bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Old Fogey’s History of Radio Jets
Authors: Spencer Ralph
Published: October 2017

This paper describes a personal view of the discovery of radio jets in celestial radio sources. The existence of narrow, collimated optical features in distant objects has been known about since the early 20th century; however, the advent of radio astronomy in the 1940s and 1950s revealed the existence of a large number of discrete radio sources. The realization that many of these objects were not primarily stellar or local to our own galaxy, but rather extragalactic, followed the determination of accurate radio positions, enabling identifications with optical objects. High-resolution radio interferometers found that they were often compact, and with a double lobed structure, implying outflow from a central object. Shortly afterwards, accurate techniques for the measurement of polarization were developed. However it was not until the advent of synthesis instruments in the 1970s that radio images of the sources were produced, and the existence of radio jets firmly established and their polarization characteristics found.
Functional Characterization of Rare RAB12 Variants and Their Role in Musician’s and Other Dystonias
Authors: Hebert Eva , Borngräber Friederike , Schmidt Alexander , Rakovic Aleksandar , Brænne Ingrid , Weissbach Anne , Hampf Jennie , Vollstedt Eva-Juliane , Größer Leopold , Schaake Susen , Müller Michaela , Manzoor Humera , Jabusch Hans-Christian , Alvarez-Fischer Daniel , Kasten Meike , Kostic Vladimir , Gasser Thomas , Zeuner Kirsten , Kim Han-Joon , Jeon Beomseok , Bauer Peter , Altenmüller Eckart , Klein Christine , Lohmann Katja
Published: October 2017

Mutations in RAB (member of the Ras superfamily) genes are increasingly recognized as cause of a variety of disorders including neurological conditions. While musician’s dystonia (MD) and writer’s dystonia (WD) are task-specific movement disorders, other dystonias persistently affect postures as in cervical dystonia. Little is known about the underlying etiology. Next-generation sequencing revealed a rare missense variant (c.586A>G; p.Ile196Val) in RAB12 in two of three MD/WD families. Next, we tested 916 additional dystonia patients; 512 Parkinson’s disease patients; and 461 healthy controls for RAB12 variants and identified 10 additional carriers of rare missense changes among dystonia patients (1.1%) but only one carrier in non-dystonic individuals (0.1%; p = 0.005). The detected variants among index patients comprised p.Ile196Val (n = 6); p.Ala174Thr (n = 3); p.Gly13Asp; p.Ala148Thr; and p.Arg181Gln in patients with MD; cervical dystonia; or WD. Two relatives of MD patients with WD also carried p.Ile196Val. The two variants identified in MD patients (p.Ile196Val; p.Gly13Asp) were characterized on endogenous levels in patient-derived fibroblasts and in two RAB12-overexpressing cell models. The ability to hydrolyze guanosine triphosphate (GTP), so called GTPase activity, was increased in mutants compared to wildtype. Furthermore, subcellular distribution of RAB12 in mutants was altered in fibroblasts. Soluble Transferrin receptor 1 levels were reduced in the blood of all three tested p.Ile196Val carriers. In conclusion, we demonstrate an enrichment of missense changes among dystonia patients. Functional characterization revealed altered enzyme activity and lysosomal distribution in mutants suggesting a contribution of RAB12 variants to MD and other dystonias.
Magnetic Fields and Reactive Oxygen Species
Authors: Wang Huizhen , Zhang Xin
Published: October 2017

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) ubiquitously exist in mammalian cells to participate in various cellular signaling pathways. The intracellular ROS levels are dependent on the dynamic balance between ROS generation and elimination. In this review, we summarize reported studies about the influences of magnetic fields (MFs) on ROS levels. Although in most cases, MFs increased ROS levels in human, mouse, rat cells, and tissues, there are also studies showing that ROS levels were decreased or not affected by MFs. Multiple factors could cause these discrepancies, including but not limited to MF type/intensity/frequency, exposure time and assay time-point, as well as different biological samples examined. It will be necessary to investigate the influences of different MFs on ROS in various biological samples systematically and mechanistically, which will be helpful for people to get a more complete understanding about MF-induced biological effects. In addition, reviewing the roles of MFs in ROS modulation may open up new scenarios of MF application, which could be further and more widely adopted into clinical applications, particularly in diseases that ROS have documented pathophysiological roles.
Sex, Sexuality, Sexual Offending and the Rights of Persons with Mental Disabilities
Authors: Perlin Michael , Cucolo Heather , Lynch Alison
Published: October 2017

