cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Primary ciliary dyskinesia

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare, autosomal recessive disorder of motile cilia that leads to chronic respiratory disease. Current estimate for the prevalence is ∼1 in 15,000–20,000 individuals in the USA; this number is likely to change with increased awareness and improved diagnostic methods. There has been a striking increase in interest in the disease in recent years, leading to an increased understanding of the phenotype. The use of genetic testing has greatly aided the diagnosis of PCD and further helped the understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease. In parallel, the establishment of longitudinal clinical studies and the establishment of disease registries are helping to understand the natural history of the disease; all of which will help in developing clinical trials and better treatment guidelines. This review will focus on recent advances in our understanding of this interesting disease after a brief general overview.
Identification of Off-Patent Drugs That Reverse Daunorubicin Efflux Mediated by ABCB1 in T-ALL Cells.

In acute leukemias, the overexpression of P-glycoprotein, encoded by the ATP Binding Cassette B1 (ABCB1) gene contributes to multidrug resistance (MDR), and is considered one of the major obstacles to successful cancer chemotherapy. The identification of small molecules that reverse ABCB1 efflux activity is critical for the successful treatment of cancers, including relapsed T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). However, the dose-limiting toxicities of many MDR reversal agents have restricted their use in clinical trials, and more effective and clinically applicable reversal agents remain to be identified. We have recently developed a T-ALL cell line that overexpresses ABCB1 and exhibits multiple drug resistance (MDR) to daunorubicin, prednisolone, and vincristine, but not L-asparaginase. The MDR can be reversed by suppression of ABCB1 expresssion with siRNA or 5 μM cyclosporine (CSA). Using this cell line, we developed a flow cytometry based, high-throughput screening assay that quantifies ABCB1 efflux using the fluorescent probe JC-1 (Swerts, et al Leuk Lymphoma 45:2221–8, 2004). We screened a library of 880 off-patent drugs for their ability to inhibit ABCB1 efflux at concentrations of 4 μM, and 19 compounds were identified, including CSA. Based on a published record of safe internal use in humans, 12 compounds were retained for further analysis (3 compounds were originally described as calcium channel blockers, 1 as sodium channel blocker, 1 as ACE inhibitor, 1 as dopamine uptake inhibitor, 1 as Topoisomerase II inhibitor, 2 as steroids, 2 as antifungal and 1 as immunosuppressant). We determined the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of drug for ABCB1 efflux, the efflux reversal concentration of drug that rescued DNR-induced T-ALL cell death (ECrev50), and the corresponding in vitro toxic dose in 50% of treated T-ALL cells (TD50). Due to space limitations, detailed data could not be presented in the abstract. To our knowledge, 8 of the 12 compounds have not been previously described as ABCB1 inhibitors. These compounds may be useful as chemosensitizers or as lead compounds for development of improved ABCB1 inhibitors in T-ALL as well as other cancers.
Optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM): Effects of biological and photolytic degradation

Advances in spectroscopic techniques have led to an increase in the use of optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence) to assess dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition and infer sources and processing. However, little information is available to assess the impact of biological and photolytic processing on the optical properties of original DOM source materials. Over a 3.5 month laboratory study, we measured changes in commonly used optical properties and indices in DOM leached from peat soil, plants, and algae following biological and photochemical degradation to determine whether they provide unique signatures that can be linked to original DOM source. Changes in individual optical parameters varied by source material and process, with biodegradation and photodegradation often causing values to shift in opposite directions. Although values for different source materials frequently overlapped, multivariate statistical analyses showed that unique optical signatures could be linked to original DOM source material, with 17 optical properties determined by discriminant analysis to be significant (p < 0.05) in distinguishing between DOM source and environmental processing. These results demonstrate that inferring source material from optical properties is possible when parameters are evaluated in combination even after extensive biological and photochemical alteration.
Single-Molecule Electric Snapshots of RNA Tertiary Pseudoknot Folding Pathway

RNAs can fold into various conformations in their biological mechanisms. Elucidation of RNA folding processes is important to the understanding and regulation of RNA biological functions. Here we developed a nanopore electric snapshot technology for probing the folding pathway of RNA tertiary structures at room temperature. Our target is the gene 32 mRNA pseudoknot of bacteriophage T2. Driven by a transmembrane voltage applied, the target RNA can be captured by the nanopore from one side, and immobilized in the pore via the attached streptavidin.
Enhanced Physical Properties of Thin Film Nanocomposites

The addition of nanoparticles to epoxy resins often results in changes in the physical properties of the material particularly when dealing with thin coatings. By characterizing the mechanism of interactions between nanoparticles and polymer chains the material could be tailored for specific applications or properties such as enhanced biodegradability. This study compared the characteristics of common DGEBA resin coated on a silicon substrate and embedded with nanoparticles of TiO2 and Fe2O3. Specifically, we investigated the rate of curing, and the thermal stability of these nanocomposites. Results show changes in the stability for compounds containing TiO2, while Fe2O3 significantly enhanced the curing rates of the nanocomposites while maintaining similar physical properties.
Retrospective evaluation of serum CTX levels after denosumab discontinuation in patients with or without prior exposure to bisphosphonates.

