bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Non‐osteogenic muscle hypertrophy in children with McArdle disease
Authors: Rodríguez‐Gómez I. , Santalla A. , Díez‐Bermejo J. , Munguía‐Izquierdo D. , Alegre L. M. , Nogales‐Gadea G. , Arenas J. , Martín M. A. , Lucía A. , Ara I.
Published: March 2018

Introduction

McArdle disease is an inborn disorder of muscle glycogen metabolism that produces exercise intolerance, and has been recently associated with low values ​​of lean mass (LM) and bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD) in affected adults. Here we aimed to study whether this bone health problem begins in childhood.

Methods

Forty children and adolescents were evaluated: 10 McArdle disease and 30 control children (mean age of both groups, 13 ± 2y). Body composition was evaluated by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry and creatine kinase (CK) levels were determined in the patients as an estimate of muscle damage.

Results

Legs bone mass was significantly lower in patients than in controls (−36% for BMC and −22% for BMD). Moreover, patients had significantly higher LM values in the legs than controls, whereas no difference was found for fat mass. CK levels were positively associated with LM in McArdle patients. A correlation was found between LM and BMD variables in the control group but not in McArdle patients.

Conclusion

We have identified a ‘non‐osteogenic muscle hypertrophy’ in children with McArdle disease. This phenomenon warrants special attention since low osteogenesis at an early age predicts a high risk for osteoporosis later in life.
Effects of APOE‐ε4 allele load on brain morphology in a cohort of middle‐aged healthy individuals with enriched genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Cacciaglia Raffaele , Molinuevo José Luis , Falcón Carles , Brugulat‐Serrat Anna , Sánchez‐Benavides Gonzalo , Gramunt Nina , Esteller Manel , Morán Sebastián , Minguillón Carolina , Fauria Karine , Gispert Juan Domingo ,   for the ALFA study
Published: March 2018

Introduction

Apolipoprotein E (APOE)‐ε4 is the major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. However, the dose‐dependent impact of this allele on brain morphology of healthy individuals remains unclear.

Methods

We analyzed gray matter volumes (GMvs) in a sample of 533 healthy middle‐aged individuals with a substantial representation of ε4‐carriers (207 heterozygotes and 65 homozygotes).

Results

We found APOE‐ε4 additive GMv reductions in the right hippocampus, caudate, precentral gyrus, and cerebellar crus. In these regions, the APOE genotype interacted with age, with homozygotes displaying lower GMv after the fifth decade of life. APOE‐ε4 was also associated to greater GMv in the right thalamus, left occipital gyrus, and right frontal cortex.

Discussion

Our data indicate that APOE‐ε4 exerts additive effects on GMv in regions relevant for Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology already in healthy individuals. These findings elucidate the mechanisms underlying the increased Alzheimer's disease risk in ε4‐carriers, suggesting a dose‐dependent disease vulnerability on the brain structure level.
Falun Gong
Authors: Lewis James R.
Published: March 2018

Falun Gong, founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992, attracted international attention in 1999 after staging a demonstration outside government offices in Beijing. It was subsequently banned. Followers then created a number of media outlets outside China focused on protesting the PRC's attack on the 'human rights' of practitioners. This volume focuses on Falun Gong and violence. Though the author notes accusations of how Chinese authorities have abused and tortured practitioners, the volume will focus on Li Hongzhi's teachings about 'spiritual warfare', and how these teachings have motivated practitioners to deliberately seek brutalization and martyrdom.
Public Health and Mental Health Implications of Environmentally Induced Forced Migration
Authors: Shultz James M. , Rechkemmer Andreas , Rai Abha , McManus Katherine T.
Published: March 2018

Climate change is increasingly forcing population displacement, better described by the phrase environmentally induced forced migration. Rising global temperatures, rising sea levels, increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, and progressive depletion of life-sustaining resources are among the drivers that stimulate population mobility. Projections forecast that current trends will rapidly accelerate. This will lead to an estimated 200 million climate migrants by the year 2050 and create dangerous tipping points for public health and security.

Among the public health consequences of climate change, environmentally induced forced migration is one of the harshest and most harmful outcomes, always involving a multiplicity of profound resource and social losses and frequently exposing migrants to trauma and violence. Therefore, one particular aspect of forced migration, the effects of population displacement on mental health and psychosocial functioning, deserves dedicated focus. Multiple case examples are provided to elucidate this theme. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:116–122)
COCENTERS OF -ADIC GROUPS, I: NEWTON DECOMPOSITION
Authors: HE XUHUA
Published: March 2018

In this paper, we introduce the Newton decomposition on a connected reductive $p$-adic group $G$. Based on it we give a nice decomposition of the cocenter of its Hecke algebra. Here we consider both the ordinary cocenter associated to the usual conjugation action on $G$ and the twisted cocenter arising from the theory of twisted endoscopy. We give Iwahori–Matsumoto type generators on the Newton components of the cocenter. Based on it, we prove a generalization of Howe’s conjecture on the restriction of (both ordinary and twisted) invariant distributions. Finally we give an explicit description of the structure of the rigid cocenter.
Univariate and multivariate stochastic comparisons and ageing properties of the generalized Pólya process
Authors: Badía F. G. , Sangüesa C. , Cha Ji Hwan
Published: March 2018

