cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole induced circulatory shock in a human immunodeficiency virus uninfected patient: a case report and review

Severe systemic reactions resembling septic shock have been described following trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) administration. Nearly all cases described in the literature occurred in HIV-infected patients. We present a 42-year-old woman with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) twice with fever and circulatory shock after taking a dose of TMP-SMX 800–160 mg. She had no respiratory distress, urticarial rash or eosinophilia on presentation. Infectious workup during both admissions was negative and treatment with antibiotics, steroids and vasopressors was de-escalated with clinical improvement. She was found to be HIV negative, however, labs revealed a low CD4+ count. TMP-SMX can rarely result in a severe, non-anaphylactic circulatory shock; if initially unrecognized, patients may undergo repeat drug exposure with an associated high morbidity risk. While more commonly reported in HIV individuals, this case demonstrates that TMP-SMX related circulatory shock can occur in a HIV negative patient.
Designing for Ambient UX: Case Study of a Dynamic Lighting System for a Work Space

The research aims at proposing and validating a framework for supporting the design for user experience in interactive spaces (Ambient UX). It suggests that dynamic changes in interactive spaces should be designed focusing on their effects on three levels of the user experience: physical wellbeing, meanings, and social relations. Validation occurred through a field study performed in a work environment, where a dynamic lighting system was designed and installed. Preliminary results validate the relevance of the three levels, thus laying the ground for further research and discussion.
Biomimetic spike representation for the encoding of sonar signals

Biosonar echoes received by bats in their natural habitats are short, highly time-variant acoustic waveforms. Because of these signals properties, the way in which the bats' auditory nerve represents the echoes could be a model for how sparse neural time-code can capture salient signal features. Here, the spike-encoding of natural echoes has been studied based on a large data set containing about 220 00 echoes that were collected by hand-carrying a biomimetic robotic sonar head through forest environments. The sonar head was equipped with flexible noseleaf and pinna shapes that could deform during pulse emission/echo reception in a similar fashion to what horseshoe bats do. This peripheral dynamics was turned on for half of the recoded echoes and turned off for the other half. The echo waveforms were transformed into spike trains using two spike-generation models, each with different levels of complexity: The simplest version was a “leaky integrate-and-fire model"; in the more complex version, a response kernels was added to model the refractory behavior of the neurons. The input to the spike generation models were the outputs of three different basiliar membrane models of varying complexity levels. The coding capacity of the spike trains has been evaluated using information-theoretic methods.
Abstract 1029: Metastatic cancer cells activate endothelial RhoA-ROCK pathway for trans-endothelial migration

Metastasis is the process through which tumor cells disseminate from the primary tumor and colonize in distant parts of the body. Two of the steps in the metastatic process are the trans-migration of cancer cells through the endothelial lining of blood and lymphatic vessels, during entrance (intravasation) and exit (extravasation) from the vascular system. We and others have shown that the endothelial RhoA pathway plays important role in endothelial permeability. Translating these findings in the metastasis context we aim to explore the role of endothelial RhoA signaling pathway on cancer cell trans-endothelial migration and metastasis. In vitro, we have established a quantifiable, highly reproducible, transwell-based, two-cell co-culture model of trans-endothelial migration, where fluorescently-labeled cancer cells transmigrate through an endothelial monolayer. Pharmacological and molecular biology approaches were incorporated to dissect the role of endothelial RhoA signaling pathway. Primary and immortalized endothelial cells were used and cancer cells of both mouse and human origin were tested. In all cases, conditioned media from the cancer cells activated endothelial RhoA. Blockade of the RhoA pathway inhibited cancer cell trans-endothelial migration. In vivo, syngeneic and human cancer cell lines were tested in tail-vein and intra-cardiac models of experimental metastasis. We observed decreased lung metastatic nodules in endothelial-specific RhoA-deficient mice, compared to the littermate controls. Treatment with a clinically-relevant inhibitor of the RhoA pathway, Fasudil, also decreased the metastatic colonization of both human and cancer cells. The above findings demonstrate that the endothelial RhoA pathway has a pivotal role on cancer cell trans-endothelial migration. Citation Format: Md Sanaullah Sajib, Fatema Tuz Zahra, Jee Hyun Park, Paul Tullar, Sanjay K. Srivastava, Ulrich Bickel, Constantinos M Mikelis. Metastatic cancer cells activate endothelial RhoA-ROCK pathway for trans-endothelial migration [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1029.
Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Odontocetes: Concluding Remarks

