bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pregnancy complicated by haemorrhagic ascites in a woman with newly diagnosed HIV
Authors: Morgan Catrin , Nicholls Kate , Gangat Nusraat , Sansome Stafford
Published: July 2016

A young pregnant Zambian woman was referred from a district hospital in South Zambia to the university teaching hospital, Lusaka with severe anaemia and ascites. The ascites had developed over a month and the woman was currently 15 weeks pregnant. Further workup revealed that the patient was HIV-positive and the ascitic tap showed haemorrhagic fluid. After being reviewed by multiple doctors, the cause of the haemorrhagic ascites remained unclear; therefore, the decision was made to do a laparotomy. The laparotomy revealed haemoperitoneum and a large cyst attached to the liver containing 5 L of bloodstained fluid. The histopathology report revealed features consistent with a giant haemangioma. There were many barriers to accessing optimum healthcare in this case. These included limited access to blood, poor communication resulting in the patient being unaware of her HIV status and lack of patient education about HIV.
Ten‐minute chat
Authors: Porter Alastair
Published: July 2016

Alastair Porter became secretary and Registrar of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1966. Here, he recalls the first of his 25 years in office.
Hybrid Immune Clonal Particle Swarm Optimization Multi-Objective Algorithm for Constrained Optimization Problems
Authors: Pei Shengyu
Published: August 2016

How to solve constrained optimization problems constitutes an important part of the research on optimization problems. In this paper, a hybrid immune clonal particle swarm optimization multi-objective algorithm is proposed to solve constrained optimization problems. In the proposed algorithm, the population is first initialized with the theory of good point set. Then, differential evolution is adopted to improve the local optimal solution of each particle, with immune clonal strategy incorporated to improve each particle. As a final step, sub-swarm is used to enhance the position and velocity of individual particle. The new algorithm has been tested on 24 standard test functions and three engineering optimization problems, whose results show that the new algorithm has good performance in both robustness and convergence.
Sound Radiation of the Resonator in the Form of a Vibrating Circular Plate Embedded in the Outlet of the Circular Cylindrical Cavity
Authors: Rdzanek Wojciech P. , Rdzanek Witold J. , Szemela Krzysztof
Published: August 2016

The Neumann axisymmetric boundary value problem is considered for a vibrating thin clamped circular plate embedded in the flat rigid screen in the outlet of the circular cylindrical cavity. It is assumed that the two pistons, one cylindrical and the other one annular/circular, are vibrating inside the cavity with the same single frequency and different initial phases. The pistons are the only sources of excitation of the fluid. The acoustic pressure difference on both sides of the plate forces its vibrations. The acoustic waves are radiated into the half-space above it. A rigorous theoretical analysis of sound radiation has been performed based on the exact solution of the problem of free vibrations of the plate. The system of three coupled partial differential equations is solved. They are the two Helmholtz equations for the cavity and for the half-space, and the equation of motion of the plate. Consequently, the acoustic pressure distribution in both spaces is presented as well as the acoustic power radiated.
Measuring and Predicting Search Engine Users’ Satisfaction
Authors: Dan Ovidiu , Davison Brian D.
Published: July 2016

Search satisfaction is defined as the fulfillment of a user’s information need. Characterizing and predicting the satisfaction of search engine users is vital for improving ranking models, increasing user retention rates, and growing market share. This article provides an overview of the research areas related to user satisfaction. First, we show that whenever users choose to defect from one search engine to another they do so mostly due to dissatisfaction with the search results. We also describe several search engine switching prediction methods, which could help search engines retain more users. Second, we discuss research on the difference between good and bad abandonment, which shows that in approximately 30% of all abandoned searches the users are in fact satisfied with the results. Third, we catalog techniques to determine queries and groups of queries that are underperforming in terms of user satisfaction. This can help improve search engines by developing specialized rankers for these query patterns. Fourth, we detail how task difficulty affects user behavior and how task difficulty can be predicted. Fifth, we characterize satisfaction and we compare major satisfaction prediction algorithms.
A Non-Parametric Factor Microfacet Model for Isotropic BRDFs
Authors: Bagher Mahdi M. , Snyder John , Nowrouzezahrai Derek
Published: July 2016

We investigate the expressiveness of the microfacet model for isotropic bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs) measured from real materials by introducing a
non-parametric factor model
that represents the model’s functional structure but abandons restricted parametric formulations of its factors. We propose a new objective based on
compressive weighting
that controls rendering error in high-dynamic-range BRDF fits better than previous factorization approaches. We develop a simple numerical procedure to minimize this objective and handle dependencies that arise between microfacet factors. Our method faithfully captures a more comprehensive set of materials than previous state-of-the-art parametric approaches yet remains compact (3.2KB per BRDF). We experimentally validate the benefit of the microfacet model over a naïve orthogonal factorization and show that fidelity for diffuse materials is modestly improved by fitting an unrestricted shadowing/masking factor. We also compare against a recent data-driven factorization approach [Bilgili et al. 2011] and show that our microfacet-based representation improves rendering accuracy for most materials while reducing storage by more than 10 ×.
Psychoacoustic Characterization of Propagation Effects in Virtual Environments
Authors: Rungta Atul , Rust Sarah , Morales Nicolas , Klatzky Roberta , Lin Ming , Manocha Dinesh
Published: July 2016

