cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structural and functional properties of ryanodine receptor type 3 in zebrafish tail muscle

The ryanodine receptor (RyR)1 isoform of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release channel is an essential component of all skeletal muscle fibers. RyR1s are detectable as “junctional feet” (JF) in the gap between the SR and the plasmalemma or T-tubules, and they are required for excitation–contraction (EC) coupling and differentiation. A second isoform, RyR3, does not sustain EC coupling and differentiation in the absence of RyR1 and is expressed at highly variable levels. Anatomically, RyR3 expression correlates with the presence of parajunctional feet (PJF), which are located on the sides of the SR junctional cisternae in an arrangement found only in fibers expressing RyR3. In frog muscle fibers, the presence of RyR3 and PJF correlates with the occurrence of Ca2+ sparks, which are elementary SR Ca2+ release events of the EC coupling machinery. Here, we explored the structural and functional roles of RyR3 by injecting zebrafish (Danio rerio) one-cell stage embryos with a morpholino designed to specifically silence RyR3 expression. In zebrafish larvae at 72 h postfertilization, fast-twitch fibers from wild-type (WT) tail muscles had abundant PJF. Silencing resulted in a drop of the PJF/JF ratio, from 0.79 in WT fibers to 0.03 in the morphants. The frequency with which Ca2+ sparks were detected dropped correspondingly, from 0.083 to 0.001 sarcomere−1 s−1. The few Ca2+ sparks detected in morphant fibers were smaller in amplitude, duration, and spatial extent compared with those in WT fibers. Despite the almost complete disappearance of PJF and Ca2+ sparks in morphant fibers, these fibers looked structurally normal and the swimming behavior of the larvae was not affected. This paper provides important evidence that RyR3 is the main constituent of the PJF and is the main contributor to the SR Ca2+ flux underlying Ca2+ sparks detected in fully differentiated frog and fish fibers.
Dimerization of cGMP-dependent Protein Kinase Iβ Is Mediated by an Extensive Amino-terminal Leucine Zipper Motif, and Dimerization Modulates Enzyme Function

All mammalian cGMP-dependent protein kinases (PKGs) are dimeric. Dimerization of PKGs involves sequences located near the amino termini, which contain a conserved, extended leucine zipper motif. In PKG Iβ this includes eight Leu/Ile heptad repeats, and in the present study, deletion and site-directed mutagenesis have been used to systematically delete these repeats or substitute individual Leu/Ile. The enzymatic properties and quaternary structures of these purified PKG mutants have been determined. All had specific enzyme activities comparable to wild type PKG. Simultaneous substitution of alanine at four or more of the Leu/Ile heptad repeats ((L3A/L10A/L17A/I24A), (L31A/I38A/L45A/I52A), (L17A/I24A/L31A/I38A/L45A/I52A), and (L3A/L10A/L45A/I52A)) of the motif produces a monomeric PKG Iβ. Mutation of two Leu/Ile heptad repeats can produce either a dimeric (L3A/L10A) or monomeric (L17A/I24A and L31A/I38A) PKG. Point mutation of Leu-17 or Ile-24 (L17A or I24A) does not disrupt dimerization. These results suggest that all eight Leu/Ile heptad repeats are involved in dimerization of PKG Iβ. Six of the eight repeats are sufficient to mediate dimerization, but substitutions at some positions (Leu-17, Ile-24, Leu-31, and Ile-38) appear to have greater impact than others on dimerization. The Ka of cGMP for activation of monomeric mutants (PKG Iβ (Δ1–52) and PKG Iβ L17A/I24A/L31A/I38A/L45A/I52A) is 2- to 3-fold greater than that for wild type dimeric PKG Iβ, and there is a corresponding 2- to 3-fold increase in cGMP-dissociation rate of the high affinity cGMP-binding site (site A) of these monomers. These results indicate that dimerization increases sensitivity for cGMP activation of the enzyme.
Examining the role of collaborative assessment in a didactic dental hygiene course.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a technique known as collaborative assessment considering students’ and faculty members’ perceptions of the value and utility of this approach. Twenty-eight dental hygiene students took eight individual assessments (quizzes) immediately followed by completion of the same assessment in a five-member peer group as part of a didactic dental hygiene course. At the end of the semester, student perceptions and course performance were examined. Faculty perceptions were also collected. A paired samples t-test was conducted to compare student performance on individual and group assessments. Students reported that this collaborative assessment approach enhanced their learning, provided them with experience in defending their answers, and decreased stress. Concerns for fairness and individual accountability were noted by both students and faculty. The mean group score for all quizzes combined (M=91 percent, SD=2 percent) was significantly higher by 16 percentage points (91 percent versus 75 percent) than the mean individual score for all quizzes combined (M=75 percent, SD=8 percent), t(27)=11.61, α =.05, p
Ant colony optimization technique to solve the min-max Single Depot Vehicle Routing Problem

