cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 422: The Lipid Droplet Associated Protein CIDEC/Fsp27 is Regulated by PPARα and Prevents Hepatic Triglyceride Utilization

The cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector c (CIDEC; known as FSP27 or fat-specific protein 27 in rodents) is a lipid droplet (LD)-associated protein that is mainly expressed in white adipose tissue, where it promotes triglyceride storage. Fsp27 levels are undetectable in the livers of fed mice, but rise during fasting or under hepatosteatosis in both obese mice and patients. The Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor α (PPARα) is a nuclear receptor that controls the fatty acid oxidative pathway. Hepatic PPARα signaling is activated physiologically during fasting, and pharmacologically by fibrates, a class of hypotriglyceridemic drugs. Here we show that CIDEC/Fsp27 is induced in primary hepatocytes and in the liver by synthetic PPARα agonists, and promoter reporter and ChIP assays identified CIDEC/Fsp27 as a conserved, direct PPARα target. Importantly, adenoviral-mediated shRNA silencing of hepatic Fsp27 resulted in a strong reduction of fasting-induced hepatosteatosis. Likewise, in vivo shRNA against Fsp27 resulted in decreased hepatic triglyceride contents in mice fed a high-fat diet, and in mice dosed with a PPARα agonist. Further studies in mouse primary hepatocytes showed that loss of Fsp27 activity enhanced PPARα-stimulated fatty acid oxidation. Collectively, our results highlight the physiological role of CIDEC/Fsp27 in hepatic triglyceride homeostasis. Additionally, these data suggest that patients taking fibrates likely have elevated levels of hepatic CIDEC, which may limit the efficient catabolism of hepatic triglycerides.
Wherefore and Whither the Ring Species

Ring species are widely recognized as one of the best natural illustrations of species formation. A ring species is a circular arrangement of populations with one boundary characterized by reproductive isolation, but intergradation among populations elsewhere. They form when populations disperse around a central barrier and form a secondary contact characterized by reproductive isolation. Ring species are often presented as a taxonomic conundrum, because the presence of a single boundary exhibiting reproductive isolation leaves the ring of populations uncomfortably situated between one and two species. Here we review the ring species concept, with a focus on the salamander Ensatina eschscholtzii and the Greenish Warbler, Phylloscopus trochiloides. We argue that ring species demonstrate the gradual nature of species formation, and thereby illustrate the model of species formation originally put forth by Darwin. We also argue that ring species have become overly idealized, with a focus on strict criteria to...
Design and Implementation of a Malicious Programs Attack Trapping System in the Network Terminal

This paper describes the trapping and detection for Malicious programs attack in the network terminal broadcast domain, given the attack trapping system working principle, system composition, the specific role of each component and how to design and implement the components into a unified detection platform.
Orthographic units in the absence of visual processing: Evidence from sublexical structure in braille

Reading relies on the recognition of units larger than single letters and smaller than whole words. Previous research has linked sublexical structures in reading to properties of the visual system, specifically on the parallel processing of letters that the visual system enables. But whether the visual system is essential for this to happen, or whether the recognition of sublexical structures may emerge by other means, is an open question. To address this question, we investigate braille, a writing system that relies exclusively on the tactile rather than the visual modality. We provide experimental evidence demonstrating that adult readers of (English) braille are sensitive to sublexical units. Contrary to prior assumptions in the braille research literature, we find strong evidence that braille readers do indeed access sublexical structure, namely the processing of multi-cell contractions as single orthographic units and the recognition of morphemes within morphologically-complex words. Therefore, we conclude that the recognition of sublexical structure is not exclusively tied to the visual system. However, our findings also suggest that there are aspects of morphological processing on which braille and print readers differ, and that these differences may, crucially, be related to reading using the tactile rather than the visual sensory modality.
Language and Gender

Gender-based language is a product of a male–female dynamic that enhances the significance of a gender salience prototype—which usually includes a dimension of assertiveness and/or affiliation—that delineates what communicative behavior is expected for men and women. Early research focused on differences between men and women with less attention on the contextual nuances of gender-based language. This focus resulted in a muddled understanding of when and why men and women use language differently and similarly. Contemporary research has prioritized understanding the diverse range of possible outcomes for male/female language use patterns (e.g., no differences, traditional differences, counter-stereotypical differences) given contextual variations with a focus on gender salience and its prototype. This move has resulted in more success in predicting whether men and women will communicate differently and why the differences occur. Contemporary theorizing posits that a language difference between men and women is only a gender-based difference if a psychological component draws on gender during language production; otherwise, it is a sex difference that has little to do with gender. Keywords: conversation; gender; language and social interaction
Relationship of Abscess to Fistula

