cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Exile Island: Xinjiang Refugees and the “One China” Policy in Nationalist Taiwan, 1949–1971

The extraordinary lengths to which the Chinese Nationalist government on Taiwan went after 1949 to pursue a “One China” policy during the Cold War are well known. Recently declassified archives reveal, however, that Chiang Kai-shek's determination to maintain the geopolitical integrity of China went far beyond the suppression of a Taiwanese independence movement and lukewarm support for the 1959 Tibetan uprising. The exodus of several thousand Uighur and Kazakh refugees from Xinjiang, a mostly Muslim province only loosely integrated into the modern Chinese state, provided a rare opportunity for the Nationalist government in exile to make overtures to a vulnerable non-Han population whose Cold War loyalties were up for grabs. This study of the historically unique and nearly unknown Office for the Chairman of the Xinjiang Provincial Government in Taiwan demonstrates the Nationalist commitment to preserving the non-Han borderlands of China while in exile, even if the immediate beneficiary of such efforts was...
Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery in gynecologic oncology: An update

The preferred surgical approach for many gynecologic oncology procedures is now laparoscopy. Reduced morbidity, shorter hospitalization and a more rapid recovery have been associated with minimally invasive surgical approaches when compared to laparotomy. Incisional morbidity, including vascular and viscous injury, postoperative hernia, infection, and pain remain significant concerns. Use of fewer and smaller incisions during laparoscopy may be expected to further minimize these risks. Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS), or single incision laparoscopy, describes the use of one small skin incision to complete laparoscopic surgical procedures. Recent advances in instrumentation have allowed increasingly complex procedures in gynecologic cancer patients to be completed. This review will serve as an update in regards to implementation of LESS in gynecologic oncology. Technical challenges encountered during performance of LESS as well as strategies to overcome these challenges will be discussed.
Stepwise Cluster Assembly Using VO2(acac) as a Precursor: cis-[VO(OCH(CH3)2)(acac)2], [V2O2(μ-OCH3)2(acac)2(OCH3)2], [V3O3{μ,μ-(OCH2)3CCH3}2(acac)2(OC2H5)], and [V4O4(μ-O)2(μ-OCH3)2(μ3-OCH3)2(acac)2(OCH3)2]·2CH3CN1

The studies of an underexplored synthetic reagent, VO2(acac) (Hacac = acetylacetone) and semirational strategies for the formation of a complete series of simple vanadium(V) alkoxide clusters in alcohol-containing solvents. The neutral mono-, di-, tri-, and tetranuclear oxovanadium(V) complexes [V2O2(μ-OCH3)2(acac)2(OCH3)2] (1), [V4O4(μ-O)2(μ-OCH3)2(μ3-OCH3)2(acac)2(OCH3)2]·2CH3CN (2), [V4O4(μ-O)2(μ-OCH3)2(μ3-OCH3)2(acac)2(OCH3)2] (3), [V3O3{μ,μ-(OCH2)3CCH3}2(acac)2(OR)] (R = CH3 (4), C2H5 (5)), and cis-[VO(OCH(CH3)2)(acac)2] (6) with alkoxide and acac- ligands were obtained by reaction of VO2(acac) with a monoalcohol and/or a tridentate alcohol. The structures of complexes 1−3, 5, and 6 were determined by X-ray diffraction methods. Complex 1 crystallized in the monoclinic system, P21/n, with a = 7.8668(5) A, b = 15.1037(9) A, c = 8.5879(5) A, β = 106.150(1)°, V = 980.1(1) A3, Z = 2, and R (wR2) = 0.040 (0.121). Complex 2 crystallized in the monoclinic system, P21/n, with a = 8.531(2) A, b = 14.703(3) A, ...
Normalising desistance: contextualising marijuana and cocaine use careers in young adults

Although there is a vast literature on drug use and addiction, there is little work that addresses the long-term use of drugs within the general population. We take a more contextual look in examining longitudinal drug use patterns over the course of 14 years for a representative sample of young adults in their late teens and early twenties in the United States using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). We use a growth trajectory modelling approach for cocaine and marijuana users to determine general use careers. Using contextual and life-course variables, we then estimate a multinomial logistic regression model to predict group membership. In addition to establishing general use career groups, we ask how well mainstream theories comport with our findings and how the different chemical makeup of cocaine and marijuana influence our findings. We find four general use career groups: (i) high use/late desistance; (ii) peaked use/strong desistance; (iii) low use; and (iv) stable use/gradual desistance. Our results suggest similar careers for users of both drugs, with desistance over time as the rule for all groups. We also find some support for life-course and contextual factors in drug using patterns, but our findings challenge other psychological and criminological theories.
The Mammalian Baculum: Hypotheses on the Nature of Bacular Variability

