bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Pterin-Dependent Signaling Pathway Regulates a Dual-Function Diguanylate Cyclase-Phosphodiesterase Controlling Surface Attachment in Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Authors: Feirer Nathan , Xu Jing , Allen Kylie D. , Koestler Benjamin J. , Bruger Eric L. , Waters Christopher M. , White Robert H. , Fuqua Clay
Published: July 2015

The motile-to-sessile transition is an important lifestyle switch in diverse bacteria and is often regulated by the intracellular second messenger cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP). In general, high c-di-GMP concentrations promote attachment to surfaces, whereas cells with low levels of signal remain motile. In the plant pathogen
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
, c-di-GMP controls attachment and biofilm formation via regulation of a unipolar polysaccharide (UPP) adhesin. The levels of c-di-GMP in
A. tumefaciens
are controlled in part by the dual-function diguanylate cyclase-phosphodiesterase (DGC-PDE) protein DcpA. In this study, we report that DcpA possesses both c-di-GMP synthesizing and degrading activities in heterologous and native genetic backgrounds, a binary capability that is unusual among GGDEF-EAL domain-containing proteins. DcpA activity is modulated by a pteridine reductase called PruA, with DcpA acting as a PDE in the presence of PruA and a DGC in its absence. PruA enzymatic activity is required for the control of DcpA and through this control, attachment and biofilm formation. Intracellular pterin analysis demonstrates that PruA is responsible for the production of a novel pterin species. In addition, the control of DcpA activity also requires PruR, a protein encoded directly upstream of DcpA with a predicted molybdopterin-binding domain. PruR is hypothesized to be a potential signaling intermediate between PruA and DcpA through an as-yet-unidentified mechanism. This study provides the first prokaryotic example of a pterin-mediated signaling pathway and a new model for the regulation of dual-function DGC-PDE proteins.

IMPORTANCE
Pathogenic bacteria often attach to surfaces and form multicellular communities called biofilms. Biofilms are inherently resilient and can be difficult to treat, resisting common antimicrobials. Understanding how bacterial cells transition to the biofilm lifestyle is essential in developing new therapeutic strategies. We have characterized a novel signaling pathway that plays a dominant role in the regulation of biofilm formation in the model pathogen
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
. This control pathway involves small metabolites called pterins, well studied in eukaryotes, but this is the first example of pterin-dependent signaling in bacteria. The described pathway controls levels of an important intracellular second messenger (cyclic diguanylate monophosphate) that regulates key bacterial processes such as biofilm formation, motility, and virulence. Pterins control the balance of activity for an enzyme that both synthesizes and degrades the second messenger. These findings reveal a complex, multistep pathway that modulates this enzyme, possibly identifying new targets for antibacterial intervention.
Haploid Genetic Screen Reveals a Profound and Direct Dependence on Cholesterol for Hantavirus Membrane Fusion
Authors: Kleinfelter Lara M. , Jangra Rohit K. , Jae Lucas T. , Herbert Andrew S. , Mittler Eva , Stiles Katie M. , Wirchnianski Ariel S. , Kielian Margaret , Brummelkamp Thijn R. , Dye John M. , Chandran Kartik
Published: July 2015

Hantaviruses cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Old World and a highly fatal hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in the New World. No vaccines or antiviral therapies are currently available to prevent or treat hantavirus disease, and gaps in our understanding of how hantaviruses enter cells challenge the search for therapeutics. We performed a haploid genetic screen in human cells to identify host factors required for entry by Andes virus, a highly virulent New World hantavirus. We found that multiple genes involved in cholesterol sensing, regulation, and biosynthesis, including key components of the sterol response element-binding protein (SREBP) pathway, are critical for Andes virus entry. Genetic or pharmacological disruption of the membrane-bound transcription factor peptidase/site-1 protease (MBTPS1/S1P), an SREBP control element, dramatically reduced infection by virulent hantaviruses of both the Old World and New World clades but not by rhabdoviruses or alphaviruses, indicating that this pathway is broadly, but selectively, required by hantaviruses. These results could be fully explained as arising from the modest depletion of cellular membrane cholesterol that accompanied S1P disruption. Mechanistic studies of cells and with protein-free liposomes suggested that high levels of cholesterol are specifically needed for hantavirus membrane fusion. Taken together, our results indicate that the profound dependence on target membrane cholesterol is a fundamental, and unusual, biophysical property of hantavirus glycoprotein-membrane interactions during entry.

