bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reward learning over weeks versus minutes increases the neural representation of value in the human brain
Authors: Wimmer G. Elliott , Li Jamie K. , Gorgolewski Krzysztof J. , Poldrack Russell A.
Published: July 2017

Over the past few decades, neuroscience research has illuminated the neural mechanisms supporting learning from reward feedback. Learning paradigms are increasingly being extended to study mood and psychiatric disorders as well as addiction. However, one potentially critical characteristic that this research ignores is the effect of time on learning: human feedback learning paradigms are usually conducted in a single rapidly paced session, while learning experiences in ecologically relevant circumstances and in animal research are almost always separated by longer periods of time. In our experiments, we examined reward learning in short condensed sessions distributed across weeks vs. learning completed in a single “massed” session in male and female participants. As expected, we found that after equal amounts of training, accuracy was matched between the spaced and massed conditions. However, in a 3-week follow-up, we found that participants exhibited significantly greater memory for the value of spaced-trained stimuli. Supporting a role for short-term memory in massed learning, we found a significant positive correlation between initial learning and working memory capacity. Neurally, we found that patterns of activity in the medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex showed stronger discrimination of spaced-vs. massed-trained reward values. Further, patterns in the striatum discriminated between spaced-and massed-trained stimuli overall. Our results indicate that single-session learning tasks engage partially distinct learning mechanisms from spaced sessions of training. Our studies begin to address a large gap in our knowledge of human learning from reinforcement, with potential implications for our understanding of mood disorders and addiction.

Significance statement

Humans and animals learn to associate predictive value with stimuli and actions, and these values then guide future behavior. Such reinforcement-based learning often happens over long time periods, in contrast to most studies of reward-based learning in humans. In experiments that tested the effect of spacing on learning, we found that associations learned in a single massed session were correlated with short-term memory and significantly decayed over time, while associations learned in short massed sessions over weeks were well-maintained. Additionally, patterns of activity in the medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex discriminated the values of stimuli learned over weeks but not minutes. These results highlight the importance of studying learning over time, with potential applications to drug addiction and psychiatry.
Widespread intronic polyadenylation diversifies immune cell transcriptomes
Authors: Singh Irtisha , Lee Shih-Han , Samur Mehmet K , Tai Yu-Tzu , Samur Mehmet K , Tai Yu-Tzu , Munshi Nikhil C , Mayr Christine , Leslie Christina S.
Published: July 2017

Alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (ApA) can generate mRNA isoforms with differences in 3’UTR length without changing the coding region (CDR). However, ApA can also recognize intronic polyadenylation (IpA) signals to generate transcripts that lose part or all of the CDR. We analyzed 46 3’-seq and RNA-seq profiles from normal human tissues, primary immune cells, and multiple myeloma (MM) samples and created an atlas of 4,927 high confidence IpA events. Up to 16% of expressed genes in immune cells generate IpA isoforms, a majority of which are differentially used during B cell development or in different cellular environments, while MM cells display a striking loss of IpA isoforms expressed in plasma cells, their cell type of origin. IpA events can lead to truncated proteins lacking C-terminal functional domains. This can mimic ectodomain shedding through loss of transmembrane domains or alter the binding specificity of proteins with DNA-binding or protein-protein interaction domains, thus contributing to diversification of the transcriptome.
MCE domain proteins: conserved inner membrane lipid-binding proteins required for outer membrane homeostasis
Authors: Isom Georgia L. , Davies Nathaniel J. , Chong Zhi-Soon , Bryant Jack A. , Jamshad Mohammed , Sharif Maria , Cunningham Adam F. , Knowles Timothy J. , Chng Shu-Sin , Cole Jeffrey A. , Henderson Ian R.
Published: July 2017

Bacterial proteins with MCE domains were first described as being important forMammalianCellEntry. More recent evidence suggests they are components of lipid ABC transporters. InEscherichia coli, the single-domain protein MlaD is known to be part of an inner membrane transporter that is important for maintenance of outer membrane lipid asymmetry. Here we describe two multi MCE domain-containing proteins inEscherichia coli, PqiB and YebT, the latter of which is an orthologue of MAM-7 that was previously reported to be an outer membrane protein. We show that all three MCE domain-containing proteins localise to the inner membrane. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that MCE domains are widely distributed across bacterial phyla but multi MCE domain-containing proteins evolved in Proteobacteria from single-domain proteins. Mutants defective inmlaD,pqiABandyebSTwere shown to have distinct but partially overlapping phenotypes, but the primary functions of PqiB and YebT differ from MlaD. Complementing our previous findings that all three proteins bind phospholipids, results presented here indicate that multi-domain proteins evolved in Proteobacteria for specific functions in maintaining cell envelope homeostasis.
Column subset selection for single-cell RNA-Seq clustering
Authors: McCurdy Shannon R. , Ntranos Vasilis , Pachter Lior
Published: July 2017

