cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cancer and Idiopathic Inflammatory Myositis

Here we present an update on best practices and clinical considerations when evaluating IIM patients for malignancy. Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) comprise a group of diseases including dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis (PM), and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathies (IMNM). There is an increased risk of concomitant cancer near the time of myositis onset (cancer-associated myositis, CAM) in unique subsets of IIM patients, particularly those with anti-transcriptional intermediary factor 1-gamma (anti-TIF1-γ), anti-nuclear matrix protein-2 (NXP-2), and potentially anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme-A reductase (HMGCR) antibodies. While myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) improve risk stratification for cancer in IIM patients, evidenced-based data continues to be lacking with regard to the optimal cancer assessment and duration. Data has been supportive of the association of certain myositis-specific antibodies with malignancy as mentioned above. The optimal strategy for cancer screening remains under discussion but the highest risk of malignancy appears to be within 1 to 3 years of diagnosis making this an important window to maintain vigilance.
PGxMine: Text mining for curation of PharmGKB

Precision medicine tailors treatment to individuals personal data including differences in their genome. The Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase (PharmGKB) provides highly curated information on the effect of genetic variation on drug response and side effects for a wide range of drugs. PharmGKB's scientific curators triage, review and annotate a large number of papers each year but the task is challenging. We present the PGxMine resource, a text-mined resource of pharmacogenomic associations from all accessible published literature to assist in the curation of PharmGKB. We developed a supervised machine learning pipeline to extract associations between a variant (DNA and protein changes, star alleles and dbSNP identifiers) and a chemical. PGxMine covers 452 chemicals and 2,426 variants and contains 19,930 mentions of pharmacogenomic associations across 7,170 papers. An evaluation by PharmGKB curators found that 57 of the top 100 associations not found in PharmGKB led to 83 curatable papers and a further 24 associations would likely lead to curatable papers through citations. The results can be viewed at https://pgxmine.pharmgkb.org/ and code can be downloaded at https://github.com/jakelever/pgxmine.
Repeatability profiles towards consistent sensitivity and specificity levels for machine learning on breast DCE-MRI

We evaluated a radiomics/machine learning method for dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE-MR) images of breast lesions and the impact of case-based classification repeatability on sensitivity and specificity. DCE-MR images of 1,169 unique breast lesions (267 benign, 902 malignant) were retrospectively collected under HIPAA/IRB. Lesions were automatically segmented using a fuzzy c-means method; thirty-eight radiomic features were extracted. Three classification tasks were investigated: (i) benign vs. malignant, (ii) pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) vs. DCIS with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), and (iii) luminal A or luminal B cancers vs. other molecular subtypes. Case-based repeatability of classifier output was constructed using 0.632+ bootstrap sampling (1000 iterations) with classification by support vector machine (SVM). Repeatability profiles were constructed for each task using the 95% confidence interval widths of the classifier output for cases in the test folds over all bootstrap iterations. The relationships between classifier output repeatability and variability in sensitivity and specificity over the bootstrap test folds were investigated. Most cases fell within the highest repeatability of classifier output over all three classification tasks. Sensitivity and specificity demonstrated more variability in the test folds than in the training folds at corresponding thresholds for the classifier output. Higher repeatability of classifier output was associated with lower variability in sensitivity and specificity in tasks (i) and (ii) but not in task (iii). Case-based repeatability profiles may be important for characterizing impact of using radiomics with desired sensitivity and specificity.
Stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing of ascorbic acid loaded hydrogels: A controlled release study.

Abstract Patients’ genetic characteristics, age, gender, diet, and lifestyle affect the success of medical treatment. The treatment’s effectiveness can be increased by using personalized medication; however, using conventional large-scale drug production methods can restrict tablet geometry and drug dosage combinations. To create these personalized drugs, 3D printing has been studied as an alternative production method. In this study, stereolithography 3D printing is used to create custom tablet geometries using a novel biocompatible photochemistry consisting of ascorbic acid (AA) encapsulated in a poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA)-based polymer network and polymerized using riboflavin as a photoinitiator. The printing process is customized for the chemistry and different geometries (small and large tablet, coaxial annulus, 4-circle pattern and honeycomb pattern) with surface area to volume ratios ranging from 0.6 to 1.83 are fabricated. The tablets’ microstructures are examined and the cumulative release rates in gastrointestinal conditions are analyzed periodically for 6 h. After 1 h of release, honeycomb and coaxial annulus tablet gels exhibit higher release rates at approximately 80%. The experimental data is fitted to empirical release kinetic models and the Higuchi model is shown to yield the best fitting results. Overall, by using a novel biocompatible photochemistry and 3D printing we have shown that it is possible to successfully load and release ascorbic acid as a model agent, opening up a new class of manufacturing protocols to encapsulate ascorbic acid and other water-soluble vitamins as well as many different drugs for drug delivery applications.
UWB Radar Cardiac Activity Sensing: Novel Arctangent Demodulator for Direct-RF Receivers

Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radars are effective in detecting subtle fluctuations of illuminated target. This attribute makes them attractive for uncovering respiration and circulation patterns from chest movements. Despite the acute range resolution offered by Doppler radars, contribution by cardiovascular pumping is quite feeble and is overshadowed by breathing. It is observed that, when chest movements were monitored using UWB pulse Doppler radars, cardiac motion is buried at least 30 dB under first harmonic of respiration. In this paper, we propose and investigate novel Arctangent demodulation method for direct-RF receivers. The proposed method offers an improvement of signal-to-noise ratio by 8–15 dB of cardiopulmonary motion signal when compared to existing algorithms. In addition, it enables adaptive suppression of respiratory artifacts using trend filtering which vastly enhances robustness in real-time non-invasive heart rate monitoring applications.
An arrow that missed the mark: a pediatric case report of remarkable neurologic improvement following penetrating spinal cord injury

Penetrating spinal cord injuries are rare in children but result in devastating impacts on long-term morbidity and mortality-with little known about the recovery capacity in this age group. We present the case of an eight-year-old child who sustained a penetrating injury through the right anterior thorax. Thoracic CT showed the arrow tip extending through the spinal canal at T6. Neurologic examination revealed no motor or sensory function below T6. The arrow was surgically removed without complications through an anterior-only approach. MRI on post-operative day (POD) 4 showed focal T2 hyperintensity at the T6 spinal cord. Patient was discharged on POD33 with an American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA)-D score and trace voluntary control over bowel and bladder function. Remarkably, four months later, he had near normal bowel and bladder function, with near-intact lower extremity strength and self-sustained ambulation. Follow-up imaging revealed hemicord formation at the level of injury. We review our case of penetrating spinal cord injury in a child and similar reports in the literature. Penetrating thoracic spinal cord trauma portends poor clinical outcomes, particularly when employing available adult prognostic spinal cord injury scoring metrics. Incomplete spinal cord injury, and often-associated spinal shock, can mimic a complete injury-as in our patient, which improved to near-complete motor and sensory restoration of function and resulted in the formation of a split hemicord. This case represents a unique penetrating spinal cord injury with remarkable neurologic recovery, which would advocate against definitive early prognostication in the pediatric population.
Sensitivity and Specificity of Clinical Criteria for 4-Repeat Tauopathies in Autopsy-Confirmed Cases (S27.003)

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of current clinical criteria for diagnosing progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD) in a cohort of autopsy-confirmed 4R tauopathies Background: PSP and corticobasal syndrome (CBS) are classically considered to be clinically distinct, but are heterogeneous and overlapping, both clinically and pathologically. Success of clinical trials depends on accurate diagnosis that will predict pathologic outcome. We evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of current clinical criteria for predicting pathological diagnosis. Design/Methods: Retrospective chart review of 133 autopsy-confirmed 4R-tauopathies (PSP=88, CBD=45) to assess the clinical features that contribute to consensus criteria for PSP and CBS. Patients were identified from the Penn Integrated Neurodegenerative Disease Database. Presence/absence of clinical features were coded for first clinical visit by JLW (Neurology PGY4), who was blinded to the pathological diagnosis. Inclusion criteria were autopsy-confirmation of CBD and PSP, using established neuropathological criteria. Patients were excluded if there was insufficient clinical data to effectively code the clinical features of interest (n=27). Unknown features were assumed to be absent in the final analysis. Binary classification and chi-square tests were used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of established criteria, and supplementary features for predicting pathological diagnosis. Results: Armstrong “Probable CBD” criteria were 100% specific, only 10% sensitive for CBD pathology. Armstrong “Possible CBD” criteria were neither sensitive (35.1%) nor specific (34.2%). Hoglinger “Probable PSP” criteria were 65.7% sensitive, 70.3% specific for PSP pathology. Hoglinger “Possible PSP” criteria had similar sensitivity (62.9%) and specificity (64.9%). Of the PSP pathology patients not meeting Hoglinger criteria, 23% had impaired grammatical language comprehension. Conclusions: Current criteria are neither sensitive nor specific for differentiating CBD/PSP pathology, suggesting a need for adjunctive biomarkers to better differentiate. Including ‘language comprehension impairment’ may improve sensitivity for PSP criteria. We raise the possibility that “4-repeat tauopathy” encompasses similar sources of neuropathology without clinical differentiation. Study Supported by: NIH(AG0435043, AG017586, NS044266, NS088341), Dana Foundation, & Wyncote Foundation Disclosure: Dr. Weinstein has nothing to disclose. Dr Irwin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Trojanowski has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Khankhanian has nothing to disclose. Dr. Grossman has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with GE Whitney. Dr. Grossman has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Neurology. Dr. McMillan has nothing to disclose.
Copper-Free Azide–Alkyne Cycloaddition for Peptide Modification of Alginate Hydrogels

