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Measurement performance assurance for subsea multiphase flow meters (MPFM) can derive motivation from several sources of technical and/or business need, ranging from well surveillance to flow assurance monitoring, to production allocation among commingled sources of varying royalty, taxation, or ownership. Often, the more sensitive the subsea MPFM measurement is to a technical or business driver the more difficult it can be to initiate a comparison to a reference measurement or reference fluids such as topside measurement. Thus, providing assurance for subsea MPFM measurement performance requires a coordinated effort of MPFM performance surveillance – a combination of data and activities that can enable continuous indication of MPFM measurement performance, with or without periodic comparisons with reference measurements. However, utilizing MPFM performance surveillance information – which can come from a multitude of sources – can be confusing and potentially misinformative if a rigorous methodology to systematize the information isn't applied. It was in this context that a surveillance methodology using data validation and reconciliation (DVR) was chosen to leverage the disparate surveillance information available and provide quantitative measurement performance assurance results for a subsea MPFM. DVR was applied to assess the performance of a subsea MPFM incorporated within a subsea/topside field. Multiple sources of surveillance data and information were utilized in the application including the subsea MPFM, independent water-liquid ratio measurement, pressures and temperatures throughout the network, fluid properties, inlet separator flow measurements, and well test results. Three main objectives were established to demonstrate efficacy of the applied DVR methodology for subsea MPFM measurement performance assurance: 1) quantified DVR results for direct MPFM validation via well test; 2) continuous DVR condition-based monitoring (CBM) of the subsea MPFM within a defined subsea/topsides topology during normal operations, and 3) DVR-derived uncertainty estimates for the subsea MPFM. Several case studies using DVR surveillance are presented to address subsea measurement performance assurance through direct validation, CBM and uncertainty estimation. Each case study describes the workflow and detailed explanations for the steps taken in the DVR surveillance methodology. Implementation challenges and lessons learned are also presented, along with a strategy for sustained subsea MPFM measurement performance assurance using a DVR-based surveillance approach.

Tooth transpositions are relatively rare, and unless x-rays are obtained, they may go unnoticed until teeth begin to erupt. The prevalence, possible etiologies, and clinical considerations for different treatment options are reviewed in various classifications of canine transpositions. A guideline of treatment strategies for canine transpositions is discussed. Although orthodontic correction to restore ideal tooth order is not always possible for canine transpositions, the advent of two new techniques, CBCT and TADs, offers better diagnosis and new treatment options.

