cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PeGS: Perturbed Gibbs Samplers that Generate Privacy-Compliant Synthetic Data

This paper proposes a categorical data synthesizer algorithm that guarantees a quantifiable disclosure risk. Our algorithm, named Perturbed Gibbs Sampler (PeGS), can handle high-dimensional categorical data that are intractable if represented as contingency tables. PeGS involves three intuitive steps: 1) disintegration, 2) noise injection, and 3) synthesis. We first disintegrate the original data into building blocks that (approximately) capture essential statistical characteristics of the original data. This process is efficiently implemented using feature hashing and non-parametric distribution approximation. In the next step, an optimal amount of noise is injected into the estimated statistical building blocks to guarantee differential privacy or l-diversity. Finally, synthetic samples are drawn using a Gibbs sampler approach. California Patient Discharge data are used to demonstrate statistical properties of the proposed synthetic methodology. Marginal and conditional distributions as well as regression coefficients obtained from the synthesized data are compared to those obtained from the original data. Intruder scenarios are simulated to evaluate disclosure risks of the synthesized data from multiple angles. Limitations and extensions of the proposed algorithm are also discussed.
An Engineering Concept of Flow in Pipes

Today enough is known about flow in pipes, both fundamentally and experimentally, to form a secure basis for consolidation. Holding the physical contacts and keeping the rational elements open to i...
Rationalizing Core-Periphery Relations: The Analytical Foundations of Structural Inequality in World Politics

World system theory characterizes world politics as a three-tiered structure of inequality (core, semiperiphery, periphery) which manifests itself along three dimensions: an unequal distribution of global wealth, asymmetrical economic dependence, and political inequality. While this is a plausible description of the international system, world system theory cannot provide a behaviorally-based causal explanation of this core-periphery structure because the theory is wedded to a structuralist or methodological collectivist explanatory framework. As a result, world system theory treats the international system's core-periphery structure as an unproblematic assumption. In order to address this deficiency, this paper presents a rational choice theory in which wealthy and poor states choose core and peripheral positions respectively. Specifically, I argue that when wealthy states strategically interact with poorly endowed states by rendering economic exchanges contingent upon the acceptance of a subordinate status, then a core-periphery structure emerges as the rational outcome under certain conditions. Like world system theory, my analysis identifies an inegalitarian distribution of wealth as one of the necessary conditions for the existence of a core-periphery structure. But unlike world system theory's canonical model, this paper also identifies, as additional necessary conditions for core-periphery relations, attenuated competition within the core for control over the periphery and normal distributions of state preferences with respect to key economic and political values.
Effects of Dietary Fat upon Plasma Polyunsaturated Acids.

ConclusionIf the increase in trienoic acids may be taken as chemical evidence of EFA deficiency, the results of this preliminary investigation suggest that prolonged ingestion of high levels of saturated fat may lead to a relative deficiency of essential fatty acids.
Reducing Shock Interactions in a Single Stage High Pressure Turbine via 3D Aerodynamic Shaping

In a High Pressure Turbine (HPT) that is used in combination with a contra-rotating Low Pressure Turbine (LPT), the geometry of the LPT guide vane gives rise to a shock reflection that has a significant impact on the upstream blade. In consequence, both the performance of the HPT and its resistance to High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) failure (i.e., its durability) can be affected. Here, a series of design studies was undertaken in an attempt to mitigate the unsteadiness that arises due to shock interactions in such a turbine. These include proof-of-concept numerical experiments as well as a pair of optimization studies based on a physical model of the time-resolved flowfield in the turbine and full 3D unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) analysis. Inherent in all these studies is the idea that since shock reflections arise due to cancellation of the motion induced by the propagation of finite pressure waves, it is possible to re-direct the pressure perturbations to a region of the airfoil that is less deleterious to component life. A new method for estimating the forcing function experienced by the HPT blade is proposed and evaluated. This method, identified as Approximation by Surface Normal Projections (ASNP), requires only the airfoil geometries and locations as input, and is shown to have significant advantages over an approach to 3D aero-design consisting exclusively of time-resolved, multi-row simulations. The implementation of the ASNP method, in conjunction with a genetic algorithm, is shown to have resulted in superior airfoil geometries with respect to preventing HCF failure, and with a reduction of computation time for the analysis of a single airfoil by 4 orders of magnitude.
Correction of High Pelvic Defects with the Interiorly Based Rectus Abdominis Myocutaneous Flap

The two inferiorly based rectus abdominis myocutaneous flaps are the most versatile and accessible flaps for high pelvic defects. Their primary contribution is in the obliteration of the pelvic “deadspace.” At the present time, these useful flaps are generally considered only for massive defects of the perineum, groin, and pelvis, but improved flap designs will enhance their usefulness for smaller defects.
DOSE-RESPONSE CURVES FOR THE ADIPOKINETIC ACTION OF AROMATIC AMINES AND ADRENOCORTICOTROPIN UPON THE ISOLATED ADIPOSE TISSUE OF THE HAMSTER.

