cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The time of administration of 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) determines its host toxicity with possible relevance to AZT chemotherapy.

39-Azido-39-deoxythymidine (AZT) is the drug most widely used in the treatment of AIDS. Its major drug-related toxicity is bone marrow suppression, which limits the dose of AZT that can be used. It is essential that AZT be phosphorylated for antiviral effect. We have recently demonstrated that thymidine kinase (TK), the initial enzyme in AZT anabolism, follows a circadian pattern in rat bone marrow. The present study was undertaken to determine whether AZT toxicity is related to the time of its administration and whether the variation in toxicity is correlated with the circadian variation in TK activity. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were housed under standardized conditions of light and dark (lights on 0600 to 1800 and lights off 1800 to 0600) for 4 weeks. The animals were randomly divided into seven groups; six groups were administered AZT by intraperitoneal injection at the same dose of 750 mg/kg of body weight at various times (0400, 0800, 1200, 1600, 2000, and 2400), and one group was used as a control. AZT-related toxic effects, including bone marrow toxicity, differed significantly among the treatment groups, depending on the time of AZT administration (by analysis of variance and Cosinor analysis, P
The genus Polyphemothrips Schmutz from India

The discovery of several species of Polyphemothrips s. str. and Adelothrips Hood from India appears to be significant both from the taxonomic and distributional viewpoints. Stannard f 1968) recognised the subgenera Polyphemothrips s. str., with P. braziliensis Schmutz as type, including in it large-sized species with head very much elongate and distinctly arched on dorsum, cheek pouches and fore ocellus overhanging bases of antennae ; Adelothrips Hood, with A. xanthopus Hood as type comprising species with head a little longer than wide and somewhat arched on dorsum, without distinct cheek pouches and median ocellus not overhanging antennal bases. Intergradations between these two subgenera may be evident as in P. mirandus, sp. nov., with the head more elongate than in species of Adelothrips and without the ‘significant’ overhanging median ocellus as in some Polyphemothrips s. str., but nevertheless reaching bases of antennae. As at present defined, Polyphemothrips also includes species with more pointed ...
Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS-1) and SOCS-3 cause insulin resistance through inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate proteins by discrete mechanisms

Insulin resistance is a pathophysiological component of type 2 diabetes and obesity and also occurs in states of stress, infection, and inflammation associated with an upregulation of cytokines. Here we show that in both obesity and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia there is an increase in suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins, SOCS-1 and SOCS-3, in liver, muscle, and, to a lesser extent, fat. In concordance with these increases by LPS, tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (IR) is partially impaired and phosphorylation of the insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins is almost completely suppressed. Direct overexpression of SOCS-3 in liver by adenoviral-mediated gene transfer markedly decreases tyrosine phosphorylation of both IRS-1 and IRS-2, while SOCS-1 overexpression preferentially inhibits IRS-2 phosphorylation. Neither affects IR phosphorylation, although both SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 bind to the insulin receptor in vivo in an insulin-dependent fashion. Experiments with cultured cells expressing mutant insulin receptors reveal that SOCS-3 binds to Tyr960 of IR, a key residue for the recognition of IRS-1 and IRS-2, whereas SOCS-1 binds to the domain in the catalytic loop essential for IRS-2 recognition in vitro. Moreover, overexpression of either SOCS-1 or SOCS-3 attenuates insulin-induced glycogen synthesis in L6 myotubes and activation of glucose uptake in 3T3L1 adipocytes. By contrast, a reduction of SOCS-1 or SOCS-3 by antisense treatment partially restores tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced downregulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS proteins in 3T3L1 adipocytes. These data indicate that SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 act as negative regulators in insulin signaling and serve as one of the missing links between insulin resistance and cytokine signaling.
Grammar, processing and acquisition

Drozd notes that Crain & Thornton's view of children's processing capacities (namely that they are the same as those of adults) is inconsistent both with the more widely held view that there are at least quantitative differences between the performance systems of children and adults, and with what is known about the acquisition of many grammatical phenomena. There is, I believe, an additional consideration that must be brought to bear here: there are highly suggestive parallels among children acquiring their first language, adults acquiring a second language, and Broca's (agrammatic) aphasics with respect to the comprehension of patterns that involve comparatively heavy demands on the processor. These parallels not only seem to confirm that children's processing resources are initially compromised, they point to the possibility of a greater role for processing in understanding grammatical development.
Inhibition of breast cancer cell invasion by melatonin is mediated through regulation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway

Introduction: The pineal gland hormone, melatonin, has been shown by numerous studies to inhibit the proliferation of estrogen receptor a (ERa)-positive breast cancer cell lines. Here, we investigated the role of melatonin in the regulation of breast cancer cell invasion. Methods: Three invasive MCF-7 breast cancer cell clones - MCF-7/6, MCF-7/Her2.1, and MCF-7/CXCR4 cells - were employed in these studies. All three cell lines exhibited elevated phosphorylation of the ERK1/2 and p38 mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) as determined by Western blot analysis. The effect of melatonin on the invasive potential of these human breast cancer cells was examined by matrigel invasion chamber assays. The expression and proteinase activity of two matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-2 and MMP-9, were analyzed by Western blot analysis and gelatin zymography, respectively. Results: Melatonin (10 -9 M) significantly suppressed the invasive potential of MCF-7/6 and MCF-7/Her2.1 cells as measured by matrigel invasion chamber assays, and significantly repressed the proteinase activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9. In MCF-7/CXCR4 cells, melatonin significantly inhibited stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1/CXCL12) induced cell invasion and activity of MMP-9. Elevated expression of the MT1 melatonin receptor further enhanced, while luzindole, an MT1/MT2 antagonist, abrogated melatonin’s anti-invasive effect, suggesting that melatonin’s effect on invasion is mediated, principally, through the MT1 receptor. Furthermore, melatonin repressed the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in MCF-7/Her2.1 cells and blocked stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) induced p38 phosphorylation in MCF-7/CXCR4 cells. SB230580, a p38 inhibitor, was able to mimic, while transfection of the cells with a constitutively-active MKK6b construct blocked melatonin’s effect on cell invasion, suggesting that the anti-invasive action of melatonin is mediated through the p38 pathway. Conclusions: Melatonin exerts an inhibitory effect on breast cancer cell invasion through down-regulation of the p38 pathway, and inhibition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression and activity.
Pre-clinical Modeling of CCR5 Knockout in Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Zinc Finger Nucleases Using Humanized Mice

Genetic strategies to block expression of CCR5, the major co-receptor of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), are being developed as anti-HIV therapies. For example, human hematopoietic stem/precursor cells (HSPC) can be modified by the transient expression of CCR5-targeted zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) to generate CCR5-negative cells, which could then give rise to HIV-resistant mature CD4(+) T cells following transplantation into patients. The safety and anti-HIV effects of such treatments can be evaluated by transplanting ZFN-treated HSPC into immunodeficient mice, where the extent of human cell engraftment, lineage differentiation and anti-HIV activity arising from the engineered HSPC can be examined. In this way, humanized mice are providing a powerful small animal model for pre-clinical studies of novel anti-HIV therapies.
IMPACT Trial Results Should Not Change Current Standard of Care of 100 Days for Cytomegalovirus Prophylaxis

The results of the IMPACT trial showed a significant reduction in cytomegalovirus disease with 200-day valganciclovir prophylaxis compared to the standard 100-day regimen with the same drug. These results may have the potential to change the standard of care in most transplant centers. However, we have concerns with the design, execution and statistical analysis of this trial. Our study aimed to describe each of these issues and to provide possible solutions for the better understanding of the IMPACT trial. We conclude that the IMPACT trial does not have the strength of evidence to change current clinical practice of 100-day cytomegalovirus prophylaxis. Further, based on all available evidence, we consider that another clinical trial to test 200-day CMV prophylaxis is not necessary.
Multiple Dimensions of Mobilization: The Effect of Direct Contact and Political Ads on Latino Turnout in the 2000 Presidential Election

Campaigns are not national, monolithic, one-size-fits-all events, but instead can be viewed as separate, segmented attempts to engage different groups of voters. This paper explores the effectiveness of different types of mobilization strategies among one group of voters, Latinos. Drawing from an integrated marketing communications framework, we argue that both direct contact and indirect contact should be effective in mobilizing Latinos, with the former having a stronger effect. In addition, we argue that targeted strategies should be more effective than general strategies among this segment of the population. We find support for these hypotheses using data from the 2000 TRPI survey and CMAG data.
The G protein-coupled 5-HT1A receptor causes suppression of caspase-3 through MAPK and protein kinase Cα

The 5-HT1A agonist 8-hydroxy-2 (di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) causes inhibition of caspase-3 and apoptosis via the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1/2) in hippocampal HN2–5 cells. Two 5-HT1A agonists, Repinotan hydrochloride (BAY x 3702) and 8-OH-DPAT, block caspase-3 activation and apoptosis caused by anoxia/reoxygenation and H2O2 treatment. This is reversed upon transient expression of dominant negative Ras (N17Ras) and Raf-1 (Raf301), confirming the involvement of Ras and Raf-1 in this 5-HT1AR !ERK1/2 !caspase-3 pathway. A selective inhibitor of phospholipase Ch (PLCh) (U73122) but not a general protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor (GFX) reversed the 5-HT1A-R-mediated ERK1/2 stimulation. However, both GFX and the PKCa and PKCh1 inhibitor Go¨6976 reversed the ERK1/2-mediated inhibition of caspase-3. ERK-dependent activation of only PKCa was observed in immunoprecipitates obtained from 5-HT1A agonist-treated HN2–5 cells. Finally, transient expression of kinase-negative PKCa eliminated the 8-OH-DPATevoked block on the H2O2-triggered caspase-3 stimulation, establishing PKCa as a link between ERK and caspase-3 (5-HT1AR !PLC !ERK1/2 !PKCa !caspase-3). Our results elucidate a novel yet general, neuroprotective pathway through which G proteincoupled receptors could cause inhibition of effector caspases, such as caspase-3. D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Vowel Devoicing in Contemporary French

