cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transcriptional Regulation and Gene Expression in the Liver

Temporal and spatial regulation of gene expression is essential for the evolution of multicellular organisms. Eukaroytic cells regulate gene expression at the transcriptional, post transcriptional and translational level. Transcriptional mechanisms that control differential expression of RNA polymerase II genes include modulation of the stability and speed of assembly of the transcriptional apparatus via general and tissue-enriched transcription factors, transcriptional pausing, and alternative mRNA splicing and stabilization. Furthermore, leaky ribosomal scanning, post-translational modifications, and locus control regions also contribute to the regulation of gene expression following the generation of mRNA. The CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs) family of transcription factors encompass a variety of these regulatory methods and will be discussed as a model for differential gene activation that is critical for normal cellular differentiation and function in a variety of tissues. The prototypic C/EBP is a modular protein, consisting of an activation domain, a dimerization bZIP region and a DNA binding domain. All family members share the highly conserved dimerization domain, required for DNA binding, by which they form homo- and heterodimerizes with other family members. C/EBPs are least conserved in the activation domains that vary from strong activators to dominant negative repressors. The pleiotropic effects of C/EBPs are in part due to tissue-specific and stage-specific expression. Dimerization of different C/EBP proteins precisely modulates transcriptional activity of target genes. Recent work with mice deficient in specific C/EBPs underscores the effects of these factors in tissue development, function, and response to injury.
Chapter 14 – Communications

This chapter discusses three types of communication: written, oral, and graphical. Some of the major principles of good communication are pointed out here and it also provides some practical tips as well as guidelines that will help young engineers get their communication efforts off to a better start. Because so many design and manufacturing courses involve project work in which students are required to submit written reports along with drawings, and to present the results of their work orally, the readers are strongly urged to practice for effective communication.
Renal toxicity of ifosfamide in pilot regimens of the intergroup rhabdomyosarcoma study for patients with gross residual tumor.

PURPOSE The purpose of this review is to characterize the nephrotoxicity noted in newly diagnosed patients under 21 years of age after treatment with ifosfamide-containing chemotherapy regimens and local irradiation for localized gross residual rhabdomyosarcoma or undifferentiated sarcoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS From 1987 to 1991, 194 previously untreated patients received vincristine and ifosfamide plus dactinomycin or etoposide for 1-2 years. Ifosfamide was given at 1.8 g/m2/day for 5 days with sodium mercaptoethane sulfonate, or 9 g/m2 of ifosfamide per course. The three-drug regimen was repeated every 3-4 weeks. RESULTS Twenty-eight patients (14%) developed renal toxicity: 19 had renal tubular dysfunction (RTD) characterized by low serum phosphate ( 72 g/m2) were given, children or = 3 years of age (34% versus 6%; p 72 g/m2 of ifosfamide. CONCLUSIONS Patients who are 72 g/m2) of ifosfamide and who have a preexisting renal abnormality have an increased risk of RTD and DGF. The renal function of patients being considered for ifosfamide treatment must be carefully monitored. Ifosfamide should be avoided in patients with renal abnormalities at diagnosis unless the potential benefit clearly exceeds the risk of further renal impairment.
“I’m an American Soldier”: Country Music’s Envoicing of Military Men and Families after 9/11

ABSTRACTToby Keith’s number one hit “American Soldier” (2003) initiated a decade-long exploration of soldier-related topics by country music songwriters and singers, including forty-two tracks reco...
Deferred Runtime Pipelining for contentious multicore software transactions

DRP is a new concurrency control protocol for software transactional memory that achieves high throughput, even for skewed workloads that exhibit high contention. DRP builds on prior works that chop transactions into pieces to expose more concurrency opportunities, but unlike these works, DRP performs no static analyses and supports arbitrary workloads. DRP achieves a high degree of concurrency across most workloads and guarantees deadlock freedom, strict serializability, and opacity. We incorporate DRP into the software transactional objects library STO [18] and find that DRP improves STO's throughput on several STAMP benchmarks by up to 3.6x. Additionally, an in-memory multicore database implemented with our modified variant of STO outperforms databases that use OCC or transaction chopping for concurrency control. Specifically, DRP achieves 6.6x higher throughput than OCC when contention is high. Compared to transaction chopping, our DRP achieves 3.3x higher throughput when contention is medium or low. Furthermore, our implementation achieves comparable performance to OCC and transaction chopping at other contention levels.
A Nutritional Lie or Lifestyle

When referring to plant-based diets, what comes to mind is the following. As a person who formerly spent 4.5 years on peritoneal dialysis and is now 23 months into a kidney transplant, the word “diet” is a curse word, such as it is to other battling a chronic illness, especially kidney disease
Control of Florida Betony (Stachys floridana Shuttlew.) Emerging From Tubers

