cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sensory-Targeted Ankle Rehabilitation Strategies for Chronic Ankle Instability

AB Introduction: Deficient sensory input from damaged ankle ligament receptors is thought to contribute to sensorimotor deficits in those with chronic ankle instability (CAI). Targeting other viable sensory receptors may then enhance sensorimotor control in these patients. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effects of 2 wk of sensory-targeted ankle rehabilitation strategies (STARS) on patient- and clinician-oriented outcomes in those with CAI. Methods: Eighty patients with self-reported CAI participated. All patients completed patient-oriented questionnaires capturing self-reported function as well as the weight-bearing lunge test and an eyes-closed single-limb balance test. After baseline testing, patients were randomly allocated to four STARS groups: joint mobilization, plantar massage, triceps surae stretching, or control. Each patient in the intervention groups received six 5-min treatments of their respective STARS over 2 wk. All subjects were reassessed on patient- and clinician-oriented measures immediately after the intervention and completed a 1-month follow-up that consisted of patient-oriented measures. Change scores of the three STARS groups were compared with the control using independent t-tests and Hedges' g effect sizes with 95% confidence intervals. Results: The joint mobilization group had the greatest weight-bearing lunge test improvement. Plantar massage had the most meaningful single-limb balance improvement. All STARS groups improved patient-oriented outcomes with joint mobilization having the most meaningful effect immediately after the intervention and plantar massage at the 1-month follow-up. Conclusion: Each STARS treatment offers unique contributions to the patient- and clinician-oriented rehabilitation outcomes of those with CAI. Both joint mobilization and plantar massage appear to demonstrate the greatest potential to improve sensorimotor function in those with CAI
Suppression by nitrate of enzymatic reduction of nitric oxide.

SummaryWe found that the entire array of enzymes in Pseudomonas perjectomarinus that account for reduction of nitrate to nitrogen, including that which reduces nitrous oxide to nitrogen, was synthesized in 40, but not 35, min of incubation in a complete medium containing nitrate. Nitrite accumulated during the first 5-6 hr of culture despite the fact that we could demonstrate enzymes in crude cell-free extracts that reduced nitrite, nitric oxide, and nitrous oxide. To explain this, we found that nitrate suppressed the activity of nitric oxide reducing enzyme in crude extracts, as well as that in a fraction containing none of the other relevant reducing systems.
Transient Receptor Potential Channel 4 Encodes a Vascular Permeability Defect and High-Frequency Ca(2+) Transients in Severe Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

The canonical transient receptor potential channel 4 (TRPC4) comprises an endothelial store–operated Ca 2+ entry channel, and TRPC4 inactivation confers a survival benefit in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Endothelial Ca 2+ signals mediated by TRPC4 enhance vascular permeability in vitro , but the contribution of TRPC4-dependent Ca 2+ signals to the regulation of endothelial permeability in PAH is poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that TRPC4 increases vascular permeability and alters the frequency of endothelial Ca 2+ transients in PAH. We measured permeability in isolated lungs, and found that TRPC4 exaggerated permeability responses to thapsigargin in Sugen/hypoxia-treated PAH rats. We compared endothelial Ca 2+ activity of wild-type with TRPC4 -knockout rats using confocal microscopy, and evaluated how Ca 2+ signals were influenced in response to thapsigargin and sequential treatment with acetylcholine. We found that thapsigargin-stimulated Ca 2+ signals were increased in PAH, and recovered by TRPC4 inactivation. Store depletion revealed bimodal Ca 2+ responses to acetylcholine, with both short- and long-duration populations. Our results show that TRPC4 underlies an exaggerated endothelial permeability response in PAH. Furthermore, TRPC4 increased the frequency of endothelial Ca 2+ transients in severe PAH, suggesting that TRPC4 provides a Ca 2+ source associated with endothelial dysfunction in the pathophysiology of PAH. This phenomenon represents a new facet of the etiology of PAH, and may contribute to PAH vasculopathy by enabling inflammatory mediator flux across the endothelial barrier.
Time-Dependent Spectral Shifts in Tryptophan Fluorescence: Bridging Experiments with Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are widely used to model protein motions. Although the time resolution of MD simulations is virtually unlimited, simulated MD is seldom compared with experimental data on the picosecond time scale because few experimental techniques can probe molecular vibrations in the frequency range between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. Time-dependent spectral shift (TDSS, also known as dynamic Stokes shift) in fluorescence emission from solvatochromic dyes has long been used to study relaxation dynamics of polar solvents on the picosecond time scale. This chapter reviews the use of TDSS in connection with protein dynamics. Different methods of calculating TDSS from the non-equilibrium and equilibrium MD are compared and the limits of their applicability are defined. Methods for separating the contributions of water and protein to TDSS are considered. Two relaxation modes of bulk water are described and their effects on the TDSS in proteins are examined. The rates of water relaxation near interfaces and inside protein pockets are evaluated. A method for identifying conformational changes responsible for the TDSS on different time scales is introduced.
Close-knit cities

