cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors in the Stimulation of Protein Synthesis by Subcellular Preparations from Rat Liver

Abstract The control of protein synthesis has been investigated in subcellular systems from livers of rats with plasma protein overproduction following nephrotoxic serum. The following observations were made. The microsomal fraction from nephrotic liver exhibited an increased synthesis of acid-insoluble protein and of plasma albumin, as measured by amino acid incorporation per mg of ribonucleic acid present. The synthesis of plasma albumin showed a much greater increase than did the synthesis of other proteins. This is in contrast to the situation in regenerating liver, in which the increase in plasma albumin synthesis was of the same order of magnitude as the increase in acid-insoluble protein. Ribosomes or polysomes, prepared from nephrotic liver with deoxycholate, did not differ from normal liver in their ability to synthesize protein. This finding, together with the observation that mixtures of control and nephrotic microsomal fractions behaved like the nephrotic system, suggested that the difference between control and nephrotic microsomes was not the result of any inherent difference in ribosomes but might be due to the presence of additional amounts of messenger RNA. Polysomes prepared from nephrotic liver without the use of deoxycholate but still containing small amounts of attached membrane protein showed slight but significant increases in plasma albumin synthesis, averaging 33%. Cell sap from nephrotic liver was more active than that from controls in promoting protein and plasma albumin synthesis by microsomes. This difference was ascribed to the presence of increased amounts of messenger RNA in this fraction on the basis of indirect evidence.
The Aging Farmer: Human Factors Research Needs in Agricultural Work

Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in America (Crandall, Fullerton, Olson, Sklar, & Zumwalt, 1997; Simpson 1984). Despite years of experience, older farmers are more likely to be injured while working and, when injured, more likely to die from their injuries (Bernhardt & Langley, 1999). We conducted an analysis of farming accidents in multiple states to discover what human factors interventions could most improve the safety and livelihood of aging farmers. A cluster analysis revealed two main accident profiles: those involving containers, such as auger wagons and grain bins, and those involving tractors. In general, we found a number of areas that would benefit from dedicated human factors research and application.
Muromonab CD-3: A Review of Its Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics, and Clinical Use in Transplantation

Muromonab CD-3 (OKT-3) is a monoclonal antibody that is highly effective in the treatment of acute rejection in solid organ transplants. Due to its monoclonal nature, each molecule is identical because it is derived from a single antibody-producing clone. OKT-3 is administered only by intravenous injection and has a harmonic half-life of approximately 18 hours. It binds specifically to the CD-3 complex, which is involved in antigen recognition and cell stimulation, on the surface of T lymphocytes. Immediately after administration CD-3-positive T lymphocytes are abruptly removed from the circulation. The route of metabolism for OKT-3 is not clear; it may be removed by opsonization by the reticuloendothelial system when bound to T lymphocytes, or by human antimurine antibody production. The agent has been effective in reversing corticosteroid-resistant acute rejection in renal, liver, and cardiac transplant recipients. Its use in pancreatic and bone marrow recipients is inconclusive. OKT-3 has a considerable number of initial side effects, and some life-threatening reactions may occur. This drug should not be administered to any patient who is greater than 3% usual body weight because of the potential for the development of severe pulmonary edema. OKT-3 may also be associated with a high rate of infection, especially of the viral type. The usual dose is 5 mg administered as an intravenous bolus over 2-4 minutes daily for 10-14 days. Approximately 85% of patients treated with OKT-3 develop reactive human antimurine antibodies that, over time, may lead to tachyphylaxis and neutralization of the murine antibody OKT-3. OKT-3 is potent immunosuppressive agent and is an important prototype of future monoclonal antibodies.
Asymptotic Evaluation of Integrals Arising in Bayesian Inference

A point of view on the role of asymptotic approximations in Bayesian inference is articulated and recent work is cited.
Local Government and Conditions of Uncertainty: Cambridge and the Regulation of Nanomaterials

Local governments have limited capacity to address potential environmental and public health effects of new technologies even as such effects are typically felt first at the local level. This paper examines the experience of Cambridge, Massachusetts as it considered rules governing nanomaterial research and production within city limits. The City’s decision to defer action reflected a sober understanding that too little was yet known to promulgate specific rules. Understanding the processes by which Cambridge came to this decision may guide other local governments in dealing with conditions of uncertainty.
Juxtanuclear lymphocytes in histocultures of mammary cancer.

