cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Initial development of the recovery-oriented services assessment: A collaboration with peer-provider consultants.

Objective The Recovery Self-Assessment (RSA) is a reliable and valid tool used to measure recovery-oriented services. Recent studies, however, suggest that the length and reading level of the RSA makes its routine use in service settings difficult. Recognizing the importance of including people with lived experience of a mental health challenge in research processes and the need to enhance the utility of tools that measure recovery-oriented services, this paper describes an innovative researcher-peer provider consultant multistep process used to revise the provider version of the RSA to create a new instrument-the Recovery-Oriented Services Assessment (ROSA). Methods The authors conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with principal axis factoring extraction and direct oblimin rotation to evaluate the underlying structure of the provider RSA using data from mental health employees (n = 323). To triangulate the findings of the EFA, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from peer provider consultants (n = 9) on the importance of and language of RSA items. Results EFA results indicated that a 1-factor solution provided the best fit and explained 48% of the total variance. Consultants triangulated EFA results and recommended the addition of 2 items and language revisions. These results were used to develop the ROSA-a 15-item instrument measuring recovery-oriented services with accessible language. Conclusions and implications for practice Two versions of the ROSA were developed: a staff version and a people-in-services version. The ROSA may provide organizations with a more accessible way to measure the extent to which their services are recovery oriented. (PsycINFO Database Record
Access to sexual health education and healthcare for adolescent women in rural Vermont: a qualitative study.

In the USA, one in four sexually active adolescents has an STI,1 and yet sexual health education and screening in this population is inadequate.2 Factors impacting adolescent women’s access to sexual healthcare include a misunderstanding of the symptoms, stigma and fear of embarrassment, issues around cost, and conflicting clinic and school schedule.2 The purpose of our study was to identify the perceived barriers to …
Argumentation in Weak Theory Domains

We present argumentation as a method for reasoning in “weak theory domains”, i.e., domains where knowledge is incomplete, uncertain, and/or inconsistent. We see these factors as related: methods for reasoning under incomplete knowledge, for example, default reasoning, plausible reasoning, and evidential reasoning, may result in conclusions that are uncertain and/or inconsistent. Knowledge in many domains in which we’d like computers to reason can be expected to be incomplete, and therefore, possibly inconsistent. Also, some domains, e.g., legal reasoning, may be inherently inconsistent. Therefore, it is important to investigate methods for reasoning under inconsistency.
Experience of Using Durable Resistance in the USA

Durable resistance has been reported in a number of cultivars for different crops in the USA and may be conditioned either oligogenically or polygenically. In several cases resistance has been durable even though resulting in hypersensitivity. In other cases durable resistance has cckb about by inhibition of one or more phases of the infection process. The infection type may be susceptible but sporulation is reduced in both onset, quantity or duration. Generally speaking, those disease organisms with stabile populations and few physiologic races have been more amenable to long lasting resistance. Diseases for which durable resistance has been obtained includes those causing wilts, leaf spots and mists and occurring on such hosts as root crops, legumes and cereals.
Matrix Stiffness: A Regulator of Cellular Behavior and Tissue Formation

The extracellular environment is an essential mediator of cell health and provides both chemical and mechanical stimuli to influence single and collective cell behaviors. While historically there has been significant emphasis placed on chemical regulators within the extracellular matrix, the role of the mechanical environment is less well known. Here, we review the role of matrix mechanics on cell function and tissue integrity. Cellular responses to mechanical signals include differentiation, migration, proliferation, and alterations in cell–cell and cell–matrix adhesion. Interestingly, the mechanical properties of tissues are altered in many disease states, leading to cellular dysfunction and further disease progression. Successful regenerative medicine strategies must consider the native mechanical environment so that they are able to elicit a favorable cellular response and integrate into the native tissue structure.
Is This a Group

To complete this lab, you should have already seen the definition of a group and become familiar with the basic group properties: being closed, having an identity, inverses, and associativity (and commutativity).
Rotational-echo double-resonance in complex biopolymers: a study of Nephila clavipes dragline silk

Rotational-Echo Double-Resonance (REDOR) NMR on strategically 13C and 15N labeled samples is used to study the conformation of the LGXQ (X = S, G, or N) motif in the major ampullate gland dragline silk from the spider Nephila clavipes. A method is described for calculating REDOR dephasing curves suitable for background subtractions, using probability distributions of nitrogen atoms surrounding a given carbon site, which are developed from coordinates in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank. The validity of the method is established by comparison to dephasings observed from natural abundance 13C peaks for G and A. Straightforward fitting of universal REDOR dephasing curves to the background corrected peaks of interest provide results which are not self-consistent, and a more sophisticated analysis is developed which better accounts for 15N labels which have scrambled from the intended positions. While there is likely some heterogeneity in the structures formed by the LGXQ sequences, the data indicate that they all form compact turn-like structures.
Quality improvement project for prevention of infusion related reactions of daratumumab therapy in multiple myeloma patients.

