cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of naloxone on spatial learning and memory deficits following concussive brain injury in rats together with concentration of calcium in hippocampus CA3 pyramidal cells

AIM:To investigate the effects of naloxone,a competitive opioid receptor antagonist,on spatial learning and memory deficits following concussive brain injury in rats and its possible neural mechanism.MET- HODS:A metallic single pendulum-striker concussive device was used to duplicate the animal model of concus- sive brain injury in SD rats.Rats were randomly divided into three groups:sham injury group,brain concussion group,and naloxone treatment group.Spatial learning and memory abilities were evaluated with a series of train- ing tasks to find a hidden platform in Morris Water Maze on d 8-13 post-concussion.Laser scanning confocal microscope and Fluo-3 were used to measure intracellular calcium fluorescence pixel values of the hippocampus CA3 pyramidal cells.RESULTS:The escape latencies in brain concussion group were statistically longer than those in sham injury group(P＜0.01).The number of crossing the former site of the removed hidden platform in brain concussion group were statistically less than that in sham injury group(P＜0.01),and the fluorescence pixel value of intracellular calcium of hippocampus CA3 pyramidal cells in brain concussion group((3.0±s 0.6)×10~6)was significantly increased compared with sham injury group((1.0±0.3)×10~6)(P＜0.01).Mean- while,the escape latencies in naloxone treatment group were statistically shorter than those in brain concussion group(P＜0.01),the number of crossing the former site of the removed hidden platform in naloxone treatment group was statistically more than that in brain concussion group(P＜0.01),and the fluorescence pixel value of intracellular calcium of hippocampus CA3 pyramidal cells in naloxone treatment group((0.9±0.4)×10~6)was significantly decreased than that of the brain concussion group.CONCLUSION:Spatial learning and memory deficits were observed following concussive brain injury in rats,naloxone can attenuate this deficits.Its mecha- nism may be connected with the preventing calcium ion increase in hippocampus pyramidal cells.
Content Determination of Common Metal Elements in Qingre Jiedu Capsule by ICP-MS

OBJECTIVE:To establish the method for the content determination of 13 common metal elements,Fe,Cr,Mn,Ni,Cu,Zn,As,Ag,Cd,Sn,Sb,Ba,Pb,in Qingre jiedu capsule.METHODS:The samples were wet digested by concentrated nitric acid(HNO 3),and the contents of metal elements in wet digested samples were determined by ICP-MS.RESULTS:The linear correlative coefficients for the common 13 elements were higher than 0.999 0.The accuracy,precision and stability of the method were all in line with the standard;the validation method of certified reference substance the leaves of beech and tea was sound in accuracy and precision.The contents of Cu,As,Cd and Pb in 3 lots of Qingre jiedu capsules were 0.770 0,1.020 0,0.037 0,0.140 0 μg·g-1 ;0.830 0,1.050 0,0.034 0,0.410 0 μg·g-1 ;0.870 0,0.930 0,0.028 0,0.120 0 μg·g-1,respectively.The contents of Zn and Sn were 5.300 0,0.088 0 μg·g-1 ;4.710 0,0.168 0 μg·g-1 ;4.240 0,0.201 0 μg·g-1.CONCLUSION:The method is steady and reliable.The contents of Cu,As,Cd and Pb in 3 lots of capsules meet national quality standards of TCM.The contents of Zn and Sn are up to national food quality standards.TCM standard limit of other elements haven't been found.
Geometrodynamic Foundation of Classical Electrodynamics

We summarize how the Lorentz Force motio n observed in classical electrodynamics may be understood as geodesic motion derived by min imizing the variation of the proper time along the worldline of test charges in external pot entials, while the spacetime metric remains invariant under, and all other fields in spacetime remain independent of, any rescaling of the charge-to-mass ratio q/m. In order for this to occ ur, time is dilated or contracted due to attractive and repulsive electromagnetic interactions respecti vely, in very much the same way that time is dilated due to relative motion in special relativity, without contradicting the latter's well- corroborated experimental content. As such, it beco mes possible to lay an entirely geometrodynamic foundation for classical electrodyn amics in four spacetime dimensions.
An Exploratory Study of Products used for Enjoyment and Enhancement Purposes: II. Brand Importance, Inter and Intraclass Correlations

The relevance of maintenance and of enhancement functions as parameters relevant to persistence, loyalty or change in brand purchasing has been demonstrated by Woods and Osborne (1979) and further expanded by Woods (1980).
In defense of probability

