cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract WMP47: Robot-assisted Mechanical Therapy Protects Against Stroke-induced Skeletal Muscle Injury

Introduction: A growing body of literature supports acute changes to skeletal muscle physiology in response to stroke-induced central nervous system injury. While stroke survivors depend on rehabilitation to facilitate functional recovery, study of post-stroke rehabilitation and mechanisms of recovery remains limited. The current work addresses development of a Robot-Assisted Mechanical Therapy (RAMT) device and facilitation of reproducible, objective analysis of post-stroke rehabilitation. We hypothesize that RAMT permits systematic study of post-stroke mechano-physiotherapy and restores hindlimb function after stroke by protecting against skeletal muscle injury. Methods: Wistar rats (male, N=26) were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), after which they received daily RAMT (RAMT+; 0.5N force, 1Hz frequency, 10mm linear motion over medial stroke-affected gastrocnemius) or none (RAMT-; anesthesia only) for 14 days. Assessment of gait, sensorimotor behavior, and muscle perfusion quantified effects of RAMT on post-stroke function, while skeletal muscle analysis (RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry) evaluated expression of myostatin, a molecular target of stroke. Results: Compared to RAMT- controls, RAMT+ rats benefited from higher perfusion in stroke-affected gastrocnemius (47.7%, p Conclusion: RAMT facilitates reproducible, objective, pre-clinical study of post-stroke mechano-physiotherapy. RAMT successfully improves muscle perfusion, rescues gait deficits, preserves sensorimotor behavior, and attenuates the stroke-induced rise in myostatin. Ongoing efforts focus to characterize the mechano-sensitive miRNA transcriptome in skeletal muscle and employ electrophysiology to quantitatively map post-stroke neuroplasticity in response to RAMT.
When a Sex Offender Comes to Visit: A National Assessment of Travel Restrictions:

The present study examines the registration requirements for registered sex offenders traveling from their resident state to another state for business or pleasure. The author contacted each state’s primary Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) office to obtain the required registration requirements for nonresident sex offenders, as well as where and how nonresident sex offenders can obtain this information prior to visiting that state. The findings indicate that registration requirements and residence restrictions vary significantly by state for nonresident registrants. While not surprising given that numerous studies have highlighted that sex offender policies produce unique and severe challenges for all sex offenders in the United States. This study, however, suggests that nonresident sex offender policies are potentially another collateral consequences for registrants. Most notably, there is significant variation in the number of days a registered sex offender has to register in any given ...
The Seeds of the Series: Chinua Achebe and the Educational Publisher

Certain aspects of Chinua Achebe’s work align with Jacque Derrida’s compressed thought in the epigraph above. Achebe’s project has been described as affirmative in ways that clearly set it apart from, or put it at variance with, Derrida’s deconstruction. However, a glance through the lens of Derrida’s singular proposition above may in fact unveil a new dimension of Achebe’s work, namely: that the mythical or traditional ethos of Achebe’s novels are not incompatible with a material theory of production if only we can uncover their actual points of incarnation in material life. These points of incarnation can be located in the multiple pedagogical functions of the texts, as well as within the simultaneously diffused and underlying ideology that define Achebe’s artistic philosophy, functions that are equally incarnated in the institutional instruments of textual production, which sometimes operate through and are piloted by the author function. Pedagogical relations and functions reside in the confluence of ideas, models, structures, and bodies. On the basis of this proposition, the novels as an aesthetic exploration of the career of the book in Africa, as well as the author’s publishing relationships, can certainly be brought altogether within the grid of a material theory of literary production, but more importantly, these relationships as properties of texts could be seen as consisting ultimately in literary form as an advance consciousness that prefigures, and to some extent preconfigures, ideologies of production and the relations they engender.
Doing Time and the Unemployment Line: The Impact of Incarceration on Ex-Inmates’ Employment Outcomes:

