cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Outpatient-Acquired Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections in Children Receiving Home Parenteral Nutrition.

BACKGROUND Few studies have examined the epidemiology and risk factors for the development of outpatient-acquired catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) in children receiving home parenteral nutrition. This study aimed to (1) characterize the incidence, clinical presentation, and epidemiology of CRBSIs and (2) identify risk factors for CRBSIs in children receiving home parenteral nutrition. METHODS A longitudinal database approved by our Institutional Review Board was created to prospectively track CRBSIs in the UCLA pediatric population from January to December 2012. Eligible patients included those < 18 years old receiving home parenteral nutrition. RESULTS Thirty of 60 patients (50%) were diagnosed with 66 CRBSIs, for an overall CRBSI rate of 3.6 per 1000 catheter days. Of the CRBSIs, 73% were due to single microorganisms and 27% were polymicrobial. There was a significant difference in median (range) time for blood cultures to turn positive depending on type of CRBSIs (p = 0.03), with polymicrobial infections detected at 13.4 (8.7-24.3) hours, gram-negative infections at 16.5 (9-30.8) hours, and gram-positive infections at 18.9 (8.4-37.1) hours. The most common presenting symptom was fever (82%), followed by gastrointestinal symptoms (42%) and chills (29%). The only significant multivariate risk factor for CRBSIs was presence of a feeding tube (2.3-fold increase in CRBSI risk, p = 0.04). DISCUSSION Outpatient-acquired CRBSIs are common in children receiving home parenteral nutrition. CRBSIs typically present with fever, but are also associated with gastrointestinal and/or respiratory symptoms. The presence of feeding tubes may predispose children on home parenteral nutrition to developing CRBSIs.
Promising practices in vocational services for the community reintegration of returning veterans: The individual placement and support model and beyond

Supporting returning veterans' job-seeking, hiring, and retention issues has become an essential goal for effective community reintegration. Given both the particular strengths and challenges associated with veterans transitioning from military to civilian life, multiple models for supported employment have become integrated into Veterans Affairs health care facilities across the nation. In this article, we review the state of vocational rehabilitation for veterans, with a particular focus on individual placement and support-supported employment (IPS-SE), the current vocational services model that is considered the gold standard of vocational rehabilitation. Various modifications to the IPS-SE model are presented, including additions such as cognitive rehabilitation, contingency management, motivational interviewing, supported self-employment, and transitional work. Finally, recommendations are made about future directions and strategies to expand access to IPS-SE-based programs and to effectively meet the needs of returning veterans for employment in jobs of their choice. (PsycINFO Database Record
Universal multi-modal deep network for classification and segmentation of medical images

Medical image processing algorithms have traditionally focused on a specific problem or disease per modality. This approach has continued with the wide-spread adoption of deep learning in the last 5 years. Building a system with multiple neural networks and different specialized image processing algorithms is a challenge as each network requires a lot of memory and is computationally heavy. More importantly, cascading multiple networks propagates errors from one stage to another reducing overall system accuracy. In this work, we propose a single universal network that can: 1) segment different organs across different modalities, and 2) solve both segmentation and classification problems simultaneously. We compare our approach with traditional segmentation network for each modality. Our results showed modality/viewpoint classification accuracy of 99% and average dice score of 0.89 for segmentation accuracy. The proposed network can be further developed to include segmentation of more organs and disease classification.
Equilibrium between Travel Demand System Supply and Urban Structure

While techniques for urban travel-demand modeling have reached high levels of sophistication, basic understanding of the travel process still lags behind. This paper tries to close the gap, by suggesting an approach which, though is in some disagreement with current models, appears to unify the isolated components of travel under a unified process, consistent with basic economic concepts. More specifically, it seems to both describe and explain the interactions between travel demand, transportation system supply and urban structure.
Risk-Sensitive Learning via Expected Shortfall Minimization

A new approach for cost-sensitive classification is proposed. We extend the framework of cost-sensitive learning to mitigate risks of huge costs occurring with low probabilities, and propose an algorithm that achieves this goal. Instead of minimizing the expected cost commonly used in cost-sensitive learning, our algorithm minimizes expected shortfall, also known as conditional value-at-risk, which is considered as a good risk metric in the area of financial engineering. The proposed algorithm is a general meta-learning algorithm that can exploit existing example-dependent cost-sensitive learning algorithms, and is capable of dealing with not only alternative actions in ordinary classification tasks, but also allocative actions in resource-allocation type tasks. Experiments on tasks with example-dependent costs show promising results.
Complex Systems Biology of Networks: The Riddle and the Challenge

