bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Zika virus infects pericytes in the choroid plexus and enters the central nervous system through the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier
Authors: Kim Jihye , Hetman Michal , Hattab Eyas M. , Joiner Joshua , Alejandro Brian , Schroten Horst , Ishikawa Hiroshi , Chung Dong-Hoon
Published: November 2019

Zika virus (ZIKV) can infect and cause microcephaly and Zika-associated neurological complications in the developing fetal and adult brains. In terms of pathogenesis, a critical question is how ZIKV overcomes the barriers separating the brain from the circulation and gains access to the central nervous system (CNS). Despite the importance of ZIKV pathogenesis, the route ZIKV utilizes to cross CNS barriers remains unclear.

Here we show that in mouse models, ZIKV-infected cells initially appeared in the periventricular regions of the brain, including the choroid plexus and the meninges, prior to infection of the cortex. The appearance of ZIKV in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) preceded infection of the brain parenchyma. We show that ZIKV infects pericytes in the choroid plexus, and that ZIKV infection of pericytes is dependent on AXL receptor tyrosine kinase. Using an in vitro Transwell system, we highlight the possibility of ZIKV to move from the blood side to CSF side, across the choroid plexus epithelial layers, via a nondestructive pathway (e.g., transcytosis). Finally, we demonstrate that brain infection is significantly attenuated by neutralization of the virus in the CSF, indicating that ZIKV in the CSF at the early stage of infection might be responsible for establishing a lethal infection of the brain. Taken together, our results suggest that ZIKV invades the host brain by exploiting the blood-CSF barrier rather than the blood-brain barrier.

AUTHOR SUMMARY

Zika virus invades the human brains and causes Zika-associated neurological complications; however, the mechanism(s) by which Zika virus accesses the central nerves system remain unclear. Understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms will shed light on development of novel therapeutic and prophylactic targets for Zika virus and other neurotropic viruses. Here we use in vivo and in vitro models to understand how Zika virus enters the brain. In mouse models, we found that Zika virus infects pericytes in the choroid plexus at very early stages of infection and neutralization of Zika virus in the cerebrospinal fluid significantly attenuate the brain infection. Further we show evidence that Zika virus can cross the epithelial cell layers in the choroid plexus from the blood side. Our research highlights that ZIKV invades the host brain by exploiting the blood-CSF barrier rather than the blood-brain barrier.
Activation of invariant natural killer T cells stimulates adipose tissue remodeling via adipocyte death and birth in obesity
Authors: Park Jeu , Huh Jin Young , Oh Jiyoung , Kim Jong In , Han Sang Mun , Shin Kyung Cheul , Jeon Yong Geun , Choe Sung Sik , Park Jiyoung , Kim Jae Bum
Published: November 2019

In obesity, adipose tissue undergoes dynamic remodeling processes such as adipocyte hypertrophy, hypoxia, immune responses, and adipocyte death. However, whether and how invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells contribute to adipose tissue remodeling are elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that iNKT cells remove unhealthy adipocytes and stimulate the differentiation of healthy adipocytes. In obese adipose tissue, iNKT cells were abundantly found nearby dead adipocytes. FasL-positive adipose iNKT cells exerted cytotoxic effects to eliminate hypertrophic and pro-inflammatory Fas-positive adipocytes. Furthermore, in vivo adipocyte-lineage tracing mice model showed that activation of iNKT cells by alpha-galactosylceramide promoted adipocyte turnover, eventually leading to potentiation of the insulin-dependent glucose uptake ability in adipose tissue. Collectively, our data propose a novel role of adipose iNKT cells in the regulation of adipocyte turnover in obesity.
Deep profiling and custom databases improve detection of proteoforms generated by alternative splicing
Authors: Agosto Laura M. , Gazzara Matthew R. , Radens Caleb M. , Sidoli Simone , Baeza Josue , Garcia Benjamin A. , Lynch Kristen W.
Published: November 2019

Alternative pre-mRNA splicing has long been proposed to contribute greatly to proteome complexity. However, the extent to which mature mRNA isoforms are successfully translated into protein remains controversial. Here, we used high-throughput RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry (MS)–based proteomics to better evaluate the translation of alternatively spliced mRNAs. To increase proteome coverage and improve protein quantitation, we optimized cell fractionation and sample processing steps at both the protein and peptide level. Furthermore, we generated a custom peptide database trained on analysis of RNA-seq data with MAJIQ, an algorithm optimized to detect and quantify differential and unannotated splice junction usage. We matched tandem mass spectra acquired by data-dependent acquisition (DDA) against our custom RNA-seq based database, as well as SWISS-PROT and RefSeq databases to improve identification of splicing-derived proteoforms by 28% compared with use of the SWISS-PROT database alone. Altogether, we identified peptide evidence for 554 alternate proteoforms corresponding to 274 genes. Our increased depth and detection of proteins also allowed us to track changes in the transcriptome and proteome induced by T-cell stimulation, as well as fluctuations in protein subcellular localization. In sum, our data here confirm that use of generic databases in proteomic studies underestimates the number of spliced mRNA isoforms that are translated into protein and provides a workflow that improves isoform detection in large-scale proteomic experiments.
Successful sample preparation for serial crystallography experiments
Authors: Beale John H. , Bolton Rachel , Marshall Stephen A. , Beale Emma V. , Carr Stephen B. , Ebrahim Ali , Moreno-Chicano Tadeo , Hough Michael A. , Worrall Jonathan A. R. , Tews Ivo , Owen Robin L.
Published: November 2019