IMPORTANCE
Although hantaviruses cause important human diseases worldwide, no specific antiviral treatments are available. One of the major obstacles to the development of new therapies is a lack of understanding of how hantaviruses hijack our own host factors to enter cells. Here, we identified multiple cellular genes that control the levels of cholesterol in cellular membranes to be important for hantavirus entry. Our findings suggest that high concentrations of cholesterol in cellular membranes are required at a specific step in the entry process—fusion between viral and cellular membranes—that allows escape of the hantavirus genome into the host cell cytoplasm to initiate infection. Our findings uncover a fundamental feature of the hantavirus infection mechanism and point to cholesterol-lowering drugs as a potential new treatment of hantaviral infections.
Human Urine Decreases Function and Expression of Type 1 Pili in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli
Authors: Greene Sarah E. , Hibbing Michael E. , Janetka James , Chen Swaine L. , Hultgren Scott J.
Published: July 2015

Uropathogenic
Escherichia coli
(UPEC) is the primary cause of community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs). UPEC bind the bladder using type 1 pili, encoded by the
fim
operon in nearly all
E. coli
. Assembled type 1 pili terminate in the FimH adhesin, which specifically binds to mannosylated glycoproteins on the bladder epithelium. Expression of type 1 pili is regulated in part by phase-variable inversion of the genomic element containing the
fimS
promoter, resulting in phase ON (expressing) and OFF (nonexpressing) orientations. Type 1 pili are essential for virulence in murine models of UTI; however, studies of urine samples from human UTI patients demonstrate variable expression of type 1 pili. We provide insight into this paradox by showing that human urine specifically inhibits both expression and function of type 1 pili. Growth in urine induces the
fimS
phase OFF orientation, preventing
fim
expression. Urine also contains inhibitors of FimH function, and this inhibition leads to a further bias in
fimS
orientation toward the phase OFF state. The dual effect of urine on
fimS
regulation and FimH binding presents a potential barrier to type 1 pilus-mediated colonization and invasion of the bladder epithelium. However, FimH-mediated attachment to human bladder cells during growth in urine reverses these effects such that
fim
expression remains ON and/or turns ON. Interestingly, FimH inhibitors called mannosides also induce the
fimS
phase OFF orientation. Thus, the transduction of FimH protein attachment or inhibition into epigenetic regulation of type 1 pilus expression has important implications for the development of therapeutics targeting FimH function.

IMPORTANCE
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are extremely common infections, frequently caused by uropathogenic
Escherichia coli
(UPEC), that are treated with antibiotics but often recur. Therefore, UTI treatment both is complicated by and contributes to bacterial antibiotic resistance. Thus, it is important to understand UTI pathogenesis to devise novel strategies and targets for prevention and treatment. Based on evidence from disease epidemiology and mouse models of infection, UPEC relies heavily on type 1 pili to attach to and invade the bladder epithelium during initial stages of UTI. Here, we demonstrate that the negative effect of planktonic growth in human urine on both the function and expression of type 1 pili is overcome by attachment to bladder epithelial cells, representing a strategy to subvert this alternative innate defense mechanism. Furthermore, this dually inhibitory action of urine is a mechanism shared with recently developed anti-type 1 pilus molecules, highlighting the idea that further development of antivirulence strategies targeting pili may be particularly effective for UPEC.
Nutritional status and nutritional management in children with cancer
Authors: Gaynor Edward P T , Sullivan Peter B
Published: July 2015

Malnutrition is often seen at the point of diagnosis in childhood malignancy or may develop during the course of treatment. Strategies for optimal diagnosis and management of nutritional problems in children with cancer are limited in the published literature. Identification of children who may be malnourished or at nutritional risk can be achieved through improved approaches for risk stratification and classification. Once recognised, various strategies have been demonstrated to reduce malnutrition, minimise side effects of treatment and improve survival. Novel approaches in vivo and adult oncology populations provide future avenues for investigation.
Type III home sleep testing versus pulse oximetry: is the respiratory disturbance index better than the oxygen desaturation index to predict the apnoea-hypopnoea index measured during laboratory polysomnography?
Authors: Dawson Arthur , Loving Richard T , Gordon Robert M , Abel Susan L , Loewy Derek , Kripke Daniel F , Kline Lawrence E
Published: July 2015

Objectives

In its guidelines on the use of portable monitors to diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine endorses home polygraphy with type III devices recording at a minimum airflow the respiratory effort and pulse oximetry, but advises against simple pulse oximetry. However, oximetry is widely available and simple to use in the home. This study was designed to compare the ability of the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) based on oximetry alone with a stand-alone pulse oximeter (SPO) and from the oximetry channel of the ApneaLink Plus (ALP), with the respiratory disturbance index (RDI) based on four channels from the ALP to predict the apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI) from laboratory polysomnography.

Design

Cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study.

Setting

Sleep medicine practice of a multispecialty clinic.

Participants

Patients referred for laboratory polysomnography with suspected sleep apnoea. We enrolled 135 participants with 123 attempting the home sleep testing and 73 having at least 4 hours of satisfactory data from SPO and ALP.

Interventions

Participants had home testing performed simultaneously with both a SPO and an ALP. The 2 oximeter probes were worn on different fingers of the same hand. The ODI for the SPO was calculated using Profox software (ODISOX). For the ALP, RDI and ODI were calculated using both technician scoring (RDIMANand ODIMAN) and the ALP computer scoring (RDIRAWand ODIRAW).

Results

The receiver–operator characteristic areas under the curve for AHI ≥5 were RDIMAN0.88 (95% confidence limits 0.81–0.96), RDIRAW0.86 (0.76–0.94), ODIMAN0.86 (0.77–0.95), ODIRAW0.84 (0.75–0.93) and ODISOX0.83 (0.73–0.93).

