cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Racial/ethnic differences in the relative risk of receipt of specific treatment among men with prostate cancer.

Abstract Objective African-American (AA) men have excess mortality from prostate cancer compared with White men, which has remained unchanged over several decades. The purpose of this study is to determine if race/ethnicity is an independent predictor of receipt of any definitive treatment vs. watchful waiting/active surveillance (WW/AS). Methods and materials Men diagnosed with prostate cancer from 2004 to 2011 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results program. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relative risk ratio (RRR) of receipt of radical prostatectomy (RP), external beam radiation therapy (RT), brachytherapy, cryotherapy, or combination therapy vs. WW/AS. Results Compared with White men, AA men were significantly less likely to receive RP (RRR = 0.53, P P P = 0.001), and combination therapy (RRR = 0.70, P P = 0.041) vs. AS/WW. Hispanic men were significantly less likely to receive RP (RRR = 0.84, P P P P = 0.005) vs. AS/WW compared with White men. Conclusions The disparate risk of receiving definitive treatment among AA and Hispanic men represents a significant public health issue that requires efforts to improve physician education, increase cultural competency, and ensure equitable access.
The cholera epidemic in Latin America

An outbreak of cholera started in Peru in January 1991 and spread through most Latin American countries within a year. This was the first known epidemic of cholera in America for more than a century. In 1991, 321,334 persons were reported to have cholera in Peru, 119,063 were hospitalized, and 2,906 died. Other countries like Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Venezuela and Honduras were also affected, but these countries combined accounted for only 20% of the cases registered in Peru. In April 1992, all Latin American countries except Uruguay, Paraguay and French Guyana have reported cholera. The mortality rate for the epidemic in Latin America was only 1%, mainly owing to good oral rehydration treatment provided by Local health services and the Pan American Health Organization. The causative organism was Vibrio cholerae, serogroup O1, serotype Inaba (and Ogawa) of the El Tor biotype. Genetic characterization shows this strain to be unique, and the designation is reserved for the Latin American strain, distinguishing it from the other El Tor isolates from the 7th pandemic.
Effectiveness of a Wellness Program for Individuals With Spina Bifida and Spinal Cord Injury Within an Integrated Delivery System

Abstract Objective To determine whether an evidence-based wellness program for individuals with spina bifida and spinal cord injury would improve health outcomes and patient experience of care, result in a positive return on investment (ROI), and provide evidence for scalability. Design Nonrandomized, noncontrolled cohort study; 2 years of enrollment. Setting Academic hospital-based outpatient physiatry clinic partnered with an insurance division within an integrated health care delivery and financing system. Participants Individuals (N=69) with spina bifida and spinal cord injury were consented; 4 were excluded (5.7%), and the remaining 65 (94.2%) participated in the intervention. Interventions Evidence-based wellness program consisting of care coordination from a mobile nurse, patient education, and patient incentives. Main Outcome Measures Validated measures of function, mood, quality of life, and perception of care delivery; knowledge of preventable conditions; self-rating of health; and utilization and cost. Results Improvements in all main outcome measures were seen after 2 years of enrollment. Although cost in year 1 of enrollment increased because of hospitalizations and the overall ROI was negative, a small positive ROI was seen in year 2 of enrollment. Conclusions Participation in an evidence-based wellness program was associated with improved health and experience of care. Scaling the program to larger numbers may result in an overall positive ROI.
Rotational Crossed-Slit Light Fields

Light fields (LFs) are image-based representation that records the radiance along all rays along every direction through every point in space. Traditionally LFs are acquired by using a 2D grid of evenly spaced pinhole cameras or by translating a pinhole camera along the 2D grid using a robot arm. In this paper, we present a novel LF sampling scheme by exploiting a special non-centric camera called the crossed-slit or XSlit camera. An XSlit camera acquires rays that simultaneously pass through two oblique slits. We show that, instead of translating the camera as in the pinhole case, we can effectively sample the LF by rotating individual or both slits while keeping the camera fixed. This leads a "fixed-location" LF acquisition scheme. We further show through theoretical analysis and experiments that the resulting XSlit LFs provide several advantages: they provide more dense spatial-angular sampling, are amenable multi-view stereo matching and volumetric reconstruction, and can synthesize unique refocusing effects.
Value iteration and adaptive dynamic programming for data-driven adaptive optimal control design

This paper presents a novel non-model-based, data-driven adaptive optimal controller design for linear continuous-time systems with completely unknown dynamics. Inspired by the stochastic approximation theory, a continuous-time version of the traditional value iteration (VI) algorithm is presented with rigorous convergence analysis. This VI method is crucial for developing new adaptive dynamic programming methods to solve the adaptive optimal control problem and the stochastic robust optimal control problem for linear continuous-time systems. Fundamentally different from existing results, the a priori knowledge of an initial admissible control policy is no longer required. The efficacy of the proposed methodology is illustrated by two examples and a brief comparative study between VI and earlier policy-iteration methods.
Photodynamic therapy for the treatment of cancer

