bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
NRCMS capitation reform and effect evaluation in Pudong New Area of Shanghai
Authors: Jing Limei , Bai Jie , Sun Xiaoming , Zakus David , Lou Jiquan , Li Ming , Zhang Qunfang , Zhuang Yuehong
Published: August 2015

The Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (RCMS) had played an important role in guaranteeing the acquisition of basic medical healthcare of China's rural populations, being an innovative model of the medical insurance system for so many years here in China. Following the boom and bust of RCMS, the central government rebuilt the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) in 2003 across the whole country. Shanghai, one of the developed cities in China, has developed its RCMS and NRCMS as an advanced and exemplary representative of Chinese rural health insurance. But in the past 10 years, its NRCMS has encountered such challenges as a spiral of medical expenditures and a decrease of insurance participants. Previous investigations showed that the capitation and general practitioner (GP) system had great effect on medical cost containment. Thus, the capitation reform combined with GP system reform of NRCMS, based on a system design, was implemented in Pudong New Area of Shanghai as of 1 August 2012. The aim of the current investigation was to present how the reform was designed and implemented, evaluating its effect by analyzing the data acquired from 12 months before and after the reform. This was an empirical study; we made a conceptual design of the reform to be implemented in Pudong New Area. Most data were derived from the institution‐based surveys and supplemented by a questionnaire survey, qualitative interviews and policy document analysis.

We found that most respondents held an optimistic attitude towards the reform. We employed a structure–process–outcome evaluation index system to evaluate the effect of the reform, finding that the growth rate of the insured population's total medical costs and NRCMS funds slowed down significantly after the reform; that the total medical expenditure of the insured rural population decreased by 3.60%; and that the total expenditure of NRCMS decreased by 3.99%.

The capitation was found to help the medical staff build active cost control consciousness. Approximately 2.3% of the outpatients flowed to the primary hospitals from the secondary hospitals; and farmers' annual medical burden was relieved to a certain degree. Meanwhile, it did not affect farmers' utilization and benefits of healthcare. However, further reform still faces new challenges: The capitation reform should be well combined with the primary healthcare system to realize the “dual gatekeeper” of GPs; a variety of payment methods should be mixed on the basis of capitation to avoid possible mistakes by one single approach; and the supervision of medical institutions should be strengthened.

A long‐term follow‐up study need to be carried out to evaluate the effects of the capitation reform so as to improve the design of the program. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
List Colorings with Distinct List Sizes, the Case of Complete Bipartite Graphs
Authors: Füredi Zoltán , Kantor Ida
Published: August 2015

Let be a function on the vertex set of the graph . The graph G is f‐choosable if for every collection of lists with list sizes specified by f there is a proper coloring using colors from the lists. The sum choice number, , is the minimum of , over all functions f such that G is f‐choosable. It is known (Alon, Surveys in Combinatorics, 1993 (Keele), London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, Vol. 187, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993, pp. 1–33, Random Struct Algor 16 (2000), 364–368) that if G has average degree d, then the usual choice number is at least , so they grow simultaneously. In this article, we show that can be bounded while the minimum degree . Our main tool is to give tight estimates for the sum choice number of the unbalanced complete bipartite graph .
Solving the puzzle of posthospital recovery: What is the role of the individual physician?
Authors: Greysen S. Ryan , Detsky Allan S.
Published: August 2015

Improving transitions of care from the acute care setting has been an important focus of health policy in the United States and Canada. Over the past decade, hospital performance metrics related to successful recovery have been used in the United States to implement incentives for reform. This focus has led to a laudable number of interventions to reduce readmissions—a proxy for failed recovery—but most of these have focused on the hospital or system level rather than the individual physician level. Individual physicians in both the inpatient and outpatient setting have important roles to play, but little guidance or structured support is available to them to enable successful engagement in postdischarge management of patient transitions. We describe several tensions of physician engagement in this process from the perspective of front‐line providers and highlight several possible approaches to improve physician engagement in transitions. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2015;10:697–700. © 2015 Society of Hospital Medicine
Inhibition of quorum sensing‐mediated biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by a locally isolated Bacillus cereus
Authors: Wahman Shaimaa , Emara Mohamed , Shawky Riham M. , El‐domany Ramadan A. , Aboulwafa Mohammad Mabrouk
Published: August 2015

Quorum sensing has been shown to play a crucial role in Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis where it activates expression of myriad genes that regulate the production of important virulence factors such as biofilm formation. Antagonism of quorum sensing is an excellent target for antimicrobial therapy and represents a novel approach to combat drug resistance. In this study, Chromobacterium violaceum biosensor strain was employed as a fast, sensitive, reliable, and easy to use tool for rapid screening of soil samples for Quorum Sensing Inhibitors (QSI) and the optimal conditions for maximal QSI production were scrutinized. Screening of 127 soil isolates showed that 43 isolates were able to breakdown the HHL signal. Out of the 43 isolates, 38 isolates were able to inhibit the violet color of the biosensor and to form easily detectable zones of color inhibition around their growth. A confirmatory bioassay was carried out after concentrating the putative positive cell‐free lysates. Three different isolates that belonged to Bacillus cereus group were shown to have QSI activities and their QSI activities were optimized by changing their culture conditions. Further experiments revealed that the cell‐free lysates of these isolates were able to inhibit biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa clinical isolates.
Approximate confidence intervals for moment‐based estimators of the between‐study variance in random effects meta‐analysis
Authors: Jackson Dan , Bowden Jack , Baker Rose
Published: August 2015

