cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Extracellular Ionized Calcium, Diltiazem and Camp on Motility of Human Spermatozoa

AbstractIn order to elucidate the effects of ionized calcium and calcium channel blockers on human sperm motility, an in vitro study was conducted looking at the effects of exogenous calcium, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), diltiazem and dibutyrl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (db-cAMP) on per cent motility and mean velocity of human sperm. Washed spermatozoa from 21 fertile donors were incubated with ionized calcium (zero, five, 10 and 50mM), EDTA (one and 10mM), diltiazem (one, 10, 100μM and one mM) and cAMP (five mM). Per cent motility and mean velocity determinations were made at 10 and 120min. by computerized analysis of videomicrographs. Over a wide range of extracellular ionized calcium concentrations (50 μM to 50mM), per cent motility and mean velocity of human sperm were not stimulated or inhibited. At ionized calcium concentration <1μM, achieved by addition of EDTA (10mM), per cent motility decreased by 68% and 79% and mean velocity decreased by 44% and 48% compared to controls at 10 a...
Focus on . . . Cash Balance Plans

Cash balance plan conversions have taken center stage as one of the most controversial issues of the day. This overview puts these concerns into perspective and offers advice on the looming pitfalls.
Once More, With Feeling: Reaffirming the Limits of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court's decision reaffirming limits on federal regulatory jurisdiction in Rapanos v. United States was significant, but hardly revolutionary. The Court's holding that the Clean Water Act only reaches those wetlands with a significant nexus to navigable-in-fact waters followed directly from its prior decision in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in which the Court held the CWA did not extend to isolated, intrastate waters because they lack a significant nexus to navigable waters. Rapanos and SWANCC suggest the Court is reluctant to conclude Congress has authorized far-reaching federal regulatory controls over private land use, absent explicit statutory language to the contrary. Such a federalism clear statement rule may be in tension with some environmental concerns, but it need not hamper environmental conservation. Environmental progress is wholly consistent with meaningful limits on federal power. If the federal government is to play an optimal role in the protection of wetlands, and match its efforts to those aspects of wetland conservation that require action of a federal scope, it would concentrate its efforts in those areas where non-federal efforts are most likely to be insufficient. The challenge to policy makers is to adapt conservation measures to the broader legal landscape and recognize that environmental protection can live within legal limits.
Thrombophlebitis following knee surgery.

In thirty-five consecutive patients, operated on under tourniquet, an intensive search for thrombophlebitis disclosed twenty patients with positive venograms for fresh thromboses and eight of ten with previously positive venograms had evidence of fresh thromboses. In sixteen of the twenty patients the symptoms and signs were suggestive of fresh thromboses. Three patients had pulmonary embolism and one had pulmonary infarction. The presence of rheumatoid arthritis and history of corticosteroid therapy could not be specifically related to the frequency of thrombosis.
The Motivational Influence of Self-Guides on Creative Pursuits

University of Connecticut There is robust evidence for a relationship between regulatory focus and creative cognition, with prevention states undermining creative insight and promotion states facilitating it. We tested whether similar effects occur as a result of priming goal standards related to prevention focus (ought standards) versus promotion focus (ideal standards). A pilot study established that the importance placed on ought versus ideal self-standards predicted the desire to be creative, with the strongest creativity orientation observed among participants who placed a high value on achieving goals related to ideal standards and a low value on achieving goals related to ought standards. Two experiments then demonstrated that goal priming influenced the novelty of responses to a word association task, with activation of ought standards decreasing and activation of ideal evaluative standards increasing novelty. Study 2 revealed that the influence of goal priming was eliminated when participants were put under time pressure, suggesting that this manipulation exerted influence on response novelty through a controlled (as opposed to spontaneous) process.
Dislocation Reduction and Structural Properties of GaN layers Grown on N+-implanted AlN/Si (111) Substrates

An alternative scheme to the growth of crack free, dislocation reduced III-Nitride layers on Silicon substrate has been previously introduced that relies on formation of an ion implanted defective layer in the substrate with implantation taking place in the presence of AlN buffer layer. Here, the effects of N+ ion implantation of AlN/Si (111) substrate on the structural and optical properties of the overgrown GaN epilayers have been investigated. Temperature dependent photoluminescence has been used to investigate the impact of the implantation conditions (energy and dose) on optical and structural quality of the GaN overgrown layers. A correlation between PL and high resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD) of the overgrown GaN layers show that the lowest FWHM of bandedge, the highest bandedge to deep defect blue luminescence band ratio, and the lowest symmetric rocking curve FWHM are achieved for the optimized implantation conditions. This correlates well with the results of etch pit density measurement showing an order of magnitude reduction in threading dislocation defect density.
Nomadic behaviour of the highly migratory olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean

