bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Mechanical Properties and Mechanical Anisotropy in Canine Bone Tissues of Various Ages
Authors: Luo Changqi , Liao Junyi , Zhu Zhenglin , Wang Xiaoyu , Lin Xiao , Huang Wei
Published: June 2019

The effect of age on mechanical behavior and microstructure anisotropy of bone is often ignored by researchers engaged in the study of biomechanics. The objective of our study was to determine the variations in mechanical properties of canine femoral cortical bone with age and the mechanical anisotropy between the longitudinal and transverse directions. Twelve beagles divided into three age groups (6, 12, and 36 months) were sacrificed and all femurs were extracted. The longitudinal and transverse samples of cortical bone were harvested from three regions of diaphysis (proximal, central, and distal). A nanoindentation technique was used for simultaneously measuring force and displacement of a diamond tip pressed 2000nm into the hydrated bone tissue. An elastic modulus was calculated from the unloading curve with an assumed Poisson ratio of 0.3, while hardness was defined as the maximal force divided by the corresponding contact area. The mechanical properties of cortical bone were determined from 852 indents on two orthogonal cross-sectional surfaces. Mean elastic modulus ranged from 7.56±0.32 GPa up to 21.56±2.35 GPa, while mean hardness ranged from 0.28±0.057 GPa up to 0.84±0.072 GPa. Mechanical properties of canine femoral cortical bone tended to increase with age, but the magnitudes of these increase for each region might be different. The longitudinal mechanical properties were significantly higher than that of transverse direction (P<0.01). A significant anisotropy was found in the mechanical properties while there was no significant correlation between the two orthogonal directions in each age group (r2<0.3). Beyond that, the longitudinal mechanical properties of the distal region in each age group were lower than the proximal and central regions. Hence, mechanical properties in nanostructure of bone tissue must differ mainly among age, sample direction, anatomical sites, and individuals. These results may help a number of researchers develop more accurate constitutive micromechanics models of bone tissue in future studies.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparation Combined Therapy May Improve Chemotherapy Efficacy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Wu Jiaming , Liu Yun , Fang Cantu , Zhao Lixian , Lin Lizhu , Lu Liming
Published: June 2019

Background. Whether traditional Chinese medicine preparation combined therapy can improve the efficacy of chemotherapy is controversial. This meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine preparation combined with chemotherapy. Method. Three databases were searched from inception through August 2018. Eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving the combined treatment of chemotherapy and traditional Chinese medicine preparation compared to chemotherapy alone for treating cancer were retrieved. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was assessed with Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias assessment tool. Meta-analysis was adopted to make comprehensive comparisons between the experimental and control groups. Results. Four RCTs were included in this review, comprising 256 subjects. The majority of the RCTs were judged as being of poor methodological quality. Meta-analysis showed that the combination of traditional Chinese medicine preparation and chemotherapy appeared to be more effective than chemotherapy alone, for the treatment of cancer, as assessed by the disease control rate (RR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.79) and the objective response rate (RR: 2.71, 95% CI: 1.28 to 5.77). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of bone marrow suppression (RR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.57 to 1.37) or gastrointestinal reaction (RR: 1.12, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.69). Conclusions. Traditional Chinese medicine preparation combined with chemotherapy may improve objective response rates and disease control rates more than chemotherapy alone. The evidence that combined traditional Chinese medicine preparation can reduce the side effects of chemotherapy is insufficient. More rigorous randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these conclusions.
Review of Urban Transportation Network Design Problems Based on CiteSpace
Authors: Jia Guo-Ling , Ma Rong-Guo , Hu Zhi-Hua
Published: June 2019

This paper provides a comprehensive review of urban transportation network design problems according to CiteSpace, including main problem classifications, mathematical models, and solution methods obtained from CiteSpace clusters. The review attempts to present the systematic picture of urban transportation network design and show the future directions of it.
Sensor and Dynamic Pricing Aware Vertical Transportation in Smart Buildings
Authors: Choi Hyunkyoung , Cho Kyungwoon , Bahn Hyokyung
Published: June 2019

In modern smart buildings, the electricity consumption of a building is monitored every time and costs differently at each time slot of a day. Smart buildings are also equipped with indoor sensors that can track the movement of human beings. In this paper, we propose a new elevator control system (ECS) that utilizes two kinds of context information in smart buildings: (1) human movements estimated by indoor sensors and (2) dynamic changes of electricity price. In particular, indoor sensors recognize elevator passengers before they press the elevator call buttons, and smart meters inform the dynamically changing price of the electricity to ECS. By using this information, our ECS aims at minimizing both the electricity cost and the waiting time of passengers. As this is a complex optimization problem, we use an evolutionary computation technique based on genetic algorithms (GA). We inject a learning module into the control unit of ECS, which monitors the change of the electricity price and the passengers’ traffic detected by sensors. Experimental results with the simulator we developed show that our ECS outperforms the scheduling configuration that does not consider sensor information or electricity price changes.
DOA Estimation Method in Multipath Environment for Passive Bistatic Radar
Authors: Hu Panhe , Bao Qinglong , Chen Zengping
Published: June 2019

Direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation in multipath environment is an important issue for passive bistatic radar (PBR) using frequency agile phased array VHF radar as illuminator of opportunity. Under such scenario, the main focus of this paper is to cope with the closely spaced uncorrelated and coherent signals in low signal-to-noise ratio and limited snapshots. Making full use of the characteristics of moduli of eigenvalues, the DOAs of the uncorrelated signals are firstly estimated. Afterwards, their contributions are eliminated by means of spatial difference technique. Finally, in order to improve resolution and accuracy DOA estimation of remaining coherent signals while avoiding the cross-terms effect, a new beamforming solution based iterative adaptive approach (IAA) is proposed to deal with a reconstructed covariance matrix. The proposed method combines the advantages of both spatial difference method and the IAA algorithm while avoiding their shortcomings. Simulation results validate its effectiveness; meanwhile, the good performances of the proposed method in terms of resolution probability, detection probability, and estimation accuracy are demonstrated by comparison with the existing methods.
Podoplanin, a Potential Therapeutic Target for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Authors: Hsu Yen-Bin , Huang Chi-Ying F. , Lin Kuan-Ting , Kuo Yu-Lun , Lan Ming-Chin , Lan Ming-Ying
Published: June 2019

Introduction. The role of podoplanin (PDPN) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is still unknown. The aims of this study were to investigate the expression and role of PDPN in NPC cells.Materials and Methods. Immunofluorescence staining and functional tests were used to determine the effects of PDPN knockdown by siRNA in TW01 NPC cells. Microarray analysis was conducted to identify genes regulated by PDPN. The molecular mechanism of PDPN on NPC cells was further determined by Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA).Results. PDPN was expressed in most TW01 NPC cells. PDPN knockdown by siRNA decreased NPC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The microarray data showed 63 upregulated genes and 12 downregulated genes following PDPN knockdown. The top 5 most upregulated genes analyzed by IPA were IFI27, IFI44L, IFI6, OAS1, and TRIM22, and the most relevant pathway was the interferon signaling pathway.Conclusions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to show that knocking down PDPN leads to suppression of NPC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Our results suggest that PDPN may serve as a potential chemotherapeutic target for NPC treatment in the future.
CoLR: Classification‐Oriented Local Representation for Image Recognition
Authors: Guo Tan , Zhang Lei , Tan Xiaoheng , Yang Liu , Guo Zhiwei , Wei Fupeng
Published: June 2019

Naïve sparse representation has stability problem due to its unsupervised nature, which is not preferred for classification tasks. For this problem, this paper presents a novel representation learning method named classification‐oriented local representation (CoLR) for image recognition. The core idea of CoLR is to find the most relevant training classes and samples with test sample by taking the merits of class‐wise sparseness weighting, sample locality, and label prior. The proposed representation strategy can not only promote a classification‐oriented representation, but also boost a locality adaptive representation within the selected training classes. The CoLR model is efficiently solved by Augmented Lagrange Multiplier (ALM) scheme based on a variable splitting strategy. Then, the performance of the proposed model is evaluated on benchmark face datasets and deep object features. Specifically, the deep features of the object dataset are obtained by a well‐trained convolutional neural network (CNN) with five convolutional layers and three fully connected layers on the challenging ImageNet. Extensive experiments verify the superiority of CoLR in comparison with some state‐of‐the‐art models.
A Method of Capturing and Transferring Customer Value in Product Service System
Authors: Ding Hua , Liu Hengqiang , Yang Kun
Published: June 2019

The methods of capturing and transferring the customer value in a product service system (PSS) are studied to capture the customers’ intrinsic value requirements, grasp the importance level of requirement, and transform it into design elements to more reasonably allocate resources and develop products more in line with the customers’ needs and more competitive at a minimum cost. First, a hierarchical model of the customer value based on the means‐end chain theory is constructed to analyze the customer value from the perspective of customer expectations. In the process of determining the importance priority of value elements, the cloud model is used to process the expert evaluation information, and the competitive correction factor and the Kano factor are used to modify the basic importance of the value elements. The customer value in the PSS is then transferred to the product and service performance domain by constructing the parallel house of quality embedded cloud model (PHOQ‐ECM). In other words, the cloud model is used to process the group decision‐making values with fuzziness and randomness to complete the correlation calculation of the parallel HOQ. The important priority of the performance characteristics is then obtained. Finally, the abovementioned methods are applied to capture and transfer the customer value of a shearer, and the results are compared with other studies. The results show that the hierarchical model of the customer value can more deeply capture the customer value. The cloud model solves the problem of group decision‐making with fuzziness and randomness. The competition correction factor and the Kano factor improve the accuracy of the importance priority of the value elements. PHOQ‐ECM achieves the transfer and distribution of the customer value to two different objects of product and service and improves the accuracy of the performance characteristics importance priority. The method feasibility and validity are verified through the abovementioned analysis. Consequently, the method can effectively guide the PSS design.
Ferritinophagic Flux Activation in CT26 Cells Contributed to EMT Inhibition Induced by a Novel Iron Chelator, DpdtpA
Authors: Sun Yanjie , Li Cuiping , Feng Jiankang , Li Yongli , Zhai Xinbo , Zhang Lei , Li Changzheng
Published: June 2019

