cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Composite peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified, and B-cell small lymphocytic lymphoma presenting with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

We report a case of a 68-year-old female patient who developed hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) secondary to peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) not otherwise specified (NOS) that developed in the setting of treatment-resistant B-cell small lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia (SLL/CLL). The patient’s B-cell lymphoma had a good initial response to chemotherapy for 4 years, after which it became less responsive and was thought to have undergone transition to a higher-grade lymphoma. Different regimens of chemoradiotherapy were then tried with modest response until the patient presented 3 years later with signs and symptoms of HLH. The patient died 1 month later, and an autopsy was performed. Significant para-aortic lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly were found. Microscopic, immunohistochemical and molecular evaluations confirmed the presence of composite B-cell and T-cell lymphoma in the para-aortic enlarged lymph nodes. Bone marrow examination showed hemophagocytosis, and the liver demons...
Acute effects of resistance exercise on arterial compliance

Decreased central arterial compliance is an emerging risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Resistance training is associated with reductions in the elastic properties of central arteries. Current...
Brief paper: Identification of an additive nonlinear system and its applications in generalized Hammerstein models

An identification algorithm is developed for a class of nonlinear systems that are multi-input and multi-output in an additive form. The convergence results are achieved and its applications to identification of a generalized Hammerstein system is also discussed.
Spatio-TEmporally REsolved Optical Laser Induced Damage (STEREO LID) technique for material characterization

A technique for measuring the ablation and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) by identifying the temporal onset of damage and location of initiation within the beam profile is demonstrated. This new method, dubbed Spatio-TEmporally REsolved Optical Laser Induced Damage (STEREO LID), is compared to traditional damage tests and its advantages are exemplified.
Expanding the reaction scope of DNA-templated synthesis.

The translation of amplifiable information into chemical structure is a key component of nature×s approach to generating functional molecules. The ribosome accomplishes this feat by catalyzing the translation of RNA sequences into proteins. Developing general methods to translate amplifiable information carriers into synthetic molecules may enable chemists to evolve non-natural molecules in a manner analogous to the cycles of translation, selection, amplification, and diversification currently used by nature to evolve proteins. As an initial step towards this goal, we recently examined the generality of DNA-templated synthetic chemistry.[1, 2] We demonstrated the ability of DNA-templated synthesis to direct a modest collection of chemical reactions without requiring the precise alignment of reactive groups into DNA-like conformations. Indeed, the distance independence and sequence fidelity of DNA-templated synthesis allowed the simultaneous, one-pot translation of a model library of more than 1000 templates into the corresponding thioether products, one of which was enriched by in vitro selection for binding to the protein streptavidin and amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The range of reactions known to be supported by DNAtemplated synthesis,[2] however, remains a tiny fraction of those used either by synthetic chemists or by nature to generate molecules with desired properties. Many reactions central to the construction of natural or synthetic molecules have yet to be developed in a DNA-templated format despite their known compatibility with water.[3] We describe here the development of several useful DNA-templated reactions, including the first reported DNA-templated organometallic couplings and carbon ± carbon bond forming reactions other than pyrimidine photodimerization.[4, 5] Collectively, these reactions represent an important additional step towards the in vitro evolution of non-natural synthetic molecules by enabling the DNA-templated construction of a much more diverse set of structures than has been previously achieved. We first investigated the ability of DNA-templated synthesis to direct reactions that require a non-DNA-linked activator, catalyst, or other reagent in addition to the principal reactants. To test the ability of DNA-templated synthesis to mediate such reactions without requiring structural mimicry of the DNA backbone, we performed DNA-templated reductive aminations between amine-linked template 1 and benzaldehydeor glyoxal-linked reagents (2 and 3) with millimolar concentrations of NaBH3CN at room temperature in aqueous solutions. Products formed efficiently when the template and reagent sequences were complementary. In contrast, control reactions in which the sequence of the reagent did not complement that of the template, or in which NaBH3CN was omitted, yielded no significant product (Table 1 and Figure 1). While DNA-templated reductive aminations to generate products closely mimicking the
Current status of information technologies used in support of task-oriented collaboration

Many organizations use information technology (IT) as a way to enable global networking, group negotiations, and expertise sharing amongst end-users in distributed work environments. IT can potentially play a significant role in effective and efficient negotiation and collaboration if it can enhance the quality of communication and coordination between group members asynchronously or synchronously. The paper empirically assesses the pattern of deployment of IT in task-oriented collaboration in US organizations. Data collected from one hundred and nineteen organizations is analyzed to gain insights into adoption and use patterns, and the benefits of seven popular IT approaches that have the capability to support collaboration and negotiation between workgroup members. Our analyses show that e-mail and audio teleconferencing are the most widely adopted and used technologies, while Web-based tools and electronic meeting systems (EMS) have the lowest level of adoption and use. Implications of these findings are discussed, along with some directions for practice and research.
Advancing Theory? Landscape Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems

This paper will focus on how Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been applied in Landscape Archaeology from the late 1980s to the present. GIS, a tool for organising and analysing spatial information, has exploded in popularity, but we still lack a systematic overview of how it has contributed to archaeological theory, specifically Landscape Archaeology. This paper will examine whether and how GIS has advanced archaeological theory through a historical review of its application in archaeology.
Creating realistic force sensations in a virtual environment: experimental system, fundamental issues and results

Force feedback devices for use in virtual reality have been the design, which enable the user to interact with the virtual environment in real-time. We have developed a virtual environment for lumbar puncture, a widely used medical technique involving the insertion of a 3 inch long needle in the spinal region of a patient involving real-time 3D display of the spinal region and real-time force feedback. The trainee can insert a specialized joystick needle in a virtual spine and simultaneously "feel" a realistic force response, matching the real procedure. Our goal is to be able to control the motor such that the whole system "feels" like a needle penetrating the human tissue. In order to create a realistic simulation involving force feedback we show how force feedback theory can be applied to our virtual environment.
Eighteenth-Century Aesthetic Theory and the Ninteenth-Century Traveler in Trans-Allegheny America: F. Trollope, Dickens, Irving and Parkman

In addition to their trunks or saddlebags, many travelers in trans-Allegheny America in the early and middle nineteenth century brought with them on their journeys very particular criteria forjudging the landscape they encountered from the Ohio Valley to the Rockies. The vogue of western travel during this period coincided with the rise of Romantic consciousness and followed closely upon late eighteenthand early nineteenth-century debates over the nature of aesthetic perception of landscape. Romantic awareness provided a range of expression for the projective subject and a means of connecting landscape and emotion; and, as a number of studies have demonstrated, the descriptive taxonomy and vocabulary of aesthetic theorists such as Edmund Burke, Uvedale Price, William Gilpin and Richard Payne Knight often shaped the traveler's impressions of "discovered" territory. Together these influences educated the traveler's eye. They taught him or her what qualities and effects to look for in a landscape, how to look for them, how to arrange them, and what to call them. Moreover, this alliance of Romanticism and aesthetic terminology often figured in the political agendas of travelers who bestowed symbolic value on American landscape. Readers of travel works by Frances Trollope, Washington Irving, Francis Parkman and Charles Dickens will find in these authors' evocations of western landscape the Romantic interplay of nature and spirit (in Trollope somewhat subdued), but the terminology all save Dickens employed to discriminate among various types of visual effects derives from pre-Romantic aesthetic theory
Epithelial Cell Polarity From the Outside Looking In

Epithelial cell polarity may be regulated by protein sorting in the Golgi and delivery to different membrane domains, a view from the inside looking out. But from the outside looking in, cell adhesion may be required first to establish sites for delivery, retention, and separation of membrane proteins, and delivery of presorted proteins from the Golgi subsequently reinforces and maintains different membrane domains.
Metabolism of N-[4-hydroxyphenyl]retinamide (4-HPR) to N-[4-methoxyphenyl]retinamide (4-MPR) may serve as a biomarker for its efficacy against human breast cancer and melanoma cells

A clinical trial of N-[4-hydroxyphenyl]retinamide (4-HPR) has been in progress for the past 4 years to evaluate its role in chemoprevention of breast cancer. However, it is currently not known whether the effect of 4-HPR in breast cells is mediated by 4-HPR directly or through one of its metabolites. In this report, we investigated in vivo and in vitro effects of 4-HPR on three different breast carcinoma cells and two different melanoma cell lines. In vitro, the growth of all three breast carcinoma cell lines was inhibited by 4-HPR. Only one of two melanoma cell lines (UISO-Mel-1) showed growth inhibition to 4-HPR. The cell lines sensitive to 4-HPR in vitro also showed inhibition to 4-HPR in a xenograft model. Dietary 4-HPR (0.5 mmol/kg diet) reduced the growth of UISO-BCA-1 xenografts in female athymic mice, but had no effect on UISO-Mel-6 xenografts. Metabolism investigations of the 4-HPR-sensitive and insensitive cell lines indicated that N-[4-methoxyphenyl]retinamide (4-MPR), the major metabolite of 4-HPR, was detected only in cells sensitive to 4-HPR. Further in vitro studies with 4-MPR suggested that it is not an active metabolite of 4-HPR as it failed to inhibit growth of 4-HPR-resistant UISO-Mel-6 cells, and showed no dose-dependent inhibition of 4-HPR-sensitive breast carcinoma and melanoma cell lines. Our results in the present study indicate that, although 4-MPR is not an active metabolite of 4-HPR, detection of this metabolite in the malignant cells may serve as an indirect biomarker to predict response of cells to 4-HPR.
Mechanism of double-base lesion bypass catalyzed by a Y-family DNA polymerase