This is the first report of a special orientation of autochthonous lymphocytes at a juxtanuclear zone of human mammary cancer cells in primary histocultures. The phenomenon, juxtanuclear orientation of lymphocytes, was observed in 99 histocultures from 16 of 45 (35%) successfully explanted cancers. A total of 686 instances of juxtanuclear orientation of lymphocytes was counted, versus 354 instances of random lymphocytic activities; juxtanuclear/random ratios ranged from 0.2 to 5.2. Ratio determinations may be potentially useful for assistance in evaluating prognosis; the preliminary findings are inconclusive but suggest that a ratio of one or more may indicate a more favorable clinical course. The immediate importance of juxtanuclear orientation of lymphocytes is that it offers a new measurement of pathologic lymphocytic activity that should have applications in basic and clinical studies of host responses in general.
Transmission dynamics of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus and predicting mortality in gypsy moth (Lepidoptera : lymantriidae) populations

Mortality from nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) among gypsy moth, Lymantrla dispar (L.), neonates hatched from field-collected egg masses and larvae collected from the field was monitored at study sites in Massachusetts during 1983 through 1987. Mortality and prevalence of NPV were related to six potential predictor variables that could be obtained before egg hatch occurred in the field. These variables were calculated from egg mass density (EM Density), the number of larvae hatching from egg masses (Hatch) and the proportion of infection among hatching larvae (EM NPV). Logistic regression analyses suggest that transovum transmission is density-independent after an epizootic, whereas larva-to-larva transmission remains density-dependent. Differences may be due to the persistence of NPV on surfaces through which transmission is mediated. NPV prevalence and mortality were related to density estimates but not EM NPV or Hatch. An estimate of first instar density (Ll Density = EM Density × Hatch) provided the highest coefficient of determination, although an estimate of cadavers produced during the first wave of mortality (EM NPV × Ll Density) provided the best separation of epizootic from non-epizootic sites. Because egg mass weight was strongly correlated with Hatch, a sampling protocol that measures egg mass density, egg mass weight, and mortality among larvae reared from field-collected egg masses may provide a reasonable predictor of subsequent NPV effect.
An Invesrtigation on Safe Injection Status of 162 Grass-roots EPI Immunization Spots in Hunan Province

The present situation of safe injection in immunization program in grass-roots of Hunan Province is analyszed in order to promote the work on safe injection. An investigation was carried out on EPI safe injection status in 162 grass-roots immunization spots of urban and rural levels by stratified multistage random sampling method in Hunan Province. Most vaccination spots mainly used one-use injectors or glass syringes. The safe injection rate was 46.30% but lower in village spots and those using glass syinges. Only 35.18%of EPI staff had correct knowledge on harmfulness of unsafe injection. This paper has put forward suggestions to improve EPI safe injection in grass-roots immunization spots.
Adenocarcinoid tumor, goblet cell type, arising in a ureteroileal conduit: a case report.

AbstractThe adenocarcinoid tumor is a potentially malignant neoplasm usually arising in the appendix. We describe a 55-year-old woman with a ureteroileal conduit in place for 12 years who suffered obstruction of the ileal segment of the conduit, with recurrent pyelonephritis and abdominal pain. Pathological examination of a segmentally resected portion of the conduit revealed a submucosal proliferation of nests of argentaffin/argyophil cells and large, mucin-distended goblet cells. The patient showed no evidence of metastasis and has done well to date following excision. A discussion of neoplasms arising in the ureteroileal conduit is included.
Synthesis: Participation, Power, Perspective

In this book, the authors have revealed aspects of their faith, hope, and love for nature and the countless varieties of beings, including humans, who inhabit it. From our vantage point, the ideas of these authors suggest that there are three general fields restoration practitioners must take seriously if they hope to foster success in the complex realm of real-world restoration
Minding the Close Relationship: Minding in Couples Therapy and Counseling

When we become wiser, we become sadder. Anonymous Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark. R. Tagore God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Reinhold Neibuhr, The Serenity Prayer In this chapter, we discuss how minding might be used in therapy and counseling activities aimed at enhancing close relationships. The quotes that begin this chapter speak to the deep experiential base that we believe is at the heart of minding. We believe that minding can be achieved mainly after people have encountered the pain of serious relationship difficulty, whether or not dissolution occurred. Minding is an adaptive response to the pain that is so frequently found in “closeness.” Minding is like a “bird singing in the dawn light” – the singing being an act of hope and faith that the dawn will come. Such is the synergy of a well-minded close relationship. Minding contributes greatly to the ability to make distinctions between that which can and should be changed and that which cannot and to the courage needed to make such distinctions – Niebuhr's The Serenity Prayer . As we argue in this chapter, the couple in a well-minded relationship is engaging, in the final analysis, in a coordinated act of hope and faith.
Evaluation of Correct Flow Equations for Internal Variable Constitutive Models

Although many constitutive models for rate-dependent deformation have been proposed, there is little fundamental justification for the particular functional forms used to characterize viscoplastic flow. Power law forms, although convenient analytically, do not necessarily represent physical processes, particularly given internal variable constitutive models that decouple evaluation of microstructure from constant structure flow behavior. Here, we present material data for two FCC systems, very high purity lead and 1145 aluminum, using constant structure experiments to probe directly the appropriate form of the flow equation at constant microstructures. The data represents conditions of moderate strain rates (10-3 to 10° sec-1) and high to very high homologous temperatures (0.5T m < T < 0.99T m ).
Brief Online Focused Attention Meditation Training: Immediate Impact:

