bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dismembered: Citizen Sacrifice in Rousseau's “The Levite of Ephraïm”
Authors: Bradley Arthur
Published: April 2019

This essay seeks to explore the position of citizen sacrifice in Rousseau's political theology fromThe Social Contractto “The Levite of Ephraïm.” To summarize, I contend that Rousseau's political theology starts out by seeking to prohibit religious sacrifice as something inimical to both natural and positive law, but ends up attempting to appropriate or internalize this sacrificial economy within his theory of citizenship. If Rousseau presents his theory of civil religion as a means of neutralizing the violence of sectarian religions, for example, I contend that this civil profession of faith is itself a species of sacrificial theology which is explicitly designed to create a citizen who is capable of sacrificing their life to the state. In “The Levite of Ephraïm”—a prose poem which begins and ends with the dismemberment of a woman—Rousseau's political theology of citizen sacrifice assumes its most graphic allegorical form.
When Karl met Lollo: the origins and consequences of Karl Barth's relationship with Charlotte von Kirschbaum
Authors: Plant Stephen J.
Published: April 2019

This paper extends the scope of earlier studies of Karl Barth's relationship with Charlotte von Kirschbaum by exploring his marriage to Nelly Barth and the deterioration in their relationship in the 1920s. It traces the development and character of Barth's relationship with Kirschbaum, and the Notgemeinschaft (emergency community) they formed with Nelly. The paper makes use of Nelly Barth's unpublished letters to her family in which she accounts for her reluctance to divorce her husband in the early 1930s. The second half of the paper explores the impact of Barth's relationship with Kirschbaum on others and goes on to suggest ways in which this had consequences for his theology, particularly in his thinking in Church Dogmatics III/4 about the relation between man and woman.
Inseparable virtue and theimago Deiin Augustine: a speculative interpretation ofDe Trinitate6.4
Authors: Ployd Adam
Published: April 2019

InDe Trinitate6.4, Augustine compares the inseparability of virtues within the human soul to the divine attributes within the simple divine substance of the Trinity. In this paper, I will suggest that this is more than a convenient analogy. Rather, I contend, the soul's virtues become inseparable as the soul itself conforms to the image of God through the primary virtue of love. My argument includes an analysis of the history of inseparable virtue in Graeco-Roman philosophy and a comparison of Augustine's use of the concept inTrin. 6.4 with his more extended treatment inEpistle167. In the face of a seeming conflict in these two texts, I argue for a ‘soft’ or ‘imperfect’ version of inseparability in Augustine's view of the virtues. Finally, I suggest that the cultivation of the virtues within the unity of love may be understood as the way we come to image the Trinity.
The nature of Pauline glossolalia and its early reception
Authors: Eurell John-Christian
Published: April 2019

Glossolalia is a phenomenon that has perplexed biblical scholars for generations. This paper challenges the majority view that glossolalia in the New Testament refers to ecstatic utterances and argues that the only independent New Testament testimony of the phenomenon is found in 1 Corinthians.
Church, theology and the holiness of God
Authors: Lösel Steffen
Published: April 2019

This paper addresses the identity crisis of Christian churches under the conditions of late modernity. With Jürgen Moltmann, I describe the dilemma of the contemporary church and of its theology as a crisis both of relevance and identity. I suggest that churches have responded to the loss of their stronghold in the Western world in three ways: liberal Protestants embrace modernity, evangelicals oppose it and a third group, whom I identify as church theologians, try to ignore it. I argue that none of the three approaches successfully solves the church's crisis in late modernity and especially in a consumer culture with its commodification of religion. I trace these struggles of the contemporary church to its loss of alterity, both of God and of the human other, and suggest that we can regain a sense of God's otherness by rediscovering God's holiness.
Bending the epidemic curve: advancements and opportunities to reduce the threat of emerging pathogens
Authors: Desai Angel N. , Madoff Lawrence C.
Published: April 2019

This invited editorial introduces a special issue of Epidemiology & Infection while also discussing advances in emerging infectious diseases.
Is the child at risk? Cardiovascular remodelling in children born to diabetic mothers
Authors: Hoodbhoy Zahra , Mohammed Nuruddin , Aslam Nadeem , Fatima Urooj , Ashiqali Salima , Rizvi Arjumand , Pascua Christine , Chowdhury Devyani , Hasan Babar S.
Published: April 2019

Objective:

The objective of this study was to assess differences in myocardial systolic and diastolic function and vascular function in children 2−5 years of age born to diabetic as compared to non-diabetic mothers.

Methods:

This study was a retrospective cohort conducted in 2016 at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. It included children between 2 and 5 years of age born to mothers with and without exposure to diabetes in utero (n = 68 in each group) and who were appropriate for gestational age. Myocardial morphology and function using echocardiogram and carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and pulse wave velocity was performed to evaluate cardiac function as well as macrovascular remodelling in these children. Multiple linear regression was used to compare the groups.

Results:

There was no significant difference in cardiac morphology, myocardial systolic and diastolic function, and macrovascular assessment between the exposed and unexposed groups of AGA children. Subgroup analysis demonstrated a significantly decreased mitral E/A ratio in children whose mothers were on medications as compared to those on dietary control (median [IQR] = 1.7 [1.6–1.9] and 1.56 [1.4–1.7], respectively, p = 0.02), and a higher cIMT in children whose mothers were on medication as compared to controls (0.48 [0.44–0.52] and 0.46 [0.44–0.50], respectively, p = 0.03).

