Broadening Diversity on the Bench: Voting Behavior and Panel Effects on the United States Courts of Appeals

This Note seeks to determine the extent to which personal characteristics of judges—namely gender, race, and prior prosecutorial experience—affect individual judicial votes and panel decisions on the United States Courts of Appeals. Although these characteristics do not have a significant effect on the way an individual judge votes, this Note finds that the presence of one of these characteristics on a three-judge panel can influence how the other two judges vote, affecting the overall outcome. The presence of at least one female or black judge on a panel increases the likelihood of a more liberal decision across all cases. However, this effect disappears in cases that are specifically related to gender or race issues, such as employment discrimination cases. The presence of a prior prosecutor on a panel in criminal cases decreases the likelihood of a more liberal ruling (in favor of the defendant). These results shed light on the dynamics of panel decision making, and allow us to critically examine the federal judicial appointment process and the pursuit of judicial diversity

Age-related changes to macrophages are detrimental to fracture healing in mice.

The elderly population suffers from higher rates of complications during fracture healing that result in increased morbidity and mortality. Inflammatory dysregulation is associated with increased age and is a contributing factor to the myriad of age-related diseases. Therefore, we investigated age-related changes to an important cellular regulator of inflammation, the macrophage, and the impact on fracture healing outcomes. We demonstrated that old mice (24 months) have delayed fracture healing with significantly less bone and more cartilage compared to young mice (3 months). The quantity of infiltrating macrophages into the fracture callus was similar in old and young mice. However, RNA-seq analysis demonstrated distinct differences in the transcriptomes of macrophages derived from the fracture callus of old and young mice, with an up-regulation of M1/pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages from old mice as well as dysregulation of other immune-related genes. Preventing infiltration of the fracture site by macrophages in old mice improved healing outcomes, with significantly more bone in the calluses of treated mice compared to age-matched controls. After preventing infiltration by macrophages, the macrophages remaining within the fracture callus were collected and examined via RNA-seq analysis, and their transcriptome resembled macrophages from young calluses. Taken together, infiltrating macrophages from old mice demonstrate detrimental age-related changes, and depleting infiltrating macrophages can improve fracture healing in old mice

Generalized and Scalable Optimal Sparse Decision Trees

Decision tree optimization is notoriously difficult from a computational perspective but essential for the field of interpretable machine learning. Despite efforts over the past 40 years, only recently have optimization breakthroughs been made that have allowed practical algorithms to find optimal decision trees. These new techniques have the potential to trigger a paradigm shift where it is possible to construct sparse decision trees to efficiently optimize a variety of objective functions without relying on greedy splitting and pruning heuristics that often lead to suboptimal solutions. The contribution in this work is to provide a general framework for decision tree optimization that addresses the two significant open problems in the area: treatment of imbalanced data and fully optimizing over continuous variables. We present techniques that produce optimal decision trees over a variety of objectives including F-score, AUC, and partial area under the ROC convex hull. We also introduce a scalable algorithm that produces provably optimal results in the presence of continuous variables and speeds up decision tree construction by several orders of magnitude relative to the state-of-the art.Comment: This paper was published in ICML 202

Site Specific Effects of Zoledronic Acid during Tibial and Mandibular Fracture Repair

Numerous factors can affect skeletal regeneration, including the extent of bone injury, mechanical loading, inflammation and exogenous molecules. Bisphosphonates are anticatabolic agents that have been widely used to treat a variety of metabolic bone diseases. Zoledronate (ZA), a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP), is the most potent bisphosphonate among the clinically approved bisphosphonates. Cases of bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaw have been reported in patients receiving long term N-BP treatment. Yet, osteonecrosis does not occur in long bones. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of zoledronate on long bone and cranial bone regeneration using a previously established model of non-stabilized tibial fractures and a new model of mandibular fracture repair. Contrary to tibial fractures, which heal mainly through endochondral ossification, mandibular fractures healed via endochondral and intramembranous ossification with a lesser degree of endochondral ossification compared to tibial fractures. In the tibia, ZA reduced callus and cartilage formation during the early stages of repair. In parallel, we found a delay in cartilage hypertrophy and a decrease in angiogenesis during the soft callus phase of repair. During later stages of repair, ZA delayed callus, cartilage and bone remodeling. In the mandible, ZA delayed callus, cartilage and bone remodeling in correlation with a decrease in osteoclast number during the soft and hard callus phases of repair. These results reveal a more profound impact of ZA on cartilage and bone remodeling in the mandible compared to the tibia. This may predispose mandible bone to adverse effects of ZA in disease conditions. These results also imply that therapeutic effects of ZA may need to be optimized using time and dose-specific treatments in cranial versus long bones

