bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quality of life of head and neck cancer patients in urban and regional areas: An Australian perspective
Authors: Pateman Kelsey A. , Cockburn Nicole L. , Batstone Martin D. , Ford Pauline J.
Published: June 2018

Objective

Head and neck cancer treatment affects quality of life. There are differences in quality of life outcomes and perceived supportive care needs between cancer patients living in metropolitan and regional–remote areas. This study investigated quality of life over the first 6 months following head and neck cancer diagnosis and observed differences in quality of life by geographical location.

Design

Prospective observational study.

Setting

Tertiary hospital in Brisbane, Australia.

Participants

Newly diagnosed patients who were referred for the diagnosis, and/or treatment of head and neck cancer.

Main outcome measure(s)

Quality of life was measured by the University of Washington Quality of Life Survey, version 4 (UW‐QoL). Participants completed the UW‐QoL questionnaire prior to starting treatment, 1 month and 6 months post treatment. Metropolitan and regional or remote status was classified according to the Australian Standard Geographic Classification‐Remoteness Area system.

Results

Ninety‐five participants were included at baseline; 49 and 41 participants completed the 1‐month and 6‐month follow‐ups, respectively. Scores in most UW‐QoL domains decreased between baseline and 1 month post treatment and increased towards pre‐treatment scores at the 6‐month follow‐up (except for anxiety and saliva). Pain at baseline was significantly worse in the regional–remote participants compared with metropolitan participants. No other statistically significant differences in UW‐QoL score by geographical location were observed.

Conclusion

The findings generally did not support significant differences in quality of life outcome between metropolitan and regional–remote head and neck cancer patients. The difference in pain experience between metropolitan and regional–remote groups requires further investigation.
Neural network model for growth of Salmonella Typhimurium in brain heart infusion broth
Authors: Oscar Thomas P.
Published: June 2018

Models that predict growth of Salmonella as a function of variables in the current and previous environment are valuable tools for assessing the safety of food. Therefore, this study was undertaken to develop a model for growth of Salmonella Typhimurium in brain heart infusion broth as a function of previous pH (5.7–8.6), temperature (15–40 °C), pH (5.2–7.4) and time. Viable count data (log CFU mL−1) were modelled using a neural network approach. The variable impacts were 2.4% for previous pH, 29.0% for temperature, 4.9% for pH and 63.7% for time. The proportion of residuals in an acceptable prediction zone (pAPZ) from ‐1 (fail‐safe) to 0.5 log CFU mL−1 (fail‐dangerous) was 0.965 (1061/1100) for dependent data and 0.939 (386/411) for independent data for interpolation. A pAPZ ≥ 0.7 indicated that the model provided predictions with acceptable accuracy and bias. Thus, the model was successfully validated.
A personal perspective on the science, ethics, and commercialization of xenotransplantation
Authors: Rothblatt Martine
Published: June 2018

A parent of a child with a fatal lung disease decides to try to save her first with improved pharmaceuticals to hold the disease at bay, and then with an unlimited supply of transplantable lungs to cure the disease and manage the consequences of eventual organ rejection. The parent needs to surmount science, ethics, and commercialization issues for organ transplantation to be a practical cure, and several of those issues are particularly difficult for xenotransplanation. After half‐a‐decade of effort, the parent’s personal journey has resulted in a 100‐fold increase in the number of hours that pulmonary xenografts are viable, but still remains significantly shy of commercial viability and still leaves some ethical issues open.
Regulatory T cells from allo‐ to xenotransplantation: Opportunities and challenges
Authors: Ezzelarab Mohamed B.
Published: June 2018

Regulatory T cells (Treg) are currently being evaluated in clinical allotransplantation for tolerance induction, with proven safety in humans with autoimmune diseases and graft‐versus‐host disease. A considerable amount of recent data suggests that additional factors may need to be validated, including the stability and commitment of newly discovered Treg subsets under inflammatory conditions, to further warrant safe and effective Treg‐based therapeutic approaches. This review explores the opportunities and challenges of Treg‐based cell therapy in xenotransplantation. The emerging new technologies for genetic modifications of the donor pig offer a major advantage for Treg therapy to improve xenograft protection. Particularly, the feasibility of (i) ex vivo expansion of donor (pig)‐specific Treg for infusion, and (ii) development of Treg in situ for the life of the xenograft. Our understanding of the Treg biology and their role in xenograft protection, under the newly developed immunosuppressive protocols remains limited. The incidence of various Treg subpopulations in xenograft recipients and their suppressive efficacy across species barriers are largely unknown. Finally, deciphering the dynamics of Treg function, and their interaction with adaptive and innate immune cells are of critical importance to design safe, effective and clinically relevant Treg‐based therapeutic approaches in xenotransplantation.
The 2017 IXA Presidential Lecture: Recent developments in xenotransplantation
Authors: Cowan Peter J.
Published: June 2018

The last few years have seen significant progress in xenotransplantation. Porcine xenograft survival in preclinical models continues to improve, accompanied by the adjustment of immunosuppression to more clinically realistic levels. The rapid uptake of CRISPR/Cas9 technology has accelerated the generation of new knock‐in and knockout pigs, including animals null for the endogenous retrovirus PERV. This brief review presents a personal view of recent developments in the field.
New insights on innate B‐cell immunity in transplantation
Authors: Zorn Emmanuel
Published: June 2018