Moment‐based estimators of the between‐study variance are very popular when performing random effects meta‐analyses. This type of estimation has many advantages including computational and conceptual simplicity. Furthermore, by using these estimators in large samples, valid meta‐analyses can be performed without the assumption that the treatment effects follow a normal distribution. Recently proposed moment‐based confidence intervals for the between‐study variance are exact under the random effects model but are quite elaborate. Here, we present a much simpler method for calculating approximate confidence intervals of this type. This method uses variance‐stabilising transformations as its basis and can be used for a very wide variety of moment‐based estimators in both the random effects meta‐analysis and meta‐regression models. © 2015 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quantum chemical calculation study on terphenyl arylamines hole transport materials
Authors: Huang Da , Tan Yudong , Sun Yanxue , Zheng Caijun , Wang Zhongliang
Published: August 2015

The hole reorganization energy and excited states characteristics of N,N′‐bis(naphthalen‐1‐y)‐N,N′‐bis(phenyl)benzidine (NPB), phenyl arylamine, diphenyl arylamine (DP), and terphenyl arylamine (TP) are investigated using time‐dependent density functional theory. It is shown that the hole transport characteristics of the materials TP and DP are better than the commercially available materials NPB. The quantum chemical calculation method accesses a powerful tool by which the potential hole transport materials can be easy to screen out.
Myoepithelial carcinoma of the extremity: Response to isolated limb infusion
Authors: Fitzgerald Michael J. , Busam Klaus , Athanasian Edward , Brady Mary S.
Published: August 2015

We report our experience with two patients with myoepithelial carcinoma (MEC) of the extremity. An 83‐year‐old male and a 35‐year‐old female were treated with standard isolated limb infusion (ILI), using melphalan and dactinomycin. The first patient had a complete response (CR) that was sustained for two and a half years, until he developed a regional lymph node metastasis. The second patient had a 4.7 cm tumor located on her left hand with metastasis to the ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes. Initial treatment consisted of ILI and left axillary lymphadenectomy. The primary tumor regressed and showed signs of central necrosis, measuring 2.8 cm after 1 month. Though she was continuing to respond, a decision was made by her orthopedic surgeon to administer neoadjuvant radiation followed by surgical resection. J. Surg. Oncol. 2015; 112:510–513. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Unraveling the ultralow threshold stimulated emission from CdZnS/ZnS quantum dot and enabling high‐Q microlasers
Authors: Wang Yue , Fong Kah Ee , Yang Shancheng , Ta Van Duong , Gao Yuan , Wang Zeng , Nalla Venkatram , Demir Hilmi Volkan , Sun Handong
Published: August 2015

The newly engineered ternary CdZnS/ZnS colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are found to exhibit remarkably high photoluminescence quantum yield and excellent optical gain properties. However, the underlying mechanisms, which could offer the guidelines for devising CQDs for optimized photonic devices, remain undisclosed. In this work, through comprehensive steady‐state and time‐resolved spectroscopy studies on a series of CdZnS‐based CQDs, we unambiguously clarify that CdZnS‐based CQDs are inherently superior optical gain media in the blue spectral range due to the slow Auger process and that the ultralow threshold stimulated emission is enabled by surface/interface engineering. Furthermore, external cavity‐free high‐Q quasitoroid microlasers were produced from self‐assembly of CdZnS/ZnS CQDs by facile inkjet printing technique. Detailed spectroscopy analysis confirms the whispering gallery mode lasing mechanism of the quasitoroid microlasers. This tempting microlaser fabrication method should be applicable to other solution‐processed gain materials, which could trigger broad research interests.

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Ramsey for ultrafilter mappings and their Dedekind cuts
Authors: Trujillo Timothy
Published: August 2015

Associated to each ultrafilter on ω and each map is a Dedekind cut in the ultrapower . Blass has characterized, under , the cuts obtainable when is taken to be either a p‐point ultrafilter, a weakly‐Ramsey ultrafilter or a Ramsey ultrafilter. Dobrinen and Todorčević have introduced the topological Ramsey space . Associated to the space is a notion of Ramsey ultrafilter for generalizing the familiar notion of Ramsey ultrafilter on ω. We characterize, under , the cuts obtainable when is taken to be a Ramsey for ultrafilter and p is taken to be any map. In particular, we show that the only cut obtainable is the standard cut, whose lower half consists of the collection of equivalence classes of constants maps. Forcing with using almost‐reduction adjoins an ultrafilter which is Ramsey for . For such ultrafilters , Dobrinen and Todorčević have shown that the Rudin‐Keisler types of the p‐points within the Tukey type of consists of a strictly increasing chain of rapid p‐points of order type ω. We show that for any Rudin‐Keisler mapping between any two p‐points within the Tukey type of the only cut obtainable is the standard cut. These results imply existence theorems for special kinds of ultrafilters.
Structure–Properties Relationships in Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomer Nanocomposites: Interactions between Polymer Phases and Nanofillers
Authors: Cruz Sílvia M. , Viana Júlio C.
Published: August 2015

