cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TWO PARAPATRIC SPECIES OF POCKET GOPHERS.

Pocket gophers are the most fossorial rodents in North America, where they occur from central Alberta to Panama. In areas where the ranges of two species meet, the distributional patterns are frequently unknown, although mapy authors have reported sharp dividing lines between ranges. The present study attempts to find why the observed distributions developed and how they are maintained. The major objectives were: (1) to compare the habitat preferences, territoriality, and reproductive cycles of Thomomys bottae and T. talpoides in areas where their ranges meet; (2) to study interspecific competition between these animals; and (3) to describe in detail the distributions of the species under study in selected areas. Although pocket gophers occupy habitats ranging from boreal to tropical, their morphology and mode of life vary little, and species are almost entirely allopatric or parapatric in distribution. Repeated mention of these distributional patterns has been made in the literature. Bailey (1931) found in many localities in New Mexico a hiatus between the ranges of T. fossor (= T. talpoides) and T. fulvus (= T. bottae) which was not occupied by pocket gophers. Bailey commented (1926) on the meeting of the ranges of T. talpoides and Geomys bursarius in North' Dakota, and thought that the larger, more aggressive Geomys occupied the more friable soils leaving the less desirable upland sites to T. talpoides. In Idaho, Davis (1939) found populations of T. townsendii which were isolated from each other and were within the range of T. talpoides. In Nevada both of these species were taken in the same field (Hall, 1946), although no overlapping of ranges was recorded. In his detailed study of the distributions of G. bursarius and G. personatus in southern Texas, Kennerly (1959) observed no overlapping of the ranges of these species and found only one locality where their ranges even met.
Effects of Sodium Chloride on Prostacyclin-Stimulated Renin Release in Dogs with Filtering and Nonfiltering Kidneys

AbstractThe effects of intrarenal infusion of sodium chloride (NaCl) on prostacyclin (PGI2)-stimulated hyperreninemia were examined in groups of anesthetized dogs with either a single filtering kidney or a single denervated nonfiltering kidney, a model in which the renal tubules are damaged, and the macula densa is nonfunctional. After control observations, intrarenal infusion of prostacyclin at nonhypotensive doses resulted in significant increments of renin secretion and renal blood flow (RBF) in both preparations. Superimposition of intrarenal NaCl to the ongoing prostacyclin infusion produced a striking decrease of renin secretion in dogs with a filtering kidney. In contrast, dogs with a nonfiltering kidney failed to show a significant change in renin secretion during intrarenal NaCl administration. Renal blood flow remained unaffected by NaCl in both groups. The increment in renal venous plasma sodium concentration of 18-21 meq/liter was similar in both series. It is proposed that the renin response ...
Modifying Fiduciary Duties in Delaware: Observing Ten Years of Decisional Law

In 2004, Delaware amended its laws to allow limited partnerships and limited liability companies (uncorporations) to eliminate or modify fiduciary duties in their uncorporation agreements. Looking to Delaware, the Author surveys thirty-six written fiduciary duty cases penned in the ten years immediately following the amendments to conduct a systematic content analysis; that is to say, the Author systematically read the thirty-six cases, recorded patterns, and drew inferences therefrom. The goal was to answer the following question: for those cases that elude settlement and are complicated enough to require the judge to issue a written decision, did the modification or elimination of fiduciary duties in the uncorporation agreement help protect management from a claim of breach of fiduciary duty?The Author observes that a management's chance of success in such litigation (e.g., prevailing via motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment) is not unrelated to how the incorporation agreement in question modifies fiduciary duties. An uncorporation agreement that takes an ad-hoc approach to modification will often be self defeating, creating an interpretive Gordian knot unsuitable for dismissal. On the other hand, if the modification is structured to provide for special approval pursuant to a good faith standard, it is more likely that the court will dismiss the action.Second, the Author surveys the same thirty-six cases to see what happens when plaintiffs buttress their fiduciary duty claims with a claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith. The Author observes that despite the Court of Chancery's recurring admonition that the implied covenant is not a replacement for fiduciary duties, the implied covenant remains a potent attack where the incorporation agreement partially modifies fiduciary duties, leaving discretionary gaps.Finally, this Article provides some observations about the tactics of those uncorporations that successfully modify fiduciary duties to protect management — at least as those tactics are revealed in written decisions. One commonality is that their contractual modifications are not overly creative. No drafter of an uncorporation agreement — no matter how skilled — is capable of foreseeing how one creative provision will be interpreted in light of other provisions in the same agreement. Successful uncorporations seem to realize this, and appear to be coalescing around a standardized approach: approval by a special committee, coupled with a good faith standard.
Microbiome, Metabolome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a multifactorial disorder that conceptually occurs as a result of altered immune responses to commensal and/or pathogenic gut microbes in individuals most susceptible to the disease. During Crohn's Disease (CD) or Ulcerative Colitis (UC), two components of the human IBD, distinct stages define the disease onset, severity, progression and remission. Epigenetic, environmental (microbiome, metabolome) and nutritional factors are important in IBD pathogenesis. While the dysbiotic microbiota has been proposed to play a role in disease pathogenesis, the data on IBD and diet are still less convincing. Nonetheless, studies are ongoing to examine the effect of pre/probiotics and/or FODMAP reduced diets on both the gut microbiome and its metabolome in an effort to define the healthy diet in patients with IBD. Knowledge of a unique metabolomic fingerprint in IBD could be useful for diagnosis, treatment and detection of disease pathogenesis.
Moment Equations: Closure