BackgroundTrilaciclib is an intravenous cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor approved to reduce the incidence of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (myeloprotection). In a randomized, open-label phase 2 trial in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC), adding trilaciclib prior to gemcitabine/carboplatin (GCb) increased overall survival in both PD-L1–positive and –negative populations versus GCb alone.1 2 We investigated potential immune mechanisms of anti-tumor efficacy among patients who received trilaciclib plus GCb.MethodsPeripheral blood was collected prior to and on treatment for flow cytometric analysis, and total RNA isolated from diagnostic tumor biopsies for sequencing. Differential gene expression analysis between responders and non-responders was based on negative binomial distribution and related pathways identified by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis. Tumor inflammation signatures and deconvolution-based approaches were used to assess the tumor immune microenvironment. PD-L1 expression was considered positive if ≥1% of the total tumor area contained PD-L1–labelled immune cells (Ventana SP142 assay). Patients were defined as responders (confirmed complete or partial response) or non-responders (stable or progressive disease) according to RECIST criteria.ResultsOf 68 patients who received trilaciclib prior to GCb, tumor response status and RNA sequencing data were available for 51 patients, comprising 24 responders and 27 non-responders. Tumors from responders had 253 differentially expressed genes compared with non-responders. Analysis of immune gene signatures revealed a higher T-cell exhaustion score at baseline among responders versus non-responders (P=0.044).Among patients with PD-L1–positive tumors, responders had a greater peripheral immune response at baseline compared with non-responders, including more T cells (P=0.037; particularly memory CD8 T cells [P=0.042]), and a trend toward fewer myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Additionally, tumors from responders had more dendritic cells (P=0.044) and a trend toward enriched tumor inflammation signatures compared with non-responders.By contrast, among patients with PD-L1–negative tumors, responders had similar peripheral immune populations at baseline compared with PD-L1–negative non-responders, but fewer MDSCs (P=0.016), and a trend toward increased T-cell numbers after two cycles of trilaciclib plus GCb.Responders with both PD-L1–positive and –negative tumors had increased numbers of naïve CD8 T cells after two treatment cycles compared with non-responders.ConclusionsThe data suggest that adding trilaciclib prior to GCb enhances antitumor efficacy by modulating the composition of immune cell subsets. The impact of trilaciclib on changes to the tumor-infiltrating immune response is being further investigated in a phase 3 trial in patients with mTNBC (NCT04799249).AcknowledgementsFlow cytometry and RNA sequencing analyses were performed by Covance, Inc., and Q2 Laboratory Solutions, respectively.Trial Registration www.clinicaltrials.govNCT02978716ReferencesTan AR, Wright GS, Thummala AR, Danso MA, Popovic L, Pluard TJ, Han HS, Vojnović Ž, Vasev N, Ma L, Richards DA, Wilks ST, Milenković D, Yang Z, Antal JM, Morris SR, O’Shaughnessy J. Trilaciclib plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: a multicentre, randomised, open-label, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol 2019;20(11):1587–1601.O’Shaughnessy J, Wright GS, Thummala AR, Danso MA, Popovic L, Pluard TJ, Han HS, Vojnović Ž, Vasev N, Ma L, Richards DA, Wilks ST, Milenković D, Xiao J, Sorrentino JA, Horton J, Tan AR. Abstract PD1-06: trilaciclib improves overall survival when given with gemcitabine/carboplatin in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: final analysis of a randomized phase 2 trial. Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Supplement):PD1-06.Ethics ApprovalThe study protocol and all associated amendments and study-related materials were approved by the institutional review board or independent ethics committee of each investigational site.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a hematopoietic malignancy caused by the constitutive activation of Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase. The Bcr-Abl inhibitor imatinib and other second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as dasatinib and nilotinib have remarkable efficacy in CML treatment. However, gene mutation-mediated drug resistance remains a critical problem. Among point mutations, the Bcr-Abl T315I mutation confers resistance to these Bcr-Abl inhibitors. Previously, we have synthesized the compound (1-methyl-1H-indol-5-yl)-(3,4,5-trimethoxy-phenyl)-methanone (MPT0B002) as a novel microtubule inhibitor. In this study, we evaluated its effects on the proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis of K562 CML cells and BaF3 cells expressing either wild-type Bcr-Abl (BaF3/p210) or T315I-mutated Bcr-Abl (BaF3/T315I). MPT0B002 inhibited cell viability in a dose-dependent manner in these cells but did not affect the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. It disrupted tubulin polymerization and arrested cell cycle at the G2/M phase. Treatment with MPT0B002 induced apoptosis, and this induction was associated with increased levels of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP. Furthermore, MPT0B002 can downregulate both Bcr-Abl and Bcr-Abl-T315I mRNA expressions and protein levels and the downstream signaling pathways. Taken together, our findings suggest that MPT0B002 may be considered a promising compound to downregulate not only wild type Bcr-Abl but also the T315I mutant to overcome Bcr-Abl-T315I mutation-mediated resistance in CML cells.

A new strategy for synthesizing a 4-substituted piperidine ring uses the formal [3+3] cycloaddition reaction as the key protocol. This method provides a convenient formal synthesis of elarofiban, RWJ-50042, tirofiban and paroxetine.

b( ) a In sti tute of Bi o log i cal Chem is try, Ac a de mia Sinica, Nankang, Tai pei 115, Tai wan, R.O.C. b De part ment of Chem is try, Na tional Sun Yat-Sen Uni ver sity, Kaohsiung 804, Tai wan, R.O.C. Debromination of N-benzyl 4- or 5-substituted -bromo- -p-toluenesulfonylglutarimides is achieved with 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) to give the N-benzyl 4- or 5-substituted -p-toluene sul fonyl glutarimides. The DBU/THF sys tem is ap plied to a new meth od ol ogy for the syn the sis of bicyclic glutarimide skel e ton in mod er ate yields.