Although the legal issues related to sexual autonomy and sexual offending are significantly different, the resistance to providing adequate and effective counsel and the employment of the vividness heuristic (to privilege anecdote and reject valid and reliable research) is similar in both cases. The past forty years has seen an explosion of interest in mental disability law, and a significant expansion of rights for the population of persons with mental disabilities, both in institutions and the community, during which the society has witnessed a revolution in American mental disability law. It saw the first broad-based, federal civil rights statutes enacted on behalf of persons with mental disabilities. It witnessed the creation of a “patients’ bar” to provide legal representation to such persons. But this revolution largely bypassed persons seeking to argue for sexual autonomy and seeking to apply procedural and substantive due process to matters involving invocation of the sexually violent predator status. However, at the same time that all this happened, another parallel set of developments has had a profound application on mental disability law—on case law, statutes, administrative regulations and lawyers’ roles. The expansion of the school of legal analysis known as therapeutic jurisprudence has caused scholars to reconsider many of the basic principles of this area of law, and it is critical that any analysis of mental disability law take the insights of this area seriously. The question we address in this paper is this: although there has been a general “revolution” in mental disability law, there are those whom it has not affected. To what extent does the law that governs sexual autonomy and that governs matters involving alleged sexually violent predators comport with these therapeutic jurisprudence principles? This paper considers that question.
A New Cluster Analysis-Marker-Controlled Watershed Method for Separating Particles of Granular Soils
Authors: Alam Md , Haque Asadul
Published: October 2017

An accurate determination of particle-level fabric of granular soils from tomography data requires a maximum correct separation of particles. The popular marker-controlled watershed separation method is widely used to separate particles. However, the watershed method alone is not capable of producing the maximum separation of particles when subjected to boundary stresses leading to crushing of particles. In this paper, a new separation method, named as Monash Particle Separation Method (MPSM), has been introduced. The new method automatically determines the optimal contrast coefficient based on cluster evaluation framework to produce the maximum accurate separation outcomes. Finally, the particles which could not be separated by the optimal contrast coefficient were separated by integrating cuboid markers generated from the clustering by Gaussian mixture models into the routine watershed method. The MPSM was validated on a uniformly graded sand volume subjected to one-dimensional compression loading up to 32 MPa. It was demonstrated that the MPSM is capable of producing the best possible separation of particles required for the fabric analysis.
Size Effect and Deformation Mechanism in Twinned Copper Nanowires
Authors: Sun Jiapeng , Li Cheng , Han Jing , Shao Xiaoyan , Yang Xiaowei , Liu Huan , Song Dan , Ma Aibin
Published: October 2017

Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to demonstrate the synergistic effects of the extrinsic size (nanowire length) and intrinsic size (twin boundary spacing) on the failure manner, yield strength, ductility and deformation mechanism of the twinned nanowires containing high density coherent twin boundaries CTBs paralleled to the nanowires’ axis. The twinned nanowires show an intense extrinsic size effect, i.e., shorter is stronger and more ductile, and an intense intrinsic size effect, i.e., thinner is stronger. Notably, the strengthening effect degradation of CTBs in the twinned nanowires is observed with an increase in nanowire length: remarkable strengthening effect can be obtained for the short nanowires, but the strengthening effect becomes less pronounced for the long nanowires. The twinned nanowires fail via a ductile manner or via a brittle manner depending on the synergistic effect of the nanowire length and twin boundary spacing. By atomic-level observation of the plastic deformation, we found that the emission of a trailing 30° partial from the free surface controls the yield behavior of the twinned nanowires. We also found that the special zigzag extended dislocations are formed by the dislocation–CTBs interactions, and propagate to sustain the plastic deformation.
Wound-Healing Peptides for Treatment of Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Other Infected Skin Injuries
Authors: Gomes Ana , Teixeira Cátia , Ferraz Ricardo , Prudêncio Cristina , Gomes Paula
Published: October 2017

As the incidence of diabetes continues to increase in the western world, the prevalence of chronic wounds related to this condition continues to be a major focus of wound care research. Additionally, over 50% of chronic wounds exhibit signs and symptoms that are consistent with localized bacterial biofilms underlying severe infections that contribute to tissue destruction, delayed wound-healing and other serious complications. Most current biomedical approaches for advanced wound care aim at providing antimicrobial protection to the open wound together with a matrix scaffold (often collagen-based) to boost reestablishment of the skin tissue. Therefore, the present review is focused on the efforts that have been made over the past years to find peptides possessing wound-healing properties, towards the development of new and effective wound care treatments for diabetic foot ulcers and other skin and soft tissue infections.
A New Noncanonical Anionic Peptide That Translocates a Cellular Blood–Brain Barrier Model
Authors: Neves-Coelho Sara , Eleutério Rute , Enguita Francisco , Neves Vera , Castanho Miguel
Published: October 2017

The capacity to transport therapeutic molecules across the blood–brain barrier (BBB) represents a breakthrough in the development of tools for the treatment of many central nervous system (CNS)-associated diseases. The BBB, while being protective against infectious agents, hinders the brain uptake of many drugs. Hence, finding safe shuttles able to overcome the BBB is of utmost importance. Herein, we identify a new BBB-translocating peptide with unique properties. For years it was thought that cationic sequences were mandatory for a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) to achieve cellular internalization. Despite being anionic at physiological pH, PepNeg (sequence (SGTQEEY) is an efficient BBB translocator that is able to carry a large cargo (27 kDa), while maintaining BBB integrity. In addition, PepNeg is able to use two distinct methods of translocation, energy-dependent and -independent, suggesting that direct penetration might occur when low concentrations of peptide are presented to cells. The discovery of this new anionic trans-BBB peptide allows the development of new delivery systems to the CNS and contributes to the need to rethink the role of electrostatic attraction in BBB-translocation.
Indications and Use of the Gluten Contamination Elimination Diet for Patients with Non-Responsive Celiac Disease
Authors: Leonard Maureen , Cureton Pamela , Fasano Alessio
Published: October 2017

