bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ChemInform Abstract: 99Mo/99mTc Separation: An Assessment of Technology Options
Authors: Dash Ashutosh , Knapp F. F. , Pillai M. R. A.
Published: January 2014

Review: 157 refs.
ChemInform Abstract: Understanding the Synergistic Effects of Gold Bimetallic Catalysts
Authors: Wang Aiqin , Liu Xiao Yan , Mou Chung‐Yuan , Zhang Tao
Published: January 2014

Review: 124 refs.
ChemInform Abstract: Heterometallodendrimers: A Structural Outlook
Authors: Angurell Inmaculada , Rossell Oriol , Seco Miquel
Published: January 2014

Review: 59 refs.
ChemInform Abstract: Fragment Screening by Native State Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Poulsen Sally‐Ann
Published: January 2014

Review: 44 refs.
Toward Drug Repurposing in Epigenetics: Olsalazine as a Hypomethylating Compound Active in a Cellular Context
Authors: Méndez‐Lucio Oscar , Tran Jeremy , Medina‐Franco José L. , Meurice Nathalie , Muller Mark
Published: January 2014

DNA hypomethylating drugs that act on DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) isoforms are promising anticancer agents. By using a well‐characterized live‐cell system to measure DNA methylation revisions (imprints), we characterize olsalazine, an approved anti‐inflammatory drug, as a novel DNA hypomethylating agent. The cell‐based screen used in this work is highly tractable, internally controlled, and well‐suited for a drug repurposing strategy in epigenetics. Olsalazine very closely mimics the action of 5‐aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine, a known hypomethylating drug, with minimal cytotoxicity at the concentrations tested. Olsalazine was identified by a rapid computer‐guided similarity search of a database of approved drugs to a previously identified inhibitor of DNMTs.
Deciphering the Subunit Composition of Multimeric Proteins by Counting Photobleaching Steps
Authors: Arant Ryan J. , Ulbrich Maximilian H.
Published: January 2014

The limit of subdiffraction imaging with fluorescent proteins currently lies at 20 nm, and therefore most protein complexes are too small (2–5 nm) to spatially resolve their individual subunits by optical means. However, the number and stoichiometry of subunits within an immobilized protein complex can be resolved by the observation of photobleaching steps of individual fluorophores or co‐localization of single‐molecule fluorescence emission in multiple colors. We give an overview of the proteins that have been investigated by this approach and the different techniques that can be used to immobilize and label the proteins. This minireview should serve as a guideline for scientists who want to employ single‐molecule subunit counting for their research.
Synthesis and Cytotoxicity of a Diazirine‐Based Photopsammaplin
Authors: Hentschel Fabia , Raimer Björn , Kelter Gerhard , Fiebig Heinz‐Herbert , Sasse Florenz , Lindel Thomas
Published: January 2014

The first photoreactive derivative of the cytotoxic marine natural product psammaplin A (1) has been synthesized by appending 1‐azi‐2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl moieties at both benzene rings. Photopsammaplin 8 exhibited anticancer activity in vitro with a geomean IC50 value of 1.4 μM in a panel of 42 human cancer cell lines. Particularly sensitive cell lines were found among bladder, lung, mammary, and prostate cancer as well as melanoma (MEXF 276), with IC50 values ≤ 0.6 μM. In a COMPARE analysis, diazirine‐functionalized photopsammaplin exhibited a very similar cytotoxicity profile to that of the natural product 1. Furthermore, photopsammaplin 8 was found to be a potent HDAC inhibitor (IC50 35 nM) and can be considered as a suitable candidate for photoaffinity labeling, which may assist in the identification of new targets of psammaplin A. Irradiation experiments with a model diazirine‐functionalized α‐hydroxy iminoester in dichloromethane in the presence or absence of acetic acid and methanol revealed the stability of the oxime unit and confirmed that reactions took place solely at the carbene center. The isolation of triplet and singlet photoproducts is consistent with DFT calculations [B3LYP 6‐311G (2d,2p)] showing that, in polar solvents, the triplet‐singlet gap is very small.
Synthesis of Sterically Congested Triarylamines by Palladium‐Catalyzed Amination
Authors: Riedmüller Stefan , Kaufhold Oliver , Spreitzer Hubert , Nachtsheim Boris J.
Published: January 2014

An efficient protocol for the palladium‐catalyzed synthesis of sterically congested triarylamines from commercially available 1‐chloro‐ or 1‐bromonaphthalenes and diarylamines is described. The application of alkyllithium reagents as strong bases and a combination of Pd(OAc)2 and SPhos (2‐dicyclohexylphosphino‐2′,6′‐dimethoxybiphenyl) plays a crucial role in the success of this otherwise difficult to achieve C–N coupling reaction. A variety of secondary aromatic amines with versatile steric and electronic properties can be successfully used in this transformation to give the desired triarylamines in up to 99 % yield. The obtained products are important structural motifs in hole‐transport materials for organic light‐emitting diode applications.
Potentially malignant disorders of the oral cavity: Current practice and future directions in the clinic and laboratory
Authors: Dionne Kalen R. , Warnakulasuriya Saman , Binti Zain Rosnah , Cheong Sok Ching
Published: January 2014

