bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
P2X4 receptor re‐sensitization depends on a protonation/deprotonation cycle mediated by receptor internalization and recycling
Authors: Fois Giorgio , Föhr Karl J. , Kling Carolin , Fauler Michael , Wittekindt Oliver H. , Dietl Paul , Frick Manfred
Published: August 2018

Key points

Re‐sensitization of P2X4 receptors depends on a protonation/de‐protonation cycle

Protonation and de‐protonation of the receptors is achieved by internalization and recycling of P2X4 receptors via acidic compartments

Protonation and de‐protonation occurs at critical histidine residues within the extracellular loop of P2X4 receptors

Re‐sensitization is blocked in the presence of the receptor agonist ATP

P2X4 receptors are members of the P2X receptor family of cation‐permeable, ligand‐gated ion channels that open in response to the binding of extracellular ATP. P2X4 receptors are implicated in a variety of biological processes, including cardiac function, cell death, pain sensation and immune responses. These physiological functions depend on receptor activation on the cell surface. Receptor activation is followed by receptor desensitization and deactivation upon removal of ATP. Subsequent re‐sensitization is required to return the receptor into its resting state. Desensitization and re‐sensitization are therefore crucial determinants of P2X receptor signal transduction and responsiveness to ATP. However, the molecular mechanisms controlling desensitization and re‐sensitization are not fully understood. In the present study, we provide evidence that internalization and recycling via acidic compartments is essential for P2X4 receptor re‐sensitization. Re‐sensitization depends on a protonation/de‐protonation cycle of critical histidine residues within the extracellular loop of P2X4 receptors that is mediated by receptor internalization and recycling. Interestingly, re‐sensitization under acidic conditions is completely revoked by receptor agonist ATP. Our data support the physiological importance of the unique subcellular distribution of P2X4 receptors that is predominantly found within acidic compartments. Based on these findings, we suggest that recycling of P2X4 receptors regulates the cellular responsiveness in the sustained presence of ATP.
A readily programmable, fully reversible shape-switching material
Authors: McBride Matthew K. , Martinez Alina M. , Cox Lewis , Alim Marvin , Childress Kimberly , Beiswinger Michael , Podgorski Maciej , Worrell Brady T. , Killgore Jason , Bowman Christopher N.
Published: August 2018

Liquid crystalline elastomers programmed with light-activated bond exchange allowing controlled shape change.
Noncanonical inflammasome signaling elicits gasdermin D–dependent neutrophil extracellular traps
Authors: Chen Kaiwen W. , Monteleone Mercedes , Boucher Dave , Sollberger Gabriel , Ramnath Divya , Condon Nicholas D. , von Pein Jessica B. , Broz Petr , Sweet Matthew J. , Schroder Kate
Published: August 2018

Neutrophils form gasdermin D pores and expel antimicrobial neutrophil extracellular traps to defend against cytosolic bacteria.
Genetic Analysis of Babesia Isolates from Cattle with Clinical Babesiosis in Sri Lanka
Authors: Sivakumar Thillaiampalam , Tuvshintulga Bumduuren , Zhyldyz Atambekova , Kothalawala Hemal , Yapa Palitha Rohana , Kanagaratnam Ratnam , Vimalakumar Singarayar Caniciyas , Abeysekera Thuduwege Sanath , Weerasingha Amitha Sampath , Yamagishi Junya , Igarashi Ikuo , Silva Seekkuge Susil Priyantha , Yokoyama Naoaki
Published: August 2018

Bovine babesiosis is a serious threat to the cattle industry. We prepared blood DNA samples from 13 cattle with clinical babesiosis from the Badulla (n= 8), Jaffna (n= 3), and Kilinochchi (n= 2) districts in Sri Lanka.
Acupuncture at ST36 Exerts Neuroprotective Effects via Inhibition of Reactive Astrogliosis in Infantile Rats with Hydrocephalus
Authors: Tida Jacqueline Atsuko , Catalão Carlos Henrique Rocha , Garcia Camila Araújo Bernardino , dos Santos Antônio Carlos , Salmon Carlos Ernesto Garrido , Lopes Luiza da Silva
Published: August 2018

Background

Acupuncture has been associated with improved cerebral circulation, analgesia, neuromodulatory function and neurogenesis. In particular, acupuncture at ST36 has been widely used in several central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. However, its effects on hydrocephalus have not been studied. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of acupuncture at ST36 on behaviour, motor development and reactive astrogliosis in infantile rats with hydrocephalus.

Methods

Hydrocephalus was induced in sixteen 7-day-old pup rats by injection of 20% kaolin into the cisterna magna. One day after hydrocephalus induction, acupuncture was applied once daily (for 30 min) for a total of 21 days in eight randomly selected animals (HAc group) while the remaining eight remained untreated (H group). An additional eight healthy animals were included as controls (C group). All animals were weighed daily and, from the fifth day after hydrocephalus induction, underwent MRI to determine the ventricular ratio (VR). Rats were also exposed to modified open-field tests every 3 days until the end of the experiment. After 21 days all the animals were euthanased and their brains removed for histology and immunohistochemistry.

Results

Hydrocephalic rats showed an increase in VR when compared with control rats (P<0.01). In addition, these animals exhibited delayed weight gain, which was attenuated with acupuncture treatment. Hydrocephalic animals treated with acupuncture performed better in open field tests (P<0.05), and had a reduction in reactive astrocyte cell density in the corpus callosum and external capsule, as assessed by GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) immunohistochemistry (P<0.05).