In this paper, we extend our work on solving minmax single depot vehicle routing, published in the proceedings of the ACC 2011, to solving min-max multi depot vehicle routing problem. The min-max multi-depot vehicle routing problem involves minimizing the maximum distance travelled by any vehicle in case of vehicles starting from multiple depots and travelling to each customer location (or city) at least once. This problem is of specific significance in case of time critical applications such as emergency response in large-scale disasters, and server-client network latency. In this paper we extend the ant colony based algorithm which was proposed earlier in our previous paper and introduce a novel way to address the min-max multi-depot vehicle routing problem. The approach uses a region partitioning method developed by Carlsson et al. to convert the multi-depot problem into multiple single-depot versions. A computer simulation model using MATLAB was developed. Also, in terms of optimality of solution and computational time, a comparison with the existing Carlsson model has been carried out.
NF45 and NF90 Bind HIV-1 RNA and Modulate HIV Gene Expression

A previous proteomic screen in our laboratory identified nuclear factor 45 (NF45) and nuclear factor 90 (NF90) as potential cellular factors involved in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication. Both are RNA binding proteins that regulate gene expression; and NF90 has been shown to regulate the expression of cyclin T1 which is required for Tat-dependent trans-activation of viral gene expression. In this study the roles of NF45 and NF90 in HIV replication were investigated through overexpression studies. Ectopic expression of either factor potentiated HIV infection, gene expression, and virus production. Deletion of the RNA binding domains of NF45 and NF90 diminished the enhancement of HIV infection and gene expression. Both proteins were found to interact with the HIV RNA. RNA decay assays demonstrated that NF90, but not NF45, increased the half-life of the HIV RNA. Overall, these studies indicate that both NF45 and NF90 potentiate HIV infection through their RNA binding domains.
Selective Dimerization of Ethylene to 1-Butene with a Porous Catalyst

Current heterogeneous catalysts lack the fine steric and electronic tuning required for catalyzing the selective dimerization of ethylene to 1-butene, which remains one of the largest industrial processes still catalyzed by homogeneous catalysts. Here, we report that a metal–organic framework catalyzes ethylene dimerization with a combination of activity and selectivity for 1-butene that is premier among heterogeneous catalysts. The capacity for mild cation exchange in the material MFU-4l (MFU-4l = Zn5Cl4(BTDD)3, H2BTDD = bis(1H-1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-b],[4′,5′-i])dibenzo[1,4]dioxin) was leveraged to create a well-defined and site-isolated Ni(II) active site bearing close structural homology to molecular tris-pyrazolylborate complexes. In the presence of ethylene and methylaluminoxane, the material consumes ethylene at a rate of 41,500 mol per mole of Ni per hour with a selectivity for 1-butene of up to 96.2%, exceeding the selectivity reported for the current industrial dimerization process.
Analyses of the Dispersal of Sterile Mediterranean Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) Released from a Point Source

One of the most common methods of studying insect dispersal is the recapture of members of a population released at a single time from a single location. This procedure especially lends itself to quantitative analysis. Quantitative studies of the dispersal of insects released in this manner may be divided into the following three general categories: (1)statistical studies in which certain dispersal parameters such as average distance flown are estimated without assuming any particular model; (2) curve fits to an empirical model having a predetermined functional form, such as an exponential; and (3) fits to a fundamental biological model such as a diffusion-based model. Each of these methods of analysis serves a purpose. For example, the first and second methods are often useful in developing control strategies for invasive pest species, whereas the third is useful for understanding the biological process driving dispersal. The article presents a quantitative analysis of the dispersal of irradiated Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) in a macadamia nut orchard near Hilo, Hawaii. All three of the methods described above are used in the analysis. The article had three primary objectives. The first was to review and contrast the three methods of analyzing data on the dispersal of insects from a point source. The second was to illustrate how these methods may be applied to insect recapture data using the example of released Mediterranean fruit flies. The third was to use the quantitative analysis to compare the results of the present release study with other studies on related species and to draw general conclusions about the nature of the dispersal of released sterile Mediterranean fruit flies. Results indicated that a population of irradiated flies released from a single point dispersed in a manner that may be modeled as if the population consisted of two subpopulations, one of which was dispersing in a diffusionlike pattern and the other was not dispersing, and that the fraction of the population in the nondispersing subpopulation increased. The dispersal pattern appeared to be little influenced by prevailing wind and to remain centered near the release point. The pattern had almost complete circular symmetry.
Effects on Populations of Corn Rootworms of Aldrin Residues in Soil Four Years After Application

