bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DAMPE excess from decaying right-handed neutrino dark matter
Authors: Okada Nobuchika , Seto Osamu
Published: August 2018

The flux of high-energy cosmic-ray electrons plus positrons recently measured by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) exhibits a tentative peak excess at an energy of around 1.4 TeV. In this paper, we consider the minimal gauged U(1)[Formula: see text] model with a right-handed neutrino (RHN) dark matter (DM) and interpret the DAMPE peak with a late-time decay of the RHN DM into [Formula: see text]. We find that a DM lifetime [Formula: see text] can fit the DAMPE peak with a DM mass [Formula: see text]. This favored lifetime is close to the current bound on it by Fermi-LAT, our decaying RHN DM can be tested, once the measurement of cosmic gamma ray flux is improved. The RHN DM communicates with the Standard Model particles through the U(1)[Formula: see text] gauge boson ([Formula: see text] boson), and its thermal relic abundance is controlled by only three free parameters: [Formula: see text], the U(1)[Formula: see text] gauge coupling [Formula: see text], and the [Formula: see text] boson mass [Formula: see text]. For [Formula: see text], the rest of the parameters are restricted to be [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], in order to reproduce the observed DM relic density and to avoid the Landau pole for running [Formula: see text] below the Planck scale. This allowed region will be tested by the search for a [Formula: see text] boson resonance at the future Large Hadron Collider.
Fair Value Adjusted Pricing of Mutual Funds Using Treasury Futures
Authors: Guo Jiequn
Published: August 2018

The U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940 requires mutual fund boards to determine fair value of their portfolios. With mutual fund investments on foreign securities, there is a potential market timing issue when markets evolve between foreign and domestic market close. However, there is little research to date relating to fair value pricing procedures for foreign fixed-income securities. In this paper, we discuss the market timing problems and present a statistical approach utilizing treasury futures to fair value pricing of foreign fixed income securities. Timely valuation adjustment of foreign fixed income securities is the best approach to fend off arbitrageurs than raising transaction fees or setting minimum holding period for mutual funds.
Precarity, Precariousness, and Vulnerability
Authors: Han Clara
Published: August 2018

This review examines precarity through two foci. First, I focus on related terms of the lumpenproletariat and informal economy, each of which have left their mark on the notion of precarity as a bounded historical condition, and its related notion of the precariat, a sociological category of those who find themselves subject to intermittent casual forms of labor. I explore the ways in which these terms offer pictures of politics and the state that are inherited by the term precarity, understood as the predicament of those who live at the juncture of unstable contract labor and a loss of state provisioning. I then turn to the second pole of precarity to chart a tension between asserting a common condition of ontological precarity and the impulse to describe the various ways in which vulnerability appears within forms of life.
India and Climate Change: Evolving Ideas and Increasing Policy Engagement
Authors: Dubash Navroz K. , Khosla Radhika , Kelkar Ulka , Lele Sharachchandra
Published: August 2018

India is a significant player in climate policy and politics. It has been vocal in international climate negotiations, but its role in these negotiations has changed over time. In an interactive relationship between domestic policy and international positions, India has increasingly become a testing ground for policies that internalize climate considerations into development. This article critically reviews the arc of climate policy and politics in India over time. It begins by examining changes in knowledge and ideas around climate change in India, particularly in the areas of ethics, climate impacts, India's energy transition, linkages with sustainability, and sequestration. The next section examines changes in politics, policy, and governance at both international and national scales. The article argues that shifts in ideas and knowledge of impacts, costs, and benefits of climate action and shifts in the global context are reflected and refracted through discourses in India's domestic and international policies.
New Cell Cycle Inhibitors Target Aneuploidy in Cancer Therapy
Authors: Kawakami Masanori , Liu Xi , Dmitrovsky Ethan
Published: August 2018

Aneuploidy is a hallmark of cancer. Defects in chromosome segregation result in aneuploidy. Multiple pathways are engaged in this process, including errors in kinetochore-microtubule attachments, supernumerary centrosomes, spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) defects, and chromosome cohesion defects. Although aneuploidy provides an adaptation and proliferative advantage in affected cells, excessive aneuploidy beyond a critical level can be lethal to cancer cells. Given this, enhanced chromosome missegregation is hypothesized to limit survival of aneuploid cancer cells, especially when compared to diploid cells. Based on this concept, proteins and pathways engaged in chromosome segregation are being exploited as candidate therapeutic targets for aneuploid cancers. Agents that induce chromosome missegregation and aneuploidy now exist, including SAC inhibitors, those that alter centrosome fidelity and others that are under active study in preclinical and clinical contexts. This review explores the therapeutic potentials of such new agents, including the benefits of combining them with other antineoplastic agents.
The Emotion Process: Event Appraisal and Component Differentiation
Authors: Scherer Klaus R. , Moors Agnes
Published: August 2018

