cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gene Regulation by Mechanical Forces

Endothelial cells are subjected to various mechanical forces in vivo from the flow of blood across the luminal surface of the blood vessel. The purpose of this review was to examine the data available on how these mechanical forces, in particular cyclic strain, affect the expression and regulation of endothelial cell function. Studies from various investigators using models of cyclic strain in vitro have shown that various vasoactive mediators such as nitric oxide and prostacyclin are induced by the effect of mechanical deformation, and that the expression of these mediators may be regulated at the transcription level by mechanical forces. There also seems to be emerging evidence that endothelial cells may also act as mechanotransducers, whereby the transmission of external forces induces various cytoskeletal changes and second messenger cascades. Furthermore, it seems these forces may act on specific response elements of promoter genes.
Usability study of two common defibrillators reveals hazards.

Study objective This usability study evaluates the user interface of 2 common monitor-defibrillators, the Lifepak10 and Lifepak12, to identify use-related hazards. Methods Fourteen paramedics familiar with both devices completed 4 EMS simulator scenarios using each device. The scenarios involved "quick look" and monitoring, defibrillation, synchronized cardioversion, and replacing paper. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected, including both participant self-evaluation (scored 1 to 9) and expert observer evaluation (scored 0 to 4). Results Participant ratings demonstrated that for performing a quick look, the Lifepak10 was easier to use (mean 8.0 versus 7.1), and for synchronized cardioversion the Lifepak12 was easier (mean 6.7 versus 5.3). Participants performed better on the Lifepak12 than the Lifepak10 for synchronized cardioversion (mean 3.1 versus 1.6) and replacing paper (mean 3.0 versus 2.1). One participant did not complete the final questionnaire. Of the remaining 13, 11 (85%) participants preferred the Lifepak12 for use on a regular basis. Eight (62%) paramedics thought that the Lifepak12 would be more effective in an emergency; 9 (69%) believed that the Lifepak10 is quicker to learn. Paramedics reported difficulty using the devices with gloves and confusion in "sync" mode. Of note, 50% of participants inadvertently delivered an unsynchronized countershock for supraventricular tachycardia. Conclusion Although the Lifepak10 is easier to learn, the Lifepak12 is perceived as easier to use and more effective in emergencies. The high failure rate in synchronized cardioversion indicates a need to reevaluate the user interface design for this function. Limitations of this study include the use of simulation.
The Effect of SO2 on Photosynthesis and Stomatal Behavior of Mediterranean-Climate Shrubs and Trees

Air pollutants are known to have detrimental effects on the productivity of agricultural crops (e.g., Manning, Feder 1976) and native ecosystems (e.g., Miller, McBride 1975; Winner, Bewley 1978a,b; Winner et al. 1978; Kozlowski 1980) throughout the world. The vast majority of reports show that air pollutants decrease plant productivity. The few reports of stimulated growth due to air pollutants represent studies with agricultural crops (e.g., Bennett et al. 1974). Such growth stimulation of natural systems by air pollutants are not known to occur; but if they did would represent examples of eutrophication, which is a serious environmental problem usually associated with waterways.
Manometric and Electromyographic Techniques for Assessment of the Anorectal Mechanism for Continence and Defecation

There are several reasons for concerning oneself with the accurate measurement of physiological responses in the anal canal and rectum. The anorectal area provides a critical interface between the external, social, and physical environment and the internal, biological environment. Society places considerable importance on the self-control of defecation, and the assessment and treatment of incontinence is therefore important. In addition, this part of the gastrointestinal tract is well supplied with visceral afferent nerves which give rise to subjective and reflex control: This provides a unique opportunity to study the mechanism by which self-regulation of a visceral response is achieved. This chapter will summarize what is known of the anatomy and physiology of the anorectal area and will describe the advantages and disadvantages of various measurement techniques.
Emerging Concepts in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypertension in the SPRINT Era.

