cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sweetened ethanol drinking during social isolation: enhanced intake, resistance to genetic heterogeneity and the emergence of a distinctive drinking pattern in adolescent mice.

With its ease of availability during adolescence, sweetened ethanol ('alcopops') is consumed within many contexts. We asked here whether genetically based differences in social motivation are associated with how the adolescent social environment impacts voluntary ethanol intake. Mice with previously described differences in sociability (BALB/cJ, C57BL/6J, FVB/NJ and MSM/MsJ strains) were weaned into isolation or same-sex pairs (postnatal day 21), and then given continuous access to two fluids on postnatal days 34-45: One containing water and the other containing a ascending series of saccharin-sweetened ethanol (3-to-6-to-10%). Prior to the introduction of ethanol (postnatal days 30-33), increased water and food intake was detected in some of the isolation-reared groups, and controls indicated that isolated mice also consumed more 'saccharin-only' solution. Voluntary drinking of 'ethanol-only' was also higher in a subset of the isolated groups on postnatal days 46-49. However, sweetened ethanol intake was increased in all isolated strain-by-sex combinations irrespective of genotype. Surprisingly, blood ethanol concentration was not different between these isolate and socially housed groups 4 hours into the dark phase. Using lickometer-based measures of intake in FVB mice, we identified that a predominance of increased drinking during isolation transpired outside of the typical circadian consumption peak, occurring ≈ 8.5 hours into the dark phase, with an associated difference in blood ethanol concentration. These findings collectively indicate that isolate housing leads to increased consumption of rewarding substances in adolescent mice independently of their genotype, and that for ethanol this may be due to when individuals drink during the circadian cycle.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Language: en
The Sixth Sense? [Turnstile]

For many years, scientists have known that certain biological organisms ranging from bacteria to birds possess the faculty of magnetoreception, i.e., the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. But do human beings also have this sixth sense? Recent research from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) offers some tantalizing clues.
Radar-Derived Properties of the InSight Landing Site in Western Elysium Planitia on Mars

We carried out an assessment of surface and subsurface properties based on radar observations of the region in western Elysium Planitia selected as the landing site for the InSight mission. Using observations from Arecibo Observatory and from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Shallow Radar (SHARAD), we examined the near-surface properties of the landing site, including characterization of reflectivity, near-surface roughness, and layering. In the Arecibo data (12.6-cm wavelength), we found a radar-reflective surface with no unusual properties that would cause problems for the InSight radar altimeter (7-cm wavelength). In addition, the moderately low backscatter strength is indicative of a relatively smooth surface at ${\sim} 10\mbox{-cm}$ scales that is composed of load-bearing materials and should not present a hazard for landing safety. For roughness at 10–100 m scales derived from SHARAD data, we find relatively low values in a narrow distribution, similar to those found at the Phoenix and Opportunity landing sites. The power of returns at InSight is similar to that at Phoenix and thus suggestive of near-surface layering, consistent with a layer of regolith over bedrock (e.g., lava flows) that is largely too shallow ( ${<}10\mbox{--}20~\mbox{m}$ ) for SHARAD to discern distinct reflectors. However, an isolated area outside of the ellipse chosen in 2015 for InSight’s landing shows faint returns that may represent such a contact at depths of ${\sim} 20\mbox{--}43~\mbox{m}$ .
Integrating HIV Prevention and Relationship Education for Young Same-Sex Male Couples: A Pilot Trial of the 2GETHER Intervention

Young men who have sex with men are at high risk for HIV, and most new HIV infections occur in serious relationships. This pilot study assessed the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of the 2GETHER couples-based HIV prevention and relationship education intervention for young same-sex male couples. We enrolled 57 young male couples (N = 114) into a four-session hybrid group and individual intervention. We assessed acceptability via post-session surveys and exit interviews, and we examined preliminary efficacy at a two week posttest. The vast majority of participants (93%) reported exclusively positive impressions of 2GETHER, and all components received high mean ratings. We observed decreases in HIV risk behavior, increases in information, motivation and behavioral skills related to HIV prevention, and improvement in relationship investment between pretest and posttest. Integrating relationship education and sexual health programming may be an effective way to reduce HIV transmissions in young male couples.
Clinician-led, peer-led, and internet-delivered dissonance-based eating disorder prevention programs: Acute effectiveness of these delivery modalities.

