cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of p-aminosalicylic acid on thyroid and adrenal.

Summary1. Administration of PAS to rats over a 2-week period produced goiter associated with diminished I131 uptake by the thyroid gland. 2. No effect on the pituitary-adrenal axis was observed. 3. Elevation of liver glycogen concentration was noted in all PAS-treated animals.
Application study on verifying the treatment plan dose in tomotherapy system with thermoluminescence dosimeter

Objective To establish a method used for verifying tomotherapy plan dose,and to study the feasibility of the application with thermoluminescence dosimetry system in the stereotactic radiotherapy. Methods According to the principle about measuring the underwater point absorbed dose provided in the International Atomic Energy Agency,Technical Reports Series No. 277,the therapy dosimeter calibrated by authoritative department was used to measure the absorbed dose, and the measurement result was transferred to thermoluminescence dosimeter by means of cross calibration. Then a spheroid solid water phantom was set up as a delivery quality assurance phantom to verify the accuracy of tomotherapy plan point dose. Results The measured doses were(151. 7 ± 3. 0),(174. 5 ± 4. 2),(214. 2 ± 2. 9) and(244. 8 ± 12. 6) cGy,and the deviation from calculated point doses were 1. 13%,2. 65%,- 2. 64% and- 2. 08% respectively,being less than ± 3. 00%. Conclusion The method established in the study could be used for examining and comparing with the measurement protocol provided by the manufacturers,it is feasible to verify tomotherapy plan dose with thermoluminescence dosimeter.
Identification of cellular targets of a series of boron heterocycles using TIPA II—A sensitive target identification platform

One of the hurdles in the discovery of antibiotics is the difficulty of linking antibacterial compounds to their cellular targets. Our laboratory has employed a genome-wide approach of over-expressing essential genes in order to identify cellular targets of antibacterial inhibitors. Our objective in this project was to develop and validate a more sensitive disk diffusion based platform of target identification (Target Identification Platform for Antibacterials version 2; TIPA II) using a collection of cell clones in an Escherichia coli mutant (AS19) host with increased outer membrane permeability. Five known antibiotics/inhibitors and 28 boron heterocycles were tested by TIPA II assay, in conjunction with the original assay TIPA. The TIPA II was more sensitive than TIPA because eight boron heterocycles previously found to be inactive to AG1 cells in TIPA assays exhibited activity to AS19 cells. For 15 boron heterocycles, resistant colonies were observed within the zones of inhibition only on the inducing plates in TIPA II assays. DNA sequencing confirmed that resistant clones harbor plasmids with fabI gene as insert, indicating that these boron heterocycles all target enoyl ACP reductase. Additionally, cell-based assays and dose response curved obtained indicated that for two boron heterocycle inhibitors, the fabI cell clone in AG1 (wild-type) host cells exhibited at least 11 fold more resistance under induced conditions than under non-induced conditions. Moreover, TIPA II also identified cellular targets of known antibacterial inhibitors triclosan, phosphomycin, trimethoprim, diazaborine and thiolactomycin, further validating the utility of the new system.
Staging and Treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas

The non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas are a somewhat heterogeneous group of diseases as can be seen from the previous article on their pathologic characteristics. Their clinical presentations may be similar to benign diseases, so before any treatment can be instituted for malignant lymphoma, two areas must be investigated. The first of these is biopsy of an area of clinical involvement to make the diagnosis, since few characteristics distinguish primary lymphoid malignancies from other benign disorders that cause lymphadenopathy. Secondly, the extent of disease (stage) must be adequately defined before appropriate therapy can be instituted.
Quantitative Immunoblotting of Endogenous Hedgehog Pathway Components

Quantitative analysis and modeling of signaling pathway components can reveal important information about the dynamics of that system, including the relative stoichiometries and affinities between the individual signaling components, as well as rate-limiting steps in the signaling pathway. In this chapter, we present a method that we developed to quantify the steady-state ratio of core Hedgehog (Hh) signaling components in both cultured cells and the Drosophila embryo, a physiologically relevant tissue.
Does Wyoming’s Core Area Policy Protect Winter Habitats for Greater Sage-Grouse?

Conservation reserves established to protect important habitat for wildlife species are used world-wide as a wildlife conservation measure. Effective reserves must adequately protect year-round habitats to maintain wildlife populations. Wyoming's Sage-Grouse Core Area policy was established to protect breeding habitats for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Protecting only one important seasonal habitat could result in loss or degradation of other important habitats and potential declines in local populations. The purpose of our study was to identify the timing of winter habitat use, the extent which individuals breeding in Core Areas used winter habitats, and develop resource selection functions to assess effectiveness of Core Areas in conserving sage-grouse winter habitats in portions of 5 Core Areas in central and north-central Wyoming during winters 2011-2015. We found that use of winter habitats occured over a longer period than current Core Area winter timing stipulations and a substantial amount of winter habitat outside of Core Areas was used by individuals that bred in Core Areas, particularly in smaller Core Areas. Resource selection functions for each study area indicated that sage-grouse were selecting habitats in response to landscapes dominated by big sagebrush and flatter topography similar to other research on sage-grouse winter habitat selection. The substantial portion of sage-grouse locations and predicted probability of selection during winter outside small Core Areas illustrate that winter requirements for sage-grouse are not adequately met by existing Core Areas. Consequently, further considerations for identifying and managing important winter sage-grouse habitats under Wyoming's Core Area Policy are warranted.
Influencing the Tumor Microenvironment: A Phase II Study of Copper Depletion Using Tetrathiomolybdate in Patients with Breast Cancer at High Risk for Recurrence and in Preclinical Models of Lung Metastases