Data from the literature on the baculum and our own studies are used to evaluate two conflicting hypotheses for bacular variation. The first hypothesis states that bacular differences arise incidentally as pleiotropic by-products of phyletic divergence. The second hypothesis attributes precise reproductive function to the baculum (and phallus), which in turn allows the baculum to function as a reproductive isolating mechanism. Several patterns of bacular variation are used to test these hypotheses: bacular length versus body size (both among and within taxa), baculum length versus vaginal length, and bacular variability versus baubellar (os clitoris) variability. The results of these analyses lead us to propose that, by determining gross phallic morphology, different bacular morphologies probably elicit different behavioral and neuroendocrine responses from the female during copulation. Changes in bacular morphology that produce differential responsiveness on the part of the female may thus provide a basis for species-specific reproduction. Additional analyses of phyletic and geographical patterns of bacular variation corroborate this proposal, and the systematic and reproductive implications of these results are briefly considered.
Asthma education, monitoring and environmental control.

Asthma treatment in the last 10 years has benefited greatly from the first and second reports of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program expert panel. Newer approaches to medical therapy have been accompanied by more aggressive attempts to involve patients in the management of their disease. In fact, it is widely recognized that the patient has a very important role in asthma management. As indicated by the section title, symptom and peak flow monitoring, along with environmental control, are essential topics for patient education. This review covers the three related areas of education, monitoring and environmental control, as well as the associated salient issues addressed in recent asthma prevention and control literature. The first section covers essential elements of asthma education. A review of current research and recommendations includes a brief synopsis of the expert panel recommendations for patient and family education and summarizes recent controlled trials of asthma self management interventions for both children and adults. The results of these trials raise the question of incremental gains in patient outcomes seen with increasing intensity of asthma self management interventions. Suggestions for future directions for self management research are included in this and the following two sections. The second section focuses primarily on research related to the role of self monitoring in asthma care and the relative advantages of using a peak flow meter and/or symptoms to assess the need for a step up in treatment. The final section addresses environmental control as it relates to self management and looks at the burgeoning literature on the role of household environmental monitoring and control for the prevention of sensitization and subsequent morbidity from exposure to allergens and irritants. The importance of the patient and family in environmental control is emphasized.
Contribution of adenosine to compensatory dilation in hypoperfused contracting human muscles is independent of nitric oxide.

We previously demonstrated that nitric oxide (NO) contributes to compensatory vasodilation in the contracting human forearm subjected to acute hypoperfusion. We examined the potential role of an ad...
Improving flux predictions by integrating data from multiple strains.

Motivation Incorporating experimental data into constraint-based models can improve the quality and accuracy of their metabolic flux predictions. Unfortunately, routinely and easily measured experimental data such as growth rates, extracellular fluxes, transcriptomics and even proteomics are not always sufficient to significantly improve metabolic flux predictions. Results We developed a new method (called REPPS) for incorporating experimental measurements of growth rates and extracellular fluxes from a set of perturbed reference strains (RSs) and a parental strain (PS) to substantially improve the predicted flux distribution of the parental strain. Using data from five single gene knockouts and the wild type strain, we decrease the mean squared error of predicted central metabolic fluxes by ∼47% compared to parsimonious flux balance analysis (pFBA). This decrease in error further improves flux predictions for new knockout strains. Furthermore, REPPS is less sensitive to the completeness of the metabolic network than pFBA. Availability and Implementation Code is available in the Supplementary data available at Bioinformatics online. Contact reed@engr.wisc.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Five-day Turnaround Time for Hospital Medical Autopsies: A Five-Year Experience:

In order to improve the autopsy usefulness for quality assurance, teaching, and enhanced clinical relevance, a five-day turnaround time for medical autopsies within the Department of Pathology and ...
Contemporary spinal oncology treatment paradigms and outcomes for metastatic tumors to the spine: A systematic review of breast, prostate, renal, and lung metastases

Metastatic spinal disease most frequently arises from carcinomas of the breast, lung, prostate, and kidney. Management of spinal metastases (SpM) is controversial in the literature. Recent studies advocate more aggressive surgical resection than older studies which called for radiation therapy alone, challenging previously held beliefs in conservative therapy. A literature search of the PubMed database was performed for spinal oncology outcome studies published in the English language between 2006 and 2016. Data concerning study characteristics, patient demographics, tumor origin and spinal location, treatment paradigm, and median survival were collected. The search retrieved 220 articles, 24 of which were eligible to be included. There were overall 3457 patients. Nine studies of 1723 patients discussed parameters affecting median survival time with comparison of different primary cancers. All studies found that primary cancer significantly predicted survival. Median survival time was highest for primary breast and renal cancers and lowest for prostate and lung cancers, respectively. Multiple spinal metastases, a cervical location of metastasis, and pathologic fracture each had no significant influence on survival. Survival in metastatic spinal tumors is largely driven by primary tumor type, and this should influence palliative management decisions. Surgery has been shown to greatly increase quality of life in patients who can tolerate the procedure, even in those previously treated with radiotherapy. Surgery for SpM can be used as first-line therapy for preservation of function and symptom relief. Future studies of management of SpM are warranted and primary tumor diagnosis should be studied to determine contribution to survival.
Do patients requiring a multivisceral resection for rectal cancer have worse oncologic outcomes than patients undergoing only abdominoperineal resection