Aristotle rightly holds that the constitution of a city is not entirely captured by its written documents or official political structures. More fundamentally, the constitution of a city is made up of its real and deep habits, customs, relations, expectations, aspirations, and ideals of the people who live there. The aim here is to articulate five values that together constitute what I will call close-knit cities: a) ecological resiliency; b) intimate proximity; c) social heterogeneity; d) fairness; e) social trust. I give a brief account of each of these values alone, along the way showing how each value needs the others to be fully realised, and ultimately argue that at least most cities should aspire to become close-knit cities because they simultaneously realise environmental stewardship and enable human flourishing.
Influence and Advice on Chinese Economy under Economic Crisis

The subprime mortgage crisis which began in the early part of 2006 and swept over the wholeAmerica has influenced China significantly.In this suffered most during the economic downturn.On theprocess,the financial field was seriously impactedin the first place.In 2008,every economic filed had underwent a recession and the financial field had enterprises and proposed that a package of financialcontrary,the real economy had not been affectedsubstantially.This paper illustrated this point of view by analyzing financial data of share-holding stimulus should be implemented above all in thefinancial filed.
Hypernephroma associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type I: a case report.

AbstractWe report a case of multiple endocrine neoplasia type I and hypernephroma. Parathyroid hyperplasia, adrenocortical hyperplasia, a nodular goiter, multiple lipomas, a chromophobe adenoma of the pituitary and hypernephroma had all been diagnosed previously. All but the last are features consistent with the diagnosis of multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (Wermer’s syndrome). The association of multiple endocrine neoplasia type I and hypernephroma may represent a new manifestation of this pleiotropic syndrome.
Robust jumping performance and elastic energy recovery from compliant perches in tree frogs.

ABSTRACT Arboreal animals often move on compliant branches, which may deform substantially under loads, absorbing energy. Energy stored in a compliant substrate may be returned to the animal or it may be lost. In all cases studied so far, animals jumping from a static start lose all of the energy imparted to compliant substrates and performance is reduced. Cuban tree frogs ( Osteopilus septentrionalis ) are particularly capable arboreal jumpers, and we hypothesized that these animals would be able to recover energy from perches of varying compliance. In spite of large deflections of the perches and consequent substantial energy absorption, frogs were able to regain some of the energy lost to the perch during the recoil. Takeoff velocity was robust to changes in compliance, but was lower than when jumping from flat surfaces. This highlights the ability of animals to minimize energy loss and maintain dependable performance on challenging substrates via behavioral changes.
Increased pediatric sub-specialization is associated with decreased surgical complication rates for inpatient pediatric urology procedures.

Summary Introduction Increased case volumes and training are associated with better surgical outcomes. However, the impact of pediatric urology sub-specialization on perioperative complication rates is unknown. Objectives To determine the presence and magnitude of difference in rates of common postoperative complications for elective pediatric urology procedures between specialization levels of urologic surgeons. The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a nationally representative administrative database, was used. Study design The NIS (1998–2009) was retrospectively reviewed for pediatric (≤18 years) admissions, using ICD-9-CM codes to identify urologic surgeries and National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) inpatient postoperative complications. Degree of pediatric sub-specialization was calculated using a Pediatric Proportion Index (PPI), defined as the ratio of children to total patients operated on by each provider. The providers were grouped into PPI quartiles: Q1, 0–25% specialization; Q2, 25–50%; Q3, 50–75%; Q4, 75–100%. Weighted multivariate analysis was performed to test for associations between PPI and surgical complications. Results A total of 71,479 weighted inpatient admissions were identified. Patient age decreased with increasing specialization: Q1, 7.9 vs Q2, 4.8 vs Q3, 4.8 vs Q4, 4.6 years, P P > 0.20), gender ( P > 0.50), or comorbidity scores ( P = 0.10). Mortality (1.5% vs 0.2% vs 0.3% vs 0.4%, P P P = 0.04). Adjusting for confounding effects, increased pediatric specialization was associated with decreased postoperative complications: Q2 OR 0.78, CI 0.58–1.05; Q3 OR 0.60, CI 0.44–0.84; Q4 OR 0.70, CI 0.58–0.84; P Discussion Providers with proportionally higher volumes of pediatric patients achieved better postoperative outcomes than their less sub-specialized counterparts. This may have arisen from increased exposure to pediatric anatomy and physiology, and greater familiarity with pediatric techniques. Limitation The NIS admission-based retrospective design did not enable assessment of long-term outcomes, repeated admissions, or to track a particular patient across time. The study was similarly limited in evaluating the effect of pre-surgical referral patterns on patient distributions. Conclusions Increased pediatric sub-specialization among urologists was associated with a decreased risk of mortality and surgical complications in children undergoing inpatient urologic procedures.
Tunability of RF-Responses by Plasmonic Dielectric Amplification Using Branched e–-Polarizable C60-Adducts on Magnetic Nanoparticles

