bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lessons learned after one-year of use of a highly efficient neighbourhood in Norway
Authors: Justo Alonso M , Line T , Næss E , Ramstad R K , Breuhaus P , Midttømme K
Published: October 2019

2020Park is an innovative installation in Stavanger, Norway. This installation provides heating and cooling via a ground source heat pump (GSHP). The system combines eight 220m deep boreholes, with an air to brine heat exchanger and the heat from cooling 15 square meters of thermal photovoltaic cells (PVT). The GSHP has a rated coefficient of performance ranging from 2.8 to over 4 and can deliver 120kW of water-based heating at temperatures 50-60°C.The system is designed to deliver heating and, in reverse operation, cooling to offices, a playing ground, a supermarket and some shops.

Analysing measured data of one year of operation, this system shows a clear discrepancy between available heat for ground storage and required heating during cold periods. Due to the imbalance between needs, one would expect the temperature in the ground to drop and thus the temperature of the brine at the inlet of the heat pump. By using the extra heat sources, the inlet temperature to the GSHP is relatively constant and thus the system operates mostly in constant conditions yielding constant system COP. This solution is very interesting for highly efficient buildings and neighbourhood with unbalanced demands.
Ventilated slabs: Energy consumption mitigation and thermal comfort augmentation
Authors: Özdenefe Murat , Mousavi Soad Abokhamis , Atikol Uğur
Published: October 2019

This study is an effort to investigate the energy and thermal comfort performance of a ventilated slab application for a particular building type-office building-that is located in Cyprus, which has typical Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and mild rainy winters. In Cyprus, almost all of the buildings employ reinforced concrete (high thermal mass) for the building frame and slabs. Daytime maximum and night-time minimum temperature difference is substantial, particularly in inland regions of the island during summer time (up to 16 °C). This traditional building structure together with high diurnal temperature difference generates convenient conditions for the application of ventilated slabs. In this work model of an office building, which is incorporated with ventilated slab is simulated with Energy Plus for the Cyprus weather conditions. The results revealed that the ventilated slab system reduced the cooling energy significantly and augmented the thermal comfort. The variation in the ventilated slab hollows’ length and diameter is not effective if the air flow rate is not increased. Thus, the authors suggest to increase the air flow rate through the slab for the best practice.
Development of load calculation algorithm for large space building based on RTS method
Authors: Shim Jisoo , Song Doo-sam
Published: October 2019

Since a large space building has distinguished characteristics, to analyse and predict the peak load these should be considered. The existed building energy simulation cannot reflect the characteristics of large space building, especially vertical temperature distribution. Therefore, to analyse the large space building, it is inevitably used the methods which requires high knowledge skills and economic cost. The goal of this research is suggesting the peak load calculation algorithm for a large space building. With RTS(Radiant Time Series) and simplified model for predicting vertical temperature distribution, the algorithm is expected to show highly applicability with minimum input data and consisted with clear calculation process. The calculation process is composed with three steps. 1) calculation for preparing initial condition, 2) calculation of air movement, 3) calculating peak load for occupied space. With the Energyplus applying airflow network, the result of algorithm is assessed. The predicted temperature and peak load for an occupied zone at each cases are compared. The result applying proposed algorithm shows 33.64 °C at 15 hour and the peak load is 50.92 kW. In case of applying Energy plus, 35.59 °C, 63.93 kW at 16 hour is predicted. For the further research, vertical temperature measurements in large space building will be proceeded. By comparing the measured vertical temperature distribution and predicted temperature in a large space building, the algorithm will be assessed.
Performance evaluation and comparison between rural new and traditional house in severe cold regions of China
Authors: Shao T , Jin H
Published: October 2019

With the development of urban-rural integration, the number of newly built houses is increasing. Due to the influence of climatic characteristics, traditional technology, economy etc, the phenomenon of large heating energy consumption and low indoor thermal comfort in winter is common in rural houses. In order to explore the energy-saving design methods for rural houses in severe cold regions and create a low-carbon and comfortable indoor thermal environment in winter, this paper selects the new house and traditional house of Zhalantun, Inner Mongolia as research objects, applying the methods of testing and calculation to comprehensive comparison of the differences between two types of housing from the aspects of building energy consumption, indoor thermal environment and thermal performance of building envelop. Results show that through the reasonable thermal environment zoning, performance optimization of building envelop and improvement of heating mode etc., the indoor thermal environment can be effectively improved, so as to achieve the purpose of comfort and energy saving.
Thermal analysis in daytime radiative cooling
Authors: Feng Jie , Santamouris Mattheos , Shah Kwok Wei , Ranzi Gianluca
Published: October 2019

Radiative cooling is a well-researched cooling technique which is based on the ability of terrestrial surfaces to dissipate heat to the cold outer space. Past research on radiative cooling mostly failed to present sub-ambient temperature under direct sun due to the limited solar reflectance and emissivity in the atmospheric window. The nanostructures developed in recent years have successfully achieved sub-ambient feature during daytime. This paper mainly presents and analyses the experiment and simulation/calculation in the related thermal analysis in daytime radiative cooling. The main purpose is to provide some feasible tools, techniques in testing its thermal performance. It emphasizes the importance of objective and critical evaluation about different cooling performance results reported in papers since the results are significantly influenced by settings in both simulation and experiment.
An early-design stage assessment method based on constructibility for building performance evaluation
Authors: Contrada F , Kindinis A , Caron J-F , Gobin C
Published: October 2019