Slices of hamster adipose tissue were incubated with various concentrations of an aromatic amine or of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH). The curve relating response (measured in terms of FFA produced) to logarithm of dose was sigmoid for all adipokinetic substances tested. The basic requirement for adipokinetic activity was found to be a phenyl group attached to an ethyl- or propylamine side chain. Structural features incompatible with adipokinetic activity are described. Three groups of sigmoid log dose-response curves were distinguished, characteristic of (a) ACTH, and the catechol amines norepinephrine, epinephrine, isoproterenol, ethylnorepinephrine, and 3,4-dihydroxy-α(isopropylamino)-acetophenone; (b) dichloroisoproterenol; and (c) nine aromatic amines related in structure to phenylethylamine, but lacking the combination of a catechol ring and a hydroxy or keto group on the Β-carbon. A modification of the Clark-Stetten model of hormone action is presented. Dose-response data for the action of aromatic amines and of ACTH upon hamster adipose tissue, and for the action of ACTH upon rabbit adipose tissue, are compatible with the equations derived from the model. Consideration of the structural features of aromatic amines, which influence certain parameters of these equations, supports the concept that the various adipokinetic peptides and the catecholamines act at the same site and by the same mechanism to stimulate lipolysis within the fat cell.
The Challenges of Assessing and Intervening with English Learners

For school psychologists in the USA and Canada, skills in assessing and intervening with English language learners have not kept pace with the rapid growth of numbers of these children over the past few decades. At least one in five public school children in the USA and Canada speaks a language other than English at home, yet many psychologists lack graduate coursework and/or on-the-job training in working with these children and may actually avoid working with them. Several issues distinguish working with children whose only language is English from those who are dual-language learners. Children who lack proficiency in English may not fit the norming samples of the standardized tests that school psychologists rely on in their evaluations, thus rendering scores invalid. Psychologists and other educators may lack understanding of cultural and linguistic issues that are faced by these children and their families. In this chapter, we raise the reader’s awareness of the issues that make assessments and interventions different for English learners than for fluent English speakers. We specify the areas to investigate when any student struggles: curriculum, instruction, environment, and the learner. We compare English learners with fluent English speakers in their typical paths to a comprehensive evaluation. We look at English learners’ needs regarding Response to Intervention or the Multi-Tiered Support System, development of interventions, and involvement of a problem-solving team. The chapter ends with a summary of elements needed in schools and districts to help make special education eligibility decisions for English learners.
Axonal Conduction Velocity Measurement.

Action potential conduction velocity is the speed at which an action potential (AP) propagates along an axon. Measuring AP conduction velocity is instrumental in determining neuron health, function, and computational capability, as well as in determining short-term dynamics of neuronal communication and AP initiation (Ballo and Bucher, 2009; Bullock, 1951; Meeks and Mennerick, 2007; Rosenthal and Bezanilla, 2000; Stadele and Stein, 2016; Swadlow and Waxman, 1976). Conduction velocity can be measured using extracellular recordings along the nerve through which the axon projects. Depending on the number of axons in the nerve, AP velocities of individual or many axons can be detected. This protocol outlines how to measure AP conduction velocity of (A) stimulated APs and (B) spontaneously generated APs by using two spatially distant extracellular electrodes. Although an invertebrate nervous system is used here, the principles of this technique are universal and can be easily adjusted to other nervous system preparations (including vertebrates).
3D Tissue Engineered in Vitro Models of Cancer in Bone

Biological models are necessary tools for gaining insight into underlying mechanisms governing complex pathologies such as cancer in the bone. Models range from in vitro tissue culture systems to in vivo models and can be used with corresponding epidemiological and clinical data to understand disease etiology, progression, driver mutations, and signaling pathways. In bone cancer, as with many other cancers, in vivo models are often too complex to study specific cell–cell interactions or protein roles, and 2D models are often too simple to accurately represent disease processes. Consequently, researchers have increasingly turned to 3D in vitro tissue engineered models as a useful compromise. In this review, tissue engineered 3D models of bone and cancer are described in depth and compared to 2D models. Biomaterials and cell types used are described, and future directions in the field of tissue engineered bone cancer models are proposed.
A material simulant for replicating the impact response of playing field surfaces

Ground impact injuries are a significant mode of sports-related injuries and a particular concern for concussions caused by head-to-ground impacts. To study these injuries and develop improved tech...
Emerging NUI-based methods for user authentication