Summary Discontinuation of denosumab (Dmab) therapy is associated with lower serum CTX levels in osteoporotic patients previously exposed to bisphosphonates compared to those who were not.
Introduction: locating the study of folklore in modern South Asian studies

The study of folklore served an important role in the development of South Asian Studies, yet, ironically, folklore was mostly studied in relation to classical Sanskrit texts within academe. The st...
Your state is not mine: a closer look at evading stateful internet censorship

Understanding the behaviors of, and evading state-level Internet-scale censorship systems such as the Great Firewall (GFW) of China, has emerged as a research problem of great interest. One line of evasion is the development of techniques that leverage the possibility that the TCP state maintained on the GFW may not represent the state at end-hosts. In this paper we undertake, arguably, the most extensive measurement study on TCP-level GFW evasion techniques, with several vantage points within and outside China, and with clients subscribed to multiple ISPs. We find that the state-of-the art evasion techniques are no longer very effective on the GFW. Our study further reveals that the primary reason that causes these failures is the evolution of GFW over time. In addition, other factors such as the presence of middleboxes on the route from the client to the server also contribute to previously unexpected behaviors. Our measurement study leads us to new understandings of the GFW and new evasion techniques. Evaluations of our new evasion strategies show that our new techniques provide much higher success rates of (compared to prior schemes) ≈ 90% or higher. Our results further validate our new understandings of the GFW's evolved behaviors. We also develop a measurement-driven tool INTANG, that systematically looks for and finds the best strategy that works with a server and network path. Our measurements show that INTANG can yield near perfect evasion rates and is extremely effective in aiding various protocols such as HTTP, DNS over TCP, and Tor in evading the GFW.
Development of chimeric antigen receptors targeting T-cell malignancies using two structurally different anti-CD5 antigen binding domains in NK and CRISPR-edited T cell lines

Relapsed T-cell malignancies have poor outcomes when treated with chemotherapy, but survival after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) approaches 50%. A limitation to BMT is the difficulty of achieving remission prior to transplant. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has shown successes in B-cell malignancies. This approach is difficult to adapt for the treatment of T-cell disease due to lack of a T-lymphoblast specific antigen and the fratricide of CAR T cells that occurs with T-cell antigen targeting. To circumvent this problem two approaches were investigated. First, a natural killer (NK) cell line, which does not express CD5, was used for CAR expression. Second, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology was used to knockout CD5 expression in CD5-positive Jurkat T cells and in primary T cells, allowing for the use of CD5-negative T cells for CAR expression. Two structurally distinct anti-CD5 sequences were also tested, i) a traditional immunoglobulin-based single chain variable fragment (scFv) and ii) a lamprey-derived variable lymphocyte receptor (VLR), which we previously showed can be used for CAR-based recognition. Our results show i) both CARs yield comparable T-cell activation and NK cell-based cytotoxicity when targeting CD5-positive cells, ii) CD5-edited CAR-modified Jurkat T cells have reduced self-activation compared to that of CD5-positive CAR-modified T cells, iii) CD5-edited CAR-modified Jurkat T cells have increased activation in the presence of CD5-positive target cells compared to that of CD5-positive CAR-modified T cells, and iv) although modest effects were seen, a mouse model using the CAR-expressing NK cell line showed the scFv-CAR was superior to the VLR-CAR in delaying disease progression.
Labor force participation, interest rate shocks, and unemployment dynamics in emerging economies

Abstract Emerging economies (EMEs) have highly volatile unemployment and real wages. Standard models with interest rate shocks can generate higher unemployment volatility, but still fall quantitatively short of matching the empirical volatility of unemployment. A small open economy search model with endogenous participation and self-employment—a feature of EMEs—generates 90 percent of the volatility of unemployment in the data, highly volatile wages, and quantitatively-consistent cyclical aggregate dynamics amid productivity and interest rate shocks of plausible magnitudes. Endogenous participation amplifies shocks and plays a critical role in overcoming a key limitation of standard search models for EMEs.
From Revolution to Restoration. Transnational Implications of the Greek Purge of Wartime Collaborators

In the aftermath of World War II, the Greek purge of collaborators took place between the Liberation of the country in late 1944 and the end of the civil war in 1949. Failing to carry out a democratization process in accordance with other western republics, the purge had been dismissed by scholarly research for decades. Based on archival materials and comparative analysis, this chapter traces its similarities, connections, and parallels with other national cases. The debate on the retroactivity of the law, and the constitutional continuity of the state, reveals how legal concepts borrowed from other national (mainly the French) experiences, were adapted to the aims of the internal political struggles. At the same time, the attempted purge of the judges describes how, faced with a social revolution that had already erupted during the Occupation, the bourgeois elites gradually restricted the popular component of the relevant emergency legislation, trusting its implementation to professional judges. Gradually, official justice contributed to the alignment of the country to the new Cold War divisions, validating a “resistance myth” that excluded the main component of the Resistance movements and supported the ousting of ethnic minorities. The Greek transition moved from the containment of the domestic revolution to the restoration of the pre-war regime. This outcome offers an insight to the transnational dimension of the European postwar purges as a technique of rehabilitating state authority and establishing an official truth for the past.
Insect cell cultures as tools in the study of bacterial protein toxins

