bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Researcher allegiance in research on psychosocial interventions: meta-research study protocol and pilot study
Authors: Yoder Whitney Rose , Karyotaki Eirini , Cristea Ioana-Alina , van Duin Daniëlle , Cuijpers Pim
Published: February 2019

Introduction

One potential source of bias in randomised clinical trials of psychological interventions is researcher allegiance (RA). The operationalisation of RA differs strongly across studies, and there is not a generally accepted method of operationalising or measuring it. Furthermore, it remains unclear as to how RA affects the outcomes of trials and if it results in better outcomes for a preferred intervention. The aim of this project is to develop and validate a scale that accurately identifies RA, contribute to the understanding of the impact that RA has in a research setting and to make recommendations for addressing RA in practice.

Methods and analysis

A scale will first be developed and validated to measure RA in psychotherapy trials. The scale will be validated by surveying authors of psychotherapy trials to assess their opinions, beliefs and preferences of psychotherapy interventions. Furthermore, the scale will be validated for use outside the field of psychotherapy. The validated checklist will then be used to examine two potential mechanisms of how RA may affect outcomes of interventions: publication bias (by assessing grants) and risk of bias (RoB). Finally, recommendations will be developed, and a feasibility study will be conducted at a national mental health agency in The Netherlands. Main analyses comprise inter-rater reliability of checklist items, correlations to examine the relationship between checklist items and author survey (convergent validity) as well as checklist items and trial outcomes and multivariate meta-regression techniques to assess potential mechanisms of how allegiance affects trial outcomes (publication bias and RoB).

Ethics and dissemination

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Scientific and Ethical Review Board (VCWE) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Study result and advancements will also be published on the Open Science Framework. Furthermore, main findings will be disseminated through articles in international peer-reviewed open access journals. Results and recommendations will be communicated to the Cochrane Collaboration, the Campbell Collaboration and other funding agencies.
Public perceptions of changing the terminology for low-risk thyroid cancer: a qualitative focus group study
Authors: Nickel Brooke , Semsarian Caitlin , Moynihan Ray , Barratt Alexandra , Jordan Susan , McLeod Donald , Brito Juan P , McCaffery Kirsten
Published: February 2019

Objectives

To investigate public perceptions of overdiagnosis and overtreatment in low-risk thyroid cancer and explore opinions regarding the proposed strategy to change the terminology of low-risk cancers.

Design

Qualitative study using focus groups that included a guided group discussion and presentation explaining thyroid cancer, overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and proposed communication strategies. Transcripts were analysed thematically.

Setting

Sydney, Australia.

Participants

Forty-seven men and women of various ages from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds with no personal history of thyroid cancer.

Results

Participants had low pre-existing general awareness of concepts of overdiagnosis and overtreatment and expressed concern regarding this new information in relation to thyroid cancer. Overall, participants understood why the strategy to change the terminology was being proposed and could see potential benefits including reducing the negative psychological impact and stigma associated with the term ‘cancer’; however, many still had reservations about the strategy. The majority of the concerns were around their worry about the risk of further disease progression and that changing the terminology may create confusion and cause patients not to take the diagnosis and its associated managements seriously. Despite varied views towards the proposed strategy, there was a strong overarching desire for greater patient and public education around overdiagnosis and overtreatment in both thyroid cancer and cancer generally in order to complement any revised terminology and/or other mitigation strategies.

Conclusions

We found a strong and apparently widely held desire for more information surrounding the topic of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Careful consideration of how to inform both the public and current patients about the implications of a change in terminology, including changes to patients’ follow-up or treatments, would be needed if such a change were to go ahead.
Undisclosed financial ties between guideline writers and pharmaceutical companies: a cross-sectional study across 10 disease categories
Authors: Moynihan Ray , Lai Alexandra , Jarvis Huw , Duggan Geraint , Goodrick Stephanie , Beller Elaine , Bero Lisa
Published: February 2019

Objectives

To investigate the proportion of potentially relevant undisclosed financial ties between clinical practice guideline writers and pharmaceutical companies.

Design

Cross-sectional study of a stratified random sample of Australian guidelines and writers.

Setting

Guidelines available from Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council guideline database, 2012–2014, stratified across 10 health priority areas.

Population

402 authors of 33 guidelines, including up to four from each area, dependent on availability: arthritis/musculoskeletal (3); asthma (4); cancer (4); cardiovascular (4); diabetes (4); injury (3); kidney/urogenital (4); mental health (4); neurological (1); obesity (1). For guideline writers with no disclosures, or who disclosed no ties, a search of disclosures in the medical literature in the 5 years prior to guideline publication identified potentially relevant ties, undisclosed in guidelines. Guidelines were included if they contained recommendations of medicines, and writers included if developing or writing guidelines.

Main outcome measures

Proportions of guideline writers with potentially relevant undisclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies active in the therapeutic area; proportion of guidelines including at least one writer with a potentially relevant undisclosed tie.