Alginate, a biocompatible polymer naturally derived from algae, is widely used as a synthetic analogue of the extracellular matrix in tissue engineering. Integrin-binding peptide motifs, including ...
Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia occurs in patients who have been intubated for at least 2–3 days with significant exposure to hospital-acquired organisms. Treatment should be initiated rapidly and cover Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA). Within 72 h or with the availability of culture results, antibiotics should be narrowed. Active research is on-going to identify patients at risk for ventilator-associated complications and to minimize the likelihood of infection in these patients.
Physician-modified endografts for urgent and emergent aortic pathology

Abstract Symptomatic or ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAA) carry a high morbidity and mortality. Modern fenestrated and/or branched endovascular devices (B/FEVAR) have improved the immediate peri-operative mortality of TAAA and have increased the number of people that can undergo repair - in those who might otherwise be prohibitively high risk for surgery. Most modern B/FEVAR are custom made devices that require 6-12 weeks to assemble and ship to the site of implantation. Thus, patients who require more urgent repair due to symptomatic or ruptured aneurysms may not have access to this potentially life saving technology. Physician-modified endografts (PMEGs), or traditional endografts that have been back-table modified to have fenestrations or branches, have partially fixed this problem as they can be constructed in less than an hour and can provide similar results to modern custom made devices. Here we review the existing data behind the use of PMEGs in urgent and emergent aortic pathology and summarize a case describing one methodology for PMEG construction that has been standardized at our institution.
Telemedicine: improving clinical care and medical education in paediatrics

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid increase in the use of telemedicine. This is likely to continue when the social distancing restrictions have been eased. There have been a number of technological advances that have contributed to the roll-out and improved quality of telemedicine consultations. Telemedicine has a number of benefits including facilitating home working for clinicians, reduce travel time for families and allows multidisciplinary team working across different sites. In addition to these clinical benefits there are also the environmental benefits of reduced travel to and from the hospital setting. There are limitations to this change in practice including the need for repeat appointments if a telemedicine facilitated contact is not adequate and the perpetuation of inequality for vulnerable families, the so called "digital divide". Due to the increase in the use of telemedicine it is important that clinicians develop effective consultation practices including appropriate selection of patients, technical setup and consultation tools. In order to ensure trainees are developing appropriate skills in telemedicine, educational opportunities should be developed including structured assessment tools to allow the demonstration of competence in this area.
Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracardia) of the Gulf of Mexico. X. The Question of Being Male

Three new species Parafilitanais mexicana, Collettea elongata, and Paragathotanais medius are described from deep-sea localities in the Gulf of Mexico. The male of Parafilitanais does not vary conspicuously from the female, except for possessing pleopods. Male Paragathotanais reveal that the mouthparts display some degree of sexual dimorphism. Males of all 3 species possess functional mouthparts. The problems identifying male Tanaidacea are discussed. The number of terminal spiniform setae on the maxillule is considered invalid as a diagnostic character. Keys to the species of Parafilitanais and Paragathotanais are given. Gulf and Caribbean Research Vol. 14, 53–66, 2002 Manuscript received August 3, 2001; accepted January 10, 2002
Neuromimetic networks for coordinator meanings

This chapter discusses the several neuromimetic architectures which explain how the patterns that organize the observations of the coordinator meanings can be learned. It introduces seven architectures that can perform some instantiation of the logical vs. associative and the hyperplane vs. clustering classification. These architectures include: (1) the McCulloch and Pitts neuron, (2) the single-layer perceptrons, (3) the multilayer perceptrons, (4) the instar networks, (5) the competitive networks, (6) learning the vector quantization networks, and (7) a novel algorithm based on the correlation among dendritic spines. There is a wide variety of learning rules included in the neuromimetic computing literature. It categorizes all the learning rules into one of the three types: unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, and supervised learning or error-correction. This classification is due to the nature of the teaching signals that guide learning. In addition, the chapter provides the discussion with the illustration of an algorithm of devising, based on notions drawn from the theory of dendritic processing, that does nothing but find correlations.
Optimal Use of Expert Knowledge in Ant Colony Optimization for the Analysis of Epistasis in Human Disease

The availability of chip-based technology has transformed human genetics and made routine the measurement of thousands of DNA sequence variations giving rise to an informatics challenge. This challenge is the identification of combinations of interacting DNA sequence variations predictive of common diseases. We have previously developed Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction (MDR), a method capable of detecting these interactions, but an exhaustive MDR analysis is exponential in time complexity and thus unsuitable for an interaction analysis of genome-wide datasets. Therefore we look to stochastic search approaches to find a suitable wrapper for the analysis of these data. We have previously shown that an ant colony optimization (ACO) framework can be successfully applied to human genetics when expert knowledge is included. We have integrated an ACO stochastic search wrapper into the open source MDR software package. In this wrapper we also introduce a scaling method based on an exponential distribution function with a single user-adjustable parameter. Here we obtain expert knowledge from Tuned ReliefF (TuRF), a method capable of detecting attribute interactions in the absence of main effects, and perform a power analysis at different parameter settings. We show that the expert knowledge distribution parameter, the retention factor, and the weighting of expert knowledge significantly affect the power of the method.
Lasers for Liposuction: No Benefit over Tumescent Liposuction