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to metastasis and drug resistance; inhibition of EMT may attenuate metastasis and drug resistance. It has been demonstrated that ferritinophagy involves the process of many diseases; however, the relationship between EMT and ferritinophagy was not fully established. Some iron chelators show the ability to inhibit EMT, but whether ferritinophagy plays a role in EMT is largely unknown. To this end, we investigated the effect of a novel iron chelator, DpdtpA (2,2′-di-pyridylketone dithiocarbamate propionic acid), on EMT in the CT26 cell line. The DpdtpA displayed excellent antitumor (IC50=1.5±0.2 μM), leading to ROS production and apoptosis occurrence. Moreover, the ROS production correlated with ferritin degradation. The upregulation of LC3-II and NCOA4 from immunofluorescence and Western blotting analysis revealed that the occurrence of ferritinophagy contributed to ROS production. Furthermore, DpdtpA could induce an alteration both in morphology and in epithelial-mesenchymal markers, displaying significant EMT inhibition. The correlation analysis revealed that DpdtpA-induced ferritinophagy contributed to the EMT inhibition, implying that NCOA4 involved EMT process, which was firstly reported. To reinforce this concept, the ferritinophagic flux (NCOA4/ferritin) in either treated by TGF-β1 or combined with DpdtpA was determined. The results indicated that activating ferritinophagic flux would enhance ROS production which accordingly suppressed EMT or implementing the EMT suppression seemed to be through “fighting fire with fire” strategy. Taken together, our data demonstrated that ferritinophagic flux was a dominating driving force in EMT proceeding, and the new finding definitely will enrich our knowledge of ferritinophagy in EMT process.
Uterine Radial Artery Resistance Index Predicts Reproductive Outcome in Women with Recurrent Pregnancy Losses and Thrombophilia
Authors: Bao S. H. , Chigirin N. , Hoch V. , Ahmed H. , Frempong S. T. , Zhang M. , Ruan J. L. , Kwak-Kim J.
Published: June 2019

Uterine radial artery resistance index (URa-RI) by Doppler ultrasound may reflect the changes in the uteroplacental circulation and be associated with adverse events in early pregnancy. Recurrent pregnancy losses (RPL) are associated with thrombophilia, and anticoagulation treatment with low molecular weight heparin improves pregnancy outcome in women with RPL and thrombophilia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 139 pregnant women with 3 or more RPL and thrombophilia. The relationship between pregnancy outcome and dynamic changes of URa-RI was analyzed in 116 women who delivered a liveborn infant and 23 who miscarried the index pregnancy. Patients were on preconception low molecular weight heparin, low-dose aspirin (81mg per day), and prednisone treatment. URa-RI was measured during periovulation time, at the time of positive pregnancy test, and then repeated every two weeks until 32-week gestation or the time of miscarriage. The URa-RI at 8-week gestation was significantly higher in women who miscarried the index pregnancy than those who delivered alive born infant (0.51±0.08 vs. 0.42±0.03, P<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that URa-RI of 8 wk gestation effectively distinguished women who miscarried from those who had a live birth with an area under the curve of 82.6% (95% CI 69.01-97.17). After adjusting for covariates including age, BMI, and number of miscarriages, multiple logistic regression models showed that each 0.1 unit increase of URa-RI of 8 wk gestation was associated with 18.70-point increase in the risk of miscarriage (OR19.70, 95%CI 4.26-91.1, P<0.001), and women with an URa-RI≥0.45 had an OR of 49.48 (95% CI 8.01-307.95; P<0.001) for miscarriage compared to those who had URa-RI<0.45. In women with RPL and inherited thrombophilia, increased URa-RI at 8-week gestation was associated with spontaneous abortion independent of other risk factors while they were on anticoagulation treatment.
Nitrogen Uptake Efficiency and Total Soil Nitrogen Accumulation in Long-Term Beef Manure and Inorganic Fertilizer Application
Authors: Omara Peter , Aula Lawrence , Raun William R.
Published: June 2019

Livestock manure is a common soil amendment for crop-livestock production systems. However, the efficiency of crop nitrogen (N) uptake from the manure-amended soil may not equate with that from inorganic N sources. The objective of this paper was to determine the efficiency of N uptake, grain yield, and total soil nitrogen (TSN) accumulation in beef manure-amended soil compared to the inorganic N fertilizer-amended soil. Data (1990–2015) from a long-term continuous winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) fertility experiment at Stillwater in Oklahoma, USA, were used in this report. Three of the six “Magruder Plot” treatments used in this study were manure, NPK plus lime (NPKL), and a check (no nutrients applied). Pre-plant N, P, and K were applied annually at 67, 14.6, and 27.8 kg·ha−1, respectively, while beef manure was applied every 4 years at 269 kg N·ha−1. The results indicated that grain N uptake in the manure treatment (48.1 kg·ha−1) was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that in the NPKL treatment (60.2 kg·ha−1). This represents 20.1% efficiency of inorganic N uptake than the manure N uptake. The average grain yield (1990–2015) from the manure and NPKL treatments was 2265.7 and 2510.5 kg·ha−1, respectively, and was not significantly different. There was a trend of TSN increase over the study period for both manure and NPKL treatments. The average TSN from manure and NPKL treatments was 0.92 and 0.91 g·kg−1 soil, respectively, and was not significantly different. While no significant difference between manure and NPKL grain yield was observed, there was a significantly lower uptake efficiency of manure N compared to inorganic N. Furthermore, the low uptake efficiency of the manure N could suggest a potential for environmental pollution. Appropriate timing and application rate of manure N sources could optimize crop use efficiency and limit potential threat to the environment.
Determinants of Facility-Based Childbirth in Indonesia
Authors: Efendi Ferry , Ni’mah Ani Rihlatun , Hadisuyatmana Setho , Kuswanto Heri , Lindayani Linlin , Berliana Sarni Maniar
Published: June 2019

