cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of Cytokine Signaling through Activation of Jak2 Ubiquitination by WP1130.

Abstract Abstract 2907 Poster Board II-883 Constitutive activation of Jak2 through mutations or cytokine stimulation leads to abnormal expansion of the myeloid lineage and plays a key role in multiple myeloproliferative disorders. Kinase-specific inhibitors that prevent substrate phosphorylation can provide effective therapy for these disorders. However, this approach is sometimes inadequate as additional mutations and target-specific modifications can alter the kinase in a sufficient fashion to reduce kinase inhibitor affinity. Therefore additional approaches and molecules may be needed to reduce kinase activity through alternate mechanisms. In this report we describe a novel small molecule-mediated approach to block the Jak2/Stat signaling pathway. Using a previously identified small molecule with Jak2 inhibitory activity, we performed structure-activity relationship studies of AG490 derivatives in a cell-based analysis for inhibition of cytokine-stimulated Stat activation. This effort lead to the synthesis of WP1130 which suppressed Jak2 driven Stat activation with nM to μM potency. However, WP1130 did not act as a direct Jak2 kinase inhibitor. Rather, WP1130 treatment induced a rapid, time and dose-dependent trafficking of Jak2 from the detergent soluble to insoluble cellular fraction. We observed a robust induction of protein ubiquitination in WP1130 treated cells which was not directly or indirectly due to proteosome inhibition. Further, WP1130-mediated ubiquitination was unique with respect to other compounds as it did not reduce association of Jak2 with chaperones, did not induce ER stress or increase reactive oxygen species to activate protein ubiquitination. Jak2 was poly-ubiquitinated, primarily with lysine63-linked polymers, after WP1130 treatment and ubiquitination correlated with Jak2 mobilization without its proteolysis. Sub-cellular fractionation and analysis using confocal microscopy suggested rapid trafficking of Jak2 into cellular structures called aggresomes, in complex with Hsp90, Hsp70 and HDAC6. Lysates from WP1130 treated cells had diminished capacity to hydrolyze ubiquitinated substrates, suggesting the involved of reduced deubiquitinase activity as a mediator of Jak2 ubiquitination in WP1130-treated cells. Together, these results suggest that WP1130 enhances a resident ubiquitination cascade that results in Jak2 ubiquitination and its displacement from its peri-membranous, signaling competent sites. The results also suggest that Jak2 is able to undergo K63-linked poly-ubiquitination and may be exploitable as an alternate approach to interrupt Jak/Stat signaling. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Predicting Progression in Barrett's Esophagus: Development and Validation of the Barrett's Esophagus Assessment of Risk Score (BEAR Score).

Objective:To develop and validate a scoring tool capable of accurately predicting which patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE) will progress to dysplasia and/or esophageal adenocarcinoma.Background:Endoscopic therapies have emerged capable of eradicating BE with high efficacy and low complication ra
Strategic Orientations, Knowledge Stock, and Ambidexterity: A Study of Firm-Wide Behavior and Consequences—An Abstract

Extant research (e.g., Atuahene-Gima 2005; Cohen and Levinthal 1990; March 1991) explicitly recognizes the inherent tensions involved in searching for new ways of doing things (exploration) while currently leveraging and building upon what has already been learned (exploitation). Organizational ambidexterity is a popular approach to balancing explorative and exploitative activities in organizations, and has been recommended as an effective means to sustain organizational performance (e.g., Gibson and Birkinshaw 2004; March 1991). In this chapter, we suggest that an organization’s strategic orientation is important in shaping ambidexterity and address two research questions: (1) How do different strategic orientations facilitate or hinder ambidexterity and subsequent firm performance? (2) How does an organization’s knowledge stock influence these relationships?
All the different voices:A teacher’s journey to shifting paradigms in language variation and diversity

As a veteran educator, I prided myself on embracing a pedagogy that valued diversity in the classroom. However, it wasn’t until I enrolled in a graduate course in language variation and diversity that I was challenged to deeply explore my evolving language paradigm.
Comprehension-First Pedagogy and Adaptive, Intrinsically Motivated Tutorials

Two large multinational studies show more than 60% of students incorrectly answer questions about the execution of basic programs. How can we improve program comprehension learning outcomes, and does that improve program writing learning outcomes? Nearly all prior tools and approaches have been evaluated in a writing-focused pedagogical context. People receive instruction on a programming construct's syntax and semantics, practice by writing code, then advance to the next construct (roughly a spiral syntax approach). In contrast, little work has explored a comprehension-first pedagogy, teaching and assessing program semantics - how static code causes dynamic computer behavior - before teaching learners to write code. I hypothesize this pedagogy improves program comprehension and writing learning outcomes, and that an adaptive curriculum of programs that aligns with the learner's interests and assessed knowledge further improves outcomes. Towards that goal, I built and evaluated a comprehension-first tutorial (PLTutor) with a fixed, non-adaptive curriculum, showing 60% higher learning gains (3.9 vs 2.4 on the SCS1) than the writing-focused tutorial Codecademy. I'm looking for new ideas (such as more social (theories, design, etc)), prior work, or methods to inform my thesis proposal and committee selection.
Jonah Salz (ed.), A History of Japanese Theatre