Conclusions

These findings indicate that acupuncture at ST36 has a neuroprotective potential mediated, in part, by inhibition of astrogliosis.
External validation of computed tomography decision rules for minor head injury: prospective, multicentre cohort study in the Netherlands
Authors: Foks Kelly A , van den Brand Crispijn L , Lingsma Hester F , van der Naalt Joukje , Jacobs Bram , de Jong Eline , den Boogert Hugo F , Sir Özcan , Patka Peter , Polinder Suzanne , Gaakeer Menno I , Schutte Charlotte E , Jie Kim E , Visee Huib F , Hunink Myriam G M , Reijners Eef , Braaksma Meriam , Schoonman Guus G , Steyerberg Ewout W , Jellema Korné , Dippel Diederik W J
Published: August 2018

Objective

To externally validate four commonly used rules in computed tomography (CT) for minor head injury.

Design

Prospective, multicentre cohort study.

Setting

Three university and six non-university hospitals in the Netherlands.

Participants

Consecutive adult patients aged 16 years and over who presented with minor head injury at the emergency department with a Glasgow coma scale score of 13-15 between March 2015 and December 2016.

Main outcome measures

The primary outcome was any intracranial traumatic finding on CT; the secondary outcome was a potential neurosurgical lesion on CT, which was defined as an intracranial traumatic finding on CT that could lead to a neurosurgical intervention or death. The sensitivity, specificity, and clinical usefulness (defined as net proportional benefit, a weighted sum of true positive classifications) of the four CT decision rules. The rules included the CT in head injury patients (CHIP) rule, New Orleans criteria (NOC), Canadian CT head rule (CCHR), and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline for head injury.

Results

For the primary analysis, only six centres that included patients with and without CT were selected. Of 4557 eligible patients who presented with minor head injury, 3742 (82%) received a CT scan; 384 (8%) had a intracranial traumatic finding on CT, and 74 (2%) had a potential neurosurgical lesion. The sensitivity for any intracranial traumatic finding on CT ranged from 73% (NICE) to 99% (NOC); specificity ranged from 4% (NOC) to 61% (NICE). Sensitivity for a potential neurosurgical lesion ranged between 85% (NICE) and 100% (NOC); specificity from 4% (NOC) to 59% (NICE). Clinical usefulness depended on thresholds for performing CT scanning: the NOC rule was preferable at a low threshold, the NICE rule was preferable at a higher threshold, whereas the CHIP rule was preferable for an intermediate threshold.

Conclusions

Application of the CHIP, NOC, CCHR, or NICE decision rules can lead to a wide variation in CT scanning among patients with minor head injury, resulting in many unnecessary CT scans and some missed intracranial traumatic findings. Until an existing decision rule has been updated, any of the four rules can be used for patients presenting minor head injuries at the emergency department. Use of the CHIP rule is recommended because it leads to a substantial reduction in CT scans while missing few potential neurosurgical lesions.
Multiscale Entropy Analysis for Recognition of Visually Elicited Negative Stress From EEG Recordings
Authors: Martínez-Rodrigo Arturo , García-Martínez Beatriz , Alcaraz Raúl , González Pascual , Fernández-Caballero Antonio
Published: August 2018

Automatic identification of negative stress is an unresolved challenge that has received great attention in the last few years. Many studies have analyzed electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings to gain new insights about how the brain reacts to both short- and long-term stressful stimuli. Although most of them have only considered linear methods, the heterogeneity and complexity of the brain has recently motivated an increasing use of nonlinear metrics. Nonetheless, brain dynamics reflected in EEG recordings often exhibit a multiscale nature and no study dealing with this aspect has been developed yet. Hence, in this work two nonlinear indices for quantifying regularity and predictability of time series from several time scales are studied for the first time to discern between visually elicited emotional states of calmness and negative stress. The obtained results have revealed the maximum discriminant ability of 86.35% for the second time scale, thus suggesting that brain dynamics triggered by negative stress can be more clearly assessed after removal of some fast temporal oscillations. Moreover, both metrics have also been able to report complementary information for some brain areas.
A New Analysis Way of Three-Phase Switched Capacitor Converter
Authors: Do WangLok , Asadi Farzin , Eguchi Kei
Published: August 2018

The paper presents the theoretical analysis way of the switched capacitor converter (SCC). The main goal of this research is to suggest the analysis way of three-phase SCC. A common SCC operates by two phases; charging phase and discharging phase. Therefore, state-space averaging model or slow and fast switching limit (S-FSL) model has been suitable. Although the four-terminal equivalent model can cover all situation including three-phases cases, this model does not include the parameter of frequency and capacitance. Therefore, the four-terminal model has a weakness. In this situation, we selected the Fibonacci sequence SCC operated by three-phase as the target circuit, which topology has been proved to have higher efficiency, small size in the previous research. In the paper, we suggest the new analysis way of the three-phase SCC by combination of the four-terminal equivalent model and RC circuit model from each loop equation of the equivalent circuits of the SCC. By using the suggested way, it is possible to analyze the three-phase SCC, deriving the effect of the load, operation frequency and duty ratio variation. In order to verify the feasibility and the cogency of the suggested analysis way, comparative analysis is implemented by SPICE simulations. The error in the load regulation between the suggested way and the simulation result is negligible. Through this result, we establish the foundation of the analysis of the three-phase SCC.
EFFECTS OF AUTOLOGOUS SERUM EYE DROPS FOR TREATMENT OF KERATOCONJUNCTIVITIS SICCA IN DOGS
Authors: Lin Han-Syuan , Lin Shiun-Long , Chang Feng-Jen
Published: August 2018

