cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Postoperative Complications Following Surgery Abroad

Caring for another surgeon’s complication can be a common, albeit unpleasant, part of any surgical practice in a tertiary care facility. It comes with the territory and can define key differences between academic and community practice. Typically, the patient was cared for in a modern hospital, by a surgeon that was appropriately trained, equipped with modern and sterile equipment, and assisted by competent nursing professionals. In essence, the presenting complication could just as easily have developed in any hospital, and the care plan is understandable and predictable.
Chemical degradation of proteins: Novel pathways and products probed during accelerated stability studies

P pharmaceuticals are subject to a manifold of different degradation pathways. While hydrolytic pathways have been mechanistically characterized relatively well, oxidative and photolytic pathways continue to present a significant mechanistic and analytical problem. Chief among the issues encountered during oxidative and photolytic degradation are the continuing discovery of novel oxidation products and oxidation mechanisms. To this end a database summarizing all the potential oxidative and photolytic degradation products of protein pharmaceuticals would be useful to the analytical chemist charged with the characterization of protein pharmaceuticals. In this lecture, we present mechanistic and case studies on the characterization of novel degradation products, their formation mechanisms under accelerated stability studies as well as ambient conditions, and their generation on specific protein pharmaceuticals such as insulin, parathyroid hormone, human growth hormone, IgG1 and IgG2. Specifically for a series of Phe and Tyr oxidation products we have designed a fluorogenic tagging methodology, which allows rapid screening for such modifications.
Food elimination diets are effective for long-term treatment of adults with eosinophilic oesophagitis.

SummaryBackground Limited data describe the long-term efficacy of dietary elimination in eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE). Aim To assess the long-term outcomes of food elimination diets for treatment of adults with EoE. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study at our centre analysing all EoE patients receiving a food elimination diet without concomitant steroids. Baseline data were abstracted using standardised collection forms. Follow-up data from a mean 24.9-month period were collected for patients with a histological response to a food elimination diet during and after food reintroduction. The main outcomes were symptomatic, endoscopic and histological responses. Results Of 52 patients, 18 received a 6-food food elimination diet, 32 received targeted diet, and two received a 6-food food elimination diet with targeted elimination. There were 21 (40%) patients with an initial histological response. Responders reported less dysphagia after treatment (95% baseline vs 11%; P = .001) and at the end of follow-up (95% baseline vs 33%; P = .008). Significant and durable endoscopic improvements were recorded at the same time points: Endoscopic reference score: 3.2 vs 0.7; P = .001; and 3.2 vs 1.7; P = .06. Histological findings improved after the most restrictive diet in responders (49.8 vs 4.1 eosinophils per high-power field; P = .001) and remained suppressed in the 10 initial responders maintaining compliance at the end of follow-up (5.2 eosinophils per high-power field). Conclusions Among EoE patients responding to a food elimination diet and remaining adherent, maintenance dietary therapy produced durable long-term symptomatic, endoscopic and histological disease control. These long-term data confirm that a food elimination diet is an effective maintenance treatment option in select adults with EoE.
Infrastructure development for radioactive materials at the NSLS-II

Abstract The X-ray Powder Diffraction (XPD) Beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source-II is a multipurpose instrument designed for high-resolution, high-energy X-ray scattering techniques. In this article, the capabilities, opportunities and recent developments in the characterization of radioactive materials at XPD are described. The overarching goal of this work is to provide researchers access to advanced synchrotron techniques suited to the structural characterization of materials for advanced nuclear energy systems. XPD is a new beamline providing high photon flux for X-ray Diffraction, Pair Distribution Function analysis and Small Angle X-ray Scattering. The infrastructure and software described here extend the existing capabilities at XPD to accommodate radioactive materials. Such techniques will contribute crucial information to the characterization and quantification of advanced materials for nuclear energy applications. We describe the automated radioactive sample collection capabilities and recent X-ray Diffraction and Small Angle X-ray Scattering results from neutron irradiated reactor pressure vessel steels and oxide dispersion strengthened steels.
Comparing residential contamination in a Houston environmental justice neighborhood before and after Hurricane Harvey