In this paper, it is argued that probability theory, when used correctly, is suffrcient for the task of reasoning under uncertainty. Since numerous authors have rejected probability as inadequate for various reasons, the bulk of the paper is aimed at refuting these claims and indicating the scources of error. In particular, the definition of probability as a measure of belief rather than a frequency ratio is advocated, since a frequency interpretation of probability drastically restricts the domain of applicability. Other sources of error include the confusion between relative and absolute probability, the distinction between probability and the uncertainty of that probability. Also, the interaction of logic and probability is discusses and it is argued that many extensions of logic, such as "default logic" are better understood in a probabilistic framework. The main claim of this paper is that the numerous schemes for representing and reasoning about uncertainty that have appeared in the AI literature are unnecessary--probability is all that is needed.
Dipeptidyl Peptidase 2 - A Pro-Survival Molecule in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a unique malignancy characterized by persistent accumulation of quiescent B-cells. Disruption of survival pathways leads to apoptosis and renders CLL cells sensitive to chemotherapeutic agents. As clinical outcomes in CLL are heterogeneous, it is important to better predict prognosis in each individual case of the disease. In this respect, detection of somatic mutations in the immunoglobulin variable heavy chain (IgV H ) genes has become the gold standard. Overexpression of ZAP-70 (Zeta-chain associated protein kinase - 70 kDa) by CLL cells correlates with unmutated IgV H genes and predicts poor outcome in B-CLL. Dipeptidyl Peptidase 2 (DPP2) is a newly discovered serine protease which maintains lymphocytes in a quiescent state (G 0 ). In this study we investigated whether DPP2 is involved in cell cycle control in B-CLL. 38 patients with B-CLL and 20 healthy controls were included in the study. Median age of CLL patients was 67 years. Median time from diagnosis to enrollment in the study was 102 months. 21 patients (55.3%) received treatment before enrollment in the study. Standard Ficoll-Hypaque techniques were used to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors and CLL patients. CLL cells were isolated to >98% purity by means of a MoFlo using CD19−specific antibodies. Cells were treated with Val-boro-Pro, a pan-inhibitor of DPP, or with DPP2-specific inhibitor (DSI), incubated for 16 hours and stained with propidium iodide and Annexin V. Expression of CD38 was assessed by flow cytometry, DPP2 and ZAP-70 - by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, Bcl-2 and p27 - by western blot analysis. We report that CLL B-cells expressed higher levels of DPP2 mRNA than normal B-cells. Inhibition of DPP2 in PBMC with VbP or DSI resulted in caspase-dependent apoptosis. In individuals with CLL, death of B-lymphocytes (and rescue by caspase inhibitors) was observed in 22 cases (57.9%). In the remaining 16 cases (42.1%) malignant B-cells did not undergo apoptosis upon inhibition of DPP2 with either VbP or DSI. We found that CLL cells resistant to DPP2 inhibition-induced apoptosis expressed higher levels of ZAP-70. Meanwhile, protein levels of p27 (cell cycle inhibitor) were decreased in resistant CLL. These patients exhibited worse disease prognosis such as shorter treatment-free period (p 0 which may serve as a survival factor in CLL B-cells. Resistance vs. susceptibility to DPP2 inhibition-induced apoptosis can be employed as a prognostic factor in CLL.
Partnership for development: A peer mentorship model for PhD students

Formal mentoring relationships socialize Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students to their current and future roles as nursing scholars. Despite formal mentoring, some students may desire or benefit from additional mentoring in an informal setting. Informal mentoring complements the one-to-one relationship students develop with a primary faculty mentor or dissertation chair. This manuscript describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a student-driven, peer mentorship model, titled Partnership for Development. This small group, peer mentorship model was implemented in a PhD program at a School of Nursing during an academic year. Five student peer facilitators organized a total of 32 PhD students, 2 post-doctoral associates, and invited 5 faculty to participate. Data includes pre- and post-implementation surveys completed by the students and peer facilitator field notes. Student reported post-participation benefits included: getting to know faculty in an informal setting (n=6), socializing with students from other cohorts (n=6), and obtaining a sense of camaraderie with other PhD students (n=5). We recommend peer mentorship for other PhD programs as a way to socialize PhD students into the role of nurse scientist and assist students during their tenure as a PhD student.
The Counter-Warrant as a Negative Strategy: A Modest Proposal

In recent years affirmative plans have been considerably narrower in scope than the stated resolution. To affirm a resolution on the basis of a single unrepresentative example may be to commit the ...
Evidence of transcranial direct current stimulation-generated electric fields at subthalamic level in human brain in vivo.

Abstract Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising brain modulation technique for several disease conditions. With this technique, some portion of the current penetrates through the scalp to the cortex and modulates cortical excitability, but a recent human cadaver study questions the amount. This insufficient intracerebral penetration of currents may partially explain the inconsistent and mixed results in tDCS studies to date. Experimental validation of a transcranial alternating current stimulation-generated electric field (EF) in vivo has been performed on the cortical (using electrocorticography, ECoG, electrodes), subcortical (using stereo electroencephalography, SEEG, electrodes) and deeper thalamic/subthalamic levels (using DBS electrodes). However, tDCS-generated EF measurements have never been attempted. Objective We aimed to demonstrate that tDCS generates biologically relevant EF as deep as the subthalamic level in vivo . Methods Patients with movement disorders who have implanted deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes serve as a natural experimental model for thalamic/subthalamic recordings of tDCS-generated EF. We measured voltage changes from DBS electrodes and body resistance from tDCS electrodes in three subjects while applying direct current to the scalp at 2 mA and 4 mA over two tDCS montages. Results Voltage changes at the level of deep nuclei changed proportionally with the level of applied current and varied with different tDCS montages. Conclusions Our findings suggest that scalp-applied tDCS generates biologically relevant EF. Incorporation of these experimental results may improve finite element analysis (FEA)-based models.
The Controversial Therapies for Treating Learning Disabilities

