bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Semantic localization
Authors: Ma Shang , Liu Qiong
Published: March 2017

Improvements in sensor and wireless network enable accurate, automated, instant determination and dissemination of a user’s or objects position. The new enabler of location-based services (LBSs) apart from the current ubiquitous networking infrastructure is the enrichment of the different systems with semantics information, such as time, location, individual capability, preference and more. Such semantically enriched system-modeling aims at developing applications with enhanced functionality and advanced reasoning capabilities. These systems are able to deliver more personalized services to users by domain knowledge with advanced reasoning mechanisms, and provide solutions to problems that were otherwise infeasible. This approach also takes user’s preference and place property into consideration that can be utilized to achieve a comprehensive range of personalized services, such as advertising, recommendations, or polling. This paper provides an overview of indoor localization technologies, popular models for extracting semantics from location data, approaches for associating semantic information and location data, and applications that may be enabled with location semantics. To make the presentation easy to understand, we will use a museum scenario to explain pros and cons of different technologies and models. More specifically, we will first explore users’ needs in a museum scenario. Based on these needs, we will then discuss advantages and disadvantages of using different localization technologies to meet these needs. From these discussions, we can highlight gaps between real application requirements and existing technologies, and point out promising localization research directions. By identifying gaps between various models and real application requirements, we can draw a roadmap for future location semantics research.
Multi-View Feature Combination for Ancient Paintings Chronological Classification
Authors: Chen Long , Chen Jianda , Zou Qin , Huang Kai , Li Qingquan
Published: March 2017

Ancient paintings can provide valuable information for historians and archeologists to study the history and humanity of the corresponding eras. How to determine the era in which a painting was created is a critical problem, since the topic of a painting cannot be used as an effective basis without an era label. To address this problem, this article proposes a novel computational method by using multi-view local color features extracted from the paintings. First, we extract the multi-view local color features for all training images using a novel descriptor named Affine Lab-SIFT. Then we can learn the codebook from all these features by
k
-means clustering. Afterwards, we create a feature histogram for each image in the form of bag-of-visual-words and use a supervised fashion to train a classifier, which is used for further painting classification. Experimental results from two different datasets show the effectiveness of the proposed classification system and the advantage of the proposed features, especially in the case of small-size training samples.
Smoothed Analysis of Local Search for the Maximum-Cut Problem
Authors: Etscheid Michael , Röglin Heiko
Published: March 2017

Even though local search heuristics are the method of choice in practice for many well-studied optimization problems, most of them behave poorly in the worst case. This is, in particular, the case for the Maximum-Cut Problem, for which local search can take an exponential number of steps to terminate and the problem of computing a local optimum is PLS-complete. To narrow the gap between theory and practice, we study local search for the Maximum-Cut Problem in the framework of smoothed analysis in which inputs are subject to a small amount of random noise. We show that the smoothed number of iterations is quasi-polynomial, that is, it is bounded from above by a polynomial in
n

log
n

and ϕ, where
n
denotes the number of nodes and ϕ denotes the perturbation parameter. This shows that worst-case instances are fragile, and it is a first step in explaining why they are rarely observed in practice.
Generality and Speed in Nonblocking Dual Containers
Authors: Izraelevitz Joseph , Scott Michael L.
Published: March 2017

Nonblocking dual data structures extend traditional notions of nonblocking progress to accommodate partial methods, both by bounding the number of steps that a thread can execute after its preconditions have been satisfied and by ensuring that a waiting thread performs no remote memory accesses that could interfere with the execution of other threads. A nonblocking dual container, in particular, is designed to hold either data or
requests
. An
insert
operation either adds data to the container or removes and
satisfies
a request; a
remove
operation either takes data out of the container or inserts a request.

We present the first
general-purpose
construction for nonblocking dual containers, allowing any nonblocking container for data to be paired with almost any nonblocking container for requests. We also present new custom algorithms, based on the LCRQ of Morrison and Afek, that outperform the fastest previously known dual containers by factors of four to six.
Data-Driven Frequency-Based Airline Profit Maximization
Authors: An Bo , Chen Haipeng , Park Noseong , Subrahmanian V. S.
Published: March 2017

Although numerous traditional models predict market share and demand along airline routes, the prediction of existing models is not precise enough, and to the best of our knowledge, there is no use of data mining--based forecasting techniques for improving airline profitability. We propose the maximizing airline profits (MAP) architecture designed to help airlines and make two key contributions in airline market share and route demand prediction and prediction-based airline profit optimization. Compared to past methods used to forecast market share and demand along airline routes, we introduce a novel ensemble forecasting (MAP-EF) approach considering two new classes of features: (i) features derived from clusters of similar routes and (ii) features based on equilibrium pricing. We show that MAP-EF achieves much better Pearson correlation coefficients (greater than 0.95 vs. 0.82 for market share, 0.98 vs. 0.77 for demand) and
R
2
-values compared to three state-of-the-art works for forecasting market share and demand while showing much lower variance. Using the results of MAP-EF, we develop MAP--bilevel branch and bound (MAP-BBB) and MAP-greedy (MAP-G) algorithms to optimally allocate flight frequencies over multiple routes to maximize an airline’s profit. We also study two extensions of the profit maximization problem considering frequency constraints and long-term profits. Furthermore, we develop algorithms for computing Nash equilibrium frequencies when there are multiple strategic airlines. Experimental results show that airlines can increase profits by a significant margin. All experiments were conducted with data aggregated from four sources: the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the U.S. Census Bureau (CB).
Mining Resource Profiles from Event Logs
Authors: Pika Anastasiia , Leyer Michael , Wynn Moe T. , Fidge Colin J. , Hofstede Arthur H. M. Ter , Aalst Wil M. P. Van Der
Published: March 2017

