cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Functional Activation of Mutant p53 by Platinum Analogues in Cisplatin-Resistant Cells Is Dependent on Phosphorylation.

Dysfunctionality of the p53 tumor suppressor is a major cause of therapeutic drug resistance in cancer. Recently, we reported that mutant, but otherwise functional, p53v172F was inactivated in cisplatin-resistant 2780CP/Cl-16 and 2780CP/Cl-24 human ovarian tumor cells by increased recruitment of the inhibitor MDM4. The current study demonstrates that, unlike cisplatin, platinum analogues oxaliplatin and DACH-diacetato-dichloro-Pt(IV) (DAP) strongly stabilize and activate p53v172F in resistant cells, as indicated by prolonged p53 half-life and transactivation of targets p21 (CDKN1A) and MDM2. This increase in MDM2 reduced MDM4 levels in cell lysates as well as the p53 immunocomplex and prevented reversion of p53 to the inactive p53-MDM2-MDM4–bound state. Phosphorylation of p53 at Ser15 was demonstrated by all three drugs in sensitive A2780 and corresponding resistant 2780CP/Cl-16 and 2780CP/Cl-24 cell lines. However, cisplatin induced Ser20 phosphorylation in A2780 cells only, but not in resistant cells; in contrast, both DAP and oxaliplatin induced this phosphorylation in all three cell lines. The inference that Ser20 phosphorylation is more important for p53 activation was confirmed by ectopic expression of a phosphomimetic (S20D) mutant p53 that displayed reduced binding, relative to wild-type p53, to both MDM2 and MDM4 in p53-knockout A2780 cells. In consonance, temporal studies demonstrated drug-induced Ser15 phosphorylation coincided with p53 stabilization, whereas Ser20 phosphorylation coincided with p53 transactivation. Implications: Cisplatin fails to activate the pathway involved in phosphorylating mutant p53v172F at Ser20 in resistant cells, but this phosphorylation is restored by oxaliplatin and DAP that reactivates p53 function and circumvents cisplatin resistance. Mol Cancer Res; 15(3); 328–39. ©2016 AACR.
Weekly paclitaxel, carboplatin, cetuximab (PCC), and cetuximab, docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil (C-TPF), followed by risk-based local therapy in previously untreated, locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC).

6001 Background: We designed a randomized phase II trial to determine the efficacy of two induction chemotherapy (ICT) cetuximab (C) containing regimens with demonstrated efficacy and acceptable to...
Female relative age effects and the second-quartile phenomenon in young female ice hockey players

Abstract Objectives Relative age effects exist across sports and cultures (Cobley, Baker, Wattie, & McKenna, 2009), though a recent, unusual trend is females born in the second quartile of the selection year are most over-represented on elite teams. The first purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the second-quartile phenomenon was the result of first-quartile female athletes registering to play male sport. Due to the nature of the collected data, a secondary purpose was to examine relative age effects across female age divisions. Design Cross-sectional, with multiple chi-square analyses. Method Players included 29,924 female ice hockey players (ages 7–17 years) from the Ontario Hockey Federation. Birthdates were converted into quartiles following the Hockey Canada selection year. Results Relative age effects (with the second quartile most over-represented) existed for the entire sample (χ 2 [3, 29923] = 401.95, p 2 [3, 24984] = 369.90, p 2 [3, 4938] = 37.88, p Conclusion It appears the second-quartile phenomenon cannot be explained by athletes’ choice to play male sport. Further, female relative age effects appear strongest at younger ages. The discussion includes integration of results with previous literature, along with plausible explanations.
A heat-pulse method for measuring sap flow in corn and sunflower using 3D-printed sensor bodies and low-cost electronics

Abstract Sap-flow (SF) measurements provide unique and valuable data for studying plant water relations and crop water use. In this study we utilize new developments in heat pulse theory, low-cost electronics, and 3D-printing to fabricate, calibrate, and field test an affordable research-grade sap flow instrument. Each gauge included three needle probes that were inserted into the stem. A central needle contained a resistance heater for applying the heat pulse, while two additional needles measured the resulting temperature increases at positions downstream and to the side of the heater. Time series data following a heat pulse were used to calculate heat velocity using two techniques. The T max method used the time to temperature maximum while a novel temperature ratio method (T m Ratio) used the ratio of the temperature maxima at the downstream and side probes. Data acquisition systems were built from low-cost Arduino microcontrollers. Prototype SF gauges were tested and calibrated for corn and sunflower in the greenhouse. Once calibrated for a specific gauge design and species, the gauges tracked gravimetric measurements of transpiration rate to within 10%. The T max method performed well under high rates of sap flow (i.e., up to 300 g hr −1 ) in both sunflower and corn, but overestimated flow at low transpiration rates. The new T m Ratio method accurately tracked sap flow at rates near 150 g hr −1 and also performed well during nighttime flows as low as 3 g hr −1 in corn. However, both theory and observation suggest the T m Ratio approach may fail at very high flow rates. The gauges and data acquisition systems were deployed in the field on irrigated corn. Sap flow was calculated using the T max method, the T m Ratio method, and a hybrid approach that used the T m Ratio method for flow rates −1 and the T max method for flow rates >130 g h −1 . Estimates of canopy transpiration over a two-week period were, on average, within 5% of calculated reference crop evapotranspiration. The do-it-yourself simplicity and low cost of the approach make it possible to deploy large numbers of gauges in the field to capture spatial variability, compare water use among agronomic plots, or scale-up sap flow to measure canopy transpiration.
Mixed H 2 / H ∞ Predictive Control