I studied the post-reproductive migrations of 30 male and female olive ridley sea turtles Lepidochelys olivacea in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) using satellite telemetry. Long-term data revealed that turtles were widely distributed in the pelagic zone from Mexico to Peru and lacked migratory corridors. Turtles migrated long distances, swam continuously, displayed no fidelity to spe- cific feeding habitats, and were nomadic. An El Nino occurred in the middle of the study, and turtle migration patterns changed in response. ETP olive ridleys likely evolved migratory flexibility to adapt to the frequent and unpredictable environmental change characteristic of their large dynamic marine ecosystem. This suggests that ETP olive ridleys may be less vulnerable to the impacts of cli- mate change than other sea turtle species.
Insulin Pump Malfunction During Hospitalization: Two Case Reports

Abstract Background: Insulin pump malfunctions and failures continue to occur; however, more severe malfunctions such as the “runaway pump” phenomenon are rarely reported. This article describes two cases of pump malfunction in which pump users appear to have received an unsolicited bolus of insulin resulting in severe episodes of hypoglycemia during hospitalization. Materials and Methods: Both cases of insulin pump malfunction occurred in the inpatient setting at a large academic medical center in the United States. An analysis of the corresponding insulin pump downloads was performed. The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database was searched for similar cases involving Medtronic (Northridge, CA) insulin pumps using the terms “pump,” “infusion,” “insulin AND malfunction AND Medtronic.” Results: The two cases described show remarkable similarities, each demonstrating a severe hypoglycemic event preceded by an infusion site change followed by ...
Abstract C3: Selective denuding of nanoparticles for tumor targeting

Targeted delivery of therapeutics to tumors is highly desired both to deliver fragile compounds that cannot reach the tumor on their own and to limit off-target toxicity. Nanovectors, nanoparticles capable of transporting and delivering one or more bioactive molecules, are an emerging class of targeted drug delivery platforms. Targeting of nanovectors to tumors is conventionally achieved both by designing them to be approximately 50–200 nm in diameter in order to take advantage of the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect common to tumors and/or functionalizing the nanovectors with ligands that bind specifically in the tumor environment. In order for these strategies to be successful, the nanovectors must have an extended circulation time in the blood. One result of this is accumulation and prolonged retention of many nanovectors in the liver and spleen, which raises toxicity concerns. Here we demonstrate a dramatically different strategy making use of nanovectors composed of insoluble ultrasmall nanoparticles cores functionalized with responsive solubilizing polymer shells. The responsive polymers are designed to be cleaved from the insoluble nanoparticles core in the tumor microenvironment, which results in the deposition of the insoluble nanoparticles at the tumor site. On the other hand, because the particles are ultrasmall, if they remain unchanged they are rapidly cleared from the body, dramatically reducing potential side effects. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research; 2011 Sep 14-18; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(18 Suppl):Abstract nr C3.
Abstract 344: Targeting fibroblast growth factor signaling in prostate cancer

Currently no therapy effectively controls the progression of advanced human prostate cancer. We previously reported that fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) contributes to the osteoblastic progression of human prostate cancer in bone (J Clin Invest 2008;118:2697). We examined the effect of TKI258 (a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor [TKI] with strong activity against FGF receptor 1-3 [FGFR1-3; IC50 Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 344.
Early Life Stress: What Is the Human Chapter of the Mammalian Story?

About the time I started kindergarten, a researcher in a laboratory far away picked up a baby rat, handled it briefly, and returned it to the nest. The rat grew up to be resilient to stress, as did its brothers and sisters who were also handled. The effect was traced to changes in the brain's regulation of the body's stress and emotion systems. Thus was born the field of early experiences and stress. Years later, as a research assistant, I pondered why babies cried when uncontrollable toys made loud noises and stumbled into the same field of early experiences and stress. I have spent more than 35 years trying to use our vast knowledge of the neurobiology of stress and development in animals to understand how adverse care during early human development affects physical and mental health. This essay traces my own development as I have sought to understand the human chapter in this mammalian story.
Estimate the Number of Road Traffic Injury by Capture-recapture Method in a Shanghai District

[Objective] To estimate the number of road traffic injury and improve the registering of police department by using capture-recapture ( CR ) method in a Shanghai district. [ Methods ] The capture-recapture techniques were applied to two samples from official sources of traffic injury. One source is the center hospital registration of patients, the second source is the police department. Matching each patient information exactly to estimate the number of traffic injury in a Shanghai district. [ Results ] 485 cases of injuries reported by hospital were compared to 655 cases of injuries reported by police department during Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2003. The CR method analysis estimated about 2 470 ( 95% CI: 2144-2796 ) cases of injuries in the district investigated and the estimated incidence is ( 380±50 )/100000. [ Conclusion ] CR method is a much substantial perspective method in epidemiological and studies may be widely used in injury prevention and control.
The management of common facial fractures.