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses insect cell cultures as tools in the study of bacterial protein toxins. Two toxin-producing bacilli, namely, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus sphaericus, are among the most promising microbial agents for control of agricultural and public health insect pests. These bacteria share a number of common features. Each produces a protein toxin of relatively high molecular weight at sporulation that accumulates in a parasporal body or crystal. In B. thuringiensis, this toxin is called the δ-endotoxin. These toxins act as stomach poisons, first affecting the midgut of the insect. Each of these toxins is produced as a relatively inactive, high molecular weight precursor or protoxin that is activated by proteolytic degradation in the bacterial culture and in the larval gut. The activated form, that is, the toxin, is then relatively resistant to further proteolysis. Only insects with midgut environment containing the proper proteases at high pH are susceptible to these toxins, and among those insects, there is marked variation in susceptibility. Recently, it has been shown that toxins from many of the B. thuringiensis strains and from B. sphaericus bind to glycoprotein receptors. The presence or absence of these receptors may play a significant role in determining the susceptiblity or resistance of the insect.
Events and Actions: Some Comments on Brand and Kim

After noting that “the paradigm case of something particular is something in the world, say, an individual table, person, or pen”, Myles Brand says, in his interesting paper, that “examples of properties and propositions are also specifiable”.1 He tells us nothing more concerning this latter. Just how are properties and relations specifiable? Brand thinks it is a “plausible working hypothesis” that properties are legitimate objects, as good as “specifiable groupings of particulars” — which presumably sets or classes are. But sets, remember, are specifiable wholly in terms of their membership. A set α is ordinarily regarded as identical with a set β if and only if every member of a is a member of β and conversely. Properties, however, are not specifiable in terms of the particulars that have them. In fact, it is to be feared that no one has ever quite told us adequately just how properties are to be specified, and consequently what the condition for identity between them actually is. It thus seems to me doubtful that the assumption of properties is on a par with that of sets or classes as a plausible working hypothesis. Similar comments apply to the assumption of propositions. If properties are available propositions are also, and conversely. The most sophisticated recent attempt to construct a logic accommodating both is perhaps that contained in Alonzo Church’s Presidential Address to the Pacific Division a year ago entitled ‘Russellian Simple Type Theory’.2
Psychosocial factors in the irritable bowel syndrome. A multivariate study of patients and nonpatients with irritable bowel syndrome

In this multivariate analysis of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) we describe the symptomatic and psychologic features of the condition and their possible contributions to health care seeking. We studied 72 IBS patients, 82 persons with IBS who had not sought medical treatment, and 84 normal subjects. All subjects received complete medical evaluation, diary card assessment of abdominal pain and stool habit, and standard psychologic tests of pain, personality, mood, stressful life events, illness behavior, and social support. Pain and diarrhea were the most important symptoms associated with patient status. When controlling for these symptoms we found that (a) IBS patients have a higher proportion of abnormal personality patterns, greater illness behaviors, and lower positive stressful life event scores than IBS nonpatients (p less than 0.001) and normals (p less than 0.001); (b) IBS nonpatients, although psychologically intermediate between patients and normals, are not different from normals (p less than 0.21); and (c) IBS nonpatients have higher coping capabilities, experience illness as less disruptive to life, and tend to exhibit less psychologic denial than patients. These factors may contribute to "wellness behaviors" among people with chronic bowel symptoms. We conclude that the psychologic factors previously attributed to the IBS are associated with patient status rather than to the disorder per se. These factors may interact with physiologic disturbances in the bowel to determine how the illness is experienced and acted upon.
Stochastic Analysis and Probabilistic Prediction of Random Seas

This work is intended to provide information necessary for understanding statistical prediction of the properties of random seas. A mathematical description is given of random seas and the basic principles are given pertinent to the stochastic approach. Prediction methods are given for wave height and period respectively. Spectral formulations are given of wind-generated seas that can be used for predicting responses of Marine systems and offshore structures. Finally, a discussion is given of the directional distribution of wave energy, which is one of the most important factors for representing confused seas.
Methods for Studying the Radical SAM Enzymes in Diphthamide Biosynthesis

Diphthamide is a unique posttranslational modification on translation elongation factor 2 (EF2) in archaea and eukaryotes. Biosynthesis of diphthamide was proposed to involve four steps. The first step is a CC bond forming reaction catalyzed by unique radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzymes. Classical radical SAM enzymes use SAM and [4Fe-4S] clusters to generate a 5'-deoxyadenynal radical and catalyze numerous reactions. Radical SAM enzymes in diphthamide biosynthesis cleave a different CS bond in SAM to generate a 3-amino-3-carboxypropyl radical and modify a histidine residue of substrate protein EF2. Here, we describe our investigations on these unique radical SAM enzymes, including the preparation, characterization, and activity assays we have developed.
The Lateral C1-C2 Puncture: Indications, Technique, and Potential Complications.