Parents with children or adolescents who have disabilities want the best treatments. They are vulnerable to any person who reports having a quick solution and a possible cure. It is important that professionals be informed of these controversial therapies so that they can educate parents on what is known about these treatments. Such information is provided on the most frequently used controversial therapies.
Owners of Dance: How Dance Is Controlled and Whitewashed in the Teaching of Dance Forms

In this chapter, the appropriation of salsa, hip-hop, and the Lindy Hop are examined, as well as structures that maintain whiteness through systems of Dance Education in the United States. Counter-narratives are utilized to stand in opposition to historically inaccurate master stories such as the notion that ballet is the foundation of dance. These counter-narratives expose a history of cultural borrowing from under-resourced communities for capital gain, also described by Eric Lott (1995) as, “love and theft.” Critical Race Theory (CRT) is employed to orient readers to acute issues of ownership and race in the field of dance. Application of whiteness theory illuminates how systems of learning uphold an inequitable hegemony in dance. The various topics in dance explored in the text are woven together by the lived experiences of the author.
Patients' Socio-Economic Status, Tobacco and Medical History Associated with Implant Failure.

Objective To examine the potential association between patients' characteristics that experienced implant failure and those who had successful implant treatment. Materials and methods This retrospective case-control study is based on 186 dental records of implant failure and 186 age and gender matched successful treatments for a total of 372 patients. Age at the time of the procedure, gender, medical history, tobacco use, dental insurance status, ZIP code and type of treatment provided (implant failure/successful implant treatment) were recorded. Results The population consisted of 47.6% females, 48.9% individuals with dental insurance and 9.7% self-reported tobacco users. A statistically significant association (p≤0.05) was found between implant failure and successful implant treatment in regards to tobacco use, socio-economic status and medical history. Insurance status and implant location (region, arch) did not affect significantly (p>0.05) the outcome of implant therapy. Conclusions Within the limitation of this retrospective case-control study, individuals with high socio-economic status, no history of tobacco use and history of heart attack were more likely to have a successful implant treatment than those with a low socio-economic status, tobacco users and without history of heart attack.
Scientific explanation, unifying mathematics, and indispensability arguments (A new Cicada MES)

Indispensability arguments occupy a prominent role in discussions of mathematical realism. While different versions of these arguments are discussed in the literature, their general structure remains the same. These arguments contend that insofar as reference to mathematical objects is indispensable to science, we are committed to the existence of these ‘objects’. Unsurprisingly, much of the debate concerning indispensability arguments focuses on the crucial contention that mathematical objects are indispensable to science. For these arguments to provide support for mathematical realism, what we require are some compelling examples of mathematics playing an indispensable role in science. Towards this end, Alan Baker has supplied an example in which mathematics appears to be indispensable to a scientific explanation, what has come to be called the “Cicada MES”. This example has been the subject of much criticism, most notably that it depends on an unsupported empirical supposition. Recently, Baker proposed a number of revisions to the Cicada MES that aim to address some of these criticisms. In this paper, I argue that while Baker’s revisions go some way towards mitigating prominent criticisms of the Cicada MES, the underlying problem with the explanation remains. I argue that his revisions actually go in the wrong direction mathematically and empirically. In contrast, I propose a new Cicada MES. This new version accomplishes Baker’s goals and responds to the central objection to the explanation. It invokes a mathematical principle that plays a unifying role in the explanation, which makes providing adequate nominalist surrogates more difficult. And, more importantly, it accommodates an empirically grounded explanation of the phenomenon to be explained. Consequently, this new Cicada MES provides what proponents of indispensability arguments require, a compelling example of mathematics playing an indispensable role in science.
RF Photonic Equalization Using Stimulated Brillouin Scattering

We present a wideband and arbitrarily reconfigurable photonic solution to RF equalization using the nonlinear optical phenomenon of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). In this work, we equalize an RF photonic downconverter with optical signal processing to achieve a gain flatness of $ over 500 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth.
Etiology and disposition associated with radiology discrepancies on emergency department patients.

