bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gastropericardial fistula after Roux-en-Y bypass for reflux disease
Authors: Dhillon Ajit , Eltweri Amar M , Shah Vikas , Bowrey David J
Published: January 2015

A 49-year-old man was admitted to his local hospital with a 3-day history of left-sided chest pain which started after a coughing paroxysm. His surgical history included laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication 30 months earlier and revisional reflux surgery (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) 11 months earlier. On admission, he was found to be tachycardic at 110 bpm, hypotensive (90/65 mm Hg). He had ST depression in ECG leads V2-5 with a normal troponin I level. Chest radiography indicated a pneumopericardium which prompted referral to the oesophagogastric surgery unit. Endoscopy and CT with oral contrast confirmed a gastropericardial fistula. This was managed by total gastrectomy through a left thoracoabdominal approach. The patient was discharged home 2 months later. We report the fourth case of gastropericardial fistula in the literature as a long-term complication of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with a favourable outcome and mini literature review.
Warfarin prescription and administration: reducing the delay, improving the safety
Authors: Dyar Rebecca , Hall Simon , McIntyre Bethannie
Published: January 2015

Warfarin is frequently administered to hospital patients. The prescription and administration of this medication are particularly susceptible to error. Factors contributing to this include the narrow therapeutic index, patient-specific target range, and the need for regular INR monitoring. NICE guidelines state that warfarin should be given at the same time every day and the Bristol Royal Infirmary guidelines are warfarin to be given at 14:00. The 14:00 dosing ensures standardisation of administration; poor adherence to this recommendation may cause patient harm. We noticed that many warfarin doses were often given outside of maximal staffing hours and it was often left to the on call doctor to prescribe warfarin at erratic and inconsistent times.

Our primary aim was to reduce the number of adverse outcomes associated with warfarin prescription and administration. We targeted two system measures: the proportion of warfarin administrations occurring within an hour of the 14:00 prescription and the proportion of INR results outside target range. We employed the model for improvement and carried out our project across seven acute medical wards. Baseline data showed that only 24% of doses were being given within an hour of the recommended time and 64% of doses were being given after 17:00 during minimal staffing hours. We successfully introduced a warfarin box within our trust which demonstrated an improvement in warfarin administration from 24% of patients receiving their warfarin within an hour of 14:00 to 49% and this was subsequently associated with a reduction in INRs above target range (23% to 9%).
Comments on the dilemma in the November/December issue: ‘Fate of a severely lame cow’
Authors: Mullan Siobhan
Published: January 2015

The dilemma in the November/December issue concerned a severely lame cow with deep digital sepsis. It had lost a lot of condition and was 10/10 lame. Despite your opinion that euthanasia was the best option, the farmer wanted it taken to slaughter, following a digital amputation and some fattening‐up (In Practice, November/December 2014, vol 35, pp 526‐527). Suggesting a way forward, Gwen Rees stressed the importance of frank communication as a first step, both to explain exactly why digit amputation was not in the cow's best interest, and to maintain a positive farm/vet relationship. Failing this, she suggested that a second opinion, done in a timely fashion, should be sought. Finally, contacting the RSPCA or the police should be a last resort. She also suggested that there might be a deeper welfare issue at the farm that should be investigated.
Direct and indirect measurement of neuromuscular fatigue in Canadian football players
Authors: Clarke Nick , Farthing Jonathan P. , Lanovaz Joel L. , Krentz Joel R.
Published: January 2015

This study assessed the effects of a fatiguing game simulation (G-Sim) on the balance of collegiate Canadian football players. The purpose of the study was to evaluate postural control as a potential tool for monitoring neuromuscular fatigue (NMF) in collision-based team sports. Fifteen male Canadian football players were recruited (mean ± SD: age 21.8 ± 1.6 years, weight 97.6 ± 14.7 kg). Indirect NMF measures (postural sway and countermovement jump (CMJ)) were performed 24 h before (TBase), immediately before (TPre) and after (TPost), and 24 h (T24) and 48 h after (T48) a Canadian football G-Sim. Peak isometric knee extensor torque of a maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and electrically evoked tetani at 20 Hz (P20) and 80 Hz (P80) were also recorded as direct NMF measures at TBase, TPre, TPost, and T48. At TPost, we observed significant declines in MVC, P20, and the MVC/P80 ratio (–15.3%, –15.7%, and –12.1%, respectively; n = 12) along with reductions in CMJ takeoff velocity and peak power (–6.9% and –6.5%, respectively; n = 12) and larger area of the center of pressure trajectory (95.2%; n = 10) during a 60-s postural sway task. All variables were no longer different than baseline by T48. Acute neuromuscular impairment in this cohort is likely attributable to alterations in excitation–contraction coupling due to structural damage and central activation failure. Congruency between the direct and indirect measures of NMF suggests monitoring postural sway has the potential to identify both neuromuscular and somatosensory alterations induced by acute game-induced fatigue in collision-based team sports players.
Controlled reperfusion for different durations in the treatment of ischemia–reperfusion injury of the rat ovary: evaluation of biochemical features, molecular gene expression, and histopathology
Authors: Yapca Omer Erkan , Kumbasar Serkan , Salman Suleyman , Yarali Oguzhan , Sener Ebru , Mammadov Renad , Tekin Yesim Bayoglu , Aksoy Aysenur , Albayrak Abdulmecit , Cetin Nihal
Published: January 2015

