cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Progressive Aerodynamic Model Identification From Dynamic Water Tunnel Test of the F-16XL Aircraft

Development of a general aerodynamic model that is adequate for predicting the forces and moments in the nonlinear and unsteady portions of the flight envelope has not been accomplished to a satisfactory degree. Predicting aerodynamic response during arbitrary motion of an aircraft over the complete flight envelope requires further development of the mathematical model and the associated methods for ground-based testing in order to allow identification of the model. In this study, a general nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic model is presented, followed by a summary of a linear modeling methodology that includes test and identification methods, and then a progressive series of steps suggesting a roadmap to develop a general nonlinear methodology that defines modeling, testing, and identification methods. Initial steps of the general methodology were applied to static and oscillatory test data to identify rolling-moment coefficient. Static measurements uncovered complicated dependencies of the aerodynamic coefficient on angle of attack and sideslip in the stall region making it difficult to find a simple analytical expression for the measurement data. In order to assess the effect of sideslip on the damping and unsteady terms, oscillatory tests in roll were conducted at different values of an initial offset in sideslip. Candidate runs for analyses were selected where higher order harmonics were required for the model and where in-phase and out-of-phase components varied with frequency. From these results it was found that only data in the angle-of-attack range of 35 degrees to 37.5 degrees met these requirements. From the limited results it was observed that the identified models fit the data well and both the damping-in-roll and the unsteady term gain are decreasing with increasing sideslip and motion amplitude. Limited similarity between parameter values in the nonlinear model and the linear model suggest that identifiability of parameters in both terms may be a problem. However, the proposed methodology can still be used with careful experiment design and carefully selected values of angle of attack, sideslip, amplitude, and frequency of the oscillatory data.
Childhood sexual abuse moderates the association between sexual functioning and sexual distress in women

Abstract Objective To assess the degree to which a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) moderates the association between sexual functioning and sexual distress in women. Method Women with ( n = 105, M age = 33.71, 66.1% Caucasian) and without ( n = 71, M age = 32.63, 74.7% Caucasian) a history of CSA taking part in a larger clinical trial completed self-report questionnaires at intake including the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women (SSS-W), the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and the Trauma History Questionnaire (THQ). Results Desire, arousal, lubrication, and orgasm interacted with sexual abuse status in predicting sexual distress such that sexual functioning was more weakly associated with distress for women with a history of CSA. This disconnect was more pronounced for women who were abused by a family member. Conclusion CSA status serves as an important moderator of the association between sexual functioning and sexual distress in women. Specifically, women with a history of CSA show higher levels of distress in the context of good sexual functioning as compared to women without a history of CSA. Possible explanations and clinical implications are discussed.
Large niche differences emerge at the recruitment stage to stabilize grassland coexistence

Niche differences and average fitness differences jointly determine coexistence. However, little empirical information about the magnitude of these two mechanisms is available. Using multispecies population models fit to long-term demographic data for common, co-occurring species in five grassland and shrubland plant communities in western North America, we estimated the strength of stabilizing niche differences and average fitness differences. In all five communities, both pairwise and full community comparisons showed evidence for strong stabilizing mechanisms and relatively small average fitness differences. For a total of 17 species pairs, a measure of niche differences based on simulations of invasion growth rates ranged from 0.59 to 0.93 with a mean of 0.81, where 0 indicates complete niche overlap and 1 indicates zero niche overlap. A corresponding measure of average fitness differences ranged from 1.02 to 2.54 with a mean of 1.53, where 1 indicates identical fitness and a value of 2 indicates a fo...
Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus: Description of Persistence in Individual Pigs upon Experimental Infection†

We studied the persistence of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in individual experimentally infected pigs, during a period of up to 150 days postinfection (dpi). The results of this study suggest that the persistence of PRRSV involves continuous viral replication but that it is not a true steady-state persistent infection. The virus eventually clears the body and seems to do it in most of the animals by 150 dpi or shortly thereafter. High genetic stability was seen for several regions of the persistent PRRSV's genome, although some consistent mutations in the genes of envelope glycoproteins and M protein were also observed.
HapScope: a software system for automated and visual analysis of functionally annotated haplotypes

