bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Advancements in the maintenance of skin barrier/skin lipid composition and the involvement of metabolic enzymes
Authors: Cui Le , Jia Yan , Cheng Zhi‐Wei , Gao Ying , Zhang Gao‐Lei , Li Jing‐Yi , He Cong‐Fen
Published: July 2016

The human skin barrier has an important role in protection and defense, reflected not only in the ability to resist entry of harmful substances into the human body, but also in the ability to prevent loss of water and nutrients. Once the skin barrier is damaged, the skin may become dry, scaly, and wrinkled, and a series of skin problems may occur. In this article, we review the composition of lipids, such as ceramides, cholesterol, and free fatty acids, in the skin and examine the expression of enzymes related to lipid metabolism, such as kallikreins, elongase of elongation of very long‐chain fatty acids, hydrolases, and lipid synthases. Additionally, we discuss the involvement of these proteins in skin barrier function and structure. The information presented in this review is expected to provide a theoretical basis for the development of skin care products facilitating the maintenance and repair of skin barrier function.
A mechanistic review on medicinal plants used for rheumatoid arthritis in traditional Persian medicine
Authors: Farzaei Mohammad Hosein , Farzaei Fatemeh , Abdollahi Mohammad , Abbasabadi Zahra , Abdolghaffari Amir Hossein , Mehraban Bahman
Published: July 2016

Objectives

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune disease, which affects synovial tissue in multiple joints. Although conventional treatments of RA commonly alleviate the symptoms, high incidence of adverse reactions leads to research tendency towards complementary and alternative medicine. As various medicinal plants are traditionally used for the management of symptomatologies associated with RA in Persian medicine, we reviewed medicinal literature to confirm their efficacy in the management of RA.

Key findings

Scientific evidence revealed that traditional medicaments exert beneficial effects on RA through several cellular mechanisms including downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-κB, suppression of oxidative stress, inhibition of cartilage degradation with destructive metalloproteinases and enhancement of antioxidant performance. Various active constituents from different chemical categories including flavonols, lignans, coumarins, terpenes, glycosylflavons, dihydroflavonols, phytoestrogens, sesquiterpene lactones, anthraquinones, alkaloids and thymoquinones have been isolated from the medicinal plants.

The pharmacological mechanisms of the medicinal plants traditionally used for RA in Persian medicine are discussed in the current review. Further investigations are mandatory to focus on bioefficacy of these phytochemicals for finding novel natural drugs.
The Rationality Paradox of Nudge: Rational Tools of Government in a World of Bounded Rationality
Authors: Lodge Martin , Wegrich Kai
Published: July 2016

Nudge and the wider behavioral economics approach has become increasingly dominant in contemporary political and policy discourse. While much attention has been paid to the attractions and criticisms of nudge (such as liberal paternalism), this article argues that nudge is based on a rationality paradox in that it represents an approach that despite its emphasis on bounded rationality, does not reflect on its own limits to rationality. The article considers the implications of this paradox by considering mechanisms that influence government decision making and mechanisms that lead to unintended consequences in the context of policy interventions.
Ethical Limitations on the State's Use of Arational Persuasion
Authors: Sawicki Nadia N.
Published: July 2016

Policy makers frequently use arational appeals and nudges—such as those relying on emotion, cognitive biases, and subliminal messaging—to persuade citizens to adopt behaviors that support public goals. However, these communication tactics have been widely criticized for relying on arational triggers rather than reasoned argument. This article develops a fuller account of the nonconsequentialist objection to arational persuasion by state actors, focusing on theories of decisional autonomy and metadecisional voluntariness. The article concludes by proposing ethically justifiable limitations on state communications that should be compelling to both critics and advocates of arational persuasion.
Anatomical and functional deficiencies of the crural diaphragm in patients with esophagitis
Authors: e Souza M. Â. N. , Nobre R. A. , Bezerra P. C. , dos Santos A. A. , Sifrim D.
Published: July 2016

Background

Inspiratory esophagogastric junction (EGJ) pressure is lower in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and patients fail to increase EGJ pressure during the inspiratory effort. The aim of this study was to assess the EGJ activity during inspiratory maneuvers (high‐resolution manometry, HRM) and the crural diaphragm (CD) thickness (endoscopic ultrasound, EUS) in GERD.

Methods

Twenty esophagitis patients (average age 45 years, 7 grade A, 13 grade B) had HRM and EUS. Forty‐three controls were recruited; 30 had HRM (average age 33 years), and 13 had EUS (average age 40 years). The EGJ contractility index (EGJ‐CI) (mm Hg×cm) was measured during normal respiration and two inspiratory maneuvers: without and with inspiratory loads of 12, 24, and 48 cmH2O (TH‐maneuvers). A composite metric for TH‐maneuvers (“EGJ total activity”) was defined as the product of the maximal EGJ pressure and the length of its aboral excursion during the maneuver (mm Hg×cm). The CD thickness (cm) was measured during expiration (12 MHz).

