bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Alterations in the muscle force transfer apparatus in aged rats during unloading and reloading: impact of microRNA‐31
Authors: Hughes David C. , Marcotte George R. , Baehr Leslie M. , West Daniel W. D. , Marshall Andrea G. , Ebert Scott M. , Davidyan Arik , Adams Christopher M. , Bodine Sue C. , Baar Keith
Published: May 2018

Key points

Force transfer is integral for maintaining skeletal muscle structure and function. One important component is dystrophin. There is limited understanding of how force transfer is impacted by age and loading.

Here, we investigate the force transfer apparatus in muscles of adult and old rats exposed to periods of disuse and reloading.

Our results demonstrate an increase in dystrophin protein during the reloading phase in the adult tibialis anterior muscle that is delayed in the old muscle. The consequence of this delay is an increased susceptibility towards contraction‐induced muscle injury.

Central to the lack of dystrophin protein is an increase in miR‐31, a microRNA that inhibits dystrophin translation. In vivo electroporation with a miR‐31 sponge led to increased dystrophin protein and decreased contraction‐induced muscle injury in old skeletal muscle.

Overall, our results detail the importance of the force transfer apparatus and provide new mechanisms for contraction‐induced injury in ageing skeletal muscle.

In healthy muscle, the dystrophin‐associated glycoprotein complex (DGC), the integrin/focal adhesion complex, intermediate filaments and Z‐line proteins transmit force from the contractile proteins to the extracellular matrix. How loading and age affect these proteins is poorly understood. The experiments reported here sought to determine the effect of ageing on the force transfer apparatus following muscle unloading and reloading. Adult (9 months) and old (28 months) rats were subjected to 14 days of hindlimb unloading and 1, 3, 7 and 14 days of reloading. The DGC complex, intermediate filament and Z‐line protein and mRNA levels, as well as dystrophin‐targeting miRNAs (miR‐31, ‐146b and ‐374) were examined in the tibialis anterior (TA) and medial gastrocnemius muscles at both ages. There was a significant increase in dystrophin protein levels (2.79‐fold) upon 3 days of reloading in the adult TA muscle that did not occur in the old rats (P ≤ 0.05), and the rise in dystrophin protein occurred independent of dystrophin mRNA. The disconnect between dystrophin protein and mRNA levels can partially be explained by age‐dependent differences in miR‐31. The impaired dystrophin response in aged muscle was followed by an increase in other force transfer proteins (β‐dystroglycan, desmuslin and LIM) that was not sufficient to prevent membrane disruption and muscle injury early in the reloading period. Inserting a miR‐31 sponge increased dystrophin protein and decreased contraction‐induced injury in the TA (P ≤ 0.05). Collectively, these data suggest that increased miR‐31 with age contributes to an impaired dystrophin response and increased muscle injury after disuse.
Ultrahigh-performance transparent conductive films of carbon-welded isolated single-wall carbon nanotubes
Authors: Jiang Song , Hou Peng-Xiang , Chen Mao-Lin , Wang Bing-Wei , Sun Dong-Ming , Tang Dai-Ming , Jin Qun , Guo Qing-Xun , Zhang Ding-Dong , Du Jin-Hong , Tai Kai-Ping , Tan Jun , Kauppinen Esko I. , Liu Chang , Cheng Hui-Ming
Published: May 2018

A single-wall carbon nanotube network with welded tube-tube junctions shows excellent transparent conductive performance.
Attosecond-resolution Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry
Authors: Lyons Ashley , Knee George C. , Bolduc Eliot , Roger Thomas , Leach Jonathan , Gauger Erik M. , Faccio Daniele
Published: May 2018

A new Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer protocol achieves few-attosecond (nanometer) photon path delay resolution.
Say it isn’t pso: IL-25 drives skin inflammation
Authors: Kalekar Lokesh A. , Rosenblum Michael D.
Published: May 2018

IL-25 from keratinocytes mediates skin inflammation in psoriasis.
Impact of Clofazimine Dosing on Treatment Shortening of the First-Line Regimen in a Mouse Model of Tuberculosis
Authors: Ammerman Nicole C. , Swanson Rosemary V. , Bautista Elaine M. , Almeida Deepak V. , Saini Vikram , Omansen Till F. , Guo Haidan , Chang Yong Seok , Li Si-Yang , Tapley Asa , Tasneen Rokeya , Tyagi Sandeep , Betoudji Fabrice , Moodley Chivonne , Ngcobo Bongani , Pillay Logan , Bester Linda A. , Singh Sanil D. , Chaisson Richard E. , Nuermberger Eric , Grosset Jacques H.
Published: May 2018