We have developed a software analysis package, HapScope, which includes a comprehensive analysis pipeline and a sophisticated visualization tool for analyzing functionally annotated haplotypes. The HapScope analysis pipeline supports: (i) computational haplotype construction with an expectation-maximization or Bayesian statistical algorithm; (ii) SNP classification by protein coding change, homology to model organisms or putative regulatory regions; and (iii) minimum SNP subset selection by either a Brute Force Algorithm or a Greedy Partition Algorithm. The HapScope viewer displays genomic structure with haplotype information in an integrated environment, providing eight alternative views for assessing genetic and functional correlation. It has a user-friendly interface for: (i) haplotype block visualization; (ii) SNP subset selection; (iii) haplotype consolidation with subset SNP markers; (iv) incorporation of both experimentally determined haplotypes and computational results; and (v) data export for additional analysis. Comparison of haplotypes constructed by the statistical algorithms with those determined experimentally shows variation in haplotype prediction accuracies in genomic regions with different levels of nucleotide diversity. We have applied HapScope in analyzing haplotypes for candidate genes and genomic regions with extensive SNP and genotype data. We envision that the systematic approach of integrating functional genomic analysis with population haplotypes, supported by HapScope, will greatly facilitate current genetic disease research.
Shelf-stability enhancement of precooked red claw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) tails by modified CO2/O2/N2 gas packaging

Abstract Three types of packaging systems were compared for their influence on the storage stability (2 °C) of precooked and peeled red claw crayfish tails. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP; with 80%CO2/10%O2/10%N2) almost totally inhibited the growth of aerobic bacteria and coliforms when compared with aerobic polyvinylchloride packaging (PVCP) and vacuum packaging (VP). MAP also prevented a pH rise, purge loss, and texture toughening or softening of stored red claw when compared with PVCP or VP (P
Real-Time Multiple-Objective Path Search for In-Vehicle Route Guidance Systems

The application of multiple-objective route choice for in-vehicle route guidance systems is discussed. A bi-objective path search algorithm is presented and its use demonstrated. A concept of trip quality is introduced that is composed of two objectives: minimizing travel time and minimizing trip complexity. Trade-offs between the objectives are examined. The concept is illustrated through simulation modeling on a test network. The experiments serve to demonstrate the effects on the trip performance of pretrip routing and dynamic routing strategies under full market penetration (an idealized condition) and under varying levels of demand and trade-offs between time and complexity.
Biochemical characterization of the adhesion-related differentiation antigen XT-1

SUMMARY The XT-1-molecule, an adhesion-related differentiation antigen of male mouse germ cells, is a 34000 Mr glycoprotein with major charge isomer at pi 5-1 and is an integral component of the cell membrane. On large late pachytene spermatocyte, the molecule is present at a concentration of 2-5xlO 3 molecules jum~ 2 , which approximates HLA/ABC concentration on lymphocytes. By comparing the reactivity of four anti-XT-1 monoclonal antibodies, three of which elicit germ cell-germ cell adhesion, we have defined two distinct surface regions of the XT-1-molecule. The relationship of the XT-1-molecule with other known adhesion-related molecules and testicular antigens is discussed.
Nanoceria Particles As Catalytic Amplifiers for Alkaline Phosphatase Assays

We propose a novel system to enhance detection sensitivity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in electrochemical assays by using nanoceria particles as redox active catalytic amplifiers of ALP signals. The catalytic activity of nanoceria particles attributed to their dual oxidation state Ce4+/Ce3+ and high oxygen mobility enabled oxidation of the products of the ALP-catalyzed reaction. A suite of spectroscopic and electrochemical methods, including UV–vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were used to characterize the interaction of nanoceria with the ALP-generated products. Spectrometric experiments demonstrate change in the oxidation state of nanoceria upon exposure to the hydrolytic products of ALP. Three enzymatically generated products of commonly used ALP substrates were detected at a screen printing electrode surface in the presence of nanoceria. Electrochemical experiments demonstrate signal amplification of the ALP activit...
5 Psychosocial and Behavioral Dimensions of Physical Frailty

Findings from a decade of research on physical frailty in diverse elderly populations are summarized and integrated. While much of the literature focuses on the physical and functional consequences of chronic and acute illness, we emphasize the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of physical frailty. The underlying assumption of our approach is that the psychological representation of illness and disability, as well as the social contexts in which they occur, are important determinants of their impact on patients and family members. We focus on both patients and their primary support persons and on the comparative analysis of different disabling conditions. A patient and family caregiver impact model is used to summarize major findings of our research program and to make recommendations for intervention research.
Batteries: Discharging the right product

The chemistry of the discharge products of metal–oxygen batteries is related to the battery's efficiency but knowledge of their formation mechanism is incomplete. Now, the initial discharge product in sodium–oxygen batteries is shown to be sodium superoxide, which undergoes dissolution and then transforms to sodium peroxide dihydrate.
Optimal Triangle Guidance for Aerial Defense

This paper applies optimal control to in the aerial defense problem. Triangle guidance uses a novel geometric approach for missile-to-missile intercept to defend an aircraft. The geometric approach from triangle guidance is used in the framework of optimal control. A triangle is drawn using the three vehicles at vertices. When this triangle is collapsed the defending missile will be directly between the aircraft and the target missile. If this condition is kept the defending missile will intercept the target. A correction factor is derived from including the derivative of the exterior angle in the final state constraint in the optimal control derivation. Simulation results are shown and the effectiveness of the guidance law is demonstrated.
A comparison of fixation by formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde-formaldehyde for combined light and electron microscopy of axonal degeneration in the mammillary body.