Abstract Introduction Abdominoperineal Resection (APR) remains an important option for patients with advanced rectal cancer though some may require multivisceral resection (MVR) in addition to APR. We hypothesized that oncological outcomes would be worse with MVR. Methods A retrospective review from 2006 to 2015 of 161 patients undergoing APR or MVR for rectal cancer, of whom 118 underwent curative APR or APR with MVR. Perioperative, oncologic and survival metrics were evaluated. Results There were 82 patients who underwent APR and 36 who underwent MVR. Surgical approach and incidence of complications were similar (All P > 0.05). There was 1 local recurrence in each of the APR and MVR groups at a mean follow-up of 34 and 32 months, respectively. Distant recurrences occurred in 3 APR patients and 4 MVR patients. Conclusions APR and APR with MVR can be performed with comparable morbidity and oncologic outcomes.
Adherence to Rivaroxaban, Dabigatran, and Apixaban for Stroke Prevention for Newly Diagnosed and Treatment-Naive Atrial Fibrillation Patients: An Update Using 2013-2014 Data

BACKGROUND: Few studies have assessed adherence to non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), especially using contemporary data now that multiple NOACs are available. OBJECTIVE: To compare adherence and treatment patterns among NOACs for stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). METHODS: Incident and treatment-naive NVAF patients were identified during 2013-2014 from a large claims database in this retrospective cohort study. Patients were included who initiated rivaroxaban, dabigatran, or apixaban within 30 days after diagnosis. Adherence to the index medication and adherence to any oral anticoagulant was assessed using the proportion of days covered (PDC) at 3, 6, and 9 months. The number of switches and gaps in therapy were also evaluated. Analyses were stratified by stroke risk scores, and a logistic regression model was used to control for factors that may predict high adherence. RESULTS: Dabigatran had lower adherence (PDC = 0.76, 0.64, 0.57) compared wit...
Ondansetron Prescription for Home Use in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Objectives Ondansetron has been shown to decrease admission rate and the need for intravenous fluids among pediatric emergency department (ED) patients with acute gastroenteritis, but there is limited evidence regarding its use after ED discharge. This study describes prescribing patterns for ondansetron and assesses the effects of ondansetron home prescription on rate of return. Methods Data were gathered from the electronic health record on 2 separate but overlapping groups of patients seen in a pediatric ED from 2012 to 2014. The Gastroenteritis Group included all patients with a discharge diagnosis of gastroenteritis by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, code. The All Ondansetron Group included any child prescribed ondansetron at discharge. Patterns of ondansetron use and 3- and 7-day ED return rate were assessed for both groups. Discharge diagnosis was evaluated for the All Ondansetron Group. Results A total of 996 patients with acute gastroenteritis were identified during the study period. Of these, 76% received ondansetron in the ED, and 71% were discharged with prescriptions for ondansetron. Seven-day ED return rates were similar between groups (6% with prescription, 5% without, P = 0.66). A total of 2287 patients received home prescriptions for ondansetron. Fifty-four percent of these patients' discharge diagnoses were classed as gastrointestinal complaints, 14% other infectious conditions, 9% respiratory, and 4% injuries. Their return rate was 6%. There was wide variation in the number of doses prescribed. Conclusions Home-use ondansetron is widely prescribed in this urban academic pediatric ED for a variety of indications, without effect on 3- or 7-day ED return. Further prospective studies are necessary to determine the efficacy of this practice.
LTE based V2X receiver to support high speed

V2X technology provides communication services between a vehicle and networks, vehicles, and pedestrians. Especially, LTE based V2X is one of the emerging technologies in communications and automotive industries. To transmit and receive safety message among vehicles with V2X communication, new physical frame structure and receiver algorithm are introduced in 3GPP standardization. In particular, V2X should be able to receive safety messages in high speed environments. This paper provides frequency offset estimation scheme to support high speed environment in LTE V2X receiver.
Cellular Responses to Electrical Stimulation: A Study Using a Model of the Ventricular Cardiac Action Potential

A mathematical model of the membrane action potential of a ventricular cardiac cell is used to examine the cellular responses to premature stimulation. Results demonstrate the importance of the slow recovery of INa in determining the response of the cell. Simulated responses to periodic stimulation include monotonic Wenckebach patterns and alternans in APD at normal [K]o. At low [K]o, nonmonotonic Wenckebach periodicities, aperiodic patterns, and enhanced supernormal excitability that results in unstable responses (“chaotic activity”) are observed. These observations are consistent with recent experimental results, and the simulations provide insights into the underlying mechanisms at the level of membrane ionic channel kinetics.
The impact of foreign remittances on poverty in Nepal: A panel study of household survey data, 1996–2011