It is important to know what the book under review is and what it is not. Missing this point will only lead to disappointment. The physical book feels good in the hand. It is solid, hefty, printed ...
New insights into the shock tube ignition of H2/O2 at low to moderate temperatures using high-speed end-wall imaging

Abstract In this work, the effects of pre-ignition energy releases on H 2 O 2 mixtures were explored in a shock tube with the aid of high-speed imaging and conventional pressure and emission diagnostics. Ignition delay times and time-resolved camera image sequences were taken behind the reflected shockwaves for two hydrogen mixtures. High concentration experiments spanned temperatures between 858 and 1035 K and pressures between 2.74 and 3.91 atm for a 15% H 2 \18% O 2 \Ar mixture. Low concentration data were also taken at temperatures between 960 and 1131 K and pressures between 3.09 and 5.44 atm for a 4% H 2 \2% O 2 \Ar mixture. These two model mixtures were chosen as they were the focus of recent shock tube work conducted in the literature (Pang et al., 2009). Experiments were performed in both a clean and dirty shock tube facility; however, no deviations in ignition delay times between the two types of tests were apparent. The high-concentration mixture (15%H 2 \18%O 2 \Ar) experienced energy releases in the form of deflagration flames followed by local detonations at temperatures
Pharmacologic rationale for hepatic arterial therapy.

The use of intraarterial therapy is one of a series of strategies intended to provide selective targeting of drug delivery. Other approaches include intraperitoneal and intrathecal delivery [4], liposomes [9], and new drug design [6].
Interventions to significantly improve service uptake and retention of HIV-positive pregnant women and HIV-exposed infants along the prevention of mother-to-child transmission continuum of care: systematic review

Objectives Despite the success of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programmes, low uptake of services and poor retention pose a formidable challenge to achieving the elimination of vertical HIV transmission in low- and middle-income countries. This systematic review summarises interventions that demonstrate statistically significant improvements in service uptake and retention of HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women and their infants along the PMTCT cascade. Methods Databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed studies. Outcomes of interest included uptake of services, such as antiretroviral therapy (ART) such as initiation, early infant diagnostic testing, and retention of HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women and their infants. Interventions that led to statistically significant outcomes were included and mapped to the PMTCT cascade. An eight-item assessment tool assessed study rigour. Prospero id CRD42017063816. Results Of 686 citations reviewed, 11 articles met inclusion criteria. Ten studies detailed maternal outcomes and seven studies detailed infant outcomes in PMTCT programmes. Interventions to increase access to antenatal care (ANC) and ART services (n = 4) and those using lay cadres (n = 3) were most common. Other interventions included quality improvement (n = 2), mHealth (n = 1), and counselling (n = 1). One study described interventions in an Option B+ programme. Limitations included lack of HIV testing and counselling and viral load monitoring outcomes, small sample size, geographical location, and non-randomized assignment and selection of participants. Conclusions Interventions including ANC/ART integration, family-centred approaches, and the use of lay healthcare providers are demonstrably effective in increasing service uptake and retention of HIV-positive mothers and their infants in PMTCT programmes. Future studies should include control groups and assess whether interventions developed in the context of earlier 'Options' are effective in improving outcomes in Option B+ programmes.
Early pavlovian studies on the effects of starvation

This communication is based on the pioneering studies performed by I. P. Pavlov’s associates, Yu. P. Frolov (in 1918) and I. S. Rozental’ (in 1918/1919) at the Institute of Experimental Medicine, in Petrograd. The changes in the “independent variable”—the dogs’ diet—were not planned but were the consequences of severe shortages of food for man and beast. The principal generalization concerns the order in which different forms of “complex nervous activity” were impaired: the order is opposite to the order in which they emerge in the process of ontogenesis. First to suffer was “internal inhibition,” as documented by the failure of stimulus differentiation. This was followed by the decrease in the magnitude of well-established conditional responses (CRs). As a result of a more severe impairment of the excitatory processes, it became difficult or impossible to establish new CRs. In time, previously established CRs to artificial stimuli, visual and acoustic, disappeared totally. The CRs to natural conditional stimuli (CSs) were maintained fairly well but, eventually, they too decreased markedly. In the terminal phase of starvation, the unconditional salivary reflexes continued to function, although their magnitude was depressed.
A Partition of Unity Method for the Obstacle Problem of Simply Supported Kirchhoff Plates

We consider a partition of unity method (PUM) for the displacement obstacle problem of simply supported Kirchhoff plates. We show that this method converges optimally in the energy norm on general polygonal domains provided that appropriate singular enrichment functions are included in the approximation space. The performance of the method is illustrated by numerical examples.
COMPUTER SIMULATION OF DYNAMICS AND CONTROL OF TRANSMICROVASCULAR FLUID AND PROTEIN EXCHANGES

