cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Introduction to Bifurcation Theory

One-dimensional bifurcations are discussed for scalar equations and planar systems. Results on Hopf bifurcations for planar systems are derived using the Lyapunov function method and the Friedrich method.
Nuts as Part of a Whole Diet Approach to Cancer Prevention

This review presents a case for tree nuts as an important food in terms of their effects on cancer and their role in a whole food approach to cancer prevention. The review will assess the limited number of currently published experimental and epidemiological reports examining the relationship(s) between tree nuts and cancer. In addition because of limited experimental literature on tree nuts, the review will also use as a stopgap, the reported effects of constituents known to be present in nuts and their anti-cancer activity as a means to make the case for nuts in cancer prevention. The strength of the conclusions that can be drawn are limited, particularly given the increasing recognition that difficulties arise in using single ingredients to assess food based cancer and other health effects. However, in summary, this review assembles significant evidence that is consistent with but not conclusive proof of nuts’ efficacy in cancer prevention.
Chew and spit: tree-feeding notodontid caterpillars anoint girdles with saliva

Caterpillars of the notodontid Oedemasia leptinoides (formerly Schizura) use their mandibles to cut shallow girdles that encircle the petioles and stems of tree hosts. When girdles are complete, the larvae bathe the girdle surface with fluid. We test whether the fluid originates from the labial salivary glands or ventral eversible gland by blocking the openings to the glands and observing whether fluid is still released onto the girdles. Only larvae with functional labial salivary glands anointed girdles with fluid. Analysis of girdle rinses for a prominent salivary enzyme, glucose oxidase, confirmed that larvae apply saliva and documented that application occurs primarily at the end of girdling. We propose that girdling by notodontids, together with related furrowing and leaf-clipping behaviors exhibited by diverse caterpillar groups, serve at least in part to introduce salivary components to exposed vascular tissues; these compounds presumably function to suppress plant defensive responses normally elicited by caterpillar feeding.
Popular Election of the President Without a Constitutional Amendment

In the wake of the 2000 presidential election, there will be debate about whether a nationwide popular vote should be substituted for the electoral college mechanism for choosing the President. That debate may be stifled because of the widespread assumption that constitutional amendment is the only way to effect this change. But, in fact, a constitutional amendment may not be necessary. State legislatures have "plenary" power in establishing the manner of appointment of electors. There would seem to be no obstacle to a state legislature's providing beforehand that its electoral college delegation would be that pledged to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. If states with just 270 electoral votes adopted such an approach, the popular vote winner would perforce win the presidency. At the present time, a mere eleven states control 270 electoral votes. Even fewer might suffice. Adoption by the swing state of Wisconsin with eleven electoral votes, or by Missouri and Minnesota with a total of 21 across the political divide, would tilt the system decidedly toward popular election. Deprived of the ability single mindedly to pursue an electoral college strategy, candidates would be even less likely than they have been historically to secure an electoral college win without winning the popular vote. The politics are tricky, but if some states took the lead, others might follow and opposition to an amendment might melt away. The article draws on the history of the Seventeenth Amendment to assess the possibilities.
Self Report of Sleep Symptoms in Older Adults: Correlates of Daytime Sleepiness and Health

Sleep problems in the healthy elderly were studied in 628 community-dwelling older adults. Self-report of daytime sleepiness in this group was evaluated. Self-reported snoring was significantly associated with reports of daytime sleepiness (p < 0.001), and reported health showed significant associations with age group (p < 0.001), reports of breathing problems (p < 0.001), and reports of excessive daytime sleepiness (p < 0.01). The data strongly support the impact of sleep-related factors on self-perceptions of health in community dwelling older adults. Even as a subjective self-report measure, snoring readily predicts self-reported problems with daytime sleepiness.
Comparison of the ability of eosinophils and neutrophils, and of eosinophils from patients with S. mansoni infection and normal individuals, to mediate in vitro damage to schistosomula of S. mansoni.

A major step in the understanding of immune effector mechanisms operating against the larval form of S. mansoni (schistosomula) was the description by Butterworth et al, (1) of the in vitro damage caused by antibody dependent cell-mediated mechanism to schistosomula. The experimental system involved mixing schistosomula with serum from infected patients (antibody) and buffy coat cells (mixed leucocytes) from peripheral blood and assaying the damage to schistosomula either microscopically or by the release of 51Cr from labelled organisms. Studies with purified cells from patients with S. mansoni infection and eosinophilia suggested that the eosinophils were the active cell component in the buffy coat preparations (2,3).
Towards a heuristic for scheduling the james webb space telescope

Scheduling the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) requires modeling and minimizing the buildup of angular momentum of the spacecraft. Accounting for momentum management is expected to be a major driver of spacecraft efficiency and lifetime. We develop a heuristic that reduces momentum buildup and show how the heuristic can be used in a simulation of the operations concept for JWST scheduling. Through experimental data we show how the heuristic improves momentum usage while maintaining high spacecraft efficiency on a representative science mission for JWST. Finally, we explore how the momentum heuristic closely mirrors the strategies required to efficiently schedule the Hubble Space Telescope.
Urine Cotinine Screening Detects Nearly Ubiquitous Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Urban Adolescents.