With this in mind, our goal is to highlight emerging diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that will enable cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons to better manage and control blood pressure in their patients. Given the group of experts we assembled as contributors, we are confident that we will achieve this goal. The issue begins with “Current and Future Treatments of Hypertension in the SPRINT era,” 3 a review in which I critically assess the management of hypertension in patients with uncomplicated essential hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), coronary artery disease (CAD), and in the elderly and African Americans. Recommendations are provided for first-line and combination antihypertensive therapy. The level to which blood pressure should be lowered in these groups is explored and critiqued, providing the reader with a guide to the current controversy in this area. Based on the results of the Systolic Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), a prediction is made that future guidelines will recommend a treatment goal of < 130/80 mm Hg in patients aged 50 and older who do not have diabetes. 4 The premise of the article entitled “Practical Aspects of Home and Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring” is that these two modalities are superior to office blood pressure measurements for both the diagnosis of hypertension and for assessing risk of future cardiovascular and renal events. Author Aldo Peixoto reviews the indications for these two modalities, including the need to rule out white coat and masked hypertension—blood pressure that is normal in the clinic but elevated outside of the office. Of note, it is recommended that home blood pressure monitoring be obtained in all patients because it is relatively inexpensive and associated with greater patient engagement and better blood pressure control. Cost and technical aspects of both modalities are reviewed, including instructions to give patients on the proper use of and recording of blood pressure measurements with home devices. Although much information is gleaned from measurement of systolic and diastolic blood pressure at the brachial artery, there is emerging evidence that the intrinsic status of the vasculature can be assessed from office-based, noninvasive analysis of radial artery pulse contours. Furthermore, these pulse contours can be more precisely related to future cardiovascular outcomes than standard blood pressure measurements. The physiological basis of this type of analysis is explored in the paper by Raymond Townsend entitled “Novel Uses of Office-Based Measures of Arterial Compliance.” Townsend demonstrates that abnormalities of these contours reflects pathology and stiffening of the vasculature, resulting in elevated central aortic pressure, distorted central aortic pressure profiles, and increased load on the heart. Several longitudinal studies that have incorporated measures of central aortic hemodynamics are reviewed, and the literature shows that these measures predict outcomes such as heart failure better than standard brachial artery blood pressure
Impedance biosensor for rapid detection of low concentration of E.coli 0157:H7

An Impedance biosensor for rapid detection of low concentration of E.coli O157:H7 was designed, fabricated and tested. The device consists of specially designed focusing and sensing regions embedded in SU8 microchannel. The focusing region, consists of ramped-down vertical and thin-film focusing electrode pair, exerts positive dielectrophoretic forces to concentrate the bacteria towards the center of microchannel while the bulk fluid exits from the outer two channels. The concentrated bacteria will continue to flow toward the sensing region which consists of anti-E.coli antibody coated interdigitated electrode arrays. The biosensor was able to detect concentrations as low as 39 CFU/mL within 2 hours.
Consent to Ascent The Baltimore Affair and the U.S. Rise to World Power Status

The city where trouble began in 1891, Valparaiso, Chile, was a memorable place. Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna, the nineteenth-century Chilean historian and political leader, has rightly written that the history of Valparaiso has been the history of the sea. An old port, once a more important city than it is now, built around and especially on top of steep hills reached by rickety lifts, Valparaiso still has a grace and character unlike that of most other ports—its landscape resembles an untamed San Francisco. At one time it was a thriving commercial center and hub of naval activity, important not only for the direction of Chilean history but for that of much of South America as well. In the nineteenth century, with Chilean independence and the later decay of the Peruvian port of Callao, Valparaiso rapidly became the maritime capital of the Pacific and an important focus of naval enterprises for continental defense. Then, after decades of prosperity, its importance declined and the fortunes of other coastal cities arose.
Shopping Goods, Shopping Centers, and Selling Strategies:

The preceding article defines convenience, shopping, and specialty goods in light of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. In contrast, this article reports shopping behavior research which p...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon on the Social Dimensions of Labor

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is famous for his dictum stating that “Property is theft!”, but has nevertheless received relatively little scholarly attention. One prominent exception to this general neglect is Jeremy Waldron’s 1988 book The Right to Private Property, which gave extensive treatment to Proudhon’s objection to a general-rights based argument for private property. What Waldron declined to cover in that investigation was Proudhon’s rebuttal to arguments that defend property on the basis of special-rights. This is the point of departure for my paper, in which I consider an argument that Proudhon offers in response to the labor theory of property. Proudhon’s strategy is to admit the premises of the labor theory of property (i.e. that labor can generate property rights) and then to show that they necessarily entail total equality of property. My paper reconstructs Proudhon’s argument, focusing specifically on his claim that “all production is necessarily collective” and the conclusion that all property rights are therefore necessarily collective. I distinguish between two senses in which production is collective: first, the value added by cooperation; second, the value added by a social context that facilitates production. Then, I suggest some critiques of Proudhon’s argument, highlighting conclusions that do not in fact follow logically from the premises of the labor theory of property. I contend that Proudhon’s argument cannot ground the strong egalitarian conclusion he aims for, and that rather than a system of collective ownership, his argument instead supports something closer to a robust system of taxation. In spite of these weaknesses, however, the paper aims to highlight the important insights that Proudhon offers on the social dimensions of labor. These represent an important contribution to theories of property rights, and continue to echo in contemporary political theory.
Chapter 3 – Science, Technology, and Progress