Abstract This paper derives a two degree of freedom receding horizon control law based on the mixed H 2 / H ∞ minimization. First, the integrand in the frequency domain representation of the generalized predictive control (GPC) performance criterion is decomposed into disturbance and reference spectra. Then the controller is derived whose H ∞ part minimizes the peaks of the disturbance spectrum and the H 2 part minimizes the integral of the reference spectrum on the unit circle. The resulting two degree of freedom control strategy referred to as the minimax predictive control (MPC) turns out to have stabilizing properties superior to the GPC for identical horizons. The MPC synthesis, based on spectral factorization and Diophantine equations, is much simpler than the standard state space H ∞ optimal controller. The two degree of freedom MPC is expected to inherit on the one hand some of the robustness of H ∞ design, due to both the minimax prediction and optimization, and on the other hand the ability of predictive receding horizon strategies to directly incorporate input constraints and pre-programmed reference inputs, which are nontrivial tasks in the standard H ∞ design.
Hematometrocolpos in a Pubescent Girl with Abdominal Pain.

Hematometrocolpos is a rare congenital abnormality of the female urogenital system that leadsto an imperforate hymen and subsequent retrograde menstruation. We present the case of a14-year-old female patient who presented to the emergency department with amenorrhea andabdominal pain, and was found to have an imperforate hymen and hematometrocolpos on transabdominalpoint-of-care ultrasound. It is important for emergency physicians to consider thisdiagnosis in pubescent female patients presenting with abdominal pain, as missed diagnosis canlead to infertility and other complications.
Neuropeptide discovery in Proasellus cavaticus: Prediction of the first large-scale peptidome for a member of the Isopoda using a publicly accessible transcriptome

In silico transcriptome mining is one of the most effective methods for neuropeptide discovery in crustaceans, particularly for species that are small, rare or from geographically inaccessible habitats that make obtaining the large pools of tissue needed for other peptide discovery platforms impractical. Via this approach, large peptidomes have recently been described for members of many of the higher crustacean taxa, one notable exception being the Isopoda; no peptidome has been predicted for any member of this malacostracan order. Using a publicly accessible transcriptome for the isopod Proasellus cavaticus, a subcentimeter subterranean ground water dweller, the first in silico-predicted peptidome for a member of the Isopoda is presented here. BLAST searches employing known arthropod neuropeptide pre/preprohormone queries identified 49 transcripts as encoding putative homologs within the P. cavaticus transcriptome. The proteins deduced from these transcripts allowed for the prediction of 171 distinct mature neuropeptides. The P. cavaticus peptidome includes members of the adipokinetic hormone-corazonin-like peptide, allatostatin A, allatostatin B, allatostatin C, allatotropin, bursicon α, bursicon β, CCHamide, crustacean cardioactive peptide, crustacean hyperglycemic hormone/molt-inhibiting hormone, diuretic hormone 31, eclosion hormone, elevenin, FMRFamide-like peptide, glycoprotein hormone α2, leucokinin, myosuppressin, neuroparsin, neuropeptide F, pigment dispersing hormone, pyrokinin, red pigment concentrating hormone, RYamide, short neuropeptide F, sulfakinin, tachykinin-related peptide and trissin families, as well as many linker/precursor-related sequences that may or may not represent additional bioactive molecules. Interestingly, many of the predicted P. cavaticus neuropeptides possess structures identical (or nearly so) to those previously described from members of several other malacostracan orders, i.e., the Decapoda, Amphipoda and Euphausiacea, a finding that suggests broad phylogenetic conservation of bioactive peptide structures, and possibly functions, may exist within the Malacostraca.
Impact of US smoke-free air laws on restaurants and bars by employer size: a panel study.

