cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Resveratrol Analogue Promotes ERKMAPK–Dependent Stat3 Serine and Tyrosine Phosphorylation Alterations and Antitumor Effects In Vitro against Human Tumor Cells

(E)-4-(3,5-dimethoxystyryl)phenyl acetate (Cmpd1) is a resveratrol analog that preferentially inhibits glioma, breast, and pancreatic cancer cell growth, with IC50 values of 6–19 μM. Notably, the human U251MG glioblastoma tumor line is the most sensitive, with an IC50 of 6.7 μM, compared with normal fibroblasts, which have an IC50 > 20 μM. Treatment of U251MG cells that harbor aberrantly active signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat) 3 with Cmpd1 suppresses Stat3 tyrosine705 phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner in parallel with the induction of pserine727 Stat3 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase 1/2 (pErk1/2MAPK). Inhibition of pErk1/2MAPK induction by the mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase inhibitor PD98059 [2-(2-amino-3-methoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one] blocked both the pserine727 Stat3 induction and ptyrosine705 Stat3 suppression by Cmpd1, indicating dependency on the mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase–Erk1/2MAPK pathway for Cmpd1-induced modulation of Stat3 signaling. Cmpd1 also blocked epidermal growth factor–stimulated pStat1 induction, whereas upregulating pSrc, pAkt, p-p38, pHeat shock protein 27, and pmammalian target of rapamycin levels. However, pJanus kinase 2 and pEpidermal growth factor receptor levels were not significantly altered. Treatment of U251MG cells with Cmpd1 reduced in vitro colony formation, induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and cleavage of caspases 3, 8, and 9 and poly(ADP ribose) polymerase, and suppressed survivin, myeloid cell leukemia 1, Bcl-xL, cyclin D1, and cyclin B1 expression. Taken together, these data identify a novel mechanism for the inhibition of Stat3 signaling by a resveratrol analog and suggest that the preferential growth inhibitory effects of Cmp1 occur in part by Erk1/2MAPK-dependent modulation of constitutively active Stat3.
Hydrodynamic mediation of density-dependent growth and adult-juvenile interactions of a spionid polychaete

We performed an experiment to test the effects of adult density on the growth rates of juvenile Polydora cornuta. Our experiment was performed in three identical counter-rotating annular flumes, each set to one of three different flow speeds for a period o f3d( U5mm 5 3, 6, or 12 cm s 21 , where U5mm 5 velocity measured 5 mm above bottom). We implanted replicate vials containing a premeasured juvenile P. cornuta and either 0, 2, or 5 adults into a 2-cm layer of sediment in the flume. The relative growth rates of the juveniles were determined by measuring each juvenile’s body volume before and after the 3-d deployment in the flumes. We repeated the experiment three times. The growth rates of juveniles were negatively affected by adult density at the two slower flows, but there was no evidence of negative density-dependent growth at the fastest flow. In the two slower flows, the mean relative growth rate of juveniles declined from 53 to 34% d 21 as the number of adults increased from 0 to 5. Fecal mounds accumulated near adults in the two slower flows, but mounds were absent in the fastest flow. The hydrodynamic mediation of the effects of density suggests that the strength of density-dependent and adult‐juvenile interactions in nature are likely to be mediated by flow. Spionids should be able to achieve higher population densities at places where or times when faster flows facilitate suspension feeding and reduce the effects of biogenic disturbance of the sediment‐water interface.
Molecular Mechanisms of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Significant strides have been made during the past decade in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that lead to the autosomal recessive motor neuron disease spinal muscular atrophy. Genetic studies revealed that spinal muscular atrophy is caused by mutation of the telomeric copy of the survival motor neuron gene ( SMN1), with all patients retaining at least one copy of the centromeric form of the gene, SMN2. SMN2 produces reduced amounts of full-length SMN messenger ribonucleic acid because of alterative splicing of SMN2 -derived transcripts, a process that is governed by specific cisand trans-acting factors. The resulting insufficient expression level of full-length SMN protein likely causes the disease manifestations of spinal muscular atrophy; however, the mechanism for the selective vulnerability of the motor unit to deficiency of this ubiquitously expressed protein remains unknown. It also remains unclear specifically when and where in the motor unit SMN is required. Despite the remaining questions, progress has been made in developing therapeutic strategies targeted to specific points along the pathogenetic pathway of spinal muscular atrophy. Histone deacetylase inhibitors will be discussed as an example.
Vibration as a Communication Channel: A Synopsis

