cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cardioprotective effects of lysyl oxidase inhibition against volume overload-induced extracellular matrix remodeling.

A hallmark of heart failure (HF) is adverse extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, which is regulated by the collagen cross-linking enzyme, lysyl oxidase (LOX). In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of LOX inhibition to prevent adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling and dysfunction using an experimental model of HF. Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to surgically induced volume overload (VO) by creation of aortocaval fistula (ACF). A LOX inhibitor, beta-aminopropionitrile (BAPN; 100 mg/kg/day), was administered to rats with ACF or sham surgery at eight weeks postsurgery. Echocardiography was used to assess progressive alterations in cardiac ventricular structure and function. Left ventricular (LV) catheterization was used to assess alterations in contractility, stiffness, LV pressure and volume, and other indices of cardiac function. The LV ECM alterations were assessed by: (a) histological staining of collagen, (b) protein expression of collagen types I and III, (c) hydroxyproline assay, and (d) cross-linking assay. LOX inhibition attenuated VO-induced increases in cardiac stress, and attenuated increases in interstitial myocardial collagen, total collagen, and protein levels of collagens I and III. Both echocardiography and catheterization measurements indicated improved cardiac function post-VO in BAPN treated rats vs. untreated. Inhibition of LOX attenuated VO-induced decreases in LV stiffness and cardiac function. Overall, our data indicate that LOX inhibition was cardioprotective in the volume overloaded heart.
Six-month follow-up of lithium-battery smoke alarms and self-reported reasons for disabling

Although smoke alarms with lithium batteries are often marketed as '10-year alarms', on average, these alarms do not remain functional for 10 years. This paper describes self-reported reasons for non-working lithium-battery alarms 6-9 months following a smoke alarm installation programme. Data presented are for a cohort of 754 homes that participated in the installation programme and subsequently completed follow-up. A total of 1487 smoke alarms were installed. At follow-up, 126 alarms (8%) were missing and 37 (3%) were observed to be non-working. Of the non-working alarms, residents reported that they had been disabled 57% of the time. Reasons for disabling the alarms most often included that the battery was chirping (38%) or that it sounded while someone was cooking (24%). Smoke alarm installation programmes using lithium-battery alarms should consider highlighting education about smoke alarm maintenance, the hush feature and resources to replace alarms that malfunction soon after installation.
Optimal Dose of an Antiaggregation Pheromone (3-Methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one) for Protecting Live Douglas-Fir from Attack by Dendroctonus pseudotsugae (Coleopera: Scolytidae)

The Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, anti aggregation pheromone, 3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one (MCH), was applied to stands of Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirabel) Franco, at high risk for infestation to determine the lowest effective dose for protecting live trees. MCH was applied at rates of 50, 100, and 150 bubble capsules per hectare (20, 40, and 60 g/ha, respectively) in 1994, and 15, 30, and 50 bubble capsules per hectare (6, 12, and 20 g/ha, respectively) in 1995. Mean release rates throughout the beetle flight periods in 1994 and 1995 were 1.63 and 1.23 milligrams per capsule per day, respectively. For both years, catches of Douglas-fir beetles in pheromone-baited traps located at the plot centers were significantly lower on all MCH-treated plots compared with untreated plots, but there were no differences among the 3 doses of MCH. In contrast, NCR had no effect on the numbers of 3 predators [ Thanasimus undatulus (Say), Enoclerus sphegeus F., and Temnochila chlorodia (Mannerheim)] collected in the traps during either year. In 1994, the percentage of Douglas-fir ≥20 cm diameter at breast height (abh) that were mass attacked was significantly lower on MCH-treated plots compared with the untreated control, and all 3 doses were equally effective. In 1995, there were no significant differences in the percentage of mass-attacked trees among the treatments. These results demonstrate that MCH applied at rates as low as 20 g/ha (50 bubble capsules per hectare) can reduce the probability that high-risk Douglas-fir will become infested.
The Future of Seapower

In this chapter we shall briefly recapitulate and highlight the evidence that has been put together in this survey, and end with a discussion of the likely role of seapower in global politics in the decades ahead. Granted that seapower has had a great past; but what about its future?
Blocking TCR restimulation induced necroptosis in adoptively transferred T cells improves tumor control.

