cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Potential Benefits of Pneumatic Barriers in Estuaries

Pneumatic barriers (or bubble screens) have been proposed or actually used for a variety of purposes, including reduction of the extent of saltwater intrusion in estuaries, the reduction of saltwater intrusion through navigation locks which separate a saline water body from a freshwater body, to accelerate movement of warmer bottom water to the surface to reduce ice formation around piers, to diminish wave heights, and to increase turbulence as a means for inhibiting the deposition of sediments in critical areas. This paper summarizes the potential benefits which might accrue from construction and operation of pneumatic barriers in estuaries, describes briefly the results of hydraulic model experiments of such devices made to date, points out the need for additional research to develop model laws and scaling factors for transference of model results to prototype dimensions to aid in design and economic evaluation of barriers, and mentions research efforts planned for the immediate future at the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. The paper also points out certain detrimental effects on estuarine phenomena which might result from indiscriminate operation of pneumatic barriers without careful study and evaluation of all effects of such devices.
Terapia de Reorientación Adaptativa: Un modelo adleriano para el tratamiento de trastornos emocionales

Compelling emotions emerge in a person’s life as adaptive mechanisms to help the individual overcome the challenges that life presents. When one’s lifestyle orientation is characterized by biased convictions and skewed private logic, those compelling, aversive emotions can predominate life and contribute to recurrent and worsening difficulties, many of which are diagnosed as a recognizable clinical condition. Rather than focusing specifically on the expressed symptoms, Adlerian treatment focuses on the lifestyle orientation that necessitates those symptoms. Needed is a reorientation to life that is more optimally adaptive. Adaptive reorientation focuses on the individual’s desired state and helps the individual to adjust lifestyle orientation in a way that it proves more optimally effective.
The “Fat Sparing” Action of Glucose in the Absence of Insulin.∗

ConclusionThe intravenous administration of glucose to depancreatized dogs results in a “fat-sparing” action even in the absence of insulin. This is not associated with a decrease in the blood fatty acids. The action of glucose in depressing the level of the blood fats of normal dogs is attributed to some effect upon fat mobilization which is dependent upon the presence of a normal pancreas.
Mnemonic Value of Orthography for Vocabulary Learning in Monolinguals and Language Minority English-Speaking College Students

The study examined whether exposure to spellings of new vocabulary words improved monolinguals’ and language minority (LM) students’ (n = 25) memory for pronunciations, meanings, and spellings of the words. College students who are native English-speaking monolinguals (n = 12) and LM students who learned English as their second language (n = 13) were taught the meanings of 20 words over five trials. During the trials, written forms of half the words were shown underneath the pictorial representation of the word. The participants were assessed on the pronunciation, meaning, and spelling of each word. Results indicated that including spellings improved memory for pronunciations and spellings of words but not for meaning. Additionally, monolinguals outperformed LM students on memory of pronunciations in both spelling conditions.
TEM and EELS Investigation of a-C and ta-C Coated Field Emitters

The microstructure of highly sp2 bonded amorphous carbon and partially tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon deposited on needle-shaped molybdenum field emitters by pulsed laser ablation and cathodic arc deposition techniques was studied using transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Undoped and nitrogen-doped films were included in this study. The undoped laser ablation films were approximately 50% sp2 at the emitter tip and 65% sp2 along the shank, while the N-doped laser ablation films were highly sp2 bonded both at the tip and along the shank. These laser ablation films were continuous and relatively uniform, exhibiting an isotropic microstructure at the emitter tip and a columnar microstructure along the shank. The cathodic arc deposited films were predominantly sp2 bonded both at the tip and along the shank; these films were non-uniform, with an isotropie microstructure at the tip and regions of isotropic, columnar, and mixed microstructure appearing along the shank.
Abstract 3971: The type III tgf-β receptor mediates bmp signaling in normal and cancerous mammary epithelial cells

BMP signaling has been shown to enhance breast cancer invasion and bone metastasis, while inhibition of BMP signaling abrogates bone metastasis in an in vivo model. The type III TGF-β receptor (TβRIII) is known to mediate BMP signaling and can inhibit migration, invasion, and metastasis in breast cancer, however the role of TβRIII in regulating BMP signaling in breast cancer has not been examined. The MDA-MB-231, MCF7, and mouse 4T1 breast cancer cell lines, which express low levels of TβRIII, are responsive to BMP2 and 4 treatment as demonstrated by increased Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation, cell migration, and invasion. Restoring TβRIII expression in these cell lines or treatment of MDA-MB-231-Neo cells with recombinant soluble TβRIII (sTβRIII) or with conditioned media from MDA-MB-231-RIII cells inhibited BMP2 and BMP4 induced Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation (pSmad1/5/8) and BMP mediated cell migration. MDA-MB-231-RIII cells also exhibited enhanced growth arrest in response to BMP2 compared to MDA-MB-231-Neo cells, mediated through the up-regulation of p21. In reciprocal studies, shRNA-mediated knockdown of TβRIII expression in the normal mammary epithelial cell lines HMEC and MCF10A, abrogated BMP mediated induction of pSmad1/5/8, demonstrating that TβRIII mediates BMP signaling in normal mammary epithelial cells. Additionally, treatment with both recombinant sTβRIII and conditioned media from MDA-MB-231-RIII cells inhibits BMP mediated induction of pSmad1/5/8, suggesting that sTβRIII is able to inhibit BMP signaling in normal mammary epithelial cells by sequestration of ligand. BMP2 treatment induces cell migration in HMEC cells, which was attenuated by knockdown of TβRIII or treatment with sTβRIII. These data demonstrate that TβRIII mediates BMP signaling in normal mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cell lines, regulating cell migration, invasion, and proliferation. The effects of sTβRIII suggest that the ratio of membrane bound versus soluble TβRIII plays an important role in mediating BMP signaling and cellular effects in normal and cancer mammary epithelial cells. Further work is underway to elucidate the mechanism by which TβRIII regulates BMP signaling in breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3971.
Increased net hepatic glucose output from gluconeogenic precursors after high-sucrose diet feeding in male rats