The author has indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters on this subject.
Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha is regulated by RBM38, a RNA-binding protein and a p53 family target, via mRNA translation

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1), a heterodimeric transcription factor, consists of HIF1α and HIF1β and is necessary for cell growth and survival under a hypoxic condition. Thus, the level and activity of HIF1α needs to be tightly controlled. Indeed, HIF1α protein stability is controlled by prolyl hydroxylase and von Hippel-Lindau-mediated proteosomal degradation. However, it remains unclear whether HIF1α expression is controlled by other pathways. Here, we showed that RNA-binding protein RBM38, a target of the p53 family, regulates HIF1α expression via mRNA translation. Specifically, we showed that under a hypoxic condition, ectopic expression of RBM38 decreased, whereas knockdown of RBM38 increased, the level of HIF1α protein. We also showed that the rate of de novo HIF1α protein synthesis was increased by knockdown of RBM38. Additionally, we showed that RBM38 directly bound to HIF1α 5' and 3'UTRs. Consistently, we showed that the rate of mRNA translation for a heterologous reporter that carries HIF1α 5'and/or 3'UTRs was increased upon knockdown of RBM38. Furthermore, we showed that knockdown of RBM38 increased, whereas ectopic expression of RBM38 decreased, the binding of eIF4E to HIF1α mRNA. Together, our data suggest that RBM38 is a novel translational regulator of HIF1α under a hypoxic condition.
Structure of the active site of lignin peroxidase isozyme H2: native enzyme, compound III and reduced form

The wood-degrading fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium secretes a number of extracellular enzymes called lignin peroxidases which are involved in the degradation of both lignin and a number of persistent environmental pollutants. Lignin peroxidase isozyme H2, a glycosylated protein of approximately 40 kDa, contains a single heme. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has been used to probe the local environment of the iron in the active site of resting enzyme, reduced enzyme, and compound III. For the native and reduced forms, respectively, the average Fe-pyrrole nitrogen distances are 2.055 and 2.02 A (+/- 0.015 A); the Fe-proximal nitrogen distance is 1.93 and 1.91 A (+/- 0.02 A) while the Fe-distal ligand distance is 2.17 and 2.10 A (+/- 0.03 A). Although the results are not as well-defined, the active-site structure of compound III is largely 2.02 +/- 0.015 A for the average Fe-pyrrole nitrogen distance, 1.90 +/- 0.02 for the Fe-proximal nitrogen, and 1.74 +/- 0.03 A for the Fe-distal ligand distance. The heme iron-pyrrole nitrogen distance is more expanded in ligninase H2 than in other peroxidases. The possible significance of this is discussed in relation to other heme proteins.
IMAGES OF MAPS: A ROTATION EXPERIMENT∗

Theories which explain mental imagery are discussed and are related to cognitive maps. An experiment was conducted to illustrate that people can code information about maps as visual images and use map images for a map-reading task. Subjects were shown maps which were rotated at various angles from north-at-the-top. The time needed to decide if a map was a correct or mirror representation was recorded. The results support the notion that people did this task by forming and rotating map images.
Measurement and interpretation of equilibrium organic vapor sorption in polyurethane membranes

Abstract The equilibrium sorption of benzene, tetrachloroethylene, and hexane vapor in four commercially available polyurethanes was measured as a function of temperature (30–60°C) and organic activity with a McBain vapor uptake apparatus. The four polyurethanes were composed of the same polyether soft segments, but contained different amounts of phase-separated, hydrogen-bonded hard segment domains. For all three organic penetrants, polymer swelling was inversely proportional to the polyurethane's hard segment content. Vapor sorption data were modeled over the entire organic activity range for all four polyurethanes using the Flory–Rhener equation (the Flory–Huggins equation did not fit the experimental data at high organic vapor activities). The morphology of each of the polyurethanes was analyzed by FTIR (in terms of the hydrogen bonding index, HBI), elemental analysis (to calculate the total volume of hard segments in a polyurethane), and small-angle X-ray scattering (to determine the long spacing between hard segment domains). The Flory–Huggins interaction parameters, χ, in the Flory–Rhener equation for the three organic vapors were found to increase linearly with HBI. The Mc parameter in the Flory–Rhener equation for each polymer, defined as the effective molecular weight of soft segments between hard domains, was correlated empirically with a combination of the HBI, polymer hard segment content, and soft segment long spacing.
Autoimmunity caused by xenobiotics

A number of clinical reports and experimental studies have shown that autoimmune responses and/or autoimmune diseases are induced in humans and laboratory animals by chronic exposure to various chemicals. The present review is focused on the most frequent groups of chemically induced human disorders. Results obtained from studies of the available counterparts of these diseases, i.e. those models obtained from the exposure of laboratory animals to various chemicals are analyzed. Although significant progress has been achieved to the realization that environmental agents may cause profound changes in our immune system and result in autoimmune disease, epidemiological, clinical and experimental work is still needed to acquire a better understanding of the mechanisms involved.
Metabolism-based polycyclic aromatic acetylene inhibition of CYP1B1 in 10T1/2 cells potentiates aryl hydrocarbon receptor activity.

