cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protrusio acetabuli in Marfan syndrome: age-related prevalence and associated hip function.

Protrusio acetabuli is known to occur in patients with Marfan syndrome, but its prevalence, its effects on hip function, and its possible association with the subsequent development of degenerative hip disease have not been studied in a large population. Nevertheless, some clinicians have recommended prophylactic hip surgery for preadolescents with Marfan syndrome and protrusio acetabuli.We performed a cross-sectional study of 173 patients (346 hips) with Marfan syndrome who were interviewed and examined for calculation of the Iowa hip score. Anteroposterior radiographs of the pelvis were made, and two radiographic indices of acetabular depth were measured: (1) the center-edge angle of Wiberg and (2) the acetabular-ilioischial distance. The presence of protrusio was defined with use of two extant definitions: (1) a center-edge angle of >50 degrees or (2) an acetabular-ilioischial distance of >/=3 mm in male patients or >/=6 mm in female patients. Linear regression analyses were performed between these radiographic indices of acetabular depth and patient age, Iowa hip scores, the magnitude of the radiographic joint space, and range of motion.The prevalence of protrusio acetabuli was 27% according to the center-edge angle criterion and 16% according to the acetabular-ilioischial distance criterion. The prevalence of protrusio increased until the age of twenty years and remained stable after the age of twenty years. Slight but significant negative correlations were detected between the two radiographic indices of acetabular depth and both the Iowa hip score and the summed range of motion (p < 0.02 for all). No significant relationship was found between the two radiographic indices and pain scores. In patients with Marfan syndrome who were more than forty years old, the Iowa hip scores for hips with protrusio were not significantly lower than those for hips without protrusio.In patients with Marfan syndrome, the prevalence of protrusio acetabuli increases during the first two decades of life and then plateaus in terms of both population-wide prevalence and radiographic severity. In this population, protrusio generally is not associated with severely problematic hip function but it is associated with slightly decreased range of motion of the hip. We concluded that prophylactic surgical intervention is not indicated for most patients with Marfan syndrome who have a radiographic diagnosis of protrusio.
Calculus, Biology and Medicine: A Case Study in Quantitative Literacy for Science Students

This paper describes a course designed to enhance the numeracy of biology and pre-medicalstudents. The course introduces students with the background of one semester of calculus to sys-tems of nonlinear ordinary differential equations as they appear in the mathematical biology litera-ture. Evaluation of the course showed increased enjoyment and conﬁdence in doing mathematics,and an increased appreciation of the utility of mathematics to science. Students who complete thiscourse are better able to read the research literature in mathematical biology and carry out researchproblems of their own.KEYWORDS: Calculus, biology, medicine, modeling, differetial equation, numeracy, curricu-lum, pedagogy
Might Flowers of Invasive Plants Increase Native Bee Carrying Capacity? Intimations From Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Abstract We compared the native bees visiting the flowers of three species of invasive plants, saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and white and yellow sweet clover (Melilotus albus, M. officinalis), with those visiting seven concurrently blooming native plant species in mid-summer at three sites in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Overall, as many total species of bees visited the flowers of the three invasive plant species as visited the seven natives. On average, invasive species were visited by twice as many bee species as were natives. With a single exception, visitors of invasives were generalist bees, rather than specialists. Colletes petalostemonis, the only native legume specialist recorded, was an abundant forager on the flowers of both species of Melilotus, demonstrating that at least some specialist bees will move to invasive plants that are closely related to their usual hosts. Species abundant on the flowers of invasives tended to collect both pollen and nectar, suggesting that bees are using pollen o...
International Accounting Harmonisation in the European Context: The Case of Intangible Assets

The process of accounting harmonisation has been debatedfor years among accounting professionals around the globe. The discussion about the uniform application of IFRSs across different jurisdictions has been based on the different environmental factors, typical of each national economic background. In particular, the effects of the application of IFRSs could be heterogeneous across countries and influenced by national reporting environments. This means that equal levels of compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements and/or consistent measurement and display of similar transactions between different companies may not be achieved. The paper deals with the accounting harmonisation process in Italy, which belongs to Continental Europe, focusing on a very delicate topic: intangible assets, whose importance has progressively increased, especially in recent years. More specifically, the aim of the paper is to define a framework for the problems deriving fromthe introduction of a process connected with the accounting and assessment of intangible assets in the drawing up of financial statements. In particular, the accounting of intangible items, namely the recognition and evaluation, is far from uniform and takes different forms depending on the accounting frame to which the entity presents the annual financial statements. This article deals with intangible assets from two perspectives: a first line with International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRSs), and a second with the Italian General Accepted Accounting Principle which complies with European Directives.
Sleep in patients with respiratory disease.