In humans, autologous serum (AS) eye drops has been applied for the treatment of refractory keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) for several decades. However, there are few researches to investigate the AS eye drops in dogs with KCS. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of AS eye drops on treatment of KCS in dogs. Eighteen eyes of ten client-owned dogs with refractory KCS were used in this study. Schirmer tear test (STT), tear film breakup time (TBUT), fluorescein (FL) staining score, and Rose Bengal (RB) staining score were used to measure the status of cornea prospectively at baseline and 1–3 months after treatment. Additionally, the results were further stratified by their STT value, sex, and age. The results indicated that the mean TBUT, FL staining score, and RB staining score were significantly improved after treatment except STT. In 18 eyes, 77.8% eyes had decreased mucopurulent ocular discharge and 38.9% eyes got wet. Besides, both TBUT and RB staining score were significantly improved in a subgroup of dogs with age less than 9 years old. As far as we know, this study is the first trial to determine the efficacy and safety of 20% AS eye drops for cKCS. In conclusion, AS eye drops seemed to be effective and safe for dogs with KCS, and it could improve tear film stability, ocular surface health, and subjective clinical symptoms, especially in dogs younger than 9 years old.
PATHOGENICITY, IMMUNOGENICITY, PROTECTION EFFICACY, AND SPIKE PROTEIN GENE SEQUENCE OF A HIGH-PASSAGE TURKEY CORONAVIRUS SERIALLY PASSAGED IN EMBRYONATED TURKEY EGGS
Authors: Chen Yi-Ning , Wu Ching Ching , Bryan Tom , Hooper Tom , Schrader Donna , Lin Tsang Long
Published: August 2018

Experimental infection of a high-passage turkey coronavirus passaged serially in embryonated turkey eggs for 344 times (P344 TCoV 540) showed no enteritis-related clinical signs, decreased body weight gains, gross, and microscopic lesions. TCoV spike (S) protein specific antibodies appeared from 14 days post infection (dpi) and increased gradually. Virus neutralization (VN) titers of the serum from P344 TCoV 540-inoculated turkeys were 1:13 at 14 dpi, 1:16 at 28 dpi, and 1:36 at 56 dpi against P344 TCoV 540. P344 TCoV 540-inoculated turkeys were protected against the challenge by homologous P344 TCoV 540 completely or low passage P3 TCoV 540 partially as revealed by lack of histopathological alterations, absence of TCoV by immunofluorescent antibody assay in the intestines, and reduction in TCoV viral RNA loads in the intestines and feces. The serum from P344 TCoV 540-vaccinated turkeys had higher VN titers against P344 TCoV 540 than those against P3 TCoV 540. P344 TCoV 540 had 52 amino acid substitutions as compared to those of P3 TCoV in the S protein. The results indicated that a high passage TCoV can induce protective humoral and cellular immune response and have potentials to become an attenuated vaccine.
In vivo monitoring of microneedle-based transdermal drug delivery of insulin
Authors: Zhao Jiawei , Wu Yongbo , Chen Junbo , Lu Bangrong , Xiong Honglian , Tang Zhilie , Ji Yanhong
Published: August 2018

Soluble microneedles (MNs) have recently become an efficient and minimally invasive tool in transdermal drug delivery because of their excellent biocompatibility and rapid dissolution. However, direct monitoring of structural and functional changes of MNs in vivo to estimate the efficiency of insulin delivery is difficult. We monitored the dissolution of MNs to obtain structural imaging of MNs’ changes by using optical coherence tomography (OCT). We also observed the effect of MNs on microvascular conditions with laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) and measured the blood perfusion of skin to obtain functional imaging of MNs. We determined the performance of two soluble MN arrays made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinylpyrolidone (PVA/PVP) by calculating the cross-sectional areas of the microchannels in mouse skin as a function of time. Moreover, the change in blood glucose before and after using MNs loaded with insulin was evaluated as an auxiliary means to demonstrate the ability of the soluble MNs to deliver insulin. Results showed that the structural imaging of these MNs could be observed in vivo via OCT in real time and the functional imaging of MNs could be showed using LSCI. OCT and LSCI are potential tools in monitoring MNs structural and functional changes.
Quality Perceptions and Water Treatment Behavior at the Household Level
Authors: Aksan Anna-Maria , Vásquez William F.
Published: August 2018

Contaminated drinking water is a major contributor to illnesses in low-income countries. Individuals may take measures to avoid drinking contaminated water, by boiling, filtering, or chlorinating it, or by drinking bottled water. However, lack of information about water quality in some communities may lead individuals to perceive water quality to be better than it could be and therefore not allocate sufficient resources to avoid drinking contaminated water, or to perceive water quality to be worse than it is thereby wasting resources on treating the water or buying bottled water. We build an expected utility model to demonstrate that individuals may over or under invest in improving drinking water depending on their perceptions of water quality. Perceptions depend on uncertain health outcomes as well as other potentially confounding influences (e.g., aesthetic characteristics of the water and cultural norms). Simulations demonstrate conditions under which individuals correct their perceptions over time versus when policy interventions (e.g., information campaigns) may effectively correct perceptions.
Cross Orthogonality Between Eigenfunctions and Conjugate Eigenfunctions of a Class of Modified Helmholtz Operator for Pekeris Waveguide
Authors: Zhu Jianxin , Zhang Ying
Published: August 2018