High numbers of proinflammatory cells (PMNLs), which are carried by the blood to ischemic tissue during reperfusion, are considered responsible for inducing the inflammatory response that occurs in ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury. Our objective was to determine the controlled reperfusion (CR) interval duration (CRID) that would minimize the injury caused by the PMNLs that infiltrate ischemic tissue. Animal groups were divided into the following groups: Sham group, ovarian I/R group (OIR), and ovarian ischemia controlled-reperfusion groups OICR-1, OICR-2, OICR-3, OICR-4, OICR-5, OICR-6, which had their ovarian artery opened and then closed for 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, or 1 s, respectively. The results show that the COX-2 activity and the gene expression decreased while the COX-1 activity and the gene expression were found to be increased in parallel to the shortening of the period in CRID. From the histopathological examinations, the findings of hemorrhage, edema, congested vascular structures, degenerated cells, and migration and adhesion of PMNLs were scaled as follows: Sham group < OICR-6 < OICR-5 < OICR-4 < OICR-3 < OICR-2 < OICR-1. The results from the histopathological assessments were consistent with the molecular and biochemical findings. In conclusion, our findings suggest that increased COX-2 activity plays a role in I/R injury of the rat ovary, and that controlled reperfusion for 3, 2, or 1 s following 2 h of ischemia may attenuate the effects of I/R injury.
Four-quark hadrons: An updated review
Authors: Esposito Angelo , Guerrieri Andrea L. , Piccinini Fulvio , Pilloni Alessandro , Polosa Antonio D.
Published: January 2015

The past decade witnessed a remarkable proliferation of exotic charmonium-like resonances discovered at accelerators. In particular, the recently observed charged states are clearly not interpretable as [Formula: see text] mesons. Notwithstanding the considerable advances on the experimental side, conflicting theoretical descriptions do not seem to provide a definitive picture about the nature of the so-called XYZ particles. We present here a comprehensive review about this intriguing topic, discussing both those experimental and theoretical aspects which we consider relevant to make further progress in the field. At this state of progress, XYZ phenomenology speaks in favor of the existence of compact four-quark particles (tetraquarks) and we believe that realizing this instructs us in the quest for a firm theoretical framework.
Bag formation from gauge condensate
Authors: Vasihoun Mahary , Guendelman Eduardo
Published: January 2015

As it is well known, one can lower the energy of the trivial perturbation QCD vacuum by introducing a nonvanishing chromomagnetic field strength. This happens because radiative corrections produce an effective action of the form [Formula: see text] with f′(y0) = 0 for some y0≠0. However, a vacuum with a nonzero field strength is not consistent with Poincaré Invariance (PI). Generalizing this type of effective action by introducing, in the simplest way, a four-index field strength ∂[μAναβ], which can have an expectation value without violating PI, we are lead to an effective action that can describe both a confinement phase and a perturbative phase of the theory. In the unconfined phase, the four-index field strength does not introduce new degrees of freedom, while in the confined phase both four-index field strength and ordinary gauge fields are not true degrees of freedom. The matching of these phases through membranes that couple minimally to the three-index potentials from which the four-index field strength derive, leads automatically to the MIT bag boundary conditions for the gauge fields living inside the bubble containing the perturbative phase.
Monotonicity and nonexistence results for some fractional elliptic problems in the half-space
Authors: Fall Mouhamed Moustapha , Weth Tobias
Published: January 2015

We study a class of fractional elliptic problems of the form [Formula: see text] in the half-space [Formula: see text] with the complementary Dirichlet condition [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text]. Under mild assumptions on the nonlinearity [Formula: see text], we show that bounded positive solutions are increasing in [Formula: see text]. For the special case [Formula: see text], we deduce nonexistence of positive bounded solutions in the case where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] if [Formula: see text]. We do not require integrability assumptions on the solutions we study.
A Clifford-gravity-based cosmology, dark matter and dark energy
Authors: Castro Carlos
Published: January 2015

A Clifford-gravity-based model is exploited to build a generalized action (beyond the current ones used in the literature) and arrive at relevant numerical results which are consistent with the presently-observed de Sitter accelerating expansion of the universe driven by a very small vacuum energy density ρ obs ~ 10-120(MP)4 (MP is the Planck mass) and provide promising dark energy/matter candidates in terms of the 16 scalars corresponding to the degrees of freedom associated with a Cl (3, 1)-algebra-valued scalar field Φ in four dimensions.
Selectivity and mixed reactant fuel cells
Authors: Riess Ilan
Published: January 2015

Mixed reactant fuel cells (MR-FCs), are aimed at using a uniform mixture of fuel and oxygen applied to both the anode and the cathode. This allows redesign of fuel cells with a significantly simpler construction, having potentially a higher power density, better fuel utilization and be less expensive. The challenge in realizing MR-FCs is finding selective electrodes that can enhance oxygen reduction at the cathode, fuel oxidation at the anode while inhibiting the chemical reaction between the fuel and oxygen in the gas mixture. This task is in particular challenging in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), as they operate at elevated temperatures, where many reactions are easily activated and selectivity is difficult to achieve. As a result no true MR-FC of the SOFC type were reported while some were found for low temperature fuel cells (FCs). The so-called single-chamber-SOFC are not true MR-FCs as they do not contain two selective electrodes, as required.