The antileprosy drug clofazimine was recently repurposed as part of a newly endorsed short-course regimen for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. It also enables significant treatment shortening when added to the first-line regimen for drug-susceptible tuberculosis in a mouse model. However, clofazimine causes dose- and duration-dependent skin discoloration in patients, and the optimal clofazimine dosing strategy in the context of the first-line regimen is unknown. We utilized a well-established mouse model to systematically address the impacts of duration, dose, and companion drugs on the treatment-shortening activity of clofazimine in the first-line regimen. In all studies, the primary outcome was relapse-free cure (culture-negative lungs) 6 months after stopping treatment, and the secondary outcome was bactericidal activity, i.e., the decline in the lung bacterial burden during treatment. Our findings indicate that clofazimine activity is most potent when coadministered with first-line drugs continuously throughout treatment and that equivalent treatment-shortening results are obtained with half the dose commonly used in mice. However, our studies also suggest that clofazimine at low exposures may have negative impacts on treatment outcomes, an effect that was evident only after the first 3 months of treatment. These data provide a sound evidence base to inform clofazimine dosing strategies to optimize the antituberculosis effect while minimizing skin discoloration. The results also underscore the importance of conducting long-term studies to allow the full evaluation of drugs administered in combination over long durations.
Hepcidin Protects against Lethal Escherichia coli Sepsis in Mice Inoculated with Isolates from Septic Patients
Authors: Stefanova Deborah , Raychev Antoan , Deville Jaime , Humphries Romney , Campeau Shelley , Ruchala Piotr , Nemeth Elizabeta , Ganz Tomas , Bulut Yonca
Published: May 2018

Iron is an essential micronutrient for most microbes and their hosts. Mammalian hosts respond to infection by inducing the iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin, which causes iron sequestration and a rapid decrease in the plasma and extracellular iron concentration (hypoferremia). Previous studies showed that hepcidin regulation of iron is essential for protection from infection-associated mortality with the siderophilic pathogens
Yersinia enterocolitica
and
Vibrio vulnificus
. However, the evolutionary conservation of the hypoferremic response to infection suggests that not only rare siderophilic bacteria but also common pathogens may be targeted by this mechanism. We tested 10 clinical isolates of
Escherichia coli
from children with sepsis and found that both genetic iron overload (by hepcidin-1 knockout [HKO]) and iatrogenic iron overload (by intravenous iron) potentiated infection with 8 out of the 10 studied isolates: after peritoneal injection of
E. coli
, iron-loaded mice developed sepsis with 60% to 100% mortality within 24 h, while control wild-type mice suffered 0% mortality. Using one strain for more detailed study, we show that iron overload allows rapid bacterial multiplication and dissemination. We further found that the presence of non-transferrin-bound iron (NTBI) in the circulation is more important than total plasma or tissue iron in rendering mice susceptible to infection and mortality. Postinfection treatment of HKO mice with just two doses of the hepcidin agonist PR73 abolished NTBI and completely prevented sepsis-associated mortality. We demonstrate that the siderophilic phenotype extends to clinically common pathogens. The use of hepcidin agonists promises to be an effective early intervention in patients with infections and dysregulated iron metabolism.
The Complement System Contributes to Functional Antibody-Mediated Responses Induced by Immunization with Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Sporozoites
Authors: Behet Marije C. , Kurtovic Liriye , van Gemert Geert-Jan , Haukes Celine M. , Siebelink-Stoter Rianne , Graumans Wouter , van de Vegte-Bolmer Marga G. , Scholzen Anja , Langereis Jeroen D. , Diavatopoulos Dimitri A. , Beeson James G. , Sauerwein Robert W.
Published: May 2018

Long-lasting and sterile homologous protection against malaria can be achieved by the exposure of malaria-naive volunteers under chemoprophylaxis to
Plasmodium falciparum
-infected mosquitoes (chemoprophylaxis and sporozoite [CPS] immunization). While CPS-induced antibodies neutralize sporozoite infectivity
in vitro
and
in vivo
, antibody-mediated effector mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated whether complement contributes to CPS-induced preerythrocytic immunity. Sera collected before and after CPS immunization in the presence of active or inactive complement were assessed for the recognition of homologous NF54 and heterologous NF135.C10 sporozoites, complement fixation, sporozoite lysis, and possible subsequent effects on
in vitro
sporozoite infectivity in human hepatocytes. CPS immunization induced sporozoite-specific IgM (
P
< 0.0001) and IgG (
P
= 0.001) antibodies with complement-fixing capacities (
P
< 0.0001). Sporozoite lysis (
P
= 0.017), traversal (
P
< 0.0001), and hepatocyte invasion inhibition (
P
< 0.0001) by CPS-induced antibodies were strongly enhanced in the presence of active complement. Complement-mediated invasion inhibition in the presence of CPS-induced antibodies negatively correlated with cumulative parasitemia during CPS immunizations (
P
= 0.013). While IgG antibodies similarly recognized homologous and heterologous sporozoites, IgM binding to heterologous sporozoites was reduced (
P
= 0.023). Although CPS-induced antibodies did not differ in their abilities to fix complement, lyse sporozoites, or inhibit the traversal of homologous and heterologous sporozoites, heterologous sporozoite invasion was more strongly inhibited in the presence of active complement (
P
= 0.008). These findings demonstrate that CPS-induced antibodies have complement-fixing activity, thereby significantly further enhancing the functional inhibition of homologous and heterologous sporozoite infectivity
in vitro
. The combined data highlight the importance of complement as an additional immune effector mechanism in preerythrocytic immunity after whole-parasite immunization against
Plasmodium falciparum
malaria.
What is the normal haemodynamic response to passive leg raise? A study of healthy volunteers
Authors: Elwan Mohammed H , Roshdy Ashraf , Reynolds Joseph A , Elsharkawy Eman M , Eltahan Salah M , Coats Timothy J
Published: May 2018

Objective

Passive leg raise (PLR) is used as self-fluid challenge to optimise fluid therapy by predicting preload responsiveness. However, there remains uncertainty around the normal haemodynamic response to PLR with resulting difficulties in application and interpretation in emergency care. We aim to define the haemodynamic responses to PLR in spontaneously breathing volunteers using a non-invasive cardiac output monitor, thoracic electrical bioimpedance, TEB (PLR-TEB).

