bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Novel Corynebacterium glutamicum
l
-Glutamate Exporter
Authors: Wang Yu , Cao Guoqiang , Xu Deyu , Fan Liwen , Wu Xinyang , Ni Xiaomeng , Zhao Shuxin , Zheng Ping , Sun Jibin , Ma Yanhe
Published: January 2018

Besides metabolic pathways and regulatory networks, transport systems are also pivotal for cellular metabolism and hyperproduction of biochemicals using microbial cell factories. The identification and characterization of transporters are therefore of great significance for the understanding and engineering of transport reactions. Herein, a novel
l
-glutamate exporter, MscCG2, which exists extensively in
Corynebacterium glutamicum
strains but is distinct from the only known
l
-glutamate exporter, MscCG, was discovered in an industrial
l
-glutamate-producing
C. glutamicum
strain. MscCG2 was predicted to possess three transmembrane helices in the N-terminal region and located in the cytoplasmic membrane, which are typical structural characteristics of the mechanosensitive channel of small conductance. MscCG2 has a low amino acid sequence identity (23%) to MscCG and evolved separately from MscCG with four transmembrane helices. Despite the considerable differences between MscCG2 and MscCG in sequence and structure, gene deletion and complementation confirmed that MscCG2 also functioned as an
l
-glutamate exporter and an osmotic safety valve in
C. glutamicum
. Besides, transcriptional analysis showed that MscCG2 and MscCG genes were transcribed in similar patterns and not induced by
l
-glutamate-producing conditions. It was also demonstrated that MscCG2-mediated
l
-glutamate excretion was activated by biotin limitation or penicillin treatment and that constitutive
l
-glutamate excretion was triggered by a gain-of-function mutation of MscCG2 (A151V). Discovery of MscCG2 will enrich the understanding of bacterial amino acid transport and provide additional targets for exporter engineering.

IMPORTANCE
The exchange of matter, energy, and information with surroundings is fundamental for cellular metabolism. Therefore, studying transport systems that are essential for these processes is of great significance. Besides, transport systems of bacterial cells are usually related to product excretion as well as product reuptake, making transporter engineering a useful strategy for strain improvement. The significance of our research is in identifying and characterizing a novel
l
-glutamate exporter from the industrial workhorse
Corynebacterium glutamicum
, which will enrich the understanding of
l
-glutamate excretion and provide a new target for studying bacterial amino acid transport and engineering transport reactions.
Effect of Plasmid Design and Type of Integration Event on Recombinant Protein Expression in Pichia pastoris
Authors: Vogl Thomas , Gebbie Leigh , Palfreyman Robin W. , Speight Robert
Published: January 2018

Pichia pastoris(syn.Komagataella phaffii) is one of the most common eukaryotic expression systems for heterologous protein production. Expression cassettes are typically integrated in the genome to obtain stable expression strains. In contrast toSaccharomyces cerevisiae, where short overhangs are sufficient to target highly specific integration, long overhangs are more efficient inP. pastorisand ectopic integration of foreign DNA can occur. Here, we aimed to elucidate the influence of ectopic integration by high-throughput screening of >700 transformants and whole-genome sequencing of 27 transformants. Different vector designs and linearization approaches were used to mimic the most common integration events targeted inP. pastoris. Fluorescence of an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) reporter protein was highly uniform among transformants when the expression cassettes were correctly integrated in the targeted locus. Surprisingly, most nonspecifically integrated transformants showed highly uniform expression that was comparable to specific integration, suggesting that nonspecific integration does not necessarily influence expression. However, a few clones (<10%) harboring ectopically integrated cassettes showed a greater variation spanning a 25-fold range, surpassing specifically integrated reference strains up to 6-fold. High-expression strains showed a correlation between increased gene copy numbers and high reporter protein fluorescence levels. Our results suggest that for comparing expression levels between strains, the integration locus can be neglected as long as a sufficient numbers of transformed strains are compared. For expression optimization of highly expressible proteins, increasing copy number appears to be the dominant positive influence rather than the integration locus, genomic rearrangements, deletions, or single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

IMPORTANCEYeasts are commonly used as biotechnological production hosts for proteins and metabolites. In the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae, expression cassettes carrying foreign genes integrate highly specifically at the targeted sites in the genome. In contrast, cassettes often integrate at random genomic positions in nonconventional yeasts, such asPichia pastoris(syn.Komagataella phaffii). Hence, cells from the same transformation event often behave differently, with significant clonal variation necessitating the screening of large numbers of strains. The importance of this study is that we systematically investigated the influence of integration events in more than 700 strains. Our findings provide novel insight into clonal variation inP. pastorisand, thus, how to avoid pitfalls and obtain reliable results. The underlying mechanisms may also play a role in other yeasts and hence could be generally relevant for recombinant yeast protein production strains.
Genome Sequence of
Galleria mellonella
(Greater Wax Moth)
Authors: Lange Anna , Beier Sina , Huson Daniel H. , Parusel Raphael , Iglauer Franz , Frick Julia-Stefanie
Published: January 2018