Background.There is increasing interest in brief, online training in mind-body skills to improve resilience in health professionals.Methods.We analyzed data from an online training program in focused attention meditation. Resilience, relaxation, stress, positive and negative affect, and flourishing were measured before and after training using standardized scales.Results.The 379 participants included nurses (31%), physicians (21%), social workers and psychologists (10%), and others (38%). At baseline, participants reported high levels of stress (mean 16.7 compared with population norms of 12-14). Completing modules was associated with small but significant improvements in relaxation, resilience, stress, positive and negative affect, and flourishing (P <. 01 for all)Conclusion.Online focused attention meditation training reaches diverse health professionals and is associated with improvements in relaxation, resilience, stress, affect, and flourishing. Additional research is warranted to compare the long-te...
DistIA: a cost-effective dynamic impact analysis for distributed programs

Dynamic impact analysis is a fundamental technique for understanding the impact of specific program entities, or changes to them, on the rest of the program for concrete executions. However, existing techniques are either inapplicable or of very limited utility for distributed programs running in multiple concurrent processes. This paper presents DISTIA, a dynamic analysis of distributed systems that predicts impacts propagated both within and across process boundaries by partially ordering distributed method-execution events, inferring causality from the ordered events, and exploiting message-passing semantics. We applied DISTIA to large distributed systems of various architectures and sizes, for which it on average finishes the entire analysis within one minute and safely reduces impact-set sizes by over 43% relative to existing options with run-time overhead less than 8%. Moreover, two case studies initially demonstrated the precision of DISTIA and its utility in distributed system understanding. While conservative thus subject to false positives, DistIA balances precision and efficiency to offer cost-effective options for evolving distributed programs.
Effect of Free Dental Services on Individuals with Sickle Cell Disease

Objectives Poor oral health can have a negative impact on overall health. This is especially concerning for individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD), an inherited blood disorder that affects hemoglobin and can lead to an increased risk of infection and hyperalgesia. Because the majority of individuals with SCD have Medicaid insurance and no dental coverage, we provided free basic dental care to individuals with SCD to determine whether it decreased overall healthcare utilization. Methods Through a contract with a private dental office, we provided free basic dental care (eg, cleanings, fillings, x-rays) to individuals with SCD. We reviewed medical records for the 12 months before and after their initial dental visit to determine whether there were any changes in acute care visits (defined as a visit to the emergency department, sickle cell infusion center, or visits to both in the same day), hospitalizations, and total days hospitalized. We conducted a negative binomial regression to determine any differences in the pre-post periods. Results In our multivariable analysis, there was a statistically significant decrease in hospital admissions. In addition, there was a significant decrease in total days hospitalized if dental work was completed, but an increase in days hospitalized in men. Conclusions Providing dental care to individuals with SCD who did not have dental insurance did not greatly alter acute care visits. A larger sample size may be necessary to observe an effect.
Research Article: Do littoral sampling schemes adequately represent largemouth bass diets?

Abstract Adequate characterization of diet composition is critical to understanding and managing largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) populations. The representativeness of sampling schemes within littoral zones is well studied but littoral oriented sampling schemes could still lead to inadequate characterization of diet composition through underrepresentation of pelagic foragers. We captured largemouth bass foraging in either the littoral or deep pelagic zones (metalimnion and shallow hypolimnion) of a small north temperate lake. Fish foraging in each respective zone was determined by angling depth and confirmed by body core temperature. Differences were evaluated between foraging zones in four metrics commonly applied in diet content analysis (percent by weight, percent frequency of occurrence, percent by number, and relative importance index). Prey characteristic of the pelagic zone, especially Chaoborus spp., were generally more important to fish captured in the pelagic zone than fish captured in t...
Amorphous Titanium Alloy Superconductors

Although studies of amorphous superconducting alloys have over the years been conducted in the spirit of pure scientific inquiry, the goal of some of the more recent investigations has been the economical production of continuous lengths of superconducting ribbon possessing ductility and strength superior to those of existing technical superconductors and at least comparable superconducting properties. It should be stated at the outset that, as yet, these goals have not been achieved and the subject is under active investigation. In the first systematic study of superconductivity in amorphous metals, that conducted in the early 1950’s by BUCKEL and HILSCH Table 14-1, in which the simple metals A1, Zn, In, Sn, Hg, Tl, Pb, and the alloys Sn-Bi(0–100%) were vacuum deposited onto cryocooled substrates, it was noted that all amorphous films except Pb, for which the ratio Tc,am/Tc,cryst equalled 1.00 and Hg for which it equalled 0.94, possessed Tc’s higher than those of the bulk.
Gene Therapy Targeting Receptor-Mediated Cell Death to Cancers