A biomic approach by integrating three independent methods, DNA microarray, proteomics and bioinformatics, is used to study the differentiation of human myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60 into macrophages when induced by 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Analysis of gene expression changes at the RNA level using cDNA against an array of 6033 human genes showed that 5950 (98.6%) of the genes were expressed in the HL-60 cells. A total of 624 genes (10.5%) were found to be regulated during HL-60 cell differentiation. Most of these genes have not been previously associated with HL-60 cells and include genes encoded for secreted proteins as well as genes involved in cell adhesion, signaling transduction, and metabolism. Protein analysis using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed a total of 682 distinct protein spots; 136 spots (19.9%) exhibited quantitative changes between HL-60 control and macrophages. These differentially expressed proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. We developed a bioinformatics program, the Bulk Gene Search System (BGSS, http://www.sinica.edu.tw:8900/perl/genequery.pl) to search for the functions of genes and proteins identified by cDNA microarrays and proteomics. The identified regulated proteins and genes were classified into seven groups according to subcellular locations and functions. This powerful holistic biomic approach using cDNA microarray, proteomics coupled to bioinformatics can provide in-depth information on the impact and importance of the regulated genes and proteins for HL-60 differentiation.

Higher education often lags behind industry in the adoption of new or emerging technologies. As competition increases among colleges and universities for a diminishing supply of prospective students, the need to adopt the principles of business intelligence becomes increasingly more important. Data from first-year enrolling students for the 2006-2008 fall terms at a private, master’s-level institution in the northeastern United States was analyzed for the purpose of developing predictive models. A decision tree analysis, a neural network analysis, and a multiple regression analysis were conducted to predict each student’s grade point average (GPA) at the end of the first year of academic study. Numerous geodemographic variables were analyzed to develop the models to predict the target variable. The overall performance of the models developed in the analysis was evaluated by using the average square error (ASE). The three models had similar ASE values, which indicated that any of the models could be used for the intended purpose. Suggestions for future analysis include expansion of the scope of the study to include more student-centric variables and to evaluate GPA at other student levels.

In this article the authors will show how the parallel developments of information technology at the operational business level and decision support concepts progressed through the decades of the twentieth century with only minimal success at strategic application. They will posit that the twin technological developments of the world-wide-web and very inexpensive mass storage provided the environment to facilitate the convergence of business operations and decision support into the strategic application of business intelligence.

Background: Diabetic patients are frequently afflicted with medial artery calcification, a predictor of cardiovascular mortality. Diabetes induced the expression of osteopontin in arterial vasculature, which is an indicator of disease progression in artery calcification and vascular stiffness. Signal transduction and strategies that suppress high glucose-induced osteopontin expression in arterial vascular smooth muscle cells is investigated. Methods and Results: The incubation of rat aortic smooth muscle cells under high glucose concentration increased osteopontin protein secretion and mRNA expression. Treatment with dipyridamole decreased high glucose-induced osteopontin expression and secretion. Dipyridamole decreased glucose-induced osteopontin through inhibition of phosphodiesterase, thereby increasing intracellular levels of adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) and guanosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP), and increased thioredoxin expression to inhibit the reactive oxygen species (ROS) system. Induction of osteopontin was reversed when cells were pretreated with N-[2-bromocinnamyl(amino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide (H89, cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor), KT5823 (cGMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor), or dinitrochlorobenzene (thioredoxin reductase inhibitor). The antioxidant, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, suppressed glucose-induced osteopontin expression by decreasing ROS concentration. Both H89 and KT5823 downregulated thioredoxin expression. Conclusions: These results suggest a novel effect for dipyridamole to suppress high glucose-induced osteopontin protein secretion and mRNA expression. Dipyridamole has antioxidant properties and a phosphodiesterase inhibitor activity, which might be useful to ameliorate diabetic vasculopathy and its cardiovascular complications. (Circ J 2010; 74: 1242 - 1250)