Serial crystallography, at both synchrotron and X-ray free-electron laser light sources, is becoming increasingly popular. However, the tools in the majority of crystallization laboratories are focused on producing large single crystals by vapour diffusion that fit the cryo-cooled paradigm of modern synchrotron crystallography. This paper presents several case studies and some ideas and strategies on how to perform the conversion from a single crystal grown by vapour diffusion to the many thousands of micro-crystals required for modern serial crystallography grown by batch crystallization. These case studies aim to show (i) how vapour diffusion conditions can be converted into batch by optimizing the length of time crystals take to appear; (ii) how an understanding of the crystallization phase diagram can act as a guide when designing batch crystallization protocols; and (iii) an accessible methodology when attempting to scale batch conditions to larger volumes. These methods are needed to minimize the sample preparation gap between standard rotation crystallography and dedicated serial laboratories, ultimately making serial crystallography more accessible to all crystallographers.
Automated oxidation-state assignment for metal sites in coordination complexes in the Cambridge Structural Database
Authors: Reeves Matthew G. , Wood Peter A. , Parsons Simon
Published: November 2019

The Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) currently contains over 400 000 transition-metal-containing entries, however many entries still lack curated oxidation-state assignments. Surveying and editing the remaining entries would be far too resource- and time-intensive to be carried out manually. Here, a highly reliable automated workflow for oxidation-state assignment in transition-metal coordination complexes via CSD Python API (application programming interface) scripts is presented. The strengths and limitations of the bond-valence sum (BVS) method are discussed and the use of complementary methods for improved assignment confidence is explored. In total, four complementary techniques have been implemented in this study. The resulting workflow overcomes the limitations of the BVS approach, widening the applicability of an automated procedure to more CSD entries. Assignments are successful for 99% of the cases where a high consensus between different methodologies is observed. Out of a total number of 54 999 unique metal atoms in a test dataset, the procedure yielded the correct oxidation state in 47 072 (86%) of cases.
Two topologically different 3D CuII metal–organic frameworks assembled from the same ligands: control of reaction conditions
Authors: Zhang Shunlin , Gao Sheng , Wang Xin , He Xin , Zhao Jing , Zhu Dunru
Published: November 2019

Bifunctional ligands containing both carboxylic and sulfonate groups can adopt versatile coordination modes to produce novel metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with high-dimensional networks and interesting topologies. Using 2,2′-disulfonylbiphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid (H4
L) as a linker and 4,4′-bipyridine (4,4′-bpy) as a co-ligand, two novel 3D CuII MOFs, {[Cu2(L)(4,4′-bpy)2.5(H2O)]·1.7H2O}
n
, (1), and {[Cu2(L)(4,4′-bpy)2]·DMA·3H2O}
n
, (2), have been synthesized and structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography (DMA is N,N-dimethylacetamide). MOF (1) shows an unprecedented trinodal 4,4,5-connected topology network with the Schläfli symbol (4.62.73)(43.65.7.8)(6.73.8.10), while MOF (2) indicates a binodal 4,6-connected fsc network with the Schläfli symbol (44.610.8)(44.62). MOFs (1) and (2) were further characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. MOF (1) shows a high water and chemical stability. The proton conductivity of (1) and CO2 adsorption of (2) were also investigated.
Differences in international accreditation: Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
Authors: Merrill Martha
Published: November 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to count the number of international program accreditations at universities in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan; and second, to understand why Kazakhstan has dramatically more such accreditations.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology included identifying agencies working in each country, reviewing data on their websites, and analyzing government documents and relevant literature.

Findings

Findings were that Kazakhstan has 645 international program accreditations and Kyrgyzstan has 9. Analysis of the reasons for this difference includes strong government support and incentives for internationalization of higher education in Kazakhstan, furthering the government’s goal of becoming one of the world’s 30 most developed economies by 2050; Kazakhstan’s financial wherewithal to support internationalization policies; and its membership in the Bologna Process. In Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, few rewards result from the costly and time-consuming process of international accreditation; only programs with existing international connections or institutions with large international student populations seem interested.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations are that the research was based on document analysis and did not include interviews with staff of programs seeking international accreditation.

Practical implications

One implication, i.e., international program accreditation, while an indicator of program quality, also denotes the financial and infrastructural wherewithal to carry it out, plus the perceived benefits and costs of doing so.

Originality/value

The value of this research is that it analyzes the reasons for divergence and different results in two countries that, 25 years ago, were part of the same higher education system.
Anthropomorphized vs objectified brands: which brand version is more loved?
Authors: Delgado-Ballester Elena , Palazón Mariola , Peláez Jenny
Published: November 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the role of the human metaphor (anthropomorphism) and consumers’ liking for the humanized version of the brand as antecedents of three key components of brand love: self-brand integration, positive emotional connection and feelings of anticipated separation distress.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 399 consumers provided information about a brand from a stated list of 16 brands of clothing.

