cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anesthetic variation and potential impact of anesthetics used during endovascular management of acute ischemic stroke.

Background Many authors have reported that general anesthesia (GA), as a generic and uncharacterized therapy, is contraindicated for patients undergoing endovascular management of acute ischemic stroke (EMAIS). The recent American Heart Association update cautiously suggests that it might be reasonable to favor conscious sedation over GA during EMAIS. We are concerned that such recommendations will result in patients undergoing endovascular treatment without consideration of the effects of specific anesthetic agents and anesthetic dose, and without appropriate critical consideration of the individual patient9s issues. We hypothesized that significant variation in anesthetic practice comprises GA, and that outcome differences among types of GA would arise. Methods With IRB approval, we examined the records of patients who underwent anterior circulation EMAIS at the University of Pennsylvania from 2010 to 2015. Patients were managed by different anesthesiologists with no specific protocol. We analyzed American Society of Anesthesiologists status, NIH Stroke Scale, type of stroke, procedure, different types of anesthetic, blood pressure control, and outcome metrics. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores were determined from medical records. Results GA was used in 91% of patients. Several types of GA were employed: intravenous, volatile, and intravenous/volatile combined. mRS scores ≤2 at discharge were observed in 42.8% of patients receiving volatile anesthesia and were better in patients receiving only volatile agents after induction of anesthesia (p Conclusions Our data support the notion that anesthetic techniques and associated physiology used in EMAIS are not homogeneous, making any statements about the effects of generic GA in stroke ambiguous. Moreover, our data suggest that the type of GA may affect the outcome after EMAIS.
The Cultivation of Good Personalities In University

This is a thesis on quality education of Chinese college students in the new century. She proves the significance of cultivation of personalities . It takes four kinds of personalities as examples .They are confidence , do-it-yourself spirit , down-to-earth spirit and cooperative personality. It declares their importance , meaning and cultivated approaches . It adopts the experience of social people , experiment of phycology and research of other universities .There are three purposes of this thesis. The first one is to give a guide to enrich their own campus life . The second is to improve the quality education of college. It is also answering the call of development of the society.
Heterogeneity in readouts of canonical wnt pathway activity within intestinal crypts

Background Canonical Wnt pathway signaling is necessary for maintaining the proliferative capacity of mammalian intestinal crypt base columnar stem cells (CBCs). Furthermore, dysregulation of the Wnt pathway is a major contributor to disease, including oncogenic transformation of the intestinal epithelium. Given the critical importance of this pathway, numerous tools have been used as proxy measures for Wnt pathway activity, yet the relationship between Wnt target gene expression and reporter allele activity within individual cells at the crypt base remains unclear. Results Here, we describe a novel Axin2-CreERT2-tdTomato allele that efficiently marks both Wnt(High) CBCs and radioresistant reserve intestinal stem cells. We analyze the molecular and functional identity of Axin2-CreERT2-tdTomato-marked cells using single cell gene expression profiling and tissue regeneration assays and find that Axin2 reporter activity does not necessarily correlate with expression of Wnt target genes and, furthermore, that Wnt target genes themselves vary in their expression patterns at the crypt base. Conclusions Wnt target genes and reporter alleles can vary greatly in their cell-type specificity, demonstrating that these proxies cannot be used interchangeably. Furthermore, Axin2-CreERT2-tdTomato is a robust marker of both active and reserve intestinal stem cells and is thus useful for understanding the intestinal stem cell compartment. Developmental Dynamics 245:822-833, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Maternal Work and the Practice of Peace

There is a real basis for the conventional and symbolic association between women and peace. Women have distinctive motives for rejecting war, distinctive abilities to engage in nonviolent action, ...
Implicit Broken Structure

Educational policy in the United States has long been based on a system that values cognitive skills (i.e., memory and analytic abilities) in assessing and determining intelligence, while at the same time devaluing those individuals with other talents such as creative and practical noncognitive abilities (Sternberg, 2010).
Examining Preservice Teachers' Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Doubts

This study was designed to add to the research on teachers' self-efficacy beliefs by examining preservice teachers' culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy doubts. We examined the tasks that preservice teachers felt least efficacious to successfully execute and explored the reasoning behind these self-efficacy doubts. Consequently, we were able to go beyond the quantitative results to generate a comprehensive understanding of these self-efficacy doubts. Preservice teachers recognized the value and utility of culturally responsive classroom practices, yet doubted their ability to successfully implement them (i.e., agent–means perspective). These self-efficacy doubts stemmed from a general lack of knowledge regarding student diversity and culturally responsive pedagogy and experiences observing and working in diverse educational settings. We believe that our study confirms that relying on item-specific scores on teacher self-efficacy measures does not provide the guidance needed for designing intervent...
Undergraduate and graduate health profession students and an interprofessional community health fair: A curricular short report

