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Herein, we present a comprehensive total synthesis of cannabidiol integrating both batch and continuous flow conditions. Our approach is planned to streamline the synthesis of olivetolic acid derivatives and utilize an enantiomerically pure monoterpene moiety obtained from naturally occurring (R)‐(+)‐limonene by photocatalysis. Key reactions, including the synthesis of olivetolic ester and a Friedel‐Crafts alkylation, are successfully adapted to continuous flow, resulting in improved yields and selectivities. This study not only offers a scalable and efficient route for cannabidiol synthesis but also contributes to the synthetic approaches to access cannabinoids (diversity synthesis), with potential applications in medicinal and industrial contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, or other sexual and/or gender expansive identities (LGBTQ+) in the United States are facing an insurmountable reintroduction of discriminatory and stigmatizing policies and legislation (i.e., Zombie Laws) particularly those pertaining to sexual practices, minoritized sexual orientations and gender identities, and access to equitable healthcare. This has a particularly devastating effect on cancer-related care and outcomes. Therefore, a call to action among researchers, policymakers, and activists is needed to protect LGBTQ + rights and ensure gains continue to ameliorate cancer-related health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinkajous are one of the most widely distributed Neotropical mammals, nonetheless, their nocturnal habits have posed challenges on the study of their ecology and behavior. Here, we used arboreal camera trapping in a pristine Amazonian forest in Ecuador, and ad libitum data from direct encounters in a lowland and a highland forest in Colombia to describe their activity patterns and describe anecdotal data on their diet and reproductive behaviors. As expected, kinkajous are strictly nocturnal and seem to be active throughout the entire night, although in our study there was less activity towards the beginning and the end of the night. Kinkajous were observed to be mostly solitary, rarely in groups of two to three adult individuals. Although their diet has not been described in detail, fruits from Moraceae and Urticaceae appear to be important components of their diet. Their reproductive behavior involves an isolated pair of kinkajous, and may be interrupted by other males. Pairs seem to meet for reproductive purposes and range together for several hours, during which courtship may take place, ending in copulation, which lasts for approximately 3 min. After copulation, the male and female appear to separate and return to their solitary habits. The results of this study complement the scarce information on the elusive kinkajous in the Neotropical forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ankle arthrodesis is a mainstay of surgical management for ankle arthritis. Accurately risk-stratifying patients who undergo ankle arthrodesis would be of great utility. There is a paucity of accurate prediction models that can be used to pre-operatively risk-stratify patients for ankle arthrodesis. We aim to develop a predictive model for major perioperative complication or readmission after ankle arthrodesis. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of adult patients who underwent ankle arthrodesis at any non-federal California hospital between 2015 and 2017. The primary outcome is readmission within 30 days or major perioperative complication. We build logistic regression and ML models spanning different classes of modeling approaches, assessing discrimination and calibration. We also rank the contribution of the included variables to model performance for prediction of adverse outcomes. Results: A total of 1084 patients met inclusion criteria for this study. There were 131 patients with major complication or readmission (12.1%). The XGBoost algorithm demonstrates the highest discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.707 and is well-calibrated. The features most important for prediction of adverse outcomes for the XGBoost model include: diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, teaching hospital status, morbid obesity, history of musculoskeletal infection, history of hip fracture, renal failure, implant complication, history of major fracture. Conclusion: We report a well-calibrated algorithm for prediction of major perioperative complications and 30-day readmission after ankle arthrodesis. This tool may help accurately risk-stratify patients and decrease likelihood of major complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Colombiana de Cardiología is the property of Publicidad Permanyer SLU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This work reports the studies conducted to characterize the microstructure and strength of Al–Cu alloys cast with various additions of Ti, V and Zr as these elements form stable particles of the Al3M type that are able to enhance their strength. The alloys were melted at 760 °C and poured into steel moulds. The solidification and cooling of the alloys was studied with the aid of a modified Scheil–Gulliver model. The volume fraction of D022 and D023 particles at the end of solidification was used to evaluate the strengthening by Orowan's mechanism. Microstructural studies revealed the presence of particles of the Al3M type made of Ti, V and Zr. The difference in