cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rhabdomyolysis, myoglobinuria, and necrotizing myopathies.

The clinical syndrome of rhabdomyolysis is composed of acute muscle necrosis with swollen painful muscles (myalgia), limb weakness or collapse, markedly elevated creatine kinase (CK) concentration, and dark ‘‘cocacola’’–colored urine (myoglobinuria). Rhabdomyolysis literally means ‘‘disintegration or dissolution of skeletal muscle, associated with excretion of myoglobin in the urine’’ [1]. Early recognition of this syndrome is critical, because myoglobinuria may result in acute renal failure with potentially lifethreatening metabolic derangements. The causes of rhabdomyolysis in human beings encompass a broad spectrum of clinical disorders ranging from those resulting in recurrent myoglobinuria to sporadic severe episodes. The final common pathophysiologic mechanism resulting from direct injury to the sarcolemma or failure of the energy supply to the muscle is an uncontrolled rise in free intracellular calcium concentration and activation of calcium-dependent proteases. These abnormalities result in destruction of myofibrils and lysosomal digestion of muscle fiber contents (myonecrosis). Myoglobin is a major protein of the muscle sarcoplasm functioning as an oxygen store in oxidative fibers. Myoglobin is related phylogenetically to hemoglobin. Hemoglobin binds four oxygen molecules, with the binding of one modifying the ease of binding of the others. Myoglobin binds to only one oxygen molecule, the binding of which is not modified by the pH of the sarcoplasm [2]. The oxygen can be used when muscle is deprived of bloodborne oxygen necessary to sustain mitochondrial function [3]. Myoglobin also functions as an oxygen carrier [3–5]. Deoxymyoglobin (at 30 TU) picks up oxygen from hemoglobin at the capillary and as oxymyoglobin carries it to bind to cytochromes. In human beings, there is a broad spectrum of inherited and acquired disorders that result in rhabdomyolysis (Box 1). These disorders have been
Historical Perspectives of Osteochondrosis

A famous historian, Toynbee, wrote that history was based on challenge and response. Certainly the development of our understanding of osteochondrosis dissecans in the dog fits this description. From the first indications of the disease to our present understanding took about 60 years. The times were right, for during this period improvements in anesthesiology, radiology, and surgery, along with the demands of clients coupled with the presence of skilled trained investigators and sharp practitioners, brought about a continually increasing mass of information about a new disease entity. It is proper for us to give credit to those gifted individuals who patiently worked to unravel each bit of information. Our current challenge is that much more remains to be done.
Genomic insights in moss gibberellin biosynthesis

Gibberellins are phytohormones that are essential for proper growth and development of flowering plants. In bryophytes, however, the presence of gibberellins has not been firmly established, because previous reports of gibberellin-like activities were not accompanied by definitive chemical identification. By comparison, the other classical phytohormones auxin, cytokinin, abscisic acid and ethylene have been unambiguously detected in both mosses and liverworts, and their functions have been demonstrated to be very similar to those in flowering plants. The study of gibberellins in bryophytes lagged behind those of other phytohormones presumably because of the bewildering complexity and diversity in their chemical structures. In addition, working with bryophytes becomes even more challenging given their small size and the lack of obvious developmental mutants in the gibberellin signaling pathway. On the other hand, the recent sequencing of the Physcomitrella patens genome provides exciting opportunities to tackle this problem. Genes that may be involved in gibberellin biosynthesis have now been identified, paving the way for molecular genetic experiments that could reveal the role of gibberellins in bryophyte development. As bryophytes represent the earliest diverging lineages of land plants, such studies can also provide insights into how the gibberellin pathway may have evolved in the course of land plant evolution.
When does the intention-superiority effect occur? Activation patterns before and after task completion, and moderating variables

This experiment investigated the intention-superiority effect, potential moderators of the effect, including personality disposition (i.e., state vs. action orientation) and cue source (self vs. experimenter), and the fate of the effect after performance. The intention-superiority effect was defined as greater accessibility for intention-related words than words to be remembered. Accessibility was assessed with lexical decision latencies for words from short action scripts, and activation patterns were measured before and after scripts were performed. A general preperformance intention-superiority effect was replicated, but this effect depended on a personality disposition by cue interaction. For the state-oriented group, the effect occurred when participants expected performance to be self cued, but not experimenter cued. For the action-oriented group, the effect occurred when participants expected performance to be experimenter cued, but not self cued. After script performance, a sustained intention-sup...
Evidence of extensive RNA oxidation in normal appearing cortex of multiple sclerosis brain