Fagyal and Moisset (1999) suggested that vowel devoicing in standard French occurs most often in phrase-final high vowels. An experiment testing the effect of both immediate segmental context and sentence-level contextual factors was conducted to further identify the linguistic features involved. Six French speakers were recorded reading test sentences. Devoicing only occurred in sentence-final vowels, but in more contexts than expected. From a cross-linguistic perspective the distribution of devoicing in French is unusual. Final position is prosodically prominent in French, whereas in many languages devoicing is a form of vowel reduction associated with lack of prominence. Different physical mechanisms may therefore be responsible.
Compartmentalization and Antiviral Effect of Efavirenz Metabolites in Blood Plasma, Seminal Plasma, and Cerebrospinal Fluid

Efavirenz (EFV) is one of the most commonly prescribed antiretrovirals for use in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. EFV is extensively metabolized by cytochrome P450 to a number of oxygenated products; however, the pharmacologic activity and distribution of these metabolites in anatomic compartments have yet to be explored. The systemic distribution of EFV oxidative metabolites was examined in blood plasma, seminal plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid from subjects on an EFV-based regimen. The 8-hydroxy EFV metabolite was detected in blood plasma, seminal plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid, with median concentrations of 314.5 ng/ml, 358.5 ng/ml, and 3.37 ng/ml, respectively. In contrast, 7-hydroxy and 8,14-hydroxy EFV were only detected in blood plasma and seminal plasma with median concentrations of 8.84 ng/ml and 10.23 ng/ml, and 5.63 ng/ml and 5.43 ng/ml, respectively. Interestingly, protein-free concentrations of metabolites were only detectable in seminal plasma, where a novel dihdyroxylated metabolite of EFV was also detected. This accumulation of protein-free EFV metabolites was demonstrated to be the result of differential protein binding in seminal plasma compared with that of blood plasma. In addition, the oxidative metabolites of EFV did not present with any significant pharmacologic activity toward HIV-1 as measured using an HIV green fluorescent protein single-round infectivity assay. This study is the first to report the physiologic distribution of metabolites of an antiretroviral into biologic compartments that the virus is known to distribute and to examine their anti-HIV activity. These data suggest that the male genital tract may be a novel compartment that should be considered in the evaluation of drug metabolite exposure.
Sources of Staphylococcus aureus for patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

← ObjectiveThis study was designed to determine whether family members and health care workers are a source of Staphylococcus aureus for patients on peritoneal dialysis.← DesignOver 36 months, cult...
Integration of Spectrum Database and Sensing Results for Hybrid Spectrum Access Systems

The database-driven spectrum access system recentlyattracted increasing amounts of attention. It has more benefits compared to the traditional sensing-based systems. To build a more practical and reliable system, a hybrid sensing-based and database-driven spectrum access system is a promising solution. In this paper, we consider the integration problem of the database information and sensing results, which is a very important factor in order in realizing the hybrid system. We propose the integration framework, which is implemented on the database engine. The framework is divided into two main components. The first one is to process the sensing results, which contains the predictions for locations without sensing results, and the fusion policy on the sensing samples. The second component is the dynamic integration process of the generated sensing results and the database information. We first model the evaluation of the integration results as a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), which enables the database engine to know its current status. Then, we propose an iterative algorithm for the database engine to dynamically adjust its integration policy. In this way, the balanced status of the generated spectrum map is maintained. Simulations are conducted to reveal the performance of our framework.
Time-Varying Exchange Rate Exposure of Small and Large Firms

Most studies assume that exchange rate exposure is constant over time, which might explain the common finding that exposure is statistically insignificant and not economically important. In addition, there are conflicting results about the relationship between firm size and exchange rate exposure. I estimate exposure of 10 size-based portfolios and find that for each portfolio, exposure varies substantially over time, exposure is economically and statistically significant on average, and the risk premium arising from exchange rate exposure is economically large. In addition, small firms' average exposure is much larger than that of large firms. I also find that aggregate growth opportunity, U.S. ratio of imports to GDP, and especially aggregate liquidity have significant and differential explanatory power for the time variation of small and large firms' exposure.
Foraging Implications of Food Usage Patterns in Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons

Prey utilization by Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (Nycticorax violaceus) was examined during 1986 and 1987 in the lower Chesapeake Bay of Virginia. Nine crab species were identified in the diet with only three (Uca pugnax, U. minax, Rithropanopeus harrisii) representing 94% of the prey items collected. Habitat associations of the major prey species along with their high incidence in the diet suggest that these species may form highly profitable prey complexes in localized areas and that these areas represent important foraging centers in Virginia. The usage patterns of the minor prey species seem to be related to their degree of habitat overlap with the major prey species. A comparison of Virginia samples to those reported from New York and New Jersey (Riegner 1982a) reveals a discrepancy between the two sites in the occurrence of mud crabs in the diet. This discrepancy is suggested to reflect a geographic shift in the species composition of important prey complexes.
Koordination im Gesundheitssystem – neue Anforderungen an Dienstleistungen und Interaktionsarbeit / Coordination in the public health sector – new demands on services and interaction work

This article describes partial results of a research project of health care services that uses the orphan disease ALS as an example. It describes the interaction work of health coordination which assists patients in coping with the aftermaths of the disease and protects their interests to protagonists of public health sector. Therefore it takes over a function of coordination, which becomes necessary as a result of the increasing problems of coordination among the separate service parts of medicare. This kind of work makes highest demands in interaction work, wich can be supported by measures of job design.
Breaking the Perception-Action Cycle: Experimental Phenomenology of Non-Sense and its Implications for Theories of Perception and Movement Science

Merleau-Ponty’s description of Cezanne’s working process reveals two things: first, cognition arises on the basis of perception and action, and, second, cognition arises out of frustration, when an agent confronts non-sense. We briefly present the history of the domain of philosophy and psychology that has claimed that perception-action comes before cognition, especially the work of Merleau-Ponty, Gibson, and Heidegger. We then present an experimental paradigm “front-loading” the Heideggerian phenomenology of encountering tools. The experiments consisted of a dynamical perception-action task and a cognitive task. The results reinforce the distinction between tools being experienced as ready-to-hand and turning into unready- or present-at-hand when sense-ma kin g was thwarted. A more cognitive attitude towards the task emerged when participants experienced non-sense. We discuss implica- tions of this for the movement sciences.
Revisiting the Immunoglobulin Intramolecular Signaling Hypothesis.

A generation ago, the immunoglobulin intramolecular signaling, or allosteric, hypothesis was abandoned in favor of the associative hypothesis, which posited that Fc receptor crosslinking produced the increased affinity of antigen–antibody complexes. This essay argues that there is sufficient evidence to resuscitate the allosteric hypothesis, at least for some antibodies.
Phenological Patterns of Current Season Shoots of Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana in the Sonoran Desert of Southern California

Summary Phenological studies concerning desert plants have been few especially in the case of phreato-phytic taxa. Here we report on a investigation of the seasonal progression of phenological characteristics on current season shoots of Prosopis glandulosa , a phreatophytic taxon found in the southern California deserts. Growth characteristics are divided into “Leaf pools” and “Flux Kates” and they are correlated with seasonal climatic conditions. Rate of growth functions were rapid and of short duration. Two growth periods occurred with several different structural and phenological characteristics based on the climatic conditions in which the shoots of each growth period were produced. Maximum leaf area was maintained on the Prosopis trees throughout the most stressful period of the year. Leaf abscission was abrupt occurring just before leaves of the next year’s growth were produced. Prosopis phenology was best correlated with water availability and moisture stress. Prosopis glandulosa in Southern California has an unusual phenological system in relation to other desert taxa which may reflect the general phenology of phreatophytic taxa. Research is continuing on Prosopis in a comparative manner with other phreatophytic species.
Responses of juvenile Atlantic silverside, striped killifish, mummichog, and striped bass to acute hypoxia and acidification: Aquatic surface respiration and survival

Abstract Diel fluctuations in dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH create hypoxic conditions that alter the quality of shallow estuarine nursery habitats for juvenile fishes. Understanding how different species in these environments mitigate stress associated with intermittent hypoxia through compensatory behaviors, such as aquatic surface respiration (ASR), is important in determining the effect of these stressors on estuarine ecosystems. Behavioral responses of Atlantic silversides (Menidia menidia), striped killifish (Fundulus majalis), mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), and juvenile striped bass (Morone saxatilis) were independently observed during exposure to two levels of diel-cycling DO (3–9 mg O2 l− 1 and 1–11 mg O2 l− 1) each tested with both the corresponding pH cycle (7.2–7.8 and 6.8–8.1, respectively) and static pH (7.5) under controlled laboratory conditions. In treatments in which DO declined to ~ 3 mg O2 l− 1, none of the species examined exhibited ASR behavior either with or without the associated pH decline. However, ASR was observed during both 4-hour and extended 16-hour exposure where DO declined to ~ 1.0–1.6 mg O2 l− 1 in M. menidia and both Fundulus species. M. saxatilis did not exhibit ASR and no mortalities occurred during 4-hour low DO/pH treatments or during 16 hour exposure to 1.5 mg O2 l− 1. During extended 16-hour treatments, DO thresholds for ASR were not found to be different between F. majalis and F. heteroclitus, but both differed significantly from M. menidia. Across both 4-hour and 16-hour treatments, the onset of ASR was observed in M. menidia at or near lethal levels (1.31–1.62 mg O2 l− 1). No evidence of a pH (pCO2) effect on ASR or survival was found in any species in response to naturally co-varying DO and pH swings, despite pH as low as 6.8 and high pCO2 levels of >~12,000 μatm. These results suggest that utilization of ASR is a species-specific response influenced by the magnitude and duration of hypoxic exposure. ASR may serve as a last-ditch strategy by M. menidia to prolong survival for minutes to hours, but function as a means for F. heteroclitus to mitigate or reduce negative effects of hypoxia on a scale of days to weeks, with F. majalis exhibiting an intermediate response.
Scalable and robust PCA approach with random column/row sampling