A comprehensive discussion of fractures of the bones of the face. Fractures are classified as to type and location in the upper, middle, or lower zone of the face, and treatment is outlined according to this classification. Special attention is given in each case to the management and prevention of further possible injury to underlying structures.
A modified screening method for estimating erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.

SUMMARY A semiquantitative fluorimetric method to estimate glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in whole blood is described. It is sufficiently quantitative to be used as a screening test in various animal species. It should be useful in large-scale screening to detect mutants of this enzyme.
Global corporate responsibility disclosure: A comparative analysis of field, national, and global influences

In the domain of global corporate responsibility (GCR), international organizations have promoted disclosure as a means to address global concerns with corporations’ social and environmental practi...
The Ratio of Hmox1/Nrf2 mRNA Level in the Tumor Tissue Is a Predictor of Distant Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer

Heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1) plays an important role in the growth and spread of tumor, and its expression is regulated positively by Nrf2 [nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2; NFE2L2] and negatively by kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) and by BTB and CNC homology 1 (Bach1). Both Hmox1 and Nrf2 contribute to distant metastasis of cancer. The mRNA levels of Hmox1, Nrf2, Keap1, and Bach1 in the tumor and normal tissues of 84 subjects with colorectal cancer (CRC) were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The tumor had lower Hmox1 but higher Bach1 mRNA levels than the normal tissue. The correlations of Hmox1 with components of the Nrf2 pathway were not significant in the tumor tissue of CRC subjects with distant metastasis. The ratio of Hmox1/Nrf2 mRNA level (by percentage) in the tumor tissue was lower in the subjects with distant metastasis (97.4% (84.4–111.1%)) than in those without (101.0% (92.7–136.5%)) and was a predictor for distant metastasis in CRC (odds ratio: 0.83; 95% confidence interval: 0.68–0.97) along with serum carcinoembryonic antigen (1.0027, 1.006–1.064). The mRNA level of Hmox1 in the tumor tissue of CRC is not correlated with that of the Nrf2 pathway molecules, and its ratio to the Nrf2 level may be useful for suggesting distant metastasis in CRC.
Beyond dual systems: A genetically-informed, latent factor model of behavioral and self-report measures related to adolescent risk-taking

The dual systems model posits that adolescent risk-taking results from an imbalance between a cognitive control system and an incentive processing system. Researchers interested in understanding the development of adolescent risk-taking use a diverse array of behavioral and self-report measures to index cognitive control and incentive processing. It is currently unclear whether different measures commonly interpreted as indicators of the same psychological construct do, in fact, tap the same underlying dimension of individual differences. In a diverse sample of 810 adolescent twins and triplets (M age=15.9years, SD=1.4years) from the Texas Twin Project, we investigated the factor structure of fifteen self-report and task-based measures relevant to adolescent risk-taking. These measures can be organized into four factors, which we labeled premeditation, fearlessness, cognitive dyscontrol, and reward seeking. Most behavioral measures contained large amounts of task-specific variance; however, most genetic variance in each measure was shared with other measures of the corresponding factor. Behavior genetic analyses further indicated that genetic influences on cognitive dyscontrol overlapped nearly perfectly with genetic influences on IQ (rA=-0.91). These findings underscore the limitations of using single laboratory tasks in isolation, and indicate that the study of adolescent risk taking will benefit from applying multimethod approaches.
Human His-Purkinje System: Abnormalities of Conduction, Rhythm Disorders and Case Studies

This review covers many of the arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities related to His-Purkinje System. These include junctional premature complexes, junctional and fascicular tachycardias, bundle branch reentry (BBR), and the role of apparent conduction in various forms of supraventricular tachycardias (SVT) with or without involvement of accessory pathways (AP).
Access to primary care child weight management programs: Urban parent barriers and facilitators to participation.

The prevalence and comorbidities of childhood obesity among low-income urban children are a significant health issue in the United States. Programs designed to assist families are underutilized. The aim of this study is to describe barriers and facilitators relevant to intervention program participation from the perspective of parents who have children who are overweight or obese. Systematic thematic analysis of focus groups and semi-structured interviews with parents from multiple urban pediatrics and family medicine practices were used to gather data. A framework analysis approach was used and a codebook of themes was developed. Transcripts were coded independently by the research team and consensus among researchers was reached. Forty-eight parents participated in the study. Perceived barriers to participation included (1) varied referral process (lack of follow-up or varying referral experience), (2) costs (time and program fee), (3) logistics (location and program schedule), and (4) child motivation....
"Relating the body, practical experience, and language in a theory of knowing"

Past research in the field of organizational studies proposes that “knowing” is more than a mental process - it also a physical activity that is learned through practical accomplishment. Yet, exist...
Quantitative MRI Phenotyping of Breast Cancer across Molecular Classification Subtypes