The sensitivity of animals to low-frequency vibrations (Hadley and Williams, 1968; Dorward and McIntyre, 1971; Hartline, 1971; Salmon and Horch, 1972) and their ability to produce vibrations in the substrate (Pearman, 1928; Emerson and Simpson, 1929; Haskell, 1955; Sismondo, 1980; Uetz and Stratton, 1982) have been recognized for some time. Yet, the analyses required to determine the biological usefulness of an ability to produce or detect vibration are still rare (Ewing, 1989). Merely being species-specific and stereotypical does not make an event a signal (Doherty and Gerhardt, 1984; Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1998). Activities of animals set up airborne sound and substrate-borne vibration simultaneously (Gogala, 1985), but whether or not these are true signals depends on the environment and adaptations of animals to communication in that environment (Keuper et al. , 1985). Logical arguments once suggested that physical limitations on communication via the substrate were severe (Schwartzkopff, …
Insulin in the Medical Management of Postprandial Hypoglycemia in a Patient with Type 2 Diabetes after Gastric Bypass Surgery

Objective. We evaluated a 47-year-old woman with a history of type 2 diabetes and severe obesity who developed postprandial hypoglycemia after undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery and losing 60% of her total body weight. We studied her insulin secretion and blood glucose dynamics and were able to tailor a therapeutic regimen involving insulin that eliminated episodes of hypoglycemia. Methods. We studied blood glucose levels during a prolonged fast, performed continuous glucose monitoring studies using a subcutaneous glucose sensor, and evaluated regional pancreatic insulin secretion using selective arterial calcium stimulation. Results. Continuous glucose monitoring revealed that the patient had early (1-2 hr) postprandial hyperglycemia followed by late (3-4 hr) postprandial hypoglycemia. Biochemical studies confirmed endogenous pancreatogenous insulin secretion as the cause of episodic hypoglycemia, but imaging studies and selective arterial calcium stimulation failed to localize an insulinoma. The patient was treated with preprandial doses of insulin aspart in order to attenuate the early postprandial hyperglycemia, and the late hypoglycemic episodes were avoided. Conclusion. We describe an interesting and novel nonsurgical approach to the prevention of postprandial hypoglycemia in a patient with noninsulinoma pancreatogenous hypoglycemia after gastric bypass.
Impact of Clinical Pharmacist Intervention on Diabetes-Related Outcomes in a Military Treatment Facility

Background:Clinical pharmacist management of patients with diabetes has been well justified, but there is a lack of research that evaluates the impact of pharmacist-managed diabetes care versus standard medical care on American Diabetes Association (ADA) treatment goals other than hemoglobin A1c (A1C).Objective:To evaluate the reduction in A1C, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) for patients with diabetes whose care was managed by a clinical pharmacist and compare these values to those of a cohort of patients whose care was managed by primary care providers. The difference in percentage of patients attaining ADA treatment goals between the 2 groups was also evaluated.Methods:This retrospective chart review identified 98 diabetic patients managed by a clinical pharmacist with at least 2 A1C measurements between September 15, 2008. and March 15, 2011. The Military Health System Population Health Portal was used to identify a similar group of patients with diabetes managed by the...
Effects of Stereopsis and Head Tracking on Performance Using Desktop Virtual Environment Displays

This study investigated performance in a desktop virtual environment as a function of stereopsis and head tracking. Ten subjects traced a computer-generated wire using a virtual stylus that was slaved to the position of a real-world stylus tracked with a 6-DOF position sensor. The objective of the task was to keep the virtual stylus centered on the wire. Measures collected as the subjects performed the task were performance time, and number of times the stylus overstepped the virtual wire. The time to complete the wire-tracing task was significantly reduced by the addition of stereopsis, but was not affected by the presence of head tracking. The number of times the virtual stylus overstepped the wire was significantly reduced when head-tracking cues were available, but was not affected by the presence of stereoscopic cues. Implications of the results for performance using desktop virtual environments are discussed.
Vascularization of the dorsal root ganglia and peripheral nerve of the mouse: Implications for chemical-induced peripheral sensory neuropathies

Although a variety of industrial chemicals, as well as several chemotherapeutic agents used to treat cancer or HIV, preferentially induce a peripheral sensory neuropathy what remains unclear is why these agents induce a sensory vs. a motor or mixed neuropathy. Previous studies have shown that the endothelial cells that vascularize the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), which houses the primary afferent sensory neurons, are unique in that they have large fenestrations and are permeable to a variety of low and high molecular weight agents. In the present report we used whole-mount preparations, immunohistochemistry, and confocal laser scanning microscopy to show that the cell body-rich area of the L4 mouse DRG has a 7 fold higher density of CD31+ capillaries than cell fiber rich area of the DRG or the distal or proximal aspect of the sciatic nerve. This dense vascularization, coupled with the high permeability of these capillaries, may synergistically contribute, and in part explain, why many potentially neurotoxic agents preferentially accumulate and injure cells within the DRG. Currently, cancer survivors and HIV patients constitute the largest and most rapidly expanding groups that have chemically induced peripheral sensory neuropathy. Understanding the unique aspects of the vascularization of the DRG and closing the endothelial fenestrations of the rich vascular bed of capillaries that vascularize the DRG before intravenous administration of anti-neoplastic or anti-HIV therapies, may offer a mechanism based approach to attenuate these chemically induced peripheral neuropathies in these patients.
CDMR: Cooperative diversity-based multi-copy relaying in mesh networks