As sound propagation algorithms become faster and more accurate, the question arises as to whether the additional efforts to improve fidelity actually offer perceptual benefits over existing techniques. Could environmental sound effects go the way of music, where lower-fidelity compressed versions are actually favored by listeners? Here we address this issue with two acoustic phenomena that are known to have perceptual effects on humans and that, accordingly, might be expected to heighten their experience with simulated environments. We present two studies comparing listeners’ perceptual response to both accurate and approximate algorithms simulating two key acoustic effects: diffraction and reverberation. For each effect, we evaluate whether increased numerical accuracy of a propagation algorithm translates into increased perceptual differentiation in interactive virtual environments. Our results suggest that auditory perception does benefit from the increased accuracy, with subjects showing better perceptual differentiation when experiencing the more accurate rendering method: the diffraction experiment shows a more linearly decaying sound field (with respect to the diffraction angle) for the accurate diffraction method, whereas the reverberation experiment shows that more accurate reverberation, after modest user experience, results in near-logarithmic response to increasing room volume.
Silent Shredder
Authors: Awad Amro , Manadhata Pratyusa , Haber Stuart , Solihin Yan , Horne William
Published: July 2016

As non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies are expected to replace DRAM in the near future, new challenges have emerged. For example, NVMs have slow and power-consuming writes, and limited write endurance. In addition, NVMs have a data remanence vulnerability, i.e., they retain data for a long time after being powered off. NVM encryption alleviates the vulnerability, but exacerbates the limited endurance by increasing the number of writes to memory. We observe that, in current systems, a large percentage of main memory writes result from data shredding in operating systems, a process of zeroing out physical pages before mapping them to new processes, in order to protect previous processes' data. In this paper, we propose Silent Shredder, which repurposes initialization vectors used in standard counter mode encryption to completely eliminate the data shredding writes. Silent Shredder also speeds up reading shredded cache lines, and hence reduces power consumption and improves overall performance. To evaluate our design, we run three PowerGraph applications and 26 multi-programmed workloads from the SPEC 2006 suite, on a gem5-based full system simulator. Silent Shredder eliminates an average of 48.6% of the writes in the initialization and graph construction phases. It speeds up main memory reads by 3.3 times, and improves the number of instructions per cycle (IPC) by 6.4% on average. Finally, we discuss several use cases, including virtual machines' data isolation and user-level large data initialization, where Silent Shredder can be used effectively at no extra cost.
Paravirtual Remote I/O
Authors: Kuperman Yossi , Moscovici Eyal , Nider Joel , Ladelsky Razya , Gordon Abel , Tsafrir Dan
Published: July 2016

The traditional "trap and emulate" I/O paravirtualization model conveniently allows for I/O interposition, yet it inherently incurs costly guest-host context switches. The newer "sidecore" model eliminates this overhead by dedicating host (side)cores to poll the relevant guest memory regions and react accordingly without context switching. But the dedication of sidecores on each host might be wasteful when I/O activity is low, or it might not provide enough computational power when I/O activity is high. We propose to alleviate this problem at rack scale by consolidating the dedicated sidecores spread across several hosts onto one server. The hypervisor is then effectively split into two parts: the local hypervisor that hosts the VMs, and the remote hypervisor that processes their paravirtual I/O. We call this model vRIO---paraVirtual Remote I/O. We find that by increasing the latency somewhat, it provides comparable throughput with fewer sidecores and superior throughput with the same number of sidecores as compared to the state of the art. vRIO additionally constitutes a new, cost-effective way to consolidate I/O devices (on the remote hypervisor) while supporting efficient programmable I/O interposition.
LDX
Authors: Kwon Yonghwi , Kim Dohyeong , Sumner William Nick , Kim Kyungtae , Saltaformaggio Brendan , Zhang Xiangyu , Xu Dongyan
Published: July 2016

Causality inference, such as dynamic taint anslysis, has many applications (e.g., information leak detection). It determines whether an event e is causally dependent on a preceding event c during execution. We develop a new causality inference engine LDX. Given an execution, it spawns a slave execution, in which it mutates c and observes whether any change is induced at e. To preclude non-determinism, LDX couples the executions by sharing syscall outcomes. To handle path differences induced by the perturbation, we develop a novel on-the-fly execution alignment scheme that maintains a counter to reflect the progress of execution. The scheme relies on program analysis and compiler transformation. LDX can effectively detect information leak and security attacks with an average overhead of 6.08% while running the master and the slave concurrently on separate CPUs, much lower than existing systems that require instruction level monitoring. Furthermore, it has much better accuracy in causality inference.
WiSync
Authors: Abadal Sergi , Cabellos-Aparicio Albert , Alarcon Eduard , Torrellas Josep
Published: July 2016