Objective Because independent trials have provided evidence for the efficacy and effectiveness of the dissonance-based Body Project eating disorder prevention program, the present trial tested whether clinicians produce the largest intervention effects, or whether delivery can be task-shifted to less expensive undergraduate peer educators or to Internet delivery without effect size attenuation, focusing on acute effects. Method In this study, 680 young women (Mage = 22.2 years, SD = 7.1) recruited at colleges in 2 states were randomized to clinician-led Body Project groups, peer-led Body Project groups, the Internet-based eBody Project, or an educational video control condition. Results Participants in all 3 variants of the Body Project intervention showed significantly greater reductions in eating disorder risk factors and symptoms than did educational video controls. Participants in clinician-led and peer-led Body Project groups showed significantly greater reductions in risk factors than did eBody Project participants, but effects for the 2 types of groups were similar. Eating disorder onset over 7-month follow-up was significantly lower for peer-led Body Project group participants versus eBody Project participants (2.2% vs. 8.4%) but did not differ significantly between other conditions. Conclusions The evidence that all 3 dissonance-based prevention programs outperformed an educational video condition, that both group-based interventions outperformed the Internet-based intervention in risk factor reductions, and that the peer-led groups showed lower eating disorder onset over follow-up than did the Internet-based intervention is novel. These acute-effects data suggest that both group-based interventions produce superior eating disorder prevention effects than does the Internet-based intervention and that delivery can be task-shifted to peer leaders. (PsycINFO Database Record
Non-invasive diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using ultrasound image echogenicity

This paper introduces a non-invasive, quantitative technique to diagnose the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The method is predicated on two fundamental principles: 1) the speed of sound in a fatty liver is lower than that in a healthy liver and 2) the quality of an ultrasound image is maximized when the beamformer's speed of sound matches the true speed of sound in the tissue being examined. The proposed method uses the echogenicity of an ultrasound image as a quantitative measure to estimate the true speed of sound within the liver parenchyma and capture its correlation with the underlying fat content. The proposed technique was evaluated in simulations and then tested ex vivo on sheep liver, mice liver (healthy and fatty) and tissue-mimicking phantoms. In the case of the phantom and sheep liver, the method was able to estimate the true speed of sound with errors of less than 0.5%; in the case of the mice livers, the method was able to accurately estimate the speed of sound within the livers (less than 1% error) and capture the correlation between fat content and speed of sound. Thereby, demonstrating the capability of ultrasound technology to non-invasively, quantitatively, and accurately diagnose NAFLD at point of care.
The Costs of Belonging: How Spending Money Influences Social Relationships in College.

This study sought to better understand the relationship between access to spending money and students’ social relationships with peers through a survey and four follow-up focus groups at a public r...
Pathophysiological Bases of Comorbidity: Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Abstract The high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnoses encountered in recent years by the United States Veterans Affairs Healthcare System have increased public awareness and research investigation into these conditions. In this review, we analyze the neural mechanisms underlying the TBI/PTSD comorbidity. TBI and PTSD present with common neuropsychiatric symptoms including anxiety, irritability, insomnia, personality changes, and memory problems, and this overlap complicates diagnostic differentiation. Interestingly, both TBI and PTSD can be produced by overlapping pathophysiological changes that disrupt neural connections termed the “connectome.” The neural disruptions shared by PTSD and TBI and the comorbid condition include asymmetrical white matter tract abnormalities and gray matter changes in the basolateral amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. These neural circuitry dysfunctions result in behavioral changes that include executive functio...
Method used during forced interruptions in open hearth operations

The Question: “How to shutdown a basic open hearth furnace for both known and varying lengths of time?” is one which operators are unfortunately too frequently called upon to answer.
PCM Array Architecture and Management

This chapter discusses architectural solutions and cell management algorithms for a large PCM array. The “large” attribute is fundamental in the architectural definition, as the only cell that is suitable for a high-density array is the one where the selector size matches the size of the memory element. Due to the relatively high PCM cell operating currents, a bipolar junction transistor is the selector of choice for the PCM cell, offering the best current density in a small footprint among other devices. The use of a BJT selector needs a special care compared, for example, to an MOS selector, as the BJT base current is affecting substantially the array biasing. At the highest current density used in program operations, the BJT gain drops, and a large portion of the bit line current is transferred to the word line; for this reason in the chapter, the BJT is often referred to as a “diode” even though a fraction of the cell current is still sinked by the collector node. Reference for technology platform on which this study is based can be found in Servalli (IEDM Tech Dig).
Multi-Port Network: Z- and Y-Parameters

This chapter deals with distributed media with some spatial variations where there are multiple input sources and multiple output observation points. The most common scenario is a 2D conductor slab with multiple ports, where the ports are stimulated by a voltage/current source and the goal is to find the ports current/voltage values, respectively. Putting aside scattering parameters (which are dealt with in the next chapter), the current chapter focuses on three methods: flat RLC grid, impedance (Z-)parameters, and admittance (Y -)parameters. In the flat-grid method we simply discretize the slab into RLC elements, do KVL/KCL for all nodes and branches, and then solve for all voltages and currents. For Z-parameters we derive the impedance matrix by selectively stimulating each port with a current source and observing voltage at all ports. Once the impedance matrix is ready, all that has to be done is to multiply it by any new current vector to give us all port voltages. Similarly for Y -parameters we derive the admittance matrix by selectively stimulating each port with a voltage source and observing current at all ports. Once the admittance matrix is ready, all that has to be done is to multiply it by any new voltage vector to give us all port currents. Of course each of Z-and Y -parameters could be frequency dependent, and hence will build on spectral methods. We wrap the chapter by illustrating the relation between the Z- and Y -matrix.
Quasi-experimental design

Quasi-experiments are similar to randomized controlled trials in many respects, but there are many challenges in designing and conducting a quasi-experiment when internal validity threats are intro...
Suicide interventions in primary care: A selective review of the evidence.