The standard way to handle frequent transmission errors over wireless links is to use a link-layer automatic retransmission mechanisms. However, multiple retransmissions per link along an n-hop path leads to significant channel usage inefficiency and poor end-to-end performance. We propose a novel cooperative diversitybased multi-copy relaying (CDMR) scheme for wireless mesh networks. CDMR improves system performance by effectively utilizing available network resources, allowing neighboring (helper) nodes along a selected route to cooperatively deliver (as opposed to using retranmissions) packets to the final destination. CDMR operates in two phases: helper establishment and cooperatively delivery. The fundamental challenges are to identify effective helpers and to synchronize helper transmissions in order to avoid collisions. CDMR provides a simple and effective solution with low overhead. Simulation results show that (even with just one helper node), CDMR is able to reduce retransmissions and improve end-to-end delay by 39% to 86% depending on the path length.
High-temperature, low-power 8-Meg/spl Omega/ by 1.2-MegHz SOI-CMOS transimpedance amplifier for MEMS-based wireless sensors

This paper reports a high-temperature, wide-gain-bandwidth SOI-CMOS transimpedance amplifier that is well suited for application to MEMS-based impedance sensors and oscillators. The amplifier was fabricated using a fully depleted 0.5-/spl mu/m technology and achieves a gain-bandwidth of 8 Meg/spl Omega/ by 1.2 MegHz at room temperature, drawing just 0.66 mW from a 3.3-V power supply. Gain and bandwidth remain above 2 Meg/spl Omega/ and 0.3 MegHz, respectively, at all temperatures up to 300/spl deg/C, while power consumption remained under 1 mW. Die area is just 8500 /spl mu/m/sup 2/.
Diatom succession in an urban reservoir system

A 43 cm by 5 cm diameter sediment core sample was obtained from Ford Lake reservoir in Washtenaw County, Michigan, and sectioned at 1 cm intervals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether diatom communities in this reservoir have undergone quantifiable changes in abundance and composition since its creation. Thirty-one cm of this core appeared to represent material deposited since the creation of the reservoir based on changes in diatom abundance, the physical composition of the sediment and the change in biogenic SiO2 concentration. Fortyseven species of diatoms were identified total concentrations of diatom remains varied from 1×104 g-1 to 1×107 g-1. Prior to the establishment of the reservoir, the diatom flora was dominated by benthic taxa. Benthic diatoms were numerous throughout the entire core, but eutrophic taxa (e.g., Aulacoseira italica, Aulacoseira granulata, Stephanodiscus niagarae, Fragilaria crotonensis) dominated much of the core after the reservoir's creation. Total diatom density increased about tenfold in the about the first 10–15 years after the reservoir's creation before declining markedly.
Engineered microRNA therapeutics

Targeting of microRNAs that are overexpressed or replacement of microRNAs whose expression is lost are two distinct and novel approaches to treat disease(s) driven by microRNA dysregulation. This can be achieved by chemical modification of either a single stranded oligonucleotide called an antimiR or a double stranded nucleic acid molecule termed a microRNA mimic.With hundreds of microRNAs identified and knowledge of their role in disease becoming clearer there is the prospect, over the coming years, to harness engineered microRNA therapeutics to revolutionise the way diseases are treated.Both types of engineered microRNA therapeutics have advanced into clinical development with human proof of concept achieved with an anti-miR targeting miR-122 (one of the most abundant microRNAs in human hepatocytes that is utilised by the hepatitis C virus to enable its function and replication). Rather than targeting individual proteins or enzymes involved in human disease, an opportunity now exists to modulate multiple different proteins/enzymes which act in concert in the progression of disease.
Presidential Address: Seismic Hazard Analysis, Earthquake Prediction, and the SSA

In preparing for this address, I realized that time was not sufficient to touch upon all facets of research conducted by Society members. So, with an apology to those members whose specific interests I ignore, and as a testament to the very diversity of our Society, I have chosen to limit myself to a brief discussion concerning the future of seismic hazard analysis and the intimate relationship between earthquake prediction research and seismic hazard analysis. It is perhaps most useful to place these ideas within a historical perspective. In my view, the roots of modern seismic hazard analysis emanate from the study of the great 1906 earthquake (Lawson and others, 1908; Reid, 1910), the same earthquake that served to catapult the SSA into existence. Meeting here as that Society more than 90 years past the earthquake is quite a compliment to the 1906 investigators. The works of Grove Karl Gilbert...
Isotopically ultradepleted domains in the convecting upper mantle: Implications for MORB petrogenesis