Findings

Both anthropomorphism and consumers’ liking for the humanized brand have positive effects on specific components of brand love. The results confirm that brand anthropomorphism is only desirable when the humanized version of the brand is attractive for consumers.

Research limitations/implications

A potential shortcoming is the qualitative technique employed to observe anthropomorphic thought. Collecting ratings of anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic traits could be viewed as a method more easily applied in market research surveys.

Practical implications

Managers have to control how consumers imagine the brand as a human entity because it affects brand love. For example, by tracking consumers’ opinions and traits of those people associated with the brand and brand user stereotypes can condition consumers’ imagination of the humanized brand.

Originality/value

Compared to the limited number of studies about the relationship between anthropomorphism and brand love, this study focuses on the effects of anthropomorphism as a process, and not as a personal trait, on brand love. It also relies on consumers’ imagination instead of brand personification strategies to stimulate anthropomorphism.
Navigating ethnic entrepreneurship in religion and culture meld
Authors: Ojo Sanya
Published: November 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine ethnic entrepreneurship within the contexts of religion, cultural hybridity, segregation, diasporic network and enterprise.

Design/methodology/approach

The study collected two sets of data from 15 black African respondents/entrepreneurs through face-to-face interviews in London, UK.

Findings

Findings point to immigrants’ entrepreneurial adaptation through traditional and dogmatic interpretations of religious beliefs in the informal sector.

Originality/value

The paper offers fresh insights into the religion/faith and socio-cultural meld in the sagacity of black African entrepreneurship. Such insights afford great opportunities to construct new sites of meaning or frame new explanations of entrepreneurship among the ethnic group – using religion and culture as important environmental munificence.
Anti-money laundering/trade-based money laundering risk assessment strategies – action or re-action focused?
Authors: Naheem Mohammed Ahmad
Published: November 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to discuss whether most anti-money laundering (AML) risk assessment strategies within the banking and financial services sector are reactionary focused and/or whether it should be possible to predict where increased costs and resources need to be targeted in future AML risk processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviewed research findings from the researchers own study on trade-based money laundering (TBML) and also survey results from the KPMG Global Anti-Money Laundering Survey (2014), along with academic discussion papers.

Findings

The paper concluded that risk assessment strategies were still largely responsive, and this left banks exposed to two factors – not recognising risk that they were not assessing for and, second, being challenged legally as new cases emerged in the court systems from victims of ML and terrorism crimes.

Practical implications

The practical implications affect the resources and costs assigned to risk assessment strategies and called for a more holistic approach that was forward thinking from the bank’s perspective rather than reactionary focused and working from the regulators’s agenda.

Social implications

Any improvements in detection of AML and counter-terrorism financing has broader social outcomes.

Originality/value

The originality is the subject matter of AML risk assessment strategies and the input from TBML/AML experts from across the globe that contributed to the author’s research survey and interviews. These results have been analysed along with other research and the current academic discussion on this topic.
Qualitative comparative analysis: justifying a neo-configurational approach in management research
Authors: Parente Tobias Coutinho , Federo Ryan
Published: November 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect and offer insights on how to justify the use of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as a research method for understanding the complexity of organizational phenomena, by applying the principles of the neo-configurational approach.

Design/methodology/approach

We present and critically examine three arguments regarding the use of QCA for management research. First, they discuss the need to assume configurational theories to build and empirically test a causal model of interest. Second, we explain how the three principles of causal complexity are assumed during the process of conducting QCA-based studies. Third, we elaborate on the importance of case knowledge when selecting the data for the analysis and when interpreting the results.

Findings

We argue that it is important to reflect on these arguments to have an appropriate research design. In the true spirit of the configurational approach, we contend that the three arguments presented are necessary; however, each argument is insufficient to warrant a QCA research design.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to management research by offering key arguments on how to justify the use of QCA-based studies in future research endeavors.
Doing care work on the fly – exploring the unnoticed socio‐emotional skills of male ambulance staff
Authors: Kyed Morten
Published: November 2019

Prehospital ambulance work is a healthcare arena hitherto neglected by sociologists of health and illness. This is unfortunate because it is an interesting and dynamic area, and in contrast to most healthcare sectors, it is male dominated. Via ethnographic fieldwork, this article examines the particular caring practices and socio‐emotional skills that ambulance staff use in practising prehospital care work. The empirical analysis outlines six recurring prehospital practices: medicine work, machine work, scene management, becalming work, communication work and bodywork. Each practice represents a different element of prehospital care practice and is best understood as a repertoire, as many different assemblages of these care practices can work effectively in prehospital situations. The article concludes that despite institutionalised blue‐collar masculinity, numeric dominance and scarce formal education in ambulance psychology, male ambulance staff are generally proud and reflexive care practitioners.
Signal transducer and activator of transcription is involved in the expression regulation of ecdysteroid‐induced insulin‐like growth factor‐like peptide in the pupal wing disc of silkworm, Bombyx mori
Authors: Zhang Xiao‐Juan , Li Dong‐Dong , Xu Guan‐Feng , Chen Ya‐Qing , Zheng Si‐Chun
Published: November 2019