Key Results

Expiratory lower esophageal sphincter pressure and integrated relaxation pressure were lower in GERD. The EGJ‐CI and the “EGJ total activity” were lower in GERD during TH‐maneuvers (48‐cmH2O load: 168.4 ± 13.8 vs 114.8 ± 9.6, P=.006). Patients failed to sustain the inspiratory CD activity across the 12 and 48‐cmH2O efforts. The CD was thinner in GERD patients (0.37 ± 0.03 vs 0.49 ± 0.04, P=.02). The CD thickness correlated with the increment in the “EGJ total activity” in GERD without a hiatal hernia (r=.702, P=.016, n=11).

Conclusions & Inferences

There are anatomical changes and functional failure of the CD in esophagitis patients supporting the possibility of a skeletal muscle deficiency in GERD.
Rapid Drink Challenge in high‐resolution manometry: an adjunctive test for detection of esophageal motility disorders
Authors: Ang D. , Hollenstein M. , Misselwitz B. , Knowles K. , Wright J. , Tucker E. , Sweis R. , Fox M.
Published: July 2016

Background/Aims

The Chicago Classification for diagnosis of esophageal motility disorders by high‐resolution manometry (HRM) is based on single water swallows (SWS). Emerging data suggest that a “Rapid Drink Challenge” (RDC) increases sensitivity for motility disorders. This study establishes normal values and diagnostic thresholds for RDC in clinical practice.

Methods

Two cohort studies were performed in patients with dysphagia or reflux symptoms (development and validation sets). Healthy subjects and patient controls provided reference values. Ten SWS and two 200‐mL RDC were performed. Primary diagnosis for SWS was established by the Chicago Classification. Abnormal RDC was defined by impaired esophagogastric junction (EGJ) function (elevated integrated relaxation pressure during RDC [IRP‐RDC]); incomplete inhibition of contractility during and ineffective contraction after RDC. Diagnostic thresholds identified in the development set were prospectively tested in the validation set.

Results

Normal values were determined in healthy (n=95; age 37.8 ± 12) and patient controls (n=44; age 46.4 ± 15). Development and validation sets included 178 (54 ± 17 years) and 226 (53 ± 16 years) patients, respectively. Integrated relaxation pressure during RDC was higher for SWS than RDC in all groups (overall P<.001), except achalasia. Rapid Drink Challenge suppressed contractility, except in achalasia type III, spasm, and hypercontractile motility disorders (P<.001). An effective after‐contraction was present more often in health than disease (P<.001). Optimal diagnostic thresholds identified in the development set (IRP‐RDC ≥12 mmHg achalasia, IRP‐RDC ≥ 8mmHg “all cause” EGJ dysfunction), were confirmed in the validation set (both, sensitivity ~85%, specificity >95%).

Conclusions

Rapid Drink Challenge contributes clinically relevant information to routine HRM studies, especially in patients with EGJ dysfunction.
Sleep quality and obesity in young subjects: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Fatima Y. , Doi S. A. R. , Mamun A. A.
Published: July 2016

Objectives

To assess the effect of poor sleep quality on Overweight/Obesity (Ow/Ob) in young subjects, and explore if this association is independent of sleep duration.

Methods

Pubmed, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases were searched for papers on sleep quality and overweight/obesity, focusing on children, adolescents, and young adults. Studies based on subjects with medical/psychological problems or published in languages other than English were excluded. Quality effects model was used to pool studies for meta‐analysis.

Results

Findings from the systematic review suggest a link between poor sleep quality and Ow/Ob in young subjects. Pooled estimate (from 26,553 subjects) suggest a role of inadequate sleep (including both short duration and poor quality) in Ow/Ob (OR: 1.27 95% CI: 1.05‐1.53). Sub‐group‐analyses suggest considerably higher odds of Ow/Ob (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.24‐1.72) in young subjects with poor sleep quality (independent of duration).

Conclusions

Poor sleep quality seems to be associated with Ow/Ob, and some studies indicate this association to be independent of duration. Therefore, considering only sleep duration might not help in disentangling sleep‐obesity association. However, this review is mostly composed of cross‐sectional studies. Therefore, a causal link or the stability of the sleep quality and Ow/Ob association could not be established.
The effects of customised brainwave music on orofacial pain induced by orthodontic tooth movement
Authors: Huang R , Wang J , Wu D , Long H , Yang X , Liu H , Gao X , Zhao R , Lai W
Published: July 2016

Objectives

To evaluate the effects of listening to brainwave music (BWM), which is composed by individual electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, in relieving orthodontic pain, compared to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), an established psychotherapy in pain management.

Methods

Thirty‐six participants matched for age, gender and anxiety/pain levels were randomly assigned to the BWM group (n = 12), the CBT group (n = 12) or the control group (n = 12). Baseline resting EEG data were fabricated into BWM for the BWM group. EEG signals and pain perception [assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS)] of participants were recorded for the first week after orthodontic appliances placement. EEG data were analysed by multiple approaches.

Results

Brainwave music and CBT groups presented significantly lower pain perception than the control group on days 1–4. According to EEG analysis outcomes, the BWM group showed improved functional connectivity among different brain regions, lower EEG complexity and enhanced power in theta and alpha bands, compared to CBT and control groups, especially on day 2. Differences were clustered in the prefrontal, frontal, parietal and occipital regions, whilst the EEG parameters had negligible linear association with VAS scores.

