cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Host Acceptance Behavior of Telenomus heliothidis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) toward Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The host acceptance behavior of Telenomus heliothidis Ashmead in the laboratory was investigated. Host acceptance was broken into seven discreet steps: host encounter, drumming, adoption of drilling posture, probing, drilling, oviposition, and marking. Drilling and oviposition accounted for 81% of the host acceptance time. Females interrupted up to 5 sec after initiation of oviposition redrummed the host and completed host acceptance. Females interrupted after initiation of oviposition deposited an egg and exhibited host marking behavior. The presence of an ovipositing female increased the drumming time of a second female which encountered the same host. The chemical mark of T. heliothidis was disregarded if a female was drumming a host when the mark was deposited by another female.
Numerical Simulation of Shock-Turbulence Interactions using High-Order Shock-Fitting Algorithms

High-order methods are critical for reliable numerical simulation of strong-shock and turbulence interaction problems. Such problems are not well understood due to limitations of numerical methods. Most widely used shock capturing methods for the numerical simulation of compressible flows are inherently dissipative, only first order accurate and may incur numerical oscillations near the shock waves. In our previous work [1, 2] we have shown that algorithms based on shock-fitting methodology can solve the flow with highorder accuracy near as well as away from the shocks without any numerical oscillations. In the current study, we extend the fifth order shock-fitting algorithm to carry out Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of interactions of shock waves with realistic isotropic turbulence. Incoming isotropic turbulence is developed in a temporal simulation of solenoidal fluctuations in a periodic box. Using Taylor’s hypothesis these fluctuations are prescribed upstream of the shock wave and the flow behind the shock wave is computed using the shock fitting algorithm. In this paper we investigate interactions of isotropic turbulence with normal shock waves of Mach numbers 1 2.0 10.0
Standardization and Stabilization of an Extract from Leptospira Biflexa and its Use in the Hemolytic Test for Leptospirosis

A previous report from this laboratory (Cox, 1955) described a hemolytic reaction (HL) which involved the ability of leptospiral extracts to sensitize sheep erythrocytes to hemolysis in the presence of leptospiral antiserum and complement. These extracts were similar in preparation to those previously described by Chang and McComb (1954), who described their use in a hemagglutination test. The HL procedure was shown to be broadly specific, in sharp contrast to the high degree of type specificity seen in the conventional agglutination test. In comparison with the HL procedure, the hemagglutination test of Chang and McComb (1954) was found to be broadly specific but considerably less sensitive, a finding subsequently confirmed by Chang, et al (1957). Although the HL reaction as first reported satisfied the demand for a serodiagnostic test which was broadly specific and safe in operation, the procedure for preparation of the HL extract was hazardous in that it was prepared from cultures of Leptospira pomona. Furthermore, the HL reaction as described in the first report was not simplified with respect to standardization of reagents for performance as a routine procedure. Subsequent studies in this labora-
Surface-Enhanced Vibrational Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory Study of Isoniazid Layers Adsorbed on Silver Nanostructures

A combination of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy (SEIRA), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to study the adsorption and thin film growth of isoniazid (an antimicrobial used to treat tuberculosis) on silver nanostructures (SNS). It is known that an isoniazid crystal takes on a C1 configuration where one of the hydrogens at the end of the hydrozyl group (−NH-NH2) form an intramolecular hydrogen bond with the only oxygen atom. DFT calculations involving combinations of isoniazid dimers, trimers, and tetramers are used to model and interpret the Raman spectrum of isoniazid powder. The DFT calculations highlight the importance of accurately modeling hydrogen-bonding interactions between adjacent hydrozyl groups as well as interactions involving the ring nitrogen and the hydrozyl group. SERS, SEIRA, and DFT calculations involving isoniazid dimers and four-metal silver clusters reveal that isoniazid takes on a T conformation in a monolaye...
Gas-Propelled Aerosols and Micronized Dusts for Control of Insects in Aircraft. 6. Insects of Medical Importance

In 2 types of exposure in truck trailers, micronized insecticidal dusts (2 g/1000 ft3) of chlorpylifos, fenitrothion, Mobam® (benzo[b]thien-4-yl-methylcarbamate), and propoxur were the most effective of the singletoxicant formulations against normal specimens of Blattella germanica (L.), Cimex lectularius L., Periplaneta Americana (L.), and Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild). The most effective multiple-toxicant formulations, at doses of 2 g/1000 ft3, contained chlorpyrifos, Gardona® (2-chloro-I-(2,4,5-trichlorophenyl)vinyl dimethylphosphate), propoxur, or resmethrin, and those con taining chlorpyrifos, Mobam, propoxur, or resmethrin were also effective against these species at doses of g/1000 ft3. When the more effective dust formulations in the truck trailers were tested in passenger aircraft, the distribution of the dust particles was not satisfactory, and the insects, representative of insects of medical importance that might be introduced via air transport, were not controlled; therefore, the present technique for application of micronized dusts in aircraft must be revised. The most effective insecticidal aerosols (30 or 10 g/1000 ft3) in the truck trailers were resmethrin and trans - (+)-allethrin; however, when these formulations were used at a rate of 10 g/1000 ft3 in aircraft, they were less effective. Aerosols of resmethrin had residual activity against the test species.
The Patient’s Voice in Pharmacovigilance: Pragmatic Approaches to Building a Patient-Centric Drug Safety Organization