Abstract This paper presents the implementation and findings of a pilot study focused on student perceptions of an interprofessional experience through service learning for allied health graduate and undergraduate students. Forty students from six health profession programs (allied health sciences, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, and therapeutic recreation) worked in interprofessional teams to develop and execute a health education fair for community members. The purpose of the experience was to assess perception regarding communication, teamwork skills, and attitudes of an interprofessional experience. The Entry Level Interprofessional Questionnaire (ELIQ) tool was used to provide this insight. Students expressed an increased understanding of others' roles and the role of their discipline. Results indicated that students appreciated learning and working with those from other professions. Findings also included student perceptions of inequity among professions as well as having a neutral impression of open communication. The results support the integration of interprofessional experiences in the health care curricula. Additionally, health professions instructors can better incorporate socialization, respect for others and effective communication within course structure. These core skills are essential when working collaboratively to provide a positive patient-centered outcome.
Miranda in Mental Health: Court Ordered Confessions and Therapeutic Injustice for Young Offenders

Court-ordered therapy that seeks to elicit disclosures of additional criminal activity may place violent but vulnerable juvenile offenders at risk of additional charges. A small but emerging body of state and federal case law scrutinizes therapeutic justice practices that may coerce disclosures in the name of treatment, potentially violating the constitutional due process rights of offenders. While this emerging body of law addresses adult inmates, increasing reliance on therapeutic jurisprudence with regard to juvenile offenders warrants examination of its constitutional impact on juveniles offered mental health treatment in the juvenile justice system.
A Scalable, Partially Configurable Optical Switch for Data Center Networks

Optical circuit switching may be instrumental in meeting the cost, energy, and aggregate bandwidth requirements of future data center networks. However, conventional MEMS beam-steering cross-connects cannot provide submillisecond switching with the port count necessary for data centers. Here, we investigate a novel noncrossbar selector switch architecture and pupil-division switching layout to improve optical switching performance by relaxing the requirement of arbitrary switch configurability. This architecture and switch design enable MEMS beam-steering micromirrors to scale to microsecond response speeds while supporting high port count and low loss switching, and can realize a number of useful interconnection topologies. We present the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of a proof-of-principle prototype using a single comb-driven MEMS mirror to achieve 150 μs switching of 61 ports between four preprogrammed interconnection mappings. We demonstrate the scalability of this switch architecture with a detailed optical design of a 2048-port selector switch with 20 μs switching time.
Methods for large-scale linear programming

The problem we shall address is how to solve the linear programming problem, as stated in the following standard form: Open image in new window where A is an m x n matrix (m 0 are called bound constraints. The essential aim is to find which of the bounds are binding at a solution—i.e., which variables x j are exactly zero.
Intravesical BCG Induces CD4+ T-Cell Expansion in an Immune Competent Model of Bladder Cancer.

Intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy is the standard of care in treating non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, yet its mechanism of action remains elusive. Both innate and adaptive immune responses have been implicated in BCG activity. Although prior research has indirectly demonstrated the importance of T cells and shown a rise in CD4+ T cells in bladder tissue after BCG, T-cell subpopulations have not been fully characterized. We investigated the relationship between effector and regulatory T cells in an immune competent, clinically relevant rodent model of bladder cancer. Our data demonstrate that cancer progression in the N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) rat model of bladder cancer was characterized by a decline in the CD8/FoxP3 ratio, consistent with decreased adaptive immunity. In contrast, treatment with intravesical BCG led to a large, transient rise in the CD4+ T-cell population in the urothelium and was both more effective and immunogenic compared with intravesical chemotherapy. Whole-transcriptome expression profiling of posttreatment intravesical CD4+ and CD8+ T cells revealed minimal differences in gene expression after BCG treatment. Together, our results suggest that although BCG induces T-cell recruitment to the bladder, the T-cell phenotype does not markedly change, implying that combining T-cell-activating agents with BCG might improve clinical activity. Cancer Immunol Res; 5(7); 594-603. ©2017 AACR.
Towards quantifying dynamic human-human physical interactions for robot assisted stroke therapy

Human-Robot Interaction is a prominent field of robotics today. Knowledge of human-human physical interaction can prove vital in creating dynamic physical interactions between human and robots. Most of the current work in studying this interaction has been from a haptic perspective. Through this paper, we present metrics that can be used to identify if a physical interaction occurred between two people using kinematics. We present a simple Activity of Daily Living (ADL) task which involves a simple interaction. We show that we can use these metrics to successfully identify interactions.
Assessment of vascular remodeling therapy in patients with liver metastasis with 3D dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound

Vascular remodeling agents that can enhance the effects of chemotherapy have gained significant attention. However, timing and dosing of combinatory treatment regimens requires longitudinal biomarkers to optimize regimens on a patient-by-patient basis. 3D dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) has been proposed as an inexpensive bedside tool to longitudinally guide dosing and scheduling of combined treatments. The purpose of this pilot study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using 3D DCE-US to identify patients with remodeled vasculature before secondary chemotherapy delivery.
Qualitative and quantitative prediction of human in vivo metabolic pathways in a human hepatocyte-murine stromal cell co-culture model.