A high-sucrose diet reduces the ability of insulin to suppress hepatic glucose production (hepatic insulin resistance) in rats. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the contribution of hepatic gluconeogenesis to sucrose-induced hepatic insulin resistance. Single-pass liver perfusions were performed on 24-h food-deprived male Wistar rats after 8 wk on either a high-corn starch (ST; 68% of energy) or high-sucrose (SU; 68% of energy) diet. Hepatic glucose output (HGO, micromol of glucose x min(-1) x g(-1)) in the presence of lactate, alanine, or dihydroxyacetone (DHA) was used as an estimate of gluconeogenic capacity, because liver glycogen levels after the 24-h fast were negligible (<1.2 mg/g). HGO was significantly (P < 0.05) greater in SU vs. ST at all concentrations of lactate, alanine, and DHA. Maximal rates of HGO were 1.9 +/- 0.4 and 2.8 +/- 0.3 at 10 mM lactate, 0.6 +/- 0.2 and 1.4 +/- 0.3 at 10 mM alanine, and 1.7 +/- 0.3 and 2.6 +/- 0.2 at 20 mM DHA in ST and SU, respectively. When HGO was matched between SU and ST with the use of different precursor concentrations, there was a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the ability of insulin (175 microU/ml) to suppress HGO in SU vs. ST. These data suggest that sucrose feeding increases gluconeogenesis from lactate, alanine, and DHA and that this route of glucose production is resistant to insulin suppression.
Platelet storage: changes in cytosolic Ca2+ actin polymerization and shape

Platelets gradually lose their disc shape during storage. The authors studied simultaneous changes in platelet cytosolic Ca2+ (Cai) and the polymerization state of actin as related to the shape. Platelet concentrates were stored under blood bank conditions for up to 10 days. Aliquots were removed and analyzed as follows: platelet Cai and increments in Cai induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) were determined by fluorescence of fura-2-loaded cells; loss of disc shape was determined by differences in light scattering intensity induced by stirring; and the ratio of globular and total actin (G/T) of platelets in plasma was determined by a modification of the DNase inhibition assay. Globular actin was found to be 86 +/- 3% of total actin in freshly drawn platelets suspended in plasma. The following changes occurred during storage: G/T in platelet concentrates increased from 63 +/- 5 (day 0) to 74 +/- 2% in the first 24 hours then fell to 33 +/- 6% by day 10. The percent discoid platelets also increased from day 0 to day 1 then fell in the ensuing days. There was an initial drop in Cai from day 0 to day 1, after which Cai increased on days 3 and 6. Globular actin polymerization during storage closely correlated with the change in percent discs (r = 0.95). During 6 days of storage Cai was highly correlated with shape change (r = 0.97) and to a lesser extent (r = 0.87) with the ratio of globular actin. The authors conclude that actin polymerization, shape, and Ca2+ change in a related fashion during storage.
Neuromuscular Dysfunction of the Lower Urinary Tract in Patients with Lesions of the Cauda Equina and Conus Medullaris

AbstractBladder and urethral function was studied in 21 patients with lesions of the cauda equina or conus medullaris using gas cystometry, integrated sphincter electromyography, uroflowmetry and computer assisted measurement of detrusor and urethral innervation. An areflexic cystometrogram, impaired electromyographic sphincter activity and delayed reflex-evoked potentials from stimulation of the detrusor muscle and urethra were the most consistent indicators of lesions of the conus medullaris and/or cauda equina. A terminology based on detrusor reflex abnormalities rather than the ice water test is suggested.
Reducing metrology mean-time-to-detect by utilizing product data

The limitations of existing methodology to maintain metrology fleet matching and stability is being strained by increasingly complex integrations. As the number of measurements also increase within the integration, the ability to quickly detect issues on metrology is critical to prevent product excursions. This paper will review the traditional methodologies for metrology fleet matching and stability and propose a new methodology. A strong emphasis will be placed on using product data to detect tool issues in real time via Pooled and Normalized Product Data Analysis to improve Mean-Time-To-Detect.
Complicity and Responsibility in the Aftermath of the Pinochet Regime