Much emotion research has focused on the end result of the emotion process, categorical emotions, as reported by the protagonist or diagnosed by the researcher, with the aim of differentiating these discrete states. In contrast, this review concentrates on the emotion process itself by examining how ( a) elicitation, or the appraisal of events, leads to ( b) differentiation, in particular, action tendencies accompanied by physiological responses and manifested in facial, vocal, and gestural expressions, before ( c) conscious representation or experience of these changes (feeling) and ( d) categorizing and labeling these changes according to the semantic profiles of emotion words. The review focuses on empirical, particularly experimental, studies from emotion research and neighboring domains that contribute to a better understanding of the unfolding emotion process and the underlying mechanisms, including the interactions among emotion components.
An Overview of Joint Modeling of Time-to-Event and Longitudinal Outcomes
Authors: Papageorgiou Grigorios , Mauff Katya , Tomer Anirudh , Rizopoulos Dimitris
Published: August 2018

In this review, we present an overview of joint models for longitudinal and time-to-event data. We introduce a generalized formulation for the joint model that incorporates multiple longitudinal outcomes of varying types. We focus on extensions for the parametrization of the association structure that links the longitudinal and time-to-event outcomes, estimation techniques, and dynamic predictions. We also outline the software available for the application of these models.
Acute decompression following simulated dive conditions alters mitochondrial respiration and motility
Authors: Jang David H. , Owiredu Shawn , Ranganathan Abhay , Eckmann David M.
Published: August 2018

While barotrauma, decompression sickness, and drowning-related injuries are common morbidities associated with diving and decompression from depth, it remains unclear what impact rapid decompression has on mitochondrial function. In vitro diving simulation was performed with human dermal fibroblast cells subjected to control, air, nitrogen, and oxygen dive conditions. With the exception of the gas mixture, all other related variables, including absolute pressure exposure, dive and decompression rates, and temperature, were held constant. High-resolution respirometry was used to examine key respiratory states. Mitochondrial dynamic function, including net movement, number, and rates of fusion/fission events, was obtained from fluorescence microscopy imaging. Effects of the dive conditions on cell cytoskeleton were assessed by imaging both actin and microtubules. Maximum respiration was lower in fibroblasts in the air group than in the control and nitrogen groups. The oxygen group had overall lower respiration when compared with all other groups. All groups demonstrated lower mitochondrial motility when compared with the control group. Rates of fusion and fission events were the same between all groups. There were visible differences in cell morphology consistent with the actin staining; however, there were no appreciable changes to the microtubules. This is the first study to directly assess mitochondrial respiration and dynamics in a cell model of decompression. Both hyperbaric oxygen and air dive conditions produce deleterious effects on overall mitochondrial health in fibroblasts.
Mechanisms of sodium balance: total body sodium, surrogate variables, and renal sodium excretion
Authors: Bie Peter
Published: August 2018

The classical concepts of human sodium balance include 1) a total pool of Na+ of ≈4,200 mmol (total body sodium, TBS) distributed primarily in the extracellular fluid (ECV) and bone, 2) intake variations of 0.03 to ≈6 mmol·kg body mass−1·day−1, 3) asymptotic transitions between steady states with a halftime (T½) of 21 h, 4) changes in TBS driven by sodium intake measuring ≈1.3 day [ΔTBS/Δ(Na+ intake/day)], 5) adjustment of Na+ excretion to match any diet thus providing metabolic steady state, and 6) regulation of TBS via controlled excretion (90–95% renal) mediated by surrogate variables. The present focus areas include 1) uneven, nonosmotic distribution of increments in TBS primarily in “skin,” 2) long-term instability of TBS during constant Na+ intake, and 3) physiological regulation of renal Na+ excretion primarily by neurohumoral mechanisms dependent on ECV rather than arterial pressure. Under physiological conditions 1) the nonosmotic distribution of Na+ seems conceptually important, but quantitatively ill defined; 2) long-term variations in TBS represent significant deviations from steady state, but the importance is undetermined; and 3) the neurohumoral mechanisms of sodium homeostasis competing with pressure natriuresis are essential for systematic analysis of short-term and long-term regulation of TBS. Sodium homeostasis and blood pressure regulation are intimately related. Real progress is slow and will accelerate only through recognition of the present level of ignorance. Nonosmotic distribution of sodium, pressure natriuresis, and volume-mediated regulation of renal sodium excretion are essential intertwined concepts in need of clear definitions, conscious models, and future attention.
Superoxide via Sp3 mechanism increases renal renin activity, renal AT1 receptor function, and blood pressure in rats
Authors: Saleem Mohammad , Wang Xitao , Pokkunuri Indira , Asghar Mohammad
Published: August 2018