In this work we consider the generalized Pólya process with baseline intensity function r and parameters α and β recently studied by Cha (2014). The aim of this work is to provide both univariate and multivariate stochastic comparisons between two generalized Pólya processes with different baseline intensity functions and the same parameters α and β for the epoch and inter-epoch times of the two processes. The comparisons are analogous to stochastic comparisons in Belzunce et al. (2001) for two nonhomogeneous Poisson or pure-birth processes with different intensity functions. Moreover, we study both univariate and multivariate ageing properties of the epoch and inter-epoch times of the generalized Pólya process.
Domains of attraction for positive and discrete tempered stable distributions
Authors: Grabchak Michael
Published: March 2018

We introduce a large and flexible class of discrete tempered stable distributions, and analyze the domains of attraction for both this class and the related class of positive tempered stable distributions. Our results suggest that these are natural models for sums of independent and identically distributed random variables with tempered heavy tails, i.e. tails that appear to be heavy up to a point, but ultimately decay faster.
On multivariate records from random vectors with independent components
Authors: Falk M. , Khorrami Chokami A. , Padoan S. A.
Published: March 2018

Let X1, X2, . . . be independent copies of a random vector X with values in ℝd and a continuous distribution function. The random vector Xn is a complete record, if each of its components is a record. As we require X to have independent components, crucial results for univariate records clearly carry over. But there are substantial differences as well. While there are infinitely many records in the d = 1 case, they occur only finitely many times in the series if d ≥ 2. Consequently, there is a terminal complete record with probability 1. We compute the distribution of the random total number of complete records and investigate the distribution of the terminal record. For complete records, the sequence of waiting times forms a Markov chain, but unlike the univariate case now the state at ∞ is an absorbing element of the state space.
Equivalent representations of max-stable processes via ℓp-norms
Authors: Oesting Marco
Published: March 2018

While max-stable processes are typically written as pointwise maxima over an infinite number of stochastic processes, in this paper, we consider a family of representations based on ℓp-norms. This family includes both the construction of the Reich–Shaby model and the classical spectral representation by de Haan (1984) as special cases. As the representation of a max-stable process is not unique, we present formulae to switch between different equivalent representations. We further provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of an ℓp-norm-based representation in terms of the stable tail dependence function of a max-stable process. Finally, we discuss several properties of the represented processes such as ergodicity or mixing.
A remark on positive sojourn times of symmetric processes
Authors: Profeta Christophe
Published: March 2018

We show that under some slight assumptions, the positive sojourn time of a product of symmetric processes converges towards ½ as the number of processes increases. Monotony properties are then exhibited in the case of symmetric stable processes, and used, via a recurrence relation, to obtain upper and lower bounds on the moments of the occupation time (in the first and third quadrants) for two-dimensional Brownian motion. Explicit values are also given for the second and third moments in then-dimensional Brownian case.
On the age of a randomly picked individual in a linear birth-and-death process
Authors: Kück Fabian , Schuhmacher Dominic
Published: March 2018

We consider the distribution of the age of an individual picked uniformly at random at some fixed time in a linear birth-and-death process. By exploiting a bijection between the birth-and-death tree and a contour process, we derive the cumulative distribution function for this distribution. In the critical and supercritical cases, we also give rates for the convergence in terms of the total variation and other metrics towards the appropriate exponential distribution.
Where is Population II?
Authors: Mould J. , Bianchini F. , Forbes Duncan A. , Reichardt C. L.
Published: March 2018

The use of roman numerals for stellar populations represents a classification approach to galaxy formation which is now well behind us. Nevertheless, the concept of a pristine generation of stars, followed by a protogalactic era, and finally the mainstream stellar population is a plausible starting point for testing our physical understanding of early star formation. This will be observationally driven as never before in the coming decade. In this paper, we search out observational tests of an idealised coeval and homogeneous distribution of population II stars. We examine the spatial distribution of quasars, globular clusters, and the integrated free electron density of the intergalactic medium, in order to test the assumption of homogeneity. Any real inhomogeneity implies a population II that is not coeval.
STABILITY OF AN EXPONENTIAL-MONOMIAL FUNCTIONAL EQUATION
Authors: CHOI CHANG-KWON
Published: March 2018

Let $N$ be a fixed positive integer and $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{C}$. As a generalisation of the superstability of the exponential functional equation we consider the functional inequalities $$\begin{eqnarray}\displaystyle & \displaystyle \big|f\big(\!\sqrt[N]{x^{N}+y^{N}}\big)-f(x)f(y)\big|\leq \unicode[STIX]{x1D719}(x), & \displaystyle \nonumber\\ \displaystyle & \displaystyle \big|f\big(\!\sqrt[N]{x^{N}+y^{N}}\big)-f(x)f(y)\big|\leq \unicode[STIX]{x1D713}(x,y) & \displaystyle \nonumber\end{eqnarray}$$ for all $x,y\in \mathbb{R}$, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{+}$ is an arbitrary function and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D713}:\mathbb{R}^{2}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{+}$ satisfies a certain condition.
ON -PARTS OF CONJUGACY CLASS SIZES OF FINITE GROUPS
Authors: YANG YONG , QIAN GUOHUA
Published: March 2018

