cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Activated T Lymphocytes Regulate Hyaluronan Binding to Monocyte CD44 Via Production of IL-2 and IFN-γ

Interactions of the cell surface proteoglycan CD44 with the extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan (HA) are important during inflammatory immune responses. Our previous studies indicated that monocyte HA binding could be induced by TNF-alpha. Moreover, monocyte HA binding could be markedly up-regulated by culturing PBMC with anti-CD3 (TCR complex) mAbs. The present study was undertaken to identify soluble factors and/or cell surface molecules of activated T lymphocytes that might regulate HA binding to monocytes. Abs to IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-3, IL-10, IL-15, GM-CSF, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha were tested for their effects on anti-CD3 mAb-, Con A-, and PMA/ionomycin-mediated monocyte HA binding in PBMC cultures. Anti-TNF-alpha, anti-IL-2, and anti-IFN-gamma Abs, when added together to PBMC cultures, completely blocked Con A- and partially blocked anti-CD3- and PMA/ionomycin-induced monocyte HA binding. Furthermore, when added together to PBMC cultures, IL-2 and TNF-alpha induced high levels of monocyte HA binding. Likewise, IFN-gamma augmented TNF-alpha-induced monocyte HA binding. To investigate the role of T cell-monocyte direct contact in induction of monocyte HA binding, we studied PMA/ionomycin-activated, paraformaldehyde-fixed CD4(+) T cells in these assays. Fixed, PMA/ionomycin-activated CD4(+) T lymphocytes induced monocyte HA binding, but direct T cell-monocyte contact was not required. Moreover, anti-IFN-gamma and anti-TNF-alpha Abs blocked fixed PMA/ionomycin-activated CD4(+) T cell-induced monocyte HA binding. Taken together, these studies indicate roles for soluble T lymphocyte-derived factor(s), such as IL-2 and IFN-gamma, and a role for monocyte-derived TNF-alpha in Con A-, TCR complex-, and PMA/ionomycin-induced HA binding to monocyte CD44.
Research in Distance Education: A Status Report

Since the 1950s and expansion of social science research, distance education has been studied in comparison to face-to-face or classroom instruction. Although researchers continue to conduct comparative studies, their usefulness in revealing more information has diminished over the years; invariably, they have returned a “no significant difference” result between various forms of instruction. In recent years, researchers have moved beyond atheoretical, experimental comparative studies and have introduced new methods, such as discourse analysis, and in-depth interview of learners. These new methods overcome many methodological and theoretical limitations of the physical science view of distance education. These studies have further revealed the complexity of distance education, indicating the many variables involved in the concept. Starting with the core issue of instructional interaction and grounded on the theory of transactional distance, a new strand of research using methods related to systems dynamics, hierarchy and complexity theories, promises a more comprehensive understanding.
A highly efficacious lymphocyte chemoattractant, stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1)

Chemotactic factors are postulated to direct emigration of lymphocytes from the blood stream into sites of inflammation. Members of a family of chemotactic cytokines, termed chemokines, have been shown to attract lymphocytes but efficacy, i.e., the maximal percentage of attracted cells, has been low. We have identified a highly efficacious lymphocyte chemotactic activity in the supernatants of the murine bone marrow stroma cell line MS-5 which attracts 10-fold more lymphocytes in vitro than currently described lymphocyte chemoattractants. Purification of this chemotactic activity revealed identity to stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1). SDF-1 acts on lymphocytes and monocytes but not neutrophils in vitro and is both a highly efficacious and highly potent mononuclear cell attractant in vivo. In addition, SDF-1 induces intracellular actin polymerization in lymphocytes, a process that is thought to be a prerequisite for cell motility. Since SDF-1 is expressed constitutively in a broad range of tissues it may have a role in immune surveillance and in basal extravasation of lymphocytes and monocytes rather than in inflammation.
Optimal margin computation for at-speed test

In the face of increased process variations, at-speed manufacturing test is necessary to detect subtle delay defects. This procedure necessarily tests chips at a slightly higher speed than the target frequency required in the field. The additional performance required on the tester is called test margin. There are many good reasons for margin including voltage and temperature requirements, incomplete test coverage, aging effects, coupling effects and accounting for modeling inaccuracies. By taking advantage of statistical timing, this paper proposes an optimal method of test margin determination to maximize yield while staying within a prescribed shipped product quality loss (SPQL) limit. If process information is available from wafer testing of scribe line structures or on-chip process monitoring circuitry, this information can be leveraged to determine a per- chip test margin which can further improve yield.
Navarretia furnissii (Polemoniaceae), a new diploid species from the intermountain western United States distinguished from tetraploid Navarretia saximontana