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) represents a new approach to treatment of a variety of solid malignant tumors in man. Hematoporphyrin derivative (Hpd) in its purified form, dihematoporphyrin ether (DHE), is injected systemically into patients causing uptake and retention in most malignant tumors for several days (3-5). Most normal tissues clear the drug within a few days (1-2). Exceptions are skin, liver, kidney, and spleen, which retain the drug largely in cells of the reticuloendothelial system.
Analysis of Swainsonine and Swainsonine N-Oxide as Trimethylsilyl Derivatives by Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and Their Relative Occurrence in Plants Toxic to Livestock

There are limited data concerning the occurrence of swainsonine N-oxide in plants known to contain swainsonine and its relative impact on toxicity of the plant material. A liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method based on a solvent partitioning extraction procedure followed by trimethylsilylation and analysis using reversed phase high-pressure liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was developed for the analysis of swainsonine and its N-oxide. The concentrations of each were measured in several swainsonine-containing taxa as well as two endophytic isolates that produce swainsonine. In vegetative samples the relative percent of N-oxide to free base ranged from 0.9 to 18%. In seed samples the N-oxide to free base ratio ranged from 0 to 10%. The measured concentrations of swainsonine N-oxide relative to swainsonine only slightly increases the actual toxicity of the various plant samples in a combined assay of both compounds.
Niche shifts and energetic condition of songbirds in response to phenology of food-resource availability in a high-elevation sagebrush ecosystem

ABSTRACT Seasonal fluctuations in food availability can affect diets of consumers, which in turn may influence the physiological state of individuals and shape intra- and inter-specific patterns of resource use. High-elevation ecosystems often exhibit a pronounced seasonal “pulse” in productivity, although few studies document how resource use and energetic condition by avian consumers change in relation to food-resource availability in these ecosystems. We tested the hypothesis that seasonal increases (pulses) in food resources in high-elevation sagebrush ecosystems result in 2 changes after the pulse, relative to the before-pulse period: (1) reduced diet breadth of, and overlap between, 2 sympatric sparrow species; and (2) enhanced energetic condition in both species. We tracked breeding-season diets using stable isotopes and energetic condition using plasma metabolites of Brewer's Sparrows (Spizella breweri), Vesper Sparrows (Pooecetes gramineus), and their food resources during 2011, and of only Brewe...
Clinicopathologic differences and survival of Hispanics (H) versus Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) with gastric cancer (GC) at a Majority Minority Cancer Center in South Texas.

208Background: Incidence rates for GC have shown to be increased in H vs NHW in studies. With a higher incidence of GC in South Texas compared to the rest of US, South Texas H have more than twice the incidence of GC than NHW with possibly worse survivals. However, these patients are not included in the SEER database, and the etiology of worse survival is unclear. To date, evaluation of a South Texas population with a more homogeneous H population has not been undertaken. Therefore, we chose to evaluate differences in clinical and histopathologic features in H vs NHW with GC at our South Texas NCI-designated cancer center where the homogenous H population is the majority. Methods: Retrospective analysis of GC patients from 2000-2016 at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center, San Antonio, TX. Median overall survival (mOS) was estimated from Kaplan-Meier curves and groups were statistically compared with the log rank test. Results: 168 patients with H 64% (n = 108), NHW 36% (n = 60). Median age 59 years (26...
Trends and variations in the use of adjuvant immunotherapy for stage III melanoma in the U.S. population.

9077 Background: High dose Interferon alfa-2b (IFN), an adjuvant immunotherapy for patients (pts) with stage III melanoma, was the only approved treatment option in the US from 1995-2011. There is ...
Unveiling the dark side of social networking sites: Personal and work-related consequences of social networking site addiction

Abstract Although previous research has explored the effects of social networking site (SNS) use in organizations, researchers have focused little on its negative consequences. This article attempts to fill this void by examining, through the lens of social cognitive theory, the extent SNS addiction impacts personal and work environments. The results, based on 276 questionnaires completed by employees in a large information technology corporation, show that addiction to SNSs has negative consequences on the personal and work environments. SNS addiction reduces positive emotions that augment performance and enhance health. SNS addiction fosters task distraction, which inhibits performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The Effect of Emotion in an Ultimatum Game: The Bio-Feedback Evidence

In neoclassical economics, Rational Choice Theory states that individuals always make prudent and rational decisions provided with the greatest benefits. In Ultimatum Game, the proposer (Player I) proposes how to split a sum of money. The responder (Player II) decides to accept or reject the proposal. If the responder accepts, the sum is splitted as proposed; otherwise, neither player can receive money. One of the results shows that some “unfair” offers are often rejected, which implies the effect of emotion in an economic decision-making. In this research, a special Ultimatum Game has been designed to collect bio-feedback evidence for emotion in an economic decision-making using the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensor. Also, an Ultimatum Game with computer simulation had been designed to collect bio-feedback results when the sum of money is in virtual points offered by a computer.
Science and data science

