cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epidemiological Analysis on Epidemic Situation of Tuberculosis in Sanshui District of Foshan City during 2003—2008

[Objective]To analyze the incidence and epidemiological characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) in Sanshui District,and provide scientific evidence for control the spread of TB.[Methods]Epidemiological data of newly diagnosed TB cases in Sanshui District of Foshan City during 2003—2008 were statistically analyzed.[Results]The incidence of TB during 2003—2008 was 64.77/100 000,66.64/100 000,171.75/100 000,146.74/100 000,135.21/100 000 and 124.07/100 000,respectively. Area distribution showed that there were more cases in southwest town; and seasonal distribution was not significant; age distribution showed that the incidence of teenager,adult,and the old group were higher than that of the children group; gender distribution showed the male incidence was higher than female incidence; and professional distribution showed that the farmer's cases were the major,followed by the housework and unemployed personnel and workers.[Conclusion]The report cases of TB shows upward trend in Sanshui District of Foshan City. Therefore,prevention and control of TB should be strengthened,especially for labor population. And modem control strategy should be used to control the epidemic situation of TB.
Impact of statin use on cancer recurrence and mortality in breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Statins have shown antineoplastic properties in preclinical studies with breast cancer cells. They inhibit the enzyme "HMG CoA reductase" and the expression of this enzyme in cancer cells has been implicated as a favorable prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer. After a search of MEDLINE and Embase from inception through November 2015, 817 abstracts were reviewed to identify studies that described an association between statin use and outcomes in breast cancer. A total of 14 studies which included 75,684 women were identified. In a meta-analysis of 10 studies, statin use was associated with improved recurrence-free survival (RFS; HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.53-0.79, I(2) = 44%). Furthermore, this RFS benefit appeared to be confined to use of lipophilic statins (HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.59-0.89) as hydrophilic statin use was not associated with improvement in RFS (HR 0.80; 95% CI 0.44-1.46). Statin users similarly showed improved overall survival in a meta-analysis with substantial heterogeneity (8 studies, HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.44-0.99, I(2) = 89%). Statin users also had improved cancer-specific survival, although this relationship was measured with less precision (six studies, HR 0.70; 95% CI 0.46-1.06, I(2) = 86%). In conclusion, breast cancer patients who use statins, or specifically, lipophilic statins show improved recurrence-free survival. Statin users also had improved overall survival and cancer-specific survival. These findings should be assessed in a prospective randomized cohort and the choice of statin, dose and biomarkers that may predict the efficacy of these drugs should be identified.
Multivariate and Boolean Factor Analysis of Immune Complex/Complement Deposits and their Effects on Renal Blood Flow During Allograft Rejection

The role of humoral immune factors in graft destruction is not fully understood. With immunofluorescence techniques the possibility of a specific pattern and/or clustering of immune complex or complement deposits was analyzed in 140 percutaneous kidney needle biopsies performed in 73 patients with renal allograft dysfunction. The results were correlated with concomitant alterations in renal blood flow as measured by cortical and global perfusion indexes and graft survival. The deposition of IgG, IgM, C3 and C4 correlated significantly with acute rejection confirmed by biopsy (p less than 0.05, less than 0.001, less than 0.02 and less than 0.001, respectively). Subsequent graft survival was compromised when IgA, IgG, IgM, C3, C4 and properdin were present together in biopsy specimens (p less than 0.05). There was a significant clustering of IgA with C3, of IgG with C3 and C4, and of IgM with C1, C3 and C4 (p less than 0.001). There also was a significant association among alterations in renal blood flow, deposition of IgA (p less than 0.05) and C4 (p less than 0.02), and graft outcome. Higher perfusion indexes, indicative of decreased blood flow, showed significant associations (p less than 0.007 and less than 0.04 for the cortical and global perfusion indexes, respectively) with a greater risk of graft loss. Although it primarily is a cellular event, the data suggest that acute rejection is associated with a deposition of various humoral factors that may mediate alterations in renal blood flow. The latter may affect graft function and structural integrity, and, thus, may show a direct correlation with the outcome of a graft.
Health Law 2015: Individuals and Populations

In this article, we assess two particular trends in judicial doctrine that are likely to emerge in the post-ACA era. The first trend is the inevitable emergence of enterprise medical liability (EML) that will supplant tort law's unstable attempt to apportion liability between physicians and institutions. Arguments favoring EML in health law date back to the early 1980s. But health care's ongoing consolidation suggests that the time has arrived for courts or state legislatures to develop legal doctrine that more closely resembles the ways in which health care is now delivered. This would result in a more appropriate allocation of liability to the institutional level. The second judicial trend will be the convergence of health law and public health law concepts. Because the ACA arguably stimulates closer engagement between health systems and public health departments, health systems will have greater responsibility for keeping their communities healthy along with obligations for individual patient care (i.e., individuals and populations). If so, courts will need to incorporate elements from health law and public health law in resolving disputes.
Distributed renewable generation: Interconnection and performance

