red cell, liver, and placenta enzymes were among the first to be extensively characterized.
Differences in prevalence of ICU protocols between neurologic and non-neurologic patient populations.

Abstract Purpose To compare the differences in the presence of protocols aimed at addressing complications for neurologically injured patients vs. non-neurologic injured patients in a large sample of ICUs across the United States. Materials and methods Prospective observational multi-center cohort study. This was a subgroup analysis of the multi-centered prospective observational cohort study of medical, surgical, and mixed intensive care units from across the country. USCIITG-CIOS study group. Results Sixty-nine ICUs participated in the study of which 25 (36%) were medical, 24 were surgical (35%) and 20 (29%) were of mixed type, and 64 (93%) were in teaching hospitals. There were 6179 patients across all sites with 1266 (20.4%) with central nervous system diagnoses. Protocol utilization in central nervous system vs. non- central nervous system patients was as follows: Sedation interruption 973/1266 (76.9%) vs. 3840/4913 (78.2%) (p = .32); acute lung injury ventilation 847/1266 (66.9%) vs. 4069/4913 (82.8%) (p Conclusion In this cohort, we found differences in the prevalence of respiratory illness prevention protocols between critically ill patients with neurologic illness and the general critically ill population.
Griffon: Reasoning about Job Anomalies with Unlabeled Data in Cloud-based Platforms

Microsoft's internal big data analytics platform is comprised of hundreds of thousands of machines, serving over half a million jobs daily, from thousands of users. The majority of these jobs are recurring and are crucial for the company's operation. Although administrators spend significant effort tuning system performance, some jobs inevitably experience slowdowns, i.e., their execution time degrades over previous runs. Currently, the investigation of such slowdowns is a labor-intensive and error-prone process, which costs Microsoft significant human and machine resources, and which negatively impacts several lines of business. In this work, we present Griffon, a system we built and have deployed in our production analytics clusters since last year to automatically discover the root cause of job slowdowns. Most existing solutions rely on labeled data (i.e., resolved incidents with labeled reasons for job slowdowns), which is in most practical scenarios non-existent or non-trivial to acquire. Others rely on time-series analysis of individual metrics that do not target specific jobs holistically. In contrast, in Griffon we cast the problem to a corresponding regression one that predicts the runtime of a job, and we show how the relative contributions of the features used to train our interpretable model can be exploited to rank the potential causes of job slowdowns. Evaluated over historical incidents, we show that Griffon discovers slowdown causes that are consistent with the ones validated by domain-expert engineers in a fraction of the time required by them.
Stress Intensity Factors for Layered Pressure Vessel Inner Layer Through Cracks

A difficulty encountered when performing Fitness-for- Service assessments for layered pressure vessels (LPVs) is the lack of stress intensity factor solution in literature that produce accurate results for inner layer longitudinal through cracks. Using surrogate solutions such as a through crack in a plate or cylinder produce results that can be overly conservative especially for longer cracks. This is largely due to the ability of a layered pressure vessel to redistribute hoop load to other layers, the restricted radial movement of the cracked layer, and the friction forces applied in the cracked region. To understand this problem, a parametric finite element model (FEM) generator was developed that is capable of producing layered pressure vessel models with inner layer through cracks. The results from the FEMs were used to create a dataset of inner layer through crack stress intensity factors (KI) for layered pressure vessels corresponding to variations of internal pressure, radius, layer thicknesses, friction factor, and crack length. The elastic modulus of the material also has an effect on KI but, for this dataset, the elastic modulus was fixed at the typical value for steel - 29,500 ksi (203 GPa). Finally, a non-dimensional model was developed and calibrated using the dataset. This allows KI to be calculated without the need of a FEM using a closed-form equation. The results of the closed-form solution were then compared to FEM results showing accuracy was generally within 10%.
Tracking myeloma tumor DNA in peripheral blood