As a widely used anticancer drug, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin) reacts with adjacent purine bases in DNA to form predominantly cis-[Pt(NH(3))(2){d(GpG)-N7(1),-N7(2)}] intrastrand cross-links. Drug resistance, one of the major limitations of cisplatin therapy, is partially due to the inherent ability of human Y-family DNA polymerases to perform translesion synthesis in the presence of DNA-distorting damage such as cisplatin-DNA adducts. To better understand the mechanistic basis of translesion synthesis contributing to cisplatin resistance, this study investigated the bypass of a single, site-specifically placed cisplatin-d(GpG) adduct by a model Y-family DNA polymerase, Sulfolobus solfataricus DNA polymerase IV (Dpo4). Dpo4 was able to bypass this double-base lesion, although, the incorporation efficiency of dCTP opposite the first and second cross-linked guanine bases was decreased by 72- and 860-fold, respectively. Moreover, the fidelity at the lesion decreased up to two orders of magnitude. The cisplatin-d(GpG) adduct affected six downstream nucleotide incorporations, but interestingly the fidelity was essentially unaltered. Biphasic kinetic analysis supported a universal kinetic mechanism for the bypass of DNA lesions catalyzed by various translesion DNA polymerases. In conclusion, if human Y-family DNA polymerases adhere to this bypass mechanism, then translesion synthesis by these error-prone enzymes is likely accountable for cisplatin resistance observed in cancer patients.
Students’ reasoning about electricity: combining performance assessments with argumentation analysis

In this paper a set of methodological procedures to analyse students’ arguments is presented. Normative perspectives from the philosophy of science and naturalistic perspectives from sociolinguistics are brought together to analyse students dyadic discourse. The Toulmin layout of arguments was interpreted and applied to student arguments as they completed an electricity‐based performance assessment. Results showed that in these contexts students could complete the task without warranting all arguments. Conditions leading to the warranted arguments are explored. The paper concludes by suggesting extensions of this methodology for further research in science education.
Using DSP-based parametric physical synthesis models to study human sound perception

A series of studies in human auditory perception, memory, attention, discrimination, and learning are described, based on the use of physical synthesis models. The use of realistic sounding DSP-based physical models allows individual parameters to be isolated and tested, while still keeping an "ecological" approach to the experiments. Partly due to the flexibility of the model parameters, and due to the large numbers of subjects tested, and also due to the large collections of sounds we have been able to use, the studies described have provided much new evidence about the nature of human cognitive auditory mechanisms. A new research agenda has been born out of this work, endeavoring to answer difficult questions about the subjective nature of sonic "reality", "naturalness", "presence", "immersion", etc.
Characterization of Neurophysiologic and Neurocognitive Biomarkers for Use in Genomic and Clinical Outcome Studies of Schizophrenia

Background Endophenotypes are quantitative, laboratory-based measures representing intermediate links in the pathways between genetic variation and the clinical expression of a disorder. Ideal endophenotypes exhibit deficits in patients, are stable over time and across shifts in psychopathology, and are suitable for repeat testing. Unfortunately, many leading candidate endophenotypes in schizophrenia have not been fully characterized simultaneously in large cohorts of patients and controls across these properties. The objectives of this study were to characterize the extent to which widely-used neurophysiological and neurocognitive endophenotypes are: 1) associated with schizophrenia, 2) stable over time, independent of state-related changes, and 3) free of potential practice/maturation or differential attrition effects in schizophrenia patients (SZ) and nonpsychiatric comparison subjects (NCS). Stability of clinical and functional measures was also assessed.
Achieving pulpal anesthesia with a topical anesthetic paste

Aim: The efficacy of a topically applied formulation of tetracaine base (6%) was investigated against benzocaine in achieving pulpal anesthesia in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Materials and Methods: Subjects' baseline pulpal responses to an electric pulp tester were measured, followed by a 10 min application of either tetracaine anesthetic paste (TAP), benzocaine (20%), or placebo. Treatments were removed and pulp testing was performed at 10 min, 15 min, and 20 min postapplication. Results: TAP produced significant pulpal anesthesia at 184% ± 7.2% above baseline versus 14% ± 1.7% above baseline for benzocaine at 15 min (P < 0.03). Differences between treatments were tested with the Wilcoxon test and the Steel-Dwass test, which is the nonparametric version of the all-pairs Tukey's honestly significant difference test. Conclusion: Achieving profound anesthesia with a topical anesthetic paste could lead to injection less procedure, improved postsurgical incisional pain management, and ameliorate pain associated with a variety of lesions.
Molecular Simulation and Modeling of Supercritical Water and Aqueous Solutions

Most biochemical and Industrial processes occur in solution, making It crucial to be able to understand solvatlon effects on solubility and chemical reactivity [1, 2]. Numerous recent developments have resulted In an Increased Interest in supercritical water (SCW) and aqueous solutions [3–5]. In particular, supercritical water Is generating Interest as an environmentally-benign solvent for a variety of chemical processes and technological applications Including selective -synthesis [6], coal conversion [7], deuteration of simple organic compounds [8], and conversion of organic waste to light feedstock [9], where water participates as a solvent, a catalyst, and a reactant. Perhaps the most promising application In this area Is the destructive oxidation of biochemical and pharmacological hazardous wastes, known as the supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) process [10-14].
Regulation of estrogen receptor signaling in breast and endometrial cancer by the src kinase pathway, the micronutrient selenium, and by novel tamoxifen-regulated biomarkers

