cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Menopausal syndrome: Plasma levels of β-endorphin in post-menopausal women measured by a specific radioimmunoassay

beta-Endorphin (beta-EP) levels were measured in 13 post-menopausal women (7 surgical, 6 physiological) using a new highly specific and accurate radioimmunoassay, and were found to be significantly lower than among 10 normally menstruating controls (48.6 +/- 13.8 pg/ml vs. 70.0 +/- 18 pg/ml, P less than 0.005). beta-EP levels were measured prior to and 5 days after surgery in 3 of the oophorectomized women, and were found to have decreased by an average of 41%. beta-EP levels were measured immediately after hot flashes experienced by 4 of the post-menopausal women during regular clinic visits, and were found to be significantly elevated above baseline levels (P less than 0.02). Our data confirmed the findings of Genazzani et al. [10], a significant lowering of beta-EP at menopause. Also, the data from the small number of beta-EP plasma levels we studied during hot flashes, suggests a possible role of beta-EP either directly or indirectly on the genesis of hot flashes.
MSG effects on beta-endorphin and alpha-MSH in the hypothalamus and caudal medulla

Abstract Monosodium glutamate (MSG) was given to neonatal male rats to determine its effects on neurons containing beta-endorphin (β-END) and alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) within the basal hypothalamus (arcuate nucleus) and caudal medulla [nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS)] and on the levels of β-END and α-MSH within these areas. Immunocytochemical studies demonstrated a reduction in the number of cells within the medial hypothalamic area (arcuate nucleus) amon MSG-treated animals versus saline controls. MSG did not reduce the number of cell bodies within the caudal medulla (NTS). MSG significantly reduced β-END and α-MSH immunoreactive levels in the basal hypothalamus as determined by radioimmunoassay. Whereas a significant reduction in the level of β-END occurred in the ventral caudal medulla (VCM), none occurred in the dorsal caudal medulla (DCM). In contrast, levels of α-MSH increased significantly in the DCM among animals receiving MSG compared to control animals. This study documents the contribution of beta-endorphin containing neurons of the basal hypothalamus to areas of the caudal medulla. The effect of MSG on beta-endorphin and α-MSH neurons in these areas and their differential effects on levels in the caudal medulla areas raises questions about the sites of origin of these peptides.
Making the Implicit Explicit in Assessing Multimodal Composition: Continuing the Conversation

This special issue features articles that can help composition instructors think about ways to assess student products that are delivered in a variety of media. Although the topic of assessment is a common one, challenges arise as we apply—and adapt—our traditional assessment strategies to the features and components of compositions produced using new media. It is our hope that by engaging with the experiences of the authors of the articles in this special issue, readers of this issue will begin a conversation—among themselves, with their students—that leads them to articulate, reflect upon, and continually refine the criteria that are essential to both formative and summative assessment.
RELATION BETWEEN THE WAIS AND THE KAHN TEST OF SYMBOL ARRANGEMENT.

Forty Ss participating in a biodynamic stress study were administered the WAIS and KTSA. Ss were further divided into two groups of 21 and 19 on the basis of their achieving a numerical score on th...
Millennial-aged organic carbon subsidies to a modern river food web

Recent studies indicate that highly aged material is a major component of organic matter transported by most rivers. However, few studies have used natural 14C to trace the potential entry of this aged material into modern river food webs. Here we use natural abundance 14C, 13C, and deuterium (2H) to trace the contribution of aged and contemporary organic matter to an important group of consumers, crustacean zooplankton, in a large temperate river (the Hudson River, New York, USA). Zooplankton were highly 14C depleted (mean Δ14C = −240‰) compared to modern primary production in the river or its watershed (Δ14C = −60‰ to +50‰). In order to account for the observed 14C depletion, zooplankton must be subsidized by highly aged particulate organic carbon. IsoSource modeling suggests that the range of the aged dietary subsidy is between ~57%, if the aged organic matter source was produced 3400 years ago, and ~21%, if the organic carbon used is ≥50 000 years in age, including fossil material that is millions of ...
Carbon suboxide in comet Halley

OBSERVATIONAL data acquired during the recent appearance of comet Halley pose a puzzle about the nature and distribution of elemental carbon and carbonaceous material in its nucleus and coma. The nucleus is darker even than coal (albedo <4%), suggesting that its volatile ices contain a few per cent of carbonaceous material in the form of graphitic or amorphous carbon. The very high abundance of light elements in the coma dust, particularly H, C, N and O, suggests the presence of a significant organic component. The emission feature near 3.4 μm also implies the presence of organic material in the dust. But the parent species for the primary carbon-containing material that have been identified so far (such as CO, CO_2 and CH_4) are not present in sufficient quantities to account for all of it. Here we propose that an additional contribution from carbon suboxide (C_3O_2) in the coma dust and the nucleus material is consistent with the observational data. A production rate in the coma for C_3O_2 of about 0.03–0.04 times that of water would provide the distributed source of elemental carbon and CO within 10^4 km of the nucleus that is required to explain the data from the Giotto spacecraft and from ground-based observations.
Mechanisms involved in the progression of androgen-independent prostate cancers: it is not only the cancer cell's fault.