Morphological and DNA-based characters distinguish a new diploid species centered in the Intermountain Region of the western United States, Navarretia furnissii, from N. saximontana, which is tetraploid. The two species are reciprocally monophyletic in analyses of chloroplast DNA sequences and nrDNA ITS sequences. Navarretia furnissii, presently known from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado, is distinguished morphologically from N. saximontana by a smaller corolla, greater frequency of pronged calyx lobes, and fewer seeds. A key to Navarretia of the Intermountain Region is presented.
Western scrub-jays do not appear to attend to functionality in Aesop’s Fable experiments

Western scrub-jays are known for their highly discriminatory and flexible behaviors in a caching (food storing) context. However, it is unknown whether their cognitive abilities are restricted to a caching context. To explore this question, we tested scrub-jays in a non-caching context using the Aesop’s Fable paradigm, where a partially filled tube of water contains a floating food reward and objects must be inserted to displace the water and bring the food within reach. We tested four birds, but only two learned to drop stones proficiently. Of these, one bird participated in 4/5 experiments and one in 2/5 experiments. Both birds passed one experiment, but without attending to the functional differences of the objects, and failed the other experiments. Scrub-jays were not motivated to participate in these experiments, suggesting that either this paradigm was ecologically irrelevant or perhaps their flexibility is restricted to a caching context.
The (Almost) Impossible Task of Interdisciplinarity

While physics and physics-based disciplines adequately describe the non-living, there is a need for a complementary perspective that captures the essence of life. Biology and neuroscience could provide such a perspective, provided that they are not practiced as yet another form of physics. Of course, an authentic and effective complementary perspective can only reaffirm materiality and the associated dynamics that physics, or for that matter biology, explores. But it has to also account for the specific causality characteristic of life by integrating past, present, and future. Experimental evidence and empirical knowledge attest that there is no intentionality in the realm covered by physics and physics-associated disciplines. In contradistinction, the living is always characterized by what an observer could only describe as goal-oriented behavior. Current biology and neuroscience either end up explaining this behavior in terms specific to physical determinism, or simply leave anticipation out of the larger picture.
Underutilization of Timely Kidney Transplants in Those with Living Donors

Preemptive kidney transplant (PKTx) and kidney transplant (KTx) within 1 year of dialysis initiation have been associated with superior outcomes. Wait times should be minimal for transplants with living donors; however, there is lack of literature studying utilization of timely KTx in this population. We designed this retrospective study using data from United Network for Organ Sharing Standard Transplant Analysis and Research files from 2000 to 2012 to assess the trends in utilization of PKTx and Early KTx (combination of PKTx or transplant within 1 year of dialysis initiation) in recipients of living donor KTx. Only 32.6% transplants were PKTx, and 61.9% were Early KTx. A significant improvement in proportion of PKTx was seen from 27.5% in 2000 to 35.4% in 2006, with no change since. Similarly, the proportion of Early KTx increased from 61.4% in 2000 to 63.6% in 2006, with no increase since. Similar results were seen after adjusted analysis and were independent of living donor type. Although there was some improvement in utilization of timely transplants in the early part of the last decade, there has been no improvement since. Considering the benefits of timely kidney transplant, it is important to understand the reasons behind the same and to improve utilization.
Colorado’s Law of “Underground Water”: A Look at the South Platte Basin & Beyond

This article examines Colorado's approach to integrating the uses of ground and surface water. It considers the issues raised by applying this law in the South Platte basin.
Layer-by-layer fully printed Zn-MnO2 batteries with improved internal resistance and cycle life

This research created direct layer-by-layer printed zinc-based secondary batteries with an ionic liquid-based gel polymer electrolyte to power micro- and meso-scale devices. The use of a gel polymer electrolyte composed of [BMIM][Otf] ionic liquid, ZnOtf salt, and PVDF-HFP polymer binder enabled direct layer-by-layer printing of functional cells. The effects of additive printing methods on cell discharge capacity, cycle life, and internal resistance are discussed. Fully printed cells have demonstrated average discharge capacities of 0.548 mAh/cm2, energy densities of 8.20 mWh/cm3, and specific energies of 2.46 mWh/g with some cells achieving over 1000 cycles without catastrophic failure. Layer-by-layer printed devices exhibited decreased DC internal resistance and longer cycle life over previous mechanically assembled cells.
Heterothallic antibiosis in Mucor racemosus.

