cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunotherapy in lung cancer

Immunotherapy has emerged in recent years as a promising therapeutic approach in lung cancer. Two approaches are of particular interest: immune checkpoint inhibition, which aims to counteract the physiologic mechanisms of immune tolerance co-opted by some tumors, and vaccine therapy, which enables enhanced exposure to tumor antigen. Immune checkpoint therapies include the monoclonal antibody blockade of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) with ipilimumab, as well as antibody blockade of the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) receptor and the PD-1 ligand. These immune checkpoint therapies have been evaluated in both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with early evidence of activity. Vaccines include antigen specific therapies which induce specific antitumor immunity against relevant tumor-associated antigens. In lung cancer, these include the melanoma- associated antigen-A3 (MAGE-A3), membrane-associated glycoprotein (MUC-1), and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Whole tumor vaccines have also been evaluated in lung cancer and influence the patient's immune system to allow recognition of the tumor as foreign creating de novo immunity. This review summarizes the evidence to date for the efficacy and safety of immunotherapies in lung cancer.
Shareholder-Manager Disagreement, Animal Spirits, and Corporate Investment

We develop a theoretical model in which disagreement between management and shareholders creates a link between investment and the stock market. We show that the stock price decreases in the level of disagreement. Because management uses the stock price to infer the level of disagreement, the firm's investment is positively correlated with its stock price, even when investment is not financed by an equity issue. Empirically, we find that Tobin's q is negatively related to a proxy for disagreement. This proxy is unrelated to traditional indicators of asymmetric information. Using simple estimation of an investment Euler equation, we find first that a high stock price and a low level of disagreement act together to increase investment today relative to investment tomorrow. We conclude that disagreement drives corporate investment to a much greater extent than either asymmetric information or managerial entrenchment.
Development of a Liquid-Mercury Cathode Thruster System

A 20-cm LM cathode thruster system has been developed for operation at beam currents IB = 0.5-1.0 amp and a beam voltage VB < 2 kv. At the maximum beam level, the total source energy per ion is Vs = 315 ev/ion at a mass utilization efficiency rjm = 89%. Discharge chamber performance is essentially unchanged for operation at a reduced beam voltage VB = 1 kv. The thruster employs a conventional thin-screen, high-transparency (70%) ion- extraction system and an LM cathode which is thermally integrated with the thruster body. A mercury feed subassembly provides electrical isolation from the propellant supply while regulating liquid mercury flow to the thruster. At full-rated power, the LM cathode operates at an equilibrium temperature TK — 200°C. With an over-all mass of 6 kg (exclusive of propellant and reservoir), the system operates with an over-all efficiency of T]T = 72% at a specific impulse Jsp, eff = 4040 sec or alternatively with rjT = 60% at / sp, eff = 2710 sec.
Assessing Change in Student Critical Thinking for Introduction to Sociology Classes

Although there is widespread agreement among academics that critical thinking is an important component to the college classroom, there is little empirical evidence to verify that it is being taugh...
Some observations about shielding extremely low-frequency magnetic fields by finite width shields

Shielding of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields is limited by fields penetrating through imperfect material and leakage around the edges of shields which do not completely enclose the shielded region. The latter effect, more specifically the effect of source geometry and shield type on leakage, is the subject of this work. Particular attention is paid to elementary cylindrical dipole sources since the dominant fields of complex two-dimensional (2-D) sources can be represented as those of dipole sources. When possible, insight is gained from a simple analytic model for shielding by semi-infinite and finite width perfect electric and perfect magnetic shields. In cases for which the simple model is not valid, insight is gained from numerical results. It has been found that source orientation and shield type are critical issues and can cause differences in shielding effectiveness in excess of 20 dB.
Insulin receptor (IR) and glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) proteins form a complex on the rat hepatocyte membrane.

The hepatic glucose transporter, GLUT2, facilitates bidirectional glucose transport across the hepatocyte plasma membrane under insulin regulation. We studied the interactions of IR and GLUT2 proteins
ADP-ribosylation factor, a small GTP-dependent regulatory protein, stimulates phospholipase D activity

The hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine by phospholipase D (PLD) results in the production of phosphatidic acid and choline. An assay that uses an exogenous substrate was developed to measure this activity in membranes and solubilized preparations from HL60 cells. A cytosolic factor markedly enhanced PLD activity in membranes and was essential for GTP gamma S-dependent stimulation of an enriched preparation of PLD. The factor was purified to homogeneity from bovine brain cytosol and identified as a member of the ADP-Ribosylation Factor (ARF) subfamily of small G proteins. Subsequently, recombinant myristoylated ARF1 was found to be a better activator of PLD activity than was the nonmyristoylated form. ARF proteins have been implicated recently as factors for regulation of intracellular vesicle traffic. The current finding suggests that PLD activity plays a prominent role in the action of ARF and that ARF may be a key component in the generation of second messengers via phospholipase D.
Identification and monitoring of graft-versus-host specific T-cell clone in stem cell transplantation

Allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplantation can be complicated by acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). If the alloreactive T-cell clones responsible for this disorder could be identified before stem cell transplantation, they could be quantitatively monitored afterwards to allow initiation of immunosuppression before GVHD becomes apparent. We identified an alloreactive CD4+ T-cell clone from a donor before stem cell transplantation, and then monitored its frequency in the recipient's peripheral blood after transplantation by use of clonotypic quantitative real-time PCR. Greatly increased concentrations of this clone (nearly 100% of circulating CD4+ T cells) preceded and closely correlated with the onset of clinical GVHD, suggesting that a sole alloreactive T-cell clone was responsible for initiation of this disease in vivo. This simple identification and monitoring of potentially GVHD-causing clones can be undertaken before stem cell transplantation with no previous knowledge of the alloantigen responsible, and could allow earlier diagnosis and intervention in GVHD.
Automatic schema matching for data warehousing

Schema matching identifies the correspondences of elements presented in both source and warehouse schemas. In this paper, we present a matching tool, ASMS that automates the matching process between the source and warehousing schemas based on the structures, constraints, and other elements.
THURSDAYS WITH MORRIE: THE USE OF CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE IN A DEATH AND DYING COURSE

Educating college students about death and dying can be a difficult task when their experiences have been limited to trivial encounters through television and movies. The use ofa book such as Tuesdays with Morrie (Albom, 1997) in a course on death and dying offers both college age traditional and older non-traditional students an opportunity to become acquainted with the dying process and to confront contemporary issues such as the September 11th tragedy in a non-threatening manner. This article describes the method in which this book has been incorporated into a death and dying course, a sampling of questions used with a class project and an overview of the adjustments made since its inception as a required reading.
Using Free and Proprietary Data to Compare Shortest-Path Lengths for Effective Pedestrian Routing in Street Networks

Ubiquitous mobile devices, such as smartphones, led to an increased popularity of pedestrian-related routing applications over the past few years. Because pedestrians typically aim to minimize their walking distance, especially in nonrecreational and multimodal trips, pedestrian routing systems will be fully used only if they can find the correct shortest path and thus help to avoid unnecessary detours. The standard equipment of car navigation systems based on the Global Positioning System several years ago led to the availability of accurate street network data for car-based routing applications. However, pedestrian routing applications should consider pedestrian-related network segments besides those used by motorized traffic, including footpaths and pedestrian bridges. The authors of this paper performed a shortest-path analysis of pedestrian routes for cities in Germany and the United States. For a set of 1,000 randomly generated origin-destination pairs, the authors compared the lengths of pedestrian...
A unified approach for generating cross-correlated and auto-correlated MIMO fading envelope processes

Diversity techniques for various communication and MIMO systems exploit the spatial and temporal diversity attributes to mitigate the ill effects of the fading channels. To evaluate these techniques, a method to generate multiple correlated fading channels is crucial. We propose a unified approach capable of generating correlated flat-fading envelope processes with the desired auto-correlation functions, cross-correlation functions, and probability density functions (pdfs). The proposed approach utilizes the Gaussian vector autoregressive process and the inverse transform sampling techniques. Comparing to the past research focusing on generating fading channels of the same family, the novelty of the proposed approach is its capability to generate fading processes of heterogeneous pdfs. Three examples are demonstrated. In the first example, the autocorrelated Nakagami channel is generated. The second example is designed to generate correlated 2x2 MIMO Rayleigh channels. In the third example, the proposed approach generates three correlated channels having Nakagami, Rician, and Rayleigh pdfs. The settings of the first two examples are adopted from previously published results, which are intended to verify the effectiveness of our proposed approach to tackle previously known problems. The third example demonstrates the novelty of the proposed approach to generate correlated channels of heterogeneous pdfs.
Interaction of a 10 eV silicon beam with the Si(111) surface: A molecular dynamics study

The interaction of a low-energy silicon beam with a silicon substrate has been simulated. The combined effects of vibrational lattice excitation and of covalent binding have been included for the first time by using a molecular dynamics technique and an empirical potential that accurately describes the covalent Si–Si interactions. A 10 eV silicon beam was directed normal to a silicon (111) substrate. Sticking ratio, penetration depth, substrate structure, and vibrational excitation of the substrate are quantitatively determined. The special features of such low-energy beam deposition relative to thermal deposition processes are discussed.
Migratory bird habitat monitoring through remote sensing

Abstract Unsupervised classification of Landsat-TM data was employed to identify habitats important for migratory birds in Costa Rica. The overall habitat classification accuracy was 70 per cent (Kappa correction). Mature forest could be identified with high accuracy (93 per cent) but Landsat-TM classification accuracy for major successional stages was low. Habitat availability and conversion rates from 1976 to 1986 were derived from multidate Landsat imagery supplemented with interpretation of historical air photos to document the specific types of habitat change. The major trend in habitat conversion between 1976 and 1984 was forest clearing followed by establishment of permanent pasture. Some of the pasture land was converted to perennial tree crops by 1986. The implication of habitat modification on groups and species of migrant land birds are discussed.
Comparative Kinematic Measures of Treadmill Running with or without Body Weight Support in Runners.