As user demand and cost benefits of natural user interface (NUI) technologies are hastening their adoption, computing devices that come equipped with these interfaces are becoming ubiquitous. Consequently, authentication mechanisms on them are becoming an essential security component to enable a wider range of applications that need higher requirements of security as well as privacy. In this talk we will survey the landscape of “point-of-entry” user-device authentication mechanisms based on behavioral biometrics that require a natural user interaction using gestural or non-gestural interaction for access. This interaction includes 2-D touch gestures, 3-D gestures, voice, eye tracking, and braincomputer interaction. We will analyze their potential security and usability promises and issues, and discuss plausible solutions that could be pursued in future work.
Optimization of ferrite core to reduce the core loss in double-D pad of wireless charging system for electric vehicles

In this paper, an optimized core structure is proposed for the double-D (DD) power pad to reduce its core loss in a wireless charging system for Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (EV/PHEV) application. At around 85 kHz operating frequency, the core loss is found to be one of the most significant loss in typical wireless charging system of high power application. The core loss in power ferrite mainly depends on the operating frequency and magnetic field density in the core. The frequency is usaully fixed for certain appication, therefore, the magnetic field density in the core is be to optimized to reduce the loss. The magnetic field density in core of a double-D (DD) pad has very different pattern compared to unpolar pad; therefore traditional bar or plate core does not provide the optimum performance considering core loss. In this paper, an optimized core structure is proposed to make the flux density uniform in the core and minimize its loss. The proposed optimized model is simulated in finite element analysis (FEA), and compared with traditional flat type core. Finally, the proposed model is verified through a 3.2kW wireless Double-D (DD) type wireless charging pad.
Biopsy Feasibility Trial for Breast Cancer Pathologic Complete Response Detection after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Imaging Assessment and Correlation Endpoints

This study was designed to present the secondary imaging endpoints of the trial for evaluating mammogram (MMG), ultrasound (US) and image guided biopsy (IGBx) assessment of pathologic complete response (pCR) in breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Patients with T1–3, N0–3, M0 triple-negative or HER2-positive BC who received NAC were enrolled in an Institutional Review Board-approved prospective, clinical trial. Patients underwent US and MMG at baseline and after NAC. Images were evaluated for residual abnormality and to determine modality for IGBx [US-guided (USG) or stereotactic guided (SG)]. Fine-needle aspiration and 9-G, vacuum-assisted core biopsy (VACBx) of tumor bed was performed after NAC and was compared with histopathology at surgery. Forty patients were enrolled. Median age was 50.5 (range 26–76) years; median baseline tumor size was 2.4 cm (range 0.8–6.3) and 1 cm (range 0–5.5) after NAC. Nineteen patients had pCR: 6 (32%) had residual Ca2+ presurgery, 5 (26%) residual mass, 1 (5%) mass with calcifications, and 7 (37%) no residual imaging abnormality. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of US, MMG, and IGBx for pCR were 47/95/73%, 53/90/73%, and 100/95/98%, respectively. Twenty-five (63%) patients had SGBx and 15 (37%) had US-guided biopsy (USGBx). Median number of cores was higher with SGBx (12, range 6–14) than with USGBx (8, range 4–12), p < 0.002. Positive predictive value for pCR was significantly higher for SG VACBx than for USG VACBx (100 vs. 60%, p < 0.05). SG VACBx is the preferred IGBx modality for identifying patients with pCR for trials testing the safety of eliminating surgery.
Association Theory of Meaning: A Reconstruction of the Literature

The dispute continues as to whether or not art has meaning. Sparshott (1994: 23) says of Malcolm Budd’s, Music and the Emotions (1985), Budd’s book…ended by giving the impression that we lacked any theory of the relation between music and the emotions. On the relation between music and emotions Sparshott wrote, We do not know what such a theory should be and have no reason to seek such knowledge (23). In what sense can we say that a painting or sonata has meaning? Claims are made. Some expressionists and others held that art expresses meaning and others, such as Hanslick, Scruton and the formalists claim that it has no meaning at all. The issue is clear. Either there are no meanings or there are. But the arguments are unclear. There seems to be little advance being made on understanding how to resolve the issue.
Elastomeric bearing sizing analysis Part 2: Flat and cylindrical bearings

