cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
C-Terminal Truncations of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PMA1 H+-ATPase Have Major Impacts on Protein Conformation, Trafficking, Quality Control, and Function

The C-terminal tail of yeast plasma membrane (PM) H(+)-ATPase extends approximately 38 amino acids beyond the final membrane-spanning segment (TM10) of the protein and is known to be required for successful trafficking, stability, and regulation of enzyme activity. To carry out a detailed functional survey of the entire length of the tail, we generated 15 stepwise truncation mutants. Eleven of them, lacking up to 30 amino acids from the extreme terminus, were able to support cell growth, even though there were detectable changes in plasma membrane expression, protein stability, and ATPase activity. Three functionally distinct regions of the C terminus could be defined. (i) Truncations upstream of Lys(889), removing more than 30 amino acid residues, yielded no viable mutants, and conditional expression of such constructs supported the conclusion that the stretch from Ala(881) (at the end of TM10) to Gly(888) is required for stable folding and PM targeting. (ii) The stretch between Lys(889) and Lys(916), a region known to be subject to kinase-mediated posttranslational modification, was shown here to be ubiquitinated in carbon-starved cells as part of cellular quality control and to be essential for normal ATPase folding and stability, as well as for autoinhibition of ATPase activity during glucose starvation. (iii) Finally, removal of even one or two residues (Glu(917) and Thr(918)) from the extreme C terminus led to visibly reduced expression of the ATPase at the plasma membrane. Thus, the C terminus is much more than a simple appendage and profoundly influences the structure, biogenesis, and function of the yeast H(+)-ATPase.
Pump source requirements for end-pumped lasers

A simple model is developed to relate laser design and properties of a gain medium to the requirements on a pump source for end-pumped lasers or amplifiers. A novel technique for scaling the pump power or energy for end-pumped lasers is presented and analyzed in terms of this model. The results indicate that power or energy scaling of the pump source for end-pumped lasers is not limited by geometry; however, the results also show that some minimum pump energy or power is required. >
A simple edge termination for silicon carbide devices with nearly ideal breakdown voltage

In this paper, a simple edge termination is described which can achieve near ideal parallel plane breakdown for silicon carbide devices. This novel edge termination involves self aligned implantation of a neutral species on the edges of devices to form an amorphous layer. With this termination formed using argon implantation, the breakdown voltage of Schottky barrier diodes was measured to be very close to ideal plane parallel breakdown voltage. >
Managing the Monitors: An Analysis of Alarm Silencing Activities during an Anesthetic Procedure

Patient monitoring devices are designed to assist users in obtaining information on the patient and life-support equipment status. Most of the these devices have built-in visual and auditory alarms...
Amino acid prodrugs of acyclovir as possible antiviral agents against ocular HSV-1 infections: interactions with the neutral and cationic amino acid transporter on the corneal epithelium.

Purpose. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of improvement of ocular bioavailability of the antiviral agent acyclovir by designing amino acid prodrugs targeted to the amino acid transporters on the rabbit cornea. Materials and methods. Transcorneal flux of two water-soluble amino acid ester prodrugs of acyclovir (ACV), γ-glutamate-ACV (EACV) and L-tyrosine-ACV (YACV), was studied across freshly excised rabbit cornea. Chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis studies of the two prodrugs were also conducted. Results. EACV inhibited the uptake of [3H]L-Arg in rabbit primary corneal epithelial cells (rPCECs). The compound also exhibited longer half-life (t1/2) in cornea in comparison to YACV. Transcorneal flux of EACV was observed to be concentration-, energy-, and sodium-dependent and independent of pH within the range studied. EACV transport was inhibited by neutral and cationic amino acids, L-ornithine (specific for cationic amino acids), and BCH (2-aminobicyclo-[2,2,1]-heptane-2-carboxylic-acid)...
BRCA1-Dependent Ubiquitination of γ-Tubulin Regulates Centrosome Number

Proper centrosome duplication and spindle formation are crucial for prevention of chromosomal instability, and BRCA1 plays a role in this process. In this study, transient inhibition of BRCA1 function in cell lines derived from mammary tissue caused rapid amplification and fragmentation of centrosomes. Cell lines tested that were derived from nonmammary tissues did not amplify the centrosome number in this transient assay. We tested whether BRCA1 and its binding partner, BARD1, ubiquitinate centrosome proteins. Results showed that centrosome components, including γ-tubulin, are ubiquitinated by BRCA1/BARD1 in vitro. The in vitro ubiquitination of γ-tubulin was specific, and function of the carboxy terminus was necessary for this reaction; truncated BRCA1 did not ubiquitinate γ-tubulin. BRCA1/BARD1 ubiquitinated lysines 48 and 344 of γ-tubulin in vitro, and expression in cells of γ-tubulin K48R caused a marked amplification of centrosomes. This result supports the notion that the modification of these lysines in living cells is critical in the maintenance of centrosome number. One of the key problems in understanding the biology of BRCA1 has been the identification of a specific target of BRCA1/BARD1 ubiquitination and its effect on mammary cell biology. The results of this study identify a ubiquitination target and suggest a biological impact important in the etiology of breast cancer.
L-glutamine use in the treatment and prevention of mucositis and cachexia: a naturopathic perspective.