Let $G$ be a finite group. Let $\operatorname{cl}(G)$ be the set of conjugacy classes of $G$ and let $\operatorname{ecl}_{p}(G)$ be the largest integer such that $p^{\operatorname{ecl}_{p}(G)}$ divides $|C|$ for some $C\in \operatorname{cl}(G)$. We prove the following results. If $\operatorname{ecl}_{p}(G)=1$, then $|G:F(G)|_{p}\leq p^{4}$ if $p\geq 3$. Moreover, if $G$ is solvable, then $|G:F(G)|_{p}\leq p^{2}$.
FRACTIONAL INTEGRAL OPERATORS ON -MODULATION SPACES IN THE FULL RANGE
Authors: ZHAO GUOPING , GUO WEICHAO , YU XIAO
Published: March 2018

We use a unified approach to study the boundedness of fractional integral operators on$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$-modulation spaces and find sharp conditions for boundedness in the full range.
Central European History and the Holy Roman Empire
Authors: Whaley Joachim
Published: March 2018

Central European History (CEH) began to appear at a crucial juncture in the historiography of the Holy Roman Empire. Of course its remit was much broader. Founded sixteen years before the British journal German History, Central European History, together with the Austrian History Yearbook (founded in 1965) and the East European Quarterly (founded in 1967), took over the role occupied between 1941 and 1964 by the Journal of Central European Affairs. Each of these US journals shared an openness to new approaches and to work on all periods since the Middle Ages, as well as a desire—in the words of CEH's inaugural editor, Douglas Unfug—to keep “readers abreast of new literature in the field …,” with “reflective, critical reviews or review articles dealing with works of central importance … [and] bibliographical articles dealing with limited periods or themes…”
Habsburg Studies within Central European History: The State of the Field
Authors: Deak John
Published: March 2018

Habsburg studies stand at a crossroads. We have come a long way since C. A. Macartney published his magisterial history, The Habsburg Empire, in 1968. He began his story with the death of Joseph II in 1790—and thus, for him and his narrative, with the beginning of the end of the monarchy. Macartney's narrative represented the best and most complete traditional story of decline and fall, according to which the ever-present push of modernity put the Habsburg Monarchy in the larger story of modern Europe as an entity doomed to dissolution. Moreover, its leaders, embodied in the clever Prince Clemens von Metternich, foresaw the decline of the empire and did their best to resist change and forestall the future.
Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and Decolonization
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2018

In the past two decades, colonial studies, the postcolonial turn, the new imperial history, as well as world and global history have made serious strides toward revising key elements of German history. Instead of insisting that German modernity was a fundamentally unique, insular affair that incubated authoritarian social tendencies, scholars working in these fields have done much to reinsert Germany into the broader logic of nineteenth-century global history, in which the thalassocratic empires of Europe pursued the project of globalizing their economies, populations, and politics. During this period, settler colonies, including German South West Africa, were established and consolidated by European states at the expense of displaced, helotized, or murdered indigenous populations. Complementing these settler colonies were mercantile entrepôts and plantation colonies, which sprouted up as part of a systematic, global attempt to reorient non-European economies, work patterns, and epistemological frameworks along European lines. Although more modestly than some of its European collaborators and competitors, Germany joined Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States in a largely liberal project of global maritime imperialism.
German History Writing and the Holocaust
Authors: Roseman Mark
Published: March 2018

FromCentral European History’s founding in 1968, Nazism commanded a great deal of attention in the journal, but it was only after many years that this was also true of the Holocaust. A quick search on JSTOR shows that, of the articles and reviews mentioning the Holocaust, less than 10 percent were published in the journal's first twenty years, and over two-thirds were written between 2000 and 2014 (the last year of the JSTOR search). Of course, there is some semantics involved, as other terms such asFinal Solutionwere sometimes used in earlier decades. But there is no doubt about the underlying trend, both in terms of the growing number of books that have come up for review, and the increasing number of important articles. In the 1970s, only one essay, by Lawrence Stokes, was devoted to the Holocaust. The 1980s saw a review article by Richard Breitman and a seminal piece on the ghettos by Christopher Browning. By contrast, since 2000,CEHhas published around ten major contributions to Holocaust scholarship.
The Future of the German Past
Authors: Sheehan James J.
Published: March 2018

All art is dialogue. So is all interest in the past. And one of the parties lives and comprehends in a contemporary way, by his very existence. It seems also to be inherent in human existence to turn and return to the past (much as powerful voices may urge us to give it up). The more precisely we listen and the more we become aware of its pastness, even of its near inaccessibility, the more meaningful the dialogue becomes. In the end, it can only be a dialogue in the present, about the present.—M.I. Finley, Aspects of Antiquity (1968)
Belief in the Reformation Era: Reflections on the State of Confessionalization
Authors: Puff Helmut
Published: March 2018