The first step in the analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) is dimensionality reduction, which reduces noise and simplifies data visualization. However, techniques such as principal components analysis (PCA) fail to preserve non-negativity and sparsity structures present in the original matrices, and the coordinates of projected cells are not easily interpretable. Commonly used thresholding methods avoid those pitfalls, but ignore collinearity and covariance in the original matrix. We show that a deterministic column subset selection (DCSS) method possesses many of the favorable properties of PCA and common thresholding methods, while avoiding pitfalls from both. We derive new spectral bounds for DCSS. We apply DCSS to two measures of gene expression from two scRNA-Seq experiments with different clustering workflows, and compare to three thresholding methods. In each case study, the clusters based on the small subset of the complete gene expression profile selected by DCSS are similar to clusters produced from the full set. The resulting clusters are informative for cell type.
Small subsets of highly connected taxa predict compositional change in microbial communities
Authors: Herren Cristina M. , McMahon Katherine D.
Published: July 2017

For decades, ecological theory has predicted that the complexity of communities should be related to their stability. However, this prediction has rarely been tested empirically, because of both the difficulty of finding suitable systems where the question is tractable and the trouble of defining “stability” in real systems. Microbial communities provide the opportunity to investigate a related question: how does community connectivity relate to the rate of compositional turnover? We used a newly developed metric called community “cohesion” to test how microbial community connectivity relates to Bray-Curtis dissimilarity through time. In three long-term datasets, we found that stronger connectivity corresponded to lower rates of compositional turnover. Using two case studies of disturbed and reference communities, we found that the predictive power of community connectivity was diminished by external disturbance. Finally, we tested whether the highly connected taxa were disproportionately important in explaining compositional turnover. We found that subsets of highly connected “keystone” taxa, generally comprising 1-5% of community richness, explained community turnover better than using all taxa. Our results suggest that stronger biotic interactions within microbial community dynamics are stabilizing to community composition, and that highly connected taxa are good indicators of pending community shifts.
CrystalExplorermodel energies and energy frameworks: extension to metal coordination compounds, organic salts, solvates and open-shell systems
Authors: Mackenzie Campbell F. , Spackman Peter R. , Jayatilaka Dylan , Spackman Mark A.
Published: July 2017

The application domain of accurate and efficient CE-B3LYP and CE-HF model energies for intermolecular interactions in molecular crystals is extended by calibration against density functional results for 1794 molecule/ion pairs extracted from 171 crystal structures. The mean absolute deviation of CE-B3LYP model energies from DFT values is a modest 2.4 kJ mol−1for pairwise energies that span a range of 3.75 MJ mol−1. The new sets of scale factors determined by fitting to counterpoise-corrected DFT calculations result in minimal changes from previous energy values. Coupled with the use of separate polarizabilities for interactions involving monatomic ions, these model energies can now be applied with confidence to a vast number of molecular crystals. Energy frameworks have been enhanced to represent the destabilizing interactions that are important for molecules with large dipole moments and organic salts. Applications to a variety of molecular crystals are presented in detail to highlight the utility and promise of these tools.
Structural aspects of displacive transformations: what can optical microscopy contribute? Dehydration of Sm2(C2O4)3·10H2O as a case study
Authors: Matvienko Alexander A. , Maslennikov Daniel V. , Zakharov Boris A. , Sidelnikov Anatoly A. , Chizhik Stanislav A. , Boldyreva Elena V.
Published: July 2017

For martensitic transformations the macroscopic crystal strain is directly related to the corresponding structural rearrangement at the microscopic level.In situoptical microscopy observations of the interface migration and the change in crystal shape during a displacive single crystal to single crystal transformation can contribute significantly to understanding the mechanism of the process at the atomic scale. This is illustrated for the dehydration of samarium oxalate decahydrate in a study combining optical microscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.
Tris(μ2-methanolato)-μ3-oxido-tris{[(E)-4-chloro-2-({[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethyl]imino}methyl)phenolato]manganese(III)} perchlorate–dichloromethane–diethyl ether (1/1.1/0.9)
Authors: Egekenze Rita , Gultneh Yilma , Butcher Ray J.
Published: July 2017

In the title compound, [Mn3(C14H12ClN2O)3(CH3O)3O]ClO4·1.1CH2Cl2·0.9C4H10O, the cation consists of a central Mn3O core with μ2-methanolate bridging between adjacent MnIII atoms, thus giving each MnIII atom a mer-O3 coordination environment. Six-coordination for each MnIII atom is provided by the deprotonated Schiff base ligand (E)-4-chloro-2-({[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethyl]imino}methyl)phenolate. There are extensive C—H...O and C—H...Cl interactions, which link the cations, anions, and solvent molecules into a three-dimensional array.
Crystal structure of tetrahydroseselin, an angular pyranocoumarin
Authors: Bauri A. K. , Foro S. , Rahman A. F. M. M.
Published: July 2017