Evaluation procedure for interconnection of distributed generation (DG) to distribution feeder is presented. Regulatory documents are used as guidelines for the approach. Three categories of interconnections are identified. Detailed interconnection studies are proposed to further investigation of prospective interconnections. Additional considerations for allocation and sizing of DG are discussed. As an example, Georgia Institute of Technology's Aquatic's Center PV system is presented, equipped with a 342kW roof-mounted photovoltaic array since 1996. This system is closely monitored and studied with the help of a data acquisition system. The relationship between certain parameters, as well as reliability of the system may be analyzed and forecasted.
A novel, low V/sub /spl pi//L EIT based optical modulators

We propose a novel semiconductor based optical modulator with an ultralow V/sub /spl pi//L product < 0.005 V-cm, high RF gain and good dynamic range. The optical phase is induced by electromagnetically induced transparency. RF performance is evaluated.
B cell intrinsic effects of the vitamin D receptor on IgE responses. (IRC10P.417)

B cells express the vitamin D receptor (VDR). VDR KO mice had higher levels of circulating total IgE than WT mice by 12 wks of age. Mice were sensitized using two OVA/alum injections. VDR KO mice mounted a significantly higher OVA-specific IgE response compared to WT mice. The data also showed that vitamin D deficient mice had higher OVA-specific IgE responses than vitamin D sufficient mice. IL-4, IL-5, IL-2, IFN-γ and IL-17 were not different in OVA re-stimulated spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) in WT and VDR KO mice. However, VDR KO spleen and MLN produced significantly less IL-10 than WT. Furthermore B cells and not T cells were the major source of IL-10 in both the WT and VDR KO cultures. Experiments were done using T cell specific-VDR deletion (T-VDR KO), or B cell specific-VDR deletion (B-VDR KO). The serum IgE levels in T-VDR KO mice were comparable to that of WT mice. Conversely, B-VDR KO mice had higher total serum IgE levels than WT mice and, when immunized, produced significantly more OVA-IgE. In our current model, we propose that B cell-derived IL-10 is regulated by the VDR and that autocrine IL-10 is higher in WT mice, therefore inhibiting IgE production to a greater extent in WT than in VDR KO mice. The major finding of this work is that vitamin D receptor expression selectively regulates IgE levels in the serum via a direct effect of the VDR in B cells.
Myocardial T2* Is Not Affected by the Structural Effects of Myocardial Fibrosis, Ageing or Impaired Left Ventricular Function.

Abstract Background The myocardial T2* technique has been validated as a reproducible non-invasive measurement of myocardial iron load and is now widely used for measurement of myocardial iron in iron overload diseases such as thalassaemia. The reduction in myocardial T2* seen in iron overload conditions is substantially greater than is seen in any other clinical circumstance, but there has been no direct comparison of myocardial T2* in normals and other conditions such as increasing age, myocardial infarction or impairment in left ventricular function. We aimed therefore to compare the findings in patients affected by these conditions with normals. Method A total of 38 patients in total were scanned using the myocardial T2* technique. Fifteen patients had normal hearts, 18 had impaired LV function and 6 had chronic myocardial infarction affecting the anteroseptal wall, where myocardial T2* measurements are normally made. Results The mean myocardial T2* in normals was 36.0 +/− 6.4 ms, yielding a lower limit of normal of 23ms. In patients with impaired LV function, the mean myocardial T2* was 39.0 +/− 11.7ms (p= 0.37 vs normals). In patients with anteroseptal myocardial infarction, the mean myocardial T2* was 34.7ms +/− 3.9ms (p= 0.64 vs normals). The frequency distribution of the myocardial T2* values are shown in figure 1. These approximate to normal, and are very similar in distribution. In addition, the age distribution of myocardial T2* in the 15 normals is shown in figure 2. There was no significant relation between myocardial T2* and age (r2 = 0.066, p=0.82). Conclusion There is no significant reduction in myocardial T2* associated with fibrosis from chronic myocardial infarction, impairment of left ventricular function, or increasing age. This suggests that structural changes associated with remodelling, infarction and fibrosis, and ageing do not have significant effects on the absolute measure of myocardial T2*, and in particular do not cause a reduction below 20ms as is seen in myocardial overload conditions. Thus these date suggest that myocardial T2* is robust to these structural alterations, and that myocardial iron overload can be ascertained from reduced myocardial T2* values, in a similar manner to that which can be achieved in normals. Download : Download high-res image (84KB) Download : Download full-size image Download : Download high-res image (105KB) Download : Download full-size image
Real-time MRI-guided percutaneous sclerotherapy treatment of venous low-flow malformations in the head and neck

