cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deep targeted sequencing of 12 breast cancer susceptibility regions in 4611 women across four different ethnicities

Although genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified thousands of disease susceptibility regions, the underlying causal mechanism in these regions is not fully known. It is likely that the GWAS signal originates from one or many as yet unidentified causal variants. Using next-generation sequencing, we characterized 12 breast cancer susceptibility regions identified by GWASs in 2288 breast cancer cases and 2323 controls across four populations of African American, European, Japanese, and Hispanic ancestry. After genotype calling and quality control, we identified 137,530 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs); of those, 87.2 % had a minor allele frequency (MAF) 0.005, we calculated the smallest number of SNVs needed to obtain a posterior probability set (PPS) such that there is 90 % probability that the causal SNV is included. We found that the PPS for two regions, 2q35 and 11q13, contained less than 5 % of the original SNVs, dramatically decreasing the number of potentially causal SNVs. However, we did not find strong evidence supporting a causal role for any individual SNV. In addition, there were no significant gene-based rare SNV associations after correcting for multiple testing. This study illustrates some of the challenges faced in fine-mapping studies in the post-GWAS era, most importantly the large sample sizes needed to identify rare-variant associations or to distinguish the effects of strongly correlated common SNVs.
Image analysis for plant cell culture and micropropagation

Experimental evaluations in plant cell culture and micropropagation very frequently include visual examinations, or arbitrary quality rankings based on obvious visible criteria. Although they are subjective and non-quantitative, visual observations do offer several advantages over numeric methods of evaluating samples. For example, changes in color of a callus or shoot, degree 146 M.A.L. Smith of hyperhydricity, density of secondary branching, incidence of root or callus initiation, and several other qualitative features can be readily detected by quick examination with the eye. Treatment differences marked by these visible criteria are recognized as important gauges of culture performance, yet would not be accounted for by routine data collection for fresh weight, shoot number, shoot length, etc. While most numeric, quantitative evaluations would require that each culture be sacrificed at the time of final evaluation, visual observations through a transparent culture vessel can be performed repeatedly without disturbing the in vitro plant’s microenvironment.
Feasibility and Safety of the Transbronchial Access Tool for Peripheral Pulmonary Nodule and Mass

Background Navigational bronchoscopy and other imaging modalities have improved the ability to evaluate pulmonary nodules/mass. Many of these lesions are located outside the bronchial airway and are difficult to access even with these devices. The Transbronchial Access Tool (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) allows the bronchoscopist to create a pathway from the bronchial airway, across the lung parenchyma, and into the target lesion. We are reporting the feasibility and safety of this new device. Methods Patients with peripheral pulmonary nodules/mass with an absence of an air bronchogram on thoracic imaging underwent a navigational bronchoscopy in a hybrid operating room under general anesthesia. A navigational system located predetermined areas in the bronchial tree to deploy the Transbronchial Access Tool, and cone beam computed tomography confirmed that the target lesion was accessed. A standard protocol was developed and followed in the last 7 patients directing cone beam computed tomography use. The ability to enter the target lesion, diagnostic yield, radiation exposure, and procedural complications were recorded. Results The Transbronchial Access Tool was used in 14 patients who underwent an electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy–guided biopsy from September 2015 to January 2016. The overall diagnostic yield was 71% (10 of 14) and 100% (7 of 7) when the standard protocol was instituted. Access was achieved in 75% (9 of 12) of the targeted lesions, with a diagnostic yield of 66% (8 of 12). One complication, a pneumothorax, occurred. The average radiation exposure during the procedure was 4.3 mSv (range, 3 to 5 mSv), and fluoroscopic time was 17 minutes (range, 2 to 44 minutes). Conclusions The Transbronchial Access Tool is safe and permits access to pulmonary nodules/masses with navigational bronchoscopy.
Author response: Teaching NeuroImages: Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis.

As discussed by Dr. Budhram, immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)–related disease (RD) must be considered in patients with hypertrophic pachymeningitis (HP) as it accounts for a high proportion of cases originally thought to be idiopathic.1 IgG4-related HP is pathologically characterized by a lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells.2 The patient we presented had normal IgG4 levels in both serum and CSF.1 Dural biopsy was consistent with a chronic lymphohistiocytic pachymeningitis without substantial plasma cell infiltrate to suggest IgG4-RD. In addition, immunohistochemistry performed on the dural biopsy specimen was IgG4-negative. Our case highlights the steroid responsiveness of idiopathic HP and the excellent response to immunotherapy with methotrexate.1 We agree with Dr. Budhram that immunostaining of dural specimens should be done in patients with HP, as this may help guide treatment for steroid-refractory HP when IgG4 disease can be identified.
Toward the Development of an Intervention Model for Learning Disabled Adolescents: The University of Kansas Institute.