Data science has attracted a lot of attention, promising to turn vast amounts of data into useful predictions and insights. In this article, we ask why scientists should care about data science. To answer, we discuss data science from three perspectives: statistical, computational, and human. Although each of the three is a critical component of data science, we argue that the effective combination of all three components is the essence of what data science is about.
Variability in Management of Acute Osteoarticular Infections at a Children’s Hospital and Favorable Outcomes with Increasing Early Transition to Oral Therapy

AbstractBackground To date, there is no established guideline for the treatment of acute pediatric osteoarticular infections (OAI), and considerable variability in management exists amongst providers and across institutions. This study analyzed the recent management and clinical outcomes of OAI at a children’s hospital.Methods Patients admitted with acute osteomyelitis and septic arthritis [OAI] aged 2 months to 18 years at the Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, between 1/1/2013 and 12/31/2016, were identified via billing databases. Patients with select comorbidities or >2 positive blood cultures were excluded. Patient demographics, antibiotics used, culture results, time from intravenous (IV) to oral (PO) therapy, length of hospitalization (LOH), PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line use, and emergency room (ER) visits and readmissions within 6 months of discharge, were collected and analyzed. The study period was divided into 2-year groups, before and after 1/1/15, a juncture when a new provider began to promote early transition to oral therapy (through ID consults and informal discussion).ResultsThirty-one patients were admitted during Time#1 (2013–14) and 43 during Time#2 (2015–16). Time to PO therapy was widely distributed (Figure 1) throughout the 4 years, with 65% of patients in Time#2 transitioned ≤7 days, vs. 37% in Time#1 (P = 0.02). Specifically for osteomyelitis, mean time to PO decreased from Time#1 to #2 from 11.5 to 8.3 days. Sixty-one percent of patients in Time#1 vs 25% in Time#2 (P < 0.01) received a PICC line, and PICC use was associated with 1.5 day greater LOH (P = 0.02). There was no relationship between time to PO and repeat ER visit/readmission. Nearly 30% of patients in Time#1 had PICC or OAI-related ER visits/readmissions after discharge, while 0% did for Time#2 (P < 0.01).Conclusion Length of initial IV therapy and PICC line use continues to vary significantly for pediatric acute OAI. In our children’s hospital, a shift towards earlier transition to PO therapy has been adopted steadily – and prior to national and planned local guidelines – with a general decrease in LOH, duration of IV therapy, PICC line issues following discharge, and overall improved outcomes. Pediatric OAI management represents an ideal focus for institutional quality and antibiotic stewardship efforts.Disclosures S. Islam, Qiagen: Speaker’s Bureau, Speaker honorarium and travel support
The Medical Aspects of Victim Vulnerabilities in Child Sexual Exploitation

The sexual abuse of children and sexual exploitation have been crimes for centuries. However, the dawn of the publicly available digital age has brought with it a dark cloud of extraordinary impact on infants, toddlers, children, and youth. Child sexual abusive images, a preferred description to the legal term “child pornography,” now is being recognized as having a much greater impact than previously presumed. The “abusive image” terminology is more accurate for two reasons. The first is that “pornography” infers voluntary modeling, and for the general public the term can minimize the extraordinary long-term impact of existing memorialization of abuse. Abusive images of children are digital crime scenes, and they represent many motives on the part of the producer. The second reason “child pornography” is an inaccurate term is because it infers consent, and minors are unable to provide consent to sexual victimization. The term “abusive” is the most appropriate description of these images because they continue to cause harm to the victim long after the actual production takes place (Cooper, Johnson, & Wright, 2015). This constitutes a recognized aspect of ongoing victim impact—that the inherent pain caused by the existence of the images is compounded when the images are downloaded, traded and/or possessed by others.
Most and Least: Differences in Integer Comparisons Based on Temperature Comparison Language

The language involved in de-contextualized integer comparisons poses challenges, as students may interpret “most” based on absolute values rather than on order. Using the context of temperature, we explored how students’ integer value comparisons differed based on question phrasing (which temperature is hottest, most hot, least hot, coldest, most cold, least cold) and on numbers presented (positive, negative, mixed). Participants included 88 second graders and 70 fourth graders from a rural school district in the Midwestern USA, and each student solved 36 integer comparisons. For comparisons with positive number choices, students had more difficulty with “coldest” than “hottest”; however, the results were reversed for comparisons with only negative number choices. When working with mixed comparisons, students often chose the least of the cold as opposed to the least cold, suggesting that they saw hot and cold as categorical opposites rather than opposites on a continuum, with zero as a boundary.
Validation and application of a kinetic model for biomass gasification simulation and optimization in updraft gasifiers

Abstract Biomass gasification has attracted great interest recently for its great potential as a thermal degradation method that converts biomass or carbonaceous solids into combustible gases with a usable heating value. However, accurate simulation of biomass gasification faces significant challenges as it has a complicated dependence on reaction kinetics, reactor geometry, processing methodology and operating condition. In this paper, a reaction model (RXN model) based on comprehensive biomass gasification kinetics is introduced and validated to predict the syngas and tar compositions. By comparing the simulating predictions with data from two updraft gasification experiment findings available in the literature, it is demonstrated that the RXN model is able to provide a more accurate description for updraft biomass gasification than the minimizing Gibbs free energy model (MGFE model), which can substitute for the widely used yet not accurate MGFE model. Parametric optimization studies were conducted to investigate the impacts of equivalence ratio (ER), gasifier temperature, biomass feed types on syngas and unreacted tar compositions. The results of this work provide vital information for large-scale gasifier design, operating decisions, and optimization.
The Legal Instinct: Lawmaking as a Branch of Biolaw

