cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Early Posttransplant Isolated v1 Lesion Does Not Need to Be Treated and Does Not Lead to Increased Fibrosis

Acute vascular rejection (AVR) is characterized by intimal arteritis in addition to tubulitis and interstitial inflammation. It is associated with a poorer prognosis compared to tubulointerstitial rejection (AIR) and AVR is associated with a higher rate of graft loss than AIR. The prognosis and treatment of arteritis without tubulitis and interstitial inflammation (isolated v1 lesion) are still controversial. We report a case of a patient who had a biopsy of the kidney allograft for evaluation of slow graft function. The biopsy revealed an isolated v1 lesion. However, we chose not to augment immunosuppression. The patient's kidney allograft function improved over time with close monitoring. Repeat biopsy a year later showed no evidence of endothelialitis and relatively unchanged fibrosis and no other abnormalities. Although it is suggested that most cases of isolated v1 lesions will respond to corticosteroids or T cell depleting therapies, some cases will improve with conservative management. Further studies are needed to determine which cases could be managed conservatively.
Hostility and quality of life among Hispanics/Latinos in the HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if hostility is associated with physical and mental health-related quality of life (QoL) in US. Hispanics/Latinos after accounting for depression and anxiety.Methods: Analyses included 5313 adults (62% women, 18–75 years) who completed the ancillary sociocultural assessment of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Participants completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale, Spielberger Trait Anger Scale, Cook–Medley Hostility cynicism subscale and Short Form Health Survey. In a structural regression model, associations of hostility with mental and physical QoL were examined.Results: In a model adjusting for age, sex, disease burden, income, education and years in the US., hostility was related to worse mental QoL, and was marginally associated with worse physical QoL. However, when adjusting for the influence of depression and anxiety, greater hostility was associated with better menta...
GENEALOGIA, TRANSMISSÃO E MEMÓRIA EM BAD GIRL, DE NANCY HUSTON

To the question: “which are the improbable factors that transform a child born in Western Canada, in the middle of the twentieth century, in a Parisian bilingual novelist and essayist?”, Nancy Huston answers, in Bad girl (2014), under the unprecedented form of a “intrauterine autobiography”, as she tells the story of her life, at the same time parading, with a high level of complexity and symbolism, her youth years, her family, her literary brothers, her obsessions, among them the noticeable abandon trauma that dominates her. It is from this perspective that I propose a reading of Bad girl based on recollection, genealogical search and transmission, without leaving out music.
2 16 shades of gray: high bit-depth projection using light intensity control.

Projectors create grayscale images by outputting a series of bitplanes or binary images within a short time period. While this technique works well for projecting low bit-depth (8-bit) images, it becomes infeasible for high bit-depth (say, 16-bit) projection — a capability that is increasingly desirable in many applications including cinemas and gaming. Existing designs for high bit-depth projection rely on multiple spatial light modulators and, as a consequence, their costs and complexities are usually far beyond the average consumer. In this paper, we describe a technique for high bit-depth projection using a single light modulator by adopting intensity-modulated light sources. With the proposed light intensity modulation, we show that the number of bitplanes required to achieve a desired bit-depth can be dramatically reduced — by marginally trading-off the brightness of the projected image. Hence, given a spatial light modulator of a fixed bandwidth for projecting bitplanes, the proposed projector design can achieve higher bit-depth as well as expanded color gamut while achieving the same video framerate as conventional projectors. The proposed design involves a minor modification to traditional projector designs, namely intensity modulation of the light sources, and hence, can be adopted widely by both traditional low bit-depth projectors and modern high dynamic-range projectors. Finally, we present a hardware prototype to showcase and validate the performance of the proposed design.
Using the TIPS Method to Implement Homework in Physical Education

Despite the research evidence supporting the benefits of homework in physical education, the use of homework in a physical education setting is fairly uncommon. This article describes the TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) method for implementing homework.
Avoyelles Parish Public Schools: Louisiana School for the Agricultural Sciences’ Admission Policies as a Breeding Ground for a Return to Legal Segregation

In the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the United States Supreme Court declared that doctrine of “separate but equal” was unconstitutional; however, nearly six decades later schools are divided along racial lines. Avoyelles Parish Public Schools have been under specific order to effectively desegregate its schools and achieve unitary status since 1954. Avoyelles Parish School Board has been placed under three desegregation decrees, the first of which was issued in 1969. Avoyelles Parish has failed to effectively desegregate its schools pursuant to the orders outlined in the desegregation decrees. The author seeks to uncover how Avoyelles Parish has attempted to circumvent the goals outlined in the desegregation decree by implementing a charter school that admits students by using subjective admission standards. Specifically, Avoyelles Parish has sought to continue the destructive cycle of racial segregation in its schools by applying measures that are designed to limit the number of African-American students that are admitted to the school. For example, Avoyelles Parish has implemented a number of factors (sibling requirement, parent employment) that contribute to the amount of points allocated to certain students. The admission requirements violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they were designed with the intent of discriminating against a particular class of people and the effect of such policies actually does discriminate against African-American students. She concludes that for Avoyelles Parish to effectively adhere to the desegregation decree and successfully integrate its schools, the federal government must continue to actively participate in the desegregation process. Additionally, the factors that are used in the admission process must be abolished.
Triple-modality treatment in patients with advanced stage tonsil cancer