Methods

We recruited healthy volunteers aged 18 or above. Subjects were monitored using TEB in a semirecumbent position, followed by PLR for 3 min. The procedure was repeated after 6 min at the starting position. Correlation between the two PLRs was assessed using Spearman’s r (rs). Agreement between the two PLRs was evaluated using Cohen Kappa with responsiveness defined as ≥10% increase in stroke volume. Parametric and non-parametric tests were used as appropriate to evaluate statistical significance of baseline variables between responders and non-responders.

Results

We enrolled 50 volunteers, all haemodynamically stable at baseline, of whom 49 completed the study procedure. About half of our subjects were preload responsive. The ∆SV in the two PLRs was correlated (rs=0.68, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.8) with 85% positive concordance. Good agreement was observed with Cohen Kappa of 0.67 (95% CI 0.45 to 0.88). Responders were older and had significantly lower baseline stroke volume and cardiac output.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that the PLR-TEB is a feasible method in spontaneously breathing volunteers with reasonable reproducibility. The age and baseline stroke volume effect suggests a more complex underlying physiology than commonly appreciated. The fact that half of the volunteers had a positive preload response, against the 10% threshold, leads to questions about how this measurement should be used in emergency care and will help shape future patient studies.
Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects of zinc supplementation in testes of rats with experimentally induced diabetes
Authors: Aziz Neven M. , Kamel Maha Y. , Mohamed Manar S. , Ahmed Sabreen M.
Published: May 2018

One of the major obstacles that males with diabetes may confront is subfertility or infertility. Thus, the present study investigated the effect of co-administration of metformin and zinc (Zn) on the testes of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Male albino rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group; untreated diabetic group; diabetic + metformin group, in which diabetic rats were treated orally with metformin (250 mg/kg) once daily for 4 weeks; and diabetic + metformin + Zn group, in which diabetic rats were treated orally with metformin in combination with Zn (10 mg/kg) once daily for 4 weeks. Concomitant administration of metformin and Zn produced a significant decrease in serum levels of glucose and insulin and testicular levels of malondialdehyde and tumor necrosis factor α. Additionally, there was a significant increase in serum levels of Zn, testosterone, and follicle-stimulating hormone, as well as testicular total antioxidant capacity and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, when compared with both the diabetic and metformin-treated diabetic groups. Moreover, co-administration of Zn and metformin significantly improved testicular histopathology, with a significant reduction in percent area of collagen fibers and nuclear factor kappa B (p65) immunoreactivity and a significant increase in seminiferous tubule diameter and connexin 43 immunoreactivity as compared with the diabetic and metformin-treated diabetic groups. In conclusion, the combination of Zn and metformin was an efficacious and safe alternative treatment, as it had superior antihyperglycemic efficacy and provided additional benefits over metformin alone in rats with type 2 diabetes.
Computational investigations of 18-electron triatomic sulfur–nitrogen anions
Authors: Valjus Juuso , Tuononen Heikki M. , Laitinen Risto S. , Chivers Tristram
Published: May 2018

MRCI-SD/def2-QZVP and PBE0/def2-QZVP calculations have been employed for the analysis of geometries, stabilities, and bonding of isomers of the 18-electron anions N2S2−, NS2−, and NSO−. Isomers of the isoelectronic neutral molecules SO2, S2O, S3, and O3 are included for comparison. The sulfur-centered acyclic NSN2−, NSS−, and NSO− anions are the most stable isomers of their respective molecular compositions. However, the nitrogen-centered isomers SNS− and SNO− lie close enough in energy to their more stable counterparts to allow their occurrence. The experimental structural information, where available, is in good agreement with the optimized bond parameters. The bonding in all investigated species is qualitatively similar, though electron density analyses reveal important quantitative differences that arise from bond polarization. Most of the investigated systems can be described with a single configuration wave function, the two notable exceptions being isomers SSS and OOO that show some diradical character. The computed MRCI-SD/def2-QZVP absorption maxima for SNS− and NSS− are 342 and 327 nm, respectively. The corresponding PBE0/def2-QZVP values in acetonitrile are 353 and 333 nm. These data support the proposed initial formation of SNS− from electrochemical or chemical reduction of SSNS− based on experimental UV–vis spectra. The interconversion of SNS− and NSS− is calculated to be facile and reversible, leading to an equilibrium mixture that also includes the remarkably stable dianion SNSNSS2−. Thus, salts of either SNS− or NSS− with bulky organic cations represent feasible synthetic targets.
Clinical efficacy and mechanism of growth hormone action in patients experiencing repeat implantation failure
Authors: Chen Ye , Liu Fenghua , Nong Yingqi , Ruan Jianxing , Guo Qingqing , Luo Ming , Huang Qianwen
Published: May 2018