Introduction Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are complex environmental toxicants. Exposure to them has been linked to adverse health outcomes including cancer, as well as diseases of the skin, liver, and immune system. Based on an ongoing community engagement partnership with stakeholder groups and residents, we conducted a small longitudinal study to assess domestic exposure to PAHs among residents of Manchester, an environmental justice neighborhood located in the East End of Houston, TX. Methods In December, 2016, we used fiber wipes to collect samples of household dust from 25 homes in Manchester. Following Hurricane Harvey, in September 2017, we revisited 24 of the 25 homes to collect soil samples from the front yards of the same homes. Wipes and soil were analyzed for the presence of PAHs using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. Principal component analysis plots, heatmaps, and PAH ratios were used to compare pre- and post-Hurricane Harvey samples. Results While direct comparison is not possible, we present three methods for comparing PAHs found in pre-hurricane fiber wipes and post-hurricane soil samples. The methods demonstrate that the PAHs found before and after Hurricane Harvey are likely from similar sources and that those sources are most likely to be associated with combustion. We also found evidence of redistribution of PAHs due to extreme flooding associated with Hurricane Harvey. Discussion Residents of the Manchester neighborhood of Houston, TX, are exposed to a range of PAHs in household dust and outdoor soil. While it was not possible to compare directly, we were able to use several methods to assess detected concentrations, changes in site-specific PAH allocations, and PAH origination. Additional research is needed to identify specific sources of domestic PAH exposure in these communities and continued work involving community members and policy makers should aim to develop interventions to reduce domestic exposure to and prevent negative health outcomes from PAHs.
Game of Transparency: The Role of Local Communities in Corporate Disclosure Strategy

This paper explores how local communities affect firm disclosure in the absence of regulatory and normative certitude. Prior studies on mandatory or voluntary disclosure emphasized higher-level political will or industry-wide collectivism as the driving force for such engagement. I argue that, when regulatory coercion and normative consensus are weak, firms rely on locality of their operations to formulate disclosure strategies. I theorize how local communities inform disclosure strategies on both temporal and spatial dimensions. Using the empirical context of fracking disclosure around 2010s, I test my theories on how fracking operators signal transparency based on the extent of community exposure to environmental damages. I find that fracking chemicals are more likely to be disclosed in communities with less historical but more recent exposure to environmental damages. Population density of the adjacent neighborhood intensifies the effect of historical exposure but attenuates the effect of recent exposure. Responsiveness to both effects multiplies if the fracking well is operated by smaller firms. Taken together, these findings highlight how locality of organizational practice drives self-regulatory behavior and advance theories towards the complexity of community influence on strategic disclosure.
Strategic locating of refuges for extreme heat events (or heat waves)

Abstract Public cooling centers are a recommended component of heat management plans aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality during extreme heat events. Access to air conditioned space is known to reduce health risks associated with heat exposure, it is not known if these facilities are well positioned to serve those who are vulnerable to heat. Other public air-conditioned spaces such as indoor shopping malls, libraries, and movie theaters are also recommended. Placement of official cooling centers near these types of facilities provides redundant coverage. As a constrained resource, these facilities could be better located in areas where other heat relief options are limited. We explored the distribution of two public cooling center networks (Los Angeles County, CA and Maricopa County, AZ) and found that significant fractions of the networks were located in areas with abundant, publically available, air-conditioned spaces Instead of allowing the networks to develop in an ad hoc nature, location analysis should be used to site a potentially life-saving resource more effectively. Using a new iterative method of the maximal covering location problem, we identified potential facilities that improve access for those who are more susceptible to heat without access to potential alternatives and identified locations for network expansion.
The international turn in Intellectual History

Historiadores de todos os campos recentemente tem se movimentado na direcao de estudos que sao descritos variadamente como internacional, transnacional, comparativo e global. Seus esforcos nao tem sido identicos em alcance, em materia ou em motivacao, e nem existe algum consenso sobre como as abordagens nao nacionais da historia deveriam ser diferenciadas entre si. A semelhanca familiar que liga essas abordagens e o desejo de ir acima ou alem das historias dos Estados definidos pelas nacoes e das nacoes delimitadas por Estados. Tomados em conjunto, esses projetos abrangem a “international turn” na escrita da historia. Nesse caso, a melhor maneira de proceder e retornar as raizes da historia intelectual, no periodo anterior ao que a historiografia fora adotada como a serva dos Estados nacionais.
Tiefe vordere Resektion bei Rektumkarzinom

Die tiefe vordere Resektion des Rektums eignet sich bei Tumorbefall im mittleren und oberen Drittel des Rektums, damit in 6–14 cm Hohe bzw. Entfernung vom Analrand.
Cytokine exocytosis and JAK/STAT activation in the Drosophila ovary requires the vesicle trafficking regulator α-Snap

How vesicle trafficking components actively contribute to regulation of paracrine signaling is unclear. We genetically uncovered a requirement for α-soluble NSF attachment protein (α-Snap) in the activation of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway during Drosophila egg development. α-Snap, a well-conserved vesicle trafficking regulator, mediates association of N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF) and SNAREs to promote vesicle fusion. Depletion of α-Snap or the SNARE family member Syntaxin1A in epithelia blocks polar cells maintenance and prevents specification of motile border cells. Blocking apoptosis rescues polar cell maintenance in α-Snap-depleted egg chambers, indicating that the lack of border cells in mutants is due to impaired signaling. Genetic experiments implicate α-Snap and NSF in secretion of a STAT-activating cytokine. Live imaging suggests that changes in intracellular Ca2+ are linked to this event. Our data suggest a cell-type specific requirement for particular vesicle trafficking components in regulated exocytosis during development. Given the central role for STAT signaling in immunity, this work may shed light on regulation of cytokine release in humans.
An approach to evaluating heuristics in abduction: a case study using RedSoar--an abductive system for red blood cell antibody identification.