The goal of our study was to investigate the potential usefulness of quantitative MRI analysis (i.e., phenotyping) in characterizing and data mining the molecular subtypes of breast cancer in order to better understand the difference among HER2, ER, and PR expression, triple negative, and other molecular classifications. Analyses were performed on 168 biopsy-proven breast cancer MRI studies acquired between November 2008 and August 2011, on which molecular classification was known. MRI-based phenotyping analysis included: 3D lesion segmentation based on a fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm, computerized feature extraction, leave-one-out linear stepwise feature selection, and discriminant score estimation using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). The classification performance between the molecular subtypes of breast cancer was evaluated using ROC analysis with area under the ROC curve (AUC) as the figure of merit. AUC values obtained for 26 HER2+ vs. 142 HER2-, 118 ER+ vs. 50 ER-, 93 PR+ vs. 75 PR-, 40 Triple Negative (ER-, PR-, and HER2-) vs. 128 all others are 0.65, 0.70, 0.57, and 0.68, respectively for the combined datasets that included images from both 1.5T and 3T scanners. Contributions to the classifiers come from the shape, texture, and kinetics of the lesion, triple negative cases exhibiting increased margin variability, distinct kinetics, and increased surface area. Analyzing the datasets within magnet strength substantially improved performances, e.g., the AUC for triple negative vs. all other cancer subtypes increased from 0.69 (SE=0.05) to 0.88 (SE=0.05). The results from this study indicate that quantitative MRI analysis shows promise as a means for high-throughput image-based phenotyping in the discrimination of breast cancer subtypes.
Correction to: Vitamin D and Heart Failure.

The original version of this article, published in Current Heart Failure Reports, Volume 14, Issue 5, October 2017, erroneously cited an author’s name as Marshall Brinkley, D” when it should be “Brinkley, DM.”
Exploring trends and themes in bioinformatics literature using topic modeling and temporal analysis

Bioinformatics is an emerging field that is constantly evolving as technology progresses and new biomedical discoveries are made. Bioinformatics research has led to several scientific breakthroughs in the past two decades and remains an active driver of scientific progress and technological advances. In this work, we conduct an analysis of bioinformatics scholarly literature consisting of 143,000 research papers between 1987 and 2018. We apply topic modeling to identify the salient themes in bioinformatics research. We examine the research trends by performing temporal analysis to determine exciting areas of research and predict future trends. In addition, we evaluate the impact of bioinformatics research on the industry by cross-linking the literature with patent databases. We also survey the author backgrounds and the publishing journals, both of which were found to have changed significantly within the past decade. This study provides valuable insight on the progress and current state of bioinformatics research.
On the Brittle Fracture of a Thin Plastic Interlayer in Creep Conditions

Summary The creep under tension of a thin plastic layer joined to two parallel “rigid plates” in the cases of plane strain and axial symmetry is analyzed. In the central part of the layer the state of three-axial tension is developed; its level is significantly higher than the average tensile stress. The time to brittle fracture due to damage accumulation in the layer is determined.
Discussion on “Effective interdisciplinary collaboration between statisticians and other subject matter experts”

First of all, I would like to thank Anderson-Cook, Lu, and Parker (ALP) for a very interesting paper highlighting an aspect of the statistics discipline that is critically important but not often d...
Prevalence and outcome of postpartum urinary retention at an Australian hospital.

Abstract Objective Postpartum urinary retention is thought to be a potentially significant complication of childbirth. A universal postpartum void review process has been in place since 2008 at this tertiary obstetric hospital to screen for voiding dysfunction. Procedure compliance audits were undertaken on implementation but local prevalence and clinical outcomes of both acute and persistent postpartum urinary retention had not been documented for our cohort to date. Design A clinical audit was undertaken to review the medical files for all women who birthed between January 1st 2016–March 31st 2016 (n = 1108 cases) to determine the prevalence of acute postpartum urinary retention. Medical files of persistent postpartum urinary retention cases occurring in 2016 requiring follow up were individually reviewed. Measurement and findings An overall 3.8% baseline prevalence of acute postpartum urinary retention was observed retrospectively (n = 42/1108) in a 3 month period, with 28.6% of these experiencing significant bladder over distension (n = 12/42). Following urinary catheterisation, and often a period of bladder rest, 100% of women who failed their first void review were able to successfully void on catheter removal. There were 3 cases of persistent postpartum urinary retention over 12 months, representing an overall prevalence of 0.07% (n = 3/4353). Key conclusions The existing postpartum void review process appears to be a reliable framework for the early detection and management of postpartum urinary retention, but could be further enhanced by objectively confirming effective bladder emptying and function. Implications for practice In spite of a universal void review framework for postnatal void review, urinary retention and bladder overdistension still occurs. Staff education to encourage compliance with the framework and to facilitate timely clinical reasoning and decision making may improve prevalence rates.
Resource Development and the Community Engagement Professional: Building and Sustaining Engaged Institutions

