cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Insular and Anterior Cingulate Circuits in Smokers with Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with high rates of smoking. We previously found that resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC) and striatum is independently associated with nicotine addiction and psychiatric illness. Since the insula is implicated in nicotine dependence, we hypothesized that SZ smokers will have greater dysfunction in smoking-related insular and dACC circuits than normal control smokers (NC) independent of smoking severity, consistent with an inherent disease-related weakening of smoking-related circuits. Nicotine challenge was used to demonstrate that decreased rsFC in identified circuits reflects addiction trait and is not affected by pharmacological state. Twenty-four NC smokers and 20 smokers with SZ matched on nicotine addiction severity participated in a resting state fMRI study and were scanned during two separate sessions while receiving a placebo or nicotine patch, in a randomized, cross-over design. Using individualized, anatomically defined anterior and posterior insula and dACC as regions of interest (ROI), whole brain rsFC was performed using each ROI as a seed. Significant negative correlations between smoking severity and rsFC between insula, dACC and striatum were found for both groups. Furthermore, smokers with SZ demonstrated additive reductions in circuit strength between the dACC and insula compared to NC smokers independent of smoking severity. Nicotine challenge did not significantly alter rsFC in insula-dACC-striatal circuits. Reduced rsFC strength between the insula, dACC and striatum is associated with nicotine addiction severity in both non-psychiatrically ill and in SZ smokers. Decreased insula-dACC rsFC may index overlapping circuitry associated with smoking and SZ.
Photoacoustic tomography of water in phantoms and tissue

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) has been widely used to image optically absorptive objects in both human and animal tissues. For the first time, we present imaging of water with laser-based PAT. We photoacoustically measure the absorption spectra of water-ethanol mixtures at various water concentrations, and then image water-ethanol and pure-water inclusions in gel and a water inclusion in fat tissue. The significant difference in photoacoustic signals between water and fat tissue indicates that the laser-based PAT has the potential to detect water content in tissue.
Actor and Partner Effects of Adolescents' Romantic Working Models and Styles on Interactions with Romantic Partners

The present study examined how adolescents' and their romantic partners' romantic working models and relational styles were related to their interactions with each other. Sixty-five couples (M age=18.1 years) were observed interacting. Romantic working models were assessed in interviews about their romantic experiences; romantic styles were assessed by self-report. Data were analyzed using the Actor Partner Interdependence Model. Working models of romantic relationships, especially girls' models, were predictive of their behavior, the partners' behavior, and the dyads' behavior. Fewer links were found between relational styles and observed behavior. The present study extends past work by showing that representations of romantic relationships influence or are influenced by romantic interactions, even as these representations and relationships are just developing.
Children Awaiting Invasive Medical Procedures: Do Children and Their Mothers Agree on Child's Level of Anxiety?

Examined correspondence between mother and child reports of child anxiety immediately preceding a scheduled invasive medical procedure. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) was administered to 101 children ages 10-18 years. Mothers completed the STAIC and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to assess their perceptions of the child's anxiety and their own level of anxiety, respectively. Children were reported to have significantly more state anxiety as perceived by themselves and their mothers relative to the normative sample. Results also revealed low overall mother-child correspondence on child anxiety, particularly for mothers reporting more anxiety in themselves. Additionally, while age, gender, and socioeconomic status were not associated with mother-child correspondence, an unexpected relationship between race and correspondence emerged. Overall, our findings indicate that reliance on parents' perceptions of child anxiety prior to an invasive medical procedure is not sufficient.
EFFECTS OF AGGREGATE DEGRADATION ON AIR VOIDS OF STRUCTURAL ASPHALT MIXTURE IN FLORIDA

In an effort to further improve the rut resistance of asphalt pavements in Florida, the Florida Department of Transportation implemented specifications requiring that the production of asphalt mixes be stopped when the air-void content falls below a critical level. To address the problem of low air voids and rutting in north Florida, a proposal was made to reduce the maximum amount of material allowed to pass the 75-μm sieve (P-75μm) at design for asphalt mixtures containing north Florida limestone aggregates. A field study was then undertaken to determine whether this proposal would adequately resolve the problem of low air voids during production due to high P-75μm. The purpose of the study was to determine the amount of degradation to a typical north Florida limestone material and the subsequent effects that degradation has on air voids. The results indicate that although the north Florida limestone aggregates used in this study did degrade significantly, the asphalt contractor was, in general, able to...
Outcome and self-efficacy expectations for medication management of patients with diabetes: Influence of the pharmacist-patient relationship