Tamoxifen is the primary hormonal therapy for breast cancer and is also used as a breast cancer chemopreventative agent. A major problem with tamoxifen therapy is undesirable endometrial proliferation. To identify proteins associated with the growth stimulatory effects of tamoxifen in an ER-positive model, the present study profiled total cellular and secreted proteins regulated by estradiol and selective estrogen receptor modifiers (SERMs) in the Ishikawa endometrial adenocarcinoma cell-line using twodimensional gel electrophoresis. Following 24-hour incubation with 10 M estradiol, 10 M 4-hydroxytamoxifen, or 10 M EM-652 (Acolbifene), nine proteins exhibited significant increase in expression. The proteins identified were heat shock protein 90-α, and -β, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein F, RNA polymerase II-mediating protein, cytoskeletal keratin 8, cytoskeletal keratin 18, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E218kDa and nucleoside diphosphate kinase B. These protein profiles may serve as novel indices of SERM response and may also provide insight into novel mechanisms of SERM-mediated growth.
Identification of an "Exceptional Responder" Cell Line to MEK1 Inhibition: Clinical Implications for MEK-Targeted Therapy.

The identification of somatic genetic alterations that confer sensitivity to pharmacologic inhibitors has led to new cancer therapies. To identify mutations that confer an exceptional dependency, shRNA-based loss-of-function data were analyzed from a dataset of numerous cell lines to reveal genes that are essential in a small subset of cancer cell lines. Once these cell lines were determined, detailed genomic characterization from these cell lines was utilized to ascertain the genomic aberrations that led to this extreme dependency. This method, in a large subset of lung cancer cell lines, yielded a single lung adenocarcinoma cell line, NCI-H1437, which is sensitive to RNA interference of MAP2K1 expression. Notably, NCI-H1437 is the only lung cancer cell line included in the dataset with a known activating mutation in MAP2K1 (Q56P). Subsequent validation using shRNA and CRISPR-Cas9 confirmed MAP2K1 dependency. In vitro and in vivo inhibitor studies established that NCI-H1437 cells are sensitive to MEK1 inhibitors, including the FDA-approved drug trametinib. Like NCI-H1437 cells, the MAP2K1-mutant cell lines SNU-C1 (colon) and OCUM-1 (gastric) showed decreased viability after MAP2K1 depletion via Cas9-mediated gene editing. Similarly, these cell lines were particularly sensitive to trametinib treatment compared with control cell lines. On the basis of these data, cancers that harbor driver mutations in MAP2K1 could benefit from treatment with MEK1 inhibitors. Furthermore, this functional data mining approach provides a general method to experimentally test genomic features that confer dependence in tumors. Implications: Cancers with an activated RAS/MAPK pathway driven by oncogenic MAP2K1 mutations may be particularly sensitive to MEK1 inhibitor treatments. Mol Cancer Res; 14(2); 207–15. ©2015 AACR . This article is featured in Highlights of This Issue, [p. 125][1] [1]: /lookup/volpage/14/125?iss=2
Thalamic single neuron activity in patients with dystonia: dystonia-related activity and somatic sensory reorganization.

Indirect evidence suggests that the thalamus contributes to abnormal movements occurring in patients with dystonia (dystonia patients). The present study tested the hypothesis that thalamic activit...
Royal Censorship of Books in Eighteenth-Century France

Royal censors in France during the eighteenth century were responsible for examining works that were to be published and/or distributed in France, and as such were charged with upholding the politi...
Activating effect of adenosine-5'-triphosphate on the neutral proteolytic activity of liver homogenates.

SummaryThe addition of all the nonessential amino acids in general, and aspartic acid in particular, of ATP, and of small amounts of “amino acid activating enzymes” to liver homogenates produced a definite increase in the rate of protein degradation. The activating effect of the amino acids was shown to be dependent on the presence of ATP and the activating effect of the “amino acid activating enzymes” was shown to be dependent upon the presence of aspartic acid. It was concluded that the activating species may be the aspartyl adenylate which would provide an intermediary between protein synthesis and protein degradation.
Multithreaded Maximum Flow Based Optimal Replica Selection Algorithm for Heterogeneous Storage Architectures