Despite commendable progress in the prevention, detection, and treatment of a wide variety of solid tumor types, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains a significant health burden across the globe. OSCC carcinogenesis involves accumulation of genetic alterations that coincide with the multistep malignant transformation of normal oral epithelium. OSCC is often first diagnosed at late stages of the disease (advanced regional disease and/or metastasis). Delayed diagnosis precludes successful treatment and favorable outcomes. In clinical practice, opportunities exist to identify patients with oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs), which precede the development of cancer. This review addresses the current status of laboratory and clinical research on OPMDs, with emphasis on leukoplakia and erythroplakia. OSF is also presented, though there is a paucity of published studies on this disorder. We focus on findings that could translate into earlier diagnosis and more efficacious treatment of those lesions with significant malignant potential. We explore how markers of OPMD malignant transformation might be implemented into current diagnostic practice to help clinicians objectively stratify patients into treatment/follow‐up groups according to relative risk. We provide an overview of recently concluded and ongoing OPMD chemoprevention trials. We describe laboratory OPMD models that can be used to not only to reveal the genetic and molecular intricacies of oral cancer but also to develop novel screening methods and therapeutic approaches. Finally, we call for targeted screening programs of at‐risk populations in order to facilitate diagnosis and treatment of OPMD and early OSCC.
Low‐ and high‐frequency transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation induces different effects on cerebral μ‐opioid receptor availability in rhesus monkeys
Authors: Xiang Xiao‐Hui , Chen Ying‐Mao , Zhang Jin‐Ming , Tian Jia‐He , Han Ji‐Sheng , Cui Cai‐Lian
Published: January 2014

Although systematic studies have demonstrated that acupuncture or electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia is based on their accelerating endogenous opioid release to activate opioid receptors and that EA of different frequencies is mediated by different opioid receptors in specific areas of the central nervous system, there is little direct, real‐time evidence to confirm this in vivo. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS), an analogue of EA, at low and high frequencies on μ‐opioid receptor (MOR) availability in the brain of rhesus monkeys. Monkeys underwent 95‐min positron emission tomography (PET) with 11C‐carfentanil three times randomly while receiving 0, 2, or 100 Hz TEAS, respectively. Each TEAS was administered in the middle 30 min during the 95‐min PET scan, and each session of PET and TEAS was separated by at least 2 weeks. The results revealed that 2 Hz but not 100 Hz TEAS evoked a significant increase in MOR binding potential in the anterior cingulate cortex, the caudate nucleus, the putamen, the temporal lobe, the somatosensory cortex, and the amygdala compared with 0 Hz TEAS. The effect remained after the end of TEAS in the anterior cingulate cortex and the temporal lobe. The selective increase in MOR availability in multiple brain regions related to pain and sensory processes may play a role in mediating low‐frequency TEAS efficacy. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nanocrystalline Fe‐Ni alloy/polyamide 6 composites of high mechanical performance made by ultrasound‐assisted master batch technique
Authors: Mohamed Marwa A. A. , El‐Maghraby Azza , Abd El‐Latif Mona , Farag Hassan , Kalaitzidou Kyriaki
Published: January 2014

The focus of this study is to improve the dispersion state of nanocrystalline (nc) Fe‐Ni particles in polyamide 6 (PA6) matrix and the filler‐matrix interfacial interactions to provide Fe‐Ni alloy/PA6 nanocomposites of remarkable mechanical performance for engineering applications. nc Fe40Ni60 particles were chemically synthesized. Then Fe40Ni60/PA6 nanocomposites of various nanofiller loading were prepared by compounding via a newly modified master batch technique called ultrasound assisted master batch (UMB), followed by injection molding (IM). Their mechanical properties, morphology and structural parameters were characterized and compared with the corresponding properties of Fe40Ni60/PA6 nanocomposites made by solution mixing (SM) and IM. The study reveals that the UMB process is more cost effective and time efficient, simpler and easier to scale up compared with the SM process. In addition, UMB nanocomposites exhibit superior mechanical properties and distinctive morphology compared with the corresponding SM ones. Moreover, structural analyses indicate that physical structural changes occurred in PA6 due to presence of alloy particles are affected differently by the different compounding methods, profound understanding of such phenomenon is focused throughout the article. These distinctive advantages recommend that UMB technique can be of great potential in commercial production of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). It is concluded that the sonication of nc Fe40Ni60 particles in dilute polymer solution during UMB compounding, a new step that is incorporated for the first time in the master batch process, is mainly responsible for the good wetting between nanoparticles and polymer chains, strong filler‐matrix interactions and consequently the remarkable mechanical performance of UMB PNCs. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:2343–2352, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers
High color rendering index and chromatic‐stable white organic light‐emitting diodes with single‐host double emissive layer structure
Authors: Zhu Wenqing , Sun Wenbing , Zhang Hao , Wu Xiaoliang , Sun Liangliang , Tang Mei , Wang Zixing , Wei Bin
Published: January 2014

