cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Perianal neuroendocrine tumor with suspected lymph node metastasis causing colonic compression and subsequent megacolon

An 8-year-old spayed female domestic shorthair cat was presented with a 4- to 5-month history of a progressively growing mass above her anus and an inability to defecate for 3 to 4 wk. External perianal and internal regional masses were subsequently identified and diagnosed as tumors of neuroendocrine origin through surgical excision and histopathologic evaluation. The cat was treated with 2 courses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Effect of shade levels and IBA during the rooting of eight tree taxa

Abstract Softwood shoot cuttings of Acer griseum, A. rubrum ‘Bowhall’, A. rubrum ‘Franksred’ Red Sunset™, A. saccharum ‘Legacy’, Cornus kousa, Quercus alba, Q. ellipsoidalis, and Q. palustris were subjected to hormone treatments (IBA and control) and placed in a fog-humidified polyethylene tent rooting chamber under one of three levels of shade (83% or control, 91%, and 97% of ambient sun). Percentage rooting, the number of roots per cutting, and the number of days to root were significantly influenced by shade levels and hormone treatment, but responses were dependent on species or cultivar. For most taxa, percentage rooting was greatest at 91% or 97% shade. Only for A. griseum was the control shading treatment best for rooting. Generally, under the greater shade levels, the IBA treated cuttings rooted more often, had more roots, and rooted faster than cuttings without IBA. However, in some cases, the hormone treatment did not provide a clear advantage. Results of this study demonstrate that high shade l...
Conjugated linoleic acid depresses the delta9 desaturase index and stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase enzyme activity in porcine subcutaneous adipose tissue.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown to have an effect on subcutaneous fatty acid composition and has been reported to decrease stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase (SCD) activity by decreasing mRNA expression and(or) catalytic activity in rodents and rodent cell lines. This investigation was designed to study the effects of CLA, corn oil, or beef tallow supplementation on s.c. adipose tissue fatty acid composition, adiposity, SCD enzyme activity, and the delta9 desaturase index in piglets. Eighteen crossbred barrows 16 to 18 d of age were adapted to diet for 1 wk and then assigned randomly to one of three treatments: 1.5% added CLA, 1.5% added corn oil, or 1.5% added beef tallow. Barrows were penned individually and fed the supplemental oils for 35 d (to 25.6 +/- 0.6 kg BW). Subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were obtained after slaughter. Fatty acid composition of the s.c. adipose tissue differed for each fatty acid measured due to diet with the exception of 18:3. The concentrations of CLA trans-10, cis-12 and cis-9, trans-11 were elevated from nondetectable to 1.62 and 2.52 g/100 g lipid, respectively (P 700 pL) and the greatest SCD activity. These data provide the first direct evidence that dietary CLA depresses SCD enzyme activity in porcine adipose tissue, which may in part be responsible for the depression of adiposity by CLA observed by others in market weight pigs.
The State of the Nation, Not the State of the Record: Finding Problems with Judicial 'Review' of Eleventh Amendment Abrogation Legislation

This Article attacks the Supreme Court’s recent requirement that in order to abrogate Eleventh Amendment immunity, Congress must physically document massive findings of widespread constitutional violations, to be scrutinized by the Court. By forcing a judicial fact-finding procedure on Congress, and then conducting its own substantive “strict scrutiny” of those findings, the Supreme Court has overstepped the express bounds set two hundred years ago in Marbury v. Madison by performing a legislative — as opposed to a judicial — function. And despite upholding congressional abrogation of the Eleventh Amendment for the first time in over a decade, the Supreme Court’s 2003 decision in Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs only perpetuated the problem. This recent aggrandizement of judicial review and venture into the procedural prerogative of a coequal branch raises serious separation of powers concerns. The result is precedential, constitutional, and institutional catastrophe that, in time, will do more harm than good for future courts, legislators, and a constitutional governing system of coequal departments. Using Eleventh Amendment abrogation jurisprudence as an analytical baseline, this Article urges the Supreme Court to recognize that Congress is not a court and that the Court is not Congress’s taskmaster. By virtue of Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence and legislation, the history and practicalities of federal lawmaking, and by the proper scope of judicial review, I contend that the power to make law pursuant to the assessment of national concerns and societal conditions has been properly bequeathed to Congress, not the courts. Likewise, Congress’s power to do so has, will, and should extend beyond the state of the legislative record. This Article calls for a wholesale reversal of all Eleventh Amendment abrogation case law to the contrary. In its place, the Supreme Court should reinstate its Seminole Tribe v. Florida abrogation analysis, which, by narrowing the dispositive inquiry to two questions, properly heeded the sovereign immunity lessons of pre-ratification history while simultaneously elucidating the practical (and temporal) distinctions between congressional authority under Article I and congressional power under Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment. In its most basic form, this abrogation schematic properly pinpoints Congress’s power to act, and recognizes that the province and duty of the Judiciary is to say what the law is, not how to make the law.
Testing in the year 2024 - big changes are coming