We tested a hypothesis that superoxide, by inducing Sp3, increases renal renin activity, renal angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) function, and blood pressure (BP) in rats. Group 1 rats were treated with vehicle, saline. Group 2 rats were treated with superoxide dismutase (SOD) inhibitor diethylthiocarbamate (DETC). Group 3 rats were treated with DETC and an SOD mimetic, tempol. Group 4 rats were treated with tempol only. All four groups of rats were treated for 2 wk then anesthetized, and BP was recorded. Thereafter, diuresis and natriuresis in response to AT1R blocker candesartan were determined. When compared with vehicle rats, BP increased in DETC rats. The increased BP in DETC rats decreased with tempol. Diuresis and natriuresis in response to candesartan increased in controls, and this further increased in DETC rats and decreased with tempol. A second set of four groups of rats underwent the same treatment as above and were anesthetized, and their kidneys were obtained for biochemical studies. The levels of superoxide but not hydrogen peroxide increased, whereas SOD activities decreased further in the renal cortical tissues of DETC rats than vehicle rats. These effects were attenuated with tempol in DETC rats. Moreover, tissue renin activity and abundance of membranous AT1R proteins increased more in DETC rats than vehicle rats, and decreased with tempol in DETC rats. Furthermore, the levels of lysine-acetylated, but not serine-phosphorylated, Sp3 increased more in the nuclei of DETC rats than vehicle rats. The increased levels of Sp3 lysine acetylation decreased in DETC rats with tempol. Taken together, our results suggest that superoxide activates renal Sp3 via lysine acetylation increasing renin activity, AT1R function, and BP in rats.
Optogenetic manipulation of medullary neurons in the locust optic lobe
Authors: Wang Hongxia , Dewell Richard B. , Ehrengruber Markus U. , Segev Eran , Reimer Jacob , Roukes Michael L. , Gabbiani Fabrizio
Published: August 2018

The locust is a widely used animal model for studying sensory processing and its relation to behavior. Due to the lack of genomic information, genetic tools to manipulate neural circuits in locusts are not yet available. We examined whether Semliki Forest virus is suitable to mediate exogenous gene expression in neurons of the locust optic lobe. We subcloned a channelrhodopsin variant and the yellow fluorescent protein Venus into a Semliki Forest virus vector and injected the virus into the optic lobe of locusts ( Schistocerca americana). Fluorescence was observed in all injected optic lobes. Most neurons that expressed the recombinant proteins were located in the first two neuropils of the optic lobe, the lamina and medulla. Extracellular recordings demonstrated that laser illumination increased the firing rate of medullary neurons expressing channelrhodopsin. The optogenetic activation of the medullary neurons also triggered excitatory postsynaptic potentials and firing of a postsynaptic, looming-sensitive neuron, the lobula giant movement detector. These results indicate that Semliki Forest virus is efficient at mediating transient exogenous gene expression and provides a tool to manipulate neural circuits in the locust nervous system and likely other insects.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Using Semliki Forest virus, we efficiently delivered channelrhodopsin into neurons of the locust optic lobe. We demonstrate that laser illumination increases the firing of the medullary neurons expressing channelrhodopsin and elicits excitatory postsynaptic potentials and spiking in an identified postsynaptic target neuron, the lobula giant movement detector neuron. This technique allows the manipulation of neuronal activity in locust neural circuits using optogenetics.
Neuroanatomical Framework of the Metabolic Control of Reproduction
Authors: Hill Jennifer W. , Elias Carol F.
Published: August 2018

A minimum amount of energy is required for basic physiological processes, such as protein biosynthesis, thermoregulation, locomotion, cardiovascular function, and digestion. However, for reproductive function and survival of the species, extra energy stores are necessary. Production of sex hormones and gametes, pubertal development, pregnancy, lactation, and parental care all require energy reserves. Thus the physiological systems that control energy homeostasis and reproductive function coevolved in mammals to support both individual health and species subsistence. In this review, we aim to gather scientific knowledge produced by laboratories around the world on the role of the brain in integrating metabolism and reproduction. We describe essential neuronal networks, highlighting key nodes and potential downstream targets. Novel animal models and genetic tools have produced substantial advances, but critical gaps remain. In times of soaring worldwide obesity and metabolic dysfunction, understanding the mechanisms by which metabolic stress alters reproductive physiology has become crucial for human health.
Optimizing Job Coscheduling by Adaptive Deadlock-Free Scheduler
Authors: Zheng Zhishuo , Qi Deyu , Yu Mincong , Wang Xinyang , Zhou Naqin , Shen Yang , Guo Jing
Published: August 2018

It is ubiquitous that multiple jobs coexist on the same machine, because tens or hundreds of cores are able to reside on the same chip. To run multiple jobs efficiently, the schedulers should provide flexible scheduling logic. Besides, corunning jobs may compete for the shared resources, which may lead to performance degradation. While many scheduling algorithms have been proposed for supporting different scheduling logic schemes and alleviating this contention, job coscheduling without performance degradation on the same machine remains a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a novel adaptive deadlock-free scheduler, which provides flexible scheduling logic schemes and adopts optimistic lock control mechanism to coordinate resource competition among corunning jobs. This scheduler exposes all underlying resource information to corunning jobs and gives them necessary utensils to make use of that information to compete resource in a free-for-all manner. To further relieve performance degradation of coscheduling, this scheduler enables the automated control over the number of active utensils when frequent conflict becomes the performance bottleneck. We justify our adaptive deadlock-free scheduling and present simulation results for synthetic and real-world workloads, in which we compare our proposed scheduler with two prevalent schedulers. It indicates that our proposed approach outperforms the compared schedulers in scheduling efficiency and scalability. Our results also manifest that the adaptive deadlock-free control facilitates significant improvements on the parallelism of node-level scheduling and the performance for workloads.
Feature Selection and Classification for High-Dimensional Incomplete Multimodal Data
Authors: Deng Wan-Yu , Liu Dan , Dong Ying-Ying
Published: August 2018