This chapter elaborates the application and yield closure of moment equations. It is applicable to a stochastic differential equation or a Fokker–Planck equation (which is a second-order parabolic partial differential equation). It yields a system of ordinary differential equations from which different moments may be determined. Interpreting the solution of the Fokker–Planck equation as a probability density, ordinary differential equations may sometimes be found for the moments of the random process. The solution of a Fokker–Planck equation is the probability density P ( x, t ) of a random process. The expectation of a function of x, f ( x ) , is defined to be the integral of f ( x ) times P ( x, t ), integrated over all values of x .
Walter Benjamin and Political Style

This article examines “The Present Social Situation of the French Writer” in order to offer a speculative reconstruction of its theory of “political style.” While the 1934 essay is often treated as a montage of passages from previous texts on French modernist literature, the present article argues that its unusual form allows Benjamin to transcend familiar oppositions of form and content. Instead, it relates political tendency to literary form through an unspoken notion of “political style,” one that locates the politics of literature in the invention and distribution of new techniques.
Hospital Readmissions in Pneumonia Patients: Quality of Care and Cost Containment

Pneumonia is a significant health problem in the United States severely impacting morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, pneumonia is responsible for over 100,000 readmissions every year. Recent efforts to curve the pneumonia readmission rates include increased hospital’s accountability and Medicare & Medicaid reimbursement penalties for excess readmission rates. Multiple factors associated with pneumonia readmissions are not modifiable or amenable to intervention. Yet, recent data suggest that improving pneumonia readmission rates is feasible. Factors such as adherence to evidence-based pneumonia guidelines, preventing premature discharge, and assuring stability of comorbidities may be linked to 30-day readmissions. Interventions aimed at improving physician adherence to evidence-based pneumonia guidelines may further impact pneumonia readmission rates. Decreasing pneumonia readmission rates is feasible but requires a comprehensive approach addressing multiple factors linked with hospital readmissions.
The basic physics of the binary black hole merger GW150914

The first direct gravitational-wave detection was made by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory on September 14, 2015. The GW150914 signal was strong enough to be apparent, without using any waveform model, in the filtered detector strain data. Here those features of the signal visible in these data are used, along with only such concepts from Newtonian and General Relativity as are accessible to anyone with a general physics background. The simple analysis presented here is consistent with the fully general-relativistic analyses published elsewhere, in showing that the signal was produced by the inspiral and subsequent merger of two black holes. The black holes were each of approximately 35 Msun, still orbited each other as close as 350 km apart and subsequently merged to form a single black hole. Similar reasoning, directly from the data, is used to roughly estimate how far these black holes were from the Earth, and the energy that they radiated in gravitational waves.
Zika virus: A call to action for physicians in the era of climate change

In February 2016, the World Health Organization declared the mosquito-borne Zika virus to be a “public health emergency of international concern” as the disease linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil spreads rapidly. The distribution of the Aedes mosquitos has drastically increased over the past few decades, which have been the hottest decades on Earth in more than 1000 years based on climate proxy measures. Although a combination of factors explains the current Zika virus outbreak, it's highly likely that the changes in the climate contribute to the spread of Aedes vector carrying the Zika virus, the pathogen causing serious birth defects. Physicians, both individually and collectively, as trusted and educated members of society have critical roles to play. In addition to clinical management and prevention of Zika, physicians should communicate about the health benefits of addressing climate change in straightforward evidence-based language to their local communities and policymakers, and make clear their support for policies mitigating climate change.
The Economics of Microfinance

(2007). The Economics of Microfinance. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 873-875.
Prodrug Approaches to Enhancing the Oral Delivery of Poorly Permeable Drugs

It is appropriate that the improved oral delivery of problematic drugs via prodrugs is treated early in this book. This chapter provides the rationale for the use of prodrugs along with selective examples of prodrugs used to effect improved oral delivery of poorly permeable drugs. Oral drug delivery is the preferred route of dosing in the USA and much of the rest of the world. Marketing forces therefore dictate that every attempt be made to provide an oral form of a drug that shows promise. Major exceptions are drugs used to treat emergencies where fast-acting injectables or inhalables are desired or drugs used to treat cancer where traditionally injectables have been well accepted and many older anticancer drugs are irritating to the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).
Same-day discharge after incision and drainage of soft-tissue abscess in diaper-age children is safe and effective

