bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structural and photoelectron studies of Sn‐SnOx and SnO2 nanoparticles on TiO2 (110) surface
Authors: Leiko O. , Kosto Y. , Mašek K.
Published: February 2018

An Sn‐SnOx nanoparticles were prepared by the deposition of metallic tin in the reactive atmosphere of atomic oxygen. An oxidation of Sn‐SnOx nanoparticles in the oxygen pressures up to 3 mbar at 550 K in near‐ambient pressure (NAP) cell led to the formation of SnO2 nanoparticles. Both kinds of nanoparticles were investigated by means of photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS, NAP‐XPS), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), reflection high‐energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Characterization of nanoparticles revealed Sn‐SnOx round‐shaped particles with average diameter 26 nm and SnO2 nanoparticles having rutile structure and average diameter 92 nm.
Evaluation of biomarkers for treatment selection using individual participant data from multiple clinical trials
Authors: Kang Chaeryon , Janes Holly , Tajik Parvin , Groen Henk , Mol Ben , Koopmans Corine , Broekhuijsen Kim , Zwertbroek Eva , van Pampus Maria , Franssen Maureen
Published: February 2018

Biomarkers that predict treatment effects may be used to guide treatment decisions, thus improving patient outcomes. A meta‐analysis of individual participant data (IPD) is potentially more powerful than a single‐study data analysis in evaluating markers for treatment selection. Our study was motivated by the IPD that were collected from 2 randomized controlled trials of hypertension and preeclampsia among pregnant women to evaluate the effect of labor induction over expectant management of the pregnancy in preventing progression to severe maternal disease. The existing literature on statistical methods for biomarker evaluation in IPD meta‐analysis have evaluated a marker's performance in terms of its ability to predict risk of disease outcome, which do not directly apply to the treatment selection problem. In this study, we propose a statistical framework for evaluating a marker for treatment selection given IPD from a small number of individual clinical trials. We derive marker‐based treatment rules by minimizing the average expected outcome across studies. The application of the proposed methods to the IPD from 2 studies in women with hypertension in pregnancy is presented.
Defect Formation Mechanisms
in Selective Laser Melting: A Review
Authors: Zhang Bi , Li Yongtao , Bai Qian
Published: February 2018

Defect formation is a common problem in selective laser
melting (SLM). This paper provides a review of defect formation
mechanisms in SLM. It summarizes the recent research outcomes on
defect findings and classification, analyzes formation mechanisms of
the common defects, such as porosities, incomplete fusion holes, and
cracks. The paper discusses the effect of the process parameters on
defect formation and the impact of defect formation on the
mechanical properties of a fabricated part. Based on the discussion,
the paper proposes strategies for defect suppression and control in
SLM.
Pulsed Eddy Current Non-destructive
Testing and Evaluation: A Review
Authors: Sophian Ali , Tian Guiyun , Fan Mengbao
Published: February 2018

Pulsed eddy current (PEC) non-destructive testing and evaluation
(NDT&E) has been around for some time and it is still attracting extensive
attention from researchers around the globe, which can be witnessed through the
reports reviewed in this paper. Thanks to its richness of spectral components,
various applications of this technique have been proposed and reported in the
literature covering both structural integrity inspection and material
characterization in various industrial sectors. To support its development and for
better understanding of the phenomena around the transient induced eddy currents,
attempts for its modelling both analytically and numerically have been made by
researchers around the world. This review is an attempt to capture the
state-of-the-art development and applications of PEC, especially in the last
15 years and it is not intended to be exhaustive. Future challenges and
opportunities for PEC NDT&E are also presented.
Proteasome inhibition and mechanism of resistance to a synthetic, library-based hexapeptide
Authors: Oerlemans Ruud , Berkers Celia R. , Assaraf Yehuda G. , Scheffer George L. , Peters Godefridus J. , Verbrugge Sue Ellen , Cloos Jacqueline , Slootstra Jerry , Meloen Rob H. , Shoemaker Robert H. , Dijkmans Ben A. C. , Scheper Rik J. , Ovaa Huib , Jansen Gerrit
Published: February 2018