This study measures the influence multiple incarcerations and age at first incarceration have on the lengths of time ex-inmates are not employed and the amount of time ex-inmates spend looking for employment. Fixed effects analyses of longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) finds a relationship between incarceration at younger ages and longer non-employment experiences, but no association between incarcerations between 23 - 32 years old and non-employment lengths. Meanwhile, these individuals who experience incarceration younger spend equivalent time looking for employment as their never-incarcerated peers, despite having nonequivalent periods without employment.
Clinical Misstagings and Risk Factors of Occult Nodal Disease in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background Our objective was to compare the clinical to the pathologic stage in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods A prospective database from 1 surgeon was reviewed. Patients had NSCLC, chest tomography (CT), and most had positron emission tomography (PET). Those with suggested N1, N2, central tumors, or tumors larger than 5 cm underwent mediastinoscopy or endobronchial ultrasound, or both, and if N2 negative, underwent resection with complete thoracic lymphadenectomy. Results Between January 2006 and December 2016, there were 1,444 consecutive patients. The sensitivity and specificity for CT was 76% and 79% for pathologic stage I, 48% and 89% for stage II, and 58% and 88% for stage III. The sensitivity and specificity for PET was 77% and 70% for pathologic stage I, 43% and 88% for stage II, and 46% and 93% for stage III. Pathologic N1 disease was proven in 7% of patients and missed in 4% by CT, 5% by PET, and 3% by both. Pathologic N2 disease was proven in 20% of patients and missed in 9% by CT, 10% by PET, and 8% by both. Occult N2 disease was present in 10% of clinically stage I patients and in 21% of clinically stage II patients. Independent predictors of occult N1 disease included high maximum standardized uptake value (p = 0.034) and predictors of N2 disease included African American race (p = 0.020) and large tumor size (p = 0.047). Conclusions Despite advancements in CT, PET, and minimally invasive nodal biopsy, there remains significant NSCLC misstaging, especially for N2 disease. Improved, targeted N2 lymph node biopsy may improve preresection staging.
Structure-Function Relationships

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the anatomy and physiology of respiratory surfaces, which constitute the interface between inhaled air and the organism. Throughout the airspaces, the respiratory epithelium is characterized by so-called tight junctions near the apical margin of adjoining cells. These structures, whose molecular anatomy is beginning to yield its secrets, impose a significant barrier to solute movement between the surface liquid and the intercellular space, which communicates with the submucosa across a relatively porous basement membrane. In addition, the tight junctional apparatus effectively separates the apical and basolateral membranes of each epithelial cell, thus allowing for selective insertion of various receptors and channels, which confer the polarity underlying vectorial transcellular transport, and selective secretion of epithelial cell products to one or the other face of the epithelium. The apical surfaces of the epithelial cells, which line the lumen of the airways, and air spaces are covered by a continuous layer of extracellular airways surface liquid (ASL) that contains about 93% water. In the cartilaginous airways, the ASL consists of a periciliary “sol” layer and a more lumenally located mucus “gel” layer. The thickness of the sol layer is appropriate to the height of the cilia so that during their power stroke, the cilia contacts the undersurface of the gel layer. Mucin is produced and stored in condensed form as membrane-enclosed granules in the apical portion of specialized secretory cells in bronchial epithelia and in the mucous glands.
Chapter 27 Organization design

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses an assortment of recent economic studies in the same way: as steps toward characterizing those organization designs that do well, according to some measure of gross performance, with the informational and administrative resources they require. The steps turn out to be diverse and modest, but the problem is difficult. Piecing the assorted contributions together, one is still far indeed from a unified theory of efficient organization design. The main stumbling block remains the modeling of technology and cost. Some elements of cost have been studied intensively and even elegantly. The chapter examines the Shannon theory in connection with transmission, and the theory of finite-state machines in connection with the assignment of output/state pairs to input/state pairs in one-step designs with memory. Techniques have been developed for the study of a design's gross performance, for example, the computation of expected payoff for a given team information structure, and these remain useful in efficiency studies when good cost models become available. The theory, even in its present form, has already been useful in revealing how difficult it is (1) to define certain widely current terms sharply and agreeably to most usages and (2) to verify certain widely held conjectures.
Coronary Blood Flow

While the heart pumps blood to serve the whole body, the heart muscle itself must be perfused. Yet the perfusion of the heart is unique. Most of the coronary blood vessels are embedded in the myocardium. In every cardiac cycle, the blood in these vessels are squeezed by the muscle cells. The interaction between the muscle cells and the blood vessels dominates the coronary blood flow. None of the individual coronary blood vessels functions as a free tube. The heart muscle cells and the interstitial connective tissues and fluid impose normal and shear stresses and physical constraints on the external surfaces of the coronary blood vessels. Since, however, there is no stress gauge to measure the forces of interaction directly, theoretical analysis plays a major role in assessing the boundary conditions at the external surface of the coronary blood vessel in vivo.
Curriculum, Empiricisms, and Post-Truth Politics

The purpose of this paper is to approach the phenomenon of post-Truth politics as an important site of inquiry for the field of curriculum theory. The authors define curriculum as the empirical frameworks that shape our acts of knowing, being, and relating to the world, and argue that inquiries into curriculum must move beyond a concern with epistemology alone. The framework of empiricism ensures that curriculum scholars attend simultaneously to learned habits and methods of knowing and relating to the world. These habits and methods, in turn, have particular ethical, epistemic, and ontological commitments. The authors point to particular empirical frameworks that tacitly inform the disciplinary organization of schooling, before exploring a different empirical tradition in the work of John Dewey. The article ends by placing Dewey’s empirical philosophy in conversation with the work of Sylvia Wynter to inquire into new curricular possibilities.
Fichte’s Philosophy of History: Between A Priori Foundation and Material Development