Many pediatric centers admit patients following incision and drainage (ID p = 0.10). In patients with leukocytosis, there were 2 (1.4%) treatment failures compared to none in those without leukocytosis. Same-day discharge after I&D of abscess in diaper-age children is safe and effective.
Industrial wireless: Problem space, success considerations, technologies, and future direction

The use of wireless technologies within factories demands a comprehensive understanding of the problems and potential solutions associated with the rigors of the manufacturing environment. A clearly defined problem space would significantly ease the selection and deployment of appropriate wireless solutions to connected factory systems. A mapping of potential technologies to classes of use cases within the problem space will be useful to factory operators, system integrators, and wireless systems manufacturers. Identification of use cases, not addressed by existing technologies, may be used to spur targeted innovation where reliability, resilience, latency, and scalability are joint concerns. Motivated by the industry need for independent practical guidelines and solutions to difficult wireless control problems, this paper provides a classification of the problem categories where networking technologies may be deployed. It then maps specific technologies that may serve as interim or terminal solutions for those use cases identified within the problem space taxonomy.
Outcomes in Children Undergoing Surgery for Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformations in the First Year of Life.

Background Treatment of congenital pulmonary airway malformations (CPAMs) is generally surgical resection; however, there is controversy regarding the optimal timing of surgical intervention, especially in asymptomatic patients. Study Design Using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric Participant Use Files from 2012 to 2015, children who underwent lung resection for CPAMs were identified. Outcomes in children who underwent lung resection during the neonatal period were compared with those who underwent resection beyond the neonatal period, but during the first year of life (non-neonates). Results A total of 541 patients (20.7% neonates and 79.3% non-neonates) were identified. Neonates had higher rates of preoperative comorbidities and worse postoperative outcomes when compared with non-neonates (morbidity 19.6% vs 5.4%, p Conclusions These data suggest that lung resection for CPAMs in the neonatal period in asymptomatic children are not associated with increased 30-day morbidity. The presence of preoperative symptoms was independently associated with increased morbidity in a multivariable regression model. More data are needed to better understand the long-term outcomes and better define the optimal timing of surgery in this patient population.
Agile big data analytics: AnalyticsOps for data science

Big data analytic (BDA) systems leverage data distribution and parallel processing across a cluster of resources. This introduces a number of new challenges specifically for analytics. The analytics portion of the complete lifecycle has typically followed a waterfall process — completing one step before beginning the next. While efforts have been made to map different types of analytics to an agile methodology, the steps are often described as breaking activities into smaller tasks while the overall process is still consistent with step-by-step waterfall. BDA changes a number of the activities in the analytics lifecycle, as well as their ordering. The goal of agile analytics — to reach a point of optimality between generating value from data and the time spent getting there. This paper discusses the implications of an agile process for BDA in cleansing, transformation, and analytics.
Work as an Inclusive Part of Population Health Inequities Research and Prevention.

Despite its inclusion in models of social and ecological determinants of health, work has not been explored in most health inequity research in the United States. Leaving work out of public health inequities research creates a blind spot in our understanding of how inequities are created and impedes our progress toward health equity. We first describe why work is vital to our understanding of observed societal-level health inequities.Next, we outline challenges to incorporating work in the study of health inequities, including (1) the complexity of work as a concept; (2) work’s overlap with socioeconomic position, race, ethnicity, and gender; (3) the development of a parallel line of inquiry into occupational health inequities; and (4) the dearth of precise data with which to explore the relationships between work and health status.Finally, we summarize opportunities for advancing health equity and monitoring progress that could be achieved if researchers and practitioners more robustly include work in th...
Preparation of Endoscopic Therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Abstract Inflammatory bowel disease is often associated with complications, including stricture, fistula, anastomotic leak, and abscess. Endoscopic therapy plays a critical role in the management of those complications. Successful endoscopic management relies on careful planning, including personnel, sedation, room setting, equipment, and supplies. Adequate bowel cleansing makes the procedure smoother and safer. Proper training of endoscopic assistant and endoscopic nurse is critical. Anticipation of next motion and back step is important. Endoscopist and his or her team need stay alert and be ready to take an action, in case procedure-associated complication occurs.
Risk factors for positioning-related somatosensory evoked potential changes in 3946 spinal surgeries

