cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Replication and Transmission of the Novel Bovine Influenza D Virus in a Guinea Pig Model

ABSTRACT Influenza D virus (FLUDV) is a novel influenza virus that infects cattle and swine. The goal of this study was to investigate the replication and transmission of bovine FLUDV in guinea pigs. Following direct intranasal inoculation of animals, the virus was detected in nasal washes of infected animals during the first 7 days postinfection. High viral titers were obtained from nasal turbinates and lung tissues of directly inoculated animals. Further, bovine FLUDV was able to transmit from the infected guinea pigs to sentinel animals by means of contact and not by aerosol dissemination under the experimental conditions tested in this study. Despite exhibiting no clinical signs, infected guinea pigs developed seroconversion and the viral antigen was detected in lungs of animals by immunohistochemistry. The observation that bovine FLUDV replicated in the respiratory tract of guinea pigs was similar to observations described previously in studies of gnotobiotic calves and pigs experimentally infected with bovine FLUDV but different from those described previously in experimental infections in ferrets and swine with a swine FLUDV, which supported virus replication only in the upper respiratory tract and not in the lower respiratory tract, including lung. Our study established that guinea pigs could be used as an animal model for studying this newly emerging influenza virus. IMPORTANCE Influenza D virus (FLUDV) is a novel emerging pathogen with bovine as its primary host. The epidemiology and pathogenicity of the virus are not yet known. FLUDV also spreads to swine, and the presence of FLUDV-specific antibodies in humans could indicate that there is a potential for zoonosis. Our results showed that bovine FLUDV replicated in the nasal turbinate and lungs of guinea pigs at high titers and was also able to transmit from an infected animal to sentinel animals by contact. The fact that bovine FLUDV replicated productively in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts of guinea pigs, similarly to virus infection in its native host, demonstrates that guinea pigs would be a suitable model host to study the replication and transmission potential of bovine FLUDV.
Investigating the interaction of transcranial magnetic stimulation with a model cortical neuron

Introduction Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive technique that induces neuronal discharge in response to a rapidly changing magnetic field (B-field) directed through the scalp. However, the interaction between cortical tissue and the electric field (E-field) induced by the changing B-field remains unclear. A realistic multi-compartment model of a layer V pyramidal neuron receiving a simulated TMS pulse provides a means to characterize the influence of numerous parameters on cell discharge.
Molecular Physiology of Low-Voltage-Activated T-type Calcium Channels

T-type Ca2+ channels were originally called low-voltage-activated (LVA) channels because they can be activated by small depolarizations of the plasma membrane. In many neurons Ca2+ influx through L...
What is the Blood-Brain Barrier? A Molecular Perspective

The term “blood-brain barrier” was coined over one hundred years ago as a result of the observation that vital dyes introduced into the circulation quickly penetrated and stained nearly all organs and tissues of the mammalian body except the brain which retained its pale creamy appearance. Advances in microscopy revealed that, in contrast to other vascular beds, the brain endothelial cells lining the vascular wall are tightly linked with junctional complexes that eliminate gaps or spaces between cells and prevent any free diffusion of blood-borne substances into the brain parenchymal space. The endothelial cells, situated at the interface between blood and brain, therefore, play a critical role in performing essential biological functions including transport of micro-and macronutrients, receptor-mediated signaling, leukocyte trafficking, and osmoregulation. A number of molecular components responsible for some of these unique properties have now been identified and are being characterized under physiological and disease conditions. These include the proteins involved in formation and assembly of tight junctions; the plasma membrane-embedded proteins that are responsible for transport of brain energy substrates and nutrients (glucose, monocarboxylic acids, nucleosides, amino acids, others); the multi-drug transporter protein, p-glycoprotein, and other drug-rejecting proteins that protect the brain from foreign, potentially disruptive chemicals. These and other recent findings, taken as a whole, reveal the brain endothelium as a complex and dynamic biological system, in contrast to the simple, inert and rigid barrier initially perceived.
High-dose megestrol acetate in advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma: a Gynecologic Oncology Group Study

PURPOSEProgestins represent the most widely used form of endocrine therapy in advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma. Based on encouraging response rates in breast cancer with high-dose megestrol acetate (MA) 800 mg/d, this phase II trial assessed response rates in patients with endometrial carcinoma treated with high-dose MA.PATIENTS AND METHODSSixty-three patients with recurrent or advanced endometrial carcinoma were entered into this Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) study. Patients had either failed to respond to or were considered incurable with local therapy and had not received prior cytotoxic or hormonal therapy. MA 800 mg/d was administered orally in divided doses. Standard GOG toxicity criteria were used.RESULTSOf 63 patients entered, 58 were assessable for toxicity and 54 for response. Of 13 responders (24%), six (11%) had a complete and seven (13%) a partial response. Four of the responses lasted greater than 18 months. Twelve patients (22%) had stable disease. The response rate of patient...
Against Welfare Subjectivism

