cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Breeding and Application of R894,A Restorer Line with High Combining Ability

Rice restorer line R894 was developed from the cross of Shuhui527 and Minghui86,which is a newly developed heavy-panicle restorer line with high cold tolerance,heavy pollen load,strong restoring force and good combining ability after selecting in other places for many years and stepwise polymerizing parents' protogene.By crossing it with sterile line G98A,the combination of Qinyou894 passed examination and approval to extension by Guizhou Agricultural Variety Approval Commission in June,2008.
Control of protein phosphatase I in the dendrite.

Communication between nerve cells is mediated by both electrical and chemical signals. Chemical neurotransmission can be further categorized into fast and slow components. Fast acting neurotransmitters directly influence neuronal electrical excitability by binding to cell surface receptors which serve as ligand-gated ion channels, thereby directly modulating membrane potential and cell firing. Neurotransmitter receptors may otherwise modulate neuronal excitability indirectly, by coupling to intracellular signalling pathways that impact on the functional activity of ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels, ion pumps, and the machinery for chemical neurotransmission. These indirect actions are relatively slow, and often involve cascades of protein phosphorylation which serve to alter the biochemical activities of substrate proteins, and hence cellular physiology.
Acute aortic dissection from cross-clamp injury

Acute dissection of the ascending aorta secondary to cross-clamp injury can be successfully managed if the problem is recognized immediately. Bypass must be instituted after recannulation at a point distal to the innominate artery so that proper exposure of the site of injury can be obtained. Systemic as well as local hypothermia for myocardial preservation are both necessary. Direct suture closure of all layers at the site of dissection over Teflon felt can terminate this process.
Analysis of diurnal, long-wave hyperspectral measurements of natural background and manmade targets under different weather conditions

In this paper we describe the end-to-end processing of image Fourier Transform spectrometry data taken at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey with the long-wave hyperspectral camera from Telops. The first part of the paper discusses the processing from raw data to calibrated radiance and emissivity data. Data was taken during several months under different weather conditions every 6 minutes from a 213ft high tower of surrogate tank targets for a project sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD. An automatic calibration and analysis program was developed which creates calibrated data files and HTML files. The first processing stage is a flat-fielding. During this step the mean base line is used to find dead pixels (baseline low or at the maximum). Noisy pixels are detected where the standard deviation over the part of the interferogram. A flat-fielded and bad pixel corrected calibration cube using the gain and offset determined by a single blackbody measurement is created. In the second stage each flat-fielded cube is Fourier transformed and a 2-point radiometric calibration is performed. For selected cubes a temperature-emissivity separation algorithm is applied. The second part discusses environmental effects such as diurnal and seasonal atmospheric and temperature changes and the effect of cloud cover on the data. To test the effect of environmental conditions the range-invariant anomaly detection approach is applied to calibrated radiance, brightness temperature and emissivity data.
Black Cohosh Induced Pancytopenia: Case Report

Abstract Abstract 4383 Introduction: Black cohosh (known as both Actaea racemosa and Cimicifuga racemosa), a member of the buttercup family is a perrenial plant that is native of North America. It has been widely used to relieve premenstrual problems, menstrual cramps and to control hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms. The mechanism of action of the black cohosh is not fully understood. Here, we report the case of a patient with pancytopenia related to the use of the black cohosh. Case Report: A 58 year old female patient with past medical history of dyslipidemia, presented with bruising after several months of taking black cohosh. Her complete blood count revealed a white blood cell count of 3.1×109/L (normal 3.5–11 ×109/l), hemoglobin of 10.6 g/dl (normal 11–15 g/dl), hematocrit of 31 % (normal 32–45%), mean corpuscular volume of 109 fL (normal 80–98 fl), platelets count of 37 000/μL (normal 150000–400000/μL). Her medications included lipitor, black cohosh and vitamin D. Her physical exam was remarkable only for bruising. Serum protein electrophoresis did not show any evidence of a monoclonal spike and a coomb's test was negative. She had normal immunoglobulins level, haptogloin, LDH, liver function tests, iron studies, vitamin B12 and folate. Her prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times were within reference range. Her peripheral smear showed macrocytic red blood cells and decreased platelets. Her bone marrow biopsy and aspirate showed a hypocellular bone marrow (cellularity of 25–30%), with a predominance of erythroid precursors that exhibit shift toward immaturity and mild to moderate megaloblastoid changes, moderately decreased myeloid precursors, slightly decreased megakaryocytes, and normal iron stores, there was no increase in the bone marrow blasts (0.6%). She also had a flow sent for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, which showed normal levels of expression of CD55 and CD59 of the neutrophils and the red cells. Upon presentation, the black cohosh was stopped. Following this, her white count, hemoglobin and platelets improved slowly (figures 1 , 2 , 3 ,) without any further interventions, but it took over 2 years for her counts to normalize. Conclusion: Black cohosh is an over the counter herbal medicine that has been widely used by women to control premenstrual symptoms, menstrual cramping and menopausal symptoms. Many side effects have been described in the past but its effect on the bone marrow has never been studied. In our patient, Black cohosh caused pancytopenia that was reversible; however the recovery was very slow. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare. Download : Download high-res image (20KB) Download : Download full-size image Download : Download high-res image (15KB) Download : Download full-size image Download : Download high-res image (16KB) Download : Download full-size image
The teachable moment: engaging students in social justice movements