Conclusions

We conclude that the RDI and the ODI, measured at home on the same night, give similar predictions of the laboratory AHI, measured on a different night. The differences between the two methods are small compared with the reported night-to-night variation of the AHI.
Cause, nature and care-seeking behaviour for injuries among community-dwelling older adults, USA, 2004–2013
Authors: Xu Dongjuan , Drew Julia A Rivera
Published: July 2015

Objective

To describe the cause and nature of injuries, and care-seeking behaviour following injury, among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

We used 10 years of the nationally representative Integrated Health Interview Series data, providing information on individual characteristics, cause and nature of injuries, and care-seeking behaviour for 3074 adults 65 years of age and older. Univariate and bivariate analyses were used to evaluate overall patterns and test for group-level differences.

Results

Approximately 40% of injuries were characterised as hip fracture, head injury and/or other fracture, with the remaining 60% consisting of other, milder types of injuries like bruises, strains and sprains. Fifty-eight per cent of injuries required a visit to the emergency room or transportation via an emergency vehicle, and 19% required hospitalisation. Injuries sustained in a fall were more likely to be serious than those due to other reasons. Older women, those ages 80+, those living with others with no spouse or partner present and those with activities of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living disabilities were more vulnerable to serious injuries and serious injury consequences relative to other older adults.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that injuries, especially falls, are a pressing public health concern for the growing population of older adults. Injury prevention outreach should take extra measures to reach certain subgroups of older adults that have been identified as especially vulnerable. Because so many injuries are due to reasons other than falling and/or do not result in hospitalisation, more interventions should be designed for general injury prevention and outpatient settings.
Use of tylvalosin in the control of porcine enzootic pneumonia
Authors: Pallarés F. J. , Lasa C. , Roozen M. , Ramis G.
Published: July 2015

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of tylvalosin (Aivlosin Water Soluble Granules, ECO Animal Health) in drinking water for control of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M hyo) on a farm with chronic enzootic pneumonia (EP) problems and high prevalence of mycoplasma‐like lesions at slaughter.

Design

On a 4000‐sow farm in the southeast of Spain, 1500 animals of same age were randomly divided into two groups: 900 pigs in the treated group (TG) and 600 pigs in the non‐treated control group (CG). TG was medicated for seven days with tylvalosin in drinking water (2.5 mg tylvalosin/kg bodyweight (BW)) at weaning (from 21st to 28th day of life) and a second treatment when moved to finisher barn (from 63rd to 70th day of life).

Results

In the TG, there was a significant reduction in the severity (P<0.001) and number of animals with lung lesions (P<0.001) compared with CG. TG had an increased average daily gain and decreased average number of days in finishing. TG had a lower average carcase weight, but improved homogeneity. M hyo was not detected by q‐PCR in samples, taken from lungs with characteristic EP lesions in the TG (0/9), in contrast to the CG (8/9 positive).

Conclusions

A strategic medication with Aivlosin at 2.5 mg tylvalosin/kg BW in drinking water for seven days at weaning and when moved to finisher barn significantly reduces mycoplasma‐like lung lesions and improves productivity parameters.
Synthesis Technique and Characterizations of Silver Nanostructures
Authors: Rajawat Shweta , Qureshi M. S.
Published: July 2015

In this work, we report synthesis of nanostructures of silver nanoparticles using X-ray films. Exposed X-ray films, which consist of silver nanoparticles, are cut into small pieces of size 1 cm × 1 cm. These pieces were heated in distilled water at temperature 70°C. These nanoparticles, separated from heated films, are simultaneously collected through electrolytic deposition using copper and carbon rods. The carbon rod is wrapped over by Low density polyethylene (LDPE) sheet for easy extraction. This process was carried in two different environments (1) in broad daylight and (2) on a cloudy day. Characterization of the two samples was done using X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. XRD of the particles gave peaks well in accordance with JCPDS file 04-. This result confirms formation of highly pure silver nanoparticles. TEM revealed that the interaction of silver nanoparticles with sunlight gave chain like structures whereas in the absence of interaction with sunlight, cloudy day, nanoflowers were formed. Nanostructures were more prominent for bigger particles.
Do Institutional Programs Aimed at Groundwater Augmentation Affect Crop Choice Decisions under Groundwater Irrigation? Empirical Evidence from Andhra Pradesh, India
Authors: Pradhan Deepa , Ranjan Ram
Published: July 2015

Crop choices made by farmers can make important contributions toward the sustainable management of groundwater resources in drought prone regions. However, farmers who would tend to maximize profits under normal circumstances face a trade-off between the choices of risky but more profitable high water intensive (HWI) crops on one hand and the low risk but less profitable low water intensive (LWI) and drought resistant (DR) crops on the other. In drought-hit regions of South India, institutional programs, such as crop water budgeting and farmer schools, have been promoted to provide support and information to the farmers in helping them make judicious crop choices. A multivariate probit (MVP) analysis reveals that crop water budget exercise and farmer field school participation, in fact, are positively associated with HWI crop choices, whereas participation in soil moisture conservation efforts is positively associated with growing LWI and DR crops. Our findings indicate that the objective of groundwater augmentation through institutional interventions that are solely based on educating and training farmers have been ineffective and have even been providing perverse incentives, and that there is a need for adding water extraction compliance components to such support programs in order for them to be efficacious.
Static models of central counterparty risk
Authors: Ghamami Samim
Published: July 2015