Objectives Thirty states have smoke-free air laws that ban smoking in restaurants and bars, covering nearly two-thirds of the US population. It is well established that these laws generally have a null or positive economic impact on restaurants and bars. However, all establishments in a geographic area are usually treated as a homogeneous group without considering the potential for differential effects by establishment characteristics. This study uses variation in smoke-free air laws over time to estimate their impact on employment in restaurants and bars with a focus on potential differences by employer size (number of employees). A two-pronged approach with a national-level and state-level analysis is used to take advantage of more granular data availability for a single state (North Carolina). Design Observational study using panel data. Setting 1) US, 2) North Carolina Interventions Smoke-free air laws. Outcome measures State-level accommodation and food services employment for all 50 states and District of Columbia from 1990 through 2014 (Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages); county-level restaurant and bar employment in North Carolina from 2001 through 2014 (North Carolina Department of Commerce). Results There is no evidence of a redistributive effect of smoke-free air laws on restaurant and bar employment by employer size. Conclusion The lack of a redistributive effect is an important finding for policy-makers considering implementation or expansion of a smoke-free air law to protect employees and patrons from the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Defect induced structural inhomogeneity, ultraviolet light emission and near-band-edge photoluminescence broadening in degenerate In2O3 nanowires.

We demonstrate here defect induced changes on the morphology and surface properties of indium oxide (In2O3) nanowires and further study their effects on the near-band-edge (NBE) emission, thereby showing the significant influence of surface states on In2O3 nanostructure based device characteristics for potential optoelectronic applications. In2O3 nanowires with cubic crystal structure (c-In2O3) were synthesized via carbothermal reduction technique using a gold-catalyst-assisted vapor–liquid–solid method. Onset of strong optical absorption could be observed at energies greater than 3.5 eV consistent with highly n-type characteristics due to unintentional doping from oxygen vacancy defects as confirmed using Raman spectroscopy. A combination of high resolution transmission electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and valence band analysis on the nanowire morphology and stoichiometry reveals presence of high-density of defects on the surface of the nanowires. As a result, chemisorbed oxygen species can be observed leading to upward band bending at the surface which corresponds to a smaller valence band offset of 2.15 eV. Temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to study the nature of the defect states and the influence of the surface states on the electronic band structure and NBE emission has been discussed. Our data reveals significant broadening of the NBE PL peak consistent with impurity band broadening leading to band-tailing effect from heavy doping.
Optical magnetism in core-satellite nanostructures excited by vector beams

Core-satellite nanostructures are meta-atom candidates that have strong magnetic modes at optical frequencies and their characterization is important for the development of metamaterials and metafluids. We utilize an electrodynamics-multipolar analysis (ED-MA) method to perform a detailed study of the electric and magnetic modes of a core-satellite nanostructure composed of silver nanoparticles decorated on a dielectric core. In addition to excitation with linearly polarized scalar beams, we utilize radially and azimuthally polarized cylindrical vector beams to selectively excite and enhance the multipolar modes of the core-satellite nanostructure. The refractive index of the dielectric core is altered to better understand the role of retardation in the unique multipolar modes that arise from these vector beam excitations. A more complex Ag-core silica-shell nanostructure decorated with Ag-satellites is also introduced and is shown to diminish the role of magnetic modes and introduce new electric modes selectively excited by a radially polarized beam.
How can mortality increase population size? A test of two mechanistic hypotheses

Overcompensation occurs when added mortality increases survival to the next life-cycle stage. Overcompensation can contribute to the Hydra effect, wherein added mortality increases equilibrium population size. One hypothesis for overcompensation is that added mortality eases density dependence, increasing survival to adulthood ("temporal separation of mortality and density dependence"). Mortality early in the life cycle is therefore predicted to cause overcompensation, whereas mortality later in the life cycle is not. Another hypothesis for overcompensation is that threat of mortality (e.g., from predation) causes behavioral changes that reduce overexploitation of resources, allowing resource recovery, and increasing production of adults ("prudent resource exploitation"). Behaviorally active predation cues alone are therefore predicted to cause overcompensation. We tested these predictions in two experiments with larvae of two species of Aedes. As predicted, early mortality yielded greater production of adults, and of adult females, and greater estimated rate of population increase than did later mortality. Addition of water-borne predation cues usually reduced browsing on surfaces in late-stage larvae, but contrary to prediction, resulted in neither significantly greater production of adult mosquitoes nor significantly greater estimated rate of increase. Thus we have strong evidence that timing of mortality contributes to overcompensation and the Hydra effect in mosquitoes. Evidence that predation cues alone can result in overcompensation via prudent resource exploitation is lacking. We expect the overcompensation in response to early mortality will be common in organisms with complex life cycles, density dependence among juveniles, and developmental control of populations.
Interferometric imaging of nonlocal electromechanical power transduction in ferroelectric domains

The electrical generation and detection of elastic waves are the foundation for acoustoelectronic and acoustooptic systems. For surface acoustic wave devices, microelectromechanical/nanoelectromechanical systems, and phononic crystals, tailoring the spatial variation of material properties such as piezoelectric and elastic tensors may bring significant improvements to the system performance. Due to the much slower speed of sound than speed of light in solids, it is desirable to study various electroacoustic behaviors at the mesoscopic length scale. In this work, we demonstrate the interferometric imaging of electromechanical power transduction in ferroelectric lithium niobate domain structures by microwave impedance microscopy. In sharp contrast to the traditional standing-wave patterns caused by the superposition of counterpropagating waves, the constructive and destructive fringes in microwave dissipation images exhibit an intriguing one-wavelength periodicity. We show that such unusual interference patterns, which are fundamentally different from the acoustic displacement fields, stem from the nonlocal interaction between electric fields and elastic waves. The results are corroborated by numerical simulations taking into account the sign reversal of piezoelectric tensor in oppositely polarized domains. Our work paves ways to probe nanoscale electroacoustic phenomena in complex structures by near-field electromagnetic imaging.
α-Expansions with odd partial quotients

