bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Abnormal pain perception is associated with thalamo-cortico-striatal atrophy in
C9orf72
expansion carriers in the GENFI cohort
Authors: Convery Rhian S , Bocchetta Martina , Greaves Caroline V , Moore Katrina M , Cash David M , Van Swieten John , Moreno Fermin , Sánchez-Valle Raquel , Borroni Barbara , Laforce Jr Robert , Masellis Mario , Tartaglia Maria Carmela , Graff Caroline , Galimberti Daniela , Rowe James B , Finger Elizabeth , Synofzik Matthis , Vandenberghe Rik , de Mendonca Alexandre , Tagliavini Fabrizio , Santana Isabel , Ducharme Simon , Butler Christopher , Gerhard Alex , Levin Johannes , Danek Adrian , Otto Markus , Warren Jason D , Rohrer Jonathan D
Published: August 2020

Objective

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is typically associated with changes in behaviour, language and movement. However, recent studies have shown that patients can also develop an abnormal response to pain, either heightened or diminished. We aimed to investigate this symptom in mutation carriers within the Genetic FTD Initiative (GENFI).

Methods

Abnormal responsiveness to pain was measured in 462 GENFI participants: 281 mutation carriers and 181 mutation-negative controls. Changes in responsiveness to pain were scored as absent (0), questionable or very mild (0.5), mild (1), moderate (2) or severe (3). Mutation carriers were classified into
C9orf72
(104),
GRN
(128) and
MAPT
(49) groups, and into presymptomatic and symptomatic stages. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to compare groups, adjusting for age and sex. Voxel-based morphometry was performed to identify neuroanatomical correlates of abnormal pain perception.

Results

Altered responsiveness to pain was present to a significantly greater extent in symptomatic
C9orf72
expansion carriers than in controls: mean score 0.40 (SD 0.71) vs 0.00 (0.04), reported in 29% vs 1%. No significant differences were seen between the other symptomatic groups and controls, or any of the presymptomatic mutation carriers and controls. Neural correlates of altered pain perception in
C9orf72
expansion carriers were the bilateral thalamus and striatum as well as a predominantly right-sided network of regions involving the orbitofrontal cortex, inferomedial temporal lobe and cerebellum.

Conclusion

Changes in pain perception are a feature of
C9orf72
expansion carriers, likely representing a disruption in somatosensory, homeostatic and semantic processing, underpinned by atrophy in a thalamo-cortico-striatal network.
Arm-only access for combined transarterial and transvenous neurointerventional procedures
Authors: Galvan Fernandez Jorge , Martínez-Galdámez Mario , Schüller Arteaga Miguel , Ortega-Quintanilla Joaquín , Hermosín Antonio , Crespo-Vallejo Eduardo , Rodriguez-Arias Carlos A
Published: August 2020

A simultaneous arterial and venous approach has been widely described for the endovascular treatment of dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVFs) and recently for arteriovenous malformation (AVMs). Conventional venous approaches are performed by direct internal jugular puncture or by femoral access. Although complication rates are low, there are potential life-threatening complications that should be avoided. The advantages of radial artery access have been widely proven, nevertheless the use of upper limb veins in neurointervention are rarely reported. We present five cases of the simultaneous arteriovenous approach through the radial artery and superficial veins of the forearm for the treatment of intracranial neurovascular diseases.
Lung Screen Uptake Trial: results from a single lung cancer screening round
Authors: Ruparel Mamta , Quaife Samantha L , Dickson Jennifer L , Horst Carolyn , Tisi Sophie , Hall Helen , Taylor Magali , Ahmed Asia , Shaw Penny , Burke Stephen , Soo May-Jan , Nair Arjun , Devaraj Anand , Sennett Karen , Duffy Stephen W , Navani Neal , Bhowmik Angshu , Baldwin David R , Janes Sam M
Published: August 2020

The Lung Screen Uptake Trial tested a novel invitation strategy to improve uptake and reduce socioeconomic and smoking-related inequalities in lung cancer screening (LCS) participation. It provides one of the first UK-based ‘real-world’ LCS cohorts. Of 2012 invited, 1058 (52.6%) attended a ‘lung health check’. 768/996 (77.1%) in the present analysis underwent a low-dose CT scan. 92 (11.9%) and 33 (4.3%) participants had indeterminate pulmonary nodules requiring 3-month and 12-month surveillance, respectively; 36 lung cancers (4.7%) were diagnosed (median follow-up: 1044 days). 72.2% of lung cancers were stage I/II and 79.4% of non-small cell lung cancer had curative-intent treatment.
Does high dietary protein intake contribute to the increased risk of developing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes?
Authors: Ancu Oana , Mickute Monika , Guess Nicola D. , Hurren Nicholas M. , Burd Nicholas A. , Mackenzie Richard W.
Published: August 2020

Insulin resistance is a complex metabolic disorder implicated in the development of many chronic diseases. While it is generally accepted that body mass loss should be the primary approach for the management of insulin resistance-related disorders in overweight and obese individuals, there is no consensus among researchers regarding optimal protein intake during dietary restriction. Recently, it has been suggested that increased plasma branched-chain amino acids concentrations are associated with the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The exact mechanism by which excessive amino acid availability may contribute to insulin resistance has not been fully investigated. However, it has been hypothesised that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 hyperactivation in the presence of amino acid overload contributes to reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake because of insulin receptor substrate (IRS) degradation and reduced Akt-AS160 activity. In addition, the long-term effects of high-protein diets on insulin sensitivity during both weight-stable and weight-loss conditions require more research. This review focusses on the effects of high-protein diets on insulin sensitivity and discusses the potential mechanisms by which dietary amino acids can affect insulin signalling.