In the title compound, tetrahydroseselin, C14H16O3, a pyranocoumarin [systematic name: 8,8-dimethyl-3,4,9,10-tetrahydro-2H,8H-pyrano[2,3-f]chromen-2-one] obtained from the hydrogenation of seselin in the presence of Pd/C in MeOH at room temperature, the dihedral angle between the central benzene ring and the best planes of the outer fused ring systems are 6.20 (7) and 10.02 (8)°. In the crystal, molecules show only very weak intermolecular C—H...O interactions.
Crystal structure of [N,N-bis(diphenylphosphorothioyl)amidato-κ2
S,S′]bis(triphenylphosphane-κP)copper(I) dichloromethane monosolvate
Authors: Nishi Tatsuya , Tsukuda Toshiaki , Nishikawa Michihiro , Tsubomura Taro
Published: July 2017

The title compound, [Cu(C24H20NP2S2)(C18H15P)2]·CH2Cl2 or [Cu(dppaS2)(PPh3)2]·CH2Cl2, is a neutral mononuclear copper(I) complex bearing an N,N-bis(diphenylphosphorothioyl)amidate (dppaS2
−) ligand and two triphenylphosphane ligands. The molecular structure shows that the two S atoms of the dppaS2
− ligand [Cu—S = 2.3462 (9) and 2.3484 (9) Å] and the two P atoms of the two triphenylphosphane ligands [Cu—P = 2.3167 (9) and 2.2969 (9) Å] coordinate to the copper(I) atom, resulting in a tetrahedral coordination geometry. The crystallographically observed molecular structure is compared to the results of DFT calculations.
A one-dimensional bromide-bridged PtII/PtIV mixed-valence complex with a 2-bromoethanesulfonate counter-ion
Authors: Matsushita Nobuyuki , Taira Ayako , Taoka Yoshiya
Published: July 2017

The title salt, catena-poly[[[bis(ethylenediamine)platinum(II)]-μ-bromido-[bis(ethylenediamine)platinum(IV)]-μ-bromido] tetrakis(2-bromoethanesulfonate) dihydrate], {[PtIIPtIVBr2(C2H8N2)4](C2H4BrSO3)4·2H2O}
n
, crystallizes in the space group P21212. It has a linear chain structure extending parallel to the c axis, composed of square-planar [Pt(en)2]2+ and elongated octahedral trans-[PtBr2(en)2]2+ cations (en is ethylenediamine) stacked alternately and bridged by the Br atoms. The Pt site of the [PtII/IV(en)2] unit is located on a general position. The Br site, which is also located on a general position, is equally disordered over two positions. The Pt and Br atoms form a slight zigzag ...Br—PtIV—Br...PtII... chain, with PtIV—Br bond lengths of 2.453 (2) and 2.491 (3) Å, PtII...Br contacts of 3.069 (2) and 3.032 (3) Å, and PtIV—Br...PtII angles of 178.06 (13) and 177.70 (13)°. The mixed-valence state of the Pt site is expressed by the parameter δ = (PtIV–Br)/(PtII...Br), with values of 0.799 and 0.822 for the two independent Br atoms. In the crystal, N—H...O and O—H...O hydrogen bonds between the amine groups of the Pt complex chains, the sulfonate groups and water molecules of crystallization, stabilize the cationic columnar structure.
Guest editorial: leadership and organizational development in Africa
Authors: Sanda Mohammed-Aminu
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to preview contributions on leadership and organizational development in the African context, covered in this special issue of the African Journal of Business and Economic Studies.

Design/methodology/approach

Summaries of the underlying theoretical/conceptual and/or empirical frameworks, as well as key findings for each paper, were outlined in order to provide insights of each paper’s thematic contribution.

Findings

Paper 1 identified four basic modes of understanding organizational culture which provides a unique and expanded view on pursuing research in the field. Paper 2 found that managers use authentic and transactional leadership skills to cultivate and nurture the creativities of employees toward increased performances. Paper 3 found the interaction between authentic leaders and followers as inducing high levels of moral and ethical behaviors in followers. Paper 4 found that employee engagement and affective commitment minimize employees’ attrition, irrespective of leadership styles. Paper 5 found that, managers can enhance organizational development by creating an atmosphere for innovation development, and being involved in its implementation. Paper 6 found that leaders who are emotionally intelligent positively evoke subordinates’ citizenship behaviors. Paper 7 identified three distinct and interrelated archetypes of managerial role preferences (i.e. change agents, affective leaders, and result-oriented realists) needed by leaders in their administrative practices.

Originality/value

The papers provide new insights, in terms of thematic learning and knowledge, which add to the understanding of the contemporary Afrocentric perspective on leadership and organizational development, especially, the dialogue of management activities that promote the relational, critical and constructionist perspectives on leadership and organizational development.
Administrative leadership
Authors: Mitiku Adare Assefa , Hondeghem Annie , Troupin Steve
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership roles the Ethiopian civil service managers preferably embody in their setting. As such, contextually preferred roles were identified and briefly contrasted with the leadership literature. It also outlined the directions for the future research agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

Q-methodology, an approach reasonably like “grounded-theory” was used. It is suited to embrace life as lived by the actors themselves. In this specific case, Q-methodology allows the managers to conceptualize their definitions or preferences of leadership roles. The data were obtained from 51 managers working in the federal civil service organizations covering a broad range of public policy and service fields.