AbstractSocial justice has long been at the forefront of the core values of the social work profession. Social workers are charged to confront social injustices and advocate for social change. In 2014, there was a societal response across the United States to the deaths of two African-American men, Mike Brown and Eric Garner, and the decision to not indict the police officers who killed them. The collective reaction was reflective of a country unsettled by the criminal justice system’s ongoing acceptance of structural discrimination. This article will focus on one university’s social work faculty’s collective response to the brutal killings of African-American men by police officers. With a main campus located in the suburbs and a satellite campus situated in a major city, the faculty felt compelled to guide students from both campuses through an understanding of what was happening locally and nationally by facilitating forums and programs to engage in dialog, not only in the classroom, but throughout the...
Leucine rich α-2 glycoprotein: A novel neutrophil granule protein and modulator of myelopoiesis

Leucine-rich α2 glycoprotein (LRG1), a serum protein produced by hepatocytes, has been implicated in angiogenesis and tumor promotion. Our laboratory previously reported the expression of LRG1 in murine myeloid cell lines undergoing neutrophilic granulocyte differentiation. However, the presence of LRG1 in primary human neutrophils and a role for LRG1 in regulation of hematopoiesis have not been previously described. Here we show that LRG1 is packaged into the granule compartment of human neutrophils and secreted upon neutrophil activation to modulate the microenvironment. Using immunofluorescence microscopy and direct biochemical measurements, we demonstrate that LRG1 is present in the peroxidase-negative granules of human neutrophils. Exocytosis assays indicate that LRG1 is differentially glycosylated in neutrophils, and co-released with the secondary granule protein lactoferrin. Like LRG1 purified from human serum, LRG1 secreted from activated neutrophils also binds cytochrome c. We also show that LRG1 antagonizes the inhibitory effects of TGFβ1 on colony growth of human CD34+ cells and myeloid progenitors. Collectively, these data invoke an additional role for neutrophils in innate immunity that has not previously been reported, and suggest a novel mechanism whereby neutrophils may modulate the microenvironment via extracellular release of LRG1.
Measures of the food environment: A systematic review of the field, 2007-2015.

Abstract Background Many studies have examined the relationship between the food environment and health-related outcomes, but fewer consider the integrity of measures used to assess the food environment. The present review builds on and makes comparisons with a previous review examining food environment measures and expands the previous review to include a more in depth examination of reliability and validity of measures and study designs employed. Methods We conducted a systematic review of studies measuring the food environment published between 2007 and 2015. We identified these articles through: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Global Health databases; tables of contents of relevant journals; and the National Cancer Institute’s Measures of the Food Environment website. This search yielded 11,928 citations. We retained and abstracted data from 432 studies. Results The most common methodology used to study the food environment was geographic analysis (65% of articles) and the domination of this methodology has persisted since the last review. Only 25.9% of studies in this review reported the reliability of measures and 28.2% reported validity, but this was an improvement as compared to the earlier review. Very few of the studies reported construct validity. Studies reporting measures of the school or worksite environment have decreased since the previous review. Only 13.9% of the studies used a longitudinal design. Conclusions To strengthen research examining the relationship between the food environment and population health, there is a need for robust and psychometrically-sound measures and more sophisticated study designs.
Development and implementation of a residency project advisory board.

Purpose The development and implementation of a residency project advisory board (RPAB) to manage multiple pharmacy residents’ yearlong projects across several residency programs are described. Summary Preceptor and resident feedback during our annual residency program review and strategic planning sessions suggested the implementation of a more-coordinated approach to the identification, selection, and oversight of all components of the residency project process. A panel of 7 department leaders actively engaged in residency training and performance improvement was formed to evaluate the residency project process and provide recommendations for change. These 7 individuals would eventually constitute the RPAB. The primary objective of the RPAB at Aurora Health Care is to provide oversight and a structured framework for the selection and execution of multiple residents’ yearlong projects across all residency programs within our organization. Key roles of the RPAB include developing expectations, coordinating residency project ideas, and providing oversight and feedback. The development and implementation of the RPAB resulted in a significant overhaul of our entire yearlong resident project process. Trends toward success were realized after the first year of implementation, including consistent expectations, increased clarity and engagement in resident project ideas, and more projects meeting anticipated endpoints. Conclusion The development and implementation of an RPAB have provided a framework to optimize the organization, progression, and outcomes of multiple pharmacy resident yearlong projects in all residency programs across our pharmacy enterprise.
SEVERITY OF BIOPSY-PROVEN NAFLD NOT PREDICTIVE OF PRESENCE OR SEVERITY OF CORONARY ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN ASYMPTOMATIC PATIENTS: RESULTS FROM THE PROSPECTIVE PREVALENCE STUDY