The goal of Zero Energy Buildings represents a challenge for designers: in order to meet required performance, a wide range of technologies and solutions is needed, and interactions with other stakeholders can limit productivity of building process. In this context, early-design stage plays a key role in building lifecycle: at this point, choices define design strategies, which strongly influence the following phases (developed design, construction and operational stages). In order to support decision making in early-design stage, we propose a new assessment method based on the French concept of constructibility, enabling designers to verify the relevancy and robustness of proposed solutions and process. Constructibility comes from buildability and constructability concepts, it sets some principles based on the anticipation of risks and considers both stakeholders’ satisfactions and building performance issues. The evaluation is based on seven criteria: the simplicity of the solution, the verifiability, project skills availability, the simplicity to manage, the compliance with user-centric requirements, sustainability, and cost efficiency. Multi-criteria assessment employs Analytic Hierarchy Process technique to consider professional feedbacks about risks of performance changing. In the case study, a modular office south-oriented in Paris, the multi-criteria assessment is used to enable a decision-making support between various envelope solutions. The method enables to report project weakness and it represents a new practical tool enhancing constructibility.
Model house F3 in Ljubljana – Nearly Zero-Energy Building
Authors: Varšek Damjana , Rak Gaj
Published: October 2019

Building F3, Model House is a multi-apartment building, located in the new “Zeleni Gaj” residential development in Ljubljana’s Brdo district. The architectural design of the multi-apartment low-energy structure involves vertical divisions into four distinct sections or “lamellas” (A, B, C and D). The lamellas differ from each other in terms of technology, structure and design/concept. This means that they differ above all in terms of the materials used for floor finishes and types of ventilation. As a Nearly Zero-Energy Building the building is also part of a special project researching living comfort in a multi-apartment building, which consist of a minimum three-year period of implementation, research and monitoring.
Historic behavior in nonhyperbolic homoclinic classes
Authors: Barrientos Pablo , Kiriki Shin , Nakano Yushi , Raibekas Artem , Soma Teruhiko
Published: October 2019

We show that

C
1

C^1

-generically for diffeomorphisms of manifolds of dimension

d
≥
3

d\geq 3

, a homoclinic class containing saddles of different indices has a residual subset where the orbit of any point has historic behavior.
A short proof of local regularity of distributional solutions of Poisson’s equation
Authors: Di Fratta Giovanni , Fiorenza Alberto
Published: October 2019

We prove a local regularity result for distributional solutions of Poisson’s equation with

L
p

L^p

data. We use a very short argument based on Weyl’s lemma and the Riesz-Fréchet representation theorem.
Composition–differentiation operators on the Hardy space
Authors: Fatehi Mahsa , Hammond Christopher
Published: October 2019

Let

φ
\varphi

be a nonconstant analytic self-map of the open unit disk in

C

\mathbb {C}

, with

‖
φ

‖

∞

>
1

\|\varphi \|_{\infty }>1

. Consider the operator

D

φ

D_{\varphi }

, acting on the Hardy space

H

2

H^{2}

, given by differentiation followed by composition with

φ
\varphi

. We obtain results relating to the adjoint, norm, and spectrum of such an operator.
Epicuticular Compounds of Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae): Identification and Sexual Selection Across Two Years in the Wild
Authors: Angell Christopher S , Curtis Sharon , Ryckenbusch Anaïs , Rundle Howard D
Published: October 2019

The epicuticular compounds (ECs) of insects serve both to waterproof the cuticle and, in many taxa, as pheromones that are important for various social interactions, including mate choice within populations. However, ECs have not been individually identified in many species and most studies of their role in mate choice have been performed in a laboratory setting. Here we newly identify and quantify the ECs of the antler fly, Protopiophila litigata Bonduriansky, and use a cross-sectional selection analysis to quantify their association with male mating success in the wild across two years (2013 and 2017). The ECs of antler flies include straight-chain and methylated alkanes, alkenes, and a family of branched wax esters. We find all ECs to be shared between males and females but also demonstrate sexual dimorphism in the abundance of several. Male EC relative abundances were significantly associated with mating success in both years, although the multivariate direction of selection differed significantly between the years. Surprisingly, only two of the 18 compounds (or groups of compounds) we identified were similarly associated with mating success across the sampling years. In 2017, we further partitioned sexual selection into intra- and intersexual components, revealing selection on ECs to be significant via female choice but not male–male competition. Our study is one of few to investigate the potential role of ECs in mating success in the wild and adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating significant temporal variability in selection in natural populations.
Invited Commentary: Religion as a Social Determinant of Health
Authors: Kawachi Ichiro
Published: October 2019