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses computer simulation of dynamics and control of transmicrovascular fluid and protein exchanges. To obtain greater insight into the underlying mechanisms of edema formation, a simplified mathematical model of fluid and protein exchange in the microcirculation was developed. The model considers: (1) the transmural hydrostatic and oncotic forces operating across the capillary wall, (2) microvascular permeability and sieving of plasma proteins, (3) convective and diffusive components of protein transport, (4) compliance of the interstitium, and (5) lymph formation as a function of interstitial hydrostatic pressure. Simulation of the effects of venous hypertension, hypoproteinemia, and partial lymphatic obstruction indicate that the following properties are major determinants of the margin of safety against edema formation: high permselectivity of the microvascular membrane to plasma proteins; low interstitial compliance; and high sensitivity of lymphatic pump to changes in interstitial hydrostatic pressure. After examining the simplified model, additional compensatory features were included to produce a more complex interactive system. The complex model was used to examine the relative contribution of each compensatory mechanism to prevention of vasogenic edema, myxedema, and lymphedema.
Evolutionary clustering algorithms for relational data

Abstract Relational data clustering has received lot less attention than vector data clustering and the use of evolutionary techniques to optimize clustering parameters is even rare. We extend an earlier work where a relational data version of DBSCAN was presented and an evolutionary framework was proposed for optimizing clustering parameters. Five evolutionary techniques are presented in this paper – three algorithms based on particle swarm optimization, the firefly algorithm and the composite differential evolution technique. Clustering results from the proposed methodologies are tested on benchmark datasets from the UCI machine learning database.
Disparities in retail marketing for little cigars and cigarillos in Los Angeles, California.

Abstract Introduction Evidence of a concentration of cigarette advertising in predominantly low-income, non-White neighborhoods underscores the need to examine retail marketing and promotions for novel tobacco products like little cigars and cigarillos (LCCs). We sought to investigate neighborhood racial/ethnic disparities in LCC marketing at retail, including availability, advertising, price promotions, and product placement in Los Angeles, California. Methods Between January 2016 and April 2017, community health workers (n = 19) conducted in-person observational audits from tobacco retail stores (n = 679) located in zip codes with a high percentage of non-Hispanic White (n = 196), Black (n = 194), Hispanic/Latino (n = 189), or Korean American (n = 100) residents. To account for clustering effect of zip codes, multilevel modeling approach for a dichotomized outcome was conducted to evaluate the association between racial/ethnic neighborhood sample and dependent variables. Results Stores located in zip codes with a high percentage of non-Hispanic Blacks had more than eight times higher odds of selling LCCs (OR = 8.10; 95% CI = 3.10–21.11 vs. non-Hispanic White), more than five times higher odds of selling flavored LCCs (OR = 5.20; 95% CI = 2.33–11.61 vs. non-Hispanic White), and more than six times higher odds of displaying storefront exterior LCC signage (OR = 6.03; 95% CI = 2.93–12.40 vs. non-Hispanic White). Stores in Hispanic/Latino and Korean American communities had about three times higher odds of selling LCCs (OR = 3.02; 95% CI = 1.15–7.93 vs. non-Hispanic White; OR = 2.99; 95% CI = 1.33–6.71 vs. non-Hispanic White). Conclusions LCCs are heavily marketed in retail establishments in Los Angeles, with disproportionate targeting of predominantly non-White neighborhoods, especially stores in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of African Americans. Local, state, and federal flavor restrictions, minimum pack size standards, preventive messages, and campaigns could counter the influence of LCC marketing in retail establishments.
Clustering and Trend Analysis of Global Extreme Droughts from 1900 to 2014

Drought is one of the most devastating environmental disasters. Analyzing historical changes in climate extremes is critical for mitigating its adverse impacts in the future. In the present study, the spatial and temporal characteristics of the global severe droughts using Palmer Drought Intensity Index (PDSI) from 1900 to 2014 are explored. K-means clustering is implemented to partition the extreme negative PDSI values. The global extreme droughts magnitude around the world from 1950 to 1980 were less intense compared to the other decades. In 2012, the largest areas around the world, especially Canada, experienced their most severe historical droughts. Results show that the most recent extreme droughts occurred in some regions such as the North of Canada, central regions of the US, Southwest of Europe and Southeast Asia. We found that after 1980, the spatial extent of the regions that experienced extreme drought have increased substantially.
Association of autistic traits in adulthood with childhood abuse, interpersonal victimization, and posttraumatic stress

