bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ubiquitin‐specific protease 24 negatively regulates abscisic acid signalling in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Zhao Jinfeng , Zhou Huapeng , Zhang Ming , Gao Yanan , Li Long , Gao Ying , Li Ming , Yang Yuhong , Guo Yan , Li Xueyong
Published: August 2015

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important plant hormone integrating environmental stress and plant growth. Protein ubiquitination and deubiquitination are reversible processes catalysed by E3 ubiquitin ligase and deubiquitinating enzyme, respectively. Lots of E3 ubiquitin ligase and transcriptional factors modified by ubiquitination were reported to modulate ABA signalling. However, no deubiquitinating enzyme has been identified that functions in ABA signalling until now. Here, we isolated an ABA overly sensitive mutant, ubp24, in which the gene encoding ubiquitin‐specific protease 24 (UBP24, At4g30890) was disrupted by a T‐DNA insertion. The ubp24 mutant was hypersensitive to ABA and salt stress in both post‐germinative growth and seedling growth. However, stomata closure in the ubp24 mutant was less sensitive to ABA, and the ubp24 mutant showed drought sensitivity. UBP24 possessed deubiquitinating enzyme activity, and the activity was essential for UBP24 function. Additionally, UBP24 formed homodimer in vivo. UBP24 was genetically upstream of ABI2, and the phosphatase activity of protein phosphatase 2C was decreased in the ubp24 mutant compared with the wild type in the presence of ABA. These results uncover an important regulatory role for the ubiquitin‐specific protease in response to ABA and salt stress in plant.
Phenylphenalenones protect banana plants from infection by Mycosphaerella fijiensis and are deactivated by metabolic conversion
Authors: Hidalgo William , Chandran Jima N. , Menezes Riya C. , Otálvaro Felipe , Schneider Bernd
Published: August 2015

Phenylphenalenones, polycyclic aromatic natural products from some monocotyledonous plants, are known as phytoalexins in banana (Musa spp.). In this study, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)‐based metabolomics along with liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry were used to explore the chemical responses of the susceptible ‘Williams’ and the resistant ‘Khai Thong Ruang’ Musa varieties to the ascomycete fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis, the agent of the black leaf Sigatoka disease. Principal component analysis discriminated strongly between infected and non‐infected plant tissue, mainly because of specialized metabolism induced in response to the fungus. Phenylphenalenones are among the major induced compounds, and the resistance level of the plants was correlated with the progress of the disease. However, a virulent strain of M. fijiensis was able to overcome plant resistance by converting phenylphenalenones to sulfate conjugates. Here, we report the first metabolic detoxification of fungitoxic phenylphenalenones to evade the chemical defence of Musa plants.
Students' unchanging smoking habits in urban and rural areas in the last 15 years
Authors: Akca Gulfer , Guner Sukru Nail , Akca Unal , Kilic Mehtap , Sancak Recep , Ozturk Fadil
Published: August 2015

Background

Smoking is the main preventable public health problem particularly for youth worldwide. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of smoking habits among students at secondary and high schools, and to compare the findings with those of a study conducted 15 years ago in the same area.

Methods

In this cross‐sectional study 6212 students (51.2% female; 48.8% male) were selected randomly from rural and urban areas in Samsun. All students completed a face‐to‐face questionnaire.

Results

The overall prevalence of smoking was 13.0% (male students, 18.1%; female students, 8.2%). The mean starting age of smoking was 14.1 ± 1.5 years. Prevalence of smoking was 15.7% in urban areas and 8.1% in rural areas. The most important factors for starting smoking were social group and families. Compared with a study conducted 15 years previously in the same area for male students, smoking prevalence was increased in rural, but decreased in urban areas.

Conclusions

Smoking prevalence in students in Samsun was similar to that in a study conducted 15 years previously. It is important to use anti‐smoking campaigns directly targeted at teenager and they should be fully informed of the harmful effects of smoking.
Aesthetic Adjectives: Experimental Semantics and Context‐Sensitivity
Authors: Liao Shen‐yi , Meskin Aaron
Published: August 2015

One aim of this essay is to contribute to understanding aesthetic communication—the process by which agents aim to convey thoughts and transmit knowledge about aesthetic matters to others. Our focus will be on the use of aesthetic adjectives in aesthetic communication. Although theorists working on the semantics of adjectives have developed sophisticated theories about gradable adjectives, they have tended to avoid studying aesthetic adjectives—the class of adjectives that play a central role in expressing aesthetic evaluations (e.g., ‘beautiful’, ‘ugly’, ‘elegant’). And despite the wealth of attention paid to aesthetic adjectives by philosophical aestheticians, they have paid little attention to contemporary linguistic theories of adjectives. We take our work to be a first step in remedying these lacunae. In this paper, we present four experiments that examine one aspect of how aesthetic adjectives ordinarily function: the context‐sensitivity of their application standards. Our results present a prima facie empirical challenge to a common distinction between relative and absolute gradable adjectives because aesthetic adjectives are found to behave differently from both. Our results thus also constitute a prima facie vindication of some philosophical aestheticians’ contention that aesthetic adjectives constitute a particularly interesting segment of natural language, even if the boundaries of this segment might turn out to be different from what they had in mind.
Parafoveal processing in reading Chinese sentences: Evidence from event‐related brain potentials
Authors: Li Nan , Niefind Florian , Wang Suiping , Sommer Werner , Dimigen Olaf
Published: August 2015