At the Kansas institute, research was concentrated on the problems of LD adolescents. Epidemiological studies revealed the unique characteristics of LD in students of high school age. A curriculum ...
Minimal Paths between Maximal Chains in Finite Rank Semimodular Lattices

We study paths between maximal chains, or “flags,” in finite rank semimodular lattices. Two flags are adjacent if they differ on at most one rank. A path is a sequence of flags in which consecutive flags are adjacent. We study the union of all flags on at least one minimum length path connecting two flags in the lattice. This is a subposet of the original lattice. If the lattice is modular, the subposet is equal to the sublattice generated by the flags. It is a distributive lattice which is determined by the “Jordan-Holder permutation” between the flags. The minimal paths correspond to all reduced decompositions of this permutation. In a semimodular lattice, the subposet is not uniquely determined by the Jordan-Holder permutation for the flags. However, it is a join sublattice of the distributive lattice corresponding to this permutation. It is semimodular, unlike the lattice generated by the two flags, which may not be ranked. The minimal paths correspond to some reduced decompositions of the permutation, though not necessarily all. We classify the possible lattices which can arise in this way, and characterize all possibilities for the set of shortest paths between two flags in a semimodular lattice.
P3.38 Use of rapid diagnostics for chlamydia and gonorrhoea for women in the emergency department can improve clinical management: report of a randomised clinical trial

Introduction In the Emergency Department (ED), accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoea (NG) is a challenge. Lengthy routine result times for CT/NG tests often lead to empiric antibiotic over treatment or lack of treatment of infections. A randomised clinical trial was conducted to determine how use of rapid diagnostics could improve clinical management. The objective was to assess the effects of rapid CT/NG testing on over treatment and under treatment of women being evaluated for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the ED. Methods Women undergoing pelvic examinations and STI testing in the ED (n=253) were consented and randomised to either a control or rapid testing group. The control group received standard of care (SOC), with CT/NG testing by nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) with a 2–3 day turnaround time. Patients in the rapid testing group provided an additional vaginal swab used for rapid Gene Xpert CT/NG testing with a 100 min turnaround time. Results from the rapid tests were presented to providers and patients were treated according to clinical judgment. Following discharge there was a 2 week phone follow-up and chart review. Results 100% of CT positive (n=9) and 100% NG positive (n=5) patients in the rapid testing group received appropriate antibiotic treatment as compared to 54% (7/13) CT positive patients (p=0.046) and 43% (3/7) NG positive patients (p=0.081) in the control group. Additionally, in the control group, 36.8% (42/114) of CT negative and 38.3%, (46/120) of NG negative patients were over treated. Conclusions Both under- and over treatment for CT/NG was observed in the SOC control group. Patients with positive results in the rapid test group were more appropriately treated. This study demonstrated the potential clinical impact and subsequent antibiotic stewardship of using rapid CT/NG testing the ED.
Optimising water content in cold recycled foamed asphalt mixtures

During cold recycling, water is added to facilitate the dispersion of foamed asphalt in the mixture and to achieve uniform mixing and help compaction by providing sufficient lubrication. Too little water may cause difficulty in workability and compaction of the mixture, but too much water may extend the curing time and reduce density and strength. Therefore, the optimum water content (OWC) was considered as one of the most important factors in mix design procedures for cold recycling. Currently, mix design procedures for cold recycled foamed asphalt mixtures suggest adding water to the mixture at an optimum content to facilitate mixing and compaction. However, there is no standard method for determining the optimum total water content (OTWC) for cold recycling mixtures. Several empirical relationships were developed to determine the OTWC based on modified Proctor test results for Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP)/aggregate. However, the compaction effort in the modified Proctor test for RAP/aggregate may n...
A partial coherent model of brightness temperatures of polar ICE sheets at l band incorporating multi-layer roughness effects based on SPM2 theory

Effect of roughness on forward physical model for Brightness Temperature of Antarctic ice sheets is presented. The Antarctic ice sheet which is characterized by layers of ice with permittivity fluctuations in addition to random rough interfaces. In order to investigate effect of roughness on brightness temperature, we only consider top 20 layers of ice sheets rough and all other layers with flat interfaces. The comparison between the results of the model and ESA's soil moisture ocean salinity (SMOS) brightness temperature show that the influence of roughness can significantly increase horizontally polarized thermal emission while leaving vertically polarized emissions relatively unaffected.
Infant Brain Injury

The present chapter is concerned with the consequences of brain pathology when it occurs very early in life, which is to say, “how much recovery may be expected following injury sustained early in life as compared to brain injury sustained later in life?” Although the answers “less recovery,” “about the same recovery,” or “more recovery” would seem simple enough, establishing one alternative over the others has proven difficult (see Finger and Almli, 1984; Isaacson, 1975; Schneider, 1979). This is partly because our experiments have sometimes been flawed and thus difficult to interpret. It is more so, we think, because our research has been dominated by the supposition that recovery of function following early brain injury occurs because of relocation of functions. We do not wish to quarrel with, or attempt to establish the veracity of, the socalled “Kennard principle” (Schneider, 1979). Nor do we wish to quarrel with, or attempt to establish the veracity of, the notion that the developing nervous system possesses a significant degree of plasticity (Lund, 1978). Rather, it is our purpose to determine if relocation of function is a general consequence of early brain injury and if it can account for the alleviation of behavioral dysfunctions or whether it is, in fact, part of the problem.
Biased Kriging on The Sphere