Polyurethane thermoplastic elastomer (TPU) nanocomposites were prepared by the incorporation of 1 wt% of high‐structured carbon black (HSCB), carbon nanofibers (CNF), nanosilica (NS) and nanoclays (NC), following a proper high‐shear blending procedure. The TPU nanofilled mechanical properties and morphology was assessed. The nanofillers interact mainly with the TPU hard segments (HS) domains, determining their glass transition temperature, and increasing their melting temperature and enthalpy. A significant improvement upon the modulus, sustained stress levels and deformation capabilities is evidenced. The relationships between the morphology and the nanofilled TPU properties are established, evidencing the role of HS domains on the mechanical response, regardless the nanofiller type.
A Good Walk Foiled: Monopoly Power and Barriers to Entry into the PGA Tour
Authors: Hamel Scott , Caudill Steven B. , Mixon Jr. Franklin G.
Published: August 2015

In order to explore whether the PGA Tour's 2013 qualifications amendments represent a meritocratic evolution or simply a monopolistic barrier to entry, this study compares the results of the 2014 PGA Tour to those of the Web.com Tour. Upon empirical examination of each tour's earnings, scoring characteristics, and course characteristics, we are able to predict the marginal skill differences between players on the two tours. In doing so, we illustrate that sufficiently talented Web.com Tour golfers are being excluded from participation in the PGA Tour. As such, the changes made by the PGA Tour regarding qualification perhaps run counter to welfare maximization in terms of tour participants and fans of professional golf. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mitoxantrone, More than Just Another Topoisomerase II Poison
Authors: Evison Benny J. , Sleebs Brad E. , Watson Keith G. , Phillips Don R. , Cutts Suzanne M.
Published: August 2015

Mitoxantrone is a synthetic anthracenedione originally developed to improve the therapeutic profile of the anthracyclines and is commonly applied in the treatment of breast and prostate cancers, lymphomas, and leukemias. A comprehensive overview of the drug's molecular, biochemical, and cellular pharmacology is presented here, beginning with the cardiotoxic nature of its predecessor doxorubicin and how these properties shaped the pharmacology of mitoxantrone itself. Although mitoxantrone is firmly established as a DNA topoisomerase II poison within mammalian cells, it is now clear that the drug interacts with a much broader range of biological macromolecules both covalently and noncovalently. Here, we consider each of these interactions in the context of their wider biological relevance to cancer therapy and highlight how they may be exploited to further enhance the therapeutic value of mitoxantrone. In doing so, it is now clear that mitoxantrone is more than just another topoisomerase II poison.
Patient‐reported outcomes with the β3‐adrenoceptor agonist mirabegron in a phase III trial in patients with overactive bladder
Authors: Khullar Vik , Amarenco Gerard , Angulo Javier C. , Blauwet Mary Beth , Nazir Jameel , Odeyemi Isaac A. , Hakimi Zalmai
Published: August 2015

Aims

To assess patient‐reported outcomes (PROs) in patients with overactive bladder (OAB) receiving the novel β3‐adrenoceptor agonist mirabegron.

Methods

Data from a randomised, double‐blind, controlled phase III trial in 1,987 patients aged ≥18 years with OAB symptoms for ≥3 months were analysed. Patients received placebo, mirabegron 50 or 100 mg/day, or tolterodine extended release (ER) 4 mg orally once daily for 12 weeks after a 2‐week placebo run‐in. Prespecified analysis of PROs (changes in OAB Questionnaire [OAB‐q], Patient Perception of Bladder Condition [PPBC], and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment: Specific Health Problem [WPAI‐SHP] instrument) in patients treated with mirabegron 50 mg/day, tolterodine ER 4 mg/day or placebo is reported. Post‐hoc analyses of OAB‐q, PPBC and the Treatment Satisfaction‐Visual Analogue Scale (TS‐VAS) in patients who were incontinent at baseline are also reported.

Results

Significant improvements over placebo in OAB‐q coping and concern from baseline to final visit were observed with mirabegron 50 mg/day. No significant improvements in these parameters were observed with tolterodine ER 4 mg/day. Mirabegron 50 mg/day significantly increased the proportion of patients showing a PPBC improvement over placebo. Mirabegron 50 mg/day also produced greater improvements in WPAI‐SHP presenteeism and greater reductions in absenteeism and overall work impairment than placebo or tolterodine ER 4 mg/day. The impact of mirabegron 50 mg/day treatment on PROs in the incontinent population appears to be greater than that in the overall OAB population.

Conclusions

At the approved dose of 50 mg/day, mirabegron significantly improves OAB patients' perception of disease and quality of life, independent of whether they are incontinent at baseline. Neurourol. Urodynam. 35:987–994, 2016. © 2015 The Authors. Neurourology and Urodynamics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Materials, preparation, and characterization of PVA/MMT nanocomposite hydrogels: A review
Authors: Karimi Ali , Wan Daud Wan Mohd Ashri
Published: August 2015