Abstract Recent studies have emphasized the high prevalence and significant consequences of sleep abnormalities in patients who have underlying respiratory disease. Such abnormalities include the nocturnal increase in airway resistance in patients who have asthma, the impaired sleep quality and nocturnal desaturation (particularly during REM sleep) in patients who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the sleep-related hypoventilation and hypoxemia in patients who have various restrictive respiratory disorders. This article discusses the salient features, underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms, and treatment of these abnormalities of sleep in patients who have respiratory disease.
Recipe For Building Robust Spoken Dialog State Trackers: Dialog State Tracking Challenge System Description

For robust spoken conversational interaction, many dialog state tracking algorithms have been developed. Few studies, however, have reported the strengths and weaknesses of each method. The Dialog State Tracking Challenge (DSTC) is designed to address this issue by comparing various methods on the same domain. In this paper, we present a set of techniques that build a robust dialog state tracker with high performance: wide-coverage and well-calibrated data selection, feature-rich discriminative model design, generalization improvement techniques and unsupervised prior adaptation. The DSTC results show that the proposed method is superior to other systems on average on both the development
Zinc-binding compounds induce cancer cell death via distinct modes of action

B267 Metal binding compounds have been shown to have anticancer activity and are being evaluated clinically as anticancer agents. It is not known if different compounds binding a given metal induce cytotoxicity by similar mechanisms. We have recently found that one such compound, 5-chloro-7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline (clioquinol), not only binds metals such as zinc, but is able to transport zinc into cells. We therefore compared the action of clioquinol with two other cytotoxic zinc-binding compounds, N,N,N9,N9-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (TPEN) and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC). While addition of zinc completely reversed TPEN’s toxicity towards human cancer cells, its addition dramatically enhanced cell killing by clioquinol and PDTC. Clioquinol and PDTC down-regulated Akt and NF-κB signaling, effects that were more pronounced in the presence of zinc. In contrast, TPEN had no effects on Akt and NF-κB signaling, whether in the presence or absence of zinc. Although PDTC, like clioquinol, is a zinc ionophore, it did not exhibit synergistic cytotoxicity with the polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In the presence of DHA, clioquinol reduced expression of Akt, p65, p44/42, p38, and SAP/JNK, whereas PDTC had no such effect. These results demonstrate that the three tested zinc binding compounds act through different signaling pathways to induce death of cancer cells, even if they share certain characteristics (such as acting as ionophores). Understanding the signaling mechanisms of each individual metal binding compound will be required in order to optimize the process of developing them into novel anticancer agents.
Implementing a Registration System for Famous Trademarks

To address the problem of determining what marks are famous under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act, the uneven application of fame standards by courts under the Act and the resulting difficulty in trademark screening, this article proposes the creation of a system for registering famous marks, namely a Fame Register. Unless a mark is registered on the Fame Register, the senior mark owner would not be entitled to bring a claim under the FTDA. There would be several benefits. First, it would create a single, uniform system to determine whether dilution law may protect a senior mark. Second, a Fame Register would create a searchable database of the limited number of marks that are eligible for protection under the FTDA. Third, a Fame Register would afford the owners of famous marks greater certainty about the scope of their protection; particularly if, as proposed below, registration constitutes prima facie evidence of fame in litigation.
Intergovernmental Relations and Clean-Air Policy in Southern California

In 1989, California adopted a bold and comprehensive Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) to bring southern California into compliance withfederal air-quality standards by 2007 California's effort to control air pollution, as outlined in the AQMP, significantly influenced the formulation of the 1990 federal Clean AirAct. This article analyzes the nature ofthis influence as well as the way the newfederal legislation bolsters specific provisions ofthe AQMP. Also examined is whether the AQMP and the Clean Air Act are likely to bring southern California into compliance with federal air-quality standards.
Compounded Formulations of Dimethyl Fumarate Show Significant Variability in Product Characteristics.

Background: Pharmacy compounded products are not regulated to the same standards as commercially available, approved products, increasing potential safety and efficacy risks to patients. This report describes an in vitro study examining consistency of content and release profile of compounded dimethyl fumarates. Methods: Samples of compounded dimethyl fumarate (cDMF-A, cDMF-B, cFumaderm) from separate Austrian compounding pharmacies were analyzed for drug content, uniformity of dosage, impurity, and in vitro release. Results: The average dimethyl fumarate (DMF) content ranged from 102.5 to 96.7% of the 120 mg content listed on the product labels. While the DMF capsule-to-capsule content of cDMF-A was somewhat uniform (~20% difference), there was greater variability amongst cDMF-B and cFumaderm capsules (> 30% difference). Impurity testing revealed 2 and 4 unknown components within cDMF-A and cDMF-B, respectively, with levels ranging from 0.05 to 0.81% of total drug content. In in vitro testing of cDMF-A,>10% (12 mg) of DMF was released after 120 min in simulated gastric fluid and 17% (20 mg) released in simulated intestinal fluid after 60 min. While minimal amount of DMF was released from cDMF-B in simulated gastric fluid, 50% (60 mg) of DMF was released after 60 min in simulated intestinal fluid. Similarly for cFumaderm, a fraction ( Conclusion: These results demonstrate that compounded fumarates are not equivalent to licensed products and may present unknown safety, efficacy, or quality risks.
A Comparison of Methods for Ranking Boars from Different Central Test Stations