There is broad agreement that religion is a social determinant of health. In the article by Chen and VanderWeele (Am J Epidemiol. 2018;187(11):2355–2364), the authors took an outcome-wide approach to demonstrate associations between religious practices early in the life course (regular service attendance and prayer/mediation) and a wide range of health endpoints and behaviors later on. Is religion a panacea? The study adds to the evidence that religious practices are correlated with a broad swath of health outcomes. However, more work is needed to translate that evidence into practicable advice for individuals and for society. The following tasks remain. 1) We must sharpen our understanding of which elements of religious practices promote health. (Specifically, is it service attendance, prayer, or both? Could a nonreligious person achieve the same benefit via regular participation in a secular group, like a choir?). 2) We should improve our understanding of the different contexts in which religion is likely to have beneficial, as well as potentially harmful, effects.
The Population Impact of Late Presentation With Advanced HIV Disease and Delayed Antiretroviral Therapy in Adults Receiving HIV Care in Latin America
Authors: Belaunzarán-Zamudio Pablo F , Caro-Vega Yanink N , Shepherd Bryan E , Rebeiro Peter F , Crabtree-Ramírez Brenda E , Cortes Claudia P , Grinsztejn Beatriz , Gotuzzo Eduardo , Mejia Fernando , Padgett Denis , Pape Jean W , Rouzier Vanessa , Veloso Valdilea , Cardoso Sandra Wagner , McGowan Catherine C , Sierra-Madero Juan G ,   on behalf of the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology (CCASAnet)
Published: October 2019

Late presentation to care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease are common in Latin America. We estimated the impact of these conditions on mortality in the region. We included adults enrolled during 2001–2014 at HIV care clinics. We estimated the adjusted attributable risk (AR) and population attributable fraction (PAF) for all-cause mortality of presentation to care with advanced HIV disease (advanced LP), ART initiation with advanced HIV disease, and not initiating ART. Advanced HIV disease was defined as CD4 of <200 cells/μL or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. AR and PAF were derived using marginal structural models. Of 9,229 patients, 56% presented with advanced HIV disease. ARs of death for advanced LP were 86%, 71%, and 58%, and PAFs were 78%, 58%, and 43% at 1, 5, and 10 years after enrollment. Among people without advanced LP, ARs of death for delaying ART were 39%, 32%, and 37% at 1, 5, and 10 years post-enrollment and PAFs were 20%, 14%, and 15%. Among people with advanced LP, ART decreased the hazard of death by 63% in the first year after enrollment, but 93% of these started ART; thus universal ART among them would reduce mortality by only 10%. Earlier presentation to care and earlier ART initiation would prevent most HIV deaths in Latin America.
Effectiveness of 1, 2, and 3 Doses of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Against High-Grade Cervical Lesions Positive for Human Papillomavirus 16 or 18
Authors: Johnson Jones Michelle L , Gargano Julia Warner , Powell Melissa , Park Ina U , Niccolai Linda M , Bennett Nancy M , Griffin Marie R , Querec Troy , Unger Elizabeth R , Markowitz Lauri E ,   for the HPV-IMPACT Working Group
Published: October 2019

Before 2016, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination was recommended on a 3-dose schedule. However, many vaccine-eligible US females received fewer than 3 doses, which provided an opportunity to evaluate the real-world vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 1, 2, and 3 doses. We analyzed data on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 2–3 and adenocarcinoma in situ (designated CIN2+) from the HPV Vaccine Impact Monitoring Project (HPV-IMPACT; 2008–2014). Archived tissue from CIN2+ lesions was tested for 37 types of HPV. Women were classified by number of doses received ≥24 months before CIN2+ detection. Using a test-negative design, VE was estimated as 1 minus the adjusted odds ratio from a logistic regression model that compared vaccination history for women whose lesions tested positive for HPV-16/18 (vaccine-type cases) with that for women who had all other CIN2+ lesions (controls). Among 3,300 women with available data on CIN2+, typing results, and vaccine history, 1,561 (47%) were HPV-16/18–positive, 136 (4%) received 1 dose of HPV vaccine, 108 (3%) received 2 doses, and 325 (10%) received 3 doses. Adjusted odds ratios for vaccination with 1, 2, and 3 doses were 0.53 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.37, 0.76; VE = 47%), 0.45 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.69; VE = 55%), and 0.26 (95% CI: 0.20, 0.35; VE = 74%), respectively. We found significant VE against vaccine-type CIN2+ after 3 doses of HPV vaccine and lower but significant VE with 1 or 2 doses.
MIAmS: microsatellite instability detection on NGS amplicons data
Authors: Escudié Frédéric , Van Goethem Charles , Grand David , Vendrell Julie , Vigier Anna , Brousset Pierre , Evrard Solène M , Solassol Jérôme , Selves Janick
Published: October 2019

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a molecular marker of DNA mismatch repair deficiency frequently at play in oncogenesis. MSI testing is used for diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic purposes in several cancers. The current gold standard analysis for microsatellite status is based on length distribution analysis of multiplex-PCR generated DNA fragments from tumor samples which is a laborious and time consuming method. Next generation sequencing (NGS) using amplicon panels is an easy, accurate and scalable technique to determine both the microsatellite status and tumor genome mutations at the same time. Here, we describe MIAmS, an application designed to tag microsatellite status from amplicon NGS of tumor samples. Interestingly, this tool does not require paired normal tissue for comparison. In addition, this scalable application provides a user-friendly report for the interpretation of the results by biologists and exhibits a strong accuracy and robustness for determination of the MSI status.

