cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Disruption of a Spermatogenic Cell-Specific Mouse Enolase 4 (Eno4) Gene Causes Sperm Structural Defects and Male Infertility

Sperm utilize glycolysis to generate ATP required for motility, and several spermatogenic cell-specific glycolytic isozymes are associated with the fibrous sheath (FS) in the principal piece of the sperm flagellum. We used proteomics and molecular biology approaches to confirm earlier reports that a novel enolase is present in mouse sperm. We then found that a pan-enolase antibody, but not antibodies to ENO2 and ENO3, recognized a protein in the principal piece of the mouse sperm flagellum. Database analyses identified two previously uncharacterized enolase family-like candidate genes, 64306537H0Rik and Gm5506. Northern analysis indicated that 64306537H0Rik (renamed Eno4) was transcribed in testes of mice by Postnatal Day 12. To determine the role of ENO4, we generated mice using embryonic stem cells in which an Eno4 allele was disrupted by a gene trap containing a beta galactosidase (betagal) reporter (Eno4 +/Gt ). Expression of beta-gal occurred in the testis, and male mice homozygous for the gene trap allele (Eno4 Gt/Gt ) were infertile. Epididymal sperm numbers were 2fold lower and sperm motility was reduced substantially inEno4 Gt/Gt mice compared to wild-type mice. Sperm from Eno4 Gt/Gt mice had a coiled flagellum and a disorganized FS. The Gm5506 gene encodes a protein identical to ENO1 and also is transcribed at a low level in testis. We conclude that ENO4 is required for normal assembly of the FS and provides most of the enolase activity in sperm and that Eno1 and/or Gm5506 may encode a minor portion of the enolase activity in sperm. fibrous sheath, gene expression, glycolysis, spermatid, testis
Sex-related resistance to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury is associated with high constitutive ARC expression.

The female sex has been associated with improved myocardial salvage after ischemia and reperfusion (I/R). Estrogen, specifically 17β-estradiol, has been demonstrated to mediate this phenomenon by l...
Advancing tourist gaze research and authenticating the native-visitor: introduction to a special issue honoring work by John Urry

Purpose – This introductory paper aims to offer a rudimentary model that describes the antecedent recipes for creating native-visitors. The paper describes what is unique and valuable about the seven articles that follow in their descriptions and explanations of the behavior of native-tourists. This special issue is to honor the originality and value of the contributions of tourism research’s leading critic, John Urry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a paradigm that includes eight profiles of tourists identified by low/high conjunctions of knowledge, training and authentication of performances of tourism places. The study calls for a normative stance that tourists should develop a sense of obligation to learn before visiting to enrich understanding of what they are seeing and to reduce the negative outcomes of the tourist gaze. The method includes describing the unique and valuable contributions in each of the seven following articles in the issue. Findings – The analysis and outcomes are...
Synchronization over fading dispersive channels

An investigation is reported of an acquisition system for digital communication over fading dispersive channels that is optimum in the maximum-likelihood sense. A performance measure for the synchronizer in the acquisition mode is defined. Upper and lower bounds on the performance measure are derived. The effective bounds on parameters, such as signal-to-noise ratio, pulse width and modulation, number of pulses, spread of the channel, and the size of the resolution cell, on the performance of the synchronizer is investigated. >
The Impact of the NSA Cyber Defense Exercise on the Curriculum at the Air Force Institute of Technology

This paper describes how the curriculum and course format at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has evolved based on our experience with the highly-successful Cyber Defense Exercise (CDX) sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA). Using industry-standard hardware and software, AFIT graduate students designed, built, and operated a robust network infrastructure that survived scans, denial of service attacks, social engineering, viruses, and root kits orchestrated by a team of NSA-sponsored hackers. AFIT's two-quarter graduate-level course format changed this year to provide more hands-on, student-initiated education, which we found to be an effective teaching style for information security courses. This change in course format placed more emphasis on a coordinated team approach to defending the network. In this paper, we explain how the students formed teams and planned their activities and discuss how effective organization and division of labor can successfully thwart cyber attacks
Forecasting Stock-Return Variance: Toward an Understanding of Stochastic Implied Volatilities

We examine the behavior of measured variances from the options market and the underlying stock market. Under the joint hypotheses that markets are informationally efficient and that option prices are explained by a particular asset pricing model, forecasts from time-series models of the stockreturn process should not have predictive content given the market forecast as embodied in option prices. Both in-sample and out-of-sample tests suggest that this hypothesis can be rejected. Using simulations, we show that biases inherent in the procedure we use to imply variances cannot explain this result. Thus, we provide evidence inconsistent with the orthogonality restrictions of option pricing models that assume that variance risk is unpriced. These results also have implicationsfor optimal variance forecast rules.
Upper bounds on aliasing error energy for multidimensional sampling of nonbandlimited signals