// Pravin Kesarwani 1 , Paramita Chakraborty 1 , Radhika Gudi 2 , Shilpak Chatterjee 1 , Gina Scurti 3 , Kyle Toth 1 , Patt Simms 3 , Mahvash Husain 1 , Kent Armeson 4 , Shahid Husain 5 , Elizabeth Garrett-Mayer 4 , Chethamarakshan Vasu 2 , Michael I. Nishimura 3 and Shikhar Mehrotra 1 1 Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA 2 Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA 3 Department of Surgery, Loyola University, Maywood, IL, USA 4 Department of Public Health, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA 5 Department of Opthamology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA Correspondence to: Shikhar Mehrotra, email: // Keywords : T cell, apoptosis, melanoma, immunotherapy, Immunology and Microbiology Section, Immune response, Immunity Received : May 12, 2016 Accepted : October 02, 2016 Published : October 14, 2016 Abstract Advancements in adoptive cell transfer therapy (ACT) has led to the use of T cells engineered with tumor specific T cell receptors, which after rapid expansion can be obtained in sufficient numbers for treating patients. However, due to massive proliferation these cells are close to replicative senescence, exhibit exhausted phenotype, and also display increased susceptibility to activation induced cell death. We have previously shown that tumor reactive T cells undergo caspase-independent cell death upon TCR restimulation with cognate antigen, which involves reactive oxygen species and c-jun N-terminal kinase. Herein, we show that a large fraction of the human melanoma epitope tyrosinase reactive TCR transduced T cells that exhibit effector memory (T EM ) phenotype and undergo programmed necrosis, or necroptosis, upon TCR restimulation. As compared to the T central memory (T CM ) subsets, the T EM subset displayed an increased expression of genes involved in necroptotic cell death, and a necrotic phenotype upon TCR restimulation as confirmed by electron microscopy. Higher expression of receptor-interacting kinases (RIPK) that mediate necroptosis was also observed in the T EM fraction. Further, the T EM cells were rescued from undergoing necroptosis when pretreated with necroptotic inhibitor NecroX2 before TCR restimulation. Importantly, NecroX2 pretreated tumor reactive T cells also exhibited better tumor control and increased in vivo persistence when adoptively-transferred to treat subcutaneously established murine melanoma B16-F10. Thus, it is likely that the outcome of ACT could be vastly improved by interfering with the necroptotic cell death pathway in activated tumor reactive T cells used in immunotherapy.
Gut Homeostasis, Microbial Dysbiosis, and Opioids:

Gut homeostasis plays an important role in maintaining animal and human health. The disruption of gut homeostasis has been shown to be associated with multiple diseases. The mutually beneficial relationship between the gut microbiota and the host has been demonstrated to maintain homeostasis of the mucosal immunity and preserve the integrity of the gut epithelial barrier. Currently, rapid progress in the understanding of the host-microbial interaction has redefined toxicological pathology of opioids and their pharmacokinetics. However, it is unclear how opioids modulate the gut microbiome and metabolome. Our study, showing opioid modulation of gut homeostasis in mice, suggests that medical interventions to ameliorate the consequences of drug use/abuse will provide potential therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for opioid-modulated intestinal infections. The study of morphine's modulation of the gut microbiome and metabolome will shed light on the toxicological pathology of opioids and its role in the susceptibility to infectious diseases.
Comparison of Models to Experiment for the Purposes of Axisymmetric Control in Alcator C-Mod

Linear control models are tested against experimental data from the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. A nonrigid, approximately flux-conserving, perturbed equilibrium plasma response model is used, together with a detailed toroidally symmetric model of the conducting vacuum vessel and the supporting superstructure, and experimentally determined power supply responses. Experiments are conducted with vertically unstable plasmas where the feedback is turned off and the plasma response is observed in an open-loop configuration. The agreement between theory and experiment is found to be very satisfactory, proving that the perturbed equilibrium plasma response model and a toroidally symmetric electromagnetic model of the vacuum vessel and the structure can be trusted for the purposes of calculations for control law design. The closed-loop behavior is also examined by injecting step perturbations into the desired vertical position of the plasma. The control hardware introduces nonlinearities that make it difficult to explain observed behavior with linear theory. Nonlinear simulation of the time evolution of the closed-loop experiments is able to account for the discrepancies between linear theory and experiment. Satisfactory, agreement is then obtained between the model including the full multiple input/ multiple output control system and the experimental observations.
Donor-Cell Leukemia After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant: a Retrospective Review of a Single Center's Experience