It is well known among geodesists that homogeneous-isotropic processes on the sphere which are both, Gaussian and ergodic, do not exist. Thus we have to give up one of the two properties as soon as we consider global phenomena such as the (residual) topography, the disturbing gravity field, etc. In case of a non-Gaussian process we are facing problems in deriving the proper distribution functions for our test statistics, beside the fact that such a process is not completely defined by its first two moments. On the other hand, a non-ergodic process does not allow us to equivalently express “expectation”, and “covariance”, as spatial integral over any of its realizations. Hence our usual methods to derive the covariance function (or the semi-variogram) fail to produce consistent - or even unbiased - estimates.
Navigated Screw Placement in Sacro-Iliac Trauma

Image-guided surgery techniques have the potential to improve the accuracy of implant placement, while decreasing operative time and eliminating radiation exposure to the surgeon. Fluoroscopic navigation in particular appears to have broad potential applications in orthopaedic trauma. The surgeon using these techniques must have the diligence to obtain good images prior to proceeding with implant placement, as well as the discipline to abandon the procedure if imaging is inadequate. These procedures should be attempted only by experienced fracture surgeons, in the event that reversion to a formal open procedure is necessary.
Modeling the Impact of Metallic Plasmonic Resonators on the Solar Conversion Efficiencies of Semiconductor Photoelectrodes: When Does Introducing Buried Plasmonic Nanostructures Make Sense?

It is well established that plasmonic nanoparticles embedded in a semiconductor can, under certain conditions, increase the rate of charge carrier collection in electrocatalysts bound to the semico...
Moving Forward When Faced with Learning Difficulties: Rolling a Kayak

When a kayaker flips their boat over while paddling, and successfully turns themselves upright, it is called a roll. In learning situations (especially in a social justice course), this occurs when a student is temporarily caught off balance by difficult concepts, texts, or other skill gaps. Rolling may also occur when a student’s worldview is altered by information that counters their own experiences. Teachers can facilitate rolls by offering scaffolded practice in a safe environment. This allows students to practice the skill with their learning tools in order to successfully roll during a course, when confronted with a problem, and to continue in their learning with minimal interruption.
Contributions of the microbial community to algal biomass and biofuel productivity in a wastewater treatment lagoon system

Abstract The vast majority of research on algal biofuel production has been conducted on single species as monocultures in small, closed systems. Growth of algae in wastewater has potential to help overcome shortages of water, nitrogen, and phosphorus availability; however, cultivation in open wastewater systems presents several unique challenges that include colonization by a variety of bacteria, archaea, viruses, and other eukaryotic species. Here, we monitored the microbial community, water chemistry, and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content of 5 connected wastewater treatment lagoons over the course of a year. DNA was sequenced from all three Domains in addition to viral DNA specific to eukaryotic algae. Each lagoon demonstrated a unique community profile even when taxa were classified at the coarsest level. Significant correlations were observed between community members, chemical variables, and FAME concentrations. In contrast to previous findings that correlated elevated FAME with nutrient deprivation, we observed high levels of FAME (up to 48% w/w) in some nutrient replete lagoons. High FAME concentrations (%w/w) were significantly correlated to ammonia, nitrite, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), pH, phosphate, and total phosphorus (R2 = 0.74). FAME quantified by volume (g L−1) correlated with higher biomass concentrations (R2 = 0.78) whereas high FAME as %w/w coincided with lower algal cell densities. Under these uncontrolled conditions, high biomass concentrations provided for a higher overall biofuel content (g L−1), rather than high lipid content with low biomass concentration. High FAME (>19% w/w) also correlated to the abundance of particular bacteria and the major capsid protein (MCP) specific to dsDNA viruses that can infect eukaryotic algae (Phycodnaviridae). Our findings inform the potential of algal biofuel production using wastewater lagoons and estimates of interactions within the diverse microbial community. The resulting data can provide significant insight into biomass and/or lipid accumulation in a large open system.
Directionality in sound change from asymmetries in acoustic distribution