In this paper, we successfully demonstrated high color rendering index (CRI) and color stable white organic light‐emitting diodes (WOLEDs) based on a hole‐type single‐host double emissive layer (EML) structure. By combining the yellow phosphorescent emission with the blue monomer and red excimer emission of platinum [1,3‐difluoro‐4,6‐di(2‐pyridinyl)benzene]chloride (Pt‐4), the devices exhibited a maximum CRI of 93, which was attributed to the perfect spectrum complement and the relative intensity adjustment of each emission peak. Meanwhile, the WOLEDs were very stable and showed a slight color coordinate shift of (±0.007, ±0.004) over a wide range of driving voltages from 4 to 10 V. The use of the double EML structure effectively confines the exciton generation zone in the Pt‐4 EML, thus, the white‐light emission comes from the energy transfer from host to Pt‐4 and then to yellow phosphor, which is less affected by the driving conditions.
Incidence and Epidemiology of Casualties Treated at the Dutch Role 2 Enhanced Medical Treatment Facility at Multi National Base Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan in the Period 2006–2010
Authors: Hoencamp Rigo , Idenburg Floris J. , Hamming Jaap F. , Tan Edward C. T. H.
Published: January 2014

Background

To improve care for the injured service member, we have analyzed battle casualty patterns and mechanisms. This study is the first documented report of wounding patterns and mechanisms of battle casualties treated at the Dutch role 2 enhanced medical treatment facility at the multi‐national base Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan, Afghanistan.

Methods

Participants were selected from the trauma registry at the Dutch role 2 enhanced medical treatment facility if they fitted the criteria ‘battle casualty’ and ‘disease non‐battle injury’ between August 2006 and August 2010.

Results

The trauma registry query resulted in 2,736 casualties, of which 60 % (N = 1,635) were classified as ‘disease non‐battle casualties’ and 40 % (N = 1,101) as ‘battle casualties’. The battle casualties sustained 1,617 combat wounds, resulting in 1.6 wounds per battle casualty. These injuries were predominately caused by explosions (55 %) and gunshots (35 %). The wounding pattern was as follows: head and neck (21 %), thorax (13 %), abdomen (14 %), upper extremity (20 %), and lower extremity (33 %).

Conclusions

The wounding patterns seen at the Dutch role 2 enhanced medical treatment facility at the multi‐national base Tarin Kowt resemble the patterns as recorded by other coalition partners. The wounding patterns differ with previous conflicts: a greater proportion of head and neck wounds, and a lower proportion of truncal wounds.
Attitudes of Mothers of Children with Down Syndrome Towards Noninvasive Prenatal Testing
Authors: Kellogg Gregory , Slattery Leah , Hudgins Louanne , Ormond Kelly
Published: January 2014

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) allows for highly sensitive detection of Down syndrome early in pregnancy with no risk of miscarriage, therefore potentially increasing the number of pregnancies identified with Down syndrome. This study assesses how mothers of children with Down syndrome perceive NIPT, especially the impact they think it will have on their families and other families with children who have Down syndrome. Seventy‐three self‐reported mothers of children with Down syndrome responded to an anonymous online survey emailed to, and posted on, message boards of various Down syndrome support groups and networks. Data analysis included chi‐square tests and thematic analysis. Fifty‐nine percent of respondents indicated they would use NIPT in the future; respondents who had not used prenatal testing in the past were significantly less likely to report interest in using NIPT in the future than those who had prenatal testing previously (p < .001). Many respondents felt NIPT could lead to increased terminations (88 %), increased social stigma (57 %), and decreased availability of services for individuals with Down syndrome (64 %). However, only 16 % believed availability of new noninvasive tests would be the most important factor in determining the number of pregnancies with Down syndrome terminated in the future. Additionally, 48 % believed health care providers give biased or incorrect information about Down syndrome at the time of diagnosis, and 24 % felt this incorrect information leads to terminations of pregnancies affected with Down syndrome. Results suggest although mothers of children with Down syndrome believe new noninvasive testing will lead to an increase in termination of pregnancies with Down syndrome, they do not think it is the MOST important factor. They also highlight the need to provide a diagnosis of Down syndrome in a balanced and objective manner.
Degradation of connexins and gap junctions
Authors: Falk Matthias M. , Kells Rachael M. , Berthoud Viviana M.
Published: January 2014

Connexin proteins are short‐lived within the cell, whether present in the secretory pathway or in gap junction plaques. Their levels can be modulated by their rate of degradation. Connexins, at different stages of assembly, are degraded through the proteasomal, endo‐/lysosomal, and phago‐/lysosomal pathways. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about connexin and gap junction degradation including the signals and protein–protein interactions that participate in their targeting for degradation.
Religion in the Perspective of“Big History”
Authors: Heim S. Mark
Published: January 2014

At the pinnacle of his career, the renowned sociologist Robert Bellah did not choose to write a magnum opus refining the influential work of a lifetime, focused particularly on contemporary American society. Nor did he choose to offer an unbuttoned reflection on the future of his discipline or the culture he had so closely studied. Instead, he devoted thirteen years to a project of breathtaking scope, religion in the evolutionary history of the human species, from the primordial soup to the Dalai Lama. He asked where religion had come from, not where it was going. He eventually felt compelled to truncate this story at the “axial age,” in the first millennium before the Common Era. This 700-page “fragment” of the original vision (before his recent death, he held out hope for a smaller companion book to round it off) is a work of judicious audacity. It is high tribute to Bellah's intellect and industry that it merits the first modifier no less than the second.
Senator John F. Kennedy: Anti-Imperialism and Utopian Deficit
Authors: STEPHANSON ANDERS
Published: January 2014

