cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Childhood adversity is associated with left basal ganglia dysfunction during reward anticipation in adulthood

Background Childhood adversity increases the risk of psychopathology, but the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this vulnerability are not well-understood. In animal models, early adversity is associated with dysfunction in basal ganglia regions involved in reward processing, but this relationship has not been established in humans. Methods Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine basal ganglia responses to: 1) cues signaling possible monetary rewards and losses; and 2) delivery of monetary gains and penalties, in 13 young adults who experienced maltreatment before age 14 years and 31 nonmaltreated control subjects. Results Relative to control subjects, individuals exposed to childhood adversity reported elevated symptoms of anhedonia and depression, rated reward cues less positively, and displayed a weaker response to reward cues in the left globus pallidus. There were no group differences in right hemisphere basal ganglia response to reward cues or in basal ganglia response to loss cues, no-incentive cues, gains, or penalties. Conclusions Results indicate that childhood adversity in humans is associated with blunted subjective responses to reward-predicting cues as well as dysfunction in left basal ganglia regions implicated in reward-related learning and motivation. This dysfunction might serve as a diathesis that contributes to the multiple negative outcomes and psychopathologies associated with childhood adversity. The findings suggest that interventions that target motivation and goal-directed action might be useful for reducing the negative consequences of childhood adversity.
Thrombolysis of modified Blalock-Taussig shunt with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) in two post-operative infants. Case reports and literature review

Acute thrombosis of a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt can be life threatening in infants with reduced pulmonary blood flow due to congenital heart defects. Successful thrombolysis may avoid emergency reoperation. We describe two infants with acutely thrombosed shunts in whom infusion (0.25 mg/kg/h) of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) restored complete shunt patency. The role of thrombolysis with rTPA in infants and children is discussed.
United States – Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC – Hormones (International Decisions)

The Appellate Body’s extensive rejection of the panel’s findings in U.S. - Continued Suspension appears to be an ostensible effort to broaden a regulating member’s policy space as to risk factors and scientific evidence. The Appellate Body condemned the panel’s alleged oversubscription to mainstream science, symbolized by the panel’s use of relevant international standards, the Codex standards. The Appellate Body attempted to restore a broadened notion of science or scientific justification, in the form of risk assessment, as defined in EC - Hormones, which took into account certain nonscientific policy considerations, such as the acceptable level of protection. Yet, the Appellate Body’s deferentialism tends to come at the expense of science itself. It tends to encroach upon the rigor of risk assessment obligation under Article 5.1.
Stomatal mechanics II*: material properties of guard cell walls

Abstract In this revised formulation of guard cell mechanics, the material properties of the walls are re-examined. The observed elastic anisotropy of guard cell walls can be explained by non-random orientation of the cellulose micellae in the unstrained state. This micellar network is assumed to be loosely embedded in the wall matrix causing a two phase elongation process. In the first phase, the micellar network is ‘loose’ resulting in the walls behaving as an isotropic polymer when stretched. As the volume of the cell expands beyond some threshold, the network becomes ‘tightened’ and a second phase of elongation is initiated. During this anisotropic phase of cell expansion, wall elasticity reflectes changes in the orientation of the network to reduce its load. Using the above theoretical analysis, a turgor-pressure versus lumen volume relationship is simulated for Vicia faba. The relationship between aperture and water potential for this species is also established. The simulated results agree with the experimental evidence reported for Vicia faba. The estimated shear modulus of elasticity for guard cell walls is 2 MPa (20 bars) which is well within the limits of reported values for other biological tissues.
Design of a hybrid fuzzy classifier system for power system sensor status evaluation

Correct estimation of the system operating states in the presence of uncertain measurement data is a crucial challenge for real-time power system monitoring. Proposed in this paper is a strategy that augments state estimation methods using an approach that can incorporate additional information that is not traditionally included as a part of the state variables. Specifically, fuzzy logic is utilized to create a hybrid fuzzy classifier system (HFCS). The HFCS aims to combine information from multiple domains in order to detect, isolate, identify, and mitigate threats to the power networks. Results from applying this HFCS to the IEEE 14-bus test system are presented.
Radiolabeled Small-Molecule Ligands for Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen: In vivo Imaging in Experimental Models of Prostate Cancer

Purpose: Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a cell surface protein that is overexpressed in prostate cancer, including hormone-refractory and metastatic disease. Our goal in this study was to develop a series of PSMA-based imaging agents for clinical use. Experimental Design: We have synthesized and evaluated the in vivo biodistribution of two radiolabeled urea derivatives that have high affinity for PSMA in severe combined immunodeficient mice harboring MCF-7 (breast, PSMA-negative), PC-3 (prostate, PSMA-negative), and LNCaP (prostate, PSMA-positive) xenografts. Radiopharmaceutical binding selectivity and tumor uptake were also evaluated in vivo using dedicated small animal positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, and gamma scintigraphic imaging devices. N -[ N -[( S )-1,3-dicarboxypropyl]carbamoyl]- S -[ 11 C]methyl-l-cysteine ([ 11 C]DCMC K i , 3.1 nmol/L) and N -[ N -[( S )-1,3-dicarboxypropyl]carbamoyl]- S -3-[ 125 I]iodo-l-tyrosine ([ 125 C]DCIT K i , 1.5 nmol/L) were synthesized using [ 11 C]CH 3 I and with [ 125 I]NaI/Iodogen, respectively. Results: At 30 minutes postinjection, [ 11 C]DCMC and [ 125 I]DCIT showed tumor/muscle ratios of 10.8 and 4.7, respectively, with clear delineation of LNCaP-derived tumors on imaging. MCF-7- and PC-3-derived tumors showed significantly less uptake of [ 11 C]DCMC or [ 125 I]DCIT. Conclusion: These results show the feasibility of imaging PSMA-positive prostate cancer using low molecular weight agents.
Generalized counterexamples to liveness properties

