bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Infectious Entry Pathway Mediated by the Human Endogenous Retrovirus K Envelope Protein
Authors: Robinson Lindsey R. , Whelan Sean P. J.
Published: January 2016

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), the majority of which exist as degraded remnants of ancient viruses, comprise approximately 8% of the human genome. The youngest human ERVs (HERVs) belong to the HERV-K(HML-2) subgroup and were endogenized within the past 1 million years. The viral envelope protein (ENV) facilitates the earliest events of endogenization (cellular attachment and entry), and here, we characterize the requirements for HERV-K ENV to mediate infectious cell entry. Cell-cell fusion assays indicate that a minimum of two events are required for fusion, proteolytic processing by furin-like proteases and exposure to acidic pH. We generated an infectious autonomously replicating recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in which the glycoprotein was replaced by HERV-K ENV. HERV-K ENV imparts an endocytic entry pathway that requires dynamin-mediated membrane scission and endosomal acidification but is distinct from clathrin-dependent or macropinocytic uptake pathways. The lack of impediments to the replication of the VSV core in eukaryotic cells allowed us to broadly survey the HERV-K ENV-dictated tropism. Unlike extant betaretroviral envelopes, which impart a narrow species tropism, we found that HERV-K ENV mediates broad tropism encompassing cells from multiple mammalian and nonmammalian species. We conclude that HERV-K ENV dictates an evolutionarily conserved entry pathway and that the restriction of HERV-K to primate genomes reflects downstream stages of the viral replication cycle.

IMPORTANCE
Approximately 8% of the human genome is of retroviral origin. While many of those viral genomes have become inactivated, some copies of the most recently endogenized human retrovirus, HERV-K, can encode individual functional proteins. Here, we characterize the envelope protein (ENV) of the virus to define how it mediates infection of cells. We demonstrate that HERV-K ENV undergoes a proteolytic processing step and triggers membrane fusion in response to acidic pH—a strategy common to many viral fusogens. Our data suggest that the infectious entry pathway mediated by this ENV requires endosomal acidification and the GTPase dynamin but does not require clathrin-dependent uptake. In marked contrast to other betaretroviruses, HERV-K ENV imparts broad species tropism in cultured cells. This work provides new insights into the entry pathway of an extinct human virus and provides a powerful tool to further probe the endocytic route by which HERV-K infects cells.
Quantifying the risk of heart disease following acute ischaemic stroke: a meta-analysis of over 50 000 participants
Authors: Gunnoo Trishna , Hasan Nazeeha , Khan Muhammad Saleem , Slark Julia , Bentley Paul , Sharma Pankaj
Published: January 2016

Objective

Following an acute stroke, there is a high risk of recurrence. However, the leading cause of mortality following a stroke is due to coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarction (MI) but that risk has not been robustly quantified. We sought to reliably quantify the risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in patients presenting with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) in the absence of a known cardiac history.

Setting

A meta-analysis study. PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Google Scholar were searched for potential studies up to October 2015. Included studies reported an acute cerebral ischaemic event and followed for CAD or MI within 1 year in patients without known IHD. Using arcsine transformed proportions for meta-analysis, studies were combined using a generic inverse variance random-effects model to calculate the pooled standardised mean difference and 95% CIs. These were interpreted as the percentage prevalence of CAD or incidence of MI following AIS.

Results

17 studies with 4869 patients with AIS demonstrated a mean average of asymptomatic CAD in 52%. Anatomical methods of CAD detection revealed a prevalence of asymptomatic ≥50% coronary stenosis in 32% (95% CI 19% to 47%; p<0.00001). 8 studies with 47229 patients with ischaemic stroke revealed an overall risk of MI in the year following stroke of 3% (95% CI 1% to 5%; p<0.00001) despite the absence of any cardiac history.

Conclusions

One-third of patients with ischaemic stroke with no cardiac history have more than 50% coronary stenosis and 3% are at risk of developing MI within a year. Our findings provide a reliable quantitative measure of the risk of IHD following AIS in patients with no cardiac history.
Exposing the impact of Citizens Advice Bureau services on health: a realist evaluation protocol
Authors: Forster N , Dalkin S M , Lhussier M , Hodgson P , Carr S M
Published: January 2016

Introduction

Welfare advice services can be used to address health inequalities, for example, through Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). Recent reviews highlight evidence for the impact of advice services in improving people's financial position and improving mental health and well-being, daily living and social relationships. There is also some evidence for the impact of advice services in increasing accessibility of health services, and reducing general practitioner appointments and prescriptions. However, direct evidence for the impact of advice services on lifestyle behaviour and physical health is currently much less well established. There is a need for greater empirical testing of theories around the specific mechanisms through which advice services and associated financial or non-financial benefits may generate health improvements.

Methods and analysis

A realist evaluation will be conducted, operationalised in 5 phases: building the explanatory framework; refining the explanatory framework; testing the explanatory framework through empirical data (mixed methods); development of a bespoke data recording template to capture longer term impact; and verification of findings with a range of CAB services. This research will therefore aim to build, refine and test an explanatory framework about how CAB services can be optimally implemented to achieve health improvement.