e18877Background: Daratumumab (DARA) is an IgG1K human monoclonal antibody that binds to CD38 and inhibits the growth of myeloma cells. The most common adverse reaction of DARA is infusion related ...
Implementing a Standardized Nurse-driven Rounding Protocol in a Trauma-surgical Intensive Care Unit: A Single Institution Experience

Introduction Patient care in the trauma-surgical intensive care unit (SICU) requires trust and effective communication between nurses and physicians. Our SICU suffered from poor communication and trust between nurses and physicians, negatively impacting the working environment and, potentially, patient care. Methods A SICU Task Force studied communication practices and identified areas for improvement, leading to several interventions. The daily physician rounding was altered to improve communication and to enhance the role of the registered nurses (RN) in rounds. Additionally, a formal night resident rounding time was implemented. Results A post-intervention survey focusing on cooperation, teamwork, and appreciation between nurses and physicians revealed improvement in these domains. Informal feedback from nurses and physicians indicated improved working relationships and satisfaction with the SICU environment. However, results of a national survey performed after the intervention did not show the same level of improvement. Conclusions A Task Force consisting of SICU nurses and physicians can effectively study a widespread communication issue and implement targeted interventions. While informal feedback may indicate improvement, it can be difficult to demonstrate improvement using formal surveys.
The Usability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Pedestrian Observation

The monitoring of pedestrian activity is challenging, primarily because its traffic levels are typically lower and more variable than those of motorized vehicles. Compared with other on-the-ground ...
Investigating the Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation of Sea Spray Aerosols Using Prochlorococcus as a Model Source of Marine Organic Matter

Sea spray is the largest aerosol source on Earth. Bubble bursting mechanisms at the ocean surface create smaller film burst and larger jet drop particles. This study quantified the effects of particle chemistry on the depositional ice nucleation efficiency of laboratory-generated sea spray aerosols under the cirrus-relevant conditions. Cultures of Prochlorococcus, the most abundant phytoplankton species in the global ocean, were used as a model source of organic sea spray aerosols. We showed that smaller particles generated from lysed Prochlorococcus cultures are organically enriched and nucleate more effectively than larger particles generated from the same cultures. We then quantified the ice nucleation efficiency of single component organic molecules that mimic Prochlorococcus proteins, lipids, and saccharides. Amylopectin, agarose, and aspartic acid exhibited similar critical ice saturations, fractional activations, and ice nucleation active site number densities to particles generated from Prochlorococcus cultures. These findings indicate that saccharides and proteins with numerous and well-ordered hydrophilic functional groups may determine the ice nucleation abilities of organic sea spray aerosols.
Multi-Gaussian Schell-model source with a complex coherence state

The effects of non-trivial phase of the source degree of coherence on the far-field spectral density for the class of one-dimensional, multi-Gaussian Schell-model beams are explored. While in the absence of the phase, the flat-top spectral density profile with a Gaussian edge drop is symmetrically formed in the far field about the optical axis, various phase functions introduce asymmetric modifications to such distribution. Since the phase of the source degree of coherence must be an odd function, three such examples are considered in detail: linear phase leading to shift, signum phase producing either tilt or split, and cubic phase forming Airy-like radially accelerating profiles. We have established that unless the phase of the source degree of coherence is sufficiently small at all separations, the resulting far-field spectral density profiles are qualitatively very different from those with the trivial phase.
Decision support needs analysis in newly diagnosed malignant glioma.

2063 Background: Standard treatment pathways exist for malignant glioma, but are largely palliative. Patients face difficult non-curative treatment decisions. Oncologists may misinterpret patient g...
Examining similarities in eating pathology, negative affect, and perfectionism among peers: A social network analysis.

Friends tend to be more similar than non-friends (i.e., exhibit homophily) in body image concerns and disordered eating behaviors. These similarities may be accounted for by similarities in eating disorder risk factors and correlates. The current study sought to replicate findings of homophily for eating pathology using social network analysis and to test if similarity in eating pathology is present above and beyond homophily for eating disorder risk factors and correlates. College students (n = 89) majoring in nutrition completed a social network assessment and measures of eating pathology (i.e., body dissatisfaction, binge eating, restricting, excessive exercise), negative affect, and perfectionism. Homophily for eating pathology, negative affect, and perfectionism were tested as predictors of friendship ties using exponential random graph modeling, adjusting for gender, year in school, and body mass index. Results did not support homophily for eating pathology. However, restricting was associated with a lower likelihood of friendship ties. Homophily was present for perfectionism, but not for negative affect. Results suggest that eating pathology may influence the propensity to form friendships and account for previous findings of homophily in the literature. Homophily for perfectionism may have also driven previous findings for homophily. More longitudinal work using social network analysis is needed to understand the role that personality plays in peer influences on eating pathology.
Effect of a combined trenbolone acetate and estradiol implant on steady-state IGF-I mRNA concentrations in the liver of wethers and the longissimus muscle of steers.