Introduction About half of people who die by suicide visit their primary care provider (PCP) within 1 month of doing so, compared with fewer than 1 in 5 contacting specialty mental health. Thus, primary care is an important setting for improving identification and treatment of suicide risk. This review identifies and summarizes evidence for the effectiveness of intervention components for suicide risk in primary care. Method We searched the PsycINFO database to identify relevant articles. We considered publications reporting the effectiveness of a packaged intervention for management of suicide risk in primary care or any other brief (i.e., single-session) intervention for suicide risk in the present review. Results Four major components to suicide interventions in primary care emerged: (a) educating practitioners, (b) screening for suicide risk and/or mood disturbance, (c) managing depression symptoms, and (d) assessing and managing suicide risk. Although practitioner education and screening for suicide risk are important, they are insufficient for effective suicide prevention programs. Collaborative treatment of depression by multidisciplinary teams can reduce rates of suicidal ideation in primary care patients. Recent evidence also indicates a single-session crisis response planning intervention may be effective at reducing suicidal ideation and attempts. Discussion Integration of behavioral health specialists trained in suicide risk assessment and management could be important for improving suicide prevention in primary care patients. This condensed review of the evidence serves as a resource for practitioners who are hoping to implement brief, effective interventions for suicide risk to better serve their patients. (PsycINFO Database Record
Forgiveness in Counseling: A Philosophical Perspective

There is, in the contemporary world of counseling, an increasingly visible movement called “philosophical counseling”—a movement that seeks to make the discipline of philosophy more central to counseling than the discipline of psychology. Although this movement has just started to gain attention in America, it has already attained some prominence in other countries—e.g. Israel, Germany and Holland.1 It seems that the influence of philosophy on the practice of counseling is currently of sufficient weight that even some who would not identify themselves as philosophical counselors now impose philosophical constraints on their psychological research and practice. For example: A recent essay by psychologist Robert D. Enright on forgiveness in counseling, an essay to be discussed in more detail later, explicitly makes “philosophical rationality” a condition of appropriateness in counseling.
Perspectives on Space and Time in US and Chinese Science

The pursuit of scientific knowledge has evolved along different paths in Chinese and Western civilizations. Bridging the human and natural sciences, geography is about the dynamic interaction between humanity and its environment. Space and time are naturally the prime concern in the field of geography. In the US, the debate between nomothetic and idiographic perspectives has been to some degree addressed through the advent of geographic information systems. Impacted by a unique culture, traditional Chinese science is primarily descriptive, with rather restricted dissemination. But China is quickly catching up with the Western world’s approach to modern science. Empowered by the increasingly rapid development of information technology, geography is entering into a Big Data age in which detailed spatial data can be collected by volunteers and the general public in a timely manner. Despite barriers to data sharing and other difficulties within the Chinese science community, the gap between the US and Chinese science is expected to decrease in the future. In the meantime, we anticipate that many new discoveries in geographic knowledge will be made through international collaboration under the framework of a more complete coupling of space and time.
Role of free protein S and C4b binding protein in regulating the coagulant response to Escherichia coli

Previous studies showed that infusion of C4b-binding protein with sublethal Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the primate produced a consumptive coagulopathy followed by microvascular thrombosis and renal failure. The first objective of this study was to characterize the pathophysiology and mechanism of this phenomena following infusion of both these agents with emphasis on defining the role of free protein S. The second objective was to examine the relevance of this model to the hemolytic uremic syndrome. Infusion of C4b-binding protein alone reduced free protein S and decreased platelet concentration to 20% of baseline, whereas infusion of the C4b-binding protein/protein S complex did not. There was no activation of other inflammatory or coagulant factors. Infusion of sublethal E coli alone produced a transient inflammatory response with no reduction of free protein S. However, coinfusion of C4b-binding protein with sublethal E coli reduced free protein S and produced a thrombocytopenia, anemia, and a microvascular thrombotic response, whereas infusion of the C4b-binding protein/protein S complex with sublethal E coli did not. Studies comparing the effects of neutralizing (S-163) and nonneutralizing (S-145) antibodies with protein S coinfused with sublethal E coli produced similar contrasting results. Therefore, we concluded that neutralization of free protein S, and not some other property of C4b-binding protein influenced by protein S, accounted for this microvascular thrombotic response. This response is similar to the hemolytic uremic syndrome characterized by thrombocytopenia, anemia, shistocytosis, and renal glomerular thrombosis with uremia. Comparison of the respective renal histopathologic appearance supports this conclusion. This raises the possibility that inhibition of protein S activity (possibly by one of the forms of C4b-binding proteins) might be one of the factors contributing to microvascular thrombotic disorder, such as the hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The MYC Network and Cancer