Creating sustainable revenue streams to support community engagement is critical to building engaged colleges and universities. Drawing on social cognition theories within the organizational science literature, this article explores how community engagement professionals (CEPs) can promote sensemaking and organizational learning in ways that promote engagement as a pathway to institutional sustainability. Specifically, this article explores ways in which engagement can be positioned to differentiate institutions from their competitors, attract enrollment, and bolster public and private support for an institution. Toward these ends, this article makes connections among campus engagement identity, retention and completion, enrollment management, state relations, grant-writing strategy, advancement/alumni relations, and marketing and communications. Practical tools are provided to help CEPs lead strategic conversations about engagement as a means to promote institutional health and vitality.
A Community-Based Approach to Providing Health and Education Supports for Students with Disabilities in Affordable Housing

Children with disabilities are likely to have unmet health needs, including access to quality health care, and many face significant challenges related to poor housing conditions. Studies find significant negative correlations between neighborhood disadvantage and health and education outcomes for students with disabilities (SWDs). SWDs are overrepresented in public housing communities and represent an especially at-risk and understudied segment of the population. This chapter examined the use of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework as a means by which to improve both health and educational outcomes for SWD living in a public housing community. Families reported that 27% of the children in this community have a disability, so attention to providing a holistic set of interventions to support families of SWD in this community is essential.
Position Control of a Shape-Memory Alloy Actuator Using a Preisach- Model- Based Inverse-Temperature Method

Tensioned wires made of shape-memory alloys (SMAs) exhibit strain-temperature hysteresis when their crystal structures undergo cyclic phase transformations due to periodic temperature variations. To compensate for this highly nonlinear behavior during operation, we introduce an inverse control method which uses an experimentally-identified temperature-stress-strain Preisach model. The phase transitions of SMAs are induced both mechanically, according to the superelasticity effect (SE), and thermally, according to the shape-memory effect (SME); most existing Preisach-model-based control schemes for SMAs, however, employ mappings between an exciting electrical current and the resulting strain output because the most common form of thermal SMA excitation is Joule heating. In the proposed approach, we first perform a system identification procedure to find a relationship between temperature, stress and strain; then, the identified model is employed to develop a numerical inversion algorithm which is the key element of the proposed controller. Through this technique, the inverse control scheme computes the temperature-reference signal required to generate a desired strain output when an SMA wire operates as an actuator under a constant stress. The main advantages of this method are its modularity, as it can be integrated into a feedforward control structure to modulate the actuator's output, and its computational efficiency. To test and validate the suitability, efficacy and accuracy of the resulting controller, we employ data from both real-time simulations and experiments. These results indicate that the introduced approach can be potentially adopted to synthesize and implement position controllers for SMA-based actuators driven by methods other than direct electricity; for example, catalytic chemical reactions.
Social Movements and Emotions

Recent research has discovered that emotions animate a number of interactions within social movements and between protestors and other strategic players: in recruiting new participants, maintaining the enthusiasm of existing ones, assessing external threats and opportunities, engaging and surviving conflict, and more. In addition to examining the emotional dynamics of a series of these strategic interactions, we also look at the role that place plays in protest emotions and at the impact that social movements can have and have had on the triggers and displays of emotions.
Predictors of midterm high-grade restenosis after carotid revascularization in a multicenter national database.

Abstract Background Restenosis after carotid revascularization is clinically challenging. Several studies have looked into the management of recurrent restenosis; however, studies looking into factors associated with restenosis are limited. This study evaluated the predictors of restenosis after carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) using a large national database. Methods Patients undergoing CEA or CAS in the Vascular Quality Initiative data set (2003-2016) were analyzed. Patients with no follow-up (33%) and those who had prior ipsilateral CEA or CAS were excluded. Significant restenosis was defined as ≥70% diameter-reducing stenosis, target artery occlusion or peak systolic velocity ≥300 cm/s, or repeated revascularization. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and bootstrapped Cox regression models with stepwise forward and backward selection were used. Results A total of 35,720 procedures were included (CEA, 31,329; CAS, 4391). No significant difference in restenosis rates was seen between CEA and CAS at 2 years (7.7% vs 9.4% [P = .09]; hazard ratio [HR], 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79-1.25; P = .97). However, after adjustment for age, sex, and symptomatic status at the time of the index operation, CAS patients who had postoperative restenosis were more likely to have a symptomatic presentation (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-4.0; P = .01) and to undergo repeated revascularization at 2 years (HR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.3-2.4; P Conclusions Our results show no significant difference in restenosis rates at 2 years between CEA and CAS. Restenosis after CAS is more likely to be manifested with symptoms and to undergo repeated revascularization compared with that after CEA. Poststent ballooning after CAS and completion imaging and patching after CEA are associated with decreased hazard of restenosis; however, further research is needed to assess longer term outcomes and to balance the risks vs benefits of certain practices, such as poststent ballooning.
Status and trends of moored fish aggregating device (MFAD) fisheries in the Caribbean and Bermuda