Author(s): Benowitz, Neal L; Jain, Shonul; Dempsey, Delia A; Nardone, Natalie; Helen, Gideon St; Jacob, Peyton | Abstract: IntroductionRoutine biochemical assessment of tobacco smoke exposure could lead to more effective interventions to reduce or prevent secondhand smoke (SHS)-related disease in adolescents. Our aim was to determine using urine cotinine (major nicotine metabolite) measurement the prevalence of tobacco smoke exposure among adolescents receiving outpatient care at an urban public hospital.MethodsSurplus urine was collected in 466 adolescents attending pediatric or urgent care clinics at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, serving families with lower levels of income and education, in 2013-2014. The majority were Hispanic or African American. Urine cotinine cut points of 0.05 to 0.25 ng/ml, 0.25 to 30 ng/ml, and 30 ng/ml were used to classify subjects as light SHS or thirdhand smoke exposed, SHS or light/intermittent active users, and active tobacco users, respectively.ResultsAmong subjects 87% were exposed, including 12% active smoking, 46% SHS and 30% lightly exposed. The SHS exposed group adjusted geometric mean cotinine values were significantly higher in African Americans (1.48 ng/ml) compared to other groups (0.56-1.13 ng/ml).ConclusionsIn a city with a low smoking prevalence (12%), a large majority (87%) of adolescents seen in a public hospital clinic are exposed to tobacco. This is much higher than reported in national epidemiological studies of adolescents, which used a plasma biomarker. Since SHS is associated with significant respiratory diseases and parents and adolescents underreport exposure to SHS, routine biochemical screening should be considered as a tool to reduce SHS exposure. The clinical significance of light exposure needs to be investigated.ImplicationsUrine biomarker screening found that a large majority (87%) of adolescents treated in an urban public hospital are exposed to tobacco. Since SHS is associated with significant respiratory diseases and parents and adolescents underreport exposure to SHS, routine biochemical screening should be considered as a tool to reduce SHS exposure.
In-Silico Modeling of the Functional Role of Reduced Sialylation in Sodium and Potassium Channel Gating of Mouse Ventricular Myocytes

Cardiac ion channels are highly glycosylated membrane proteins with up to 30% of the protein's mass containing glycans. Heart diseases often accompany individuals with congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG). However, cardiac dysfunction among CDG patients is not yet fully understood. There is an urgent need to study how aberrant glycosylation impacts cardiac electrical signaling. Our previous works reported that congenitally reduced sialylation achieved through deletion of the sialyltransferase gene, ST3Gal4, leads to altered gating of voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels ( ${\rm Na}_{v}$ and ${\rm K}_{v}$ , respectively). However, linking the impact of reduced sialylation on ion channel gating to the action potential (AP) is difficult without performing computer experiments. Also, decomposing the sum of K+ currents is difficult because of complex structures and components of ${\rm K}_{v}$ channels (e.g., ${\rm{K}}_{v}4.2$ , and ${\rm{K}}_{v}1.5$ ). In this study, we developed in-silico models to describe the functional role of reduced sialylation in both ${\rm{Na}}_{v}$ and ${\rm{K}}_{v}$ gating and the AP using in vitro experimental data. Modeling results showed that reduced sialylation changes ${\rm{K}}_{v}$ gating as follows: 1) The steady-state activation voltages of ${\rm{K}}_{v}$ isoforms are shifted to a more depolarized potential. 2) Aberrant K+ currents ( ${\rm{I}}_{{{Kslow}}}$ and ${\rm{I}}_{{{to}}}$ ) contribute to a prolonged AP duration, and altered Na+ current ( ${\rm{I}}_{{{Na}}}$ ) contributes to a shortened AP refractory period. This study contributes to a better understanding of the functional role of reduced sialylation in cardiac dysfunction that shows strong potential to provide new pharmaceutical targets for the treatment of CDG-related heart diseases.
High Efficiency Transduction of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Using Retroviral Gene Transfer with Triple Reporter Genes.