There is no direct relationship between metabolite, mRNA, protein, and gene; the expression of a gene is not necessarily correlated with the abundance of the corresponding protein product, and the activity of a protein may depend on posttranslational modifications, e.g., phosphorylation, redox-modulation/modification, and acetylation. It is believed that the diverse nature and outcomes of networks composed of genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites remain an obstacle for tracing the flux from genes to proteins in order to be able to capture or explain developmental programs or the underlying mechanisms of a disease. A different approach is needed to address this problem, and accordingly an alternative view based on the dynamic integration of three different kinds of networks, mass–energy, information, and signaling, is proposed and developed in this chapter. From this perspective, the spatio-temporal expression of mass–energy transformation and information-carrying networks is modulated by signaling networks associated with fundamental cellular processes such as cell division, differentiation, and autophagy. The dynamic network of reaction fluxes (i.e., the fluxome) represents the ultimate integrative outcome of the whole process. This approach—which accounts for the basic biological fact that cells and organisms make themselves—can only be realized by networks connected by overall cyclic topologies. Thereby, the output of mass–energy/information networks, composed of proteins, transcriptional factors, metabolites, is at the same time input for signaling networks which output activates or represses those same networks that produced them.
Integration of Functional Brain Mapping in Image-Guided Neurosurgery

Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) brain mapping was performed in 90 patients with lesions associated with eloquent sensorimotor cortex. The MEG-derived sensorimotor mapping information was utilised for risk analysis and planning. Subsequently, these patients underwent either stereotactic volumetric resection, stereotactic biopsy or non-surgical management of their lesions. In seventeen patients, the MEG sensorimotor localization was integrated into an operative stereotactic database (consisting of CT, MRI and digital angiography) to be used in an interactive fashion during computer-assisted stereotactic volumetric resection procedures. The spatial relationship between the MEG derived functional anatomy, the structural/radiological anatomy and the pathology could then be viewed simultaneously, thereby affording a safer trajectory and approach. In addition, the real-time availability of functional mapping information in an interactive fashion helped reduce surgical risk and minimise functional morbidity. All of these patients had resection of their lesions with no change in their neurological status. In conclusion, MEG is a non-invasive, accurate, and reproducible method for pre-operative assessment of patients with lesions associated with eloquent sensory and motor cortex. The interactive use of MEG functional mapping in the operating room can allow for a safer approach and resection of these eloquent cortex lesions.
Facilitating HIV/AIDS and HIV testing literacy for emergency department patients: a randomized, controlled, trial

Although this has not been fully studied, videos and pictorial brochures might be equivalent methods of delivering HIV/AIDS and HIV testing information to emergency departments (ED) patients. It also is not known how well or for how long such knowledge is retained, if this information should be tailored according to patient health literacy, and if retention of this knowledge impacts future HIV testing behavior. We will conduct a multi-site, randomized, controlled, longitudinal trial among 600 English- and 600 Spanish-speaking 18–64-year-old ED patients to investigate these questions. We will stratify our sample within language (English vs. Spanish) by health literacy level (lower vs. higher) and randomly assign patients to receive HIV/AIDS and HIV testing information by video or pictorial brochure. All patients will be tested for HIV in the ED. At 12-months post-enrollment, we will invite participants to be tested again for HIV. As primary aims, we will compare the efficacy of pictorial brochures and videos in improving short-term (in ED) HIV/AIDS and HIV testing knowledge and retaining this knowledge over 12 months. We will determine if and how short-term improvement and longer-term retention of knowledge interacts with information delivery mode (pictorial brochure or video), patient health literacy level (lower or higher), and language (English or Spanish). As secondary aims, using the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model as a heuristic framework, we will measure constructs from the IMB model relevant to our study, and assess their impact on HIV re-testing behavior; we will also examine the moderating influences of information delivery mode, language, and health literacy level. In addition, we will explore simplified screening strategies to identify ED patients with lower health literacy as ways to implement a tailored approach to HIV/AIDS and HIV testing information delivery in EDs. Study findings will guide ED-based delivery of HIV/AIDS and HIV testing information; that is, whether delivery modes (video or pictorial brochure) should be selected for patients by language and/or health literacy level. The results also will inform EDs when, how, and for whom information needs to be provided for those undergoing testing again for HIV within a one-year period. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02284451 . Posted November 6, 2014.
Some Linear Algebra

In this section, we present a rapid review of certain fundamental results from linear algebra; most of these results will be of paramount importance later on. A good presentation of similar material at a comparable level is given in [Strang]. It should be emphasized that this section is intended mainly as a review, and not as a detailed exposition; at the very least, it should serve to familiarize the reader with certain notational conventions and terminology which we shall be using in the sections which follow.
Predicting and Controlling System-Level Parameters of Multi-Agent Systems

Boid flocking is a system in which several individual agents follow three simple rules to generate swarm-level flocking behavior. To control this system, the user must adjust the agent program parameters, which indirectly modifies the flocking behavior. This is unintuitive because the properties of the flocking behavior are non-explicit in the agent program. In this paper, we discuss a domain-independent approach for detecting and controlling two emergent properties of boids: density and a qualitative threshold effect of swarming vs. flocking. Also, we discuss the possibility of applying this approach to detecting and controlling traffic jams in traffic simulations.
Synthesis and evaluation of 4-cycloheptylphenols as selective Estrogen receptor-β agonists (SERBAs).