BACKGROUND Concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) and upfront surgery followed by adjuvant therapy both are recommended treatment options for patients with advanced stage squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tonsil. To the authors' knowledge, the question of whether surgical-based treatments can achieve better survival compared with CCRT has never been compared in a clinical trial. The authors analyzed the National Cancer Data Base to measure the impact of different treatment modalities on overall survival (OS). METHODS All patients aged ≤70 years diagnosed with clinical stage III to IVB (excluding T4B) SCC of the tonsil from 1998 through 2011 were selected. Analysis was limited to patients receiving CCRT, surgery plus CCRT, or surgery followed by adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). OS was compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Univariable and multivariable hazards analyses were performed to identify factors significant for survival. Propensity score matching was performed. RESULTS There were 16,891 patients who met the inclusion criteria. The most common treatment was CCRT (8123 patients; 48.1%), followed by surgery plus CCRT (5249; 31.1%) and surgery plus RT (3519 patients; 20.8%). Patients treated with surgery plus CCRT were found to have the highest 3-year OS rate (88.5%) followed by those treated with surgery plus RT (84%) and CCRT (74.2%) (P<.0001). In a propensity score-matched subpopulation of 4962 patients, the 3-year OS rate was 90.2% for those treated with surgery plus CCRT, 84.9% for those treated with surgery plus RT, and 82.1% for those treated with definitive CCRT (P<.0001). CONCLUSIONS Patients with advanced stage SCC of the tonsil who underwent surgery followed by CCRT had the greatest OS. Patients undergoing upfront surgery may avoid chemotherapy without jeopardizing survival. Triple-modality therapy may provide a survival benefit for a subset of patients with advanced stage tonsil cancer. Cancer 2017. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
High-Coverage Hint Generation for Massive Courses: Do Automated Hints Help CS1 Students?

In massive programming courses, automated hint generation offers the promise of zero-cost, zero-latency assistance for students who are struggling to make progress on solving a program. While a more robust hint generation approach based on path construction requires tremendous engineering effort to build, another easier-to-build approach based on program mutations suffers from low coverage. This paper describes a robust hint generation system that extends the coverage of the mutation-based approach using two complementary techniques. A syntax checker detects common syntax misconception errors in individual sub-expressions to guide students to partial solutions that can be evaluated for the semantic correctness. A mutation-based approach is then used to generate hints for almost-correct programs. If the mutation-based approach fails, a case analyzer detects missing program branches to guide students to partial solutions with reasonable structures. After analyzing over 75,000 program submissions and 8,789 hint requests, we found that using all three techniques together could offer hints for any program, no matter how far it was from a correct solution. Furthermore, our analysis shows that hints contributed to students' progress while still encouraging the students to solve problems by themselves.
Building High-Performing Autonomous Teams in Complex Manufacturing Settings: A Naturalistic Research Approach

AbstractThis study contributes to the engineering management body of knowledge by providing a unique and rich view into the development of self-managed teams in manufacturing settings using a naturalistic research approach. We uncover the complexity of multi-level factors at the individual, team, and organizational level that influence the successful development of high-performing self-managed teams. This research identifies and describes the major drivers of effective autonomous teamwork in low volume, high complexity (LVHC) manufacturing settings. A key theoretical contribution of this study is a depiction of production work teams that describes the dynamic process of generating and further advancing autonomous behaviors in LVHC manufacturing settings. Engineering managers can use the findings from this article to help them understand the precursors and conditions for building effective self-managed teams in LVHC manufacturing settings. The results can also contribute to the design of training programs ...
Human Rights and Human Welfare: Looking for a “Dark Side” to International Human Rights Law

International human rights law has attracted a barrage of criticism over the past decade or more. One critique views international human rights law as useless and argues that it has not managed to improve enjoyment of the rights it has set out to protect. Another critique goes further: it blames the legalization of international human rights norms for a series of negative outcomes, from the neglect of development to a crisis in the realization of social rights. Some even suggest that international legal obligations are to blame for the channeling of repressive tactics from areas that are clearly foreclosed by law to gray areas where rules are less clear. We argue that these claims are often illogical and are typically unsupported by any evidence. Such arguments are themselves potentially dangerous if they sow unfounded doubt over the value of the international human rights system.
Bayesian randomized trial comparing intensity modulated radiation therapy versus passively scattered proton therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