Abstract Derby (metolachlor + simazine), Pennant (metolachlor), and Princep (simazine) were tested at two sites to determine if they would provide control of Florida betony (Stachys floridana Shuttlew.) similar to Barricade (prodiamine). These herbicides were applied twice to containerized Florida betony grown from tubers—a preemergent application in September, 1992 and a postemergent application in November, 1992. Only Barricade (prodiamine) provided 14 weeks of good to excellent control at both sites. Pennant (metolachlor) at 5.4 kg ai/ha (4.8 lb ai/A) provided control equivalent to Barricade (prodiamine) 6 weeks after the initial application at one site and poorer but acceptable control at the other site. Derby (metolachlor + simazine) and Pennant (metolachlor) tended to reduce number of shoots and/or percent coverage compared to an untreated control but generally provided poor control. Princep (simazine) was ineffective.
Lobular neutrophilic panniculitis associated with DNA methyltransferase inhibitors in the treatment of myeloid disease

Cutaneous toxicities to DNA methyltransferase inhibitors are variable and include localized injection site reactions, ecchymoses, maculopapular eruptions, and neutrophilic dermatoses including pyoderma gangrenosum, Sweet syndrome, and neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis. This series describes two patients diagnosed with lobular neutrophilic panniculitis arising during treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia with "hypomethylating drugs," including the first report of its occurrence with a next-generation agent. Differential diagnoses, histopathologic characteristics, treatment considerations, and proposed pathogenesis will be discussed.
Abstract 4484: Discovery and in vitro characterization of AMG 510–a potent and selective covalent small-molecule inhibitor of KRASG12C

Activating mutations in RAS represent the most common oncogenic driver mutation in cancer. The single amino acid substitution of cysteine for glycine at position 12 (KRASG12C) is frequently found in solid malignancies, particularly in lung adenocarcinoma (~13%), colorectal adenocarcinoma (3%), and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (~1%). Recently it has been demonstrated that KRASG12C can be targeted with covalent small molecule inhibitors which react with the mutant cysteine adjacent to the switch II pocket (SIIP), locking KRAS in its inactive GDP-bound state. We describe here the discovery and in vitro characterization of AMG 510, a covalent inhibitor of KRASG12C possessing potent biochemical and cellular activity, as well as robust in vivo efficacy. AMG 510 inhibited SOS1-catalyzed nucleotide exchange of recombinant mutant KRASG12C/C118A but had minimal effect on KRASC118A, which is wildtype at position 12. The observed rate constant (kinact/Ki) of covalent modification of KRASG12C by AMG 510 was determined biochemically by mass spectrometry as well as in the cellular context (kobs/[I]). Cysteine proteome analysis of cells treated with AMG 510 revealed that only the G12C-containing peptide of KRAS was covalently modified. AMG 510 inhibited KRAS signaling as measured by ERK phosphorylation in all KRAS p.G12C cell lines tested, but did not inhibit phosphorylation of ERK in cell lines lacking the KRAS p.G12C mutation. Cellular occupancy of KRASG12C by AMG 510 was determined by mass spectrometry and correlated well with inhibition of ERK phosphorylation. AMG 510 also selectively impaired the viability of KRAS p.G12C mutant lines. Combination treatment of AMG 510 with inhibitors of other cellular signaling pathways exhibited evidence for synergistic effects on cell viability. Treatment of KRAS p.G12C lines with covalent KRASG12C inhibitors increased the expression of HLA. To test the impact of KRASG12C inhibition on immune surveillance in vivo, we generated a syngeneic tumor cell line that is suitable for testing AMG 510 in combination with checkpoint inhibitor therapies and characterized this line in vitro. AMG 510 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I study in patients with solid tumors harboring KRAS p.G12Cmutations. Citation Format: Anne Y. Saiki, Kevin Gaida, Karen Rex, Pragathi Achanta, Tisha San Miguel, Neelima Koppada, Dhanashri Bagal, Brian A. Lanman, Robert S. Foti, John D. McCarter, Laurie P. Volak, Jude Canon, Victor J. Cee, J. Russell Lipford. Discovery and in vitro characterization of AMG 510–a potent and selective covalent small-molecule inhibitor of KRASG12C [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4484.
Physician Perceptions of the Use of Social Media for Recruitment of Patients in Cancer Clinical Trials.