In most business processes, several activities need to be executed by human resources and cannot be fully automated. To evaluate resource performance and identify best practices as well as opportunities for improvement, managers need objective information about resource behaviors. Companies often use information systems to support their processes, and these systems record information about process execution in event logs. We present a framework for analyzing and evaluating resource behavior through mining such event logs. The framework provides (1) a method for extracting descriptive information about resource skills, utilization, preferences, productivity, and collaboration patterns; (2) a method for analyzing relationships between different resource behaviors and outcomes; and (3) a method for evaluating the overall resource productivity, tracking its changes over time, and comparing it to the productivity of other resources. To demonstrate the applicability of our framework, we apply it to analyze employee behavior in an Australian company and evaluate its usefulness by a survey among industry managers.
WaitSuite
Authors: Cai Carrie J. , Ren Anji , Miller Robert C.
Published: March 2017

The busyness of daily life makes it difficult to find time for informal learning. Yet, learning requires significant time and effort, with repeated exposures to educational content on a recurring basis. Despite the struggle to find time, there are numerous moments in a day that are typically wasted due to waiting, such as while waiting for the elevator to arrive, wifi to connect, or an instant message to arrive. We introduce the concept of
wait-learning
: automatically detecting wait time and inviting people to learn while waiting. Our approach is to design seamless interactions that augment existing wait time with productive opportunities. Combining wait time with productive work opens up a new class of software systems that overcome the problem of limited time.

In this article, we establish a design space for wait-learning and explore this design space by creating WaitSuite, a suite of five different wait-learning apps that each uses a different kind of waiting. For one of these apps, we conducted a feasibility study to evaluate learning and to understand how exercises should be timed during waiting periods. Subsequently, we evaluated multiple kinds of wait-learning in a two-week field study of WaitSuite with 25 people. We present design implications for wait-learning, and a theoretical framework that describes how wait time, ease of accessing the learning task, and competing demands impact the effectiveness of wait-learning in different waiting scenarios. These findings provide insight into how wait-learning can be designed to minimize interruption to ongoing tasks and maximize engagement with learning.
Energy Transparency for Deeply Embedded Programs
Authors: Georgiou Kyriakos , Kerrison Steve , Chamski Zbigniew , Eder Kerstin
Published: March 2017

Energy transparency is a concept that makes a program’s energy consumption visible, from hardware up to software, through the different system layers. Such transparency can enable energy optimizations at each layer and between layers, as well as help both programmers and operating systems make energy-aware decisions. In this article, we focus on deeply embedded devices, typically used for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, and demonstrate how to enable energy transparency through existing static resource analysis (SRA) techniques and a new target-agnostic profiling technique, without hardware energy measurements. Our novel mapping technique enables software energy consumption estimations at a higher level than the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), namely the LLVM intermediate representation (IR) level, and therefore introduces energy transparency directly to the LLVM optimizer. We apply our energy estimation techniques to a comprehensive set of benchmarks, including single- and multithreaded embedded programs from two commonly used concurrency patterns: task farms and pipelines. Using SRA, our LLVM IR results demonstrate a high accuracy with a deviation in the range of 1% from the ISA SRA. Our profiling technique captures the actual energy consumption at the LLVM IR level with an average error of 3%.
An Influence Propagation View of PageRank
Authors: Liu Qi , Xiang Biao , Yuan Nicholas Jing , Chen Enhong , Xiong Hui , Zheng Yi , Yang Yu
Published: March 2017

For a long time, PageRank has been widely used for authority computation and has been adopted as a solid baseline for evaluating social influence related applications. However, when measuring the authority of network nodes, the traditional PageRank method does not take the nodes’ prior knowledge into consideration. Also, the connection between PageRank and social influence modeling methods is not clearly established. To that end, this article provides a focused study on understanding PageRank as well as the relationship between PageRank and social influence analysis. Along this line, we first propose a linear social influence model and reveal that this model generalizes the PageRank-based authority computation by introducing some constraints. Then, we show that the authority computation by PageRank can be enhanced if exploiting more reasonable constraints (e.g., from prior knowledge). Next, to deal with the computational challenge of linear model with general constraints, we provide an upper bound for identifying nodes with top authorities. Moreover, we extend the proposed linear model for better measuring the authority of the given node sets, and we also demonstrate the way to quickly identify the top authoritative node sets. Finally, extensive experimental evaluations on four real-world networks validate the effectiveness of the proposed linear model with respect to different constraint settings. The results show that the methods with more reasonable constraints can lead to better ranking and recommendation performance. Meanwhile, the upper bounds formed by PageRank values could be used to quickly locate the nodes and node sets with the highest authorities.
QoS-Driven Data Processing Algorithms for Smart Electric Grids
Authors: Khandeparkar Kedar , Ramamritham Krithi , Gupta Rajeev
Published: March 2017