Mid-oceanic-ridge basalts (MORB) form by partial melting of material in the convecting upper mantle. The range in isotopic compositions observed in MORB is inconsistent with the ultradepleted isotopic compositions observed in many abyssal peridotites. These results have called into question the prevailing hypothesis that abyssal peridotites (APs) are simple residues of recent MORB melting, which should result in the two reservoirs having the same range in isotopic compositions. We examined xenoliths that, based on their chemical features (e.g., light rare earth element depleted, fertile major element compositions, Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes similar to estimates for depleted MORB mantle), are interpreted to be derived from the convecting upper mantle, in order to evaluate the potential for isotopically ultradepleted domains to contribute significantly to MORB petrogenesis. Our data support the idea that isotopically ultradepleted peridotite is widely distributed in the upper mantle, and we demonstrate that ultradepleted domains are capable of contributing to MORB petrogenesis. An isotopically enriched component, such as recycled oceanic crust, in the MORB source mantle can account for the lack of MORB with ultradepleted isotopic compositions.
An unusual case of seed dispersal in an invasive aquatic; yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus)

Invasive aquatic plants typically reproduce vegetatively, but there have been conflicting hypotheses of invasive aquatic yellow flag iris dispersing primarily by seed versus rhizome fragmentation. We performed genetic analysis of 20 aquatic yellow flag iris populations across the Pacific Northwest, USA, with leaf tissue taken from plants between 2 and 5 m apart. We found 167 unique genotypes in 171 plants, and we never found genetically identical plants from different populations. We found that 99.1 % of seed is viable. Our results support that this obligately outcrossing invasive disperses almost entirely by seed, not rhizome fragmentation. We found no significant relationship between genetic and geographic distance across the Pacific Northwest, suggesting recent long distance dispersal and/or multiple founding events. Bayesian analysis shows the presence of two major genotypic clusters within our collections which also suggests more than one distinct genetic source for the invasion. These processes have led to genetically distinct populations that can be geographically close. Our findings are unusual for an aquatic invasive, and inform yellow flag iris managers of two things: (1) to limit dispersal, development of mature seed in the field should be prevented; and (2) if classical biological control is proposed, an agent guild that limits seed production would be effective for managing most dispersal.
Light treatment for seasonal Winter depression in African-American vs Caucasian outpatients

Light treatment for seasonal Winter depression in African-American vs Caucasian outpatients
Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era

Claims of bias against female candidates abound in American politics. From superficial media coverage to gender stereotypes held by voters, the conventional wisdom is that women routinely encounter a formidable series of obstacles that complicate their path to elective office. Women on the Run challenges that prevailing view and argues that the declining novelty of women in politics, coupled with the polarization of the Republican and Democratic parties, has left little space for the sex of a candidate to influence modern campaigns. The book includes in-depth analyses of the 2010 and 2014 congressional elections, which reveal that male and female House candidates communicate similar messages on the campaign trail, receive similar coverage in the local press, and garner similar evaluations from voters in their districts. When they run for office, male and female candidates not only perform equally well on Election Day - they also face a very similar electoral landscape.
Update in sepsis guidelines: what is really new?

Sepsis remains a highly lethal entity resulting in more than 200 000 deaths in the USA each year. The in-hospital mortality approaches 30% despite advances in critical care during the last several decades. The direct health care costs in the USA exceed $24 billion dollars annually and continue to escalate each year especially as the population ages. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign published their initial clinical practice guidelines for the management of severe sepsis and septic shock in 2004. Updated versions were published in 2008, 2012 and most recently in 2016 following the convening of the Third International Consensus Definitions Task Force. This task force was convened by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine to address prior criticisms of the multiple definitions used clinically for sepsis-related illnesses. In the 2016 guidelines, sepsis is redefined by the taskforce as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. In addition to using the Sequential [Sepsis-related] Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score to more rapidly identify patients with sepsis, the task force also proposed a novel scoring system to rapidly screen for patients outside the ICU who are at risk of developing sepsis: the ‘quickSOFA’ (qSOFA) score. To date, the largest reductions in mortality have been associated with early identification of sepsis, initiation of a 3-hour care bundle and rapid administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The lack of progress in mortality reduction in sepsis treatment despite extraordinary investment of research resources underscores the variability in patients with sepsis. No single solution is likely to be universally beneficial, and sepsis continues to be an entity that should receive high priority for the development of precision health approaches for treatment.
Principles of Saving Face

This chapter discusses the significance of face. Why face is important, how face is gained, what a line is, and how face is saved is explained in greater detail in this chapter. Facework processes and the concept of an interaction ritual as well as Goffman’s principles of face are also elucidated upon. Finally, this chapter clarifies how face is enacted on the individual level as opposed to the cultural level (which is explained later). Face enactment processes as well as what a face threat is and face threatening acts are the main content of this chapter.
The Prolapsed Myoma

A 37-year-old patient presented to the emergency department with heavy bleeding, cramping, lightheadedness, and dizziness. She appeared pale and fatigued, with tachycardia to a heart rate of 119 bpm and normal blood pressure and temperature. Upon speculum examination, she was noted to be actively bleeding with moderate amount of blood in the vagina. She was noted to have a large fungating mass protruding from the cervical os, which was quite dilated to about 4–5 cm. The cervical rim itself appeared normal without focal lesions. On bimanual examination, the uterus was enlarged to approximately10 weeks in size, difficult to assess due to the likely prolapsed mass. No Pap or endometrial biopsy was obtainable in the presence of the mass.
Intrinsically Disordered Protein Exhibits Both Compaction and Expansion under Macromolecular Crowding