In insects, 20‐hydroxyecdysone (20E) and insulin‐like growth factor‐like peptides (IGFLPs) regulate the development of imaginal discs. However, how IGFLPs are up‐regulated to impact the development of the pupal wing disc is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the expression regulation of IGFLP in the pupal wing disc of silkworm, Bombyx mori. We confirmed that B. mori IGFLP (BmIGFLP) was mainly expressed in the pupal wing disc and the expression of BmIGFLP could be significantly induced by 20E. Bioinformatics analysis of BmIGFLP promoter sequence revealed three cis‐regulation elements (CREs) of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT), which is a key component in the Janus‐activated kinase / STAT pathway. Luciferase activity assays showed that two CREs enhanced the transcriptional activity of BmIGFLP. Electrophoretic mobility shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that BmSTAT proteins in the nuclear extracts of B. mori pupal wing discs and BmN cells could only bind to the STAT CRE3, indicating that STAT CRE3 activated by BmSTAT enhances BmIGFLP expression at pupal stages. Although 20E could not enhance the expression of BmSTAT, 20E enhanced the nucleus translocation of BmSTAT to bind with the STAT CRE3 in the BmIGFLP promoter. The increase of transcriptional activity of the STAT CRE3 by overexpression of BmSTAT and addition of 20E in BmN cells confirmed this result. Taken together, all data indicate that BmSTAT is one of the transcription factors activating 20E‐induced BmIGFLP expression in the pupal wing disc.
SNARE Complex–Associated Proteins and Alcohol
Authors: Das Joydip
Published: November 2019

Alcohol addiction causes major health problems throughout the world, causing numerous deaths and incurring a huge economic burden to society. To develop an intervention for alcohol addiction, it is necessary to identify molecular target(s) of alcohol and associated molecular mechanisms of alcohol action. The functions of many central and peripheral synapses are impacted by low concentrations of ethanol (EtOH). While the postsynaptic targets and mechanisms are studied extensively, there are limited studies on the presynaptic targets and mechanisms. This article is an endeavor in this direction, focusing on the effect of EtOH on the presynaptic proteins associated with the neurotransmitter release machinery. Studies on the effects of EtOH at the levels of gene, protein, and behavior are highlighted in this article.
Debt covenants in Japanese loan markets: in comparison with the traditional relationship banking
Authors: Kochiyama Takuma , Nakamura Ryosuke
Published: November 2019

This study investigates determinants of debt covenants in Japanese loan markets. We focus on a unique monitoring mechanism by Japanese banks and hypothesise that debt covenants substitute for the traditional main bank governance. Consistently, we find that debt covenants are less likely to be used for firms with stronger ties with their main banks. We also document that such use of debt covenants results in borrower’s upward earnings management. Overall, our evidence suggests that, in the Japanese context, debt covenants are used as a substitute for the main bank system yet they alone are an incomplete monitoring mechanism.
Spread and potential host range of the invasive oak lace bug [Corythucha arcuata(Say, 1832) – Heteroptera: Tingidae] in Eurasia
Authors: Csóka György , Hirka Anikó , Mutun Serap , Glavendekić Milka , Mikó Ágnes , Szőcs Levente , Paulin Márton , Eötvös Csaba Béla , Gáspár Csaba , Csepelényi Mariann , Szénási Ágnes , Franjević Milivoj , Gninenko Yuri , Dautbašić Mirza , Muzejinović Osman , Zúbrik Milan , Netoiu Constantin , Buzatu Andrei , Bălăcenoiu Flavius , Jurc Maja , Jurc Dušan , Bernardinelli Iris , Streito Jean‐Claude , Avtzis Dimitrios , Hrašovec Boris
Published: November 2019

The North American oak lace bug feeds on leaves of ‘white oaks” in its native range. In Europe, it was first discovered in northern Italy in 2000. In recent years, it has subsequently spread rapidly and population outbreaks have been observed in several European countries. In the present study, we summarize the steps of its expansion.

To predict its potential host range, we checked 48 oak species in 20 sentinel gardens in seven countries between 2013 and 2018.

In total, 27 oak species were recorded as suitable hosts; 13 of them are globally new ones, 23 out of the 29 in sectionQuercus(∼ white oaks, an intrageneric taxonomic unit within genusQuercus), including Asian oaks, native to Japan, Korea and China, and four out of five in sectionCerris(another intrageneric unit of the same genus), were accepted as hosts. None of the species in sectionLobatae(red oaks) or in theIlexgroup was accepted.

Host records were also collected in forest stands of 10 countries. We found 11 oak species that were infested. Outbreak populations were most commonly found onQuercus robur,Quercus frainetto,Quercus petraeaandQuercus cerris, comprising widespread and outstandingly important oaks species in Europe.