The objectives of this study were to investigate the clinical efficacy of growth hormone (GH) in patients experiencing repeat implantation failure (RIF) and explore the possible mechanism. Forty-two RIF patients undergoing in vitro fertilization – embryo transfer (IVF-ET) were enrolled in the present trial: 22 patients who received GH (treatment group) and 20 who did not receive GH (controls). The clinical pregnancy and live birth rates in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group (both P < 0.05). The treatment group expressed significantly higher levels of growth hormone receptor (GHR) mRNA than the control group (P < 0.05). Further analysis showed that GH levels in follicular fluid were positively correlated with the expression levels of mRNA encoding GHR in granulosa cells (r = 0.460, P < 0.05). GH treatment enhanced IVF pregnancy outcomes and increased the expression of GHR in granulosa cells in fluid. GH levels in follicular fluid were positively correlated with the expression levels of GHR.
Effect of harvest date and frequency on aspen ricegrass (Oryzopsis asperifolia) and cream-coloured vetchling (Lathyrus ochroleucus) in the boreal transition ecoregion of Saskatchewan
Authors: Foster Allan , Biligetu Bill
Published: May 2018

Aspen forest communities of Saskatchewan, Canada, support a significant cattle population. The objectives of this study were to determine seasonal forage dry matter (DM) accumulation and evaluate repeated annual defoliation on DM yield (DMY) of aspen ricegrass (Oryzopsis asperifolia) and cream-coloured vetchling (Lathyrus ochroleucus) in the boreal transition ecoregion of east–central Saskatchewan. The experimental design was a randomized completed block with five replicates. Seasonal DMY of aspen ricegrass (p < 0.0001) was lowest in June, intermediate in July, and highest in August to October, with DMY ranging from 2.9–15.3 g m−2. Cream-coloured vetchling (p < 0.0001) had the highest DMY in July and August (5.5, 4.8 g m−2) than other months (1.2–2.3 g m−2). Single repeated defoliation, regardless of clipping date, reduced (P = 0.0098) the overall production of aspen ricegrass (Oryzopsis asperifolia) and cream-coloured vetchling (Lathyrus ochroleucus) in this study.
Lattice Boltzmann simulation of viscoelastic flow past a confined free rotating cylinder
Authors: Xia Yi , Zhang Peijie , Lin Jianzhong , Ku Xiaoke , Nie Deming
Published: May 2018

To study the dynamics of rigid body immersed in viscoelastic fluid, an Oldroyd-B fluid flow past an eccentrically situated, free rotating cylinder in a two-dimensional (2D) channel is simulated by a novel lattice Boltzmann method. Two distribution functions are employed, one of which is aimed to solve Navier–Stokes equation and the other to the constitutive equation, respectively. The unified interpolation bounce-back scheme is adopted to treat the moving curved boundary of cylinder, and the novel Galilean invariant momentum exchange method is utilized to obtain the hydrodynamic force and torque exerted on the cylinder. Results show that the center-fixed cylinder rotates inversely in the direction where a cylinder immersed in Newtonian fluid do, which generates a centerline-oriented lift force according to Magnus effect. The cylinder’s eccentricity, flow inertia, fluid elasticity and viscosity would affect the rotation of cylinder in different ways. The cylinder rotates more rapidly when located farther away from the centerline, and slows down when it is too close to the wall. The rotation frequency decreases with increasing Reynolds number, and larger rotation frequency responds to larger Weissenberg number and smaller viscosity ratio, indicating that the fluid elasticity and low solvent viscosity accelerates the flow-induced rotation of cylinder.
PIV measurements in near-wake turbulent regions
Authors: Chen Wei-Cheng , Chang Keh-Chin
Published: May 2018

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a non-intrusive optical diagnostic and must be made of the seedings (foreign particles) instead of the fluid itself. However, reliable PIV measurement of turbulence requires sufficient numbers of seeding falling in each interrogation window of image. A gray-level criterion is developed in this work to check the attainment of statistically stationary status of turbulent flow properties. It is suggested that the gray level of no less than 0.66 is used as the threshold for reliable PIV measurements in the present near-wake turbulent regions.
Study on a Multi-Frequency Homotopy Analysis Method for Period-Doubling Solutions of Nonlinear Systems
Authors: Fu H. X. , Qian Y. H.
Published: May 2018

In this paper, a modification of homotopy analysis method (HAM) is applied to study the two-degree-of-freedom coupled Duffing system. Firstly, the process of calculating the two-degree-of-freedom coupled Duffing system is presented. Secondly, the single periodic solutions and double periodic solutions are obtained by solving the constructed nonlinear algebraic equations. Finally, comparing the periodic solutions obtained by the multi-frequency homotopy analysis method (MFHAM) and the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method, it is found that the approximate solution agrees well with the numerical solution.
Petroleum geology of the Black Sea: introduction
Authors: Simmons M. D. , Tari G. C. , Okay A. I.
Published: May 2018