The larvae of the greater wax moth,
Galleria mellonella
, are pests of active beehives. In infection biology, these larvae are playing a more and more attractive role as an invertebrate host model. Here, we report on the first genome sequence of
Galleria mellonella
.
Complete Genome Sequence of Bacteriophage St11Ph5, Which Infects Uropathogenic
Escherichia coli
Strain up11
Authors: Golomidova Alla K. , Kulikov Eugene E. , Babenko Vladislav V. , Kostryukova Elena S. , Letarov Andrey V.
Published: January 2018

Bacteriophage St11Ph5 was isolated from a sewage sample on a particularly phage-resistant uropathogenic
Escherichia coli
(UPEC) up11 host strain. It appeared to be closely related to bacteriophage G7C, isolated from horse feces; however, it carries a highly divergent host recognition module.
Draft Genome Sequence of
Talaromyces adpressus
Authors: Cerullo Gabriella , Houbraken Jos , Granchi Zoraide , Pepe Olimpia , Varriale Simona , Ventorino Valeria , Chin-A-Woeng Thomas , Meijer Martin , de Vries Ronald P. , Faraco Vincenza
Published: January 2018

Here we present the draft genome sequence of the fungus
Talaromyces adpressus
A-T1C-84X (=CBS 142503). This strain was isolated from lignocellulosic biomass of
Arundo donax
during biodegradation under natural conditions in the Gussone Park of the Royal Palace of Portici, Naples, Italy.
Draft Genome Sequence of
Saccharomycopsis fermentans
CBS 7830, a Predacious Yeast Belonging to the
Saccharomycetales
Authors: Hesselbart Ana , Junker Klara , Wendland Jürgen
Published: January 2018

Saccharomycopsis fermentans
is an ascomycetous necrotrophic fungal pathogen that penetrates and kills fungal prey cells via targeted penetration pegs. Here, we report the draft genome sequence and scaffold assembly of this mycoparasite.
Genome Sequence of a Lethal Strain of Xylem-Invading
Verticillium nonalfalfae
Authors: Jakše Jernej , Jelen Vid , Radišek Sebastjan , de Jonge Ronnie , Mandelc Stanislav , Majer Aljaž , Curk Tomaž , Zupan Blaž , Thomma Bart P. H. J. , Javornik Branka
Published: January 2018

Verticillium nonalfalfae
, a soilborne vascular phytopathogenic fungus, causes wilt disease in several crop species. Of great concern are outbreaks of highly aggressive
V. nonalfalfae
strains, which cause a devastating wilt disease in European hops. We report here the genome sequence and annotation of
V. nonalfalfae
strain T2, providing genomic information that will allow better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of highly aggressive strains.
Draft Genome Sequence of
Megamonas funiformis
Strain Marseille-P3344, Isolated from a Human Fecal Microbiota
Authors: Maaloum Mossaab , Diop Awa , Ndongo Sokhna , Nguyen Thi-Tien , Cadoret Frederic , Raoult Didier , Fournier Pierre-Edouard
Published: January 2018

In this article, we present the draft genome sequence of
Megamonas funiformis
strain Marseille-P3344, isolated from a human fecal sample. The genome described here is composed of 2,464,704 nucleotides, with 2,230 protein-coding genes and 76 RNA genes.
Genomic Insights into Biofilm-Forming
Enterococcus faecalis
SK460 Isolated from a Chronic Diabetic Ulcer Patient
Authors: Suryaletha Karthika , Narendrakumar Lekshmi , John Joby , Reghunathan Dinesh , Prasannakumar Manoj , Thomas Sabu
Published: January 2018

Enterococcus faecalis
is recognized as one of the leading pathogens causing nosocomial infections. Here we report a draft genome sequence of
Enterococcus faecalis
SK460, isolated from a chronic diabetic foot ulcer patient. This strain exhibits various biofilm-associated genes, virulence genes, and antibiotic-resistance genes related to aminoglycoside, macrolide, and tetracycline resistance.
Draft Genome Sequence of
Chryseobacterium mucoviscidosis
sp. nov. Strain VT16-26, Isolated from the Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid of a Patient with Cystic Fibrosis
Authors: Tetz George , Tetz Victor
Published: January 2018

We report here the draft genome sequence of
Chryseobacterium mucoviscidosis
VT16-26, a novel bacterium isolated from the lungs of a patient with cystic fibrosis. The genome was composed of 4,403,956 bp and had 36.2% G+C content. We detected 4,048 genes with predicted protein-coding functions, including those associated with antibiotic resistance and virulence.
MicroRNA 130a Regulates both Hepatitis C Virus and Hepatitis B Virus Replication through a Central Metabolic Pathway
Authors: Duan Xiaoqiong , Li Shilin , Holmes Jacinta A. , Tu Zeng , Li Yujia , Cai Dachuan , Liu Xiao , Li Wenting , Yang Chunhui , Jiao Baihai , Schaefer Esperance A. , Fusco Dahlene N. , Salloum Shadi , Chen Limin , Lin Wenyu , Chung Raymond T.
Published: January 2018