For the majority of patients diagnosed with celiac disease, once a gluten-free diet is initiated, symptoms improve within weeks and may completely resolve in months. However, up to 30% of patients may show signs, symptoms or persistent small intestinal damage after one year on a gluten-free diet. These patients require evaluation for other common GI etiologies and assessment of their celiac disease status in order to make a diagnosis and suggest treatment. Here, we propose an approach to evaluating patients with celiac disease with persistent symptoms, persistently elevated serology, and or persistent villous atrophy despite a gluten-free diet. We detail how to diagnose and distinguish between non-responsive and refractory celiac disease. Finally, we introduce the indications for use of the gluten contamination elimination diet and provide information for practitioners to implement the diet when necessary in their practice.
Chronic High Dose Zinc Supplementation Induces Visceral Adipose Tissue Hypertrophy without Altering Body Weight in Mice
Authors: Huang Xiaohua , Jiang Dandan , Zhu Yingguo , Fang Zhengfeng , Che Lianqiang , Lin Yan , Xu Shengyu , Li Jian , Huang Chao , Zou Yuanfeng , Li Lixia , Wu De , Feng Bin
Published: October 2017

The trace element zinc plays an important role in human life. Zinc deficiency impairs growth, reproduction, metabolism and immunity in both human and animals. Thus, zinc supplementation is recommended in daily life. However, the effect of long-term chronic zinc supplementation on adipose homeostasis has not been well elucidated. In the current study, mice were supplemented with zinc sulfate in the drinking water for 20 weeks. The results suggested that chronic zinc supplementation impaired systemic glucose clearance after exogenous insulin or glucose challenges, as compared to the control mice. Further study revealed that chronic zinc supplementation made no difference to body weight, but increased visceral adipose tissue weight and adipocyte size. In addition, gene expression of leptin and IL6 in the visceral adipose tissue of zinc-supplemented mice were higher than those of control mice. Moreover, serum level of leptin of the zinc-supplemented mice was twice as high as that of the control mice. Besides, phosphorylation level of AKT T308 was attenuated in the perirenal adipose tissue of zinc-supplemented mice. In comparison, the expression of macrophage marker genes and lipogenic genes were not affected by chronic zinc supplementation, but the protein levels of FAS and SCD1 decreased or tended to decrease in the perirenal adipose tissue of zinc-supplemented mice, as compared to the control mice. Our findings suggest that chronic high dose zinc supplementation induces visceral adipose tissue hypertrophy and impairs AKT signaling in perirenal adipose tissue.
Qualitative Studies of Infant and Young Child Feeding in Lower-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Dietary Patterns
Authors: Bazzano Alessandra N. , Kaji Aiko , Felker-Kantor Erica , Bazzano Lydia A. , Potts Kaitlin S.
Published: October 2017

Continued high rates of both under- and over-nutrition in low- and low-middle-income countries highlight the importance of understanding dietary practices such as early and exclusive breastfeeding, and dietary patterns such as timely, appropriate complementary feeding—these behaviors are rooted in complex cultural ecologies. A systematic review and synthesis of available qualitative research related to infant and young child dietary patterns and practices from the perspective of parents and families in low income settings is presented, with a focus on barriers and facilitators to achieving international recommendations. Data from both published and grey literature from 2006 to 2016 was included in the review. Quality assessment consisted of two phases (Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) guidelines and assessment using GRADE-CERQual), followed by synthesis of the studies identified, and subsequent thematic analysis and interpretation. The findings indicated several categories of both barriers and facilitators, spanning individual and system level factors. The review informs efforts aimed at improving child health and nutrition, and represents the first such comprehensive review of the qualitative literature, uniquely suited to understanding complex behaviors leading to infant and young child dietary patterns.
Exploring the Potential of WorldView-2 Red-Edge Band-Based Vegetation Indices for Estimation of Mangrove Leaf Area Index with Machine Learning Algorithms
Authors: Zhu Yuanhui , Liu Kai , Liu Lin , Myint Soe , Wang Shugong , Liu Hongxing , He Zhi
Published: October 2017