Over the past years, the emergence of liquid biopsy technologies has dramatically expanded our ability to assess multiple myeloma without the need for invasive sampling. Interrogation of cell-free DNA from the peripheral blood recapitulates the mutational landscape at excellent concordance with matching bone marrow aspirates. It can quantify disease burden and identify previously undetected resistance mechanisms which may inform clinical management in real-time. The convenience of sample acquisition and storage provides strong procedural benefits over currently available testing. Further investigations will have to define the role of cell-free DNA as a diagnostic measure by determining clinically relevant tumor thresholds in comparison to existing routine parameters. This review presents an overview of currently available assays and discusses the clinical value, potential and limitations of cell-free DNA technologies for the assessment of this challenging disease.
Messung des räumlichen Abstands

Die von den Enden eines Korpers emittierten Signale werden beobachtet. Das ermoglicht einmal die raumliche Abstandsmessung im Ruhesystem des Beobachters und zum andern die raumliche Abstandsmessung im Ruhesystem des beobachteten Korpers. Wir zeigen, dass diese Messungen mit der Lorentz-FitzGerald-Korperkontraktion konsistent sind, wenn die Enden des Korpers im Ruhesystem des Beobachters gleichzeitig gemessen werden. Als dritten Fall untersuchen wir die Messung des Abstands der Korperenden fur den Fall, dass der Korper vom Ruhesystem des Beobachters aus beleuchtet wird.
Ototoxicity of amikacin on newborn infants

Objective To study the ototoxicity of routine dose amikacin in newborn infants and the relationship with amikacin blood concentration and to provide a possible rule for safely using amikacin in neonates. Methods Brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) was carried out to monitor auditory function in amikacin [10 mg/ (kg·d) × 7 days] treated group (26 cases) and control group (20 cases) of newborn infants before and after treatments. Blood amikacin concentrations were measured in amikacin treated group by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. Results BAEP monitoring showed abnormal in 3 cases (12%) in amikacin treated group, while no abnormal case was found in the control group at the 7 th day of the study course. The difference was not significant (P > 0.05) . Two abnormal cases recovered, and one missed during follow-up observation. If the missed case was still abnormal, the abnormality rates of amikacin treated group could be 4%. And there was still no statistical difference between two groups after follow-up ( P > 0.05) . Threshold V (THR V ) was (38 ± 8) dBnHL in amikacin treated group and (34 ± 11) dBnHL in control group after treatments. There was no statistical difference between them (P > 0.05) . THR V in amikacin treated group after treatment did not increase significantly comparing to the baseline (P > 0.05) . Three cases with abnormal BAEP presented prolonged peak latency I (PL I ) . After the treatment, PL I which reflects the peripheral function of the hearing conduction route was (1.60 ± 0.24) ms in amikacin treated group, which was significantly higher than that in control (1.48 ±0.12) ms and the baseline (1.53 ± 0.14) ms, respectively (P 0.05) . The amikacin peak concentration was (17 ± 3) mg/L in 10 cases at the 3 rd day and (16 ± 3) mg/L in 18 cases at the 7 th day of the treatment. Blood peak concentrations were all lower than 35 mg/L, and blood trough concentrations were all lower than 5 mg/L (0 ~1.51 mg/L) . Conclusion The intravenous administration of amikacin with a dosage of 10 mg/kg once a day may reach the efficient blood concentration in most term neonates, and the peak and the trough blood concentrations were within the safe range. The 7 day course of amikacin in the dose of 10 mg/kg once a day does not cause clinical ototoxicity in term neonates, but it may result. in reversible mild peripheral hearing dysfunction. It is necessary to monitor ototoxicity with BAEP when the treatment exceeds 7 days. Key words: Amikacin; Ear; Toxicology; Infant, newborn; Evoked potentials, auditory, brain stem; Blood
The Impact of Mental Health Resources on Police Officer Action

Concern over interactions between the police and public is more prevalent today than ever before. Specifically, the number of interactions between the police and individuals with mental health disorders (MHD) has increased as the resources from the mental health systems continue to decrease. To better understand these interactions, this paper focuses on police response to mental health calls for service (MHCFS), with specific attention to resources available for officers. Using factorial surveys, police responses from departments across the USA were analyzed using hierarchical linear mixed modeling. The results suggest the availability of mental health resources are significant predictors in the actions taken by police. Implications are clear, police require more mental health-related resources available to them at the scene.
Eliminating Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections in a Pediatric Cardiac ICU.