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been shown to regulate microRNA 130a (miR-130a) in patient biopsy specimens and in cultured cells. We sought to identify miR-130a target genes and to explore the mechanisms by which miR-130a regulates HCV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. We used bioinformatics software, including miRanda, TargetScan, PITA, and RNAhybrid, to predict potential miR-130a target genes. miR-130a and its target genes were overexpressed or were knocked down by use of small interfering RNA (siRNA) or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 guide RNA (gRNA). Selected gene mRNAs and their proteins, together with HCV replication in OR6 cells, HCV JFH1-infected Huh7.5.1 cells, and HCV JFH1-infected primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) and HBV replication in HepAD38 cells, HBV-infected NTCP-Huh7.5.1 cells, and HBV-infected PHHs, were measured by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting, respectively. We selected 116 predicted target genes whose expression was related to viral pathogenesis or immunity for qPCR validation. Of these, the gene encoding pyruvate kinase in liver and red blood cell (PKLR) was confirmed to be regulated by miR-130a overexpression. miR-130a overexpression (via a mimic) knocked down PKLR mRNA and protein levels. A miR-130a inhibitor and gRNA increased PKLR expression, HCV replication, and HBV replication, while miR-130a gRNA and PKLR overexpression increased HCV and HBV replication. Supplemental pyruvate increased HCV and HBV replication and rescued the inhibition of HCV and HBV replication by the miR-130a mimic and PKLR knockdown. We concluded that miR-130a regulates HCV and HBV replication through its targeting of PKLR and subsequent pyruvate production. Our data provide novel insights into key metabolic enzymatic pathway steps regulated by miR-130a, including the steps involving PKLR and pyruvate, which are subverted by HCV and HBV replication.

IMPORTANCE
We identified that miR-130a regulates the target gene
PKLR
and its subsequent effect on pyruvate production. Pyruvate is a key intermediate in several metabolic pathways, and we identified that pyruvate plays a key role in regulation of HCV and HBV replication. This previously unrecognized, miRNA-regulated antiviral mechanism has implications for the development of host-directed strategies to interrupt the viral life cycle and prevent establishment of persistent infection for HCV, HBV, and potentially other viral infections.
Two-year neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely preterm infants treated with early hydrocortisone: treatment effect according to gestational age at birth
Authors: Baud Olivier , Trousson Clémence , Biran Valérie , Leroy Emilie , Mohamed Damir , Alberti Corinne
Published: January 2018

Objective

To determine whether early hydrocortisone treatment in extremely preterm infants affects neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of age according to gestational age at birth.

Patients and methods

This is an exploratory analysis of neurodevelopmental outcomes by gestational age strata from the PREMILOC trial, in which patients were randomly assigned to receive either placebo or low-dose hydrocortisone and randomisation was stratified by gestational age groups (24–25 and 26–27 weeks of gestation). Neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) was assessed using a standardised neurological examination and the revised Brunet-Lézine scale at 22 months of corrected age.

Results

A total of 379 of 406 survivors were evaluated, 96/98 in the gestational age group of 24–25 weeks and 283/308 in the gestational age group of 26–27 weeks. Among surviving infants born at 24–25 weeks, significant improvement in global neurological assessment was observed in the hydrocortisone group compared with the placebo group (P=0.02) with a risk of moderate-to-severe NDI of 2% and 18%, respectively (risk difference 16 (95% CI −28% to −5%)). In contrast, no statistically significant difference between treatment groups was observed in infants born at 26–27 weeks (P=0.95) with a similar risk of moderate-to-severe NDI of 9% in both groups. The incidence of cerebral palsy or other major neurological impairments were found similar between treatment groups in each gestational group.

Conclusions

In an exploratory analysis of neurodevelopmental outcomes from the PREMILOC trial, early low-dose hydrocortisone was associated with a statistically significant improvement in neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants born at 24 and 25 weeks of gestation.
Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome: spontaneous pneumothorax as a first symptom
Authors: Bock Kirse , Lohse Zuzana , Madsen Poul Henning , Hilberg Ole
Published: January 2018

Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHDS) is a rare hereditary autosomal dominant condition characterised by benign cutaneous lesions, lung cysts, increased risk of spontaneous pneumothorax and renal cancer. It shows great heterogenous presentation within and between affected families. We report a case of a Danish female patient with recurrent pneumothoraces as the first symptom of BHDS. Over the years, she developed skin changes, and a family history of skin changes, pneumothoraces and renal cancer was discovered. BHDS was suspected, a genetic analysis was performed and a pathogenic variation c.1285delC in FLCN gene was detected in the patient. As we stated the diagnosis BHDS, we discovered several undiagnosed family members all of them now entering a lifelong follow-up programme with abdominal imaging because of the increased risk of developing renal cancer. BHDS should be known to oncologists, dermatologists and pulmonologists as the patients most often present to these medical disciplines.
A quality improvement project aimed at adapting primary care to ensure the delivery of evidence-based psychotherapy for adult anxiety
Authors: Williams Mark D , Sawchuk Craig N , Shippee Nathan D , Somers Kristin J , Berg Summer L , Mitchell Jay D , Mattson Angela B , Katzelnick David J
Published: January 2018