Subjectivism about welfare is the view that something is basically good (bad) for you if and only if, and to the extent that, you have the right kind of favorable (disfavorable) attitude toward it under the right conditions. I make a presumptive case for the falsity of subjectivism by arguing against nearly every extant version of the view. My arguments share a common theme: theories of welfare should be tested for what they imply about newborn infants. Even if a theory is intended to apply only to adults, the fact that it is false of newborns may give us sufficient reason to reject it.
The Thirty Years War

The centerpiece of the Securities and Exchange Commission's new "Regulation NMS" is a "trade-through rule" (formally titled the "Order Protection Rule") that requires market centers to route orders to any market center currently showing a better price on an automated trading system or else match that better price. In addition, the SEC approved an "Access Rule" intended to facilitate the operation of the trade-through rule. There are some benefits to the new rule. Unfortunately, in the face of an intense lobbying effort led by the New York Stock Exchange, the commission adopted a version of the rule that will likely have a far smaller favorable impact on competition in securities markets than would have resulted if the SEC had approved another alternative, the "depth of book" proposal, that it had advanced last December. The SEC's caution in 2005 continues its decades-old tradition of reluctance to challenge the NYSE's dominance.
In vivo endotoxin enhances biliary ethanol-dependent free radical generation

Endotoxemia is associated with alcoholic liver diseases; however, the effect of endotoxin on the oxidation of ethanol is not known. We tested the hypothesis that endotoxin treatment enhances hepati...
Pelvic Congestion Syndrome

Chronic pelvic pain is described as noncyclic pelvic pain for more than 6 months in duration. It is estimated that an excess of 39 % of women will experience chronic pelvic pain at some point during their lives. Pelvic varices can be associated with dyspareunia, dysmenorrheal, dysuria, and vulval congestion with or without vulval varices. This constitution of symptoms seen in conjunction with pelvic varices is commonly referred to as pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS). As the causes for chronic pelvic pain are numerous, patients are often referred to several specialists for evaluation, and the diagnosis of PCS can take several years.
Safety of vitamin A supplementation of postpartum women and young children.

It is now known that the previous World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for vitamin A supplementation of postpartum women (200,000 IU) is not sufficient and that larger doses are well tolerated. the new recommendation is to give women 400,000 IU during the first eight weeks postpartum, as two 200,000-IU doses separated by at least 24 hours. the most common side effect of large doses of vitamin A in young infants is bulging of the fontanelle. This side effect is rare (0%–8%), spontaneously resolves within 72 hours, and is not associated with significant short- or long-term clinical consequences. A 50,000-IU dose is safe for young infants, but doses greater than 50,000 IU may be harmful, especially for infants under four months of age. the revised WHO recommendation for infants zero to five months old is 150,000 IU as three doses of 50,000 IU with a one-month interval between doses.
Antipsychotic Use Is Not Associated with an Increased Burden of Cerebrovascular Pathology at Autopsy (S04.004)

Objective: Assess the correlations between antipsychotic medication use in elderly dementia persons with neuropathological outcomes data, including cerebrovascular disease (CVD) pathology. Background A 2006 FDA-issued black box indicated that elderly patients with dementia treated with antipsychotics are at an increased risk of death, primarily from vascular complications (myocardial infarction and stroke) and infections (pneumonia). Despite the profound impact this warning has had on the field, the cerebrovascular consequences of antipsychotic use in dementia remain poorly understood. Design/Methods: We identified all subjects with a history of dementia related psychosis treated with antipsychotic agents (DPAP; n=32) in the University of Kentucky Alzheimer9s Disease Center Brain Bank. Control subjects were placed in two cohorts matched for age, gender, apoe, education and MMSE including subjects with dementia but no psychosis or antipsychotic medication (DNPNAP group; n=32), and subjects with dementia and psychosis but no antipsychotic medication (DPNAP group; n=32). Demographic, clinical, genetic, and neuropathological features were compared between groups. Results: Comparative analysis of vascular risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, myocardial infarction, smoking, diabetes mellitus, cardiac arrhythmia, and Hachinski scores) revealed no significant between group differences. Clinical diagnoses including Alzheimer9s, Lewy-Body, frontotemporal, and vascular dementia did not differ between groups. Cause of death including myocardial infarction, stroke, and pneumonia did not differ between groups (p=0.73, χ2 test). Braak, CERAD, amyloid angiopathy, and Lewy body scores supported the diagnoses of moderate to severe dementia in the majority of cases (86%), but did not differ between groups. No statistically significant differences were found between the 3 groups for degree of atherosclerosis (p=0.25) or lacunar (p=0.34), micro- (p= 0.67), hemorrhagic (p= 0.81), or macro (p= 0.90) infarcts. Conclusions: Antipsychotic medication use is not associated with increased burden of cerebrovascular disease on neuropathological examination. Future studies investigating causal relationship between antipsychotic use and increased risk of death in dementia patients is warranted. Disclosure: Dr. Singhal has nothing to disclose. Dr. Abner has nothing to disclose. Dr. Schmitt has nothing to disclose. Dr. Nelson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jicha has received personal compensation for activities with Pfizer Inc, Janssen Immunotherapy, and Eli Lilly & Company. Dr. Jicha has received research support from Baxter, Janssen, Pfizer Inc, Medivation, and Danone.
Towards a Greater East Side: California Political Boundary Law and Southeast Los Angeles County