Abstract Objective To examine how outcome and self-efficacy expectations for medication management and self-monitoring of patients with diabetes vary by different indicators of a pharmacist-patient relationship. Design Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting United States during late 2004. Participants 568 noninstitutionalized adults (age > 18 years) with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who use at least one antidiabetic medication. Intervention Self-administered mail survey. Main outcome measures: Outcome and self-efficacy expectations for medication management and self-monitoring and pharmacist-patient relationship indicators. Results The adjusted response rate was 60.6% (568 of 937). Respondents had differing mean self-efficacy expectation scores (F = 7.82, P Conclusion Descriptive results support some association between the pharmacist-patient relationship and self-efficacy expectations, although whether this association lies in pharmacists providing education, social support, or both is not clear. Further research is needed to investigate this association to better elucidate the potential contribution of a pharmacist-patient relationship to patients' diabetes self-management. The pharmacist-patient relationship index developed for this study appears to provide a more comprehensive and sensitive measure compared with other indices, suggesting potential utility in future studies.
Effect of Treatment on the Rate of Visual Field Change in the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study Observation Group

METHODS. We included OHTS participants originally randomized to observation and excluded those who reached non-POAG endpoints. VF progression was determined using trend analysis. Global and localized rates of VF change were calculated based on linear regression over time of mean deviation (MD) and threshold sensitivity values for each test location. MD rates (MDR) and pointwise linear regression (PLR) analysis were also assessed using six VF tests before and after the initiation of treatment. A PLR endpoint was defined as a VF test location progressing faster than -0.5 dB/year at P < 0.01. RESULTS. We included 780 eyes from 432 OHTS participants. Following the initiation of treatment, the mean MDR decreased from -0.23 – 0.6 to -0.06 – 0.5 dB/year (P < 0.01) and the number of VF locations reaching a PLR endpoint decreased from 2.13 – 6.0 to 1.00 – 4.0 (P < 0.01). The benefit of treatment was significant both among participants who did not convert (-0.17 – 0.6 vs. -0.01 – 0.5 dB/year, P < 0.01) and among those who converted to glaucoma (-0.51 – 0.8 vs. -0.27 – 0.7 dB/year, P < 0.01) based on the OHTS event-based endpoint. CONCLUSIONS. The initiation of ocular hypotensive medication among OHTS participants originally randomized to observation significantly reduced the velocity of VF progression. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00000125.) (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:1704‐1709) DOI:10.1167/iovs.11-8186
A tiny portable language-independent macroprocessor and some applications

A tiny language-independent macroprocessor is described. It is easily implemented in most programming languages. A compact and portable implementation in ANSI FORTRAN is given. The simplicity of the implementation results from a user-specified escape character used to mark all macro calls. The result is a macro language not easily read by beginners. All primitive macro operations, including definition, are simple macro calls. The tiny macroprocessor has proved a powerful software tool in a number of applications. These include source text decompression, character set encoding for transmission, and as the basis for a linking loader. The compactness and portability of the processor make it useful in moving software from one machine to another. The simplicity of the processor makes it easy to extend or modify for new applications. The tiny macroprocessor is a simple yet useful addition to the software engineer's tool kit.
Arrays of particles in freeze-fractured astrocytic membranes.

DENNIS M. D. LANDIS and T. S. REESE. From the Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, NationalInstitute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases and the Laboratory of Neuropathology andNeuroanatomical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014INTRODUCTIONPlasma membranes can be split in freeze-fracturepreparations, revealing details of their internalstructure (1, 2, 7, 9). The membrane faces soexposed typically are dotted with globular par-ticles, apparently arranged at random over mostof their surface. At cell-to-cell junctions, how-ever, the particles are often in aggregates coex-tensive with the junction. At gap junctions, forinstance, large particles are closely packed in anhexagonal array (5). In the course of a freeze-fracture study of synaptic junctions in the mam-malian central nervous system, we have found adistinctive type of particle array which charac-terizes the plasma membrane of astrocytes. Thesearrays, which we refer to as "assemblies," aredistinguished by the small size of their subunitparticles and by the orthogonal packing of theseparticles. Furthermore, the distribution of assem-blies does not coincide with any junction or316other previously recognized ultrastructural fea-ture of the astrocytic plasmalemma.METHODSMorphine sulfate (20-100 mg/kg) was injected intothe peritoneal cavity of adult mice, rabbits, orchinchillas before cardiac perfusion with 0.08 Mcacodylate or phosphate-buffered formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde for 10 min at 37°C. Selected regionsof brains were immediately dissected, rinsed inbuffer, equilibrated with 20% glycerol, frozen inFreon-22 cooled by liquid nitrogen, fractured in aBalzers 360 M apparatus (Balzers High VacuumCorp., Santa Ana, Calif.) at -119°C, and etched15-90 s. A platinum-carbon replica of the fracturedsurface was subsequently prepared with an electron-beam gun, cleaned in Clorox and mounted on aFormvar-coated slot grid.RESULTSThree regions were selected for study : olfactorybulb, cerebellar cortex, and anteroventral coch-
Assessment of Hamstring Muscle Length in School-aged Children Using the Sit-and-Reach Test and the Inclinometer Measure of Hip Joint Angle