L-Glutamine (L-GLN) is considered a nonessential amino acid that has a variety of applications in naturopathic medicine. It has been postulated that in the critically ill patient, GLN becomes an essential amino acid for recovery, restoration, and repair at a cellular level. Mucositis is an intestinal mucosal damage of the gastrointestinal tract—mouth, throat, stomach, intestines, rectum, and anus—that is caused directly by chemotherapies and radiotherapies. Cancer cachexia is a significant biochemical event, which is characterized by weight loss, fatigue, and indicative of depletion of skeletal muscle GLN—a hypercatabolic state. There has been some question as to the use of GLN in this patient population because of its role as a preferred energy source not only for enterocytes and lymphocytes but for malignant cells as well.This article will address the questions of safety, efficacy, dosing, and toxicity of GLN used as an integrative therapeutic in ongoing integrative cancer treatment.
Ecodemocracy and School Science: How Projects of Confluence Guide the Development of the Ecosociocultural

When integrated holistically, a passion and love for cultural studies and ­environmentalism is a serious mental disorder inflicting scholars, teachers, preachers, politicians, activists, and children. For the purposes of this chapter, let us call this disorder the “ecological mentalism¹ paradox”! It is more dangerous than malaria, the common cold, and the flu. These diseases combined are very treacherous for humans and yet the impacts of disease are far outweighed by the results of many people’s shattering disorders, attitudes, and behaviors toward other human and nonhuman lives. Diseases and cultural disorders are analogous in that they are both highly resilient, adaptive, and will continue to evolve within different conditions, during different periods of time, and in light of the “antibiotics” applied by researchers and academics who endorse them over human history.
Fishing for Function in the Human Gene Pool

Identification and characterization of causal non-coding variants in human genomes is challenging and requires substantial experimental resources. A new study by Tehranchi et al. describes a cost-effective approach for accurate mapping of molecular quantitative trait loci (QTLs) from pooled samples, a powerful way to link disease-associated changes to molecular functions.
Regional Lung Function Profiles of Stage I and III Lung Cancer Patients: An Evaluation for Functional Avoidance Radiation Therapy.

Purpose The development of clinical trials is underway to use 4-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) ventilation imaging to preferentially spare functional lung in patients undergoing radiation therapy. The purpose of this work was to generate data to aide with clinical trial design by retrospectively characterizing dosimetric and functional profiles for patients with different stages of lung cancer. Methods and Materials A total of 118 lung cancer patients (36% stage I and 64% stage III) from 2 institutions were used for the study. A 4DCT-ventilation map was calculated using the patient's 4DCT imaging, deformable image registration, and a density-change–based algorithm. To assess each patient's spatial ventilation profile both quantitative and qualitative metrics were developed, including an observer-based defect observation and metrics based on the ventilation in each lung third. For each patient we used the clinical doses to calculate functionally weighted mean lung doses and metrics that assessed the interplay between the spatial location of the dose and high-functioning lung. Results Both qualitative and quantitative metrics revealed a significant difference in functional profiles between the 2 stage groups ( P Conclusion Our 118-patient retrospective study found that 65% of stage III patients have regionally variant ventilation profiles that are suitable for functional avoidance. Our results suggest that regardless of disease stage, it is possible to have unique spatial interplay between dose and high-functional lung, highlighting the importance of evaluating the function of each patient and developing a personalized functional avoidance treatment approach.
Fibrosarcoma within a Sinus Tract of Chronic Draining Osteomyelitis

A case of fibrosarcoma arising within a draining osteomyelitic sinus of fortyone years' duration is presented. In the other three reports of similar cases, the lesion developed within sinuses of forty-one, forty-eight, and twenty years' duration. The number of cases and the follow-up are insufficient to justify any conclusions, but presumably these lesions should be treated in the same manner as sarcoma arising under any other circumstance.
Developing mathematical understanding and students with emotional and behavioural disorders: a review of the literature

ABSTRACTRecent shifts in focus on academic interventions for students diagnosed with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) create a need to evaluate existing interventional research in content areas such as mathematics. Literature reviews in the area of mathematics interventions for students with EBD have mostly focused on the outcomes and the rigour of existing studies with limited attention to the quality of the pedagogical methods used in those studies. The purpose of this conceptual review was to use a teaching-for-understanding lens to examine existing research interventions in mathematics for students with EBD. Teaching-mathematics-for-understanding requires pedagogical methods that aim to activate and capture students’ mathematical reasoning and thinking. An iterative electronic and hand search of the literature found 30 studies covering three decades (1985–2015) that met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Results of the analysis include: (1) mathematics assessments utilised ranged from...
Earth’s Atmosphere