Purpose This manuscript describes the technique of real-time MRI-guided sclerotherapy for low-flow venous malformations in the head and neck based on our institutional experience. Materials and methods Ethanolamine oleate is used as the sclerosant and is mixed with gadolinium for visualization during the procedure. The five procedural steps include: (I) an initial tri-plane T2-weighted sequence to visualize the lesion; (II) a T1 FSE or trueFISP sequence to assess needle placement and advancement within the lesion; (III) a tri-plane T1 FLASH sequence to monitor sclerosant injection; (IV) a T1 FSE or VIBE sequence to assess sclerosant coverage of the malformation before needle removal; (V) a post-procedural tri-plane T1 fat-saturated sequence to confirm sclerosant coverage of the lesion. Periprocedural medications typically include steroids, antibiotic prophylaxis, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication. Patients are typically admitted for overnight observation. Conclusion Real-time MRI-guided sclerotherapy for low-flow venous malformations in the head and neck is effective and safe.
How to translate the new hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia guideline to the bedside.

Purpose of reviewHospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia remain significant causes of morbidity, mortality, and financial burden in the United States and around the globe. Although guidelines for the management of patients with these conditions have been available for several
State cyber defense formation and development in conditions of hybrid challenges and threats

The article examines effective organizational and technical countermeasures to hybrid threats, national cyber defense systems in developed countries. It is suggested a list of sufficient components for effective design and development national cyber defense system of Ukraine.
Tibial artery duplex ultrasound-derived peak systolic velocities may be an objective performance measure after above-knee endovascular therapy for arterial stenosis

Abstract Objective The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a well-established measure of distal perfusion in lower extremity ischemia; however, the ABI is of limited value in patients with noncompressible lower extremity arteries. We sought to demonstrate whether duplex ultrasound-determined tibial artery velocities can be used as an alternative to ABI as an objective performance measure after endovascular treatment of above-knee arterial stenosis. Methods Thirty-six patients undergoing above-knee endovascular intervention had preprocedure and postprocedure duplex ultrasound examination within 6 months of intervention. Preprocedure vs postprocedure changes in tibial artery mean peak systolic velocity (PSV; mean of proximal, mid, and distal velocities) were compared with changes in ABI and a reference (control) cohort of 68 patients without peripheral vascular disease. Results Thirty-six patients (41 limbs) had an above-knee endovascular intervention and had preprocedure and postprocedure duplex ultrasound examinations of the ipsilateral extremity including the tibial arteries. Before the procedure, mean tibial artery PSVs in the 36 patients undergoing intervention were outside (below) the 95% confidence intervals for the control patients. In comparing preprocedure and postprocedure PSVs, the mean anterior tibial ( P P P P Conclusions Tibial artery PSVs increase, correlate with an increase in ABI, and fall within or near confidence intervals for normal controls after above-knee endovascular interventions. After endovascular intervention, tibial artery PSVs can supplement ABI as an objective performance measure in patients with and in particular without compressible tibial arteries.
Complex Physical Activities, Outdoor Play, and School Readiness among Preschoolers

High quality educational settings play a crucial role in preparing a child to enter kindergarten, but little work has explored how outdoor play and complex physical activity outside school and childcare settings promote school readiness among preschoolers. To address this gap, the present study explored connections among school readiness with outdoor play and participation in complex physical activity. Parents (N = 107) reported the extent and frequency of time their child spent in outdoor play during a typical week, and what complex activities (e.g., soccer, biking, basketball) the child played over the last year. School readiness was assessed with parent reports on the Preschool Behavior and Emotional Rating Scale. Results showed participating in complex activities significantly moderated the relationship between time in outdoor play with school readiness, with time in outdoor play positively related to school readiness for children who participated in two or less complex activities. For children who participated in three complex activities, time in outdoor play was not related to school readiness. Findings offer support that encouraging both outdoor play and participation in complex physical activities could promote school readiness, particularly when opportunities for outdoor playtime are limited.
Phenology and common garden and reciprocal transplant studies of Polymnia canadensis (Asteraceae), a monocarpic species of the North American Temperate Deciduous Forest

Polymnia canadensis, an herbaceous plant species ofthe North American Temperate Deciduous Forest heretofore reported as beingperennial, is shown to be primarily monocarpic. In common garden experiments,the majority of plants grown from seeds or seedlings collected in Kentucky,Alabama, Virginia, Ohio, and Missouri were monocarpic, but some were dicarpic,tricarpic or polycarpic. Observations in natural populations of P.canadensis suggested that there is variation in the life history ofthis species throughout its geographic range. Anthesis date and height ofplantsat anthesis were significantly different between mesic and dry field sites incentral Kentucky populations, but common garden and reciprocal transplantexperiments showed that these were due mainly to environmental (and not togenetic) effects. The latter was also true for age of maturity and rate ofchange in plant height. Lack of significant site × source interaction forthese characters indicated that plants did not differ in their plasticresponsesbetween sources at each site. Winter annual, biennial, triennial, and dicarpicand tricarpic perennial life histories occurred within populations in bothcommon garden and reciprocal transplant experiments. In the latter experiments,most matured plants were either biennials (most common) or winter annuals(second most common), with the order reversed in the former experiments due toamore benign environment favoring earlier maturity. The extensive phenotypicplasticity displayed by P. canadensis for phenology andlife history enables the species to inhabit a wide range of environments.
A case of Listeria monocytogenes meningitis complicated by Hydrocephalus and Intraventricular hemorrhage: A review of treatment options and outcomes