Background and Purpose. The sit-and-reach test (SRT) is commonly used to assess flexibility of the spine and length of the hamstring muscles. The purposes of this study were (1) to describe hamstring muscle length as reflected by use of the SRT and the hip joint angle (HJA) in children, (2) to examine the correlation between SRT and HJA measurements, and (3) to examine gender differences for both measures. Subjects. The participants were 410 school-aged children (211 girls, 199 boys). Methods. Each child performed the SRT. In the final position, the SRT score was obtained and the HJA was measured using an inclinometer placed over the sacrum. Results. A mean SRT value of 24 cm and a mean HJA value of 81 degrees were obtained for all subjects. There was a strong correlation between the SRT and HJA measurements ( r =.76). There was a difference between boys and girls for both measures. Conclusion and Discussion. The results suggest differences in expectations for hamstring muscle length in boys and girls. Although scores for the SRT and HJA were correlated, we prefer to assess hamstring muscle length using HJA scores because these scores are not influenced by anthropometric factors or spinal mobility. The results of this study suggest that HJA measurements guide treatment more effectively than do SRT measurements.
Smoothness analysis for trajectory features

Dynamic modeling of speech is potentially a major improvement on hidden Markov models (HMMs). In one approach, trajectory models are used to model the dynamics of the spectrum, and are used as basis for classification. Although some improvement has been achieved in this way, one would hope for more substantial improvements given that the independence assumption is removed. One reason why this was not achieved may be that the trajectory models are based on cepstral coefficients; we show that these tracks contain spurious oscillations. This suggests that these trajectory features might have a high within-class variance. We introduce a measure of evaluating the smoothness of trajectory-based features. This measure provides a method of selecting the best of a set of similar features. Formant trajectories prove to be significantly smoother than trajectories of mel scale cepstral coefficients (MFCC) by this measure, but this does not translate directly to improved performance.
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY OF PrBa2Cu3O7 AND OF Pr2-zCezSr2Cu2NbO10

The data for superconducting PrBa2Cu3O7 and Pr2-zCezSr2Cu2NbO10 indicate that the superconductivity of these compounds is normally unaffected by rare-earth-site Pr but is quenched by a PrBa or PrSr defect on the other side of an adjacent cuprate-plane. Hence the primary superconducting condensate must reside not in the cuprate planes, but in the charge-reservoir regions containing hypocharged oxygen, namely in the BaO layers or the CuO chain layers of PrBa2Cu3O7, and in the SrO layers of Pr2-zCezSr2Cu2NbO10.
NEW VIVERRAVIDS FROM THE TORREJONIAN (MIDDLE PALEOCENE) OF KUTZ CANYON, NEW MEXICO AND THE OLDEST SKULL OF THE ORDER CARNIVORA

Abstract Three new species of Viverravidae (Carnivora: Miacoidea) are described: Protictis simpsoni, P. minor, and Bryanictis paulus. Holotypes and referred specimens are from the Angel Peak area, Kutz Canyon, San Juan Basin, New Mexico and are of middle Torrejonian age (middle Paleocene). The holotype of Protictis simpsoni includes a skull—the oldest known skull of the Order Carnivora. The locality is narrowly restricted stratigraphically and geographically, and specimens are better preserved than most other viverravid specimens of San Juan Basin strata.
UV Laser-Initiated Formation of Si3N4

Si 3 N 4 films have been deposited on Si by using 193 nm ArF excimer laser radiation to initiate the reaction of SiH 4 and NH 3 at substrate temperatures between 200–600°C. Stoichiometric films having physical and optical properties comparable to those produced using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) have been produced. The dielectric properties of the films are at present inferior to those of LPCVD material.
A Resultant of Intercultural Relations

marized in this manner. Plant management encouraged a mild form of accommodation by a humanitarian and a patriotic appeal to white employees. Although initial employment of Negroes caused a number of white employees to terminate, such terminations decreased rapidly and steadily. Relationships among the two racial groups eventually became highly accommodative. There were white employees who merely tolerated employment along with Negroes. Negro employees in most instances accommodated to these employees by anticipating their negative attitudes and avoiding them. When they failed to do so, accommodation was supplanted by conflict. The majority of the relationships among Negro and white employees developed into conciliation. Frequently Negro and white employees became friends in spite of racial factors. Throughout the plant Negro and white employees worked together harmoniously. Favorable contacts enabled white employees with intense racial antipathies to recognize the fallacy of many of their racial beliefs. Such employees often became indignant that they had been misled as a result of racial indoctrination and developed more liberal attitudes toward Negro employees than many who were less prejudiced in the beginning. The impact of plant contacts resulted in a re-evaluation of their racial beliefs by white employees and favorable changes in their racial attitudes. The high degree of accommodation which existed between Negro and white employees indicated that acceptance of Negro employees as integral elements of the plant personnel is possible. Supervisors agreed that the work performance of Negro employees was equivalent to that of white employees. They agreed further that the employment of Negroes in the plant along with whites had proved successful. They concluded that in their ability to work harmoniously with white employees and in the quality of their work performance lay no reason for non-employment of Negroes after the termination of the war. Nevertheless statistics revealed that potential integration of Negro employees was greater than their actual plant integration. Employment of Negroes remained highly responsive to emergency factors. During the two year period they were persistently concentrated among the four low wage occupations in the plant. There was a gradual penetration of more desirable positions but there were never more than twenty Negro employees earning as much as $1.00 an hour. Management accommodated to integration of Negro employees less readily than non-supervisory employees, who evidenced a high degree of accommodation.
The immunopathology of pemphigus vulgaris: recent advances.