Patient-centeredness has become an acknowledged hallmark of not only high-quality health care but also high-quality drug development. Biopharmaceutical companies are actively seeking to be more patient-centric in drug research and development by involving patients in identifying target disease conditions, participating in the design of, and recruitment for, clinical trials, and disseminating study results. Drug safety departments within the biopharmaceutical industry are at a similar inflection point. Rising rates of per capita prescription drug use underscore the importance of having robust pharmacovigilance systems in place to detect and assess adverse drug reactions (ADRs). At the same time, the practice of pharmacovigilance is being transformed by a host of recent regulatory guidances and related initiatives which emphasize the importance of the patient’s perspective in drug safety. Collectively, these initiatives impact the full range of activities that fall within the remit of pharmacovigilance, including ADR reporting, signal detection and evaluation, risk management, medication error assessment, benefit–risk assessment and risk communication. Examples include the fact that manufacturing authorization holders are now expected to monitor all digital sources under their control for potential reports of ADRs, and the emergence of new methods for collecting, analysing and reporting patient-generated ADR reports for signal detection and evaluation purposes. A drug safety department’s ability to transition successfully into a more patient-centric organization will depend on three defining attributes: (1) a patient-centered culture; (2) deployment of a framework to guide patient engagement activities; and (3) demonstrated proficiency in patient-centered competencies, including patient engagement, risk communication and patient preference assessment. Whether, and to what extent, drug safety departments embrace the new patient-centric imperative, and the methods and processes they implement to achieve this end effectively and efficiently, promise to become distinguishing factors in the highly competitive biopharmaceutical industry landscape.
Late Pleistocene mollusks from the southern Black Hills, South Dakota

Pleistocene-age mollusks recovered from the Nelson-Wittenberg Site and Mammoth Site provide information on paleoenvironments of the southern Black Hills, South Dakota. New mollusk records for the Mammoth Site include Vertigo modesta, Catinella sp., and Gyraulus parvus . The presence of V. modesta, Columella columella alticola , and Pupilla muscorum at the Nelson-Wittenberg Site suggests cooler than modern conditions in the Black Hills during the Pleistocene. Although the majority of identified taxa are consistent with previous interpretations of an arid, shrubsteppe environment for the Black Hills during the Wisconsin Glaciation, V. modesta and C. c. alticola suggest the presence of at least some isolated, local mesic areas.
In the Aura of the King: Trans-Asian, Trans-Regional, and Deccani Royal Symbolism

Shortly after the Battle of Taikota (1565) between Vijayanagara and the combined forces of the Deccan Sultanates an Ahmadnagar courtier wrote an illuminated masnavī (long poem) celebrating the victory and the bravery of his sultan. The unnoticed feature of the manuscript is that the symbols immediately surrounding the two opposing rulers are virtually identical, though one was Hindu and the other was Muslim. The article considers which symbols were Deccan-based, which India-based, and which were common across broad areas of Asia. Many of the most central symbols of kingship in the Deccan had very deep histories and broad usage. These include the parasol, sunshade, and kettledrums, whose use by kings stretched from China to North Africa and whose history reached back to ancient Mesopotamia. Similarly, the presentation of elegant honorific robes was typical of Central Asia, Persia, India, and China. Even the most distinctive feature of the Vijayanagara king and his troops, the folded conical cap, was not ‘...
Stat5 is critical for the development and maintenance of myeloproliferative neoplasm initiated by Nf1 deficiency

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia is a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by hyperactive RAS signaling. Neurofibromin1 (encoded by the NF1 gene) is a negative regulator of RAS activation. Patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 harbor loss-of-function mutations in NF1 and have a 200- to 500-fold increased risk of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. Leukemia cells from patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia display hypersensitivity to certain cytokines, such as granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. The granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor utilizes pre-associated JAK2 to initiate signals after ligand binding. JAK2 subsequently activates STAT5, among other downstream effectors. Although STAT5 is gaining recognition as an important mediator of growth factor signaling in myeloid leukemias, the contribution of STAT5 to the development of hyperactive RAS-initiated myeloproliferative disease has not been well described. In this study, we investigated the consequence of STAT5 attenuation via genetic and pharmacological approaches in Nf1-deficient murine models of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. We found that homozygous Stat5 deficiency extended the lifespan of Nf1-deficient mice and eliminated the development of myeloproliferative neoplasm associated with Nf1 gene loss. Likewise, we found that JAK inhibition with ruxolitinib attenuated myeloproliferative neoplasm in Nf1-deficient mice. Finally, we found that primary cells from a patient with KRAS-mutant juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia displayed reduced colony formation in response to JAK2 inhibition. Our findings establish a central role for STAT5 activation in the pathogenesis of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia and suggest that targeting this pathway may be of clinical utility in these patients.
Critical Behavior from Deep Dynamics: A Hidden Dimension in Natural Language.

