How do foreclosures exacerbate housing downturns?

This article uses a structural model to show that foreclosures played a crucial role in exacerbating the recent housing bust and to analyse foreclosure mitigation policy. We consider a dynamic search model in which foreclosures freeze the market for non-foreclosures and reduce price and sales volume by eroding lender equity, destroying the credit of potential buyers, and making buyers more selective. These effects cause price-default spirals that amplify an initial shock and help the model fit both national and cross-sectional moments better than a model without foreclosure. When calibrated to the recent bust, the model reveals that the amplification generated by foreclosures is significant: ruined credit and choosey buyers account for 25.4% of the total decline in non-distressed prices and lender losses account for an additional 22.6%. For policy, we find that principal reduction is less cost-effective than lender equity injections or introducing a single seller that holds foreclosures off the market until demand rebounds. We also show that policies that slow down the pace of foreclosures can be counterproductive.Accepted manuscrip

The Therapeutic Role of Turmeric in Treatment and Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease

As a devastating neurological condition that expends millions of lives each year, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a subject of intense investigation.1 Although AD has been known for over a century, the precise mechanisms that underlie AD pathogenesis and development are still poorly understood. The Alzheimer phenotype is typified by extracellular amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), causing researchers to notice several key enzymes implicated in this process.1 Most notable are β and γ secretases (which drive Aβ plaque production) and phospholipase A2 (which stimulates major cascade activation through the specific cleavage of fatty acyl esters).2 Both acidic and neutral sphingomyelinases of the ceramide pathway are also strongly linked to AD development and progression.3,4 As a specific type of esterase, PLA2 specializes in phospholipid catabolism by specifically cleaving fatty acyl bonds at the sn-2 position, producing a free fatty acid and lysophospholipids as products.3,5 This stimulates the arachidonic acid (AA) cascade, while lipid cleavage by sphingomyelinase upregulates the ceramide pathway.3 Cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipooxygenase (LOX) are suspected to be key players in oxidative and neurological damage and are involved in both these metabolic pathways.4,5 A further investigation of these molecular messengers and their cellular environments is absolutely essential for therapeutic intervention and effective medical treatments. Recently, the role of herbal medicines has been investigated to produce possible leads for Alzheimer’s treatment. Turmeric contains over 20 medicinally useful compounds, of which curcumin is a key component.6 In this review, we hypothesize that turmeric will prove especially useful in preventing amyloid-β plaque deposition in early stages of AD and improvement of learning and coordination in middle stages of the disease. Further evidence suggests curcumin’s efficacy in resisting ROS, preventing tau aggregation, and limiting the spread of pro-inflammatory molecules throughout the body. Because of its highly beneficial effects as an Alzheimer therapeutic, we commend that turmeric be studied in greater detail and incorporated into Western medical treatments. Additionally, a prospective study will be presented to determine the efficacy of turmeric therapies, both in improving physical activities and overall neurological health. Although turmeric’s precise mechanisms are not yet understood, multiple studies have confirmed its beneficial effects in preventing amyloidogenesis by modulating esterase and sphingomyelinase activities and also resisting misdirected cleavage of APP.2 Turmeric has also been found to downregulate abnormal GSK-3β function and prevent formation of SPs and NFTs. Interestingly, murine models subjected to a turmeric regimen not only displayed a reversal of AD symptoms, but also demonstrated a lower susceptibility to neurodegenerative disease.3 Collectively, these findings strongly support turmeric’s therapeutic use in Western medicine

Opioid Settlement Funds: Do Not Neglect Patients With Pain

The opioid crisis has escalated in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic to new extremes and has claimed more than half a million lives in the US since 2000. Lawsuits to address the civil and criminal liability of drug companies and other groups have originated from federal, state, local, and tribal jurisdictions. When successful, there will likely be billions of dollars and significant discretion as to how these funds are spent. Several groups have produced reports with principles to address the toll of addiction using settlement funds. However, they lack actionable strategies to address the needs of patients with pain, including patients with chronic pain who are receiving long-term opioid therapy. Persons with pain should not be neglected and deserve better treatment

CYLD deubiquitinates RIP1 in the TNFalpha-induced necrosome to facilitate kinase activation and programmed necrosis

BACKGROUND: Necroptosis/programmed necrosis is initiated by a macro-molecular protein complex termed the necrosome. Receptor interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1/RIP1) and RIP3 are key components of the necrosome. TNFalpha is a prototypic inducer of necrosome activation, and it is widely believed that deubiquitination of RIP1 at the TNFR-1 signaling complex precedes transition of RIP1 into the cytosol where it forms the RIP1-RIP3 necrosome. Cylindromatosis (CYLD) is believed to promote programmed necrosis by facilitating RIP1 deubiquitination at this membrane receptor complex. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We demonstrate that RIP1 is indeed the primary target of CYLD in TNFalpha-induced programmed necrosis. We observed that CYLD does not regulate RIP1 ubiquitination at the TNF receptor. TNF and zVAD-induced programmed necrosis was highly attenuated in CYLD(-/-) cells. However, in the presence of cycloheximide or SMAC mimetics, programmed necrosis was only moderately reduced in CYLD(-/-) cells. Under the latter conditions, RIP1-RIP3 necrosome formation is only delayed, but not abolished in CYLD(-/-) cells. We further demonstrate that RIP1 within the NP-40 insoluble necrosome is ubiquitinated and that CYLD regulates RIP1 ubiquitination in this compartment. Hence, RIP1 ubiquitination in this late-forming complex is greatly increased in CYLD(-/-) cells. Increased RIP1 ubiquitination impairs RIP1 and RIP3 phosphorylation, a signature of kinase activation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that CYLD regulates RIP1 ubiquitination in the TNFalpha-induced necrosome, but not in the TNFR-1 signaling complex. In cells sensitized to programmed necrosis with SMAC mimetics, CYLD is not essential for necrosome assembly. Since SMAC mimetics induces the loss of the E3 ligases cIAP1 and cIAP2, reduced RIP1 ubiquitination could lead to reduced requirement for CYLD to remove ubiquitin chains from RIP1 in the TNFR-1 complex. As increased RIP1 ubiquitination in the necrosome correlates with impaired RIP1 and RIP3 phosphorylation and function, these results suggest that CYLD controls RIP1 kinase activity during necrosome assembly