The theoretical foundation for the generation of a model of the atmosphere particular to earth but extendable to other planetary atmospheres is developed. The 1976 U.S. Standard Atmosphere is used as the model of choice in this book and the equations necessary to develop the appropriate data and procedures to define the atmospheric properties over the manned spacecraft flight envelope are derived. For convenience, tables are generated from these equations and are presented in SI units and also in English engineering units because their use is still quite pervasive, especially in the background literature. Standard atmospheric models are used to provide a common basis for comparing investigations by different teams and several such models currently in use are reviewed. Flight operations often encounter deviations in atmospheric properties from those predicted by standard models and must be considered in the design process.
‘Occupied territory is occupied territory’: James Baldwin, Palestine and the possibilities of transnational solidarity

AbstractIn his 1966 essay ‘A Report from Occupied Territory’, James Baldwin wrote that ‘occupied territory is occupied territory, even though it be found in that New World which the Europeans conquered’. Though written 50 years ago, Baldwin’s observations continue to resonate, indicating historical trends across geographical experiences affected by the legacy of colonialism. A growing theme in development and peace building studies relates to a kind of boundary crossing that sees academics and activists drawing linkages across spatial and temporal divides. The situation in Palestine–Israel has taken an increasingly central role in mobilising transnational solidarities that cross such boundaries. By examining James Baldwin’s analysis of Harlem’s ‘occupation’ – as well as drawing from a range of voices such as Achille Mbembe, Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Toni Morrison and Laleh Khalili – this paper will explore the shared experiences of racism, colonialism, military occupation and dispossession that separate ...
River ice monitoring with MODIS: Application over Lower Susquehanna River

Abstract Spatially detailed characterization of the distribution, amount and timing of river ice is important for identifying and predicting potential ice hazards. Although information on the ice cover over inland water bodies is provided within MODIS snow products (MOD10 and MYD10), this information has little practical value for river ice monitoring. First, many rivers are not properly resolved in the MODIS land/water mask. Second, the cloud mask incorporated in the product is conservative and therefore results in reduced effective area coverage of the product. Third, the accuracy of the incorporated cloud mask (MOD35) depends on the particular setting and underlying land/water mask. The MODIS cloud mask is not suitable for this particular setting, if frequent ice observations are desired. In this study we present an alternative river ice monitoring algorithm for MODIS that identifies river ice both in cloud-free conditions and through some semitransparent clouds. As input the semitransparent cloud algorithm (STC) uses an improved land/water mask accurately delineating the river channel along with bands 4 and 7 data from the MODIS surface reflectance product. The algorithm was developed for the MODIS instrument and comprehensively tested with MODIS Aqua data over the Lower Susquehanna River for the 2014 winter season. It is shown that river ice cover retrievals made with STC are highly consistent with in situ observed ice processes, for both individual scenes and the overall winter period. Owing to a better-suited cloud masking algorithm, the new technique yields nearly twice as many usable river observations during the ice-bearing period as compared to the MODIS cloud cover product. The presented approach provides potential for more timely identification of river ice changes and hence more accurate prediction of ice-related hazards using MODIS data.
Understanding Sodium Borate Glasses and Melts from Their Elastic Response to Temperature

In-situ Brillouin light scattering (BLS) experiments were carried out to measure both longitudinal and shear sound velocities of air-cooled and annealed sodium borate glasses xNa2O–(100−x)B2O3 (x = 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 mol%) from room temperature to temperatures beyond the glass transition temperature (Tg) for each composition. This allows us to access the complete set of elastic moduli at high temperatures and to study the effect of thermal history on physical properties of this system. On heating air-cooled glasses of lower Na2O content, elastic moduli increase anomalously with increasing temperature just below their Tg, whereas this behavior is absent in corresponding annealed glasses. This anomalous increase in elastic moduli with temperature was not observed in glasses of higher Na2O content. These differences were explained by different structural relaxation mechanisms in the glass transition range in sodium borate glasses of different compositions based on Raman spectroscopy studies in this work and in literature.
Targeting Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide and its Receptor by Monoclonal Antibody, New Developments in the Prevention of Migraine

Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences (BSBS), College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA *Corresponding author Mohtashem Samsam, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Medicine Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences Department of Medicine Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences College of Medicine University of Central Florida 4000 Central Florida Blvd., HPA-II 320 Orlando, FL, 32816, USA Tel. 1407823 4810 Fax: 1407823 3095 E-mail: Mohtashem.Samsam@ucf.edu
Targeted next generation sequencing and identification of risk factors in World Health Organization defined atypical chronic myeloid leukemia

Atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (aCML) is an aggressive myeloid neoplasm with overlapping features of myelodysplastic syndromes (prominent granulocytic dysplasia) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (neutrophilic leukocytosis). We studied 25 molecularly-annotated and World Health Organization defined aCML patients; median age 70 years, 84% males. Cytogenetic abnormalities were seen in 36% and gene mutations in 100%. Mutational frequencies were, ASXL1 28%, TET2 16%, NRAS 16%, SETBP1 12%, RUNX1 12%, ETNK1 8% and PTPN11 4%. Fifteen patients (60%) had >1 mutation, while 9 (36%) had ≥3. The median overall survival (OS) was 10.8 months and at last follow up (median 11 months), 17 (68%) deaths and 2 (8%) leukemic transformations were documented. On univariate analysis, survival was adversely impacted by advanced age (p=0.02), low hemoglobin (p=0.01), red blood cell transfusion dependence (p=0.03), high white blood cell count (p=0.02), TET2 (p=0.03), NRAS (p=0.04), PTPN11 (p=0.02) mutations and the presence of ≥3 gene mutations (p=0.006); ASXL1, SETBP1, and ETNK1 mutations did not impact OS. In multivariable analysis, advanced age (p=0.003) [age >67: HR 10.1, 95% CI 1.3-119], low hemoglobin (p=0.008) [HB 67 years, hemoglobin <10 gm/dl and the presence of TET2 mutations (each counted as one risk factor) to create a hazard ratio weighted prognostic model; effectively stratifying patients into two risk categories, low (0-1 risk factor) and high (≥2 risk factors), with median OS of 18 and 7 months respectively. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Valuation and Underpricing of Initial Public Offerings: Role of Discretionary Accounting Accruals

This study examines the role of pre-IPO discretionary accruals in the valuation and underpricing of IPOs. We find that the underwriter offer price is unaffected whereas the market closing price is positively associated with the levels of pre-IPO discretionary accruals for issuers with aggressively reported earnings. We also find that this relative over-valuation of managed earnings by the markets explains a portion of the initial return that is not explained by other known determinants. For issuers with conservatively reported pre-IPO earnings, there is no relation between discretionary accruals and the offer price or the market price, and that the discretionary accruals do not explain any IPO underpricing. Our subsequent analysis shows that lower stock retention appears to be a screen and a signal of entrepreneurs’ credibility to the markets. There seems to be a higher degree of earnings scrutiny by both the markets and the underwriters for IPOs with low insider retention. However, markets tend to assign higher weight to aggressively reported earnings of issuers with higher insider retention, presumably because of perceived incentive alignment. Underwriters, with relatively lesser information asymmetry than the markets, tend to see through the distortions caused by earnings manipulations in the valuation of IPOs, regardless of the levels of issuers’ stock retention.
Neurologic Outcomes Following Care in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Purpose of review With increasing survival of children requiring admission to pediatric intensive care units (PICUs), neurodevelopmental outcomes of these patients are an area of increased attention. Our goal was to systematically review recently published literature on neurologic outcomes of PICU patients. Recent findings Decline in neurofunctional status occurs in 3–20% of children requiring PICU care. This proportion varies based on primary diagnosis and severity of illness, with children admitted for primary neurologic diagnosis, children who suffer cardiac arrest or who require invasive interventions during the PICU admission, having worse outcomes. Recent research focuses on early identification and treatment of modifiable risk factors for unfavorable outcomes and on long-term follow-up that moves beyond global cognitive outcomes and is increasingly including tests assessing multidimensional aspects of neurodevelopment. Summary The pediatric critical care research community has shifted focus from survival to survival with favorable neurologic outcomes of children admitted to the PICU.
Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of water ice porosity: extrapolations of deposition parameters from the laboratory to interstellar space

Dust grains in cold, dense interstellar clouds build up appreciable ice mantles through the accretion and subsequent surface chemistry of atoms and molecules from the gas. These mantles, of thicknesses on the order of 100 monolayers, are primarily composed of H2O, CO, and CO2. Laboratory experiments using interstellar ice analogues have shown that porosity could be present and can facilitate diffusion of molecules along the inner pore surfaces. However, the movement of molecules within and upon the ice is poorly described by current chemical kinetics models, making it difficult either to reproduce the formation of experimental porous ice structures or to extrapolate generalized laboratory results to interstellar conditions. Here we use the off-lattice Monte Carlo kinetics model MIMICK to investigate the effects that various deposition parameters have on laboratory ice structures. The model treats molecules as isotropic spheres of a uniform size, using a Lennard-Jones potential. We reproduce experimental trends in the density of amorphous solid water (ASW) for varied deposition angle, rate and surface temperature; ice density decreases when the incident angle or deposition rate is increased, while increasing temperature results in a more-compact water ice. The models indicate that the density behaviour at higher temperatures (≥80 K) is dependent on molecular rearrangement resulting from thermal diffusion. To reproduce trends at lower temperatures, it is necessary to take account of non-thermal diffusion by newly-adsorbed molecules, which bring kinetic energy both from the gas phase and from their acceleration into a surface binding site. Extrapolation of the model to conditions appropriate to protoplanetary disks, in which direct accretion of water from the gas-phase may be the dominant ice formation mechanism, indicate that these ices may be less porous than laboratory ices.
Cyanide self-addition, controlled adsorption, and other processes at layered double hydroxides.