Abstract Abstract 1997 Donor-cell leukemia (DCL) is a rare complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (ASCT) with a reported incidence varying from 0.1% to 5.0% of all post-transplantation relapses. However, the incidence is likely to be highly underestimated due to the difficulty in making the diagnosis. In the 1970s and 1980s, diagnosis of DCL relied on cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization studies in sex-mismatched donor/recipient pairs. Recent advances in molecular-based laboratory methods have considerably improved our ability to identify and confirm DCL in ASCT patients, especially when there is not a sex-mismatch between donor and recipient. Recently, an algorithm has been proposed by Wang et al. 2011 (Am J Clin Pathol 135;525–40) to help make the diagnosis of DCL in ASCT patients who develop overt leukemia or a clonal cytogenetic abnormality using these new advanced techniques. We retrospectively evaluated all patients who underwent ASCT at our center for acute leukemia from 2005 to present. Out of 43 patients, 6 apparent DCLs were documented using short tandem repeat (STR) analysis (12 separate loci examined); each ASCT patient relapsed with the full complement of donor STRs. Our data confirms that the true incidence of DCL is likely underestimated, since within our select population, we had a 14% incidence of DCL. Of note, 1/6 were sex mismatches, 3/6 received cord blood transplants, 4/6 cases were ABO mismatches, and 4/6 cases were AML ( Table 1 ). Our findings concur with sparse available reports in the literature that purport there may be a shorter time to relapse in patients who are undergoing ASCT for malignant reasons; indeed, our average latency period was 14 months as opposed to 24 months found by Wang et al. However, we did not find that a disproportionate number of sex-mismatched donor/recipient pairs developed DCL; in fact, nearly all of our DCLs arose in the setting of a sex-matched pair. The apparent increased incidence in cord blood transplants, sex-mismatched donor/recipient pairs and ABO-mismatched transplants needs to be assessed in a large-scale registry using standard methodologies, which could help identify and define potential causes of DCL. Table 1: . Patient Characteristics with Donor-Derived Leukemia Sex Age (years) Leukemia Type Transplant Type Time to Relapse (months) Sex Mismatch ABO Mismatch Chemotherapy Preparation M 22 ALL unrelated donor 15 No Yes alemtuzumab F 1 AML related sibling 14 No No Bu/Cy/Mito 1 M 24 AML unrelated double-cord blood 40 No No TVTG 2 M 20 AML unrelated donor 5 No Yes Cy/TBI 3 M 26 AML unrelated double-cord blood 10.5 Yes Yes Flu/Cy/TBI 4 M 26 ALL unrelated double-cord blood 3.5 No Yes Flu/Cy/TBI 4 1 . busulfan, cytarabine, mitoxantrone 2 . topotecan, vinorelbine, thiotepa, gemcitabine 3 . cyclophosphamide & total body irradiation 4 . fludarabine, cyclophosphamide & total body irradiation Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Enhanced sensitivity in PT-symmetric coupled resonators

In recent years, the concept of parity-time (PT) symmetry has received considerable attention in the field of optics and photonics. In PT-symmetric arrangements, the interaction between gain/loss-contrast and coupling leads to the formation of exceptional points in parameter space. At these junctures, not only the eigenvalues but also the eigenvectors tend to merge, resulting in a sudden reduction of the dimensionality of the eigen-space. Consequently, in the vicinity of such points, the eigenfrequencies are strongly affected by external perturbationsas the system regains its original dimensionality. This unique behavior can be utilized to fundamentally enhance the sensitivity of micro-resonators. Here, we experimentally investigate this effect in integrated semiconductor PT-symmetric microring lasers that are biased at exceptional points. Using this arrangement, we demonstrate >10- fold enhancement in sensitivity. Our results also show that unlike standard microcavities, the parity-time symmetric system responds to the square-root of the perturbation. Our work provides a new avenue for enhancing the sensitivity of optical integrated sensors.
Energy Equation and Necessary Conditions for Instability

To get a better feeling for where the source of the instability is, it is useful to develop an equation for the perturbation energy for waves in the presence of a mean flow that contains both horizontal and vertical shear. This entire subject is enormous, and we will only scratch the surface in our discussion. The text by Gill (1982) and Pedlosky (1987) contain ample discussion for further reading.
Growth regulants in agriculture

Growth regulants were first identified in the early 1930s as significant in crop production. Much has transpired since those early days of exciting discovery, so that today many natural and synthet...
Histone H3 Dual Ubiquitylation Mediates Maintenance DNA Methylation

Epigenetic marks, including DNA methylation and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) in histones, are important factors in determining the fate of replicating cells. In this issue of Molecular Cell, Ishiyama et al. (2017) reveal yet another layer in a remarkably complex mechanism of maintenance DNA methylation.
A statistical model for improved membrane protein expression using sequence-derived features

The heterologous expression of integral membrane proteins (IMPs) remains a major bottleneck in the characterization of this important protein class. IMP expression levels are currently unpredictable, which renders the pursuit of IMPs for structural and biophysical characterization challenging and inefficient. Experimental evidence demonstrates that changes within the nucleotide or amino acid sequence for a given IMP can dramatically affect expression levels, yet these observations have not resulted in generalizable approaches to improve expression levels. Here, we develop a data-driven statistical predictor named IMProve that, using only sequence information, increases the likelihood of selecting an IMP that expresses in Escherichia coli. The IMProve model, trained on experimental data, combines a set of sequence-derived features resulting in an IMProve score, where higher values have a higher probability of success. The model is rigorously validated against a variety of independent data sets that contain a wide range of experimental outcomes from various IMP expression trials. The results demonstrate that use of the model can more than double the number of successfully expressed targets at any experimental scale. IMProve can immediately be used to identify favorable targets for characterization. Most notably, IMProve demonstrates for the first time that IMP expression levels can be predicted directly from sequence.
The Impact of Antidepressant Dose and Class on Treatment Response in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective To determine the trajectory and magnitude of antidepressant response as well as the effect of antidepressant class and dose on symptomatic improvement in pediatric anxiety disorders. Method Weekly symptom severity data were extracted from randomized, parallel group, placebo-controlled trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective serotonin−norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) in pediatric anxiety disorders. Treatment response was modeled for the standardized change in continuous measures of anxiety using Bayesian updating. Posterior distributions for each study served as informative conjugate prior to distributions update subsequent study posteriors. Change in symptom severity was evaluated as a function of time, class and, for SSRIs, standardized dose. Results Data from 9 trials (SSRIs: n = 5; SNRIs, n = 4) evaluating 7 medications in 1,673 youth were included. In the logarithmic model of treatment response, statistically, but not clinically, significant treatment effects emerged within 2 weeks of beginning treatment (standardized medication−placebo difference = −0.054, credible interval [CI] = −0.076 to −0.032, p = .005, approximate Cohen’s d ≤ 0.2) and by week 6, clinically significant differences emerged (standardized medication−placebo difference = −0.120, CI = −0.142 to −0.097, p = .001, approximate Cohen’s d = 0.44). Compared to SNRIs, SSRIs resulted in significantly greater improvement by the second week of treatment (p = .0268), and this advantage remained statistically significant through week 12 (all p values .18 for weeks 1−12). Conclusions In pediatric patients with generalized, separation, and/or social anxiety disorders, antidepressant-related improvement occurred early in the course of treatment, and SSRIs were associated with more rapid and greater improvement compared to SNRIs.
Examination of security design principles from NIST SP 800-160