Innate B cells and natural antibodies (Nabs) have been extensively studied in normal physiological conditions as well as in several diseases. However, their significance in the context of ABO‐compatible solid organ transplantation is only emerging. This review summarizes recent studies exploring these often neglected innate immune elements in situations related to sensitization and clinical graft rejection. A focus is placed on class‐switched IgG Nabs that develop amidst inflammation, rather than IgM Nabs abundant at the steady state, as new evidence point to their implication in serum reactivity to HLA and kidney graft failure. The involvement of innate B cells in the pathophysiology of CAV is also presented. Lastly, we discuss key questions that need answering to understand whether and how innate B‐cell immunity contributes to the outcome of solid organ transplantation.
Evolution, biogeography and systematics of the western Palaearctic Zamenis ratsnakes
Authors: Salvi Daniele , Mendes Joana , Carranza Salvador , Harris David James
Published: June 2018

The phylogenetic relationships between western Palaearctic Zamenis and Rhinechis ratsnakes have been troubled, with recent estimates based on the supermatrix approach questioning their monophyly and providing contradictory results. In this study, we generated a comprehensive molecular data set for Zamenis and closely related ratsnakes to assess their phylogenetic and systematic relationships and infer their spatial and temporal modes of diversification. We obtained a fully resolved and well‐supported phylogeny, which is consistent across markers, taxon‐sets and phylogenetic methods. The close phylogenetic relationship between Rhinechis and Zamenis is well‐established. However, the early branching pattern within this clade, and the position of R. scalaris and Z. hohenackeri, remains poorly supported. The Persian ratsnake Z. persicus is sister to the Mediterranean species Z. situla, Z. longissimus and Z. lineatus, of which Z. situla is sister to a clade containing the latter two species. These results are consistent with a recent phylogenomic study on ratsnakes based on hundreds of loci. Whereas, topological tests based on our data and evidence from such phylogenomic study strongly rejected previous phylogenetic estimates based on the supermatrix approach and demonstrate that these “mega‐phylogenies”, with hundreds of taxa and high levels of missing data, have recovered inconsistent relationships with spurious nodal support. Biogeographical and molecular dating analyses suggest an origin of the ancestor of Rhinechis and Zamenis in the Aegean region with early cladogenesis during the Late Miocene associated with the Aegean arch formation and support a scenario of east‐to‐west diversification. Finally, while we have little morphological and phylogenetic evidence for the distinctiveness between Rhinechis and Zamenis, a classification of them in a single genus, and the designation of Zamenis scalaris (Schinz, 1822), reflects better their evolutionary relationships.
Cytokinin Signaling in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Samanovic Marie I. , Hsu Hao-Chi , Jones Marcus B. , Jones Victoria , McNeil Michael R. , Becker Samuel H. , Jordan Ashley T. , Strnad Miroslav , Xu Changcheng , Jackson Mary , Li Huilin , Darwin K. Heran
Published: June 2018

It was recently reported that the human-exclusive pathogen
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
secretes cytokinins, which had only been known as plant hormones. While cytokinins are well-established, adenine-based signaling molecules in plants, they have never been shown to participate in signal transduction in other kingdoms of life.
M. tuberculosis
is not known to interact with plants. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that cytokinins trigger transcriptional changes within this bacterial species. Here, we show cytokinins induced the strong expression of the
M. tuberculosis
gene Rv0077c. We found that Rv0077c expression is repressed by a TetR-like transcriptional repressor, Rv0078. Strikingly, cytokinin-induced expression of Rv0077c resulted in a loss of acid-fast staining of
M. tuberculosis
. While acid-fast staining is thought to be associated with changes in the bacterial cell envelope and virulence, Rv0077c-induced loss of acid-fastness did not affect antibiotic susceptibility or attenuate bacterial growth in mice, consistent with an unaltered mycolic acid profile of Rv0077c-expressing cells. Collectively, these findings show cytokinins signal transcriptional changes that can affect
M. tuberculosis
acid-fastness and that cytokinin signaling is no longer limited to the kingdom Plantae.

IMPORTANCE
Cytokinins have only previously been known as plant hormones. The discovery that they can be used as signaling molecules outside of plants broadens the repertoire of small molecules that can potentially affect gene expression in all domains of life.
Escherichia coli ZipA Organizes FtsZ Polymers into Dynamic Ring-Like Protofilament Structures
Authors: Krupka Marcin , Sobrinos-Sanguino Marta , Jiménez Mercedes , Rivas Germán , Margolin William
Published: June 2018

ZipA is an essential cell division protein in
Escherichia coli
. Together with FtsA, ZipA tethers dynamic polymers of FtsZ to the cytoplasmic membrane, and these polymers are required to guide synthesis of the cell division septum. This dynamic behavior of FtsZ has been reconstituted on planar lipid surfaces
in vitro
, visible as GTP-dependent chiral vortices several hundred nanometers in diameter, when anchored by FtsA or when fused to an artificial membrane binding domain. However, these dynamics largely vanish when ZipA is used to tether FtsZ polymers to lipids at high surface densities. This, along with some
in vitro
studies in solution, has led to the prevailing notion that ZipA reduces FtsZ dynamics by enhancing bundling of FtsZ filaments. Here, we show that this is not the case. When lower, more physiological levels of the soluble, cytoplasmic domain of ZipA (sZipA) were attached to lipids, FtsZ assembled into highly dynamic vortices similar to those assembled with FtsA or other membrane anchors. Notably, at either high or low surface densities, ZipA did not stimulate lateral interactions between FtsZ protofilaments. We also used
E. coli
mutants that are either deficient or proficient in FtsZ bundling to provide evidence that ZipA does not directly promote bundling of FtsZ filaments
in vivo
. Together, our results suggest that ZipA does not dampen FtsZ dynamics as previously thought, and instead may act as a passive membrane attachment for FtsZ filaments as they treadmill.