Anorectal abscess and fistula are among the most common diseases seen in the adult population. Because of the close association of abscess and fistula in etiology, anatomy, pathophysiology, therapy, complication, and morbidity, it is appropriate to categorize both entities as one, i.e., fistulous abscess or abscess fistula. It is also not unreasonable to consider an abscess as the acute phase and the fistulas as the chronic state of the same infection in the anorectum. Most abscess fistulas originate at the anal crypts where the anal glands terminate. Infection in any of the anal glands might result in an intersphincteric abscess, which then spreads to adjacent spaces leading to various anorectal abscesses. When the abscesses are surgically drained or spontaneously rupture, the resulting external opening becomes the secondary opening of a fistula. Therefore, it is correct to think of abscess fistulas as an “inside → outside” pathology rather than the reverse.
Growth and Fall Color of Red Maple Selections in the Southeastern United States

Abstract Nine red maple (Acer rubrum L.) cultivars (‘Autumn Flame’, ‘Fairview Flame’, ‘Franksred’, ‘Karpick’, ‘Northwood’, ‘October Glory’, ‘Redskin’, ‘Schlesingeri’, and ‘Tilford’), three Freeman maple (Acer × freemanii, interspecific cross between red maple and silver maple) cultivars (‘Autumn Blaze’, ‘Morgan’, and ‘Scarsen’), and a group of A. rubrum seedlings were evaluated in a field study with trickle irrigation for growth rates and fall color. ‘Autumn Blaze’, ‘Morgan’, ‘Scarsen’, and ‘Autumn Flame’ increased the most in height and diameter annually. Height increase was least for ‘Northwood’. ‘Northwood’ and ‘Karpick’ increased least in diameter annually. Considerable variation in initiation, peak, and duration of fall color, and time of defoliation were evident among cultivars. ‘Fairview Flame’ and ‘October Glory’ exhibited superior fall color while ‘Northwood’, ‘Morgan’, and ‘Redskin’ had poor fall color.
Pair-Instability Supernova Models

In this chapter presents models of pair-instability supernovae (PISN). During core oxygen burning, models are rendered dynamically unstable by electron-positron pair production in an offcenter shell. The infalling shell compresses and heats the oxygen core to the point of thermonuclear ignition and explosion of (usually) the entire star. The nominal oxygen core masses and zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) masses for nonrotating, solar-abundance models are 60-130 and 140-260 solar masses, respectively, but these numbers, especially the ZAMS-mass range, depend on rotation, metallicity and mass loss. The ejected mass of radioactive nickel-56 varies from tens of solar masses at the upper end of the mass range to much smaller values at the lower end. The predicted observational features depend strongly on ZAMS mass and on whether or not the hydrogen envelope is retained until the time of explosion. Models of somewhat lower ZAMS mass than those of PISN models undergo pulsations (hence PPISN) induced by pair production that may eject multiple interacting shells; these interactions may themselves produce bright supernova-like displays. The PPISN phase is followed by core collapse or a PISN explosion.
A Multimodal Analysis of Making

This paper presents three multimodal learning analytic approaches from a hands-on learning activity. We use video, audio, gesture and bio-physiology data from a two-condition study (N = 20), to identify correlations between the multimodal data, experimental condition, and two learning outcomes: design quality and learning. The three approaches incorporate: 1) human-annotated coding of video data, 2) automated coding of gesture, audio and bio-physiological data and, 3) concatenated human-annotated and automatically annotated data. Within each analysis we employ the same machine learning and sequence mining techniques. Ultimately we find that each approach provides different affordances depending on the similarity metric and the dependent variable. For example, the analysis based on human-annotated data found strong correlations among multimodal behaviors, experimental condition, success and learning, when we relaxed constraints on temporal similarity. The second approach performed well when comparing students’ multimodal behaviors as a time series, but was less effective using the temporally relaxed similarity metric. The take-away is that there are several strategies for doing multimodal learning analytics, and that many of these approaches can provide a meaningful glimpse into a complex data set, glimpses that may be difficult to identify using traditional approaches.
Ethnic and Gender Differences in Family Social Support among Black Adolescents

This study examines black adolescents’ reports of the most helpful types of social support that they receive from and provide to family members, and whether family support exchanges vary by ethnicity (African American vs. Black Caribbean) and gender. Data for this study are from the National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), a national, probability sample of African American and Black Caribbean youth (ages 13–17). Overall, youth reported financial support, followed by emotional assistance and practical support as the most helpful types of support that they received. Practical and emotional assistance characterized the most commonly reported types of support that they provided to family members. Black Caribbean adolescents were more likely than African American adolescents to report financial and practical assistance as the most helpful types of support that they received from family members; no ethnic differences were observed in the provision of support to relatives. There were no significant gender differences in the receipt of support, but adolescent girls reported greater involvement in providing emotional support and caregiving than adolescent boys. The results of this paper reveal that African American and Black Caribbean adolescents are involved in a complex pattern of reciprocal support exchanges with their extended family members. Study findings also reinforce the importance of research focused on racial/ethnic and gender differences in family support exchanges in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of family support behaviors within these groups.
A Humanist Autograph Lost and Found: Mattia Lupi’s "Annales Geminianenses"