OBJECTIVE. Lateral C1–C2 puncture can be used for CSF collection, contrast agent injection for myelography, and access for cordotomy. The objective of this article is to describe the indications, t...
Creating Visibility: Voluntary Disclosure by Private Firms Pursuing an Initial Public Offering

We draw on Merton (1987) to develop predictions for the benefits of voluntary disclosures made by firms pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) prior to providing regulated financial information via an IPO prospectus. For our sample of IPOs, we find that voluntarily issuing press releases and attending investor and industry conferences prior to filing the IPO prospectus are common disclosure activities. Consistent with Merton (1987), we find that pre-prospectus disclosures are positively associated with IPO pricing, EDGAR search activity by prospective investors, and coverage from information intermediaries during the IPO filing period. On the other hand, we find no empirical relation between pre-prospectus disclosures and adverse selection costs immediately following the offering. Our evidence suggests that pre-prospectus voluntary disclosures benefit firms by enhancing visibility with prospective investors and information intermediaries.
IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FAMILIAL HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA IN AN INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM

Untreated Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) confers a 20x increased risk for premature CAD. However, in the U.S. and worldwide, FH is poorly recognized (<5% diagnosed) and undertreated, highlighting the unmet need for population-level identification and management of FH in healthcare delivery
Aortic Root Abscess with Aorta to Right Atrium Fistula due to Vancomycin-Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA)

We present a case of root abscess with aorta to right atrium fistula due to vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) after limb amputation and cardiac surgery. Patient underwent redo aortic valve replacement, patch repair of aorta to right atrial fistula, and tricuspid valve repair with a ring. Fistula formation is a rare complication of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). This is the first case to discuss aortocavitary fistula (ACF) formation due to VISA. Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) is the preferred imaging modality to diagnose ACF.
Admission Control for Consistent Users in Next Generation Cellular Networks

Providing a consistent data rate to users with a highly dynamic activity in a cellular network is a very important feature of 5G. This will lead to increased user satisfaction with services such as video-streaming, online gaming, etc. Knowing that resources are constrained, operators must limit the number of users in the cell, so that admitted users do not experience performance deterioration. In this paper, we consider the problem of admission control for consistent users in 5G cellular systems. We consider two types of users in terms of their rate distributions: 1) homogeneous users, and 2) heterogeneous users. For each user type, we perform the analysis for two scenarios: constant number of users, and random number of users. The analysis is followed by realistic simulations to show that our models can provide satisfactory results in realistic scenarios as well. We also show that the number of admitted users can be significantly increased (up to 3 &#x00D7;) by allowing a slight deterioration in the QoS.
Di-μ-acetato-bis{[3-benzyl-1-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene]silver(I)}

The title compound, [Ag2(C2H3O2)2(C19H20N2)2] (2), was readily synthesized by treatment of 3-benzyl-1-(2,4,6-tri­methyl­phen­yl)imidazolium chloride with silver acetate. The solution structure of the complex was analyzed by NMR spectroscopy, while the solid-state structure was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Compound 2 crystallizes in the triclinic space group P\overline{1}, with a silver-to-carbene bond length (Ag—CNHC) of 2.084 (3) A. The mol­ecule resides on an inversion center, so that only half of the mol­ecule is crystallographically unique. The planes defined by the two imidazole rings are parallel to each other, but not coplanar [inter­planar distance is 0.662 (19) A]. The dihedral angles between the imidazole ring and the benzyl and mesityl rings are 77.87 (12) and 72.86 (11)°, respectively. The crystal structure features π–π stacking inter­actions between the benzylic groups of inversion-related (−x + 1, −y + 1, −z + 1) mol­ecules and C—H⋯π inter­actions.
A review of methods for characterizing the environmental consequences of actions in life cycle assessment

Understanding the environmental consequences of actions is becoming increasingly important in the field of industrial ecology in general, and in life cycle assessment (LCA) more specifically. However, a consensus on how to operationalize this idea has not been reached. A variety of methods have been proposed and applied to case studies that cover various aspects of consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA). Previous reviews of the topic have focused on the broad agenda of CLCA and how different modeling frameworks fit into its goals. However, explicit examination of the spectrum of methods and their application to the different facets of CLCA are lacking. Here, we provide a detailed review of methods that have been used to construct models of the environmental consequences of actions in CLCA. First, we cover the following structural modeling approaches: (a) economic equilibrium models, (b) system dynamics models, (c) technology choice models, and (d) agent‐based models. We provide a detailed review of particular applications of each model in the CLCA domain. The advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed, and their relationships with CLCA are clarified. From this, we are able to map these models onto the established aspects of CLCA. We learn that structural models alone are not sufficient to quantify the uncertainty distributions of underlying parameters in CLCA, which are essential components of a robust analysis of consequences. To address this, we provide a brief introduction to a counterfactual‐based causal inference approach to parameter identification and uncertainty analysis that is emerging in the CLCA literature. We recommend that one potential research path forward is the establishment of feedback loops between empirical estimates and structural models.
AN UNLIKELY COUPLE- CONGENITAL PULMONARY STENOSIS IN THE CONTEXT OF A SINUS VENOSUS DEFECT