Retrospective data suggests a correlation between the presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the burden of coronary artery disease (CAD) in symptomatic patients. We prospectively enrolled 770 asymptomatic patients without a history of prior liver disease or alcohol ingestion
Compositional and structural trends among the bismuth molybdates

A comparison is made between phases in the Bi2O3–MoO3binary. In recent years, compositional and structural details for phases in this system have become increasingly clear based on a combination of TEM, synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and high-resolution neutron powder diffraction. The trends and common features are discussed in the context of catalytic performance, phase cooperation, and the site isolation concept (J.L. Callahan and R.K. Grasselli, AIChE J. 9 (1963) 755).
Dependence of Near - Surface Acoustic Scatter on Wind Speed

Measurements of acoustic backscatter cross section per unit area of the ocean surface exceed Bragg scatter predictions. Volume scatter from bubble plumes accompanying breaking waves has recently been hypothesized as an explanation. This paper finds order - of - magnitude agreement between selected backscatter data and calculated volume scatter levels assuming acoustic inhomogeneities modeled after recent ocean measurements. Empirical data for whitecap coverage as a function of wind speed are combined with Born approximation backscatter cross section estimates for horizontally elliptical scattering patches whose strength decreases exponentially with depth. The model produces results in reasonable agreement with some of the data for backscatter as a function of wind speed without assuming bubble resonances. Estimates are cited on the effect of small numbers of resonant bubbles.
Ab initio molecular-dynamics study of liquid GeSe 2

The structural, vibrational, and electronic properties of liquid GeSe${}_{2}$ are investigated using ab initio molecular dynamics. The static structure factor $S(Q)$ and the pair-correlation functions of our model are in good agreement with experiment. We find many similarities between the topology of the liquid and the glass state. In addition we introduce a way of characterizing the intermediate-range order of liquid and glassy GeSe${}_{2}$ through fourfold and sixfold rings. The overall vibrational density of states is found to be consistent with Raman experiments. The intensity of the low-frequency modes, splitting of the ${A}_{1}$ and ${A}_{1c}$ peaks, and the decrease in the intensity of the high-frequency modes are all reproduced. The electronic density of states is determined and compared to our results for glassy GeSe${}_{2}$. We find that an increase in Se bond length and bond-angle disorder significantly broadens the conduction band. The time-dependent behavior of the electronic eigenvalues is examined and transient events are observed in which an electronic state crosses the optical gap. The structural configurations which produce states in the optical gap are determined using an ab initio molecular-dynamics approach and are found to be in agreement with experimental photoluminescence and electron-spin-resonance data. We also find that a linear relationship exists between the root mean square of the thermal fluctuations of an electronic eigenvalue in time and its localization.
Weapon-Target Assignment Algorithm for Simultaneous and Sequenced Arrival

Weapon–target assignment is a multi-agent control problem in which each weapon is assigned to a target to minimize the expected survival value of the targets. In this work, a multi-objective versio...
Predictive Abilities of Balance Confidence and Fear of Falling Measures on Falls in Polio Survivors

Purposes: To determine 1) predictors of falls in adult survivors of polio and 2) if Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale or Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) better predicted...
Extracting T Cell Function and Differentiation Characteristics from the Biomedical Literature

Abstract The role of many cytokines and transcription factors in the function and development of human T cells has been the subject of extensive research, however much of this work only demonstrates experimental findings for a relatively small portion of the molecular signaling network that enables the plasticity inherent to these cells. We apply recent advancements in methods for weak supervision and transfer learning for natural language models to aid in extracting these individual findings as 283k cell type, cytokine, and transcription factor relations from 64k relevant documents (53k full-text PMC articles and 11k PubMed abstracts). All data, results and source code available at https://github.com/hammerlab/t-cell-relation-extraction.
On Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima and Becoming a Lifelong Reader, and How I Nearly Blew It as a Teacher: An Extended Testimonio

This article, written in large part as a testimonio, argues that the use of culturally relevant texts with struggling, minoritized readers will increase their opportunity at literacy and academic success. The author recounts the story of when he discovered Cisneros’ The House On Mango Street (1991) that then led, unexpectedly, to Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima (1972), two novels that caused him to fall in love with the reading act once again. The article also argues that educators must intentionally act on behalf of their struggling, minoritized readers by providing them numerous opportunities at discovering themselves in class-sanctioned literature by restructuring their required reading lists.
Where Nobility Becomes More Than Money