Modified expression of alternative oxidase in transgenic tomato and petunia affects the level of tomato spotted wilt virus resistance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Tomato spotted wilt virus </it>(TSWV) has a very wide host range, and is transmitted in a persistent manner by several species of thrips. These characteristics make this virus difficult to control. We show here that the over-expression of the mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX) in tomato and petunia is related to TSWV resistance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The open reading frame and full-length sequence of the tomato AOX gene <it>LeAox1au </it>were cloned and introduced into tomato 'Healani' and petunia 'Sheer Madness' using <it>Agrobacterium</it>-mediated transformation. Highly expressed AOX transgenic tomato and petunia plants were selfed and transgenic R1 seedlings from 10 tomato lines and 12 petunia lines were used for bioassay. For each assayed line, 22 to 32 tomato R1 progeny in three replications and 39 to 128 petunia progeny in 13 replications were challenged with TSWV. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays showed that the TSWV levels in transgenic tomato line FKT4-1 was significantly lower than that of wild-type controls after challenge with TSWV. In addition, transgenic petunia line FKP10 showed significantly less lesion number and smaller lesion size than non-transgenic controls after inoculation by TSWV.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In all assayed transgenic tomato lines, a higher percentage of transgenic progeny had lower TSWV levels than non-transgenic plants after challenge with TSWV, and the significantly increased resistant levels of tomato and petunia lines identified in this study indicate that altered expression levels of AOX in tomato and petunia can affect the levels of TSWV resistance.</p

Protein, iron, and meat consumption and risk for rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective cohort study

A recent prospective study showed that higher consumption of red meat and total protein was associated with increased risk for inflammatory polyarthritis. We therefore prospectively examined the relationship between diet (in particular, protein, iron, and corresponding food sources) and incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among 82,063 women in the Nurses' Health Study. From 1980 to 2002, 546 incident cases of RA were confirmed by a connective tissue disease screening questionnaire and medical record review for American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA. Diet was assessed at baseline in 1980 and five additional times during follow up. We conducted Cox proportional hazards analyses to calculate the rate ratio of RA associated with intakes of protein (total, animal, and vegetable) and iron (total, dietary, from supplements, and heme iron) and their primary food sources, adjusting for age, smoking, body mass index, and reproductive factors. The multivariate models revealed no association between RA and any measure of protein or iron intake. In comparisons of highest with lowest quintiles of intake, the rate ratio for total protein was 1.17 (95% confidence interval 0.89–1.54; P for trend = 0.11) and for total iron it was 1.04 (95% confidence interval 0.77–1.41; P for trend = 0.82). Red meat, poultry, and fish were also not associated with RA risk. We were unable to confirm that there is an association between protein or meat and risk for RA in this large female cohort. Iron was also not associated with RA in this cohort

A Church-Based Intervention to Change Attitudes about Physical Activity among Black Adolescent Girls: A Feasibility Study

To feasibility test a 12-week church-based physical activity intervention that was culturally sensitive, age- and gender specific directed at changing attitudes of Black adolescent girls to be more physically active

Barriers to Screening for Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Asian Americans