Background. Reducing maternal mortality remains a significant challenge in Indonesia, especially for achieving the country’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. One of the challenges is increasing delivery at healthcare facilities to ensure safe and healthy births. In Indonesia, research on factors affecting women’s use of facility-based childbirth services is scarce.Objective. This study was conducted to identify the determinants of facility-based deliveries in Indonesia.Methods. This study used data from the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey of 2012, with a cross-sectional design. An odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was employed to outline the independent variables for the determinants, including maternal age and education, place of residence, involvement in decision-making, employment status, economic status, and number of antenatal care visits. The dependent variable in this study was the place of delivery: whether it took place in healthcare or nonhealthcare facilities. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05 using bivariate analysis and binary logistic regression.Results. This study showed that a high level of education (OR: 3.035, 95% CI: 2.310–3.987), high economic status (OR: 6.691, 95% CI: 5.768–7.761), urban residence (OR: 2.947, 95% CI: 2.730–3.181), working status (OR: 0.853, 95% CI: 0.793–0.918), involvement in decision-making (OR: 0.887, 95% CI: 0.804–0.910), and having more than four visits to antenatal care centers (OR: 1.917, 95% CI: 1.783–2.061) were significant determinants of delivery at healthcare facilities.Conclusion. Efforts to improve facility-based childbirth in Indonesia must strengthen initiatives that promote women’s education, women’s autonomy, opportunities for wealth creation, and increased uptake of antenatal care, among others. Any barriers related to maternal healthcare services and cultural factors on the use of health facilities for childbirth in Indonesia require further monitoring and evaluation.
The Influence of Wheelchair Users on Movement in a Bottleneck and a Corridor
Authors: Geoerg Paul , Schumann Jette , Holl Stefan , Hofmann Anja
Published: June 2019

Emergency exits as bottlenecks in escape routes are important for designing traffic facilities. Particularly, the capacity estimation is a crucial performance criterion for assessment of pedestrians’ safety in built environments. For this reason, several studies were performed during the last decades which focus on the quantification of movement through corridors and bottlenecks. These studies were usually conducted with populations of homogeneous characteristics to reduce influencing variables and for reasons of practicability. Studies which consider heterogeneous characteristics in performance parameters are rarely available. In response and to reduce this lack of data a series of well-controlled large-scale movement studies considering pedestrians using different types of wheelchairs was carried out. As a result it is shown that the empirical relations ρ¯(v¯) and Js¯(ρ¯) are strongly affected by the presence of participants with visible disabilities (such as wheelchair users). We observed an adaption of the overall movement speeds to the movement speeds of participants using a wheelchair, even for low densities and free flow scenarios. Flow and movement speed are in a complex relation and do not depend on density only. In our studies, the concept of specific flow fits for the nondisabled subpopulation but it is not valid for scenario considering wheelchair users in the population.
Differences in Cancer Survival with Relative versus Cause-Specific Approaches: An Update Using More Accurate Life Tables
Authors: Forjaz de Lacerda Gonçalo , Howlader Nadia , Mariotto Angela B.
Published: June 2019

Background:

We investigated differences in net cancer survival (survival observed if the only possible cause of death was the cancer under study) estimated using new approaches for relative survival (RS) and cause-specific survival (CSS).

Methods:

We used SEER data for patients diagnosed in 2000 to 2013, followed-up through December 31, 2014. For RS, we used new life tables accounting for geography and socio-economic status. For CSS, we used the SEER cause of death algorithm for attributing cancer-specific death. Estimates were compared by site, age, stage, race, and time since diagnosis.

Results:

Differences between 5-year RS and CSS were generally small. RS was always higher in screen-detectable cancers, for example, female breast (89.2% vs. 87.8%) and prostate (98.5% vs. 93.7%) cancers; differences increased with age or time since diagnosis. CSS was usually higher in the remaining cancer sites, particularly those related to specific risk factors, for example, cervix (70.9% vs. 68.3%) and liver (20.7% vs. 17.1%) cancers. For most cancer sites, the gap between estimates was smaller with more advanced stage.

Conclusion: RS is the preferred approach to report cancer survival from registry data because cause of death may be inaccurate, particularly for older patients and long-term survivors as comorbidities increase challenges in determining cause of death. However, CSS proved to be more reliable in patients diagnosed with localized disease or cancers related to specific risk factors as general population life tables may not capture other causes of mortality.

Impact:

Different approaches for net survival estimation should be considered depending on cancer under study.
Mutation Status of RAS, TP53, and SMAD4 is Superior to Mutation Status of RAS Alone for Predicting Prognosis after Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastases
Authors: Kawaguchi Yoshikuni , Kopetz Scott , Newhook Timothy E. , De Bellis Mario , Chun Yun Shin , Tzeng Ching-Wei D. , Aloia Thomas A. , Vauthey Jean-Nicolas
Published: June 2019

Purpose:

Somatic gene mutations have been increasingly recognized to impact prognosis following resection of colorectal liver metastases (CLM). We aimed to determine the impact of combinations of somatic mutations on survival in patients undergoing CLM resection.

Experimental Design:

We identified patients who underwent initial CLM resection during 2007–2017 and had genetic sequencing data available. Risk factors for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were determined using Cox proportional hazards models.