We consider generalized counterexamples in the context of liveness property checking. A generalized counterexample comprises only a subset of values necessary to establish the existence of a concrete counterexample. While useful in various ways even for safety properties, the length of a generalized liveness counterexample may be exponentially shorter than that of a concrete counterexample, entailing significant potential algorithmic benefits. One application of this concept extends the k-LIVENESS proof technique of [1] to enable failure detection. The resulting algorithm is simple, and poses negligible overhead to k-LIVENESS in practice. We additionally propose dedicated algorithms to search for generalized liveness counterexamples, and to manipulate generalized counterexamples to and from concrete ones. Experiments confirm the capability of these techniques to detect failures more efficiently than existing techniques for various benchmarks.
Hypercholesterolemia with consumption of PFOA-laced Western diets is dependent on strain and sex of mice

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a man-made surfactant with a number of industrial applications. It has a long half-life environmentally and biologically. Past studies suggest a direct relationship between plasma cholesterol and PFOA serum concentrations in humans and an inverse one in rodents fed standard rodent chow, making it difficult to examine mechanisms responsible for the potential PFOA-induced hypercholesterolemia and altered sterol metabolism. To examine dietary modification of PFOA-induced effects, C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice were fed PFOA in a fat- and cholesterol-containing diet. When fed these high fat diets, PFOA ingestion resulted in marked hypercholesterolemia in male and female C57BL/6 mice and less robust hypercholesterolemia in male BALB/c mice. The PFOA-induced hypercholesterolemia appeared to be the result of increased liver masses and altered expression of genes associated with hepatic sterol output, specifically bile acid production. mRNA levels of genes associated with sterol input were reduced only in C57BL/6 females, the mice with the greatest increase in plasma cholesterol levels. Strain-specific PFOA-induced changes in cholesterol concentrations in mammary tissues and ovaries paralleled changes in plasma cholesterol levels. mRNA levels of sterol-related genes were reduced in ovaries of C57BL/6 but not in BALB/c mice and not in mammary tissues. Our data suggest that PFOA ingestion leads to hypercholesterolemia in mice fed fat and cholesterol and effects are dependent upon the genetic background and gender of the mice with C57BL/6 female mice being most responsive to PFOA.
Cas9 Variants Expand the Target Repertoire in Caenorhabditis Elegans

The proliferation of CRISPR/Cas9-based methods in Caenorhabditis elegans has enabled efficient genome editing and precise genomic tethering of Cas9 fusion proteins. Experimental designs using CRISPR/Cas9 are currently limited by the need for a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) in the target with the sequence NGG. Here we report the characterization of two modified Cas9 proteins in C. elegans that recognize NGA and NGCG PAMs. We found that each variant could stimulate homologous recombination with a donor template at multiple loci and that PAM specificity was comparable to that of wild-type Cas9. To directly compare effectiveness, we used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to generate a set of assay strains with a common single-guide RNA (sgRNA) target sequence, but that differ in the juxtaposed PAM (NGG, NGA, or NGCG). In this controlled setting, we determined that the NGA PAM Cas9 variant can be as effective as wild-type Cas9. We similarly edited a genomic target to study the influence of the base following the NGA PAM. Using four strains with four NGAN PAMs differing only at the fourth position and adjacent to the same sgRNA target, we observed that efficient homologous replacement was attainable with any base in the fourth position, with an NGAG PAM being the most effective. In addition to demonstrating the utility of two Cas9 mutants in C. elegans and providing reagents that permit CRISPR/Cas9 experiments with fewer restrictions on potential targets, we established a means to benchmark the efficiency of different Cas9::PAM combinations that avoids variations owing to differences in the sgRNA sequence.
Chemoreceptor Responses of All Castes of a Carpenter Ant to Male-derived Pheromones

The mandibular gland secretion of male carpenter ants ( Camponotus herculeanus [L.]) stimulates females to swarm from the nest and into flight when male flight is at a maximum (Holldobler and Maschwitz 1965). In the laboratory the male mandibular gland secretion elicited a slight excitation in workers, but males did not respond. Brand et al. (1973a, b) subsequently identified the major volatile components in the mandibular glands of C. herculeanus as methyl 6-methylsalicylate and 3,4-dihydro-8-hydroxy-3-methylisocoumarin (mellein). The same compounds dominated the secretions of 2 closely related species, C. pennsylvanicus (DeGeer) and C. ligniperda Latreille.
Degeneration and regeneration of corneal nerves in response to HSV-1 infection.