The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the progression of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS) has been highlighted in recent years. Due to the debilitated cellular antioxidant defense mechanism in the neurons in MS, and their vulnerability to ROS effects, the cellular components in neuronal cells are susceptible to oxidative damage. The damage due to ROS in various biomolecules including proteins and DNA has already been shown in MS lesions. Using an in situ approach we have detected hitherto unidentified RNA oxidative damage in the neuronal cells of normal appearing cortex of postmortem MS brains. We analyzed the presence of oxidative damage marker nucleoside 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG) to determine the presence of oxidized RNA in MS brain. Immunohistochemical analyses with anti 8-OHG antibody showed significant oxidation in the cytoplasm and to a conspicuously lesser extent in the nucleus of neuronal cells within the normal appearing cortex of MS brain, whereas similar areas were weakly immunopositive in control brain tissues. Pretreatment with RNase 1 greatly reduced the immune reaction with anti 8-OHG antibody while it was only slightly diminished by DNase I pre-treatment, indicating extensive oxidative damage in the RNA pool of MS brain. The abundance of 8-OHG, hence the high extent of RNA oxidative damage was further confirmed by immunoprecipitation and HPLC analyses of total RNA isolated from MS brain. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of increased RNA oxidation in normal appearing cortex of MS brain. The current study begins to define the link of RNA oxidation to MS pathophysiology.
Certification in emergency nursing associated with vital signs attitudes and practices.

Regimented vital signs (VS) assessment for all emergency patients is a common practice in many US emergency departments despite the paucity of evidence supporting its utility. Nurse attitude may be a factor that maintains this ritualized practice. Understanding the relationship between attitudes, practices, and nurse demographic factors may be the first step to challenging this ritual in order to implement evidence-based practices. A 20-item questionnaire was developed to assess emergency nurse attitudes and practices related to VS. A convenience sample of emergency nurses from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States was used. Eighty-one emergency nurses participated. Results demonstrated wide variations in VS practice and attitudes, though some strongly held attitudes are inconsistent with the literature. Certification in emergency nursing had significant associations with beliefs that nurses' clinical judgment should be the determinant for VS frequency (p < .05) and that triage VS are not an accurate representation of patient condition (p < .05). The practice of assessing the patient first and reviewing VS after was also associated with certification (p < .05). This study begins to address emergency nurse attitudes and practices of VS so that evidence-based changes can be implemented and further research on VS frequency conducted. It also demonstrates the relationship between specialty certification and evidence-supported attitudes and practices.
A test for bile salts in urine.

A search through the text books of physiological chemistry reveals two tests that are used for the detection of bile salts in urine. One is the Pettenkofer reaction which depends on the production of a red coloration when a strong acid, furfural, and bile salts are mixed. The other, the Hay test, depends on surface tension change due to the bile salts. Because of difficulty in eliminating the urinary pigments, the Pettenkofer test has not been adapted for use as a quantitative test. Recently Meyer1 has devised a method for quantitating the bile salts in urine dependent on surface tension changes.The following method can be used as a qualitative test with relatively simple apparatus. (For the quantitation of the bile salts a nephelometer is needed.) It is as follows: Thirty cc. of urine to be tested is mixed with thirty cc. of 95 per cent alcohol. One cc. of 25 per cent trichloracetic acid is added together with a small quantity of charcoal. This mixture is boiled and then filtered. The charcoal remaining ...
The military burden on the economy

The priority given to military spending has underwritten unhealthy economic trends in the United States by diverting a large fraction of capital and technological talent.
Abstract 1139: Complete characterization of prostate cancer genomes by massively parallel sequencing

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed among men in the United States, accounting for 200,000 new cases and 27,000 deaths per year. Prior genetic studies have shown that chromosomal rearrangements comprise a major mechanism of oncogene activation in prostate cancer. For example, androgen-regulated gene fusions involving ETS family transcription factors are present in the majority of prostate cancers, yet the full repertoire of genomic alterations driving prostate carcinogenesis and progression remains unknown. Toward this end, recent technological advances have made it possible to characterize the full complement of somatic mutations in a single tumor through whole genome sequencing. We are using massively parallel sequencing technology to characterize the complete genomes of several primary prostate adenocarcinomas at >30x coverage. All samples are high-grade primary tumors (Gleason grade 7 to 9) and include cases with and without known ETS family translocations. For each tumor, we are also obtaining >30x sequence coverage of matched normal DNA from blood of these same patients in order to determine the somatic component of the overall variation we observe. Our results indicate that translocations and other chromosomal rearrangements occur frequently in prostate cancer, at a rate of >100 per genome. Further, we have discovered many nonsynonymous sequence mutations (point mutations and indels) in each tumor, some of which may represent novel candidate drivers of tumor progression. The overall rate of somatic point mutations is approximately 1 per Megabase. Integrated analysis of all genomes reveals both recurrent and private alterations. Together, these results illuminate potential avenues for target discovery and demonstrate the unparalleled value in performing complete genome sequencing in this malignancy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1139.
Abstract 282: FGF receptor signaling accelerates Wnt-1 mammary tumorigenesis and enhances translation of Wnt/β-catenin target oncogenes