Abstract Background Routine screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can identify individuals who need vaccination or treatment, as vaccination can prevent HBV infection. Although the overall prevalence of HBV infection in the United States is low (\1%), it is high (*10%) in Asian Americans. However, HBV screening rates in this population have been reported to be low. Aims This article systemically reviews the reported prevalence of HBV infection, the rate of HBV screening and access to HBV care, barriers for HBV screening and care, and a possible approach for improving HBV screening in Asian Americans. Methods Articles published from 1999 to 2011 on HBV screening and disparity in Asian Americans were identified by searching electronic databases (PubMed and Cochrane Library), and reviewed. Results Published studies, including a recent report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, revealed HBV screening rates are low in Asian Americans. This review addresses the need for HBV screening in Asian Americans. Barriers to HBV screening are related to patients, providers, and/or the healthcare system. Screening programs that incorporate culturally sensitive interventions and include educational outreach, vaccination, and a link to healthcare services improve rates of HBV screening and vaccination in this at-risk community. Conclusions A strategy that integrates efforts from the healthcare profession, federal agencies, and the community will be needed to improve HBV screening and access to HBV care for Asian Americans

Making the Traffic Operations Case for Congestion Pricing: Operational Impacts of Congestion Pricing

Congestion begins when an excess of vehicles on a segment of roadway at a given time, resulting in speeds that are significantly slower than normal or 'free flow' speeds. Congestion often means stop-and-go traffic. The transition occurs when vehicle density (the number of vehicles per mile in a lane) exceeds a critical level. Once traffic enters a state of congestion, recovery or time to return to a free-flow state is lengthy; and during the recovery process, delay continues to accumulate. The breakdown in speed and flow greatly impedes the efficient operation of the freeway system, resulting in economic, mobility, environmental and safety problems. Freeways are designed to function as access-controlled highways characterized by uninterrupted traffic flow so references to freeway performance relate primarily to the quality of traffic flow or traffic conditions as experienced by users of the freeway. The maximum flow or capacity of a freeway segment is reached while traffic is moving freely. As a result, freeways are most productive when they carry capacity flows at 60 mph, whereas lower speeds impose freeway delay, resulting in bottlenecks. Bottlenecks may be caused by physical disruptions, such as a reduced number of lanes, a change in grade, or an on-ramp with a short merge lane. This type of bottleneck occurs on a predictable or 'recurrent' basis at the same time of day and same day of week. Recurrent congestion totals 45% of congestion and is primarily from bottlenecks (40%) as well as inadequate signal timing (5%). Nonrecurring bottlenecks result from crashes, work zone disruptions, adverse weather conditions, and special events that create surges in demand and that account for over 55% of experienced congestion. Figure 1.1 shows that nonrecurring congestion is composed of traffic incidents (25%), severe weather (15%), work zones, (10%), and special events (5%). Between 1995 and 2005, the average percentage change in increased peak traveler delay, based on hours spent in traffic in a year, grew by 22% as the national average of hours spent in delay grew from 36 hours to 44 hours. Peak delay per traveler grew one-third in medium-size urban areas over the 10 year period. The traffic engineering community has developed an arsenal of integrated tools to mitigate the impacts of congestion on freeway throughput and performance, including pricing of capacity to manage demand for travel. Congestion pricing is a strategy which dynamically matches demand with available capacity. A congestion price is a user fee equal to the added cost imposed on other travelers as a result of the last traveler's entry into the highway network. The concept is based on the idea that motorists should pay for the additional congestion they create when entering a congested road. The concept calls for fees to vary according to the level of congestion with the price mechanism applied to make travelers more fully aware of the congestion externality they impose on other travelers and the system itself. The operational rationales for the institution of pricing strategies are to improve the efficiency of operations in a corridor and/or to better manage congestion. To this end, the objectives of this project were to: (1) Better understand and quantify the impacts of congestion pricing strategies on traffic operations through the study of actual projects, and (2) Better understand and quantify the impacts of congestion pricing strategies on traffic operations through the use of modeling and other analytical methods. Specifically, the project was to identify credible analytical procedures that FHWA can use to quantify the impacts of various congestion pricing strategies on traffic flow (throughput) and congestion