On a refinement of Wilf-equivalence for permutations

Recently, Dokos et al. conjectured that for all $k, m\geq 1$, the patterns $12\ldots k(k+m+1)\ldots (k+2)(k+1)$ and $(m+1)(m+2)\ldots (k+m+1)m\ldots 21$ are $maj$-Wilf-equivalent. In this paper, we confirm this conjecture for all $k\geq 1$ and $m=1$. In fact, we construct a descent set preserving bijection between $12\ldots k (k-1)$-avoiding permutations and $23\ldots k1$-avoiding permutations for all $k\geq 3$. As a corollary, our bijection enables us to settle a conjecture of Gowravaram and Jagadeesan concerning the Wilf-equivalence for permutations with given descent sets

Use of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells for creation of laryngeal cartilage

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) are an exciting potential cell source for tissue engineering because cells can be derived from the simple excision of autologous fat. This study introduces a novel approach for tissue-engineering cartilage from ASCs and a customized collagen oligomer solution, and demonstrates that the resultant cartilage can be used for laryngeal cartilage reconstruction in an animal model. STUDY DESIGN: Basic science experimental design. METHODS: ASCs were isolated from F344 rats, seeded in a customized collagen matrix, and cultured in chondrogenic differentiation medium for 1, 2, and 4 weeks until demonstrating cartilage-like characteristics in vitro. Large laryngeal cartilage defects were created in the F344 rat model, with the engineered cartilage used to replace the cartilage defects, and the rats followed for 1 to 3 months. Staining examined cellular morphology and cartilage-specific features. RESULTS: In vitro histological staining revealed rounded chondrocyte-appearing cells evenly residing throughout the customized collagen scaffold, with positive staining for cartilage-specific markers. The cartilage was used to successfully repair large cartilaginous defects in the rat model, with excellent functional results. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first study to demonstrate, in an animal model, that ASCs cultured in a unique form of collagen oligomer can create functional cartilage-like grafts that can be successfully used for partial laryngeal cartilage replacement

The Gaps Model and Faculty Services: Quality Analysis Through a “New” Lens

Faculty service is an important function of U.S. academic law libraries. This article evaluates three types of faculty services programs using the Gaps Model to identify, analyze, and propose ways to fill four main gaps: knowledge, policy, delivery, and service quality

The Gaps Model and Faculty Services: Quality Analysis Through a “New” Lens

Faculty service is an important function of U.S. academic law libraries. This article evaluates three types of faculty services programs using the Gaps Model to identify, analyze, and propose ways to fill four main gaps: knowledge, policy, delivery, and service quality

Salmonella enterica Coordination of Virulence Gene Expression and Carbon Metabolism during Infection

Salmonella enterica, which consists of zoonotic, rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacteria, is the cause of about 78 million cases of foodborne illness each year and is the leading cause of death by bacterial foodborne illnesses in the world. The category of foodborne illnesses itself is responsible for about $152 billion of annual economic losses. When Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infects its host, the CsrA and BarA-SirA system regulates the expression of metabolic and virulence genes. Our goal is to determine the activity of the CsrA and BarA-SirA system during infection and how this activity coordinates carbon metabolism and the expression of virulence genes. We hypothesize that CsrA activity is low during intestinal infection and high during systemic infection. To test this hypothesis, genes of interest were cloned into translational fusion vectors containing a mCherry fluorescent reporter. These vectors were inserted at flippase recognition target (FRT) sites in the Salmonella chromosome of wild type, sirA mutant, and csrA mutant strains. During growth in the presence or absence of glucose and under conditions that induce Salmonella Pathogenicity Islands 1 and 2, these strains were assayed in vitro to replicate the intestinal and systemic environments in which these pathogenicity islands are expressed so that in the future, the results can be further analyzed in vivo. Preliminary findings show that CsrA activity is present in vitro based on the regulation of the genes of interest by CsrA. The outcomes of this study will not only enhance our understanding of the interaction between host and pathogen, but they will also be a stepping stone to the development of therapeutics against an illness that affects so many around the world.A five-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Microbiolog