Abstract Cotransplantation of ex vivo-expanded mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) together with hematopoietic stem cells hastens hematopoietic recovery in animal models and potentially humans. The in vivo mechanisms of migration, homing and long-term viability of MSC following implantation are not well understood. Reporter gene labeling would permit the tracking of transplanted MSC in vivo through noninvasive imaging techniques, namely fluorescence, bioluminescence, and nuclear imaging. Accordingly, a gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV)-pseudotyped retrovirus was utilized to transfer a triple fusion gene reporter system, expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), luciferase, and herpes simplex virus type one thymidine kinase (HSV1-tk) into MSC. Human MSC were isolated and propagated from normal bone marrow aspirates by culturing ficoll-separated fractions in alpha-MEM medium supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum. FACS analysis confirmed the MSC phenotype, with cells expressing HLA-Class I, CD105, CD73, CD90 and CD166 antigens and not expressing HLA-Class II, CD80, CD31, CD34 and CD45 antigens. No significant phenotypic changes were observed in early and late passage numbers of MSC. MSC were transduced during their exponential growth phase (as determined by growth curve measurements), with virus-containing medium (VCM) from the PG13 packaging cells (targeting Pit-1 receptors) for 24 hours in the presence of different concentrations of the cationic polymer, polybrene, ranging from 2 μg/ml to 12μg/ml. The 2μg/ml concentration appeared to be optimal for transduction of MSC. VCM was harvested following a 24-hour incubation of the PG13 packaging cells at 32°C or 37°C. These initial experiments suggested that incubation at 32°C appeared to be optimal for virus production. Repeated VCM exposure at 24-hour intervals for 2 or 3 days did not increase the percentage of transduced cells as determined by flow cytometry (eGFP-positive). VCM harvested at 32°C added to MSC in the presence of 2μg/ml polybrene, yielded a 62% transduction efficiency following one round of exposure. U87 human glioma cells were used throughout as a positive control to verify retrovirus efficacy and demonstrated >90% transduction efficiency. MSC clones highly expressing triple reporter genes are being selected and propagated in our laboratory to image transduced cells in NOD/SCID mice, thereby providing a better understanding of the potential role of these cells in transplantation processes.
Introduction to Analytical Probability Distributions

This technical note provides a mostly nontechnical introduction to analytical probability distributions. The distributions covered are: uniform, triangular, normal, Poisson, exponential, lognormal, and binomial. Excerpt UVA-QA-0690 March 29, 2010 Introduction to Analytical Probability Distributions Imagine that you are a U.S.-based manufacturer of components for consumer electronics. You are very concerned about product quality in today's highly competitive market. During your latest review of quality information, you were troubled by data regarding one of your manufacturing machines—we'll call it Machine A. In the latest production run, Machine A produced 10 components. Two of those ten components were defective. You have been reviewing quality data for a long time; you know that, on average, only 5% of all the components produced by any given machine are defective. Thus, you are worried that there might be something wrong with Machine A. On the other hand, the 20% defect rate in the latest production run might be just a fluke. So the question is: Given that Machine A produced 2 defects out of 10 products in the latest production run, and given that the average machine would only produce .5 defects out of 10 products in the average run, do you think Machine A is itself “defective”? You can use a number of statistical tools to help answer this question, most of which compare probability distributions. In the above example, you know how often a well-functioning machine produces a defective product (1 defect for every 20 products). You know this because you have observed the behavior of a large number of machines, all of which you know to be functioning properly, over a large number of production runs. When combined, these observations comprise a “population”—in this case, the population of properly functioning machines. This population generates a defect probability distribution in which, on average, 1 out of every 20 products is defective. Of course, this 5% defect rate is only an average figure—some machines in this population will operate at a higher defect rate (e.g., 1 defect for every 10 products), and some machines will operate at a lower defect rate (e.g., 1 for every 50 products). . . .
P1.42 A new magnetic particle-based agglutination assay for anti-cardiolipin antibody detection in syphilis

Introduction A magnetic particle based assay was developed for the detection of nontreponemal anti-cardiolipin antibodies in sera of suspected syphilis cases. The presence of this group of antibodies in combination with a reactive treponemal test indicates active syphilis. In this study, we aimed to overcome technical difficulties with attaching cardiolipin to solid support. The newly developed assay potentially offers advantages of better result interpretation, accuracy, and minimum equipment need compared to traditional nontreponemal tests in diagnosing syphilis. Methods To develop the nontreponemal magnetic agglutination assay (NT-MAA), cardiolipin antigen was modified first through a chemical oxidation process. The oxidised antigen was later covalently linked to magnetic particles. To test the beads, serum samples were mixed with cardiolipin-magnetic particle complex, and incubated in round bottom well microplates. The test was interpreted as reactive when agglutination was observed. Non-reactive sample demonstrated a “button” in the centre of a microwell. The NT-MAA was evaluated using a panel of previously characterised human sera (n=80) and results were compared to rapid plasma reagin (RPR, ASI) and Treponema pallidum particle agglutination tests (TP-PA, Fujirebio). A true positive sample was defined as being reactive for both RPR and TP-PA, while a true negative as both RPR and TP-PA non-reactive. Results Out of 80 sera tested, 48 were found true positive and 32 true negative with the reference tests. In comparison, the NT-MAA, demonstrated a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 96.8%, respectively. Conclusion Magnetic particle-based assays offer high flexibility because they work with different assay formats. This exploratory study, describes technical advances for development of nontreponemal test (NT-MAA), and also demonstrated an encouraging performance with the studied samples. Additional evaluation with syphilis samples from defined clinical stages of syphilis will help further validate test performance.
Transformative Research Is Not Easily Predicted

