cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NOTCH1 Signaling Defines a Leukemia Initiating Cell Population in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract 1507 Leukemia initiating cells (LIC) contribute to therapeutic resistance as a result of their capacity to accumulate mutations in pathways, such as the NOTCH1 receptor signaling pathway, that promote self-renewal and survival within specific niches. Activating mutations in NOTCH1 occur commonly in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and have been implicated in driving therapeutic resistance. However, the role of NOTCH1 activation in human T-ALL LIC propagation and LIC sensitivity to selective NOTCH1 receptor inhibition has not been examined. The difficulties in maintaining primary cultures of leukemia cells have hampered investigations into the biology of T-ALL LIC and underscore the need for a direct transplantation model to characterize human LIC in vivo and as a paradigm for screening candidate drugs that inhibit self-renewal pathways active in T-ALL LIC. Pediatric T-ALL serially transplantable LIC were found to be enriched in the CD34 + CD4 − and CD34 + CD7 − fractions of newly diagnosed patient samples. More recently, a CD7 + CD1a − glucocorticoid resistant LIC population, capable of engrafting leukemia in NOD/SCID IL2Rƒn gamma null (NSG) mice, was identified in primary adult T-ALL without an in vitro expansion. In this study, we identified and molecularly characterized potential LIC populations in pediatric T-ALL without preceding in vitro culture and examined the role of NOTCH1 activation in LIC propagation. To further define the T-ALL LIC, CD34 + CD2 + CD7 + or CD34 + CD2 + CD7 − cells were isolated from T-ALL primary patients9 blood by FACS sorting and transplanted into neonatal RAG2 −/− gamma chain −/− mice to determine their leukemic engraftment potential. Limiting dilution experiments were performed with cells from six T-ALL patient samples. Mice transplanted with CD34 + CD2 + CD7 + or CD34 + CD2 + CD7 − cells developed a T-ALL-like disease characterized by pale bone marrow and enlarged spleen, thymus and liver. Hematopoietic organs were analyzed by flow cytometry and showed engraftment of bone marrow, spleen, thymus and liver. Furthermore, the disease could be serially transplanted. LIC were uniquely susceptible to targeted inhibition in vivo with a therapeutic human NOTCH1 negative regulatory region selective monoclonal antibody (mAb) while normal human hematopoietic progenitors were spared thereby highlighting the cell type and context specific effects of NOTCH signaling. Both the NOTCH1 mAb treatment and lentiviral shRNA knockdown of NOTCH1 reduced NOTCH1 , HES1 and c-MYC transcript levels, underscoring the selectivity of NOTCH1 mAb inhibition of NOTCH signaling. These results demonstrate that CD34 + CD2 + CD7 + and CD34 + CD2 + CD7 − subpopulations are enriched for LIC activity in pediatric T-ALL. Moreover, inhibition of NOTCH signaling by either mAb or shRNA-mediated Notch1 knockdown might be another strategy to target the LIC in T-ALL. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Hemispheric sea ice distribution sets the glacial tempo

The proxy record of global temperature shows that the dominant periodicity of the glacial cycle shifts from 40 kyr (obliquity) to 100 kyr (eccentricity) about a million years ago. Using climate model simulations, here we show that the pace of the glacial cycle depends on the pattern of hemispheric sea ice growth. In a cold climate the sea ice grows asymmetrically between two hemispheres under changes to Earth's orbital precession, because sea ice growth potential outside of the Arctic Circle is limited. This difference in hemispheric sea ice growth leads to an asymmetry in absorbed solar energy for the two hemispheres, particularly when eccentricity is high, even if the annual average insolation is similar. In a warmer climate, the hemispheric asymmetry of the sea ice decreases as mean Arctic and Antarctic sea ice decreases, diminishing the precession and eccentricity signals and explaining the dominant obliquity signal (40 kyr) before the mid-Pleistocene transition.
Validation of Cooper's ligament thickness in software breast phantoms

Anthropomorphic breast phantoms are important tools for a wide range of tasks including pre-clinical validation of novel imaging techniques. In order to improve the realism in the phantoms, assessment of simulated anatomical structures is crucial. Thickness of simulated Cooper’s ligaments influences the percentage of dense tissue, as well as qualitative and quantitative properties of simulated images. We introduce three methods (2-dimensional watershed, 3-dimensional watershed, and facet counting) to assess the thickness of the simulated Cooper’s ligaments in the breast phantoms. For the validation of simulated phantoms, the thickness of ligaments has been measured and compared with the input thickness values. These included a total of 64 phantoms with nominal ligament thicknesses of 200, 400, 600, and 800 μm. The 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional watershed transformations were performed to obtain the median skeleton of the ligaments. In the 2-dimensional watershed, the median skeleton was found cross-section by cross-section, while the skeleton was found for the entire 3-dimensional space in the 3-dimensional watershed. The thickness was calculated by taking the ratio of the total volume of ligaments and the volume of median skeleton. In the facet counting method, the ligament thickness was estimated as a ratio between estimated ligaments’ volume and average ligaments’ surface area. We demonstrated that the 2-dimensional watershed technique overestimates the ligament thickness. Good agreement was found between the facet counting technique and the 3-dimensional watershed for assessing thickness. The proposed techniques are applicable for ligaments’ thickness estimation on clinical breast images, provided segmentation of Cooper’s ligaments has been performed.
Hepatic segmental atrophy and nodular elastosis: imaging features