Primary care patients frequently present with anxiety with prevalence ratios up to 30%. Brief cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) has been shown in meta-analytic studies to have a strong effect size in the treatment of anxiety. However, in surveys of anxious primary care patients, nearly 80% indicated that they had not received CBT. In 2010, a model of CBT (Coordinated Anxiety Learning and Management (CALM)) adapted to primary care for adult anxiety was published based on results of a randomised controlled trial. This project aimed to integrate an adaptation of CALM into one primary care practice, using results from the published research as a benchmark with the secondary intent to spread a successful model to other practices. A quality improvement approach was used to translate the CALM model of CBT for anxiety into one primary care clinic. Plan-Do-Study-Act steps are highlighted as important steps towards our goal of comparing our outcomes with benchmarks from original research. Patients with anxiety as measured by a score of 10 or higher on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 item scale (GAD-7) were offered CBT as delivered by licensed social workers with support by a PhD psychologist. Outcomes were tracked and entered into an electronic registry, which became a critical tool upon which to adapt and improve our delivery of psychotherapy to our patient population. Challenges and adaptations to the model are discussed. Our 6-month response rates on the GAD-7 were 51%, which was comparable with that of the original research (57%). Quality improvement methods were critical in discovering which adaptations were needed before spread. Among these, embedding a process of measurement and data entry and ongoing feedback to patients and therapists using this data are critical step towards sustaining and improving the delivery of CBT in primary care.
Cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer biomarkers can be useful for discriminating dementia with Lewy bodies from Alzheimer’s disease at the prodromal stage
Authors: Bousiges Olivier , Bombois Stephanie , Schraen Susanna , Wallon David , Quillard Muriel Muraine , Gabelle Audrey , Lehmann Sylvain , Paquet Claire , Amar-Bouaziz Elodie , Magnin Eloi , Miguet-Alfonsi Carole , Delbeuck Xavier , Lavaux Thomas , Anthony Pierre , Philippi Nathalie , Blanc Frederic
Published: January 2018

Background

Differential diagnosis between dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not straightforward, especially in the early stages of disease. We compared AD biomarkers (phospho-Tau181, total-Tau, Aβ42 and Aβ40) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with DLB and AD, focusing especially on the prodromal stage.

Methods

A total of 1221 CSF were collected in different memory centres (ePLM network) in France and analysed retrospectively. Samples were obtained from patients with prodromal DLB (pro-DLB; n=57), DLB dementia (DLB-d; n=154), prodromal AD (pro-AD; n=132) and AD dementia (n=783), and control subjects (CS; n=95). These centres use the same diagnostic procedure and criteria to evaluate the patients.

Results

In patients with pro-DLB, CSF Aβ42 levels appeared much less disrupted than in patients at the demented stage (DLB-d) (P<0.05 CS>pro-DLB; P<0.001 CS>DLB-d). On average, Aβ40 levels in patients with DLB (pro-DLB and DLB-d) were much below those in patients with pro-AD (P<0.001 DLB groups<pro-AD). The Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio in patients with pro-DLB remained close to that of CS. t-Tau and phospho-Tau181 levels were unaltered in patients with DLB (pro-DLB and DLB-d).

Conclusions

Reduced levels of CSF Aβ42 were found in patients with DLB but rather at a later stage, reaching those of patients with AD, in whom Aβ42 levels were decreased even at the prodromal stage. At the prodromal stage of DLB, the majority of patients presented a normal CSF profile. CSF t-Tau and phospho-Tau181 were the best biomarkers to discriminate between AD and DLB, whatever the stage of disease.
Failure of systemic oral doxycycline in preventing ocular toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis in French military personnel
Authors: Saad Sami , Delbarre M , Saad R , Berguiga M , Benisty D , Marechal M , Adam T , Froussart F
Published: January 2018

This paper describes two cases of toxoplasmic chorioretinitis presenting in two French soldiers who had been receiving oral doxycycline for malaria prophylaxis. This is despite the proven effectiveness of oral doxycycline in treating Toxoplasma gondii, the most common cause of this infection. The lack of effectiveness of oral doxycycline in these two cases most likely reflected that the ocular concentration of 100 mg daily doxycycline is too low to treat or prevent Toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis (TC). Clinicians should therefore be aware that soldiers taking prophylactic oral doxycycline are still at risk of developing ocular TC with potentially sight-threatening consequences if not treated adequately.
Trauma Early Mortality Prediction Tool (TEMPT) for assessing 28-day mortality
Authors: Kunitake Ryan C , Kornblith Lucy Z , Cohen Mitchell Jay , Callcut Rachael A
Published: January 2018

Background

Prior mortality prediction models have incorporated severity of anatomic injury quantified by Abbreviated Injury Severity Score (AIS). Using a prospective cohort, a new score independent of AIS was developed using clinical and laboratory markers present on emergency department presentation to predict 28-day mortality.