Findings

Based on the Q-sorts of 51 managers, the authors found three distinct yet interrelated archetypes of role preferences, which the authors labeled as the change agents, affective leaders and result-oriented realists. The study, however, demonstrates that although the ostensible echoes of each of these perspectives were professed, there were overlooked functions that are needed to be performed for full practice of each.

Practical implications

Understanding the contextually preferred leadership roles, if considered in designing the management training and development programs, could prove productive. It also informs the staff recruitment and promotion activities of the civil service organizations.

Originality/value

Conceptualizations of public leadership roles are abound in the literature. As they mostly emerged in a Western context, their applicability to other settings is questionable. Studying the subject in the context of Ethiopia, this paper contributes to the growing body of African literature on administrative leadership and informs the practice as well as the scholarship in this area.
Determinants of employee turnover intention
Authors: Kim Soojin , Tam Lisa , Kim Jeong-Nam , Rhee Yunna
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify associations amongst organizational justice, supervisory justice, authoritarian culture, organization-employee relationship quality and employee turnover intention.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey (n=300) was conducted in South Korea.

Findings

Organizational justice and supervisory justice are positively associated with organization-employee relationship quality, while authoritarian organizational culture is negatively associated with it. In addition, there is a positive association between authoritarian organizational culture and turnover intention. Organizational justice and organization-employee relationship quality are negatively associated with turnover intention.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the lack of research on organization-employee relationship quality as a predictor of employee turnover intention and a mediator between authoritarian organizational culture and turnover intention.
Examining the use of sales force management practices
Authors: Reid David A. , Plank Richard E. , Peterson Robert M. , Rich Gregory A.
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand what sales management practices (SMPs) are being used by managers in the current market place, changes over time, insights that can be gained and future research needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this paper were collected via a cross-sectional internet-based survey using a sampling frame provided by a professional sales publication. ANOVA was used to analyze 159 sales manager respondents.

Findings

Empirical results indicate that several differences are evident across the 68 SMPs items gathered, especially in terms of the size of the sales force and establish some data on using technology in sales management. However, in spite of significant changes in the sales environment, many SMPs have had limited change.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of this paper include a sample frame drawn from a single source and via the internet and, thus, may have excluded some possible respondents from participation and somewhat limit generalizability.

Practical implications

The results of this paper raise a number of important issues for sales managers to consider. First, which SMPs should they be using? Managers need to give serious thought as to which practices they choose to use. Second, why are so many of them not making more extensive use of sales force technology? Third, is it wise for sales managers to be relying on executive opinion as their most extensively used forecasting method or should they be emphasizing another approach? A fourth issue is the continued heavy emphasis on generating sales volume as opposed to profits.

Originality/value

The data provide a rare and updated understanding of the use of SMPs by sales managers.
Cultural variations and ethical business decision making: a study of individualistic and collective cultures
Authors: Oumlil A. Ben , Balloun Joseph L.
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This study aims to examine the ethical beliefs and moral philosophical typologies, the relative effect of religiosity on personal ethical beliefs and behavior of the collectivist and individualistic business executives.

Design/methodology/approach

This research assesses the relative impact of significant cultural factors on the business ethical decision-making process in a Western and individualistic cultural context (the USA) in comparison to a non-Western and collective cultural context (Morocco). To understand how cultural variations influence business ethical practices, this study adopts Hofstede’s cultural framework for comparison of business executives’ ethical decisions within a cross-cultural context. Hypotheses are tested on survey data on 172 business executives.

Findings

Results show that most collective business executives are “Situationists”. The findings reveal a strong, positive relationship between business managers’ religiosity and their idealism degrees. This study also reveals mixed findings in examining the correlation of religiosity with various components of ethical intentions.

Research limitations/implications

The link between religiosity and ethical intentions needs to be viewed with caution. This calls for expanding the scope of this study into other cultures and religions.

Practical implications

Differences of the findings in ethical typologies between collective and individualistic business executives may lead to different negotiation styles on ethical business decisions and issues. Managers from a collective culture are not as likely to exhibit much change in their initial ethical orientation(s). There is a strong positive relationship between a business manager’s religiosity and his/her degree of idealism. Thus, the more religious business managers are, the more Absolutist they are when making ethical and moral judgments.