This paper develops and analyzes a randomized design for robust Principal Component Analysis (PCA). In the proposed randomized method, a data sketch is constructed using random row sampling followed by random column sampling. The proposed randomized approach is shown to bring about substantial savings in complexity and memory requirements for robust subspace learning over conventional approaches that use the full scale data. A characterization of the sample and computational complexity for the randomized approach is derived. It is shown that the correct subspace can be recovered with computational and sample complexity that are almost independent of the size of the data. The results of the mathematical analysis are confirmed through numerical simulations using both synthetic and real data.
Predicting Factors of Depression, Antidepressant Use and Positive Response to Antidepressants in Perinatal and Postpartum Women.

Background In the United States, there is a disparity in knowledge of nationwide depression prevalence, the antidepressant use and the antidepressant responses during perinatal/postpartum periods. Objective This study investigated the predicting factors of depression, antidepressant use and positive antidepressant response during the perinatal/postpartum periods. Method The 2007-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) were combined to identify adult pregnant women, those within the 18-month postpartum period (n=492) and their depression statuses via demographics, health care accessibility, antidepressant use and illicit drug use information. The characteristics of different study groups were compared (depression versus no-depression groups, antidepressant users versus non-antidepressant users, and antidepressant responders versus antidepressant non-responders). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to predict factors of perinatal depression (PND)/ postpartum depression (PPD), antidepressant use and antidepressant positive response in PND/PPD. Results PND/PPD individuals had higher rates of mental health visits. No predicting factor for developing PND/PPD was shown. Antidepressant users were significantly older with insurance and recent health checkups/ mental visits. Being below the poverty level and having some health care accessibility are predictors for being on antidepressants. Recent non-illicit drug use is a predictor for PND/PPD symptom improvement while on antidepressants. Conclusion The group of those with social-economic disadvantages was more likely to be on antidepressants for PND/PPD. Illicit drug users were less likely to show improvement with antidepressants. The safety and efficacy of antidepressant use during this period is controversial. More studies need to focus on the barriers involving antidepressant treatments, the safety and outcomes of antidepressants for PND/PPD management.
Energy Requirement and Speed Analysis of Electrical and Free-Space Optical Digital Interconnections

Scaling of VLSI technology has been dramatically increasing microelectronic device densities and speeds. However, the interconnection technology between devices does not advance proportionally. Limited available interconnect materials compatible with VLSI and packaging technologies, increased wire resistance as a result of scaling, residual wire capacitance due to fringing fields and fields between interconnect wires are among the factors that prohibit drastic improvement of the electrical interconnect performance. As a result, the performance of VLSI systems become increasingly more dominated by the performance of long interconnects. To overcome this limitation, free-space optical interconnects have been suggested, where long electrical interconnects are replaced by an optical transmitter, a. photodetector, and interconnection optics between them [2, 10. 13–15,19, 22, 27]. This scheme, although devoid of electrical interconnection para.sitics, has its own difficulties. Unavailability of monolithically integrated optical transmitters on silicon imposes hybrid integration schemes with larger parasitic capacitance and increased cost. Transformation of information from electrical to optical domain and vice versa introduces severe inefficiencies into the energy budget. There are voltage incompatibility issues between some transmitter technologies and VLSI technology as well.
Accuracy Directly Controlled Fast Direct Solution of General ${\mathcal{ H}}^{2}$ -Matrices and Its Application to Solving Electrodynamic Volume Integral Equations