The goal of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with positioning-related SSEP changes (PRSC). The study investigated the association between 18 plausible risk factors and the occurrence of intraoperative PRSC. Risk factors investigated included demographic variables, comorbidities, and procedure related variables. All patients were treated by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from 2010 to 2012. We used univariate and multivariate statistical methods. 69 out of the 3946 (1.75%) spinal surgeries resulted in PRSC changes. The risk of PRSC was increased for women (p < 0.001), patients older than 65 years of age (p = 0.01), higher BMI (p < 0.001) patients, smokers (p < 0.001), and patients with hypertension (p < 0.001). No associations were found between PRSC and age greater than 80 years, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and peripheral vascular disease. Three surgical situations were associated with PRSC including abnormal baselines (p < 0.001), patients in the “superman” position (p < 0.001), and patients in surgical procedures that extended over 200 min (p = 0.03). Patients with higher BMIs and who are undergoing spinal surgery longer than 200 min, with abnormal baselines, must be positioned with meticulous attention. Gender, hypertension, and smoking were also found to be risk factors from their odds ratios.
Phagocytosis and Intracellular Biology of Legionella Pneumophila

Legionella pneumophila is a gram-negative bacterium and the causative agent of two clinically distinct syndromes -- Legionnaires′ disease, a severe and often fatal form of pneumonia, and Pontiac Fever, a mild non-fatal febrile illness. L. pneumophila is a facultative intracellular parasite that multiplies in human monocytes and alveolar macrophages (1,2).
Principles of Developing a New Product Strategy

Market-driven firms perform better than sales-driven firms in terms of profitability and contributing to the quality of life. Even with the best intentions, a firm must have multiple products already in existence and others in development.
Socio-economic Conditions and Agriculture in Sample States

The samples under investigation are constituted of households, and agents form different districts at the substate level from across the country. The districts display a wide variety of socio-economic condition, natural endowments, demographic profiles and policy environments.
Are quantitative fit factors predictive of respirator fit during simulated healthcare activities

An annual OSHA fit test is required for all U.S. employees required to wear a respirator during work, but there are limited data demonstrating a link between fit test results and respirator fit dur...
Ionic conductivity enhacements and low temperature synthesis of Li7La3Zr2O12 garnets by Bi aliovalent substitutions

We report on a novel approach to synthesize cubic-phase fast ionic conducting garnet-type solid state electrolytes based on Bi doped Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO). Bi aliovalent substitution into LLZO utilizing the Pechini processing method is successfully employed to synthesize Li7-xLa3Zr2-xBixO12 compounds. Ionic conductivities up to 2.0 x 10-4 S/cm are achieved in structures not fully densified. Cubic phase Li6La3ZrBiO12 powders are generated in the temperature range from 650 {\deg}C to 900 {\deg}C in air. In contrast, in the absence of Bi and under identical synthesis conditions, the cubic garnet phase of Li7La3Zr2O12 is not formed below 700 {\deg}C while a transformation to the tetragonal phase is observed at 900 {\deg}C for the un-doped compound. The critical role of Bi in lowering the formation temperature of the garnet cubic phase and the improvements in ionic conductivity is investigated in this work through microstructural studies and AC impedance measurements. We ascribe the effect of Bi doping in achieving these remarkable improvements to significant enhancements at lower temperatures in the kinetics of the solid-state reaction resulting in explosive grain growth and densification of the garnet. Moreover, XAS is utilized to identify the specific atomic site where Bi is incorporated in the LLZO garnet crystalline structure.
Food for Thought: Supporting African American Women's Computational Algorithmic Thinking in an Intro CS Course

African American women who have little if any experience in computer programming prior to matriculation into college often struggle in introductory CS courses that emphasize programming from the outset. These same students feel underprepared and disadvantaged, oftentimes choosing to withdraw from such courses which contributes to the underrepresentation of African American women in CS. The challenge lies in creating equitable learning environments that bridge students' everyday experiences to fundamental CS concepts. In this experience report, we introduce the Dessert Wars Challenge, an alternative pedagogical strategy that leverages students' everyday experiences with food to forge meaningful connections to CS. We examine how African American women's participation in the Dessert Wars Challenge supports the development of their Computational Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) capabilities, the ability to design, implement, assess and adapt algorithms, and contributes to their retention in a college-level introductory CS course.
Associations between Biotic Integrity and Sport Fish Populations in Upper Midwest, USA Rivers, with Emphasis on Smallmouth Bass