Background The hexapeptide 4A6 (Ac-Thr(tBu)-His(Bzl)-Thr(Bzl)-Nle-Glu(OtBu)-Gly-Bza) was isolated from a peptide library constructed to identify peptide-based transport inhibitors of multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pumps including P-glycoprotein and Multidrug Resistance-associated Protein 1. 4A6 proved to be a substrate but not an inhibitor of these MDR efflux transporters. In fact, 4A6 and related peptides displayed potent cytotoxic activity via an unknown mechanism. Objective To decipher the mode of cytotoxic activity of 4A6. Methods Screening of 4A6 activity was performed against the NCI60 panel of cancer cell lines. Possible interactions of 4A6 with the 26S proteasome were assessed via proteasome activity and affinity labeling, and cell growth inhibition studies with leukemic cells resistant to the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (BTZ). Results The NCI60 panel COMPARE analysis revealed that 4A6 had an activity profile overlapping with BTZ. Consistently, 4A6 proved to be a selective and reversible inhibitor of β5 subunit (PSMB5)-associated chymotrypsin-like activity of the 26S proteasome. This conclusion is supported by several lines of evidence: (i) inhibition of chymotrypsin-like proteasome activity by 4A6 and related peptides correlated with their cell growth inhibition potencies; (ii) 4A6 reversibly inhibited functional β5 active site labeling with the affinity probe BodipyFL-Ahx3L3VS; and (iii) human myeloid THP1 cells with acquired BTZ resistance due to mutated PSMB5 were highly (up to 287-fold) cross-resistant to 4A6 and its related peptides. Conclusion 4A6 is a novel specific inhibitor of the β5 subunit-associated chymotrypsin-like proteasome activity. Further exploration of 4A6 as a lead compound for development as a novel
proteasome-targeted drug is warranted.
Diversity and functional traits of lichens in ultramafic areas: a literature‐based worldwide analysis integrated by field data at the regional scale
Authors: Favero‐Longo Sergio E. , Matteucci Enrica , Giordani Paolo , Paukov Alexander G. , Rajakaruna Nishanta
Published: February 2018

While higher plant communities found on ultramafics are known to display peculiar characteristics, the distinguishability of any peculiarity in lichen communities is still a matter of contention. Other biotic or abiotic factors, rather than substrate chemistry, may contribute to differences in species composition reported for lichens on adjacent ultramafic and non‐ultramafic areas. This work examines the lichen biota of ultramafics, at global and regional scales, with reference to species‐specific functional traits. An updated world list of lichens on ultramafic substrates was analyzed to verify potential relationships between diversity and functional traits of lichens in different Köppen–Geiger climate zones. Moreover, a survey of diversity and functional traits in saxicolous communities on ultramafic and non‐ultramafic substrates was conducted in Valle d'Aosta (North‐West Italy) to verify whether a relationship can be detected between substrate and functional traits that cannot be explained by other environmental factors related to altitude. Analyses (unweighted pair group mean average clustering, canonical correspondence analysis, similarity‐difference‐replacement simplex approach) of global lichen diversity on ultramafic substrates (2314 reports of 881 taxa from 43 areas) displayed a zonal species distribution in different climate zones rather than an azonal distribution driven by the shared substrate. Accordingly, variations in the frequency of functional attributes reflected reported adaptations to the climate conditions of the different geographic areas. At the regional scale, higher similarity and lower species replacement were detected at each altitude, independent from the substrate, suggesting that altitude‐related climate factors prevail over putative substrate–factors in driving community assemblages. In conclusion, data do not reveal peculiarities in lichen diversity or the frequency of functional traits in ultramafic areas.
On the Coupling Mechanism of Equiaxed Crystal Generation with the Liquid Flow Driven by Natural Convection During Solidification
Authors: Stefan-Kharicha Mihaela , Kharicha Abdellah , Wu Menghuai , Ludwig Andreas
Published: February 2018

The influence of the melt flow on the solidification structure is bilateral. The flow plays an important role in the solidification pattern, via the heat transfer, grain distribution, and segregations. On the other hand, the crystal structure, columnar or equiaxed, impacts the flow, via the thermosolutal convection, the drag force applied by the crystals on the melt flow, etc. As the aim of this research was to further explore the solidification–flow interaction, experiments were conducted in a cast cell (95 * 95 * 30 mm3), in which an ammonium chloride–water solution (between 27 and 31 wt pct NH4Cl) was observed as it solidified. The kinetic energy (KE) of the flow and the average flow velocity were calculated throughout the process. Measurements of the volume extension of the mush in the cell and the velocity of the solid front were also taken during the solidification experiment. During the mainly columnar experiments (8 cm liquid height) the flow KE continuously decreased over time. However, during the later series of experiments at higher liquid height (9.5 cm), the flow KE evolution presented a strong peak shortly after the start of solidification. This increase in the total flow KE correlated with the presence of falling equiaxed crystals. Generally, a clear correlation between the strength of the flow and the occurrence of equiaxed crystals was evident. The analysis of the results strongly suggests a fragmentation origin of equiaxed crystals appearing in the melt. The transition from purely columnar growth to a strongly equiaxed rain (CET) was found to be triggered by (a) the magnitude of the coupling between the flow intensity driven by the equiaxed crystals, and (b) the release and transport of the fragments by the same flow recirculating within the mushy zone.

Graphical Abstract

Coupling mechanism at the origin of CET: 1-2 strong flow running through the mush transporting out dendrite fragments (white dots); 3-4 equiaxed growth and drag of the downward flow. If the vortex is sufficiently stable, the horizontal configuration can lead to freckle appearing; a) vertical solidification front; b) horizontal solidification front.
Lumbar Intraspinal Spindle Cell Rhabdomyosarcoma as a Rare Cause of Spinal Stenosis: A Case Report
Authors: Sequea Donel A. , Reese Maria E.
Published: February 2018

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) represents the most common sarcoma in childhood yet is extremely rare in adults, with only a handful of cases reported. Here we present a case of intraspinal spindle cell RMS in an adult who presented as a typical case of spinal stenosis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of lumbar intraspinal spindle cell RMS in an adult patient. Furthermore, RMS phenotypically presents more aggressively in adults compared with children.