Originality/value

This research works to fill the gap by examining the impact of culture on the business/marketing ethical decision-making processes within the contexts of a Western cultural and developed nation and a non-Western cultural, and developing/Mediterranean/North African nation. The findings clarify the influence of culture on business ethical decisions. Such an understanding can assist corporate managers in developing and successfully implementing business ethical codes that lead to enhanced moral conduct in their organizations.
Evaluation effects of bundle size and price presentation
Authors: Engeset Marit Gundersen , Opstad Birger
Published: July 2017

Purpose

Marketers often combine products in bundles to increase demand. Research has shown that itemizing the prices of the individual products in the bundle raises evaluations in some situations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how bundle size influences the effect itemizing prices have on bundle evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct two experiments. In the first, they test the effects of price presentation formats (itemized vs consolidated) and bundle size on consumers’ evaluations of product bundles. In the second experiment, they test the proposed mechanism that itemizing the price leads to a more realistic price expectation which in turn enhances evaluation. The authors also test whether this effect is stronger for larger bundles.

Findings

In Study 1, the authors find that large, but not small, bundles are evaluated more positive when presented with itemized prices. In Study 2, mediated moderation analysis supports the prediction that price expectation mediates the effect of the price presentation × bundle size interaction on bundle evaluations. The findings show that itemizing prices results in more realistic price expectations and that this effect is stronger for larger bundles. In turn, more realistic price expectations lead to higher evaluation.

Research limitations/implications

The implication of this research is that by directing attention to individual items in the bundle, consumers are better able to assess bundle benefits. More research is needed to investigate other potential explanations for the findings in Study 1. Further research should also investigate whether the findings reported here holds in other settings, with other products and with other types and size of bundles.

Practical implications

Managers are recommended to itemize the prices of product bundles, particularly when bundles are large.

Originality/value

This paper extends our knowledge about the effect itemizing the prices of individual items in a bundle has on consumer evaluation by demonstrating the moderating effect of bundle size and showing that more realistic price expectation explains these effects.
Underdog effects: the role of consumption domain and retail crowding
Authors: Shirai Miyuri
Published: July 2017

Purpose

When communicating with consumers, firms frequently highlight their underdog status to evoke a favorable attitude. Previous research has confirmed consumer preference for underdogs over top dogs in various domains. However, very little research has been conducted on the business types and decision contexts in which underdog effects produce the most impact. This paper aims to investigate some of the unexplored boundary conditions of underdog effects and addresses two issues: consumption domain and retail crowding.

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments with a 2 (biography: underdog or top dog) × 2 (consumption domain: hedonic or utilitarian) × 2 (retail crowding: adequately crowded or uncrowded) factorial between-subjects design were conducted to test hypotheses. The two experiments differ in the consumption domains and the approaches used to depict crowding conditions. Furthermore, the first experiment targeted college students and the second experiment targeted online consumer panels across various age groups.

Findings

Underdog effects were more easily evoked when the consumption domain was more hedonic than utilitarian. In addition, retail crowding was an informational cue for judging acceptance of underdog businesses and enhanced the evaluation when the retail environment was adequately crowded rather than uncrowded. This role of crowding was also evident for top-dog businesses when consumers perceived high risk in the businesses.

Originality/value

This is the first study to distinguish between hedonic and utilitarian consumption domains with underdog effects and to demonstrate a positive effect of crowding as an informational cue, indicating acceptance by other consumers.
Evaluating the success of wildlife crossing structures using genetic approaches and an experimental design: Lessons from a gliding mammal
Authors: Soanes Kylie , Taylor Andrea C. , Sunnucks Paul , Vesk Peter A. , Cesarini Silvana , van der Ree Rodney
Published: July 2017

Millions of dollars are spent on wildlife crossing structures intended to reduce the barrier effects of roads on wildlife. However, we know little about the degree to which these structures facilitate dispersal and gene flow.

Our study incorporates two elements that are rarely used in the evaluation of wildlife crossing structures: an experimental design including a before and after comparison, and the use of genetic techniques to demonstrate effects on gene flow at both population and individual levels. We evaluated the effect of wildlife crossing structures (canopy bridges and glider poles) on a gliding mammal, the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis). We genotyped 399 individuals at eight microsatellite markers to analyse population structure, first‐generation migrants and parentage relationships.

We found that the freeway was not a complete genetic barrier, with a strong effect evident at only one site. We hypothesise that the presence of corridors alongside the freeway and throughout the surrounding landscape facilitated circuitous detours for squirrel gliders.

Installing a crossing structure at the location with a strong barrier effect restored gene flow within just 5 years of mitigation.

Synthesis and applications. Our study highlights the importance of using genetic techniques not just to evaluate the success of road‐crossing structures for wildlife, but also to guide their placement within the landscape. Managers wishing to reduce the effects of linear infrastructure on squirrel gliders and other arboreal mammals should aim to preserve and enhance vegetation along roadsides and within centre medians, as well as mitigate large gaps by implementing wildlife crossing structures.
Effects of Myricetin‐Containing Ethanol Solution on High‐Fat Diet Induced Obese Rats
Authors: Chao Hsueh‐Chin , Tsai Pei‐Feng , Lee Sheng‐Chi , Lin Yeong‐Shenn , Wu Ming‐Chang
Published: July 2017