Abstract A short and efficient route to 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)cycloheptanemethanol was developed, which resulted in the preparation of a mixture of 4 stereoisomers. The stereoisomers were separated by preparative HPLC, and two of the stereoisomers identified by X-ray crystallography. The stereoisomers, as well as a small family of 4-cycloheptylphenol derivatives, were evaluated as estrogen receptor-beta agonists. The lead compound, 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)cycloheptanemethanol was selective for activating ER relative to seven other nuclear hormone receptors, with 300-fold selectivity for the β over α isoform and with EC50 of 30–50 nM in cell-based and direct binding assays.
Fat Chance: The Rejuvenation of Irradiated Skin.

Summary:Radiotherapy (RT) helps cure and palliate thousands of patients with a range of malignant diseases. A major drawback, however, is the collateral damage done to tissues surrounding the tumor in the radiation field. The skin and subcutaneous tissue are among the most severely affected regions.
Turning the Tide: Reframing How We Acknowledge and Support Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Learners in Educational Spaces

There are the kinds of waves that crash against things and the kinds of waves that roll with the tide. I am a crashing wave.Forgive me while I get personal.I grew up apologizing. If you know me, if...
Dynamic imaging of the temperature field within an energetic composite using phosphor thermography

An improved understanding of energy localization (“hot spots”) is needed to improve the safety and performance of explosives. We propose a technique to visualize and quantify the properties of a dynamic hot spot from within an energetic composite subjected to ultrasonic mechanical excitation. The composite is composed of an optically transparent binder and a countable number of octahydro 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) crystals. The evolving temperature field is measured by observing the luminescence from embedded phosphor particles and subsequent application of the intensity ratio method. The spatial temperature precision is less than 2% of the measured absolute temperature in the temperature regime of interest (23°C–220°C). The temperature field is mapped from within an HMX–binder composite under periodic mechanical excitation.
Matrix Calculations for Moments of Markov Processes

Matryoshka dolls, the traditional Russian nesting figurines, are known world-wide for each doll's encapsulation of a sequence of smaller dolls. In this paper, we identify a large class of Markov process whose moments are easy to compute by exploiting the structure of a new sequence of nested matrices we call Matryoshkhan matrices. We characterize the salient properties of Matryoshkhan matrices that allow us to compute these moments in closed form at a specific time without computing the entire path of the process. This speeds up the computation of the Markov process moments significantly in comparison to traditional differential equation methods, which we demonstrate through numerical experiments. Through our method, we derive explicit expressions for both transient and steady-state moments of this class of Markov processes. We demonstrate the applicability of this method through explicit examples such as shot-noise processes, growth-collapse processes, linear birth-death-immigration processes, and affine stochastic differential equations from the finance literature. We also show that we can derive explicit expressions for the self-exciting Hawkes process, for which finding closed form moment expressions has been an open problem since its introduction in 1971. In general, our techniques can be used for any Markov process for which the infinitesimal generator of an arbitrary polynomial is itself a polynomial of equal or lower order
The End of the Affair with Life: Political Theory and the Corpse

ABSTRACTThe relationship between death and politics figures prominently for us. However, the dead body has been neglected by this tradition. This paper shows how the figure of the corpse offers spe...
Assessing the Importance of Childhood Context in the Development of Hope and Optimism

This paper explores the importance of adolescent environments as a key determinant of hope and optimism. Data were taken from the prospective, nationally representative National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to calculate correlations in hope and optimism among individuals who attended the same secondary school. These correlations generate upper-bound estimates of the influence of adolescent environments and suggest relatively modest contributions, accounting for 1–3% of population variation. In contrast, sibling correlations account for approximately 10% of the variation. Taken together, the results suggest that interventions that shape schools and neighborhoods during adolescence are likely to have relatively small benefits for hope and optimism development.
Nietzsche’s Epistemic Perspectivism