Level of Evidence

V
Ideas, politics and practices of integrated science teaching in the global Cold War
Authors: NIELSEN KRISTIAN H.
Published: February 2018

During the Cold War, UNESCO played a major role in promoting science education across the world. UNESCO's Programme in Integrated Science Teaching, launched in 1969, placed science education at the heart of socio-economic development in all nations. The programme planners emphasized the role of science education in the development of human resources necessary to build a modern nation state, seeking to build a scientific and engineering mindset in children. UNESCO's interest in science education drew inspiration from early Cold War curriculum reforms in the United States, where scientists, psychologists and teachers promoted science education as a way to enhance the scientific and technical workforce and to counteract irrational tendencies. While US curriculum reformers were concerned about the quantity and quality of science teaching in secondary school, UNESCO wanted to introduce science as a topic in primary, secondary and vocational schools, promoting integrated science teaching as the best way to do this. From the outset, the term ‘integrated’ meant different things to different people. It not only entailed less focus on scientific disciplines and scientific method strictly defined, but also more on teaching children how to adopt a curious, experimental and engineering approach in life. By the end of the Cold War, UNESCO abandoned the idea of integrated science teaching, but it has a lasting legacy in terms of placing ways of teaching science to children at the heart of modern society.
A “Good Mixer”: University Placement in Corporate America, 1890–1940
Authors: Groeger Cristina V.
Published: February 2018

This article explores the role of university placement offices in shaping a twentieth-century corporate elite. While studies of the “corporatization” of the university focus on developments after the 1970s, the rise of the modern university and corporate economy were inextricably linked by the early twentieth century. Scholars of this period have described the circulation of scientific knowledge and the influx of college graduates into industry, but the specific ties that facilitated their employment remain underexplored. By examining the correspondence between placement officers and employers in Boston, I demonstrate how universities actively cultivated a new corporate class that not only had the right technical knowledge and social skills but the gender, racial, and class-based characteristics employers preferred. In so doing, universities helped incorporate these characteristics into the meaning of academic merit itself. The marriage of universities and corporate management legitimated a credential-based form of inequality that continues to structure the American political economy.
Manliness and the Culture of Self-Improvement: The University of North Carolina in the 1890s–1900s
Authors: Holden Charles
Published: February 2018

As it entered the ranks of the “modern” university in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the University of North Carolina (UNC), as did other universities of the time, embraced the development of manhood and self-improvement as part of its mission. But unlike the social and economic pressures on northern and eastern universities to emphasize a more aggressive model of manhood, UNC's southern context allowed for a more flexible approach. UNC's leaders encouraged students to find for themselves a healthy mix of the older, more restrained Victorian notion of manhood with elements of the newer one, physical fitness being one example. The school's emphasis on inquiry and investigation, and the student body's racial and gender exclusivity, combined to permit a degree of openness as to what constituted an appropriate model of manhood.
Critical regime of gravity currents flowing in non-rectangular channels with density stratification
Authors: Chiapponi L. , Ungarish M. , Longo S. , Di Federico V. , Addona F.
Published: February 2018

We present theoretical and experimental analyses of the critical condition where the inertial–buoyancy or viscous–buoyancy regime is preserved in a uniform-density gravity current (which propagates over a horizontal plane) of time-variable volume ${\mathcal{V}}=qt^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}}$ in a power-law cross-section (with width described by $f(z)=bz^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}}$, where $z$ is the vertical coordinate, $b$ and $q$ are positive real numbers, and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$ are non-negative real numbers) occupied by homogeneous or linearly stratified ambient fluid. The magnitude of the ambient stratification is represented by the parameter $S$, with $S=0$ and $S=1$ describing the homogeneous and maximum stratification cases respectively. Earlier theoretical and experimental results valid for a rectangular cross-section ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=0$) and uniform ambient fluid are generalized here to a power-law cross-section and stratified ambient. Novel time scalings, obtained for inertial and viscous regimes, allow a derivation of the critical flow parameter $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{c}$ and the corresponding propagation rate as $Kt^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{c}}$ as a function of the problem parameters. Estimates of the transition length between the inertial and viscous regimes are also derived. A series of experiments conducted in a semicircular cross-section ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=1/2$) validate the critical values $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{c}=2$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{c}=9/4$ for the two cases $S=0$ and $1$. The ratio between the inertial and viscous forces is determined by an effective Reynolds number proportional to $q$ at some power. The threshold value of this number, which enables a determination of the regime of the current (inertial–buoyancy or viscous–buoyancy) in critical conditions, is determined experimentally for both $S=0$ and $S=1$. We conclude that a very significant generalization of the insights and results from two-dimensional (rectangular cross-section channel) gravity currents to power-law cross-sections is available.
Parametric instability and wave turbulence driven by tidal excitation of internal waves
Authors: Le Reun Thomas , Favier Benjamin , Le Bars Michael
Published: February 2018

