cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The histone deacetylase inhibitor, sodium butyrate, exhibits neuroprotective effects for ischemic stroke in middle-aged female rats

Sodium butyrate (NaB) is a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor exhibiting anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects in a rat ischemic model of stroke as well as a myocardial ischemia model. Although clinical evidence shows that older women are at higher risk for stroke occurrence and greater stroke severity, no studies have evaluated the effectiveness of NaB either in females or in older animals. To determine the effects of NaB on stroke in older females, acyclic middle-aged Sprague-Dawley female rats (9–11 months old, constant diestrus) were subject to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) by intracerebral injection of recombinant endothelin-1. Rats were treated with NaB (300 mg/kg, i.p.) at 6 and 30 h following ET-1 injection. Animals were sacrificed at the early (2 days) or late (5 days) acute phase after MCAo. Serum and tissue lysates were collected for biochemical analyses. NaB treatment reduced infarct volume and ameliorated sensory motor impairment in middle-aged female rats, when measured at 2 and 5 days post MCAo. At the early acute phase (2 days post stroke), NaB treatment decreased brain lipid peroxides, and reduced serum levels of GFAP, a surrogate marker of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. NaB also reduced expression of the inflammatory cytokine IL-1beta in circulation and IL-18 in the ischemic hemisphere. At the late acute phase (5 days post stroke), NaB treatment further suppressed MCAo-induced increase of IL-1beta, IL-17A, and IL-18 in brain lysates (cortex and striatum) from the ischemic hemisphere, and decreased ischemia-induced upregulation of IL-1beta and IL-18 in circulation, indicating a potent anti-inflammatory effect of the HDAC inhibitor. Moreover, NaB treatment also increased expression of IGF-1, a known neuroprotectant, in peripheral tissue including serum, liver, and spleen at the late acute phase. These data provide the first evidence that delayed (>6 h) NaB treatment post-stroke is neuroprotective in older female rats. Additionally, these data also show that in addition to its well-known anti-inflammatory actions, NaB may exert a biphasic effect after stroke, operating initially to reduce BBB permeability and oxidative stress in the brain, and later, elevating IGF-1 expression in peripheral tissues.
Endoscopic Excision of Advanced Tumor with Skull Base Involvement

Advanced juvenile angiofibromas (JA) are challenging tumors to treat surgically due to the involvement of skull base structures and vascularity derived from the intracranial circulation. Tumor infiltration of the pterygoid base encompasses the pterygoid canal and derives blood supply from branches of the internal carotid artery (ICA), most commonly the vidian artery and branches from the cavernous segment. Large tumors may surround the petrous and cavernous segments of the ICA and increase the risk of vascular injury during surgery.
Biochemical Characterization and Structural Basis of Reactivity and Regioselectivity Differences between Burkholderia thailandensis and Burkholderia glumae 1,6-Didesmethyltoxoflavin N-Methyltransferase

Burkholderia glumae converts the guanine base of guanosine triphosphate into an azapteridine and methylates both the pyrimidine and triazine rings to make toxoflavin. Strains of Burkholderia thailandensis and Burkholderia pseudomallei have a gene cluster encoding seven putative biosynthetic enzymes that resembles the toxoflavin gene cluster. Four of the enzymes are similar in sequence to BgToxBCDE, which have been proposed to make 1,6-didesmethyltoxoflavin (1,6-DDMT). One of the remaining enzymes, BthII1283 in B. thailandensis E264, is a predicted S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent N-methyltransferase that shows a low level of sequence identity to BgToxA, which sequentially methylates N6 and N1 of 1,6-DDMT to form toxoflavin. Here we show that, unlike BgToxA, BthII1283 catalyzes a single methyl transfer to N1 of 1,6-DDMT in vitro. In addition, we investigated the differences in reactivity and regioselectivity by determining crystal structures of BthII1283 with bound S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) or 1,6-D...
Us vs. Them: But Who Is Us and Who Is Them?

This chapter titled “Us vs. Them: But Who is Us and Who is Them?” is written by Herb Silverman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the College of Charleston. He is also Founder and President Emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America. Silverman’s chapter argues that effectively relating to the non-humanist world first requires humanists to better relate to one another. Humanists should focus on their own commonalities to gain more social and political influence. He concludes with a practical and memorable list of do’s and don’t’s.
Macrophage depletion decreases inflammation and tumorigenesis in the AOM/DSS mouse model of colon cancer