Abduction, or inference to a best explanation, is a ubiquitous type of inference that is frequently used by humans in a wide range of tasks. However, many realistic domains have properties that make abduction computationally intractable (i.e., where the time to reach a solution increases exponentially with the number of possible explanations). We present a domain task analysis and performance evaluation of RedSoar, a plausible cognitive computational model of abduction, that accomplishes the antibody identification task in immunohematology. The task analysis reveals how a computationally intractable abductive problem, where one is seeking optimal solutions, can be reformulated to be a computationally tractable abductive problem, by seeking satisfactory rather then optimal solutions. From the satisfactory perspective, our evaluation framework of RedSoar's performance explores the computational benefits and costs of having directly available abstract hypothesis formation knowledge, and how a strong causal constraint between hypotheses and data reduces the combinatorial explosion of constructing a best explanation.
Study of Acoustical and Thermodynamical Properties of Aqueous Ammonium Dihydrogen Orthophosphate

Abstract Ultrasonic is an effective tool for studying the nature and strength of molecular interactions of binary mixtures. In this present work, molecular interactions of Ammonium dihydrogen orthophosphate (ADP)electrolyte were studied using Ultrasonic method. The sound velocity is one of those physical properties that helps in understanding the nature of liquid state. Ultrasound velocity, density and viscosity of ammonium dihydrogen orthophosphate electrolyte were measured at 303 K, 308 K, 313 K,318 K and 323 K. The data obtained during the study is used for determining the various acoustical parameters like acoustic impedance, adiabatic compressibility, Rao’s constant, Wada’s constant, molar and molal salvation number, molar and molal volume, molar and molal solvated volume. Thermodynamical parameters such as internal pressure, free volume and relaxation time are also calculated. Thermodynamic properties of liquid mixtures have been extensively used to study the departure of a real liquid mixture behavior from ideality. The ultrasonic study of liquids is of immense important in understanding the biological activity of drug molecules and the activation energy of the metabolic process basically depend on the type and strength of the intermolecular interactions. Ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP), also known as mono ammonium phosphate (MAP), NH4H2PO4 is often used in the blending of dry agricultural fertilizers, fire retardant for wood, paper, fabric, dispersant for fiber processing and dyeing industry, glaze for enamel, cooperating agent for fire retardant coating, decontamination agent for match stalk and candle core.
Competency or Capacity: Measuring Librarians’ Potential for Success

Core competencies have long been established in the competitive world of business and industry. These tenants lend themselves to individualization and branding, being exclusionary tools by their ve...
Association of Family Medicine Interest at Matriculation to Medical School and FMIG Participation With Eventual Practice as a Family Physician.

Background and objectives An adequate family medicine workforce is needed to improve health and health care outcomes in the United States, yet few medical students in the US become family physicians. Indicators of family medicine interest upon medical school matriculation exist. Family medicine interest groups (FMIGs) may influence student choice. This study examines the association of FMIG participation with various matriculation interest indicators to predict which students go on to become family physicians. Methods The American Medical Association Masterfile was used to identify the practice specialty of 601 graduates of the University of Washington School of Medicine who matriculated between 2003 and 2007. Graduates' scores on the Family Medicine Interest Survey (FMIS) and whether a student listed family medicine as their top choice upon matriculation along with FMIG participation and demographic characteristics were used in a binary logistic regression model to predict eventual practice. The model output was used to calculate odds ratios and predicted probabilities of family medicine practice given initial family medicine interest and FMIG participation. Results FMIG participation was associated with higher odds ratios and increased predicted probability of becoming a family physician regardless of initial interest although the magnitude of the difference varied. FMIG participants who listed family medicine as their top specialty had a 68% predicted probability of entering family medicine compared to 8% probability if they did not list family medicine first and did not participate in FMIG. FMIG participation was associated with odds ratios between 3.27-4.19 for entering family medicine regardless of FMIS score. Conclusions Among University of Washington students with family medicine as their top specialty choice upon matriculation, FMIG participation was associated with higher odds of entering the specialty. The same was true, although to a lesser degree, for students who had a high score on the FMIS.
Developmental Exposure to PCB153 (2,2’,4,4’,5,5’-Hexachlorobiphenyl) Alters Circadian Rhythms and the Expression of Clock and Metabolic Genes