Novelty: Excess amino acids may over-activate mTOR, resulting in desensitisation of IRS-1 and reduced insulin-mediated glucose uptake.
Linear model predictive control for vision-based UAV pursuit
Authors: Surma Christopher C. , Barczyk Martin
Published: August 2020

This article develops and implements a vision-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-to-UAV pursuit system using a commercial off-the-shelf Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 quadrotor. This technology is intended as a countermeasure to rogue drones carrying out activities such as flying in restricted airspace, performing unauthorized aerial videography, transporting contraband and other criminal activities, or being used as improvised weapons. The proposed approach offers benefits over other current solutions, such as wide-area radio-frequency jamming that interferes with regular communication devices or high-energy military laser systems that are expensive and time consuming to set up. A linear dynamics model of the AR.Drone 2.0 vehicle stabilized by its onboard feedback control system is derived, and its parameters are experimentally identified. A linear model predictive control is developed to track specified flight trajectories, then implemented and validated in hardware flight tests. Detection and ranging of the target UAV from the pursuer UAV’s onboard monocular camera are performed using the YOLO v2 convolutional neural network algorithm. The combined control and vision design is implemented in hardware and tested quantitatively in flight experiments.
Search for neutrinoless double beta decay of $$^{64}$$Zn and $$^{70}$$Zn with CUPID-0
Authors: Azzolini O. , Beeman J. W. , Bellini F. , Beretta M. , Biassoni M. , Brofferio C. , Bucci C. , Capelli S. , Cardani L. , Celi E. , Carniti P. , Casali N. , Chiesa D. , Clemenza M. , Cremonesi O. , Cruciani A. , D’Addabbo A. , Dafinei I. , Domizio S. Di , Ferroni F. , Gironi L. , Giuliani A. , Gorla P. , Gotti C. , Keppel G. , Martinez M. , Nagorny S. , Nastasi M. , Nisi S. , Nones C. , Orlandi D. , Pagnanini L. , Pallavicini M. , Pattavina L. , Pavan M. , Pessina G. , Pettinacci V. , Pirro S. , Pozzi S. , Previtali E. , Puiu A. , Rusconi C. , Schäffner K. , Tomei C. , Vignati M. , Zolotarova A.
Published: August 2020

CUPID-0 is the first pilot experiment of CUPID, a next-generation project searching for neutrinoless double beta decay. In its first scientific run, CUPID-0 operated 26 ZnSe cryogenic calorimeters coupled to light detectors in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. In this work, we analyzed a ZnSe exposure of 11.34 kg year to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of $$^{70}$$70Zn and for the neutrinoless positron-emitting electron capture of $$^{64}$$64Zn. We found no evidence for these decays and set 90$$\%$$% credible interval limits of $$\hbox {T}_{1/2}^{0\nu \beta \beta }$$T1/20νββ($$^{70}$$70Zn) > 1.6 $$10^{21}$$1021 year and $$\hbox {T}_{1/2}^{0\nu EC \beta +}$$T1/20νECβ+($$^{64}$$64Zn) > 1.2$$\times 10^{22}$$×1022 year, surpassing by more than one order of magnitude the previous experimental results (Belli et al. in J Phys G 38(11):115107, https://doi.org/10.1088/0954-3899/38/11/115107, 2011).
Testing cosmic ray composition models with very large-volume neutrino telescopes
Authors: Fusco L. A. , Versari F.
Published: August 2020

The composition in terms of nuclear species of the primary cosmic ray flux is largely uncertain in the knee region and above, where only indirect measurements are available. The predicted fluxes of high-energy leptons from cosmic ray air showers are influenced by this uncertainty. Different models have been proposed. Similarly, these uncertainties affect the measurement of lepton fluxes in very large-volume neutrino telescopes. Uncertainties in the cosmic ray interaction processes, mainly deriving from the limited amount of experimental data covering the particle physics at play, could also produce similar differences in the observable lepton fluxes and are affected as well by large uncertainties. In this paper we analyse how considering different models for the primary cosmic ray composition affects the expected rates in the current generation of very large-volume neutrino telescopes (ANTARES and IceCube). This is tested comparing two possible models of cosmic ray composition, but the same procedure can be expanded to different possible combinations of cosmic ray abundances. We observe that a certain degree of discrimination between composition fits can be already achieved with the current IceCube data sample, even though in a model-dependent way. The expected improvements in the energy reconstruction achievable with the next-generation neutrino telescopes is be expected to make these instruments more sensitive to the differences between models.
A STUDY ON THE NEGATIVE EXTERNALITY OF USD LIQUIDITY — BASED ON THE ASSET ALLOCATION EFFICIENCY OF US TREASURY SECURITIES
Authors: LU CHANG RONG , LI JIA XIANG , SHENG YI
Published: August 2020