This chapter offers an overview of the development of Fichte’s conception of history, considered in the programmatic claims and principal challenges it entails from the early Jena Wissenschaftslehre, through the so-called popular writings and lectures, up to the later metaphysical views. The general guiding thread is the tension that sees Fichte’s philosophy of history suspended between the transcendental and foundationalist impetus of the Wissenschaftslehre and his attentiveness to and sensitivity for the empirical and material realm of human activity.
Collaborative Antimicrobial Stewardship: Working with Microbiology

There have been tremendous advances in methodologies available for detection and identification of organisms causing infections. Providers can now obtain identification results and antimicrobial susceptibility results in a shorter period of time. However, declining health care resources highlight the importance of selecting the right test at the right time to maximize diagnostic benefits. Therefore, the role of the antimicrobial stewardship team in the clinical microbiology laboratory has expanded to include diagnostic stewardship and provision of guidance on test selection for diagnosis and management of infection. This review focuses on the experience of our group in collaborative stewardship, emphasizing successes and challenges.
Shared Decision-making in Autoimmune Neurology: Making Decisions in the Face of Uncertainty.

Purpose of review In this article, the author explores the use of shared decision making (SDM) in the management of the preference-sensitive condition, neural autoantibody-mediated syndromes. Recent findings The field of autoimmune neurology lacks trials and often data to support therapeutic decisions. Treatment choices need to be made acutely, lacking crucial laboratory information and with uncertainty regarding treatment response and prognosis. This lack of data does not necessitate indecision in a population where delayed treatment may lead to poor outcomes. Over the past several decades, SDM has emerged as a model of communication enabling clinicians and their patients to explore current knowledge in the context of a patient9s values and goals to arrive at joint decision, even when data are lacking. Summary SDM is a tool autoimmune neurologists should use to develop individualized treatment plans based on the patient9s clinical presentation contextualized within specific values and preferences.
Farnesylthiosalicylic acid-derivatized PEI-based nanocomplex for improved tumor vaccination.

Cancer vaccines that make use of tumor antigens represent a promising therapeutic strategy by stimulating immune responses against tumors to generate long-term anti-tumor immunity. However, vaccines have shown limited clinical efficacy due to inefficient delivery. In this study, we focus on vaccine delivery assisted by nanocomplexes for cancer immunotherapy. Nanocomplex-mediated vaccination can efficiently deliver nucleic acids encoding neoantigens to lymphoid tissues and antigen-presenting cells. Polyethylenimine (PEI) was conjugated with farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS) to form micelles. Subsequent interaction with nucleic acids led to formation of polymer/nucleic acid nanocomplexes of well-controlled structure. Tumor transfection via FTS-PEI was much more effective than that by PEI, other PEI derivatives, or naked DNA. Significant numbers of transfected cells were also observed in draining lymph nodes (LNs). In vivo delivery of ovalbumin (OVA; a model antigen) expression plasmid (pOVA) by FTS-PEI led to a significant growth inhibition of the OVA-expressing B16 tumor through presentation of OVA epitopes as well as other epitopes via epitope spreading. Moreover, in vivo delivery of an endogenous melanoma neoantigen tyrosinase-related protein 2 (Trp2) also led to substantial tumor growth inhibition. FTS-PEI represents a promising transfection agent for effective gene delivery to tumors and LNs to mediate effective neoantigen vaccination.
Multiparametric MRI characterization of knee articular cartilage and subchondral bone shape in collegiate basketball players.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonly used to evaluate the morphology of the knee in athletes with high-knee impact; however, complex repeated loading of the joint can lead to biochemical and structural degeneration that occurs before visible morphological changes. In this study, we utilized multiparametric quantitative MRI to compare morphology and composition of articular cartilage and subchondral bone shape between young athletes with high-knee impact (basketball players; n = 40) and non-knee impact (swimmers; n = 25). We implemented voxel-based relaxometry to register all cases to a single reference space and performed a localized compositional analysis of T 1ρ - and T 2 -relaxation times on a voxel-by-voxel basis. Additionally, statistical shape modeling was employed to extract differences in subchondral bone shape between the two groups. Evaluation of cartilage composition demonstrated a significant prolongation of relaxation times in the medial femoral and tibial compartments and in the posterolateral femur of basketball players in comparison to relaxation times in the same cartilage compartments of swimmers. The compositional analysis also showed depth-dependent differences with prolongation of the superficial layer in basketball players. For subchondral bone shape, three total modes were found to be significantly different between groups and related to the relative sizes of the tibial plateaus, intercondylar eminences, and the curvature and concavity of the patellar lateral facet. In summary, this study identified several characteristics associated with a high-knee impact which may expand our understanding of local degenerative patterns in this population.
Surface-Attached Molecular Catalysts on Visible-Light-Absorbing Semiconductors: Opportunities and Challenges for a Stable Hybrid Water-Splitting Photoanode