Conclusion:

In utero exposure to uncontrolled maternal diabetes has an effect on the cardiovascular structure and function in children aged 2−5 years. However, future work requires long-term follow-up from fetal to adult life to assess these changes over the life course.
Die CAD/CAM-Revolution in der kraniofazialen Rekonstruktion
Authors: Wagner Maximilian , Gander Thomas , Blumer Michael , Valdec Silvio , Schumann Paul , Essig Harald , Rücker Martin
Published: April 2019

Zusammenfassung. Das Gesicht ist ein entscheidender Teil der individuellen Persönlichkeit und erfüllt gleichzeitig vielfältige Aufgaben. Ästhetik und Funktion bilden hier eine einzigartige Einheit. Die Formierung des Fachgebiets der Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie begann in den ersten Jahrzehnten des letzten Jahrhunderts. Es umfasst die Prävention, Diagnose, Therapie und Rehabilitation von Erkrankungen, Verletzungen, Fehlbildungen und Formveränderungen der komplexen Strukturen des Gesichts, der Mundhöhle, der Kiefer und der Zähne. Inzwischen ist die Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie im 21. Jahrhundert angekommen. Die heutige Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie ist ein Bindeglied zwischen der Medizin und der Zahnmedizin und ein Protagonist in der Implementierung digitaler Arbeitsabläufe in die klinische Versorgung. Individuelle Lösungen mit patientenspezifischen Implantaten sind die Regel, computerassistierte Techniken unterstützen den Operateur bei der Planung und Durchführung der chirurgischen Eingriffe. Dieser Artikel soll einen Einblick geben, wie unsere Patientinnen und Patienten von den fortschrittlichen Technologien profitieren
CME: Das nephrotische Syndrom beim Erwachsenen: Präsentation, Abklärung, Therapie
Authors: Rieder Simone C. , Huber Lars C. , Trachsler Johannes , Herberger Elisabeth
Published: April 2019

Zusammenfassung. Das nephrotische Syndrom wird durch einen renalen Proteinverlust definiert – damit einhergehend finden sich eine Hypalbuminämie im Serum und Ödeme. Nicht zu den Diagnosekriterien gehörend, aber als häufige Begleiterscheinungen werden eine Hyperlipoproteinämie und eine Thrombophilie beobachtet. Zudem besteht eine erhöhte Infektneigung. Differenziert werden die primären Ursachen eines nephrotischen Syndroms von sekundären Glomerulopathien als Folge einer systemischen Grunderkrankung. Zur Diagnosesicherung und Abschätzung der Prognose wird in den meisten Fällen eine Nierenbiopsie durchgeführt. Primäre Formen werden in der Regel mit Steroiden und/oder anderen Immunsuppressiva behandelt. Bei sekundären Formen steht die Behandlung der Grunderkrankung im Vordergrund. Meist wird eine RAAS-Blockade mittels ACE-Hemmer oder AT-II-Rezeptorblocker etabliert. Zur Kontrolle der Ödeme werden Schleifendiuretika eingesetzt. Zusätzlich muss die Notwendigkeit der Antikoagulation und einer Statintherapie evaluiert werden.
"The attention of my teacher helped me to survive” – School as a place of resilience
Authors: Gerke Jelena , Fegert Jörg M. , Rassenhofer Miriam
Published: April 2019

Abstract. Several “abuse scandals” in schools and boarding schools in different countries encouraged victims of abuse to disclose their experiences. The dark field of sexual abuse in population based representative samples is high all over Europe. More than 10% of the population report any form of sexual abuse. Contact points for children and adolescents that are open to talk about sexual abuse as well as reliable contact persons for victims are indispensable. This paper aims to discuss the importance of school as a place of facilitation, participation and resilience. A representative German sample was surveyed regarding questions whether child sexual abuse needs more discussion in society and institutions of children and adolescents. Data of the help line of the Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues revealed statements of victims as well as of professionals regarding experiences with support in school. Results show that parents consider institutions of children and adolescents to be appropriate places to discuss sexual abuse. However, victims report that sexual abuse was rarely discussed in school and their distress and needs were often not seen; concurrently, victims would have wished for ongoing interest of the teachers. Statements of victims and professionals reveal that professionals working in school context are often overstrained and insecure about the reaction to sexual abuse. More training for teachers and other educational professionals is needed. In a time of general digitalization, E-learning courses are a cost-effective, low-threshold and in-depth approach in professional training.
Kindesschutz und Vertrauensschutz: Zum rechtlichen Rahmen der Verantwortung von Gesundheitsberufen, insbesondere bei Kindeswohlgefährdungen
Authors: Rixen Stephan
Published: April 2019

Zusammenfassung. Für Angehörige von Gesundheitsberufen gehört der effektive Schutz von Kindern vor Gefährdungen ihres Wohls zu den größten beruflichen Herausforderungen. Die Vertraulichkeit der Behandlungsbeziehung muss hier ggfs. hinter dem effektiven Kindesschutz zurückstehen. Der nachfolgende Beitrag skizziert den in Deutschland allgemein geltenden rechtlichen Rahmen. Hierbei wird auch auf rechtliche Unsicherheiten im Umgang mit Kindeswohlgefährdungen hingewiesen.
Kinderschutz – Was kann die Schule tun?
Authors: Seifried Klaus
Published: April 2019