Objectives To eliminate catheter-associated urinary tract infections in a pediatric cardiac ICU. Design Quality improvement methodology. Setting Twenty-five bed cardiac ICU in a quaternary freestanding children's hospital. Patients All patients with an indwelling urinary catheter admitted to the cardiac ICU. Interventions Catheter-associated urinary tract infection was defined according to National Healthcare Safety Network criteria. Failure modes and effects analysis and Pareto charts were used to determine etiology of process failures. We implemented a team-based multi-interventional approach in 2012 using the Model for Improvement, which included as follows: 1) establish indications for inserting and/or maintaining bladder catheterization, 2) standardization of maintenance care for the indwelling urinary catheters, 3) protocol for management of the leaking urinary catheters, 4) incorporation of urinary catheter days and prompts for removal in daily rounds, and 5) review of all cases of prolonged indwelling urinary catheter use (> 3 d). Process control charts were used to evaluate change. Measurements and main results From 2011 to 2018, we showed an early and sustained improvement in catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention standards compliance from 44% to 96% (52% improvement). These interventions showed a reduction and then elimination of catheter-associated urinary tract infections from January 2012 to the present day, despite fluctuations in total indwelling urinary catheter days. Conclusions Utilization of quality improvement methodology allowed us to identify components of care that contributed to catheter-associated urinary tract infections. After addressing these issues, we noted a substantial reduction and then elimination of catheter-associated urinary tract infections in our pediatric cardiac ICU. Widely disseminating these interventions across multiple pediatric hospitals to determine the ability to achieve similar results are important next steps.
Nonreciprocal Acoustic Transmission using Lithium Niobate Parity-Time-Symmetric Resonators

Taking advantage of the piezoelectricity of lithium niobate, we achieve nonreciprocal transmission of 10 decibels for a 200-MHz surface acoustic wave using parity-time-symmetric resonators and demonstrate one-way circulation of acoustic waves.
GL-equivariant modules over polynomial rings in infinitely many variables

Consider the polynomial ring in countably infinitely many variables over a field of characteristic zero, together with its natural action of the infinite general linear group G. We study the algebraic and homological properties of finitely generated modules over this ring that are equipped with a compatible G-action. We define and prove finiteness properties for analogues of Hilbert series, systems of parameters, depth, local cohomology, Koszul duality, and regularity. We also show that this category is built out of a simpler, more combinatorial, quiver category which we describe explicitly. Our work is motivated by recent papers in the literature which study finiteness properties of infinite polynomial rings equipped with group actions. (For example, the paper by Church, Ellen- berg and Farb on the category of FI-modules, which is equivalent to our category.) Along the way, we see several connections with the character polynomials from the representation theory of the symmetric groups. Several examples are given to illustrate that the invariants we introduce are explicit and computable.
Positive genetic covariance between male sexual ornamentation and fertilizing capacity.

Summary Postcopulatory sexual selection results from variation in competitive fertilization success among males and comprises powerful evolutionary forces that operate after the onset of mating. 1 , 2 Theoretical advances in the field of sexual selection addressing the buildup and coevolutionary consequences of genetic coupling 3 , 4 , 5 motivate the hypothesis that indirect postcopulatory sexual selection may promote evolution of male secondary sexual traits—those traits traditionally ascribed to mate choice and male fighting. 6 , 7 A crucial prediction of this hypothesis is genetic covariance between trait expression and competitive fertilization success, which has been predicted to arise, for example, when traits subject to pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection are under positive correlational selection. 8 We imposed bidirectional artificial selection on male ornament (sex comb) size in Drosophila bipectinata and demonstrated increased competitive fertilization success as a correlated evolutionary response to increasing ornament size. Transcriptional analyses revealed that levels of specific seminal fluid proteins repeatedly shifted in response to this selection, suggesting that properties of the ejaculate, rather than the enlarged sex comb itself, contributed fertilizing capacity. We used ultraprecise laser surgery to reduce ornament size of high-line males and found that their fertilizing superiority persisted despite the size reduction, reinforcing the transcriptional results. The data support the existence of positive genetic covariance between a male secondary sexual trait and competitive fertilization success, and suggest the possibility that indirect postcopulatory sexual selection may, under certain conditions, magnify net selection on ornamental trait expression.
The Case for “Weird Social” in VR/XR: A Vision of Social Superpowers Beyond Meatspace