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly persistent and ubiquitously distributed environmental pollutants. Based on their chemical structure, PCBs are classified into non-ortho-substituted and ortho-substituted congeners. Non-ortho-substituted PCBs are structurally similar to dioxin and their toxic effects and mode of action are well-established. In contrast, very little is known about the effects of ortho-substituted PCBs, particularly, during early development. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of exposure to an environmentally prominent ortho-substituted PCB (2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl; PCB153) on zebrafish embryos. We exposed zebrafish embryos to 3 different concentrations of PCB153 starting from 4 to 120 hours post-fertilization (hpf). We quantified gross morphological changes, behavioral phenotypes, gene expression changes, and circadian behavior in the larvae. There were no developmental defects during the exposure period, but starting at 7 dpf, we observed spinal deformity in the 10 μM PCB153 treated group. A total of 633, 2227, and 3378 differentially expressed genes were observed in 0.1 μM (0.036 μg/ml), 1 μM (0.36 μg/ml), and 10 μM (3.6 μg/ml) PCB153-treated embryos, respectively. Of these, 301 genes were common to all treatment groups. KEGG pathway analysis revealed enrichment of genes related to circadian rhythm, FoxO signaling, and insulin resistance pathways. Behavioral analysis revealed that PCB153 exposure significantly alters circadian behavior. Disruption of circadian rhythms has been associated with the development of metabolic and neurological diseases. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of action of environmental chemicals in disrupting metabolism and other physiological processes is essential.
Quantitative model of irrigation effect on maize yield by deep neural network

A rapidly expanding world population and extreme climate change have made food production a crucial challenge in the twenty-first century. Improving crop management could be an effective solution for this challenge. However, due to the associated cost and time to perform field works, researchers are widely rely on agricultural systems modeling to examine the impacts of different crop management scenarios. Meanwhile, due to the complexity of agricultural systems modeling, their applications in producing practical knowledge for producers are limited. Meanwhile, deep learning techniques have been recognized as the preferred method compared to other machine learning techniques, especially when dealing with large datasets. In addition, deep learning techniques are easily adopted by non-experts due to the feature of learning ability that can automatically discover the classifications from raw data. Meanwhile, one of the drawbacks of using deep learning techniques is the training time, which can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to even a few months. Therefore, the goal of this study is to examine the applicability of deep learning techniques to compute a numerical model of crop growth. In this study, an agricultural systems model known as the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) is used to evaluate the impacts of irrigation amount and time of application on crop yield. A deep learning network is utilized and trained by incorporating the large amounts of DSSAT models inputs (i.e., precipitation date, precipitation amount, irrigation date irrigation amount) and output (i.e., maize yield at the end of the growing season). However, in order to simplify the process, we combined the amount of irrigation and rainfall together and presented them in the form of the amount of water per day. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of this proposed deep learning technique in crop yield prediction.
2019 Reviewers of the Year: improving the quality of the journal and the field.

As we try to do each year in an early issue, we honour peer reviewers who go above and beyond in their contributions to the journal and the field by naming them as Reviewers of the Year. The glory is fleeting and the reward, an electronic subscription to Tobacco Control, lasts only 1 year, but the benefits of their work are incalculable and lasting. Nominated by one or more of our senior editorial team, each of the individuals named below has taken to heart the responsibility of a peer reviewer to be both critical and constructive, helping authors move their work to the next level. Peer reviewing is a skill, takes time to do well, and not everyone takes it seriously. Short of repeated refusals to review at all, there is nothing more disconcerting for an editor than to receive a one-sentence or two-sentence review that says something equivalent to ‘good paper’ or ‘bad paper’. Such reviews are meaningless to us, unhelpful to authors, and an abdication of scholars’ and scientists’ commitment to their field. Further, they reflect poorly on one’s scientific engagement with the field. Such remiss reviewers have often themselves benefited previously from the contributions of others to …
The Role of the Palliative Care Specialist in Perinatal Care

Perinatal palliative care specialists have become increasingly acknowledged as necessary components of counseling for families whose fetus or infant has been diagnosed with a serious or life-limiting condition. They have additional specialized training in areas such as engaging in difficult conversations, facilitating family meetings, and pain/symptom management making their involvement in difficult perinatal cases crucial. The timing of their involvement with a family should be as early as possible, ideally in the perinatal period, and as frequently as required following that initial meeting. The nature of their involvement following the birth of a baby (consultant, advocate, or overseeing provider) is dependent on the medical condition of the infant and the goals of the family. This chapter further explores in detail the often evolving role of the perinatal palliative care specialist in the setting of a clinical case.
Combating Fake News