Aspects of the etiology, clinical presentation and course, diagnosis, and treatment of pemphigus vulgaris are reviewed. Recent advances in the immunopathology of pemphigus vulgaris are also discussed, with emphasis on studies in tissue-culture models with pathogenetic significance.
Local and Long-Distance Calling: Conversations between the Gut Microbiota and Intra- and Extra-Gastrointestinal Tract Infections

Preservation of health from infectious diseases depends upon both mucosal and systemic immunity via the collaborative effort of innate and adaptive immune responses. The proficiency of host immunity stems from robust defense mechanisms—physical barriers and specialized immune cells—and a failure of these mechanisms leads to pathology. Intriguingly, immunocompetence to pathogens can be shaped by the gut microbiome as recent publications highlight a dynamic interplay between the gut microbiome and host susceptibility to infection. Modulation of host immunity to enteric pathogens has long been studied where gut bacteria shape multiple facts of both innate and adaptive immunity. Conversely, the impact of gut commensals on host immunity to extra-gastrointestinal (GI) tract infections has only recently been recognized. In this context, the gut microbiome can augment host immunity to extra-GI tract bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens. This review explores the research that affords insight into the role of the gut microbiome in various infectious diseases, with a particular emphasis on extra-GI tract infections. A better understanding of the link between the gut microbiome and infectious disease will be critical for improving global health in the years ahead.
EXPERIMENTAL MANIPULATION OF PUTATIVE SELECTIVE AGENTS PROVIDES EVIDENCE FOR THE ROLE OF NATURAL ENEMIES IN THE EVOLUTION OF PLANT DEFENSE.

Although biologists have long assumed that plant resistance characters evolved under selection exerted by such natural enemies as herbivores and pathogens, experimental evidence for this assumption is sparse. We present evidence that natural enemies exert selection on particular plant resistance characters. Specifically, we demonstrate that elimination of natural enemies from an experimental field population of Arabidopsis thaliana alters the pattern of selection on genetic variation in two characters that have been shown to reduce herbivore damage in the field: total glucosinolate concentration and trichome density. The change in pattern of selection reveals that natural enemies imposed selection favoring increased glucosinolate concentration and increased trichome density, and thus, supports one of the major assumptions of the coevolution hypothesis. We also demonstrate that a pattern of stabilizing selection on glucosinolate concentration results from a balance between the costs and benefits associated with increasing levels of this resistance character. This result provides direct confirmation of the appropriateness of cost-benefit models for characterizing the evolution of plant defenses.
Hydrolysis of Cycasin by β-D-Glucosidase in Skin of Newborn Rats

SummaryThe demonstration of an enzyme capable of hydrolyzing synthetic substrates such as p- and o-nitrophenyl glucosides and the naturally occurring glucoside, cycasin, using skin as the enzyme source, indicates this to be the site for cycasin deglucosylation and its conversion to the active aglycone in subcutaneously injected newborn rats. Its broader physiologic significance is still unknown. Most probably this “short-term activity” enzyme is only one of several enzymes present during tissue maturation.
Energy efficient computation with asynchronous races

By encoding information as digital signal propagation delay, rather than conventional logic levels, some basic processing operations become exceedingly energy efficient to implement. The result of such a computation can then be observed by relative timing differences between injected signals. We demonstrate the embodiment of such an approach utilizing current starved inverters as delay elements and characterize application-level artifacts of circuit-level variance. Specifically we chose the well-studied DNA sequence alignment problem for comparison and we show that, for the synthesized design, asynchronous races are 10× more energy efficient and 4× denser at comparable speeds as compared to prior approaches.
High-performance flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators consisting of porous cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) aerogel films