The eigenfunctions of the modified Helmholtz operator have no orthogonality in a bounded domain with a perfectly matched layer (PML), which makes it difficult to calculate the coordinates under two different local bases when the marching algorithm is applied. In this paper, we derive the conjugate eigenfunctions of the operator and discuss the cross orthogonality between the eigenfunctions and their conjugate eigenfunctions. On the other hand, we derive a simple formula for calculating the coordinates under the local base. The numerical results indicate that this method is effective.
Forward and Inverse Analysis of Love Wave Scattering by Interface Cavities
Authors: Wang Bin , Yang Chen , Qian Zhenghua
Published: August 2018

Love waves have great potential in geological inspection and ultrasonic nondestructive testing for near-surface underground characteristics. A thorough and effective utilization of the Love wave requires a better understanding of its scattering phenomenon. The paper studies the problem of Love wave scattering by cavity-like flaws on the interface between the upper layer and the lower half-plane. For the forward analysis, we suggest a modified boundary element method (BEM) incorporating the far-field displacement patterns, which can effectively eliminate fictitious reflections introduced by model truncation. For inverse analysis, we propose a quantitative reconstruction procedure for the flaw shape using reflection coefficients of the first-order Love wave. By theoretical deduction, it can be proved that the cavity’s geometric shape is approximately expressed as an inverse spatial Fourier transform of far-field reflection coefficients in the wavenumber domain. Numerical examples are given by substituting the reflection coefficients obtained from the forward analysis into the inversion algorithm, and high consistency is shown between the reconstructed flaw images and the geometric characteristics of the actual flaws.
Perturbations in the carbon cycle during the Carnian Humid Episode: carbonate carbon isotope records from southwestern China and northern Oman
Authors: Sun Y.D. , Richoz S. , Krystyn L. , Zhang Z.T. , Joachimski M.M.
Published: August 2018

The Carnian Humid Episode is an interval of prominent climatic changes in the Late Triassic. We studied the carbon isotope (δ
13
C) geochemistry of carbonates from sections in southwestern China and northern Oman. δ
13
C records from the Yongyue section (western Guizhou, South China) show a progressive positive shift from 1.4 to 2.8‰ in the early to middle Julian 1 substage. This positive trend is followed by a swift negative shift of
c.
4.2‰ from 2.8 to −1.4‰ in the Julian 2 substage. δ
13
C from the Wadi Mayhah section (northern Oman) shows a positive shift from 2.2 to 2.8‰ in the Julian 1 substage, followed by a negative shift of
c.
3.2‰ from 2.8 to −0.3‰ in the Julian 2 substage. The δ
13
C records from the two study sections generally correlate well with each other as well as with published records, pointing to a considerable input of isotopically light carbon starting in the late Julian 1 substage. Such a large amount of light carbon probably derived from direct degassing and the sediment–sill contact metamorphism of the Panthalassan Wrangellia Large Igneous Province and contemporary Tethyan volcanism. The voluminous volcanogenic greenhouse gases probably contributed to the warming pulse in the middle Carnian. Thus the dry–wet climatic transition during the Carnian Humid Episode is best interpreted as a warm climate-driven intensification of the activities of the atmospheric circulation and hydrological cycle.
The Schilfsandstein and its flora; arguments for a humid mid-Carnian episode?
Authors: Franz M. , Kustatscher E. , Heunisch C. , Niegel S. , Röhling H.-G.
Published: August 2018

Recently intensified research on the mid-Carnian episode stimulated discussions about the mid-Carnian climate and a supposed humid climate shift. This basin-scale study on the Schilfsandstein, the type-example of the mid-Carnian episode, applied sedimentological, palynological and palaeobotanical proxies of the palaeoclimate to a large dataset of cored wells and outcrops. The results demonstrate the primary control of circum-Tethyan eustatic cycles on the Central European Basin where transgressions contributed to basin-scale facies shifts. The palaeoclimate proxies point to a uniform arid to semi-arid Carnian climate with low chemical weathering and high evaporation. Consequently, transgressions into the Central European Basin led to increased evaporation forcing the hydrological cycle. The increased runoff from source areas resulted in high-groundwater stages on lowlands characterized by hydromorphic palaeosols and intrazonal vegetation with hygrophytic elements. During lowstands, reduced evaporation and runoff led to increased drainage and desiccation of lowlands characterized by formation of vertisols, calcisols and gypsisols and zonal vegetation with xerophytic elements. The proposed model of sea-level control on the hydrological cycle integrates coeval and subsequent occurrences of wet and dry lowlands, hydromorphic and well-drained palaeosols, and intrazonal and zonal vegetations. Thus, the Schilfsandstein does not provide arguments for a humid mid-Carnian episode.