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) are anion-exchangingmaterials of the type M(III)-M(II)x(OH)(2x+2)Y thatoccur abundantly in nature, and can concentrate, protect, andactivate simple organic anionic species of possible relevance tothe earliest organisms. We now wish to report progress in thefollowing areas:1) Internal vs. external uptake of anions. Ferrocyanidedoes not displace carbonate from synthetic hydrotalcite (Mg:AlLDH carbonate) but is nevertheless taken up on the outside of theparticles. In other cases, anion uptake is controlled byspecific hydrogen bonding requirements rather than by chargedensity alone, a feature that can be used to control whetheruptake will be both internal and external, or external only. These two findings taken together have important implications forspecific catalysis by LDH, since specific hydrogen bonding willaffect the individual and relative conformations of substrateanions, and anions occupying space in the interlayer will beunder tighter constraints than those adsorbed externally.2) Specific reactions catalyzed by LDH. We have found thatthe LDH Mg2Al(OH)6Cl catalyzes the self-addition ofcyanide, to give in a one-pot reaction at low concentrations anincreased yield of diaminomaleonitrile and in addition, at higher(≥ 0.05M) concentrations, a purple-pink material that adheres tothe LDH. We are investigating whether this reaction also occurswith hydrotalcite itself, what is the minimum effectiveconcentration of cyanide, and what can be learned about theproducts and how they compare with those reported at high HCNconcentrations in the absence of catalyst.
Safety and efficacy of direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) in cancer patients: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT).

e18264Background: The DOACs apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban, dabigatran offer advantageous alternatives for venous thromboembolism (VTE) treatment in cancer patients, however, there lacks a prospec...
Exploring Slice-Energy Saving on an Video Processing FPGA Platform with Approximate Computing

This paper proposes a scalable video processing platform on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), providing several slice-energy cost solutions corresponding to different application constrains. Specifically three approximations of multipliers and two approximations of adders, along with the exact designs as well, are presented and integrated as twelve benchmarks to implement RGB to grayscale conversion as a case study. Experimental results show that the minimum slice-energy cost, integrated with approximate#2 adder and approximate#3 multiplier, achieves 25.17% slice-energy saving compared with the exact design by sacrificing the quality of results as 5.69% error for multiplier and 2.85% for adder.
Fetal surgery: how recent technological advancements are extending its applications

Since its inception in 1965, fetal surgery has evolved remarkably, providing families with better outcomes for life-threatening congenital anomalies. Types of interventions range from open hysterot...
A current re-examination of racial/ethnic disparities in the use of substance abuse treatment: Do disparities persist?

Abstract Objective Racial/ethnic disparities in the use of substance abuse treatment services have been documented. The objective of this study was to re-examine if racial/ethnic disparities in the use of treatment still exist using current data collected post-implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Methods Data were pooled from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health survey years 2015, 2016, and 2017. Analyses were limited to adult White, Black, and Latino participants who met DSM-IV criteria for a past-year substance use disorder (n = 12,070). Hierarchical multivariate logistic regression models examined the role of race/ethnicity on past-year use of (1) any substance abuse treatment services and (2) specialty treatment. Important covariates included socio-demographics, problem severity, and perceived treatment need. A sub-analysis was also conducted that was limited to participants who reported having health insurance to explore the role of insurance status on treatment utilization by race/ethnicity. Results Findings showed that Latinos and Blacks significantly underutilized specialty treatment relative to Whites. These relationships were statistically significant after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, problem severity, and perceived treatment need. However, when analyses were limited to only those with health insurance, Black-White disparities became non-significant, while Latino-White disparities persisted. Conclusions Findings highlight that Black-White and Latino-White disparities in the use of substance abuse treatment still persist. However, Black-White disparities may be limited to only those who are uninsured. Public health implications are discussed.
Annotated normal CT data of the abdomen for deep learning: Challenges and strategies for implementation.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to report procedures developed to annotate abdominal computed tomography (CT) images from subjects without pancreatic disease that will be used as the input for deep convolutional neural networks (DNN) for development of deep learning algorithms for automatic recognition of a normal pancreas. Materials and methods Dual-phase contrast-enhanced volumetric CT acquired from 2005 to 2009 from potential kidney donors were retrospectively assessed. Four trained human annotators manually and sequentially annotated 22 structures in each datasets, then expert radiologists confirmed the annotation. For efficient annotation and data management, a commercial software package that supports three-dimensional segmentation was used. Results A total of 1150 dual-phase CT datasets from 575 subjects were annotated. There were 229 men and 346 women (mean age: 45 ± 12 years; range: 18–79 years). The mean intra-observer intra-subject dual-phase CT volume difference of all annotated structures was 4.27 mL (7.65%). The deep network prediction for multi-organ segmentation showed high fidelity with 89.4% and 1.29 mm in terms of mean Dice similarity coefficients and mean surface distances, respectively. Conclusions A reliable data collection/annotation process for abdominal structures was developed. This process can be used to generate large datasets appropriate for deep learning.
Surgical Repair of Vesicovaginal Fistula: A Variation of the Flap-Splitting Technique