Providing effective clinical oncology care these days includes practicing in an environment abundant with fake news, emanating from what some might otherwise consider an alternate universe. So-called facts are out there-after being twisted, manipulated, and/or just plain made up-and they create a slurry of misinformation, disinformation, or a lack of information.
From a Mint on a Hotel Pillow to an Emolument

Is President Trump illegally profiting from the Presidency? Answering this question actually requires complex constitutional interpretation that breaks new legal ground and could change the rules for all future presidents.1The answer may also impact thosewho wish to deal with President Trump’s businesses. Depending on the outcome of cases invoking the Constitution’s two Emoluments Clauses,2many commercial interactions with the Trump Organization that are kosher today, may be ruled unconstitutional tomorrow. This piece explores the early litigation over whether President Trump violated both the foreign emoluments clause and the domestic emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution. Litigation over these matters was still on-going in 2020.
A test of the efficacy of sand saltation for silt production: Implications for the interpretation of loess

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (EAR-1338331 and OISE 1658614), the Eberly Family Chair, University of Oklahoma, the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM; student grant), and the Geological Society of America (student grant).
Transition to Advanced Therapies in Elderly Patients Supported by Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Therapy.

ABSTRACT Background Although the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) continues to increase, very little is known about how age influences the transition to definitive advanced therapies. Methods Using the National Inpatient Sample database from 2008 to 2017, we analyzed patients supported by ECMO for cardiogenic shock and separated patients into 2 age cohorts: Results Over the study period, we identified 16,132 hospitalizations of people with cardiogenic shock requiring ECMO support. Significantly fewer patients in the older group underwent OHT compared to the younger group (0.4% vs 1.2%, P Conclusions Survival of patients ≥ 65 years requiring ECMO for cardiogenic shock is poor and less commonly includes transition to definitive advanced therapies. Although we must stress that no patient should be denied ECMO based solely on age, we believe our results may be helpful for providers when counseling patients and their families.
Conformation change of cytochrome c. II. Ferricytochrome c refinement at 1.8 A and comparison with the ferrocytochrome structure.

Tuna ferricytochrome c has been crystallographically refined at a resolution of 1·8 A using Diamond real-space methods followed by Jack Levitt restrained energy and reciprocal space refinement, with Fourier and difference Fourier map monitoring. The final R factor for two independent cytochromes plus 49 solvent molecules, using 16,831 reflections to 1.8 A is 20·8%. The structure is essentially the same as described at 2.0 A (Swanson et al., 1977), but the increased accuracy now permits detailed comparison with the reduced cytochrome c molecule (preceding paper). Twelve water molecules are found in identical positions in both oxidized molecules and also in the reduced. Three of these are buried: one between Asn52, Tyr67 and Thr78 to the lower left of the haem, a second inside the 20s loop, and a third below the buried haem propionate. The first of these three buried water molecules is involved in a concerted shift of side-chains and even main-chain at the bottom of the molecule, that accompanies the change in redox state of the haem. The shift of this water molecule and a slight outward movement of the haem both give the haem a more hydrophilic environment in ferricytochrome c. This same buried water molecule may be involved in the alkaline conformation transition that ferricytochrome c undergoes at pH 9·4, assisting in the replacement of Met80 by a different low-spin ligand. The absence of such transition in ferrocytochrome c until pH 12 is reached may be ascribed to the shift in water position observed in the reduced state. The water molecule buried in the 20s loop, in turn, may be involved in the acid transformation that ferricytochrome c undergoes at pH 2·5. The conformations observed by X-rays for both ferricytochrome c and ferrocytochrome c appear to be post-transfer states, i.e. states that are most compatible with the particular redox state of the haem, rather than being poised to give up or receive electrons. These conformations have been interpreted as being effects of changes in haem redox state rather than causes, but if binding to another macromolecule were to induce either conformation, then transfer of an electron might thereby be facilitated.
Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells preserves podocyte homeostasis through modulation of parietal epithelial cell activation in adriamycin-induced mouse kidney injury model

To determine the role of the transplantation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in podocyte renewal, we studied BALB/C mice with or without adriamycin-induced acute kidney injury. MSCs were transplanted ectopically under the capsule of the left kidney or into the peritoneal cavity after the onset of kidney injury to test testing their local or systemic paracrine effects, respectively. Adriamycin produced increases in urine protein: creatinine ratios, blood urea nitrogen, and blood pressure, which improved after both renal subcapsular and intraperitoneal MSCs transplants. The histological changes of adriamycin kidney changes regressed in both kidneys and in only the ipsilateral kidney after intraperitoneal or renal subcapsular transplants indicating that the benefits of transplanted MSCs were related to the extent of paracrine factor distribution. Analysis of kidney tissues for p57-positive parietal epithelial cells (PECs) showed that MSC transplants restored adriamycin-induced decreases in the abundance of these cells to normal levels, although after renal subcapsular transplants these changes did not extend to contralateral kidneys. Moreover, adriamycin caused inflammatory activation of PECs with coexpression of CD44 and phospho-ERK, which was normalized in both or only ipsilateral kidneys depending on whether MSCs were transplanted in the peritoneal cavity or subcapsular space, respectively.
Dynamic Analysis and Control of a Repulsive Force Maglev Vehicle's Translational Motions