Abstract A novel, simple, cost-effective, and scalable technique was developed to fabricate high-performance flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators (NGs) using porous cellulose nanofibril (CNFs)/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) aerogel film. The porous CNF/PDMS aerogel film was prepared by coating a layer of PDMS on the porous surface of a compressed CNF aerogel film produced via an environmentally friendly freeze-drying process. The porous CNF/PDMS aerogel film was then sandwiched between two thin PDMS films, followed by two aluminum foils, to form the flexible NGs. Under periodic external mechanical deformation by an oscillator, the resulting flexible porous CNF/PDMS aerogel film-based NGs exhibited very stable and high output piezoelectric signals; namely, an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 60.2 V, a short-circuit current (Isc) of 10.1 μA, and a corresponding power density of 6.3 mW/cm3. The electric power generated by these NGs was able to directly turn on 19 blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and charge a capacitor up to 3.7 V. Furthermore, these NGs also demonstrated excellent stability and durability. Considering their excellent piezoelectric performance, ease of large-scale manufacturing, and environmental friendliness, this technology provides a promising solution for developing practical, flexible, and self-powered electronic devices.
Case Examples: How Market Economics and Marketization Have Broken Government

The faith in market powers to fix what ails government is not only mistaken; in thousands of cases it is a central cause of “broken” government. This section describes a few examples.
Climate change in the urban environment: Advancing, measuring and achieving resiliency

Abstract Climate change poses new and unique challenges that threaten lives and livelihoods. Given the increasing risks and looming uncertainty of climate change, increasing attention has been directed towards adaptation, or the strategies that enable humanity to persist and thrive through climate change the best it can. Though climate change is a global problem often discussed at the national scale, urban areas are increasingly seen as having a distinct role, and distinctive motivation and capacity, for adaptation. The 12 articles in this special issue explore ways of understanding and addressing climate change impacts on urban areas. Together they reveal young but rapidly growing scholarship on how to measure, and then overcome, challenges of climate change. Two key themes emerge in this issue: 1) that we must identify and then overcome current barriers to urban adaptation and 2) frameworks/metrics are necessary to identify and track adaptation progress in urban settings. Both of these themes point to the power of indicators and other quantitative information to inform priorities and illuminate the pathway forward for adaptation. As climate change is an entirely new challenge, careful measurement that enables investment by private and public parties is necessary to provide efficient outcomes that benefit the greatest number of people.
Device Measurement and Origin of Variation

In this chapter a methodology is set forth that allows one to determine whether or not a particular device component causes, or contributes significantly to, the differences in signalling behaviour between devices that allow for their identification.
A Review of On Ethnography: Keeping Theory and Method in Balance

On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research written by Shirley Brice Heath and Brian V. Street with Molly Mills is an overview of theory and practices of ethnography as used in language and literacy research. Drs. Heath and Street draw upon their extensive backgrounds as they explain how to plan, implement, and make public an ethnographic study. Ms. Mills, identified as a student ethnographer, provides the real-world example to the wider and more abstract ethnographic world of the authors. Illustrations and examples are concise and helpful to those new to ethnography, although the book will be informative to all students of ethnography.
Abstract 2776: Codon 72 and Intron-3 polymorphisms in TP53 are risk factors for breast cancer

Purpose: A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in exon-4 of the TP53 gene (Arg72Pro) has been associated with an increased risk of developing various human malignancies. Since a 16-base pair polymorphism (insertion/duplication) intron-3 (PIN3) is in linkage disequilibrium with Arg72Pro of TP53, we assessed whether these two polymorphisms serve as breast cancer risk alleles for African Americans (AAs) and non-Hispanic Caucasians (CAs). Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded invasive ductal carcinoma tissues [cases, n = 120 (AAs = 55 and CAs = 65)] and from blood of healthy women [controls, n = 152 (AA = 74 and CAs = 78)]. Exon-4 of TP53 was amplified by PCR using exon-specific primers, followed by Sanger sequencing. Identification of SNP was done by using DNASTAR software. TP53 PIN3 polymorphism was detected by amplifying genomic DNA using specific primers followed by gel electrophoresis. The A1 allele (no duplication) resulted in 162 bp fragment and the A2 allele (with 16 bp duplication) resulted in 178 bp fragment. The phenotypes of Arg72Pro (Arg/Arg, Arg/Pro, and Pro/Pro) were correlated with PIN3 status, clinicopathologic features, race/ethnicity, and patient survival using the χ2 test and Kaplan-Meier analyses. A p value of Results: In cases, the Arg/Arg/, Pro/Arg, and Pro/Pro phenotypes were 15%, 31%, and 55% in AAs and 57%, 29%, and 14% in CAs (p Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that Arg72Pro polymorphism and PIN3 in TP53 are related with higher breast cancer susceptibility for both African American and non-Hispanic Caucasian patients. This work was supported by a pilot grant from UAB Breast SPORE grant of the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (5P50CA089019). Citation Format: Trafina Jadhav, Jesus Salazar-Gonzalez, Shantel Hebert-Magee, Michael Behring, Balananda-Dhurjati Putcha, Jeehyun Helen Bae, Andra Frost, Isam-Eldin Eltoum, Sejong Bae, Upender Manne. Codon 72 and Intron-3 polymorphisms in TP53 are risk factors for breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2776. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2776
Abstract P2-07-02: Concordance with National comprehensive cancer network (NCCN) metastatic breast cancer guidelines and impact on overall survival

