cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contribution of Neural Membrane Phospholipids, Sphingolipids, and Cholesterol in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease

Lipid mediators are important endogenous mediators derived from enzymatic degradation of glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and cholesterol by phospholipases, sphingomyelinases, and cytochrome P450 hydroxylases, respectively. Glycerophospholipids contain arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at the sn-2 position of the glycerol moiety. These fatty acids are released by the action of phospholipase A2. Enzymatic oxidation of arachidonic acid produces proinflammatory mediators (prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and thromboxanes) along with the generation of reactive oxygen species, which activate nuclear factor (NF)-κB. In contrast, enzymatic oxidation of DHA generates antiinflammatory lipid mediators (resolvins, protectins, neuroprotectins, and maresins). These mediators directly or indirectly suppress the activity of NF-κB. Enzymatic degradation of sphingolipids produces ceramide. This mediator contributes to inflammation, cell migration, and apoptosis. Cholesterol-derived mediators (hydroxycholesterols) are associated with neural cell differentiation, exocytosis, and apoptosis. Increase in the levels of mediators is closely associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Self-Powered Biosensors

Self-powered electrochemical biosensors utilize biofuel cells as a simultaneous power source and biosensor, which simplifies the biosensor system, because it no longer requires a potentiostat, power for the potentiostat, and/or power for the signaling device. This review article is focused on detailing the advances in the field of self-powered biosensors and discussing their advantages and limitations compared to other types of electrochemical biosensors. The review will discuss self-powered biosensors formed from enzymatic biofuel cells, organelle-based biofuel cells, and microbial fuel cells. It also discusses the different mechanisms of sensing, including utilizing the analyte being the substrate/fuel for the biocatalyst, the analyte binding the biocatalyst to the electrode surface, the analyte being an inhibitor of the biocatalyst, the analyte resulting in the blocking of the bioelectrocatalytic response, the analyte reactivating the biocatalyst, Boolean logic gates, and combining affinity-based biore...
Light and Diurnal Vertical Migration: Photobehavior and Photophysiology of Plankton

Many phytoplankton and Zooplankton species display a daily pattern of vertical movement, generally termed diurnal vertical migration (DVM). The photoresponses of these organisms become functionally significant during such migrations, since light is agreed to be the dominant environmental factor controlling DVM. Light underwater, however, is a complex environmental stimulus, various aspects of which can participate in initiating, controlling, and/or orienting DVM.
The Theme Literature’s Path Through The Unknown

While philosophy focuses upon the generative principles, constructive devices and cohesive ordering of the logos upon which the great game of life is suspended, and which give the conscious human being some foothold of certainty, literature reveals the pulp of the human life itself, showing the foci of conflicts that tear apart the threads of cohesion in their ramifications. It shows the struggles of the individual life to maintain a relatively coherent course upon the stormy wave, constantly defied by their hidden currents, it shows how the acumen of the human being is constantly alert to deflect the dangerous turns and to take proper advantage of the propitious ones. As we have shown in our preceding inquiry (The Play of Life on the Stage of the World. Analecta HusserlianaVolume LXXIII), literature brings to the stage the profoundly rooted drama of human life which is like a dynamic process of plowing ahead through obstacles at every step, passed dangers and incertitudes toward an unforeseeable future. The Homeric virtues (calculation, cunning, foresight, expectation, combativeness, bravery, courage, passions, expectations, hope, fidelity to the purpose, faith in a higher destiny) characterize life’s demands in the universal world situation of the living being. His/her progress within the flux in which no halt is possible, consists in conquering or undergoing the adversities step by step, relying upon one’s acumen to detect them, disentangling knots of their intricacies and exercising foresight in avoiding perils and grabbing opportunities. Hence human conscious life in its powerfully significant sphere is a weave of recognized matters of fact and of conjectures, of expectations and suspension, of much sought relaxation and dangerous tensions, of striving with problematic success and of hope. All things considered, the human life is projecting itself into the twilight of discovery within the maze of the Unknown.
Gelatin and Other Proteins for Microencapsulation

As nutritious food ingredients, gelatin, soy protein, corn zein, and pea protein have many superior properties making them good and widely used microencapsulation shell materials in food industry. In this chapter, the chemical structures, microencapsulation related properties, such as emulsifying property, film-forming property, gelation property, barrier property, and so on, and the commonly used microencapsulation techniques, such as spray drying, coacervation, gelation, and so on, are reviewed for each protein.
Robust Fusion of c-VEP and Gaze

Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are one of the developing technologies, serving as a communication interface for people with neuromuscular disorders. Electroencephalography (EEG) and gaze signals are among the commonly used inputs for the user intent classification problem arising in BCIs. Fusing different types of input modalities, i.e., EEG and gaze, is an obvious but effective solution for achieving high performance on this problem. Even though there are some simplistic approaches for fusing these two evidences, a more effective method is required for classification performances and speeds suitable for real-life scenarios. One of the main problems that is left unrecognized is highly noisy real-life data. In the context of the BCI framework utilized in this article, noisy data stem from user error in the form of tracking a nontarget stimuli, which in turn results in misleading EEG and gaze signals. We propose a method for fusing aforementioned evidences in a probabilistic manner that is highly robust against noisy data. We show the performance of the proposed method on real EEG and gaze data for different configurations of noise control variables. Compared to the regular fusion method, the robust method achieves up to $\mathbf {15}$ % higher classification accuracy.
The Power of Imagination: Diversity and the Education of Lawyers and Judges

Although there are persuasive arguments for the benefits of diversity throughout higher education, a particularly compelling argument can be made for diversity in legal education, based on the distinctive mission, concerns, and pedagogy of legal education. In making that argument, this paper takes seriously Justice O’Connor’s insight in Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003), that “context matters” when courts consider the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions programs, as well as Justice Powell’s thoughtful reflections on the particular aims of professional education in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978). Legal education was the immediate context involved in Grutter, of course, but Justice O’Connor mainly focused on the context of higher education more generally. As the value of diversity continues to be questioned across the board, this paper suggests that Justice O’Connor’s insight might be further developed, so that more carefully tailored arguments can be made with respect to the value of diversity in specific educational contexts. In the case of legal education, the paper suggests, a strong argument for diversity may be made specifically in terms of the work that lawyers and judges do. Whether in litigation or in transactional work, the effective lawyer is one who is capable of understanding and appreciating the values, motivations, and interests of the other parties, as well as those of his or her client. The effective lawyer must also be able to understand how the other parties’ values, motivations, and interests relate to those of his or her client, and the effective lawyer must be able to counsel and otherwise represent his or her client in accordance with that knowledge. If anything, it is even more essential that judges be able to understand and appreciate the values, motivations, and values of those who are unlike themselves in every way. Effective lawyering and judging therefore requires professional imagination and judgment, the cultivation of which must begin in law school and requires above all that students be encouraged to see the kinds of issues they will confront in practice from the perspectives of others. That does not come easily or naturally. As this paper suggests, it requires a certain kind of educational experience in which students are actively exposed to a diversity of ideas and considerations, and a diverse student body is critically important to that educational process.
Gender Disparity in Left Ventricular Assist Device Utilization: Insights from Nationwide Inpatient Sample 2004-2016

Purpose Women comprise over half of the heart failure (HF) population but less commonly receive advanced HF therapies such as left ventricular assist devices (LVAD). Women had higher mortality rates and increased postoperative complications after LVADs during the early pulsatile flow (PF) era and in large registries in the continuous flow (CF) era. Whether these disparities and complication rates persist over time and how they may impact LVAD utilization in women in the CF era is unknown. Methods We utilized the National Inpatient Sample from 2004 to 2016 to identify patients with LVAD placement. Temporal trends in LVAD utilization and post-LVAD inpatient mortality were compared by gender and between PF (before 2009) and CF (2009 and after) era. Results The absolute number of LVAD implants increased for both genders (Fig 1A) over time but the percentage of women overall receiving LVAD remained stably low compared to men over time (less than 30% of total implants; Fig 1B&C). Baseline characteristics including comorbidity profiles, post-LVAD complications and inpatient outcomes are summarized (Table 1). Despite fewer comorbidities, women had higher mortality post LVAD in the PF era (p Conclusion Although overall LVAD implants increased for both genders from 2004 to 2016, LVAD utilization remained comparatively low in women. Disparately increased inpatient mortality in women post-LVAD during the PF era did not remain during the CF era. Prospective studies need to confirm our findings of post-LVAD outcomes between genders. However, our results suggest potential underutilization of LVAD in women with advanced HF in the CF LVAD era.
Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear Cardiology: Adding Value to Prognostication

Radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) continues to be an accurate and reproducible method of diagnosing obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) with predictive, prognostic, and economic value. We review the evolutionary potential of machine learning (ML), a subset of artificial intelligence, as an adjunct to MPI. Applying the broad scope of ML, including the integration of deep learning, can leverage the knowledge representation and automated reasoning to detect and extrapolate patterns from high-dimensional features of MPI. There is growing evidence to suggest superior abilities of ML over parametric statistical models for predicting the presence of obstructive CAD, the need for revascularization, and the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events including cardiac death. ML is uniquely positioned to provide the next great advancement in the field of nuclear cardiology for improving patient-specific risk stratification.
Back-propagating action potentials in pyramidal neurons: a putative signaling mechanism for the induction of Hebbian synaptic plasticity.