The dense matrix resulting from an integral equation (IE)-based solution of Maxwell’s equations can be compactly represented by an ${\mathcal{ H}}^{2}$ -matrix. Given a general dense ${\mathcal{ H}}^{2}$ -matrix, prevailing fast direct solutions involve approximations whose accuracy can only be indirectly controlled. In this paper, we propose new direct solution algorithms whose accuracy is directly controlled, including both factorization and inversion, for solving general ${\mathcal{ H}}^{2}$ -matrices. Different from the recursive inverse performed in existing ${\mathcal{ H}}^{2}$ -based direct solutions, this new direct solution is a one-way traversal of the cluster tree from the leaf level all the way up to the root level. The underlying multiplications and additions are carried out as they are without using formatted multiplications and additions whose accuracy cannot be directly controlled. The cluster bases and their rank of the original matrix are also updated level by level based on prescribed accuracy, without increasing computational complexity, to take into account the contributions of fill-ins generated during the direct solution procedure. For constant-rank ${\mathcal{ H}}^{2}$ -matrices, the proposed direct solution has a strict $O(N)$ complexity in both time and memory. For rank that linearly grows with the electrical size, the complexity of the proposed direct solution is $O(N\text {log}N)$ in factorization and inversion time, and $O(N)$ in solution time and memory for solving volume IEs (VIEs). Rapid direct solutions of electrodynamic VIEs involving millions of unknowns have been obtained on a single CPU core with directly controlled accuracy. Comparisons with state-of-the-art ${\mathcal{ H}}^{2}$ -based direct VIE solvers have also demonstrated the advantages of the proposed direct solution in accuracy control, as well as achieving better accuracy with much less CPU time.
A code inspection tool by mining recurring changes in evolving software

Mining software repositories have frequently been investigated in recent research. Software modification in repositories are often recurring changes, similar but different changes across multiple locations. It is not easy for developers to find all the relevant locations to maintain such changes, including bug-fixes, new feature addition, and refactorings. Performing recurring changes is tedious and error-prone, resulting in in-consistent and missing updates. To address this problem, we present CloneMap, a clone-aware code inspection tool that helps developers ensure correctness of recurring changes to multiple locations in an evolving software. CloneMap allows developers to specify the old and new versions of a program. It then applies a clone detection technique to (1) mine repositories for extracting differences of recurring changes, (2) visualize the clone evolution, and (3) help developers focus their attention to potential anomalies, such as inconsistent and missing updates.
High-Value Care in Inpatient Pediatrics: a Review of Recent Literature

Health care costs continue to rise in the United States but health care outcomes remain unimproved. This reality has resulted in a shift toward the practice of high-value care, or the practice of reducing waste while trying to improve health outcomes, and away from low-value care that is of little benefit to the patient. We review original research articles published over the past 5 years whose results may advance the practice of high-value care in inpatient pediatrics as it relates to bronchiolitis, community-acquired pneumonia, febrile neonates, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and medical education. Variation exists among providers in the management of several common diagnoses in the inpatient setting. However, significant advancements have been made toward reducing low-value care and identifying high-value practices over the past 5 years. This includes evidence supporting a shorter length of stay in low-risk febrile neonates, the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics and lack of utility for blood cultures in many children hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia, and the significant benefits of family-centered care in the management of children with neonatal abstinence syndrome. Guideline development and quality improvement projects have led to the adoption of these high-value practices. Much progress has been made. Some of the practices identified, such as the care of infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome, have experienced significant shifts toward high-value care. However, variation persists in the care of the hospitalized pediatric patient and future endeavors should aim to identify and implement additional high-value practices.
Integrin activation is required for VEGF and FGF receptor protein presence on human microvascular endothelial cells.

Endothelial cell proliferation and migration is initiated by growth factors including FGF and VEGF that bind to specific transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinases. Mechanisms that regulate in vivo expression of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR) are not well understood. Since it is well known that different matrices influence the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells in culture, we hypothesized that changes in the extracellular matrix environment can regulate growth factor receptors on endothelial cells. We cultured human microvascular endothelial cells on different matrices (vitronectin, laminin, fibronectin, fibrin, and collagen IV) and examined for the presence of growth factor receptors (FGFR-1, FGFR-2, VEGFR-1, and VEGFR-2). We show that vitronectin increased the presence of all four growth factor receptors and most notably, VEGFR-1. In contrast, fibrin decreased all four receptors, especially FGFR-1 and FGFR-2. Inhibiting phosphotyrosine signaling abolished immunostaining for all four receptors, regardless of the matrix, but was not dependent on activating the Fyn-Shc pathway. Cells plated on vitronectin in the presence of blocking antibodies to integrins αvβ3 and αvβ5 similarly decreased presence of these growth factor receptors. Our data suggests a possible mechanism of how matrix-integrin interactions regulate endothelial cell responsiveness to growth factors and anchorage-dependent cell growth.
Antifungal Plant Defensins: Insights into Modes of Action and Prospects for Engineering Disease-Resistant Plants

Defensins are small, cysteine-rich peptides that are ubiquitously present in all plants. They are important components of the plant immune system and serve as first line of defense against invading pathogens. Plant defensins share conserved tetradisulfide connectivity but vary in their sequence, net charge, and hydrophobicity. A number of plant defensins with potent broad-spectrum antifungal activity have been identified and characterized. Studies conducted during the past decade have highlighted the diverse modes of action (MOA) of a few antifungal defensins. Constitutive expression of these defensins has been demonstrated to confer in planta resistance to several economically important fungal and oomycete pathogens in transgenic crops. Here, we provide a brief review of recent findings that have contributed to our current understanding of the MOA of these peptides and their deployment for disease resistance in crops.
Erratum for Ambati et al., "Dectin-1-Targeted Antifungal Liposomes Exhibit Enhanced Efficacy".