Smart-grid applications have widely varying data needs as well as bandwidth and latency requirements. The usual approach to accumulating the available data (e.g., from Phasor Measurement Units) at a centralized site and executing all the applications there leads to large network latencies. This article proposes techniques where data packets are prioritized and disseminated based on applications’ data needs and semantics. In particular, these techniques systematically exploit in-network processing capability and filter data in the dissemination network. This filtered data is assigned higher priority compared to the raw unfiltered data—helping meet QoS requirements of various applications. Performance evaluation of our distributed techniques over a testbed designed for the Indian electric grid demonstrates that processing latency for various smart grid applications reduces by at least 50% for large PMU data sizes, compared to the traditional centralized approach.
Automatic Analysis of UV-Induced Fluorescence Imagery of Historical Violins
Authors: Dondi Piercarlo , Lombardi Luca , Invernizzi Claudia , Rovetta Tommaso , Malagodi Marco , Licchelli Maurizio
Published: March 2017

In recent years, UV-induced fluorescence (UVIFL) photography has proven to be very effective when studying the surface of historical musical instruments, such as violins. This technique makes it possible to highlight superficial details not clearly perceptible with visible light (e.g., retouchings, superficial distribution of varnishes, or wear). The data retrieved are also an important guide for further noninvasive spectroscopic analyses used when the chemical composition of the surface needs to be investigated. However, UVIFL imagery interpretation of a historical violin is no trivial task. In fact, constant playing and the multiple restorations over the centuries have produced very complex surfaces. This work presents an automatic tool designed to facilitate this kind of analysis. Using a quantized histogram in HSV color space, the distribution of the main fluorescence colors on an instrument’s surface can be highlighted, recurrence of the same color in different areas of the same violin can be detected, or different violins can be compared. UVIFL images of seven Stradivarius violins kept in the Museo del Violino in Cremona, Italy, were used as a test set. The results achieved endorse the validity of the proposed approach.
Congestion Control for Network-Aware Telehaptic Communication
Authors: Gokhale Vineet , Nair Jayakrishnan , Chaudhuri Subhasis
Published: March 2017

Telehaptic applications involve delay-sensitive multimedia communication between remote locations with distinct Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for different media components. These QoS constraints pose a variety of challenges, especially when the communication occurs over a shared network, with unknown and time-varying cross-traffic. In this work, we propose a transport layer congestion control protocol for telehaptic applications operating over shared networks, termed as
Dynamic Packetization Module
(DPM). DPM is a lossless, network-aware protocol that tunes the telehaptic packetization rate based on the level of congestion in the network. To monitor the network congestion, we devise a novel
network feedback module
, which communicates the end-to-end delays encountered by the telehaptic packets to the respective transmitters with negligible overhead. Via extensive simulations, we show that DPM meets the QoS requirements of telehaptic applications over a wide range of network cross-traffic conditions. We also report qualitative results of a real-time telepottery experiment with several human subjects, which reveal that DPM preserves the quality of telehaptic activity even under heavily congested network scenarios. Finally, we compare the performance of DPM with several previously proposed telehaptic communication protocols and demonstrate that DPM outperforms these protocols.
Empathetic user design
Authors: Petersen Emily January
Published: March 2017

Motherhood is often a source of guilt, conflict, and ambivalence, and any communication about motherhood must be governed by an ethic of care and principles that take into account the fraught nature of such an identity. Social media provide individuals with new ways to discuss aspects of and share information about motherhood in different communication settings. Within this context, this article presents the results of 18 qualitative interviews of "mommy bloggers" and reports on the communication design principles and techniques these individuals employ to reach audiences of women. It also takes into account the contexts of users through social media. Overall, these bloggers use communication strategies such as identification, a rejection of perfectionism, an ethic of care, stories and narratives, branding, interactions with users, and a conversational tone to reach the target audience of women. These women act as professional communicators online by understanding this audience, living the reality of this audience through their own experiences, and designing communication that appeals to and ultimately improves the lives of their users. A study of their communication patterns can provide communication designers with insights on what I call empathetic user design and the importance of lived experience as authority.
The social help desk
Authors: Lam Chris , Hannah Mark A.
Published: March 2017