Treadmill walking and running using a supportive harness has been used as a training method to rehabilitate injured patients' walking or running gait. Comparison of full weight support (FWS) and body weight support (BWS) kinematic measures in competitive runners has received little attention. The purpose of this study was to compare selected FWS to BWS kinematic measures in healthy competitive runners. Ten male runners (age = 21.4 ± 1.5 years) with a training regimen averaging 64 km per week at 3.8 m·s(-1) participated. All participants ran three 3-minute trials. The randomized trial conditions were: FWS, 20% BWS, and 40% BWS. All conditions were videotaped with 2 cameras and a 21-point, 3-D model was generated for analysis. From the position-time data, cycle length (CL), cycle frequency (CF), time of contact (TC), hip-, knee-, ankle- range of motion in degrees (H-ROM, K-ROM, and A-ROM, respectively), and vertical displacement of the center of mass (COM) were derived and compared. With increasing support conditions, cycle length increased. Cycle frequency, hip and ankle angle ranges, and COM vertical displacement decreased (p 0.05). BWS running produced significant changes in selected kinematic measures. These changes may provide insight into runners' behavior when using BWS in training or recovery from competition. Additional investigation of BWS training affect with competitive runners would be recommended. Key PointsRunning kinematics change gradually with increasing levels of body weight support.At constant speed, center of mass vertical displacement, lower leg angular displacement, foot contact time and cycle frequency decrease significantly from FWS to 40S.Harness running can have beneficial effects in healthy runners recovering from intense bouts of exercise.
Genetic depletion of cyclin dependent Kinase-5 results in enhanced tumor rejection via a CD4+ T cell dependent mechanism (TUM7P.1023)

CDK5 is a non-canonical member of the CDK family that does not require cell cycling for activity but relies on binding to its obligate activators, p35 and p39 which are mostly expressed in post mitotic neurons. CDK5 is required for normal Central Nervous System (CNS) development. Medulloblastoma (MB), derived from primitive cerebellar granule neuron precursors, is the most common pediatric CNS malignancy. Utilizing a short hairpin RNA approach to silence Cdk5 expression in a C57BL/6 (B6) syngenic MB line derived from p53+/- PTCH-/- (MM1), we found that 19 days after subcutaneous inoculation, mice with silenced Cdk5 (MM1-CDK5-KD) revealed a 78% tumor free survival (N=36) compared to 4% (N=24) of mice inoculated with wild type MB (MM1-WT). Furthermore, when injected into Nu/Nu mice, MM1-WT and MM1-CDK5-KD had similar subcutaneous growth kinetics. When CD4+ cells were depleted in B6 mice inoculated with MM1-CDK5-KD tumor free survival decreased to 28% (N=15). We sought to interrogate the role of the immune system in enhanced killing of MM1-CDK5-KD tumors. When exposed to IFN-γ stimulation in vitro, genetic profiling of MM1-CDK5-KD revealed a decrease in PD-L1 expression, a known immune checkpoint surface molecule, compared to MM1-WT. These results indicate a functional role for Cdk5 in MB immune evasion which, when circumvented via Cdk5 inhibition, leads to increased susceptibility to anti-tumor surveillance.
Abstract 14710: Myocardial Bridging: Novel Insights from Exercise Echocardiographic Correlations with Hemodynamic Measurements - The Venturi Effect

BACKGROUND - A non-invasive method for detection of myocardial bridges (MB) is not routinely used in clinical practice today. Though patients with MB and no significant coronary artery disease may suffer from chest pain, the mechanism by which this anatomic variant causes ischemia is poorly understood. This study reports a novel exercise echo finding for myocardial bridging and seeks to explain this finding with hemodynamic measurements made in the catheterization lab. METHODS and RESULTS - 18 patients with typical and/or variant angina and focal end-systolic to early-diastolic buckling in their antero-septal wall on exercise echo were prospectively enrolled for invasive studies with contrast coronary arteriogram and LAD intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). If the presence of an MB could be characterized by IVUS, pressure and Doppler flow velocity recordings were then obtained proximal, within, and distal to the bridge both at rest and with dobutamine stress. Aortic pressure was also measured throughout. Diastolic fractional flow reserve (dFFR) was measured at all positions at baseline and at peak stress. In our cohort, no patient had significant coronary artery disease. Only 5 patients showed visible compression of the LAD on resting coronary angiogram; however, all 18 patients harbored an LAD MB on IVUS. Mean arterial compression on IVUS was 23.1 ± 2.32 % with mean MB length of 24.8 ± 2.7 mm. For 14 patients in whom we could make hemodynamic measurements during dobutamine stress, 13 had an abnormal dFFR (≤ 0.75) within the MB, and 1 had an abnormal dFFR only distal to the bridge. A total of 4 patients had an abnormal distal dFFR. All patients showed a characteristic intra-bridge increase in Doppler flow velocity with concomitant decrease in diastolic pressure upon pharmacologic stress. In ten patients with non-significant distal dFFR, there was partial pressure recovery with decrease in Doppler flow velocity distal to the bridge CONCLUSIONS - Our findings suggest that the symptoms and novel exercise echo findings of our patient sample are due to myocardial ischemia from an LAD MB. In particular, for the majority of patients with only an abnormal dFFR inside the bridge, we posit that the ischemia is local to the tunneled segment of the coronary vessel due to a Venturi effect.
Understanding graphic pictorial warnings in advertising: : A replication and extension