Seccion Notas y Comentarios. En defensa del Dr. Calixto Oyuela, atacado injustamente en cierta publicacion estudiantil, que no se menciona. El articulo no esta firmado pero por la nota de Verbum del no 47 p. 122-123 es de Enrique Francois
“You’re a Different Kind of Black—Where You From?”: The Qualifying Role of Place in the Construction of Black Racial and Ethnic Identities among Louisiana Creole Migrants:

Much of the contemporary scholarship on Black identities focuses on how multiraciality, immigrant status, class, and neighborhood characteristics shape how social actors negotiate identities. In co...
Prolonged Opioid Use Associated With Reduced Survival After Lung Cancer Resection.

Background Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide and the search for modifiable risk factors to improve survival is ongoing. There is a growing appreciation for a biological relationship between opioids and lung cancer progression. Our goal was to evaluate the association between perioperative opioid use and long-term survival after lung cancer resection. Methods A retrospective analysis of 2006 to 2012 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare datasets identified all patients undergoing pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancer stages I to III. Patients were stratified by filling opioid prescriptions only 30 days before or after surgery (standard group), filling opioid prescriptions greater than 30 days before surgery (chronic group), or filling opioid prescriptions greater than 90 days after surgery but not before surgery (prolonged group). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis compared each group; risk-adjusted survival analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazards model. Results We identified 3273 patients, including 1385 in the standard group (42.3%), 1441 in the chronic group (44.0%), and 447 in the prolonged group (13.7%). Of previously opioid-naive patients, 447 of 1832 (24.4%) became new prolonged opioid users. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis illustrated lower overall and disease-specific survival in chronic and prolonged opioid groups (both P Conclusions Chronic and prolonged opioid use were independently associated with reduced long-term, disease-specific survival after lung cancer resection. These findings provide epidemiologic support for a biological relationship between opioid use and lung cancer progression.
Widely Variable Parental Leave Practices for Urology Residency Programs in the United States

ABSTRACT Objective To query a cohort of program directors to better understand the contemporary landscape of parental leave for urology trainees. The American Board of Urology mandates that a resident must work 46 weeks annually in order to not extend residency. We hypothesize that formal parental leave policies may vary by institution and may not be easily accessible. Methods and Materials A 22 question survey designed to assess parental leave policies was distributed to 144 American College of Graduate Medical Education accredited Urology residency program directors in the United States via e-mail. Results were collected anonymously. Results A total of 65 program directors completed the survey for a response rate of 43%. The median age of program directors was 49 and 78% were male. Only 12% reported no formal maternity leave policy, while 21% reported no formal paternity leave policy. Maternity leave duration varied greatly with 6 (49%) and 12 weeks (27%) as the most common duration, while paternity leave was most commonly reported as 2 (39%), 6 (18%) and 12 weeks (19%) in length. Most parental leave policies were available via an institutional website (81%), with only 39% available on a public website. While most leave policies covered compensation, few addressed call expectations or procedural safety precautions. Conclusion Parental leave policies across Urology training programs in the United States are variable, and may not cover critical components of pregnancy or leave. An opportunity exists to create a comprehensive, standardized parental leave policy.
Effects of cardenolides of milkweed plants on immunity of the monarch butterfly

Plants and herbivores have co-existed for millions of years, leading to complex relationships. Recent studies of plant–insect interactions have focused on important implications of plant defenses on insect immunity. Plants express defenses against herbivores through the production of toxic secondary chemicals, which may alter immune responses. The monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, has been shown to use toxic secondary chemicals (cardenolides) of milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.) to help reduce parasitism. However, little is known about the interaction of these secondary chemicals on the insect immune response. Therefore, we reared monarch caterpillars on five different milkweed species with varying cardenolide levels and measured their immune response to an immune stimulus. In particular, we measured a humoral immune response, in the form of anti-microbial growth, following exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a bacterial cell wall component. We show that the immune challenge caused a strong humoral immune response in monarch caterpillars. However, the response did not vary with milkweed species and cardenolide concentrations. Our results suggest that the toxins of milkweeds do not directly impact the humoral immune response.
Federal Court Unity and Media Coverage of Racial Integration Cases

Numerous legal scholars and practitioners, included Earl Warren (Klarman 2004), Charles Evan Hughes (1928), and Learned Hand (1958), have expressed concern that dissenting judicial opinions may damage public opinion of the court and stir resistance to the court majority’s rulings. Though the topic has received little empirical testing overall, a recent study confirms the plausibility of this assertion (Zink, Spriggs, and Scott 2009). However, this potential effect is rendered meaningless if the news media do not convey the courts divisiveness in the first place. Thus, one must ask, how much news coverage do court decisions get? To what degree is the court’s unity or disunity highlighted in these stories? Are dissents associated with more or less media coverage of a case? To begin answering these questions, I present a test case on the local newspaper coverage school desegregation busing cases in the United States Courts of Appeals from 1965 to 1989. By using this case study in this venue, the issue can be held constant across numerous cases in various regions decided with differing levels of unity. The results indicate that these cases are frequently covered, that they do often mention the court’s vote on the ruling, particular when that vote is divided, and that divided opinions are indeed more likely to receive attention from the news media than unanimous opinions are.
On the Rise: Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Spending in 2017