Abstract Using data from the longitudinal panel surveys of 1996, 2004, and 2011, this paper examines the dynamics of foreign remittances and their impact on poverty in Nepal. The intent is to explore how foreign remittances have evolved and impacted poverty and economic well-being of households. Focusing on a consistent set of households across the three survey rounds in a balanced panel format helps examine the effect of foreign remittances with appropriate controls. Results from methodologically consistent, random-effects regressions that correct for potential attrition and heterogeneity bias support significant poverty-reducing and, more accurately, economic well-being-enhancing effects of foreign remittances especially when originating in countries other than India. This and other findings are valuable to the assessment of policies on utilizing foreign labor migration and remittances as a vehicle to reduce poverty in Nepal.
Synchrophasor based dynamic model validation leveraging multiple events

This paper proposes a method to validate and calibrate power system dynamic models using measurements from multiple events. By simultaneously calibrating the models across multiple events, the resulting parameter values can rightly explain the model response across all these events. The proposed solution has three components: (i) parameter identifiability analysis, (ii) event characterization, (iii) parameter estimation. The identifiablity analysis accounts for multiple events simultaneously, thereby providing a global quantification of parameter identifiability. The event characterization approach clusters similar events and determines the set of most representative events from the available measurements. Finally, an Unscented Kalman Filtering based parameter estimation algorithm is adopted to tune the model parameters across multiple events simultaneously. The efficacy of the proposed solution is demonstrated using a playback simulation platform based on the Matlab based power system toolbox.
Regulations on Chemical Carcinogens of the Environmental Protection Agency

In 1976, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued its first formal statement on the procedures and guidelines by which it evaluated agents which exhibit carcinogenic potential. This document, along with two additional important publications, serves as the basis for EPA’s current Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment, published in 1986. The 1986 Guidelines were nearly four years in the development stage and even as they were being published, were considered suitable for updating and revision, given that the state-of-the-art on carcinogenicity was advancing at a relatively rapid rate at that time.
Leaf physiology and anatomy of soybean genotypes differing in leaf photosynthetic ability

To facilitate the selection of soybean fGlycine max (L. ) Merr,] genotypes with improved rates of apparent photosynthe­ sis per unit leaf area (AP), knowledge of the physiologic or anatomical factors that cause genotypic variation in AP would be useful. In previous work, we bred lines with divergent leaf photosynthetic rates. The objective of this experiment was to determine the causes of that divergence. Two rapid and two slow photosynthesizing lines from the original popula­ tion were grown in the field. About the beginning of rapid seed growth, the dependence of AP on (1) atmospheric CO2 con­ centration and (2) photosynthetic photon flux density, each at two different leaf temperatures (28 and 18 C), was mea­ sured for recently expanded, terminal leaflets. Leaves were harvested for measurement of leaf and cell dimensions. Evidence indicates that neither stomatal conductance of COg, nor mesophyll cell size or number, nor the efficiency of the photochemical or enzymatic reactions are causative. This implicates factors internal to the cell. The residual resistance tended to be less for the two rapid photosynthesis lines at 28 C, though the effect was not significant. The evidence in toto implies that amount of photosynthetic material per unit leaf area mediates AP differences among
Molecular species of triacylglycerols in the rubber particles of Parthenium argentatum and Hevea brasiliensis

Abstract Molecular species of acylglycerols (AG) in the lipid extracts of guayule (Parthenium argentatum) and Hevea (Hevea brasiliensis) rubber particles were compared using HPLC and MS. The contents of 54 molecular species of AG in the lipid extract of guayule rubber particles in decreasing order were as: LLnLn (4.6%), LLLn (3.6%), LLn-OH20:0 (2.4%), LnLnLn (1.9%), LLnP (1.3%), LLP (1.3%), LLn-OH20:1 (0.80%), LLL (0.62%), total of about 24%. The normal FA among the total FA was about 88%, hydroxy FA about 12% and odd carbon-numbered FA about 2.4%. The contents of 56 molecular species of AG in the lipid extract of Hevea rubber particle were as: 308-308-308 (21%), 308-308-O (4.9%), 308-308-324 (4.3%), 308-308-S (2.8%), 308-308-L (2.4%), 308-OL (1.5%) and LLL (1.3%), total of about 44%. 308 and 324 were the furan FA with the masses of 308 and 324. Furan FA with the mass 308 was 10,13-epoxy-11-methyloctadeca-10,12-dienoic acid identified earlier. We proposed the structure of 324 as 10,13-epoxy-11-carboxyl-12-methyl-hexadeca-10,12-dienoic acid. Furan FA among the total FA was about 81%, normal FA about 17% and hydroxy FA about 1.6%. This is the first report of various intact molecular species of AG in rubber particles. It is also the first report of hydroxy FA in the neutral lipids in either species. The major FA in the total FA of guayule were L (38%), Ln (38%), in Hevea was 308 (76%). The molecular species of AG profiles of guayule and Hevea rubber particles may provide the necessary information to further improve guayule and Hevea natural rubbers.
A Mobile Phone–Based Brief Intervention With Personalized Feedback and Text Messaging is Associated With Reductions in Driving After Drinking Among College Drinkers