8500Background: We assessed rates of and time to treatment failure (TF) [either grade ≥ 3 radiation pneumonitis (RP) or local recurrence (LR) within 12 months] in a Bayesian randomized trial of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) vs. 3D proton therapy (3DPT), both with concurrent chemotherapy, for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Assumptions for chosen sample size (n = 150) were that TF rate is log-normally distributed; IMRT will produce TF rates of 30% at 6 months (mos) and 40% at 12 mos; and 3DPT would reduce the TF rate by 10%. Pairs of IMRT and 3DPT plans were created for each patient. Patients were eligible for randomization only if both plans satisfied normal tissue constraints at the same radiation dose. Patients not eligible for randomization (NR) were treated with the modality producing the better plan. Patients denied coverage for protocol treatment were treated with the modality that was covered. Results: Of 255 enrolled patients, 149 were randomly allocated to ...
Exploring Capability of Support Vector Machine for Improving Satellite Orbit Prediction Accuracy

At the heart of the challenges for space situational awareness is to predict the orbit of a resident space object efficiently and accurately. Current orbit predictions that are solely grounded on p...
Genetic interaction effects reveal lipid-metabolic and inflammatory pathways underlying common metabolic disease risks.

Common metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and hypertension, arise from disruptions of the body’s metabolic homeostasis, with relatively strong contributions from genetic risk factors and substantial comorbidity with obesity. Although genome-wide association studies have revealed many genomic loci robustly associated with these diseases, biological interpretation of such association is challenging because of the difficulty in mapping single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) onto the underlying causal genes and pathways. Furthermore, common diseases are typically highly polygenic, and conventional single variant-based association testing does not adequately capture potentially important large-scale interaction effects between multiple genetic factors. We analyzed moderately sized case-control data sets for type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and hypertension to characterize the genetic risk factors arising from non-additive, collective interaction effects, using a recently developed algorithm (discrete discriminant analysis). We tested associations of genes and pathways with the disease status while including the cumulative sum of interaction effects between all variants contained in each group. In contrast to non-interacting SNP mapping, which produced few genome-wide significant loci, our analysis revealed extensive arrays of pathways, many of which are involved in the pathogenesis of these metabolic diseases but have not been directly identified in genetic association studies. They comprised cell stress and apoptotic pathways for insulin-producing β-cells in type 2 diabetes, processes covering different atherosclerotic stages in coronary artery disease, and elements of both type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease risk factors (cell cycle, apoptosis, and hemostasis) associated with hypertension. Our results support the view that non-additive interaction effects significantly enhance the level of common metabolic disease associations and modify their genetic architectures and that many of the expected genetic factors behind metabolic disease risks reside in smaller genotyping samples in the form of interacting groups of SNPs.
Biodegradable Microspheres for Sustained Delivery of α-Proteinase Inhibitor

One of the adverse effects of smoking is related to the deterioration of α-i-proteinase inhibitor activity. There is a strong evidence that deficiency in α-1-proteinase inhibitors (α-PI) may predispose persons to the development of pulmonary emphysema. Since therapeutic administration of α-PI has been suggested it is possible that such therapy would be more efficient if delivered directly to the target organ, i.e., lung in this case. A selective administration of α-PI to the lung can be achieved via inhalation or intravenously, if the protein is available in the form of spherical particles of appropriate size, i.e., in the range 1–5 µm for the delivery to the lower airways or in the range 8–20 µm for an intravenous delivery to the lung capillaries and/or precapillary vessels. The methodology for preparation of microspheres from a biodegradable hydrogel of controllable size range has been developed. Microspheres have been characterized by light and electron scanning microscopy and factors affecting the yield of incorporated protein and the rate of its release have been studied. The amount of a diffusion-released fraction of incorporated protein can represent up to 25% of the mass of microspheres and the rate of its release can be controlled through control of the matrix properties. Retention of a substantial part of the inhibitory activity of incorporated α-PI has been documented. Biodegradable hydrogel microspheres constitute an attractive system for parenteral delivery of α-PI and other biologically active proteins; however, its appropriateness for particular purposes should be considered with respect to the capacity of the system and the required amount of the protein to be delivered.
Perceived consequences of hazing exposure during the first year of college: Associations with childhood victimization.

Objective: This study investigates the association between histories of childhood victimization and perceived consequences of college hazing. Participants: First-year college students at four US un...
Normalizing cVEMPs: Which Method Is the Most Effective?