Following the work of John Ohala, historical sound changes are thought to take place by misperception of the input on the part of the listener. Any account of sound change based on misperception, though, faces a paradox: if X sounds like Y, Y should also sound like X, and yet we often see sound changes that are only attested in one direction. A potential solution is to think of phonetic categories as distributions in acoustic space, and so asymmetries in sound change (X > Y, *Y > X) come from asymmetries in the spread of the distribution of X and Y. If X is a very variable phonetic category with a thick-tailed distribution, a high proportion of its tokens should cross the perceptual boundary and be misperceived as Y; if Y has a narrow distribution, only a very small proportion of its tokens should be perceived as X. We predict that unidirectional sound changes should involve a change from a high-variance to a low-variance category. This experiment tests a case study of asymmetric nasal place assimilation (VnpV > VmpV, *VmpV > VnpV) on a sample of six speakers in three vowel contexts. In the contexts aa and ii, the sequence np before the change had a higher-variance distribution of F2 transition (a cue to nasal place) than the sequence mp after the change. In uu, the sequence after the change had the higher variance. These results give partial support to our hypothesis.Following the work of John Ohala, historical sound changes are thought to take place by misperception of the input on the part of the listener. Any account of sound change based on misperception, though, faces a paradox: if X sounds like Y, Y should also sound like X, and yet we often see sound changes that are only attested in one direction. A potential solution is to think of phonetic categories as distributions in acoustic space, and so asymmetries in sound change (X > Y, *Y > X) come from asymmetries in the spread of the distribution of X and Y. If X is a very variable phonetic category with a thick-tailed distribution, a high proportion of its tokens should cross the perceptual boundary and be misperceived as Y; if Y has a narrow distribution, only a very small proportion of its tokens should be perceived as X. We predict that unidirectional sound changes should involve a change from a high-variance to a low-variance category. This experiment tests a case study of asymmetric nasal place assimilation ...
Neoadjuvant nivolumab (N) or nivolumab plus ipilimumab (NI) for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Clinical and correlative results from the NEOSTAR study.

8504Background: Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) induce major pathologic response (MPR) rates of 20 to 45% in resected NSCLCs. We report the results of NEOSTAR - a phase 2 trial of n...
Decisional Quality Among Patients Making Treatment Decisions for Urolithiasis

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To measure decisional quality, physician loyalty, and treatment preference in patients diagnosed with urolithiasis, a “preference-sensitive” condition, to identify areas of improvement to be addressed by a targeted shared decision-making intervention. METHODS We identified patients who presented for an initial consultation for urolithiasis from March 2016 to May 2017. Patients completed a 24-item patient experience questionnaire after the consultation which assessed decisional quality domains, physician loyalty, and treatment preference. We summarized treatment preferences before and after the consultation and described the changes. RESULTS Among the total of 113 patients who met inclusion criteria, 78 (69%) patients chose to participate. Thirty-six (46%) of those patients had evidence of decisional conflict and 42 (54%) did not. Only 1 in 5 patients experiencing decisional conflict reported knowing the benefits and risks of each treatment option. Patients with decisional conflict reported lower perceived shared decision-making, treatment satisfaction, and urolithiasis knowledge. Physician loyalty was lower among patients with decisional conflict as well. Thirty-nine percent of them were ‘Promoters’ of their urologist, compared to 71% of patients without decisional conflict. Sixty-four percent of patients without decisional conflict identified a treatment preference before consultation, while only 17% of patients who experienced decisional conflict were able to do so. CONCLUSION Many patients with urolithiasis experience decisional conflict and are unsure of their preferences when making a treatment choice. Uncertainty can correlate with low physician loyalty after consultation. This population may benefit from a shared decision-making intervention that improves decisional quality while incorporating patient-specific preferences.
Comparing classification accuracy of NDVI with DEM derived attributes using multi-scalar approach in Geographic Information Systems

Increase in resolution of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), multispectral data generated by remote sensing satellites and Lidar have caused a rapid increase in the amount of data that can be processed by GIS software. However, the GIS tools still use a fixed 3-by-3 window to evaluate attributes such as slope, elevation and curvature. These tools do not scale well to a 5m DEM resolution compared to 30m resolution used earlier. Results generated usually contain a lot of noise. To overcome this problem researchers prefer to resample DEMs to a lower resolution which in turn decreases their accuracy. In this paper we test the efficiency of sliding window-based aggregation technique on DEM derived attributes on a multi-scalar level. We use an iterative aggregation algorithm to obtain these attributes for multiple window sizes 4, 8 and 16. Results obtained from previous iteration are reused in the next iteration. Hence, we achieve logarithmic efficiency compared to the existing resampling technique in ArcMap. Results are compared with resampled DEM data at window sizes 3, 9 and 15. Random Forest and Maximum Likelihood classification have been applied to all the outputs with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as the dependent variable. Classification on results from the proposed method achieves a higher accuracy compared to traditional resampling technique. Window size 4 produces the highest accuracy of 74.47% using the Random Forest based classification compared to 46.31% generated using output from ArcMap. The accuracy remains fairly consistent across all the window sizes for the proposed method while the classification accuracy generated from resampled data falls drastically with higher window size. This shows that sliding window based aggregation is both scalable and accurate.
Impact of mortality reviews on supportive care utilization, end-of-life care, and inpatient mortality.

