cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A scientific realism perspective on scientific progress in marketing: An analysis of theory testing in marketing's major journals

Abstract Marketing's scientific progress depends on, among other things, the development and testing of theories that explain and predict marketing phenomena. Ultimately, theory testing should advance the discipline toward broader theories with greater explanatory and predictive power. Using the inductive-realist model (Hunt, 2012) as a framework for scientific progress, this study analyzes three decades of theory testing published in five major marketing journals. The study examines issues of the amount of theory testing, the extent to which theories are tested multiple times, and the disciplinary origins of the theories that are tested. The results show that marketing has been remarkably productive in the development and testing of theories; however, that progress is tempered by the relatively few theories that are tested multiple times.
Determination of Total Arsenic and Speciation in Apple Juice by Liquid Chromatography–Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry: An Experiment for the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory

A two-part laboratory experiment was designed for upper-level analytical chemistry students to provide hands-on experience in the use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for separation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for detection. In the first part of the experiment, the students analyze total arsenic in apple juice purchased from local grocery stores using direct injection ICP-MS. In the second part, different species of arsenic in the same apple juice samples are determined using HPLC–ICP-MS. Quantification is performed based on two methods, standard addition and external calibration curve, to demonstrate how sample matrix can affect the accuracy of the analysis. The experiments provide the opportunity to introduce and/or review several fundamental analytical chemistry concepts: chromatographic separations, mass spectrometry, inductively couple plasma, matrix effects, calibration methods, internal standard, and basic statistical tests. Undergraduate students enrol...
Content-based EEG database retrieval using a multiclass SVM classifier

CBER (content-based-EEG-retrieval) systems present short data segments as query samples for similar segments in EEG databases. These systems have many applications in large-scale data-mining, but require effective and verifiable retrieval strategies. This paper introduces a new feature strategy based on class probabilities calculated by LIBSVM classification using low-order autoregressive (AR) modeling of the original signal. This second-level feature strategy appears to be effective in capturing structural relationships among classes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach for three retrieval problems: retrieval of segments corresponding to the same task, the same task group, and the same subject. The new approach produces features of much lower dimension and better performance than AR features.
Pediatric Hearing Aid Management: Challenges Among Hispanic Families

Hearing aid fitting in infancy has become more common in the United States as a result of earlier identification of hearing loss. Consistency of hearing aid use is an area of concern for young children, as well as other hearing aid management challenges parents encounter that may contribute to less-than-optimal speech and language outcomes. Research that describes parent hearing aid management experiences of Spanish-speaking Hispanic families, or the extent of their needs, is not available. To effectively support parent learning, in a culturally sensitive manner, providers may benefit from having a better understanding of the needs and challenges Hispanic families experience with hearing aid management. The purpose of the current study was to describe challenges with hearing aid management and use for children from birth to 5 yr of age, as reported by Spanish-speaking parents in the United States, and factors that may influence hearing aid use. This study used a cross-sectional survey design. Forty-two Spanish-speaking parents of children up to 5 yr of age who had been fitted with hearing aids. Responses were obtained from surveys mailed to parents through early intervention programs and audiology clinics. Descriptive statistics were used to describe frequencies and variance in responses. Forty-seven percent of the parents reported the need for help from an interpreter during audiology appointments. Even though parents received information and were taught skills by their audiologist, many wanted to receive more information. For example, 59% wanted to know how to meet other parents of children who have hearing loss, although 88% had previously received this information; 56% wanted to know how to do basic hearing aid maintenance, although 71% had previously received instruction. The two most frequently reported hearing aid use challenges were fear of losing the hearing aids, and not seeing benefit from the hearing aids. Hearing aid use during all waking hours was reported by more parents (66%) when their child had a good day than when their child had a bad day (37%); during the previous two weeks, 35% of the parents indicated their child had all good days. Hispanic parents wanted more comprehensive information, concrete resources, and emotional support from the audiologist to overcome hearing aid management challenges. Understanding parents’ perspectives, experiences, and challenges is critical for audiologists to provide appropriate support in a culturally sensitive manner and to effectively address families’ needs.
The Spike-and-Slab LASSO

AbstractDespite the wide adoption of spike-and-slab methodology for Bayesian variable selection, its potential for penalized likelihood estimation has largely been overlooked. In this paper, we bridge this gap by cross-fertilizing these two paradigms with the Spike-and-Slab LASSO procedure for variable selection and parameter estimation in linear regression. We introduce a new class of self-adaptive penalty functions that arise from a fully Bayes spike-and-slab formulation, ultimately moving beyond the separable penalty framework. A virtue of these non-separable penalties is their ability to borrow strength across coordinates, adapt to ensemble sparsity information and exert multiplicity adjustment. The Spike-and-Slab LASSO procedure harvests efficient coordinate-wise implementations with a path-following scheme for dynamic posterior exploration. We show on simulated data that the fully Bayes penalty mimics oracle performance, providing a viable alternative to cross-validation. We develop theory for the s...
Methods for computational causal discovery in biomedicine