In her 2017 book, Rules for a Flat World, Gillian Hadfield upbraids the legal profession and the legal academy for ascribing supremacy, even exclusivity, to traditional legal institutions. Legal infrastructure, especially in the poorest countries, depends on entrepreneurs willing to shatter these myths. Hadfield prescribes possible solutions to the problem of inspiring and fostering entrepreneurship for legal infrastructure. This review essay describes how Rules for a Flat World envisions the reinvention of markets for legal rules and institutions in the image of Silicon Valley startups. This essay also describes humans’ intrinsic longing for social ordering and dispute resolution. If the legal instinct is biologically based and mediated, then lawmaking should be evaluated as a branch of biolaw.
ENDODONTIC CONSIDERATIONS IN THE GERIATRIC PATIENT

Endodontic needs of today's and tomorrow's growing older adult population present increasing challenges for dental care providers. Biologic and anatomic differences in the dental tissues between older and younger patients must be understood and considered in treatment planning and performance for appropriate endodontic procedures. These differences generally do not contraindicate treatment, which, when performed correctly, will be successful in the elderly patient.
Development and Deployment of a Mobile Manipulator for Assisting and Entertaining Elders Living in Supportive Apartment Living facilities

In this paper a novel telescopic manipulator was adapted to a mobile robotic base to perform manipulation tasks in an elder care facility. As indicated by our previous work, leisure activities and engagement in socialization were desirable among elders, and a physical game assisted by the robot was chosen to investigate both its acceptance and interaction with the older adults. The robot was deployed at an assisted living center and performed multiple interactions. The manipulator was able to successfully retrieve items from different heights as part of the game and results from post-interaction surveys with elders indicated high perceived usefulness and comfort in having the robot as an assistant in the game.
Visualizing Sorting Array Algorithms

Video game techniques are welcomed in many different fields. It is that the techniques can be applied to develop so-called “serious games” that have a variety of purposes and usages. This chapter takes the algorithms for sorting data in one-dimensional array as examples to illustrate what “serious games” are and how to dynamically visualize computations with the animation technique. Two sorting algorithms of BubbleSort and QuickSort are simulated. After that, two sorting algorithms are merged in one project for sharing the same GUI. Through the examples, the rich abilities of the three-layer software structure for games are further explored and proved.
Measuring the Accuracy of Federal Reserve Forecasts

Markets across the world pay enormous attention to every economic forecast made by Federal Reserve governors, particularly those from the chair. This article develops a new way that the academic literature can assess the accuracy of these Federal Reserve forecasts. In particular, our proposed method allows for both general and specific predictions to be assessed, while also accounting for the macroeconomic volatility that prevails at the time of the forecast. To develop this measure, we expand upon a methodology proposed by the Wall Street Journal to score the accuracy of forecasts made by the Fed. Our results show that Alan Greenspan was consistently the most accurate forecaster among Fed governors, while the most recent chair in our sample, Janet Yellen, has performed relatively poorly. More generally, we find that the chairs have become less accurate over time with their forecasts and have also tended to make fewer specific predictions.
KARIMBA: THE SHIFTING BOUNDARIES OF A SACRED TRADITION

In Zimbabwe, urban musicians and educators often perceive karimba as a category of relatively small mbira that are used for secular entertainment. This notion is strongly influenced by the prominence of the Kwanongoma mbira, or nyunga nyunga mbira, a 15-key karimba that was first popularized by the Kwanongoma College of Music in the 1960s. Despite a wealth of research, very little has been written about karimba traditions around the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border that are associated with traditional religious practices. In this article, the author focuses on a type of karimba with more than 20 keys that shares much of the same repertoire with matepe/madhebhe/hera music in Rushinga, Mutoko, and Mudzi Districts in Zimbabwe and nearby regions in Central Mozambique. The author explores the connections between innovations of the Kwanongoma mbira and karimba traditions in the Northeast with examples from the International Library of African Music archival collections and her own ethnographic research. This article provides a foundation upon which others may further conduct research on karimba music and suggests possible directions for incorporating these findings into educational contexts.
Inquiry-based learning: Development of an introductory manufacturing processes course based on a mobile inverted pendulum robot:

This paper describes the development of an innovative introductory manufacturing processes course designed to expose students to a broad overview of fundamental concepts, methods, procedures, tools...
Modern contraception use in rural Kenya: intervention analysis through simulation of complex diffusion processes