Abstract Background Diagnostic errors made by radiology resident physicians may lead to significant morbidity/mortality and patient dissatisfaction. Objective To determine the etiology and disposition associated with radiology discrepancies on emergency department (ED) patients. Methods We conducted a retrospective electronic chart review of patients presenting to our ED during “off hours” at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center during October 2013–November 2014 and had a radiology discrepancy, defined as a patient discharged from the ED with a diagnostic interpretation disagreement between the initial radiology resident physician read and final radiology attending physician read. Results 81,201 images were performed during “off hours”, with 174 radiology discrepancies (0.214%) identified. Most discrepancies were associated with CT scans (62%). The most common final diagnostic interpretations associated with discrepancies were missed fracture (10.9%), incidental findings of mass or cyst (10.3%), gastrointestinal inflammation (6.3%), and pneumonia (5.7%). 10% of radiology discrepancies were instructed to emergently return to the ED. The most common modality associated with ED follow-up was CT scan of the abdomen/pelvis (50%). Of the 17 patients that returned to the ED, 10 had additional diagnostic imaging, 9 received a subspecialist consult, 5 required surgical treatment, 5 required additional medications, and 1 required a medical hospitalization. Conclusions Based on our sample, discrepancies were a small percentage of images performed during “off hours”, and were associated with CT scans, missed fractures, and non-emergent outpatient follow-up. We suggest that ED and radiology departments work collaboratively to monitor their own rates of discrepancies, and subsequent morbidities and mortalities, to improve patient care.
Seasonal changes in light availability modify the temperature dependence of secondary production in an Arctic stream.

Light and temperature are key drivers of ecosystem productivity, but synchrony of their annual cycles typically obscures their relative influence. The coupling of annual light-temperature regimes also drives complementary seasonal cycles of energy supply (primary production) and demand (metabolism), perhaps promoting temporal stability in carbon (C) storage and food web production that may be difficult to discern in most ecosystems. Spring-fed streams in the Arctic are subject to extreme annual fluctuations in light availability but have relatively stable water temperatures, which allows assessment of the independent effects of light and temperature. We used the unusual annual light and temperature regimes of Ivishak Spring, Alaska, USA (latitude 69° N, annual water temperature range ~4-7°C) to test predictions about the effect of light availability on consumer productivity with minimally confounding effects of temperature. We predicted that (1) annual patterns of secondary production would follow patterns of primary production, rather than temperature, due to organic C limitation during winter darkness when photosynthesis is effectively halted, (2) C limitation would propagate from primary producers upward through several trophic levels, (3) the lack of temperature dependence during winter darkness would be expressed as anomalous Arrhenius plots of growth rates indicating decoupled production-temperature relationships, and (4) consumer diets would reflect C limitation during winter. As predicted, we found (1) lowest production by macroinvertebrates and Salvelinus malma (Dolly Varden char) at the lowest light levels rather than the lowest temperatures, (2) apparent winter C limitation propagated upward through three trophic levels, (3) anomalous Arrhenius plots indicating lack of temperature dependence of consumer growth rates during winter, and (4) lowest consumption of diatoms (by macroinvertebrates) and invertebrate prey (by S. malma) during winter. Together, these results indicate that light drives annual patterns of animal production in Ivishak Spring, with stable annual temperatures likely exacerbating C limitation of ectotherm metabolism during winter. The timing and severity of winter C limitation in this unusual Arctic-spring food web highlight a fundamental role for light-temperature synchrony in matching energy supply with demand in most other ecosystem types, thereby conferring a measure of stability in the metabolism of their food webs over annual time scales.
Substance use and inhalation injury in adult burn patients: retrospective study of the impact on outcomes

Substance use, alcohol use, and smoking use have all been associated with burn injury. Few studies have investigated associations with substances, alcohol, smoking, inhalational only burns, and patient outcomes. The purpose of the study was to identify risk factors for pulmonary failure in patients suffering inhalation injury, focusing on the impact of substance, alcohol, and cigarette use. This is a single-center retrospective analysis of 115 patients admitted to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center with inhalational injury from January 1, 2010, through September 30, 2018. Patients were excluded if they were under the age of 18 years or had burn involvement of the skin > 5%. Primary outcome variables measured were if patients were intubated, length of total time intubated, substance use, alcohol use, and smoking use. Secondary outcome variables measured were types of substances used (amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine, methadone, codeine/morphine), total number of substances used, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, secondary complications, and patient mortality. Analysis was performed with Fisher’s exact test and the Mann-Whitney U test. A sub-group analysis for each substance, alcohol, smoking, and control sub-group was compared to its respective sub-group without substance, alcohol, smoking, and control within the no intubation and intubation group. A sub-group analysis of substance use, alcohol use, smoking use, and control was further analyzed with binomial logistic regression within the intubation group. Following inhalation injury, 50/115 (43%) patients required intubation. Forty-two of the 50 (84%) patients intubated had substance use (p < 0.001). Thirty-one of the 50 (62%) patients intubated had history of smoking (p = 0.038). Among the specific substances used, 26/50 (52%) patients intubated were using benzodiazepines (p < 0.001) and 7/50 (14%) patients were using cocaine (p = 0.022). The lengths of intubation, ICU LOS, and hospital LOS with no substance use were shorter than with substance use (p < 0.001). Following the adjusted sub-group analysis, patients with substance use (odds ratio (OR) 6.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) [2.5–16.3]; p < 0.001) and smoking use (OR 2.5, 95% CI [1.2–5.1]; p = 0.013) were more likely to be intubated on admission than those without substance or smoking use. In patients admitted with an inhalational injury with less than or equal to 5% external burns, the presence of a substance and smoking use on admission provides a further risk of intubation and respiratory compromise. Substance use on admission poses a greater risk of longer intubation, ICU LOS, and hospital LOS. A higher potential for substance use should be suspected in this patient population with prompt treatment.
The Effects of the ACA Medicaid Expansion on Nationwide Home Evictions and Eviction-Court Initiations: United States, 2000–2016