Abstract We consider an analogue of Nakada's α-continued fraction transformation in the setting of continued fractions with odd partial quotients. More precisely, given α ∈ [ 1 2 ( 5 − 1 ) , 1 2 ( 5 + 1 ) ] , we show that every irrational number x ∈ I α = [ α − 2 , α ) can be uniquely represented as with e i ( x ; α ) ∈ { ± 1 } and d i ( x ; α ) ∈ 2 N − 1 determined by the iterates of the transformation φ α ( x ) : = 1 | x | − 2 [ 1 2 | x | + 1 − α 2 ] − 1 of I α . We also describe the natural extension of φ α and prove that the endomorphism φ α is exact.
FRONTIER, FORTIFICATION, AND FORESTATION: DEFENSIVE WOODLAND ON THE SONG–LIAO BORDER IN THE LONG ELEVENTH CENTURY

This article examines the creation, preservation, and destruction of the defensive forest that the Northern Song built in Hebei along the Song–Liao border. Created as a landscape barrier against the Kitan attacks, this forest established the necessary strategic depth between the capital city and the northern frontline of the Song empire to compensate for Kaifeng's geographical vulnerability. While the Song government painstakingly maintained this forest throughout most of the dynasty, Liao troops, Hebei borderland residents, and many Song officials had nonetheless posed incessant challenges to this military forestation project. In 1122/23, at the onset of the war on the Liao to retrieve the Sixteen Prefectures, the Song army removed this borderland forest that blocked their northern expedition. The destruction of this defensive forest, which could have had thwarted attacks from the north, dismantled the strategic depth between Kaifeng and the Hebei borderland and henceforth presaged the fall of Kaifeng to the Jin, the Liao's successor, in a few years. I argue that this strategic depth was not only a physical distance, but also a diplomatic, sociopolitical, and military link that connected the ecology of the Song's northernmost periphery and the fate of the entire empire.
A state space realization of linear distributed parameter system (DPS) transfer operators

We present in this paper a state space realization of transfer operators of linear time-invariant distributed systems. Our method is, on the one hand, the frequency domain analog of the universal state space representation of an input-output relation of A. V. Balakrishnan [1]; and on the other hand is based on the operator model theory of Nagy and Foias [2].
Variability in Pediatric Ideal Body Weight Calculation: Implications for Lung-Protective Mechanical Ventilation Strategies in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objectives No gold standard for ideal body weight determination in children exists. We aimed to compare four methods of ideal body weight calculation and determine level of agreement between methods and impact of measurement variance on tidal volumes prescribed in mechanically ventilated pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome. Design Post hoc analysis of four multicenter pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome studies. Setting Twenty-six academic PICUs. Patients Five hundred eighty-nine patients. Interventions None. Measurements and main results Ideal body weight was calculated by four common methods: National Center for Health Statistics, McLaren, Moore, and body mass index, and compared in three ways: 1) determine the proportion of the cohort for which each method could successfully calculate ideal body weight; 2) compare the level of agreement between the ideal body weight methods by Bland-Altman analysis; and 3) evaluate the difference in tidal volume when 6 mL/kg ideal body weight was prescribed. We a priori defined the better method to be one that could calculate ideal body weight in most subjects, had good agreement with other methods, and led to a lower tidal volume. Only 55% could have ideal body weight measured by all four methods. National Center for Health Statistics, McLaren, and Moore methods could calculate ideal body weight in greater than or equal to 90%, whereas body mass index method was successful in only 61% because of no body mass index validation in less than 2-year-olds. In comparing each method to the others, there was great variance, particularly in greater than or equal to 10-year-olds. This variance was greatest between Moore and body mass index methods with greater than or equal to 10 kg difference in ideal body weight in some subjects. The McLaren method had the best agreement with all other methods, and yielded similar prescribed tidal volume in 2- to 10-year-olds and lower tidal volume in greater than or equal to 10 years old. Conclusions There is substantial variation in calculated ideal body weight among four commonly used methods, particularly in adolescents. Since varying ideal body weight may lead to discrepancies in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome care, a standard approach to ideal body weight measurement is needed. We recommend the McLaren method to calculate ideal body weight in children with pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome until a gold standard method is validated.
Rhetoric over Reason: The Rhetorical Assault on Education in the Absence of Argument and Evidence in Educational Discourse.