Purpose: Bone marrow–derived progenitor cells, including VEGFR2 + endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and copper-dependent pathways, model the tumor microenvironment. We hypothesized that copper depletion using tetrathiomolybdate would reduce EPCs in high risk for patients with breast cancer who have relapsed. We investigated the effect of tetrathiomolybdate on the tumor microenvironment in preclinical models. Experimental Design: Patients with stage II triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), stage III and stage IV without any evidence of disease (NED), received oral tetrathiomolybdate to maintain ceruloplasmin (Cp) between 8 and 17 mg/dL for 2 years or until relapse. Endpoints were effect on EPCs and other biomarkers, safety, event-free (EFS), and overall survival (OS). For laboratory studies, MDA-LM2-luciferase cells were implanted into CB17-SCID mice and treated with tetrathiomolybdate or water. Tumor progression was quantified by bioluminescence imaging (BLI), copper depletion status by Cp oxidase levels, lysyl oxidase (LOX) activity by ELISA, and collagen deposition. Results: Seventy-five patients enrolled; 51 patients completed 2 years (1,396 cycles). Most common grade 3/4 toxicity was neutropenia (3.7%). Lower Cp levels correlated with reduced EPCs ( P = 0.002) and LOXL-2 ( P P = 0.04), LOX activity ( P = 0.03), and collagen crosslinking ( P = 0.012). Conclusions: Tetrathiomolybdate is safe, well tolerated, and affects copper-dependent components of the tumor microenvironment. Biomarker-driven clinical trials in high risk for patients with recurrent breast cancer are warranted. Clin Cancer Res; 23(3); 666–76. ©2016 AACR .
Modal Conventionalism and Textbook Analyticities

We once thought of ‘water is H2O’ as being synthetic, knowable only a posteriori, and expressing a contingent truth. We once thought of ‘bachelors are unmarried’ as being analytic, knowable a priori, and expressing a necessary truth. We once thought of ‘water is clear’ as akin to the latter, that is, as being analytic, knowable a priori, and expressing a necessary truth. Then Putnam (1962a, 1975) introduced semantic externalism. We learned that ‘water is H2O’ expresses a necessary truth despite being synthetic. We learned that ‘water is clear’ expresses a contingent truth even if it is analytic. With some refinement from Kripke (1972/1980), we learned that ‘water is H2O’ expresses a necessary truth even though it is only knowable a posteriori, and that ‘water is clear’ expresses a contingent truth even if it is knowable a priori. We learned that this is all so because ‘water’, unlike ‘bachelor’, is a natural kind term, and thus, its extension is determined at least partly by the “external” (i.e., extra-psychological) world. More broadly, the discovery of semantic externalism taught us that the categories analytic, a priori, and necessary are not coextensive, even though they coincide for textbook analyticities such as ‘bachelors are unmarried’.
Does an aggressor's target choice matter? Assessing change in the social network prestige of aggressive youth

Based on a social dominance approach, aggression is conceptualized as a strategy used to gain position, power, and influence within the peer network. However, aggression may only be beneficial when targeted against particular peers; both victims' social standing and the number of victims targeted may impact aggressors' social standing. The current study examined associations between aggressors' targeting tendencies (victims' social standing and number of victims) and aggressors' own social standing, both concurrently and over time. Analyses were conducted using three analytic samples of seventh and eighth grade aggressors (Ns ranged from 161 to 383, 49% girls; 50% Latina/o). Participants nominated their friends; nominations were used to calculate social network prestige. Peer nominations were used to identify aggressors and their victim(s). For each aggressor, number of victims and victims' social network prestige were assessed. Aggressors with more victims and with highly prestigious victims had higher social network prestige themselves, and they increased more in prestige over time than aggressors with fewer victims and less prestigious victims (though there were some differences across analytic samples). Findings have implications for the need to extend the social dominance approach to better address the links between aggressors and victims. Aggr. Behav. 43:364-374, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A high-speed color-based object detection algorithm for quayside crane operator assistance system