Zusammenfassung. Aus schulpsychologischer Sicht werden Erscheinungsformen von Kindeswohlgefährdungen in der Schule beschrieben. An Fallbeispielen werden Handlungsmöglichkeiten für Pädagoginnen und Pädagogen erläutert. Die Schule kann die Funktion eines Frühwarnsystems übernehmen und Resilienzfaktor sein. Wichtig dabei ist die enge Kooperation mit dem Jugendamt als zuständigem Fachdienst und anderen Helfersystemen.
Effects of Tropical Deforestation on Surface Energy Balance Partitioning in Southeastern Amazonia Estimated From Maximum Convective Power
Authors: Conte Luigi , Renner Maik , Brando Paulo , Oliveira dos Santos Claudinei , Silvério Divino , Kolle Olaf , Trumbore Susan E. , Kleidon Axel
Published: April 2019

To understand changes in land surface energy balance partitioning due to tropical deforestation, we use a physically based analytical formulation of the surface energy balance. Turbulent heat fluxes are constrained by the thermodynamic maximum power limit and a formulation for diurnal heat redistribution within the land‐atmosphere system. The derived turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat compare very well to in situ observations for sites with intact rainforest and soybean land cover in southeastern Amazonia. The equilibrium partitioning into sensible and latent heat flux compares well with observations for both sites, except for the soybean site during the dry season where water limitation needs to be explicitly accounted for. Our results show that tropical deforestation primarily affects the absorption of solar radiation and the water limitation of evapotranspiration, but not the overall magnitude of turbulent heat fluxes that is set by the thermodynamic maximum power limit.
Spruce Beetle Slows Snow Sublimation in Wyoming’s Mountains
Authors: Thompson Elizabeth
Published: April 2019

A new study investigates changing water dynamics after a pest infestation in the Rocky Mountains.
Compiling a Census for SEAFLEAs
Authors: Phrampus Benjamin , Lee Taylor , Wood Warren
Published: April 2019

Collaboration to Compile Open-Source Sites of Seafloor Fluid Expulsion Anomalies, AGU Fall Meeting 2018; Washington, D.C., 14 December 2018
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in Arid Zones Can Use Ancient Subterranean Carbon as an Energy Source in the Local Food Web
Authors: Dean Joshua F.
Published: April 2019

Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are defined by their reliance on subterranean water resources, but GDE food webs may also depend on it as an energy source. Mazumder et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004925), show a clear dependency of a local GDE food web on very old, potentially geological, carbon sourced from palaeo‐groundwater discharge in the arid Great Artesian Basin in Australia. These findings support the emerging paradigm that ancient groundwater carbon is an important component of inland water carbon cycling and contemporary ecosystem functioning. Future work is needed to determine what proportion of total GDE energy needs are derived from groundwater carbon across a range of geological and hydroclimatic settings.
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist indigo protects against obesity-related insulin resistance through modulation of intestinal and metabolic tissue immunity
Authors: Lin Yi-Hsuan , Luck Helen , Khan Saad , Schneeberger Pierre H. H. , Tsai Sue , Clemente-Casares Xavier , Lei Helena , Leu Yann-Lii , Chan Yi Tao , Chen Hsing-Yu , Yang Sien-Hung , Coburn Bryan , Winer Shawn , Winer Daniel A.
Published: April 2019

Background/objectives

Low-grade chronic inflammation in visceral adipose tissue and the intestines are important drivers of obesity associated insulin resistance. Bioactive compounds derived from plants are an important source of potential novel therapies for the treatment of chronic diseases. In search for new immune based treatments of obesity associated insulin resistance, we screened for tissue relevant anti-inflammatory properties in 20 plant-based extracts.

Methods

We screened 20 plant-based extracts to assess for preferential production of IL-10 compared to TNFα, specifically targetting metabolic tissues, including the visceral adipose tissue. We assessed the therapeutic potential of the strongest anti-inflammatory compound, indigo, in the C57BL/6J diet-induced obesity mouse model with supplementation for up to 16 weeks by measuring changes in body weight, glucose and insulin tolerance, and gut barrier function. We also utilized flow cytometry, quantitative PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and histology to measure changes to immune cells populations and cytokine profiles in the intestine, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and liver. 16SrRNA sequencing was performed to examine gut microbial differences induced by indigo supplementation.

Results

We identifed indigo, an aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligand agonist, as a potent inducer of IL-10 and IL-22, which protects against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced insulin resistance and fatty liver disease in the diet-induced obesity model. Therapeutic actions were mechanistically linked to decreased inflammatory immune cell tone in the intestine, VAT and liver. Specifically, indigo increased Lactobacillus bacteria and elicited IL-22 production in the gut, which improved intestinal barrier permeability and reduced endotoxemia. These changes were associated with increased IL-10 production by immune cells residing in liver and VAT.

Conclusions

Indigo is a naturally occurring AhR ligand with anti-inflammatory properties that effectively protects against HFD-induced glucose dysregulation. Compounds derived from indigo or those with similar properties could represent novel therapies for diseases associated with obesity-related metabolic tissue inflammation.
In vivo superresolution photoacoustic computed tomography by localization of single dyed droplets
Authors: Zhang Pengfei , Li Lei , Lin Li , Shi Junhui , Wang Lihong V.
Published: April 2019