We have used polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) alkyne metabolism-based inhibitors to test whether CYP1B1 metabolism is linked to aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation in mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEF). 1-ethynylpyrene (1EP) selectively inactivated CYP1B1 dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) metabolism in C3H10T1/2 MEFs; whereas 1-(1-propynyl)pyrene (1PP) preferentially inhibited CYP1A1 activity in Hepa-1c1c7 mouse hepatoma cells (Hepa). In each cell type >90% inhibition of DMBA metabolism after 1 h treatment with each inhibitor (0.1 microM) was progressively reversed and then increased to levels seen with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) induction (fourfold stimulation). It was found that 0.1 microM 1EP and 1PP maximally induce CYP1B1 and CYP1A1 mRNA levels in10T1/2 and Hepa cells, respectively, after 6 h. 1-Ethylpyrene (EtP), which lacks the activatable acetylene moiety, was far less effective as an inhibitor and as an inducer. AhR activation is essential for 1EP induction as evidenced by the use of AhR antagonists and AhR-deficient MEFs and absence of induction following inhibition of DMBA metabolism with carbon monoxide (CO). Inhibition of CYP1B1 was linked to enhanced AhR activation even at early stages prior to significant ligand depletion. 1EP and EtP were similarly effective in stimulating AhR nuclear translocation, though 5-10 times slower compared with TCDD, and produced no significant down-regulation of the AhR. TCDD activated AhR/Arnt complex formation with an oligonucleotide xenobiotic response element far more extensively than 1EP or EtP, even at concentrations of 1EP that increased CYP1B1 mRNA to similar levels. CO did not influence these responses to EtP, event hough CO treatment potentiated EtP induction of CYP1B1 mRNA. These differences suggest a fundamental difference between PAH/AhR and TCDD/AhR complexes where CYP1B1 metabolic activity regulates the potency, rather than the formation of the AhR/Arnt complex.
Anionic polymerization of p-xylenesulfonium salts

Recent investigations indicate that the base-promoted polymerization reaction of a 1,4-phenylenebis(methylene)disulfonium salt in a aqueous solution involves the formation of a highly reactive p-xylylene intermediate, which polymerizes through formation of a sulfur ylide active center by an anionic mechanism. If so, it would be expected that the concentration of this intermediate should be very important in controlling both polymer yield and molecular weight, so it should be possible to increase the concentration of that intermediate by removing the organic sulfide released in the initial elimination reaction by extraction into an organic solvent. This expected effect was verified by the very large increases in both reaction conversion and polymer intrinsic viscosity obtained when the polymerization reaction was carried out in the presence of pentane. The effect was greater with the cyclic sulfide monomer than with the dimethyl sulfide monomer, presumably because of the higher water solubility of the latter.
Hydrogen car fill-up process modeling and simulation

Abstract A novel mathematical model is proposed, based on thermodynamics and transport phenomena fundamentals, that aims to capture the hydrogen pressure, temperature and molar volume evolution during a hydrogen vehicle’s fill-up process. Hydrogen’s thermodynamic properties are calculated through the use of the generic cubic equation of state and residual properties. The obtained model gives rise to a set of differential-algebraic equations (DAE), which are then simulated using a hybrid Newton/Runge–Kutta method. The model’s pressure, temperature, volume, and mass flowrate predictions match, within 2%, corresponding experimental data obtained, during a fill-up process, from a fuel cell vehicle’s and the fueling station’s storage tanks. The model also elucidates the two mechanisms contributing to the temperature increase in the vehicle storage tank: heating by Joule–Thomson expansion and heating by compression. It is shown that Joule–Thomson heating dominates at the beginning of the fill-up process, while compression heating dominates towards the end of the fill-up process.
Comparison by Magnetic Resonance Phase Contrast Imagingof Pulse-Wave Velocity in Patients With Single Ventricle Who Have Reconstructed Aortas Versus Those Without

Pulse-wave velocity (PWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, is a known independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. Patients with single ventricle who undergo aortic to pulmonary anastomosis (recon) have noncompliant patch material inserted into the neoaorta, possibly increasing vessel stiffness and afterload. The purpose of this study is to determine if PWV in patients with single ventricle differed between those who did and those who did not undergo aortic reconstruction (nonrecon). We retrospectively reviewed cardiac magnetic resonance anatomic, cine, and phase contrast evaluations in the ascending aorta and descending aorta (DAo) at the level of the diaphragm data from 126 patients with single ventricle (8.6 ± 8.0 years) from January 2012 to May 2013. Significance = p 13 years old had a higher PWV than those 13 years old, PWV of those with recon was higher than nonrecon DAo distensibility was similar between both groups. There was no difference in age, body surface area, or cardiac index between recon and nonrecon. No correlations between various hemodynamic and ventricular function parameters with PWV were noted. In conclusion, PWV in recon is higher than in nonrecon with similar DAo distensibility implicating the aortic reconstruction as a possible cause of increased afterload; older recon patients have stiffer aortas than younger ones, possibly imposing an additional cardiovascular risk in the future. Other biomaterials may potentially moderate PWV if clinical outcome is adversely affected.
Ultrasonic Nondestructive Measurement Systems – Models and Measurements