With the development of high throughput technology in the past twenty years, it has become easier and cheaper to simultaneously measure tens of thousands of molecules in biological systems. One of the major challenges is how to extract knowledge from these high dimensional datasets and infer the underlying mechanisms of the system. In this review, we discuss several topics related to causal discovery from biomedical data, including causal structural learning from observational and experimental data, estimation of causal effects, and using causal information for predictive modeling.
Reflections on the Future of Legal Services

The following reflections on the future of legal services were part of an online symposium on Prawfsblawg. The symposium focused on two books: Richard Susskind & Daniel Susskind, The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts and Gillian Hadfield, Rules for a Flat World: Why Humans Invented Law and How to Reinvent it for a Complex Global Economy. The reflections contain three parts. The first part describes the Susskinds’ prediction that technology will drive dramatic changes to the delivery of legal services and concludes that, although the Susskinds’ predictions are probably close to the mark, the changes may be more uneven than the Susskinds acknowledge. The second part discusses how law schools should respond to the rapidly evolving legal marketplace and suggests curricular changes that will put law school graduates in a better position to thrive in the 21st century. The final part discusses how the regulatory framework for legal services will need to evolve in light of the rapidly changing legal marketplace.
Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Preclinical Markers of Cardiovascular Risk in Toddlers

Objective To investigate relationships between secondhand smoke exposure in young children and several preclinical markers of cardiovascular risk that have been established as relevant to adult populations. Study design There were 139 children, 2-5 years of age, enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Secondhand smoke exposure was objectively determined by hair nicotine level; a comprehensive panel of clinical markers (morning blood pressure, fasting glucose and insulin, lipid profiles, inflammation) and research markers (markers of oxidation, endothelial stress, and endothelial repair) of cardiovascular risk status were assessed. Univariate and multivariate linear regression were used to evaluate relationships between secondhand smoke exposure and cardiovascular risk markers. Results Hair nicotine levels were correlated directly with blood pressure and serum C-reactive protein, and inversely correlated with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and endothelial cell progenitor cell prevalence. In multivariate analyses, these relationships remained when controlled for age, sex, body mass index z-score, maternal education, and method of payment. Additionally, in multivariate analyses, hair nicotine level was significantly negatively correlated with total antioxidant capacity. Conclusions These results support the view that secondhand smoke exposure in the very young has a detectable relationship with several markers of cardiovascular risk, long before the emergence of clinical disease. Further studies to define mechanisms and strategies to prevent and mitigate these risks early in life are warranted.
Isolation and Identification of Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. on Broiler Carcasses

We will practice isolating and identifying Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. on commercial chicken broiler carcasses by modified USDA methods. We will introduce the function of primary and secondary enrichment and practice growing Campylobacter in a microaerophilic environment. The presumptive colonies will be identified using Gram staining, latex agglutination test, and API 20e biochemistry test. In this chapter, it requires students to finish part of the work independently.
Cross-validating Gaussian process methods for hyperspectral data from tree crowns

We propose LOCO-CV-GP, a method for cross-validating Gaussian process (GP) methods in a leave-one-crown-out (LOCO) manner, when the GP method is applied on hyperspectral data from tree crowns. The fact that spectra within a crown are correlated [1] needs to be taken into consideration when working with airborne HS tree spectra. The experiments are conducted on OSBS2014 dataset to cross-validate OGP, a soft one-class classification method based on GP [2, 3]. Specifically, LOCO is justified by comparing LOCO-CV-GP to CV-GP where signals within a crown is split between cross-validation (CV) folds. Even though the proposed method was motivated by HS tree classification, it can be applied to any data where signal correlation happen within known partitions of the training signals.
The Adrenal Gland and Renal Cell Carcinoma: Is Ipsilateral Adrenalectomy a Necessary Component of Radical Nephrectomy?