Hybrid photoanodes for water-splitting photoelectrochemical cells (WS-PECs) consist of a visible-light-absorbing semiconductor (VLASC) with a molecular water-oxidation catalyst (mWOC) attached and ...
Pulsars with Jets May Harbor Dynamically Important Disks

For many astrophysical sources with jets, there is evidence of the contemporaneous presence of disks. In contrast, pulsars such as the Crab and Vela show jets but have not yet revealed direct evidence for accretion disks. Here we show that for such pulsars, an accretion disk radiating below detectable thresholds may simultaneously account for (1) observed deviations in the braking indices from that of the simple dipole, (2) observed pulsar timing ages, and (3) possibly even the jet morphology via a disk outflow that interacts with the pulsar wind within, collimating and/or redirecting it.
Using Physiological Cues to Determine Levels of Anxiety Experienced among Deaf and Hard of Hearing English Language Learners

Deaf and hard of hearing English language learners encounter a range of challenges when learning spoken/written English, many of which are not faced by their hearing counterparts. In this paper, we examine the feasibility of utilizing physiological data, including arousal and eye gaze behaviors, as a method of identifying instances of anxiety and frustration experienced when delivering presentations. Initial findings demonstrate the potential of using this approach, which in turn could aid English language instructors who could either provide emotional support or personalized instructions to assist deaf and hard of hearing English language learners in the classroom.
Emphysematous pyelonephritis in a diabetic patient.

A 49-year-old man with morbid obesity, hypertension and poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus presented to the emergency department with ongoing shortness of breath, leukocytosis of 26 000/uL, lactate of 5.6 mmol/L and positive urinalysis. Serum creatinine was elevated to 5.9 mg/dL, above a
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Characterizations of the Press: An Empirical Study

The erosion of constitutional norms in the United States is at the center of an urgent national debate. Among the most crucial of these issues is the fragile and deteriorating relationship between the press and the government. While scholars have responded with sophisticated examinations of legislators’ and the President’s characterizations of the news media, one branch of government has received little scrutiny—the U.S. Supreme Court. This gap in the scholarship is remarkable in light of the Court’s role as the very institution entrusted with safeguarding the rights of the press. This paper presents the findings of the first comprehensive empirical examination of the Court’s depictions of the press. We tracked every reference to the press by a U.S. Supreme Court Justice in the Court’s opinions since 1784. We coded these references to the press (broadly defined by the Justices themselves) for the presence of common frames and for whether the frame was conveyed with a positive, negative, or neutral tone. The results of our study reveal troubling trends at the Court, with widespread implications for any discussion of contemporary press freedom. We find that there has been a stark deterioration in both the quantity and quality of the Court’s depictions of the press across a variety of measures. Our data show that the Justices are now less likely to talk about the press than they were in the past, and that, when they do, it is more often in a negative light. At this crucial moment, when we have seen the risks of executive and legislative branch attacks on the press, our study finds that the U.S. Supreme Court is not pushing back. The study also reveals a substantial correlation between ideology and the Justices’ attitudes toward the press. It likewise illuminates the press-characterizing behaviors of the most and least press-friendly Justices of all time and of the currently sitting Justices, providing insights into patterns that might be expected in the years to come.
Strong Coupling of an Fe - Co Alloy with Ultralow Damping to Superconducting Co-planar Waveguide Resonators

We report on the strong coupling between a metallic ferromagnetic ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{75}{\mathrm{Co}}_{25}$ thin-film patterned element and a range of superconducting $\mathrm{Nb}$ half-wavelength co-planar waveguide (CPW) resonators. By varying the volume of the ferromagnet we demonstrate that the coupling rate scales linearly with the square root of the number of spins and achieve a coupling rate over 700 MHz, approaching the ultrastrong coupling regime. Experiments varying the center conductor width while maintaining constant magnetic volume verify that decreasing the center conductor width increases coupling and cooperativity. Our results show that the frequency dependence of the coupling rate is linear with the fundamental and higher-order odd harmonics of the CPW, but with differing efficiencies. The results show promise for scaling planar superconducting resonator-magnetic hybrid systems to smaller dimensions.
Utility of Electromyography in Neonatal Hypotonia: A Tertiary Center 10-year Experience. (P3.6-067)