In shared-memory multiprocessing, fine-grain synchronization is challenging because it requires frequent communication. As technology scaling delivers larger manycore chips, such pattern is expected to remain costly to support. In this paper, we propose to address this challenge by using on-chip wireless communication. Each core has a transceiver and an antenna to communicate with all the other cores. This environment supports very low latency global communication. Our architecture, called WiSync, uses a per-core Broadcast Memory (BM). When a core writes to its BM, all the other 100+ BMs get updated in less than 10 processor cycles. We also use a second wireless channel with cheaper transfers to execute barriers efficiently. WiSync supports multiprogramming, virtual memory, and context switching. Our evaluation with simulations of 128-threaded kernels and 64-threaded applications shows that WiSync speeds-up synchronization substantially. Compared to using advanced conventional synchronization, WiSync attains an average speedup of nearly one order of magnitude for the kernels, and 1.12 for PARSEC and SPLASH-2.
CloudSeer
Authors: Yu Xiao , Joshi Pallavi , Xu Jianwu , Jin Guoliang , Zhang Hui , Jiang Guofei
Published: July 2016

Cloud infrastructures provide a rich set of management tasks that operate computing, storage, and networking resources in the cloud. Monitoring the executions of these tasks is crucial for cloud providers to promptly find and understand problems that compromise cloud availability. However, such monitoring is challenging because there are multiple distributed service components involved in the executions. CloudSeer enables effective workflow monitoring. It takes a lightweight non-intrusive approach that purely works on interleaved logs widely existing in cloud infrastructures. CloudSeer first builds an automaton for the workflow of each management task based on normal executions, and then it checks log messages against a set of automata for workflow divergences in a streaming manner. Divergences found during the checking process indicate potential execution problems, which may or may not be accompanied by error log messages. For each potential problem, CloudSeer outputs necessary context information including the affected task automaton and related log messages hinting where the problem occurs to help further diagnosis. Our experiments on OpenStack, a popular open-source cloud infrastructure, show that CloudSeer's efficiency and problem-detection capability are suitable for online monitoring.
Failure-Atomic Persistent Memory Updates via JUSTDO Logging
Authors: Izraelevitz Joseph , Kelly Terence , Kolli Aasheesh
Published: July 2016

Persistent memory invites applications to manipulate persistent data via load and store instructions. Because failures during updates may destroy transient data (e.g., in CPU registers), preserving data integrity in the presence of failures requires failure-atomic bundles of updates. Prior failure atomicity approaches for persistent memory entail overheads due to logging and CPU cache flushing. Persistent caches can eliminate the need for flushing, but conventional logging remains complex and memory intensive. We present the design and implementation of JUSTDO logging, a new failure atomicity mechanism that greatly reduces the memory footprint of logs, simplifies log management, and enables fast parallel recovery following failure. Crash-injection tests confirm that JUSTDO logging preserves application data integrity and performance evaluations show that it improves throughput 3x or more compared with a state-of-the-art alternative for a spectrum of data-intensive algorithms.
Responses of Spectrally Selective Cells in Macaque Area V2 to Wavelengths and Colors
Authors: Moutoussis K. , Zeki S.
Published: July 2016

We have recorded from wavelength-selective cells in macaque monkey visual area V2, interposed between areas V1 and V4 of the color-specialized pathway, to learn whether their responses correlate with perceived colors or are determined by the wavelength composition of light reflected from their receptive fields. All the cells we recorded from were unselective for the orientation and direction of motion of the stimulus, and all were histologically identified to be in the thin cytochrome oxidase stripes. Using multi-colored “Mondrian” scenes of the appropriate spatial configuration, areas of different color were placed in the receptive field of each cell and the entire scene illuminated by three projectors, passing long-, middle-, and short-wave light, respectively, in various combinations. Our results show that wavelength-selective cells in V2 respond to an area of any color depending on whether or not it reflects a sufficient amount of light of their preferred wavelength. In addition, the responses of a third of the cells tested were also influenced by the wavelength composition of their immediate surrounds, thus signaling the result of a local spatial comparison with respect to the amount of their preferred wavelength present. The responses of all also depended on the sequence with which their receptive fields were illuminated with light of the three different wavebands: cells were activated when there was an increase (and inhibited when there was a decrease) in the amount of their preferred wavelength with respect to the other two; the temporal route taken was therefore a determining factor, and, depending on it, cells would either respond or not to a particular combination of wavelengths. We conclude that although spatiotemporal wavelength comparisons are taking place in the color-specialized subdivisions of area V2, the determination of complete color-constant behavior at the neuronal level requires further processing, in other areas.
D1/D5 Dopamine Receptors Stimulate Intracellular Calcium Release in Primary Cultures of Neocortical and Hippocampal Neurons
Authors: Lezcano Nelson , Bergson Clare
Published: July 2016