Data were received from 24 test stations on 3,999 boars tested in fall 1984 and spring 1985. In an effort to increase the connectedness between stations, one reference sire was selected to produce sons (reference boars) through artificial insemination to be tested in the different stations. Fifty-two reference boars were placed across 17 of the test stations. The performance traits analyzed were average daily gain (ADG) and backfat adjusted to 105 kg (ABF). The methods used to rank boars were: 1) individual record (ADG, ABF), 2) individual record deviated from the contemporary group mean, and 3/4) individual record plus performance of relatives (including/excluding reference boars) using expected progeny differences (EPD) estimated from a reduced animal model (RAM) statistical procedure. Ranks of boars using these four methods of genetic evaluation were compared using Spearman rank correlation methodology. The ranks of the boars changed significantly as the complexity of analysis increased for both ADG and ABF. Rank correlations between individual record and contemporary group deviations for ADG and BF were .47 and .20, respectively. Rank correlations between contemporary group deviations and RAM estimates of EPD for ADG and ABF were .53 and .41, respectively. These were significantly different from 1.0. However, there was no significant difference between rankings based on EPD including vs excluding the reference boars. The importance of rank changes coupled with the increased accuracy of these more complex evaluation methods strongly suggest that best linear unbiased predictors of genetic value be utilized in comparing boars in central test stations.
Country-of-Origin and Brand Name Connotation: A Preliminary Conceptualization and Research Hypotheses

Marketers around the world are aware of the importance of a well thought out brand name for their products. Brand names can act as discriminative stimuli, thereby conveying information about product quality, and associated product consequences. But can a brand name bearing connotations to a foreign country influence people’s perceptions of the brand? Consider Haagen-Dazs ice-cream. In the late 1950’s, European products were considered to be of high quality. Reuben Mattus, the founder of Haagen-Dazs, came up with this name as he believed that a European sounding name would connote high quality. Although the Haagen Dazs ice-cream was priced high due to its positioning as a premium brand, it caught the public’s eye to a great extent due to its European sounding name, and the associated meanings of "European quality" (Ullmann 1993). There are several other examples of brand names bearing associations to a foreign country such as Evian mineral water, Armani clothing, and Mercedes Benz cars.
Effect of pecan phenolics on the release of nitric oxide from murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cells

Inflammation is linked to numerous chronic disease states. Phenolic compounds have attracted attention because a number of these compounds possess anti-inflammatory properties. A phenolic crude extract was prepared from pecans and separated by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography into low- and high-molecular-weight (LMW/HMW) fractions. Anti-inflammatory properties of these fractions were assessed in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells. NO and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was monitored after 3 different experimental protocols: (1) pre-treatment with Escherichia coli O111:B4 lipopolysaccharide (LPS); (2) pre-treatment with a pecan crude extract and its fractions; and (3) co-incubation of LPS with a pecan crude extract and its fractions. The LMW fraction displayed a dose-dependent decrease in NO production and a significant decrease from the LPS control in ROS production when cells were either co-incubated with or pre-treated with LPS. The phenolics were characterized by HPLC to help identify those responsible for the observed effect.
Innovations and Possibilities in Connected Health.

Background: Health care is being fundamentally changed by telemedicine. Telemedicine uses communication technologies in prevention, disease management, home health care, long-term (chronic) care, emergency medicine, and many other applications including audiology. Telemedicine is being adopted and integrated into the health care enterprise at an exponential rate and it is often difficult to keep up with all of these changes. Other key drivers such as the Affordable Care Act and other federal health care initiatives are pushing the adoption of telemedicine and catalyzing a flood of interest in telemedicine, telehealth, and m-Health. Purpose: This paper provides an overview of telehealth models and will describe methodologies as they pertain to clinical practice. The goal is to provide the principles behind the practice of telemedicine and how they can be applied to teleaudiology programs. There is a very large body of evidence supporting the benefits and utility of telehealth in terms of technology, economic value, and impact on patients. However, there are still barriers to acceptance, so we must address these challenges and involve all relevant stakeholders if telehealth is to become an integral part of the health care system. Clinical guidelines for telemedicine developed by experts who are practicing it on a daily basis is one way to help overcome these barriers, so attention will be devoted to a discussion of current guidelines. Conclusions: Telemedicine is not a unique clinical specialty, but rather uses telecommunication technologies to reach out to patients to reduce barriers to care in underserved areas, improve patient care and accessibility to specialists, decrease professional isolation in rural areas, help medical practitioners expand their practice reach, and save patients from having to travel or be transported to receive high quality care.
Axes of joint rotation of the lumbar vertebrae during abdominal strengthening exercises