We show that in many data sequences - from texts in different languages to melodies and genomes - the mutual information between two symbols decays roughly like a power law with the number of symbols in between the two. In contrast, we prove that Markov/hidden Markov processes generically exhibit exponential decay in their mutual information, which explains why natural languages are poorly approximated by Markov processes. We present a broad class of models that naturally reproduce this critical behavior. They all involve deep dynamics of a recursive nature, as can be approximately implemented by tree-like or recurrent deep neural networks. This model class captures the essence of probabilistic context-free grammars as well as recursive self-reproduction in physical phenomena such as turbulence and cosmological inflation. We derive an analytic formula for the asymptotic power law and elucidate our results in a statistical physics context: 1-dimensional "shallow" models (such as Markov models or regular grammars) will fail to model natural language, because they cannot exhibit criticality, whereas "deep" models with one or more "hidden" dimensions representing levels of abstraction or scale can potentially succeed.
Bioethics After the Death of God – Reflections on an Engelhardtian Theme

This essay explores ontological issues that lie at the foundations of bioethics. Throughout, I draw on H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.’s philosophical analysis to demonstrate why even in principle to talk about the possibility of a canonical morality to guide medical practice or to frame health care policy requires at least the equivalent of a God’s-eye perspective, not out of religious but out of epistemic considerations. I argue that one must invoke God, or at least a God’s-eye perspective, to preserve the unity and force of reality and morality. Since nothing in particular follows from general concepts of the right, the good, the just, or the virtuous without such a canonical perspective, morality and truth become plural. As a result, without God, or a God’s-eye perspective, to secure moral content, all claims to moral truth are demoralized, reduced to socially and historically conditioned judgments, culturally relative virtues, personal intuitions, and particular political ideological commitments. Moreover, there is no definitive reason to choose any one particular moral perspective from among the various competing moral theories or sets of moral intuitions to guide medical decision-making. As a consequence, I argue that rather than providing an authoritative bioethics to guide medicine and frame public policy, secular bioethicists routinely create their own idiosyncratic criteria for veracity, rationality, and reliability, as well as rationalizations for ideologically driven political advocacy.
A Simple and Effective Discretization of a Continuous Random Variable

A generally applicable discretization method is proposed to approximate a continuous distribution on a real line with a discrete one, supported by a finite set. The method adopts a criterion which is shown to be flexible in approximating higher order features of the underlying continuous distribution while automatically preserving mean and variance. To illustrate the effectiveness of the method, several examples covering a wide-range continuous distributions are analyzed. A computer implementation (using ) of the proposed procedure is provided.
Impostors-based real-time avatar behavior in virtual reality systems

Abstract: Real-time human-like avatar behavior in virtual environments makes important contributions to the realism of VR worlds. The existing human-like animation approaches demand intensive calculations and graphics rendering. Complex 3D avatar models are usually constructed with thousands of triangles, which slow down the rendering rate. In this paper, we present an impostors-based approach to achieve the real-time human-like avatar behavior in virtual environments. Theoretically, our method animates any human-like behavior in virtual worlds without creating a 3D avatar model. Experiments show that this approach consumes less time in both calculation and rendering, and thus leaves more CPU time and hardware resources to other tasks. It brings a substantial improvement to avatar behavior in VR worlds.
Abstract 325: miR-223 Negatively Regulate Ischemia/Reperfusion-induced Cardiac Necroptosis