This article presents a review of studies on materials, preparation, properties, and characterization of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite hydrogels. The structure and properties of Montmorillonite, the nanoclay used in the manufacture of PVA nanocomposites and techniques for making PVA nanocomposite hydrogels have been reviewed. The characterization techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), Scanning electron microscopy, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) are also studied. The XRD patterns and TEM images have proven the intercalated and exfoliated structures of PVA nanocomposite hydrogels that is due to the presence of nanoclay layers. Investigation of FT‐IR spectra shows the bonding formation between OH and silanol groups of PVA and Montmorillonite. Also, the results of DSC and DMA indicated a decrease in crystallinity and the glass transition temperature of PVA by the incorporation of nanoclay, while the loss modulus is increased compared to that of pure PVA. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:1086–1102, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers
Trophoblast retrieval and isolation from the cervix (TRIC) is unaffected by early gestational age or maternal obesity
Authors: Fritz Rani , Kohan‐Ghadr Hamid Reza , Sacher Alex , Bolnick Alan D. , Kilburn Brian A. , Bolnick Jay M. , Diamond Michael P. , Drewlo Sascha , Armant D. Randall
Published: August 2015

Objective

The objective of this study is to evaluate whether trophoblast yield obtained by trophoblast retrieval and isolation from the cervix (TRIC) is affected by pregnancy outcome, gestational age (GA) at retrieval, maternal body mass index (BMI), parity, or maternal age.

Methods

TRIC was performed on 224 ongoing pregnancies between 5 and 20 weeks of GA. Trophoblast cells were isolated from cervical cells using anti‐human leukocyte antigen‐G antibody coupled to magnetic nanoparticles. Purity was assessed by the percentage of isolated cells that express β‐hCG. Patient records were monitored until delivery, and pregnancy outcomes were determined. Trophoblast yield was compared with GA at time of collection, maternal BMI, parity, maternal age, and outcome of pregnancy, using linear regression.

Results

There was no effect of GA, maternal BMI, parity, and maternal age on trophoblast yield. Trophoblast yield decreased significantly with early pregnancy loss compared with uncomplicated pregnancies that delivered at term. Trophoblast yield with preeclampsia or intrauterine growth restriction was decreased compared with healthy term outcomes; however, they did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions

If TRIC becomes available as a method for non‐invasive prenatal testing, our data demonstrate that it is unaffected by BMI and is useful as early as 5 weeks of GA. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Outcomes of pregnancies with more than one positive prenatal screening result in the first or second trimester
Authors: Baer R. J. , Currier R. J. , Norton M. E. , Flessel M. C. , Goldman S. , Towner D. , Jelliffe‐Pawlowski L. L.
Published: August 2015

Objective

To describe adverse outcomes and fetal abnormalities in women with a positive prenatal screening result for more than one disorder.

Study design

Study participants were drawn from a population of 452 901 women pregnant with singletons entering the California Prenatal Screening Program in their first‐trimester. Risk assessment was provided for trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 in the first‐trimester and trisomy 21, trisomy 18, neural tube defects, and Smith–Lemli–Opitz syndrome in the second‐trimester. Inclusion in this study required positive screening for more than one of the screened conditions and a completed outcome of pregnancy survey.

Results

A total of 874 women met our study inclusion criteria. Over 25% of these pregnancies had a fetus with a chromosomal abnormality. Of the euploid pregnancies, 6.9% had a fetus with a major birth defect. Of the pregnancies with a fetus with neither a chromosomal abnormality nor a major birth defect, 9.3% ended in fetal demise. Overall, more than 50% of women with multiple positive screening results had either a fetus with a birth defect or a poor pregnancy outcome.

Conclusion

Although it is rare to screen positive for more than one condition, such results indicate a very high risk for chromosomal abnormality, fetal demise, or structural abnormality. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Higher‐order generalized hydrodynamics of carriers and phonons in semiconductors in the presence of electric fields: Macro to nano
Authors: Rodrigues Clóves G. , Castro A. Rubens B. , Luzzi Roberto
Published: August 2015

The hydrodynamics of carriers (charge and heat motion) and phonons (heat motion) in semiconductors is analyzed in the presence of constant electric fields. This is done in terms of the so‐called higher‐order generalized hydrodynamics (HOGH), also referred to as mesoscopic hydro‐thermodynamics (MHT), that is, covering phenomena involving motions displaying variations short in space and fast in time and being arbitrarily removed from equilibrium, as it is the case in modern electronic devices. The particular case of an MHT of order 1 is described, covering wire samples from macro to nano sizes. Electric and thermal conductivities are obtained. As the size decreases toward the nanometric scale, the MHT of order 1 produces results that in some cases greatly differ from those of the usual hydro‐thermodynamics. The so‐called Maxwell times associated to the different fluxes present in MHT are evidenced and analyzed; they have a quite relevant role in determining the characteristics of the motion.
Antimicrobial Effects of Blueberry, Raspberry, and Strawberry Aqueous Extracts and their Effects on Virulence Gene Expression in Vibrio cholerae
Authors: Khalifa Hazim O. , Kamimoto Maki , Shimamoto Toshi , Shimamoto Tadashi
Published: August 2015