Photoacoustic (PA) computed tomography (PACT) is a noninvasive hybrid imaging technique that combines optical excitation and acoustic detection to realize high contrast, high resolution, and deep penetration in biological tissues. However, the spatial resolution of PACT is limited by acoustic diffraction. Here, we report in vivo superresolution PACT, which breaks the acoustic diffraction limit by localizing the centers of single dyed droplets that are flowing in blood vessels. The droplets were prepared by dissolving hydrophobic absorbing dye in oil, followed by mixing with water. The dyed droplets generate much higher-amplitude PA signals than blood and can flow smoothly in vessels; thus, they are excellent tracers for localization-based superresolution imaging. The in vivo resolution enhancement was demonstrated by continuously imaging the cortical layer of a mouse brain during droplet injection. The droplets that were flowing in the vessels were localized, and their center positions were used to construct a superresolution image that exhibits sharper features and more finely resolved vascular details. An improvement in spatial resolution by a factor of 6 has been realized in vivo by the droplet localization technique.
Publisher Correction: Chitosan functionalized nanocochleates for enhanced oral absorption of cyclosporine A
Authors: Liu Min , Zhong Xiaoming , Yang Zhiwen
Published: April 2019

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.
Using Bacterial Transcriptomics to Investigate Targets of Host-Bacterial Interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Chan Jason P. , Wright Justin R. , Wong Hoi Tong , Ardasheva Anastasia , Brumbaugh Jamey , McLimans Christopher , Lamendella Regina
Published: April 2019

The interactions between a host and its resident microbes form complicated networks that can affect host physiology. Disentangling these host-microbe interactions can help us better understand mechanisms by which bacteria affect hosts, while also defining the integral commensal protection that host-associated microbiota offer to promote health. Here we utilize a tractable genetic model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans, to study the effects of host environments on bacterial gene expression and metabolic pathways. First, we compared the transcriptomic profiles of E. coli OP50 in vitro (on agar plates) versus in vivo (fed to C. elegans host). Our data revealed that 110 biosynthetic genes were enriched in host-associated E. coli. Several of these expressed genes code for the precursors and products needed for the synthesis of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are important for innate immune and stress responses, as well as pathogenicity. Secondly, we compared the transcriptomic profiles of E. coli fed to hosts with different genetic backgrounds, including the long-lived daf-2/insulin like growth factor (IGF) receptor and short lived daf-16/FOXO transcription factor mutants. We find that hosts genetics also alters bacterial metabolic pathways. Given that bacteria influence host health, this transcriptomics approach can elucidate genes mediating host aging.
G-quadruplex dynamics contribute to regulation of mitochondrial gene expression
Authors: Falabella M. , Kolesar J. E. , Wallace C. , de Jesus D. , Sun L. , Taguchi Y. V. , Wang C. , Wang T. , Xiang I. M. , Alder J. K. , Maheshan R. , Horne W. , Turek-Herman J. , Pagano P. J. , St. Croix C. M. , Sondheimer N. , Yatsunyk L. A. , Johnson F. B. , Kaufman B. A.
Published: April 2019

Single-stranded DNA or RNA sequences rich in guanine (G) can adopt non-canonical structures known as G-quadruplexes (G4). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences that are predicted to form G4 are enriched on the heavy-strand and have been associated with formation of deletion breakpoints. Increasing evidence supports the ability of mtDNA to form G4 in cancer cells; however, the functional roles of G4 structures in regulating mitochondrial nucleic acid homeostasis in non-cancerous cells remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate by live cell imaging that the G4-ligand RHPS4 localizes primarily to mitochondria at low doses. We find that low doses of RHPS4 do not induce a nuclear DNA damage response but do cause an acute inhibition of mitochondrial transcript elongation, leading to respiratory complex depletion. We also observe that RHPS4 interferes with mtDNA levels or synthesis both in cells and isolated mitochondria. Importantly, a mtDNA variant that increases G4 stability and anti-parallel G4-forming character shows a stronger respiratory defect in response to RHPS4, supporting the conclusion that mitochondrial sensitivity to RHPS4 is G4-mediated. Taken together, our results indicate a direct role for G4 perturbation in mitochondrial genome replication, transcription processivity, and respiratory function in normal cells.
Live-imaging of Bioengineered Cartilage Tissue using Multimodal Non-linear Molecular Imaging
Authors: Moura Catarina Costa , Bourdakos Konstantinos N. , Tare Rahul S. , Oreffo Richard O. C. , Mahajan Sumeet
Published: April 2019

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and second harmonic generation (SHG) are non-linear techniques that allow label-free, non-destructive and non-invasive imaging for cellular and tissue analysis. Although live-imaging studies have been performed previously, concerns that they do not cause any changes at the molecular level in sensitive biological samples have not been addressed. This is important especially for stem cell differentiation and tissue engineering, if CARS/SHG microscopy is to be used as a non-invasive, label-free tool for assessment of the developing neo-tissue. In this work, we monitored the differentiation of human fetal-femur derived skeletal cells into cartilage in three-dimensional cultures using CARS and SHG microscopy and demonstrate the live-imaging of the same developing neo-tissue over time. Our work conclusively establishes that non-linear label-free imaging does not alter the phenotype or the gene expression at the different stages of differentiation and has no adverse effect on human skeletal cell growth and behaviour. Additionally, we show that CARS microscopy allows imaging of different molecules of interest, including lipids, proteins and glycosaminoglycans, in the bioengineered neo-cartilage. These studies demonstrate the label-free and truly non-invasive nature of live CARS and SHG imaging and their value and translation potential in skeletal research, regeneration medicine and tissue engineering.
Automated drosophila heartbeat counting based on image segmentation technique on optical coherence tomography
Authors: Lee Chia-Yen , Wang Hao-Jen , Jhang Jheng-Da , Cho I-Chun
Published: April 2019