Forty years after the Pinochet regime, the theme of civilian complicity is just beginning to be discussed publicly in Chile. This lecture will emphasize the importance of this little-discussed topic by examining the case of Jorgelino Vergara, known in Chile as El Mocito, a man who as an adolescent served coffee to the ex-head of Pinochet’s secret police, General Manuel Contreras, and carried out other horrifying tasks in the torture center located at number 8800 Simon Bolivar Street. Accused in 2007 of killing well-known Communist leader Victor Diaz, Vergara emerged from a clandestine life and testified in court to clear his own name. Thanks to his testimony, 74 former secret police agents were convicted and the remains of three disappeared militants were found. Despite these positive developments, Vergara’s truth has had limits. How does the accomplice construct his truth? How does society approach and frame the truth of the accomplice? To answer these questions, this talk will compare representations of El Mocito in film, print journalism, and on television. What political and ethical questions arise from these very different framings of complicity?
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) Receptor Agonists in Cardiac Disorders.

Objective: To evaluate the literature about the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) in the treatment of cardiac disorders, specifically myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure (HF). Data Sources: Searches were conducted in MEDLINE (1946-May 2016) and Excerpta Medica (1980-May 2016) using EMBASE with the search terms glucagon-like peptide 1, exenatide, albiglutide, liraglutide, dulaglutide, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and cardiovascular. The references of relevant articles were reviewed to identify additional citations. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Clinical trials were limited to the English language and human trials. In all, 18 trials explored the use of GLP-1 RAs in the treatment of cardiac disorders in patients with and without diabetes mellitus. Data Synthesis: Of the 18 trials reviewed, 11 trials studied the impact of GLP-1 RAs in MI. All showed a significant beneficial effect on various cardiac parameters. Favorable outcome improvements included myocard...
The Experimental Replication of a Stone Mortar

Loose mortars of stone were found and used on occasion by all the tribes, but the universal testimony is that they were not made. In fact, the Chukchansi declare their Inability to do so, and attri...
Severe murine limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2C pathology is diminished by FTY720 treatment

Introduction: Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 2C (LGMD-2C) is caused by mutations in ɤ-sarcoglycan and is a devastating, progressive, and fully lethal human muscle wasting disease that is without effective treatment. This study examined the efficacy of the sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulator FTY720 in treating Sgcg-/-DBA2/J, a severe mouse model of LGMD-2C. FTY720 treatment is expected to target LGMD-2C disease progression at 2 key positions by reducing chronic inflammation and fibrosis. Methods: The treatment protocol was initiated at age 3 weeks and was continued with alternate day injections for 3 weeks. Results: The treatment produced significant functional benefit by plethysmography and significant reductions of membrane permeability and fibrosis. Furthermore, the protocol elevated protein levels of δ-sarcoglycan, a dystrophin glycoprotein family member. Conclusion: This study showed that FTY720 is an effective muscular dystrophy treatment when therapy is initiated early in the disease progression. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Knowing Yourself and Your Style

An important element of professional and personal success as a hospitalist is knowledge of yourself and your working style . Developing greater insight into yourself as a worker and colleague can help you collaborate with others more successfully, communicate more effectively, and increase your efficiency and productivity. In this chapter, we propose four domains of self-assessment to help you better understand yourself and your working style. These four domains are: (1) personality , (2) communication style, (3) emotional intelligence as it relates to leadership, and (4) time management skills. We include self-assessment instruments to allow you to identify your particular attributes in these areas, and we provide examples of how to enact meaningful change in your daily working style.
Acute Pain Management in Hospitalized Children.

Background Acute pain in hospitalized pediatric patients is prevalent. Recent shifts in the paradigm of pediatric acute pain management focus less on reliance on opioids, due to their adverse side effects and risk of dependence, and more on multimodal pain management. Objective We sought to review the most recent studies on acute pain management in hospitalized pediatric patients. Method We searched the Cochrane Database and PubMed for articles published in the past five years regarding the treatment of acute pain in pediatric patients focusing on large randomized or quasirandomized controlled trials, cohort trials, and meta-analyses. Results We categorized results into non-pharmacological, localized, non-opiate pharmacological, and opiate based therapies. Recent studies show that environmental and non-pharmacological methods of pain management are efficacious in infants. School aged children benefit from active distraction more than passive distraction. Needleless methods of introducing lidocaine locally alleviate the pain associated with many procedures to which hospitalized children are exposed. The shift towards use of nonopiate pharmacology focuses on novel means of utilizing older medications, such as intravenous parecoxib, inhaled methoxyflurane, and sublingual ketorolac or tramadol and the avoidance of codeine. Conclusion Acute pediatric pain management has changed to emphasize multimodal and multidisciplinary therapy. In all children, non-pharmacological therapies should be employed routinely. Given the myriad tools available, pediatric acute pain services have developed in order to integrate more advanced treatments such as nerve blocks and infusions of centrally acting pain modulators.
Coups, Rivals, and the Modern State: Why Rural Coalitions Matter in Sub-Saharan Africa