Conclusions

Brainwave music is effective in controlling orthodontic pain, possibly via restoring functional connectivity and brain regularity influenced by pain.
Rhythm Control and Its Relation to Symptoms during the First Two Years after Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: BJÖRKENHEIM ANNA , BRANDES AXEL , CHEMNITZ ALEXANDER , MAGNUSON ANDERS , EDVARDSSON NILS , POÇI DRITAN
Published: July 2016

Clinical Trial Registration

URL:
http://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT00697359.

Objectives

To evaluate rhythm control up to two years after atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation and its relation to reported symptoms.

Background

The implantable loop recorder (ILR) continuously records the electrocardiogram (ECG), has an automatic AF detection algorithm, and has a possibility for patients to activate an ECG recording during symptoms.

Methods

Fifty‐seven patients (mean age 57 ± 9 years, 60% male, 88% paroxysmal AF) underwent AF ablation following ILR implantation. Device data were downloaded at the ablation and three, six, 12, 18, and 24 months after ablation.

Results

Fifty‐four patients completed the two‐year follow‐up. Thirteen (24%) patients had no AF episodes detected by ILR during follow‐up. Ten of 41 patients (24%) with AF recurrence were only detected by ILR and AF recurrences were detected earlier by ILR (P < 0.001). The median AF burden in patients with AF recurrence was 5.7% (interquartile range 0.4–14.4) and was even lower in patients with AF only detected by ILR (P = 0.001). Forty‐eight % of the patients indicated symptoms via the patient activator but 33% of those recordings were not due to AF. Early AF recurrence (within 3 months) was highly associated with later AF recurrence (P < 0.001). AF burden >0.5% and longest AF episode >6 hours before the ablation were independent predictors of AF recurrence during intermittent but not continuous monitoring.

Conclusions

After AF ablation, the AF burden was low throughout the 24 months follow‐up. Nevertheless, symptoms were commonly indicated but one‐third of patient‐activated recordings did not show AF. Continuous monitoring was superior to intermittent follow‐up in detecting AF episodes and assessing the AF burden.
Comparison of Edwards Sapien XT versus Lotus Valve Devices in Terms of Electrophysiological Study Parameters in Patients Undergoing TAVI
Authors: EKSIK ABDURRAHMAN , YILDIRIM AYDIN , GUL MEHMET , ASLAN SERKAN , TOSU AYDIN RODI , SURGIT OZGUR , CAKMAK HUSEYIN ALTUG , SATILMISOGLU MUHAMMET HULUSI , AKKAYA EMRE , BAKIR IHSAN
Published: July 2016

Background

The purpose of this study is to assess the electrocardiographic and electrophysiological parameters of conduction abnormalities in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) due to severe aortic valve stenosis.

Methods

The study included 55 patients who underwent TAVI using either the Boston Scientific Lotus (n:25) (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA) or Edwards Sapien XT (n:30) (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA, USA) prostheses. An electrophysiological study (EPS) was performed in the catheterization room immediately before the initial balloon valvuloplasty and immediately after prosthesis implantation.

Results

QRS duration and His‐bundle to His‐ventricle (HV) intervals, which were similar between the two groups before the procedure, were found to be significantly higher in the Lotus valve group postprocedure. Permanent pacemakers (PPMs) were required more frequently in the Lotus group than in the Sapien XT group at discharge (24.0% vs 6.7%, P = 0.07). With the exception of a higher prevalence of paravalvular leakage (P < 0.001) in patients undergoing Sapien XT implantation, other clinical outcomes were similar between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis revealed that baseline atrioventricular (AV) conduction disorders and HV intervals after the procedure were independently associated with PPM implantation after TAVI.

Conclusion

In this first study comparing the findings of EPS and electrocardiography, the impact of the Lotus valve on AV conduction systems was greater than that of the Sapien XT. However, the need for PPM was higher in the Lotus valve than in the Sapien XT. PPM requirement is related to valve design; it may decrease with reduced frame height and metal burden in novel valve systems.
Successful umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in pediatric patients with MDS/AML associated with underlying GATA2 mutations: two case reports and review of literature
Authors: Mallhi Kanwaldeep , Dix David B. , Niederhoffer Karen Y. , Armstrong Linlea , Rozmus Jacob
Published: July 2016

Germline GATA2 mutations have been associated with a vast array of clinical manifestations, as well as hematological deficiencies and a propensity to AML or MDS. We present two cases of pediatric AML/MDS with underlying GATA2 mutations who underwent a successful umbilical cord hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using two different conditioning regimens. These cases illustrate the importance of recognizing the clinical features associated with GATA2 mutations and performing the appropriate molecular testing. Diagnosis of heritable gene mutations associated with familial AML/MDS has significant clinical implication for the patients and affected families.
The Adequacy of Resemblance Nominalism about Perfect Naturalness
Authors: Busse Ralf
Published: July 2016