Drosophila and human cardiac genes are very similar. Biological parametric studies on drosophila cardiac have improved our understanding of human cardiovascular disease. Drosophila cardiac consist of five circular chambers: a conical chamber (CC) and four ostia sections (O1–O4). Due to noise and grayscale discontinuity on optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, previous researches used manual counting or M-mode to analyze heartbeats, which are inefficient and time-consuming. An automated drosophila heartbeat counting algorithm based on the chamber segmentation is developed for OCT in this study. This algorithm has two parts: automated chamber segmentation and heartbeat counting. In addition, this study proposes a principal components analysis (PCA)-based supervised learning method for training the chamber contours to make chamber segmentation more accurate. The mean distances between the conical, second and third chambers attained by the proposed algorithm and the corresponding manually delineated boundaries defined by two experts were 1.26 ± 0.25, 1.47 ± 1.25 and 0.84 ± 0.60 (pixels), respectively. The area overlap similarities were 0.83 ± 0.09, 0.75 ± 0.11 and 0.74 ± 0.12 (pixels), respectively. The average calculated heart rates of two-week and six-week drosophila were about 4.77 beats/s and 4.73 beats/s, respectively, which was consistent with the results of manual counting.
HCV-coinfection is related to an increased HIV-1 reservoir size in cART-treated HIV patients: a cross-sectional study
Authors: López-Huertas Maria Rosa , Palladino Claudia , Garrido-Arquero Marta , Esteban-Cartelle Beatriz , Sánchez-Carrillo Marta , Martínez-Román Paula , Martín-Carbonero Luz , Ryan Pablo , Domínguez-Domínguez Lourdes , Santos Ignacio De Los , Moral Sara De La Fuente , Benito José Miguel , Rallón Norma , Alcamí José , Resino Salvador , Fernández-Rodríguez Amanda , Coiras Mayte , Briz Verónica ,   on behalf of the Multidisciplinary Group of viral coinfection HIV/Hepatitis (COVIHEP), Ángel-Moreno Alfonso , Bermejo-Plaza Laura , Bisbal Otilia , Brochado-Kith Oscar , Castro-Álvarez Juan Miguel , Cuevas Guillermo , Diez-Viñas Victorino , Gálvez-Charro Marta , García-Fraile Lucio , Gómez-Sanz Alicia , Lagarde María , Matarranz Mariano , Mate-Cano Irene , Mayoral-Muñoz Mario , Muñoz-Muñoz María , Pulido Federico , Rubio Rafael , Santacreu Mireia , Sanz-Sanz Jesús , Taveira Nuno , Troya Jesús , Cortegano Isabel , Gaspar María Luisa
Published: April 2019

In HIV-1/HCV-coinfected patients, chronic HCV infection leads to an increased T-lymphocyte immune activation compared to HIV-monoinfected patients, thereby likely contributing to increase HIV-1 reservoir that is the major barrier for its eradication. Our objective was to evaluate the influence of HCV coinfection in HIV-1 viral reservoir size in resting (r) CD4+ T-cells (CD25-CD69-HLADR-). Multicenter cross-sectional study of 97 cART-treated HIV-1 patients, including 36 patients with HIV and HCV-chronic co-infection without anti-HCV treatment, 32 HIV patients with HCV spontaneous clearance and 29 HIV-monoinfected patients. rCD4+ T-cells were isolated and total DNA was extracted. HIV viral reservoir was measured by Alu-LTR qPCR. Differences between groups were calculated with a generalized linear model. Overall, 63.9% were men, median age of 41 years and Caucasian. Median CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes were 725 and 858 cells/mm3, respectively. CD4+ T nadir cells was 305 cells/mm3. Proviral HIV-1 DNA size was significantly increased in chronic HIV/HCV-coinfected compared to HIV-monoinfected patients (206.21 ± 47.38vs. 87.34 ± 22.46, respectively;P = 0.009), as well as in spontaneously clarified HCV co-infected patients when compared to HIV-monoinfected individuals (136.20 ± 33.20;P = 0.009). HIV-1/HCV co-infected patients showed a larger HIV-1 reservoir size in comparison to HIV-monoinfected individuals. This increase could lead to a greater complexity in the elimination of HIV-1 reservoir in HIV-1/HCV-coinfected individuals, which should be considered in the current strategies for the elimination of HIV-1 reservoir.
Influence Maximization for Fixed Heterogeneous Thresholds
Authors: Karampourniotis P. D. , Szymanski B. K. , Korniss G.
Published: April 2019

Influence Maximization is a NP-hard problem of selecting the optimal set of influencers in a network. Here, we propose two new approaches to influence maximization based on two very different metrics. The first metric, termed Balanced Index (BI), is fast to compute and assigns top values to two kinds of nodes: those with high resistance to adoption, and those with large out-degree. This is done by linearly combining three properties of a node: its degree, susceptibility to new opinions, and the impact its activation will have on its neighborhood. Controlling the weights between those three terms has a huge impact on performance. The second metric, termed Group Performance Index (GPI), measures performance of each node as an initiator when it is a part of randomly selected initiator set. In each such selection, the score assigned to each teammate is inversely proportional to the number of initiators causing the desired spread. These two metrics are applicable to various cascade models; here we test them on the Linear Threshold Model with fixed and known thresholds. Furthermore, we study the impact of network degree assortativity and threshold distribution on the cascade size for metrics including ours. The results demonstrate our two metrics deliver strong performance for influence maximization.
Data mining to understand health status preceding traumatic brain injury
Authors: Mollayeva Tatyana , Sutton Mitchell , Chan Vincy , Colantonio Angela , Jana Sayantee , Escobar Michael
Published: April 2019