The JPMorgan Chase Institute set out to understand families' out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures and the financial burden they imposed on families over time. Building off a de-identified sample of 4.7 million families with Chase checking accounts, we extended the JPMorgan Chase Institute Healthcare Out-of-pocket Spending Panel (JPMCI HOSP) data asset to include 2017 data, allowing us to explore healthcare out-of-pocket spending trends, as well as a first-ever look at year-over-year trends at the state and country level for different demographic groups. We found that year-over-year growth in out-of-pocket healthcare spending levels accelerated since 2014 to 8.5 percent in 2017. The burden of healthcare spending as a percent of take-home income ticked up slightly. Additionally, in 2017 high-income families experienced the fastest growth in healthcare spending, while low-income families experienced the highest growth in healthcare spending burden. Moreover, families in Utah spent the most on and were the most burdened by out-of-pocket healthcare spending, while families in California experienced the highest growth in spending levels. Finally, out-of-pocket healthcare spending grew the most at hospitals and 'other medical services, equipment, and labs' and decreased at drug stores for the third consecutive year. These findings show that out-of-pocket health care costs are on the rise and consuming a larger share of household budgets. Out-of-pocket healthcare costs affect decisions about whether and when to seek medical care, so it is critical that we continue to monitor the levels and trends in out-of-pocket healthcare costs borne by families, as we seek to do with the JPMCI HOSP data asset.
Socioeconomic status and psychological stress: Examining intersection with race, sex and US geographic region in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a well-established determinant of health. Disparities in stress are thought to partially account for SES-health disparities. We tested whether multiple indicators of SES show similar associations with psychological stress and whether race, sex, and geographic region moderate associations. Participants (n=26,451) are from a well-characterized national cohort of Black and White US adults aged 45 years or older. Psychological stress was measured using the 4-item perceived stress scale. Income was assessed as annual household income and education as highest level of education completed. Occupation was assessed during a structured interview and subsequently coded hierarchically. For all sex-race-region groups, the largest SES-stress associations were for income and the smallest were for occupation. Race moderated SES-stress associations, such that income and education were more closely associated with stress in Black adults than White adults. Additionally, education was more strongly associated with stress in individuals living in the stroke belt region. Black Americans with lower income and education reported greater psychological stress and may be at higher risk for disease through stress-related pathways. Thus, which SES indicator is examined and for whom may alter the magnitude of the association between SES and psychological stress. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
De Novo Ostomy Placement Is Associated with Increased Outpatient Opioid Use In Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background/aims Opioid use is associated with poor outcomes in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We aimed to identify novel factors associated with increased outpatient opioid (OPRx) use following IBD-related hospitalization. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of IBD patients ≥ 18 years old, hospitalized during 2018. The primary outcome was receiving ≥ 1(OPRx) in the year following index hospitalization (IH), excluding prescriptions written within 2 weeks of discharge. Secondary outcomes included having 1-2 vs ≥ 3 OPRx and rates of healthcare utilization. Univariate and multivariate analyses tested associations with OPRx. Results Of 526 patients analyzed, 209 (40%) received at least 1 OPRx; with a median of 2 [1-3] OPRx. Presence or placement of ostomy at IH, exposure to opioids during IH, ulcerative colitis (UC), mental health comorbidities, admission for surgery and managed on the surgical service, and IBD surgery within 1 year prior to IH were associated with ≥ 1 OPRx on univariate analysis. On multivariable analysis, UC, ostomy placement during IH, anxiety, and inpatient opioid exposure were independently associated with ≥ 1 OPRx. A majority (> 70%) of both inpatient and outpatient opioid prescriptions were written by surgeons. Patients requiring ≥ 3 OPRx had the highest rates of unplanned IBD surgery (56% p = 0.04), all-cause repeat hospitalization (81%, p = 0.003), and IBD-related repeat hospitalization (77%, p = 0.007) in the year following IH. Conclusions A multimodal approach to pain management for IBD patients, as well as increased recognition that any patient with a de novo ostomy is at particular risk of opioid use, is needed.
Complex Line Integrals

In this section we shall recast the line integral from calculus in complex notation. The result will be the complex line integral.
Cache characterization surfaces and predicting workload miss rates