Transformative research (TR) statements in scientific grant proposals have become mainstream. However, TR is defined as radically changing our understanding of a concept, causing a paradigm shift, or opening new frontiers. We argue that it is rarely possible to predict the transformative nature of research. Interviews and surveys of 78 transformative ecologists suggest that most TR began with incremental goals, while transformative potential was recognized later. Most respondents thought TR is unpredictable and should not be prioritized over 'incremental' research that typically leads to breakthroughs. Importantly, TR directives might encourage scientists to overstate the importance of their research. We recommend that granting agencies (i) allocate only a subset of funds to TR and (ii) solicit more realistic proposal statements.
The language of change among criminal justice clients: Counselor language, client language, and client substance use outcomes

OBJECTIVE Counselor and client language have been identified as mechanisms of change in motivational interviewing (MI) counseling sessions. This study evaluated whether language patterns exhibited during MI sessions with substance users in the community would also be found during MI sessions with substance users in the criminal justice system. METHOD Forty audio recordings of MI sessions with substance-using probationers were coded and analyzed sequentially using the Motivational Interviewing Skills Code (MISC) 2.5. Analyses examined the relationship between counselor and client language, and the relationship between client language and client substance use after 2 months. RESULTS Counselor MI inconsistent language was associated with decreased change talk (lnOR = - 0.76, p < .05) though not with increased sustain talk. Both sustain talk (b = - 4.591, t = - 18.634 p < .001) and MI inconsistent language MIIN (b = - 4.419, t = - 19.886, p < .001) were positively associated with substance use at 2 months. Sustain talk early in the session (i.e., during deciles 1 and 2) was significantly greater among clients who reported using substances at 2 months, compared to clients who did not use substances. CONCLUSION These findings are broadly consistent with previous literature documenting the association between counselor language, client language, and client outcome.
Political aspects of shared reality

The political world permeates people's everyday experiences. In this article, we review recent research concerning how the pursuit, creation, and maintenance of shared reality underlie important political phenomena. We address three general points. First, we discuss how the desire to share reality shapes the political attitudes that people adopt. Second, we outline how the existence of competing representations of reality can lead to prolonged political conflicts that are challenging to overcome. Third, we consider how and why shared reality contributes to social stasis and change. A scientifically informed understanding of how shared reality shapes the political arena will enrich psychological research and facilitate addressing social issues.
Preoptic Regulatory Factor-2, a Rhogap Domain Protein that Modifies Cell Cycle Progression and Apoptosis in the CNS

RhoGAPS are proteins that control Rho GTPases, small enzymes that regulate diverse cellular functions. Preoptic regulatory factor-2 (Porf-2) is a RhoGAP domain-containing protein that is both pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative. It is widely distributed among vertebrate taxa and expressed in multiple organs and cell types. Porf-2 expression is regulated at the level of transcription by age, gender, location, gonadal hormones, and pituitary and growth regulating factors. It may help coordinate sexually dimorphic development and be a target for prevention or treatment of diseases that exhibit apoptotic or proliferative imbalance.
Implementation of HEA BeadChip System at Medical Centers: Providing Extended Matched Units and Eliminating Complex Workups for Patients

Medical centers have long appreciated the need for a reliable system to provide compatible blood for patients. The immediate need to provide antigen-negative blood usually entails getting units from blood providers which delays transfusion and increases cost. Most hospital transfusion services do not have full reference lab capabilities to resolve complex cases and are forced to send out patient samples. The focus of the institutions highlighted in this chapter is to meet the needs of their special patient populations, while some are also providing services to other area hospitals. All institutions were motivated to implement BeadChip™ technology to expand and manage the inventories of antigen-negative units, thereby reducing their dependence on blood centers for Ag (antigen) negative and rare donor units. The patient samples analyzed are complex workups of patients with multiple antibodies, multiple previous transfusions, or patients with a positive direct antiglobulin test. These are usually submitted to the reference laboratories within the hospital or from other area hospitals. Applying the BeadChip™ technology in the hospital can reduce turnaround time for providing phenotype-matched units for alloimmunized patients. The impact of implementing BeadChip™ technology on patient care and on laboratory operations is discussed.
Meaning, Holism and the Problem of Extensionality

Philosophers have traditionally disagreed not only about what the right theory of meaning is for a natural language (for English, as it might be), but even about what kind of theory a theory of meaning for a natural language ought to be. Correspondingly, a traditional project in the philosophy of language is to provide a general, abstract characterization of meaning theories for natural languages; to make clear, in particular, what form they should take and what conditions of adequacy they should be required to satisfy.
Designing and Evaluating Computer Assisted Instructional Programs Using a Diagnostic-Prescriptive Model.