Objectives. To evaluate the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions on national rates of home eviction and eviction initiation in the United States.Methods. Using nationally rep...
X-Ray Tomography

Doga Gursoy contributed to this chapter. Up until now we have concentrated on two-dimensional (2D) imaging of thin specimens. However, one of the advantages microscopy with X rays offers is great penetrating power. This means that X rays can image much thicker specimens than is possible in, for example, electron microscopy (as discussed in Section 4.10). For this reason, tomography (where one obtains 3D views of 3D objects) plays an important role in x-ray microscopy. There are entire books written on how tomography works [Herman 1980, Kak 1988], and on its application to x-ray microscopy [Stock 2008], so our treatment here will be limited to the essentials. Examples of transmission tomography images are shown in Figs. 12.1, 12.6, and 12.9, while fluorescence tomography is shown in Fig. 12.3. Our discussion of x-ray tomography will be carried out using several simplifying assumptions: • We will assume parallel illumination, even though there are reconstruction algorithms [Tuy 1983, Feldkamp 1984] for cone beam tomography where the beam diverges from a point source. • We will assume that we start with images that provide a linear response to the projected object thickness t ( x , y ) along each viewing direction. In the case of absorption contrast transmission imaging, this can be done by calculating the optical density D ( x , y ) = - ln[ I ( x , y )/ I 0 ] = μt ( x , y ) as given by Eq. 3.83, with μ being the material's linear absorption coefficient (LAC) of Eq. 3.75. In phase contrast imaging, one may have to use phase unwrapping [Goldstein 1988, Volkov 2003] methods to first obtain a projection image which is linear with the projected object thickness since (see Fig. 3.17). • We will assume that there is no spatial-frequency-dependent reduction in the contrast of image features as seen in a projection image. That is, we will assume that the modulation transfer function (MTF) is 1 at all frequencies u (see Section 4.4.7). One can always approach this condition by doing deconvolution (Section 4.4.8) on individual projection images before tomographic reconstruction, or building in an actual MTF estimate into optimization approaches (Section 8.2.1). • We will assume that the first Born approximation applies (Section 3.3.4): we can approximate the wavefield that reaches a downstream plane in a 3D object as being essentially the same as the wavefield reaching an upstream plane.
End-to-End Audiovisual Speech Recognition System With Multitask Learning

An automatic speech recognition (ASR) system is a key component in current speech-based systems. However, the surrounding acoustic noise can severely degrade the performance of an ASR system. An appealing solution to address this problem is to augment conventional audio-based ASR systems with visual features describing lip activity. This paper proposes a novel end-to-end, multitask learning (MTL), audiovisual ASR (AV-ASR) system. A key novelty of the approach is the use of MTL, where the primary task is AV-ASR, and the secondary task is audiovisual voice activity detection (AV-VAD). We obtain a robust and accurate audiovisual system that generalizes across conditions. By detecting segments with speech activity, the AV-ASR performance improves as its connectionist temporal classification (CTC) loss function can leverage from the AV-VAD alignment information. Furthermore, the end-to-end system learns from the raw audiovisual inputs a discriminative high-level representation for both speech tasks, providing the flexibility to mine information directly from the data. The proposed architecture considers the temporal dynamics within and across modalities, providing an appealing and practical fusion scheme. We evaluate the proposed approach on a large audiovisual corpus (over 60 hours), which contains different channel and environmental conditions, comparing the results with competitive single task learning (STL) and MTL baselines. Although our main goal is to improve the performance of our ASR task, the experimental results show that the proposed approach can achieve the best performance across all conditions for both speech tasks. In addition to state-of-the-art performance in AV-ASR, the proposed solution can also provide valuable information about speech activity, solving two of the most important tasks in speech-based applications.
Human Obesity Induces Dysfunction and Early Senescence in Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells.