The exploration for petroleum in the Black Sea is still in its infancy. Notwithstanding the technical challenges in drilling in its deep-water regions, several geological risks require better understanding. These challenges include reservoir presence and quality (partly related to sediment provenance), and the timing and migration of hydrocarbons from source rocks relative to trap formation. In turn, these risks can only be better understood by an appreciation of the geological history of the Black Sea basins and the surrounding orogens. This history is not without ongoing controversy. The timing of basin formation, uplift of the margins and facies distribution remain issues for robust debate. This Special Publication presents the results of 15 studies that relate to the tectonostratigraphy and petroleum geology of the Black Sea. The methodologies of these studies encompass crustal structure, geodynamic evolution, stratigraphy and its regional correlation, petroleum systems, source to sink, hydrocarbon habitat and play concepts, and reviews of past exploration. They provide insight into the many ongoing controversies regarding the geological history of the Black Sea region and provide a better understanding of the geological risks that must be considered for future hydrocarbon exploration. The Black Sea remains one of the largest underexplored rift basins in the world. Although significant biogenic gas discoveries have been made within the last decade, thermogenic petroleum systems must be proven through the systematic exploration of a wide variety of play concepts.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 21: A Versatile Regulator of Metabolic Homeostasis
Authors: BonDurant Lucas D. , Potthoff Matthew J.
Published: May 2018

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is an endocrine hormone derived from the liver that exerts pleiotropic effects on the body to maintain overall metabolic homeostasis. During the past decade, there has been an enormous effort made to understand the physiological roles of FGF21 in regulating metabolism and to identify the mechanism for its potent pharmacological effects to reverse diabetes and obesity. Through both human and rodent studies, it is now evident that FGF21 levels are dynamically regulated by nutrient sensing, and consequently FGF21 functions as a critical regulator of nutrient homeostasis. In addition, recent studies using new genetic and molecular tools have provided critical insight into the actions of this endocrine factor. This review examines the numerous functions of FGF21 and highlights the therapeutic potential of FGF21-targeted pathways for treating metabolic disease.
Dose response of somatosensory cortex repeated anodal transcranial direct current stimulation on vibrotactile detection: a randomized sham-controlled trial
Authors: Folmli Brookes , Turman Bulent , Johnson Peter , Abbott Allan
Published: May 2018

This randomized sham-controlled trial investigated anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the somatosensory cortex contralateral to hand dominance for dose-response (1 mA, 20 min × 5 days) effects on vibrotactile detection thresholds (VDT). VDT was measured before and after tDCS on days 1, 3, and 5 for low- (30 Hz) and high-frequency (200 Hz) vibrations on the dominant and nondominant hands in 29 healthy adults (mean age = 22.86 yr; 15 men, 14 women). Only the dominant-hand 200-Hz VDT displayed statistically significant medium effect size improvement for mixed-model analysis of variance time-by-group interaction for active tDCS compared with sham. Post hoc contrasts were statistically significant for dominant-hand 200-Hz VDT on day 5 after tDCS compared with day 1 before tDCS, day 1 after tDCS, and day 3 before tDCS. There was a linear dose-response improvement with dominant-hand 200-Hz VDT mean difference decreasing from day 1 before tDCS peaking at −15.5% (SD = 34.9%) on day 5 after tDCS. Both groups showed learning effect trends over time for all VDT test conditions, but only the nondominant-hand 30-Hz VDT was statistically significant ( P = 0.03), although post hoc contrasts were nonsignificant after Šidák adjustment. No adverse effects for tDCS were reported. In conclusion, anodal tDCS at 1 mA, 20 min × 5 days on the dominant sensory cortex can modulate a linear improvement of dominant-hand high-frequency VDT but not low-frequency or nondominant-hand VDT.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Repeated weak anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (1 mA, 20 min) on the dominant sensory cortex provides linear improvement in dominant-hand high-frequency vibration detection thresholds. No effects were observed for low-frequency or nondominant-hand vibration detection thresholds.
Genome sequencing in the clinic: the past, present, and future of genomic medicine
Authors: Prokop Jeremy W. , May Thomas , Strong Kim , Bilinovich Stephanie M. , Bupp Caleb , Rajasekaran Surender , Worthey Elizabeth A. , Lazar Jozef
Published: May 2018

Genomic sequencing has undergone massive expansion in the past 10 yr, from a rarely used research tool into an approach that has broad applications in a clinical setting. From rare disease to cancer, genomics is transforming our knowledge of biology. The transition from targeted gene sequencing, to whole exome sequencing, to whole genome sequencing has only been made possible due to rapid advancements in technologies and informatics that have plummeted the cost per base of DNA sequencing and analysis. The tools of genomics have resolved the etiology of disease for previously undiagnosable conditions, identified cancer driver gene variants, and have impacted the understanding of pathophysiology for many diseases. However, this expansion of use has also highlighted research’s current voids in knowledge. The lack of precise animal models for gene-to-function association, lack of tools for analysis of genomic structural changes, skew in populations used for genetic studies, publication biases, and the “Unknown Proteome” all contribute to voids needing filled for genomics to work in a fast-paced clinical setting. The future will hold the tools to fill in these voids, with new data sets and the continual development of new technologies allowing for expansion of genomic medicine, ushering in the days to come for precision medicine. In this review we highlight these and other points in hopes of advancing and guiding precision medicine into the future for optimal success.
Os meios em Martín-Barbero: antes e depois das mediações
Authors: Jacks Nilda , Schmitz Daniela
Published: May 2018