Deregulation of c-Myc (referred to as MYC] contributes to the development of the most human tumors [1–3]. In addition to MYC, the Myc gene family contains three related genes, N-Myc, L-Myc, and S-Myc, which are also implicated in the genesis of specific human tumors (for review, see ref [4]). MYC is a nuclear transcription factor, which is first identified as the cellular homologue of the cancer-causing gene in the avian myelocytomatosis retrovirus [5]. MYC functions in a heterodimeric complex with MAX to bind E-Box motifs in DNA, and transcriptionally regulates hundreds to thousands of target genes. The most recent estimates suggest that MYC could regulate as many as 15% of genes in genomes from flies to human [6]. A compilation of MYC-regulated genes and studies on MYC alterations in human cancers is available online at www.myccancergene.org [6]. This database emphasizes both the critical role of MYC in human cancers and the significance of MYC target genes in driving its oncogenic activity. The target genes are involved in diverse programs including cell cycle, cell growth, protein synthesis, cell adhesion and cytoskeleton, metabolism, apoptosis, angiogenesis, DNA repair, and microRNA [6–8]. The diversity of MYC target genes is illustrated in Fig. 24.1. Numerous excellent and comprehensive reviews have been written about MYC [9–12]. Therefore, in this chapter, we will focus mainly on the role of MYC in cancer with the emphasis on the most recent findings.
Feasibility and user experience of virtual reality fashion stores

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-simulated, realistic three-dimensional environment. VR heightens a user’s sense of being in the environment and enables the user to interact with the environment. We propose that VR can be a very cost-effective way to evaluate fashion retail store designs because of the ease of developing and adjusting the store designs as well as its ability to allow users to closely mimic the real store shopping experience. Also, these benefits create an opportunity for consumer researchers to investigate realistic shopper behaviors. In order to assess the effectiveness of using VR fashion retail store models in developing store designs and in understanding the way shoppers interact with the stores, an experiment with 40 female undergraduate students was conducted. This case study was written to share the advantage of using VR and the challenges VR uniquely presents with both fashion retailers and scholars. Implications for fashion retail store designers and managers as well as consumer researchers are discussed.
Evaluating the performance of gene-based tests of genetic association when testing for association between methylation and change in triglyceride levels at GAW20

Although methylation data continues to rise in popularity, much is still unknown about how to best analyze methylation data in genome-wide analysis contexts. Given continuing interest in gene-based tests for next-generation sequencing data, we evaluated the performance of novel gene-based test statistics on simulated data from GAW20. Our analysis suggests that most of the gene-based tests are detecting real signals and maintaining the Type I error rate. The minimum p value and threshold-based tests performed well compared to single-marker tests in many cases, especially when the number of variants was relatively large with few true causal variants in the set.
Instructional Heuristics for the Use of Worked Examples to Manage Instructional Designers’ Cognitive Load while Problem-Solving

Research focusing on the complexities faced by instructional designers have called for pedagogical strategies to equip instructional designers with the ability to problem solve and make decisions. One of the most widely studied strategies for managing cognitive load is the use of worked examples, which provides an alternative to traditional problem solving by presenting the learner with a step-by-step model for approaching and solving a problem. This paper synthesizes the literature examining how worked examples are being used as an instructional strategy to promote solving ill-structured problems in various disciplines. It is argued that incorporating instructional heuristics utilizing worked examples will alleviate cognitive load imposed on instructional designers as they acquire skills to demonstrate mastery in conceptual, strategic, and conditional knowledge domains.
Clarifying Indeterminate Results on the Rabies Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test Using Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Objectives:Each year, rabies virus infection results in the death of more than 50 000 persons worldwide. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 23 human...
Role of in vivo confocal microscopy in the diagnosis of infectious keratitis.

To investigate the utility of in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in the diagnosis of infectious keratitis (IK). Retrospective chart review of 46 patients with a final diagnosis of IK were included in the study. All patients received IVCM corneal imaging using the Heidelberg Retinal Tomography III system. All available scans were randomized and analyzed in a masked fashion. Sensitivity and specificity of IVCM in diagnosing bacterial keratitis (BK), Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), fungal keratitis (FK), and HSV viral keratitis (VK) were assessed. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of IVCM in identifying atypical IK (AK and FK cases combined) were 85.3% (95% CI 68.2–94.5%) and 100% (95% CI 74.7–100%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of IVCM in identifying BK were 66.7% (95% CI 35.4–88.7%) and 89.2% (95% CI 73.4–96.5%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of IVCM in identifying VK were 100% (95% CI 46.3–100%) and 93.2% (95% CI 80.3–98.2%). Additionally, IVCM was able to make the correct diagnosis in 8 out of the 11 atypical keratitis cases misdiagnosed clinically. In the AK subgroup, IVCM was more accurate than clinical assessment (16 vs. 11). In the FK subgroup, IVCM were as accurate as clinical assessment, but did correct one misdiagnosed cases by identfying fungal hyphae. IVCM is an non-invasive imaging modality that can rapidly and accurately diagnose IK even for experienced corneal specialists. In complex cases of polymicrobial infection, IVCM may guide the correct clinical diagnosis and initiation of the appropriate treatment.
Novel perfluoroalkyl-substituted pyrazoles. 1. Hydroxypyrazoles