The acquisition of an androgen-independent phenotype by prostate cancer cells is presently a death sentence for patients. In order to have a realistic chance of changing this outcome, an understanding of what drives the progression to androgen independence is critical. We review here a working hypothesis based on the position that the development of androgen-independent epithelial cells is the result of a series of cellular and molecular events within the whole tissue that culminates in the loss of normal tissue-maintained growth control. This tissue includes the epithelial and stromal cells, the supporting extracellular matrix and circulating hormones. This review discusses the characteristics of these malignant cells, the role of stromal cells involved in growth and the differentiation of epithelial cells, and the role of the extracellular matrix as a mediator of the phenotypes of stromal and epithelial cells. In addition, environmental, neuroendocrine and immune factors that may contribute to disturbance of the fine balance of the epithelial–stromal–extracellular matrix connection are considered. While the goal of many therapeutic approaches to prostate cancer has been androgen ablation or targeting the androgen receptor (AR) of epithelial cells, these therapies become ineffective as the cells progress beyond dependence on androgen for growth control. Twenty years ago Sir David Smithers debated that cancer is the result of loss of tolerance within tissues and the organizational failure of normal growth-control mechanisms. This is precipitated by prolonged or abnormal demands for regeneration or repair, rather than of any inherent disorder peculiar to each of the individual components involved. He wrote ‘It is not the cell itself that is disorderly, but its relationship with the rest of the tissue’. We have gained significantly large amounts of precise data on the effects of androgenic ablation on cancerous prostate cells and on the role of the AR in prostate cancer. The need has come to compile this information towards a perspective of dysregulation of tissue as a whole, and to develop experimental systems to address this broader perspective to find and develop therapies for treatment and prevention.
Error rate performance for coherent modulation techniques with switched and examine diversity combining over Weibull fading channels

In this paper, we evaluate the bit error rate (BER) performance of PSK modulation schemes over independent and identically distributed L branches Weibull fading channel with selection and examine combining (SEC) diversity technique. We use the probability density function (PDF) approach in the BER evaluation. The derived expression for the BER is obtained in terms of known functions that are easy to evaluate. Numerical results are presented for the BER as a function of the average SNR.
Distributed Adaptive Incremental Strategies: Formulation and Performance Analysis

An adaptive distributed estimation strategy is developed based on incremental gradient techniques. The proposed scheme addresses the problem of distributed linear estimation in a cooperative fashion, resulting in a distributed algorithm that can respond in real time to changes in the environment. Each node is allowed to communicate only with its immediate neighbor in order to exploit the spatial dimension while at the same time reducing the communications burden. A spatial-temporal energy conservation argument is used to evaluate the steady-state mean-square-error performance of the individual nodes across the adaptive distributed network. Computer simulations illustrate the results.
Error concealment for spatially Scalable Video Coding using hallucination

We propose a new error concealment method based on hallucination for Scalable Video Coding with spatial scalability. In this method, parts of the frames which lose the enhancement layer are up-sampled from base layer and “hallucinated” as concealment frames. The database for hallucination is generated from the high-resolution and low-resolution frame-pairs near the lost frames in the video sequence. The effectiveness of hallucination here lies in the similarity between the nearby frames in the video sequence. Experiments show that the proposed method has superior results over the state-of-the-art error concealment method for spatially Scalable Video Coding.
Axillary Node Staging for Microinvasive Breast Cancer: Is It Justified?

Background The natural history and role of axillary staging in microinvasive breast cancer (DCISM) remains controversial. We report clinical characteristics and outcome in patients with DCISM, focusing on the role of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy.
Learning from Difference: The New Architecture of Experimentalist Governance in the EU

This article argues that current widespread characterisations of EU governance as multi-level and networked overlook the emergent architecture of the EU's public rule making. In this architecture, framework goals (such as full employment, social inclusion, 'good water status', a unified energy grid) and measures for gauging their achievement are established by joint action of the Member States and EU institutions. Lower-level units (such as national ministries or regulatory authorities and the actors with whom they collaborate) are given the freedom to advance these ends as they see fit. But in return for this autonomy, they must report regularly on their performance and participate in a peer review in which their results are compared with those pursuing other means to the same general ends. Finally, the framework goals, performance measures, and decision-making procedures themselves are periodically revised by the actors, including new participants whose views come to be seen as indispensable to full and fair deliberation. Although this architecture cannot be read off from either Treaty provisions or textbook accounts of the formal competences of EU institutions, the article traces its emergence and diffusion across a wide range of policy domains, including telecommunications, energy, drug authorisation, occupational health and safety, employment promotion, social inclusion, pensions, health care, environmental protection, food safety, maritime safety, financial services, competition policy, state aid, anti-discrimination policy and fundamental rights.
Human limbal biopsy–derived stromal stem cells prevent corneal scarring

