cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
P6.054 Condom and STI a Gaze Word - to Prevent STIS

Background Bangladesh is culturally and religiously conservative. Condom use rate among the married couple is poor. Young people’s access to condom is restricted. The perception about condom use in Bangladeshi society is a barrier device to “sexual pleasure”. This pervasive claim of “reduced pleasure” is a diverse and complex phenomenon explored through men’s statements. Bangladesh has a low HIV prevalence rate with less than 0.1% in the general population, as there are no changes of HIV prevalence the surrogate markers of risk for active syphilis (unsafe sex) and antibodies of HCV - are of relevance. Among female sex workers HIV prevalence in different setting is Bangladesh had received 3 grants on HIV/AIDS from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Round 2 from 2004–2009, Round 6 from 2007–2012 and Rolling Continuation Channel (RCC) from 2009–2015 on prevention, care, and treatment for the MARP’s. Methods Three surveys conducted Project baseline survey 2005, end line survey 2008 of Prevention of HIV/AIDS among young people in Bangladesh and Mid-Term Survey 2012 on RCC Program Expanding HIV/AIDS Prevention in Bangladesh funded by the Global Fund. Results Over the period % of young women and men aged 15–24 yrs who correctly identify at least two ways of preventing HIV transmission knowledge increased over the period 22.6% (2005); 43.8% (2008) and 84.8% (2012) however, % of female sex workers reporting the use of a condom with their most recent client (Street, Residence & Hotel) 66.7% (2006–2007) which is increased 95.5% (2012) in the mid-term survey of RCC programme. Conclusion The strategic intervention of GFATM funded HIV programme in Bangladesh achieved the remarkable success.
Alleles of the cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7) gene in pigs selected for high or low plasma total cholesterol.

Crossbred pigs were selected for high (HTC) or low (LTC) plasma total cholesterol (TC). Pigs from the seventh (n = 51) and eighth (n = 92) generations were used to determine restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP). Using TaqI restriction enzyme digestion, the frequencies of two alleles (2.8- or 5.0-kb fragments) of the cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7) gene were determined in the two populations as a potential indicator of TC concentration at 8 weeks of age. Only the 2.8-kb fragment allele was present in the 26 HTC pigs tested in Generation 7. In the LTC pigs both the 2.8- and 5.0-kb alleles were present in 12 pigs, and only the 5.0-kb allele was present in 13 pigs. The allele frequencies of the 2.8 and 5.0 fragments, respectively, were .26 and .74 in LTC pigs and 1.00 and 0 in HTC pigs. There was an association (P < .001) between the 5.0- and 2.8-kb CYP7 alleles, respectively, and low and high TC concentrations. In Generation 8, all HTC pigs were homozygous for the 2.8-kb allele. The 5.0 kb allele was present in all LTC pigs tested and was homozygous in 57% of LTC pigs. Mean plasma TC was 105.0 mg/dl in 30 pigs homozygous for the 2.8-kb allele in Generation 8; means for LTC pigs were 53.5 and 60.4 mg/dl in 35 pigs homozygous for the 5.0-kb allele and in 27 heterozygous pigs, respectively. High TC was associated with the presence of the 2.8-kb allele, and low TC was associated with the presence of the 5.0-kb allele in both Generations 7 and 8. We conclude that TaqI RFLP analysis of the CYP7 gene is a reliable indicator for TC in these swine.
Uncertainty in Future Agro-Climate Projections in the United States and Benefits of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

This work was partially funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Division, under Cooperative Agreement #XA-83600001, by the US Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, under grant DE-FG02-94ER61937, and by the National Science Foundation Macrosystems Biology Program Grant #EF1137306. The Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change is funded by a number of federal agencies and a consortium of 40 industrial and foundation sponsors. (For the complete list see http://globalchange.mit.edu/sponsors/current.html). This research used the Evergreen computing cluster at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Evergreen is supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-76RL01830.
Mechanisms of uterine estrogen signaling during early pregnancy in mice: an update

Adherence of an embryo to the uterus represents the most critical step of the reproductive process. Implantation is a synchronized event between the blastocyst and the uterine luminal epithelium, leading to structural and functional changes for further embryonic growth and development. The milieu comprising the complex process of implantation is mediated by estrogen through diverse but interdependent signaling pathways. Mouse models have demonstrated the relevance of the expression of estrogen-modulated paracrine factors to uterine receptivity and implantation window. More importantly, some factors seem to serve as molecular links between different estrogen pathways, promoting cell growth, acting as molecular chaperones, or amplifying estrogenic effects. Abnormal expression of these factors can lead to implantation failure and infertility. This review provides an overview of several well-characterized signaling pathways that elucidates the molecular cross talk involved in the uterus during early pregnancy.
Pulmonary function testing in asthmatic children.