Methods

All patients (n=1427) enrolled in an ongoing prospective cohort study were included. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical data were recorded on admission. True random number generator technique divided the cohort into derivation (n=707) and validation groups (n=720). Using Youden indices, threshold values were selected for each potential predictor in the derivation cohort. Logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors. Significant variables were equally weighted to create a new mortality prediction score, the Trauma Early Mortality Prediction Tool (TEMPT) score. Area under the curve (AUC) was tested in the validation group. Pairwise comparison of Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS), Revised Trauma Score, Glasgow Coma Scale, and Injury Severity Score were tested against the TEMPT score.

Results

There was no difference between baseline characteristics between derivation and validation groups. In multiple logistic regression, a model with presence of traumatic brain injury, increased age, elevated systolic blood pressure, decreased base excess, prolonged partial thromboplastin time, increased international normalized ratio (INR), and decreased temperature accurately predicted mortality at 28 days (AUC 0.93, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.96, P<0.001). In the validation cohort, this score, termed TEMPT, predicted 28-day mortality with an AUC 0.94 (95% CI 0.92 to 0.97). The TEMPT score preformed similarly to the revised TRISS score for severely injured patients and was highly predictive in those having mild to moderate injury.

Discussion

TEMPT is a simple AIS-independent mortality prediction tool applicable very early following injury. TEMPT provides an AIS-independent score that could be used for early identification of those at risk of doing poorly following even minor injury.

Level of evidence

Level II.
Leaf herbivory induces resistance against florivores in Raphanus sativus
Authors: McCall Andrew C. , Case Samantha , Espy Kelsy , Adams Grant , Murphy Stephen J.
Published: January 2018

Florivory can have significant negative effects on plant fitness, driving selection for resistance traits in flowers. In particular, herbivory to leaves may induce resistance in flowers because herbivores on leaves often become florivores on flowers as plant ontogeny proceeds. The literature on inducible resistance in floral tissues is limited, so we used a series of experiments to determine whether prior leaf damage by Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) caterpillars affected florivore preference and performance on wild radish (Raphanus sativus L.). We found that Spodoptera exigua larvae preferred petals from control plants versus petals from plants exposed to prior leaf damage, and that larvae gained more mass on petals from control plants, although this depended on the presence of anthocyanins in the petals. Our results suggest that leaf damage can induce changes in petals that reduce Spodoptera exigua larval fitness.
Dynamic evolution characteristics of a fractional order hydropower station system
Authors: Gao Xiang , Chen Diyi , Yan Donglin , Xu Beibei , Wang Xiangyu
Published: January 2018

This paper investigates the dynamic evolution characteristics of the hydropower station by introducing the fractional order damping forces. A careful analysis of the dynamic characteristics of the generator shaft system is carried out under different values of fractional order. It turns out the vibration state of the axis coordinates has a certain evolution law with the increase of the fractional order. Significantly, the obtained law exists in the horizontal evolution and vertical evolution of the dynamical behaviors. Meanwhile, some interesting dynamical phenomena were found in this process. The outcomes of this study enrich the nonlinear dynamic theory from the engineering practice of hydropower stations.
Stochastic resonance and thermal reversal phenomenon in the thermal conduction of Frenkel–Kontorova lattices
Authors: Zhang Xinyu , Nie Linru , Ma Kun , Zhang Jianqiang , Wu Jiaquan , Ye Fei , Xiao Chi
Published: January 2018

Thermal conduction of Frenkel–Kontorova (FK) lattices with a sustained time periodical force is investigated numerically. The occurrence of stochastic resonance and thermal reversal phenomenon is observed, namely, there exist values of the driving frequency at which the heat flux takes its maximum value and directs a reversal of the heat flux for an average zero-temperature difference between the two contacts in a net. The above phenomena are determined by the dynamical parameters of the model, such as the lattice period, the strength of the on-site potential and so on.
Nonlinear electrodynamics, regular black holes and wormholes
Authors: Bronnikov K. A.
Published: January 2018

We consider spherically symmetric configurations in general relativity (GR), supported by nonlinear electromagnetic fields with gauge-invariant Lagrangians depending on the single invariant [Formula: see text]. Static black hole (BH) and solitonic solutions are briefly described, both with only an electric or magnetic charge and with both nonzero charges (the dyonic ones). It is stressed that only pure magnetic solutions can be completely nonsingular. For dyonic systems, apart from a general scheme of obtaining solutions in quadratures for an arbitrary Lagrangian function [Formula: see text], an analytic solution is found for the truncated Born–Infeld theory (depending on the invariant [Formula: see text] only). Furthermore, considering spherically symmetric metrics with two independent functions of time, we find a natural generalization of the class of wormholes found previously by Arellano and Lobo with a time-dependent conformal factor. Such wormholes are shown to be only possible for some particular choices of the function [Formula: see text], having no Maxwell weak-field limit.
MICROFLUIDIC CHIP FOR CANCER CELL DETECTION AND DIAGNOSIS
Authors: LI CHIYU , LI WANG , GENG CHUNYANG , REN HAIJUN , YU XIAOHUI , LIU BO
Published: January 2018