The electroacoustic measurement model is an explicit model of an entire ultrasonic measurement system, including the pulser/receiver, cabling, and transducers. A summary is given of the measurement procedures needed for characterizing all the system elements contained in this measurement model, including a description of a new pulse-echo method for obtaining the sensitivity and impedance of an ultrasonic transducer. It is demonstrated that these models and measurement procedures can be combined to accurately simulate the measured voltage of a pulseecho immersion system.
Unusual sequence of group 3 LEA (II) mRNA inducible by dehydration stress in wheat

A cDNA clone, pMA1949, detects two mRNA species in wheat seedling tissue that are late embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) and dehydration stress-inducible. Sequence analysis of the pMA1949 clone shows it to be a 991 bp partial cDNA encoding a polypeptide of 317 amino acids with homology to two group 3 LEA proteins, carrot (DC8) and a soybean protein encoded by pGmPM2 cDNA. Molecular analysis of the deduced protein reveals a 33 kDa acidic and extremely hydrophilic protein with potential amphiphilic α-helical regions. In addition, the protein contains eleven similar, contiguous repeats of 11 amino acids, which are separated by 118 amino acids from two additional and unique repeats of 36 residues each at the carboxyl end of the protein. Comparisons of sequences of reported group 3 LEA proteins revealed that there are two types, separable by sequence similarity of the 11 amino acid repeating motifs and by the presence or absence of a certain amino acid stretch at the carboxyl terminus. Based on resuls from these comparisons, we propose a second type of group 3 LEA proteins, called group 3 LEA (II).
Eliminating Cascading Rollback in Structured Database

Transaction rollback is a significant performance liability in database systems, and will become increasingly important as the number of concurrent transactions in a database system increases. To minimize or eliminate rollback, several database systems using locking protocols require that the database be structured as a directed acyclic graph. Yannakakis (11) and Fussell (4) have given complete characterizations useful in proving that given protocol is free from transaction rollback. Howeyer, it is difficult to use these conditions to construct new protocols that are either rollback free or allow only non-cascading rollback. New protocols to minimize rollback are especially important in databases structured as arbitrary graphs, since the only published protocol for these databases can cause cascading rollback. In this paper we give a constructive characterization for a protocol to ensure either no rollback or only non-cascading rollback in arbitrarily structured graphs. We show that these conditions drastically simplify the proofs of rollback behavior of existing protocols, and use it to construct a new simple rollback protocol that operates in arbitrary databases.
OBSERVATIONS ON SOME CAUSES OF GALL STONE FORMATION : I. EXPERIMENTAL CHOLELITHIASIS IN THE ABSENCE OF STASIS, INFECTION, AND GALL BLADDER INFLUENCES.

Gall stones frequently form in dogs intubated for the collection of bile under sterile conditions, in the absence of stasis and of gall bladder influence. The stones consist almost entirely of two substances—calcium carbonate and calcium bilirubinate—and they are remarkably uniform in character, as would follow from the limiting conditions of their development. They are not the result of bile loss, for similar ones may be recovered from the wall of glass tubes interpolated in ducts with intestinal connection undisturbed. The study of them has brought out evidence on the general problem of cholelithiasis. Some factors in their causation and that of gall stones as a class will be considered in succeeding papers.
Marginal and weakly nonlinear stability in spatially developing flows

This work is devoted to revealing the essence of near-critical phenomena in nonlinear problems with nonparallel effects. As a generalization of the well-known concept of linear stability in Fourier space for a parallel basic state, we introduce a new concept valid for nonparallel flows as well. The new picture allows one to demonstrate the possible singular limit to the parallel case. Also, on its basis we derive a weakly nonlinear model valid near criticality. The damped Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation with variable coefficients is used to illustrate the application of the theory.
Efficacy of an Inactivated Feline Leukemia Virus Vaccine

An inactivated whole-virus FeLV vaccine, developed from a molecularly cloned FeLV isolate (FeLV-61E-A), was assessed for its ability to protect cats against homologous and heterologous virulent viral challenge. The fractions of cats that resisted the induction of persistent viremia after FeLV challenge were as follows: FeLV-61E-A vaccine, 95%; adjuvant controls, 26%; and established commercial control FeLV vaccine, 35%. The prechallenge mean neutralizing antibody titers for each group were as follows: FeLV-61E-A vaccine, 1:43; adjuvant controls, < 1:8; and commercial control FeLV vaccine, 1:12. The prototype FeLV-61E-A vaccine was developed commercially for immunization of pet cats by substitution of a proprietary adjuvant and development of stable, high antigen production cell lines. This vaccine (Fel-O-Vax) has been studied extensively, alone and in multivalent combination with other feline virus vaccines, in seven efficacy trials involving a total of 150 immunized cats. These studies yielded an FeLV-resistant fraction of 87% in vaccinated cats as compared with 8% in adjuvant controls. The duration of immunity induced by an FeLV-61E-A commercial vaccine (Fel-O-Vax-LvK IV) was also assessed. One year after vaccination, 100% of challenged vaccinated cats and none of challenged controls resisted induction of persistent viremia. The results of these studies demonstrate that an inactivated FeLV vaccine prepared from a molecularly cloned subgroup A FeLV produces a high level of protective immunity against heterologous and homologous FeLV infection. This vaccine-induced immunity is durable for at least 1 year without intervening booster immunization or exposure to virus.
Reply to ``Comment on `Adiabatic excitation of longitudinal bunch shape oscillations'''