We are facing major technological, cost & complexity challenges. Today, I believe we understand the drivers and emerging challenges — but I don't think we've grasped how these changes will impact testing and how we will deliver high quality/reliability products in the future. In this talk, I'll give my view on what Testing will be like 8 years from now. Now is the time to start planning for these changes. • Products will be a heterogeneous mix of IC components from multiple foundries — each built using technologies optimized for cost and performance — combined into a final component where this complexity is not apparent in the final application. • Products will adapt themselves to process variation, circuit marginalities, environmental changes and aging — thereby simplifying Testing and achieving superior fault tolerance and power/performance. • Data & Analytics will drive all production processes with particular improvement in exploiting real-time adaptation during the testing & manufacturing process. Testing will be viewed more as a production personalization and data collection process (driving fab/design improvements) — than just sorting pass/failing dies.
The effect of body armor on saving officers' lives: An analysis using LEOKA data

ABSTRACTUsing the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA; 2002–2011) database, we examined the life-saving effectiveness of body armor while adjusting for a range of confounders not assessed in previous studies. Among the 637 officers who were shot by a firearm at the torso, those who wore body armor were 76% less likely to be killed than those who did not wear armor, controlling for an array of individual and incident characteristics. A number of factors influenced officers' armor wearing behavior include age, BMI, rank, geographic region, and type of assignment. Results will inform law enforcement agencies in assessing gaps in their current policy and help focus limited resources to encourage armor wearing. The investigation of other factors that influence police officers' chance of surviving a gun shooting (while controlling for body armor) will also have important implications for policies related to sending backup officers to police shootings, emergency response, and other critical areas.
Exact top-k feature selection via l 2,0 -norm constraint

In this paper, we propose a novel robust and pragmatic feature selection approach. Unlike those sparse learning based feature selection methods which tackle the approximate problem by imposing sparsity regularization in the objective function, the proposed method only has one l2,1-norm loss term with an explicit l2,0-Norm equality constraint. An efficient algorithm based on augmented Lagrangian method will be derived to solve the above constrained optimization problem to find out the stable local solution. Extensive experiments on four biological datasets show that although our proposed model is not a convex problem, it outperforms the approximate convex counterparts and state-of-art feature selection methods evaluated in terms of classification accuracy by two popular classifiers. What is more, since the regularization parameter of our method has the explicit meaning, i.e. the number of feature selected, it avoids the burden of tuning the parameter, making it a pragmatic feature selection method.
Endocrine disruptors and the tumor microenvironment: A new paradigm in breast cancer biology

Breast cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies in women and is characterized by predominantly estrogen dependent growth. Endocrine disruptors (EDCs) have estrogenic properties which have been shown to increase breast cancer risk. While the direct effects of EDCs on breast cancer cell biology and tumor progression have been well studied, the roles for EDCs on tumor microenvironment composition, signaling and structure are incompletely defined. Estrogen targeting of tumor stromal cells can drive paracrine signaling to breast cancer cells regulating tumorigenesis and progression. Additionally, estrogen and estrogen receptor signaling has been shown to alter breast architecture and extracellular matrix component synthesis. Unsurprisingly, EDCs have been shown to induce structural changes in the mammary gland as well as increased collagen fibers in the tissue stroma. Previous work demonstrates that human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) are essential components of the tumor microenvironment and are direct targets of both estrogens and EDCs. Furthermore, estrogen–stem cell cross talk has been implicated in breast cancer progression and results in increased tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis and invasion. This review aims to dissect the possible relationship and mechanisms between EDCs, the tumor microenvironment, and breast cancer progression.
Occupant thermal feedback for improved efficiency in university buildings

Abstract Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are responsible for more than half of the energy consumed in many buildings on university campuses in the US. Despite the significant amount of energy spent on HVAC operations, thermal comfort conditions in campus buildings are frequently poor. Faulty assumptions or a lack of data regarding occupant comfort can lead to energy waste from overheating or overcooling. Additionally, inadequate operational procedures and outdated technology make it difficult for occupant needs to inform temperature management. For example, campuses frequently use “work order” systems to manage temperature issues, but this process is slow and not widely used by students, i.e., the majority of building occupants. Previous research suggests that thermal comfort feedback from occupants can simultaneously drive energy efficiency and improve comfort in university buildings. However, these prior studies were limited to single buildings or zones inside buildings. This paper describes the campus-wide deployment of TherMOOstat, a software tool that solicits thermal feedback from students, and analyzes its impact on energy use and energy management procedures. Thermal feedback can be submitted any time from any building on central campus. Over 10,000 feedback submissions were received across one year, transforming occupants into meaningful sensors. The research team explored manual and automatic methods to link occupant thermal feedback to the energy management system, resulting in improved efficiency and comfort.
Effect of Dietary Minerals on Virulence Attributes of Vibrio cholerae.