Resemblance Nominalism About Perfect Naturalness (RNPN) is the view that perfect naturalness of classes is best defined by a conceptual primitive of resemblance between particulars. The adequacy ofRNPNis defended by (part I) outlining nominalism as the strictly anti‐constitutive view that the particulars’ being the fundamental ways they are is not constituted by anything further, (partII) supplying a doubly plural contrastive and graded resemblance predicate that allows for a definition of perfect naturalness on an actualist basis, and (partIII) proving a representation and a uniqueness theorem on the basis of a formal constraint on resemblance called “the Principle”, thereby revealing that bodies of nominalist resemblance facts are guaranteed to behave as if they were grounded in patterns of universals distributed over particulars.
Corporate Finance in Africa: The Interactive Impact of Firm Nationality and Characteristics
Authors: Ezeoha Abel Ebeh
Published: July 2016

Using a balance panel data of 351 publicly quoted firms in eleven major African stock exchanges, I investigated the impact of the differences in the internal structures of domestic and foreign firms on corporate financial decisions in Africa. I also analyzed the sensitivity of the impact of the internal firm characteristic on changes in the level of exogenous factors such as marginal tax structure and financial system development. The arising results showed that among the selected key internal characteristics of firms, only the impact of profitability and tangibility on financial structure was significantly sensitive to the proportion of domestic/foreign shareholding and that, consistent with capital structure theories, corporate financing decisions in Africa were significantly sensitive to marginal tax policies and the degree of financial system development prevailing in a country. The results suggest that by investing in assets that are acceptable to lenders and investors as collaterals and maintaining reasonable stability in their cash flow positions, domestic firms can in practice enhance their access to strategic investment capital.
Reference Pricing with Elastic Demand for Pharmaceuticals
Authors: Gonçalves Ricardo , Rodrigues Vasco
Published: July 2016

In this paper, we re‐examine the properties of two commonly adopted government reimbursement schemes for pharmaceuticals: reference pricing and fixed percentage reimbursement. We depart from the previous literature by assuming that the individual demand is price‐sensitive and depends on the copayment rate (i.e., the part paid by each consumer). We obtain two novel results under reference pricing: first, as the copayment rate increases, so do pharmaceutical prices; second, this increase in pharmaceutical prices reduces social welfare. Whilst reference pricing does emerge as a preferable reimbursement scheme, demand elasticities and the copayment rate interact in complex ways. This leads (unexpectedly) to the possibility that a higher copayment rate (lower reimbursement rate) results in higher government expenditure.
Looking Back on Self‐Poisoning: The Relationship between Depressed Mood and Reporting of Suicidal Intent in People Who Deliberately Self‐Poison
Authors: Gjelsvik Bergljot , Heyerdahl Fridtjof , Holmes Jane , Lunn Daniel , Hawton Keith
Published: July 2016

Lifetime worst‐point suicidality is associated with risk of subsequent death by suicide. Yet little is known about how people who deliberately self‐poison (DSP) change their appraisal of suicidal intent of a single DSP episode over time. We assessed whether suicidal intent for a single index episode of DSP changed over time and factors associated with such change. We studied 202 patients admitted for DSP (66.3% female, all Caucasian), 18–85 years old (M = 37.8, SD = 14.8), using a longitudinal design (0, 3, and 12 months). The primary outcome measure was change in suicidal intent for a single index DSP episode, analyzed using multilevel modeling. Wish to die and whether the episode was considered a suicide attempt increased significantly with depressed mood. Wish to die associated with the index episode also increased over time independently of depressed mood. No association with time or depressed mood was found for perceived likelihood of dying. Depressed mood was strongly associated with appraisal of suicidal intent associated with a DSP episode. In suicide risk assessment, reports of the nature and severity of past DSP should be interpreted in light of current mood.
Framing Child Nutrition Programs: The Impact of Party and District Characteristics on Elite Framing*
Authors: Brock Clare
Published: July 2016

Objective

The objective of this article is to determine whether district characteristics impact the framing choices made by members of Congress. Certain frameworks may be more effective for creating policy change, and given that framing shapes the way humans conceptualize a problem space, framing should be a deliberate tool used in order to constrain the debate around certain problems. However, the actual details of debate shifts and issue framing often become a “black box” in theories of policy change.

Methods

The study uses content analysis of floor statements made over a 16‐year period regarding the National School Lunch Program, the results of which are analyzed using a multinomial logistic regression.

Results

The results indicate that policy framing is highly dependent on district characteristics, but that language use itself does not appear to have changed significantly in the time period studied.

Conclusions

The evidence presented here indicates that legislators are, at least through floor statements, engaging in delegate representation of their district interests.
Encountering Difference in the Workplace: Superficial Contact, Underlying Tensions and Group Rights
Authors: Harris Catherine , Valentine Gill
Published: July 2016

Employment, demographic, cultural, and legal changes in Europe over the past 40 years have brought unprecedented numbers of minority groups into organisations at all levels, and research suggests that most workplaces are likely to become even more diverse in the future. While much attention has been paid to negative experiences of minorities in the workplace, it also has the potential to be an important site of prejudice reduction. In response, drawing on original quantitative and qualitative data, this article explores the encounters of socially different groups in the workplace. It demonstrates that workplaces can promote meaningful encounters. However, cases of positive encounter with difference were often discussed at the level of the individual, with reference to specific people and friendships, rather than towards the minority group to which the individual belonged. As such, these positive encounters were often superficial with underlying tensions still existing between different groups in the workplace.
The Neo‐Westphalian Public Sphere of Luxembourg: The Rebordering of a Mediated State Democracy in a Cross‐Border Context
Authors: Lamour Christian
Published: July 2016