Technical support, a traditional practice of technical communication, is rapidly changing due to the ubiquitous use of digital technologies (Spinuzzi, 2007). In fact, many technology companies now have dedicated Twitter accounts specifically for providing technical support to end users. In response to this changing technical support landscape, we conducted an empirical study of Twitter-based interactions among six companies and their customers in order to examine the nature of the emerging technical support genre on Twitter. Among other findings, we discovered technical support was widely sought among the customers of the companies studied (Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Samsung, Hewlett Packard, and Dell) with nearly 200,000 tweets recorded in just a 38-day timespan. We also found a majority of individuals used Twitter to complain about a brand as opposed to seeking support for a specific technical problem. In our entry, we discuss the implications of these and other findings for technical communication practitioners and researchers who design for technical documentation in social media contexts.
Aspects of awareness
Authors: Amant Kirk St.
Published: March 2017

Commentators often describe media as a "window on the world." That metaphor, however, doesn't work with today's technology. Windows facilitate passive observation: one sits and is at the mercy of what is on the other side of the window in terms of what s/he can view. Today's media, however, are interactive. From television programming to instragram posts, individuals use modern media to negotiate what they wish to access, when, and on their own terms. (Consider the drastic differences between the push view of broadcast television of the past vs. the pull approach to accessing Apple TV options today.) So, while we still do sit and "watch," we get determine what we view.
Framing illness through Facebook enabled online support groups
Authors: Hinson Katrina L.
Published: March 2017

This article examines the illness/recovery narratives created through Facebook and shared in groups associated with the trauma of venous thrombolytic events (VTEs). Until recently, there was little public focus on VTE recovery; however, due to advances in medicine, patients who might have once died are now surviving, but there is limited literature about what surviving a VTE means for the individual. As a result, people look for others like themselves to help them adjust to this situation. In this context, Facebook affordances help extend traditional illness narratives between patient and healthcare provider from a private to semi-public or public space. Individuals participating in these groups transform not only themselves, but others, eliciting empathy, sharing experiences, and developing a platform upon which to critique healthcare practices.
Data Science for Food, Energy and Water
Authors: Abe Naoki , Xie Yiqun , Shekhar Shashi , Apte Chid , Kumar Vipin , Tuinstra Mitch , Vatsavai Ranga Raju
Published: March 2017

At the 22nd ACM SIGKDD conference on Knowledge and Data Discovery (KDD), a workshop on Data Science for Food, Energy andWater (DSFEW) was held to foster an interdisciplinary community intersecting data science and societally important domains of food, energy and water. The workshop included keynotes, panel discussion, presentations and posters, and introduced the emerging area of DSFEW to ACM SIGKDD audience, and triggered interdisciplinary idea-sharing in DSFEW research. The workshop website is sites.google.com/site/2016dsfew.
User Identity Linkage across Online Social Networks
Authors: Shu Kai , Wang Suhang , Tang Jiliang , Zafarani Reza , Liu Huan
Published: March 2017

The increasing popularity and diversity of social media sites has encouraged more and more people to participate on multiple online social networks to enjoy their services. Each user may create a user identity, which can includes profile, content, or network information, to represent his or her unique public figure in every social network. Thus, a fundamental question arises -- can we link user identities across online social networks? User identity linkage across online social networks is an emerging task in social media and has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Advancements in user identity linkage could potentially impact various domains such as recommendation and link prediction. Due to the unique characteristics of social network data, this problem faces tremendous challenges. To tackle these challenges, recent approaches generally consist of (1) extracting features and (2) constructing predictive models from a variety of perspectives. In this paper, we review key achievements of user identity linkage across online social networks including stateof- the-art algorithms, evaluation metrics, and representative datasets. We also discuss related research areas, open problems, and future research directions for user identity linkage across online social networks.
High-resolution anatomic correlation of cyclic motor patterns in the human colon: Evidence of a rectosigmoid brake
Authors: Lin Anthony Y. , Du Peng , Dinning Philip G. , Arkwright John W. , Kamp Jozef P. , Cheng Leo K. , Bissett Ian P. , O'Grady Gregory
Published: March 2017

Colonic cyclic motor patterns (CMPs) have been hypothesized to act as a brake to limit rectal filling. However, the spatiotemporal profile of CMPs, including anatomic origins and distributions, remains unclear. This study characterized colonic CMPs using high-resolution (HR) manometry (72 sensors, 1-cm resolution) and their relationship with proximal antegrade propagating events. Nine healthy volunteers were recruited. Recordings were performed over 4 h, with a 700-kcal meal given after 2 h. Propagating events were visually identified and analyzed by pattern, origin, amplitude, extent of propagation, velocity, and duration. Manometric data were normalized using anatomic landmarks identified on abdominal radiographs. These were mapped over a three-dimensional anatomic model. CMPs comprised a majority of detected propagating events. Most occurred postprandially and were retrograde propagating events (84.9 ± 26.0 retrograde vs. 14.3 ± 11.8 antegrade events/2 h, P = 0.004). The dominant sites of initiation for retrograde CMPs were in the rectosigmoid region, with patterns proximally propagating by a mean distance of 12.4 ± 0.3 cm. There were significant differences in the characteristics of CMPs depending on the direction of travel and site of initiation. Association analysis showed that proximal antegrade propagating events occurred independently of CMPs. This study accurately characterized CMPs with anatomic correlation. CMPs were unlikely to be triggered by proximal antegrade propagating events in our study context. However, the distal origin and prominence of retrograde CMPs could still act as a mechanism to limit rectal filling and support the theory of a “rectosigmoid brake.”

