Dentists can apply for both Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Paycheck Protection Program 7(a) loans, the Small Business Administration told the American Dental Association on April 6.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of fast-acting insulin aspart (faster aspart) compared with insulin aspart (IAsp), both with insulin degludec with or without metformin, in adults with type 2 diabetes not optimally controlled with a basal-bolus regimen.

North Dakota lawmakers fended off an effort to ensure that the state's new standards, and any tests that might be used with them, won't mirror the common core.

Self-perception -- Fiction.

London : J. Churchill, 1865.

Berlin : J. Springer, 1893.

Yuxin Chen, Jianqing Fan, Cong Ma, Kaizheng Wang.

Source: The Annals of Statistics, Volume 47, Number 4, 2204--2235.

Abstract:
This paper is concerned with the problem of top-$K$ ranking from pairwise comparisons. Given a collection of $n$ items and a few pairwise comparisons across them, one wishes to identify the set of $K$ items that receive the highest ranks. To tackle this problem, we adopt the logistic parametric model—the Bradley–Terry–Luce model, where each item is assigned a latent preference score, and where the outcome of each pairwise comparison depends solely on the relative scores of the two items involved. Recent works have made significant progress toward characterizing the performance (e.g., the mean square error for estimating the scores) of several classical methods, including the spectral method and the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). However, where they stand regarding top-$K$ ranking remains unsettled. We demonstrate that under a natural random sampling model, the spectral method alone, or the regularized MLE alone, is minimax optimal in terms of the sample complexity—the number of paired comparisons needed to ensure exact top-$K$ identification, for the fixed dynamic range regime. This is accomplished via optimal control of the entrywise error of the score estimates. We complement our theoretical studies by numerical experiments, confirming that both methods yield low entrywise errors for estimating the underlying scores. Our theory is established via a novel leave-one-out trick, which proves effective for analyzing both iterative and noniterative procedures. Along the way, we derive an elementary eigenvector perturbation bound for probability transition matrices, which parallels the Davis–Kahan $mathop{mathrm{sin}} olimits Theta $ theorem for symmetric matrices. This also allows us to close the gap between the $ell_{2}$ error upper bound for the spectral method and the minimax lower limit.

Yicheng Li, Adrian E. Raftery.

Source: The Annals of Applied Statistics, Volume 14, Number 1, 381--408.

Abstract:
Smoking is one of the leading preventable threats to human health and a major risk factor for lung cancer, upper aerodigestive cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Estimating and forecasting the smoking attributable fraction (SAF) of mortality can yield insights into smoking epidemics and also provide a basis for more accurate mortality and life expectancy projection. Peto et al. ( Lancet 339 (1992) 1268–1278) proposed a method to estimate the SAF using the lung cancer mortality rate as an indicator of exposure to smoking in the population of interest. Here, we use the same method to estimate the all-age SAF (ASAF) for both genders for over 60 countries. We document a strong and cross-nationally consistent pattern of the evolution of the SAF over time. We use this as the basis for a new Bayesian hierarchical model to project future male and female ASAF from over 60 countries simultaneously. This gives forecasts as well as predictive distributions that can be used to find uncertainty intervals for any quantity of interest. We assess the model using out-of-sample predictive validation and find that it provides good forecasts and well-calibrated forecast intervals, comparing favorably with other methods.

Fiona* never dreamt that God would one day restore her cultural identity by bringing her to OM Hong Kong to serve.

A long term worker in North Africa is discovering that being ready for opportunities when they arise is a key element in sharing the truth.

THE 2000 film Almost Famous told the love story of a schoolboy writer tracking a rock band and falling for a teenage girl – who happens to be a groupie. Or was she?

When research involving children is determined to present greater than minimal risk but no potential for direct benefit, permission is required from both parents, unless one is not reasonably available. These requirements are variably understood and applied, and guidance is lacking.