Natural reading involves the preprocessing of upcoming words, resulting in shorter fixations on words visible in the parafovea during preceding fixations. While this preview benefit is established in behavior, its brain‐electric correlates have only recently been investigated. Using fixation‐related potentials, an attenuation of the occipitotemporal N1 component for words that were parafoveally visible during preceding fixations has been demonstrated. In contrast, another study, using an RSVP paradigm with parafoveal flanker words, observed no such general preview benefit in ERPs, but instead reported N400 effects triggered by semantically incongruous parafoveal words. To follow up on these discrepant findings and to extend them to a nonalphabetic writing system, we conducted two ERP experiments with Chinese readers using the RSVP‐with‐flankers paradigm and rigorous fixation control via eye tracking. We replicate robust parafoveal N400 semantic congruency effects in Chinese participants. Additionally, we found that, once a word was directly looked at, words after a valid preview elicited a smaller N1 and a weaker N400 than those after an invalid preview. Results underline the importance of considering parafoveal vision in ERP studies on reading.
Understanding Employee Turnover in the Public Sector: Insights from Research on Teacher Mobility
Authors: Grissom Jason A. , Viano Samantha L. , Selin Jennifer L.
Published: August 2015

Employee turnover is a key area for public administration research, but one about which there is much still to be learned. Insights from an extensive body of research on employee turnover in a specific area of the public sector—public education—contributes to the understanding of employee mobility in public organizations more generally. The authors present a conceptual framework for understanding employee turnover that is grounded in economic theories of labor supply and demand, which have formed the foundation of many studies of teacher turnover. The main findings of this body of work are documented, noting connections to the literature on public employee turnover, lessons that can be learned, and potential new areas for empirical inquiry for scholars of turnover in the public sector.
Using multiple online databases to help identify microRNAs regulating the airway epithelial cell response to a virus‐like stimulus
Authors: Herbert Cristan , Sebesfi Michelle , Zeng Qing‐Xiang , Oliver Brian G , Foster Paul S , Kumar Rakesh K
Published: August 2015

Background and objective

Exacerbations of allergic asthma are often triggered by respiratory viral infections. We have previously shown that in a T‐helper type 2 (Th2)‐biased cytokine environment, mouse and human airway epithelial cells (AEC) exhibit increased expression of pro‐inflammatory and anti‐viral genes in response to synthetic double‐stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA), a virus‐like stimulus. This implies coordinated regulation of gene expression, suggesting possible involvement of microRNA. To investigate this, we developed a novel approach to identifying candidate microRNA using online databases, then confirmed their expression by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR).

Methods

Using a list of genes of interest, defined on the basis of the previous study as being up‐regulated in a Th2 environment, we searched mouse and human microRNA databases for possible regulatory microRNA, and selected 10 candidates that were conserved across species or predicted by more than one human database. Expression of these microRNA was tested by qRT‐PCR, in primary human AEC pre‐treated with Th2 cytokines and exposed to dsRNA.

Results

Expression of hsa‐miR‐139‐5p, miR‐423‐5p and miR‐542‐3p was significantly decreased in Th2 pre‐treated AEC, and miR‐135a‐5p exhibited a trend towards decreased expression. Further database searches confirmed that these microRNA regulated additional pro‐inflammatory and anti‐viral response genes for which expression had previously been shown to be up‐regulated, confirming the validity of this approach.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates the value of using multiple online databases to identify candidate regulatory microRNA and provides the first evidence that in an allergic environment, microRNA may be important in altering the pro‐inflammatory and anti‐viral responses of human AEC during exacerbations of asthma.
Export Performance and Access to Intermediate Inputs: The Case of Rules of Origin Liberalisation
Authors: Andersson Anna
Published: August 2015

Internationally fragmented production processes have highlighted the need of efficient sourcing from foreign suppliers. This paper aims to investigate how exports of final goods are affected by better access to foreign intermediate inputs. In particular, the paper empirically tests whether expanding the set of available intermediate input suppliers through preferential rules of origin liberalisation affects exports of final goods. We exploit the introduction of the southern Mediterranean countries into the Pan‐Euro‐Med zone of diagonal cumulation which meant that foreign intermediate inputs could be used from more countries than before without jeopardising the preferential access to the EU. Using a fixed effects specification that controls for detailed levels of unobserved heterogeneity and multilateral resistance, we examine the effect of the new diagonal cumulation possibilities on southern Mediterranean exports to EU‐15. We find a positive effect on both export intensity, the value of exports, and export diversification, the number of exported products. Being part of the Pan‐Euro‐Med zone of diagonal cumulation is associated with a 20 per cent increase in export intensity and a 5 per cent increase in export diversification.
Dog erythrocyte antigen 1: mode of inheritance and initial characterization
Authors: Polak Klaudia , Acierno Michelle M. , Raj Karthik , Mizukami Keijiro , Siegel Don L. , Giger Urs
Published: August 2015

Background

The dog erythrocyte antigen (DEA) 1 blood group system remains poorly defined.