Mammillary body (Mb) cell structures were compared following four different procedures for fixation, in order to find one procedure which would be suitable both for silver impregnation methods and electron microscopy. Fixatives compared were: (1) formaldehyde (4% pH 5.5), Mb from a frozen-section; (2) formaldehyde (4% pH 7.2.), Mb from a frozen-section; (3) glutaraldehyde-formaldehyde (1%-4% pH 6.0), Mb from a frozen-section; and (4) glutaraldehyde-formaldehyde (3%-2% pH 7.2), unfrozen Mb. All solutions were perfused into the left ventricle of the heart of anesthetized rats, except for the animal from which the unfrozen tissue was obtained. The Mb was excised from the fresh brain and immediately placed in a fixative solution. After aldehyde fixation, the tissues were further fixed in 1% OsO4 (pH 7.4), dehydrated, embedded in Epon-Araldite and double-stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. Comparisons of mitochondria, myelin, synapses, neurofilaments and synaptic membranes indicated that the perfusio...
Imaging cellular heterogeneity in cancer (Conference Presentation)

This Conference Presentation was recorded at SPIE Photonics West 2016 held in San Francisco, California, United States.
Microbiota-Regulated IL-25 Increases Eosinophil Number to Provide Protection during Clostridium difficile Infection

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common cause of hospital-acquired infection in the United States. Host susceptibility and the severity of infection are influenced by disruption of the microbiota and the immune response. However, how the microbiota regulate immune responses to mediate CDI outcome remains unclear. Here, we have investigated the role of the microbiota-linked cytokine IL-25 during infection. Intestinal IL-25 was suppressed during CDI in humans and mice. Restoration of IL-25 reduced CDI-associated mortality and tissue pathology even though equivalent levels of C. difficile bacteria and toxin remained in the gut. IL-25 protection was mediated by gut eosinophils, as demonstrated by an increase in intestinal eosinophils and a loss of IL-25 protection upon eosinophil depletion. These findings support a mechanism whereby the induction of IL-25-mediated eosinophilia can reduce host mortality during active CDI. This work may provide targets for future development of microbial or immune-based therapies.
Specific Cleavage at Lys-147/Gly-148 in the Serine Protease Domain of Human Factor IXaβ by Plasmin: Effect on Catalytic Efficiency and Factor Villa Binding

Hemophilia B is an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder that is caused by the absence or deficiency of Factor IX protein. Human blood clotting factor IX circulates in blood as a single chain protein of 415 amino acids. Upon activation (by factor XIa/Ca2+ or TF/VIIa/Ca2+), two peptide bonds in factor IX are cleaved with resultant formation of a serine protease, Factor IXaβ, and release of an activation peptide [1]. Factor IXaβ is composed of a light chain consisting of residues 1–145 and a heavy chain consisting of residues 181–415 of native Factor IX, that are held together by a single disulfide bond [2,3]. The light chain of Factor IXaβ consists of an amino-terminal gamma-carboxy-glutamic acid (Gla) rich domain (residues 1–40), a short hydrophobic segment (residues 41–46), and two epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domains (EGF1 residues 47–84 and EGF2 residues 85–127). The heavy chain contains the serine protease domain, which features the catalytic triad residues, namely, H221 (chymotryspin equivalent = 57), D269 (chymotrypsin equivalent = 102) and S365 (chymotrypsin equivalent = 195) [3] (see Figure 1).
Authentic Inquiry Research

Researching our practice is an opportunity to learn. Unlike positivistic-type research that is done to prove or disprove a hypothesis, authentic inquiry is about learning, changing, developing, and implementing practices that contribute to learning and teaching of the researcher and all others involved.
A new method for positron-emitting radionuclide cross-calibration of PET/CT scanners and dose calibrators from a NIST traceable Ge-68 source.

