A Relational Event Approach to Modeling Behavioral Dynamics

This chapter provides an introduction to the analysis of relational event data (i.e., actions, interactions, or other events involving multiple actors that occur over time) within the R/statnet platform. We begin by reviewing the basics of relational event modeling, with an emphasis on models with piecewise constant hazards. We then discuss estimation for dyadic and more general relational event models using the relevent package, with an emphasis on hands-on applications of the methods and interpretation of results. Statnet is a collection of packages for the R statistical computing system that supports the representation, manipulation, visualization, modeling, simulation, and analysis of relational data. Statnet packages are contributed by a team of volunteer developers, and are made freely available under the GNU Public License. These packages are written for the R statistical computing environment, and can be used with any computing platform that supports R (including Windows, Linux, and Mac).

FePt@CoS2 yolk-shell nanocrystals as a potent agent to kill HeLa cells

In situ gap-mode Raman spectra were acquired in an electrochemical environment on a single-crystal gold electrode employing a Au(100)|4,4'-biphenyldithiol (BPDT)|Au-NP(55 nm) sandwich assembly. This geometry enabled an investigation of the influence of an applied electrochemical gate field on the conformational changes in nanojunctions, such as the torsion angle (phi) of molecules. A linear correlation between the intensity ratio I-C=C/ICring-S and cos(2) phi in 4,4'-BPDT-type molecular junctions was established and subsequently utilized to estimate the potential dependence of the torsion angle of the "flexible" molecule M1 at different potentials. The latter decreases as the potential (charge) becomes more negative, resulting in better pi-pi coupling, which correlates with enhanced junction conductance. The demonstrated spectroelectrochemical strategy and the direct correlation of the spectroscopic results with (single) molecular conductance studies may guide the selection and elucidation of functional molecules for potential applications in novel nanodevices

Sub-Sets of Cancer Stem Cells Differ Intrinsically in Their Patterns of Oxygen Metabolism

PMCID: PMC3640080This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Preoperative Antiviral Therapy and Long-Term Outcomes for Hepatitis B Virus-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Curative Liver Resection: A Multicenter Analysis

Mu-Gen Dai,1,2 Si-Yu Liu,2 Lin Zhu,3 Wen-Feng Lu,4 Gui-Lin Xie,5 Lei Liang,6 Jun-Wei Liu,6 Bin Ye1 1Department of Gastroenterology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Interventional Research of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University Lishui Hospital, Lishui, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Gastroenterology, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University (Navy Medical University), Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, 312000, People’s Republic of China; 6General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jun-Wei Liu, General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Bin Ye, Department of Gastroenterology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] & Aims: To examine the association of the history of preoperative antiviral therapy (AVT) with the tumor recurrence and overall survival in HBV-related HCC patients undergoing curative-intent hepatectomy.Methods: Patients who underwent curative-intent hepatectomy for HBV-related HCC between 2014 and 2019 at 4 Chinese hospitals were analyzed. Patients were categorized as having undergone preoperative antiviral therapy (AVT) > 1 year or without antiviral therapy (non-AVT). Patient clinical features, short-term outcomes, overall survival (OS), and time-to-recurrence (TTR) were also compared. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify the impact of preoperative AVT on the OS and TTR.Results: Among the 565 patients, 190 (33.6%) underwent continuous AVT > 1 year before surgery. Patients in the non-AVT group were more likely to have worse liver function and more advanced tumor pathological characteristics than those in the AVT group. Postoperative morbidity and mortality rates were comparable between the two groups. Multivariate analyses revealed that a preoperative HBV viral level ≥ 2000 IU/mL was independently associated with poorer TTR (hazard ratio, 1.328; 95% CI, 1.049– 1.682) and preoperative AVT was a protective factor for OS (hazard ratio, 0.691; 95% CI, 0.484– 0.986).Conclusion: A high preoperative HBV DNA level was an independent risk factor for tumor recurrence. Preoperative AVT > 1 year was associated with better OS and a reduced incidence of tumor recurrence by inhibiting the preoperative level of HBV DNA. Keywords: hepatectomy, hepatitis B virus, antiviral therapy, survival, recurrenc

Predicting residence time using a continuous‐time discrete‐space model of leatherback turtle satellite telemetry data

The utilization and capabilities of biotelemetry are expanding enormously as technology and access rapidly improve. These large, correlated datasets pose statistical challenges requiring advanced statistical techniques to appropriately interpret and model animal movement. We used satellite telemetry data of critically endangered Eastern Pacific leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) to develop a habitat‐based model of their motility (and conversely residence time) using a hierarchical Bayesian framework, which could be broadly applied across species. To account for the spatiotemporally auto‐correlated, unbalanced, and presence‐only telemetry observations, in combination with dynamic environmental variables, a novel modeling approach was applied. We expanded a Poisson generalized linear model in a continuous‐time discrete‐space (CTDS) model framework to predict individual leatherback movement based on environmental drivers, such as sea surface temperature. Population‐level movement estimates were then obtained with a Bayesian approach and used to create monthly, near real‐time predictions of Eastern Pacific leatherback movement in the South Pacific Ocean. This model framework will inform the development of a dynamic ocean management model, “South Pacific TurtleWatch (SPTW),” and could be applied to telemetry data from other populations and species to predict motility and residence times in dynamic environments, while accounting for statistical uncertainties arising at multiple stages of telemetry analysi

Identification, Characterization, and Expression of a Novel P450 Gene Encoding CYP6AE25 from the Asian Corn Borer, Ostrinia furnacalis