The odontocetes—especially the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and delphinids (family Delphinidae)—have been the subjects of much attention by ancient to modern cultures, exemplified well by Herman Melville’s writings of the 1850s. Most odontocetes have multilayered sophisticated societies, probably relying much on living together for several decades, knowing each other well, and remembering the past to unknown degree. Odontocete schooling has similarities to moving terrestrial ungulate herds, and perhaps even more similarities to three-dimensional flocking of birds and schooling of fishes. As mammals, they have the disadvantage of needing to stop feeding and other activities to regularly come to the surface to breathe, and the advantages of echolocation and large brains. It is possible but unproven that dolphins can learn about each other to some degree by echolocating into each other. Large brains and long lives make cultural ways particularly possible, but culture can be or become maladaptive if, for example, a particular way of feeding is no longer efficient but is not abandoned. There is evidence especially from captivity that individuals of a species—just as in humans—have vastly different capabilities, but this aspect of individuality has not been explored in detail in nature. Odontocetes are being impacted by humans, often but not always in detrimental ways. We strive for a greater understanding of them, our impacts on them, and their relationships and impacts on us.
Transplantation: Immunologic Principles and Pharmacologic Agents

The transplantation of solid organs to repair or restore bodily function has always been a dream of humans since time immemorial. During the last century, the understanding of the mechanisms by which the immune system mediates organ rejection and the discovery of a wide spectrum of immunosuppressive agents has turned this ancient dream of organ replacement into a modern-day reality. Transplantation is now a routine medical procedure that is used to save lives throughout the world. In this chapter, we will discuss the immunological basis of transplantation, including solid organ transplantation (SOT) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Furthermore, we will examine the immune mechanisms involved in transplant rejection and graft versus host disease (GVHD). This includes understanding the principles of hyperacute rejection, acute rejection, chronic rejection, and acute and chronic GVHD. The role of HLA molecules in mediating the success or failure of transplantation will be discussed extensively. In the second half of the chapter, we will explore the pharmacologic action of various immunosuppressive drugs used to maintain graft survival during SOT and prevent the development of GVHD in HSCT recipients. This will include drugs that are used in both induction and maintenance regimens, such as drugs inducing leukocyte depletion, glucocorticoids, calcineurin inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, T cell blockers, costimulation blockers, and anti-proliferative agents. Lastly, in the bench to bedside section, we will follow the discovery and development of cyclosporine and discuss its role in initiating the modern era of successful transplantation.
Flexible open-source automation for robotic bioengineering

INTRODUCTION Liquid handling robots have become a biotechnology staple1,2, allowing laborious or repetitive protocols to be executed in high-throughput. However, software narrowly designed to automate traditional hand-pipetting protocols often struggles to harness the full capabilities of robotic manipulation. Here we present Pyhamilton, an open-source Python package that eliminates these constraints, enabling experiments that could never be done by hand. We used Pyhamilton to double the speed of automated bacterial assays over current software and execute complex pipetting patterns to simulate population dynamics. Next, we incorporated feedback-control to maintain hundreds of remotely monitored bacterial cultures in log-phase growth without user intervention. Finally, we applied these capabilities to comprehensively optimize bioreactor protein production by maintaining and monitoring fluorescent protein expression of nearly 500 different continuous cultures to explore the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus fitness landscape. Our results demonstrate Pyhamilton’s empowerment of existing hardware to new applications ranging from biomanufacturing to fundamental biology.
[ 18 F]Fluciclovine Positron Emission Tomography/Computerized Tomography for Preoperative Staging in Patients with Intermediate to High Risk Primary Prostate Cancer.

Purpose:Accurate preoperative staging of prostate cancer is essential for treatment planning. Conventional imaging is limited in detection of metastases. Our primary aim was to determine if [18F]fl...
A Posthospitalization Home Visit Curriculum for Pediatric Patients.

Introduction Home visits allow physicians to develop a deeper understanding of patients' homes and community, enhance physician-patient connectedness, and improve physician treatment plans for pati...
Approximate Submodularity and Its Implications in Discrete Optimization

Submodularity, a discrete analog of convexity, is a key property in discrete optimization that features in the construction of valid inequalities and analysis of the greedy algorithm. In this paper, we broaden the approximate submodularity literature, which so far has largely focused on variants of greedy algorithms and iterative approaches. We define metrics that quantify approximate submodularity and use these metrics to derive properties about approximate submodularity preservation and extensions of set functions. We show that previous analyses of mixed-integer sets, such as the submodular knapsack polytope, can be extended to the approximate submodularity setting. In addition, we demonstrate that greedy algorithm bounds based on our notions of approximate submodularity are competitive with those in the literature, which we illustrate using a generalization of the uncapacitated facility location problem.
Varying coefficient frailty models with applications in single molecular experiments

Motivated by an analysis of single molecular experiments in the study of T-cell signaling, a new model called varying coefficient frailty model with local linear estimation is proposed. Frailty models have been extensively studied, but extensions to nonconstant coefficients are limited to spline-based methods that tend to produce estimation bias near the boundary. To address this problem, we introduce a local polynomial kernel smoothing technique with a modified expectation-maximization algorithm to estimate the unknown parameters. Theoretical properties of the estimators, including their unbiased property near the boundary, are derived along with discussions on the asymptotic bias-variance trade-off. The finite sample performance is examined by simulation studies, and comparisons with existing spline-based approaches are conducted to show the potential advantages of the proposed approach. The proposed method is implemented for the analysis of T-cell signaling. The fitted varying coefficient model provides a rigorous quantification of an early and rapid impact on T-cell signaling from the accumulation of bond lifetime, which can shed new light on the fundamental understanding of how T cells initiate immune responses.
Molecular and cellular mechanisms in recurrent glioblastoma chemoresistance