Efficient retrieval of replicated data from multiple disks is a challenging problem, especially for heterogeneous storage architectures. Recently, maximum flow based optimal replica selection algorithms were proposed guaranteeing the minimum retrieval time in heterogeneous environments. Although optimality of the retrieval schedule is an important property, execution time of the replica selection algorithm is also crucial since it might significantly affect the performance of the storage sub-system. Current replica selection mechanisms achieve the optimal response time retrieval schedule by performing multiple runs of a maximum flow algorithm in a black-box manner. Such black-box usage of a maximum flow algorithm results in unnecessary flow calculations since previously calculated flow values cannot be conserved. In addition, most new generation multi-disk storage architectures are powered with multi-core processors motivating the usage of multithreaded replica selection algorithms. In this paper, we propose multithreaded and integrated maximum flow based optimal replica selection algorithms handling heterogeneous storage architectures. Proposed and existing algorithms are evaluated using various homogeneous and heterogeneous multi-disk storage architectures. Experimental results show that proposed sequential integrated algorithm achieves 5X speed-up in homogeneous systems, and proposed multithreaded integrated algorithm achieves 21X speed-up using 16 threads in heterogeneous systems over the existing sequential black-box algorithm.
Efficacy of Spring Releases in Colonization of Rhinocyllus conicus for the Biocontrol of Thistles

Comparison of the efficacy of spring and summer releases of Rhinocyllus conicus Froelich on Carduus thistles revealed that colonization is enhanced by releases made in early spring. Spring releases of only 25 non-diapausing adult weevils resulted in better colonization than releases numbering 1,000 weevils in late summer.
Stories for “Good Young Girls”: Louisa May Alcott, Gender, and Realism

In 1877, Louisa May Alcott wrote in her journal of Hospital Sketches (1863), the book that set her literary career in motion, “The ‘Sketches’ never made much money, but showed me ‘my style,’ and ta...
Texture Effect of Interconnection Thin Films in Very Large-Scale Integrated Electronic Circuits

The texture of interconnecting aluminum films prepared by conventional and modified technology was examined using X-ray diffraction It is demonstrated, that the high volume fraction and high sharpness of the { 111 } fiber texture will drastically reduce the invalidation ratio of very large-scale integrated electronic circuits. The reasons of invalidation and the positive effects of the {111 } fiber texture are discussed. It is pointed out, that attention should be paid to the corresponding texture problems in new interconnecting copper films.
Economic Viability of QoS in Software Defined Networks (SDNs)

Although many solutions have been proposed from both industry and academia, pricing the Internet services is still an ongoing research problem for researchers. In this paper, we propose an optimal pricing scheme for inter-AS traffic requests with QoS made by customers in Software Defined Networks (SDNs). This pricing scheme exploits the Nash bargaining problem which aims to maximize benefits of both service providers and customers. We integrate a new cost function and network connectivity degree factor into the proposed pricing scheme. Also, we give a general scheme of revenue and profit that a service provider makes. This scheme employs the idea of penalty for each request that a service provider cannot provide for its customers. Furthermore, we apply these schemes in our scalable hierarchic architecture with extensive experiments.
Lipopeptides from the Tropical Marine Cyanobacterium Symploca sp.

A collection of the tropical marine cyanobacterium Symploca sp., collected near Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, previously yielded several new metabolites including kimbeamides A–C, kimbelactone A, and tasihalide C. Investigations into a more polar cytotoxic fraction yielded three new lipopeptides, tasiamides C–E (1–3). The planar structures were deduced by 2D NMR spectroscopy and tandem mass spectrometry, and their absolute configurations were determined by a combination of Marfey’s and chiral-phase GC-MS analysis. These new metabolites are similar to several previously isolated compounds, including tasiamide (4), grassystatins (5, 6), and symplocin A, all of which were isolated from similar filamentous marine cyanobacteria.
The treatment of acute bacterial meningitis in infants and children.

For general practitioners, who handle more than 85 per cent of all pediatric care, Postgraduate Medicine here presents authoritative, up-to-date summaries by specialists in pediatric problems.
Spatial Division, Bricolage Settlement, and Informal Economies in the Developing-World Slum Novel

The near future of the human race lies in the slums of the Global South. We have reached the point where for the first time in the history of humanity the majority of the world’s population resides in cities (Davis, Planet of Slums 1) and an ever ballooning demographic chunk of these urbanites inhabits the tenuous ramshackle shantytowns — favelas — and slum tenements of the developing world: over one in six human beings on the planet today, a number which is projected to rise to one in four, or two billion total people, in 2030 (Neuwirth, Shadow Cities 9). Urbanization of population is a trend intrinsic to industrial society, and in the developing world this trend can in many cases be dated back initially to the founding of what would become the larger cities of the developing world as trading depots during the colonial era. During the early postwar period of decolonization the lifting of colonial restrictions on internal migration and the promise of greater cosmopolitanism/ modernity and economic opportunities drew increasing numbers of former colonial subjects from the countryside to the city. But while this trend thus predates the inception of neoliberalism, it has been frenetically intensified by free market policies and the socio-economic shifts they have inaugurated. Among the contributing factors to this intensification have been the outsourcing of production of consumer goods to developing-world, urban, manufacturing zones, as well as the multinational corporate takeover of agribusiness and the lowering of protective tariffs on agricultural products (generally in a manner forced by International Monetary Fund structural adjustment programs), both of which have pushed small farmers out of the market and into swelling urban slums.
Advances in brain metastases presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2016 Annual Meeting: Part I

American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, USA, 3–7 June 2016 The American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting took place in Chicago, IL, USA, from 3 to 7 June 2016. Over 30,000 oncologists, researchers, related professionals and advocates participated in the conference, which covered all aspects of oncology. An overview of the key studies in brain metastases presented at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting is highlighted here. Key data presented on radiotherapy, and systemic therapy for brain metastases are reviewed.
ACL Deficiency Increases Forces on the Medial Femoral Condyle and the Lateral Meniscus with Applied Rotatory Loads.