Movements between individual lumbar vertebrae occur because of compression and tension on the intervertebral discs which lie between adjacent vertebral bodies. Schmorl and Junghanns (1971) call these individual areas “motor segments,” that is, the motor spaces arranged between the bony vertebrae. The motor segments that maintain their own posture through tension from the nucleus pulposus make up a single joint. The nucleus pulposus is the articular cavity; the anulus fibrosus makes up the articular ligaments; and the cartilaginous plates on the joint surface of the vertebral bodies comprise the articular cartilage.
Progressing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in North Dakota with near-space ballooning

The United States must provide quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in order to maintain a leading role in the global economy. Numerous initiatives have been established across the United States that promote and encourage STEM education within the middle school curriculum. This study integrated a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into six eighth-grade Earth Science classes from Valley Middle School in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was hypothesized that after the students designed, constructed, launched, and analyzed their payload experiments, they would have an increased affinity for high school science and math classes. A pre- and post-survey was distributed to the students (n=124), before and after the project, to analyze how effective this engineering and space mission was. The surveys were statistically analyzed, comparing means by the Student’s t-Test, specifically the Welch-Satterthwaite test. Female students displayed a 57.1% increase in math and a 63.6% increase in science; male students displayed a 46.6% increase in science and 0% increase in math. Most Likert-scale survey questions experienced no statistically significant change, supporting the null hypothesis. The only survey question that supported the hypothesis was, “I Think Engineers Work Alone,” which experienced a 0.24% increase in student understanding. The results suggest that integrating a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into middle school curricula will not directly influence the students’ excitement to pursue STEM subjects and careers. An extensive, yearlong ballooning mission is recommended so that it can be integrated with multiple core subjects. Using such an innovative pedagogy method as with this balloon launch will help students master the scientific process and experience real team collaboration, as they did with this successful mission.
Effects of Urban Expansion and Cultural Hierarchies on Labor Strategies within Thailand’s Rural‐Urban Interface

This paper explores agrarian families’ use of labor diversification under conditions of environmental, political, and socioeconomic changes introduced through Thai urbanization policies. Building from literatures in development, livelihood, and migration studies, this research analyzes how state-planned urban expansion in Thailand (Nakhon Ratchasima province) alters land allocations, natural resource availabilities, and household labor organization among agriculturalists. Though stratified by class and land holdings, agrarian households’ livelihoods demonstrated both degrees of dependence on natural resource availabilities and increased exposures to the Thai state’s urban expansion policies and changing broader political economies. However, while state development may be viewed as coercive structural forces underpinning contemporary labor flexibilities due to the alteration of land tenure, resource availabilities, and economic systems, complex individual and household agendas shaped people’s participation in and understanding of labor diversification. Ethnographic data demonstrated too the ways in which migration decisions and household provisioning strategies reflected people’s understandings of Thai socio-political and cultural systems. By exploring people’s engagement with culturally constructed social hierarchies, notions of modernity, and ideas of state development, this research demonstrates how cultural aspirations shape labor mobilities and remittance behaviors within agrarian transitions.
Acculturation and Pediatric Minority Oral Health Interventions

Immigrant populations are growing at a fast pace in the United States. Cultural variations can have implications on oral health of children from immigrant households. Length of stay in the United States and language spoken at home, proxies for measuring acculturation, are some of the crucial factors determining the level of acculturation in families. Higher acculturation generally has a positive impact on oral health utilization. Improving cultural competency of dental teams and involving the stakeholders in intervention design and implementation are some strategies that may increase the trust of ethnic minority patients and reduce barriers to access to care.
Syndromic Surveillance of Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A Validation Study Using Emergency Department Chief Complaints

Objective:This study evaluated whether emergency department (ED) patient presentations for problems related to mental and substance use disorders could be validly monitored by a syndromic surveillance system that uses chief complaints to identify mental disorders.Methods:The study used syndromic surveillance data on 146,315 ED visits to participating Fresno County, California, hospitals between January 1 and December 31, 2013. Free-text patient chief complaints are automatically classified into syndromes based on the developer’s algorithms. Agreement was assessed between the algorithm’s syndrome classification of mental health and substance abuse (MHSA) disorders and ICD-9-CM discharge diagnostic codes. Diagnosis and ED utilization patterns among patients with at least one visit with an MHSA syndrome classification were also examined.Results:Approximately 8% of ED visits during the study period received an MHSA syndrome classification. Overall agreement between MHSA syndrome classification and psychiatric...
The Relationship between Confusion and Abuse