Three C60-DPAF conjugates were synthesized with one as a linear monoadduct and two as branched or starburst multiadducts in structure for the investigation of chromophore antenna number-dependent tunability of RF-responses at 0.5–18 GHz. The effect was photoinduced by the generation of surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) at the surface of trilayered core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) consisting of a highly magnetic γ-FeOx@AuNP core and an e–-polarizable C60-DPAF adduct-derived partially bilayered fullerosome outer shell. Observed large dielectric (permittivity) amplification phenomena, with the maximization on the starburst multiadduct-derived nanoparticles, were correlated to the photoactivation efficiency at the gold nanolayer. We hypothesized that the prolong accumulation (or trapping) of photogenerated SPR energy in the intermediate gold layer, sandwiched between the C60(>DPAF-C9)x-derived fullerosome membrane and the highly magnetic γ-FeOx NP core, was effectively released at the light-off stage to induce ...
Architecture and optimization of high-throughput belief propagation decoding of polar codes

Belief propagation (BP) is one common decoding algorithm for polar codes. BP can be implemented using a forward-backward flooding schedule that removes the data dependency. The intrinsic parallelism of the BP algorithm permits a high throughput. In this paper, we present a parallel BP decoder design space exploration. Through gate-level implementations, we analyze the silicon area, throughput, and power consumption of each design. We present adaptive quantization and early convergence detection to improve the error-correcting performance and throughput of BP decoders.
Synthesis of colloidal PbS nanosheets with nearly 100% success rate

We report a robust method by which colloidal PbS nanosheets can be synthesized with nearly 100% success rate. It is achieved by replacing the lead acetate by lead oxide for preparation of the lead precursor. Acetic acid either injected externally or produced during the reaction can significantly affect the growth of the nanosheets. The existence of water in the reaction solution makes the nanosheets smaller in lateral size while the purity of trioctylphosphine has no significant effect on the nanosheet growth.
Finite element analysis of the Advanced Combat Helmet under various ballistic impacts

Abstract In this research, ballistic performance of the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH), which is currently used by the U.S. military, were numerically and experimentally evaluated. The ACH model was first developed and validated against existing test data in literature, which were obtained per the requirements of NIJ-0106.01 standard and the U.S. Army's V50 ballistic limit. The comparison of simulation results to experimental data showed that the developed ACH model was capable of predicting the ACH responses under ballistic impacts of 9-mm bullet and 1.1 g fragment simulating projectile. It is found that stand-off distances, impact point and curvature of impacted area are the main parameters that affect ballistic performance of the ACH. An open field experiment was also conducted for further investigation of ballistic performance of the ACH under higher caliber .223 rifle impact. Later, validated numerical model was used to compare with experimental data in terms of ballistic responses and damage pattern of the ACH. It is also found that although the ACH provides protection against 9-mm bullet impacts, it is inadequate under impact of .223 rifle impact.
The Fate of the Clean Power Plan and U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Trump Era

The Obama Administration’s signature effort to abate greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to climate change was its Clean Power Plan (CPP), an innovative effort to rein in GHGs from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants, the U.S.’s largest source of stationary source emissions. The CPP never went into effect, however, the victim of an unusual stay issued by the United States Supreme Court before its effective date. Subsequently, a lower court halted the litigation attacking the CPP at the request of the Trump Administration to allow it to review (and presumably repeal) the CPP and put its own stamp on climate policy. This article discusses the review process the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has embarked upon, its potential outcome, and the extent to which regulatory policies and market considerations are likely to shape GHG emissions from the U.S. electric power sector in the foreseeable future.
Case 82: A High Total Spinal in an Obstetric Patient

You have placed an epidural in a 30-year-old (180 lbs 5′10″, gravida 2, para 1) female in active labor. She is otherwise healthy. In her first delivery 14 months ago, the labor epidural was, according to the patient, amazing, and she had an uneventful delivery. This epidural was placed, on the first attempt, in L3/4 interspinous space using a 17 G Tuohy needle with a plastic syringe to detect loss of resistance to air. No blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were seen. A 19 G epidural catheter was easily inserted, and a 3 ml test dose with 2% lidocaine with epinephrine was negative. Approximately 5 min later, you gave a bolus injection of 0.1% bupivacaine 5 ml with fentanyl 5 microgram/ml. Within 1 min of this later dose, the patient’s leg became heavy and numb. Since you felt this was too quick, you ascertain by placing ice, on her skin, that the block is rapidly ascending to T5. She now experiences shortness of breath and labored breathing.
Counting relative equilibrium configurations of the full two-body problem