Addition of methylhydrazine to a variety of haloalkyl-substituted α,β-unsaturated esters gives 1,5-disubstituted 3-hydroxypyrazoles, in contrast to the more common synthesis from β-ketoesters, which gives 1,3-disubstituted 5-hydroxypyrazoles. This reaction is used to prepare several novel pyrazoles bearing haloalkyl substituents. Criteria for assignment of structures have been developed based on physical and spectroscopic properties of the isomers. The regiochemical preference in this addition is considered on the basis of steric, electronic, and mechanistic factors.
Univariate and Multivariate Models for Determination of Prasugrel Base in the Formulation of Prasugrel Hydrochloride Using XRPD Method.

Abstract Prasugrel hydrochloride (PHCl) undergoes salt disproportionation, and the resulting prasugrel free base (PFB) may lead to the poor in vitro and or in vivo performance of the drug product. The aim of the present work was to develop univariate and multivariate models based on X-ray powder diffraction to quantify the salt and base in the powder and tablet formulations. Compositionally identical formulations of PHCl and PFB were prepared and mixed in various proportions to make 0%-30% PFB sample matrices. The formulations consisted of commonly used excipients, which are generally used in commercially available products. X-ray powder diffraction data were collected and subjected to the least square regression and partial least square regression analysis. The model performance parameters such as root mean squared and standard errors were low for univariate models compared to partial least square regression multivariate models. Model predicted values of the independent sample matrices by both methods matched closely with the actual values of PFB and PHCl. However, residual and standard deviation were low in univariate models predicted values. The models developed in this work have been shown to quantitate the PHCl disproportionation to PFB fraction in the drug product and provide a means to control the disproportionation of PHCl.
Abstract 4728: IFNγ signaling drives EZH2 degradation to induce MHC-II expression in melanoma

Background: The molecular mechanisms governing anti-PD-1 resistance in melanoma are not fully understood. Suboptimal transcriptional and molecular response to interferon-gamma (IFNγ) is commonly identified in tumors with intrinsic or acquired resistance to anti-PD-1. Epigenetic regulators have been shown to reprogram IFNγ responses in some cases, though the mechanism is not clear. The ability of melanoma cells to express MHC-II is a positive clinical predictor to anti-PD-1 therapy, and MHC-II is induced only on cells with robust IFNγ responses. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), an epigenetic regulator with both methyltransferase-dependent and -independent function, can suppress IFNγ target genes and is frequently overexpressed in melanoma. However, the mechanisms whereby EZH2 interacts with the IFNγ pathway and its role in melanoma-specific MHC-II expression is not known. Methods: HLA-DR (MHC-II)-proficient (A375, SKMEL28 and SKMEL5) and -deficient (CHL-1 and MEWO) melanoma cell lines were stimulated with IFNγ for up to 48h, and the modulation of EZH2 protein and function were studied temporally. To test the role of EZH2 in MHC-II (HLA-DR) expression in IFNγ responses, genetic (siRNA) and chemical (GSK343) EZH2 inhibition was utilized. Results: EZH2 was highly expressed in all cell lines tested, regardless of HLA-DR-proficiency. In 2 out of 3 HLA-DR-inducible melanoma cell lines, EZH2 protein expression was downregulated (4-24 hrs) in response to IFNγ stimulation, without effects on EZH2 mRNA expression or downstream tri-methylated H3K27 expression. Blocking proteosomal degradation with MG-132 reversed the IFNγ-induced decrease in EZH2 expression in HLA-DR-proficient cell lines. After siRNA knockdown of EZH2, SKMEL28 cells increased constitutive HLA-DR expression, while A375 cells became more sensitive to IFNγ-induced HLA-DR upregulation. In addition, IFNγ-induced HLA-DR was increased in A375 cells with EZH2 inhibition using GSK343. Conclusion: This work demonstrates a potential role for EZH2 in suppressing IFNγ responses, including the induction of MHC-II, in melanoma cells. EZH2 is subject to proteosomal degradation in MHC-II-inducible cell lines, which, in part, contributes to the expression of MHC-II. Citation Format: Jamaal L. James, Susan R. Opalenik, Abigail Toren, Rebecca S. Cook, Justin M. Balko. IFNγ signaling drives EZH2 degradation to induce MHC-II expression in melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4728.
Neonatal mortality in the United States is related to location of birth (hospital versus home) rather than the type of birth attendant.