Abstract This analysis covers rigorous development of theoretical equations based on linear elasticity and the assumption of rigid shims (i.e. reinforcements) used in the following bearing sizing computer programs for general three-dimensional loading: Flat (circular) Single Pad, Flat Multilayer, Partial Cylinder (single and multilayer), Complete Cylinder (single and multilayer). Essentially the same methodology based on perturbation theory is used for spherical, flat and cylindrical bearings, and thus the theory was very detailed for only the spherical bearing in Part 1. Part 1 includes equations for predicting beam-column action and buckling for quite general bearing geometries, loads and deformation modes, including tensile, shear and bending. For the two geometries in Part 2 the analysis is less detailed, and differences in the theory, if any, are noted. All equations have been programmed using Mathcad embedded in Excel for ease of use by the designer. The beam-column analysis requires at least two pads, thus necessitating a separate single-pad program. Sample results are shown in this paper for stiffness as a function of shape factor, including comparison with finite element predictions, and for selected displacement, stress, and strain distributions.
Model predictive control under forecast uncertainty for optimal operation of buildings with integrated solar systems

Abstract In this paper, we explore intelligent operation strategies, based on stochastic model predictive control (SMPC), for optimal utilization of solar energy in buildings with integrated solar systems. Our approach takes into account the uncertainty in solar irradiance forecast over a prediction horizon, using a new probabilistic time series autoregressive model, calibrated on the sky-cover forecast from a weather service provider. In the optimal control formulation, we model the effect of solar irradiance as non-Gaussian stochastic disturbance affecting the cost and constraints, and the nonconvex cost function is an expectation over the stochastic process. To solve this complex optimization problem, we introduce a new approximate dynamic programming methodology that represents the optimal cost-to-go functions using Gaussian process regression, and achieves good solution quality. In the final step, we use an emulator that couples physical system models in TRNSYS with the SMPC controller developed using Python and MATLAB to evaluate the closed-loop operation of a building-integrated system with a solar-assisted heat pump coupled with radiant floor heating. For the system and climate under consideration, the SMPC saves up to 44% of the electricity consumption for heating in a winter month, compared to a baseline well-tuned rule-based controller, and it is robust, imposing less uncertainty on thermal comfort violation.
Multistakeholder recommendation with provider constraints

Recommender systems are typically designed to optimize the utility of the end user. In many settings, however, the end user is not the only stakeholder and this exclusive focus may produce unsatisfactory results for other stakeholders. One such setting is found in multisided platforms, which bring together buyers and sellers. In such platforms, it may be necessary to jointly optimize the value for both buyers and sellers. This paper proposes a constraint-based integer programming optimization model, in which different sets of constraints are used to reflect the goals of the different stakeholders. This model is applied as a post-processing step, so it can easily be added onto an existing recommendation system to make it multi-stakeholder aware. For computational tractability with larger data sets, we reformulate the integer problem using the Lagrangian dual and use subgradient optimization. In experiments with two data sets, we evaluate empirically the interaction between the utilities of buyers and sellers and show that our approximation can achieve good upper and lower bounds in practical situations.
Dynamic characterization of poroelastic materials

This paper presents a method, based on measurement of material dynamic-complex stiffness, of determining the coefficients appearing in Biot's equations for poroelastic materials. This method is relatively simple to employ and has several self-checking features.
Overlapping Surgery in Plastic Surgery: An Analysis of Patient Safety and Clinical Outcomes.

Background Overlapping surgery is an important and controversial health care issue. To date, there is minimal evidence on the safety of overlapping surgery in plastic surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare outcomes for patients undergoing overlapping surgery versus nonoverlapping surgery in plastic surgery. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients undergoing plastic surgery procedures at a tertiary academic center between January of 2016 and January of 2018. Demographic and procedural characteristics, clinical outcomes, and adverse events were analyzed for patients undergoing overlapping versus nonoverlapping surgery. An a priori power analysis was performed, and chi-square, Wilcoxon rank sum, and bivariate logistic regression tests were used for analyses. Results Eight hundred sixty-six patients constituted the study population: 555 (64.1 percent) underwent nonoverlapping surgery and 311 (35.9 percent) underwent overlapping surgery. There was no significant difference (p > 0.050) in mean age, body mass index, tobacco use, American Society of Anesthesiologists rating, or Charlson Comorbidity Index score between cohorts. Comparison of nonoverlapping and overlapping cases revealed no differences in complications (12.1 percent versus 11.9 percent; p = 0.939), reoperations (6.1 percent versus 6.8 percent; p = 0.717), readmissions (3.6 percent versus 3.5 percent; p = 0.960), or emergency room visits (4.7 percent versus 4.8 percent; p = 0.927). Stratification by procedure demonstrated no difference (p > 0.050) in complications between cohorts. Median operative time was significantly longer for overlapping operations (105 minutes versus 83 minutes; p = 0.004). Conclusions This study supports the safety of overlapping surgery in plastic surgery. Clinical question/level of evidence Therapeutic, III.
Gilteritinib for the treatment of patients with FLT3 mutated relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia

Introduction: FLT3 mutations are identified in 20–30% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are associated with a poor prognosis due to chemotherapy refractory disease and short relapse-free survival...
Esophageal stricture dilatation

A rapid, safe method of dilating tight esophageal strictures utilizing the Eder-Puestow dilators and the fiberoptic esophagoscope is described.
Screening and Behavioral Counseling Interventions to Reduce Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Adolescents and Adults.