To evaluate the imaging features of hepatic segmental atrophy and nodular elastosis. In this Institutional review board (IRB)-approved, HIPAA-compliant study, we reviewed imaging features in six cases of histologically confirmed hepatic segmental atrophy (HSA) and nodular elastosis (NE). Retrospective review of ultrasound (US) in 2 patients, computed tomography (CT) in 5 patients, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 4 patients, and positron emission tomography (PET) in 2 patients was performed. Location, size, and attenuation/density/signal intensity of these lesions were evaluated. Clinical presentation and coexistent conditions were also recorded. All six patients were females. Mean age of presentation was 58.3 years (range 37–80). A single HSA and NE lesion in each patient was found. The mean size of the lesion was 18 mm (range: 3 mm to 36 mm). Most lesions were detected incidentally (5/6). On contrast-enhanced single-phase (portal venous) CT, most lesions were hypodense (4/5) and one lesion was hyperdense to fatty liver parenchyma. On MRI, the lesions were iso- to hyperintense on T2-weighted images, T1 hypointense, and hyperintense on diffusion-weighted images (DWI). Three lesions were hypointense on arterial, portal venous, and delayed phases. One lesion occurring in fatty liver appeared hyperintense on all three phases. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced images were available in 2 patients and lesions were hypointense on the 20-min hepatobiliary phase. On PET, two lesions were isometabolic to the background hepatic parenchyma. On ultrasound, one lesion appeared hypoechoic and another lesion isoechoic to hepatic parenchyma. Hepatic segmental atrophy and nodular elastosis is an uncommon benign lesion and can simulate metastases due to variable imaging features. Lack of FDG uptake on PET/CT may be a clue to the benign nature of the lesion and may suggest the possibility of HSA and NE.
The Gag Reflex: Disgust Rhetoric and Gay Rights in American Politics

Political scientists have increasingly looked to the role that disgust plays in shaping public opinion and attitudes. This emotion plays an important role in building and reinforcing boundaries in the polity. It is particularly important in shaping attitudes toward gay rights. We analyze data from the 1993 American National Election Studies (ANES) data and two original studies. We find that disgust is a powerful but contingent rhetorical tool. It can powerfully shape public attitudes, especially on issues of sexual purity, but that efficacy must come with a strong caveat: our findings show that some members of the public will reject disgust rhetoric as an indignant reaction against the speaker.
Salience Rank: Efficient Keyphrase Extraction with Topic Modeling

Topical PageRank (TPR) uses latent topic distribution inferred by Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to perform ranking of noun phrases extracted from documents. The ranking procedure consists of running PageRank K times, where K is the number of topics used in the LDA model. In this paper, we propose a modification of TPR, called Salience Rank. Salience Rank only needs to run PageRank once and extracts comparable or better keyphrases on benchmark datasets. In addition to quality and efficiency benefit, our method has the flexibility to extract keyphrases with varying tradeoffs between topic specificity and corpus specificity.
Weak associations between body mass index and self-reported disability in people with unilateral anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Individuals with an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) are susceptible to persistent disability, weight gain and the development of knee osteoarthritis. It remains unclear whether body mass index (BMI) is a factor that influences disability following ACLR. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between BMI and self-reported disability [International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Index] in individuals with a unilateral ACLR. We hypothesized that lower BMI would associate with higher IKDC. BMI and IKDC were measured in 668 individuals with a unilateral ACLR (60.9% female, BMI 24.4 ± 3.7 kg/m2, IKDC 84.7 ± 11.9%). Bivariate associations were conducted between BMI and IKDC for the entire sample and selected subsets (gender, ACLR graft type and history of meniscal injury). Multiple regression analyses were used to determine the impact of potential covariates (Tegner score, age and months since ACLR) for significant bivariate associations. After accounting for covariates, there were no significant associations between BMI and IKDC when separately evaluating the cohort based on either gender or history of a concomitant meniscal injury. The odds of achieving age- and gender-matched healthy population average IKDC scores for those with low (<25) and high (≥25) BMI were determined. Lower BMI associated with higher IKDC (r = −0.08, P = 0.04). For the entire sample, BMI did not uniquely predict variance in IKDC (ΔR 2 > 0.001, n.s.) after accounting for covariates. BMI uniquely predicted a significant but negligible amount of variance in IKDC in individuals with a patellar tendon autograft (ΔR 2 = 0.015, n.s.). Individuals with low BMI demonstrated higher odds (odds ratio = 1.45; 1.05–1.99) of achieving population average IKDC scores compared to participants with high BMI. There was a significant but negligible correlation between lower BMI and lesser disability in individuals with unilateral ACLR and individuals who are underweight or of normal BMI demonstrated higher odds of achieving population average IKDC scores compared to overweight or obese individuals. While an overall association was found between lower BMI and lesser disability, the magnitude of the association remains negligible; therefore, BMI was not a strong clinical predictor of successful ACLR outcomes in this cohort of patients with unilateral ACLR. Cross-sectional prognostic study, Level II.
A Socio-Technical Approach to Biometric Technology Deployment in Schools