The fibroblast growth factor pathway is known to cooperate with the Wnt/B-catenin pathway in mouse mammary tumorigenesis, and both of these pathways have been implicated in the etiology of human breast cancer. Despite this evidence, little is known about the molecular mechanism contributing to FGF/Wnt pathway cooperation. To investigate the mechanisms involved in this cooperativity, we used genetically engineered mice expressing a drug-inducible model for FGF Receptor signaling (iFGFR) crossed with the well-characterized MMTV-Wnt-1 mouse model. In these bigenic mice, iFGFR1 activation resulted in a dramatic enhancement of mammary tumorigenesis. Tumor microarray analysis did not reveal transcriptional enhancement of Wnt/B-catenin targets, but instead identified a protein translational gene signature that also correlated with elevated FGFR1 and FGFR2 expression in several human breast cancer data sets. Additionally, iFGFR1 activation resulted in enhanced polysome recruitment and a marked increase in protein expression of several different Wnt/B-catenin target oncogenes. Rapid FGFR1-induced ERK activation and phosphorylation of key translation regulators was observed both in vivo in the transgenic mouse model, and in a human breast cancer cell line treated with exogenous FGF. These studies suggest that translational regulation is a key rate-limiting step required for oncogenic cooperativity between the Wnt and FGF pathways. These results not only demonstrate the oncogenic potential of FGFR1 signaling, but also highlight a possible mode of cooperation between FGF and Wnt signaling, involving synergism between two fundamental levels of gene regulation, transcription and translation. FGFRs, provide drugable targets for adjuvant therapy and several known FGFR inhibitors are currently in clinical trials. Additionally, key downstream regulators of translation initiation may also serve as potential therapeutic targets for breast cancers with enhanced FGF signaling. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 282.
Histopathology methods, assays and their applications

Diagnostic microscopy requires the preparation of micron-thick specimens on glass slides, a process that can take days. MUSE, a non-destructive technique, exploits shallow-penetrating UV light to create diffraction-limited images directly from thick tissues.
Design and Implementation of a Specific Web Information System

Heritrix is an open source web spider explored by Java,HTMLParser use of robot technology to crawl through the network;web site text of the high-efficiency analysis,the information once again integration,targeted at field extracted the required data processing,and then to return to some form users.In this paper it studies Heritrix and HTMLParser technology,analyzes the application in designing a specific web information web information based on them.
The relation of sodium and potassium ion transport to the respiration and adenine nucleotide content of liver slices treated with inhibitors of respiration.

1. The dependence of the net transport of Na(+) and K(+) by rat liver on the respiration has been determined by incubating slices in the presence of varying concentrations of respiratory inhibitors. 2. Neither the rate of net transport nor the total amount of each ion transported was inhibited unless the rate of endogenous respiration was decreased below a critical value of about 330mmol of O(2)/h per kg of protein (i.e. 50% of the total endogenous respiration). 3. The uninhibited rate of respiration could be varied over a twofold range (380-770mmol of O(2)/h per kg of protein) by the use of different substrates, but the critical value for the onset of transport inhibition was quite constant (290-360mmol/h per kg of protein) under these different conditions. 4. Slices incubated at 38 degrees C without inhibitors showed an increase of their ATP content and the concentration ratio ATP/ADP. The final ATP content and concentration ratio, ATP/ADP, of slices treated with different concentrations of inhibitors were closely related to the rate of respiration. 5. The increased ATP content of the control slices during incubation was equal to the increase of total adenine nucleotides. At increasing degrees of respiratory inhibition the relative contributions of ADP and AMP to the total adenine nucleotide content increased. 6. The critical rate of respiration for the onset of inhibition of ion transport and the corresponding contents of adenine nucleotides provide estimates of the maximal values of certain parameters of energy metabolism required for the support of alkali-cation transport in the liver slices.
Suction Loss After Complete Raster Pattern and No Side Cut, No Flap Lift, and Rainbow Glare

It is rare to have a complete raster pattern and not be able to obtain suction to complete the side cut. The presence of the raster pattern in the cornea is invisible on slit-lamp examination, but this spectral pattern of disruption of the stroma can be a cause of troublesome “rainbow glare.” This does not always resolve and a PRK on the surface would be above the original raster pattern and would not eliminate the “rainbow glare.” Finding the same interface and performing a side cut only can be challenging.
Human pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (PYCR1) acts on Δ(1)-piperideine-6-carboxylate generating L-pipecolic acid.

