bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Condroblastomas del carpo: caso clínico y revisión de la literatura
Authors: Lázaro Leonardo , Ferreres-Claramunt Ángel
Published: August 2018

Los condroblastomas son tumores benignos poco frecuentes (su incidencia corresponde a menos del 1% de los tumores óseos primarios), de aparición habitual en la epífisis de huesos largos; siendo el fémur distal y la tibia proximal sus sitios de aparición más habituales. Es raro el asiento de esas lesiones en los huesos del carpo. A pesar de que sigue siendo considerado un tumor benigno, puede tener un comportamiento agresivo, tanto como recidiva local como produciendo metástasis. Presentamos un caso de un paciente de 16 años que presentó un condroblastoma de escafoides con recidivas en dos ocasiones tras un tratamiento convencional de legrado e injerto.
Linear analyses of peeling-ballooning modes in high beta pedestal plasmas
Authors: Sun C. K. , Xu X. Q. , Ma C. H. , Li B.
Published: August 2018

We present the linear simulations of edge plasma instabilities using the 3-field peeling-ballooning model and gyro-Landau-fluid model under the BOUT++ framework. A series of realistic equilibria of shifted circular geometry are generated by a global equilibrium solver CORSICA, where the Shafranov shift, elongation effects, and bootstrap current are included. The linear growth rate spectrum of the peeling-ballooning modes is shown in a wide range of pressure gradient and parallel current density in the pedestal region. The results show that the bootstrap current stabilizes high beta ballooning modes. The simulations with different fractions of bootstrap current indicate a trend for the existence of the high beta peeling-ballooning mode stability region. Taking the kinetic effects into account, the linear simulations of kinetic peeling-ballooning mode using the gyro-Landau-fluid model show that this region can be accessed.
Donors and deep acceptors in β-Ga2O3
Authors: Neal Adam T. , Mou Shin , Rafique Subrina , Zhao Hongping , Ahmadi Elaheh , Speck James S. , Stevens Kevin T. , Blevins John D. , Thomson Darren B. , Moser Neil , Chabak Kelson D. , Jessen Gregg H.
Published: August 2018

We have studied the properties of Si, Ge shallow donors and Fe, Mg deep acceptors in β-Ga2O3 through temperature dependent van der Pauw and Hall effect measurements of samples grown by a variety of methods, including edge-defined film-fed, Czochralski, molecular beam epitaxy, and low pressure chemical vapor deposition. Through simultaneous, self-consistent fitting of the temperature dependent carrier density and mobility, we are able to accurately estimate the donor energy of Si and Ge to be 30 meV in β-Ga2O3. Additionally, we show that our measured Hall effect data are consistent with Si and Ge acting as typical shallow donors, rather than shallow DX centers. The high temperature Hall effect measurement of Fe doped β-Ga2O3 indicates that the material remains weakly n-type even with the Fe doping, with an acceptor energy of 860 meV relative to the conduction band for the Fe deep acceptor. Van der Pauw measurements of Mg doped Ga2O3 indicate an activation energy of 1.1 eV, as determined from the temperature dependent conductivity.
Polycapillary x-ray lenses for single-shot, laser-driven powder diffraction
Authors: Schollmeier M. , Ao T. , Field E. S. , Galloway B. R. , Kalita P. , Kimmel M. W. , Morgan D. V. , Rambo P. K. , Schwarz J. , Shores J. E. , Smith I. C. , Speas C. S. , Benage J. F. , Porter J. L.
Published: August 2018

X-ray diffraction measurements to characterize phase transitions of dynamically compressed high-Z matter at Mbar pressures require both sufficient photon energy and fluence to create data with high fidelity in a single shot. Large-scale laser systems can be used to generate x-ray sources above 10 keV utilizing line radiation of mid-Z elements. However, the laser-to-x-ray energy conversion efficiency at these energies is low, and thermal x-rays or hot electrons result in unwanted background. We employ polycapillary x-ray lenses in powder x-ray diffraction measurements using solid target x-ray emission from either the Z-Beamlet long-pulse or the Z-Petawatt (ZPW) short-pulse laser systems at Sandia National Laboratories. Polycapillary lenses allow for a 100-fold fluence increase compared to a conventional pinhole aperture while simultaneously reducing the background significantly. This enables diffraction measurements up to 16 keV at the few-photon signal level as well as diffraction experiments with ZPW at full intensity.
Rarefaction throttling effect: Influence of the bend in micro-channel gaseous flow
Authors: Liu Wei , Tang Guihua , Su Wei , Wu Lei , Zhang Yonghao
Published: August 2018