A Product Affinity Segmentation Framework

Product affinity segmentation discovers the linking between customers and products for cross-selling and promotion opportunities to increase sales and profits. However, there are some challenges with conventional approaches. The most straightforward approach is to use the product-level data for customer segmentation, but it results in less meaningful solutions. Moreover, customer segmentation becomes challenging on massive datasets due to computational complexity of traditional clustering methods. As an alternative, market basket analysis may suffer from association rules too general to be relevant for important segments. In this paper, we propose to partition customers and discover associated products simultaneously by detecting communities in the customer-product bipartite graph using the Louvain algorithm that has good interpretability in this context. Through the post-clustering analysis, we show that this framework generates statistically distinct clusters and identifies associated products relevant for each cluster. Our analysis provides greater insights into customer purchase behaviors, potentially helping personalization strategic planning (e.g. customized product recommendation) and profitability increase. And our case study of a large U.S. retailer provides useful management insights. Moreover, the graph application, based on almost 800,000 sales transactions, finished in 7.5 seconds on a standard PC, demonstrating its computational efficiency and better facilitating the requirements of big data

Cartilage Engineering: Optimization of Media for Chondrogenic Differentiation In Vitro

Lower back pain from intervertebral disc injury affects around 84% of the population at some point in their life, which at its worst may cause total immobilization. This pain can only be temporarily relieved by spinal fusion or intervertebral disc replacement; however, both of these cause loss of natural motion in patients by removing damaged fibrocartilage discs. While these techniques help mitigate pain briefly, no permanent solution exists currently to both relieve pain and preserve natural motion. My work may be a solution by eventually providing patient-specific implants that resemble native tissue in the regeneration process that could be absorbed and remodeled by the body. The purpose of this study is to use tunable type I oligomeric collagen matrices for culturing of patient-derived stem cells to optimize chondrogenic media. Human adipose stem cells (hASCs) were passaged and used in conjunction with oligomer collagen, which was polymerized as cell/oligomer mixtures and plastically compressed to a density of 24.5mg/mL, with 4.5x105 cells per sample. These cell-matrix constructs were cultured with different media and supplements (namely TGF-β (3) and L-ascorbic-acid-2-phosphate) for 1 week. Safranin-o staining was used to detect sulfated glycosaminoglycans, a direct measure of chondrogenesis. Preliminary results show that supplemented DMEM media has the most chondrogenic potential, but further study is required. These results will be used to further improve the process of chondrogenesis in vitro in order to develop fibrocartilage constructs for use in vivo, eventually allowing for implantable constructs that both preserve natural disc height and relieve pain more permanently

Comparison of Crystal Field Dependent and Independent Methods to Analyse Lanthanide Induced NMR Shifts in Axially Symmetric Complexes. Part II: Systems with a C4 Symmetry Axis

Analysis of the LIS data for several series of Ln3+ complexes of C4 symmetry in terms of structural changes, crystal-field effects and/or variation of hyperfine constants along the lanthanide series was undertaken using a combination of the two-nuclei and three-nuclei techniques together with the classical onenucleus technique. Isostructurality of whole series of complexes, with changes of the Fi, and B02 parameters, was clearly defined for the complexes of L by the combination of the two first methods. Small changes, involving the three Fi, Gi and B02 parameters, are observed for the series of complexes of L-L4, using the three data plotting methods. Some of the plots according to the two- and three-nuclei methods are accidentally linear, without necessarily implying isostructurality of the complexes, as they involve parameters, which may be insensitive to any small structural changes occurring in these systems. These parameter variations could result from a magnification, by the present graphical analysis, of the breaks expected from the gradual structural changes along the series due to the lanthanide contraction. The α and β parameters of the three-nuclei method are not diagnostic of the type of structures the complexes have in solution, due to their very indirect dependence on the geometric factors