Persons with autistic traits may be at elevated risk for interpersonal victimization across the life course. Children with high levels of autistic traits may be targeted for abuse, and deficits in social awareness may increase risk of interpersonal victimization. Additionally, persons with autistic traits may be at elevated risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms subsequent to trauma. We examined retrospectively reported prevalence of childhood abuse, trauma victimization and PTSD symptoms by autistic traits among adult women in a population-based longitudinal cohort, the Nurses' Health Study II (N=1,077). Autistic traits were measured by the 65-item Social Responsiveness Scale. We estimated odds ratios (OR) for childhood sexual and physical/emotional abuse and PTSD symptoms by quintiles of autistic traits. We examined possible mediation of PTSD risk by abuse and trauma type. Women in the highest versus lowest quintile of autistic traits were more likely to have been sexually abused (40.1% versus 26.7%), physically/emotionally abused (23.9% versus 14.3%), mugged (17.1% versus 10.1%), pressured into sexual contact (25.4% versus 15.6%) and have high PTSD symptoms (10.7% versus 4.5%). Odds of PTSD were elevated in women in the top three quintiles of autistic traits compared with the reference group (OR range=1.4 to 1.9). Childhood abuse exposure partly accounted for elevated risk of PTSD in women with autistic traits. We identify for the first time an association between autistic traits, childhood abuse, trauma victimization, and PTSD. Levels of autistic traits that are highly prevalent in the general population are associated with abuse, trauma and PTSD.
The Effect of Property Rights Protection on Capital Structure: Evidence from a Chinese Natural Experiment

We examine how changes in property rights security impact firm capital structure decisions by exploiting a natural experiment, the enactment of China’s Property Rights Law in 2007 (the Law). Using a large dataset of non-listed firms, we document a significant overall decrease in leverage after the Law’s passage, consistent with the reinvestment hypothesis’ prediction that business owners are willing to reinvest more of their profits as property rights protection strengthens, substituting for external debt. Financially constrained firms experience a relative increase in leverage following the Law’s enactment, consistent with the financial constraint hypothesis’ prediction that lenders are willing to extend more credits to financially constrained firms as creditor rights are strengthened. We also document a leverage decline in China’s listed firms after the Law’s enactment.
Effect of coil size on transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) focality

In recent years, there is an increasing interest in noninvasive treatments for neurological disorders like Alzheimer and Depression. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is one of the most effective methods used for this purpose. The performance of TMS highly depends on the coils used for the generation of magnetic field and induced electric field particularly their designs affecting depth and focality tradeoff characteristics. Among a variety of proposed and used TMS coil designs, circular coils are commonly used both in research and medical and clinical applications. In current study, we focus on changing the outer and inner sizes (diameter) and winding turns of ring coils and try to reach deeper brain regions without significant field strength decay. The induced electric field and the decay rate of the generated field with depth were studied with finite element method calculations. The results of the performed simulations indicate that larger diameter coils have a larger equivalent field emission aperture and produce larger footprint of induced electric field initially. However, their emission solid angles are smaller and, as a result, the field divergence or the decay rates of the generated field with depth are smaller as well, which give them a good potential to perform better for deep brain stimulation compared with that of smaller coil.
Evidence-based teaching: how do we all get there?

There are compelling reasons to shift our pedagogy toward evidence-based active learning methods that substantially improve student success, and now plenty of resources to aid in that shift. These include the recent CBMS Statement on Active Learning, MAA Instructional Practices Guide (IPG), and MIT Electronic Seminar on Mathematics Education. But implementation is neither quick nor easy. There are still plenty of individual, institutional, cultural, and professional obstacles, along with wonderful opportunities. At the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings we co-organized a guided discussion -- an ``un-panel'' -- sponsored by the American Mathematical Society's Committee on Education in order to stimulate the process of our community moving toward active learning in our teaching pedagogy. Seventy participants with fifteen discussion leaders expanded an initial list of issues, and considered questions around both challenges and opportunities. Here we summarize from these discussions, suggesting areas for collaborative efforts ranging from local colleagues and educational institutions to national and global professional societies.
Promoting Race Pedagogy in Higher Education: Creating an Inclusive Community

The current study reports outcomes of a professional development model intended to strengthen faculty members’ cultural competence and skills for teaching about diversity and inclusion. Creating In...
Screening Pediatric Patients for Food Insecurity: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study of Comorbidities and Demographic Characteristics.

BACKGROUND Food insecurity is a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate and nutritional food that is associated with diabetes, obesity, anxiety, depression, and behavioral disorders. The presence of these comorbidities motivated the UW Health Pediatrics Department to start screening for food insecurity. METHODS Our study describes demographic characteristics of screened patients, comparing risk factors and health status between food insecure patients and food secure patients. We extracted variables on all screened patients: sex, age, race, ethnicity, insurance type, height, weight (to calculate body mass index [BMI] and BMI percentile), and any diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, sleeping problems, restless leg syndrome, anemia, elevated blood lead levels, depression, anxiety, or attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD). RESULTS Over the 8-month screening period, 1,330 patients were screened for food insecurity, and 30 screened positive. Insurance type was a significant predictor for food insecurity; patients on public or with no insurance had 6.39 times greater odds of being food insecure than those on private insurance (CI 3.81, 13.29). Also, diagnoses of anemia and ADD/ADHD were both significantly higher in the food insecure group. The odds of having anemia was 8.47 times greater for food insecure patients (CI 3.03, 23.63), and the odds for having ADD/ADHD was 5.89 times greater for food insecure patients than food secure patients (CI 1.48, 23.55). DISCUSSION These results provide useful information to clinicians as the screening process moves toward widespread adoption. These results also provide a baseline for expanded research once screening is implemented throughout all pediatric clinics within our health care organization.
Improving non-small cell lung cancer classification in data mining courses