Results

344 of 402 writers (86%; 95% CI 82% to 89%) either had no published disclosures (228) or disclosed they had no ties (116). Of the 344 with no disclosed ties, 83 (24%; 95% CI 20% to 29%) had potentially relevant undisclosed ties. Of 33 guidelines, 23 (70%; 95% CI 51% to 84%) included at least one writer with a potentially relevant undisclosed tie. Writers of guidelines developed and funded by governments were less likely to have undisclosed financial ties (8.1%vs30.6%; risk ratio 0.26; 95% CI 0.13 to 0.53; p<0.001).

Conclusions

Almost one in four guideline writers with no disclosed ties may have potentially relevant undisclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies. These data confirm the need for strategies to ensure greater transparency and more independence in relationships between guidelines and industry.
Genetic diagnosis of subfertility: the impact of meiosis and maternal effects
Authors: Gheldof Alexander , Mackay Deborah J G , Cheong Ying , Verpoest Willem
Published: February 2019

During reproductive age, approximately one in seven couples are confronted with fertility problems. While the aetiology is diverse, including infections, metabolic diseases, hormonal imbalances and iatrogenic effects, it is becoming increasingly clear that genetic factors have a significant contribution. Due to the complex nature of infertility that often hints at a multifactorial cause, the search for potentially causal gene mutations in idiopathic infertile couples has remained difficult. Idiopathic infertility patients with a suspicion of an underlying genetic cause can be expected to have mutations in genes that do not readily affect general health but are only essential in certain processes connected to fertility. In this review, we specifically focus on genes involved in meiosis and maternal-effect processes, which are of critical importance for reproduction and initial embryonic development. We give an overview of genes that have already been linked to infertility in human, as well as good candidates which have been described in other organisms. Finally, we propose a phenotypic range in which we expect an optimal diagnostic yield of a meiotic/maternal-effect gene panel.
The performance and aerobic endurance effects of high-intensity versus moderate-intensity continuous running
Authors: Jarstad Even , Mamen Asgeir
Published: February 2019

The aim of the present study was to investigate the performance and aerobic endurance effects of high-intensity (HICR) versus moderate-intensity continuous running (MICR), which were nonmatched for total work. Twenty healthy recreational athletes (aged 28 ± 5 years) were randomly assigned to an HICR, MICR, or no-intervention control (C) group. The HICR group (n = 7) performed a 20-min strenuous, almost exhausting, run above lactate threshold (LT) at ∼88% of maximal heart rate (HRmax), whereas the MICR group (n = 7) performed a 40-min run at ∼80% HRmax. Both the HICR and MICR groups performed 3 intervention sessions a week, in addition to ∼60% of their regular aerobic exercise, for 10 weeks. The C group (n = 6) performed regular physical exercise throughout the study. Time to exhaustion, during a ∼4–8-min ramp test procedure, was significantly increased by 23% and 24% (P < 0.01) following HICR or MICR, respectively, with no significant difference in the change in time to exhaustion (P = 1.00) at pre- to post-training between the 2 training modalities (HICR and MICR). In the HICR group, maximal oxygen consumption and velocity at LT increased significantly by 5.0% and 6.8% (P < 0.01), respectively. The MICR group increased relative maximal oxygen consumption (mL·kg−1·min−1) significantly by 4.7% (P < 0.05), whereas the pulmonary respiratory gas-exchange ratio was significantly decreased at a submaximal workload by 4.2% (P < 0.01), indicating enhanced fat oxidation. No performance or physiological effects were observed in the C group. The present study indicates that even with a substantially lower total energy turnover, HICR can be as performance enhancing as MICR. Moreover, HICR can increase maximal aerobic power, whereas MICR may enhance fat oxidation.
Behaviour of structural insulated panels (SIPs) subjected to short-term out-of-plane transverse loads
Authors: Jacques Eric , Makar Jon
Published: February 2019

Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are a panelized building system composed of external oriented strand board (OSB) wood sheets bonded to a lightweight boardstock or pour-in-place foam core. This paper describes an investigation on the structural behaviour of OSB-faced SIPs subject to short-term out-of-plane transverse loading. A total of 35 panels with varying types of foam core, thickness and other construction details were subjected to partially distributed uniform loading. The results showed that the ultimate shear resistance of SIPs is proportional to the mechanical properties of the core, and inversely proportional to the thickness of the core. The observed relationship between core shear stress at failure and core thickness was used to calibrate a reliability-based design expression to predict the shear strength of full-size panels based on properties obtained from small-scale foam material tests. Sandwich panel theory can accurately predict the initial stiffness of SIPs when behaviour remains in the linear range. Finally, recommendations regarding panel design and construction are made to improve the shear behaviour of SIPs.
Genetic analysis of wood quality traits in Norway spruce open-pollinated progenies and their parent plus trees at clonal archives and the evaluation of phenotypic selection of plus trees
Authors: Zhou Linghua , Chen Zhiqiang , Lundqvist Sven-Olof , Olsson Lars , Grahn Thomas , Karlsson Bo , Wu Harry X. , García-Gil María Rosario
Published: February 2019