Mattia Lupi (1380‑1468), an early humanist of San Gimignano, was locally famous as the author of a Neo‑Latin epic in ten books, "Annales Geminianenses", on the history and lore of his native city. This study examines an early witness to this text, shelfmarked ms. 8 in the Wilson Special Collections Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This witness predates the three known manuscript copies of the poem, and has not been recognized by previous scholarship on Lupi and his work. Moreover, comparison of Chapel Hill ms. 8 with known examples of Mattia Lupi’s hand reveals this unstudied manuscript to be an autograph text of the "Annales Geminianenses", drafted by the author himself between 1463 and 1468.
Reconnect and Recharge: Plugging New Teachers into Support Outlets

A critical issue in teacher education is the ongoing support and professional development of novice teachers. This study explores a professional development project, Reconnect and Recharge, for new...
Control of Listeria monocytogenes on No-Nitrate-or-Nitrite-Added (Natural or Organic) Frankfurters

The growth of Listeria monocytogenes on 8 brands of commercially available uncured, no-nitrate-or-nitrite-added frankfurters was evaluated over a 35 d sampling period. In addition, traditionally-cured controls, containing sodium nitrite, lactates and diacetates, were selected to compare typical L. monocytogenes inhibition throughout a accelerated inoculation challenge study. No-nitrate-ornitrite-added brands exhibited a decreased lag time and shorter generation time for initiation of growth, resulting in a greater population of L. monocytogenes when compared to the sodium nitrite, sodium lactate/diacetate controls. Frankfurters manufactured without the direct addition of nitrate or nitrite, are at an increased risk for L. monocytogenes.
History and Physical

Approaching the patient with cardiovascular disease begins with a comprehensive cardiac history and careful physical examination. During medical training, great emphasis is placed on thorough, extensive, and complete histories and physical exams. With careful focus and direction, examining the cardiac patient should lead the practitioner to a diagnosis prior to any lab or imaging tests. The goal of this chapter will be to help the reader refresh his or her bed side skills.
Patients on Hemodialysis for Over Ten Years

The first patient to commence chronic hemodialysis at the Westchester County Medical Center began home hemodialysis training in November 1967. The Westchester County Medical Center, at that time known as Grasslands Hospital, was one of 12 demonstration projects supported by the Chronic Kidney Disease Program of the United States Public Health Service. For the remainder of 1967, and in 1968, 1969, and 1970, the program was principally a home training program and no patients were chosen other than those who were going on to home hemodialysis training. Sometime during the first half of 1971 a modest in-center hemodialysis program was also begun. From those early years of our chronic hemodialysis program there remain alive today 17 patients, most of them from the early home program and several from the early in-center program.
Snowpack Accumulation Trends in California

Mountainous areas, particularly in the western United States, provide a large fraction of the fresh water supply. This reserve, which supplies most of California’s growing water needs, is vulnerable to changes in climate. Regional precipitation patterns, especially snow, which is a sensitive indicator of temperature and precipitation changes, are predicted to vary according to future climate models.
Efficient Runtime Support for a Partitioned Global Logical Address Space

Many HPC applications have successfully applied Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) parallel programming models to efficiently manage shared data that is distributed across multiple nodes in a distributed memory system. However, while the flat addressing model provided by PGAS systems is effective for regular array data, it renders such systems difficult to use with loosely-structured or sparse data. This work proposes a logically addressed PGLAS model that naturally supports a variety of data models through the automatic mapping of an application-defined key space onto the underlying distributed memory system. We present an efficient implementation of the PGLAS model built atop a parallel distributed hash table (PDHT) and demonstrate that this model is amenable to offloading using the Portals 4 network programming interface. We demonstrate the effectiveness of PDHT using representative applications from the computational chemistry and genomics domains. Results indicate that PGLAS models such as PDHT provide a promising new method for parallelizing applications with non-regular data.
A Cryogenic High-Finesse Optical Cavity to Improve the Stability of Yb Optical Lattice Clocks

We report on the implementation of a high-finesse sapphire optical cavity operating in a closed-cycle cryostat at 4 K. Operation at cryogenic temperature allows suppression of thermal noise and potential for laser frequency stabilization at the low 10−17 fractional frequency stability level. However, it complicates controlling technical sources of noise. Solutions for minimizing the impact of acceleration noise, temperature fluctuations, and residual amplitude modulation will be presented, as well as laser frequency stability characterization and preliminary results in applying the improved clock laser to the interrogation of the NIST Yb optical lattice clocks.
A Straightforward Technique to Repair a Residual Oronasal Fistula in Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Patients.