1. This study assessed the value of a static in vitro human hepatocyte-murine stromal cell co-culture model to qualitatively and quantitatively predict human in vivo metabolic clearance pathways using 14C-labeled test compounds and compared these results to an in vitro suspended human hepatocyte model and the in vivo human 14C ADME studies. 2. Test compounds represented a diverse set of clearance pathways (Phase I and Phase II). Compounds were incubated for 4 h in suspended human hepatocytes and for 24 and 168 h in the human co-culture model. Multivariate analysis revealed that long-term (168 h) incubation of test compounds in the co-culture had reasonable quantitative prediction of the in vivo human clearance pathways as compared to the 4 h suspended hepatocytes or the 24 h co-culture incubation. 3. In vivo and in vitro disconnects were observed in cases where extra-hepatic metabolism or urinary excretion was observed in vivo. Differences in the relative percentages of Phase I and Phase II metabolites observed were likely due to microbial β-glucuronidase hydrolysis of conjugates and microflora mediated metabolism in the gut not present in the in vitro systems.
The role of cellular maturation in neutrophil heterogeneity.

Previous studies have shown that many neutrophil (PMN) characteristics are heterogeneous but the origin of PMN heterogeneity is unknown. It is unclear if PMN functional heterogeneity is secondary to maturational differences or due to distinct subpopulations of cells that possess different functional capacities. The PMN 31D8 antigen is a useful probe for evaluation of PMN subpopulations. The majority of PMNs (approximately 85%) exhibit a high intensity fluorescence after 31D8 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) labeling (31D8 enriched or “brightxyc PMNs) as determined by flow cytometric analysis. These cells are more functional than cells with low intensity fluorescence (31D8 diminished or “dull” PMNs). Various immunologic, clonogenic and functional techniques were used to study the expression of the 31D8 antigen in HL-60 cells and myeloid cells in order to evaluate antigenic and functional heterogeneity during morphologic maturation. The results of this study indicate that the percentage of 31D8 antigen positive (31D8 antigen enriched and diminished) bone marrow cells increases from 20 +/- 11% in myeloblast cells to 68 +/- 10% in promyelocytes, 93 +/- 2% in myelocytes and 99 +/- 1% in bands and PMNs. 31D8 antigen enriched cells first appear at the myelocyte stage (32 +/- 10%) and increase in bands (52 +/- 13%), marrow PMNs (62 +/- 13%) and peripheral blood PMNs (88 +/- 4%). These data indicate that the heterogeneous expression of 31D8 antigen in PMNs is due, at least in part, to maturational differences within the PMN population and raise the possibility that other heterogeneously expressed PMN characteristics are also maturationally derived. They also suggest that 31D8 antigenic expression may be a more precise indicator of myeloid functional maturation than maturation as identified by cellular morphology.
The uptake of immunoreactive parathyroid hormone by peripheral organs.

The demonstration that circulating immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (PTH) consists of a mixture of intact PTH and smaller molecular weight hormonal fragments by Berson and Yalow1 led to intensive research by several laboratories into the origin, fate and significance of these fragments. Although much has been learned from these studies, some controversy persists and some observations remain unexplained. Thus, it is clear that the predominant species of circulating i-PTH in hyperparathyroidism are fragments of PTH from the carboxy-terminal portion of the PTH molecule1–4. Assays for PTH which detect these carboxyterminal fragments provide better discrimination between normal subjects and those with hyperparathyroidism than assays which detect only the amino-terminal region of the PTH molecule4–6. However, it has been shown that the structural requirements for the biological activity of PTH reside within the first 34 amino acids of the amino-terminal position of the molecule7. It appears paradoxical, therefore, that carboxy-terminal assays for PTH, which measure biologically inactive PTH fragments in addition to intact hormone, are most useful in assessment of parathyroid activity and correlate well with osteoclast number and activity in bone5,8.
Secure Moderated Bargaining Game.

Bargaining problem is one of the oldest problems in economics to explain the interaction between traders in variable pricing model. Many game theory approaches are used as solution over years. With proliferation of world wide web bargaining game is gaining relevance in online market places. Formal definition of an honest but curious mediator, in a three-party bargaining game is discussed in this paper. An honest but curious moderator facilitates the interaction between interested parties, but also wishes to learn information about the trade for his own benefit. An approach is also proposed to secure the bargain in the presence of an active adversary and honest but curious mediator, using Oblivious commitment based envelop protocol. It is shown that the protocol is IND-CCA secure and moderator cannot infer additional information of the trade except knowing the parties involved.
Incorporation of Modified Amino Acids by Engineered Elongation Factors with Expanded Substrate Capabilities.

Noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) incorporation has led to significant advances in protein science and engineering. Traditionally, in vivo incorporation of ncAAs is achieved via amber codon suppression using an engineered orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase:tRNA pair. However, as more complex protein products are targeted, researchers are identifying additional barriers limiting the scope of currently available ncAA systems. One barrier is elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), a protein responsible for proofreading aa-tRNAs, which substantially restricts ncAA scope by limiting ncaa-tRNA delivery to the ribosome. Researchers have responded by engineering ncAA-compatible EF-Tus for key ncAAs. However, this approach fails to address the extent to which EF-Tu inhibits efficient ncAA incorporation. Here, we demonstrate an alternative strategy leveraging computational analysis to broaden EF-Tu’s substrate specificity. Evolutionary analysis of EF-Tu and a naturally evolved specialized elongation factor, SelB, provide the ...
Introduction to the challenges of bone repair

Abstract Within the body, the bone plays many key roles, everything from a support structure, to a protective shell, to a metabolic source of ions. While bone can normally adapt to the changing demands of its environment, when the system breaks down, it can be devastating to the individual and society. The majority of the population will experience an ailment related to bone in their lifetime, as the result of trauma or disease. These appear in the orthopedics, dentistry, maxillofacial, and spinal regions. Collectively, these conditions account for a large amount of healthcare spending, and negatively impact society by reducing productivity and lowering the quality of life. In many cases, surgery is required to repair the affected area, often utilizing implants. Important barriers to current bone repair implants are the management of infections, improvement of fixation in unhealthy bone, and integration of bone and implant. Biomaterials are poised to play a unique role in solving these issues.
Preliminary Results from a Shuttle Mission to Measure the Heat Capacity of Confined Helium near the Lambda Point

We describe the preliminary results from a Shuttle mission to measure the heat capacity of helium confined within a stack of evenly spaced silicon plates at temperatures very close to the superfluid transition. Recently developed high resolution thermometry has substantially improved our ability to study dimensional cross-over effects in well-defined geometries. These effects have been of interest to theorists and esperimentalists for decades. The main part of the apparatus consists of a high purity copper calorimeter containing a stack of 408 silicon plates spaced 57 microns apart, and a pair of high resolution, fast response, paramagnetic salt thermometers with a noise level of < 10−10K in a 1 Hz bandwidth. The resolution of the heat capacity measurements was about 5 × 10−9K, allowing the finite size peak to be mapped in detail. In addition, wide range data containing information on the behavior of the surface specific heat was collected. The preliminary analysis shows fair agreement with theory. The results can also be combined with supplementary ground measurements on smaller length scales to perform additional tests of scaling predictions for cross-over to lower dimensional behavior.
Characterization of PSA at death in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

184Background: Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is a valuable prognostic and predictive biomarker in prostate cancer (PC). Currently, the significance of PSA at death is undefined. In this single in...
Chronic intermittent hypoxia enhances disease progression in myeloma-resistant mice

Obesity is the only known modifiable risk factor for multiple myeloma (MM), an incurable cancer of bone marrow plasma cells. The mechanism linking the two is unknown. Obesity is associated with an ...
Gender discrimination in the United States: Experiences of women.

Objective To examine reported experiences of gender discrimination and harassment among US women. Data source and study design Data come from a nationally representative, probability-based telephone survey of 1596 women, conducted January-April 2017. Methods We calculated the percentages of women reporting gender discrimination and harassment in several domains, including health care. We used logistic regression to examine variation in experiences among women by race/ethnicity and sexual orientation/gender identity. Principal findings Sizable fractions of women experience discrimination and harassment, including discrimination in health care (18 percent), equal pay/promotions (41 percent), and higher education (20 percent). In adjusted models, Native American, black, and Latina women had higher odds than white women of reporting gender discrimination in several domains, including health care. Latinas' odds of health care avoidance versus whites was (OR [95% CI]) 3.69 (1.59, 8.58), while blacks' odds of discrimination in health care visits versus whites was 2.00 [1.06, 3.74]. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) women had higher odds of reporting sexual harassment (2.16 [1.06, 4.40]) and violence (2.71 [1.43, 5.16]) against themselves or female family members than non-LGBTQ women. Conclusions Results suggest that discrimination and harassment are widely experienced by women across multiple domains of their lives, particularly those who are a racial/ethnic minority or LGBTQ. Further policy and programmatic efforts beyond current legal protections for women are needed to meaningfully reduce these negative experiences, as they impact women's health care and their lives overall.
Sol-gel synthesis of stabilized silver nanoparticles in an organosiloxane matrix and its optical nonlinearity