Abstract Background Planned home births have leveled off in the United States in the last years after a significant rise starting in the mid-2000s. Planned home births in the U.S. are associated with increased patient-risk profiles. Multiple studies concluded that, compared to hospital births, absolute and relative risks of perinatal mortality and morbidity in U.S. planned home births are significantly increased. Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the safety of birth in the United States by comparing the neonatal mortality outcomes of two locations, hospital birth and home birth, by four types of attendants: hospital midwife; certified nurse-midwife at home; direct-entry (“other”) midwife at home; and attendant at home not identified, using the most recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) natality data on neonatal mortality for planned home births in the United States. Outcomes are presented as absolute risks (neonatal mortality per 10,000 live births), and as relative risks of neonatal mortality (hospital certified nurse-midwife Odds ratio=1) overall, and for recognized risk factors. Study Design We used the most current U.S. Centers for Disease Control Linked Birth and Infant Death Records for 2010-2017, to assess neonatal mortality (neonatal death days 0- 27 after birth) for single, term (37+ weeks), normal weight ( >2499 gms) infants for planned home births and hospital births by birth attendants: hospital certified nurse-midwives, home certified nurse-midwives, home other midwives (e.g., lay or direct-entry midwives), and other home birth attendant not identified. Results The neonatal mortality for U.S. hospital midwife-attended births was 3.27 per 10,000 live births, 13.66 per 10,000 live births for all planned home births, and 27.98 per 10,000 live births for unintended/unplanned home births. Planned home births attended by direct-entry midwives and by certified nurse-midwives had a significantly elevated absolute and relative neonatal mortality risk compared to certified nurse-midwife-attended hospital births (Hospital certified nurse-midwife: 3.27/10,000 live births Odds ratio = 1; Home birth direct-entry midwives: Neonatal mortality 12.44, /10,000 live births, Odds ratio 3.81, 95%CI: 3.12-4.65, P Conclusion The safety of birth in the United States varies by location and attendant. Compared to U.S. hospital births attended by a certified nurse-midwife, planned U.S. home births for all types of attendants are a less safe setting of birth, especially when recognized risk factors are taken into account. The type of midwife attending U.S. planned home birth appears to have no differential effect on decreasing the absolute and relative risk of neonatal mortality of planned home birth, because the difference in outcomes of U.S. planned home births attended by direct-entry midwives or by certified nurse-midwives is not statistically significant.
Momentary changes in heart rate variability can detect risk for emotional eating episodes

Emotion dysregulation is a known risk factor for a variety of maladaptive eating behaviors, including emotional eating (Crockett, Myhre, & Rokke, 2015; Lavender et al., 2015). New passive sensing technologies offer the prospect of detecting emotion dysregulation in real-time through measurement of heart rate variability (HRV), a transdiagnostic bio-signal of emotion regulation, which may in turn signal risk of engaging in a maladaptive eating behavior. In the current study, our primary aim was to test the hypothesis that momentary changes in HRV can be used to detect risk of experiencing an emotional eating episode in an ecologically valid setting using a wrist worn sensor with acceptable classification accuracy. Participants were 21 adults with clinically significant emotional eating behaviors. Participants wore the Empatica E4 wrist-sensor and tracked all emotional eating episodes using ecological momentary assessment for four weeks. Time and frequency domain features of HRV were extracted in the 30-min period preceding emotional eating episodes and control cases (defined as the 30 min prior to an EMA survey that did not contain an emotional eating episode). Support vector machine (SVM) learning models were implemented using time domain and frequency domain features. SVM models using frequency domain features achieved the highest classification accuracy (77.99%), sensitivity (78.75%), and specificity (75.00%), consistent with standards deemed acceptable for the prediction of event-level health behavior. SVM models using time domain features still performed above chance, though were less accurate at classifying episodes (accuracy 63.48%, sensitivity 62.68%, and specificity 70.00%) and did not meet acceptable classification accuracy. Wearable sensors that assess HRV show promise as a tool for capturing risk of engaging in emotional eating episodes.
Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Laparoscopic Hysterectomy Pain: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective Review the analgesic effect of the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block and its impact on postoperative pain scores and opioid usage for patients undergoing laparoscopic and robotic hysterectomies. Methods Systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared the effect of TAP block to either placebo or no block on narcotic use (in morphine equivalent units [MEq]) and pain (per visual analog scale) within 24] h after a laparoscopic or robotic hysterectomy for benign or malignant indications. Searches were conducted in PubMed and Embase through May 31, 2019. Results Nine randomized controlled trials met eligibility criteria; 7 evaluated laparoscopic hysterectomy and 2 robotic hysterectomy. A total of 688 subjects were included (559 laparoscopic hysterectomy, 129 robotic hysterectomy). Opioid consumption was similar in the first 24] h postoperative with or without TAP block (-0.8 MEq; 95% CI, -2.9, 1.3; 8 TAP arms; N] = 395). Pain scores (visual analog scale) were also similar with or without TAP block (-0.01 U; 95% CI, -0.34, 0.32; 10 TAP arms; N] = 636). Neither meta-analysis showed statistical heterogeneity across studies. Conclusions The evidence does not support a benefit of TAP block to reduce pain or opioid use for patients receiving laparoscopic or robotic hysterectomies.
Stribeck performance of drilling fluids for oil and gas drilling at elevated temperatures