Objectives To determine the most effective method for normalizing cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs). Design cVEMP data from 20 subjects with normal hearing and vestibular function were normalized using 16 combinations of methods, each using one of the 4 modes of electromyogram (EMG) quantification described below. All methods used the peak to peak value of an averaged cVEMP waveform (VEMPpp) and obtained a normalized cVEMP by dividing VEMPpp by a measure of the EMG amplitude. EMG metrics were obtained from the EMG within short- and long-duration time windows. EMG amplitude was quantified by its root-mean-square (RMS) or average full-wave-rectified (RECT) value. The EMG amplitude was used by (a) dividing each individual trace by the EMG of this specific trace, (b) dividing VEMPpp by the average RMS or RECT of the individual trace EMG, (c) dividing the VEMPpp by an EMG metric obtained from the average cVEMP waveform, or (d) dividing the VEMPpp by an EMG metric obtained from an average cVEMP "noise" waveform. Normalization methods were compared by the normalized cVEMP coefficient of variation across subjects and by the area under the curve from a receiver-operating-characteristic analysis. A separate analysis of the effect of EMG-window duration was done. Results There were large disparities in the results from different normalization methods. The best methods used EMG metrics from individual-trace EMG measurements, not from part of the average cVEMP waveform. EMG quantification by RMS or RECT produced similar results. For most EMG quantifications, longer window durations were better in producing receiver-operating-characteristic with high areas under the curve. However, even short window durations worked well when the EMG metric was calculated from the average RMS or RECT of the individual-trace EMGs. Calculating the EMG from a long-duration window of a cVEMP "noise" average waveform was almost as good as the individual-trace-EMG methods. Conclusions The best cVEMP normalizations use EMG quantification from individual-trace EMGs. To have the normalized cVEMPs accurately reflect the vestibular activation, a good normalization method needs to be used.
Flat Panel Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Syndrome.

Hypothesis Flat panel computed tomography (FPCT) provides more accurate measurements of dimensions for superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SCD) than multislice CT (MSCT). Background SCD syndrome occurs when a bony defect of the superior semicircular canal causes vestibular and auditory symptoms. MSCT can overestimate the size of the canal defect, with possible over-diagnosis of SCD and suboptimal selection of surgical approach. The higher resolution of FPCT should afford more accurate measurements of these defects. Methods Radiographic and surgical measurements were compared in 22 patients (mean age 49.4) with clinical SCD syndrome and canal defects confirmed at surgery. Twenty second FPCT scans were acquired before surgery with parameters: 109Kv, small focus, 200 degrees rotation angle, and 0.4 degree per frame angulation step. Dehiscence dimensions were measured from orthogonal multiplanar reconstructions on a high-resolution liquid crystal display monitor and compared with actual measurements recorded during microsurgery. Results SCD dimensions by FPCT (x) were 2.8 ± 1.6 mm for length and 0.72 ± 0.28 mm for width. The surgical measurements (y) were 2.8 ± 1.7 mm for length and 0.72 ± 0.34 mm for width. Linear fits between x and y yielded R values of 0.93 (length) and 0.66 (width). Our previous study using MSCT had R values of 0.28 (length) and 0.48 (width). The average difference between each FPCT and corresponding surgical measurement was not significantly different from zero, whereas the results for MSCT were significantly different. Conclusion FPCT can provide more accurate measurements of SCD than MSCT. Clinicians should consider using FPCT for imaging suspected SCD.
Monkeypox re-emergence in Africa: a call to expand the concept and practice of One Health.

Introduction: Monkeypox is a re-emerging viral zoonosis that occurs naturally in heavily forested regions of West and Central Africa. Inter-human transmission of monkeypox virus, although limited, ...
Elevational cline in herbivore abundance driven by a monotonic increase in trophic-level sensitivity to aridity.

The abiotic environment drives species abundances and distributions both directly and indirectly through effects on multi-trophic species interactions. However, few studies have documented the individual and combined consequences of these direct and indirect effects. We studied an ant-tended aphid along an elevational gradient, where lower elevations were more arid. Hypotheses of stronger species interactions at lower elevations and a greater sensitivity of higher trophic levels to climate led us to predict increased top-down control of aphids by natural enemies (third trophic level) but even stronger protection from mutualist ants (fourth trophic level) with increasing aridity. As a result, we predicted that mutualism strength and aphid abundance would increase with aridity. We documented patterns of aphid abundance and tested for both the direct and multi-trophic indirect effects of aridity on aphid performance. To do so, we used both observational and manipulative methods across two years in replicate high- and low-elevation valleys, where summer temperatures decreased by 3.7°C and precipitation increased by 27 mm/mo from low to high elevations. Aphid colonies were 75% larger in the most (vs. least) arid sites, and this was best explained by changes in interactions with predators and ants. Aphids were unaffected by the direct effects of the abiotic environment or its indirect effects via host plant quality. In contrast, natural enemy effects increased with aridity; under ant exclusion, natural enemies had no effect on aphids in the least arid sites but depressed colony growth by 252% in the most arid sites. Ant activity also increased with aridity, with ants discovering more aphid colonies and experimental baits and allocating more foragers per aphid, although there was no effect of aridity on ant abundance or community composition. Correspondingly, the mutualist services provided by ants increased with aridity; ants provided no benefits to aphids in the least arid sites but doubled colony growth in the most arid sites. In summary, an elevational cline in herbivore abundance was driven by a monotonic increase in trophic-level sensitivity to aridity. These findings illustrate that predicting species responses to climate change will require a multi-trophic perspective.
Cholinergic Interneurons Provide a Link to Balance Excitation across Striatal Output Neurons.