The antimicrobial effects of aqueous extracts of blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry on 13 pathogenic bacteria were evaluated. The minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum bactericidal concentrations of the extracts were determined before and after neutralization to pH 7.03 ± 0.15. Both Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative pathogenic bacteria were selectively inhibited by the non‐neutralized berries. Blueberry was the best inhibitor, and Vibrio and Listeria were the most sensitive bacteria. After neutralization, blueberry affected only Vibrio and Listeria, whereas the antimicrobial activities of raspberry and strawberry were abolished. The total contents of phenolics, flavonoids, and proanthocyanidins in the extracts were measured with colorimetric methods and were highest in strawberry, followed by raspberry, and then blueberry. We also studied the effects of sub‐bactericidal concentrations of the three berry extracts on virulence gene expression in Vibrio cholerae. Real‐time quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction revealed that the three berry extracts effectively repressed the transcription of the tcpA gene. Raspberry also repressed the transcription of the ctxA gene, whereas blueberry and strawberry did not. However, the three berry extracts did not affect the transcription of toxT. These results suggest that the three berry extracts exert potent antimicrobial effects and inhibit the expression of the virulence factors of V. cholerae. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Consider creative approaches to balancing family with career
Authors: McCarthy Claudine
Published: August 2015

ORLANDO, FLA. — Finding the right balance between family and work certainly has its challenges for any parent. But that juggle becomes even more challenging when you have a career in student affairs, with its long hours and events that often overlap into nights and weekends. It's further complicated if you're a single parent or if your career takes you far from the support of extended family.
Was college liable for 3rd‐party provider's policies?
Authors: Gelpi Aileen
Published: August 2015

Nicholas George was a student at Kankakee Community College, working on a degree as a paramedic. As part of his program, George was required to participate in training at a hospital that required all paramedic students to obtain certain vaccinations. When it rejected George's request to forego the vaccinations because of religious objections, he was unable to complete the course.
Flexible Transparent Films Based on Nanocomposite Networks of Polyaniline and Carbon Nanotubes for High‐Performance Gas Sensing
Authors: Wan Pengbo , Wen Xuemei , Sun Chaozheng , Chandran Bevita K. , Zhang Han , Sun Xiaoming , Chen Xiaodong
Published: August 2015

A flexible, transparent, chemical gas sensor is assembled from a transparent conducting film of carbon nanotube (CNT) networks that are coated with hierarchically nanostructured polyaniline (PANI) nanorods. The nanocomposite film is synthesized by in‐situ, chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline in a functional multiwalled CNT (FMWCNT) suspension and is simultaneously deposited onto a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. An as‐prepared flexible transparent chemical gas sensor exhibits excellent transparency of 85.0% at 550 nm using the PANI/FMWCNT nanocomposite film prepared over a reaction time of 8 h. The sensor also shows good flexibility, without any obvious decrease in performance after 500 bending/extending cycles, demonstrating high‐performance, portable gas sensing at room temperature. This superior performance could be attributed to the improved electron transport and collection due to the CNTs, resulting in reliable and efficient sensing, as well as the high surface‐to‐volume ratio of the hierarchically nanostructured composites. The excellent transparency, improved sensing performance, and superior flexibility of the device, may enable the integration of this simple, low‐cost, gas sensor into handheld flexible transparent electronic circuitry and optoelectronic devices.
Serum N‐glycan analysis in breast cancer patients – Relation to tumour biology and clinical outcome
Authors: Haakensen Vilde D. , Steinfeld Israel , Saldova Radka , Shehni Akram Asadi , Kifer Ilona , Naume Bjørn , Rudd Pauline M. , Børresen-Dale Anne-Lise , Yakhini Zohar
Published: August 2015

Glycosylation and related processes play important roles in cancer development and progression, including metastasis. Several studies have shown that N‐glycans have potential diagnostic value as cancer serum biomarkers. We have explored the significance of the abundance of particular serum N‐glycan structures as important features of breast tumour biology by studying the serum glycome and tumour transcriptome (mRNA and miRNA) of 104 breast cancer patients. Integration of these types of molecular data allows us to study the relationship between serum glycans and transcripts representing functional pathways, such as metabolic pathways or DNA damage response. We identified tri antennary trigalactosylated trisialylated glycans in serum as being associated with lower levels of tumour transcripts involved in focal adhesion and integrin‐mediated cell adhesion. These glycan structures were also linked to poor prognosis in patients with ER negative tumours. High abundance of simple monoantennary glycan structures were associated with increased survival, particularly in the basal‐like subgroup. The presence of circulating tumour cells was found to be significantly associated with several serum glycome structures like bi and triantennary, di‐ and trigalactosylated, di‐ and trisialylated. The link between tumour miRNA expression levels and N‐glycan production is also examined.
The evolution of large-scale motions in turbulent pipe flow
Authors: Hellström Leo H. O. , Ganapathisubramani Bharathram , Smits Alexander J.
Published: August 2015

A dual-plane snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis of turbulent pipe flow at a Reynolds number of 104 000 is presented. The high-speed particle image velocimetry data were simultaneously acquired in two planes, a cross-stream plane (2D–3C) and a streamwise plane (2D–2C) on the pipe centreline. The cross-stream plane analysis revealed large structures with a spatio-temporal extent of $1{-}2R$, where $R$ is the pipe radius. The temporal evolution of these large-scale structures is examined using the time-shifted correlation of the cross-stream snapshot POD coefficients, identifying the low-energy intermediate modes responsible for the transition between the large-scale modes. By conditionally averaging based on the occurrence/intensity of a given cross-stream snapshot POD mode, a complex structure consisting of wall-attached and -detached large-scale structures is shown to be associated with the most energetic modes. There is a pseudo-alignment of these large structures, which together create structures with a spatio-temporal extent of approximately $6R$, which appears to explain the formation of the very-large-scale motions previously observed in pipe flow.
Impact of lithium alone or in combination with haloperidol on oxidative stress parameters and cell viability in SH-SY5Y cell culture
Authors: Gawlik-Kotelnicka Oliwia , Mielicki Wojciech , Rabe-Jabłońska Jolanta , Lazarek Jerry , Strzelecki Dominik
Published: August 2015

Background

It has been reported that lithium may inhibit lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation. Lithium salts also appear to stimulate cell proliferation, increase neurogenesis, and delay cell death. Oxidative stress and neurodegeneration may play an important role in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder and the disease course thereof. The aim of this research is to estimate the influence of lithium (alone and in combination with haloperidol) on the parameters of oxidative stress and viability of SH-SY5Y cell lines in neutral and pro-oxidative conditions.