The use of precision medicine is poised to increase in complex injuries such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), whose multifaceted comorbidities and personal circumstances create significant challenges in the domains of surveillance, management, and environmental mapping. Population-wide health administrative data remains a rather unexplored, but accessible data source for identifying clinical associations and environmental patterns that could lead to a better understanding of TBIs. However, the amount of data structured and coded by the International Classification of Disease poses a challenge to its successful interpretation. The emerging field of data mining can be instrumental in helping to meet the daunting challenges faced by the TBI community. The report outlines novel areas for data mining relevant to TBI, and offers insight into how the above approach can be applied to solve pressing healthcare problems. Future work should focus on confirmatory analyses, which subsequently can guide precision medicine and preventive frameworks.
Rice plants overexpressing OsEPF1 show reduced stomatal density and increased root cortical aerenchyma formation
Authors: Mohammed U. , Caine R. S. , Atkinson J. A. , Harrison E. L. , Wells D. , Chater C. C. , Gray J. E. , Swarup R. , Murchie E. H.
Published: April 2019

Stomata are adjustable pores in the aerial epidermis of plants. The role of stomata is usually described in terms of the trade-off between CO2uptake and water loss. Little consideration has been given to their interaction with below-ground development or diffusion of other gases. We overexpressed the riceEPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTOR1(OsEPF1)toproduce rice plants with reduced stomatal densities, resulting in lowered leaf stomatal conductance and enhanced water use efficiency. Surprisingly, we found that root cortical aerenchyma (RCA) is formed constitutively inOsEPF1OE lines regardless of tissue age and position. Aerenchyma is tissue containing air-spaces that can develop in the plant root during stressful conditions, e.g. oxygen deficiency when it functions to increase O2diffusion from shoot to root. The relationship with stomata is unknown. We conclude that RCA development and stomatal development are linked by two possible mechanisms: first that reduced stomatal conductance inhibits the diffusion of oxygen to the root, creating an oxygen deficit and stimulating the formation of RCA, second that an unknownEPFsignalling pathway may be involved. Our observations have fundamental implications for the understanding of whole plant gas diffusion and root-to-shoot signalling events.
Modeling Spatial Correlation of Transcripts with Application to Developing Pancreas
Authors: Liu Ruishan , Mignardi Marco , Jones Robert , Enge Martin , Kim Seung K. , Quake Stephen R. , Zou James
Published: April 2019

Recently high-throughput image-based transcriptomic methods were developed and enabled researchers to spatially resolve gene expression variation at the molecular level for the first time. In this work, we develop a general analysis tool to quantitatively study the spatial correlations of gene expression in fixed tissue sections. As an illustration, we analyze the spatial distribution of single mRNA molecules measured by in situ sequencing on human fetal pancreas at three developmental time points–80, 87 and 117 days post-fertilization. We develop a density profile-based method to capture the spatial relationship between gene expression and other morphological features of the tissue sample such as position of nuclei and endocrine cells of the pancreas. In addition, we build a statistical model to characterize correlations in the spatial distribution of the expression level among different genes. This model enables us to infer the inhibitory and clustering effects throughout different time points. Our analysis framework is applicable to a wide variety of spatially-resolved transcriptomic data to derive biological insights.
Co-regulatory Network of Oncosuppressor miRNAs and Transcription Factors for Pathology of Human Hepatic Cancer Stem Cells (HCSC)
Authors: Mohamed Rania Hassan , Abu-Shahba Nourhan , Mahmoud Marwa , Abdelfattah Ahmed M. H. , Zakaria Wael , ElHefnawi Mahmoud
Published: April 2019

Hepatic cancer stem cells (HCSCs) are considered as main players for the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) initiation, metastasis, drug resistance and recurrence. There is a growing evidence supporting the down-regulated miRNAs in HCSCs as key suppressors for the stemness traits, but still more details are vague about how these miRNAs modulate the HCC development. To uncover some of these miRNA regulatory aspects in HCSC, we compiled 15 down-regulated miRNA and their validated and predicted up-regulated targets in HCSC. The targets were enriched for several cancer cell stemness hallmarks and CSC pre-metastatic niche, which support these miRNAs role in suppression of HCSCs neoplastic transformation. Further, we constructed miRNA-Transcription factor (TF) regulatory networks, which provided new insights on the role of the proposed miRNA-TF co-regulation in the cancer stemness axis and its cross talk with the surrounding microenvironment. Our analysis revealed HCSC important hubs as candidate regulators for targeting hepatic cancer stemness such as, miR-148a, miR-214, E2F family, MYC and SLC7A5. Finally, we proposed a possible model for miRNA and TF co-regulation of HCSC signaling pathways. Our study identified an HCSC signature and set bridges between the reported results to give guide for future validation of HCC therapeutic strategies avoiding drug resistance.
Structure and dynamics in the lithium solvation shell of nonaqueous electrolytes
Authors: Han Sungho
Published: April 2019