Macrophages have recently emerged as major players in the connection between inflammation and cancer; they represent up to 50% of the tumor mass and produce a wide array of inflammatory mediators with pro-tumoral functions. We used a macrophage depletion technique to examine the role of macrophages in colon cancer. To induce colon cancer, male C57BL/6 mice (n=20) received a single injection of AOM followed by three cycles of DSS supplemented water at concentrations of 2%, 1%, 1% at weeks 1, 4, and 7, respectively. Prior to the final DSS administration (week 7) and twice weekly thereafter for a duration of 5 weeks, mice (n=10/group) were administered 200μl of clodronate (CL 2 MDP) or PBS encapsulated liposomes via an intra-peritoneal route to deplete macrophages. Body weight, body composition, and symptom severity score were evaluated throughout the macrophage depletion period. Mice were sacrificed at 12 weeks following the initiation of colon cancer and colon tissue was analyzed for tumor burden, macrophage markers, and inflammatory mediators. There were no differences in body weight, body composition, or symptom severity score between the groups. Macrophage depletion decreased tumor number by ~25% and specifically medium tumor number by 50% (p
Yin-Yang and the Heart-Mind

The East Asian notion of a heart-mind (Chinese xin 心, Japanese kokoro こころ, and Korean maum 마음) is arguably more accurate to our psychology than the Western term “mind” and its equivalents are: the latter term implies the possibility of psychological functioning in the absence of all emotion, and it can be shown that that is impossible. But then it turns out that we can update the traditional Chinese notions of yin 陰 and yang 陽 in such a way as to help us philosophically explain how our functioning psychology involves emotion and why any possible psychology has to rest on such a basis. Yin-yang is the essence of heart-mind, and heart-mind is essential to any functioning psychology.
YY1 Upregulates Checkpoint Receptors and Downregulates Type I Cytokines in Exhausted, Chronically Stimulated Human T Cells

Summary T cells infiltrate affected organs in chronic infections and malignancy, but they may fail to eradicate virus-infected cells or tumor because of exhaustion. This report describes a Yin Yang-1 (YY1)-centered mechanism for diverse components that have been correlated with exhaustion. Utilizing an in vitro reconstruction of chronic T cell activation, YY1 is shown to positively regulate the checkpoint receptors PD1, Lag3, and Tim3 and to negatively regulate the type I cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2) (in collaboration with Ezh2 histone methyltransferase) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ). Other tests suggest that IL-2 failure drives a large component of cytotoxic functional decline rather than solely checkpoint receptor-ligand interactions that have been the focus of current anti-exhaustion therapies. Clinical evaluations confirm elevated YY1 and Ezh2 in melanoma tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and in PD1+ T cells in patients with HIV. Exhaustion is revealed to be an active process as the culmination of repetitive two-signal stimulation in a feedback loop via CD3/CD28→p38MAPK/JNK→YY1→ exhaustion.
An Internet-Enabled Donor-to-Nonprofit (D2N) Marketplace

Online intermediaries have recently started offering database services to donors and certification services to nonprofit organizations through the Internet. We conceptualize a Donor-to-Nonprofit (D2N) marketplace as an online intermediary that offers these two services and examine its effect on fundraising strategies of nonprofit organizations using an analytical model based on spatial competition under incomplete information with donor search. We characterize the signaling equilibria where certification of quality conveys information about organizational effectiveness in generating socially valuable services. Interestingly, the emergence of the D2N marketplace may lead to a drop in total net fundraising revenues in the market, despite the fact that the intermediary’s database service eliminates search costs for some donors. We also explain why such a marketplace may deliberately lower the accuracy of its certification process.
Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC (Sourwood)

Oxydendrum is a member of the family Ericaceae (heaths). The heath family is well known for its fruiting members, the blueberries, cranberries, and huckleberries, as well as for the highly desirable ornamental azaleas, rhododendrons, and mountain laurel. The sourwood genus has only one member, Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC, which is native to the southeastern and central United States.
Proceedings of the 3rd ACM conference on Electronic Commerce

The ACM series of conferences is the focal point of Electronic Commerce (EC) activity within computer science. As such, it is the only regular forum devoted exclusively to study of computer science issues that touch on other disciplines involved in the enterprise of EC, in particular economics, law and business. Despite its interdisciplinary nature, however, the conference is computer science centric, and each paper in the conference is expected to make a substantial contribution to computer science.
Experimental Challenges of Shear Rheology: How to Avoid Bad Data

A variety of measurement artifacts can be blamed for misinterpretations of shear thinning, shear thickening, and viscoelastic responses, when the material does not actually have these properties. The softness and activity of biological materials will often magnify the challenges of experimental rheological measurements. The theoretical definitions of rheological material functions are based on stress, strain, and strain-rate components in simple deformation fields. In reality, one typically measures loads and displacements at the boundaries of a sample, and the calculation of true stress and strain may be encumbered by instrument resolution, instrument inertia, sample inertia, boundary effects, and volumetric effects. Here we discuss these common challenges in measuring shear material functions in the context of soft, water-based, and even living biological complex fluids. We discuss techniques for identifying and minimizing experimental errors and for pushing the experimental limits of rotational shear rheometers. Two extreme case studies are used: an ultrasoft aqueous polymer/fiber network (hagfish defense gel) and an actively swimming suspension of microalgae (Dunaliella primolecta).
Keynote Address: Is There a George Mason School of Law and Economics?