Alternating strips of corn in a field in southern Minnesota were treated with aldrin in 1963. Populations of the northern corn rootworm, Diabrotica longicornis (Say), and the western corn rootworm, D. virgifera LeConte, and lodging and ear growth of corn in the treated and untreated strips were compared in 1967, 4 years later. There were reductions of 38–42% in the larval population, 35% in the adult population, and 65% in lodging because of the residual effect of the aldrin application, and an increase of 9% in yield. Observations suggest that the western species might have been suppressed in the strips where the northern population was high. The reduction in yield in the untreated strip was due to a greater percentage of lodged plants and a lower weight of ears on these plants. The weight of ears on standing plants in the treated and untreated strips was the same.
From Screen to Self: The Relationship Between Television Exposure and Self-Complexity Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

Little empirical research has examined the role of televised lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) characters in the identity development of LGB youth. The present study examined the relationship between mainstream and gay- and lesbian-oriented television exposure and positive and negative self-complexities using a survey of LGB adolescents ( N = 546). Results revealed that exposure to mainstream television was negatively correlated with positive self-complexity, and exposure to gay- and lesbian-oriented television was negatively correlated with negative self-complexity. Self-complexity was correlated with well-being. The findings revealed that viewing LGB characters in television programs specifically designed, produced, and marketed for LGB audiences may have a positive impact on the well-being of LGB youth exposed to these televised messages.
Fusing Wavelet Features for Ocean Turbine Fault Detection

As systems and machines continue to become increasingly complex, the demand for automated tools to monitor them has also increased as ensuring the reliability of these machines plays an important role in maximizing availability and minimizing maintenance costs.
Epidemic features analysis on class A and B infectious diseases in Yiwu City,2006-2010

[Objective] To analyze the epidemic features of class A and B infectious diseases in Yiwu City from 2006 to 2010 and raise proposals to adjust the focus of the work of prevention and control on infectious diseases and related recommendations.[Methods] The descriptive epidemiological method was used to analyze the reported incidence data on class A and B infectious diseases in Yiwu City,2006-2010.[Results] A total of 24 575 cases of 20 class A and B infectious diseases were reported in Yiwu City from 2006 to 2010 with the average incidence rate of 263.00/105.The annual incidence rates were 297.75/105,248.31/105,253.46/105,262.12/105 and 254.78/105,respectively.The incidence of intestinal and respiratory diseases was significantly decreased,while the incidence of blood borne/sexually transmitted disease was increased.[Conclusion] In the past 5 years,the overall incidence of class A and B infectious diseases has been stable in Yiwu City.The focus of control and prevention work in future should be on floating population and international travelers.
Minimizing Distortions from Time Domain Zooming

The highest frequency to be identified imposes a lower bound on the sampling rate, and, given a sampling rate, the lowest frequency that can be identified is limited by noise and finite precision. When the bandwidth to be identified is large these two requirements imply that identification of all modes of interest in a single analysis is not feasible and some type of zooming becomes necessary. The traditional approach to realize time domain zooming is decimation. This paper reviews another alternative, presented within the framework of the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA), where zooming is realized without filtering by appropriate shifting of the two data matrices used in the algorithm. The method is known as ERA/S, where the S indicates shifting and skipping, and the skipping is due to the arrangement of the Markov Parameters (MP) in the data matrices. Since ERA/S does not filter the data, the modes outside the (shifted) Nyquist band appear aliased. The aliased modes, however, can be easily identified and removed.
Obtaining a Surgical Airway

Encountering a patient in need of an emergent surgical airway is one of the most harrowing situations a surgeon faces. The surgeon is often called as the patient becomes hypoxic after multiple attempts at an airway. In these cases it is necessary to rapidly assess the situation and develop a plan. Therefore, the surgeon must possess an understanding of the indications for an emergent surgical airway, a detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the neck, procedural options available, and the potential complications. With this knowledge the acute care surgeon can be adequately prepared for this rare but challenging scenario.
Got yoga?: A longitudinal analysis of thematic content and models’ appearance-related attributes in advertisements spanning four decades of Yoga Journal

Yoga has become an increasingly common health practice among U.S. adults over the past decade. With this growth in popularity, yoga-related print media have been criticized for shifting away from yoga's traditional philosophies and promoting a thin, lean ideal physique representing the "yoga body." The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze the presence and content of advertisements over the 40-year publication history of Yoga Journal magazine and (b) explore female advertisement models' socio-demographic and appearance-related attributes over time. Results suggested that Yoga Journal now contains significantly more advertisements for food, nutritional supplements, and apparel and fewer advertisements for meditation and nutritional practices than in its early years of publication. Models were more frequently rated as White and in their 20s and 30s in recent years of publication. Trends in model body size matched shifts in culturally dominant body ideals over time. Implications and future research directions are considered.
Dorsal Cervical Spinal Cord Herniation Precipitated by Kyphosis Deformity Correction for Spinal Cord Tethering.