D1/D5 dopamine receptors in basal ganglia, hippocampus, and cerebral cortex modulate motor, reward, and cognitive behavior. Previous work with recombinant proteins revealed that in cells primed with heterologous Gq/11-coupled G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) agonists, the typically Gs-linked D1/D5 receptors can stimulate robust release of calcium from internal stores when coexpressed with calcyon. To learn more about the intracellular signaling mechanisms underlying these D1/D5 receptor regulated behaviors, we explored the possibility that endogenous receptors stimulate internal release of calcium in neurons. We have identified a population of neurons in primary cultures of hippocampus and neocortex that respond to D1/D5 dopamine receptor agonists with a marked increase in intracellular calcium (Ca[Formula: see text]) levels. The D1/D5 receptor stimulated responses occurred in the absence of extracellular Ca2+indicating the rises in Ca[Formula: see text] involve release from internal stores. In addition, the responses were blocked by D1/D5 receptor antagonists. Further, the D1/D5 agonist-evoked responses were state dependent, requiring priming with agonists of Gq/11-coupled glutamate, serotonin, muscarinic, and adrenergic receptors or with high external K+solution. In contrast, D1/D5 receptor agonist-evoked Ca2+responses were not detected in neurons derived from striatum. However, D1/D5 agonists elevated cAMP levels in striatal cultures as effectively as in neocortical and hippocampal cultures. Further, neither forskolin nor 8-Br-cAMP stimulation following priming was able to mimic the D1/D5 agonist-evoked Ca2+response in neocortical neurons indicating that increased cAMP levels are not sufficient to stimulate Ca[Formula: see text] release. Our data suggest that D1-like dopamine receptors likely modulate neocortical and hippocampal neuronal excitability and synaptic function via Ca2+as well as cAMP-dependent signaling.
Protective Effect of High Glucose Against Ischemia-Induced Synaptic Transmission Damage in Rat Hippocampal Slices
Authors: Tian Guo-Feng , Baker Andrew J.
Published: July 2016

Cerebral ischemic damage is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding the effect of the extracellular glucose concentration in focal and global ischemic injury. This study was designed to investigate this effect in ischemia-induced synaptic transmission damage in rat hippocampal slices. Slices were superfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) containing various concentrations of glucose before and after ischemia. The evoked somatic postsynaptic population spike (PS) and dendritic field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) were extracellularly recorded in the CA1 stratum pyramidal cell layer and s. radiatum after stimulation of the Schaeffer collaterals, respectively. The glucose concentration in ACSF before and after ischemia determined the duration of ischemia tolerated by synaptic transmission as demonstrated by complete recovery of the somatic PS and dendritic fEPSP. Specifically, the somatic PS and dendritic fEPSP completely recovered following 3, 4, and 5 min of ischemia only when slices were superfused with ACSF containing 4, 10, and 20 mM glucose before and after ischemia, respectively. The latencies of the somatic and dendritic ischemic depolarization (ID) occurrence in the CA1 s. pyramidal cell layer and s. radiatum were significantly longer with 10 than 4 mM glucose in ACSF before ischemia and significantly longer with 20 than 10 mM glucose in ACSF before ischemia. Regardless of the glucose concentration in ACSF before and after ischemia, the somatic PS and dendritic fEPSP only partially recovered when ischemia was terminated at the occurrence of ID. These results indicate that high glucose in ACSF during the period before and after ischemia significantly protects CA1 synaptic transmission against in vitro ischemia-induced damage through postponing the occurrence of ID.
Electrophysiological Predictors of Clinical Outcome in Traumatic Neuropathies: A Multicenter Prospective Study
Authors: Ciaramitaro Palma , Mondelli Mauro , Rota Eugenia , Battiston Bruno , Sard Arman , Pontini Italo , Faccani Giuliano , Migliaretti Giuseppe , Merola Aristide , Cocito Dario , Neuropathies Italian Network for Traumatic
Published: July 2016

Objectives. This prospective, observational, multicentre study aims to identify electrodiagnostic (EDX) markers of clinical recovery in patients with traumatic neuropathy (TN) receiving surgical (S) and nonsurgical (NS) treatments.Methods. Subjects referred to the Italian Traumatic Neuropathy Network between 2010 and 2011 (307 patients, for a total of 444 TN) were evaluated with serial clinical/EDX evaluations at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months of follow-up.Results. Primary surgery was performed in 21 subjects with open lesions and evidence of neurotmesis, while closed lesions were treated with either conservative medical approach (216 patients) or secondary surgery (70 patients), according to the clinical spontaneous recovery at 4–6 months. Clinical improvement correlated with the increase of the compound muscle action potential amplitude (OR 3.76; CI 1.61–8.76), particularly in the S group (OR 7.25; CI 1.2–43.87), and with sensory nerve action potential amplitude in the NS group (OR 4.35; CI 1.14–16.69). No correlations were found with needle electromyography qualitative evaluations, changes in maximal voluntary recruitment, age, and gender.Conclusions. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) represent the more accurate neurophysiological markers of clinical outcome in patients with TN.Significance. Serial NCS assessments predict the functional recovery in TN, increasing the accuracy of peripheral nerves surgical decision-making process.
An Analysis of QoS in ZigBee Network Based on Deviated Node Priority
Authors: Biddut Md. Jaminul Haque , Islam Nazrul , Karim Md. Maksudul , Miah Mohammad Badrul Alam
Published: July 2016

ZigBee is an IEEE 802.15.4 standardized communication protocol. It forms a flawless Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) standard for interoperability at all levels of the network, particularly the application level which most closely touches the user. A large number of devices from different vendors can work seamlessly. These devices act as a network and send huge data traffic to the Coordinator. End devices at different zones have different roles in communication with each other. There has been a lack in executing their requests in a synchronized way based on task priority. This lack leads to massive data traffic loss and degrades the Quality of Service (QoS). One of the challenges is to analyze the QoS parameters in ZigBee network that help to detect the overall network performance. The contribution of this paper is twofold; first, a ZigBee Network is implemented based on node priority. It demonstrates a method to generate a new priority of devices with respect to their existing priority and zones’ priority as well. Second, the QoS is analyzed based on the new priority status for tasks preference purposes. The outcome of this paper shows that the QoS of the network is more conspicuous than non-priority based network.
Acupuncture Points Stimulation for Meniere’s Disease/Syndrome: A Promising Therapeutic Approach
Authors: He Jiaojun , Jiang Liyuan , Peng Tianqiang , Xia Meixia , Chen Huade
Published: July 2016