Science is the systematic attempt to understand and interpret the physical and biological world. While technology is concerned with the fabrication and use devices and systems, science is devoted to the conceptual enterprise of understanding and describing the physical and biological world. Technology is science plus purpose. While science is the study of the laws of nature, technology is the practical application of those laws toward the achievement of some purpose or purposes. Technology might be defined as the organization of knowledge for the achievement of practical purposes. Technologies are not confined to a specific business, application, or industry. They are potentially applicable to several businesses. Innovation is the creation of new technology that satisfies a commercial purpose. The development of new technologies is a cumulative matter in which each generation inherits all the preceding science and technology on which it can build.
Drug-Metabolism Research Challenges in the New Millennium: Individual Variability in Drug Therapy and Drug Safety

One of the most challenging research areas in pharmacology in the new millennium is to understand why individuals respond differently to drug therapy and to what extent that individual variability in disposition is responsible for the observed differences in therapeutic efficacy and adverse reactions. To answer these complex questions, drug-metabolism research will rely on multidisciplinary approaches more than ever to investigate the many components involved in drug metabolism and disposition. Major research challenges include the following: (1) the genetic variation of drug targets (receptors, enzymes, etc.), drug transporters (multispecific organic anion transporter, P-glycoprotein, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, etc.), and drug-metabolizing enzymes (cytochrome P450s and other enzymes); (2) the structure and function of all genetic variants of drug receptors, transporters, and metabolizing enzymes; (3) the induction, repression, and inhibition of all components involved in drug disposition; (4) the development of noninvasive in vivo methods to determine the physiological significance of various components in the handling of specific therapeutic agents in humans; (5) the mechanism of idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions; and (6) the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic relationships to explain the individual differences in therapeutic efficacy and drug safety. Thus successful drug-metabolism research in the new millennium must integrate receptor biology, enzymology, recombinant DNA technology, biochemical toxicology, and drug disposition into study design and conduct balanced in vitro and in vivo experiments to allow a full understanding of the mechanisms of individual variability in drug therapy and drug safety.
Serum Muscle Enzymes in Neuromuscular Disease

The serum enzymes most clinically relevant in neuromuscular diseases include creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, aminotransferases, aldolase, carbonic anhydrase III, pyruvate kinase, and enolase. In this chapter, we will focus primarily on serum creatine kinase but will also discuss the other enzymes encountered in muscle diseases and their clinical utility.
Images in vascular medicine. Adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery.

The popliteal artery angiogram and intraoperative photograph of a 30-year-old man with typical complaints of short-distance intermittent claudication of the right calf. His past medical history was unremarkable and he denied any systemic complaints . There was no history of trauma to the affected leg. Physical examination revealed normal pulses. Non-invasive testing with pulse volume recordings demonstrated a slightly dampened waveform at rest but marked flatten ing after exercise. The arteriogram in panel A depicts the characteristic 'flute embouchure' defect, or more commonly known 'scimitar sign ', distal to the adductor hiatus and the lack of atherosclerotic plaques elsewhere in the popliteal artery, suggestive of an adventitial cyst. Between the treatment options of computer tomography guided percutaneous drainage and surgical exploration, the latter was opted for a lower recurrence rate. Panel B demonstrates the intraoperative appearance of the adventitial cyst before drainage. The fusiform cyst (arrow) causes segmental dilation of the artery. The term 'cystic mucoid degeneration' or 'degenerescence colloide de I'adventice' stems from the gelatinous content found within the cyst as shown. Adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery predominantly affects men in a ratio of approximately 5:1, and only about 115 cases are reported in the literature. This entity must be kept in mind in younger individuals, especially those that lack other atherosclerotic risk factors, with complaints of intermittent claudication. Treatment with transluminal angioplasty is ineffective and may result in injury to the normal intima.
The Jurisprudence of Contracts

If I had my way about it, Jurisprudence would not be a third year elective, as it is at most of our law schools, but a first semester, first year course. “Just as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined,” the poet1 tells us, and an inclination towards the philosophy of law is a set of mind readily observable in many men and women who have achieved distinction or, what is even more important, personal fulfillment in law as a vocation. This, then, is a kind of invitation to jurisprudence, addressed principally to law students, most of all to first year law students, and drawing for illustrations on materials students encounter quite early in the first law school year.
Orthogonal representations of Steiner triple system incidence graphs

Abstract The unique Steiner triple system of order 7 has a point-block incidence graph known as the Heawood graph. Motivated by questions in combinatorial matrix theory, we consider the problem of constructing a faithful orthogonal representation of this graph, i.e., an assignment of a vector in C d to each vertex such that two vertices are adjacent precisely when assigned nonorthogonal vectors. We show that d = 10 is the smallest number of dimensions in which such a representation exists, a value known as the minimum semidefinite rank of the graph, and give such a representation in 10 real dimensions. We then show how the same approach gives a lower bound on this parameter for the incidence graph of any Steiner triple system, and highlight some questions concerning the general upper bound.
Model Studies To Access the [6,7,5,5]-Core of Ineleganolide Using Tandem Translactonization–Cope or Cyclopropanation–Cope Rearrangements as Key Steps