Vibrio cholerae is a water-borne pathogen responsible for causing a toxin-mediated profuse diarrhea in humans, leading to severe dehydration and death in unattended patients. With increasing reports of antibiotic resistance in V. cholerae, there is a need for alternate interventional strategies for controlling cholera. A potential new strategy for treating infectious diseases involves targeting bacterial virulence rather than growth, where a pathogen’s specific mechanisms critical for causing infection in hosts are inhibited. Since bacterial motility, intestinal colonization and cholera toxin are critical components in V. cholerae pathogenesis, attenuating these virulence factors could potentially control cholera in humans. In this study, the efficacy of sub-inhibitory concentration (SIC, highest concentration not inhibiting bacterial growth) of essential minerals, zinc (Zn), selenium (Se) and manganese (Mn) in reducing V. cholerae motility and adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2), cholera toxin production, and toxin binding to the ganglioside receptor (GM1) was investigated. Additionally, V. cholerae attachment and toxin production in an ex vivo mouse intestine model was determined. Further, the effect of Zn, Se and Mn on V. cholerae virulence genes, ctxAB (toxin production), fliA (motility), tcpA (intestinal colonization) and toxR (master regulon) was determined using real-time quantitative PCR. All three minerals significantly reduced V. cholerae motility, adhesion to Caco-2 cells, and cholera toxin production in vitro, and decreased adhesion and toxin production in mouse intestine ex vivo (P < 0.05). In addition, Zn, Se and Mn down-regulated the transcription of virulence genes, ctxAB, fliA and toxR. Results suggest that Zn, Se and Mn could be potentially used to reduce V. cholerae virulence. However, in vivo studies in an animal model are necessary to validate these results.
Molecular Tools for Facilitative Carbohydrate Transporters (Gluts)

Facilitative carbohydrate transporters-Gluts-have received wide attention over decades due to their essential role in nutrient uptake and links with various metabolic disorders, including diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Endeavors directed towards understanding the mechanisms of Glut-mediated nutrient uptake have resulted in a multidisciplinary research field spanning protein chemistry, chemical biology, organic synthesis, crystallography, and biomolecular modeling. Gluts became attractive targets for cancer research and medicinal chemistry, leading to the development of new approaches to cancer diagnostics and providing avenues for cancer-targeting therapeutics. In this review, the current state of knowledge of the molecular interactions behind Glut-mediated sugar uptake, Glut-targeting probes, therapeutics, and inhibitors are discussed.
Phosphorylation of the 19S regulatory particle ATPase subunit, Rpt6, modifies susceptibility to proteotoxic stress and protein aggregation

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is a highly conserved and tightly regulated biochemical pathway that degrades the majority of proteins in eukaryotic cells. Importantly, the UPS is responsible for counteracting altered protein homeostasis induced by a variety of proteotoxic stresses. We previously reported that Rpt6, the ATPase subunit of the 19S regulatory particle (RP) of the 26S proteasome, is phosphorylated in mammalian neurons at serine 120 in response to neuronal activity. Furthermore, we found that Rpt6 S120 phosphorylation, which regulates the activity and distribution of proteasomes in neurons, is relevant for proteasome-dependent synaptic remodeling and function. To better understand the role of proteasome phosphorylation, we have constructed models of altered Rpt6 phosphorylation in S. cerevisiae by introducing chromosomal point mutations that prevent or mimic phosphorylation at the conserved serine (S119). We find that mutants which prevent Rpt6 phosphorylation at this site (rpt6-S119A), had increased susceptibility to proteotoxic stress, displayed abnormal morphology and had reduced proteasome activity. Since impaired proteasome function has been linked to the aggregation of toxic proteins including the Huntington's disease (HD) related huntingtin (Htt) protein with expanded polyglutamine repeats, we evaluated the extent of Htt aggregation in our phospho-dead (rpt6-S119A) and phospho-mimetic (rpt6-S119D) mutants. We showed Htt103Q aggregate size to be significantly larger in rpt6-S119A mutants compared to wild-type or rpt6-S119D strains. Furthermore, we observed that phosphorylation of endogenous Rpt6 at S119 is increased in response to various stress conditions. Together, these data suggest that Rpt6 phosphorylation at S119 may play an important function in proteasome-dependent relief of proteotoxic stress that can be critical in protein aggregation pathologies.
Creation of ultrafine-grained surfaces by large strain extrusion machining (LSEM)

ABSTRACTLarge strain extrusion machining (LSEM) is examined as a route for achieving controlled microstructure refinement at freshly generated surfaces in a single pass of the machining tool. It is shown that the extrusion ratio λ of LSEM, which is the ratio of the thickness of the chip to that of the preset depth of cut, controls the extent of the ultrafine-grained (UFG) zone. Microstructure analysis was performed using orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) and mechanical testing using nanoindentation was used to characterize the UFG microstructure beneath the freshly generated surfaces. The mechanics of deformation in LSEM were examined using infrared thermography and modeled. The present research demonstrates LSEM as a novel platform for tailoring surficial microstructures and controlling their spatial extents in fabricated components.
Bringing new medicines to women with epithelial ovarian cancer: what is the unmet medical need?