That Christian religion pervaded many, if not most, aspects of life in sixteenth-century Europe, even the lives of those who were not Christian, is undisputed. “From birth to death stretched a long chain of ceremonies, traditions, customs, and observances, all of them Christian or Christianized, and they bound a man in spite of himself, held him captive even if he claimed to be free,” as Lucien Febvre remarked in 1942 inThe Problem of Unbelief in the Sixteenth Century. Most everyone, including the French writer François Rabelais—the subject of Febvre's study—understood their own existence within the divine order. Accordingly, “a world without God” made little or no sense. Even if,paceFebvre, early modern people occasionally entertained the idea that there was no God, individuals rarely faced charges of atheism, as Francisca Loetz has shown. Our task in researching early modern religion is, then, to chart religious thought, practice, and experience as a complex and capacious phenomenon—its scope, shape, contours, and dynamics.
Forum Isolation: Social Opprobrium and the Origins of the International Law of Internal Conflict
Authors: Mantilla Giovanni
Published: March 2018

Why have states created international laws to regulate internal armed conflicts? This article is the first to theorize the emergence and design of these international rules, focusing on Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Drawing on original multicountry archival research, I develop the mechanism offorum isolationto explain the origins of Common Article 3, demonstrating the importance of social opprobrium pressure to explain why Britain and France switched from staunch opposition to support and leadership in 1949. Specifically, forum isolation pressured these European empires to concedeandto react strategically behind the scenes, saving face and safeguarding their security interests by deliberately inserting ambiguous language in the text of Common Article 3. This move later facilitated states' avoidance of this rule in many conflict cases.
Synchronizing developmental stages in Neotropical catfishes for application in germ cell transplantation
Authors: Arashiro Dilberto Ribeiro , Yasui George Shigueki , Calado Leonardo Luiz , do Nascimento Nivaldo Ferreira , dos Santos Matheus Pereira , do Santos Silvio Carlos Alves , Levy-Pereira Nycolas , Monzani Paulo Sérgio , Siqueira-Silva Diógenes Henrique , Senhorini José Augusto
Published: March 2018

The aim of this study was to describe the effect of temperature on the fertilization, early developmental stages, and survival rate of two Neotropical catfishes Pimelodus maculatus and Pseudopimelodus mangurus. After fertilization, the eggs were incubated at 22°C, 26°C, and 30°C, which resulted in fertilization rates of 96.95 ± 1.79%, 98.74 ± 0.76%, and 98.44 ± 0.19% for P. maculatus and 96.10 ± 1.58%, 98.00 ± 0.63%, and 94.60 ± 2.09% for P. mangurus, respectively. For P. maculatus, hatching occurred after 22 h 30 min post-fertilization at 22°C, 16 h 30 min at 26°C, and 11 h 20 min at 30°C, and the hatching rates were 43.87 ± 7,46%, 57.57 ± 17.49%, and 53.63 ± 16.27%, respectively. For P. mangurus, hatching occurred after 28 h 30 min post-fertilization at 22°C and 17 h 30 min at 26°C with respective hatching rates of 45.4 ± 21.02% and 68.1 ± 12.67%. For this species, all embryos incubated at 30°C died before hatching. Additionally, for P. maculatus, the larvae from the lower (22°C) and higher temperatures (30°C) presented increased abnormality rates, as observed in the head, tail and yolk regions. The lowest abnormality rate was detected at 26°C, which was considered the optimal incubation temperature for both species. The developed protocol enables the manipulation of embryonic development, which is important for the application of reproductive biotechniques, including chimerism and chromosome-set manipulation. The data obtained here are also important for the surrogate propagation of this species as P. mangurus was recently categorized as an endangered fish species.
Understanding visual scenes
Authors: SILBERER CARINA , UIJLINGS JASPER , LAPATA MIRELLA
Published: March 2018

A growing body of recent work focuses on the challenging problem of scene understanding using a variety of cross-modal methods which fuse techniques from image and text processing. In this paper, we develop representations for the semantics of scenes by explicitly encoding the objects detected in them and their spatial relations. We represent image content via two well-known types of tree representations, namely constituents and dependencies. Our representations are created deterministically, can be applied to any image dataset irrespective of the task at hand, and are amenable to standard NLP tools developed for tree-based structures. We show that we can apply syntax-based SMT and tree kernel methods in order to build models for image description generation and image-based retrieval. Experimental results on real-world images demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework.
Predicting cardiometabolic disturbances from waist-to-height ratio:
findings from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)
baseline
Authors: Castanheira Marcelo , Chor Dóra , Braga José Uéleres , Cardoso Letícia de Oliveira , Griep Rosane Härter , Molina Maria del Carmen Bisi , Fonseca Maria de Jesus Mendes da
Published: March 2018

Objective

To evaluate the performance of waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in predicting
cardiometabolic outcomes and compare cut-off points for Brazilian
adults.

Design

Cross-sectional study. WHtR areas under the curve (AUC) were compared with
those for BMI, waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). The
outcomes of interest were hypertension, diabetes, hypertriacylglycerolaemia
and presence of at least two components of metabolic syndrome (≥2
MetS). Cut-offs for WHtR were compared and validity measures were estimated
for each point.

Setting

Teaching and research institutions in six Brazilian state capitals,
2008–2010.

Subjects

Women (n 5026) and men (n 4238) aged
35–54 years who participated in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of
Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) at baseline.