strength of the different alloys is attributed to Al3M precipitates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-temperature oxidation characteristics of Inconel 625 superalloy fabricated by additive manufacturing were studied at 900 and 1000 °C in a mixture of dry air and 12%vol water vapor. At 900 °C, oxidation in water vapor was slightly faster than oxidation in air (kpwv 900 = 3.4 × 10−3mg2cm−4 h−1 and kpa900 = 2.9 × 10−3mg2cm−4 h−1). At 1000 °C, oxidation in air (kpa1000 = 74 × 10−3mg2cm−4 h−1) occurred faster than oxidation in water vapor (kpwv1000 = 45 × 10−3mg2cm−4 h−1) although for the early oxidation up to ~ 14 h the opposite behavior was observed. Features like crack and pore formation accounted for increasing the ionic mobility through the oxide and the oxidation rate in water vapor at this temperature. Chromia Cr2O3 was the main oxide found on the surface of the alloy, but intergranular oxidation zones having Ti- and Al-rich oxides were also formed below the metal-oxide interface. Evidence of localized CrO2(OH)2 volatilization was also found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The causes promoting the formation of defects on the internal surface of two different copper alloys subjected to cold rolling to fabricate seamless copper tubes are described. Defects characterized by oxide formation and delaminated material were found in various zones along the length of the tubes, leading to crack formation. It was found that the alloy that presented severe failure included a considerable amount of Cu2O particles. These particles were responsible for incorrect material flow during manufacturing and acted as crack initiation sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) adults experience a wide variety of unique challenges accessing healthcare. These barriers may be exacerbated among older LGBTQ+ people due to intersecting, marginalized identities. To prepare physicians to address the healthcare needs of older LGBTQ+ adults, graduate medical education (GME) must include training about the specific needs of this population. Prior studies demonstrate a lack of LGBTQ+ training in GME curricula. Here, we investigated the presence of LGBTQ+ curricula in internal medicine residencies and geriatrics fellowships through a national survey. Over 62.0% of internal medicine (n = 49) and 65.6% (n = 21) of geriatric medicine fellowship program directors, responding to the survey, reported content relevant to the health of older LGBTQ+ adults. Education about LGBTQ+ health in internal medicine residencies and geriatrics fellowships is vital for the provision of culturally-competent healthcare and to create an inclusive environment for older LGBTQ+ patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Most case-control studies compare cancer survivors with general population controls without considering sexual orientation or gender identity. This case-control analysis compared health risk behaviors and health outcomes among sexual and gender minority cancer survivors to those of matched sexual and gender minority participants without cancer (controls). Methods Using data from the 2014-2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a population-based sample of 4507 cancer survivors who self-identified as transgender, gay men, bisexual men, lesbian women, or bisexual women were 1:1 propensity score matched, using age at survey, race and ethnicity, marital status, education, access to health care, and US census region. Within each sexual and gender minority group, behaviors and outcomes were compared between survivors and participants without cancer, and survivors' odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals calculated. Results Gay male survivors had higher odds of depression, poor mental health, limited usual activities, difficulty concentrating, and fair or poor health. Few differences were observed between bisexual male survivors and participants without cancer. Compared with controls, lesbian female survivors had greater odds of overweight–obese status, depression, poor physical health, and fair or poor health. Bisexual female survivors had the highest rates of current smoking, depression, poor mental health, and difficulty concentrating across all sexual and gender minority groups. Statistically significantly different from transgender controls, transgender survivors had greater odds of heavy alcohol use, physical inactivity, and fair or poor health. Conclusions This analysis revealed an urgent need to address the high prevalence of engaging in multiple health risk behaviors and not following guidelines to avoid second cancers, additional adverse outcomes, and cancer recurrences among sexual and gender minority cancer survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ride-hailing platforms such as Uber offer service suppliers more flexible work conditions but lower security than permanent jobs. This study examines the preferences of ride-hailing drivers when they are offered contract and platform design options related to flexibility, financial security, and information features. The sample design and the discrete choice experiment approach we use permit the exploration of differences in the preferences of sub-groups of suppliers, including active and inactive drivers, drivers with and without other jobs, and those who multi-home. We find that the utility and willingness of drivers to work for ride-hailing platforms generally increase when the ride-hailing company provides