Due to missing values, incomplete dataset is ubiquitous in multimodal scene. Complete data is a prerequisite of the most existing multimodality data fusion methods. For incomplete multimodal high-dimensional data, we propose a feature selection and classification method. Our method mainly focuses on extracting the most relevant features from the high-dimensional features and then improving the classification accuracy. The experimental results show that our method produces considerably better performance on incomplete multimodal data such as ADNI dataset and Office dataset, compared to the case of complete data.
Analytical Reduction of Nonlinear Metabolic Networks Accounting for Dynamics in Enzymatic Reactions
Authors: López Zazueta Claudia , Bernard Olivier , Gouzé Jean-Luc
Published: August 2018

Metabolic modeling has been particularly efficient to understand the conditions affecting the metabolism of an organism. But so far, metabolic models have mainly considered static situations, assuming balanced growth. Some organisms are always far from equilibrium, and metabolic modeling must account for their dynamics. This leads to high‐dimensional models in which metabolic fluxes are no more constant but vary depending on the intracellular concentrations. Such metabolic models must be reduced and simplified so that they can be calibrated and analyzed. Reducing these models of large dimension down to a model of smaller dimension is very challenging, specially, when dealing with nonlinear metabolic rates. Here, we propose a rigorous approach to reduce metabolic models using quasi‐steady‐state reduction based on Tikhonov’s theorem, with a characterized and bounded reduction error. We assume that the metabolic network can be represented with Michaelis‐Menten enzymatic reactions that evolve at different time scales. In this simplest approach, some metabolites can accumulate. We consider the case with a continuous varying input in the model, such as light for microalgae, so that the system is never at a steady state. Furthermore, our analysis proves that metabolites in the slow part of the metabolic system reach higher concentrations (by one order of magnitude) than metabolites in the fast part under some flux conditions. A simple example illustrates our approach and the resulting accuracy of the reduction method.
Paeonol Ameliorates Ovalbumin‐Induced Asthma through the Inhibition of TLR4/NF‐κB and MAPK Signaling
Authors: Tang Yongjun , Huang Weihua , Song Qianqian , Zheng Xiangrong , He Ruohui , Liu Jie
Published: August 2018

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, with complex signaling pathways involved in its pathogenesis. It was reported that paeonol attenuated airway inflammation of ovalbumin (OVA)‐induced mice. Therefore, it is of importance to further investigate the underlying mechanism. BALB/c mice were challenged with OVA for the asthma model, which was validated by the changed levels of IL‐4, IFN‐γ, and IgE. The elevation of IL‐4 and the decreasing of IFN‐γ were significantly in middle (p<0.05) or high (p<0.01) paeonol dose groups compared with OVA group. MIP‐1β in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) also decreased significantly in middle and high paeonol group compared with OVA group (p<0.01), which is similar to the change of its mRNA in lung tissues. Moreover, the inflammatory cells infiltration and collagen deposition were attenuated by paeonol and montelukast sodium via histology examination. At last the immune blot of the protein extracted from lung tissues demonstrated that paeonol decreased the expression of TLR4 and the nuclear translocation of NF‐κB, as well as the phosphorylation levels of P38 and ERK in asthma model. In conclusion, paeonol ameliorated OVA‐induced asthma through the TLR4/NF‐κB and mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling.
Modeling Inhibitory Effect on the Growth of Uninfected T Cells Caused by Infected T Cells: Stability and Hopf Bifurcation
Authors: Ji Yahui , Ma Wanbiao , Song Keying
Published: August 2018

We consider a class of viral infection dynamic models with inhibitory effect on the growth of uninfected T cells caused by infected T cells and logistic target cell growth. The basic reproduction numberR0is derived. It is shown that the uninfected equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable ifR0<1. Sufficient conditions for the existence of Hopf bifurcation at the infected equilibrium are investigated by analyzing the distribution of eigenvalues. Furthermore, the properties of Hopf bifurcation are determined by the normal form theory and the center manifold. Numerical simulations are carried out to support the theoretical analysis.
Overcoming P‐Glycoprotein‐Mediated Multidrug Resistance in Colorectal Cancer: Potential Reversal Agents among Herbal Medicines
Authors: Lee Gayoung , Joung Jin-Yong , Cho Jung-Hyo , Son Chang-Gue , Lee Namhun
Published: August 2018