AbstractThe ipsilateral adrenal gland may be involved by renal cell carcinoma through direct invasion or embolic metastases, and usually it is removed as part of the radical nephrectomy specimen. We reviewed retrospectively 44 patients with stage A and 8 patients with stage B renal cell carcinoma, 25 of whom had undergone ipsilateral adrenalectomy. The 5-year and 9-year survival of these 25 patients was 79 and 65 per cent, respectively, and was not statistically different from the 78 per cent 5-year and 9-year survival of those 27 patients who did not undergo ipsilateral adrenalectomy.These findings suggest that the ipsilateral adrenal gland need not be removed routinely as part of perifascial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. Those patients who are found to have a contralateral adrenal lesion during preoperative evaluation should be spared bilateral adrenalectomy if there is no ipsilateral adrenal gland involvement at exploration. Those patients with lower pole lesions also need not undergo routine i...
A Case of Chronic Liver Disease Due to Tolazamide

Abstract Although chlorpropamide and tolbutamide are well recognized as causes of hepatotoxicity, there are only 3 reported cases of hepatic injury caused by a third oral hypoglycemic agent, tolazamide. In 2 of these cases, the liver-function tests returned to normal when the drug was discontinued. In the third case, the patient had cholestasis from chJorpropamide before administration of tolazamide and developed chronic liver disease. We are reporting the second instance of chronic liver disease induced by tolazamide. Our patient had been taking chlorpropamide, but she had no evidence of liver disease before administration of tolazamide. Tolazamide should be considered as a drug capable of producing hepatotoxicity that on occasion may be chronic.
Correlation of FDG PET/CT heterogeneity with disease recurrence in early-stage, non-small cell lung cancer.

e20049Background: Preoperative identification of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients at risk for disease recurrence has proven unreliable using standard molecular imaging techniques. PET-de...
Nutritional epidemiology and cancer: A Tale of Two Cities

Recently, Ioannidis questioned whether nutritional epidemiology could be reconciled with good scientific principles, and suggested that the field needs radical reform. One of the reforms he advocated was more randomized trials; though what diet would be tested and how it would be measured were unspecified, how adherence would be monitored was unclear or unimportant, and the length of time vaguely stated as "lifelong". The other reform was reanalysis of shared data, which actually already exists in a large number of cohort consortia of individual pooled data. The 2018 report analysis of diet and cancer from the World Cancer Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research presents a sharply different picture of our knowledge of nutrition and cancer, which has evolved immensely in the past 3 decades. Based on current knowledge, factors related to energy balance, encompassed by body mass anthropometric measures might account for about 10-15% of the U.S. cancer burden. This 10-15% encompasses physical activity and obesogenic effects of diet. About 5% may be attributable to alcohol, and another 5% to specific dietary factors combined (e.g., red and processed meat, whole grains, fiber, calcium, fruits, and vegetables). Surrogates such as attained height and age at menarche are influenced by nutrition and are consistent risk factors for cancer, supporting the importance of early nutrition. Recent data suggest that early life dietary patterns, which may be modifiable, may be important. Though important questions remain, our understanding of nutrition and cancer over the life course is coherent and has been informed by nutritional epidemiology and other data.
600.06 Clinical and Hemodynamic Predictors of Subclinical Leaflet Thrombosis in Low-Risk Patients undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

The Low Risk TAVR trial was the first FDA-approved trial of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in low-surgical-risk patients in the United States. 14% developed hypoattenuated leaflet thrombosis (HALT) on 30-day computerized tomography (CT) scan. HALT likely represents subclinical leaflet
Verteporfin-Loaded Polymeric Microparticles for Intratumoral Treatment of Brain Cancer

Glioblastoma (GBMs) is the most common and aggressive type of primary brain tumor in adults with dismal prognosis despite radical surgical resection coupled with chemo- and radiotherapy. Recent studies have proposed the use of small-molecule inhibitors, including verteporfin (VP), to target oncogenic networks in cancers. Here we report efficient encapsulation of water-insoluble VP in poly(lactic- co-glycolic acid) microparticles (PLGA MP) of ∼1.5 μm in diameter that allows tunable, sustained release. Treatment with naked VP and released VP from PLGA MP decreased cell viability of patient-derived primary GBM cells in vitro by ∼70%. Moreover, naked VP treatment significantly increased radiosensitivity of GBM cells, thereby enhancing overall tumor cell killing ability by nearly 85%. Our in vivo study demonstrated that two intratumoral administrations of sustained slow-releasing VP-loaded PLGA MPs separated by two weeks significantly attenuated tumor growth by ∼67% in tumor volume in a subcutaneous patient-derived GBM xenograft model over 26 d. Additionally, our in vitro data indicate broader utility of VP for treatment for other solid cancers, including chordoma, malignant meningioma, and various noncentral nervous system-derived carcinomas. Collectively, our work suggests that the use of VP-loaded PLGA MP may be an effective local therapeutic strategy for a variety of solid cancers, including unresectable and orphan tumors, which may decrease tumor burden and ultimately improve patient prognosis.
Pediatric Hodgkin's disease. II. Results of therapy†

Between 1962 and 1972, 79 previously untreated children, aged 15 years and under, with biopsy-proven Hodgkin's disease were seen, evaluated, and treated at Stanford University Medical Center. The 5-year actuarial survival for all patients was 89%; relapse-free survival was 66%. No relapse was seen following aggressive treatment with irradiation and MOPP chemotherapy. In patients who were pathologically staged, no relapse was seen beyond 2 years. Patients with mixed cellularity subtype fared surprisingly well as compared to those with the nodular sclerosing subtype. An analysis of the types of treatment administered and complications of therapy suggests that the major difference between children and adults with Hodgkin's disease is the potential for longterm sequelae resulting from aggressive treatment. In an attempt to maximize the quality of survival, a proposal is made for low-dose radiation and planned MOPP chemotherapy.
Strategies to incorporate left atrial appendage occlusion into clinical practice.