Purpose An anterior palatal oronasal fistula in a bilateral cleft lip and palate is a challenging clinical dilemma. The purpose of this article is to present a 2-stage technique to repair the fistula in consistent fashion. The technique was developed to avoid more complicated procedures that had greater morbidity for larger oronasal defects that could not be treated in a single procedure. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective study performed over 15 years using this technique in a private practice setting. From 2002 to 2017, 15 7- to 12-year-old patients (11 boys and 4 girls) were treated. They were seen in a multispecialty clinic for anterior residual fistulae, and impressions were obtained. Then, they were scheduled for first-stage closing of the fistulae. Data were retrospectively analyzed. The first stage started with closing the central portion of the fistulae. For the second stage 6 months later, the residual nasoalveolar cleft was closed and grafted in standard fashion. The first stage involved posteriorly reflecting a full-thickness mucoperiosteal flap and inserting it into the palatal soft tissue and stabilizing the segment with a splint for 3 weeks. The premaxillary segment was left denuded. Results Fourteen of 15 patients (93%) had the central portion of the oronasal fistulae successfully closed. One patient had partial breakdown when the splint was prematurely removed at 2 weeks. The patient underwent successful closure by the same procedure at a later date. All patients had successful second-stage grafting of their nasoalveolar clefts. Conclusions An alternative technique is presented to treat clinically challenging oronasal fistulae. This 2-stage closure of a palatal fistula is straightforward, allows consistent closure of soft tissue defects, and avoids complex alternative procedures with serious surgical morbidities.
Parliamentary elections in Russia: a quarter-century of multiparty politics

Derek S. Hutcheson's Parliamentary Elections in Russia: A Quarter-century of Multiparty Politics is a welcome compendium of all kinds of information about the lower house of Russia's parliament, th...
Selenocysteine β-Lyase: Biochemistry, Regulation and Physiological Role of the Selenocysteine Decomposition Enzyme.

The enzyme selenocysteine β-lyase (SCLY) was first isolated in 1982 from pig livers, followed by its identification in bacteria. SCLY works as a homodimer, utilizing pyridoxal 5’-phosphate as a cofactor, and catalyzing the specific decomposition of the amino acid selenocysteine into alanine and selenide. The enzyme is thought to deliver its selenide as a substrate for selenophosphate synthetases, which will ultimately be reutilized in selenoprotein synthesis. SCLY subcellular localization is unresolved, as it has been observed both in the cytosol and in the nucleus depending on the technical approach used. The highest SCLY expression and activity in mammals is found in the liver and kidneys. Disruption of the Scly gene in mice led to obesity, hyperinsulinemia, glucose intolerance, and hepatic steatosis, with SCLY being suggested as a participant in the regulation of energy metabolism in a sex-dependent manner. With the physiological role of SCLY still not fully understood, this review attempts to discuss the available literature regarding SCLY in animals and provides avenues for possible future investigation.
Biblical Origins and the Problem of the Fall

Rabbi Abbahu said: Just as I led Adam into the garden of Eden and commanded him and he transgressed my commandment, whereupon I punished him by dismissal and exile … so also did I bring his descend...
Defining a “Good Death” in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Background Societal attitudes about end-of-life events are at odds with how, where, and when children die. In addition, parents' ideas about what constitutes a "good death" in a pediatric intensive care unit vary widely. Objective To synthesize parents' perspectives on end-of-life care in the pediatric intensive care unit in order to define the characteristics of a good death in this setting from the perspectives of parents. Methods A concept analysis was conducted of parents' views of a good death in the pediatric intensive care unit. Empirical studies of parents who had experienced their child's death in the inpatient setting were identified through database searches. Results The concept analysis allowed the definition of antecedents, attributes, and consequences of a good death. Empirical referents and exemplar cases of care of a dying child in the pediatric intensive care unit serve to further operationalize the concept. Conclusions Conceptual knowledge of what constitutes a good death from a parent's perspective may allow pediatric nurses to care for dying children in a way that promotes parents' coping with bereavement and continued bonds and memories of the deceased child. The proposed conceptual model synthesizes characteristics of a good death into actionable attributes to guide bedside nursing care of the dying child.
Effect of statin use on the risk of rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Objectives Anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects of statins suggest that they may play a role in the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing the risk of RA in statin-users versus non-users. Methods We searched Medline from inception to 01/22/2019 and Embase from 1988 to Week 03 2019 for studies that examined the association between statin use and RA without restrictions on language. Results We identified 1,161 references; of them 8 studies (5 cohort studies and 3 case-control studies) were included in the systematic review. Four cohort studies comparing statin-users versus non-users were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled risk ratio (RR) was 1.01; 95%CI 0.93–1.10; I2 = 17%. Case-control studies showed highly heterogeneous results (I2 = 92%) and were not included in the meta-analysis. One cohort study and one case-control study assessing persistence with or intensity of treatment with statins showed lower risk of RA with higher versus lower treatment persistence or intensity of statin use (pooled RR 0.66; 95%CI 0.5–0.87; I2 = 83%). The certainty in the evidence was low. Conclusion In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we observed no difference in risk of RA in statin users vs non-users. Risk of RA may be lower in patients with higher versus lower statin treatment persistence or intensity. Future observational studies with guards against selection bias and confounding are needed to further elucidate the impact of statin use on the risk of RA, considering potential differences by dosage, duration of use, study population and other factors.
Self-assembled plasmonics for angle-independent structural color displays with actively addressed black states