Consider a system of two rigid, massive bodies interacting according to their mutual gravitational attraction. In a relative equilibrium motion, the bodies rotate rigidly and uniformly about a fixed axis in $${\mathbb {R}}^3$$ . This is possible only for special positions and orientations of the bodies. After fixing the angular momentum, these relative equilibrium configurations can be characterized as critical points of a smooth function on configuration space. The goal of this paper is to use Morse theory and Lusternik–Schnirelmann category theory to give lower bounds for the number of critical points when the angular momentum is sufficiently large. In addition, the exact number of critical points and their Morse indices are found in the limit as the angular momentum tends to infinity.
Thresholds and hotspots for shrub restoration following a heterogeneous megafire

Reestablishing foundational plant species through aerial seeding is an essential yet challenging step for restoring the vast semiarid landscapes impacted by plant invasions and wildfire-regime shifts. A key component of the challenge stems from landscape variability and its effects on plant recovery. We assessed landscape correlates, thresholds, and tipping points for sagebrush presence from fine-scale sampling across a large, heterogeneous area burned the previous year, where we were able to quantify soil surface features that are typically occluded yet can strongly affect recovery patterns. Hypothesis testing and binary-decision trees were used to evaluate factors affecting initial sagebrush establishment, using 2171 field plots (totaling ~ 2,000,000 m2 sampled) over a 113,000-ha region. Sagebrush established in 50% of plots where it was seeded, a > 12-fold greater establishment frequency than in unseeded areas. Sagebrush establishment was enhanced in threshold-like ways by elevation (> 1200 m ASL), topographic features that alter heatload and soil water, and by soil-surface features such as “fertile islands” that bore the imprint of pre-fire sagebrush. Sagebrush occupancy had a negative, linear relationship with exotic-annual grass cover and parabolic relationship with perennial bunchgrasses (optimal at 40% cover). Our approach revealed interactive, ecological relationships such as novel soil-surface effects on first year establishment of sagebrush across the burned landscape, and identified “hot spots” for recovery. The approach could be expanded across sites and years to provide the information needed to explain past seeding successes or failures, and in designing treatments at the landscape scale.
Cynipid Gall Wasps in Declining Black Oak in New York: Relationships with Prior Tree History and Crown Dieback

Decline of black oak (Quercus velutina Lamarck) on New York’s Long Island in the early 1990’s was associated with a cynipid gall wasp on large urban trees. Symptoms included swollen twigs, gnarled branches, fungal cankers, and crown dieback. A study conducted from 1994 to 1996 showed that symptoms occurred on trees in urban and forested areas. Trees with greater incremental diameter growth before the gall wasp outbreak suffered less dieback than those that grew more slowly prior to the outbreak. A series of periodic environmental stress factors, such as drought and defoliation, played an important role in triggering susceptibility and decline in affected trees.
Statistical analysis of failure time distributions for Great Lakes marine diesels using censored data

Field-censored failure data collected from six identical Colt-Pielstick PC2-400 Great Lakes marine diesel engine components are analysed. Appropriate censored lifetime data analysis techniques are presented and applied to obtain the probability density function (PDF) parameter estimates for the entire population when only a portion of that population has failed. Weibull and exponential PDF parameters are evaluated for seven components - namely cylinder pistons, heads, jackets, liners and O-rings, connecting rod bearings, fuel cams and turbochargers. Reliability and hazard functions for these items are presented and discussed. It is shown that the exponential model is inappropriate for these items.
Towards Autonomic Computing: Injecting Self-Organizing and Self-Healing Properties into Java Programs

Autonomic computing is a grand challenge in computing. It aims to produce distributed software that has the properties of self-healing, self-organizing, self-protecting and self-optimizing. This paper focuses on the challenge of injecting only self-healing properties into existing programs that targets the Java Virtual Machine. The byte code is analyzed and additional code is injected to automatically recover from failure such as network or processor failure. A framework to provide autonomic computing support is presented and evaluated to determine its suitability for a fully fledged autonomic computing system.
Clinical implications of basic neuroscience research II : NMDA receptors and neurotrophic factors

The clinical implications of two areas of basic neuroscience research are described in this review paper. These areas include the identification of glutamate receptors on central neurons and their involvement in brain injury, and the role of nerve growth factor in the development and treatment of Alzheimer disease.
Organic Rankine Cycle as a Waste Heat Recovery System for Data Centers: Design and Construction of a Prototype

Due to the increasing demand for data center utilization, many significant challenges have arisen for thermal engineers over the last few decades. Advanced cooling systems for servers are of significant interest, including technologies which can also reduce electricity usage. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is considered a viable option for this purpose. It can both absorb the heat from a server and then transfer that heat into a power cycle to generate electricity. This study focuses on the operation of an experimental 20kW ORC prototype, which represents two common rack servers operating at full capacity. The range of server waste heat temperatures examined is between 60°C to 85°C, which is far below the normal operating range for ORCs. Thermodynamic modeling on this ultra-low-grade waste heat system predicts thermal efficiency between 2%-8%. Tests on the experimental rig showed a maximum thermal efficiency of 3.33%. However, the system is both absorbing all the heat from the data center and at the same time providing an economic benefit back to the data center in the form of electricity. Through experimental investigation, this study illustrates that the use of an ORC system is a valid solution for ultra-low-grade data center waste heat recovery.
The Bat-Inspired Consensus Protocols with Differential Privacy