Therapy for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (OC) includes first line platinum/taxane-containing chemotherapy and re-treatment with platinum-containing regimens for disease recurrence in patients likely to respond again. Single-agent, non-platinum, cytotoxic agents are commonly used to treat patients resistant to platinum retreatment, but these agents are associated with dose-limiting toxicities and response rates below 20%. Recent advances have led to novel targeted treatments for recurrent OC that offer opportunities to improve response rates and prolong progression-free intervals. However, they also add complexity to the process of selecting treatment for individual patients at different stages of the disease process. Advanced and recurrent OC is rarely cured. Multiple lines of platinum combinations, and nonplatinum chemotherapeutics eventually fail to achieve clinical benefit, thus other active and tolerable systemic therapies are needed. Consequently, the US Food and Drug Administration has created a mechanism for “accelerated approval” of new medicines in situations of high unmet medical need. We review the clinical implications of recent key clinical studies in these settings and outline the path forward for study design and approval of novel therapeutics to treat recurrent OC.
Military Ethics and the Situationist Critique

Many contributors to military ethics from diverse locations and philosophical perspectives maintain that virtues are central to martial theory and practice. Yet several contemporary philosophers an...
Dimension reduction of gene expression data

DNA methylation of specific dinucleotides has been shown to be strongly linked with tissue age. The goal of this research is to explore different analysis techniques for microarray data in order to...
Adverse Events Associated With Antibiotics and Intravenous Therapies for Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome in a Commercially Insured Sample.

Background Non-guideline-endorsed posttreatment courses of antibiotics for post-Lyme disease syndrome (PLDS) have been linked to adverse patient outcomes, but these findings have yet to be validated in large systematic evaluations. Methods A retrospective cohort analysis of medical and pharmacy claims derived from the Truven Health Market Scan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database assessed 90-day incidence rates of adverse events (AEs) associated with PLDS treatment (PLDS-Tx). Patients were diagnosed with PLDS ≥6 months after initial diagnosis and standard antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease. Comparison cohorts included intravenous (IV) PLDS-Tx with or without oral antibiotics; oral antibiotic-only PLDS-Tx; or neither. Results Composite AE incidence rates were higher for patients treated with IV or oral PLDS-Tx than for patients not receiving either treatment (18.7%, 16.8%, and 13.4%, respectively; P = .019). Significant between-group differences in AE incidence rates were noted for electrolyte imbalance (4.0%, 1.5%, and 0.7%, respectively; P = .001) and infection (14.0%, 12.7%, and 9.3%; P = .006). Infection prevalence increased by 22.0% in the IV treatment group and 17.7% in the oral group. Incidence rates for all-cause and AE-related hospital stays and emergency department visits were higher for treated than nontreated patients, particularly when treatment was IV (all P < .01). Of IV-treated patients, 7.3% experienced an incident all-cause inpatient stay and 11.3% an incident all-cause emergency department visit, compared with, respectively, 2.2% and 3.4% of those treated with oral antibiotics and 0.9% and 1.9% of nontreated patients. Conclusions Use of IV therapies or oral antibiotics for PLDS was associated with increased patient morbidity within 90 days.
Disseminated Cutaneous Blastomycosis

Disseminated Cutaneous Blastomycosis A 44-year-old man presented to the dermatology clinic with crusted skin lesions. A skin biopsy and staining confirmed a diagnosis of disseminated cutaneous blastomycosis.
Role of the Chloroplast Envelope in Thylakoid Biogenesis

Thylakoid biogenesis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii y-1 occurred at a linear rate when degreened cells incubated at 38°C were exposed to light. Photosystem 2 (PS2) activity, which was negligible in degreened cells, increased in parallel with chlorophyll (Chl). Kinetic parameters suggest that these PS2 units were larger and more efficient in light capture than those made at 25° C. Membranes made during the initial minutes of greening emanated from the chloroplast envelope. Kinetics of accumulation of chlorophyll a/b-binding (Cab) proteins implied that these proteins were degraded immediately upon import into the plastid unless Chl was available. Molecular modeling studies suggest that Chl is required to convert these proteins from an extended, protease-sensitive conformation into a compact, folded complex. A protease was partially purified that may be involved in degradation of the uncomplexed Cab proteins. These studies support the hypothesis that assembly of thylakoid membranes in this organism occurs in association with the chloroplast envelope.
A Personality × Personality × Setting Biosocial Model of Interpersonal Affect and Communication