a minimum wage guarantee, a company-sponsored benefit plan, and information features that protect drivers' privacy and allow them to screen for undesired passengers. These attributes are important enough for drivers so that they are willing to sacrifice scheduling flexibility by committing to minimum working hours in exchange for those attributes. We identified significant heterogeneity in driver preferences. For drivers with a primary job or jobs other than ride-hailing, the perception of working conditions in the primary job affects their willingness to restart ride-hailing services. Preferences also vary depending on whether a driver participates in one or more platforms. These results suggest that offering a menu of contract options could provide novel tools for ride-hailing companies to improve the stability and predictability of supply. It may also alleviate some of the concerns about driver working conditions that have led to increasing calls for the regulation of ride-hailing services to protect drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces the Oil-Slick Hub (OSH), a computational platform to facilitate the data visualization of a large database of petroleum signatures observed on the surface of the ocean with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements. This Internet platform offers an information search and retrieval system of a database resulting from >20 years of scientific projects that interpreted ~15 thousand offshore mineral oil "slicks": natural oil "seeps" versus operational oil "spills". Such a Digital Mega-Collection Database consists of satellite images and oil-slick polygons identified in the Gulf of Mexico (GMex) and the Brazilian Continental Margin (BCM). A series of attributes describing the interpreted slicks are also included, along with technical reports and scientific papers. Two experiments illustrate the use of the OSH to facilitate the selection of data subsets from the mega collection (GMex variables and BCM samples), in which artificial intelligence techniques—machine learning (ML)—classify slicks into seeps or spills. The GMex variable dataset was analyzed with simple linear discriminant analyses (LDAs), and a three-fold accuracy performance pattern was observed: (i) the least accurate subset (~65%) solely used acquisition aspects (e.g., acquisition beam mode, date, and time, satellite name, etc.); (ii) the best results (>90%) were achieved with the inclusion of location attributes (i.e., latitude, longitude, and bathymetry); and (iii) moderate performances (~70%) were reached using only morphological information (e.g., area, perimeter, perimeter to area ratio, etc.). The BCM sample dataset was analyzed with six traditional ML methods, namely naive Bayes (NB), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), decision trees (DT), random forests (RF), support vector machines (SVM), and artificial neural networks (ANN), and the most effective algorithms per sample subsets were: (i) RF (86.8%) for Campos, Santos, and Ceará Basins; (ii) NB (87.2%) for Campos with Santos Basins; (iii) SVM (86.9%) for Campos with Ceará Basins; and (iv) SVM (87.8%) for only Campos Basin. The OSH can assist in different concerns (general public, social, economic, political, ecological, and scientific) related to petroleum exploration and production activities, serving as an important aid in discovering new offshore exploratory frontiers, avoiding legal penalties on oil-seep events, supporting oceanic monitoring systems, and providing valuable information to environmental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the problem of robust stabilization of affine nonlinear multistable systems in the presence of exogenous disturbances. The results are based on the theory of input‐to‐state stability (ISS) and integral input‐to‐state stability (iISS) for systems with multiple invariant sets. The notions of ISS and iISS control Lyapunov functions (CLFs) and the small control property are extended within the multistability framework. Such properties are also complemented by the concept of a weak iISS CLF and corresponding small control property. It is verified that the universal control formula can be applied to yield the ISS (iISS) property for the closed‐loop system. The efficiency of the extended CLF framework in the multistable sense is illustrated for a Duffing system and in application to a noise‐induced transition in a semiconductor‐gas‐discharge gap system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The p53 tumor suppressor regulates multiple context-dependent tumor suppressive programs. Although p53 is mutated in ~90% of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) tumors, how p53 mediates tumor suppression in this context is unknown. Here, using a mouse model of SCLC in which endogenous p53 expression can be conditionally and temporally regulated, we show that SCLC tumors maintain a requirement for p53 inactivation. However, we identify tumor subtype heterogeneity between SCLC tumors such that p53 reactivation induces senescence in a subset of tumors, while in others, p53 induces necrosis. We pinpoint cyclophilins as critical determinants of a p53-induced transcriptional program that is specific to SCLC tumors and cell lines poised to undergo p53-mediated necrosis. Importantly, inhibition of cyclophilin isomerase activity, or genetic ablation of specific cyclophilin genes, suppresses p53-mediated necrosis by limiting p53 transcriptional output without impacting