Abstract Stabilized Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are synthesized and incorporated in an organosiloxane matrix and are investigated for optical nonlinearity at 527 nm using nanosecond pulses and Z-scan technique. AgNPs were synthesized through a chemical reduction of silver nitrate, which is functionalized with (3-Mercaptopropyl)triethoxysilane (MPTMS) and incorporated into an organosiloxane matrix. The reactive thiol- groups of MPTMS bind to AgNPs through ligand-mediated binding, which serve as a capping agent. The Z-scan results showed the drastic increase in nonlinear optical response of AgNP/sol for increasing input energies. The strong nonlinearity is attributed mainly to the nonlinear scattering from silver nanoparticles as scattering centers and metallic plasmon enhanced nonlinear absorption.
Cancer Treatment-Associated Pericardial Disease: Epidemiology, Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis, and Management

Cancer therapeutics have seen tremendous growth in the last decade and have been effective in the treatment of several cancer types. However, with advanced therapies like kinase inhibitors and immunotherapies, there have been unintended consequences of cardiotoxicities. While traditional chemotherapy and radiation-induced cardiotoxicity have been well studied, further research is needed to understand the adverse effects of newer regimens. Both immune-mediated and non-immune-medicated cytotoxicity have been noted with targeted therapies such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors. In this manuscript, we describe the pericardial syndromes associated with cancer therapies and propose management strategies. Pericardial effusion and pericarditis are common presentations in cancer patients and often difficult to diagnose. Concomitant myocarditis may also present with pericardial toxicity, especially with immunotherapies. In addition to proper history and physical, additional testing such as cardiovascular imaging and tissue histology need to be obtained as appropriate. Holding the offending oncology drug, and institution of anti-inflammatory medications, and immunosuppressants such as steroids are indicated. A high index of suspicion, use of standardized definitions, and comprehensive evaluation are needed for early identification, appropriate treatment, and better outcomes for patients with cancer treatment-associated pericardial disease. Further research is needed to understand the pathophysiology and to evaluate how the management of pericardial conditions in these patients differ from traditional management and also evaluate new therapies.
State Lawmaker's Views on Childhood Obesity and Related School Wellness Legislation

Background School wellness legislation has potential to impact the health of children and alter the obesity crisis in the United Sates. Little is known about how state lawmakers perceive child wellness legislation effectiveness relative to obesity prevention. Our purpose was to understand state lawmakers' perceptions of childhood obesity and school wellness policies relative to the Social Ecological Model (SEM). Methods Twenty-one state representatives and nine state senators from one US state completed in-depth interviews. Member checks and peer debriefing occurred throughout data collection and analysis. Transcripts were coded and triangulated. A conventional content analysis generated consistent themes. Results Five main themes developed: (1) child overweight and obesity is problematic; (2) current legislation is ineffective; (3) funding and enforcing child wellness legislation is difficult; (4) it is difficult to legislate personal behavior; and (5) efforts from other levels of the SEM are more effective at promoting wellness. Conclusions Lawmakers understand negative impacts of child obesity, but perceive immediate legislative issues like budgetary concerns inhibit robust policy-oriented action. Participants believe parents, guardians, and individuals should ultimately be responsible for child wellness. Community, school, and family efforts to address childhood obesity and support wellness may be more effective in achieving positive outcomes than state and federal policy.
Resilient Routing for Wireless Sensor Networks on High Genus Surfaces

This paper considers a fundamental problem of designing routing scheme resilient to node or link failures for wireless sensor networks deployed on a surface of a complex-connected three-dimensional (3D) setting. Instead of heuristically detouring around the failed path, we borrow homotopy, an important topological concept, to effectively create and evaluate the diversity of alternative paths. We propose a tessellation-free and GPS-free method to compute paths with different homotopy types on surface networks. A source node greedily forwards a packet to its destination based on the computed nodes’ virtual planar coordinates. When the current path fails, the source node can flexibly choose another greedy path from a different homotopy type to deliver the packet. The proposed algorithms are distributed and scalable to both the size and genus number of a surface network. We evaluate the performance of the proposed routing scheme under three different failure models. Simulation results show that our method achieves the best performance under geographically correlated failure models compared with other resilient routing schemes. We also compare our routing scheme with existing state-of-the-art ones specifically designed for surface networks when a network is failure free. Our method achieves the lowest stretch factor.
Oncogenic Serine 45-Deleted β-Catenin Remains Susceptible to Wnt Stimulation and APC Regulation in Human Colonocytes