To accurately estimate leaf area index (LAI) in mangrove areas, the selection of appropriate models and predictor variables is critical. However, there is a major challenge in quantifying and mapping LAI using multi-spectral sensors due to the saturation effects of traditional vegetation indices (VIs) for mangrove forests. WorldView-2 (WV2) imagery has proven to be effective to estimate LAI of grasslands and forests, but the sensitivity of its vegetation indices (VIs) has been uncertain for mangrove forests. Furthermore, the single model may exhibit certain randomness and instability in model calibration and estimation accuracy. Therefore, this study aims to explore the sensitivity of WV2 VIs for estimating mangrove LAI by comparing artificial neural network regression (ANNR), support vector regression (SVR) and random forest regression (RFR). The results suggest that the RFR algorithm yields the best results (RMSE = 0.45, 14.55% of the average LAI), followed by ANNR (RMSE = 0.49, 16.04% of the average LAI), and then SVR (RMSE = 0.51, 16.56% of the average LAI) algorithms using 5-fold cross validation (CV) using all VIs. Quantification of the variable importance shows that the VIs derived from the red-edge band consistently remain the most important contributor to LAI estimation. When the red-edge band-derived VIs are removed from the models, estimation accuracies measured in relative RMSE (RMSEr) decrease by 3.79%, 2.70% and 4.47% for ANNR, SVR and RFR models respectively. VIs derived from red-edge band also yield better accuracy compared with other traditional bands of WV2, such as near-infrared-1 and near-infrared-2 band. Furthermore, the estimated LAI values vary significantly across different mangrove species. The study demonstrates the utility of VIs of WV2 imagery and the selected machine-learning algorithms in developing LAI models in mangrove forests. The results indicate that the red-edge band of WV2 imagery can help alleviate the saturation problem and improve the accuracy of LAI estimation in a mangrove area.
Development of Seasonal BRDF Models to Extend the Use of Deep Convective Clouds as Invariant Targets for Satellite SWIR-Band Calibration
Authors: Bhatt Rajendra , Doelling David , Scarino Benjamin , Haney Conor , Gopalan Arun
Published: October 2017

Tropical deep convective clouds (DCC) are an excellent invariant target for vicarious calibration of satellite visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) solar bands. The DCC technique (DCCT) is a statistical approach that collectively analyzes all identified DCC pixels on a monthly basis. The DCC reflectance in VIS and NIR spectrums is mainly a function of cloud optical depth, and provides a stable monthly statistical mode. However, for absorption shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands, the monthly DCC response is found to exhibit large seasonal cycles that make the implementation of the DCCT more challenging at these wavelengths. The seasonality assumption was tested using the SNPP-VIIRS SWIR bands, with up to 50% of the monthly DCC response temporal variation removed through deseasonalization. In this article, a monthly DCC bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) approach is proposed, which is found to be comparable to or can outperform the effects of deseasonalization alone. To demonstrate that the SNPP-VIIRS DCC BRDF can be applied to other JPSS VIIRS imagers in the same 13:30 sun-synchronous orbit, the VIIRS DCC BRDF was applied to Aqua-MODIS. The Aqua-MODIS SWIR band DCC reflectance natural variability is reduced by up to 45% after applying the VIIRS-based monthly DCC BRDFs.
A Combined Approach for Filtering Ice Surface Velocity Fields Derived from Remote Sensing Methods
Authors: Lüttig Christine , Neckel Niklas , Humbert Angelika
Published: October 2017

Various glaciological topics require observations of horizontal velocities over vast areas, e.g., detecting acceleration of glaciers, as well as for estimating basal parameters of ice sheets using inverse modelling approaches. The quality of the velocity is of high importance; hence, methods to remove noisy points in remote sensing derived data are required. We present a three-step filtering process and assess its performance for velocity fields in Greenland and Antarctica. The filtering uses the detection of smooth segments, removal of outliers using the median and constraints on the variability of the flow direction over short distances. The applied filter preserves the structures in the velocity fields well (e.g., shear margins) and removes noisy data points successfully, while keeping 72–96% of the data. In slow flowing regions, which are particularly challenging, the standard deviation is reduced by up to 96%, an improvement that affects vast areas of the ice sheets.
Sensor-Data Fusion for Multi-Person Indoor Location Estimation
Authors: Mohebbi Parisa , Stroulia Eleni , Nikolaidis Ioanis
Published: October 2017

We consider the problem of estimating the location of people as they move and work in indoor environments. More specifically, we focus on the scenario where one of the persons of interest is unable or unwilling to carry a smartphone, or any other “wearable” device, which frequently arises in caregiver/cared-for situations. We consider the case of indoor spaces populated with anonymous binary sensors (Passive Infrared motion sensors) and eponymous wearable sensors (smartphones interacting with Estimote beacons), and we propose a solution to the resulting sensor-fusion problem. Using a data set with sensor readings collected from one-person and two-person sessions engaged in a variety of activities of daily living, we investigate the relative merits of relying solely on anonymous sensors, solely on eponymous sensors, or on their combination. We examine how the lack of synchronization across different sensing sources impacts the quality of location estimates, and discuss how it could be mitigated without resorting to device-level mechanisms. Finally, we examine the trade-off between the sensors’ coverage of the monitored space and the quality of the location estimates.
Environmental Inequality in China: A “Pyramid Model” and Nationwide Pilot Analysis of Prefectures with Sources of Industrial Pollution
Authors: He Qi , Fang Hong , Ji Han , Fang Siran
Published: October 2017

In China, environmental pollution generated via industrialization as well as profound changes in the social structure and the gradual maturation of the social hierarchy have jointly contributed to the Chinese people’s increased environmental consciousness and appeals for environmental justice (EJ). Because of the absence of an EJ theory and a lack of empirical research focused on China, this paper proposes a “Pyramid Model” for EJ research in China that includes the following three factors: basic demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, U.S.-based EJ principles, and Chinese characteristics. A nationwide pilot analysis of environmental inequality at the prefecture level is conducted by empirically examining the association between the demographic variables and socioeconomic status with sources of industrial pollution in China. The prefecture-based results are shown to be robust, and they indicate that areas inhabited by ethnic minorities and western regions of China carry disproportionate environmental burdens. However, a different picture for migrants is presented, revealing that Chinese migrants are not currently exposed to greater levels of industrial pollution. Relevant interpretations of these findings are provided. The results also show that environmental inequality associated with income level, which is observed in the U.S., does not occur in China.
Mobility of Workers and Population between Old and New Capital Cities Using the Interregional Economic Model
Authors: Lee Changkeun , Kim Euijune
Published: October 2017