Nanostructured plasmonic materials can lead to the extremely compact pixels and color filters needed for next-generation displays by interacting with light at fundamentally small length scales. However, previous demonstrations suffer from severe angle sensitivity, lack of saturated color, and absence of black/gray states and/or are impractical to integrate with actively addressed electronics. Here, we report a vivid self-assembled nanostructured system which overcomes these challenges via the multidimensional hybridization of plasmonic resonances. By exploiting the thin-film growth mechanisms of aluminum during ultrahigh vacuum physical vapor deposition, dense arrays of particles are created in near-field proximity to a mirror. The sub-10-nm gaps between adjacent particles and mirror lead to strong multidimensional coupling of localized plasmonic modes, resulting in a singular resonance with negligible angular dispersion and ∼98% absorption of incident light at a desired wavelength. The process is compatible with arbitrarily structured substrates and can produce wafer-scale, diffusive, angle-independent, and flexible plasmonic materials. We then demonstrate the unique capabilities of the strongly coupled plasmonic system via integration with an actively addressed reflective liquid crystal display with control over black states. The hybrid display is readily programmed to display images and video.
Multi-phenotype CRISPR-Cas9 Screen Identifies p38 Kinase as a Target for Adoptive Immunotherapies.

Summary T cells are central to all currently effective cancer immunotherapies, but the characteristics defining therapeutically effective anti-tumor T cells have not been comprehensively elucidated. Here, we delineate four phenotypic qualities of effective anti-tumor T cells: cell expansion, differentiation, oxidative stress, and genomic stress. Using a CRISPR-Cas9-based genetic screen of primary T cells we measured the multi-phenotypic impact of disrupting 25 T cell receptor-driven kinases. We identified p38 kinase as a central regulator of all four phenotypes and uncovered transcriptional and antioxidant pathways regulated by p38 in T cells. Pharmacological inhibition of p38 improved the efficacy of mouse anti-tumor T cells and enhanced the functionalities of human tumor-reactive and gene-engineered T cells, paving the way for clinically relevant interventions.
Resistive Joining – A Novel Dissimilar Welding Method for Thin Sheet Metals

Abstract Next-Generation batteries requires more energy and output power due to the high demands of applications to large-size vehicles, e.g. SUVs and trucks. As a result, multiple dissimilar battery cell tabs are joined together in parallel and carry larger currents in the electrical circuit. Ultrasonic and laser welding have been the two dominant battery cell joining processes in the automotive industry. However, both of them have limitations for joining a large number of stacked battery tabs at one time. Since failure of a single joint can impact the battery and eventually the vehicle, it is important to ensure process robustness and soundness of the resulting battery tab joints. In this study a new joining method, resistive joining (RJ), has been developed for welding multiple dissimilar (copper and aluminum) battery tabs. First, nickel-phosphorus (Ni-P, with ~7 wt% phosphorus) is electroless plated on both sides of selected tabs. In the subsequent resistive joining process, heat is concentrated at the high-electrical-resistivity Ni-P coatings as an electric current is passed through the joint. Aluminum is melted adjacent to the Ni-P coating due to its low melting temperature, and a portion of the Ni-P coating is dissolved into the liquid aluminum and a metallurgical bond is formed as the aluminum re-solidifies. In the meantime, solid-state bonds are formed between the Ni-P coating and copper due to material interdiffusion. Consequently, no Al-Cu intermetallic compound (IMC) is generated at the joint, and the strengths of RJ joints are higher than the base metal when tested in a lap-shear configuration.
Phenotypically defined subpopulations of circulating follicular helper T cells in common variable immunodeficiency