Conventional allograft therapy for corneal scarring is widespread and successful, but donor tissue is not universally available, and some grafts fail owing to rejection and complications such as endothelial failure. We investigated direct treatment of corneal scarring using autologous stem cells, a therapy that, if successful, could reduce the need for corneal grafts. Mesenchymal cells were expanded from small superficial, clinically replicable limbal biopsies of human cadaveric corneo-scleral rims. Limbal biopsy–derived stromal cells (LBSCs) expanded rapidly in media containing human serum, were highly clonogenic, and could generate spheres expressing stem cell genes (ABCG2, Nestin, NGFR, Oct4, PAX6, and Sox2). Human LBSCs differentiated into keratocytes expressing characteristic marker genes (ALDH3A1, AQP1, KERA, and PTGDS) and organized a thick lamellar stroma-like tissue containing aligned collagen and keratan sulfate proteoglycans when cultured on aligned nanofiber substrata. When engrafted into mouse corneal wounds, LBSCs prevented formation of light-scattering scar tissue containing fibrotic matrix components. The presence of LBSCs induced regeneration of ablated stroma with tissue exhibiting lamellar structure and collagen organization indistinguishable from that of native tissue. Because the limbus can be easily biopsied from either eye of an affected individual and LBSCs capable of corneal stromal remodeling can be expanded under xeno-free autologous conditions, these cells present a potential for autologous stem cell–based treatment of corneal stromal blindness.
Optimal Sensing Rate for Estimation over Shared Communication Links

In this paper we consider the problem of finding the optimal sensing rate for estimating an event over shared communication links. Since the communication link is shared between several systems sending their observations, not all observations can be sent to their respective estimators. To improve the performance of the estimator, we propose to oversample the event. In particular, we derive the minimum oversampling rate such that the maximum error covariance of the estimate is kept below the desired threshold. We derive a closed form equation for this minimum sampling rate that can be used in designing estimation techniques for systems with bandwidth constraints.
Positive and Negative Regulation of the γ-Secretase Activity by Nicastrin in a Murine Model *

Nicastrin is a component of the γ-secretase complex that has been shown to adhere to presenilin-1 (PS1), Notch, and APP. Here we demonstrate that Nicastrin-deficient mice showed a phenotype that is indistinguishable from PS1/PS2 double knock-out mice, whereas heterozygotes were healthy and viable. Fibroblasts derived from Nicastrin-deficient embryos were unable to generate amyloid β-peptide and failed to release the intracellular domain of APP- or Notch1-Gal4-VP16 fusion proteins. Additionally, C- and N-terminal fragments of PS1 and the C-terminal fragments of PS2 were not detectable in Nicastrin-null fibroblasts, whereas full-length PS1 accumulated in null fibroblasts, indicating that Nicastrin is required for the endoproteolytic processing of presenilins. Interestingly, cells derived from Nicastrin heterozygotes produced relatively higher levels of amyloid β-peptide whether the source was endogenous mouse or transfected human APP. These data demonstrate that Nicastrin is essential for the γ-secretase cleavage of APP and Notch in mammalian cells and that Nicastrin has both positive and negative functions in the regulation of γ-secretase activity.
Application of Nonlinear Constraints to Processing of Seismic Data: ABSTRACT

End_Page 1683------------------------------Astronomers Gull and Daniell have developed efficient noise-reduction techniques to enhance radio galaxy displays. They used the information theory notion of entropy with a chi-square constraint. In these conditions, the criterion derivatives provide separate equations to estimate each processed sample at a very fast computation rate. The chi-square constraint serves as a global constraint and ensures the continuity of the process over a given area and yields a confidence level for the results. The full confidence situation corresponds to the standard stack, whereas the zero confidence level corresponds to a flat distribution (trace). By slightly decreasing the confidence level from 100% confidence, meaningful noise reduction is achieved. This technique is applicable to the noise reduction of seismic data. At each time sample of a deconvolved gather, the mean and the standard deviation are associated within the chi-square constraint to generate a new stack estimator. Such a process may be effective in sharpening velocity analyses. This is shown on both synthetic and real data. This nonlinear constraint method can be advantageously compared with more classical semblance or coherency technique with respect to computer time and the number of selected parameters is minimum. Bryan and Skilling tried a new statistic in order to obtain a better distribution of noise residuals. The proposed solution consists of constraining the standardized and ordered residual components of the chi-square to fit a theoretical normal distribution. In fact, the solution can be made more general according to the noise distribution, inferred experimentally from the data. Attempts have been made to apply this technique to the same seismic data sets. The Gull and Daniell technique provided a first estimate, which served as a starting point for the second technique. Convergence was obtained after a few iterations and improvement of the solution with respect to a normal distribution was checked through a chi-square goodness-of-fit procedure. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1684------------
The specificity of fungous allergy