The mediatised public sphere in Europe seems to be put at risk by the growing importance attached to commercial values in the Media. At the same time, the Westphalian framework of political publicity is said to be diminishing in scale due to globalisation. However, both affirmations are not necessarily true in cross‐border metropolitan regions. As suggested in this paper, based on a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of a free daily publication located in the cross‐border urban region of Luxembourg, commercial media can help to reconfigure a neo‐Westphalian and territorial public sphere made of linear and network‐like borders. It is not so much the source of income of the media and the functional dynamics of international urban areas which determine the future of the mediatised public sphere and its territorial background in borderlands Europe but the values of plural reporters in a changing economic and cultural context.
Size of Town, Level of Education and Life Satisfaction in Western Europe
Authors: Migheli Matteo
Published: July 2016

I analyse the effect of living in settlements of different sizes on individual life satisfaction. The literature usually finds a negative correlation between life satisfaction and size of town. Here I cluster the population by level of education; the results show that people get dissatisfaction from living in large centres and that both education and income attenuate this effect. In particular, high education renders the cities and their features more enjoyable.
GhJAZ2 negatively regulates cotton fiber initiation by interacting with the R2R3‐MYB transcription factor GhMYB25‐like
Authors: Hu Haiyan , He Xin , Tu Lili , Zhu Longfu , Zhu Sitao , Ge Zonghe , Zhang Xianlong
Published: July 2016

Jasmonic acid (JA) signaling has been well studied in Arabidopsis. Most reports focus on the role of JA in biological pathways, such as stress resistance, trichome initiation and anthocyanin accumulation. The JASMONATE ZIM‐DOMAIN (JAZ) protein is one of the important repressors in the JA signaling pathway. Previous studies showed that JA functions in fiber initiation and elongation, but little is known about how JAZ genes function in fiber development. In this study, a cotton JAZ protein (GhJAZ2) containing a highly conserved TIFY motif and a C‐terminal Jas domain was identified, and its function during cotton fiber development was analysed. Gene expression analysis showed that GhJAZ2 was preferentially expressed in the root, hypocotyl, flower and ovule 1 day before anthesis. Overexpression of GhJAZ2 inhibited both lint and fuzz fiber initiation, and reduced the fiber length. Yeast two‐hybrid assays showed that GhJAZ2 interacted with the R2R3‐MYB transcription factors GhMYB25‐like and GhGL1, the bHLH transcription factor GhMYC2, the WD repeat protein GhWD40 and the unknown protein GhJI1. Among these transcription factors, previous studies showed that downregulation of GhMYB25‐like leads to a fiberless phenotype in cotton seeds. Molecular and genetic evidence showed that the GhJAZ2 protein suppresses fiber initiation in the overexpressing lines by interacting with GhMYB25‐like and suppressing GhMYB25‐like activity. Our results suggested that GhJAZ2 functions as a primary transcription repressor during lint and fuzz fiber initiation by interacting with GhMYB25‐like, GhGL1, GhMYC2, GhWD40 and GhJI1 to regulate the JA signaling pathway.
Erythropoietin does not have effects on the ventilatory and pulmonary vascular response to acute hypoxia in men and women
Authors: Berendsen Remco R. , Lindeman Rob C. , Boom Merel , Aarts Leon P. H. J. , van Dorp Eveline L. A. , Teppema Luc J.
Published: July 2016

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

Does a clinically relevant intravenous dose of erythropoeitin affect the hypoxic ventilatory response and/or hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in healthy humans?

What is the main finding and its importance?

Erythropoeitin does not influence the ventilatory and pulmonary vascular responses to acute hypoxia in men or women.

Sustained and chronic hypoxia lead to an increase in pulmonary ventilation (hypoxic ventilatory response, HVR) and to an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance (hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, HPV). In this study, we examined the effect of a clinical i.v. dose of recombinant human erythropoietin (50 IU kg−1) on the isocapnic HVR and HPV in seven male and seven female subjects by exposing them to hypoxia for 20 min (end‐tidal  ∼50 mmHg) while measuring their ventilation and estimating pulmonary arterial pressure from the maximal velocity of the regurgitant jet over the tricuspid valve during systole (ΔPmax) with echocardiography. In the placebo session, after 5 and 20 min men responded with an increase in ventilation by 0.0056 and 0.0023 l min−1 kg−1 , respectively, indicating the presence of hypoxic ventilatory depression. In women, the increase in ventilation was 0.0067 and 0.0047 l min−1 kg−1 , respectively. In both sexes, erythropoietin did not alter these responses significantly. In the placebo session, mean ΔPmax increased by 6.1 ± 0.7 mmHg in men (P = 0.035) and by 8.4 ± 1.4 mmHg in women (P = 0.020) during the hypoxic exposure, whereby women had a ∼5 mmHg lower end‐tidal . Erythropoietin did not alter these responses; in men, ΔPmax increased by 7.5 ± 1.1 mmHg (n.s. versus placebo) and in women by 9.7 ± 2.2 mmHg (n.s. versus placebo). We conclude that women tended to have a greater HPV in placebo conditions and that a clinical dose of erythropoietin has no effect on the HVR and HPV in either sex.
Extending Expected Improvement for High-Dimensional Stochastic Optimization of Expensive Black-Box Functions
Authors: Pandita Piyush , Bilionis Ilias , Panchal Jitesh
Published: July 2016