During a preliminary testing of stock laboratory cultures of molds for possible antibiotic properties, a culture of a phycomycete, Mucor racemosus Fres., indicated antibacterial effects. It was not known whether this culture represented a plus or a minus strain of the heterothallic fungus. Inasmuch as antibiosis has been reported to occur very infrequently in the phycomycetes, the antibiotic action of M. racemosus was investigated further. Wilkins and Harris (3) tested 19 phycomycetes for antibiotic action using Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas pyocyanea as test organisms. Negative results were obtained with all of these phycomycetes except for Phytophthora erythroseptica which exhibited antibacterial action against all three test organisms. Antibiotic tests also included heterothallic strains of nine different species of Mucoraceae. Among these were plus and minus strains of Mucor hiemalis, M. mucedo, and M. sexualis.
AORTIC VASCULAR INFLAMMATION BY 18-FDG PET/MRI IS RELATED TO CORONARY PLAQUE BURDEN BY QUANTITATIVE CORONARY CT ANGIOGRAPHY IN PSORIASIS

Psoriasis (PSO), a chronic inflammatory skin disease, is associated with vascular inflammation (VI) by 18-F FDG PET/MRI and an increased risk of MI. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) characterizes the composition of plaque in coronary heart disease (CHD). We hypothesized that VI in the
On the dimension of the Krylov subspace in low complexity wireless communications linear receivers

In this paper, we analyse the dimension of the Krylov subspace obtained in Krylov solvers applied to signal detection in low complexity communication receivers. These receivers are based on the Wiener filter as a pre-processing step for signal detection, requiring the computation of a matrix inverse, which is computationally demanding for large systems. When applying Krylov solvers to the computation of the Wiener filter, a prescribed number of iterations is applied to solve the associated linear system. This allows for obtaining a reduced number of floating point operations. We base our analysis on relating the Krylov subspace with the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors of the received covariance matrix, and on the the cross-covariance matrix between the received and the transmitted signals. In our analysis, we show that the particular structure of communication systems can yield a unique Krylov subspace for several right hand sides. Based on the latter, we further extend our findings by solving the multivariate version of the Wiener filter utilising Galerking projections.
Research on Watermelon Supply Response and Issues in China——Empirical Analysis Based on Nerlove Model

This paper estimated the parameters of watermelon supply response model and found that short-term and long-term supply elasticity of watermelon were very small,which indicated that the produce reacted weakly with price. In other words,the market regulation function of price did not get to play. The major reasons were that buyers such as middlemen distorted market signals,psychological of famers such as the production inertia and risk aversion led the effects of production expectation on production adjustment were not obvious,and the exit cost of watermelon industry was high. For these reasons,this paper proposed suggestions including preventing watermelon production of pseudo-surplus and establishing integrated production and marketing measures.
Microfluidic Ethanol Biobatteries on a Microchip

This chapter outlines the methods and procedures for making a microfluidic and microfabricated biofuel cell. Commercially available screen-printing carbon inks are employed as electrodes by micromolding them onto glass microchips. The carbon ink electrodes are modified with methylene green and alcohol dehydrogenase immobilized within a modified Nafion membrane to act as bioanodes in the microfluidic system. The complete biofuel cell produces power using an external platinum cathode and an integrated microfluidic bioanode. Miniaturization of power sources, such as biofuel cells, is important in applications for implementation in small technologies (i.e., sensors, bioreactors, and lab-on-a-chip technology).
Can tobacco dependence provide insights into other drug addictions

Within the field of addiction research, individuals tend to operate within silos of knowledge focused on specific drug classes. The discovery that tobacco dependence develops in a progression of stages and that the latency to the onset of withdrawal symptoms after the last use of tobacco changes over time have provided insights into how tobacco dependence develops that might be applied to the study of other drugs. As physical dependence on tobacco develops, it progresses through previously unrecognized clinical stages of wanting, craving and needing. The latency to withdrawal is a measure of the asymptomatic phase of withdrawal, extending from the last use of tobacco to the emergence of withdrawal symptoms. Symptomatic withdrawal is characterized by a wanting phase, a craving phase, and a needing phase. The intensity of the desire to smoke that is triggered by withdrawal correlates with brain activity in addiction circuits. With repeated tobacco use, the latency to withdrawal shrinks from as long as several weeks to as short as several minutes. The shortening of the asymptomatic phase of withdrawal drives an escalation of smoking, first in terms of the number of smoking days/month until daily smoking commences, then in terms of cigarettes smoked/day. The discoveries of the stages of physical dependence and the latency to withdrawal raises the question, does physical dependence develop in stages with other drugs? Is the latency to withdrawal for other substances measured in weeks at the onset of dependence? Does it shorten over time? The research methods that uncovered how tobacco dependence emerges might be fruitfully applied to the investigation of other addictions.
Deletion of histone deacetylase 3 in adult beta cells improves glucose tolerance via increased insulin secretion