We present upper bounds on the 2-norm of the aliasing error in multidimensional Shannon sampling. Our bounds complement the previously known 1-norm upper bounds for the peak aliasing error. The proposed bounds provide a good estimate of the total error energy for any signal, rather than just for certain pathological extremals, as is the case with the 1-norm bounds which, as a result, tend to be too conservative for practical applications. The sampling representation is general, possibly multiband, and not restricted to bandlimited signals. Error bounds are phrased in terms of the energy of signal components that lie outside the assumed band-region. Therefore, they are easy to interpret and compute as is demonstrated for two practical signal classes, namely signals with exponential or polynomial out-of-band decay.
Regular logic fabrics for a via patterned gate array (VPGA)

Standard-cell-based ASIC costs are increasing so rapidly that fewer products have the volume required to justify NRE costs. Consequently, more designs are relying on programmable devices, such as FPGAs, which have inferior power-delay performance. We propose to explore new regular logic fabrics that are customizable by a few via masks to provide implementation simplicity and NRE costs comparable to an FPGA, but with power-delay performance closer to an ASIC. This paper describes the design of lookup tables (LUTs) similar to those used in FPGAs, but restructured for via-patternability and performance. Results demonstrate power-delay performance comparable to complex-function standard cells, but inferior performance compared to simple logic gates. We compare several logic block designs based on our heterogeneous regular logic fabrics with those constructed using standard cells.
Efficient implementation of a planar clock routing with the treatment of obstacles

This paper presents a set of techniques for developing a planar clock routing with the treatment of obstacles in high speed VLSI design. The planar clock routing framework has two key components. The first component employs a cutting-line embedding (CLE) routine algorithm to construct a planar clock tree topology. The routing constructed by CLE contains crossings over the obstacles in the presence of obstacles. Thus, the second component is a planar obstacle-avoiding (POA) routing scheme to clean up those crossings. These two schemes together give a good enhancement in convenient usage and performance to build a planar clock routing.
Automation of workplace lifting hazard assessment for musculoskeletal injury prevention.

Objectives: Existing methods for practically evaluating musculoskeletal exposures such as posture and repetition in workplace settings have limitations. We aimed to automate the estimation of parameters in the revised United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equation, a standard manual observational tool used to evaluate back injury risk related to lifting in workplace settings, using depth camera (Microsoft Kinect) and skeleton algorithm technology. Methods: A large dataset (approximately 22,000 frames, derived from six subjects) of simultaneous lifting and other motions recorded in a laboratory setting using the Kinect (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, United States) and a standard optical motion capture system (Qualysis, Qualysis Motion Capture Systems, Qualysis AB, Sweden) was assembled. Error-correction regression models were developed to improve the accuracy of NIOSH lifting equation parameters estimated from the Kinect skeleton. Kinect-Qualysis errors were modelled using gradient boosted regression trees with a Huber loss function. Models were trained on data from all but one subject and tested on the excluded subject. Finally, models were tested on three lifting trials performed by subjects not involved in the generation of the model-building dataset. Results: Error-correction appears to produce estimates for NIOSH lifting equation parameters that are more accurate than those derived from the Microsoft Kinect algorithm alone. Our error-correction models substantially decreased the variance of parameter errors. In general, the Kinect underestimated parameters, and modelling reduced this bias, particularly for more biased estimates. Use of the raw Kinect skeleton model tended to result in falsely high safe recommended weight limits of loads, whereas error-corrected models gave more conservative, protective estimates. Conclusions: Our results suggest that it may be possible to produce reasonable estimates of posture and temporal elements of tasks such as task frequency in an automated fashion, although these findings should be confirmed in a larger study. Further work is needed to incorporate force assessments and address workplace feasibility challenges. We anticipate that this approach could ultimately be used to perform large-scale musculoskeletal exposure assessment not only for research but also to provide real-time feedback to workers and employers during work method improvement activities and employee training.
Letter Regarding Article by Katzen et al, “Endovascular Repair of Abdominal and Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms”

To the Editor: The comprehensive review of endovascular surgical techniques for repair of abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms by Katzen and colleagues1 provides important information on the current status and future directions of this new, less-invasive technology. In their discussion of the management of descending thoracic aortic aneurysms, the authors reported rates of postoperative paraplegia of …
Application of competition theory to tumour growth: Implications for tumour biology and treatment