Background: The articular surfaces and menisci act with the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to stabilize the knee joint. Their role in resisting applied rotatory loads characteristic of instability events is unclear despite commonly observed damage to these intra-articular structures in the acute and chronic ACL injury settings. Methods: Ten fresh-frozen human cadaveric knees were mounted to a robotic manipulator. Combined valgus and internal rotation torques were applied in the presence and absence of a 300-N compressive load. Forces carried by the individual menisci and via cartilage-to-cartilage contact on each femoral condyle in ACL-intact and ACL-sectioned states were measured using the principle of superposition. Results: In response to applied valgus and internal rotation torques in the absence of compression, sectioning of the ACL increased the net force carried by the lateral meniscus by at most 65.8 N (p < 0.001). Moreover, the anterior shear force carried by the lateral meniscus increased by 25.7 N (p < 0.001) and 36.5 N (p = 0.042) in the absence and presence of compression, respectively. In response to applied valgus and internal rotation torques, sectioning of the ACL increased the net force carried by cartilage-to-cartilage contact on the medial femoral condyle by at most 38.9 N (p = 0.006) and 46.7 N (p = 0.040) in the absence and presence of compression, respectively. Additionally, the lateral shear force carried by cartilage-to-cartilage contact on the medial femoral condyle increased by at most 21.0 N (p = 0.005) and by 28.0 N (p = 0.025) in the absence and presence of compression, respectively. Forces carried by the medial meniscus and by cartilage-to-cartilage contact on the lateral femoral condyle changed by <5 N as a result of ACL sectioning. Conclusions: ACL sectioning increased the net forces carried by the lateral meniscus and medial femoral condyle—and the anterior shear and lateral shear forces, respectively—in response to multiplanar valgus and internal rotation torque. Clinical Relevance: These loading patterns provide a biomechanical rationale for clinical patterns of intra-articular derangement such as lateral meniscal injury and osseous remodeling of the medial compartment seen with ACL insufficiency.
Potential bias in signal estimation for grating-based x-ray multi-contrast imaging

In grating based multi-contrast x-ray imaging, signals of three contrast mechanisms, namely absorption contrast, differential phase contrast (DPC) and dark-field contrast, can be estimated from a single data acquisition with several phase steps. The extracted signals, N 0 (related to absorption), N 1 (related to dark-field) and φ (related to DPC) may be intrinsically biased. In this work, the biases of the extracted N 0 , N 1 and φ from the well-known least square fitting method were theoretically derived. Furthermore, numerical simulation experiments were used to validate the derived theoretical formulae for the signal bias of all three contrast mechanisms. The theoretical predictions were in good agreement with the results of the simulations. The bias of the absorption contrast is zero. The signal bias for N 1 is inversely proportional to the number of phase steps and to the average fringe visibility of the grating interferometer. The bias of φ is related to several parameters, including the total exposure, the fringe visibility produced by the interferometer system, and the ground truth of φ. The larger the exposure and fringe visibility, the smaller the bias of φ.
The role of inorganic nitrogen in successful formation of granular biofilms for wastewater treatment that support cyanobacteria and bacteria

Recently, the use of phototrophs for wastewater treatment has been revisited because of new approaches to separate them from effluent streams. One manifestation uses oxygenic photogranules (OPGs) which are dense, easily-settleable granular biofilms of cyanobacteria, which surrounding populations of heterotrophs, autotrophs, and microalgae. OPGs can remove COD and nitrogenous compounds without external aeration. To better grow and maintain biomass in the proposed wastewater process, this study seeks to understand the factors that contribute to successful granulation. Availability of initial inorganic nitrogen, particularly ammonium, was associated with successful cultivation of OPGs. In the first days of granulation, a decrease in ammonium coupled with an increase in a cyanobacterial-specific 16S rRNA gene, may suggest that ammonium was assimilated in cyanobacteria offering a competitive environment for growth. Though both successful and unsuccessful OPG formation demonstrated a shift from non-phototrophic bacterial dominated communities on day 0 to cyanobacterial dominated communities on day 42, the successful community had a greater relative abundance (46%) of OTUs associated with genera Oscillatoria and Geitlernema than the unsuccessful community (27%), supporting that filamentous cyanobacteria are essential for successful OPG formation. A greater concentration of chlorophyll b in the unsuccessful OPG formation suggested a greater abundance of algal species. This study offers indicators of granulation success, notably availability of inorganic nitrogen and chlorophyll a and b concentrations for monitoring the health and growth of biomass for a potential OPG process.
High-level Screening for Williston Basin Residual Oil Zones Using Location-independent Data