A hallmark of synaptic plasticity is the associative, or Hebbian, nature of its induction. By associative, we mean that the timing relationships between activity of the pre- and postsynaptic elements of a synapse determine whether synaptic strengths are modified. It is well-established that associativity results, in large part, from the dual requirements for activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-ionophore, namely presynaptic neurotransmitter release and postsynaptic depolarization. However, the specific dendritic events that provide the postsynaptic depolarization have been relatively unexplored. Increasing evidence suggests that back-propagating (i.e., antidromic) Na + action potentials provide the necessary postsynaptic depolarization to allow induction of associative synaptic plasticities. In hippocampal CAl and neocortical layer V pyramidal neurons, these action potentials provide much greater levels of dendritic depolarization than would be expected from synaptic currents alone. Moreover, they provide a relatively brief and synchronous depolarizations throughout the dendritic arbor, allowing timing relationships to more directly reflect pre- and postsynaptic cell firing. Interestingly, certain properties of the back-propagating actions potentials differ from axonal or somatic action potentials in ways that seem to reflect their function. For example, the all-or-none property of action potential amplitude does not hold in the dendrites. In this review we discuss the back-propagating action potential as a dendritic signal that provides information to synapses about the firing state of the postsynaptic neuron. First, we consider the evidence that action potentials propagate back from the axon. Second, we describe the characteristics of the back-propagating action potential in terms of interactions of its underlying ionic currents. Third, we describe how these properties contribute to the timing aspects of the induction of long-term potentiation. Finally, we discuss modulation of the underlying ion channels by neurotransmitter systems and other agents and speculate on their roles in learning and memory.
Chromatin Changes Accompanying Apoptosis Detected by Flow Cytometry

Apoptosis is a term used to describe the mode of cell death, often triggered by diverse environmental agents, which has a well defined, morphological, biochemical and molecular pattern (Arends et al., 1990; Kerr and Harmon, 1991; Kerr et al., 1972; Wyllie et al., 1980; 1984). During this process, a sequence of specific events, the most characteristic of which is the activation of an endogenous endonuclease having affinity for internucleosomal (spacer) DNA regions, takes place, culminating in cell disintegration. The description of apoptosis, its association with cell differentiation, and the mechanisms involved is the subject of several reviews (Arends et al., 1990; Dive and Hickman, 1991; Tomei and Cope, 1991; Wyllie et al., 1980; 1984). Although the term “programmed cell death” is often used interchangeably with apoptosis, the mechanisms involved in “programmed cell death” and apoptosis, despite similarities, are not identical, and the terms are not synonymous (Lockshin and Zakeri, 1991). In contrast to apoptosis, or programmed cell death, necrosis is a nonspecific mode of cell death, often caused by excessively high concentrations of toxic agents (Kerr and Harmon, 1991; Lennon et al., 1991; Schrek et al., 1984; Tomei and Cope, 1991). Necrosis is characterized by rapid poisoning of the cell and immediate loss of integrity of the plasma membrane.
In Defense of Nudging When the Stakes Are High

Imagine your 3-year-old son has had a series of seizures and you take him to a neurologist. Your neurologist knows there are eight medications that would be similarly effective for treating your so...
Unsteady Friction in the Presence of Vibrations

In this paper, results from the authors’ recent work on the vibrations of sliding contacts in the presence of dry friction are summarized. We examine some idealized models of smooth and rough contacts, in which the assumed sliding conditions, the kinematic constraints and the mechanism of friction, i.e., the adhesion theory of friction, in this case, are well-defined. Instantaneous and average normal and frictional forces are computed. The results are compared with experiments. It appears that when contacts are in continuous sliding, quasi-static friction models can be used to describe friction behavior, even during large, high-frequency fluctuations in the normal load. However, the dynamics of typical sliding contacts, with their inherently nonlinear stiffness characteristics, can be quite rich and complex, even when the sliding system is very simple. A three degree-of-freedom vibratory model of a rough block in sliding contact with a planar moving countersurface, from which some preliminary results have been obtained, is used to illustrate some of these complexities.
Agency Perspectives on Online Public Records Request Portals

Spurred by converging trends facilitated by the interactive web, government agencies are moving to digitize and make more transparent the public record request (PRR) process via dual-facing online portals. Such portals, often provided by third-party vendors as SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions, are built on the premise and promise of helping agencies streamline their internal workflows while aiding requesters through the sometimes labyrinthine process of accessing public records. This research aims to study the effects and efficacy of such portals from the agency perspective, both at the process level and in a broader sense of reshaping the relationship between citizen and government. Set within a contextual framework of the trends from which these portals have emerged, a survey of 54 U.S. public jurisdictions suggests that online portals are significantly improving agencies’ internal and external processes of receiving, tracking, and responding to requests for public records, but do not necessarily bring correlative improvement in their overall relationship with citizens for a number of possible reasons.
CDDO-Me Alters the Tumor Microenvironment in Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is an essential contributor to the development and progression of malignancy. Within the TME, tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) mediate angiogenesis, metastasis, and immunosuppression, which inhibits infiltration of tumor-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. In previous work, we demonstrated that the synthetic triterpenoid CDDO-methyl ester (CDDO-Me) converts breast TAMs from a tumor-promoting to a tumor-inhibiting activation state in vitro. We show now that CDDO-Me remodels the breast TME, redirecting TAM activation and T cell tumor infiltration in vivo. We demonstrate that CDDO-Me significantly attenuates IL-10 and VEGF expression but stimulates TNF production, and reduces surface expression of CD206 and CD115, markers of immunosuppressive TAMs. CDDO-Me treatment redirects the TAM transcriptional profile, inducing signaling pathways associated with immune stimulation, and inhibits TAM tumor infiltration, consistent with decreased expression of CCL2. In CDDO-Me-treated mice, both the absolute number and proportion of splenic CD4+ T cells were reduced, while the proportion of CD8+ T cells was significantly increased in both tumors and spleen. Moreover, mice fed CDDO-Me demonstrated significant reductions in numbers of CD4+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells within tumors. These results demonstrate for the first time that CDDO-Me relieves immunosuppression in the breast TME and unleashes host adaptive anti-tumor immunity.
Interobserver reliability of the rotator cable and its relationship to rotator cuff congruity