Introduction Cervical spinal cord herniation is a rare clinical entity. Reported after previous intradural surgery or surgery complicated by durotomy, patients return several months to years later with symptoms of worsening myelopathy. Herein is presented a case of a 51-year-old female patient with spinal cord herniation in the cervical spine after kyphosis deformity correction. Case Description A 51-year old female patient presented to the neurosurgery clinic with worsening cervical myelopathy due to cervical spinal cord tethering and adhesions from previous intradural surgery for Chiari malformation. Conservative treatment initially was recommended but ultimately unsuccessful, as her neurologic function continued to deteriorate. Follow-up imaging demonstrated progressive cervical kyphotic deformity with stability of the tethered spinal cord. The patient underwent cervical deformity correction to reduce tension on the spinal cord, after which her neurologic symptoms stabilized and began to improve with physical therapy. Four months after surgery, she returned to clinic with recurrence of cervical myelopathy. Repeat imaging demonstrated herniation of the cervical spinal cord through a dorsal defect, and the patient was treated successfully with a wide cervical duraplasty to recreate an intact thecal sac. Conclusions The inability of the spinal cord to compensate for changes in spinal alignment in cases of tethering makes it susceptible to increased pressure and tension at the point of tethering. Caution is urged when attempting deformity correction in the presence of spinal cord tethering, which may limit the capacity of the spinal cord and surrounding tissue to compensate for alterations in spinal alignment.
Crowd Diversity and Performance in Wikipedia: The Mediating Effects of Task Conflict and Communication

Crowd diversity is a key attribute that impacts crowd performance in online collaboration systems. As a structural composition of a crowd, diversity is likely to influence crowd performance through communication processes during collaboration. This study examined how diversity influenced crowd performance under different conditions of task conflict and communication in Wikipedia article production. With a sample of 5,899 articles, we found that contribution diversity positively predicted crowd performance, whereas experience diversity was negatively related to performance. In addition, task communication and conflict partially mediated the relationship between crowd diversity and performance. Task communication positively predicted performance for both forms of diversity. Task conflict, on the other hand, was positively predicted by expertise diversity, but had negative associations with contribution diversity and performance. The findings help unpack the reasons for differential effects of diversity on crowd performance, and demonstrate the importance of including communication variables when studying online crowd collaboration.
Testing Models of Unequal Representation: Democratic Populists and Republican Oligarchs?

Recent studies indicate that the wealthy receive more representation from their members of Congress, though this relationship may be more pronounced in Republican compared to Democratic districts. However, drawbacks in existing survey data hamper efforts to delineate the relationship between income and representation with precision, especially at the highest income levels. In this paper we use new data to explore the relationship between wealth, the party identity of elected officials, and representation in greater depth. We develop several alternative models of the relationship between income and representation, and compare them with models employed in previous empirical research. We test each of these models, using two different data sets containing large numbers of wealthy individuals and very granular measures of income. Our results suggest that individuals with Democratic congressional representatives experience a fundamentally different type of representation than do individuals with Republican representatives. Individuals with Democratic representatives encounter a mode of representation best described as ``populist,'' in which the relationship between income and representation is flat (if not negative). However, individuals with Republican representatives experience an ``oligarchic'' mode of representation, in which wealthy individuals receive much more representation than those lower on the economic ladder.
RWEN: response-weighted elastic net for prediction of chemosensitivity of cancer cell lines.

Motivation In recent years there have been several efforts to generate sensitivity profiles of collections of genomically characterized cell lines to panels of candidate therapeutic compounds. These data provide the basis for the development of in silico models of sensitivity based on cellular, genetic, or expression biomarkers of cancer cells. However, a remaining challenge is an efficient way to identify accurate sets of biomarkers to validate. To address this challenge, we developed methodology using gene-expression profiles of human cancer cell lines to predict the responses of these cell lines to a panel of compounds. Results We developed an iterative weighting scheme which, when applied to elastic net, a regularized regression method, significantly improves the overall accuracy of predictions, particularly in the highly sensitive response region. In addition to application of these methods to actual chemical sensitivity data, we investigated the effects of sample size, number of features, model sparsity, signal-to-noise ratio, and feature correlation on predictive performance using a simulation framework, particularly for situations where the number of covariates is much larger than sample size. While our method aims to be useful in therapeutic discovery and understanding of the basic mechanisms of action of drugs and their targets, it is generally applicable in any domain where predictions of extreme responses are of highest importance. Availability and implementation The iterative and other weighting algorithms were implemented in R. The code is available at https://github.com/kiwtir/RWEN. The CTRP data are available at ftp://caftpd.nci.nih.gov/pub/OCG-DCC/CTD2/Broad/CTRPv2.1_2016_pub_NatChemBiol_12_109/ and the Sanger data at ftp://ftp.sanger.ac.uk/pub/project/cancerrxgene/releases/release-6.0/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A broader understanding of care managers' attitudes of advance care planning: A concurrent nested design.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To examine barriers of advance care planning (ACP) experienced by care managers (CMs) through a mixed methods approach. A concurrent nested design was used to acquire a deeper understanding of ACP and to identify nuances between quantitative and qualitative data. BACKGROUND Past quantitative studies on providers have identified barriers related to time, culture, knowledge, responsibility and availability of legal documents. These barriers, and accompanying attitudes and feelings, have been taken at face value without rich qualitative data to identify under what conditions and to what extent a barrier impacts care. DESIGN A two-part multisite, mixed methods study was conducted using surveys and focus groups. METHODS Surveys were completed by 458 CMs at 10 Area Agencies on Aging and 62 participated in one of eight focus groups. Data were analysed using a concurrent nested design with individual data analysis and a merged data approach. RESULTS There were three main distinctions between the quantitative and qualitative data. First, while CMs reported on the survey that ACP was not too time consuming, focus group data revealed that time was an issue especially related to competing priorities. Second on the survey 60% of the CMS reported they had enough knowledge, but qualitative data revealed about more nuances. Last, the reported comfort levels in the quantitative data were less overt in the qualitative date where additional feelings and attitudes were revealed, for example, frustration with families, preferences for more physician involvement. CONCLUSIONS Care managers reported their attitudes about ACP, clarified through a rigorous mixed methods analysis. Care managers can successfully lead ACP discussions, but require further education, resources and team-based guidance. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Advance care planning is essential for reducing emotional, social and financial burdens associated with healthcare decision-making, and CMs can positively impact ACP discussions when appropriately supported by the clinical community. The many nuances in the ACP process that we found illustrate the need for ongoing discussions, education and research on this important topic.
On Temporal Properties of Knowledge Base Inconsistency