We investigate the stability of stratified fluid layers undergoing homogeneous and periodic tidal deformation. We first introduce a local model which allows us to study velocity and buoyancy fluctuations in a Lagrangian domain periodically stretched and sheared by the tidal base flow. While keeping the key physical ingredients only, such a model is efficient in simulating planetary regimes where tidal amplitudes and dissipation are small. With this model, we prove that tidal flows are able to drive parametric subharmonic resonances of internal waves, in a way reminiscent of the elliptical instability in rotating fluids. The growth rates computed via direct numerical simulations (DNSs) are in very good agreement with Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin analysis and Floquet theory. We also investigate the turbulence driven by this instability mechanism. With spatio-temporal analysis, we show that it is weak internal wave turbulence occurring at small Froude and buoyancy Reynolds numbers. When the gap between the excitation and the Brunt–Väisälä frequencies is increased, the frequency spectrum of this wave turbulence displays a $-2$ power law reminiscent of the high-frequency branch of the Garett and Munk spectrum (Geophys. Fluid Dyn., vol. 3 (1), 1972, pp. 225–264) which has been measured in the oceans. In addition, we find that the mixing efficiency is altered compared to what is computed in the context of DNS of stratified turbulence excited at small Froude and large buoyancy Reynolds numbers and is consistent with a superposition of waves.
Turbulence and secondary motions in square duct flow
Authors: Pirozzoli Sergio , Modesti Davide , Orlandi Paolo , Grasso Francesco
Published: February 2018

We study turbulent flows in pressure-driven ducts with square cross-section through direct numerical simulation in a wide enough range of Reynolds number to reach flow conditions which are representative of fully developed turbulence ($Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}\approx 1000$). Numerical simulations are carried out over very long integration times to get adequate convergence of the flow statistics, and specifically to achieve high-fidelity representation of the secondary motions which arise. The intensity of the latter is found to be on the order of 1 %–2 % of the bulk velocity, and approximately unaffected by Reynolds number variation, at least in the range under scrutiny. The smallness of the mean convection terms in the streamwise vorticity equation points to a simple characterization of the secondary flows, which in the asymptotic high-$Re$regime are approximated with good accuracy by eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator, in the core part of the duct. Despite their effect of redistributing the wall shear stress along the duct perimeter, we find that secondary motions do not have a large influence on the bulk flow properties, and the streamwise velocity field can be characterized with good accuracy as resulting from the superposition of four flat walls in isolation. As a consequence, we find that parametrizations based on the hydraulic diameter concept, and modifications thereof, are successful in predicting the duct friction coefficient.
Plate tectonic modelling: review and perspectives
Authors: VÉRARD CHRISTIAN
Published: February 2018

Since the 1970s, numerous global plate tectonic models have been proposed to reconstruct the Earth's evolution through deep time. The reconstructions have proven immensely useful for the scientific community. However, we are now at a time when plate tectonic models must take a new step forward. There are two types of reconstructions: those using a ‘single control’ approach and those with a ‘dual control’ approach. Models using the ‘single control’ approach compile quantitative and/or semi-quantitative data from the present-day world and transfer them to the chosen time slices back in time. The reconstructions focus therefore on the position of tectonic elements but may ignore (partially or entirely) tectonic plates and in particular closed tectonic plate boundaries. For the readers, continents seem to float on the Earth's surface. Hence, the resulting maps look closer to what Alfred Wegener did in the early twentieth century and confuse many people, particularly the general public. With the ‘dual control’ approach, not only are data from the present-day world transferred back to the chosen time slices, but closed plate tectonic boundaries are defined iteratively from one reconstruction to the next. Thus, reconstructions benefit from the wealth of the plate tectonic theory. They are physically coherent and are suited to the new frontier of global reconstruction: the coupling of plate tectonic models with other global models. A joint effort of the whole community of geosciences will surely be necessary to develop the next generation of plate tectonic models.
Seasonal forecasting of green water components and crop yield of summer crops in Serbia and Austria
Authors: Lalić B. , Firanj Sremac A. , Eitzinger J. , Stričević R. , Thaler S. , Maksimović I. , Daničić M. , Perišić D. , Dekić Lj.
Published: February 2018