At the macro-level, whether US dollar (USD) spillover could sustain the prosperity and stability of international economic and financial systems should become a key basis for judging the rationality of the current USD standard international monetary system. As the main contributor to USD liquidity externalities, US Treasury securities have long been favored by major economies worldwide due to their perceived safety and reliability, and their yield should be a key indicator for measuring the effect of USD liquidity spillover and the rationality of the international monetary system. However, the discussion in previous studies concerning the efficiency of holding US Treasury securities on the microeconomic level is insufficient. This study considers the negative externality of asset allocation behavior when analyzing its rationality at the macro-level. According to the empirical results, we find a clear negative relationship between the efficiency and the risk of USD assets and the holding scale of USD foreign exchange reserves. This finding indicates the dilemma faced by major economies in managing international liquidity without a sound replacement for USD assets. We argue that the current USD standard monetary system needs to be reformed and diversified to optimize the benefit of liquidity holdings globally. An internationalized RMB could play a more important role on the global and regional stages in strengthening and reforming the current monetary ecosystem.
Characterized helical modulation of three-dimensional Skyrmions in the spin-orbit coupled condensate
Authors: Jiang Hao , Yu Chong , Song Shuwei , Gao Wei , Sun Weifeng , Wang Hanquan
Published: August 2020

For the Bose–Einstein condensate in the non-Abelian gauge field, the atomic wavefunction obtains helical modulation, which would lead to nontrivial objects, such as three-dimensional Skyrmion. The spin–orbit coupled condensate is usually capable of supporting Skyrmion ground states, which can be well understood through the wavefunction modulation vector concept. In the present manuscript, the modulation vector is characterized both analytically and numerically with respect to the spin–orbit coupling strength. For the SU(2) symmetric condensate, the modulation vector of the wavefunction is linearly proportional to the spin–orbit coupling strength. In the presence of spin-dependent interaction, the modulus of the modulation vector is predicted to increase or decrease according to the sign of the interaction parameter, resulting in a shrunken or expanded Skyrmion. However, the Skyrmion is unstable for a certain area of the parameter space of the spin–orbit coupling and spin-dependent interaction. The condensate favors a single Skyrmion state or the Skyrmion lattice state according to the strength of the spin–orbit coupling.
Crystal growth, structural, nonlinear optical and theoretical investigations of Benzilic acid crystals
Authors: Nalini H. , Thairiyaraja M. , Arunagiri C. , Kumar K. , Vincent V. Charles , Kirubavathi K. , Selvaraju K.
Published: August 2020

Organic single crystals of Benzilic Acid (BA) were grown by slow solvent evaporating method by using acetone as solvent. The unit cell parameter values and the crystal system are recognized by using single crystal XRD technique. The optical assessment of BA molecules is observed by with UV-Vis spectral analysis as the ultraviolet range between 200 and 400 nm and the visible region between 400 and 800 nm. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties such as second harmonic efficiency nature of BA crystal were analyzed using Nd:YAG laser. The laser-induced damage threshold assessment of BA crystal is measured as 2.76 GW/cm2. From the Density Functional Theory (DFT), the molecular structural feature and vibrational frequencies were defined by using the Gaussian system along with comparisons of experimental frequencies. Using the DFT method, the derived vibrational frequency values showed an admirable accord with experimental frequencies. The charge interactions within the BA molecules are confirmed by HOMO and LUMO energy value. The first-order molecular hyperpolarizabilities, dipole moment, polarizability and Mulliken charge analysis of the BA molecule are also evaluated.
An integrated metaheuristic technique based energy aware clustering protocol for Internet of Things based smart classroom
Authors: Chauhan Jyoti , Goswami Puneet
Published: August 2020

With an advancement in wireless technologies, Internet of Things (IoT) are becoming popular in modern era because of its wide range of applications. In this paper, an IoT enable smart classroom is considered. However, IoT nodes are battery constrained, therefore, development and implementation of energy efficiency IoT based smart classroom turn out be more challenging issue. Recently, many clustering and inter-cluster data aggregation techniques are implemented to minimize the energy consumption of IoT devices. However, designing an energy aware IoT protocol is defined as a NP-hard problem. Therefore, many researchers have utilized various metaheuristic techniques to implement energy aware protocol. However, generally metaheuristic techniques suffer from various issues such as pre-mature convergence, stuck in local optima, poor convergence speed, etc. Therefore, in this paper, an integrated multi-objective optimization is designed for IoT based smart classroom by considering ant colony optimization and crossover operator. The proposed technique is used to improve the inter-cluster data aggregation of IoT based smart classroom. Extensive experiments are performed by considering various performance metrics. Comparative analyses show that the proposed protocol achieves remarkably significant results as compared to the competitive techniques.
A factorization property of positive maps on C*-algebras
Authors: Rajarama Bhat B. V. , Osaka Hiroyuki
Published: August 2020