A two-generation pedigree involving 519 Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) plus trees (at clonal archives) and their open-pollinated (OP) progenies was studied with the aim to evaluate the potential of plus-tree selection based on phenotype data scored on the plus trees. Two wood properties (wood density and modulus of elasticity, MOE) and one fiber property (microfibril angle, MFA) were measured with a SilviScan instrument on samples from one ramet per plus tree and 12 OP progenies per plus tree (total of 6288 trees). Three ramets per plus tree and their OP progenies were also assessed for Pilodyn penetration depth and Hitman acoustic velocity, which were used to estimate MOE. The narrow-sense heritability (h2) estimates based on parent–offspring regression were marginally higher than those based on half-sib correlation when three ramets per plus tree were included. For SilviScan data, estimates of the correlation between half-sib, progeny-based breeding values (BVs) and plus-tree phenotypes, as well as repeatability estimates, were highest for wood density, followed by MOE and MFA. Considering that the repeatability estimates from the clonal archive trees were higher than any h2 estimate, selection of the best clones from clonal archives would be an effective alternative.
Powell–Eyring fluid flow towards an isothermal sphere in a non-Darcy porous medium
Authors: Gaffar S. Abdul , Ur-Rehman Khalil , Reddy P. Ramesh , Prasad V. Ramachandra , Khan B. Md. Hidayathulla
Published: February 2019

Non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluid flow past an isothermal sphere embedded in non-Darcy porous medium is examined numerically in this work. To be specific, the non-Newtonian Powell–Eyring fluid in the presence of both the heat and mass characteristics is mathematically modelled in terms of differential system. A non-Darcy drag force model is employed to simulate the effects of linear porous media drag and second-order Forchheimer drag. The surface of the sphere is maintained at a constant temperature and concentration. The numerical solution of the resultant system is reported via the Keller box method. Both tabular and graphical forms are adopted to identify the variations in Powell–Eyring fluid velocity, Powell–Eyring fluid temperature, and Powell–Eyring fluid concentration. In addition, the surface physical quantities, namely, skin friction and heat and mass transfer rates, are explored. The obtained observations are validated with earlier Newtonian studies. We found an excellent match in this regard. It is found that the velocity is reduced with increasing fluid parameter (ε), Forchheimer parameter (Λ), and tangential coordinate (ξ). In contrast, the temperature and concentration are increasing with increasing value of ε. A very slight increase in velocity is seen with an increase in the local non-Newtonian parameter, δ. But the temperature and concentration decrease slightly with an increase in δ. An increase in Darcy parameter enhances velocity but reduces both temperature and concentration. The present study finds an extensive array of applications in modern nuclear engineering, mineral and chemical process engineering, nuclear waste in geomaterial repositories, petroleum product filtration, and insulation systems.
Protective effect of ghrelin against tilmicosin-induced left ventricular dysfunction in rats
Authors: Çetin Ebru
Published: February 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the possible protective effects of ghrelin against tilmicosin-induced acute ventricular dysfunction in rats. Forty adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 equal groups: control, ghrelin, tilmicosin, and ghrelin + tilmicosin. The left ventricular structural and functional parameters together with cardiac biomarker levels were evaluated. The results showed that tilmicosin treatment alone significantly decreased the left ventricular fractional shortening, left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular stroke volume, and cardiac output when compared with control group. In addition, tilmicosin led to a significant increase in left ventricular internal dimension in systole and left ventricular fractional end-systolic volume. At the same time, serum lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, and creatine kinase-myocardial B fraction levels were significantly increased in tilmicosin-treated group when compared with control group. However, ghrelin pretreatment significantly prevented the left ventricular internal dimension in systole, left ventricular fractional end-systolic volume, left ventricular stroke volume, left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular fractional shortening, and cardiac output changes caused by tilmicosin. Moreover, ghrelin pretreatment could reduce significantly serum lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, and creatine kinase-myocardial B fraction levels. These data indicated that ghrelin treatment may provide a protective effect against tilmicosin-induced left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
Rulers on Our Arms
Authors: Liu Yang , Jiang Yonghang , Li Zhenjiang , Wang Jianping
Published: February 2019

In this article, we propose a mobile system,
Aware
, which turns our wearable or mobile device into a ruler. It can estimate the size of objects that could be large in size and not directly touchable by the user. Such a design will enable a rich set of applications that count on the size information of surrounding environments/objects.
Aware
purely utilizes the motion sensors on the device for object size measures. It can also integrate with the crowdsourcing feature for both performance improvement and result sharing. We propose a series of key techniques to address three major challenges in the
Aware
design: (1) user’s angle of line-of-sights to the object is used in the size measure but motion sensors track only the angle of arm’s waving, (2) motion sensors are noisy that require novel and effective data processing techniques, otherwise the errors could easily overwhelm the final result, and (3) in the crowdsourcing mode,
Aware
needs to identify vicinal objects of similar sizes and effectively fuse the measured sizes that correspond to the same object. We consolidate the above designs and implement
Aware
on Android platforms. Extensive experiments with four users show that
Aware
can achieve accurate measurement performance for the objects of various sizes in both indoor and outdoor environments.
A Large-scale Behavioural Analysis of Bots and Humans on Twitter
Authors: Gilani Zafar , Farahbakhsh Reza , Tyson Gareth , Crowcroft Jon
Published: February 2019