In this paper, we use locality surfaces to predict cache miss rates. To do this, we introduce two new surfaces. The miss surface characterizes how a trace is filtered by a particular cache in terms of locality. A cache characterization surface helps us examine caches in terms of what stride/delay relationships are likely to cause misses in the cache. The cache characterization surface is independent of any workload. We use these surfaces to quantitatively predict cache miss rates with some degree of accuracy.
WE‐G‐303‐01: Physical Bases for Gold Nanoparticle Applications in Radiation Oncology and X‐Ray Imaging

Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in applying nanotechnology to cancer detection, treatment, and treatment monitoring. Advances in nanotechnology have enabled the fabrication of nanoparticles from various materials with different shapes and sizes. Nanoparticles can be accumulated preferentially within tumors by either “passive targeting” through a phenomenon typically known as “enhanced permeability and retention” or “active targeting” in which nanoparticles are conjugated with antibodies or peptides directed against tumor and/or stromal markers. The tumor specificity of nanoparticles in conjunction with their unique physicochemical properties offers many novel strategies for cancer treatment and detection. For example, notable approaches in the radiation oncology setting include the use of gold nanoparticles for radiation response modulation of tumor or normal tissue and thermal ablation or hyperthermia treatment of tumors. Some of these approaches are currently being tested either on humans or on animals and, very likely, will become the clinical reality in the near future. Various computational and experimental techniques have also been applied to address unique research issues associated with nanoparticles and may become the standard tools for future investigations and clinical translations. Therefore, both clinicians and researchers may need to be properly educated about the basic principles as well as the promise of nanoparticle-based applications with regard to the future of cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. This symposium will familiarize the audience with the potential applications of nanoparticles in oncologic imaging and therapy using specific illustrative examples. The audience will be properly oriented by these illustrative examples to the multiple avenues for collaborative research amongst interdisciplinary teams of physicists, clinicians, engineers, chemists, and biologists in industry and academia. Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the physical bases of gold nanoparticle applications for radiosensitization and x-ray fluorescence imaging 2. Understand the parameters that define gold nanoparticle-mediated radiosensitization in biological systems 3. Understand the potential of magnetic nanoparticle characterization of the microenvironment 4. Understand the various strategies for radiolabeling of nanoparticles and their applications S.C. and S.K. acknowledge support from MD Anderson Cancer Center, NIH (R01CA155446 and P30CA16672) and DoD (W81XWH-12-1-0198); J.W. acknowledges support from NIH (U54CA151662-01); W.C. acknowledges support from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, NIH (R01CA169365, P30CA014520, and T32CA009206), DoD (W81XWH-11-1-0644 and W81XWH-11-1-0648), and ACS (125246-RSG-13-099-01-CCE).
Defects in Titles tor Real Estate and the Remedies

by reference to other instruments, such as mortgages, merely by the fact that in such instruments a wife of the same name has joined, or by the name being correctly given in the body of the deed or the acknowledgment. While on the face of the record one is technically right in saying that the abstract does not show identity of parties, and that the title is [Vol. 20
The Rules of Thought

This book is about a set of interrelated topics in the philosophy of mind, epistemology, and metaphilosophy. In it, Ichikawa and Jarvis defend a rationalist conception of philosophy that they call ...
Abstract 5559: Novel synthetic pyridyl analogues of CDDO-Im with improved stability and their potential use in cancer prevention

Synthetic oleanane triterpenoids are non-cytotoxic, multifunctional drugs with a broad spectrum of applications for prevention and treatment of cancer and for many other chronic diseases. CDDO-Im, 1[2-Cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9(11-dien-28-oyl] imidazole, synthesized more than a decade ago, is one of the most potent triterpenoids known to date with marked anti-inflammatory, cytoprotective, antiproliferative, differentiative and proapoptotic activity on various human and murine tumor cell lines. However, pharmacokinetics of CDDO-Im are not optimal. Therefore, three new pyridyl analogues of CDDO-Im, namely CDDO-3P-Im, CDDO-2P-Im and CDDO-4P-Im, have been synthesized and screened for their possible use as chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic drugs. At low nanomolar concentrations, they were equivalent to CDDO-Im for induction of differentiation in U937 leukemia cells and at higher doses they induced apoptosis. As inflammation and oxidative stress contribute to carcinogenesis, we also assessed their cytoprotective potential. The new compounds suppressed inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in RAW264.7 macrophage-like cells and significantly induced heme oxygenase-1 and NADPH quinone reductase mRNA and protein levels in lung cancer cells as well as in various mouse tissues. Most importantly, pharmacokinetic studies performed in vitro in human plasma and in vivo revealed superior stability for each new analogue. While CDDO-Im was almost completely degraded after 30 min ( 50% still detectable. Six hours after gavage, much higher concentrations of the new derivatives were found in mouse liver, lung, pancreas and kidney in contrast to CDDO-Im. Thus, the new pyridyl analogues have better bioavailability, and because of their potent anti-inflammatory activity and improved stability, they will be tested in vivo in relevant carcinogenesis models. Citation Format: Martine Cao, Evans Onyango, Charlotte Williams, Darlene Royce, Gordon Gribble, Michael Sporn, Karen Liby. Novel synthetic pyridyl analogues of CDDO-Im with improved stability and their potential use in cancer prevention. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5559. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5559
Wave energy asymmetry in shallow bays