Improvement to user interface technology for port crane operators can lead to safer and more ergonomie environments for cargo transport. An accurate and responsive container-handling guidance system can increase productivity and reduces costs. In this work, a vision-based assistive system for quayside crane operator is developed for collision warning. The system applies a new object edge detection algorithm, called Edge Approaching, to achieve faster detection rate in real-time using a stand-alone embedded system that can be easily integrated to an existing crane interface. Experiments are conducted on a scaled testbed to validate the concept. The proposed algorithms significantly increase the detection rate from as compared to the conventional Canny edge detection and Hough transform method, while maintaining a high accuracy rate of 99%.
Clough’s Plane Triangular Elements for Linear Elastic Problems: Virtual Work Substituting Variational Principle

Clough (Proceedings, 2nd conference on electronic computation, A.S.C.E. structural division, Pittsburgh, PA, pp 345–378, 1960) introduced the term finite element with his classical displacement formulation of plane strain triangles. These are plane elements with constant stress distributions. Analogous plane stress triangular elements can be similarly formulated. The corresponding (The triangle is the simplest polygon in \(\mathfrak{R}^{2}\) and the tetrahedron is its three-dimensional counterpart.) three-dimensional cases of tetrahedral elements do not pose any conceptual difficulty. To emphasize this natural extension, we first review the three-dimensional field equations of continuum mechanics, and then formulate the element stiffness matrix for triangular domains.
Benefits Transfer: Current Practice and Prospects

This paper introduces a special issue devoted to the benefits transfer methods used as part of benefit costs analysis for policy analysis. Benefits transfer methods, as they are applied for environmental policy analyses, use economic concepts together with existing empirical estimates to predict the incremental benefits from a change in some feature of an environmental resource. After giving two examples of the decisions that analysts confront in performing these analyses, I discuss the interconnections between the papers in this issue and the research challenges that emerged from discussions of them.
Basic Modes of Ventilation

Each mode of ventilation is defined by its phase variable components: trigger, target, and cycle. These phase variables are explained in detail in Chap. 2. The three basic modes of ventilation include volume-controlled ventilation (VCV), pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV), and pressure support ventilation (PSV).
Calendar and Cycle Life of Lithium-Ion Batteries Containing Silicon Monoxide Anode

The capacity fading phenomenon of high energy lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) using a silicon monoxide (SiO) anode and a nickel-rich transition metal oxide cathode were investigated during life test. The capacity loss of this electrode couple was found to increase not only with cycles (cycle life), but also with rest time (calendar life). The capacity fading rate for this type of LIB using SiO as the anode was found to be time-dependent, rather than cycle-count-dependent. Further detailed investigation revealed that the capacity loss of this electrode couple during rest was caused by the parasitic reactions on the anode, which consumed the lithium ions and lead to less cyclable lithium in the battery system.
Lead sulfide quantum dots inside ferritin: synthesis and application to photovoltaics

We present a new water phase synthesis method for lead sulfide colloidal quantum dots, and test their applicability for use in photovoltaics. The quantum dots are synthesized inside ferritin protein shells (PbS-FTN). Our synthesis method is simpler than what has previously been reported for PbS-FTN quantum dots, namely we demonstrate that the synthesizing reaction can be run in an aerobic environment and with a Pb:S ratio of 1:1. Protection from photocorrosion is demonstrated by comparing the time evolution of photoluminescence from PbS-FTN with that of non-ferritin PbS quantum dots. In the photovoltaic testing, we use a dye-sensitized solar cell scheme with PbS-FTN as the dye and test several methods to adsorb PbS-FTN to the mesoporous TiO2 layer which is coated on the solar cell anodes. The highest performing cell shows an efficiency of 0.29% using the drop casting method.
Venue Classification of Research Papers in Scholarly Digital Libraries

Open-access scholarly digital libraries crawl periodically a list of URLs in order to obtain appropriate collections of freely-available research papers. The metadata of the crawled papers, e.g., title, authors, and references, are automatically extracted before the papers are indexed in a digital library. The venue of publication is another important aspect about a scientific paper, which reflects its authoritativeness. However, the venue is not always readily available for a paper. Instead, it needs to be extracted from the references lists of other papers that cite the target paper. We explore a supervised learning approach to automatically classifying the venue of a research paper using information solely available from the content of the paper and show experimentally on a dataset of approximately 44,000 papers that this approach outperforms several baselines and prior work.
Graph Multiview Canonical Correlation Analysis

Multiview canonical correlation analysis (MCCA) seeks latent low-dimensional representations encountered with multiview data of shared entities (a.k.a. common sources). However, existing MCCA approaches do not exploit the geometry of the common sources, which may be available a priori , or can be constructed using certain domain knowledge. This prior information about the common sources can be encoded by a graph, and be invoked as a regularizer to enrich the maximum variance MCCA framework. In this context, this paper's novel graph-regularized MCCA (GMCCA) approach minimizes the distance between the wanted canonical variables and the common low-dimensional representations, while accounting for graph-induced knowledge of the common sources. Relying on a function capturing the extent to which the low-dimensional representations of the multiple views are similar, a generalization bound of GMCCA is established based on Rademacher's complexity. Tailored for setups where the number of data pairs is smaller than the data vector dimensions, a graph-regularized dual MCCA approach is also developed. To further deal with nonlinearities present in the data, graph-regularized kernel MCCA variants are put forward too. Interestingly, solutions of the graph-regularized linear, dual, and kernel MCCA are all provided in terms of generalized eigenvalue decomposition. Several corroborating numerical tests using real datasets are provided to showcase the merits of the graph-regularized MCCA variants relative to several competing alternatives including MCCA, Laplacian-regularized MCCA, and (graph-regularized) PCA.
State Secrets