Methods

The evaluated oxidative stress parameter was lipid peroxidation. The viability of the cell lines was measured utilising the MTT test.

Results

In neutral conditions, higher levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were observed in those samples which contained both haloperidol and lithium than in other samples. However, these differences were not statistically significant. Cell viability was significantly higher in therapeutic lithium samples than in the controls; samples of haloperidol alone as well as those of haloperidol with lithium did not differ from controls.

Conclusions

The results of our study may indicate that lithium possess neuroprotective properties that may be partly due to antioxidative effects. The combination of lithium and haloperidol may generate increased oxidative stress.
A Hafted Halberd Excavated at Trecastell, Powys: from Undercurrent to Uptake – the Emergence and Contextualisation of Halberds in Wales and North-west Europe
Authors: Needham Stuart ,   With contributions by, Davis Mary , Gwilt Adam , Lodwick Mark , Parkes Phil , Reavill Peter
Published: August 2015

Excavations at Trecastell, Powys, south Wales, in 2007 yielded a copper halberd complete with its haft-grip. This has major implications for the mode of hafting halberds, but the discovery has also prompted a reconsideration of insular halberds in their north-west European context. Understanding the relationships between different types of halberd and different regional groups continues to be hampered by the dearth of good dating evidence, but the creation of better classifications for British and Irish weapons and new radiocarbon dates on two examples, one being Trecastell, have allowed a new developmental scheme to be advanced.

The emergence of metal-headed halberds is considered more generally. While it is acknowledged that halberd-like implements pre-existed in other materials in some parts of Europe, it is argued that the appearance of metal-headed halberds depended on the transmission of a particular set of metallurgical and related skills. A new model for the vigorous uptake of halberds on a regional basis helps explain the patchiness and anachronism of halberd hotspots.

The Trecastell halberd adds to one of the significant concentrations of the weapon type in Britain and prompts a more general review of the earliest metalwork from Wales and the Marches. For the Chalcolithic, halberds are instrumental in identifying a major contrast in depositional behaviour; this contrast dissolves at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age when a ‘new deposition ground’ is established. The former is attributed to the existence of a regional group across much of the region for whom the halberd served as a cultural icon, while the latter may relate to the demise of this enshrined value for the halberd.
THE RESTRICTED ISOMETRY PROPERTY FOR SIGNAL RECOVERY WITH COHERENT TIGHT FRAMES
Authors: WU FEN-GONG , LI DONG-HUI
Published: August 2015

In this paper, we consider signal recovery via $l_{1}$-analysis optimisation. The signals we consider are not sparse in an orthonormal basis or incoherent dictionary, but sparse or nearly sparse in terms of some tight frame $D$. The analysis in this paper is based on the restricted isometry property adapted to a tight frame $D$ (abbreviated as $D$-RIP), which is a natural extension of the standard restricted isometry property. Assuming that the measurement matrix $A\in \mathbb{R}^{m\times n}$ satisfies $D$-RIP with constant ${\it\delta}_{tk}$ for integer $k$ and $t>1$, we show that the condition ${\it\delta}_{tk}<\sqrt{(t-1)/t}$ guarantees stable recovery of signals through $l_{1}$-analysis. This condition is sharp in the sense explained in the paper. The results improve those of Li and Lin [‘Compressed sensing with coherent tight frames via $l_{q}$-minimization for $0<q\leq 1$’, Preprint, 2011, arXiv:1105.3299] and Baker [‘A note on sparsification by frames’, Preprint, 2013, arXiv:1308.5249].
Sparsity and normalization in word similarity systems
Authors: GAWRON JEAN MARK , STEPHENS KELLEN
Published: August 2015

We investigate the problem of improving performance in distributional word similarity systems trained on sparse data, focusing on a family of similarity functions we call Dice-family functions (Dice 1945Ecology26(3): 297–302), including the similarity function introduced in Lin (1998Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Machine Learning, 296–304), and Curran (2004 PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh. College of Science and Engineering. School of Informatics), as well as a generalized version of Dice Coefficient used in data mining applications (Strehl 2000, 55). We propose a generalization of the Dice-family functions which uses a weight parameter α to make the similarity functions asymmetric. We show that this generalized family of functions (α systems) all belong to the class of asymmetric models first proposed in Tversky (1977Psychological Review84: 327–352), and in a multi-task evaluation of ten word similarity systems, we show that α systems have the best performance across word ranks. In particular, we show that α-parameterization substantially improves the correlations of all Dice-family functions with human judgements on three words sets, including the Miller–Charles/Rubenstein Goodenough word set (Miller and Charles 1991Language and Cognitive Processes6(1): 1–28; Rubenstein and Goodenough 1965Communications of the ACM8: 627–633).
SPECTRUM AND COMPACTNESS OF THE CESÀRO OPERATOR ON WEIGHTED SPACES
Authors: ALBANESE ANGELA A. , BONET JOSÉ , RICKER WERNER J.
Published: August 2015