45Background: 22% of US patients with cancer die in a hospital setting. As part of an effort to reduce unexpected inpatient (inpt) mortality, we reviewed records of all inpt cancer deaths at Stanfo...
Dignity as a Faith-Based Consideration in the Ethics of Human Genome Editing

On July 26, 2018, the Pew Research Center released the results of a survey conducted among 2,537 adults in the United States to assess their views on the appropriateness of genome editing for babies (Funk and Hefferon 2018). A majority of the individuals surveyed (72%) favored gene editing that would treat a serious disease or condition, but a majority (80%) also thought that using these techniques to enhance a child’s intelligence would take this technology “too far.” One striking finding of the survey was that there is a large difference in acceptance of genome editing between those respondents who self-identify as highly religious and those who are less so, where religious Americans are more likely to view gene editing negatively. Where a significant number of respondents with high religious commitment (87%) thought that testing gene editing on human embryos was taking the technology “too far,” for example, this number was significantly smaller (44%) among those with a low religious commitment. How do we explain these divergent views?
Brain death: optimizing support of the traumatic brain injury patient awaiting organ procurement.

Purpose of reviewIncreasing numbers of deaths on the transplant waiting list is associated with an expanding supply–demand deficit in transplantable organs. There is consequent interest in reviewing both donor eligibility after death from traumatic brain injury, and subsequent management, to minimiz
Pubertal Synchrony and Depressive Symptoms: Differences by Race and Sex.

Individual differences in the timing and tempo of pubertal development have been shown to be related to depressive symptoms during adolescence, particularly among girls. Another measure of variability in pubertal development is pubertal synchrony, the degree to which the development of pubertal indicators (e.g., breast growth and ancillary hair growth) are synchronized within the individual. Pubertal synchrony also has been hypothesized to be related to depressive symptoms, but, to date, only one study has tested this hypothesis. However, it remains unclear whether pubertal synchrony confers risk for depressive symptoms more proximally in time or differentially among boys or non-White youth. The current study examined the relation between pubertal synchrony and depressive symptoms concurrently and six months later as a function of race and sex in a community sample of 215 youth (53% female, 44.7% African American; mean age = 12.90 years (SD = 0.86)). Girls with asynchronous development at Time 1 reported significantly higher depressive symptoms at Time 2 than girls with synchronous development and boys with asynchronous development. In addition, boys with asynchronous development at Time 1 had lower depressive symptoms at Time 2 than boys with synchronous development. Race did not moderate pubertal synchrony—depression relations. These results suggest that pubertal asynchrony is a risk factor for girls, but a protective factor for boys, and lend support for pubertal synchrony as a potential contributor to the gender gap in depression that emerges during adolescence.
A phase 1 study with dose expansion of the CDK inhibitor dinaciclib (SCH 727965) in combination with epirubicin in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer.

Purpose, Low molecular weight cyclin E (LMW-E) isoforms, overexpressed in a majority (~70 %) of triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC), were found in preclinical models to mediate tumorigenesis through binding and activation of CDK2. CDK1/CDK2 inhibitors, such as dinaciclib, combined with anthracyclines, were synergistic in decreasing viability of TNBC cell lines. Based on this data, a phase 1 study was conducted to determine the maximum tolerated dose of dinaciclib in combination with epirubicin in patients with metastatic TNBC. Methods, Cohorts of at least 2 patients were treated with escalating doses of dinaciclib given on day 1 followed by standard dose of epirubicin given on day 2 of a 21 day cycle. No intra-patient dose escalation was allowed. An adaptive accrual design based upon toxicity during cycle 1 determined entry into therapy cohorts. The target acceptable dose limiting toxicity (DLT) to advance to the next treatment level was 30 %. Results, Between 9/18/2012 and 7/18/2013, 9 patients were enrolled and treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center. DLTs included febrile neutropenia (grade 3, n = 2), syncope (grade 3, n = 2) and vomiting (grade 3, n = 1). Dose escalation did not proceed past the second cohort due to toxicity. After further accrual, the first dose level was also found to be too toxic. No treatment responses were noted, median time to progression was 5.5 weeks (range 3–12 weeks). Thus, accrual was stopped rather than explore the −1 dose level. Conclusion, The combination of dinaciclib and epirubicin is associated with substantial toxicities and does not appear to be an effective treatment option for TNBC.
Expanding the structural diversity of polyelectrolyte complexes and polyzwitterions

Abstract Charged (macro)molecules are essential components in natural materials and organisms; thus the rational design of biomimetic materials requires a holistic understanding of structure–property relationships in charged systems. We discuss recent progress in uncovering such relationships for polyzwitterions and polyelectrolyte complexes, with emphases on the synthetic strategies that were employed in systematic studies. For polyelectrolytes, discussion is confined to the effects that structural variations in polycation and polyanion structure have on the fundamental phase behavior of the corresponding polyelectrolyte complexes. In the field of polyzwitterions, both fundamental and applied properties are discussed in relation to chemical structure. Finally, we present an overview of promising chemistries that will expand the structural landscape of charged macromolecules with the aim of stimulating new research to further uncover and understand the fundamental design principles for these materials.
The Polycystins and Polycystic Kidney Disease