Research has demonstrated that delivery of genes encoding tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Fas ligand (FasL), and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) to tumors can elicit apoptosis in cancer cells and can induce local inflammatory response, leading to regression of cancers. Constitutively active death receptors or chimeric death receptors that can be activated by other ligands, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, have also been exploited for cancer gene therapy. Systemic toxicity of death ligands can be prevented by using genes encoding membrane-bound death ligands and by targeted transgene expression through either targeted transduction or targeted transcription. Improvements have been made for tumor-selective transgene expressions. Various studies have demonstrated that the human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter, whose gene is active in over 85% of cancers but not in normal cells, can drive tumor-specific transgene expression in a variety of cancer types. Moreover, transgene expression from a tumor-specific promoter can be augmented via transcriptional factors without loss of specificity. Thus far, reported data have shown that targeted expression of TRAIL, FasL, and TNF-α effectively suppressed tumor growth with minimal systemic toxicity. Challenges remain for treatment of metastatic diseases and for overcoming resistances. Here we summarize recent advances in targeted cancer gene therapy with receptor-mediated death pathways.
“I Pray We Won’t Let This Moment Pass Us By”: Christian Concert Films and Numinous Experiences

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes the Christian concert film Live in Miami: Welcome to the Aftermath to investigate how mass media evoke numinous experiences. Using a framework that locates technological determinism within theories of religious encounters, the analysis explores how Christian concert films create numinous experiences through shot composition, editing, and content selection. The article argues that mass media technologies and aesthetics can create expectations of religious encounters and challenges the use of mass media to manufacture religious experiences.
School and Parent Factors Associated With Steroid Use Among Adolescents.

BACKGROUND Steroid use among adolescents is an increasing health concern. Literature examining factors related to steroid use is limited. METHODS We investigated steroid use among 9th through 12th grade adolescents in the Greater Cincinnati area. A total of 38,414 adolescents completed the PRIDE Questionnaire. Associations between demographics, school factors, parent factors, sport participation, and steroid use were examined. RESULTS A total of 2.6% of adolescents reported using steroids in the past year. Most prevalent was steroid use among male, Junior/Senior, African-American, and Hispanic adolescents. Rates of steroid use differed significantly based on school and parent factors, but not sport participation. Adolescents who reported attendance at schools that frequently set and enforced rules for drug use or whose parents frequently set rules for drug use were at decreased odds for steroid use. School communication about drug use was negatively associated with steroid use. CONCLUSIONS School administration and staff, as well as parents, are uniquely positioned to deter steroid use among adolescents. Findings suggest that limiting steroid screening to student athletes might miss a substantial proportion of the population at risk. Thus, broad-based screening and prevention programs may be more effective than programs targeting student athletes alone.
Microfluidic platform for rapid measurement of transepithelial water transport

Water transport across epithelial monolayers is of central importance in mammalian fluid homeostasis, and epithelial aquaporin (AQP) water channels are potential drug targets. Current methods to measure transepithelial water permeability based on indicator dilution have limited accuracy and can require hours for a single measurement. We report here a microfluidics platform for rapid and accurate measurement of water transport across a conventionally cultured epithelial monolayer on a porous filter requiring only a single image obtained using a standard laboratory fluorescence microscope. The undersurface of a porous polyester filter containing cultured epithelial cells on top is contacted with a perfused microfluidic channel of 100 μm width, 20 μm height and 10 cm length with folded geometry, with in-plane size of 3.2 × 3.2 mm2 for visualization with a 2× objective lens. Osmotic water permeability is measured from the steady-state concentration profile along the length of the channel of a membrane-impermeant fluorescent dye in the perfusate, in which an osmotic gradient is imposed by an anisosmolar solution overlying the epithelial monolayer; diffusional water permeability is measured using a D2O/H2O-sensing fluorescent dye in the perfusate with a D2O-containing isosmolar solution overlying the cell layer. Permeability values are deduced from single fluorescence images. The method, named fluid transport on a chip (FT-on-Chip), was applied to measure transepithelial osmotic and diffusional water permeability in control and AQP4-expressing epithelial cell monolayers. FT-on-Chip allows for rapid, accurate and repeated measurements of transepithelial water permeability, and is generalizable to transport measurements of ions and solutes using suitable indicator dyes.
MicroRNAs in injury and repair

Organ damage and resulting pathologies often involve multiple deregulated pathways. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs that regulate a multitude of genes at the post-transcriptional level. Since their discovery over two decades ago, miRNAs have been established as key players in the molecular mechanisms of mammalian biology including the maintenance of normal homeostasis and the regulation of disease pathogenesis. In recent years, there has been substantial progress in innovative techniques to measure miRNAs along with advances in targeted delivery of agents modulating their expression. This has expanded the scope of miRNAs from being important mediators of cell signaling to becoming viable quantitative biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Currently, miRNA therapeutics are in clinical trials for multiple disease areas and vast numbers of patents have been filed for miRNAs involved in various pathological states. In this review, we summarize miRNAs involved in organ injury and repair, specifically with regard to organs that are the most susceptible to injury: the liver, heart and kidney. In addition, we review the current state of knowledge on miRNA biology, miRNA biomarkers and nucleotide-based therapeutics designed to target miRNAs to prevent organ injury and promote repair.
La Beauté de la haine. Essais de misologie littéraire