Results:

Of 1460 patients who underwent CLM resection during the study period, 507 met the inclusion criteria. Multigene testing revealed mutation rates greater than 10% for TP53 (mutated in 70.8% of patients), APC (53.5%), RAS (50.7%), PIK3CA (15.8%), and SMAD4 (11.0%). BRAF was mutated in 2.0% of patients. BRAF, RAS, TP53, and SMAD4 mutations were significantly associated with OS, and RAS, TP53, and SMAD4 mutations were significantly associated with RFS. Coexisting mutations in RAS, TP53, and SMAD4 were associated with significantly worse OS and RFS than coexisting mutations in any 2 of these genes and mutations in 1 or none of these genes. Coexisting mutations in 2 genes conferred significantly worse OS and RFS than single mutation or no mutations. OS and RFS did not differ significantly between patients with RAS mutation and wild-type TP53 and SMAD4 and patients with wild-type RAS (P = 0.858 and 0.729, respectively).

Conclusions:

RAS mutation status alone is not sufficient for precisely predicting prognosis after CLM resection.
Prostate Cancer in World Trade Center Responders Demonstrates Evidence of an Inflammatory Cascade
Authors: Gong Yixuan , Wang Li , Yu Haocheng , Alpert Naomi , Cohen Mitchell D. , Prophete Colette , Horton Lori , Sisco Maureen , Park Sung-Hyun , Lee Hyun-Wook , Zelikoff Judith , Chen Lung-Chi , Hashim Dana , Suarez-Farinas Mayte , Donovan Michael J. , Aaronson Stuart A. , Galsky Matthew , Zhu Jun , Taioli Emanuela , Oh William K.
Published: June 2019

An excess incidence of prostate cancer has been identified among World Trade Center (WTC) responders. In this study, we hypothesized that WTC dust, which contained carcinogens and tumor-promoting agents, could facilitate prostate cancer development by inducing DNA damage, promoting cell proliferation, and causing chronic inflammation. We compared expression of immunologic and inflammatory genes using a NanoString assay on archived prostate tumors from WTC Health Program (WTCHP) patients and non-WTC patients with prostate cancer. Furthermore, to assess immediate and delayed responses of prostate tissue to acute WTC dust exposure via intratracheal inhalation, we performed RNA-seq on the prostate of normal rats that were exposed to moderate to high doses of WTC dust. WTC prostate cancer cases showed significant upregulation of genes involved in DNA damage and G2–M arrest. Cell-type enrichment analysis showed that Th17 cells, a subset of proinflammatory Th cells, were specifically upregulated in WTC patients. In rats exposed to WTC dust, we observed upregulation of gene transcripts of cell types involved in both adaptive immune response (dendritic cells and B cells) and inflammatory response (Th17 cells) in the prostate. Unexpectedly, genes in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway were also significantly upregulated 30 days after acute dust exposure. Our results suggest that respiratory exposure to WTC dust can induce inflammatory and immune responses in prostate tissue.

Implications:

WTC-related prostate cancer displayed a distinct gene expression pattern that could be the result of exposure to specific carcinogens. Our data warrant further epidemiologic and cellular mechanistic studies to better understand the consequences of WTC dust exposure.

Visual Overview: http://mcr.aacrjournals.org/content/molcanres/17/8/1605/F1.large.jpg.
Drug Management in End-of-Life Hospitalized Palliative Care Cancer Patients: The RHESO Cohort Study
Authors: Vallard Alexis , Morisson Stéphanie , Tinquaut Fabien , Chauvin Franck , Oriol Mathieu , Chapelle Céline , Sotton Sandrine , Magné Nicolas , Tardy Bernard , Bourmaud Aurélie
Published: June 2019

Objective: Little data about the management of drugs in terminally ill palliative care cancer patients is available. The present study aimed at describing the evolution of anticancer and non-anticancer treatments (NACTs) in cancer patients in palliative care units. The second objective was to identify factors leading to the medical decision to withdraw or not NACTs. Methods: Data from 1,091 cancer patients hospitalized in palliative care units were prospectively collected in 2010–2011, through a multicenter, observational French cohort. Results: The median overall survival after admittance in palliative care units was 15 days. Specific anticancer treatments were systematically stopped in the first 24 h in palliative care units, but for 4.5% of patients. Regarding NACTs, patients were heavily treated with strong opioids (74%), corticosteroids (51%), and antidepressants (21.8%) until death. Antiulcer agents (63.4%), antibiotics (25.7%), thrombosis prevention (21.8%), antidiabetics (7.6%), and transfusions (4%) were often also continuously prescribed. In multivariate analysis, ECOG PS 4 was an independent predictor of continuous prescription of morphine and an independent predictor of discontinuation of corticosteroids, proton-pump inhibitors, antidiabetics, and preventive anticoagulant therapy. Infection symptoms independently predicted continuous prescription of paracetamol. Paralysis and cancer palpable mass independently predicted corticosteroid withdrawal. Brain metastases independently predicted antiulcer withdrawal. Hemorrhage independently predicted preventive anticoagulant withdrawal. Availability to a venous access independently predicted paracetamol and antiulcer continuous prescriptions. Co-prescriptions independently predicted continuous prescriptions (antibiotics with antiulcer, antifungals with antibiotics) or withdrawal (preventive anticoagulant with antiplatelets and antifungals). Conclusions: NACT prescription remained commonplace in terminally ill palliative cancer patients, although their benefit is questionable.
Defining the Critical Region for Intellectual Disability and Brain Malformations in 6q27 Microdeletions
Authors: Hanna Marcela D. , Moretti Patricia N. , P. de Oliveira Claudiner , A. Rosa Maria T. , R. Versiani Beatriz , de Oliveira Silviene F. , Pic-Taylor Aline , F. Mazzeu Juliana
Published: June 2019