Since cancer becomes the most deadly disease to our health, research on early detection on cancer cells is necessary for clinical treatment. The combination of microfluidic device with cell biology has shown a unique method for cancer cell research. In the present review, recent development on microfluidic chip for cancer cell detection and diagnosis will be addressed. Some typical microfluidic chips focussed on cancer cells and their advantages for different kinds of cancer cell detection and diagnosis will be listed, and the cell capture methods within the microfluidics will be simultaneously mentioned. Then the potential direction of microfluidic chip on cancer cell detection and diagnosis in the future is also discussed.
Bath correlation functions for logarithmic-like spectral densities
Authors: Giraldi Filippo
Published: January 2018

We analyze the short- and long-time behavior of the bath correlation function for open quantum systems interacting with thermal baths. The spectral densities under study are ohmic-like at low frequencies, exhibit possible perturbations of the low-frequency power-law profiles and are arbitrarily shaped at higher frequencies. The low-frequency perturbations are provided by arbitrarily positive or negative powers of logarithmic forms as additional factors for the power laws of the ohmic-like spectral densities. If the spectral density decays sufficiently fast at high frequencies the short-time behavior of the bath correlation function is algebraic. The model provides long-time relaxations of the bath correlation function which are arbitrarily faster or slower than inverse power laws. In fact, the long-time relaxations are described by inverse power laws and by arbitrary powers of logarithmic forms as additional factors. Such relaxations are regularly related to the low-frequency structure of the spectral density, except for even or odd natural values of the ohmicity parameter. In these exceptional conditions the long-time relaxations of the bath correlation function are faster than those obtained via the regular relation.
Communication Through Haptics During Human Collaborative Manipulation
Authors: Javaid Maria
Published: January 2018

This paper describes research towards understanding haptic communication during planar object manipulation. In particular, a classification algorithm that classifies four stages of manipulation of a planar object is described. This research was performed as a part of a broader research project which has the goal of developing a user-friendly communication interface for an elderly-assistive robot. The manipulation of planar object was studied in detail as it happened very frequently during user study involving a caregiver helping an elderly person with the activities of daily living. For observing human haptic interaction, a sensory glove was developed. Further data collection was conducted in the laboratory setting and data was analyzed using various machine learning techniques. Based on this analysis, decision rules were derived that give insight into human-to-human collaborative manipulation of planar objects and successfully identified several classes of manipulative actions. The developed decision tree-based algorithm was then tested on the data of a user study that involved a caregiver assisting an elderly person in the activities of daily living. The developed algorithm also successfully classifies manipulation actions in real-time. This information is particularly interesting as it does not depend on any particular sensor and thus can be used by other researchers to further study haptic communication.
WHO ARE AFRICA’S ENTREPRENEURS? COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE FROM GHANA AND UGANDA
Authors: ACKAH CHARLES , BOFAH RICHARD OSEI , ASUMAN DEREK
Published: January 2018

Contemporary national development policy in many parts of the world is focused on the promotion of entrepreneurship. This is because policy makers see entrepreneurship as an important driver of economic development. Drawing on in-depth research in Ghana and Uganda, this paper provides a comparative analysis of the characteristics of entrepreneurs and their enterprises, their motives for choosing self-employment and the constraints to their businesses in Ghana and Uganda. Using a sample of over 1,000 micro and small entrepreneurs in each country, we found that Ghanaian entrepreneurs are much more motivated by necessity-driven motives while Ugandans are motivated by a combination of opportunity- and necessity-driven motives. Specifically, the factor analysis indicated that whereas Ghanaian entrepreneurs are significantly motived by “Work-family consideration” and “Low opportunity,” entrepreneurs in Uganda rated “Career consideration” and “Survival consideration” as their main motives for engaging in self-employment activities. On success, a much higher fraction of Ugandan entrepreneurs are found to be more successful than their Ghanaian counterparts. Comparatively, we found that Ghanaian businesses are significantly challenged with access to finance or credit; however, their counterparts in Uganda significantly face problems related to institutional weaknesses. Thus, from the factor analysis, “Financial problem” and “Institutional problem” were found to be significantly higher for Ghana and Uganda respectively. Hence, among others, Ghanaian policy makers can stimulate entrepreneurship by taking steps to reduce the level of financial constraints facing its entrepreneurs while in Uganda, much effort should be geared toward improving the business institutional environment.
Free Vibration Analysis of Functionally Graded Skew Plate in Thermal Environment Using Higher Order Theory
Authors: Parida Smita , Mohanty Sukesh Chandra
Published: January 2018