During the past twenty years pulmonary physiology has contributed significantly to the clinical practice of medicine not only by introducing new, sophisticated methodologies, but also by clarifying the pathophysiology of the disease. This review summarizes recent developments and illustrates the significance of pulmonary function testing in children with asthma. The use and interpretation of these tests in the pediatrician’s office are demonstrated to emphasize their importance in evaluation of the different clinical stages of asthma.
The GDP and its discontents

In his new book, The Great Invention: The Story of GDP and the Making (and Unmaking) of the Modern World , Ehsan Masood discusses the outsized influence that gross domestic product (GDP) has come to bear on public policy, citing factors such as income inequality, non-monetary quality-of-life indices, and environmental impact that the statistic fails to take into account. Reviewer N. Gregory Mankiw acknowledges the metric9s shortcomings, but wonders whether a single number can (or should be expected to) capture all of what matters about a society.
Chemical shift imprint of intersubunit communication in a symmetric homodimer.

Abstract Allosteric communication is critical for protein function and cellular homeostasis, and it can be exploited as a strategy for drug design. However, unlike many protein–ligand interactions, the structural basis for the long-range communication that underlies allostery is not well understood. This lack of understanding is most evident in the case of classical allostery, in which a binding event in one protomer is sensed by a second symmetric protomer. A primary reason why study of interdomain signaling is challenging in oligomeric proteins is the difficulty in characterizing intermediate, singly bound species. Here, we use an NMR approach to isolate and characterize a singly ligated state (“lig1”) of a homodimeric enzyme that is otherwise obscured by rapid exchange with apo and saturated forms. Mixed labeled dimers were prepared that simultaneously permit full population of the lig1 state and isotopic labeling of either protomer. Direct visualization of peaks from lig1 yielded site-specific ligand-state multiplets that provide a convenient format for assessing mechanisms of intersubunit communication from a variety of NMR measurements. We demonstrate this approach on thymidylate synthase from Escherichia coli, a homodimeric enzyme known to be half-the-sites reactive. Resolving the dUMP1 state shows that active site communication occurs not upon the first dUMP binding, but upon the second. Surprisingly, for many sites, dUMP1 peaks are found beyond the limits set by apo and dUMP2 peaks, indicating that binding the first dUMP pushes the enzyme ensemble to further conformational extremes than the apo or saturated forms. The approach used here should be generally applicable to homodimers.
Dynamics and Thermodynamics of a system with multiple length scales

Descriptions, in which matter can be coarse grained to arbitrary levels, are necessary to study materialsphenomenal simultaneously at various length scales. Attempts to do this in the static regime have already been developed. In this work, wepresent an approach that leads to dynamics for such coarse-grained models. Renormalization group theory is used to create new localpotentials between nodes. Assuming that thesepotentials give an averaged description of node dynamics, we calculate thermal, mechanical and transportproperties. If this method can be sufficiently generalized it may form the basis of a Molecular Dynamics method with time and spatial coarse-graining.
Evaluating the mechanical properties of terminal blend tire rubber mixtures incorporating RAP

Abstract This paper documents the results of a laboratory testing program that was conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties of mixtures incorporating terminal blend ground tire rubber (GTR) modified asphalt binders and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and compare them to those produced using polymer modified binders. The laboratory testing program included ambient and cryogenic GTR modified asphalt binders as well as two polymer modified asphalt binders meeting specifications for performance grade (PG) 70-22M and PG 76-22M. The laboratory tests results indicated that the GTR mixing speed affects the low-temperature properties of the GTR modified binders. Furthermore, mixtures prepared with GTR modified binders had better tensile properties as well as resistance to low-temperature cracking and rutting than those prepared using the polymer modified PG 70-22M but similar to those with PG 76-22M polymer modified binder. In addition, the GTR modified mixes had comparable resistance to moisture-induced damage to those prepared using the considered polymer modified binders. In general, there was no significant difference in the performance of the considered cryogenic and ambient GTR modified binders and mixes.
Visceral Pain Syndromes

Chronic visceral pain is a common yet challenging disorder. There are over 12 million consultations a year alone for abdominal pain in the United States. Estimated prevalence rates are as high as 25 % for intermittent abdominal pain and 24 % for pelvic pain in women. Causes are many and varied, but generally thought to be related to activation of nociceptors of the thoracic, abdominal, or pelvic organs. Medical treatment decision making may be tricky as many pain medications can affect bowel motility and can actually lead to worsening discomfort.
Coyote, fox, and bobcat response to anthropogenic and natural landscape features in a small urban area

