cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Digging for Gold: A Multivariate Analysis of the Passage of State 'Sound Money' Laws

Since its inception, the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policies have led, directly and indirectly, to a decline of over 95% in the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar. As a result, there have been several attempts to curtail or eliminate the Federal Reserve's monopolistic powers; however, none have proven successful to date, due mainly to the constraints of strong political opposition at the national level.In contrast to these attempts at the national level, this paper examines the levels of success and possible correlating factors of an alternative approach to ending the Federal Reserve's monopoly on money: "sound money" bills, introduced at the state legislative level, the purpose of which are to move each state that passes them in the direction of adherence to the U.S. Constitution's "legal tender" provisions of Article I, Section 10.Since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, there appears to be a renewed interest in "sound money" bills across the United States, including "Constitutional Tender," "State Legal Tender," "Gold/Silver Sales Tax Elimination," and "State Bullion Depository" bills. Using multivariate analysis of state legislatures, this paper attempts to determine what factors are associated with the successful, and failed, passage of these type of bills.
Reliability and Validity of a Treatment Barriers Scale for Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder.

ABSTRACTBackground: Few studies have measured addiction-specific barriers to treatment. A measurement of barriers with psychometric support that has been tested in diverse samples and that assesses multiple components of addiction treatment barriers is needed to inform providers and treatment programs. Objectives: This paper aims to provide an initial psychometric investigation of a measure of barriers to seeking addictions treatment. Methods: Data were collected from 196 Veterans Affairs primary care patients with Alcohol Use Disorder that participated in a randomized clinical trial. Results: A Principal Components Analysis revealed that the 32-item Treatment Barriers Scale (TBS) can be reduced to 14 items, measuring 4 factors: stigma, dislike of the treatment process, alcohol problem identification, and logistical concerns. Acceptable internal consistent reliability (α = .64–.76) and excellent precision of alpha (α = 0.001–0.009) was found for each subscale. Support for the measure's concurrent validity...
7SK-BAF axis controls pervasive transcription at enhancers

RNA functions at enhancers remain mysterious. Here we show that the 7SK small nuclear RNA (snRNA) inhibits enhancer transcription by modulating nucleosome position. 7SK occupies enhancers and super enhancers genome wide in mouse and human cells, and it is required to limit enhancer-RNA initiation and synthesis in a manner distinct from promoter pausing. Clustered elements at super enhancers uniquely require 7SK to prevent convergent transcription and DNA-damage signaling. 7SK physically interacts with the BAF chromatin-remodeling complex, recruits BAF to enhancers and inhibits enhancer transcription by modulating chromatin structure. In turn, 7SK occupancy at enhancers coincides with that of Brd4 and is exquisitely sensitive to the bromodomain inhibitor JQ1. Thus, 7SK uses distinct mechanisms to counteract the diverse consequences of pervasive transcription that distinguish super enhancers, enhancers and promoters.
Effect of Dietary Protein and Energy on Reproductive Performance of Turkey Hens

Abstract Six groups of 20 Nicholas Large White turkey hens each were used to study the effect of dietary protein and energy on egg production, body weight, egg weight, and subsequent day-old poult weights. A 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments consisted of two levels of crude protein (14 and 18%) and three levels of metabolizable energy (2.3, 2.8, and 3.3 Mcal/kg of diet). The following results were obtained: a negative body weight change from all treatments; an increase in the dietary energy level from 2.3 to 2.8 and 3.3 Mcal/kg reversed a trend in weight loss by the hens observed during the first 8 weeks of the study; a significant positive correlation between egg weight and adult body weight; best egg production and largest eggs from hens fed the 18% protein diet containing 2.3 Mcal of energy, a significant negative linear effect from dietary energy that resulted in less feed consumption per kilogram of eggs produced; a significant positive linear effect from protein on egg weight, hatchability, and day-old poult weight; a positive relationship between egg weight and day-old poult weight; lower percentage hatchability of fertile eggs weighing 100 g or more than of eggs weighing less than 100 g. The data indicate that under our experimental conditions, a diet containing 18% protein and 2.3 Meal metabolizable energy per kilogram was apparently adequate for reproduction.
Instabilities of PS/PMMA Bilayer Patterns with a Corrugated Surface and Interface

We study the patterns spontaneously formed by bilayer polymer films upon annealing. Specifically, polystyrene (PS) films were spin-cast on topographically patterned poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates and subsequently annealed at temperatures above the glass transition temperature of both polymers. The influence of the molecular weight and the volume of PS on the morphological evolution of the corrugated liquid–liquid interface was examined. When the PS formed isolated stripes both on the mesas and within the trenches of the PMMA pattern, capillary instability was observed for these nonaxisymmetric PS threads. The kinetics of the capillary breakup depended on the thread-to-matrix viscosity ratio, and was dictated by the more viscous component. In contrast, the characteristic wavelength of the breakup only slightly depended on some viscosity ratio, and reached a minimum at the viscosity ratio around 1. When the PS was thick enough to form a continuous layer, the instability of the film further depe...
Abstract 2756: Phase I trial of 2-deoxyglucose for treatment of advanced solid tumors and hormone refractory prostate cancer: A pharmacokinetics (PK) assessment