The solvation of a lithium ion has been of great importance to understand the structure and dynamics of electrolytes. In mixed electrolytes of cyclic and linear carbonates, the lithium solvation structure and the exchange dynamics of solvents strongly depend on the mixture ratio of solvents, providing a connection of the rigidity of the lithium solvation shell with the solvent composition in the shell. Here we study the dynamical properties of solvents in the solvation sheath of a lithium ion for various solvent mixture ratios via molecular dynamics simulations. Our results demonstrate that the exchange dynamics of solvents exhibits a non-monotonic behavior with a change in the mixture ratio, which keeps preserved on both short and long time scales. As the fraction of cyclic carbonate increases, we find that the structural properties of cyclic and linear carbonates binding to a lithium ion show different responses to a change in the fraction. Furthermore, we find that the rotational dynamics of cyclic carbonate is relatively insensitive to the mixture ratio in contrast to the rotational dynamics of linear carbonate. Our results further present that an anion shows different properties in structure and dynamics from solvents upon changing the mixture ratio of solvents.
Reference genes for accurate evaluation of expression levels in Trichophyton interdigitale grown under different carbon sources, pH levels and phosphate levels
Authors: Ciesielska Anita , Oleksak Beata , Stączek Paweł
Published: April 2019

Tinea pedis is a type of dermatophytosis caused by anthropophilic keratinolytic fungi such as Trichophyton interdigitale. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) is a reliable and reproducible technique for measuring changes in target gene expression across various biological conditions. A crucial aspect of accurate normalization is the choice of appropriate internal controls. To identify reference genes for accurate evaluation of expression levels in T. interdigitale, the transcription levels of eight candidate reference genes (adp-rf, β-act, ef1-α, gapdh, psm1, sdha, rpl2 and ubc) and one target gene (Tri m4) were analysed by RT-qPCR after growing the dermatophyte under different environmental conditions. The results obtained from expression stability evaluations with NormFinder, geNorm, BestKeeper, and RefFinder software demonstrated that adp-rf and psm1 were the most stable internal control genes across all experimental conditions. The present study constitutes the first report of the identification and validation of reference genes for RT-qPCR normalization for T. interdigitale grown under different environmental conditions resembling the conditions encountered by fungi during invasion of skin.
Benefit of second-line systemic chemotherapy for advanced biliary tract cancer: A propensity score analysis
Authors: Moik Florian , Riedl Jakob M. , Winder Thomas , Terbuch Angelika , Rossmann Christopher H. , Szkandera Joanna , Bauernhofer Thomas , Kasparek Anne-Katrin , Schaberl-Moser Renate , Reicher Andreas , Prinz Felix , Pichler Martin , Stöger Herbert , Stotz Michael , Gerger Armin , Posch Florian
Published: April 2019

Whether 2nd-line-chemotherapy (2LCTX) + best-supportive-care (BSC) benefits patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (aBTC) more than BSC alone is unclear. We therefore conducted a propensity-score-based comparative effectiveness analysis of overall survival (OS) outcomes in 80 patients with metastatic, recurrent, or inoperable aBTC, of whom 38 (48%) were treated with BSC + 2LCTX and 42 (52%) with BSC alone. After a median follow-up of 14.8 months and 49 deaths, the crude 6-, 12-, and 18-month Kaplan-Meier OS estimates were 77%, 53% and 23% in the BSC + 2LCTX group, and 29%, 21%, and 14% in patients in the BSC group (p = 0.0003; Hazard ratio (HR) = 0.36, 95%CI:0.20–0.64, p = 0.001). An inverse-probability-of-treatment-weighted (IPTW) analysis was conducted to rigorously account for the higher prevalence of favorable prognostic variables in the 2LCTX + BSC group. After IPTW-weighting, the favorable association between 2LCTX and OS prevailed (adjusted HR = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.17–0.95, p = 0.037). IPTW-weighted 6-, 12-, and 18-month OS estimates were 77%, 58% and 33% in the BSC + 2LCTX group, and 39%, 28% and 22% in the BSC group (p = 0.037). Moreover, the benefit of 2LCTX was consistent across several clinically-relevant subgroups. Within the limitations of an observational study, these findings support the concept that 2LCTX + BSC is associated with an OS benefit over BSC alone in aBTC.
Author Correction: A novel perspective on MOL-PCR optimization and MAGPIX analysis of in-house multiplex foodborne pathogens detection assay
Authors: Reslova Nikol , Huvarova Veronika , Hrdy Jakub , Kasny Martin , Kralik petr
Published: April 2019

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.
Enhanced phosphate sequestration by Fe(iii) modified biochar derived from coconut shell
Authors: Zhong Zhenxing , Yu Guowen , Mo Wenting , Zhang Chunjie , Huang Hao , Li Shengui , Gao Meng , Lu Xiejuan , Zhang Beiping , Zhu Hongping
Published: April 2019

In this work, a novel Fe-modified coconut shell biochar (Fe-CSB) was synthesized and utilized to remove phosphate from aqueous solution.
Facile preparation of Ti3+ self-doped TiO2 nanoparticles and their dramatic visible photocatalytic activity for the fast treatment of highly concentrated Cr(vi) effluent
Authors: Hao Weiming , Li Xiangqing , Qin Lixia , Han Sheng , Kang Shi-Zhao
Published: April 2019

An efficient visible photocatalyst which is suitable for the rapid removal of highly concentrated Cr(vi) for environmental therapy.
Midgap-state-mediated two-step photoexcitation in nitrogen defect-modified g-C3N4 atomic layers for superior photocatalytic CO2 reduction
Authors: Tang Jie-Yinn , Kong Xin Ying , Ng Boon-Junn , Chew Yi-Hao , Mohamed Abdul Rahman , Chai Siang-Piao
Published: April 2019