The text discusses the role of the media in Jesus Martín-Barbero’s thought. It is argued that the notion of mediation does not obscure its cultural, social l, and political agency, nor does it overlook the economic implications that govern and circumscribe its action. In his theoretical trajectory, in refuting the idea of mediacentrism, the author, while expanding, also balances his gaze on this important configurative instance of contemporary societies.
U.S.-China Rivalry in Southeast Asia: Power Shift or Competitive
Coexistence?
Authors: Shambaugh David
Published: May 2018

U.S.-China comprehensive competition is currently playing out on an increasingly global scale. The competition's primary locus is the vast Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and it is centered in Southeast Asia. The United States and China each possess comparative advantages in the region. Beijing's advantages are predominantly economic and diplomatic, whereas Washington's are more multifaceted. Although the Barack Obama administration's “pivot” significantly raised the U.S profile in Southeast Asia, China has also expanded its presence and influence. The two powers are increasingly locked in a classic strategic competition, but the pervasive media narrative in the region holds that China is gaining the upper hand. While this gravitation toward Beijing has become a popular meme, it is not empirically accurate—as the United States still possesses substantial overall advantages. Still, the regional balance is dynamic, and the United States needs to remain comprehensively engaged—or else the balance of influence will default to China. At present, the Sino-American competition in Southeast Asia is not (yet) acute and zero-sum. Therefore, the two powers should be able to manage their tensions, limit their rivalry, and practice competitive coexistence.
The Effects of Disease on the London Missionary Society’s South Seas Missions between 1797 and 1860
Authors: Alden Jonny
Published: May 2018

European missionary activity enabled not only the communication of the Christian message, but facilitated the dissemination of a mélange of diseases amongst epidemiologically disparate cultural groupings. This paper explores the influence of disease upon the London Missionary Society’s South Seas missions between 1797 and 1860. I argue that disease shaped missionary activity in three central ways: Firstly, through shaping missionaries’ primary experiences; secondly, through moulding the ways in which native peoples conceptualised and responded to the Christian message; and finally, through contributing profoundly towards missionary conceptions of European superiority and the Polynesian ‘other’.
Drudges, Shrews, and Unfit Mothers
Authors: Barker John
Published: May 2018

Among the first Europeans to encounter and settle on the southeastern coast of New Guinea, members of the London Missionary Society contributed a large corpus of publications concerning indigenous peoples from the mid-1870s until the rise of professional anthropology in the 1920s. While these works focus mainly on the activities and concerns of men, women provide a key index of “civilization” relative to the working British middle class from which most missionaries came. This essay provides a survey of the portrayal of women in this literature over three partly overlapping periods, demonstrating a shift from racialist to moral discourses on the status of Papuan women – a shift that reflects transitions in both missionary and anthropological assumptions during this period.
Promoting Civility in the Republic of Letters: Three Sedan Scholars and the Secular Muse
Authors: Farquhar Alexander J.K.
Published: May 2018

In the Reformed academy of Sedan in the early seventeenth century a manuscript was compiled containing poems which have remained largely understudied, despite the manuscript’s publication in 1913. The poems were the work of Arthur Johnston, Andrew Melville, and Daniel Tilenus, two Scots and a Silesian; all were professors in the Huguenot Academy. As teachers there they operated in the world of Reformed scholasticism, and historiography has understandably tended to view their lives, therefore, through a religious lens. The poems in this manuscript suggest, however, that such a perspective is misleading. Intertwined with the Reformed context of their lives in Sedan was a strong sense of humanist community, focusing upon the classical world; the writing of neo-Latin poetry allowed these men, who could be at variance in the confessional world, to share concerns and offer supportive advice to each other. The poems reveal a friendship among them which was public enough for their poems to be grouped as the spine of this manuscript.
Competing Claims on the Legacies of Renaissance Humanism in Histories of Philology
Authors: Robichaud Denis J.J.
Published: May 2018

This paper examines a facet in the long history of Italian Renaissance humanism: how later historians of philology understood Renaissance humanists. These later reconsiderations framed the legacies of Italian Renaissance humanism, at times by asking whether the primary contribution of humanism was philosophical or philological. Philologists–especially from nineteenth-century Germany in the generations before Voigt and Burckhardt–wrote about Renaissance humanists by employing prosopography and bio-bibliographic models. Rather than studying humanists and their works for their own merits, the authors of these histories sought to legitimize their own disciplinary identities by recognizing them as intellectual ancestors. Their writings, in turn, helped lay the foundation for later scholarship on Italian Renaissance humanism and defined, in particular, how later twentieth-century historians of philology and scholarship understood the Italian Renaissance.
Continental Philosophy and Theology
Authors: Dickinson Colby
Published: May 2018