This article is the edited transcript of remarks provided in November 2013 on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the George Mason Law and Economics Center and the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the George Mason Journal of Law, Economics & Policy. The title of the conference was “The Unique Contributions of Armen Alchian, Robert Bork, and James Buchanan to the George Mason University School of Law.” In it I pose the question: “Is there a George Mason School of Law and Economics?” and I answer in the affirmative. I argue that the George Mason tradition of law and economics is a synthesis of multiple complementary schools of law and economics - Austrian, Chicago, UCLA, Virginia, and Washington - focused on spontaneous order, private ordering, dynamic market processes, and property rights. Given the subject of the conference, these remarks focus specifically on UCLA (Alchian), Chicago (Bork), and Virginia (Buchanan), but are not meant to discount the equally important influences of these complementary traditions.
Place after prison: Neighborhood attainment and attachment during reentry

ABSTRACTMore than 600,000 people leave prison and become residents of neighborhoods across the United States annually. Using a longitudinal survey of people returning to Greater Boston, this study ...
P049 Defining the tumor origin in lung post-transplant recipient using HLA typing

Here we present a case to show that HLA typing can be used to identify tumor origin in transplant recipients. A 61-year-old man with a past medical history of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis received right lung transplant on 7/25/2016. He was admitted to the hospital on 12/25/17 with complaints of worsening shortness of breath as well as a non-productive cough and wheezing for a few days prior to arrival. Examination of the lungs revealed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma involving the right lung. The patient’s left lung had metastatic adenocarcinoma, interstitial fibrosis, fibroblastic foci, and interstitial chronic inflammation. There was also metastatic tumor identified in the liver, vertebrae, adherent to the adventitia of the aorta, esophageal, and gastric serosa. The patient expired 548 days post-transplant. After the finding of cancer in the donor’s lung was reported to UNOS, other centers that shared this donor requested additional testing on cancer to determine if it was donor-derived cancer. HLA typing performed on DNA isolated from the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue sample fully matched the patient’s original HLA typing. This finding indicated that tumor did not arise from the donor’s lung. This case shows that HLA typing can be used to identify an origin of malignant tumor developed in transplant recipients, in particular, when no fresh tissue or DNA from both donor and recipient is available for microsatellite analysis.
Sculptor: Flexible Approximation with Selective Dynamic Loop Perforation

Loop perforation is one of the most well known software techniques in approximate computing. It transforms loops to periodically skip subsets of their iterations. It is general, simple, and effective. However, during analysis, it only considers the number of instructions to skip, but does not consider the differences between instructions and loop iterations. Based on our observation, these differences have considerable influence on performance and accuracy. To improve traditional perforation, we introduce selective dynamic loop perforation, a general approximation technique that automatically transforms loops to skip selected instructions in selected iterations. It provides the flexibility to craft approximation strategies at the dynamic instruction level. The main challenges in selective dynamic loop perforation are how to capture the characteristics of instructions, optimize perforation strategies based on these characteristics, and minimize additional runtime overhead. In this paper, we propose several compiler optimizations to resolve these challenges, including optimized instruction-level, load based and store based selective perforation, and self-directed dynamic perforation with a dynamic start and dynamic perforation rates. Across a range of 8 applications from various domains, selective dynamic loop perforation achieves average speedups of 2.89x and 4.07x with 5% and 10% error budgets, while traditional loop perforation achieves 1.47x and 1.93x, respectively, for the same error budgets.
From Conversation to Conference

The Alfred Kazin Centennial Symposium in May 2015 took place with no external funding on a budget totaling less than $200. Despite these overwhelming limitations, this "symposium on a shoestring" proved a rich intellectual experience for all. Its success is a tribute not only to the participants but also to the example of Alfred Kazin himself and his devotion to the life of the mind and the humanistic calling.
Concentration dependent effects of fibroblast-like synoviocytes on collagen gel multiscale biomechanics & neuronal signaling: Implications for modeling human ligamentous tissues.