Background This study evaluated the presence of the rotator cable intraoperatively and compared its prevalence according to both patient age and rotator cuff integrity. The study hypothesis was that the cable would be more prevalent in older patients and patients with partial-thickness tears. Methods Patients who were undergoing shoulder arthroscopy and were aged at least 16 years were included in this study, whereas those who had a cuff tear of more than 1 tendon or who had a video with poor visualization of the rotator cuff insertion were excluded. Intraoperative videos were collected, deidentified, and distributed to 7 orthopedic surgeons to define rotator cable and cuff tear characteristics. Results A total of 58 arthroscopic videos (average patient age, 46 years; range, 16-75 years) were evaluated. The observers were in the most agreement on identifying the presence of a cable, with a κ coefficient of 0.276. Patients with the rotator cable were significantly older than those without it (mean age, 52.1 years vs. 42.5 years; P = .008), and a positive and significant correlation was found between rotator cable presence and increasing patient age (r = 0.27, P = .04). A significant association was noted between tear degree and cable presence (P = .002). There was no significant association with cable presence in patients with a full-thickness tear. Conclusions In this study, an intraoperative analysis was performed to define the presence of the rotator cable and correlate this with both patient age and rotator cuff integrity. The hypothesis was confirmed in that patients older than 40 years had a significantly higher rotator cable prevalence.
On the Widom factors for Lp extremal polynomials

Abstract We continue our study of the Widom factors for L p ( μ ) extremal polynomials initiated in (Alpan and Zinchenko, 2020). In this work we characterize sets for which the lower bounds obtained in (Alpan and Zinchenko, 2020) are saturated, establish continuity of the Widom factors with respect to the measure μ , and show that despite the lower bound [ W 2 , n ( μ K ) ] 2 ≥ 2 S ( μ K ) for the equilibrium measure μ K on a compact set K ⊂ R the general lower bound [ W p , n ( μ ) ] p ≥ S ( μ ) is optimal even for measures d μ = w d μ K with polynomial weights w on K ⊂ R . We also study pull-back measures under polynomial pre-images introduced in (Geronimo and Van Assche,1988), (Peherstorfer and Steinbauer, 2001) and obtain invariance of the Widom factors for such measures. Lastly, we study in detail the Widom factors for orthogonal polynomials with respect to the equilibrium measure on a circular arc and, in particular, find their limit, infimum, and supremum and show that they are strictly monotone increasing with the degree and strictly monotone decreasing with the length of the arc.
Oncolytic reovirus (pelareorep) induces autophagy in KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer

PURPOSE To explore the effects of pelareorep on autophagy in multiple models of colorectal cancer, including patient-derived peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN HCT116 [KRAS mutant (mut)] and Hke3 [KRAS wild-type (WT)] cells were treated with pelareorep (multiplicity of infection, 5) and harvested at 6 and 9 hours. LC3 A/B expression was determined by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry; five autophagic proteins were analyzed by Western blotting. The expression of 88 autophagy genes was determined by qRT-PCR. Syngeneic mouse models, CT26/Balb-C (KRAS mut) and MC38/C57B6 (KRAS WT), were developed and treated with pelareorep (10 × 106 plaque-forming unit/day) intraperitoneally. Protein and RNA were extracted from harvested tumor tissues. PBMCs from five experimental and three control patients were sampled at 0 (pre) and 48 hours, and on days 8 and 15. The gene expression normalized to "pre" was determined using 2-ΔΔCt method. RESULTS Pelareorep induced significant upregulation of LC3 A/B in HCT116 as compared with Hke3 cells by immunofluorescence (3.24 × and 8.67 ×), flow cytometry (2.37 × and 2.58 ×), and autophagosome formation (2.02 × and 1.57 ×), at 6 and 9 hours, respectively; all P 4 ×; 6 and 9 hours; P < 0.05), 12 transcripts in CT26 (qRT-PCR), and 14 transcripts in human PBMCs (P < 0.05) was observed. LC3 A/B, RICTOR, and RASD1 expression was upregulated in all three model systems. CONCLUSIONS Pelareorep hijacks host autophagic machinery in KRAS-mut conditions to augment its propagation and preferential oncolysis of the cancer cells.
A 27.5-My underlying periodicity detected in extinction episodes of non-marine tetrapods

Non-marine tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have apparently experienced at least 10 distinct episodes of intensified extinctions over the past 300 My. Eight of these ten non-mari...
Validation of ICD-10-CM codes for injuries complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium: a medical record review.