Opinions of John F. Kennedy differ but it is commonly agreed that he was an impatient man and easily bored (though when he was laid up lengthily in a hospital bed, which happened not infrequently, his stoicism and patience were nothing short of astonishing). It stands to reason, then, that one of the things that bored him in the 1950s was the cold war, by then solidified into a dogmatic and rigid system.1It is the ideological nature of that boredom, or discomfort, its dilemmas and limits, that interest me here. My double wager is that if one pursues Kennedy's idiosyncrasies on this score without reading him backwards from the unflinching coldwar policies he actually launched, apparently, in his presidency, then one will learn something both about the cold war at the time and about Kennedy himself.
Joint role exploration in sagittal balance by optimizing feedback gains
Authors: Xing Dengpeng , Su Jianbo
Published: January 2014

This paper investigates the contributions of each joint in perturbed balance by employing multiple balance strategies and exploring gain scheduling. Hybrid controllers are developed for sagittal standing in response to constant pushes, and a hypothesis is then investigated that postural feedback gains in standing balance should change with perturbation size via an optimization approach. Related research indicates the roles of each joint: the ankles apply torque to the ground, the hips and/or arms generate horizontal ground forces, and the knees and hips squat. To investigate it from an optimization point of view, this paper uses a horizontal push of a given size, direction, and location as a perturbation, and optimizes controllers for different push sizes, directions, and locations. It applies to the ankle, hip, squat, and arm swinging strategies in standing balance. By comparing the capability of handling disturbances and investigating the feedback gains of each strategy, this paper quantitatively analyzes the contributions of each joint to perturbed balance. We believe this work is also instructive to study the progressive behavioral changes as the model gets more and more complex.
UPDATE ON ROMIPLOSTIM AND ELTROMBOPAG INDIRECT COMPARISON
Authors: Cooper Katy , Matcham James , Helme Kawitha , Akehurst Ron
Published: January 2014

In our article “Romiplostim and eltrombopag for immune thrombocytopenia: methods for indirect comparison” published in the Journal (1), we presented an indirect comparison of the effectiveness of eltrombopag and romiplostim in raising platelet counts in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Indirect comparison analyses are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in cases where randomized head-to-head studies do not exist, and were used by NICE in their guidance for the eltrombopag Single Technology Appraisal submission (2).
INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE, PRICE DISPERSION, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF RETURNS TO INNOVATION
Authors: Makowsky Michael D. , Levy David M.
Published: January 2014

Models of endogenous growth have not been able to account for the variety of empirically observed distributional properties of the returns to innovation, in part, because of the limitations necessarily imposed on competition to cope with increasing returns to scale. Exponential growth, fat tails, Pareto–Levy distributed upper tails, and upper value outliers, are associated with increasing returns to scale and innovation. At the same time, properties such as bifurcated research investment strategies, bimodal returns to innovation, and Laplace distributed firm growth rates are products of competition. We build an agent-based model of endogenous technical change in which heterogeneous investments in patented knowledge and increasing returns to scale emerge these distributional properties within a competitive market. The combination of heterogeneous agents, costly information, and patents allow for a competitive landscape to persist amidst increasing returns. The ability of model to foster a coexistence of competition and increasing returns underlies the observed distributional properties.
God, Totality and Possibility in Kant'sOnly Possible Argument
Authors: Yong Peter
Published: January 2014

There has been a groundswell of interest in the account of modality that Kant sets forth in his pre-CriticalOnly Possible Argument. Andrew Chignell's reconstruction of Kant's theistic argument in terms of what he calls ‘real harmony’ has aprima facieadvantage in that it appears to be able to block the plurality objection (namely, that even if every modal fact presupposes some ground, this does not entail that all modal facts share the same ground). I argue that it is both textually and philosophically problematic to interpret Kant's argument in terms of real harmony. Then, I set forth an alternative response to the plurality objection which does not require the adoption of the problematic notion of real harmony. Instead, I argue that the objection can be overcome by observing that the argument seeks to ground modal facts as a totality and that, according to Kant, such relations can be accounted for only by their schematization in a single intellect.
Throwing Oneself Away: Kant on the Forfeiture of Respect
Authors: Bunch Aaron
Published: January 2014

Surprisingly often Kant asserts that it is possible to behave in such a degrading way that one ‘throws oneself away’ and turns oneself ‘into a thing’, as a result of which others may treat one ‘as they please’. Rather than dismiss these claims out of hand, I argue that they force us to reconsider what is meant and required by ‘respect for humanity’. I argue that to ‘throw away’ humanity is not to lose or extinguish it, but rather to refuse or otherwise fail toclaimthe respect that itauthorizesone to claim. If I refuse or fail to make this claim, there is a sense in which I become a thing, and I leave others no choice but to treat me as such. This is compatible with their respect for humanity in my person.
Longitudinal Invariance of the Children’s Depression Inventory	for Urban Children in Hunan, China
Authors: Lei Hui , Yao Shuqiao , Zhang Xiaocui , Cai Lin , Wu Wenfeng , Yang Yanjie , Tan Furong , Zhu Xiongzhao
Published: January 2014