IMPORTANCE
Bacterial cells use a membrane-attached ring of proteins to mark and guide formation of a division septum at midcell that forms a wall separating the two daughter cells and allows cells to divide. The key protein in this ring is FtsZ, a homolog of tubulin that forms dynamic polymers. Here, we use electron microscopy and confocal fluorescence imaging to show that one of the proteins required to attach FtsZ polymers to the membrane during
E. coli
cell division, ZipA, can promote dynamic swirls of FtsZ on a lipid surface
in vitro
. Importantly, these swirls are observed only when ZipA is present at low, physiologically relevant surface densities. Although ZipA has been thought to enhance bundling of FtsZ polymers, we find little evidence for bundling
in vitro
. In addition, we present several lines of
in vivo
evidence indicating that ZipA does not act to directly bundle FtsZ polymers.
The PGRS Domain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis PE_PGRS Protein Rv0297 Is Involved in Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Apoptosis through Toll-Like Receptor 4
Authors: Grover Sonam , Sharma Tarina , Singh Yadvir , Kohli Sakshi , P. Manjunath , Singh Aditi , Semmler Torsten , Wieler Lothar H. , Tedin Karsten , Ehtesham Nasreen Z. , Hasnain Seyed E.
Published: June 2018

The genome of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
, the causal organism of tuberculosis (TB), encodes a unique protein family known as the PE/PPE/PGRS family, present exclusively in the genus
Mycobacterium
and nowhere else in the living kingdom, with largely unexplored functions. We describe the functional significance of the PGRS domain of Rv0297, a member of this family.
In silico
analyses revealed the presence of intrinsically disordered stretches and putative endoplasmic reticulum (ER) localization signals in the PGRS domain of Rv0297 (Rv0297PGRS). The PGRS domain aids in ER localization, which was shown by infecting macrophage cells with
M. tuberculosis
and by overexpressing the protein by transfection in macrophage cells followed by activation of the unfolded protein response, as evident from increased expression of GRP78/GRP94 and CHOP/ATF4, leading to disruption of intracellular Ca
2+
homeostasis and increased nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The consequent activation of the effector caspase-8 resulted in apoptosis of macrophages, which was Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) dependent. Administration of recombinant Rv0297PGRS (rRv0297PGRS) also exhibited similar effects. These results implicate a hitherto-unknown role of the PGRS domain of the PE_PGRS protein family in ER stress-mediated cell death through TLR4. Since this protein is already known to be present at later stages of infection in human granulomas it points to the possibility of it being employed by
M. tuberculosis
for its dissemination via an apoptotic mechanism.

IMPORTANCE
Apoptosis is generally thought to be a defense mechanism in protecting the host against
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
in early stages of infection. However, apoptosis during later stages in lung granulomas may favor the bacterium in disseminating the disease. ER stress has been found to induce apoptosis in TB granulomas, in zones where apoptotic macrophages accumulate in mice and humans. In this study, we report ER stress-mediated apoptosis of host cells by the Rv0297-encoded PE_PGRS5 protein of
M. tuberculosis
exceptionally present in the pathogenic
Mycobacterium
genus. The PGRS domain of Rv0297 aids the protein in localizing to the ER and induces the unfolded protein response followed by apoptosis of macrophages. The effect of the Rv0297PGRS domain was found to be TLR4 dependent. This study presents novel insights on the strategies employed by
M. tuberculosis
to disseminate the disease.
Tracheobronchial stents in palliative care: a case series and literature review
Authors: Tjahjono Richard , Chin Ronald Yoon-Kong , Flynn Peter
Published: June 2018

Objective

To evaluate the outcomes of tracheobronchial stenting in patients with malignant central airway obstruction and assist practitioners in palliative settings in understanding the indications, contraindications and management of tracheobronchial stents.

Methods

This retrospective study involved a consecutive case series of palliative patients with central airway obstruction secondary to inoperable cancers who underwent tracheobronchial stenting at a single institution. The European Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scale was used to evaluate patient functional status before and after tracheobronchial stenting.

Results

Twenty-three patients underwent tracheobronchial stenting for malignant central airway obstruction. The majority of patients presented with symptoms of worsening dyspnoea (21 of 23; 91%). Postoperatively, there was a significant improvement in mean ECOG performance status from 2.88±0.34 to 1.58±0.50 (p<0.01). There was no intraoperative mortality resulting from tracheobronchial stenting. Five patients (21.74%) re-presented to hospital due to worsening symptoms and required emergency bronchoscopy. Two patients had stent migration, requiring stent replacement. One patient restenosed from tumour granulation, requiring microdebrider to debulk the mass. Two patients had stent failure secondary to external tumour compression, leading to death.