If computing is truly a universal technology, we need to disentangle it from national secrets. The first Web extra at http://youtu.be/r-kIJQu4iDQ is an audio recording of author David Alan Grier reading his Errant Hashtag column in which he discusses how if computing is truly a universal technology, we need to disentangle it from national secrets.
Performing the Electrical: Ecologies of the Imaginary and Fem-technologies

As speculative aesthetics, what might feminist ontologies and artist imaginings do for rethinking the “real” assemblages and infrastructures of our quotidian experience, particularly with respect to those that standardize aggressive capital agendas, maximum industrial output and extreme waste? This paper draws connections between female artists’ image and event-making, speculative design and tacit knowledge, as sensing tools for technological possibilities at a time when energy dependency, in the form of electricity, is the greatest generator of fossil fuel waste and pollution. I use Remedios Varo’s paintings from the mid 1930–1960s as a springboard to think about sustainability and ecological design from an embodied, fem-magic and deep-time perspective, and I draw from other female artists whose work explores technologies and energy, such as Alice Aycock, Tania Candiani, Cassie Meador and Hito Steyerl. An analysis of these artists’ works allows me to explore the ways that feminist imaginings function as an ontological orientation that shifts power away from contemporary infrastructures, to decolonize and re-feminize electrical possibilities as alternative ways of engaging with and sensing assemblages.
TRIM9-Mediated Resolution of Neuroinflammation Confers Neuroprotection upon Ischemic Stroke in Mice

Excessive and unresolved neuroinflammation is a key component of the pathological cascade in brain injuries such as ischemic stroke. Here, we report that TRIM9, a brain-specific tripartite motif (TRIM) protein, was highly expressed in the peri-infarct areas shortly after ischemic insults in mice, but expression was decreased in aged mice, which are known to have increased neuroinflammation after stroke. Mechanistically, TRIM9 sequestered β-transducin repeat-containing protein (β-TrCP) from the Skp-Cullin-F-box ubiquitin ligase complex, blocking IκBα degradation and thereby dampening nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)-dependent proinflammatory mediator production and immune cell infiltration to limit neuroinflammation. Consequently, Trim9-deficient mice were highly vulnerable to ischemia, manifesting uncontrolled neuroinflammation and exacerbated neuropathological outcomes. Systemic administration of a recombinant TRIM9 adeno-associated virus that drove brain-wide TRIM9 expression effectively resolved neuroinflammation and alleviated neuronal death, especially in aged mice. These findings reveal that TRIM9 is essential for resolving NF-κB-dependent neuroinflammation to promote recovery and repair after brain injury and may represent an attractive therapeutic target.
The effect of wind direction shear on turbine performance in a wind farm in central Iowa

Abstract. Numerous studies have shown that atmospheric conditions affect wind turbine performance; however, some findings have exposed conflicting results for different locations and diverse analysis methodologies. In this study, we explore how the change in wind direction with height (direction wind shear), a site-differing factor between conflicting studies, and speed shear affect wind turbine performance. We utilized lidar and turbine data collected from the 2013 Crop Wind Energy eXperiment (CWEX) project between June and September in a wind farm in north-central Iowa. Wind direction and speed shear were found to follow a diurnal cycle; however, they evolved differently with increasing wind speeds. Using a combination of speed and direction shear values, we found large direction and small speed shear to result in underperformance. We further analyzed the effects of wind veering on turbine performance for specific values of speed shear and found detrimental conditions on the order of 10 % for wind speed regimes predominantly located in the middle of the power curve. Focusing on a time period of ramping electricity demand (06:00–09:00 LT – local time) exposed the fact that large direction shear occurred during this time and undermined turbine performance by more than 10 %. A predominance of clockwise direction shear (wind veering) cases compared to counterclockwise (wind backing) was also observed throughout the campaign. Moreover, large veering was found to have greater detrimental effects on turbine performance compared to small backing values. This study shows that changes in wind direction with height should be considered when analyzing turbine performance.
Stability Analysis of the Swirling Majdalani–Fist Mean Flowfield in Solid Rocket Motors

Numerous studies have been performed to show the effects of spinning and swirling flows on increased flight stability characteristics, higher propellant consumption, increased burn rate, greater ch...
Management of asymptomatic ventricular preexcitation

An incidental discovery of Wolff Parkinson White (WPW) pattern on the electrocardiogram (ECG) is not an infrequent finding facing the physician. Most patients discovered incidentally are asymptomatic and it is hard to justify further management of such patients given the time-honored adage to "first do no harm." However, this finding does have implications. This article is an attempt to guide clinicians about this important issue that is often faced in the office.
ReBNN: in-situ acceleration of binarized neural networks in ReRAM using complementary resistive cell