Treatment of lambs (initial BW 28 kg) for 24 d with a combined implant containing 40 mg of trenbolone acetate (TBA) and 8 mg of estradiol (E2) increased ADG 25% (P < .05, n = 8) and feed efficiency 23% (P < .05, n = 2) compared with unimplanted lambs. By d 3 following implantation, sera from wethers implanted with TBA + E2 showed 32% (307 vs 233 ng/mL) increases (P < .001, n = 8) in IGF-I concentration compared with sera from unimplanted wethers. This increase was maintained throughout the entire 24-d study. Steady-state hepatic IGF-I mRNA levels were increased approximately 150% in implanted lambs compared with unimplanted lambs (P < .05, n = 4). These data suggest that liver may be the source of at least part of the increased circulating IGF-I in TBA + E2-implanted sheep. In steers implanted with Revalor-S (120 mg of TBA and 24 mg of E2) for 40 d, the steady-state concentration of IGF-I mRNA in the longissimus muscle was 68% greater than in the longissimus muscle of unimplanted steers (P = .013, n = 4). Consequently, increased local production of IGF-I by muscle tissue may play a role in increasing circulating IGF-I concentrations as well as an autocrine or paracrine role in stimulating muscle growth in steers implanted with Revalor-S.
Empowering Climate Leaders: An Open Resourcing Approach to Issue Selling

Midlevel employees proactively contribute to organizational change by drawing attention to emerging strategic issues, but these efforts often founder due to a lack of organizational backing. Howeve...
The Limits to Adaptation in Restored Ecosystems and How Management Can Help Overcome Them

Adaptation drives the diversity of form and function observed in nature and is key to population persistence. Yet, adaptation can be limited by a lack of genetic variation, trade-offs, small population size, and constraints imposed by coevolving interacting species. These limits may be particularly important to the colonizing populations in restored ecosystems, such as native prairies restored through seed sowing. Here, we discuss how constraints to adaptation are likely to play out in restored prairie ecosystems and how management decisions, such as seed mix composition, prescribed fire, and strategic site selection, might be used to overcome some of these constraints. Although data are still limited, recent work suggests that restored prairie populations likely face strong selection and that promoting the potential for adaptation in these systems may be necessary for restoring populations both now and in the face of further global change.
The complexity of symmetric connectivity in directional wireless sensor networks

In this paper, we investigate the Antenna Orientation (AO) and Antenna Orientation and Power Assignment (AOPA) problems concerning symmetric connectivity in Directional Wireless Sensor Networks (DWSNs) where each sensor node is equipped with $$ 2 \le k \le 5$$ directional antennas having beam-width $$\theta \ge 0$$. The AO problem for DWSNs is closely related with the well-known Euclidean Degree-Bounded Minimum Bottleneck Spanning Tree (EBMBST) problem where different cases for the degree bound have been studied. While current works on DWSNs focus on solving each case of k ($$=2,3,4$$) separately, we propose a uniform approach for the AO problem that yields constant-factor approximation algorithms for the AO as well as the EBMBST problem where the degree bound is between 2 and 4. Our method achieves the same constant factors. For the AOPA problem, to the best of our knowledge, our paper provides the first results concerning this problem. We show that the problem is NP-hard when $$2 \le k \le 4$$. We also establish the first constant-factor approximation algorithms for the problem. Finally, we perform some simulations to understand the practical performance of our algorithms.
Demographic consequences and characteristics of recent population mixing and colonization in Steller sea lions, Eumetopias jubatus

Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) are composed of two genetically distinct metapopulations (an increasing “eastern” and a reduced and endangered “western” population, or stock for management purposes in U.S. waters) that are only recently mixing at new rookeries in northern Southeast Alaska, east of the current stock boundary. We used mark-recapture models and 18 years of resighting data of over 3,500 individuals marked at the new rookeries and at neighboring long-established rookeries in both populations to examine morphology, survival, and movement patterns of pups born at new rookeries based on whether they had mitochondrial DNA haplotypes from the western or eastern population (mtW or mtE); examine survival effects of dispersal to the Eastern Stock region for animals born in the Western Stock region; and estimate minimum proportions of animals with western genetic material in regions within Southeast Alaska. Pups born at new rookeries with mtW had similar mass, but reduced body condition and first-year survival (approximately –10%) compared to pups with mtE. mtE pups ranged more widely than mtW pups, including more to the sheltered waters of Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage. Fitness benefits for western-born females that dispersed to Southeast Alaska were observed as higher female survival (+0.127, +0.099, and +0.032 at ages 1, 2, and 3+) and higher survival of their female offspring to breeding age (+0.15) compared to females that remained west of the boundary. We estimated that a minimum of 38% and 13% of animals in the North Outer Coast–Glacier Bay and Lynn Canal–Frederick Sound regions in Southeast Alaska, respectively, carry genetic information unique to the western population. Despite fitness benefits to western females that dispersed east, asymmetric dispersal costs or other genetic or maternal effects may limit the growth of the western genetic lineage at the new rookeries, and these factors require further study.
Skeletal muscle area and density are associated with lipid and lipoprotein cholesterol levels: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Background Loss of muscle mass with age may be a key player in metabolic dysregulation. We examined the associations between abdominal muscle area and density with lipids and lipoproteins. Methods One thousand eight hundred and sixty eight adults completed health history and physical activity questionnaires, provided venous blood samples for lipids and inflammatory biomarkers, and underwent computed tomography to quantify body composition. Associations between muscle area and density with multiple lipid measures were assessed with multivariable linear and logistic regression. Results The mean age and body mass index of participants was 65 years and 28 kg/m2, respectively, and 50% were female. After adjustment for demographics, cardiovascular disease risk factors, lipid-lowering medications, physical activity, sedentary behavior, inflammatory biomarkers, and central obesity, a 1-standard deviation increase in total abdominal, stability, and locomotor muscle areas was associated with a 13%, 11%, and 8% lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, respectively (P Conclusion Maintaining adequate skeletal muscle mass with age may decrease specific lipid levels related to hyperlipidemia and development of cardiometabolic disease.
Unilateral Burdens and Third-Party Harms: Abortion Conscience Laws as Policy Outliers

Most conscience laws establish nearly absolute protections for health care providers unwilling to participate in abortion. Providers’ rights to refuse – and relatedly, their immunity from civil liability, employment discrimination, and other adverse consequences – are often unqualified, even in situations where patients are likely to be harmed. These laws impose unilateral burdens on third parties in an effort to protect the rights of conscientious objectors. As such, they are outliers in the universe of federal and state anti-discrimination and religious freedom statutes, all of which strike a more even balance between individual rights and the prevention of harm to third parties. This Article argues that state abortion conscience laws should incorporate limitations similar to those established in the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act in order to minimize risks to third parties who might be harmed by provider refusals.
The Communication Preferences of Collegiate Students

This chapter presents findings on academic and nonacademic communication preferences of college students (N = 1986) related to academic and nonacademic purposes. The chapter reports on a descriptive comparative study which utilizes survey methodology to sample the college student population patterns and preferences for communication. The study specifically examines the use of technological tools which influence student communication preferences. Findings indicate a preference for face-to-face interactions despite the heavy utilization of technological devices. Participants report favored mobile communication modes which enable soliciting and sharing feedback. Educational implications which can be drawn from this chapter include the idea that educators should not only utilize reading and hearing communication methodologies but also technology which enables face-to-face encounters. The study reported on in this chapter provides further evidence which supports and encourages innovative academic uses of varied technological resources for academic communication.
An overview of operational security considerations for husbanding service providers of the U.S. navy

The United States is continually facing threats from state and non-state actors. Operating in and around the areas where these entities have influence poses unique threats to the ability to carry out the mission of sustained forward presence. Husbanding service providers (HSP) are the primary source of logistics support for U.S. Navy ships calling to foreign ports. The nature of HSP work necessitates access to sensitive information, which can provide clues to the nature of naval operations. Properly vetting third-party and contracted logistics support providers is crucial in maintaining security of operations. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general overview of operational security implications of contracting HSPs to serve the U.S. Navy abroad.
Development and Evaluation of a Fully Automated Molecular Assay Targeting the Mitochondrial Small Subunit rRNA Gene for the Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Specimens.

The fungal pathogen Pneumocystis jirovecii causes Pneumocystis pneumonia. Although the mitochondrial large subunit rRNA gene (mtLSU) is commonly used as a PCR target, a mitochondrial small subunit rRNA gene (mtSSU)–targeted MultiCode PCR assay was developed on the fully automated ARIES platform for detection of P. jirovecii in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens in 2.5 hours. The assay showed a limit of detection of 800 copies/mL (approximately equal to 22 organisms/mL), with no cross-reactivity with other respiratory pathogens. Compared with the reference Pneumocystis-specific direct fluorescent antibody assay (DFA) and mtLSU-targeted PCR assay, the new assay demonstrated sensitivity of 96.9% (31/32) and specificity of 94.6% (139/147) in detecting P. jirovecii in 180 clinical bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens. This assay was concordant with all DFA-positive samples and all but one mtLSU PCR-positive sample, and detected eight positive samples that were negative by DFA and mtLSU PCR. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed an area under the curve of 0.98 and a threshold cycle (CT) cutoff of 39.1 with sensitivity of 90.9% and specificity of 99.3%. The detection of 39.1
Vehicle Lateral Stability Control Based on Shiftable Stability Regions and Dynamic Margins