Recently, we reported a convergent cyclopropanation–Cope approach to the core of ineleganolide, which was the first disclosed synthesis of the core of the norditerpene natural product ineleganolide. In this complementary work, a model system for the core of ineleganolide has been prepared through a series of tandem cyclopropanation–Cope and translactonization–Cope rearrangements. Work with this model system has enriched our understanding of the cyclopropanation–Cope rearrangement sequence. Additionally, research into this model system has driven the development of tandem translactonization–Cope rearrangements.
Fuzzy Logic Control

In this chapter we review previous results in the effort to incorporate approximate reasoning into the control of physical processes. In particular, we wish to review the research in fuzzy logic control and show how the research presented here is a logical extension of that work. Fuzzy control is an outgrowth of classical control theory, so we start with a brief review of classical control.
Women's experiences with early pregnancy loss in the emergency room: A qualitative study.

Abstract Objectives To understand the reasons why women present to the Emergency Room (ER) for Early Pregnancy Loss (EPL)-related care, how they perceive care and counseling there, and their overall experience during and after their visit. Study design This qualitative study utilized semi-structured telephone interviews. Participants were recruited in a large urban ER; women who experienced EPL were interviewed by telephone about their experiences 1–3 weeks after their visit. Audio recordings were transcribed and coded by two independent coders. Main outcome measures This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews without the use of formal outcome measurement tools. Results Of the sixty-seven women recruited, ten completed the full telephone interview. Interview participants’ responses were grouped into four categories: Feelings about EPL, reasons for going to the ER, experience in the ER, and experience after leaving the ER. Women had mixed feelings about their ER experiences; many reported chaos, lack of information or lack of emotional support, while a few felt informed and supported. Many did not know much about EPL before their experience. Conclusions ER care for women experiencing suspected or confirmed EPL may not be addressing the emotional needs and knowledge gaps of women. Patient education, emotional support, and clear plans for outpatient follow up are critical. Further research is needed to guide interventions to improve care.
Compositores mexicanos y cubanos en Nueva York, c. 1880-1920

Cuban musicians active in New York in the 1860s through the 1890s such as Ignacio Cervantes, Emilio Agramonte, and Rosalia Chalia assisted in the struggle for Cuban independence from Spain from the vantage point of New York's Cuban emigre community, and they also established a strong presence in the city's musical life. Important Mexican musicians such as Miguel Lerdo de Tejada and Carlos Curti intermittently visited New York or were long-term residents there. This was especially true during the late- nineteenth century, when the forced political stability during the Porfiriato made possible the extended visits of Mexican musicians and ensembles to North American cities such as New York. The Mexican Revolution also sent Mexican musicians to the United States in search of political freedom as well as economic and artistic opportunities that were temporarily closed to them in Mexico.
Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Copolymers: Fluorinated Hydrogels as Biomaterials

Bio-organs are generally multi-component systems containing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. Several hydrophobic biodegradable polymers have been successfully used as biomedical materials. They become hydrophilic as they are degraded by hydrolytic and oxidative processes and their biocompatibility improves with the degradation. It is commonly observed that polymer systems with hydrophilic surfaces which become ‘soft’ when swollen with water have better biocompatibility with respect to blood proteins interaction than similar systems with hydrophobic and ‘hard’ surfaces which tend to cause denaturing of the absorbed proteins. We have studied the design, synthesis, characterization, testing, and application of multi-component hydrophilic-hydrophobic biodegradable polymer systems as biomedical materials1–5. These include copolyesters containing hydroxy groups derived from tartaric acid as drug release systems6,7; hydrogen-bond containing poly(enol-ketone)s and poly(amide-enamine) as drug release matrices8; and semi-interpenetrating and interpenetrating networks of polycaprolactone and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) as tendon implants9–11. It become clear to us that it is important to control the adhesion/interaction between polymer surfaces and blood proteins. Our aims are two -fold: minimizing the non-specific interactions and maximizing the desirable interactions. Among our approaches is the synthesis of hydrophilic-hydrophobic multi-component polymer system with well-defined structures. We reported here some of our recent results on fluorine containing hydrogel systems.
LAWS AND DEVELOPMENT