Micro-bends are frequently encountered in micro-electro-mechanical systems as a basic unit of complex geometry. It is essential for a deep understanding of the rarefied gas flow through bent channels. In this paper, a two-dimensional pressure-driven gas flow in a micro-channel with two bends is investigated by solving the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook kinetic equation via the discrete velocity method in the slip and transition flow regimes. The results show that the mass flow rate (MFR) through the bent channel is slightly higher than that in the straight channel in the slip flow regime but drops significantly as the Knudsen number increases further. It is demonstrated that the increase in MFR is not due to the rarefaction effect but due to the increase in cross section of the bent corners. As the rarefaction effect becomes more prominent, the low-velocity zones at the corners expand and the gas flow is “squeezed” into the inner corner. The narrowed flow section is similar to the throttling effect caused by the valve, and both the changes in MFRs and the pressure distribution also confirm this effect. The classical Knudsen minimum changes due to this “rarefaction throttling effect.” The Knudsen number at which the minimum MFR occurs gradually increases with the bend angle and finally disappears in the transition flow regime. In addition, the onset of rarefaction throttling effect shifts to a smaller Knudsen number with a lower tangential momentum accommodation coefficient.
Radiative and non-radiative recombination of thermally activated magneto-excitons probed via quasi-simultaneous photoluminescence and surface-photovoltage spectroscopy
Authors: Haldar S. , Dixit V. K. , Vashisht Geetanjali , Porwal S. , Sharma T. K.
Published: August 2018

The effect of the magnetic field on radiative and non-radiative mechanisms of charge carriers in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (QWs) is investigated via quasi-simultaneous magneto-photoluminescence (PL) and magneto-surface photo-voltage (SPV) spectroscopy. At low-temperature, the luminescence intensity of ultra-low disordered GaAs/AlGaAs QWs generally increases under strong magnetic perturbation. Even at relatively high-temperature (100 K), the magnetic field driven enhancement of PL intensity is observed for thick QWs. On the other hand, it is found that the PL intensity of narrow QWs gradually decreases under a strong magnetic field at 100 K. The magnetic field driven enhancement (suppression) of radiative recombination efficiency for wide (narrow) QWs is investigated by considering the oscillator strength, thermal effects, and carrier re-distribution in energy states. Also, the charge carriers which escape from narrow QWs or are captured by interface defects are probed via magneto-SPV measurements. Radiative recombination and thermionic emission of charge carriers, investigated by magneto-PL and magneto-SPV spectroscopy, provide a clear guideline of the critical QW width which would be essential for magnetic field driven high-temperature operation of advanced emission based-devices.
Bandgap engineering of α-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 by a mist chemical vapor deposition two-chamber system and verification of Vegard's Law
Authors: Dang G. T. , Yasuoka T. , Tagashira Y. , Tadokoro T. , Theiss W. , Kawaharamura T.
Published: August 2018

This work reports growth of α-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 single crystals with high incorporation of Al by a Mist Chemical Vapor Deposition two-chamber system, which was rationally designed to avoid side-reactions between different precursors during solution preparation for multi-component thin film growth. Multiple acceleration voltages were used in Energy Dispersive X-ray measurements to reliably obtain the Al composition x of the films. As a result, Vegard's law for lattice constants was verified and found to be valid in the α-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 system. However, Vegard's law for optical bandgaps, derived from different models, required an additional term to account for the bowing effect. At x = 0.71, the gaps were 7.74, 7.03, 7.26, and 7.34 eV as derived from the Tauc plots for the direct bandgap, indirect bandgap, Tauc-Lorentz model, and O'Leary-Johnson-Lim model, respectively. The two-chamber system provides reliable and effective control of the Al content in α-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 alloys and heterostructures.
Bayesian uncertainty calculation in neural network inference of ion and electron temperature profiles at W7-X
Authors: Pavone A. , Svensson J. , Langenberg A. , Pablant N. , Hoefel U. , Kwak S. , Wolf R. C. ,   Wendelstein 7-X Team
Published: August 2018