Promoting the use of modern contraception (MC) is a critical health issue in rural Kenya. Understanding how MC use is adopted by and diffuses among a given population can aid policy-makers, funders, and program implementers in their attempts to promote use of MC in these populations. In this study, we demonstrate how simulation can be used to understand and intervene in these complex systems of social influence. In order to capture mechanisms behind social influence, we develop an agent based model of the diffusion of health-related beliefs and resulting patterns of MC use in rural villages. Data solicited from all adults (N = 1507) in two villages is used to estimate the strength of different social influence mechanisms. After estimating model parameters using Approximate Bayesian Computation, we apply the model towards the selection of an optimal intervention strategy for maximizing contraception use.
How Does Treatment Uncertainty Factor into Decisions to Place Patients on Active Surveillance for Kidney Cancer

There are various management options for localized kidney cancer, including active surveillance, thermal ablation, partial nephrectomy, and radical nephrectomy. Choosing the optimal management requires consideration of oncologic outcomes, overall survival, and potential harms associated with each option. Oncologic outcomes and overall survival are determined by tumor and patient characteristics, respectively, and represent relatively objective metrics. The comparative harms of different management approaches are less predictable and result in treatment-related uncertainty. Active surveillance offers less uncertainty for many patients with localized kidney cancer: operative risks are completely forgone, oncologic outcomes are excellent, anxiety and illness uncertainty are well managed, and delayed intervention can be safely pursued. PATIENT SUMMARY: We reviewed the causes of treatment-related uncertainty associated with management options for localized kidney cancer. We discuss how active surveillance offers a certain degree of certainty according to the available literature. This could influence the decision to place patients on active surveillance.
Phase separation of multiphase droplets in a digital microfluidic device

This study reports the first comprehensive investigation of separation of the immiscible phases of multiphase droplets in digital microfluidics (DMF) platform. Electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) actuation has been used to mechanically separate the phases. Phase separation performance in terms of percentage residue of one phase into another phase has been quantified. It was conceived that the residue formation can be controlled by controlling the deformation of the phases. The larger capillary number of the neck forming phase is associated with the larger amount of deformation as well as more residue. In this study, we propose two different ways to control the deformation of the phases. In the first method, we applied different EWOD operation voltages on two phases to maintain equal capillary numbers during phase separation. In the second method, while keeping the applied voltages same on both sides, we tested the phase separation performance by varying the actuation schemes. Less than 2% of residue was achieved by both methods, which is almost 90% improvement compared to the phase separation by the conventional droplet splitting technique in EWOD DMF platform, where the residue percentage can go up to 20%.
Follow-Up Phone Calls are Effective in Increasing Compliance with Screening for De Novo Cancer among Heart Transplant Recipients

Purpose We aimed to examine the effectiveness of serial follow-up phone calls as an intervention after clinic visits to enhance compliance with cancer surveillance among heart transplant (HT) patients. Methods 41 HT cancer-free patients were randomized to intervention (n=21) vs. control (n=20) groups. Time Series Design was used; the intervention group received 4 calls post clinic visits within 31 days at different point intervals between 7-10 days, addressing the patient's specific needs for cancer screening based on immunotherapy and medical issues. The control group received 1 phone call at the end of the study. Chi-Square Statistics was used to compare screening rates between intervention and control groups. Results Mean age was 60.3 years, 78% male, and 24% had prior malignancy. 39% of patients were studied 1-5 years post HT, 20% 5-10 years; 26% 10-14 years; and 15% 15-20 years. Main reasons for non-compliance reported by patients were: “too busy”, “family issues”, and “I forgot”. At the end of the study, 50% of patients were fully compliant with cancer screening recommendations in the intervention group vs. 15% in the control group. This difference was statistically significant: (X2 (1)= 4.062, p= 0.044) (Fig. 1a). Compliance rates after each phone call are shown in Fig. 1b. Conclusion A nurse practitioner-led follow-up phone calls program is a feasible and effective strategy to increase compliance with de novo cancer screening among adult heart transplant recipients. Additional studies are needed to validate the usefulness of this approach in this unique patient population.
Vaginal bleeding and nausea in early pregnancy as predictors of clinical pregnancy loss

Abstract Background While nausea and vaginal bleeding are commonly experienced in early pregnancy, their prognostic value in predicting clinical pregnancy loss is not well understood. Objective To understand whether timing of bleeding and nausea symptoms can be used to predict risk of pregnancy loss among women with ultrasound confirmed pregnancies. Methods A cohort of 701 women with clinically confirmed pregnancies and 1-2 prior pregnancy losses were preconceptionally enrolled in the EAGeR trial (2006-2012). Participants completed daily symptom diaries from 2 to 8 weeks’ gestation and were prospectively followed for detection of pregnancy loss. The risk of pregnancy loss was estimated for each observed bleeding and nausea pattern, and positive and negative predictive values for each pattern were calculated. Results Among 701 women, 38% reported any vaginal bleeding and 92% reported any nausea. Most bleeding was spotting and contained within a single episode. Vaginal bleeding occurred in 16% (16% live birth, 16% clinical loss), 15% (15% live birth, 20% clinical loss), and 21% (19% live birth, 33% clinical loss) of women within weeks 2-4, 4-6, and 6-8, respectively. Nausea was reported in 33% (34% live birth, 29% clinical loss), 66% (68% live birth, 60% clinical loss), and 87% (91% live birth, 69% clinical loss) of women within these respective epochs. Bleeding in the absence of nausea at 6-8 weeks’ gestation (3.6% prevalence) had the greatest risk of clinical loss (RD = 56%, 95% CI [38, 75]), a positive predictive value of 68% [50, 86], negative predictive value of 86% [83, 88], positive likelihood ratio of 11 [2.0, 20], and negative likelihood ratio of 0.86 [0.79, 0.93]. This symptom pattern predicted clinical pregnancy loss similar to (AUC = 0.85 [0.82, 0.90]) age, BMI, blood pressure, and waist to hip ratio (AUC = 0.81 [0.78, 0.88]) measured preconceptionally. Conclusions Women experiencing bleeding 6-8 weeks’ gestation without accompanying nausea had an elevated risk of clinical pregnancy loss. Bleeding or nausea prior to 6 weeks’ gestation were not predictive of risk of clinical loss.
Measuring Association on Topological Spaces Using Kernels and Geometric Graphs