The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38) is involved in multiple cellular functions such as cell proliferation and differentiation. Previously, we found that activin A mediated hemoglobin synthesis and cell growth inhibition through p38, whereas, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) inactivated p38 to antagonize the activin A effects. In this study, we selected three structurally different histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, apicidin, MS275, and sodium butyrate that activate p38, to probe the signal pathway from activin A to p38 in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)-derived K562 cells. HDAC inhibitors and activin A showed additive p38 phosphorylation. The enhanced phosphorylation of p38 was correlated with increased cell differentiation and decreased cell proliferation. The use of p38 inhibitor SB203580 in conjunction with activin A or with the HDAC inhibitors inhibited cell differentiation and restored cell proliferation, indicating that activin A and the HDAC inhibitors exert their effects through p38 activation. However, bFGF did not affect HDAC inhibitors-induced cell differentiation or growth inhibition. Western blots showed that p38 phosphorylation remained at similar levels with or without bFGF in the presence of HDAC inhibitors. Thus, the HDAC inhibitors activate p38 in a manner different from the activin A pathway. Furthermore, mRNA expressions for activin type I, IB, II, and IIB receptors remained constant in the presence of activin A, bFGF, or both activin A and bFGF. These results indicate that bFGF does not directly act on p38 nor on the mRNA expression levels of activin receptors but inhibit activin A activation of p38 upstream of p38 in K562 cells.

In an effort to identify tumor-associated proteins from plasma of tumor-bearing mice that may be used as diagnostic biomarkers, we developed a strategy that combines a tumor xenotransplantation model in nude mice with comparative proteomic technology. Five human cancer cell lines (SC-M1, HONE-1, CC-M1, OECM1, GBM 8401) derived from stomach, nasopharyngeal, colon, oral and brain cancers were subcutaneously inoculated into nude mice and compared to control nude mice injected with phosphate-buffered saline. One month later, plasma from mice inoculated with cancer cells was collected for proteomic analysis using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MS). Comparison of plasma 2-DE maps from tumor-bearing mice with those produced from control mice revealed the overexpression of several mouse acute phase proteins (APPs) such as haptoglobin. Another APP, serum amyloid A (SAA), was found only in mice bearing tumors induced by the stomach cancer cell line SC-M1, which has not previously been demonstrated in xenotransplatation experiment. Furthermore, by using immunohistochemistry, SAA and haptoglobin were found to originate from the mouse hosts and not from the human cancer cell line donors. The protein alterations were further confirmed on patients with stomach cancers where up-regulated levels of SAA were also observed. These results indicate that APPs may be used as nonspecific tumor-associated serum markers. SAA in particular may serve as a potential marker for detecting stomach cancer. Taken together, the combination of the xenotransplatation model in nude mice and proteomics analysis provided a valuable impact for clinical applications in cancer diagnostics. In addition, our findings demonstrate that a panel of APPs might serve as screening biomarkers for early cancer detection.

A biomic approach by integrating three independent methods, DNA microarray, proteomics and bioinformatics, is used to study the differentiation of human myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60 into macrophages when induced by 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Analysis of gene expression changes at the RNA level using cDNA against an array of 6033 human genes showed that 5950 (98.6%) of the genes were expressed in the HL-60 cells. A total of 624 genes (10.5%) were found to be regulated during HL-60 cell differentiation. Most of these genes have not been previously associated with HL-60 cells and include genes encoded for secreted proteins as well as genes involved in cell adhesion, signaling transduction, and metabolism. Protein analysis using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed a total of 682 distinct protein spots; 136 spots (19.9%) exhibited quantitative changes between HL-60 control and macrophages. These differentially expressed proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. We developed a bioinformatics program, the Bulk Gene Search System (BGSS, http://www.sinica.edu.tw:8900/perl/genequery.pl) to search for the functions of genes and proteins identified by cDNA microarrays and proteomics. The identified regulated proteins and genes were classified into seven groups according to subcellular locations and functions. This powerful holistic biomic approach using cDNA microarray, proteomics coupled to bioinformatics can provide in-depth information on the impact and importance of the regulated genes and proteins for HL-60 differentiation.