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Retrograde cyclic motor patterns (CMPs) are the dominant motor patterns in a healthy prepared human colon. The major sites of initiation are in the rectosigmoid region, with retrograde propagation, supporting the idea of a “rectosigmoid brake.” A significant increase in the number of CMPs is seen after a meal. In our study context, the majority of CMPs occurred independent of proximal propagating events, suggesting that CMPs are primarily controlled by external innervation.
EAVK segment “c” sequence confers Ca2+-dependent changes to the kinetics of full-length human Ano1
Authors: Strege Peter R. , Gibbons Simon J. , Mazzone Amelia , Bernard Cheryl E. , Beyder Arthur , Farrugia Gianrico
Published: March 2017

Anoctamin1 (Ano1 and TMEM16A) is a calcium-activated chloride channel specifically expressed in the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) of the gastrointestinal tract muscularis propria. Ano1 is necessary for normal electrical slow waves and ICC proliferation. The full-length human Ano1 sequence includes an additional exon, exon “0,” at the NH2 terminus. Ano1 with exon 0 [Ano1(0)] had a lower EC50 for intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and faster chloride current ( ICl) kinetics. The Ano1 alternative splice variant with segment “c” encoding exon 13 expresses on the first intracellular loop four additional amino acid residues, EAVK, which alter ICl at low [Ca2+]i. Exon 13 is expressed in 75–100% of Ano1 transcripts in most human tissues but only 25% in the human stomach. Our aim was to determine the effect of EAVK deletion on Ano1(0) ICl parameters. By voltage-clamp electrophysiology, we examined ICl in HEK293 cells transiently expressing Ano1(0) with or without the EAVK sequence [Ano1(0)ΔEAVK]. The EC50 values of activating and deactivating ICl for [Ca2+]i were 438 ± 7 and 493 ± 9 nM for Ano1(0) but higher for Ano1(0)ΔEAVK at 746 ± 47 and 761 ± 26 nM, respectively. Meanwhile, the EC50 values for the ratio of instantaneous to steady-state ICl were not different between variants. Congruently, the time constant of activation was slower for Ano1(0)ΔEAVK than Ano1(0) currents at intermediate [Ca2+]i. These results suggest that EAVK decreases the calcium sensitivity of Ano1(0) current activation and deactivation by slowing activation kinetics. Differential expression of EAVK in the human stomach may function as a switch to increase sensitivity to [Ca2+]i via faster gating of Ano1.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Calcium-activated chloride channel anoctamin1 (Ano1) is necessary for normal slow waves in the gastrointestinal interstitial cells of Cajal. Exon 0 encodes the NH2 terminus of full-length human Ano1 [Ano1(0)], while exon 13 encodes residues EAVK on its first intracellular loop. Splice variants lack EAVK more often in the stomach than other tissues. Ano1(0) without EAVK [Ano1(0)ΔEAVK] has reduced sensitivity for intracellular calcium, attributable to slower kinetics. Differential expression of EAVK may function as a calcium-sensitive switch in the human stomach.
Role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in the modulation of airway smooth muscle tone and calcium handling
Authors: Yocum Gene T. , Chen Jun , Choi Christine H. , Townsend Elizabeth A. , Zhang Yi , Xu Dingbang , Fu Xiao W. , Sanderson Michael J. , Emala Charles W.
Published: March 2017

Asthma is a common disorder characterized, in part, by airway smooth muscle (ASM) hyperresponsiveness. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a nonselective cation channel expressed on airway nerve fibers that modulates afferent signals, resulting in cough, and potentially bronchoconstriction. In the present study, the TRPV1 transcript was detected by RT-PCR in primary cultured human ASM cells, and the TRPV1 protein was detected in ASM of human trachea by immunohistochemistry. Proximity ligation assays suggest that TRPV1 is expressed in the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane of human ASM cells in close association with sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase-2. In guinea pig tracheal ring organ bath experiments, the TRPV1 agonist capsaicin led to ASM contraction, but this contraction was significantly attenuated by the sodium channel inhibitor bupivacaine ( n = 4, P < 0.05) and the neurokinin-2 receptor antagonist GR-159897 ( n = 4, P < 0.05), suggesting that this contraction is neutrally mediated. However, pretreatment of guinea pig and human ASM in organ bath experiments with the TRPV1 antagonist capsazepine inhibited the maintenance phase of an acetylcholine-induced contraction ( n = 4, P < 0.01 for both species). Similarly, capsazepine inhibited methacholine-induced contraction of peripheral airways in mouse precision-cut lung slice (PCLS) experiments ( n = 4–5, P < 0.05). Although capsazepine did not inhibit store-operated calcium entry in mouse ASM cells in PCLS ( n = 4–7, P = nonsignificant), it did inhibit calcium oscillations ( n = 3, P < 0.001). These studies suggest that TRPV1 is expressed on ASM, including the SR, but that ASM TRPV1 activation does not play a significant role in initiation of ASM contraction. However, capsazepine does inhibit maintenance of contraction, likely by inhibiting calcium oscillations.
TLR2 knockout protects against diabetes-mediated changes in cerebral perfusion and cognitive deficits
Authors: Hardigan Trevor , Hernandez Caterina , Ward Rebecca , Hoda M. Nasrul , Ergul Adviye
Published: March 2017