Importance Social media campaigns have been successfully implemented in nontherapeutic trials. However, evidence to support their utility in cancer therapeutic trials is limited. Objective To examine physician attitudes toward and perceptions of social media use for therapeutic trial recruitment of patients with cancer. Design, Setting, and Participants This qualitative study engaged 44 physicians (24 academic based and 20 community based) at the main academic and 6 affiliated community sites of City of Hope in Duarte, California. Semistructured interviews were conducted in person or by telephone from March to June 2018. An interview guide was developed to explore perceptions of social media use for accrual of cancer therapeutic trials. Responses were recorded digitally and transcribed. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Main Outcomes and Measures Physicians’ perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of using social media for clinical trial recruitment, strategies to improve uptake of social media in clinical trials, and the barriers and facilitators to social media use for professional purposes in general. Results Of the 44 participants, 16 (36%) were women, 30 (68%) had more than 10 years of practice experience, 24 (55%) practiced in academia, and 20 (45%) practiced in the community. Physicians most commonly cited increased trial awareness and visibility as an advantage of using social media for trial recruitment. Cited disadvantages were increased administrative burden and risk of misinformation. Physicians also reported a need for institutional-level interventions (eg, restructuring of clinical trial offices to include personnel with social media expertise), increased evidence-based approaches to social media use, and more physician training on the use of social media. Perceived facilitators to professional social media use were networking and education; barriers included lack of time and lack of evidence of benefit. Conclusions and Relevance In this qualitative study, physicians recognized the benefits of using social media for clinical trial recruitment but noted that barriers, including increased administrative burden, increased time, and the risk of misinformation, remain. Future interventions to address these concerns are a required first step in increasing digital engagement for clinical trial accrual purposes.
Pharmacy Functionality During the Hurricane Florence Disaster.

Objectives The aim of this study was to analyze pharmacy functionality, or the volume of operational pharmacies, among areas in North Carolina and South Carolina affected by Hurricane Florence. Methods Using geographic information system software and data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Healthcare Ready, we computed, mapped, and analyzed pharmacy functionality measures for the period of September 12, 2018, through September 20, 2018, among counties in North Carolina and South Carolina to examine health-care-related disaster readiness for and response to Hurricane Florence. Results In the Hurricane Florence-impacted region, counties located along the coast had the most suboptimal pharmacy functionality, whereas counties located more centrally within North Carolina and South Carolina had more optimal pharmacy functionality throughout the disaster. Generally, functionality was high at Hurricane Florence's landfall on September 14, 2018, for which operating pharmacy capacity was reported at 85% in North Carolina and 88% in South Carolina. Both states had the lowest functionality on September 16, 2018, at 71% for North Carolina and 62% for South Carolina. Conclusions During the Hurricane Florence event, suboptimal pharmacy functionality was detected for coastal areas and during the disaster response period. Hurricane readiness plans and infrastructure strengthening should be emphasized for community pharmacies in hurricane-prone areas.
Hostility Dimensions and Metabolic Syndrome in a Healthy, Midlife Sample

Evidence links trait hostility with components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), a clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors, but which hostility dimensions (e.g., expressive or cognitive hostility) relate to MetS are not well known. Further, there may be age and sex differences in the extent to which hostility dimensions relate to MetS. The present study evaluated associations between dimensions of hostility and the metabolic syndrome and its individual components as well as the moderating effects of sex and age. In a cross-sectional sample of 478 employed adults, a principal component analysis from common trait hostility questionnaires yielded a two-factor solution: expressive hostility (anger and aggression) and cognitive hostility (cynicism). Each of these two components of hostility was examined as predictors of each of two aggregated MetS outcomes: a dichotomous measure of MetS, based upon the NCEP-ATP III definition, and a continuous measure based upon the average of standardized scores for each component; and they were examined as predictors of individual MetS components as well. Expressive hostility was associated with MetS severity (b = 0.110, p = 0.04) and waist circumference (b = 2.75, p = 0.01). Moderation analyses revealed that elevated expressive hostility was associated with elevated waist circumference in women but not men. Cognitive hostility was not related to any metabolic syndrome component or aggregated outcome, and no moderation was observed. Among multiple individual components and two aggregated scores, only trait dispositions to expressed hostile affect and behavior were associated with MetS severity and waist circumference. The effects were small but statistically significant. The association between cognitive hostility and metabolic syndrome measures may not be robust in a large sample of healthy, midlife adults.
Reactant-Transport Engineering Approach to High-Power Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells

Summary The development of high-power fuel cells could advance the electrification of the transportation sector, including marine and air transport. Liquid-fueled fuel cells are particularly attractive for such applications as they obviate the issue of fuel transportation and storage. Here, we report a direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) for high-power propulsion applications that delivers ∼0.9 W cm−2 peak power by using a pH gradient-enabled microscale bipolar interface (PMBI) to effectively meet the incongruent pH requirements for borohydride oxidation/peroxide reduction reactions. Reactant-transport engineering of the anode flow field architecture and fuel flowrates mitigates parasitic borohydride hydrolysis and hydrogen oxidation reactions and lessens anode passivation by hydrogen bubbles. We identify an optimal flow regime range, broadly applicable to other liquid-fed fuel cells, in terms of the standard dimensionless Reynolds number (Re) and the Damkohler number (Da). DBFCs fulfilling these criteria provide a 2.4 times higher power density at 1.5 V compared to state-of-the-art polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) that typically operate at 0.75 V. The high peak power density of 890 mW cm−2 at 1.1 V may offer a pathway to reduce fuel cell stack size for propulsion applications.
What I Wish I Had Known Early in Graduate School but Didn’t: (and How To Prepare for a Good Job Afterward)