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal form of brain cancer. To date, no therapy exists to save patients from this deadly disease. Even though most of the patients subjected to surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy undergo remission, the tumor always recurs, leading to death in 15 months from diagnosis. Besides the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which represents a first-line shield from therapeutic molecules, GBM exploits a plethora of extracellular, cellular, and molecular weapons to escape therapy, either by hindering the drug uptake or by overriding its toxic effect. GBM stem cells (GSCs) are not only the hub of tumor initiation but also the immortal fuel of chemoresistance, owing to their innate and acquired molecular equipment. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms responsible for GSC chemoresistance have attracted the interest of scientists for their potential therapeutic applications. The scenario, however, appears very complex, since chemoresistance is not only attributable to GSCs, but also to other cellular mechanisms, such as the transformation of proneural and endothelial cells into mesenchymal stem cells. Moreover, the involved molecular mechanisms foresee the expression of efflux transporters, the activation of DNA repair mechanisms (such as O6-methylguanine-DNA methyl-transferase, base excision repair, mismatch repair), metabolic switching, autophagy, and depends on the expression of several genes. On the other hand, a pivotal role is played by extracellular mechanisms, involving the BBB, tumor microenvironment, and immunologic resistance.
Renewed Purposes for Social Studies Teacher Preparation: An Analysis of Teacher Self-Efficacy and Initial Teacher Education

Using data from TALIS 2018, this study analyzed the relationship of U.S. social studies teachers’ initial teacher education (ITE) and their self-efficacy, with an emphasis on the newly added construct of multicultural teacher self-efficacy. Results indicated that content and pedagogy training is present in the vast majority of ITE programs that U.S. social studies teachers have attended; however, over one quarter of participants reported no training in teaching in a multilingual or multicultural setting during their ITE. Social studies teachers were more self-efficacious about instruction and classroom management than they were about student engagement and teaching in multicultural classrooms. All components of self-efficacy were significantly correlated with each other; however, student engagement, instruction, and classroom management are more highly correlated than self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms. Regression analyses revealed an association between ITE and self-efficacy; all four components of self-efficacy were significantly associated with the predictor variables. Recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.
Joint Modeling of RNAseq and Radiomics Data for Glioma Molecular Characterization and Prediction.

RNA sequencing (RNAseq) is a recent technology that profiles gene expression by measuring the relative frequency of the RNAseq reads. RNAseq read counts data is increasingly used in oncologic care and while radiology features (radiomics) have also been gaining utility in radiology practice such as disease diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment planning. However, contemporary literature lacks appropriate RNA-radiomics (henceforth, radiogenomics ) joint modeling where RNAseq distribution is adaptive and also preserves the nature of RNAseq read counts data for glioma grading and prediction. The Negative Binomial (NB) distribution may be useful to model RNAseq read counts data that addresses potential shortcomings. In this study, we propose a novel radiogenomics-NB model for glioma grading and prediction. Our radiogenomics-NB model is developed based on differentially expressed RNAseq and selected radiomics/volumetric features which characterize tumor volume and sub-regions. The NB distribution is fitted to RNAseq counts data, and a log-linear regression model is assumed to link between the estimated NB mean and radiomics. Three radiogenomics-NB molecular mutation models (e.g., IDH mutation, 1p/19q codeletion, and ATRX mutation) are investigated. Additionally, we explore gender-specific effects on the radiogenomics-NB models. Finally, we compare the performance of the proposed three mutation prediction radiogenomics-NB models with different well-known methods in the literature: Negative Binomial Linear Discriminant Analysis (NBLDA), differentially expressed RNAseq with Random Forest (RF-genomics), radiomics and differentially expressed RNAseq with Random Forest (RF-radiogenomics), and Voom-based count transformation combined with the nearest shrinkage classifier (VoomNSC). Our analysis shows that the proposed radiogenomics-NB model significantly outperforms (ANOVA test, p < 0.05) for prediction of IDH and ATRX mutations and offers similar performance for prediction of 1p/19q codeletion, when compared to the competing models in the literature, respectively.
Distorted and Diminished Tort Claims for Women