Conclusion

Tracheobronchial stenting is a safe and effective procedure that offers rapid palliation of symptoms and improvement in patient functional status.
Extending the Sydney Triage to Admission Risk Tool (START+) to predict discharges and short stay admissions
Authors: Ebker-White Anja , Bein Kendall J , Dinh Michael M
Published: June 2018

Objective

This study aims to validate previously reported triage tool titled Sydney Triage to Admission Risk Tool (START+) and investigate whether an extended version of the tool could be used to identify and stream appropriate short stay admissions to ED observation units or specialised short stay inpatient wards.

Methods

This was a prospective study at two metropolitan EDs in Sydney, Australia. Consecutive triage encounters were observed by a trained researcher and START scores calculated. The primary outcome was length of stay <48 hours. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate area under curve of receiver operator characteristic (AUROC) for START scores. The original START tool was then extended to include frailty and multiple or major comorbidities as additional variables to assess for further predictive accuracy.

Results

There were 894 patients analysed during the study period. Of the 894 patients, there were 732 patients who were either discharged from ED or admitted for <2 days. The AUROC for the original START+ tool was 0.80 (95% CI 0.77 to 0.83). The presence of frailty was found to add a further five points and multiple comorbidities added another four points on top of the START score, and the AUROC for the extended START score 0.84 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.88).

Conclusion

The overall performance of the extended ED disposition prediction tool that included frailty and multiple medical comorbidities significantly improved the ability of the START tool to identify patients likely to be discharged from ED or require short stay admission <2 days.

Trial registration number

ACTRN12618000426280
A hybrid high-performance trajectory tracking controller for unmanned hexrotor with disturbance rejection
Authors: Ding Li , Zhou Jinyu , Shan Wentao
Published: June 2018

This article addresses the problem of designing and experimentally validating a controller for steering an unmanned hexrotor along a trajectory while rejecting the lumped disturbance. Based on the developed nonlinear dynamical model, a hybrid high-performance trajectory tracking controller is designed. In this control scheme, a linear active disturbance rejection control technology is introduced to stabilize the attitude loop, and an integral backstepping control methodology is employed to control the position loop. Subsequently, the performance of the proposed flight control strategy is tested in a simulation environment. The developed algorithms are then transplanted to a real system. A prototype and a flight experiment are established to verify its effectiveness. Experimental results are presented to show that the actual trajectory closely matches well with the ideal one. It demonstrates that the proposed controller provides good performance and robustness.
Variable speed limit control scheme for vehicle in the vicinity of signalized intersection
Authors: Yang Liang-Yi , Zhao Min , Sun Di-Hua , Liu Hui
Published: June 2018

In this paper, a variable speed limit control approach for improving the efficiency of signalized intersection is proposed from the cyber-physical view. In the proposed control scheme, vehicle-to-vehicle communication is being utilized fully such that the preceding vehicle’s optimal information is exploited for optimizing the motion of the current vehicle. To prepare the control scheme for dynamical optimization, nonlinear model predictive control technique is used to optimally control vehicle speed limit and a new traffic model is constructed by considering vehicle dynamics. Moreover, this paper evaluates the influence of communication distance on the traffic. The results show that extending communication distance in the vicinity of signalized intersection can improve vehicles’ average fuel economy.
Adaptive Kernel-Based Fuzzy C-Means Clustering with Spatial Constraints for Image Segmentation
Authors: Hu Guang , Du Zhenbin
Published: June 2018

In order to resolve the disadvantages of fuzzy C-means (FCM) clustering algorithm for image segmentation, an improved Kernel-based fuzzy C-means (KFCM) clustering algorithm is proposed. First, the reason why the kernel function is introduced is researched on the basis of the classical KFCM clustering. Then, using spatial neighborhood constraint property of image pixels, an adaptive weighted coefficient is introduced into KFCM to control the influence of the neighborhood pixels to the central pixel automatically. At last, a judging rule for partition fuzzy clustering numbers is proposed that can decide the best clustering partition numbers and provide an optimization foundation for clustering algorithm. An adaptive kernel-based fuzzy C-means clustering with spatial constraints (AKFCMS) model for image segmentation approach is proposed in order to improve the efficiency of image segmentation. Various experiment results show that the proposed approach can get the spatial information features of an image accurately and is robust to realize image segmentation.
A Multi-Criteria Decision Strategy to Select a Machine Learning Method for Indoor Positioning System
Authors: Yazıcı Ahmet , Keser Sinem Bozkurt , Günal Serkan , Yayan Uğur
Published: June 2018

Indoor positioning system is an active research area. There are various performance metrics such as accuracy, computation time, precision, and f-score in machine learning based indoor positioning systems. The aim of this study is to present a multi-criteria decision strategy to determine suitable machine learning methods for a specific indoor positioning system. This helps to evaluate the performance of machine learning algorithms considering multiple criteria. During the experiments, UJIIndoorLoc, KIOS and RFKON datasets are used from the positioning literature. The algorithms such as k-nearest neighbor, support vector machine, decision tree, naïve bayes and bayesian networks are compared using these datasets. In addition to these, ensemble learning algorithms, namely adaboost and bagging, are utilized to improve the performance of these classifiers. As a conclusion, the test results for any specific dataset are reevaluated using the performance metrics such as accuracy, f-score and computation time, and a multi-criteria decision strategy is proposed to find the most convenient algorithm. The analytical hierarchy process is used for multi-criteria decision. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to select the proper machine learning algorithm for an indoor positioning system using multi-criteria decision strategy.
Bell-CHSH violation under global unitary operations: Necessary and sufficient conditions
Authors: Ganguly Nirman , Mukherjee Amit , Roy Arup , Bhattacharya Some Sankar , Paul Biswajit , Mukherjee Kaushiki
Published: June 2018