Objectives

The purpose of the study was to determine theDEA1 mode of inheritance and to characterize theDEA1 antigen and alloantibodies.

Animals

Canine research colony families, clinic canine patients, andDEA1.2+ blood bank dogs were studied.

Methods

Canine blood was typed by flow cytometry and immunochromatographic strips using anti‐DEA1 monoclonal antibodies. Gel column experiments with polyclonal and immunoblotting with monoclonal anti‐DEA1 antibodies were performed to analyze select samples. Cross‐reactivity of human typing reagents against canineRBCand one monoclonal anti‐DEA1 antibody against humanRBCpanels was assessed.

Results

Typing of 12 families comprising 144 dogs indicated an autosomal dominant inheritance with ≥ 4 alleles:DEA1− (0) andDEA1+ weak (1+), intermediate (2+), and strong (3+ and 4+). Samples from 6 dogs previously typed asDEA1.2+ were typed asDEA1+ orDEA1− using monoclonal antibodies. Human typing reagents produced varied reactions in tube agglutination experiments againstDEA1+ andDEA1−RBC. Polypeptide bands were not detected on immunoblots using a monoclonal anti‐DEA1 antibody, therefore the anti‐DEA1 antibody may be specific for conformational epitopes lost during processing.

Conclusions

The autosomal dominant inheritance ofDEA1 with ≥ 4 alleles indicates a complex blood group system; the antigenicity of eachDEA1+ type will need to be determined. The biochemical nature of theDEA1 antigen(s) appears different from human blood group systems tested.
Insights from physiology into myometrial function and dysfunction
Authors: Wray Susan
Published: August 2015

New Findings

What is the topic of this review?

I focus on clinical aspects of uterine physiology, specifically, myometrial contractility. I bring together and contrast findings using physiological approaches and those using newer techniques, ‘omics’.

What advances does it highlight?

Physiological studies have recently shed light on the myometrium in twin pregnancies, but there have been no ‘omic’ approaches. In contrast, studies of preterm delivery using newer approaches are generating new research avenues, whereas traditional approaches have not flourished. Finally, I describe significant advances in understanding of ‘slow‐to‐progress’ labours, achieved using physiological and clinical approaches.

Advances in molecular, genetic and ‘omic’ technologies are fuelling the thirst for better understanding of the uterus and application of this information to problems in pregnancy and labour. Progress has, however, been limited while we still have an incomplete understanding of some of the basic physiology of uterine smooth muscle (myometrium). In this review and opinion piece, I explore some of the fascinating findings from selected recent studies and see how these may provide new avenues for physiological and clinical research. It is also the case, however, that there is still limited mechanistic understanding about physiological and pathophysiological processes in the myometrium. This lack of understanding limits the usefulness of some findings from genomic and allied studies. By focusing on some key recent findings and relating these to two important clinical problems in childbirth that involve myometrial activity, namely preterm delivery and difficult labours, the interplay between our physiological knowledge and the information provided by newer technologies is explored. My opinion is that physiology has provided much more new mechanistic insight into difficult births and that the newer technologies may lead to breakthroughs in preterm birth research, but that this has not yet happened.
Use of Fin Equation to Calculate Nusselt Numbers for Rotating Disks
Authors: Tang Hui , Shardlow Tony , Michael Owen J.
Published: August 2015

Conduction in thin disks can be modeled using the fin equation, and there are analytical solutions of this equation for a circular disk with a constant heat-transfer coefficient. However, convection (particularly free convection) in rotating-disk systems is a conjugate problem: the heat transfer in the fluid and the solid are coupled, and the relative effects of conduction and convection are related to the Biot number,  Bi, which in turn is related to the Nusselt number. In principle, if the radial distribution of the disk temperature is known then Bi  can be determined numerically. But the determination of heat flux from temperature measurements is an example of an inverse problem where small uncertainties in the temperatures can create large uncertainties in the computed heat flux. In this paper, Bayesian statistics are applied to the inverse solution of the circular fin equation to produce reliable estimates of Bi for rotating disks, and numerical experiments using simulated noisy temperature measurements are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Bayesian method. Using published experimental temperature measurements, the method is also applied to the conjugate problem of buoyancy-induced flow in the cavity between corotating compressor disks.
Influence of Al2O3 layer insertion on the electrical properties of Ga-In-Zn-O thin-film transistors
Authors: Kurishima Kazunori , Nabatame Toshihide , Shimizu Maki , Mitoma Nobuhiko , Kizu Takio , Aikawa Shinya , Tsukagoshi Kazuhito , Ohi Akihiko , Chikyow Toyohiro , Ogura Atsushi
Published: August 2015