It is well known that myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) causes myocyte apoptosis and necrosis. For many years, apoptosis was considered to be the only form of gene-regulated cell death, whereas necrosis was thought as a passive accidental cell death. Recent studies, however, clearly indicate that necrosis can be controlled by multiple genes, and RIPK1/3-regulated necrosis, called necroptosis, has gained well attention. We and others previously showed that miR-223, an anti-inflammatory miRNA, was greatly up-regulated in the infarcted heart. To test whether miR-223 regulates I/R-induced cardiac necroptosis, transgenic (TG) mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of miR-223 and miR-223 knockout (KO) mice were used and underwent global no-flow I/R (30min/1h). We observed that TG hearts displayed the better recovery of contractile function (+dP/dt: 92±4%), compared with wild-type (WT) hearts (65±3%). This improvement was accompanied with a 2.4-fold decrease in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a marker of necrosis, released from TG hearts, comparable to WTs. By contrast, KO-hearts showed the worse recovery of contractile function (+dP/dt: 41± 3%) than WTs (+dP/dt: 70±4%), and increased LDH release (3-fold). Notably, both TUNEL-staining and DNA fragmentation analysis for cardiac apoptosis showed no difference between groups. Western-blotting assays showed that protein levels of RIPK1, RIPK3 and MLKL, three known mediators in the necroptotic pathway, were reduced in TG hearts, whereas they were increased in KOs, compared to respective WT controls upon I/R. Furthermore, pre-injection of NEC-1s (1.65mg/kg), a specific inhibitor of necroptosis, into miR-223-KO mice, significantly improved cardiac function recovery during I/R, compared to saline-injected KOs. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the miR-223-mediated cardiac necroptosis, we performed a series of experiments (bioinformatics, luciferase report assay, and western-blotting). Our results showed that miR-223 negatively regulated the expression of TNFR1 and death receptor 6 (DR6), two activators of the necroptotic pathway. Put together, this study indicates that miR-223 could control I/R-induced cardiac necroptosis via targeting the DR6/TNFR1-RIP1/3-MLKL pathway.
Protein Domain Mimics as Modulators of Protein-Protein Interactions.

ConspectusProtein–protein interactions (PPIs) are ubiquitous in biological systems and often misregulated in disease. As such, specific PPI modulators are desirable to unravel complex PPI pathways and expand the number of druggable targets available for therapeutic intervention. However, the large size and relative flatness of PPI interfaces make them challenging molecular targets. This Account describes our systematic approach using secondary and tertiary protein domain mimics (PDMs) to specifically modulate PPIs.Our strategy focuses on mimicry of regular secondary and tertiary structure elements from one of the PPI partners to inspire rational PDM design. We have compiled three databases (HIPPDB, SIPPDB, and DIPPDB) of secondary and tertiary structures at PPI interfaces to guide our designs and better understand the energetics of PPI secondary and tertiary structures. Our efforts have focused on three of the most common secondary and tertiary structures: α-helices, β-strands, and helix dimers (e.g., coi...
Skill Requirements in Big Data: A Content Analysis of Job Advertisements

The technology behind big data, although still in its nascent stages, is inspiring many companies to hire data scientists and explore the potential of big data to support strategic initiatives, inc...
Introduction: Challenges for Agroforestry in the New Millennium

Agroforestry systems (AFS) are becoming increasingly relevant due to their multiple roles and services: biodiversity conservation, adaptation and mitigation of climate change, restoration of degraded ecosystems, and tools for rural development. This chapter summarizes advances in agroforestry research and practice and raises questions as to the effectiveness of AFS to solve the development and environmental challenges the world presents us today. The initial emphasis of the research in AFS was on showing how AFS could be a viable productive alternative, focusing on AFS design, multipurpose tree species and their functions and products, and financial evaluations. Later, responding to increasing environmental and rural development issues worldwide, research turned to the challenges of alleviating poverty and improving food security. In the last decade emphasis has been on the role that AFS can play in adaptation to climate change, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through fixation of atmospheric carbon. Currently AFS are expected to achieve a compromise among productive and environmental functions. Apparently, AFS can play a significant role in rural development even in the most challenging socioeconomic and ecological conditions. Considerable funding is spent on projects to enhance productivity and sustainability of smallholders agroforestry. These projects and programs face many questions and challenges related to the integration of traditional knowledge to promote the most suitable systems for each situation; access to markets for AFS products, and scaling up of successful AFS. This book gathers fresh and novel contributions to provide alternative and sometimes departing insights into these pressing questions.
Massive shelf dense water flow influences plankton community structure and particle transport over long distance

Dense waters (DW) formation in shelf areas and their cascading off the shelf break play a major role in ventilating deep waters, thus potentially affecting ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycles. However, whether DW flow across shelves may affect the composition and structure of plankton communities down to the seafloor and the particles transport over long distances has not been fully investigated. Following the 2012 north Adriatic Sea cold outbreak, DW masses were intercepted at ca. 460 km south the area of origin and compared to resident ones in term of plankton biomass partitioning (pico to micro size) and phytoplankton species composition. Results indicated a relatively higher contribution of heterotrophs in DW than in deep resident water masses, probably as result of DW-mediated advection of fresh organic matter available to consumers. DWs showed unusual high abundances of Skeletonema sp., a diatom that bloomed in the north Adriatic during DW formation. The Lagrangian numerical model set up on this diatom confirmed that DW flow could be an important mechanism for plankton/particles export to deep waters. We conclude that the predicted climate-induced variability in DW formation events could have the potential to affect the ecosystem functioning of the deeper part of the Mediterranean basin, even at significant distance from generation sites.
Localized-adjoint-finite-element-method for sub-grid stabilization of convection-dominated transport on a triangular mesh