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are seen in 1% of live births; of these, 7% have pulmonary stenosis (PS) and 1% have sinus venosus defects (SVDs). 90% of SVDs are associated with partial anomalous pulmonary venous connections in which the right upper pulmonary vein connects to the SVC or right
A hemilabile manganese(I)–phenol complex and its coordination induced O–H bond weakening

The known compound K[(PO)2Mn(CO)2] (PO = 2-((diphenylphosphino)methyl)-4,6-dimethylphenolate) (K[1]) was protonated to form the new Mn(i) complex (HPO)(PO)Mn(CO)2 (H1) and was determined to have a pKa approximately equal to tetramethylguanidine (TMG). The reduction potential of K[1] was determined to be -0.58 V vs. Fc/Fc+ in MeCN and allowed for an estimation of an experimental O-H bond dissociation free energy (BDFEO-H) of 73 kcal mol-1 according to the Bordwell equation. This value is in good agreement with a corrected DFT computed BDFEO-H of 68.0 kcal mol-1 (70.3 kcal mol-1 for intramolecular H-bonded isomer). The coordination of the protonated O-atom in the solid-state H1 was confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The phenol moiety is hemilabile as evident from computation and experimental results. For instance, dissociation of the protonated O-atom in H1 is endergonic by only a few kcal mol-1 (DFT). Furthermore, [1]- and other Mn(i) compounds coordinated to PO and/or HPO do not react with MeCN, but H1 reacts with MeCN to form H1+MeCN. Experimental evidence for the solution-bound O-atoms of H1 was obtained from 1H NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy and by comparing the electronic spectra of bona fide 16-e- Mn(i) complexes such as [{PNP}Mn(CO)2] (PNP = -N{CH2CH2(PiPr2)}2) and [(Me3SiOP)(PO)Mn(CO)2] (Me3Si1). Compound H1 is only meta-stable (t1/2 0.5-1 day) and decomposes into products consistent with homolytic O-H bond cleavage. For instance, treatment of H1 with TEMPO resulted in formation of TEMPOH, free ligand, and [MnII{(PO)2Mn(CO)2}2]. Together with the experimental and calculated weakened BDFEO-H, these data provide strong evidence for the coordination and hemilability of the protonated O-atom in H1 and represents the first example of the phenolic Mn(i)-O linkage and a rare example of a "soft-homolysis" intermediate in the bond-weakening catalysis paradigm.
Management and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Immunotherapy: A Review of Current and Future Options

With mortality rates of liver cancer doubling in the last 20 years, this disease is on the rise and has become the fifth most common cancer in men and the seventh most common cancer in women. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents approximately 90% of all primary liver cancers and is a major global health concern. Patients with HCC can be managed curatively with surgical resection or with liver transplantation, if they are diagnosed at an early stage. Unfortunately, most patients with HCC present with advanced stages of the disease and have underlying liver dysfunction, which allows only 15% of patients to be eligible for curative treatment. Several different treatment modalities are available, including locoregional therapy radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, percutaneous ethanol injection, trans-arterial chemoembolization, transarterial radio-embolization, cryoablation, radiation therapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, systemic chemotherapy, molecularly targeted therapies, and immunotherapy. Immunotherapy has recently become a promising method for inhibiting HCC tumor progression, recurrence, and metastasis. The term “Immunotherapy” is a catch-all, encompassing a wide range of applications and targets, including HCC vaccines, adoptive cell therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and use of oncolytic viruses to treat HCC. Immunotherapy in HCC is a relatively safe option for treating patients with advanced disease in the USA who are either unable to receive or failed sorafenib/lenvatinib therapy and thus may offer an additional survival benefit for these patients. The purpose of this review is to elaborate on some of the most recent advancements in immunotherapy.
Role of Hippo signaling pathway in early placental development.

The placenta is an organ of fetal origin that develops at the interface with the maternal uterus (1). It performs numerous and diverse functions fundamental for the proper growth and development of the semiallogeneic fetus, including gas, nutrient, and waste exchange; production of hormones; and modulation of maternal immune response. Placental development begins, following implantation of the blastocyst-stage embryo, with the expansion of the trophectoderm (TE) and establishment of a villous trophoblast progenitor population, termed cytotrophoblast (CTB) (2). As this cell layer grows and invaginates to form chorionic villi (functional units of the human placenta), the CTB further expands and differentiates into two main mature trophoblast cell types: the syncytiotrophoblast (STB), involved in gas/nutrient exchange, and extravillous trophoblast (EVT), which invades the maternal decidua and remodels maternal spiral arterioles (Fig. 1). However, the mechanisms behind early events in human placentation, particularly CTB self-renewal and differentiation, are largely unknown. Using tools recently developed to study early human placental development, two studies in PNAS address the role of the Hippo pathway in trophoblast progenitor self-renewal. Both focus on the Hippo mediator complex containing TEAD4: Saha et al. (3) compare its function in early postimplantation mouse placenta with first-trimester human placenta and associate its deficiency with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), while Meinhardt et al. (4) focus on the mechanism by which its transcriptional cofactor yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) regulates trophoblast stemness. Fig. 1. Human placental chorionic villus showing the different trophoblast subtypes: vCTB, STB, and EVTs in the maternal decidua, the … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: mparast{at}ucsd.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
ThymesisFlow: A Software-Defined, HW/SW co-Designed Interconnect Stack for Rack-Scale Memory Disaggregation