Social behavior, affect, and psychophysiological activity are highly dependent on the interaction of one’s personality, the personality of the person with whom one interacts, and the task or setting (Abbott, Sutherland, & Watt, 1987; Birchler, Weiss, & Vincent, 1975; Buss, 1981; Thome, 1987). For example, task performance and heart rate are a function of one’s personality (Type A versus Type B), partner’s personality (Type A versus Type B), and degree of task control (Abbott, Sutherland, & Watt, 1987). This evidence showing multiple determination of social behavior is consistent with the observations made by Bowers (1973) in his reanalysis of 11 studies evaluating the influence of person, setting, and the interaction of person and setting. In these studies 13% of the variance was attributable to the person, 10% to the situation, and 21% to the person by situation interaction. Bower’s findings suggest that much of the variance in behavior is a function of the interaction of personality with situation. For interpersonal behavior, the most influential part of the situation is usually another person, a person that can be characterized by personality and other individual difference variables. The second part of the situation is the setting—the components of the situation other than the other person.
Perceived Quality of Residential Environments

Environmental planners and designers have given more attention to the residential environment than to any of the systems that interact to make up the metropolitan area. This attention is understandable. The residential environment is viewed as the place where an individual can relate himself socially and functionally to the complex world around him. It is considered to be richly diverse, both physically and socially, and constantly changing in terms of an aging landscape and a mobile population. And by design and redesign, it offers planners the opportunity to improve the quality of the physical surroundings and, in a very direct way, the livability of metropolitan area residents.
An alternative integral equation approach for curved and kinked cracks

An integral-equation representation of cracks is presented which differs from the well-known “dislocation-layer” representation in that the equations are written in terms of the displacement-discontinuity across the crack surfaces rather than derivatives of the displacement-discontinuity. The advantages of such a representation is that, unlike the dislocation layer, the displacement discontinuity is not singular at crack tips and kinks. The method is demonstrated for two-dimensional infinite domains.
When indulgence gets the best of you: Unexpected consequences of prepayment

Abstract Consumers often pay for consumption events up front. For example, consumers may pay an entrance fee for a food festival or a VIP pass to skip the line at a nightclub. However, research has yet to investigate how this prepayment affects consumers' subsequent consumption decisions. This paper investigates the effect of prepayment on escalation of commitment and the unexpected effects on subsequent consumption decisions. Specifically, we investigate consumers' inclination to indulge and spend once they have made a prepayment in the form of money or time. Our findings from a field study and two experiments suggest that under certain conditions, prepayment results in increased spending and indulgent consumption.
Enabling low-cost III-V/Si integration through nucleation of GaP on v-grooved Si substrates

Growth of III-V materials on Si could enable dramatic cost reduction for III-V PV by eliminating the need for expensive III-V substrates and enabling high-efficiency tandem solar cells. The direct heteroepitaxy of III-V materials on Si for high-efficiency photovoltaics has progressed greatly in recent years, but most studies have focused on off-cut wafers polished using an expensive chemical-mechanical planarization process (which is not used for commercial solar cells). Alternative growth approaches are needed that can enable the integration of high material quality III-Vs with PV-grade Si materials. Here we demonstrate the use of cost-effective patterning and etching approaches to create templates for selective area epitaxy on PV-grade Si substrates. We investigate the nucleation of III-V materials on these substrates.
The complex structure of ATXN2 genetic variation.

In this issue, Tojima et al.1 describe the occurrence of a progressive cerebellar ataxia of 1-year duration in an 81-year-old Japanese woman that was associated with the presence of 31 DNA CAG repeats in the ATXN2 gene. The pathologic threshold for disease causing spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is usually considered to be 33 repeats and above, whereas 31 repeats would not be considered to be causative for cerebellar neurodegeneration. The twist in this case report is the fact that the patient carried 2 alleles with 31 repeats, suggesting that the 31-CAG repeat allele acted in a recessive fashion. The author thank Daniel Scoles, PhD for critical reading of the manuscript and suggestions.
Launch summary for 1980

Sounding rockets, artificial Earth satellites, and space probes launched betweeen January 1 and December 31, 1980 are listed. Data tabulated for the rocket launchings show launching site, instruments carried, date of launch, agency rocket identification, sponsoring country, experiment discipline, peak altitude, and the experimenter or institution responsible. Tables for satellites and space probes show COSPAR designation, spacecraft name, country, launch date, epoch date, orbit type, apoapsis, periapsis and inclination period. The functions and responsibilities of the World Data Center and the areas of scientific interest at the seven subcenters are defined. An alphabetical listing of experimenters using the sounding rockets is also provided.
Verbalization in Children’s Drawing Performances: Toward a Metaphorical Continuum of Inscription, Extension, and Re-Inscription