Despite their popularity in the cashless lunch line, recording students’ attendance or checking out books from the school library, the use of biometrics in schools is making headlines in the news and raising major privacy concerns against this identity-aware technology. These concerns are governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is a law established to protect the privacy of student education records. With the continued deployment of biometrics in schools, there are several social concerns vis-a-vis the use of this technology. Understanding this phenomenon requires a focus between the technology of biometrics and its social implications. Applying a socio-technical approach, we attempt to gain a clear understanding between the technology of biometrics and its social environment. Through our analysis, we identify technical and social implications that include security advantages and concerns, privacy concerns, awareness issues, and legal considerations. The examination of the complex social and technical interactions of biometrics provides a unique perspective and useful insights. The research has implications to schools, parents, lawmakers, vendors and privacy rights advocates.
Connecting the Dots: The Spatial Processes Underlying Place-Level Diversity Change in U.S. Metros Between 1990 and 2010

Entropy is a crucial measure used to describe expanding ethnoracial diversity in the United States in recent decades. However, this measure changes in complex ways contingent on the starting levels of diversity in a place and on the ethnoracial composition of that place. Careful examination of the behavior of Entropy indicates an uneven relationship between compositional shifts in population and shifts in Entropy. We note differences based on the majority population and a tendency for high diversity locations to become less diverse over time. Moreover, adjacent places tend to move together towards greater or lesser diversity with both metropolitan and sub-metropolitan processes leading to correlations in diversity change across decades. Using place level data from the 1990 and 2010 decennial Censuses we quantify these patterns of change and association with the goal of increasing knowledge of baseline conditions so that Entropy can be used with greater nuance in the future.
Skeletal Disarticulation, Dispersal, Dismemberment, Selective Transport

This chapter offers background to contextualize the zooarchaeological research findings on butchery and selective transport presented in Chaps. 20 and 21. It surveys the “baseline” for active dismemberment by nonhuman carnivores and tool-using humans: a species’ intrinsic anatomical structure that constrains natural disarticulation, as well as the general course of disarticulation and dispersal in the hoofed mammals often encountered in archaeological sites. This chapter provides an historical review of the issues that motivated research on human decisions made during dismembering large animals and selectively discarding or transporting carcass segments. In summarizing actualistic research, it focuses on the rich and internally contentious ethnoarchaeological research with Hadza foragers, showing how it illustrates evolving predictive methods in zooarchaeology.
A performance indicator of psychosocial services in enhanced prenatal care of Medicaid-eligible women.

Objective: Psychosocial services for low-income pregnant women vary widely in practice, and validated indicators of effective performance are lacking. The study presented here aims to determine whether a measure of provider compliance with a psychosocial service delivery guideline is associated with improved birth outcomes and therefore meets an important validity criterion of a performance indicator. Methods: Data on psychosocial services delivered to 3467 pregnant women came from 27 sites certified by the California Department of Health Services to provide enhanced perinatal services to Medicaid-eligible women. Multivariate regression analyses were used to test the association of adequate service delivery according to a performance guideline with birth outcomes and the dependence of the association on the credentials of the provider and the type of practice setting. Results: Women who received at least one psychosocial assessment each trimester of care according to the guideline were half as likely as women with inadequate services to have a low birthweight (OR = 0.49; CI 0.34, 0.71) or preterm birth (OR = 0.53; CI 0.40, 0.72) outcome. The effect did not depend on the credentials of the provider or the practice setting type. Conclusions: The indicator of the adequacy of psychosocial services according to a performance guideline appears to meet a fundamental criterion for a performance indicator, an association with improved outcomes. This indicator may be useful in monitoring performance of enhanced perinatal services for continuous quality improvement of services to low-income pregnant women.
The mechanism of action of the antiinflammatory agents dexamethasone and Auranofin in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) were treated with the antiinflammatory agents dexamethasone or Auranofin. PMN treated with dexamethasone in a dose range of 0.25-1 microM or Auranofin, 5-15 mM, were stimulated with 10(-7)M N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP). These agents were shown to inhibit the functional responses of degranulation and superoxide production in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, the change in electrophoretic mobility, reflecting cell surface charge, was blocked. While both agents inhibited change in the fluorescence of the calcium chelate probe chlorotetracycline (CTC), the pattern of inhibition was significantly different. Dexamethasone appeared to inhibit the CTC response during its latter phases, while Auranofin inhibited all aspects of the CTC response. Auranofin was additionally shown to significantly decrease specific binding of FMLP, as well as the number of FMLP receptors. The two agents thus appear to act by different mechanisms. Dexamethasone is shown to have an effect on membrane-bound calcium release as measured by CTC, while Auranofin interferes with receptor binding.
Capacitance, Current, and Resistance