The risk of cognitive decline in diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2) is significantly greater compared with normoglycemic patients, and the risk of developing dementia in diabetic patients is doubled. The etiology for this is likely multifactorial, but one mechanism that has gained increasing attention is decreased cerebral perfusion as a result of cerebrovascular dysfunction. The innate immune system has been shown to play a role in diabetic vascular complications, notably through the Toll-like receptor (TLR)-stimulated release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines that lead to vascular damage. TLR2 has been implicated in playing a crucial role in the development of diabetic microvascular complications, such as nephropathy, and thus, we hypothesized that TLR2-mediated cerebrovascular dysfunction leads to decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cognitive impairment in diabetes. Knockout of TLR2 conferred protection from impaired CBF in early-stage diabetes and from hyperperfusion in long-term diabetes, prevented the development of endothelium-dependent vascular dysfunction in diabetes, created a hyperactive and anxiolytic phenotype, and protected against diabetes-induced impairment of long-term hippocampal and prefrontal cortex-mediated fear learning. In conclusion, these findings support the involvement of TLR2 in the pathogenesis of diabetic vascular disease and cognitive impairment.
Examination of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 abundance in white adipose tissue: implications in obesity research
Authors: Warfel Jaycob D. , Vandanmagsar Bolormaa , Dubuisson Olga S. , Hodgeson Sydney M. , Elks Carrie M. , Ravussin Eric , Mynatt Randall L.
Published: March 2017

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) is essential for the transport of long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria for oxidation. Recently, it was reported that decreased CPT1b mRNA in adipose tissue was a contributing factor for obesity in rats. We therefore closely examined the expression level of Cpt1 in adipose tissue from mice, rats, and humans. Cpt1a is the predominate isoform in adipose tissue from all three species. Rat white adipose tissue has a moderate amount of Cpt1b mRNA, but it is very minor compared with Cpt1b expression in muscle. Total CPT1 activity in adipose tissue is also minor relative to other tissues. Both Cpt1a and Cpt1b mRNA were increased in gonadal fat but not inguinal fat by diet-induced obesity in mice. We also measured CPT1a and CPT1b expression in subcutaneous adipose tissue from human subjects with a wide range of body mass indexes (BMIs). Interestingly, CPT1a expression positively correlated with BMI ( R = 0.46), but there was no correlation with CPT1b ( R = 0.04). Our findings indicate that white adipose tissue fatty acid oxidation capacity is minor compared with that of metabolically active tissues. Furthermore, given the already low abundance of Cpt1b in white adipose tissue, it is unlikely that decreases in its expression can quantitatively decrease whole body energy expenditure enough to contribute to an obese phenotype.
Proximal tubule glutamine synthetase expression is necessary for the normal response to dietary protein restriction
Authors: Lee Hyun-Wook , Osis Gunars , Handlogten Mary E. , Verlander Jill W. , Weiner I. David
Published: March 2017

Dietary protein restriction has multiple benefits in kidney disease. Because protein intake is a major determinant of endogenous acid production, it is important that net acid excretion changes in parallel during changes in dietary protein intake. Dietary protein restriction decreases endogenous acid production and decreases urinary ammonia excretion, a major component of net acid excretion. Glutamine synthetase (GS) catalyzes the reaction of [Formula: see text] and glutamate, which regenerates the essential amino acid glutamine and decreases net ammonia generation. Because renal proximal tubule GS expression increases during dietary protein restriction, this could contribute to the decreased ammonia excretion. The purpose of the current study was to determine the role of proximal tubule GS in the renal response to protein restriction. We generated mice with proximal tubule-specific GS deletion (PT-GS-KO) using Cre-loxP techniques. Cre-negative (Control) and PT-GS-KO mice in metabolic cages were provided 20% protein diet for 2 days and were then changed to low-protein (6%) diet for the next 7 days. Additional PT-GS-KO mice were maintained on 20% protein diet. Dietary protein restriction caused a rapid decrease in urinary ammonia excretion in both genotypes, but PT-GS-KO blunted this adaptive response significantly. This occurred despite no significant genotype-dependent differences in urinary pH or in serum electrolytes. There were no significant differences between Control and PT-GS-KO mice in expression of multiple other proteins involved in renal ammonia handling. We conclude that proximal tubule GS expression is necessary for the appropriate decrease in ammonia excretion during dietary protein restriction.
MicroRNA-148b regulates megalin expression and is associated with receptor downregulation in mice with unilateral ureteral obstruction
Authors: Wen Lu , Andersen Pia K. , Husum Dina M. U. , Nørregaard Rikke , Zhao Zhanzheng , Liu Zhangsuo , Birn Henrik
Published: March 2017