The purpose of this short paper is to clarify and present a general version of an interesting observation by [Piani and Mora, Phys. Rev. A 75 (2007) 012305], linking complete positivity of linear maps on matrix algebras to decomposability of their ampliations. Let [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] be unital C*-algebras and let [Formula: see text] be positive linear maps from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]. We obtain conditions under which any positive map [Formula: see text] from the minimal C*-tensor product [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text], such that [Formula: see text], factorizes as [Formula: see text] for some positive map [Formula: see text]. In particular, we show that when [Formula: see text] are completely positive (CP) maps for some Hilbert spaces [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] is a pure CP map and [Formula: see text] is a CP map so that [Formula: see text] is also CP, then [Formula: see text] for some CP map [Formula: see text]. We show that a similar result holds in the context of positive linear maps when [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. As an application, we extend IX Theorem of Ref. 4 (revisited recently by [Huber et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121 (2018) 200503]) to show that for any linear map [Formula: see text] from a unital C*-algebra [Formula: see text] to a C*-algebra [Formula: see text], if [Formula: see text] is decomposable for some [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the identity map on the algebra [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] matrices, then [Formula: see text] is CP.
On the maximum connective eccentricity index among k-connected graphs
Authors: Hayat Fazal
Published: August 2020

The connective eccentricity index (CEI for short) of a graph [Formula: see text] is defined as [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the degree of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is the eccentricity of [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we characterize the unique graphs with maximum CEI from three classes of graphs: the [Formula: see text]-vertex graphs with fixed connectivity and diameter, the [Formula: see text]-vertex graphs with fixed connectivity and independence number, and the [Formula: see text]-vertex graphs with fixed connectivity and minimum degree.
Tadpole domination in duplicated graphs
Authors: Al-Harere M. N. , Khuda Bakhash P. A.
Published: August 2020

In this paper, selected domination parameters are discussed and proved especially after expanding the graph by duplicating vertices or edges. The tadpole domination number after expansion is obtained in terms of the old tadpole domination number and the maximal path of the original graph, tadpole domination number was determined for any graph after the duplication of the order of the vertices set of G or the duplication of the size of the edges set. Determining if a graph is Hamiltonian is much more problematic. Therefore, the leading outcome in this paper is that we provide that if an expanded graph (by duplicating each vertex by an edge) has tadpole domination, then the original (initial) graph has Hamiltonian path and vice versa.
Investigation of Lanolin Lipid-Based Nanoparticles as Carriers for Avobenzone
Authors: Hu Guangxia , Yin Hui , Li Chunxiang , Ng Suxiu , Yin Xi Jiang , Hao Gong
Published: August 2020

The aim of this study is to develop and characterize lanolin lipid-based nanoparticles as carriers for avobenzone. Solid Lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were prepared by the high-pressure homogenization technique. The influence of emulsifiers, avobenzone content in lipid (0–20[Formula: see text]wt.%), solid lipid blends’ composition and dispersions’ solid content on nanoparticles size, zeta potentials, PI value, stability, matrix structure and UV absorption were investigated. The matrix structure of the lipids and the blends was investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The particle sizes were [Formula: see text]200[Formula: see text]nm and PI values are below 0.25 after production. The stability of lipid nanoparticles (LNs) was characterized by naked eye and dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique. The optimized lipid is the lanolin nanostructured lipid carrier with lecithin and APG 810 as co-emulsifiers.
Labor Dispute Resolution and Migrant Workers’ Legal Rights Protection in China
Authors: Hu Jieren , Martin Daniel
Published: August 2020

The formal labor dispute resolution system of administrative organs, arbitration tribunal and courts which have been established to handle labor disputes remains an ineffective tool for migrant workers to resolve their disputes with their employers in China. Moreover, experience has exemplified that among the mediation style, non-official mediators have proven to be more effective in settling cases and helping migrant workers than mediators within the formal system. Taking “Little Bird,” a famous NGO for migrant workers rights protection in China, as an example, this article focuses on the problem of arrears in wages of migrant workers from a sociological-legal perspective. This article argues that the current legal system in China fails to adequately protect the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers and that informal mediation may help resolve disputes between migrant workers and employers more efficiently. The effectiveness of NGO’s role in handling labor disputes as well as its limitations, would also be analyzed and discussed.
Rethinking the Rise of China and Its Implications on International Order
Authors: Can Ciwan M. , Chan Anson
Published: August 2020

The rise of China has become a central debate in the academic field of international relations. In the Western world, the scholars within this debate can roughly be divided into the ‘pessimists’ and the ‘optimists’. The pessimists see in the rise of China an inevitable hegemonic war, or at least prolonged and intense zero-sum competition, with the US as it will seek to replace the latter and overturn the existing liberal international order. The optimists, on the other hand, see an opportunity for sustained Western dominance through selective accommodation of China in exchange for China’s acceptance of the existing norms and values of the liberal international order and continued US dominance. In this paper, we maintain that both perspectives in the debate are misleading. We argue that China seeks to push for a multipolarized world rather than replacing the US, and that Beijing prefers the relations between the great powers within a multipolar order to be based on the conception of a ‘community of common destiny for humankind’. We also argue that China is unlikely to accept the existing norms and values of the liberal international order as they reflect and reinforce Western dominance. Rather, China has become an ‘order-shaper’ seeking to reform the existing institutions to better reflect the interests of the ‘Rest’, and establish new networks and institutions that will complement and augment the existing arrangements of the liberal international order, instead of challenging it.
Artificial Consciousness, Meta-Knowledge, and Physical Omniscience
Authors: Chrisley Ron
Published: August 2020