The present paper presents a model for the design and evaluation of educational computer assisted instruction programs. Components of a diagnostic prescriptive instructional model are delineated, a...
Vision-based Navigation of Autonomous Vehicle in Roadway Environments with Unexpected Hazards

Vision-based navigation of autonomous vehicles primarily depends on the Deep Neural Network (DNN) based systems in which the controller obtains input from sensors/detectors, such as cameras and produces a vehicle control output, such as a steering wheel angle to navigate the vehicle safely in a roadway traffic environment. Typically, these DNN-based systems of the autonomous vehicle are trained through supervised learning; however, recent studies show that a trained DNN-based system can be compromised by perturbation or adversarial inputs. Similarly, this perturbation can be introduced into the DNN-based systems of autonomous vehicle by unexpected roadway hazards, such as debris and roadblocks. In this study, we first introduce a roadway hazardous environment (both intentional and unintentional roadway hazards) that can compromise the DNN-based navigational system of an autonomous vehicle, and produces an incorrect steering wheel angle, which can cause crashes resulting in fatality and injury. Then, we develop a DNN-based autonomous vehicle driving system using object detection and semantic segmentation to mitigate the adverse effect of this type of hazardous environment, which helps the autonomous vehicle to navigate safely around such hazards. We find that our developed DNN-based autonomous vehicle driving system including hazardous object detection and semantic segmentation improves the navigational ability of an autonomous vehicle to avoid a potential hazard by 21% compared to the traditional DNN-based autonomous vehicle driving system.
The Wealth of a Nation: A History of Trade Politics in America. By C. Donald Johnson. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xvii, 639. $39.95.)

An unabashed believer in economic liberalism, C. Don Johnson warns us of the dangers of Donald Trump's protectionist policies. By exploring the history of protectionism since the nation's founding,...
Temperature effect on production of hydrogen and oxygen byChlamydomonas cold strain CCMP1619 and wild-type 137c

Photosynthetic water splitting for hydrogen and oxygen production is a promising biological process that converts sunlight into useful chemical energy. In green algae, this process becomes active when hydrogenase is induced. In this process, water is split into molecular oxygen, protons, and electrons by photosystem II (PSII). The electrons acquired from water splitting are transferred through PSII to photosystem I (PSI). At PSI, these electrons are further energized by the PSI photochemical reaction. The energized electrons emergent from the reducing side of PSI are transferred to hydrogenase via ferredoxin (Fd), and thereby utilized in a hydrogenase-catalyzed reaction, the reduction of protons and production of molecular hydrogen. The protons consumed in the reduction reaction are derived ultimately from water splitting. The net result of this process is cleavage of water to molecular hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogenase is a key enzyme in the photoproduction of hydrogen. In multicellular algae and higher plants, this enzyme is lost or no longer inducible for photoproduction of hydrogen. This enzyme is, however, inducible for photoevolution of hydrogen in certain microscopic algae such as Chlamydomonas. However, not all species of Chlamydomonas have an inducible enzyme to produce hydrogen in the light. In the work described in thismore » article, a Chlamydomonas cold strain, CCMP1619, was assayed for its potential hydrogenase activity by measuring anaerobically induced production of dark- and light-dependent hydrogen. This cold strain was originally isolated from Lake Bonney (ice-covered), Antarctica, and known to grow at low temperatures. The effect of temperature on hydrogen production by CCMP1619 was compared with the wild-type Chlamydomonas st rain 137c. The results indicated that 137c and CCMP1619 contain inducible hydrogenase, and that temperature had a significant effect on the rates of hydrogenase induction and on the kinetics of hydrogen production.« less
Phase Ii Study of Recombinant α-interferon in Malignant Melanoma