With cloud providers constantly seeking the best infrastructure trade-off between performance delivered to customers and overall energy/utilization efficiency of their data-centres, hardware disaggregation comes in as a new paradigm for dynamically adapting the data-centre infrastructure to the characteristics of the running workloads. Such an adaptation enables an unprecedented level of efficiency both from the standpoint of energy and the utilization of system resources. In this paper, we present – ThymesisFlow – the first, to our knowledge, full-stack prototype of the holy-grail of disaggregation of compute resources: pooling of remote system memory. Thymesis-Flow implements a HW/SW co-designed memory disaggregation interconnect on top of the POWER9 architecture, by directly interfacing the memory bus via the OpenCAPI port. We use ThymesisFlow to evaluate how disaggregated memory impacts a set of cloud workloads, and we show that for many of them the performance degradation is negligible. For those cases that are severely impacted, we offer insights on the underlying causes and viable cross-stack mitigation paths.
Redlining and Public Policy

Introduction and summary to the book "Redlining and Public Policy", with Jack M. Guttentag.
Correlation of surgical case volume and fellowship training with performance on simulated procedural tasks.

Background High-volume and fellowship-trained surgeons have superior outcomes. However, in gynecology, a large proportion of cases are performed by low-volume surgeons. Simulation has been shown to be useful in assessing surgical skill and may be a useful tool in hospital credentialing and maintenance of privileges. Objective To determine the correlation between a surgical case volume and fellowship training with performance on simulated procedural tasks. Study Design A total of 108 obstetricians and gynecologists with laparoscopic privileges at 2 academic institutions completed a pre-test survey and performed 3 tasks on the LapSim laparoscopic virtual reality simulator. The pre-test survey inquired about the monthly laparoscopic case volume and prior training. Simulations included a basic skills task (peg transfer) followed by a procedural task (salpingectomy) of 2 difficulty levels (low and moderate). Spearman correlation and Wilcoxon tests were used to determine correlations between the survey responses and performance metrics. Results Participants included 67 generalists (62%) and 41 fellowship-trained specialists (38%). There was an observed weak correlation among surgical volume (more than 6 cases per month), time to completion, and the amount of blood loss when performing the low-difficulty level salpingectomy (r=−0.32, P=.0007 and r=−0.29, P=.002, respectively). The economy of movement (instrument path length) was correlated to high surgical volume (r=−0.35, P=.0002). Compared with generalists, surgeons with fellowship training performed tasks faster (410.8 seconds [interquartile range, 309.7–595.2]) vs 530.2 seconds (interquartile range, 406.2–605.0; P=.0009), more efficiently at 6.1 m (interquartile range, 4.8–7.3) vs 8.1 m (interquartile range, 5.8–10.7; P=.0003), and with less blood loss at 21.7 mL (interquartile range, 11.8–37.7) vs 42.9 mL (interquartile range, 18.1–70.6; P=.002). Regarding the case volume and fellowship background, there was no difference in ovarian diathermy damage. In addition, there was no difference among most performance parameters for the peg transfer task and the moderate-difficulty salpingectomy procedure. Conclusion Surgical experience obtained through higher case volume and fellowship training correlate with higher performance scores during simulated procedural tasks. In a previous study, we found a similar correlation with simulated basic skills tasks. The current study is a continuation of an ongoing quality initiative to establish a summative assessment of laparoscopic surgical skills using virtual reality simulator for the maintenance of credentials among obstetrical and gynecologic surgeons. Future studies will compare the performance metrics from laparoscopic procedures performed on virtual reality simulator with the performance in the operating room and clinical outcomes.
The Burkholderia cenocepacia type VI secretion system effector TecA is a virulence factor during lung infection