Abstract Objective Histone deacetylases are epigenetic regulators known to control gene transcription in various tissues. A member of this family, histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), has been shown to regulate metabolic genes. Cell culture studies with HDAC-specific inhibitors and siRNA suggest that HDAC3 plays a role in pancreatic β-cell function, but a recent genetic study in mice has been contradictory. Here we address the functional role of HDAC3 in β-cells of adult mice. Methods An HDAC3 β-cell specific knockout was generated in adult MIP-Cre ERT transgenic mice using the Cre-loxP system. Induction of HDAC3 deletion was initiated at 8 weeks of age with administration of tamoxifen in corn oil (2 mg/day for 5 days). Mice were assayed for glucose tolerance, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, and islet function 2 weeks after induction of the knockout. Transcriptional functions of HDAC3 were assessed by ChIP-seq as well as RNA-seq comparing control and β-cell knockout islets. Results HDAC3 β-cell specific knockout (HDAC3βKO) did not increase total pancreatic insulin content or β-cell mass. However, HDAC3βKO mice demonstrated markedly improved glucose tolerance. This improved glucose metabolism coincided with increased basal and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vivo as well as in isolated islets. Cistromic and transcriptomic analyses of pancreatic islets revealed that HDAC3 regulates multiple genes that contribute to glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Conclusions HDAC3 plays an important role in regulating insulin secretion in vivo , and therapeutic intervention may improve glucose homeostasis.
Quantum cohomology of isotropic Grassmannians

Let G be a classical Lie group and P a maximal parabolic subgroup. We describe a quantum Pieri rule which holds in the small quantum cohomology ring of G/P. We also give a presentation of this ring in terms of special Schubert class generators and relations. This is a survey paper which reports on joint work with Anders S. Buch and Andrew Kresch.
Mixing with applications to inertial-confinement-fusion implosions

Approximate one-dimensional (1D) as well as 2D and 3D simulations are playing an important supporting role in the design and analysis of future experiments at National Ignition Facility. This paper is mainly concerned with 1D simulations, used extensively in design and optimization. We couple a 1D buoyancy-drag mix model for the mixing zone edges with a 1D inertial confinement fusion simulation code. This analysis predicts that National Ignition Campaign (NIC) designs are located close to a performance cliff, so modeling errors, design features (fill tube and tent) and additional, unmodeled instabilities could lead to significant levels of mix. The performance cliff we identify is associated with multimode plastic ablator (CH) mix into the hot-spot deuterium and tritium (DT). The buoyancy-drag mix model is mode number independent and selects implicitly a range of maximum growth modes. Our main conclusion is that single effect instabilities are predicted not to lead to hot-spot mix, while combined mode mixing effects are predicted to affect hot-spot thermodynamics and possibly hot-spot mix. Combined with the stagnation Rayleigh-Taylor instability, we find the potential for mix effects in combination with the ice-to-gas DT boundary, numerical effects of Eulerian species CH concentration diffusion, and ablation-driven instabilities. With the help of a convenient package of plasma transport parameters developed here, we give an approximate determination of these quantities in the regime relevant to the NIC experiments, while ruling out a variety of mix possibilities. Plasma transport parameters affect the 1D buoyancy-drag mix model primarily through its phenomenological drag coefficient as well as the 1D hydro model to which the buoyancy-drag equation is coupled.
Site Interiography and Geophysical Scanning: Interpreting the Texture and Form of Archaeological Deposits with Ground-Penetrating Radar

The remarkable potential of geophysical scanning—to assess the internal variability of sites in new ways, to highlight important phenomena in the field, to exercise co-creation of interpretation and commitment to minimal destruction of community partners’ resources, and to aid in the practice of due diligence in avoiding desecration of the sacred—continues to be underutilized in archaeology. While archaeological artifacts, features, and strata remain primary foci of archaeological geophysics, these phenomena are perceived quite differently in scans than in visual or tactile exposures. In turn, new registers of site exploration afforded by geophysical prospection may be constrained by the language of site excavation and visual observation, requiring adjustments in the ways of thinking about and describing what the instruments are measuring. The texture and form of site deposits as rendered in ground-penetrating radar scans can be examined in detail prior to making interpretations of cultural features or stratigraphy. Far more than simple “anomalies” demanding our attention for excavation, patterns in geophysical data can be the focus of extensive archaeological analysis prior to, in conjunction with, or independent from excavation.
Strong geographic and temporal patterns in conservation status of North American bats

Abstract Conservationists are increasingly concerned about North American bats due to the arrival and spread of the White-nose Syndrome (WNS) disease and mortality associated with wind turbine strikes. To place these novel threats in context for a group of mammals that provides important ecosystem services, we performed the first comprehensive conservation status assessment focusing exclusively on the 45 species occurring in North America north of Mexico. Although most North American bats have large range sizes and large populations, as of 2015, 18–31% of the species were at risk (categorized as having vulnerable, imperiled, or critically imperiled NatureServe conservation statuses) and therefore among the most imperiled terrestrial vertebrates on the continent. Species richness is greatest in the Southwest, but at-risk species were more concentrated in the East, and northern faunas had the highest proportion of at-risk species. Most ecological traits considered, including those characterizing body size, roosting habits, migratory behavior, range size, home range size, population density, and tendency to hibernate, were not strongly associated with conservation status. However, nectarivorous bats tended to be more at risk. The conservation status of bats improved from 1985 to 2000 as human disturbances to roosting sites were reduced, but then declined sharply (7%) by 2015 due principally to threats from WNS and wind energy. Although uncertainty about threats from pollution and climate change remain, past experience shows that when threats are clearly identified and management actions taken, populations can recover.
Study of Stability in the Hyperbolic Paraboloid