Objective:Driving after drinking (DAD) among college students remains a significant public health concern and is perhaps the single riskiest drinking-related behavior. Counselor-delivered and web-b...
The effect of dietary fat on behavior in mice

Obesity is linked to cognitive dysfunction in humans and rodents, and its effects can be passed on to the next generation. However, the extent of these effects is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a prenatal maternal high-fat diet and an individual high-fat diet in inbred mice. We varied maternal diet and offspring diet to test the hypothesis that a high-fat diet would increase anxiety, reduce activity levels, and impair nest-building. First, we fed a high-fat (HF) or low-fat (LF) diet to genetically identical female Small (SM/J) mice and mated them with LF males. We cross-fostered all offspring to LF-fed SM/J nurses and weaned them onto an HF or LF diet. We weighed the mice weekly and we tested anxiety with the Open Field Test, activity levels with instantaneous scan sampling, and nest building using the Deacon Scale. Diet significantly affected weight, with HF females weighing 28.2 g (± 1.4 g SE) and LF females weighing 15.1 g (± 1.6 g SE) at 17 weeks old. The offspring’s own diet had major behavioral effects. HF mice produced more fecal boli and urinations in the Open Field Test, built lower-quality nests, and had lower activity in adulthood than LF mice. The only trait that a prenatal maternal diet significantly affected was whether the offspring built their nests inside or outside of a hut. Offspring diet, but not prenatal maternal diet, affected a wide range of behaviors in these mice.
Antiviral Innate Responses Induced by VSV-EBOV Vaccination Contribute to Rapid Protection

ABSTRACT Ebola virus (EBOV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes Ebola virus disease (EVD), characterized by excessive inflammation, lymphocyte apoptosis, hemorrhage, and coagulation defects leading to multiorgan failure and shock. Recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing the EBOV glycoprotein (VSV-EBOV), which is highly efficacious against lethal challenge in nonhuman primates, is the only vaccine that successfully completed a phase III clinical trial. Additional studies showed VSV-EBOV provides complete and partial protection to macaques immunized 7 and 3 days before EBOV challenge, respectively. However, the mechanisms by which this live-attenuated vaccine elicits rapid protection are only partially understood. To address this, we carried out a longitudinal transcriptome analysis of host responses in whole-blood samples collected from cynomolgus macaques vaccinated with VSV-EBOV 28, 21, 14, 7, and 3 days before EBOV challenge. Our findings indicate the transcriptional response to the vaccine peaks 7 days following vaccination and contains signatures of both innate antiviral immunity as well as B-cell activation. EBOV challenge 1 week after vaccination resulted in large gene expression changes suggestive of a recall adaptive immune response 14 days postchallenge. Lastly, the timing and magnitude of innate immunity and interferon-stimulated gene expression correlated with viral burden and disease outcome in animals vaccinated 3 days before challenge. IMPORTANCE Ebola virus (EBOV) is the causative agent of Ebola virus disease (EVD), a deadly disease and major public health threat worldwide. A safe and highly efficacious vesicular stomatitis virus-based vaccine against EBOV is the only platform that has successfully completed phase III clinical trials and has been used in recent and ongoing outbreaks. Earlier studies showed that antibodies are the main mode of protection when this vaccine is administered 28 days before EBOV challenge. Recently, we showed this vaccine can provide protection when administered as early as 3 days before challenge and before antibodies are detected. This study seeks to identify the mechanisms of rapid protection, which in turn will pave the way for improved vaccines and therapeutics. Additionally, this study provides insight into host gene expression signatures that could provide early biomarkers to identify infected individuals who are at highest risk of poor outcomes.
Two Conceptions of Suffering in War

Since at least the middle of the nineteenth century, two competing conceptions of suffering in wartime have dominated western thought about the laws of armed conflict. One conception views suffering – and especially suffering in war – as an evil in itself. Those who take this view, like Henri Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross and inspiration for the Geneva Convention of 1864, typically adopt the minimization of suffering as the principal goal for a law of war. Another conception of suffering in war, however, sees the experience of pain as an inevitable and sometimes even ennobling accompaniment to the hard work of bringing about just ends in the world. This latter view rejects the idea that one can evaluate suffering or its legal significance without knowing why the suffering exists. This approach has a long tradition, too, one that stretches back through Dunant’s contemporary the Prussian-American Francis Lieber, drafter of the Union’s rules of engagement in the American Civil War. These two ways of making sense of human suffering (and the conflicts between them) have animated legal efforts to manage warfare ever since Dunant and Lieber launched the modern chapter of the laws of armed conflict a century and a half ago. And for good reason. Each of the two dominant conceptions of suffering contains inescapable limits and indispensable moral insights. The difficulty – our difficulty – is to capture their insights while containing their flaws.
Harlem Pimps’ Reflections on Quitting: External and Internal Reasons