A 20-year-old male with a history of exercise-induced asthma presents to your office for his yearly physical. He is a student at the local university and is on the university fencing team. When asked about his classwork, he expresses that college is going okay but can be stressful sometimes.
Benchmark of Ferroelectric Transistor-Based Hybrid Precision Synapse for Neural Network Accelerator

In-memory computing with analog nonvolatile memories can accelerate the in situ training of deep neural networks. Recently, we proposed a synaptic cell of a ferroelectric transistor (FeFET) with two CMOS transistors (2T1F) that exploit the hybrid precision for training and inference, which overcomes the challenges of nonlinear and asymmetric weight update and achieves nearly software comparable training accuracy at the algorithm level. In this paper, we further present the circuit-level benchmark results of this hybrid precision synapse in terms of area, latency, and energy. The corresponding array architecture is presented and the array-level operations are illustrated. The benchmark is conducted by multilayer-perceptron (MLP) + NeuroSim framework with comparison to other capacitor-assisted (e.g., 3T1C + 2PCM) hybrid precision cell. The design tradeoffs and scalability are discussed between different implementations.
Age-Related Effects on Cross-Modal Duration Perception.

Reliable duration perception of external events is necessary to coordinate perception with action, precisely discriminate speech, and for other daily functions. Visual duration perception can be heavily influenced by concurrent auditory signals; however, age-related effects on this process have received minimal attention. In the present study, we examined the effect of aging on duration perception by quantifying (1) duration discrimination thresholds, (2) auditory temporal dominance, and (3) visual duration expansion/compression percepts induced by an accompanying auditory stimulus of longer/shorter duration. Duration discrimination thresholds were significantly greater for visual than auditory tasks in both age groups, however there was no effect of age. While the auditory modality retained dominance in duration perception with age, older adults still performed worse than young adults when comparing durations of two target stimuli (e.g., visual) in the presence of distractors from the other modality (e.g., auditory). Finally, both age groups perceived similar visual duration compression, whereas older adults exhibited visual duration expansion over a wider range of auditory durations compared to their younger counterparts. Results are discussed in terms of multisensory integration and possible decision strategies that change with age.
Improving Performance of Data Dumping with Lossy Compression for Scientific Simulation

Because of the ever-increasing data being produced by today’s high performance computing (HPC) scientific simulations, I/O performance is becoming a significant bottleneck for their executions. An efficient error-controlled lossy compressor is a promising solution to significantly reduce data writing time for scientific simulations running on supercomputers. In this paper, we explore how to optimize the data dumping performance for scientific simulation by leveraging error-bounded lossy compression techniques. The contributions of the paper are threefold. (1) We propose a novel I/O performance profiling model that can effectively represent the I/O performance with different execution scales and data sizes, and optimize the estimation accuracy of data dumping performance using least square method. (2) We develop an adaptive lossy compression framework that can select the bestfit compressor (between two leading lossy compressors SZ and ZFP) with optimized parameter settings with respect to overall data dumping performance. (3) We evaluate our adaptive lossy compression framework with up to 32k cores on a supercomputer facilitated with fast I/O systems and using real-world scientific simulation datasets. Experiments show that our solution can mostly always lead the data dumping performance to the optimal level with very accurate selection of the bestfit lossy compressor and settings. The data dumping performance can be improved by up to 27% at different scales.
Impact of COVID-19 on clinical research

The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting clinical research across the world. Though these disruptions are pale in comparison to the enormous amount of human loss and suffering caused by the disease, the...
Patterns of Firearm Ownership and Opinions on Firearm Policies Among Adults in California

This survey study assess whether patterns in firearm ownership are associated with opinions on firearm safety among adults in California.
4 Reasons Why Social Media Make Us Vulnerable to Manipulation

As social media become major channels for the diffusion of news and information, it becomes critical to understand how the complex interplay between cognitive, social, and algorithmic biases triggered by our reliance on online social networks makes us vulnerable to manipulation and disinformation. This talk overviews ongoing network analytics, modeling, and machine learning efforts to study the viral spread of misinformation and to develop tools for countering the online manipulation of opinions.
Estimating genetic nurture with summary statistics of multi-generational genome-wide association studies