Objectives. Multidrug resistance (MDR) is the major reason for the failure of chemotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC), and the primary determinant of MDR in CRC patients is active drug efflux owing to overexpression of P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) in cancer tissues. Despite research efforts to overcome P‐gp‐mediated drug efflux, the high toxicity of P‐gp inhibitors has been a major obstacle for the clinical use of these agents. The aim of this study was to review the literature for potential P‐gp reversal agents among traditional herbal medicines, which offer the advantages of safety and potential synergetic effects in CRC chemotherapy. Methods. We searched ten databases including 3 English databases, 1 Chinese medical database, and 6 Korean medical databases up to July 2018 and included in vivo and in vitro studies evaluating the effects of herbal medicines as P‐gp reversal agents in CRC. Results. A total of 28 potentially related studies were identified and 16 articles were included. Involving 3 studies about Salvia miltiorrhiza and 2 studies about Curcuma longa, finally we found 14 kinds of traditional herbal medicines—Salvia miltiorrhiza, Curcuma longa, Sinomenium acutum, Stephania tetrandra, Bufo gargarizans, Coptis japonica, Piper nigrum and Piper longum, Hedyotis diffusa, Schisandra chinensis, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Glycyrrhiza inflate, Daphne genkwa, Stemona tuberosa Lour, and Andrographis paniculata—as showing efficacy as P‐gp inhibitors in anticancer drug‐resistant CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions. This brief account provides insight into the relationship between P‐gp and CRC. Further studies on herbal medicines with demonstrated effects against P‐gp overexpression will aid in improving the efficacy of chemotherapy in CRC.
Flutter Test Data Processing Based on Improved Hilbert-Huang Transform
Authors: Zheng Hua , Liu Junhao , Duan Shiqiang
Published: August 2018

Flutter tests are conducted primarily for the purpose of modal parameter estimation and flutter boundary prediction, the accuracy of which is severely affected by the acquired data quality, structural modal density, and nonstationary conditions. An improved Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) algorithm is presented in this paper which mitigates the typical mode mixing effect via modulation. The algorithm is validated by theory, by numerical simulation, and per actual flight flutter test data. The results show that the proposed method could extract the flutter model parameters and predict the flutter speed more accurately, which is feasible for the current flutter test data processing.
The Induction and Detection Method of Angry Driving: Evidences from EEG and Physiological Signals
Authors: Yan Lixin , Wan Ping , Qin Lingqiao , Zhu Dunyao
Published: August 2018

Introduction. Angry driving has been a significant road safety issue worldwide. This study focuses on the problem of inducing and detecting driving anger based on the simulation and on-road experiments. Methods. First, three typical scenarios (including waiting for the red light frequently, traffic congestion, and the surrounding vehicle interference) which could cause driving anger were developed and applied in a driving simulator experimental study. The self-reported, biosignals, and brain signals of driving anger data were collected from the driving anger induction experiment. Second, in order to examine the difference of driving anger between simulation driving and real-life driving, 22 groups of on-road experiments were conducted. The typical scenes and self-reported data were recorded to distinguish normal driving from angry driving. Finally, a Hidden Naïve Bayes classifier was employed to detect angry driving during the on-road driving according to the four features (namely, BVP, SC, δ%, and β%) from driver’s biosignals and brain signals. Results. The evaluation of emotional differentiation degrees and emotional intensity indicates that the developed scenarios based on virtual reality were useful and effective in inducing driving anger. Meanwhile, the proposed angry driving detection approach achieves an accuracy of 85.0%. Conclusions and Applications. Due to possible crash and injury from the on-road experiments, the proposed approach of driving anger induction using a driving simulator is effective in exploring the causal relationship between angry driving, unsafe driving behavior, and traffic accident. In addition, angry driving detection approach can provide theoretical foundation for the development of driving anger warning products.
Combined Donepezil and Ethanolic Extract of Propolis Improved Memory Better Than Donepezil and Propolis Monotherapy in Wild Type Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Ayikobua Emmanuel Tiyo , Semuyaba Ibrahim , Eze Daniel Ejike , Kalange Muhamudu , Nansunga Mariam , Okpanachi Alfred Omachonu , Safiriyu Abass Alao
Published: August 2018

Background. Donepezil is the most common drug used in the treatment of disorders associated with memory loss, especially that in Alzheimer’s disease. Healthy individuals however have continued to use it as a memory enhancer. This study was aimed at evaluating the combined therapy of donepezil and propolis on cognition in Drosophila melanogaster. Method. Drosophila melanogaster flies were divided into five groups and fed with the different treatment doses of ethanolic extract of propolis and donepezil as follows: normal food, propolis 250 mg/mL, propolis 50 mg/mL, donepezil 0.001M, and donepezil 0.001M/propolis 50 mg/mL added to their food. The flies were fed from larval stage for 30 days. The memory and learning tests were conducted after every 10 days to assess improvement with time. Results. The results obtained showed that the combination of propolis with donepezil caused a remarkable improvement in both the short‐ and long‐term memory. In addition, there was a dose dependent improvement with the administration of propolis. Conclusion. Propolis extract obtained from different parts of Uganda expressed cognitive improvement when coadministered with donepezil in wild type Drosophila melanogaster.
Analyzing and Dealing with the Distortions in Customer Requirements Transmission Process of QFD
Authors: Geng Lisha , Geng Lixiao
Published: August 2018