Nietzsche offers a positive epistemology, and those who interpret him as a skeptic or a mere pragmatist are mistaken. Instead he supports what he calls perspectivism. This is a familiar take on Nietzsche, as perspectivism has been analyzed by many previous interpreters. The present paper presents a sketch of the textually best supported and logically most consistent treatment of perspectivism as a first-order epistemic theory. What’s original in the present paper is an argument that Nietzsche also offers a second-order methodological perspectivism aimed at enhancing understanding, an epistemic state distinct from knowledge. Just as Descartes considers and rejects radical skepticism while at the same time adopting methodological skepticism, one could consistently reject perspectivism as a theory of knowledge while accepting it as contributing to our understanding. It is argued that Nietzsche’s perspectivism is in fact two-tiered: knowledge is perspectival because truth itself is, and in addition there is a methodological perspectivism in which distinct ways of knowing are utilized to produce understanding. A review of the manner in which understanding is conceptualized in contemporary epistemology and philosophy of science serves to illuminate how Nietzsche was tackling these ideas.
Understanding Open Defecation in the Age of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Agency, Accountability, and Anger in Rural Bihar.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, India’s flagship sanitation intervention, set out to end open defecation by October 2019. While the program improved toilet coverage nationally, large regional disparities in construction and use remain. Our study used ethnographic methods to explore perspectives on open defecation and latrine use, and the socio-economic and political reasons for these perspectives, in rural Bihar. We draw on insights from social epidemiology and political ecology to explore the structural determinants of latrine ownership and use. Though researchers have often pointed to rural residents’ preference for open defecation, we found that people were aware of its many risks. We also found that (i) while sanitation research and “behavior change” campaigns often conflate the reluctance to adopt latrines with a preference for open defecation, this is an erroneous conflation; (ii) a subsidy can help (some) households to construct latrines but the amount of the subsidy and the manner of its disbursement are key to its usefulness; and (iii) widespread resentment towards what many rural residents view as a development bias against rural areas reinforces distrust towards the government overall and its Swachh Bharat Abhiyan-funded latrines in particular. These social-structural explanations for the slow uptake of sanitation in rural Bihar (and potentially elsewhere) deserve more attention in sanitation research and promotion efforts.
Multifunctional volumetric meta-optics for color and polarization image sensors

Three-dimensional elements, with refractive index distribution structured at subwavelength scale, provide an expansive optical design space that can be harnessed for demonstrating multifunctional free-space optical devices. Here we present 3D dielectric elements, designed to be placed on top of the pixels of image sensors, that sort and focus light based on its color and polarization with efficiency significantly surpassing 2D absorptive and diffractive filters. The devices are designed via iterative gradient-based optimization to account for multiple target functions while ensuring compatibility with existing nanofabrication processes, and they are experimentally validated using a scaled device that operates at microwave frequencies. This approach combines arbitrary functions into a single compact element, even where there is no known equivalent in bulk optics, enabling novel integrated photonic applications.
Self-Organizing Sensory Systems

We consider a class of problems in the theory of robotic sensing systems. These particular sensing systems have many important applications in safety, surveillance, law enforcement, and defense operations, and have relevance even to biological life. The sensory systems we consider here are self-organizing, and therefore highly reliable. We will use a model problem to describe the properties of these systems and to illustrate application of the working theory, especially in relation to cellular automata theory. The main characteristic of this model is the absence of any central controller or clock. The sensory units are totally autonomous and the algorithms are fully distributed. Unlike cellular automata, the system is heterogeneous, kinetic and asynchronous. We introduce the computational model and present two protocols of self-organization. The protocols model the reconfiguration of the sensory system into (1) a high-resolution unidirectional sensing configuration and (2) a low-resolution bidirectional sensing configuration.
An Integrated Readout Circuit for a Transcutaneous Oxygen Sensing Wearable Device

This paper presents an integrated readout dedicated to sensing transcutaneous oxygen, a first of its kind. The readout circuit employs a fluorescence-based method to sense the oxygen molecules diffusing through the skin. The system uses a platinum porphyrin thin film, a blue light-emitting diode (LED) that excites the thin film, and a photodiode (PD) that captures the red light emitted from the thin film. The presence of oxygen quenches the intensity and the lifetime of red light. The readout integrated circuit (IC), which is integrated in a 0.18 µm 5 V CMOS process, excites the thin film and senses the current flowing through the PD. The analog front-end converts the detected current to a voltage while providing a variable gain of $59\ \mathrm{k}\Omega-0.94\ \mathrm{M}\Omega$ . The LED driver circuit generates current as high as 40 mA. To decrease the power consumption of the readout, the LED can be pulsed at 16 $u\mathrm{s}$ intervals (based on the $1.7\ \mathrm{k}\Omega$ input impedance of the transimpedance amplifier and 20 pF PD capacitance). The readout IC consumes 631 $\mu \mathrm{W}$ power and occupies 1.04 mm2. This paper also shows ex vivo measurements.
Untapped potential: The utility of drylands for testing eco-evolutionary relationships between hosts and parasites.