Abnormal loading of a joint's ligamentous capsule activates nociceptive afferent fibers, which reside in the capsule's collagenous matrix alongside fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and transmit pain to the DRG. This study integrated FLS into a DRG-collagen gel model to mimic the anatomy and physiology of human joint capsules; using this new model, the effect of FLS on multiscale biomechanics and cell physiology under load were investigated. Primary FLS cells were co-cultured with DRGs at low or high concentrations, to simulate variable anatomical FLS densities, and failed in tension. Given their roles in collagen degradation and nociception, MMP-1 and neuronal expression of the neurotransmitter substance P were probed after gel failure. The amount of FLS did not alter (p>0.3) the failure force, displacement, or stiffness. FLS doubled regional strains at both low (p<0.01) and high (p=0.01) concentrations. For high FLS, the collagen network showed more reorganization at failure (p<0.01). Although total MMP-1 and neuronal substance P were the same regardless of FLS concentration before loading, expression of both increased after failure, but only with low FLS (p=0.02). The concentration-dependent effect of FLS on microstructure and cellular responses implies capsule regions with different FLS densities experience variable microenvironments. This study presents a novel DRG-FLS co-culture collagen gel system that provides a platform for investigating the complex biomechanics and physiology of human joint capsules, and is the first relating DRG and FLS interactions.
Template bank for compact binary coalescence searches in gravitational wave data: A general geometric placement algorithm

We introduce an algorithm for placing template waveforms for the search of compact binary mergers in gravitational wave interferometer data. We exploit the smooth dependence of the amplitude and unwrapped phase of the frequency-domain waveform on the parameters of the binary. We group waveforms with similar amplitude profiles and perform a singular value decomposition of the phase profiles to obtain an orthonormal basis for the phase functions. The leading basis functions span a lower-dimensional linear space in which the unwrapped phase of any physical waveform is well approximated. The optimal template placement is given by a regular grid in the space of linear coefficients. The algorithm is applicable to any frequency-domain waveform model and detector sensitivity curve. It is computationally efficient and requires little tuning. Applying this method, we construct a set of template banks suitable for the search of aligned-spin binary neutron star, neutron-star--black-hole (NSBH) and binary black hole mergers in LIGO-Virgo data.
Positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging appearance of benign and classic "do not touch" osseous lesions.

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging appearance of benign and classic “do not touch” osseous lesions
FIAT: numerical construction of finite element basis functions

The FIAT project [Kirby, 2004, 2006a] implements the mathematical framework described in 7423 Chapter 4 as a Python package, working mainly in terms of numerical linear algebra. Although an 7424 implementation in floating-point arithmetic presents some challenges relative to symbolic computation, 7425 it can allow greater efficiency in terms of work and memory usage, especially for high order elements.
Infrared photoexcitation spectroscopy in soluble derivatives of poly(p-phenylenevinylene) and composites with C60

Abstract We report detailed photoinduced absorption spectra of soluable derivatives of poly(p-phenylenevinylene), for example MEH-PPV and BCH-PPV, and their composites with C 60 , from 0.05 eV to 1.3 eV. The photoinduced absorption spectra of MEH-PPV and BCH-PPV are characterized by subgap electronic absorptions and associated infrared-active vibrational (IRAV) modes. Upon adding a few percent of C 60 into both polymers, the photoinduced absorption spectra are significantly enhanced in magnitude and new peaks are found at 1.15 eV and 1.25 eV. The photoinduced charge transfer from conducting polymer onto C 60 enhances the quantum efficiency for photogeneration of charge carriers, resulting in the enhanced IRAV modes of the conducting polymer and the appearance of 1.15 eV and 1.25 eV signatures associated with C 60 .
Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Allylic Alkylation with a γ-Butyrolactone-Derived Silyl Ketene Acetal

Herein, we report a Cu‐catalyzed enantioselective allylic alkylation using a γ‐butyrolactone‐derived silyl ketene acetal. Critical to the development of this work was the identification of a novel mono‐picolinamide ligand with the appropriate steric and electronic properties to afford the desired products in high yield (up to 96 %) and high ee (up to 95 %). Aryl, aliphatic, and unsubstituted allylic chlorides bearing a broad range of functionality are well‐tolerated. Spectroscopic studies reveal that a Cu^I species is likely the active catalyst, and DFT calculations suggest ligand sterics play an important role in determining Cu coordination and thus catalyst geometry.
Mice Lacking Wasp-Interacting Protein Evolve Anti-Platelet IgAs That Impair Platelet Responses Mediated by the Collagen Receptor GPVI.

Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS) is a hematopoietic disorder characterized by immune deficiency, eczema and severe thrombocytopenia with small platelets. However, the role of the WAS protein (WASp), mutated or absent in WAS, is unclear in platelets because platelets that lack WASp function normally. WASp constitutively associates with WIP in resting and activated platelets. We investigated the role of the platelet WIP-WASp complex by using mice that lack either WIP or WASp. WIP knockout (KO) platelets lack WASp and WIP expression is reduced in WASp KO platelets, indicating a requirement for both proteins for each other’s integrity. WIP KO, but not WASp KO mice evolve platelet-associated antibodies of the IgA class, as evidenced by immunoblot analysis and flow cytometry. We present evidence that platelet-associated IgAs specifically target the collagen receptor GPVI in WIP KO mice: protein tyrosine phosphorylation, including that of phospholipase C-γ2, and calcium mobilization are impaired in IgA-presenting WIP KO platelets stimulated through GPVI, resulting in α-granule secretion, integrin αIIbβ3 activation and actin assembly defects; binding of the anti-GPVI antibody JAQ1 to normally expressed GPVI is reduced in IgA-presenting WIP KO platelets; JAQ1 induces the irreversible loss of GPVI from circulating platelets in WT mice, but not in WIP KO mice that bear anti-platelet IgAs. Together, the data indicate that platelet-associated IgAs negatively modulate GPVI signaling in WIP KO mice.
Building the Discipline of Policy Surveillance: Report and Next Steps from an International Convening