Abstract Moored fish aggregating devices (MFADs) are promoted throughout global small-scale fisheries as tools to enhance livelihoods and shift fishing pressure onto offshore resources. A particularly large number of projects initiating and encouraging MFAD development have occurred in the Caribbean region. Despite ongoing promotion of MFAD fisheries in the region, there is limited understanding of their current extent, distribution, and management across Caribbean states. Here we integrate key informant surveys with a supporting literature review to generate the first comprehensive overview of MFAD fishery status and trends in the insular Caribbean and Bermuda. While regional growth has been substantial, we find wide diversity among states in terms of the number of MFADs deployed, MFAD ownership (private or public), fleet engagement, and the existence and enforcement of MFAD regulations. Our results suggest that despite the presence of regulations in some states, management limitations and private MFAD ownership may be associated with a rapid proliferation of deployed MFADs across the Caribbean. We discuss the critical role of management and monitoring in attaining the anticipated benefits of MFAD fisheries and reducing social and environmental risks. By documenting the diverse paths that MFAD fisheries have taken in different states, this study provides an opportunity for prospective and existing MFAD programs to better evaluate the risks and rewards associated with MFADs and to design appropriate management.
Readability, content, and quality of COVID-19 patient education materials from academic medical centers in the United States.

Background SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly resulted in a global pandemic and public health crisis. The internet is a frequently used resource for providing patient education materials (PEMs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the readability, content, and quality of web-based PEMs on COVID-19 from US academic medical centers. Methods The names of US medical schools were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges website (n = 145). Institutional, hospital, and heath encyclopedia websites associated with each schools’ medical center were identified using Google. Readability of COVID-19 PEMs was calculated using three validated indices: (1) Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level, (2) Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and (3) Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook. Content was evaluated using a scoring matrix based on materials available on the Center for Disease Control website. The Patient Education Material Assessment Tool for Print (PEMAT-P) was used to assess usability and actionability. Results A total of 141 (97%) PEMs met inclusion criteria and were analyzed for readability, content, and quality. The mean readability was above the recommended sixth grade reading level (P Conclusions Despite availability of web-based PEMs for COVID-19, the readability was significantly higher than the National Institute of Health and US Department of Health and Human Services recommended sixth grade reading level and actionability of PEMs was low. It is critical to provide readable PEMs on COVID-19 to effectively disseminate accurate information and facilitate patients’ understanding of the virus, how it spreads, and how to protect themselves.
Transmission and Risk Factors for AIDS

As we discussed in Chapter 1, HIV transmission occurs when the virus from an infected individual’s body fluids, primarily blood or semen, gains entry to the bloodstream of another person. Among some AIDS risk groups, the reasons for increased HIV susceptibility are readily apparent. Hemophiliacs and transfusion recipients were directly exposed to the virus if they received blood or blood products contaminated with HIV. The likelihood of developing HIV infection if one received contaminated blood is high in light of follow-up studies of transfusion recipients (Ward et al., 1987), although the likelihood that a transfusion recipient received contaminated blood even before antibody screening was instituted is quite low. Intravenous drug users who share needles inject themselves with blood traces from persons who previously used the same syringe. If a previous user of the needle carried the virus, HIV transmission can occur. In a similar manner, HIV-infected females who become pregnant can give birth to infants infected with the virus because the blood-borne virus circulates between the mother and the fetus (Oleske et al., 1983; Rubenstein et al., 1983).
Abstract 899: High fat diet induced DNA methylation at transcription factor binding region and repressed gene expression of a metastasis suppressor E-cadherin in primary site of murine metastatic breast cancer (MBC), and promoted invasion of MBC cells to lung and liver

Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent type of cancer among women in the US. BC survival rate has long been compromised by metastasis. Consumption of a high fat diet (HFD) is associated with increased BC risk. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain inconclusive. E-cadherin (Cdh1) is a metastasis suppressor, the loss of which promotes tumor invasion. We aimed to examine the effects of a HFD containing 47% kcal from fat on metastatic breast cancer (MBC) using preclinical syngeneic mouse models. To access the dietary effect on metastatic mammary tumor, we injected MBC cells into the mammary duct of BALB/c mice. To evaluate the dietary effect on the spread of MBC from bone to lung and liver tissues, MBC cells were inoculated into tibia cavity of BALB/c mice. Growth of MBC at the injection and inoculation site, and invasion of MBC to other organs were monitored in real-time by the bioluminescence imaging (BLI) system. Three weeks post injection, animals were sacrificed and tissues samples were collected. In summary, our results showed that HFD promoted the invasion of MBC cells to lung and liver of mice. HE 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 899. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-899
Prevalence of the Amylase-Binding Protein A Gene (abpA) in Oral Streptococci