This experimental investigation covers the buckling behavior under uniform vertical load of a right square hyperbolic paraboloid. Results are secured by observation of the behavior of small scale plastic models fabricated from polyvinyl chloride. The study focuses on defining the form buckling takes in the hyperbolic paraboloid and the influence of edge member properties on the magnitude of the shell buckling load and the ultimate load. Results indicate buckling may be identified by a knee in the load-deflection curve of points on the shell surface. Geometric imperfections are shown to affect the magnitude of the buckling load. A significant conclusion of these experiments is that the initiation of shell buckling is mainly dependent on axial stiffness of the edge members. Finally, strain gage readings and observation of loaded shells indicate the formation of a tension field along the direction of the tension diagonal in the post-buckling region.
P086 MFI, MFI everywhere: Is there a clinically applicable MFI cutpoint anywhere?

Aim Luminex Single Antigen bead assays (LSAB) are robust for detecting and identifying IgG anti-HLA antibodies, and the LSAB mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) is currently used to list unacceptable antigens and to predict physical crossmatch (XM) results. Concerns exist regarding the use of MFI as the criterion because MFI thresholds for accurately predicting physical XM results are far from established. We aimed to address this unmet need. Methods We leveraged the XM results from ASHI Proficiency Testing (PTs) to investigate whether LSAB MFI cutpoints are predictive of physical XM results. ASHI graded (⩾80% consensus) XM results from 8 consecutive ASHI PTs in which up to 30 labs tested 40 sera and 16 cells distributed by ASHI were used to examine whether LSAB MFI data we generated in the same PTs predict physical XM results. Cumulative MFIs of DSA directed at HLA-A, B, and C were tested for their ability to predict T cell Flow XM and T cell AHG XM results; cumulative MFIs of DSA directed at HLA-A, B, C, DRB1, DRB3/4/5, DQB and DP were tested for their ability to predict B cell Flow XM and B cell CDC XM results. Results Our data analysis identified that cumulative MFI of DSA less than 6000 directed at HLA-class I antigens predicted T cell Flow XM results with a 100% negative predictive value (NPV) and MFI > 7000 predicted T cell Flow XM results with a 100% positive predictive value (PPV) (Chi-Square for trend, X 2 = 70, df = 1, P 8000 predicted B Flow XM result with a 100% PPV (X 2 ; =; 67, df = 1, P Download high-res image (343KB) Download full-size image Conclusions Our data demonstrating the feasibility of developing LSAB MFI cutpoints for the accurate prediction of T cell Flow XM, B cell Flow XM, T cell AHG XM, and B cell CDC XM results advance a strategy for the interpretation of virtual crossmatches and the prediction of physical XM results.
CSALT: context switch aware large TLB

Computing in virtualized environments has become a common practice for many businesses. Typically, hosting companies aim for lower operational costs by targeting high utilization of host machines maintaining just enough machines to meet the demand. In this scenario, frequent virtual machine context switches are common, resulting in increased TLB miss rates (often, by over 5X when contexts are doubled) and subsequent expensive page walks. Since each TLB miss in a virtual environment initiates a 2D page walk, the data caches get filled with a large fraction of page table entries (often, in excess of 50%) thereby evicting potentially more useful data contents.In this work, we propose CSALT -a Context-Switch Aware Large TLB, to address the problem of increased TLB miss rates and their adverse impact on data caches. First, we demonstrate that the CSALT architecture can effectively cope with the demands of increased context switches by its capacity to store a very large number of TLB entries. Next, we show that CSALT mitigates data cache contention caused by conflicts between data and translation entries by employing a novel TLB-Aware Cache Partitioning scheme. On 8-core systems that switch between two virtual machine contexts executing multi-threaded workloads, CSALT achieves an average performance improvement of 85% over a baseline with conventional Ll-L2 TLBs and 25% over a baseline which has a large L3 TLB.CS CONCEPTSComputer systems organization → Heterogeneous (hybrid) systems;
An unusual case of metastatic breast carcinoma metastasizing to an antecedent rhytidectomy procedural scar.