2-Deoxyglucose (2-DG), a glycolytic inhibitor analog of glucose, is widely investigated in experimental and clinical oncology for targeting glucose metabolism. Inhibition of the glycolytic pathway with 2-deoxyglucose leads to sensitization of tumor cells to other apoptotic stimuli(Maschek, G., et al Cancer Res. 64: 31-34, 2004). A phase I/II clinical trial of 2-DG for the treatment of advanced solid tumors and hormone refractory prostrate cancer has been initiated. One of the objectives of this dose escalation trial was to evaluate PK of 2-DG. The drug was administered orally on a daily schedule for 2 weeks of every 3 week cycle. The standard dose escalation format was followed with a starting dose 30mg/kg, escalated to 45mg/kg and 60mg/kg. So far twelve patients have been accrued for this trial (mean age, 65.4± 9.9 yrs), and all completed the study. Repeated oral administration of 2-DG was well tolerated, with a maximum tolerated dose (MTD) not exceeding 60mg/kg consecutive-day dosing. For the PK analyses, blood samples were collected immediately before drug administration, hourly up to 6hr, and predose at 24hr and 48hr after administration on cycle 1 day 1 and cycle 2 day 1. For the quantitiation of 2-DG in plasma, the sample extracts were derivatized to 2-aminobenzoic acid derivatives, and determined using a highly sensitive high performance liquid chromatography fluorometric method (HPLC-FL). The HPLC-FL assay showed excellent linearity ranging from 125ng/ml to 10 μg/ml (r2=0.9992±0.0009, n=4). The limit of detection was 62.5ng/ml. The assay precision for 125ng/ml (LOQ) and 10µg/ml were 12.5% and 4.9% and the accuracy ranged from 105.9% to 101.8%. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined and utilized to assess dose-dependency across the dose range studied. Consecutive-day dose of 2-DG showed no effect on plasma glucose levels. The mean steady state concentration at dose level 1, was 0.33± 0.09 μg/ml, and at dose levels 2 and 3, were 1.06± 0.25, and 1.08± 0.41 μg/ml respectively. Mean plasma concentrations and area under concentration-time curve (AUC) values were dose dependent in cohort 1 (30mg/kg) and 2 (45mg/kg). Tmax occurred at 1 hr after dosing. The elimination t1/2 ranged between 3.3 −8.9 hr (5.8±1.8hr) and 1.2 − 10.6 hr (6.6±2.8 hr), among three cohorts in cycle 1 and 2. PK parameters AUC, and clearance (CL), showed no significant difference between two cycles in cohort 1 and 2. However, AUC in cohort 3 (60mg/kg) decreased significantly (p Acknowledgement: The study is supported by the grants from The Department of Defense. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2756.
Some Problems of Applied Small Mammal Sampling in Western North America

The study of mammal populations is still a relatively new field. It is natural that most investigations have been pursued under selected conditions that introduce the fewest complications. At the same time, applied knowledge of mammal density and distribution has been a necessity in a number of fields. Applied needs differ in that problems which are encountered largely dictate the area and conditions under which a study is undertaken. Without minimizing the value of continued fundamental approaches it is appropriate that attention also be devoted to methods that are particularly adapted to special applications. It is important to Westerners that methods of population study have largely been developed by ecologists working in extensive areas of uniform vegetation. Modifications of sampling methods are often necessary where abruptly shifting terrain and vegetation is the rule, as is typical of Western conditions. There is characteristically a striking variation in density and species composition of small mammals over small areas. Often these differences are between areas that appear to be fully equivalent. Further complications arise from the continuous variation between vegetation types so frequently found in areas of sharp relief. One may select distinct associations in which to trap, only to find that much of the surrounding area is intermediate in various combinations and will not be truly represented. The main implication here is that a large and thorough population study on a single site, however valuable it may be in some aspects, will not provide estimates of density and species occurrence which may safely be interpolated over larger areas. Therefore an ecologist, given an area to census, and assuming his time and facilities are limited, is better advised to use smaller sampling units and cover a wider range of the habitat and its variation. Knowledge of the home ranges of the species encountered …
Sutdy on the Temperature Stimulating Characteristics of Alkali-activated Slag-fly Ash Cementitious Material System