Availability and implementation

https://github.com/bialimed/miams. Evaluation data are available at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/PRJEB31725.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Improved Diagnostics Help to Identify Clinical Features and Biomarkers That Predict Mycoplasma pneumoniae Community-acquired Pneumonia in Children
Authors: Meyer Sauteur Patrick M , Krautter Selina , Ambroggio Lilliam , Seiler Michelle , Paioni Paolo , Relly Christa , Capaul Riccarda , Kellenberger Christian , Haas Thorsten , Gysin Claudine , Bachmann Lucas M , van Rossum Annemarie M C , Berger Christoph
Published: October 2019

Background

There are no reliable signs or symptoms that differentiate Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) infection in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) from other etiologies. Additionally, current diagnostic tests do not reliably distinguish between Mp infection and carriage. We previously determined that the measurement of Mp-specific immunoglobulin M antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) by enzyme-linked immunospot assay allowed for differentiation between infection and carriage. Using this new diagnostic test, we aimed to identify clinical and laboratory features associated with Mp infection.

Methods

This is a prospective cohort study of children, 3–18 years of age, with CAP from 2016 to 2017. Clinical features and biomarkers were compared between Mp-positive and -negative groups by Mann-Whitney U test or Fisher exact test, as appropriate. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) differences and optimal thresholds were determined by using the DeLong test and Youden J statistic, respectively.

Results

Of 63 CAP patients, 29 were Mp-positive (46%). Mp positivity was statistically associated with older age (median, 8.6 vs 4.7 years), no underlying disease, family with respiratory symptoms, prior antibiotic treatment, prolonged prodromal respiratory symptoms and fever, and extrapulmonary (skin) manifestations. Lower levels of C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, absolute neutrophil count, and procalcitonin (PCT), specifically PCT <0.25 μg/L, were statistically associated with Mp infection. A combination of age >5 years (AUC = 0.77), prodromal fever and respiratory symptoms >6 days (AUC = 0.79), and PCT <0.25 μg/L (AUC = 0.81) improved diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.90) (P = .05).

Conclusions

A combination of clinical features and biomarkers may aid physicians in identifying patients at high risk for Mp CAP.
Hidden Markov Model-based Load Balancing in Data Center Networks
Authors: He Binjie , Zhang Dong , Zhao Chang
Published: October 2019

Modern data centers provide multiple parallel paths for end-to-end communications. Recent studies have been done on how to allocate rational paths for data flows to increase the throughput of data center networks. A centralized load balancing algorithm can improve the rationality of the path selection by using path bandwidth information. However, to ensure the accuracy of the information, current centralized load balancing algorithms monitor all the link bandwidth information in the path to determine the path bandwidth. Due to the excessive link bandwidth information monitored by the controller, however, much time is consumed, which is unacceptable for modern data centers. This paper proposes an algorithm called hidden Markov Model-based Load Balancing (HMMLB). HMMLB utilizes the hidden Markov Model (HMM) to select paths for data flows with fewer monitored links, less time cost, and approximate the same network throughput rate as a traditional centralized load balancing algorithm. To generate HMMLB, this research first turns the problem of path selection into an HMM problem. Secondly, deploying traditional centralized load balancing algorithms in the data center topology to collect training data. Finally, training the HMM with the collected data. Through simulation experiments, this paper verifies HMMLB’s effectiveness.
Heterogeneity in migration strategies of Whooping Cranes
Authors: Pearse Aaron T , Metzger Kristine L , Brandt David A , Bidwell Mark T , Harner Mary J , Baasch David M , Harrell Wade
Published: October 2019

Migratory birds use numerous strategies to successfully complete twice-annual movements between breeding and wintering sites. Context for conservation and management can be provided by characterizing these strategies. Variations in strategy among and within individuals support population persistence in response to changes in land use and climate. We used location data from 58 marked Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) from 2010 to 2016 to characterize migration strategies in the U.S. Great Plains and Canadian Prairies and southern boreal region, and to explore sources of heterogeneity in their migration strategy, including space use, timing, and performance. Whooping Cranes completed ~3,900-km migrations that averaged 29 days during spring and 45 days during autumn, while making 11–12 nighttime stops. At the scale of our analysis, individual Whooping Cranes showed little consistency in stopover sites used among migration seasons (i.e. low site fidelity). In contrast, individuals expressed a measure of consistency in timing, especially migration initiation dates. Whooping Cranes migrated at different times based on age and reproductive status, where adults with young initiated autumn migration after other birds, and adults with and without young initiated spring migration before subadult birds. Time spent at stopover sites was positively associated with migration bout length and negatively associated with time spent at previous stopover sites, indicating Whooping Cranes acquired energy resources at some stopover sites that they used to fuel migration. Whooping Cranes were faithful to a defined migration corridor but showed less fidelity in their selection of nighttime stopover sites; hence, spatial targeting of conservation actions may be better informed by associations with landscape and habitat features rather than documented past use at specific locations. The preservation of variation in migration strategies existing within this species that experienced a severe population bottleneck suggests that Whooping Cranes have maintained a capacity to adjust strategies when confronted with future changes in land use and climate.
The long-term fate of persisting deciduous molars and canines in 42 patients with severe hypodontia: a 12-year follow-up
Authors: Hvaring Christina L , Birkeland Kari
Published: October 2019