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive bacillus known to cause various human infections including central nervous system infections. The most common central nervous system manifestations are meningitis and rhomboencephalitis, however rare complications including hydrocephalus and intracerebral hemorrhage can occur and are associated with increased mortality and incidence of lasting neurologic sequelae. The mortality ranges from 17 % to greater than 30 % in patients with neurological involvement [[1], [2], [3]]. Various case reports have studied the differing treatment approaches and outcomes of patients who experienced these complications, and there is still no consensus on optimal treatment approaches. In this paper, we report a case of Listeria meningitis complicated by both acute hydrocephalus and intracerebral hemorrhage and analyze the factors that led to a favorable outcome by reviewing the existing literature.
Pre-Service Teachers' Confidence in Their ISTE Technology-Competency.

As technology is an integral part of modern teaching and learning processes, teacher-candidates need to fully achieve a new set of technology competencies through ongoing and timely supports provid...
THE IMPACT OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE ON ATRIAL FIBRILLATION RECURRENCE AFTER ABLATION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Catheter ablation (CA) has been widely used as an effective therapy for symptomatic patients with drug-refractory atrial fibrillation (AF), but number of factors can influence ablation outcome. Previous studies reported that coronary artery disease (CAD) might be associated with AF recurrence after
PMP: Cost-effective Forced Execution with Probabilistic Memory Pre-planning

Malware is a prominent security threat and exposing malware behavior is a critical challenge. Recent malware often has payload that is only released when certain conditions are satisfied. It is hence difficult to fully disclose the payload by simply executing the malware. In addition, malware samples may be equipped with cloaking techniques such as VM detectors that stop execution once detecting that the malware is being monitored. Forced execution is a highly effective method to penetrate malware self-protection and expose hidden behavior, by forcefully setting certain branch outcomes. However, an existing state-of-the-art forced execution technique X-Force is very heavyweight, requiring tracing individual instructions, reasoning about pointer alias relations on-the-fly, and repairing invalid pointers by on-demand memory allocation. We develop a light-weight and practical forced execution technique. Without losing analysis precision, it avoids tracking individual instructions and on-demand allocation. Under our scheme, a forced execution is very similar to a native one. It features a novel memory pre-planning phase that pre-allocates a large memory buffer, and then initializes the buffer, and variables in the subject binary, with carefully crafted values in a random fashion before the real execution. The pre-planning is designed in such a way that dereferencing an invalid pointer has a very large chance to fall into the pre-allocated region and hence does not cause any exception, and semantically unrelated invalid pointer dereferences highly likely access disjoint (pre-allocated) memory regions, avoiding state corruptions with probabilistic guarantees. Our experiments show that our technique is 84 times faster than X-Force, has 6.5X and 10% fewer false positives and negatives for program dependence detection, respectively, and can expose 98% more malicious behaviors in 400 recent malware samples.
‘The Kindness of Strangers’: Kinship and Intertextuality in Todo sobre mi madre and Una suerte pequeña

In Pedro Almodovar’s 1999 film Todo sobre mi madre and Claudia Pineiro’s 2015 novel Una suerte pequena, female Argentine protagonists encounter strangers who quote to them, ‘I have always depended on the kindness of strangers’ from Tennessee Williams’s 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire. The line serves to offer new forms of kinship and solidarity to Almodovar’s Manuela and Pineiro’s Marile/ Mary, two mothers whose lives are nearly destroyed by the tragic loss of their sons. In both cases, the reading, discussion and/or performance of Streetcar and other texts helps these women to heal from their loss and to create new families of their choosing, less constrained by accidents of birth. Almodovar’s and Pineiro’s uses of intertextuality thus serve to explore what it means to be a woman beyond the heteronormative limits of conventional motherhood.
The Comorbidity-Polypharmacy Score is an Objective and Practical Predictor of Outcomes and Mortality after Vascular Surgery