This paper explores the engineering of secure and resilient systems through a detailed examination of security strategies and principles as presented in Appendix F of the recently published National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication (NIST SP) 800-160. First, a brief introduction to systems security engineering is provided with recommended readings for those who desire to become more familiar with the specialty domain. Next, the NIST SP 800-160 Appendix F systems security strategies and principles are described, as well as, examined for implementation considerations. This examination and mapping provides a linkage of abstract security strategies to concrete security principles which can be more directly implemented, traced, and tested.
Environmental justice as a (potentially) hegemonic concept : A historical look at competing interests between the MST and indigenous people in Brazil

This article explores the need to recognise and compensate the plurality of environmental justice claims, while paying close attention to the outcomes of the most marginalised groups – cultural and...
Ethical Dilemma Resolution In HIV/AIDS Counseling: Why an Integrative Model?

In this study the authors provide an in-depth analysis of each of the eight categories of ethical dilemmas faced by professionals counseling individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The eight ethical dilemma categories involve disclosure, vocational, legal, health, family/social, sexual, death, and counselor/client relationship issues. This study builds on previous research conducted by the authors by discussing the basic components of the Integrative Decision-Making Model of Ethical Behavior and analyzing reasons for making this approach the model of choice in resolving ethical dilemmas faced by counselors working with this particular population.
Fluorescent probes for the acetylcholine receptor surface environments.

The acetylcholine receptor (AchR) was the first neurotransmitter receptor to be identified and purified in an active form. It is a complex transmembrane glycoprotein present in the postsynaptic side of the neuromuscular junctions. When an action potential reaches the motor nerve terminals, acetylcholine is released into the synaptic cleft, where its local concentration can rise transiently to 10-4 to 10-3 M. Binding of Ach to specific sites located on the extracellular domains of the AchR molecules triggers the opening of short-lived cation channels, thus increasing the permeability of the postsynaptic membrane and causing the muscle fiber membrane to be depolarized beyond a critical threshold. The final result of this chain of events is muscle contraction. The AchR is present in high amounts in the electric organ of certain fishes. Using Torpedo (electric ray) electroplax as the starting material, one can purify milligram quantities of active protein, as well as substantial amounts of its constituent subunits. Moreover, a group of closely related protein toxins (α-neurotoxins) have been isolated from the venom of several Elapid snakes, which bind to the AchR with dissociation constants in the nanomolar to subnanomolar range [for review see Karlsson (1979) and Low (1979)]. The high affinity of α-neurotoxins for AchR, combined with their extreme specificity, has greatly facilitated the purification and characterization of AchR from different sources.
Socially Responsible Practice: The Battle to Reshape the American Institute of Planners:

This article explores how events of a particular era, 1959–1974, contributed to the reshaping of ideas about planners’ social responsibilities. It describes encounters between Planners for Equal Op...
Cell‐type‐specific role of lamin‐B1 in thymus development and its inflammation‐driven reduction in thymus aging

Cellular architectural proteins often participate in organ development and maintenance. Although functional decay of some of these proteins during aging is known, the cell-type-specific developmental role and the cause and consequence of their subsequent decay remain to be established especially in mammals. By studying lamins, the nuclear structural proteins, we demonstrate that lamin-B1 functions specifically in the thymic epithelial cells (TECs) for proper thymus organogenesis. An up-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines in the intra-thymic myeloid immune cells during aging accompanies a gradual reduction of lamin-B1 in adult TECs. We show that these cytokines can cause senescence and lamin-B1 reduction of the young adult TECs. Lamin-B1 supports the expression of TEC genes that can help maintain the adult TEC subtypes we identified by single-cell RNA-sequencing, thymic architecture, and function. Thus, structural proteins involved in organ building and maintenance can undergo inflammation-driven decay which can in turn contribute to age-associated organ degeneration.
Powering West Africa: modelling sustainable long-term electricity planning