The polycystins are transmembrane proteins that interact to form a nonselective, Ca2+ permeable, cation channel that is thought to be involved in the maintenance of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and epithelial differentiation of ductal structures. Mutations in PKD1 or PKD2, genes that encode polycystin 1 (PC1) and polycystin 2 (PC2, TRPP2), respectively, are responsible for most cases of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a common disorder characterized by innumerous fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys and liver. PC1, a large receptor-like protein, and PC2, a transient receptor potential channel, colocalize to multiple cellular domains including primary cilia where they are thought to function in Ca2+ signaling in response to mechanosensation. Emerging data suggest that these proteins also function individually or in a complex to regulate other cellular functions in a variety of tissues. However, the mechanism by which the functional loss of the polycystins initiates cyst formation, their tissue-specific binding partners and ligands, and their normal physiological functions remain poorly understood.
Selections From the ABC 2020 Annual Conference, Online: Business Dress and Pajama Bottoms—My Favorite Assignment Goes Online

This article features 12 teaching innovations presented at the 2020 Association for Business Communication (ABC) annual international conference held online due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Rea...
Perioperative outcomes of cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in elderly women with epithelial ovarian cancer: analysis of a prospective registry

Objective To evaluate perioperative outcomes in elderly versus non-elderly women with advanced or recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer undergoing surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Methods A single-institution prospective registry was analyzed for women with ovarian cancer who underwent surgery with HIPEC from January 2014 to December 2020. Elderly age was defined as ≥65 years at surgery. Complications were defined according to the Accordion scale. Univariate and multivariable analysis was used to compare progression-free survival and overall survival. Results Of 127 women who underwent surgery with HIPEC, 33.1% (n=42) were ≥65 and 17.3% (n=22) were ≥70 years old. The median age for non-elderly and elderly patients were 55.7±8.3 versus 72.0±5.4 years, respectively (p Conclusions In this prospective registry of women with ovarian cancer, perioperative morbidity is not increased for non-elderly versus elderly patients following surgery with HIPEC. While age should not exclude patients from surgery with HIPEC, additional research is needed regarding oncologic benefits in elderly women.
Clinicians Want to Know the Costs of Care

NEJM Catalyst Insights Council members say that data is lacking on the total costs of care and patients’ out-of-pocket costs.
American Politicians Confront the Court: Opposition Politics and Changing Responses to Judicial Power

1. Introduction: had Americans 'stopped understanding about the three branches'? Part I. Political Development and Elected-Branch Relations with the Judiciary: 2. Beyond the countermajoritarian difficulty 3. A developmental theory of political manipulation of judicial power Part II. Hostility to Judicial Authority and the Political Idiom of Civic Republicanism: 4. In the cause of unified governance: undermining the court in an anti-party age 5. Party against partisanship: single-party constitutionalism and the quest for regime unity 6. 'As party exigencies require': republicanism, loyal opposition, and the emerging legitimacy of multiple constitutional visions Part III. Harnessing Judicial Power and the Political Idiom of Liberal Pluralism: 7. Clashing progressive solutions to the problem of judicial authority 8. In a polity fully-developed for harnessing (I): living constitutionalism and the policization of judicial appointment 9. In a polity fully-developed for harnessing (II): a conservative insurgency and a self-styled majoritarian court responds 10. Conclusion: on the 'return' of opposition illegitimacy and the prospects for new development.
CELL-FREE NUCLEAR ASSEMBLY AND DISASSEMBLY IN DROSOPHILA

Publisher Summary During interphase, decondensed eukaryotic chromosomes are segregated from the cytoplasm by the nuclear envelope. This envelope is selectively permeable and is composed of a peripheral lamina and a double membrane studded with pore complexes. In higher eukaryotes, the nuclear envelope disassembles during cell division. Disassembly facilitates the partitioning of condensed chromosomes to daughter nuclei. Cell-free systems are invaluable for the molecular dissection of cell cycle-dependent nuclear disassembly and reassembly and for elucidation of interphase nuclear physiology. This chapter presents several examples that include oocyte extracts from marine invertebrates extracts from Drosophila embryos and oocytes, extracts of activated amphibian oocytes, and extracts derived from synchronized mammalian tissue culture cells. The chapter discusses Drosophila melanogaster, a higher eukaryote amenable to systematic genetic manipulation. Nuclear assembly is initiated in vitro by the addition of demembranated sperm (sperm chromatin) to a supplemented embryo extract. The extract should be thawed immediately before nuclear assembly and supplemented with an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-regenerating system and protease inhibitors.
Managing Web Usage in the WorkPlace: A Social, Ethical, and Legal Perspective

Understanding Senior Executives' Use of IT and the Internet Internet Usage for Work Tasks Factors Influencing Web Access Behavior in the Workplace Internet Usage in Sub-Sahara E-Commerce System: An Examination of User Experiences Factors Affecting Behavioral Intension to Adopt Electronic Shopping on the WWW Organizational Impacts and Social Shaping of Web Management Practice Internet Gambling in the Workplace Internet User Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction, and Internet Back Ground Measurement of Telecommuting Performance Web Usage Behavior in the Workplace
Adenyl cyclase in fat cells. II. Hormone receptors.