Vehicle lateral stability control is one of the most critical aspects of vehicle safety control. In this paper, aiming at keeping the vehicle states (lateral velocity and yaw rate) always in the vehicle stability regions, a novel lateral stability control method, which consists of shiftable region-based stability analyses and a corresponding stability controller, is proposed. In the stability analyses, two features of the stability regions are introduced. First, a shifting vector is formulated to explicitly describe the shifting feature of lateral stability regions, so that the shiftable regions are not necessarily re-estimated with respect to a varying steering angle input. Second, dynamic margins of the stability regions are formulated and applied to avoid the penetration of vehicle state trajectory with respect to the stability region boundaries. With these two features, the shiftable stability regions are feasible for an accurate stability analysis, where a projection method is adopted to determine the relative location/distance between the vehicle state point and the closest boundary of the stability region. Based on the analyses, a dynamic sliding mode controller, where the sliding surfaces are selected as the stability region boundaries with the proposed dynamic margins, is designed to keep the vehicle states always in the shiftable stability region. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed control design and analyses, two maneuvers through the co-simulation between Matlab/Simulink and CarSim, namely a high-speed constant cornering and a double lane change maneuvers, are presented and discussed.
Simulation study of surface sputtering and distribution of ions in silicon due to low-energy high-fluence cobalt irradiation

Abstract The study of the range and distribution of low-energy heavy ions implanted into lighter substrates is paramount important in terms of three-dimensional device fabrications. In this study, we report the re-distribution of implanted ions due to the sputtering of target atoms, simulated considering dynamic changes in the target due to the high-fluence irradiation of Co and Fe ions at low energy (55 keV) in Silicon substrate and nanowires. The simulations were compared by using various ion-solid interaction codes that are capable of incorporating the targets with both one-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) structures. In the 1D simulation codes, the target is generally defined as a stack of sharp interfaced layers that have an infinite lateral extension. Both static code like "Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM)" and dynamic code like "Static and Dynamic Trim for Sequential and Parallel computer (SDTrimSP)" were utilized to carry out the simulations in silicon substrates. However, to simulate the distribution of ions with target layers involving nanostructures with a curved surface such as nanowires “Ion range and damage in nanostructures (Iradina)” code was used. Silicon nanowires of different diameters were chosen as the target, and Co ions were implanted at single energy along the surface normal. The fluence of the Co ions was then varied to obtain the optimal distribution of implanted ions in the silicon nanowire. The Si nanowire shows a curved depth profile for the implanted ions with different ranges towards the edge and the center of the nanowire. The surface sputtering in the case of the nanowire was more as compared to the bulk Si substrate. However, in the case of the Si substrate, the atoms are found preferentially sputtered in the forward direction between 30° - 60° angle with a peak around 45° angle to the target surface normal with variation in the angle of incidence.
ChemProps: A RESTful API enabled database for composite polymer name standardization

The inconsistency of polymer indexing caused by the lack of uniformity in expression of polymer names is a major challenge for widespread use of polymer related data resources and limits broad application of materials informatics for innovation in broad classes of polymer science and polymeric based materials. The current solution of using a variety of different chemical identifiers has proven insufficient to address the challenge and is not intuitive for researchers. This work proposes a multi-algorithm-based mapping methodology entitled ChemProps that is optimized to solve the polymer indexing issue with easy-to-update design both in depth and in width. RESTful API is enabled for lightweight data exchange and easy integration across data systems. A weight factor is assigned to each algorithm to generate scores for candidate chemical names and optimized to maximize the minimum value of the score difference between the ground truth chemical name and the other candidate chemical names. Ten-fold validation is utilized on the 160 training data points to prevent overfitting issues. The obtained set of weight factors achieves a 100% test accuracy on the 54 test data points. The weight factors will evolve as ChemProps grows. With ChemProps, other polymer databases can remove duplicate entries and enable a more accurate “search by SMILES” function by using ChemProps as a common name-to-SMILES translator through API calls. ChemProps is also an excellent tool for auto-populating polymer properties thanks to its easy-to-update design.
Temporal Trends in Inpatient Oncology Census Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Rates of Nosocomial COVID-19 Among Patients with Cancer at a Large Academic Center.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted health care systems. However, to date, the trend of hospitalizations in the oncology patient population has not been studied, and the frequency of nosocomial spread to patients with cancer is not well understood. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on inpatient oncology census and determine the nosocomial rate of COVID-19 in patients with cancer admitted at a large academic center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of patients with cancer diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted were reviewed to evaluate the temporal trends in inpatient oncology census during pre-COVID-19 (January 2019 to February 2020), COVID-19 (March to May 2020), and post-COVID-19 surge (June to August 2020) in the region. In addition, nosocomial infection rates of SARS-CoV-2 were reviewed. RESULTS: Overall, the daily inpatient census was steady in 2019 (median, 103; range, 92-118) and until February 2020 (median, 112; range, 102-114). However, there was a major decline from March to May 2020 (median, 68; range, 57-104), with 45.4% lower admissions during April 2020. As the COVID-19 surge eased, the daily inpatient census over time returned to the pre-COVID-19 baseline (median, 103; range, 99-111). One patient (1/231, 0.004%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 13 days after hospitalization, and it is unclear if it was nosocomial or community spread. CONCLUSION: In this study, inpatient oncology admissions decreased substantially during the COVID-19 surge but over time returned to the pre-COVID-19 baseline. With aggressive infection control measures, the rates of nosocomial transmission were exceedingly low and should provide reassurance to those seeking medical care, including inpatient admissions when medically necessary. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the health care system, and cancer patients are a vulnerable population. This study observes a significant decline in the daily inpatient oncology census from March to May 2020 compared with the same time frame in the previous year and examines the potential reasons for this decline. In addition, nosocomial rates of COVID-19 were investigated, and rates were found to be very low. These findings suggest that aggressive infection control measures can mitigate the nosocomial infection risk among cancer patients and the inpatient setting is a safe environment, providing reassurance.
Persistent Airborne Surveillance using Semi-Autonomous Drone swarms