Objective: To determine the utility of performing electromyography (EMG) in the evaluation of neonatal hypotonia. Background: The diagnosis of congenital neuromuscular disease relies on multiple tools in reaching a definitive diagnosis. The use of electromyography is usually delayed to avoid an uncomfortable procedure. Design/Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients with a diagnosis of hypotonia seen at our tertiary care center. We included all patients with a neonatal presentation including patients with infantile hypotonia over a 10-year period (2005 – 2015). All demographic and clinical data were reviewed and the utility of electromyography was based on contribution to diagnosis. A Pediatric Neuromuscular Specialist confirmed all cases in which utility was unclear. Results: We reviewed 1500 charts and included 958 in our analysis. The male to female ratio was 4:3. Premature patients comprised 176 (18%) cases. From the total group, 144 (15%) had a confirmed neuromuscular diagnosis. An additional 38 (4%) had a possible neuromuscular diagnosis and 402 (42%) were indeterminate. One hundred and nine patients (11%) had electromyography performed and 47 (43%) of them received a confirmed or possible neuromuscular diagnosis. For our EMGs, sensitivity for possible or confirmed neuromuscular disease was 72%, specificity 79%, positive predictive value 72% and negative predictive value 79%. The most common causes were central causes including HIE and mutations causing central hypotonia in 348 patients. Among neuromuscular etiologies, we found 34 cases of congenital myopathies and 10 of SMA. Conclusions: The use of EMG as part of the diagnostic tools used to reach a definitive diagnosis in patients presenting with neonatal hypotonia should be strategically applied. Central causes of hypotonia presented the majority of cases in our study. Patients with evidence of peripheral hypotonia with or without central causes benefited the most from having a neuromuscular consult and EMG. The use of EMG helped determining future studies. Disclosure: Dr. Guillen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ginsberg has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hanna has nothing to disclose. Dr. Abdel-Hamid has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Sarepta Therapeutics.
The Persistence of Prejudice: Voters Strongly Penalize Candidates with HIV

Forty million people around the world and more than one million in the United States live with HIV. Despite the gains in the prevention and treatment of HIV due to medical advances and community advocacy, HIV/AIDS continues to claim lives and disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Stigma against people with HIV remains powerful. While individuals with HIV have gained some visibility in the media, the scarcity of politicians with HIV is striking. This article analyzes a possible reason: voter bias. We examine voters’ reactions to political candidates with HIV using original nationally representative survey experiments from the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Voters penalize candidates with HIV by 10–12 percentage points in the three countries. Prejudice, electability concerns, and the moral judgment that candidates are responsible for their HIV+ status explain bias. The lack of descriptive representation remains an obstacle to improved policy outcomes for this marginalized community.
A prototype High Purity Germanium detector for high resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy at high count rates

Abstract Where energy resolution is paramount, High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors continue to provide the optimum solution for gamma-ray detection and spectroscopy. Conventional large-volume HPGe detectors are typically limited to count rates on the order of ten thousand counts per second, however, limiting their effectiveness for high count rate applications. To address this limitation, we have developed a novel prototype HPGe detector designed to be capable of achieving fine energy resolution and high event throughput at count rates in excess of one million counts per second. We report here on the concept, design, and initial performance of the first prototype device.
Invariants and Symmetries among Adaptive Agents

In this paper we present agents and systems at different order of complexity. At the first order we have agents which acts are transformations from one state to another. At the second order the actions of the agents transform one context with rules and data to another context with other rules and data. In the transformation of the second order the new rules and the new data are projected in the new context. Rules of the new context must be adapted to the new rules obtained by the transformation. The adaptation process can be obtained by a close loop control inside the possible set of the rules included in the new context. Close loop control at the second order can be obtained by the second order action of the agents. Invariants and symmetry are possible when we move from one context to another. A set of contexts can be transformed in another set of contexts by a third order action of a meta-agent. In conclusion a hierarchical tower of agents and meta agents can be built in a way to generate complex transformations.
Optimization process for fractal dimension estimation

An optimization process for estimating fractal dimension with the Grassberger-Procaccia correlation approach (1983) is derived in this paper. It has met with success in the estimation of dimensionality with the known attractors of Lorenz, Van Der Pol and Henon, as well as noisy time-series data. Future work will involve an attempt to employ an artificial neural network for the derived estimator. >
Abstract 31: WEE1 kinase inhibition enhances PI3K inhibitor response in p53 deficient gliomas