Begin with the end in mind!1 PhD students in artificial intelligence can start to prepare for their career after their PhD degree immediately when joining graduate school, and probably in many more ways than they think. To help them with that, I asked current PhD students and recent PhD computer-science graduates from the University of Southern California and my own PhD students to recount the important lessons they learned (perhaps too late) and added the advice of Nobel Prize and Turing Award winners and many other researchers (including my own reflections), to create this article.
Modeling Snow Ablation over the Mountains of the Western United States: Patterns and Controlling Factors

Author(s): Xiao, Mu; Mahanama, Sarith P; Xue, Yongkang; Chen, Fei; Lettenmaier, Dennis P | Abstract: AbstractWhen compared with differences in snow accumulation predicted by widely used hydrological models, there is a much greater divergence among otherwise “good” models in their simulation of the snow ablation process. Here, we explore differences in the performance of the Variable Infiltration Capacity model (VIC), Noah land surface model with multiparameterization options (Noah-MP), the Catchment model, and the third-generation Simplified Simple Biosphere model (SiB3) in their ability to reproduce observed snow water equivalent (SWE) during the ablation season at 10 Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) stations over 1992–2012. During the ablation period, net radiation generally has stronger correlations with observed melt rates than does air temperature. Average ablation rates tend to be higher (in both model predictions and observations) at stations with a large accumulation of SWE. The differences in the dates of last snow between models and observations range from several days to approximately a month (on average 5.1 days earlier than in observations). If the surface cover in the models is changed from observed vegetation to bare soil in all of the models, only the melt rate of the VIC model increases. The differences in responses of models to canopy removal are directly related to snowpack energy inputs, which are further affected by different algorithms for surface albedo and energy allocation across the models. We also find that the melt rates become higher in VIC and lower in Noah-MP if the shrub/grass present at the observation sites is switched to trees.
Aircraft Lien Law

The Florida Legislature recently amended Chapter 329 of the Florida Statutes and clarified that possession is not required for perfection purposes; notice suffices. This article tracks the development of this significant change to the State of Florida’s nearly four-decade-old aviation lien laws, contextualizes the change in light of recent case law concerning aircraft liens, and offers insight into the law’s policy prospectively.
A STAT5-Smad3 Dyad Regulates Adipogenic Plasticity and Immune Regulatory Properties of Visceral Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Under Chronic Inflammation

Chronic caloric excess induced metaflammation suppresses adipose tissue resident mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) differentiation into functional adipocytes, contributing to various metabolic disorders. The molecular mechanisms of MSC multipotency regulation under such conditions is not well understood. In this study, a long-term high-fat diet fed mouse model showed that pro-inflammatory cytokine interferon-gamma (IFNγ) is a central regulator of visceral adipose hyperplasia. Chronic IFNγ exposure activated STAT5 played crucial roles in restricting MSC adipogenic potential. Further genetic and pharmacological studies using human and mouse visceral MSCs revealed that chronic inflammation constitutively activates IFNγ stimulated STAT5 and TGFβ stimulated Smad3 transcription factors by synergistic actions of multiple signaling pathways. STAT5 physically interacts with Smad4 of Smad3-Smad4 complex to inhibit the expression of selective adipogenic proteins including PPARγ and C-EBPδ, in favor of exerting sustained anti-inflammatory functions from MSCs. Overall, our study delineates a central regulatory mechanism of MSC multipotency and immune response.
COVID-19 Pandemic: Lethal and Non-lethal Drifts

is very variable since there are countries that differ up to two orders of magnitude. Objective: To analyze the positive/deaths ratio up to May 24, 2021, in the European countries on the light of asymptomatic subjects and determine if the presence of non-mortal drifts can justify the present deaths decay. Methods: The data of the European countries were retrieved from the WHO coronavirus dashboard. Italy was taken as example to calculate the differences among regions in the same country, and the relative data were taken from the Official Bulletin. Statistical analysis was based on the ODDS ratio. Results: True asymptomatic subjects are difficult to be calculated and the differences among the deaths ratio can be due to the presence of non-mortal drifts. Conclusions: The non-mortal drift should be considered as one of the reasons of the present death decay, and vaccinations can accelerate this process.
Multi-window learning for metal artifact reduction