We shall discuss potential ways to search for and develop selective anodes and cathodes for SOFC type MR-FCs. We first consider material properties which should contribute to that goal. This refers to electronic properties of the bulk, band banding under adsorbed specie, point defects in the bulk and on the surface. We then proceed to show how cell design, in particular electrode structure, can contribute to selectivity. Finally operation conditions are considered and it is shown that they also can contribute to selectivity. The operation condition considered are gas mixture composition, gas mixture residence time in the hot zone, hence gas flow rate, current density and temperature. The topics discussed hold for all FC types but are crucial for the SOFC type because of the difficulty to achieve selectivity at elevated temperatures. It is suggested that a concerted effort taking advantage of all those options should allow development of a true SOFC type MR-FC.
Heterogeneous transfer functions multi-layer perceptron (MLP) for meteorological time series forecasting
Authors: Voyant C. , Nivet M. L. , Paoli C. , Muselli M. , Notton G.
Published: January 2015

In this paper, we propose to study four meteorological and seasonal time series (TS) coupled with a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) modeling. We chose to combine two transfer functions for the nodes of the hidden layer, and to use a temporal indicator (time index as input) in order to take into account the seasonal aspect of the studied TS. The results of the prediction concern two years of measurements and the learning step, eight independent years. We show that this methodology can improve the accuracy of meteorological data estimation compared to a classical MLP modeling with a homogenous transfer function.
A Quasi-Polynomial Time Partition Oracle for Graphs with an Excluded Minor
Authors: Levi Reut , Ron Dana
Published: January 2015

Motivated by the problem of testing planarity and related properties, we study the problem of designing efficient
partition oracles
. A
partition oracle
is a procedure that, given access to the incidence lists representation of a bounded-degree graph
G
= (
V,E
) and a parameter ϵ, when queried on a vertex
v
∈
V
, returns the part (subset of vertices) that
v
belongs to in a partition of all graph vertices. The partition should be such that all parts are small, each part is connected, and if the graph has certain properties, the total number of edges between parts is at most ϵ |
V
|. In this work, we give a partition oracle for graphs with excluded minors whose query complexity is quasi-polynomial in 1/ϵ, improving on the result of Hassidim et al. (
Proceedings of FOCS 2009
), who gave a partition oracle with query complexity exponential in 1/ϵ. This improvement implies corresponding improvements in the complexity of testing planarity and other properties that are characterized by excluded minors as well as sublinear-time approximation algorithms that work under the promise that the graph has an excluded minor.
Interval Deletion Is Fixed-Parameter Tractable
Authors: Cao Yixin , Marx Dániel
Published: January 2015

We study the minimum interval deletion problem, which asks for the removal of a set of at most
k
vertices to make a graph of
n
vertices into an interval graph. We present a parameterized algorithm of runtime 10

k

⋅
n

O
(1)

for this problem—that is, we show that the problem is fixed-parameter tractable.
A Polynomial-Time Approximation Scheme for Euclidean Steiner Forest
Authors: Borradaile Glencora , Klein Philip N. , Mathieu Claire
Published: January 2015

We give a randomized
O
(
n
polylog
n
)-time approximation scheme for the Steiner forest problem in the Euclidean plane. For every fixed ϵ > 0 and given
n
terminals in the plane with connection requests between some pairs of terminals, our scheme finds a (1 + ϵ) approximation to the minimum-length forest that connects every requested pair of terminals.
Time Complexity of Link Reversal Routing
Authors: Charron-Bost Bernadette , Függer Matthias , Welch Jennifer L. , Widder Josef
Published: January 2015

Link reversal is a versatile algorithm design paradigm, originally proposed by Gafni and Bertsekas in 1981 for routing and subsequently applied to other problems including mutual exclusion, leader election, and resource allocation. Although these algorithms are well known, until now there have been only preliminary results on time complexity, even for the simplest link reversal algorithm for routing, called Full Reversal. In Full Reversal, a sink reverses all its incident links, whereas in other link reversal algorithms (e.g., Partial Reversal), a sink reverses only some of its incident links. Charron-Bost et al. introduced a generalization, called LR, that includes Full and Partial Reversal as special cases. In this article, we present an exact expression for the time complexity of LR. The expression is stated in terms of simple properties of the initial graph. The result specializes to exact formulas for the time complexity of any node in any initial acyclic directed graph for both Full and Partial Reversal. Having the exact formulas provides insight into the behavior of Full and Partial Reversal on specific graph families. Our first technical insight is to describe the behavior of Full Reversal as a dynamical system and to observe that this system is linear in min-plus algebra. Our second technical insight is to overcome the difficulty posed by the fact that LR is not linear by transforming every execution of LR from an initial graph into an execution of Full Reversal from a different initial graph while maintaining the execution's work and time complexity.
Advice Lower Bounds for the Dense Model Theorem
Authors: Watson Thomas
Published: January 2015