Persistent surveillance is an essential tool in many damage prevention and mitigation scenarios. Existing approaches to conduct surveillance over an area either require deploying static equipment on the ground or are expensive and have a high ecological footprint. The era of commercial drones has facilitated the development of lightweight, agile vehicles that can carry a wide variety of payloads with a very low ecological footprint. In this paper, we present a new airborne surveillance system using drone swarms. We explore the concept of Swarm Utility and present a mobility model for persistent surveillance that achieves maximum utility while being energy efficient. We program the drones in the swarm to follow trajectories defined by the model, eliminating the need to control the drones manually. Additionally, we augment our system with an object detection framework that runs on accumulated video feed streamed by the swarm to detect objects of interest in the area with high accuracy.
A Discussion of the Last Flight of X-31a Aircraft No.1

This presentation covers the preparation and conduct of the final flight of X-31A aircraft #1 and the lessons learned as applied to flight test of research vehicles.
Treatment of spasmodic dysphonia with a neuromodulating electrical implant.

Objectives/Hypothesis To investigate the feasibility of an implantable electrical stimulation device to treat spasmodic dysphonia (SD) by neuromodulation of the muscle spindle gamma loop. Study Design Prospective case series. Method Five subjects underwent daily stimulation of the left thyroarytenoid muscle (TA) below the level of α-motor neuron activation (AMNA) for 5 consecutive days. Professional and patient voice evaluations were performed. Transcartilagenous placement of an implantable stimulation device lead was investigated in anesthetized porcine and cadaveric human models. Results Three of 5 subjects improved in all categories of evaluation. One subject improved in three of four categories. These four subjects described significant carryover of effect after treatment. The fifth subject evidenced improvement until contracting an upper respiratory infection on day 3. Transcartilagenous electrode placement into the porcine TA with muscle stimulation was successful. The electrode lead was passed from the cadaveric larynx to the mastoid tip in the subplatysma layer with an absence of tension. Conclusion The symptoms of SD improve after electrical stimulation of the TA at levels below AMNA. This is likely through neuromodulation of the muscle spindle gamma loop. Implantation of an electrode into the TA with a postauricular implanted stimulator is feasible with modifications of an already existing device. With further investigation, such a device has the potential to deliver an alternative treatment for SD. Level of Evidence 4, Laryngoscope, 124:2537–2543, 2014
Radiogenic helium in shallow groundwater within a clay till, southwestern Ontario

[1] Profiles of 4He in pore water were measured in clay aquitards in SW Ontario. The 4He distributions are consistent with groundwater velocities that are 70% of initial 4He for 50 to 60 kA prior to incorporation into the till.
Placental hormones and graft rejection

Abstract To explore the possibility that the placenta prevents its own immunologic rejection by the mother by producing a “hormonal barrier” either locally or systemically, rabbits undergoing skin allograft exchanges were given placental hormones either systemically or at graft sites. Groups of 5 animals each received estrogen, progesterone, chorionic gonadotropin, or placental lactogen in addition to appropriate controls including cortisone and crude placental extract. No allograft prolongation was detected using either systemic or local placental hormones. The possible reasons for failure to demonstrate immunologic activity of these hormones are discussed.
Self-loathing aspects of depression reduce postoperative opioid cessation rate.