Increasing urbanization across the southeastern United States presents unique challenges for wildlife; however certain species have learned to adapt and thrive in these environments. Coyotes (Canis latrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) are four common medium-sized carnivores that have become closely associated with urban areas. The goal for this study was to determine how urban landscape features influence density and occurrence of these species in a small urban area and to evaluate if any effects were similar to those observed in larger urban areas. We conducted two eight-week camera surveys in the city of Nacogdoches, Texas (pop. 32,699) and immediate surrounding areas in summer and fall 2013. We evaluated single-season spatially explicit capture-recapture and occupancy models to estimate density, and occurrence, respectively, based on anthropogenic and natural features around each camera site. Coyotes (fall: 1.38 coyotes/km2) and bobcats (fall: 0.64 coyotes/km2) were associated with areas of green space, but their response to large and small green spaces changed seasonally. Conversely, red foxes (fall: 2.53 red foxes/km2) were more likely to occur near developed areas and were less detectable in areas with greater probability of coyote presence in fall only. In summer, gray foxes (fall: 0.05 gray foxes/km2) were more likely to occur in areas with lower building density and closer to buildings. This study indicates coyotes, foxes and bobcats respond to small-scale urbanization in a similar manner as large-scale urbanization.
Liquidity Management and Real Credit Supply: Evidence from Bank Participation in Financial Markets

For the aggregate bank sector in the U.S., cash flows from participation in financial markets (trading activities) are counter-cyclical, while cash flows from lending activities are pro-cyclical. We argue that counter-cyclical cash flows from trading activities reflects banks’ efforts to tailor trading activities to provide liquidity during economic contractions, when such liquidity is most needed. Consequently, banks that effectively manage liquidity risk using trading activities can provide credit at a lower cost. Effectiveness of liquidity risk management is measured by the correlation between cash flows from trading and lending activities. We provide evidence that for the aggregate bank sector when correlation increases credit supply subsequently falls. Using a panel data-set for a cross-section of bank holding companies, we show that effective liquidity risk management is associated with higher credit supply, higher profitability, and lower volatility of cash flows. Our study contributes to the contemporary regulatory debate regarding restrictions on banks’ participation in financial markets by highlighting a channel through which trading activities can impact traditional lending activities.
Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Muscles in Sports Medicine

MRI is the method of choice to confirm and evaluate the extent and severity of muscle injuries in acute and chronic situations. However, sports medicine physicians frequently face in their clinical practice cases of persistent clinical symptoms and/or persistent loss of function after muscle injury, with routine imaging including MRI that is unremarkable. Moreover, function and composition of muscle tissue cannot be assessed with routine MRI. Advanced MRI techniques for muscle assessment are available and may provide information on composition, microstructure, and function of muscles or groups of muscles. To date, these techniques have been applied mainly in clinical research regarding other muscle affections such as muscular dystrophy and other myopathies. Some of these techniques are widely available in clinical scanners (T2 mapping, proton MR spectroscopy, fat-water separation techniques), whereas others require special software and hardware and are not widely available in clinical practice (diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI), phosphorus MR spectroscopy, MR elastography). In this chapter, we will discuss these advanced MRI techniques for muscle assessment and their potential applications in sports medicine.
Building a Pink Dinosaur: the Effects of Gendered Construction Toys on Girls’ and Boys’ Play

Play with building toys such as LEGO® sets promotes spatial learning in children. The present study examined the effects of the color of the bricks (either pink or blue) and the femininity/masculinity of the object built on boys’ and girls’ play with LEGO® sets. Children (n = 116, M age = 7.27 range = 5–10) were given the opportunity to build with LEGO® brick sets, both instructed and free play tasks. For the instructed task, the type of object (feminine: cat; masculine: dinosaur) and color of the bricks (pink, blue) were counterbalanced across participants. Their play was coded for accuracy of following the instructions and time to complete the task. In the free play task, brick color (pink, blue) was counterbalanced across participants, and structures were coded for femininity/masculinity and the number of bricks used. Overall, children took longer to build a feminine object with blue bricks than with pink bricks. In the free-play task, boys built more masculine objects than girls did, regardless of the color of bricks they were given. Results showed that boys completed the LEGO® tasks faster than did girls, controlling for interest in and experience with LEGO® play. These findings suggest that toy color and type can impact how children interact and play with toys.
The Clinical and Research Implications of Anti-carbamylated Protein Antibodies.

Autoantibodies play a central role in the clinical management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They can be used for diagnostic as well as prognostic purposes. For many years, autoantibody testing in RA was limited to rheumatoid factor (RF), but in the late 1990s, Schellekens and colleagues confirmed that autoantibodies reactive to citrullinated peptides were highly specific for RA1. The identification of antibodies to citrullinated peptide/protein antigens (ACPA) and the commercialization of ACPA testing in the form of anticyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody assays has revolutionized the field of rheumatology. The magnitude of the role of autoantibodies in RA is reflected in the current 2010 RA classification criteria in which autoantibodies can account for up to 3 of the 6 points (50%) needed to classify inflammatory arthritis as RA2. In the clinical management of patients with RA, earlier diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment is associated with improved longterm outcomes3. While there are many factors that influence delays in diagnosis and treatment of RA, autoantibodies are one factor that can influence these clinical outcomes. For example, Pratt and colleagues found that in patients referred to an early arthritis clinic who were ultimately diagnosed with RA, patients who were ACPA- and RF-negative had a significant delay in the time to treatment following assessment by a rheumatologist4. This finding highlights the diagnostic uncertainty that rheumatologists often face when patients with inflammatory … Address correspondence to Dr. M.K. Demoruelle, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, 1775 Aurora Court, Mail Stop B-115, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA. E-mail: Kristen.Demoruelle{at}UCDenver.edu
Abstract #4377: Inhibition of Tumor Growth by 15-Lipoxygenase-2 through inactivation of PDGF pathway