Introduction The purpose of this study was to estimate the positive predictive value (PPV) of International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes for injury, poisoning, physical or sexual assault complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (PCP) to capture injury encounters within both hospital and emergency department claims data. Methods A medical record review was conducted on a sample (n=157) of inpatient and emergency department claims from one Kentucky healthcare system from 2015 to 2017, with any diagnosis in the ICD-10-CM range O9A.2-O9A.4. Study clinicians reviewed medical records for the sampled cases and used an abstraction form to collect information on documented presence of injury and PCP complications. The study estimated the PPVs and the 95% CIs of O9A.2-O9A.4 codes for (1) capturing injuries and (2) capturing injuries complicating PCP. Results The estimated PPV for the codes O9A.2-O9A.4 to identify injury in the full sample was 79.6% (95% CI 73.3% to 85.9%) and the PPV for capturing injuries complicating PCP was 72.0% (95% CI 65.0% to 79.0%). The estimated PPV for an inpatient principal diagnosis O9A.2-O9A.4 to capture injuries was 90.7% (95% CI 82.0% to 99.4%) and the PPV for capturing injuries complicating PCP was 88.4% (95% CI 78.4% to 98.4%). The estimated PPV for any mention of O9A.2-O9A.4 in emergency department data to capture injuries was 95.2% (95% CI 90.6% to 99.9%) and the PPV for capturing injuries complicating PCP was 81.0% (95% CI 72.4% to 89.5%). Discussion The O9A.2-O9A.4 codes captured high percentage true injury cases among pregnant and puerperal women.
Audit and Feedback: A Quality Improvement Study to Improve Antimicrobial Stewardship.

Purpose Many antibiotics prescribed in an outpatient setting may be inappropriate, and by some estimates, half of the antibiotic prescriptions for acute bronchitis may be inappropriate. This quality improvement study aimed to decrease the rate of potentially inappropriate (not guideline concordant) antibiotic prescribing in acute bronchitis. Methods This program used an audit and feedback approach. Clinicians received education coupled with audit and feedback, which are components of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention framework for an effective antimicrobial stewardship program. Antibiotic prescribing rates in patients with acute bronchitis without underlying chronic lung disease or evidence of bacterial infection were compared over two 9-month periods. The baseline period was October 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 and the posteducation period was October 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. Results Potentially inappropriate antibiotic prescribing dropped from 75% (160/213) at baseline to 60% (107/177) posteducation (95% CI 0.05, 0.24; P Conclusions Study findings show a decline in potentially inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and a resulting improvement in clinic antimicrobial stewardship efforts.
Endoscopic balloon dilation for management of stricturing Crohn's disease in children.

Background Crohn's disease (CD) has a multitude of complications including intestinal strictures from fibrostenotic disease. Fibrostenotic disease has been reported in 10%-17% of children at presentation and leads to surgery in 20%-50% of cases within ten years of diagnosis. When symptoms develop from these strictures, the treatment in children has primarily been surgical resection. Endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) has been shown to be a safe and efficacious alternative to surgery in adults, but evidence is poor in the literature regarding its safety and efficacy in children. Aim To evaluate the outcomes of children with fibrostenosing CD who underwent EBD vs surgery as a treatment. Methods In a single-center retrospective study, we looked at pediatric patients (ages 0-18) who carry the diagnosis of CD, who were diagnosed after opening a dedicated Inflammatory Bowel Disease clinic on July 1, 2012 through May 1, 2019. We used diagnostic codes through our electronic medical record to identify patients with CD with a stricturing phenotype. The type of intervention for patients' strictures was then identified through procedural and surgical billing codes. We evaluated their demographics, clinical variables, whether they underwent EBD vs surgery or both, and their clinical outcomes. Results Of the 139 patients with CD, 25 (18%) developed strictures. The initial intervention for a stricture was surgical resection in 12 patients (48%) and EBD in 13 patients (52%). However, 4 (33%) patients whom initially had surgical resection required follow up EBD, and thus 17 total patients (68%) underwent EBD at some point in their treatment process. For those 8 patients who underwent successful surgical resection alone, 4 of these patients (50%) had a fistula present near the stricture site and 4 (50%) had strictures greater than 5 cm in length. All patients who underwent EBD had no procedural complications, such as a perforation. Twenty-two (88%) of the treated strictures were successfully managed by EBD and did not require any further surgical intervention during our follow up period. Conclusion EBD is safe and efficacious as an alternative to surgery for palliative management of strictures in selected pediatric patients with CD.
Clinical utility of polygenic risk scores for coronary artery disease.

