The Expression Levels of XLF and Mutant P53 Are Inversely Correlated in Head and Neck Cancer Cells.

XRCC4-like factor (XLF), also known as Cernunnos, is a protein encoded by the human NHEJ1 gene and an important repair factor for DNA double-strand breaks. In this study, we have found that XLF is over-expressed in HPV(+) versus HPV(-) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and significantly down-regulated in the HNSCC cell lines expressing high level of mutant p53 protein versus those cell lines harboring wild-type TP53 gene with low p53 protein expression. We have also demonstrated that Werner syndrome protein (WRN), a member of the NHEJ repair pathway, binds to both mutant p53 protein and NHEJ1 gene promoter, and siRNA knockdown of WRN leads to the inhibition of XLF expression in the HNSCC cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that WRN and p53 are involved in the regulation of XLF expression and the activity of WRN might be affected by mutant p53 protein in the HNSCC cells with aberrant TP53 gene mutations, due to the interaction of mutant p53 with WRN. As a result, the expression of XLF in these cancer cells is significantly suppressed. Our study also suggests that XLF is over-expressed in HPV(+) HNSCC with low expression of wild type p53, and might serve as a potential biomarker for HPV(+) HNSCC. Further studies are warranted to investigate the mechanisms underlying the interactive role of WRN and XLF in NHEJ repair pathway

Corporate social responsibility and CEO confidence

This study examines the relationship between firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CEO confidence. Research shows that CSR has a hedging feature. Research also shows that more confident CEOs underestimate firm risks, which, in turn, leads them to undertake relatively less hedging. Consistent with this, we find that CEO confidence is negatively related to the level of CSR. Closer analysis shows that this effect is stronger in the institutional aspects of CSR, such as community and workforce diversity, rather than in the technical aspects of CSR, such as corporate governance and product quality. Our results are robust to different competing explanations, including narcissism, which refers in this context to CEOs who engage in CSR to attract attention and alternative proxies for CSR and CEO confidence

A Multi-Scale Decomposition MLP-Mixer for Time Series Analysis

Time series data, often characterized by unique composition and complex multi-scale temporal variations, requires special consideration of decomposition and multi-scale modeling in its analysis. Existing deep learning methods on this best fit to only univariate time series, and have not sufficiently accounted for sub-series level modeling and decomposition completeness. To address this, we propose MSD-Mixer, a Multi-Scale Decomposition MLP-Mixer which learns to explicitly decompose the input time series into different components, and represents the components in different layers. To handle multi-scale temporal patterns and inter-channel dependencies, we propose a novel temporal patching approach to model the time series as multi-scale sub-series, i.e., patches, and employ MLPs to mix intra- and inter-patch variations and channel-wise correlations. In addition, we propose a loss function to constrain both the magnitude and autocorrelation of the decomposition residual for decomposition completeness. Through extensive experiments on various real-world datasets for five common time series analysis tasks (long- and short-term forecasting, imputation, anomaly detection, and classification), we demonstrate that MSD-Mixer consistently achieves significantly better performance in comparison with other state-of-the-art task-general and task-specific approaches

PgtE Enzyme of Salmonella enterica Shares the Similar Biological Roles to Plasminogen Activator (Pla) in Interacting With DEC-205 (CD205), and Enhancing Host Dissemination and Infectivity by Yersinia pestis

Yersinia pestis, the cause of plague, is a newly evolved Gram-negative bacterium. Through the acquisition of the plasminogen activator (Pla), Y. pestis gained the means to rapidly disseminate throughout its mammalian hosts. It was suggested that Y. pestis utilizes Pla to interact with the DEC-205 (CD205) receptor on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to initiate host dissemination and infection. However, the evolutionary origin of Pla has not been fully elucidated. The PgtE enzyme of Salmonella enterica, involved in host dissemination, shows sequence similarity with the Y. pestis Pla. In this study, we demonstrated that both Escherichia coli K-12 and Y. pestis bacteria expressing the PgtE-protein were able to interact with primary alveolar macrophages and DEC-205-transfected CHO cells. The interaction between PgtE-expressing bacteria and DEC-205-expressing transfectants could be inhibited by the application of an anti-DEC-205 antibody. Moreover, PgtE-expressing Y. pestis partially re-gained the ability to promote host dissemination and infection. In conclusion, the DEC-205-PgtE interaction plays a role in promoting the dissemination and infection of Y. pestis, suggesting that Pla and the PgtE of S. enterica might share a common evolutionary origin.Peer reviewe