Reconceptualizing the relationship between a child/subject and the adult/researcher is necessary in order to begin unraveling the possibilities entangled in children’s learning practices, particularly those articulated by/through children’s drawing performances. This article seeks to expand upon the complexities of researcher/subject relationships, participatory research practices, documentation as a context for critical inquiry and interpretation, and children’s drawing as a social performance. Utilizing a metaphorical continuum of inscription, extension, and re-inscription to continually re-contextualize the verbal interactions between Carter (the subject) and myself (the researcher), spaces of de-familiarization are constructed that illuminate and give rise to additional epistemological layers, accentuating an already complex understanding of children’s drawing performances.
Total Asymmetric Synthesis of the Potent Immunosuppressive Marine Natural Product Microcolin A

The total asymmetric synthesis of the potent immunosuppressive compound microcolin A is reported. The synthesis establishes the absolute stereochemistry of microcolin A as C-36R, C-38R, and C-4S on the basis of the diastereoselective preparation of all four possible diastereomers of the lipid region (fragment A) and diastereoselective synthesis of fragment C starting from natural l-(S)-alanine. The strategy involves a convergent assemblage of three optically pure fragments and is amenable to chemical modifications to examine structural analogs for biological study.
Time-Frequency Delta Activity to Social Feedback Demonstrates Differential Associations With Depression and Social Anxiety Symptoms

Social feedback is highly salient and particularly relevant when investigating the pathophysiology of depression and social anxiety. A bourgeoning body of research has demonstrated an association between reward-related delta activity and psychopathology. However, a critical limitation is that these findings are derived from neural responses to monetary feedback, and time-frequency representation of social feedback remains unexplored. In addition, no study has isolated the differential/unique associations of positive valence and the intrinsic rewarding experience of being correct with reward-related neural activity. In the present study, 204 participants underwent electroencephalography (EEG) while they completed a novel paradigm comprised of monetary and social feedback tasks that were matched in trial structure, timing, and feedback stimuli. For each task, participants were instructed to correctly identify one of two doors that would provide positive feedback (monetary win behind the door) or one of two peers who would provide positive feedback (social like); or to correctly identify the door or peer that would provide negative feedback (money loss behind the door/social dislike). A principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on the time-frequency data and revealed two factors in the delta and one factor in the theta frequency ranges. Results indicated that the lower-frequency delta factor (delta-low) was greater to correct vs. incorrect feedback, more so for social vs. monetary tasks, while the higher-frequency delta factor (delta-high) was greater to correct vs. incorrect feedback for social like, social dislike, and monetary win tasks, but not the monetary loss task. In contrast, the theta factor was greater to incorrect relative to correct feedback in negative valence (lose money/social dislike) but not positive valence (win money/social like) tasks. Furthermore, greater delta-high activity for social feedback was associated with greater social anxiety symptoms, whereas lesser delta-high activity for social feedback was associated with greater depressive symptoms. Finally, greater theta activity to monetary feedback was associated with greater depressive symptoms. The present study provides novel evidence demonstrating unique social vs. monetary feedback-related delta and theta activity, and differential associations between delta activity with depression and social anxiety symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of investigating feedback-related neural responses in the social domain.
Crossing the Cervicothoracic Junction in Cervical Arthrodesis Results in Lower Rates of Adjacent Segment Disease Without Affecting Operative Risks or Patient-Reported Outcomes.

Study design Retrospective cohort study. Objective To evaluate the risks and benefits of crossing the cervicothoracic junction (CTJ) in cervical arthrodesis. Summary of background data Whether the CTJ should be crossed in cervical arthrodesis remains up for debate. Keeping C7 as the distal end of the fusion risks adjacent segment disease (ASD) and can result in myelopathy or radiculopathy. Longer fusions are thought to increase operative risk and complexity but result in lower rates of ASD. Materials and methods Patients undergoing cervical spine fusion surgery ending at C7 or T1 with ≥1-year follow-up were included. To evaluate operative risk, estimated blood loss (EBL), operative time, and length of hospital stay were collected. To evaluate patient-reported outcomes (PROs), Neck Disability Index (NDI) and SF-12 questionnaires (PCS12 and MCS12) were obtained at follow-up. Revision surgery data were also obtained. Results A total of 168 patients were included and divided into a C7 end-of-fusion cohort (NC7=59) and a T1 end-of-fusion cohort (NT1=109). Multivariate regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, race, surgical approach, and number of levels fused showed that EBL (P=0.12), operative time (P=0.07), and length of hospital stay (P=0.06) are not significantly different in the C7 and T1 end-of-fusion cohorts. Multivariate regression of PROs showed no significant difference in NDI (P=0.70), PCS12 (P=0.23), or MCS12 (P=0.15) between cohorts. Fisher analysis showed significantly higher revision rates in the C7 end-of-fusion cohort (7/59 for C7 vs. 2/109 for T1; odds ratio, 6.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-65.1; P=0.01). Conclusions Crossing the CTJ in cervical arthrodesis does not increase operative risk as measured by blood loss, operative time, and length of hospital stay. However, it leads to lower revision rates, likely because of the avoidance of ASD, and comparable PROs. Thus, crossing the CTJ may help prevent ASD without negatively affecting operative risk or long-term PROs.
IMPACT OF BARIATRIC SURGERY ON PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE WITH PRESERVED EJECTION FRACTION (HFPEF): A NATIONWIDE ANALYSIS