The left atrial appendage (LAA) has been identified as a predominant source of thrombus formation leading to significant thromboembolic events in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Medical therapy to eliminate thrombus formation in the LAA has been the standard of care for several decades, but mechanical approaches designed to exclude the LAA from the circulation have recently been developed. The largest body of randomized and nonrandomized data to date has been for the Watchman device (Boston Scientific, Natick, Massachusetts), which was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for selected patients in the United States. There are no current guidelines or guidance for institutions and operators looking to become involved in this therapy. This perspective is aimed at exploring these issues and providing necessary information and guidance to these programs and operators to help ensure a successful launch of a LAA occlusion program and optimize patient selection, procedural performance, and outcome.
A Social Promotion Chatbot

We describe a chatbot performing advertising and social promotion (CASP) to assist in automation of managing friends and other social network contacts. This agent employs a domain-independent natural language relevance technique that filters web mining results to support a conversation with friends and other network members. This technique relies on learning parse trees and parse thickets (sets of parse trees) of paragraphs of text such as Facebook postings. To yield a web mining query from a sequence of previous postings by human agents discussing a topic, we develop a Lattice Querying algorithm which automatically adjusts the optimal level of query generality. We also propose an algorithm for CASP to make a translation into multiple languages plausible as well as a method to merge web mined textual chunks. We evaluate the relevance features, overall robustness and trust of CASP in a number of domains, acting on behalf of the author of this Chapter in his Facebook account in 2014–2016. Although some Facebook friends did not like CASP postings and even unfriended the host, overall social promotion results are positive as long as relevance, style and rhetorical appropriateness is properly maintained.
The effect of psychological distress on health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.

Distress effects are widely examined in cross-sectional studies with less known about effects on future health. This review summarizes distress impacts on health among adults in prospective studies...
Ultimate wave decomposition method for characterization of symmetric and asymmetric materials

To date, several approaches leveraging impedance tubes have been proposed to retrieve the complex acoustic reflection and transmission coefficient through the materials. In these approaches, commonly, accurate derivation of the reflection and transmission relies on the several assumptions such as material symmetry or the type of the terminations (load) used in the impedance tube. Herein, we have proposed an Ultimate wave decomposition approach (UWD) that may be employed for the precise derivation of the reflection and transmission coefficients, regardless of the termination type. Moreover, it is demonstrated that by employing the UWD method, utilizing single arbitrary termination, symmetric material, and two arbitrary terminations, asymmetric material can be fully characterized. The performance of the presented methodology has been compared experimentally with four different methods with respect to both symmetric and asymmetric cases, from which the superior performance of the UWD method is demonstrated. UWD represents a highly practical approach in which reflection and transmission and consequently acoustical properties of the material, can be precisely measured and calculated using a very simple procedure.To date, several approaches leveraging impedance tubes have been proposed to retrieve the complex acoustic reflection and transmission coefficient through the materials. In these approaches, commonly, accurate derivation of the reflection and transmission relies on the several assumptions such as material symmetry or the type of the terminations (load) used in the impedance tube. Herein, we have proposed an Ultimate wave decomposition approach (UWD) that may be employed for the precise derivation of the reflection and transmission coefficients, regardless of the termination type. Moreover, it is demonstrated that by employing the UWD method, utilizing single arbitrary termination, symmetric material, and two arbitrary terminations, asymmetric material can be fully characterized. The performance of the presented methodology has been compared experimentally with four different methods with respect to both symmetric and asymmetric cases, from which the superior performance of the UWD method is demonstrated. ...
Replication in Financial Economics

The existing replication policies at top finance journals are far weaker than the policies at top economics journals. This paper explores both the costs and benefits of having a stronger replication policy in the context of my failed 2010 initiative to develop a unified policy across all top finance journals. For example, the most obvious cost of a replication policy is the additional burden it imposes on authors in answering questions about both the code and data. Indeed, this cost is disproportionately placed on our most productive researchers – potentially leading to less innovation. On the other hand, having a strong policy would likely reduce research misconduct – in particular, soft misconduct such as p-hacking. I present a framework to mitigate the costs associated with replication and maximize the benefits.
Diabetes Is Associated With Worse Long-term Outcomes in Young Adults After Myocardial Infarction: The Partners YOUNG-MI Registry