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of transportation and mobility costs on the mobility of workers and the overall population between old and new capital cities. First of all, mobility costs clearly have a negative effect on utility; higher commuting costs could lead to the spatial dispersion of workers. In addition, if the monthly commuting cost exceeds 1290 USD between Seoul (the old capital) and Sejong (the new capital), it would be efficient for workers in Seoul to move to Sejong. Finally, the interregional population equilibrium could be achieved when the share of transportation cost to commodity price reaches 60.1%.
A Long-Term Assessment of the Black Sea Wave Climate
Authors: Onea Florin , Rusu Liliana
Published: October 2017

In the present work the Black Sea wave climate is assessed using a total of 38 years of data (1979–2016). As a first step, the long-term variations of the main wave parameters were evaluated using data provided by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Based on these values, the nearshore and offshore conditions from the Black Sea were evaluated. Moreover, the Sea of Azov was also targeted in this study, since in some cases the conditions are comparable with those of the Black Sea. Going up to the present day, the regional wave climate was assessed through satellite measurements provided by the AVISO project, at the same time indicating the differences between these data and the ECMWF reanalysis dataset. In general, the conditions reported in the northwestern sector of the Black Sea seem to be more energetic, indicating more frequently the presence of rough conditions. Finally, it can be concluded that the results presented in the present study cover a broad range of applications in climatological studies and other types of research related to coastal protection.
Managing Non-Homogeneous Information and Experts’ Psychological Behavior in Group Emergency Decision Making
Authors: Wang Liang , Labella Álvaro , Rodríguez Rosa M. , Wang Ying-Ming , Martínez Luis
Published: October 2017

After an emergency event (EE) happens, emergency decision making (EDM) is a common and effective way to deal with the emergency situation, which plays an important role in mitigating its level of harm. In the real world, it is a big challenge for an individual emergency manager (EM) to make a proper and comprehensive decision for coping with an EE. Consequently, many practical EDM problems drive group emergency decision making (GEDM) problems whose main limitations are related to the lack of flexibility in knowledge elicitation, disagreements in the group and the consideration of experts’ psychological behavior in the decision process. Hence, this paper proposes a novel GEDM approach that allows more flexibility for preference elicitation under uncertainty, provides a consensus process to avoid disagreements and considers experts’ psychological behavior by using the fuzzy TODIM method based on prospect theory. Eventually, a group decision support system (GDSS) is developed to support the whole GEDM process defined in the proposed method demonstrating its novelty, validity and feasibility.
Facebook in general practice: a service evaluation in one health economy
Authors: Moore Kevin , Cottrell Elizabeth , Chambers Ruth
Published: October 2017

Background

Social media has been utilised in a variety of healthcare settings. While its potential for extending healthcare services is recognised by the NHS, potential pitfalls exist. The place, benefits and practical problems of using Facebook in general practice are unclear.

Aim

To understand the utilisation of Facebook by general practices, whether Facebook provides novel insights when compared to other centrally-hosted feedback platforms, and the prevalence of unofficial Facebook pages.

Design & setting

Eighty-three general practices in North Staffordshire.

Method

Publicly available information and feedback relating to general practices on official and unofficial Facebook sites was examined and compared to other, centrally-hosted feedback platforms (NHS Choices and Patient Satisfaction ratings). Thematic and descriptive analyses were undertaken to understand the nature of the content.

Results

Thirty-one practices had publicly-accessible, practice-owned, official Facebook sites which, overall, had received over 7000 likes. Two had integrated booking systems, 14 allowed reviews and all had accurate practice information. Most remaining practices (41/52) were found to have an unofficial Facebook page.

Conclusion

General practice use of open Facebook pages is variable, but most commonly used to provide generic practice information and for gaining patient feedback. Patient engagement with pages suggests demand for this technology. Risks associated with unmoderated unofficial pages can be mitigated by practices having official pages hosted by the practice with appropriate protocols in place for managing them. Practices need to be supported to better understand meaningful uses of this technology and the potential risks of unofficial practice Facebook pages.
Conflicting results from mitochondrial genomic data challenge current views of Rubiaceae phylogeny
Authors: Rydin Catarina , Wikström Niklas , Bremer Birgitta
Published: October 2017

PREMISE OF THE STUDY:

Reconstruction of plant phylogeny has heavily relied on single‐gene or multigene plastid data. New sequencing methods have led to an increasing number of studies based on data from the entire plastid, but the mitochondrion has rarely been used to infer plant phylogeny because of an assumed information poverty and demonstrated lateral transfer of mitochondrial gene regions between distantly related species.

METHODS:

We explored phylogenetic information from the plant mitochondrion using 57 representatives of the species‐rich coffee family as study system and assessed consistency with previous results based (mostly) on plastid data.