While widely considered an effective resource for communicating the risks associated with cigarette smoking, the range of effects associated with graphic pictorial warnings remains underresearched. The authors use an advertising context to replicate and extend findings of Kees and colleagues' (2010) study of the direct and indirect effects of graphic pictorial cigarette warnings. Across three studies, moderate and high graphic warnings are shown to have favorable effects on smoking cessation outcomes, a positive effect on attention to the ad, and a negative indirect effect on brand purchase intentions, relative to text-only or low graphic pictorial warnings. Evoked fear is confirmed as a primary mediating mechanism underlying effects. However, these results indicate that the high graphic level warning examined does not produce significantly stronger effects than a moderate warning. Implications are offered for researchers interested in countervailing persuasive messages in advertising and recent U.S. liti...
Zirconium-mediated synthesis of arsaalkene compounds from arsines and isocyanides.

An atom-economical synthesis of arsaalkenes via a net coupling of aryl arsines with aryl or alkyl isocyanides at zirconium is presented. Reaction of zirconium arsenido complexes (N3N)ZrAsHAr [N3N = N(CH2CH2NSiMe3)33–; Ar = Ph, (2) Mes (3)] with aryl and alkyl isocyanides yields arsaalkene products of the general form (N3N)Zr[NRC(H)═As(Ar)]. Two examples (5: R = Mes, Ar = Ph; 6: R = CH2Ph, Ar = Mes) were structurally characterized. Observation of intermediates in the reaction and structural characterization of the previously reported 1,1-insertion product benzylisocyanide with (N3N)ZrAsPh2 (8), (N3N)Zr[η2-C(PPh2)=NCH2Ph] (9), support the mechanistic hypothesis that these reactions occur via 1,1-insertion followed by rearrangement.
Data Structures and Algorithms Using Visual Basic.NET

Including a tutorial on how to use data structures and algorithms and a reference for implementation using VB.NET and the .NET Framework Class Library, this is the first Visual Basic.NET book to provide a comprehensive discussion of the major data structures and algorithms. Michael McMillan presents arrays and arraylists, linked lists, hash tables, dictionaries, trees, graphs, sorting and searching as well as more advanced algorithms, such as probabilistic algorithms and dynamic programming in an object-oriented fashion. Finally, the professional or student VB.NET programmer has a dedicated reference instead of having to translate material on C++ or Java.
Impact of Concurrent Weed or Herbicide Stress with Other Biotic and Abiotic Stressors on Crop Production

Crop plants are exposed to several biotic and abiotic stress factors under natural production conditions. These factors may interact with each other, leading to altered impacts on crop yield. Weeds and herbicides often represent important stress factors on crops. Their interaction with other biotic (insects, diseases, nematodes, etc.) and abiotic (temperature, moisture, etc.) stress factors may influence the nature and dynamics of crop-weed interactions and thereby impact crop yields. In many cases, interaction of weeds/herbicides with other stress factors can lead to accelerated crop yield loss. Yet, such interactions were not well studied and fully understood; existing research knowledge in this area is widely scattered in the literature. This paper establishes, by reviewing existing literature, a foundation of information on the outcomes of interactions between weeds/herbicides and other stressors. This literature analysis also illustrates the need for more targeted research on this topic, which is becoming increasingly important on the face of global climate change.
Analysis of Clinico-Pathologic Features and Stromal Cell-Derived Factor (SDF)-1/CXCR4 in Myeloid Sarcoma

Myeloid sarcoma (MS) are extramedullary tumor masses composed of immature myeloid cells. Currently, the key pathogenetic processes involved in the in homing of leukemic cells to extramedullary niches are not well understood. Our study focuses on the role of the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and its receptor CXCR4 in this rare condition. A cohort of 76 MS was obtained from the archives of our institutions and evaluated for clinical, morphological and phenotypic features. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for myeloperoxidase, CD33, lysozyme, CD3, CD4, CD20, CD33, CD34, CD56, CD61, CD68, CD99, CD117, CD123, CD163, haemoglobin, nucleophosphamin 1, and occasionally complemented by fluorescent in situ hybridization or karyotyping. Single and double Immunohistochemistry and immunoflorescence for SDF-1 (CXCL12), CXCR4, retinol-binding protein-1 (CRBP-1), S-100 protein, alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA) and inhibitor of DNA binding/differentiation (ID)3 were performed on tissue specimens. Clinical data could be obtained from 65 patients (63% male, 37% female; median age of 47 years, range 1 to 80) presenting with solitary (n=42) or multiple (n=23) lesions. The MS fell into 3 broad categories: de novo nonleukemic MS with normal bone marrow, n=11; de novo MS in conjunction with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), n=10; secondary MS in patients with an underlying AML, classical or atypical myeloproliferative neoplasm, myelodysplastic syndrome or rare haematological disorders, n=43. This category included MS occurring as an isolated extramedullary relapse of AML in remission after chemotherapy or allogeneic bone marrow/hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloBM/HSCT). The immunophenotypes were blastic (22,9%), monoblastic (13,1%), myelomonocytic (39,3%), megakaryoblastic (1,6%) or differentiated (22,9%). A monoblastic/myelomonocytic differentiation significantly correlated with involvement of skin and gingiva (p 30years) than in younger patients (p
Discretization of Partial Differential Equations