Ethics and dissemination

The study was approved by the ethics committee at Northumbria University, UK. Project-related ethical issues are described and quality control aspects of the study are considered. A stakeholder mapping exercise will inform the dissemination of results in order to ensure all relevant institutions and organisations are targeted.
Impacts of person-centred integrated chronic heart failure and palliative home care on pharmacological heart failure treatment: a substudy of a randomised trial
Authors: Markgren Rickard , Brännström Margareta , Lundgren Claes , Boman Kurt
Published: January 2016

Objective

Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) may be insufficiently treated pharmacologically. Recently, we presented a person-centred integrated Palliative advanced homecaRE and heart FailurE caRe (PREFER) strategy and compared it with usual care (control). Patients managed according to PREFER had improved health-related quality of life and markedly reduced hospitalisations compared with the control group. We hypothesised that these improvements may have been partly due to better drug treatments within the PREFER strategy. Thus, our aim in this study was to explore the management of drug treatments in the PREFER group compared with the control group.

Methods

Doses and numbers of drugs and the number of patients receiving the target doses based on current guidelines were measured and compared between the groups at the start and finish of the study.

Results

The percentages of ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) or mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) increased, while loop diuretics decreased in the PREFER arm during the study, although the differences were not significant. Beta-receptor blockers (BBs) decreased somewhat in both groups. The number of patients treated with MRAs differed the most between groups, and increased from 10 (28%) to 15 (48%) in the PREFER arm compared with 13 (35%) vs 13 (39%) in the control group. The change in patients receiving full target doses (+8 vs. +1) of the ACEIs/angiotensin receptor blockers, BBs and MRAs were significantly higher (p=0009) in the PREFER arm than in the control arm.

Conclusions

Person-centred integrated care of patients with severe CHF was associated with increased evidence-based drug treatments, especially MRAs.

Clinical trial number

NCT01304381.
Strangles: a pathogenic legacy of the war horse
Authors: Waller Andrew S.
Published: January 2016

Strangles, characterised by pyrexia followed by abscessation of the lymph nodes of the head and neck, was first described in 1251 (Rufus 1251) and the causative agent, Streptococcus equi, was identified in 1888 (Schutz 1888). However, despite more than a century of research into this disease, strangles remains the most frequently diagnosed infection of horses with over 600 outbreaks being identified in the UK alone each year (Parkinson and others 2011). Here, Andrew Waller reviews some of the recent advances in the understanding of the evolution of S equi and puts this into the context of preventing and resolving outbreaks of infection.
Role of habitat complexity in predator–prey dynamics between an introduced fish and larval Long-toed Salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum)
Authors: Kenison Erin K. , Litt Andrea R. , Pilliod David S. , McMahon Tom E.
Published: January 2016

Predation by nonnative fishes has reduced abundance and increased extinction risk for amphibian populations worldwide. Although rare, fish and palatable amphibians have been observed to coexist where aquatic vegetation and structural complexity provide suitable refugia. We examined whether larval Long-toed Salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum Baird, 1850) increased use of vegetation cover in lakes with trout and whether adding vegetation structure could reduce predation risk and nonconsumptive effects (NCEs), such as reductions in body size and delayed metamorphosis. We compared use of vegetation cover by larval salamanders in lakes with and without trout and conducted a field experiment to investigate the influence of added vegetation structure on salamander body morphology and life history. The probability of catching salamanders in traps in lakes with trout was positively correlated with the proportion of submerged vegetation and surface cover. Growth rates of salamanders in enclosures with trout cues decreased as much as 85% and the probability of metamorphosis decreased by 56%. We did not find evidence that adding vegetation reduced NCEs in experimental enclosures, but salamanders in lakes with trout used more highly vegetated areas, which suggests that adding vegetation structure at the scale of the whole lake may facilitate coexistence between salamanders and introduced trout.
On deformations of C∗-algebras by actions of Kählerian Lie groups
Authors: Bieliavsky Pierre , Gayral Victor , Neshveyev Sergey , Tuset Lars
Published: January 2016

We show that two approaches to equivariant strict deformation quantization of C[Formula: see text]-algebras by actions of negatively curved Kählerian Lie groups, one based on oscillatory integrals and the other on quantizations maps defined by dual 2-cocycles, are equivalent.
Invariant quantities in the multiscalar-tensor theories of gravitation
Authors: Kuusk Piret , Järv Laur , Vilson Ott
Published: January 2016

The aim of the current paper is to study the multiscalar-tensor theories of gravity without derivative couplings. We construct a few basic objects that are invariant under a Weyl rescaling of the metric and transform covariantly when the scalar fields are redefined. We introduce rules to construct further such objects and put forward a scheme that allows to express the results obtained either in the Einstein frame or in the Jordan frame as general ones. These so-called “translation” rules are used to show that the parametrized post-Newtonian approximation results obtained in the aforementioned two frames indeed are the same if expressed in a general frame.
Conformal gravity and “gravitational bubbles”
Authors: Berezin V. A. , Dokuchaev V. I. , Eroshenko Yu. N.
Published: January 2016