Following the 2009 G-20 clearing mandate, international standard setting bodies (SSBs) have outlined a set of principles for central counterparty (CCP) risk management. They have also devised formulaic CCP risk capital requirements on clearing members for their central counterparty exposures. There is still no consensus among CCP regulators and bank regulators on how central counterparty risk should be measured coherently in practice. A conceptually sound and logically consistent definition of the CCP risk capital in the absence of a unifying CCP risk measurement framework is challenging. Incoherent CCP risk capital requirements may create an obscure environment disincentivizing the central clearing of over the counter (OTC) derivatives transactions. Based on novel applications of well-known mathematical models in finance, this paper introduces a risk measurement framework that coherently specifies all layers of the default waterfall resources of typical derivatives CCPs. The proposed framework gives the first risk sensitive definition of the CCP risk capital based on which less risk sensitive non-model-based methods can be evaluated.
Program trading and its risk analysis based on agent-based computational finance
Authors: Xiong Xiong , Yuan Hailiang , Zhang Wei , Zhang Yongjie
Published: July 2015

Program trading originates from combination trading technology in 70's in America. It was popular, but once it was considered as root of disaster. Nowadays, there are many divergences on program trading risk in international academic world. This essay is to analyze program trading on risk of stock market. The method adopts computational experiment to build artificial stock market under various experimental conditions. The research will consider two strategies: combination insurance strategy and arbitrage strategy to inspect stock index futures' influences on artificial stock market. Through contrast experiments, it finds that program trading will cause abnormal fluctuation of stock market in short-term period but it will have slight impact on fluctuation of stock market in long-term period. On the whole, stock index futures reduce price fluctuation of spot market. Besides, the research finds that combination insurance strategy will increase short selling expectation in pessimistic market to accelerate market collapse when the market gives the same downside price expectation and the market should consider the influence of combination insurance strategy.
Local risk-minimization for Lévy markets
Authors: Arai Takuji , Suzuki Ryoichi
Published: July 2015

In this paper, we aim to obtain explicit representations of locally risk-minimizing by using Malliavin calculus for Lévy processes. For incomplete market models whose asset price is described by a solution to a stochastic differential equation driven by a Lévy process, we derive general formulas of locally risk-minimizing including Malliavin derivatives; and calculate its concrete expressions for call options, Asian options and lookback options.
Modeling intraday information in financial markets with the scatter search metaheuristic
Authors: Gomes da Silva Carlos
Published: July 2015

Intraday information about stocks or financial indexes is important for the definition of investors' strategies. In this paper two problems where the intraday information is used are studied: (i) modeling a bandwidth for the range of daily maximum and daily prices/values; (ii) modeling an upper and a lower bounds for the daily maximum and daily prices/values. A non-linear transformation of a modified AR(p) process is used, with the parameters computed by the scatter search metaheuristic. The approach is tested with historical data from NASDAQ, DAX, CAC40 and S&P financial series.
Synthetic Nano- and Micromachines in Analytical Chemistry: Sensing, Migration, Capture, Delivery, and Separation
Authors: Duan Wentao , Wang Wei , Das Sambeeta , Yadav Vinita , Mallouk Thomas E. , Sen Ayusman
Published: July 2015

Synthetic nano- and microscale machines move autonomously in solution or drive fluid flows by converting sources of energy into mechanical work. Their sizes are comparable to analytes (sub-nano- to microscale), and they respond to signals from each other and their surroundings, leading to emergent collective behavior. These machines can potentially enable hitherto difficult analytical applications. In this article, we review the development of different classes of synthetic nano- and micromotors and pumps and indicate their possible applications in real-time in situ chemical sensing, on-demand directional transport, cargo capture and delivery, as well as analyte isolation and separation.
Single-Molecule Investigations of Morphology and Mass Transport Dynamics in Nanostructured Materials
Authors: Higgins Daniel A. , Park Seok Chan , Tran-Ba Khanh-Hoa , Ito Takashi
Published: July 2015

Nanostructured materials such as mesoporous metal oxides and phase-separated block copolymers form the basis for new monolith, membrane, and thin film technologies having applications in energy storage, chemical catalysis, and separations. Mass transport plays an integral role in governing the application-specific performance characteristics of many such materials. The majority of methods employed in their characterization provide only ensemble data, often masking the nanoscale, molecular-level details of materials morphology and mass transport. Single-molecule fluorescence methods offer direct routes to probing these characteristics on a single-molecule/single-nanostructure basis. This article provides a review of single-molecule studies focused on measurements of anisotropic diffusion, adsorption, partitioning, and confinement in nanostructured materials. Experimental methods covered include confocal and wide-field fluorescence microscopy. The results obtained promise to deepen our understanding of mass transport mechanisms in nanostructures, thus aiding in the realization of advanced materials systems.
Lessons from modENCODE
Authors: Brown James B. , Celniker Susan E.
Published: July 2015