J. J. C Smart (1963) once argued that biology is unlike the physical sciences because there are no laws in biology. While physics and chemistry can construct general theories centered on genuine laws, biology is limited to case studies that make use of the laws of physics and chemistry: biology is more like engineering than it is like the physical sciences. The debate about biological laws has continued since Smart’s condemnation of laws in biology, drawing both philosophers and biologists into its wake. For instance, Mayr (1988) argues that one of the chief differences between biology and the physical sciences is that biology has no genuine laws. Hull (1978) claims that since species and taxa are individuals and not natural kinds, no statements that refer to species or taxa can be construed as laws. Waters (1986) asserts that the principle of natural selection is not a law, and Beatty (1981) argues that the laws of population genetics are not laws. On the other side, Brandon (1981), Sober (1984), Rosenberg (1985), and Resnik (1988) argue that the principle of natural selection is a law, and Rosenberg (1985) asserts that molecular biology also contains laws. Finally, van der Steen and Kamminga (1991) discuss the tension between laws and natural history in biology. In this paper I will examine the argument against developmental laws in more depth. I will agree with the neo-Darwinian orthodoxy that the socalled developmental laws proposed by the process structuralists are not genuine biological laws, although I will not accept the standard arguments for this position. The standard arguments against biological laws claim that biological generalizations are not laws because they describe mere accidental, historical features of the living world. I will argue that, on the contrary, a statement could be a law even though it may describe accidental (or historical) features of the world. Whether a statement is a law depends on the role it plays in inquiry: laws typically play a more central role in inquiry than accidental generalizations. Thus, the reason why the laws proposed by the developmental biologists are not laws of nature is that
Efficacy of Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation in the Knee in Adults Forty Years and Older

Objectives:Fresh osteochondral allograft transplantation (FOCA) have been used successfully to treat large chondral and osteochondral defects of the knee. The purpose of the present study was to de...
Exploring the Kinetic Contribution of Catalyst-Plasma Interactions to Activate C-H Bonds

The kinetics of plasma-assisted catalytic conversions for hydrocarbons involve complicated surface reaction dynamics, resulting from multiple, different contributors [1]. Aside from direct catalyst-plasma interactions that are expected to drive the catalytic event [2, 3], other feasible sources are C-H bond excitation in the plasma itself, packed-bad charge confinement modifying the plasma dynamics, and local catalytic spots heated by the plasma (i.e., background contributions). This presentation will discuss our efforts at precisely evaluating the kinetics of catalyst-plasma interactions to activate C-H bonds by employing dry methane (CH 4 ) reforming on a catalytic nickel (Ni) surface as a model reaction. In a reaction-limited regime at ≥790 K, interactions between accessible Ni sites and excited CH 4 species (NiCH 4 *) are quantified via forward CH 4 consumption rates under a controlled reaction environment. A series of surface reaction elementary steps are also proposed and used to derive a reaction rate law, all of which are validated via control reaction runs. In particular, we find that a modified form of the Arrhenius equation can be used to extract energy barrier required to reform CH 4 species caused mainly by NiCH 4 *. The resulting energy barrier is smaller than the activation energy found in conventional thermal catalysis. These results suggest that the catalyst-plasma interaction lowers the energy required to activate C-H bonds.
Who Controls Space and How

The Earth’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. It changed the world forever. At that moment, United States space policy and goals were completely refocused on the race to the Moon. During this time, there was an obvious need to determine the legal status of objects in outer space. Perhaps outer space could be considered an extension of governed airspace from Earth’s surface up to orbit. If this were the case, the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik would have been seen as a violation of international law. The satellite passed over many countries, including the United States. President Eisenhower, knowing that the US would be interested in having its own spacecraft operating over Soviet territory, accepted that the rules of outer space would be different from controlled airspace and aircraft.
Mutant p53 R175H promotes cancer initiation in the pancreas by stabilizing HSP70

Pancreatic cancer remains a highly lethal malignancy. We have recently shown that simultaneous expression of Kras and mutant Tp53R175H promotes invasive ductal adenocarcinoma from pancreatic ductal cells. We hypothesized specific mutations in TP53 have divergent mechanisms of transforming ductal cells. In order to understand the role of mutant TP53 in transforming pancreatic ductal cells, we used a lentiviral system to express mutant TP53R175H and TP53R273H, two of the most frequently mutated TP53 alleles in pancreatic cancer patients, in immortalized, but not transformed, pancreatic ductal epithelial cells carrying a KRAS mutation (HPNE:KRASG12D). Mutant TP53 expression enhanced colony formation and an RPPA assay results revealed TP53R175H uniquely induced HSP70 expression in HPNE:KRASG12D cells. In the context of TP53R175H expression; we observed nuclear localization of HSP70. We performed immunoprecipitation experiments to show mutant p53R175H binds to HSP70. We also provide evidence mutant p53R175H is important for HSP70 stability and, more importantly, HSP70 is required for mutant p53 stability. These data are critical in the context of events leading to cellular transformation in the pancreas.
OLD-GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS ON A COAST REDWOOD (SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS (D. DON) ENDL.) PYGMY FOREST ECOTONE