We describe the general structure of the spherically symmetric solutions in the Weyl conformal gravity. The corresponding Bach equations are derived for the special type of metrics, which can be considered as the representative of the general class. The complete set of the pure vacuum solutions, consisting of two classes, is found. The first one contains the solutions with constant two-dimensional curvature scalar, and the representatives are the famous Robertson–Walker metrics. We called one of them the “gravitational bubbles”, which is compact and with zero Weyl tensor. These “gravitational bubbles” are the pure vacuum curved space-times (without any material sources, including the cosmological constant), which are absolutely impossible in General Relativity. This phenomenon makes it easier to create the universe from “nothing”. The second class consists of the solutions with varying curvature scalar. We found its representative as the one-parameter family, which can be conformally covered by the thee-parameter Mannheim-Kazanas solution. We describe the general structure of the energy-momentum tensor in the spherical conformal gravity and construct the vectorial equation that reveals clearly some features of non-vacuum solutions.
Effects of gravitational waves on the polarization of pulsars
Authors: Hacyan Shahen
Published: January 2016

The polarization of electromagnetic waves in the presence of a gravitational wave is analyzed. The rotation of the polarization angle and the Stokes parameters are deduced. A possible application to the detection of stochastic background of gravitational waves is proposed as a complement to the pulsar timing method.
Differential Casimir measurements on an engineered sample: Some experimental details
Authors: Decca R. S.
Published: January 2016

An experimental technique has been recently developed to measure forces differentially between two samples with similar but not identical compositions. The implementation of this approach, with the important reduction in common background effects is reported. An Au-covered rotating sample composed of Au and Ni sectors interacts with either Au-or Ni- covered spheres. Emphasis is paid to the discussion of remnant systematic effects and their impact on the measurements. It is observed that a residual impulsive motion of the axis of rotation of the apparatus remain, contributing at the 0.1 fN level. Apparently random oscillations of the axis of rotation also increase the minimum detectable force by a factor near two. Finally, the remnant magnetic interaction between not completely demagnetized Ni is reduced beyond detection by using a spatial and temporal averaging of the contribution.
Hard three-loop corrections to hyperfine splitting
Authors: Eides Michael I. , Shelyuto Valery A.
Published: January 2016

We consider hard three-loop nonlogarithmic corrections of order [Formula: see text] to hyperfine splitting in muonium and positronium. All these contributions are generated by the graphs with photon, electron and/or muon loop radiative insertions in the two-photon exchange diagrams. We calculate contributions of six gauge invariant sets of diagrams.
Intelligent Watermarking for High-Capacity Low-Distortion Data Embedding
Authors: Shih Frank Y. , Zhong Xin
Published: January 2016

Image watermarking intends to hide secret data for the purposes of copyright protection, image authentication, data privacy, and broadcast monitoring. The ultimate goal is to achieve highest embedding capacity and lowest image distortion. In this paper, we present an intelligent watermarking scheme which can automatically analyze an image content to extract significant regions of interest (ROIs). A ROI is an area involving crucial information, and will be kept intact. The remaining regions of non-interest (RONIs) are collated for embedding watermarks, and will be ranked according to their entropy fuzzy memberships into a degree of importance. They are embedded by different amounts of bits to achieve optimal watermarking. The watermark is compressed and embedded in the frequency domain of the image. Experimental results show that the proposed technique has accomplished high capacity, high robustness, and high PSNR (peak signal-to-noise ratio) watermarking.
Adaptive Group Consensus of Multi-Agent Networks via Pinning Control
Authors: Cheng Yujuan , Yu Hui
Published: January 2016

This paper studies the group consensus problem in networks of multi-agent systems, in which the nonlinear dynamics of all agents are unknown and nonidentical. We assume that the unknown dynamics are linearly parameterized. Adaptive control method is adopted in the algorithm design. A novel algorithm is proposed for the multi-agent systems to reach group consensus via pinning control strategies, which only rely on the relative position information between neighboring agents. The stability and parameter convergence analysis are done based on Lyapunov theory, Barbalat's lemma, adaptive control theory and algebraic graph theory. Finally, a simulation example is given to validate our theoretical results.
Tunable Voltage-Mode Bandpass Biquad Synthesis Using NAM Expansion Method
Authors: Tran Huu-Duy , Wang Hung-Yu , Shieh Chin-Shiuh , Lin Min-Chuan , Lin Sin-Hong
Published: January 2016

The synthesis of voltage-mode parameter tunable biquadratic bandpass filters using grounded capacitors is presented. To easily construct high-order filters, the synthesis of voltage-mode cascadable tunable biquadratic bandpass filters is also indicated. The synthesis procedure is based on the nodal admittance matrix (NAM) expansion method using nullor–mirror pathological elements. The synthesis of filters using grounded capacitors is considered since it is helpful for easing the elimination/accommodation of various parasitic effects for monolithic integration. The Q factor of the derived filters can be adjusted without changing the natural frequency, so the high-Q bandpass filters are attainable. The workability of some synthesized circuits is verified by HSPICE simulations.
Colorings, determinants and Alexander polynomials for spatial graphs
Authors: Mellor Blake , Kong Terry , Lewald Alec , Pigrish Vadim
Published: January 2016