Objective We previously reported that increased preoperative Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) scores were associated with a 47% (95% CI 24%–64%) reduction in the rate of opioid cessation following surgery. We aimed to identify the underlying factors of the BDI-II (affective/cognitive vs somatic) associated with a decreased rate of opioid cessation after surgery. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of the data from a previously reported prospective, longitudinal, observational study of opioid use after five distinct surgical procedures (total hip replacement, total knee replacement, thoracotomy, mastectomy, and lumpectomy) in 107 patients. The primary endpoint was time to opioid cessation. After exploratory factor analysis of the BDI-II, mean summary scores were calculated for each identified factor. These scores were evaluated as predictors of time to opioid cessation using Cox proportional hazards regression. Results The exploratory factor analysis produced three factors (self-loathing symptoms, motivational symptoms, emotional symptoms). All three factors were significant predictors in univariate analysis. Of the three identified factors of the BDI-II, only preoperative self-loathing symptoms (past failure, guilty feelings, self-dislike, self-criticalness, suicidal thoughts, worthlessness) independently predicted a significant decrease in opioid cessation rate after surgery in the multivariate analysis (HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.75–0.99, P value 0.037). Conclusions Our results identify a set of negative cognitions predicting prolonged time to postoperative opioid cessation. Somatic symptoms captured by the BDI-II were not primarily responsible for the association between preoperative BDI-II scores and postoperative prolonged opioid use.
Concussion Incidence in Elite College Soccer Players

A unique aspect of soccer is the use of the head for directing the ball. The potential for resultant head injuries has been the focus of discussions worldwide. Prior work has attributed neuropsychologic deficits to the cumulative effects of heading, without evaluating concussion rates in soccer players. We prospectively studied the seven men's and eight women's varsity soccer teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference during two seasons to document concussion incidence. The 29 concussions diagnosed over the 2 years in 26 athletes, 17 (59%) concussions in men and 12 (41%) in women, resulted from contact with an opponent's head (8, 28%), elbow (4, 14%), knee (1, 3%), or foot (1, 3%); the ball (7, 24%); the ground (3, 10%); concrete sidelines (1, 3%); goalpost (1, 3%); or a combination of objects (3, 10%). Twenty concussions (69%) occurred in games; none resulted from intentional heading of the ball. The basic incidence was 0.96 concussions per team per season. The overall incidence was 0.6 per 1000 athlete-exposures for men, and 0.4 per 1000 athlete-exposures for women. By concussion grade, there were 21 (72%) grade 1, 8 (28%) grade 2, and no grade 3 concussions. These findings suggest that concussions are more common in soccer than anticipated and that acute head injuries may have potential for long-term neuropsychologic changes.
Following Estevanico: The Influential Presence of an African Slave in Sixteenth-century New World Historiography

Africans were ubiquitous not only to the Conquest of Mexico but also to the entire endeavor of Spanish invasion and colonization in the Americas. Because the majority of such Africans arrived as sl...
Ostwald ripening and coalescence of a binary alloy in two dimensions using a phase-field model

A numerical study is made of the phenomena of Ostwald ripening in a two-dimensional binary alloy, using the phase-field model employed by Warren and Boettinger. Using this method we are able to trace the history of complicated dynamics driven by surface tension. Coalescence occurs in these systems without any special modification of the phase-field equations, and is observed over a wide range of volume fractions. The results describe an experimental regime which is far removed from the domain of applicability of classical (LSW) coarsening theory. In particular, the volume fraction (area fraction) changes by a large amount over the history of the simulation, resulting in substantial deviations from classical theory.
Effectiveness of a high school alcohol misuse prevention program

An alcohol misuse prevention curriculum for tenth-grade students was developed, implemented, and evaluated through twelfth grade with 1041 students from four school districts. The curriculum emphasized social pressures resistance training, immediate effects of alcohol, risks of alcohol misuse, and social pressures to misuse alcohol. There were desirable program effects on alcohol misuse prevention knowledge (p < 0.001), alcohol misuse (p < 0.02), and refusal skills (p < 0.09). Gender by occasion differences were found on alcohol use, alcohol misuse, and driving after drinking, with boys' rates increasing more than those of girls. Exposure to a sixth-grade, as well as the tenth-grade, program did not result in better outcomes. Despite high levels of alcohol use among high school students, a tenth-grade curriculum can result in some desirable effects. Creative approaches are needed, however, especially for boys who tend to use and misuse alcohol at rates that increase more steeply than those of girls.
Commercial Overfishing and Property Rights

Abstract Management of many commercial fisheries includes a struggle to avoid overfishing. Natural resource agencies fail in this struggle when the application of biological, sociological, or philosophical sciences fails. In addition, they fail because they underestimate the pervasiveness of greed and the power of commerce, not because they lack good intentions. Current strategies to manage commercial fishing include extending property rights for fish harvests. The objective of this paper is to stimulate debate on the need—and consequences—of extending property rights to wild, exploitable fish populations as opposed to granting harvest rights. The question is, If property rights for fish were awarded to nonfishing, nongovernmental entities that then sell fishing rights to harvesters and help manage fish stocks, would this system be more likely to produce sustainable harvests and benefits? Strategies to achieve sustainable wild fish benefits are many and diverse. Should we explore extending property rights...
On time dependent fuzzy sets