Deep learning based methods have achieved promising results for CT metal artifact reduction (MAR) by learning to map an artifact-affected image or projection data to the artifact-free image in the data-driven manner. Basically, the existing methods simply select a single window in the Hounsfield unit (HU) followed by a normalization operation to preprocess all training and testing images, based on which a neural network is trained to reduce metal artifacts. However, if the selected widow contains the whole range of HU values, the model is challenged to predict the dedicated narrow windows accurately since the contribution of small HU values to the training loss may not be sufficiently weighted relative to that for large HU values. On the other hand, if a selected window is small, the opportunity will be lost to train the network effectively on features of large HU values. In practice, various tissues and organs in CT images are inspected with different window settings. Therefore, here we propose a multiple-window learning method for CT MAR. The basic idea of multiple-window learning is that the content of large HU values may help improve features of small HU values, and vice versa. Our method can precisely process multiple specified windows through simultaneously and interactively learning to remove metal artifacts within multiple windows. Experimental results on both simulated and clinical datasets have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method. Due to its simplicity, the proposed multiple-window network can be easily incorporated into other deep learning frameworks for CT MAR.
Sign inversion in selection on ploidy

Ploidy - the number of homologous chromosome sets in a cell - is remarkably variable across the natural world, yet the evolutionary processes that have resulted in such diversity remain poorly understood. Here we use stochastic agent-based simulations to model ploidy evolution under the influence of indirect selection, i.e., selection mediated solely by statistical associations with fitness-affecting mutations. We find that in non-equilibrium asexual populations, the sign of selection on ploidy can change with population size - a phenomenon we have previously termed sign inversion. In large populations, ploidy dynamics are dominated by indirect effects of selection on beneficial mutations, which favors haploids over diploids. However, as population size declines, selection for beneficial mutations is neutralized by random genetic drift before drift can overwhelm selection against the cost of the deleterious mutational load. As a result, in small populations indirect selection is dominated by the cost of the deleterious load, which favors diploids over haploids. Our work adds to the growing body of evidence challenging established evolutionary theory that population size can affect only the efficiency, but not the sign, of natural selection.
Engaging students and community in urban environmental sustainability: CommUniverCity San José

Critical components for achieving urban environmental sustainability are the collaborations between urban universities and their surrounding communities. This paper critically examines CommUniverCity San Jose, a unique multidimensional partnership driven by community priorities, through the lens of two, highly successful, long-term projects that have resulted in significant positive change in the urban environment both in terms of the direct, tangible impact on the local community, as well as broader policy change in one of the largest cities in the U.S.
MIGRANT DOMESTIC CAREWORKERS: Between the Public and the Private in Catholic Social Teaching

This essay argues that Catholic (magisterial) social teaching's division of ethics into public and private creates a structural lacuna which makes it almost impossible to envision a truly just situation for migrant domestic careworkers (MDCs) within the current horizon of Catholic social thought. Drawing on a variety of sociological studies, I conclude that it is easy for MDCs to “disappear” between two countries, two families, and, finally, two sets of ethical norms. If the magisterium genuinely wishes Catholic ethicists to address the plight of these migrant women, normative Catholic social teaching must pay more attention to household sociological realities and more fully absorb the feminist critique of the sharp line between the public and the private, between care and paid work.
p-Nitroanisole O-demethylation in perfused hamster liver: High rates of pentose cycle-independent mixed-function oxidation☆

Rates of p-nitroanisole O-demethylation in perfused livers from Syrian golden hamsters were three to four times greater than comparable rates measured in preparations from Sprague-Dawley rats. Hamsters also had greater microsomal p-nitroanisole O-demethylase activity and cytochrome P-450 contents than rats. In general, phenobarbital caused similar increases in these properties in both species. Fasting of hamsters for 24 hr increased p-nitroanisole O-demethylase activity in microsomes but did not affect rates in perfused livers. Rates were also unaffected in the perfused liver by pretreatment with 6-aminonicotinamide, an inhibitor of the pentose phosphate shunt. Hamster livers had low activities of pentose cycle enzymes but high activities of malic enzyme and isocitrate dehydrogenase compared to rats. In hamster livers, maximal rates of p-nitroanisole O-demethylation were not maintained but declined steadily over 40 min with prolonged p-nitroanisole infusion. The decreased rates of mixed-function oxidation in the non-recirculating perfusion system could not be explained by diminished tissue viability or degradation of cytochrome P-450 but were likely due to a decline in the formation of reduced cofactor. Hepatic concentrations of alpha-ketoglutarate and malate increased during p-nitroanisole infusion. Furthermore, rates of p-nitroanisole O-demethylation were inhibited by ethanol and aminooxyacetate, agents which inhibit the generation and/or movement of mitochondrial reducing equivalents into the cytosol. The infusion of pyruvate stimulated p-nitroanisole O-demethylation in perfused livers from fasted hamsters. This effect was maximal with 0.1 mM pyruvate, did not require gluconeogenesis, and was insensitive to 6-aminonicotinamide treatment. Thus, stimulation of p-nitroanisole metabolism by pyruvate in hamster livers is likely related to the mitochondrial oxidation of pyruvate, rather than to increased NADPH generation via the pentose phosphate cycle. These data indicate that mitochondrial sources of NADPH supply reducing equivalents for mixed-function oxidation in hamster liver.
Single‐Cell Analysis of Lipid Rafts in Lymphocytes and in T Cell–Containing Immunoconjugates