BACKGROUND Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is characterized by low immunoglobulin G and IgA/IgM, decreased switched memory B cells, impaired response to vaccine, and an increased susceptibility to infections and autoimmunity. TFH cells play an important role in germinal center reaction where it supports isotype switching, somatic hypermutation, generation of memory B cells, and differentiation of B cells to plasma cells. The objective was to study the distribution of three subsets of TFH cells and their relationship with autoimmune diseases associated with CVID. METHODS TFH cells have been divided into TFH 1 (interleukin 21 [IL-21] and interferon γ), TFH 2 (IL-21 and IL-4), and TFH 17 (IL-21 and IL-17) cells. Mononuclear cells from 25 patients with CVID and age and gender-matched controls were stained with various monoclonal antibodies (anti-CD4 APC, anti-CXCR5 FITC, anti-CCR6 PerCP, and anti-CXCR3 PE) and isotype controls and analyzed for TFH 1 (CD4+ CXCR5+ CXCR3+ CCR6- ), TFH 2 (CD4+ CXCR5+ CXCR3- CCR6- ), and TFH 17 (CD4+ CXCR5+ CXCR3- CCR6+ ) cells by multicolor flow cytometry. Twenty thousand cells were acquired and analyzed by FlowJo software. Statistical analysis of comparison of patients and healthy controls was performed by paired t test using PRISM 7 software. RESULTS TFH 2 and TFH 17 cells subpopulations of TFH cells were significantly decreased (P < .003 and P < .006, respectively) in CVID as compared with controls. No significant difference was observed in any of TFH cell subpopulations between CVID with and those without autoimmunity group. CONCLUSION Alterations in TFH cell subpopulation may play a role in defects in B cell compartment in CVID.
Advanced integrated practice: bridging the micro-macro divide in social work pedagogy and practice

The authors present an overview of the ‘advanced integrated practice’ approach to MSW education developed by the University of Montana School of Social Work to counter the false dichotomy between ‘...
Nursing Science, Mental Illness, and the Family: A Conceptual Framework to Break the Cycle of Suffering.

Mental illness is an epidemic in the United States, and there is a gap in care due to minimal integrated programs and transitional community resources. This paper reports the development of a conce...
Strategies for Managing an International Engineering Program during the COVID-19 Global Crisis

This paper presents innovative strategies addressing some challenges that arose with the management of students studying and interning abroad in 2019-2020 as part of the University of Rhode Island International Engineering Program (IEP). It offers solutions to the academic, financial and emotional reintegration of a large cohort of 53 IEP students recalled from locations world-wide during the Covid-19 crisis as well as assessments of a) how these interventions were perceived by the students and b) their intercultural competence gains.
Structuring Formative Feedback in an Online Graphics Design Course in BME.

With a motivation to immerse students in engineering design, graphics communication, and computer aided design (CAD) skills early-on in the biomedical engineering curriculum, we launched a new 2-unit laboratory course on “Graphics Design in BME” in the Spring 2020 quarter for UC Davis sophomores. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course met with the significant challenge of conversion to an online mode of teaching, instead of planned face-to-face instruction. Providing formative feedback was thought to be an important step to help students succeed in their final CAD project of the course. In the process of designing feedback, we found that the concept of feedback is still fragile in an online learning environment because online learning settings provide distinct pedagogical demands as compared to face-to-face settings. The situation is especially delicate in the context of contemporary higher education imparting engineering skills, where students attend large classes, with diminished opportunities to interact with the teaching staff. The challenge we faced was to provide meaningful dialogic feedback in an online environment, especially while teaching engineering graphics design to a large class. Here we addressed this challenge by focusing on the process of structuring meaningful feedback. We designed a project assignment to be submitted as multiple deliverables to be submitted in two-stages. Then, we characterized its feedback with multiple notions, such as dialogic iterative cycles, personalized, goal-directed, immediate, in written format, and having a peer assessment component. The process of providing formative feedback online through the structure mentioned in this paper resulted in students’ improved scores on the final project elements. It also helped us identify the common issues students are faltering in a graphics design class, and provide customized guidance, ideal examples of expected work, and more resources to motivate each student group to achieve mastery of course content.
Combining spatial and sociodemographic regression techniques to predict residential fire counts at the census tract level

Abstract This work examines different spatial and sociodemographic models for predicting residential fire counts at the census tract level for 118 U.S. fire departments across 25 states. The models give five-year forecasts of residential fire counts for 3392 census tracts which contain over 13 million residents in total. All models described in this paper train on fire incident data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) over the interval 2006–2011 (inclusive) and are evaluated based on their ability to predict the fire counts that occurred over the interval 2012–2016. Two strictly spatial models are considered- a simple “count” model that serves as a baseline for all other models described in the paper and a model that utilizes kernel density estimation (KDE) with statistically optimized bandwidths. Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), an examination of the effects of demographic and housing factors on the fire risk is presented. The data suggest that the fire risk per person is generally higher in census tracts with attributes corresponding to socioeconomic disadvantage such as low median incomes and small fractions of residents with college degrees. These trends inform the design of a Bayesian hierarchical Poisson regression model, which is shown to make predictions with a 9% lower root mean squared error (RMSE) relative to the base model. A spatial kernel regression is then conducted on the residuals of this regression, which results in a 15% RMSE improvement relative to the base model. These results are compared to a conditional autoregressive (CAR) model, which incorporates spatial information directly into the hierarchical Poisson regression. Although the RMSE is higher for the CAR model's point estimate forecasts (7% lower than the base model), it allows for the generation of probabilistic forecasts and gives spatially-informed statistical estimates of the effects of the sociodemographic variables. This work highlights the utility of geocoded fire incident and demographic data as well as machine learning techniques that can utilize these datasets to make improved predictions.
Survival of patients newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer and with a history of previous cancer.