The relation between Bell-CHSH violation and factorization of Hilbert space is considered here. That is, a state which is local in the sense of the Bell-CHSH inequality under a certain factorization of the underlying Hilbert space can be Bell-CHSH nonlocal under a different factorization. While this question has been addressed with respect to separability, the relation of the factorization with Bell-CHSH violation has remained hitherto unexplored. We find here that there is a set containing density matrices, which do not exhibit Bell-CHSH violation under any factorization of the Hilbert space brought about by global unitary operations. Using the Cartan decomposition of [Formula: see text], we characterize the set in terms of a necessary and sufficient criterion based on the spectrum of density matrices. Sufficient conditions are obtained to characterize such density matrices based on their bloch representations. For some classes of density matrices, necessary and sufficient conditions are derived in terms of bloch parameters. Furthermore, an estimation of the volume of such density matrices is achieved in terms of purity. The criterion is applied to some well-known class of states in two qubits. Since both local filtering and global unitary operations influence the Bell-CHSH violation of a state, a comparative study is made between the two operations. The inequivalence of the two operations (in terms of increasing Bell-CHSH violation) is exemplified through their action on some classes of states.
Electrochemistry of N-confused inner amino-substituted free-base tetraarylporphyrins in nonaqueous media
Authors: Ye Lina , Fang Yuanyuan , Ou Zhongping , Xue Songlin , Wang Liping , Kadish Karl M.
Published: June 2018

Four N-confused free-base tetraarylporphyrins containing an amino group on the inner carbon of the inverted pyrrole were synthesized and characterized as to their electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties in dichloromethane and N,N-dimethylformamide containing 0.1 M tetra-[Formula: see text]-butylammonium perchlorate as supporting electrolyte. The examined compounds are represented as (NH[Formula: see text](Ar)[Formula: see text]NcpH[Formula: see text], where “Ncp” is the N-confused porphyrin macrocycle and Ar is a [Formula: see text]-CH[Formula: see text]OPh, [Formula: see text]-CH[Formula: see text]Ph, Ph or [Formula: see text]-ClPh substituent on each meso-position of the macrocycle. Each porphyrin undergoes multiple irreversible reductions and oxidations. The first one-electron addition and first one-electron abstraction are located on the porphyrin [Formula: see text]-ring system to give [Formula: see text]-anion and [Formula: see text]-cation radicals with a HOMO–LUMO gap ranging from 1.21 to 1.34 V in CH[Formula: see text]Cl[Formula: see text] and 1.06 to 1.12 V in DMF. Both electrogenerated products are unstable and undergo a rapid chemical reaction to give new electroactive species which can be further reduced at more negative potentials or further oxidized at more positive potentials. The effects of the inner amino-substituent on the UV-vis spectra and electrochemical properties of the porphyrin are discussed, and comparisons made to data in the literature for both structurally related N-confused porphyrins containing an inner carbon NO[Formula: see text] group and derivatives without the inner substituent.
CARBON TAX FOR ACHIEVING CHINA’S NDC: SIMULATIONS OF SOME DESIGN FEATURES USING A CGE MODEL
Authors: TIMILSINA GOVINDA R. , CAO JING , HO MUN
Published: June 2018

China has set a goal of reducing its CO2 intensity of GDP by 60–65% from the 2005 level in 2030 as its nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Climate Change Agreement. While the government is considering series of market and nonmarket measures to achieve its target, this study assesses the economic consequences if the target were to meet through a market mechanism, carbon tax. We used a dynamic computable general equilibrium model of China for the analysis. The study shows that the level of carbon tax to achieve the NDC target would be different depending on its design features. An increasing carbon tax that starts at a small rate in 2015 and rises to a level to meet the NDC target in 2030 would cause smaller GDP loss than the carbon tax with a constant rate would do. The GDP loss due to the carbon tax would be smaller when the tax revenue is utilized to cut existing distortionary taxes than when it is transferred to households as a lump-sum rebate.
A Faster Subquadratic Algorithm for Finding Outlier Correlations
Authors: Karppa Matti , Kaski Petteri , Kohonen Jukka
Published: June 2018

We study the problem of detecting
outlier pairs
of strongly correlated variables among a collection of
n
variables with otherwise weak pairwise correlations. After normalization, this task amounts to the geometric task where we are given as input a set of
n
vectors with unit Euclidean norm and dimension
d
, and for some constants 0<τ < ρ < 1, we are asked to find all the outlier pairs of vectors whose inner product is at least ρ in absolute value, subject to the promise that all but at most
q
pairs of vectors have inner product at most τ in absolute value.