D1-MSNs and D2-MSNs mediate output from the accumbens. How activity of one regulates the other is poorly understood. In this issue of Neuron, Francis et al. (2019) show that D1-MSN firing induces D2-MSN LTP via the recruitment of cholinergic interneurons.
Posttraumatic stress and risky sex in trauma-exposed college students: the role of personality dispositions toward impulsive behavior.

OBJECTIVES Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to risky sexual behavior (RSB). However, little is known regarding the role of impulsivity in this relation among college students. Participants: The present study examined the moderating role of impulsivity dispositions on the relation between PTSD symptoms and past-year RSB in a sample of 221 trauma-exposed undergraduate students (77.4% female). Results: Two separate negative binomial regression models examined each impulsivity disposition's unique moderating effect on the association between PTSD symptoms and high risk/casual sex. In the high risk model, significant interactions were found for the urgency dispositions, (lack of) premeditation and (lack of) perseverance, though the pattern of these relations differed across these dispositions. Only positive main effects for negative urgency and (lack of) premeditation emerged in the casual sex model. Conclusions: The present study expands on the limited literature on the role of impulsivity in the relation between PTSD and RSB in trauma-exposed college students.
Persistence of 14 C labeled carbon in Larrea tridentata up to 40 months after photosynthetic fixation in the northern Mojave Desert

Larrea tridentata (Sesse Moc. ex DC) Cov. exposed to /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ retained about 20 percent of its /sup 14/C after 16 and also after 26 months. In leaves, however, a lower specific activity was present at 26 months than at 16 months, and a smaller percentage of /sup 14/C in the plant occurred in leaves at 26 months than at 26 months (3 percent vs 10 percent). This indicates some, but little, reuse of carbon from the structural components of the plants. The strong tendency of the species to retain this carbon may be related to a survival mechanism. After 40 months the results were more erratic, with 11 percent of /sup 14/C remaining in plants and only 2 percent of the total remaining in the leaves. The specific activity of /sup 14/C in the organic debris fraction obtained with saturated salt flotation of roots after small and fine roots had been physically removed indicated that from 27 to 35 percent of the organic debris had the same specific activity as roots and probably could be considered as roots. This compares with the 45 percent value determined previously by a different technique. The below-ground to aboveground ratio for biomassmore » of these plants was about 2.5:1. The below-ground to above-ground ratio for the /sup 14/C was about 0.5 at 16 months, 1.3 at 26 months, and 2.5 at 40 months. The estimates obtained in this study were used to correct our previous data for below-ground biomass. Accordingly,somewhere between 3000 and 5000 kg/ha roots are present in the Rock Valley area. An increase wth time of the below-ground to aboveground /sup 14/C ratio probably indicates loss of /sup 14/C from above-ground parts rather than additional transport to roots.« less
Abstract CN03-01: Functional genomics approaches to the discovery of paralog dependencies in cancer

Advances in next-generation sequencing and projects including the Cancer Genome Anatomy project and the International Cancer Genome Consortium have given us a detailed description of the genetic alterations across a broad spectrum of cancer. This however, does not immediately lead to a detailed functional understanding of those genes whose protein products are necessary for the maintenance of cancer viability. In order to more deeply understand the genes and pathways critical to the survival of cancer cells previous and ongoing efforts have provided functional annotation of the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia through the use of deep pooled shRNA or sgRNA libraries. For example, Project DRIVE (Deep RNAi-screening for Viablity Effects in cancer) characterized the viability effects of knockdown of 7,837 genes using 20 shRNAs per gene across 398 cancer cell lines. The DepMap project targeted 18,333 genes in 625 cell lines using CRISPR/CAS9. The data from these efforts are highly robust identifying all known oncogenes mutated in the set of interrogated cell lines, along with multiple new cancer dependent features not previously described. Notably, very few synthetic lethal nodes have emerged from these analyses downstream or within the critical oncogenic pathways that dominate the landscape of human cancer. We hypothesize that this is due to functionally redundant paralogous genes that, while potentially targetable by single therapeutics, are not targeted in current knockdown/knockout screens. This is exemplified by discordance between certain therapeutics and shRNA or sgRNA gene inactivation. For example, the cell line sensitivity profiles of MEK inhibitors which target MEK1 and MEK2, or CDK4/6 inhibitors do not robustly correlate with single gene knockout data. Based on prior work using dual S. pyogenes and S. aureus CAS9 systems, we have built a pairwise sgRNA library targeting roughly 3000 genes and the resulting 5,000 paralog pairs. Initial screening data has demonstrated robustness of the methods. More importantly, new paralog dependencies relevant to NRAS mutant cancers have emerged. Citation Format: William Sellers. Functional genomics approaches to the discovery of paralog dependencies in cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2019 Oct 26-30; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2019;18(12 Suppl):Abstract nr CN03-01. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-19-CN03-01
Access and utilization of compassionate release in state departments of corrections