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is deregulated in nearly all colorectal cancers (CRCs), predominantly through mutation of the tumor suppressor Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC). APC mutation is thought to allow a “just-right” amount of Wnt pathway activation by fine-tuning β-catenin levels. While at a much lower frequency, mutations that result in a β-catenin that is compromised for degradation occur in a subset of human CRCs. Here, we investigate whether one such “stabilized” β-catenin responds to regulatory stimuli, thus allowing β-catenin levels conducive for tumor formation. We utilize cells harboring a single mutant allele encoding Ser45-deleted β-catenin (β-catΔS45) to test the effects of Wnt3a treatment or APC-depletion on β-catΔS45 regulation and activity. We find that APC and β-catΔS45 retain interaction with Wnt receptors. Unexpectedly, β-catΔS45 accumulates and activates TOPflash reporter upon Wnt treatment or APC-depletion, but only accumulates in the nucleus upon APC loss. Finally, we find that β-catenin phosphorylation at GSK-3β sites and proteasomal degradation continue to occur in the absence of Ser45. Our results expand the current understanding of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and provide an example of a β-catenin mutation that maintains some ability to respond to Wnt, a possible key to establishing β-catenin activity that is “just-right” for tumorigenesis.
Parametric optimization and kinetic study of l-lactic acid production by homologous batch fermentation of Lactobacillus pentosus cells

Parametric optimization always plays important roles in bioengineering systems to obtain a high product yield under the proper conditions. The parametric conditions of lactic acid production by homologous batch fermentation of Lactobacillus pentosus cells was optimized by the Box-Behnken design. The highest l-lactic acid yield was obtained as 0.836 ± 0.003 g/g glucose with the productivity of 0.906 ± 0.003 g/(L × H) under the optimum conditions of 34.7 °C, pH 6.2, 148 rpm agitation speed, and 9.3 g/L nitrogen source concentration determined by quadratic response surface with high accuracy. The adequate kinetic models of cell growth rate, lactic production rate, and glucose consumption rate were also established to describe the fermentation behavior of L. pentosus cells with the correlation coefficients of 09985, 0.9990, and 0.9989, respectively.
Corresponding states of structural glass formers.

The variation with respect to temperature T of transport properties of 58 fragile structural glass-forming liquids (67 data sets in total) are analyzed and shown to exhibit a remarkable degree of universality. In particular, super-Arrhenius behaviors of all supercooled liquids appear to collapse to one parabola for which there is no singular behavior at any finite temperature. This behavior is bounded by an onset temperature To above which liquid transport has a much weaker temperature dependence. A similar collapse is also demonstrated over the smaller available range for existing numerical simulation data.
Prediction of Kidney Drug Clearance: A Comparison of Tubular Secretory Clearance and Glomerular Filtration Rate.

Background Although proximal tubular secretion is the primary mechanism of kidney drug elimination, current kidney drug dosing strategies are on the basis of eGFR. Methods In a dedicated pharmacokinetic study to compare GFR with tubular secretory clearance for predicting kidney drug elimination, we evaluated stable outpatients with eGFRs ranging from 21 to 140 ml/min per 1.73 m2. After administering single doses of furosemide and famciclovir (metabolized to penciclovir), we calculated their kidney clearances on the basis of sequential plasma and timed urine measurements. Concomitantly, we quantified eight endogenous secretory solutes in plasma and urine using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and measured GFR by iohexol clearance (iGFR). We computed a summary secretion score as the scaled average of the secretory solute clearances. Results Median iGFR of the 54 participants was 73 ml/min per 1.73 m2. The kidney furosemide clearance correlated with iGFR (r=0.84) and the summary secretion score (r=0.86). The mean proportionate error (MPE) between iGFR-predicted and measured furosemide clearance was 30.0%. The lowest MPE was observed for the summary secretion score (24.1%); MPEs for individual secretory solutes ranged from 27.3% to 48.0%. These predictive errors were statistically indistinguishable. Penciclovir kidney clearance was correlated with iGFR (r=0.83) and with the summary secretion score (r=0.91), with similar predictive accuracy of iGFR and secretory clearances. Combining iGFR with the summary secretion score yielded only modest improvements in the prediction of the kidney clearance of furosemide and penciclovir. Conclusions Secretory solute clearance measurements can predict kidney drug clearances. However, tight linkage between GFR and proximal tubular secretory clearance in stable outpatients provides some reassurance that GFR, even when estimated, is a useful surrogate for predicting secretory drug clearances in such patients.
Association Between Risk Factors for Complications From COVID-19, Perceived Chances of Infection and Complications, and Protective Behavior in the US.