Abstract Drylands comprise over 41% of all terrestrial surface area and are home to approximately 35.5% of the world's population; however, both free-living and parasitic fauna of these regions remain relatively understudied. Yet, the very conditions that make these regions challenging to study – extreme environmental conditions and low population density for various organisms – also make them potentially untapped natural laboratories for examining eco-evolutionary relationships between hosts and parasites. Adaptations and ecological patterns illustrated by desert parasite communities can serve as exemplars within the extremes regarding the evolution of virulence, breadth of host spectra, and lifecycle strategies. This review provides relevant examples for each of these three topics using parasites from dryland regions in order to encourage future empirical tests of hypotheses regarding parasite ecology and evolution within dryland ecosystems and stimulate wider investigation into the parasitofauna of arid regions in general. As global climate changes and anthropogenic disturbance increases, desertification is a growing problem which has been labeled as a threat to global health. Thus, deserts not only provide useful natural laboratories in which to study parasite transmission but understanding parasite transmission within these habitats becomes increasingly important as larger, likely highly resource insecure, populations are projected to live on the margins of desert regions in the future.
Beginnings, Continuities and Revivals: An Inventory of the New Arab Left and an Ongoing Arab Left Tradition

This article examines some of the first translations of Gramsci into Arabic by young, New Left figures associated with a short-lived group called “Socialist Lebanon.” Thinking a la Edward Said abou...
A Comparative Guide to the Western States' Public Trust Doctrine: Public Values, Private Rights, and the Evolution Toward an Environmental Public Trust

This companion Article to the fall 2007 A Comparative Guide to the Eastern Public Trust Doctrines explores the state public trust doctrines— emphasis on the plural—in the nineteen western states. In so doing, this Article seeks to make the larger point that, while the broad contours of the public trust doctrine have a federal law basis, especially regarding state ownership of the beds and banks of navigable waters, the details of how public trust principles actually apply vary considerably from state to state. Public trust law, in other words, is very much a species of state common law. Moreover, as with other forms of common law, states have evolved their public trust doctrines in light of the particular histories and the perceived needs and problems of each state. This Article observes that, in the West, four factors have been most important in the evolution of state public trust doctrines: (1) the severing of water rights from real property ownership and the riparian rights doctrine; (2) subsequent state declarations of public ownership of fresh water; (3) clear and explicit perceptions of the scarcity of water and the importance of submerged lands and environmental amenities; and (4) a willingness to consider water and other environmental issues to be of constitutional importance and/or to incorporate broad public trust mandates into statutes. From these factors, two important trends in western states’ public trust doctrines have emerged: (1) the extension of public rights based on states’ ownership of the water itself; and (2) an increasing, and still cutting-edge, expansion of public trust concepts into ecological public trust doctrines that are increasingly protecting species, ecosystems, and the public values that they provide.
Correction: A Unit of Homemaking: The Prefabricated Panel and Domestic Architecture in the Late Soviet Union

This article details a correction to the article: Malaia, K., 2020. A Unit of Homemaking: The Prefabricated Panel and Domestic Architecture in the Late Soviet Union. Architectural Histories, 8(1), p. 12. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/ah.453 .
Common Medicine for the Common Man: Picturing the “Striped Layman” in Early Vernacular Print

The disruptive figure of the “striped layman” appeared in printed texts and images around the year 1500 in the southern German lands. This essay shows how it came to represent a new kind of reader of vernacular medical publications. Exploring the illustrated books of the Strasbourg surgeon-apothecary Hieronymus Brunschwig, their local context of humanist discourse, and the visual practice of their publisher, Johann Gruninger, I argue that their oft-neglected woodcuts of people in striped clothes constitute powerful visual commentary of Brunschwig's (and others’) mission to impart medical agency and expertise to the “common man” at the eve of the Reformation.
Morpheaform sarcoidosis: A case presentation of an uncommon cutaneous manifestation of sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disorder of unknown etiology that can virtually involve any organ system. The most commonly affected sites include lungs, thoracic lymph nodes, eyes, heart, and central nervous system, with skin involvement in an estimated 20% to 35% of patients.1,2 The cutaneous manifestations of sarcoidosis are heterogeneous; however, these are broadly classified as “specific” if they contain noncaseating granulomas on histopathologic examination or as “nonspecific” if they lack this hallmark feature (Table I).1,2 Morpheaform sarcoidosis is a “specific” variant that can represent a particular diagnostic challenge.1 Due to its clinical resemblance to morphea, patients are often misdiagnosed as having localized scleroderma. Here, we describe a patient who was thought to have morphea but later diagnosed with skin-limited morpheaform sarcoidosis. Table I Examples of specific and nonspecific lesions of cutaneous sarcoidosis
Human Papillomavirus Infection and Cervical Dysplasia in a Subset of Arab American Women.