To investigate the influence of ionic/covalent interface of Al2O3/SiO2 gate insulator on the electrical properties of thin-film transistors (TFTs) with ionic Ga-In-Zn-O (GIZO) semiconducting channel layers, Al2O3 layers of different thickness were introduced between SiO2 and GIZO using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition. The GIZO layers were obtained by DC magnetron sputtering using a GIZO target (Ga:In:Zn = 1:1:1 mol. %). The GIZO TFTs with an Al2O3/SiO2 gate insulator exhibited positive threshold voltage (Vth) shift (about 1.1 V), Vth hysteresis suppression (0.23 V), and electron mobility degradation (about 13%) compared with those of a GIZO TFT with SiO2 gate insulator by the influence of ionic/ionic and ionic/covalent interface at Al2O3/GIZO and Al2O3/SiO2, respectively. To clarify the origin of the positive Vth shift, the authors estimated the shifts of flatband voltage (0.4 V) due to the dipole and the fixed charge (−1.1 × 1011/cm2) at Al2O3/SiO2 interface, from capacitance–voltage data for Pt/Al2O3/SiO2/p-Si capacitors. Based on these experimental data, the authors found that the positive Vth shift (1.1 V) could be divided into three components: the dipole (−0.4 V) and fixed charge (0.15 V) at the SiO2/Al2O3 interface, and the fixed charge (1.35 V) at the Al2O3/GIZO interface. Finally, it is noted that heterointerface of SiO2/Al2O3/GIZO stacks is important not only to recognize mechanism of Vth shift but also to design future TFTs with high-k dielectrics and low operating voltage.
A generalized recursive convolution method for time-domain propagation in porous media
Authors: Dragna Didier , Pineau Pierre , Blanc-Benon Philippe
Published: August 2015

An efficient numerical method, referred to as the auxiliary differential equation (ADE) method, is proposed to compute convolutions between relaxation functions and acoustic variables arising in sound propagation equations in porous media. For this purpose, the relaxation functions are approximated in the frequency domain by rational functions. The time variation of the convolution is thus governed by first-order differential equations which can be straightforwardly solved. The accuracy of the method is first investigated and compared to that of recursive convolution methods. It is shown that, while recursive convolution methods are first or second-order accurate in time, the ADE method does not introduce any additional error. The ADE method is then applied for outdoor sound propagation using the equations proposed by Wilson et al. in the ground [(2007). Appl. Acoust. 68, 173–200]. A first one-dimensional case is performed showing that only five poles are necessary to accurately approximate the relaxation functions for typical applications. Finally, the ADE method is used to compute sound propagation in a three-dimensional geometry over an absorbing ground. Results obtained with Wilson's equations are compared to those obtained with Zwikker and Kosten's equations and with an impedance surface for different flow resistivities.
Sleep Quality and Recommended Levels of Physical Activity in Older People
Authors: Hartescu Iuliana , Morgan Kevin , Stevinson Clare D.
Published: August 2015

A minimum level of activity likely to improve sleep outcomes among older people has not previously been explored. In a representative UK sample aged 65+ (n = 926), cross-sectional regressions controlling for appropriate confounders showed that walking at or above the internationally recommended threshold of ≥ 150 min per week was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of reporting insomnia symptoms (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.45−0.91, p < .05). At a 4-year follow-up (n = 577), higher walking levels at baseline significantly predicted a lower likelihood of reporting sleep onset (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.42−0.97, p < .05) or sleep maintenance (OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.41−0.95, p < .05) problems. These results are consistent with the conclusion that current physical activity guidelines can support sleep quality in older adults.
New rules may end U.S. chimpanzee research
Authors: Grimm David
Published: August 2015

As of 14 September, no U.S. labs will be conducting invasive studies on chimps.
Rethinking the time ‘lost’ to red tape
Authors: Mervis Jeffrey
Published: August 2015

Many administrative tasks are just part of the job.
Second Act
Authors: Pennisi Elizabeth
Published: August 2015

Forest ecologist Robin Chazdon is helping show that regenerating tropical forests aren't wastelands.
Comment on “Tectonic control of Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge revealed by a buried canyon in Southern Tibet”
Authors: Zeitler Peter K. , Koons Peter O. , Hallet Bernard , Meltzer Anne S.
Published: August 2015

Wang
et al
. (Reports, 21 November, 2014, p. 978) describe a buried canyon upstream of the Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge and argue that rapid erosion of the gorge was merely a passive response to rapid uplift at ~2.5 million years ago (Ma). We view these data as an expected consequence emerging from feedbacks between erosion and crustal rheology active well before 2.5 Ma.
Allosteric transcriptional regulation via changes in the overall topology of the core promoter
Authors: Philips Steven J. , Canalizo-Hernandez Monica , Yildirim Ilyas , Schatz George C. , Mondragón Alfonso , O’Halloran Thomas V.
Published: August 2015

Transcription factor shape-shifts DNA

Controlling when a gene is expressed or repressed is vital for cellular metabolism and development. In
Escherichia coli
, a copper-sensing transcription factor, CueR, can repress or activate expression when bound at exactly the same site in the gene promoter. Philips
et al.
used x-ray crystallography to show that CueR dramatically changes the topology of the DNA upon binding copper but does not affect protein-DNA contacts. The DNA shape change allows RNA polymerase to bind the promoter and transcribe the gene.