Abstract Conformational malleability allows intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) to respond agilely to their environments, such as nonspecifically interacting with in vivo bystander macromolecules (or crowders). Previous studies have emphasized conformational compaction of IDPs due to steric repulsion by macromolecular crowders, but effects of soft attraction are largely unexplored. Here we studied the conformational ensembles of the IDP FlgM in both polymer and protein crowders by small-angle neutron scattering. As crowder concentrations increased, the mean radius of gyration of FlgM first decreased but then exhibited an uptick. Ensemble optimization modeling indicated that FlgM conformations under protein crowding segregated into two distinct populations, one compacted and one extended. Coarse-grained simulations showed that compacted conformers fit into an interstitial void and occasionally bind to a surrounding crowder, whereas extended conformers snake through interstitial crevices and bind multiple crowders simultaneously. Crowder-induced conformational segregation may facilitate various cellular functions of IDPs.
Imaging of congenital central nervous system infections

Congenital central nervous system (CNS) infections are a cause of significant morbidity and mortality. The recent Zika virus outbreak raised awareness of congenital CNS infections. Imaging can be effective in diagnosing the presence and severity of infection. In this paper we review the clinical presentations and imaging characteristics of several common and less common congenital CNS infections.
Backdrop to the Assassination of Local Law Enforcement

The chapter presents a backdrop to the assassination of local law enforcement in Mexico’s drug-war. The analysis begins with an explanation of how spill-over arms helped change the tactical balance of power between organized crime elements and the municipal police, opening a space for the successful use of law-enforcement assassination. This facilitated the rise of the repetitive use of targeted assassinations against municipal officers which is motivated by multiple criminal goals (not just retaliation).
Fluid Mixing Chaotic Advection and Microarray Analysis

Chaotic advection has developed into one of the primary tools for analyzing stirring and estimating mixing in laminar flows. Much of the current interest in laminar mixing is focused on smallscale systems, and many of the key applications are in biomedical systems. Here I discuss the use of chaotic advection in designing a mixing protocol to improve DNA microarray analysis. The accuracy and sensitivity of the results can be improved by mixing the solution of unknown DNA across the microarray surface by periodically operating an arrangments of sources and sinks. Optimal operating parameters are predicted using an investigation of chaotic advection in a mathematical model of the system. The ndings of the chaos analysis are consistent with experimental mixing results, supporting the use of chaotic advection for predicting and optimizing mixing when designing fluid-based biomedical devices.
Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: The Development of High-Content Screening Strategies

High-content screening (HCS) permits simultaneous observation and analysis of multiple cellular variables including cell morphology, survival, and differentiation in live cells at the single-cell level, at the level of the culture well, and across the entire culture. By combining high-throughput technologies such as robotics, chemical libraries, and automated high-resolution microscopy, scientists are able to evaluate a much broader array of experimental conditions than can be studied using conventional cell biological techniques that study fewer parameters at any one time. Thus, HCS assays provide a means to vastly improve our basic understanding of stem cell biology. We have developed a HCS assay that allows the study of the effects of hundreds of small molecules in parallel. The protocol described in this chapter was developed to assess the effects of small molecules on the survival, proliferation, and expression of pluripotent markers following single-cell dissociation of human embryonic stem cells, but can be applied to the study of other types of stem cells including induced pluripotent stem cells. A detailed protocol for the setup of HCS assays and the parameters used to identify chemical modifiers of survival in human pluripotent stem cells, as well as secondary assays used to validate the small-molecule “hits” obtained during the high-content screen, are described.
Crossover Dynamics with Low Energy Excitations in Jahn–Teller Co Perovskites

La1 − x Sr x CoO3 serves as a prototype for studying crossover characteristics from static to dynamic lattice effects associated with Jahn–Teller (JT) excitations. With the use of the pair density function analysis as a function of carrier density, evidence for localized lattice distortions associated with a JT active mode is provided. Energy resolved measurements of the dynamic structure factor show that the lattice dynamics change with doping, concomitant to the local distortions that are correlated to the magnetic and transport transitions of this system. The activation of these effects might be in response to a dynamic JT mode that is invoked by fluctuations to the intermediate-spin configuration. It is suggested that such intermediate-spin clusters might be present in the metallic state of these oxides.
Arterial-line monitoring system simulation.