Patients with previous cancer are often excluded from clinical trials despite limited evidence about their prognosis. We examined the effect of previous cancer on overall and colorectal cancer (CRC)-specific survival of patients newly diagnosed with CRC. This population-based cohort study from the U.S.A. included patients aged ≥66 years and diagnosed with CRC between 2005 and 2015 in linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data. We estimated the stage-specific effects of a previous cancer on overall survival using Cox regression and on CRC-specific survival using competing risk regression. We also examined the effect of previous cancer type, timing, and stage on overall survival. Of 112,769 patients, 14.1% were previously diagnosed with another cancer--commonly prostate (32.9%) or breast (19.4%) cancer, with many (47.1%) diagnosed <5 years of CRC. For all CRC stages except IV, in which there was no difference, patients with previous cancer (vs. without) had worse overall survival. However, patients with previous cancer had improved CRC-specific survival. Overall survival for those with stage 0-III CRC varied by previous cancer type, timing, and stage; for example, patients with previous melanoma had overall survival equivalent to those with no previous cancer. Our results indicate that, in general, CRC patients with previous cancer have worse overall survival but superior CRC-specific survival. Given their equivalent survival to those without previous cancer, patients with previous melanoma and those with stage IV CRC with any type of previous cancer should be eligible to participate in clinical trials.
Correcting for sparsity and interdependence in glycomics by accounting for glycan biosynthesis.

Glycans are fundamental cellular building blocks, involved in many organismal functions. Advances in glycomics are elucidating the essential roles of glycans. Still, it remains challenging to properly analyze large glycomics datasets, since the abundance of each glycan is dependent on many other glycans that share many intermediate biosynthetic steps. Furthermore, the overlap of measured glycans can be low across samples. We address these challenges with GlyCompare, a glycomic data analysis approach that accounts for shared biosynthetic steps for all measured glycans to correct for sparsity and non-independence in glycomics, which enables direct comparison of different glycoprofiles and increases statistical power. Using GlyCompare, we study diverse N-glycan profiles from glycoengineered erythropoietin. We obtain biologically meaningful clustering of mutant cell glycoprofiles and identify knockout-specific effects of fucosyltransferase mutants on tetra-antennary structures. We further analyze human milk oligosaccharide profiles and find mother’s fucosyltransferase-dependent secretor-status indirectly impact the sialylation. Finally, we apply our method on mucin-type O-glycans, gangliosides, and site-specific compositional glycosylation data to reveal tissues and disease-specific glycan presentations. Our substructure-oriented approach will enable researchers to take full advantage of the growing power and size of glycomics data. Glycomics can uncover important molecular changes but measured glycans are highly interconnected and incompatible with common statistical methods, introducing pitfalls during analysis. Here, the authors develop an approach to identify glycan dependencies across samples to facilitate comparative glycomics.
Control-release of antimicrobial sophorolipid employing different biopolymer matrices

Abstract Sophorolipid (SL) purified from fermentation broth of Candida bombicola grown on oleic acid and glucose substrates was embedded at 0%, 9%, 17%, and 29% (%-total weight of final product) in solvent-cast films of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), poly(e-caprolactone), and poly(hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). Growth-inhibition activity of the SL-biopolymers against Propionibacterium acnes, a causative agent of acne vulgaris skin condition, is dependent on the SL contents of the films; the degree of inhibition as determined from the width of the zone of inhibition in agar-plate assays follows the order of SL-PCL>SL-PLLA>SL-PHB. The release of SL from the films into aqueous medium after a 4-d shaking at 25 °C showed that SL-PLLA (30.1±1.7 wt% SL released) most readily released the embedded SL, followed by SL-PHB (11.4±4.3 wt%) and SL-PCL (4.3±1.4 wt%). Thermal properties as determined by differential scanning calorimetry showed that SL decreases the heat of fusion (ΔH) and the melting temperature (Tm) of the biopolymers, indicating for the first time its usefulness as a plasticizer to prevent crystallization. In summary, the study shows the feasibility of controlling the release of antimicrobial SL by varying the type of biopolymer used, with the added advantage of SL functioning as a plasticizer to improve the physical properties of the film in term of lower crystallinity. Future research could benefit the agricultural sector via new developments as varied as antimicrobial food packaging and algal bloom mitigation.
Raccoon Roundworm Infection (Baylisascariasis): a Zoonosis of Pediatric and Public Health Concern