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a quality management tool that transmits customer requirements into product design or innovation process to improve products’ customer satisfaction. For the first time, this paper points out the distortions of customer requirements existing in the transmission process of QFD that are caused by the methods for calculating the importance degree of output information. The distortions lead to the designed or innovated product meeting less important customer requirements, without meeting more important customer requirements, so products’ customer satisfactions are decreased. In order to avoid the distortions, a new method for calculating the importance degree of output information is proposed and an example is illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the new method.
Intracoronary Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors Improve Short‐Term Mortality and Reinfarction in East Asian Patients with ST‐Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction after Thrombus Aspiration: A Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Wu Jia-hong , Hao Pan-pan , Chen Yu-guo , Li Rui-jian
Published: August 2018

Objective. Intracoronary (IC) glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs) after thrombus aspiration (TA) for patients with ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), as compared with percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) alone, is still on debate. To address this issue, we performed a meta‐analysis of results from prospective or randomized controlled trials on the topic. Methods. We searched electronic and printed sources (up to June 20, 2016) according to the selection criteria. Data were abstraction and meta‐analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results. The cohorts involved 14 articles describing 1,918 participants were included. The incidence of the short‐term major adverse cardiac events (MACE) was significantly reduced with intracoronary GPIs after TA (odds ratio [OR]: 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13 to 0.65, p=0.003). Benefits were noted for short‐term mortality (OR: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.57, p=0.0002) and reinfarction (OR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.78, p=0.01) in subjects who received intracoronary GPIs after TA. Moreover, the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) trial grade 3 postprocedure (OR: 2.29; 95% CI: 1.72 to 3.04, P<0.00001) and complete ST‐segment resolution (STR) rate (OR: 2.68; 95% CI: 1.85 to 3.87, P<0.00001) were both improved with intracoronary GPIs after TA. As a result, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at short‐term follow‐up showed a significant difference (OR: 7.33; 95% CI: 5.60 to 9.06, p<0.0001) in favor of the TA and intracoronary GPIs administration. Conclusions. Our study demonstrates that intracoronary GPIs may have a synergistic effect with thrombus aspiration on short‐term mortality, reinfarction, and cardiac functional recovery.
Some Nonlinear Delay Volterra–Fredholm Type Dynamic Integral Inequalities on Time Scales
Authors: Tian Yazhou , El-Deeb A. A. , Meng Fanwei
Published: August 2018

We are devoted to studying a class of nonlinear delay Volterra–Fredholm type dynamic integral inequalities on time scales, which can provide explicit bounds on unknown functions. The obtained results can be utilized to investigate the qualitative theory of nonlinear delay Volterra–Fredholm type dynamic equations. An example is also presented to illustrate the theoretical results.
Structural Prediction and Mutational Analysis of Rv3906c Gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv to Determine Its Essentiality in Survival
Authors: Beg Md. Amjad , Shivangi  , Thakur Sonu Chand , Meena Laxman S.
Published: August 2018

The emergence of tuberculosis is at the peak; therefore to station it at its lower level we hereby try bioinformatics approach against Mycobacterium tuberculosis [M. tuberculosis] pathogenesis. Rv3906c is a conserved hypothetical gene of M. tuberculosis and contains many GTP binding protein motif DXXG which demonstrate that this gene might be processed in a GTP binding or in GTP hydrolyzing manner. This gene shows interaction with its adjacent genes as well as pcnA which is a polymerase and localized in the extracellular region and found to be a soluble protein. Rv3906c has binding pockets for calcium atom at various positions which prove that calcium might have some role during the process of this gene. GTP binding protein motif DXXG is present in various positions and calcium binds at this site with a C-score of 0.25. Mutational analysis on this motif shows the large decrease of stability after mutation of aspartate residue with glycine. Stress conditions like pH and temperature also change stability of the protein. A decrease in stability at this position might play a role in inhibition of survival of the pathogen. These computational studies of this gene might be a successful step towards drug development against tuberculosis.
Optimal Decentralized LQR Control to Enhance Multi-Area LFC System Stability
Authors: Abdelhamid Ashraf M. , El-Gaafary Ahmed A. M.
Published: August 2018

Many studies have been made in the field of load frequency control (LFC) through the last few decades because of its importance to healthy power system. It is important to maintain frequency deviation at zero level after a load perturbation. In decentralized control, the multi-area power system is decomposed into many single input single output (SISO) subsystems and a local controller is designed for each subsystem. The controlled subsystems may have slow poles; these undesired poles may drive the aggregated overall system into the instability region. Thus, it is required to relocate these poles to much more stable places to avoid their effect upon the overall system stability. This study aims to design a new load frequency controller based on the powerful optimal linear quadratic regulator (LQR) technique. This technique can be applied over subsystem level to shift each subsystem undesired poles one by one into a prespecified stable location which in turn shift the overall system slow poles and reduce the effect of the interaction between the interconnected subsystems among each other. This procedure must be applied many times as the number of undesired poles (pairs) until all the desired poles are achieved. The main objective is considered to get a robust design when the system is affected by a physical disturbance and ±40% model uncertainties. LQR can be applied again over the aggregated system to enhance the stability degree. Simulation results are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method and compared to other research results.
3D Reconstruction of Pedestrian Trajectory with Moving Direction Learning and Optimal Gait Recognition
Authors: Wang Binbin , Su Tingli , Jin Xuebo , Kong Jianlei , Bai Yuting
Published: August 2018