The modENCODE (Model Organism Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) Consortium aimed to map functional elements—including transcripts, chromatin marks, regulatory factor binding sites, and origins of DNA replication—in the model organisms Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans. During its five-year span, the consortium conducted more than 2,000 genome-wide assays in developmentally staged animals, dissected tissues, and homogeneous cell lines. Analysis of these data sets provided foundational insights into genome, epigenome, and transcriptome structure and the evolutionary turnover of regulatory pathways. These studies facilitated a comparative analysis with similar data types produced by the ENCODE Consortium for human cells. Genome organization differs drastically in these distant species, and yet quantitative relationships among chromatin state, transcription, and cotranscriptional RNA processing are deeply conserved. Of the many biological discoveries of the modENCODE Consortium, we highlight insights that emerged from integrative studies. We focus on operational and scientific lessons that may aid future projects of similar scale or aims in other, emerging model systems.
Media Coverage, Public Perceptions, and Consumer Behavior: Insights from New Food Technologies
Authors: McCluskey Jill J. , Kalaitzandonakes Nicholas , Swinnen Johan
Published: July 2015

The media often play the role of translating new science to consumers. We discuss the recent literature that has examined the supply and demand factors that affect media coverage of new food technologies and the impact on public perceptions and consumer behavior toward food that utilizes these technologies. We start with a discussion of the ways in which the media influence public perceptions and consumer behavior related to foods made with new technologies. We then discuss the incentives of news media and the potential sources of biases in their reporting. We review empirical studies that have examined media reporting of new agricultural and food technologies, especially biotechnology, in terms of both their agenda setting and framing effects and the social amplification of risk. We synthesize the findings of studies that have examined the influence of media coverage on public attitudes and consumer behavior. We conclude and discuss avenues for future research.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Rabies Virus (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Authors: Davis Benjamin M. , Rall Glenn F. , Schnell Matthias J.
Published: July 2015

The cultural impact of rabies, the fatal neurological disease caused by infection with rabies virus, registers throughout recorded history. Although rabies has been the subject of large-scale public health interventions, chiefly through vaccination efforts, the disease continues to take the lives of about 40,000–70,000 people per year, roughly 40% of whom are children. Most of these deaths occur in resource-poor countries, where lack of infrastructure prevents timely reporting and postexposure prophylaxis and the ubiquity of domestic and wild animal hosts makes eradication unlikely. Moreover, although the disease is rarer than other human infections such as influenza, the prognosis following a bite from a rabid animal is poor: There is currently no effective treatment that will save the life of a symptomatic rabies patient. This review focuses on the major unanswered research questions related to rabies virus pathogenesis, especially those connecting the disease progression of rabies with the complex dysfunction caused by the virus in infected cells. The recent applications of cutting-edge research strategies to this question are described in detail.
Behavior and modeling of two-dimensional precedence effect in head-unrestrained cats
Authors: Gai Yan , Ruhland Janet L. , Yin Tom C. T.
Published: July 2015

The precedence effect (PE) is an auditory illusion that occurs when listeners localize nearly coincident and similar sounds from different spatial locations, such as a direct sound and its echo. It has mostly been studied in humans and animals with immobile heads in the horizontal plane; speaker pairs were often symmetrically located in the frontal hemifield. The present study examined the PE in head-unrestrained cats for a variety of paired-sound conditions along the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal axes. Cats were trained with operant conditioning to direct their gaze to the perceived sound location. Stereotypical PE-like behaviors were observed for speaker pairs placed in azimuth or diagonally in the frontal hemifield as the interstimulus delay was varied. For speaker pairs in the median sagittal plane, no clear PE-like behavior occurred. Interestingly, when speakers were placed diagonally in front of the cat, certain PE-like behavior emerged along the vertical dimension. However, PE-like behavior was not observed when both speakers were located in the left hemifield. A Hodgkin-Huxley model was used to simulate responses of neurons in the medial superior olive (MSO) to sound pairs in azimuth. The novel simulation incorporated a low-threshold potassium current and frequency mismatches to generate internal delays. The model exhibited distinct PE-like behavior, such as summing localization and localization dominance. The simulation indicated that certain encoding of the PE could have occurred before information reaches the inferior colliculus, and MSO neurons with binaural inputs having mismatched characteristic frequencies may play an important role.
The Hibernation Continuum: Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Metabolic Plasticity in Mammals
Authors: van Breukelen Frank , Martin Sandra L.
Published: July 2015

Mammals are often considered to be masters of homeostasis, with the ability to maintain a constant internal milieu, despite marked changes in the environment; however, many species exhibit striking physiological and biochemical plasticity in the face of environmental fluctuations. Here, we review metabolic depression and body temperature fluctuation in mammals, with a focus on the extreme example of hibernation in small-bodied eutherian species. Careful exploitation of the phenotypic plasticity of mammals with metabolic flexibility may provide the key to unlocking the molecular secrets of orchestrating and surviving reversible metabolic depression in less plastic species, including humans.
Calcium Sensing in the Renal Tubule
Authors: Toka Hakan R. , Pollak Martin R. , Houillier Pascal
Published: July 2015