Compassionate release (CR) is touted as an ethical and cost-effective mechanism for releasing older adults or individuals with life-limiting illness from prison and reducing prison overcrowding. Ho...
Teaching Computation in Introductory Physics

Gravitational attraction between two objects in space is analytically determined from principles in calculus, then modeled using the python programming language on the GlowScript platform. Finally a context-rich problem is cast for use in the physics classroom or lab.
Clinical and Genomic Determinants of Survival in Ugandan Women With Cervical Cancer.

Purpose/Objective(s) Cervical cancer is the most common malignancy affecting Ugandan women. While its incidence is declining in much of the world, rates are rising in Uganda. The primary purpose of this study is to examine clinical factors associated with survival in a group of Ugandan women with cervical cancer. Materials/Methods Publicly available data from a recently published study examining genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic factors in tumors from Ugandan women with cervical cancer were obtained for analysis. The association between clinical and molecular features with survival were analyzed using logistic regression. Results Clinical data was available for 212 women with a median age of 48.0 years. Seventy-four women (34.9%) were pre-menopausal, 33 (15.5%) were peri-menopausal, 102 (48.1%) were post-menopausal and 3 (1.4%) had unknown menopausal status. Median number of pregnancies and spontaneous abortions were 7 and 1, respectively. Ninety women (42.5%) were HIV-positive, 121 (57.1%) were HIV-negative and one (0.5%) had unknown HIV status. HIV-positive women were significantly younger than HIV-negative (P Conclusion Determining factors associated with survival may provide novel venues for intervention to improve outcomes for women with cervical cancer in Uganda. Analysis of clinical and molecular features associated with survival in Ugandan women with cervical cancer revealed that HIV positivity and history of 2 or 3 spontaneous abortions are negatively associated with survival, even though HIV-positive women were younger on average. Inclusion of brachytherapy and mutations in the TRRAP gene are associated with improved survival in this patient population.
The impact of leader emotion display frequency on follower performance: Leader surface acting and mean emotion display as boundary conditions

Abstract Theory and evidence suggest leader emotion has an important influence on follower performance. However, we lack a theoretical framework to understand when the frequency of leader emotional displays may or may not explain significant variance in follower performance. To advance knowledge in this emerging line of research, we integrate Emotion As Social Information (EASI) theory with attribution theory to explore boundary conditions of the relationships of the frequencies of positive and negative leader emotional displays with follower performance. Results based on leaders and followers in three organizations show that leader surface acting acted as a boundary condition, neutralizing the effects of the frequencies of positive and negative leader emotional displays toward an individual follower on that follower's performance. In addition, higher frequency of negative emotional displays shown by the leader to all group members acted as a boundary condition, neutralizing the effect of the frequency of negative leader emotional displays toward an individual follower on that follower's performance. This work advances our understanding of the way the frequency of leader emotional displays may influence follower performance, introduces new types of contingency factors to the leader emotion area, and helps extend emotional labor theory to the leadership context.
Clustering High Dimensional Data Using SVM

The Web contains massive amount of documents to the point where it has become impossible to classify them manually. This project's goal is to find a new method for clustering documents that is as close to humans' classification as possible and at the same time to reduce the size of the documents. This project uses a combination of Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) with Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) calculation and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification. Using SVD, data is decomposed and truncated to reduce the data size. The reduced data will be clustered into different categories. Using SVM, clustered data from SVD calculation is used for training to allow new data to be classified based on SVM's prediction. The project's result show that the method of combining SVD and SVM is able to reduce data size and classifies documents reasonably compared to humans' classification.
The changing face of trauma: New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina.

Charity Hospital (CH) was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and remains closed. Design and staffing of a new, temporary dedicated trauma hospital relied on data from prior experience at CH, updated census information, and a changed trauma demographic. The study objective was to analyze the new trauma program and evaluate changes in demographics, injury patterns, and outcomes between pre- (PK) and post-Katrina (POK) trauma populations. A retrospective review of trauma patients' demographics, anatomical variables, and physiological variables 6 months PK and POK was performed under an approved Institutional Review Board protocol. Trauma activation triage criteria between study periods were also analyzed. Continuous data comparisons between the two time periods were made with Student's t test. Dichotomous data were analyzed using chi2 test. The demographic of trauma patients is different in the POK interval, reflecting changes in the New Orleans population. Modification of triage criteria by the exclusion of mechanism as an activation criterion resulted in an increase of patients with higher acuity and Injury Severity Score, lower initial Glasgow Coma Score, and a higher proportion of penetrating mechanism. Outcome measures reflect longer length of stay (4.4 vs. 6.8 days, P Language: en
A Comparison of Input and Output Driven Routers