Based on our findings, we conclude that suitable hosts for oak lace bug are present in most of Europe and Asia. This means that a lack of hosts will likely not restrict further range expansion.
Technology adoption, impact, and extension in developing countries’ agriculture: A review of the recent literature
Authors: Takahashi Kazushi , Muraoka Rie , Otsuka Keijiro
Published: November 2019

Given the stagnant agricultural productivity and persistent food insecurity in low‐income countries—notably in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA)—there has been continued interest in the adoption of new technology and its impact on productivity in these regions. To increase crop yields and sustain yield gains, recent case studies of technology adoption unanimously recommend the adoption of integrated farm management systems, particularly in SSA. On the other hand, there have been increasing numbers of studies on social network or farmer‐to‐farmer technology extension. These studies explore more efficient extension systems than traditional public‐sector extension approaches. This article reviews both recent case studies of technology adoption and its productivity impacts as well as studies on agricultural extension to identify common findings, shortcomings, and major remaining issues.
Cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Pyrenochaeta unguis‐hominis in a diabetic patient: A case report
Authors: Gong Yu , Chen Zeyu , Ma Yue'e , Jiang Weiwei , Hu Yifan , Shi Yuling
Published: November 2019

Phaeohyphomycosis, caused by opportunistic rare fungi, has increasingly been reported in diabetic and immunosuppressed patients. Pyrenochaeta unguis‐hominis (P. unguis‐hominis), a member of the dematiaceae group, has been identified to cause human nail infection. We report a rare case of cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis in a diabetic female caused by P. unguis‐hominis.
The impact of maternal body mass index on the rate of obstetric anal sphincter injury in nulliparous women: A Victorian retrospective cohort study
Authors: Constable Laura , Monga Deepika , Mylonas Georgia , O’Connor Ellie
Published: November 2019

Background

Maternal obesity is an important comorbidity in contemporary obstetrics practice and is associated with significantly increased perinatal complications. Obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASIS) sustained during labour can lead to faecal incontinence, chronic pain and effects on quality of life. Currently, it is unclear if maternal body mass index (BMI) influences the risk of sustaining OASIS.

Aim

To investigate the impact of increased BMI on the rate of OASIS among nulliparous women.

Materials and Methods

A retrospective cohort study was conducted, which included nulliparous women with singleton, vaginal deliveries ≥37 weeks gestation at a Victorian regional centre between 2007 and 2017 (n = 3335). Logistic regression was performed to calculate unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (aOR). Women were grouped by World Health Organization BMI categories, and the rates of OASIS were evaluated.

Results

Women with a BMI ≥ 25 were significantly less likely to develop OASIS compared to women with a BMI < 25 (aOR 0.60, 95% CI 0.41–0.89). Women with a BMI ≥ 35 had significantly decreased odds of OASIS compared to normal weight women (aOR 0.27, 0.10–0.78). While not statistically significant, the odds of OASIS decreased with each increase in BMI class. Other statistically significant risk factors were maternal age, birth weight, forceps delivery, non‐smokers (aOR 4.03, 1.46–11.1) and diabetes mellitus (aOR 9.48, 2.1–41.4).

Conclusion

Women with a BMI ≥ 25 were less likely to sustain OASIS compared to women with a BMI < 25. Furthermore, the odds of OASIS decreased for each increase in BMI category. These findings warrant further investigation into the mechanism of this protective effect.
CIN III and cervical SCC with negative oncogenic HPV PCR: A case series
Authors: Sturrock Sam , Griffiths Andrew , Jobling Thomas
Published: November 2019

With the recent introduction of the renewed National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) in Australia, utilising primary human papillomavirus (HPV) nucleic acid testing (NAT) for known oncogenic HPV types rather than cervical cytology, we reflect on three asymptomatic women with negative oncogenic HPV test results and high‐grade cervical abnormalities including cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) III and cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The two cases with CIN III had a ‘probable’ oncogenic subtype (HPV 53) identified on further testing, while the case of SCC had no HPV virus identified. These cases serve as a reminder of the need for ongoing diligence despite low‐risk screening under the new program.
More Effective Than We Thought: Accounting for Legislative Hitchhikers Reveals a More Inclusive and Productive Lawmaking Process
Authors: Casas Andreu , Denny Matthew J. , Wilkerson John
Published: November 2019

For more than half a century, scholars have been studying legislative effectiveness using a single metric—whether the bills a member sponsors progress through the legislative process. We investigate a less orthodox form of effectiveness—bill proposals that become law as provisions of other bills. Counting these “hitchhiker” bills as additional cases of bill sponsorship success reveals a more productive, less hierarchical, and less partisan lawmaking process. We argue that agenda and procedural constraints are central to understanding why lawmakers pursue hitchhiker strategies. We also investigate the legislative vehicles that attract hitchhikers and find, among other things, that more Senate bills are enacted as hitchhikers on House laws than become law on their own.
Diagnostic performance of electrocardiographic criteria in echocardiographic diagnosis of different patterns of left ventricular hypertrophy
Authors: Oikonomou Evangelos , Theofilis Panagiotis , Mpahara Aikaterini , Lazaros George , Niarchou Panagioula , Vogiatzi Georgia , Tsalamandris Sotirios , Fountoulakis Petros , Christoforatou Evangelia , Mystakidou Vasiliki , Anastasiou Maria , Goliopoulou Athina , Tousoulis Dimitris
Published: November 2019

Background

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is considered the initial screening method for the detection of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) despite its low sensitivity. However, there are no data on how ECG criteria for LVH perform in patients with concentric (cLVH) and eccentric LVH (eLVH).