An investigation is made of the continuity, the compactness and the spectrum of the Cesàro operator $\mathsf{C}$ when acting on the weighted Banach sequence spaces $\ell _{p}(w)$, $1<p<\infty$, for a positive decreasing weight $w$, thereby extending known results for $\mathsf{C}$ when acting on the classical spaces $\ell _{p}$. New features arise in the weighted setting (for example, existence of eigenvalues, compactness) which are not present in $\ell _{p}$.
Programmed regulation of rat offspring adipogenic transcription factor (PPARγ) by maternal nutrition
Authors: Desai M. , Jellyman J. K. , Han G. , Lane R. H. , Ross M. G.
Published: August 2015

We determined the protein expression of adipogenic transcription factor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and its co-repressor and co-activator complexes in adipose tissue from the obese offspring of under- and over-nourished dams. Female rats were fed either a high-fat (60% kcal) or control (10% kcal) diet before mating, and throughout pregnancy and lactation (Mat-OB). Additional dams were 50% food-restricted from pregnancy day 10 to term [intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR)]. Adipose tissue protein expression was analyzed in newborn and adult male offspring. Normal birth weight Mat-OB and low birth weight IUGR newborns had upregulated PPARγ with variable changes in co-repressors and co-activators. As obese adults, Mat-OB and IUGR offspring had increased PPARγ with decreased co-repressor and increased co-activator expression. Nutritionally programmed increased PPARγ expression is associated with altered expression of its co-regulators in the newborn and adult offspring. Functional studies of PPARγ co-regulators are necessary to establish their role in PPARγ-mediated programmed obesity.
Higher Prevalence of Left-Handedness in Twins? Not After Controlling Birth Time Confounders
Authors: Heikkilä Kauko , Vuoksimaa Eero , Saari-Kemppainen Aulikki , Kaprio Jaakko , Rose Richard J. , Haukka Jari , Pitkäniemi Janne , Iivanainen Matti
Published: August 2015

Pregnancy- and birth-related factors may have an effect on handedness. Compared with singletons, twins have a lower birth weight, shorter gestational age, and are at higher risk for birth complications. We tested whether the prevalence of left-handedness is higher among twins than singletons, and if so, whether that difference is fully explained by pregnancy and birth-related differences between twins and singletons. We analyzed Finnish population-based datasets; included were 8,786 twins and 5,892 singletons with information on birth weight (n = 12,381), Apgar scores (n = 11,129), and gestational age (n = 11,811). Two twin cohorts were involved: FinnTwin12 included twins born during 1983–1987, and FinnTwin16 included twins born during 1974–1979. We had two comparison groups of singletons: 4,101 individuals born during 1986–1988 and enrolled in the Helsinki Ultrasound Trial, and 1,791 individuals who were partners of FinnTwin16 twins. We used logistic regression models with writing hand as the outcome for comparison and evaluating effects of covariates. Left-handedness was more common in twins (9.67%) than in singletons (8.27%; p = .004). However, Apgar scores were associated with handedness, and after controlling for covariates, we found no difference in the prevalence of left-handedness between twins and singletons. Increased left-handedness among twins, often reported by others, was evident in our data, but only among our older twin cohorts, and that association disappeared after removing effects of perinatal covariates.
Seasonal time bombs: dominant temperate viruses affect Southern Ocean microbial dynamics
Authors: Brum Jennifer R , Hurwitz Bonnie L , Schofield Oscar , Ducklow Hugh W , Sullivan Matthew B
Published: August 2015

Rapid warming in the highly productive western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region of the Southern Ocean has affected multiple trophic levels, yet viral influences on microbial processes and ecosystem function remain understudied in the Southern Ocean. Here we use cultivation-independent quantitative ecological and metagenomic assays, combined with new comparative bioinformatic techniques, to investigate double-stranded DNA viruses during the WAP spring–summer transition. This study demonstrates that (i) temperate viruses dominate this region, switching from lysogeny to lytic replication as bacterial production increases, and (ii) Southern Ocean viral assemblages are genetically distinct from lower-latitude assemblages, primarily driven by this temperate viral dominance. This new information suggests fundamentally different virus–host interactions in polar environments, where intense seasonal changes in bacterial production select for temperate viruses because of increased fitness imparted by the ability to switch replication strategies in response to resource availability. Further, temperate viral dominance may provide mechanisms (for example, bacterial mortality resulting from prophage induction) that help explain observed temporal delays between, and lower ratios of, bacterial and primary production in polar versus lower-latitude marine ecosystems. Together these results suggest that temperate virus–host interactions are critical to predicting changes in microbial dynamics brought on by warming in polar marine systems.
Correction: Corrigendum: Programmed cell death 5 mediates HDAC3 decay to promote genotoxic stress response
Authors: Choi Hyo-Kyoung , Choi Youngsok , Park Eun Sung , Park Soo-Yeon , Lee Seung-Hyun , Seo Jaesung , Jeong Mi-Hyeon , Jeong Jae-Wook , Cheong Jae-Ho , Lee Peter C. W. , Choi Kyung-Chul , Yoon Ho-Geun
Published: August 2015