My paper discusses the ineffectiveness of California state law to address socially inefficient municipal boundaries. By focusing on the recent struggles of a group of industrial suburbs in Southeast Los Angeles County that includes the City of Vernon, the paper demonstrates how a fragmented municipal topography worsens socioeconomic decline, hazardous land uses, and a lack of political accountability. Next, I analyze California statutory and constitutional law on the subject, demonstrating its ineffectiveness in encouraging boundary modifications to address the inequities facing the communities of Southeast Los Angeles County. Finally, I suggest legislative and constitutional modifications to encourage greater political accountability and socioeconomic equity in California’s municipal topography.
Metamorphism and fluid flow in the contact aureole of the Eureka Valley–Joshua Flat–Beer Creek pluton, California

We examined the petrology and stable isotope compositions of metamorphic rocks in the thermal aureole of the Eureka Valley‐ Joshua Flat‐Beer Creek (EJB) composite pluton, White Mountains, eastern California, to determine the physical conditions of contact metamorphism and associated fl uid fl ow. The Jurassic EJB pluton is one of several bodies intruded during protracted Mesozoic magmatism in the White-Inyo Mountains. Emplacement of the pluton rotated and stretched the intruded greenschist-facies Cambrian sedimentary rocks to vertical orientations that are subparallel to the pluton contact. Traverses across the contact aureole included marbles, calc-silicates, schists, and quartzites. Each lithology behaved differently during contact metamorphism. Most dolomite and calcite marbles did not equilibrate with an external fl uid as revealed by original, unshifted δ 18 O and δ 13 C values of 20‰‐25‰ (relative to standard mean ocean water [SMOW]) and ‐1‰ to +2‰ (relative to PeeDee belemnite [PDB]), respectively. Largest isotopic shifts occurred in calc-silicates where δ 18 O decreased to ~15‰. The moderate oxygen-isotope ratio shift suggests that the calc-silicates equilibrated with an aqueous fl uid, magmatic and/or metamorphic, whose oxygen-isotope ratio was buffered by the surrounding silicate metamorphic rocks. Infi ltration of the calc-silicates by an aqueous fl uid in the high-grade part of the aureole is also demonstrated by the presence of grossular garnet and vesuvianite. Schists in the aureole vary in mineralogy and compositions. Harkless and Saline Valley formations have higher Al/K ratios that resulted in more abundant muscovite and andalusite, than the Campito Formation, which contains ubiquitous K-feldspar. On the western side of the pluton, partial melting of the Harkless Formation was driven by fl ow of aqueous fl uids that was focused between the pluton and marbles more distant from the contact. Metamorphic pressure-temperature (P-T) pseudosections for the schists suggest that partial melting has occurred between 2.5 and 3 kbar and >660 °C. The pseudosections also predict a narrow subsolidus cordierite fi eld. However, cordierite , feldspars, and other silicate minerals were altered by pervasive fl uid fl ow through the schists below 500 °C. This fl uid fl ow likely was driven by slow cooling of the large EJB pluton and/or continued magmatism in the White-Inyo Mountains, particularly during later emplacement of the Birch Creek pluton to the west of the EJB pluton.
Accuracy Comparison of Fringe Projection Technique and 3D Digital Image Correlation Technique

Fringe projection technique and 3D digital image correction technique are widely used in experimental mechanics field for 3D shape and deformation measurements. In spite that the two techniques have fundamental similarities, they also have considerable differences. This paper presents an experimental comparison of the two techniques in terms of measurement accuracy. Considering that 3D imaging and 3D printing are very hot topics in today’s world, we believe that the accuracy comparison can be of great interest to the technical community.
The difference between precipitation profiles over the Tibetan Plateau and over East Asia and Tropics

Based on measurements derived from tropical rainfall measuring mission(TRMM) precipitation radar(PR),the vertical profiles of precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau(TP) were examined and compared with those over East Asia and the Tropics.Weak deep convective precipitation was found to be the predominant rain type over TP,which covers the total samples by about 90% and contributes to more than 70% of the total rainfall.It was also shown that the maximum rainrate occurs near the surface of TP and the rain top altitude is near 13 km over sea level.Four significant differences between the precipitation profiles over TP and those of other areas are identified: ① there is no stratiform rain over TP,which could be easily found over other regions;② the water-ice mixed layer cannot be separated from ice-supercooled water layer,because only two distinct layers could be identified for the convective rain profile over TP compared to three or four layers over other areas;③ a vertically compressing effect is placed on the convective rain,resulting in a rain layer depth of about 10 km significantly less than those over East Asia and the Tropics;④ the slope of profile for weakly deep convective precipitation over TP is much more than that of other areas,which indicates a greater latent heat released at higher levels over TP.
Women Social Workers: A Road Map to Gender Equity