Objectives

The decision to preserve or to extract a deciduous tooth without a successor hinges upon whether it can be expected to be stable over time. This study aimed to record the number and location of deciduous teeth and to examine the condition of deciduous canines and molars in a group of patients with severe hypodontia, both at baseline and at follow-up.

Material and methods

A total of 50 patients participated in a follow-up study. The average age was 13.9 years (range 7–25 years) at baseline and 25.6 years (range 18–38 years) at follow-up. Of the 50 subjects, 44 had at least one persisting deciduous tooth at follow-up and 42 had at least one deciduous canine or molar at baseline. The presence of persisting deciduous teeth was identified on panoramic radiographs. Deciduous canines and second molars were classified as good or poor based on infraocclusion, root resorption, and restorations.

Results

The mean number of persisting deciduous teeth per patient was 6.3 (range 1–16) at baseline and 2.6 (range 0–9) at follow-up. The tooth types with the highest tendency to remain were canines and second molars, and in particular canines in the mandible. Among the 42 participants with a deciduous canine or molar, 183 teeth were present at baseline, of which 112 were classified as good. At follow-up, 86 (77 per cent) of these were still present, with 65 (58 per cent) classified as good. The number of teeth classified as poor due to infraocclusion decreased much more from baseline to follow-up than those classified as poor due to root resorptions and restorations, indicating that infraoccluded teeth were lost during the observation period.

Conclusions

Preserving deciduous canines and molars in good condition is often a dependable choice. Early infraocclusion is detrimental to the prognosis and often leads to tooth loss. Teeth with short roots proved to be more stable over time.
On the Definition of Sarcopenia in the Presence of Aging and Obesity—Initial Results from UK Biobank
Authors: Linge Jennifer , Heymsfield Steven B , Dahlqvist Leinhard Olof
Published: October 2019

Background

Current consensus is to combine a functional measure with muscle quantity to assess/confirm sarcopenia. However, the proper body size adjustment for muscle quantity is debated and sarcopenia in obesity is not well described. Further, functional measures are not muscle-specific or sensitive to etiology, and can be confounded by, for example, fitness/pain. For effective detection/treatment/follow-up, muscle-specific biomarkers linked to function are needed.

Methods

Nine thousand six hundred and fifteen participants were included and current sarcopenia thresholds (EWGSOP2: DXA, hand grip strength) applied to investigate prevalence. Fat-tissue free muscle volume (FFMV) and muscle fat infiltration (MFI) were quantified through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sex-and-body mass index (BMI)-matched virtual control groups (VCGs) were used to extract each participant’s FFMV/height2 z-score (FFMVVCG). The value of combining FFMVVCG and MFI was investigated through hospital nights, hand grip strength, stair climbing, walking pace, and falls.

Results

Current thresholds showed decreased sarcopenia prevalence with increased BMI (underweight 8.5%/normal weight 4.3%/overweight 1.1%/obesity 0.1%). Contrary, the prevalence of low function increased with increasing BMI. Previously proposed body size adjustments (division by height2/weight/BMI) introduced body size correlations of larger/similar magnitude than before. VCG adjustment achieved normalization and strengthened associations with hospitalization/function. Hospital nights, low hand grip strength, slow walking pace, and no stair climbing were positively associated with MFI (p < .05) and negatively associated with FFMVVCG (p < .01). Only MFI was associated with falls (p < .01). FFMVVCG and MFI combined resulted in highest diagnostic performance detecting low function.

Conclusions

VCG-adjusted FFMV enables proper sarcopenia assessment across BMI classes and strengthened the link to function. MFI and FFMV combined provides a more complete, muscle-specific description linked to function enabling objective sarcopenia detection.
A transcriptome-wide association study implicates specific pre- and post-synaptic abnormalities in schizophrenia
Authors: Hall Lynsey S , Medway Christopher W , Pain Oliver , Pardiñas Antonio F , Rees Elliott G , Escott-Price Valentina , Pocklington Andrew , Bray Nicholas J , Holmans Peter A , Walters James T R , Owen Michael J , O’Donovan Michael C
Published: October 2019