Science
, this issue p.
877
Increasing human dominance of tropical forests
Authors: Lewis Simon L. , Edwards David P. , Galbraith David
Published: August 2015

Tropical forests house over half of Earth’s biodiversity and are an important influence on the climate system. These forests are experiencing escalating human influence, altering their health and the provision of important ecosystem functions and services. Impacts started with hunting and millennia-old megafaunal extinctions (phase I), continuing via low-intensity shifting cultivation (phase II), to today’s global integration, dominated by intensive permanent agriculture, industrial logging, and attendant fires and fragmentation (phase III). Such ongoing pressures, together with an intensification of global environmental change, may severely degrade forests in the future (phase IV, global simplification) unless new “development without destruction” pathways are established alongside climate change–resilient landscape designs.
Temperate forest health in an era of emerging megadisturbance
Authors: Millar Constance I. , Stephenson Nathan L.
Published: August 2015

Although disturbances such as fire and native insects can contribute to natural dynamics of forest health, exceptional droughts, directly and in combination with other disturbance factors, are pushing some temperate forests beyond thresholds of sustainability. Interactions from increasing temperatures, drought, native insects and pathogens, and uncharacteristically severe wildfire are resulting in forest mortality beyond the levels of 20th-century experience. Additional anthropogenic stressors, such as atmospheric pollution and invasive species, further weaken trees in some regions. Although continuing climate change will likely drive many areas of temperate forest toward large-scale transformations, management actions can help ease transitions and minimize losses of socially valued ecosystem services.
Assessing the bioweapons threat
Authors: Boddie Crystal , Watson Matthew , Ackerman Gary , Gronvall Gigi Kwik
Published: August 2015

Is there a foundation of agreement among experts about risk?
Probing strigolactone receptors in
Striga hermonthica
with fluorescence
Authors: Tsuchiya Yuichiro , Yoshimura Masahiko , Sato Yoshikatsu , Kuwata Keiko , Toh Shigeo , Holbrook-Smith Duncan , Zhang Hua , McCourt Peter , Itami Kenichiro , Kinoshita Toshinori , Hagihara Shinya
Published: August 2015

Germination signals illuminated

The noxious weed
Striga
can take down an entire crop. Fields in Africa are particularly susceptible to the devastation it can cause.
Striga
seeds germinate in response to faint traces of the hormone strigolactone released by its targets. Tsuchiya
et al.
designed a mimic of strigolactone that, when cleaved by the Striga receptor, generates a fluorescent end product. This photogenic mimic lit up
Striga
seeds upon germination and led to the identification of its strigolactone receptor. Abolishing the activity of this receptor could be an effective defensive strategy.

Science
, this issue p.
864
Forest health and global change
Authors: Trumbore S. , Brando P. , Hartmann H.
Published: August 2015

Humans rely on healthy forests to supply energy, building materials, and food and to provide services such as storing carbon, hosting biodiversity, and regulating climate. Defining forest health integrates utilitarian and ecosystem measures of forest condition and function, implemented across a range of spatial scales. Although native forests are adapted to some level of disturbance, all forests now face novel stresses in the form of climate change, air pollution, and invasive pests. Detecting how intensification of these stresses will affect the trajectory of forests is a major scientific challenge that requires developing systems to assess the health of global forests. It is particularly critical to identify thresholds for rapid forest decline, because it can take many decades for forests to restore the services that they provide.
Lipids link ion channels and cancer
Authors: Accardi Alessio
Published: August 2015

Membrane voltage connects lipid organization to cell proliferation

[Also see Report by

Zhou
et al.

]
Global control of hepatitis C virus
Authors: Cox Andrea L.
Published: August 2015

A comprehensive strategy to control HCV infection must include a vaccine
New Technologies for Studying Biofilms
Authors: Franklin Michael J. , Chang Connie , Akiyama Tatsuya , Bothner Brian
Published: August 2015

Bacteria have traditionally been studied as single-cell organisms. In laboratory settings, aerobic bacteria are usually cultured in aerated flasks, where the cells are considered essentially homogenous. However, in many natural environments, bacteria and other microorganisms grow in mixed communities, often associated with surfaces. Biofilms are comprised of surface-associated microorganisms, their extracellular matrix material, and environmental chemicals that have adsorbed to the bacteria or their matrix material. While this definition of a biofilm is fairly simple, biofilms are complex and dynamic. Our understanding of the activities of individual biofilm cells and whole biofilm systems has developed rapidly, due in part to advances in molecular, analytical, and imaging tools and the miniaturization of tools designed to characterize biofilms at the enzyme level, cellular level, and systems level.
Thalassaemia in children: from quality of care to quality of life
Authors: Amid Ali , Saliba Antoine N , Taher Ali T , Klaassen Robert J
Published: August 2015