The translational dynamic characteristics and optimal control of a repulsive force Maglev system are presented. The three degree of freedom (DOF) dynamics of the vehicle's translational motions and the effective control scheme were studied including the mass center offset effects. The analysis and simulation results showed that the system dynamics are intrinsically unstable (marginally stable), particularly the vehicle is oscillated at the take off stage due to the mass center offset. An optimal, multi-input multi-output, linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control was designed and validated for the instable dynamics' compensation and ride quality improvement.
Neuroimaging Somatosensory and Therapeutic Alliance Mechanisms Supporting Acupuncture

Acupuncture consists of multiple components, and neuroimaging studies are beginning to tease apart potential brain-based mechanisms supporting this nonpharmacologic intervention. Brain imaging in patient populations is important for the acupuncture neuroimaging field, and recent studies have incorporated neuroimaging into a clinical trial framework for improved ecological validity in extending results to be more relevant for clinical practice. For instance, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research with patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome has suggested cortical plasticity as a mechanism supporting acupuncture analgesia. In turn, the patient-acupuncturist relationship is another important aspect of acupuncture analgesia, and recent hyperscan fMRI research has begun to explore brain-based mechanisms underlying therapeutic alliance between patient and clinician, and how this might impact acupuncture analgesia. Ultimately, neuroimaging has shown great promise in the past several decades in opening a window into brain function to better appreciate the mechanisms supporting acupuncture. As acupuncture likely operates via multiple distinct mechanisms of action, teasing apart the constituent aspects of acupuncture therapy in humans will be an important goal for current and future neuroimaging research studies.
Modeling extracurricular activity participation with physical and mental health in college students over time.

Objective: To describe extracurricular activity participation and explore its relationship with college students' health. Participants: 159 college students majoring in dental hygiene or occupational therapy. Methods: Data were collected prospectively at baseline, one- and two-year follow-ups. Self-reported participation in extracurricular activities over the past six months was grouped into eight categories: Fitness, Sports, Creative arts, Leisure, Social, Work, Caregiving, and Animal care. Physical and mental health were measured using SF-36, a valid tool measuring general health. Results: Participation in fitness, sports, creative arts, and work significantly decreased at one-year and two-year follow-ups (p < 0.01). Work/volunteer activity participation was associated with poorer physical health (β = -1.4, 95% CI: (-2.2, -0.5), p < 0.01), but a change from nonparticipation to some participation in work/volunteer activity was associated with better mental health (β = 2.6, 95% CI (0.3, 4.9), p = 0.04). Conclusions: Educators should consider the potential impact of maintaining extracurricular activities on college students' health when designing academic courses.
Why Try? The Superstar Effect in Academic Performance

Although the superstar effect has been documented in sports tournaments, there are few empirical tests outside sports. We estimate the impact of superstars in a classroom. We find that college students in a classroom with superior academic performers earn grades about 1% lower than when they are in classrooms without such outliers. Outliers at the bottom end of the distribution are also harmful. Since high achievers perform worse in the presence of outliers at both the top and low end of the academic distribution, we argue that the manipulation of incentives is the mechanism behind our estimated effect.
The gathering storm: Eduardo Frei’s Revolution in Liberty and Chile’s Cold War: Sebastian Hurtado-Torres, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2020), xvi + 233 pp.

The damage of the United States’ efforts to pursue its international agenda is unearthed after each new disaster in the international arena. Helicopters leaving Saigon or cargo airplanes taking off...
Power-Sharing and Minority Rights: The Case of Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia

This paper investigates to what extent is consociational power-sharing compatible with and supportive of key principles of minority rights. For this, it analyses the Dayton Agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Ohrid Accord for North Macedonia to understand how minority rights has been shaped by the consociational arrangements in both states. Linked by a common past and interconnected socio-political dynamics, both countries are engaged in a process of stabilization and consolidation of their democratic and institutional structures in the broader context of convergence and respect for fundamental rights. In the body politic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia, consociation in practice means integrating the interests and concerns of various groups in policy formulation and decision-making. The purpose is to minimize the prospects of conflicts and facilitate social, political, and economic improvement in an atmosphere of peace for all citizens. It was a question of reaching a balance between the divergent positions and existential fears to guarantee both immediate and progressive stability, from peacebuilding to peace-enforcing. In addition, the consociational modalities provided the most obvious and acceptable framework for mediating mistrust and enmity between the diverse groups amid structural weaknesses. Hence, examining minority rights in both states is essential regarding the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights. This position gains more eminence due to human dignity, diversity, and a sense of pride in one’s own culture and identity. Nevertheless, this paper uncovers that the protection of minority rights in the power-sharing systems is without problems as minorities encounter challenges in projecting their interests.
The pretense debate