Supplementary material:
Datasets of Palynomorph Eco Group (PEG) and Macroplant Eco Group (MEG) analyses are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4182593
Chemical and petrographic fingerprinting of volcanic ashes as a tool for high-resolution stratigraphy of the upper Miocene Pisco Formation (Peru)
Authors: Bosio Giulia , Gioncada Anna , Malinverno Elisa , Di Celma Claudio , Villa Igor M. , Cataldi Giuseppe , Gariboldi Karen , Collareta Alberto , Urbina Mario , Bianucci Giovanni
Published: August 2018

Tephra layers are a unique tool for stratigraphy. Their geologically instantaneous deposition across wide areas makes them a powerful instrument for dating and correlating distant localities. In this paper, we apply tephra fingerprinting for high-resolution stratigraphic purposes in the upper Miocene portion of the Pisco Formation, which crops out along the southern Peruvian coast. The Pisco Formation diatomaceous strata host an important marine vertebrate Fossil-Lagerstätte, whose palaeontological relevance has entailed the necessity of reconstructing a detailed chronostratigraphic framework using
39
Ar–
40
Ar dating and tephra correlations. Distal ashes from the Central Andes volcanoes are frequent in the Pisco Formation, but their similar glass composition and mineral assemblage, together with the shallow marine environment limiting tephra preservation, could be unpromising for tephra-based correlations. In this study, tephra layers from measured stratigraphic sections were fingerprinted with a combined petrographic and microanalytical approach, including glass shard morphology and granulometric analyses. Based on the obtained results, we correlated sections several kilometres apart, greatly increasing the chronostratigraphic detail. Major element composition of biotite proved a valuable tool to discriminate the Central Andes metaluminous to peraluminous tephra deposited in the Peruvian forearc basins. This study highlights the applicability of tephra fingerprinting in unfavourable shallow marine environments.

Supplementary material:
A compilation of tephra data (field observations, granulometric parameters, petrographic data and EPMA analyses on glass), EPMA single analyses on glass and biotite,
39
Ar–
40
Ar step heating results, measured stratigraphic logs and biotite chemical diagrams are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4201484
Revisiting The Vertex Cache
Authors: Kerbl Bernhard , Kenzel Michael , Ivanchenko Elena , Schmalstieg Dieter , Steinberger Markus
Published: August 2018

In this paper, we question the premise that graphics hardware uses a post-transform cache to avoid redundant vertex shader invocations. A large body of existing work on optimizing indexed triangle sets for rendering speed is based upon this widely-accepted assumption. We conclusively show that this assumption does not hold up on modern graphics hardware. We design and conduct experiments that demonstrate the behavior of current hardware of all major vendors to be inconsistent with the presence of a common post-transform cache. Our results strongly suggest that modern hardware rather relies on a batch-based approach, most likely for reasons of scalability. A more thorough investigation based on these initial experiments allows us to partially uncover the actual strategies implemented on graphics processors today. We reevaluate existing mesh optimization algorithms in light of these new findings and present a new mesh optimization algorithm designed from the ground up to target architectures that rely on batch-based vertex reuse. In an extensive evaluation, we measure and compare the real-world performance of various optimization algorithms on modern hardware. Our results show that some established algorithms still perform well. However, if the batching strategy of the target architecture is known, our approach can significantly outperform these previous state-of-the-art methods.
High-Performance By-Example Noise using a Histogram-Preserving Blending Operator
Authors: Heitz Eric , Neyret Fabrice
Published: August 2018

We propose a new by-example noise algorithm that takes as input a small example of a stochastic texture and synthesizes an infinite output with the same appearance. It works on any kind of random-phase inputs as well as on many non-random-phase inputs that are stochastic and non-periodic, typically natural textures such as moss, granite, sand, bark, etc. Our algorithm achieves high-quality results comparable to state-of-the-art procedural-noise techniques but is more than 20 times faster.

Our approach is conceptually simple: we partition the output texture space on a triangle grid and associate each vertex with a random patch from the input such that the evaluation inside a triangle is done by blending 3 patches. The key to this approach is the blending operation that usually produces visual artifacts such as ghosting, softened discontinuities and reduced contrast, or introduces new colors not present in the input. We analyze these problems by showing how linear blending impacts the histogram and show that a blending operator that preserves the histogram prevents these problems.

The main requirement for a rendering application is to implement such an operator in a fragment shader without further post-processing, i.e. we need a histogram-preserving blending operator that operates only at the pixel level. Our insight for the design of this operator is that, with Gaussian inputs, histogram-preserving blending boils down to mean and variance preservation, which is simple to obtain analytically. We extend this idea to non-Gaussian inputs by "Gaussianizing" them with a histogram transformation and "de-Gaussianizing" them with the inverse transformation after the blending operation. We show how to precompute and store these histogram transformations such that our algorithm can be implemented in a fragment shader.
Non-periodic Tiling of Procedural Noise Functions
Authors: Kirillov Aleksandr
Published: August 2018

Procedural noise functions have many applications in computer graphics, ranging from texture synthesis to atmospheric effect simulation or to landscape geometry specification. Noise can either be precomputed and stored into a texture, or evaluated directly at application runtime. This choice offers a tradeoff between image variance, memory consumption and performance.

Advanced tiling algorithms can be used to decrease visual repetition. Wang tiles allow a plane to be tiled in a non-periodic way, using a relatively small set of textures. Tiles can be arranged in a single texture map to enable the GPU to use hardware filtering.