In order to explore the effect of alkali-activator in different temperatures on slag and fly ash active stimulation,alkali-activator was prepared with a mixture of NaOH and Na2CO3,using the temperature of alkali-activator(t) as test parameter,at the states of t=20,30,40,50,60,70,80,95 ℃.Specimens were prepared with the value of fly ash-slag ratio(FSR) 0.6,alkali content(AC) 6.0% and the proportion of composite alkali(n) 1.3,binder-water ratio(BWR) 3.2,the rheological characterization and mechanical properties after 3 and 28 d standard curing of pastes were tested.The test result shows that the rheological characterization and mechanical properties of alkali-activated slag-fly ash cementitious material system are sensitive to the change of t;40 ℃ is the extremum pixels on the properties variation with temperature,under the same conditions,the temperature being 40 ℃,pastes consistence reaches a maximum,flow ability reaches a high level,and flexural strength reaches a minimum,but compressive strength gets to the highest;the dependence of the index of rheological characterization and mechanical properties on the temperature can be expressed in the form of cubic polynomial,and by the value of can determine the correlativity is very remarkable.So slag and fly ash active stimulation vary from temperature to temperature,which can provided theoretical basis for optimum construction technology.
Temporal regulation of dUTP biosynthesis limits uracil incorporation during early DNA replication

Antimetabolite chemotherapies increase uracil levels in DNA, and thus identification of factors that influence the uracil content in DNA may have implications for understanding uracil-mediated chromosomal instability. We previously showed in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that uracil content in DNA correlates with replication timing, where the earliest and latest replicating regions are depleted in uracil. Here, we manipulated nucleotide biosynthesis enzymes in budding yeast to determine whether the pattern of uracil incorporation could be altered. In strains with high levels of uracil incorporation, deletion of dCMP deaminase (Dcd1) accelerated uracil incorporation at early-firing origins, likely due to rapid dTTP pool depletion. In contrast, increasing the activity of ribonucleotide reductase, which is required for the synthesis of all dNTPs via ribonucleotide diphosphates, lead to dUTP and dTTP pool equilibration and a concomitant increase in uracil content throughout the genome. These data suggest that uracil availability and the dUTP:dTTP ratio are temporally regulated during S phase and govern uracil incorporation into the genome. Therapeutic manipulation of nucleotide biosynthesis in human cells to either increase the dUTP pool or deplete the dTTP pool in early S phase may therefore improve the efficacy of antimetabolite chemotherapies.
Integral Dependence and the Nullstellensatz

The problem of solving equations and saying something about the solutions is a fundamental motivation and goal of commutative algebra. In pursuing this goal, it is often important to adjoin a solution of a polynomial equation in one variable: Given a ring R and a polynomial p(x) ∈ R[x], the ring R[x]/(p) may be thought of as the result of adjoining a root of p to R as freely as possible; the root adjoined is of course the image of x.
Palladium–Rhenium Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural: Evidence for an Optimum Surface Composition

Bimetallic catalysts comprising a platinum-group metal (e.g., Pt, Pd, Ru) and rhenium (Re) have important applications in petroleum refining, industrial chemicals production, and biomass conversion. In this work, a series of PdRe/Al2O3 catalysts was investigated for selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol (FAL) at 150 °C and 1 atm in a differential reactor. The results demonstrate that PdRe/Al2O3 catalysts have greater FAL selectivity and activity than Pd/Al2O3 catalysts. Over the bimetallic catalysts, decreased furan production is accompanied by a marked increase in hydrogenation activity. PdRe 1:1 catalysts prepared using [Pd(NH3)4](NO3)2 are significantly more active than catalysts prepared using Pd(NO3)2. PdRe 1:2 catalysts are more selective to FAL but less active than 1:1 catalysts prepared using the same precursors. The superior activity of PdRe/Al2O3 catalysts for selective hydrogenation of furfural is inferred to result from Re surface modification of Pd nanoparticles—disrupting P...
Seven Indigenous Spiritual Principles for Guiding All Students toward Survival, Peace, Health, and Happiness

Although Indigenous Peoples consider the principles described herein not as “spiritual” but rather as simply the way to live life in balance, I have placed quotation marks around the word but nonetheless will continue to use it to describe this way of living life that is not mandated per se via an organized collection of precepts. With this in mind, I think of Indigenous spirituality as representing the sacred sense of being significantly interconnected with all things in the universe, both seen and unseen. I contend that such a sensibility can contribute to survival, peace, health, and happiness as it did for tens of thousands of years for precontact Indigenous Peoples. Surely, it makes sense to bring such spirituality into the classroom. For organized religions, doing this can be a challenging endeavor owing to laws and ethics related to the separation of church and state. However, since Indigenous spirituality is generally not considered a religion, teachers may have a less difficult task of incorporating it into their teaching and curricula.
Promoting Older Adult Physical Activity Throughout Care Transitions Using an Interprofessional Approach

The nurse practitioner plays a key role in monitoring and improving physical activity and function of older adults. Physical activity is an essential component of care management for all older adults, even those who are frail with multimorbidities. All physical activity, no matter how small, has the potential to impact functional independence and quality of life. Partnering with the older adult and caregivers along with interprofessional providers, such as a physical therapist or occupational therapist and community-based resources, facilitates the development of successful goals and plans and the implementation of activities to promote physical activity across the continuum of care.
Neurologic Manifestation of Chikungunya Virus