1738 Objectives Current NIST traceable Ge-68 dose calibrator sources are linked to dated NIST F-18 measurements, introducing ~4% bias in F-18 dose calibrator measurements. This situation results in discordant PET/CT measurements of Ga-68, F-18, and other positron-emitters. This study validates a PET/CT scanner calibration method based upon Ga-68 measurements, traceable to the NIST Ge-68 standard, rather than F-18. Methods After calibrating the dose calibrator with a NIST traceable Ge-68 syringe source, a cross-calibration of the PET scanner was performed using a phantom with known Ga-68 activity. Once the PET scanner was calibrated for Ga-68, a uniform aqueous phantom was filled with F-18 (activity measured using the standard gain recommended by the dose calibrator vendor). Upon PET imaging and reconstruction, a volume of interest from the phantom PET image was analyzed for its scanner derived mean concentration, and compared to the dose calibrator-based concentration. The resulting bias was then used to back-correct the dose calibrator gain setting for F-18, accordingly. Finally, the gain settings for other common positron-emitting radionuclides without prompt gammas, (C-11, N-13, and O-15) were adjusted relative to F-18 activities according to their positron emission branching ratios. Results The observed 4% discrepancy between the quantitative measurements of PET derived concentrations from uniform phantom images using different positron-emitting radionuclides due to inaccuracies from the conventional cross-calibration method was successfully reduced to ~1% by using the quantitative measurement capabilities of the PET scanner to generate proper radionuclide-specific gain settings for the dose calibrator. Conclusions Until new NIST traceable sources integrate the newer and more accurate F-18 measurements for dose calibrator calibration, the proposed method promises better accuracy and consistency for a range of positron-emitting radionuclides.
Intellectual Humility and Empathy by Analogy

Empathy can be terribly important when we talk to people who are different from ourselves. And it can be terribly important that we talk to people who are different precisely about those things that make us different. If we’re to have productive conversations across differences, then, it seems we must develop empathy with people who are deeply different. But, as Laurie Paul and others point out, it can be impossible to imagine oneself as someone who is deeply different than oneself—something that plausible definitions of empathy seem to require. How then, can these terribly important conversations take place? I argue that philosophical and psychological work on intellectual humility can show us a way to empathize and have these conversations even when we can’t imagine ourselves as the other.
A disorder-based strategy for tunable, broadband wave attenuation

One of the most daunting limitations of phononic crystals and acoustic/elastic metamaterials is their passivity: a given configuration is bound to display its phononic properties only around its design point, i.e., working at some pre-determined operating conditions. In the past decade, this shortcoming has inspired the design of phononic media with tunable wave characteristics; noteworthy results have been obtained through a family of methodologies involving shunted piezoelectric elements. Shunting a piezoelectric element means connecting it to a passive electric circuit; tunability stems from the ability to modify the effective mechanical properties of the piezoelectric medium by modifying the circuit characteristics. One of the most popular shunting circuits is the resistor-inductor, which allows the patch-and-shunt system to behave as an electromechanical resonator. A common motif among the works employing shunted piezos for phononic control is periodicity: the patches are typically periodically placed in the domain and the circuits are identically tuned. The objective of this work is to demonstrate that the wave attenuation performance of structures with shunted piezoelectric patches can be improved by leveraging notions of organized disorder. Based on the idea of rainbow trapping broadband wave attenuation obtained by tuning an array of resonators at distinct neighboring frequencies we design and test an electromechanical waveguide structure capable of attenuating waves over broad frequency ranges. In order to emphasize the fact that periodicity is not a binding requirement when working with RL shunts (which induce locally resonant bandgaps), we report on the performance of random arrangements of patches. In an attempt to demonstrate the tunability attribute of our strategy, we take advantage of the reconfigurability of the circuits to show how a single waveguide can attenuate both waves and vibrations over different frequency ranges.
Bringing Modular Concurrency Control to the Next Level

This paper presents Tebaldi, a distributed key-value store that explores new ways to harness the performance opportunity of combining different specialized concurrency control mechanisms (CCs) within the same database. Tebaldi partitions conflicts at a fine granularity and matches them to specialized CCs within a hierarchical framework that is modular, extensible, and able to support a wide variety of concurrency control techniques, from single-version to multiversion and from lock-based to timestamp-based. When running the TPC-C benchmark, Tebaldi yields more than 20× the throughput of the basic two-phase locking protocol, and over 3.7× the throughput of Callas, a recent system that, like Tebaldi, aims to combine different CCs.
What Makes CSR Communication Lead to CSR Participation? Testing the Mediating Effects of CSR Associations, CSR Credibility, and Organization–Public Relationships

This study examines consumers’ uses of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication channels, the relationship of such uses to consumers’ CSR awareness, and the mechanisms through which consumers’ CSR awareness can lead to their intention to participate in CSR activities. Specifically, we explored the mediation effects of consumers’ CSR associations with a company, consumers’ assessment of the company’s CSR credibility, and consumers’ perceptions of their relationship with the company, applying the conceptual frameworks of the uses and gratification theory, source credibility theory, and organization–public relationship (OPR) scholarship. We conducted an online survey of a company’s customers (N = 394), and the results showed that their level of awareness of the company’s CSR activities was positively related to the degree of use of all communication channels through which they received CSR messages, except CSR reports. The degree of the customers’ awareness of the company’s CSR programs, however, did not always correspond to the customers’ intention to participate in the programs: a crucial condition mediating between the customers’ knowledge of CSR programs and their intention to participate in the programs was their associating the company with CSR. The CSR associations influenced CSR credibility and perceived OPR quality, which, in turn, led to CSR participation intention. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Machiavelli: A Socratic?