Background The comorbidity-polypharmacy score (CPPS) was developed to quantify the severity of comorbidities of patients with geriatric trauma. CPPS is the sum of the number of medications and comorbidities, and is thus objective, user-friendly, and potentially adaptable to many clinical situations. We sought to understand if CPPS associates with outcomes and mortality after common vascular surgery procedures. Methods This is a retrospective single-center study. A total of 466 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy, infrainguinal bypass, percutaneous lower extremity revascularization, or endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair at a single medical center were included. CPPS were classified as mild, moderate, severe, and morbid based on scores of 0-7, 8-15, 15-21, and ≥21, respectively. End points were reinterventions, 30-day readmission, and mortality. We used chi-squared tests to analyze differences in categorical variables; Kruskal-Wallis tests to analyze differences in continuous variables; Kaplan-Meier estimation and Cox proportional hazard modeling to examine survival data; and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analyses to assess sensitivity and specificity. Results The mean preoperative CPPS was 14.1 ± 6.1. Higher CPPS were associated with longer hospital and postoperative length of stay (P Conclusions CPPS is a simple and pragmatic clinical tool for quantifying risk of postoperative outcomes and mortality after common vascular surgery procedures. Further investigation is needed to validate the use of CPPS in enhancing existing predictors of patient outcomes and in serving as an adjunctive tool for determining resource allocation and discharge planning in patients who underwent vascular surgery.
Using climatic and biophysical attributes to model the presence and severity of root disease across the U.S. Northern Rocky Mountains

Abstract Root disease fungi are native, soil-borne pathogens that impact forest stand dynamics and productivity through direct tree mortality or reduced yield. Despite being a major contributor of mortality in forests of western North America, particularly in the northern Rocky Mountains in the United States, little is known about the underlying factors that influence root disease occurrence and severity at landscape and broader scales. We used a database with >15,000 geographically-distributed, spatially-referenced root disease assessments from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots from across the US Northern Rocky mountains and high resolution (30 m) climate and soil-water balance grids to examine climatic and biophysical factors associated with presence and severity of root disease. We used a two-stage modeling approach that combined boosted regression-tree models and residual kriging to predict the probability of occurrence and severity of root disease across the area of analysis. A best-fit model explained root disease occurrence moderately well (AUC = 0.77) and included average annual dewpoint temperature, evapotranspiration and climatic water deficit. Root disease occurrence was associated with moist, humid sites subject to low or moderate climatic water deficits. Root disease severity was not well explained by climatic and biophysical factors alone (R2 = 0.19). Residual kriging only marginally improved model fit (R2 = 0.20). We used the fitted models to produce 30 m resolution gridded root disease occurrence and severity maps across the US Forest Service Northern Region for use in broad-scale planning and analysis. Weak spatial autocorrelation at distances beyond 5 km and relatively low accuracy of the severity model suggests that the FIA plot distribution is not suited to predict spatial patterns of root disease severity. Additional factors related to root disease severity, such as vegetation type and site-specific disturbance histories, are likely needed for fine-scale severity predictions.
Rubbing Out Leukemia Stem Cells by Erasing the Eraser

In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Shen et al. (2020) and Wang et al. (2020) independently identify the essential function of m6A demethylase ALKBH5 in maintaining myeloid leukemia stem cells. These studies expand the regulators of the epitranscriptome that are required for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) development.
Does Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance Increase Survival in At-Risk Populations? Patient Selection, Biomarkers, and Barriers

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly morbid and prevalent cancer globally. While high quality evidence for mortality benefit of HCC surveillance is lacking, early detection of HCC is likely beneficial as prognosis is highly correlated with tumor stage. High risk populations, including patients with cirrhosis and subgroups with Hepatitis B, should undergo surveillance with ultrasound ± alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) at 6-month intervals. In addition, emerging data suggest that patients with Hepatitis C cirrhosis who achieve sustained virologic response should continue surveillance. Further research is needed to determine the value of surveillance in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the absence of cirrhosis or with advanced fibrosis of other etiologies. Newer biomarkers and models such as Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of AFP, des-γ-carboxy prothrombin, and the GALAD score are increasingly utilized in the diagnosis and prognostication of HCC. The role of these biomarkers in surveillance is still under investigation but may potentially offer a more practical alternative to traditional image-based surveillance. Despite recommendations from multiple professional society guidelines, many at-risk patients do not receive HCC surveillance due to barriers at the patient, clinician, and health care system levels. Strategies such as implementing patient navigation services, educating clinicians about surveillance guidelines, and creating automated outreach systems, may improve surveillance rates and ultimately reduce morbidity and mortality from HCC.
Bullying Through the Eyes of the Peer Group: Lessons Learned Through Multiple Vantage Points

Various participant roles in bullying were discussed throughout this book. In the conclusion, the authors offer a potential road map for bullying prevention and intervention efforts. The authors highlight defining features of each participant role, and note how this conceptualization of bullying as a group process is consistent with the ecological systems framework. Individual and contextual correlates of the different participant roles are highlighted. The prevalence of bullying roles is addressed, specifically focusing on gender and developmental factors. Several prevention and intervention programs are presented, and suggestions for future research directions on peer group influences are provided.
A Two-Step Bioreactor for Lung Recellularization