Purpose of Review Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a RNA arbovirus that typically causes fevers and arthralgias, but reports of neurologic findings have become increasingly common. This article reviews our current understanding of CHIKV-associated neurologic manifestations.
Fracture resistance of polyblends and polyblend matrix composites: Part II Role of the rubber phase in Nylon 6,6/ABS alloys

A comprehensive study was undertaken on the specific role of rubber on toughening when other rigid polymer or non-polymer phases were present. Nylon 6,6/SAN blends of various SAN concentrations ranging from pure SAN to pure nylon 6,6 were investigated with and without fibre reinforcements. These results could be compared with the toughness values of unreinforced and fibre-reinforced nylon 6,6/ABS alloys from a previous study in order to elucidate the role of rubber. Fracture behaviour was investigated rigorously by characterizing the fracture initiation toughness, JIC, and the steady-state fracture toughness, Jss. These were then related to the microstructure and failure modes determined by microscopy and fractography methods. It was found that rubber increased both fracture initiation and propagation toughness in the presence of the rigid phase, while the rigid phase toughened the alloy only when the rigid phase/matrix interface was strong enough. The role played by glass fibres was found to be critically related to the fibre/matrix interfacial strength. Toughening was generally observed, both in the presence and absence of rubber, when the interface was strong. In all cases toughening could be related to the enhancement of plasticity in the crack tip by the presence of the rubber phase or the reinforcing glass phase.
High Rydberg States of Two-Electron Atoms in Perturbation Theory

The helium atom has served since the beginnings of quantum theory as an almost perfect target for testing theoretical methods as well as experimental techniques. It is not so simple as hydrogen (which is the first atom selected for every new application), but it is not like the really complicated many-electron systems which must be treated either statistically or with numerical methods whose physical underpinnings are not transparent. One of the early successes of wave mechanics was its ability to describe the nonrelativistic two-electron atom with impressive accuracy long before electronic computers were available. Now this venerable system is once again of intense interest, partly due to some new experimental methods and partly to a renewed theoretical interest in Casimir forces. Casimir forces are very long-range retarded interactions (discussed in several chapters in this volume) important in a variety of situations and most conveniently accessible through the study of highly excited states of two-electron atoms.
Arthroscopic Positioning: Beach Chair Versus Lateral

The great debate amongst surgeon’s about the ‘best’ position for shoulder arthroscopy continues. The surgeon’s use and preference for positioning is often dictated by his or her training, and also commonly affected by geography. Historically, surgeon’s who practice and or trained on the west coast typically use the lateral position, with those on the east coast preferring the beach chair position [1, 2]. The reality is there is a mixture of surgeons who prefer one position over the other in every location, and those who use a combination of both. However, even the most loyal to their preferred position would agree, there are certain advantages and disadvantages of both the beach chair and lateral position for shoulder arthroscopy.
Subcellular localization of MURA and MURB proteins encoded by the maize MuDR transposon.

MuDR controls transposition of the Mu transposable element family in Zea maysL. It produces two major transcripts: mudrA and mudrB. mudrA encodes the MURA transposase, but no specific function has been ascribed to mudrB, which lacks strong homology to known genes. Using transient expression assays in onion epidermal cells, we defined three monopartite nuclear localization signals (NLSs) of MURA; each was functionally sufficient for nuclear targeting of MURA:GUS fusion proteins. Interestingly, one NLS (NLS-A3) is produced by the splicing of the third intron. In contrast, there were no clear NLS in MURB, and the major form of MURB aggregated in the cytoplasm. Self-interaction of MURA and of MURB was also shown in a yeast two-hybrid assay. To test whether interactions of MURA and MURB can occur at the level of protein translocation into the nucleus, a cytoplasmically localized MURB:GFP was co-expressed with MURA or with the GUS fusion proteins. Co-expression did not change the localization pattern of either MURA or MURB; MURA and MURB do not detectably interact in a yeast two-hybrid assay. These results suggest that MURA and MURB do not mutually affect their localization, at least in the forms examined here.
Mobility Characterization in Advanced FD-SOI CMOS Devices

A review of the main mobility results obtained in short channel devices (here GAA/DG, FD-SOI MOSFETs and FinFETs) are discussed for better understanding their transport limitations and performances. Regarding short channel GAA, FD-SOI and FinFET MOS devices, it has been shown that the mobility is strongly degraded at small gate length, whatever the architecture, the gate stack and the measurement method used. In particular, it has been found that, for FD-SOI, the mobility is more degraded at the top interface than at the bottom interface, revealing that defects are more numerous at the top channel region.
Induction linacs for heavy ion fusion

Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) is an alternative approach to magnetic Confinement Fusion for a future source of fusion electrical energy based on virtually inexhaustible fuel sources. The ICF method relies on supplying a large beam energy (3 MJ) in a short time (10 nsec) to ignite and burn a spherical capsule containing a few milligrams of deuterium and tritium; ablation of the surface—as a plasma—drives an implosion of the fuel, and leads to ignition at the center when the compression has reached an appropriate value (about 1000 times normal liquid density). The energy can be supplied directly; in that case a large number of beams must be brought in to illuminate the capsule in a spherically symmetric manner, which complicates the final focusing. Alternatively, the beam energy can be used to produce high temperature radiation which can be contained within a hohlraum to implode a separately placed capsule.
Evaluation of Diuretics in Admitted Heart Failure Patients with Modification of Medication Order Entry

Introduction A 2016 retrospective chart review identified that a majority of patients who present with heart failure to our emergency department (ED) were not optimally diuresed. These results were shared with several emergency medicine physicians, which resulted in modifications in order entry for one-time intravenous furosemide doses. The primary objective of this study was to assess the timing of when a patient presented to the ED to when the first diuretic was administered. The secondary objectives were to assess the first diuretic dose ordered, total urine output in the first twelve hours, and length of stay. Methods This retrospective chart review approved by the Institutional Review Board was conducted on patients with a discharge diagnosis of heart failure from January 1, 2017 to July 31, 2017. Patients included in the study were at least 18 years of age and received a diuretic within the first 24 hours of admission to the ED. The electronic medical record system was used to collect the following patient-specific data: age, gender, length of stay, home diuretic dose, time arrival to the ED, type of diuretic and time of order, time of diuretic administration, and amount of diuresis. The final outcomes were time between patient arrival to the ED and administration of first diuretic, time between administration and first measurement of diuresis, and the amount of diuresis in milliliters. All data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results A total of 100 patient charts were captured in the time frame and included for analysis. The average time between arrival and diuretic order was 143 minutes, the average time to diuresis was 329 minutes, and the average diuresis volume was 1594 milliliters. Of the 100 patients included, 39 patients received furosemide 40 milligrams intravenously, 18 patients received furosemide 60 milligrams intravenously, and 39 patients received doses greater than 60 milligrams intravenously, ranging from 80 to 160 milligrams. After comparing the ED dose and recorded home dose of furosemide, results showed that 27 patients received the same dose and 25 patients received a higher dose. The average length of stay in patients who received an intravenous dose of furosemide equivalent to their prescribed home dose was about 5.9 days, while the patients who received a higher dose intravenously were hospitalized for about 4.6 days. Conclusion Administering diuretics in fluid overloaded patients helps relieve the symptoms associated with an acute exacerbation by causing prompt diuresis. Optimal diuresis may have a positive impact on patient outcomes and a decrease in their hospital length of stay.
LLGrid: Supercomputer for Sensor Processing

The LLGrid system of supercomputers allows hundreds of researchers simultaneous interactive access to large amounts of processing and storage for development and testing of their sensor processing algorithms. The requirements of the LLGrid user base are as diverse as the sensors they are developing: sonar, radar, infrared, optical, hyperspectral, video, bio, and cyber. LLGrid users are first and foremost scientists and engineers. The LLGrid system has been optimized to help the users get through the above steps with as little effort as possible. Benchmarking plays two important roles in LLGrid. The first is acceptance testing of the hardware to verify that the vendor has provided what was specified. The second is to optimize the software tools in the LLGrid software stack. LLGrid is a fleet of dozens of clusters, made of mostly commodity components. Distributed arrays is the dominant programming model on LLGrid.
Bimodal Approach of a Frequency-Up-Conversion Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

This paper developed an analytical model for a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) composed of a piezoelectric bimorph and a stopper as shown in Fig. 1, which was subjected to a harmonic excitatio...
Successful staged repair of pulmonary atresia, ventricular septal defect, and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries in an extremely low birth weight infant

An extremely low birth weight infant (810 g) was born with pulmonary atresia, ventricular septal defect, and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries accompanied by pulmonary overcirculation, which eventually resulted in intestinal hypoperfusion and focal intestinal perforation from the very early stage of life. Based on the echographic findings, we performed banding operations twice to regulate the pulmonary blood flow on day 2 and day 9. At 6 months of age, a definitive repair simultaneous with unifocalization of major aortopulmonary collateral arteries was performed. At 1 year of age, the right ventricle/left ventricle pressure ratio was 0.44 after balloon angioplasty was performed for the right-sided pulmonary artery stenosis. The patient is in a stable condition and was followed-up for more than 2 years after definitive repair. This is the first known successful repair of pulmonary atresia, ventricular septal defect, and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries in an extremely low birth weight infant.
Fidelity of Implementation: Understanding Why and When Programs Work:

Advancing the science of gifted education requires that researchers and educators better understand when and why (and for whom) programs and services are effective. Assessing Fidelity of Implementa...
Delayed Diagnosis of Giant Cell Arteritis in the Setting of Isolated Lingual Necrosis.