Resistive random access memory (ReRAM) has been proven capable to efficiently perform in-situ matrix-vector computations in convolutional neural network (CNN) processing. The computations are often conducted on multi-level cell (MLC) that have limited precision and hence, show significant vulnerability to noises. The binarized neural network (BNN) is a hardware-friendly model that can dramatically reduce the computation and storage overheads. However, XNOR, which is the key operation in BNNs, cannot be directly computed in-situ in ReRAM because of its nonlinear behavior. To enable real in-situ processing of BNNs in ReRAM, we modified the BNN algorithm to enable direct computation of XNOR, POPCOUNT and POOL based on ReRAM cells. We also proposed the complementary resistive cell (CRC) design to efficiently conduct XNOR operations and optimized the pipeline design with decoupled buffer and computation stages. Our results show our scheme, namely, ReBNN, improves the system performance by $$25.36\times$$ and the energy efficiency by $$4.26\times$$ compared to conventional ReRAM based accelerator, and ensures a throughput higher than state-of-the-art BNN accelerators. The correctness of the modified algorithm is also validated.
Knowledge and Situation-Aware Vehicle Traffic Forecasting

The deep learning revolution, driven especially by incredible achievements in image recognition technology, encourages a predominately data-driven approach to machine learning and data science techniques. However, the emphasis on statistical inference from big data sources alone has diminished the role of existing knowledge and well-established theory. For example, vehicle traffic patterns are highly regular on a weekly period but can deviate unexpectedly in certain situations such as inclement weather, accidents, road work, etc. A purely datadriven approach would simply ask the model to handle all the different situations, while knowledge and situation-aware systems will take advantage of existing knowledge to help guide the machine learning process. This work aims to illustrate how knowledge and situational awareness can help data scientists to build more effective models in the field of vehicle traffic forecasting. The special circumstances considered here include holidays, special weather conditions, accidents, and location awareness that facilitates transfer learning. In addition, we present a novel modeling technique, Quadratic Extreme Learning Machine, that generally improves upon the standard Extreme Learning Machine model while remaining relatively efficient. The Quadratic Extreme Learning Machine can be potentially used as an alternative to Neural Networks, which generally entails higher computational costs.
Language brokering experience among interpreting students: pedagogical implications for the development of interpreting competence

Young bilinguals in multilingual environments frequently act as language brokers for members of their families and communities. It is thus not surprising that growing numbers of young language brok...
Social Isolation and Repertoires of Resistance

Checkpoints in the West Bank’s Hebron Governorate represent Israel’s ever-present power over Palestinian civilians. Drawing on 71 interviews conducted during the Intifada of Individuals (2015), this article inductively builds theory about the relationship between social isolation and different modalities of resistance. Rather than forcing civilians to comply with the state, checkpoint apparatus instead change the nature and texture of resistance. I suggest that checkpoints structure social connections for civilians on the ground. Checkpoint apparatus which inhibit social connection engender a feeling of hopelessness and foster support for individual, often violent, resistance. Where checkpoints isolate a community as a whole but did not disrupt within-community social connections, citizens maintain hope for the possibility of change, which facilitates a preference for collective resistance. This article identifies troubling consequences checkpoints have on civilians and highlights how oppressive state power can limit some modalities of resistance only to engender support for others.
HIGH BURDEN OF PREMATURE VENTRICULAR CONTRACTIONS IN CHILDREN WITH STRUCTURALLY NORMAL HEARTS IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH VENTRICULAR DYSFUNCTION

Adult literature has established a link between premature ventricular contraction (PVC) burden as low as 10% on 24 hour Holter monitor and cardiac dysfunction requiring monitoring and treatment to prevent cardiomyopathy. Frequent PVCs are common in the pediatric population. However, the impact of
Abstract ML: What would Bill think?

Since the untimely passing of Bill McGuire in 1992, breast cancer mortality rates have declined by approximately 40% despite stable incidence rates, largely due to mammographic screening and broader application of systemic adjuvant therapy in early stage disease. Continued progress is likely given recently reported clinical trials demonstrating improved survival in metastatic disease, including immune checkpoint blockade in triple negative disease, CDK4/6 inhibitors in ER-positive disease, and second-generation immunconjugates in HER2-positive disease. This remarkable progress in reducing breast cancer mortality has come with a price - broader use of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early stage disease who might have been adequately treated and perhaps cured without chemotherapy, and the short and long term side effects that may accompany it - which raises the question - what would Bill think of our progress? How would he challenge us to do better?This lecture will focus on three distinct topics that address some potential challenges: (1) How can gene expression profiles and other diagnostic tests be used to guide the use of adjuvant systemic therapy? (2) is time for reappraisal of active surveillance to detect impending recurrence and prevent it? (3) Are there diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that can be used to identify tumors at highest risk of systemic dissemination, and novel therapeutic strategies that block dissemination? Citation Format: JA Sparano. What would Bill think? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr ML.
Potential impact of a delayed ADAMTS13 result in the treatment of thrombotic microangiopathy: an economic analysis