Pimps quit their illicit work in sex markets for many reasons, such as job dissatisfaction, having a child, going to prison, and feeling guilty. In this study, we used a mixed methods approach to e...
Social Desirability in Patients Seeking Surgical Treatment for Dentofacial Disharmony: Associations with Psychological Distress and Motivation for Treatment

The role of socially desirable responding in the report of treatment motivation and psychological distress by patients seeking surgical treatment for dentofacial disharmony was explored. Participants completed the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1988), which measures two components of socially desirable responding (SDR): impression management (IM), which is the purposeful tailoring of answers in order to create the most positive social image, and self-deceptive positivity (SDE), which is an honest, but overly positive self-presentation. When simple bivariate relationships were examined, statistically significant inverse associations were observed between socially desirable responding and specific motives for treatment and between SDR and psychological distress. However, the relationship between socially desirable responding and motives for treatment disappeared when the effect of psychological distress was controlled. The positive relationship between psychological distress and the report of social well-being, and self-image motives for treatment remained statistically significant even after the variance attributable to socially desirable responding was removed. Implications of the findings for the evaluation of psychological distress and treatment motivation in this population are discussed.
THE LAB: SGO-T Screening Used in Hepatitis Search

(1962). THE LAB: SGO-T Screening Used in Hepatitis Search. Hospital Topics: Vol. 40, No. 7, pp. 61-63.
Therapeutic Use of Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells in a Murine Model of Acute Pancreatitis.

No specific therapy exists for acute pancreatitis (AP), and current treatment remains entirely supportive. Adipose stem cells (ASCs) have significant immunomodulatory and regenerative activities. We hypothesized that systemic administration of ASCs would mitigate inflammation in AP. AP was induced in mice by 6 hourly intraperitoneal injections of cerulein. Twenty-four hours after AP induction, mice were randomized into four systemic treatment groups: sham group (no acute pancreatitis), vehicle, human ASCs, and human ASC–conditioned media. Mice were sacrificed at 48 h, and blood and organs were collected and analyzed. Pancreatic injury was quantified histologically using a published score (edema, inflammation, and necrosis). Pancreatic inflammation was also studied by immunohistochemistry and PCR. When using IV infusion of Hoechst-labeled ASCs, ASCs were found to localize to inflamed tissues: lungs and pancreas. Mice treated with ASCs had less severe AP, as shown by a significantly decreased histopathology score (edema, inflammation, and necrosis) (p = 0.001). ASCs infusion polarized pancreatic macrophages toward an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype. ASC-conditioned media reduced pancreatic inflammation similarly to ASCs only, highlighting the importance of ASCs secreted factors in modulating inflammation. Intravenous delivery of human ASCs markedly reduces pancreatic inflammation in a murine model of AP ASCs which represent an effective therapy for AP.
Reengineering of Albumin-Fused Cocaine Hydrolase CocH1 (TV-1380) to Prolong Its Biological Half-Life

Therapeutic treatment of cocaine toxicity or addiction is a grand medical challenge. As a promising therapeutic strategy for treatment of cocaine toxicity and addiction to develop a highly efficient cocaine hydrolase (CocH) capable of accelerating cocaine metabolism to produce physiologically/biologically inactive metabolites, our previously designed A199S/S287G/A328W/Y332G mutant of human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), known as cocaine hydrolase-1 (CocH1), possesses the desirably high catalytic activity against cocaine. The C-terminus of CocH1, truncated after amino acid #529, was fused to human serum albumin (HSA) to extend the biological half-life. The C-terminal HSA-fused CocH1 (CocH1-HSA), known as Albu-CocH1, Albu-CocH, AlbuBChE, Albu-BChE, or TV-1380 in literature, has shown favorable preclinical and clinical profiles. However, the actual therapeutic value of TV-1380 for cocaine addiction treatment is still limited by the short half-life. In this study, we designed and tested a new type of HSA-fused CocH1 proteins, i.e., N-terminal HSA-fused CocH1, with or without a linker between the HSA and CocH1 domains. It has been demonstrated that the catalytic activity of these new fusion proteins against cocaine is similar to that of TV-1380. However, HSA-CocH1 (without a linker) has a significantly longer biological half-life (t1/2 = 14 ± 2 h) compared to the corresponding C-terminal HSA-fused CocH1, i.e., CocH1-HSA (TV-1380 with t1/2 = 5–8 h), in rats. Further, the N-terminal HSA-fused CocH1 proteins with a linker have further prolonged biological half-lives: t1/2 = 17 ± 2 h for both HSA-EAAAK-CocH1 and HSA-PAPAP-CocH1, and t1/2 = 18 ± 3 h for HSA-(PAPAP)2-CocH1. These N-terminal HSA-fused CocH1 proteins may serve as more promising protein drug candidates for cocaine addiction treatment.
Disconnectome Associated with Progressive Ischemic Periventricular White Matter Lesions