A balanced spatial graph has an integer weight on each edge, so that the directed sum of the weights at each vertex is zero. We describe the Alexander module and polynomial for balanced spatial graphs (originally due to S. Kinoshita, Alexander polynomials as isotopy invariants I, Osaka Math. J. 10 (1958) 263–271.), and examine their behavior under some common operations on the graph. We use the Alexander module to define the determinant and [Formula: see text]-colorings of a balanced spatial graph, and provide examples. We show that the determinant of a spatial graph determines for which [Formula: see text] the graph is [Formula: see text]-colorable, and that a [Formula: see text]-coloring of a graph corresponds to a representation of the fundamental group of its complement into a metacyclic group [Formula: see text]. We finish by proving some properties of the Alexander polynomial.
A divergence-free parametrization of deceleration parameter for scalar field dark energy
Authors: Al Mamon Abdulla , Das Sudipta
Published: January 2016

In this paper, we have considered a spatially flat FRW universe filled with pressureless matter and dark energy (DE). We have considered a phenomenological parametrization of the deceleration parameter [Formula: see text] and from this, we have reconstructed the equation-of-state (EoS) for DE [Formula: see text]. This divergence-free parametrization of the deceleration parameter is inspired from one of the most popular parametrization of the DE EoS given by Barboza and Alcaniz [see E. M. Barboza and J. S. Alcaniz, Phys. Lett. B 666 (2008) 415]. Using the combination of datasets (Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) + Hubble + baryonic acoustic oscillations/cosmic microwave background (BAO/CMB)), we have constrained the transition redshift [Formula: see text] (at which the universe switches from a decelerating to an accelerating phase) and have found the best fit value of [Formula: see text]. We have also compared the reconstructed results of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] and have found that the results are compatible with a [Formula: see text]CDM universe if we consider SN Ia + Hubble data, but inclusion of BAO/CMB data makes [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] incompatible with [Formula: see text]CDM model. The potential term for the present toy model is found to be functionally similar to a Higgs potential.
GROWTH OF SPUTTERED-ALUMINUM OXIDE THIN FILMS ON Si (100) AND Si (111) SUBSTRATES WITH Al2O3 BUFFER LAYER
Authors: LIM WEI QIANG , SHANMUGAN SUBRAMANI , DEVARAJAN MUTHARASU
Published: January 2016

Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) thin films with Al2O3 buffer layer were deposited on Si (100) and Si (111) substrates using RF magnetron sputtering of Al2O3 target in Ar atmosphere. The synthesized films were then annealed at the temperature of 400[Formula: see text]C, 600[Formula: see text]C and 800[Formula: see text]C in nitrogen (N2) environment for 6[Formula: see text]h. Structural properties and surface morphology are examined by using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). XRD analysis indicated that different orientation of Al2O3 were formed with different intensities due to increase in the annealing temperature. From FESEM cross-section analysis results, it is observed that the thickness of films were increased as the annealing temperature increased. EDX analysis shows that the concentration of aluminum and oxygen on both the Si substrates increased with the increase in annealing temperature. The surface roughness of the films were found to be decreased first when the annealing temperature is increased to 400[Formula: see text]C, yet the roughness increased when the annealing temperature is further increased to 800[Formula: see text]C.
ORGANOMETALLIC NANOSTRUCTURES OF 1,4-DIBROMO-2,5-DIIODOBENZENE BY METAL IONS CONSTRUCTION ON HOPG SURFACE
Authors: LI WEI , WANG ZHONGPING , LENG XINLI , LU YAN , LIU XIAOQING , WANG LI
Published: January 2016

Different organometallic nanostructures on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) have been synthesized by different metal ions coordinating with 1,4-Dibromo-2,5-diiodobenzene (C6H2Br2I2). Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images directly demonstrated the transformation of the nanostructure from self-assembled nanostructures formed by C6H2Br2I2 through halogen bond into organometallic network, formed by the dehalogenated C6H2Br2I2 molecules covalent bonded with metal ions. Moreover, by varying the concentrations of C6H2Br2I2 molecules or valence states of metal ions, organometallic structures with different shapes and sizes have been fabricated, which illustrates that the concentrations and valence states of the metal ions play important roles in the organometallic nanostructures.
INVESTIGATION OF THE ELECTROLYTE EFFECTS ON FORMATION OF VANADIUM CARBIDE VIA PLASMA ELECTROLYTIC SATURATION METHOD (PES)
Authors: GHORBANIAN BABAK , KHOIE SEYED MOHAMMAD MOUSAVI , RASOULI MAHMOOD , DOODRAN RAMONA JAVADI
Published: January 2016