Background: With limited health data on Arab Americans (AAs), we sought to describe the health-seeking behaviors, prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) s...
Super-Selective Reconstruction of Causal and Direct Connectivity With Application to in vitro iPSC Neuronal Networks.

Despite advancements in the development of cell-based \textit{in-vitro} neuronal network models, the lack of appropriate computational tools limits their analyses. Methods aimed at deciphering the effective connections between neurons from extracellular spike recordings would increase utility of \textit{in-vitro} local neural circuits, especially for studies of human neural development and disease based on induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). Current techniques allow statistical inference of functional couplings in the network but are fundamentally unable to correctly identify indirect and apparent connections between neurons, generating redundant maps with limited ability to model the causal dynamics of the network. In this paper, we describe a novel mathematically rigorous, model-free method to map effective - direct and causal - connectivity of neuronal networks from multi-electrode array data. The inference algorithm uses a combination of statistical and deterministic indicators which, first, enables identification of all existing functional links in the network and then, reconstructs the directed and causal connection diagram via a super-selective rule enabling highly accurate classification of direct, indirect and apparent links. Our method can be generally applied to the functional characterization of any \textit{in-vitro} neuronal networks. Here, we show that, given its accuracy, it can offer important insights into the functional development oFf \textit{in-vitro} hiPSC-derived neuronal cultures.
Family, Gender and Kinship in Australia: The Social and Cultural Logic of Practice and Subjectivity

This ethnographically-based exploration draws on sociological, historical and demographic data to provide a comprehensive analysis of family, gender and kinship in Australia, which informs modern kinship and gender at large. Allon Uhlmann charts the cultural basis that underlies kinship practices and argues that the Australian family is characterized by deep cultural and social continuities rather than the common view that the family is undergoing substantial change. He further shows how the modern family both shapes, and is shaped by, broad social and economic processes. This analysis provides greater insight into this critical field of practice as well as showcasing a novel analytical approach to practice that is rooted in the sociology of practice and in the anthropology of cognition. The book also suggests changes to the way in which social scientists currently treat family and kinship.
Abstract MP87: Association of Hemostasis Biomarkers with Intracerebral Hemorrhage: the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study (REGARDS)

Introduction: Risk factors for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are poorly characterized. Deficiencies of fibrinogen and factors VIII, IX, and XI cause bleeding disorders but whether these factors relate to ICH risk is unknown. Methods: REGARDS recruited 30,239 individuals ≥45 years from the contiguous US oversampling blacks (44%) and residents of the southeast (56%) from 2003-07. ICH were confirmed by medical record review. Biomarkers were measured in a case cohort study of ICH and a 1104 person cohort random sample. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) per standard deviation (SD) lower biomarker were estimated using Cox models adjusting for stroke risk factors (Table). Individuals on warfarin were excluded. Results: Over a median 5.8 years (Interquartile range 4.1, 7.0) 66 ICH occurred. Compared with participants without ICH, participants with ICH were older (67 vs 65 years), more likely male (62 vs 44%), had higher aspirin use (53 vs 44%), higher systolic blood pressure (135 vs 127mmHg), and a greater prevalence of cardiovascular disease (26 vs 16%), left ventricular hypertrophy (61 vs 51%), and a lower prevalence of atrial fibrillation (5 vs 7%); all p 112%), the lowest tertile ( Discussion: Factor IX was associated with risk of ICH. As congenital factor IX deficiency is a bleeding disorder (hemophilia B), the observed gradation of risk, and the biologic plausibility, our results suggest a likely causal role for normal variation of factor IX levels and population ICH risk.
Siting and sizing of distributed generation for optimal microgrid architecture

This paper presents a method for optimally siting and sizing distributed generation (DG) units in a microgrid. The optimization is based on stipulated reliability criteria. Power system planning based on reliability gives rise to efficient architectures which can meet the consumer requirements with minimum system upgrade. This paper develops a technique for determining the optimal location and sizes of DG units in a microgrid, given the network configuration and the heat and power requirements at various load points. The method is based on simulated annealing. Thermal output and utilization of combined heat and power (CHP) units are considered. The paper presents the development and implementation of the method, and demonstrates its application on a six bus test system.
Validity of Birth Certificate-Derived Maternal Weight Data in Twin Pregnancies