ABSTRACTErica Benner and Leo Strauss have recently challenged the reigning consensus that, having concentrated on politics, Machiavelli was not a philosopher. Readers did not always consider Machiavelli's work to be unphilosophical; and whether a commentator considers Machiavelli to be a “philosopher” depends on his or her understanding of what a philosopher is. Neither Benner nor Strauss takes the activities and studies of professors of philosophy in universities today to be definitive. Instead, they look to an older tradition both describe as “Socratic.” Benner rests her argument primarily on Machiavelli's references to Xenophon, Plato, and Plutarch. Unfortunately, Machiavelli's references to the works of Xenophon and Plato do not include those that feature Socrates. Strauss points out the similarities between Socrates and Machiavelli's emphasis on the political and their appeal to the young, but he concludes that, although Machiavelli is a “political philosopher,” his use of philosophy to serve the des...
Instructional Design for Training Programs

This paper examined the need for instructional design as the fundamental paradigm for training programs. The situation is that there has been a substantial increase in the number of training programs throughout the world. The contention here is that the increase in the number of training programs has created a need for designs that systematically generate effective instruction that is student centered. The premise is that instructional design is a complex process that requires more than writing objectives, publishing training manuals, and placing lesson plans online. Instructional design is an applied product development process, which exists to respond to needs that are identified in spaces dedicated to intentional learning. Further, a high-quality training program is achieved through the application of the several core principles of instructional design, such as being student centered, responsive, generative, complex, collaborative, and practical. Each of the core principles of instructional design will be presented in this session.
In vitro selection for tolerance to S-(2-aminoethyl)-l-cysteine and overproduction of lysine by embryogenic calli and regenerated plants of Pennisetum Americanum (L.) K. Schum.

Abstract S-(2- Aminoethyl )- l -cycteine (AEC) tolent callus lines were isolated fron non-mutagenized embryogenic calli of Pennisetum americanum (L.) K. Schum. cv. Gahi 3. Calli, 3–4 months in age, were selected by direct culture on medium containing 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 mM AEC. Tolerant calli were capable of growth on medium supplemented with 0.5–4.0 mM AEC. However, non-tolerant calli were inhibited in the presence of 0.125 and 0.5 AEC. AEC-tolerant calli accumulated free lysine at concentrations five times that of the controls as determined by amino acid analysis. Embryoids were formed in the presence of AEC, but plantlets could be regenerated only in the absence of AEC. Plants were regenerated from tolerant calli that had been determined to be stable. Leaf tissue from the regenerated plants analyzed for amino acid content were found to contain seven times as much lysine as the control plants. Calli, initiated from inflorescence tissue of regenerated plants and cultured in the presence of AEC, were tolerant to AEC.
Role in evidence-based practice

Abstract The role of the research informationist in advancing evidence-based practice is discussed within the context of a comprehensive cancer center setting. The Clinical Medical Librarian Program and the Systematic Review Service represent two key library services that illustrate and support how the informationist contributes to the evolving field of evidence-based health care.
What AMHA does and what AMHA should do: results from the 1985 affiliate poll.

We obtained opinions about the services and programs of the Association of Mental Health Administrators from a sample of 242 affiliates. The study showed that the most important reasons for joining the association were professional development, education, and to support the profession. Also important was the desire for interaction with other executives. Apart from individual benefits, affiliates endorsed the standard setting functions of the association: setting educational standards, creating a certification credential, disseminating new ideas and, to a lesser extent, conducting research. Finally, AMHA affiliates believe the association should act as a spokesperson to the government. In the future, AMHA’s greatest area of growth will be to create a favorable public opinion.
The relentless link between neighbourhoods and segregation: what are the alternatives?

There is a long-standing critique about neighbourhoods: that whether they are planned, delineated or self-actualised, they often exist for the purpose of social segregation. An important question for planners is whether neighbourhoods can embody progressive ideals and not devolve into enclaves promoting social insularity and separation. This paper reviews the three main strategies that have been proposed over the past century: (1) to look for ways to successfully integrate the segregated neighbourhood into a wider urban system; (2) to position ethnic neighbourhoods as a legitimate example of successful segregation, if there is external connectivity and economic diversity within; and (3) to make neighbourhood-scale social diversity an explicit policy goal, accomplished through housing mix and other spatial planning policies. Each of these alternatives to the neighbourhood-as-segregation narrative has been advanced, with partial success. I conclude that neighbourhood segregation remains a serious issue that...
Physician mothers' experience of workplace discrimination: a qualitative analysis.