Abstract In oil and gas drilling, the borehole temperature can be as high as 200 °C. Using a high pressure and high temperature drilling fluid tribometer, two different lubricant additives (Additives A and B) were introduced to reduce the coefficient of friction (COF) of the drilling fluid. Stribeck curve analysis at 125 °C shows that the sliding speed does not affect the dynamic COF and the oscillatory movement yielded relatively high static COF. Oscillatory and low speed movements were employed to study temperature effects, which showed Additive A exhibiting better tribological performance (26% and 9% static and dynamic COF reductions at 150 °C). Wear mechanisms were identified by scanning electron microscopy after the tribological experiments.
Secure Aggregation with Heterogeneous Quantization in Federated Learning.

Secure model aggregation across many users is a key component of federated learning systems. The state-of-the-art protocols for secure model aggregation, which are based on additive masking, require all users to quantize their model updates to the same level of quantization. This severely degrades their performance due to lack of adaptation to available bandwidth at different users. We propose three schemes that allow secure model aggregation while using heterogeneous quantization. This enables the users to adjust their quantization proportional to their available bandwidth, which can provide a substantially better trade-off between the accuracy of training and the communication time. The proposed schemes are based on a grouping strategy by partitioning the network into groups, and partitioning the local model updates of users into segments. Instead of applying aggregation protocol to the entire local model update vector, it is applied on segments with specific coordination between users. We theoretically evaluate the quantization error for our schemes, and also demonstrate how our schemes can be utilized to overcome Byzantine users.
Comparison of continuous versus intermittent infusion cyclosporine and impact on transplant related outcomes in allogeneic transplant recipients.

IntroductionContinuous infusion (CIVI) cyclosporine (CsA) is an alternative for allograft recipients intolerant of twice daily infusions (TDI). The importance of achieving therapeutic levels of CsA...
Impact of Government Bailout on Banks’ Cost of Equity: Additional Evidence from the Financial Bailout of 2008–2009

The Capital Purchase Program (CPP) was the first and most significant program under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) during 2008–2009 financial crisis. This study evaluates the effect of th...
Comparison of microwave and conventional heating for CO2 desorption from zeolite 13X

Abstract This study investigates microwave irradiation as an alternative to conventional heating for temperature swing adsorption processes. The performance of microwave and conventional heating during sorbent regeneration was evaluated by measuring CO2 desorption from zeolite 13X at different temperatures. Experimentally, a fixed bed of zeolite 13X was saturated by a 150 sccm flow of 15 % CO2 at room temperature followed by sorbent regeneration under nitrogen at 55, 100, or 150 °C by applying either microwave irradiation or conventional heating. Microwaves reduced sorbent regeneration times by at least half compared to regeneration by conventional heating. Under conventional regeneration, desorption curves were resolved into two peaks representing physisorbed CO2 (mass diffusion limited) at low temperature and bicoordinated CO2 (thermally limited) with increasing temperature. Under microwave regeneration, only one desorption peak was observed suggesting that CO2 desorption was limited by mass diffusion through the porous zeolite 13X structure, rather than by temperature. Depending on microwave power, apparent activation energy of the microwave-assisted regeneration was 15.8–18.1 kJ/mol, compared to 41.5 kJ/mol for conventional regeneration. The reduction in apparent activation energy is mainly attributed to selective microwave heating of CO2 adsorption sites (Na+ sites) resulting in greater steady state temperatures of Na+ relative to framework atoms, suggesting greater heating efficiency due to microwaves compared to conventional heat transfer. Due to rapid cycling and efficient heat transfer to CO2 sites on zeolite 13X, microwave regeneration is found to increase adsorption/desorption cycling productivity and potentially reduce the energy penalty of temperature swing capture.
The Generational Boundaries of Educational Advantage: Does Great-Grandparent Educational Attainment Predict Great-Grandchild Early Academic Achievement?