We have conducted biochemical studies with commercial available pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) reductase (PYCR1) to investigate whether this enzyme plays a role in L-lysine degradation. Our recent studies with antiquitin/ALDH7A1 deficient fibroblasts revealed an alternative genesis of L-pipecolic acid, and we then hypothesized that PYCR1 was responsible for the conversion of Δ1-piperideine-6-carboxylate (P6C) into pipecolic acid. We here present evidence that PYCR1 is indeed able to produce L-pipecolic acid from P6C preparations, and the observed Km for this conversion is of the same magnitude as the Km described for the conversion of P5C to L-proline by PYCR1. Urine samples from antiquitin deficient individuals, who accumulate P6C, were also incubated with PYCR1 which resulted in a marked decrease of P6C and a huge increase of L-pipecolic acid as measured by LC-MS/MS, confirming that indeed PYCR1 generates L-pipecolic acid from P6C.
Provider Bias in Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Promotion and Removal: Perceptions of Young Adult Women

Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is effective and acceptable. However, concern exists about potential provider bias in LARC promotion. No study has documented contraceptive users' attitudes toward or experiences with provider influence and bias regarding LARC. We collected qualitative data in 2014 to address this gap. Participants were 50 young adult women with any history of contraceptive use (including LARC) in Dane County, Wisconsin. Women often described providers as a trusted source of contraceptive information. However, several women reported that their preferences regarding contraceptive selection or removal were not honored. Furthermore, many participants believed that providers recommend LARC disproportionately to socially marginalized women. We encourage contraceptive counseling and removal protocols that directly address historical reproductive injustices and that honor patients' wishes.
My Electric Journey with a Nissan Leaf: A classic early-adopter experience

Fifty-four months and two battery packs later, I'm still enjoying my first-generation Nissan Leaf battery electric vehicle (BEV)-but with a second-generation battery pack. All batteries (of all types) degrade, but no one, including Nissan, expected the original Leaf battery packs to degrade as rapidly as they did-especially in warm climates. Because of this, Nissan was forced to offer owners of the first-generation 2011/2012 Nissan Leaf this battery capacity warranty: "In addition to the existing lithium-ion battery coverage provided under the Nissan Electric Vehicle Limited Warranty for defects in materials or workmanship, the lithium-ion battery for your 2011/2012 Nissan Leaf is now also warranted against capacity loss below (9) nine bars (or approximately below 70%) as shown on the vehicle's battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 mi, whichever comes first." Even better, the replacement battery packs featured an improved heat-resistant chemistry along with a small increase in capacity.
Wisconsin's Shoreland Management Program

Increased leisure time, improved transportation systems and greater interest in water-based recreation have led to a more intense shoreland development and subsequent problems of water pollution, unsuitable building sites, conflicting land use, overcrowding and removal of shore cover in the shoreland area. In response to this situation, the Wisconsin Legislature enacted the Water Resources Act of 1965 which, among other things, contained a requirement for establishing a county level statewide shoreland use controls along lakes and streams. These controls consisting of shoreland zoning, subdivision regulations, and sanitary codes are explained in detail in the paper. Wisconsin has thus been able to establish practical minimum standards and workable regulations in an area where there has previously been little experience.
Gendered Representation and Critical Mass: Women’s Legislative Representation and Social Spending in 22 OECD Countries:

To better understand the dynamics of representation of women’s interests such as public expenditure on healthcare, daycare, and education, this study examines statistical evidence for the notion of critical mass. To do so, this study uses the Comparative Welfare States Data Set and the piecewise regression method to produce two linear models that best fit to the data for different ranges of the share of seats in parliament held by women. The analysis fails to find consistent support for a threshold below which women legislators have little-to-no impact upon policy outcomes. By adjudicating seven hypothetical thresholds, the analysis also shows that when there is a critical mass effect, the 10 percent level is more a consequential threshold than 15, 20, or 30 percent levels. Findings suggest that we reject the idea of a critical threshold for women’s legislative representation. However, the relationship between the representation and social spending is robust with or without presumed critical mass.
Diabetes in the bariatric surgery patient

According to the recently updated National Diabetes Statistics Fact Sheet, an estimated 18.2 million people, or approximately 6.3% of the United States population, have diabetes. Of those, 13 million are diagnosed with overt diabetes and 5.2 million are undiagnosed. Each year, approximately 1.3 million persons aged 20 years or older are diagnosed with the disease.
Effect of intermittent oxygen exposure on chemical vapor deposition of graphene

Chemical vapor deposition is the most proficient method for growing graphene on copper foils due to its scalability, repeatability, and uniformity, etc. Herein, we systematically study the effect of oxygen (O2) exposure on graphene growth. We introduced O2 before and during the growth, and then studied its effects on the morphology, crystallinity, and nucleation density of graphene. We observe that introducing O2 during growth significantly improves the graphene crystallinity while pre-dosing O2 before growth reduces the graphene nucleation density. These studies suggest that intermittent O2 exposure play a significant role in graphene growth, enabling scalable production of high-quality graphene.
IMINET: Convolutional semi-siamese networks for sound search by vocal imitation