Analytical solutions of partial differential equations involve closed-form expressions which give the variation of the dependent variables continuously throughout the domain. In contrast, numerical solutions can give answers at only discrete points in the domain, called grid points. For example, consider Figure 5.1, which shows a section of a discrete grid in the xy-plane. For convenience, let us assume that the spacing of the grid points in the x-direction is uniform, and given by ∆x, and that the spacing of the points in the y-direction is also uniform, and given by ∆y, as shown in Figure 5.1. In general, ∆x and ∆y are different. Indeed, it is not absolutely necessary that ∆x or ∆y be uniform; we could deal with totally unequal spacing in both directions, where ∆x is a different value between each successive pairs of grid points, and similarly for ∆y. However, the vast majority of CFD applications involve numerical solutions on a grid which involves uniform spacing in each direction, because this greatly simplifies the programming of the solution, saves storage space and usually results in greater accuracy. This uniform spacing does not have to occur in the physical xy space; as is frequently done in CFD, the numerical calculations are carried out in a transformed computational space which has uniform spacing in the transformed independent variables, but which corresponds to non-uniform spacing in the physical plane. These matters will be discussed in detail in Chapter 6. In any event, in this chapter we will asume uniform spacing in each coordinate direction, but not necessarily equal spacing for both directions, i.e. we will assume ∆x and ∆y to be constants, but that ∆x does not have to equal ∆y.
Exploring potential noninvasive biomarkers in eosinophilic esophagitis in children.

Background and aims Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) continues to present clinical challenges, including a need for noninvasive tools to manage the disease. To identify a marker able to assess disease status in lieu of repeated endoscopies, we examined 3 noninvasive biomarkers, serum interleukin (IL)-5, serum eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), and stool EDN, and examined possible correlations of these with disease phenotype and activity (symptoms and histology) in a longitudinal study of children with EE. Subjects and methods Children with EE were studied for up to 24 weeks (12 weeks on 1 of 2 corticosteroid therapies and 12 weeks off therapy). Twenty children with normal esophagogastroduodenoscopies with biopsies were enrolled as controls. Serum IL-5, serum EDN, and stool EDN were measured at weeks 0, 4, 12, 18, and 24 in children with EE, and at baseline alone for controls. Primary and secondary statistical analyses (excluding and including outlier values of the biomarkers, respectively) were performed. Results Sixty subjects with EE (46 [75%] boys, mean age 7.5 ± 4.4 years) and 20 normal controls (10 [50%] boys, mean age 6.7 ± 4.1 years) were included. Significant changes in serum EDN (significant decrease from baseline to week 4, and then rebound from week 4 to week 12) occurred. Serum EDN levels were stable after week 12. Serum IL-5 and stool EDN levels in subjects with EE were not statistically different from those of the control subjects when each time point for the cases was compared with the controls' 1-time measurement. Conclusions Serum EDN levels were significantly higher in subjects with EE than in controls, and the results suggest a possible role, after additional future studies, for serum EDN in establishing EE diagnosis, assessing response to therapy, and/or monitoring for relapse or quiescence.
Selective Production of Terminally Unsaturated Methyl Esters from Lactones Over Metal Oxide Catalysts

Metal oxide catalysts were studied for their selectivity for the production of a terminally unsaturated methyl ester, methyl 5-hexenoate (M5H), from a 6 carbon, 6-membered ring lactone, δ-hexalactone (DHL). A 15 wt% Cs/SiO2 catalyst had a selectivity of 55% to M5H. This selectivity was the highest of the metal oxide catalysts studied, which were Cs/SiO2, MgO, SrO, CeO2, ZrO2, Ta2O5, MgAl2O4, and a Mg–Zr mixed oxide. The Cs/SiO2 catalyst was utilized for the ring-opening of γ-valerolactone (GVL), a 5 carbon, 5-membered ring lactone. The catalyst was 88% selective to the terminally unsaturated methyl ester, methyl 4-pentenoate (M4P). Weight hourly space velocity studies determined that the unsaturated ester distributions remained constant and no C=C double bond isomerization occurred. Liquid phase transesterification reactions with DHL and methanol and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy confirmed that DHL undergoes ring-opening transesterification to produce an ω-1 hydroxy methyl ester, methyl 5-hydroxyhexanoate (M5HH). Liquid phase transesterification reactions and thermochemistry calculations established that the equilibrium for GVL transesterification with methanol was favored towards the ring-closed lactone instead of the ring-opened hydroxy ester because of the decreased ring strain of GVL compared to DHL. The difference in terminally unsaturated methyl ester selectivity between GVL and DHL manifests from the difference in ring-strain energy. DHL passes through the M5HH intermediate as a result of greater ring strain, while the production of M4P from GVL most likely occurs through a direct, concerted mechanism.
AUSM scheme: its application to a realistic combustor configuration, the Energy Efficient Engine