Childbirth is distinctly characterized in tort law by the literal emergence of a potential putative plaintiff. This Article seeks to position the birthing woman — distinct from the pregnant woman or the parent — squarely within the negligence framework and, in doing so, to challenge prevailing assumptions dominating obstetric medical decision-making. The existence of two patients and two putative plaintiffs is unique to childbirth, yet largely unexamined in tort. This Article examines how the dominant focus on fetal harms in modern childbirth overshadows the birthing woman in tort and distorts the normative dualities of childbirth.While theoretically childbirth falls within a traditional negligence framework, unique dualities dominate the tort framework when applied to birthing malpractice cases. First, absent extenuating circumstances, the doctor and the woman make birthing decisions as dual actors with the woman normatively retaining primacy in medical decision-making. Second, the doctor owes a duty to both the birthing woman and the fetus in utero. Both birthing women and the children who suffer birthing injuries can separately bring tort claims against the physician(s), with some states extending liability through to when an in utero patient reaches the age of majority.Birthing women rarely sue for their own physical harms resulting form obstetric malpractice, while fetal harms are frequent, emotional, and yield huge damage verdicts. This Article concludes that because the fetus has become the dominant patient in childbirth and the far riskier putative plaintiff in modern obstetric malpractice cases, this reality diminishes and subordinates the rights and remedies of birthing woman as patients and plaintiffs in problematic ways. This fetal harms focus has a pervasive and multi-layered impact. It distorts the standard of care that doctors distinctly owe to both the woman and the fetus. It tilts the dualities of childbirth toward the fetus. It valorizes medical judgments in response to uncertainty in childbirth and villainizes maternal responses that do not conform to an essentialized, self-sacrificial, and historically myopic view of childbirth.Obstetric malpractice cases further reveal fetal-focused consequentialist decision-making whereby, when the child is born healthy, the duality of doctors treating both women and in utero fetuses collapses and birthing women’s rights to tort remedies are subsumed within the positive birthing outcome. Healthy babies negate maternal harms. This fetal harm focus is entrenched in litigation patterns and judicial precedent. It reveals real problems positioning the dualities of childbirth in our tort framework and preserving the autonomy of birthing women. This Article further foreshadows the pervasive problems “personhood” law reform initiatives present to the obstetric care model.
High-power laser source evaluation

This document reports progress in these areas: EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS FROM NOVA: TAMPED XENON UNDERDENSE X-RAY EMITTERS; MODELING MULTI-KEV RADIATION PRODUCTION OF XENON-FILLED BERYLLIUM CANS; MAPPING A CALCULATION FROM LASNEX TO CALE; HOT X RAYS FROM SEEDED NIF CAPSULES; HOHLRAUM DEBRIS MEASUREMENTS AT NOVA; FOAM AND STRUCTURAL RESPONSE CALCULATIONS FOR NIF NEUTRON EXPOSURE SAMPLE CASE ASSEMBLY DESIGN; NON-IGNITION X-RAY SOURCE FLUENCE-AREA PRODUCTS FOR NUCLEAR EFFECTS TESTING ON NIF. Also appended are reprints of two papers. The first is on the subject of ``X-Ray Production in Laser-Heated Xe Gas Targets.`` The second is on ``Efficient Production and Applications of 2- to 10-keV X Rays by Laser-Heated Underdense Radiators.``
ADOLESCENT MOTHERHOOD AND CAPITAL: INTERACTION EFFECTS OF RACE/ETHNICITY ON HARSH PARENTING

This study used large, longitudinal data to examine the moderating effects of race and ethnicity of mothers on the associations between (a) adolescent motherhood, (b) human, social, and cultural capital factors, and (c) harsh parenting. The study sample included adolescent mothers who were 19 years old or younger (n = 379) and adult mothers 26 years old or older (n = 881). Of these, about 31% were White, 48% Black, and 21% Hispanic. The Parent to Child version of the Conflict Tactics Scales was used as a proxy for maternal harsh parenting when their children were 3 years old. Results indicated that adolescent motherhood and different capital factors contributed to the prediction of maternal harsh parenting for each racial/ethnic group. The findings suggest the importance of differentiating strategies for preventing adolescent motherhood and for reducing the likelihood of harsh parenting among different racial/ethnic groups of mothers.
Ribonuclease inhibitor: structure and function.

Publisher Summary The mammalian ribonuclease inhibitor (RI) is a 50‐kDa cytosolic protein that binds to pancreatic‐type ribonucleases with femtomolar affinity and renders them inactive. The biological role of RI is not known in its entirety. The ribonucleases recognized by RI are secreted proteins, whereas RI resides exclusively in the cytosol. Nevertheless, RI affinity has been shown to be the primary determinant of ribonuclease cytotoxicity: Only ribonucleases that evade RI can kill a cell. In addition, the complex of RI with human angiogenin (ANG), which stimulates neovascularization by activating transcription in the nucleus, is the tightest of known RI.ribonuclease complexes. The chapter hypothesizes multiple biological roles for RI: (1) To protect cells from invading ribonucleases, (2) to regulate or terminate the activity of ribonuc leases with known intracellular functions, and ( 3) to monitor the oxidation state of the cell in response to factors such as aging and oxidative stress. RI possesses remarkable affinity for pancreatic‐type ribonucleases, despite their limited sequence identity. The resulting noncovalent complexes are some of the tightest known in biology. Details of the molecular interactions within RI.ribonuclease complexes have been elucidated from structural and biochemical investigations. Moreover, RI is known to be a sentry, protecting mammalian cells against invading ribonucleases, which abound in extracellular fluids. Still, many questions remain regarding the biological activity of RI.
Performance evaluation of adaptive subspace detectors, based on stochastic representations