Indices of biotic integrity (IBIs) are used to assess ecosystem health of streams and rivers. Streams and rivers with high IBI scores should support abundant and healthy populations of recreationally important sport fishes. However, the fundamental assumption that IBI scores and sport fish populations are associated needs to be examined. To verify this assumption, we tested associations between IBI scores and relative abundance of all sport fishes targeted by anglers, with emphasis on relative abundance of four size groups of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu at 54 stream and river reaches in 2012 and 2013. We also tested for associations with smallmouth bass body condition and growth. A total of 13,708 fishes representing 85 species were captured including 11 sport fish species that included 571 smallmouth bass. We found that the maximum potential relative abundance of sport fishes and smallmouth bass size classes, as well as body condition of bass between 180 and 279 mm, could be predicted by IBI scores. We did not observe significant relationships with body condition of other bass size classes or with growth. Whereas abundance patterns were variable at reaches with higher IBI scores, abundance of larger, quality-sized sport fishes were more limited at reaches with IBI scores <30 that were classified as having poor biotic integrity. Maximum potential body condition was predicted to exceed 95, a condition value indicative of healthy fish, at IBI scores exceeding 50, reflective of reaches being classified as either fair, good, or excellent. These results confirm that management activities that enhance or maintain biotic integrity also support high-quality habitat for sport fish. While our findings support using IBIs as an indicator of the fishable goal specified in the United States Clean Water Act, managers should recognize that other factors not necessarily represented by the index can also limit sport fish populations.
Bioactive Glucitol-Core Containing Gallotannins and other Phytochemicals from Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) Leaves:

In the course of our group's investigation of members of the maple (Acer) genus, a series of glucitol-core containing gallotannins (GCGs) were-isolated and identified (by NMR and HREISMS). Among higher plants, only certain maple species are known to produce GCGs, compounds with potential nutraceutical and cosmetic applications due to their reported antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-α-glucosidase, anti-glycation, anticancer, and skin. health promoting effects. Herein, we sought to investigate whether the previously un-investigated silver maple (Acer saccharinum) species was also a source of GCGs. Nine phenolic compounds, including six GCGs, were identified (by HPLC-DAD analyses using previously isolated standards) as ginnalins A-C (1-3), rnaplexins B, D, and F (4-6), methyl syringate (7), methyl gallate (8), and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenol-1-β-D-(6-galloyl)-glucopyranoside (9). In addition, one, sesquiterpenoid, namely, pubineroid A (10), was isolated and identified (by NMR).
Bot stamina: examining the influence and staying power of bots in online social networks

This study presents a novel approach to expand the emergent area of social bot research. We employ a methodological framework that aggregates and fuses data from multiple global Twitter conversations with an available bot detection platform and ultimately classifies the relative importance and persistence of social bots in online social networks (OSNs). In testing this methodology across three major global event OSN conversations in 2016, we confirmed the hyper-social nature of bots: suspected social bot accounts make far more attempts on average than social media accounts attributed to human users to initiate contact with other accounts via retweets. Social network analysis centrality measurements discover that social bots, while comprising less than 0.3% of the total corpus user population, display a disproportionately high level of structural network influence by ranking particularly high among the top users across multiple centrality measures within the OSN conversations of interest. Further, we show that social bots exhibit temporal persistence in centrality ranking density when examining these same OSN conversations over time.
The Role of Side Payments in the Formation of Asymmetric Alliances: Forging the US–Pakistan Alliance:

AbstractThe article builds on James Morrow’s theoretical formulation on asymmetric alliances, which contends that alliances are formed as a result of a security–autonomy trade-off between great pow...
Electronic Health Record Skills Workshop for Medical Students.

Introduction The adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) presents new challenges for information gathering, documentation, and patient care. Medical students spend a significant amount of time...
Treating schizophrenia: the quality of evidence behind treatment recommendations and how it can improve.

Objective To assess the methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews that comprise the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia and to determine the extent to which results from Cochrane systematic reviews published after guideline development would alter or confirm current recommendations. Participants Systematic reviews that underpinned recommendations in the APA guidelines and Cochrane systematic reviews. Main outcome Three independent reviewers scored all systematic reviews referenced in the guideline for quality and reporting using AMSTAR and PRISMA checklist, respectively. Items in both tools were individually graded and compared to identify consistently low-performing areas within the systematic reviews. Post hoc analysis of the Cochrane systematic reviews since the latest revision of APA’s guidelines were performed to determine whether their findings were congruent with recent recommendations. Results The mean score of the 57 reviews on the PRISMA checklist was 70%. The mean AMSTAR score was 6.8, correlating with a moderate quality score. Post hoc analysis revealed that 171 Cochrane reviews had been published since the APA guideline release. Only half of the reviews of pharmacological interventions confirmed current recommendations. Conclusions and relevance The methodological quality of the systematic reviews included in the APA guideline was deficient in key areas. Our study brings to light the importance of using high-quality evidence in the development of clinical practice guidelines. An updated APA guideline (last updated in 2009) is necessary to provide the highest quality treatment recommendations for clinicians in the management of schizophrenia. Trial registration number UMIN-CTR, UMIN000023099.
Small mammal community composition varies among Ozark glades