p53 chromatin binding. Our study demonstrates that intertumoral heterogeneity in SCLC influences the biological response to p53 restoration, describes a cyclophilin-dependent mechanism of p53-regulated cell death, and uncovers putative mechanisms for the treatment of this most-recalcitrant tumor type. p53 inactivation is nearly universal in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), but its tumor suppressive role in this cancer type is poorly understood. Here the authors show that intertumoral heterogeneity in SCLC influences the biological mechanisms of p53-mediated tumor suppression and identify a role for cyclophilins in p53-dependent necrotic cell death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to describe the context, curriculum design, and pilot evaluation of the educational program "Sexual and Gender Minority Cancer Curricular Advances for Research and Education" (SGM Cancer CARE), a workshop for early-career researchers and healthcare providers interested in gaining knowledge and skills in sexual and gender minority (SGM) cancer research and healthcare advocacy. A needs assessment of a sample of clinicians and researchers (n = 104) and feedback from an Advisory Board informed the curriculum design of the SGM Cancer CARE workshop. Four SGM-tailored modules, focusing on epidemiology, clinical research, behavioral science and interventions, and community-based participatory approaches, were developed and tested in a 2.5-day virtual format among 19 clinicians and researchers. A fifth module to provide feedback to participants on brief presentations about their SGM cancer research ideas or related efforts was added later. A mixed-methods evaluation comprised of pre- and post-modular online evaluation surveys and virtual focus groups was used to determine the degree to which the workshop curriculum met participant needs. Compared to pre-module evaluations, participants reported a marked increase in SGM cancer research knowledge in post-module scores. Quantitative results were supported by our qualitative findings. In open field response survey questions and post-workshop focus groups, participants reported being extremely pleased with the content and delivery format of the SGM Cancer CARE workshop. Participants did regret not having the opportunity to connect with instructors, mentors, and colleagues in person. The SGM Cancer CARE curriculum was shown to increase the knowledge, skills, and level of preparedness of early-career clinicians and scientists to conduct culturally relevant and appropriate research needed to improve care for SGM persons across the cancer care continuum from prevention to survivorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: Family-centered rehabilitative care optimizes outcomes for children with significant developmental disabilities. Family-centered services involve assessing family resources that promote positive developmental outcomes for children. Little is known regarding family resources in the context of caring for a child with developmental disabilities in Brazil due to an absence of validated measures. This study describes the translation and cultural adaptation of the Family Resource Scale and explored the measurement quality of the resulting measure (the Brazilian-Family Resource Scale, or B-FRS). METHODS: A rigorous serial translation process that emphasized linguistic accuracy as well as cultural adaptation was utilized. The resulting 27-item B-FRS was theoretically related and reflected the contextual intent of the original measure. RESULTS: A four-factor scoring approach yielded acceptable internal consistency estimates for the subscales and total scale score. Overall, low levels of family resources were reported by caregivers of children with Congenital Zika Syndrome. Low family resources were associated with parental depressive and stress-related symptoms. CONCLUSION: Confirmatory factor analysis of the B-FRS in a larger sample is recommended. Practitioners in Brazil should broadly consider family needs and resources to provide family-centered care that is effective for the child and engages the family in a way that highlights their strengths and promotes positive developmental trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The causes for the formation of defects of different characteristics on an electrical-grade cold-rolled steel strip surface are presented. Inspection of material taken from coils that presented failure was conducted using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FEGSEM), energy-dispersive x-ray analyses (EDX), and confocal microscopy (CM). The surface and cross section analyses of selected specimens suggested that the formation of holes and scale-like defects during cold rolling could be related to a considerable number of non-metallic inclusions dispersed within the metallic matrix, the presence of both small MnS particles and silicon-rich oxides in the alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differences between the isothermal oxidation behavior of the Inconel 625® superalloy fabricated by additive manufacturing and wrought conditions are presented. At 900 and 1000 °C, the oxidation kinetics of polished specimens exposed to synthetic dry air followed the parabolic rate law. The values of the oxidation rate constant kp were similar to values obtained for the same alloy and similar oxidation conditions in different investigations and depended on both, oxidation temperature and alloy condition being kpW = 1.2 × 10–3 mg2cm−4 h−1 and kpAM = 2.9 × 10–3 mg2cm−4 h−1 for the alloys in wrought and additive manufacturing conditions, respectively, at 900 °C and kpW = 16 × 10–3 mg2cm−4 h−1 and kpAM = 74 × 10–3 mg2cm−4 h−1 for the alloys in wrought and additive manufacturing conditions, respectively, at 1000 °C. For both alloys, chromia Cr2O3 was the primary oxide found on the surface of the alloy, together with nodules of NiCr2O4 spinel. Metallographic cross sections of the specimens revealed the formation of Al- and Ti-rich intergranular oxides below the metal–oxide interface. The amount of surface and subsurface oxidation of the alloys depended on their microstructures and their porosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and/or gender minority (LGBTQ+) people experience numerous health disparities. Graduate medical education (GME) programs need curricula to address these disparities. We sought to characterize curricula related to LGBTQ+ health in primary care specialty (internal medicine, combined internal medicine/pediatrics, family medicine, pediatrics, and geriatric medicine) GME, and to identify barriers experienced by program directors (PDs) in incorporating LGBTQ+ curriculum. We conducted a national survey study of PDs in August–October 2020 via Qualtrics. Overall, 292 of 1,571 eligible PDs responded (18.6%). Nearly a third of PDs (n = 96%; 32.9%) indicated that their program did not include any didactic training about LGBTQ+ health. Those who did indicated a mean of 5.4–5.7 hours in each year from PGY1-3 dedicated to LGBTQ+ health. Didactic and clinical training about LGBTQ+ health was overwhelmingly focused on content related to sexual health. PDs who indicated they had 'out' faculty were more likely to include didactic and clinical training on multiple aspects of LGBTQ+ health. Our results identify a significant gap and a need for the integration of LGBTQ+ content into primary care GME curricula with additional focus placed on domains associated with known mental and physical health disparities, beyond sexual health, and inclusion of transgender and gender diverse health needs. Programs may aim to accomplish this through recruitment of LGBTQ+ health educators, invitations to content experts in the field, and adaptation of existing resources to teach about LGBTQ+ health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the most valuable AI methods for modeling complicated things at the moment is the use of fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCMs). Conventional FCMs, on the other hand, can't handle the ambiguity that often arises in decision-making scenarios. A novel expansion of conventional FCMs called neutrosophic cognitive mapping (NCMs) was developed to address this shortcoming. However, the indeterminacy is not well handled by the NCMs stated in the citations since the level of indeterminacy is not quantified. In certain cases, choices should be seen as a series of steps that are only loosely related to one another. This occurs in project assessment when several activities depend on one another. Another difficult aspect of FCMs is that there isn't an appropriate topology for representing these types of decision-making difficulties. To aid in making decisions over several time periods, this research introduces a neutrosophic cognitive map built on triangular neutrosophic values (MS-TrNCM) for violence analysis. Through the use of triangular neutrosophic numbers, the suggested model allows experts to express their choices while considering various extents of truth, indeterminacy, and falsity in the underlying map linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the formation of black ice on asphalt roads at temperatures close to 0 °C and below, the probability of car accidents is higher enough to be considered as a danger. So, it is important to understand the friction mechanisms between the ice and rubber-like material for improving tyres technology and safety procedures of driving on icy roads. This work aims to study the increase of friction coefficient on ice layers made onto the top of an asphalt section by adding sand with two different grain sizes as a friction coefficient improver using a pendulum skid tester in the laboratory. The test results show the lowest friction coefficients in the presence of ice. However, by adding sand on the asphalt ice layer, the friction coefficients are recovered showing some differences by testing the two different grain sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes occurring in two heat-resistant alloys while aged at 750 °C for different periods of time were studied. Aging promoted precipitation of secondary M23C6 carbides and transformation of Nb-rich, which were evaluated by SEM. The results show that transformation of the NbC starts from their boundaries to their centre by silicon diffusion; carbon was detected to migrate from these particles promoting precipitation of secondary Cr-rich carbides in regions adjacent to the Nb-rich particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Notwithstanding the availability of effective treatments, asymptomatic nature and the interminable treatment length, adherence to medication remains a substantial challenge among patients with hypertension. Suboptimal adherence to BP-lowering agents is a growing global concern that is associated with the substantial worsening of disease, increased service utilization and health-care cost escalation. This study aimed to explore medication adherence and its associated factors among hypertension outpatients attending a tertiary-level cardiovascular hospital in Tanzania. Methods: The pill count adherence ratio (PCAR) was used to compute adherence rate. In descriptive analyses, adherence was dichotomized and consumption of less than 80% of the prescribed medications was used to denote poor adherence. Logistic regression analyses was used to determine factors associated with adherence. Results: A total of 849 outpatients taking antihypertensive drugs for ≥ 1 month prior to recruitment were randomly enrolled in this study. The mean age was 59.9 years and about two-thirds were females. Overall, a total of 653 (76.9%) participants had good adherence and 367 (43.2%) had their blood pressure controlled. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed; lack of a health insurance (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3– 0.7, p< 0.01), last BP measurement > 1 week (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4– 0.8, p< 0.01), last clinic attendance > 1 month (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.3– 0.6, p< 0.001), frequent unavailability of drugs (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.3– 0.9, p = 0.03), running out of medication before the next appointment (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4– 0.9, p = 0.01) and stopping medications when asymptomatic (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4– 0.8, p< 0.001) to be independent associated factors for poor adherence. Conclusion: A substantial proportion of hypertensive outpatients in this tertiary-level setting had good medication adherence. Nonetheless, observed suboptimal blood pressure control regardless of a fairly satisfactory adherence rate suggests that lifestyle modification plays a central role in hypertension management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Posterior cervical fusion is associated with increased rates of complications and readmission when compared to anterior fusion. Machine learning (ML) models for risk stratification of patients undergoing posterior cervical fusion remain limited. We aim to develop a novel ensemble ML algorithm for prediction of major perioperative complications and readmission after posterior cervical fusion and identify factors important to model performance. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of adults who underwent posterior cervical fusion at non-federal California hospitals between 2015 and 2017. The primary outcome was readmission or major complication. We developed an ensemble model predicting complication risk using an automated ML framework. We compared performance with standard ML models and logistic regression (LR), ranking contribution of included variables to model performance. Results: Of the included 6822 patients, 18.8% suffered a major complication or readmission. The ensemble model demonstrated slightly superior predictive performance compared to LR and standard ML models. The most important features to performance include sex, malignancy, pneumonia, stroke, and teaching hospital status. Seven of the ten most important features for the ensemble model were markedly less important for LR. Conclusion: We report an ensemble ML model for prediction of major complications and readmission after posterior cervical fusion with a modest risk prediction advantage compared to LR and benchmark ML models. Notably, the features most important to the ensemble are markedly different from those for LR, suggesting that advanced ML methods may identify novel prognostic factors for adverse outcomes after posterior cervical fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea-surface petroleum pollution is observed as "oil slicks" (i.e., "oil spills" or "oil seeps") and can be confused with "look-alike slicks" (i.e., environmental phenomena, such as low-wind speed, upwelling conditions, chlorophyll, etc.) in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements, the most proficient satellite sensor to detect mineral oil on the sea surface. Even though machine learning (ML) has become widely used to classify remotely-sensed petroleum signatures, few papers have been published comparing various ML methods to distinguish spills from look-alikes. Our research fills this gap by comparing and evaluating six traditional techniques: simple (naive Bayes (NB), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), decision trees (DT)) and advanced (random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural network (ANN)) applied to different combinations of satellite-retrieved attributes. 36 ML algorithms were used to discriminate "ocean-slick signatures" (spills versus look-alikes) with ten-times repeated random subsampling cross validation (70-30 train-test partition). Our results found that the best algorithm (ANN: 90%) was >20% more effective than the least accurate one (DT: ~68%). Our empirical ML observations contribute to both scientific ocean remote-sensing research and to oil and gas industry activities, in that: (i) most techniques were superior when morphological information and Meteorological and Oceanographic (MetOc) parameters were included together, and less accurate when these variables were used separately; (ii) the algorithms with the better performance used more variables (without feature selection), while lower accuracy algorithms were those that used fewer variables (with feature selection); (iii) we created algorithms more effective than those of benchmark-past studies that used linear discriminant analysis (LDA: ~85%) on the same dataset; and (iv) accurate algorithms can assist in finding new offshore fossil fuel discoveries (i.e., misclassification reduction). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adequate daily intake of minerals is essential for the prevention of chronic nutrition-related and degenerative diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Seaweeds are marine aquatic vegetable that are rich in nutrients. They also have a natural and sustainable origin and clean and renewable sources when they come from marine aquaculture or controlled fisheries. Seaweeds have high nutritional value as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and especially minerals. They are known for their high mineral content, which is gathered from seawater depending on the seasonal variation and the environment. Seaweeds are consequently rich in macro-elements and trace elements, with a mineral content at least 10 times higher than terrestrial plants and reaching 20-50% of its dry weight. Therefore, seaweeds can make an important contribution to the daily intake of minerals and are a promising source of essential minerals for functional food, food supplements, and nutraceuticals. The aim of the present review is to compare the contents of essential minerals (K, Ca, Na, P, Cu, Fe, Se, Mn, Zn, Mg, Cr, and I) as well as potential toxic minerals (Hg, Pb, Cd, As, and Al) in 14 main edible seaweeds that have availability of biomass from harvest and aquaculture. Another goal is to establish their safety in foods and contributions to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and adequate intake (AI) values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new motivation for marine restoration has been observed, associated with the dissatisfaction with current marine restoration governance arrangements (MRGAs). An MRGA consists of alliances of public and private actors (coalitions) who, through their common conceptualisation of the problem (discourses), try to influence and design marine restoration activities while considering the rules of decision‐making, and the management of limited resources. Emerging MRGAs rise in parallel to existing ones and aim to contribute to the same goals or show another way of reaching those goals. This phenomenon raises questions of legitimacy both for the emerging and the existing arrangement. Building on existing literature, this paper proposes an analytical framework to simultaneously explore input, throughput and output legitimacy as three essential pre‐conditions of legitimacy for MRGAs. The framework is tested in three European cases of MRGAs that were part of the European Union MERCES project (http://www.merces-project.eu/). Analysis showed that actors who are influential in achieving restoration goals, and also those who are impacted by restoration actions, should be involved in the MRGAs (input legitimacy); actors within MRGAs should establish and follow procedures for decision‐making that are both transparent and clear (throughput legitimacy); and actors within MRGAs need to establish a common understanding of restoration, of the goal to reach and of the related uncertainties (output legitimacy). Awareness of these pre‐conditions allows actors internal and external to MRGAs to address aspects that give legitimacy to restoration actions. It also creates a language that allows actors to engage in discussion on legitimacy that goes beyond the mere application of the rule of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amongst the different perovskites being investigated for application in solar cells, one of the most frequently scrutinized is methylammonium lead iodide CH3NH3PbI3 (or MAPbI3), which is usually obtained by the reaction of lead iodide (PbI2) with methylammonium iodide (MAI). Although this perovskite has been extensively studied and utilized in the manufacture of high-efficiency solar cells, its formation chemistry is still not well understood. Reliable experimental determination of the activation energy between PbI2 and MAI has been difficult due to the rapid reaction at room temperature. In this work, we determined the activation energy by adopting the Arrhenius equation. This was possible by controlling the reaction using MAI vapor, instead of liquid solution. This procedure allowed the reaction to be carried out at temperatures of up to 150 °C. The formation of MAPbI3 films was obtained by a two-step process: deposition of thin PbI2 film by thermal evaporation and subsequent conversion into perovskite by exposure to MAI vapor. The conversion of PbI2 to MAPbI3 as a function of temperature was probed by X-ray diffraction. An activation energy of 0.12 ± 0.02 eV was obtained. This low value explains the ease of MAPbI3 formation at low temperatures, and partially explains its instability in environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent gaps in our understanding of SGM cancer care needs and best practice interventions to improve care across the cancer continuum from prevention to survivorship through end of life are the focus of this special double issue: Here is what the scientific community needs to move the field of SGM cancer research forward by building capacity, improving policy, and sustaining innovative interventions in SGM cancer clinical care, research, and education across the cancer continuum from prevention to survivorship, articles that describe strategies and