One of the most important hardening methods of tool steel is the use of carbide coatings. During this process, vanadium atoms diffuse the specimen’s surface at high temperature and reacts with the available carbon in steel and create vanadium carbide with high hardness. During the plasma electrolytic saturation (PES) process, the vanadium element diffuses with the help of plasma and increases up to around 950[Formula: see text] as a result of the temperature, providing conditions for the creation of vanadium carbide. The best combination of electrolyte is 4[Formula: see text]g vanadium oxide and 50[Formula: see text]mL hydrochloric acid and different concern of sodium hydroxide. The results indicate that the formed coating is about 30[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m. As the conductivity increases, the condition for diffusion is provided; however, with increase in the temperature, the diffusion decreases. The coating formation is observed in the current at 9–11 A and hardness of this coating is about 1400[Formula: see text]vickers.
Reflexive property on nil ideals
Authors: Kheradmand Mehdi , Kim Hong Kee , Kwak Tai Keun , Lee Yang
Published: January 2016

We in this note consider the reflexive ring property on nil ideals, introducing the concept of a nil-reflexive ring as a generalization of the reflexive ring property. We will call a ring [Formula: see text] nil-reflexive if [Formula: see text] implies [Formula: see text] for nil ideals [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]. The polynomial and the power series rings over a right Noetherian ring (or an NI ring) [Formula: see text] are shown to be nil-reflexive if [Formula: see text] implies [Formula: see text] for all [Formula: see text]. We further investigate the structure of nil-reflexive rings, related to various sorts of ring extensions which have roles in ring theory.
On a pair of zeta functions
Authors: Sun Zhi-Wei
Published: January 2016

Let [Formula: see text] be a positive integer, and define [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] denotes the number of distinct prime factors of [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] represents the total number of prime factors of [Formula: see text] (counted with multiplicity). In this paper, we study these two zeta functions and related arithmetical functions. We show that [Formula: see text] which is similar to the known identity [Formula: see text] equivalent to the Prime Number Theorem. For [Formula: see text], we prove that [Formula: see text] We also raise a hypothesis on the parities of [Formula: see text] which implies the Riemann Hypothesis.
P(BA-co-HBA) Coated Fe3O4@ZnO Nanoparticles as Photo-Responsive Multifunctional Drug Delivery Systems for Safer Cancer Therapy
Authors: Huang Xiao , Zheng Xi , Yi Caixia , Yin Shuanghong
Published: January 2016

Amphipathic polymer coated magnetic nanoparticles which are loaded with docetaxel as photo-responsive multifunctional drug delivery systems for safer cancer therapy have been fabricated. Such kind of drug delivery system not only possesses favorable magnetic response property, but also could realize docetaxel-release and EGF-adsorption simultaneously simulated by UV and dark control, which can significantly boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
Modeling of microbial growth bioprocesses — Equilibria and stability analysis
Authors: Roman Monica , Selişteanu Dan
Published: January 2016

The paper addresses the analysis of nonlinear dynamical models of some microbial growth processes. Equilibrium points, stability analysis, and structural properties are studied for different bioprocesses with various kinetics structures. First, a simple micro-organism growth process on a single limiting substrate is widely analyzed. Second, a microbial growth process combined with an enzyme-catalyzed reaction is investigated. The analysis shows that these kinds of bioprocesses have multiple equilibria, stable or unstable, operational or non-operational. The partition of nonlinear model in linear and nonlinear parts via some structural properties leads to kinetic decoupling and facilitates the equilibria and stability analysis. The performed research is useful for model reduction and for the design of observers and control algorithms. To illustrate the study results, several numerical simulations are provided.
Architecture engineering of supercapacitor electrode materials
Authors: Chen Kunfeng , Li Gong , Xue Dongfeng
Published: January 2016

The biggest challenge for today’s supercapacitor systems readily possessing high power density is their low energy density. Their electrode materials with controllable structure, specific surface area, electronic conductivity, and oxidation state, have long been highlighted. Architecture engineering of functional electrode materials toward powerful supercapacitor systems is becoming a big fashion in the community. The construction of ion-accessible tunnel structures can microscopically increase the specific capacitance and materials utilization; stiff 3D structures with high specific surface area can macroscopically assure high specific capacitance. Many exciting findings in electrode materials mainly focus on the construction of ice-folded graphene paper, in situ functionalized graphene, in situ crystallizing colloidal ionic particles and polymorphic metal oxides. This feature paper highlights some recent architecture engineering strategies toward high-energy supercapacitor electrode systems, including electric double-layer capacitance (EDLC) and pseudocapacitance.
China’s Pursuit of a New Asia-Pacific Security Architecture
Authors: Zhang Zhexin
Published: January 2016

Facing increasing challenges to regional peace and stability, yet feeling isolated in several key security mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific, China has been taking active measures to improve its security environment and to foster a new regional security architecture based on the “New Asian Security Concept,” in order to achieve a lasting and commonly beneficial collective security order in the region. Though no official blueprint has been established by the Chinese government, one can expect China to push forward an all-inclusive and comprehensive platform as the core of the new architecture which features collective security driven by major powers based on their consulted consensus. Yet China will not seek to build a completely new Asia-Pacific security architecture to replace the old one. Instead, it is taking a pragmatic and incremental approach to shape the necessary environment for the evolution of the old architecture into a more inclusive and balanced one. If Sino-U.S. relations can be well managed and China continues to project its growing power in a refrained and contributive way to provide more public goods for regional peace and development, then it is hopeful that a new regional security architecture will take shape in the coming decades.
Near-real-time service provision during effusive crises at Etna and Stromboli: basis and implementation of satellite-based IR operations
Authors: Miller Peter I. , Harris Andrew J. L.
Published: January 2016