Under the best of circumstances, caring for a confused or demented elderly person is difficult, because the behaviors associated with confusion are so disruptive. Acute confusion, for example, is characterized by behaviors such as restlessness; purposeless activity; anxiety, fright and apprehension; agitation; verbosity; confabulation; rambling, repetitive speech; dependent and demanding attention getting behavior; withdrawal; belligerence; and combativeness (Gebbie and Lavin, 1975). The characteristics of early dementia include forgetfulness, declining interest, difficulty focusing attention, indifference, uncertainty and hesitancy (Quayhagen, 1977). As dementia progresses, behaviors such as confusing night and day; complaining about the neglect and interference of other people (particularly significant others); inattention to health, hygiene and safety; losing possessions and accusing significant others of taking them; and inability to retain or follow simple directions are manifested (Wolanin and Phillips, 1981; Quayhagen, 1977). Whereas health professionals working in institutional settings for eight hour periods of time find these kinds of behaviors frustrating, challenging and difficult, family members caring for elders twenty-four hours a day in the home setting can find these kinds of unpredictable behaviors to be nearly impossible to manage. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the ways in which an elder’s confusional state affects the family caregiving dynamics and, consequently, the quality of family caregiving, to examine the factors associated with confusion that increase the likelihood of the elderly person being exposed to abuse and to identify the clinical implications of these relationships.
Considering the ethics of big data research: A case of Twitter and ISIS/ISIL.

This is a formal commentary, responding to Matthew Curran Benigni, Kenneth Joseph, and Kathleen Carley’s contribution, “Online extremism and the communities that sustain it: Detecting the ISIS supporting community on Twitter”. This brief review reflects on the ethics of big data research methodologies, and how novel methods complicate long-standing principles of research ethics. Specifically, the concept of the “data subject” as a corollary, or replacement, of “human subject” is considered.
Engraftment and Chimerism

The goal of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is sustained engraftment. Engraftment is defined as neutrophil and platelet recovery after a period of aplasia. In order to be considered engrafted, the patient post-HSCT needs to have an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >500 mm2 for the first 3 consecutive days. Platelet recovery occurs when the patient has sustained a platelet count >20,000 μL−1 for 3 consecutive days without a platelet transfusion in the 7 preceding days. Typically, neutrophil engraftment occurs first with platelet engraftment occurring 1–3 weeks later, depending on the donor and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) source. Other factors that influence engraftment include the use of growth factors during the peri-HSCT period, the bone marrow microenvironment of the recipient, the HSC dose, and donor graft manipulation. Often at the time of engraftment, patients will develop a “flu-like” syndrome with fevers, chills, worsening mucositis, peripheral edema, joint and muscle aches, and/or abdominal pain due to a cytokine storm driven by donor T cells. The degree of donor engraftment is measured by the percentage of donor-derived blood cells in the HSCT recipient, termed donor chimerism. Multiple studies have shown that sustained donor chimerism of >90% to 95% is associated with an improved event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS). More importantly, a decrease in donor chimerism over time can predict the relapse of the underlying disease for which the patient was transplanted. Decrease and/or elimination of immunosuppression and donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) may be able to reverse decreasing chimerism. This chapter reviews the timing of engraftment and the factors which influence it. Graft failure and rejection are addressed in Chap. 11. Methods to measure donor chimerism and the implications of changing donor chimerism percentage are also addressed.
Mechanisms of photodecomposition of metal-containing EUV photoresists: isotopic labelling studies

We have investigated the mechanism of photodecomposition of antimony carboxylate complexes of the type Ph3Sb(O2CR′)2 by means of EUV outgassing in combination with isotopic labelling. A series of photoresists were examined to determine the mechanistic pathways by which volatile photoproducts are generated during EUV exposure. A primary volatile photoproduct from triphenylantimony complexes is benzene. However, the source of hydrogen needed to convert the phenyl groups to benzene (Ph-H) is not obvious. We concluded that the primary source of hydrogen to create benzene is external to the film. Additionally, we have prepared isotopically-labelled versions of Ph3Sb(O2CCH(CH3)2)2 in which the hydrogens in the isobutyrate ligand were replaced with 0, 1, 6 and 7 deuteriums, to provide information about the relative reactivity of these protons during EUV exposure as analyzed by mass spectrometry. High reaction selectivity was identified within the carboxylate dictated by hydrogen location relative to the carbonyl for both benzene and phenol generation. Lastly, the results of these studies were used to propose a series of reaction pathways to generate the aforementioned reaction byproducts.
The long-term effects of cocaine use on cognitive functioning: A systematic critical review.