Schizophrenia is a complex highly heritable disorder. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified multiple loci that influence the risk of developing schizophrenia, although the causal variants driving these associations and their impacts on specific genes are largely unknown. We identify a significant correlation between schizophrenia risk and expression at 89 genes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (P ≤ 9.43 × 10−6), including 20 novel genes. Genes whose expression correlate with schizophrenia were enriched for those involved in abnormal CNS synaptic transmission (PFDR = 0.02) and antigen processing and presentation of peptide antigen via MHC class I (PFDR = 0.02). Within the CNS synaptic transmission set, we identify individual significant candidate genes to which we assign direction of expression changes in schizophrenia. The findings provide strong candidates for experimentally probing the molecular basis of synaptic pathology in schizophrenia.
A Noninferiority Randomized Clinical Trial of the Use of the Smartphone-Based Health Applications IBDsmart and IBDoc in the Care of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients
Authors: McCombie Andrew , Walmsley Russell , Barclay Murray , Ho Christine , Langlotz Tobias , Regenbrecht Holger , Gray Andrew , Visesio Nideen , Inns Stephen , Schultz Michael
Published: October 2019

Background

Providing timely follow-up care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease in remission is important but often difficult because of resource limitations. Using smartphones to communicate symptoms and biomarkers is a potential alternative. We aimed to compare outpatient management using 2 smartphone apps (IBDsmart for symptoms and IBDoc for fecal calprotectin monitoring) vs standard face-to-face care. We hypothesized noninferiority of quality of life and symptoms at 12 months plus a reduction in face-to-face appointments in the smartphone app group.

Methods

Inflammatory bowel disease outpatients (previously seen more often than annually) were randomized to smartphone app or standard face-to-face care over 12 months. Quality of life and symptoms were measured quarterly for 12 months. Acceptability was measured for gastroenterologists and patients at 12 months.

Results

One hundred people (73 Crohn’s disease, 49 male, average age 35 years) consented and completed baseline questionnaires (50 in each group). Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses revealed noninferiority of quality of life and symptom scores at 12 months. Outpatient appointment numbers were reduced in smartphone app care (P < 0.001). There was no difference in number of surgical outpatient appointments or number of disease-related hospitalizations between groups. Adherence to IBDsmart (50% perfect adherence) was slightly better than adherence to IBDoc (30% perfect adherence). Good acceptability was reported among most gastroenterologists and patients.

Conclusions

Remote symptom and fecal calprotectin monitoring is effective and acceptable. It also reduces the need for face-to-face outpatient appointments. Patients with mild-to-moderate disease who are not new diagnoses are ideal for this system.

Clinical Trial Registration Number

ACTRN12615000342516.
Coupled changes in biomass and distribution drive trends in availability of fish stocks to US West Coast ports
Authors: Selden Rebecca L , Thorson James T , Samhouri Jameal F , Bograd Steven J , Brodie Stephanie , Carroll Gemma , Haltuch Melissa A , Hazen Elliott L , Holsman Kirstin K , Pinsky Malin L , Tolimieri Nick , Willis-Norton Ellen
Published: October 2019

Fishing communities are increasingly required to adapt to environmentally driven changes in the availability of fish stocks. Here, we examined trends in the distribution and biomass of five commercial target species (dover sole, thornyheads, sablefish, lingcod, and petrale sole) on the US west coast to determine how their availability to fishing ports changed over 40 years. We show that the timing and magnitude of stock declines and recoveries are not experienced uniformly along the coast when they coincide with shifts in species distributions. For example, overall stock availability of sablefish was more stable in southern latitudes where a 40% regional decline in biomass was counterbalanced by a southward shift in distribution of >200 km since 2003. Greater vessel mobility and larger areal extent of fish habitat along the continental shelf buffered northerly ports from latitudinal changes in stock availability. Landings were not consistently related to stock availability, suggesting that social, economic, and regulatory factors likely constrain or facilitate the capacity for fishers to adapt to changes in fish availability. Coupled social–ecological analyses such as the one presented here are important for defining community vulnerability to current and future changes in the availability of important marine species.
Postoperative outcomes of robotic-assisted lobectomy in obese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer
Authors: Casiraghi Monica , Sedda Giulia , Diotti Cristina , Mariolo Alessio Vincenzo , Galetta Domenico , Tessitore Adele , Maisonneuve Patrick , Spaggiari Lorenzo
Published: October 2019

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to assess the postoperative outcomes of robotic-assisted lobectomy in obese patients to determine the impact of the robotic approach on a high-risk population who were candidates for major pulmonary resection for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS

Between January 2007 and August 2018, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 224 obese patients (body mass index ≥ 30) who underwent pulmonary lobectomy at our institution via robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS, n = 51) or lateral muscle-sparing thoracotomy (n = 173).

RESULTS

Forty-two patients were individually matched with those who had the same pathological tumour stage and similar comorbidities and presurgical treatment. The median operative time was significantly longer in the RATS group compared to that in the thoracotomy group (200 vs 158 min; P = 0.003), whereas the length of stay was significantly better for the RATS group (5 vs 6 days; P = 0.047). Postoperative complications were significantly more frequent after open lobectomy than in the RATS group (42.9% vs 16.7%; P = 0.027). After a median follow-up of 4.4 years, the 5-year overall survival rate was 67.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) 45.7–82.2] for the RATS group, and 66.1% (95% CI 46.8–79.9) for the open surgery group (log-rank P = 0.54). The 5-year cumulative incidence of cancer-related deaths was 24.8% (95% CI 9.7–43.5) for the RATS group and 23.6% (95% CI 10.8–39.2) for the open surgery group (Gray’s test, P = 0.69).