To assess critical parameters controlling tumour growth and response to therapy, competition theory models the tumour-host interface as a network of interacting normal and malignant cell populations using coupled, non-linear differential equations. When the equations are analysed under conditions which simulate tumour development, three phases of tumour growth, each with different critical parameters, can be predicted. Transitions between these phases correspond to the initiation, promotion and invasion stages demonstrated in experimental models of carcinogenesis. Critical cellular properties for each transition are predicted including phenomena already demonstrated experimentally such as the linkage of invasive tumour growth with acquisition of angiogenesis. The model also predicts the previously unknown phenomenon of "functional equivalence" in which disparate tumour traits can play identical roles in tumour growth and invasion. This approach allows the diverse but inconsistent properties of transformed cells to be understood according to their specific contribution to tumorigenesis. The models have significant implications for treatment strategies.
Histologic Methods and Interspecies Variations in the Laryngeal Histology of F344/N Rats and B6C3F1 Mice

The relatively high incidence and variety of lesions induced in the upper respiratory tract of rodents by inhalation of xenobiotics has resulted in considerable attention given to the microscopic anatomy of this area. Specific areas of the rodent laryngeal mucosa appear to be more sensitive to inhaled materials and more likely to contain cellular changes in response to injury. These include the epithelium covering the base of the epiglottis, ventral pouch, and the medial surfaces of the vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages. There are few good landmarks for trimming rodent larynges to get consistent and accurate sections through these target areas. We have obtained consistently reproducible results by cutting transversely through the easily palpable cricothyroid notch and embedding the entire larynx anterior to this in paraffin with the cut surface against the face of the block. Multiple sections are cut from the caudal larynx toward the epiglottis, unstained sections examined microscopically for orientation, and sections from target areas selected for staining and histopathologic examination. Routine use of these methods for preparation and microscopic examination of sections of the larynx has revealed some variations in normal laryngeal anatomy between Fischer 344 (F344/N) rats and B6C3F1 mice.
Brain death. Occurs only with destruction of the cerebral hemispheres and the brain stem.

Brain death is the colloquial term used when human death is determined by tests showing global brain destruction or irreversible cessation of global brain functions. Since the original delineation of this concept in 1959, with few exceptions, Western society has evolved a consensus that brain death represents the medical, philosophical, and legal standard of human death. This societal consensus has permitted the statutory recognition of brain death in about 90% of the states in the United States and in many other Western countries. All accepted medical tests to determine brain death and all enacted statutes of brain death utilize the "wholebrain" criterion of death: death is the irreversible cessation of hemispheric and brain-stem neuronal functions. Physicians have constructed batteries of bedside and confirmatory laboratory tests to show that this criterion of death has been satisfied. Tests to demonstrate absence of the brain-stem functions are pivotal to all published batteries of
Myotrophin–κB DNA interaction in the initiation process of cardiac hypertrophy

Abstract To investigate how cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure develop, we isolated and characterized a candidate initiator, the soluble 12-kDa protein myotrophin, from rat and human hearts. Myotrophin stimulates protein synthesis and myocardial cell growth associated with increased levels of hypertrophy marker genes. Recombinant myotrophin from the cloned gene showed structural/functional motifs, including ankyrin repeats and putative phosphorylation sites for protein kinase C (PKC) and casein kinase II. One repeat, homologous with I κB, interacts with rel /NF-κB in vitro. We analyzed the interaction of recombinant myotrophin and nuclear extracts prepared from neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes; gel mobility shift assay showed that myotrophin bound to κB DNA. To define PKC's role in myotrophin-induced myocyte growth, we incubated neonatal rat myocytes (normal and stretch) with specific inhibitors and found that myotrophin inhibits [ 3 H]leucine incorporation into myocytes and different hypertrophic gene expression in neonatal myocytes. Using confocal microscopy, we observed that a basal level of myotrophin was present in both cytoplasm and nucleus under normal conditions, but under cyclic stretch, myotrophin levels became elevated in the nucleus. Myotrophin gene levels were upregulated when myocytes underwent cyclic stretch or were treated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) or interleukin-1β and also when excised beating hearts were exposed to high pressure. Our data showed that the myotrophin–κB interaction was increased with age in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) only. Our data provide evidence that myotrophin–κB DNA interaction may be an important step in initiating cardiac hypertrophy.
Moral panic: From sociological concept to public discourse

This paper examines the nature and extent of news reports using the sociological concept, `moral panic' (MP). Qualitative content analysis reveals that moral panic is commonly used in news reports in the USA, UK, Australia, and other countries, but it is more likely to be compatible with print (e.g. newspaper) formats than television reports. It is also widely used in literary and art reviews, editorials and op-ed pieces, often by social scientists. Use of the concept has increased over the last decade, particularly in news reports as part of an `opposing' voice or the `other side' of articles about deviant behavior, sexual behavior, and drug use. It is suggested that moral panic as `opposition' fits the entertainment news format, and while this sustains its use by writers and familiarity to audience members, it also appears to be associated with certain topics (e.g. sex and drugs), but not others, such as terrorism in the mainstream media. Questions are raised for additional research.
Isolation of urokinase by affinity ultrafiltration