Island biogeography theory (IBT) explains and estimates large-scale ecological patterns among islands and isolated habitat patches. Specifically, IBT predicts that the number of species per habitat patch differs as a function of area and isolation as a result of local colonization and extinction. Accurate estimates of species richness are essential for testing predictions of IBT, but differences in detectability of species can lead to bias in empirical data. Hierarchical community models correct for imperfect detection by leveraging information from across the community to estimate species-specific occupancy and detection probabilities. Using the fragmented Ozark glades as our model system, we constructed a hierarchical community model to 1) estimate site-level and regional species richness of small mammals while correcting for detection error, and 2) determine environmental covariates driving occupancy. We sampled 16 glades in southwestern Missouri in summer 2016–2017 and quantified mammal community structure within the glade network. The detected species pool included eight species, and the model yielded a regional species estimate of 8.6 species, with a mean of 3.47 species per glade. Species richness increased with patch area but not isolation, and effects of patch shape varied between species in the community.
Framework for Change: Creating a Diversity Strategic Plan within an Academic Library

AbstractIn December 2017, Clemson University’s administration via the Assistant Vice President for Strategic Diversity Leadership charged each college and the University Libraries with creating and...
Incorporating selfing to purge deleterious alleles in a cassava genomic selection program

Cassava has been found to carry high levels of recessive deleterious mutations and it is known to suffer from inbreeding depression. Breeders therefore consider specific approaches to decrease cassava9s genetic load. Using self fertilization to unmask deleterious recessive alleles and therefore accelerate their purging is one possibility. Before implementation of this approach we sought to understand better its consequences through simulation. Founder populations with high directional dominance were simulated using a natural selection forward simulator. The founder population was then subjected to five generations of genomic selection in schemes that did or did not include a generation of phenotypic selection on selfed progeny. We found that genomic selection was less effective under the directional dominance model than under the additive models that have commonly been used in simulations. While selection did increase favorable allele frequencies, increased inbreeding during selection caused decreased gain in genotypic values under the directional dominance. While purging selection on selfed individuals was effective in the first breeding cycle, it was not effective in later cycles, an effect we attributed to the fact that the generation of selfing decreased the relatedness of the genomic prediction training population from selection candidates. That decreased relatedness caused genomic prediction accuracy to be lower in schemes incorporating selfing. We found that selection on individuals partially inbred by one generation of selfing did increase mean genetic value of the partially inbred population, but that this gain was accompanied by a relatively small increase in favorable allele frequencies such that improvement in the outbred population was lower than might have been intuited.
Brexit–Disentangling the Quantum in Law and Politics

More than three years after its fateful Brexit referendum, the United Kingdom finally left the European Union. But is Brexit really done? Not yet. This Article illuminates the road traveled by the United Kingdom and the European Union in the light of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Moreover, it discusses pathways forward towards getting Brexit finally done.
Institutions, the Rise of Commerce and the Persistence of Laws: Interest Restrictions in Islam and Christianity*

Why was economic development retarded in the Middle East relative to Western Europe, despite the Middle East being far ahead for centuries? A theoretical model inspired and substantiated by the history of interest restrictions suggests that this outcome emanates in part from the greater degree to which early Islamic political authorities derived legitimacy from religious authorities. This entailed a feedback mechanism in Europe in which the rise of commerce led to the relaxation of interest restrictions while also diminishing the Church’s ability to legitimise political authorities. These interactions did not occur in the Islamic world despite equally amenable economic conditions.
The Kind Care Bundle: A Curriculum to Teach Medical Students the Behaviors of Kind, Compassionate Care

Introduction Patients’ hospital experiences can be adversely affected by clinicians’ negative behaviors. Simple positive behaviors, however, can have a dramatic impact on patient-clinician relation...
Teaching Values, Teaching Stereotypes: Sex Ed and Indoctrination in Public Schools