Inconsistent knowledge and information in the real world often have to do with not only what conflicting circumstances are but also when they happen. As a result, only scrutinizing the logical forms that cause inconsistency may not be adequate. In this paper we describe our research work on the temporal characteristics of inconsistent knowledge that can exist in an intelligent system. We provide a formal definition for temporal inconsistency that is based on a logical-conflicting and temporal-coinciding dichotomy. The interval temporal logic underpins our treatment of temporally inconsistent propositions in a knowledge base. We also propose a systematic approach to identifying conflicting intervals for temporally inconsistent propositions. The results help delineate the semantic difference between the classical and temporal inconsistency.
Molecular equilibrium with condensation

Minimization of the Gibbs energy of formation for species of chemical elements and compounds in their gas and condensed phases determines their relative abundances in a mixture in chemical equilibrium. The procedure is more general and more powerful than previous abundance determinations in multiphase astrophysical mixtures. Some results for astrophysical equations of state are presented, and the effects of condensation on opacity are briefly indicated.
Psychology made visual: the sandman overture by Neil Gaiman, J. H. Williams III and Dave Stewart

AbstractScott McCloud and Will Eisner based their foundational studies of graphic narrative aesthetics on black and white line drawing. Much of what provides character psychology in Gaiman's The Sa...
Dissociable Neural Systems for Recognizing Places and Navigating through Them

When entering an environment, we can use the present visual information from the scene to either recognize the kind of place it is (e.g., a kitchen or a bedroom) or navigate through it. Here we directly test the hypothesis that these two processes, what we call "scene categorization" and "visually-guided navigation", are supported by dissociable neural systems. Specifically, we manipulated task demands by asking human participants (male and female) to perform a scene categorization, visually-guided navigation, and baseline task on images of scenes, and measured both the average univariate responses and multivariate spatial pattern of responses within two scene-selective cortical regions, the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and occipital place area (OPA), hypothesized to be separably involved in scene categorization and visually-guided navigation, respectively. As predicted, in the univariate analysis, PPA responded significantly more during the categorization task than during both the navigation and baseline tasks, whereas OPA showed the complete opposite pattern. Similarly, in the multivariate analysis, a linear support vector machine achieved above-chance classification for the categorization task, but not the navigation task in PPA. By contrast, above-chance classification was achieved for both the navigation and categorization tasks in OPA. However, above-chance classification for both tasks was also found in early visual cortex and hence not specific to OPA, suggesting that the spatial patterns of responses in OPA are merely inherited from early vision, and thus may be epiphenomenal to behavior. Together, these results are evidence for dissociable neural systems involved in recognizing places and navigating through them.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It has been nearly three decades since Goodale and Milner demonstrated that recognizing objects and manipulating them involve distinct neural processes. Today we show the same is true of our interactions with our environment: recognizing places and navigating through them are neurally dissociable. More specifically, we found that a scene-selective region, the parahippocampal place area, is active when participants are asked to categorize a scene, but not when asked to imagine navigating through it, whereas another scene-selective region, the occipital place area, shows the exact opposite pattern. This double dissociation is evidence for dissociable neural systems within scene processing, similar to the bifurcation of object processing described by Goodale and Milner (1992).
Effects of a topical botanically-enriched salve on cutaneous oxygenation.