Jan Miernowski. La Beaute de la haine. Essais de misologie litteraire. Geneva: Droz, 2014. Pp. 280. La Beaute de la haine turns critical attention away from the causes of hatred towards the "noyau dur de l'odieux, la haine la plus pure qui echappe a nos tentatives de rationalisation" (9). Under study here is thus not the hatred addressed by, for example, the social sciences or politics, a hatred that can be analyzed and as if explained away, but a hatred that is defined by its "autosuffisance," by being "autotelique," and which becomes "un principe de creation esthetique" (10) and a "moteur du discours" (11). Miernowski makes his focus clear by turning to Aristotle who distinguishes anger (which exists and can be negotiated in discourse) from hatred (which is "irrecuperable" [13]). The book's chapters thus set out to examine this passion that, in its seeming exclusion from rhetoric, ends up turning against itself and against the texts that express it, resulting in the opposite of philology, i.e. "une misologie ou art d'abhorrer la litterature elle-meme" (10). This is a wide-ranging study, chronologically and methodologically, ranging from Renaissance love poetry to the writings of contemporary authors such as Amelie Nothomb. The following summary surely cannot do it justice. The first chapter asks how the "culture [...] erocentrique" and the "philo-logues" of Renaissance France might also give voice to hatred. The initial proposal is expressed via a comparison: hatred haunts Renaissance harmonies like the anamorphic skull in Holbein's famous Ambassadors--"La haine y constitue une dechirure qui met en question les proportions harmonieuses de cette civilisation de l'amour" (23). Miernowski explores this hypothesis most notably in the period's love poetry (Eros, Anteros, Anti-Eros, etc.) and in the Wars of Religion. Chapter two turns attention to the seventeenth century and "la haine tragique" (75), offering close readings in particular of Corneille's Rodogune (whose Cleopatra Corneille himself calls "tres mechante"), Medee ("Je le ferai par haine"), and Racine's Thebaide. Miernowski argues that "le vrai heros [cornelien]" is "incapable d'assumer un pretendu devoir de haine," allowing him to "revendiquer son identite ethique" (91) and concludes that unlike Renaissance literature, seventeenth-century texts aim especially to "donner du plaisir, un plaisir d'autant plus intense qu'il est nourri d'admiration et qu'il peut etre assaisonne d'une douce culpabilite" (124). …
Protection against tumors resistant to Her-2 antibody and receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor by Her-2 DNA vaccination

2852 Her-2/neu + tumor cells resistant to antibody (Ab) and/or receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (RTKI) are emerging in treated patients. To investigate if such resistant tumor cells can be controlled by active vaccination, four BALB/c mouse mammary tumor (MMT) lines expressing rat neu were tested. TUBO and Bam1a were established from spontaneous tumors of neu transgenic mice. Bam IR-5 (IR-5) was a gefitinib resistant variant derived from Bam1a (1a) and D2F2/neu was a hormone induced mammary tumor transfected with neu. Treatment of TUBO and 1a with gefitinib or anti-neu Ab reduced cell proliferation and the phosphorylation of Akt. Gefitinib had no effect on IR-5 or D2F2/neu proliferation or signaling. Anti-neu monoclonal Ab showed modest inhibition of IR-5, but had no effect on D2F2/neu. Therefore, TUBO and 1a are sensitive to Ab and RTKI. IR-5 is resistant to RTKI, and less sensitive to Ab. D2F2/neu is resistant to both. A comprehensive view of the accumulated genomic alterations in neu expressing cells was obtained by spectral karyotyping. Although TUBO and 1a are of similar origin significant disparities exist within their karyotypes. TUBO and 1a had an average of 57 and 52 chromosomes, respectively, compared to the normal 42 in murine cells. Translocations, t(15; 17), t(4; 10), t(4, 13), t(4; 10), were found in TUBO cells, not 1a. Non-Clonal Chromosomal Aberrations (NCCAs) were found at 22% frequency in TUBO, not 1a. IR-5 had 72 chromosomes with 15% NCCAs and many abnormal centromeres. IR-5 exhibited trisomies of chromosomes 6, 13 and 16, and monosomies of 18 and 19, which were absent in 1a. D2F2/neu and D2F2 cells share t(11;16) and chromosome fragments X, 13, 3 and 1. But the transfected D2F2/neu cells exhibited a more stable karyotype suggesting the selection of a less aberrant variant which expressed neu at a high level. Vaccination with DNA encoding the extracellular and transmembrane domains of neu induced Ab and T cell responses that completely protected mice from these four tumors. After T cell depletion, protection against IR-5 and D2F2/neu was diminished 60% and 30% respectively, yet protection from TUBO and 1a tumors was not tempered. These results demonstrate the important role of T cells in the rejection of drug and Ab resistant tumor cells. To assess if CTLs could control these tumors, in the absence of anti-neu antibodies, mice were immunized with pcytneu, which encodes a full length neu that is released into the cytoplasm and rapidly degraded by the proteasome. Anti-neu Abs were not detected in pcytneu vaccinated mice while an average of 154 + 60/10 6 neu reactive IFN-γ secreting splenocytes were detected by ELISPOT. All tumors were rejected in pcytneu immunized mice, further supporting the therapeutic effect of vaccine induced T cells. Vaccination of patients undergoing Ab or RTKI therapy may prevent disease relapse by eliminating drug resistant cells. CA76340, 125680, GM 58905-7
Legal Yardsticks: International Financial Institutions as Diagnosticians and Designers of the Laws of Nations