[1] Storm surges along the coastline of the United States are often driven by along-shore winds triggering cross-shore Ekman transport. Here we show that this mechanism creates ideal conditions for large wave events in the shallow bays characterizing much of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines. A positive feedback enhances wave formation during along-shore wind events, affecting the spatial distribution of waves and wave-forced erosion in shallow bays at a continental scale.
High-dose therapy with iodine-131-labeled monoclonal antibody CC49 in patients with gastrointestinal cancers: a phase I trial.

PURPOSEA phase I trial that evaluated for extrahematopoietic toxicity was conducted with iodine-131 (131I) labeled monoclonal antibody (MAb) CC49. Correlative studies included pharmacokinetic and biodistribution analyses, estimates of absorbed radiation dose, and measurement of human antimonoclonal antibodies (HAMA).PATIENTS AND METHODSAfter collection and cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem cells, 15 patients with gastrointestinal cancers were administered a tracer dose of 131I-MAb CC49. Within 5 to 6 days, 14 patients (two to three per activity level) underwent a single treatment with 131I-MAb CC49 (50, 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 mCi/m2). Biodistribution was determined using planar and single photon emission computer tomographic (SPECT) imaging. Pharmacokinetic studies were performed by measuring radioactivity in serial blood samples. In some patients, biopsies of metastases and related normal tissues were obtained for radioactivity measurements. Radiation dosimetry estimates were calculated using a...
Development of the pulmonary veins; with reference to the embryology of anomalies of pulmonary venous return.

The examination of serial sections of human embryos between 24 and 34 days (3 to 11 mm) and the use of plastic reconstructions, showed that the common pulmonary vein develops as an outgrowth from the medial superior wall of the left auricle and unites with the angioblastic plexus of the developing lung bud. No evidence was found that the vein connects directly with the sinus venosus in the early stages, and later shifts in position as the atrial septum grows. Anomalous pulmonary venous drainage is classified in four main types, and theories of development are briefly discussed.
Micro-modeling of cohesive mixing processes

Abstract Despite recent advances in the understanding of both free-flowing and cohesive powders, the effects of cohesion on particulate flows in even the simplest devices is not well understood. In contrast, the interactions of individual grains subject to attractive forces (e.g., van der Waals forces) are well defined. One approach that can take advantage of these well-defined particle interactions is discrete modeling of particulate flows—specifically Particle Dynamics Simulation. While recent work has shown that a discrete picture of cohesion—based on Particle Dynamics Simulations—can be used to connect the macroscopic behavior of cohesive materials to the relevant interparticle forces, much remains to be done. In this paper, we describe an experimental and computational investigation of the effects of cohesion on mixing and segregation in simple flows. We show that, contrary to intuition, cohesion may increase the rate of mixing in tumbler devices. Moreover, the effect of cohesion on segregation is shown to be more complex than originally thought.
Comparison of efficacy of moxidectin and ivermectin in the treatment of Strongyloides fulleborni infection in rhesus macaques

Background Strongyloides infection may result in clinical disease or confound experimental protocols that utilize non-human primates. There is presently a Strongyloides fulleborni infection rate of approximately 27% in the Tulane National Primate Research Center's breeding colonies despite the routine therapeutic and prophylactic use of ivermectin. Methods A study was conducted to determine if moxidectin treatment offers advantages to the intestinal parasite control program. A total of 150 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) that were removed from the breeding colonies due to illness were selected for the study. The animals were randomly assigned to treatment groups with 75 receiving ivermectin and 75 receiving moxidectin. Egg counts were performed on fecal samples collected pre- and post-treatment. Results Both treatments resulted in decreases in the number of eggs/g in the post-treatment sample as compared with the pre-treatment sample; however, no significant difference was found between treatment groups. Conclusions With the data demonstrating a similar efficacy in both ivermectin and moxidectin treated macaques, the benefit of moxidectin treatment relates to biosafety and topical application.
Robustness of keystroke-dynamics based biometrics against synthetic forgeries