Methods

In the setting of the Corinthia cross‐sectional study, ECGs were analyzed in 1,570 participants of the study. Seven ECG LVH criteria were calculated (Sokolow–Lyon voltage, index, and product, sex‐specific Cornell voltage and product, Lewis voltage, and the Framingham), whereas LVH was defined, based on echocardiographic data, as left ventricular mass indexed for body surface area (BSA) of at least 125 g/m2 in men and at least 110 g/m2 in women.

Results

Regarding the frequency encountered for each ECG LVH criterion, there was no difference between eLVH and cLVH. However, when ECG criteria were compared as continuous variables between LVH groups, Cornell voltage and product were higher in cLVH individuals, with a value of Cornell voltage >13.95 mV having 61% sensitivity and 62% specificity to differentiate cLVH from eLVH (p = .05). Even after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, and hypertension, the occurrence of Cornell voltage or product increased the odds of cLVH by 1.6 times (p = .001).

Conclusion

Cornell voltage and product criteria disclosed a superior discriminative ability for the detection of LVH via ECG. When further categorizing LVH as concentric and eccentric, Cornell product depicted the higher discriminative ability for cLVH.
Characteristics of bipolar I and II disorder: A study of 8766 individuals
Authors: Karanti Alina , Kardell Mathias , Joas Erik , Runeson Bo , Pålsson Erik , Landén Mikael
Published: November 2019

Objectives

Large‐scale studies on phenotypic differences between bipolar disorder type I (BDI) and type II (BDII) are scarce.

Methods

Individuals with BDI (N = 4806) and BDII (N = 3960) were compared with respect to clinical features, illness course, comorbid conditions, suicidality, and socioeconomic factors using data from the Swedish national quality assurance register for bipolar disorders (BipoläR).

Results

BDII had higher rate of depressive episodes and more frequent suicide attempts than BDI. Furthermore, the BDII group were younger at first sign of mental illness and showed higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity but were more likely to have completed higher education and to be self‐sustaining than the BDI group. BDII more frequently received psychotherapy, antidepressants, and lamotrigine. BDI patients had higher rate of hospitalizations and elated episodes, higher BMI, and higher rate of endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases. BDI were more likely to receive mood stabilizers, antipsychotic drugs, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychoeducation.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate clear differences between BDI and II and counter the notion that BDII is a milder form of BDI, but rather a more complex condition with regard to clinical course and comorbidity.
Leading by example: Testing a moderated mediation model of ethical leadership, value congruence, and followers' openness to ethical influence
Authors: Pircher Verdorfer Armin , Peus Claudia
Published: November 2019

In this study, we investigate a key question of ethical leadership theory: Are ethical leaders able to gain followers' openness to their ethical influence? When describing ethical leadership, we distinguish between leaders’ moral person behavior (i.e., behaviors that are normatively appropriate) and moral management (i.e., using position power to reinforce ethical standards). We then draw on mechanisms of social learning and social exchange and test a moderated mediation model. It is predicted that the effect of leaders' moral person behavior on followers’ openness to ethical influence is mediated by leader‐follower ethical value congruence. Moreover, we examine whether moral management amplifies the effects of moral person behavior. For hypothesis testing, existing measures from the literature are integrated to operationalize four underlying normative reference points of leaders' moral person behavior: humane, justice, responsibility/sustainability, and moderation orientation. After establishing the psychometric properties of this integrative measure, the main hypotheses are tested in two separate studies. While results showed a positive effect of leaders' moral person behavior on followers' openness to ethical influence through ethical value congruence, the moderating effect of moral management was, contrary to our expectation, negative. With this, our study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms of ethical leadership.
Annexin‐A1 deficiency exacerbates pathological remodelling of the mesenteric vasculature in insulin‐resistant, but not insulin‐deficient, mice
Authors: Jelinic Maria , Kahlberg Nicola , Leo Chen Huei , Ng Hooi Hooi , Rosli Sarah , Deo Minh , Li Mandy , Finlayson Siobhan , Walsh Jesse , Parry Laura J. , Ritchie Rebecca H. , Qin Cheng Xue
Published: November 2019

Background and purpose

Arterial stiffness, a characteristic feature of diabetes, increases the risk of cardiovascular complications. Potential mechanisms that promote arterial stiffness in diabetes include oxidative stress, glycation and inflammation. The anti‐inflammatory protein annexin‐A1 has cardioprotective properties, particularly in the context of ischaemia. However, the role of endogenous annexin‐A1 in the vasculature in both normal physiology and pathophysiology remains largely unknown. Hence, this study investigated the role of endogenous annexin‐A1 in diabetes‐induced remodelling of mouse mesenteric vasculature.