Research continues to demonstrate that female social workers earn less than their male counterparts and experience significant barriers to professional advancement. Yet, little has been written about factors promoting women’s progress within the structural barriers that disadvantage women social workers. The combination of ethic of care, risk and resilience, and ecological theories informs the conceptual model outlined in this article. This model provides a roadmap for understanding national and organizational impediments to the success of women social workers and offers strategies for empowering women in the profession in the United States. Social work practitioners and administrators must engage in frank discussions about sexism, nurture leadership skills, and advocate for the elimination of gender discrimination and for the promotion of equal opportunity in social service organizations.
Managing medical and psychiatric comorbidities.

he task of assessing and treating patients with combined medical and psychiatric problems can seem daunting, especially as patients become older, acquire chronic conditions, encounter acute illnesses, and take increasing numbers of medications. Add intercurrent social stressors as well as personality issues that affect how patients cope and this task can seem bewildering. But there has been significant progress made over the past few years in better appreciating how such factors may interact. Representative examples, which will be the focus of this article, include advances in the understanding of how vascular disease or diabetes and depression or cognitive impairment may interact and exacerbate each other. (For two other examples, epilepsy and end-stage renal disease, see the article by Bresnehan elsewhere in this issue.) In addition, evidence is emerging of how adequate treatment of depression may improve outcomes in vascular disease or diabetes, and vice versa. These significant advances in research at the interface of medicine and psychiatry are a source of valuable guidance. Diagnostic Issues The medical problems and medications that can cause psychiatric symptoms and syndromes are legion and the subject of entire books. For the purposes of this overview, the reader is referred to the accompanying table of physical disorders that can be associated with depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment (including delirium or dementia), and/or psychosis. (See Table 1.) The point to be emphasized here is that almost any medical problem or medication capable of causing a metabolic disturbance or direct effect on the central nervous system can present with psychiatric symptoms. The younger or older the patient is, the more likely this is to be the case. Patients with concomitant brain disease are also more vulnerable to such phenomena.
Top-down Proteomics: Technology Advancements and Applications to Heart Diseases

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Heart diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for both men and women worldwide, and impose significant economic burdens on the healthcare systems. Despite substantial effort over the last several decades, the molecular mechanisms underlying diseases of the heart remain poorly understood.Areas covered: Altered protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) and protein isoform switching are increasingly recognized as important disease mechanisms. Top-down high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics has emerged as the most powerful method for the comprehensive analysis of PTMs and protein isoforms. Here, we will review recent technology developments in the field of top-down proteomics, as well as highlight recent studies utilizing top-down proteomics to decipher the cardiac proteome for the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying diseases of the heart.Expert commentary: Top-down proteomics is a premier method for the global and comprehensive stu...
Predator- and Scavenger-Mediated Ecosystem Services Determined by Distance to Field–Forest Interface in the Maine Lowbush Blueberry Agroecosystem

Predators and scavengers play a vital role in regulating insect pests, weeds, and vertebrate scat in perennial agroecosystems. Understanding how farm management practices and surrounding habitat influence these beneficial ecosystem services contributes to our understanding of these complex ecological systems and guides future management decisions. In a mensurative 2-yr study, we determined how different pest management strategies and surrounding forest composition influenced levels of sentinel insect pupae, weed seeds, and deer scat (feces) removal. Removal of these bioresources was measured within 12 commercial lowbush blueberry fields during 2011 and 2012; farms differed in surrounding landscape composition and farm management strategies. Both the removal of sentinel pupae and scat, was significantly higher within field interiors than at field edges and within adjacent forests. Additionally, farm management strategy interacted with field position to result in significantly higher scat removal in conventional field interiors than organic field interiors. Surrounding forest composition had variable effects on removal of materials. Our results indicate higher levels of activity within field centers as opposed to field edges; this is contrary to what has been observed in other perennial cropping agroecosystems.
Kierkegaard’s Ways of Life