Background Chronic inflammatory conditions like obesity may adversely impact the biological functions underlying the regenerative potential of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC). Obesity can impair MSC function by inducing cellular senescence, a growth-arrest program that transitions cells to a pro-inflammatory state. However, the effect of obesity on adipose tissue-derived MSC in human subjects remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that obesity induces senescence and dysfunction in human MSC. Methods MSC were harvested from abdominal subcutaneous fat collected from obese and age-matched non-obese subjects (n = 40) during bariatric or kidney donation surgeries, respectively. MSC were characterized, their migration and proliferation assessed, and cellular senescence evaluated by gene expression of cell-cycle arrest and senescence-associated secretory phenotype markers. In vitro studies tested MSC effect on injured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) function. Results Mean age was 59 ± 8 years, 66% were females. Obese subjects had higher body-mass index (BMI) than non-obese. MSC from obese subjects exhibited lower proliferative capacities than non-obese-MSC, suggesting decreased function, whereas their migration remained unchanged. Senescent cell burden and phenotype, manifested as p16, p53, IL-6, and MCP-1 gene expression, were significantly upregulated in obese subjects' MSC. BMI correlated directly with expression of p16, p21, and IL-6. Furthermore, co-incubation with non-obese, but not with obese-MSC, restored VEGF expression and tube formation that were blunted in injured HUVEC. Conclusion Human obesity triggers an early senescence program in adipose tissue-derived MSC. Thus, obesity-induced cellular injury may alter efficacy of this endogenous repair system and hamper the feasibility of autologous transplantation in obese individuals.
Influence of toilet access on antiretroviral adherence intention among pregnant and breastfeeding women who are HIV-positive and enrolled in Option B+

We investigated the influence of toilet access on intention to adhere to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among women who are HIV-positive and enrolled in Option B+. A convenience sample of 150 women residing in Lusaka (urban) and Sinazongwe (rural) Districts of Zambia were recruited. if they were seeking pre- or post-natal care and were enrolled in Option B+. Intention to adhere to ART was assessed using four questions based on the Theory of Planned Behavior; the median score was used to distinguish high intention from low intention. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize access to toilet facilities and ART adherence intention in the entire sample and by rural and urban districts in Zambia. There was no significant difference (p = .19) between rural and urban women's access to a flush toilet. After adjusting for toilet access, however, rural women were significantly less likely to be in the high adherence intention group (PR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.71-0.90, p < .001) but access to a flush toilet was associated with adherence intention (PR = 1.14, 95% CI (1.00 - 1.30). Community-led total sanitation in Zambia could increase ART adherence intention.
Specific visualization of tubulin-containing structures in tissue culture cells by immunofluorescence. Cytoplasmic microtubules, vinblastine-induced paracrystals, and mitotic figures.

Abstract Antibody against tubulin from the outer doublets of sea urchin sperm flagella reacts with tubulin-containing structures in mammalian cells. Thus cytoplasmic microtubules, vinblastine-induced paracrystals and the full spectrum of mitotic figures can be visualized by immunofluorescence. These results show that the tubulin structure has been highly conserved during evolution.
Tolerability of dual checkpoint blockade with nivolumab and ipilimumab: A meta-analysis.

e15149Background: The dual checkpoint blockade of PD-1 and CTLA-4 with nivolumab and ipilimumab have been used extensively for cancer immunotherapy in clinical practice and trials due to its effica...
On the Classification of f-Quandles

We use the structural aspects of the f-quandle theory to classify, up to isomorphisms, all f-quandles of order n. The classification is based on an effective algorithm that generate and check all f-quandles for a given order. We also include a pseudocode of the algorithm.
BCG vaccine protection from severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

A series of epidemiological explorations has suggested a negative association between national bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination policy and the prevalence and mortality of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, these comparisons are difficult to validate due to broad differences between countries such as socioeconomic status, demographic structure, rural vs. urban settings, time of arrival of the pandemic, number of diagnostic tests and criteria for testing, and national control strategies to limit the spread of COVID-19. We review evidence for a potential biological basis of BCG cross-protection from severe COVID-19, and refine the epidemiological analysis to mitigate effects of potentially confounding factors (e.g., stage of the COVID-19 epidemic, development, rurality, population density, and age structure). A strong correlation between the BCG index, an estimation of the degree of universal BCG vaccination deployment in a country, and COVID-19 mortality in different socially similar European countries was observed (r 2 = 0.88; P = 8 × 10-7), indicating that every 10% increase in the BCG index was associated with a 10.4% reduction in COVID-19 mortality. Results fail to confirm the null hypothesis of no association between BCG vaccination and COVID-19 mortality, and suggest that BCG could have a protective effect. Nevertheless, the analyses are restricted to coarse-scale signals and should be considered with caution. BCG vaccination clinical trials are required to corroborate the patterns detected here, and to establish causality between BCG vaccination and protection from severe COVID-19. Public health implications of a plausible BCG cross-protection from severe COVID-19 are discussed.
Healthcare cost associations of patients who use illicit drugs in Florida: a retrospective analysis.