This paper proposes a bat-inspired consensus algorithm that can converge to a suggested direction defined by the best solution (i.e., the optimal solution among the population of candidate solutions) to a separate, unrelated optimization problem. By introducing the notion of differentially privacy, this consensus algorithm can also protect each bat’s privacy of its state information from honest-but-curious (a.k.a. semihonest) adversaries by adding a particularly designed noise to the state information of each bat. This differential privacy consensus can prevent the adversary from inferring the state information of other bats. The analysis results show that the proposed bat-inspired consensus has a convergence property under some mild assumptions and we also characterize the upper bound of the accuracy for this consensus algorithm.
Lysosomal acid lipase and lipid metabolism: new mechanisms, new questions, and new therapies.

Purpose of reviewLysosomal acid lipase (LAL), encoded by the LIPA gene, is an essential lysosomal enzyme that hydrolyzes cholesteryl ester and triglyceride delivered to the lysosome. This review highlights the novel pathophysiological role of LAL, the functional genomic discoveries of LIPA as a risk
Predicting probability of perirectal colonization with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and other carbapenem-resistant organisms (CROs) at hospital unit admission.

Background Targeted screening for carbapenem-resistant organisms (CROs), including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs), remains limited; recent data suggest that existing policies miss many carriers. Objective Our objective was to measure the prevalence of CRO and CPO perirectal colonization at hospital unit admission and to use machine learning methods to predict probability of CRO and/or CPO carriage. Methods We performed an observational cohort study of all patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) or solid organ transplant (SOT) unit at The Johns Hopkins Hospital between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017. Admission perirectal swabs were screened for CROs and CPOs. More than 125 variables capturing preadmission clinical and demographic characteristics were collected from the electronic medical record (EMR) system. We developed models to predict colonization probabilities using decision tree learning. Results Evaluating 2,878 admission swabs from 2,165 patients, we found that 7.5% and 1.3% of swabs were CRO and CPO positive, respectively. Organism and carbapenemase diversity among CPO isolates was high. Despite including many characteristics commonly associated with CRO/CPO carriage or infection, overall, decision tree models poorly predicted CRO and CPO colonization (C statistics, 0.57 and 0.58, respectively). In subgroup analyses, however, models did accurately identify patients with recent CRO-positive cultures who use proton-pump inhibitors as having a high likelihood of CRO colonization. Conclusions In this inpatient population, CRO carriage was infrequent but was higher than previously published estimates. Despite including many variables associated with CRO/CPO carriage, models poorly predicted colonization status, likely due to significant host and organism heterogeneity.
Will surgery be a part of breast cancer treatment in the future

The combination of smaller, screen-detected cancers, improved efficacy of systemic therapy, and increasing use of neoadjuvant therapy with rising rates of pathologic complete response has prompted interest in studying elimination of surgery for some women with breast cancer. In order to determine whether this is a high priority area for research, knowledge of the proportion of cancers cured by surgery, the morbidity of current surgical approaches to breast cancer, and patient treatment preferences must be considered. This article reviews these topics and addresses some of the concerns about elimination of surgery in the settings of patients with small amounts of non-high-grade DCIS and in those who appear to have a pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Some observations on forecasting and policy

Abstract This paper offers some thoughts on the use of macroeconomic and financial forecasts in monetary and fiscal policy. It stresses the role of nowcasting in constructing good forecasts: most of the value added in macreoeconomic forecasts comes from getting a good approximation to the jumping-off point. Some specific applications are discussed: long-range debt/GDP projections and forecasting recessions using asset prices. I also discuss the construction and use of density forecasts.
Synthesis, Proton-Affinity and Anti-Cancer Properties of the Prodigiosin-Group Natural Products

The prodigiosin-group natural products are a family of tripyrrole red-pigments that are produced by microorganisms such as Streptomyces and Serratia and contain a common 4-methoxy-2,2'-bipyrrole ring system. They were first isolated in 1929 and studied as antibiotic and cytotoxic agents in the 1960s, but were not developed clinically due to their high systemic toxicity. However, during the past decade some prodigiosins have shown potentially useful immunosuppressive activity when administered at doses that are not toxic. They have also been found to exhibit selective cytotoxicity against melanoma and liver cancer cells. These results have fueled various studies on the biological mechanisms of the prodigiosins and it has now been established that they inhibit phosphorylation and activation of JAK-3, a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase associated with the cell surface receptor component called common gamma-chain. They also uncouple lysosomal vacuolar-type ATPases through promotion of H(+)/Cl(-) symport and facilitate oxidative double-strand DNA cleavage in the presence of copper. A simple and elegant synthesis of the prodigiosins has also been developed, which has allowed a number of the natural prodigiosins and synthetic analogues to be prepared. These studies have served to renew interest in the prodigiosin-group natural products. In this review the recent advances on the synthesis, proton-affinity and biological activities of the prodigiosins are discussed. With regard to their anti-cancer properties, particular attention is given to their ability to facilitate oxidative DNA damage, which provides a rationale for the cytotoxic properties of the prodigiosin-group natural products.
Luke 2:52 as a Basis for How We “Do” Christian Education:

Luke 2:52 is used to support the acceptance of integration of social sciences into Christian education; however, Luke 2:52 is taken out of context to defend developmental goals. Topics include the ...
Correlation of Tumor Burden in Sentinel Lymph Nodes with Tumor Burden in Nonsentinel Lymph Nodes and Survival in Cutaneous Melanoma.

Purpose: In patients with cutaneous melanoma, metastasis in a nonsentinel lymph node (non-SLN) is a strong independent adverse prognostic factor. However, patients with a tumor-involved SLN no longer routinely undergo completion lymph node dissection (CLND). We hypothesized that SLN tumor burden may predict non-SLN tumor burden. Experimental Design: We compared tumor burden parameters between SLN and non-SLN in patients with cutaneous melanoma who underwent SLN biopsy with a positive SLN during 2003 to 2008 at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results: We identified 336 eligible patients with a positive SLN. Of these, 308 (92%) underwent CLND, and 35 (10%) had non-SLN metastasis. The median follow-up time was 6.0 years. For patients with maximum diameter of tumor in the SLN ≤2.0 mm, >2.0–5.0 mm, and >5.0 mm, non-SLN metastasis was detected in 5 of 200 patients (3%), 10 of 63 patients (16%), and 20 of 57 patients (35%), and the mean maximum diameters of the non-SLN tumor deposits were 0.09, 1.56, and 2.71 mm, respectively (P Conclusions: In patients with cutaneous melanoma who undergo CLND, SLN tumor burden predicts non-SLN tumor burden. SLN tumor burden parameters provide accurate prognostic stratification independent of non-SLN status and should be considered for incorporation into future staging systems and integrated risk models.
A comparison of digital subtraction angiography and computed tomography angiography for the diagnosis of penetrating cerebrovascular injury.

Objective Penetrating cerebrovascular injury (PCVI) is a subset of traumatic brain injury (TBI) comprising a broad spectrum of cerebrovascular pathology, including traumatic pseudoaneurysms, direct arterial injury, venous sinus stenosis or occlusion, and traumatic dural arteriovenous fistulas. These can result in immediate or delayed vascular injury and consequent neurological morbidity. Current TBI guidelines recommend cerebrovascular imaging for detection, but there is no consensus on the optimum modality. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to compare CT angiography (CTA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for the diagnosis of PCVI. Methods The records of all patients presenting to two level I trauma centers in the United States between January 2010 and July 2016 with penetrating head or neck trauma were reviewed. Only those who had undergone both CTA and DSA were included. Clinical and neuroimaging data were collected, and PCVIs were stratified using a modified Biffl grading scheme. DSA and CTA results were then compared. Results Of 312 patients with penetrating trauma over the study period, 56 patients (91% male, mean age 32 years) with PCVI met inclusion criteria and constituted the study cohort. The mechanism of injury was a gunshot wound in 86% (48/56) of patients. Twenty-four (43%) patients had sustained an angiographically confirmed arterial or venous injury. Compared with DSA as the gold standard, CTA had a sensitivity and specificity of 72% and 63%, respectively, for identifying PCVI. CTA had a positive predictive value of 61% and negative predictive value of 70%. Seven patients (13%) required immediate endovascular treatment of PCVI; in 3 (43%) of these patients, the injury was not identified on CTA. Twenty-two patients (39%) underwent delayed DSA an average of 25 days after injury; 2 (9%) of these patients were found to harbor new pathological conditions requiring treatment. Conclusions In this retrospective analysis of PCVI at two large trauma centers, CTA demonstrated low sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the diagnosis of PCVI. These findings suggest that DSA provides better accuracy than CTA in the diagnosis of both immediate and delayed PCVI and should be considered for patients experiencing penetrating head or neck trauma.
Attitudes toward a programed text: “the analysis of behavior” compared with “a textbook of psychology”

THIS IS A STUDY of students' attitudes toward two introductory psychology textbooks. One is a linearly programed text emphasizing Skinnerian reinforcement principles (Holland and Skinner's The Analysis of Behavior), and the other is a relatively more conventional textbook (Hebb's A Textbook of Psychology). These texts are short enough so that they both could be used within one semester. Repeated testing with generalized attitude scales permitted an analysis of changes in attitudes toward the texts during the entire semester and during the use of each text.
Predictors of Recovery in Patients Supported With Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Acute Massive Pulmonary Embolism