Ninety-seven evaluable patients with measurable, advanced, malignant melanoma were treated with recombinant alpha interferon in a cooperative phase II efficacy trial, whose primary objective was to estimate the response rate. Interferon (rIFN alpha-2a, Roferon-A) was injected subcutaneously daily for 70 days. Dose was escalated in four steps from three million units to 36 million units over ten days. Eight patients responded objectively and six patients (6%) had a complete response. The median duration of complete response was 11 months. Patients achieving complete response had only cutaneous, nodal, or pulmonary disease; some had extensive prior therapy; some could tolerate no more than three million units per day. Few patients could tolerate the target dose of 36 million units daily for 70 days. Limiting toxicity was primarily fatigue. Interferon in tolerable doses is effective in a small subset of patients with melanoma. Comparison of published trials of dacarbazine and recombinant alpha interferon indicates the two drugs have similar activity.
Overview of therapeutic drugs and methods for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease involving degeneration of dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathways. Over the past decades, most of the medications for the treatment of PD patients have been used to modulate dopamine concentrations in the basal ganglia. This includes levodopa and its inhibitory metabolizing enzymes. In addition to modulating dopamine concentrations in the brain, there are D2-like dopamine receptor agonists that mimic the action of dopamine to compensate for the deficit in dopamine found in PD patients. Muscarinic antagonists' drugs are used rarely due to some side effects. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are among the first in line, and are considered popular drugs that reduce the metabolism of dopamine in PD patients. Furthermore, we discussed in this review the existence of certain glutamate receptor antagonists for the treatment of PD. Alternatively, we further discussed the potential therapeutic role of adenosine (2A) receptor antagonists, such as tozadenant and istradefylline in the treatment of PD. We also discussed the important role of serotonin1A receptor agonist, adrenergic autoreceptors (α2) antagonists and calcium channel blockers in the treatment of PD. Finally, neurotrophic factors, such as glial cell line-derived neurotrophic growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor are considered the primary factors for neuroprotection in PD.
The association between maternal depressive symptomology and child dinner dietary quality among Hispanic Head Start families.

Dietary quality is important for children's growth and development. Poor dietary quality and maternal depression are prevalent among low-income, Hispanic families. Maternal depression likely influences child feeding before and during the meal. This secondary data analysis of an observational feeding study (2007-2008) examined how maternal depressive symptomology relates to dietary quality of dinner served to and consumed by Head Start preschoolers in Houston, TX (n = 82 mother-child dyads). A digital photography method assessed food served and consumed by the child at three separate dinner meals in families' homes. Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI) was calculated and averaged across the three meals to measure dietary quality (possible range 0-100). Maternal depression was assessed by the Centers for Epidemiologic Depression Scale (CES-D, possible range 0-60). A series of linear regression models were developed, regressing the total CES-D score and all four CES-D subscales onto both the dietary quality of the meal served and consumed. Dinners served had a HEI of 45.70 ± 9.19 and dinners consumed had a HEI of 44.65 ± 7.34. Clinically significant depressive symptomology (CES-D ≥ 16) was reported by 28% of mothers. Maternal depressive symptomology and the dietary quality served were not related. Controlling for dietary quality served, total CES-D and somatic complaints subscale scores were associated with lower dietary quality consumed (respectively, β = -0.16, p < 0.05 and β = -0.23, p < 0.01). Among low-income, Hispanic families, maternal depressive symptomology was predictive of the dietary quality consumed, but not served. Together, these findings reinforce the importance of parent feeding behaviors and emotional climates during dinner.
Edge-aware filtering with Siamese neural networks

Abstract Recent demands to reduce turnaround times and expedite investment decisions in seismic exploration have invited new ways to process and interpret seismic data. Among these ways is a more i...
Abstract 15859: Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 and Myocardial Infarction in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study

Background: FGF-23 is an endocrine regulator of phosphate metabolism as well as also a potent biomarker that mediates cardiovascular remodeling, with markedly elevated plasma concentration associat...
The Impact of Mammography Screening Guideline Changes in a Universally Insured Population.

Background: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) modified breast cancer screening guidelines in November 2009. The impact has been studied among privately and Medicare insured populations, but not among universally insured women. Materials and Methods: This study compared the proportion of TRICARE beneficiaries aged 40-64 receiving mammograms from fiscal years 2006 to 2015 using an interrupted time series analysis to determine the impact of the 2009 USPSTF guideline changes. Stratified analyses evaluated differences by age (ages 40-49, 50-64), race, care setting, beneficiary type, and military status. Results: The proportion of women receiving mammograms increased from October 2005 through September 2009. A small, but significant decrease of 65-66 fewer women screened per 10,000 occurred in the first quarter of 2010 (October 1 to December 31) following the screening guideline update publication. The proportion screened then remained unchanged through 2015. Comparative analysis revealed no differences in impact between age groups, blacks and whites, or military dependents and active-duty/retirees. Conclusions: This study determined that the USPSTF guideline updates had a small, but immediate and lasting impact that was not different across age groups, beneficiary type, or race. No racial disparities in the proportion screened or in the impact of the guideline change were noted in our universally insured population.
“I felt like I was left on my own”: A mixed‐methods analysis of maternal experiences of cesarean birth and mental distress in the United States