Corporate social responsibility and CEO overconfidence

This thesis examines how CEO overconfidence is related to the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) undertaken by firms. CSR works as a hedging instrument by mitigating negative effects of damaging events on firm value. Overconfident CEOs underestimate the risks faced by firms and do relatively less hedging. Thus, I expect CEO overconfidence to be negatively related to the level of CSR. This hedging hypothesis is further supported through analysis of institutional and technical components of CSR. Institutional components of CSR have a greater hedging opportunity over technical components. Using a sample of 15,379 US firm-year observations, I find a significant and negative relation between CEO overconfidence and the level of CSR, and this negative relation is stronger for institutional components relative to technical components of CSR

Streamlined LCA of paper towel end of life options for UBC SEEDS : recycling vs. composting

This study was performed for the University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society (AMS) as part of the Sustainable Ecological Economic Development (SEEDs) program. Although paper towel is proven to be an environmentally damaging method for drying hands, relative to other methods such as hand dryers, many buildings on the UBC campus must still provide paper towel for technical or sanitary reasons (Gregory, 2011). In particular, the AMS is concerned with how to minimize the environmental footprint of paper towels used in the Student Union Building (SUB). This streamlined LCA provides a comparison between end-of-life options for paper towel used in SUB bathrooms, in particular for recycling and composting. The study used a closed loop process for recycling, and an open process with avoided burdens for composting. Overall it was determined that when considering impact categories of solid waste, electricity use, water depletion, fossil fuel depletion, climate change, and human toxicity, composting is the better option for all categories except for electricity consumption. Avoided burdens calculated to not change this result. For example, the Climate. Change impact for Recycling was 1,039 kg CO₂ eq while for composting it was 734 kg CO₂ eq (874 kg CO₂ eq without avoided burdens). Additionally, a basic life cycle cost analysis was completed, and composting costs to the university are less than those for recycling. Annual costs for composting were estimated at $5,070, while those for recycling were$16,120. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Applied Science, Faculty ofUnreviewedGraduat

Hybrid endoscopic-microscopic surgery for dumbbell-shaped trigeminal schwannoma: case report and literature review

BackgroundThe surgery of dumbbell-shaped trigeminal neurinomas (TN) remains one of the most formidable challenges for neurosurgeons because of its location at great depth in the cranium and proximity to vital neurovascular structures.ObjectiveTo describe the feasibility of a novel technique, synchronous endoscopy and microsurgery via combined far-lateral supracerebellar-infratentorial and subtemporal approach, for resection of this rare entity.MethodsA 53-year-old women presented with progressive left facial numbness for 2 months. Imaging examinations revealed a left-sided dumbbell-shaped TN afflicting the middle and posterior cranial fossa, and a single-stage combined multiportal endoscopic microscopic approach was attempted for tumor resection. Initially, a purely endoscopic far-lateral supracerebellar-infratentorial approach was used to remove the posterior fossa component with the aid of tentorium incision. Subsequently, a microsurgical subtemporal interdural approach was performed for the exposure and separation of tumor within the Meckel cave. Finally, the tumor was pushed into the porus trigeminus under microscopy, thus enabling tumor extraction for the supracerebellar space under endoscopy without anterior petrosectomy.ResultsThe patient evolved favorably without additional neurological deficit after surgery, and postoperative imaging showed a complete resection of the tumor.ConclusionWe describe the first account of multi-corridor hybrid surgery for removal of TN in a dumbbell configuration, which enables one-stage total tumor removal with minimal added morbidity. This hybrid technique may be an effective piece of the surgeon’s armamentarium to improve outcomes of patient with complex skull-base lesions. Further studies with larger case numbers are warranted to confirm the prognostic significance of this technique