Introduction:Payers are implementing reimbursement restrictions for non-guideline based care. Limited information exists regarding real-world concordance with guidelines for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treatment. Further, the impact of non-concordance on mortality is unknown. We address these gaps by using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program-linked Medicare database to evaluate national concordance with NCCN guidelines and the association between concordance and mortality. Methods: From 2007 to 2013, women with de novo (n=988) or recurrent metastatic breast cancer (n=5651) were evaluated for concordance of first-line systemic therapy (hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, and Her2-targeted therapy) with NCCN guidelines. Concordance was defined as receipt of single agent or combination treatments listed on NCCN guidelines. Non-concordant treatments were grouped into 5 categories: single-agent HER2-targeted therapy (33%), adjuvant regimens used in the metastatic setting (12%), therapy mismatched with ER/HER2 status (12%), non-approved bevacizumab regimens (10%), and other miscellaneous reasons (33%). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of non-concordance. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using Cox regression to compare all-cause mortality associated with non-concordant vs. concordant treatment adjusted for receptor status, comorbidities, age, race, poverty level, entitlement reason, and treatment year. Results: Mean age at MBC diagnosis was 69y; 77% were white. Median follow-up was 1.2 years. The prevalence of non-concordant first-line systemic therapy was 19% for de novo MBC and 18% for recurrent MBC. Younger age, hormone-receptor negative status, and Her2-positive status were associated with non-concordant treatments for Stage IV and recurrent MBC patients (p Conclusions: In the first-line setting, treatment inconsistent with NCCN guidelines remains common (18%). Overall mortality was not substantially higher among non-concordant patients. However, mortality risk varied (in both directions) by category of non-concordance. These findings may provide an opportunity for considering refinement of NCCN guidelines. Citation Format: Rocque GB, Williams CP, Jackson BE, Halilova KI, Pisu M, Andres F, Smita B. Concordance with National comprehensive cancer network (NCCN) metastatic breast cancer guidelines and impact on overall survival [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-07-02.
Using Patient Navigation to Solve Latino Cancer Health Disparities

Copyright: © 2015 Ramirez AG. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. U.S. Latinos have higher rates of liver, cervical, and other cancers, have lower cancer screening rates, and are diagnosed at more advanced, less treatable cancer stages than non-Latinos.
HSPs drive dichotomous T-cell immune responses via DNA methylome remodelling in antigen presenting cells

Immune responses primed by endogenous heat shock proteins, specifically gp96, can be varied, and mechanisms controlling these responses have not been defined. Immunization with low doses of gp96 primes T helper type 1 (Th1) immune responses, whereas high-dose immunization primes responses characterized by regulatory T (Treg) cells and immunosuppression. Here we show gp96 preferentially engages conventional and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) under low and high doses, respectively, through CD91. Global DNMT-dependent epigenetic modifications lead to changes in protein expression within these antigen-presenting cells. Specifically, pDCs upregulate neuropilin-1 to enable the long term interactions of pDCs with Treg cells, thereby enhancing suppression of Th1 anti-tumour immunity. Our study defines a CD91-dependent mechanism through which gp96 controls dichotomous immune responses relevant to the therapy of cancer and autoimmunity.
Comparing SSURGO Data with Geospatial Field Measurements to Estimate Soil Texture and Infiltration Rate Classes in Glaciated Soils

ABSTRACTThe infiltration rate (IR) of water is a key soil property related to hydrological processes, soil health, and ecosystem services. However, detailed measurements of IR in the field and/or laboratory are labor-intensive and expensive to perform. Soil judging in the field provides a rapid and inexpensive method to estimate IR classes based on soil texture, soil organic carbon/matter, and soil structure. The objectives of this study were to classify and compare soil texture and IR for the A horizon across the 147 ha Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm using the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database and field-based measurements. Soil texture was the dominating factor to explain the general trend of Entisols > Inceptisols > Alfisols with regard to IR in the A horizon. In general, the variability in soil texture observed in field measurements was consistent with the variability reported in the SSURGO database, although the SSURGO representative values for soil texture did not completely match ...
Specific learning disability in mathematics: a comprehensive review

Math skills are necessary for success in the childhood educational and future adult work environment. This article reviews the changing terminology for specific learning disabilities (SLD) in math and describes the emerging genetics and neuroimaging studies that relate to individuals with math disability (MD). It is important to maintain a developmental perspective on MD, as presentation changes with age, instruction, and the different models (educational and medical) of identification. Intervention requires a systematic approach to screening and remediation that has evolved with more evidence-based literature. Newer directions in behavioral, educational and novel interventions are described.
Getting more early photons with less background: detection rate and signal-to-background improvements in enhanced early photon imaging