Continental philosophy underwent a ‘return to religion’ or a ‘theological turn’ in the late 20th Century. And yet any conversation between continental philosophy and theology must begin by addressing the perceived distance between them: that one is concerned with destroying all normative, metaphysical order (continental philosophy’s task) and the other with preserving religious identity and community in the face of an increasingly secular society (theology’s task). Colby Dickinson argues inContinental Philosophy and Theologyrather that perhaps such a tension is constitutive of the nature of order, thinking and representation which typically take dualistic forms and which might be rethought, though not necessarily abolished. Such a shift in perspective even allows one to contemplate this distance as not opting for one side over the other or by striking a middle ground, but as calling for a nondualistic theology that measures the complexity and inherently comparative nature of theological inquiry in order to realign theology’s relationship to continental philosophy entirely.
Rethinking the Study of “Religion” and Media from an Existential Perspective
Authors: Horsfield Peter
Published: May 2018

The broadening of the concept of religion from a substantive, anthropological definition to a more cultural, functional definition has enabled expansion of the study of media, technology and religion into a much wider field of social phenomena. It has Ben argued that this expansion has been so broad and unbounded that the more appropriate question in this field of study is no longer “What is religion?”, but “What isn’t religion?” This paper contends that the time is ripe to set aside a dualistic lens of religion and secular and look instead at embodie human reality as incorporating not only material, empirical and instrumental characteristics but also tanscendental, metaphysical and non-empirical characteristics that also need to be theorised in secular terms.
Nymph inadvertently described as new species for a fourth time? On the identity of Euscelimena hardi (Tetrigidae: Scelimeninae) with general remarks on the identification of pygmy grasshopper nymphs
Authors: SKEJO JOSIP , GUPTA SUNIL KUMAR , TUMBRINCK JOSEF
Published: May 2018

Euscelimena hardi Gupta et Chandra, 2018 was described earlier this year from Chhattisgarh (India) as a unique species within the genus, characterized in small size, long pronotal projections, and a lack of wings. In this commentary we provide evidence that E. hardi is a nymph of E. harpago (Serville, 1838), hence a new synonymy is proposed: Euscelimena harpago (Serville, 1838) = Euscelimena hardi Gupta et Chandra, 2018 syn. nov. Since this is the fourth time a nymph of Euscelimena Günther, 1938 has been described as a new species, we present general remarks on how to distinguish pygmy grasshopper nymphs and adults. Presence of a groove on the dorsal margin of the hind femora, directly before the knee (separating antegenicular and genicular teeth) is the only definite feature to separate nymphs from adults in brachypronotal or micropronotal wingless species. In macropterous species, morphology of tegmina and alae is helpful to separate nymphs from adults, nymphs having alae rich in radial venation in front of tegmina, while in adults tegmina are in front of developed alae. When dealing with a potential new species, researchers should firstly take into account known pygmy grasshoppers fauna of the studied area via Orthoptera Species File Online database Complex search (with imput Scope of search: Tetrigidae, Place name from geographic hierarchy: continent or country name).
Microphysics and Radiation Effect of Dust on Saharan Air Layer: An HS3 Case Study
Authors: Tao Zhining , Braun Scott A. , Shi Jainn J. , Chin Mian , Kim Dongchul , Matsui Toshihisa , Peters-Lidard Christa D.
Published: May 2018

A Saharan air layer (SAL) event associated with a nondeveloping African easterly wave (AEW) over the main development region of the eastern Atlantic was sampled by the NASA Global Hawk aircraft on 24–25 August 2013 during the NASA Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) campaign and was simulated with the NASA Unified Weather Research and Forecasting (NU-WRF) Model. Airborne, ground-based, and spaceborne measurements were used to evaluate the model performance. The microphysical and radiative effects of dust and other aerosols on the SAL structure and environment were investigated with the factor-separation method. The results indicate that relative to a simulation without dust–radiative and microphysical impacts, Saharan dust and other aerosols heated the SAL air mainly through shortwave heating by the direct aerosol–radiation (AR) effect, resulting in a warmer (up to 0.6 K) and drier (up to 5% RH reduction) SAL and maintaining the strong temperature inversion at the base of the SAL in the presence of predominant longwave cooling. Radiative heating of the dust accentuated a vertical circulation within the dust layer, in which air rose (sank) in the northern (southern) portions of the dust layer. Furthermore, above and to the south of the dust layer, both the microphysical and radiative impacts of dust tended to counter the vertical motions associated with the Hadley circulation, causing a small weakening and southward shift of convection in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and reduced anvil cloud to the north. Changes in moisture and cloud/precipitation hydrometeors were largely driven by the dust-induced changes in vertical motion. Dust strengthened the African easterly jet by up to ~1 m s−1 at the southern edge of the jet, primarily through the AR effect, and produced modest increases in vertical wind shear within and in the vicinity of the dust layer. These modulations of the SAL and AEW environment clearly contributed to the nondevelopment of this AEW.
Foundations in Germany: Primary and Secondary Education
Authors: Striebing Clemens
Published: May 2018