Abstract Among several lipolytic hormones tested, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), epinephrine, glucagon, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone stimulated adenyl cyclase activity in a plasma membrane-rich fraction, termed "ghosts," isolated from rat fat cells. The effects given by various combinations of these hormones, at maximally stimulating concentrations, were not additive, indicating that a single enzyme was activated by all of these hormones. Different effects of the combined hormones were found depending upon the condition of incubation. At 37°, the combined hormones either did not give greater effects or gave smaller effects than that of the most effective hormone. At 30° in the presence of an ATP-regenerating system, each hormone potentiated the effect of the other. The effects on adenyl cyclase activity of combinations of the hormones at concentrations near their apparent Km of activation displayed noncompetitive kinetics. Propranolol, a β receptor antagonist, blocked completely the stimulatory action of epinephrine but did not alter the actions of the peptide hormones. An analogue of ACTH inhibited, specifically and competitively, the stimulatory actions of ACTH both on adenyl cyclase activity in ghosts and on lipolysis in intact fat cells. It was concluded from these findings that the hormones act at discrete hormone-specific sites (or receptors) that affect the activity of a single adenyl adenyl cyclase in fat cells.
RETHINKING JUDGMENTS RECIPROCITY

Scholars have long debated the criteria that U.S. courts should use when deciding whether to recognize and enforce money judgments rendered by foreign courts. One of the proposed criteria—reciprocity—would require proof that the rendering court would enforce a U.S. judgment if the situation were reversed. Advocates of reciprocity claim that it is necessary to create incentives for foreign states to recognize and enforce U.S. judgments. Critics argue that a policy of judgments reciprocity is both costly to administer and highly unlikely to bring about any change in foreign state practice. This Article makes two original contributions to the debate. First, it draws on historical examples of successful reciprocal legislation to construct an analytical framework for determining the conditions under which such legislation is most likely to be successful in changing foreign state behavior. These examples show that a particular state’s response to such legislation will frequently be shaped by the reaction of interest groups within that state. Second, this Article seeks to evaluate how interest groups within specific foreign states—those that currently refuse to enforce U.S. judgments—would be likely to react to a new U.S. policy of judgments reciprocity. Drawing upon a handcollected dataset of reported cases and federal complaints, it argues that judgment creditors in many of these states are likely to suffer few, if any, economic losses as a result of such a policy.
Can the US stock market be Shanghaied?: Evidence of the impact of China's emerging stock market

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the US and China stock markets between 2000 and 2007. This study attempts to categorize the event on February 27, 2007, i.e. 9 per cent plunge in Shanghai stock market followed by the $1.5 trillion global market shake out, as irrational, i.e. herd mentality.Design/methodology/approach – To test for this relationship, the Morgan Stanley Capital International daily price index data was collected from April 15, 2002 to April 12, 2007. Daily Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Nikkei 225 (Nikkei), Hang Seng Index, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SSECI) were collected from finance.yahoo.com from January 1, 2000 until April 3, 2007. The running beta and correlation coefficients, defined as the cumulative coefficients, are used to determine the co‐movement of the SSECI and DJIA.Findings – The strength of the relationship between the US and China stock markets has significantly increased since 2005, maybe attributed to Ch...
Lubricants: Super slippery solids

Most lubricants are liquids, but beyond the liquid realm - at high or low temperature, or in a vacuum - solid lubricants are needed. Conventional solid lubricants are also limited in their range of operation, but a new generation of solid lubricants may be with us. Hollow nanoparticles of tungsten sulphide (similar to carbon fullerenes and nanotubes) have now been synthesized, and they are more slippery and more robust than other materials. Instead of slipping between weakly bonded crystal planes, these nanoparticles may lubricate by rolling.
Genetic algorithms as multi-coordinators in large-scale optimization

We present high-level, decomposition-based algorithms for large-scale block-angular optimization problems containing integer variables, and demonstrate their effectiveness in the solution of large-scale graph partitioning problems. These algorithms combine the subproblem-coordination paradigm (and lower bounds) of price-directive decomposition methods with knapsack and genetic approaches to the utilization of “building blocks” of partial solutions. Even for graph partitioning problems requiring billions of variables in a standard 0–1 formulation, this approach produces high-quality solutions (as measured by deviations from an easily computed lower bound), and substantially outperforms widely-used graph partitioning techniques based on heuristics and spectral methods.
Optogenetic stimulation of infralimbic PFC reproduces ketamine’s rapid and sustained antidepressant actions