KEY RESULTS:

We showed that the mitochondrial genome can provide structured and statistically significant information on plant phylogeny. While most of our results are consistent with those based on plastid data, some surprising and statistically significant conflicts emerge, and our study demonstrates with striking clarity that the phylogeny of Rubiaceae is far from resolved.

CONCLUSIONS:

It appears unlikely that conflicts between results retrieved from the different genomic compartments would be restricted to Rubiaceae. Rather, they are probably a general phenomenon and an important factor behind longstanding “difficult” phylogenetic questions. The biological processes responsible for the conflicting results detected here are unclear, but some conflicts are likely caused by hybridization events that occurred tens of millions of years ago. Whether such ancient events can be reconstructed based on molecular data from extant plants remains to be seen, but future studies of the nuclear genome may provide a way forward.
Angstrom-scale flatness using selective nanoscale etching
Authors: Yatsui Takashi , Saito Hiroshi , Nobusada Katsuyuki
Published: October 2017

The realization of flat surfaces on the angstrom scale is required in advanced devices to avoid loss due to carrier (electron and/or photon) scattering. In this work, we have developed a new surface flattening method that involves near-field etching, where optical near-fields (ONFs) act to dissociate the molecules. ONFs selectively generated at the apex of protrusions on the surface selectively etch the protrusions. To confirm the selective etching of the nanoscale structure, we compared near-field etching using both gas molecules and ions in liquid phase. Using two-dimensional Fourier analysis, we found that near-field etching is an effective way to etch on the scale of less than 10 nm for both wet and dry etching techniques. In addition, near-field dry etching may be effective for the selective etching of nanoscale structures with large mean free path values.
Rotational Spectral Unmixing of Exoplanets: Degeneracies between Surface Colors and Geography
Authors: Fujii Yuka , Lustig-Yaeger Jacob , Cowan Nicolas B.
Published: October 2017

Unmixing the disk-integrated spectra of exoplanets provides hints about heterogeneous surfaces that we cannot directly resolve in the foreseeable future. It is particularly important for terrestrial planets with diverse surface compositions like Earth. Although previous work on unmixing the spectra of Earth from disk-integrated multi-band light curves appeared successful, we point out a mathematical degeneracy between the surface colors and their spatial distributions. Nevertheless, useful constraints on the spectral shape of individual surface types may be obtained from the premise that albedo is everywhere between 0 and 1. We demonstrate the degeneracy and the possible constraints using both mock data based on a toy model of Earth, as well as real observations of Earth. Despite the severe degeneracy, we are still able to recover an approximate albedo spectrum for an ocean. In general, we find that surfaces are easier to identify when they cover a large fraction of the planet and when their spectra approach zero or unity in certain bands.
New Binaries in the ϵ Cha Association*
Authors: Briceño César , Tokovinin Andrei
Published: October 2017

We present Adaptive Optics-aided speckle observations of 47 young stars in the ϵ Cha association made at the 4 m Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope in the I-band. We resolved 10 new binary pairs, 5 previously known binaries, and 2 triple systems, also previously known. In the separation range between 4 and 300 au, the 30 association members of spectral types G0 and later host 6 binary companions, leading to the raw companion frequency of 0.010 ± 0.04 per decade of separation, comparable to the main sequence dwarfs in the field. On the other hand, all five massive association members of spectral types A and B have companions in this range. We discuss the newly resolved and known binaries in our sample. Observed motions in the triple system ϵ Cha, composed of three similar B9V stars, can be described by tentative orbits with periods 13 and ∼900 years and a large mutual inclination.
Explicit Form of the Radiative and Collisional Branching Ratios in Polarized Radiation Transport with Coherent Scattering
Authors: Casini R. , Alemán T. del Pino , Sainz R. Manso
Published: October 2017

We consider the vector emissivity of the polarized radiation transfer in a Λ-type atomic transition, which we recently proposed to account for both complete frequency redistribution (CRD) and partial redistribution (PRD) contributions to the scattered radiation. This expression can concisely be written as

ε

=

(

ε

(
1
)

−

ε

f
.
s
.

(
2
)

)

+

ε

(
2
)

,

where

ε

(
1
)

and

ε

(
2
)

are the emissivity terms describing, respectively, one-photon and two-photon processes in a Λ-type atom, and where “f.s.” means that the corresponding term must be evaluated assuming an appropriate “flat spectrum” average of the incident radiation across the spectral line. In this follow-up study, we explicitly consider the expressions of these various terms for the case of a polarized multi-term atom to derive the algebraic forms of the branching ratios between the CRD and PRD contributions to the emissivity. In the limit of a two-term atom with non-coherent lower term, our results are shown to be in full agreement with those recently derived by Bommier.
Terrorisme(s)
Authors: Chagnollaud Jean-Paul
Published: October 2017

Un des paradoxes majeurs du terrorisme réside dans l’écart abyssal existant entre les logiques de ses modalités d’action, toujours à peu près les mêmes à travers le temps et l’espace, et ses racines sociologiques multiples et changeantes selon les séquences historiques dans lesquelles il fait irruption...
Les armes du Hezbollah : terrorisme, droit à la résistance et principe de légalité
Authors: Dot-Pouillard Nicolas
Published: October 2017