A probabilistic crop forecast based on ensembles of crop model output estimates, presented here, offers an ensemble of possible realizations and probabilistic forecasts of green water components, crop yield and green water footprints (WFs) on seasonal scales for selected summer crops. The present paper presents results of an ongoing study related to the application of ensemble forecasting concepts in crop production. Seasonal forecasting of crop water use indicators (evapotranspiration (ET), water productivity, green WF) and yield of rainfed summer crops (maize, spring barley and sunflower), was performed using the AquaCrop model and ensemble weather forecast, provided by The European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast. The ensemble of estimates obtained was tested with observation-based simulations to assess the ability of seasonal weather forecasts to ensure that accuracy of the simulation results was the same as for those obtained using observed weather data. Best results are obtained for ensemble forecast for yield, ET, water productivity and green WF for sunflower in Novi Sad (Serbia) and maize in Groß-Enzersdorf (Austria) – average root mean square error (2006–2014) was <10% of observation-based values of selected variables. For variables yielding a probability distribution, capacity to reflect the distribution from which their outcomes will be drawn was tested using an Ignorance score. Average Ignorance score, for all locations, crops and variables varied from 1.49 (spring barley ET in Groß-Enzersdorf) to 3.35 (sunflower water productivity in Groß-Enzersdorf).
The Reshaping of Landscapes: Systems of Mediation, War, and Slow Violence
Authors: Park Albert L.
Published: February 2018

John Lee's, David Fedman's, and Lisa Brady's essays persuasively show the value of studying environmental issues on the Korean peninsula. Each of the essays carefully explains how drives led by individuals and entities, such as the state, engineered nature for human needs, security, and later economic growth. In so doing, they show how these drives simultaneously altered nature and remade institutions, systems, and cultures that influenced people's agency and identity and reshaped forms of consciousness. By judiciously making visible the agents and social forces behind the reconstitution of nature, the essays collectively introduce diverse approaches to the study of environmental issues in Asia and elsewhere. Most of all, they demonstrate that transnational environmental history on the Korean peninsula can no longer be overlooked when dwelling on and debating major historical and theoretical issues in Korean, Asian, and environmental studies.
Tips from TIPS: The Informational Content of Treasury Inflation-Protected Security Prices
Authors: D’Amico Stefania , Kim Don H. , Wei Min
Published: February 2018

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) are frequently thought of as risk-free real bonds. Using no-arbitrage term structure models, we show that TIPS yields exceeded risk-free real yields by as much as 100 basis points when TIPS were first issued and up to 300 basis points during the 2007–2008 financial crisis. This spread predominantly reflects the poorer liquidity of TIPS relative to nominal Treasury securities. Other factors, including the indexation lag and the embedded deflation protection in TIPS, play a much smaller role. Ignoring this spread also significantly distorts the informational content of TIPS break-even inflation, a widely used proxy for expected inflation.
Director Connectedness: Monitoring Efficacy and Career Prospects
Authors: Intintoli Vincent J. , Kahle Kathleen M. , Zhao Wanli
Published: February 2018

We examine a specific channel through which director connectedness may improve monitoring: financial reporting quality. We find that the connectedness of independent, non-co-opted audit committee members has a positive effect on financial reporting quality and accounting conservatism. The effect is not significant for non-audit committee or co-opted audit committee members. Our results are robust to tests designed to mitigate self-selection. Consistent with connected directors being valuable, the market reacts more negatively to the deaths of highly connected directors than to the deaths of less connected directors. Better connected directors also have better career prospects, suggesting they have greater incentives to monitor.
Crowding in the first intermediate host does not affect infection probability in the second host in two helminths
Authors: Benesh D.P.
Published: February 2018

When many worms co-infect the same host, their average size is often reduced. This negative density-dependent growth is called the crowding effect. Crowding has been reported many times for worms in their intermediate hosts, but rarely have the fitness consequences of crowding been examined. This study tested whether larval crowding reduces establishment success in the next host for two parasites with complex life cycles, the nematodeCamallanus lacustrisand the cestodeSchistocephalus solidus. Infected copepods, the first host, were fed to sticklebacks, the second host. Fish received a constant dose, but the infection intensity in copepods was varied (e.g. giving two singly infected copepods or one doubly infected copepod). Worms from higher-intensity infections did not have significantly reduced infection success in fish. However, crowded treatments had a disproportionate number of low and high infection rates, and although this trend was not significant, it hints at the possibility that multiple worms within a copepod are more likely to either all infect or all die when transmitted to the next host. These results indicate that a smaller larval size due to crowding need not reduce the establishment probability of a worm in the next host.
The impact of parasites during range expansion of an invasive gecko
Authors: Barnett Louise K. , Phillips Ben L. , Heath Allen C. G. , Coates Andrew , Hoskin Conrad J.
Published: February 2018