This chapter examines the fundamental characteristics of two components of electrical circuitry, capacitors and resistors. We will treat these circuit elements as if they were idealized components, called lumped passive elements . They are said to be “lumped” because each is treated as though its electrical characteristics are localized to a single specific position in a given circuit. They are said to be “passive” because their functions are to respond electrically to charge in a circuit in ways that depend only on their configuration and on the material of which they are composed.
Abstract 11780: Temporal Trends, Racial and Gender Differences in the Use of Oral Anticoagulation in Medicare Patients With Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation

Introduction: The novel oral anticoagulants (NOAC’s) have provided convenient anticoagulation alternatives to warfarin for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Hypothesis: We sought to study the temporal trends and racial/gender differences in the use of anticoagulants in AF patients from 2011 to 2013 in Medicare patients with newly diagnosed AF. Methods: Medicare claims from January 2010 to December 2013 were used to identify patients ≥66 years of age with newly diagnosed AF during 2011-2013, with no documented AF or anticoagulant use in the prior year. Race was identified from the Beneficiary Summary File. Data regarding initiation of oral anticoagulation within 90 days of AF diagnosis as well as type of anticoagulant were collected. We compared oral anticoagulant use for each year by race and sex. Results: Of the 755,079 patients with newly diagnosed AF, 85% were white, 6% were black, 5% were Hispanic and 4% were other non-white race. The mean age was 79 years and 58% were females. The proportion of patients receiving anticoagulation within 90 days of AF diagnosis decreased from 45% in 2011 to 40% in 2013. Overall, blacks and Hispanics were less frequently anticoagulated compared to whites (35%, 39% and 45% respectively). Females were also less likely to receive anticoagulation compared to males (45% versus 41% respectively). The use of NOAC’s increased from 27 % of patients who received anticoagulation in 2011 to 44% in 2013. Among anticoagulated patients, blacks and Hispanics were less likely to receive NOACs compared to whites (25% and 30% Vs 36%), and females compared to males (34% vs 36%). Conclusions: In this retrospective study of Medicare patients with newly diagnosed AF, we noted an increase in the use of NOAC’s from 2011 to 2013, but a decrease in the proportion of patients receiving anticoagulation. This highlights the importance of educating health care providers regarding AF and stroke prevention. Blacks or Hispanics and females were less likely to receive any anticoagulation or anticoagulation by an NOAC, compared to whites and males respectively.
HIV RNA persists in rectal tissue despite rapid plasma virologic suppression with dolutegravir-based therapy

Objectives Despite plasma virologic suppression with antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV persists in gut tissue. The objectives of this study were to compare plasma and rectal tissue HIV RNA dynamics and to assess relationships with dolutegravir (DTG) plasma and tissue concentrations. Design A longitudinal cohort study of HIV-infected treatment-naive individuals initiating DTG-based ART was conducted over 12 weeks with plasma and rectal tissue sampling (Clinicaltrials.gov:NCT02924389). Methods HIV RNA and DTG concentrations were quantified in plasma and rectal tissue samples collected pre-ART (baseline) and post-ART at weeks 2, 6, and 12 using Abbott Real-Time HIV-1 assays and high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy, respectively. Relationships between rectal tissue RNA and DTG concentrations were modeled using binary logistic regression, controlling for repeated measures. Results Twelve participants were enrolled: six (50.0%) women, nine (75.0%) black, median age 42.0 years (Q1 31.2, Q3 52.0). All attained plasma virologic suppression by week 6. 11 of 12 (91.7%) had detectable rectal tissue HIV RNA at baseline, and only three of 11 (27.3%) achieved rectal tissue virologic suppression at any time-point. Compared with rectal tissue nonsuppressors, three of three (100.0%) of rectal tissue suppressors were women, had higher BMI, 35.9 kg/m (range 24.9-38.5) versus 20.6 (17.7-29.9), P = 0.05, and lower baseline log plasma HIV RNA: 3.7 copies/ml (range 3.6-4.4) versus 4.7 (3.8-5.4), P = 0.02. No significant relationships between rectal tissue RNA suppression and DTG concentrations were seen. Conclusion Rectal tissue HIV RNA persisted in most participants and was not predicted by DTG concentrations. Impact of host factors, particularly sex, on tissue HIV viral dynamics warrants further exploration.
Treatment Duration for Etonogestrel Implant.

The etonogestrel subdermal implant is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for contraception for up to three years, but it seems to be effective for up to five years.
Maternal and Postnatal Supplementation of Fish Oil Improves Metabolic Health of Mouse Male Offspring.