Recent research has shown a substantial active presence of bots in online social networks (OSNs). In this article, we perform a comparative analysis of the usage and impact of bots and humans on Twitter—one of the largest OSNs in the world. We collect a large-scale Twitter dataset and define various metrics based on tweet metadata. Using a human annotation task, we assign “bot” and “human” ground-truth labels to the dataset and compare the annotations against an online bot detection tool for evaluation. We then ask a series of questions to discern important behavioural characteristics of bots and humans using metrics within and among four popularity groups. From the comparative analysis, we draw clear differences and interesting similarities between the two entities.
Mi Casa es su Casa? Examining Airbnb Hospitality Exchange Practices in a Developing Economy
Authors: Ruiz-Correa Salvador , Ruiz-Correa Itzia , Olmos-Carrillo Carlo , Rendón-Huerta Fatima Alba , Ramirez-Salazar Beatriz , Nguyen Laurent Son , Gatica-Perez Daniel
Published: February 2019

We present a study involving twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews, a street survey, and online data to understand Airbnb hospitality exchange practices in the context of a developing country. As case studies, we investigate Airbnb practices of both hosts and guests in two tourist venues in Mexico -- the eighth most visited country worldwide. The analysis of the data revealed that Airbnb practices in Mexico have some similarities but also important differences with those previously reported in the literature. We found (1) that money is the main motivation for hosts to participate in Airbnb and that the earned money contributes significantly to the overall income of hosts; (2) that traditions that permeate the Mexican culture motivate hosts to engage in more personal hospitality experiences; (3) that Airbnb host practices lead to the creation of informal jobs that support the local community; and (4) that Airbnb local guests suggest that the lack of contextual information (i.e., the characteristics of the neighborhood where the accommodation is located) is a problem when renting in Mexico owing to safety issues.
The (
h,k
)-Server Problem on Bounded Depth Trees
Authors: Bansal Nikhil , Eliéš Marek , Jeż Łukasz , Koumoutsos Grigorios
Published: February 2019

We study the
k
-server problem in the resource augmentation setting, i.e., when the performance of the online algorithm with
k
servers is compared to the offline optimal solution with
h
≤
k
servers. The problem is very poorly understood beyond uniform metrics. For this special case, the classic
k
-server algorithms are roughly (1+1/ϵ)-competitive when
k
=(1+ϵ)
h
, for any ϵ > 0. Surprisingly, however, no
o
(
h
)-competitive algorithm is known even for HSTs of depth 2 and even when
k
/
h
is arbitrarily large.

We obtain several new results for the problem. First, we show that the known
k
-server algorithms do not work even on very simple metrics. In particular, the Double Coverage algorithm has competitive ratio Ω (
h
) irrespective of the value of
k
, even for depth-2 HSTs. Similarly, the Work Function Algorithm, which is believed to be optimal for all metric spaces when
k
=
h
, has competitive ratio Ω (
h
) on depth-3 HSTs even if
k
=2
h
. Our main result is a new algorithm that is
O
(1)-competitive for constant depth trees, whenever
k
=(1+ϵ)
h
for any ϵ > 0. Finally, we give a general lower bound that any deterministic online algorithm has competitive ratio at least 2.4 even for depth-2 HSTs and when
k
/
h
is arbitrarily large. This gives a surprising qualitative separation between uniform metrics and depth-2 HSTs for the (
h
,
k
)-server problem.
Resolvin D1 attenuates mechanical stretch-induced pulmonary fibrosis via epithelial-mesenchymal transition
Authors: Yang Yiyi , Hu Lisha , Xia Haifa , Chen Lin , Cui Shunan , Wang Yaxin , Zhou Ting , Xiong Wei , Song Limin , Li Shengnan , Pan Shangwen , Xu Jiqian , Liu Min , Xiao Hairong , Qin Lu , Shang You , Yao Shanglong
Published: February 2019

Mechanical ventilation-induced pulmonary fibrosis plays an important role in the high mortality rate of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Resolvin D1 (RvD1) displays potent proresolving activities. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been proved to be an important pathological feature of lung fibrosis. This study aimed to investigate whether RvD1 can attenuate mechanical ventilation-induced lung fibrosis. Human lung epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells were pretreated with RvD1 for 30 min and exposed to acid for 10 min before being subjected to mechanical stretch for 48 h. C57BL/6 mice were subjected to intratracheal acid aspiration followed by mechanical ventilation 24 h later (peak inspiratory pressure 22 cmH2O, positive end-expiratory pressure 2 cmH2O, and respiratory rate 120 breaths/min for 2 h). RvD1 was injected into mice for 5 consecutive days after mechanical ventilation. Treatment with RvD1 significantly inhibited mechanical stretch-induced mesenchymal markers (vimentin and α-smooth muscle actin) and stimulated epithelial markers (E-cadherin). Tert-butyloxycarbonyl 2 (BOC-2), a lipoxin A4 receptor/formyl peptide receptor 2 (ALX/FPR2) antagonist, is known to inhibit ALX/FPR2 function. BOC-2 could reverse the beneficial effects of RvD1. The antifibrotic effect of RvD1 was associated with the suppression of Smad2/3 phosphorylation. This study demonstrated that mechanical stretch could induce EMT and pulmonary fibrosis and that treatment with RvD1 could attenuate mechanical ventilation-induced lung fibrosis, thus highlighting RvD1 as an effective therapeutic agent against pulmonary fibrosis associated with mechanical ventilation.
NPY2 receptor activation in the dorsal vagal complex increases food intake and attenuates CCK-induced satiation in male rats
Authors: Huston Nathaneal J. , Brenner Lynne A. , Taylor Zachary C. , Ritter Robert C.
Published: February 2019