Response is made to J. A. MacLachlan's preceding Comment [Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 4, 017001 (2001)]. We are gratified to see that high quality simulations, as presented by MacLachlan, verify our experimental results.
Phenotypic High-Throughput Screening in Atherosclerosis Research: Focus on Macrophages

Atherosclerosis is a complex disease characterized by arterial lesions consisting of macrophage foam cells, smooth muscle cells, lymphocytes and other cell types. As atherosclerotic lesions mature, they can rupture and thereby trigger thrombosis that can result in tissue infarction. Macrophage foam cells develop in the subendothelial space when cells take up cholesterol from modified forms of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and other apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins. Current therapies to limit atherosclerosis focus on altering the plasma lipid composition, most commonly by reducing circulating LDL levels. No current therapy is specifically designed to alter the cellular composition of atherosclerotic lesions. To address this deficit, phenotypic high-throughput drug screens have been developed to identify compounds that reduce the uptake of oxidized LDL by macrophages or to identify compounds that increase the efflux of cholesterol from macrophages. Additional phenotypic screens can be envisaged that address cellular processes in active atherosclerotic lesions including macrophage apoptosis and efferocytosis.
Analysts' forecasts in the capital asset pricing model

Abstract The abnormally high returns on small, neglected firms are explained by a respecified CAPM, which incorporates the information contained in analysts' forecasts by allowing for uncertainty in the mean ex ante return.
EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF NONUNIFORM SAMPUNG TECHNIQUE FOR ANTENNA FAR-FIELD CONSTRUCTION

ABSTRACT A recently developed antenna pattern reconstruction technique using the nonuniform sampling algorithm is able to construct the antenna far-field patterns from a set of non-uniformly distributed amplitude and phase samples. This paper presents the application of this technique to an actual antenna measurement performed at JPL. The 1.47-meter Viking and a 1-meter reflectors operating at X-band were both measured. A conical-cut approach is used to generate nonuniformly distributed samples. The far-field patterns of these two antennas are reconstructed from the measured data using a developed computer program based on the nonuniform sampling algorithm. An overlapping “Window Concept” is also applied in the far-field reconstruction process to avoid measurement error spreading. The results of the reconstructed patterns are compared with the standard azimuth-cut patterns. The effects of selection of various phase reference points in applying the nonuniform sampling technique are demonstrated through a n...
Gelation of the extracellular polysaccharide produced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes

Abstract It has been shown that the extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) produced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes will form thermoreversible gels. This EPS belongs to a family of polysaccharide structures all of which have the same backbone structure substituted with different side chains. The EPS produced by Rhizobium meliloti IFO 13336 also belongs to this family of structures and T. Harada (Biochem. Soc. Symp., 48 (1983) 97) has reported gelation of this polysaccharide. Thus it is possible that gelation is a common feature of this family of structures. Possible biological and ecological consequences of gelation are discussed.
Lubricity of Surface Hydrogel Layers

Many biological interfaces provide low friction aqueous lubrication through the generation and maintenance of a high water content polymeric surface gel. The lubricity of such gels is often attributed to their high water content, high water permeability, low elastic modulus, and their ability to promote a water film at the sliding interface. Such biological systems are frequently characterized as “soft,” where the elastic moduli are on the order of megapascals or even kilopascals. In an effort to explore the efficacy of such systems to provide lubricity, a thin and soft hydrogel surface layer (~5 μm in thickness) with a water content of over >80 % was constructed on a silicone hydrogel contact lens, which has a water content of approximately 33 %. Nanoindentation measurements with colloidal probes on atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers revealed an exceedingly soft elastic modulus of ~25 kPa. Microtribological experiments at low contact pressures (6–30 kPa) and at slow sliding speeds (5–200 μm/s) gave average friction coefficients below μ = 0.02. However, at higher contact pressures, the gel collapsed and friction loops showed a pronounced stick–slip behavior with breakloose or static friction coefficient above μ = 0.5. Thus, the ability of the soft surface hydrogel layers to provide lubricity is dependent on their ability to support the applied pressure without dehydrating. These transitions were found to be reversible and experiments with different radii probes revealed that the transition pressures to be on the order of 10–20 kPa.
Time for Acceptance, Caution, and Concern: Similarities and Differences of Ph.D. Clinical Psychology Programs

[Clin Psychol Sci Prac 18: 17–20, 2011] With some exceptions, it is important to accept that there are clear similarities across research-dedicated programs and those with less research emphasis at comprehensive universities. There was ill-founded negative publicity about clinical psychology based on Baker, McFall, and Shoham (2009) and the Newsweek rendition thereof, and results regarding research emphases across programs could also be used to fuel debate regarding clinical practice. However, caution is in order because the actual behaviors of psychologists in clinical practice who completed their doctorates in these two types of clinical programs are unknown. The third type of clinical program in institutes has relatively low applicant grades and GREs, high acceptance rates, and no financial support. These are major differences that merit concern by our profession.
Hypotension and cardiac stimulation due to the parathyroid hormone-related protein, humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy factor.