Results

WHtR age-adjusted AUC ranged from 0·68 to 0·72 in men and
0·69 to 0·75 in women, with smaller AUC for
hypertriacylglycerolaemia and the largest for ≥2 MetS. WHtR performed
better than BMI for practically all outcomes; better than WHR for
hypertension in both sexes; and displayed larger AUC than WC in predicting
diabetes mellitus. It also offered better discriminatory power for ≥2
MetS in men; and was better than WC, but not WHR, in women. Optimal cut-off
points of WHtR were 0·55 (women) and 0·54 (men), but they
presented high false-negative rate compared with 0·50.

Conclusions

We recommend using WHtR (which performed similarly to, or better than, other
available indices of adiposity) as an anthropometric index with good
discriminatory power for cardiometabolic outcomes in Brazilian adults,
indicating the already referenced limit of WHtR≥0·50.
CHAIN CONDITIONS ON ÉTALE GROUPOID ALGEBRAS WITH APPLICATIONS TO LEAVITT PATH ALGEBRAS AND INVERSE SEMIGROUP ALGEBRAS
Authors: STEINBERG BENJAMIN
Published: March 2018

The author has previously associated to each commutative ring with unit$R$and étale groupoid$\mathscr{G}$with locally compact, Hausdorff and totally disconnected unit space an$R$-algebra$R\,\mathscr{G}$. In this paper we characterize when$R\,\mathscr{G}$is Noetherian and when it is Artinian. As corollaries, we extend the characterization of Abrams, Aranda Pino and Siles Molina of finite-dimensional and of Noetherian Leavitt path algebras over a field to arbitrary commutative coefficient rings and we recover the characterization of Okniński of Noetherian inverse semigroup algebras and of Zelmanov of Artinian inverse semigroup algebras.
In the Shadow of Empire: States in an Ottoman System
Authors: Endelman Jonathan
Published: March 2018

What is the origin of the Middle Eastern state? Although social scientists have traditionally emphasized the role of the European colonial experience, especially the British and French mandates following World War I, the late Ottoman era from the Edict of Gülhane in 1839 that inaugurated the Tanzimat reforms until World War I represents a period at least as critical to understanding origins of the state in the region. Certain Ottoman provinces known as Eyalet-i Mümtaze or exceptional/special provinces developed under the aegis of the Ottoman Empire that acquired many statelike attributes without becoming independent polities. Moreover, the nature of the Ottoman Imperial center changed to become more similar to that of a territorially delimited state as opposed to the classic multifaceted polity that had been the earlier norm. These developments resulted in a blurring of lines that had traditionally defined state and empire during the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire. To illustrate this change, economic, administrative, and political examples are presented from Egypt and Turkey. This comparative analysis will identify ways the evolution of the two states was similar as well as critical differences such as the extent of foreign intervention and the role played by representative assemblies. The formation of imperial states within the empire as well as the transformation of the empire to become more statelike resulted in strong state institutions in places such as Egypt and Turkey that long preceded the main European colonial intervention in the region after World War I.
Der Einfluss von Religiosität und Spiritualität auf die Haltung von Schweizer Ärzten gegenüber ethisch umstrittenen medizinischen Fragen
Authors: Hefti René , Wartenweiler Thomas , Merz Oliver
Published: March 2018

Zusammenfassung. Obwohl das Thema Religiosität und Spiritualität (R/S) in der Medizin immer mehr an Bedeutung gewinnt, wurden die religiösen Haltungen von Ärzten und ihre Auswirkungen auf die ethische Entscheidungsfindung in der Schweiz bisher kaum untersucht. Die vorliegende Studie evaluiert deshalb den Einfluss von R/S auf die Einstellung von Ärzten gegenüber ethisch umstrittenen medizinischen Fragen. Die Resultate zeigen, dass religiöse Ärzte mehr Vorbehalte in Bezug auf ärztlich assistierten Suizid, Schwangerschaftsabbruch und dem Verschreiben von Verhütungsmitteln an Minderjährige haben. Eine weitere Analyse belegt zudem konfessionelle Unterschiede: Evangelikale Ärzte haben mehr Vorbehalte, gefolgt von katholischen und protestantischen Ärzten.
Hohe Inzidenz von Varizella- Zoster-Meningoenzephalitiden in Graubünden im Jahr 2014
Authors: Stocker Alina , Theus Christoph , Boggian Katia , Mueller Nicolas J. , Fleisch Felix , Fehr Thomas
Published: March 2018

Zusammenfassung. Das Varizella-Zoster-Virus (VZV) ist die zweithäufigste virale Ursache einer Meningoenzephalitis, welche sowohl bei der Primärinfektion als auch bei Reaktivierung als Komplikation auftreten kann. Wir beschreiben eine auffällige Akkumulation von sechs Fällen mit einer Herpes-Zoster-Meningoenzephalitis im Jahr 2014 im Kantonsspital Graubünden, welche wir retrospektiv bezüglich Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Outcome ausgewertet haben. Fünf von sechs Patienten zeigten die typische Monozytose und positive PCR für VZV im Liquor. Das Zoster-Exanthem erschien entweder vor, während oder nach Beginn der neurologischen Symptomatik, oder es fehlte gänzlich. Epidemiologische Vergleiche mit dem Universitätsspital Zürich und dem Kantonsspital St. Gallen zeigten keine vergleichbare Häufung von Fällen. Die Gründe für die erhöhte Inzidenz im Jahr 2014 im Kantonsspital Graubünden sind unklar, sie könnten demografisch beeinflusst sein.
Satellites and Cell Phones Form a Cholera Early-Warning System
Authors: Akanda Ali , Aziz Sonia , Jutla Antarpreet , Huq Anwar , Alam Munirul , Ahsan Gias , Colwell Rita
Published: March 2018