Neuropeptide Y (NPY), peptide YY (PYY), and their cognate receptors (YR) are expressed by subpopulations of central and peripheral nervous system neurons. Intracerebroventricular injections of NPY or PYY increase food intake, and intrahypothalamic NPY1 or NPY5 receptor agonist injections also increase food intake. In contrast, injection of PYY in the periphery reduces food intake, apparently by activating peripheral Y2R. The dorsal vagal complex (DVC) of the hindbrain is the site where vagal afferents relay gut satiation signals to the brain. While contributions of the DVC are increasingly investigated, a role for DVC YR in control of food intake has not been examined systematically. We used in situ hybridization to confirm expression of Y1R and Y2R, but not Y5R, in the DVC and vagal afferent neurons. We found that nanoinjections of a Y2R agonist, PYY-(3–36), into the DVC significantly increased food intake over a 4-h period in satiated male rats. PYY-(3–36)-evoked food intake was prevented by injection of a selective Y2R antagonist. Injection of a Y1R/Y5R-preferring agonist into the DVC failed to increase food intake at doses reported to increase food intake following hypothalamic injection. Finally, injection of PYY-(3–36) into the DVC prevented reduction of 30-min food intake following intraperitoneal injection of cholecystokinin (CCK). Our results indicate that activation of DVC Y2R, unlike hypothalamic or peripheral Y2R, increases food intake. Furthermore, in the context of available electrophysiological observations, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that DVC Y2R control food intake by dampening vagally mediated satiation signals in the DVC.
Acute effects of hyperglycemia on the peripheral nervous system in zebrafish (Danio rerio) following nitroreductase-mediated β-cell ablation
Authors: Rocker Amanda , Howell Julia , Voithofer Gabrielle , Clark Jessica Kennett
Published: February 2019

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is estimated to affect 50% of diabetic patients. Although DPN is highly prevalent, molecular mechanisms remain unknown and treatment is limited to pain relief and glycemic control. We provide a novel model of acute DPN in zebrafish ( Danio rerio) larvae. Beginning 5 days postfertilization (dpf), zebrafish expressing nitroreductase in their pancreatic β-cells were treated with metronidazole (MTZ) for 48 h and checked for β-cell ablation 7 dpf. In experimental design, this was meant to serve as proof of concept that β-cell ablation and hyperglycemia are possible at this time point, but we were surprised to find changes in both sensory and motor nerve components. Compared with controls, neurod+ sensory neurons were often observed outside the dorsal root ganglia in MTZ-treated fish. Fewer motor nerves were properly ensheathed by nkx2.2a+ perineurial cells, and tight junctions were disrupted along the motor nerve in MTZ-treated fish compared with controls. Not surprisingly, the motor axons of the MTZ-treated group were defasciculated compared with the control group, myelination was attenuated, and there was a subtle difference in Schwann cell number between the MTZ-treated and control group. All structural changes occurred in the absence of behavioral changes in the larvae at this time point, suggesting that peripheral nerves are influenced by acute hyperglycemia before becoming symptomatic. Moving forward, this novel animal model of DPN will allow us to access the molecular mechanisms associated with the acute changes in the hyperglycemic peripheral nervous system, which may help direct therapeutic approaches.
Sensorimotor uncertainty modulates corticospinal excitability during skilled object manipulation
Authors: Davare Marco , Parikh Pranav J. , Santello Marco
Published: February 2019

Sensorimotor memory built through previous hand-object interactions allows subjects to plan grasp forces. The memory-based mechanism is particularly effective when contact points on the object do not change across multiple manipulations, thus allowing subjects to generate the same forces in a feedforward fashion. However, allowing subjects to choose where to grasp an object causes trial-to-trial variability in fingertip positioning, suggesting a decreased ability to predict where the object will be grasped. In this scenario, subjects modulate forces on a trial-to-trial basis as a function of fingertip positioning. We suggested that this fingertip force-to-position modulation could be implemented by transforming feedback of digit placement into an accurate distribution of fingertip forces. Thus, decreasing certainty of fingertip position on an object would cause a shift from predominantly memory- to feedback-based force control mechanisms. To gain further insight into these sensorimotor transformation mechanisms, we asked subjects to grasp and lift an object with an asymmetrical center of mass while preventing it from tilting. To isolate the effect of digit placement uncertainty, we designed two experimental conditions that differed in terms of predictability of fingertip position but had similar average fingertip positioning and force distribution. We measured corticospinal excitability to probe possible changes in sensorimotor processing associated with digit placement uncertainty. We found a differential effect of sensorimotor uncertainty after but not before object contact. Our results suggest that sensorimotor integration is rapidly tuned after object contact based on different processing demands for memory versus feedback mechanisms underlying the control of manipulative forces.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY The relative contribution of predictive and feedback mechanisms for scaling digit forces to position during dexterous manipulation depends on the predictability of where the object will be grasped. We found that corticospinal excitability shortly after contact was sensitive to digit position predictability. This supports the proposition that distinct sensorimotor integration processes are engaged, depending on the role of feedback about digit placement versus sensorimotor memory in controlling manipulative forces.
Impact of Lipotoxicity on Tissue “Cross Talk” and Metabolic Regulation
Authors: Montgomery Magdalene K. , De Nardo William , Watt Matthew J.
Published: February 2019