In addition to its prominent role in the parathyroid gland, the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) is expressed in various tissues, including the kidney. This article reviews current data on the calcium-sensing properties of the kidney, the localization of the CaSR protein along the nephron, and its function in calcium homeostasis and in hypercalciuria.
A Dynamic Recommender System for Improved Web Usage Mining and CRM Using Swarm Intelligence
Authors: Alphy Anna , Prabakaran S.
Published: July 2015

In modern days, to enrich e‐business, the websites are personalized for each user by understanding their interests and behavior. The main challenges of online usage data are information overload and their dynamic nature. In this paper, to address these issues, a WebBluegillRecom‐annealing dynamic recommender system that uses web usage mining techniques in tandem with software agents developed for providing dynamic recommendations to users that can be used for customizing a website is proposed. The proposed WebBluegillRecom‐annealing dynamic recommender uses swarm intelligence from the foraging behavior of a bluegill fish. It overcomes the information overload by handling dynamic behaviors of users. Our dynamic recommender system was compared against traditional collaborative filtering systems. The results show that the proposed system has higher precision, coverage, F1 measure, and scalability than the traditional collaborative filtering systems. Moreover, the recommendations given by our system overcome the overspecialization problem by including variety in recommendations.
A Novel Method for Node Fault Detection Based on Clustering in Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Zhang Wenbo , Han Guangjie , Feng Yongxin , Cheng Long , Zhang Deyu , Tan Xiaobo , Fu Lidong
Published: July 2015

Fault detection is a method of crucial importance to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) in industrial wireless sensor network (IWSN). Timely and accurate detection for fault nodes can increase the robustness of IWSN. Therefore, in order to reduce the network detection load and improve the system scalability, a cluster-based fault detection (CFD) algorithm is proposed. In this algorithm, the IWSN is clustered based on Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) protocol at the beginning, and then the reliability of all cluster head nodes is verified. In each cluster, the cluster head is responsible for fault detection in it. In addition, the introduction of node credibility mechanism enables CFD algorithm to tolerate transient faults. Simulation results demonstrate that CFD algorithm has better performances in terms of network energy consumption and detection accuracy.
Secure Access Control Method for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Chen Cheng-Yeh , Yein Alan Dahgwo , Hsu Te-Cheng , Chiang John Y. , Hsieh Wen-Shyong
Published: July 2015

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) contain a large number of resource-constrained and energy-limited sensor nodes that are generally deployed in an open environment. Those sensor nodes communicate with each other or with a base station via wireless channels. Therefore, secure access control is an important issue in WSNs because sensor nodes are susceptible to various malicious attacks during the authentication and key establishment phase and the new node addition phase. In this study, we propose a new access control method based on elliptic curve cryptography and the chameleon hash function. This method addresses the security problems in the existing research. It also has additional advantages since it does not require time synchronization between communication nodes, nor does it require node verification tables. In addition to our proposal, the correctness, security, resistance to possible attacks, and the performance of the proposed method are analyzed and evaluated. The results of our study demonstrate that the proposed method has an outstanding performance and fulfills all the requirements for secure communication in WSNs.
The Optimization of Chiller Loading by Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System and Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Lu Jyun-Ting , Chang Yung-Chung , Ho Cheng-Yi
Published: July 2015

A central air-conditioning (AC) system includes the chiller, chiller water pump, cooling water pump, cooling tower, and chilled water secondary pumps. Among these devices, the chiller consumes most power of the central AC system. In this paper, the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and genetic algorithm (GA) were utilized for optimizing the chiller loading. The ANFIS could construct a power consumption model of the chiller, reduce modeling period, and maintain the accuracy. GA could optimize the chiller loading for better energy efficiency. The simulating results indicated that ANFIS combined with GA could optimize the chiller loading. The power consumption was reduced by 6.32–18.96% when partial load ratio was located at the range of 0.6~0.95. The chiller power consumption model established by ANFIS could also increase the convergence speed. Therefore, the ANFIS with GA could optimize the chiller loading for reducing power consumption.
Numerical Reconstruction of Spring-Mass System from Two Nondisjoint Spectra
Authors: Pickmann Hubert , Egaña Juan C. , Soto Ricardo L.
Published: July 2015

A new numerical procedure is presented to reconstruct a fixed-free spring-mass system from two auxiliary spectra, which are nondisjoint. The method is a modification of the fast orthogonal reduction algorithm, which is less computationally expensive than others in the literature. Numerical results are obtained, showing the accuracy of the algorithm.
Atorvastatin Treatment for Atrial Fibrillation Reduces Serum High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Levels
Authors: Su Fang-Cheng , Li Xi-Dong , Sun Shao-Xia , Shi Ming-Yu , Xue Feng-Hua , Teng Shi-Chao , Jiang Li , Zhu Jing , Yin Feng , Gu Hong-Yue
Published: July 2015