A new initiative combines satellite data with ground observations to assess and predict the risk of cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh’s vulnerable populations.
Ultrathin bismuth nanosheets from in situ topotactic transformation for selective electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to formate
Authors: Han Na , Wang Yu , Yang Hui , Deng Jun , Wu Jinghua , Li Yafei , Li Yanguang
Published: March 2018

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction to formate is desirable but challenging. Current attention is mostly focused on tin-based materials, which, unfortunately, often suffer from limited Faradaic efficiency. The potential of bismuth in carbon dioxide reduction has been suggested but remained understudied. Here, we report that ultrathin bismuth nanosheets are prepared from the in situ topotactic transformation of bismuth oxyiodide nanosheets. They process single crystallinity and enlarged surface areas. Such an advantageous nanostructure affords the material with excellent electrocatalytic performance for carbon dioxide reduction to formate. High selectivity (~100%) and large current density are measured over a broad potential, as well as excellent durability for >10 h. Its selectivity for formate is also understood by density functional theory calculations. In addition, bismuth nanosheets were coupled with an iridium-based oxygen evolution electrocatalyst to achieve efficient full-cell electrolysis. When powered by two AA-size alkaline batteries, the full cell exhibits impressive Faradaic efficiency and electricity-to-formate conversion efficiency.
Gon4l regulates notochord boundary formation and cell polarity underlying axis extension by repressing adhesion genes
Authors: Williams Margot L. K. , Sawada Atsushi , Budine Terin , Yin Chunyue , Gontarz Paul , Solnica-Krezel Lilianna
Published: March 2018

Anteroposterior (AP) axis extension during gastrulation requires embryonic patterning and morphogenesis to be spatiotemporally coordinated, but the underlying genetic mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we define a role for the conserved chromatin factor Gon4l, encoded by ugly duckling (udu), in coordinating tissue patterning and axis extension during zebrafish gastrulation through direct positive and negative regulation of gene expression. Although identified as a recessive enhancer of impaired axis extension in planar cell polarity (PCP) mutants, udu functions in a genetically independent, partially overlapping fashion with PCP signaling to regulate mediolateral cell polarity underlying axis extension in part by promoting notochord boundary formation. Gon4l limits expression of the cell–cell and cell–matrix adhesion molecules EpCAM and Integrinα3b, excesses of which perturb the notochord boundary via tension-dependent and -independent mechanisms, respectively. By promoting formation of this AP-aligned boundary and associated cell polarity, Gon4l cooperates with PCP signaling to coordinate morphogenesis along the AP embryonic axis.
Experimental determination of the energy difference between competing isomers of deposited, size-selected gold nanoclusters
Authors: Foster D. M. , Ferrando R. , Palmer R. E.
Published: March 2018

The equilibrium structures and dynamics of a nanoscale system are regulated by a complex potential energy surface (PES). This is a key target of theoretical calculations but experimentally elusive. We report the measurement of a key PES parameter for a model nanosystem: size-selected Au nanoclusters, soft-landed on amorphous silicon nitride supports. We obtain the energy difference between the most abundant structural isomers of magic number Au561 clusters, the decahedron and face-centred-cubic (fcc) structures, from the equilibrium proportions of the isomers. These are measured by atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, with an ultra-stable heating stage, as a function of temperature (125–500 °C). At lower temperatures (20–125 °C) the behaviour is kinetic, exhibiting down conversion of metastable decahedra into fcc structures; the higher state is repopulated at higher temperatures in equilibrium. We find the decahedron is 0.040 ± 0.020 eV higher in energy than the fcc isomer, providing a benchmark for the theoretical treatment of nanoparticles.
Reducing electric-field-enhancement in metal-dielectric grating by designing grating with asymmetric ridge
Authors: Chen Junming , Huang Haopeng , Zhang Yibing , Wang Yonglu , Kong Fanyu , Wang Yanzhi , Jin Yunxia , Chen Peng , Xu Jiao , Shao Jianda
Published: March 2018

Diffraction gratings are an essential optical component of high-power, short-pulse lasers. The maximum output of high-power pulsed lasers is always determined by laser resistance of gratings and this resistance is strongly dependent on the local near electric field intensity in the grating structure. We presented a novel method of reducing electric-field-enhancement in metal-dielectric grating by designing asymmetric grating ridge while maintaining high diffraction performance. Compared with the common isosceles trapezoidal grating, the grating with asymmetric ridge got a 0.04% reduction of diffraction efficiency in TE polarization at 1053 nm incident wavelength but a 21.3% reduction of maximal electric-field-enhancement in grating structure. This method can be applied to any surface-relief gratings to reduce the electric-field-enhancement for improving the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of grating and supporting the grating-based chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system to develop into higher peak-power levels.
Profiles of miRNA Isoforms and tRNA Fragments in Prostate Cancer
Authors: Magee Rogan G. , Telonis Aristeidis G. , Loher Phillipe , Londin Eric , Rigoutsos Isidore
Published: March 2018