Ketamine produces rapid and sustained antidepressant actions in depressed patients, but the precise cellular mechanisms underlying these effects have not been identified. Here we determined if modulation of neuronal activity in the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (IL-PFC) underlies the antidepressant and anxiolytic actions of ketamine. We found that neuronal inactivation of the IL-PFC completely blocked the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of systemic ketamine in rodent models and that ketamine microinfusion into IL-PFC reproduced these behavioral actions of systemic ketamine. We also found that optogenetic stimulation of the IL-PFC produced rapid and long-lasting antidepressant and anxiolytic effects and that these effects are associated with increased number and function of spine synapses of layer V pyramidal neurons. The results demonstrate that ketamine infusions or optogenetic stimulation of IL-PFC are sufficient to produce long-lasting antidepressant behavioral and synaptic responses similar to the effects of systemic ketamine administration.
Wetland Technologies for Nursery and Greenhouse Compliance with Nutrient Regulations

The need to protect our water resources and increasing public awareness of the importance of cleaner water for ecological and human health reasons are driving regulations limiting nutrient release from traditionally exempt, non-point source agricultural contributors. Modification of production practices alone may not be adequate to meet regulated nutrient criterion limits for irrigation and stormwater runoff entering surface waters. Three constructed wetland technologies are well suited to help agricultural producers meet current and future regulations. The first two technologies, surface- and subsurface-flow constructed wetlands, have been in use for over 40 years to cleanse various types of wastewater, whereas floating treatment wetlands are an emerging remediation technology with potential for both stormwater and agricultural runoff treatment applications. The mechanisms driving removal of both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in constructedwetlandsystemsarediscussed.Surface-flowconstructedwetlandsremediateNcontaminantsfrombothcontainer nurseryandgreenhouseproductionwastewater,whereasPremediationisvariableandtiedmostcloselytoactiveplantgrowth as the constructed wetland ages. Subsurface-flow constructed wetlands effectively remediate N from production wastewater and can be tailored to increase consistency of P remediation through selection of P-sorbing root-bed substrates. Floating treatmentwetlandseffectivelyremediatebothNandPwithadesignedsurfaceareaof apondcovereddependingonthetarget effluent concentration or regulated total maximum daily load. The choice of treatment technology applied by growers to meet regulated water quality targets should be based on both economic and site-specific considerations.
Electron transport in green photosynthetic bacteria.

Green bacteria make up two of the four families of anoxygenic photosynthetic prokaryotes. The two families have similar pigment compositions and membrane fine structure, and both contain a specialized antenna structure known as a chlorosome. The primary photochemistry and electron transport pathways of the two groups are, however, quite distinct. The anaerobic green bacteria (Chlorobiaceae) contain low-potential iron-sulfur proteins as early electron acceptors and can directly reduce NAD+ in a manner reminiscent of Photosystem I of oxygenic organisms. The facultatively aerobic green bacteria (Chloroflexaceae) contain quinone-type acceptors and have an overall pattern of electron transport very similar to that found in purple bacteria. Many aspects of energy storage in green bacteria, especially photophosphorylation and the role of cytochrome b/c complexes in electron transport, remain poorly understood.
International Deregulation and the Rise of Transnational Media Corporations

The author explores motivations behind the establishment and development of transnational media firms, focusing on the strategic and economic considerations that influence their activities and usin...
Sudden Monocular Visual Loss in Pseudotumor Cerebri

• We describe a patient with papilledema due to benign intracranial hypertension who had sudden, painless monocular visual loss. Fear of further visual deterioration prompted vigorous therapeutic efforts to reduce intracranial pressure. Subsequent neuro-ophthalmologic evaluation disclosed that the visual loss was due to a subretinal neovascular membrane. Vision continued to improve after medical therapy was discontinued, and was accompanied by complete resolution of papilledema and headache. In any patient with minimal papilledema, sudden visual deterioration should initiate a search for other causes rather than zealous therapeutic efforts to reduce intracranial pressure.
Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement in the Endorsement of Asylum Seeker Policies in Australia

Moral disengagement is a process whereby the self-regulatory mechanisms that would otherwise sanction unethical conduct can be selectively disabled. The present research proposed that moral disengagement might be adopted in the endorsement of asylum seeker policies in Australia, and in order to test this, a scale was developed and was validated in two studies. Factor analysis demonstrated that a 2-factor, 16-item structure had the best fit, and the construct validity of the scale was supported. Results provide evidence for the use of moral disengagement in the context of asylum seekers as a means of rationalizing conduct that may otherwise be sanctioned.
Human and animal vigilance.

Experiments with both men and monkeys, summarized in this report, indicate that vigilance decrements are associated with the ease or difficulty of observing. A given set of signals may be detected often or rarely by human observers, depending on how easy it is to watch the background of stimulus events within which signals can occur.