Old-growth Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl. (Cupressaceae) forests are commonly assumed to be populated by massive trees, but those growing on nutrient poor soils can be stunted and display unusual growth-forms. We characterized soils, stand structure, growth form, and crown complexity using a combination of random and targeted stratified sampling across an old-growth redwood/pygmy forest ecotone. ANOVA indicated significant variation in stand structure metrics and soil characteristics [pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and nutrient availability] among strata, with tree height, basal area, and the relative dominance of redwood-associated species declining under the influence of pygmy forest soils; while shrub cover and the dominance of pygmy associated species increased. Pearson's coefficients indicated positive correlations between tree height and diameter with CEC, P, K, Ca, and Na. Stepwise linear regression suggested that P, K, and CEC were the strongest predictors of tree height and diameter. Growth form and crown structure of S. sempervirens also varied considerably across the ecotone, with stunted multi-stemmed individuals and clusters of small diameter trees observed where pygmy soil conditions were most extreme, and larger, but still stunted ancient redwoods with complex crown structures, resident epiphytes, and large fire hollows, existing on the edge of the pygmy forest. The ancient redwoods sampled within the old-growth/ pygmy ecotone were remarkably small in stature, yet contained many of the same structural characteristics associated with the largest and oldest S. sempervirens.
Altered mitochondrial network morphology and regulatory proteins in mitochondrial quality control in myotubes from severely obese humans with or without type 2 diabetes.

Healthy mitochondrial networks are maintained via balanced integration of mitochondrial quality control processes (biogenesis, fusion, fission, and mitophagy). The purpose of this study was to inve...
The Rise and Decline of Integrity

Integrity was a major theme in Ronald Dworkin's Law's Empire, presented as the upshot of a difficult and convoluted argument in Ch. 6 of that book. In Dworkin's work since 1986, he has said less and less about integrity — certainly less and less about the difficult and convoluted argument. I argue that this is a pity, because the 1986 argument, challenging though it was, developed important connections between legality, legitimacy, disagreement, and respect for one's political opponents. It would have been good to see this argument refreshed in the new jurisprudence of Justice for Hedgehogs.
C6PS Regulates the Inactivation of Factor Va by Activated Protein C.

Abstract Protein C is a vitamin K-dependent, anti-thrombotic protein that is proteolytically cleaved by thrombin to produce the active serine protease, activated protein C (APC). APC inactivates co-factors Va and VIIIa, leading to down-regulation of thrombin generation. Factor Va requires phosphatidylserine (PS) for full cofactor activity. APC inactivates bovine factor Va by catalyzing cleavage in its heavy-chain at Arg505, Arg 662 and Arg306. The cleavage at Arg 306 is stimulated by PS-containing membranes. In this paper, we use water-soluble 2-dicaproyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-L-serine (C6PS) to ask whether a membrane or molecular PS regulates inactivation of factor Va by APC. Synthetic substrate titration suggested that APC has two Ca2+-requiring binding sites for C6PS: one site increased the APC amidolytic activity (Kdeff ~ 1.3 μM) while the other site decreased it (Kdeff ~ 2 μM) in the presence of 2 mM Ca2+. The effect of C6PS on APC amidolytic activity was PS-specific, with C6PE having no effect. However, titration of both intrinsic fluorescence and DEGR ([5-(dimethylamino)-l-naphthalenesulfonyl] glutamylycylarginyl chloromethyl )-labeled APC fluorescence showed only one Ca2+-requiring C6PS binding site (Kdeff ~ 0.8 μM). The fluorescence anisotropy of DEGR-APC in the presence of 200 μM C6PS revealed C6PS-dependent 1:1 binding to both factor Va isoforms (Va1or Va2) with Kdeff of 1.13x10-9 M (Va1) and 0.3x10-9 M (Va2). The inactivation of factors Va1/Va2 by APC was also promoted by C6PS. In the presence of 200 μM C6PS to saturate sites on both APC and factor Va, both factors Va1/Va2 were fully inactivated by APC (indicating cleavage at Arg 306). However, in the absence of C6PS or presence of only 4 μM C6PS (sufficient to saturate sites only on APC), only partial inactivation (48–52%) of factor Va1/Va2 was observed. These results suggest that PS binding to APC may have some effect on cleavage at Arg505 or Arg 662 but that PS binding to factor Va was needed to promote cleavage at Arg 306. Supported by USPHS grant HL072827 to BRL.
Postprandial Right Upper Quadrant Pain

A 40-year-old, gravida six and para six, moderately obese Hispanic female presents to the emergency department with a 1-day history of constant epigastric and right upper quadrant (RUQ) pain. She describes the severity of the pain as a 7 out of 10. The pain began after eating fried pork. She reports that the pain also seems to affect the right side of her back near her scapula. She feels nauseated and has vomited twice. She has had similar pain, but of lesser severity and duration, several times over the past year, usually after eating fatty, spicy foods. On physical examination, her temperature is 38 °C, heart rate is 110/min, and her blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg. She has marked tenderness to palpation in the RUQ of her abdomen. After being instructed to take a breath, deep palpation of her RUQ causes her to abruptly cease inspiration due to pain. The remainder of the abdominal examination is benign. Laboratory studies are remarkable for leukocytosis of 14 × 103/μL (normal 4.1–10.9 × 103/μL), total bilirubin 1.0 mg/dL (0.1–1.2 mg/dl), alkaline phosphatase 70 u/L (33–131 u/L), amylase 60 u/l (30–110 u/L), and lipase 30 u/L (7–60 u/L).
Prior Conviction Impeachment: 'People v. Patrick' -- Ameliorating the Risk of Unfair Prejudice