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine the prevalence of diabetes and associated cardiovascular outcomes in a contemporary cohort of young individuals presenting with their first myocardial infarction (MI) at age ≤50 years. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We retrospectively analyzed records of patients presenting with a first type 1 MI at age ≤50 years from 2000 to 2016. Diabetes was defined as a hemoglobin A1c ≥6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or a documented diagnosis of or treatment for diabetes. Vital status was ascertained for all patients, and cause of death was adjudicated. RESULTS Among 2,097 young patients who had a type 1 MI (mean age 44.0 ± 5.1 years, 19.3% female, 73% white), diabetes was present in 416 (20%), of whom 172 (41%) were receiving insulin. Over a median follow-up of 11.2 years (interquartile range 7.3–14.2 years), diabetes was associated with a higher all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 2.30; P CONCLUSIONS Diabetes was present in 20% of patients who presented with their first MI at age ≤50 years and was associated with worse long-term all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. These findings highlight the need for implementing more aggressive therapies aimed at preventing future adverse cardiovascular events in this population.
Editorial: Promoting Quality Psychotherapy: It Is Not the Process but the Outcome That Matters!

The article published in this issue of the Journal by Bear et al.1 is the first to use meta-analytic procedures to try to understand the value of psychotherapy for pediatric anxiety and depression as usually delivered in the community. The authors scoured the literature for psychotherapy clinical trials that used treatment as usual as a control group or observational studies of treatment in mental health settings, then applied meta-analytic approaches to get a better idea of what treatment as usual outcomes were and by extension what to expect from psychotherapy as usually delivered. The study findings suggest that psychotherapy as practiced in the community even in high-quality settings does not provide consistently good outcomes. In this editorial, we will review the results of this study and discuss trends in psychotherapy research and practice that could improve the outcomes for patients and families.
The role of the AMPK energy sensing pathway in Pten-deletion induced liver carcinogenesis in vivo

4566 Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 5th most common cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. The disease progression for HCC is biphasic. The first stage consists of lipid accumulation in the liver, which progresses to the final stage characterized by tumor development. A number of studies have demonstrated a high correlation between PTEN loss and HCC development. PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten) is a negative regulator of the insulin signaling pathway. Hepatic insulin signaling plays a central role in glucose and lipid metabolism. The actions of insulin are mediated via cell surface receptors which in the presence of growth factor activate the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) pathway. PI3K generates phosphatidylinositol, second messengers which can activate a number of downstream targets including the serine/threonine kinase (AKT). AKT regulates a number of key metabolic proteins including the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and AMP-activated kinase (AMPK). The AMPK pathway is an evolutionarily conserved sensor of cellular energy status. Activation of this pathway (via phosphorylation by upstream kinase LKB1) promotes ATP production and attenuation of ATP consuming biosynthetic processes. To better understand the molecular interactions between the PTEN and AMPK energy signaling pathways we have crossed PtenloxP/loxP;Alb-Cre+ mice with Lkb1loxP/loxP mice to obtain PtenloxP/loxP ; Lkb1loxP/loxP ;Cre+ mice, which are deficient in both PTEN and LKB1. Liver specific Pten null animals exhibit bile duct hyperplasia and develop liver cancer of both cholangiocyte and hepatocyte origin by 12 months of age. Because Pten deletion is consequential to decreased activation of the AMPK pathway via the actions of AKT, we hypothesize that concomitant deletion of Pten and Lkb1 will lead to advanced tumorigenesis observed in Pten null mice alone. Mice which harbor liver specific deletions of both of Pten and Lkb1 demonstrate lethality at weaning age (21-30 days). Phenotypically, double mutant mice weigh roughly one third as much as wildtype cohorts. In addition systemic glucose levels exhibited by double mutant mice in the fed state are a third to half that observed in control littermates. Therefore, we hypothesize that concurrent deletion of Ptenand Lkb1 in the liver induces hypoglycemia. Due to the observed lethality of homozygous mice, Lkb1loxP/+;PtenloxP/loxP;Alb-Cre+ mice will be used to acertain that Pten deletion and a bypass of AMPK energy sensing pathway may act synergistically to regulate the progression of HCC.
Meal skipping and cognition along a spectrum of restrictive eating.