Many sex education curricula currently used in public schools indoctrinate students in gender stereotypes. As expressed in the title of one article: “If You Don’t Aim to Please, Don’t Dress to Tease,” and Other Public School Sex Education Lessons Subsidized by You, the Federal Taxpayer (Jennifer L. Greenblatt, 14 TEX. J. ON C.L. & C.R. 1 (2008)). Other lessons pertain not only to responsibility for sexual activity but to lifelong approaches to family life and individual achievement. One lesson, for example, instructs students that, in marriage, men need sex from their wives and women need financial support from their husbands. This Article first describes the ways in which teaching sex stereotypes may affect children, highlighting the need for further empirical research in this area. Second, it critiques the extant feminist legal response to gender-biased Sex Ed curricula, particularly the use of precedent dealing with governmental perpetuation of stereotypes; those precedents cannot be incorporated wholesale into this context. Finally, to correct this analytical gap, this Article connects the Sex Ed issue to the existing scholarly literature on indoctrination of schoolchildren, a literature that has hooks in both equal protection and the first amendment. The first amendment principles developed in this literature provide the missing link to explain the constitutional flaw in sex stereotyping at school. The result is an endorsement standard, based on a blending of equal protection and first amendment doctrine. Public school students should not be inculcated in values whose entrenchment by government is contrary to constitutional principles. 1 Associate Professor, University of Tennessee College of Law. For early feedback and advice on this Article, many thanks to Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff and the participants in the Washington University Junior Scholars Workshop. 2 PhD candidate, University of Tennessee College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology. SEX ED: TEACHING VALUES, TEACHING STEREOTYPES 2 INTRODUCTION 3 I. SEX STEREOTYPES IN SEX ED 6 A. The Content and Funding of Sex Ed 6 B. Factual Harm 16 C. Legal Harm 21 II. THE EQUAL PROTECTION ARGUMENT 25 A. Is There a Sex Classification? 25 B. Intermediate Scrutiny and Real Differences 27 C. Stereotypes Based on Facts 30 1. Existing Doctrine on Entrenchment of Sex Stereotypes 31 2. A Tempting Misapplication 32 D. Stereotypes and Brown 36 III. A FIRST AMENDMENT OVERLAY 37 A. Sex Ed in Context: The Scholarly Literature on Inculcating Values 38 1. The Inevitability of Imposing Values on Students 38 2. General Attempts to Limit the Imposition of Values 39 3. Identifying Proscribed Values 43 B. Establishment of Values Contrary to the Constitution ......46 CONCLUSION 51
Cartilage Plating in Flail Chest Fixation.

Abstract Introduction: Operative stabilization of flail chest has been shown to have several benefits over nonoperative management. Often, flail chest injuries will involve the anterior ribs and their associated costal cartilage. In certain cases, operative fixation with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of anterior rib fractures involving the costal cartilage may be warranted. Currently, there is scant literature regarding the surgical approach and clinical outcomes of ORIF involving the costal cartilage. The purpose of this study is to describe the surgical approach and first reported clinical series for patients undergoing anterior rib ORIF involving the costal cartilage. Patients and Methods: After Institutional Review Board approval was obtained, a retrospective case series was performed at a single urban level 1 trauma center including patients 18 years of age or older who underwent ORIF of anterior rib fractures involving the costal cartilage. All surgical approaches were performed with muscle-sparing techniques. Patients were followed during their hospitalization period and postoperatively as routinely scheduled. Data collection including patient demographics, injury characteristics, operative variables, and postoperative outcomes were collected and analyzed. Results: Thirty patients, with a mean age of 54.4 years, were included in this study. All patients had a flail chest injury and were treated with ORIF on average 4.1 days following injury. There were no intraoperative complications reported. Total hospital length of stay averaged 22.8 days with an intensive care unit stay averaging 6.1 days; total ventilator time averaged 5.2 days. Six patients were diagnosed with postoperative pneumonia and no postoperative superficial infections, deep infections, or seromas were noted. Eight patients required tracheostomy postoperatively. Only 1 patient had evidence of radiographic malunion, and a separate patient had evidence of screw loosening; no patients required or requested implant removal. Union rate was 100% and one-year mortality was 0%. Conclusion: Open reduction and internal fixation of anterior rib fractures involving the costal cartilage is a safe procedure with low complication rates and favorable postoperative outcomes including hospital length of stay, intensive care unit length of stay, postoperative pneumonia, need for tracheostomy, and mechanical ventilation time.
Exploration of Experiences and Perpetration of Identity-Based Bullying Among Adolescents by Race/Ethnicity and Other Marginalized Identities.