Design optimization under uncertainty is notoriously difficult when the objective function is expensive to evaluate. State-of-the-art techniques, e.g., stochastic optimization or sampling average approximation, fail to learn exploitable patterns from collected data and require a lot of objective function evaluations. There is a need for techniques that alleviate the high cost of information acquisition and select sequential simulations optimally. In the field of deterministic single-objective unconstrained global optimization, the Bayesian global optimization (BGO) approach has been relatively successful in addressing the information acquisition problem. BGO builds a probabilistic surrogate of the expensive objective function and uses it to define an information acquisition function (IAF) that quantifies the merit of making new objective evaluations. In this work, we reformulate the expected improvement (EI) IAF to filter out parametric and measurement uncertainties. We bypass the curse of dimensionality, since the method does not require learning the response surface as a function of the stochastic parameters, and we employ a fully Bayesian interpretation of Gaussian processes (GPs) by constructing a particle approximation of the posterior of its hyperparameters using adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to increase the methods robustness. Also, our approach quantifies the epistemic uncertainty on the location of the optimum and the optimal value as induced by the limited number of objective evaluations used in obtaining it. We verify and validate our approach by solving two synthetic optimization problems under uncertainty and demonstrate it by solving the oil-well placement problem (OWPP) with uncertainties in the permeability field and the oil price time series.
Resilience Assessment Based on Time-Dependent System Reliability Analysis
Authors: Hu Zhen , Mahadevan Sankaran
Published: July 2016

Significant efforts have been recently devoted to the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of resilience in engineering systems. Current resilience evaluation methods, however, have mainly focused on business supply chains and civil infrastructure, and need to be extended for application in engineering design. A new resilience metric is proposed in this paper for the design of mechanical systems to bridge this gap, by investigating the effects of recovery activity and system failure paths on system resilience. The defined resilience metric is connected to design through time-dependent system reliability analysis. This connection enables us to design a system for a specific resilience target in the design stage. Since computationally expensive computer simulations are usually used in design, a surrogate modeling method is developed to efficiently perform time-dependent system reliability analysis. Based on the time-dependent system reliability analysis, dominant system failure paths are enumerated and then the system resilience is estimated. The connection between the proposed resilience assessment method and design is explored through sensitivity analysis and component importance measure (CIM). Two numerical examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed resilience assessment method.
Agent Based Simulation Optimization of Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment Recovery
Authors: Mashhadi Ardeshir Raihanian , Behdad Sara , Zhuang Jun
Published: July 2016

The profitability of electronic waste (e-waste) recovery operations is quite challenging due to various sources of uncertainties in the quantity, quality, and timing of returns originating from consumers' behavior. The cloud-based remanufacturing concept, data collection, and information tracking technologies seem promising solutions toward the proper collection and recovery of product life cycle data under uncertainty. A comprehensive model that takes every aspect of recovery systems into account will help policy makers perform better decisions over a planning horizon. The objective of this study is to develop an agent based simulation (ABS) framework to model the overall product take-back and recovery system based on the product identity data available through cloud-based remanufacturing infrastructure. Sociodemographic properties of the consumers, attributes of the take-back programs, specific characteristics of the recovery process, and product life cycle information have all been considered to capture the optimum buy-back price (bbp) proposed for a product with the aim of controlling the timing and quality of incoming used products to collection sites for recovery. A numerical example of an electronic product take-back system and a simulation-based optimization are provided to illustrate the application of the model.
Heat Transfer During Constrained Melting of Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials in a Spherical Capsule: An Experimental Study
Authors: Fan Li-Wu , Zhu Zi-Qin , Liu Min-Jie , Xu Can-Ling , Zeng Yi , Lu Hai , Yu Zi-Tao
Published: July 2016

The classical problem of constrained melting heat transfer of a phase change material (PCM) inside a spherical capsule was revisited experimentally in the presence of nanoscale thermal conductivity fillers. The model nano-enhanced PCM (NePCM) samples were prepared by dispersing self-synthesized graphite nanosheets (GNSs) into 1-dodecanol at various loadings up to 1% by mass. The melting experiments were carried out using an indirect method by measuring the instantaneous volume expansion upon melting. The data analysis was performed based on the homogeneous, single-component assumption for NePCM with modified thermophysical properties. It was shown that the introduction of nanofillers increases the effective thermal conductivity of NePCM, in accompaniment with an undesirable rise in viscosity. The dramatic viscosity growth, up to over 100-fold at the highest loading, deteriorates significantly the intensity of natural convection, which was identified as the dominant mode of heat transfer during constrained melting. The loss in natural convection was found to overweigh the decent enhancement in heat conduction, thus resulting in decelerated melting in the presence of nanofillers. Except for the case with the lowest heating boundary temperature, a monotonous slowing trend of melting was observed with increasing the loading.
Experimental Investigation of Transitional Natural Convection in a Cube Using Particle Image Velocimetry—Part I: Fluid Flow and Thermal Fields
Authors: Georgiou Marios D. , Bonanos Aristides M. , Georgiadis John G.
Published: July 2016