Searching sounds by text labels is often difficult, as text labels cannot always provide sufficient information for the sound content. Previously we proposed an unsupervised system called IMISOUND for sound search by vocal imitation. In this paper, we further propose a Convolutional Semi-Siamese Network (CSN) called IMINET. IMINET uses two towers of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to extract features from vocal imitations and sound recordings, respectively. It then adopts a fully connected network to predict the similarity between vocal imitations and sound recordings. We propose three different configurations of the CSN by choosing different weight sharing strategies between the two towers. We also propose late fusion of the retrieval results of IMINET's different configurations and those of IMISOUND as a baseline. Experiments show significant improvements of the retrieval performance from the IMISOUND baseline to the fusion of IMINET's different configurations, and to different fusions between IMINET and the IMISOUND baseline.
Challenges in Applying Risk Management Concepts in Practice

The existing concepts of risk management face challenges when applied in practice. The perception of risk depends on the observer’s cognitive biases and world view which nuance risk related decisions. How an observer decides also depends on the metric used to quantify risk. While there is extensive literature on how people perceive risk, and on how to price risk in relation to the market, there is little on how to price risk according to how risks interact within the firm. The essay concludes with a suggestion (and includes relevant citations) for a way forward.
A novel N,Fe-Decorated carbon nanotube/carbon nanosheet architecture for efficient CO2 reduction

Abstract The development of high-performance electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is a prerequisite to enable CO2-to-fuels electrolysis a feasible solution for reaching a carbon neutral cycle and producing value-added fuels. In this work, we report the design of a novel nanostructured electrocatalyst consisting of carbon nanotube/carbon nanosheet architecture with N and Fe doping (NFe-CNT/CNS) by a SiO2-protected calcination strategy. The hierarchical structure of CNT/CNS affords abundant N-induced defects and Fe−N species as highly active sites and facilitates mass transportation, and carbon nanotube also offers a smooth route for charge transfer in the CO2RR process. These synergistic merits afford NFe-CNT/CNS with high performance for CO2RR in terms of a maximum FE of 69% at a low overpotential of 0.48 V, a small Tafel slope of 89 mV dec−1, and enhanced stability for CO production in aqueous solution. The findings demonstrate that the integration of structural design and dopants optimization is effective to boost electrocatalytic activity of nanocarbons for CO2 reduction.
A randomized controlled trial: does coaching using video during direct laryngoscopy improve residents' success in neonatal intubations?

To evaluate the intubation success rates of residents who receive coaching from supervisors concurrently viewing infants’ airways via video during direct laryngoscopy (VDL), as compared with coaching during traditional direct laryngoscopy without video (TDL). In a randomized controlled trial, 48 first and second-year residents performed neonatal intubations using VDL or TDL. The primary outcome was intubation success rates. Data were analyzed using the Pearson X2 and Student’s t-test. The overall intubation success rate was greater in the VDL vs. TDL group (57% vs. 33%, P < 0.05). First-year residents and residents intubating their first patient had higher intubation success rates in the VDL vs. TDL group (58% vs. 23% and 50% vs. 17%, respectively, P < 0.05). Resident coaching using VDL improved neonatal intubation success rates. Incorporating VDL as a coaching tool can optimize the quality of training during limited opportunities to achieve procedural competency and improve intubation-related patient outcomes.
The Migrant Crypt: Cultural Translation Across the Balkans

The influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Middle East into Europe has challenged the existing notion of national boundaries and demonstrated an increased need for a public policy tha...
On Tailoring the Surface Chemistry of Activated Carbons for Their Use in Purification of Aqueous Effluents

The model of Muller, Radke and Prausnitz is used to illustrate the possible effects of carbon surface chemistry on the adsorption of weak organic electrolytes. Selected experimental results are presented to illustrate the effect of surface chemistry and pH on the uptake of both aromatic and aliphatic solutes. In particular, the effects of surface chemical modifications (oxidation and nitriding) on the adsorption of aromatic and aliphatic carboxylate anions are reported. The relative importance of dispersion and electrostatic adsorbate/adsorbent interactions is illustrated and discussed.
ON THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF ACTION OF SCORPION AND SNAKE NEUROTOXINS

Scorpion neurotoxins attack the sodium channel and prevent closure of the h gate. This paper presents an hypothesis of the molecular mechanism of their action and of their tertiary conformation based on the amino acid sequence and a Chou and Fasman analysis thereof, together with a search for complementarity with a model of the molecular structure of the h gate and channel presented elsewhere. The conformation suggested is a doughnut with a central ion transmitting channel. The hypothesis may be tested experimentally by determining the x-ray structure of the toxins. Snake neurotoxins have a curare-like action at the ACh receptor at the neuromuscular junction. This paper also presents a model of the molecular mechanism of action of the snake toxins on the ACh receptor based on a model previously presented of the detailed molecular structure of the ACh receptor together with the adjacent ionophore and the linking mechanism between them. The hypothesis describes the detailed conformation of the molecule of erabutoxin b required to bind to the postulated receptor. This is akin to the Low crystal structure but has significant differences. Lastly a suggestion is made about the conformation and mechanism of action of the snake cardiotoxins.
Maternal Health and Maternal Mortality in Post War Liberia: A Survey Analysis