This paper presents a tree-like exploration method to analyse strategies for the development of grids of the future in West Africa. The approach helps generate plausible future grids, based on demand requirements and resource availability, by either building power plants or transmission lines. These grids are generated via a modelling framework, Spark!, which captures key components of the power system, as well as relationships between them. Spark! analyses financial, environmental and reliability performances, and also addresses concerns caused by high renewable penetration in large-scale power grids. Contrary to other models used to address long-term planning in African countries, Spark! performs long-term planning of energy resource use to satisfy the demands, but also simulates grid operations in real-time. It enables decision makers to examine long-term effects of decisions made, but also observe how the system responds to these decisions.
Public Attitudes about Transgender Participation in Sports: The Roles of Gender, Gender Identity Conformity, and Sports Fandom

We examine the roles of gender, gender attitudes, and interest in sports on public attitudes about transgender people’s participation in athletics. Using a representative survey of 1020 adults in the United States from 2015 and after controlling for a variety of demographic, political, and attitudinal factors, we find that women, consistent with their gender identity, are more supportive than men of transgender athletes participating in sports. In addition, we find that individuals who hold traditional gender role beliefs and those who have greater gender identity conformity with their gender are less likely to support transgender athletes’ participation. The effects of gender identity conformity and beliefs in traditional gender roles are also conditioned by respondents’ gender. Sports fans are more likely to oppose transgender athletes’ participation, and female sports fans have views that resemble those of male sports fans. Finally, respondents who have contact with transgender people and those with stronger egalitarian attitudes are more favorable toward transgender participation whereas those espousing high moral traditionalism are more opposed. Our findings highlight areas of support and resistance to transgender athletes, and our work might be helpful to policymakers, as well as advocates, who promote inclusion.
Reinforcement-Learning-Empowered MLaaS Scheduling for Serving Intelligent Internet of Things

Machine learning (ML) has been embedded in many Internet of Things (IoT) applications (e.g., smart home and autonomous driving). Yet it is often infeasible to deploy ML models on IoT devices due to resource limitation. Thus, deploying trained ML models in the cloud and providing inference services to IoT devices becomes a plausible solution. To provide low-latency ML serving to massive IoT devices, a natural and promising approach is to use parallelism in computation. However, existing ML systems (e.g., Tensorflow) and cloud ML-serving platforms (e.g., SageMaker) are service-level-objective (SLO) agnostic and rely on users to manually configure the parallelism at both request and operation levels. To address this challenge, we propose a region-based reinforcement learning (RRL)-based scheduling framework for ML serving in IoT applications that can efficiently identify optimal configurations under dynamic workloads. A key observation is that the system performance under similar configurations in a region can be accurately estimated by using the system performance under one of these configurations due to their correlation. We theoretically show that the RRL approach can achieve fast convergence speed at the cost of performance loss. To improve the performance, we propose an adaptive RRL algorithm based on Bayesian optimization to balance the convergence speed and the optimality. The proposed framework is prototyped and evaluated on the Tensorflow Serving system. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed approach can outperform state-of-the-art approaches by finding near-optimal solutions over eight times faster while reducing inference latency up to 88.9% and reducing SLO violation up to 91.6%.
Intraspecific variation in surface water uptake in a perennial desert shrub

1. Despite broad recognition that water is a major limiting factor in arid ecosystems, we lack an empirical understanding of how this resource is shared and distributed among neighbouring plants. Intraspecific variability can further contribute to this variation via divergent life-history traits, including root architecture. We investigated these questions in the shrub Artemisia tridentata and hypothesized that the ability to access and utilize surface water varies among subspecies and cytotypes. 2. We used an isotope tracer to quantify below-ground zone of influence in A. tridentata, and tested whether spatial neighbourhood characteristics can alter plant water uptake. We introduced deuterium-enriched water to the soil in plant interspaces in a common garden experiment and measured deuterium composition of plant stems. We then applied spatially explicit models to test for differential water uptake by A. tridentata, including intermingled populations of three subspecies and two ploidy levels. 3. The results suggest that lateral root functioning in A. tridentata is associated with intraspecific identity and ploidy level. Subspecies adapted to habitats with deep soils generally had a smaller horizontal reach, and polyploid cytotypes were associated with greater water uptake compared to their diploid variants. We also found that plant crown volume was a weak predictor of water uptake, and that neighbourhood crowding had no discernable effect on water uptake. 4. Intraspecific variation in lateral root functioning can lead to differential patterns of resource acquisition, an essential process in arid ecosystems in the contexts of changing climate and seasonal patterns of precipitation. Altogether, we found that lateral root development and activity are more strongly related to genetic variability within A. tridentata than to plant size. Our study highlights how intraspecific variation in life strategies is linked to mechanisms of resource acquisition.
METASTATIC OVARIAN CANCER WITH PERITONEAL CARCINOMATOSIS PRESENTING WITH SYNCOPE

Syncope is a common complaint with a broad differential; it is important to elucidate the cause of syncope for appropriate management. A 77 year old female with stage IV ovarian cancer status post bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy presented with syncope. She endorsed dysphagia, dyspnea, leg swelling
Building performance for earthquake resilience