Importance Race-based discrimination represents an ongoing public health crisis in the US, manifested by wide-ranging disparities in youth health, mental health, and violence exposure. However, studies of racial discrimination often neglect experiences of identity-based bullying (IBB) stemming from other marginalized identities, such as gender identity and sexual orientation. Objective To examine associations between experiences of IBB based on race/ethnicity/national origin and other social identities and youth health, mental health, and violence outcomes. Design, setting, and participants This cross-sectional study analyzed responses from an anonymous survey conducted at 13 public high schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between October 15, 2018, and October 19, 2018. Participants included in the study were in the 9th through 12th grades. Data were analyzed from October 15, 2020, to February 14, 2021. Exposures Experiences of bullying and bullying perpetration based on race/ethnicity/national origin and other social identities (ie, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental disability, immigration status, other unspecified reason). Main outcomes and measures Youth health (delayed well care; forgone medical care; physical, mental, or emotional limitations), mental health (nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation), and violence involvement (weapon perpetration or survivorship, fighting, sexual assault, adolescent relationship abuse, experiencing homicide of friend or family member) were assessed using self-reported items modeled on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results Among 3939 participants, the mean (SD) age was 15.7 (1.3) years; 1380 students (36.3%) identified as Black/African American, 2086 (53.7%) as assigned female at birth, 1021 (32.6%) as belonging to a sexual minority group, and 313 (10.0%) as gender diverse. Among reported social identities, race/ethnicity-based experiences of bullying (375 students [9.5%]) and bullying perpetration (209 students [5.8%]) were the most common. Youth with multiple stigmatized identities experienced even higher rates of experiences of IBB and IBB perpetration. Specifically, the highest rates of IBB were reported by gender diverse Black and Hispanic youth. Experiencing IBB based on multiple stigmatized identities was associated with all outcomes, including delayed well care (aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.20-1.65), forgone medical care (aOR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.44-1.87), nonsuicidal self-injury (aOR, 2.86; 95% CI, 2.53-3.24), suicidal ideation (aOR, 2.49; 95% CI, 2.20-2.83), and greater violence involvement (experiencing violence: aOR, 2.90; 95% CI, 2.45-3.43; homicide survivorship: aOR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06-1.33). Conclusions and relevance These results further encourage the development of youth health, mental health, and violence prevention programs that address experiences of bullying based on multiple marginalized identities.
Association Between Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio and Outcomes for Metastatic Pediatric Sarcoma Patients Treated With Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) The relationship between immune parameters and oncologic outcomes after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an area of active investigation. The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NTLR) has been observed to be a prognostic marker in cancer survival across many cancers. We hypothesized that the NLTR is prognostic for patients undergoing SBRT for metastatic sarcoma. MATERIALS/METHODS From our IRB-approved single-institution registry, all patients treated with SBRT for metastatic sarcoma between 2014 and 2020 were identified. We evaluated treatment variables, complete blood count (CBC) data to calculate NLTR values, local control for each lesion, and survival. Wilcox Signed Rank Test and Friedman Test were used to compare intragroup NTLR changes between lesions experiencing local failure vs. local control. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method, and univariate (UVA) and multivariable (MVA) Cox models were calculated. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to determine a cut point for NTLR values to stratify low and high-risk groups. KM Curves were drawn to compare the two groups, and log rank statistics were calculated. RESULTS Forty-two patients with 138 total lesions met inclusion criteria. Median follow up time of all patients was 9.7 months (range, 0.5-34.5). The median SBRT dose was 30 Gy (range, 15-60) given in 4 fractions (range, 1-5). Patients were heavily pre-treated with systemic therapy. Local control for all lesions was 66.7% (95% CI, 56.6-78.5%) at 1 year, and 50.2% (95% CI, 38.2-66.1) at 2-years. Median NTLR for controlled lesions before and after SBRT were 5.05 (IQR: 2.70 - 13.4) and 4.79 (IQR: 2.32 - 9.44), respectively. Median NTLR for failed lesions before and after SBRT were 3.31 (IQR: 2.24-4.98) and 3.51 (IQR: 3-6.13), respectively, and at local failure were 5.62 (IQR: 3.83 - 5.89). The change in median NTLR within the controlled group was not significant (P = .30) but was significant within the failed group (P = .027). Higher NLTR before SBRT was associated with poorer survival in both the univariate (HR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.04-1.19) and multivariable (HR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.03-1.21). The optimal NTLR cut point by survival ROC analysis was 5 (Youden index: .418). 1 year survival in the entire cohort was 47.6% (34.3%-66.1%). Patients with an NTLR above 5 at time of treatment had a 1-year survival of 37.7% (21.44%-66.3%), while patients with an NTLR below 5 had a significantly improved 1 year survival of 63% (43.3%-91.6%, P = .014). CONCLUSION Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio at the time of treatment was prognostic for survival in patients undergoing stereotactic body radiotherapy for metastatic pediatric sarcoma. Change in the NTLR over time was a significant predictor of local failure. Further investigation into the interactions between immune parameters and sarcoma SBRT is warranted.
S4-alpha mRNA translation regulation complex. II. Secondary structures of the RNA regulatory site in the presence and absence of S4.

The secondary structure of the Escherichia coli α mRNA leader sequence has been determined using nucleases specific for single- or double-stranded RNA. Three different length α RNA fragments were studied at 0 °C and 37 °C. A very stable eight base-pair helix forms upstream from the ribosome initiation site, defining a 29 base loop. There is evidence for base-pairing between nucleotides within this loop and for a “pseudo-knot” interaction of some loop bases with nucleotides just 3′ to the initiation codon, forming a region of complex structure. A weak helix also pairs sequences near the 5′ terminus of the α mRNA with bases near the Shine-Dalgarno sequence. Affinity constants for the translational repressor S4 binding different length α mRNA fragments indicate that most of the S4 recognition features must be contained within the main helix and hairpin regions. Binding of S4 to the α mRNA alters the structure of the 29 base hairpin region, and probably melts the weak pairing between the 5′ and 3′ termini of the leader. The pseudo-knot structure and the conformational changes associated with it provide a link between the structures of the S4 binding site and the ribosome binding site. The α mRNA may therefore play an active role in mediating translational repression.