The prospect of prior conviction impeachment of the criminal defendant if he testifies is universally recognized as an extremely significant event in the day to day workings of our criminal justice system. The prospect of the jury being advised that the accused has violated a serious law of society impacts many litigation decisions, none the least of which are plea bargaining and the decision itself as to whether the accused will in fact testify. All involved in the criminal justice system are fully aware that no matter the jury instruction to the contrary, ordinary citizens will draw the “bad man inference” — did it once, did it again; did it once, most likely did other crimes for which not punished; already has served time in jail and been labeled a criminal. On the other hand, in support of the use of prior convictions, it is asserted “that it would be misleading to permit the accused to appear as a witness of blameless life.” McCormick, Evidence §42 at 169 (5th ed.1999).Our criminal justice system in fact relies upon the reality of a bad man inference being drawn at every level — including the realization that without the prospect of prior conviction impeachment, more accused would go to trial adding to the criminal justice systems administrative burden, e.g., more courts, more judges, even more prisons, etc.Accepting admissibility of prior conviction to impeach except in highly unusual circumstances as a given, are there procedural variations available to ameliorate the risk of prejudice arising from the jury drawing the bad man inference? In federal courts and elsewhere the suggestion that the “mere fact” method for prior conviction as employed in Florida and a small handful of other states has fallen on deaf ears. Moreover, procedural rules dealing with motion in limine practice requiring the accused to testify to preserve error with respect to prior conviction impeachment, and waiver of error imposition associated with anticipatory disclosure by the accused prior to actual prior conviction impeachment by the prosecution, exacerbates rather than ameliorates the risk of the impermissible “bad man” inference being drawn by the jury.The Illinois Supreme Court has, like many other courts, over the years struggled with the question of prior conviction impeachment. For several years, Illinois, contrary to federal practice, while requiring the criminal defendant to testify to preserve error, has permitted alleged error to be preserved for appeal with respect to prior conviction impeachment when anticipatory disclosure of a prior conviction occurs by the defendant on direct examination if not before. In 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in People v. Patrick, 233 Ill.2d 62, 908 N.E.2d 1, 330 Ill.Dec. 149 (2009), that a trial court’s refusal to rule on a motion in limine on the admissibility of a defendant’s prior conviction when, as is almost always the case, the trial court was possessed of sufficient information to conduct a discretionary balancing test was an abuse of discretion and reversible error under the facts of the case.
Survival of African American and non-Hispanic white men with prostate cancer in an equal-access health care system.

BACKGROUND African American (AA) men in the general US population are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer (PC) compared with non-Hispanic white (NHW) men. The authors hypothesized that receiving care through the Veterans Affairs (VA) health system, an equal-access medical system, would attenuate this disparity. METHODS A longitudinal, centralized database of >20 million veterans was used to assemble a cohort of 60,035 men (18,201 AA men [30.3%] and 41,834 NHW men [69.7%]) who were diagnosed with PC between 2000 and 2015. RESULTS AA men were more likely to live in regions with a lower median income ($40,871 for AA men vs $48,125 for NHW men; P < .001) and lower high school graduation rates (83% for AA men vs 88% for NHW men; P < .001). At the time of diagnosis, AA men were younger (median age, 63.0 years vs 66.0 years; P < .001) and had a higher prostate-specific antigen level (median, 6.7 ng/mL vs 6.2 ng/mL; P < .001), but were less likely to have Gleason score 8 to 10 disease (18.8% among AA men vs 19.7% among NHW men; P < .001), a clinical T classification ≥3 (2.2% vs 2.9%; P < .001), or distant metastatic disease (2.7% vs 3.1%; P = 0.01). The 10-year PC-specific mortality rate was slightly lower for AA men (4.4% vs 5.1%; P = .005), which was confirmed in multivariable competing-risk analysis (subdistribution hazard ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.78-0.93; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AA men diagnosed with PC in the VA health system do not appear to present with more advanced disease or experience worse outcomes compared with NHW men, in contrast to national trends, suggesting that access to care is an important determinant of racial equity.
The new science of cause and effect, with reflections on data science and artificial intelligence

The past three decades have seen the development of powerful tools for modeling and computing causal relationships which may have major impact on data science. My talk will illustrate how these tools work in seven tasks:1.Encoding causal assumptions in transparent and testable way2.Predicting the effects of actions and policies3.Computing counterfactuals and finding causes of effects4.Computing direct and indirect effects (Mediation)5.Integrating data from diverse sources.6.Recovering from missing data7.Discovering causal relations from dataA friendly, non-technical account of these ideas is available in: “The Book of Why: the new science of cause and effect,” Judea Pearl and Dana MacKenzie, (Basic Books, 2018). http://bayes.cs.ucla.edu/WHY/
Dissecting the common and compartment-specific features of COVID-19 severity in the lung and periphery with single-cell resolution