Based on an overview of writings published or supported by the Fordham Institute and those associated with it over many years, this article brings together and examines a range of rhetorical tools ...
Preoperative Factors Predicting Admission to the Intensive Care Unit After Kidney Transplantation

Abstract Objective To identify preoperative factors predicting early admission (within 30 days) of adult kidney transplant recipients to the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients and Methods This is a single-center retrospective study of consecutive kidney transplant recipients between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2016. Children (aged Results Of the 1527 eligible patients, 305 (20%) required early ICU admission. In univariate analysis, older age, higher body mass index (BMI), previous transplantation, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, obstructive pulmonary disease, longer ischemia time, pretransplant dialysis, and transplantation from a deceased donor were associated with increased odds of ICU admission. After multivariate adjustment, every 10-year increase in recipient age (odds ratio [OR], 1.26; 95% CI, 1.12-1.42; P Conclusion Recipient age, BMI, and the need for pretransplant dialysis are associated with a higher risk of early ICU admission after kidney transplantation, whereas living donor kidney transplantation and preemptive transplantation decrease these odds. Early referral of patients with end-stage renal disease for preemptive transplantation and living donor kidney transplantation can significantly reduce transplant-related ICU admissions.
The Cannabis Effect on Crime: Time-Series Analysis of Crime in Colorado and Washington State

Previous studies based on relatively weak analytical designs lacking contextualization and appropriate comparisons have reported that the legalization of marijuana has either increased or decreased...
Laboratory‐wide association study of survival with prostate cancer

Background Estimates of overall patient health are essential to inform treatment decisions for patients diagnosed with cancer. The authors applied XWAS methods, herein referred to as "laboratory-wide association study (LWAS)", to evaluate associations between routinely collected laboratory tests and survival in veterans with prostate cancer. Methods The authors identified 133,878 patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2000 and 2013 in the Veterans Health Administration using any laboratory tests collected within 6 months of diagnosis (3,345,083 results). Using the LWAS framework, the false-discovery rate was used to test the association between multiple laboratory tests and survival, and these results were validated using training, testing, and validation cohorts. Results A total of 31 laboratory tests associated with survival met stringent LWAS criteria. LWAS confirmed markers of prostate cancer biology (prostate-specific antigen: hazard ratio [HR], 1.07 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.06-1.08]; and alkaline phosphatase: HR, 1.22 [95% CI, 1.20-1.24]) as well laboratory tests of general health (eg, serum albumin: HR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.76-0.80]; and creatinine: HR, 1.05 [95% CI, 1.03-1.07]) and inflammation (leukocyte count: HR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.98-1.26]; and erythrocyte sedimentation rate: HR, 1.33 [95% CI, 1.09-1.61]). In addition, the authors derived and validated separate models for patients with localized and advanced disease, identifying 28 laboratory markers and 15 laboratory markers, respectively, in each cohort. Conclusions The authors identified routinely collected laboratory data associated with survival for patients with prostate cancer using LWAS methodologies, including markers of prostate cancer biology, overall health, and inflammation. Broadening consideration of determinants of survival beyond those related to cancer itself could help to inform the design of clinical trials and aid in shared decision making. Lay summary This article examined routine laboratory tests associated with survival among veterans with prostate cancer. Using laboratory-wide association studies, the authors identified 31 laboratory tests associated with survival that can be used to inform the design of clinical trials and aid patients in shared decision making.
Preparation of a dicationic, p-cymene ruthenium(II) dimer, [(p-cymene)Ru(µ-Cl)(P{OCH2}3CEt)]2 2+: structure, characterization and reactivity

Reaction of (p-cymene)RuCl2(P{OCH2}3CEt) (P{OCH2}3CEt = 4-ethyl-2,6,7-trioxa-1-phosphabicyclo[2.2.2]octane) with silver tetrakis[(3,5-trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate (Ag[BArF′]) in the presence of ac...
Pool Boiling of Ammonia, Assessment of Correlations

Ammonia is a natural compound, used more and more in refrigeration installations of absorption and vapor compression, component sizing and more particularly evaporators pass by the mastery and pred...
Pathology of Lagovirus europaeus GI.2/RHDV2/b (Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2) in Native North American Lagomorphs

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease, a notifiable foreign animal disease in the US, was reported for the first time in wild native North American lagomorphs in April 2020 in the southwestern US. Affected species included the desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), and antelope jackrabbit (Lepus alleni). Desert cottontails (n=7) and black-tailed jackrabbits (n=7) collected in April and May 2020 were necropsied at the US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center and tested positive for Lagovirus europaeus GI.2, also known as rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (GI.2/RHDV2/b), by real-time PCR at the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Gross and microscopic lesions were similar to those reported in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and other hare (Lepus) species with GI.2/RHDV2/b infection; they included epistaxis (12/13; 92%); massive hepatocellular dissociation (14/14; 100%) and necrosis or apoptosis (11/11; 100%); pulmonary congestion (12/12; 100%), edema (12/13; 92%), and hemorrhage (11/12; 92%); and acute renal tubular injury (3/8; 38%). As in previous reports, massive hepatocellular dissociation and necrosis or apoptosis was the most diagnostically distinct finding. As North American Sylvilagus and Lepus species appear to be susceptible to fatal GI.2/RHDV2/b infection, additional work is needed to understand the host range, pathogenicity, and potential population effects of GI.2/RHDV2/b in North America.
Primary mobile vertebral column sarcomas: Prognostic factors vary by histologic subtypes.