The advection-diffusion equation is notoriously difficult to solve for higher Peclet number when using standard Galerkin methods. Strong oscillations occur in regions of higher gradient. In order to improve the Galerkin solution two successful stabilized methods have been considered in the last decade, which are the Streamline Upwinding Petrov Galerkin method and the residual-free bubbles method. Moreover Herrera, in the context of his algebraic theory for boundary methods, has shown that optimal schemes can be derived by using optimal test functions satisfying a local adjoint boundary value problem. In this paper we apply Herrera's approach to consider unstructured triangular meshes. In order make the residual error vanish locally at each element an adjoint integro-differential boundary-value problem has been derived and solved under the hypothesis of dominant advection by the methods of successive approximations and multiple-scale perturbation. We have applied the proposed approach to the linear and quadratic elements, thereby showing that the stabilized quadratic Galerkin elements perform better than the stabilized linear Galerkin elements. Comparison with other stabilization methods is also illustrated.
Paralleled Hardware Annealing for Optimal Solutions

Optimization is an important subject in solving scientific and engineering problems. One conventional searching technique for finding the global minimum is to use gradient descent, which finds the direction for the next iteration from the gradient of the objective function. For complicated problems, the gradient descent technique often gets stuck at a local minimum where the objective function has surrounding barriers. In addition, the complexity of most combinatorial optimization problems increases dramatically with the problem size and makes it very difficult to obtain the globally optimal solution in a reasonably computational time. Complicated optimization problems could also be solved by using branch-and-bound searching method [1], or by relaxing some constraints and solving the simplified problems [2]. Several attractive methods have been reported to help the solutions of the optimization problems to escape from local minima [3 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Simulated annealing is one of the popular approaches which is widely applicable to the combinatorial optimization problems [3, 4]. Simulated annealing is a generalization of iterative improvement methods in that it accepts, with a non-zero but gradually decreasing probability, deterioration in the cost function of an optimization problem. A solution from simulated annealing is close to the global minimum within a polynomial upper bound for the computational time and is independent of the initial condition. Mean field annealing is a deterministic approximation to simulated annealing [7]. It analytically approximates the relevant Boltzmann distribution and can execute at 50 times faster than simulated annealing for some problems. The quality of the solutions produced by mean field annealing is highly dependent on the choice of the initial temperature, the cooling speed and the final temperature. So far, simulated annealing has been successfully reported in layout generation of VLSI circuits [11, 12], test pattern generation [13], integrated-circuit delay reduction [14], image segmentation [15] and noise filtering in image processing [16].
Effects of a brief interpersonal conflict cognitive reappraisal intervention on improvements in access to emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms in college students

Objective: Research has demonstrated relative success with brief interventions that utilize social psychological theory to target the root cause of unwanted behaviours. Given the intersections amon...
Functional Imaging in the Assessment of Normal Tissue Injury Following Radiotherapy

Functional imaging after radiotherapy is an increasingly powerful tool to assess tumor response to treatment. Functional imaging may also provide an opportunity for surveillance not only for tumor recurrence but also for treatment-related toxicity. Persistently elevated glucose avidity in normal tissues seen on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET scans after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer is associated with increased toxicity and decreased quality of life. Increased FDG avidity in normal lung after radiotherapy can also help predict which patients will subsequently develop radiation pneumonitis. These findings may also provide insight into the metabolic alterations that are associated with radiotherapy-induced toxicity. More options for functional imaging are being developed, for example, 18F-fluorothymidine and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. As these agents are used for tumor surveillance, exciting possibilities will also be created for monitoring, predicting, and understanding normal tissue toxicity.
Regulation and Technology-Driven Entry: Measurement and Micro-Evidence

We use industry spending on "regulation-related tasks" to measure each industry's regulation intensity. Applying this measure to manufacturing industries, we find that increased regulation intensity is associated with higher production cost and lower growth at incumbents, but increased entry. We develop a model in which entrants face lower costs than incumbents in adopting new production technologies. Regulation raises the operating cost of current technology more than new technologies and thereby encourages entry. Using establishment-level data, we find supporting evidence that when industry regulation is more intense, entrants use more advanced technologies, spend less on regulation, and survive longer, as compared to incumbents.
Chemical tracking of northern pike migrations: If we restore access to breeding habitat, will they come?