This study unravels the prominent role of midgap states in boosting the performance of nitrogen defect-modified g-C3N4 atomic layers in a single-catalyst CO2 photoreduction system.
Prognostic values of signal transducers activators of transcription in gastric cancer
Authors: Zhang Yujie , Yu Chaoran
Published: April 2019

The signal transducers and activators of transcription genes family (STATs) have been well studied as prognostic predictors for various solid tumors, but their prognostic values in gastric cancer (GC) patients have not been fully elucidated. The ‘Kaplan–Meier plotter’ and multiple public available databases were used for the characterization of the prognostic roles of STATs family in GC. The results indicated that high mRNA expression of all individual STATs, except STAT3 and STAT6, were significantly associated with favorable overall survival (OS) in GC. Moreover, the prognostic values of STATs were further characterized in subtypes, including HER2 status, Lauren’s classification, differentiation, and clinical stages. Moreover, the prognostic value of STATs signature was also characterized. Low risk group displayed a significantly favorable OS than high risk (HR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.09–2.66, P=0.0184). In addition, STATs showed distinct expression between GC and normal groups. Meanwhile, comparable high correlation between STATs and tumor immune infiltrating cells (TIICs) was also observed. STAT4 displayed highest correlation with dendritic cells (correlation = 0.716, P=1.63e-59) and CD8+ T cells (correlation = 0.697, P=5.02e-55). In conclusion, our results suggest that all individual STATs, except STAT3 and STAT6, may act as prognostic markers in GC.
Exploration of Metrics for Quantifying Formant Space: Implications for Clinical Assessment of Parkinson Disease
Authors: Whitfield Jason A.
Published: April 2019

Purpose

Speakers with Parkinson disease (PD) often exhibit hypokinetic dysarthria, which affects speech articulation. Vowel space metrics based on formant frequencies have been used to examine vowel articulation in speakers with PD. Although data from a number of studies suggest that speakers with PD exhibit smaller acoustic vowel space areas than control speakers, a handful of studies did not observe differences in vowel space area between speakers with and without PD. One potential factor explaining the inconsistent performance of traditional vowel space metrics is that these point-based metrics undersample the formant space to adequately capture between-groups and within-group differences in articulation. This article discusses recent advances in vowel space assessment that augment traditional vowel space metrics by examining the distribution of the entire formant frequency trace.

Conclusion

A general approach to obtaining these metrics is discussed along with clinical implications for vowel space assessment in speakers with PD.
DeepRange: deep‐learning‐based object detection and ranging in autonomous driving
Authors: Parmar Yashrajsinh , Natarajan Sudha , Sobha Gayathri
Published: April 2019

Autonomous driving is an emerging area of intelligent transport systems. It necessitates automatic detection, classification, and ranging of on‐road obstacles. Current autonomous driving systems rely largely on LiDAR and radar units to gather information of distance to obstacles. LiDAR units are, in general, expensive. Alternatives such as stereo image processing for obtaining distance estimates are computationally intensive. Here, the authors explore the power of a deep‐learning‐based approach for range finding. The proposed approach is based on perception and requires only a low‐cost image sensor. Estimating the range of objects from a monocular image captured by a passive cost‐effective image sensor is, however, a challenging task. The authors propose an enhancement to classical convolutional neural networks based on addition of a range estimation layer for obtaining the distance to detected objects. The proposed strategy accomplishes object detection, classification and ranging simultaneously. The approach has been studied on the KITTI Vision Benchmark Suite, and experimental results indicate a detection speed of 61 fps, with mAP of 96.92% in recognition performance on an NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti GPU platform. Further, the proposed approach leads to an average error of only 0.915 m in range estimation which is quite acceptable in highway scenarios.
Influence of surface roughness on diffraction in the externally occulted Lyot solar coronagraph
Authors: Rougeot R. , Flamary R. , Mary D. , Aime C.
Published: April 2019

Context. The solar coronagraph ASPIICS will fly on the future ESA formation flying mission Proba-3. The instrument combines an external occulter of diameter 1.42 m and a Lyot solar coronagraph of 5 cm diameter, located downstream at a distance of 144 m.

Aims. The theoretical performance of the externally occulted Lyot coronagraph has been computed by assuming perfect optics. In this paper, we improve related modelling by introducing roughness scattering effects from the telescope. We have computed the diffraction at the detector, that we compare to the ideal case without perturbation to estimate the performance degradation. We have also investigated the influence of sizing the internal occulter and the Lyot stop, and we performed a sensitivity analysis on the roughness.

Methods. We have built on a recently published numerical model of diffraction propagation. The micro-structures of the telescope are built by filtering a white noise with a power spectral density following an isotropic ABC function, suggested by Harvey scatter theory. The parameters were tuned to fit experimental data measured on ASPIICS lenses. The computed wave front error was included in the Fresnel wave propagation of the coronagraph. A circular integration over the solar disk was performed to reconstruct the complete diffraction intensity.

Results. The level of micro-roughness is 1.92 nm root-mean-square. Compared to the ideal case, in the plane of the internal occulter, the diffraction peak intensity is reduced by ≃0.001%. However, the intensity outside the peak increases by 12% on average, up to 20% at 3 R⊙, where the mask does not filter out the diffraction. At detector level, the diffraction peak remains ≃10−6 at 1.1 R⊙, similar to the ideal case, but the diffraction tail at large solar radius is much higher, up to one order of magnitude. Sizing the internal occulter and the Lyot stop does not improve the rejection, as opposed to the ideal case.

Conclusions. Besides these results, this paper provides a methodology to implement roughness scattering in the wave propagation model for the solar coronagraph.