In the past twenty years the legal departments of regional and global international financial institutions have become influential diagnosticians and designers of legal systems. This paper analyzes the intricacies and traces of power that surround the use of indicators by four IFI legal departments - the Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank, International Monetary Fund - with particular reference to indicators of insolvency regimes. On the basis of its empirical research, the paper advances five theoretical propositions. First, the use and form of indicators by any one IFI reflects the structure and dynamics of the ecology of international organizations in which it is embedded. Second, the use of indicators is impelled by organizational imperatives that require IFIs to take on enormous tasks for which they are under-resourced. Third, an implicit and sometimes explicit epistemological tension among professions within IFIs impels their legal departments to diagnose national legal systems with technologies drawn more from the social sciences and finance than law. Fourth, because the competitiveness of IFIs as global normmakers depends upon their legitimacy, they are pressed to adopt representations of complex phenomena - legal systems - in forms that are acceptable to their core constituencies. Fifth, as a lever of legal change indicators are embedded in the recursivity of law which is characteristic of wide-ranging efforts to induce legal change domestically and globally.
Effect of Aromatherapy on Equine Heart Rate Variability

Abstract This study explored whether aromatherapy increases the parasympathetic component (root mean square of successive differences [RMSSD]) of heart rate variability (HRV) in horses. Horses are highly sensitive, easily stressed, have an acute sense of smell, and have been shown to benefit from aromatherapy. The protocol, performed on eight dressage horses, followed a crossover design with an experimental treatment of humidified essential oil (lavender, Lavandula angustifolia) and a control treatment of humidified air. Heart rate variability was recorded for 7 minutes before, during, and immediately after treatment, and 30 minutes after treatment. The protocol was repeated with chamomile, (Matricaria recutita). Lavender transiently increased RMSSD from 86.5 ± 14.2 ms (standard error of the mean [SEM]) to 104.3 ± 14.3 ms (P = .020) and reduced percentage of very low frequency HRV oscillations from 81.2% ± 3.9 (SEM) to 72.1% ± 7.9 (P = .039) immediately after treatment. Chamomile had variable effects, none of which reached significance. These results indicate that lavender is effective as a calming agent for horses.
Hacking Back: Optimal Use of Self-Defense in Cyberspace

Should the law permit hackback? How should the law on self-defense in cyberspace be designed? In this paper, we use game-theoretic analysis to develop criteria that determine whether police enforcement, litigation, or hackback is best, and under what circumstances. Our model suggests that the law should permit hackback only if: (1) other alternatives, such as police enforcement and resort to courts, would be ineffective; (2) there is a serious prospect of hitting the hacker instead of innocent third parties; and (3) the damages that can be potentially mitigated to the defender's systems outweigh the potential damages to third parties. The law should require that counterstrikers use only force that is necessary to avoid damage to their own systems. Also, proper liability rules will induce counterstrikers to internalize the damages of third parties in their decision-making. Finally, better intrusion detection systems (IDS) and traceback technology improve the deterrent effect and efficacy of hackback.
Receding Horizon Control for Spacecraft with Low-Thrust Propulsion

In this paper, we consider the problem of trajectory control of a spacecraft enabled with solar electric propulsion in the presence of uncertainties. We propose a receding horizon scheme in which the underlying optimal control problem (non-linear, multi-phase) is solved in a fast and robust manner through the use of a novel dynamic model and an unconstrained optimization problem formulation for generating automated initial guesses. The generated guess trajectory is utilized to rapidly solve a constrained parameter optimization problem and yield the optimal spacecraft trajectory over the planning horizon. We demonstrate the performance of the algorithm through numerical simulations for low-thrust maneuver about celestial bodies with strong and weak gravitational fields. The simulations incorporate uncertainties due to unmodeled dynamics, specifically the oblateness of the celestial body and the presence of third body perturbation.
Sensitivity of high-speed boundary-layer stability to base-flow distortion