MicroRNA (miRNA) isoforms (“isomiRs”) and tRNA-derived fragments (“tRFs”) are powerful regulatory non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). In human tissues, both types of molecules are abundant, with expression patterns that depend on a person’s race, sex and population origin. Here, we present our analyses of the Prostate Cancer (PRAD) datasets of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) from the standpoint of isomiRs and tRFs. This study represents the first simultaneous examination of isomiRs and tRFs in a large cohort of PRAD patients. We find that isomiRs and tRFs have extensive correlations with messenger RNAs (mRNAs). These correlations are disrupted in PRAD, which suggests disruptions of the regulatory network in the disease state. Notably, we find that the profiles of isomiRs and tRFs differ in patients belonging to different races. We hope that the presented findings can lay the groundwork for future research efforts aimed at elucidating the functional roles of the numerous and distinct members of these two categories of ncRNAs that are present in PRAD.
Organic osmolytes preserve the function of the developing tight junction in ultraviolet B-irradiated rat epidermal keratinocytes
Authors: El-Chami Cécile , Haslam Iain S. , Steward Martin C. , O’Neill Catherine A.
Published: March 2018

Epidermal barrier function is provided by the highly keratinised stratum corneum and also by tight junctions (TJs) in the granular layer of skin. The development of the TJ barrier significantly deteriorates in response to ultraviolet B radiation (UVB). Following exposure to UVB, keratinocytes accumulate organic osmolytes, which are known to preserve cell volume during water stress. Since TJs are intimately associated with control of water homeostasis in skin, we hypothesised that there may be a direct influence of osmolytes on TJ development. Exposure of rat epidermal keratinocytes (REKs) to a single dose of UVB reduced the function of developing TJs. This was concomitant with dislocalisation of claudin-1 and claudin-4 from the keratinocyte plasma membrane, phosphorylation of occludin and elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In the presence of organic osmolytes, these effects were negated but were independent of the effects of these molecules on cell volume, elevation of ROS or the gene expression of TJ proteins. These data suggest that organic osmolytes affect TJs via post-translational mechanism(s) possibly involving protection of the native conformation of TJ proteins.
A complete, homozygous CRX deletion causing nullizygosity is a new genetic mechanism for Leber congenital amaurosis
Authors: Ibrahim M. T. , Alarcon-Martinez T. , Lopez I. , Fajardo N. , Chiang J. , Koenekoop R. K.
Published: March 2018

CRX is a transcription factor required for activating the expression of many photoreceptor-neuron genes. CRX may be mutated in three forms of human blindness; Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), cone-rod degeneration (CRD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The pathogenic mechanism in most cases is likely dominant negative, with gain of function. We report a novel, complete homozygous CRX deletion in LCA. We identified a Lebanese family with 3 affected LCA cases. The proband was sequenced by NGS. Quantitative PCR, array comparative genomic hybridization, and long range PCR were performed. Full eye examinations, OCT and photography were performed. We identified a homozygous 56,000 bp deletion of CRX, which co-segregates and is heterozygous in four parents, who report normal vision. The blind children with LCA manifest severe retinal degeneration, a phenotype typical for CRX and LCA. We hypothesized that a single copy of CRX (haplo-insufficiency) in the causes mild abnormal foveal development, but not LCA. Two parents had significant inner and outer foveal and photoreceptor abnormalities. This is the first reported case of a homozygous, complete CRX deletion. Nullizygosity of CRX thus causes LCA while haplo-insufficiency of CRX causes abnormal foveal development, but not LCA. Our data suggest a new disease mechanism for CRX.
Increasing biomass demand enlarges negative forest nutrient budget areas in wood export regions
Authors: de Oliveira Garcia Wagner , Amann Thorben , Hartmann Jens
Published: March 2018

Energy production from biomass is one of the adopted strategies in different European countries to limit global warming to within the 1.5–2° targets after the 2015 UN climate agreement. This will motivate enhanced forest harvest rates and whole tree harvest to supply the increasing biomass demand. Negative nutrient budgets for certain timberland areas where geogenic nutrient supply cannot cope with harvesting rates will be one consequence. A spatially explicit analysis for a U.S. timberland area of 33,570 km2 reveals that for a minimum nutrient loss and supply scenario, negative nutrient budgets occur in 17, 20, 16, and almost 94% of the studied areas for Ca, K, Mg, and P, respectively. For a maximum nutrient loss (considering intensive harvesting) and supply assumptions, the affected areas increase to 50, 57, 45 and 96% for Ca, K, Mg, and P, respectively. In general, atmospheric nutrient deposition is of minor importance for the high weathering supply cases. Increasing global woody biomass demand may cause additional pressure on forested ecosystems, enlarging negative nutrient budget areas. If woody biomass demand rises, strategies to counterbalance nutrient gaps might be needed, for example, by preparing harvested areas with rock products, designed to replenish growth limiting nutrients, and/or implementing forest management strategies to minimize nutrient export.
Bacterial diversity and community structure in the rhizosphere of four Ferula species
Authors: Wang Xiuling , Wang Zhongke , Jiang Ping , He Yaling , Mu Yudi , Lv Xinhua , Zhuang Li
Published: March 2018