Abstract 1.1. The specificity of mold extracts, at least of species of Cladosporium, is demonstrated in a striking manner by intradermal tests made on four patients clinically sensitive to Cladosporium fulvum Cke. 2.2. In each of the four cases, asthma resulted from exposure to the spores of this mold, growing in a commercial tomato greenhouse. 3.3. Each patient reacted strongly to Cladosporium fulvum Cke. but showed little or no reaction to the other species of Cladosporium tested. Passive transfer of the skin test to normal persons was successful in each of the four cases. 4.4. The bearing of this finding on the study of fungous allergy is described.
Parapolystichum novoguineense (comb. nov.; Dryopteridaceae) from New Guinea

Recent phylogenetic analyses have recovered Lastreopsis sensu Tindale (1965) as paraphyletic with Coveniella Tindale, Megalastrum Holttum, Rumohra Raddi, and Oenotrichia tripinnata (F. Muell. ex Benth.) Copel. nested within it (Labiak et al. 2014a). Species of Lastreopsis sensu Tindale were resolved in two clades now recognized as Lastreopsis s.s. and Parapolystichum . Accordingly, Labiak et al. (2014b) made new combinations for Conveniella and Oenotrichia tripinnata in Lastreopsis , and for 27 species of Lastreopsis in Parapolystichum . Lastreopsis s.s. now comprises 16 species, placed into two subgenera, subg. Lastreopsis and subg. Rhopalotricha (Labiak et al. 2015). Lastreopsis and Parapolystichum cannot always be distinguished from each other morphologically, therefore Labiak et al. (2014) refrained from making combinations for nine species that had not been included in their phylogenetic analysis, treating them as Incertae Sedis . We address one of those species here, Lastreopsis novoguineensis Holttum, which was described posthumously along with other novelties for the Flora Malesiana (Holttum, 1991). Here, we place Lastreopsis novoguineensis within a phylogenetic framework based on Labiak et al. (2014a) and resolve its taxonomic status based on these findings.
Reaping What Bush Sowed

I examine and document how the Endless Frontier changed the research landscape at universities and how universities responded to the initiative. I show that the agencies it established and funded initially recruited research proposals from faculty and applications from students for fellowships and scholarships. By the 1960s the tables had begun to turn and universities had begun to push for more resources from the federal government for research, support for faculty salary and research assistants and higher indirect costs. The process transformed the relationship between universities and federal funders; it also transformed the relationship between universities and faculty. The university research system that has grown and evolved faces a number of challenges that threaten the health of universities and the research enterprise and have implications for discovery and innovation. Five are discussed in the closing section. They are (1) a proclivity on the part of faculty and funding agencies to be risk averse; (2) the tendency to produce more PhDs than the market for research positions demands; (3) a heavy concentration of research in the biomedical sciences; (4) a continued expansion on the part of universities that may place universities at increased financial risk and (5) a flat or declining amount of federal funds for research.
Cholesterol homeostasis in the retina: seeing is believing

The means by which various tissues throughout the body maintain a particular steady-state level of cholesterol—balancing de novo synthesis, uptake of exogenous cholesterol from circulating lipoproteins, and export of cholesterol from the tissue to the circulation—is a complex process known as cholesterol homeostasis [reviewed in (1, 2)]. The set point for cholesterol varies from one tissue to the next and may be influenced significantly by numerous factors, including species, age, sex, genetics, nutritional status, diurnal and circadian rhythms, and epigenetic factors [reviewed in (1–6)]. Whereas oxidized derivatives of cholesterol and biogenically related sterols (oxysterols) historically have been considered to play a major role in cholesterol homeostasis in vivo (5), the results of more recent studies have challenged this concept [see (7)]. In the brain, cholesterol homeostasis is complicated further by the fact that, unlike most extrahepatic tissues, its ability to take up cholesterol from circulating lipoproteins is stringently curtailed by the blood-brain barrier [reviewed in (8)]. Also, unlike most other tissues, the lifetime of cholesterol in the brain is extraordinarily long: some cholesterol molecules in the brain can persist for years instead of hours or days. Despite the fact that brain cholesterol has been characterized as having “a long secret life” (8), the life of cholesterol in the retina is even more secretive. Although the retina is a bona fide part of the central nervous system and an extension of the brain, comparatively little is known about the synthesis and turnover of cholesterol in the retina or about the cellular and molecular regulatory mechanisms that govern cholesterol homeostasis in the retina, compared with the brain [reviewed in (9–11)].
When Positive Sentiment is Not so Positive: Textual Analytics and Bank Failures