In this paper we propose and study a class of simple, nonparametric, yet interpretable measures of association between two random variables $X$ and $Y$ taking values in general topological spaces. These nonparametric measures -- defined using the theory of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces -- capture the strength of dependence between $X$ and $Y$ and have the property that they are 0 if and only if the variables are independent and 1 if and only if one variable is a measurable function of the other. Further, these population measures can be consistently estimated using the general framework of graph functionals which include $k$-nearest neighbor graphs and minimum spanning trees. Moreover, a sub-class of these estimators are also shown to adapt to the intrinsic dimensionality of the underlying distribution. Some of these empirical measures can also be computed in near linear time. Under the hypothesis of independence between $X$ and $Y$, these empirical measures (properly normalized) have a standard normal limiting distribution. Thus, these measures can also be readily used to test the hypothesis of mutual independence between $X$ and $Y$. In fact, as far as we are aware, these are the only procedures that possess all the above mentioned desirable properties. Furthermore, when restricting to Euclidean spaces, we can make these sample measures of association finite-sample distribution-free, under the hypothesis of independence, by using multivariate ranks defined via the theory of optimal transport. The recent correlation coefficient proposed in Dette et al. (2013), Chatterjee (2019), and Azadkia and Chatterjee (2019) can be seen as a special case of this general class of measures.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: The Case of Jim

A case is presented featuring a clinical social worker in a free medical clinic, utilizing solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) while integrated into primary care. Jim, a 57-year-old black male, was referred by one of the clinic’s primary care physicians with concerns related to his alcohol and crack cocaine use. Application of the SFBT approach is demonstrated by conveying the successful moments and challenges while delicately navigating the unique aspects of this case such as the free medical clinic setting, primary care environment, Jim’s extensive history of substance use, and complicating biopsychosocial factors. Specific SFBT techniques such as presuppositional language, identifying pre-session change, recognition of exceptions, scaling questions, and collaborative goal setting are exhibited throughout treatment with Jim from the initial assessment to managing follow-up appointments. Applicability is relevant to both beginning and seasoned clinicians learning the SFBT approach and desiring to integrate into a healthcare setting such as primary care.
Artificial consortium demonstrates emergent properties of enhanced cellulosic-sugar degradation and biofuel synthesis

Planktonic cultures, of a rationally designed consortium, demonstrated emergent properties that exceeded the sums of monoculture properties, including a >200% increase in cellobiose catabolism, a >100% increase in glycerol catabolism, a >800% increase in ethanol production, and a >120% increase in biomass productivity. The consortium was designed to have a primary and secondary-resource specialist that used crossfeeding with a positive feedback mechanism, division of labor, and nutrient and energy transfer via necromass catabolism. The primary resource specialist was Clostridium phytofermentans (a.k.a. Lachnoclostridium phytofermentans), a cellulolytic, obligate anaerobe. The secondary-resource specialist was Escherichia coli, a versatile, facultative anaerobe, which can ferment glycerol and byproducts of cellobiose catabolism. The consortium also demonstrated emergent properties of enhanced biomass accumulation when grown as biofilms, which created high cell density communities with gradients of species along the vertical axis. Consortium biofilms were robust to oxic perturbations with E. coli consuming O2, creating an anoxic environment for C. phytofermentans. Anoxic/oxic cycling further enhanced biomass productivity of the biofilm consortium, increasing biomass accumulation ~250% over the sum of the monoculture biofilms. Consortium emergent properties were credited to several synergistic mechanisms. E. coli consumed inhibitory byproducts from cellobiose catabolism, driving higher C. phytofermentans growth and higher cellulolytic enzyme production, which in turn provided more substrate for E. coli. E. coli necromass enhanced C. phytofermentans growth while C. phytofermentans necromass aided E. coli growth via the release of peptides and amino acids, respectively. In aggregate, temporal cycling of necromass constituents increased flux of cellulose-derived resources through the consortium. The study establishes a consortia-based, bioprocessing strategy built on naturally occurring interactions for improved conversion of cellulose-derived sugars into bioproducts.
508 Different neoantigen expression patterns impact the strength of anti-tumor immune responses