Illicit drug use increases visits to the hospital. Research is limited on the costs of these healthcare visits by illicit drug. Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration’s emergency department and inpatient datasets from 2016 to 2018 were analyzed. Adults who used an illicit drug were included in the study population resulting in 709,658 observations. Cost-to-charge ratios were used to estimate healthcare costs. Linear regression analyzed associations of illicit drugs with total healthcare cost. Total healthcare costs are estimated at $6.4 billion over the 3 year period. Medicare paid for the most patient care ($2.16 billion) with Medicaid and commercial insurance each estimated at $1.36 billion. Cocaine (9.25%) and multiple drug use (6.12%) increased the costs of an ED visit compared to a patient with cannabis SUD. Opioids (23.40%) and inhalants use (16.30%) increased the costs of inpatient compared to cannabis SUD. Healthcare costs are high of patients with illicit drug SUD and poisoning, over half of which are paid for with tax payer dollars and to an unknown degree hospital write-offs. Injuries and illness of patients using cocaine and multiple drugs are associated with more expensive ED patient care and opioids and inhalants are associated with more expensive inpatient care.
Pregnant women misusing opioids: Depression, anxiety, stress, and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome

Abstract Background Diagnoses of anxiety and depressive disorders are prevalent among women who misuse opioids during pregnancy and have been linked to the development of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) in infants. The role of stress in NOWS, however, has not been studied, despite its relationship to anxiety and depression. Moreover, anxiety and depression have only been assessed at the level of diagnoses, limiting our understanding of the effects of symptoms along a continuum of severity on opioid misuse in pregnancy and NOWS. Methods We first compared symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress assessed along a continuum in women who misused opioids during pregnancy (n = 53) who chose to receive medication assisted treatment (MAT) or to detoxify from opioids, and women with high-risk pregnancies for medical reasons unrelated to drug use (n = 37). We then examined whether depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms during pregnancy predicted NOWS. Results Findings revealed significantly higher depression, anxiety, and stress among pregnant women who misused opioids than among the comparison group. Furthermore, results indicated that higher anxious symptoms as hypothesized (but not depressive symptoms), and lower stress symptoms contributed to a greater likelihood of infants developing NOWS after delivery beyond the type of treatment (i.e., MAT or tapering/detoxification) they received for opioid use. Limitations The present study used a small sample size and had some measurement limitations. Conclusions Findings suggest important opportunities for effective integrated psychological and medical interventions for pregnant women misusing opioids to improve their own health and that of their infants.
Review of "Wicked, Incomplete, and Uncertain: User Support in the Wild and the Role of Technical Communication by Jason Swarts (2018)," Utah State University Press.

In Wicked, Incomplete, and Uncertain, Jason Swarts examines the changing role of technical communication in addressing user problems that are becoming more specialized and situated within use cases that users themselves do not readily understand. These emergent and real-time problems have led to the rise of online forums and communities, which this books studies in depth. In particular, Swarts studies four community forums for software technology products---Microsoft Excel, Adobe InDesign, Gimp, and Mozilla Thunderbird---that are not only commonly used by technical writers, but also popular products with numerous plug-ins and end users across industries. As a technical writer myself, I have used all of these products, and participate in forums for open source and cloud computing products at the enterprise software company that I work at (IBM). This review seeks to synopsize Swarts's book by reflecting upon how I have or have not used such techniques in my own workplace experience.
Neuroscience: The New English Major?:

Once strictly the domain of medical and graduate education, neuroscience has made its way into the undergraduate curriculum with over 230 colleges and universities now offering a bachelor’s degree ...
Sexualities in Revolt: Teaching Activism, Manifesto Writing, and Anti-Assimilationist Politics to Upper-Division Undergraduates

We draw from critical pedagogy and work on radical democratic praxis when discussing ways to teach sexuality studies in a way that embodies revolt and resistance to inequitable social hierarchies. ...
LncRNA:DNA triplex-forming sites are positioned at specific areas of genome organization and are predictors for Topologically Associated Domains.

Chromosomes are organized into units called topologically associated domains (TADs). TADs dictate regulatory landscapes and other DNA-dependent processes. Even though various factors that contribute to the specification of TADs have been proposed, the mechanism is not fully understood. Understanding the process for specification and maintenance of these units is essential in dissecting cellular processes and disease mechanisms. In this study, we report a genome-wide study that considers the idea of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) mediating chromatin organization using lncRNA:DNA triplex-forming sites (TFSs). By analyzing the TFSs of expressed lncRNAs in multiple cell lines, we find that they are enriched in TADs, their boundaries, and loop anchors. However, they are evenly distributed across different regions of a TAD showing no preference for any specific portions within TADs. No relationship is observed between the locations of these TFSs and CTCF binding sites. However, TFSs are located not just in promoter regions but also in intronic, intergenic, and 3’UTR regions. We also show these triplex-forming sites can be used as predictors in machine learning models to discriminate TADs from other genomic regions. Finally, we compile a list of important “TAD-lncRNAs” which are top predictors for TADs identification. Our observations advocate the idea that lncRNA:DNA TFSs are positioned at specific areas of the genome organization and are important predictors for TADs. LncRNA:DNA triplex formation most likely is a general mechanism of action exhibited by some lncRNAs, not just for direct gene regulation but also to mediate 3D chromatin organization.
Probing Neuro-Endocrine Interactions Through Wireless Magnetothermal Stimulation of Peripheral Organs