Abstract. This study was designed to examine the invariance of item parameters in the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and changes in childhood depression over time among urban children in the Hunan Province of China. A total of 1,364 primary school students from the second to sixth grades participated in the study and completed four measurement waves, in which childhood depression was assessed with the CDI. The results were analyzed using the multilevel longitudinal Rasch measurement model. Seven items showed time effects in five subscales. Statistically significant negative linear time effects were observed in five subscales, and positive quadratic time effects were found in three subscales (i.e., Interpersonal Problems, Negative Self-esteem, and Negative Mood). Although a few items of the CDI were found to change with time following repeated administration, most of the CDI items showed strong longitudinal invariance of their item location parameters.
Gas permeation properties of hollow glass-crystalline microspheres
Authors: Fomenko Elena V. , Rogovenko Elena S. , Solovyov Leonid A. , Anshits Alexander G.
Published: January 2014

Microsphere materials for helium capture have been prepared on a base of narrow fractions of fly ash cenospheres.
PEGylated carbon nanoparticles for efficient in vitro photothermal cancer therapy
Authors: Tu Xiaolong , Ma Yufei , Cao Yuhua , Huang Jie , Zhang Mengxin , Zhang Zhijun
Published: January 2014

PEGylated carbon nanoparticles possess strong heat-producing ability and exhibit great potential in photothermal cancer therapy.
Optical properties of Nd3+and Yb3+-doped AgM(IO3)4metal iodates: transparent host matrices for mid-IR lasers and nonlinear materials
Authors: Phanon Delphine , Suffren Yan , Taouti Mohamed B. , Benbertal Djamal , Brenier Alain , Gautier-Luneau Isabelle
Published: January 2014

RE-doped AgM(IO3)4metal iodates are of interest as potential laser and self-doubled materials.
Simultaneous magnetoresistance and magneto-optical measurements of domain wall properties in nanodevices
Authors: Beguivin A. , Corte-León H. , Manzin A. , Nabaei V. , Krzysteczko P. , Schumacher H. W. , Petit D. , Cowburn R. P. , Kazakova O.
Published: January 2014

Simultaneous anisotropic magnetoresistance and magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements have been performed on L-shaped Permalloy nanowires. It is shown that through magnetoresistance measurements at the corner of the device, the switching information of both arms in a single loop can be accessed. This is a very efficient method that allows for the characterization of the pinning properties in such a device as well as the understanding of the fundamental physics behind the nucleation and propagation processes in such a system. Experimental results are in good agreement with micromagnetic simulations.
Matrix-isolation and computational study of the HXeY⋯H2O complexes (Y = Cl, Br, and I)
Authors: Tsuge Masashi , Berski Sławomir , Räsänen Markku , Latajka Zdzisław , Khriachtchev Leonid
Published: January 2014

The HXeY⋯H2O complexes (Y = Cl, Br, and I) are studied theoretically and experimentally. The calculations at the CCSD(T)/def2-TZVPPD level of theory predict two stable structures for Y = Cl and Br and one structure for Y = I, with interaction energies up to about −7 kcal mol−1. In the experiments, we have identified several infrared absorption bands originating from the H–Xe stretching mode of these complexes in a xenon matrix. The monomer-to-complex frequency shifts of this mode are up to +82 cm−1 (Y = Cl), +101 cm−1 (Y = Br), and +138 cm−1 (Y = I), i.e., the shift is smaller for more strongly bound molecules. Based on the agreement of the experimental and theoretical results, the observed bands are assigned to the most stable planar structure with an O–H⋯Y–Xe hydrogen bond.
Formation and characterization of hydrophobic glass surface treated by atmospheric pressure He/CH4 plasma
Authors: Noh Sooryun , Youn Moon Se
Published: January 2014

Atmospheric pressure helium plasmas, generated in the open air by 13.56 MHz rf power, were applied for the glass surface wettability modification. The plasma gas temperature, measured by the spectroscopic method, was under 400 K which is low enough to treat the samples without thermal damages. The hydrophobicity of the samples determined by the water droplet contact angle method was dependent on the methane gas content and the plasma exposure time. Adding the methane gas by a small amount of 0.25%, the contact angle was remarkably increased from 10° to 83° after the 10 s plasma treatment. From the analysis of the treated surface and the plasma, it was shown that the deposition of alkane functional groups such as C-H stretch, CH2 bend, and CH3 bend was one of the contributing factors for the hydrophobicity development. In addition, the hydrophobic properties lasted over 2 months even after the single treatment. From the results, the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment promises the fast and low-cost method for the thermally-weak surface modification.
A genomic portrait of the genetic architecture and regulatory impact of microRNA expression in response to infection
Authors: Siddle Katherine J. , Deschamps Matthieu , Tailleux Ludovic , Nédélec Yohann , Pothlichet Julien , Lugo-Villarino Geanncarlo , Libri Valentina , Gicquel Brigitte , Neyrolles Olivier , Laval Guillaume , Patin Etienne , Barreiro Luis B. , Quintana-Murci Lluís
Published: January 2014