We prove a lower bound on the amount of nonuniform advice needed by black-box reductions for the Dense Model Theorem of Green, Tao, and Ziegler, and of Reingold, Trevisan, Tulsiani, and Vadhan. The latter theorem roughly says that for every distribution
D
that is δ-dense in a distribution that is
ε
′-indistinguishable from uniform, there exists a “dense model” for
D
, that is, a distribution that is
δ
-dense in the uniform distribution and is
ε
-indistinguishable from
D
. This
ε
-indistinguishability is with respect to an arbitrary small class of functions
F
. For the natural case where
ε
′ ≥ Ω(
εδ
) and
ε
≥
δ
O
(1), our lower bound implies that Ω(√(1/
ε
) log(1/
δ
)·log|
F
|) advice bits are necessary for a certain type of reduction that establishes a stronger form of the Dense Model Theorem (and which encompasses all known proofs of the Dense Model Theorem in the literature). There is only a polynomial gap between our lower bound and the best upper bound for this case (due to Zhang), which is
O
((1/
ε
2)log(1/
δ
)·log|
F
|). Our lower bound can be viewed as an analogue of list size lower bounds for list-decoding of error-correcting codes, but for “dense model decoding” instead.
A Cross-Entropy Scheme for Mixtures
Authors: Wang Hui , Zhou Xiang
Published: January 2015

We discuss how to generalize the classic cross-entropy method in the case where a family of mixture distributions, such as the mixture of multiple Gaussian modes, is used as an importance sampling distribution. A new iterative cross-entropy scheme, based on the idea of the EM method, is proposed to overcome the challenge of deciding the optimal weights for each mode in the mixture. Detailed studies of this new algorithm and its applications to the estimation of rainbow option prices are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the scheme.
Measurable Decision Making with GSR and Pupillary Analysis for Intelligent User Interface
Authors: Zhou Jianlong , Sun Jinjun , Chen Fang , Wang Yang , Taib Ronnie , Khawaji Ahmad , Li Zhidong
Published: January 2015

This article presents a framework of adaptive, measurable decision making for Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) by varying decision factors in their types, numbers, and values. Under this framework, decision making is measured using physiological sensors such as Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and eye-tracking while users are subjected to varying decision quality and difficulty levels. Following this quantifiable decision making, users are allowed to refine several decision factors in order to make decisions of high quality and with low difficulty levels. A case study of driving route selection is used to set up an experiment to test our hypotheses. In this study, GSR features exhibit the best performance in indexing decision quality. These results can be used to guide the design of intelligent user interfaces for decision-related applications in HCI that can adapt to user behavior and decision-making performance.
A Framework for Psychophysiological Classification within a Cultural Heritage Context Using Interest
Authors: Karran Alexander J. , Fairclough Stephen H. , Gilleade Kiel
Published: January 2015

This article presents a psychophysiological construct of interest as a knowledge emotion and illustrates the importance of interest detection in a cultural heritage context. The objective of this work is to measure and classify psychophysiological reactivity in response to cultural heritage material presented as visual and audio. We present a data processing and classification framework for the classification of interest. Two studies are reported, adopting a subject-dependent approach to classify psychophysiological signals using mobile physiological sensors and the support vector machine learning algorithm. The results show that it is possible to reliably infer a state of interest from cultural heritage material using psychophysiological feature data and a machine learning approach, informing future work for the development of a real-time physiological computing system for use within an adaptive cultural heritage experience designed to adapt the provision of information to sustain the interest of the visitor.
Study Reveals New Challenges for Online College Administrators
Authors: Wang Rachel
Published: January 2015

College administrators, who are seeking to improve their recruiting and retention methods will benefit from a new report released by The Learning House and Aslanian Market Research. "Online College Students 2014: Comprehensive Data on Demands and Preferences" delves into data about this new type of student. This article highlights several points from the study that are relevant to college administrators.
Harmonia
Authors: Kempke Benjamin , Pannuto Pat , Dutta Prabal
Published: January 2015

We introduce Harmonia, a new RF-based localization scheme that provides the simplicity, cost, and power advantages of traditional narrowband radios with the decimeter-scale accuracy of ultra wideband localization techniques. Harmonia is an asymmetric tag and anchor system, requiring minimal modifications to existing low-power wireless devices to support highfidelity localization with comparatively modest infrastructure costs. A prototype Harmonia design offers location estimates with an average-case error of 53.4 cm in complex, heavymultipath, indoor environments and captures location estimates at 56 Hz while requiring only 1.7 mA additional power draw for each tag and complying with all US UWB regulations. We believe this architecture's combination of accuracy, update rate, power draw, and system complexity will lead to a new point in the design space.
When is Too Few Too Bad
Authors: Truong Khai N.
Published: January 2015

Evaluating a system with users is an important part of interactive applications research and development. However, there are many challenges to conducting an effective evaluation. One such challenge is involving an appropriate number of participants in a study. Although the number of participants involved has varied in previously published studies of interactive systems, it does not mean that any value can be used. When too few participants are involved, those studies are often regarded as weak, incomplete, or otherwise invalid.
Democratizing Computing with App Inventor
Authors: Wolber David , Abelson Harold , Friedman Mark
Published: January 2015

MIT App Inventor is a visual blocks language that enables beginners and non-programmers to create apps for their phones and tablets. It has empowered thousands to create software with real-world usefulness, and see themselves as creators rather than only consumers in the mobile computing environment. Educationally, it offers a "gateway drug" that can help broaden and diversify participation in computing education.
The role of K+ conductances in regulating membrane excitability in human gastric corpus smooth muscle
Authors: Lee Ji Yeon , Ko Eun-ju , Ahn Ki Duck , Kim Sung , Rhee Poong-Lyul
Published: January 2015