Abstract Objective Inadequate nutrition adversely impacts brain development and cognitive functioning (Pollitt et al., 1983). Studies examining the acute impact of eating regular meals on cognition have reported inconsistent findings, necessitating the exploration of individual differences in samples contributing to equivocal results. The present study examines the impact of skipping lunch on cognitive ability in college-aged students by including eating restraint as a moderator. Methods Participants were 99 college-aged students (M = 19.7 years, SD = 1.5) randomized to a blinded ‘lunch’ or ‘lunch-omission’ condition, and assessed on memory, attention, processing speed, set shifting, and eating disorder symptomology. Results Regressing long and short-term memory on the lunch manipulation, eating restraint scores, and their interaction revealed significant interactions: those who had lunch had superior memory performance, but only for those reporting lower levels of eating restraint. Regressing set shifting speed on the manipulation, those who had lunch had slower set shifting speed than those who skipped, but only for those reporting lower levels of eating restraint. Conclusions Results suggest that skipping lunch may have immediate consequences on cognition, however, cognitive enhancing effects may be diminished in the presence of even low levels of eating restraint. Findings highlight the significance of purported subclinical levels of eating restraint and may inform health education strategies.
Bemisia tabaci on Vegetables in the Southern United States: Incidence, Impact, and Management

Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is among the most economically important insect pests of various vegetable crops in the Southern United States. This insect is considered a complex of at least 40 morphologically indistinguishable cryptic species. Bemisia tabaci Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) was initially introduced in the United States around 1985 and has since rapidly spread across the Southern United States to Texas, Arizona, and California, where extreme field outbreaks have occurred on vegetable and other crops. This pest creates extensive plant damage through direct feeding on vegetables, secreting honeydew, causing plant physiological disorders, and vectoring plant viruses. The direct and indirect plant damage in vegetable crops has resulted in enormous economic losses in the Southern United States, especially in Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Effective management of B. tabaci on vegetables relies mainly on the utilization of chemical insecticides, particularly neonicotinoids. However, B. tabaci has developed considerable resistance to most insecticides. Therefore, alternative integrated pest management (IPM) strategies are required, such as cultural control by manipulation of production practices, resistant vegetable varieties, and biological control using a suite of natural enemies for the management of the pest.
“Where Does the Science Go?”: An Ethnographic Study of Chemistry PhD Students Learning Science Communication Genres

This chapter describes an ethnographic study of four women Chemists: three PhD students and one post-doc researcher, who participated in an ongoing series of extracurricular science communication writing workshops. As Tardy (Building genre knowledge. Parlor Press, 2009) argues, theories of genre learning should capture the interaction of individuals, tasks, and communities. With Tardy’s framework in mind, it investigates how participants learn to write new science communication genres while navigating their developing senses of themselves as chemists. Findings illuminate ways participants’ knowledge and identities as chemists interact with conventions of science communication genres, driving several resistant innovations in their writing (Tardy, Beyond convention: Genre innovation in academic writing. University of Michigan Press ELT, 2016). These innovations are important to participants’ senses of effective writing about chemistry, especially insofar as participants reflect on the ways that science communications genres are related to and diverge from other mainstay disciplinary genres.
Missingness Adapted Group Informed Clustered (MAGIC)-LASSO: A novel paradigm for prediction in data with widespread non-random missingness

The availability of large-scale biobanks linking rich phenotypes and biological measures are a powerful opportunity for scientific discovery. However, real-world collections frequently have extensive non-random missing data. Machine learning methods are able to predict missing data but performance is significantly impaired by block-wise missingness inherent to many biobanks. To address this, we developed Missingness Adapted Group-wise Informed Clustered LASSO (MAGIC-LASSO) which performs hierarchical clustering of variables based on missingness followed by sequential Group LASSO within clusters. Variables are pre-filtered for missingness and balance between training and target sets with final models built using stepwise inclusion of features ranked by completeness. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank (n>500k) to predict unmeasured Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT.) The phenotypic correlation between measured and predicted total score was 0.67 while genetic correlations between independent subjects was >0.86, demonstrating the method has significant accuracy and utility.
The prognostic significance of lymphovascular tumor invasion in localized high-grade osteosarcoma: Outcomes of a single institution over ten years.

e22013Background: Lymphovascular tumor invasion (LVI) has shown evidence of an association with worse survival in high-grade osteosarcoma. The purpose of this investigation was to prognosticate LVI...
Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior, and Policy Preferences

1. Introduction 2. Demographics 3. Core values 4. Identities 5. Transnationalism 6. Inter-Group relations 7. Civic engagement 8. Media 9. Political participation 10. Partisanship 11. Gender roles 12. Public policy 13. Education 14. Conclusion.
The significance of response shift in sinus surgery outcomes