Host–parasite dynamics can play a fundamental role in both the establishment success of invasive species and their impact on native wildlife. The net impact of parasites depends on their capacity to switch effectively between native and invasive hosts. Here we explore host-switching, spatial patterns and simple fitness measures in a slow-expanding invasion: the invasion of Asian house geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus) from urban areas into bushland in Northeast Australia. In bushland close to urban edges,H. frenatusco-occurs with, and at many sites now greatly out-numbers, native geckos. We measured prevalence and intensity ofGeckobiamites (introduced withH. frenatus), andWaddycephalus(a native pentastome). We recorded a new invasive mite species, and several new host associations for native mites and geckos, but we found no evidence of mite transmission between native and invasive geckos. In contrast, nativeWaddycephalusnymphs were commonly present inH. frenatus, demonstrating this parasite's capacity to utilizeH. frenatusas a novel host. Prevalence of mites onH. frenatusdecreased with distance from the urban edge, suggesting parasite release towards the invasion front; however, we found no evidence that mites affectH. frenatusbody condition or lifespan.Waddycephaluswas present at low prevalence in bushland sites and, although its presence did not affect host body condition, our data suggest that it may reduce host survival. The high relative density ofH. frenatusat our sites, and their capacity to harbourWaddycephalus, suggests that there may be impacts on native geckos and snakes through parasite spillback.
Differential neural reward mechanisms in treatment-responsive and treatment-resistant schizophrenia
Authors: Vanes Lucy D. , Mouchlianitis Elias , Collier Tracy , Averbeck Bruno B. , Shergill Sukhi S.
Published: February 2018

Background

The significant proportion of schizophrenia patients refractory to treatment, primarily directed at the dopamine system, suggests that multiple mechanisms may underlie psychotic symptoms. Reinforcement learning tasks have been employed in schizophrenia to assess dopaminergic functioning and reward processing, but these have not directly compared groups of treatment-refractory and non-refractory patients.

Methods

In the current functional magnetic resonance imaging study, 21 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), 21 patients with non-treatment-resistant schizophrenia (NTR), and 24 healthy controls (HC) performed a probabilistic reinforcement learning task, utilizing emotionally valenced face stimuli which elicit a social bias toward happy faces. Behavior was characterized with a reinforcement learning model. Trial-wise reward prediction error (RPE)-related neural activation and the differential impact of emotional bias on these reward signals were compared between groups.

Results

Patients showed impaired reinforcement learning relative to controls, while all groups demonstrated an emotional bias favoring happy faces. The pattern of RPE signaling was similar in the HC and TRS groups, whereas NTR patients showed significant attenuation of RPE-related activation in striatal, thalamic, precentral, parietal, and cerebellar regions. TRS patients, but not NTR patients, showed a positive relationship between emotional bias and RPE signal during negative feedback in bilateral thalamus and caudate.

Conclusion

TRS can be dissociated from NTR on the basis of a different neural mechanism underlying reinforcement learning. The data support the hypothesis that a favorable response to antipsychotic treatment is contingent on dopaminergic dysfunction, characterized by aberrant RPE signaling, whereas treatment resistance may be characterized by an abnormality of a non-dopaminergic mechanism – a glutamatergic mechanism would be a possible candidate.
NONPARAMETRIC INSTRUMENTAL REGRESSION WITH ERRORS IN VARIABLES
Authors: Adusumilli Karun , Otsu Taisuke
Published: February 2018

This paper considers nonparametric instrumental variable regression when the endogenous variable is contaminated with classical measurement error. Existing methods are inconsistent in the presence of measurement error. We propose a wavelet deconvolution estimator for the structural function that modifies the generalized Fourier coefficients of the orthogonal series estimator to take into account the measurement error. We establish the convergence rates of our estimator for the cases of mildly/severely ill-posed models and ordinary/super smooth measurement errors. We characterize how the presence of measurement error slows down the convergence rates of the estimator. We also study the case where the measurement error density is unknown and needs to be estimated, and show that the estimation error of the measurement error density is negligible under mild conditions as far as the measurement error density is symmetric.
The crystal structure of trisodium hexachlororhodate (Na3RhCl6)
Authors: Etter Martin
Published: February 2018

Commercially available trisodium hexachlororhodate (Na3RhCl6) was dehydrated and characterized by laboratory X-ray powder diffraction. The crystal structure is isostructural to the Na3CrCl6 structure type with space group P$\bar 31$c. Unit-cell parameters are a = 6.8116(1) Å, c = 11.9196(2) Å, V = 478.95(2) Å3, and Z = 2.
Text analytics APIs, Part 1: The bigger players
Authors: DALE ROBERT
Published: February 2018

If you’re in the market for an off-the-shelf text analytics API, you have a lot of options. You can choose to go with a major player in the software world, for whom each AI-related service is just another entry in their vast catalogues of tools, or you can go for a smaller provider that focusses on text analytics as their core business. In this first of two related posts, we look at what the most prominent software giants have to offer today.
Let's Agree to Disagree. (Variation in) the Assignment of Gender to Nominal Anglicisms in Dutch
Authors: Franco Karlien , Zenner Eline , Speelman Dirk
Published: February 2018

In this paper, we investigate gender assignment to recently borrowed English loanwords in Dutch, introducing several innovations to the field of gender assignment to anglicisms. For example, we use multiple mixed-effects logistic regression to determine which factors underlie gender assignment in Dutch. This model indicates that there is variation in the degree of homogeneity in the speech community (that is, agreement among respondents) concerning the gender assigned to an anglicism; therefore, we analyze the contexts in which homogeneity is the lowest. Our analysis reveals that the degree of consensus does not solely depend on how established an anglicism is. In contrast to what has been argued in previous studies, gender assignment to anglicisms in Dutch is not a categorical process: Gender variation increases when respondents are faced with a conflict between the default article de and some factor that favors its neuter counterpart, het.*
APPROXIMATION OF -ANALYTIC TORSION FOR ARITHMETIC QUOTIENTS OF THE SYMMETRIC SPACE
Authors: Matz Jasmin , Müller Werner
Published: February 2018