Over the past few decades, there has been a remarkable improvement in the survival of patients with thalassaemia in developed countries. Availability of safe blood transfusions, effective and accessible iron chelating medications, the introduction of new and non-invasive methods of tissue iron assessment and other advances in multidisciplinary care of thalassaemia patients have all contributed to better outcomes. This, however, may not be true for patients who are born in countries where the resources are limited. Unfortunately, transfusion-transmitted infections are still major concerns in these countries where paradoxically thalassaemia is most common. Moreover, oral iron chelators and MRI for monitoring of iron status may not be widely accessible or affordable, which may result in poor compliance and suboptimal iron chelation. All of these limitations will lead to reduced survival and increased thalassaemia-related complications and subsequently will affect the patient's quality of life. In countries with limited resources, together with improvement of clinical care, strategies to control the disease burden, such as public education, screening programmes and appropriate counselling, should be put in place. Much can be done to improve the situation by developing partnerships between developed countries and those with limited resources. Future research should also particularly focus on patient's quality of life as an important outcome of care.
Regional health expenditure and health outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Japan: an observational study
Authors: Tsugawa Yusuke , Hasegawa Kohei , Hiraide Atsushi , Jha Ashish K
Published: August 2015

Objectives

Japan is considering policies to set the target health expenditure level for each region, a policy approach that has been considered in many other countries. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between regional health expenditure and health outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), which incorporates the qualities of prehospital, in-hospital and posthospital care systems.

Design

We examined the association between prefecture-level per capita health expenditure and patients’ health outcomes after OHCA.

Setting

We used a nationwide, population-based registry system of OHCAs that captured all cases with OHCA resuscitated by emergency responders in Japan from 2005 to 2011.

Participants

All patients with OHCA aged 1–100 years were analysed.

Outcome measures

The patients’ 1-month survival rate, and favourable neurological outcome (defined as cerebral performance category 1–2) at 1-month.

Results

Among 618 154 cases with OHCA, the risk-adjusted 1-month survival rate varied from 3.3% (95% CI 2.9% to 3.7%) to 8.4% (95% CI 7.7% to 9.1%) across prefectures. The risk-adjusted probabilities of favourable neurological outcome ranged from 1.6% (95% CI 1.4% to 1.9%) to 3.7% (95% CI 3.4% to 3.9%). Compared with prefectures with lowest tertile health expenditure, 1-month survival rate was significantly higher in medium-spending (adjusted OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.66, p=0.03) and high-spending prefectures (adjusted OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.64, p=0.02), after adjusting for patient characteristics. There was no difference in the survival between medium-spending and high-spending regions. We observed similar patterns for favourable neurological outcome. Additional adjustment for regional per capita income did not affect our overall findings.

Conclusions

We observed a wide variation in the health outcomes after OHCA across regions. Low-spending regions had significantly worse health outcomes compared with medium-spending or high-spending regions, but no difference was observed between medium-spending and high-spending regions. Our findings suggest that focusing on the median spending may be the optimum that allows for saving money without compromising patient outcomes.
BET 1: Do patients with a clinically suspected subsegmental pulmonary embolism need anticoagulation therapy?
Authors: Morgan Chris , Choi Hyun
Published: August 2015

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether the incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism and mortality is lower among patients with isolated subsegmental pulmonary embolism who are treated with anticoagulant therapy compared with those who are not treated with anticoagulant therapy. We identified six studies that were directly relevant to the question. All of these studies were observational in nature and included only a small number of patients with isolated subsegmental pulmonary embolism who were not treated with anticoagulants. Of those studies, only two included patients with confirmed isolated subsegmental pulmonary embolism that were not treated with anticoagulation. Among the 47 patients meeting those criteria, no recurrent venous thromboembolism was noted within 3 months. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that the limited available evidence suggests that the incident of recurrent venous thromboembolism is very low in patients with isolated subsegmental pulmonary embolism. However, this is based on limited data from small observational studies. Further evidence from larger trials is necessary before a recommendation can be made to withhold anticoagulation in this situation.
Expression and prognostic value of putative cancer stem cell markers CD117 and CD15 in choroidal and ciliary body melanoma
Authors: Lukenda Adrian , Dotlic Snjezana , Vukojevic Nenad , Saric Borna , Vranic Semir , Zarkovic Kamelija
Published: August 2015

Aims

The aim of the present study was to immunohistochemically investigate the expression and prognostic significance of putative cancer stem cell markers CD117 (c-kit), CD34, CD20 and CD15 in a cohort of patients with primary choroidal and ciliary body melanoma.

Methods

The immunohistochemical expression of these markers was evaluated using 3,3′-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride (DAB) and 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole (AEC) chromogens on paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 40 patients who underwent enucleation in the period from 1985 through 2000. Thirty-one patients had adequate tissue specimens for the analysis.