Within the plasma membranes of many different cell types, certain membrane lipids, including cholesterol and sphingolipids, form lateral assemblies surrounded by unsaturated glycerophospholipids. The concentration of such membrane lipids and associated proteins results in the formation of microdomains termed lipid rafts" (or glycolipid-enriched membranes or detergent-insoluble glycosphingolipid-enriched domains). Proteins that possess saturated acyl chains are generally associated with lipid rafts. Lipid rafts are believed to be involved in a number of cellular processes including cell activation. When material is limiting, raft-associated proteins may be identified on single cells using microscopy. This unit describes the application of this technique in an immunological example, examining the location and movement of signal transduction complexes in single T lymphocytes and in interactive conjugates between T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs).
Medicine, 1450–1620, and the History of Science

ABSTRACTHistory of science and history of medicine are today largely organized as distinct disciplines, though ones widely recognized as interrelated. Attempts to evaluate the extent and nature of their relation have reached varying conclusions, depending in part on the historical period under consideration. This essay examines some characteristics of European medicine from the fifteenth to the early seventeenth century and considers their relevance for the history of science. Attention is given to the range of interests and activities of individuals trained in or practicing medicine, to the impact of changes in natural philosophy, to the role of observation, description, and accumulation of information, and to the exchange of knowledge among the medical community.
High Dexterity Snake-Like Robotic Slaves for Minimally Invasive Telesurgery of the Upper Airway

This paper reports our efforts to develop an integrated system for telesurgery of the throat and upper airway. The system is described while focusing on the novel design of its slave robot. The slave robot is a 3-armed robot that implements novel Distal Dexterity Units (DDU’s). These DDU’s are dexterous robots for surgical tool manipulation and suturing in confined spaces. Each DDU is composed from a Snake-Like Unit (SLU) and a detachable Parallel Manipulation unit (PMU). The proposed design of the DDU’s provides an enhanced downsize scalability and distal dexterity that are crucial for medical applications such as laryngeal surgery where simultaneous manipulation of 2-3 long tools through a narrow laryngeoscope is required. The paper presents the design of these units and the experimentation results with a 4.2 mm diameter SLU to be used for constructing the first DDU for the 3-armed slave robot.
Prominence eruptions and geoeffective solar wind structures

It has been well established that severe geomagnetic disturbances are caused by solar wind streams that impose long periods of strong southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) on the Earth's magnetosphere. Such geoeffective solar wind structures are closely associated with eruptions at the Sun. The relationships between solar activity and geoeffective solar wind structures have been a major research issue for several decades and have been based primarily on empirical associations. In this paper, we describe a recent theoretical effort to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for eruption and propagation of prominences as well as the relationships between eruptive prominences, coronal mass ejections, and their heliospheric consequences. We also discuss empirical and theoretical studies of magnetospheric response to the arrival of geoeffective solar wind structures and a technique to identify such structures using real-time solar wind measurements.
Fast Cars and No Brakes: Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation as a Platform for Novel Immunotherapies

Abstract Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is indicated in a number of hematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma. Relapse, however, remains 1 of the main causes of post-ASCT failure, and several strategies are being investigated to decrease the risk of relapse of progression. Recent advances in the treatment of hematological malignancies have included adoptive transfer of genetically modified T cells that express chimeric antigen receptors or T cell receptors, as well the use of checkpoint inhibitors. Early clinical results in nontransplantation patients have been very promising. This review will focus on the use of gene-modified T cells and checkpoint inhibitors in stem cell transplantation.
Patient Motivators for Emergency Department Utilization: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey of Uninsured Admitted Patients at a University Teaching Hospital.

Abstract Background During the past several decades, emergency department (ED) increasing volume has proven to be a difficult challenge to address. With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, there is much speculation on the impact that health care coverage expansion will have on ED usage across the country. It is currently unclear what the effects of Medicaid expansion and a decreased number of uninsured patients will have on ED usage. Objective We sought to identify the motivators behind ED use in patients who were admitted to a university teaching hospital in order to project the possible impact of health care reform on ED utilization. Methods We surveyed a convenience sample of uninsured patients who presented to the ED and were subsequently admitted to the inpatient setting. Results Our respondents sought care in the ED primarily because they perceived their condition to be a medical emergency. Their lack of insurance and associated costs of care resulted in delays in seeking care, in reduced access, and a limited ability to manage chronic health conditions. Thus, contributing to their admission. Conclusions Affordability will reduce financial barriers to health care insurance coverage. However, efficient and timely access to primary care is a stronger determinant of ED usage in our sample. Health insurance coverage does not guarantee improved health care access. Patients may continue to experience significant challenges in managing chronic health conditions.
User evaluation of an arthritis information telephone service.