Importance: It is unknown whether adults who are susceptible to severe complications from COVID-19 recognize their susceptibility and modify behavior to reduce exposure. Objective: To determine whether adults with risk factors for COVID-19 complications perceive an elevated chance of complications and undertake fewer higher infection risk behaviors. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional analysis, adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, included civilian noninstitutionalized US adults of wave 18 of the Understanding America Study collected from November 11 to December 9, 2020. Exposures: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-identified medical risk factors for COVID-19 complications and older age. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were perceived percentage chance of infection and hospitalization and death if infected; whether 9 potentially higher infection risk activities were undertaken in the past week and, if so, whether a mask was worn; whether a mask was worn anywhere in the past week; and attitudes toward 12 aspects of mask wearing. Results: In Understanding America Study wave 18 (n = 5910 participants with nonmissing data), the mean age was 48 years, and 52% were women. The response rate was 77%. Adults with 7 of 9 medical risk factors and aged 70 years and older reported a higher perceived chance of complications if infected. Adjusted mean perceived chance of hospitalization if infected ranged from 23.9% (95% CI, 22.2%-25.5%) for those with high blood pressure to 40.4% (95% CI, 34.6%-46.2%) for those with chronic lung disease and was associated with number of medical risk factors: 17.6% (95% CI, 16.4%-18.8%) and 41.8% (95% CI, 38.7%-45.0%) for adults with 0 vs 3 or more medical risk factors, respectively. Fewer potentially higher infection risk activities were undertaken by adults with 3 or more vs 0 risk factors: 2.83 (95% CI, 2.66-2.99) vs 3.12 (95% CI, 3.02-3.22). Wearing a mask sometime last week was nearly universal (90.1%). But during only 1 specific activity (visiting a grocery store or pharmacy) did more than half always wear a mask, and for only 1 activity (visiting a grocery store or pharmacy) was mask wearing more common among adults with 3 or more vs 0 conditions. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional survey study, adults with risk factors for COVID-19 complications reported higher perceived susceptibility to complications. During common activities, including visiting with friends, the majority of adults, including the highly susceptible, did not consistently wear masks.
Radiotherapy to Enhance Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapeutic Efficacy in Solid Tumors: A Narrative Review.

Importance Immunotherapy has emerged as a new pillar of cancer therapy over the past decade. Adoptive immunotherapy in particular has become a major area of research interest, with advances seen in the development of T-cell engineering. As a result, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has become a new and highly effective treatment option, especially for patients with refractory or resistant blood cell cancers. However, CAR T-cell therapy has shown limited efficacy for the treatment of solid tumors thus far. Observations Combinatorial treatment approaches, such as addition of radiotherapy to CAR T cells, may provide a strategy to prevent resistance to CAR T-cell therapy of solid tumors. These approaches need to overcome obstacles that include abnormal vessels and adhesion molecule expression on tumor vasculature, leading to reduced transmigration of effector immune cells, including CAR T cells, and immunosuppressive cues in the tumor microenvironment, including regional hypoxia. Conclusions and Relevance This review provides an overview of the current developments in CAR T-cell therapy and highlights the unique opportunities and challenges in combining CAR T-cell therapy with radiotherapy.
Best practices for assessing and reporting tobacco use in urology oncology practice and research.

Abstract Tobacco use is the cause of several urologic cancers. Persistent use after diagnosis is associated with worse cancer-specific, quality of life, and overall mortality outcomes. Cigarette smoking remains the most common form of tobacco use despite significant population-level decline over the past few decades. The burden of smoking-related urologic disease is under appreciated by urologists and patients which has resulted in gaps in clinical care and limitations to research progress. We sought to summarize evidence-based practices and guideline recommendations for assessing and reporting tobacco use in the clinical and research settings. With a focus on smoking, our two primary goals are: 1) to promote the adoption of standardized and validated measures of tobacco use and 2) to highlight evidence-based strategies for urologists to use in clinical practice.
Prebriefing in Healthcare Simulation: A Concept Analysis

Abstract Prebriefing in healthcare simulation is not clearly defined or consistently utilized. The aim of this concept analysis was to update the definition of prebriefing and clarify prebriefing practices in healthcare simulation using Walker and Avant's concept analysis method. Background and uses of the concept were explored. Two defining attributes of prebriefing were found: Activities that prepare participants for the logistics of simulation and activities that help participants understand the scenario and promote learning. Cases, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents were used to clarify the concept. The results of the concept analysis propose an updated definition for prebriefing in healthcare simulation, which can be used in simulation education and research.
The Political Economy of Trade Liberalization and Environmental Policy

A pressure group model where environmental and industry lobby groups offer political support in return for favorable pollution tax policies is used to explain and predict the equilibrium pollution tax in sectors protected by tariffs. The political economy effects of trade liberalization are investigated. The pollution tax is shown to decrease if the lobbying effort by the environmental lobby decreases more rapidly than by the industry lobby ceteris paribus. The level of political conflict falls with trade liberalization. Pollution may increase because of a reduction of the pollution tax, and tax revenues may fall simultaneously as pollution increases. The global trading system is currently undergoing another round of multilateral trade liberalization, and regional economic integration is occurring in several parts of the world. The trade-environment link has become an important part of trade liberalization talks. It is commonplace for industry representatives to argue that less stringent environmental regulations give less developed countries (LDCs) a comparative advantage in pollution-intensive goods and that industries with high abatement costs will migrate to LDCs. Environmentalists argue that international differences in environmental laws and regulations may be reduced to their lowest common denominator through political pressure.' This is not a fear of trade liberalization itself but of the effects of lower trade barriers on the political determination of environmental regulation.
Global, Regional, and Local Effects of Our Changing Climate