BACKGROUND A pre-plasma exchange ADAMTS13 measurement differentiates thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) from other forms of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). Given that many hospitals do not perform the ADAMTS13 assay in-house and that the turnaround time (TAT) differs among reference laboratories, we performed an analysis investigating the potential impact of a delay in obtaining the results on the healthcare system. METHODS An economic model was developed to estimate the impact of a delay in obtaining the pretreatment ADAMTS13 results on patients admitted with TMA with cost (US dollars) as the primary outcome. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) as a composite outcome was calculated from both cost and life days [LDs], an effectiveness surrogate marker. Model parameters were gathered from the medical literature, except for the institutional cost of the ADAMTS13 test. RESULTS In patients with TMA, during the 6-day study period, the incremental cost to the healthcare system ranged from approximately $4155 to $5123 for every 1-day delay in obtaining the pre-exchange ADAMTS13 results with virtually no change in the effectiveness marker. The ICER composite outcome established the cost-effectiveness of having a fast TAT for pre-exchange ADAMTS13 results. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses also confirmed the robustness of the model. CONCLUSIONS In patients with clinical presentations of TMAs, having a rapid TAT for pre-exchange ADAMTS13 measurement appeared to be cost-effective. If testing cannot be performed in-house, then our findings support the necessity of contracting with a reference laboratory that can reliably provide the result, preferably within 1 day of admission.
Colombian social leaders, COVID-19, and the US

Since the historic peace accordsin Colombia in 2016, well over 800 human rights defenders have been killed; in this year alone, more than 100 social leaders have been assassinated. The COVID pandemic seems to be further closing spaces of participation for social movements opened up in the late 2000s. These policy contradictions by the governments of Colombia and the US camouflage an interest in territorial governance for mining and monoculture production for export. Under COVID quarantine restrictions, people on small farms fend for food not grown in local markets, and a big challenge is road blockages, many organized by armed groups. They control the ins and outs, who can pass on to the market and who cannot. Hunger is one consequence of this, as is the rise in domestic and sexual violence. Many of the social organizations strive to negotiate a different economic model than the deeply neoliberal model that currently stands, as a strong challenge to the status quo that explains a big part of the violence. Desde los historicos acuerdos de paz de 2016 en Colombia, mas de 800 defensores de los derechos humanos han sido asesinados, igual que mas de un centenar de lideres sociales en el ano en curso. La pandemia del COVID parece contribuir su parte a la limitacion de los espacios que se habian abierto a los movimientos sociales a finales de la decada de 2000. Las contradicciones en las politicas de los gobiernos de Colombia y los Estados Unidos en verdad camuflan el interes por la gobernacion territorial para la produccion minera y el monocultivo agricola destinado a la exportacion. Las restricciones que impuso la cuarentena obligaron a la gente de las fincas a buscar productos agricolas no cultivados para el mercado local y a enfrentarse a bloqueos de caminos, muchas veces organizados por grupos armados que controlan la entrada y salida, quien puede proceder al mercado y quien no. El hambre y el incremento de la violencia domestica y sexual son una consecuencia de esta situacion. Muchas organizaciones sociales buscan actualmente negociar un modelo economico distinto al modelo profundamente neoliberal vigente que ha llevado a un fuerte cuestionamiento del estatus quo que explica gran parte de la violencia en su contra.
Availability and Quality of Internet-Based Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training Films Featuring Women Experiencing Cardiac Arrest.

This study examines videos of cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Google and YouTube to discern the number that show women or female manikins and provide information to facilitate attempts to rescue women in cardiac arrest.
Perceptions and realities of the Mediterranean East: French soldiers and the Macedonian Campaign of the First World War

The historiography investigating the fate of the 300,000 French and colonial soldiers who served in Macedonia during the First World War remains incomplete. This article offers an analysis focusing on the cultural discovery of the ‘Mediterranean East’ by the French soldiers who served in Macedonia. It utilises the literature produced by the French personnel to define the differences between their imagined representations of the East, and the reality they encountered once they landed in Salonica. It also highlights the Orientalist influence exerted over the minds of many Frenchmen who sailed to an East that remained profoundly unknown.
Hedgehog/GLI Signaling Pathway: Transduction, Regulation, and Implications for Disease