Context: The practice of policy surveillance, defined as the systematic scientific tracking of laws of public health importance, supports public health research and practice in several ways: it produces legal data for evaluation research; it increases public and practitioner awareness of the state of, and trends in, important public health laws; it supports advocacy for the wider adoption of evidence-backed legal reforms; and in all these ways it increases awareness and salience of law in public health. Funding from major public health organizations, and advances in information technology, have made policy surveillance more feasible for researchers and practitioners across public health topics. Under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Policy Surveillance Program (PSP) at the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University, advised by leaders at the Alcohol Policy Information System and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, convened a meeting of policy surveillance and legal mapping practitioners to discuss needs and identify next steps for improving quality and value in policy surveillance, and strengthening the field. Convening: Fifty people from a diverse set of organizations met over two days to discuss the state of the field, and to work in small groups to define needs and next steps. Working groups were devised by the participants and included Field-building, Research Methods, Implementation, Local Policy Surveillance, International Policy Surveillance, Data Standards, and Funding. Results: There was consensus that the value of policy surveillance lies in the credibility and utility of the data it produces. These value elements are thus crucial guides for building the field on a sustainable basis. Building the field requires a strong network of practitioners working together to develop and maintain appropriate standards of scientific research and data accessibility. Sustainability depends on several key activities: continued innovation, training, technological advances (such as machine-assisted research), enhanced access to existing data and curation of data over time, funding, and a professional organization or other mechanism to continue the development of a cohesive set of practitioners.
Evaluation of Fixed Intrathecal Bupivacaine Infusion Doses in the Oncologic Population.

OBJECTIVES Intrathecal drug delivery systems (IDDS) are an important method of pain control for patients with refractory oncologic pain. Local anesthetics such as bupivacaine have been infused either alone or with opioids. While effective, bupivacaine can cause adverse effects such as numbness, weakness, and urinary retention. This study looks to establish a safe and efficacious fixed bupivacaine dosing algorithm in intrathecal pumps for cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS A bupivacaine dosing algorithm was developed using data from 120 previous patients who underwent IDDS placement at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The outcomes were then evaluated for 43 subsequent patients who were treated with bupivacaine IDDS according to our aforementioned algorithm. RESULTS Our data show that in patients treated with our bupivacaine guideline, visual analog pain scale scores decreased by 59% and oral morphine equivalence decreased by 70% from the period between IDDS implantation until discharge from the MSKCC hospital. However, 16.3% of our patients had bupivacaine-related side effects. CONCLUSIONS For oncological patients, our data and experience support the initiation of intrathecal bupivacaine at the following doses: 5 mg/day for catheter tips in the cervical spine, 8 mg/day for catheter tips at T1-4, and 10 mg/day for catheter tips at T5-8. Given the higher likelihood of adverse effects in catheters at T9-12 and the lumbar spine, we start at 8 mg/day with close follow-up of the patient. Initiating these doses allow our patients to safely reach adequate analgesia faster, with a shorter hospitalization and quicker return to anti-cancer therapy.
Investigation on public health nursing knowledge and the demand among nurses in Shenzhen community

Objective To investigate the public health nursing knowledge and the demand among nurses in Shenzhen community health service center, so as to provide evidence for the development of orientation and training methods and measures. Methods Random cluster sample and questionnaire survey were used to investigate 150 nurses from 33 community health service centers in order to understand public health knowledge and the training demand of Shenzhen community nurses. Results The education and professional level of Shenzhen community nurses were comparely low. They were lack of knowledge in terms of the epidemiology, the application of statistics, the community public health nursing mode. The most needed training was the abilities of sudden public health event emergency and common infectious disease prevention and care.Conclusions Community nurse lacks the public health nursing knowledge. The work of community nurses should develop balanced. Community nursers should be strengtened to train according to the public health nursing knowledge insufficiency and the demand of nurses. Key words: Community public health; Community health nursing; Training; Investigation
Physiological sleep measures predict time to 15-year mortality in community adults: Application of a novel machine learning framework.