The extraordinary heteroxenosity (ability to use many hosts in its life cycle) of Baylisascaris procyonis is of particular concern not only to wildlife biologists but also to public health professionals and medical practitioners. To understand why there is an increasing human risk for infection with B. procyonis, a discussion of the biology and behavior of raccoons is prerequisite to subsequent discussions of epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment. B. procyonis is the large ascarid parasite of raccoons. The biology, morphology, and ecology of B. procyonis are similar to those of other ascarid parasites of carnivores, such as the common canine roundworm, Toxocara canis. Humans become infected with B. procyonis just as these other hosts do and become accidental hosts following inadvertent ingestion of eggs containing infective larvae. Without question, the biggest contributing factor to the poor response to B. procyonis neural larva migrans (NLM) therapy is treatment delay due to failure to add this zoonosis to the list of differential diagnoses. The problem of urbanized raccoons exemplifies the growing disconnect between the public's conceptions about wildlife and the reality of the public health risks that uncontrolled wildlife can pose. Accurate assessment of the prevalence of human exposure to B. procyonis would be of significant public health value and would begin to answer the numerous questions that remain about the epidemiology of baylisascariasis.
What Will Tip the Scale?: Toward a Theory for Understanding Democratic Transition in Iran

The world watched Iran in 200 9 to see what the aftermath of its presidential election would hold. It seemed as if the stage was set for regime change all requisite factors appeared to be present. Yet the theocratic Iranian regime that has been in place since 197 9 remains as entrenched as ever. This leaves us at an interesting juncture. What is the reason for this entrenchment? What explains the fact that the 2009 election did not spark a successful democratic transition? I posit that Iran has an additional factor that must be taken into account when considering democratic transition: its institutional structure. It is not enough for the opposition to coalesce around a symbolic figure they must coalesce around a real leader with enough power to push for democratic change. However, if this leader is to arise out of the system, he or she will likely be tainted by the system through which power was gained. This phenomenon will stunt any push for change that might come from within the ranks of the elites. As the result of a systematic examination of normal mechanisms for the occurrence of regime change, this study concludes, then, that a push must then come from elites outside of the system if Iran is to achieve democratic transition. This article is available in Res Publica Journal of Undergraduate Research: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/respublica/vol16/iss1/8
Report from the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN): Message from the President

Abstract THE 1988 CONGRESS in Rio de Janeiro was in some ways the most international of the Society's congresses in terms of the wide range of nationalities with over 40 represented and the scope of the program which included areas such as child labor, indigenous people and street children as well as the more traditional topics.
An iterative predictor-corrector approach for modeling static and kinetic friction in interactive simulations

In this paper we propose a novel iterative predictor-corrector (IPC) approach to model static and kinetic friction during interactions with deformable objects. The proposed IPC method works within the purview of the implicit mixed linear complementarity problem (MLCP) formulation of collision response. In IPC, first the potential directions of frictional force are determined at each contact point by leveraging the monotonic convergence of an iterative MLCP solver. All the contacts are then categorized into either static or kinetic frictional states. Linear projection constraints (LPCs) are used to enforce 'stiction' for contacts in static friction. We propose a modified iterative constraint anticipation (MICA) approach that can resolve the LPCs while simultaneously solving the MLCP. Our method can handle arbitrary models including asymmetric and anisotropic friction models. IPC requires low memory and is highly tunable. Multiple example problems are solved to demonstrate the method. Display Omitted
Reversal of sexual dimorphism in splenic T lymphocyte responses after trauma-hemorrhage with aging

Previous studies have demonstrated that hemorrhagic shock produces immunodepression in young male mice, whereas the immunoresponsivness in young proestrus female mice is enhanced under such conditi...
Boosting vaccine efficacy the natural (killer) way

Coordination of the innate and adaptive immune systems is paramount to the development of protective humoral and cellular immunity following vaccination. Natural killer (NK) cells are front-line soldiers of the innate immune system, and recent studies have revealed functions for NK cells in long-lived immune memory and the regulation of adaptive immune responses. These findings suggest that NK cells may play important roles in the development of efficacious vaccines, as well as, in some contexts, failed immunizations. Here, we review the current understanding of the immunomodulatory and memory differentiation capabilities of NK cells. We examine the context dependency of the mechanisms and the nature of NK cell-mediated modulation of the immune response, and discuss how these insights may impact immunization strategies and the development of next-generation vaccines.
The intellectual/financial complex of foreign aid

(1992). The intellectual/financial complex of foreign aid. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 19, No. 53, pp. 60-75.