Previous work [Chrisley & Sloman, 2016, 2017] has argued that a capacity for certain kinds of meta-knowledge is central to modeling consciousness, especially the recalcitrant aspects of qualia, in computational architectures. After a quick review of that work, this paper presents a novel objection to Frank Jackson’s Knowledge Argument (KA) against physicalism, an objection in which such meta-knowledge also plays a central role. It is first shown that the KA’s supposition of a person, Mary, who is physically omniscient, and yet who has not experienced seeing red, is logically inconsistent, due to the existence of epistemic blindspots for Mary. It is then shown that even if one makes the KA consistent by supposing a more limited physical omniscience for Mary, this revised argument is invalid. This demonstration is achieved via the construction of a physical fact (a recursive conditional epistemic blindspot) that Mary cannot know before she experiences seeing red for the first time, but which she can know afterward. After considering and refuting some counter-arguments, the paper closes with a discussion of the implications of this argument for machine consciousness, and vice versa.
Brachiopod-dominated communities and depositional environment of the Guanshan Konservat-Lagerstätte, eastern Yunnan, China
Authors: Chen Feiyang , Brock Glenn A. , Zhang Zhiliang , Laing Brittany , Ren Xinyi , Zhang Zhifei
Published: August 2020

The Guanshan Biota is an unusual early Cambrian Konservat-Lagerstätte from China and is distinguished from all other exceptionally preserved Cambrian biotas by the dominance of brachiopods and a relatively shallow depositional environment. However, the faunal composition, overturn and sedimentology associated with the Guanshan Biota are poorly understood. This study, based on collections through the best-exposed succession of the basal Wulongqing Formation at the Shijiangjun section, Wuding County, eastern Yunnan, China recovered six major animal groups with soft tissue preservation; brachiopods vastly outnumbered all other groups. Brachiopods quickly replace arthropods as the dominant fauna following a transgression at the base of the Wulongqing Formation. A transition from a botsfordiid-, eoobolid- and acrotretid- to an acrotheloid-dominated brachiopod assemblage occurs up-section. Four episodically repeated lithofacies reveal a relatively low-energy, offshore to lower shoreface sedimentary environment at the Shijiangjun section, which is very different from the Wulongqing Formation in the Malong and Kunming areas. Multiple event flows and rapid obrution are responsible for faunal overturn and fluctuation through the section. A detailed lithofacies and palaeontological investigation of this section provides a better understanding of the processes and drivers of faunal overturn during the later phase of the Cambrian Explosion.

Supplementary material:
Composition and comparison of the Malong Fauna and the Guanshan Biota is are available at:
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5080799
End-to-End Continual Rare-Class Recognition with Emerging Novel Subclasses
Authors: Nguyen Hung , Wang Xuejian , Akoglu Leman
Published: August 2020

Given a labeled dataset that contains a rare (or minority) class containing of-interest instances, as well as a large class of instances that are
not
of interest, how can we learn to recognize future of-interest instances over a continuous stream? The setting is different from traditional classification in that instances from
novel
minority subclasses might continually emerge over time—and hence is often referred as continual, life-long, or open-world classification. We introduce RaRecognize, which (
i
) estimates a
general
decision boundary between the rare class and the majority class, (
ii
) learns to recognize the individual rare subclasses that exist within the training data, as well as (
iii
) flags instances from previously
unseen
rare subclasses as newly emerging (i.e., novel). The learner in
(i)
is general in the sense that by construction it is dissimilar to the
specialized
learners in
(ii)
, thus distinguishes minority from the majority without overly tuning to what is only seen in the training data. Thanks to this generality, RaRecognize ignores all future instances that it labels as majority and recognizes the
recurring as well as emerging
rare subclasses only. This saves effort at test time as well as ensures that the model size grows moderately over time as it only maintains specialized minority learners. Overall, we build an end-to-end system which consists of (1) a representation learning component that transforms data instances into suitable vector inputs; (2) a continual classifier that labels incoming instances as majority (not of interest), rare recurrent, or rare emerging; and (3) a clustering component that groups the rare emerging instances into novel subclasses for expert vetting and model re-training. Through extensive experiments, we show that RaRecognize outperforms state-of-the art baselines on three real-world datasets that contain documents related to corporate-risk and (natural and man-made) disasters as rare classes.
Efficient Mining of Outlying Sequence Patterns for Analyzing Outlierness of Sequence Data
Authors: Wang Tingting , Duan Lei , Dong Guozhu , Bao Zhifeng
Published: August 2020