We investigated whether serum hs-CRP levels predict the efficacy of atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with atorvastatin. Bibliographic databases were exhaustively searched for studies relevant to the research topic. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) criteria, combined with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS), were applied for study quality assessment. Our meta-analysis identified seven cohort studies (2006~2013), providing information on the change in serum hs-CRP levels in AF patients receiving atorvastatin therapy. After atorvastatin treatment, hs-CRP level in AF patients decreased significantly (SMD = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.58–1.47,P<0.001). Subgroup analysis by country and hs-CRP detection methods suggested a negative relationship between atorvastatin treatment and hs-CRP levels among Chinese AF patients (SMD = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.00–1.69,P<0.001) and by using ELISA method (SMD = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.51–1.71,P<0.001), but not among Turkish population and using INA method (allP>0.05). Egger’s test showed no publication bias (P=0.450). hs-CRP was clearly lowered in AF patients treated with atorvastatin, which may be helpful in the choice of statin agents for AF treatment. However, longer follow-ups are necessary to assess the clinical value of lowering hs-CRP in the clinical setting of AF treatment outcomes.
Activation-Inactivation Cycling of Rab35 and ARF6 Is Required for Phagocytosis of Zymosan in RAW264 Macrophages
Authors: Egami Youhei , Fujii Makoto , Kawai Katsuhisa , Ishikawa Yurie , Fukuda Mitsunori , Araki Nobukazu
Published: July 2015

Phagocytosis of zymosan by phagocytes is a widely used model of microbial recognition by the innate immune system. Live-cell imaging showed that fluorescent protein-fused Rab35 accumulated in the membranes of phagocytic cups and then dissociated from the membranes of newly formed phagosomes. By our novel pull-down assay for Rab35 activity, we found that Rab35 is deactivated immediately after zymosan internalization into the cells. Phagosome formation was inhibited in cells expressing the GDP- or GTP-locked Rab35 mutant. Moreover, the simultaneous expression of ACAP2—a Rab35 effector protein—with GTP-locked Rab35 or the expression of plasma membrane-targeted ACAP2 showed a marked inhibitory effect on phagocytosis through ARF6 inactivation by the GAP activity of ACAP2. ARF6, a substrate for ACAP2, was also localized on the phagocytic cups and dissociated from the membranes of internalized phagosomes. In support of the microscopic observations, ARF6-GTP pull-down experiments showed that ARF6 is transiently activated during phagosome formation. Furthermore, the expression of GDP- or GTP-locked ARF6 mutants also suppresses the uptake of zymosan. These data suggest that the activation-inactivation cycles of Rab35 and ARF6 are required for the uptake of zymosan and that ACAP2 is an important component that links Rab35/ARF6 signaling during phagocytosis of zymosan.
Gastric Cancer in the Excluded Stomach 10 Years after Gastric Bypass
Authors: Tinoco Augusto , Gottardi Lorena F. , Boechat Eduardo D.
Published: July 2015

According to the Brazilian health authorities, around 2,000 new cases of gastric cancer emerge in Brazil per year (Instituto Nacional de Câncer José Alencar Gomes da Silva, 2014). Indeed, gastric cancer constitutes the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and 95% of such malignancies are adenocarcinomas (De Roover et al., 2006, and Clark et al., 2006). Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a procedure frequently employed in bariatric surgery but restricted access to the excluded stomach means that discovery of gastric lesions is difficult, and diagnosis and treatment may be delayed. We report herein a case of gastric adenocarcinoma in the excluded stomach of a patient submitted to RYGB with the purpose of illustrating the difficulty of diagnosing and treating this rare condition.
SensoTrust: Trustworthy Domains in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Castillejo Pedro , Martínez-Ortega José-Fernán , López Lourdes , Sánchez Alcón José Antonio
Published: July 2015

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) based on wearable devices are being used in a growing variety of applications, many of them with strict privacy requirements: medical, surveillance, e-Health, and so forth. Since private data is being shared (physiological measures, medical records, etc.), implementing security mechanisms in these networks has become a major challenge. The objective of deploying a trustworthy domain is achieving a nonspecific security mechanism that can be used in a plethora of network topologies and with heterogeneous application requirements. Another very important challenge is resilience. In fact, if a stand-alone and self-configuring WSN is required, an autosetup mechanism is necessary in order to maintain an acceptable level of service in the face of security issues or faulty hardware. This paper presents SensoTrust, a novel security model for WSN based on the definition of trustworthy domains, which is adaptable to a wide range of applications and scenarios where services are published as a way to distribute the acquired data. Security domains can be deployed as an add-on service to merge with any service already deployed, obtaining a new secured service.
AmyloidβEnhances Typical Rodent Behavior While It Impairs Contextual Memory Consolidation
Authors: Salgado-Puga Karla , Prado-Alcalá Roberto A. , Peña-Ortega Fernando
Published: July 2015