COVID underscores the potential of VR meeting tools to compensate for lack of embodied communication in applications like Zoom. But both research and commercial VR meeting environments typically seek to approximate physical meetings, instead of exploring new capacities of communication and coordination. We argue the most transformative features of VR (and XR more broadly) may look and feel very different from familiar social rituals of physical meetings. Embracing “weird” forms of sociality and embodiment, we incorporate inspiration from a range of sources including: (1) emerging rituals in commercial social VR, (2) existing research on social augmentation systems for meetings, (3) novel examples of embodied VR communication, and (4) a fictionalized vignette envisioning a future with aspects of “Weird Social XR” folded into everyday life. We call upon the research community to approach these speculative forms of alien sociality as opportunities to explore new kinds of social superpowers.
Maternal occupation as a nail technician or hairdresser during pregnancy and birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011.

Objective Nail technicians and hairdressers may be exposed to chemicals with potential reproductive effects. While studies have examined birth defects in children of hairdressers, those in children of nail technicians have not been evaluated. We investigated associations between selected birth defects and maternal occupation as a nail technician or hairdresser versus a non-cosmetology occupation during pregnancy. Methods We analysed population-based case–control data from the multisite National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997–2011. Cases were fetuses or infants with major structural birth defects; controls were live-born infants without major birth defects. Expert raters classified self-reported maternal jobs as nail technician, combination nail technician-hairdresser, hairdresser, other cosmetology work or non-cosmetology work. We used logistic regression to calculate adjusted ORs and 95% CIs for associations between occupation during pregnancy and birth defects, controlling for age, smoking, education and race/ethnicity. Results Sixty-one mothers worked as nail technicians, 196 as hairdressers, 39 as combination nail technician-hairdressers and 42 810 as non-cosmetologists. The strongest associations among nail technicians included seven congenital heart defect (CHD) groups (ORs ranging from 2.7 to 3.5) and neural tube defects (OR=2.6, CI=0.8 to 8.4). Birth defects most strongly associated with hairdressing included anotia/microtia (OR=2.1, CI=0.6 to 6.9) and cleft lip with cleft palate (OR=2.0, CI=1.1 to 3.7). All oral cleft groups were associated with combination nail technician-hairdresser work (ORs ranging from 4.2 to 5.3). Conclusions Small samples resulted in wide CIs. Still, results suggest associations between maternal nail technician work during pregnancy and CHDs and between hairdressing work and oral clefts.
Secretory diarrhea

Because diarrhea is a symptom and not a disease, the choice of therapies depends on the ability to determine a specific etiology or the necessity to resort to a nonspecific antidiarrheal approach. Attention to diet and lifestyle may provide clues to the etiology of diarrhea that can obviate complex work-ups and therapies. There are myriad tests to evaluate chronic diarrhea; perhaps the most frequently neglected is a timed collection of stool volume. Results from this test can help direct further work-up parsimoniously. Secretory diarrhea caused by neuroendocrine tumors is rare, but may respond well to specific therapies. Nonspecific therapies are very effective in controlling symptoms when no individual diagnosis is at hand. A judicious use of diagnostic options and therapies can lead to a successful outcome for most cases of chronic diarrhea.
Enhancing hydrophobicity and catalytic activity of nano-Sn-Beta for alcohol ring opening of epoxides through post-synthetic treatment with fluoride