OBJECTIVE Over half of American women of childbearing age have either obesity or overweight. Hence, maternal programming through diet is critical for prevention of diseases in the offspring. Clinical trials with fish oil (FO) report various health benefits; however, it remains unclear whether maternal and postnatal consumption of FO protects offspring from adverse effects of consuming a high-fat (HF) diet. METHODS Female mice were fed HF diets supplemented without (HF) or with FO from 8 weeks before pregnancy through lactation. A low-fat (LF) diet was included as a control diet. After weaning, male offspring from HF or FO dams were either continued on their respective diet (HF-HF and FO-FO) or switched to the other diet (HF-FO and FO-HF) and compared with LF. Phenotypic and mechanistic studies were performed. RESULTS FO-FO offspring demonstrated significantly higher glucose clearance and insulin sensitivity compared with other pups fed the HF diet (P < 0.05). Furthermore, FO-FO pups had lower adiposity, inflammation, and fat deposition in the liver, consistent with reduced markers of hepatic lipogenesis and increased hepatic lipid oxidation. CONCLUSIONS Supplementation of FO during pregnancy and early life is more beneficial than treating with FO either during pregnancy or in pups.
Stages of change and psychotherapy outcomes: A review and meta-analysis.

The transtheoretical model and the stages of change are often used to adapt treatment to the individual client. The aims of this study were to review the stages of change and popular measures of change readiness in psychotherapy and to conduct a meta-analysis of the relation between readiness measures and psychotherapy outcomes. We report data from 76 studies, encompassing 25,917 patients. Moderate-sized effects (d = 0.41) were found for the association among multiple disorders, including substance and alcohol use, eating disorders, and mood disorders. Outcomes were a function of the pretreatment stage of change; that is, the farther a patient along the stages, the better the treatment outcomes. This review added 37 studies to the data reported in 2010, further strengthening the link between readiness and therapy outcomes. The article concludes with limitations of the research, diversity considerations, and therapeutic practices for stage matching in psychotherapy specifically and behavioral health more generally.
Recent Developments in Stereoselective Chemical Glycosylation

Because of their pivotal biological functions, attention to sugars and glycobiology has grown rapidly in recent decades, leading to increased demand for homogeneous oligosaccharides. The stereoselective preparation of oligosaccharides by chemical means remains challenging and continues to be a vivid research area for organic chemists. In the past decade, new approaches and reinvestigated traditional methods have transformed the field. These developments include novel catalyses, various types of glycosylation modulators and the use of photochemical energy to facilitate glycosylation. This Minireview presents a brief overview of the latest trends in chemical glycosylation, with emphasis on the stereoselective synthetic protocols developed in the past decade.
Interspecific and intraspecific interactions between fiddler crabs Minuca pugnax (mud fiddler) and Leptuca pugilator (sand fiddler) influence species' burrowing behavior

Abstract Species occupying similar habitat and functional niches will necessarily have some external force driving differentiation between them, thus creating complementarity, or otherwise face high competition for resources. In order to fully understand the role of each species in an ecosystem and their contributions to ecosystem function, it is important to understand the nature of these interactions. However, for species that occur in the same spatial niche and appear to occupy redundant functional niches, it is often difficult to distinguish between complementarity and redundancy and therefore to designate the functional role each species plays. We used two co-occurring fiddler crab species that are presumed to be functionally similar, Leptuca pugilator (sand fiddler crab) and Minuca pugnax (mud fiddler crab), to explore how species interactions may influence burrowing behavior. We ran manipulative mesocosm experiments to assess potential effects of species interactions on the number and location of burrows as well as the burrowing behavior of the crabs. Overall, sand fiddler crabs dug more burrows on average than mud fiddlers across all experiments while mud fiddlers were choosier about the location and sediment type of their burrows, suggesting complementarity in burrowing between the two species. Burrow counts in heterospecific treatments suggest that neither species interfered with nor enhanced burrow creation by the other species. However, increased burrow occupancy by mud fiddlers in the presence of sand fiddlers and aggressive behavior by mud fiddlers toward sand fiddlers suggest that mud fiddler crabs may receive refuge benefits from sand fiddler crabs through antagonistic rather than facilitative interactions. Thus, species-specific habitat use and interspecific interactions are likely influencing the role each species plays as a burrower and marsh ecosystem engineer .
“Mr. Wang Doesn’t Really Care How We Speak!”: Responsiveness in the Practice of an Exemplary Asian-American Teacher

This study presents holistic insights into the culturally relevant English language arts and reading instructional practices of one award-winning Asian-American male teacher as he worked with culturally and linguistically diverse students from a variety of backgrounds in a ‘significantly underperforming’ urban middle-school. Avenues through which the exemplary teacher reflected his culturally relevant teaching practices were planning instruction, prompting students to think critically through reflection, modeling, conferencing with students, facilitating peer evaluation and support, emphasizing procedural processes, establishing routine classroom practices, and capitalizing on technology and visual aid support. Mr. Wang found consistent collaboration with other teachers and opportunities for debriefing based on data from instruction to be the most beneficial forms of support. Students’ positive responses to Mr. Wang’s responsiveness were most influential to his continued instruction. Implications are provided.
Practice Patterns in Reporting Tertiary Grades at Radical Prostatectomy: Survey of a Large Group of Experienced Urologic Pathologists.