Improving on an algorithm of Valiant [FOCS 2012; J. ACM 2015], we present a randomized algorithm that for Boolean inputs ({ −1,1}-valued data normalized to unit Euclidean length) runs in time Õ((
n

max,{ 1−γ +
M
(Δ γ ,γ),
M
(1−γ ,2 Δ γ)}

+
qdn
2γ
), where 0<γ < 1 is a constant tradeoff parameter and
M
(μ, ν) is the exponent to multiply an ⌊
n
μ
⌋ × ⌊
n
ν
⌋ matrix with an ⌊
n
ν
⌋ × ⌊
n
μ
⌋ matrix and Δ =1/(1−log
τ
ρ). As corollaries we obtain randomized algorithms that run in time Õ( (
n

2/ω 3−log
τ
ρ

+
qdn

2/(1−log
τ
ρ)3=log
ττ
ρ

) and in time õ( (
n

4 / 2+α (1−log
τ
ρ)

+
qdn

2/α (1−log
τ
ρ)2+α (1−log
τ
ρ)

>), where 2≤ ω <2.38 is the exponent for square matrix multiplication and 0.3<α ≤ 1 is the exponent for  rectangular matrix multiplication. The notation Õ(ṡ) hides polylogarithmic factors in
n
and
d
whose degree may depend on ρ and τ. We present further corollaries for the light bulb problem and for learning sparse Boolean functions.
BootCMatch
Authors: D’ambra Pasqua , Filippone Salvatore , Vassilevski Panayot S.
Published: June 2018

This article has two main objectives: one is to describe some extensions of an adaptive Algebraic Multigrid (AMG) method of the form previously proposed by the first and third authors, and a second one is to present a new software framework, named
BootCMatch
, which implements all the components needed to build and apply the described adaptive AMG both as a stand-alone solver and as a preconditioner in a Krylov method. The adaptive AMG presented is meant to handle general symmetric and positive definite (SPD) sparse linear systems, without assuming any
a priori
information of the problem and its origin; the goal of adaptivity is to achieve a method with a prescribed convergence rate. The presented method exploits a general coarsening process based on aggregation of unknowns, obtained by a maximum weight matching in the adjacency graph of the system matrix. More specifically, a maximum product matching is employed to define an effective smoother subspace (complementary to the coarse space), a process referred to as compatible relaxation, at every level of the recursive two-level hierarchical AMG process.

Results on a large variety of test cases and comparisons with related work demonstrate the reliability and efficiency of the method and of the software.
A Small Bowel Ulcer due to Clopidogrel with Cytomegalovirus Enteritis Diagnosed by Capsule and Double-Balloon Endoscopy
Authors: Ebi Masahide , Inoue Satoshi , Sugiyama Tomoya , Yamamoto Kazuhiro , Adachi Kazunori , Yoshimine Takashi , Yamaguchi Yoshiharu , Tamura Yasuhiro , Izawa Shinya , Hijikata Yasutaka , Funaki Yasushi , Ogasawara Naotaka , Sasaki Makoto , Kasugai Kunio
Published: June 2018

We report the first case of small bowel ulcers due to clopidogrel in a 74-year-old man. He presented with diarrhea and melena after having been taking low-dose aspirin (LDA) and clopidogrel. There was no evidence of bleeding in the stomach, duodenum, or colon. Capsule endoscopy showed multiple ulcers and erosions in the small intestine. Double-balloon endoscopy revealed multiple ulcers throughout the ileum. Examination of the biopsy specimen showed cytomegalovirus infection. His LDA was discontinued and he was prescribed ganciclovir. However, the small bowel ulcers were aggravated. Therefore, clopidogrel was discontinued. The small bowel ulcers subsequently healed completely, forming scars.
A New Pathogenesis of Albuminuria: Role of Transcytosis
Authors: He Fang-Fang , Gong Yi , Li Zhen-Qiong , Wu Liang , Jiang Hua-Jun , Su Hua , Zhang Chun , Wang Yu-Mei
Published: June 2018

Transcytosis is an important intracellular transport process by which multicellular organisms selectively move cargoes from apical to basolateral membranes without disrupting cellular homeostasis. In kidney, macromolecular components in the serum, such as albumin, low-density lipoprotein and immunoglobulins, pass through the glomerular filtration barrier (GFB) and proximal tubular cells (PTCs) by transcytosis. Protein transcytosis plays a vital role in the pathology of albuminuria, which causes progressive destruction of the GFB structure and function. However, the pathophysiological consequences of protein transcytosis in the kidney remain largely unknown. This article summarizes recent researches on the regulation of albumin transcytosis across the GFB and PTCs in both physiological and pathological conditions. Understanding the mechanism of albumin transcytosis may reveal potential therapeutic targets for prevention or alleviation of the pathological consequences of albuminuria.
NEFA-Sensitive Orai1 Expression in Regulation of De Novo Lipogenesis
Authors: Zhang Bingbing , Yang Wei , Zou Ying , Li Ming , Guo Han , Zhang Hongyou , Xia Cheng , Xu Chuang
Published: June 2018

Background/Aims: Non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) are important inducers of inflammatory responses and hepatic lipid accumulation, which lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). High plasma NEFA is found in NAFLD patients, and associated with metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes. NFκB is known to upregulate Orai1, the Ca2+ channel responsible for store-operated Ca2+ entry. The present study explored the role of NEFA-sensitive NFκB-dependent Orai1 expression in the regulation of lipid synthesis. Methods: BRL-3A rat liver hepatocyte lines were studied in the absence and presence of NEFA. Transcript and protein expression levels of factors involved in lipid synthesis were quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot analyses. Fatty acids were measured by immunofluorescence. Results: NEFA significantly increased, as indicated by the expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase α (ACC1), Orai1, and NFκB p65 by qPCR and western blot analyses. These effects were reversed by the Orai1 inhibitor, 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate, and the NFκB inhibitor, wogonin. Furthermore, SREBP-1c, FAS, ACC1, and Orai1 were significantly decreased by Orai1 silencing. Conclusions: Taken together, these results demonstrated that NEFA-sensitive NFκB-dependent Orai1 expression regulates de novo lipogenesis.
The Ongoing Challenge of Acute Mesenteric Ischemia
Authors: Luther Bernd , Mamopoulos Apostolos , Lehmann Christian , Klar Ernst
Published: June 2018