Terminal microdeletions of the long arm of chromosome 6 are associated with a phenotype that includes multiple brain malformations, intellectual disability, and epilepsy. A 1.7-Mb region has been proposed to contain a gene responsible for the brain anomalies. Here, we present the case of a 12-year-old girl with multiple brain alterations and moderate intellectual disability with a 18-kb deletion in chromosome 6q27, which is smaller than the microdeletions previously described by microarray analysis. We refined the smallest region of overlap possibly associated with the phenotype of brain malformations and intellectual disability to a segment of 325 kb, comprising the DLL1, PSMB1, TBP, and PDCD2 genes since these genes were structurally and/or functionally lost in the smaller deletions described to date. We hypothesize that DLL1 is responsible for brain malformations and possibly interacts with other adjacent genes. The TBP gene encodes a transcription factor which is potentially related to cognitive development. TBP is linked to PSMB1 and PDCD2 in a conserved manner among mammals, suggesting a potential interaction between these genes. In conclusion, the 6q27 microdeletion is a complex syndrome with variable expressivity of brain malformations and intellectual disability phenotypes which are possibly triggered by the 4 genes described and adjacent genes susceptible to gene regulation changes.
The Extracellular Matrix in Ischemic and Nonischemic Heart Failure
Authors: Frangogiannis Nikolaos G.
Published: June 2019

The ECM (extracellular matrix) network plays a crucial role in cardiac homeostasis, not only by providing structural support, but also by facilitating force transmission, and by transducing key signals to cardiomyocytes, vascular cells, and interstitial cells. Changes in the profile and biochemistry of the ECM may be critically implicated in the pathogenesis of both heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The patterns of molecular and biochemical ECM alterations in failing hearts are dependent on the type of underlying injury. Pressure overload triggers early activation of a matrix-synthetic program in cardiac fibroblasts, inducing myofibroblast conversion, and stimulating synthesis of both structural and matricellular ECM proteins. Expansion of the cardiac ECM may increase myocardial stiffness promoting diastolic dysfunction. Cardiomyocytes, vascular cells and immune cells, activated through mechanosensitive pathways or neurohumoral mediators may play a critical role in fibroblast activation through secretion of cytokines and growth factors. Sustained pressure overload leads to dilative remodeling and systolic dysfunction that may be mediated by changes in the interstitial protease/antiprotease balance. On the other hand, ischemic injury causes dynamic changes in the cardiac ECM that contribute to regulation of inflammation and repair and may mediate adverse cardiac remodeling. In other pathophysiologic conditions, such as volume overload, diabetes mellitus, and obesity, the cell biological effectors mediating ECM remodeling are poorly understood and the molecular links between the primary insult and the changes in the matrix environment are unknown. This review article discusses the role of ECM macromolecules in heart failure, focusing on both structural ECM proteins (such as fibrillar and nonfibrillar collagens), and specialized injury-associated matrix macromolecules (such as fibronectin and matricellular proteins). Understanding the role of the ECM in heart failure may identify therapeutic targets to reduce geometric remodeling, to attenuate cardiomyocyte dysfunction, and even to promote myocardial regeneration.
Blood Biomarkers of Heart Failure and Hypercoagulation to Identify Atrial Fibrillation–Related Stroke
Authors: Kneihsl Markus , Gattringer Thomas , Bisping Egbert , Scherr Daniel , Raggam Reinhard , Mangge Harald , Enzinger Christian , Fandler-Höfler Simon , Eppinger Sebastian , Hermetter Christina , Bucnik Bernd , Poltrum Birgit , Niederkorn Kurt , Fazekas Franz
Published: June 2019

Background and Purpose—

Occult atrial fibrillation (AF) causes a relevant proportion of initially cryptogenic stroke (CS), but prolonged rhythm monitoring is difficult to apply to all such patients. We hypothesized that blood biomarkers indicating heart failure (NT-proBNP [N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide]) and hypercoagulability (D-dimer, AT-III [antithrombin-III]) were associated with AF-related stroke and could serve to predict the likelihood of AF detection in CS patients early on.

Methods—

Over a 1-year period, we prospectively applied a defined etiologic work-up to all ischemic stroke patients admitted to our stroke unit. If no clear stroke cause was detected (CS), patients underwent extended in-hospital cardiac rhythm monitoring (≥72 hours). Blood to determine biomarker levels was drawn within 24 hours after admission.

Results—

Of 429 patients, 103 had AF-related stroke. Compared with noncardiac stroke patients (n=171), they had higher NT-proBNP (1867 versus 263 pg/ml) and D-dimer levels (1.1 versus 0.6 µg/ml), and lower AT-III concentration (89% versus 94%). NT-proBNP ≥505 pg/ml distinguished AF-related from noncardiac stroke with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 72%. D-dimer and AT-III cutoffs had lower sensitivities (61% and 53%) and specificities (58% and 69%) for AF-related stroke. Of all initially 143 CS patients, 14 were diagnosed with AF during in-hospital monitoring. The preidentified NT-proBNP cutoff ≥505 pg/ml correctly predicted AF in 12 of them (86%, negative predictive value: 98%), while D-dimer and AT-III cutoffs were noncontributory.