Salivary amylase binds specifically to a number of oral streptococcal species. This interaction may play an important role in dental plaque formation. Recently, a 585-bp gene was cloned and sequenced from Streptococcus gordonii Challis encoding a 20.5-kDa amylase-binding protein (AbpA). The goal of this study was to determine if related genes are present in other species of oral streptococci. Biotinylated abpA was used in Southern blot analysis to screen genomic DNA from several strains representing eight species of oral streptococci. This probe hybridized with a 4.0-kb HindIII restriction fragment from all 13 strains of S. gordonii tested. The probe did not appear to bind to any restriction fragments from other species of amylase-binding oral streptococci including Streptococcus mitis (with the exception of 1 of 14 strains), Streptococcus crista (3 strains), Streptococcus anginosus (1 strain), and Streptococcus parasanguinis (1 strain), or to non-amylase-binding oral streptococci including Streptococcus sanguinis (3 strains), Streptococcus oralis (4 strains), and Streptococcus mutans (1 strain). Primers homologous to sequences within the 3' and 5' ends of abpA yielded products of 400 bp following PCR of genomic DNA from the Southern blot-positive strains. Several of these PCR products were cloned and sequenced. The levels of similarity of these cloned products to the abpA of S. gordonii Challis ranged from 91 to 96%. These studies reveal that the abpA gene appears to be specific to S. gordonii and differs from genes encoding amylase-binding proteins from other species of amylase-binding streptococci.
Egg zona pellucida, egg vitelline envelope, and related extracellular glycoproteins.

Abstract Vertebrate eggs are surrounded by an extracellular coat that performs vital functions during development, especially during fertilization. In mammalian and non-mammalian animals the egg coat is called a zona pellucida (ZP) and vitelline envelope (VE), respectively. The ZP of mammalian eggs, from mice to humans, and VE of fish, bird, and amphibian eggs, consists of only a few glycoproteins that are related to each other and often possess several recognizable elements (e.g., a signal sequence, ZP domain, consensus furin cleavage-site, and transmembrane domain). In most instances, ZP and VE glycoproteins are synthesized in the ovary by growing oocytes and surrounding follicle cells, but in some cases (e.g., in fish and birds) certain VE glycoproteins are synthesized in the liver and transported to the ovary. Many other families of extracellular proteins, found in vertebrates and invertebrates, share a conserved ZP domain (∼260 amino acids and 8 conserved Cys residues) with ZP and VE glycoproteins. The ZP domain enables these proteins to multimerize and perform their various functions, for example, as receptors and mechanotransducers. It is likely that the list of proteins containing a ZP domain will grow considerably in coming years and that our understanding of structural-functional relationships for such proteins will be clarified.
Racial Differences in Adolescents’ Answering Questions About Suicide

The present purpose was to examine racial differences in response rate and serious behavioral suicide risk based on the national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS). Data from 15,245 adolescents (YRBS, 2011) were included. Survey items pertaining to making suicidal plans and attempting suicide were included. Significant differences in responding and content emerged, especially with regard to suicide attempts. Racial minority adolescents are at elevated risk for serious suicidal behaviors and are more likely to omit items pertaining to suicide attempts. African American adolescents rarely reported having attempted suicide, but they also frequently failed to respond to that question.
Strategies of genomic integration within insect-bacterial mutualisms.

Insects, the most diverse group of macroorganisms with 900,000 known species, have been a rich playground for the evolution of symbiotic associations. Symbionts of this enormous animal group include a range of microbial partners. Insects are prone to establishing relationships with intracellular bacteria, which include the most intimate, highly integrated mutualisms known in the biological world. In recent years, an explosion of genomic studies has offered new insights into the molecular, functional, and evolutionary consequences of these insect-bacterial partnerships. In this review, I highlight some insights from genome sequences of bacterial endosymbionts and select insect hosts. Notably, comparisons between facultative and obligate bacterial mutualists have revealed distinct genome features representing different stages along a shared trajectory of genome reduction. Bacteria associated with the cedar aphid offer a snapshot of a transition from facultative to obligate mutualism, illustrating the genomi...
Open‐field arena boundary is a primary object of exploration for Drosophila