Obesity is one of the major risk factors for Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Limited data is available regarding impact of bariatric surgery on morbidly obese HFpEF (OHFpEF) patients Study cohort was derived from 2014 National Inpatient Sample database. International
LEFT VENTRICULAR ANEURYSM: A WALKING TIME BOMB

Left ventricle aneurysms (LVAs) are areas of thin and fibrotic myocardium leading to out pouching of the wall. Commonly seen as sequale of Myocardial infarction, they can lead to potentially devastating consequences. 57-year-old lady with a history of hypertension and dyslipidemia initially
Controller Synthesis for Multi-Agent Systems with Intermittent Communication and Metric Temporal Logic Specifications.

This paper investigates the controller synthesis problem for a multi-agent system (MAS) with intermittent communication. We adopt a relay-explorer scheme, where a mobile relay agent with absolute position sensors switches among a set of explorers with relative position sensors to provide intermittent state information. We model the MAS as a switched system where the explorers' dynamics can be either fully-actuated or underactuated. The objective of the explorers is to reach approximate consensus to a predetermined goal region. To guarantee the stability of the switched system and the approximate consensus of the explorers, we derive maximum dwell-time conditions to constrain the length of time each explorer goes without state feedback (from the relay agent). Furthermore, the relay agent needs to satisfy practical constraints such as charging its battery and staying in specific regions of interest. Both the maximum dwell-time conditions and these practical constraints can be expressed by metric temporal logic (MTL) specifications. We iteratively compute the optimal control inputs for the relay agent to satisfy the MTL specifications, while guaranteeing stability and approximate consensus of the explorers. We implement the proposed method on a case study with the CoppeliaSim robot simulator.
Reciprocal Twin Networks for Pedestrian Motion Learning and Future Path Prediction

Modeling the moving behaviors and predicting the future paths of pedestrians, especially for those in complex scenes, remain a challenging problem in machine learning. We recognize that human motion trajectories, governed by social norms and constrained by physical structures of the surrounding environment, are both forward predictable and backward predictable. Motivated by this observation, we develop a new approach, called reciprocal twin networks, for human trajectory learning and prediction. We design two networks, a forward prediction network to predict future trajectory from past observations and a backward prediction that performs the trajectory prediction backward in time. The backward prediction network serves as the inverse operation of the forward prediction network, forming a reciprocal constraint. During the training stage, this reciprocal constraint allows them to be jointly learned for accurate and robust human trajectory prediction. During the inference stage, we borrow the concept of adversarial attack of deep neural networks, which iteratively modifies the input of the network to match the given or forced network output, and develop a new method, called reciprocal attack for matched prediction, to achieve accurate human trajectory prediction. Our experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that our new method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods for human trajectory prediction.
21 Mucosal IgA displays an unclear pattern throughout the day in horses

Mucosal immunoglobulin (Ig) A is a useful indicator of immunity, a sensitive biomarker for stress and a desirable target for more effective vaccine development. In human medicine, treating diseases at specific times of the day, known as chronotherapy, is rapidly becoming an accepted practice. Equine research suggests protection obtained from vaccines may be enhanced with timed delivery. Reports of diurnality of both fecal and salivary IgA exist in other species, but this has not been confirmed in horses. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate IgA for 24-h rhythmicity. Four mature Quarter horse geldings (mean ± SEM, 600 ± 27 kg; 10.3 ± 4.0 y) were housed according to their normal daily routine under natural summer conditions; outside in individual dry lots for 12 h and stalled inside overnight. Sunrise and sunset were at 0600 and 2000 h, respectively. Horses were fed the same quantities of concentrate and bermudagrass hay twice daily. Venous blood, fecal and saliva samples were collected at 6-h intervals (0600, 1200, 1800, 2400 h) for 4 consecutive days using only headlamps to collect samples after sunset. Cortisol and IgA concentrations were determined by ELISA. Data were log-transformed, blocked by day, and compared using mixed model ANOVA with time as a repeated variable. Serum cortisol displayed an expected cyclical pattern with the greatest concentrations observed at 0600 h (P
Pilot Study of Examining the Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning (CL) vs. Individualistic Learning (IL) in Fashion Illustration Class