Results

CD117 overexpression was observed in 12 of the 31 samples (39%) when AEC chromogen was used and in 14 of 26 (54%) samples when DAB was used. CD15 positivity was seen in three out of 30 (10%) samples with AEC and in six out of 26 (23%) samples with DAB. CD20 and CD34 exhibited no positivity in the tested samples. During the average follow-up time of 8.7 years (range 0.5–22 years), 17 patients (55%) died due to metastatic disease. The Kaplan–Meier plots showed a significantly shorter overall and disease-free survival in CD117-positive patients when the AEC chromogen was used. CD15 expression was not associated with patients’ survival. In multivariate analysis, patients expressing the CD117 AEC had 4.13 times higher risk of lethal outcome in comparison with CD117 AEC negative patients.

Conclusions

Our retrospective cohort study has for the first time demonstrated a small proportion of CD15-positive uveal melanomas. CD117 AEC overexpression was associated with a worse outcome in patients with choroidal and ciliary body melanoma. Further studies should confirm the validity of these observations and their potential for targeted treatment modalities.
Association of hepatic oxidative stress and iron dysregulation with HCC development after interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis C
Authors: Nanba Shintaro , Ikeda Fusao , Baba Nobuyuki , Takaguchi Koichi , Senoh Tomonori , Nagano Takuya , Seki Hiroyuki , Takeuchi Yasuto , Moritou Yuki , Yasunaka Tetsuya , Ohnishi Hideki , Miyake Yasuhiro , Takaki Akinobu , Nouso Kazuhiro , Iwasaki Yoshiaki , Yamamoto Kazuhide
Published: August 2015

Background

Oxidative stress may play pathogenic roles in the mechanisms underlying chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The impact of excessive oxidative stress and iron dysregulation on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after interferon therapy has not been established.

Methods

We investigated the impact of oxidative stress and iron deposition on HCC development after therapy with pegylated interferon (PegIFN)+ribavirin in CHC patients. Systemic and intracellular iron homeostasis was evaluated in liver tissues, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and sera.

Results

Of 203 patients enrolled, 13 developed HCC during the 5.6-year follow-up. High hepatic 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels were significantly associated with HCC development in multivariate analysis (p=0.0012) which was also significantly correlated with severity of hepatic iron deposition before therapy (p<0.0001). Systemic and intracellular iron regulators of hepcidin and F-box and leucine-rich repeat protein 5 (FBXL5) expression levels were significantly suppressed in CHC patients (p=0.0032 and p=0.016, respectively) despite their significantly higher levels of serum iron and ferritin compared with controls. However, intracellular iron regulators of FBXL5 and iron regulatory proteins were regulated in balance with hepatic iron deposition. Significant correlations were observed among IL-6, bone morphogenetic protein 6, hepcidin and ferroportin, as regards systemic iron regulation.

Conclusions

Measurement of hepatic oxidative stress before antiviral therapy is useful for the prediction of HCC development after interferon therapy. Low baseline levels of the intracellular iron regulators of FBXL5 in addition to a suppressed hepcidin level might be associated with severe hepatic iron deposition in CHC patients.

Trial registration number

UMIN 000001031.
An investigation on the effects of flaky particles on the properties of asphaltic mixtures
Authors: Darabadi Babak Kazemi , Taherkhani Hasan
Published: August 2015

Flaky particles, because of their shape, are considered as inferior aggregates in asphaltic mixtures, and specifications usually set limits on the amount of flaky particles in asphaltic mixtures. In this study, the effects of flaky particles content on the volumetric properties, Marshall Stability and creep behaviour of hot mixed asphaltic concrete have been investigated. Specimens with two different types of gradation and specified amounts of flaky particles were made and used for Marshall Stability and static creep tests. Test results show that the Marshall Stability decreases and the air voids content of asphaltic mixture and the voids in mineral aggregate increase as the flaky particles content increases. It is also found that flaky particles cause increase in permanent deformation and decrease in creep stiffness. The creep tests also show that the recoverable deformation of the mixtures decreases as the flaky particles content increases.
Sunrise effect on 40 kHz signal amplitude and its characteristic variation with respect to geomagnetic storms
Authors: Saha Apurba , Guha Anirban , De Barin Kumar
Published: August 2015

The sunrise effect is a characteristic feature of very low frequency and low frequency radio waves propagated over a large distance. The 40 kHz signal level, transmitted from Miyakoji station (37.4° N, 140.9° E), Japan, and received at Tripura University (23° N, 91.4° E), is found to be attenuated during sunrise with an enhancement before the decrease in the signal level. On the basis of the nature of attenuation of the observed records from 2005 to 2006, those are classified into four different types, namely, type A (three step attenuation), type B (two step attenuation), type C (one step attenuation), and type D (no attenuation). During geomagnetically active days, 84% of type D cases and 31% of type C cases are observed, whereas only 0.9% of type A cases and 7% of type B cases are observed during geomagnetically active days. The fade amplitude of type C fade is also found to maintain a good negative correlation of 77.3% with the geomagnetic Ap indices over the period of 2 years. From the model calculation it is found that in the altitude range from 65 to 80 km, on average the electron density increases by a factor of 5.22 times during geomagnetically active days versus normal days.
Conformally flat polytropes for anisotropic cylindrical geometry
Authors: Sharif M. , Sadiq Sobia
Published: August 2015