Changes in resting membrane potential (RMP) regulate membrane excitability. K+ conductance(s) are one of the main factors in regulating RMP. The functional role of K+ conductances has not been studied the in human gastric corpus smooth muscles (HGCS). To examine the role of K+ channels in regulation of RMP in HGCS we employed microelectrode recordings, patch-clamp, and molecular approaches. Tetraethylammonium and charybdotoxin did not affect the RMP, suggesting that BK channels are not involved in regulating RMP. Apamin, a selective small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel (SK) blocker, did not show a significant effect on the membrane excitability. 4-Aminopyridine, a Kv channel blocker, caused depolarization and increased the duration of slow wave potentials. 4-Aminopyridine also inhibited a delayed rectifying K+ current in isolated smooth muscle cells. End-product RT-PCR gel detected Kv1.2 and Kv1.5 in human gastric corpus muscles. Glibenclamide, an ATP-sensitive K+ channel (KATP) blocker, did not induce depolarization, but nicorandil, a KATP opener, hyperpolarized HGCS, suggesting that KATP are expressed but not basally activated. Kir6.2 transcript, a pore-forming subunit of KATP was expressed in HGCS. A low concentration of Ba2+, a Kir blocker, induced strong depolarization. Interestingly, Ba2+-sensitive currents were minimally expressed in isolated smooth muscle cells under whole-cell patch configuration. KCNJ2 (Kir2.1) transcript was expressed in HGCS. Unique K+ conductances regulate the RMP in HGCS. Delayed and inwardly rectifying K+ channels are the main candidates in regulating membrane excitability in HGCS. With the development of cell dispersion techniques of interstitial cells, the cell-specific functional significance will require further analysis.
TRPM8 function and expression in vagal sensory neurons and afferent nerves innervating guinea pig esophagus
Authors: Yu Xiaoyun , Hu Youtian , Ru Fei , Kollarik Marian , Undem Bradley J. , Yu Shaoyong
Published: January 2015

Sensory transduction in esophageal afferents requires specific ion channels and receptors. TRPM8 is a new member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel family and participates in cold- and menthol-induced sensory transduction, but its role in visceral sensory transduction is still less clear. This study aims to determine TRPM8 function and expression in esophageal vagal afferent subtypes. TRPM8 agonist WS-12-induced responses were first determined in nodose and jugular neurons by calcium imaging and then investigated by whole cell patch-clamp recordings in Dil-labeled esophageal nodose and jugular neurons. Extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in nodose and jugular C fiber neurons using ex vivo esophageal-vagal preparations with intact nerve endings in the esophagus. TRPM8 mRNA expression was determined by single neuron RT-PCR in Dil-labeled esophageal nodose and jugular neurons. The TRPM8 agonist WS-12 elicited calcium influx in a subpopulation of jugular but not nodose neurons. WS-12 activated outwardly rectifying currents in esophageal Dil-labeled jugular but not nodose neurons in a dose-dependent manner, which could be inhibited by the TRPM8 inhibitor AMTB. WS-12 selectively evoked action potential discharges in esophageal jugular but not nodose C fibers. Consistently, TRPM8 transcripts were highly expressed in esophageal Dil-labeled TRPV1-positive jugular neurons. In summary, the present study demonstrated a preferential expression and function of TRPM8 in esophageal vagal jugular but not nodose neurons and C fiber subtypes. This provides a distinctive role of TRPM8 in esophageal sensory transduction and may lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of esophageal sensation and nociception.
Allergen challenge sensitizes TRPA1 in vagal sensory neurons and afferent C-fiber subtypes in guinea pig esophagus
Authors: Liu Zhenyu , Hu Youtian , Yu Xiaoyun , Xi Jiefeng , Fan Xiaoming , Tse Chung-Ming , Myers Allen C. , Pasricha Pankaj J. , Li Xingde , Yu Shaoyong
Published: January 2015

Transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1) is a newly defined cationic ion channel, which selectively expresses in primary sensory afferent nerve, and is essential in mediating inflammatory nociception. Our previous study demonstrated that TRPA1 plays an important role in tissue mast cell activation-induced increase in the excitability of esophageal vagal nodose C fibers. The present study aims to determine whether prolonged antigen exposure in vivo sensitizes TRPA1 in a guinea pig model of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Antigen challenge-induced responses in esophageal mucosa were first assessed by histological stains and Ussing chamber studies. TRPA1 function in vagal sensory neurons was then studied by calcium imaging and by whole cell patch-clamp recordings in 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI)-labeled esophageal vagal nodose and jugular neurons. Extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in vagal nodose and jugular C-fiber neuron subtypes using ex vivo esophageal-vagal preparations with intact nerve endings in the esophagus. Antigen challenge significantly increased infiltrations of eosinophils and mast cells in the esophagus. TRPA1 agonist allyl isothiocyanate (AITC)-induced calcium influx in nodose and jugular neurons was significantly increased, and current densities in esophageal DiI-labeled nodose and jugular neurons were also significantly increased in antigen-challenged animals. Prolonged antigen challenge decreased esophageal epithelial barrier resistance, which allowed intraesophageal-infused AITC-activating nodose and jugular C fibers at their nerve endings. Collectively, these results demonstrated that prolonged antigen challenge sensitized TRPA1 in esophageal sensory neurons and afferent C fibers. This novel finding will help us to better understand the molecular mechanism underlying esophageal sensory and motor dysfunctions in EoE.
Infection of mice with influenza A/WSN/33 (H1N1) virus alters alveolar type II cell phenotype
Authors: Hofer Christian C. , Woods Parker S. , Davis Ian C.
Published: January 2015