Megalin is a multiligand, endocytic receptor that is important for the normal, proximal tubule reabsorption of filtered proteins, hormones, enzymes, essential nutrients, and nephrotoxins. Megalin dysfunction has been associated with acute, as well as chronic kidney diseases. Tubular proteinuria has been observed following unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO), suggesting megalin dysfunction; however, the pathophysiological mechanism has not been determined. To identify potential regulators of megalin expression, we examined renal microRNAs (miRNAs) expression and observed an upregulation of microRNA-148b (miR-148b) in obstructed mouse kidneys 7 days after UUO, which was associated with a significant reduction in proximal tubule megalin expression and accumulation of megalin ligands. By in silico miRNA target prediction analysis, we identified megalin messenger RNA (mRNA) as a potential target of miR-148b and confirmed using a dual-luciferase reporter assay that miR-148b targeted the 3′-untranslated region of the megalin gene. Transfection of LLC-PK1 cells with miR-148b mimic reduced endogenous megalin mRNA and protein levels in a concentration-dependent manner, while transfection with miR-148b inhibitor resulted in an increase. Our findings suggest that miR-148b directly downregulates megalin expression and that miR-148b negatively regulates megalin expression in UUO-induced kidney injury. Furthermore, the identification of a miRNA regulating megalin expression may allow for targeted interventions to modulate megalin function and proximal tubule uptake of proteins, as well as other ligands.
Ketamine-induced bladder fibrosis involves epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition mediated by transforming growth factor-β1
Authors: Wang Junpeng , Chen Yang , Gu Di , Zhang Guihao , Chen Jiawei , Zhao Jie , Wu Peng
Published: March 2017

Bladder wall fibrosis is a major complication of ketamine-induced cystitis (KC), but the underlying pathogenesis is poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism of ketamine-induced fibrosis in association with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediated by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly distributed into four groups, which received saline, ketamine, ketamine combined with a TGF-β receptor inhibitor (SB-505124) for 16 wk, or 12 wk of ketamine and 4 wk of abstinence. In addition, the profibrotic effect of ketamine was confirmed in SV-40 immortalized human uroepithelial (SV-HUC-1) cells. The ketamine-treated rats displayed voiding dysfunction and decreased bladder compliance. Bladder fibrosis was accompanied by the appearance of a certain number of cells expressing both epithelial and mesenchymal markers, indicating that epithelial cells might undergo EMT upon ketamine administration. Meanwhile, the expression level of TGF-β1 was significantly upregulated in the urothelium of bladders in ketamine-treated rats. Treatment of SV-HUC-1 cells with ketamine increased the expression of TGF-β1 and EMT-inducing transcription factors, resulting in the downregulation of E-cadherin and upregulation of fibronectin and α-smooth muscle actin. Administration of SB-505124 inhibited EMT and fibrosis both in vitro and vivo. In addition, withdrawal from ketamine did not lead to recovery of bladder urinary function or decreased fibrosis. Taken together, our study shows for the first time that EMT might contribute to bladder fibrosis in KC. TGF-β1 may have an important role in bladder fibrogenesis via an EMT mechanism.
The effect of aging and cardiorespiratory fitness on the lung diffusing capacity response to exercise in healthy humans
Authors: Coffman Kirsten E. , Carlson Alex R. , Miller Andrew D. , Johnson Bruce D. , Taylor Bryan J.
Published: March 2017

Aging is associated with deterioration in the structure and function of the pulmonary circulation. We characterized the lung diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO), alveolar-capillary membrane conductance (DmCO), and pulmonary-capillary blood volume (Vc) response to discontinuous incremental exercise at 25, 50, 75, and 90% of peak work (Wpeak) in four groups: 1) Young [27 ± 3 yr, maximal oxygen consumption (V̇o2max): 110 ± 18% age predicted]; 2) Young Highly Fit (27 ± 3 yr, V̇o2max: 147 ± 8% age predicted); 3) Old (69 ± 5 yr, V̇o2max: 116 ± 13% age predicted); and 4) Old Highly Fit (65 ± 5 yr, V̇o2max: 162 ± 18% age predicted). At rest and at 90% Wpeak, DLCO, DmCO, and Vc were decreased with age. At 90% Wpeak, DLCO, DmCO, and Vc were greater in Old Highly Fit vs. Old adults. The slope of the DLCO-cardiac output (Q̇) relationship from rest to end exercise at 90% Wpeak was not different between Young, Young Highly Fit, Old, and Old Highly Fit (1.35 vs. 1.44 vs. 1.10 vs. 1.35 mlCO·mmHg−1·liter blood−1, P = 0.388), with no evidence of a plateau in this relationship during exercise; this was also true for DmCO-Q̇ and Vc-Q̇. V̇o2max was positively correlated with 1) DLCO, DmCO, and Vc at rest; and 2) the rest to end exercise change in DLCO, DmCO, and Vc. In conclusion, these data suggest that despite the age-associated deterioration in the structure and function of the pulmonary circulation, expansion of the pulmonary capillary network does not become limited during exercise in healthy individuals regardless of age or cardiorespiratory fitness level.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Healthy aging is a crucial area of research. This article details how differences in age and cardiorespiratory fitness level affect lung diffusing capacity, particularly during high-intensity exercise. We conclude that highly fit older adults do not experience a limit in lung diffusing capacity during high-intensity exercise. Interestingly, however, we found that highly fit older individuals demonstrate greater values of lung diffusing capacity during high-intensity exercise than their less fit age-matched counterparts.
Effects of midline sagittal location on bone-conducted cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials
Authors: Govender Sendhil , Colebatch James G.
Published: March 2017