Background:Lingual necrosis is a rare complication of giant cell arteritis (GCA).Methods:A 77-year-old woman presented for treatment of a painful and discolored tongue, odynophagia, and dehydration...
Role of Histone Deacetylases in Carcinogenesis: Potential Role in Cholangiocarcinoma

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly invasive and metastatic form of carcinoma with bleak prognosis due to limited therapies, frequent relapse, and chemotherapy resistance. There is an urgent need to identify the molecular regulators of CCA in order to develop novel therapeutics and advance diseases diagnosis. Many cellular proteins including histones may undergo a series of enzyme-mediated post-translational modifications including acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, sumoylation, and crotonylation. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play an important role in regulating epigenetic maintenance and modifications of their targets, which in turn exert critical impacts on chromatin structure, gene expression, and stability of proteins. As such, HDACs constitute a group of potential therapeutic targets for CCA. The aim of this review was to summarize the role that HDACs perform in regulating epigenetic changes, tumor development, and their potential as therapeutic targets for CCA.
From Fuzziness to Clarity: Regulation of DRP5B Ring Dynamics at the Chloroplast Division Site.

Plant cells harbor a varying number of chloroplasts, and chloroplasts multiply by division to maintain the continuity of chloroplasts. Chloroplast division is performed by the constriction of two self-assembling GTPase rings in the middle of the chloroplast: the FtsZ ring on the stromal side and the
Combined Heart-Kidney Transplantation: Vasoplegia is Associated with Poorer Post-Kidney Transplant Outcomes

Purpose Candidate selection for multi-organ transplants should consider the chances of good function and benefit of all transplanted organs. Risk factors for early renal graft dysfunction after combined heart-kidney transplant (CHKTx) may include vasoplegia and vasopressor need in spite of good cardiac graft function. We aimed to identify risk factors for vasoplegia after CHKTx and its impact on postoperative and renal allograft outcomes. Methods A retrospective review was conducted on 58 consecutive patients who underwent CHKTx at a single center between 1996 and 2019. Baseline characteristics, perioperative complications including post-transplant vasoplegia, graft function, and survival were assessed. Vasoplegia was defined as needing vasopressors to maintain a MAP >70 mmHg with either an ejection fraction >55% or a cardiac index ≥2.0 L/min/m2 within 48 hours of transplantation. Results The mean transplant age was 53.6 years (± 11.3 SD). Pre-transplant, 17 (29.3%) patients had a left ventricular assist device (VAD) and 1 (1.7%) had a right VAD. The operative mortality rate was 5.2% (3 patients). Seventeen (32.1%) patients experienced vasoplegia; of these, 10 (58.8%) had a VAD pre-transplant, 9 (52.9%) had delayed renal graft function (DGF), and 3 (17.6%) had permanent renal graft failure (PGF). All 3 patients with PGF had vasoplegia and 9 (50.0%) with DGF had vasoplegia. Eight (66.7%) of the patients with either DGF or PGF and vasoplegia had a VAD. Further survival analyses shown in table 1. Conclusion Vasoplegia is associated with a higher risk of renal allograft dysfunction following CHKTx, and is frequently associated with LVAD as a bridge to transplant. Identifying further risk factors associated with poor post-CHKTx renal graft function could help define patients for whom CHKTx is appropriate. A review of the CHKTx allocation process in high risk patient groups is warranted.
Disorders of the anterior and posterior pituitary

Abstract The pituitary gland is often referred to as the master gland because it orchestrates many of the endocrine processes required for growth and development, regulation of metabolic rate, sexual maturation and reproduction, initiation and maintenance of lactation, response to stress and regulation of water balance. The pituitary gland is divided into two lobes—the anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary. The anterior pituitary is composed of specialized cells, each responsible for producing and secreting a single hormone in response to hormone signals from both the hypothalamus and peripheral endocrine glands. The posterior pituitary can be considered an extension of the hypothalamus and does not synthesize hormones, rather it releases hormones produced by the hypothalamus in response to appropriate stimuli. Disorders of the anterior and posterior pituitary are characterized by either hormone excess or insufficiency and the clinical laboratory often plays a critical role in the diagnosis of these disorders and monitoring patients’ responses to therapy. This chapter will discuss the physiological effects of the anterior and posterior pituitary hormones, describe the regulatory mechanisms responsible for their release, define clinical signs and symptoms consistent with dysregulated pituitary hormone function and suggest appropriate clinical laboratory tests for the evaluation of suspected pituitary dysfunction.
Tutorial: Langevin Dynamics methods for aerosol particle trajectory simulations and collision rate constant modeling