Data mining courses have become popular electives in many graduate and undergraduate computer science curriculums. In these courses we usually give a comprehensive coverage of data mining concepts, algorithms, methodologies, management issues, and tools, which are illustrated through simple examples for an easy understanding and mastering of these materials. However, these courses often fail to provide students with opportunities to develop and evaluate applications in real-world environments. We fill these gaps by creating new materials in cancer research which would open opportunities to develop and evaluate applications in real-world environments for the senior-level and graduate students in computer science. In this paper, we show how new data mining techniques can be developed and used to improve the classification of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cancer. The outcomes of this research are used as new materials for students in our data mining courses.
Does the MLB’s collision at home plate rule change prevent concussion injuries in catchers?

Background: In 2013, appropriate conduct of both the catcher and baserunner at the home plate was outlined with the addition of rule 7.13. This new rule was mandated in order to protect athletes fr...
Pregnancy Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Concentrations and Postpartum Health in Project Viva: A Prospective Cohort.

Context Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmental chemicals linked to weight gain and type 2 diabetes. Objective We examined the extent to which PFAS plasma concentrations during pregnancy were associated with postpartum anthropometry and biomarkers. Design, patients, and measures We studied women recruited between 1999 and 2002 in the Project Viva prospective cohort with pregnancy plasma concentrations of PFAS, including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and 2-(N-ethyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamide) acetic acid (EtFOSAA). Three-year postpartum anthropometry measurements were available from 786 to 801 women, blood pressure from 761 women, and blood biomarkers from 450 to 454 women. We used multivariable regression to evaluate the association of log2-transformed PFAS with postpartum anthropometry, blood pressure, and blood biomarkers (leptin, adiponectin, sex hormone binding globulin [SHBG], hemoglobin A1c, interleukin-6 [IL-6], C-reactive protein), adjusting for age, prepregnancy body mass index, marital status, race/ethnicity, education, income, smoking, parity, and breastfeeding history. Results Pregnancy concentrations of certain PFAS were associated with greater adiposity (eg, 0.4 cm [95% confidence interval [95%CI]: -0.1, 0.9] greater waist circumference per doubling in EtFOSAA; 0.2 cm [95%CI: -0.1, 0.5] greater mid-upper arm circumference per doubling in PFOA; 1.2 mm [95%CI: 0.1, 2.2] thicker sum of subscapular and triceps skinfolds per doubling in PFOS) and higher systolic blood pressure (eg, 1.2 mm Hg [95%CI: 0.3, 2.2] per doubling in PFOS) at 3 years postpartum. Higher EtFOSAA concentrations were also associated with 10.8% higher IL-6 (95%CI: 3.3, 18.9) and 6.1% lower SHBG (95%CI: 0.7, 11.2) per doubling. Conclusions Pregnancy concentrations of EtFOSAA, PFOS, and PFOA were associated with adverse postpartum cardiometabolic markers.
Recent developments in tolerancing methods for imaging spectrometers

We discuss detailed tolerancing methods developed for imaging spectrometers at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology using the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) imaging spectrometer as an illustrative example. We tolerance five metrics simultaneously: along-track response function, crosstrack response function, spectral response function, spectral centroid uniformity, and spatial centroid uniformity. A method to calculate tolerancing sensitivities for each metric directly, a method to statistically combine Monte Carlo files from multiple tolerancing runs, and example summary error budgets that communicate the key and driving tolerances for each metric are discussed. These methods facilitate rapid and semi-automated assessment of the predicted performance of imaging spectrometer systems from design through to assembly and launch life cycle, using metrics that are directly relevant to the extraction of accurate spectroscopic data from these instruments.
Current status, advances, challenges and perspectives on biosensors for COVID-19 diagnosis in resource-limited settings

As the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted human life, prompt diagnostic tests are becoming an essential part of the social activities. However, the expensive and time-consuming laboratory-based traditional methods do not suffice the enormous needs for massive number of tests, especially in resource-limited settings. Therefore, more affordable, rapid, sensitive and specific field-practical diagnostic devices play an important role in the fight against the disease. In this review, we present the current status and advances in the biosensing technologies for diagnosing COVID-19, ranging from commercial achievements to research developments. Starting from a brief introduction to the disease biomarkers, this review summarizes the working principles of the biosensing technologies, followed by a review of the commercial products and research advances in academia. We recapitulate the literatures with a wide scope of bio/marker detections, embracing nucleic acids, viral proteins, human immune responses, and other potential bio/markers. Further, the challenges and perspectives for their employment in future point-of-care applications are discussed, with an extended appraisal on the practical strategies to enlarge the testing capability without high cost. This critical review provides a comprehensive insight into the diagnostic tools for COVID-19 and will encourage the industry and academia in the field of diagnostic biosensing for future evolvement to large-scale point-of-care screening of COVID-19.
Sensory Rehabilitation after Trigeminal Nerve Injury or Nerve Repair