Purpose. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection is one cause of neurotrophic keratitis, characterized by decreases in corneal sensation, blink reflex, and tear secretion as consequence of damage to the sensory fibers innervating the cornea. Our aim was to characterize changes in the corneal nerve network and its function in response to HSV-1 infection.
Abstract 2308: ΔNp63 promotes neuroblastoma by regulating tumor angiogenesis.

Background: The tumor suppressor gene p63 and its family members p53/p73 have been described as critical determinants of tumorigenesis. ΔNp63, a splice variant of p63 lacking the N-terminal transactivation domain, is thought to antagonize the transcriptional regulation of the p53, p63 and p73 target genes and blocks their tumor suppressor activity. Overexpression of ΔNp63 has been observed in a number of adult human cancers, suggesting a role of this isoform in tumor formation. While some studies have proposed that ΔNp63 might simply inhibit p53 function within cells, leading to malignant transformation, we found that this model is challenged by the lack of consistent correlation between p53 mutation and ΔNp63 expression suggesting that ΔNp63 might possess a gain of function. Methods: Since expression of ΔNp63 isoforms in primary tumors has been shown to correlate with poor prognosis, we attempted to analyze their relationships with tumor angiogenesis. To test whether overexpression of oncogenic ΔNp63 in HEK-293T cells can stimulate tube formation in endothelial cells using HUVEC tube formation assay. Further, we performed gene affymetrix as well as protein micro array analysis in primary cells compared to cells overexpressed ΔNp63 isoforms. In addition, we used siRNA techniques to verify any potential role of ΔNp63 isoforms in tumor angiogenesis in vitro as well as in vivo experiments. Results: We found that overexpression of the oncogenic isoform of p53 family member ΔNp63 in HEK-293T cells resulted in stimulation of tubular structures in HUVEC cells. As 293T cells lack functional p53, these results strongly suggest a gain of function for ΔNp63. In addition, we found that ΔNp63 is overexpressed in neuroblastoma and ΔNp63 overexpression results in increasing secretion of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and -8 (IL-8) leading to elevated phosphorylation of STAT-3. Our further analysis showed that elevated phosphorylation of STAT-3 induced stabilization of HIF-1α protein resulting in VEGF secretion. Conclusions: We found that ΔNp63 is overexpressed in neuroblastoma and resulted in elevated secretion of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and -8 leading to increased STAT3 activation. Our further studies showed that elevated ΔNp63 induced stabilization of HIF-1α protein resulting in VEGF secretion in a p53 independent manner. Importantly, we show in vitro and in vivo experiments that depletion of ΔNp63 isoform by specific siRNAs significantly reduced angiogenic potential of Neuroblastoma. In summary, our study revealed the underlying molecular mechanism how ΔNp63, as a master transcription factor, modulates tumor angiogenesis in Neuroblastoma. Citation Format: Hemant K. Bid, Maren Cam, Antony Audino, Raushan Kurmasheva, Jiayuh Lin, Peter Houghton, Hakan Cam. ΔNp63 promotes neuroblastoma by regulating tumor angiogenesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2308. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2308
Mental health and food consumption among California children 5-11 years of age.

Objective:The purpose of this research was to determine if poor mental health is associated with the intake of specific foods among California children.Design:Secondary data analysis of the 2007 an...
Classification, Treatment Strategy, and Associated Drug Resistance in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, affecting 1.7 million patients every year worldwide. As a result of its heterogeneous nature, the genetic profile and associated clinical feature varies greatly among different breast cancer subtypes. With the advancement of molecular biology, our understanding of breast cancer has improved greatly in recent years. In this review, we examine different types of breast cancer and summarize their clinical features, current treatment schemes, and potential drug resistance profiles in response to treatments. We believe that the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of each treatment and subsequent drug resistance development will eventually lead to the discovery of more effective and efficient second-line therapeutics.
Development trend of genetically modified food

Food produced by using genetically modified technology is a sign of success and progress of modern biological technology and science. With the rapid development of genetically modified food in the world,the public pay great attention to its safety. Admittedly,the genetically modified food has the development necessity,at the same time,there still are some problems. People should understand the genetically modified food by an objective and cautious attitude,the government should strictly manage the examination and approval system for genetically modified food,and establish and improve the safety evaluation and risk assessment system,to develop the genetically modified food under the all-round control.
Anti-inflammatory effects of triptolide in human bronchial epithelial cells.