Landscape alterations can obstruct movement corridors and degrade spawning habitats for migratory fishes, requiring expensive restoration efforts. To assess use of natural and artificial waterways for spawning migrations, we monitored adult migrations and young-of-year production of northern pike (Esox lucius) for two years in six adjacent tributaries of southern Green Bay on Lake Michigan, USA. Field observations were compared with natal origins of young-of-year and adults inferred from otolith microchemistry. Individual tributaries varied widely in their production of young-of-year pike. Microchemical differences were apparent only among tributaries whose watersheds differ in land use, and adult pike showed no evidence of homing even to the same tributary land use class where they were born. Though otolith microchemistry suggests a lack of fidelity to natal streams, carbon stable isotope ratios of adult pike showed a latitudinal gradient across tributaries, suggesting that adult pike do not mix freely outside of the breeding season. Both field observations and microchemical tracing suggest that pike can potentially recolonize historical or newly-created breeding habitats after restoration efforts make them accessible.
A Qualitative Exploration of Women's Interest in Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Therapy Across Six Cities in the Women's Interagency HIV Study: Intersections with Current and Past Injectable Medication and Substance Use

Medications for antiretroviral therapy (ART) and preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are currently daily pill regimens, which pose barriers to long-term adherence. Long-acting injectable (LAI) modalitie...
A matched cohort study of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19.

Introduction COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a public health crisis. Prior studies demonstrated successful use of convalescent plasma therapy for treatment of other viral illnesses. Our primary objective was to evaluate treatment efficacy of convalescent plasma in patients with COVID-19. Materials and methods In this retrospective matched cohort study, we enrolled recipients of convalescent plasma collected from donors recovered from laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection under the single patient eIND process. We individually matched 35 cases with 61 controls based on age, gender, supplemental oxygen requirements, and C-reactive protein level at the time of hospital admission. We compared the outcomes of in-hospital mortality and hospital length of stay between the groups. Results In-hospital mortality was 20% among the cases and 24.6% among the controls (P = .61). A multivariable logistic regression model that included age, gender, duration of symptoms, need for mechanical ventilation, and pharmacologic interventions revealed no significant difference in mortality by study group (P = .71). The median length of stay was significantly greater among convalescent plasma recipients compared with controls, 10 (IQR, 6-17) vs 7 (IQR, 4-11) days, P .1). Conclusions We did not find convalescent plasma reduced in-hospital mortality in our sample, nor did it reduce length of stay. Further investigation is warranted to determine the efficacy of this treatment in patients with COVID-19, particularly early in the disease process.
Asymptotic expansions of Stekloff eigenvalues for perturbations of inhomogeneous media

Eigenvalues arising in scattering theory have been envisioned as a potential source of target signatures in nondestructive testing of materials, whereby perturbations of the eigenvalues computed for a penetrable medium would be used to infer changes in its constitutive parameters relative to some reference values. We consider a recently introduced modification of the class of Stekloff eigenvalues, in which the inclusion of a smoothing operator guarantees that infinitely many eigenvalues exist under minimal assumptions on the medium, and we derive precise formulas that quantify the perturbation of a simple eigenvalue in terms of the coefficients of a perturbed inhomogeneous medium. These formulas rely on the theory of nonlinear eigenvalue approximation and regularity results for elliptic boundary-value problems with heterogeneous coefficients, the latter of which is shown to have a strong influence on the sensitivity of the eigenvalues corresponding to an anisotropic medium. A simple numerical example in two dimensions is used to verify the estimates and suggest future directions of study.
Artificial intelligence applied to musculoskeletal oncology: a systematic review

Developments in artificial intelligence have the potential to improve the care of patients with musculoskeletal tumors. We performed a systematic review of the published scientific literature to identify the current state of the art of artificial intelligence applied to musculoskeletal oncology, including both primary and metastatic tumors, and across the radiology, nuclear medicine, pathology, clinical research, and molecular biology literature. Through this search, we identified 252 primary research articles, of which 58 used deep learning and 194 used other machine learning techniques. Articles involving deep learning have mostly involved bone scintigraphy, histopathology, and radiologic imaging. Articles involving other machine learning techniques have mostly involved transcriptomic analyses, radiomics, and clinical outcome prediction models using medical records. These articles predominantly present proof-of-concept work, other than the automated bone scan index for bone metastasis quantification, which has translated to clinical workflows in some regions. We systematically review and discuss this literature, highlight opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration, and identify potentially clinically useful topics with a relative paucity of research attention. Musculoskeletal oncology is an inherently multidisciplinary field, and future research will need to integrate and synthesize noisy siloed data from across clinical, imaging, and molecular datasets. Building the data infrastructure for collaboration will help to accelerate progress towards making artificial intelligence truly useful in musculoskeletal oncology.
Problems: Natural Frequencies of Electrical Circuits

In this chapter, the basic and advanced problems concerned with the determination of natural frequencies of the electrical circuits are presented. The problems of this chapter include calculating the zero and nonzero natural frequencies of a circuit, determining the zeros and poles of the network function (transfer function) of a circuit, and identifying the damping status of a circuit. In this chapter, the problems are categorized in different levels based on their difficulty levels (easy, normal, and hard) and calculation amounts (small, normal, and large). Additionally, the problems are ordered from the easiest problem with the smallest computations to the most difficult problems with the largest calculations.
Thinking with theory in college student success research: investigating the influence of theoretical leanings in analyzing data