Background Primary sarcomas originating from the mobile spine portends a particularly sinister outcome. Rarity of the disease process has resulted in inconsistent data due to small sample size and heterogeneity in patient selection and analytics. Methods Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Result (SEER) database from 1975 to 2017 was queried to report incidence and survival data in 712 patients in the United States. Kaplan-Meier and Cox Regression were used to determine the prognostic factors affecting survival. Results Incidence of spinal sarcoma was 0.019 per 100,000 persons in 2017 and has not significantly changed since 2000 (p > 0.05). Disease-specific 5-year survival for the entire cohort was 57%. Osteosarcoma has the worst 5-year survival (39%) and chondrosarcoma has the best 5-year survival (69%). Independent predictors of survival for the entire cohort included age, grade, and stage. Stage was an independent predictor of survival for every histologic subtype. Additional predictors of survival for spinal osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and chondrosarcoma included age, size, and grade, respectively. Conclusions The current study is an analysis of a population-based registry reporting incidence survival data for patients with sarcoma of mobile vertebral column. Survival and prognostic factors vary by histologic subtypes. There is lack of improvement in survival over the last three decades.
Growth of Physicians and Nurse Practitioners Practicing Full Time in Nursing Homes.

Abstract Objectives The objective was to describe the growth of physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs), and physician assistants (PAs) who practice full time in nursing homes, to assess resident and nursing home characteristics associated with receiving care from full-time providers, and describe variation among nursing homes in use of full-time providers. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting and Participants A 20% national sample Medicare data on long-term care residents in 2008 to 2018 and the physicians, NPs, and PAs who submitted charges to Medicare for their care. Methods We measured the percentage of provider charges for services rendered in nursing homes, in addition to resident and facility characteristics. Results Full-time nursing home providers increased from 26.0% of all nursing home providers in 2008 to 44.6% in 2017. The largest increase was in NPs: from 1986 in 2008 to 4479 in 2017. Resident age, sex, Medicaid eligibility, and race/ethnicity had minimal association with the odds of having a full-time provider, whereas residents with an NP primary care provider were 23.0 times more likely (95% confidence interval = 21.6, 24.6) to have a full-time provider. Residents who received care from both a physician and an NP or PA increased from 33.6% in 2008 to 62.5% in 2018. There was large variation among facilities in the percentage of residents with full-time providers, from 5.72% of residents with full-time providers in the bottom quintile of facilities to 91.44% in the top quintile. Individual nursing homes accounted for 59% of the variation in whether a resident had a full-time provider. Conclusions and Implications The percentage of nursing home residents with full-time providers continues to grow, with very large variation among nursing homes.
Female Graduate Students’ Attitudes After Leadership Training

Although the increasing focus on female leadership in both the popular press and scholarly literature is relatively recent, women's leadership is not. Women have traditionally played a role in civic and cultural arenas and now have a greater opportunity to bring their particular leadership strengths to a broad range of organizations. The current paper reports on a case study about participants’ attitudes after participating in a leadership seminar series program for female graduate students at a university in the Northeast. The program's design incorporated networking, goal setting, skills training, and mentoring. Postprogram results (N = 17) on measures of Houghton and Neck's Revised Self-Leadership Questionnaire indicated significant changes on all three of the leadership questionnaire's dimensions as well as on several subscales within the dimensions indicating that after the leadership training, the women were adapting to more transactional practices such as self-reward and goal setting.
Determinants of Economic and Accounting Components of Residual Income: An Application to the Pharmaceutical Industry