In a study on newborn screening, a sizeable percentage of fathers were not reasonably available, reflecting complexities of parental status and family relations. Guidelines developed in this project may provide tools for researchers and institutions to apply in other contexts. (Read the full article)

Despite proven health benefits, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates are among the lowest of all routine immunizations. No previous large-scale trial has compared the benefit of automated decision support directed at clinicians, families, or both in any context.

We found that a clinician-focused intervention was most effective for initiating the HPV vaccine series, whereas a family-focused intervention supported completion. Decision support directed at both clinicians and families most effectively promotes HPV vaccine series receipt. (Read the full article)

Patel was appointed editor of the weekly investigative newspaper in October of 2016.

Delaware’s farming future and long agricultural heritage were both recognized today in a ceremony honoring the newest participants in the state’s Young Farmers Program and the latest inductees into the Century Farm Program, with the announcement that 10 young farmers would be receiving no-interest loans from the First State’s new innovative assistance program, now in its second year.

Rehoboth --

Location: Route 1A/Rehoboth Avenue (Drawbridge over the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal) from Atlantic Avenue to 5^th Street, Rehoboth.

Dates and Times: 6:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 4, 2020, pending weather.

Traffic Information: DelDOT announces to motorists that as part of the Rehoboth Drawbridge project that the contractor will be milling and paving on Route 1A/Rehoboth Avenue with intermittent lane closures. [More]

According to the current definition, a micro unit is one where the investment does not exceed Rs 25 lakh, while a small enterprise is one where the investment is between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 5 crore.

US lawmakers and experts have shown their anxiety over the US immigration agency's growing demand for "irrelevant" or earlier furnished information to decide an H-1B application, causing a delay in work visa processing, popular among the high skilled …

Budget 2020: Let’s grow both edtech and skill-tech

For more than 100 years, electricity has been reliably provided to end users through a centralized generation and transmission model. Large coal, hydro and (later) nuclear generating facilities produced huge amounts of electricity and, through a spider’s web of high voltage transmission lines, sent the power to distribution substations which in turn, through a secondary set of lower voltage feeders, distributed the power out to the end users. And when the end user flipped the switch, their lights would go on. This system was very reliable.

There are two new cases of Covid-19 today, one confirmed and one probable, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.Both cases are linked to the St Margaret's Hospital & Rest Home in Auckland.The confirmed case is a household...

Prague Daily Monitor

According to a story run in Deník N, a blind woman going out for a morning walk ran into a nightmare scenario on Monday in Prague's trendy Žižkov area.

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Lawmakers on both sides of the political divide are considering whether to report their rivals to police after a row in Hong Kong’s legislature over control of a key committee descended into chaos in the chamber.Two opposition legislators revealed on Saturday they planned to make formal allegations of assault, while the pro-establishment camp was mulling filing complaints of its own to the force.It follows a turbulent meeting of the Legislative Council’s House Committee on Friday, when a pro…

Dingoes have been persecuted in Australia for centuries for killing livestock, but protecting them could benefit the environment and aid recovery from the devastating fires

Dingoes have been persecuted in Australia for centuries for killing livestock, but protecting them could benefit the environment and aid recovery from the devastating fires

Dingoes have been persecuted in Australia for centuries for killing livestock, but protecting them could benefit the environment and aid recovery from the devastating fires

Noemie Liesch and Friedrich Ladich

In vocal fish species, males possess larger sound-generating organs and signal acoustically with pronounced sex-specific differences. Sound production is known in two out of three species of croaking gouramis (Trichopsis vittata and T. schalleri). The present study investigates sex-specific differences in sonic organs, vocalizing behaviour and sounds emitted in the third species, the pygmy gourami T. pumila, in order to test the hypothesis that females are able to vocalize despite their less-developed sonic organs, and despite contradictory reports. Croaking gouramis stretch and pluck two enhanced (sonic) pectoral fin tendons during alternate fin beating, resulting in a series of double-pulsed bursts termed croaking sound. We measured the diameter of the first and second sonic tendon and showed that male tendons were twice as large as in same-sized females. We also determined the duration of dyadic contests, visual displays, number of sounds and buttings. Sexes differ in all sound characteristics but in no behavioural variable. Male sounds consisted of twice as many bursts, a higher percentage of double-pulsed bursts and a higher burst period. Additionally, male sounds had a lower dominant frequency and a higher sound level. In summary, female pygmy gouramis possessed sonic organs and vocalized in most dyadic contests. The sexual dimorphism in sonic tendons is clearly reflected in sex-specific differences in sound characteristics, but not in agonistic behaviour, supporting the hypothesis that females are vocal.