Highlights of work inspired by Liou and performed in the last few years with the ultimate goal of simulating combustor–turbine interactions are presented. First, we have updated the Open National Combustion Code (OpenNCC) by implementing the advection upstream splitting method (AUSM) and the extended version of the AUSM-family scheme (AUSM$$^+$$-up) and then performed a series of verification tests. The AUSM$$^+$$-up scheme and the standard Jameson–Schmidt–Turkel scheme are compared in terms of accuracy and convergence. Next, the second-order AUSM$$^+$$-up scheme is applied to model unsteady flow fields inside a combustor sector from the Energy Efficient Engine ($${\hbox {E}}^3$$) program, in conjunction with a sensitivity analysis of turbulent combustion models. Three different turbulent combustion models are considered: the eddy break-up model, the linear eddy model, and the probability density function model, as well as the laminar finite-rate chemistry model. A comprehensive comparison of the flow fields and the flame structures is provided. Our main interest here is not to select the best model out of four different models with lack of data under the exact same conditions, but to understand how different turbulent combustion models impact thermal variation along the surface of first-stage vanes (i.e., hot streaks). Considering that these models are often used in combustor/turbine communities, the intent of this study is to provide some guidelines on numerical modeling of combustor–turbine interactions and, thus, help improve future designs of the combustor and high-pressure turbine.
Neisserial PorB immune enhancing activity and use as a vaccine adjuvant

Our laboratory has focused on Porin B (PorB), an outer membrane protein from Neisseria meningitidis and TLR2 ligand-based adjuvant, to characterize specific molecular and cellular pathways involved in improved immune responses induced by vaccine adjuvants. PorB's ability to form micellar nanoparticular multi-molecular organized structures and its interaction with Toll-like receptor 2/1 complexes likely accounts for its potent adjuvant activity. Downstream from this stimulation, we have observed enhanced antigen uptake in antigen presenting cells (APC), greater antigen deposition in secondary lymphoid organs, and promotion of germinal center reactions. In mice, antigen-specific IgGs were increased after PorB adjuvanted vaccination using the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA). Likewise, this formulation resulted in more IL-4 and IFN-γ positive T cells. Mice that received PorB adjuvanted vaccinations benefitted from lower bacterial burdens when challenged with recombinant Listeria monocytogenes expressing OVA. Mouse models lacking MyD88 signaling in various APC types helped identify macrophages as an essential cell type for the adjuvant activity of PorB. We believe the work presented here provides examples of the mechanistic studies required to understand how vaccine adjuvants are contributing to the establishment of protective immunity.
Design and Analysis of the US ITER Central Solenoid Module Lifting Fixture

The central solenoid (CS) consists of six large high field superconducting magnets (also known as modules) approximately 4 m in diameter and 2 m tall that weigh approximately 120 tonnes each. These...
Plasmonic Biosensors on a Chip for Point-of-Care Applications

Plasmonic biosensors have emerged as one of the most suitable sensors for future cost-effective clinical analysis and point-of-care platforms. They are based on the plasmonic properties of gold nanoparticles and nanostructures, principally, on the sensitivity of the gold plasmon band to any change in the surrounding environment. The successful development of plasmonic biosensors are the result of the progress in nanotechnology and microfabrication and the next step, their integration in a lab-on-a-chip, allows their miniaturization and portability. Miniaturized devices will find their way to clinics and patient's bedside as well as to remote places and developing countries, improving healthcare for everybody. In this paper, in the beginning, a short introduction on the phenomenon of plasmonics, the basic configurations of the instruments, and approaches for sensing are provided. Then, the advantages stemming from the integration of plasmonic biosensors into a microfluidic device are emphasized. The end product of a successful integration and miniaturization process is a high-performance, point-of-care device with benefits to healthcare and personalized medicine.
UCAV formation collaborative trajectory planning based on hp adaptive pseudospectral method

The collaborative trajectory planning of UCAV formation is a complex nonlinear optimization problem. At first, according to the analysis of the UCAV formation attack process, the synergy elements are given. Then according to combining the UCAV kinematics/dynamics model and the relative motion equation, the UCAV formation trajectory planning is established. And the threat of single UCAV, the threat of formation members, the time cost value, and the time error of the execution instruction are considered. Finally, in order to solve the problem, hp adaptive pseudospectral method is proposed. The simulation results for the UCAV formation trajectory planning show that the proposed method is feasible.
Application of uterine tamponade with balloon catheter for treatment of postpartum hemorrhage