In this paper we present a technique for evaluating the moments of "adaptive" detectors, where the noise co-variance is estimated from training data, rather than assumed to be known a priori. It is based on the method of "stochastic representations" recently presented in [1]. These representations express adaptive detectors as simple functions of the same set of five statistically independent scalar random variables. They may be applied to a whole class of detectors, which includes the adaptive versions of the matched subspace detectors shown to be UMP-invariant and GLRT in [2] and [3], and to the adaptive GLRT detector of Kelly [4]. Using a stochastic representation, the moments of any member of this class may be evaluated without the need to derive its density or characteristic function. The first two moments give a convenient measure for how the SNR loss improves as the number of training vectors, M, increases. In this paper, the analysis is presented using the example of the adaptive version of the matched filter, illustrated in Figure 1.
Geographic variation and genetic structure in Spotted Owls

We examined genetic variation, populationstructure, and definition of conservation unitsin Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis). Spotted Owls are mostly non-migratory,long-lived, socially monogamous birds that havedecreased population viability due to theiroccupation of highly-fragmented latesuccessional forests in western North America. To investigate potential effects of habitatfragmentation on population structure, we usedrandom amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) toexamine genetic variation hierarchicallyamong local breeding areas, subregionalgroups, regional groups, and subspeciesvia sampling of 21 breeding areas (276individuals) among the three subspecies ofSpotted Owls. Data from 11 variable bandssuggest a significant relationship betweengeographic distance among local breeding groupsand genetic distance (Mantel r = 0.53, P< 0.02) although multi-dimensional scaling ofthree significant axes did not identifysignificant grouping at any hierarchical level. Similarly, neighbor-joining clustering ofManhattan distances indicated geographicstructure at all levels and identified MexicanSpotted Owls as a distinct clade. RAPDanalyses did not clearly differentiate NorthernSpotted Owls from California Spotted Owls. Among Northern Spotted Owls, estimates ofpopulation differentiation (FST) rangedfrom 0.27 among breeding areas to 0.11 amongregions. Concordantly, within-group agreementvalues estimated via multi-response permutationprocedures of Jaccard's distances ranged from0.22 among local sites to 0.11 among regions. Pairwise comparisons of FST andgeographic distance within regions suggestedonly the Klamath region was in equilibrium withrespect to gene flow and genetic drift. Merging nuclear data with recent mitochondrialdata provides support for designation of anEvolutionary Significant Unit for MexicanSpotted Owls and two overlapping ManagementUnits for Northern and California Spotted Owls.
Vascular Smooth Muscle Actin Cytoskeleton in Cerebral Artery Forced Dilatation

Background and Purpose—We investigated the role of actin polymerization in regulating arterial diameter in response to increasing pressure and modulating forced dilatation of cerebral arteries at pressures above the upper limit of autoregulation. Methods—Posterior cerebral arteries (n=12) were isolated and pressurized in a special arteriograph that allowed control of intravascular pressure and measurement of lumen diameter. Intact arteries in the absence (control) or presence of 3.0 μmol/L cytochalasin B (CB), an inhibitor of actin polymerization, were subjected to stepwise increases in pressure from 75 to 200 mm Hg. Lumen diameter was continuously recorded, as was the pressure at which forced dilatation (loss of tone) occurred. After a period of time at 200 mm Hg, pressure was returned to 75 mm Hg and the extent of tone recovery was evaluated. Results—Arteries with and without CB developed a similar amount of tone during equilibration at 75 mm Hg: percent tone=27±3% for control versus 29±4% for CB arteri...
Intraluminal esophageal teratoma in a neonate

Abstract Teratomas are germ cell tumors containing one or more of the three embryonic layers (endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm). In neonates, the sacrococcygeal region is the most frequent site of origin, followed by the gonads and mediastinum. While most mediastinal teratomas are anterior, approximately 3–8% are found within the posterior mediastinum. Here we report the case of an infant who presented in the second week of life with frequent emesis followed by choking, dyspnea, and perioral cyanosis. An esophagram demonstrated a large pedunculated polypoid mass within the lumen of the esophagus. CT confirmed a 5 × 1.8 cm intraluminal mass with a stalk originating from the posterior wall of the esophagus at C6. Endoscopic retrieval was not possible due to its large size. The mass was operatively resected via a right-sided, 2 cm transverse cervical incision. An oblique esophagotomy was made; the polypoid mass was grasped and eviscerated using serial traction sutures. The mass was excised along with a rim of normal esophageal mucosa. Final pathology demonstrated a mature and solitary esophageal teratoma. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an intraluminal cervical esophageal teratoma, and the youngest patient in which a pedunculated esophageal polyp has been described.
Modulation of connexin43 expression: effects on cellular coupling.