An experimental investigation of transitional natural convection in an air filled cube was conducted in this research. The characteristic dimension of the enclosure is 0.35 m, and data were collected in the middle plane of the cavity. The Rayleigh number range examined is 5.0×107≤Ra≤3.4×108. This was achieved by varying the temperature on the hot and cold walls. The velocity field in the middle plane is measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Temperature measurements in the core of the enclosure indicate a linear profile. The average Nu number is also presented and compared against other correlations in the literature. This study attempts to close the gap of available experimental data in literature and provide experimental benchmark data that can be used to validate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes since the estimated error from PIV measurements is within 1–2%.
Academic critique of neoliberal academia
Authors: Whelan Andrew
Published: July 2016

Academic texts running critiques of neoliberal capitalism do work: positioning and producing their authors, hailing and invoking their readers (particularly as subjects invested in the moral logic the critique establishes), and thereby, articulating and moralising the collaborative accomplishment of the reader-writer relation. This relation and its constitution is a feature of contemporary leftist academic culture, and of the mechanics of critique as a social or 'solidarising' form of writing/reading. Attending closely to it highlights some vulnerabilities of the academic critique of neoliberal forms of life, and can illuminate the extent to which this critique constitutes its object in problematic ways: in terms particularly of irreflexivity around the social effects or otherwise of critique as intellectual practice, and of the historical relations between academic practices and neoliberalism itself.
INTRODUCTION: NEOLIBERAL CULTURE / THE CULTURES OF NEOLIBERALISM
Authors: Lawn Jennifer , Prentice Chris
Published: July 2016

This introductory essay situates the contributors’ articles in relation to the over-arching questions for this special issue: how has neoliberalism impacted on culture, and how is neoliberalism thought from cultural perspectives; or, what happens to the idea of culture under neoliberalism? We acknowledge extensive disagreement among commentators as to what neoliberalism is, its coherence as a concept, and its duration. We trace the different values attributed to neoliberalism, from social democratic inflections that decry growing disparities in wealth distribution, to those perspectives that emphasise its promise of self-determination and the individual, social and ethical potentials of self-determination and consumer choice in market relations. Noting that neoliberalism is a term used to explain wide range of contemporary cultural phenomena, we argue that it maintains enough coherence as a project to act as an influential force on material life, even if it operates in some spheres more as a ‘structure of feeling’ than an explicit platform. We trace its reorientation of the key principles of classical liberalism, and its relationship to, and ascendancy over, postmodernity and globalisation as terms that have been used to designate the current cultural conjuncture. Neoliberalism emerges out of the same moment and conditions, but more directly names a particular mode of political economy and governance that is inextricable from cultural life, from intra-subjective through to collective levels.

The remainder of this introduction groups the contributing articles under three headings, indicating the three spheres of cultural life that our contributors debate in particular. The complex interplay of neoliberal policies and Indigenous cultural rights, ranging from enthusiastic participation in the market economy to resistance, is discussed in the context of Aboriginal language policy by Sue Stanton, Chie Adachi and Henk Huijser. The articles by Juan Sanin and Eileen Oak are related by an interest in the contemporary ‘remoralisation’ of the market form, even though they address opposite ends of the consumption scale: Sanin analyses appeals to ethical consumption and patriotic values in Australian supermarket branding, while Oak’s study of neoliberal social policy in New Zealand observes the systematic demoralisation of those who are unable to participate in the formal economy. The issue concludes with two articles on the neoliberal university by Andrew Whelan and Edwin Ng. Although they draw on distinct intellectual traditions of (respectively) critical sociology and deconstruction, both authors raise concerns that the academic critique of the corporatised university threatens to further erode intellectual hospitality and community.
Low-frequency pulse propagation over 510 km in the Philippine Sea: A comparison of observed and theoretical pulse spreading
Authors: Andrew Rex K. , Ganse Andrew , White Andrew W. , Mercer James A. , Dzieciuch Matthew A. , Worcester Peter F. , Colosi John A.
Published: July 2016

Observations of the spread of wander-corrected averaged pulses propagated over 510 km for 54 h in the Philippine Sea are compared to Monte Carlo predictions using a parabolic equation and path-integral predictions. Two simultaneous m-sequence signals are used, one centered at 200 Hz, the other at 300 Hz; both have a bandwidth of 50 Hz. The internal wave field is estimated at slightly less than unity Garrett-Munk strength. The observed spreads in all the early ray-like arrivals are very small, <1 ms (for pulse widths of 17 and 14 ms), which are on the order of the sampling period. Monte Carlo predictions show similar very small spreads. Pulse spread is one consequence of scattering, which is assumed to occur primarily at upper ocean depths where scattering processes are strongest and upward propagating rays refract downward. If scattering effects in early ray-like arrivals accumulate with increasing upper turning points, spread might show a similar dependence. Real and simulation results show no such dependence. Path-integral theory prediction of spread is accurate for the earliest ray-like arrivals, but appears to be increasingly biased high for later ray-like arrivals, which have more upper turning points.
Draft Whole-Genome Sequence of the Type Strain
Bacillus aquimaris
TF12
T
Authors: Hernández-González Ismael L. , Olmedo-Álvarez Gabriela
Published: July 2016