Background Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) has emerged as a promising initial support strategy for acute massive pulmonary embolism. However, it remains unclear which patients will ultimately require surgical pulmonary embolectomy (SPE) vs anticoagulation alone. Methods All consecutive patients (2015-2018) with confirmed massive PE, placed on VA-ECMO utilizing a protocolized approach, were reviewed. Per protocol, patients were supported for 3 to 5 days before reevaluation of right ventricular (RV) function via echocardiography. If RV function recovered, VA-ECMO was discontinued with no further intervention (no-SPE group). In patients with persistent RV dysfunction, SPE was performed. Results Forty-five patients were identified, and 41 patients were treated per protocol. Seventy-three percent responded to anticoagulation alone, and 27% required SPE. Factors associated with SPE rather than decannulation with anticoagulation alone included prolonged shortness of breath, elevated N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide, enlarged pulmonary artery diameter, and history of venous thromboembolism. A predictive algorithm was developed with a negative predictive value of 97% and a specificity of 97% for a low-risk score, and a positive predictive value of 100% and sensitivity of 67% for a high-risk score. Overall, 90-day survival was 97% in the no-SPE group and 100% in the SPE group. Conclusions In this cohort, greater than 70% of patients who presented with massive PE and supported with VA-ECMO ultimately recovered with anticoagulation alone. Specific risk factors, likely related to thrombus chronicity, may be associated with lack of RV recovery, and can be utilized for consideration of early surgical intervention to minimize VA-ECMO duration.
Extracting features from faces using compression networks: Face, identity, emotion, and gender recognition using holons

We summarize a series of experiments using simple autoencoder networks to extract features from 64 × 64 face images. For our data sets, these networks are capable of extracting features that are linearly separable with respect to several classification tasks. We demonstrate the ability of these networks to extract information relevant to the identification of faces from non-faces, identity of the faces, sex and feigned emotional state. Also, we show how such networks can be used to form a basis for association of codes from different modalities, forming the basis for meaning representation in terms of association between mental imagery and linguistic codes. Finally, while the mechanisms and architecture are only distantly related to cortical mechanisms, they show how a representational element could be a “distributed grandmother cell”, i.e., how a distributed representation may appear localist when only one cell is examined at a time.
Comparison of minimally invasive versus open surgery in the treatment of endometrial carcinosarcoma

Objective The aim of this study was to compare perioperative and oncologic outcomes between minimally invasive and open surgery in the treatment of endometrial carcinosarcoma. Methods We retrospectively identified all patients with newly diagnosed endometrial carcinosarcoma who underwent primary surgery via any approach at our institution from January 2009 to January 2018. Patients with known bulky disease identified on preoperative imaging were excluded. The χ2 and Mann–Whitney U tests were used to compare categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Kaplan–Meier curves were used to estimate survival, and compared using the log rank test. Results We identified 147 eligible patients, of whom 37 (25%) underwent an open approach and 110 (75%) underwent minimally invasive surgery. Within the minimally invasive group, 92 (84%) of 110 patients underwent a robotic procedure and 14 (13%) underwent a laparoscopic procedure. Four minimally invasive cases (4%) were converted to open procedures. Median age, body mass index, operative time, stage, complication grade, and use of adjuvant treatment were clinically and statistically similar between groups. Median length of hospital stay in the open group was 4 days (range 3–21) compared with 1 day (range 0–6) in the minimally invasive group (p Conclusions In patients with clinical stage I endometrial carcinosarcoma, minimally invasive compared with open surgery was not associated with poor oncologic outcomes, but with a shorter length of hospital stay and a lower rate of overall complications.
Abstract 6053: Increased nitric oxide augments the action of CSF-1R inhibition against tumor associated macrophages in castration resistant prostate cancer

Introduction and Objectives: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common non-skin cancer among American men, and growing evidence suggests that targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME) could be essential in combating the progression of metastasis and resistance development in cancer. In this context, the colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1)/colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) axis has gained the most attention, and various approaches targeting either the ligands or the receptor are currently in clinical development. However, as a class, CSF1R inhibitors have proved mostly disappointing in early clinical trials when used as monotherapy. Researchers believe their true potential can be tapped by combining them with other anticancer drugs. Sensitization to CSF-1R blockage therapy is tumor microenvironment (TME) driven. In one of our studies, we demonstrated that increased nitric oxide (NO) reduces tumor burden in murine models for CRPC by targeting TME . Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the hypothesis that Increased Nitric oxide augments the action of CSF-1R inhibition against tumor associated macrophages in castration resistant prostate cancer. Methods: The castrated SCID mice were treated with CSF1R inhibitor (GS2580) at the dosage of 40mg/kg/day IP or/and GSNO at the dosage of 10mg/kg/day IP. After 4 weeks mice were humanely sacrificed. Tumor RNA and proteins to analyze the markers that are important for prostate cancer progression using qPCR, western blot and cytokine antibody array. RNA library was generated, and RNA sequencing was performed using RNA isolated from tumors. Molecular analyses were performed using standard procedures. GraphPad Prism (GraphPad Software) was used for statistical analysis. All data were presented as the means ± SEM. Results: Mice which recieved CSF1R inhibition showed significant reduction in tumor burden (p Conclusions: Our findings suggest that CSF1R inhibition induced changes against CRPC are augmented in the presence of increased NO levels therefore demonstrating the therapeutic potential of increased NO levels against CRPC. Citation Format: Yash Soni, Manish Kuchakulla, Rehana Qureshi, Van Booven Derek J, Joshua M. Hare, Ranjith Ramasamy, Himanshu Arora. Increased nitric oxide augments the action of CSF-1R inhibition against tumor associated macrophages in castration resistant prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 6053.
De-biasing the dynamic mode decomposition for applied Koopman spectral analysis of noisy datasets