Recently, a lot of research work has been proposed in different domains to detect outliers and analyze the outlierness of outliers for relational data. However, while sequence data is ubiquitous in real life, analyzing the outlierness for sequence data has not received enough attention. In this article, we study the problem of
mining outlying sequence patterns in sequence data
addressing the question: given a query sequence
s
in a sequence dataset
D
, the objective is to discover sequence patterns that will indicate the most unusualness (i.e., outlierness) of
s
compared against other sequences. Technically, we use the rank defined by the average probabilistic strength (
aps
) of a sequence pattern in a sequence to measure the outlierness of the sequence. Then a minimal sequence pattern where the query sequence is ranked the highest is defined as an outlying sequence pattern. To address the above problem, we present OSPMiner, a heuristic method that computes
aps
by incorporating several pruning techniques. Our empirical study using both real and synthetic data demonstrates that OSPMiner is effective and efficient.
Solid-State Sensor Chip Produced with Single Laser Engraving for Urine Acidity and Total Dissolved Ion Detections
Authors: Kao Wei-Sin , Hung Yu-Wen , Lin Che-Hsin
Published: August 2020

This paper presents a solid-state sensor for rapidly detecting the acidity and the total dissolved ions of urine. The sensor is produced by direct laser engraving the commercial touch panel film to pattern the sensing areas. Since the indium tin oxide on the touch panel film is an n-type degenerate semiconductor, hydrogen ions in the solution spontaneously attach onto the ITO surface and change the zeta potential of it. The sensing area is connected to the gate of a commercial N-MOSFET CD4007 to establish the extended-gate FET sensing scheme. Full ITO-based sensing chips for pH and total dissolved ions in urine can be easily produced in the developed rapid manufacturing process. Home-build circuits embedded in hand-held devices are produced for the measurement. Results show that the developed ITO-based sensor exhibits high sensing performance for acidity measurement of 0.11 V pH−1 with rapid responses of less than 1 s and low temperature drifting of 0.0205 pH °C−1. The sensor can also detect total dissolved ions with a concentration of 0.1−30 mS in urine. The performance of the developed sensor is characterized by a classic physiology experiment of kidney elution after taking various liquids of reverse osmosis water, beer, and normal saline.
The role of phospholamban and GSK3 in regulating rodent cardiac SERCA function
Authors: Hamstra Sophie I. , Whitley Kennedy C. , Baranowski Ryan W. , Kurgan Nigel , Braun Jessica L. , Messner Holt N. , Fajardo Val A.
Published: August 2020

Cardiac contractile function is largely mediated by the regulation of Ca2+ cycling throughout the lifespan. The sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA) pump is paramount to cardiac Ca2+ regulation, and it is well established that SERCA dysfunction pathologically contributes to cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Phospholamban (PLN) is a well-known inhibitor of the SERCA pump and its regulation of SERCA2a—the predominant cardiac SERCA isoform—contributes significantly to proper cardiac function. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is a serine/threonine kinase involved in several metabolic pathways, and we and others have shown that it regulates SERCA function. In this mini-review, we highlight the underlying mechanisms behind GSK3’s regulation of SERCA function specifically discussing changes in SERCA2a and PLN expression and its potential protection against oxidative stress. Ultimately, these recent findings that we discuss could have clinical implications in the treatment and prevention of cardiomyopathies and heart failure.
Endothelin-1 stimulates preadipocyte growth via the PKC, STAT3, AMPK, c-JUN, ERK, sphingosine kinase, and sphingomyelinase pathways
Authors: Siao An-Ci , Lin Yen-Yue , Shih Li-Jane , Tsuei Yi-Wei , Chuu Chih-Pin , Kuo Yow-Chii , Kao Yung-Hsi
Published: August 2020

Endothelin (ET)-1 regulates adipogenesis and the endocrine activity of fat cells. However, relatively little is known about the ET-1 signaling pathway in preadipocyte growth. We used 3T3-L1 preadipocytes to investigate the signaling pathways involved in ET-1 modulation of preadipocyte proliferation. As indicated by an increased number of cells and greater incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), the stimulation of preadipocyte growth by ET-1 depends on concentration and timing. The concentration of ET-1 that increased preadipocyte number by 51–67% was ~100 nM for ~24–48 h of treatment. ET-1 signaling time dependently stimulated phosphorylation of ERK, c-JUN, STAT3, AMPK, and PKCα/βII proteins but not AKT, JNK, or p38 MAPK. Treatment with an ETAR antagonist, such as BQ610, but not ETBR antagonist BQ788, blocked the ET-1-induced increase in cell proliferation and phosphorylated levels of ERK, c-JUN, STAT3, AMPK, and PKCα/βII proteins. In addition, pretreatment with specific inhibitors of ERK1/2 (U0126), JNK (SP600125), JAK2/STAT3 (AG490), AMPK (compound C), or PKC (Ro318220) prevented the ET-1-induced increase in cell proliferation and reduced the ET-1-stimulated phosphorylation of ERK1/2, c-JUN, STAT3, AMPK, and PKCα/β. Moreover, the SphK antagonist suppressed ET-1-induced cell proliferation and ERK, c-JUN, STAT3, AMPK, and PKC phosphorylation, and the SMase2 antagonist suppressed ET-1-induced cell proliferation. However, neither the p38 MAPK antagonist nor the CerS inhibitor altered the effect of ET-1. The results indicate that ETAR, JAK2/STAT3, ERK1/2, JNK/c-JUN, AMPK, PKC, SphK, and SMase2, but not ETBR, p38 MAPK, or CerS, are necessary for the ET-1 stimulation of preadipocyte proliferation.
Can phytotherapy with polyphenols serve as a powerful approach for the prevention and therapy tool of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?
Authors: Levy Emile , Delvin Edgard , Marcil Valérie , Spahis Schohraya
Published: August 2020