Background: The lethality of acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) remains quite high with 50-70%. The main reasons for that are the fact that AMI is rarely taken into consideration by the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen, the time-consuming diagnostic process, and the lack of a standardized therapeutic concept. The present interdisciplinary review aims to increase awareness among physicians and to help improve clinical outcomes. Methods: This clinical therapeutic review is based on author expertise as well as a selective literature survey in PubMed based on the term ‘mesenteric ischemia', combined with the terms ‘arterial', ‘clinical presentation', ‘diagnosis', ‘therapy', ‘surgery', and ‘interventional radiology'. Based on these search results as well as on the guidelines of the German Society of Vascular Surgery, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association, we present an interdisciplinary treatment concept. Results: AMI is a vascular emergency that can be successfully treated only within the first hours after the onset of symptoms. Computed tomography angiography is the diagnostic method of choice. Intensive care unit treatment can prevent the occurrence of multiple organ failure. Treatment primarily consists of the revascularization of the mesenteric arteries. Endovascular techniques should be given priority, whereas signs of peritonitis or a central arterial occlusion with high thrombus load primarily require a surgical approach in order to save time and increase patient safety. Additional bowel resections can play a significant role in the treatment of intestinal sepsis. Conclusion: Prompt and goal-oriented diagnosis and consistent treatment of AMI within 4-6 h from the onset of symptoms can be decisive for the reduction of AMI-associated lethality. In order for this to happen, a standardized concept of emergency treatment needs to be implemented.
Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Interrogation at Forensic Autopsy
Authors: Lacour Philipp , Buschmann Claas , Storm Christian , Nee Jens , Parwani Abdul Shokor , Huemer Martin , Attanasio Philipp , Boldt Leif-Hendrik , Rauch Geraldine , Kucher Andreas , Pieske Burkert , Haverkamp Wilhelm , Blaschke Florian
Published: June 2018

Background:

Postmortem interrogations of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), recommended at autopsy in suspected cases of sudden cardiac death, are rarely performed, and data on systematic postmortem CIED analysis in the forensic pathology are missing. The aim of the study was to determine whether nonselective postmortem CIED interrogations and data analysis are useful to the forensic pathologist to determine the cause, mechanism, and time of death and to detect potential CIED-related safety issues.

Methods:

From February 2012 to April 2017, all autopsy subjects in the department of forensic medicine at the University Hospital Charité who had a CIED underwent device removal and interrogation. Over the study period, 5368 autopsies were performed. One hundred fifty subjects had in total 151 CIEDs, including 109 pacemakers, 35 defibrillators, and 7 implantable loop recorders.

Results:

In 40 cases (26.7%) time of death and in 51 cases (34.0%) cause of death could not be determined by forensic autopsy. Of these, CIED interrogation facilitated the determination of time of death in 70.0% of the cases and clarified the cause of death in 60.8%. Device concerns were identified in 9 cases (6.0%), including 3 hardware, 4 programming, and 2 algorithm issues. One CIED was submitted to the manufacturer for a detailed technical analysis.

Conclusions:

Our data demonstrate the necessity of systematic postmortem CIED interrogation in forensic medicine to determine the cause and timing of death more accurately. In addition, CIED analysis is an important tool to detect potential CIED-related safety issues.
Effect of Adherence to Antihypertensive Medication on the Long-Term Outcome After Hemorrhagic Stroke in Korea
Authors: Kim Jinkwon , Bushnell Cheryl D. , Lee Hye Sun , Han Sang Won
Published: June 2018

Hypertension is the single most important risk factor for hemorrhagic stroke, a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Adherence to antihypertensive medication is essential to achieving strict blood pressure control, but poor adherence is common in clinical practice. We evaluated adherence to antihypertensive medication in patients with acute hemorrhagic stroke and its effects on long-term outcome. This was a retrospective cohort study based on a nationwide health insurance claims database in South Korea. We included 1872 hypertensive patients who were admitted with acute hemorrhagic stroke during 2002 to 2013 (1354 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage and 518 cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage). Adherence to antihypertensive medication was calculated using the proportion of days covered by any antihypertensive medication throughout the follow-up period (categorized into poor <40%; intermediate 40%–80%; good >80%) and treated as a time-dependent variable. Primary outcome was defined as a composite of recurrent stroke (hemorrhagic or ischemic), myocardial infarction, or all-cause mortality. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed. During the mean follow-up period of 4.45 years, 634 patients had the primary outcome. The proportion of patients with good adherence to antihypertensive medication was 46.8% at 1 year, 43.2% at 3 years, and 41.7% at 5 years of follow-up. Compared with good adherence, the adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for the primary outcome was 1.80 (1.49–2.16) for poor adherence and 1.56 (1.27–1.93) for intermediate adherence.
Higher Aortic Stiffness Is Associated With Lower Global Cerebrovascular Reserve Among Older Humans
Authors: DuBose Lyndsey E. , Boles Ponto Laura L. , Moser David J. , Harlynn Emily , Reierson Leah , Pierce Gary L.
Published: June 2018