Abstract Residual oil zones (ROZs) are naturally waterflooded, traditionally noneconomic reservoirs in which potentially large amounts of CO2 could be stored in association with enhanced oil recovery. To date, ROZ exploration throughout the United States has primarily consisted of manual matching of hydrodynamics with structural data in preconceived, specific locations, assessing well- or field-scale analyses, followed by field tests. To locate potential ROZs more quickly en masse, Schlumberger Petrel software was used to build a 3-D geocellular model of the Williston Basin, and Schlumberger PetroMod was used to populate petrophysical properties and simulate hydrocarbon generation, migration, and accumulation.
Investigating the roles of the p63 isoforms in tumor suppression and metastasis using mouse models

2532 p53 is mutated in many human cancers; yet, the role of p63 in tumor suppression remains controversial. In many human tumors, p63 is overexpressed, while in others it is lost indicating that it may be an oncogene and/or a tumor suppressor gene. Many isoforms of p63 exist including a TA isoform that has transactivation activity and a ΔN isoform, which lacks transactivation activity and has dominant negative activities against p53 and TAp63. The lack of antibodies that distinguish between the TA and ΔN isoforms may account for the differences of expression seen in different human tumors, which have been assayed primarily by immunohistochemistry. We have recently shown using mouse models lacking all isoforms of p63 that it is a suppressor of tumorigenesis and metastasis. p53+/-;p63+/- and p63+/-;p73+/- mice exhibited higher tumor burden and metastasis than p53+/- mice. Additionally, using cells from tumors of these mice, we found genes previously shown to play a role in metastasis to be differentially expressed in mice mutant for p63. Finally, using these tumor cells in Boyden chamber assays, cells mutant for p63 exhibited increased motility and invasion compared to p53 mutant cells. While these studies indicate that p63 suppresses tumorigenesis and metastasis, it does not differentiate the individual contributions of the TA and ΔN isoforms of p63 in these processes. We hypothesize that TAp63 is a tumor suppressor gene while Δ Np63 is an oncogene. To test this hypothesis in vivo , we have generated TAp63 conditional knockout mice. Using primary mouse keratinocytes from these mice, we found that cells deficient for TAp63 exhibited a profound increase in proliferation compared to wild-type keratinocytes. Furthermore, keratinocytes deficient for TAp63 express keratin 5, a marker for the basal layer of the epithelium, but did not express keratin 10, a marker of epithelial differentiation, after the induction of differentiation. Additionally, day 18.5 embryos that lack TAp63 had an expanded basal layer and defects in the spinous and granular layers of the epithelium. Taken together, these data indicate that loss of TAp63 increases proliferation and inhibits the differentiation of epithelial cells. These data support a role for TAp63 as a tumor suppressor gene. To further understand the roles of the TA and ΔN isoforms of p63 in tumor suppression and metastasis, we are currently generating a Δ Np63 conditional knockout mouse. These studies will shed much needed light on the activities of the TA and ΔN isoforms of p63 in cancer.
Intent detection and semantic parsing for navigation dialogue language processing

Voice-based human-machine interface has become a prevalent feature for modern intelligent vehicles, especially in navigation and infotainment applications. Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) converts spoken audio streams to plain texts, but a follow-up Natural Language Processing (NLP) sub-system is needed to understand the contextual meaning from the text and act. For the specific human-vehicle navigation dialogue application, the two major tasks include (1) intent detection — decide whether a sentence is navigation-related, and (2) semantic parsing — retrieve important information (e.g., point-of-interest destinations) from the words. To address these two tasks, this study proposes a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) architecture, with the consideration of (1) one joint model vs. two separate models, (2) a context window approach vs. sequence-to-sequence translation approach, as well as (3) alternate model hyper-parameter selections. The experiment is conducted with both the benchmark ATIS dataset and the CU-Move in-vehicle dialogue corpus, and the result is compared against related state-of-the-art methods. Overall, the proposed solution on the CU-Move data achieves accuracies of 98.24% for intent detection and 99.60% for semantic parsing, outperforming other related methods.
Experience with Continuous Infusion Vancomycin Dosing in a Large Pediatric Hospital