The linear stability of high-speed boundary layers can be altered by distortions to the base velocity and temperature profiles. An analytic expression for the sensitivity is derived for parallel and spatially developing boundary layers, the latter using linear parabolized stability equations and their adjoint. Both the slow mode, S, and the fast mode, F, are investigated at Mach number 4.5. The mode S is more sensitive with respect to distortion in base velocity than in base temperature. The sensitivity is largest within the boundary layer away from the wall. Near the critical layer, where the phase speed of the mode equals the base streamwise velocity, the sensitivity to the base streamwise velocity is negative. For the mode F, there is a discontinuous jump in the sensitivity when the phase speed is below unity, and a critical layer is established. The sensitivity of the two modes increases with the Reynolds number, but there is a sudden drop and a jump in the sensitivities of the modes S and F, respectively, near the synchronization point where the phase speeds of the two modes are equal. Furthermore, the maximum uncertainty bounds are obtained for the distorted base state that maximizes the destabilization or stabilization of the modes by solving the Lagrangian optimization problem for the sensitivity. The sensitivity of the flow stability to surface heating is then studied, and changes in growth rate and the -factor are evaluated. The formulation provides a clear physical interpretation of these changes, and establishes uncertainty bounds for stability predictions for a given level of uncertainty in wall temperature.
Epidemiology of Community-Onset Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia

Author(s): Yarovoy, James Y.; Monte, Andrew A.; Knepper, Bryan C.; Young, Heather L. | Abstract: Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is the second-most common cause of community-onset (CO) bacteremia. The incidence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has recently decreased across much of the United States, and we seek to describe risk factors for COMRSA bacteremia, which will aid emergency providers in their choice of empiric antibiotics.Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of all patients with SAB at a 500-bed safety net hospital. The proportion of S. aureus isolates that were MRSA ranged from 32-35% during the study period. Variables of interest included age, comorbid medical conditions, microbiology results, antibioticadministration, duration of bacteremia, duration of hospital admission, suspected source of SAB, and Elixhauser comorbidity score. The primary outcome was to determine risk factors for CO-MRSA bacteremia as compared to methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) bacteremia in patients admittedto the hospital through the emergency department.Results: We identified 135 consecutive patients with CO-SAB. In comparison to those with MSSA bacteremia, patients with MRSA bacteremia were younger (odds ratio [OR] 0.5, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4-0.7) with higher Elixhauser comorbidity scores (OR 1.4, 95% CI, 1.1-1.7). Additionally, these patients were more likely to have a history of MRSA infection or colonization (OR 8.9, 95% CI,2.7-29.7) and intravenous drug use (OR 2.4, 95% CI, 1.0-5.7).Conclusion: SAB continues to be prevalent in our urban community with CO-MRSA accounting for almost one-third of SAB cases. Previous MRSA colonization was the strongest risk factor for current MRSA infection in this cohort of patients with CO-SAB.
The association between fitness and obesity in diverse multi-ethnic college students.

We examined differences and associations between physical fitness and behavioral factors with obesity in a multi-ethnic student population. Participants: Study population included non-Hispanic whit...
Selective Upregulation of Transcripts for Six Molecules Related to T Cell Costimulation and Phagocyte Recruitment and Activation among 734 Immunity-Related Genes in the Brain during Perforin-Dependent, CD8+ T Cell-Mediated Elimination of Toxoplasma gondii Cysts.

ABSTRACT We recently found that an invasion of CD8+ cytotoxic T cells into tissue cysts of Toxoplasma gondii initiates an elimination of the cysts in association with an accumulation of microglia and macrophages. In the present study, we compared mRNA levels for 734 immune-related genes in the brains of infected SCID mice that received perforin-sufficient or -deficient CD8+ immune T cells at 3 weeks after infection. At 7 days after the T cell transfer, mRNA levels for only six genes were identified to be greater in the recipients of the perforin-sufficient T cells than in the recipients of the perforin-deficient T cells. These six molecules included two T cell costimulatory molecules, inducible T cell costimulator receptor (ICOS) and its ligand (ICOSL); two chemokine receptors, C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) and CXCR6; and two molecules related to an activation of microglia and macrophages, interleukin 18 receptor 1 (IL-18R1) and chitinase-like 3 (Chil3). Consistently, a marked reduction of cyst numbers and upregulation of ICOS, CXCR3, CXCR6, IL-18R1, and Chil3 mRNA levels were also detected when the perforin-sufficient CD8+ immune T cells were transferred to infected SCID mice at 6 weeks after infection, indicating that the CD8+ T cell-mediated protective immunity is capable of eliminating mature T. gondii cysts. These results together suggest that ICOS-ICOSL interactions are crucial for activating CD8+ cytotoxic immune T cells to initiate the destruction of T. gondii cysts and that CXCR3, CXCR6, and IL-18R are involved in recruitment and activation of microglia and macrophages to the T cell-attacked cysts for their elimination. IMPORTANCET. gondii establishes a chronic infection by forming tissue cysts, which can grow into sizes greater than 50 μm in diameter as a consequence of containing hundreds to thousands of organisms surrounded by the cyst wall within infected cells. Our recent studies using murine models uncovered that CD8+ cytotoxic T cells penetrate into the cysts in a perforin-dependent manner and induce their elimination, which is accompanied with an accumulation of phagocytic cells to the T cell-attacked target. This is the first evidence of the ability of the T cells to invade into a large target for its elimination. However, the mechanisms involved in anticyst immunity remain unclear. Immune profiling analyses of 734 immune-related genes in the present study provided a valuable foundation to initiate elucidating detailed molecular mechanisms of the novel effector function of the immune system operated by perforin-mediated invasion of CD8+ T cells into large targets for their elimination.
Treatment outcomes of well-differentiated high-grade (G3) neuroendocrine tumors.