We have investigated the effectiveness of two bone-conducted (BC) stimuli in producing vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) following stimulation along midsagittal skull sites. Twenty subjects (mean age 24 yr, range: 18–34 yr; 6 men; 14 women) were studied using a smoothed impulse and a 500-Hz tone burst applied to Nz, Fpz, AFz, Fz, FCz, and Cz with both compressive and rarefactive onset phases. Cervical (cVEMPs) and ocular VEMPs (oVEMPs) were recorded as well as linear acceleration in three axes. cVEMPs evoked by 500 Hz showed no change in response polarity to either stimulus location or phase. cVEMPs evoked by the impulsive stimulus showed larger initial peak amplitudes at AFz and Fz using compressive stimuli and differences in initial peak latency between the two phases. In contrast, amplitude, latency, and response polarity for oVEMPs were markedly affected by stimulus location and phase, which were similar for both BC stimuli, with little correlation with induced acceleration of the head. Latencies were earliest at AFz and Fz where compressive onset stimuli evoked an initial negativity (average latency 8.6–11.0 ms). At other sites compressive onset stimuli usually evoked oVEMPs with an initial positivity. We conclude that both 500 Hz and impulsive stimuli are effective means of evoking cVEMPs and oVEMPs from mid sagittal skull sites. The effects depend upon both location and phase and differ for oVEMPs and cVEMPs. Initial negativities for oVEMPs following compressive stimuli were most consistently obtained using the AFz and Fz sites.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We investigated the effect of stimulus location and phase (compressive and rarefactive) in the midsagittal plane for the cVEMP and oVEMP evoked by bone-conducted (BC) 500 Hz and BC impulsive stimuli. For cVEMPs, location effects were limited but were observed for BC impulses. For oVEMPs, both stimuli affected amplitude, latency, and polarity, depending on stimulus location and phase. Compressive stimuli at Fz and AFz evoked early negative oVEMPs most reliably.
Effects of Climate and Land Use Changes on Water Resources in the Taoer River
Authors: Liu Jianwei , Zhang Can , Kou Limin , Zhou Qiang
Published: March 2017

The changes of both climate and land use/cover have some impacts on water resources. In the Taoer River basin, these changes have directly influenced the land use pattern adjustment, wetland protection, connections between rivers and reservoirs, local social and economic development, and so forth. Therefore, studying the impacts of climate and land use/cover changes is of great practical significance. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is employed in this study. With historical measured runoff data and remote sensing maps of annual land use classifications, we analyzed the impacts of climate change on the runoff of the Taoer River. Based on the land use/cover classifications of 1990, 2000, and 2010, we analyzed the land use/cover change over the last 30 years and the contribution coefficient of farmland, woodland, grassland, and other major land use types to the runoff. This study can provide a reference for the rational allocation of water resources and the adjustment of land use structure for decision makers.
Randomized Crossover Study Showing Nurse-Led Same Day Review Replacing Next Day Review in Uneventful Phacoemulsification to Be Safe and Efficacious
Authors: Shum Jennifer W. H. , Cheung Janice J. C. , Lee Monica M. N. , Wong Oscar G. W. , Li Kenneth K. W.
Published: March 2017

Purpose. To study whether nurse led same-day review (SDR) after uneventful phacoemulsification can replace next-day review (NDR) in terms of safety and efficacy.Setting. Patients are recruited from an ophthalmology outpatient clinic in Hong Kong.Design. A prospective, randomized crossover study conducted from November 2012 to 2014.Methods. Inclusion criteria include cataract surgery naïve patients undergoing phacoemulsification under local anaesthesia. All patients were seen by our ophthalmic nurse 2 hours after surgery. Before undergoing phacoemulsification of the first eye, patients were randomized to be reviewed on day 1 or 7 after surgery. Surgeons and reviewing doctors were blinded to patient allocation. For the patients’ second eye surgery, group allocation will cross over. Primary outcome measures include visual improvement and patient satisfaction questionnaire. Other measures include cataract characteristics, surgical details, and complications. Statistical tests include pairedt-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Chi-square test.Results. 164 eyes from 82 patients were available. Visual improvement, satisfaction, and complications were comparable between both groups.Conclusions. A nurse led SDR can replace NDR in uneventful phacoemulsification in terms of safety and efficacy. Patient satisfaction is also comparable in the setting of Asian culture and when transportation is not a major concern.