Terroriste, ou libérateur ? Depuis le milieu des années 1980, le Hezbollah suscite des interprétations divergentes. Pour les uns, c’est un mouvement terroriste, qui doit être éradiqué : tel est le point de vue d’Israël ou des Etats-Unis, rejoints, depuis 2016, par l’Arabie saoudite. Pour les autres, le Hezbollah est condamnable : mais il y a un principe de réalité. L’Union européenne distingue ainsi entre une branche politique et une branche militaire du Hezbollah. Il est possible de dialoguer avec la première, il faut en finir avec la seconde. Enfin, il y a la narration du Hezbollah et de ses partisans : le Hezbollah n’est pas un mouvement terroriste, puisque ses armes bénéficient d’un principe de légalité au Liban. Son opposition à l’Etat islamique lui permet enfin d’intégrer la rhétorique de l’anti-terrorisme à son arsenal conceptuel. Les divergences d’interprétations au sujet du Hezbollah montrent surtout que l’adjectif terroriste relève moins de l’ordre du droit, que de l’ordre du dire.
Les Kurdes de Daech : les raisons de la radicalisation d’une génération
Authors: Bakawan Adel
Published: October 2017

Le djihadisme kurde a déjà une histoire de 37 ans. Il est passé par plusieurs phases : de l’islamisation de la lutte kurde (Mouvement Islamique du Kurdistan), à l’internationalisation de la lutte islamiste (Ansar al-Islam). Et puis, de 2012 à 2017, une nouvelle génération de djihadistes kurdes est entrée dans le processus de la reterritorialisation de lutte armée et s’est intégrée à l’Organisation de l’État Islamique (Daech). Pourquoi devient-on djihadiste au Kurdistan ? Comment le processus de radicalisation fonctionne dans un Kurdistan en quête d’indépendance ? Pour mettre en exergue ces questions, cette article propose une grille d’analyse à six niveaux : la part de l’islam dans la radicalisation de cette nouvelle génération ; la culture de la violence dans l’histoire récente kurde ; l’exclusion sociale exercée par la nouvelle oligarchie kurde et la frustration de toute une génération livrée à la rue ; l’avènement des révolutions du monde arabe ; le déploiement sans limite des réseaux sociaux qui voit Facebook remplacer la mosquée ; et enfin la kurdistanisation des grands mouvements islamistes, qui a déçu certains acteurs.
Le premier accord migratoire était franco-italien
Authors: Douki Caroline
Published: October 2017

Revenir sur le couple franco-italien qui a conclu la première convention bilatérale sur les migrations en 1904, puis perfectionné ce dispositif jusqu’aux années 1950, permet d’observer comment ont émergé des principes décisifs pour la définition des droits des travailleurs étrangers, ainsi que des outils administratifs d’encadrement, dont les pouvoirs publics et les acteurs économiques ont toujours fait un usage ambivalent.
La ville dans le droit de la santé
Authors: Truchet Didier
Published: October 2017

Le droit de la santé appréhende la ville en tant que commune (ou groupement de communes). Les autorités municipales disposent de moins en moins de pouvoirs de décision envers la politique de santé, qui est l’affaire de l’État ; elles sont cependant consultées sur ses orientations. Il l’appréhende aussi comme le centre des territoires de démocratie sanitaire, dans lesquels la population doit trouver la gamme de services de santé dont elle a besoin. Les citoyens et les élus locaux sont très attentifs à cet objectif, envers lequel les communes ne sont pas dépourvues de tout moyen d’action.
Lentiginous eruption in resolving psoriasis plaques during treatment with ixekizumab: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Santa María Pablo , Valenzuela Fernando , Morales Claudia , De la Fuente Raul , Cullen Roberto
Published: October 2017

We report the case of a 56-year old male with severe plaque psoriasis that was successfully treated with ixekizumab, a new anti interleukin (IL)-17 monoclonal antibody. During the first months of treatment he developed a lentiginous eruption in the sites of rapidly resolving plaques. Biopsy and immunohistochemistry reports showed elements of both lentigo and post-inflammatory hyper pigmentation. These findings, which have been increasingly described in anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and anti IL-12/IL-23 therapy, may be explained by the down regulating effect of TNFα and IL-17 on pigmentation genes, which is very rapidly suppressed by ixekizumab, resulting in hyper pigmentation, and by the alteration of mesenchymal-epidermal interaction via keratinocyte growth factor during the inflammatory period, which results in the development of histopathological elements of lentigo.
Considering the hypothesis of the pathophysiology of cellulite in its treatment
Authors: Pereira de Godoy José Maria , Pereira de Godoy Ana Carolina , Guerreiro Godoy Maria de Fatima
Published: October 2017