In this paper, we present modifications to several popular procedural noise functions that directly produce texture maps containing the smallest complete Wang tile set. The findings presented in this paper enable non-periodic tiling of these noise functions and textures based on them, both at runtime and as a preprocessing step. These findings also allow decreasing repetition of noise-based effects in computer-generated images at a small performance cost, while maintaining or even reducing the memory consumption.
Fast Generation of Poisson-Disk Samples on Mesh Surfaces by Progressive Sample Projection
Authors: Wang Tong , Suda Reiji
Published: August 2018

Generating well-distributed Poisson-disk samples with a blue noise power spectrum on 3D meshes is required by a wide range of applications in computer graphics. We introduce a novel method called Progressive Sample Projection that can generate massive Poisson-disk samples on mesh surfaces in very short time by projecting blue noise sample patterns from 2D planar space onto meshes. This parallel scheme can exploit full parallelism of GPU without deep recursion or atomic operations, which are often required by other methods. Compared with state-of-the-art methods, the effective generation rate of our method can be 2x to orders of magnitude faster, while still preserving good sample quality. This method is also progressive with memory usage bounded, thus being flexible for both performance and quality demanding work. The implementation is straightforward and easy to understand. It can be easily applied to adaptive sampling as well.
A Fast Method to Calculate the Volumetric Divergence Metric for Evaluating the Accuracy of the Extracted Isosurface
Authors: Wang Cuilan
Published: August 2018

In this paper, a new method is introduced to calculate the volumetric divergence (VD) metric, which is defined as the volume between the extracted isosurface mesh and the isosurface given by trilinear interpolation. This metric can be used to evaluate the accuracy of the extracted isosurface mesh against the trilinear interpolation isosurface. In the new method, each cube in a scalar volumetric dataset is sliced, the cross-sectional area of the VD region on each slice is calculated analytically, and then all the cross-sectional areas are integrated numerically to generate the volume of the VD region (i.e., the VD metric). The more the cube is sliced, the more accurate the metric becomes. The existing method that calculates the VD metric is a pure numerical method. Its execution time is long when the metric accuracy is high. The new method is 15-70 times faster than the existing method when both methods achieve the same level of accuracy.
A call to reevaluate cardiac autonomic assessment after spinal cord injury
Authors: Sharif Hisham , La Fountaine Michael F. , Wecht Jill M. , Ditor David S.
Published: August 2018

This “Perspectives” article puts forward the notion that measuring heart rate variability, or other forms of cardiac autonomic regulation, after spinal cord injury must be performed during a test of autonomic stress. Resting values of heart rate variability are often similar to those obtained from able-bodied individuals, which may therefore be falsely interpreted as normal or healthy autonomic regulation. However, evidence shows that despite normal resting values, cardiac autonomic control is impaired when individual with spinal cord injury are subjected to a cold face test, head-up tilt, or recovery from exercise. Accordingly, examination of cardiac autonomic function must be performed during an autonomic challenge, as resting measures do not accurately reflect the state of cardiovascular regulation after spinal cord injury and can provide false information.
A Role for Tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase in CD8 T-cell Suppression and Evidence of Tryptophan Catabolism in Breast Cancer Patient Plasma
Authors: Greene Lisa I. , Bruno Tullia C. , Christenson Jessica L. , D'Alessandro Angelo , Culp-Hill Rachel , Torkko Kathleen , Borges Virginia F. , Slansky Jill E. , Richer Jennifer K.
Published: August 2018

Tryptophan catabolism is an attractive target for reducing tumor progression and improving antitumor immunity in multiple cancers. Tumor infiltration by CD8 T cells correlates with improved prognosis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and a significant effort is underway to improve CD8 T-cell antitumor activity. In this study, primary human immune cells were isolated from the peripheral blood of patients and used to demonstrate that the tryptophan catabolite kynurenine induces CD8 T-cell death. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that anchorage-independent TNBC utilizes the tryptophan-catabolizing enzyme tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) to inhibit CD8 T-cell viability. Publicly available data revealed that high TDO2, the gene encoding TDO, correlates with poor breast cancer clinical outcomes, including overall survival and distant metastasis-free survival, while expression of the gene encoding the more commonly studied tryptophan-catabolizing enzyme, IDO1 did not. Metabolomic analysis, using quantitative mass spectrometry, of tryptophan and its catabolites, including kynurenine, in the plasma from presurgical breast cancer patients (n = 77) and 40 cancer-free donors (n = 40) indicated a strong correlation between substrate and catabolite in both groups. Interestingly, both tryptophan and kynurenine were lower in the plasma from patients with breast cancer compared with controls, particularly in women with estrogen receptor (ER)-negative and stage III and IV breast cancer.

Implications:

This study underscores the importance of tryptophan catabolism, particularly in aggressive disease, and suggests that future pharmacologic efforts should focus on developing drugs that target both TDO and IDO1.
Accuracy of Microelectrode Trajectory Adjustments during DBS Assessed by Intraoperative CT
Authors: Bus Sander , Pal Gian , Ouyang Bichun , van den Munckhof Pepijn , Bot Maarten , Sani Sepehr , Verhagen Metman Leo
Published: August 2018