15-LOX-2 has been considered as a tumor suppressor in many epithelium-derived cancer including carcinoma of prostate, esophagus, and head and neck. However, the molecular mechanism for the tumor inhibition by 15-LOX-2 remains to be unclear In this study, we generated lentiviral 15-LOX-2 expression vector and then examined the expression profiles of 84 genes that are commonly involved in cancer metastasis, cell cycle, adhesion, signal transduction and angiogenesis in prostate cancer cells LNCaP and PC3 transfected with the 15-LOX-2 expression vector. We identified significant downregulation of PDGF-A. This observation was further confirmed by Q-PCR and Western blot analysis. Knockdown of PDGF-A expression by its specific inhibitor siRNA produced a similar degree of growth inhibition to that by 15-LOX-2 expression in the above cells. Addition of functional PDGF-A protein attenuated the growth inhibition by 15-LOX-2. Furthermore, we have evaluated the key intermediates (ERK and AKT) of the MAPK pathway and PI3K pathway, which are well-known downstream pathways of PDGF. We noted significant downregulations of phospharylated ERK and AKT in the cells transfected with 15-LOX-2 expression vector. Finally we observed a significant reduction of nuclear transfection factor PPAP\#947; in the cells containing 15-LOX-2 expression vector. All together, our results suggested that 15-LOX-2 inhibited tumor growth of prostate cancer cells, at least partially, through inactivation of PDGF-A pathway. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 4377.
Management Communication Style, Tolerance for Disagreement, and Innovativeness as Predictors of Employee Satisfaction: A Comparison of Single-Factor, Two-Factor, and Multiple-Factor Approaches

The construct of Management Communication Style (MCS), presumed to be a product of the organization's leadership style and the supervisor's communication style, was advanced as a theoretical predic...
5-HT 7 Receptors as Favorable Pharmacological Targets for Drug Discovery

The 5-hydroxytryptamine7 (5-HT7) receptor was among a group of 5-HT receptors discovered through targeted cloning strategies 13 yr ago. It is a seven-transmembrane-domain G protein-coupled receptor positively linked to adenylyl cyclase. The distributions of 5-HT7 receptor mRNA, immunolabeling, and radioligand binding show strong similarities, with the highest densities found in the thalamus and hypothalamus, but with significant presence also in the hippocampus and cortex. The recent availability of selective antagonists and knockout mice strains has dramatically increased our knowledge about this receptor. Together with unselective agonists, these new tools have revealed the 5-HT7 receptor distribution and function in more detail. Important functional roles have been established for the 5-HT7 receptor in thermoregulation, circadian rhythm, learning and memory, hippocampal signaling, and sleep. The 5-HT7 receptor is possibly also involved in other psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, and migraine. Hypotheses driving current research strongly indicate an involvement in mood regulation, suggesting the 5-HT7 receptor as a putative target in the treatment of depression.
Time for a Top-Down Approach to Hearing Aid Affordability and Accessibility

An editorial is presented which addresses the author's views about hearing aid affordability and accessibility as of 2018, and it mentions another article which appears in the same issue of the journal and deals with hearing loss and hearing aid use by older adults in China. The World Health Organization's audiological testing protocols are examined, along with Chinese public health and the potential relationship between hearing and dementia.
Chapter 3 – Managing Complex and Dynamic Systems for the Future

Publisher Summary People faced with managing emerging complex and dynamic systems in the societies, which people depend on for their well-being, safety, and security. The systems' mixed attributes of mechanics, software, and human factors give rise to complications and issues heretofore unaddressed in the history of system analysis. This chapter suggests that a science-based risk approach framework for analyzing, designing, and managing the complex systems entails a triad of complementary functions: measurement or testing, modeling or simulation, and risk-based objectives to bound performance. Probabilistic techniques play a fundamental role in combining and mapping information among these functions. Each function is inadequate in itself, but they can work synergistically to help understand complex system behavior; it has been demonstrated in the case of the semi-robotic medical treatment device, the Gamma Knife. While the applications of these methods are contingent on the particular system of interest, the collection of principles that they represent may be more universally applicable.
Training General Surgery Residents in Inguinal Hernia Repair