Greater aortic stiffness and pulse pressure are associated with cerebrovascular remodeling, reduced white matter microstructure, and cognitive performance with aging in humans. However, it is unclear whether aortic stiffness and pulse pressure are associated with reduced basal global cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reserve among older adults. Global CBF was quantified in 205 adults (range, 19–87 years; mean±SE: 30.6±1.3 years) using quantitative [
15
O]water brain positron emission tomography imaging. In a subset of older adults (n=24; 70.0±2.0 years), aortic stiffness (carotid femoral pulse wave velocity) and cerebrovascular reserve (change in global CBF after intravenous infusion of acetazolamide) were assessed. In the entire cohort, global CBF was lower in older compared with young adults (36.5±1.1 versus 50.5±0.7 mL/min per 100 mL;
P
<0.001). Global CBF was higher in young women compared with young men (51.0±0.30 versus 47.4±0.03 mL/min per 100 mL;
P
<0.001) but did not differ between older women and men (
P
=0.63). In older adults, greater carotid femoral pulse wave velocity was associated with lower cerebrovascular reserve (
r
=−0.68;
P
=0.001 adjusted for age, sex, and mean arterial pressure) but not global CBF (
r
=0.13;
P
=0.60). Brachial pulse pressure was not associated with lower cerebrovascular reserve (
r
=−0.37;
P
=0.159) when adjusted for age and sex. These data indicate that the age-related increases in aortic stiffness may contribute, in part, to the brain’s impaired ability to augment blood flow in response to a stimulus with aging in humans.
In the footsteps of history: the bees of the genus Hylaeus Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Apoidea: Colletidae) collected by V.I. Roborovsky and P.K. Kozlov in Northwest China (1895–1926)
Authors: PROSHCHALYKIN MAXIM YU. , DATHE HOLGER H.
Published: June 2018

An annotated list of 19 species of Hylaeus collected by the famous Russian explorers and travellers V.I. Roborovsky and P.K. Kozlov in Northwest China (1895–1926) is given. Hylaeus (Hylaeus) roborovskyi Proshchalykin & Dathe, sp. nov. is described as new from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The following eight known species are newly recorded from China: Hylaeus angustatus (Schenck, 1861), H. arenarius Morawitz, 1876, H. breviceps Morawitz, 1876, H. communis Nylander, 1852, H. fedtschenkoi (Cockerell, 1906), H. pallidicornis Morawitz, 1876, H. pesenkoi Proshchalykin & Dathe, 2016, and H. vulgaris Morawitz, 1876, increasing the number of species reported from the region to 48. New synonymy is established for Hylaeus tsingtauensis (Strand, 1915) = H. montivagus Dathe, 1986, syn. nov.
The Impact of Stratospheric Circulation Extremes on Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Extent
Authors: Smith Karen L. , Polvani Lorenzo M. , Tremblay L. Bruno
Published: June 2018

Given the rapidly changing Arctic climate, there is an urgent need for improved seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice. Yet, Arctic sea ice prediction is inherently complex. Among other factors, wintertime atmospheric circulation has been shown to be predictive of summertime Arctic sea ice extent. Specifically, many studies have shown that the interannual variability of summertime Arctic sea ice extent (SIE) is anticorrelated with the leading mode of extratropical atmospheric variability, the Arctic Oscillation (AO), in the preceding winter. Given this relationship, the potential predictive role of stratospheric circulation extremes and stratosphere–troposphere coupling in linking the AO and Arctic SIE variability is examined. It is shown that extremes in the stratospheric circulation during the winter season, namely, stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) and strong polar vortex (SPV) events, are associated with significant anomalies in sea ice concentration in the Barents Sea in spring and along the Eurasian coastline in summer in both observations and a fully coupled, stratosphere-resolving general circulation model. Consistent with previous work on the AO, it is shown that SSWs, which are followed by the negative phase of the AO at the surface, result in sea ice growth, whereas SPVs, which are followed by the positive phase of the AO at the surface, result in sea ice loss, although the mechanisms in the Barents Sea and along the Eurasian coastline are different. The analysis suggests that the presence or absence of stratospheric circulation extremes in winter may play a nontrivial role in determining total September Arctic SIE when combined with other factors.
Submesoscale Baroclinic Instability in the Bottom Boundary Layer
Authors: Wenegrat Jacob O. , Callies Jörn , Thomas Leif N.
Published: June 2018

Weakly stratified layers over sloping topography can support a submesoscale baroclinic instability mode, a bottom boundary layer counterpart to surface mixed layer instabilities. The instability results from the release of available potential energy, which can be generated because of the observed bottom intensification of turbulent mixing in the deep ocean, or the Ekman adjustment of a current on a slope. Linear stability analysis suggests that the growth rates of bottom boundary layer baroclinic instabilities can be comparable to those of the surface mixed layer mode and are relatively insensitive to topographic slope angle, implying the instability is robust and potentially active in many areas of the global oceans. The solutions of two separate one-dimensional theories of the bottom boundary layer are both demonstrated to be linearly unstable to baroclinic instability, and results from an example nonlinear simulation are shown. Implications of these findings for understanding bottom boundary layer dynamics and processes are discussed.