Breast carcinoma remains the most common cutaneous metastasis in women.1 Although breast carcinoma can arise within mastectomy scars as a sign of locoregional recurrence, distant metastasis in the skin is a less common event. We report the case of a 58-year-old white woman with a history of infiltrative ductal carcinoma who presented with multiple cutaneous papules and nodules on the scalp and retroauricular region. A single metastatic focus uniquely occurred in a prior rhytidectomy scar on the left postauricular sulcus. Only 6 cases of metastases homing to distant cutaneous scars have been reported2, 3, 4, 5, 6; to date, this exists as the first case in breast carcinoma (Appendix).
Dysarthria Profiles in Adults With Hereditary Ataxia.

Purpose This preliminary study examined whether speech profiles exist for adults with hereditary ataxia based on 2 competing frameworks: a pattern of instability/inflexibility or a pattern of diffe...
Largely Improved Battery Performance Using a Microsized Silicon Skeleton Caged by Polypyrrole as Anode

Various architectures with nanostructured silicon have demonstrated promising battery performance while posing a challenge in industrial production. The current ratio of silicon in graphite as anod...
Contemporary Trends and Outcomes of Percutaneous and Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients With Cancer.

Background Patients with cancer and severe aortic stenosis are often ineligible for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Patients with cancer may likely benefit from emerging transcatheter aor...
Determinants of accurate visual perception of child anthropometric phenotype among ethnically diverse preschool parents in the United States.

The literature reports that regardless of the high obesity prevalence estimates in young children, parents often do not accurately perceive their child's weight status. The purpose of this analysis was to examine the association between parent/child demographic characteristics including ethnicity, country of birth and years living in the United States and the perception of child's anthropometric phenotype status based on a visual silhouette instrument. Caregiver (n = 456) and child sociodemographic, perception of child anthropometric phenotype status and height/weight measurements were collected in 2015, from 24 childcare centres in Miami, Florida, among children ages 2-to-5 years old. Chi-square analysis determined parent perception accuracy by actual child healthy (<body mass index [BMI] 85th percentile) or unhealthy (≥ BMI 85th percentile) status. Multivariable linear regression modelled phenotype trends by caregiver perception. Twenty-eight per cent of the sample was of unhealthy weight. Overall, 74.6% of caregivers did not accurately identify their child's BMI phenotype category versus 25% who did (p < .001); 8% of Hispanic and 13% of non-Hispanic parents of a child with an unhealthy BMI correctly identified their child's anthropometric phenotype. A higher proportion of Cuban (22%) caregivers of a child with an unhealthy BMI percentile versus Mexican caregivers (13.9%) visually identified their child as healthy weight. Child BMI percentile was significantly associated with parent perception of child healthy phenotype (OR: 1.05, 95% CI 1.04, 1.06). Findings here add evidence to the existing body of literature that emphasise parent perception of child weight status as a critical lynchpin in the childhood obesity epidemic. Intervention efforts must continue to educate parents on healthy weight development strategies.
Immigration effects on crime in a midwestern, nontraditional destination: a neighborhood-level analysis of Cincinnati, Ohio

A wide-ranging body of research on the immigration-crime relationship has shown that immigration does not increase community crime levels. However, most prior studies have focused on traditional im...
Analysis and Design of Integrated Voltage Regulators for Supply Noise Rejection During System-Level ESD

This work studies the effect of system-level ESD on chip-level power integrity of ICs. The analysis reveals that isolating the ground nets of the various on-chip power domains impedes the cross-domain propagation of ESD-induced supply noise. Further analysis as well as circuit simulation show that an integrated voltage regulator (IVR) can provide increased immunity to ESD-induced supply noise, especially if the internally generated power supply does not utilize any PCB-level decoupling capacitors. However, the IVR’s PMOS pass transistor may discharge the internally regulated supply if the IO supply domain collapses due to ESD. Key findings of the analysis are confirmed by measurements performed on two test chips which have differing IVR designs.
Examining occupational stress in early-career child welfare workers

This study examined changes in the perceptions of physical and emotional wellbeing of early career child welfare workers (n = 578) using four waves of data collected during their first 18 months of...
Research Techniques Used in the Study of Social Wasps

This overview describes and evaluates research methods used in the study of Neotropical social wasps. The emphasis is on field techniques; laboratory and museum procedures and detailed analytical methods can be found elsewhere. The first part of the chapter addresses techniques for working with collected materials. Topics include studies of biodiversity (wasp species richness and abundance), locating colonies in the field, collecting and preserving individuals and whole colonies, and a look at data obtainable from collected colonies. The second part covers procedures for working with live individuals and colonies in the field, including anesthetization, marking adults for individual recognition, uses of video recording, how to study foraging behavior and nesting behavior, and the bioassaying of pheromones. A section follows on manipulating active colonies for special purposes, which covers how to measure age polyethism, colony productivity, egg-to-adult development time, suggestions for working with epiponine swarms, and a look at the pros and cons of working with artificially housed colonies. The final section is a brief assessment of what to expect in the coming years by way of improvements in hardware and software relevant to the field.
Association between Medicaid expansion status and lung cancer screening exam growth: findings from the ACR lung cancer registry.