Abstract Objectives To report woman physicians’ experiences, in their own words, of discrimination based on their role as a mother. Design Qualitative analysis of physician mothers’ free-text responses to the open question: “We want to hear your story and experience. Please share” included in questions about workplace discrimination. Three analysts iteratively formulated a structured codebook, then applied codes after inter-coder reliability scores indicated high concordance. The relationships among themes and sub-themes were organized into a conceptual model illustrated by exemplary quotes. Participants Respondents to an anonymous, voluntary online survey about the health and wellbeing of physician mothers posted on a Facebook group, the Physician Moms Group, an online community of US physicians who identify as mothers. Results We analyzed 947 free-text responses. Participants provide diverse and vivid descriptions of experiences of maternal discrimination. Gendered job expectations, financial inequalities (including lower pay than equally qualified colleagues and more unpaid work), limited opportunities for advancement, lack of support during the pregnancy and postpartum period, and challenging work-life balance are some of the key themes identified. In addition, participants’ quotes show several potential structural drivers of maternal discrimination and describe the downstream consequences of maternal discrimination on the physician herself, her career, family, and the healthcare system. Conclusions These findings provide a view of maternal discrimination directly from the perspective of those who experience it. Women physicians report a range of previously uncharacterized ways in which they experience maternal discrimination. While certain aspects of these experiences are consistent with those reported by women across other professions, there are unique aspects of medical training and the medical profession that perpetuate maternal discrimination.
Role of Percutaneous Drainage for Disease-Related Abscesses

Introduction: Intra-abdominal abscesses can occur in up to 20% of patients with Crohn’s disease. There is no consensus on the optimal management of this complication, despite a number of proposed treatment approaches. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the literature regarding the management of intra-abdominal abscesses in Crohn’s disease with respect to post-procedural complications and the cost-effectiveness of these interventions.
Prepapillary Vascular Loop

A sporadic frequently autosomal dominant anomaly, prepapillary vascular loop appears to be unrelated to the hyaloid artery system, yet it is located on the surface of the disc. It is believed that the loops begin to form during the middle trimester, at which time they are supported by the disc glial tissue. The configuration of these vessels can be a loop, a corkscrew, or a figure eight. The loops arise above the level of the disc for only a short distance and then return to the disc. Most are arterial, and many supply a branch retinal artery. On ocassion, thrombosis of the loop produces amaurosis, vitreous hemorrhage or even hyphema.
It's time for America to get back to a child-friendly climate

Here in the United States, we like to look back in order to appreciate how far we've come. Unfortunately, that exercise doesn't hold up when it comes to our valuation of children. ![Figure][1] Dr. Jenkins Looking back, in fact, reveals that we've actually taken a spiraling road
Leakage-Resilient Secret Sharing Against Colluding Parties

In this work, we consider the natural goal of designing secret sharing schemes that ensure security against an adversary who may learn some “leaked'' information about all the shares. We say that a secret sharing scheme is p-party leakage-resilient, if the secret remains statistically hidden even after a computationally unbounded adversary learns a bounded amount of leakage, where each bit of leakage adaptively and jointly depends on the shares of an adaptively chosen subset of p parties. Existing multi-party secret sharing schemes (Dziembowski and Pietrzak FOCS 07), (Goyal and Kumar STOC 18) and (Benhamouda, Degwekar, Ishai and Rabin CRYPTO 18) have focused on handling non-adaptive and individual leakage for (limited special cases of) threshold secret sharing schemes. • We give an unconditional compiler that transforms any secret sharing scheme on n parties into a p-party leakage-resilient one for p upto O(log n). This yields the first multi-party secret sharing schemes that are secure against adaptive or joint leakage. • As a natural extension, we initiate the study of leakage-resilient non-malleable secret sharing. We empower the adversary to adaptively leak from each of the shares and then use the leakage to tamper with all of them arbitrarily and independently. Leveraging our p-party leakage-resilient schemes, we compile any secret sharing scheme into a non-malleable one ensuring that any such tampering either preserves the secret or completely `destroys' it. This improves upon the non-malleable secret sharing scheme of (Goyal and Kumar CRYPTO 18) where no leakage was permitted. Leakage-resilient non-malleable codes can be seen as 2-out-of-2 schemes satisfying our guarantee and have already found many applications in cryptography. • Our constructions rely on a clean connection we draw to communication complexity in the well-studied number-on-forehead (NOF) model and rely on functions that have strong communication-complexity lower bounds in the NOF model (in a black-box way). We get efficient p-party leakage-resilient schemes for p upto O(log n) as our share sizes have exponential dependence on p. We observe that improving this exponential dependence, even for simultaneous, non-adaptive leakage, will lead to progress on longstanding open problems in complexity theory.
The Etiology of Peyronie's Disease: Pathogenesis and Genetic Contributions