Context.— In prostate cancer, “tertiary” higher-grade patterns (TPs) have been associated with biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Objective.— To determine variation regarding defin...
The Transsulfuration Pathway Makes, the Tumor Takes.

Cells can take up cysteine or synthesize it de novo from methionine, but synthesis alone does not meet the high demands of cancer cells to proliferate. In this issue, Zhu et al. (2019) identify the SAH:SAM ratio, indicative of the cellular methylation state, as limiting for effective cysteine synthesis and the growth of some tumors.
Outcomes of Multistage Palliation of Infants With Single Ventricle and Atrioventricular Septal Defect

Background:Published palliation outcomes of infants with functional single ventricle (SV) and common atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) are poor due to associated cardiac and extracardiac anomal...
In suspected AMI, an extended algorithm increased sensitivity and decreased specificity for predicting 30-day MACE

Source Citation Nestelberger T, Boeddinghaus J, Wussler D, et al. Predicting major adverse events in patients with acute myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019;74:842-54. 31416527
Early Cretaceous subduction initiation beneath southern Tibet caused the northward flight of India

Abstract Collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates formed the ~2500 ​km long Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone and produced the Himalaya mountains and Tibetan plateau. Here we offer a new explanation for tectonic events leading to this collision: that the northward flight of India was caused by an Early Cretaceous episode of subduction initiation on the southern margin of Tibet. Compiled data for ophiolites along the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone show restricted ages between 120 ​Ma and 130 ​Ma, and their supra-subduction zone affinities are best explained by seafloor spreading in what became the forearc of a north-dipping subduction zone on the southern margin of Tibet. The subsequent evolution of this new subduction zone is revealed by integrating data for arc-related igneous rocks of the Lhasa terrane and Xigaze forearc basin deposits. Strong slab pull from this new subduction zone triggered the rifting of India from East Gondwana in Early Cretaceous time and pulled it northward to collide with Tibet in Early Paleogene time.
Prediction and characterization of transcription factors involved in drought stress response

Abstract Transcription factors (TFs) play a central role in regulating molecular level responses of plants to external stresses such as water limiting conditions, but identification of such TFs in the genome remains a challenge. Here, we describe a network-based supervised machine learning framework that accurately predicts and ranks all TFs in the genome according to their potential association with drought tolerance. We show that top ranked regulators fall mainly into two ‘age’ groups; genes that appeared first in land plants and genes that emerged later in the Oryza clade. TFs predicted to be high in the ranking belong to specific gene families, have relatively simple intron/exon and protein structures, and functionally converge to regulate primary and secondary metabolism pathways. Repeated trials of nested cross-validation tests showed that models trained only on regulatory network patterns, inferred from large transcriptome datasets, outperform models trained on heterogenous genomic features in the prediction of known drought response regulators. A new R/Shiny based web application, called the DroughtApp, provides a primer for generation of new testable hypotheses related to regulation of drought stress response. Furthermore, to test the system we experimentally validated predictions on the functional role of the rice transcription factor OsbHLH148, using RNA sequencing of knockout mutants in response to drought stress and protein-DNA interaction assays. Our study exemplifies the integration of domain knowledge for prioritization of regulatory genes in biological pathways of well-studied agricultural traits. One Sentence Summary Network-based supervised machine learning accurately predicts transcription factors involved in drought tolerance.
A comparison of post-operative results for cardiac patients without aprotinin

Objective Aprotinin has been suspended in cardiac surgery since risks factors associated with mortality and other adverse events in western Literatures.This study was to investigate the effect of aprotinin on short-term outcomes in cardiac surgery in Chinese patients.Methods Two groups of patients who underwent cardiac surgery during equal period just before and after aprotinin was suspended in China.Aprotinin groupp(n=1699) was defined as operations from june 19,2007 to Dec 18,2007,when aprotinin was used in all the patients.Control group(n=2225)was defined as operations from Dec19,2007 to June 18,2008,when aprotinin was not umed.Postoperative outcomes between the two groups,including blood loes and transfusion requirement,in-hospital mortality and major adveme outcome events were compared,using univariate analysis and mulfivariable logistic regression analysis.Results Aprotinin group had less postoperative blood loes,transfusion requirement and reoperation for bleeching as compared with the control group.Application of aprotinin did not increase the risk of in-hospital mortality (0.5%vs.10%,P=0.08)and other major ad-verse events,including renal dysfunction,renal failure requiring dialysis,low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS),neurological and pulmonary complications.Aprltinin group also had and shorter mechanical ventilation time(P=0.04),a lowwer rate of delayed mechan-ical ventilation time(P=0.04)and a higher PaO2/FiO2 in the bolld gas analysis(P<0.001).which presented a better respiratory function.Multivariable Logistic regression analysis got identical results with univariate analysis.Conclusion The use of aprotinin in cardiac surgery could reduce blood loss and transfusion requirement significantly,and showed a protective effect on the lungs.In the mean time it did not increase the risk of mortality or major complications.We suggest further studies should be performed to make a decision of continuing or stopping the use of aprotinin in cardisc surgery in Chinese or Asian population. Key words: Aprotinin Cardiac surgical procedures Complications Mortality
Very low dose α-2b interferon for the treatment of hairy cell leukemia