Most climatologists think of change in terms of a continuum of climates. The geological evidence is that Earth has two very different preferred states—icehouse and greenhouse, with each of those having two substates dependent on Milankovitch insolation changes. The icehouse state alternates between ‘glacial’ and ‘interglacial’ substates, with about 90% of the time in the glacial substate. The alternations of the greenhouse state are far more subtle, between slightly warmer–wetter and slightly cooler–drier substates, which are probably roughly equally divided in time. Warming the Earth’s surface and troposphere with greenhouse gases when it is in an interglacial substate leaves the planet nowhere to go except to transition to the greenhouse state. In the past, transitions between states required a few million years, but the Earth has never experienced such a rapid change in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations as is occurring today. The current rate of increase of CO2 is about 300 times faster than the most rapid previous change, during a Milankovitch-forced Termination from glacial to interglacial, in the late Quaternary.
Management of Chronic Descending Thoracic and Thoracoabdominal Dissection and Aneurysm - Stent Grafting, Debranching

Chronic type B aortic dissection is a complex disease resulting in progressive aortic degeneration. For many decades, open surgical reconstruction has been the only treatment modality for enlarging dissecting aneurysms. Recently, endovascular repair has proven technically successful and safe with excellent perioperative morbidity and mortality. The goal is to induce false lumen thrombosis and reverse aortic remodeling to alter the natural history of the disease. Different treatment modalities exist depending on the aortic anatomy and the location of the entry tears. Hybrid and staged procedures are often required to treat complex cases. Technological improvement in stent-graft devices will likely expand the indications of endovascular repair in chronic type B aortic dissection.
Natural Freedom & Wilderness Survival

(1978). Natural Freedom & Wilderness Survival. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 49, Including Leisure Today, pp. 29-30.
Isolation of Hen Oviduct Ovalbumin and Rat Liver Albumin Polysomes by Indirect Immunoprecipitation

Abstract The polyribosomes synthesizing ovalbumin and albumin have been isolated from total oviduct polysomes and total rat liver polysomes, respectively. The isolation was performed using an indirect immunoprecipitation technique which is based on the specific reaction which occurs between antibody against a purified native protein and the nascent peptide chains on polysomes synthesizing that protein. A soluble antibody-nascent chain-polysome complex is formed by incubating antibody with polysomes, and then precipitated by reaction with an anti-antibody. The techniques developed are both efficient and highly specific. Near quantitative isolation of polysomal mRNA coding for a specific protein may be achieved. Indirect immunoprecipitation results in nonspecific precipitation of less than 0.5% of total polysomes. Ovalbumin mRNA isolated by indirect immunoprecipitation is 99% pure with respect to contamination by other species of mRNA and rat liver albumin mRNA is greater than 95% pure. Evidence supporting these conclusions includes: (a) incubation of oviduct polysomes containing labeled nascent peptide chains with anti-bovine serum albumin results in precipitation of only 0.4% of the labeled polysomes; (b) indirect immunoprecipitates from oviduct polysomes reacted with anti-ovalbumin contain essentially no nascent peptide chains larger than ovalbumin; (c) ovalbumin and albumin mRNAs extracted from immunoprecipitates are enriched for the synthesis of their respective proteins by 1.8- and 8.7-fold, exactly the degree of purification predicted from their relative rates of synthesis; (d) isolation of albumin synthesizing polysomes from a mixture of rat liver polysomes and hen oviduct polysomes resulted in nonspecific precipitation of only 0.4% of the ovalbumin synthesizing polysomes when the immunoprecipitated RNA was assayed for its ability to synthesize ovalbumin in vitro. Indirect immunoprecipitation appears to be a general method widely applicable to the separation and isolation of polysomes and messenger RNAs coding for specific proteins.
Home-School Partnerships with Culturally Diverse Families: Challenges and Solutions for School Personnel.

SUMMARY Home-school partnership is one of the important contributors to every child's learning. The changing demographics of the United States present an urgent need for home-school partnership with culturally diverse families. Traditional family involvement practices are challenged when working with multicultural families. The authors propose an ecological model as a possible solution, with an illustrative case study with Hmong parents. Examples of parent involvement programs that apply some aspects of the ecological model with culturally diverse families are presented. Future directions and recommendations are discussed.
The Impact of Computer Use on Employee Performance in High-Trust Professions: Re-Examining Selection Criteria in the Internet Age

Exposure to digital media is reconfiguring the neural networks of young people, possibly at the expense of empathy and social skills. Extraverts with high self-esteem and certain personality traits tend to initiate face-to-face (FtF) contact with strangers; introverts lower in self-esteem use computer-mediated communication (CMC). Those who are overreliant on CMC miss nonverbal cues indicating deception and insincerity. This research suggests that many who have been raised in the Internet Age may be ill suited for high-trust professions involving the establishment of FtF relationships. Greater use of psychological tests and observations of applicants engaged in behaviors that reveal desired personality traits are in order.