Abstract Introduction Peyronie's disease (PD) is a chronic fibrosing condition that contributes to penile deformity, curvature, and pain. Initial familial studies demonstrated potential genetic links to PD. Since that time, very few investigations have significantly advanced the science in this area. Hence, there is a large opportunity and significant need to better study the underlying genomics and pathogenesis of PD. Aim To summarize the current genomic literature relevant to PD. Methods A review was performed of all PubMed-indexed literature from 1970–2018 relating to the pathophysiology and genetics of PD. Key findings were categorically summarized to include epidemiology, risk factors, inheritance patterns, chromosomal instability, genetic associations, epigenetics, differential gene expression, and preclinical models of PD. Main Outcome Measures Summary of the current literature on the genetics of PD. Results PD is a common condition and has several known risk factors and comorbid disease associations. Although men with PD are believed to be genetically predisposed, there are likely several subtypes of the condition, each with varied pathophysiological disorders and contributing factors. Available data suggest that PD is associated with underlying genetic instability, including dysregulation of genes relating to fibrosis and cellular degradation, thus, resulting in abnormal plaque development and penile deformity. Preclinical models, including cell cultures and rat models, demonstrate several consistencies with PD clinical and histopathologic characteristics; however, an ideal model with spontaneous development of PD is lacking. Conclusion Based on limited data, PD likely represents a heterogeneous condition, with both heritable and environmentally-driven epigenetic factors contributing to its development and progression. However, there remains a significant gap in the literature on the underlying cause and pathophysiology of the condition, suggesting a substantial need for further investigation and study. Sharma KL, Alom M, Trost L. The Etiology of Peyronie’s Disease: Pathogenesis and Genetic Contributions. Sex Med Rev 2020;8:314–323.
Changes in serum estradiol levels with Estring in postmenopausal women with breast cancer treated with aromatase inhibitors

Anti-estrogen therapy is an effective intervention for preventing reoccurrence of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in women. However, the side effects of anti-estrogen therapy, including urogenital symptoms, have been reported to cause significant morbidity. There is controversial data, mainly due to small sample sizes, reporting on the safety and efficacy of using vaginal estrogen to treat urogenital symptoms in patients on aromatase inhibitor therapy. We proposed a prospective trial to measure the change in blood estradiol levels in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer undergoing treatment with aromatase inhibitors when treated with vaginal estrogen preparation, Estring, for their urogenital symptoms. Only 8 prospective patients were enrolled, and the study was amended to include 6 retrospective patients who were treated similarly. Blood estradiol levels were measured at baseline and at week 16 for all patients. The median age for all patients was 55 years, and the majority of them were treated with anastrozole. There was no significant difference between baseline and week 16 estradiol levels (p = 0.81). In addition, patients in the prospective group reported subjective improvement in their vaginal dryness symptoms questionnaires. The vaginal estrogen preparation, Estring, did not cause persistent elevations in serum estradiol levels and might be a safer option for women with significant urogenital symptoms requiring estrogen therapy. Vaginal estrogen preparation, Estring, might be an option for women with hormone receptor positive breast cancer who have persistent urogenital symptoms.
Abstract 209: Prevalence and Prognostic Significance of Aortic Stenosis in Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Background: Heart failure (HF) patients with aortic stenosis (AS) constitute a high-risk population posing diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Few studies have characterized the burden of AS in ...
AI-based competition of autonomous vehicle fleets with application to fleet modularity

Abstract Because operational environments change over time and technology upgrades are common in fleets of ground vehicles, a large number of vehicles quickly become obsolete. A possible solution is to develop fleets of modular vehicles, which are built with interchangeable components, i.e. modules. This paper evaluates the performance of a future reconfigurable and autonomous vehicle fleet in a high fidelity military operation scenario. The military fleet operates in a hostile environment under a high risk of damage and needs to react to adversarial actions in real-time. The operation decisions are numerous including vehicle reconfiguration, relocation, damage recovery, and dispatch decisions. Given the limited resources and time delays in the operation, decision effectiveness and foresightedness are necessities, which require a good understanding of the adversary, close collaboration among commanders, and breaking of the equilibrium between adversaries. To capture these characteristics, we formulate an intelligent agent-based model for the decision-making process during fleet operations by combining real-time optimization with artificial intelligence. With continuous updating of learning models, the intelligent agents refine their decisions during interactions with the environment and other agents, and evolve their competition strategies according to adversarial historical behaviors. With the same level of resources, the conventional fleet wins when the dispatch decisions are stochastic. However, once each fleets start to learn from each other’s behavior, the modular fleet outperforms the conventional fleet. The strategic and operational benefits of fleet modularity are revealed and discussed in terms of win rate, adaptability, unpredictability and damage recovery.
Association Between Opioid Prescriptions and Non-US-Born Status in the US.