State development in Africa is risky, even life-threatening. Heads of state must weigh the advantage of promoting political and economic development against the risk of fortifying dangerous political rivals. This book takes a novel approach to the study of neopatrimonial rule by placing security concerns at the center of state-building. Using quantitative evidence from 44 African countries and in-depth case studies of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, Rabinowitz demonstrates that the insecurities of the African state make strategically aligning with rural leaders critical to political success. Leaders who cultivate the goodwill of the countryside are better able to endure sporadic urban unrest, subdue political challengers, minimize ethnic and regional discord, and prevent a military uprising. Such regimes are more likely to build infrastructure needed for economic and political development. In so doing, Rabinowitz upends the long-held assumption that African leaders must cater to urban constituents to secure their rule.
Verilog-A Compact Modeling and Simulation of AWGR based All-to-All Optical Interconnects

We construct a Verilog-A compact module for all-to-all optically interconnected system. A physics-based model of a cyclic AWGR generate simulation results, which are compared to the measured data of an actual AWGR.
The Mechanisms and Impact of Obesity and Insulin Resistance on Breast Cancer Incidence

Obesity is an increasing world-wide epidemic, and it is currently estimated that 33% of the U.S. population is obese and the prevalence of obesity is increasing every year. Obesity/excess body weight is the cause of approximately 20% of breast cancer deaths in women in the US aged 50 years or older, making US cancer rates among the highest breast in the world. Furthermore, breast cancer prognosis is worse in patients who are obese. Obesity has been linked to an increase in the incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer and to increased recurrence rates for women with estrogen receptor negative breast cancer. The epidemic of obesity is creating a shifting landscape in the “usual” biology of breast cancer and it is imperative that breast cancer scientists begin to systematically and proactively consider breast cancer causation and progression in the context of obesity. Addressing the obesity epidemic, at both an individual and public health level, is expected to have a significant impact on breast cancer incidence and mortality. This review will focus on the underlying molecular mechanisms that link obesity with increased cancer incidence and metastasis. We discuss the role of adipose tissue, body fat distribution, inflammation, insulin resistance, and diet/nutrients and their impact on altering the susceptibility to carcinogenesis by exploring the mechanisms by which these factors modify cancer incidence and prognosis.
Pollen protein synthesis and control of incompatibility in Brassica.

Excised but otherwise intact cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) stigmas release a watersoluble substance which selectively inhibits germination of self-but not cross-pollen. The inhibitory effect on self-pollen germination is dependent on both the concentration of stigma extract and on the time of addition. Low concentrations of stigma extract inhibit when present from the start (zero time additions) of pollen imbibition, whereas high concentrations do not. High concentrations inhibit when stigma extracts are added 1 to 2 minutes after the start of pollen imbibition, but germination is increasingly less inhibited when additions are delayed 2 to 4 minutes. Similar inhibition kinetics are also observed with delayed additions of cordycepin and cycloheximide. Stigma extracts selectively inhibit leucine-14C incorporation into proteins of self-pollen. We conclude that germination does not require protein synthesis whereas the regulation of self-incompatibility does.
On the Structure of Rational Field Theory

The connection between Rational Conformal Field Theory (RCFT), N = 2 massive supersymmetric field theory, and solvable Interaction Round the Face (IRF) lattice models is explored here. Specifically, one identifies the fusion rings with the chiral rings. The theories so obtained are conjectured, and largely shown, to be integrable, based on a variety of examples, and the structure of the metric in moduli space. The kink scattering theory is given by the Boltzman weights of an IRF model, which is built entirely in terms of the conformal data of the original RCFT. This procedure produces all solvable IRF models in terms of projection operators of the RCFT. The soliton structure and their scattering amplitudes are described. A host of new RCFT are described in a way which generalizes much, if not all, of the known ones.
The Anaphylatoxins: Formation, Structure, Function and Control

Although present evidence indicates that anaphylaxis due to IgE antibodies does not involve the complement system, it has been established that complement participates in other forms of acute immunologic reactions as well as in the inflammatory process. It contributes to both processes by effecting activation of a variety of cells, including mast cells, basophils, neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, platelets and smooth muscle cells. Complement accomplishes its effects through the interaction of distinct reaction products with constituents of cell membranes. Among the biologically active reaction products are the activation peptides of C3 and C5, designated C3a and C5a, respectively. For historical reasons they are collectively known as anaphylatoxin (AT). Both peptides are powerful, hormonelike substances that act on specific cellular receptors. In vitro, C3a and C5a cause histamine release from mast cells and smooth muscle contraction and C5a causes directed migration of leukocytes and release of hydrolases. In vivo, both peptides are phlogogenic.
SOLVENT AND TEMPERATURE EFFECTS IN MIXED-VALENCE CHEMISTRY