An inertial measurement unit‐based pedestrian navigation system that relies on the intelligent learning algorithm is useful for various applications, especially under some severe conditions, such as the tracking of firefighters and miners. Due to the complexity of the indoor environment, signal occlusion problems could lead to the failure of certain positioning methods. In complex environments, such as those involving fire rescue and emergency rescue, the barometric altimeter fails because of the influence of air pressure and temperature. This paper used an optimal gait recognition algorithm to improve the accuracy of gait detection. Then a learning‐based moving direction determination method was proposed. With the Kalman filter and a zero‐velocity update algorithm, different gaits could be accurately recognized, such as going upstairs, downstairs, and walking flat. According to the recognition results, the position change in the vertical direction could be reasonably corrected. The obtained 3D trajectory involving both horizontal and vertical movements has shown that the accuracy is significantly improved in practical complex environments.
Clinic-Pathologic Features and Renal Outcome of Fabry Disease: Data from a Chinese Cohort
Authors: Zhang Dan , Zhang Jiong , Liang Shaoshan , Wang Jinquan , Liu Zhihong
Published: August 2018

Background: Fabry disease (FD) with life-threatening complications occurs as a result of organ damage in kidneys, heart, and brain. Only a few studies, especially from Asia, report their long-term outcome. Methods: In this monocentric study, patients with Fabry nephropathy confirmed by renal biopsy were clinically investigated in a comprehensive manner. The clinic-pathological features, progression, and risk factors for the outcome were analyzed. Results: Thirty-one patients were recruited, after median 62 months (range 8–156 months) follow-up, 23 of them had stable renal function while 8 underwent renal function deterioration. Frequent presenting symptoms included acroparesthesia (58.1%), edema (51.6%), hypo- or anhidrosis (38.7%), and angiokeratoma (32.3%). Left ventricular hypertrophy was present in 62.5% patients with renal function deterioration and 17.4% patients with stable renal function (p = 0.03). The renal cumulative survival rate of all patients was 64.5% in 10 years. Mainz Severity Score Index (MSSI) and segmental sclerosis are independent predictive factors for a more rapid progression of Fabry nephropathy. The receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that the area under the curve for the prediction of renal function progression on the basis of MSSI and segmental sclerosis levels in patients with FD was 0.845 and 0.780, respectively. MSSI score ≥18 or segmental sclerosis ≥3.9% in patients with FD positively correlated with poor renal prognosis. Conclusions: FD’s clinical manifestations are heterogeneous and nonspecific. The ­10-year cumulative renal survival rate was low in Chinese patients. MSSI score and segmental sclerosis levels predict the renal prognosis of patients with FD sensitively.
Identification of Competing Endogenous RNA Regulatory Networks in Vitamin A Deficiency-Induced Congenital Scoliosis by Transcriptome Sequencing Analysis
Authors: Chen Chong , Tan Haining , Bi Jiaqi , Li Zheng , Rong Tianhua , Lin Youxi , Sun Liang , Li Xingye , Shen Jianxiong
Published: August 2018

Background/Aims: Congenital scoliosis (CS) is a result of anomalous development of vertebrae and is frequently associated with somitogenesis malformation. Although noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been recently determined to be involved in the pathogenesis of CS, the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory networks in CS remain largely unknown. Methods: Sequencing was conducted to explore the ncRNA expression profiles in rat embryos (gestation day 9) following vitamin A deficiency (VAD) (n = 9 for the vitamin A deficiency-induced congenital scoliosis (VAD-CS) group and n = 4 for the control group). Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was conducted to verify the expression levels of selected mRNAs, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs). Bioinformatics analysis was used to discover the possible relationships and functions of the ceRNAs. Results: A total of 749 mRNAs, 56 miRNAs, 685 lncRNAs, and 70 circRNAs were identified to have significantly different expression levels in the two groups. Wnt, PI3K-ATK, FoxO, EGFR, and mTOR were found to be the most significant pathways involved in VAD-CS pathogenesis. The circRNA/miRNA/mRNA and lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA networks of CS were built, and the gene expression mechanisms regulated by ncRNAs were unveiled via the ceRNA regulatory networks. Conclusion: We comprehensively identified ceRNA regulatory networks of embryonic somite development in VAD-CS as well as revealed the contribution of different ncRNA expression profiles. Our data demonstrate the association between mRNAs and ncRNAs in the pathogenic mechanism of CS.
Taxonomic review of the Sebastes pachycephalus complex (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae)
Authors: KAI YOSHIAKI , NAKABO TETSUJI
Published: August 2018