Clarifying whether physiological sleep measures predict mortality could inform risk screening; however, such investigations should account for complex and potentially non-linear relationships among health risk factors. We aimed to establish the predictive utility of polysomnography (PSG)-assessed sleep measures for mortality using a novel permutation random forest (PRF) machine learning framework. Data collected from the years 1995 to present are from the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS; n = 5,734) and the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study (WSCS; n = 1,015), and include initial assessments of sleep and health, and up to 15 years of follow-up for all-cause mortality. We applied PRF models to quantify the predictive abilities of 24 measures grouped into five domains: PSG-assessed sleep (four measures), self-reported sleep (three), health (eight), health behaviours (four), and sociodemographic factors (five). A 10-fold repeated internal validation (WSCS and SHHS combined) and external validation (training in SHHS; testing in WSCS) were used to compute unbiased variable importance metrics and associated p values. We observed that health, sociodemographic factors, and PSG-assessed sleep domains predicted mortality using both external validation and repeated internal validation. The PSG-assessed sleep efficiency and the percentage of sleep time with oxygen saturation <90% were among the most predictive individual measures. Multivariable Cox regression also revealed the PSG-assessed sleep domain to be predictive, with very low sleep efficiency and high hypoxaemia conferring the highest risk. These findings, coupled with the emergence of new low-burden technologies for objectively assessing sleep and overnight oxygen saturation, suggest that consideration of physiological sleep measures may improve risk screening.
Using a difference-in-differences and synthetic control approach to investigate the socioeconomic impacts of Oregon's marine reserves

Abstract As Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) expand in size and number, it is critical that we understand how they are impacting local communities. However, social impact evaluations on MPAs are often conducted with limited data points before and after MPA implementation, which can weaken the reliability of their results. To address this gap, we collected longitudinal American Community Survey (ACS) socioeconomic data on coastal communities and counties adjacent to marine reserves in Oregon. Oregon has both limited-take MPAs and stricter no-take marine reserves. This study focused solely on the marine reserves. We compared treatment and control units before and after marine reserve implementation using both difference-in-differences (DID) and synthetic control approaches. Each approach yielded different results, potentially providing a more complete picture of marine reserve impacts and long-term trends while also highlighting the need to consider the variability of ACS data collected from small communities. The percent of the population employed in tourism-related industries was the only significant model in both the DID and synthetic control approaches. Tourism employment increased post marine reserve implementation more in communities adjacent to the marine reserves than in more distant coastal communities. This result could indicate that marine reserves are bringing more visitors to the coast, thereby increasing the need for a more tourism-based economy. However, this may not be the case since most coastal visitors are unaware of Oregon's marine reserves and fewer than 10% of business owners think the reserves have impacted their business. An alternative hypothesis is that the marine reserves were placed near communities with a prominent land-sea connection that were already shifting their economic base to focus more on tourism. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how secondary data sources can be used to aid in a more comprehensive MPA impact evaluation, how two different impact evaluation approaches (i.e., synthetic control and DID) can result in differing conclusions, and how the robust synthetic control approach can be easily applied to improve MPA impact evaluations. As one element of a large-scale assessment of marine reserve impacts, this study also broadens our understanding of underlying trends on the Oregon coast and how the recently implemented marine reserves may be impacting nearby communities.
Structural Rigidity and the Severity of the German Depression: The AVI and the German Steel Cartels 1925-1932

Abstract This article examines the agreement between the German steel producers, represented by the Rohstahlgemeinschaft, and steel finishers, represented by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Eisen verarbeitenden Industrie, from 1925 to 1933. It provides new evidence on the negative impact of the depression of 1930-1932 on the political and economic power of the German steel industry through the construction of a new received price series.
The link between mental health and obesity: role of individual and contextual factors.

The International Journal of Preventive Medicine has always shown interest in studies on obesity. An interesting article has been recently published in the journal by Jari et al. The paper is on the association between overweight/ obesity and anxiety/depression among Iranian adolescents and uses data of the CASPIAN‐III study. Due to the global epidemic of obesity and the need for evidence‐based practice and policy for prevention, the publication is timely. The study has enrolled a nationally representative school‐based sample of 10‐18 year old adolescents (n = 5,528, 50% females). Based on this study, 8% and 9% of Iranian adolescents are overweight and obese, respectively. In addition, 59% and 63% of the sample have high anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. The study does not show an association between overweight/ obesity and anxiety/depression. Authors speculate that the lack of a link between mental health and obesity among Iranian adolescents might be due to a positive attitude toward fatness of adolescents among families and peers. The study has several strengths as it uses a nationally representative sample, has a large sample size, includes both genders, has a wide age range of participants, measures both anxiety 1Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health (CRECH), School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA, 2Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Coordinating learning agents for multiple resource job scheduling