Modulation of Cx43 Expression. Introduction: Gap junctions connect cardiac myocytes allowing propagation of action potentials. They contain intercellular channels formed by multiple di^erent connexin proteins. The arrangement and type of gap junctions and the types, function, and interaction of connexin proteins determine intercellular resistance and can thereby influence conduction velocity and the potential for reentrant arrhythmias. Our goal was to develop genetically manipulable models to test tbe effects of altering expression of a major cardiac connexin (connexin43) on intercellular coupling and expression of otber connexin proteins. Methods and Results: BHK cells that are poorly coupled and BWEM ceils tbat are well coupled were stably transfected with plasmids containing connexin43 cDNA in antisense and sense orientations. RNA blots confirmed expression of tbe tran.sfected transcripts. Immunoblots sbowed tbat connexin43 protein was reduced in the BHK antisense transfectants and increased in tbe BHK sense transfectants compared to the parental cells. It was not detectably changed in tbe BWEM antisense transfectant line compared to tbe BWEM parental cells. Transfection of connexin43 cDNA did not affect production of connexin45 mRNA and protein nor did transfection induce expression of otber previously unexpressed connexin mRNAs. Cell coupling was assessed by intercellular diffusion of microinjected Lucifer yellow in confluent cell populations. Lucifer yellow passed to a mean of 3 ± 3 neigbboring parental BHK cells, to 8 ± 8 neighbors in tbe sense connexin43 transfected BHK cells, and to only 2 ± 2 neigbbors in tbe antisense connexin43 transfected BHK cells (P < 0.05). In contrast, dye transfer did not differ significantly between tbe parental BWEM cells (mean transfer = 19 ± 14 cells) and tbe BWEM connexin43 antisense transfectants (mean transfer = 15 ± 12 cells) (P = 0.20). Conclusions: Tbese data demonstrate tbat stable transfection with connexin43 cDNA constructs can result in detectable changes in connexin43 expression and cellular coupling without inducing compensatory changes in the cell's connexin phenotype and, therefore, may provide a basis for future attempts at speciflcally modulating connexin expression and intercellular resistance in cardiac tissues. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. Vol. 6, pp. 103-114, February 1995)
A history of early life parental loss or separation is associated with successful cognitive-behavioral therapy in major depressive disorder.

Background There is a clinical need for evidence-based psychotherapy response biomarkers in major depressive disorder (MDD). Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that lower 24-h urinary cortisol levels and a history of early life stress/trauma would predict an improved antidepressant response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
Cathepsin B is the driving force of esophageal cell invasion in a fibroblast-dependent manner.

Esophageal cancer, which frequently exhibits coordinated loss of E-cadherin (Ecad) and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) receptor II (TβRII), has a high mortality rate. In a three-dimensional organotypic culture model system, esophageal keratinocytes expressing dominant-negative mutant versions of both Ecad and TβRII (ECdnT) invade into the underlying matrix embedded with fibroblasts. We also find that cathepsin B induction is necessary for fibroblast-mediated invasion. Furthermore, the ECdnT cells in this physiological context activate fibroblasts through the secretion of TGFβ1, which, in turn, is activated by cathepsin B. These results suggest that the interplay between the epithelial compartment and the surrounding microenvironment is crucial to invasion into the extracellular matrix.
One Hundred Neodymium–YAG Laser Ablations of Obstructing Tracheal Neoplasms

Forty patients with obstructing, nonresectable tracheal neoplasms underwent 100 ablations with the neodymium-yttrium-aluminum garnet (YAG) laser. The laser allows bloodless resection and vaporization of tumors. Unlike the carbon dioxide laser, the neodymium-YAG laser can be used with the flexible bronchoscope and has an excellent effect on coagulation. Thirty-four patients had primary lung malignancies (epidermoid in 24); 4 had metastatic malignancies; and 2 had benign lesions. Results have been excellent in 22, fair in 10, and poor in 8. No patient has died or had a deleterious result. Complications have occurred in only 1 of 89 ablations done with the flexible bronchoscope. We believe that the neodymium-YAG laser is effective in opening major tracheal or bronchial obstructions and offers substantial symptomatic improvement in patients who are short of breath. Although this treatment is only palliative, the results have been excellent in more than half of the patients.
A Program for Simultaneous Network Signal Timing Optimization and Traffic Assignment