In this paper, we study cylindrically symmetric anisotropic matter distribution satisfying two polytropic equations of state. The corresponding Lane–Emden equations are constructed and the energy conditions are checked. We evaluate a particular expression for anisotropy by using the conformally flat condition, which helps in the study of polytropic models. The graphical analysis of surface gravitational potential indicates the increasing behavior of model compactness. Finally, we conclude that one of the obtained models is physically viable.
Entropy in locally-de Sitter spacetimes
Authors: Araujo A. , Pereira J. G.
Published: August 2015

As quotient spaces, Minkowski and de Sitter are fundamental spacetimes in the sense that they are known a priori, independently of Einstein equation. They represent different nongravitational backgrounds for the construction of physical theories. If general relativity is constructed on a de Sitter spacetime, the underlying kinematics will no longer be ruled by Poincaré, but by the de Sitter group. In this case the definition of diffeomorphism changes, producing concomitant changes in the notions of energy and entropy. These changes are explicitly discussed for the case of the Schwarzschild solution, in which the black hole and the de Sitter horizons show up as a unique entangled system. Such entanglement, together with energy conservation, create a constraint between the black hole activity and the evolution of the de Sitter radius, providing a new scenario for the study of cosmology.
Dynamical groups and braces
Authors: Rump Wolfgang
Published: August 2015

Set-theoretic solutions of the quantum dynamical Yang–Baxter equation are analyzed by means of dynamical analogues of braces (=bijective 1-cocycles). It is shown that every abelian group [Formula: see text] acts on a universal parameter set [Formula: see text] such that the orbits correspond to the faithful irreducible dynamical braces with underlying abelian group [Formula: see text]. Braces correspond to the fixed points of this action. Relations between linear extendability of solutions, non-degeneracy, and existence of a double, are established for the dynamical case.
Solutions of equations over finite fields: Enumeration via bijections
Authors: Baoulina Ioulia N.
Published: August 2015

We present a simple proof of the well-known fact concerning the number of solutions of diagonal equations over finite fields. In a similar manner, we give an alternative proof of the recent result on generalizations of Carlitz equations. In both cases, the use of character sums is avoided by using an elementary combinatorial argument.
A note on q-analogues of Dirichlet L-functions
Authors: Hamieh Alia , Ram Murty M.
Published: August 2015

In this note, we consider the special values of [Formula: see text]-analogues of Dirichlet [Formula: see text]-functions, namely, the values of the functions [Formula: see text] at positive integers [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is a primitive Dirichlet character and [Formula: see text] is a complex number such that [Formula: see text]. We prove that if [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is algebraic, then [Formula: see text] is transcendental. We also prove that if [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is algebraic, then there exists a transcendental number [Formula: see text] which depends only on [Formula: see text] and is [Formula: see text]-linearly independent with [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] is algebraic. These results can be viewed as an analogue of the classical result of Hecke on the arithmetic nature of the special values [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text].
On transiso graph
Authors: Kakkar Vipul , Mishra Laxmi Kant
Published: August 2015

In this paper, we define a new graph [Formula: see text] on a finite group [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is a divisor of [Formula: see text]. The vertices of [Formula: see text] are the subgroups of [Formula: see text] of order [Formula: see text] and two subgroups [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] are said to be adjacent if there exists [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] denote the set of all NRTs of [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text]. We shall discuss the completeness of [Formula: see text] for various groups like finite abelian groups, dihedral groups and some finite [Formula: see text]-groups.
Recent Developments in High-Density Survey and Measurement (HDSM) for Archaeology: Implications for Practice and Theory
Authors: Opitz Rachel , Limp W. Fred
Published: August 2015

HDSM, high-density survey and measurement, is the collective term for a range of new technologies that give us the ability to measure, record, and analyze the spatial, locational, and morphological properties of objects, sites, structures, and landscapes with higher density and more precision than ever before. This article considers HDSM technologies, including airborne lidar, real-time kinematic global navigation satellite system (GNSS) survey, robotic total stations, terrestrial laser scanning, structured light scanning and close-range photogrammetry [CRP, also known as structure from motion (SfM)], and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based SfM/CRP and scanning, and we discuss the impact of these technologies on contemporary archaeological practice. This article reflects on how the democratization and proliferation of HDSM opens various applications and greatly broadens the set of problems being addressed explicitly and directly through shape and place.
Embodiment in Human Communication
Authors: Streeck Jürgen
Published: August 2015

This article defines the present moment in the anthropology of embodied human communication as a moment of possible fusion between (a) the new conception of the living human body emerging in biology, cognitive science and neuroscience, and sociology and anthropology and (b) the advanced methodology and research on social interaction in the “interactionist” tradition, which is reinterpreted here as a study of socialized practices for interacting in, and inhabiting, the world with others. A growing number of studies of interaction are now focused on “multimodal” communication in complex material settings. The convergence of research programs is illustrated here by sociological research on dance and sports, by a practice-based approach to gesture, and by a selective overview of recent studies of multimodality. Particular attention is given to two influential theoretical programs, one by E. Hutchins and the other by C. Goodwin.