Inguinal hernia repair is an exceedingly common surgical procedure and comprises a core skill set for the surgical trainee. Over time, the means by which to repair an inguinal hernia have broadened to include open surgery, laparoscopic surgery, and robotic surgery. Although experience in all three techniques is important, we feel that a strong foundation in the open repair and understanding of relevant anatomy are essential for trainee education. To provide a uniform and reproducible hernia repair experience for all learners with standardized faculty support, we designed and implemented an open surgery hernia lab utilizing cadaveric tissue and simulated hernias.
AI-Enhanced Audit Inquiry: A Research Note

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are transforming organizations and will soon transform auditing. Many promising areas of AI and ML are within the continuous auditing...
Using Games for Learning to Improve Students Performance in Higher Education

This research design discusses different approaches to the concept of results in higher education, especially related to engineering and IT education. The main topics are the means to measure quality of both the learning process and the learning outcomes. The paper also discusses and outlines some techniques on how to implement real life trials using the presented concepts. It shows how it is possible to use a games-based quality measurement model to obtain live quality feedback, to academic and administrative staff, during the learning process.
Initial results in designing an acoustic sound simulator for heavy equipment

This paper focuses on the initial development of a vehicle cab sound simulator. This sound simulator has two objectives. First, it can be coupled with a visual simulator and used for operator training. Second, it will be used by designers such that when structural modifications are made to the vehicle, the acoustic response and sound quality in the cab can be predicted. To begin to understand and implement this simulator, transfer functions were measured for several structures progressing from simple to complex and used to generate a simulated signal. Post-processing techniques were used to improve the overall quality of the simulated responses. Similarly, the structures were recreated in a numerical software package, where the transfer functions were calculated numerically and used to generate simulated responses. These signals were compared to the measured response of the system and auralized to determine the effectiveness of the simulation. This paper focuses on the initial development of a vehicle cab sound simulator. This sound simulator has two objectives. First, it can be coupled with a visual simulator and used for operator training. Second, it will be used by designers such that when structural modifications are made to the vehicle, the acoustic response and sound quality in the cab can be predicted. To begin to understand and implement this simulator, transfer functions were measured for several structures progressing from simple to complex and used to generate a simulated signal. Post-processing techniques were used to improve the overall quality of the simulated responses. Similarly, the structures were recreated in a numerical software package, where the transfer functions were calculated numerically and used to generate simulated responses. These signals were compared to the measured response of the system and auralized to determine the effectiveness of the simulation.
Optogenetic Stimulation of Pancreatic Function via Vagal Cholinergic Axons

Previous studies have demonstrated stimulation of endocrine pancreas function by vagal nerve electrical stimulation. While this increases insulin secretion; concomitant reductions in circulating glucose do not occur. A complicating factor is the non-specific nature of electrical nerve stimulation. Optogenetic tools enable high specificity in neural stimulation using cell-type specific targeting of opsins and/or spatially shaped excitation light. Here, we demonstrate light-activated stimulation of the endocrine pancreas by targeting vagal parasympathetic axons. In a mouse model expressing ChannelRhodopsin2 (ChR2) in cholinergic cells, serum insulin and glucose were measured in response to both ultrasound image-guided optical stimulation of axon terminals in the pancreas and optical stimulation of axons of the cervical vagus nerve, together with ultrasound-based measures of pancreas blood flow. Measurements were made in basal-glucose and glucose-stimulated conditions. Significant increases in plasma insulin occurred relative to controls under both pancreas and vagal stimulation, accompanying rapid reductions in glycemic levels. Additionally, a significant increase in pancreatic blood flow was measured following optical stimulation. Together, these results demonstrate the utility of in-vivo optogenetics for studying the neural regulation of endocrine pancreas function and suggest therapeutic potential for the control of insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis.
Autophagic degradation of HAS2 in endothelial cells: A novel mechanism to regulate angiogenesis

Hyaluronan plays a key role in regulating inflammation and tumor angiogenesis. Of the three transmembrane hyaluronan synthases, HAS2 is the main pro-angiogenic enzyme responsible for excessive hyaluronan production. We discovered that HAS2 was degraded in vascular endothelial cells via autophagy evoked by nutrient deprivation, mTOR inhibition, or pro-autophagic proteoglycan fragments endorepellin and endostatin. Using live-cell and super-resolution confocal microscopy, we found that protracted autophagy evoked a dynamic interaction between HAS2 and ATG9A, a key transmembrane autophagic protein. This regulatory axis of HAS2 degradation occurred in various cell types and species and in vivo upon nutrient deprivation. Inhibiting in vivo autophagic flux via chloroquine showed increased levels of HAS2 in the heart and aorta. Functionally, autophagic induction via endorepellin or mTOR inhibition markedly suppressed extracellular hyaluronan production in vascular endothelial cells and inhibited ex vivo angiogenic sprouting. Thus, we propose autophagy as a novel catabolic mechanism regulating hyaluronan production in endothelial cells and demonstrate a new link between autophagy and angiogenesis that could lead to potential therapeutic modalities for angiogenesis.
Genetic Evaluation of Male Infertility