Triptolide (PG490, 97% pure) is a diterpenoid triepoxide with potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects in transformed human bronchial epithelial cells and T cells (Qiu D, Zhao G, Aoki...
The migraine postdrome An electronic diary study

Objective: To report migraine postdrome symptoms in patients who report nonheadache symptoms as part of their attacks. Methods: A prospective daily electronic diary study was conducted over 3 months in 120 patients with migraine. Nonheadache symptoms before, during, and after headache were collected on a daily basis. Visual analogue scales were used to capture the overall level of functioning and the severity of the headache. The postdrome was defined as the time from resolution of troublesome headache to return to normal. Results: Of 120 evaluable patients, 97 (81%) reported at least one nonheadache symptom in the postdrome. Postdrome symptoms, in order of frequency, included feeling tired/weary and having difficulty concentrating and stiff neck. Many patients also reported a mild residual head discomfort. In most attacks (93%), there was return to normal within 24 hours after spontaneous pain resolved. There was no relationship between medication taken for the headache and the duration of the postdrome. The severity of the migraine was not associated with the duration of the postdrome. Overall state of health scores remained low during the postdrome. Conclusion: Nonheadache symptoms in the postdrome were common and may contribute to the distress and disability in the patients studied. Postdrome symptoms merit larger observational studies and careful recording in clinical trials of acute and preventive migraine treatments.
A new genus and four new species of African Elampini (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae)

Generic diagnoses, keys to species and new species descriptionptions are given for Elampus Spinola and Omalus Panzer (Chrysididae). Three new species of Elampus (guillarmodi, namibiensis, senegalensis) and one new species of Omalus (confusus) are descriptionbed. In addition, the new genus Parachrum is descriptionbed for the species Hedychrum apiculatum Edney comb. nov.
Cocaine Promotes Coincidence Detection and Lowers Induction Threshold during Hebbian Associative Synaptic Potentiation in Prefrontal Cortex.

Addictive drugs usurp neural plasticity mechanisms that normally serve reward-related learning and memory, primarily by evoking changes in glutamatergic synaptic strength in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine circuitry. Here, we show that repeated cocaine exposure in vivo does not alter synaptic strength in the mouse prefrontal cortex during an early period of withdrawal, but instead modifies a Hebbian quantitative synaptic learning rule by broadening the temporal window and lowers the induction threshold for spike-timing-dependent LTP (t-LTP). After repeated, but not single, daily cocaine injections, t-LTP in layer V pyramidal neurons is induced at +30 ms, a normally ineffective timing interval for t-LTP induction in saline-exposed mice. This cocaine-induced, extended-timing t-LTP lasts for ∼1 week after terminating cocaine and is accompanied by an increased susceptibility to potentiation by fewer pre–post spike pairs, indicating a reduced t-LTP induction threshold. Basal synaptic strength and the maximal attainable t-LTP magnitude remain unchanged after cocaine exposure. We further show that the cocaine facilitation of t-LTP induction is caused by sensitized D1-cAMP/protein kinase A dopamine signaling in pyramidal neurons, which then pathologically recruits voltage-gated l-type Ca2+ channels that synergize with GluN2A-containing NMDA receptors to drive t-LTP at extended timing. Our results illustrate a mechanism by which cocaine, acting on a key neuromodulation pathway, modifies the coincidence detection window during Hebbian plasticity to facilitate associative synaptic potentiation in prefrontal excitatory circuits. By modifying rules that govern activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, addictive drugs can derail the experience-driven neural circuit remodeling process important for executive control of reward and addiction. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It is believed that addictive drugs often render an addict9s brain reward system hypersensitive, leaving the individual more susceptible to relapse. We found that repeated cocaine exposure alters a Hebbian associative synaptic learning rule that governs activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in the mouse prefrontal cortex, characterized by a broader temporal window and a lower threshold for spike-timing-dependent LTP (t-LTP), a cellular form of learning and memory. This rule change is caused by cocaine-exacerbated D1-cAMP/protein kinase A dopamine signaling in pyramidal neurons that in turn pathologically recruits l-type Ca2+ channels to facilitate coincidence detection during t-LTP induction. Our study provides novel insights on how cocaine, even with only brief exposure, may prime neural circuits for subsequent experience-dependent remodeling that may underlie certain addictive behavior.
The Challenges Ahead

This chapter discusses the period after the Great Recession, when the USA started to slowly emerge from it. It notes that the turmoil that had affected the financial markets had led to increased sensitivity to perceptions of risk, so when the damages caused by the subprime mortgage boom had been contained, the markets’ concerns shifted to other dangers which might be ahead, and focused on the high debt ratios of many developed countries, particularly in Europe. The problems then faced by Greece can be attributed in part to this, but the broader implication has been a questioning of the euro’s long-term viability, which affected the EU countries in general. The chapter also examines some of the potential implications of Brexit.
Q-vector measurements: physical examination versus magnetic resonance imaging measurements and their relationship with tibial tubercle–trochlear groove distance