In a number of publications, Alan Leslie and colleagues have developed a theory of the psychological mechanisms underlying pretense. This theory maintains that pretense is an early manifestation of "theory of mind" or "mindreading" - the capacity to attribute mental states to oneself and others. Nichols and Stich proposed an alternative theory of pretense on which pretense in young children does not require mindreading. Rather, they argued, young children have a behavioral understanding of pretense. In a lengthy critique, Friedman and Leslie made a persuasive case that the Nichols and Stich theory cannot account for the early emergence of children's capacity to engage in joint pretense and recognize pretense in others. In this paper, we set out a new "pretense game" theory of pretense that avoids the problems raised by Friedman and Leslie, and does not require that children who engage in joint pretense must have a theory of mind. We go on to argue that our pretense game theory can explain many of the facts about pretense that go unexplained in Leslie's theory. The central shortcoming of Leslie's theory is that it attempts to explain the production and recognition of pretense behavior by positing the existence of an innate concept, without explaining how this concept enables those who have it to recognize or produce pretense behavior.
A new earliest Paleocene (Puercan) arctocyonid mammal from the Fort Union Formation, Great Divide Basin, Wyoming, and its phylogenetic position among early ‘condylarths’

A new arctocyonid ‘condylarth’, Sigynorum magnadivisus gen. et sp. nov., is described from a recently discovered earliest Paleocene (early Puercan) fauna from the China Butte Member of the Fort Union Formation in the Great Divide Basin, southern Wyoming. Based on a sample of 18 specimens (including 14 partial dentaries) whose combined dentitions represent the p2, p4 and m1–3, the new taxon appears most similar in size and molar morphology to the early Puercan arctocyonid Oxyprimus erikseni, but differs in its p4 morphology. To examine the relationship between S. magnadivisus and other Puercan ‘condylarths’ from the Western Interior of North America, a phylogenetic analysis was performed, utilizing 23 taxa (including 21 ‘condylarth’ species and the outgroup taxa Cimolestes and Gypsonictops) and 73 dental characters. The resulting strict consensus tree of 248 steps confirms the close relationship between S. magnadivisus and O. erikseni. Interestingly, our phylogenetic analysis also suggests that Puercan Per...
Identification of Ethanol and 4-Nitroquinoline-1-Oxide Induced Epigenetic and Oxidative Stress Markers During Oral Cavity Carcinogenesis

Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a cancer that is characterized by its high morbidity and mortality rates. While tobacco use and alcohol consumption are 2 major contributing factors for HNSCC carcinogenesis, how the combination of tobacco and alcohol increases HNSCC risk is not understood. Methods We combined the 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4-NQO) oral carcinogenesis and Meadows–Cook alcohol mouse models to elucidate the molecular events and to identify the novel biomarkers associated with oral cancer development. Results By genome-wide RNA-seq of tongue samples (3 mice per group), we identified changes in transcripts that mediate alcohol metabolism and oxidative stress (Aldh2, Aldh1a3, Adh1, Adh7, and Cyp2a5) in mice treated with 4-NQO followed by ethanol (4-NQO/EtOH) as compared to the vehicle control/untreated (V.C./Untr.) samples. We measured major, global increases in specific histone acetylation and methylation epigenetic marks (H3K27ac, H3K9/14ac, H3K27me3, and H3K9me3) in the oral cavities of V.C./EtOH, 4-NQO/Untr., and 4-NQO/EtOH treatment groups compared to the V.C./Untr. group. We detected changes in histone epigenetic marks near regulatory regions of genes involved in ethanol metabolism by chromatin immunoprecipitation. For instance, the Aldh2 promoter showed increased H3K27me3 marks, and Aldh2 mRNA levels were reduced by 10-fold in 4NQO/EtOH versus V.C./Untr. tongue samples. 4-NQO/EtOH treatment also caused increases in markers of oxidative stress, including 4-HNE, MCT4/SLC16a3, and TOM20, as measured by immunohistochemistry. Conclusions We delineate a mechanism by which 4-NQO and ethanol can regulate gene expression during the development of HNSCC and suggest that histone epigenetic marks and oxidative stress markers could be the novel biomarkers and targets for the prevention of HNSCC.
A Few Contributions of Economic Theory to Social Welfare Policy Analysis