Background/Aims: Microelectrode recording (MER)-guided deep brain stimulation (DBS) aims to place the DBS lead in the optimal electrophysiological target. When single-track MER or test stimulation yields suboptimal results, trajectory adjustments are made. The accuracy of these trajectory adjustments is unknown. Intraoperative computed tomography can visualize the microelectrode (ME) and verify ME adjustments. We aimed to determine the accuracy of ME movements in patients undergoing MER-guided DBS. Methods: Coordinates following three methods of adjustment were compared: (1) those within the default “+” configuration of the ME holder; (2) those involving rotation of the default “+” to the “x” configuration; and (3) those involving head stage adjustments. Radial error and absolute differences between coordinates were determined. Results: 87 ME movements in 59 patients were analyzed. Median (IQR) radial error was 0.59 (0.64) mm. Median (IQR) absolute x and y coordinate errors were 0.29 (0.52) and 0.38 (0.44) mm, respectively. Errors were largest after rotating the multielectrode holder to its “x”-shaped setup. Conclusion: ME trajectory adjustments can be made accurately. In a considerable number of cases, errors exceeding 1 mm were found. Adjustments from the “+” setup to the “x” setup are most prone to inaccuracies.
Midlife Stress in Relation to Late-Life Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease: A 25-Year Follow-Up Study
Authors: Johansson Lena , Kern Silke , Zetterberg Henrik , Blennow Kaj , Börjesson-Hansson Anne , Rosengren Lars , Guo Xinxin , Skoog Ingmar
Published: August 2018

Background/Aims: Psychological stress has previously been associated with higher risk of developing late-life dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study tested whether longstanding midlife stress is related to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of late-life AD, such as tau protein and amyloid beta (Aβ). Methods: The study included 79 nondemented females from the Prospective Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, Sweden, who responded to a standardized stress question at baseline (mean age 49 years) and underwent a lumbar puncture at follow-up 25 years later. Multiple linear regression models analyzed the relationships between midlife psychological stress and late-life CSF measures of total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau (p-tau), Aβ40, and Aβ42. Results: Longstanding stress in midlife was associated with higher levels of CSF t-tau (β = 0.64, p = 0.01) and Aβ40 (β = 0.60, p = 0.02) in late life. No associations were found between midlife stress and levels of p-tau or Aβ42. Conclusion: The findings suggest that longstanding stress stimulates unspecific neurodegenerative processes, but not the core processes of AD, at least not in the early phase of the disease. The association with higher concentration of CSF t-tau may reflect neural degeneration and the association with higher Aβ40 may be an early sign of Aβ overproduction or cerebrovascular processes in the brain.
Deep-Learning-gestützte Computer-Algorithmen zur Diagnosestellung in der Augenheilkunde
Authors: Siebelmann Sebastian
Published: August 2018

Purpose: The advent of electronic medical records (EMRs) with large electronic imaging databases along with advances in deep neural networks with machine learning has provided a unique opportunity to achieve milestones in automated image analysis. Optical coherence tomography is the most common imaging modality in ophthalmology and represents a dense and rich data set when combined with labels derived from the EMR. We sought to determine whether deep learning could be utilized to distinguish normal OCT images from images from patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Design: EMR and OCT database study. Subjects: Normal and AMD patients who underwent macular OCT. Methods: Automated extraction of an OCT database was performed and linked to clinical end points from the EMR. Optical coherence tomography scans of the macula were obtained by Heidelberg Spectralis, and each OCT scan was linked to EMR clinical end points extracted from EPIC. The central 11 images were selected from each OCT scan of 2 cohorts of patients: normal and AMD. Cross-validation was performed using a random subset of patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed at an independent image level, macular OCT level, and patient level. Main Outcome Measure: Area under the ROC curve. Results: Of a recent extraction of 2.6 million OCT images linked to clinical data points from the EMR, 52 690 normal macular OCT images and 48 312 AMD macular OCT images were selected. A deep neural network was trained to categorize images as either normal or AMD. At the image level, we achieved an area under the ROC curve of 92.78% with an accuracy of 87.63%. At the macula level, we achieved an area under the ROC curve of 93.83% with an accuracy of 88.98%. At a patient level, we achieved an area under the ROC curve of 97.45% with an accuracy of 93.45%. Peak sensitivity and specificity with optimal cutoffs were 92.64% and 93.69%, respectively. Conclusions: The deep learning technique achieves high accuracy and is effective as a new image classification technique. These findings have important implications in utilizing OCT in automated screening and the development of computer-aided diagnosis tools in the future.
Parietal Involvement in Constructional Apraxia as Measured Using the Pentagon Copying Task
Authors: Van der Stigchel Stefan , de Bresser Jeroen , Heinen Rutger , Koek Huiberdina L. , Reijmer Yael D. , Biessels Geert Jan , van den Berg Esther ,   on behalf of the Utrecht Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI) Study Group
Published: August 2018

Deficits in copying (“constructional apraxia”) is generally defined as a multifaceted deficit. The exact neural correlates of the different types of copying errors are unknown. To assess whether the different categories of errors on the pentagon drawing relate to different neural correlates, we examined the pentagon drawings of the MMSE in persons with subjective cognitive complaints, mild cognitive impairment, or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. We adopted a qualitative scoring method for the pentagon copy test (QSPT) which categorizes different possible errors in copying rather than the dichotomous categories “correct” or “incorrect.” We correlated (regional) gray matter volumes with performance on the different categories of the QSPT. Results showed that the total score of the QSPT was specifically associated with parietal gray matter volume and not with frontal, temporal, and occipital gray matter volume. A more fine-grained analysis of the errors reveals that the intersection score and the number of angles share their underlying neural correlates and are associated with specific subregions of the parietal cortex. These results are in line with the idea that constructional apraxia can be attributed to the failure to integrate visual information correctly from one fixation to the next, a process called spatial remapping.
Is the Mayfield Head Holder Obligatory for Intracranial Aneurysm Clipping?
Authors: Demartini Jr. Zeferino , Gatto Luana Antunes Maranha , da Rocha Tatiane Coghetto , Maeda Adriano Keijiro , Valerio Adriana , Koppe Gelson Luis , Francisco Alexandre Novicki
Published: August 2018