Abstract The Langevin Dynamics (LD) method (also known in the literature as Brownian Dynamics) is routinely used to simulate aerosol particle trajectories for transport rate constant calculations as well as to understand aerosol particle transport in internal and external fluid flows. This tutorial intends to explain the methodological details of setting up a LD simulation of a population of aerosol particles and to deduce rate constants from an ensemble of classical trajectories. We discuss the applicability and limitations of the translational Langevin equation to model the combined stochastic and deterministic motion of particles in fields of force or fluid flow. The drag force and stochastic “diffusion” force terms that appear in the Langevin equation are discussed elaborately, along with a summary of common forces relevant to aerosol systems (electrostatic, gravity, van der Waals, …); a commonly used first order and a fourth order Runge-Kutta time stepping schemes for linear stochastic ordinary differential equations are presented. A MATLAB® implementation of a LD computer code for simulating particle settling under gravity using the first order scheme is included for illustration. Scaling analysis of aerosol transport processes and the selection of timestep and domain size for trajectory simulations are demonstrated through two specific aerosol processes: particle diffusion charging and coagulation. Fortran® implementations of the first order and fourth order time-stepping schemes are included for simulating the 3D motion of a particle in a periodic domain. Potential applications and caveats to the usage of LD are included as a summary.
Cocaine-specific speed-accuracy trade-off during anti-saccade testing differentiates patients with cocaine use disorder who achieve initial abstinence during treatment.

Background:The response time speed-accuracy trade-off (SATO) is an established index of information processing ability, but rarely examined as a variable in association with treatment of substance ...
Evaluation of Communication Network Models for Shipboard Power Systems

The need to research modern cyber-physical systems (CPS) such as microgrids and shipboard power systems (SPS) has driven the use and development of novel methods and tools designed to capture the complexity of such systems. Novel testing methodologies are used to de-risk implementations and provide an effective way of testing diverse system topologies, controllers, and/or scenarios that could exist in these systems. In this work, we focus on creating communication network models used to evaluate SPS models. These models are designed to capture both the behavior of SPS from both the physical and cyber perspectives. The scalability of the models and software used to design communication networks is explored in an effort to provide a common platform to perform communication network simulation/emulation for systems designed to be used in SPS applications.
A deontic analysis of inter-organizational control requirements

This research focuses on the design and verification of inter-organizational controls. Instead of looking at a documentary procedure, which is the flow of documents and data among the parties, the research examines the underlying deontic purpose of the procedure, the so-called deontic process, and identifies control requirements to secure this purpose. The vision of the research is a formal theory for streamlining bureaucracy in business and government procedures. Underpinning most inter-organizational procedures are deontic relations, which are about rights and obligations of the parties. When all parties trust each other, they are willing to fulfill their obligations and honor the counter parties’ rights; thus controls may not be needed. The challenge is in cases where trust may not be assumed. In these cases, the parties need to rely on explicit controls to reduce their exposure to the risk of opportunism. However, at present there is no analytic approach or technique to determine which controls are needed for a given contracting or governance situation. The research proposes a formal method for deriving inter-organizational control requirements based on static analysis of deontic relations and dynamic analysis of deontic changes. The formal method will take a deontic process model of an inter-organizational transaction and certain domain knowledge as inputs to automatically generate control requirements that a documentary procedure needs to satisfy in order to limit fraud potentials. The deliverables of the research include a formal representation namely Deontic Petri Nets that combine multiple modal logics and Petri nets for modeling deontic processes, a set of control principles that represent an initial formal theory on the relationships between deontic processes and documentary procedures, and a working prototype that uses model checking technique to identify fraud potentials in a deontic process and generate control requirements to limit them. Fourteen scenarios of two well-known international payment procedures—cash in advance and documentary credit—have been used to test the prototype. The results showed that all control requirements stipulated in these procedures could be derived automatically.
Characterization of the Transcriptional Regulation of Tetratricopeptide Repeat Doman 39c (Ttc39c) in Skeletal Muscle

Ttc39c has been identified as a novel gene in skeletal muscle that is differentially regulated under conditions of neurogenic atrophy in wild-type mice compared to Muscle RING Finger 1 (MuRF1) knoc...
Trace Element Profiles and Ratios Determined by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis for Fine Paper Identification

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been applied to virtually every type of evidentiary material for forensic purposes, including glass, rubber, narcotics, soil, and paper [1–5]. Literature to date on sample identification of fine paper (book or bond-type writing papers) by INAA has not emphasized the value of trace element concentration profiles or elemental ratios. It is to this area of sample identification that this investigation was directed. Some assets of INAA that make it suitable for forensic analysis are (1) the often nondestructive nature of the technique, which is valuable in many legal situations; (2) extremely high sensitivity, allowing small samples of evidentiary material to be used when mutilation is permitted; and (3) the ability to analyze for many elements in a single sample.
Brushless Motor Drive for In-Tank Fuel Pump

The paper describes the development of a brushless motor drive consisting of a permanent-magnet synchronous motor and an electronic commutator. Normally this type of drive requires a position sensor to trigger the electronic commutator in the proper sequence, however, in this case voltage feedback is used that eliminates the requirement for a sensor. Also, a half wave inverter with three transistors instead of the usual six is used to reduce the cost of the electronics. The increase in motor loss by the half wave operation is offset by the reduced losses in the inverter. The calculation of the performance, although based on a simple model of the motor, agrees well with test data. Knowledge of the harmonic components of the open circuit voltage of the motor is required which can be obtained from analysis of the magnetic field distribution. The efficiency of the drive is higher than that of the dc motor it replaces, and the whole drive including the electronics occupies only slightly higher volume.
Review of An introduction to support vector machines and other Kernel-based learning methods by Nello Cristianini and John Shawe-Taylor, New York, Cambridge University press, 2000