Background Many cancer immunotherapies depend on the ability of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells to recognize neoantigens on MHCI complexes to effectively eliminate tumor cells. However, patient response following immunotherapy is highly variable, with recent work suggesting that neoantigen expression patterns can impair patient response. Specifically, it was observed that the immune response is dampened when neoantigens are expressed only by a subset of tumor cells (heterogeneous expression).1 To study why anti-tumor immunity is reduced in a heterogeneous setting we developed a transplant murine tumor model engineered to express neoantigens in a heterogeneous pattern or homogenously. Methods A curated list of neoantigens with varying predicted MCHI binding affinities was used to established an array of cell lines expressing at one to three neoantigens. The lines were inoculated subcutaneously in immunocompetent mice as mixtures (heterogenous) or as a single line (homogenous) to study the resulting immune response. Tumors were harvested at days 7, 10 and 14 and flow cytometry analysis was used to phenotype infiltrating immune populations, including antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. ELISpot assays were performed using splenocytes from the same timepoints to determine the frequency of antigen-specific T cells in the periphery. Results Compared to neoantigens predicted to bind weakly to MHCI, neoantigens predicted to bind strongly elicited robust expansion of antigen-specific T cells in the periphery and tumors expressing these antigens alone exhibited greater numbers of tumor infiltrating T cells. Homogenous expression of two neoantigens was found to enhance anti-tumor immunity by increasing the frequency of tumor-reactive T cells. Further, homogenous expression of two neoantigens induced protective immunity against antigens, including those that failed to be controlled when expressed alone. Conclusions Using our novel reductionist tumor model, our results suggest that a more robust response against weak antigens could be induced if a response against a strong, highly immunogenic neoantigen is mounted simultaneously. This observation has direct implications for the design of neoantigen vaccines either as mono- or combination immunotherapies, especially in the setting of a heterogeneous neoantigen expression pattern. References McGranahan N, Furness AJ, Rosenthal R, Ramskov S, Lyngaa R, Saini SK, Jamal-Hanjani M, Wilson GA, Birkbak NJ, Hiley CT, Watkins TB, Shafi S, Murugaesu N, Mitter R, Akarca AU, Linares J, Marafioti T, Henry JY, Van Allen EM, Miao D, Schilling B, Schadendorf D, Garraway LA, Makarov V, Rizvi NA, Snyder A, Hellmann MD, Merghoub T, Wolchok JD, Shukla SA, Wu CJ, Peggs KS, Chan TA, Hadrup SR, Quezada SA, Swanton C. Clonal neoantigens elicit T cell immunoreactivity and sensitivity to immune checkpoint blockade. Science 2016 Mar 25;351(6280):1463–9.
A Kirigami-Inspired Pattern-Reconfigurable Antenna with Switchable Omnidirectional and Unidirectional Beams

Pattern reconfigurable antennas can provide dynamic radiation coverage, a key for managing the heavy data traffic associated with 5G communication. Kirigami, a paper cutting and folding technique, can be applied to the design of reconfigurable antennas to introduce more flexibility and simple fabrication. In this paper, a kirigami-inspired reconfigurable antenna with one omnidirectional and two unidirectional beams is presented. The proposed antenna is composed of one monopole antenna, placed at the center of a ground plane, and two foldable kirigami parabolic reflectors. The parabolic structure enhanced the peak gain of the proposed antenna by 2.08 dB compared with its origami-based counterpart with a plane reflector. The simulated −10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth is 13.37% for the omnidirectional mode and 10.23% for the directional mode.
Photonics-enabled lateral flow assay diagnostics

Point-of-Care diagnostics are instrumental to patient care and are broadly applied in the clinical setting. The simplest such device is the lateral flow assay, which is used to influence clinical decisions ranging from pregnancy to malarial infection. Lateral flow assays are ubiquitous; however, they are semi-quantitative, require labeled reagents, and are often less sensitive than comparable clinical laboratory technology. We hypothesize that an attractive method to introduce label-free quantification to Point-of-Care diagnostics is to couple them to photonic sensors. Photonic sensors are attractive as biological measurement tools, as they have low size, weight, and power requirements while providing high sensitivity. In this manuscript we describe post-processing of foundry-prepared photonic sensor chips in preparation for integration with a lateral flow format.
‘I’m trying to make a really pleasant garden path for you, a “Trojan horse” for history!’: an interview with Thi Bui

As 2020 came to a close we sat down with Thi Bui over Zoom to discuss her graphic narrative, The Best We Could Do, her recent collaboration on a children’s book, A Different Pond (co-created with B...
Exponential time differencing for problems without natural stiffness separation