The dynamic mode decomposition (DMD)—a popular method for performing data-driven Koopman spectral analysis—has gained increased popularity for extracting dynamically meaningful spatiotemporal descriptions of fluid flows from snapshot measurements. Often times, DMD descriptions can be used for predictive purposes as well, which enables informed decision-making based on DMD model forecasts. Despite its widespread use and utility, DMD can fail to yield accurate dynamical descriptions when the measured snapshot data are imprecise due to, e.g., sensor noise. Here, we express DMD as a two-stage algorithm in order to isolate a source of systematic error. We show that DMD’s first stage, a subspace projection step, systematically introduces bias errors by processing snapshots asymmetrically. To remove this systematic error, we propose utilizing an augmented snapshot matrix in a subspace projection step, as in problems of total least-squares, in order to account for the error present in all snapshots. The resulting unbiased and noise-aware total DMD (TDMD) formulation reduces to standard DMD in the absence of snapshot errors, while the two-stage perspective generalizes the de-biasing framework to other related methods as well. TDMD’s performance is demonstrated in numerical and experimental fluids examples. In particular, in the analysis of time-resolved particle image velocimetry data for a separated flow, TDMD outperforms standard DMD by providing dynamical interpretations that are consistent with alternative analysis techniques. Further, TDMD extracts modes that reveal detailed spatial structures missed by standard DMD.
Supersensitive CeOx-based nanocomposite sensor for the electrochemical detection of hydroxyl free radicals

It is well known that an excess of hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) in the human body is responsible for oxidative stress-related diseases. An understanding of the relationship between the concentration of ˙OH and those diseases could contribute to better diagnosis and prevention. Here we present a supersensitive nanosensor integrated with an electrochemical method to measure the concentration of ˙OH in vitro. The electrochemical sensor consists of a composite comprised of ultrasmall cerium oxide nanoclusters (<2 nm) grafted to a highly conductive carbon deposited on a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to analyze the interaction between cerium oxide nanoclusters and ˙OH. The CV results demonstrated that this electrochemical sensor had the capacity of detecting ˙OH with a high degree of accuracy and selectivity, achieving a consistent performance. Additionally, EIS results confirmed that our electrochemical sensor was able to differentiate ˙OH from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which is another common reactive oxygen species (ROS) found in the human body. The limit of detection (LOD) observed with this electrochemical sensor was of 0.6 μM. Furthermore, this nanosized cerium oxide-based electrochemical sensor successfully detected in vitro the presence of ˙OH in preosteoblast cells from newborn mouse bone tissue. The supersensitive electrochemical sensor is expected to be beneficially used in multiple applications, including medical diagnosis, fuel-cell technology, and food and cosmetic industries.
Reliability and Performance of CMOS-Compatible Multi-Level Graphene Interconnects Incorporating Vias

Doped-multilayer-graphene (DMLG) interconnects employing the subtractive-etching (SE) process have opened a new pathway for designing interconnects for extremely scaled dimensions [1],[2]. Even though single-level scaled graphene wires have been demonstrated with comparable or lower resistivity and higher reliability w.r.t dual-damascene (DD) and SE-enabled metal-wires [1]-[3], the reliability and performance of a multi-level graphene interconnect technology (with vias) have remained elusive, which is of paramount importance for its integration in future technology nodes. This work, for the first time, addresses that need by engineering a CMOS-compatible solid-phase growth technique to yield large-area multilayer graphene (MLG) on both dielectric (SiO 2 ) and metallic (Cu) substrates, and subsequently demonstrating SE-enabled multilevel MLG-interconnects with edge-contacting metal-vias. Electrical and reliability characterizations establish that <2 % change in via resistance occurs under accelerated stress conditions, demonstrating supreme reliability of the multi-level MLG structure against self-heating and electromigration, as well as ~2-folds improvement in the estimated circuit performance of DMLG, making them ideal candidates for sub-10 nm nodes.