An increased lateral quadriceps vector has been associated with lateral patellar dislocation. Surgical correction of this increased vector through tibial tubercle medialization is often recommended when the quadriceps vector is “excessive”. This can be evaluated by physical examination measurements of Q-angle and/or tubercle sulcus angle (TSA), as well as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement of tibial tubercle–trochlear groove (TT–TG) distance. This study examined the relationship between three objective measurements of lateral quadriceps vector (TT–TG, Q-angle, TSA). A secondary goal was to relate lateral patellar tilt to these measurements. Consecutive patients undergoing patellofemoral stabilization surgery from 9/2010 to 6/2011 were included. The Q-angle and TSA were measured on intra-operative physical examination. The TT–TG and patellar tilt were measured on MRI. TSA, Q-angle, and patellar tilt were compared to TT–TG using Pearson correlation coefficient. The study cohort included 49 patients, ages 12–37 (mean 23.2); 62% female. The Pearson correlation coefficients showed (+) significance (p < 0.01) between the TT–TG and both TSA and Q-angle. Tilt and TT–TG were (+) non-significantly correlated. Despite positive correlations of each measurement with TT–TG, there is not uniform intra-patient correlation. In other words, if TT–TG is elevated for a patient, it does not guarantee that all other measurements, including tilt, are elevated in that individual patient. The TT–TG distance has significant positive correlation with the measurements of TSA and Q-angle in patients undergoing surgery for patellofemoral instability. The clinical relevance is that the variability within individual patients demonstrates the need for considering both TSA and TT–TG before and during surgical intervention to avoid overcorrection with a medial tibial tubercle osteotomy. Diagnostic study, Level III.
Fluorescein Guidance in Glioblastoma Resection

A 55-year-old man presented with a 1-week history of severe headache. Imaging of the brain revealed a 4.5-cm, rim-enhancing mass in the right temporal lobe. Fluorescein was administered intravenously to facilitate tumor resection.
Cost, returns and profitability in sugarcane cultivation in Konkan region (MS)

In suru sugarcane group per hectare cost ‘A’ was Rs. 75,423, cost ‘B’ was Rs. 1,15,600 and cost ‘C’ was Rs. 1,43,664 while in ratoon sugarcane group per hectare cost ‘A’ was Rs. 48,228, cost ‘B’ was Rs. 71,693 and cost ‘C’ was Rs. 88,873, respectively. The net returns in suru sugarcane group were Rs. 1,63,286, Rs. 1,23,109 and Rs. 95,045 at cost ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’, respectively while in ratoon sugarcane group net returns were Rs. 91,339, Rs. 67,874 and Rs. 50,694 at cost ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’, respectively. The analysis of per hectare profitability of suru sugarcane and ratoon sugarcane crop indicated that cultivation of both type of sugarcane were profitable at all the levels of cost, as indicated by into benefit-cost ratio of suru sugarcane 1.66 and ratoon sugarcane 1.57. In suru sugarcane group per hectare main produce was 102.45 tonne and by produce was 20.49 tonne while in ratoon sugarcane group main produce was 59.90 tonne and by produce was 11.98 tonne.
Data-Driven Design of Sound for Enhancing the Perception of Expressive Robotic Movement

Since people communicate intentions and inner states through movement, robots can better interact with humans if they too can modify their movements to communicate changing state. These movements, which may be seen as supplementary to those required for workspace tasks, may be termed "expressive." However, robot hardware, which cannot recreate the same range of dynamics as human limbs, often limit expressive capacity. One solution is to augment expressive robotic movement with expressive sound. To that end, this paper presents a study to find a qualitative mapping between movement and sound. Musicians were asked to vocalize sounds in response to animations of a simple simulated upper body movement performed with different movement qualities, parametrized according to Laban's Effort System. Qualitative labelling and quantitative signal analysis of these sounds suggests a number of correspondences between movement qualities and sound qualities. These correspondences are presented and analyzed here to set up future work that will test user perceptions when expressive movements and sounds are used in conjunction.
Transforming Our Ourselves, Transforming Institutions

Chapter 7, “Changing Our Institutions, Changing Ourselves,” incorporates strategies for creating organizational change in institutions of higher education. For critical, contemplative community engagement to be sustained in colleges and universities, it needs to be better recognized, valued, and promoted in faculty appointments, promotion and tenure reviews, and in student graduation requirements. Readers are also directed to sample syllabi and policies that may be used as transferable models. Finally, this chapter reflects on the limitations and opportunities connected to the research, theoretical models, and praxis components presented in this book, and suggests some next steps.
Extending the Use of Adoptive T Cell Immunotherapy for Infections and Cancer

Adoptive transfer of antigen-specific T cells has proven to be an effective and powerful therapeutic tool in the prevention and treatment of viral infections (e.g., cytomegalovirus [CMV], Epstein-Barr virus [EBV], and adenovirus) and virus-associated diseases, such as EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disease (LPD), that arise in the immunocompromised host. This therapeutic approach has also been extended to the treatment of cancer and has shown some success in patients with melanoma and EBV-associated malignancies such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, this strategy has been less successful in other malignancies. To improve the efficacy of adoptively transferred tumor-reactive T cells, a number of groups have sought to identify better immunotherapeutic target antigens and to design protocols for the optimal in vitro propagation of tumor-reactive T cells, which are often otherwise anergized or tolerized. Another approach that has recently come to fore involves the genetic modification of T cells using genes that confer properties such as new antigen specificity, improved homing to tumor sites, or increased resistance to tumor immune evasion. This chapter evaluates recent advances in tumor immunotherapy, including T cell engineering, and speculates on the future potential of adoptive T cell transfer in the field of cancer therapy.
Closed loop for regulation of AC voltages of cascaded PV generator-boost converter-five levels NPC inverter