Efficient management of large-scale job processing systems is a challenging problem, particularly in the presence of multi-users and dynamically changing system conditions. In addition, many real world systems require the processing of multi-resource jobs where centralized coordination may be difficult. Most conventional algorithms, such as load balancing, are designed for centralized, single resource problems. Indeed, in such a case, load balancing is known to provide optimal solutions. However, load balancing is not well suited to the more general, distributed, multi-resource allocation problem across heterogeneous networks that is frequently encountered in real world applications. Approaches based on heuristics can be designed to handle multi-resource allocation, but such approaches do not necessarily attempt to optimize directly a system-wide objective function. In this paper, we investigate a multiagent coordination approach to distributed, multi-resource job scheduling across heterogeneous servers. In this approach, agents at servers make local decisions to optimize an agent specific objective. The agent objectives though, are derived so that they are aligned with the overall efficiency of the system. We demonstrate that such a system outperforms (sometimes dramatically) more crudely constructed multiagent systems as well as a multi-resource version of load balancing.
Immune checkpoints and immunotherapy for colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the major causes of death worldwide, despite steady improvement in early detection and overall survival over the past decade. Current treatment paradigms, with chemotherapy and biologics, appear to have reached their maximum benefit. Immunotherapy, especially with checkpoint inhibitors, has shown considerable clinical benefit in various cancers, including mismatch-repair-deficient CRC. This has led to the planning and initiation of several clinical trials evaluating novel immunotherapy agents—as single agents, combinations and in conjunction with chemotherapy—in patients with CRC. This article reviews biological and preclinical data for checkpoint inhibitors and discusses various immunotherapy trials in CRC, as well as current efforts in CRC immunotherapy.
A statistical study of dyadic angular spectrum in random scattering environments

The behaviors of electromagnetic (EM) propagation between two communication volumes can be described by a rank-2 dyadic angular spectrum. The present work investigates the characteristics of this spectrum in a random environment through Monte Carlo simulations. A variety of statistical properties are assessed. The results presented pay extra attention to the polarization change as plane wave components depart the transmit volume, interact with the scattering media, and arrive at the receive volume. It is observed that, largely in agreement with the common assumption, a transmit plane wave component can be converted to the two polarizations of plane waves in various receive directions with very low correlation and statistical bias in the presence of sufficient random scattering.
Reduction in building energy requirements by modern energy conservation techniques

Energy Deficiency problem can be addressed either by increasing generation or by efficient consumption of energy. Shortage of electricity generation and excessive usage of electricity power has promoted the energy conservation measures. Energy audit of building identifies flaws in load consumption; and overall energy performance profile can be improved. This case study presents the complete energy audit of a Public sector Multi-Office building located in Lahore, Pakistan. A methodical analysis has been performed and potential Energy Conservation Recommendations (ECRs) are proposed for the building. These ECRs are backed up by the financial analysis. Analysis concludes that more than 30% energy can be saved by efficient utilization and retrofitting measures only. On field collected data has been analyzed using software; DIALuxEvo 3 for lighting system, Hourly Analysis Program (HAP4.41) for heating and cooling system and Smart-Viewer for thermal imaging.
AN AUTOSOMAL GENE THAT AFFECTS X CHROMOSOME EXPRESSION AND SEX DETERMINATION IN CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS

Recessive mutant alleles at the autosomal dpy-21 locus of C. elegans cause a dumpy phenotype in XX animals but not in XO animals. This dumpy phenotype is characteristic of X chromosome aneuploids with higher than normal X to autosome ratios and is proposed to result from overexpression of X-linked genes. We have isolated a new dpy-21 allele that also causes partial hermaphroditization of XO males, without causing the dumpy phenotype. All dpy-21 alleles show hermaphroditization effects in XO males that carry a duplication of part of the X chromosome and also partially suppress a transformer (tra-1) mutation that converts XX animals into males. Experiments with a set of X chromosome duplications show that the defects of dpy-21 mutants can result from interaction with several different regions of the X chromosome. We propose that dpy-21 regulates X chromosome expression and may be involved in interpreting X chromosome dose for the developmental decisions of both sex determination and dosage compensation.
Carnival time in the Kingdom of Coal

This essay examines the ideas of carnival and the carnivalesque in relation to a modern social formation, which, cued by the name of its central figure, is referred to in this article as the Kingdom of Coal. Conjured incessantly from disjunct social perspectives on fossil fuel extraction and energy production, the Kingdom of Coal offers a grounded example of what Charles Taylor terms the ‘modern social imaginary’. Carnivalesque maskings and unmaskings dramatize a struggle for publicly relevant subjectivity in the United States. Social bodies constructed through such carnivalesque tropes as the grotesque body, the slaying of the king, and (ecologically) gay materiality articulate profoundly different stakes across class lines. Emulating the public space needed for critical reflection on such imaginaries, this essay experimentally brings into dialogue voices kept rigidly separated in channels of environmental decision-making and the national media. Mikhail Bakhtin's concepts of monologic and dialogic modes ...
Effects of angling with a single-hook and live bait on muskellunge survival