Much more serious than the previous severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (CoV) outbreaks, the novel SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread speedily, affecting 213 countries and causing ∼17,300,000 cases and ∼672,000 (∼+1,500/day) deaths globally (as of July 31, 2020). The potentially fatal coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by air droplets and airborne as the main transmission modes, clearly induces a spectrum of respiratory clinical manifestations, but it also affects the immune, gastrointestinal, hematological, nervous, and renal systems. The dramatic scale of disorders and complications arises from the inadequacy of current treatments and absence of a vaccine and specific anti-COVID-19 drugs to suppress viral replication, inflammation, and additional pathogenic conditions. This highlights the importance of understanding the SARS-CoV-2 mechanisms of actions and the urgent need of prospecting for new or alternative treatment options. The main objective of the present review is to discuss the challenging issue relative to the clinical utility of plants-derived polyphenols in fighting viral infections. Not only is the strong capacity of polyphenols highlighted in magnifying health benefits, but the underlying mechanisms are also stressed. Finally, emphasis is placed on the potential ability of polyphenols to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection via the regulation of its molecular targets of human cellular binding and replication, as well as through the resulting host inflammation, oxidative stress, and signaling pathways.
The American lifestyle-induced obesity syndrome diet in male and female rodents recapitulates the clinical and transcriptomic features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis
Authors: Harris Shelley E. , Poolman Toryn M. , Arvaniti Anastasia , Cox Roger D. , Gathercole Laura L. , Tomlinson Jeremy W.
Published: August 2020

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects 30% of the general population and can progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and potentially hepatocellular carcinoma. Preclinical models rely on mouse models that often display hepatic characteristics of NAFLD but rarely progress to NASH and seldom depict the multisystem effects of the disease. We have conducted comprehensive metabolic analysis of both male and female mice consuming a Western diet of trans fats and sugar, focusing on both their hepatic phenotype and extrahepatic manifestations.
Sustained laryngeal transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 activation inhibits mechanically induced swallowing in anesthetized rats
Authors: Yoshihara Midori , Tsujimura Takanori , Suzuki Taku , Nagoya Kouta , Shiraishi Naru , Magara Jin , Terunuma Miho , Inoue Makoto
Published: August 2020

Although a transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) inhibitor or TRPV1-expressed neuronal inhibitor significantly inhibited HCl/capsaicin-evoked swallowing, air flow-induced swallowing was not affected. The number of air flow-induced swallows was significantly reduced within 60 min of TRPV1 activation. Evans blue dye concentration in the larynx increased 60 min after capsaicin application. TPRV1 activation not only desensitizes TRPV1 but also inactivates mechanoreceptors caused by increases in vascular permeability and edema.
Relationship between distension-contraction waveforms during esophageal peristalsis: effect of bolus volume, viscosity, and posture
Authors: Mittal Ravinder K. , Muta Kazumasa , Ledgerwood-Lee Melissa , Zifan Ali
Published: August 2020

We studied esophageal distension (surrogate of inhibition) ahead of contraction during peristalsis from intraluminal esophageal impedance measurements. Esophageal distension, similarly to contraction, travels the esophagus in a sequential manner, and the amplitude of esophageal distension increases from proximal to distal direction in the esophagus. Bolus volume, viscosity, and posture have significant effects on the amplitude of distension and its temporal relationship with contraction.
Inhaled vitamin A is more effective than intramuscular dosing in mitigating hyperoxia-induced lung injury in a neonatal rat model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia
Authors: Gelfand Craig A. , Sakurai Reiko , Wang Ying , Liu Yitian , Segal Robert , Rehan Virender K.
Published: August 2020

Prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in premature-birth babies continues to be an unmet medical need. Intramuscular vitamin A is currently employed in preterm neonates to prevent BPD but requires intramuscular injections in fragile neonates. We hypothesized that noninvasive inhaled delivery of vitamin A, targeted to lung, would be a more effective and tolerable strategy. We employed our well-established hyperoxia-injury neonatal rat model, exposing newborn rats to 7 days of constant extreme (95% O2) hyperoxia, comparing vitamin A dosed every 48 h via either aerosol inhalation or intramuscular injection with normoxic untreated healthy animals and vehicle-inhalation hyperoxia groups as positive and negative controls, respectively. Separately, similar vitamin A dosing of normoxia-dwelling animals was performed. Analyses after day 7 included characterization of alveolar histomorphology and protein biomarkers of alveolar maturation [surfactant protein C (SP-C), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ, cholinephosphate cytidylyl transferase, vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptor, FLK-1, and retinoid X receptors (RXR-α, -β, and -γ], apoptosis (Bcl2 and Bax) key injury repair pathway data including protein markers (ALK-5 and β-catenin) and neutrophil infiltration, and serum vitamin A levels. Compared with intramuscular dosing, inhaled vitamin A significantly enhanced biomarkers of alveolar maturation, mitigated hyperoxia-induced lung damage, and enhanced surfactant protein levels, suggesting that it may be more efficacious in preventing BPD in extremely premature infants than the traditionally used IM dosing regimen. We speculate lung-targeted inhaled vitamin A may also be an effective therapy against other lung damaging conditions leading to BPD or, more generally, to acute lung injury.
Changes in lipid biology during ovarian development in farmed beluga sturgeon,Huso husoL
Authors: Akhavan Sobhan R. , Falahatkar Bahram , McCormick Sally P.A. , Lokman P. Mark
Published: August 2020