Kierkegaard is well known for expounding a trilogy of different ways of life (the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious lives), yet there are various subgroups within these categories that it is important to distinguish. Of the different ways of life, the aesthetic is the broadest in scope, incorporating an abundant range of variations. It is defined most simply as the life lived for enjoyment. Yet there are different objects and methods of enjoyment, and within the aesthetic way of life there are numerous subspecies that are differentiated accordingly. In the second volume of Either/Or, the representative of the ethical life, Judge William, gives a typology of seven different versions of the aesthetic life differentiated according to the object of one’s enjoyment: (1) beauty or health, (2) money, honors, or status, (3) talent, (4) the immediate fulfillment of desire, (5) reflective enjoyment, (6) cynical renunciation, and (7) poetic expression of the “nothingness” and despair of life. In the first volume of Either/Or we get a close look at two main versions of the aesthetic life. The pseudonymous representative of this life, known simply as A, proposes more than one typology for differentiating a type of life according to its primary object and method of enjoyment.1 Perhaps most helpfully, though, he suggests a fundamental distinction between those who seek enjoyment “immediately,” in actual experience, and those who seek enjoyment “reflectively,” in reflection on these experiences.
Genomic Instability Is Induced by Persistent Proliferation of Cells Undergoing Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

TGF-β secreted by tumor stroma induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cells, a reversible phenotype linked to cancer progression and drug resistance. However, exposure to stromal signals may also lead to heritable changes in cancer cells, which are poorly understood. We show that epithelial cells failing to undergo proliferation arrest during TGF-β-induced EMT sustain mitotic abnormalities due to failed cytokinesis, resulting in aneuploidy. This genomic instability is associated with the suppression of multiple nuclear envelope proteins implicated in mitotic regulation and is phenocopied by modulating the expression of LaminB1. While TGF-β-induced mitotic defects in proliferating cells are reversible upon its withdrawal, the acquired genomic abnormalities persist, leading to increased tumorigenic phenotypes. In metastatic breast cancer patients, increased mesenchymal marker expression within single circulating tumor cells is correlated with genomic instability. These observations identify a mechanism whereby microenvironment-derived signals trigger heritable genetic changes within cancer cells, contributing to tumor evolution.
Smart Grid cyber test bed development

Smart Grids and Power Systems are becoming more computerized, intelligent and integrated with the cyber world very rapidly. Entering another realm, such as cyber space, poses new threats and issues for modern day power systems. In order to understand these threats, a cyber-power test bed was developed for testing cyber-attacks on an electric power grid system, along with its crucial components and data. The cyber-power test bed in development includes: the RTDS machine (Real Time Digital Simulator) for simulating the power system, a computer with a virtual machine that will simulate the power system via RSCAD, an SQL database to store the important data for the power system that is streamed via OpenPDC, an attacking computer with a virtual machine containing common hacking tools, and a network switch to place all virtual and real machines on the same network for an isolated testing environment. Finally, this system was developed successfully and the result of this experiment supported the concept of developing a smart grid cyber test bed.
Abstract 237: Breastfeeding is Not Associated With Worse Outcomes for Women With Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

Background: Women diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) are frequently advised not to breastfeed their infants because of concern that the nursing hormone prolactin drives the pathogenesi...
La Alteridad y sus Multiples Representaciones: El Modo Utopico en La Nave de los Locos de Cristina Peri

No son pocos los textos feministas que rechazan abiertamente el utopismo y en el mejor de los casos sienten una ambivalencia hacia el. El feminismo, argumentan, debe ser esceptico, realista, practico, transformador de la realidad, y la utopia no lo es (Sarah Webster Goodwin 1-4). Estos textos se apoyan en el concepto tradicional de utopia, cuya definicion es la vision de una sociedad perfecta e irrealizable. Basandonos en los principios teoricos del filosofo Ernst Bloch y de la critica Lucy Sargisson podemos ahora sostener un nuevo concepto de utopismo que abandona la perfeccion y la funcion didactica. Es decir, nos alejamos del concepto tradicional de utopia cuya definicion es la vision de un proyecto acabado. Entramos ahora a un ambito donde la “concretizacion de la esperanza” es posible (Goodwin 4). Entonces descubrimos que utopismo y feminismo no son terminos contradictorios sino que comparten areas de interes: ambos estan conectados con el aqui y el ahora y se interesan por asuntos contemporaneos. Sostener que el feminismo es practico y que esta interesado en asuntos corrientes mientras que el utopismo no lo es, es reducir a este ultimo a una expresion minima y parcial.
Preoperative weight loss: is waiting longer before bariatric surgery more effective?

Abstract Background Many insurance companies require patients to undergo supervised weight loss programs lasting several months. However, the association between time to surgery (TTS)—the wait time between the initial consultation visit and the immediate preoperative visit—and weight loss is not well documented. Objectives To investigate whether TTS affects pre- or postoperative weight loss or complication rates. Setting University hospital, United States. Methods Data from 415 patients undergoing laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (n = 263) or sleeve gastrectomy (n = 152) at a single academic institution between 2014 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. TTS was compared with the percentage of total weight lost, change in body mass index, and adverse surgical events. Results Participants had an average body mass index of 47.42 kg/m2 at the consultation visit and TTS ranged from 7 to 1813 days with an average wait of 209.23 days. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between TTS and preoperative percentage of total weight lost among gastric bypass patients (b = –.005; P = .0492 2-tailed). A similar inverse relationship was identified among sleeve gastrectomy patients. Extended TTS provided no significant long-term benefits in weight loss by 24 months. No significant difference in rates of complications or readmissions was identified. Conclusions Longer preoperative wait times do not result in improved weight loss or reduced adverse events. Determination of patient eligibility for bariatric surgery should rest with the health team and delay of treatment should be minimized.
Antithrombotic Therapy Post Endovascular Stenting for Superior Vena Cava Syndrome