Volume 4, no. 1, e00025-19, 2019, [https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00025-19][1]. Page 1: This article was published on 13 February 2019 with the third author's surname misspelled. The byline was updated in the current version, posted on 25 February 2019. In the 2nd paragraph of the Materials and
Formation and decay of an excited state in 11Li

Abstract I address the formation and decay of an excited state in 11Li that may be the so-called soft dipole. I discuss why this soft dipole should be populated very weakly in two-proton removal from 13B. I have used a potential model to estimate its width for 2n cluster decay, which turns out to be well within the experimental limit. After correcting the data for efficiency, a simple Breit-Wigner curve, convoluted with the experimental resolution widths, is found to provide an excellent fit.
Seasonal fever for 11 years! A presentation of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis secondary to marginal zone lymphoma

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a syndrome of excessive inflammation and immune activation. The syndrome can be triggered by multiple events that disrupt immune homeostasis, including infection, autoimmune diseases, and lymphoma. Although more common in children—which might indicate a genetic cause—HLH can occur in patients of any age. The most common presenting features of HLH are fever, cytopenia, hepatitis, and splenomegaly. Other features include neurologic abnormalities such as altered mental status, seizures, and ataxia. It is a reactive process of antigen-presenting macrophages and CD8+ T‑cell activation and migration. In addition, abnormalities in the action or number of natural killer cells have been observed. Direct cytotoxicity from T cells, along with elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and interleukins, plays a role in the generation of excessive inflammation that leads to organ dysfunction. We present the case of a 61-year-old female patient with a past history of recurrent self-limiting episodes of fever that occurred two to three times every autumn for the past 11 years. The meticulous thought process that led to her diagnosis with HLH and marginal zone lymphoma is discussed.
ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION AND EXPORT: THE NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE

The petroleum sector has undoubtedly contributed substantially to Nigerian economy since its discovery in 1956 and more especially, since 1970 when its price has been on the upward trend. It is important to note that for a country to attain the growth and development level which Nigeria requires; its economy has to be diversified. With a fall in the price of oil in the international market, it has become very evident to Nigeria that the only option left to sustain her economy is looking outwards and looking away from oil as the only source of improving its GDP. Nigeria is a mono product nation and this mono productivism has put the nation in an economic quagmire. A strong growing sustain able economy is the goal of every nation. Mono product economy needs to give way to the productive development of various sectors of the economy. The study f ocused on economic diversification and the role of agricultural export therein. Most studies have concentrated on diversification of agricultural exports, which is an important economic fundamental in view of our under development. Export of agricultural products, in the light of bountiful natural endowment of Nigeria, was seen as a veritable channel to diversify the currently mono-export economy. Government should concentrate on the development of small and medium scale industrial enterprises as a means of boosting agricultural productivity and export.
PSA is an autocrine survival factor in prostate cancer LNCaP cells

793 Serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels are elevated in prostate cancer patients and serve as a diagnostic marker for the disease. Prostate cancer is generally responsive to androgen ablation therapy and produces a drop in PSA levels. In time, hormone-refractory disease often develops and PSA levels once again rise. Under normal circumstances PSA is deposited in the lumen of prostatic ducts, whereas PSA secreted from malignant cells gains access to the circulation. The underlying biochemical mechanisms for the aberrant control of PSA secretion in prostate tumors are not well-known. Regulation of peptide secretion by iPLA2-β has recently been reported in non-prostatic tissue. In prostate tissue, both iPLA2-β and PSA expression are reportedly under androgen regulation. We therefore investigated whether iPLA2-β plays a role in PSA secretion in normal prostate epithelial RWPE-1 cells and in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. We observed an increase in iPLA2 activity in LNCaP cells that corresponded with an increase in expression of the two active isoforms, LH-iPLA2 and SH-iPLA2, as well as a decrease in the inhibitory ankyrin-iPLA2 isoform. We further demonstrated that treatment with the iPLA2-specfic inhibitor, BEL, inhibited PSA secretion from LNCaP cells and subsequently resulted in cell death. While BEL treatment triggered an apoptotic response in LNCaP cells, normal prostate RWPE-1epithelial cells were not vulnerable to BEL-induced cell death. Addition of exogenous PSA to LNCaP cultures suppressed BEL-induced cell death and addition of anti-PSA antibody reversed the survival effect of PSA. These data demonstrate that iPLA2 plays a role in regulating PSA secretion from cells and the release of PSA provides an autocrine survival function for LNCaP cells. The mechanism by which PSA imparts its survival effect is not currently understood.
Visual analytics of team performance in online gaming