Using Jackson and Mazzei’s thinking with theory, this paper centers the stories of three researchers who practiced critical self-reflection while engaging in secondary analysis of data from The Ped...
Sulfur Fertilizer Application to Corn and Soybean

Historically sulfur (S) application has not been recommended on Iowa soils for corn and soybean production. The soil supply or combination from sources such as manure or precipitation has met crop S needs. However, soil S levels or supply will become depleted with prolonged crop removal, sulfate leaching, low precipitation deposition, and declining soil organic matter. The objective of this study was to determine the responsiveness of corn and soybean to S application (first year and residual second year) and S fertilizer material at multiple sites across Iowa soils and climatic conditions.
Children’s Rights

“Children’s rights” is one of the hot button phrases of our times. Operating as an ideological Rorschach, the notion of rights for children divides people along deep cultural and religious as well as political fissures. From the Right, influenced by the hierarchical model of the patriarchal family, religious fundamentalists and conservatives attack the idea as destructive of parental authority and corrosive of traditional family values.1 From the Left, radically egalitarian thinkers agitate in favor of children’s liberation from adult control, as part of the unfinished business of raising all oppressed minorities to full and equal citizenship.2 Most Americans sit uncomfortably on the fence, admiring the libertarian ring of the phrase “children’s rights” but wondering what such an idea might mean in practice.
A finiteness theorem for harmonic maps into Hilbert Grassmannians

In this article we demonstrate that every harmonic map from a closed Riemannian manifold into a Hilbert Grassmannian has image contained within a finite-dimensional Grassmannian.
Ovarian vein pressure studies.

Abstract In this study, 165 ovarian vein pressure observations were performed on 31 patients at the operating table prior to pelvic surgery. The mean average for the group with patients in the horizontal position was 14.62 cm. of water pressure. When this figure was compared to the normal range for peripheral venous pressure, it was found to fall in the higher level of normal. When the pressure carried in the right ovarian vein was compared to that carried in the left ovarian vein, no significant statistical difference was observed. This evidence does not confirm the opinion of anatomists that excessively dilated veins frequently found on the left in both sexes are caused by left gonadal hyperpressure. These ovarian vein pressure studies demonstrated a sharp response to hydrostatic changes. There was practically no evidence suggesting the presence of efficient valves in the ovarian venous system. These features strongly suggest that the pressure carried by the ovarian vein must be supported by the strength of the vein wall itself. Furthermore, from studies done by others, the impression is gained that ovarian vein pressure is directly transmitted to the veins of the endometrium. Studies done with patients placed in the 20 degree modified Trendelenburg position indicated that this position caused distress in some patients. The concern expressed by anesthetists when patients are placed in this position is objectively subtantiated by these observations. In this study there was no evidence that ovarian vein pressure was increased during pregnancy.
Body mass index trajectory throughout adolescence: a comparison of maltreated adolescents by maltreatment type to a community sample.

Summary Background Childhood maltreatment is associated with adult obesity, but there is conflicting evidence regarding the relationship between childhood maltreatment and obesity during adolescence. Objectives To compare the body mass index (BMI) trajectory of adolescents with a specific type of maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse or neglect) to adolescents with another type of maltreatment (maltreated sample n = 303) and to a comparison group (n = 151). Methods Individual growth models were used to estimate average growth trajectories of BMI percentile separately by sex (ages 9 to 22 years). Unconditional and conditional linear and quadratic growth models were estimated and maltreatment types were added before including covariates (ethnicity, anxiety, depression and pubertal stage). Results BMI growth trajectories of sexually abused girls and neglected girls were significantly different from comparison girls. Comparison girls had a growth trajectory that reached its apex at 15 years and then began to decline, whereas sexually abused girls and neglected girls had lower BMI than comparison girls until age 16–17 years when their BMI was higher than comparison girls. Conclusions Late adolescence appears to be the developmental period during which differences in BMI percentiles become pronounced between girls with sexual abuse or with neglect vs. comparison girls.
Lint-Cleaning Efficiency at Gins and Its Significance:

Cleaning efficiencies for two stages of saw-cylinder lint cleaning with full-scale commercial equipment were examined. It was shown from a 66-bale study that an average cleaning efficiency of about...
Left-Ventricular Noncompaction in a Pediatric Population: Predictors of Survival