Objective There is a medical need to evaluate new treatments that may improve wound healing. This study aimed to determine if Original Healing Salve (OHS, Puremedy, Inc.) a topical, botanically-enriched salve (BES), changes distal leg tissue oxygenation in people with type 2 diabetes. Method A randomised, controlled, crossover, double-blinded clinical trial comparing changes in cutaneous oxygen delivery (mean TcPO2) on multiple sites of the lower extremity following application of a botanically-enriched topical salve, as compared with application of the salve's base in patients with type 2 diabetes. Subjects were recruited from the general population as a convenience sample. Results A total of 16 participants were recruited. Analysis of the primary outcome demonstrated no statistically significant difference in TcPO2 at 30 minutes postapplication when comparing the BES to the base salve (BS) on the leg (-0.39±8.54mmHg; p=0.86). Analyses of secondary outcomes at 30 minutes postapplication indicated that mean TcPO2 was significantly higher than preapplication levels among subjects receiving both the BES (3.70±6.62mmHg; p=0.04) and BS on the leg (4.08±5.21mmHg; p=0.007). On the foot, mean TcPO2 at 30 minutes postapplication was higher in the BES compared with the BS, this difference was not significant (0.98±8.59mmHg; p=0.66). Mean TcPO2 was higher than preapplication levels among subjects receiving both the BES (1.21±7.70mmHg; p=0.54) and BS on the foot (2.19±7.27mmHg; p=0.25). These differences were non-significant. Conclusion These findings support consideration of topical treatments containing botanical ingredients to increase cutaneous oxygen delivery in the lower extremity in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Abdominal Compliance and Laparoscopy: A Review.

Background and objectives Creating and maintaining a pneumoperitoneum to perform laparoscopy is governed by gas laws and the limiting physical constraints of the abdomen. Methods A review of how gas, biomechanical and physical properties affect the abdomen and a systematic structured Medline and PubMed search was conducted to identify relevant studies related to the topic. Results Abdominal compliance is a measure of ease of abdominal expansion and is determined by the elasticity of the abdominal wall and diaphragm. It is the change in intra-abdominal volume per change in intra-abdominal pressure. Caution should be exercised with pressures exceeding 12 millimeters mercury since this is defined as intra-abdominal hypertension. Conclusions Abdominal compliance has its limits, is unique for each patient and pressure-volume curves cannot be easily predicted. Using the lowest possible pressure to accomplish the surgical task without compromising surgical outcome is the desired goal. The clinical importance is caution and knowing there is a point where more pressure does not increase working space and only increases pressure.
Tissue-specific quantification and localization of androgen and estrogen receptors in prostate cancer.

Summary Androgens and estrogens, working together, promote prostate cancer (PRCA) initiation and progression, with androgens acting via androgen receptor (AR) and estrogens acting primarily through estrogen receptor α (ERα). While the interplay between these steroid hormones has been established, the interaction between steroid hormone receptors in prostatic disease remains unstudied. The goal of this study was to objectively determine the incidence, stage specificity, and tissue/cell type specificity of AR and ERα expression, both independently and simultaneously, during the progression of PRCA. Using multiplexed immunohistochemistry and multispectral imaging analysis, AR, ERα, and smooth muscle α-actin expression was detected and quantitated in benign prostate tissue (BPT), high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), PRCA, and metastasis (MET) from patient specimens (n = 340). Epithelial AR expression was significantly increased in HGPIN, PRCA, and MET compared with BPT, whereas ERα expression in epithelial and stromal cells was highest in HGPIN. With analysis of AR and ERα coexpression, we identified a unique population of double-positive (AR+/ERα+) cells that increased in HGPIN specimens in both the stroma and the epithelium. Double-negative (AR−/ERα−) cells significantly decreased across PRCA progression, from 65% in BPT to 30% in MET. Preliminary analysis of this AR+/ERα+ population indicates potential cell type specificity in smooth muscle α-actin–negative stromal cells. This study demonstrates stage-, tissue-, and cell type–specific AR and ERα expression changes during PRCA progression, both independently and coexpressed. A more complete understanding of steroid hormones and their receptors in the initiation and progression of prostatic disease may elucidate improved strategies for PRCA prevention or therapy.
Identification of Collagenolytic Bacteria in Human Samples: Screening Methods and Clinical Implications for Resolving and Preventing Anastomotic Leaks and Wound Complications.

BACKGROUND:Bacteria that produce collagen-digesting enzymes (collagenolytic bacteria) have been shown to play a critical and previously unappreciated role in anastomotic leak pathogenesis by breaking down host tissue extracellular matrix proteins. Detection of these bacteria is labor intensive, and
Conceptual Frameworks in Scientific Inquiry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Approach to Pesticide Toxicity (1948–1968)

This article examines the rise of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) small but influential program on the human toxicology of synthetic pesticides after World War II. For nearly 20 years, scientists working in the CDC's Toxicology Section conducted a range of laboratory, field, and clinical studies to assess whether pesticides, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), caused harm to humans. Applying an industrial hygiene approach to study pesticide toxicity, the team used the symptoms of poisoning as their criteria for harm and consistently found that, when used as intended, pesticides were generally safe for humans. In the post-Silent Spring era, these findings were increasingly challenged as the field of toxicology developed and different ways of understanding pesticide toxicity gained greater acceptance. While it is easy to dismiss the CDC's findings as excessively narrow, examining how the team arrived at their conclusions provides an instructive lesson about the powerful ways conceptual frameworks shape scientific inquiry and the unexpected ways data can be reinterpreted in different problem contexts. (Am J Public Health. 2019;109:1548-1556. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305260).
SOD2 acetylation and deacetylation: Another tale of Jekyll and Hyde in cancer.