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of gene expression, and their role in a wide variety of biological processes, including host antimicrobial defense, is increasingly well described. Consistent with their diverse functional effects, miRNA expression is highly context dependent and shows marked changes upon cellular activation. However, the genetic control of miRNA expression in response to external stimuli and the impact of such perturbations on miRNA-mediated regulatory networks at the population level remain to be determined. Here we assessed changes in miRNA expression uponMycobacterium tuberculosisinfection and mapped expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) in dendritic cells from a panel of healthy individuals. Genome-wide expression profiling revealed that ∼40% of miRNAs are differentially expressed upon infection. We find that the expression of 3% of miRNAs is controlled by proximate genetic factors, which are enriched in a promoter-specific histone modification associated with active transcription. Notably, we identify two infection-specific response eQTLs, for miR-326 and miR-1260, providing an initial assessment of the impact of genotype-environment interactions on miRNA molecular phenotypes. Furthermore, we show that infection coincides with a marked remodeling of the genome-wide relationships between miRNA and mRNA expression levels. This observation, supplemented by experimental data using the model of miR-29a, sheds light on the role of a set of miRNAs in cellular responses to infection. Collectively, this study increases our understanding of the genetic architecture of miRNA expression in response to infection, and highlights the wide-reaching impact of altering miRNA expression on the transcriptional landscape of a cell.
Relationship Between Brain Volumetric Changes and Interim Drinking at Six Months in Alcohol‐Dependent Patients
Authors: Segobin Shailendra H. , Chételat Gaël , Le Berre Anne‐Pascale , Lannuzel Coralie , Boudehent Céline , Vabret François , Eustache Francis , Beaunieux Hélène , Pitel Anne‐Lise
Published: January 2014

Background

Chronic alcohol consumption results in brain damage potentially reversible with abstinence. It is however difficult to gauge the degree of recovery of brain tissues with abstinence since changes are subtle and a significant portion of patients relapse. State‐of‐the‐art morphometric methods are increasingly used in neuroimaging studies to detect subtle brain changes at a voxel level. Our aim was to use the most refined morphometric methods to observe in alcohol dependence the relationship between volumetric changes and interim drinking over a 6‐month follow‐up.

Methods

Overall, 19 patients with alcohol dependence received volumetric T1‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after detoxification. A 6‐month follow‐up study was then conducted, during which 11 of them received a second MRI scan. First, correlations were conducted between gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes of patients at alcohol treatment entry and the amount of alcohol consumed between treatment entry and follow‐up. Second, longitudinal analyses were performed from pairs of MRI scans using tensor‐based morphometry in the 11 patients, and correlations were computed between the resultant Jacobian maps of GM and WM and interim drinking.

Results

Our preliminary results showed that, among others, alcoholics with smaller thalamus at alcohol treatment entry tended to resume with heavy alcohol consumption (p < 0.005 uncorrected [unc.]). Our longitudinal study revealed an overall inverse relationship between recovery of brain structures like the cerebellum, striatum, and cingulate gyrus, and the amount of alcohol consumed over the 6‐month follow‐up (p < 0.005 unc.). The recovery could be observed not only with strict abstinence but also in cases of moderate resumption of alcohol consumption, when there had been no drastic relapse into alcohol dependence.

Conclusions

Those preliminary findings indicate that the volume of the thalamus at treatment entry may have an influence on subsequent interim drinking. There is recovery of certain brain regions even when patients resume with moderate, but not drastic, alcohol consumption.
Matching on‐the‐fly: Sequential allocation with higher power and efficiency
Authors: Kapelner Adam , Krieger Abba
Published: January 2014

We propose a dynamic allocation procedure that increases power and efficiency when measuring an average treatment effect in fixed sample randomized trials with sequential allocation. Subjects arrive iteratively and are either randomized or paired via a matching criterion to a previously randomized subject and administered the alternate treatment. We develop estimators for the average treatment effect that combine information from both the matched pairs and unmatched subjects as well as an exact test. Simulations illustrate the method's higher efficiency and power over several competing allocation procedures in both simulations and in data from a clinical trial.
Evaluation of histological staging systems for primary biliary cirrhosis: correlation with clinical and biochemical factors and significance of pathological parameters in prognostication
Authors: Chan Anthony W H , Chan Ronald C K , Wong Grace L H , Wong Vincent W S , Choi Paul C L , Chan Henry L Y , To Ka‐Fai
Published: January 2014

Aims

A new Japanese histological staging system for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) has been proposed. We aimed to evaluate the efficacies of the Scheuer, Ludwig and Japanese staging systems, with emphasis on their clinical and biochemical correlations and prognostic significances.