Over the past decade, substantial progress has been made in the discovery of alleles contributing to the risk of coronary artery disease. In addition to providing causal insights into disease, these endeavours have yielded and enabled the refinement of polygenic risk scores. These scores can be used to predict incident coronary artery disease in multiple cohorts and indicate the clinical response to some preventive therapies in post hoc analyses of clinical trials. These observations and the widespread ability to calculate polygenic risk scores from direct-to-consumer and health-care-associated biobanks have raised many questions about responsible clinical adoption. In this Review, we describe technical and downstream considerations for the derivation and validation of polygenic risk scores and current evidence for their efficacy and safety. We discuss the implementation of these scores in clinical medicine for uses including risk prediction and screening algorithms for coronary artery disease, prioritization of patient subgroups that are likely to derive benefit from treatment, and efficient prospective clinical trial designs. In this Review, Klarin and Natarajan discuss the implementation of polygenic risk scores in clinical medicine for risk prediction and screening algorithms for coronary artery disease, prioritization of patient subgroups that are likely to derive benefit from treatment, and efficient prospective clinical trial designs.
Ethanol enhances arsenic-induced cyclooxygenase-2 expression via both NFAT and NF-κB signalings in colorectal cancer cells

Arsenic is a known carcinogen to humans, and chronic exposure to environmental arsenic is a worldwide health concern. As a dietary factor, ethanol carries a well-established risk for malignancies, but the effects of co-exposure to arsenic and ethanol on tumor development are not well understood. In the present study, we hypothesized that ethanol would enhance the function of an environmental carcinogen such as arsenic through increase in COX-2 expression. Our in vitro results show that ethanol enhanced arsenic-induced COX-2 expression. We also show that the increased COX-2 expression associates with intracellular ROS generation, up-regulated AKT signaling, with activation of both NFAT and NF-κB pathways. We demonstrate that antioxidant enzymes have an inhibitory effect on arsenic/ethanol-induced COX-2 expression, indicating that the responsive signaling pathways from co-exposure to arsenic and ethanol relate to ROS generation. In vivo results also show that co-exposure to arsenic and ethanol increased COX-2 expression in mice. We conclude that ethanol enhances arsenic-induced COX-2 expression in colorectal cancer cells via both the NFAT and NF-κB pathways. These results imply that, as a common dietary factor, ethanol ingestion may be a compounding risk factor for arsenic-induced carcinogenesis/cancer development.
Pigments in Grape

Grapevine is the most valuable horticultural crop in the world, and one in which the accumulation of berry pigments is critical for determining the quality of the fresh or processed fruit. The primary pigments in grapes are anthocyanins and show many similarities with anthocyanins studied in other plant species. The distribution and classification of anthocyanins within grape berries have been extensively studied. While variation is observed between and among wild grape species, most pigment diversity is derived from the primary cultivated species Vitis vinifera. Anthocyanins are specific to red cultivars and are predominantly localized in the berry skin of most cultivars during fruit maturation. Substantial variation exists in the structure and type of anthocyanins in cultivated grape. Considering the importance of berry color to the overall quality of the fruit and processed products such as wine and nonfermented juice, substantial research has been conducted to examine factors effecting the accumulation, stability, transport and processing of grapevine anthocyanins, as well as the utility for producing grape pigments in cell culture. Many factors are known to effect anthocyanin accumulation in grapevine, including numerous physiological and cultural factors, environmental factors, and significantly genetic factors, including variations between cultivars and species.
The Significance of the S-Shaped Amplifier Characteristics in Echographic Tissue Diagnosis

The importance of S-shaped amplification characteristics for echographic tissue diagnosis has been recognized for many years. The significance of the S-shaped amplification curve has been discussed extensively and has been generally accepted in the field of ophthalmic ultrasound. But little consideration has been given so far to the clinical significance of details of the S-shaped curve. As a consequence, instrument designs with varying shapes of S-curves and varying totals and distributions of dynamic ranges have been introduced without repeating the success in tissue diagnosis obtained with the standardized 7200 MA Kretztechnik.
ACE2 activation improves pulmonary endothelial function and attenuates monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension

Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a member of the vasoprotective axis of the renin angiotensin system, protects the lungs against acute lung injury and pulmonary hypertension. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that activation of endogenous ACE2 by diminazene aceturate (DIZE), a putative ACE2 activator would prevent and reverse monocrotaline (MCT)-induced pulmonary hypertension. In the prevention protocol, DIZE was administered at the same time as MCT, while for the reversal protocol DIZE was injected after 3 weeks of MCT administration. A single subcutaneous injection of MCT (50mg/kg) resulted in elevated right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) associated with the development of right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH). DIZE administration (15mg/kg per day s.c) significantly prevented increases in RVSP (Control: 31+3 mmHg; MCT: 57+7 mmHg; MCT+DIZE: 41+4 mmHg; n=5-8; p<0.05) and attenuated RVH (Control: 0.23+0.004 mmHg; MCT: 0.43+0.03 mmHg; MCT+DIZE: 0.26+0.01 mmHg; n=5-8; p<0.05). In subsequent studies, we observed a 63% decrease in acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation of the pulmonary arteries from MCT challenged rats. DIZE treatment resulted in 50% improvement in acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation, signifying better pulmonary endothelial function. Furthermore, DIZE treatment reversed MCT-induced increases in RVSP (Control: 33+2 mmHg; MCT: 78+6 mmHg; MCT+DIZE: 56+5 mmHg; n=7-11; p<0.05) and RVH (Control: 0.24+0.002 mmHg; MCT: 0.54+0.02 mmHg; MCT+DIZE: 0.44+0.03 mmHg; n=7-11; p<0.05). These data suggest that DIZE's primary protective effects are mediated by ACE2 activation, though other off-target effects may also contribute.
Traumatic Memories are Not Necessarily Accurate Memories

Some therapists, as well as other commentators, have suggested that memories of horrific trauma are buried in the subconscious by some special process, such as repression, and are later reliably re...
An Evaluation of Teaching Direct Practice Courses in a Distance Education Program for Rural Settings

This study presents the results of an evaluation of a graduate-level direct practice course taught through a distance education program that utilized face-to-face satellite television instruction. The study also compared the learning process and delivery system of a distance education direct practice course with that of an on-campus direct practice course. The evaluation indicates positive findings for the distance learners in terms of grade outcomes, interaction with instructor, classmates and perceptions of the instructor. The evaluation also indicated some barriers in the learning environment and access to support services. Recommendations are made for improving the barriers for social work practice courses taught by distance learning methods.
Optical scattering of airy beam and Gaussian beam through turbid medium

We compared optical scattering of Airy and Gaussian beams, generated simultaneously using a LCD panel, through a turbid medium. The Airy beam had a smaller speckle size due to its self-healing property.
Deductive retrieval mechanisms for state description models

This paper presents some programming facilities for modeling the semantics of a task domain and for describing the situations that occur in that domain as a task is being carried out. Each such description models a "state" of the task environment, and any given state can be transformed into a new state by the occurrence of an event that aIters the environment. Such modeling systems are vital in many Al systems, particularly those that do question answering and those that do automatic generation and execution monitoring of plans. The modeling mechanisms described are basically extensions and modifications of facilities typically found in Al programming languages such as PLANNER, CONN1VER, and QA4. In particular, we discuss our use of a 3 valued logic, generator functions to deduce answers to model queries, the saving and maintaining of derived results, and new facilities for modeling stntc changes produced by the occurrence of events.
Direct Simulation of Pathological Detonations

In previous papers we have demonstrated how the direct simulation Monte Carlo method can be used to simulate detonations. Those simulations were limited to exothermic reactions. In this paper exothermic and endothermic reactions are simulated. Under these circumstances, one obtains pathological detonations. That is, these simulations cannot be predicted using the well‐known Chapman‐Jouguet hypothesis. The details of these simulations can be illustrated using Rankine‐Hugoniot plots and by presenting plots of other quantities of the detonation process. In addition, we describe how the detonation velocity can be changed significantly when endothermic and exothermic reactions are both present.
Bayesian Inference for Gene Expression and Proteomics: Computational Methods for Learning Bayesian Networks from High-Throughput Biological Data

Data from high-throughput technologies, such as gene expression microarrays, promise to yield insight into the nature of the cellular processes that have been disrupted by disease, thus improving our understanding of the disease and hastening the discovery of effective new treatments. Most of the analysis thus far has focused on identifying differential measurements, which form the basis of biomarker discovery. However, merely listing differentially expressed genes or gene products is not sufficient to explain the molecular basis of disease. Consequently, there is increasing interest in extracting more information from available data in the form of biologically meaningful relationships between the quantities being measured. The holy grail of such techniques is the robust identification of causal models of disease from data. The goal of this chapter is to survey computational learning methods that extract models of altered interactions that lead to and occur in the diseased state. Our focus is on methods that represent biological processes as Bayesian networks and that learn these networks from experimental measurements of cellular activity. Specifically, we will survey computational methods for learning Bayesian networks from highthroughput biological data.
Ultrasound Assessment of Obstetric Brachial Plexus Injury (P6.256)