Superior vena cava syndrome results in obstruction of the superior vena cava and commonly requires intervention. Stents are often used to increase the patency of the vena cava and to prevent reocclusion. The role of antithrombotic therapy and agents to use has been highly debated due to stent location, hematologic complications, and limited clinical evidence available on the topic. This commentary seeks to determine the appropriate choice, if any, for antithrombotic therapy after superior vena cava stent placement. Received date: 13/04/2016 Accepted date: 04/05/2016 Published date: 11/05/2016
Traumatic Extra-Axial Hemorrhage in the Elderly

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the elderly (>65 years of age) presents unique medical, surgical, and ethical challenges that require enhanced trauma team and neurosurgical communication and collaboration to ensure optimal treatment decisions and outcome.
In silico prediction of cellular gene targets of herpesvirus encoded microRNAs.

Abstract Herpesviruses have evolved to encode multiple microRNAs [viral miRNAs (v-miRs)], a unique feature of this family of double stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses. However, functional role of these v-miRs in host-pathogen interaction remains poorly studied. In this data, we examined the impact of oral disease associated v-miRs viz., miR-H1 [encoded by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1)] and miR-K12-3 [encoded by Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)] by identifying putative targets of viral miRNAs. We used our published microarray data (GSE107005) to identify the transcripts downregulated by the v-miRs. The 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of these genes were extracted using BioMart tool on Ensembl and subjected to RNA:RNA interaction employing RNA Hybrid. We obtained hundreds of potential and novel miR-H1 and miR-K12-3 binding sites on the 3′UTR of the genes downregulated by these v-miRs. The information can provide likely regulatory mechanisms of the candidate v-miRs through which they can exert biological impact during herpesvirus infection and pathogenesis.
Synthesis and characterization of a 5,6-dibromobenzoquinone-phenyl maleimide adduct

A six-step synthesis was used to prepare a 5,6-dibromobenzoquinone-phenyl maleimide adduct (8). The structure of (8) and four of the intermediates are described. This dibromide is used as the starting material for the synthesis of 2-amino-1,2,3-triazoles which reacts with aldehydes and ketones to prepare materials for nonlinear optical studies. The crystal structures of five compounds were determined. (2) Pbca, a = 8.4183(7), b = 7.2479(7), c = 31.272(3) A; (3) P-1, a = 8.2023(8), b = 8.8130(8), c = 9.3555(9) A, α = 61.517(1), β = 73.630(1), γ = 86.788(2)°; (4) P21/c, a = 11.181(1), b = 7.9157(7), c = 15.248(1) A, β = 90.691(2)°; (7) Pbca, a = 10.300(1), b = 20.184(3), c = 23.469(3) A; (8) P21/n, a = 6.8975(6), b = 17.877(2), c = 14.089(1) A, β = 91.968(2)°.
Sensory Fusion and Intent Recognition for Accurate Gesture Recognition in Virtual Environments

With the rapid growth of Virtual Reality applications, there is a significant need to bridge the gap between the real world and the virtual environment in which humans are immersed. Activity recognition will be an important factor in delivering models of human actions and operations into the virtual environments. In this paper, we define an activity as being composed of atomic gestures and intents. With this approach, the proposed algorithm detects predefined activities utilizing the fusion of multiple sensors. First, data is collected from both vision and wearable sensors to train Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) for the detection of atomic gestures. Then, sequences of the gestures, as observable states, are labeled with their associated intents. These intents denote hidden states, and the sequences are used to train and test Hidden Markov Models (HMM). Each HMM is representative of a single activity. Upon testing, the proposed gesture recognition system achieves around 90% average accuracy with 95% mean confidence. The overall activity recognition performs at an average of 89% accuracy for simple and complex activities.
Associations between Walk Score and objective measures of physical activity in urban overweight and obese women