A water-soluble, ligand-bound polymer has been synthesized for the purpose of isolation of urokinase, an important plasminogen activator. The affinity polymer was formed by copolymerizing N-acryloyl-m-aminobenza-midicine and acrylamide in the absence of oxygen. An affinity ultrafiltration process was then developed for isolating urokinase from an artificial solution containing peroxidase and urokinase and from a crude urine source. The process yields were determined to be 86% and 49%, respectively. The recovered urokinase exhibited a specific activity close to that of the highest commercial grade. This article also presents a new technique for assaying urokinase by coupling plasminogen with L-benzoyl arginine-p-nitroanilide (L-BAPNA), an inexpensive chromogenic substrate.
The Association Between Family Meals and Early-Adolescents’ Weight Status Change in the Context of Parental Discipline Practices: The Moderating Roles of Ethnicity and Acculturation

This study examines the interactions among family meals, parental discipline practices, ethnicity, and acculturation on weight status change in a diverse sample of early-adolescents. Data were obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative sample of children who entered kindergarten during 1998–1999. In fifth grade, parents reported on child and household routines. In fifth and eighth grade, children were weighed and measured at school. Above and beyond covariates, less acculturated Hispanic adolescents who ate more family meals and experienced low parental behavioral control in fifth grade were less likely to make a healthy change (γ = −0.15, OR = 0.86, p < 0.05) and more likely to make an unhealthy change (γ = 0.32, OR = 1.38, p < 0.05) in their weight status by eighth grade, when compared to White Non-Hispanic adolescents. The implications of interactions among family meals, parental discipline practices, and healthy weight promotion are discussed in the context of ethnicity and acculturation.
Intimate Partner Violence and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in Women

OBJECTIVE We sought to estimate the association between intimate partner violence, a prevalent psychosocial stressor, and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In 2001, 68,376 Nurses’ Health Study II participants answered questions on physical, sexual, and psychological intimate partner violence in adulthood (age ≥18 years) and reported the years in which any abuse occurred. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the associations between intimate partner violence exposures and incidence of type 2 diabetes from 2001 to 2007. We also estimated effects of duration and time since intimate partner violence on type 2 diabetes incidence. RESULTS Of 68,376 respondents, 64,732 met inclusion criteria at the 2001 baseline; of these, 23% reported lifetime physical intimate partner violence, 11% reported lifetime sexual intimate partner violence, and 8% reported moderate and CONCLUSIONS Physical intimate partner violence is modestly associated with incidence of type 2 diabetes in this population. Severe psychological violence may substantially increase type 2 diabetes risk.
Integrated Design and Management of a Sustainable Data Center

The environmental impact of data centers is significant and is growing rapidly. However, there are many opportunities for greater efficiency through integrated design and management of data center components. To that end, we propose a sustainable data center that replaces conventional services in the physical infrastructures with more environmentally friendly IT services. We have identified five principles for achieving this vision: data center scale lifecycle design, flexible and configurable building blocks, pervasive sensing, knowledge discovery and visualization, and autonomous control. We describe these principles and present specific use cases for their application. Successful implementation of the sustainable data center vision will require multi-disciplinary collaboration across various research and industry communities.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Determining past leaf-out times of New England’s deciduous forests from herbarium specimens

UNLABELLED • PREMISE OF THE STUDY There is great interest in studying leaf-out times of temperate forests because of the importance of leaf-out in controlling ecosystem processes, especially in the face of a changing climate. Remote sensing and modeling, combined with weather records and field observations, are increasing our knowledge of factors affecting variation in leaf-out times. Herbarium specimens represent a potential new source of information to determine whether the variation in leaf-out times observed in recent decades is comparable to longer time frames over past centuries.• METHODS Here we introduce the use of herbarium specimens as a method for studying long-term changes in leaf-out times of deciduous trees. We collected historical leaf-out data for the years 1834-2008 from common deciduous trees in New England using 1599 dated herbarium specimens with young leaves.• KEY RESULTS We found that leaf-out dates are strongly affected by spring temperature, with trees leafing out 2.70 d earlier for each degree C increase in mean April temperature. For each degree C increase in local temperature, trees leafed out 2.06 d earlier. Additionally, the mean response of leaf-out dates across all species and sites over time was 0.4 d earlier per decade. Our results are of comparable magnitude to results from studies using remote sensing and direct field observations.• CONCLUSIONS Across New England, mean leaf-out dates varied geographically in close correspondence with those observed in studies using satellite data. This study demonstrates that herbarium specimens can be a valuable source of data on past leaf-out times of deciduous trees.
Four quasi-Z-Source inverters