Birth certificates are an important source of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) data for surveillance and aetiologic studies, but little is known about their validity in twin pregnancies. Twins experience high rates of adverse perinatal outcomes that have been associated with BMI and GWG in singletons. Our objective was to evaluate the accuracy of birth certificate-derived pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG compared with medical record-derived data in a sample of 186 twin pregnancies at a teaching hospital in Pennsylvania (2003–2010). Twelve strata were created by simultaneous stratification on pre-pregnancy BMI (underweight, normal weight/overweight, obese class 1, obese classes 2 and 3) and GWG ( 80th percentile). The agreement of birth certificate-derived pre-pregnancy BMI category with medical record BMI category was lowest among underweight mothers [75% (95% confidence interval 51–91%) ] and highest among normal/overweight [97% (90–99%) ] and obese classes 2 and 3 mothers [97% (85–99%) ]. Agreement for GWG category from the birth certificate varied from 57% (41–70%) for GWG >80th percentile to 80% (65–91%) and 82% (72–89%) for GWG <20th and 20th–80th percentiles, respectively. The misclassification of BMI and GWG was primarily due to error in pre-pregnancy weight rather than weight at delivery or height. Agreement proportions for twins were not meaningfully different from the proportions in a comparable sample of singleton pregnancies. These data suggest that birth certificate-based BMI and GWG data are prone to error in twin pregnancies. Those who use these data should conduct internal validation studies and adjust their results using bias analyses.
A self-help guide for a trim genome

Organisms have developed a range of mechanisms to protect their genomes from being usurped by selfish DNAs such as transposons. In a Perspective, [Selker][1] describes an efficient genome defense system in the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena that prevents unnecessary DNA sequences from being amplified in the workhorse nucleus (macronucleus) of this organism ([ Yao et al .][2]). [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/300/5625/1517 [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/300/5625/1581
Immune Control of Herpes Simplex Virus Infections

The role of cell-mediated protection to herpes simplex infection was studied in vivo and in vitro . Sensitized spleen cells, obtained from syngeneic mice immunized with herpes simplex virus, protected recipient mice against lethal challenge with herpes simplex virus. Survival was significantly greater in challenged mice that received washed spleen cells from donor animals immunized with herpes simplex than from control donor animals. This increase in survival after challenge was associated with a significant decrease in virus titers in the brains of mice that had received specifically sensitized cells. There was no obvious association between increased survival and the levels of serum antibody and interferon in the challenged animals. In vitro studies demonstrated control of herpes simplex infection in human and murine cell cultures by sensitized spleen cells from specifically immunized mice. Control of infection required intact, immune, non-glass-adhering lymphoid cells.
Social consequences of ethanol: Impact of age, stress, and prior history of ethanol exposure

The adolescent period is associated with high significance of interactions with peers, high frequency of stressful situations, and high rates of alcohol use. At least two desired effects of alcohol that may contribute to heavy and problematic drinking during adolescence are its abilities to both facilitate interactions with peers and to alleviate anxiety, perhaps especially anxiety seen in social contexts. Ethanol-induced social facilitation can be seen using a simple model of adolescence in the rat, with normal adolescents, but not their more mature counterparts, demonstrating this ethanol-related social facilitation. Prior repeated stress induces expression of ethanol-induced social facilitation in adults and further enhances socially facilitating effects of ethanol among adolescent rats. In contrast, under normal circumstances, adolescent rats are less sensitive than adults to the social inhibition induced by higher ethanol doses and are insensitive to the socially anxiolytic effects of ethanol. Sensitivity to the socially anxiolytic effects of ethanol can be modified by prior stress or ethanol exposure at both ages. Shortly following repeated restraint or ethanol exposure, adolescents exhibit social anxiety-like behavior, indexed by reduced social preference, and enhanced sensitivity to the socially anxiolytic effects of ethanol, indexed through ethanol-associated reinstatement of social preference in these adolescents. Repeated restraint, but not repeated ethanol, induces similar effects in adults as well, eliciting social anxiety-like behavior and increasing their sensitivity to the socially anxiolytic effects of acute ethanol; the stressor also decreases sensitivity of adults to ethanol-induced social inhibition. The persisting consequences of early adolescent ethanol exposure differ from its immediate consequences, with males exposed early in adolescence, but not females or those exposed later in adolescence, showing social anxiety-like behavior when tested in adulthood. Adult males exposed to ethanol early in adolescence also show enhanced sensitivity to the socially facilitating effects of ethanol, whereas adult males exposed to ethanol during late adolescence demonstrate insensitivity to the socially suppressing effects of ethanol. To the extent that these results are applicable to humans, stressful live events may make alcohol more attractive for stressed adolescents and adults due to its socially facilitating and socially anxiolytic properties, therefore fostering high levels of drinking. Retention of adolescent-typical responsiveness to alcohol in adult males following adolescent alcohol exposure, including enhanced sensitivity to the socially facilitating effects of ethanol following early exposure and insensitivity to the socially inhibiting effects following late adolescent exposure, may put these males at risk for the development of alcohol-related disorders later in life.
With Block of the Lateral Antebrachial Cutaneous (Terminal Musculocutaneous) Nerve