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumor that is resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, and is almost always fatal. Oncogenic activation of the PI3K signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in the development of GBM and is a major molecular target for therapeutic development. However, clinical results of single-agent PI3K inhibitors have been modest to date. PI3K inhibitors have led to tumor stabilization and some disease responses; however, dramatic tumor regressions are not typical. Multiple recent reports have described mechanisms of resistance to PI3K inhibitors. The goal of the present study was to identify ways to improve the efficacy of PI3K inhibitor-based therapy by overcoming adaptive resistance. In this study we show that PI3K inhibitor BKM induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and inhibits GBM cell proliferation. We identified WEE1 as a putative treatment target of resistance to PI3K inhibition based on its potential function as a mitotic gatekeeper and its specific overexpression in GBM. WEE1 kinase is a key molecule in maintaining G2-cell-cycle checkpoint arrest for premitotic DNA repair. We show that that BKM treatment activates WEE1, which in turn phosphorylates CDC2 at Tyr15, inactivates CDC2 and inhibits CDC2 activity, leading to G2/M arrest in glioma initiating cells (GICs). We show that treatment with WEE1 inhibitor MK1775 inhibited BKM-induced Cdc2 Tyr15 phosphorylation, and forced GICs to enter into the mitotic phase of the cell cycle. Using a panel of GICs, we show that MK1775 synergizes with BKM to inhibit GBM cell proliferation. Further, MK1775 and BKM as a single agent alone partially blocks proliferation, however, combination of MK1775 and BKM induces apoptosis as evaluated by Annexin V positive cells, cleaved PARP and caspase 3, and TUNEL staining. This effect was observed specifically in p53 mutant cells. Finally we show that depletion of WEE1 by shRNAs synergizes with BKM to inhibit GBM cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. These results indicate that WEE1 inhibition potentiated the effectiveness of PI3K targeted inhibition in GBM, and suggest a combinational inhibition of WEE1 and PI3K might allow successful targeted therapy in p53 mutant GBM. Citation Format: Shaofang Wu, Siyuan Zheng, Shuzhen Wang, W.K.Alfred Yung, Dimpy Koul. WEE1 kinase inhibition enhances PI3K inhibitor response in p53 deficient gliomas. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 31. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-31
Interspecies communication in the gut, from bacterial delivery to host-cell response

Intestinal pathogens have a wide variety of strategies for communicating with host epithelial cells. This review highlights a few key examples of those strategies. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) use a type III secretion system (T3SS) to alter host ion transport through both transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. Salmonella use a similar T3SS to invade host cells and modify an intracellular vacuole, which also impacts host vesicle trafficking. Helicobacter pylori use host cell integrins to provide a conformational change which drives the type IV secretion system into the host cell for delivery of CagA. The novel type VI section systems are phage-like apparati that deliver VgrG-1, which causes actin cross-linking and fluid accumulation in a suckling mouse model. An entirely different delivery mechanism is the outer membrane vesicle (OMV) which is composed of bacterial outer membrane wrapped around contents of the periplamsic space. Enterotoxigenic E. coli use OMVs to deliver bundles of heat labile enterotoxin to host cells. Finally we discuss the host responses to these varied methods of communication.
ARE WOMEN REALLY MORE RISK‐AVERSE THAN MEN? A RE‐ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE USING EXPANDED METHODS

While a substantial literature in economics and finance has concluded that ‘women are more risk averse than men’, this conclusion merits investigation. After briefly clarifying the difference between making generalizations about groups, on the one hand, and making valid inferences from samples, on the other, this essay suggests improvements to how economists communicate our research results. Supplementing findings of statistical significance with quantitative measures of both substantive difference (Cohen's d, a measure in common use in non-Economics literatures) and of substantive overlap (the Index of Similarity, newly proposed here) adds important nuance to the discussion of sex differences. These measures are computed from the data on men, women and risk used in 35 scholarly works from economics, finance and decision science. The results are considerably more mixed and overlapping than would commonly be inferred from the broad claims made in the literature, with standardized differences in means mostly amounting to considerably less than one standard deviation, and the degree of overlap between male and female distributions generally exceeding 80%. In addition, studies that look at contextual influences suggest that these contribute importantly to observations of differences both between and within the sexes.
Global reduction of Hib disease: what are the next steps? Proceedings of the meeting: Scottsdale, Arizona, September 22-25, 2002

On September 22 to 25, 2002, a group of infectious disease specialists, public health officials, and vaccine experts from 33 countries gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona, to discuss the epidemiology and control of disease caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) in the era of Hib conjugate vaccines. This supplement is a synthesis of the major themes and key lessons identified at the meeting. The objectives of the conference were to review the 10-year experience with Hib conjugate vaccines, discuss strategies to reduce Hib disease rates to lowest possible levels in industrialized countries, review impediments to the introduction of Hib vaccine in developing countries, and discuss strategies for disseminating lessons learned from countries using to those not using Hib conjugate vaccines. Over 10 years of international experience with Hib conjugate vaccines has demonstrated that they are safe and effective. Routine use of Hib conjugate vaccine has consistently led to decreases in the incidence of invasive Hib disease of 90% or more across a wide range of epidemiologic situations in industrialized countries. In some countries, the vaccine has caused a near-disappearance of invasive Hib disease through a combination of direct protection and herd immunity. Developing countries that have implemented routine vaccination (eg, The Gambia, Chile) have also had substantial disease reduction. In countries where Hib conjugate vaccine is being used, reducing Hib disease incidence to the lowest possible level will depend on maintaining high vaccine coverage levels, conducting surveillance for Hib disease, and investigating Hib disease cases. The optimal Hib vaccination strategy will depend on many factors, including local epidemiology and programmatic considerations. In countries that are not using Hib conjugate vaccine, information on the local burden of Hib disease will be essential for leaders considering vaccine introduction. Where disease burden is high, a multifaceted approach is urgently needed to evaluate and overcome barriers to vaccine introduction. In areas where Hib disease burden is not well characterized, additional work will be needed to understand the epidemiology of Hib disease and to communicate the value of Hib conjugate vaccine.
Some Foreign Periodicals of Interest

Presents a list of foreign periodicals published in the English language, which seemed to be most relevant to the business or management area. 'The Economist'; 'F.B.I. Review'; 'The Institution of ...
Interaction between non-heme iron of lipoxygenases and cumene hydroperoxide: basis for enzyme activation, inactivation, and inhibition.