Influenza viruses cause acute respiratory disease of great importance to public health. Alveolar type II (ATII) respiratory epithelial cells are central to normal lung function and are a site of influenza A virus replication in the distal lung. However, the consequences of infection for ATII cell function are poorly understood. To determine the impact of influenza infection on ATII cells we used C57BL/6-congenic SP-CGFP mice that express green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the surfactant protein-C (SP-C) promoter, which is only active in ATII cells. Most cells isolated from the lungs of uninfected SP-CGFP mice were GFP+ but did not express the alveolar type I (ATI) antigen podoplanin (PODO). ATII cells were also EpCAM+ and α2,3-linked sialosaccharide+. Infection with influenza A/WSN/33 virus caused severe hypoxemia and pulmonary edema. This was accompanied by loss of whole lung GFP fluorescence, reduced ATII cell yields, increased ATII cell apoptosis, reduced SP-C gene and protein expression in ATII cell lysates, and increased PODO gene and protein levels. Flow cytometry indicated that infection decreased GFP+/PODO− cells and increased GFP−/PODO+ and GFP−/PODO− cells. Very few GFP+/PODO+ cells were detectable. Finally, infection resulted in a significant decline in EpCAM expression by PODO+ cells, but had limited effects on α2,3-linked sialosaccharides. Our findings indicate that influenza infection results in a progressive differentiation of ATII cells into ATI-like cells, possibly via an SP-C−/PODO− intermediate, to replace dying or dead ATI cells. However, impaired SP-C synthesis is likely to contribute significantly to reduced lung compliance in infected mice.
Automatic identification of physical activity types and sedentary behaviors from triaxial accelerometer: laboratory-based calibrations are not enough
Authors: Bastian Thomas , Maire Aurélia , Dugas Julien , Ataya Abbas , Villars Clément , Gris Florence , Perrin Emilie , Caritu Yanis , Doron Maeva , Blanc Stéphane , Jallon Pierre , Simon Chantal
Published: January 2015

“Objective” methods to monitor physical activity and sedentary patterns in free-living conditions are necessary to further our understanding of their impacts on health. In recent years, many software solutions capable of automatically identifying activity types from portable accelerometry data have been developed, with promising results in controlled conditions, but virtually no reports on field tests. An automatic classification algorithm initially developed using laboratory-acquired data (59 subjects engaging in a set of 24 standardized activities) to discriminate between 8 activity classes (lying, slouching, sitting, standing, walking, running, and cycling) was applied to data collected in the field. Twenty volunteers equipped with a hip-worn triaxial accelerometer performed at their own pace an activity set that included, among others, activities such as walking the streets, running, cycling, and taking the bus. Performances of the laboratory-calibrated classification algorithm were compared with those of an alternative version of the same model including field-collected data in the learning set. Despite good results in laboratory conditions, the performances of the laboratory-calibrated algorithm (assessed by confusion matrices) decreased for several activities when applied to free-living data. Recalibrating the algorithm with data closer to real-life conditions and from an independent group of subjects proved useful, especially for the detection of sedentary behaviors while in transports, thereby improving the detection of overall sitting (sensitivity: laboratory model = 24.9%; recalibrated model = 95.7%). Automatic identification methods should be developed using data acquired in free-living conditions rather than data from standardized laboratory activity sets only, and their limits carefully tested before they are used in field studies.
Investigating Variations in Gameplay: Cognitive Implications
Authors: Sedig Kamran , Haworth Robert , Corridore Michael
Published: January 2015

There is increasing interest in creating computer games for learning, problem solving, and other high-level cognitive activities. When investigating whether gameplay is conducive to such activities, gameplay is often studied as a whole. As a result, cognitive implications can be linked to the game but not to its structural elements. Given that gameplay arises from interaction between the player and the game, it is the structural components of interaction that should be investigated to better understand the design of gameplay. Furthermore, minor variations in the components of interaction can have significant cognitive implications. However, such variation has not been studied yet. Thus, to gain a better understanding of how we can study the effect of interaction on the cognitive aspect of gameplay, we conducted an exploratory investigation of two computer games. These games were isomorphic at a deep level and only had one minor difference in the structure of their interaction. Volunteers played these games and discussed the cognitive processes that emerged. In one game, they primarily engaged in planning, but in the other game they primarily engaged in visualizing. This paper discusses the results of our investigation as well as its implications for the design of computer games.
Neuromuscular Monitoring, Muscle Relaxant Use, and Reversal at a Tertiary Teaching Hospital 2.5 Years after Introduction of Sugammadex: Changes in Opinions and Clinical Practice
Authors: Ledowski Thomas , Ong Jing Shen , Flett Tom
Published: January 2015