Abstract Periventricular white matter (PVWM) hyperintensities on T2-weighted MRI are ubiquitous in older adults and associated with dementia. Efforts to determine how PVWM lesions impact structural connectivity to impinge on brain function remain challenging in part because white matter tractography algorithms for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may lose fidelity in the presence of lesions. We used a “virtual lesion” approach to characterize the “disconnectome” associated with periventricular white matter (PVWM) lesions. We simulated progressive ischemic PVWM lesions using sub-threshold cerebral blood flow (CBF) masks derived from a previously published group-averaged map acquired from N=436 middle aged subjects in which the lowest CBF values were seen in PVWM and morphologically recapitulated the spatial pattern of PVWM hyperintensities seen in typical aging. We mimicked the age-dependent evolution of PVWM lesion burden by varying the threshold applied to the CBF map. We found that the optic radiations, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, corpus callosum, temporopontine tract and fornix were affected in early simulated PVWM lesion burdens, and that the connectivity of subcortical, cerebellar, and visual regions were significantly disrupted with increasing simulated PVWM lesion burdens. We also validated the use of virtual lesions to simulate the disconnectome due to WM hyperintensities in a cognitively normal elderly cohort (N=46) by evaluating correlations between structural and functional connectomes. The virtual lesion approach provides new insights into the spatial-temporal changes of the brain structural connectome under progressive PVWM burdens during normal aging. Significance Statement We determined the disconnectomes caused by periventricular white matter (PVWM) lesions using the “virtual lesion” approach. We validated the approach using lesions, DTI and resting-state fMRI data from elderly subjects. We simulated disconnectome of progressive PVWM lesions using cerebral blood flow (CBF) masks in PVWM region with normative DTI data, which provides specificity for an ischemic mechanism and begins to address the possibility that connectivity may be affected by reduced CBF prior to the development of overt lesions on T2-weighted FLAIR MRI. The current study presented new insights into the spatial-temporal evolutions of the brain structural connectome under progressive PVWM burdens under normal aging.
Making orange green? A critical carbon footprinting of Tennessee football gameday tourism

Anthropogenic climate change is an imminent threat. In order to curb the effects of climate change, economic industries including tourism must assess their contributions to the overall phenomenon a...
Microfinance in Argentina: a sistematic literature review

Fil: Orazi, Sofia. National University of the South. Department of Economy. Institute of Economic Research and Southern Socials; Argentina.
Authoritarian survival strategies and elite churn: The case of North Korea:

How do autocrats interact with authoritarian elites? This is a question that has gained increasing scholarly attention over the past decade. In this article, using the case of North Korea we develo...
The Politics of Local Justice Expenditure in China

This paper analyzes how justice expenditure—spending on public order and safety—in Chinese counties is affected by local and national political factors. Despite the central government’s apparent concern over social order and stability, under the institutional framework of weak downward accountability and limited upward accountability local leaders are not incentivized to respond effectively to either public demand or national imperatives for public order and safety. Confirming the influence of local leaders’ political career incentives, a panel data regression analysis on a comprehensive county-level data set for the years from 1997 through 2002 suggests that the share of justice spending reaches the lowest point during a chief executive's third year in office and a party secretary's fourth year in office. In contrast, national political factors, such as the centrally mandated anti-crime campaigns or the nationally designated minority or poor counties, have no consistent effect on and could even depress local justice spending.
The Illusion of Inclusion — The “All of Us” Research Program and Indigenous Peoples’ DNA

The Illusion of Inclusion The genomes of Indigenous peoples contain vast amounts of unexplored variation. But given the fraught history of genetic studies involving Indigenous peoples, tribal commu...
Business Improvement Districts and Contemporary Local Governance

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have become an increasingly prevalent method for contemporary public management and economic revitalization. BIDs are private non-profit organizations establis...
Parameter-Conditioned Sequential Generative Modeling of Fluid Flows

The computational cost associated with simulating fluid flows can make it infeasible to run many simulations across multiple flow conditions. Building upon concepts from generative modeling, we int...
Challenging Assumptions About Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Cigarette Smoking Among Adolescents