BACKGROUND There is a paucity of data on dosing of continuous infusion of vancomycin (CIV) in pediatric patients, despite it being an attractive treatment option for limiting escalating doses of intermittent infusion of vancomycin. The purpose of this study was to determine the total daily dose of CIV required to attain therapeutic serum vancomycin concentrations (SVCs) in pediatric patients according to age (≥31 days to <2 years, 2 to <8 years, and 8 to <18 years). METHODS We retrospectively evaluated patients who were transitioned from intermittent infusion of vancomycin to CIV between January 2013 and December 2016. Demographic data, vancomycin data (indication, dosing, steady-state SVCs, and time to reach goal SVC), and adverse-effect data (infusion reactions and serum creatinine level) were collected. RESULTS Of the 240 patients included, 76 had a goal SVC of 10 to 15 µg/mL and 164 had a goal of 15 to 20 µg/mL. The dose of CIV required to reach an SVC of 10 to 15 µg/mL in the youngest age group was 48.4 mg/kg per day versus 45.6 and 39.4 mg/kg per day in the older age groups (P < .005). The 2 younger age groups of patients with a goal SVC of 15 to 20 µg/mL required 50.2 and 50.6 mg/kg per day, respectively, whereas patients aged ≥8 years required 44.7 mg/kg per day (P = .008). One patient experienced renal injury, and 1 experienced renal failure. CONCLUSIONS CIV is an effective method for attaining a therapeutic SVC in pediatric patients. Patients <8 years of age require higher dosing than older pediatric patients to reach the goal SVCs of 10 to 15 and 15 to 20 µg/mL.
Curtailing Agriculture Projects’ Practices That Can Harm Urban Food Security and Public Health

Many old and “modern” cities have been built on terrain that was previously vegetated and part of biologically diverse ecosystems. This was often on productive farmland that was not protected from encroachment as municipalities expanded and opened pristine areas to development. The encroachment continues as rural citizens and their families are attracted to urban centers for the way of life they seemed to offer. This starts with employment possibilities, education for workers children, and family health services as manufacturing/industrial operations and large and small businesses that serviced them spurs economic development. Agricultural projects are located mainly away from population centers, be they major metropolises or smaller cities. They provide food security for urban citizens through “brought into markets” in-ground crops, bush crops, and tree crops they cultivate, and through animal husbandry (e.g., beef and dairy cattle, poultry, hogs, sheep). The last chapter described how manufacturing/industrial endeavors can present potential harm to the health of urban and rural citizens and to natural resource rich ecosystems that help sustain them, and how to find solutions to the problems. This chapter will discuss the problems that food production methods present, the threats they pose to urban populations that are generally distant from them, and possible solutions to such problems.
Evolutionary Significance of Phenotypic Plasticity in Plants

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on evolutionary significance of phenotypic plasticity in plants. The expression of an individual genotype is modified by its environment. The amount by which it can be modified is termed its plasticity. This plasticity can be either morphological or physiological; these are interrelated. The plasticity of a character is related to the general pattern of its development, and apart from this, that plasticity is a general property of the whole genotype. Plasticity of a character appears to be specific for that character, specific in relation to particular environmental influences, specific in direction, under genetic control not necessarily related to heterozygosity, and able to be radically altered by selection. Because plants are static organisms, plasticity is of marked adaptive value in a great number of situations. Examples of all these situations in plant species are discussed. They indicate that adaptation by plasticity is a widespread and important phenomenon in plants and has evolved differently in different species. The mechanisms involved in plasticity are varied. At one extreme, the character shows a continuous range of modification dependent on the intensity of the environmental stimulus. At the other, the character shows only two discrete modifications. The stimulus causing these modifications may be direct or indirect. The mechanisms found can be related to the particular environmental situation involved.
The resistance potential of a quintessential commensal

Whole-genome sequencing and microbiome analysis illuminate the emergence of invasive, linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis.
Impact of Deceased Donor Cardiac Arrest Time on Postpancreas Transplant Graft Function and Survival.

Introduction Transplantation of pancreas allografts from donors that have experienced preprocurement cardiopulmonary arrest (PPCA) is not common, though use of PPCA grafts is routine in liver and kidney transplantation. This article reviews a large number of PPCA pancreas grafts at a single center and reports posttransplant outcomes including early graft dysfunction, length of hospital stay, rejection, and early and late graft survival. Methods Preprocurement cardiopulmonary arrest, arrest time, and donor and recipient pancreatic enzyme levels were collected from electronic and written medical records. The PPCA donors were stratified into 4 groups: none, less than 20 minutes, 20-39 minutes, and 40 minutes or greater. Graft survival was assessed at 7 and 90 days and at 1 year. Long-term graft survival was assessed by Cox regression analysis. Results The records of 606 pancreas transplants were reviewed, including 328 (54%) simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplants. Preprocurement cardiopulmonary arrest occurred in 176 donors (29%; median time, 20 minutes). Median peak donor lipase was higher in PPCA donors (40 μ/L vs 29 μ/L, P = 0.02). Posttransplant, peak recipient amylase, and lipase levels were similar (P = 0.63). Prolonged arrest time (>40 minutes) was associated with higher donor peak lipase and lower recipient peak amylase (P = 0.05 for both). Stratified by donor arrest time, there was no difference in 7-day, 90-day, or 1-year graft survival. Cox regression comparing the 4 groups demonstrated no statistical difference in 10-year survival. Conclusions These results support transplantation of pancreas allografts from PPCA donors. Prolonged asystole was associated with higher peak donor serum lipase but lower peak recipient serum amylase. There were no differences in allograft survival.