A temperature dependence has been observed for the intervalence transfer absorption band in an unsymmetrical, ligand-bridged complex of ruthenium. The dependence has been analyzed by a free energy surfaces approach introduced by Marcus and Sutin or by a quantum mechanical approach. In a related, unsymmetrical, complex containing Os and Ru, it has been shown that solvent changes can be used to induce intramolecular electron transfer. If pyrazine is the bridging ligand, the mixed-valence isomers OsIII-RuII and OsII-RuIII have different properties. In the isomer OsIII-RuII, the absorption band energy is not solvent dependent but spectral markers point toward localized oxidation states. In both this and the related Creutz and Taube ion, it is suggested that there is significant electronic coupling but localized valences, and that intramolecular electron transfer is sufficiently rapid that the solvent is delocalized.
Saturated and Unsaturated Fatty Acids

Abstract: Over 100 different types of fatty acids have been isolated from various lipids of animal, plant, and microbial origin. Carbon atoms of the fatty acid hydrocarbon chain may be numbered from either end. Rumen microbes have a tendency to form saturated and trans-unsaturated fatty acids from dietary cis-unsaturated fats. Mammals cannot synthesize linoleic acid, therefore it must be provided in the diet. Mammals can synthesize g-linolenic and arachidonic acid from dietary linoleic acid. Essential fatty acids are necessary precursors in the biosynthesis of eicosanoids. Omega-3 (v-3) unsaturated fatty acids are components of fish oils. The fat of ruminant animals is high in trans-unsaturated fatty acids.
Rules of the House: Family Law and Domestic Disputes in Colonial Korea

Rules of the House offers a dynamic revisionist account of the Japanese colonial rule of Korea (1910–1945) by examining the roles of women in the civil courts. Challenging the dominant view that women were victimized by the Japanese family laws and its patriarchal biases, Sungyun Lim argues that Korean women had to struggle equally against Korean patriarchal interests. Moreover, women were not passive victims; instead, they proactively struggled to expand their rights by participating in the Japanese colonial legal system. In turn, the Japanese doctrine of promoting progressive legal rights would prove advantageous to them. Following female plaintiffs and their civil disputes from the precolonial Chosŏn dynasty through the colonial period and into the postcolonial era, this book presents a new and groundbreaking story about Korean women’s legal struggles, revealing their surprising collaborative relationship with the colonial state. “A timely and fascinating study, demonstrating the complex interplay between gender politics and empire building through the examination of the legal construction of the ideal modern family that was deeply implicated with the invention or appropriation of tradition. A major contribution to gender history, empire studies, and legal studies.” HYAEWEOL CHOI, author of Gender and Mission Encounters in Korea: New Women, Old Ways “Challenges the conventional nationalist narrative of colonial Korea and restores agency to female plaintiffs and defendants. It should be read not only by those interested in colonial Korea and the Japanese empire, but also by historians of comparative and colonial law, the family, and gender.” SUSAN L. BURNS, Professor of History, University of Chicago SUNGYUN LIM is Assistant Professor of Modern Korean and Japanese History at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Dependence of Modulus and Hardness on the Annealing Conditions of Pt57.5Cu14.7Ni5.3P22.5 Bulk Metallic Glass

The mechanical properties of metallic glasses are often tuned by annealing, which influences these properties by adjusting the relaxation and/or crystallization status of the glasses. Here, we studied the hardness and modulus of Pt57.5Cu14.7Ni5.3P22.5 bulk metallic glass annealed at different temperatures by nanoindentation, where the annealing gives the material different fictive temperatures and fractions of crystallization. It is found that both reducing the fictive temperature of a fully amorphous sample and increasing the degree of crystallization in a partially crystallized sample increase hardness and modulus. Combining the two approaches, elevated hardness and modulus values are found for composite materials containing both crystalline and amorphous phases when they are compared to chemically identical alloys featuring similar percentages of crystalline and amorphous phases that have been prepared by annealing at higher temperatures. Our findings indicate that the mechanical properties of the platinum-based alloys can be customized by processing them with targeted heat treatments.
The Future is Brown…and Fat: Population Control, Latina/o/x “Health” and Protecting the Future Nation-State

This article examines the interplay of population control rhetoric and narratives of Latina/o/x “obesity” as short-hand for ill-health and disease in calls to action to protect the U.S. body-politi...
Surgical repair of peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis in patients without williams or alagille syndromes

Peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis is a relatively rare form of congenital heart disease typically associated with genetic syndromes, such as Williams or Alagille syndromes. However, some patients present with severe stenosis without associated syndromes. The purpose of the study was to review our surgical experience in such patients. This was a retrospective review of 30 patients who underwent surgical repair for peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis. Concomitant anatomical diagnoses in 20 patients (67%) included supravalvar aortic stenosis (n = 8), tetralogy of Fallot (n = 4), d-transposition of the great arteries (n = 2), truncus arteriosus (n = 2), hypoplastic left heart syndrome (n = 2), ventricular septal defect (n = 1), and patent ductus arteriosus (n = 1). Additional medical diagnoses in 15 patients (50%) included elastin arteriopathy (n = 9), pulmonary artery calcinosis (n = 1), arterial tortuosity syndrome (n = 1), DiGeorge syndrome (n = 1), and Noonan syndrome (n = 1). Median age at surgery was 3.6 years (interquartile range 1.6–7.4 years). Seventeen patients (57%) had prior cardiac operations, and 16 patients (53%) previously underwent percutaneous intervention. With surgery, mean right ventricle-to-aortic systolic pressure ratio decreased from 0.95 ± 0.2 to 0.28 ± 0.08 (P
The Challenge of Selecting Participants Fairly in High-Demand Clinical Trials