Arthritis patients are prone to misperceptions, forgetfulness, and the use of unproven remedies. They also may become noncompliant and be unaware of community resources. Informational or educational programs such as the Arthritis Information Service of Alabama may be useful for reducing these problems. There have been several reports concerning the use of telephone services (e.g.), for providing information about specific diseases but few concerning arthritis. An important step in the evaluation of a telephone information service is the surveying of user opinions concerning the service's procedures and its benefits. The purposes of the present study were to estimate the percentage of users who believed they had benefited from service usage, to identify the potential benefits of service usage, and to identify the groups most likely to report benefits.
Inelastic analysis of 3-D mixed steel and reinforced concrete seismic building systems

Abstract This paper presents partial results of a NSF research project for studying the response behavior of inelastic building systems subjected to the simultaneous input of static loads and multicomponent earthquake motions that can be applied in any direction of the structural plan. The analysis includes the secondorder moment resulting from the gravity load and the vertical ground motion. The building systems may have elevator cores, floor diaphragms, and shear walls of reinforced concrete as well as steel beams, columns, and bracings. The material behavior of the steel members is based on the Ramberg-Osgood hysteresis loop with the consideration of the Bauschinger effect. Takeda's model is employed for the reinforced concrete elements. The system stiffness and geometric matrices, and the numerical integration procedures are developed consistantly with the building characteristics that each floor has dynamic degrees of freedom associated with the axial displacements of the columns and one torsional and two transverse displacements at the mass center. Thus, computation efficiency can be achieved by eliminating structural joint rotations from floor to floor with only the displacements associated with the lumped masses left for the motion equation. The yielding surface of a steel member is based on the nonlinear interactions and the von Mises yield criterion. A computer program, INRESB-3D, has been developed for the inelastic response behavior of (1) the transverse, vertical and torsional movements of a structure; (2) the internal moments and their associated rotations of the members; (3) the energy absorption characteristics of a structure; and (4) the requirement of the ductility factors and the excursion ratios of various building systems. Included in the paper is an example of unsymmetric eight-story building with steel columns and a concrete wall.
SU-E-I-93: Effect of Exposure Response Function On Flat-Field Non-Uniformity Metrics to Assess Digital Detector Performance

Purpose: To investigate how digital radiography flat‐field image quality metrics are affected by the exposure response function. Methods: Sets of four flat‐field images were acquired from 3 Carestream digital radiography detectors at 2 institutions using manufacturer specific calibration geometry over a range of input air kerma levels (2.4‐160μGy). The images were exported from the acquisition system with both logarithmic and linear data space conversions (i.e., exposure response functions). The images were also retrieved from PACS. The percent non‐uniformities in three characteristic metrics i.e., signal (mean), noise (standard deviation) and SNR were calculated; local non‐uniformities were based on a 100mm2 region and its nearest neighbors and global non‐uniformities were based on regions with extreme values of signal, noise and SNR. Results: Images exported from the acquisition computer with logarithmic exposure response function were labeled For‐Processing with Photometric Interpretation=Monochrome1, Pixel Intensity Relationship=Log and Relationship Sign=+1. Interestingly, the images with linear exposure response function also indicated a Log Pixel Intensity Relationship. For images exported from PACS, the corresponding DICOM attributes were For‐Presentation, Monochrome2, log and −1. As expected, the characteristic signal, noise and SNR values showed exposure dependency consistent with the exposure response function. Using logarithmic data space conversion as reference, the absolute differences in non‐uniformities calculated using linear data space conversion ranged from 0.1% to 10.7% and using images from PACS ranged from 0% to 11% for detectors configured with an appropriate gain map. For one detector configured with an inappropriate gain map, the discrepancy in calculated non‐uniformities between linear and log data ranged from 0% to 34.6%. These differences in non‐uniformities at only the calibration air kerma level were within 4.5%. Conclusion: The calculated non‐uniformity metrics showed a dependence on the exposure response function. Thus, for detector performance evaluation, comparisons and quality assurance testing, knowledge of the exposure response function is required.
Preferences for risk in dynamic models with adjustment costs

Abstract This paper characterizes the solution to a consumption/savings decision problem in which one of the consumption goods involves transaction costs. It then analyzes how such adjustment costs affect consumersʼ risk attitudes. Previous studies have suggested that transaction costs, by resulting in infrequent but lumpy adjustments, magnify consumersʼ risk aversion with respect to moderate-stake risk and, simultaneously, stimulate the demand for large-stake wealth lotteries. This paper argues that such predictions, while naturally arising in static models, may disappear or even reverse in a dynamic setting, in which consumers can choose when to make an adjustment. Namely, it shows that such an option can eliminate the demand for large-stake lotteries, and that the consumers choosing to delay the adjustment may be more tolerant to moderate-stake risks than in the absence of adjustment costs. The paper also illustrates that both predictions crucially depend on the relationship between the time discount rate in the utility function and the interest rate.
Neurodevelopmental outcome of very low birth weight infants after multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids.