Background Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) aims to improve quality-of-life (QOL). Perception of QOL can change according to one's current medical or emotional state. This is known as response shift. It can be measured by the “then-test,” which asks patients to report pretreatment symptoms after receiving treatment. Patients often do not understand their disease burden until their symptoms are improved. This study aims to assess the significance of response shift in FESS outcomes. Methods This was a prospective cohort study that included chronic rhinosinusitis patients from 2010 to 2012 who completed a preoperative 20-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-20). Two SNOT-20 forms were mailed approximately 6 months after surgery. Patients completed 1 SNOT-20 according to their preoperative symptoms in light of their current state of health (“then-test”) and the other based on postoperative symptoms. The preoperative and postoperative SNOT-20 difference represented the treatment effect and the preoperative SNOT-20 and then-test difference represented the response shift. Results Thirty-two completed responses were obtained. Using a 0 to 5 scale, mean treatment effect was −0.96 (p < 0.01), which signifies a QOL improvement. Mean response shift was +0.42 (p = 0.01). This positive value signifies that patients felt they were worse off preoperatively, likely due to a positive change in health status. The actual treatment effect is the sum of the measured treatment effect and response shift, which was −1.38. Conclusion Response shift exists and can be quantified. The actual treatment effect was more profound when response shift was included. Therefore, future studies should account for this often unmeasured, potential change in QOL.
Physical and Psychosocial Issues in Lung Cancer Survivors

Lung cancer emerged during the 20th century as an epidemic of enormous proportions.1 A rare disease at the beginning of the past century, lung cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers in the world, affecting 174,470 Americans (92,700 men and 81,770 women) in 2006.2 Mirroring changes in smoking patterns, the incidence of lung cancer among men continues to decline. Large-scale smoking among women occurred almost 20 years after men in the United States, with a subsequent delay in increased cases, peaking in the 1990s. Encouragingly, the most recent evidence demonstrates that lung cancer incidence among women is declining, as are death rates.3 In 2000, approximately 13% of men and 17% of women (age-adjusted, 15% overall) diagnosed with lung cancer were expected to survive at least 5 years (an estimated 26,065 Americans each year).2
Merger and Acquisitions as Adjustment Processes

The Tichy review needs to be placed in a broader conceptual framework. Declining transportation and communication costs have globalized markets. Technological changes including Internet developments have transformed industries and blurred industry boundaries. Such change forces have required adjustments by all firms. Mergers represent only one of the many strategies business firms have used. In adjusting to changing environments and competitive developments, firms changed the scope and mix of products and markets. Alliances, joint ventures, licensing, franchising, investments modify organization structures and business relationships. Divestitures, spin-offs, split-ups, rollups, consolidations, downsizing, and reorganizations alter the size, focus, growth rates, and vertical structures of firms. The efforts seeking to improve a firm's competitive position succeed or fail in various degrees. The many forms of industry and firm adjustment processes make structural-based antitrust guidelines bad policies.
Radical-Based Damage of Sulfur-Containing Amino Acid Residues

The reactions of biologically relevant free radicals with S- and Se-containing amino acids are reviewed with regard to amino acid reactivity, the nature of product radicals, and ensuing radical reactions. Emphasis is placed on the formation and reactions of thiyl and selenyl radicals as well as radical cations from sulfides and selenides. The reactions of thiols with carbon-centered radicals, superoxide, nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and tyrosyl radicals are covered as well as the reactions of thiyl radicals with oxygen. Reversible intra- and intermolecular hydrogen transfer reactions of thiyl radicals are discussed in view of recent experimental and theoretical data. One-electron oxidation reactions of sulfides are reviewed especially with regard to the stabilization of sulfide radical cations through heteroatom-containing substituents, which are present in peptides and proteins. The relevance of these radical reactions for protein oxidation under conditions of oxidative stress is discussed. Keywords: cysteine; selenocysteine; methionine; selenomethionine; glutathione; homocysteine; free radical; oxidation; reduction; hydrogen transfer; electron transfer; three-electron bond; radical cation; radical anion; sulfur; selenium
α-(5,6-Dimethylbenzimidazolyl)rhodibamide and Rhodibinamide, the Rhodium Analogues of Vitamin B12 and Cobinamide

Abstract Monocyano-α-(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolyl)rhodibamide, dicyano-α-(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolyl)rhodibamide, and dicyanorhodibinamide have been prepared by insertion of rhodium into the metal-free analogue of vitamin B12 using rhodium carbonyl chloride. The monocyano form of the rhodium analogue of vitamin B12 was also obtained by treatment of the corresponding dicyano form with silver nitrate. The new compounds are characterized by their spectral and electrophoretic properties and their biological activity. While dicyano-α-(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolyl)rhodibamide is biologically inactive, the corresponding monocyano form is active as antimetabolite to vitamin B12 in suppressing the growth of Lactobacillus leichmanii (ATCC 7830).
Family medicine residents' reactions to introducing a reflective exercise into training