Importance Overdose from opioids causes nearly 50 000 deaths in the US each year. Adverse consequences from opioid use are particularly pronounced among low-income and publicly insured individuals. However, little is known about patterns of opioid prescribing among non–US-born individuals in the US. Objective To examine the association of opioid prescriptions with non–US-born status, particularly among patients clinically diagnosed with pain. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional analysis assessed opioid prescriptions among US-born and non–US-born adults using the 2016-2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Data were analyzed from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures Practitioner-verified binary variable for any opioid prescription, number of prescriptions received, and a count variable for number of days of prescribed medicine. Multivariable logistic and negative binomial regression adjusted for sex, age, race/ethnicity, marital status, educational level, poverty, insurance status, clinical diagnoses for acute or chronic pain, census region, and survey year. Results Among all 48 162 respondents (mean [SD] age, 47.0 [18.1] years; 25 831 [53.6%] female), 14.2% of US-born and 7.0% of non–US-born individuals received at least 1 opioid prescription within a 12-month period. For those diagnosed with chronic pain, 25.5% of US-born individuals and 15.6% of non–US-born individuals received at least 1 opioid prescription within a 12-month period. In multivariable logistic regression, non–US-born individuals had 35% lower odds of receiving an opioid prescription than US-born individuals (adjusted odds ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.56-0.74). In negative binomial regression adjusting for confounding factors, non–US-born individuals with chronic pain who were prescribed opioids received significantly fewer days’ supply (50.0; 95% CI, 40.0-59.9) than US-born individuals (77.2; 95% CI, 72.7-81.6). Differences between US-born and non–US-born individuals were not statistically significant for patients with acute pain (16.7% [95% CI, 14.9%-18.4%] of US-born individuals received opioids vs 12.5% [95% CI, 9.3%-15.6%] of non–US-born individuals). Non–US-born individuals with less than 5 years of residency in the US were significantly less likely to receive a prescription for opioids than were those with longer residency after adjustment for type of pain and other confounding factors (adjusted odds ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.30-0.88). Conclusions and Relevance The findings suggest that non–US-born individuals, particularly those with shorter US residency, are less likely to be prescribed opioids than US-born individuals.
Wearable System Design using Intrinsically Stretchable Temperature Sensor

This paper explores system integration aspects for stretchable electronics. We consider a prototypical wearable device that combines (1) a conformal and stretchable transducer patch, (2) high-fidelity readout electronics based on rigid CMOS integrated circuits (ICs), and (3) flexible and stretchable interconnects that bridge the two mechanical domains. The considered temperature sensing element is based on organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) and requires bias currents in the sub-microampere regime. We show how to meet this requirement using standard commercial parts. Furthermore, we present an interconnect solution based on encapsulated liquid-phase conductors and show its measured I-V curves under strain. The design guidelines and parameters obtained from this study can be used to aid the development of similar wearable sensing platforms.
Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Use of Radiopharmaceuticals in the Context of SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has devastated the healthcare systems and economies of over 200 countries in just a few months. The etiological agent of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, is a highly contagious virus that can be transmitted by asymptomatic and symptomatic carriers alike. While in vitro testing techniques have allowed for population-wide screening, prognostic tools are required to assess the disease severity and therapeutic response, contributing to improve the patient clinical outcomes. Moreover, no specific antiviral against COVID-19 exists at the time of publication, severely limiting treatment against the infection. Hence, there is an urgent clinical need for innovative therapeutic strategies that may contribute to manage the COVID-19 outbreak and prevent future pandemics. Herein, we critically examine recent diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic advancements for COVID-19 in the field of radiopharmaceuticals. First, we summarize the gold standard techniques used to diagnose COVID-19, including in vitro assays and imaging techniques, and then discuss how radionuclide-based nuclear imaging provides complementary information for prognosis and treatment management of infected patients. Second, we introduce new emerging types of radiotherapies that employ radioimmunoconjugates, which have shown selective cytotoxic response in oncological studies, and critically analyze how these compounds could be used as therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2. Finally, this Perspective further discusses the emerging applications of radionuclides to study the behavior of pulmonary SARS-CoV-2 aerosol particles.