policies that address current gaps in SGM cancer clinical care, education, leadership, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automatic detection of a heartbeat is commonly performed by detecting the QRS complex in the electrocardiogram (ECG), however, various noise sources and missing data can jeopardize the reliability of the ECG. Therefore, there is a growing interest in combining the information from many physiological signals to accurately detect heartbeats. To this end, hidden Markov models (HMMs) are used in this work to jointly exploit the information from ECG, arterial blood pressure (ABP) and pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) signals in order to conceive a heartbeat detector. After preprocessing the physiological signals, a sliding window is used to extract an observation sequence to be passed through two HMMs (previously trained on a training dataset) in order to obtain the log-likelihoods of observation and signals a detection if the difference of log-likelihoods exceeds an adaptive threshold. Several HMM-based heartbeat detectors were conceived to exploit the information from the ECG, ABP and PAP signals from the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia, PhysioNet Computing in Cardiology Challenge 2014, and MGH/MF Waveform databases. A grid search methodology was used to optimize the duration of the observation sequence and a multiplicative factor to form the adaptive threshold. Using the optimal parameters found on a training database through 10-fold cross-validation, sensitivity and positive predictivity above 99% were obtained on the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia and PhysioNet Computing in Cardiology Challenge 2014 databases, while they are above 95% in the MGH/MF waveform database using ECG and ABP signals. Our detector approach showed detection performances comparable with the literature in the three databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the psychological well-being of primary caregivers of infants and toddlers with Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS), and the roles of family resources, parenting stress, and coping strategies in caregivers' adaptation. Family caregivers (N = 50) of children with CZS who were receiving treatment at a rehabilitation hospital in Recife, Brazil participated a cross-sectional survey study. Caregivers completed measures of anxiety and depression, coping strategies, family resources, and parenting stress. Mild to severe symptoms of depression were identified in 40% of caregivers and were a more prominent concern than symptoms of anxiety. Fewer family resources and high levels of parenting stress were significantly associated with both anxiety and depression. The association between parenting stress and depression was moderated by coping, such that parenting stress was associated with higher caregiver depression at low but not high levels of coping strategy use. Practitioners in Brazil should consider the role of family coping and resources as important resilience promoting factors in the development of new programs designed to promote psychological adaptation in caregivers to children with CZS. It is recommended that caregiver mental health support services be integrated into existing early intervention programs targeting children with CZS. Parents and other primary caregivers are encouraged to take an active role in the care and developmental monitoring of children born with CZS, but their ability to provide care may be compromised by difficulties in psychological adaptation. Moderate and severe symptoms of depression were more prominent in caregivers than moderate and severe symptoms of anxiety (20% versus 6%, respectively). Practitioners should include assessment of coping strategies, parenting stress and family resources conjointly with evaluation of symptoms of depression and anxiety as part of routine CZS family evaluations. A useful approach for caregivers in Brazil may be to more fully integrate caregiver mental health support services into existing early intervention programs for children with CZS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The isothermal oxidation behaviour of a titanium ATI425® alloy was studied in dry air at 850, 900, and 1000 °C. The parabolic rate law described the oxidation kinetics; the mass gained increasing when the temperature of the tests increased. The activation energy for the process was 120 kJ/mol. This value was comparable to the activation energy calculated for oxygen dissolution within the metal and the activation energy value for the oxidation of other titanium alloys. Oxygen dissolution within the metallic matrix resulted in the formation of an alpha case region whose thickness and hardness were also a function of the temperature of the tests. The chemical composition of the oxides changed from a scale comprised mainly by rutile TiO2 at the lowest test temperature to a layer consisting of a mixture of rutile TiO2 and non-protective alumina Al2O3 clusters when the temperature of the tests increased. The oxide structures formed on the surface of the alloy were also a function of the temperature and changed from a morphology comprised of small crystals at 850 °C to bar, platelets, and whiskers when oxidation occurred at 900 and 1000 °C. The oxidation rate of the alloy was compared against kinetics values reported for the Ti-6Al-4 V system, resulting in similar oxidation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]