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of uterine tamponade with balloon catheter for the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage.Methods The data on 24 patients with postpartum hemorrhage who had received uterine tamponade with balloon catheter during the period of January 2010 to February 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.The average age of the patients was 27.5 years old ( 22-34 ).Of the 24 patients,12 had uterine inertia,4 had placenta previa,and 8 had placenta accrete.Results All the patients were cured by uterine tamponade with balloon catheter,and no one needed to undergo hysterectomy.The primary effectiveness rate of hemostasis was 91.6％.Two patients had rebleeding,and the tamponade balloon was inflated again to stop bleeding.The tamponade balloon was removed after 24 hours.None had rebleeding,nor hysterectomy needed.The total effectiveness rate of hemostasis was 100％.No patients required hysterectomy or were dead.All the patients were followed up for 1 to 24 months postoperatively and had a normal uterine involution and menstrual restoration within 1 to 3 months.No puerperal infection or symptoms of premature ovarian failure occurred.Conclusions Application of uterine tamponade with balloon catheter in the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage is safe,effective,and worth popularizing clinically. Key words: Postpartum hemorrhage; Uterine tamponade with balloon catheter
Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Discharged Directly Home From a Medical Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective:To evaluate the safety of directly discharging patients home from the medical intensive care unit (MICU).Materials and Methods:Single-center retrospective observational study of consecuti...
Metabolic syndrome and its components in relation to in vivo brain amyloid and neurodegeneration in late middle age

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with dementia, but it is unclear whether MetS is related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated the association of MetS with brain amyloid, a key AD feature, and neurodegeneration. A community-based sample of 350 middle-aged Hispanics in New York City had cerebral amyloid β (Aβ) burden ascertained with 18F-Florbetaben positron emission tomography. Neurodegeneration was ascertained as cortical thickness in AD signature regions from 3T brain MRI. MetS and its components (glucose, blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, adiposity) were defined using the National Institutes of Health criteria. Neither the presence of MetS nor the MetS score was associated with Aβ or neurodegeneration. Among the MetS components, elevated glucose was associated with lower Aβ burden, and this association was not explained by diabetes treatment. Glucose and triglycerides were related to smaller cortical thickness. Our findings suggest that MetS as an arbitrary measure of aggregate metabolic and vascular risk does not capture the risk of AD neuropathology in late middle age and that other approaches to measure the aggregate risk should be examined.
Walking an International Law Tightrope: Use of Military Force to Counter Terrorism - Willing the Ends

he UN Charter reflects the drafters’ singular focus on creating a political system to govern conflicts between states. It does not directly address the subtler modes in which terrorists began to operate in the post-World War II period. The drafters did not contemplate the existence of international terrorists nor their tenacity and access to technology. In view of the fact that terrorist groups appear to have reached a global sophistication, there is little doubt that international terrorism presents a threat with which traditional theories for the use of military force are inadequate to deal with, and were not contemplated when the UN Charter was drafted. This Article is premised on the theme that the right to self-defence is enrolled in a process of change. The focal point of state practice in the Article is the United States, which has long sought to articu late, through official policy, use of force as a counterterrorism measure.
Interventional Pericardiology

The space that exists between the visceral and parietal pericardium has a small amount of fluid under physiologic conditions. The pericardial layers and this fluid in combination have a protective role and also offer fluidity of motion and shock absorbance. The pericardium and the fluid can often be involved in pathologies involving the myocardium or sometimes be independently involved in primary diseases of the pericardium with secondary hemodynamic effects. In physiologic and pathologic conditions, invasion of this space by surgical and percutaneous interventions can provide a unique and precious opportunity to enhance patient management in such situations from a diagnostic and therapeutic aspect. This field of “interventional pericardiology” is the focus of this chapter.
Cannabidiol Induces Apoptosis and Perturbs Mitochondrial Function in Human and Canine Glioma Cells.

Cannabidiol (CBD), the major non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis, is frequently used both as a nutraceutical and therapeutic. Despite anecdotal evidence as an anticancer agent, little is known about the effect CBD has on cancer cells. Given the intractability and poor prognoses of brain cancers in human and veterinary medicine, we sought to characterize the in vitro cytotoxicity of CBD on human and canine gliomas. Glioma cells treated with CBD showed a range of cytotoxicity from 4.9 to 8.2 μg/ml; canine cells appeared to be more sensitive than human. Treatment with >5 μg/ml CBD invariably produced large cytosolic vesicles. The mode of cell death was then interrogated using pharmacologic inhibitors. Inhibition of apoptosis was sufficient to rescue CBD-mediated cytotoxicity. Inhibition of RIPK3, a classical necroptosis kinase, also rescued cells from death and prevented the formation of the large cytosolic vesicles. Next, cellular mitochondrial activity in the presence of CBD was assessed and within 2 hours of treatment CBD reduced oxygen consumption in a dose dependent manner with almost complete ablation of activity at 10 μg/ml CBD. Fluorescent imaging with a mitochondrial-specific dye revealed that the large cytosolic vesicles were, in fact, swollen mitochondria. Lastly, calcium channels were pharmacologically inhibited and the effect on cell death was determined. Inhibition of mitochondrial channel VDAC1, but not the TRPV1 channel, rescued cells from CBD-mediated cytotoxicity. These results demonstrate the cytotoxic nature of CBD in human and canine glioma cells and suggest a mechanism of action involving dysregulation of calcium homeostasis and mitochondrial activity.
Use of casein micelles to improve the solubility of hydrophobic pea proteins in aqueous solutions via low-temperature homogenization