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between the Walk Score and physical activity in young, overweight/obese urban women. Project Health included 45 White or African American women (BMI 31.5±3.9 kg/m2; age 26.5±4.6 years; 62% African American) living in the Boston area. An accelerometer estimated steps/day and mins/day in light physical activity (100–2019 counts-per-minute) and moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity (≥2020 cpm). Walk Score was used to estimate the walkability of home address by analyzing proximity to nearby amenities. General linear regression models estimated associations between total Walk Score and physical activity (light physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity, steps, total activity counts, METs), adjusting for body mass index, age, race/ethnicity, seasonality, wear time, employment and student status. For physical activity variables that had significant associations with Walk Score (steps/day and steps/min), regression models were estimated for Walk Score sub-scores (parks, grocery, errands, shopping, dining/drinking, culture/entertainment and schools). Logistic regression models estimated the odds of meeting the guidelines for steps (≥10,000/day) and moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity (≥150mins MVPA/week) based on Walk Score. Participants had a Walk Score of 63.9±26.4, took 14,143±3,934 steps/day, and spent 206.2±66.0 mins/day in light physical activity and 46.7±17.5 mins/day in moderate-to-vigorous- physical activity. Walk Score was significantly and positively associated with steps/day (β = 51.4, p = 0.01) and steps/min (β = 0.06, p = 0.009) but was not associated with mins/day of light physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity, total activity counts or METs. Parks, grocery, errands, shopping, dining/drinking, and culture/entertainment Walk Score sub-scores were significantly associated with steps and steps/min (all p<0.05), but not significantly associated for schools. Participants who lived in higher Walk Score neighborhoods were more likely to meet the step guidelines (OR, 95% CI: 1.59, 1.04–2.99) and moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity guidelines (1.63, 1.06–3.02), respectively, per 10-unit increase in Walk Score. These results indicate that living in a more walkable neighborhood may support walking behavior in young, urban-dwelling overweight/obese women and provide further evidence for the expanded use of urban planning and transportation policies to improve the walkability of urban neighborhoods.
Pressure to Attend Therapy, Dyadic Adjustment, and Adverse Childhood Experiences: Direct and Indirect Effects on the Therapeutic Alliance in Couples Therapy

In this study we examine the role that pressure to attend therapy, dyadic adjustment, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) play in developing the therapeutic alliance. A total of 351 couples received treatment as usual at three family therapy training clinics. Participants rated predictor variables at intake and alliance at the fourth session. Results of a path analysis indicate that each partner's dyadic adjustment is directly associated with the quality of her or his own alliance. In addition, when male partners report more ACEs and pressure to attend treatment, their own alliance scores decrease. Additionally, when one partner reports feeling pressure to attend therapy, the other partner's alliance decreases. Finally, for males, there is an indirect effect of dyadic adjustment on alliance through pressure to attend therapy. These results suggest that clinicians should routinely assess relationship adjustment, how pressured each partner is feeling to attend treatment, and ACEs; as these may impact alliance quality.
Supplemental Use of Inferior Vena Cava Filters: A Review of An Institutional Experience.

Abstract Introduction: Increasing use of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters in recent years as a preventative measure against pulmonary embolism (PE) has raised concern for usage outside of accepted guidelines. Based on the American College of Chest Physicians 2004 guidelines for the initial treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and PE, and the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma 2002 guidelines for prophylaxis of PE, placement of an IVC filter is indicated in patients who either have, or are at high risk for thromboembolism, but have a contraindication for anticoagulation, a complication of anticoagulant treatment, or recurrent thromboembolism despite adequate anticoagulation. The purpose of our study is to identify patients who meet the guidelines for IVC filter placement and to compare clinical outcomes with those who did not meet the guidelines. Methods: Charts of 558 patients who received IVC filter placement were reviewed from Jan 1, 2004 to Dec 31, 2007. Patients were divided into two groups called within-guidelines or supplemental. The within-guidelines group included patients that met the criteria described above. The supplemental indication group included patients who did not have a contraindication or failure of anticoagulation. Patient characteristics and clinical outcomes between the two groups were compared and analyzed. Results: The within-guidelines group had 362 patients and the supplemental group had 196 patients. While there were more males in the within-guidelines group, age, race, length of stay, and in-hospital mortality were comparable between the two groups. Clinical follow-up in patients with a supplemental indication showed 1 (0.5%) case of post-filter PE, 2 (1%) cases of IVC thrombosis, 7 (3.6%) cases of DVT. Patients who were in the within-guidelines indication group had 4 (1.1%) cases of post-filter PE, 13 (3.6%) cases of IVC thrombosis, and 34 (9.4%) cases of DVT. All patients who developed post-filter PE had a prior DVT at the time of filter placement, and the risk of developing post-filter IVC thrombosis and PE is higher in patients with prior thromboembolic disease. Conversely, patients who did not have a VTE event before filter placement were at a significantly lower risk of developing IVC thrombosis and PE. Conclusion: Anticoagulation should be initiated at the earliest possible time in patients treated with an IVC filter to prevent subsequent venous thromboembolic disease. Our data does not support the use of IVC filter in patients who can tolerate anticoagulation and have no prior venous thromboembolic event due to the low risk of developing pulmonary embolism
B0-field dependence of MRI T1 relaxation in human brain.