Introduction: Teaching residents how to reflect and providing ongoing experience in reflection may aid their development into adaptable, life-long learning professionals. We introduced an ongoing reflective exercise into the curriculum of a family medicine residency program. Residents were provided 15 minutes, three times a week, to complete these reflective exercises. We termed these reflective exercises clinical blogs since they were entered into a web-based computer portfolio, though they were not publicly available. The aim of this study is to explore family medicine residents' responses to the introduction of an ongoing reflective exercise and examine strengths and challenges of the reflective process. Methods: We invited a cohort of family medicine residents (8 residents) who had all participated in the reflective exercises as part of their residency to participate in one of two offered focus groups to share their experience with the reflective exercise. An investigator not connected to the training program led each focus group using minimal structure in order to allow for the breadth of residents' experiences to be revealed. The focus groups were audio recorded, and the recordings were transcribed verbatim without identifying participants. We used a grounded theory approach, using open coding to analyze the focus group transcripts and to identify themes. Results: Four residents participated in each focus group. We identified four main themes regarding family medicine residents' responses of the reflective practice exercises: (1) Residents viewed blogging (reflecting) as a method of enhanced personal and professional self-development; (2) Despite the reflective exercises being valued as self-development, residents see an inherent conflict between self-development and professional duties; (3) Residents recognize their emotional responses, but writing about emotional issues is difficult for some residents; and (4) Clinical blogging in our residency has not reached its potential due to the way it was introduced. Discussion: The themes indicate that future efforts at integrating reflective practice should further test the methods through which regular reflective practices are introduced. Identified themes provide evidence for reflection as enhancing capacity for self-development and suggest the potential for clinical blogging as a method to build a cornerstone for the capacity for reflective practice in medicine.
Log Pearson type 3 quantile estimators with regional skew information and low outlier adjustments

[1] The recently developed expected moments algorithm (EMA) [Cohn et al., 1997] does as well as maximum likelihood estimations at estimating log-Pearson type 3 (LP3) flood quantiles using systematic and historical flood information. Needed extensions include use of a regional skewness estimator and its precision to be consistent with Bulletin 17B. Another issue addressed by Bulletin 17B is the treatment of low outliers. A Monte Carlo study compares the performance of Bulletin 17B using the entire sample with and without regional skew with estimators that use regional skew and censor low outliers, including an extended EMA estimator, the conditional probability adjustment (CPA) from Bulletin 17B, and an estimator that uses probability plot regression (PPR) to compute substitute values for low outliers. Estimators that neglect regional skew information do much worse than estimators that use an informative regional skewness estimator. For LP3 data the low outlier rejection procedure generally results in no loss of overall accuracy, and the differences between the MSEs of the estimators that used an informative regional skew are generally modest in the skewness range of real interest. Samples contaminated to model actual flood data demonstrate that estimators which give special treatment to low outliers significantly outperform estimators that make no such adjustment.
Organization’s Top Management and Other System Users’ Perceptions towards Data Quality Performance and Expectations

Across all levels in an organization, from CEO, executives, middle management to day-to-day operators, everyone relies on high quality information for decision making. This paper proposes frameworks for testing the alignment of organization’s top management and other system users’ perceptions towards and data quality for ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of data quality management. The frameworks not only have contributions to the theory but also have implications for organization’s top management and practitioners in the fields.
Hans Christian Andersen: A Poet in Time

Reviewed Medium: book Year: 1999 Pages: 576 Publisher: Odense University Press Prices: $45.00 US
Commissioning Data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) will provide a photometrically and astrometrically calibrated imaging survey of one-quarter of the sky in five bands to a depth of g ∼ 23 mag and a spectroscopic survey of the 106 brightest galaxies and 105 brightest quasars. This talk describes the operation of the survey, the data obtained over the year of commissioning, and some of the first science results from this data.
Modularity in locating wh-gaps

In this paper we report our finding that the parsing routine responsible for locating the deep-structure position of a wh-phrase operates independently of semantic/pragmatic knowledge, suggesting a modular organization of the human sentence processor. Specifically, wh-phrases that were semantically implausible as a direct object of the matrix verb were nonetheless reactivated in that position. Further, reactivation of the wh-phrase was observed despite the fact that the matrix verbs were three-place predicates (e.g.,remind) — a class of verbs which, some experiments suggest, allow interactive effects (e.g., Tanenhaus, Boland, Garnsey, & Carlson, 1989). We argue that this disparity in findings is due to the difference between the cross-modal lexical priming (CMLP) task used in the present study, and the tasks used by Tanenhaus et al.
Coherent Optical Spectroscopy Of Molecules And Molecular Beams

This paper presents our recent work on coherent optical spectroscopy of molecules and molecular beams. The theory for these nonlinear optical effects is summarized and related to the measurements in the gas phase and in the condensed phase. Finally, we discuss the importance of these methods, which disentangle the inhomogeneous optical resonances, in understanding nonradiative and optical dephasing processes.