Alpha-2b interferon (alpha-2b IFN), administered at 2 x 10(6) U/m2 three times per week is highly effective in the treatment of progressive hairy cell leukemia (HCL) and in the retreatment of patients who have relapsed after previous IFN therapy. To determine if a lower interferon dose would induce a comparable antileukemic effect with less toxicity, a-2b IFN was administered at 2 x 10(5) U/m2 subcutaneously three times per week to 17 patients with progressive HCL. Thirteen patients had HCL in relapse after a previous response to alpha-2b IFN; four patients were previously untreated. The median duration of treatment was 9 months. Toxicity consisted only of transient, mild flu-like symptoms in two patients. Of the 13 previously IFN-treated patients, four had a minimal response, one had no response, and eight had progressive disease. Of four previously untreated patients, one had a partial response, two had a minimal response, and one had no response. In seven of eight patients whose disease progressed on low-dose IFN, the dose was escalated to 2 x 10(6) U/m2 three times per week, and all seven patients demonstrated hematologic response within 3 months to the dose escalation. We conclude that alpha-2b IFN at 2 x 10(5) U/m2 three times per week is relatively ineffective for the treatment of relapse after previous IFN therapy.
Coaction of Obesity Treatment-Associated Changes in Physical Activity and Emotional Eating: Mediation by Body Satisfaction.

BackgroundResearch on coaction suggests improvements in physical activity and emotional eating will occur in a reciprocal manner.AimsTo determine if changes in body satisfaction mediate relations b...
Effect of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir on weight-adjusted tacrolimus trough/dose ratios in heart and kidney transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVE The pharmacokinetic implications of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) use on tacrolimus posttransplant are unknown. This study sought to investigate the effects of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P), a CYP3A4 substrate and inhibitor, on weight-adjusted tacrolimus (FK) trough/dose ratio (T/D) following heart or kidney transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a single-center, retrospective analysis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremic donors to HCV negative heart or kidney transplant recipients who received 12 weeks of G/P therapy. Weight-adjusted T/D was assessed while patients were at steady-state before, during, and after G/P treatment. Forty-one HCV negative recipients (three heart, 38 kidney) were evaluated. RESULTS The weight-adjusted T/D significantly increased during G/P treatment (119.31, IQR 88-173.8) compared to before G/P treatment (67.4, IQR 53.4-115.9) (p < 0.01), but decreased after completion of treatment (90.1, IQR 52.9-122.7) (p < 0.01). There was no difference in weight-adjusted T/D before and after G/P treatment (p = 0.42). Four patients experienced acute rejection. CONCLUSION Initiation of G/P in heart or kidney transplant recipients induces a reversible change in tacrolimus metabolism. A 33%-50% tacrolimus dose reduction may be considered at the time of G/P initiation. Regardless of tacrolimus dose adjustment, tacrolimus trough levels should be monitored 3 days after initiation of G/P. No clear relationship between HCV viremic organ transplantation and rejection risk was found. Larger studies are warranted to validate these findings.
Effects of vehicle exhaust to VLC link: measurement and analysis

Optical beam propagation through the turbulent media such as the vehicle exhaust plumes need to be studied in order to estimate the communication performance degradations on vehicular visible light communication (V 2 LC) networks. When the optical transceiver is close to the exhaust plumes, the optical waves may be distorted in both phase and amplitude, by perturbations on the air's refractive index spatially and temporally. In this paper, the authors present the measurements performed on V 2 LC communication link using two different vehicles. In particular, several different transceiver configurations with respect to the position of exhaust nozzle have been tested and compared, and the turbulence strength is evaluated by scintillation index (SI). Since the V 2 LC applications are mainly based on intensity modulated, direct detection method, only the receiving optical power fluctuation (scintillation) will be discussed. Finally, the error rate performance under different log intensity variances is analyzed, demonstrating that scintillation effects introduced by the vehicle exhaust can be negligible in V 2 LC applications.
Biomedical Ethics in Methodist Traditions

In this treatment of bioethics from “Methodist” perspectives, an attempt has been made to be more inclusive of churches in this tradition than in the two previous volumes. These churches are located in the United States, but several have representation in their decision-making bodies from other countries. Most have involvements in other cultures that influence their approaches to both ethical stance and application in program and action.
A Functional-Based Distribution Diagnostic for a Linear Model with Correlated Outcomes: Technical Report