Abstract Burkholderia cenocepacia (Bc) is a member of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc), a group of bacteria with members responsible for causing lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The most severe outcome of Bcc infection in CF patients is cepacia syndrome, a disease characterized by necrotizing pneumonia with bacteremia and sepsis. Bc is strongly associated with cepacia syndrome making it one of the most virulent members of the Bcc. Mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of Bc in lung infections and cepacia syndrome remain to be uncovered. Bc is primarily an intracellular pathogen, and encodes the type VI secretion system (T6SS) anti-host effector TecA, which is translocated into host cells. TecA is a deamidase that inactivates multiple Rho GTPases, including RhoA. Inactivation of RhoA by TecA triggers assembly of the pyrin inflammasome, leading to secretion of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β from macrophages. Previous work with the Bc clinical isolate J2315 showed that TecA increases immunopathology during acute lung infection in C57BL/6 mice and suggested that this effector acts as a virulence factor by triggering assembly of the pyrin inflammasome. Here, we extend these results using a second Bc clinical isolate, AU1054, to demonstrate that TecA exacerbates weight loss and lethality during lung infection in C57BL/6 mice and CF mice. Unexpectedly, pyrin was dispensable for TecA virulence activity in both mouse infection models. Our findings establish that TecA is a Bc virulence factor that exacerbates lung inflammation, weight loss, and lethality in a mouse lung infection model. Importance Bc is often considered the most virulent species in the Bcc because of its close association with cepacia syndrome in addition to its capacity to cause chronic lung infections in CF patients (Loutet and Valvano 2010). Prior to this study virulence factors of Bc important for causing lethal disease had not been identified in a CF animal model of lung infection. Results of this study describe a CF mouse model and its use in demonstrating that the T6SS effector TecA of Bc exacerbates inflammatory cell recruitment and weight loss and is required for lethality and thus acts as a key virulence factor during lung infection. This model will be important in further studies to better understand TecA’s role as a virulence factor and in investigating ways to prevent or treat Bc infections in CF patients. Additionally, TecA may be the founding member of a family of virulence factors in opportunistic pathogens.
Market Attractiveness, Resource-Based and Evolutionary Approaches to Strategy: A Comparison

This paper examines and compares three competing strategy approaches: the market attractiveness approach, the resource-based or capabilities approach, and the emerging evolutionary approach. It is suggested that marketing can play a major role in the development of this evolutionary approach, which has the potential to integrate both market focused and firm-focused perspectives.
Grampositive stäbchenförmige Bakterien

Das Genus Bacillus enthalt grose grampositive Stabe, die kettenformig gelagert sind. Sie bilden Sporen und sind streng aerob. Die meisten Angehorigen dieses Genus sind saprophytare Keime, die im Boden, im Wasser, in der Luft und auf den Pflanzen vorkommen, so wie B. cereus und B. subtilis. Solche Saprophyten rufen beim Menschen nur selten Erkrankungen hervor (z. B. Meningitis oder Endokarditis). B. anthracis ist der wichtigste pathogene Vertreter dieses Genus.
Timing Control and Finger, Arm, and Whole Body Movements

Abstract While physical educators have both a theoretical and practical interest in the ability of the individual to coordinate his movements so that a certain act can be accomplished at exactly the right instant, there has been little research on this problem. The present investigation concerned coincidence response, namely completion of a target-directed motor act at the exact instant that a large-scale laterally-moving target passed a predetermined fixed index. Measurements were made of three types of response movements as well as simple reaction-time. The average subject tended to complete the motor act prematurely under the conditions of the experiment. The proportion of common variance between finger, arm, and whole body responses ranged from 16 to 39 percent while the task specificity of individual differences ranged from 61 to 85 percent. Coincidence timing accuracy in the finger and the arm task failed to improve with practice under conditions of the experiment.
Brain-controlled functional electrical stimulation therapy for gait rehabilitation after stroke: a safety study

Many stroke survivors have significant long-term gait impairment, often involving foot drop. Current physiotherapies provide limited recovery. Orthoses substitute for ankle strength, but they provide no lasting therapeutic effect. Brain-computer interface (BCI)-controlled functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a novel rehabilitative approach that may generate permanent neurological improvements. This study explores the safety and feasibility of a foot-drop-targeted BCI-FES physiotherapy in chronic stroke survivors. Subjects (n = 9) operated an electroencephalogram-based BCI-FES system for foot dorsiflexion in 12 one-hour sessions over four weeks. Gait speed, dorsiflexion active range of motion (AROM), six-minute walk distance (6MWD), and Fugl-Meyer leg motor (FM-LM) scores were assessed before, during, and after therapy. The primary safety outcome measure was the proportion of subjects that deteriorated in gait speed by ≥0.16 m/s at one week or four weeks post-therapy. The secondary outcome measures were the proportion of subjects that experienced a clinically relevant decrease in dorsiflexion AROM (≥2.5°), 6MWD (≥20 %), and FM-LM score (≥10 %) at either post-therapy assessment. No subjects (0/9) experienced a clinically significant deterioration in gait speed, dorsiflexion AROM, 6MWT distance, or FM-LM score at either post-therapy assessment. Five subjects demonstrated a detectable increase (≥0.06 m/s) in gait speed, three subjects demonstrated a detectable increase (≥2.5°) in dorsiflexion AROM, five subjects demonstrated a detectable increase (≥10 %) in 6MWD, and three subjects demonstrated a detectable increase (≥10 %) in FM-LM. Five of the six subjects that exhibited a detectable increase in either post-therapy gait speed or 6MWD also exhibited significant (p < 0.01 using a Mann–Whitney U test) increases in electroencephalogram event-related synchronization/desynchronization. Additionally, two subjects experienced a clinically important increase (≥0.16 m/s) in gait speed, and four subjects experienced a clinically important increase (≥20 %) in 6MWD. Linear mixed models of gait speed, dorsiflexion AROM, 6MWD, and FM-LM scores suggest that BCI-FES therapy is associated with an increase in lower motor performance at a statistically, yet not clinically, significant level. BCI-FES therapy is safe. If it is shown to improve post-stroke gait function in future studies, it could provide a new gait rehabilitation option for severely impaired patients. Formal clinical trials are warranted.
IST for KPI