Abstract Bioreactors for reseeding of decellularized lung scaffolds have evolved with a wide variety of advancements. These include biomimetic mechanical stimulation, constant nutrient flow, multi-output monitoring, and large mammal scaling. Although dynamic bioreactors are not new to the field of bioengineered lungs, ideal conditions during cell seeding have not been extensively studied or controlled. To address the lack of cell dispersal in traditional seeding methods, we have designed a two-step bioreactor. The first step rotates a seeded lung every 20 minutes at different angles to ensure 20 percent of cells are anchored to a particular location based on the known rate of attachment. The second step involves perfusion culture to ensure nutrient dispersion and cellular growth. Compared to statically seeded lungs followed by conventional perfusion, rotationally seeded lungs followed by perfusion had significantly increased dsDNA content and more uniform cellular distribution. This new bioreactor system will aid in recellularizing the lung and other geometrically complex organs for tissue engineering.
A Statistical Analysis of Drug Seizures and Opioid Overdose Deaths in Ohio from 2014 to 2018

Objective. To examine the association between drug seizures and drug overdose deaths in Ohio from 2014 to 2018. Methods. We use linear regression, ARIMA models, and categorical data analysis to quantify the effect of drug seizure composition and weight on drug overdose deaths, to quantify the lag between drug seizures and overdose deaths, and to compare the weight distributions of drug seizures conducted by different types of law enforcement (national, local, and drug task forces). Results. Drug seizure composition and weight have strong predictive value for drug overdose deaths (F = 27.14, p < 1e-15, R² = .7799). A time series analysis demonstrates no statistically significant lag between drug seizures and overdose deaths or weight. Histograms and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests demonstrate stark differences between seizure weight distributions of different types of law enforcement (p < 1e-7 for each pairwise comparison). Conclusions. Consideration of drug composition and weight can inform law enforcement seizure activity. To save lives, law enforcement should emphasize seizures of low weight drugs that contain fentanyl.
Obstructive sleep apnea in MS and contributions to disability and MRI changes. (P3.355)

Objective: To examine the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in MS and its contributions to disability and MRI changes. Background: Multiple sclerosis is a leading cause of neurological disability in young adults, and comorbidities may influence disability accrual. Highly prevalent in MS, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may contribute to fatigue symptoms and augment disability through brain atrophy, cerebral perfusion changes, and inflammatory cytokine expression. Little information is available about which patients are likely to have high risk OSA and the trajectory of MS in this setting is uncharacterized. Design/Methods: First, as a screen for OSA, 100 MS patients responded to several questionnaires, including two OSA questionnaires (Berlin and STOP-BANG) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Clinical parameters were correlated with questionnaire responses. Second, we examined retrospective data on 79 patients who underwent sleep studies for severe fatigue. We examined clinical and MRI parameters for correlation to sleep study performance. Results: 50% of MS patients were at high risk of OSA by Berlin and STOP-BANG questionnaires. Neck size, BMI, and age of MS onset were significantly higher in patients at high risk for OSA. Only FSS was significantly elevated in high risk patients. EDSS was significantly higher with patients with positive STOP-BANG responses. In patients who underwent sleep studies, 58% were diagnosed with OSA. Annualized relapse rates (ARR) were significantly lower and MS progression more common in OSA patients. While MRI lesion numbers were not significantly correlated with presence of OSA, brain atrophy was more significant in MS patients with OSA. Conclusions: OSA appears to be surprisingly common in MS and may correlate with progression and features of progression, such as low ARR and elevated EDSS and brain atrophy. Identifying and treating OSA in MS may be an important way to treat fatigue but also reduce disability. Study Supported by: none Disclosure: Dr. Sloane has nothing to disclose. Dr. Siddiqui has nothing to disclose.
Examining the role of healthcare access in racial/ethnic disparities in receipt of provider-patient discussions about smoking: A latent class analysis.

Abstract Using insurance as a single indicator of healthcare access in examining the association between race/ethnicity and healthcare encounter-based interventions for smoking may not be adequate. In this study, we assessed the role of healthcare access using multifactorial measures in accounting for racial/ethnic disparities in the receipt of provider-patient discussions, defined as either being asked about smoking or advised to quit smoking by providers. We identified adult current smokers from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey. We first conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) to identify the underlying patterns of healthcare access measured by 13 indicators of healthcare access and utilization. We then used a propensity score - based weighting approach to examine racial/ethnic disparities in receiving provider-patient discussions about smoking or quitting in stratified groups by the distinct healthcare access clusters. Out of the 4134 adult current smokers who visited a doctor or a healthcare provider during the past 12 months, 3265 (79.90%) participants were classified as having high healthcare access and 869 (20.10%) participants as having low healthcare access. Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics had significantly lower odds of being asked about smoking (OR 0.46, 95% CI (0.27–0.77)) and being advised to quit (OR 0.57, 95% CI (0.34–0.97)) in the low access group, but neither association was significant in the high access group. In addition to increasing health insurance coverage, reducing other healthcare access barriers for Hispanics will likely facilitate provider-patient discussion and promote tobacco cessation among Hispanic smokers.
EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.