Abstract Marginal effect estimates in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are mixtures of direct and indirect genetic effects. Existing methods to dissect these effects require family-based, individual-level genetic and phenotypic data with large samples, which is difficult to obtain in practice. Here, we propose a novel statistical framework to estimate direct and indirect genetic effects using summary statistics from GWAS conducted on own and offspring phenotypes. Applied to birth weight, our method showed nearly identical results with those obtained using individual-level data. We also decomposed direct and indirect genetic effects of educational attainment (EA), which showed distinct patterns of genetic correlations with 45 complex traits. The known genetic correlations between EA and higher height, lower BMI, less active smoking behavior, and better health outcomes were mostly explained by the indirect genetic component of EA. In contrast, the consistently identified genetic correlation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with higher EA resides in the direct genetic component. Polygenic transmission disequilibrium test showed a significant over-transmission of the direct component of EA from healthy parents to ASD probands. Taken together, we demonstrate that traditional GWAS approaches, in conjunction with offspring phenotypic data collection in existing cohorts, could greatly benefit studies on genetic nurture and shed important light on the interpretation of genetic associations for human complex traits.
The rural-urban divide in Tanzania: Residential context and socioeconomic inequalities in maternal health care utilization.

Background Existing studies in Tanzania, based mostly on rural samples, have primarily focused on individual behaviors responsible for the lower utilization of maternal health care. Relatively less attention had been paid to inequalities in structural circumstances that contribute to reduced utilization of maternal health care. More importantly, scholarship concerning the impact of the rural-urban divide on socioeconomic disparities in the utilization of maternal health care is virtually nonexistent in Tanzania. Methods Drawing from the Demographic Health Survey (2015–2016) conducted in Tanzania, our study includes a total of 3,595 women aged between 15–49 years old, who had given birth in five years before the month of the interview and living in both rural and urban Tanzania. The maternal health care utilization was assessed by four variables (i.e., antenatal care, skilled delivery assistance, the before and after discharging postnatal care). The independent variables were wealth, education, residence, parity, occupation, age, and the head of the household’s sex. We used bivariate statistics and logistic regression to examine the rural-urban differences in the influence of education and wealth on maternal health care utilization. Results Significantly lower use of maternal health care in rural than urban areas demonstrated a stark rural-urban divide in Tanzania. We documented socioeconomic inequalities in maternal health care utilization in the form of lower odds of the utilization of such services among women with lower levels of education and household wealth. The educational inequalities in the utilization of skilled delivery assistance (or = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.86; p = 0.021) and (before discharge) postnatal care (or = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.38, 0.95; p = 0.030) were significantly wider in rural than urban areas. The differences in the odds of the utilization of skilled delivery assistance between women in poorer wealth quintile and women in richer household wealth quintile were also significantly wider in rural areas than in urban areas. However, the statistically significant rural-urban divides in the impacts of socioeconomic status on antenatal care and (after discharge) postnatal care were not observed. Conclusion This study establishes the need for consideration of the rural-urban context in the formulation of policies to reduce disparities in maternal health care utilization in Tanzania.
Corticosteroids for patients with septic shock.

To the Editor: Dr Annane and colleagues found that corticosteroids reduced the risk of mortality in septic shock only among patients who did not respond to a corticotropin stimulation test. Some of these “nonresponders” had a baseline cortisol of less than 34 μg/dL with an increase of less than 9 μg/ dL, and thus many of those may have had absolute adrenal deficiency. Such patients have a high risk of mortality and it may be inappropriate to randomize them to receive placebo. It would also be of interest to know how many of the nonresponders in this study had absolute adrenal deficiency and the effect of removing such patients from the analysis.
Performativity, mediarchy, and politics: the sitcom’s anonymized critique

How do the media critique the media? How do comedy and fiction advance political critique? A British and American format, here identified as the “parliamentary sitcom,” illustrates the continued ad...
Oxytocin receptors in the midbrain dorsal raphe are essential for postpartum maternal social and affective behaviors

Oxytocin receptors (OTRs) in the midbrain dorsal raphe (DR; the source of most forebrain serotonin) have recently been identified as a potential pharmacological target for treating numerous psychiatric disorders. However, almost all research on this topic has been conducted on males and the role of DR OTRs in female social and affective behaviors is mostly unknown. This may be particularly relevant during early motherhood, which is a time of high endogenous oxytocin signaling, but also a time of elevated risk for psychiatric dysfunction. To investigate whether OTRs in the DR are necessary for postpartum female social and affective behaviors, we constructed and then injected into the DR an adeno-associated virus permanently expressing an shRNA targeting OTR mRNA. We then observed a suite of social and affective behaviors postpartum. OTR knockdown in the maternal DR led to pup loss after parturition, decreased nursing, increased aggression, and increased behavioral despair. These effects of OTR knockdown in the DR may be due to disrupted neuroplasticity in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), which mediates maternal sensitivity to the tactile cues from young, as we found significantly more plasticity-restricting perineuronal nets (PNNs) in the S1 rostral barrel field and fewer PNNs in the caudal barrel field of OTR-knockdown mothers. These results demonstrate that OTRs in the midbrain DR are essential for postpartum maternal social and affective behaviors, are involved in postpartum cortical plasticity, and suggest that pharmacotherapies targeting OTRs in the DR could be effective treatments for some peripartum affective disorders.
Citizenship as a caste marker: How persons experience cross-national inequality:

Extrapolating a recent conceptualization of caste from India to the global level, this article argues that persons experience cross-national inequalities via their citizenship as a caste marker. Ra...
Grief in Response to Uncertainty Distress Among Veterinary Students During the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The abrupt and life-altering shifts brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have stimulated research in fields ranging from social sciences to virology. This study explored perceptions and experiences of COVID-19's impact on students at Lincoln Memorial University-College of Veterinary Medicine (LMU-CVM) and considered how to respond to these. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 students from LMU-CVM. Thematic analysis elucidated five subthemes that were combined into two main themes based on Bertuccio's framework of grief in response to uncertainty distress. Uncertainty and disruption of routine were subthemes of ambiguous loss, while lost opportunities, milestones missed, and risk concern came under anticipatory grief. There was overlap and fluidity within these themes, with frustration, stress, and unexpected benefits pervading all categories. Differences were noted between classes, with clinical students expressing concern over graduation and lack of preparedness, and preclinical students with online assessment, lost opportunities for clinical experiences, and the loss of social connections. These results point to mitigation strategies for the adverse effects of COVID-19-related stressors specific to this population that encompass academic, physical, and mental well-being concerns. Clear communication, assurance of quality education, flexibility for meeting family needs, financial assistance, and mental health support are the areas evident from the interviews where successful responses might be targeted. This study also highlights areas for future research, including follow-up interviews, given the prolonged timeline of COVID-19, surveys of beliefs and practices across a larger university population, and exploration of the long-term impact on academic and practice success of the affected cohorts.
Incremental risk of clinical chorioamnionitis associated with cervical examination.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Clinical chorioamnionitis is associated with significant maternal and neonatal morbidity yet there is no clear evidence on the association between cervical examinations and infection. OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess the association between the number of cervical examinations performed during term labor management and the risk of clinical chorioamnionitis. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study of term (≥37 weeks), singleton pregnancies who labored at our tertiary care center from 2014 to 2018. The primary outcome of clinical chorioamnionitis was defined as maternal intrapartum fever (single oral temperature of >39°C or 38–38.9°C for 30 minutes) and one or more of the following: maternal leukocytosis, purulent cervical drainage, or fetal tachycardia. The primary exposure was the number of digital cervical exams documented in the medical record. Log-binomial regression was used to model the effect of cervical examinations on the risk of clinical chorioamnionitis while adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: 20,029 individuals met inclusion criteria and 1028 (5%) patients experienced clinical chorioamnionitis. The number of cervical exams was associated with increased risk of developing infection after adjusting for potential confounders. Individuals with 8 or more cervical exams had 1.7 times the risk of developing clinical chorioamnionitis compared to those with 1 to 3 exams. Prolonged rupture time, nulliparity, black race, medicaid insurance, higher gestational age, and higher BMI were associated with increased risk of clinical chorioamnionitis while smoking and Group B streptococcus colonization were associated with lower risk. CONCLUSION: Our study found that the number of cervical exams performed during labor is an independent risk factor for developing clinical chorioamnionitis. Unnecessary cervical exams should be avoided during labor management at term.
The Value of the Informed Decision

This chapter presents the general model for decision making under uncertainty with the option to incorporate information. The chapter introduces several of the analytical tools that are useful in the sequel, and shows that the incorporation of information cannot make the expected-utility-maximizing decision maker worse off.
Alloy Development, Manufacturing and Design for Magnesium Applications

Materials, manufacturing and design are critical pillars in lightweight structures. As the lightest structural metal, magnesium has emerged as a promising structural material for lightweight applications in automotive and other transportation industries. This talk presents examples of magnesium alloy development using phase equilibria calculations and experimental validation. This talk will also summarize the latest process innovations in magnesium manufacturing (casting, forming and joining) for structural applications. Process simulation and multi-scale microstructure modeling techniques are used to develop and optimize these manufacturing processes for automotive lightweighting. Engineering design is a system optimization and iteration process that combines material properties and manufacturing processes to meet product requirements at the lowest mass and/or cost. Future trends in multi-material applications and the integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) are also discussed.
Screening for Treatable Disorders