The article gives an overview of the structure, aims, and functioning of German foundations that engage in primary and secondary education. It is discussed how the evolution of the German education regime is accompanied by a development of the characteristics of education foundations. The article argues that the modern foundation—professional, often businesslike large organizations—is best equipped to play a crucial innovating and networking role in partnership with the former exclusively publicly governed German education administration.
Digital Rehabilitation: A Model of Reentry Into the Digital Age
Authors: Reisdorf Bianca C. , Rikard R. V.
Published: May 2018

Despite societal dependence on digital technologies and the Internet across the developed world, current prisoner rehabilitation, reentry models, and practices across most U.S. state correctional systems only target offline realms and issues while disregarding the digital realm. By integrating existing models of rehabilitation and reentry with recently developed and refined digital divide theories, this article develops a new model of digital rehabilitation, considering both the online and the offline realms. The proposed model fills a gap in the literature and allows for a more complete understanding of the problems that parolees encounter on release from prison. By conceptualizing corresponding fields and resources across three realms—prison, reentry, and digital—the digital rehabilitation and reentry model enables systematic research into the extent to which the digital realm can assist in a more successful reentry process.
Helping Skills, Working Alliance, and Session Depth in China: A Multilevel Analysis
Authors: Li Xu , Kivlighan Dennis M. , Hill Clara E. , Hou Zhi-Jin , Xu Mengfei
Published: May 2018

Ninety-five first-year master’s-level students in China conducted three helping sessions with two volunteer clients. After every session, clients completed measures assessing trainees’ use of helping skills, working alliance, and session depth. Results of a multilevel analysis indicated that: (a) between-trainee and between-client exploration skill use was related to better working alliance reported by the client, and between-session exploration skill use was related to greater session depth; (b) between-trainee, between-client, and between-session insight skill use was related to better working alliance, but none of these components were related to session depth; and (c) between-trainee action skill use was negatively related to client report of working alliance. We discuss theoretical and practical implications from the multilevel framework, considering the Chinese cultural context.
Israeli Arab Minority Students’ Help Seeking for Bullying From School Counselors
Authors: Yablon Yaacov B.
Published: May 2018

Minority students are less likely to seek help to deal with bullying at school than their majority counterparts. Nonetheless, very little is known about the factors that influence their willingness to seek help, or the role of school counselors as potential help providers. Thus, in the present study we examined Israeli Arab minority high school students’ help seeking from school counselors for coping with verbal, physical, and social bullying. A national representative sample of 730 high school students participated in the study. Our findings revealed that the vast majority of students did not seek help at all. Students who sought help, in comparison with those who did not, reported more positive relationships with their school counselors, and noted that their counselors were more available for them. Students who experienced higher levels of victimization were more willing to seek help than those who experienced lower levels. Implications for help seeking and the role of counselors in schools are discussed.
Carbon nanotube reinforced titanium composites: An experimental and molecular dynamics study
Authors: Sharma Sumit , Kumar Pramod , Chandra Rakesh
Published: May 2018

In this study, the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube reinforced titanium (CNT–Ti) composites have been predicted using molecular dynamics approach. An experimental study was also conducted in which spark plasma sintering was used for preparing the composites. The effect of variation in carbon nanotube volume fraction ( V f), temperature, and strain on the elastic moduli ( E11, E22, and E33) and the shear modulus ( G Reuss) of CNT–Ti composites was studied. The elastic and shear moduli were all found to increase significantly because of the increasing carbon nanotube V f. Even at temperatures approaching 1 K, the CNT–Ti composites show high values of elastic and shear moduli. The elastic moduli tend to attain a constant value at high levels of strain. The results obtained from experiments corroborated the molecular dynamics results.
Improving Linearly Implicit Quantized State System Methods
Authors: Di Pietro Franco , Migoni Gustavo , Kofman Ernesto
Published: May 2018

In this article we propose a modification to Linearly Implicit Quantized State System Methods (LIQSS), a family of methods for solving stiff Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) that replace the classic time discretization by the quantization of the state variables. LIQSS methods were designed to efficiently simulate stiff systems, but they only work when the system has a particular structure. The proposed modification overcomes this limitation, allowing the algorithms to efficiently simulate stiff systems with more general structures. Besides describing the new methods and their algorithmic descriptions, the article analyzes the algorithms performance in the simulation of some complex systems.
The Modern Origins of China’s South China Sea Claims: Maps, Misunderstandings, and the Maritime Geobody
Authors: Hayton Bill
Published: May 2018

This article offers a new account of the development of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. It argues that a collective Chinese belief in a “historic claim” to the reefs and rocks therein emerged in distinct episodes during the first half of the twentieth century, partly in response to perceived threats to the country’s sovereignty but mainly as attempts to shore up declining nationalist legitimacy. It situates the claim within efforts by Chinese intellectual and state elites to construct a national “geobody” in the first decades of the twentieth century. It argues that this was not a process of documenting a preexisting claim but of imagining and asserting one through the mobilization of both emotion and archival documents. Moreover, this account emphasizes the importance of the acquisition of knowledge from foreign sources and the confusion that entailed. The legacy of this confused claim-making shapes South China Sea geopolitics today.