EHMT2 is the main euchromatic H3K9 methyltransferase. Embryos with zygotic, or maternal mutation in the Ehmt2 gene exhibit variable developmental delay. To understand how EHMT2 prevents variable developmental delay we performed RNA sequencing of mutant and somite stage-matched normal embryos at 8.5–9.5 days of gestation. Using four-way comparisons between delayed and normal embryos we clarified what it takes to be normal and what it takes to develop. We identified differentially expressed genes, for example Hox genes that simply reflected the difference in developmental progression of wild type and the delayed mutant uterus-mate embryos. By comparing wild type and zygotic mutant embryos along the same developmental window we detected a role of EHMT2 in suppressing variation in the transcriptional switches. We identified transcription changes where precise switching during development occurred only in the normal but not in the mutant embryo. At the 6-somite stage, gastrulation-specific genes were not precisely switched off in the Ehmt2−/− zygotic mutant embryos, while genes involved in organ growth, connective tissue development, striated muscle development, muscle differentiation, and cartilage development were not precisely switched on. The Ehmt2mat−/+ maternal mutant embryos displayed high transcriptional variation consistent with their variable survival. Variable derepression of transcripts occurred dominantly in the maternally inherited allele. Transcription was normal in the parental haploinsufficient wild type embryos despite their delay, consistent with their good prospects. Global profiling of transposable elements revealed EHMT2 targeted DNA methylation and suppression at LTR repeats, mostly ERVKs. In Ehmt2−/− embryos, transcription over very long distances initiated from such misregulated ‘driver’ ERVK repeats, encompassing a multitude of misexpressed ‘passenger’ repeats. In summary, EHMT2 reduced transcriptional variation of developmental switch genes and developmentally switching repeat elements at the six-somite stage embryos. These findings establish EHMT2 as a suppressor of transcriptional and developmental variation at the transition between gastrulation and organ specification.
The Preliminary Letter

As most actors, salesmen, and lovers know, first impressions are often the most important. When approaching private foundations or corporations for project funds, the crucial first impression is often created by the preliminary letter. This letter has to be brief and concise, yet sufficiently comprehensive to tell the first program officer who reads it who you are, precisely what you want to do, how much it will cost, and why you believe the addressee will be and should be interested in the proposed activity.
Technicalities and Generalizations

This chapter is largely technical in nature. Its aim in part is to consider in more detail some of the theoretical points raised in Chapter 1, and in part to put these in a setting that allows a more detailed and up-to-date discussion of them in later chapters. A second aim is to introduce some further techniques not discussed in Chapter 1. Some rather straightforward generalizations of the theory are also made. Finally, the statement of the Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection for one gene locus will be given and proved.
Cooperative Techniques Supporting Sensor-Based People-Centric Inferencing

People-centric sensor-based applications targeting mobile device users offer enormous potential. However, learning inference models in this setting is hampered by the lack of labeled training data and appropriate feature inputs. Data features that lead to better classification models are not available at all devices due to device heterogeneity. Even for devices that provide superior data features, models require sufficient training data, perhaps manually labeled by users, before they work well. We propose opportunistic feature vector merging, and the social-network-driven sharing of training data and models between users. Model and training data sharing within social circles combine to reduce the user effort and time involved in collecting training data to attain the maximum classification accuracy possible for a given model, while feature vector merging can enable a higher maximum classification accuracy by enabling better performing models even for more resource-constrained devices. We evaluate our proposed techniques with a significant places classifier that infers and tags locations of importance to a user based on data gathered from cell phones.
Coronary revascularization and adverse events in joint arthroplasty

Background: There is a paucity of literature about outcome of total joint arthroplasty in patients with the history of angioplasty and/or stent or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The present study aimed to evaluate perioperative complications and mortality in these patients. Methods: We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample data from 2002e2011. Using the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Disease, Clinical Modification codes for disorders and procedures, we identified patients with a history of coronary revascularization (angioplasty and/or stent or CABG) and compared the inhospital adverse events in these patients with patients without a history of coronary revascularization. Results: Cardiac complications occurred in 1.06% patients with a history of CABG; 0.95% of patients with a coronary angioplasty and/or stent and 0.82% of the control patients. In the multivariate analysis, neither the history of CABG (P ¼ 0.07) nor the history of angioplasty and/or stenting (P ¼ 0.86) was associated with a higher risk of cardiac complications. However, myocardial infarction occurred in a significantly higher proportion of patients with the history of CABG (0.66%, odds ratio, 1.24, P ¼ 0.001) and coronary angioplasty and/or stenting (0.67%, odds ratio, 1.96, P < 0.001) compared with that in the controls (0.27%). History of coronary revascularization did not increase the risk of respiratory, renal, and wound complications, surgical site infection, and mortality. Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, it appears that there is no increased risk of inhospital mortality and complications (except for myocardial infarction) in patients with a history of coronary artery revascularization undergoing total joint arthroplasty. We also found perioperative cardiac arrhythmia, particularly atrial fibrillation, to be an independent predictor of inhospital adverse events.
H/D Exchange Provides Insights Into The Orientation Of Bacillus Thuringiensis Pi-phospholipase C Binding To Mixed Component Vesicles