The present study was conducted to understand key biochemical, physiological, and molecular changes associated with ovarian growth and with lipid transfer and/or accumulation into the ovary during oogenesis in captive beluga sturgeon. Plasma levels of triacylglycerides, cholesterol, phospholipid, and sex steroid hormones were determined and all were found to increase notably throughout development from the perinucleolar to the tertiary yolk stage. Using fast protein liquid chromatography, we recognized three major lipoprotein peaks in chromatograms from all samples. These peaks were characterized as containing very low-density lipoprotein (Vldl), low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein (Ldl/Hdl), and plasma proteins. While Ldl/Hdl represented the most abundant lipoprotein fraction, the relative abundance of different lipoprotein classes did not change with the stage of oogenesis. Eluted lipoproteins were separated using sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and sequenced. The peptide sequence spectra for 66-kDa, 205-kDa, 29-kDa, and 70-kDa bands matched with albumin, vitellogenin (Vtg) AB2b, immunoglobulin light-chain precursor, and immunoglobulin heavy-chain, respectively. The large amount of albumin in the plasma protein peak and the confined presence of Vtg AB2b to within Ldl/Hdl reinforce the lipoprotein classification. Lastly, transcript levels of genes encoding ovarian lipoprotein lipase ( lpl), apolipoprotein E ( apoe), very low-density lipoprotein receptors ( vldlr), and low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 8-like ( lrp8) were estimated using quantitative RT-PCR. The high mRNA levels of lpl, apoe, and lipoprotein receptors vldlr and lrp8 in previtellogenic females suggest that sturgeon oocytes need to be prepared to accept and traffic Vtg and lipids internally, before the start of vitellogenesis.
Differential neuropeptide modulation of premotor and motor neurons in the lobster cardiac ganglion
Authors: Oleisky Emily R. , Stanhope Meredith E. , Hull J. Joe , Christie Andrew E. , Dickinson Patsy S.
Published: August 2020

Premotor and motor neurons of the Homarus americanus cardiac ganglion (CG) are normally electrically and chemically coupled, and generate rhythmic bursting that drives cardiac contractions; we show that they can establish independent bursting patterns when physically decoupled by a ligature. The neuropeptide myosuppressin modulates different aspects of the bursting pattern in these neuron types to determine the overall modulation of the intact CG. Differential distribution of myosuppressin receptors may underlie the observed responses to myosuppressin.
Increased cerebral blood flow supports a single-bout postexercise benefit to executive function: evidence from hypercapnia
Authors: Tari Benjamin , Vanhie James J. , Belfry Glen R. , Shoemaker J. Kevin , Heath Matthew
Published: August 2020

Single-bout aerobic exercise “boosts” executive function, and increased cerebral blood flow (CBF) has been proposed as a mechanism for the benefit. In this study, participants completed 10 min of aerobic exercise and 10 min of inhaling a hypercapnic gas, a manipulation known to increase CBF independently of metabolic demands. Both exercise and hypercapnic conditions improved executive function for at least 20 min. Accordingly, an increase in CBF is a candidate mechanism for the postexercise improvement in executive function.
Spinal contribution to neuromuscular recovery differs between elbow-flexor and knee-extensor muscles after a maximal sustained fatiguing task
Authors: Vernillo Gianluca , Temesi John , Martin Matthieu , Krüger Renata L. , Millet Guillaume Y.
Published: August 2020

By comparing the changes in motoneuron excitability in elbow-flexor and knee-extensor muscles after sustained fatiguing maximal voluntary contractions, this study shows that motoneuron recovery behavior depends on the muscle performing the exercise. A different recovery pattern in motoneuron excitability occurs in elbow flexors as it recovered by 60 s whereas knee extensors were unaffected by fatigue. This finding can help to increase understanding of the effect of a fatigue and subsequent recovery on neural processes.
The neuromuscular transform in a single segment of a segmented heart tube
Authors: Wenning Angela , Chang Young Rim , Norris Brian J. , Calabrese Ronald L.
Published: August 2020

Moving blood through the segmented heart tubes of leeches requires sequential constrictions driven by motor neurons controlled by a central pattern generator. In a single heart segment, we varied stimuli to explore the neuromuscular transform. Decreasing the cycle period, e.g., to increase volume pumped over time, without altering motor burst duration and intraburst spike frequency shortens relaxation time and decreases amplitude. The likely strategy to preserve constriction amplitude is to shorten burst duration while increasing spike frequency.