CONCLUSIONS

RATS is feasible and safe for obese patients with NSCLC with advantages compared to open surgery in terms of early postoperative outcomes. In addition, the long-term survival rate was comparable to that of the open approach.
Evangelical Encounters: The American Tract Society and the Rituals of Print Distribution in Antebellum America
Authors: Hazard Sonia
Published: October 2019

The American Tract Society, an evangelical publisher, built one of the largest media distribution systems in antebellum America. Called “colportage” from 1841, the system mobilized hundreds of “colporteurs” who delivered tracts and books to people, mostly poor whites, in their homes across the United States. This article draws on ritual studies and affect theory to argue that colportage encounters were affectively charged rituals in which colporteurs staged a disposition of spaces, bodies, speech acts, and tempos to transmit affect, shape the subjectivity of readers, and consecrate books and tracts as sacred objects. An up-close examination of these encounters puts pressure on ideas of religious print as a democratizing medium, demonstrating that the reception of evangelical texts was conditioned by the forceful processes through which they were delivered into the hands of readers.
Learning from electronic health records across multiple sites: A communication-efficient and privacy-preserving distributed algorithm
Authors: Duan Rui , Boland Mary Regina , Liu Zixuan , Liu Yue , Chang Howard H , Xu Hua , Chu Haitao , Schmid Christopher H , Forrest Christopher B , Holmes John H , Schuemie Martijn J , Berlin Jesse A , Moore Jason H , Chen Yong
Published: October 2019

Objectives

We propose a one-shot, privacy-preserving distributed algorithm to perform logistic regression (ODAL) across multiple clinical sites.

Materials and Methods

ODAL effectively utilizes the information from the local site (where the patient-level data are accessible) and incorporates the first-order (ODAL1) and second-order (ODAL2) gradients of the likelihood function from other sites to construct an estimator without requiring iterative communication across sites or transferring patient-level data. We evaluated ODAL via extensive simulation studies and an application to a dataset from the University of Pennsylvania Health System. The estimation accuracy was evaluated by comparing it with the estimator based on the combined individual participant data or pooled data (ie, gold standard).

Results

Our simulation studies revealed that the relative estimation bias of ODAL1 compared with the pooled estimates was <3%, and the ratio of standard errors was <1.25 for all scenarios. ODAL2 achieved higher accuracy (with relative bias <0.1% and ratio of standard errors <1.05). In real data analysis, we investigated the associations of 100 medications with fetal loss during pregnancy. We found that ODAL1 provided estimates with relative bias <10% for 85% of medications, and ODAL2 has relative bias <10% for 99% of medications. For communication cost, ODAL1 requires transferring p numbers from each site to the local site and ODAL2 requires transferring (p×p+p) numbers from each site to the local site, where p is the number of parameters in the regression model.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that ODAL is privacy-preserving and communication-efficient with small bias and high statistical efficiency.
Mass spectrometry-based methods for analysing the mitochondrial interactome in mammalian cells
Authors: Koshiba Takumi , Kosako Hidetaka
Published: October 2019

Protein–protein interactions are essential biologic processes that occur at inter- and intracellular levels. To gain insight into the various complex cellular functions of these interactions, it is necessary to assess them under physiologic conditions. Recent advances in various proteomic technologies allow to investigate protein–protein interaction networks in living cells. The combination of proximity-dependent labelling and chemical cross-linking will greatly enhance our understanding of multi-protein complexes that are difficult to prepare, such as organelle-bound membrane proteins. In this review, we describe our current understanding of mass spectrometry-based proteomics mapping methods for elucidating organelle-bound membrane protein complexes in living cells, with a focus on protein–protein interactions in mitochondrial subcellular compartments.
Joint waveform inversion with the separated upgoing and downgoing wavefields of VSP data
Authors: Jin Chao , Cao Danping , Yin Xingyao
Published: October 2019

Waveform inversion of Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) data, including upgoing and downgoing wavefields, is a challenging technique for building an accurate model. During the inversion process, upgoing and downgoing wavefields have different contributions to the objective function due to an energy imbalance between them that may cause the upgoing field to not be used effectively. Therefore, we propose a method of joint waveform inversion with the separated upgoing and downgoing wavefields of VSP data based on the establishment of a multiobjective function without introducing weight coefficients. The separating step with direct simulation of upgoing and downgoing wavefields of VSP data by the reflectivity method simplifies the complexity of separating wavefields. Specially, the zero-offset VSP data can be obtained in the τ−p domain to reduce computational cost greatly. Establishment of a multiobjective function of the difference between upgoing and downgoing wavefields can overcome the energy imbalance problem for them. The joint inversion step with a multiobjective optimization method avoids insufficient or incomplete information from just using an upgoing or downgoing wavefield alone. Numerical tests applied on synthetic models indicate that this method has the potential to increase the accuracy of estimating the velocity and density.
CRYAB inhibits migration and invasion of bladder cancer cells through the PI3K/AKT and ERK pathways
Authors: Ruan Houxin , Li Yang , Wang Xu , Sun Bin , Fang Weihua , Jiang Shan , Liang Chaozhao
Published: October 2019

Background

Bladder cancer is a common malignancy characterized by a high recurrence rate and the development of drug resistance. Frequent mutations and gene expression alterations in the PI3K/AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinase-ERK pathways lead to deregulated cell growth and the acquisition of invasive properties, which facilitates tumour progression and confers resistance to chemotherapy. Therefore, identification of the underlying mechanisms that trigger the activation of these signalling pathways and control the invasive phenotype of tumour cells is of urgent need.