Summary Sensory re-education is a unique treatment modality that is useful in rehabilitating a patient with a peripheral trigeminal nerve injury. The CNS possesses seemingly infinite capacity to recover from the effects of a peripheral nerve injury when subjected to the learning opportunities presented by a regimen of sensory re-education exercises.53 Sensory re-education has been demonstrated to enhance the functional recovery of patients with hand injuries. Reports indicate that recovery of sensory function in the oral cavity and face can be improved by similar sensory exercises regimen if applied properly at the appropriate time. Future research should be directed toward developing better methods of evaluating sensory function that integrate subjective and objective data, structuring more effective programs of general sensory re-education specific to the face and mouth, understanding the relationship between taste reception by chorda tympani fibers in the tongue and central taste perception, and initiating a taste reeducation program that can assist patients who are disturbed by lost or abnormal taste sensation.
The Randomized Elliptical Potential Lemma with an Application to Linear Thompson Sampling.

In this note, we introduce a randomized version of the well-known elliptical potential lemma that is widely used in the analysis of algorithms in sequential learning and decision-making problems such as stochastic linear bandits. Our randomized elliptical potential lemma relaxes the Gaussian assumption on the observation noise and on the prior distribution of the problem parameters. We then use this generalization to prove an improved Bayesian regret bound for Thompson sampling for the linear stochastic bandits with changing action sets where prior and noise distributions are general. This bound is minimax optimal up to constants.
Outcomes of COVID-19 in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: A Propensity-matched Analysis of a Large Research Network.

BACKGROUND: Organ transplant recipients comprise an immunocompromised and vulnerable cohort. Outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients remain understudied. METHODS: We used a multicenter federated research network to compare clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with SOT to a propensity--matched cohort of patients without SOT. RESULTS: We identified 2307 SOT recipients and 231 047 nontransplant patients with COVID-19. Transplant patients were more likely to be male individuals, older, have a body mass index >30 kg/m2, and have comorbid hypertension, diabetes, nicotine dependence, heart failure, and ischemic heart disease compared with the nontransplant group (P < 0.05). One-to-one matching was performed for diabetes, hypertension, chronic lung diseases, race, nicotine dependence, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and gender. There was no difference in the composite outcome of intubation or mechanical ventilation at 30 days (risk ratio [RR], 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86-1.26) or 60 days (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.86-1.24) between the 2 groups. Hospitalization rate was higher in the transplant cohort (30.97% versus 25.47%; RR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.11-1.34). There was no difference in mortality at 30 days (6.45% versus 5.29%; RR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.88-1.68) or 60 days postdiagnosis (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.83-1.32). More patients in the SOT group developed acute renal injury compared with non-SOT cohort (24.73% versus 14.29%; RR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.53-1.96). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SOT have high COVID-19-related mortality; however, propensity-matched analyses reveal that this increased risk is secondary to higher burden of comorbidities. SOT status independently increases risk of hospital admission and acute kidney injury.
New function of a well-known promoter: Enhancer activity of minimal CMV promoter enables efficient dual-cassette transgene expression.

Background Co-expression of multiple genes in single vectors has achieved varying degrees of success by employing two promoters and/or application of viral 2A-peptide or the internal ribosome entry-site (IRES). However, promoter interference, potential functional-interruption of expressed-proteins by 2A-generated residual peptides or weaker translation of IRES-mediated downstream genes has curtailed their utilization. Thus, there is the need for single vectors that robustly express multiple proteins for enhanced gene therapy applications. Methods We engineered lentiviral-vectors for dual-cassette expression of green fluorescent protein and mCherry in uni- or bidirectional architectures using the short-version (Es) of elongation factor 1α (EF) promoter and simian virus 40 promoter (Sv). The regulatory function of a core fragment (cC) from human cytomegalovirus promoter was investigated with cell-lineage specificity in NIH3T3 (fibroblast) and hematopoietic cell lines U937 (monocyte/macrophage), LCL (lymphoid), DAMI (megakaryocyte) and MEL (erythroid). Results The cC element in reverse-orientation not only boosted upstream Es promoter to levels comparable to full-length EF in DAMI, U937 and 3T3 cells, but also blocked the suppression of downstream Sv promoter by Es in U937 and 3T3 cells with further improved Sv activity in DAMI cells. Such lineage-restricted up-regulation is likely attributed to two protein-binding domains of cC and diverse expression of related factors in different cell types for enhancer and terminator activities, but not spacing function. Conclusions Such a newly developed dual-cassette vector could be advantageous, particularly in hematopoietic cell-mediated gene/cancer therapy, by allowing for independent and robust co-expression of therapeutic gene(s) and/or a selectable gene or imaging marker in the same cells.
NMR 1H, 13C, 15N backbone resonance assignments of the T35S and oncogenic T35S/Q61L mutants of human KRAS4b in the active, GppNHp-bound conformation.