Despite the widespread popularity of linear models for correlated outcomes (e.g. linear mixed modesl and time series models), distribution diagnostic methodology remains relatively underdeveloped in this context. In this paper we present an easy-to-implement approach that lends itself to graphical displays of model fit. Our approach involves multiplying the estimated marginal residual vector by the Cholesky decomposition of the inverse of the estimated marginal variance matrix. Linear functions or the resulting "rotated" residuals are used to construct an empirical cumulative distribution function (ECDF), whose stochastic limit is characterized. We describe a resampling technique that serves as a computationally efficient parametric bootstrap for generating representatives of the stochastic limit of the ECDF. Through functionals, such representatives are used to construct global tests for the hypothesis of normal margional errors. In addition, we demonstrate that the ECDF of the predicted random effects, as described by Lange and Ryan (1989), can be formulated as a special case of our approach. Thus, our method supports both omnibus and directed tests. Our method works well in a variety of circumstances, including models having independent units of sampling (clustered data) and models for which all observations are correlated (e.g., a single time series).
Globalization: Effects on Fisheries Resources: Can transgenic fish save fisheries?

In this world of downward trends and depressing statistics, aquaculture, or fish farming, has been heralded as the great hope. Aquaculture was to relieve pressure on deteriorating wild fish stocks by replacing capture fisheries with fish farming. This shift to fish husbandry would allow wild populations to recover because reduced fishing pressures would mean greater cohort survival and reproduction. At the same time, aquaculture production could expand almost infinitely to satisfy the world’s ever-increasing demand for fish. Nice story. Too bad it did not work out that way. The fastest growing sector of aquaculture involves raising carnivorous fish for western markets. Now, entrepreneurs propose going a step further - raising transgenic salmon in conventional open-water aquaculture pens. This chapter explores the environmental effects associated with farming of transgenic salmon, and concludes that the benefit the world garners from farming of transgenic salmon is unlikely to exceed, or even approach the increased risks that transgenic salmon would create.
Text analysis of consumer reviews: the case of virtual travel firms

This study uncovered critical domains and themes of compliments and complaints that influence consumers overall satisfaction with using virtual travel agencies. Four domains, namely, "customer Service & Support", "trip schedule change", "product experience" and "firm credibility" were identified as areas where problems arose and extreme dissatisfaction resulted. Three domains emerged as the best predictors for satisfaction: "product experience", Customer Service & Sopecially at managerial level is critical for these virtual travel firms. The outcomes of this research lend insights into how to effectively manage consumer online reviews and turn this domain of valuable resources into knowledge and a strategy tool for the virtual travel segment of the hospitality and tourism industry.
Elemental abundances of the mercury-manganese stars HR 4817 and Chi Lupi

Fine analyses of limited spectral regions of the mercury-manganese stars HR 4817 and Chi Lup confirm that these stars have abundances of typical class members. The best determined values of HR 4817 are similar to those of 53 Tau which is an anomalous class member.
The Role of Emotion in Economic Behavior

This article, prepared for the forthcoming third edition of The Handbook of Emotion, surveys behavioral economic and neuroeconomic research on the influence of expected and immediate emotions on decision making under risk, intertemporal choice, and social preferences.
The Current Distribution within Plated Through‐Holes II . The Effect of Periodic Electrolysis

A model is presented for the purpose of determining the transient behavior of a plated through‐hole system during electrolysis with a periodic applied potential, including the effects of mass transfer, charge transfer, and ohmic resistance. Calculations are performed for through‐holes of various aspect ratios during the periodic electrodeposition of copper. The results indicate that electrolysis with a rectangular‐pulse applied potential causes the current distribution to be less uniform than dc electrolysis at the same average rate of plating. The results also indicate that electrolysis with a periodic‐reverse applied potential appears to be a promising technique for obtaining a more uniform current distribution in this particular system.
Production of cyclooxygenase products and superoxide anion by macrophages in response to chemotactic factors.

Abstract Mononuclear phagocytes are knwon to play a key role in various phlogistic reactions by synthesizing and releasing products that may potentiate or inhibit inflammatory processes. The expression of these products appears to be dependent on the source of the macrophage population as well as the stimulus employed. We have studied superoxide anion (O 2 − ) production as well as the generation of PGE 2 , PGF 2α , and TXB 2 from resident, oil-elicited and thiogylcollate-induced peritoneal macrophages in mice in the presence and absence of chemotactic peptides. Production of O 2 − , occurred only in elicited macrophages stimulated with high concentrations of FMLP or C5a; resident cells stimulated with either of the chemotactic peptides were completely unresponsive. Although resident peritoneal macrophages incubated with chemotactic peptides did not generate O 2 − , these cells did secrete significant levels of PGE 2 , PGF 2α , and TXB 2 in response to C5a. FMLP had no stimulatory effect. Elicited macrophages generated increased levels of PGE 2 and PGF 2α when incubated with C5a. However, production of TXB 2 was not stimulated. FMLP was inactive in stimulating PGE 2 , PGF 2α , and TXB 2 in all types of macrophages studied. These studies indicate a heterogeneity in the production of inflammatory mediators from various macrophage populations in response to chemotactic factors.