This paper deals with the free vibration of a skew functionally graded material (FGM) plate in the thermal environment. A higher-order shear deformation theory (HOSDT) is employed to develop a finite element model of the plate. The material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent and are graded along the thickness direction as per simple power law distribution in terms of volume fraction of metal and ceramic constituent phases. The model is based on an eight-noded isoparametric element with seven degrees of freedom (DOFs) per node. The general displacement equation provides C[Formula: see text] continuity. The transverse shear strain undergoes parabolic variation through the thickness of the plate. The governing equations are derived using the Hamilton’s principle. The obtained results are compared with the published results to determine the accuracy of the method. The effects of various parameters like aspect ratio, side-thickness ratio, volume fraction index, boundary conditions and skew angle on the natural frequencies are investigated.
Thermomechanical Creep Analysis of FGM Thick Cylindrical Pressure Vessels with Variable Thickness
Authors: Kashkoli Mosayeb Davoudi , Tahan Khosro Naderan , Nejad Mohammad Zamani
Published: January 2018

In the present study, a theoretical solution for thermomechanical creep analysis of functionally graded (FG) thick cylindrical pressure vessel with variable thickness based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and multilayer method (MLM) is presented. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, in the literature, there is no study carried out into FSDT and MLM for creep response of cylindrical pressure vessels with variable thickness under thermal and mechanical loadings. The vessel is subjected to a temperature gradient and nonuniform internal pressure. All mechanical and thermal properties except Poisson’s ratio are assumed to vary along the thickness direction based on a power-law function. The thermomechanical creep response of the material is described by Norton’s law. The virtual work principle is applied to extract the nonhomogeneous differential equations system with variable coefficients. Using the MLM, this differential equations system is converted into a system of differential equations with constant coefficients. These set of differential equations are solved analytically by applying boundary and continuity conditions between the layers. In order to verify the results of this study, the finite element method (FEM) has been used and according to the results, good agreement has been achieved. It can be concluded that the temperature gradient has significant influence on the creep responses of FG thick cylindrical pressure vessel.
An Efficient Radial Basis Collocation Method for the Boundary Condition Identification of the Inverse Wave Problem
Authors: Wang Lihua , Qian Zhihao , Wang Zhen , Gao Yukui , Peng Yongbo
Published: January 2018

A meshfree collocation method using radial basis functions is proposed to identify the information of the inaccessible part of the boundary in the inverse wave problem. Tikhonov regularization associated with L-curve criterion is introduced to handle the ill-conditioned resulting matrix originated from the noisy input data. The method of Lagrange multiplier is employed to derive the appropriate weights for the known boundary condition and additional measured condition to achieve the optimum convergence. Iteration scheme can be avoided in the collocation algorithm which ensures efficiency, and the convergence study shows the exponential convergence for the solutions of this inverse wave problem. Numerical simulations demonstrate that stable and highly accurate results can be obtained in the boundary condition identification problem even when high noise is involved in the additional condition, known boundary condition or initial conditions.
C
ommunity
D
iff
Authors: Datta Srayan , Adar Eytan
Published: January 2018

Community detection is an oft-used analytical function of network analysis but can be a black art to apply in practice. Grouping of related nodes is important for identifying patterns in network datasets but also notoriously sensitive to input data and algorithm selection. This is further complicated by the fact that, depending on domain and use case, the ground truth knowledge of the end-user can vary from none to complete. In this work, we present C
ommunity
D
iff
, an interactive visualization system that combines visualization and active learning (AL) to support the end-user’s analytical process. As the end-user interacts with the system, a continuous refinement process updates both the community labels and visualizations. C
ommunity
D
iff
features a mechanism for visualizing
ensemble spaces
, weighted combinations of algorithm output, that can identify patterns, commonalities, and differences among multiple community detection algorithms. Among other features, C
ommunity
D
iff
introduces an AL mechanism that visually indicates uncertainty about community labels to focus end-user attention and supporting end-user control that ranges from explicitly indicating the number of expected communities to merging and splitting communities. Based on this end-user input, C
ommunity
D
iff
dynamically recalculates communities. We demonstrate the viability of our through a study of speed of end-user convergence on satisfactory community labels. As part of building C
ommunity
D
iff
, we describe a design process that can be adapted to other Interactive Machine Learning applications.
Profit Maximization with Sufficient Customer Satisfactions
Authors: Long Cheng , Wong Raymond Chi-Wing , Wei Victor Junqiu
Published: January 2018

In many commercial campaigns, we observe that there exists a tradeoff between the number of customers satisfied by the company and the profit gained. Merely satisfying as many customers as possible or maximizing the profit is not desirable. To this end, in this article, we propose a new problem called
k
-
Satisfiability Assignment for Maximizing the Profit
(
k
-SAMP), where
k
is a user parameter and a non-negative integer. Given a set
P
of products and a set
O
of customers,
k
-SAMP is to find an assignment between
P
and
O
such that at least
k
customers are satisfied in the assignment and the profit incurred by this assignment is maximized. Although we find that this problem is closely related to two classic computer science problems, namely maximum weight matching and maximum matching, the techniques developed for these classic problems cannot be adapted to our
k
-SAMP problem. In this work, we design a novel algorithm called
Adjust
for the
k
-SAMP problem. Given an assignment
A
,
Adjust
iteratively increases the profit of
A
by
adjusting
some appropriate matches in
A
while keeping at least
k
customers satisfied in
A
. We prove that
Adjust
returns a global optimum. Extensive experiments were conducted that verified the efficiency of
Adjust
.
Discovering Communities and Anomalies in Attributed Graphs
Authors: Perozzi Bryan , Akoglu Leman
Published: January 2018