Male infertility affects 7% of all men worldwide, yet for the majority the underlying cause is not found. From the very first identified karyotyping abnormalities to the very recent discovery of point mutations disrupting spermatogenesis, it is clear that a substantial number of patients suffer from genetic abnormalities. However, the discovery of these causes has largely been limited by the resolutions of the technologies used for patient assessment. In recent years, the advent of better tools and more comprehensive databases of genetic variations has led to profound discoveries of genes and pathways underlying male infertility. This chapter reviews these technologies and the discoveries they have led to and sets the scene for the transformation of infertile patient care in the era of next-generation sequencing.
Mapping vascular and glomerular pathology in a rabbit model of neonatal acute kidney injury using MRI

Acute kidney injury (AKI) in premature neonates is common due to the administration of life-saving therapies. The impact of AKI on renal morphology and susceptibility to further renal damage is poorly understood. Recent advances in radiological imaging have allowed integration of soft tissue morphology in the intact organ, facilitating a more complete understanding of changes in tissue microstructure associated with pathology. Here, we applied magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect both glomerular and vascular changes in a rabbit model of neonatal AKI, induced by indomethacin and gentamicin. Using combined spin-echo MRI and cationic ferritin enhanced gradient-echo MRI (CFE-MRI), we observed (a) an increased cortical arterial diameter in the AKI cohort compared to healthy controls, and (b) focal loss of vascular density and glomerular loss in a circumferential band ~1 mm from the cortical surface. This combined use of vascular and glomerular imaging may give insight into the etiology of AKI and its impact on renal health later in life.
Seedless Continuous Injection Synthesis of IndiumPhosphide Quantum Dots as a Route to Large Size and Low Size Dispersity

Because of their lower toxicity, indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) are replacing cadmium selenide QDs in applications that require narrowband luminescence across the visible spectrum. Howev...
Racial/Ethnic Variation in Nasal Gene Expression of Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2).

This cross-sectional study used nasal epithelium collected in 2015-2018 to compare expression of TMPRSS2, a facilitator of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry and spread, among Asian, Black, Latino, and White patients as well as patients of mixed race/ethnicity within a New York City health system.
Abstract PO-052: Determining the role of Apolipoprotein E in pancreatic cancer immune suppression

Pancreatic cancer (PDA) is a lethal malignancy with a 5-year survival rate of about 10%. The poor prognosis is, in part, due to patients most often presenting with already metastatic disease. PDA is characterized by an abundant, fibroinflammatory stroma, that contains abundant cancer-associated fibroblasts and infiltrating immune cells. Myeloid cells such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are abundant within the stroma and a key driver of immunosuppression. We and others have identified elevated expression of Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) in a subset of TAMs. Further, using single cell sequencing of human tumor samples as well as mouse tumors, we determined that ApoE expression is elevated in tumor macrophages compared to macrophages in the normal pancreas. ApoE has been well studied in various biological processes, but its role in pancreatic cancer has not been determined. In this study, we sought to determine whether ApoE had a functional role within the pancreatic cancer microenvironment. Based on observations in other systems, we hypothesized that it might be a mediator of immune suppression in pancreatic cancer. We thus implanted mouse pancreatic cancer cell lines in syngeneic wild type C57/BL6 mice or in ApoE-/- mice. We did not observe a change in tumor growth in ApoE-/- mice compared to control. However, histological and Mass Cytometry (CyTOF) analysis revealed changes in the tumor microenvironment in ApoE-/- mice. Tumors from ApoE-/- mice had fewer aSMA+ fibroblasts, and subsequently less collagen deposition. In addition, CyTOF analysis revealed an increase in CD8+ T cell and CD4+ T cell infiltration, along with a decrease in regulatory T cells. Tumors harvested from ApoE-/- mice had lower levels of both Tgfb1 and Cxcl1. Further analysis in vitro, revealed ApoE secreted from tumor-associated macrophages regulates tumor-cell derived Tgfb1 and Cxcl1. Cxcl1 in turns inhibits T cell infiltration in tumors. We are currently conducting mechanistic studies to determine the mediators of the cytokine-regulatory effects of ApoE in cancer cells. Further, we are exploring whether ApoE loss sensitizes tumors in vivo to immunoregulatory agents. Citation Format: Samantha B. Kemp, Nina G. Steele, Fatima Lima, Carlos Espinoza, Yaqing Zhang, Zeribe Nwosu, Eileen S. Carpenter, Meggie Hoffman, Amanda Pacheco, Ashley Velez-Delgado, Stephanie The, Howard C. Crawford, Marina Pasca di Magliano. Determining the role of Apolipoprotein E in pancreatic cancer immune suppression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer; 2020 Sep 29-30. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(22 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-052.
Comparative analysis of EHR-based stroke phenotyping methods, their applications, and interpretation