Objective. This study aims to explore evidence for acupuncture points stimulation (APS) in treatment of Meniere’s disease (MD). Method. A literature search was conducted in seven databases including EMBASE, Medline, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, and WangFang database and the data analysis was performed by using the RevMan version 5.3. Results. 12 RCTs with 993 participants were acquired after the search. The quality of most eligible studies was very low which limited the value of the meta‐analysis. Compared with western medicine comprehensive treatment (WMCT), the APS alone or in combination with WMCT had a significant positive effect in controlling vertigo; however, the result was negative in hearing improvement and DHI. No adverse events were reported in the studies. Conclusion. The APS might be a promising therapeutic approach for MD. However, the currently available evidence is insufficient to make a definitive conclusion for the poor quality of included studies. More high‐quality researches with larger sample size are urgently needed to assess the effectiveness and safety.
Performance Optimization of Spin-Torque Microwave Detectors with Material and Operational Parameters
Authors: Li X. , Zhou Y. , Pong Philip W. T.
Published: July 2016

Sensitivity, bandwidth, and noise equivalent power (NEP) are important indicators of the performance of microwave detectors. The previous reports on spin-torque microwave detectors (STMDs) have proposed various approaches to increase the sensitivity. However, the effects of these methods on the other two indicators remain unclear. In this work, macrospin simulation is developed to evaluate how the performance can be optimized through changing the material (tilt angle of reference-layer magnetization) and operational parameters (the direction of magnetic field and working temperature). The study on the effect of magnetic field reveals that the driving force behind the performance tuning is the effective field and the equilibrium angle between the magnetization of the free layer and that of the reference layer. The material that offers the optimal tilt angle in reference-layer magnetization is determined. The sensitivity can be further increased by changing the direction of the applied magnetic field and the operation temperature. Although the optimized sensitivity is accompanied by a reduction in bandwidth or an increase in NEP, a balance among these performance indicators can be reached through optimal tuning of the corresponding influencing parameters.
Expression of miRNA and Occurrence of Distant Metastases in Patients with Hürthle Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Petric Rok , Gazic Barbara , Goricar Katja , Dolzan Vita , Dzodic Radan , Besic Nikola
Published: July 2016

Background. Hürthle cell thyroid carcinoma (HCTC) is a rare type of thyroid carcinoma. In the present study, we investigated whether the expression of miRNAs of interest is associated with the occurrence of metastases in patients with HCTC.Materials and Methods. In 39 patients with HCTC (22 with nonmetastatic and 17 with regional or distant metastatic disease), the expression levels of six miRNAs (miR-138, miR-183, miR-221, miR-222, miR-768-3p, and miR-885-5p) and U6 snRNA as endogenous control were determined in FFPE samples of primary tumor and normal thyroid tissue using TaqMan miRNA assays.Results. In patients with HCTC, miR-138 and miR-768-3p were downregulated in tumor samples compared to normal tissue (p=0.013andp=0.010, resp.). These two miRNAs were also significantly downregulated in tumor samples of patients with metastatic disease (p=0.030andp=0.048, resp.) but not in patients with nonmetastatic disease (p=0.249andp=0.101, resp.). In patients with nonmetastatic disease, miR-221 and miR-885-5p were slightly, albeit significantly, upregulated in tumorous compared to normal tissue (p=0.042andp=0.027, resp.).Conclusion. Expression of miRNA (miR-183, miR-221, and miR-885-5p) in tumor tissue is associated with the occurrence of distant metastases in patients with HCTC.
SMAC Mimetic Birinapant plus Radiation Eradicates Human Head and Neck Cancers with Genomic Amplifications of Cell Death GenesFADDandBIRC2
Authors: Eytan Danielle F. , Snow Grace E. , Carlson Sophie , Derakhshan Adeeb , Saleh Anthony , Schiltz Stephen , Cheng Hui , Mohan Suresh , Cornelius Shaleeka , Coupar Jamie , Sowers Anastasia L. , Hernandez Lidia , Mitchell James B. , Annunziata Christina M. , Chen Zhong , Van Waes Carter
Published: July 2016