Review of "An Introduction to Support Vector Machines and Other Kernel-Based Learning Methods, Nello Cristianini and John Shawe-Taylor, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2000, 189 pp., $45, ISBN 0-521-78019-5.
Non-data-communication Overheads in MPI: Analysis on Blue Gene/P

Modern HEC systems, such as Blue Gene/P, rely on achieving high-performance by using the parallelism of a massive number of low-frequency/low-power processing cores. This means that the local pre- and post-communication processing required by the MPI stack might not be very fast, owing to the slow processing cores. Similarly, small amounts of serialization within the MPI stack that were acceptableon small/medium systems can be brutal on massively parallel systems. In this paper, we study different non-data-communication overheads within the MPI implementation on the IBM Blue Gene/P system.
Governance and Growth in Nigeria: Examining the Competing Bilateral Economic Relationships Among Nigeria, China and the United States, 2001-2011

The paper will explore the role of governance in Nigeria’s recent economic growth during the time frame of 2001-2011. The study will also examine the perceived rivalry between China and the United States and the competition that is emerging as it relates to the economic relationship with Nigeria. Specifically, I am interested in examining China’s relationship with Nigeria vis-a-vis America’s relationship with the country. Primarily, how China and the United States’ foreign policies factor into their decisions on foreign aid, trade, and infrastructure development. China and the U.S. have different approaches when dealing with other nations and by assessing these and other variables, I will offer an explanation for Nigeria’s continuing economic growth from 2001-2011. I argue that governance is central to Nigeria’s recent economic growth. In addition, the power transition theory will help explain the rivalry or the rising power declining power dynamic that is occurring between China and the United States in Nigeria. In order to test these claims a mixed methodology will be employed. The quantitative portion will analyze the overall gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria and the GDP per sector and sector growth. I will also analyze China and the United States’ overall investment in Nigeria and to which sector of Nigeria’s economy are those investments made. The data will come from the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Global Coalition for Africa, Ministry of Commerce People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM), aiddata.org. and other international organizations. The variables will be examined by utilizing a time series analysis from 1995-2011. The qualitative portion of the methodology will consist of 20 interviews of Nigerian, Chinese and American participants in government, academia and international and financial organizations. My anticipated finding is that improved governance is mainly responsible for Nigeria’s recent economic growth. Also, I anticipate that due to China’s reemergence in Nigeria, the United States has lost its influence in the country.
EFFECT OF PROTEIN-INTAKE ON DIHYDROFOLATE-REDUCTASE ACTIVITY OF HOST AND TUMOR-TISSUES

Although previous laboratory research has found that methotrexate toxicity is significantly increased by protein depletion, the cause of this phenomenon is unclear. Protein depletion can potentially increase methotrexate toxicity by altering methotrexate pharmacokinetics, changing levels of its target enzyme, dihydrofolate reductase, or by other mechanisms. To determine the specific effect of protein malnutrition on dihydrofolate reductase activity of tumor and host tissues, 30 Lewis/Wistar rats with subcutaneous mammary tumor implants (AC-33) were randomized to receive a standard protein diet (22.0% protein; 4.20 kcal/g) or protein-depleted diet (0.03% protein; 4.27 kcal/g) ad libitum per os. At sacrifice, specific activity of dihydrofolate reductase was determined in critical host target tissues (bone marrow, liver, gastrointestinal mucosa) and tumors. Our results indicate a differential effect of protein depletion on dihydrofolate reductase activity of tumor and various host tissues. Protein depletion reduced enzyme activity in bone marrow and tumors to 50% and 85%, respectively, of levels found in animals receiving standard protein intake (p<0.05). In contrast, dihydrofolate reductase activity in liver was unchanged and in gastrointestinal mucosa was increased to 136% with protein depletion compared to standard protein intake. Thus, increased myelosuppression from methotrexate in depleted animals may result, in part, from reduced dihydrofolate reductase activity in bone marrow. Other mechanisms must be implicated to account for increased hepatic or gastrointestinal toxicity observed in the protein-depleted, tumor-bearing host.
RESOLVING THE PARADOX OF CONFLICT, STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Strategic decision making influences organizational performance. However, close examination of this relationship reveals a subtle paradox. It appears that the products of strategic decision making, all of which are necessary for enhanced organizational performance, do not peacefully coexist. Conflict seems to be the crux of this conundrum. As such, a better understanding of conflict's effects on strategic decision making is needed This paper integrates a multidimensional conceptualization of conflict Into a model of strategic decision making and organizational performance and develops propositions to guide empirical study of the effects of conflict on strategic decision making.