Lipoxygenase catalysis depends in a critical fashion on the redox properties of a unique mononuclear non-heme iron cofactor. The isolated enzyme contains predominantly, if not exclusively, iron(II), but the catalytically active form of the enzyme has iron(III). The activating oxidation of the iron takes place in a reaction with the hydroperoxide product of the catalyzed reaction. In a second peroxide-dependent process, lipoxygenases are also inactivated. To examine the redox activation/inactivation dichotomy in lipoxygenase chemistry, the interaction between lipoxygenase-1 (and -3) and cumene hydroperoxide was investigated. Cumene hydroperoxide was a reversible inhibitor of the reaction catalyzed by lipoxygenase-1 under standard assay conditions at high substrate concentrations. Reconciliation of the data with the currently held kinetic mechanism requires simultaneous binding of substrate and peroxide. The enzyme also was both oxidized and largely inactivated in a reaction with the peroxide in the absence...
The effect of sonication on the recovery of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coal stack ash surfaces

Abstract The recovery of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from coal stack ash using ultrasonic extraction and Soxhlet extraction with methanol was examined. Using anthracene, anthracene-9,10-dione, benz(a)anthracene, and benz(a)anthracene-7,12-dione as adsorbates, Soxhlet extraction yielded consistently higher recoveries of these compounds than ultrasonic extraction from a relatively high-carbon ash (6.17 %C). Electron microscopy and bulk carbon analyses revealed significant fragmentation of the carbonaceous particles (notorious for strong affinities for PAH) upon sonication. The freshly exposed surfaces of the carbonaceous particles are thought to adsorb solution-phase PAH during the extraction process, thereby yielding lower recoveries of PAH.
Provision of Public Goods: Fully Implementing the Core through Private Contributions

Standard economic intuition would say that private provision of public goods will be inefficient due to free-rider problems. This view is in contrast to the results in the literature on full implementation where it is shown that (under certain conditions) games exist which only have efficient equilibria. The games usually used to demonstrate existence are quite complex and seem "unnatural" possibly leading to the perception that implementation requires a central authority to choose and impose the game. In a simple public goods setting, we show that a very natural game—similar to one often used elsewhere in the literature to model private provision—in fact fully implements the core of this economy in undominated perfect equilibria. More specifically, we consider a complete information economy with one private good and two possible social decisions. Agents voluntarily contribute any non-negative amount of the private good they choose and the social decision is to provide the public good iff contributions are sufficient to pay for it. The contributions are refunded otherwise. The set of undominated perfect equilibrium outcomes of this game is exactly the core of the economy. We give some extensions of this result, discuss the role of perfection and alternative equilibrium notions, and discuss the intuition and implications of the results.
MicroRNA regulation of innate immune responses in epithelial cells

Mucosal surface epithelial cells are equipped with several defense mechanisms that guard against pathogens. Recent studies indicate that microRNAs (miRNAs) mediate post-transcriptional gene suppression and may be a critical component of the complex regulatory networks in epithelial immune responses. Transcription of miRNA genes in epithelial cells can be elaborately controlled through pathogen recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), and associated nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, and ultimately nuclear transcription factor associated-transactivation and transrepression. Activation of these intracellular signaling pathways may also modulate the process of miRNA maturation. Functionally, miRNAs may modulate epithelial immune responses at every step of the innate immune network, including production and release of cytokines/chemokines, expression of adhesion and costimulatory molecules, shuttling of miRNAs through release of exosomes and feedback regulation of immune homeostasis. Therefore, miRNAs act as critical regulators to the fine-tuning of epithelial immune responses.
Development of Neural Probe With Wireless Power Feed