Obesity-associated comorbidities include non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. These diseases are associated with accumulation of lipids in non-adipose tissues, which can impact many intracellular cellular signaling pathways and functions that have been broadly defined as “lipotoxic.” This review moves beyond understanding intracellular lipotoxic outcomes and outlines the consequences of lipotoxicity on protein secretion and inter-tissue “cross talk,” and the impact this exerts on systemic metabolism.
The UDP-Glycosyltransferase (UGT) Superfamily: New Members, New Functions, and Novel Paradigms
Authors: Meech Robyn , Hu Dong Gui , McKinnon Ross A. , Mubarokah Siti Nurul , Haines Alex Z. , Nair Pramod C. , Rowland Andrew , Mackenzie Peter I.
Published: February 2019

UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyze the covalent addition of sugars to a broad range of lipophilic molecules. This biotransformation plays a critical role in elimination of a broad range of exogenous chemicals and by-products of endogenous metabolism, and also controls the levels and distribution of many endogenous signaling molecules. In mammals, the superfamily comprises four families: UGT1, UGT2, UGT3, and UGT8. UGT1 and UGT2 enzymes have important roles in pharmacology and toxicology including contributing to interindividual differences in drug disposition as well as to cancer risk. These UGTs are highly expressed in organs of detoxification (e.g., liver, kidney, intestine) and can be induced by pathways that sense demand for detoxification and for modulation of endobiotic signaling molecules. The functions of the UGT3 and UGT8 family enzymes have only been characterized relatively recently; these enzymes show different UDP-sugar preferences to that of UGT1 and UGT2 enzymes, and to date, their contributions to drug metabolism appear to be relatively minor. This review summarizes and provides critical analysis of the current state of research into all four families of UGT enzymes. Key areas discussed include the roles of UGTs in drug metabolism, cancer risk, and regulation of signaling, as well as the transcriptional and posttranscriptional control of UGT expression and function. The latter part of this review provides an in-depth analysis of the known and predicted functions of UGT3 and UGT8 enzymes, focused on their likely roles in modulation of levels of endogenous signaling pathways.
Gold Nanoparticles Suppressed Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Cells via Downregulation of CCT3
Authors: Liu Fangzhou , Ma Dawei , Chen Wei , Chen Xinyuan , Qian Yichun , Zhao Yanbin , Hu Tingting , Yin Rong , Zhu Yan , Zhang Yu , Zhang Yuan , Zhao Wei
Published: February 2019

Emerging evidences have demonstrated that gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been used for cancer treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and molecular mechanisms of AuNPs on papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) cells (BCPAP and TPC-1). Characterizations of AuNPs were detected by UV-Vis spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Cell proliferation and apoptosis, migration, and invasion of PTC cells were evaluated by MTT, flow cytometry, wound healing, and transwell assays, respectively. Furthermore, qRT-PCR and western blot assays were performed to assess the protein expressions related to apoptosis and migration including caspase-3, caspase-9, Bax, Bcl-2, MMP-2, and MMP-9. The study revealed that AuNPs significantly suppressed cell viability, migration, and invasion and remarkably induced apoptosis of BCPAP and TPC-1 cells compared with the control group. Moreover, AuNPs negatively regulated the expression of CCT3 and silencing of CCT3 obviously promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion inhibition and apoptosis induction of PTC cells combined with AuNPs. Collectively, these results highlighted the potential application of AuNPs in PTC target therapy.
The Use of Response Surface Methodology in Ammonia Oxidation Reaction Study
Authors: Inger Marek , Dobrzyńska-Inger Agnieszka , Rajewski Jakub , Wilk Marcin
Published: February 2019

The design of experiments (DoEs) with response surface methodology (RSM) were used to investigate the effect of operating parameters on the ammonia oxidation process. In this paper, the influence of reactor’s load and temperature of reaction as independent variables was investigated. The efficiency of NH3 oxidation to NO and N2O concentration in nitrous gases gas was identified as response variables. As a result of these studies, statistically significant models for two responses variables were developed.
Overestimating Impacts of Urbanization on Regional Temperatures in Developing Megacity: Beijing as an Example
Authors: Cao Wei , Huang Lin , Liu Lulu , Zhai Jun , Wu Dan
Published: February 2019