BACKGROUND Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common complication of childbearing. Understanding potential contributors, such as cesarean deliveries, is essential to improving maternal mental health. This study investigated the relationship between unplanned versus planned cesarean birth and postpartum depressive symptoms. METHODS We employed a sequential, mixed-methods approach wherein the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was first administered to participants who had experienced a cesarean birth within the previous 12 months. EPDS scores among those in the unplanned vs. planned cesarean groups were compared by means of SPSS. Twenty-five participants with EPDS scores >8 were then interviewed to provide subjective measures of maternal well-being. Interview data were subjected to thematic qualitative analysis using a modified grounded theory approach. RESULTS The average EPDS score from 120 participants with unplanned cesareans was 10.7 ± 6.4, with 68.5% scoring >8. The average EPDS score from 93 participants with planned cesarean births was 8.96 ± 5.7, with 52.7% scoring >8. The difference in mean score was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Interview findings revealed several important themes including: support, medical interaction, stress, recovery, breastfeeding, and sleep. In several cases, participants were not properly screened, or screening tool responses were ignored. Numerous participants reported medical interactions where they felt ignored by practitioners, including one interviewee who stated, "I got my tubes tied because it was so traumatizing that I never wanted to give birth again." DISCUSSION Findings suggest that unplanned cesareans have a higher incidence and severity of postpartum depressive symptoms. Interview analyses highlight important areas for improvement and concern about the current state of postpartum mental health care and physician-guided supports in this US sample.
Evaluation of Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Initiation of Kidney Failure Treatment During the First 4 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance Persons with kidney failure require treatment (ie, dialysis or transplantation) for survival. The burden of the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related disruptions in care have disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority and socially disadvantaged populations, raising the importance of understanding disparities in treatment initiation for kidney failure during the pandemic. Objective To examine changes in the number and demographic characteristics of patients initiating treatment for incident kidney failure following the COVID-19 pandemic by race and ethnicity, county-level COVID-19 mortality rate, and neighborhood-level social disadvantage. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional time-trend study used data from US patients who developed kidney failure between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2020. Data were analyzed between January and July 2021. Exposures COVID-19 pandemic. Main Outcomes and Measures Number of patients initiating treatment for incident kidney failure and mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at treatment initiation. Results The study population included 127 149 patients with incident kidney failure between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2020 (mean [SD] age, 62.8 [15.3] years; 53 021 [41.7%] female, 32 932 [25.9%] non-Hispanic Black, and 19 835 [15.6%] Hispanic/Latino patients). Compared with the pre–COVID-19 period, in the first 4 months of the pandemic (ie, March 1 through June 30, 2020), there were significant decreases in the proportion of patients with incident kidney failure receiving preemptive transplantation (1805 [2.1%] pre–COVID-19 vs 551 [1.4%] during COVID-19;P Conclusions and Relevance In this cross-sectional study of US adults, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a substantially lower number of patients initiating treatment for incident kidney failure and treatment initiation at lower levels of kidney function during the first 4 months, particularly for Black patients and people living in counties with high COVID-19 mortality rates.
On the Eigenstrain Application of Shot-peened Residual Stresses within a Crystal Plasticity Framework: Application to Ni-base Superalloy Specimens (Postprint)

Abstract Shot-peening-induced compressive residual stresses are often introduced in Ni-base superalloy components to help prevent or retard surface fatigue crack initiation and early growth at near surface inclusions. In certain cases these compressive residual stresses can shift the fatigue crack initiation site from surface to sub-surface locations. However, the ability to computationally predict the improvement in fatigue life response and scatter due to induced compressive residual stresses are lightly treated in the literature. To address this issue, a method to incorporate shot-peened residual stresses within a 3D polycrystalline microstructure is introduced in this work. These residual stresses are induced by a distribution of fictitious or quasi-thermal expansion eigenstrain as a function of depth from the specimen surface. Two different material models are used, a J 2 plasticity and a crystal plasticity model. First, the J 2 plasticity model with combined isotropic and kinematic hardening is used to determine the distribution of quasi-thermal expansion eigenstrain as a function of depth from the surface necessary to induce the target residual stress profile within the microstructure. This distribution of quasi-thermal expansion eigenstrain is then used within a crystal plasticity framework to model the effect of microstructure heterogeneity on the variability in residual stresses among multiple instantiations. This model is verified with experimental X-ray diffraction (XRD) data for scatter in residual stresses for both the initial microstructure and after a single load/unload cycle.
Defining Cost-Effective Salinity Control Programs

Marginal cost analysis based on current damage estimates indicate that the optimal salinity control program involving PL 93-320 projects in the Upper Colorado River Basin would cost about $30 million annually and prevent about 1.2 million metric tons of salt per year from entering the Colorado River System. This optimal program is based on equating the annual costs of salinity control in the Upper Basin with annual salinity related damages in the Lower Basin. The results show that maintenance of the 1972 salinity concentration levels at Imperial Dam, dictated by PL 93-320, cannot be achieved cost-effectively with PL 93-320 salinity control projects. Although it is perhaps politically unfeasible, salinity concentration goals at Imperial Dam could be allowed to rise over the 1972 figures by as much as 180 mg/L in order to make the benefits of salinity control in the basin more in line with the anticipated costs.
Advanced correlation filters for face recognition using low-resolution visual and thermal imagery