Cooperative learning (CL) is the “instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning” (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1993 p.6). CL improves students’ academic achievements more than individualistic learning (IL) when correctly implemented (Felder, 1995). CL as one of approaches of active learning (Keyser, 2000) is widely used in many disciplines; however, it is rarely used in drawing curriculum which is generally individualized. Thus, the purposes of this pilot study were to: (a) fill in the gap and determine whether CL could improve the quality of apparel design students’ works, (b) compare CL and IL teaching methods in a fashion illustration course.
Advancements in mechanical Raman spectroscopy for applications in energetic materials

Abstract This paper aims to provide a detailed review of the fundamentals and applications of mechanical Raman spectroscopy in the field of energetic materials. Firstly, the principle behind mechanical Raman spectroscopy (MRS) is introduced to measure stress and temperature in a material. Afterward, the use of MRS to obtain microscale properties in an energetic material microstructure is discussed for quasi-static loading and dynamic loading experiments. Thereafter, the measurement of cohesive law parameters for interface separation in energetic material is explained. Finally, quantification of thermal conductivity at the interface level is presented. Later, the mechanism of obtaining time-resolved Raman spectra for the analysis of shock wave propagation in energetic material is explained. This work presents a comprehensive view of the existing applications of MRS as well as possible enhancements to the use of Raman spectroscopy to understand the behavior of complex energetic microstructures.
Factors Predictive of Publication Among Medical Students Participating in School-Sponsored Research Programs.

INTRODUCTION Publishing research is an important component of medical students' career development and becoming a more competitive residency applicant. Many medical schools offer structured programs to enable students to participate in research during their preclinical and clinical years, but the majority of student-mentor partnerships do not culminate in publication across a variety of institutions and medical specialties. The primary objective of this study is to determine if any factors associated with mentee-mentor partnerships are predictive of publication from two school-sponsored research programs at a single US medical school. METHODS The PubMed-indexed publications of all student-mentor pairings from a summer internship (after year 1 of medical school) or research elective (during year 4 of medical school) at a single institution from 2008 to 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Student/mentor demographic information was associated with the probability of publication. RESULTS A total of 124 students participated in the summer internship with 32 (26%) achieving publication. The publication was significantly more likely for students that were from highly ranked undergraduate institutions (p = 0.04; likelihood ratio (LR) = 5.788), were future Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) members (p = 0.03; LR = 4.597), or worked with a mentor focused on clinical rather than basic science research (p = 0.02; LR = 5.662). Forty-four students participated in the fourth-year elective with 11 (25%) achieving publication. The publication was more likely if the student worked with a mentor without a Doctor of Medicine (MD)/Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree (p = 0.001; LR = 7.051), with a PhD degree (p = 0.002; LR = 7.820), or a mentor with prior publication(s) with prior mentee(s) (p = 0.03; LR = 5.368). CONCLUSION Only one-quarter of mentor-mentee research pairings resulted in publication, with student-related factors more predictive for publication from the internship and mentor-related factors more predictive of publication from the elective. Approaches to promote successful completion of medical student research projects should be considered to yield the greatest value from students' work and strengthen the development of future physician-scientists.
SARS-CoV-2 in infant urine and fecal samples after in utero COVID-19 exposure.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic that has and will continue to affect many pregnant women. Knowledge regarding the risk of vertical transmission is limited. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of nasopharyngeal swabs typically have been used to confirm the diagnosis among infants, but whether the virus can be detected in other biological specimens, and therefore potentially transmitted in other ways, is unknown. Positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR has been reported from feces and urine from adult patients. We hypothesize that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in infant urine and fecal samples after prenatal COVID-19 exposure is low. We examined the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA using RT-PCR in urine and fecal samples among 42 infants born to SARS-CoV-2-infected mothers during different stages of pregnancy. A urine sample was collected from 39 of 42 infants and fecal samples from all 42 infants shortly after birth. Although the majority of the women had the symptomatic disease (85.6%), we were unable to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus from any infant urine or fecal samples. SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in infant urine or feces after maternal infection during pregnancy, providing further evidence for low rates of perinatal transmission.
Shifting from Habitation to Adaptation in Space

Habitability is often equated with adaptation, but while habitability is the first requirement for adaptation, a fuller understanding of adaptation encompasses more than issues of physical and social well-being and comfort; it entails evolutional criteria that promote longevity—traits such as resilience, robustness, and durability. Whereas conditions for habitability are generally passive, criteria for adaptability cannot be assessed or cultivated without some kind of engagement with the environment. Well-being and comfort requirements for habitability can be achieved through avoidance of external conditions and without any active participation on the part of the subject, but evolutional traits required for adaptation call for confrontations and negotiations with environmental resistances. Genuine adaptation does not occur in circumstances void of stress or demands. It is through resistant encounters and the overcoming of obstacles that organisms grow hardier and more capable; thus they are more likely to endure.