Subsets of highly invasive, therapy-resistant tumor cells contribute to the development of metastasis and treatment failures. Recent evidence suggests that these tumor cell subsets are enriched for cancer stem cells (CSCs) (1⇓–3). Similar to nonneoplastic stem cells, CSCs express specific markers and transcription factors and can self-renew or differentiate. For example, breast CSCs are identified as positive for CD44, ALDH1 activity, and/or expressing SOX2, OCT4, or Nanog (4). Compared to bulk tumor cells, CSCs are often more resistant to cell death, including that induced by chemo- or radiotherapy. Furthermore, CSCs are metabolically plastic with different redox states associated with epithelial- or mesenchymal-like breast CSCs (5). Hypoxia is an important inducer of CSC phenotypes, and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 2α is known to mediate OCT4 up-regulation (6⇓⇓–9). Importantly, CSCs are enriched for the ability to propagate tumors in immunocompromised mice, accounting for their alternative designation as tumor-initiating cells. However, this name should not imply that the CSC/tumor-initiating cell is the cell of origin for the cancer. While it is true that stem cell acquisition of mutations can lead to tumorigenesis, the CSC hypothesis indicates the importance of targeting the existing population of cancer cells with stem cell-like characteristics in order to prevent disease recurrence. Thus, understanding how CSC function and survival are controlled is important. In PNAS, He et al. (10) extend previous findings (11, 12) and further establish a causal relationship between manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2) overexpression and CSC formation, and provide a mechanism that explains this association involving acetylated SOD2, increased mitochondrial H2O2, and HIF2α expression. Changes in metabolism, bioenergetics, and redox signaling are established hallmarks of cancer. Within this framework, the role of SOD2, which works in the mitochondria to catalyze the oxidation and reduction (dismutase activity) … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: rakeshp{at}uab.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Disparities in risk perception of thyroid cancer recurrence and death.

BACKGROUND To the authors' knowledge, studies regarding risk perception among survivors of thyroid cancer are scarce. METHODS The authors surveyed patients who were diagnosed with differentiated thyroid cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries of Georgia and Los Angeles County (2632 patients; 63% response rate). The analytic cohort was defined by a ≤5% risk of disease recurrence and mortality (1597 patients). Patients estimated their recurrence and mortality risks separately (increments of 10% and endpoints of ≤5% and ≥95%). Both outcomes were dichotomized between reasonably accurate estimates (risk perception of ≤5% or 10%) versus overestimation (risk perception of ≥20%). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with risk overestimation, and the relationships between overestimation and both worry and quality of life were evaluated. RESULTS In the current study sample, 24.7% of patients overestimated their recurrence risk and 12.5% overestimated their mortality risk. A lower educational level was associated with overestimating disease recurrence (≤high school diploma: odds ratio [OR], 1.64 [95% CI, 1.16-2.31]; and some college: OR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.02-1.81]) and mortality (≤high school diploma: OR, 1.86 [95% CI, 1.18-2.93]) risk compared with those attaining at least a college degree. Hispanic ethnicity was found to be associated with overestimating recurrence risk (OR, 1.44, 95% CI 1.02-2.03) compared with their white counterparts. Worry about recurrence and death was found to be greater among patients who overestimated versus those who had a reasonably accurate estimate of their risk of disease recurrence and mortality, respectively (P < .001). Patients who overestimated mortality risk also reported a decreased physical quality of life (mean T score, 43.1; 95% CI, 41.6-44.7) compared with the general population. CONCLUSIONS Less educated patients and Hispanic patients were more likely to report inaccurate risk perceptions, which were associated with worry and a decreased quality of life.
Carapacial Shell Disease Process Revealed by a Long-term Field Study of the Yellow Mud Turtle, Kinosternon flavescens, in Texas

Abstract While shell diseases may be often encountered in captive aquatic turtles maintained in less than optimum conditions, cases of nonulcerating shell disease in wild populations are rare. We d...
Public opinion and the death penalty in Japan

Based on the Japanese General Social Survey conducted in 2010 on a representative sample of adults, the present analysis intends to identify the factors more likely to predict variations in death p...
Evaluating the effectiveness of traumatic brain injury state laws among high school athletes