Across how many generations do elders’ educational advantages directly benefit their descendants? For most of the modern history of stratification research, scholars believed it might only be one. Research suggested that any associations between grandparents and earlier generations’ educational attainment and descendants’ educational attainment were entirely mediated through intervening generations. The last decade of stratification research has upended this Markovian assumption. Still, it remains unclear how far back direct intergenerational education effects operate because most inquiries are limited to two or three generations. In this paper, we employ four generations of family data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine the association of great-grandparents’ educational attainment with their great-grandchildren’s early academic achievement, net of intervening generations’ educational attainments. We find that great-grandparent effects on great-grandchild early academic achievement are non-linear, modest, and entirely accounted for by the educational attainment of intervening generations and great-grandchild demographic characteristics. Thus, for early academic achievement, direct intergenerational advantage transmission is limited to three generations in these data. Examining three potential mechanisms of four-generational models of educational advantage — lifespan overlap, resource dilution, and genetic linkage — finds limited support for lifespan overlap, no support for resource dilution, and limited evidence on the genetic linkage mechanism does not support this hypothesis
G 1 cyclin-Cdk promotes cell cycle entry through localized phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II

Cell division is thought to be initiated by cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) inactivating key transcriptional inhibitors. In budding yeast, the G1 cyclin Cln3-Cdk1 complex is thought to directly phosphorylate the Whi5 protein, thereby releasing the transcription factor SBF and committing cells to division. We report that Whi5 is a poor substrate of Cln3-Cdk1, which instead phosphorylates the RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb1’s C-terminal domain on S5 of its heptapeptide repeats. Cln3-Cdk1 binds SBF-regulated promoters and Cln3’s function can be performed by the canonical S5 kinase Ccl1-Kin28 when synthetically recruited to SBF. Thus, we propose that Cln3-Cdk1 triggers cell division by phosphorylating Rpb1 at SBF-regulated promoters to promote transcription. Our findings blur the distinction between cell cycle and transcriptional Cdks to highlight the ancient relationship between these two processes.
Certified Patch Robustness via Smoothed Vision Transformers.

Certified patch defenses can guarantee robustness of an image classifier to arbitrary changes within a bounded contiguous region. But, currently, this robustness comes at a cost of degraded standard accuracies and slower inference times. We demonstrate how using vision transformers enables significantly better certified patch robustness that is also more computationally efficient and does not incur a substantial drop in standard accuracy. These improvements stem from the inherent ability of the vision transformer to gracefully handle largely masked images. Our code is available at https://github.com/MadryLab/smoothed-vit.
A comprehensive review of Binary Neural Network.

Binary Neural Network (BNN) method is an extreme application of convolutional neural network (CNN) parameter quantization. As opposed to the original CNN methods which employed floating-point computation with full-precision weights and activations, BBN uses 1-bit activations and weights. With BBNs, a significant amount of storage, network complexity and energy consumption can be reduced, and neural networks can be implemented more efficiently in embedded applications. Unfortunately, binarization causes severe information loss. A gap still exists between full-precision CNN models and their binarized counterparts. The recent developments in BNN have led to a lot of algorithms and solutions that have helped address this issue. This article provides a full overview of recent developments in BNN. The present paper focuses exclusively on 1-bit activations and weights networks, as opposed to previous surveys in which low-bit works are mixed in. In this paper, we conduct a complete investigation of BNN's development from their predecessors to the latest BNN algorithms and techniques, presenting a broad design pipeline, and discussing each module's variants. Along the way, this paper examines BNN (a) purpose: their early successes and challenges; (b) BNN optimization: selected representative works that contain key optimization techniques; (c) deployment: open-source frameworks for BNN modeling and development; (d) terminal: efficient computing architectures and devices for BNN and (e) applications: diverse applications with BNN. Moreover, this paper discusses potential directions and future research opportunities for the latest BNN algorithms and techniques, presents a broad design pipeline, and discusses each module's variants.
Police Reform in Georgia: The Case Study

The new, reformist government of Mikheil Saakashvili that came to power following the 2004 Rose Revolution needed to dramatically upgrade public services, beginning with the police. The police in Georgia were underpaid, poorly trained, and rife with corruption, but reforming them would be very expensive and potentially dangerous. The new government ended up sidelining thousands of existing officers, hiring and training a new cadre, and dramatically increasing their salaries. Doing so however required going to foreign donors, requisitioning funds from business owners, and using sometimes questionable means to raise revenues. Moreover, the new police in their efforts to crack down on crime and corruption often began to violate the rights of many Georgian citizens, leading ultimately to the fall of Saakashvili’s government and indictments of many of his officials. This case explores whether his government was justified in using the methods it did, and how his successors could sustain the positive parts of that legacy.
University Development of Young Engineering Faculty

Engineering schools throughout the United States are beginning to experience a decline in the number and quality of American-born students pursuing the PhD in engineering. Also, several of the young persons obtaining the PhD are accepting nonteaching positions upon graduation. Both of these trends are a cause for concern by engineering faculties with civil engineering being no exception. In view of the increasing shortage of young engineering faculty candidates, one questions how the engineering schools are confronting this problem. The role of the universities in developing their young engineering faculty is explored, and how effective current practices are in accomplishing this task is examined.