Previous research indicates that differences in cigarette smoking exist among those of different race/ethnicity and varying levels of socioeconomic status. However, most research has examined the influence of these factors separately on cigarette smoking despite their observed covariation. To examine the interaction of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status on adolescent tobacco use and behaviors, this study tests whether or not the social gradient holds for smoking patterns and perceptions of smoking among African American, American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN), Asian, Hispanic, and White adolescents. Using data from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the sample included African American/Black (Black), American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN), Asian, Hispanic, and White adolescents (N = 12,474), ages 12–17 years old. Measures included race/ethnicity, annual household income, age, gender, cigarette smoking, perceptions of peer use, parental attitudes, and health risks of smoking; logistic regression analyses were conducted. Findings indicated significant interactions between high income and Black and Hispanic race/ethnicity for having ever smoked a cigarette indicating a difference in comparison to high-income White adolescents (p’s < 0.05). We also found that the interaction between high income and AIAN race/ethnicity for disapproval of peers smoking was significant compared to White adolescents at the same income levels (p < 0.05). No differences were found for smoking health risk perceptions. The relationship between race/ethnicity, income, and smoking may be more complex than previously thought with these results having important preventative implications for identification of adolescents who may be most at risk for tobacco use.
China's Belt and Road Initiative is Reshaping Human Rights Norms

Since its birth in 2015, the Belt and Road Initiative has garnered significant attention for its benefits and its detriments. Much of the current scholarship in this area is focused on particular pieces of the Belt and Road Initiative, with few in legal scholarship considering the impact of the relationship between China’s growing soft power and its effect on international law and international institutions. Every state has the right to pursue power and influence, but this Note specifically examines how China’s methods of obtaining this power and influence—specifically through the Belt and Road Initiative and related actions within United Nations’ organs—are detrimental to human rights. This Note offers a novel analysis of resolutions passed in the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to shed light on emerging soft law foundations that could justify future extreme acts, before examining steps that states should take to address China’s actions.
My Healthy Brain: a multimodal lifestyle program to promote brain health.

Promoting brain health depends on sustaining healthy behaviors across the lifespan. Yet, public adoption of lifestyle behaviors and knowledge of cognitive decline (CD) prevention remains poor. Our ...
Defining rural: The impact of rural definitions on college student success outcomes

Rural students have unique characteristics that necessitate further exploration when analyzing assessment and student success data. From assessment, programming, and policy standpoints, intentionality in selection of a definition of rural is critical to prevent making inappropriate or inaccurate decisions. In this study, we sought to compare three definitions of rurality to better help understand this issue and to select a definition that we believe is most appropriate for use at a large research institution in a largely rural state.
From "satisfaction of search" to "subsequent search misses": a review of multiple-target search errors across radiology and cognitive science.

For over 50 years, the satisfaction of search effect has been studied within the field of radiology. Defined as a decrease in detection rates for a subsequent target when an initial target is found within the image, these multiple target errors are known to underlie errors of omission (e.g., a radiologist is more likely to miss an abnormality if another abnormality is identified). More recently, they have also been found to underlie lab-based search errors in cognitive science experiments (e.g., an observer is more likely to miss a target ‘T’ if a different target ‘T’ was detected). This phenomenon was renamed the subsequent search miss (SSM) effect in cognitive science. Here we review the SSM literature in both radiology and cognitive science and discuss: (1) the current SSM theories (i.e., satisfaction, perceptual set, and resource depletion theories), (2) the eye movement errors that underlie the SSM effect, (3) the existing efforts tested to alleviate SSM errors, and (4) the evolution of methodologies and analyses used when calculating the SSM effect. Finally, we present the attentional template theory, a novel mechanistic explanation for SSM errors, which ties together our current understanding of SSM errors and the attentional template literature.
Identification of a major autophosphorylation site on postsynaptic density-associated Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase.

Abstract One of the most abundant proteins in postsynaptic densities is identical or very similar to the alpha-subunit of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Autophosphorylation of this protein in isolated postsynaptic densities was studied under various conditions, following inhibition of endogenous phosphatase activity with microcystin-LR. Phosphorylation accompanied by a shift in the enzyme's electrophoretic mobility was observed upon incubation with Ca2+ and calmodulin at 37 degrees C. Brief incubation with Ca2+ and calmodulin at 0 degrees C resulted in a low level of phosphorylation and no change in mobility. Following this limited Ca(2+)-dependent phosphorylation, however, a high level of phosphorylation could be achieved in the absence of Ca2+, upon incubation at 37 degrees C. Comparison of reverse-phase HPLC phosphopeptide elution profiles obtained following phosphorylation at 37 degrees C, in the presence and absence of Ca2+, as described above, showed differences, suggesting that certain distinct sites may be phosphorylated under each condition. A major phosphopeptide peak, however, with the amino acid sequence Met-Leu-Thr(P)-Ile-Asn-Pro-Ser-Lys was identified under both conditions. This sequence is identical to the predicted sequence containing Thr-253 of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. The results suggest that phosphorylation at Thr-253 requires an initial Ca(2+)-dependent phosphorylation, which may be at a different site, but does not depend on the continued presence of Ca2+ to proceed. The observed mode of regulation of autophosphorylation at Thr-253 appears to be unique to the postsynaptic density-associated enzyme.