Using the NEODAAS-Dundee AVHRR receiving station (Scotland), NEODAAS-Plymouth can provide calibrated brightness temperature data to end users or interim users in near-real time. Between 2000 and 2009 these data were used to undertake volcano hot spot detection, reporting and time-average discharge rate dissemination during effusive crises at Mount Etna and Stromboli (Italy). Data were passed via FTP, within an hour of image generation, to the hot spot detection system maintained at Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, USA). Final product generation and quality control were completed manually at HIGP once a day, so as to provide information to onsite monitoring agencies for their incorporation into daily reporting duties to Italian Civil Protection. We here describe the processing and dissemination chain, which was designed so as to provide timely, useable, quality-controlled and relevant information for ‘one voice’ reporting by the responsible monitoring agencies.
Involvement of ion channels and transporters in carcinoma angiogenesis and metastasis
Authors: Martial Sonia
Published: January 2016

Angiogenesis is a finely tuned process, which is the result of the equilibrium between pro- and antiangiogenic factors. In solid tumor angiogenesis, the balance is highly in favor of the production of new, but poorly functional blood vessels, initially intended to provide growing tumors with nutrients and oxygen. Among the numerous proteins involved in tumor development, several types of ion channels are overexpressed in tumor cells, as well as in stromal and endothelial cells. Ion channels thus actively participate in the different hallmarks of cancer, especially in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Indeed, from their strategic localization in the plasma membrane, ion channels are key operators of cell signaling, as they sense and respond to environmental changes. This review aims to decipher how ion channels of different families are intricately involved in the fundamental angiogenesis and metastasis hallmarks, which lead from a nascent tumor to systemic dissemination. An overview of the possible use of ion channels as therapeutic targets will also be given, showing that ion channel inhibitors or specific antibodies may provide effective tools, in the near future, in the treatment of carcinomas.
Dynamin-2 is a novel NOS1β interacting protein and negative regulator in the collecting duct
Authors: Hyndman Kelly A. , Arguello Alexandra M. , Morsing Sofia K. H. , Pollock Jennifer S.
Published: January 2016

Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1)-derived nitric oxide (NO) production in collecting ducts is critical for maintaining fluid-electrolyte balance. Rat collecting ducts express both the full-length NOS1α and its truncated variant NOS1β, while NOS1β predominates in mouse collecting ducts. We reported that dynamin-2 (DNM2), a protein involved in excising vesicles from the plasma membrane, and NOS1α form a protein-protein interaction that promotes NO production in rat collecting ducts. NOS1β was found to be highly expressed in human renal cortical/medullary samples; hence, we tested the hypothesis that DNM2 is a positive regulator of NOS1β-derived NO production. COS7 and mouse inner medullary collecting duct-3 (mIMCD3) cells were transfected with NOS1β and/or DNM2. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments show that NOS1β and DNM2 formed a protein-protein interaction. DNM2 overexpression decreased nitrite production (index of NO) in both COS7 and mIMCD-3 cells by 50–75%. mIMCD-3 cells treated with a panel of dynamin inhibitors or DNM2 siRNA displayed increased nitrite production. To elucidate the physiological significance of IMCD DNM2/NOS1β regulation in vivo, flox control and CDNOS1 knockout mice were placed on a high-salt diet, and freshly isolated IMCDs were treated acutely with a dynamin inhibitor. Dynamin inhibition increased nitrite production by IMCDs from flox mice. This response was blunted (but not abolished) in collecting duct-specific NOS1 knockout mice, suggesting that DNM2 also negatively regulates NOS3 in the mouse IMCD. We conclude that DNM2 is a novel negative regulator of NO production in mouse collecting ducts. We propose that DNM2 acts as a “break” to prevent excess or potentially toxic NO levels under high-salt conditions.
Tracking local anesthetic effects using a novel perceptual reference approach
Authors: Ettlin Dominik A. , Lukic Nenad , Abazi Jetmir , Widmayer Sonja , Meier Michael L.
Published: January 2016