Objective. We sought to improve the realism of our patient simulation environment by developing a simulation of the arterial-line monitoring system. Properties of the system we wished to depict were: electro-mechanical delay between ECG and radial artery pressure, beat to beat amplitude variability and respiratory variation, realistic looking pulse pressure in hypertensive and hypotensive states, a functional link to the stopcock and transducer flush, and filtering characteristics of the measurement system. Methods. A standard clinical pressure transducer and stopcock were modified to provide data about their state to a personal computer. A software program was written to modify the arterial pressure waveform from a patient simulator according to the pressure transducer and stopcock state as well as user settings to produce a new waveform. Results. All of the desired improvements in the realism of the arterial waveform were implemented.Conclusions.The realism of scenarios using the patient simulator is enhanced by having the arterial-line monitoring system more accurately simulated.
Representation and Integration of Faces and Vocalizations in the Primate Ventral Prefrontal Cortex

The integration of facial gestures and vocal signals is an essential process in social communication. Facial and vocal signals provide an abundant source of information that we use in our everyday interactions to communicate our intentions and obtain emotional and cognitive information from others. Face–voice integration relies on several brain regions, including language regions in the ventral frontal lobe. Neuroimaging has made great strides in describing activity in temporal and frontal regions during speech processing, but we have relatively little understanding of the cellular mechanisms that underlie face–voice integration in the frontal lobe. Much of the neurophysiology research into the cellular details of face and voice processing has been focused on nonhuman primates in an attempt to characterize the neural circuit involved in social communication. While much of this research has elaborated on these sensory processes in primary and secondary cortical areas, more recent research has embarked upon how higher order cortical areas like the prefrontal cortex process face and voice information. This chapter will focus on the role of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in the processing and integration of face and vocal information in nonhuman primates. We will first describe studies on face-responsive cells in the nonhuman primate cortex, including inferotemporal cortex and the STS and finally face processing in PFC. This will be followed by auditory responses in PFC. Finally, we will examine the integration of faces and voices by single cells in the primate prefrontal cortex and their potential role in recognition and social communication.
Postterm delivery among African Americans, Mexican Americans and Whites in Chicago.

Objectives The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of individual-level and community-level risk factors on the postterm delivery rates of infants born to African-American, Mexican-American, and non-Latino White mothers; and to compare postterm delivery rates between these ethnic groups. Design This is a population-based study. Methods We performed stratified and multivariate logistic regression analyses on a linked dataset of 1992-1995 Illinois vital records, 1990 United States Census income data, and 1995 Chicago Department of Public Health information. Communities with one or more high-risk characteristics (low median family income or high rates of unemployment, homicide or lead poisoning) were classified as impoverished. Results In Chicago, African Americans (N = 85,978) had a postterm rate of 4.3/1,000 and Mexican Americans (N = 47,266) had a postterm rate of 3.6/1,000, compared to 2.3/1,000 for non-Latino Whites (N = 48,601); relative risk (ninety-five percent confidence interval) = 1.9 (1.5-2.3) and 1.6 (1.2-2.0), respectively. Maternal age, education, marital status, parity, and prenatal care usage were associated with ethnic group-specific postterm delivery rates. In a multivariate logistic regression model for non-impoverished mothers, the adjusted odds ratios of postterm delivery for African Americans and Mexican Americans were 1.0 (0.5-3.2) and 1.0 (0.6-1.7), respectively. Conclusions We conclude that African Americans and Mexican Americans have greater postterm delivery rates than do Whites; however, commonly cited individual and community-level risk factors account for most of the disparity.
Association of elevated serumfree light chains with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and its precursor, monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL), are heritable. Serumfree light-chain (sFLC) measures are a prognostic factor for CLL, but their role in susceptibility to CLL is not clear. We investigated differences between sFLC measurements in pre-treatment serum from five groups to inform the association of sFLC with familial and sporadic CLL: (1) familial CLL (n = 154), (2) sporadic CLL (n = 302), (3) familial MBL (n = 87), (4) unaffected first-degree relatives from CLL/MBL families (n = 263), and (5) reference population (n = 15,396). The percent of individuals having elevated monoclonal and polyclonal sFLCs was compared using age-stratified and age- and sex-adjusted logistic regression models. In age groups >50 years, monoclonal sFLC elevations were increased in sporadic and familial CLL cases compared to the reference population (p’s 0.05). Unaffected relatives and MBL cases from CLL/MBL families, ages >60 years, showed elevated monoclonal sFLC, compared to the reference population (p’s < 0.05). This is the first study to demonstrate monoclonal sFLC elevations in CLL cases compared to controls. Monoclonal sFLC levels may provide additional risk information in relatives of CLL probands.
Coherence between Firm Innovation Strategy and Structuring Innovation Projects: A Framework