The aim of this study was to evaluate perimetric reductions in the clinical treatment of cellulite (aesthetics) using the Godoy method in a randomized retrospective clinical trial. The medical records of 150 patients treated for cellulite in the period from 2006 to 2011 in the Clinica Godoy were revisited. Treatment comprised manual and mechanical lymph drainage and cervical stimulation for one hour per day over 10 days. The paired t-test was used for statistical analysis, with an alpha error of 5% (P-value <0.05) being considered acceptable. This study was started after being approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Medicine School in São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP - no. 395- 2010), Brazil and after being registered as a clinical trial. The mean reduction of the 150 patients was 3.81±2.76 g (P-value <0.0001; 95% confidence interval: 3.408-4.223). A significant reduction in size was seen with the clinical treatment of cellulite giving an improvement in the physical appearance. Pathophysiological mechanisms such as regional skin lymphostasis seem to be involved in the formation of cellulite.
Normal M-mode echocardiographic indices of Nigerian local dogs
Authors: Ajibola Solomon , Oyewale Johnson , Oke Bankole , Durotoye Ladoke , Adeliyi Timothy , Rahman Samson
Published: October 2017

There are currently no reported cardiac indices for the Nigerian dog. The aim of the study was to obtain breed specific echocardiographic indices for Nigerian local dogs. M– mode measurements of the left ventricle of 20 healthy dogs were obtained from short axis right parasternal view. The result of the study showed that posterior wall thickness in diastole and systole (PWTd, PWTs), septal wall thickness in diastole and systole (SWTd, SWTs), and left ventricular internal diameter in diastole and systole (LVIDd LVIDs) were positively and significantly correlated with body weight. Except PWT and functional indices like ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) whose values were higher than some breeds in literature, all other indices were within the range of values obtained in breeds previously studied. There was no significant correlation between PWTd PWTs, SWTd, SWTs and cardiac function indices such as EF, FS, enddiastolic volume (EDV), end- systolic volume (ESV) and stroke volume (SV). Although LVIDd had positive correlation with EDV, ESV, and SV, it did not correlate with FS and EF. The study revealed that cardiac function indices like FS and EF are not dependent on septal and wall thickness but rather on ventriclular volume and diameter in systole. Since cardiac function indices are also not dependent on body size, the Nigerian mongrels could serve as a useful model for cardiac studies because of their functional homogenous heart.
Body mass index and severity of parkinsonism in multiple system atrophy
Authors: Suzuki Ai , Mochizuki Hitoshi , Ebihara Yuka , Shiomi Kazutaka , Nakazato Masamitsu
Published: October 2017

Patients with neurodegenerative disorders lose body weight as their diseases progress. In Parkinson’s disease (PD), however, autonomic dysfunction is associated with increased body mass index (BMI). We investigated the correlation between BMI, clinical features, and autonomic dysfunction in patients with multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism (MSAP). BMI, clinical features, cardiac 123Imetaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy (MIBG), Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage, and the coefficient of variation of the R-R interval (CVRR) were analyzed in 50 patients with MSA-P. BMI showed no significant correlation with MIBG parameters or CVRR. On the other hand, the H-Y stage was significantly negatively correlated with BMI. Higher H-Y stage indicates a more severe neuromuscular state in MSA-P and is considered to be related to higher energy expenditure and decrease of BMI. Patients with MSA-P lose weight as the disease progresses. This is the first report indicating a significant correlation between disease severity and BMI decrease in MSA.
Cost-effectiveness of timely versus delayed primary total hip replacement in Germany: A social health insurance perspective
Authors: Mujica-Mota Ruben E. , Watson Leala K. , Tarricone Rosanna , Jäger Marcus
Published: October 2017

Without clinical guideline on the optimal timing for primary total hip replacement (THR), patients often receive the operation with delay. Delaying THR may negatively affect long-term health-related quality of life, but its economic effects are unclear. We evaluated the costs and health benefits of timely primary THR for functionally independent adult patients with end-stage osteoarthritis (OA) compared to non-surgical therapy followed by THR after progression to functional dependence (delayed THR), and non-surgical therapy alone (Medical Therapy), from a German Social Health Insurance (SHI) perspective. Data from hip arthroplasty registers and a systematic review of the published literature were used to populate a tunnel-state modified Markov lifetime model of OA treatment in Germany. A 5% annual discount rate was applied to costs (2013 prices) and health outcomes (Quality Adjusted Life Years, QALY). The expected future average cost of timely THR, delayed THR and medical therapy in women at age 55 were €27,474, €27,083 and €28,263, and QALYs were 20.7, 16.7, and 10.3, respectively. QALY differences were entirely due to health-related quality of life differences. The discounted cost per QALY gained by timely over delayed (median delay of 11 years) THR was €1270 and €1338 in women treated at age 55 and age 65, respectively, and slightly higher than this for men. Timely THR is cost-effective, generating large quality of life benefits for patients at low additional cost to the SHI. With declining healthcare budgets, research is needed to identify the characteristics of those able to benefit the most from timely THR.
Developments in trapezium replacements
Authors: Eltorai Adam E.M. , Han Alex
Published: October 2017

The purpose of this update is to report on a variety of topics related to trapezium implants that have been investigated during the past three years. The keyword trapezium implant was utilized to query the PubMed database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. From the resulting list, papers published from the beginning of January 2012 through the beginning of April 2015 were reviewed. The twenty-three studies identified are reviewed here and referenced at the end of the review. Based on level of evidence criteria for therapeutic studies as adopted by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the most frequent level of evidence for reviewed clinical studies was Level IV (13/19 studies), followed by Level III (4/19), and Levels II (1/19) and I (1/19).