Land-use and land cover changes may have important local, regional, and global climatic impacts by modifying the underlying land surface conditions, which in turn influence the exchange of energy and moisture between the land surface and atmosphere. Many studies have shown that urbanization has contributed to climate warming, and the amount of warming has varied. As the capital of China and one of the world’s megacities, Beijing has experienced rapid urbanization over the past 30 years. In this study, we quantitatively investigated the impacts of urbanization on regional temperatures based on observations from meteorological stations and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data and overestimating of the impacts were found. Comparing the temperature trends of land-use types, forest showed stronger inhibitory effects on temperature increase (−0.085°C/10a). Cropland also had a negative effect on climate warming yearly and seasonally, especially in winter (−1.133°C/10a) and spring (−0.299°C/10a). Conversely, the urban area showed strong warming effects (0.438°C/10a). The conversion of cropland to urban land appeared to show the highest warming trend (0.548°C/10a). However, the cooling effect of forest and grassland with high vegetation coverage inhibited climatic warming attributed to rapid urbanization. In addition, planting trees or grass along roadsides and increasing green parks and green roofs can also suppress surface warming. Therefore, the actual warming effects of urbanization on temperatures were overestimated in megacities or urban agglomeration regions. The results showed that the green space and landscape configuration should be considered in urban planning to increase green space and reduce the influence of urban heat island effect.
A Block Object Detection Method Based on Feature Fusion Networks for Autonomous Vehicles
Authors: Meng Qiao , Song Huansheng , Li Gang , Zhang Yu’an , Zhang Xiangqing
Published: February 2019

Nowadays, automatic multi‐objective detection remains a challenging problem for autonomous vehicle technologies. In the past decades, deep learning has been demonstrated successful for multi‐objective detection, such as the Single Shot Multibox Detector (SSD) model. The current trend is to train the deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) with online autonomous vehicle datasets. However, network performance usually degrades when small objects are detected. Moreover, the existing autonomous vehicle datasets could not meet the need for domestic traffic environment. To improve the detection performance of small objects and ensure the validity of the dataset, we propose a new method. Specifically, the original images are divided into blocks as input to a VGG‐16 network which add the feature map fusion after CNNs. Moreover, the image pyramid is built to project all the blocks detection results at the original objects size as much as possible. In addition to improving the detection method, a new autonomous driving vehicle dataset is created, in which the object categories and labelling criteria are defined, and a data augmentation method is proposed. The experimental results on the new datasets show that the performance of the proposed method is greatly improved, especially for small objects detection in large image. Moreover, the proposed method is adaptive to complex climatic conditions and contributes a lot for autonomous vehicle perception and planning.
Mitochondrial Role in Stemness and Differentiation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Authors: Papa Luena , Djedaini Mansour , Hoffman Ronald
Published: February 2019

Quiescent and self-renewing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) rely on glycolysis rather than on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPHOS) for energy production. HSC reliance on glycolysis is considered an adaptation to the hypoxic environment of the bone marrow (BM) and reflects the low energetic demands of HSCs. Metabolic rewiring from glycolysis to mitochondrial-based energy generation accompanies HSC differentiation and lineage commitment. Recent evidence, however, highlights that alterations in mitochondrial metabolism and activity are not simply passive consequences but active drivers of HSC fate decisions. Modulation of mitochondrial activity and metabolism is therefore critical for maintaining the self-renewal potential of primitive HSCs and might be beneficial for ex vivo expansion of transplantable HSCs. In this review, we emphasize recent advances in the emerging role of mitochondria in hematopoiesis, cellular reprograming, and HSC fate decisions.
Glycine Protects against Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury by Regulating Mitochondria-Mediated Autophagy via the AMPK Pathway
Authors: Cai Chen-chen , Zhu Jiang-hu , Ye Li-xia , Dai Yuan-yuan , Fang Ming-chu , Hu Ying-ying , Pan Shu-lin , Chen Si , Li Pei-jun , Fu Xiao-qin , Lin Zhen-lang
Published: February 2019

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is detrimental to newborns and is associated with high mortality and poor prognosis. Thus, the primary aim of the present study was to determine whether glycine could (1) attenuate HIE injury in rats and hypoxic stress in PC12 cells and (2) downregulate mitochondria-mediated autophagy dependent on the adenosine monophosphate- (AMP-) activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. Experiments conducted using an in vivo HIE animal model and in vitro hypoxic stress to PC12 cells revealed that intense autophagy associated with mitochondrial function occurred during in vivo HIE injury and in vitro hypoxic stress. However, glycine treatment effectively attenuated mitochondria-mediated autophagy. Additionally, after identifying alterations in proteins within the AMPK pathway in rats and PC12 cells following glycine treatment, cyclosporin A (CsA) and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-b-4-ribofuranoside (AICAR) were administered in these models and indicated that glycine protected against HIE and CoCl2 injury by downregulating mitochondria-mediated autophagy that was dependent on the AMPK pathway. Overall, glycine attenuated hypoxic-ischemic injury in neurons via reductions in mitochondria-mediated autophagy through the AMPK pathway both in vitro and in vivo.
Multi-Information Flow CNN and Attribute-Aided Reranking for Person Reidentification
Authors: Sang Haifeng , Wang Chuanzheng , He Dakuo , Liu Qing
Published: February 2019