Biometric systems including keystroke-dynamics based authentication have been well studied in the literature. The attack model in biometrics typically considers impersonation attempts launched by human imposters. However, this attack model is not adequate, as advanced attackers may utilize programs to forge data. In this paper, we consider the effects of synthetic forgery attacks in the context of biometric authentication systems. Our study is performed in a concrete keystroke-dynamic authentication system. The main focus of our work is evaluating the security of keystroke-dynamics authentication against synthetic forgery attacks. Our analysis is performed in a remote authentication framework called TUBA that we design and implement for monitoring a user's typing patterns. We evaluate the robustness of TUBA through experimental evaluation including two series of simulated bots. The keystroke sequences forged by the two bots are modeled using first-order Markov chains. Support vector machine is used for classification. Our results, based on 20 users' keystroke data, are reported. Our work shows that keystroke dynamics is robust against the two specific types of synthetic forgery attacks studied, where attacker draws statistical samples from a pool of available keystroke dataset other than the target. We also describe TUBA's use for detecting anomalous activities on remote hosts, and present its use in a specific cognition-based anomaly detection system. The use of TUBA provides high assurance on the information collected from the hosts and enables remote security diagnosis and monitoring.
On Prediction Limits for Samples From a Weibull or Extreme-Value Distribution

A new, simplified approximation for lower prediction limits is derived for the smallest of a set of future observations from a Weibull or extreme-value distribution. The proposed limit can be expressed explicitly in terms of estimates of the location and scale parameters of the extremevalue distribution and the variances and covariance of the estimates.
Sarcoma virus-induced transformation specific antigen: Presence of antibodies in cats that were naturally exposed to leukemia virus

Abstract Healthy cats that were naturally exposed to feline leukemia virus (FeLV) were examined for the presence of antibodies to FOCMA-S, a transformation-specific antigen believed to be encoded by the feline sarcoma virus (FeSV). AntiFOCMA sera obtained from cats which were viremic with FeLV had analogous endpoint titers whether tested on FeLV-transformed nonproducer mink fibroblasts or cat lymphoma cell lines productively infected with the FeLV. These results suggest that FOCMA-S shares at least one major antigenic determinant with FOCMA-L, which is expressed on lymphoma cells.
Can Atherosclerotic Coronary Arteries Vasodilate? An Intraoperative High-Frequency Epicardial Echocardiographic Study

Our purpose was to evaluate the vasodilating responses of atherosclerotic coronary arteries using intraoperative high-frequency (12 MHz) epicardial echocardiography. We obtained continuous high-frequency epicardial echocardiographic recordings during surgery, and determined cross-sectional lumen area from 17 coronary arterial segments (12 patients). Nitroglycerin (100 to 400 micrograms/min) was administered intravenously to reduce mean (+/- SEM) arterial pressure 14 +/- 1.8 mm Hg. The cross-sectional arterial images were classified using 3 different parameters: arterial lumen area, percentage of the arterial wall circumference that was atherosclerotic (wall thickness > 0.7 mm), and presence of an eccentrically shaped arterial lumen (maximal/minimal luminal diameter > 1.5). Nine arterial segments had small ( 5.0 mm2) lumens (8.7 +/- 0.91 mm2 [range 5.0 to 11.9]). With nitroglycerin the luminal area increased 4.3 +/- 1.11 mm2 (range 1.4 to 11.4), and 51 +/- 10.2% (range 16 to 96). Seven arterial segments had eccentric lumens; mean maximal/minimal ratio was 1.8 +/- 0.08 (range 1.6 to 2.0). The area increased 39 +/- 7.3% (range 16 to 71) with nitroglycerin. In the 10 concentrically shaped lumens (maximal/minimal lumen diameters 1.3 +/- 0.04 [range 1.1 to 1.5]), nitroglycerin increased luminal area by 48 +/- 12.6% (range 0 to 117) (p = NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Single eye analysis and contralateral eye comparison of tear proteins in normal and dry eye model rabbits by MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry using wax-coated target plates

A study of rabbit tear protein expression in a dry eye rabbit model was performed to determine if a pattern in expressed proteins could be identified. The uniqueness of the model allows the comparison of normal (control) eye tear protein expression with surgically induced dry eye tear protein expression in individual animals. The sensitivity of the method allows for single eye analysis. One-dimensional mini-gel electrophoresis of the tear proteins did not show substantial differences between band patterns of the normal versus the dry eye, but was used to assess the molecular weight ranges of the major proteins. Specific assignments of some of the predominant proteins were obtained by tandem mass spectrometry (MS) which showed that the lower molecular weight lipid-binding proteins (approximately 10 kDa to 36 kDa) constitute a considerable amount of the observed protein, followed in lesser quantities by the transferrins which have higher molecular weights ranging from 70 kDa to 85 kDa. Enhancement of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-ToF) MS linear mode analysis of intact proteins in tear fluid was demonstrated through the use of wax-coated MALDI plates and spot washing. MALDI-ToF MS analysis of the expressed tear proteins illustrates that differences between normal eye tear and dry eye tear protein content are manifested in changes in the lower molecular weight lipid-binding proteins such as lipophilin which exhibits an increase in concentration in the dry eye, and β-2 microglobulin which undergoes a decrease.