In Reply.— I appreciate the opportunity to respond to Dr Arnold9s thoughtful letter because she raises a frequently made argument that failure to consent to newborn screening constitutes actionable neglect.1-3 The problem with this argument, however, is that it tends to combine inappropriately the risks of failing to screen with the risks of failing to treat a child with the disease being sought.4 For example, the actual risk that any particular child who is not screened will develop mental retardation that could have been avoided is very low simply because the incidence of phenylketouria (PKU), congenital hypothyroidism, and the other metabolic disorders sought is very low, even in the aggregate.
Theory of Strongly Fluctuating Superconductivity

In superconductors with short coherence lengths, such as the copper oxides, the order parameter is prone to phase fluctuations. Josephson showed that phase fluctuations are coupled to the density of Cooper pairs so that they are always accompanied by space and time varying supercurrents. In this paper we show how the variation of the order parameter, its phase, and the charge density can be mapped onto a magnetic problem by a real space extension of the pseudo-spin representation of Anderson. It is shown that at long wavelengths the charge fluctuation is asymptotically decoupled from the order parameter fluctuation so that the problem is isomorphic to the XY model. In particular, at low temperatures there exist collective excitations, the so-called phase waves, which are analogous to spin waves in magnetic systems. Two experiments are proposed to test the theoretical predictions.
Tuboovarian abscess with recovery of T-mycoplasma

Abstract T-mycoplasmas are commonly found in the genitourinary tracts of normal women, but evidence associating them with disease in women is limited. 1 Mardh and Westrom 2 isolated T-mycoplasmas from the Fallopian tubes of 2 of 50 patients with salpingitis. Similarly, Kundsin recovered organisms from a Fallopian tube and suggested a relationship between T-mycoplasmas and abortion. T-mycoplasmas have been associated with low birth weight in a prospective study of pregnant women. Two recent reports describe puerperal septicemia with T-mycoplasmas. This report describes the isolation of T-mycoplasmas in the absence of other pathogens from a tuboovarian abscess in a 36-year-old woman.
Perception and Public Health

This is the second Dorothy B. Nyswander Lecture delivered in Berkeley on May 23, 1958. The lectureship was established in honor of Dr. Nyswander upon her retirement as Professor of Health Education at the University of California.
On Philosophy in American Law: On the Instrumental View of Law in American Legal Culture

This brief essay - a contribution to the forthcoming collection, On Philosophy in American Law - plays out the implications of legal realism in contemporary legal thought. The essay tracks the progress in the 20th century of the fundamental notion that law is an instrument to serve the social good. It shows that the first half of this notion (law is an instrument) became entrenched in every aspect of legal thought while the second half of this notion (the social good) became increasingly problematic. The result, this essay argues, is that the law itself is now a battleground in which groups and interests fight to seize control of coercive legal power and wield it in pursuit of their own interests. This essay is a synopsis of the argument developed in Law as a Means to an End: Threat to the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2006).
A Braille Press Project: Improving the Literacy of the World's Visually Impaired

Valparaiso University engineering students have completed a service learning project to design and manufacture an upgraded braille printing press for Lutheran Braille Workers, Inc., a charitable organization that provides free-of-charge, Christian print material to visually impaired individuals around the world. There are approximately 314 million blind and visually impaired individuals around the world and the need for braille print material is significant. Braille presses are used by Lutheran Braille Workers, Inc., volunteers at work centers where the braille print material is produced. Moreover, the braille press is a critical component of the production process. The project provided multiple engineering students the opportunity to design, manufacture, and implement an actual product that will benefit visually impaired individuals around the world.
Isolation and Characterization of an Escherichia coli Bacteriophage Requiring Cell Wall Galactose

A new coliphage, designated U3, has been selected for the ability to discriminate the presence of galactose in the cell wall of Escherichia coli. U3 attacks E. coli K-12 cells that are able to incorporate galactose into their cell walls, but mutants blocked in the synthesis of uridine diphosphogalactose, the precursor of cell wall galactose, are completely resistant to the phage. U3 is a small, tail-less, approximately spherical phage resembling phiX174 in its physical properties. Its diameter by electron microscopy is 21 to 22 nm, and its particle weight is approximately 4 x 10(6) daltons. Like phiX174, U3 appears to have a single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid genome and has at least four cistrons.
Calculated particle-production spectra from π− captures in tissue, tissue-equivalent plastic, silicon, and germanium

An intranuclear-cascade-evaporation model has been applied to predict the energy spectra of the products (neutrons, protons, deuterons, tritons, /sup 3/ He's, alpha particles, and residual nuclei) from pi /sup -/ capture in several materials (tissue, tissue-equivalent plastic, silicon, and germaniuml of interest in pion dosimetry. Also, the energy spectra of the products from 90-MeV pi /sup -/ interactions in tissue are computed. (auth)