Stroke is the second leading cause of death in the world and top cause of disability in the US. The plurality of electronic health records (EHR) provides an opportunity to study this disease in situ. Doing so requires accurately identifying stroke patients from medical records. So-called "EHR phenotyping" algorithms, however, are difficult and time-consuming to create and often must rely on incomplete information. There is an opportunity to use machine learning to speed up and ease the process of cohort and feature identification. We systematically compared and evaluated the ability of several machine learning algorithms to automatically phenotype acute ischemic stroke patients. We found that these algorithms can achieve high performance (e.g. average AUROC=0.955%) with little to no manual feature curation, and other performance evaluators differentiate each model's ability to generalize. We also found that commonly available data such as diagnosis codes can be used as noisy proxies for training when a reference panel of stroke patients is unavailable. Additionally, we find some limitations when the algorithms are used to place patients into stroke risk classes. We used these models to identify unidentified stroke patients from our patient population of 6.4 million and find expected rates of stroke across the population.
Selection of Patients With Cirrhosis For Surgery: As Much An Art As Science

With improved life expectancy despite a rising prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and related comorbidities,1 there has been an increase in the number of patients with cirrhosis requiring surgery. Surgical innovations and better patient selection over the past decade have contributed to better postoperative outcomes.2 With more patients with cirrhosis being considered for surgery, assessment of postoperative risk is now an important aspect of hepatology practice.
Phosphorylation of the Regulators, a Complex Facet of NF-κB Signaling in Cancer

The nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a ubiquitous transcription factor central to inflammation and various malignant diseases in humans. The regulation of NF-κB can be influenced by a myriad of post-translational modifications (PTMs), including phosphorylation, one of the most popular PTM formats in NF-κB signaling. The regulation by phosphorylation modification is not limited to NF-κB subunits, but it also encompasses the diverse regulators of NF-κB signaling. The differential site-specific phosphorylation of NF-κB itself or some NF-κB regulators can result in dysregulated NF-κB signaling, often culminating in events that induce cancer progression and other hyper NF-κB related diseases, such as inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, as well as neurodegenerative diseases, etc. In this review, we discuss the regulatory role of phosphorylation in NF-κB signaling and the mechanisms through which they aid cancer progression. Additionally, we highlight some of the known and novel NF-κB regulators that are frequently subjected to phosphorylation. Finally, we provide some future perspectives in terms of drug development to target kinases that regulate NF-κB signaling for cancer therapeutic purposes.
Early Sport Specialization Among Former National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletes: Trends, Scholarship Attainment, Injury, and Attrition:

Background:Many youth athletes focus on 1 sport to gain a competitive advantage, but early sport specialization may increase risk of overuse injuries and burnout. College athletes have successfully...
Freedom and Existential Vulnerability: Lévinas’s Vulnerability to His Cultural Ideals

I provide examples in this chapter, such as Levinas’s relation to Palestinians and reflection on Hitlerism, that show Levinas’s difficulty upholding his notion of limited freedom and ethical responsibility. Considering what I describe is an existential vulnerability to foreclose infinitude in one’s particular other, I impel the reader to reflect on their particular others and when they have been vulnerable to foreclose an ethical relation.
Energy Aware Multi-hop Data Transmission in IoT Platforms

Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology that has captured the attention of academia and industry. IoT technology creates a smart platform and reduces the need for human interaction, which may result in more precise reactions. The battery is the power supply when IoT devices are distributed in a vast area with a lack of direct power connection, for example in agricultural fields or wildlife animal monitoring. In such scenarios, battery replacement can be a hard or sometimes impossible task. In this research, we propose a data transmission model to improve data routing in a clustered IoT platform possible to develop in vast areas such as farms. The proposed approach will balance power consumption in inter-cluster data routing. Hence the lifetime of relay cluster heads have been improved and nodes can operate for a longer period of time. Our results show that considering power level and workload as factors to select the next cluster head relay node in inter-cluster data routing will improve network stability and reduce packet loss in the network.
Inference in response-adaptive clinical trials when the enrolled population varies over time.

A common assumption of data analysis in clinical trials is that the patient population, as well as treatment effects, do not vary during the course of the study. However, when trials enroll patients over several years, this hypothesis may be violated. Ignoring variations of the outcome distributions over time, under the control and experimental treatments, can lead to biased treatment effect estimates and poor control of false positive results. We propose and compare two procedures that account for possible variations of the outcome distributions over time, to correct treatment effect estimates, and to control type-I error rates. The first procedure models trends of patient outcomes with splines. The second leverages conditional inference principles, which have been introduced to analyze randomized trials when patient prognostic profiles are unbalanced across arms. These two procedures are applicable in response-adaptive clinical trials. We illustrate the consequences of trends in the outcome distributions in response-adaptive designs and in platform trials, and investigate the proposed methods in the analysis of a glioblastoma study.
LSAT Scores of Economics Majors: The 2008-2009 Class Update