Recent developments in power electronics and control methods have produced photovoltaic based DC to AC converters related to AC load. Cascaded boost converter and inverter find their way in interconnecting PV and load. This paper deals with digital simulation of closed loop controlled five levels inverter based photovoltaic system. The objectives of this work are to stabilise the output voltage and reduce the harmonics using all inverter voltage vectors. The maximum power point tracking based on the “perturb & observe” (P&O) approach as a control strategy of a boost DC-DC converter is applied. To maintain the four capacitors voltages of DC bus equal, the redundant vectors of space vector diagram of five levels inverter are used. Without any system to regulate the fluctuation of the DC bus and to get a stable output inverter voltage, authors in this paper propose a proportional regulator of inverter modulation index. Design procedure and control strategy of system are presented in detail. A complete simulation with different profiles of irradiance is presented to prove the excellent performance of the proposed technique.
Effects of Strong Static Fields on the Dielectric Relaxation of Supercooled Liquids

When large DC-bias fields are applied to polar dielectric liquids, the orientational polarization of dipoles will lead to a considerable macroscopic dipole moment of the sample. In this situation, the dielectric relaxation behavior probed by a small amplitude AC-field superimposed onto the large DC-field will differ from the zero-bias field limit. This chapter summarizes the experimental approaches to dielectric spectroscopy in the presence of a large amplitude static field and the findings from such experiments. Only nonlinear effects that are completely reversible will be addressed, focusing on glass forming materials, as systems near their glass transition turn out to be particularly sensitive to external fields. The relation to third harmonic responses obtained from AC-fields is briefly discussed.
Oxidation of Silicon in Oxygen: Measurement of Film Thickness and Kinetics

Ellipsometry, transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and step-profile measurement were used to study the dry oxidation kinetics of silicon at temperatures from 800 to 1100°C. For oxide films thicker than 800 A, all three thickness measurements agreed within experimental error. For oxide films thinner than 350 A, the ellipsometry gave higher thickness values than the TEM measurements. Thickness measurements by TEM below 500 Â were combined with measurements on thicker films by all three measurements and fitted a linear-parabolic relationship throughout the measured thickness range. Previous deviations from linear-parabolic behavior resulted from inaccurate thickness measurements by ellipsometry for film thinner than 300 A. The oxidation kinetics are modeled as resulting from the diffusion of molecular oxygen through two different films, the main film of silicon dioxide and a thin interfacial film in which oxygen diffuses more slowly. If this film has constant thickness, a linear term reults; the parabolic term for the growth of the main film is reduced because of compressive film stress.
Predicting growth and performance of Holstein steers.

Refinements and additions were made to the growing cattle portion of the model of Fox et al. (1988) for predicting growth of Holstein steers. Based on observations of animal weight, DM intake (DMI), ADG, feed per gain (FF'G) and diet ME, the modified model was tested on a database that included 299 feeding periods with Holstein steers fed in research trials over a period of 15 yr at Cornell University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin. The modified model accounted for 93, 56 and 68% of the variation in DM intake, daily gain and feed required per unit gain, respectively. Averaged over all 299 periods in the database, the error in predicting DM intake, daily gain and feed required per unit gain was 1%, 4% and 2%, respectively. Analysis of residuals indicated that ME level did not influence the difference between predicted and observed values for DMI, ADG and FPG. Residuals analysis indicated that BW did not influence the difference between predicted and observed values for ADG and FPG but DMI of heavier cattle was overpredicted (P < .Ol). These results indicated that the 8% increase in DMI for cattle over 318 kg was not warranted for the Holstein steers in this database, which were predominantly less than 15 mo at slaughter. The results of the validation indicate that this model accurately predicted performance of Holstein steers. (Key Words: Energy Requirements, Models, Holstein-Friesian.)
Exit in Duopoly with Asymmetric Market Shares under Jump-diffusion Uncertainty

This paper examines a declining duopoly, where firms must choose when to exit from the market. The exogenous shock in the industry follows an exponential jump-diffusion process. We find Markov-perfect equilibria in firms' exit strategies. With small asymmetry in the firm-specific parameters, there is always a unique equilibrium. However, with an increase in asymmetry, another equilibrium with the reversed order of exit may appear, ruining the uniqueness.For situations with unique equilibrium, we show that the order of exit is determined by the scrap values of the two firms, not the size of the firms.
Simultaneous fermentation of biomass-derived sugars to ethanol by a co-culture of an engineered Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract Microorganisms ferment xylose at high rate only when glucose concentration in the medium falls below a critical level. Since the specific productivity of product is highest during exponential to early stationary phase of growth, a glucose utilization negative ethanologenic E. coli (strain LW419a) was constructed for high rate of xylose fermentation in combination with Turbo yeast. This co-culture fermented all the released sugars in an acid/enzyme-treated sugar cane bagasse slurry (10% solids) to an ethanol titer of 24.9 ± 0.8 g.L−1 (70% of the theoretical yield) in
Creating Dairyland: How Caring for Cows Saved Our Soil, Created Our Landscape, Brought Prosperity to Our State, and Still Shapes Our Way of Life in Wisconsin