The Hh/GLI signaling pathway was originally discovered in Drosophila as a major regulator of segment patterning in development. This pathway consists of a series of ligands (Shh, Ihh, and Dhh), transmembrane receptors (Ptch1 and Ptch2), transcription factors (GLI1-3), and signaling regulators (SMO, HHIP, SUFU, PKA, CK1, GSK3β, etc.) that work in concert to repress (Ptch1, Ptch2, SUFU, PKA, CK1, GSK3β) or activate (Shh, Ihh, Dhh, SMO, GLI1-3) the signaling cascade. Not long after the initial discovery, dysregulation of the Hh/GLI signaling pathway was implicated in human disease. Activation of this signaling pathway is observed in many types of cancer, including basal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, colorectal, prostate, pancreatic, and many more. Most often, the activation of the Hh/GLI pathway in cancer occurs through a ligand-independent mechanism. However, in benign disease, this activation is mostly ligand-dependent. The upstream signaling component of the receptor complex, SMO, is bypassed, and the GLI family of transcription factors can be activated regardless of ligand binding. Additional mechanisms of pathway activation exist whereby the entirety of the downstream signaling pathway is bypassed, and PTCH1 promotes cell cycle progression and prevents caspase-mediated apoptosis. Throughout this review, we summarize each component of the signaling cascade, non-canonical modes of pathway activation, and the implications in human disease, including cancer.
Using light to establish and measure stiffness gradients in three-dimensional engineered tissues

Studies of cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions within fibrous systems such as collagen or fibrin are challenging, particularly if peri-cellular stiffness cannot be monitored. Here we present our light-based method for non-invasive patterning of molecular crosslinking combined with multi-axes optical tweezers active microrheology to map ECM stiffness landscapes. This method allows us to generate prescribed stiffness gradients and associated anisotropies, which model stiffness of the natural peri-cellular ECM. Patterned crosslinking induces strain hardening and measured stiffness gradients are in agreement with predicted strain fields. Migratory cells respond to these gradients as assessed by change in F-actin distribution and morphological properties.
Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy and Endoscopic Intracranial Cyst Fenestration in an Outpatient Ambulatory Surgery Center Yields Reduced Cost But Equal Efficacy and Safety Compared with Surgery in the Hospital.

Background A transition is underway in neurosurgery to perform relatively safe surgeries outpatient, often at ambulatory surgery centers (ASC). We sought to evaluate whether simple intracranial endoscopic procedures such as third ventriculostomy and cyst fenestration can be safely and effectively performed at an ASC, while comparing costs with the hospital. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed for patients who underwent elective intracranial neuroendoscopic (NE) intervention at either a quaternary hospital or an affiliated ASC between August 2014 and September 2017. Groups were compared on length of stay, perioperative and 30-day morbidity, as well as clinical outcome at last follow-up. The total cost for these procedures were compared in relative units between all ASC cases and a small subset of hospital cases. Results In total, 16 NE operations performed at the ASC (mean patient age 29.8 years) and 37 at the hospital (mean age 15.4 years) with average length of stay of 3.5 hours and 23.1 hours respectively (P Conclusions Elective endoscopic third ventriculostomy and other simple NE procedures can be safely and effectively performed at an ASC for appropriate patients with significantly reduced cost compared with the hospital.
Electron Transfer in Proteins: Beyond the Single Pathway Approach.

A considerable amount of effort has gone into understanding how the electron tunneling coupling in a protein is controlled by the details of the protein’s structure. We propose a new approach to decomposing this control into physically meaningful ET tubes. We use use the approach to analyze three recent ET experiments in Ru-modified azurin. The experiments are used in a new way to determine the proper effective electron tunneling energy to use in the model, as well as to show how tube interference can control ET rates. The critical role played by H bonds in electronic coupling is confirmed. ET reactions can best be understood in terms of interfering tubes. As tubes can be blocked or created by mutation, the theory suggests how experimental control of rates can be acheived.
Market Intergration and Border Effects in Eastern Africa

This paper studies border efects in Eastern Africa by exploiting a consumer price data set covering 4 out of 5 EAC member states, 39 cities and 24 goods over the period 2004-2008. The Law-of-One-Price (LOP) is tested by running level regressions on relative prices with city-pairs the unit of observation. Unsurprisingly, distance plays an important role in explaining relative price movements, both within and between countries. The border efect as measured by the coef?cient on a border dummy is signi?cant but smaller compared to what is usually found in the EngelRogers literature. Consequently, distance equivalents, at 300 to 6,000 km, are much lower (and more reasonable) than what most papers working in the Engel-Rogers tradition ?nd. Neither the signi?cance nor the size of the border efect is reduced by allowing for nominal exchange rate variation or non-tarifbarriers. The nominal exchange rate pass through is very high across the region, but lower for country-pairs that include Kenya. The advent of the Customs Union in 2005 improved market integration, as measured by a reduced border efect between 2004 and 2008, but only between Kenya and Uganda. This makes sense as Rwanda and Burundi only joined the EAC in 2007. Further, larger departures from the LOP are found during the Kenyan political crisis as regional markets were disrupted. When splicing the data across goods, staple markets are by far the most integrated with the lowest border efects and the lowest distance coef?cients. Non-Trade barriers are most important for fruits and vegetables, which could be linked to these goods being perishable. Non-food items show the largest departures from the LOP, which can be attributed to these goods (i) being less comparable, and (ii) being less present in the consumption baskets of the average Eastern African households (i.e. less deep markets).
Hybrid Verification by Exploiting the Environment