In this paper, theoretical results are shown for several novel inverters. These inverters are similar to the Z-source inverters presented in previous works, but have several advantages, including in some combination; lower component ratings, reduced source stress, reduced component count and simplified control strategies. Like the Z-source inverter, these inverters are particularly suited for applications which require a large range of gain, such as in motor controllers or renewable energy. Simulation and experimental results are shown for one topology to verify the analysis. Also, a back-to-back inverter system featuring bidirectionality on both inverters, as well as secondary energy storage with only a single additional switch, is shown.
An Integrated and Parametric Environment for Generation, Selection and Evaluation of New Architectures at a Conceptual Level: Application to the Environmental Control System

As aviation’s environmental impact becomes more and more worrying, designers are looking for innovative and more efficient subsystem architectures. To decrease design cost, the objective is to improve the requirements flow-down as well as their traceability throughout the design process. This work reviews previous work on the matter, and presents a systematic and rigorous methodology that helps the designers to generate, evaluate, compare and test architectures at a conceptual design level. The necessary tools and methods which have been implemented in a single environment are presented and applied to the Environmental Control System (ECS). A new bleed-less and more electric architecture has been developed and its performance has been assessed by a modeling and simulation environment. The latter includes inlet design, engine modification, cabin airflow characterization as well as a weight balance and an economic impact assessment.
A nonperiodic boundary approach for computation of compressible viscous flows in advanced turbine cascades

A two-dimensional flow solver is presented for advanced turbine cascades, with high turning, with or without embedded shocks. Options allow for solution of the steady or unsteady Euler, thin layer or the full Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations. A cellcentered finite volume formulation with variable artificial viscosity is used for viscous flows. The time stepping is achieved by a hybrid multi-stage RungeKutta scheme, and the solution is accelerated using local time stepping, enthalpy damping and implicit residual averaging. For turbine cascades with high stagger, conventional periodic C-type grids are highly skewed, leading to u considerable solution degradation. A nonperiodic boundary grid has been used to overcome this problem; In this work, grid generation and the treatment of the nonperiodic boundary is discussed. Results are presented for two-dimensional flow in two transonic turbine cascades. Good agreement with the experimental data is found. Nomenclature P Density u,v Velocity Components e Total Energy h Enthalpy P Pressure k Thermal Conductivity Y Ratio of Specific Heats X ? Y Cartesian Coordinates t Time O,T Stress U, Molecular Viscositv * Assistant Professor, Director, Computational Fluid * Graduate Research Assistant Graduate Student Dynamics Laboratory 1 ut Turbulent Viscosity A Bulk Viscosity T Temperature F Inviscid Flux Vector G Viscous Flux Vector D Artificial Dissipation Flux INTRODUCTION The application of CFD to turbomachinery design has evolved rapidly in recent years. The need for increased efficiency coupled with weight reduction has driven the investigation of specific details of complex flow fields. As core engine pressure and temperature increases to insure high propulsive efficiency and as engine overall length is decreased to reduce weight, stage loading in the compressor and turbine sections must increase. The work output of the high and low pressure turbine sections must'also increase. This calls for turbine rotor blades with high degrees of turning. This high turning leads to a large pan of the blade being uncovered. Additionally the exit flow could be supersonic with shock waves forming near the pressure surface trailing edge and intersecting with the suction surface leading to complex reflections and possible flow separation. Numerical schemes attempting to model flowfields in turbomachinery should be capable of predicting these flow phenomena accurately. In the past few years considerable work has been done on the development of numerical schemes for simulation of cascade flows with success, Inviscid flow solvers' have advanced considerably and are now used routinely for preliminary design work. However an inviscid analysis has limited value due to its inability to predict the total pressure loss as well as ambiguity when dealing with round trailing edges. One approach to alleviating some of these limitations is the use 'of an viscous-inviscid interaction technique. This approach has been used successfully by Micklow' for analyzing high subsonic and transonic compressor
Rheological Performance of TiO_2/Transparent Nylon/Epoxy Resin Composite