Comparison of tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) reveals that head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) harbor the most frequent genomic amplifications of Fas-associated death domain (FADD), with or without Baculovirus inhibitor of apoptosis repeat containing BIRC2 (cIAP1), affecting about 30% of patients in association with worse prognosis. Here, we identified HNSCC cell lines harboring FADD/BIRC2 amplifications and overexpression by exome sequencing, RT-PCR, and Western blotting. In vitro, FADD or BIRC2 siRNA knockdown inhibited HNSCC displaying amplification and increased expression of these genes, supporting their functional importance in promoting proliferation. Birinapant, a novel SMAC mimetic, sensitized multiple HNSCC lines to cell death by agonists TNFα or TRAIL and inhibited cIAP1>XIAP>IAP2. Combination of birinapant and TNFα induced sub-G0 DNA fragmentation in sensitive lines and birinapant alone also induced significant G2–M cell-cycle arrest and cell death in UM-SCC-46 cells. Gene transfer and expression of FADD sensitized resistant UM-SCC-38 cells lacking FADD amplification to birinapant and TNFα, supporting a role for FADD in sensitization to IAP inhibitor and death ligands. HNSCC varied in mechanisms of cell death, as indicated by reversal by inhibitors or protein markers of caspase-dependent apoptosis and/or RIPK1/MLKL-mediated necroptosis. In vivo, birinapant inhibited tumor growth and enhanced radiation-induced TNFα, tumor responses, and host survival in UM-SCC-46 and -11B xenograft models displaying amplification and overexpression of FADD+/− BIRC2. These findings suggest that combination of SMAC mimetics such as birinapant plus radiation may be particularly active in HNSCC, which harbor frequent FADD/BIRC2 genomic alterations. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5442–54. ©2016 AACR.
When Is an Endophenotype Useful to Detect Association to a Disease? Exploring the Relationships between Disease Status, Endophenotype and Genetic Polymorphisms
Authors: Bureau Alexandre , Croteau Jordie
Published: July 2016

Objectives: To investigate the conditions and analysis strategies required so that endophenotypes related to a disease help discover genetic variants involved in the disease. Methods: The association with disease susceptibility variants is examined as a function of the relationships between disease status, endophenotype values and the genotype at another disease or endophenotype susceptibility locus assumed to be previously known, using approximate linear models of allele frequencies as a function of these variables and simulations in the context of family studies when the endophenotype is dichotomous. Results: Under genetic mechanisms where the risk allele of the tested locus has an effect exclusively in subjects with the endophenotype, the risk allele frequency differences between affected and unaffected subjects are much greater in the subset of subjects with an endophenotype impairment than in those without such an impairment, and power gains are obtained when testing the association under a joint disease-endophenotype model, both with two-locus or single-locus tests. However, with moderate main effect on the risk of disease or endophenotype impairment, testing directly the association between risk allele and disease or endophenotype is more powerful than testing under a joint disease-endophenotype model. Conclusions: Joint modeling of disease and endophenotype should be used only in parallel with standard disease association testing.
Effect of Valsartan on Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+-ATPase Pump of the Left Ventricular Myocardium in Rats with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction
Authors: Ying Xiao , Weiqing Long , Guihua Lu , Juhong Zhang , Huang Zhibin
Published: July 2016

Objectives: The aim was to investigate the effects of valsartan on the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase pump (SERCA) and L-type Ca2+ channel current (ICaL) of the left ventricular myocardium in rats with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Methods: The 30-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) are randomly divided into the non-Valsartan and Valsartan groups, and the 30-week-old male Wistar-Kyoto rats served as control rats. The expression of SERCA is measured by Western blot. The ICaL is measured by whole-cell patch clamp. The left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and left ventricular relaxation time constant quantity are measured at the same time. Results: The left ventricular end-diastolic pressure is much higher in SHRs compared with that in control rats (p < 0.01). The left ventricular relaxation time constant quantity is markedly extended in SHRs compared with control rats (p < 0.01). Valsartan cannot increase the expression of SERCA nor decrease the density of ICaL compared with the non-Valsartan group (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Valsartan has no effect on SERCA and ICaL of the left ventricular myocardium in rats with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Antagonism and Polycystic Kidney Disease Progression
Authors: Hian Chuan Kai , Lee Chin Liang , Thomas Warren
Published: July 2016

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a systemic disease characterised by the formation of multiple renal cysts that adversely affect renal function. ADPKD shows significant progression with age when complications due to hypertension are most significant. The activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) occurs in progressive kidney disease leading to hypertension. The RAAS system may also contribute to ADPKD progression by stimulating signalling pathways in the renal cyst cells to promote growth and deregulate epithelial transport. This mini review focuses on the contribution of the RAAS system to renal cyst enlargement and the potential for antagonists of the RAAS system to suppress cyst enlargement as well as control ADPKD-associated hypertension.
Movimentos messiânico-milenaristas: modos de transformação do desespero em esperança
Authors: Campos Leonildo Silveira
Published: July 2016

Messianismo e Milenarismo no Brasil, de João Baptista Borges Pereira e Renato da Silva Queiroz (orgs.), São Paulo, Edusp, 2015, 280 pp.
Forma urbana de Belém e seus desdobramentos para a formação de um sistema de espaços livres acessível à população
Authors: Cardoso Ana Claudia Duarte , Lima José Julio Ferreira , Ventura Neto Raul , Rodrigues Roberta Menezes , Ximenes Juliano Pamplona , Gomes Taynara Do Vale
Published: August 2016