Abstract Background The predominant view of chronic cocaine use maintains that it causes a broad range of cognitive deficits. However, concerns about the possibly deleterious impact of cocaine on cognitive functioning have yet to be thoroughly vetted. This review addresses the impact of cocaine use on such cognitive domains as executive function, memory, language, and psychomotor speed. Additionally, relevant neuroimaging data is considered to understand the neural basis underlying cocaine-related effects on cognitive functioning. Methods We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase using the search terms “cocaine and cognition,” “cocaine and cognitive functioning,” and “cocaine and cognitive deficits or impairment.” To meet inclusion criteria we evaluated only cognitive and neuroimaging studies describing the long-term effects of cocaine on cognitive functioning published from 1999 to 2016. Results The majority of studies reported statistically significant differences between cocaine users and non-drug-using controls in brain structures, blood-oxygen-level dependent signals, and brain metabolism. However, differences in cognitive performance were observed on a minority of measures. Additionally, the majority of studies were not compared against normative data. Conclusions The current evidence does not support the view that chronic cocaine use is associated with broad cognitive deficits. The view that cocaine users have broad cognitive deficits is inaccurate based upon current evidence, and the perpetuation of this view may have negative implications for treatment programs and development of public policies.
On The Presence of Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Proteins in Plants

There are now more than 100 different proteins known to be attached to the cell surface of animal or yeast cells by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol(GPI) anchor [1]. The structure of these anchoring units (Fig 1) is relatively highly conserved, although additional sugar moieties are sometimes attached to the basic oligoglycan backbone, and the diacylglycerol lipid unit is in certain molecules replaced by an alkyl,acyl-glycerol or a ceramide structure. Among the more familiar proteins now known to be GPI-anchored are alkaline phosphatase, acetylcholinesterase, and the variable surface glycoprotein coating the surface of trypanosomes. Surprisingly, there have been no reports of GPI-anchored proteins in plants. Because my laboratory has an ongoing project to study the GPI-anchored proteins of the protozoan Tetrahymena, we have been able to apply this technology in a search for these proteins in higher plants.
Regulation of Lytic Function by Recombinant IL2 and Antigen

The study of signals involved in the generation and maintenance of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) has been facilitated by the availability of various techniques based on the mixed leukocyte culture (MLC) test (Bain et al. 1964; Bach and Hirschhorn 1964). In addition to the proliferative response in an MLC, CTLs are generated (Hayry and Defendi 1970; Hodes and Svedmyr 1970; Solliday and Bach 1970).
Sepsis-induced Acute Renal Failure and Recovery

Development of acute renal failure during sepsis syndrome is common and portends a poor outcome. The interplay between systemic host responses, local insults in the kidney, vascular bed, and immune system, all play a role in the development of sepsis-induced acute renal failure. Despite advances in critical care, mortality rates have remained high for sepsis-associated acute renal failure. This may be, in part, a function of our poor understanding of the mechanisms of sepsis-induced acute renal failure, leading to misguided management strategies for acute renal failure. Improved understanding of various emerging mechanisms of sepsis-induced acute renal failure such as epithelial barrier dysfunction, apoptosis, and cytokine-mediated injury, should open newer avenues of therapeutic targets in this field. As has often been the case in the study of sepsis, simple universal mechanisms such as tissue perfusion, have failed to explain the diverse and complex clinical response, and therapeutic strategies aimed at single mechanisms have not been successful. The pathophysiologic mechanisms now understood to be operative in sepsis-induced acute renal failure overlap and interact at many levels. Therefore, therapeutic strategies to prevent acute renal failure or to facilitate recovery will likely need to be multifaceted.
Effect of Producing Different Phenazines on Bacterial Fitness and Biological Control in Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84

Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84 is a biological control agent selected for its ability to suppress diseases caused by fungal pathogens. P. chlororaphis 30-84 produces three phenazines: phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA), 2-hydroxy-phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (2OHPCA) and a small amount of 2-hydroxy-phenazine (2OHPHZ), and these are required for fungal pathogen inhibition and wheat rhizosphere competence. The two, 2-hydroxy derivatives are produced from PCA via the activity of a phenazine-modifying enzyme encoded by phzO. In addition to the seven biosynthetic genes responsible for the production of PCA, many other Pseudomonas strains possess one or more modifying genes, which encode enzymes that act independently or together to convert PCA into other phenazine derivatives. In order to understand the fitness effects of producing different phenazines, we constructed isogenic derivatives of P. chlororaphis 30-84 that differed only in the type of phenazines produced. Altering the type of phenazines produced by P. chlororaphis 30-84 enhanced the spectrum of fungal pathogens inhibited and altered the degree of take-all disease suppression. These strains also differed in their ability to promote extracellular DNA release, which may contribute to the observed differences in the amount of biofilm produced. All derivatives were equally important for survival over repeated plant/harvest cycles, indicating that the type of phenazines produced is less important for persistence in the wheat rhizosphere than whether or not cells produce phenazines. These findings provide a better understanding of the effects of different phenazines on functions important for biological control activity with implications for applications that rely on introduced or native phenazine producing populations.
Nonlinear interactions between solitons and dispersive shocks in focusing media.