The medicinal value of the Ferula L. has been recognized for more than a thousand years. Wild stocks of Ferula have declined dramatically because high economic value has led to overharvesting. The objective of this study was to compare the rhizosphere microbial community of four Ferula species [F. syreitschikowii K.-Pol., F. gracilis (Ledeb.) Ledeb., F. ferulaeoides (Steud.) Korov., and F. lehmannii Boiss.] in the northern part of Xinjiang, China. The 16S rRNA sequences of rhizosphere bacteria were obtained with an Illumina paired-end sequence platform. Analysis was conducted to determine the richness and diversity of the rhizosphere bacterial communities. Two-way ANOVA indicated that plant species and soil depth had no significant effect on the alpha diversity of rhizobacteria. Linear discriminant analysis effect size showed that F. lehmannii followed by F. ferulaeoides had the most biomarkers and the highest taxon level, F. syreitschikowii and F. gracilis the least, while F. syreitschikowii and F. gracilis had the least property. This trend is consistent with reports that the medicinal value of F. lehmannii and F. ferulaeoides is greater than that of F. gracilis and F. syreitschikowii. The results of this study provide information that could be used for the commercial cultivation of Ferula spp.
Higher High-Sensitivity C Reactive Protein is Associated with Future Premature Ventricular Contraction: a Community Based Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Chen Yue , Wu Shouling , Li Wenyu , Wang Binhao , Han Xu , Yang Yiheng , Guan Xumin , Yu Haixu , Khalid Bin Waleed , Li Huihua , Xia Yunlong
Published: March 2018

We aimed to determine whether hs-CRP is a predictor of future premature ventricular contraction (PVC) events in a community based population. A total of 101,510 participants were recruited at baseline (2006–2007). The follow-up visits were conducted every two years. Participants who were free from PVC at baseline and achieved the fourth visit, or diagnosed of PVC during the subsequent visits were included for analyses. Diagnosis of PVC was based on standard supine resting, 10-s 12-lead ECG. Cox regression was applied to evaluate the association between quartiles of hs-CRP and the incidence of PVCs. 60710 participants (male: 79.9%, mean age 49.4 years) were included for analyses. During a mean follow-up of 74.9 ± 7.4 months, 908 (1.5%) participants were diagnosed with PVC. Participants of the highest quartile of hs-CRP had significantly increased risk of PVC events as compared with the lowest quartile (HR 1.36; 95% CI 1.12–1.66); and stratified analyses showed similar result in males (HR 1.45; 95% CI 1.16–1.80), but not in females (HR 1.12; 95% CI 0.71–1.79). Moreover, elevated serum hs-CRP was associated with future PVC in participants without history of myocardial infarction or stroke (HR 1.34; 95% CI 1.09–1.65). Elevated hs-CRP was an independent predictor of PVC in Chinese population, especially in men.
Erythrocyte’s aging in microgravity highlights how environmental stimuli shape metabolism and morphology
Authors: Dinarelli S. , Longo G. , Dietler G. , Francioso A. , Mosca L. , Pannitteri G. , Boumis G. , Bellelli A. , Girasole M.
Published: March 2018

The determination of the function of cells in zero-gravity conditions is a subject of interest in many different research fields. Due to their metabolic unicity, the characterization of the behaviour of erythrocytes maintained in prolonged microgravity conditions is of particular importance. Here, we used a 3D-clinostat to assess the microgravity-induced modifications of the structure and function of these cells, by investigating how they translate these peculiar mechanical stimuli into modifications, with potential clinical interest, of the biochemical pathways and the aging processes. We compared the erythrocyte’s structural parameters and selected metabolic indicators that are characteristic of the aging in microgravity and standard static incubation conditions. The results suggest that, at first, human erythrocytes react to external stimuli by adapting their metabolic patterns and the rate of consumption of the cell resources. On longer timeframes, the cells translate even small differences in the environment mechanical solicitations into structural and morphologic features, leading to distinctive morphological patterns of aging.
System-wide coordinates of higher order functions in host-pathogen environment upon Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
Authors: Parvati Sai Arun P. V. , Miryala Sravan Kumar , Rana Aarti , Kurukuti Sreenivasulu , Akhter Yusuf , Yellaboina Sailu
Published: March 2018

Molecular signatures and their interactions behind the successful establishment of infection ofMycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb) inside macrophage are largely unknown. In this work, we present an inter-system scale atlas of the gene expression signatures, their interactions and higher order gene functions of macrophage-Mtbenvironment at the time of infection. We have carried out large-scale meta-analysis of previously published gene expression microarray studies andhave identified a ranked list of differentially expressed genes and their higher order functions in intracellularMtbas well as the infected macrophage. Comparative analysis of gene expression signatures of intracellularMtbwith thein vitrodormantMtbat different hypoxic and oxidative stress conditions led to the identification of the large number ofMtbfunctional groups, namely operons, regulons and pathways that were common and unique to the intracellular environment and dormancy state. Some of the functions that are specific to intracellularMtbare cholesterol degradation and biosynthesis of immunomodulatory phenolic compounds. The molecular signatures we have identified to be involved in adaptation to different stress conditions in macrophage environment may be critical for designing therapeutic interventions against tuberculosis. And, our approach may be broadly applicable for investigating other host-pathogen interactions.