Video Objective To describe and demonstrate a variation of the flap-splitting technique for surgical correction of both small and medium sized vesicovaginal fistulas (VVF). Setting Patient A is a 51 year old woman who had undergone abdominal hysterectomy 10 years prior, and developed 2.5mm VVF, from which she experienced symptomatic leakage for many years. Patient B is a 53 year old woman who had undergone abdominal hysterectomy for cervical dysplasia and developed a 1cm VVF 2 months later. Both underwent successful surgical vaginal fistula repair. Interventions Surgical correction of vesicovaginal fistula via an alternative approach to the traditional flap-splitting technique. The 4 key steps consistent of exposure, lateral incision, mobilization of defect with multiple layer repair, and confirmation of adequate watertight seal. Conclusion Vaginal approach to repair should be considered whenever feasible. This variation to the flap splitting technique allows for adequate tissue mobilization without extension of defect.
Physical and Mechanical Properties of Ottawa F65 Sand

This paper presents the results of soil characterization and element tests of Ottawa F65 sand. The data presented is intended to be used as calibration material for the prediction exercise conducted as part of the Liquefaction Experiments and Analysis Project (LEAP 2017). The databank generated includes soil specific gravity tests, particle size analysis, hydraulic conductivity tests, maximum and minimum void ratio tests, and cyclic triaxial stress-controlled tests. An effort was made to ensure the consistency and repeatability of the test results by reducing the sources of variability in the sample preparations and increasing the number of tests. The uniformity of the soil was evaluated by conducting tests on samples from five different batches. The results showed that the sand is uniform among the five batches. Due to significant variability in previously reported maximum and minimum void ratio results, the effects of the test operator were studied by comparing test results obtained from three different operators. For the triaxial tests, a constant height dry pluviation method was used for sample preparation. To eliminate the effect of the human error in maintaining a constant drop height and to ensure consistency of the sand fabric between different samples, a device was developed to facilitate the sample preparation. The cyclic triaxial experiments were performed using three different soil densities, and a liquefaction strength curve was obtained for each density based on a 2.5% single amplitude axial strain criteria. The developed databank in this study was made publicly available for the community through DesignSafe.
Availability of pharmacist prescription of contraception in rural areas of Oregon and New Mexico.

Abstract Objective To determine the availability of pharmacist prescribing of hormonal contraception in rural areas of two states. Study design Cross-sectional survey. Results Overall, 42% of pharmacies prescribed contraception (Oregon: 46% and New Mexico 19%). A similar proportion of rural pharmacies reported offering pharmacist prescription of 37 contraception as urban locations (39% vs 46%, p = 0.26). Nearly 53% of rural and 45% of urban pharmacies report billing women, rather than insurance, directly for the cost of the pharmacist consultation. Over 80% of pharmacists in both rural and urban locations did not know if Medicaid covered the cost. Conclusion Pharmacists in rural areas are as willing as their urban counterparts to prescribe hormonal contraception. Financial barriers remain a concern.
Novel Gene Fusions in Glioblastoma Tumor Tissue and Matched Patient Plasma

Sequencing studies have provided novel insights into the heterogeneous molecular landscape of glioblastoma (GBM), unveiling a subset of patients with gene fusions. Tissue biopsy is highly invasive, limited by sampling frequency and incompletely representative of intra-tumor heterogeneity. Extracellular vesicle-based liquid biopsy provides a minimally invasive alternative to diagnose and monitor tumor-specific molecular aberrations in patient biofluids. Here, we used targeted RNA sequencing to screen GBM tissue and the matched plasma of patients (n = 9) for RNA fusion transcripts. We identified two novel fusion transcripts in GBM tissue and five novel fusions in the matched plasma of GBM patients. The fusion transcripts FGFR3-TACC3 and VTI1A-TCF7L2 were detected in both tissue and matched plasma. A longitudinal follow-up of a GBM patient with a FGFR3-TACC3 positive glioma revealed the potential of monitoring RNA fusions in plasma. In summary, we report a sensitive RNA-seq-based liquid biopsy strategy to detect RNA level fusion status in the plasma of GBM patients.
Abstract 2410: Supraphysiological androgens induce ferroptotic cell death in prostate cancer cells

Castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) first manifests as a sustained rise in the androgen-responsive gene, PSA, consistent with reactivation of a functioning androgen receptor (AR) axis. This observation led to the development of “second-line” therapies aimed at further blocking androgen/AR signaling. Unfortunately, resistance to these agents can also develop quickly. Paradoxically, several studies have suggested that the growth of AR-positive human CRPC cell lines may be inhibited by supraphysiologic levels of testosterone (SupT). These studies suggested that the adaptive reliance on AR signaling by CRPC cells becomes a therapeutic liability that can be exploited through the administration of SupT, which we termed as bipolar androgen therapy (BAT). Understanding how BAT works at the molecular and cellular levels might help in rationally combining BAT with other agents to achieve increased efficacy and tumor responses. Our data indicates that SupT induces autophagy mediated degradation of ferritin in prostate cancer (PCa) cells. Degradation of ferritin results in increase in labile iron pool increasing lipid peroxidation. Our data further indicates that SupT distinctly induces ferroptosis, a nonapoptotic regulated form of cell death induced by the accumulation of labile iron. Ferroptosis is thought to have tumor suppressing capabilities by clearing tumor cells via immune system activation. BAT has been discussed as a potential therapy for prostate cancer, but further research is needed to understand its full potential. Future combination of BAT with existing immunotherapeutics including immune checkpoint blockade may prove beneficial for treatment of CRPC. Citation Format: Rajendra Kumar, Kavya Boyapati, Naiju Thomas, Deven Topiwala, Suthicha Kanacharoen, Olutosin Owoyemi, Max Coffey, Michael Carducci, Mark C. Markowski, Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, Drew Pardoll, Samuel Denmeade, Sushant K. Kachhap. Supraphysiological androgens induce ferroptotic cell death in prostate cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2410.
Design, Development and Testing of an Aquaculture Research Temperature Control System

A feedback based variable temperature-control system was developed for facilitating indoor aquaculture research. The system included sixteen independent tanks controlled by a personal computer using T-type thermocouples, a 32-channel multiplexer, two 8-channel analog to digital converter boards, and a set of 32 relays. Electric immersion heaters were used to increase water temperature, while a chiller and heat exchanger was used for cooling. Five centimeter PVC airlifts allowed for aeration and circulation of water. The system was initially used to simulate fixed and diurnal temperatures, but can be programmed to hold or varying temperatures from 5°C to 34°C in each tank independently. In one set of experiments, tanks were held at 10°C, 15°C and 20°C. Initial results indicated that the system was capable of maintaining and controlling water temperatures within ± 0.4°C. In a different set of experiments, diurnal temperatures (10 ± 5°C, 15 ± 5°C, 15 ± 10°C, 20 ± 5°C) were simulated. Results indicated that the control system was effective in heating the water to the desired temperatures but requires an additional chiller to cool the water. Use of variable temperature control, coupled with the independence of each tank, allows aquacultural researchers to simultaneously simulate a variety of seasonal temperatures inside their laboratories.
Characterization of the out-of-plane behavior of CLT panel connections

Abstract The increasing damage caused by natural hazards has stimulated the research for new construction systems that can perform well during these events. Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is a relatively new and robust construction material that has been extensively investigated under seismic load conditions, during which it exhibited good performance. However, its potential as a resilient alternative for natural hazard events that primarily engage the out-of-plane response of the building (e.g., hurricanes, flooding, storm surge, and tsunamis) has not yet been explored. A critical step to assess the performance of platform type CLT buildings to these events is to understand and characterize their out-of-plane behavior as they are critical in the effective load transfer to the in-plane resisting elements. However, there is a major lack of knowledge on the behavior of CLT panel connections subjected to out-of-plane load conditions. This creates a significant barrier in the adoption of CLT structures for resilient wood buildings and communities. The objective of this study is to advance the current understanding and characterize the behavior of CLT panel connections under out-of-plane-induced load conditions. A secondary objective is to identify key connection design parameters and quantify their influences on the out-of-plane behavior. To achieve these objectives, high-fidelity nonlinear numerical models of CLT panel connections are developed, experimentally validated, and investigated under two tsunami-induced out-of-plane load conditions. A numerical investigation with 48 numerical models is performed and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method is used to quantify the influences of three key connection design parameters on the out-of-plane behavior of CLT panel connections. The results indicated that the crushing of the wall panel’s wood fibers dictated the behavior in one of the out-of-plane directions considered while the axial withdrawal of the nails on the wall side of the connections dictated the behavior in the other direction. A simplified equation and a mechanics-based procedure were developed for estimating the load capacity and quantifying the nail contribution to the capacity of the connections under the out-of-plane load conditions considered.
Experiential Sociometry Practice and Safety Structures with Groups

This chapter is devoted to the description and depiction of action sociometry processes and safety structures in group settings, especially in group therapy. Each of these is presented with considerations to theory, safety, and multiple examples of structured prompts for their application in diverse social work group settings. Experiential sociometry processes outlined include the use of small groups, spectrograms, locograms, floor checks, step-in sociometry, hand-on-shoulder soicograms, and the circle of strength safety structure. These action-based processes can be modified for use in any group setting to enliven the group experience.
Airway Management in the Critically Ill Patient.