Nature Communications 6: Article number: 7390 (2015); Published: 16 June 2015; Updated 21 August 2015. The original version of this Article contained a typographical error in the spelling of the author Jae-Ho Cheong, which was incorrectly given as Jae-Ho Jeong. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.
Correction: Corrigendum: Revealing the planar chemistry of two-dimensional heterostructures at the atomic level
Authors: Chou Harry , Ismach Ariel , Ghosh Rudresh , Ruoff Rodney S. , Dolocan Andrei
Published: August 2015

Nature Communications 6, Article number: 7482 (2015); Published 23 June 2015; Updated 21 August 2015 The financial support for this Article was not fully acknowledged. The Acknowledgements should have included the following: The atomic force microscope used in these studies was acquired under the program ‘Understanding Charge Separation and Transfer at Interfaces in Energy Materials (EFRC:CST)’, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.
Improved Pharmacological and Structural Properties of HIV Fusion Inhibitor AP3 over Enfuvirtide: Highlighting Advantages of Artificial Peptide Strategy
Authors: Zhu Xiaojie , Zhu Yun , Ye Sheng , Wang Qian , Xu Wei , Su Shan , Sun Zhiwu , Yu Fei , Liu Qi , Wang Chao , Zhang Tianhong , Zhang Zhenqing , Zhang Xiaoyan , Xu Jianqing , Du Lanying , Liu Keliang , Lu Lu , Zhang Rongguang , Jiang Shibo
Published: August 2015

Enfuvirtide (T20), is the first HIV fusion inhibitor approved for treatment of HIV/AIDS patients who fail to respond to the current antiretroviral drugs. However, its clinical application is limited because of short half-life, drug resistance and cross-reactivity with the preexisting antibodies in HIV-infected patients. Using an artificial peptide strategy, we designed a peptide with non-native protein sequence, AP3, which exhibited potent antiviral activity against a broad spectrum of HIV-1 strains, including those resistant to T20 and had remarkably longer in vivo half-life than T20. While the preexisting antibodies in HIV-infected patients significantly suppressed T20’s antiviral activity, these antibodies neither recognized AP3, nor attenuated its anti-HIV-1 activity. Structurally different from T20, AP3 could fold into single-helix and interact with gp41 NHR. The two residues, Met and Thr, at the N-terminus of AP3 form a hook-like structure to stabilize interaction between AP3 and NHR helices. Therefore, AP3 has potential for further development as a new HIV fusion inhibitor with improved antiviral efficacy, resistance profile and pharmacological properties over enfuvirtide. Meanwhile, this study highlighted the advantages of artificially designed peptides and confirmed that this strategy could be used in developing artificial peptide-based viral fusion inhibitors against HIV and other enveloped viruses.
Peptidylarginine deiminase type 4 deficiency reduced arthritis severity in a glucose-6-phosphate isomerase-induced arthritis model
Authors: Seri Yu , Shoda Hirofumi , Suzuki Akari , Matsumoto Isao , Sumida Takayuki , Fujio Keishi , Yamamoto Kazuhiko
Published: August 2015

Peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) is an enzyme that is involved in protein citrullination and is a target for anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPAs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Genetic polymorphisms in the PADI4 gene encoding PAD4 are associated with RA susceptibility. We herein analyzed the roles of PADI4 in inflammatory arthritis using a glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI)-induced arthritis (GIA) model in Padi4 knockout (KO) mice. Arthritis severity, serum anti-GPI antibody titers and IL-6 concentrations were significantly reduced in Padi4 KO mice. The frequency of Th17 cells was decreased in GPI-immunized Padi4 KO mice, whereas WT and Padi4-deficient naïve CD4+ T cells displayed the same efficiencies for Th17 cell differentiation in vitro. In addition, the numbers of myeloid lineage cells were reduced with the increased expression of pro-apoptotic genes in GPI-immunized Padi4 KO mice. Furthermore, the survival of Padi4-deficient neutrophils was impaired in vitro. Our results suggest that PADI4 exacerbates arthritis with diverse immunological modifications.
Sensory eye balance in surgically corrected intermittent exotropes with normal stereopsis
Authors: Feng Lixia , Zhou Jiawei , Chen Li , Hess Robert F.
Published: August 2015

Surgery to align a deviated or strabismic eye is often done for both functional as well as cosmetic reasons. Although amblyopia is often an impediment to regaining full binocularity in strabismics in general, intermittent exotropes, because their deviation is intermittent, have no amblyopia and some degree of stereopsis. Binocular function, including a balanced ocular dominance, could be expected to be normal after surgical correction if normal levels of stereopsis and visual acuity are postsurgically achieved. Here we used a binocular phase combination paradigm to quantitatively assess the ocular dominance in a group of surgically corrected intermittent exotropes who have normal stereo and visual acuity as defined clinically. Interestingly, we found significant interocular imbalance (balance point < 0.9) in most of the surgically treated patients (8 out 10) but in none of the controls. We conclude that the two eyes may still have a residual sensory imbalance in surgically corrected strabismus even if stereopsis is within normal limits. Our study opens the possibility that a further treatment aimed at re-balancing the ocular dominance might be necessary in surgically treated intermittent exotropia to provide more efficient binocular processing in the long term.