Some operational steps of making transparent nylon/epoxy resin/TiO2 composite by the method of melt mixing,dispersing TiO2 into the epoxy resin through ultrasonic wave,and then melting down the samples with transparent nylon under a high temperature.The rheological performance was determined under the temperatures of 230℃,240℃,250℃,260℃,then compared with the rheological performance of transparent nylon,epoxy resin as well as epoxy/TiO2 resin composites under the same temperatures.The discussion was stressed on the mechanism for the transformation of rheological performance.
White Elephants on Campus: The Decline of the University Chapel in America

This slim, highly readable monograph explores the paradoxical situation at a number of elite American universities in the first half of the twentieth century: just as student religious practice was...
A ROBOT-MANAGED LABORATORY OF THE FUTURE

This chapter discusses the way discrete event system specification (DEVS)-Scheme environment implements a model base for robot management of space-borne laboratories. The models show how the controlled-models and forward-models classes combine to help specify multi-level organizations of autonomous, mobile agents. The design of a simulation environment is considered for the study of semi-autonomous robot architectures that manage chemical, or similar, laboratories aboard a space station. Laboratory management includes servicing and calibration of equipment, set-up of experiments to external specifications, monitoring and control of experiments in progress, measurement of results, and finally recording and analyzing of data. As experience in space accumulates, approaches and instrumentation are likely to undergo continual modification, enhancement, and replacement. Thus, robots for managing such equipment must be sufficiently intelligent and flexible so that constantly changing environments can be accommodated. The chapter also presents the organizational aspects of the multi-robot system. This requires representing how robots can communicate and coordinate their activities.
CATERED CONVENIENCE FOODS–PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION PROBLEMS AND MICROBIOLOGICAL STANDARDS1

Microbiological standards for foods are being proposed as a means to control transmission of foodborne disease and as a means to assure maintenance of good sanitary practices during their processing, distribution, and preparation for service. The incidence of foodborne disease in the United States remains high and the microorganisms most often incriminated are Clostridium perfringens, toxigenic staphylococci, salmonellae, and shigellae. Foods most frequently involved include poultry, beef, pork, bakery products, and shellfish, and the most frequent sites at which the foods involved in outbreaks are mishandled are food service establishments and the home. Microbiological guidelines are a part of the control and enforcement procedures of Federal, State, and local regulatory agencies. They are applied to factory processed foods and have contributed to the excellent safety record of such foods. Similar guidelines and intensified control and regulatory programs are required for restaurant prepared meals, machi...
Protein Cysteinyl-S-Nitrosylation: Analysis and Quantification

The thiol moiety of cysteine residues can undergo a number of biologic modifications including oxidation, sulfenylation, nitrosylation, persulfidation, metalation, and other modifications. These modifications can control biological function, including gain as well as loss of function. Herein, we focus attention on the proteomic analysis of S-nitrosylation in health and disease. We describe a novel quantitative approach that combines accurate, sensitive fluorescence modification of cysteinyl-S-nitrosylation that leaves electrophoretic mobility unaffected (SNOFlo), and introduce unique concepts for measuring changes in S-nitrosylation status relative to protein abundance. We present several studies where suitability of this approach for investigating endogenous S-nitrosylation is addressed.
The “Tweet Politics” of President Trump

This study explores how U.S. President Donald Trump employs Twitter as a strategic instrument of power politics to disseminate his right-wing populist discourse. Applying the discourse-historical approach to critical discourse analysis, this article analyzes the meaning and function of Trump’s discursive strategies on Twitter. The data consists of over 200 tweets collected from his personal account between his inauguration on January 20, 2017 and his first address to Congress on February 28, 2017. The findings show how Trump uses an informal, direct, and provoking communication style to construct and reinforce the concept of a homogeneous people and a homeland threatened by the dangerous other. Moreover, Trump employs positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation to further his agenda via social media. This study demonstrates how his top-down use of Twitter may lead to the normalization of right-wing populist discourses, and thus aims to contribute to the understanding of right-wing populist discourse online.
Identification of aggregates in therapeutic formulations of recombinant full‐length factor VIII products by sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation

Essentials Factor VIII inhibitors are the most serious complication in patients with hemophilia A. Aggregates in biopharmaceutical products are an immunogenic risk factor. Aggregates were identified in recombinant full-length factor VIII products. Aggregates in recombinant factor VIII products are identified by analytical ultracentrifugation. SUMMARY Background The development of inhibitory anti-factor VIII antibodies is the most serious complication in the management of patients with hemophilia A. Studies have suggested that recombinant full-length FVIII is more immunogenic than plasma-derived FVIII, and that, among recombinant FVIII products, Kogenate is more immunogenic than Advate. Aggregates in biopharmaceutical products are considered a risk factor for the development of anti-drug antibodies. Objective To evaluate recombinant full-length FVIII products for the presence of aggregates. Methods Advate, Helixate and Kogenate were reconstituted to their therapeutic formulations, and subjected to sedimentation velocity (SV) analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC). Additionally, Advate and Kogenate were concentrated and subjected to buffer exchange by ultrafiltration to remove viscous cosolvents for the purpose of measuring s20,w values and molecular weights. Results The major component of all three products was a population of ~7.5 S heterodimers with a weight-average molecular weight of ~230 kDa. Helixate and Kogenate contained aggregates ranging from 12 S to at least 100 S, representing ≈ 20% of the protein mass. Aggregates greater than 12 S represented < 3% of the protein mass in Advate. An approximately 10.5 S aggregate, possibly representing a dimer of heterodimers, was identified in buffer-exchanged Advate and Kogenate. SV AUC analysis of a plasma-derived FVIII product was confounded by the presence of von Willebrand factor in molar excess over FVIII. Conclusions Aggregate formation has been identified in recombinant full-length FVIII products, and is more extensive in Helixate and Kogenate than in Advate. SV AUC is an important method for characterizing FVIII products.
Bayesian multi-view models for member-job matching and personalized skill recommendations

Inefficiencies in the labor market such as friction in matching members to jobs and the existence of skill gaps in various sectors of the economy are considered to be major problems facing economies today. The central premise of our work is that increasing the productivity of a member of the workforce (and thereby of the economy as a whole) crucially depends on identifying and recommending skills whose acquisition will yield the highest utility gains for that member. To this end, we develop novel unsupervised Bayesian multi-view models BayesMatch and NpBayesMatch which can match members to other similar members as well as relevant jobs using shared features. The matching step is followed by a skill recommendation step SkillR which makes demand-based skill recommendations to members. Our extensive quantitative evaluation using a rich dataset comprised of member profiles and job postings from LinkedIn suggests that skill recommendations made by our algorithm are highly correlated with skills demanded in heldout future jobs compared to those made by traditional collaborative filtering algorithms that do not utilize information about skill demand. This indicates that either members of the workforce do not have skills demanded by jobs or do not have enough information about which are the best skills to signal for competing in the labor market.
Radiotherapy for inoperable Merkel cell carcinoma: a systematic review and pooled analysis.

Background: Cumulative data on radiation monotherapy for Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is lacking. Objective: We sought to synthesize all available data on treatment outcomes for radiation monotherapy for inoperable stage I-III MCC. Methods: We performed a systematic review of the current literature. Articles published in English in the PUBMED database up to July 29, 2016 were evaluated. Results: Eight case reports, 4 case series, and 6 retrospective studies, yielding 68 patients, were included in our analysis. Of the 24 stage I/II patients treated with local irradiation, 6 (25%) relapsed and 1 (4%) died from MCC. Of the 24 stage I/II patients treated with local and regional nodal irradiation, 5 (21%) relapsed and 2 (8%) died from MCC. Of the 20 stage III patients treated with local and regional nodal irradiation, 12 (60%) relapsed and 7 (35%) died from MCC. Conclusions: Radiation monotherapy appears to be a reasonable treatment modality for patients with inoperable stage I-III MCC. Further investigation with prospective studies is needed to draw definitive conclusions.
Detecting amplicons of loop-mediated isothermal amplification

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays are used to detect diverse pathogens. Initially, LAMP amplicons were detected using electrophoresis; later, real-time monitoring based on turbidity was developed to overcome the problem of contamination with environmental DNA. Recently, real-time monitoring of fluorescence signals using a quenching primer and probe has improved the reliability of amplification signals. Here, methods of detecting LAMP amplicons are reviewed.
Artorias: IoT Security Testing Framework

Products that are connected and controlled remotely via the Internet are becoming more prevalent, and as a result, homes and businesses have ever increasing attack surfaces on their networks. To raise the standard of security, companies need more ways to automate testing of the most commonly found issues with IoT devices against their products. The creation of an automated security testing framework, such as Artorias, allows companies to automate the process of finding easy to identify problems, saving time for more advanced and manual processes of security and functional testing on a product. To show the framework's stability and reliability, things such as proper coding standards should be adhered to, proper management of the project should be present, and unit-tests or code coverage of the framework should be created and maintained. This ongoing project bridges together the principles of security and proper planning and development of a larger programming effort. In this paper, we introduce the IoT Security Testing Framework Artorias, and present an extensible framework that interested research community members can extend for more coverage on privacy and security issues of IoT devices.
Information needs across the family planning continuum: A survey of women with chronic autoimmune inflammatory conditions.