New medical device technology is essential for diagnosing, monitoring, and curing wide spectrum of diseases, anomalies and inflictions. For neural applications, no matter whether non-intrusive or not, currently available devices are generally limited to either a curing or a probing function. In this paper we review the technology requirements for new neural probe and cure device technology. Recent advances in micro and nano-scale devices engineering and wireless power technology offer a great potential to revolutionize many health care systems. The integration of wireless power technology into smart microsensor and probe systems greatly simplifies the healthcare devices and systems and also offers additional device functions for even complex jobs. The wireless power feed technology eliminates the pains and irritations associated with implanted power devices and wires. Neural electronics interfaces (NEI) can be coupled and integrated with the wireless power receiver (WPR). The implantable probe-pin devices (PPD) that include the NEI and WPR allow real-time measurement and control/feedback possible for remedial process of neural anomaly from normal functions. Such a system like a PPD should have an embedded expert system that performs semi-autonomous functions through a routine of sensing, judging, and controlling the neural anomaly.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Age-associated issues in preoperative evaluation, testing, and planning: pediatrics

The author has reviewed recent developments in preoperative assessment and testing, emphasizing issues that are of greatest concern in pediatric patients. Attention to these areas during the process of preoperative preparation and appropriate communication of conditions that may contribute to increased peri-operative risk will provide greater predictability for families, surgeons, and operating room staff. This predictability is an important component to improved patient or family satisfaction and operating room efficiency.
Effects of vehicle, diet and gender on the expression of PMP70- and CYP2K1/2M1-like proteins in the mummichog

The mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) has been shown to be responsive to peroxisome proliferating agents (PPAs). Peroxisomes function as important sites for fatty acid β-oxidation. Peroxisome proliferation by PPAs or starvation can lead to changes in the size and number of peroxisomes and the expression of ω-hydroxylases (CYP2K1/2M1 in rainbow trout). Mummichogs were subjected to 96 h fasting or 96 h recovery from fasting. Expression of PMP70- and CYP2K1/2M1-like proteins in vehicle-treated or non-treated controls was compared in both males and females. Fasting and vehicle produced decreases in PMP70- and CYP2K1/2M1-like proteins in both males and females. In reproductive females, decreases due to fasting and vehicle treatment were greater than in female fish that were not gravid. Recovery from fasting resulted in levels of CYP2K1/2M1 near control levels in males while in recovered females, about 2-fold higher levels compared to controls were noted. These results indicate that gender, reproductive status and diet can produce changes in the expressed levels of peroxisomal PMP70 and microsomal CYP2K1/2M1-like proteins in the mummichog.
Using AA and other 12-step programs more effectively.

EVEN THE BEST intentioned health professionals may refer people with alcohol and other drug abuse problems to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) groups without providing them a minimal understanding or preparation. This article describes some characteristics of the groups to which persons are referred and some ways to enhance the positive outcomes of referrals to these groups. We do not use the term self-help, because it is not an accurate description of AA or other 1Zstep programs. Keep in mind that some alcoholics do not require formal health care; they may approach 12-step groups directly and initiate their recovery in that fashion. Knowledge and understanding of the 12-step groups in your locale may facilitate the entry and recovery of your clients/patients. These programs are a resource that helps health professionals deal with the estimated 15% to 20% of clients/patients in an office practice and 30% of general hospital clients/patients who meet criteria of addiction to alcohol and/or other drugs (Johnson, Phelps, & McCuen, 1990). It is especially important to understand the characteristics of 12-step programs because the prospective study by Vaillant (1983) attributed 7% of the variance of good clinical outcome to “stable adjustment, married, employed, never detoxified” but 28% of the variance to attendance at AA meetings (over 300 meetings). AA is more important over the long term than professional treatment. Most well-educated professionals know the general clinical characteristics of alcoholism, but fewer know
The association between antagonist hamstring coactivation and episodes of knee joint shifting and buckling.

Summary Objective Hamstring coactivation during quadriceps activation is necessary to counteract the quadriceps pull on the tibia, but coactivation can be elevated with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). To guide rehabilitation to attenuate risk for mobility limitations and falls, this study evaluated whether higher antagonistic open kinetic chain hamstring coactivation is associated with knee joint buckling (sudden loss of support) and shifting (a sensation that the knee might give way). Design At baseline, median hamstring coactivation was assessed during maximal isokinetic knee extensor strength testing and at baseline and 24-month follow-up, knee buckling and shifting was self-reported. Associations between tertiles of co-activation and knee (1) buckling, (2) shifting and (3) either buckling or shifting were assessed using logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, knee OA and pain. Results 1826 participants (1089 women) were included. Mean ± SD age was 61.7 ± 7.7 years, BMI was 30.3 ± 5.5 kg/m 2 and 38.2% of knees had OA. There were no consistent statistically significant associations between hamstring coactivation and ipsilateral prevalent or incident buckling or the combination of buckling and shifting. The odds ratios for incident shifting in the highest in comparison with the lowest tertile of coactivation had similar magnitudes in the combined and medial hamstrings, but only reached statistical significance for lateral hamstring coactivation, OR(95%CI) 1.53 (0.99, 2.36). Conclusions Hamstring coactivation during an open kinetic chain quadriceps exercise was not consistently associated with prevalent or incident self-reported knee buckling or shifting in older adults with or at risk for knee OA.