Nonlinear interactions in focusing media between traveling solitons and the dispersive shocks produced by an initial discontinuity are studied using the one-dimensional nonlinear Schrodinger equation. It is shown that, when solitons travel from a region with nonzero background toward a region with zero background, they always pass through the shock structure without generating dispersive radiation. However, their properties (such as amplitude, velocity, and shape) change in the process. A similar effect arises when solitons travel from a region with zero background toward a region with nonzero background, except that, depending on its initial velocity, in this case the soliton may remain trapped inside the shocklike structure indefinitely. In all cases, the new soliton properties can be determined analytically. The results are validated by comparison with numerical simulations.
An aluminium superinductor.

Granular aluminium — a superconductor with high kinetic inductance — has been used to create a superinductor for a fluxonium superconducting qubit.
Quantification of Stemflow in Three Isolated Shrub Species in an Urban Environment

As precipitation falls on to vegetation, it is partitioned into throughfall, vapor and stemflow. The stemflow component is frequently neglected in water budgeting for trees and shrubs due to its presumed small volume and limited research. Studies of stemflow in shrub species are especially rare. This study focuses on stemflow in shrubs and specifically examines its relationship to plant morphology and meteorological factors. Two individuals of three species, Prunus laurocerasus (common name ‘Otto Luyken'), Hydrangea quercifolia (common name ‘Alice’), and Itea virginica (common name ‘Little Henry’), were studied in an outdoor experiment in Philadelphia, PA during the 2015 growing season. Stemflow was collected using aluminum collars which had been attached to individual branches of each plant. Vinyl tubing conveyed the stemflow from the collars into collection bottles which were weighed after rain events. To relate stemflow to plant morphology, the vertical projected canopy area of each collared branch, branch attachment angle, stem circumference, and direction of collar were evaluated. To relate stemflow to meteorological conditions, the research also quantified rain depth, rain intensity, rain event duration, wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, gust speed, and date and time of storm. The importance of each of these independent variables were studied using a forward stepwise linear regression. Stemflow averaged 7.6% of total incident rainfall on the canopy area of the monitored stems, with values ranging from 0% to 58% by branch and storm event. Species-specific averages were found to be 11.4%, 7.0%, and 4.4% for P. laurocerasus, H. quercifolia, and I. virginica, respectively. The results suggest a significant variation in stemflow by species. Statistical analysis determined that between 55% and 79% of the observed variation in stemflow can be explained by the regression model variables and gust speed and projected canopy area were determined to be significant across all regression models. Stemflow rates appear to be impacted by both inter-plant and local climate factors; however, additional research is needed to further refine the understanding of stem flow and canopy water budgeting.
Metamodel-based quantile estimation for hedging control of manufacturing systems