Methods and results

We conducted a retrospective review of a cohort of 58 Chinese PBC patients, with follow‐up of up to 16.9 years. All three systems correlated well with prognostically significant parameters, namely serum bilirubin, Mayo scores and model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) score. Only the Japanese staging system was associated with Child–Pugh score, which was the single independent prognostic factor for liver‐related events (log‐rank P < 0.001; Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR) 6.723, P < 0.001). The Japanese system (log‐rank P = 0.007; Cox proportional HR 10.400, P = 0.025) predicted liver‐related events, while Scheuer (log‐rank P = 0.112) and Ludwig (log‐rank P = 0.147) systems did not. The copper‐associated protein (CAP) deposition score, a component of the Japanese system, was the most powerful histological prognostic parameter (log‐rank P < 0.001; Cox proportional HR 99.534, P = 0.049) and provided extra prognostic values in additional to serum albumin, serum bilirubin, Child–Pugh score, Mayo scores and MELD score.

Conclusion

The Japanese staging system is more effective than classical systems. The degree of CAP deposition is an essential prognostic histological parameter.
No evidence for long‐term effects of reproductive effort on parasite prevalence in great tits Parus major
Authors: de Jong Margje E. , Fokkema Rienk W. , Ubels Richard , van der Velde Marco , Tinbergen Joost M.
Published: January 2014

Allocation of resources between the life history traits reproduction and parasite defence are expected because both are energetically costly. Experimental evidence for such allocation has been found in short‐term effects of reproduction on parasite prevalence or immune function. However, there is increasing evidence for long‐term negative effects of reproductive effort on individuals. This study investigates whether long‐term effects of reproductive effort on parasite prevalence exist. Brood sizes of great tits Parus major were experimentally altered in one breeding season and in the subsequent breeding season the prevalence of three parasites types (blood parasites, ticks and fleas) on the surviving parents were investigated. We detected no long‐term effects of brood size manipulation on the prevalence of parasites in the next year and therefore provide no evidence for inter‐seasonal effects of reproductive effort on parasite prevalence. The post hoc level of statistical power was reasonable for effects on blood parasite and flea prevalence, but low for effects on tick prevalence.
Book Review
Authors: Buss Théo
Published: January 2014

Book reviewed in this article:

Bénédiction — le sourire de Dieu, by Christianne Méroz.
Phonetic Feature Encoding in Human Superior Temporal Gyrus
Authors: Mesgarani Nima , Cheung Connie , Johnson Keith , Chang Edward F.
Published: January 2014

Deciphering Language

Consonants and vowels represent basic building blocks of human language. How their characteristics are extracted from acoustic speech input is not well understood. Directly recording from the superior temporal gyrus of patients as part of their clinical evaluation for epilepsy surgery,

Mesgarani
et al.

(p.
1006
, published online 30 January; see the Perspective by

Grodzinsky
and
Nelken

) investigated neural responses while the subjects listened to continuous speech. The findings reveal how both vowels and consonants of different phonetic categories are encoded.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Gammaproteobacterial Strain MOLA455, a Representative of a Ubiquitous Proteorhodopsin-Producing Group in the Ocean
Authors: Courties Alicia , Riedel Thomas , Jarek Michael , Papadatou Maria , Intertaglia Laurent , Lebaron Philippe , Suzuki Marcelino T.
Published: January 2014

Strain MOLA455 is a marine gammaproteobacterium isolated from the bay of Banyuls-sur-Mer, France. Here, we present its genome sequence and annotation. Genome analysis revealed the presence of genes associated with a possibly photoheterotrophic lifestyle that uses a proteorhodopsin protein.
Draft Genome Sequences of Three Strains of Bacteroides pyogenes Isolated from a Cat and Swine
Authors: Sakamoto Mitsuo , Oshima Kenshiro , Suda Wataru , Kitamura Keiko , Iida Toshiya , Hattori Masahira , Ohkuma Moriya
Published: January 2014

Here, we report the draft genome sequences of
Bacteroides pyogenes
JCM 6294
T
, JCM 6292, and JCM 10003, which were isolated from a cat and swine and were recently classified into a single species,
B. pyogenes
. Comparative analyses of these genomes revealed the diversification of
B. pyogenes
strains isolated from different animals.
Acute phase endovascular intervention on a pseudoaneurysm formed due to rupture of an anterior communicating artery aneurysm
Authors: Ito Hidemichi , Morishima Hiroyuki , Onodera Hidetaka , Wakui Daisuke , Uchida Masashi , Sase Taigen , Oshio Kotaro , Tanaka Yuichiro
Published: January 2014

A 79-year-old woman presented with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Angiography revealed pseudoaneurysm formation due to rupture of a true saccular anterior communicating artery aneurysm. Coil embolization, limited to the true aneurysm, was performed successfully with a favorable clinical outcome. This procedure can be considered as an alternative treatment option for similar aneurysms in cases where surgical clipping is contraindicated.
Understanding the Premalignant Potential of Atypical Hyperplasia through Its Natural History: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Authors: Hartmann Lynn C. , Radisky Derek C. , Frost Marlene H. , Santen Richard J. , Vierkant Robert A. , Benetti Lorelle L. , Tarabishy Yaman , Ghosh Karthik , Visscher Daniel W. , Degnim Amy C.
Published: January 2014