Abstract Building seismic performance plays an important role in earthquake resilience. This role can be characterized beyond safety and collapse prevention, which are the primary building code objectives, by evaluating the loss of function and costs of repair of buildings. One important measure for building performance evaluation is the damage that occurs when structural and nonstructural elements are deformed beyond their capacity during an earthquake. Through a risk-based performance evaluation procedure, the expected impact of changes in stiffness, strength, and deformation capacity on building damage can be quantified and the results can be utilized to make targeted improvements to building codes to enhance earthquake resilience. In this paper, models of 4, 7, 10, and 15-story reinforced concrete special moment frame structures designed for San Francisco are subjected to suites of earthquake ground motion records to evaluate deformation response for a range of earthquake intensities. From these analyses the statistics of demand are estimated and used, along with models of capacity and seismic hazard, to evaluate the expected repair costs and loss of function over the life of each building. Performing this analysis for a range of values for each design variable will demonstrate the influence of stiffness, strength, and deformation capacity on building seismic performance, which can be used for evaluating and enhancing community resilience.
Poetry and the Play of the Goddess: Theology in Jayaratha’s Alaṃkāravimarśinī

The beginning of Jayaratha’s commentary on Ruyyaka’s Alaṃkārasarvasva contains a long digression on the nature of the goddess Parā Vāc, “Highest Speech,” referred to in Ruyyaka’s benedictory verse. This is an unusual choice in a text on poetics, and attention to Jayaratha’s religious context reveals that the digression is based closely on Abhinavagupta’s Parātrīśikāvivaraṇa, a tantric commentary. Jayaratha models his opening passage on this text in order to bolster an argument he wants to make about poetry, namely that poetry is the appearance of the goddess Highest Speech, who has split herself into both poet and reader in order to blissfully interact with herself. He does this, I suggest, in order to mark the discussion that will follow—an extremely detailed and polemical analysis of the nature and mechanisms of various rhetorical figures, with very little explicit theology—as a discussion that takes place squarely within a Śaiva universe, one which can only be fully understood in Śaiva terms even though, or perhaps precisely because, the language of theology is not necessary for analyzing any individual rhetorical figure.
Bacterial Envelope Damage Inflicted by Bioinspired Nanostructures Grown in a Hydrogel

Surface-associated bacterial communities, known as biofilms, are responsible for a broad spectrum of infections in humans. Recent studies have indicated that surfaces containing nanoscale protrusio...
Magnetic resonance imaging of the brainstem in children, part 1: imaging techniques, embryology, anatomy and review of congenital conditions

Part 1 of this series of two articles describes conventional and advanced MRI techniques that are useful for evaluating brainstem pathologies. In addition, it provides a review of the embryology, normal progression of myelination, and clinically and radiologically salient imaging anatomy of the normal brainstem. Finally, it discusses congenital diseases of the brainstem with a focus on distinctive imaging features that allow for differentiating pathologies. Part 2 of this series of two articles includes discussion of neoplasms; infections; and vascular, demyelinating, toxic and metabolic, and miscellaneous disease processes affecting the brainstem. The ultimate goal of this pair of articles is to empower the radiologist to add clinical value in the care of pediatric patients with brainstem pathologies.
Beyond Programmed Death-Ligand 1: B7-H6 Emerges as a Potential Immunotherapy Target in SCLC

Abstract Introduction The programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitors, atezolizumab and durvalumab, have received regulatory approval for the first-line treatment of patients with extensive-stage SCLC. Nevertheless, when used in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy, these PD-L1 inhibitors only improve overall survival by 2 to 3 months. This may be due to the observation that less than 20% of SCLC tumors express PD-L1 at greater than 1%. Evaluating the composition and abundance of checkpoint molecules in SCLC may identify molecules beyond PD-L1 that are amenable to therapeutic targeting. Methods We analyzed RNA-sequencing data from SCLC cell lines (n = 108) and primary tumor specimens (n = 81) for expression of 39 functionally validated inhibitory checkpoint ligands. Furthermore, we generated tissue microarrays containing SCLC cell lines and patient with SCLC specimens to confirm expression of these molecules by immunohistochemistry. We annotated patient outcomes data, including treatment response and overall survival. Results The checkpoint protein B7-H6 (NCR3LG1) exhibited increased protein expression relative to PD-L1 in cell lines and tumors (p Conclusions We investigated 39 inhibitory checkpoint molecules in SCLC and found that B7-H6 is highly expressed and associated with progression-free survival. In addition, 26 of 39 immune checkpoint proteins in SCLC tumors were more abundantly expressed than PD-L1, indicating an urgent need to investigate additional checkpoint targets for therapy in addition to PD-L1.
Predictors of Operative Duration and Complications in Single-Level Posterior Interbody Fusions for Degenerative Spondylolisthesis.