This paper presents the evaluation of face recognition performance using visual and thermal infrared (IR) face images with advanced correlation filter methods. Correlation filters are an attractive tool for face recognition due to features such as shift invariance, distortion tolerance, and graceful degradation. In this paper, we show that correlation filters perform very well when the face images are of significantly low resolution. Performing robust face recognition using low resolution images has many applications including human identification at a distance (HID). Minimum average correlation energy (MACE) filters and optimal trade-off synthetic discriminant function (OTSDF) filters are used in our experiments showing better performance over commercial face recognition algorithms such as FaceIt® based on Local Feature Analysis (LFA) using low resolution images. We also address the problems faced when using thermal images that contain eyeglasses which block the information around the eyes. Therefore we describe in detail a fully automated way of eyeglass detection and removal in thermal images resulting in a significant increase in thermal face recognition performance.
Glucose phosphorylation in tumor cells. Cloning, sequencing, and overexpression in active form of a full-length cDNA encoding a mitochondrial bindable form of hexokinase.

In rapidly growing tumor cells exhibiting high glucose catabolic rates, the enzyme hexokinase is markedly elevated and bound in large amounts (50-80% of the total cell activity) to the outer mitochondrial membrane (Arora, K.K., and Pedersen, P.L. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 17422-17428; Parry, D.M., and Pedersen, P.L. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 10904-10912). In extending these studies, we have isolated a cDNA clone of hexokinase from a lambda gt11 library of the highly glycolytic, c37 mouse hepatoma cell line. This clone, comprising 4,198 base pairs, contains a single open reading frame of 2,754 nucleotides which encode a 918-amino acid hexokinase with a mass of 102,272 daltons. This enzyme exhibits, respectively, 68 and 32 amino acid differences, including several charge differences, from the recently sequenced human kidney and rat brain enzymes. The putative glucose and ATP binding domains present in the latter two enzymes and in rat liver glucokinase are conserved in the tumor enzyme. At its N-terminal region, tumor hexokinase has a 12-amino acid hydrophobic stretch which is present in the rat brain enzyme but absent in the rat liver glucokinase, a cytoplasmic enzyme. The mature tumor hexokinase protein has been overexpressed in active form in Escherichia coli and purified 9-fold. The overexpressed enzyme binds to rat liver mitochondria in the presence of MgCl2. This is the first report describing the cloning and sequencing of a tumor hexokinase, and the first report documenting the overexpression of any hexokinase type in E. coli. Questions pertinent to the enzyme's mechanism, regulation, binding to mitochondria, and its marked elevation in tumor cells can now be addressed.
A transformer-coupled, series-resonant topology for the induction heating of aluminum cookware

Induction heating of aluminum cookware is difficult due to its low resistivity and lack of ferromagnetic properties. Both of these factors result in an effective impedance reflected through the work coil that is too low for practical inverter design and makes efficient coil design difficult. This paper presents a transformer-coupled topology as a means of efficiently delivering the desired amount of power into such low-impedance induction heating loads while keeping the inverter design within practical constraints. This topology consists of a conventional series-load-resonant coil/capacitor circuit. A high-frequency transformer is then used to the couple the series-resonant load to a full-bridge inverter, removing the constraint between load impedance and inverter design. The proposed circuit is built and its operation is experimentally verified.
Voriconazole potentiates warfarin-induced prothrombin time prolongation

Aims Voriconazole is a novel triazole with broad-spectrum antifungal activity. It is likely that some patients receiving voriconazole may also require treatment with the anticoagulant warfarin. Cytochrome P450 isoenzymes are important in the metabolism of both these drugs. This study investigated the effect of voriconazole on the pharmacodynamics of warfarin by measuring prothrombin time, and also evaluated the safety and tolerability of the coadministered drugs.
Religion, Health, and Aging

Philosophers, theologians, and researchers have discussed the relationship between religion and health for well over 100 years. However, it wasn’t until more recently that empirical research on religion and health began to appear on a regular basis. A good deal of the early work focused on the relationship between attendance at worship services, health, and well-being. For example, Schmidt found that people who attend worship services more often tend to have better “personal adjustment” than individuals who go to church less frequently. Since that time, what was once a cottage industry has mushroomed into a vast enterprise that consists of thousands of studies. One of the more notable aspects of this literature is that a considerable number of studies focus specifically on religion and health in late life. As we will argue in the chapter, there are good reasons for studying religion and health among older people.