RAS proteins cycling between the active-form (GTP-bound) and inactive-form (GDP-bound) play a key role in cell signaling pathways that control cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. Mutations at codon 12, 13, and 61 in RAS are known to attenuate its GTPase activity favoring the RAS active state and constitutively active downstream signaling. This hyperactivation accounts for various malignancies including pancreatic, lung, and colorectal cancers. Active KRAS is found to exist in equilibrium between two rapidly interconverting conformational states (State1-State2) in solution. Due to this dynamic feature of the protein, the 1H-15N correlation cross-peak signals of several amino acid (AA) residues of KRAS belonging to the flexible loop regions are absent from its 2D 1H-15N HSQC spectrum within and near physiological solution pH. A threonine to serine mutation at position 35 (T35S) shifts the interconverting equilibrium to State1 conformation and enables the emergence of such residues in the 2D 1H-15N HSQC spectrum due to gained conformational rigidity. We report here the 1HN, 15N, and 13C backbone resonance assignments for the 19.2 kDa (AA 1-169) protein constructs of KRAS-GppNHp harboring T35S mutation (KRAST35S/C118S-GppNHp) and of its oncogenic counterpart harboring the Q61L mutation (KRAST35S/Q61L/C118S-GppNHp) using heteronuclear, multidimensional NMR spectroscopy at 298 K. High resolution NMR data allowed the unambiguous assignments of 1H-15N correlation cross-peaks for all the residues except for Met1. Furthermore, 2D 1H-15N HSQC overlay of two proteins assisted in determination of Q61L mutation-induced chemical shift perturbations for select residues in the regions of P-loop, Switch-II, and helix α3.
Automated Ground Vehicle Path-Following: A Robust Energy-to-Peak Control Approach

Due to the simultaneous existence of model uncertainties and external disturbances, designing automated ground vehicle path-following controllers is recognized as a challenging task. The $H_{∞}$ robust control methodology, as one of the accomplished strategies for controller robustification, has been commonly adopted by researchers to address the vehicle path-tracking problems. Nevertheless, despite its advantages, the $H_{∞}$ controller is only capable of limiting the total ``energy'' of the tracking errors. On the other hand, from a safety standpoint, constraining the ``peak'' of the tracking errors may carry an equal or more importance. To establish a guaranteed upper bound on the path-tracking errors, this paper proposes a novel methodology to synthesis the ground vehicle path-following controller in light of the energy-to-peak robust control theory. Additionally, to address the time-varying uncertainties presented in the tire dynamics, robust stabilization constraints based upon the small-gain theorem are also formulated into the overall controller design problem. Comparative study regarding the disturbance rejection performance between the proposed controller and the conventional $H_{∞}$ approach is conducted via CarSim-Simulink joint simulations. Furthermore, the robustness and disturbance attenuation ability of the energy-to-peak path-tracking controller is experimentally verified on a scaled car.
DNA extraction methodology for biochar-amended sand and clay

Studies on the molecular ecology of microbial communities in soils amended with biochar are potentially biased by changes in soil DNA extraction efficiency caused by DNA adsorption to biochar. To examine the extent to which this might occur, we evaluated a kit-free method for soil DNA extraction as well as MoBio’s PowerSoil® commercial kit with and without phenol/chloroform/isoamyl (PCI) modification. DNA extraction efficiencies were quantified for soils amended with four biochar types that were added to either clay or sand soils at a rate of 3 % (w/w). Prior to extraction, all soil treatments were spiked with bacteria transformed with plasmids carrying a green fluorescent protein (gfp) gene, as a molecular marker. DNA purity and yield were assessed spectrophotometrically and fluorometrically. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was utilized to enumerate gfp copy numbers extracted per gram soil. Results showed that qPCR-quality DNA could be efficiently extracted from biochar-amended soils using the PowerSoil® kit with or without PCI modification. However, the modified protocol resulted in an average of approximately 3 times greater yield than the provided protocol. Of the tested methods, none demonstrated reduced DNA extraction efficiency or purity when amended with the varying biochars.
A Multistep, Newton-Type Control Strategy for Constrained, Nonlinear Processes

For linear processes, QDMC has proven to be an effective way of systematically handling both input and output process constraints. This note describes an analogous extension of QDMC for nonlinear, constrained Processes. Based on Newton-type methods implemented in a moving horizon framework, a multi-step algorithm is derived that solves a single quadratic program (QP) over each time horizon. Sufficient stability properties can be invoked through the concept of descent directions, and these conditions can also be checked on-line. Finally, the method is illustrated on a small reactor example with state and input time delays.
Multiplexed displacement fiber sensor using thin core fiber exciter.