Background The goal of this study was to identify predictors of prolonged operative time (OT) in patients receiving posterior/transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (P/TLIF) and examine the relationship between prolonged OT and perioperative outcomes in this population. Methods The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for patients undergoing single-level P/TLIF (Common Procedural Terminology code) between 2012 and 2018. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to identify factors independently associated with changes in OT and examine the relationship between prolonged OT and perioperative outcomes (overall complications, surgical complications, medical complications, 30-day readmission, 30-day reoperation, and length of stay). All models were adjusted for sociodemographic variables, comorbidities, and procedure-specific variables. Results Our cohort included 6260 patients. After adjusting for baseline covariates, age between 19 and 39 years increased OT by 15.14 minutes, male sex increased OT by 12.91 minutes, African American race increased OT by 17.82 minutes, other race increased OT by 18.13 minutes, obesity class III increased OT by 27.80 minutes, and the use of navigation increased OT by 10.83 minutes. Our multivariate logistic regression also found that after 2 hours, each additional hour of OT was associated with an increased risk of any complication (3–3.99 hours, odds ratio [OR], 1.68; 4–4.99 hours, OR, 2.33; and >5 hours, OR, 4.65). Incremental increases in OT were also associated with an increased risk of extended length of stay, readmission, and return to the operating room. Conclusions The results of this study highlight several factors associated with prolonged OT and underscore its association with poorer perioperative outcomes. These data can be used to risk stratify patients before single-level P/TLIF.
Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone Reduces Circulating Markers of Immune Activation in Parallel with Effects on Hepatic Immune Pathways in Individuals with HIV-Infection and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

BACKGROUND The growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) axis modulates critical metabolic pathways; however, little is known regarding effects of augmenting pulsatile GH secretion on immune function in humans. This study used proteomics and gene set enrichment analysis to assess effects of a GH releasing hormone (GHRH) analog, tesamorelin, on circulating immune markers and liver tissue in people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PWH) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS 92 biomarkers associated with immunity, chemotaxis, and metabolism were measured in plasma samples from 61 PWH with NAFLD who participated in a double-blind, randomized trial of tesamorelin versus placebo for 12 months. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed on serial liver biopsies targeted to immune pathways. RESULTS Tesamorelin, compared to placebo, decreased interconnected proteins related to cytotoxic T-cell and monocyte activation. Circulating concentrations of 13 proteins were significantly decreased, and no proteins increased, by tesamorelin. These included 4 chemokines (CCL3, CCL4, CCL13 [MCP4], IL8 [CXCL8]), 2 cytokines (IL-10 and CSF-1), and 4 T-cell associated molecules (CD8A, CRTAM, GZMA, ADGRG1), as well as ARG1, Gal-9, and HGF. Network analysis indicated close interaction among the gene pathways responsible for these proteins, with imputational analyses suggesting down-regulation of a closely related cluster of immune pathways. Targeted transcriptomics using liver tissue confirmed a significant end-organ signal of down-regulated immune activation pathways. CONCLUSIONS Long-term treatment with a GHRH analog reduced markers of T-cell and monocyte/macrophage activity, suggesting that augmentation of the GH axis may ameliorate immune activation in an HIV population with metabolic dysregulation, systemic and end organ inflammation. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT02196831.
Exploring Feelings of Student Community across a Geographically Distributed University

Options for students to learn and connect with each other have diversified in recent years, with online resources and campuses playing an increasing role. Flexibility and comfort are becoming a priority as students choose when, where and how to pursue learning goals. Nonetheless, students want to feel sense of community with their peers and instructors; institutional bonds are in turn associated with enhanced learning. In this paper, we explore the feelings of community among students studying at a geographically distributed university. We seek to understand how the students understand community, the levels of community they feel and how their campus location may affect these feelings. In this paper, we present findings from both a survey and an interview study and consider the implications for tools that might promote community.
Data poisoning against information-theoretic feature selection

Abstract A typical assumption made in machine learning is that a learning model does not consider an adversary’s existence that can subvert a classifier’s objective. As a result, machine learning pipelines exhibit vulnerabilities in an adversarial environment. Feature Selection (FS) is an essential preprocessing stage in data analytics and has been widely used in security-sensitive machine learning applications; however, FS research in adversarial machine learning has been largely overlooked. Recently, empirical works demonstrated that the FS is also vulnerable in an adversarial environment. In the past decade, although the research community has made extensive efforts to promote the classifiers’ robustness and develop countermeasures against adversaries, only a few contributions investigated FS’s behavior in a malicious environment. Given that machine learning pipelines increasingly rely on FS to combat the “curse of dimensionality” and overfitting, insecure FS can be the “Achilles heel” of data pipelines. In this contribution, we explore the weaknesses of information-theoretic FS methods by designing a generic FS poisoning algorithm. We also show the transferability of the proposed poisoning method across seven information-theoretic FS methods. The experiments on 16 benchmark datasets demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed poisoning algorithm and the existence of transferability.
An In Vitro Study to Investigate Biomechanical Responses of Peripheral Nerves in Hypoxic Neonatal Piglets.