Drug effects of loco-regional anesthetics are commonly measured by unidimensional pain rating scales. These scales require subjects to transform their perceptual correlates of stimulus intensities onto a visual, verbal, or numerical construct that uses a unitless cognitive reference frame. The conceptual understanding and execution of this magnitude estimation task may vary among individuals and populations. To circumvent inherent shortcomings of conventional experimental pain scales, this study used a novel perceptual reference approach to track subjective sensory perceptions during onset of an analgesic nerve block. In 34 male subjects, nociceptive electric stimuli of 1-ms duration were repetitively applied to left (target) and right (reference) mandibular canines every 5 s for 600 s, with a side latency of 1 ms. Stimulus strength to the target canine was programmed to evoke a tolerable pain intensity perception and remained constant at this level throughout the experiment. A dose of 0.6 ml of articaine 4% was submucosally injected at the left mental foramen. Subjects then reported drug effects by adjusting the stimulus strength (in milliamperes) to the reference tooth, so that the perceived intensity in the reference tooth was equi-intense to the target tooth. Pain and stimulus perception offsets were indicated by subjects. Thus, the current approach for matching the sensory experience in one anatomic location after regional anesthesia allows detailed tracking of evolving perceptual changes in another location. This novel perceptual reference approach facilitates direct and accurate quantification of analgesic effects with high temporal resolution. We propose using this method for future experimental investigations of analgesic/anesthetic drug efficacy.
Modelling the Impact of Media in Controlling the Diseases with a Piecewise Transmission Rate
Authors: Liu Maoxing , Chang Yuting , Zuo Lixia
Published: January 2016

An epidemic model with media is proposed to describe the spread of infectious diseases in a given region. A piecewise continuous transmission rate is introduced to describe that the media has its effect when the number of the infected exceeds a certain critical level. Furthermore, it is assumed that the impact of the media on the contact transmission is described by an exponential function. Stability analysis of the model shows that the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if the basic reproduction number is less than unity. On the other hand, when the basic reproduction number is greater than unity, a unique endemic equilibrium exists, which is also globally asymptotically stable. Our analysis implies that media coverage plays an important role in controlling the spread of the disease.
A Quality Function Deployment-Based Model for Cutting Fluid Selection
Authors: Prasad Kanika , Chakraborty Shankar
Published: January 2016

Cutting fluid is applied for numerous reasons while machining a workpiece, like increasing tool life, minimizing workpiece thermal deformation, enhancing surface finish, flushing away chips from cutting surface, and so on. Hence, choosing a proper cutting fluid for a specific machining application becomes important for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of a manufacturing process. Cutting fluid selection is a complex procedure as the decision depends on many complicated interactions, including work material’s machinability, rigorousness of operation, cutting tool material, metallurgical, chemical, and human compatibility, reliability and stability of fluid, and cost. In this paper, a decision making model is developed based on quality function deployment technique with a view to respond to the complex character of cutting fluid selection problem and facilitate judicious selection of cutting fluid from a comprehensive list of available alternatives. In the first example, HD-CUTSOL is recognized as the most suitable cutting fluid for drilling holes in titanium alloy with tungsten carbide tool and in the second example, for performing honing operation on stainless steel alloy with cubic boron nitride tool, CF5 emerges out as the best honing fluid. Implementation of this model would result in cost reduction through decreased manpower requirement, enhanced workforce efficiency, and efficient information exploitation.
Kinship Verification Using Facial Images by Robust Similarity Learning
Authors: Xu Min , Shang Yuanyuan
Published: January 2016

Kinship verification from face images is a new and challenging problem in pattern recognition and computer vision, and it has many potential real-world applications including social media analysis and children adoptions. Most existing methods for kinship verification assume that each positive pair of face images (with kin relationship) has greater similarity score than those of negative pairs without kin relationships under a distance metric to be learned. In practice, however, this assumption is usually too strict for real-life kin samples. Instead, we propose in this paper learning a robust similarity model, under which the similarity score of each positive pair is greater than average similarity score of some negative ones. In addition, we develop an online similarity learning algorithm for more scalable application. We empirically evaluate the proposed methods on benchmark datasets, and experimental results show that our method outperforms some state-of-the-art kinship verification methods in terms of verification accuracy and computational efficiency.
Prefetching Scheme for Massive Spatiotemporal Data in a Smart City
Authors: Xiong Lian , Xu Zhengquan , Wang Hao , Jia Shan , Zhu Li
Published: January 2016

Employing user access patterns to develop a prefetching scheme can effectively improve system I/O performance and reduce user access latency. For massive spatiotemporal data, traditional pattern mining methods fail to directly reflect the spatiotemporal correlation and transition rules of user access, resulting in poor prefetching performance. This paper proposed a prefetching scheme based on spatial-temporal attribute prediction, named STAP. It maps the history of user access requests to the spatiotemporal attribute domain by analyzing the characteristics of spatiotemporal data in a smart city. According to the spatial locality and time stationarity of user access, correlation analysis is performed and variation rules are identified for the history of user access requests. Further, the STAP scheme mines the user access patterns and constructs a predictive function to predict the user's next access request. Experimental results show that the prefetching scheme is simple yet effective; it achieves a prediction accuracy of 84.3% for access requests and reduces the average data access response time by 44.71% compared with the nonprefetching scheme.
Bilateral Congenital Agenesis of the Long Head of the Biceps Tendon: The Beginning
Authors: Rego Costa Francisco , Esteves Cátia , Melão Lina
Published: January 2016