Hedging-based control policies release a job into the system so that the probability of a job completing by its deadline is acceptable; job release decisions are based on quantile estimates of the job lead times. In multistage systems, these quantiles cannot be calculated analytically. In such cases, simulation can provide useful estimates, but computing a simulation-based quantile at the time of a job release decision is impractical. We explore a metamodeling approach based on efficient experiment design that can allow, after an offline learning phase, a metamodel estimate for the state-dependent lead time quantile. This allows for real time control if the metamodel is accurate, and computationally fast. In preliminary testing of a three-stage production system we find high accuracy for quadratic and cubic regression metamodels. These preliminary findings suggest that there is potential for metamodel-based hedging policies for real time control of manufacturing systems.
Abstract 3054: Targeting TGF-β signaling for obesity/insulin resistance-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Recently, obesity, insulin resistance/type 2 diabetes mellitus and fatty liver disease, i.e., key components of the metabolic syndrome, have been recognized as risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Obesity and dysmetabolism serve as drivers of oncogenesis in the setting of abnormal hepatic morphology and physiology, and hepatic steatosis may provide the promoting microenvironment for the development of HCC. Dysregulated signaling in the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathway plays a central role in immunomodulation, inflammation, and fibrogenesis in the HCC microenvironment. We used a carcinogen Diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced HCC mouse model in genetically obese mice [heterozygous Agouti yellow (Ay/a)] and haplo-knock out of Smad3 (a kinase downstream of type II receptor for TGFβ to study the detailed mechanism by which Smad3-dependent TGF-β signaling regulates obesity-associated dysmetabolism in HCC, and to determine whether inhibition of TGF-β signaling could inhibit obesity-associated HCC. Methods:Ay/a mice in C57B/L genetic background were bred with Smad3 knockout mouse (Smad3+/−). Obese and insulin-resistant Ay/a mice were treated with DEN (i.p. 25mg/kg) at 14 days of age to induce HCC. Ay/a mice and DEN-induce HCC mice were treated with TGF-β receptor 2 inhibitor (EW7919, 20 mg/kg orally 3 times/week for 8 weeks). We performed RNA sequencing analysis for 40 mouse liver samples from the groups of mice above. Results: 1. Haplodeficiency of Smad3 significantly decreased obesity Ay/a mouse weight and suppressed fatty liver development. 2. Treatment of TGF-β receptor 2 inhibitor to Ay mice successfully blocked weight gain in Ay/a mice. 3. DEN-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in Ay/a mice occurred significantly earlier than in lean (a/a) C57B/L mice. 4. Inhibition of TGF-β signaling by Smad3 haplodeficiency significantly upregulated lipid catabolic processes and downregulated cytokine-induce leukocyte migration in the fatty livers of Ay/a mice. 5. Inhibition of TGF-β signaling by genetic or pharmacologic inhibitors significantly suppressed HCC development in Ay/a mice. Conclusion: We demonstrated a specific cancer promoting role of TGF-β in metabolic reprogramming in liver cancer cells, highlighting the TGF-β signaling pathway as a potential therapeutic target in obesity/insulin resistance-associated HCC. Citation Format: Jian Chen, Xiaoping Su, Andres Rojas, Robert S Bresalier, John R. Stroehlein, Sai-ching Yeung. Targeting TGF-β signaling for obesity/insulin resistance-associated hepatocellular carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 3054.
Ambulatory EEG Monitoring, Reviewing, and Interpreting.

SUMMARY This section of this volume of the Journal of Neurophysiology's review of ambulatory EEG (aEEG) is an overview of the uses of the technique, the clinicians who most often use it, and why they use it. It looks at the use of aEEG from the perspectives of the "generalist" and the "specialist" and discusses where they have similar interests and where their interest may diverge. It compares the use of aEEG to the more classic inpatient-based epilepsy monitoring unit service and compares the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches (aEEG vs. epilepsy monitoring unit). This section then reviews how aEEGs are clinically interpreted based on a best practices approach and how aEEGs can be modified to address recording problems that, until recently, have been approached only in an epilepsy monitoring unit environment. Finally, this section addresses the qualifications necessary for the proper interpretation and reporting of aEEG studies. At the end of this section, there are five case examples using aEEG techniques that demonstrate various aspects covered in this section. These case reports demonstrate not only the utility of aEEG but also show how aEEG recordings can be integrated into the care of complex clinical situations that are frequently encountered not only by the practicing generalists but also by epilepsy specialists who practices out of a comprehensive epilepsy program.
Arming "old guards" with "new dual-targeting weapons".

The long-held paradigm that tumor suppressors are un-targetable in cancer therapy is challenged by a study published in Science. This recent work elegantly describes and characterizes a p53 mutant peptide-selective TCR-mimic antibody and its co-targeting T cell-activating bispecific antibody to eliminate neoantigen-expressing tumors.
ATYPICAL SINUSITIS IN A PATIENT ON ANTI-RESORPTIVE MEDICATION: A CASE REPORT

BACKGROUND Skeletal complications and bone loss resulting from giant cell tumor (GCT) of the bone are uncommon.1 However, GCT can be locally aggressive and lead to surgical resection. Antiresorptive medications are used in these patients to reduce the risk of complications. CASE REPORT A 50-year-old male patient presented to the Oral Medicine clinic at the University of Florida College of Dentistry with the chief complaint of discomfort and swelling in the left maxillary region. The patient had been on various antiresorptive medications including Zometa. Clinical examination demonstrated an intraoral fistula on the left side of the maxilla in the non-keratinized gingiva. After correlation with the patient's medical history, medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) was suspected. A complete opacification and dystrophic calcification within the left maxillary sinus were noted on cone beam computed tomography. There were disruptions of the posterior and anterior walls of the maxillary sinus. The radiographic findings were consistent with chronic sinusitis with possible fungal infection. The possibility of MRONJ or a malignant neoplasm was also included. Histopathologic analysis revealed chronic inflammation and polypoid tissue with viable reactive bone. After endoscopy and histopathologic evaluation, the patient was prescribed 300 mg chlorhexidine and sodium chloride solution. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS There are reports of sinus involvement with MRONJ if the radiograph shows unilateral mucoperiosteal thickening, sinus opacification, and fistula formation. These findings may mimic sinusitis. The patient had these radiographic findings as well as discontinuity of the sinus boundaries.