Abstract Purpose To determine if Medicaid expansion is associated with increased volumes of lung cancer screenings. Methods A quasi-experimental study was performed to compare the annual growth rates in lung cancer screenings between states that expanded Medicaid (n = 31) versus those that did not (n = 17). Using the American College of Radiology Lung Cancer Screening Registry, we calculated the average annual growth rate between 2016 and 2019 for both groups. Secondary analyses between these two groups also included calculations of the percentages of studies considered appropriate by USPSTF criteria. Results No significant difference was identified in the average annual growth in lung cancer screenings between Medicaid expanding and non-expanding states (57.6%, 50.3%, P = 0.51). No difference was observed in the percentage of studies considered appropriate (Medicaid expanding = 89.6%, non-expanding = 90.2%, P = 0.72). At baseline, there were socioeconomic differences between both groups of states. Medicaid expanding states had a more urban population (76.5% versus 67.9%, P = 0.05) and higher average incomes ($56,947, $49,876, P Conclusion No association is found between Medicaid expansion and increasing volumes of lung cancer screening exams. Although no data is available in the registry for screening exams before the implementation of Medicaid expansion (2014), most nationwide estimates of lung screening rates report a low baseline (
Explaining Indigenous Peoples’ Success in State Supreme Courts

AbstractThe struggles Indigenous Peoples face are unique from other minority groups living in the United States because they exist in an odd, semisovereign status. While the US Constitution outline...
Effect of muscle stimulation intensity on the heterogeneous function of regions within an architecturally complex muscle.

We show that muscle compartmentalization can influence whole muscle contractile properties, with slower-fibered proximal rat medial gastrocnemius undergoing larger changes in pennation angle and ar...
Inertia and Incentives: Bridging Organizational Economics and Organizational Theory

Organizational theorists have long acknowledged the importance of the formal and informal incentives facing a firm's employees, stressing that the political economy of a firm plays a major role in shaping organizational life and firm behavior. Yet the detailed study of incentive systems has traditionally been left in the hands of (organizational) economists, with most organizational theorists focusing their attention on critical problems in culture, network structure, framing, and so on-in essence, the social context in which economics and incentive systems are embedded. We argue that this separation of domains is problematic. The economics literature, for example, is unable to explain why organizations should find it difficult to change incentive structures in the face of environmental change, while the organizational literature focuses heavily on the role of inertia as sources of organizational rigidity. Drawing on recent research on incentives in organizational economics and on cognition in organizational theory, we build a framework for the analysis of incentives that highlights the ways in which incentives and cognition-while being analytically distinct concepts-are phenomenologically deeply intertwined. We suggest that incentives and cognition coevolve so that organizational competencies or routines are as much about building knowledge of "what should be rewarded" as they are about "what should be done." We argue that this recognition has important implications for our understanding of organizational inertia in the face of environmental change, and that it opens up important new areas for further research.
Radial asymmetries around the visual field: From retina to cortex to behavior

Visual performance varies around the visual field. It is best near the fovea compared to the periphery, and at iso-eccentric locations it is best on the horizontal, intermediate on the lower, and poorest on the upper meridian. The fovea-to-periphery performance decline is linked to the decreases in cone density, retinal ganglion cell (RGC) density, and V1 cortical magnification factor (CMF) as eccentricity increases. The origins of polar angle asymmetries are not well understood. Optical quality and cone density vary across the retina, but recent computational modeling has shown that these factors can only account for a small percentage of behavior. Here, we investigate how visual processing beyond the cone photon absorptions contributes to polar angle asymmetries in performance. First, we quantify the extent of asymmetries in cone density, midget RGC density, and V1 CMF. We find that both polar angle asymmetries and eccentricity gradients increase from cones to mRGCs, and from mRGCs to cortex. Second, we extend our previously published computational observer model to quantify the contribution of phototransduction by the cones and spatial filtering by mRGCs to behavioral asymmetries. Starting with photons emitted by a visual display, the model simulates the effect of human optics, cone isomerizations, phototransduction, and mRGC spatial filtering. The model performs a forced choice orientation discrimination task on mRGC responses using a linear support vector machine classifier. The model shows that asymmetries in a decision-maker9s performance across polar angle are greater when assessing the photocurrents than when assessing isomerizations and are greater still when assessing mRGC signals. Nonetheless, the polar angle asymmetries of the mRGC outputs are still considerably smaller than those observed from human performance. We conclude that cone isomerizations, phototransduction and the spatial filtering properties of mRGCs contribute to polar angle performance differences, but that a full account of these differences will entail additional contribution from cortical representations.
Stochastic comparison algorithm for continuous optimization with estimation