The United Negro College Fund Special Programs (UNCFSP) funded the partnership between Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi, and Cuttington University College, Suakoko, Liberia, to implement an intervention project based on three interconnected strategies: training, management and extension, and community engagement. The overall goal of this project is to develop capacity of health practitioners assigned to rural clinics and health centers to deliver better services to the most marginalized communities of women and children in an agrarian society recovering from two decades of war. The first of the five phases, that were proposed to implement this project, was to conduct needs assessment to identify and determine the magnitude of priorities of unmet needs. In an attempt to fulfill this objective, three independent surveys were conducted. The first survey focused on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors relating to HIV/AIDS, and 170 Liberians participated in that survey (Murty 2006). This study reports the findings of the other two surveys that are directly related to maternal health and maternal mortality—that is as perceived by the women in reproductive ages and by health care professionals/providers. Both surveys were conducted in the months of June and July of 2006.
Evolution of a comprehensive, orthogonal approach to sequence variant analysis for biotherapeutics.

Amino acid sequence variation in protein therapeutics requires close monitoring during cell line and cell culture process development. A cross-functional team of Pfizer colleagues from the Analytic...
Efficacy of an Online Concussion Training Program for School Professionals

Educators are responsible for ensuring that students who have sustained concussions return to school with appropriate support. While school districts may provide face-to-face training through professional development initiatives, many administrators are seeking cost- and time-efficient means of training concussion teams and teachers. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an online concussion training on school professionals’ awareness of, knowledge of, and confidence in concussion identification and response, as well as their ability to apply concussion knowledge. Participants watched either a 75-min Team Training video or a 30-min Teacher Training video and received access to a training handbook and supplemental resources. Results indicated that both online trainings increased confidence in concussion identification and response, as well as knowledge and awareness of concussions. Knowledge gains were similar to those found in face-to-face trainings. This provides support for the use of online concussion trainings as an effective and efficient means of professional development.
Maternal plasma cholesterol concentration and preterm birth: a meta-analysis and systematic review of literature.

Background: Women that previously had preterm labor are at an increased risk for heart disease. Because spontaneous preterm birth is an adverse pregnancy outcome that affects millions of children w...
Rapid assessment of hyperdiploidy in plasma cell disorders using a novel multi-parametric flow cytometry method.

Trisomies of odd numbered chromosomes are seen in nearly half of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and typically correlate with a hyperdiploid state and better overall survival (OS). We compared DNA ploidy of monoclonal plasma cells (as a surrogate for the presence of trisomies) assessed simultaneously by PCPRO (plasma cell proliferative index), a novel method that estimates DNA index by multi-parametric flow cytometry to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in 1703 patients with plasma cell disorders. The distribution of ploidy was hyperdiploid: 759 (45%), diploid 765 (45%), hypodiploid: 71 (4%), tetraploid/near-tetraploid: 108 (6%). FISH identified trisomies in 82% (621/756) of patients with hyperdiploidy by PCPRO and no trisomy by FISH was observed in 88% (730/834) of patients without hyperdiploidy. 95% (795/834) of patients without hyperdiploidy on PCPRO had one or less trisomy by FISH. Sensitivity and specificity of PCPRO for detecting hyperdiploidy was 86% (621/725) and 84% (730/865), respectively. Sensitivity increased to 94% (579/618) for patients with more than one trisomy. Newly diagnosed MM patients with hyperdiploidy on PCPRO (147/275) had better OS compared to nonhyperdiploid patients (median not reached vs 59 months, P = 0.008) and better progression free survival (median: 33 vs 23 months, P = 0.03). Within the hyperdiploidy group, patients with high-hyperdiploidy (DNA index: 1.19-1.50) versus those with low-hyperdiploidy (DNA index: 1.05-1.18) had superior OS (3 year OS of 88% vs 68% P = 0.03). Ploidy assessment by flow cytometry can provide rapid, valuable prognostic information and also reduces the number of copy number FISH probes required and hence the cost of FISH.
Robot-Assisted Revisional Surgery of Gastric Greater Curvature Plication to Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.