Despite occurrence of neonatal hypoxia and peripheral nerve injuries in complicated birthing scenarios, the effect of hypoxia on the biomechanical responses of neonatal peripheral nerves is not studied. In this study, neonatal brachial plexus (BP) and tibial nerves, obtained from eight normal and eight hypoxic 3-5-day-old piglets, were tested in uniaxial tension until failure at a rate of 0.01 mm/s or 10 mm/s. Failure load, stress, and modulus of elasticity were reported to be significantly lower in hypoxic neonatal BP and tibial nerves than respective normal tissue at both 0.01 and 10 mm/s rates. Failure strain was significantly lower in the hypoxic neonatal BP nerves only at 10 mm/s rate when compared to normal BP nerve. This is the first available data that indicate weaker mechanical behavior of hypoxic neonatal peripheral nerves as compared to normal tissue and offer an understanding of the biomechanical responses of peripheral nerves of hypoxic neonatal piglets.
Influence of heave plate topology on reaction force

Abstract In this study, we explore the role of heave plate topology on fluid reaction forces using three, representative shapes: a hexagonal flat plate, a hexagonal conic with an open top, and the same with a closed top that encloses a fluid mass. We force each test article sinusoidally in a quiescent tank and decompose the reaction force using forms of the Morison equation for phase-invariant and phase-dependent parameterizations. We find that a flat plate generates 5.3 % more fluid reaction force than the open conic topology, and 21.4% more than the enclosed conic. Asymmetric topologies generate asymmetric reaction forces, but the magnitude of asymmetry is limited by nearly symmetric fluid inertia forces, which dominate over drag for these test articles. Additionally, we observe asymmetric vortex dynamics for the flat plate when the Keulegan–Carpenter number is between 1 and 2, accompanied by a shift in the phase of the peak force by ≈ 7 % of the oscillation period. As a consequence of this shift, the hydrodynamic coefficients estimated from the phase-dependent Morison equation decomposition are asymmetric, suggesting that phase-dependent representations may not provide physical insight in some hydrodynamic regimes.
A "Good Death" for Children with Cardiac Disease.

Children with heart disease often experience symptoms and medically intense end-of-life care. Our study explored bereaved parents' perceptions of a "good death" via a mail survey to 128 parents of children with heart disease who died in two centers. Parental perceptions of end-of-life circumstances were assessed by closed-ended questions including level of agreement with the question: "would you say your child experienced a good death?" and open-ended comments were contributed. Medical therapies at end-of-life and mode of death were retrieved through chart review. Of 50 responding parents, 44 (response rate: 34%) responded to the "good death" question; 16 (36%) agreed strongly, 15 (34%) agreed somewhat, and 30% disagreed (somewhat: 7, 16%; strongly: 6, 14%). Half the children were on mechanical support and 84% intubated at death. Of children with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at end-of-life, 71% of parents disagreed with the "good death" question compared with 22% of parents whose child died following discontinuation of life-sustaining therapy or comfort measures (OR 9.1, 95% CI 1.3, 48.9, p < 0.01). Parent-reported circumstances associated with disagreement with the "good death" question included cure-oriented goals-of-care (OR 16.6, 95% CI 3.0, 87.8, p < 0.001), lack of advance care planning (ACP) (OR 12.4 95% CI 2.1, 65.3 p < 0.002), surprise regarding timing of death (OR 11.7, 95% CI 2.6, 53.4 p < 0.002), and experience of pain (OR 42.1, 95% CI 2.3, 773.7 p < 0.02). Despite high medical intensity, many bereaved parents of children with cardiac disease agree a "good death" was experienced. A "good death" was associated with greater preparedness, ACP, non-cure-oriented goals-of-care, pain control, and CPR avoidance.
Integration, Regulation, and Long-Term Stability of R2 Retrotransposons

R2 elements are sequence specific non-LTR retrotransposons that exclusively insert in the 28S rRNA genes of animals. R2s encode an endonuclease that cleaves the insertion site and a reverse transcriptase that uses the cleaved DNA to prime reverse transcription of the R2 transcript, a process termed target primed reverse transcription. Additional unusual properties of the reverse transcriptase as well as DNA and RNA binding domains of the R2 encoded protein have been characterized. R2 expression is through co-transcription with the 28S gene and self-cleavage by a ribozyme encoded at the R2 5' end. Studies in laboratory stocks and natural populations of Drosophila suggest that R2 expression is tied to the distribution of R2-inserted units within the rDNA locus. Most individuals have no R2 expression because only a small fraction of their rRNA genes need to be active, and a contiguous region of the locus free of R2 insertions can be selected for activation. However, if the R2-free region is not large enough to produce sufficient rRNA, flanking units - including those inserted with R2 - must be activated. Finally, R2 copies rapidly turnover within the rDNA locus, yet R2 has been vertically maintained in animal lineages for hundreds of millions of years. The key to this stability is R2's ability to remain dormant in rDNA units outside the transcribed regions for generations until the stochastic nature of the crossovers that drive the concerted evolution of the rDNA locus inevitably reshuffle the inserted and uninserted units, resulting in transcription of the R2-inserted units.