Este texto apresenta uma caracterização do espaço construído de Belém, destacando sua condição estuarina, fisiografia e evolução socioespacial, mas iluminando elementos de desarticulação nas estratégias de operação dos agentes envolvidos na produção da cidade e da gestão urbanística para a estruturação de um Sistema de Espaços Livres e a forma limitada como os mesmos são apropriados pela população. O artigo baseia-se nas conclusões da Oficina Quapá SEL realizada em Belém em maio de 2015, na qual professores e estudantes da Universidade Federal do Pará e a equipe de professores e bolsistas da Universidade de São Paulo realizaram a avaliação dos espaços públicos da cidade. Observou-se que há notável diferenciação da paisagem da área central em oposição/contraposição à área de expansão da cidade e comprometimento de Áreas de Preservação Permanente (APPs) nas margens dos rios internos e das ilhas, principais espaços verdes do município e elementos de conexão com o bioma amazônico que, embora possua potencial paisagístico, vem sendo apropriado de forma socialmente desigual.
Is Mitral Valve Repair Superior to Mitral Valve Replacement in Elderly Patients? Comparison of Short‐ and Long‐Term Outcomes in a Propensity‐Matched Cohort
Authors: Silaschi Miriam , Chaubey Sanjay , Aldalati Omar , Khan Habib , Uzzaman Mohammed Mohsin , Singh Mrinal , Baghai Max , Deshpande Ranjit , Wendler Olaf
Published: July 2016

Background

Because of demographic changes, a growing number of elderly patients present with mitral valve (
MV
) disease. Although mitral valve repair (
MV
‐repair) is the “gold standard” treatment for
MV
disease, in elderly patients, there is controversy about whether
MV
‐repair is superior to mitral valve replacement. We reviewed results after
MV
surgery in elderly patients treated over the past 20 years.

Methods and Results

Our in‐hospital database was explored for patients who underwent
MV
surgery between 1994 and 2015. Survival data, obtained from the National Health Service central register, were complete for all patients. Of 1776 patients with
MV
disease, 341 were aged ≥75 years. Patients with repeat cardiac surgery, endocarditis, and concomitant aortic valve replacement were excluded. This yielded 221
MV
‐repair and 120 mitral valve replacement patients. Concomitant procedures included coronary artery bypass grafting in 135 patients (39.6%) and tricuspid valve surgery in 50 patients (14.7%). Thirty‐day mortality was 5.4% (
MV
‐repair) versus 9.2% (mitral valve replacement,
P
=0.26). Overall 1‐ and 5‐year survival was 90.7%, 74.2% versus 81.3%, 61.0% (
P
<0.01). Median survival after
MV
‐repair was 7.8 years, close to 8.5 years (95%
CI
: 8.2–9.4) in the age‐matched
UK
population (ratio 0.9). Rate of re‐operation for
MV
‐dysfunction was 2.3% versus 2.5% (mitral valve replacement,
P
=1.0). After propensity matching, patients after
MV
‐repair still had improved survival at 1, 2, and 5 years (93.4%, 91.6%, 76.9% versus 77.2%, 75.2%, 58.7%,
P
=0.03).

Conclusions

Excellent outcomes can be achieved after
MV
surgery in elderly patients. Long‐term survival is superior after
MV
‐repair and the re‐operation rate is low.
MV
‐repair should be the preferred surgical approach in elderly patients.
Tumor-Like Presentation of Primary Angiitis of the Central Nervous System
Authors: de Boysson Hubert , Boulouis Grégoire , Dequatre Nelly , Godard Sophie , Néel Antoine , Arquizan Caroline , Detante Olivier , Bloch-Queyrat Coralie , Zuber Mathieu , Touzé Emmanuel , Bienvenu Boris , Aouba Achille , Guillevin Loïc , Naggara Olivier , Pagnoux Christian
Published: July 2016

Background and Purpose—

We aimed to describe the clinical and imaging features of patients with tumor-like presentation of primary angiitis of the central nervous system.

Methods—

We retrospectively analyzed 10 patients enrolled in the French primary angiitis of the central nervous system cohort, who initially presented tumor-like brain lesions and compared them with other patients within the cohort.

Results—

The 10 patients with tumor-like presentation in the cohort were younger and had more seizures at diagnosis than the other 75 patients (median of 37 [30–48] years versus 46 [18–79] years;
P
=0.008; 9 [90%] with seizures versus 22 [29%],
P
<0.001; respectively). All 10 patients had a biopsy (stereotactic procedure in 7 and open-wedge surgery in 3). Histological findings suggestive of vasculitis were observed in 9 patients in whom conventional cerebral angiography and magnetic resonance angiography were negative. In the remaining patient, vascular imaging demonstrated diffuse bilateral large- and medium-sized vessel involvement (biopsy did not reveal vasculitis). All patients with tumor-like presentation received glucocorticoids, combined with cyclophosphamide in 9 cases. With a median follow-up of 27 (12–130) months, 5 (50%) patients relapsed, but achieved remission again after treatment intensification.

Conclusions—

Patients with tumor-like presentation of primary angiitis of the central nervous system represent a subgroup characterized with mainly small-sized vessel disease that requires histological confirmation because vascular imaging is often normal. Although relapses are not uncommon, global outcomes are good under treatment with glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide.
Kant’s Perspectival Solution to the Mind-Body Problem
Authors: Palmquist Stephen R.
Published: August 2016