OBJECTIVE: To investigate brachial plexus ultrasound as a possible modality for pre-operative assessment of obstetric brachial plexus injury. BACKGROUND: Obstetric brachial plexus injuries are commonly assessed with electrodiagnostic studies, CT myelography, and/or MRI. The use of ultrasound for assessment of focal neuropathies has gained favor recently. However, the utility of ultrasound in assessing injuries of the brachial plexus in infants has not been examined. DESIGN/METHODS: In this retrospective case series we compare pre-operative brachial plexus ultrasound findings in 8 patients with obstetric brachial plexus injuries to intra-operative findings. Patients were insonated under general anesthesia at the time of surgery. When available, pre-operative MRI findings are presented. RESULTS: We report pre-operative ultrasound findings in 8 patients with obstetric brachial plexopathy. Ultrasound revealed abnormalities in all cases. Furthermore, ultrasound appeared to be as sensitive, if not more sensitive, than pre-operative MRI in the assessment of degree of injury and anatomic location. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound is a relatively inexpensive, noninvasive, painless diagnostic modality that can be used to assess obstetric brachial plexus injury. Our case series suggests that ultrasound can detect evidence of injury to the brachial plexus in this patient group and may provide valuable pre-surgical information. Study Supported by: n/a Disclosure: Dr. Smith has received personal compensation for activities with Sarepta Therapeutics as a scientific advisory board participant. Dr. Xixis has nothing to disclose. Dr. Grant has nothing to disclose. Dr. Grant has nothing to disclose.
Treatment choice, disease outcome and stigma: An investigation of leprosy patients and illness behavior in Thailand

This study is an investigation of leprosy patients medical decisions, illness behavior, and stigma in Uthaithani villages, Thailand. Findings indicate that the respondents beliefs and perceptions about leprosy are heterogeneous and are characterized by a combination of traditional and biomedical beliefs. In treating the disease, the respondents followed two main sickness paths depending on whether the onset of symptoms was perceived as a skin disease or leprosy. The majority of the older patients initially treated their disease by going to traditional practitioners or by medicating themselves. Since the introduction of biomedicine by missionaries and the government, leprosy patients have accepted the anti-leprosy drug as a single effective source of treatment. Although leprosy is a stigmatized disease, the stigma of leprosy is not necessarily constant and has gradually declined in Uthaithani. Negative attitudes toward the afflicted have changed over time as a result of the diffusion of biomedical notions and beliefs concerning the efficacy of biomedicine. The respondents also rank leprosy behind AIDS, cancer, and heart disease in terms of life-threatening seriousness. Most patients now live with their families without notable increase in socially engendered frustrations and conflicts.
Archival Cataloging and the Archival Sensibility

If you ask catalogers about the relationship between bibliographic and archival cataloging, more likely than not their answers will stress divergence over convergence. Potential arguments about the differences encompass issues surrounding books versus manuscript materials, items versus collections, and an emphasis on artifactual description versus content and context description. The truly divergent cases should not distract us from the significant areas of convergence, however. In particular, the cataloging of rare books and materials shows meaningful similarities across bibliographic and archival cataloging. There is a real benefit to focusing on where practices converge. Focusing on convergence provides the advantage of allowing . . .
Chromosome-mediated 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid is a precursor in the biosynthesis of the plasmid-mediated siderophore anguibactin in Vibrio anguillarum.

Abstract We have isolated a recombinant clone harboring the chromosomal aroC gene, encoding chorismate synthase, from Vibrio anguillarum 775 by complementation of the Escherichia coli aroC mutant AB2849 which was transfected with a cosmid gene bank of the plasmidless V. anguillarum H775-3. The nucleotide sequence was determined, and an open reading frame that corresponds to a protein of 372 amino acids was found. The calculated mass of 40,417 Da was correlated with the size of the V. anguillarum aroC product detected in vitro. The homology of the V. anguillarum aroC gene to the aroC genes of E. coli and Salmonella typhi is 68% at the nucleotide level and 78% at the protein level. The expression of the aroC transcript is not regulated by iron, as determined by Northern (RNA) blot hybridization analysis. After insertion of an antibiotic resistance gene cassette within the cloned aroC gene, an aroC mutant of V. anguillarum was generated by allelic exchange. This mutant is deficient in the production of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,3-DHBA). Our bioassay and complementation experiments with this mutant demonstrate that the chromosome-mediated 2,3-DHBA is a precursor of the pJM1 plasmid-mediated siderophore anguibactin.
Preschoolers' recognition of numerical equivalence: sequential sets.

The present study was designed to investigate whether 3- to 5-year-olds can recognize numerical equivalence for comparisons involving sequentially presented sets. The relation between accurate numerical-equivalence judgments and acquisition of the conventional counting system also was explored. The results indicate that children recognize numerical equivalence for static sets earlier than for sequential sets. Furthermore, memory for the number of sequentially presented objects emerges earlier than memory for the number of sequential events. Finally, conventional counting ability is linked to success on comparisons involving sequential sets but not on those involving static sets. The implications of these findings for models of nonverbal quantification are discussed.
Countertransference in Work with Children: Review of a Neglected Concept

Because the instrument of psychotherapy is the therapist, countertransference has important implications for treatment. The concept has been largely ignored in the literature. Yet, because psychotherapy has come under intense scrutiny by researchers, third-party payers, and patients, an awareness of concepts such as countertransference as an aid in a positive therapeutic outcome is important.