Experimental approach

Insulin‐resistance was induced in male mice (AnxA1+/+ and AnxA1‐/‐) with the combination of streptozotocin (55mg/kg i.p. x 3 days) with high fat diet (42% energy from fat) or citrate vehicle with normal chow diet (20‐weeks). Insulin‐deficiency was induced in a separate cohort of mice using a higher total streptozocin dose (55mg/kg i.p. x 5 days) on chow diet (16‐weeks). At study endpoint, mesenteric artery passive mechanics were assessed by pressure myography.

Key results

Insulin‐resistance induced significant outward remodelling but had no impact on passive stiffness. Interestingly, vascular stiffness was significantly increased in AnxA1‐/‐ mice when subjected to insulin‐resistance. In contrast, insulin‐deficiency induced outward remodelling and increased volume compliance in mesenteric arteries, regardless of genotype. In addition, the annexin‐A1 / formyl peptide receptor axis is upregulated in both insulin‐resistant and insulin‐deficient mice.

Conclusion and implications

Our study provided the first evidence that endogenous AnxA1 may play an important vasoprotective role in the context of insulin‐resistance. AnxA1‐based therapies may provide additional benefits over traditional anti‐inflammatory strategies for reducing vascular injury in diabetes.
How do business startup modes affect economic growth?
Authors: Davis Colin , Zhao Laixun
Published: November 2019

This paper examines researchers’ choices between either collaborating with venture capitalists or going independent when investing in research (e.g., labs, scientists, equipment, perishable materials, etc.) and how their interaction affects long‐run growth in an economy characterized by incomplete contracts and financial market imperfections. We find that venture capital is more likely to be selected by entrepreneurs when startup risks are median to high. A ranking of the welfares associated with each startup mode under different legal and financial environments shows that economic policy and research incentives may not always align as entrepreneurs may not select the mode that provides the highest welfare level.
Position‐Based Simulation of Elastic Models on the GPU with Energy Aware Gauss‐Seidel Algorithm
Authors: Cetinaslan Ozan
Published: November 2019

In this paper, we provide a smooth extension of the energy aware Gauss‐Seidel iteration to the Position‐Based Dynamics (PBD) method. This extension is inspired by the kinetic and potential energy changes equalization and uses the foundations of the recent extended version of PBD algorithm (XPBD). The proposed method is not meant to conserve the total energy of the system and modifies each position constraint based on the equality of the kinetic and potential energy changes within the Gauss‐Seidel process of the XPBD algorithm. Our extension provides an implicit solution for relatively better stiffness during the simulation of elastic objects. We apply our solution directly within each Gauss‐Seidel iteration and it is independent of both simulation step‐size and integration methods. To demonstrate the benefits of our proposed extension with higher frame rates, we develop an efficient and practical mesh coloring algorithm for the XPBD method which provides parallel processing on a GPU. During the initialization phase, all mesh primitives are grouped according to their connectivity. Afterwards, all these groups are computed simultaneously on a GPU during the simulation phase. We demonstrate the benefits of our method with many spring potential and strain‐based continuous material constraints. Our proposed algorithm is easy to implement and seamlessly fits into the existing position‐based frameworks.
Distortion‐Free Displacement Mapping
Authors: Zirr Tobias , Ritschel Tobias
Published: November 2019

Displacement mapping is routinely used to add geometric details in a fast and easy‐to‐control way, both in offline rendering as well as recently in interactive applications such as games. However, it went largely unnoticed (with the exception of McGuire and Whitson [MW08]) that, when applying displacement mapping to a surface with a low‐distortion parametrization, this parametrization is distorted as the geometry was changed by the displacement mapping. Typical resulting artifacts are “rubber band”‐like distortion patterns in areas of strong displacement change where a small isotropic area in texture space is mapped to a large anisotropic area in world space. We describe a fast, fully GPU‐based two‐step procedure to resolve this problem. First, a correction deformation is computed from the displacement map. Second, two variants to apply this correction when computing displacement mapping are proposed. The first variant is backward‐compatible and can resolve the artifact in any rendering pipeline without modifying it and without requiring additional computation at render time, but only works for bijective parametrizations. The second variant works for more general parametrizations, but requires to modify the rendering code and incurs a very small computational overhead.
Pencil Drawing Video Rendering Using Convolutional Networks
Authors: Yan Dingkun , Sheng Yun , Mao Xiaoyang
Published: November 2019