Atypical hyperplasia is a high-risk premalignant lesion of the breast, but its biology is poorly understood. Many believe that atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) is a direct precursor for low-grade ductal breast cancer, whereas atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH) serves as a risk indicator. These assumptions underlie current clinical recommendations. We tested these assumptions by studying the characteristics of the breast cancers that develop in women with ADH or ALH. Using the Mayo Benign Breast Disease Cohort, we identified all women with ADH or ALH from 1967 to 2001 and followed them for later breast cancers, characterizing side of breast cancer versus side of atypia; time to breast cancer; type, histology, and grade of breast cancer, looking for patterns consistent with precursors versus risk indicators. A total of 698 women with atypical hyperplasia were followed a mean of 12.5 years; 143 developed breast cancer. For both ADH and ALH, there is a 2:1 ratio of ipsilateral to contralateral breast cancer. The ipsilateral predominance is marked in the first 5 years, consistent with a precursor phenotype for both ADH and ALH. For both, there is a predominance of invasive ductal cancers with 69% of moderate or high grade. Twenty-five percent are node positive. Both ADH and ALH portend risk for ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive breast cancers, predominantly ductal, with two thirds moderate or high grade. The ipsilateral breast is at especially high risk for breast cancer in the first 5 years after atypia, with risk remaining elevated in both breasts long term. ADH and ALH behave similarly in terms of later breast cancer endpoints. Cancer Prev Res; 7(2); 211–7. ©2014 AACR.
Surface Air Temperature Changes over the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries in China Simulated by 20 CMIP5 Models
Authors: Chen Liang , Frauenfeld Oliver W.
Published: January 2014

Historical temperature variability over China during the twentieth century and projected changes under three emission scenarios for the twenty-first century are evaluated on the basis of a multimodel ensemble of 20 GCMs from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and two observational datasets. Changes relative to phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) are assessed, and the performance of individual GCMs is also quantified. Compared with observations, GCMs have substantial cold biases over the Tibetan Plateau, especially in the cold season. The timing and location of these biases also correspond to the greatest disagreement among the individual models, indicating GCMs’ limitations in reproducing climatic features in this complex terrain. The CMIP5 multimodel ensemble shows better agreement with observations than CMIP3 in terms of the temperature biases. Both CMIP3 and CMIP5 capture the climatic warming over the twentieth century. However, the magnitude of the annual mean temperature trends is underestimated. There is also limited agreement in the spatial and seasonal patterns of temperature trends over China. Based on six statistical measures, four individual models—the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model, low resolution (MPI-ESM-LR), Second Generation Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2), Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate, Earth System Model (MIROC-ESM), and Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4)—best represent surface air temperature variability over China. The future temperature projections indicate that the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5 and RCP 4.5 scenarios exhibit a gradual increase in annual temperature during the twenty-first century at a rate of 0.60° and 0.27°C (10 yr)−1, respectively. As the lowest-emission mitigation scenario, RCP 2.6 projects the lowest rate of temperature increase [0.10°C (10 yr)−1]. By the end of the twenty-first century, temperature is projected to increase by 1.7°–5.7°C, with larger warming over northern China and the Tibetan Plateau.
Choosing Between Stairs and Escalator in Shopping Centers
Authors: Zacharias John , Ling Richard
Published: January 2014

The study tested the hypothesis that separating stairway from escalator between pairs of origin and destination floors in a shopping center would increase the rate at which the stairway was used. The study site included 13 stairways and 12 pairs of escalators in seven connected shopping centers. A total of 33,793 pedestrians were counted ascending or descending over 35 days. Simultaneous flow rates up and down among centers correlated at r = .89. Distance between stairway and escalator accounted for 71% of variance in the ascending model and 21% in the descending model, with height between floors resulting in slightly diminished pedestrian volumes, and overall pedestrian volume accounting for less than proportional increases in stair climbing and descending. A 100% increase in distance between stair and nearest escalator yielded a 95% increase in stair climbing.
Cross-Validation
Authors: Liang Tie , von Davier Alina A.
Published: January 2014

The development of the kernel equating (KE) method enhanced the theory of observed-score equating. In KE, discrete test score distributions are converted into continuous distributions through the use of a Gaussian kernel. Traditionally, the optimal bandwidth for a Gaussian kernel was obtained by minimizing a penalty function. In this article, an alternative bandwidth-selection approach for KE was adopted that uses cross-validation (CV) techniques. The method is illustrated through simulations that were conducted with 188 conditions by varying three factors known to influence equating results; these include sample sizes, score distributions, and methods that involve both equating and bandwidth-selection methods. Four equating procedures were considered: traditional equipercentile equating, which uses linear interpolation to make the test distributions continuous; KE with penalty functions; and KE with two newly proposed CV methods. The results were evaluated based on four criteria: bias in continuizing the distributions (i.e., the difference between the estimated and underlying score distributions), the standard error of equating (SEE), the difference between equated scores, and percent relative error (PRE). Overall, the results demonstrate that KE with the two CV methods outperformed the others—the estimated density functions were less biased and the SEEs and PREs were smaller. Equating differences between the different methods were produced, although they were not large. In addition, the bias issues surrounding kernel methods on sample sizes and the shapes of the distributions were addressed and discussed.