Exposure to stress alters hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity; however, it is unclear exactly how or where within the HPA pathway these changes occur. Dissecting these mechanisms requires tools to reliably probe HPA function, particularly the adrenal component, with temporal precision. We previously demonstrated magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) technology to remotely trigger adrenal hormone release by activating thermally sensitive ion channels. Here, we applied adrenal magnetothermal stimulation to probe stress-induced HPA axis changes. MNP and control nanoparticles were injected into the adrenal glands of outbred rats subjected to a tone-shock conditioning/extinction/recall paradigm. We measured MNP-triggered adrenal release before and after conditioning through physiologic (heart rate) and serum (epinephrine, corticosterone) markers. Aversive conditioning altered adrenal function, reducing corticosterone and blunting heart rate increases post-conditioning. MNP-based organ stimulation provides a novel approach to probing the function of HPA and other neuro-endocrine axes and could help elucidate changes across stress and disease models.
Unique Presentation of Idiopathic Retroperitoneal Fibrosis in a Primary Care Setting.

Patients with retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF), a rare condition, present with nonspecific abdominal pain or flank pain that can be complicated by urologic obstruction and/or vascular compromise. Reporting rare entities that often elude prompt diagnosis will aid clinicians to consider the entity in their differential diagnosis and potentially lead to earlier recognition and appropriate management. Our case emphasizes the importance of not just the diagnosis and treatment of RPF but how to best monitor RPF patients to minimize complications from disease progression or treatment-related adverse events.
Solutions of Problems: Trigonometric Equations and Identities

In this chapter, the problems of the first chapter are fully solved, in detail, step-by-step, and with different methods. The subjects include trigonometric equations, trigonometric identities, domain, range, period, sine and cosine identities, tangent and cotangent identities, half angle formulas, reciprocal identities, Pythagorean identities, sum and difference to product formulas, product to sum formulas, even and odd formulas, periodic formulas, sum to product formulas, double angle formulas, degrees to radians formulas, cofunction formulas, unit circle, inverse trigonometric functions, inverse properties, alternate notation, and domain and range of inverse trigonometric functions.
Corporate Corruption and the Complicity of Congress and the Supreme Court - The Tortuous Path from "Central Bank" to "Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.

This article asserts that Congress and the federal courts are complicit in the widespread corporate corruption that has come to light this past decade. It begins by exploring the notion of bias and then chronicles judicial developments which have protected corporate officials, who have engaged in securities fraud and other wrongful conduct, at the expense of innocent shareholders and investors. It also analyzes the public policy in favor of corruption embodied in the Private Litigation Securities Reform Act, and the actions of federal courts in expanding the protection of PLSRA even beyond that dictated by the language of the statute. It concludes with a strong criticism of the most recent decision of the Supreme Court in Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., 128 S.Ct. 761 (2008), where the Supreme Court once again protected wrongdoers, who had engaged in unconscionable conduct, from judicial accountability.
Low-Lycopene Tomato Powder Alters Prostate Biology in TRAMP Mice

The Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Prostate (TRAMP) model develops and progresses through all stages of carcinogenesis. We, (Zuniga et al., Cancer Prev. Res. 2013) previously demonstrated a...
The New K-12, “Full-Access” Computing Architecture: A Reaction to Bull, Bull, Garofalo, and Harris

Educational computing architectures have evolved from standalone computers in labs and classrooms, through networked computers in classrooms and labs, and lately to mobile, wirelessly networked laptops on carts. The major drawback in all those architectures has been the lack of one-to-one student-to-computer access throughout the school day. However, with the emergence of low-cost (in the $100-$200 range) handheld computing devices, we will see a new educational computing architecture come forward:
Team Collaboration in Virtual Worlds: The Role of Task Complexity

Virtual worlds are three-dimensional, computer-generated worlds where team collaboration can be facilitated through the use of shared virtual space and mediated using an avatar. In this study, we examined the effect of task complexity on team collaboration. We used a puzzle game in Second Life as the collaborative task and manipulated task component complexity by varying the number of pieces in the puzzle. We hypothesize that task complexity will influence team trust, team process satisfaction, and one’s attraction to the team in virtual team collaboration. The experimental results show that task complexity has significant effects on team trust and team process satisfaction.
The Production of Monospecific Antisera to Soft‐Bottom Benthic Taxa

In 1979 we began field tests of the hypothesis that predation on larvae and juveniles controls benthic community structure and dynamics. We picked an easily accessible intertidal community of low diversity, the Skagit flats in northern Puget Sound, for our experiments (Gallagher et al., 1983). We also developed serological methods to document and quantify predation on larvae and juveniles. In this paper we will describe the methods used to produce monospecific antisera to soft-bottom benthic taxa.