A method for verifying hybrid systems is given. Such systems involve state components whose values are changed by continuous (physical) processes. The verification method is based on proving that only those executions that satisfy constraints imposed by an environment also satisfy the property of interest. A suitably expressive logic then allows the environment to model state components that are changed by physical processes.
Video intervention/prevention assessment : A patient-centered methodology for understanding the adolescent illness experience

Abstract Objective: To better understand the issues and needs of adolescents with chronic health conditions, the Video Intervention/Prevention Assessment (VIA) integrates video technology with qualitative research methods to obtain a patient-centered perspective on illness and health care. Methods: Young people with chronic disease are interviewed for condition-specific verbal reports (CSVRs) of their medical and psychosocial histories. Standardized health-related quality of life (HRQL) instruments are administered. Trained to use video camcorders, participants record visual narratives of their illness experiences. They document their daily lives, interview families and friends, and record personal monologues regarding their observations, behaviors, understandings, and beliefs about their disease. On completion of the visual narratives, HRQL is again evaluated. Verbal, scaled, and visual data are analyzed from three perspectives: medical, psychosocial, and anthropological. Data from the CSVRs, HRQLs, and visual narratives are triangulated to validate and enrich findings. Results: Investigating the illness experience from the adolescent patient's perspective, the VIA method was pilot-tested with children and adolescents with asthma. As a research tool, VIA found environmental risk factors, medication adherence problems, and outcome-affecting illness beliefs and psychological states that were not identified by standard clinical tools. As an intervention, VIA showed that it may be an effective tool for health-related environmental surveys. Participants' condition-specific quality of life showed measurable improvement after the self-examination process of VIA. As communication, VIA made apparently counterproductive patient behaviors understandable by showing them in context with the adolescent's experience of illness and health care. VIA can enhance medical history-taking and management strategies, improve adolescents' self-management skills, and educate clinicians, families, and students of the health care professions about the realities of the adolescent living with a chronic health condition.
Role of the Neutrophil Chemorepellent Soluble Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV in Decreasing Inflammation in a Murine Model of Arthritis

Objective To determine whether an intraarticular injection of the neutrophil chemorepellent dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV; CD26) can attenuate inflammation and decrease the severity of arthritis in a murine model. Methods DBA/1 mice were immunized with type II collagen/Freund's complete adjuvant to produce collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). On day 25 postimmunization, recombinant human DPPIV (rhDPPIV) or phosphate buffered saline was injected intraarticularly, and arthritis severity scores were recorded 3 times per week. The hind legs of mice in both groups were fixed, decalcified, paraffin embedded, and sectioned. Pathologic scores for inflammation and neutrophil infiltration were recorded on a scale of 1–8, and the number of neutrophils was determined by morphometric cell counts. In addition, Mac-2–positive macrophages and articular damage were assessed using anti–Mac-2 antibodies and histologic staining, respectively. Results Injection of rhDPPIV reduced the mean score of arthritis severity in mice with CIA. DPPIV treatment reduced the overall extent of inflammation and articular damage around the arthritic joint and periarticular tissue, and also decreased neutrophil and macrophage infiltration. Conclusion A localized injection of the neutrophil chemorepellent DPPIV reduces inflammation and the severity of the disease in a murine model of arthritis.
Molecular evolution: Codes, clocks, genes and genomes

The discoveries, advancements and continuing controversies in the field of molecular evolution are reviewed. Topics summarized are (1) the evolution of the genetic code, (2) gene evolution including the demonstration of homology, estimation of sequence divergence, phylogenetic trees, the molecular clock and the origin of genes and gene families by various genetic mechanisms, and (3) eukaryotic genome evolution, including the highly repeated satellite sequences, the interspersed and potentially mobile repeated sequences and the unique sequence fraction of the genome.
The Vibrational Spectrum of Isotactic Polystyrene II: The Effect of Mass Defects

Vibrational spectroscopic studies of isotactic styrene copolymers containing mass defects in the form of styrene-d8 units are presented. The results indicate that the changes which occur in the vibrational spectrum of isotactic polystyrene upon the introduction of styrene-d8 defects can be interpreted solely in terms of the delocalization of chain vibrations and the appearance of localized defect modes. Frequency shifts and band broadening observed at low defect concentrations are shown to be consistent with an activation of the density of states of the protonated polymer.
THE REFRACTIVE INDEX AT THE CENTER OF THE SURFACE OF PRESSURIZED DIAMOND ANVIL TIPS

An expression for the variation of the refractive index of diamond with density is determined. This is used to show consistency between Brillouin scattering results obtained at atmospheric pressure and more recent direct measurements of the refractive index under hydrostatic pressure to 40 GPa. The stress distribution at the diamond anvil tip is then computed and the variation of the refractive index at the tip of the anvil is obtained. The refractive index at the tip is a slowly decreasing function of the sample pressure.