In [31] we defined a regularized analytic torsion for quotients of the symmetric space$\operatorname{SL}(n,\mathbb{R})/\operatorname{SO}(n)$by arithmetic lattices. In this paper we study the limiting behavior of the analytic torsion as the lattices run through sequences of congruence subgroups of a fixed arithmetic subgroup. Our main result states that for principal congruence subgroups and strongly acyclic flat bundles, the logarithm of the analytic torsion, divided by the index of the subgroup, converges to the$L^{2}$-analytic torsion.
Between art and information: communicating world health, 1948–70
Authors: Medcalf Alexander
Published: February 2018

With the advent of new media technologies and approaches in the twentieth century, public health officials became convinced that health needed mass media support. The World Health Organization believed that educating people, as well as informing them about the health situation around the world, could assist in the enduring fight against disease. Yet in an increasingly competitive media landscape, the agency recognized the need to persuade people and hold their attention through attractive presentation. Public information, the name given to the multiple strategies used to communicate with the public, was rarely straightforward and required the agency not only to monitor the impact of its own efforts but also to identify opportunities to further enhance its reputation, especially when this was in danger of damage or misappropriation. The WHO’s understanding of public information provides insights into the development of international information, communication, and education networks and practices after 1945, as well as the increasingly central position of these processes in generating support for and evincing the value of international organizations.
Managing the world: the United Nations, decolonization, and the strange triumph of state sovereignty in the 1950s and 1960s
Authors: Muschik Eva-Maria
Published: February 2018

This article examines a 1956 United Nations effort to respond to decolonization, by supplying newly independent governments with international administrators to help build sovereign nation-states out of the disintegrating European empires and anchor them firmly within the capitalist world. The article reveals the UN as a significant historical actor during the Cold War beyond the organization’s function of providing a forum for intergovernmental debates and lobbying. While the initiative never resulted in a large-scale response to decolonization, it ultimately effected a substantial shift in the practice of development assistance: from advisory services to a more paternalist approach that focused on ‘getting the work done’ on behalf of aid recipients. Recovering this history helps account for the strange triumph of state sovereignty in the second half of the twentieth century: its global proliferation at a time when international actors became increasingly active in the management of the public affairs of developing countries.
Moderne Rehabilitation
Authors: Lustenberger Caroline , Sarikaya Hakan , Schmied Christian Marc , Frese Sebastian
Published: February 2018

Zusammenfassung. Risikomodifikation durch Lebensstil ist ein zentrales Element in der Prävention und Behandlung kardiovaskulärer und zerebraler Erkrankungen. Durch eine optimale Kontrolle der klassischen beeinflussbaren kardiovaskulären Risikofaktoren kann das Risiko effizient reduziert werden. Für den Hirnschlag stellt die arterielle Hypertonie den mit Abstand wichtigsten behandelbaren Risikofaktor dar; bei jüngeren Patienten gehören Nikotinkonsum und Adipositas dazu. Eine Minimierung des Risikos für kardiovaskuläre und zerebrale Ereignisse kann durch zusätzliche «Lifestyle-Faktoren», wie etwa eine gesunde, ausgewogene Ernährung und regelmässige körperliche Aktivität erreicht werden. Ergänzend wird gesunder, tiefer Schlaf als Präventionsmassnahme diskutiert, da chronisch gestörter Schlaf mit Neurodegeneration, Gehirnstörungen, und kardiovaskulären Ereignissen assoziiert wird. Schon relativ kleine Veränderungen einzelner, verhaltensbezogener Risikofaktoren können das Gesamtrisiko für kardiovaskuläre Ereignisse minimieren und die Gehirngesundheit verbessern.
Iron and phosphorus deprivation induce sociality in the marine bloom-forming cyanobacterium Trichodesmium
Authors: Tzubari Yael , Magnezi Liel , Be’er Avraham , Berman-Frank Ilana
Published: February 2018