The biceps brachii muscle is prone to variants but absence of the long head of the biceps (LHB) tendon is an exceptionally rare anomaly. This report concerns the fourth case of bilateral congenital absence of the LHB tendon and presents the ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance (MR) findings. Our case has the peculiarity of being the first in which bilateral LHB tendon agenesis is not associated with rotator cuff or labral tears.
Clinical Application of Antimicrobial Bone Graft Substitute in Osteomyelitis Treatment: A Systematic Review of Different Bone Graft Substitutes Available in Clinical Treatment of Osteomyelitis
Authors: van Vugt T. A. G. , Geurts J. , Arts J. J.
Published: January 2016

Osteomyelitis is a common occurrence in orthopaedic surgery, which is caused by different bacteria. Treatment of osteomyelitis patients aims to eradicate infection by debridement surgery and local and systemic antibiotic therapy. Local treatment increases success rates and can be performed with different antimicrobial bone graft substitutes. This review is performed to assess the level of evidence of synthetic bone graft substitutes in osteomyelitis treatment. According to the PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews, different types of clinical studies concerning treatment of osteomyelitis with bone graft substitutes are included. These studies are assessed on their methodological quality as level of evidence and bias and their clinical outcomes as eradication of infection. In the fifteen included studies, the levels of evidence were weak and in ten out of the fifteen studies there was a moderate to high risk of bias. However, first results of the eradication of infection in these studies showed promising results with their relatively high success rates and low complication rates. Due to the low levels of evidence and high risks of bias of the included studies, these results are inconclusive and no conclusions regarding the performed clinical studies of osteomyelitis treatment with antimicrobial bone graft substitutes can be drawn.
A Significant Statistical Advancement on the Predictive Values of ERCC1 Polymorphisms for Clinical Outcomes of Platinum-Based Chemotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: An Updated Meta-Analysis
Authors: Han Yali , Liu Jie , Sun Meili , Zhang Zongpu , Liu Chuanyong , Sun Yuping
Published: January 2016

Background. There is no definitive conclusion so far on the predictive values of ERCC1 polymorphisms for clinical outcomes of platinum-based chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We updated this meta-analysis with an expectation to obtain some statistical advancement on this issue.Methods. Relevant studies were identified by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE databases from inception to April 2015. Primary outcomes included objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). All analyses were performed using the Review Manager version 5.3 and the Stata version 12.0.Results. A total of 33 studies including 5373 patients were identified. ERCC1 C118T and C8092A could predict both ORR and OS for platinum-based chemotherapy in Asian NSCLC patients (CT + TT versus CC, ORR: OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.67–0.94; OS: HR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01–1.53) (CA + AA versus CC, ORR: OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.60–0.96; OS: HR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.06–1.75).Conclusions. Current evidence strongly indicated the prospect of ERCC1 C118T and C8092A as predictive biomarkers for platinum-based chemotherapy in Asian NSCLC patients. However, the results should be interpreted with caution and large prospective studies are still required to further investigate these findings.
Pepsin Digested Oat Bran Proteins: Separation, Antioxidant Activity, and Identification of New Peptides
Authors: Vanvi Ariane , Tsopmo Apollinaire
Published: January 2016

The aim of this study was to determine pepsin hydrolysis conditions to produce digested oat bran proteins with higher radical scavenging activities and separate and identify peptides. Isolated proteins were then digested with different concentrations of pepsin and incubation times. Hydrolysates produced with 1 : 30 enzyme substrate (E/S) ratio and 2 h possessed the highest peroxyl radical scavenging activity, 608 ± 17 µM TE/g (compared to 456–474 µM TE/g for other digests), and was therefore subsequently fractionated into eight fractions (F1–F8) by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). F1 and F2 had little activity because of their low protein contents. Activities of F3–F8 were 447–874 µM TE/g, 20–36%, and 10–14% in the peroxyl, superoxide anion, and hydroxyl radical tests, respectively. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to identify a total of fifty peptides that may have contributed to the activity of F3, a fraction that better scavenged radicals.
Load Bearing and Deformation Characteristics of Granular Spoils under Unconfined Compressive Loading for Coal Mine Backfill
Authors: Li Guodong , Cao Shugang , Li Yong , Zhang Zhenyu
Published: January 2016

The load bearing capacity and deformation response of granular spoils under uniaxial compression are numerically and experimentally investigated, aiming to shed light on the performance of back filled waste spoils while controlling ground subsidence after coal extraction. In numerical study, the particles are assembled in PFC commercial code in light of the digitized real shape of spoils with image technique, which is proved to be consistent with the physical test. The results from numerical and laboratory experiments showed that the complete compressive process of spoils tended to have spatial and temporal characteristics. The load-strain curves of investigated specimens could be divided into three stages (stage I, rearranging stage; stage II, breaking stage; stage III, consolidating stage) and three zones (I, rearranging zone; II, interlocking zone; III, consolidated zone) from outside to inside. During stage I, the load increasing rate of smaller spoils is relatively low, but it increases faster than larger ones in stages II and III. In addition, spoils with Talbot’s gradation are greater than single gradations. The magnitude of the density in consolidated zone is maximum, indicating that it is the main part holding the overlying strata weight.