Myricetin is a natural flavonol widely occurring in wines. Many beneficial effects of myricetin in alcoholic beverages have been reported before, but never including anti‐obesity. In the present study, we fed obese male Sprague–Dawley rats with ethanol solutions containing various concentrations of myricetin and found that myricetin may maintain the food intake while reduce the weight‐gain, feed efficiency, level of blood lipids, adipocyte size, and weight and size of the perirenal and epididymal adipose tissues (P < 0.01). Our experiment data also show that the anti‐obesity effect may be associated with the upregulation of adropin and β‐endorphin levels. Based on the above‐described findings, we propose the potential for myricetin‐containing alcoholic beverages to be developed into anti‐obesity health food.
Inhibition of microsomal PGE synthase‐1 reduces human vascular tone by increasing PGI2: a safer alternative to COX‐2 inhibition
Authors: Ozen Gulsev , Gomez Ingrid , Daci Armond , Deschildre Catherine , Boubaya Lilia , Teskin Onder , Uydeş‐Doğan B Sonmez , Jakobsson Per‐Johan , Longrois Dan , Topal Gokce , Norel Xavier
Published: July 2017

Background and Purpose

The side effects of cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) inhibitors on the cardiovascular system could be associated with reduced prostaglandin (PG)I2 synthesis. Microsomal PGE synthase‐1 (mPGES‐1) catalyses the formation of PGE2 from COX‐derived PGH2. This enzyme is induced under inflammatory conditions and constitutes an attractive target for novel anti‐inflammatory drugs. However, it is not known whether mPGES‐1 inhibitors could be devoid of cardiovascular side effects. The aim of this study was to compare, in vitro, the effects of mPGES‐1 and COX‐2 inhibitors on vascular tone in human blood vessels.

Experimental Approach

The vascular tone and prostanoid release from internal mammary artery (IMA) and saphenous vein (SV) incubated for 30 min with inhibitors of mPGES‐1 or COX‐2 were investigated under normal and inflammatory conditions.

Key Results

In inflammatory conditions, mPGES‐1 and COX‐2 proteins were more expressed, and increased levels of PGE2 and PGI2 were released. COX‐2 and NOS inhibitors increased noradrenaline induced vascular contractions in IMA under inflammatory conditions while no effect was observed in SV. Interestingly, the mPGES‐1 inhibitor significantly reduced (30–40%) noradrenaline‐induced contractions in both vessels. This effect was reversed by an IP (PGI2 receptor) antagonist but not modified by NOS inhibition. Moreover, PGI2 release was increased with the mPGES‐1 inhibitor and decreased with the COX‐2 inhibitor, while both inhibitors reduced PGE2 release.

Conclusions and Implications

In contrast to COX‐2 inhibition, inhibition of mPGES‐1 reduced vasoconstriction by increasing PGI2 synthesis. Targeting mPGES‐1 could provide a lower risk of cardiovascular side effects, compared with those of the COX‐2 inhibitors.

Linked Articles

This article is part of a themed section on Targeting Inflammation to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.22/issuetoc and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bcp.v82.4/issuetoc
Motivating perpetrators of domestic and family violence to engage in behaviour change: The role of fatherhood
Authors: Meyer Silke
Published: July 2017

Policies and practices around domestic and family violence (DFV) increasingly focus on perpetrator accountability. With growing evidence that punitive responses alone have a limited deterrent effect on perpetrators, behaviour change programs play a significant role in creating accountability and improving safety for victims and children. Motivating perpetrators to engage in such programs can, however, be challenging. Few perpetrators seem to recognize the need to change for their intimate (ex)‐partner due to victim‐blaming attitudes and a sense that relationships are replaceable. Relationships with their children on the other hand seem to hold more value. This article explores the role of fatherhood as a motivating factor for male perpetrators to engage in relevant behaviour change programs. Based on face‐to‐face interviews with 18 fathers in a court‐mandated intervention program, findings alert to the need for education of abusive fathers in 3 key areas: the impact of DFV on children's well‐being, the impact of DFV on the parent–child relationship, and the impact of DFV‐related repercussions on the parent–child relationship. Fathers' desire to have a relationship with their children suggests fatherhood offers a viable angle to motivate their engagement in interventions that address gendered forms of DFV and subsequently improve victims' and children's safety.
Visual Verification of Cancer Staging for Therapy Decision Support
Authors: Cypko M.A. , Wojdziak J. , Stoehr M. , Kirchner B. , Preim B. , Dietz A. , Lemke H. U. , Oeltze‐Jafra S.
Published: July 2017