ABSTRACT As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to escalate, no effective treatment has yet been developed for the severe respiratory complications of this disease. This may be due in large part to the unclear immunopathological basis for the development of immune dysregulation and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in severe and critical patients. Specifically, it remains unknown whether the immunological features of the disease that have been identified so far are compartment-specific responses or general features of COVID-19. Additionally, readily detectable markers of disease severity that could be used to triage patients and inform treatment options have not yet been identified. Here, we leverage publicly available single-cell RNA sequencing data to elucidate the common and compartment-specific immunological features that differentiate patients undergoing severe and mild disease courses. We identified a number of transcriptional programs associated with disease severity, few of which are common between the lung and peripheral immune environments. In severe disease, we observed lung-specific responses of enhanced interferon, A20/IκB, IL-2, and IL-6 pathway signatures along with broad signaling activity of IFNG, SPP1, CCL3, CCL8, and IL18 across cell types, contrasting with depletion of interferon and A20/IκB signatures and a lack of IL-6 response in the blood compartment. The cell surface marker S1PR1 was strongly upregulated during severe—but not mild—disease in γδ T cells of the blood compartment, and we nominate S1PR1 as a potential marker for immunophenotyping COVID-19 patients using flow cytometry. HIGHLIGHTS COVID-19 disease severity is associated with a number of compositional shifts in the cellular makeup of the blood and lung environments. Transcriptional data suggest differentially expressed cell surface proteins as markers for COVID-19 immunophenotyping from BALF and PBMCs. Differences between mild and severe COVID-19 manifest at the pathway level, suggesting distinct changes to epithelia and differences between local and systemic immune dynamics. Immune-epithelial cellular communication analysis identifies ligands implicated in transcriptional regulation of proto-oncogenes in the lung epithelia of severe COVID-19 patients. Network analysis suggests broadly-acting dysregulatory ligands in the pulmonary microenvironment as candidate therapeutic targets for the treatment of severe COVID-19.
An Analysis of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among Children and Adolescents in Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitals and Units in Pennsylvania

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as the direct, deliberate destruction of one’s own body tissue to inflict harm or pain without an underlying suicidal intent. NSSI may include such behaviors as cutting, scratching, biting, hitting, and head banging, and excludes suicidal gestures, accidental injuries, indirect self-harm behaviors (e.g., eating disorders or drug abuse), and socially accepted forms of body modification (e.g., piercing or tattooing). NSSI typically begins in adolescents around 13 or 14 years of age, and lifetime prevalence in the adolescent and young adult population is estimated to be 15% to 20%. Although NSSI does not always progress to or predict future suicidal behaviors, there is believed to be a link between the two, which makes this an important patient safety concern. NSSI has been observed in both the community and the clinical setting, although rates of NSSI are higher within the psychiatric population. NSSI may present as a symptom of numerous psychiatric conditions, including anxiety disorders; mood disorders; substance abuse; eating disorders; and personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD).5 Although clinicians once considered NSSI primarily in the context of BPD, NSSI was added as a distinct condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) in 2013. In 2019, analysts at the Patient Safety Authority (PSA) conducted and published a study of events submitted to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) involving patient self-harm in the nonpsychiatric setting.8 However, an analysis of events in PA-PSRS involving selfharm, and more specifically NSSI, in the psychiatric setting had yet to be undertaken. In this study, we conducted an indepth review and analysis of patient safety events involving NSSI among children and adolescents in the inpatient psychiatric setting that took place in 2019. The purpose of this study was to examine patient-specific factors, such as age and gender, as well as other contributing circumstances, such as interpersonal interactions, that may precipitate NSSI in this patient population.
Reporting Practice in Multilevel Modeling: A Revisit After 10 Years:

Multilevel modeling (MLM) is a statistical technique for analyzing clustered data. Despite its long history, the technique and accompanying computer programs are rapidly evolving. Given the complex...
Tyrannical participation approaches in China’s regeneration of Urban heritage areas: a case study of baitasi historic district, Beijing

This article studies the impact of an increase in the limit of a direct equity loan provided by the U.K. government to finance mortgage deposits on aggregate mortgage lending by banks. It uses the spatial discontinuity methodology and takes advantage of the natural experiment which occurred when the limit of equity loans increased in London after the reform of the Help-to-Buy (HTB) scheme. By comparing postcode sectors on the opposite sides of the London boundary, we measure the impact of the new policy on very similar housing markets. The results show that higher equity loans increase aggregate mortgage lending by banks.