Since the median, ulnar, and radial nerves lie in close proximity to the axillary artery in the neurovascular compartment of the axilla, all three nerves are easily and completely blocked by the axillary approach with injection of a moderate volume of anesthetic.Because of its more proximal origin,
WattBot: a residential electricity monitoring and feedback system

Electricity production emits carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere, adversely influences global climate change, depletes limited natural resources, and negatively impacts the lives of those who live near power plants. We designed a residential electricity monitoring and feedback system called WattBot, that allows users to track their home energy usage and encourages them to reduce consumption. Our solution is an application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch that receives data from a wireless hub, allowing users to view, compare and analyze their electricity usage over time.
Antimetastatic efficacy of silibinin: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential against cancer

Cancer is a major health problem around the world. Research efforts in the last few decades have been successful in providing better and effective treatments against both early stage and localized cancer, but clinical options against advanced metastatic stage/s of cancer remain limited. The high morbidity and mortality in most of the cancers are attributed to their metastatic spread to distant organs. Due to its extreme clinical relevance, metastasis has been extensively studied and is now understood as a highly complex biological event that involves multiple steps including acquisition of invasiveness by cancer cells, intravasation into circulatory system, survival in the circulation, arrest in microvasculature, extravasation, and growth at distant organs. The increasing understanding of molecular underpinnings of these events has provided excellent opportunity to target metastasis especially through nontoxic and biologically effective nutraceuticals. Silibinin, a popular dietary supplement isolated from milk thistle seed extracts, is one such natural agent that has shown biological efficacy through pleiotropic mechanisms against a variety of cancers and is currently in clinical trials. Recent preclinical studies have also shown strong efficacy of silibinin to target cancer cell’s migratory and invasive characteristics as well as their ability to metastasize to distant organs. Detailed mechanistic analyses revealed that silibinin targets signaling molecules involved in the regulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, proteases activation, adhesion, motility, invasiveness as well as the supportive tumor-microenvironment components, thereby inhibiting metastasis. Overall, the long history of human use, remarkable nontoxicity, and preclinical efficacy strongly favor the clinical use of silibinin against advanced metastatic cancers.
Characterization of high temperature hot dip galvanized coatings

Abstract High temperature hot dip galvanized (HT-HDG) coatings obtained on structural steels were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) techniques. The coating was primarily composed of δ1 (Fe5Zn21, face-centered cubic (f.c.c.)) and ζ (FeZn13, monoclinic) phases. A comparison was made between galvannealed and HT-HDG coatings with regard to coating characteristics and properties, since both types of coating involve hot dip processes and contain Fe-Zn intermetallic phases.
A tutorial on public key cryptography

Abstract Public key cryptography provides the means for establishing instantaneous, secure communication between any two persons or any two computers. The prior exchange of a secret quantity, called the cryptographic key, is not necessary. In this paper, the underlying mathematical principles of public key (PK) cryptography are informally introduced and two realizations of the concept are described.
Virulence of commercial strains of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) against adult Xylosandrus germanus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and impact on brood

Abstract The ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus germanus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an invasive pest with a wide host range and is a serious pest of orchards and nurseries in the eastern and midwestern US. In this study we evaluated the potential of entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) as control agents against this beetle. Three commercially available strains of these fungi were assayed against adult females to determine their virulence and impact on brood production. Among the three strains tested, B. bassiana Naturalis and M. brunneum F52 were more virulent than B. bassiana GHA. Mortality observed 6 days post-spray was 6.7 ± 6.7%, 60 ± 5.8% and 61.7 ± 7.9% for GHA, Naturalis and F52, respectively, at the highest dosage tested (approximately 600 conidia/mm2). Inoculation of adult females did not affect their initial tunneling activity, but resulted in reduced numbers forming galleries and producing brood compared to controls. Broods from treated females were smaller in size, and some had up to 100% of the progeny infected. Infection was observed among all beetle life stages. These data show that the impact of inoculating adult females extends beyond their own survival and suggest that infection of offspring could also significantly affect beetle populations in the field.