The problem of stochastic optimization for arbitrary objective functions presents a dual challenge. First, one needs to repeatedly estimate the objective function; when no closed-form expression is available, this is only possible through simulation. Second, one has to face the possibility of determining local, rather than global, optima. In this paper, we show how the stochastic comparison approach recently proposed in Ref. 1 for discrete optimization can be used in continuous optimization. We prove that the continuous stochastic comparison algorithm converges to an ∈-neighborhood of the global optimum for any ∈ >0. Several applications of this approach to problems with different features are provided and compared to simulated annealing and gradient descent algorithms.
On the Coexistence of WiGig and NR-U in 60 GHz Band

The 60 GHz band (57-71 GHz) has been attracting massive research interest thanks to the bandwidth abundance and ruling as an unlicensed band. The 60 GHz Wi-Fi (also known as WiGig) and 5G New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) are among the key access technologies that will operate in the band. This paper inspects the downlink performance of the two technologies under inter-technology interference from each other in 60 GHz band. Based on a dense small-cell setting, this paper finds stochastic models for signal-to-interference-plus- noise ratio (SINR) and data rate. Via simulations, this paper discovers that the downlink SINR and data rate follow Gaussian mixture distributions with three modes representing (i) severely interfered, (ii) mildly interfered, and (iii) not interfered UEs. The findings of this paper will act as a guideline in coordination of the two dissimilar unlicensed access technologies in the 60 GHz band
Crown Gall Transcription of TI Plasmid — Derived Sequences

The Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens (E.F. Sm. & Town.) Conn, is a unique natural example of the expression of prokaryotic DNA sequences by eukaryotes. The mechanism whereby A. tumefaciens transfers and stably associates plasmid DNA with plant cells may serve as a model for the artificial introduction of foreign genes into plant genomes. For octopine tumors, the region of the plasmid transferred to the plant cell (T-DNA) includes Sma I fragments 3b, l0c1, and 16a2. Furthermore, Drummond et al.3 and Ledeboer4 have shown that some plasmid- derived sequences are transcribed by these tumors. Both studies involved B6-derived Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains and their respective tumors incited in tobacco. In spite of the close similarities in the plasmids and host plants used, differences seem to exist in the pattern of T-DNA transcription by tumor cells. We have conducted an analysis of T-DNA transcription using several Ti plasmid/host plant combinations in order to better evaluate the extent of variability of tumor transcription2.
Coherence in Visual Art

The small selections of works included here exemplify artistic procedures that may not at first seem to be those developed in the foregoing theory. In few or none of the illustrated works does the artist resort exclusively to closure, to repetition, or to development. Yet the distinct modes of organization, isolation, simply symmetry, symmetrical and asym-metrical accommodation, flanking symmetry, centralization of figure, radial symmety, and pervasive development to climax represent different ways in which our three general procedures of compositional ordering are carried out (or defied), separately or in concert.
Differences in health literacy knowledge and experiences among senior nursing students

Background: Low health literacy has been identified as a significant public health problem. Also, higher expenditures due to longer hospital stays have been reported for persons with low health literacy. Nurses can assist patients with low health literacy to reduce their hospital stays and increase compliance with discharge instructions. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive research design was employed to assess knowledge and experiences of 192 senior nursing students. These students were administered the Health Literacy Knowledge and Experiences Survey (HL-KES), a 2part survey that included assessment of knowledge about health literacy and experience in working with populations of low health literacy. Additional questions to assist in describing the sample population were included. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests were used to measure differences. Results: The results reveal that, at this point in their nursing education, senior nursing students lack health literacy knowledge and experiences. Statistically significant differences were found for health literacy knowledge among participants in the same program and for those enrolled at different program sites. Differences were found for health literacy experiences among participants, but these were not statistically significant due to unequal sample sizes between BSN and RN to BSN, and LPN/LVN to BSN participants.
Toggle Head Harpoons of the Central Plains

An examination of ten single piece, toggle harpoon heads from Nebraska and Iowa reveals that this implement is a diagnostic trait of the Nebraska Phase and that its place of origin probably lies wi...
Child Discipline and African American Parents with Adolescent Children: A Psychoeducational Approach to Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Parents from all backgrounds often grapple with child-rearing issues when their children reach adolescent age. For African American families, the task of addressing problematic adolescent behaviors is complicated by their interaction with external systems (e.g., agencies, schools, legal systems) whose workers often struggle to meet the mental health and social service needs of an increasingly diverse society. Clinical mental health counselors are ethically bound to be knowledgeable about the cultural diversity of individuals and families and about changes in cultural expectations and values. The primary focus of this article is to lay the foundation for a psychoeducational approach to addressing child discipline with African American parents who have adolescent children living at home. A five-week psychoeducational model is presented to inform African American parents of current research and discussions on African American child disciplinary methods.