Abstract Tissue longitudinal relaxation characterized by recovery time T1 or rate R 1 is a fundamental MRI contrast mechanism that is increasingly being used to study the brain’s myelination patterns in both health and disease. Nevertheless, the quantitative relationship between T1 and myelination, and its dependence on B 0 field strength, is still not well known. It has been theorized that in much of brain tissue, T1 field-dependence is driven by that of macromolecular protons (MP) through a mechanism called magnetization transfer (MT). Despite the explanatory power of this theory and substantial support from in-vitro experiments at low fields ( B 0 . This study advances our understanding of the T1 contrast mechanism and its relation to brain myelin content across the wide range of currently available MRI strengths, and it has the potential to inform design of T1 mapping methods for improved reproducibility in the human brain.
Technologies, Narratives, and Practical Wisdom

Recent digital and computational developments dramatically changed overnight the pace in which new technologies are integrated into the lives of billions of people and have changed how people use their time and relate to each other and their physical environment. This paper explores how some concepts of Ricœur’s practical philosophy can offer significant contributions to the ethical discussion of new technologies. I suggest that a narrative approach to the ethical debates on technologies helps to put them in context and to analyze them in a dialectical manner concerning the natural and human processes that will be impacted by them. I then explore how the narrative approach leads to an ethical proposal based on Ricœur’s critical phronesis (practical wisdom). While narratives work as a propaedeutic to ethics, a narrative approach to critical phronesis unveils and highlights some of its conceptual attributes that make it uniquely suited to tackle ethical issues related to technologies.
Emotion regulation in undergraduate students with posttraumatic stress symptoms: A multimethod study.

Objective: Existing literature suggests strong positive associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and emotion regulation difficulties; however, many of these findings are the result of monomethodological approaches (e.g., self-report questionnaires) versus multimethodological approaches. The current study utilized both self-report questionnaires and an emotion regulation choice paradigm (see Sheppes, Scheibe, Suri, & Gross, 2011) to assess various facets of emotion dysregulation in a sample of trauma-exposed undergraduate students with varying levels of self-reported PTSD symptoms (measured by the PTSD Checklist, fifth edition). Method: Data were collected from 83 students who underwent a laboratory paradigm, followed by completion of numerous self-report measures of emotion regulation (e.g., the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire). Results: Students with probable PTSD (n = 25) exhibited greater emotion dysregulation on self-report measures compared with students with nonprobable PTSD (n = 58; ηp² ranged from .06 to .42). Additionally, results from the emotion regulation choice paradigm suggested that students with probable PTSD were more likely to exhibit regulatory inflexibility compared with students with nonprobable PTSD (ηp² = .05). In other words, students with probable PTSD were less likely to use reappraisal (vs. distraction) to help regulate their emotions in response to low-intensity negative stimuli compared with students with nonprobable PTSD. Conclusions: Students with probable PTSD report greater perceived emotion regulation difficulties on self-report questionnaires as well as greater behavioral regulatory inflexibility during a laboratory paradigm. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Antidotal effects of methylene blue against cyanide neurological toxicity: in vivo and in vitro studies

The aim of the present study was to determine whether methylene blue (MB) could directly oppose the neurological toxicity of a lethal cyanide (CN) intoxication. KCN, infused at the rate of 0.375 mg/kg/min intravenously, produced 100% lethality within 15 min in unanaesthetized rats (n = 12). MB at 10 (n = 5) or 20 mg/kg (n = 5), administered 3 min into CN infusion, allowed all animals to survive with no sequelae. No apnea and gasping were observed at 20 mg/kg MB (P < 0.001). The onset of coma was also significantly delayed and recovery from coma was shortened in a dose-dependent manner (median of 359 and 737 seconds, respectively, at 20 and 10 mg/kg). At 4 mg/kg MB (n = 5), all animals presented faster onset of coma and apnea and a longer period of recovery than at the highest doses (median 1344 seconds, P < 0.001). MB reversed NaCN-induced resting membrane potential depolarization and action potential depression in primary cultures of human fetal neurons intoxicated with CN. MB restored calcium homeostasis in the CN-intoxicated human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line. We conclude that MB mitigates the neuronal toxicity of CN in a dose-dependent manner, preventing the lethal depression of respiratory medullary neurons and fatal outcome.
Human Language Technology

Human language technology encompasses a wide array of speech and text processing capabilities. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s pioneering research on automatic transcription, translation, and content analysis were major artificial intelligence success stories that changed science fiction into social fact. During a 40-year period, 10 seminal DARPA programs produced breakthrough capabilities that were further improved and widely deployed in popular consumer products, as well as in many commercial, industrial, and governmental applications. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency produced the core enabling technologies by setting crisp, aggressive, and quantitative technical objectives; by providing strong multiyear funding; and by using the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Common Task Method, which was powerful, efficient, and easy to administer. To achieve these breakthroughs, multidisciplinary academic and industrial research teams working in parallel took advantage of increasingly large and diverse sets of linguistic data and rapidly increasing computational power to develop and use increasingly sophisticated forms of machine learning. This article describes the progression of technical advances underlying key successes and the seminal programs that produced them.