Drosophila adults, when placed into a novel open-field arena, initially exhibit an elevated level of activity followed by a reduced stable level of spontaneous activity and spend a majority of time near the arena edge, executing motions along the walls. In order to determine the environmental features that are responsible for the initial high activity and wall-following behavior exhibited during exploration, we examined wild-type and visually impaired mutants in arenas with different vertical surfaces. These experiments support the conclusion that the wall-following behavior of Drosophila is best characterized by a preference for the arena boundary, and not thigmotaxis or centrophobicity. In circular arenas, Drosophila mostly move in trajectories with low turn angles. Since the boundary preference could derive from highly linear trajectories, we further developed a simulation program to model the effects of turn angle on the boundary preference. In an hourglass-shaped arena with convex-angled walls that forced a straight versus wall-following choice, the simulation with constrained turn angles predicted general movement across a central gap, whereas Drosophila tend to follow the wall. Hence, low turn angled movement does not drive the boundary preference. Lastly, visually impaired Drosophila demonstrate a defect in attenuation of the elevated initial activity. Interestingly, the visually impaired w1118 activity decay defect can be rescued by increasing the contrast of the arena's edge, suggesting that the activity decay relies on visual detection of the boundary. The arena boundary is, therefore, a primary object of exploration for Drosophila.
Evidence for a previously unrecognized mycobacterial endosymbiont in Acanthamoeba castellanii strain Ma (ATCC ® 50370 ™).

We describe the isolation of a mycobacterium from Acanthamoeba castellanii strain Ma (ATCC ® 50370 ™ ). The mycobacterium resides within vacuoles of A. castellanii, can be cultured by routine methodologies, and is a member of the Mycobacterium avium complex. Previously unrecognized mycobacterial endosymbionts are likely common among strains of Acanthamoeba housed at culture collections.
Lessons learned from international comparative crosscultural studies on dementia.

International and crosscultural comparative studies of Alzheimer disease (AD) offer significant advantages in elucidating risk factors for the disease by providing a wider diversity of environmental exposures as well as greater genetic diversity than do studies confined to a single ethnic group in a developed country. They also present with major methodological problems. The problems and their possible solutions are discussed in this article by describing three projects involving the Cree and English-speaking residents of Manitoba, blacks from Indianapolis, Indiana, and Yoruba from Ibadan and residents of Chinese villages. In this review, the development and harmonization of a culture fair screening instrument for dementia, the CSID, is described. The advantage of a scientific paradigm that can incorporate genetic and environmental factors as well as their interactions to explore the etiology of AD is presented. The importance of developing strategies for recruitment and retention in international community-based studies is emphasized as is the necessity of establishing academic partnerships between the countries. The unique opportunity provided by geopolitical and sociocultural influences to study environmental exposures is exemplified by the ongoing study of the influence of selenium levels on cognition in Chinese villagers. Results from the Indianapolis, Indiana–Ibadan dementia project are presented suggesting that the incidence of AD is lower in Yoruba than in blacks and that this lower rate may be the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Sterols in natural water and sediment

Abstract Sterols were detected in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin and Torch Lake. Michigan. water and sediment and in Lake Wingra. Wisconsin, sediment. These sterols included compounds with gas chromatographic retention times equal to those for coprostanol, cholesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol as well as other, unidentified compounds. In addition, cholestanol and perhaps other saturated sterols were present in Lake Mendota sediment. Sterol concentrations were 0.8 μg cholesterol/1 and 3 μg β-sitosterol/1 in Lake Mendota water and 0.7 μg cholesterol/1 and 2 μg β-sitosterol/1 in Torch Lake water. Analysis of sediment sterols was probably not quantitative; however, the minimum concentration in Torch Lake sediment was about 3 ppm sterols on a dry weight basis. Both free sterols and sterol esters were present in Lake Mendota sediment, the sterols present as esters comprising roughly 10% of the total sterol content.
Association of plasma levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products and risk of kidney disease: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study

Background Advanced glycation end products and their cell-bound receptors are thought to mediate the adverse effects of vascular disease through oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. We examined the association between the soluble form of receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) and kidney disease.
Transaminase reactions and glutamate dehydrogenase in gastropod hepatopancreas

Hepatopancreas tissue from the terrestrial snailsOtala lactea, Helix aspersa andStrophocheilus oblongus and the aquatic snailsBiomphalaria glabrata, Viviparus viviparus andLymnaea stagnalis was investigated for the presence of the various transaminases and glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.2 L-glutamate: NAD+ oxidoreductase). The cytosolic transaminases showed a broad substrate specificity, transferring the α-amino function of most amino acids to α-ketoglutarate. The main transaminase activities present were those of asparate transaminase (EC 2.6.1.1 L-aspartate: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase) and alanine transaminase (EC 2.6.1.2 L-alanine: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase). These two transaminases were also present in the mitochondrial fraction and thus exist in gastropod hepatopancreas as isozymes.