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with an early hippocampal dysfunction, which is likely induced by an increase in soluble amyloid beta peptide (Aβ). This hippocampal failure contributes to the initial memory deficits observed both in patients and in AD animal models and possibly to the deterioration in activities of daily living (ADL). One typical rodent behavior that has been proposed as a hippocampus-dependent assessment model of ADL in mice and rats is burrowing. Despite the fact that AD transgenic mice show some evidence of reduced burrowing, it has not been yet determined whether or not Aβcan affect this typical rodent behavior and whether this alteration correlates with the well-known Aβ-induced memory impairment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to test whether or not Aβaffects burrowing while inducing hippocampus-dependent memory impairment. Surprisingly, our results show that intrahippocampal application of Aβincreases burrowing while inducing memory impairment. We consider that this Aβ-induced increase in burrowing might be associated with a mild anxiety state, which was revealed by increased freezing behavior in the open field, and conclude that Aβ-induced hippocampal dysfunction is reflected in the impairment of ADL and memory, through mechanisms yet to be determined.
Fuzzy-Based Adaptive Countering Method against False Endorsement Insertion Attacks in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Lee Hae Young
Published: July 2015

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are vulnerable to false endorsement insertion attacks (FEIAs), where a malicious adversary intentionally inserts incorrect endorsements into legitimate sensing reports in order to block notifications of real events. A centralized solution can detect and adaptively counter FEIAs while conserving the energy of the forwarding nodes because it does not make the nodes verify reports using cryptographic operations. However, to apply this solution to a WSN, the users must carefully select 10 or more security parameters, which are used to determine the occurrences of FEIAs. Thus, an inappropriate choice of a single parameter might result in the misinterpretation of or misdetection of FEIAs. Therefore, the present study proposes a fuzzy-based centralized method for detecting and adaptively countering FEIAs in dense WSNs, where two fuzzy rule-based systems are used to detect an FEIA and to select the most effective countermeasure against the FEIA. A major benefit of the proposed method is that the fuzzy systems can be optimized automatically by combining a genetic algorithm and a simulation. Thus, users only need to write a model of the WSN to apply the proposed method to a WSN. The improved performance with this method is demonstrated by simulation results.
An Integrated Approach Using Spatial Analysis to Study the Risk Factors for Leishmaniasis in Area of Recent Transmission
Authors: Menezes Júlia Alves , Ferreira Eduardo de Castro , Andrade-Filho José Dilermando , Sousa Alessandra Mara de , Morais Mayron Henrique Gomes , Rocha Ana Maria Sampaio , Machado-Coelho George Luis Lins , Lima Fernanda Pinheiro , Madureira Ana Paula , Garcia Tânia Cristina , Freitas Christian Resende , Soares Rodrigo Pedro , Margonari Carina
Published: July 2015

Some epidemiological aspects of leishmaniasis in the municipality of Formiga, Brazil, an important touristic site, were evaluated. Those included phlebotomine sand fly vectors, canine infection, and geoprocessing analysis for determining critical transmission areas. Sand flies (224 insects) belonging to ten different species were captured. The most captured species includedLutzomyia longipalpis(35.3%),Lutzomyia cortelezzii(33.5%), andLutzomyia whitmani(18.3%). A significant correlation between sand fly densities and climatic conditions was detected. Serological diagnosis (DPP and ELISA) was performed in 570 dogs indicating a prevalence of 5.8%. After sequencing the main species circulating in the area wereLeishmania infantumandLeishmania braziliensis. Spatial analysis demonstrated that vegetation and hydrography may be related to sand fly distribution and infected dogs. The municipality of Formiga has proven leishmaniasis vectors and infected dogs indicating the circulation of the parasite in the city. Correlation of those data with environmental and human cases has identified the critical areas for control interventions (south, northeast, and northwest). In conclusion, there is current transmission of visceral and canine human cases and the city is on the risk for the appearance of cutaneous cases.
Relation of Biomarkers of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress with Hypertension Occurrence in Lone Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Polovina Marija M. , Ostojic Miodrag C. , Potpara Tatjana S.
Published: July 2015

We compared plasma levels of biomarkers of inflammation (CRP) and oxidation (oxLDL), determined at study inclusion in lone atrial fibrillation (LAF) patients (48.6 ± 11.5 years; 74.0% men) and sinus rhythm controls (49.7 ± 9.3 years; 72.7% men, P > 0.05), and investigated the association of baseline CRP and oxLDL levels with the risk for vascular disease (VD) development (hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, coronary/peripheral artery disease, and pulmonary embolism) during prospective follow‐up. Baseline CRP (1.2 [0.7–1.9] mg/L versus 1.1 [0.7–1.6] mg/L) and oxLDL levels (66.3 ± 21.2 U/L versus 57.1 ± 14.6 U/L) were higher in LAF patients (both P < 0.05). Following a median of 36 months, incident VD occurred in 14 (28.0%) LAF patients, all of whom developed arterial hypertension, and in 5 (11.4%) controls (hypertension, n = 4; coronary artery disease, n = 1), P < 0.05. LAF patients developed VD more frequently and at a younger age. Both CRP (HR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.26–5.12; P = 0.009) and oxLDL (HR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.14–4.40; P = 0.019) were multivariate predictors of incident hypertension in LAF patients, but not in the controls. Further research should clarify clinical relevance of investigated biomarkers for risk stratification and treatment of LAF patients.