Left-ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is an echocardiographic finding of increasing frequency in pediatrics; however, predictors of outcomes have been difficult to identify. We conducted a retrospective review of pediatric patients at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York from January of 1993 to September of 2009 to identify predictors of the primary outcome of death or heart transplantation. LVNC was identified in 50 patients, 34 of them < 1 year of age. Death or transplantation occurred in 26 patients, with a median survival of 1.17 years after presentation. Patients surviving 1 year after presentation had 75% conditional survival, and patients surviving 2 years after presentation had 92% conditional survival. Hemodynamic instability, poor ventricular function, and LV dilatation were each independent predictors of poor outcome. Of the 21 patients who presented with hemodynamic instability, 17 died or underwent transplantation at a median of 0.08 years after presentation. In conclusion, LVNC is recognized more in younger patients; however, age is not a predictor of outcome. Patients who present with hemodynamic instability and poor ventricular function have decreased transplant-free survival, and most poor outcomes occur within the first year after presentation. Therefore, early listing for transplant may lead to better outcomes in this population.
Precompound decay in heavy-ion reactions

The Boltzmann master equation approach of Harp, Miller, and Berne has been modified to treat the coalescence and equilibration sequence which might be expected in heavy-ion reactions. Assumptions made to accomplish these ends are discussed. Results are presented for sample reactions $^{109}\mathrm{Ag}(^{40}\mathrm{Ar},X)$ at 240 and 320 MeV projectile energy, and $^{197}\mathrm{Au}(^{16}\mathrm{O},X)$ at 214 and 320 MeV. For the latter case, theoretical proton spectra (angle integrated) are compared with experimental yields measured by Symons et al. Very good agreement was found for the shapes of the calculated and experimental precompound spectra. Types of experimental data necessary to rigorously test this model approach are discussed.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Precompound model for heavy-ion reactions, Boltzmann master equation approach for coalescence plus equilibration phases. Predict $\frac{d\ensuremath{\sigma}}{d\ensuremath{\epsilon}}$ for $n$ and $p$ emission for $^{197}\mathrm{Au}(^{16}\mathrm{O},X)$ and $^{109}\mathrm{Ag}(^{40}\mathrm{Ar},X)$ reactions each at two bombarding energies.
Cascaded slice to volume registration for moving fetal FMRI

Motion correction of MRI sequences is a very active area of research. Several postprocessing techniques for volume correction and more recently slice correction have been proposed. Slice motion correction of fMRI data typically involves iterative registration of slices to a target volume. The target volume is usually reconstructed at each iteration using current slice motion estimates, with all possible views of the subject. However, in the presence of large movements, the quality of the reconstruction can be greatly degraded without a good initialization, and this can in turn greatly affect the accuracy and precision of the slice registration. This paper introduces a cascaded motion correction pipeline that uses subsets of data to generate coherent volumes for initial target volume based slice registration in fMRI. The pipeline incorporates distortion correction, frame motion estimation and two levels of slice to volume registration. The proposed method has been tested on moving adult and fetal fMRI data.
On the support of the Tharsis Rise on Mars

Abstract The most significant long-wavelength geoid and topographic anomalies on Mars are associated with the Tharsis Rise [Smith et al., Science 286 (1999) 94–97; Smith et al., Science 284 (1999) 1495–1503]. However, the origin of the elevated geoid and topography in the Tharsis region remains unresolved between two competing models. In the first model the Tharsis Rise is dynamically supported by a thermal plume in the mantle [Kiefer and Hager, LPI Tech. Rep. 89-04 (1989) 48–50; Harder and Christensen, Nature 380 (1996) 507–509; Breuer et al., J. Geophys. Res. 101 (1996) 7531–7542], while the second model attributes the Tharsis anomalies to volcanic construction and its associated lithospheric flexural effects [Turcotte et al., J. Geophys. Res. 86 (1981) 3951–3959; Phillips et al., Science 291 (2001) 2587–2591]. Here we resolve this ambiguity by modeling the ratio of gravity and topography at long wavelengths with a new loading formulation that simultaneously considers plume buoyancy and surface loads. We demonstrate that a thermal plume contributes no more than 15% to the geoid and 25% to the topography for the Tharsis Rise for the range of lithospheric thicknesses that are constrained by observations. This indicates that the Tharsis Rise is best explained by volcanic construction on lithosphere.
Calcaneus secundarius: Description and frequency in six skeletal samples

The calcaneus secundarius (CS) is a small accessory ossicle of the anterior calcaneal facet. A sample of 1,367 calcanei including early 20th century U.S. blacks and whites, XIIth Dynasty Egyptians, Islamic Period Bahrainis, and protohistoric American Indians from two states were examined to determine the frequency of this nonmetric trait. Statistical testing of the correlation of the trait with sex could only be performed on the blacks and whites, a documented cadaver collection. Tests of chi 2 indicated that, although sex differences were insignificant, significant group (not necessarily racial or geographical) differences existed at the .05 level. There was no correlation of side dominance in the overall sample, although significant population differences existed. The trait frequencies of the black and white samples were more similar to one another than to the nonindustrial groups who, in turn, were more similar to each other than to the Terry sample. The findings suggest that a CS is of genetic or congenital origin resulting in a secondary center of ossification in the anterior calcaneal facet.