Laparoscopic gastric greater curvature plication (LGGCP) has been presented as an alternative to laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) for reversible reduction of stomach capacity without gastric reduction or stapling. We present a case of a 51-year-old Hispanic female with a BMI of 41.91 kg/m2, who underwent (LGGCP) 5 years previously at another institution. Despite multiple interventions, the patient was unable to successfully lose weight, and the decision was made to reverse the procedure with a robot-assisted Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The plication was intact extending from the fundus to the antrum, with the sutures incorporated by scarring and fibrotic tissue. Sutures were delicately removed to form a 30-cc pouch, followed by jejuno-jejunal and gastrojejunal anastomosis. The patient tolerated the surgery well and control fluoroscopy was negative for anastomotic leaks, patient was discharged home on POD 2. At the 40-day follow-up, the patient had lost 22 lb., reducing her BMI to 37.64 kg/m2. The 3D vision of the robotic camera and the six degrees of freedom of the robotic instruments seemed to facilitate the challenging dissection of the embedded sutures used for the LGGCP and its overall undoing. However, further volume and data on the robotic approach for this specific revisional procedure are necessary before drawing any definitive conclusions.
Influence of Site Liquefaction on Seismic Design of Bridge Foundations

ABSTRACT Liquefaction of saturated granular foundation soils has been a major source of bridge failures during historic earthquakes. Recent studies sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration led to new Seismic Design Guidelines adopted by AASHTO and complementary reports outlining detailed seismic foundation design procedures. This paper reviews potential foundation design problems associated with liquefaction together with related design philosophies. Solutions are presented to show how foundation systems may be designed to accommodate limited site liquefaction for a representative highway bridge structure. Significant changes in the overall response characteristics of highway bridges may occur when liquefaction is encountered. A pile group foundation when properly designed can be used to withstand significant liquefaction of surficial soil layers. Use of battered piles can reduce the lateral movement of the foundation and significantly reduces the bending moment associated with pile buckling at the liquefied zone.
Effects of Market-Based Development on Women’s Empowerment: Impact on Families

Is diffusing global market-based development beneficial for women? Does it improve or hinder women's empowerment and in turn, the prosperity of their families? Is women's empowerment advantageous t...
Mindful Body Scans and Sonographic Biofeedback as Preparatory Activities to Address Patient Psychological States in Hand Therapy: A Pilot Study.

AbstractIntroductionTranslational evidence for mind–body interventions in hand therapy is limited. This pilot study aimed to determine potential benefits of including a mindful body scan or sonogra...
Data for an Advanced Microstructural and Electrochemical Datasheet on 18650 Li-ion Batteries with Nickel-Rich NMC811 Cathodes and Graphite-Silicon Anodes.

The data presented here were collected from a commercial LG Chem cylindrical INR18650 MJ1 lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery (approximate nominal specifications: 3.5 Ah, 3.6 V, 12.2 Wh). Electrochemical and microstructural information is presented, the latter collected across several length scales using X-ray computed tomography (CT): from cell to particle. One cell-level tomogram, four assembly-level and two electrode/particle-level 3D datasets are available; all data was collected in the pristine state. The electrochemical data consists of the full current and voltage charge-discharge curves for 400 operational cycles. All data has been made freely available via a repository [10.5522/04/c.4994651] in order to aid in the development of improved computational models for commercially-relevant Li-ion battery materials.
Dihydromyricetin improves mitochondrial outcomes in the liver of alcohol-fed mice via the AMPK/Sirt-1/PGC-1α signaling axis.

Abstract Alcoholic liver disease (ALD), due to the multifactorial damage associated with alcohol (ethanol) consumption and metabolism, is one of the most prevalent liver diseases in the United States. The liver is the primary site of ethanol metabolism and is subsequently injured due to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), acetaldehyde, and metabolic stress. Building evidence suggests that dihydromyricetin (DHM), a bioactive flavonoid isolated from Hovenia dulcis, provides hepatoprotection by enhancing ethanol metabolism in the liver by maintaining hepatocellular bioenergetics, reductions of oxidative stress, and activating lipid oxidation pathways. The present study investigates the utility of DHM on hepatic mitochondrial biogenesis via activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/Sirtuin (Sirt)-1/PPARG coactivator 1 (PGC)-1α signaling pathway. We utilized a forced drinking ad libitum study that chronically fed 30% ethanol to male C57BL/6J mice over 8 weeks and induced ALD pathology. We found that chronic ethanol feeding resulted in the suppression of AMPK activation and cytoplasmic Sirt-1 and mitochondrial Sirt-3 expression, effects that were reversed with daily DHM administration (5 mg/kg; intraperitoneally [i.p.]). Chronic ethanol feeding also resulted in hepatic hyperacetylation of PGC-1α, which was improved with DHM administration and its mediated increase of Sirt-1 activity. Furthermore, ethanol-fed mice were found to have increased expression of mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), reduced mitochondrial content as assessed by mitochondrial DNA to nuclear DNA ratios, and significantly lower levels of hepatic ATP. In contrast, DHM administration significantly increased TFAM expression, hepatic ATP concentrations, and induced mitochondrial expression of respiratory complex III and V. In total, this work demonstrates a novel mechanism of DHM that improves hepatic bioenergetics, metabolic signaling, and mitochondrial viability, thus adding to the evidence supporting the use of DHM for treatment of ALD and other metabolic disorders.
Ambivalence and Coping Responses in Post-Adoptive Information Systems Use