This paper will evaluate the recent literature and best practices in airway management in critically ill patients. Cardiac arrest remains a common complication of intubation in these high-risk patients. Patients with desaturation or peri-intubation hypotension are at high risk of cardiac arrest, and each of these complications have been reported in up to half of all intubations in critically ill patient populations. There have been significant advances in preoxygenation and devices available for performing laryngoscopy and rescue oxygenation. However, the risk of cardiovascular collapse remains concerningly high with few studies to guide therapeutic maneuvers to reduce this risk.
Coronavirus induces diabetic macrophage-mediated inflammation via SETDB2

COVID-19 induces a robust, extended inflammatory "cytokine storm" that contributes to an increased morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Macrophages are a key innate immune cell population responsible for the cytokine storm that has been shown, in T2D, to promote excess inflammation in response to infection. Using peripheral monocytes and sera from human patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and a murine hepatitis coronavirus (MHV-A59) (an established murine model of SARS), we identified that coronavirus induces an increased Mφ-mediated inflammatory response due to a coronavirus-induced decrease in the histone methyltransferase, SETDB2. This decrease in SETDB2 upon coronavirus infection results in a decrease of the repressive trimethylation of histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9me3) at NFkB binding sites on inflammatory gene promoters, effectively increasing inflammation. Mφs isolated from mice with a myeloid-specific deletion of SETDB2 displayed increased pathologic inflammation following coronavirus infection. Further, IFNβ directly regulates SETDB2 in Mφs via JaK1/STAT3 signaling, as blockade of this pathway altered SETDB2 and the inflammatory response to coronavirus infection. Importantly, we also found that loss of SETDB2 mediates an increased inflammatory response in diabetic Mϕs in response to coronavirus infection. Treatment of coronavirus-infected diabetic Mφs with IFNβ reversed the inflammatory cytokine production via up-regulation of SETDB2/H3K9me3 on inflammatory gene promoters. Together, these results describe a potential mechanism for the increased Mφ-mediated cytokine storm in patients with T2D in response to COVID-19 and suggest that therapeutic targeting of the IFNβ/SETDB2 axis in T2D patients may decrease pathologic inflammation associated with COVID-19.
Measuring program needs: A strategic design

Strategic planning is a key element in organizational effectiveness and growth. A fundamental step in the planning process is the strategic needs assessment: a systematic procedure for accessing information about constituents' needs which impact and shape organizational objectives and planning decisions. Reported here is the development and field test of a strategic needs assessment for the U.S. Navy Division of Recreational Services. The assessment established systematic procedures for gathering objective, reliable information about Navy members' and families' needs for recreational services. The final product was a strategic needs assessment package that included: a brief but comprehensive OPSCAN questionnaire, procedures for conducting the survey, and software for analyzing the data and generating summary reports for local managers.
Structural Units of Reovirus Ribonucleic Acid and Their Possible Functional Significance

Abstract Reovirus contains ribonucleic acid (RNA) equivalent in amount to a molecular weight of approximately 107 daltons. On isolation, this RNA is invariably broken into fragments of three different sizes. The three pieces have been separated from each other by chromatography on methylated albumin-kieselguhr columns. Denaturation of the three fragments of RNA in dimethyl sulfoxide led to separation of the strands, as suggested by sucrose gradient sedimentation patterns and by the second-order kinetics of reannealing. Molecular weights of 0.8 × 106, 1.4 × 106, and 2.4 × 106 were determined for the double-stranded fragments from the sedimentation rates of the single-stranded RNA obtained by denaturation. There was little or no homology among the three classes of denatured RNA when taken in pairs in hybridization tests. The three pieces of double-stranded RNA, therefore, did not result from random breaks in the original viral RNA molecule. Virusspecific single-stranded RNA formed in infected cells, and previously found to be largely if not entirely messenger RNA transcribed from the viral genome, was also separated into three size classes by sedimentation through sucrose gradients. Each class of single-stranded RNA corresponded in size to one of the three fragments of double-stranded RNA. The largest piece of single-stranded RNA hybridized uniquely with the largest fragment of denatured viral RNA. By whatever means this fragment of double-stranded RNA may be joined into the viral RNA molecule, it seems to act as a specific unit for transcription of an uninterrupted messenger RNA of equivalent length.