We present a visual analytics approach to explore how successful teams collaborate, attack, and accumulate objectives. We illustrate our contributions with the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena: League of Legends. We developed two visualizations: the first shows collaboration and attack interactions, and how the players’ roles are relevant to comprehending these interactions and the accumulation of power (gold) in this context; The second visual illustrates the objectives reached and the game evolution in terms of targets, helping to identify patterns in the sequence of goals. The two visuals designs were produced for each match and were used to be compared in a sample of matches, leading to pattern detection of successful practices. This approach enriches the comprehension of teams’ performance in a competition environment and the identification of successful practices in team competition.
A Comparison Study of Different State-of-Charge Balancing Strategies for Smart Battery Systems

In this paper we present and compare four different State-of-Charge (SoC) balancing strategies including continuous-time, discretized, event-triggered and self-triggered balancing strategies for Lithium smart battery systems. Under the assumption that the communication topology among smart battery units is connected and undirected, average SoC balancing can be achieved under all four balancing strategies. Compared to continuous-time strategies, discretized and event-triggered balancing strategies reduce the communication among battery units as well as the computation of controllers. Self-triggered strategies further relax the requirement of continuously monitoring the SoC of each unit and its neighbors. Simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness and compare the differences of the four strategies.
Association of Adverse Family Experiences with School Engagement and Performance in US Adolescents: Do Behavioral Health Conditions Mediate the Relationship?

To examine the prevalence of adverse family experiences (AFEs), their association with poor school engagement and performance, and whether behavioral health conditions mediate the association among US adolescents. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from adolescents aged 12–17 years from the 2016–2018 National Survey of Children’s Health (n = 41,648 unweighted). We first estimated the prevalence of AFEs, investigated the association of AFEs with school engagement and performance, and whether behavioral health conditions mediate such relationships, using multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models. A mediation analysis was used and covariates included socio-demographic characteristics and co-morbid medical conditions. A total of 52.9% of US adolescents (nationally representative of 12.9 million adolescents nationwide) reported experiencing at least one form of AFE, the most common of which included parental divorce/separation (33.1%), economic hardship (22.0%) and living with a person with substance misuse problems (11.5%). Adolescents with ≥4 AFEs had poorer outcomes in school engagement and performance (p < 0.001 each) when compared to those with no AFEs. Behavioral health conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression, and conduct problems) partially mediated these relationships (p < 0.01 each). The indirect effect of behavioral health conditions accounted for 20.4% of the total effect in the association between AFEs and school performance (p < 0.001). AFEs are common among US adolescents, and cumulative AFEs are associated with behavioral health conditions, which may in turn reduce school engagement and performance. While reducing AFEs is important in children and adolescents, addressing potentially resultant behavioral health conditions is equally important in improving school engagement and performance.
Interpretable artificial neural networks incorporating Bayesian alphabet models for genome-wide prediction and association studies

In conventional linear models for whole-genome prediction and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), it is usually assumed that the relationship between genotypes and phenotypes is linear. Bayesian neural networks have been used to account for non-linearity such as complex genetic architectures. Here, we introduce a method named NN-Bayes, where "NN" stands for neural networks, and "Bayes" stands for Bayesian Alphabet models, including a collection of Bayesian regression models such as BayesA, BayesB, BayesC, and Bayesian LASSO. NN-Bayes incorporates Bayesian Alphabet models into non-linear neural networks via hidden layers between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and observed traits. Thus, NN-Bayes attempts to improve the performance of genome-wide prediction and GWAS by accommodating non-linear relationships between the hidden nodes and the observed trait, while maintaining genomic interpretability through the Bayesian regression models that connect the SNPs to the hidden nodes. For genomic interpretability, the posterior distribution of marker effects in NN-Bayes is inferred by Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches and used for inference of association through posterior inclusion probabilities and window posterior probability of association. In simulation studies with dominance and epistatic effects, performance of NN-Bayes was significantly better than conventional linear models for both GWAS and whole-genome prediction, and the differences on prediction accuracy were substantial in magnitude. In real-data analyses, for the soy dataset, NN-Bayes achieved significantly higher prediction accuracies than conventional linear models, and results from other four different species showed that NN-Bayes had similar prediction performance to linear models, which is potentially due to the small sample size. Our NN-Bayes is optimized for high-dimensional genomic data and implemented in an open-source package called "JWAS." NN-Bayes can lead to greater use of Bayesian neural networks to account for non-linear relationships due to its interpretability and computational performance.