Determining the orientation and conformation of peripheral membrane proteins when they are docked to target membranes is difficult. In many cases, flexible regions of the proteins provide the major contacts with the membranes. B. thuringiensis PI-PLC has two discrete binding sites for phospholipids - the active site for binding PI (or substrate competitors such as PMe or PG), and an activator site that is specific for phosphatidylcholine molecules. We have examined H/D exchange of the protein by Mass Spectrometry for the protein binding to 1:1 and 1:9 PG/PC small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs), conditions chosen for tight binding of the protein. In the absence of SUVs most of the protein amide groups are easily exchanged with D2O. However, with SUVs are present, the regions helix B and helix C show a reduced exchange rate consistent with protection by the membrane. This is consistent with how this protein is thought to bind to membranes based on mutagenesis studies. Other interesting observations are that the beta strand E exchanges more slowly after binding to membrane while helix E exhibits faster exchange. To further explore how this enzyme is interacting with lipids, the H/D exchange rates of a constructed covalent dimer (disulfide-linked W242C), which is thought to mimic the membrane-induced dimer structure of w.t. PI-PLC in solution, are also examined with or without lipids present. Further study of a mutant protein, W47A/W242A, with very low affinity for vesicles and which is thought to exist as a dimer in solution, also provides some insights into self association of PI-PLC monomers. Clearly, for peripheral membrane protein dynamics, protein/protein, and protein/membrane interactions, H/D exchange experiments coupled with MS can provide information on structural changes not accessible by other structural methods.
24-Dehydrovitamin D is a potent inhibitor of rat liver microsomal vitamin D-25-hydroxylase

A pathway has been described in the skin for the synthesis of 24-dehydrovitamin D3 (delta 24D3) from 24-dehydroprovitamin D3. The physiologic function of delta 24D3 is unknown, but has been proposed as a potential inhibitor of hepatic vitamin D-25-hydroxylase. We validated an assay for vitamin D-25-hydroxylase in rat hepatic microsomes, using nanomolar amounts of [3H]D3 as substrate, and found that delta 24D3 competitively inhibits vitamin D-25-hydroxylase activity. The apparent Ki was approximately 17 nM, indistinguishable from the Km of approximately 15 nM, suggesting that both delta 24D3 and cholecalciferol have similar affinity for the enzyme. We found no [3H]delta 24D3 in serum or liver extracts after repletion of vitamin D-depleted rats with [3H]vitamin D3 for 4 h or 6 days. A dose of 1 microgram delta 24D3 to vitamin D- and calcium-depleted rats was unable to promote any elevation in the 45Ca transport by everted duodenal sacs or to increase levels of plasma calcium: thus no evidence for biological conversion of delta 24D3 to vitamin D3 was observed. Further studies are needed to determine whether delta 24D3 is released from the skin to the circulation and is taken up by the liver, before physiological relevance can be attributed to this inhibitor.
Monolayer-Sensitive Infrared Imaging of DNA Stripes Using Apertureless Near-Field Microscopy

Monolayer-sensitive chemical imaging with a lateral spatial resolution of approximately 200 nm is demonstrated. Apertureless near-field scanning infrared microscopy was employed to study samples patterned with regions of DNA and hexadecanethiol. The scattering of the infrared radiation was modulated by an oscillating metallic probe, and the scattered signal was demodulated at twice the probe's oscillation frequency. The maps of the near-field signal reveal patterns that are not readily observable in the topographic images, indicating the absence of topography-related artifacts. The decrease in the scattering from areas coated with 24 base pair long DNA molecules is attributed to a phosphate stretching absorption band. The near-field absorption is observed to be larger than the far-field absorption.
Variation in the cytotoxic activities of human dental plaque.

Abstract Saline extracts of pooled dental plaque from donors in Scotland and New York State (NYS) contained the same high and low molecular wt toxic substances as described previously (Levine et al. , 1974b). The high mol. wt substances separated into two toxic components (I and II) which precipitated on saturation with ammonium sulphate and the low one was a single toxic component (III). Component I bound to DEAE-Sephadex at pH 8 and eluted as the ionic strength increased from 0.1 to 0.2 M NaCl. Component II activity was increased by incubating the plaque for 2 h at 37 °C before extracting it. It is concluded that the toxic components in plaque are similar, irrespective of donor age and geographic distribution. Older donors from NYS had significantly more plaque than younger donors, but correspondingly less activity per g wet plaque.
The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness.

An experiment was performed which demonstrated that the attractiveness of a superior person is enhanced if he commits a clumsy blunder; the same blunder tends to decrease the the attractiveness of a mediocre person. We predicted these results by conjecturing that a superior person may be viewed as superhuman and, therefore, distant; a blunder tends to. humanize him and, consequently, increases his attractiveness.