e16691Background: Recent WHO classification of NET has defined high-grade well-differentiated NET (NET G3) as a distinct entity that is clinically different from neuroendocrine carcinoma. The optim...
Our ever-changing star

The sun may seem timeless, but it is constantly evolving and is already halfway through its life, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Investigation of pooling strategies using clinical COVID-19 samples for more efficient diagnostic testing

Abstract When testing large numbers of clinical COVID-19 samples for diagnostic purposes, pooling samples together for processing can offer significant reductions in the materials, reagents, time, and labor needed. We have evaluated two different strategies for pooling independent nasopharyngeal swab samples prior to testing with an EUA-approved SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR diagnostic assay. First, in the Dilution Study, we assessed the assay9s ability to detect a single positive clinical sample diluted in multiple negative samples before the viral RNA extraction stage. We observed that positive samples with Ct values at ~30 can be reliably detected in pools of up to 30 independent samples, and positive samples with Ct values at ~35 can be detected in pools of 5 samples. Second, in the Reloading Study, we assessed the efficacy of reloading QIAamp viral RNA extraction columns numerous times using a single positive sample and multiple negative samples. We determined that one RNA extraction column can be reloaded with up to 20 clinical samples (1 positive and 19 negatives) sequentially without any loss of signal in the diagnostic assay. Furthermore, we found there was no significant difference in assay readout whether the positive sample was loaded first or last in a series of 20 samples. These results demonstrate that different pooling strategies can lead to increased process efficiencies for COVID-19 clinical diagnostic testing.
Closed Facebook groups and COVID-19: an evaluation of utilization prior to and during the pandemic.

Surgical education was limited during the COVID-19 pandemic due to redeployment, limited clinical activity, and cancelation of elective procedures and educational conferences. Closed Facebook groups became a tool for surgical education while upholding social distancing guidelines. We aim to evaluate the use of Online Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) closed Facebook groups, during and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Institutional Review Board evaluation and written consent was not indicated as the data does not pertain to any human subjects. Data files pertaining to new membership activity, posts, comments and reactions of eight closed Facebook groups. The pandemic group was defined as March 19th to April 30, 2020. The pre-pandemic group was defined as February 6th, to March 18th, 2020. The percentage increase of new memberships, posts, comments and reactions were calculated for each period. A two-tailed t-test, using a significance level of 0.05 was used to evaluate significance. A statistically significant increase in membership during the pandemic period was noted for each group. In regards to posts, the Flex Endo, Acute Care, Colorectal, Foregut, and Bariatric groups were noted to have a statistically significant increase in the pandemic period. Colorectal and Bariatric groups were the only two groups that were noted to have a significant increase in comments in the pandemic period. For reactions, Flex Endo, Colorectal, Foregut, and Bariatric groups were noted to have experienced a significant increase during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic halted surgical education at all levels. The membership and utilization of closed Facebook groups increased significantly in many instances, demonstrating the importance of internet-based surgical education now and into the future. Further development of internet-based curriculums is warranted.
Linear Dilatons, NS5-branes and Holography

We argue that vacua of string theory which asymptote at weak coupling to linear dilaton backgrounds are holographic. The full string theory in such vacua is ``dual'' to a theory without gravity in fewer dimensions. The dual theory is generically not a local quantum field theory. Excitations of the string vacuum, which can be studied in the weak coupling region using worldsheet methods, give rise to observables in the dual theory. An interesting example is string theory in the near-horizon background of parallel NS5-branes, the CHS model, which is dual to the decoupled NS5-brane theory (``little string theory''). This duality can be used to study some of the observables in this theory and some of their correlation functions. Another interesting example is the ``old'' matrix model, which gives a holographic description of two dimensional string theory.
The Abbottabad raid and the theory of special operations

When ‘The Theory of Special Operations’ was written in 1993 by then Commander William H. McRaven, USN, Al Qaeda was barely on the strategic horizon. Nevertheless, this thesis helped shape the denou...