Fair participant selection is an ethical requirement of clinical research, yet it remains comparatively underspecified (Meltzer and Childress 2008). MacKay and Saylor provide three valuable insight...
Lupeol, a dietary triterpene, inhibits the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells: modulation of microtubule assembly and inhibition of proteosome

3270 Recent studies from our laboratory showed that Lupeol induces apoptosis and inhibits the tumorigenicity of androgen-sensitive human prostate cancer (PCa) cells in animal models. Current study was aimed to understand the mechanism which precedes the apoptotic process induced by Lupeol in PCa cells. We observed that Lupeol (5-50 μM) treatment significantly was equally effective in decreasing the viability of androgen-sensitive (LNCaP) as well as androgen-insensitive (DU145 and PC-3) cells. Further, Lupeol treatment inhibited the proliferative and clonogenic potential of all PCa cells when observed for 21 days. Since Lupeol was observed to inhibit the proliferation of PCa cells, we asked if Lupeol interferes in the cell cycle process of PCa cells. We observed that Lupeol induces G2/M cell cycle arrest of PCa cells. The phenomenon of G2/M cell cycle arrest is a microtubule regulated process. The importance of microtubules in cell division makes them an important target for anticancer drugs. Since we observed that Lupeol induces G2/M cell cycle arrest we next investigated its effect on microtubule assembly in PCa cells. Interestingly, Lupeol treatment was observed to decrease the expression level of α and β-tubulin. The critical balance between mitotic arrest and exit is maintained by CDKp34/Cyclin B1 complex. We observed that Lupeol treatment causes a reduction in the expression level of Cyclin B1, modulation in Cyclin/Cdk complex and an increase in p21 protein. Mitotic spindle checkpoint is reported to be regulated by Survivin protein which exhibits an aberrant expression level in PCa patients. Lupeol was found to significantly reduce the expression level of Survivin in PCa cells. Stathmin protein (also known as oncoprotein 18) is known to regulate microtubule dynamics and its expression level is known to be highly increased in various malignancies. Lupeol treatment caused a significant reduction in the expression level of Stathmin in PCa cells. The involvement of proteosome in the regulation of cell cycle and microtubule dynamics is well known. MG132, a well known proteosome inhibitor was observed to significantly decrease the expression level of β-tubulin, and Cyclin D1 in PCa cells. Interestingly, MG132-mediated effects were observed to increase several fold in PCa cells treated with Lupeol suggesting a synergistic effect of Lupeol and MG132. However, Lupeol did not change the expression level of Survivin in the presence of proteosome inhibitor MG132 suggesting that Lupeol-induced modulation in microtubule assembly is at least in part dependent on proteosome. We suggest that Lupeol could be used alone or as an adjuvant to known microtubule and proteosome targeting agents for the treatment of PCa.
Evidence of non-uniform crust of Ceres from Dawn’s high-resolution gravity data

The gravity and shape data acquired by the Dawn spacecraft during its primary mission revealed that Ceres is partially differentiated with an interior structure consistent with a volatile-rich crust, a mantle of hydrated rock and isostatically compensated topography1–3. Detailed analyses showed that the mechanically strong crust overlays a weak, fluid-bearing upper mantle4. Previous studies, however, assumed that Ceres’s crust is a uniform layer. Here, we report findings from the new high-resolution gravity data from Dawn’s second extended mission (XM2), which reveal a complex crustal structure of Ceres. In the low-altitude regions probed by the Dawn spacecraft during the XM2 phase, we observe that gravity–topography admittance progressively shifts to a lower density solution at higher degrees, implying a radial density gradient across Ceres’s crust that is consistent with decreasing porosity with depth and/or increasing content of dense phases, such as rock and salts. That gradient brings a critical new constraint on the crustal freezing history, suggesting that the salts and silicates concentrated in the liquid phase while the crust was growing. Localized spectral analysis of the new data also shows evidence for a lower crustal density in the north polar region than in the south or near the equator, supporting impact-driven porosity variations for the observed latitudinal density differences5. On the local scale, the new data show evidence for density or rheological variations within the crust, in association with lobate landslides and ejecta deposits that were inferred to be ice-rich6,7 as well as an extensional fault system8. These inferences provide geophysical context for geological features on the surface and help us advance our understanding of the evolution of an ice-rich but heat-starved body, whose evolution was in part shaped by impacts. High-resolution gravity data from Dawn’s second extended mission could probe the global and local structure of Ceres’s crust. The results show significant spatial and vertical variations of crustal density and porosity, associated with ice features and ice-related processes driven from the interior, and impacts.
N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide and Mortality in Patients without Heart Failure Hospitalized with Severe Covid-19 Pneumonia