Use of live bait for angling of muskellunge, Esox masquinongy, is popular in Wisconsin. A traditional method utilizes a large hook through the bait fish’s snout, which requires the muskellunge to swallow the bait prior to hook set. Adult muskellunge (>76 cm; 30 in) were held in lined hatchery ponds and caught while fishing with live bait on 10/0 size single hooks. The leader was cut and the muskellunge was released when hooked in the stomach. Survival was monitored for up to 1 year. No immediate ( <24 h) mortality occurred. However, 22% of hooked muskellunge died within 50 days and 83% died within 1 year. Necropsies revealed extensive trauma to the stomach and other organs from hooks, along with systemic bacterial infections. Highest mortality on both hooked and control fish occurred over winter through spring. This peak mortality may be associated with natural stressors that occur during the spring spawning period. Mortality rates observed in this study are considered unacceptable for trophy management of muskellunge. Although use of live bait for muskellunge is traditional in Wisconsin, terminal tackle such as quick-strike rigs that hook fish in the mouth or buccal cavity should enhance the chances a released muskellunge will survive.
Quantitation of immobilized proteins.

Abstract A method for the quantitative determination proteins based on the binding and subsequent elution of Coomassie Blue R is presented. Also presented is a method for the immobilization of proteins in solution by entrapment in polyacrylamide. These entrapped proteins are then available for use in the assay method presented. Other analytical procedures can also be performed on the entrapped proteins, either alone or in combination with the protein quantitation. The dye binding and elution method presented provides a sensitive and, in most applications, rapid method for the quantitative detection of immobilized proteins. Rather than immobilization being an obstacle to the assay method, this approach utilizes the advantages of immobilization for the removal of excess reagents. Application of this approach to several types of immobilized protein are presented.
Experiments on the Determination of Gender from Coprolites by DNA Analysis

Abstract This paper reports the analysis of DNA from four coprolites from two sites in western North America. This pilot study was conducted to determine the feasibility of the recovery of human DNA from coprolites and whether the determination of gender of the people from whom the coprolites originated could be accomplished. Such information could be coupled with dietary data to explore gender-based differences in diet. Of the four specimens, the originators of two were identified as female, one as male, with the last being indeterminate.
The Differential Expression of Wound-Inducible Lipoxygenase Genes in Soybean Leaves

Two soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] lipoxygenase cDNA clones were isolated that represent lipoxygenase genes (designated LOX7 and LOX8) that display increased expression in leaves following wounding. LOX7 and LOX8 were found to be differentially expressed in soybean leaves after wounding. Increased transcript levels of both genes were detected in wounded leaves within 8 h after wounding, but only the expression of LOX7 displayed a systemic wound response. Additionally, the elevated expression of LOX7 in wounded leaves was transient. Twenty-four hours postwounding, LOX7 transcripts were no longer detectable in leaves. In contrast, LOX8 transcript levels were elevated in wounded leaves from 8 to 72 h after wounding. In addition, treatment of soybean plants with methyl jasmonate resulted in higher levels of both LOX7 and LOX8 transcripts in leaves. High levels of expression of both genes were also detected in young leaves, flowers, and immature seed pods, and increases in LOX7 and LOX8 transcripts were observed in leaves following the removal of reproductive sink tissues. The expression of LOX7 and LOX8 in unwounded soybean tissues and increased expression following wounding suggest that the lipoxygenases encoded by these genes may participate in general physiological processes that are enhanced following physical damage.
Production and purification of syringomycin, a phytotoxin produced by Pseudomonas syringae

Syringomycin (SR) production by Pseudomonas syringae in potato dextrose broth (PDB) still culture was approximately 20 to 136 times greater than that in potato dextrose agar (PDA) or in PDB shake cultures, respectively. Potato broth supplemented with 1·5% dextrose and 0·4% casamino acids was best for SR production when compared to other formulations of PDB, synthetic medium or biphasic media. Maximum production of SR corresponded with exponential cell growth of P. syringae in vitro . SR activity was completely partitioned into n -butanol from aqueous concentrates of acidified cultures. By means of ion-exchange chromatography (carboxy-methyl cellulose), thin-layer chromatography and Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, homogeneous preparations of SR were obtained with specific activities up to 47·9 units/μg. Eleven strains of P. syringae antibiotic toward Geotrichum candidum and representing a broad range of ecotypes were compared for the production of SR or other antibiotics. The only antibiotic isolated from ten of the strains was SR whereas the eleventh strain produced only syringotoxin (ST), a small biocidal polypeptide. Both SR and ST were phytotoxic and mimicked holcus spot on maize leaves at a threshold concentration of 50 units/ml. The threshold toxigenicity of SR to representative isolates of P. syringae ranged from 800 to 6400 units/ml compared with 100 units/ml for G. candidum .