We extend beyond healthiness assessment of banks using quantitative financial data by applying textual sentiment analysis. Looking at 10-K annual reports for a large sample of banks in the 2000-2014 period, 52 public bank holding companies that were associated with bank failures during the global financial crisis serve as a natural experiment. Utilizing negative and positive dictionaries proposed by Loughran and McDonald (2011), we find that both sentiments on average discriminate between failed and non-failed banks 80% of the time. However, we find that positive sentiment contains stronger predictive power than negative sentiment; out of ten failed banks, on average positive sentiment can identify seven true events, whereas negative sentiment identifies five failed banks at most. While one would link financial soundness with more positive sentiment, it appears that failed banks exhausted more positive sentiment than their non-failed peers, whether ex-ante in anticipation of good news or ex-post to conceal financial distress.
Influencing factors associated with multi- partner homosexual behaviors among MSM

Objective To understand the situation of multi- partner homosexual behavior among men who have sex with men( MSM),and explore the influencing factors associated with the number of sex partners among MSM. Methods Anonymous questionnaire which include data of population demography,number of sexual partners and other information was conducted among MSM in downtown area of Lu'an city by using " Snowball" sampling. Database was established by EpiData 3. 1 and data were analyzed by SPSS 18. 0. Results 59. 5% of MSM reported having had more than 2 sex partner for anal sex,Univariate analysis showed the HIV risk perception(χ2= 4. 946,P = 0. 026) was the influencing factor. The logistic regression analysis indicated that the HIV risk perception( Impossible and little possible)( OR = 2. 091,95% CI: 1. 084 ~ 4. 035) was the independent risk factor for anal sex multi- partner; 56. 3% of MSM reported having had more than 2 sex partner for oral sex,which was associated with age(χ2= 3. 456,P = 0. 036),HIV knowledge(χ2= 4. 52,P = 0. 034) and whether there being female partner(χ2= 8. 071,P = 0. 04). The logistic regression analysis indicated that there being female partner( OR = 0. 278,95% CI: 0. 11 ~ 0. 702) was the independent risk factors for oral sex multi- partner. Conclusion Intervention services had not exerted obvious impacts on multiple male sex- partners,intervention targeted to improvement of HIV risk perception might be helpful to reducing the risk of being infected.
The effect of antibiotic prophylaxis on the healing of exit sites of peritoneal dialysis catheters in rats.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the influence of intraperitoneal (IP) antibiotic (AB) prophylaxis on the quality of healing and infection rates of exit sites in peritoneal dialysis catheters.Study DesignTwent...
Influence of acute stress on decision outcomes and heuristics.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to examine the take-the-first (TTF) heuristic and decision outcomes in sports under conditions of no, mental, and physical stress. METHODS Participants (N.=68) performed 8 video decision-making trials under each of 3 stress conditions: no stress (counting backwards), mental stress (mental serial subtraction), and physical stress (running on treadmill at 13 RPE). Prior to each decision-making trial, participants were exposed to 30 seconds of stress. The decision-making task required participants to watch a video depicting an offensive situation in basketball and then decide what the player with the ball should do next. RESULTS No differences were found between the 3 stress conditions on TTF frequency, number of options generated, quality of first generated option, or final decision quality. However, participants performing under conditions of no stress and physical stress generated their first option and made their final decision faster than they did when making decisions under mental stress. CONCLUSIONS Overall, results suggest that mental stress impairs decision speed and that TTF is an ecologically rationale heuristic in dynamic, time-pressured situations.
Long-term differential modulation of genes encoding orexigenic and anorexigenic peptides by leptin delivered by rAAV vector in ob/ob mice. Relationship with body weight change

Abstract We investigated the long-term effects of physiological levels of leptin produced by gene therapy on body weight (BW) and expression of genes that encode orexigenic and anorexigenic peptides in the hypothalamus. Recombinant adeno-associated viral vector (rAAV), a non-pathogenic and non-immunogenic vector, encoding leptin (βOb) was generated and administered iv to ob/ob mice lacking endogenous leptin. Whereas the lowest dose of rAAV-βOb (6×10 9 particles) was ineffective, the middle dose (6×10 10 particles) curbed BW gain without affecting food consumption for 75 days of observation. A ten-fold higher dose (6×10 11 particles) resulted in increased blood leptin levels and suppressed both BW gain and food consumption throughout the duration of the experiment. rAAV-βOb doses that either curbed BW without affecting food consumption or evoked BW loss and reduced food intake, decreased the expression of genes encoding the orexigenic peptides, neuropeptide Y and agouti-related peptide in the ARC, and the two doses were equally effective. Concomitantly, the expression of genes encoding the anorexigenic peptide, α-melanocyte stimulating hormone and cocaine-and-amphetamine regulatory transcript, was augmented with the latter gene displaying a dose-dependant response. These results document the efficacy of delivering biologically active leptin for extended periods by an iv injection of rAAV-βOb and show that physiological leptin concentrations simultaneously exert a tonic inhibitory effect on orexigenic and a stimulatory effect on anorexigenic signaling in the hypothalamus. This intricate dynamic interplay induced by leptin regulates BW with or without an effect on food intake in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. Further, these results suggest that gene therapy is an effective mode of delivery to the hypothalamus of those therapeutic proteins that cross the blood–brain barrier to ameliorate neuroendocrine disorders.
Modification of the excised teat germicidal activity assay