On-orbit assembly using superquadric potential fields

The autonomous on-orbit assembly of a large space structure is presented using a method based on superquadric artificial potential fields. The final configuration of the elements which form the structure is represented as the minimum of some attractive potential field. Each element of the structure is then considered as presenting an obstacle to the others using a superquadric potential field attached to the body axes of the element. A controller is developed which ensures that the global potential field decreases monotonically during the assembly process. An error quaternion representation is used to define both the attractive and superquadric obstacle potentials allowing the final configuration of the elements to be defined through both relative position and orientation. Through the use of superquadric potentials, a wide range of geometric objects can be represented using a common formalism, while collision avoidance can make use of both translational and rotation maneuvers to reduce total maneuver cost for the assembly process

Allostatic Load Markers as Predictors of Melanoma Outcomes

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp23/1046/thumbnail.jp

Digital Twinning remote laboratories for online practical learning, Production & Manufacturing Research

The COVID19 pandemic has demonstrated a need for remote learning and virtual learning applications such as virtual reality (VR) and tabletbased solutions. Creating complex learning scenarios by developers is highly time-consuming and can take over a year. It is also costly to employ teams of system analysts, developers, and 3D artists. There is a requirement to provide a simple method to enable lecturers to create their own content for their laboratory tutorials. Research has been undertaken into developing generic models to enable the semiautomatic creation of virtual learning tools for subjects that require practical interactions with the lab resources. In addition to the system for creating digital twins, a case study describing the creation of a virtual learning application for an electrical laboratory tutorial is presented, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach

O exame clínico de observação da discinese escapular é capaz de diferenciar portadores da disfunção dos normais?

Background:Altered scapular rotation and position have been named scapular dyskinesis. Visual dynamic assessment could be applied to classify this alteration based on the clinical observation of the winging of the inferior medial scapular border (Type I) or of the prominence of the entire medial border (Type II), or by the excessive superior translation of the scapula (Type III).Objective:The aim of this study was to determine if there were differences in scapular rotations (Type I and II) and position (Type III) between a group of subjects with scapular dyskinesis, diagnosed by the clinical observation of an expert physical therapist, using a group of healthy individuals (Type IV).Method:Twenty-six asymptomatic subjects volunteered for this study. After a fatigue protocol for the periscapular muscles, the dynamic scapular dyskinesis tests were conducted to visually classify each scapula into one of the four categories (Type IV dyskinesis-free). The kinematic variables studied were the differences between the maximum rotational dysfunctions and the minimum value that represented both normal function and a small dysfunctional movement.Results:Only scapular anterior tilt was significantly greater in the type I dyskinesis group (clinical observation of the posterior projection of the inferior angle of the scapula) when compared to the scapular dyskinesis-free group (p=0.037 scapular and p=0.001 sagittal plane).Conclusions:Clinical observation was considered appropriate only in the diagnoses of dyskinesis type I. Considering the lower prevalence and sample sizes for types II and III, further studies are necessary to validate the clinical observation as a tool to diagnose scapular dyskinesis.Contextualização:A movimentação ou posição alterada da escápula é definida como discinese escapular. O exame visual dinâmico pode ser utilizado para classificá-la de acordo com o julgamento clínico de projeção posterior excessiva da borda inferior medial (tipo I), da borda medial (tipo II) ou ainda translação excessiva no sentido cranial (tipo III).Objetivo: Determinar se há diferenças nas rotações escapulares (tipo I e II) e posição (tipo III) entre grupos de discinese e normais (tipo IV), os quais foram diagnosticados visualmente por um fisioterapeuta experiente.Método:Vinte e seis participantes assintomáticos foram voluntários neste estudo. Após um protocolo de fadiga periescapular, a avaliação dinâmica da discinese foi conduzida para classificar visualmente cada uma das escápulas em uma das quatro categorias (tipo IV - sem discinese). As variáveis cinemáticas estudadas foram a diferença entre o valor máximo indicativo da disfunção e o mínimo valor correspondente ao padrão normal esperado para o movimento ou o mínimo do próprio movimento disfuncional.Resultados:Apenas a inclinação anterior da escápula foi significantemente maior no grupo de discinese tipo I (observação visual de projeção posterior do ângulo inferior da escápula) quando comparada com o grupo sem discinese (p=0,037 plano escapular e p=0,001 plano sagital).Conclusões:A avaliação visual foi considerada apropriada apenas para o diagnóstico da discinese do tipo I. Considerando a baixa prevalência e o tamanho amostral dos tipos II e III, mais estudos são necessários para validar completamente a observação clínica como método adequado para o diagnóstico da discinese escapular.Universidade de São Paulo Ribeirao Preto Medical SchoolUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Department of Human Movement SciencesUniversity of Washington School of MedicineUNIFESP, Department of Human Movement SciencesSciEL

Characteristics of institutions with learning assistant programs: an equity investigation

https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2020.pr.McQuad