The Cauchy problem of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili I (KPI) equation $${\left( {{u_t} + 6u{u_x} + {u_{xxx}}} \right)_x} = 3{u_{xx}}$$ (1) can be solved by the inverse scattering method with the following Lax pair $$i{\psi _y} + {\psi _{xx}} + u\psi = 0$$ (2) $${\psi _t} + 4{\psi _{xxx}} + 6u{\psi _x} + 3\left( {{u_x} - \frac{i}{2}\partial _y^{ - 1}{u_y}} \right)\psi = 0$$ (3) .
Diazepam Useful in ESES Treatment (P4.251)

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the efficacy of high-dose diazepam in treating electrical status epilepticus of sleep (ESES). BACKGROUND: ESES is an age related, self-limited disorder of unknown etiology characterized by neuropsychological impairment, motor delays, focal or generalized epilepsy and the EEG finding of electrical status epilepticus during slow wave sleep. Our experience with diazepam for treatment of ESES has been encouraging. DESIGN/METHODS: 41 patients with ESES were included in this retrospective chart review. Parameters noted for our study included age, gender, weight, seizure types, medications, spike localizations, spike counts (initially, then after the first and second treatments with diazepam), comorbidities, MRI findings, and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Mean age was 8 years. 78% of patients had complex partial seizures, 44% had generalized tonic clonic seizures. Comorbidities included developmental delays, behavioral difficulties, language learning disabilities, history of prematurity, autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, ADHD. Most patients were on levetiracetam. Commonest MRI findings included periventricular leucomalacia, hyperintensities or loss of white matter. Slow wave sleep spikes were predominantly identified over the left hemisphere. The mean of the initial spike count was 1500, and the mean total spike reduction was 80% (p < 0.01) after both diazepam treatments. Spike counts were reduced by over 75 % in 69.57% of patient admissions. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose diazepam is generally effective in the treatment of ESES and leads to significant improvement in spike index. Further studies are needed to elicit long-term outcomes, drug interaction effects, and the potential effects of spike locations on symptomatology. Disclosure: Dr. El-Hagrassy has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gunasekara has nothing to disclose. Dr. Eksioglu has nothing to disclose.
Design and fabrication of low-power 1-Gb/s OEIC receivers

In the implementation of optical data links, issues of power consumption, bandwidth and sensitivity have to be addressed in the design of optoelectronic components. This is especially important in high density parallel applications where large amount of heat can cause thermal management problem and performance degradation. We present low-power, low-cost, short wavelength (850 nm) GaAs MSM/MESFET (Metal-Semiconductor-Metal / Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) monolithic OptoElectronic Integrated Circuit (OEIC) receiver arrays which were designed, fabricated, and tested at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Four-channel OEIC receiver arrays with a BER of less than 10-9 have been measured at 1 Gb/s with a -16 dBm 27-1 Pseudo-Random Bit Sequence (PRBS) input optical signal. The sensitivity was -20 dBm (BER = 10-9. The development of a lower power version by the Vitesse/MOSIS 0.6 μm E/D-MESFET technology is also presented. Four channel OEIC receivers and several single channel OEIC receivers were developed in the Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation HGaAsIII process by the UIUC. The designs were completed at the UIUC and submitted to MOSIS for fabrication in the HGaAsIII process. Good results have been obtained. The single stage amplifier configuration's average measured performance parameters are: 52.5 dB-Ω gain, 1.4 GHz bandwidth, 76 mW DC power consumption, and 127 V/W responsivity (calculated). The two stage amplifier configuration's average measured performance parameters are: 81.5 dB-Ω gain, 825 MHz bandwidth, 150 mW DC power consumption (estimated), and 3.6 kV/W responsivity (calculated). The three stage amplifier configuration's average estimated performance parameters are: 111 dB-Ω gain, 485 MHz bandwidth, 170 mW DC power consumption, and 106 kV/W responsivity. The four stage amplifier amplifier's average estimated performance parameters are: 139 dB-Ω gain, 285 MHz bandwidth, 190 mW power consumption, and 1.5 MV/W.
Casework effectiveness: a new look at the research evidence

Katherine M. Wood, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Graduate School of Social Work, Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. This article is based in part on the author's Ph.D. dissertation at Rutgers. In recent years writers have quesSURVEY OF THE LITERATURE tioned repeatedly whether casework, A survey of the literature from 1956 . through 1973 located a total of 53 cial work profession, is dead (Briar, r ~ . ,v studies of the effectiveness of social the major practice method of the so