The Excised Teat Assay is an in vitro germicidal activity assay for evaluation of bovine teat sanitizers. The rinse procedure of this assay was modified and compared to the standard method. The rinse modification used an ultrasonic cleaner to vibrate the quencher solution to remove bacteria from excised teats after challenge. In alternating trials, bacteria were rinsed from teats by the standard procedure or by the ultrasonic procedure. A 1% iodine based teat sanitizer, a chlorhexidine based teat sanitizer, and a negative control were used in the study. Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29740) was used as the challenge organism. No significant differences were obtained by analysis of variance when comparing procedures or in comparing procedures within treatments when an experienced technician conducted the procedure. When an inexperienced technician conducted the procedure, significant differences were obtained between procedures and within treatments when comparing procedures. The modified rinse procedure provided more consistent results than the standard rinse procedure when used by an inexperienced technician.
Measurement and Modeling of Carbon Monoxide Emission Rates from Multiple Wood Pellet Types

There is a potential hazard associated with bulk storage of wood pellets because they have been shown to off-gas carbon monoxide (CO). The risk to building occupants from the emission of and exposure to CO from stored pellets has not yet been fully studied. The present study was designed to measure the emission rates from wood pellets and develop a model to predict the CO emission rate. The 20 gallon steel drums were filled to approximately 50% of their volume with wood pellets and CO, and oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature (T), and relative humidity (RH) were measured as a function of time. A variety of conditions were tested including the type of wood, age of the pellets, volume of the headspace, humidity, surface/volume ratio, and temperature. An improved kinetic model was developed to predict the CO emission rate. The model assumes that the reaction generating CO is surface-area-limited. The measurements were well-fit by the mathematical model (R2 in the range of 0.93–0.99), suggesting tha...
Isolated Transverse Process Fractures: A Systematic Analysis

Objective To review the literature on isolated transverse process fractures (ITPFs) and provide evidence for the current practice of conservative management. Methods The PubMed database was searched for published literature related to ITPFs. Baseline patient (age, sex, presentation, and mechanism of injury) and fracture (number of fractures, level, and single or multisegmental) characteristics were extracted. Management and outcomes were also recorded. Statistical comparisons were ascertained through n–1 Pearson χ 2 tests. Results A total of 4 studies comprised of 398 patients with 819 ITPFs were evaluated. Mean age was 33.5 years (69% men and 31% women). No patients presented with neurologic deficits. The most common mechanism of injury was motor vehicle accident (MVA), followed by fall. MVAs were more commonly the cause of ITPFs in pediatric versus adult patients (88% vs. 65%, respectively; P = 0.0001). Falls were more commonly the cause of ITPFs in adults than in children (18% vs. 9%, respectively; P = 0.05). Management strategies involved unrestricted movement, bracing, and orthotics. Radiologic evidence of spinal instability or deformity was not reported in any of the cases. Mean follow-up was 20.5 months. Conclusions Our data suggests that nonsurgical management of ITPFs leads to complete resolution of the fracture without evidence of permanent neurologic deficit or spinal instability. However, interpretation of our results is limited by the paucity of meaningful literature reporting on long-term outcomes. Nevertheless, the results provide support for conservative management and highlight the existing need to identify markers or scenarios where the diagnosis of ITPF is actually likely to be erroneous.
Effect on patient care of repeat pathologic review for breast cancer.

6599 Background: Many cancer centers routinely re-review outside pathologic specimens. We hypothesized re-review rarely changes patient treatment plans. Methods: Of 1495 patients seen at the University of Virginia with a diagnosis of breast cancer from 2006-2011, the 276 cases with both internal and outside pathology reports comprised the study cohort. Interobserver agreement (kappa coefficient, K) between internal and outside diagnoses were calculated for histopathology, lymph node, margin, ER/PR, and HER2 status. We then evaluated if the change would result in a change in therapy or surveillance per the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. The effect of region and teaching affiliation of outside institutions was explored. Results: For the 276 cases with re-reviewed pathology at UVA there was absolute agreement for ER/PR and surgical margins, and excellent agreement for lymph node, K= 0.93, and histopathology, K=0.93. Agreement was good for HER2, K=0.83. 3 cases were changed from HER2...
Somatic Mutational Landscape of AML with Inv(16) and t(8;21) Identifies Two Distinct Patterns in Relapse Tumors