Kant’s Critical philosophy solves Descartes’ mind-body problem, replacing the dualism of the “physical influx” theory he defended in his early career. Kant’s solution, like all Critical theories, is “perspectival,” acknowledging deep truth in both opposing extremes. Minds are not separate from bodies, but a manifestation of them, each viewed from a different perspective. Kant’s transcendental conditions of knowledge portray the mind not as creating the physical world, but as necessarily structuring our knowledge of objects with a set of unconscious assumptions; yet our pre-conscious (pre-mental) encounter with an assumed spatio-temporal, causal nexus is entirely physical. Hence, today’s “eliminative materialism” and “folk psychology” are both ways of considering this age-old issue, neither being an exclusive explanation. A Kantian solution to this version of the mind-body problem is: eliminative materialism is good science; but only folk psychologists can consistently be eliminative materialists. Indeed, the mind-body problem exemplifies a feature of all cultural situations: dialogue between opposing perspectives is required for understanding as such to arise.
Hyphodontia dimitica and H. subefibulata spp. nov. (Schizoporaceae, Hymenochaetales) from southern China based on morphological and molecular characters
Authors: CHEN JIA-JIA , ZHOU LI-WEI , JI XIAO-HONG , ZAHO CHANG-LIN
Published: July 2016

Hyphodontia dimitica and H. subefibulata collected from southern China are described as new species on the basis of a combination of morphological and molecular characters. H. dimitica is characterized by its poroid hymenophore, cream to buff fresh pore surface, large pores (2–4 per mm), a dimitic hyphal structure with thick-walled generative hyphae, and ellipsoid basidiospores measured as 3.8–4.6 × 2.8–3.5 µm. Hyphodontia subefibulata is characterized by its hydnoid hymenophore, buff-yellow to dark brown spines when dry, a monomitic hyphal structure with fairly thick-walled generative hyphae, presence of cystidia, and subglobose to broadly ellipsoid basidiospores measured as 3.2–4 × 3.0–3.5 µm. Illustrations and descriptions of these two new species are provided based on the Chinese materials.
Lectotypification of species names in Adelobotrys (Merianieae, Melastomataceae)
Authors: LIMA LAÍCE FERNANDA GOMES DE , BAUMGRATZ JOSÉ FERNANDO ANDRADE , LUGHADHA EIMEAR NIC , SANTOS JOÃO UBIRATAN MOREIRA DOS
Published: July 2016

Lectotypes are proposed for A. barbata, A. fuscescens, A. multiflora (= A. adscendens), A. praetexta, A. rotundifolia, Davya ciliata (= A. ciliata), Melastoma adscendens (=A. adscendens), Meriania ferruginea (= A. barbata), and Sarmentaria decora (= A. adscendens).
Description of a new species of Namalycastis (Annelida: Nereididae: Namanereidinae) from the Brazilian coast with a phylogeny of the genus
Authors: ALVES PAULO RICARDO , SANTOS CINTHYA SIMONE GOMES
Published: July 2016

The subfamily Namanereidinae represents one of the few groups of Polychaeta strongly adapted to low salinity and freshwater. Recently, some new species of the subfamily have been described, but no new phylogenetic analyses for the group have been undertaken since 1999. Here, we describe a new species of Namanereidinae, Namalycastis caetensis sp. nov., and provide a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis of the genus Namalycastis with the aim of assessing the evolutionary relationships for this new species. The designation of this new species is supported by the presence of elongated falcigers (also known as pseudospinigers, an unusual character in the genus), lack of an anterior cleft in the prostomium, slightly indistinct cirrophores, four pairs of tentacular cirri, and subconical acicular ligulae. Our results suggest that Namalycastis caetensis is closely related to N. geayi and N. fauveli. The existence of poorly-characterized species, from a morphological and molecular point of view, still limits our understanding of Namanereidinae relationships.
Species of Coenosia Meigen (Diptera, Muscidae) described by Fritz van Emden from the British Museum Ruwenzori Expedition of 1934–1935
Authors: COURI MÁRCIA , PONT ADRIAN
Published: July 2016

All the species of Coenosia Meigen (Diptera, Muscidae) described by Fritz van Emden from the British Museum (Natural History) Ruwenzori Expedition of 1934–1935 (Emden 1940), supplemented by species from the Entomological Expedition to Abyssinia of 1926–1927 (Emden 1941), were studied, a total of 51 species. All types are deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, UK. For each species, a diagnosis is given and photographs of the 10 holotypes and of their labels are presented. Dissections and illustrations of the male terminalia were made when paratypes or identified specimens were available; all terminalia are described for the first time. One new synonym is proposed: C. kilembana (Emden, 1940) as a junior synonym of C. rebmanni Speiser, 1924; and three subspecies had their status revised and were elevated to species rank: C. brunneigena Emden, 1940, previously a subspecies of C. heterocnemis Emden, 1940; and C. albisquama (Emden, 1940) and C. argentescens (Emden, 1940), both previously subspecies of C. niveifrons (Stein, 1913).
A new burrowing crayfish of the genus Fallicambarus Hobbs, 1969 (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from the Red River Drainage of the southcentral United States
Authors: TAYLOR CHRISTOPHER A. , ROBISON HENRY W.
Published: July 2016

A new primary burrowing crayfish, Fallicambarus schusteri, is described from the Red River drainage of extreme southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas and is placed in the subgenus Fallicambarus. The species occurs in roadside ditches that seasonally flood and have silt and silt-loam dominated soils. Falllicambarus schusteri differs from all other members of the genus Fallicambarus in possessing a thin gradually tapering central projection and a wide triangular cephalic process on the first pleopod of form I males, a sufflamen on the cheliped, and an antennal scale that is widest at its midpoint.