As information systems (IS) have evolved, more sophisticated meshing of their positive and negative implications has emerged, leaving users with an increasingly ambivalent experience. Given the dis...
Fusion Lasso and Its Applications to Cancer Subtype and Stage Prediction

Effectively integrating and mining multi-view, high-dimensional omics data is instrumental to precision medicine. Numerous methods have been proposed for addressing this problem. However, they more or less neglect the challenges (e.g., interpretability, stability and consistency) pertaining to this integration process, whereby suffering from unstable or inconsistent variable selection and prediction accuracy deterioration. In this paper, we introduce a novel Fusion Lasso (FL) framework in which variable selection and data integration are formulated as a weighted constrained optimization problem. Specifically, four regularization constraints, i.e., sparsity, fusion penalty, instability and inconsistency, are simultaneously taken into account in the fusion model using multi-view data, while sparse features are revealed from data of each individual view through the e1-norm minimization. We use the ADMM and Accelerated ADMM (AADMM) schemes to solve this optimization problem, leading to a scalable model convergence with solid theoretical guarantee. By applying FL to fve multi-omics cancer datasets collected by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we demonstrate that FL outperforms popular variable selection and data integration approaches, such as Elastic Net, Precision Lasso, B-RAIL and MDBN, in cancer subtype and/or stage prediction. The proposed method is useful and can be further adopted to systems biology and other advanced clinical research areas where multi-view data integration is a necessity.
Regulation of beta-amyloid production in neurons by astrocyte-derived cholesterol.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of amyloid β (Aβ) plaques, tau tangles, inflammation, and loss of cognitive function. Genetic variation in a cholesterol transport protein, apolipoprotein E (apoE), is the most common genetic risk factor for sporadic AD. In vitro evidence suggests that apoE links to Aβ production through nanoscale lipid compartments (lipid clusters), but its regulation in vivo is unclear. Here, we use superresolution imaging in the mouse brain to show that apoE utilizes astrocyte-derived cholesterol to specifically traffic neuronal amyloid precursor protein (APP) in and out of lipid clusters, where it interacts with β- and γ-secretases to generate Aβ-peptide. We find that the targeted deletion of astrocyte cholesterol synthesis robustly reduces amyloid and tau burden in a mouse model of AD. Treatment with cholesterol-free apoE or knockdown of cholesterol synthesis in astrocytes decreases cholesterol levels in cultured neurons and causes APP to traffic out of lipid clusters, where it interacts with α-secretase and gives rise to soluble APP-α (sAPP-α), a neuronal protective product of APP. Changes in cellular cholesterol have no effect on α-, β-, and γ-secretase trafficking, suggesting that the ratio of Aβ to sAPP-α is regulated by the trafficking of the substrate, not the enzymes. We conclude that cholesterol is kept low in neurons, which inhibits Aβ accumulation and enables the astrocyte regulation of Aβ accumulation by cholesterol signaling.
Managing COVID-19-positive Solid Organ Transplant Recipients in the Community: What a Community Healthcare Provider Needs to Know.

Background: The current surge of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) cases in certain parts of the country has burdened the healthcare system, limiting access to tertiary centers for many. As a result, COVID-19-positive Solid Organ Transplant (SOT) recipients are increasingly being managed by local healthcare providers. It is crucial for community providers to understand disease severity and know if COVID-19-impacted SOT recipients have a different clinical course compared with COVID-19-negative SOT recipients with a similar presentation. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis on SOT recipients suspected to have COVID-19 infection tested during March 14, 2020-April 30, 2020. Patients were followed from time of testing to May 31, 2020. Results: One hundred sixty SOT recipients underwent testing: 22 COVID-19 positive and 138 COVID-19 negative. COVID-19-positive patients were more likely to have rapid progression of symptoms (median 3 vs 6 d, P = 0.002), greater hospitalizations (78% vs 64%, P < 0.017), and need for intensive care unit care (45% vs 17%, P < 0.001) Severe COVID-19 infection was not observed in patients on Belatacept for immunosuppression (30% vs 87%,P = 0.001). COVID- 19 positive patients in the intensive care unit were more likely to have multifocal opacities on radiological imaging in comparison to those admitted to the medical floor (90% vs 11%). Survival probability was similar in both cohorts. Conclusion: COVID-19-infected SOT recipients have a propensity for rapid clinical decompensation. Local providers need to be work closely with transplant centers to appropriately triage and manage COVID-19 SOT recipients in the community.