It is generally accepted practice that each cancer patient case should be discussed in a clinical expert meeting, the so‐called tumor board. A central role in finding the best therapy options for patients with solid tumors plays the Tumor, lymph Node, and Metastasis staging (TNM staging). Correctness of TNM staging has a significant impact on the therapy choice and hence on the patient's post‐therapeutic quality of life or even survival. If inconsistencies in the TNM staging occur, possible explanations and solutions must be found based on the complex patient records, which takes the costly time of (multiple) physicians. We propose a more efficient visual analysis component, which supports a physician in verifying the given TNM staging before forwarding it to the tumor board. Our component comprises a Bayesian network model of the TNM staging process. Using information from the patient records and Bayesian inference, the models computes a patient‐specific TNM staging, which is then explored and compared to the given staging by means of a graph‐based visualization. Our component is implemented in a research prototype that supports an understanding of the model computations, allows for a fast identification of important influencing factors, and facilitates a quick detection of differences between two TNM stagings. We evaluated our component with five physicians, each studying 20 cases of laryngeal cancer.
Sclow Plots: Visualizing Empty Space
Authors: Giesen J. , Kühne L. , Lucas P.
Published: July 2017

Scatter plots are mostly used for correlation analysis, but are also a useful tool for understanding the distribution of high‐dimensional point cloud data. An important characteristic of such distributions are clusters, and scatter plots have been used successfully to identify clusters in data. Another characteristic of point cloud data that has received less attention so far are regions that contain no or only very few data points. We show that augmenting scatter plots by projections of flow lines along the gradient vector field of the distance function to the point cloud reveals such empty regions or voids. The augmented scatter plots, that we call sclow plots, enable a much better understanding of the geometry underlying the point cloud than traditional scatter plots, and by that support tasks like dimension inference, detecting outliers, or identifying data points at the interface between clusters. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach on synthetic and real world data sets.
Stardust: Accessible and Transparent GPU Support for Information Visualization Rendering
Authors: Ren Donghao , Lee Bongshin , Höllerer Tobias
Published: July 2017

Web‐based visualization libraries are in wide use, but performance bottlenecks occur when rendering, and especially animating, a large number of graphical marks. While GPU‐based rendering can drastically improve performance, that paradigm has a steep learning curve, usually requiring expertise in the computer graphics pipeline and shader programming. In addition, the recent growth of virtual and augmented reality poses a challenge for supporting multiple display environments beyond regular canvases, such as a Head Mounted Display (HMD) and Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). In this paper, we introduce a new web‐based visualization library called Stardust, which provides a familiar API while leveraging GPU's processing power. Stardust also enables developers to create both 2D and 3D visualizations for diverse display environments using a uniform API. To demonstrate Stardust's expressiveness and portability, we present five example visualizations and a coding playground for four display environments. We also evaluate its performance by comparing it against the standard HTML5 Canvas, D3, and Vega.
Interactive Ambiguity Resolution of Named Entities in Fictional Literature
Authors: Stoffel Florian , Jentner Wolfgang , Behrisch Michael , Fuchs Johannes , Keim Daniel
Published: July 2017

Named entity recognition (NER) denotes the task to detect entities and their corresponding classes, such as person or location, in unstructured text data. For most applications, state of the art NER software is producing reasonable results. However, as a consequence of the methodological limitations and the well‐known pitfalls when analyzing natural language data, the NER results are likely to contain ambiguities. In this paper, we present an interactive NER ambiguity resolution technique, which enables users to create (post‐processing) rules for named entity recognition data based on the content and entity context of the analyzed documents. We specifically address the problem that in use‐cases where ambiguities are problematic, such as the attribution of fictional characters with traits, it is often unfeasible to train models on custom data to improve state of the art NER software. We derive an iterative process model for improving NER results, show an interactive NER ambiguity resolution prototype, illustrate our approach with contemporary literature, and discuss our work and future research.
NEREx: Named‐Entity Relationship Exploration in Multi‐Party Conversations
Authors: El‐Assady Mennatallah , Sevastjanova Rita , Gipp Bela , Keim Daniel , Collins Christopher
Published: July 2017

We present NEREx, an interactive visual analytics approach for the exploratory analysis of verbatim conversational transcripts. By revealing different perspectives on multi‐party conversations, NEREx gives an entry point for the analysis through high‐level overviews and provides mechanisms to form and verify hypotheses through linked detail‐views. Using a tailored named‐entity extraction, we abstract important entities into ten categories and extract their relations with a distance‐restricted entity‐relationship model. This model complies with the often ungrammatical structure of verbatim transcripts, relating two entities if they are present in the same sentence within a small distance window. Our tool enables the exploratory analysis of multi‐party conversations using several linked views that reveal thematic and temporal structures in the text. In addition to distant‐reading, we integrated close‐reading views for a text‐level investigation process. Beyond the exploratory and temporal analysis of conversations, NEREx helps users generate and validate hypotheses and perform comparative analyses of multiple conversations. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach on real‐world data from the 2016 U.S. Presidential Debates through a qualitative study with three domain experts from political science.
Cycle Plot Revisited: Multivariate Outlier Detection Using a Distance‐Based Abstraction
Authors: Bögl M. , Filzmoser P. , Gschwandtner T. , Lammarsch T. , Leite R. A. , Miksch S. , Rind A.
Published: July 2017