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been associated with myocardial damage. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels have been reported to be elevated and to portend worse outcomes among patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The value of NT-proBNP in COVID-19 patients without heart failure (HF) is unclear, and data from the United States are limited. We reviewed the medical records of 304 adults without history of HF admitted to Stony Brook University Hospital, Long Island, NY, from March 1 to April 15, 2020 with documented severe COVID-19 pneumonia requiring high-flow oxygen therapy (non-rebreather mask, Venturi mask with FiO2 >50%, or high-flow nasal cannula). We excluded patients transferred already intubated from outside hospitals and those who were intubated or died within 24h of admission. NT-proBNP was measured with a standard Roche Diagnostics assay with a 5-ng/L limit of detection. Follow-up data were collected until death or hospital discharge or 30 days if still in the hospital by database lock (May 15, 2020). The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality and the secondary endpoint was death or need for intubation. The association of NT-proBNP with the endpoints was evaluated with multivariable Cox regression models. Mean age was 60±17 years; 95 (31.2%) of patients were female; 156 (51.3%) were White, 103 (33.9%) Hispanic, 22 (7.2%) Black, and 21 (6.9%) Asian; 91 (29.9%) had diabetes, 39 (12.8%) coronary artery disease (CAD), and 27 (8.9%) atrial fibrillation (AF); mean body mass index (BMI) was 30.3±6.5 kg/m2. On admission, mean O2 saturation (O2SAT) was 89±8% and median NT-proBNP was 156 ng/L (44-729). After a median of 12 days (8-20), 74 patients (24.3%) died and 59 more (19.4%) were intubated and survived to hospital discharge. Baseline NT-proBNP was strongly associated with mortality. In models adjusting for age, sex, race, diabetes, CAD, AF, BMI, and baseline O2SAT, every log-2 (doubling) of NT-proBNP was associated with 29% higher risk (HR 1.29; 95%CI: 1.17-1.43; P Among patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, admission NT-proBNP is a strong predictor of mortality. Elevated NT-proBNP levels may identify a subgroup of patients in need of cardioprotective therapy.
Sarcoidosis and Aortic Stenosis: A Role for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement?

Abstract Sarcoidosis is an infiltrative disease known to affect multiple layers of the heart.1 Although rare, aortic valve involvement has been seen.17,18 The role of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been described in amyloidosis,4 a well-known infiltrative disease, but not in sarcoidosis. As the awareness of cardiac sarcoidosis grows,17 as in amyloidosis, its impact on the aortic valve will grow too. Our review highlights the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis with a discussion for TAVR in patients affected by aortic valve insult.
Central nervous system-targeted adeno-associated virus gene therapy in methylmalonic acidemia.

Methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) is a severe metabolic disorder most commonly caused by a mutation in the methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (MMUT) gene. Patients with MMA experience multisystemic disease manifestations and remain at risk for neurological disease progression, even after liver transplantation. Therefore, delivery of MMUT to the central nervous system (CNS) may provide patients with neuroprotection and, perhaps, therapeutic benefits. To specifically target the brain, we developed a neurotropic PHP.eB vector that used a CaMKII neuro-specific promoter to restrict the expression of the MMUT transgene in the neuraxis and delivered the adeno-associated virus (AAV) to mice with MMA. The PHP.eB vector transduced cells in multiple brain regions, including the striatum, and enabled high levels of expression of MMUT in the basal ganglia. Following the CNS-specific correction of MMUT expression, disease-related metabolites methylmalonic acid and 2-methylcitrate were significantly (p
Papillary Breast Tumors: Continuing Controversies and Commentary on WHO's 2019 Criteria and Classification:

The category of papillary breast tumors includes a limited number of entities. Nonetheless, this relatively uncommon group of tumors seems to instigate a disproportionate degree of diagnostic disqu...
The Two-Body Problem

One of the major successes of the Dirac theory—as we have seen in Chapter 3—was the explanation of the energy spectrum of hydrogen-like atoms, including the fine structure. And in the preceding chapter we began to achieve an understanding of additional features in the spectrum on a quantitative level. The theoretical treatment is far from complete, however, for there remains considerable fine-tuning of those radiative corrections, as well as various relativistic refinements. Moreover, the observed energy levels refer to a real two-body system, so that small corrections are to be expected which arise from interactions between magnetic moments (permanent and anomalous), nuclear structure, recoil effects, and various combinations of all the above. A proper understanding of fine and hyperfine structure eventually requires a careful treatment of the actual two-body problem, and pure electromagnetic systems such as positronium (e + e -) and muonium (μ+ e -) can hardly be studied in depth without a well-developed two-particle theory. We begin such a development in this chapter.
Exclusivity in Network Industries