The National Association of Social Workers' (NASW) code of ethics states that social workers have a professional obligation to advocate for social policies that promote the general welfare. Presumably, in an effort to provide social workers with the analytical tools that would allow them to do so, schools of social work typically require students to do course work in the area of social welfare policy. Although these courses provide students with valuable information, the author's view is that they tend to be limited in one important respect. They usually do not contain a great deal of content on how technical economic theory can be utilized in the examination of many of the social welfare policy issues that are of interest to social workers. This is unfortunate because, despite having limitations of its own, economics provides a powerful set of conceptual tools that are extremely useful in the analysis of social welfare policy issues. The rest of this paper is an attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of economics in this respect.
Cyclic transmembrane charge transport by pyrylium ions in a vesicle-based photocatalytic system

Solar energy is being used for power generation, but also attracts increasing interest as a renewable energy source for the photocatalytic production of useful chemicals. Simple systems based on vesicles with transmembrane redox mediators have been used to transform photon energy into long-lived, membrane-separated photoredox products1,2,3,4,5,6. However, these systems are not suitable for high-throughput applications because the transmembrane electron carriers are oxidized inside the vesicle into charged species that are no longer able to readily traverse the membrane bilayer. This leads to continuous trapping of these carriers during photolysis and, ultimately, to the termination of the redox reaction due to accumulation of the available carriers within the vesicle interior. Living cells circumvent this problem by using quinones to simultaneously transport electrons and protons, thus allowing the carrier to remain neutral in its reduced and oxidized states and so retain the ability to undergo transmembrane diffusion throughout the redox cycle. But the incorporation of quinones into artificial systems is not practical because of their susceptibility to oxidative degradation and slow transmembrane diffusion7. Here we describe an alternative mechanism for rapid electroneutral charge transport across vesicle membranes: we use pyrylium cations as the electron carrier, which undergo reversible ring-opening hydrolysis to form neutral diketones after deposition of the electron inside the vesicle. As the pyrylium cations are also the primary acceptors for the photoproduced electrons, our approach greatly simplifies the design of vesicle-based photocatalytic devices.
Enhanced VQ-based algorithms for speech independent speaker identification

Weighted distance measure and discriminative training are two different directions to enhance VQ-based solutions for speaker identification. In the first direction, the partition normalized distance measure successfully used normalized feature components to account for varying importance of the LPC coefficients. In the second direction, the group vector quantization speeded up discriminative training by randomly selecting a group of vectors as a training unit in each learning step. This paper introduces an alternative, called heuristic weighted distance, to linearly lift up higher order MFCC feature vector components. Then two new algorithms are proposed to combine the heuristic weighted distance and the partition normalized distance measure with the group vector quantization to take full advantage of both directions. Testing on the TIMIT and NTIMIT corpora showed that the proposed methods are superior to current VQ-based solutions, and are in a comparable range to the Gaussian Mixture Model using the Wavelet or MFCC features.
Design guidelines for reducing the impact of metal interference structures on the performance on-chip antennas

The increase in the operating frequency and the projected die size to 2.4/spl times/2.4 cm/sup 2/ for CMOS circuits has led to a feasibility study for wireless interconnection utilizing microwaves within ICs with integrated antennas for distributing high frequency signals (O, K.K. et al., GOMAC, p.306-9, 1999). A possible use is for clock distribution. The power transmission gain and phase of the antenna pair (between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna) are key factors determining the feasibility of the whole system. A serious concern is that metal structures, such as bus lines or power lines, near an antenna can act as interference structures and significantly affect the on-chip antenna characteristics, such as the gain, phase, and S/sub 11/. To study the effects of metal structures on antennas, a test chip with various metal interference structures was fabricated using a three metal layer process. Based on evaluation of the structures, a set of design guidelines for reducing the impact of the structures to gain and S/sub 11/ has been developed. Additionally, use of an aluminum nitride (AlN) propagating layer under a silicon wafer to improve antenna pair gain in the presence of interference structures is also investigated.
Service Implementation in Emerging Human Service Agencies

This study assesses the effects of three sets of variable on the implementation of selected services in a sample of drug treatment agencies. The three sets of variables are: (a) sources of information valued by agency personel; (b) structural and process characteristics of the agency; and (c) characteristics of the community in which the agency is located. The central hypothesis of the study is that, due to the emergent nature of drug treatment agencies, implementation of their services will be more influenced by the sources of information valued by agency personnel and/or characteristics of the community than by the structural and process characteristics of the agency itself. Contrary to this general hypothesis, findings indicate that structural and process characteristics of these emergent organizations have the most pervasive effect on the implementation of agency services. The implications of these findings are discussed.