This paper extends the concept of fuzzy set, introduced by L. A. Zadeh, to a time dependent setting. Time dependence enters into a number of areas including planning and pattern recognition. Results are given for topologies of fuzzy sets and applied to shadows. Time dependent fuzzy relations are defined and discussed.
PRODUCTIVITY RATINGS BASED ON SOIL SERIES: A METHODOLOGICAL CRITIQUE

Most regional maps of soil productivity are based on the erroneous assumption that the soil series, the fundamental taxonomic unit, is also a homogeneous unit of productivity with consistent and predictable yields when compared with other series. This assumption may lead to significant errors in estimates of potential productivity, with profound implications for prime-land delimitation, tax assessment, zoning administration, and other policies that presently rely on published soil productivity ratings.
Pays Gaste and Pucelle Gaste: Gendering Resistance in Garin le Loherenc, Gerbert de Mez, and Raoul de Cambrai

Abstract In the medieval French epics Raoul de Cambrai, Garin le Loherenc, and Gerbert de Mez, the poets sketch noble women and queens who belittle, berate, and render impotent the ruler and his men. These chansons de geste exploit and invert the topos of woman's legendary rebellious nature, voicing through subversive epic ladies an idealized feudal order predicated on loyal service and just reward. If, in the metafiction of an ideal epic world, land and lady are two sides of the gift the ideal king bestows on the ideal knight, in these works the king's brutal attempts to dominate his men waste both lady and land. Portraying the practices of scorched earth and systematic rape as political tools of royal expansion, these epics deliver powerful images of women exercising a righteous resistance through subversive acts, words, and desires. Like Eve, these epic ladies resist patriarchal dominance corporally through their desires and their mouths, and so, women's resistant tongues and desires work to restore or...
Integration of formal and heuristic reasoning as a basis for testing and debugging computer security policy

Errors can arise in defining and evaluating computer security policy as well as in translating computer security policy into procedures. The effect of such errors in policy upon the secure operation of information systems can impose unacceptable levels of risk from the perspective of procurers and users of information systems. Relying on computer security paradigms based solely on formal methods makes it difficult if not impossible to detect and/or reason about certain classes of threats to computer security and vulnerabilities of information systems to these threats, especially for those aspects of information systems that are more readily amenable to modeling via non-formal methods. We present a paradigm integrating formal and heuristic reasoning as a basis for testing for and debugging computer security policy. To illustrate our approach, and to support our arguments, we consider the problem of reasoning about the plans of an agent who may be trying to compromise the security of an information system.
Laser beam propagation in the low-order turbulence: exact solution

Using small-angle parabolic approximation and Feynman path-integral technique we derive the exact solution for optical beam propagation in the low-order turbulence consisting of the optical wedges and lenses distributed along the propagation path. We present complete solutions for some specific distribution of lenses, and discuss limitations of LOT as a proxy model for propagation in turbulence.
Chromosomal localization of the zinc finger protein 15, Zfp15, on mouse chromosome 4.

Species: Mouse Locus name: Zinc finger protein 15 Locus symbol: Zfp15 Map position: Zfp15 is localized on mouse Chromosome (Chr) 4: centromere-D4Bir11-7.4 + 2.7-Zfp15-1.1 + 1.1-D4Mit4-17.0 + 3.9-D4Bir16-7.4 +_ 2.7-(D4Mit9, D4Bir20)--4.3 + 2.1-D4Bir2110.6 + 3.2-D4Mit11-5.4 + 2.4-D4Bir23-3.2 + 1.8-D4Bir24-8.5 + 2.9-(D4Mit13, Pnd, D4Bir25, D4Mit14)-l.1 + 1.1-D4Mit42-6.4 + 2.5-(Dvl, Rnr4)-telomere. Method of mapping: Zfp15 was localized by haplotype analysis of 94 progeny from an interspecific backcross, (C57BL/6J x M. spretus)F 1 x C57BL/6J [1]. Molecular reagents used for mapping: The Zfp15 probe was obtained by polymerase chain reaction amplification of a 552-bp fragment from mouse pituitary cDNA with primers designed on the basis of the rat Zfpl5 cDNA sequence [2]. The primers amplify 465 bp of coding sequence, outside of the conserved zinc finger regions, corresponding to the last 154 amino acids, and 87 bp of the 3' untranslated region. The RT-PCR product was cloned into the pGEM4Z vector and sequenced to confirm its correspondence with the rat Zfpl5 cDNA. Allele detection: A BglI polymorphism was detected in mouse genomic DNA with the Zfp15 probe, resulting in an M. spretusspecific restriction fragment of 15 kb and a common restriction fragment of 24 kb. The mapping was confirmed with a BamHI polymorphism, resulting in two M. spretus-specific restriction fragments of 8.9 and 6.6 kb and two common fragments of 18 and 5.5 kb.