This study investigates determinants of the present value of future residual income for firms operating in the pharmaceutical industry. It is well known that residual income has both economic and accounting components. We exploit the industrial organization and competitive strategy literatures to identify general features of economic context that are likely to be related to the generation of economic profit. Applying this framework to the pharmaceutical industry, we identify product innovation, product promotion, strategic success, and operating efficiency as four determinants of the economic component of residual income and select ten accounting variables to proxy for these determinants. We then draw on prior accounting research to specify when we expect accounting rules to create period-by-period timing differences between economic profit and residual income. In the pharmaceutical industry, research and development and advertising are important activities and the accounting rules for these items are likely to systematically bias residual income relative to economic profit. We combine our analysis of economic and accounting determinants of residual income to develop industry-wide hypotheses relating the ten accounting variables to the prediction of the present value of future residual income. The results of our empirical analyses are generally consistent with these hypotheses and the explanatory power of the model is quite high. Most firms in the pharmaceutical industry offer a mix of products that span three product segments with differing economic and accounting contexts. We exploit this richness of the pharmaceutical industry to develop hypotheses for industry segment related differences in the magnitudes of the multipliers on the ten accounting variables. The results are generally consistent with our predictions that the magnitudes of these multipliers are conditioned on the firm?s product mix and that the impact of accounting bias introduced by certain accounting rules varies as predicted. We supplement the analysis of the present value of residual income with a direct examination of the explanatory power of the ten accounting variables for equity value. The explanatory power of our model is again quite high and is considerably higher than that of comparison models taken from the prior literature. Overall, our approach for considering economic and accounting contexts in the pharmaceutical industry is successful in identifying value relevant accounting data beyond earnings and beyond a simple decomposition of earnings. Key Words: Economic context; Accounting Context; Value relevance; Residual income; Abnormal earnings; Structure; conduct; Performance; Pharmaceutical industry; Industry segments; Non-financial data
MURINE MODEL OF TUBERCULOSIS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the murine model of tuberculosis and focuses on the methodologies that are utilized in laboratories for the cultivation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In laboratories, the strains of M. tuberculosis are cultivated for use in (i) the in-vivo determination of disease host response and pathogenesis, primarily using a murine airborne infection model; (ii) the in-vivo determination of bactericidal effectiveness of novel immunotherapy, vaccination, or chemotherapeutic agents using both the murine and guinea-pig airborne infection models; and (iii) the in-vitro testing of potential chemotherapeutic agents using a murine bone marrow derived macrophage infection model. Each of these procedures requires the cultivation of both laboratory strains and newly acquired clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis. It is essential that stock cultures of M. tuberculosis used in research experiments should be standardized in terms of the culture medium and the cultural conditions (initial inocula, temperature, aeration, agitation, subculture times, and so on). The chapter discusses the handling and cultivation of mycobacteria and propagation methods for the isolation of immunologically reactive protein fractions.
MODELLING THE EFFECTS OF RIVER FLOW ON POPULATION DYNAMICS OF PIPING PLOVERS (CHARADRIUS MELODUS) AND LEAST TERNS (STERNULA ANTILLARUM) NESTING ON THE MISSOURI RIVER

Humans make extensive use of rivers and floodplains for economic benefits including agriculture, hydropower, commerce and recreation. Economic development of floodplains subsequently requires control of river levels to avoid flood damage. This process began in the Missouri River basin in the 1890s with the construction of a series of hydropower dams in Montana and escalated to new levels with the approval of the Pick-Sloan plan in the 1944 Flood Control Act. Maximizing these human uses of the river led to changes in and losses of hydrological and ecological processes, ultimately resulting in the federal listing of three fish and wildlife species under the Endangered Species Act: the pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhyncus albus; 1983), the piping plover (Charadrius melodus; 1984), and the interior population of least tern (Sternula antillarum; 1985). The listing of terns and plovers did not affect river management until the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposed to modify the governing document of the Missouri River Mainstem System, the Master Manual, a process which was completed in 2003. Although there was little disagreement over the habitat conditions that terns and plovers used for nesting, there was substantial disagreement over the amount of habitat necessary for terns and ploversmore » to meet population recovery goals. Answering this question requires forecasting species-specific population responses to dynamic habitat affected by both human actions (reservoir management and habitat restoration) and natural variability in precipitation. Piping plovers and least terns nest along the Missouri River from Fort Peck, Montana to just north of Sioux City, Iowa (Figure 1). Both species prefer to nest on sand and fine gravel substrates with no or sparse vegetation cover (Prindiville Gaines and Ryan, 1988; Sherfy et al., 2012), such as riverine sandbars (emergent sandbar habitat; ESH). Piping plovers also nest on reservoir shorelines that lack vegetation cover (Anteau et al., 2012). The amount of ESH available for nesting in a given year is strongly affected by the amount of water entering the Missouri River system through precipitation and the management of water flow from six reservoirs operated by the USACE on the mainstem Missouri River. Prior to the construction of dams, the Missouri River experienced bimodal peak flows in spring and early summer in concordance with the melting of plains and mountain snowpack (Galat and Lipkin, 2000). Flows decreased during summer months, with river stage then dependent upon rainfall. The combination of consistent high flows and occasional extreme high flows, together with the meandering characteristic of the river, regularly reshaped and scoured vegetation from ESH.« less
Laser ablation ICP‐MS analysis of larval shell in softshell clams (Mya arenaria) poses challenges for natural tag studies