With tissue samples less than 1 mm in thickness, optical projection tomography (OPT) has proven to be a very powerful imaging modality that can achieve high spatial resolution images. This high resolution is achieved by collecting the photons with non-significant scattering through 1 mm of tissue, the so-called diffusion limit. But, with samples thicker than 1 mm, scattered photons dominate and the highly resolved images give way to significantly “blurred” images in OPT[1]. However, as increased scattering relates to increased time of travel of the photons so time-domain OPT has been used to only collect the early-arriving photons that have travelled a more direct route through the tissue to reduce detection of scattered photons. Yet very early photons are extremely rare compared to scattered photons. Our recent suggested early photon count rates can be significantly enhanced by running the detector in a “deadtime” regime where the deadtime incurred by early-arriving photons acts as a shutter to later-arriving scattered photons[2]. In this work, we will demonstrate that running in the deadtime also had the unexpected advantage of significantly reducing the number of background photons detected. Proposed approach increases the early photon detection rate by 3-orders-of-magnitude in comparison with conventional approaches in 4-mm thick tissues with 780 nm light while the laser power is far below the level that would significantly damage the tissue. In addition, the signal to background (caused by after pulsing) was improved by 70-fold compared to conventional approaches designed to collect an equal number of early photons.
Large B-Cell Lymphoma Arising in HHV8-Positive Multicentric Castleman Disease

Large B-cell lymphoma arising in the setting of multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) is always associated with human herpes virus 8 (HHV8) a virus that is thought to be integrally involved in pathogenesis. Most patients with these neoplasms are also infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Ethical, Legal, Social, and Political Implications of Scientific Research on Sexual Orientation

Scientific research on the causes of sexual orientation has captured the attention of many Americans. Some researchers, citing evidence from neuroscience, genetics, and psychology, claim that sexual orientation is either inborn or fixed at an early age. Many lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and their allies have welcomed this claim, finding in it confirmation of their sense that they did not choose to be attracted to people of the same sex. Some parents of lesbians and gay men have also found solace in such research, finding in it assurance that nothing they did made their children homosexual. Furthermore, some lawyers, activists, politicians, religious leaders, scientists, and psychologists have tried to parlay this research into good news for lesbian and gay rights. Their main argument, which I call the “born that way” argument, goes as follows: If sexual orientations are innate, genetic, firmly rooted in biology, and/or not chosen, it is wrong to criminalize the sexual behavior of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, to discriminate against them, and to withhold from them benefits that heterosexuals take for granted. This argument has intuitive appeal and is deployed with increasing frequency.
Strain accumulation in Ti-6Al-4V during fatigue at high mean stress

The effect of mean stress and frequency on the high cycle fatigue behavior of Ti-6Al-4V has been investigated. It has been shown that a transition in the fatigue behavior occurs at a stress ratio of approximately 0.7. Above this value, the material exhibits measurable strain accumulation and necking. Since Ti-6Al-4V is susceptible to room temperature creep, an empirical model was developed using static creep data in an attempt to predict the cyclic behavior of the material. The model was unable to account for the large amounts of strain seen experimentally. In addition, closer examination of the data revealed that the deformation was more closely related to the number of cycles than to time.
Abstract TP109: Microglial IRF5/4 Regulatory Axis: A Novel Therapeutic Target for Ischemic Stroke

Introduction: The Inflammatory response is a fundamental pathophysiological procedure in stroke, and the activation of microglia characterized by either M1 (pro-inflammatory) or M2 (anti-inflammato...
What’s in a name?: A historical source for William Wells Brown’s Miralda

Over the last decade, scholars have become intensely interested in the sources that comprise substantial portions of William Wells Brown’s many works—especially the four versions of Clotel; or, The...
Public Policy and Legislation

This chapter provides a deeper look at the current federal public policy and legislation surrounding disasters in the United States, including the role of federalism in its implementation at the state level. These policies are primarily aimed at reducing losses to the federal coffers and not at rebuilding communities; as a result, they privilege the recovery of homeowning nuclear families above all others. This has been seen in multiple disasters, including in the Road Home following Hurricane Katrina, where aid mechanisms were primarily geared toward homeowners despite the high percentage of renters and families in public housing. The chapter also provides a brief comparison of US policies and frameworks with international models that account for more attention to livelihoods and other structural considerations.
National Trends, Gender, Management, and Outcomes of Patients Hospitalized for Myocarditis