Review of: "Creating Dairyland: How Caring for Cows Saved Our Soil, Created Our Landscape, Brought Prosperity to Our State, and Still Shapes Our Way of Life in Wisconsin," by Edward Janus.
Evaluating Cholinergic Receptor Expression in Guinea Pig Primary Auditory and Rostral Belt Cortices After Noise Damage Using [3H]Scopolamine and [18F]Flubatine Autoradiography:

Noise-induced hearing loss leads to anatomic and physiologic changes in primary auditory cortex (A1) and the adjacent dorsal rostral belt (RB). Since acetylcholine is known to modulate plasticity in other cortical areas, changes in A1 and RB following noise damage may be due to changes in cholinergic receptor expression. We used [3H]scopolamine and [18F]flubatine binding to measure muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) expression, respectively, in guinea pig A1 and RB 3 weeks following unilateral, left ear noise exposure, and a temporary threshold shift in hearing. [3H]Scopolamine binding decreased in right A1 and RB (contralateral to noise) compared to sham controls across all cortical layers. [18F]Flubatine binding showed a nonsignificant upward trend in right A1 following noise but only significantly increased in right RB and 2 layers of left RB (ipsilateral to noise). This selective response may ultimately influence cortical plasticity and function. The mechanism(s) by which cholinergic receptors are altered following noise exposure remain unknown. However, these data demonstrate noise exposure may differentially influence mAChRs that typically populate interneurons in A1 and RB more than nAChRs that are traditionally located on thalamocortical projections and provide motivation for cholinergic imaging in clinical patient populations of temporary or permanent hearing loss.
Impact of select risk factors on treatment outcome in adults with candidemia

Background Studies examining relationships between patient-related factors and treatment outcome in patients with candidemia are limited and often based on all-cause mortality. Objective Our purpose was to examine the impact of concurrent renal replacement therapy (RRT) and other pre-specified factors on treatment outcome among adults with candidemia. Methods This Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved, single-center, case-cohort study included patients over 18 years of age admitted to Duke University Hospital between Jun 1, 2013 and Jun 1, 2017 with a blood culture positive for Candida spp. Treatment-, patient-, and disease-specific data were collected, and outcome (success/failure) determined 90 days after the index culture. An odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were calculated for the following during therapy: receipt of RRT, fluconazole monotherapy regimen, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and neutropenia. Results Among the 112 encounters (from 110 unique patients) included, treatment failure occurred in 8/112 (7.1%). Demographics were comparable between outcome groups. Among 12 patients receiving concomitant RRT, only 1 patient failed therapy. With regard to treatment failure, no significant differences were observed with RRT (OR, 1.21; 95%CI, 0.14 - 10.75), fluconazole monotherapy regimen (OR, 1.59; 95%CI, 0.3-8.27), ICU stay (OR, 1.43; 95%CI, 0.32-6.29), and neutropenia (0 treatment failures). Conclusions Treatment failure, receipt of concomitant RRT, and neutropenia were infrequent in patients undergoing treatment for candidemia. In our cohort, exposure to RRT, a fluconazole monotherapy regimen, ICU stay, or neutropenia during treatment did not impact treatment outcome.
Puerperal inversion of the uterus

Acute puerperal inversion of the uterus is an uncommon but potentially fatal obstetric complication. In the 15 year period ending December 31, 1974, 11 inversions have been managed at the University of Virginia Hospital. All were recognized immediately and manually replaced and there was no significant postpartum morbidity. Successful management appears to depend largely upon prompt recognition, which can be achieved by routine postpartum examination of the vagina and cervix and manual exploration of the uterus.
152 INCREASED URINARY EXCRETION OF DICARBOXYLIC ACIDS AND 4 HYDROXYPHENYLLACTIC ACID IN PATIENTS WITH ZELLWEGER SYNDROME

s-Oxidation of dicarboxylic acids has been shown to occur in mitochondria iind peroxisomes of rat liver in vitro. Patients with Zellweger syndrome (ZS) offer a unique possibility to study the importance of peroxisomes in the degradation of dicarboxylic acids in vivo. Methods: We quantified urinary organic acids in seven ZS patients with impaired peroxisomal s-oxidation but normal mitochondrial s-oxidation capacity by GCMS. Results: Increased amounts of dicarboxylic acids with an odd number of carbon atoms (e.g. azelaic (up to 23 vs <0.1 mmol/mol creatinine in controls), pimelic acid (up to 15 vs <0.1)) or an even number of carbon atoms (e.g. adipic (up to 180 vs <0.1 nmol/mol creatinine in controls), suberic (up to 140 vs <0.1), sebacic acid (up to 200 vs <0.1)) and 2-hydroxysebacic acid, a medium-chain hydroxydicarboxylic acid (up to 50 vs <0.1 mmol/mol creatinine in controls), were found in the urines of these patients. In addition, patients with ZS Slowed an highly elevated excretion of 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid (up to 98 vs <0.1 mmol/mol creatinine in controls). Conclusion: These results prove the functional importance of peroxisomes in the s-oxidation of these compounds in vivo. The characteristic pattern of urinary organic acids in ZS should prompt for specific diagnostic procedures for peroxisomal disorders, when found in patients undergoing selective screening for inherited metabolic diseases.
Low left ventricular ejection fraction, complication rescue, and long-term survival after coronary artery bypass grafting