Communication in parallel computers requires a low latency router. Once a suitable routing algorithm is selected, an implementation must be designed. Issues such as whether the router should be input or output driven need to be considered. In this paper, we use simulations to compare input driven and output driven routing algorithms. Three algorithms, the Dally-Seitz oblivious router, the *-channels router, and the minimal triplex algorithm are evaluated. Each router is implemented as both an input and an output driven router. Experiments are run for each of the router implementations with seven different traffic patterns on both a 256-node two dimensional mesh and torus networks. The results show that in almost all cases, the output driven router matches or outperforms the input driven router. Furthermore, we find that randomization of output buffer selection in the input driven algorithm increases its performance and substantially reduces the performance discrepancy between the input and output driven algorithms. Although the findings apply to the routers considered, we believe the results generalize to other routers.
The prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor ketorolac blocks ritodrine-stimulated production of prostaglandin F2α in pregnant sheep

Objective To determine whether ritodrine-stimulated production of prostaglandin (PG) F2 alpha by pregnant uterine tissues can be blocked by the concurrent administration of ketorolac, a PG synthesis inhibitor. Methods We infused saline, ritodrine, ketorolac, or a combination of ritodrine and ketorolac into chronically catheterized pregnant sheep. Concentrations of PGF2 alpha in uterine venous plasma were measured by radioimmunoassay at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 24 hours during the infusions. Results Ritodrine significantly increased uterine venous PGF2 alpha; mean percent increases at 4 hours were 330% and 380%, and at 24 hours 370%, compared with controls. During concurrent ritodrine and ketorolac infusion, there was no increase in uterine venous PGF2 alpha at any time. Conclusions Ketorolac completely blocks ritodrine-stimulated production of PGF2 alpha in pregnant uterine tissues. We conclude that ritodrine stimulates PG production through mobilization of arachidonic acid, and this can be effectively blocked with a PG synthesis inhibitor. This finding may have important clinical applications in the treatment of preterm labor.
Domesticating Barbie: An Archaeology of Barbie Material Culture and Domestic Ideology

A systematic examination of Barbie fashions, accessories, and playsets produced since 1959 reveals several distinct phases in the domestic symbolism associated with Barbie. Today, Barbie grocery shops, cleans house, cares for her young siblings, and assumes careers which fill nurturing and protective roles like those championed in traditional domestic ideology. Yet in the late 1950s, Barbie was conceived and marketed as a single career girl who did not do “rough housework.” This paper examines the range of clothing and accessories marketed alongside Barbie as a mechanism to trace the changes in Barbie's domestic image over nearly 40 years.
New Microwave and Optical Molecules

This article summarizes some recent laboratory spectroscopic activities in our spectroscopy group at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. There are currently two main efforts here in laboratory astrophysics, one in the radio band, the other in the optical. The radio work has succeeded beyond expectations, in the last 7 years yielding the 105 new molecules in Fig. 1. Essentially all are plausible constituents of the interstellar gas or circumstellar shells, and 8, as Fig. 1 indicates, have in fact already been detected with large radio telescopes on the basis of the very precise frequencies which our spectroscopy provides. The application of Fourier-transform microwave (FTM) spectroscopy to molecules produced by a gas discharge in a supersonic beam has been crucial to many of these discoveries, which are now occurring almost weekly.
The Classics of Epidemiology: A Critical Thinking Approach.

(1990). The Classics of Epidemiology: A Critical Thinking Approach. Health Education: Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 41-42.
Feline Asthma: Diagnosis and Treatment

Human asthma is not a curable disease, although spontaneous resolution is common in adult asthmatics who developed asthma in childhood. We do not know if this is true or not for cats with asthma. We do know that some cats may be only mildly and intermittently symptomatic and that others may suffer life-threatening illness. An important new development in our understanding of this disease is the occurrence of airway inflammation even when patients are symptom-free. It is therefore crucial that we direct our therapeutic attention toward the underlying chronic inflammation that causes the acute clinical signs of cough, wheeze, and increased respiratory effort. Client education is also critical so that our clients develop realistic expectations of the effectiveness of these treatments for their pets. A great deal still needs to be learned regarding the pathogenesis of feline asthma and the optimal approach(es) to treating cats with this sometimes debilitating and potentially fatal respiratory syndrome. There is great hope and anticipation that ongoing research can bring new treatments for human and feline asthmatics alike.
Risk of Death From Intercurrent Disease Is Not Excessively Increased by Modern Postoperative Radiotherapy for High-Risk Resected Non–Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma

PURPOSE: Some studies report a high risk of death from intercurrent disease (DID) after postoperative radiotherapy (XRT) for non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study determines the risk of DID after modern-technique postoperative XRT. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 202 patients were treated with surgery and postoperative XRT for NSCLC. Most patients (97%) had pathologic stage II or III disease. Many patients (41%) had positive/close/uncertain resection margins. The median XRT dose was 55 Gy with fraction size of 1.8 to 2 Gy. The risk of DID was calculated actuarially and included patients who died of unknown/uncertain causes. Median follow-up was 24 months for all patients and 62 months for survivors. RESULTS: A total of 25 patients (12.5%) died from intercurrent disease, 16 from confirmed noncancer causes and nine from unknown causes. The 4-year actuarial rate of DID was 13.5%. This is minimally increased compared with the expected rate for a matched population (approximately 10% at 4 years). On ...
The analysis of distribution system reliability based on artificial neural network

This paper redefined the indicators of distribution system reliability analysis, combined the topology and reliability with a new comprehensive index as a reflection of the load point failure rate, and established the artificial neural network classifier. Simulation results show that the method helps to improve the efficiency of distribution network reliability analysis
Abstract 1664: A delicate balance between radiation-induced autophagy and apoptosis in HPV-positive head and neck cancer.

Purpose: The molecular mechanisms responsible for improved outcomes seen in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV) positive head and neck cancer (HNC) remain largely unknown. Ionizing radiation can induce autophagy, a genetically programmed, evolutionarily conserved response to stress whereby cellular constituents are engulfed, digested, and recycled to sustain cellular metabolism. We investigated whether radiation-induced cellular autophagy is modulated by HPV oncogenes leading to altered therapeutic responses between HPV+ and HPV- HNCs. Methods: An immortalized human tonsillar epithelial (HTE) cell line engineered to stably express LXSN vector alone, HPV-16 E6, or HPV-16 E7 was used for all experiments. All constructs received a single radiation dose of 4 Gy. Radiation survival was assessed by clonogenic survival. Activation of autophagy proteins LC3-A and LC3-B were analyzed at 4 and 24 hr time points using western blotting and fluorescence microscopy along with acridine orange staining. Apoptosis was evaluated by caspase activity at the same time points. Results: HPV-16 E6 resulted in greater sensitivity, while HPV-16 E7 resulted in radiation resistance relative to than control cells (surviving fraction after 4 Gy = 8.4+/-0.5% vs. 35+/-3.8% vs. 20+/-1.1%, respectively, 1way ANOVA p Conclusions: The HPV oncoproteins E7 up regulates autophagic pathways at baseline correlating with radiation resistance. Four hours following radiation, both E6 and E7 result in significant upregulation of autophagy. This is followed by upregulation of apoptosis, suggesting a transition from an initial protective response to cellular death. Citation Format: Tyler L. Fowler, Kai D. Ludwig, Reza Djavadian, Bryan P. Bednarz, Randall J. Kimple. A delicate balance between radiation-induced autophagy and apoptosis in HPV-positive head and neck cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1664. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1664
Synthesis of the C(1)−C(12) Segment of Peloruside A by an α-Benzyloxymethyl Ketone Aldol Strategy

The C(1)−C(12) segment of 16-membered antitumor macrolide peloruside A has been prepared by a BF3·OEt2-catalyzed Mukaiyama aldol reaction between a glucose-derived C(1)−C(7) aldehyde and a C(8)−C(12) α-benzyloxymethyl ketone. Exclusive 2,3-anti and moderate 3,5-anti/syn facial selectivity (3.5:1) was observed in the aldol reaction. The key C(1)−C(7) aldehyde contains the required stereochemistry at carbons two, three, and five, and has been efficiently prepared on multigram scales from commercial triacetyl d-glucal.
Quantum chemical and physicochemical influences on structure–activity relations and drug design

Quantum chemical results will be presented on drugs, carcinogens, teratogens, and endogenous biomolecules using our new nonempirical ab initioMODPOT/VRDDO method, which incorporates as options to our ab initioLCAO-MO-SCF/CI programs ab initio effective core model potentials (MODPOT) permitting one to calculate only the valence electrons explicitly yet accurately and an integral prescreening technique (VRDDO, variable retention of diatomic differential overlap) especially effective for spatially extended molecules. For molecules of the size of those of interest the MODPOT/VRDDO calculations run an order-of-magnitude faster than with our own fast ab initio programs and still retain accuracy to the third decimal place for the valence electron properties. We have also just implemented a new efficient MERGE technique which allows us to reuse integrals from a common skeletal fragment and only to have to recalculate those for a new atom or group or a change in its position. Examples will be presented of the use of this technique on a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and its metabolites. The pKa's, oil-water partition, and drug distribution coefficients as a sensitive function of pH have been measured for a number of drugs as well as for relevant endogenous biomolecules. The pH dependence of the lipophilicities of such molecules has profound implication on appropriate use of such data in QSAR studies.