Sugammadex was introduced to Royal Perth Hospital in early 2011 without access restriction. Two departmental audits (26-page online survey and 1-week in-theatre snapshot audit) were undertaken to investigate the change of beliefs and clinical practice related to the use of neuromuscular blocking agents at the Royal Perth Hospital since this introduction. Results were compared with data from 2011. We found that, in the 2.5 years since introduction of Sugammadex, more anesthetists (69.5 versus 38%) utilized neuromuscular monitoring, and aminosteroidal neuromuscular blocking agents were used in 94.3% of cases (versus 77% in 2011). Furthermore, 53% of anesthetists identified with a practice of “deeper and longer” intraoperative paralysis of patients. All 71 patients observed during the 5-day in-theatre audit were reversed with Sugammadex. Since the introduction of Sugammadex, 69%(n=20)of respondents felt it provided “faster turnover,” less postoperative residual neuromuscular blockade(n=23; 79%), and higher anesthetist satisfaction(n=17; 59%). 45%(n=13)of colleagues reported that they would feel professionally impaired without the unrestricted availability of Sugammadex, and 1 colleague would refuse to work in a hospital without this drug being freely available. In clinical practice Sugammadex was frequently (57%) mildly overdosed, with 200 mg being the most commonly administered dose.
Pien Tze Huang Inhibits Hypoxia-Induced Angiogenesis via HIF-1α/VEGF-A Pathway in Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Chen Hongwei , Feng Jianyu , Zhang Yuchen , Shen Aling , Chen Youqin , Lin Jiumao , Lin Wei , Sferra Thomas J. , Peng Jun
Published: January 2015

Hypoxia-induced angiogenesis plays an important role in the development and metastasis of solid tumors and is highly regulated by HIF-1α/VEGF-A pathway. Therefore, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis via suppression of HIF-1α/VEGF-A signaling represents a promising strategy for anticancer treatment. As a traditional Chinese medicine formula, Pien Tze Huang (PZH) has long been used as a folk remedy for cancer in China and Southeast Asia. Previously, we reported that PZH inhibits colorectal cancer (CRC) growth both in vivo and in vitro. To elucidate the antitumor mechanisms of PZH, in the present study we used human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and colorectal carcinoma HCT-8 cells to evaluate the effects of PZH on hypoxia-induced angiogenesis and investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that PZH could inhibit hypoxia-induced migration and tube formation of HUVEC cells in a dose-dependent manner, although the low concentrations of PZH had no effect on HUVEC viability. Moreover, PZH inhibited hypoxia-induced activation of HIF-1αsignaling and the expression of VEGF-A and/or VEGFR2 in both HCT-8 and HUVEC cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that PZH can inhibit hypoxia-induced tumor angiogenesis via suppression of HIF-1α/VEGF-A pathway.
Tree-Antimagicness of Disconnected Graphs
Authors: Bača Martin , Kimáková Zuzana , Semaničová-Feňovčíková Andrea , Umar Muhammad Awais
Published: January 2015

A simple graphGadmits anH-covering if every edge inE(G)belongs to a subgraph ofGisomorphic toH. The graphGis said to be (a,d)-H-antimagic if there exists a bijection from the vertex setV(G)and the edge setE(G)onto the set of integers1, 2, …,VG+E(G)such that, for all subgraphsH′ofGisomorphic toH, the sum of labels of all vertices and edges belonging toH′constitute the arithmetic progression with the initial termaand the common differenced.Gis said to be a super (a,d)-H-antimagic if the smallest possible labels appear on the vertices. In this paper, we study super tree-antimagic total labelings of disjoint union of graphs.
An Obstacle Problem for Noncoercive Operators
Authors: Greco Luigi , Moscariello Gioconda , Zecca Gabriella
Published: January 2015

We study the obstacle problem for second order nonlinear equations whose model appears in the stationary diffusion-convection problem. We assume that the growth coefficient of the convection term lies in the Marcinkiewicz spaceweak-LN.
A Delay Almost Periodic Competitive System in Discrete Time
Authors: Tan Ronghua , Liao Lvli
Published: January 2015

A discrete almost periodic competitive system with delay is proposed and analyzed. The system admits a unique almost periodic solution, which is shown to be uniformly asymptotically stable by using the method of Lyapunov function. Some specific numerical examples are provided to verify our analytical results.
Research on Modeling of Hydropneumatic Suspension Based on Fractional Order
Authors: Zhang Junwei , Chen Sizhong , Zhao Yuzhuang , Feng Jianbo , Liu Chang , Fan Ying
Published: January 2015

With such excellent performance as nonlinear stiffness, adjustable vehicle height, and good vibration resistance, hydropneumatic suspension (HS) has been more and more applied to heavy vehicle and engineering vehicle. Traditional modeling methods are still confined to simple models without taking many factors into consideration. A hydropneumatic suspension model based on fractional order (HSM-FO) is built with the advantage of fractional order (FO) in viscoelastic material modeling considering the mechanics property of multiphase medium of HS. Then, the detailed calculation method is proposed based on Oustaloup filtering approximation algorithm. The HSM-FO is implemented in Matlab/Simulink, and the results of comparison among the simulation curve of fractional order, integral order, and the curve of real experiment prove the feasibility and validity of HSM-FO. The damping force property of the suspension system under different fractional orders is also studied. In the end of this paper, several conclusions concerning HSM-FO are drawn according to analysis of simulation.
Establishment and Characterization of a Cell Line from Human Circulating Colon Cancer Cells
Authors: Cayrefourcq Laure , Mazard Thibault , Joosse Simon , Solassol Jérôme , Ramos Jeanne , Assenat Eric , Schumacher Udo , Costes Valérie , Maudelonde Thierry , Pantel Klaus , Alix-Panabières Catherine
Published: January 2015