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the association between low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), complication rescue, and long-term survival after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods National cohort study of patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (2000-2016) using Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program data. Left ventricular ejection fraction was categorized as ≥35% (n = 55,877), 25%-34% (n = 3893), or Results Among 61,477 patients, 6586 (10.7%) had a perioperative complication and 2056 (3.3%) had multiple complications. Relative to LVEF ≥35%, decreasing ejection fraction was associated with greater odds of complications (25%-34%, odds ratio, 1.30 [1.18-1.42]; Conclusions While decreasing LVEF is associated with post-coronary artery bypass grafting complications, patients rescued from complications have worse long-term survival, regardless of left ventricular function. Prevention and timely treatment of complications should remain a focus of quality improvement initiatives, and future work is needed to mitigate their long-term detrimental impact on survival.
Fault covering problems in reconfigurable VLSI systems

1 An Overview.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 The Embedding Approach.- 1.3 The Covering Approach.- 1.3.1 Previous Work.- 1.3.2 Physical Implementation Issues in Reconfigurable Design.- 1.4 Overview of Remaining Chapters.- 2 Fault Covers in Rectangular Arrays.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Admissible Assignments.- 2.3 The Feasible Minimum Cover Problem.- 2.3.1 Critical Sets.- 2.3.2 An Exhaustive Search Algorithm for the Feasible Minimum Cover Problem.- 2.3.3 Experimental Results.- 2.4 The Feasible Cover Problem.- 2.4.1 Excess-k Critical Sets.- 2.4.2 Experimental Results.- 2.5 Two Reconfiguration Problems.- 2.5.1 Reconfiguration with Shared Spares.- 2.5.2 Reconfiguration of Programmable Logic Arrays.- 2.6 Summary.- 3 Fault Covers in Heterogeneous and General Arrays.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Fault Covers in Heterogeneous Arrays.- 3.2.1 The Feasible Cover Problem.- 3.2.2 The Feasible Minimum Cover Problem.- 3.2.3 The Minimum Feasible Cover Problem.- 3.2.4 The Feasible Cover Problem with multiple Spare Arrays.- 3.2.5 Applications of the Heterogeneous Array Model.- 3.3 Fault Covers in General Arrays.- 3.3.1 The Feasible Cover Problem.- 3.3.2 The Feasible Minimum Cover Problem.- 3.3.3 The Minimum Feasible Cover Problem.- 3.4 Summary.- 4 General Formulation of Fault Covering Problems.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 A General Formulation.- 4.3 Illustrative Examples.- 4.4 Integer Linear Programming Approach.- 4.4.1 The General Transformation.- 4.4.2 Experimental Results.- 4.5 Complexity Analysis of Subcases.- 4.5.1 The Definition of Subcases and Their Complexities.- 4.5.2 Polynomial Time Algorithms.- 4.5.3 NP-Completeness Results.- 4.6 Summary.
Rate of diagnostic errors and serious misdiagnosis-related harms for major vascular events, infections, and cancers: toward a national incidence estimate using the “Big Three”

Background Missed vascular events, infections, and cancers account for ~75% of serious harms from diagnostic errors. Just 15 diseases from these "Big Three" categories account for nearly half of all serious misdiagnosis-related harms in malpractice claims. As part of a larger project estimating total US burden of serious misdiagnosis-related harms, we performed a focused literature review to measure diagnostic error and harm rates for these 15 conditions. Methods We searched PubMed, Google, and cited references. For errors, we selected high-quality, modern, US-based studies, if available, and best available evidence otherwise. For harms, we used literature-based estimates of the generic (disease-agnostic) rate of serious harms (morbidity/mortality) per diagnostic error and applied claims-based severity weights to construct disease-specific rates. Results were validated via expert review and comparison to prior literature that used different methods. We used Monte Carlo analysis to construct probabilistic plausible ranges (PPRs) around estimates. Results Rates for the 15 diseases were drawn from 28 published studies representing 91,755 patients. Diagnostic error (false negative) rates ranged from 2.2% (myocardial infarction) to 62.1% (spinal abscess), with a median of 13.6% [interquartile range (IQR) 9.2-24.7] and an aggregate mean of 9.7% (PPR 8.2-12.3). Serious misdiagnosis-related harm rates per incident disease case ranged from 1.2% (myocardial infarction) to 35.6% (spinal abscess), with a median of 5.5% (IQR 4.6-13.6) and an aggregate mean of 5.2% (PPR 4.5-6.7). Rates were considered face valid by domain experts and consistent with prior literature reports. Conclusions Diagnostic improvement initiatives should focus on dangerous conditions with higher diagnostic error and misdiagnosis-related harm rates.
A Narrative Review of Theories of Wayfinding Within the Interior Environment.

Purpose:The aim of this article is to provide a narrative overview of theories that are available in the published literature on wayfinding in interior environments.Background:Wayfinding is an issu...