Abstract Patients with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy display markedly increased serum calcium levels, reduced blood pressure, and tachycardia. The causative agent, humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy factor [also called PTH-related protein (PTHrp)] has been shown to interact with PTH receptors in bone and kidney. We compared human PTHrp-(1–34) with rat PTH-(1–34) for the effects of each peptide on cardiovascular function in unrestrained conscious rats. Both PTHrp and PTH decreased blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner over the concentration range of 0.3–30 μg/kg. PTHrp was approximately 3-fold more potent than PTH, producing up to a 50 mm Hg decrease in pressure within 2 min at 10 μg/kg. Both peptides increased heart rate more than 70 beats/min at this dose. However, PTH appeared to exert greater efficacy and potency than PTHrp in increasing heart rate in vivo. In the isolated and perfused rat heart, PTHrp and PTH produced positive chronotropic and positive inotropic effects as well as increased...
Fluid---structure interaction analysis of bioprosthetic heart valves: significance of arterial wall deformation

We propose a framework that combines variational immersed-boundary and arbitrary Lagrangian---Eulerian methods for fluid---structure interaction (FSI) simulation of a bioprosthetic heart valve implanted in an artery that is allowed to deform in the model. We find that the variational immersed-boundary method for FSI remains robust and effective for heart valve analysis when the background fluid mesh undergoes deformations corresponding to the expansion and contraction of the elastic artery. Furthermore, the computations presented in this work show that the arterial wall deformation contributes significantly to the realism of the simulation results, leading to flow rates and valve motions that more closely resemble those observed in practice.
The Warm Ionised Medium in Spiral Galaxies: A View from Above

The warm ionised medium (WIM), also referred to as diffuse ionised gas (DIG), contains most of the mass of interstellar medium in ionised form, contributing as much as 30% of the total atomic gas mass in the solar neighborhood. The advent of CCDs has enabled unprecedented study of this medium in external galaxies, probing a variety of environments. In particular, we can derive the morphology of the WIM, its distribution across disks, and the correlation with other Population I material. Spectroscopy of the WIM makes it possible to test various ionisation models. I will review here our current understanding of the properties of the WIM in spiral galaxies. A perhaps unexpected result is that the Halpha emission from the WIM contributes about 40% of the total observed Halpha luminosity from spirals. This places severe constraints on possible sources of ionisation, since only photoionisation by OB stars meets this requirement. Spectroscopic measurements of forbidden line strengths appear in reasonable agreement with photoionisation models. It is not yet clear if the Lyman continuum photons that ionise the WIM are mostly from OB stars located inside traditional HII regions, or from field OB stars.
Spina bifida occulta in isthmic spondylolisthesis: a surgical trap

An 11-year-old girl presented with symptomatic grade IIB isthmic type spondylolisthesis, with an elongated pars, confirmed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Posterolateral in situ fusion of L5/S1 was performed. At surgery, a significant bony defect in the posterior aspect of S1 was noted. Awareness of this possible co-existence is paramount if iatrogenic damage to neural elements is to be avoided during surgery.
XPS of Fast-Frozen Hematite Colloids in NaCl Aqueous Solutions: I. Evidence for the Formation of Multiple Layers of Hydrated Sodium and Chloride Ions Induced by the {001} Basal Plane

The composition of fast-frozen wet pastes of hematite particles of different morphologies equilibrated in NaCl aqueous solutions was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Two hematite p ...
Essential fatty acids and dietary stress

There are two families of essential fatty acids that must be obtained from the diet: the ω-6 fatty acids consisting of linoleic and arachidonic acids and the ω-3 fatty acids consisting of linolenic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids (Prog Chem Fats Other Lipids 1968:9;275–348; Recent Pat Cardiovasc Drug Discov 2007;2:13–21; Mini Rev Med Chem 2008;8:107–115). Vegetables and vegetable oils are sources of linoleic and linolenic acids, and the higher ω-3s are obtained from fish. The estimated ratio of ω-6:ω-3 fatty acids in the typical Western diet is about 20:1, whereas, several lines of evidence indicate that a ration of 1:1 would be optimal. Both series of fatty acids can be oxidatively metabolized to a range of products. The oxidative metabolites of arachidonic acid are all proinflammatory and/or prothrombotic, while the corresponding ω-3 metabolites are anti-inflammatory and/or antithrombotic. The imbalanced consumption of the two families of essential fatty acids contributes to a range of disea...