Circulating tumor cells (CTC) in blood are promising new biomarkers potentially useful for prognostic prediction and monitoring of therapies in patients with solid tumors including colon cancer. Moreover, CTC research opens a new avenue for understanding the biology of metastasis in patients with cancer. However, an in-depth investigation of CTCs is hampered by the very low number of these cells, especially in the blood of patients with colorectal cancer. Thus, the establishment of cell cultures and permanent cell lines from CTCs has become the most challenging task over the past year. Here, we describe, for the first time, the establishment of cell cultures and a permanent cell line from CTCs of one patient with colon cancer. The cell line designated CTC-MCC-41 has been cultured for more than one year, and the cells have been characterized at the genome, transcriptome, proteome, and secretome levels. This thorough analysis showed that CTC-MCC-41 cells resemble characteristics of the original tumor cells in the patient with colon cancer and display a stable phenotype characterized by an intermediate epithelial/mesenchymal phenotype, stem cell–like properties, and an osteomimetic signature, indicating a bone marrow origin. Functional studies showed that CTC-MCC-41 cells induced rapidly in vitro endothelial cell tube formation and in vivo tumors after xenografting in immunodeficient mice. The establishment of this first colon cancer CTC line allows now a wealth of functional studies on the biology of CTCs as well as in vitro and in vivo drug testing. Cancer Res; 75(5); 892–901. ©2015 AACR.
A Comparative Study of Molecular Characteristics of Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma from Patients with and without Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection
Authors: Chao Chun , Silverberg Michael J. , Xu Lanfang , Chen Lie-Hong , Castor Brandon , Martínez-Maza Otoniel , Abrams Donald I. , Zha Hongbin D. , Haque Reina , Said Jonathan
Published: January 2015

Purpose: HIV-related diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) may be biologically different from DLBCL in the general population. We compared, by HIV status, the expression and prognostic significance of selected oncogenic markers in DLBCL diagnosed at Kaiser Permanente in California, between 1996 and 2007.

Experimental Design: Eighty HIV-infected DLBCL patients were 1:1 matched to 80 HIV-uninfected DLBCL patients by age, gender, and race. Twenty-three markers in the following categories were examined using IHC: (i) cell-cycle regulators, (ii) B-cell activators, (iii) antiapoptotic proteins, and (iv) others, such as IgM. Tumor marker expression was compared across HIV infection status by Fisher exact test. For markers differentially expressed in HIV-related DLBCL, logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between tumor marker expression and 2-year overall mortality, adjusting for International Prognostic Index, cell-of-origin phenotype, and DLBCL morphologic variants.

Results: Expression of cMYC (% positive in HIV-related and -unrelated DLBCL: 64% vs. 32%), BCL6 (45% vs. 10%), PKC-β2 (61% vs. 4%), MUM1 (59% vs. 14%), and CD44 (87% vs. 56%) was significantly elevated in HIV-related DLBCLs, whereas expression of p27 (39% vs. 75%) was significantly reduced. Of these, cMYC expression was independently associated with increased 2-year mortality in HIV-infected patients [relative risk = 3.09 (0.90–10.55)] in multivariable logistic regression.

Conclusions: These results suggest that HIV-related DLBCL pathogenesis more frequently involves cMYC and BCL6 among other factors. In particular, cMYC-mediated pathogenesis may partly explain the more aggressive clinical course of DLBCL in HIV-infected patients. Clin Cancer Res; 21(6); 1429–37. ©2015 AACR.
Next-Gen Sequencing Exposes Frequent MED12 Mutations and Actionable Therapeutic Targets in Phyllodes Tumors
Authors: Cani Andi K. , Hovelson Daniel H. , McDaniel Andrew S. , Sadis Seth , Haller Michaela J. , Yadati Venkata , Amin Anmol M. , Bratley Jarred , Bandla Santhoshi , Williams Paul D. , Rhodes Kate , Liu Chia-Jen , Quist Michael J. , Rhodes Daniel R. , Grasso Catherine S. , Kleer Celina G. , Tomlins Scott A.
Published: January 2015

Phyllodes tumors are rare fibroepithelial tumors with variable clinical behavior accounting for a small subset of all breast neoplasms, yet little is known about the genetic alterations that drive tumor initiation and/or progression. Here, targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to identify somatic alterations in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) patient specimens from malignant, borderline, and benign cases. NGS revealed mutations in mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) affecting the G44 hotspot residue in the majority (67%) of cases spanning all three histologic grades. In addition, loss-of-function mutations in p53 (TP53) as well as deleterious mutations in the tumor suppressors retinoblastoma (RB1) and neurofibromin 1 (NF1) were identified exclusively in malignant tumors. High-level copy-number alterations (CNA) were nearly exclusively confined to malignant tumors, including potentially clinically actionable gene amplifications in IGF1R and EGFR. Taken together, this study defines the genomic landscape underlying phyllodes tumor development, suggests potential molecular correlates to histologic grade, expands the spectrum of human tumors with frequent recurrent MED12 mutations, and identifies IGF1R and EGFR as potential therapeutic targets in malignant cases.

Implications: Integrated genomic sequencing and mutational profiling provides insight into the molecular origin of phyllodes tumors and indicates potential druggable targets in malignant disease.

Visual Overview: http://mcr.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2015/04/02/1541-7786.MCR-14-0578/F1.large.jpg.

Mol Cancer Res; 13(4); 613–9. ©2015 AACR.