We investigated whether laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) could be used to quantify larval shell compositions of softshell clams, Mya arenaria. The composition of aragonitic otoliths has been used as a natural tag to identify natal habitat in connectivity studies of fish. If it is possible to measure larval shell reliably, this technique could also be applied to marine bivalves. To determine whether the first larval shell (prodissoconch I) could be measured independent of underlying material, we conducted laboratory experiments in which larval M. arenaria were exposed to enrichments of the stable isotope 138Ba during different stages in shell development. We were unable to isolate the chemical signature of the prodissoconch I from subsequent life stages in all combinations of shell preparation and instrument settings. Typical instrument settings burned through the prodissoconch I on a post-settlement juvenile and at least 9 d of second larval shell (prodissoconch II) growth. Our results suggest instrumental and technical improvements are needed before laser ablation ICP-MS can be useful for connectivity studies that require analysis of larval shell on a post-settlement M. arenaria juvenile. Laser burn-through is potentially a problem in any connectivity study where it is necessary to assay the small amounts of shell material that are deposited before a larva disperses away from its natal location.
Fuzzy Single-Dimensional Public Choice Models

We consider the problem of intransitivity in collective preference in the presence of which there is no maximal set upon which to base a prediction of an outcome founded on collective preference. We give special attention to the conditions identified by Black’s Median Voter Theorem that guarantee against intransitivity and assure a maximal set. We then argue that the theorem holds when preferences are fuzzy.
Hydrologic Characterization of an Underdrained Porous Pavement

AbstractThe hydrologic behavior of an underdrained porous pavement system was characterized using an effective curve number (ECN), which is synonymous to the common runoff curve number (RCN). A model previously developed for porous pavements without an underdrain, which generates the rainfall-runoff data for the system, was modified to include an underdrain. However, the addition of an underdrain adds three new parameters (drain size, drain placement height, and drain spacing) that both influence the ECN and fundamentally change the design procedure. A sensitivity analysis was completed to quantify the impacts of different rainfall depths and distributions on this modified model. The RCN equations were then fit to the rainfall-runoff data to find the ECN value. ECN values for a wide range of pavement and underdrain configurations were summarized in figures that can be used as preliminary design aids for designers and regulators. These figures can be used to estimate the ECN value for a pavement design usi...
Effects of discriminative labels and of nonsense labels upon availability of novel function

A labeling procedure which differentiated between relevant and irrelevant aspects of a functionally fixed object facilitated problem-solving performance where previous attempts to facilitate performance by perceptual differentiation had failed. In a second experiment, assigning nonsense syllable labels to a functionally fixed object increased availability of novel function.
Use of alternative promoters to express the aromatase cytochrome P450 (CYP19) gene in breast adipose tissues of cancer-free and breast cancer patients.

Estrogen biosynthesis in adipose tissue has assumed great significance in terms of a number of estrogen-related diseases. Recent evidence suggests that estrogen synthesized locally in the breast is of singular significance in the development of breast cancer in elderly women. The biosynthesis of estrogen from C19 steroids is catalyzed by a specific form of cytochrome P450, namely aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom; the product of the CYP19 gene). The human CYP19 gene comprises nine coding exons, II-X, and its transcripts are expressed in the ovary, placenta, testes, adipose tissue, and brain. Tissue-specific expression of the CYP19 gene is determined, at least in part, by the use of tissue-specific promoters, which give rise to transcripts with unique 5'-noncoding termini. Transcripts in adipose tissue contain 5'-termini derived from specific untranslated exons, corresponding to expression derived from the proximal promoter II and its splice variant I.3, as well as a distal promoter, I.4. The object of t...
Nanotechnology in bone tissue engineering.

Nanotechnology represents a major frontier with potential to significantly advance the field of bone tissue engineering. Current limitations in regenerative strategies include impaired cellular proliferation and differentiation, insufficient mechanical strength of scaffolds, and inadequate production of extrinsic factors necessary for efficient osteogenesis. Here we review several major areas of research in nanotechnology with potential implications in bone regeneration: 1) nanoparticle-based methods for delivery of bioactive molecules, growth factors, and genetic material, 2) nanoparticle-mediated cell labeling and targeting, and 3) nano-based scaffold construction and modification to enhance physicochemical interactions, biocompatibility, mechanical stability, and cellular attachment/survival. As these technologies continue to evolve, ultimate translation to the clinical environment may allow for improved therapeutic outcomes in patients with large bone deficits and osteodegenerative diseases.
Approximate treatment for semi-core states

Abstract The “semi-core” states which are not completely localized on a single atomic site are nonetheless simple enough in structure as not to require a full energy band calculation for their inclusion into the charge density. A simple approximate technique to accomplish this is presented.
Rail web fracture in the presence of residual stresses

Abstract A recent accident involving roller-straighened alloy rail has raised the question of the safety of such rails. This work shows that the residual stresses in roller-straightened rail can indeed self-drive a long web crack. Specifically, the stress intensity K I due to release of the key component, longitudinal stress, if of the order of the critical stress intensity for initiation K Ic for both plain carbon and alloy rail. At cut ends, the resulting vertical residual stresses can give rise to K Ic if there are 0.1–1 in (3–25 mm) cracks. In this work, checks of the existing residual stress data for self-consistency suggest that the data are only accurate within a factor of two. Therefore, a more direct method is proposed for measuring K I on a web crack by saw-cutting the web.