Intracranial aneurysm surgery is commonly performed using pinned head holders, which pose a higher risk for the pediatric population. Several authors recommend avoiding the use of this device when it is not strictly necessary, and this is currently possible considering advances in anesthesiology and monitoring. As the literature on microsurgery without skull clamp use is scant, we report the case of a 15-year-old boy presenting with a subarachnoid hemorrhage after rupture of a middle cerebral artery aneurysm. Surgical treatment was performed with the head resting on a gel cushion horseshoe; aneurysm clipping was achieved without wakefulness or awareness and the patient had a good recovery.
New species and records of Dissomphalus Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Cerrado, Caatinga and relicts of the Atlantic Forest from northeastern Brazil
Authors: COLOMBO WESLEY D. , ALENCAR ISABEL D.C.C. , LIMEIRA-DE-OLIVEIRA FRANCISCO , AZEVEDO CELSO O.
Published: August 2018

The main goal of this paper is to study the Dissomphalus material deposited at the Coleção Zoológica do Maranhão (Maranhão, Brazil). The material was collected in six parks: Parque Nacional Chapada das Mesas, Parque Estadual do Mirador and Reserva Ecológica do Inhamum in the state of Maranhão; Parque Nacional Serra das Confusões and Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades in the state of Piauí, and Parque Nacional de Ubajara in the state of Ceará. Forty species are recognized from these six parks. Twenty-two of them are previously described species, namely: D. bifurcatus Azevedo, D. cervoides Azevedo, D. conicus Azevedo, D. curvilongus Azevedo, D. geniculatus Azevedo, D. gilvipes Evans, D. infissus Evans, D. krombeini Azevedo, D. laminaris Redighieri & Azevedo, D. latimerus Azevedo, D. linearis Azevedo, D. lobisserratus Azevedo, D. magnus Redighieri & Azevedo, D. megomphalus Evans, D. microstictus Evans, D. napo Evans, D. plaumanni Evans, D. scamatus Azevedo, D. subpilosus Azevedo, D. tubulatus Redighieri & Azevedo, D. ubracus Brito & Azevedo and D. verrucosus Redighieri & Azevedo. Eighteen species are newly described and illustrated: Dissomphalus acutipupu Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. boibumba Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. boitata Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. boiuna Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. boto Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. caipora Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. capelobo Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. cuca Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. curupira Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. iara Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. iracema Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. irupe Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. joaquinae Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. jurupari Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. mapinguari Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. matintaperera Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov., D. saci Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov. and D. torem Colombo & Azevedo sp. nov.. A key for these species is provided. The genus is newly recorded from the state of Piauí, Brazil.
An updated list of the type specimens of Caelifera (Orthoptera) in the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro
Authors: MONNÉ MIGUEL A.
Published: August 2018

A checklist of the type specimens of 273 species of Caelifera (Orthoptera) deposited in the Museu Nacional, Universidade de Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is provided.
Replacement name for the genus Maublancia Bellamy, 1998 (Coleoptera, Buprestidae, Agrilinae), junior homonym of Maublancia Lepesme & Breuning, 1956
Authors: PONTING JOHN
Published: August 2018

In 1947, Théry described a genus of buprestid beetle from Angola, naming it Maublancia Théry, 1947. He included two species in this genus; M. auberti Théry, 1947 and M. testui Théry, 1947. He did not, however, nominate a type species. Under Article 13.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999) this name is not available.
One new species of the genus Acosmetura and supplement of Acosmetura emeica Liu & Zhou, 2007 (Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae) from Sichuan, China
Authors: WANG TAO , SHI FU-MING , WANG HAI-JIAN
Published: August 2018

In this paper, one new species of the genus Acosmetura Liu, 2000 is described, i.e. Acosmetura longitubera sp. nov. from Sichuan, China, and distinctive characters are illustrated. In addition, supplementary description and morphological photographs of Acosmetura emeica Liu & Zhou, 2007 from Emeishan, Sichuan are provided.
Two new synonyms in the dung beetle genus Parachorius (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from the Oriental Region
Authors: TARASOV SERGEI
Published: August 2018

The dung beetle genus Parachorius Harold, 1873 (= Cassolus Sharp, 1875) belongs to the monotypic tribe Parachoriini Tarasov, 2017 and includes 19 species from the Oriental and southeastern Palaearctic Regions (Tarasov 2017). Two recent studies (Ochi et al. 2017a, b) described two new species of this genus from Laos and Sumatra. The investigation of detailed descriptions and illustrations from those studies and their assessment in the light of the recent revision of Parachorius (Tarasov 2017) revealed that those new species are synonyms of earlier described ones: P. javanus (Boucomont, 1914) = P. singgalangensis Ochi, Kon & Hartini, 2017, new synonymy, and P. fukiensis (Balthasar, 1960) = C. laosensis Ochi, Kon & Higurashi, 2017, new synonymy. Unfortunately, this oversight happened because the authors of those new species did not check the type material of already described taxa.