This paper presents a multi-information flow convolutional neural network (MiF-CNN) model for person reidentification (re-id). It contains several specific multilayer convolutional structures, where the input and output of a convolutional layer are concatenated together on channel dimension. With this idea, layers of model can go deeper and feature maps can be reused by each subsequent layer. Inspired by an image caption, a person attribute recognition network is proposed based on long-short-term memory network and attention mechanism. By fusing identification results of MiF-CNN and attribute recognition, this paper introduces the attribute-aided reranking algorithm to improve the accuracy of person re-id further. Experiments on VIPeR, CUHK01, and Market1501 datasets verify the proposed MiF-CNN can be trained sufficiently with small-scale datasets and obtain outstanding accuracy of person re-id. Contrast experiments also confirm the availability of the attribute-assisted reranking algorithm.
Numerical Study on the Evolution of Agglomerate Breakage and Microstructure of Angular Gravel in Cyclic Soil‐Structure Interface Test
Authors: Yang Jinwen , Zhao Jianming , Liu Xiaosheng
Published: February 2019

The discrete element method (DEM) was used to study the behavior of crushable angular gravel in the cyclic soil‐structure interface test. Two shapes of agglomerates were simulated by filling two scanned angular gravels with spheres connected by bonds that were given the shear and normal strength complying with Gaussian distribution to simulate random flaws. The proportion of these two shapes to constitute a numerical sample was named composite pattern. Good agreement in terms of macromechanical behavior between DEM simulation and laboratory test results has been attained. Agglomerate breakage is deeply influenced by the interface shearing behavior and mainly occurs on the interface and the space nearby. Graphs of interface after shearing are introduced to directly and clearly reflect microbehavior of breakage. The evolution of microstructure including anisotropies and coordination numbers is significantly influenced by normal stress and agglomerate breakage, and composite pattern determines the magnitudes of shear force anisotropy and coordination numbers. The evolution of contact orientation distribution is the forming cause of the “adjustment phase,” during which once the shearing direction changes, the values of contact normal anisotropy and normal force anisotropy will slump to their nadir and then rise back again.
Relation of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor to Pulmonary Hemodynamics and Vascular Structure and Carbamyl-Phosphate Synthetase I Genetic Variations in Pediatric Patients with Congenital Cardiac Shunts
Authors: Maeda Nair Y. , Aiello Vera D. , Santos Paulo C. , Thomaz Ana M. , Kajita Luiz J. , Bydlowski Sérgio P. , Lopes Antonio Augusto
Published: February 2019

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) plays an important pathophysiological role in pulmonary hypertension (PHT). Previously, we demonstrated that serum MIF is increased in pediatric PHT associated with congenital heart disease (CHD). In the present study, we determined possible associations between MIF levels, hemodynamic and histological parameters, and mitochondrial carbamyl-phosphate synthetase I (CPSI) T1405N polymorphism in a similar population. The asparagine 1405 variant (related to A alleles in the C-to-A transversion) has been shown to be advantageous in pediatric PHT compared to the threonine 1405 variant (C alleles). Forty-one patients were enrolled (aged 2-36 months) and subsequently divided into 2 groups after diagnostic evaluation: the high-pulmonary blood flow (high PBF) group (pulmonary-to-systemic blood flow ratio 2.58 (2.21-3.01), geometric mean with 95% CI) and the high-pulmonary vascular resistance (high PVR) group (pulmonary vascular resistance 6.12 (4.78-7.89) Wood units×m2). Serum MIF was measured using a chemiluminescence assay. The CPSI polymorphism was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction followed by high-resolution melting analysis. Medial hypertrophy of pulmonary arteries was assessed by the histological examination of biopsy specimens. Serum MIF was elevated in patients compared to controls (p=0.045), particularly in the high-PVR group (n=16) (p=0.022) and in subjects with the AC CPSI T1405N genotype (n=16) compared to those with the CC genotype (n=25) (p=0.017). Patients with high-PVR/AC-genotype profile (n=9) had the highest MIF levels (p=0.030 compared with the high-PBF/CC-genotype subgroup, n=18). In high-PVR/AC-genotype patients, the medial wall thickness of intra-acinar pulmonary arteries was directly related to MIF levels (p=0.033). There were no patients with the relatively rare AA genotype in the study population. Thus, in the advantageous scenario of the asparagine 1405 variant (AC heterozygosity in this study), heightened pulmonary vascular resistance in CHD-PHT is associated with medial hypertrophy of pulmonary arteries where MIF chemokine very likely plays a biological role.
Dithiocarbamates: Challenges, Control, and Approaches to Excellent Yield, Characterization, and Their Biological Applications
Authors: Odularu Ayodele T. , Ajibade Peter A.
Published: February 2019

Progresses made in previous researches on syntheses of dithiocarbamates led to increase in further researches. This paper reviews concisely the challenges experienced during the synthesis of dithiocarbamate and mechanisms to overcome them in order to obtain accurate results. Aspects of its precursor’s uses to synthesize adducts, nanoparticles, and nanocomposites are reported. Some common characterization techniques used for the synthesized products were assessed. Biological applications are also reported.