Conclusions—

This study supports the association of NT-proBNP and to a lesser extent of hypercoagulation markers with AF-related stroke. NT-proBNP seems helpful in selecting CS patients for immediate extended cardiac rhythm monitoring to detect occult AF whereby levels <505 pg/ml seem to have a high-negative predictive value.
Association Between Reported Long Working Hours and History of Stroke in the CONSTANCES Cohort
Authors: Fadel Marc , Sembajwe Grace , Gagliardi Diana , Pico Fernando , Li Jian , Ozguler Anna , Siegrist Johannes , Evanoff Bradley A. , Baer Michel , Tsutsumi Akizumi , Iavicoli Sergio , Leclerc Annette , Roquelaure Yves , Descatha Alexis
Published: June 2019

Background and Purpose—

Long working hours (LWHs) are a potential risk factor for stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate this association in a large general population cohort.

Methods—

We used the French population-based cohort, CONSTANCES (Cohorte des Consultants des Centres d'Examens de Santé), to retrieve information on age, sex, smoking, and working hours from the baseline, self-administered questionnaire. Other cardiovascular risk factors and previous occurrence of stroke were taken from a parallel medical interview. We defined LWH as working time >10 hours daily for at least 50 days per year. Participants with primarily part-time jobs were excluded as were those with stroke before LWH exposure. We used logistic models to estimate the association between LWH and stroke, stratified by age, sex, and occupation. In additional modeling, we excluded subjects whose stroke occurred within 5 years of the first reported work exposure.

Results—

Among the 143 592 participants in the analyses, there were 1224 (0.9%) strokes, 42 542 (29.6%) reported LWH, and 14 481 (10.1%) reported LWH for 10 years or more. LWH was associated with an increased risk of stroke: adjusted odds ratio of 1.29 (95% CI, 1.11–1.49). Being exposed to LWH for 10 years or more was more strongly associated with stroke, adjusted odds ratio of 1.45 (95% CI, 1.21–1.74). The association showed no differences between men and women but was stronger in white-collar workers under 50 years of age.

Conclusions—

This large analysis reveals a significant association between stroke and exposure to LWH for 10 years or more. The findings are relevant for individual and global prevention.
Most People Keep Their Word Rather Than Their Money
Authors: Woike Jan K. , Kanngiesser Patricia
Published: June 2019

Promises are crucial for human cooperation because they allow people to enter into voluntary commitments about future behavior. Here we present a novel, fully incentivized paradigm to measure voluntary and costly promise-keeping in the absence of external sanctions. We found across three studies (N = 4,453) that the majority of participants (61%–98%) kept their promises to pay back a specified amount of a monetary endowment, and most justified their decisions by referring to obligations and norms. Varying promise elicitation methods (Study 1a) and manipulating stake sizes (Study 2a) had negligible effects. Simultaneously, when others estimated promise-keeping rates (using two different estimation methods), they systematically underestimated promise-keeping by up to 40% (Studies 1b and 2b). Additional robustness checks to reduce potential reputational concerns and possible demand effects revealed that the majority of people still kept their word (Study 3). Promises have a strong normative power and binding effect on behavior. Nevertheless, people appear to pessimistically underestimate the power of others’ promises. This behavior–estimation gap may prevent efficient coordination and cooperation.
Gregory of Nyssa’s Engagement with Conceptual Metaphors
Authors: Sandwell Isabella
Published: June 2019

This essay explores what Gregory of Nyssa is doing when he claims in Against Eunomius that his use of the language of “father,” “son” and “begetting” for the divine is supported by the “apprehension of ordinary people” and by the “judgement of nature.” It uses conceptual metaphor theory in order to show that while Gregory recognised the role of ordinary human language in comprehending the divine, and so engaged with normal conceptual mappings from the domain of kinship, he also sought to transform those mappings in order to transform peoples’ thought processes and thus how they conceptualised the divine.
The distribution, taxonomy, and redescription of the geckos Cnemaspis affinis (Stoliczka 1887) and C. flavolineata (Nicholls 1949) with descriptions of a new montane species and two new lowland, karst- dwelling species from Peninsular Malaysia
Authors: GRISMER L. LEE , GRISMER JESSE L. , WOOD, JR. PERRY L. , ONN CHAN KIN
Published: June 2019

We provide data supporting the continued recognition of Cnemaspis affinis (Stoliczka) and Cnemaspis flavolineata (Nicholls) as separate species and restrict their distribution to Pulau Pinang, Penang for the former and the Titi Wangsa Range and Gunung Benom, Peninsular Malaysia for the latter. For the montane population of Cnemaspis from Bukit Larut, Perak, which has been referred to as both C. affinis and C. kendallii, we demonstrate that it is discretely diagnosable from all other Southeast Asian Cnemaspis on the basis of size and numerous color pattern and scale characteristics and for it we provide the new name Cnemaspis mcguirei sp. nov. Two new lowland, karst-dwelling species from isolated locations along the foothills of the Titi Wangsa and Timur ranges in northern Peninsular Malaysia are demonstrably differentiable from all other Southeast Asia Cnemaspis on the basis of color pattern and scale morphology and are described herein as Cnemaspis karsticola sp. nov. from Gunung Reng, Kelantan and Cnemaspis bayuensis sp. nov. from Kampung Bayu, Kelantan.
Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Middle Eastern geckos of the genus Cyrtopodion and their selected relatives
Authors: ČERVENKA JAN , KRATOCHVÍL LUKÁŠ , FRYNTA DANIEL
Published: June 2019