The dairy industry struggles to maintain consumer attention in the midst of declining fluid milk sales. Current trends create an opportunity to incorporate plant-based proteins with milk to produce a high-protein, multisourced, functional food product. Plant-based proteins, such as those in peas, can be challenging to use in food systems because of their low solubility and undesirable off-flavors. Casein micelles have unique structural properties that allow for interactions with small ions and larger macromolecules that aid in their noteworthy ability as a nanovehicle for hydrophobic compounds. The objective of this study was to use the inherent structure of the casein micelle along with common dairy processing equipment to create a stable colloidal dispersion of casein micelles with pea protein to improve its solubility in aqueous solutions. We created 3 blends with varying ratios of casein-to-pea protein (90:10, 80:20, 50:50). We subjected the mixtures to 3 cycles of homogenization using a bench-top GEA 2-stage homogenizer at 27,580 kPa maintained at 4°C, followed by pasteurization at 63°C for 30 min. The resulting blends were homogeneous liquids with increased stability due to the lack of protein precipitation. Further protein analysis by HPLC and AA sequencing revealed that vicilin, an insoluble storage protein, was the main pea protein incorporated within the casein micelle structure. These results supported our hypothesis that low-temperature homogenization can successfully be used to create a colloidal dispersion with increased stability, in which insoluble plant-based proteins may be incorporated with casein micelles in an aqueous solution. Additionally, 3-dimensional microscope images of the blends indicated a noticeable difference between the surface roughness upon addition of pea protein to the casein micelle matrix. This research highlights a promising application for other plant-based proteins to be used within the dairy industry to help drive future product innovation while also meeting current processing conditions and consumer demands.
Tunable Transcription Factor Library for Robust Quantification of Gene Expression Dynamics in E. coli

Predicting the quantitative regulatory function of a TF based on factors such as binding sequence, binding location and promoter type is not possible. The interconnected nature of gene networks and the difficulty in tuning individual TF concentrations makes the isolated study of TF function challenging. Here we present a library of E. coli strains designed to allow for precise control of the concentration of individual TFs enabling the study of the role of TF concentration on physiology and regulation. We demonstrate the usefulness of this resource by measuring the regulatory function of the zinc responsive TF, ZntR and the paralogous TF pair, GalR/GalS. For ZntR, we find that zinc alters ZntR regulatory function in a way that enables activation of the regulated gene to be robust with respect to ZntR concentration. For GalR and GalS, we are able to demonstrate that these parlogous TFs have fundamentally distinct regulatory roles beyond differences in binding affinity.
How to Maintain Excellent Clinical Documentation

Clinical documentation and navigation of the medical record are part of every practitioner’s daily activities. This documentation and the associated medical recordkeeping requirements are central to the provision of excellent clinical care. At times, documentation endeavors may be perceived as a burden. In reality, however, they are a necessary and extremely useful component of clinical practice.
Psychosocial, Affective, and Behavioral Consequences of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) challenges the individual, the family, and society because (1) it can produce wide-ranging functional losses; (2) it is generally progressive with functional losses increasing over time; and (3) its course is unpredictable. Persons affected by MS respond by (1) experiencing changes in their perception of themselves and their world; (2) altering their social roles; and (3) undergoing a variety of emotional responses, especially depression and grief over the losses caused by the illness. Psychosocial interventions that address MS challenges include (1) educational interventions such as lectures, workshops, and books; (2) supportive interventions such as counseling and support groups; (3) psychoeducational interventions such as communication skills training; and (4) somatic therapies such as antidepressants. The unpredictable and progressive course of MS means that affected individuals face a lifetime of periodic challenge. Comprehensive care in MS must address the psychosocial challenges of the illness on a long-term basis. In this way MS care can address the whole patient.
Concurrent validity of the Luria-Nebraska memory scale

Investigated the concurrent validity of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) Memory Scale using the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) as the criterion. For 32 psychiatric patients, the LNNB Memory Scale yielded a significant correlation with the WMS MQ, r (30) = -.65, p less than .001. Moreover, there was a 72% agreement between the two scales with respect to the identification of memory impairment. Memory-impaired Ss earned a significantly higher (p less than .01) mean T-score on the LNNB Memory Scale than did Ss without memory problems. It was concluded that the LNNB Memory Scale is an adequate measure of short-term memory.