Traditional pencil drawing rendering algorithms when applied to video may suffer from temporal inconsistency and shower‐door effect due to the stochastic noise models employed. This paper attempts to resolve these problems with deep learning. Recently, many research endeavors have demonstrated that feed‐forward Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are capable of using a reference image to stylize a whole video sequence while removing the shower‐door effect in video style transfer applications. Compared with video style transfer, pencil drawing video is more sensitive to the inconsistency of texture and requires a stronger expression of pencil hatching. Thus, in this paper we develop an approach by combining a latest Line Integral Convolution (LIC) based method, specializing in realistically simulating pencil drawing images, with a new feed‐forward CNN that can eliminate the shower‐door effect successfully. Taking advantage of optical flow, we adopt a feature‐map‐level temporal loss function and propose a new framework to avoid the temporal inconsistency between consecutive frames, enhancing the visual impression of pencil strokes and tone. Experimental comparisons with the existing feed‐forward CNNs have demonstrated that our method can generate temporally more stable and visually more pleasant pencil drawing video results in a faster manner.
Active Scene Understanding via Online Semantic Reconstruction
Authors: Zheng Lintao , Zhu Chenyang , Zhang Jiazhao , Zhao Hang , Huang Hui , Niessner Matthias , Xu Kai
Published: November 2019

We propose a novel approach to robot‐operated active understanding of unknown indoor scenes, based on online RGBD reconstruction with semantic segmentation. In our method, the exploratory robot scanning is both driven by and targeting at the recognition and segmentation of semantic objects from the scene. Our algorithm is built on top of a volumetric depth fusion framework and performs real‐time voxel‐based semantic labeling over the online reconstructed volume. The robot is guided by an online estimated discrete viewing score field (VSF) parameterized over the 3D space of 2D location and azimuth rotation. VSF stores for each grid the score of the corresponding view, which measures how much it reduces the uncertainty (entropy) of both geometric reconstruction and semantic labeling. Based on VSF, we select the next best views (NBV) as the target for each time step. We then jointly optimize the traverse path and camera trajectory between two adjacent NBVs, through maximizing the integral viewing score (information gain) along path and trajectory. Through extensive evaluation, we show that our method achieves efficient and accurate online scene parsing during exploratory scanning.
Learning Explicit Smoothing Kernels for Joint Image Filtering
Authors: Fang Xiaonan , Wang Miao , Shamir Ariel , Hu Shi‐Min
Published: November 2019

Smoothing noises while preserving strong edges in images is an important problem in image processing. Image smoothing filters can be either explicit (based on local weighted average) or implicit (based on global optimization). Implicit methods are usually time‐consuming and cannot be applied to joint image filtering tasks, i.e., leveraging the structural information of a guidance image to filter a target image. Previous deep learning based image smoothing filters are all implicit and unavailable for joint filtering. In this paper, we propose to learn explicit guidance feature maps as well as offset maps from the guidance image and smoothing parameter that can be utilized to smooth the input itself or to filter images in other target domains. We design a deep convolutional neural network consisting of a fully‐convolution block for guidance and offset maps extraction together with a stacked spatially varying deformable convolution block for joint image filtering. Our models can approximate several representative image smoothing filters with high accuracy comparable to state‐of‐the‐art methods, and serve as general tools for other joint image filtering tasks, such as color interpolation, depth map upsampling, saliency map upsampling, flash/non‐flash image denoising and RGB/NIR image denoising.
Dual Illumination Estimation for Robust Exposure Correction
Authors: Zhang Qing , Nie Yongwei , Zheng Wei‐Shi
Published: November 2019

Exposure correction is one of the fundamental tasks in image processing and computational photography. While various methods have been proposed, they either fail to produce visually pleasing results, or only work well for limited types of image (e.g., underexposed images). In this paper, we present a novel automatic exposure correction method, which is able to robustly produce high‐quality results for images of various exposure conditions (e.g., underexposed, overexposed, and partially under‐ and over‐exposed). At the core of our approach is the proposed dual illumination estimation, where we separately cast the under‐and over‐exposure correction as trivial illumination estimation of the input image and the inverted input image. By performing dual illumination estimation, we obtain two intermediate exposure correction results for the input image, with one fixes the underexposed regions and the other one restores the overexposed regions. A multi‐exposure image fusion technique is then employed to adaptively blend the visually best exposed parts in the two intermediate exposure correction images and the input image into a globally well‐exposed image. Experiments on a number of challenging images demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and its superiority over the state‐of‐the‐art methods and popular automatic exposure correction tools.
Specular Highlight Removal for Real‐world Images
Authors: Fu Gang , Zhang Qing , Song Chengfang , Lin Qifeng , Xiao Chunxia
Published: November 2019

Removing specular highlight in an image is a fundamental research problem in computer vision and computer graphics. While various methods have been proposed, they typically do not work well for real‐world images due to the presence of rich textures, complex materials, hard shadows, occlusions and color illumination, etc. In this paper, we present a novel specular highlight removal method for real‐world images. Our approach is based on two observations of the real‐world images: (i) the specular highlight is often small in size and sparse in distribution; (ii) the remaining diffuse image can be represented by linear combination of a small number of basis colors with the sparse encoding coefficients. Based on the two observations, we design an optimization framework for simultaneously estimating the diffuse and specular highlight images from a single image. Specifically, we recover the diffuse components of those regions with specular highlight by encouraging the encoding coefficients sparseness using L0 norm. Moreover, the encoding coefficients and specular highlight are also subject to the non‐negativity according to the additive color mixing theory and the illumination definition, respectively. Extensive experiments have been performed on a variety of images to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method and its superiority over the previous methods.