Abstract Elucidation of synthesis-structure–reactivity relationships can help to enhance the catalytic performance of zeolites for a broad range of reactions. Considerable focus has been on examining structure–reactivity behavior of the catalytic site, but it has become increasingly evident that molecular interactions beyond the catalytic site in the outer sphere impact catalytic activity. The key challenge is to create synthetic methods that can create well-defined catalytic materials with control over catalytic sites and the catalytic reaction environment. After synthesizing nano-Sn-Beta using a hydrothermal method involving hydroxide ions that produce a hydrophilic material, these materials are treated with tetraethylammonium fluoride (TEAF) using mild conditions to produce a hydrophobic framework while maintaining the small particle size. The fluoride treated material is determined to be more active in the epoxide ring opening reaction than the as-synthesized nano-Sn-Beta (90% increase in TOF0), indicating that a hydrophobic framework is beneficial for the alcohol ring opening of epoxides. This is supported by site quantification experiments and an analysis of residual fluorine, which is found to have limited effect on activity. When accounting for the fraction of active sites, it is demonstrated for the methanol ring opening of epichlorohydrin that all hydrophobic materials are not diffusion limited under the reaction conditions and have the same turnover frequencies, which are higher than the turnover frequency of hydrophilic catalysts. Overall, this work reports a technique to improve the hydrophobicity of zeolite beta and demonstrates the importance of a hydrophobic reaction environment for the alcohol ring opening of epoxides.
Synthesis of Linear Ranking Functions

Deductive verification of progress properties relies on finding ranking functions to prove termination of program cycles. We present an algorithm to synthesize linear ranking functions that can establish such termination. Fundamental to our approach is the representation of systems of linear inequalities and sets of linear expressions as polyhedral cones. This representation allows us to reduce the search for linear ranking functions to the computation of polars, intersections and projections of polyhedral cones, problems which have well-known solutions.
The Wakarusa Wave: An Essay on Life, Law and Urban Kayaking

The Wakarusa River, a rather modest watercourse, emerges from confinement behind Clinton Dam, near Lawrence, Kansas, and flows dutifully eastward in a regularized, barren channel. Perhaps a half mile beyond the dam, the Wakarusa begins to reassert itself as a natural waterway; trees appear along the banks and the stream enters a shallow gorge. Midway down lies the Wakarusa Wave, described by some as "the best whitewater spot within 400 miles." At highwater, around 1000 c.f.s., there is a standing wave, a deep trough, and a high, foaming reflex wave, oscillating, and undulating in place over a bottom irregularity, which is, in fact, a somewhat anomalous limestone ledge, eight feet in height and spanning the width of the river. High water buries the ledge, descends in a green-glass curve, then races through the trough, and recurves upward into a wave which collapses backward onto itself. Lower water reveals the rock and turns the wave into a small waterfall. Kayaking on the Wakarusa Wave serves as the context and backdrop for this essay and reflections on sustainable communities, economic growth, expansion, and the balance between nature and modern growth societies.
A Comparison of Noise Handling Techniques

Imperfections in data can arise from many sources. The quality of the data is of prime concern to any task that involves data analysis. It is crucial that we have a good understanding of data imperfections and the effects of various noise handling techniques. We study here a number of noise handling approaches, namely, robust algorithms that are tolerant of some amount of noise in the data, filtering that eliminates the noisy instances from the input, and polishing which corrects the noisy instances rather than removing them. We evaluated the performance of these approaches experimentally. The results indicated that in addition to the traditional approach of avoiding overfitting, both filtering and polishing can be viable mechanisms for reducing the negative effects of noise. Polishing in particular showed significant improvement over the other two approaches in many cases, suggesting that even though noise correction adds considerable complexity to the task, it also recovers information not available with the other two approaches.
Data envelopment analysis (DEA) in massive data sets

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a clustering methodology for records in data sets corresponding to entities sharing a common list of attributes. Broadly defined, DEA partitions the records into two subsets; those 'efficient' and those 'inefficient.' An efficient record is one which lies on a specific portion of the boundary of a finitely generated polyhedral set in the dimension of the attribute space known as the 'frontier'; inefficient points are those located elsewhere. In traditional applications, DEA frontiers are nonparametric surrogates for unknown theoretical efficiency limits. More generally, however, frontiers are subsets of the boundary defined by extreme elements of the data set. This chapter deals with data envelopment analysis under this broader, more general, definition as it applies to large scale problems.
An Adaptive, Cartesian, Front-Tracking Method for the Motion, Deformation and Adhesion of Circulating Cells