Abstract: Using 1994-1995 and 2002-2003 data, Nieswiadomy (1998, 2006) found that economics majors scored well on the LSAT. These results are frequently posted on university web sites by Economics and other departments. This note, which updates the prior studies using current 2007-2008 data for the 2008-2009 class of students entering law school, finds that Economics majors still perform at or near the top of all majors taking the test. Economics majors (LSAT score of 157.4) are tied for first (with Philosophy) of the 12 largest disciplines (those with more than 1,900 students entering law school). Economics is tied for second (with Philosophy/Religion (157.4)) behind Physics/Math (160.0) in a set of 29 discipline groupings that are created to yield at least 450 students with similar majors.
Efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in recurrent sex cord‐stromal ovarian tumors: Results of a phase 2 trial of the Gynecologic Oncology Group

BACKGROUND The Gynecologic Oncology Group conducted this phase 2 trial to estimate the antitumor activity of bevacizumab and to determine the nature and degree of toxicity in patients with recurrent sex cord-stromal tumors of the ovary. METHODS A prospective, multi-institutional cooperative group trial was performed in women with recurrent, measurable ovarian stromal tumors. Patients were allowed to have unlimited prior therapy, excluding bevacizumab. Bevacizumab 15 mg/kg was administered intravenously on day 1 of every 21-day cycle until patients developed disease progression or adverse effects that prohibited further treatment. The primary endpoint was the response rate (RR). Inhibin A and B levels were measured before each cycle, and the values were examined in relation to response and progression. RESULTS Thirty-six patients were enrolled, and all were eligible and evaluable. Patients received a median of 9 cycles of treatment (range, 2-37 cycles). Six patients (16.7%) had partial responses (90% confidence interval, 7.5%-30.3%), 28 patients (77.8%) had stable disease, and 2 patients (5.6%) had progressive disease. This met the criterion for declaring the regimen active. The median progression-free survival was 9.3 months, and the median overall survival was not reached in during reporting period. Two grade 4 toxicities occurred, including hypertension and proteinuria; and the most common grade 3 toxicities were hypertension (n = 5) and pain (n = 5). Inhibin A and B values were lower in patients who responded to treatment. CONCLUSIONS Bevacizumab has activity in the treatment of recurrent sex cord-stromal tumors of the ovary, and its toxicity is acceptable. Further investigation is warranted. Cancer 2014;120:344–351. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Health information exchange usage in emergency departments and clinics: the who, what, and why.

Objective Health information exchange (HIE) systems are being developed across the nation. Understanding approaches taken by existing successful exchanges can help new exchange efforts determine goals and plan implementations. The goal of this study was to explore characteristics of use and users of a successful regional HIE. Design We used a mixed-method analysis, consisting of cross-sectional audit log data, semi-structured interviews, and direct observation in a sample of emergency departments and ambulatory safety net clinics actively using HIE. For each site, we measured overall usage trends, user logon statistics, and data types accessed by users. We also assessed reasons for use and outcomes of use. Results Overall, users accessed HIE for 6.8% of all encounters, with higher rates of access for repeat visits, for patients with comorbidities, for patients known to have data in the exchange, and at sites providing HIE access to both nurses and physicians. Discharge summaries and test reports were the most frequently accessed data in the exchange. Providers consistently noted retrieving additional history, preventing repeat tests, comparing new results to retrieved results, and avoiding hospitalizations as a consequence of HIE access. Conclusion HIE use in emergency departments and ambulatory clinics was focused on patients where missing information was believed to be present in the exchange and was related to factors including the roles of people with access, the setting, and other site-specific issues that impacted the overall breadth of routine system use. These data should form an important foundation as other sites embark upon HIE implementation.
Copper(I) ATPases: Transport Mechanism and Cellular Functions in Bacteria

Transmembrane transporters are basic components of homeostatic systems that determine the cellular distribution of transition-metal ions. Among these, P1B1-type ATPases mediate cytoplasmic Cu(I) efflux. Prokaryotic Cu(I)-ATPases are powerful tools to study the mechanism of transport and metal homeostasis in cells. They are similar to the eukaryotic homologs that play various unique roles in simple bacterial systems. Structural and functional characterizations of bacterial Cu(I)-ATPases have shown the transport stoichiometry, metal coordination during transport, regulation by cytoplasmic metal-sensing domains, and the mechanism of chaperone-mediated Cu(I) access to transport sites. The high resolution structure of Legionella pneumophila Cu(I)-ATPase has revealed how the canonical structure of P-type ATPases has adapted to enable Cu(I)-transfer and translocation through a mechanism similar to the classical Albers–Post model. In addition, the importance of bacterial Cu(I)-ATPases to the assembly of periplasmic and secreted metalloproteins is now clear, suggesting the participation of periplasmic Cu(I)-trafficking proteins, which not only buffer the metal but also direct Cu(I) to the correct target apoproteins. Here, we discuss how the attributes of Cu(I)-ATPases contribute to novel copper transport and homeostasis models. Keywords: Cu(I)-ATPase; metallochaperone; copper; CopA; CopZ; metal homeostasis; transport