To determine if two or more courses of antenatal corticosteroids are associated with neurodevelopmental impairment. All infants bom at Northwestern Memorial Hospital between 1995 and 1998, who met the following criteria, were identified: birth weight ≤ 1500 g, gestational age between 24 and 34 weeks, recipient of antenatal corticosteroids, and subsequent neurodevelopmental evaluation in multidisciplinary developmental evaluation clinic. The outcomes of these infants were compared according to degree of corticosteroid exposure. This study had 80% power to detect a difference in the mental development index score of 10% or a relative risk of neurodevelopmental delay of 2.5 in the group receiving at least two courses of corticosteroids. Ninety-three infants were exposed to less than two full courses and 33 infants were exposed to at least two full courses of corticosteroids. The mean duration of follow-up was similar in the two groups (25 months vs 30 months, respectively, P >.05). The two groups had similar neonatal outcomes, and had no differences in any measures of neurodevelopmental outcome on follow-up. Repeated courses of antenatal corticosteroids are not associated with increased incidence of abnormalities on subsequent neurodevelopmental outcome measures.
Real-time monitoring of SIP infrastructure using message classification

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a control-plane protocol for multiple services such as VoIP, Instant Messaging and Presence, and in addition, is key to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). A SIP message consists of plain-text headers and their corresponding values, which are used to route the message between one or more endpoints, resulting in a media session. These headers and values are often transformed/re-written at intermediate SIP servers ("proxies"). It is important to monitor the flow and transformation of such messages in real-time, for functional testing of a SIP overlay network containing malfunctioning or ill-configured SIP entities, or for efficient run-time SIP network operation, including problem determination and load balancing. Towards that end, we have designed and implemented a programmable in-kernel Linux SIP message classification engine. The classifier can be configured to intercept incoming and outgoing SIP messages from a server, extract appropriate message meta-data including distinguishing header-value pairs and their transformations, and forward the same to a monitoring engine. The engine collates this information from different classifiers across the network, to infer the state of a SIP call on individual servers on the call path as well as aggregated call-state.
An alternative to interference indexes in neuropsychological time-sharing research.

Abstract Interference indexes are used as criterion measures in a significant proportion of time- sharing paradigms in order to control for the initial discrepancy between left- and right-handed tapping rates. Problems associated with these indexes include low reliability, low statistical power, and especially correlations with baseline tapping rates. An analysis of covariance procedure using raw-score concurrent tapping rates as criterion measures, and baseline tapping rates as covariates, can effectively address these problems as demonstrated through a reanalysis of data.
A novel insulin mimetic without a proliferative effect on vascular smooth muscle cells

Abstract Background: Insulin induces vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation, which is an important step in the atherosclerotic process. Recently, a nonpeptidyl fungal metabolite originally referred to as L-783,281, but also known as demethylasterriquinone B-1 (DMAQB-1), was found to have hypoglycemic activity in diabetic mice through interaction with the intracellular β subunit of the insulin receptor. This study was designed to determine whether DMAQB-1 has an insulin-like proliferative effect on human infragenicular VSMCs. Methods: Human infragenicular VSMCs were isolated from diabetic patients undergoing amputations. DMAQB-1 cell culture dose response was measured in both serum-free media and media with 1% fetal bovine serum (FBS). A working concentration of DMAQB-1 that ranged from 0.5 to 500 nmol/L was studied in the presence of varying concentrations of glucose and insulin. The ability of DMAQB-1 to stimulate glucose transport at less than or equal to 100 nmol/L was determined by [ 14 C]-2-deoxyglucose uptake. DNA synthesis was used as the marker for proliferative stimulus and detected by [ 3 H]-thymidine uptake measured at 24 hours. Analysis of variance was used to compare the results among the groups; a P value less than.05 was considered significant. Polynomial regression was used to calculate the median lethal dose. Results: In normal glucose media (100 mg/dL), various concentrations of DMAQB-1 demonstrated a small but statistically significant decrease in DNA synthesis at 0.5 nmol/L in serum-free media and at 5 nmol/L in media supplemented with 1% FBS. The corresponding median lethal dose was 107 nmol/L in serum-free media and 650 nmol/L in media supplemented with 1% FBS. A DMAQB-1 concentration of 5 nmol/L induced glucose transport that was equivalent to an insulin concentration of 100 μU/mL. In serum-free, high glucose media (200 mg/dL), DMAQB-1 concentrations up to 500 nmol/L did not cause a statistically significant change in DNA synthesis. When serum-free, high glucose media was combined with mild (100 μU/mL) or moderate (250 μU/mL) concentrations of insulin, DMAQB-1 caused no statistically significant increase in DNA synthesis. Conclusion: Nontoxic doses of DMAQB-1 can induce glucose transport equivalent to insulin in the physiologic range. However, DMAQB-1 does not have an insulin-like proliferative effect on human VSMCs in normal-glucose, high-glucose, or high-insulin environments. (J Vasc Surg 2000;32:1118-26.)