Methods

We utilized publicly available gene expression databases (GEO and TCGA) and bioinformatics analysis to identify key gene expression changes in human bladder cancer . The key gene expression was detected using BC tissue microarrays. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion and related signalling pathways were analysed flowing transfection with key gene overexpression plasmids.

Results

The analysis revealed that inhibited expression of the alpha-crystallin B chain was a common feature in all analysed datasets. The decrease in alpha-crystallin B expression was further confirmed at the protein level using BC tissue microarrays. Overexpression of alpha-crystallin B in T24 and J82 BC cell lines resulted in significant inhibition of tumour cell migration and invasion, which was associated with a decrease in PI3K, AKT and ERK activation. Moreover, alpha-crystallin B overexpression increased the expression of E-cadherin, while reducing the expression of N-cadherin, which indicated suppression of the epithelial–mesenchymal transition.

Conclusions

Overall, the results of our study suggested that alpha-crystallin B may function as a tumour-suppressive factor in bladder cancer.
Spatial genetic structure within a population of nine-banded armadillos in western Mississippi
Authors: Binns Loren A , Loughry W J , McDonough Colleen M , Anderson Corey Devin
Published: October 2019

The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is unique among mammals because females produce litters of genetically identical quadruplets via monozygotic polyembryony. This unusual form of reproduction could have profound impacts on the spatial genetic structure of populations of armadillos, but at present it is unclear whether littermates remain together as adults, or if sex-biased dispersal occurs. The goal of our study was to determine whether fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) within a population of armadillos diminishes with age (i.e., from juvenile to adult due to the dispersal of littermates away from one another), and if the degree of FSGS for a given age class differs between the sexes. We obtained genotype data at seven microsatellite DNA loci for 421 individuals in a wild population of armadillos inhabiting the Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge in western Mississippi. Correlogram analyses based on measures of spatial genetic autocorrelation showed weak but significant FSGS that was driven by positive spatial genetic autocorrelation among both male and female juveniles and adult males, but not adult females. Positive spatial genetic autocorrelation among adult males could be due to either female-biased dispersal or high variance in male reproductive success. Further work is required to discriminate between these two possibilities.
Molecular Mechanism of Telomere Length Dynamics and Its Prognostic Value in Pediatric Cancers
Authors: Wang Zhaoming , Rice Stephen V , Chang Ti-Cheng , Liu Yu , Liu Qi , Qin Na , Putnam Daniel K , Shelton Kyla , Lanctot Jennifer Q , Wilson Carmen L , Ness Kirsten K , Rusch Michael C , Edmonson Michael N , Wu Gang , Easton John , Kesserwan Chimene A , Downing James R , Chen Xiang , Nichols Kim E , Yasui Yutaka , Robison Leslie L , Zhang Jinghui
Published: October 2019

Background

We aimed to systematically evaluate telomere dynamics across a spectrum of pediatric cancers, search for underlying molecular mechanisms, and assess potential prognostic value.

Methods

The fraction of telomeric reads was determined from whole-genome sequencing data for paired tumor and normal samples from 653 patients with 23 cancer types from the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project. Telomere dynamics were characterized as the ratio of telomere fractions between tumor and normal samples. Somatic mutations were gathered, RNA sequencing data for 330 patients were analyzed for gene expression, and Cox regression was used to assess the telomere dynamics on patient survival.

Results

Telomere lengthening was observed in 28.7% of solid tumors, 10.5% of brain tumors, and 4.3% of hematological cancers. Among 81 samples with telomere lengthening, 26 had somatic mutations in alpha thalassemia/mental retardation syndrome X-linked gene, corroborated by a low level of the gene expression in the subset of tumors with RNA sequencing. Telomerase reverse transcriptase gene amplification and/or activation was observed in 10 tumors with telomere lengthening, including two leukemias of the E2A-PBX1 subtype. Among hematological cancers, pathway analysis for genes with expressions most negatively correlated with telomere fractions suggests the implication of a gene ontology process of antigen presentation by Major histocompatibility complex class II. A higher ratio of telomere fractions was statistically significantly associated with poorer survival for patients with brain tumors (hazard ratio = 2.18, 95% confidence interval = 1.37 to 3.46).

Conclusion

Because telomerase inhibitors are currently being explored as potential agents to treat pediatric cancer, these data are valuable because they identify a subpopulation of patients with reactivation of telomerase who are most likely to benefit from this novel therapeutic option.