While organizational, economic, and innovation scholars have long understood the importance of coherence between a firm's overall strategy and structure (e.g., Chandler, 1962), much less is known a...
Welfare stigma as a risk factor for major depressive disorder: Evidence from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Abstract Background Negative public attitude about welfare is known to impair feelings of self-worth and psychological well-being in welfare recipients. What is missing in the extant literature is whether the stress of being on welfare increases the risk for clinically severe depression. To fill this gap, the present study examines the association between participation in the food stamp program and major depressive disorder. Methods Study data is drawn from the 2008–2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 67076). Depressive symptom is assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview – Short Form, and modeled by a continuous score of major depressive symptoms (0–7) and a binary indicator for three or more symptoms. A fixed effects regression is used to estimate changes in depressive symptoms explained by the food stamp participation, adjusted for confounding covariates. Results Food stamp participation was associated with an average of 19% increases in depressive symptoms (p Limitations Depression outcomes are self-reported. Causality remains not established. The recession during the study periods may have dampened the stigma effects. Conclusions Welfare participation is a risk factor for clinical depression in a low-income setting. Depressive symptoms induced by welfare stigma need to be clinically targeted through counseling and cognitive therapy programs.
Building Envelope Moisture Transport in the Context of Assembly Aging and Uncertainty

Uncertainty analysis and assembly aging can be meaningfully integrated into building envelope simulations to predict changes to heat and moisture transport when compared with typical non-probabilis...
Nanoscale Investigation of Asphaltene Deposition under Capillary Flow Conditions

This study proposes a novel approach to investigate the diffusion-limited deposition of asphaltenes in flow lines to better understand their nanoscale behavior at interfaces and aid in the developm...
Airline Miles Redemption

The business of Airline firms has deviated from their main business of flying passengers over the past decade. Now they have diversified into other lines of business as well. The revenue model has therefore changed over the past decade. Airline miles is one of the main revenue generating venture for airlines currently. It has been mentioned that airline miles business has turned cash cow for these firms. Their normal way of business, flying passengers, is not an attractive method of running business for them. Selling airline miles allow them to generate a higher revenue. We look at how the redemption of airline miles affect the bottom line of the company using data from publicly available data sources
Tax elasticity of demand for plastic: the cause of plastic pollution in Ghana

Seemingly overlooked causes of inefficiencies in environmental fiscal reforms (EFRs) on plastic waste management are biased tax policies, which include indirect subsidization of plastic waste. With...
MCL1 inhibitors S63845/MIK665 plus Navitoclax synergistically kill difficult-to-treat melanoma cells.

Current treatment for patients with metastatic melanoma include molecular-targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, a subset of melanomas are difficult-to-treat. These melanomas include those without the genetic markers for targeted therapy, non-responsive to immunotherapy, and those who have relapsed or exhausted their therapeutic options. Therefore, it is necessary to understand and explore other biological processes that may provide new therapeutic approaches. One of most appealing is targeting the apoptotic/anti-apoptotic system that is effective against leukemia. We used genetic knockdown and pharmacologic approaches of BH3 mimetics to target anti-apoptotic BCL2 family members and identified MCL1 and BCLXL as crucial pro-survival members in melanoma. We then examined the effects of combining BH3 mimetics to target MCL1 and BCLXL in vitro and in vivo. These include clinical-trial-ready compounds such as ABT-263 (Navitoclax) and S63845/S64315 (MIK655). We used cell lines derived from patients with difficult-to-treat melanomas. In vitro, the combined inhibition of MCL1 and BCLXL resulted in significantly effective cell killing compared to single-agent treatment (p 0.40). Taken together, this study suggests that dual targeting of MCL1 and BCLXL should be considered as a treatment option for difficult-to-treat melanoma patients.
Developing the Elusive Construct of Speed-Cost Efficiency

We maintain that, despite the importance of speed in the strategy literature, the current definition of speed-cost efficiency has a problem: it draws inconsistent conclusions about relative speed-c...
Diagnostic Lobectomy for Bethesda III Thyroid Nodules: Pathological Outcomes and Risk Factors for Malignancy:

Objective:An indeterminate thyroid nodule fine-needle aspiration (FNA) presents a unique dilemma. We evaluated our institution’s experience with Bethesda III thyroid nodules, including the risk of ...
Online digital storytelling video on promoting men's intentions to seek counselling for depression: The role of empathy.

Background:Applying the narrative transportation theory, we sought to test the role of a male-sensitive digital storytelling video as a source to persuade men to develop greater intentions to seek ...
Market Equilibrium in a Model of a Planned Economy of the Soviet Type: A Proof of Existence and the Results of Numerical Simulations

We construct a one period model of an economy based upon a Soviet-type system, and examine a modified notion of equilibrium in it. Producers are not profit maximizers, but have quantitity oriented incentive functions. Taxes are part of the planning process without which there would not be an equilibrium for a given central plan. We prove the existence of a consumer market equilibrium and illustrate the model with numerical examples based upon a fixed point algorithm. The algorithm allows us to compare welfare and efficiency resulting from different plans.
Aerosol Delivery via Continuous High-Frequency Oscillation During Mechanical Ventilation.