OBJECTIVE

Low heart rate variability (HRV), a marker for cardiac autonomic dysfunction, is a known feature of type 2 diabetes, but it remains incompletely understood whether this also applies to prediabetes or across the whole glycemic spectrum. Therefore, we investigated the association among prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and measures of glycemia and HRV.

Current treatments for Acanthamoeba keratitis rely on a combination of chlorhexidine gluconate, propamidine isethionate, and polyhexamethylene biguanide. These disinfectants are nonspecific and inherently toxic, which limits their effectiveness. Furthermore, in 10% of cases, recurrent infection ensues due to the difficulty in killing both trophozoites and double-walled cysts. Therefore, development of efficient, safe, and target-specific drugs which are capable of preventing recurrent Acanthamoeba infection is a critical unmet need for averting blindness. Since both trophozoites and cysts contain specific sets of membrane sterols, we hypothesized that antifungal drugs targeting sterol 14-demethylase (CYP51), known as conazoles, would have deleterious effects on A. castellanii trophozoites and cysts. To test this hypothesis, we first performed a systematic screen of the FDA-approved conazoles against A. castellanii trophozoites using a bioluminescence-based viability assay adapted and optimized for Acanthamoeba. The most potent drugs were then evaluated against cysts. Isavuconazole and posaconazole demonstrated low nanomolar potency against trophozoites of three clinical strains of A. castellanii. Furthermore, isavuconazole killed trophozoites within 24 h and suppressed excystment of preformed Acanthamoeba cysts into trophozoites. The rapid action of isavuconazole was also evident from the morphological changes at nanomolar drug concentrations causing rounding of trophozoites within 24 h of exposure. Given that isavuconazole has an excellent safety profile, is well tolerated in humans, and blocks A. castellanii excystation, this opens an opportunity for the cost-effective repurposing of isavuconazole for the treatment of primary and recurring Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Of four genotypes of Encephalitozoon cuniculi, E. cuniculi genotype II is considered to represent a parasite that occurs in many host species in a latent asymptomatic form, whereas E. cuniculi genotype III seems to be more aggressive, and infections caused by this strain can lead to the death of even immunocompetent hosts. Although albendazole has been considered suitable for treatment of Encephalitozoon species, its failure in control of E. cuniculi genotype III infection has been reported. This study determined the effect of a 100x recommended daily dose of albendazole on an Encephalitozoon cuniculi genotype III course of infection in immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice and compared the results with those from experiments performed with a lower dose of albendazole and E. cuniculi genotype II. The administration of the regular dose of abendazole during the acute phase of infection reduced the number of affected organs in all strains of mice and absolute counts of spores in screened organs. However, the effect on genotype III was minor. Surprisingly, no substantial effect was recorded after the use of a 100x dose of albendazole, with larger reductions seen only in the number of affected organs and absolute counts of spores in all strains of mice, implying variations in albendazole resistance between these Encephalitozoon cuniculi genotypes. These results imply that differences in the course of infection and the response to treatment depend not only on the immunological status of the host but also on the genotype causing the infection. Understanding how microsporidia survive in hosts despite targeted antimicrosporidial treatment could significantly contribute to research related to human health.

Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 colorectal cancer risk loci, most of the biological mechanisms associated with these loci remain unclear. Here we first performed a comprehensive expression quantitative trait loci analysis in colorectal cancer tissues adjusted for multiple confounders to test the determinants of germline variants in established GWAS susceptibility loci on mRNA and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) expression. Combining integrative functional genomic/epigenomic analyses and a large-scale population study consisting of 6,024 cases and 10,022 controls, we then prioritized rs174575 with a C>G change as a potential causal candidate for colorectal cancer at 11q12.2, as its G allele was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (OR = 1.26; 95% confidence interval = 1.17–1.36; P = 2.57 × 10–9). rs174575 acted as an allele-specific enhancer to distally facilitate expression of both FADS2 and lncRNA AP002754.2 via long-range enhancer–promoter interaction loops, which were mediated by E2F1. AP002754.2 further activated a transcriptional activator that upregulated FADS2 expression. FADS2, in turn, was overexpressed in colorectal cancer tumor tissues and functioned as a potential oncogene that facilitated colorectal cancer cell proliferation and xenograft growth in vitro and in vivo by increasing the metabolism of PGE2, an oncogenic molecule involved in colorectal cancer tumorigenesis. Our findings represent a novel mechanism by which a noncoding variant can facilitate long-range genome interactions to modulate the expression of multiple genes including not only mRNA, but also lncRNA, which provides new insights into the understanding of colorectal cancer etiology.Significance:This study provides an oncogenic regulatory circuit among several oncogenes including E2F1, FADS2, and AP002754.2 underlying the association of rs174575 with colorectal cancer risk, which is driven by long-range enhancer–promoter interaction loops.Graphical Abstract:http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/80/9/1804/F1.large.jpg.

Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos

We're all Pokécrazy this week, with Alex, Anna Marie, Chris, Kelley and Peter all discussing their Pokétales and where the series could go moving forward. Josh is the odd man out, but he's got interesting demos to share instead, so it's cool. Wait, wasn't this supposed to be a short show?!

Coronavirus illnesses to date may touch as little as 4 percent of meat and poultry employment, but it been enough to roil the industry over how much protection the plants need to be safe. Actions taken in tight proximity to one another by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. District Court Judge Greg... Continue Reading

Rep. Justin Amash believes his White House bid is bad for both President Trump and his Democratic challenger, the Michigan Libertarian indicated in a recent interview.

Mr. Amash, a former Republican who left the GOP last year, told Time that he expects his presence in the presidential race will not ...

Follow our live coronavirus updates here

Twin sisters who had both worked as nurses have died after both testing positive for coronavirus.

Today's extraordinary projections of the course of the economy over the rest of the year from the Bank of England are, bizarrely, both worse and better than might be feared.

Some weeks ago my main worries were around my GCSEs. Now I hear every day about deaths from Covid-19

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It is the sixth week of lockdown, and for many people things are getting progressively more intense. Most families are physically distancing at home. People are only leaving the house for their weekly shop – and spending a lot of that time waiting in the queue – or to exercise once a day.

In my family things are a bit different. Our driveway is usually empty during the day as my parents, who are doctors, go in to work. It is difficult to imagine how only some weeks ago my main worries were around my GCSEs. Now every day, I hear about deaths from coronavirus. I cannot help but feel a surge of fear for my parents as I watch these updates with my brother. I’m painfully aware of the many healthcare workers who have lost their lives.

What is Value Stream Management? Value Stream Management (VSM) is the TLA du jour among software development tools, so is it relevant…

Figuring out how to stage the nation’s largest and most important political gatherings will be tricky in the COVID-19 era. And while officials in both parties say they’re still planning for in-person conventions, pulling that off will be a lot easier said than done. 

School children should hear a diverse range of views in the classroom, including from climate change advocates as well as sceptics, a new Liberal MP says.

Despite coronavirus restrictions sending auctions online and seeing many home sales abandoned, CoreLogic figures for April show prices continued to rise for the few properties that did sell.

Charles Ndhlovu, 34, was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2011, by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. to 51 months in prison and Scott Ahn, 42, was sentenced yesterday by Judge Duffey to 19 months in prison.

The federal government in March released a pair of long-awaited rules that will give patients greater access to their health data and improve the flow of information across care settings.