Given a network with node attributes, how can we identify communities and spot anomalies? How can we characterize, describe, or summarize the network in a succinct way? Community extraction requires a measure of quality for connected subgraphs (e.g., social circles). Existing subgraph measures, however, either consider only the connectedness of nodes inside the community and ignore the cross-edges at the boundary (e.g., density) or only quantify the structure of the community and ignore the node attributes (e.g., conductance). In this work, we focus on node-attributed networks and introduce: (1) a
new measure of subgraph quality
for attributed communities called normality, (2) a
community extraction
algorithm that uses normality to extract communities and a few characterizing attributes per community, and (3) a
summarization and interactive visualization
approach for attributed graph exploration. More specifically, (1) we first introduce a new measure to quantify the normality of an attributed subgraph. Our normality measure carefully utilizes structure and attributes together to quantify both the internal consistency and external separability. We then formulate an objective function to automatically infer a few attributes (called the “focus”) and respective attribute weights, so as to maximize the normality  score of a given subgraph. Most notably, unlike many other approaches, our measure allows for many cross-edges as long as they can be “exonerated;” i.e., either (i) are expected under a null graph model, and/or (ii) their boundary nodes do not exhibit the focus attributes. Next, (2) we propose AMEN (for Attributed Mining of Entity Networks), an algorithm that simultaneously discovers the communities and their respective focus in a given graph, with a goal to maximize the total normality. Communities for which a focus that yields high normality  cannot be found are considered low quality or anomalous. Last, (3) we formulate a summarization task with a multi-criteria objective, which selects a subset of the communities that (i) cover the entire graph well, are (ii) high quality and (iii) diverse in their focus attributes. We further design an interactive visualization interface that presents the communities to a user in an interpretable, user-friendly fashion. The user can explore all the communities, analyze various algorithm-generated summaries, as well as devise their own summaries interactively to characterize the network in a succinct way. As the experiments on real-world attributed graphs show, our proposed approaches effectively find anomalous communities and outperform several existing measures and methods, such as conductance, density, OddBall, and SODA. We also conduct extensive user studies to measure the capability and efficiency that our approach provides to the users toward network summarization, exploration, and sensemaking.
Approximate Communication
Authors: Betzel Filipe , Khatamifard Karen , Suresh Harini , Lilja David J. , Sartori John , Karpuzcu Ulya
Published: January 2018

Approximate computing has gained research attention recently as a way to increase energy efficiency and/or performance by exploiting some applications’ intrinsic error resiliency. However, little attention has been given to its potential for tackling the communication bottleneck that remains one of the looming challenges to be tackled for efficient parallelism. This article explores the potential benefits of approximate computing for communication reduction by surveying three promising techniques for approximate communication: compression, relaxed synchronization, and value prediction. The techniques are compared based on an evaluation framework composed of communication cost reduction, performance, energy reduction, applicability, overheads, and output degradation. Comparison results demonstrate that lossy link compression and approximate value prediction show great promise for reducing the communication bottleneck in bandwidth-constrained applications. Meanwhile, relaxed synchronization is found to provide large speedups for select error-tolerant applications, but suffers from limited general applicability and unreliable output degradation guarantees. Finally, this article concludes with several suggestions for future research on approximate communication techniques.
A Review and Assessment Framework for Mobile-Based Emergency Intervention Apps
Authors: Gaziel-Yablowitz Michal , Schwartz David G.
Published: January 2018

Smartphone applications to support healthcare are proliferating. A growing and important subset of these apps supports emergency medical intervention to address a wide range of illness-related emergencies to speed the arrival of relevant treatment. The emergency response characteristics and strategies employed by these apps are the focus of this study, resulting in an mHealth Emergency Strategy Index. While a growing body of knowledge focuses on usability, safety, and privacy aspects that characterize such apps, studies that map the various emergency intervention strategies and suggest assessment indicators to evaluate their role as emergency agents are limited. We survey an extensive range of mHealth apps designed for emergency response along with the related assessment literature and present an index for mobile-based medical emergency intervention apps that can address future assessment needs of mHealth apps.
Exploring auditory cues to locate code errors and enhance navigation for developers who are blind
Authors: Albusays Khaled
Published: January 2018

The goal of my research is to support the workflow of programmers who are blind; prior work has found that these users face challenges in using screen-readers to locate errors and debug software code. Recent advancements in auditory cues have made them a potential candidate for providing useful feedback to both sighted and visually impaired users, but little known about the effectiveness and the usability of such cues for blind programmers. I propose to investigate the efficiency of two different auditory techniques, to locate code errors and reduce the amount of time required to navigate through lengthy codebases. I will compare learning rates for Earcons (hierarchical representations of musical tones) and Spearcons (compressed speech) as potential candidates for the auditory feedback system. My research aim is to understand the proper way to implement usable auditory cues for these users. This document describes my research motivations, proposed research plan, current progress, and the potential contribution to the field of software engineering and accessibility for blind programmers.