Cells in circulatory systems adhere through a competition between molecular interactions and colloidal repulsion, while the cells arbitrarily deform in the presence of external fluid forces. The complex coupling of the forces involved, the disparate length scales at which they act, and uncertainties in the mechanics of cell deformation have complicated the study of cell adhesion. To address these difficulties, a multi-fluid, front-tracking method with staggered, adaptively refined meshes has been developed. As a tool to study cell mechanics, the program allows the incorporation and testing of different mechanical models of the cell without significant changes in the setup. As a tool to study cell adhesion, the method models the coupling of the relevant forces resolving the disparate length scales involved. The method was validated by simulating various test cases, and the results were found to agree well with analytical and other numerical solutions. The capabilities of the method are demonstrated with the simulation of a common cell-mechanics experiment (a micropipet assay) and a common physiological situation for cell adhesion (the adhesion of two cells under shear flow).
THE TRANSFER MAP AND FIBER BUNDLES

LETS: E + B be a fiber bundle whose fiber Fis a compact smooth manifold, whose structure group G is a compact Lie group acting smoothly on F, and whose base B is a finite complex. Let x denote the Euler characteristic of F. It is shown in [12] that there exists a “transfer” homomorphism Q: H*(E) + H*(B) with the property that the composite @* is multiplication by II. The main purpose of this paper is to construct an Smap T: B+ + E+ which induces the homomorphism Q (+ denoting disjoint union with a base point). We call r the transfer associated with the fiber bundle p: E + B. In the case of a finite covering space T agrees with the transfer defined by Roush [22] and by Kahn and Priddy [18]. The existence of the transfer imposes strong conditions on the projection map of a
Femtosecond degenerate four wave mixing studies of third order electronic nonlinearities in conjugated polymers

Abstract The technique of degenerate four wave mixing with femtosecond time resolution has been used to measure the magnitude and dynamical response of the third order susceptibility ( χ 3 ( ω )) of polydiacetylene (PDA-4BCMU), polyacetylene ((CH) x ), polydiethynylsilane (Si(Bu) 2 -PDES), polyaniline, polythiophene and its derivatives. We found that the value and transient response of χ 3 ( ω ) depends on the position of the excitation wavelength with respect to that of the absorption maximum of the polymer studied. The electronic χ 3 ( ω ) values for all of these polymers have been measured to be in the range 10 −10 − 10 −8 esu. The transient χ 3 ( ω ) response for non-resonant excitation is instantaneous (
12.2: Large Negative Dielectric Anisotropy and High-Birefringence Liquid Crystals

New laterally-fluorinated biphenyl tolane liquid crystals with a large negative dielectric anisotropy (Δn∼−8) and high birefringence (Δn∼0.34) are developed. By doping 15 wt% of such a compound to MLC-6608 (a negative Δɛ LC mixture), the overall figure-of-merit is doubled.
Jesness inventory and self-concept measures for delinquents before and after participation in Outward Bound.

The Jesness Inventory and 10 concept measures were administered to 60 male delinquents immediately before and after participation in an Outward Bound program. Significant changes were found on 6 Jesness Inventory Scales indicating more favorable social attitudes and evaluation of feelings. Significant improvements were also observed for the 3 concept measures “I am,” “I would like to be” and “Boys who don't get into trouble.” These results suggest that Outward Bound is a desirable short-term means of promoting positive change in the social attitude and self-concept of male delinquents.
Installation of Impact Plates to Continuously Measure Bed Load: Elwha River, Washington, USA

AbstractIn 2008 and 2009, a series of bed load impact plates was installed across a channel spanning weir on the Elwha River, Washington. This is the first permanent installation of its kind in North America and one of the largest anywhere. The purpose of this system is to measure coarse bed load during and after the removal of Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams. It is estimated that 21 million m3 of sediment have accumulated behind both dams, with 45–50% of the total accumulated volume expected to be eroded through natural processes. The impact plate system consists of 72 plates installed at a diversion weir downstream from both dams and 5 km upstream from the river mouth. Of the 72 plates, 46 are instrumented with a geophone and 26 with an accelerometer. Collection of physical bed-load data for calibration of the geophone plates has begun, with additional measurements to be collected in the future. This paper describes the specifics of the Elwha impact plate system and the ongoing process to collect bed-load...