BACKGROUND As the use of continuous high-frequency oscillation combined with nebulization during mechanical ventilation becomes more prevalent clinically, it is important to evaluate its aerosol delivery efficacy. METHODS A bench study was conducted that simulated 2 adult and 2 pediatric conditions. A continuous high-frequency oscillation device integrated into the inspiratory limb of a conventional critical care ventilator was attached to an endotracheal tube (ETT) with a collection filter and test lung. High-frequency oscillation with high-flow setting was used with jet nebulizers attached to the manifold, and a vibrating mesh nebulizer placed between the ETT and the ventilator circuit versus at the inlet of the humidifier. Albuterol (2.5 mg in 3 mL) was nebulized for each condition (no. = 3). The drug was eluted from the collection filter and assayed with ultraviolet spectrophotometry (276 nm). RESULTS During continuous high-frequency oscillation, the mean inhaled dose with jet nebulizers was low (<2% with the adult settings and <1% with the pediatric settings). Across both adult and pediatric conditions, when the vibrating mesh nebulizer was placed between the ETT and the Y-piece during continuous high-frequency oscillation, the inhaled dose was higher than with the placement of the vibrating mesh nebulizer at the inlet of the humidifier, median 11.1% (IQR 7.0%-13.7%) median 6.0% (IQR 3.9%-7.2%) (P = .002) respectively, but still lower than the inhaled dose with the vibrating mesh nebulizer placed at the inlet of the humidifier with continuous high-frequency oscillation off, median 22.7% (IQR 19.5%-25.4%) versus median 11.1% (IQR 7.0%-13.7%) (P < .001). The inhaled dose with the 10-year-old scenario was higher than with the 5-year-old scenario in all settings except aerosol delivery via continuous high-frequency oscillation. CONCLUSIONS During invasive mechanical ventilation with continuous high-frequency oscillation, aerosol delivery with jet nebulizers in the manifold resulted in a marginal inhaled dose. The vibrating mesh nebulizer at the ETT during continuous high-frequency oscillation delivered 6-fold more aerosol than did the jet nebulizer, while delivering only half of the inhaled dose with the vibrating mesh nebulizer placed at the inlet of the humidifier without continuous high-frequency oscillation.
A perspective on evidence-based practice

It is not controversial to assume that, in many ways, there is a set of universal questions among the professionals who are interested in the field of music and medicine. These questions can be generally stated as follows: Is music an effective modality in healthcare? Does music make a difference in the various issues affecting human beings? How does music make a difference? Why does music make a difference? What is the best evidence for understanding this difference? What kind(s) of evidence is/are needed?
Solidarity and Subsidiarity in a Changing Climate: Green Building as Legal and Moral Obligation

This essay grew out of a symposium on Catholic social thought. It makes the case for solidarity and subsidiarity as principles of applied (secular) ethics by injecting them into what must be their most challenging context: catastrophic global climate disruption. It argues that the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity hold tremendous potential within our liberal constitutional tradition by exploring the developing trend toward "green building" in the United States. Part I describes what we know about greenhouse gases and climate disruption while Part II frames the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. Part III explores the phenomenal growth of green building in the U.S. and the moves by many cities and towns to encourage and, in some cases, require green building within their borders. Part IV situates this context within our land use planning traditions and the coming battle for building standards in our changing climate. Finally, Part V compares building green as a moral and as a legal obligation in a world of uncertain possibilities and unintended consequences. The overall argument is that fighting for legally binding obligations at the fullest scale necessary to address problems like climate disruption before first taking more local, cooperative actions possible today probably entails prohibitive opportunity costs.
Inverting the Preisach model of hysteresis

The Preisach model describes the output of a hysteretic system in the form of a history-dependent double integral of the Preisach distribution function [1]. Many efficient numerical implementations have been developed in the literature to compute the output as a function of input, however, inverting the Preisach operator (i.e. computing the input variable as a function of the output) remains a difficult task. A number of authors have proven the existence and continuity of the inverse of the Preisach operator [2, 3], however, the lack of efficient numerical algorithms to invert the operator has limited the area of applicability of the model and made it only sporadically used in the real-time control applications involving optimal design, sensors and actuators, smart materials, and other mechanical systems where it is imperative control the output accurately [4,5,6].
The anisotropic radiation field approximation and its effect on wave equation solutions in the solar photosphere

An approximation is developed which more accurately “solves” the radiative transfer equation than does the standard Eddington approximation. The difference between the two approaches is greatest in the optically thin region of the photosphere, where the new approximation more accurately represents the physics. Solutions of the wave equations for photospheric oscillations in both of the above approximations were generated by a linear, nonadiabatic, radial modeling program. Differences were found to exist between the sets of solutions obtained from the two transfer equation techniques. As to the effect on measurable quantities, such as the Eulerian perturbation in intensity and the radial displacement, the impact of varying the radiative transfer treatment was dependent on the outer solar boundary conditions. A solar model with standard outer boundary conditions produced observables which were less sensitive to the radiative transfer treatment than a solar model having anomalous outer boundary conditions (cf. Hill, Rosenwald and Caudell 1978). Since several observations indicate that the latter model is more realistic, the new approximation may be important in accurately studying the solar photosphere.