Abstract Objective This study assessed the information needs of women with chronic autoimmune inflammatory conditions across the pregnancy continuum. Methods We conducted a web-based survey with women about information needs related to family planning. Eligible participants were female, aged 18–44, had a diagnosis of a chronic inflammatory condition, and were at one of three pregnancy stages (planning, currently pregnant, or postpartum). Results The survey yielded 209 responses. Respondents had high levels of information needs and were active information seekers. Many respondents reported difficulty finding the information they need. Over half (56.9%) reported receiving conflicting information from different doctors, and a majority of those respondents reported doing their own research. Respondents expressed the greatest interest in resources that facilitated connections to other women and their experiences (87.4%). Pregnancy stage was significantly associated with information needs and preferences; respondents in the planning stage of pregnancy had higher information needs, reported more dissatisfaction with communication with doctors, and were less connected to pregnancy resources. Practice implications Both providers and health/advocacy organizations have a role in improving information around this topic, such as developing and disseminating resources tailored to pregnancy status and supporting patient-centered communication around family planning.
What Do Your Patients Think of You? An Analysis of 84 230 Physician Review Website Reviews in Ophthalmology.

Abstract Physician review websites allow patients to share experiences with different providers. We analyzed 84,230 reviews on ophthalmologists, and found that increased wait times, history of malpractice, and incomplete profiles correlated with lower reviews. Physician review websites (PRWs) are ushering in a new era of transparency in the healthcare system allowing consumers to view patient ratings and evaluations of physicians to guide their choice. Although these ratings do not always correlate with quality of care,1 patients are willing to wait longer to see physicians with higher online ratings.2 The most trafficked physician review websites include HealthGrades, Vitals, ZocDoc, and RateMDs. PRWs have been analyzed in other medical specialties,3 including oculoplastic surgeons in the field of ophthalmology.4 The purpose of this study was to investigate how patients rate all ophthalmologists online by analyzing reviews on two of the most popular PRWs: HealthGrades and Vitals. We wanted to identify which variables are associated with outlier scores and hypothesized reviews would be generally positive. We received IRB approval for this study.
Dissociating STAT4 and STAT5 Signaling Inhibitory Functions of SOCS3: Effects on CD8 T Cell Responses

Cytokines are critical for guiding the differentiation of T lymphocytes to perform specialized tasks in the immune response. Developing strategies to manipulate cytokine-signaling pathways holds promise to program T cell differentiation toward the most therapeutically useful direction. Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins are attractive targets, as they effectively inhibit undesirable cytokine signaling. However, these proteins target multiple signaling pathways, some of which we may need to remain uninhibited. SOCS3 inhibits IL-12 signaling but also inhibits the IL-2-signaling pathway. In this study, we use computational protein design based on SOCS3 and JAK crystal structures to engineer a mutant SOCS3 with altered specificity. We generated a mutant SOCS3 designed to ablate interactions with JAK1 but maintain interactions with JAK2. We show that this mutant does indeed ablate JAK1 inhibition, although, unexpectedly, it still coimmunoprecipitates with JAK1 and does so to a greater extent than with JAK2. When expressed in CD8 T cells, mutant SOCS3 preserved inhibition of JAK2-dependent STAT4 phosphorylation following IL-12 treatment. However, inhibition of STAT phosphorylation was ablated following stimulation with JAK1-dependent cytokines IL-2, IFN-α, and IL-21. Wild-type SOCS3 inhibited CD8 T cell expansion in vivo and induced a memory precursor phenotype. In vivo T cell expansion was restored by expression of the mutant SOCS3, and this also reverted the phenotype toward effector T cell differentiation. These data show that SOCS proteins can be engineered to fine-tune their specificity, and this can exert important changes to T cell biology.
Integration of specialty palliative care in a phase I ovarian cancer population.

75Background: ASCO guidelines recommend patients with advanced cancer receive early integrated specialty palliative care based on evidence of multiple clinical benefits. To our knowledge, there is ...
Current management and novel approaches to the management of follicular lymphoma

Fortunately, most patients with advanced-stage follicular lymphoma will enjoy prolonged overall survival and can be managed with nonintensive systemic therapy. However, the determination of the timing of initiation of therapy and which treatment should be used remains challenging in the modern era. While most patients who complete induction therapy will remain in remission for several years and can expect survival to be similar to age-matched controls, up to 20% of patients with follicular lymphoma will experience relapse within 24 months, portending a poor prognosis and inferior survival. In this chapter, we will review the utility of watchful waiting in patients with low tumor burden, current approaches to induction therapy, and the potential use of post-induction treatments including rituximab maintenance. We will discuss current investigations designed to explore novel therapies, improve outcomes, and limit toxicities. We will discuss long-term impacts of treatment, including the development of secondary malignancies, which is critical in this disease that is associated with a prolonged survival.