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease with a wide prognostic spectrum ranging from poor to good depending upon the underlying mutations and/or cytogenetic abnormalities. Although AMLs with inv(16)/t(16:16) or t(8,21), collectively referred to as core binding factor leukemias (CBF-AMLs), are classified as prognostically favorable, such patients often succumb to their disease following relapse after an initial response to cytarabine/anthracyclin-based treatment regimens. Thus, to develop successful treatment strategies, it is critical to understand the mechanisms leading to disease relapse and target them with novel therapeutic approaches. To pursue this goal, we applied genomic approaches (whole exome sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism arrays) on DNA from samples collected at sequential time points (i.e., diagnosis, complete remission and relapse) in seven patients with inv(16) and six patients with t(8;21). We identified mutations in several previously identified AML driver genes, such as KIT, FLT3, DNMT3A, EZH2, SMC1A, SMC3, WT1 and NRAS. Three relapse samples showed mosaicism for monosomy/disomy of the region of chromosome 3 containing GATA2. Overall, our data revealed two distinct profiles that support different mechanisms of relapse: 1) diagnosis and relapse blasts harbor the same driver gene mutations, indicating the intrinsic resistance of the major clones present at diagnosis to treatment regimen used; 2) diagnosis and relapse tumors have different driver gene mutations, indicating disease clonal evolution possibly through treatment selective pressure. Furthermore, our data has identified previously unreported putative driver genes for AML. Among these, we identified same somatic variant (R222G) in DHX15, an RNA helicase involved in splicing, in two patients at diagnosis. The variant was also detected at relapse in one of these patients. Functional validation of the mechanistic roles of wild type and mutated DHX15 in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis, respectively, is ongoing in in vitro and in vivo models. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Targeting the Stem Cell Properties of Adult Breast Cancer Cells: Using Combinatorial Strategies to Overcome Drug Resistance.

Cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. In aggressive cancers, which are heterogeneous in nature, there exists a paucity of targetable molecules that can be used to predict outcome and response to therapy in patients, especially those in the high-risk category with a propensity to relapse following chemotherapy. This review addresses the challenges pertinent to treating aggressive cancer cells with inherent stem cell properties, with a special focus on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Plasticity underlies the cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype in aggressive cancers like TNBC. Progenitors and CSCs implement similar signaling pathways to sustain growth, and the convergence of embryonic and tumorigenic signaling pathways has led to the discovery of novel oncofetal targets, rigorously regulated during normal development, but aberrantly reactivated in aggressive forms of cancer. Translational studies have shown that Nodal, an embryonic morphogen, is reactivated in aggressive cancers, but not in normal tissues, and underlies tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance. Front-line therapies do not inhibit Nodal, but when a combinatorial approach is used with an agent such as doxorubicin followed by anti-Nodal antibody therapy, significant decreases in cell growth and viability occur. These findings are of special interest in the development of new therapeutic interventions that target the stem cell properties of cancer cells to overcome drug resistance and metastasis.
On some experiments which delimit the utility of nonlinear programming methods for engineering design

A comprehensive comparative study of nonlinear programming algorithms as applied to engineering design is presented. Linear approximation methods, interior penalty function methods and exterior penalty function methods were tested on a set of thirty problems and were rated on their ability to solve problems within a reasonable amount of computational time. The effect of the problem parameters on the solution time for the various classifications of algorithms was studied. The variable parameters included the number of design variables, the number of inequality constraints, the number of equality constraints and the degree of nonlinearity of the objective function and constraints. Also a combined penalty function and linear approximation algorithm was investigated.
The Relationship between Parental Bonding and Sex Role Identification of Adult Males

SynopsisIn an effort to determine the relationship between subjects’ perceived parental bonding and current sex role identification, 369 men between the ages of 24 to 40 completed the Personal Attr...
Options for the Neponset

Remedial approaches and options for the Neponset River in Southeaster Massachusetts are described. The advantages of combining restoration, in particular restoration of the river as an ecological resource, with remediation is identified. Dredging and capping are identified as possible remedial approaches. Dredging in the small areas be hind the dams where PCBs are concentrated was identified as potentially very effective. Capping over larger areas requiring remediation was also identified as effective and also as contributing directly to improvement in habitat values for the river.
Pancreatic hormones in streptozotocin-diabetic rats

Pancreatic polypeptide (PP) levels of plasma and pancreas were studied in the rat after streptozotocin (STZ) injection. In 4 weeks of observation, plasma PP was elevated up to 4 times the control values with marked hyperglycemia and insulinopenia. At 4 weeks, intravenous (i.v.) glucose tolerance tests and i.v. insulin tolerance tests were performed. In the glucose tolerance test, control rats responded with a 10-fold increase in plasma insulin and 15% decrease in plasma PP levels, whereas STZ-diabetic rats produced no increase of plasma insulin and an approximately 50% reduction of plasma PP levels with marked hyperglycemia. In the insulin tolerance test, diabetic rats showed a marked increase in plasma PP levels and less increase in plasma insulin levels than the controls. In diabetic rats, pancreatic insulin levels were reduced to about 3.5% of control, whereas those of somatostatin (SRIF), PP and glucagon were elevated to 8.3, 2.7 and 1.4 times control, respectively. In a morphometric study, islet areas of diabetic rats were seen to be reduced to about 10% of control. With in vitro perfused pancreatic slices, STZ-diabetic pancreas released much more glucagon and PP than control pancreas. Thus, STZ injection in the rat caused marked beta-cell damage as well as hyperplasia of SRIF, PP and glucagon cells, with glucagon and PP hypersecretion.
The case for and concerns about continuous dopamine stimulation in Parkinson’s disease