This study formulates a program for simultaneous traffic signal optimization and system optimal traffic assignment for urban transportation networks with added degree of realism. The formulation presents a new objective function, i.e., weighted trip maximization, and explicit constraints that are specifically designed to address oversaturated conditions. This formulation improves system-wise performance while locally prevents queue spillovers, de-facto reds, and gridlocks. A meta-heuristic algorithm is developed that incorporates microscopic traffic flow models and system optimal traffic assignment in genetic algorithms. This solution technique efficiently optimizes signal timing parameters, at the same time solves system optimal traffic assignment, and accounts for oversaturated conditions and different driver's behaviors. This study also proposes a framework to calculate an upper bound on the value of the objective function by solving the problem while several constraints (i.e., network loading and traffic assignment) are relaxed. An empirical case study for a portion of downtown Springfield, Illinois has been conducted under four demand patterns. Findings indicate that our solution approach can solve the problem effectively. Several managerial insights have also been drawn.
Mitochondrial Disruption in Drosophila Apoptosis

Mitochondrial disruption is a conserved aspect of apoptosis, seen in many species from mammals to nematodes. Despite significant conservation of other elements of the apoptotic pathway in Drosophila, a broad role for mitochondrial changes in apoptosis in flies remains unconfirmed. Here, we show that Drosophila mitochondria become permeable in response to the expression of Reaper and Hid, endogenous regulators of developmental apoptosis. Caspase activation in the absence of Reaper and Hid is not sufficient to permeabilize mitochondria, but caspases play a role in Reaper- and Hid-induced mitochondrial changes. Reaper and Hid rapidly localize to mitochondria, resulting in changes in mitochondrial ultrastructure. The dynamin-related protein, Drp1, is important for Reaper- and DNA-damage-induced mitochondrial disruption. Significantly, we show that inhibition of Reaper or Hid mitochondrial localization or inhibition of Drp1 significantly inhibits apoptosis, indicating a role for mitochondrial disruption in fly apoptosis.
Right ventricular dysfunction after acute pulmonary embolism: Pathophysiologic factors, detection, and therapeutic implications

Acute PE may lead to right ventricular dilatation and failure. Through ventricular interdependence and decreased left ventricular filling, cardiac output and systemic circulation also may be compromised. The associated decrease in coronary perfusion pressure to the acutely overloaded right ventricle may produce ischemia and worsening right heart failure. This downward cycle of right ventricular failure and ischemia may ultimately progress to right ventricular infarction, circulatory arrest, and death. Certain clinical findings, hemodynamic values, and, particularly, echocardiographic signs can identify right ventricular dysfunction after PE. Detection of right ventricular hypokinesis helps to stratify patients' risk, because right ventricular dysfunction confers a worse prognosis than does normal right ventricular function after PE. The concept of "hemodynamic instability" after PE should be expanded to include right ventricular dilatation and wall motion abnormalities, even among normotensive patients. Aggressive intervention with thrombolytic therapy, vasoactive agents, or mechanical embolectomy may improve right ventricular function and clinical outcome.
Quantifying the cortical contribution to the NIRS signal using simultaneous NIRS-BOLD measurements

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) measures the functional hemodynamic response occuring at the surface of the cortex. Large pial veins are located above the surface of the cerebral cortex. Following activation, these veins exhibit oxygenation changes but their volume likely stays constant. The back-reflection geometry of the NIRS measurement renders the signal very sensitive to these superficial pial veins. As such, the measured NIRS signal contains contributions from both the cortical region as well as the pial vasculature. In this work, the cortical contribution to the NIRS signal was investigated using (1) Monte Carlo simulations over a realistic geometry constructed from anatomical and vascular MRI and (2) multimodal NIRS-BOLD recordings during motor stimulation. A good agreement was found between the simulations and the modeling analysis of in vivo measurements. Our results suggest that the cortical contribution to the deoxyhemoglobin signal change (ΔHbR) is equal to 16-22% of the cortical contribution to the total hemoglobin signal change (ΔHbT). Similarly, the cortical contribution of the oxyhemoglobin signal change (ΔHbO) is equal to 73-79% of the cortical contribution to the ΔHbT signal. These results suggest that ΔHbT is far less sensitive to pial vein contamination and therefore, it is likely that the ΔHbT signal provides better spatial specificity and should be used instead of ΔHbO or ΔHbR to map cerebral activity with NIRS. While different stimuli will result in different pial vein contributions, our finger tapping results do reveal the importance of considering the pial contribution.
The Perceived Attractiveness of Preterm Infants with Cranial Molding

A study was conducted to compare the perceived attractiveness of preterm infants with postnatal cranial molding to that of preterm and full‐term infants without this deformation. Forty‐two subjects who viewed photographs of infants selected preterm infants with postnatal cranial molding as the least attractive group of infants. Researchers have hypothesized that infant appearance is an antecedent to bonding and attachment. Nurses should implement measures such as the use of waterbed mattresses, which have been found to minimize the molding process, and include discussion of this measure when teaching parents about their preterm infants so that they are aware of causes and prevention of cranial molding. If an infant has developed postnatal cranial molding, the parents may require counseling to assist them in resolving their feelings about the discrepancy in the appearance of the infant and what they had anticipated prenatally.
Manganese Neurotoxicity: A Focus on the Neonate

Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace metal found in all tissues, and it is required for normal amino acid, lipid, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism. While Mn deficiency is extremely rare in humans, toxicity due to overexposure of Mn is more prevalent. The brain appears to be especially vulnerable. Mn neurotoxicity is most commonly associated with occupational exposure to aerosols or dusts that contain extremely high levels (>1-5 mg Mn/m(3)) of Mn, consumption of contaminated well water, or parenteral nutrition therapy in patients with liver disease or immature hepatic functioning such as the neonate. This review will focus primarily on the neurotoxicity of Mn in the neonate. We will discuss putative transporters of the metal in the neonatal brain and then focus on the implications of high Mn exposure to the neonate focusing on typical exposure modes (e.g., dietary and parenteral). Although Mn exposure via parenteral nutrition is uncommon in adults, in premature infants, it is more prevalent, so this mode of exposure becomes salient in this population. We will briefly review some of the mechanisms of Mn neurotoxicity and conclude with a discussion of ripe areas for research in this underreported area of neurotoxicity.
Sigmoid Sinus Thrombosis Associated with Internal Jugular Venous Occlusion: Direct Thrombolytic Treatment

Purpose:To report our experience with transfemoral direct venous thrombolysis and angioplasty to treat central venous and dural sinus occlusion. The cases presented are rare examples of internal ju...
Numerical stability for laser radiation computations

Abstract The numerical stability for solving the coupled differential equations for laser radiation intensity and gain is investigated. Simplified lasing conditions are considered under which a closed-form solution is obtained and numerical stability can be determined. The analytical solution illustrates the effect of the important physical parameters, and it provides a basis for evaluation of numerical methods. It is shown that the explicit numerical procedure is inherently unstable, and that stability requires an implicit approach. Partially-implicit methods, which are conditionally stable, are also discussed.
Dynamics of cosmological phase transitions: Metastability revisited

Abstract The dynamics of first-order cosmological phase transitions is critically examined. In particular, criteria to estimate the strength of the transition are introduced. It is shown that for sufficiently weak transitions, thermal fluctuations away from the symmetric phase can efficiently populate the asymmetric phase at the critical temperature, leading to a mixing of the phases and to a different mechanism for the completion of the transition. These criteria are applied to the standard model electroweak phase transition.
Stable transformation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) via microprojectile bombardment of highly regenerative, green tissues derived from mature seed.

A highly efficient and reproducible transformation system for rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Taipei 309) was developed using microprojectile bombardment of highly regenerative, green tissues. These tissues were induced from mature seeds on NB-based medium containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and high concentrations of cupric sulfate under dim light conditions; germinating shoots and roots were completely removed. Highly regenerative, green tissues were proliferated on the same medium and used as transformation targets. From 431 explants bombarded with transgenes [i.e. a hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) gene plus one of a wheat thioredoxin h (wtrxh), a barley NADP-thioredoxin reductase (bntr), a maize Mutator transposable element (mudrB) or β-glucuronidase (uidA; gus) gene], 28 independent transgenic events were obtained after an 8- to 12-week selection period, giving a 6.5% transformation frequency. Of the 28 independent events, 17 (61%) were regenerable. Co-transformation of the second introduced transgene was detected in 81% of the transgenic lines tested. Stable integration and expression of the foreign genes in T0 plants and T1 progeny were confirmed by DNA hybridization, western blot analyses and germination tests.
Studies of esterase 6 in Drosophila melanogaster. XIII. Purification and characterization of the two major isozymes.

Esterase-6 (EST 6; carboxylic-ester hydrolase; EC 3.1.1.1) from Drosophila melanogaster was purified to homogenity. Purified enzyme occurs as two closely moving isozymes, slow (EST 6S) and fast (EST 6F), on native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Except for slight differences in their mobility, the two isozymes share similar molecular and catalytic properties. Both isozymes are glycoproteins and have an apparent molecular weight of 62,000 to 65,000 as judged by analytical gel filtration and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) electrophoresis. They have identical mobility on SDS-polyacrylamide gels and an isoelectric point of 4.5. Each isozyme has a single active catalytic site as confirmed by titration with 0,0-diethyl-p-nitrophenyl phosphate (Paraoxon). We conclude that EST 6 is a monomeric enzyme. The amino acid composition of the two isozymes is very similar and both variants lack half-cystine residues. The low pI of the enzyme is due in part to a relatively high proportion of glutamic and aspartic amino acid residues. Characterization of the kinetic parameters of the isozymes using β-naphthyl and p-nitrophenyl esters revealed no statistically significant differences in catalytic efficiency. There is, however, a suggestion that the two isozymes may differ in their substrate specificity.