Previous studies have shown that acupuncture can alleviate postmenopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, but few studies have assessed symptoms during the menopausal transition (MT) period. Thus, the effect of acupuncture upon MT symptoms is unclear. We designed a large-scale trial aimed at evaluating the efficacy of electroacupuncture for MT symptoms compared with sham electroacupuncture and at observing the safety of electroacupuncture. In this multicenter randomized controlled trial, 360 women will be randomized to either an electroacupuncture group or a sham electroacupuncture group. During the 8-week-long treatment, a menopause rating scale, average 24-hour hot flash score, Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire score, and level of female hormones will be observed. Follow-ups at the 20th and 32nd week will be made. Though there is no completely inert placebo acupuncture and blinding is difficult in acupuncture trials, the placebo effect of EA can still be partially excluded in this study. For the placebo control, we use non-points and a tailor-made sham needle. This needle is different from a retractable needle, which is usually used for sham acupuncture. The needle in this trial is more simply constructed and more acceptable to Chinese people. We expect to evaluate the efficacy of electroacupuncture for MT symptoms and clarify its effect on these symptoms. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01849172 (Date of registration: 05/05/2013).

Objectives: To analyse the importance of sequence variations in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions 1 and 2 of the nuclear rRNA operon in AIDS patients with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). Design and methods: ITS 1 and 2 genotypes were determined in 162 bronchoalveolar lavage samples from 130 patients participating in a prospective cohort study of PCP. Results: A total of 49 different ITS genotypes were detected. ITS genotype was not associated with the clinical severity or outcome of PCP. In 37 of 162 (23%) samples infection with two or more genotypes was observed. A genotype switch was detected in six of 10 patients (60%) with recurrent episodes of PCP. However, genotype changes were also seen in 10 of 19 patients (53%) who had repeated bronchoscopies within the same episode of PCP. The same ITS type was observed twice in 13 (46%) of the 28 patients with repeat bronchoscopies during single or recurrent episodes of pneumonia, but in only 14 of 81 (17%) randomly selected pairs (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Although the detection of ITS genotypes is not a random event, changes in genotype can be detected in a single episode of disease, with 23% of PCP patients being infected with more than one P carinii genotype, thus complicating the use of this locus as a genetic marker to separate new infection from the reactivation of latent infection. ITS genotypes are not associated with the clinical severity of PCP.

CD4 T cells are vital in regulating CD8 T cell responses during chronic viral infections. Notably, the hallmark of HIV infection is the severe loss of CD4 T cells resulting in defective CD8 T cell responses. One consequence of CD4 depletion following HIV infection is the loss of interleukin-21 (IL-21) production by the CD4 T cells, which has been demonstrated to be a critical factor in promoting viral control in murine studies. However, it is unknown whether IL-21 can rescue the exhausted CD8 T cells in chronically infected HIV+ patients. In this study we build upon novel murine studies to demonstrate a key role for IL-21 in improving CD8 T cell responses in PBMC from chronically infected HIV patients. To determine whether IL-21 can rescue exhausted CD8 T cells, PBMCs from HIV patients with viral loads > 10,000 RNA copies/mL were incubated with IL-21. Following re-stimulation with overlapping Gag-peptide, IL-21 enhanced the production of IFN-γ by CD8 T cells although no effect was observed on IL-2 or TNF-α production. In addition, an increase in the central memory (CD45RO+CD27+) population was observed with IL-21 culture along with higher MFI of Bcl-6 levels. Interestingly, IL-21 cultured CD8 T cells expressed higher MFI of PD-1 even though CD8 T cell function was enhanced. Significantly, these results provide an approach in which IL-21 can be potentially used to enhance CD8 T cell responses in chronically infected HIV patients, whose CD4 counts are low or defective.

Basic concepts of biomolecular structure were introduced to students in the laboratory portion of a large-enrollment first-year chemistry class. Custom-made physical models of α-helices and β-sheets, the zinc finger moiety, β-globin, and green fluorescent protein were used. α-Helix and DNA construction kits were also employed. Students investigated primary, secondary, and tertiary structure of proteins.