Delivery of levodopa or other dopaminergic agents to the striatum is a critical determinant of the clinical response and may account for many of the fluctations in response (“on-off”). This should be manageable with innovative delivery systems for the drugs. However further studies are required to determine if continuous dopaminergic stimulation will be complicated by increased levels of drug metabolites or down regulation of dopaminergic neurotransmission.
The Use of Sets (and Other Extensional Entities) in the Analysis of Hylomorphically Complex Objects

Hylomorphically complex objects are things that change their parts or matter or that might have, or have had, different parts or matter. Often ontologists analyze such objects in terms of sets (or functions, understood set-theoretically) or other extensional entities such as mereological fusions or quantities of matter. I urge two reasons for being wary of any such analyses. First, being extensional, such things as sets are ill-suited to capture the characteristic modal and temporal flexibility of hylomorphically complex objects. Secondly, sets are often appealed to because they seem to contain their members. But the idea that sets do contain their members, in the ordinary sense of containment, is a substantive metaphysical position that makes analyses that rely on that idea for their plausibility much more metaphysically committing than is generally thought.
Two-pronged Cell Therapy: Engineering NK cells to target CD22 and redirect bystander T cells to CD19 for the adoptive immunotherapy of B-cell malignancies

CD19-CAR T cells have shown antitumor activity for B-cell derived malignancies, but they also have shown limitations regarding their toxicity and development of CD19- escape variants. Given their short lifespan and potent cytolytic function NK cells are attractive candidate effectors to express CARs. The goal of this project was to devise a strategy to genetically modify NKs that express a CAR to target CD22 and secrete a CD19-specific T-cell engager (CD19-ENG) to redirect T cells to B-cell leukemias. NKs were transduced with a retroviral vector encoding a CD22-CAR and/or CD19-ENG molecules. To mimic immune escape, CD19 or CD22 knockout (ko) leukemia cells (BV173) were generated. We performed coculture and cytotoxicity assays using CD22 and/or CD19+ targets with NKs +/− T cells. In the absence of T cells, CD22-CAR +/− CD19-ENG NK cells recognized tumor cells in an antigen-dependent manner as judged by cytokine production and tumor killing. Moreover, CD22 CAR +/− NK cells secreting engager molecules efficiently redirected T cells in the presence of CD19+ targets. In vivo, CD22-CAR/CD19-ENG NK cells recognized tumor cells in an antigen-dependent manner, redirected T cells to tumor cells, and induced significant regression of leukemia in xenograft models in comparison to mice treated with CD22-CAR NK cells or NK cells targeting irrelevant antigens. We have generated for the first time NK cells that kill B-cell malignancies through a CAR and simultaneously redirect bystander T cells to a 2nd B-cell antigen to enhance antitumor effects and prevent immune escape. Genetic modification of NK cells to enhance their antitumor activity and redirect bystander T cells may represent a promising addition to current cell therapies for B-cell malignancies.
Sports-related sternoclavicular joint injuries

Sports-related injuries to the shoulder are common causes of disability. Injuries to the sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) in sports are more rare, though have been reported in a small number of cases. SCJ injury classification is determined by the degree of joint displacement and direction of clavicular displacement. Direction of displacement is particularly important due to risk of injury to intrathoracic structures, which has the potential to result in fatal outcomes. These injuries are important to identify in athletes and can be difficult to assess on the field. Specific radiographic views and use of ultrasound can improve accuracy of diagnosis. Reduction of acute traumatic SCJ dislocations is recommended and may require open reduction in the case of posteriorly displaced dislocations. Surgical treatment is indicated in cases of persistent pain or significant compression to intrathoracic soft tissue structures. Long-term outcomes are generally favorable, and athletes are able to return to sport without functional limitations.
Estrogen Signaling in Endometrial Cancer: a Key Oncogenic Pathway with Several Open Questions

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological cancer in the developed world, and it is one of the few cancer types that is becoming more prevalent and leading to more deaths in the USA each year. The majority of endometrial tumors are considered to be hormonally driven, where estrogen signaling through estrogen receptor α (ER) acts as an oncogenic signal. The major risk factors and some treatment options for endometrial cancer patients emphasize a key role for estrogen signaling in the disease. Despite the strong connections between estrogen signaling and endometrial cancer, important molecular aspects of ER function remain poorly understood; however, progress is being made in our understanding of estrogen signaling in endometrial cancer. Here, we discuss the evidence for the importance of estrogen signaling in endometrial cancer, details of the endometrial cancer-specific actions of ER, and open questions surrounding estrogen signaling in endometrial cancer.