Explicit numerical schemes are popular in multiphysics and multiscale simulations, yet their use in stiff problems often requires time steps to be so small as to render simulations over large time horizons infeasible. Exponential time differencing (ETD) has proved to be an efficient scheme for tackling differential operators with linear stiff and nonlinear non-stiff parts. Such natural separation, however, is absent in many important applications, including multiphase flow and transport in porous media. We introduce a strategy for using ETD in such problems and demonstrate its efficiency in numerical experiments. We also compare the ETD performance to that of an explicit scheme. We conclude that the best outcome is achieved by combining ETD with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. Although our methodology is demonstrated on two-dimensional multiphase flow in porous media, it is equally applicable to other applications described by parabolic differential equations of this kind.
Deconvolving Diffraction for Fast Imaging of Sparse Scenes

Most computer vision techniques rely on cameras which uniformly sample the 2D image plane. However, there exists a class of applications for which the standard uniform 2D sampling of the image plane is sub-optimal. This class consists of applications where the scene points of interest occupy the image plane sparsely (e.g., marker-based motion capture), and thus most pixels of the 2D camera sensor would be wasted. Recently, diffractive optics were used in conjunction with sparse (e.g., line) sensors to achieve high-speed capture of such sparse scenes. One such approach, called “Diffraction Line Imaging”, relies on the use of diffraction gratings to spread the point-spread-function (PSF) of scene points from a point to a color-coded shape (e.g., a horizontal line) whose intersection with a line sensor enables point positioning. In this paper, we extend this approach for arbitrary diffractive optical elements and arbitrary sampling of the sensor plane using a convolution-based image formation model. Sparse scenes are then recovered by formulating a convolutional coding inverse problem that can resolve mixtures of diffraction PSFs without the use of multiple sensors, extending the application of diffraction-based imaging to a new class of significantly denser scenes. For the case of a single-axis diffraction grating, we provide an approach to determine the minimal required sensor sub-sampling for accurate scene recovery. Compared to methods that use a speckle PSF from a narrow-band source or a diffuser-based PSF with a rolling shutter sensor, our approach uses spectrally-coded PSFs from broad-band sources and allows arbitrary sensor sampling, respectively. We demonstrate that the presented combination of the imaging approach and scene recovery method is well suited for high-speed marker based motion capture and particle image velocimetry (PIV) over long periods.
Benchmarking Automatic Segmentation Algorithms Against Human Interobserver Variability of Prostate and Organs at Risk Delineation on Prostate MRI.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) The objective of this study was to benchmark custom automatic segmentation software against human interobserver variability of prostate and OAR segmentation on 3D MRIs for prostate radiotherapy. We hypothesized that automatic segmentation algorithms can exhibit consistency comparable to human readers, including radiation oncologists. MATERIALS/METHODS Twenty-five patients underwent MRI-based treatment planning and quality assessment for low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPBT). All 25 patients received both treatment planning MRIs and postimplant quality assessment MRIs. The MRIs were acquired on 3T scanners with flexible external array coils and no endorectal coil. The preimplant MRIs were acquired with a 3D T2-weighted TSE sequence. The postimplant MRIs were acquired with a 3D T2/T1-weighted fully balanced SSFP sequence. Five human observers involved in the LDRPBT workflow, including 2 radiation oncologists, delineated the prostate and 4 OARs on the 50 MRIs. The OARs included the external urinary sphincter (EUS), seminal vesicles (SV), rectum, and bladder. Human interobserver variability (IoV) amongst the 5 human readers was quantified in a human observer study. Similarity metrics, including precision (P), recall (R), Jaccard index (JI), and Matthew's correlation coefficient (MCC), were quantified between unique observer pairs for all 5 organ segmentation masks. A custom deep learning-based autosegmentation algorithm was used to segment the prostate and 4 OARs simultaneously on the same 50 MRIs that were annotated by the human readers. P, R, JI, and MCC were evaluated at different probability thresholds. The comparisons were made against reference segmentation masks of the 5 organs computed from the 5 human segmentation masks using the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation algorithm. The human IoV similarity metrics were compared to the computer similarity metrics at the point of maximum MCC using two-tailed nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum tests. RESULTS For the preimplant MRIs, the computer similarity metrics (C) were lower than the human IoV similarity metrics (H) for all organs except the EUS (MCC, C vs. H: prostate - 0.868 vs. 0.903, P < 0.0001; EUS - 0.610 vs. 0.552, P = 0.1690; SV - 0.678 vs. 0.750, P = 0.0094; rectum - 0.790 vs. 0.886, P < 0.0001; bladder - 0.879 vs. 0.941, P < 0.0001). However, the opposite was observed for the postimplant MRIs; C was significantly higher than H for all 5 organs (MCC, C vs. H: prostate - 0.925 vs. 0.892, P < 0.0001; EUS - 0.743 vs. 0.620, P = 0.0003; SV - 0.849 vs. 0.760, P < 0.0001; rectum - 0.925 vs. 0.876, P < 0.0001; bladder - 0.972 vs. 0.938, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION The autosegmentation algorithm produced high quality segmentation masks for both the preimplant and postimplant MRIs. The human readers were more consistent than the autosegmentation algorithm on the T2-weighted preimplant MRIs, but the autosegmentation algorithm was more consistent than the human readers on the postimplant MRIs.