A taxonomic review of the Sebastes pachycephalus complex established the existence of two valid species, S. pachyceph-alus and S. nudus. Similarities between them include: cranium armed dorsally with robust preocular, supraocular, postoc-ular, and parietal spines; interorbital space concave; lower jaw lacking scales, shorter than upper jaw; thickened rays in ventral half of pectoral fin; dorsal fin usually with 13 spines and 12 soft-rays; pored lateral line scales 27–35 (usually 29– 33). However, S. pachycephalus is distinguishable from the latter in having minute scales below the entire dorsal-fin spine base (vs. lacking minute scales below first to fifth or variously to the posteriormost spine in the latter), dark spots scattered on the dorsal, anal and caudal fins (vs. no distinct dark spots), and lacking distinct colored markings on the dorsum (vs. yellow or reddish-brown markings present). Although both species occur off the southern Korean Peninsula and in the Bohai and Yellow Seas, in Japanese waters, the former is distributed from northern Honshu Is. southward to southern Ky-ushu Is., whereas the latter extends from southern Hokkaido southward along the Pacific coast of Japan to Kanagawa, and along the Sea of Japan coast to northern Kyushu Is., including the Seto Inland Sea. Sebastes nigricaus, S. nigricans, and S. latus are confirmed as junior synonyms of S. pachycephalus, and S. chalcogrammus as junior synonym of S. nudus, based on the examination of type specimens.
Redescription of the genus Koumansetta (Teleostei: Gobiidae), with description of a new species from the Red Sea
Authors: KOVAČIĆ MARCELO , BOGORODSKY SERGEY V. , MAL AHMAD O. , ALPERMANN TILMAN J.
Published: August 2018

The gobiid genus Koumansetta Whitley, placed in synonymy by some authors with the similar genus Amblygobius Bleeker, is redescribed and its validity based on an integrated morphological and molecular assessment is confirmed. The following characters have been found that distinguish Koumansetta from any of 15 recognized valid species of Amblygobius: oculoscapular transverse rows trp and tra long, extending dorsally well above level of rows x1 and x2; snout pointed, prominent, longer than eye diameter, with gently sloping dorsal profile, overhanging mouth; mouth subterminal; the upper limb of first gill arch with 1–2 slender, weak and soft gill rakers anteriorly, followed by 1–5 short, also soft, broad structures; first two dorsal-fin spines elongate, remaining spines progressively shorter; pelvic frenum absent; body brown to brown-green in upper and lateral sides with narrow yellow or orange longitudinal stripes on body and head, black ocellated spot on the second dorsal fin, and another black spot dorsoposteriorly on caudal peduncle. The following three species are assigned to Koumansetta: K. rainfordi Whitley, the type species of the genus, known from the western Pacific Ocean; K. hectori (Smith), the most widespread species, known from islands of the western Indian Ocean to Micronesia and Fiji; and a new species, restricted to the Red Sea and the inner Gulf of Aden. Koumansetta hoesei sp. nov. has formerly been confused with similar K. hectori, but differs in various details of coloration, and in some morphological characters. Moreover, K. hoesei sp. nov. is evolutionary well divergent from K. rainfordi and K. hectori, its closest relative, as shown by phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial COI barcoding region. In addition to the description of the new species, brief species accounts are provided for K. hectori and K. rainfordi, and a key to the three species.
Prodorylaimus baikalensis sp. n. and Mononchus minutus sp. n. (Nematoda) from Lake Baikal, Russia
Authors: NAUMOVA TATYANA V. , GAGARIN VLADIMIR G.
Published: August 2018

Two new nematode species found in Lake Baikal (Russia) are described and illustrated. Prodorylaimus baikalensis sp. n. is morphologically close to P. irminii Vinciguerra & Orselli, 2011 and P. obesus Ahmad & Jarajpuri, 1982. From the first species it differs by the shorter and thinner body, longer tail, longer odontostyle and greater number of ventromedian supplements. From the second species it differs by the longer and more slender tail, shorter odontophore, longer female prerectum and greater number of ventromedian supplements in males. Mononchus minutus sp. n. is similar to M. niddensis Skwarra, 1921 and M. agilis Gagarin & Mataphonov, 2004. The new species differs from M. niddensis by the shorter body, more slender tail, longer buccal cavity, longer spicules and smaller number of ventromedian supplements in males. From M. agilis it differs by the shorter and thinner body, shorter tail, longer spicules and smaller number of ventromedian supplements in males.
American Meteorological Society: 100 Years of Supporting the Scientific Community
Authors: Seitter Keith L. , Nathans Jinny , Mankins Sophie
Published: August 2018

Over the past century, the atmospheric and related sciences have seen incredible advances in our understanding of Earth’s environment and our ability to monitor and predict its behavior. These advances have had a profound impact on society and have been integrated into every aspect of daily life. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) has been instrumental in supporting these advances throughout its first 100 years of existence as a scientific and professional society serving the community of professionals in the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences. AMS has provided opportunities for researchers and practitioners to share their scientific findings and build fruitful collaborations to further the science and its application. Through strategic initiatives at key points in its history, AMS has pushed the science forward—highlighting areas ripe for development, creating frameworks for interdisciplinary interactions, and providing innovative approaches to the dissemination of research results. As a society made up of the scientific community and led by many of the most prominent scientists of their time, AMS has been able to respond to, and often anticipate, the needs of its community.