Bacillus aquimaris
TF12 is a Gram-positive bacteria isolated from a tidal flat of the Yellow Sea in South Korea. We report the draft whole-genome sequence of
Bacillus aquimaris
TF12, the type strain of a set of bacteria typically associated with marine habitats and with a potentially high biotechnology value.
Complete Genome Sequence of a
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Strain Carrying
bla
NDM-1
on a Multidrug Resistance Plasmid
Authors: Conlan Sean , Lau Anna F. ,   NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, Palmore Tara N. , Frank Karen M. , Segre Julia A.
Published: July 2016

Here, we report the genome sequence of a
bla
NDM-1
-positive
Klebsiella pneumoniae
AATZP isolate cultured from a perirectal surveillance swab collected upon admission of a patient to the NIH Clinical Center in 2014. Genome sequencing of this isolate revealed three plasmids, including one carrying the
bla
NDM-1
gene encoding resistance to carbapenems.
Interaction between Endothelial Protein C Receptor and Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 to Mediate Binding of Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Erythrocytes to Endothelial Cells
Authors: Avril Marion , Bernabeu Maria , Benjamin Maxwell , Brazier Andrew Jay , Smith Joseph D.
Published: July 2016

Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and the endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) are candidate receptors for the deadly complication cerebral malaria. However, it remains unclear if
Plasmodium falciparum
parasites with dual binding specificity are involved in cytoadhesion or different parasite subpopulations bind in brain microvessels. Here, we investigated this issue by studying different subtypes of ICAM-1-binding parasite lines. We show that two parasite lines expressing domain cassette 13 (DC13) of the
P. falciparum
erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family have dual binding specificity for EPCR and ICAM-1 and further mapped ICAM-1 binding to the first DBLβ domain following the PfEMP1 head structure in both proteins. As PfEMP1 head structures have diverged between group A (EPCR binders) and groups B and C (CD36 binders), we also investigated how ICAM-1-binding parasites with different coreceptor binding traits influence
P. falciparum
-infected erythrocyte binding to endothelial cells. Whereas levels of binding to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)-stimulated endothelial cells from the lung and brain by all ICAM-1-binding parasite lines increased, group A (EPCR and ICAM-1) was less dependent than group B (CD36 and ICAM-1) on ICAM-1 upregulation. Furthermore, both group A DC13 parasite lines had higher binding levels to brain endothelial cells (a microvascular niche with limited CD36 expression). This study shows that ICAM-1 is a coreceptor for a subset of EPCR-binding parasites and provides the first evidence of how EPCR and ICAM-1 interact to mediate parasite binding to both resting and TNF-α-activated primary brain and lung endothelial cells.

IMPORTANCE
Cerebral malaria is a severe neurological complication of
P. falciparum
infection associated with infected erythrocyte (IE) binding in cerebral vessels. Yet little is known about the mechanisms by which parasites adhere in the brain or other microvascular sites. Here, we studied parasite lines expressing group A DC13-containing PfEMP1 variants, a subset that has previously been shown to have high brain cell- and other endothelial cell-binding activities. We show that DC13-containing PfEMP1 variants have dual EPCR- and ICAM-1-binding activities and that both receptors are involved in parasite adherence to lung and brain endothelial cells. As both EPCR and ICAM-1 are implicated in cerebral malaria, these findings suggest the possibility that parasites with dual binding activities are involved in parasite sequestration to microvascular beds with low CD36 expression, such as the brain, and we urge more research into the multiadhesive properties of PfEMP1 variants.
Plea for routinely presenting prediction intervals in meta-analysis
Authors: IntHout Joanna , Ioannidis John P A , Rovers Maroeska M , Goeman Jelle J
Published: July 2016

Objectives

Evaluating the variation in the strength of the effect across studies is a key feature of meta-analyses. This variability is reflected by measures like τ2or I2, but their clinical interpretation is not straightforward. A prediction interval is less complicated: it presents the expected range of true effects in similar studies. We aimed to show the advantages of having the prediction interval routinely reported in meta-analyses.

Design

We show how the prediction interval can help understand the uncertainty about whether an intervention works or not. To evaluate the implications of using this interval to interpret the results, we selected the first meta-analysis per intervention review of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Issues 2009–2013 with a dichotomous (n=2009) or continuous (n=1254) outcome, and generated 95% prediction intervals for them.

Results

In 72.4% of 479 statistically significant (random-effects p<0.05) meta-analyses in the Cochrane Database 2009–2013 with heterogeneity (I2>0), the 95% prediction interval suggested that the intervention effect could be null or even be in the opposite direction. In 20.3% of those 479 meta-analyses, the prediction interval showed that the effect could be completely opposite to the point estimate of the meta-analysis. We demonstrate also how the prediction interval can be used to calculate the probability that a new trial will show a negative effect and to improve the calculations of the power of a new trial.

Conclusions

The prediction interval reflects the variation in treatment effects over different settings, including what effect is to be expected in future patients, such as the patients that a clinician is interested to treat. Prediction intervals should be routinely reported to allow more informative inferences in meta-analyses.