Trichodesmium spp. are diazotrophic cyanobacteria that exist as single filaments (trichomes) and as macroscopic colonies of varying shapes formed by aggregating trichomes. The causes and dynamics of colony formation and disassociation are not yet elucidated. we demonstrate that limited availability of dissolved phosphorus (P) or iron (Fe) stimulated trichome mobility and induced colony formation in Trichodesmium erythraeum IMS101 cultures. The specific nutrient limitation differentially affected the rate of colony formation and morphology of the colonies. Fe starvation promoted rapid colony formation (10–48 h from depletion) while 5–7 days were required for colonies to form in P-depleted cultures. Video analyses confirmed that the probability of trichomes to cluster increased from 12 to 35% when transferred from nutrient replete to Fe-depleted conditions. Moreover, the probability for Fe-depleted aggregates to remain colonial increased to 50% from only 10% in nutrient replete cultures. These colonies were also characterized by stronger attachment forces between the trichomes. Enrichment of nutrient-depleted cultures with the limited nutrient-stimulated colony dissociation into single trichomes. We postulate that limited P and Fe availability enhance colony formation of Trichodesmium and primarily control the abundance and distribution of its different morphologies in the nutrient-limited surface ocean.
Long non-coding RNA PVT1 predicts poor prognosis and induces radioresistance by regulating DNA repair and cell apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Authors: He Yi , Jing Yizhou , Wei Fang , Tang Yanyan , Yang Liting , Luo Jia , Yang Pei , Ni Qianxi , Pang Jinmeng , Liao Qianjin , Xiong Fang , Guo Can , Xiang Bo , Li Xiaoling , Zhou Ming , Li Yong , Xiong Wei , Zeng Zhaoyang , Li Guiyuan
Published: February 2018

The long non-coding RNA, plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1), is highly expressed in a variety of tumors, and is believed to be a potential oncogene. However, the role and mechanism of action of PVT1 in the carcinogenesis and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs) remains unclear. In this study, for the first time, we have discovered that PVT1 shows higher expression in NPCs than in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissue, and patients with NPCs who show higher expression of PVT1 have worse progression-free and overall survivals. Additionally, we observed that the proliferation of NPC cells decreased, and their rate of apoptosis increased; these results indicated that the knockdown of PVT1 expression in the NPC cells induced radiosensitivity. Further, we have shown that the knockdown of PVT1 expression can induce apoptosis in the NPC cells by influencing the DNA damage repair pathway after radiotherapy. In general, our study shows that PVT1 may be a novel biomarker for prognosis and a new target for the treatment of NPCs. Additionally, targeting PVT1 may be a potential strategy for the clinical management of NPC and for the improvement of the curative effect of radiation in NPCs.
Microfluidic cell sorting by stiffness to examine heterogenic responses of cancer cells to chemotherapy
Authors: Islam Muhymin , Mezencev Roman , McFarland Brynn , Brink Hannah , Campbell Betsy , Tasadduq Bushra , Waller Edmund K. , Lam Wilbur , Alexeev Alexander , Sulchek Todd
Published: February 2018

Cancers consist of a heterogeneous populations of cells that may respond differently to treatment through drug-resistant sub-populations. The scarcity of these resistant sub-populations makes it challenging to understand how to counter their resistance. We report a label-free microfluidic approach to separate cancer cells treated with chemotherapy into sub-populations enriched in chemoresistant and chemosensitive cells based on the differences in cellular stiffness. The sorting approach enabled analysis of the molecular distinctions between resistant and sensitive cells. Consequently, the role of multiple mechanisms of drug resistance was identified, including decreased sensitivity to apoptosis, enhanced metabolism, and extrusion of drugs, and, for the first time, the role of estrogen receptor in drug resistance of leukemia cells. To validate these findings, several inhibitors for the identified resistance pathways were tested with chemotherapy to increase cytotoxicity sevenfold. Thus, microfluidic sorting can identify molecular mechanisms of drug resistance to examine heterogeneous responses of cancers to therapies.
A novel autophagy inhibitor berbamine blocks SNARE-mediated autophagosome-lysosome fusion through upregulation of BNIP3
Authors: Fu Ruoqiu , Deng Qin , Zhang Hongwei , Hu Xiaoye , Li Yunong , Liu Yanxia , Hu Jinjiao , Luo Qingsong , Zhang Yanhao , Jiang Xiuxing , Li Lirong , Yang Chong , Gao Ning
Published: February 2018

Increasing evidences reveal that autophagy inhibitor could enhance the effect of chemotherapy to cancer. However, few autophagy inhibitors are currently approved for clinical application in humans. Berbamine (BBM) is a natural compound extracted from traditional Chinese medicine that is widely used for treatment of a variety of diseases without any obvious side effects. Here we found that BBM is a novel auophagy inhibitor, which potently induced the accumulation of autophagosomes by inhibiting autophagosome-lysosome fusion in human breast cancer cells. Mechanistically, we found that BBM blocked autophagosome-lysosome fusion by inhibiting the interaction of SNAP29 and VAMP8. Furthermore, BBM induced upregulation of BNIP3 and the interaction between SNAP29 and BNIP3. BNIP3 depletion or SNAP29 overexpression abrogated BBM-mediated blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion through the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8, whereas BNIP3 overexpression blocked autophagosome-lysosome fusion through inhibition of the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8. These findings suggest that upregulation of BNIP3 and interaction between BNIP3 and SNAP29 could be involved in BBM-mediated blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion through inhibition of the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8. Our findings identify the critical role of BNIP3 in blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion mediated by BBM, and suggest that BBM could potentially be further developed as a novel autophagy inhibitor, which could enhance the effect of chemotherapy to cancer.