This letter reports a multiplexed optical displacement sensor using a thin core fiber (TCF) exciter. The TCF exciter is followed by a stripped single mode optical fiber. A small section of buffer is used as the movable component along the single mode fiber. Ultra-weak cladding mode reflection (< − 75 dB) was employed to probe the refractive index discontinuity between the air and buffer coating boundary. The position change of the movable buffer segment results in a delay change of the cladding mode reflection. Thus, it is a measure of the displacement of the buffer segment with respect to the glass fiber. The insertion loss of one sensor was measured to be less than 3 dB. A linear relationship was evaluated between the measurement position and absolute position of the moving actuator. Multiplexed capability was demonstrated and no cross talk was found between the sensors.
A General Model for Relational Clustering

Relational learning has attracted more and more attention in recent years due to its phenomenal impact in various important applications which involve multi-type interrelated data objects, such as bioinformatics, citation analysis, epidemiology and web analytics. However, the research on unsupervised relational learning is still limited and preliminary. In this paper, we propose a general model, the collective factorization on related matrices, for multi-type relational data clustering. The model is applicable to relational data with various structures. Under the proposed model with a specific distance function ‐ Euclidean distance function, we derive a novel spectral clustering algorithm, spectral relational clustering, to cluster multi-type interrelated data objects simultaneously. The algorithm iteratively embeds each type of data objects into low dimensional spaces and benefits from the interactions among the hidden structures of different types of data objects. Extensive experiments demonstrate the promise and effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm.
A prospective study of angiotensin II pressor responsiveness in pregnancies complicated by chronic essential hypertension

The present study was designed to (1) outline, in a prospective manner, vascular responsiveness to angiotensin II (A-II) in gravidas with essential hypertension and (2) ascertain if increased sensitivity to infused A-II could be detected before worsening of hypertension developed in those women who were destined to develop superimposed pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). Sixty-three women with chronic essential hypertension were studied sequentially throughout pregnancy and two groups of patients were defined on the basis of clinical outcome and serial measurements of vascular reactivity to exogeneously administered A-II. The first group consisted of 29 gravidas with chronic hypertension alone and the second group was composed of 34 patients with chronic hypertension who were destined to develop superimposed PIH. Vascular resistance to infused A-II (more than 7 ng. per kilograms per minute required to increase diastolic blood pressure 20 mm. Hg) was observed from weeks 21 to 27 of gestation in both groups of patients. In the gravidas with essential hypertension alone, resistance to A-II persisted throughout the remainder of pregnancy. However, in those women destined to develop PIH, an increased sensitivity to A-II developed after week 27 of gestation and the differences in mean values between the two groups of patients became highly significant after week 30 of gestation (P less than 0.025). although individual determinations obtained in both groups of patients between weeks 28 and 32 of preganncy suggested that pressor responsiveness to A-II might be used as a screening technique to identify those women destined to develop PIH, additional studies conducted between weeks 28 and 32 of gestation will be required before the efficacy of such a screening technique is clearly established.
Fiber-Matrix Interactions in Carbon Fiber/Cement Matrix Composites

An understanding of the nature of the interface between fiber and composite matrix is essential for development of ceramic matrix and metal matrix composites. It has been shown that the use of organometallic-based coatings on carbon fibers aids processing and improves properties in metal matrix composites. The present paper deals with the use of similarly coated carbon fibers in various cement matrices. It describes the method of applying the coatings and the differences in the fiber-matrix interfacial region due to the use of different coatings. The tensile properties are discussed and related to the differences seen at the interface and differences in processability.
A totally unimodular description of the consistent value polytope for binary constraint programming

We present a theoretical study on the idea of using mathematical programming relaxations for filtering binary constraint satisfaction problems. We introduce the consistent value polytope and give a linear programming description that is provably tighter than a recently studied formulation. We then provide an experimental study that shows that, despite the theoretical progress, in practice filtering based on mathematical programming relaxations continues to perform worse than standard arc-consistency algorithms for binary constraint satisfaction problems.
Prefetching based on web usage mining

This paper introduces a new technique for prefetching web content by learning the access patterns of individual users. The prediction scheme for prefetching is based on a learning algorithm, called Fuzzy-LZ, which mines the history of user access and identifies patterns of recurring accesses. This algorithm is evaluated analytically via a metric called learnability and validated experimentally by correlating learnability with prediction accuracy. A web prefetching system that incorporates Fuzzy-LZ is described and evaluated. Our experiments demonstrate that Fuzzy-LZ prefetching provides a gain of 41.5 % in cache hit rate over pure caching. This gain is highest for those users who are neither highly predictable nor highly random, which turns out to be the vast majority of users in our workload. The overhead of our prefetching technique for a typical user is 2.4 prefetched pages per user request.