The cycle plot is an established and effective visualization technique for identifying and comprehending patterns in periodic time series, like trends and seasonal cycles. It also allows to visually identify and contextualize extreme values and outliers from a different perspective. Unfortunately, it is limited to univariate data. For multivariate time series, patterns that exist across several dimensions are much harder or impossible to explore. We propose a modified cycle plot using a distance‐based abstraction (Mahalanobis distance) to reduce multiple dimensions to one overview dimension and retain a representation similar to the original. Utilizing this distance‐based cycle plot in an interactive exploration environment, we enhance the Visual Analytics capacity of cycle plots for multivariate outlier detection. To enable interactive exploration and interpretation of outliers, we employ coordinated multiple views that juxtapose a distance‐based cycle plot with Cleveland's original cycle plots of the underlying dimensions. With our approach it is possible to judge the outlyingness regarding the seasonal cycle in multivariate periodic time series.
Understanding Indirect Causal Relationships in Node‐Link Graphs
Authors: Bae Juhee , Helldin Tove , Riveiro Maria
Published: July 2017

To find correlations and cause and effect relationships in multivariate data sets is central in many data analysis problems. A common way of representing causal relations among variables is to use node‐link diagrams, where nodes depict variables and edges show relationships between them. When performing a causal analysis, analysts may be biased by the position of collected evidences, especially when they are at the top of a list. This is of crucial importance since finding a root cause or a derived effect, and searching for causal chains of inferences are essential analytic tasks when investigating causal relationships. In this paper, we examine whether sequential ordering influences understanding of indirect causal relationships and whether it improves readability of multi‐attribute causal diagrams. Moreover, we see how people reason to identify a root cause or a derived effect. The results of our design study show that sequential ordering does not play a crucial role when analyzing causal relationships, but many connections from/to a variable and higher strength/certainty values may influence the process of finding a root cause and a derived effect.
Social Media Visual Analytics
Authors: Chen Siming , Lin Lijing , Yuan Xiaoru
Published: July 2017

With the development of social media (e.g. Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, Sina Weibo, etc.), a large number of people are now using them and post microblogs, messages and multi‐media information. The everyday usage of social media results in big open social media data. The data offer fruitful information and reflect social behaviors of people. There is much visualization and visual analytics research on such data. We collect state‐of‐the‐art research and put it into three main categories: social network, spatial temporal information and text analysis. We further summarize the visual analytics pipeline for the social media, combining the above categories and supporting complex tasks. With these techniques, social media analytics can apply to multiple disciplines. We summarize the applications and public tools to further investigate the challenges and trends.
Psoriasiform graft‐versus‐host disease distributed along Blaschko's lines
Authors: Milam Philip B. , Vasu Sumithra V. , Gru Alejandro A. , Kaffenberger Benjamin H.
Published: July 2017

This case presents an unusual manifestation of cutaneous chronic graft‐vs‐host disease (cGVHD) mimicking psoriasis along Blaschko's lines. Such a presentation may pose a particular challenge to providers as it is quite rarely reported, and, therefore, it is possibly misdiagnosed. cGVHD may mimic psoriasis and should be considered in any patient previously transplanted even with a previous history of psoriasis. A Blaschkoid pattern of cGVHD is unusual and may be the manifestation of an immune reaction unveiling a previously masked mosaicism.
Foxc2 influences alveolar epithelial cell differentiation during lung development
Authors: Tsuji Mayoko , Morishima Masae , Shimizu Kazuhiko , Morikawa Shunichi , Heglind Mikael , Enerbäck Sven , Ezaki Taichi , Tamaoki Jun
Published: July 2017

FOXC2, a forkhead transcriptional factor, is a candidate gene for congenital heart diseases and lymphedema‐distichiasis syndrome and yellow nail syndrome; however, there are no reports on Foxc2 and the development of the lung. We have identified lung abnormalities in Foxc2‐knockout embryos during investigation of cardiac development. The aim of this study was to clarify the morphological characteristics during lung development using ICR‐Foxc2 knockout lungs. Mutant fetuses at embryonic days 10.5–18.5 were obtained from mating of Foxc2+/− mice and then analyzed. Notably, Foxc2‐knockout lungs appeared parenchymatous and much smaller than those of the wild‐type littermates. In the Foxc2 knockout lungs, the capillary beds remained distant from the alveolar epithelium until the late stages, the number of type2 alveolar cells per alveolar progenitor cell was lower and the type1 alveolar cells were thicker in Foxc2 knockout mice. In contrast, Foxc2 expression was only detected in the mesenchyme of the lung buds at E10.5, and it disappeared at E11.5 in Foxc2‐LacZ knockin mice. Furthermore, the expression of Lef1 was significantly inhibited in E11.5 lungs. All of these results suggest that the abnormalities in Foxc2 knockout mice may involve maldifferentiation of alveolar epithelial cells and capillary vessel endothelial‐alveolar epithelial approach as well as lymph vessel malformation. This is the first report about relationship between Foxc2 and lung development. This animal model might provide an important clue for elucidating the mechanism of lung development and the cause of respiratory diseases.