Exclusivity provisions, exclusive dealing provisions, and exclusive membership rules can create formidable entry barriers when employed by dominant incumbent networks. Exclusivity rules can restrict consumer choice and stifle innovation by denying would-be entrants the ability to gain critical mass, and by undermining consumer confidence in an emerging network. Exclusive membership rules can be especially pernicious in network industries by creating artificial entry barriers that operate on top of naturally occurring entry barriers based on consumer adoption costs, switching costs, and especially consumer coordination costs. These costs are elevated if the new network is incompatible with the established network, as may be required to avoid infringing on the intellectual property rights of the established network. Exclusivity rules are contrasted with a refusal by the incumbent network to permit the new network to interconnect and/or offer backward compatibility.
A Bayesian Dynamic Factor-Residual Model for Spatial Dependence in Longitudinal Data

I propose a Bayesian dynamic multilevel model with a factor residual component to model spatial dependence in longitudinal data. Factor-analytic methods were developed to summarize variance-covariance structure of multivariate data. The formulation of factor analysis reflects the assumption that correlation among observable variables is caused by the heterogeneous effects of underlying common factors. Factor resdiual analysis can incorporate a sophisticated pattern of spatial dependence in longitudinall data. The correlation structure is estimated based on the data information. In addition, the stength and direction of spatial dependence vary across dyads of units. Besides the methodological advantages, factor residual analysis of longitudinal data is especially suitable for studying cross-level interactions and heterogeneous responses of units to shocks from the system. I develop Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms for model estimation, and apply the model to two studies in international political economy as empirical demonstrations.
Covering indexes for XML queries: bisimulation - simulation = negation

Tree Pattern Queries (TPQ), Branching Path Queries (BPQ), and Core XPath (CXPath) are subclasses of the XML query language XPath, TPQ ⊂ BPQ ⊂ CX Path ⊂ X Path. Let TPQ = TPQ+ ⊂ BPQ+ ⊂ CX Path+ ⊂ X Path+ denote the corresponding subclasses, consisting of queries that do not involve the boolean negation operator not in their predicates. Simulation and bisimulation are two different binary relations on graph vertices that have previously been studied in connection with some of these classes. For instance, TPQ queries can be minimized using simulation. Most relevantly, for an XML document, its bisimulation quotient is the smallest index that covers (i.e., can be used to answer) all BPQ queries. Our results are as follows: • A CXPath+ query can be evaluated on an XML document by computing the simulation of the query tree by the document graph. • For an XML document, its simulation quotient is the smallest covering index for BPQ+. This, together with the previously-known result stated above, leads to the following: For BPQ covering indexes of XML documents, Bisimulation - Simulation = Negation. • For an XML document, its simulation quotient, with the idref edges ignored throughout, is the smallest covering index for TPQ. For any XML document, its simulation quotient is never larger than its bisimulation quotient; in some instances, it is exponentially smaller. Our last two results show that disallowing negation in the queries could substantially reduce the size of the smallest covering index.
From Makeover Media to Remaking Culture: Four Directions for the Critical Study of Self-Help Culture

The popularity of self-improvement literature has lead to an abundance of scholarly considerations of the self-help literature and lifestyle media. This interdisciplinary review article considers the dominant trends in these discussions and suggests four new directions for fruitful inquiry: (1) investigating self-help literature from the global South and the evolving Asian economies in cross-cultural comparative analyses; (2) more thoroughly assessing the role of religious movements and discourses in these self-help discourses and practices; (3) exploring more fully the impact of interactive media on self-help practices; and (4) continued creative explorations of strategies to transform makeover culture into a broader movement to make over our culture.
Absorption of Polyethylene Glycols 600 Through 2000: The Molecular Weight Dependence of Gastrointestinal and Nasal Absorption

Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) 600, 1000, and 2000 were used to study the molecular weight permeability dependence in the rat nasal and gastrointestinal mucosa. Absorption of the PEGs was measured by following their urinary excretion over a 6-hr collection period. HPLC methods were used to separate and quantitate the individual oligomeric species present in the PEG samples. The permeabilities of both the gastrointestinal and the nasal mucosae exhibited similar molecular weight dependencies. The steepest absorption dependence for both mucosae occurs with the oligomers of PEG 600, where the extent of absorption decreases from approximately 60% to near 30% over a molecular weight range of less than 300 daltons. Differences in the absorption characteristics between the two sites appear in the molecular weight range spanned by PEG 1000. For these oligomers, the mean absorption from the nasal cavity is approximately 14%, while that from the gastrointestinal tract is only 9%. For PEG 2000, mean absorption decreases to 4% following intranasal application and below 2% following gastrointestinal administration. Within the PEG 1000 and 2000 samples, however, very little molecular weight dependency is seen among the oligomers. In the range studied, a distinct molecular weight cutoff was not apparent at either site.
Transmission Scanning Acoustic Microscopy for Tilted Plate Specimens

In transmission scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) [1,2,3] the plate-specimen under examination is usually aligned with its surface normal parallel to the lens axis in order to optimize the spatial resolution. However, we have found that in many instances a higher acoustic transmission and additional image contents can be facilitated by tilting the specimen such that its surface normal is at a small angle with respect to the lens axis (Fig. 1). For a small tilt angle, the image degradation due to reduced spatial resolution is insignificant with relatively small numerical aperture lenses.