Representatives of the gekkonid genus Cyrtopodion and related genera form a highly diversified group of Palearctic geckos, whose taxonomy is still unstable and phylogeny little known. This study tries to improve this situation by attempting to reconstruct the phylogeny based on two molecular markers (partial sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S rRNA genes) in the Middle Eastern species of the genus Cyrtopodion and members of the genera Agamura and Bunopus. The results support the monophyly of the species groups within the genus Cyrtopodion as defined by Anderson (1999), but relationships between these groups remain largely unresolved. The kotschyi group (= subgenus Mediodactylus) is not closely related to the rest of the genus Cyrtopodion and should be treated as an autonomous genus. Agamura persica forms a monophyletic group with agamuroides + caspium + scabrum species groups. The genus Bunopus does not seem to be closely related to this clade. We briefly discuss the implications of our findings and stress the importance of further molecular studies in Palearctic geckos.
Umbothynnus, a newly recognised genus for the Rhagigaster alexius Guérin group of species (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Thynninae: Rhagigasterini) from northern Australia
Authors: BROWN GRAHAM
Published: June 2019

Umbothynnus gen. nov., is erected for Rhagigaster alexius (Guérin) and seven new species, U. bertholetiensis, U. borrolooliensis, U. infuscatus, U. katherinensis, U. subcornutus, U. subspinosus and U. webbiensis, described from Northern Australia. A key to the males of Umbothynnus is provided. The genus Rhytidogaster Turner, 1907 is resurrected, but this name is preoccupied by Rhytidogaster Agassiz, 1846. Rhytidothynnus nom. nov. is proposed as a replacement name for Rhytidogaster Turner.
Paracladopelma Harnisch from the Sino-Indian Region (Diptera: Chironomidae)
Authors: YAN CHUNCAI , JIN ZHAOHUI , WANG XINHUA
Published: June 2019

The genus Paracladopelma Harnisch from the Sino-Indian region is reviewed. Five new species, P. binum, P. bui, P. cirratum, P. crenum, and P. digitum are described and illustrated as males. Five species, P. aratrum Chaudhuri et Chattopadhyay, P. furudoprimum Sasa et Arakawa, P. hibarasecundum Sasa, P. simantodeea Sasa, Suzuki et Sakai, and P. tamahikawai Sasa are reexamined. Parachironomus tamanipparai (Sasa) is again placed in Paracladopelma. P. tokaradiea Sasa et Suzuki is a new synonym of P. kuramaclarum Sasa. Five species, P. daitoijea Sasa et Suzuki, P. inaheia Sasa, Kitami et Suzuki, P. misumaiprima Sasa et Suzuki, P. tokaraefea Sasa et Suzuki, and P. tonewabea Sasa et Tanaka are placed in the genus Cryptochironomus as new combinations. P. laminatum (Kieffer) is recorded for the first time from China. A key to all known males of Paracladopelma is presented.
Redescription of Crassomicrodus fulvescens (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Agathidinae), with new distributional data and revised taxonomic status
Authors: FIGUEROA JOSÉ ISAAC , SHARKEY MICHAEL J. , NÁPOLES JESÚS ROMERO , LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ VICTOR , GARCÍA JOSÉ ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ , MARTÍNEZ ANA MABEL , PINEDA SAMUEL
Published: June 2019

A detailed description of the adult of Crassomicrodus fulvescens (Cresson) is provided along with illustrations. New distributional data in the USA and Mexico are presented, and the first records from Canada are reported. Microdus medius Cresson is found to be a junior subjective synonym of M. fulvescens. Autographa californica (Speyer) is reported as a possible host for C. fulvescens based exclusively on label data.
Catalog of the Indo-Malayan/Australasian stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)
Authors: RASMUSSEN CLAUS
Published: June 2019

This catalog of the published literature on stingless bees from the Indo-Malayan/Australasian region was compiled from 520 references and deals with 129 proposed names for species-group taxa of which 89 are considered currently valid. Information is summarized on organisms associated with stingless bee colonies as well as the 225 plants from which the bees have been reported to forage. Lectotypes are designated for Trigona ornata described by Rayment and the following species described by Friese: Trigona anamitica, T. australis, T. borneënsis, T. flaviventris, T. keyensis, T. luteiventris, T. pygmaea, T. reepeni, T. sericea, and T. versicolor.
An expanded ND2 phylogeny of the brookii and prashadi groups with the description of three new Indian Hemidactylus Oken (Squamata: Gekkonidae)
Authors: AGARWAL ISHAN , BAUER AARON M. , GIRI VARAD B. , KHANDEKAR AKSHAY
Published: June 2019

We present an expanded ND2 phylogeny of the brookii and prashadi groups of Indian Hemidactylus. While relationships within the clades are not well resolved, we recover many well supported subclades and a number of deeply divergent lineages within each clade. We use morphological data to describe three of these divergent lineages as new species; Hemidactylus kolliensis sp. nov., a member of the prashadi group from high elevation in the Kollimalai Massif in Tamil Nadu, Hemidactylus chikhaldaraensis sp. nov. and Hemidactylus sankariensis sp. nov., both members of the brookii group, are described from high elevation of the Satpuras in Maharashtra and low elevation of Tamil Nadu, respectively. The three new species exhibit >15% divergence for the ND2 gene from their phylogenetic sisters and differ in a number of morphological characters from all Indian congeners. The discovery of three more endemic Hemidactylus species from rocky habitats suggests that many more remain to be discovered across India.