Traumatic brain injury legislation varies across states. A comprehensive nationwide evaluation of state traumatic brain injury laws is vital given growing populations of high school athletes. This study evaluates the effectiveness of traumatic brain injury laws by examining longitudinal trends in incident and recurrent concussion rates and determines if state level variations in legislation’s language affected the observed trends. In this retrospective ecological study of a large national sample of US high schools from 2005/06 through 2017/18, piecewise regression models along with a profile likelihood approach were utilized to examine longitudinal trends in incident and recurrent concussion rates. Overall incident concussion rates increased by an additional 1.85%/standardized month (STDM) (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 2.56%) prior to law passage and decreased by an additional 1.08%/ STDM (95%CI: − 1.43, − 0.72%) after law passage. Similar trends were observed for overall recurrent concussion rates. Among states that specified the category of healthcare provider for return to play clearance, post-law recurrent concussion rates decreased on average by an additional 1.59%/STDM (95%CI: − 3.42, 0.22%) compared to states that did not specify the category of healthcare provider. The passage of state level traumatic brain injury laws was associated with an increase in overall incident and recurrent concussion rates prior to law passage and a decrease in rates after law passage. Although not statistically significant, states with traumatic brain injury laws specifying the category of healthcare provider for return to play clearance had a greater rate of decline in post-law recurrent concussion rates compared to states not specifying the category of healthcare provider. The findings suggest that state traumatic brain injury laws may benefit from specifying the category of healthcare provider allowed to provide return to play clearance, if they do not already include such language.
Communicable Diseases as Occupational Hazards for Agricultural Workers: Using Experience Sampling Methods for Promoting Public Health

Vector-borne communicable diseases cause more than 700,000 deaths annually (World Health Organization, 2019). Despite various efforts, there has been no change in mortality rates due to communicabl...
Chapter 10 – Zinc Phosphate Ceramics

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on zinc phosphate ceramics. Zinc phosphate dental cements have been discovered over a century ago, and their development has continued since then. This chapter presents the earlier work in light of the solubility characteristics of zinc oxide and its products in an acid phosphate solution. Roastaing's patents are the first documents that provide formulations, in which zinc oxide is reacted with phosphoric acid to produce dental cements. The purpose behind much of the research is to find ways to retard the fierce reaction between these components so that practical cements can be developed. The role of aluminum in the zinc phosphate cements was considered very important. Aluminum oxide greatly moderated the reaction of zinc oxide and phosphoric acid, and this effect has been attributed to the formation of an aluminum phosphate gelatinous coating on zinc oxide particles. Another major development in zinc phosphate cement is zinc silicophosphate. Mixing aluminosilicate glass and zinc oxide, and then reacting the mixture with phosphoric acid produced this cement. Its properties lie between those of zinc phosphate and silicate cements. This chapter concludes that the ultimate compressive strength of zinc phosphate cements is higher than that of magnesium phosphate cements. Zinc phosphate samples are cast in a very small size as dental cements, while magnesium phosphate cements are used in bulk scale. Because large ceramics and cement casts tend to have more flaws, their strength is expected to be lower.
Research Review: Brain network connectivity and the heterogeneity of depression in adolescence - a precision mental health perspective.

Background Adolescence is a period of high risk for the onset of depression, characterized by variability in symptoms, severity, and course. During adolescence, the neurocircuitry implicated in depression continues to mature, suggesting that it is an important period for intervention. Reflecting the recent emergence of 'precision mental health' - a person-centered approach to identifying, preventing, and treating psychopathology - researchers have begun to document associations between heterogeneity in features of depression and individual differences in brain circuitry, most frequently in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC). Methods In this review, we present emerging work examining pre- and post-treatment measures of network connectivity in depressed adolescents; these studies reveal potential intervention-specific neural markers of treatment efficacy. We also review findings from studies examining associations between network connectivity and both types of depressive symptoms and response to treatment in adults, and indicate how this work can be extended to depressed adolescents. Finally, we offer recommendations for research that we believe will advance the science of precision mental health of adolescence. Results Nascent studies suggest that linking RSFC-based pathophysiological variation with effects of different types of treatment and changes in mood following specific interventions will strengthen predictions of prognosis and treatment response. Studies with larger sample sizes and direct comparisons of treatments are required to determine whether RSFC patterns are reliable neuromarkers of treatment response for depressed adolescents. Although we are not yet at the point of using RSFC to guide clinical decision-making, findings from research examining the stability and reliability of RSFC point to a favorable future for network-based clinical phenotyping. Conclusions Delineating the correspondence between specific clinical characteristics of depression (e.g., symptoms, severity, and treatment response) and patterns of network-based connectivity will facilitate the development of more tailored and effective approaches to the assessment, prevention, and treatment of depression in adolescents.
Local Interpretation of the Global Discourse of Sustainability and Sustainable Development in Rural Cambodia

In environmental discourse, sustainability and sustainable development are buzzwords. In practice, these goals are widely advocated by international agencies, governments, and local non-governmenta...