Myocarditis is a major cause of acute and chronic cardiomyopathy. Data on patient characteristics utilization of healthcare, and outcomes of myocarditis-related hospitalizations are limited. We sought to analyze the outcomes of patients hospitalized with myocarditis from a large diverse, multicentric, nationwide cohort using Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. A total of 27,129 hospitalizations involving adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) with the primary discharge diagnosis of myocarditis from years 2007 through 2014 were included and patients who had diagnosis of myocardial infarction or coronary syndromes (including unstable angina) during the same hospitalization were excluded. More men were hospitalized compared with women (66% vs 34%, p <0.05). Patients hospitalized were young with a mean age of 37.3 ± 18.8 years with women being older compared with men (45.2 ± 20.9 vs 33.2 ± 16.2, p <0.001). In-hospital complications of cardiogenic shock and ventricular fibrillation/cardiac arrest occurred in 6.5% and 2.5% of hospitalizations, respectively, with females being affected significantly more than males (10.2% vs 4.6%; 3.6% vs 2%, respectively, p <0.001 for both comparisons). A total of 640 (2.4%) patients died during index hospitalization. Mortality was significantly higher in females compared with males (3.5% vs 1.8%; p <0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated female gender as an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio: 1.69, 95% confidence interval: 1.1 to 2.6; p = 0.007). In conclusion, myocarditis-related hospitalizations have increased during the study years and mostly affect young population with no significant co-morbidities. Female gender remains at high risk for myocarditis-related complications and in-hospital mortality.
Optogenetic reactivation of prefrontal social memory trace mimics social buffering of fear

Abstract Social buffering occurs when the presence of a companion attenuates the physiological and/or behavioral effects of a stressful or fear-provoking event. It represents a way in which social interactions can immediately and potently modulate behavior. As such, social buffering is one mechanism by which strong social support increases resilience to mental illness. While the behavioral and neuroendocrine impacts of social buffering are well studied in multiple species, including humans, the neuronal bases of this behavioral phenomenon remain largely unexplored. Previous work has shown that the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (IL-PFC) is important for processing social information and, in separate studies, for modulating fear and anxiety. Thus, we hypothesized that socially-active cells within the IL-PFC may integrate social information to modulate fear responsivity. To test this hypothesis, we employed social buffering paradigms in male and female mice. Similar to prior studies in rats, we found that the presence of a cagemate reduced freezing in fear and anxiety-provoking contexts. In accordance with previous work, we demonstrated that interaction with a novel or familiar conspecific induces activity in the IL-PFC as evidenced by increased immediate early gene (IEG) expression. We then utilized an activity-dependent tagging murine line, the ArcCreERT2 mice, to express channelrhodopsin (ChR2) in neurons active during the social encoding of a new cagemate. We found that optogenetic reactivation of these socially-active neuronal ensembles phenocopied the effects of cagemate presence in male and female mice in learned and innate fear contexts without being inherently rewarding or altering locomotion. These data suggest that a social neuronal ensemble within the IL-PFC may contribute to social buffering of fear. These neurons may represent a novel therapeutic target for fear and anxiety disorders.
Heterogeneous Multireference Alignment for Images With Application to 2D Classification in Single Particle Reconstruction

Motivated by the task of 2D classification in single particle reconstruction by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), we consider the problem of heterogeneous multireference alignment of images. In this problem, the goal is to estimate a (typically small) set of target images from a (typically large) collection of observations. Each observation is a rotated, noisy version of one of the target images. For each individual observation, neither the rotation nor which target image has been rotated are known. As the noise level in cryo-EM data is high, clustering the observations and estimating individual rotations is challenging. We propose a framework to estimate the target images directly from the observations, completely bypassing the need to cluster or register the images. The framework consists of two steps. First, we estimate rotation-invariant features of the images, such as the bispectrum. These features can be estimated to any desired accuracy, at any noise level, provided sufficiently many observations are collected. Then, we estimate the images from the invariant features. Numerical experiments on synthetic cryo-EM datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. Ultimately, we outline future developments required to apply this method to experimental data.
Structural, Electronic and Adsorption Characteristics of Transition Metal doped TM@C 70 Endohedral Fullerenes

Structural, electronic and adsorption characteristics of TM@C70 (TM = V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) endohedral fullerenes are addressed by first principles calculations, through density functional theory. A thorough analysis is conducted to explore them employing formation mechanism, adsorption energy and frontier orbitals. The essential role of each TM atom on the C70 fullerene molecule is elucidated by means of stability, charge distribution, frontier orbitals, reactivity definers, energy and induced magnetic moment. It is found that TM@C70 complexes are stable molecules. The analysis on the charge population demonstrates that the direction of charge transfer is toward the C70 cage. HOMO–LUMO energy gap modified by the TM atom is correlated to hardness, softness, electronegativity and electrophilicity index. The catalytic activity and adsorption properties of TM@C70 structures are examined through 4-nitro thiophenol. They exhibit high chemical reactivity and favorable adsorption, indicating that the TM@C70 molecules are plausible in catalytic studies.