An allele of the cytochrome P450 gene, CYP6AE14, named CYP6AE25 (GenBank accession no. EU807990) was isolated from the Asian com borer, Ostrinia fumacalis (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) by RT-PCR. The cDNA sequence of CYP6AE25 is 2315 bp in length and contains a 1569 nucleotides open reading frame encoding a putative protein with 523 amino acid residues and a predicted molecular weight of 59.95 kDa and a theoretical pI of 8.31. The putative protein contains the classic heme-binding sequence motif F××G×××C×G (residues 451–460) conserved among all P450 enzymes as well as other characteristic motifs of all cytochrome P450s. It shares 52% identity with the previously published sequence of CYP6AE14 (GenBank accession no. DQ986461) from Helicoverpa armigera. Phylogenetic analysis of amino acid sequences from members of various P450 families indicated that CYP6AE25 has a closer phylogenetic relationship with CYP6AE14 and CYP6B1 that are related to metabolism of plant allelochemicals, CYP6D1 which is related to pyrethroid resistance and has a more distant relationship to CYP302A1 and CYP307A1 which are related to synthesis of the insect molting hormones. The expression level of the gene in the adults and immature stages of O. furnacalis by quantitative real-time PCR revealed that CYP6AE25 was expressed in all life stages investigated. The mRNA expression level in 3rd instar larvae was 12.8- and 2.97-fold higher than those in pupae and adults, respectively. The tissue specific expression level of CYP6AE25 was in the order of midgut, malpighian tube and fatty body from high to low but was absent in ovary and brain. The analysis of the CYP6AB25 gene using bioinformatic software is discussed

Downregulation of Mcl-1 has anti-inflammatory pro-resolution effects and enhances bacterial clearance from the lung

Phagocytes not only coordinate acute inflammation and host defense at mucosal sites, but also contribute to tissue damage. Respiratory infection causes a globally significant disease burden and frequently progresses to acute respiratory distress syndrome, a devastating inflammatory condition characterized by neutrophil recruitment and accumulation of protein-rich edema fluid causing impaired lung function. We hypothesized that targeting the intracellular protein myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1) by a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (AT7519) or a flavone (wogonin) would accelerate neutrophil apoptosis and resolution of established inflammation, but without detriment to bacterial clearance. Mcl-1 loss induced human neutrophil apoptosis, but did not induce macrophage apoptosis nor impair phagocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils. Neutrophil-dominant inflammation was modelled in mice by either endotoxin or bacteria (Escherichia coli). Downregulating inflammatory cell Mcl-1 had anti-inflammatory, pro-resolution effects, shortening the resolution interval (R(i)) from 19 to 7 h and improved organ dysfunction with enhanced alveolar–capillary barrier integrity. Conversely, attenuating drug-induced Mcl-1 downregulation inhibited neutrophil apoptosis and delayed resolution of endotoxin-mediated lung inflammation. Importantly, manipulating lung inflammatory cell Mcl-1 also accelerated resolution of bacterial infection (R(i); 50 to 16 h) concurrent with enhanced bacterial clearance. Therefore, manipulating inflammatory cell Mcl-1 accelerates inflammation resolution without detriment to host defense against bacteria, and represents a target for treating infection-associated inflammation

A Submodular Approach for Reference Recommendation

© 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. Choosing appropriate references for a given topic is an important, yet challenging task. The pool of potential candidates is typically very large, in the order of tens of thousands, and growing by the day. For this reason, this paper proposes an approach for automatically providing a reference list for a given manuscript. The approach is based on an original submodular inference function which balances relevance, coverage and diversity in the reference list. Experiments are carried out using an ACL corpus as a source for the references and evaluated by MAP, MRR and precision-recall. The results show the remarkable comparative performance of the proposed approach

Detecting Latin-Based Medical Terminology in Croatian Texts

No matter what the main language of texts in the medical domain is, there is always an evidence of the usage of Latin-derived words and formative elements in terminology development. Generally speaking, this usage presents language-specific morpho-semantic behaviors in forming both technical-scientific and common-usage words. Nevertheless, this usage of Latin in Croatian medical texts does not seem consistent due to the fact that diferent mechanisms of word formation may be applied to the same term. In our pursuit to map all the diferent occurrences of the same concept to only one, we propose a model designed within NooJ and based on dictionaries and morphological grammars. Starting from the manual detection of nouns and their variations, we recognize some word formation mechanisms and develop grammars suitable to recognize Latinisms and Croatinized Latin medical terminology

Evidence-based obstetrics in four hospitals in China: An observational study to explore clinical practice, women's preferences and provider's views

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based obstetric care is widely promoted in developing countries, but the success of implementation is not known. Using selected childbirth care procedures in four hospitals in Shanghai, we compared practice against evidence-based information, and explored user and provider views about each procedure. METHODS: Observational study. Using the Cochrane Library, we identified six procedures that should be avoided as routine and two that should be encouraged. Procedure rate determined by exit interviews with women, verified using hospital notes. Views of women and providers explored with in depth interviews. The study sites were three hospitals in Shanghai and one in neighbouring province of Jiangsu. 150 women at each centre for procedure rate, and 48 in-depth interviews with women and providers. RESULTS: Vaginal births were 50% (303/599) of the total. Of the six practices where evidence suggests they should be avoided as routine, three were performed with rates above 70%: pubic shaving (3 hospitals), rectal examination (3 hospitals), and episiotomy (3 hospitals). Most women delivered lying down, pain relief was rarely given, and only in the urban district hospital did women routinely have a companion. Most women wanted support or companionship during labour and to be given pain relief; but current practice is insufficient to meet women's needs. CONCLUSION: Obstetric practice is not following best available evidence in the hospitals studied. There is a need to adjust hospital policy to support the use of interventions proven to be of benefit to women during childbirth, and develop approaches that ensure clinical practice changes