We make use of a Bayesian description of the neural network (NN) training for the calculation of the uncertainties in the NN prediction. Having uncertainties on the NN prediction allows having a quantitative measure for trusting the NN outcome and comparing it with other methods. Within the Bayesian framework, the uncertainties can be calculated under different approximations. The NN has been trained with the purpose of inferring ion and electron temperature profile from measurements of a X-ray imaging diagnostic at W7-X. The NN has been trained in such a way that it constitutes an approximation of a full Bayesian model of the diagnostic, implemented within the Minerva framework. The network has been evaluated using measured data and the uncertainties calculated under different approximations have been compared with each other, finding that neglecting the noise on the NN input can lead to an underestimation of the error bar magnitude in the range of 10%–30%.
High responsivity middle-wavelength infrared graphene photodetectors using photo-gating
Authors: Fukushima Shoichiro , Shimatani Masaaki , Okuda Satoshi , Ogawa Shinpei , Kanai Yasushi , Ono Takao , Matsumoto Kazuhiko
Published: August 2018

In this work, high-responsivity graphene photodetectors operating in the middle-wavelength infrared (MWIR) spectral band were fabricated by taking advantage of the photo-gating effect. Graphene-based field effect transistors were fabricated on indium antimonide (InSb) substrates. The InSb generated photo-carriers in response to incident IR light modulated the graphene channel gate voltage and induced a large photocurrent. These graphene-based photodetectors exhibited a clear photoresponse during irradiation with 4.6 μm MWIR laser light and an ultrahigh responsivity of 33.8 A/W was achieved at 50 K due to the photo-gating effect. These devices were found to maintain an MWIR photoresponse up to 150 K. Our graphene-based photodetector design is expected to contribute to the development of high-performance MWIR image sensors.
Theoretical study of leaky-mode resonant gratings for improving the absorption efficiency of the uncooled mid-infrared photodetectors
Authors: Hemati Tahere , Weng Binbin
Published: August 2018

In this work, we studied a new theoretical approach to enhance the PbSe-based uncooled photodetector's performance in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelength region. A one-dimensional grating layer was proposed to be implemented and inserted under the PbSe photosensitive layer. Due to the leaky-mode resonance tuning mechanism, this grating layer could manipulate mid-IR light-and-matter interactions in a unique way. It not only prevents the light transmission loss from the backside of the device but also tunes the destructive interference in the reflectance spectra, which consequently maximize the light absorption in the weak-absorbing energy band-tail region. By combining these two capabilities, it is possible to improve detector's sensitivity significantly. With this goal, several grating parameters including grating period, fill factor, and grating thickness were systematically investigated and optimized by using the rigorous coupled wave analysis method. Through the optimization, a 33% broadband absorption enhancement was achieved by using a Si (n = 3.489)/SiO2 grating on a soda-lime glass (n = 1.45) substrate with the listed parameters: grating period = 2.4 μm, fill factor = 0.49, and thickness = 1.22 μm. Apparently, this simple and effective method could practically advance the uncooled mid-IR PbSe detector's performance. But more importantly, this photonic-design concept can be used in and impact many other light-matter interaction related research fields.
Effective Landau theory of ferronematics
Authors: Zarubin Grigorii , Bier Markus , Dietrich S.
Published: August 2018

An effective Landau-like description of ferronematics, i.e., suspensions of magnetic colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC), is developed in terms of the corresponding magnetization and nematic director fields. The study is based on a microscopic model and on classical density functional theory. Ferronematics are susceptible to weak magnetic fields and they can exhibit a ferromagnetic phase, which has been predicted several decades ago and has recently been found experimentally. Within the proposed effective Landau theory of ferronematics, one has quantitative access, e.g., to the coupling between the magnetization of the magnetic colloids and the nematic director of the NLC. On mesoscopic length scales, this generates complex response patterns.
Combustion-induced local shear layers within premixed flamelets in weakly turbulent flows
Authors: Lipatnikov A. N. , Sabelnikov V. A. , Nishiki S. , Hasegawa T.
Published: August 2018

3D direct numerical simulation data obtained from statistically stationary, planar, weakly turbulent, premixed flames, which are characterized by two different density ratios (7.53 and 2.50) and are associated with the flamelet combustion regime, are analyzed to investigate differences between velocity and pressure variations (i) in flamelets in a weakly turbulent flow and (ii) in the counterpart laminar flame. Results show that while the thermo-chemical structure of the flamelets is weakly affected by turbulence under the studied conditions, the local velocity, vorticity, and pressure fields within the flamelets differ significantly from the velocity, vorticity, and pressure fields, respectively, within the laminar flame. In particular, local shear layers appear within flamelets in the turbulent flow because acceleration of a reacting mixture by the local pressure gradient is inversely proportional to the mixture density and, hence, depends on the mixture state. The shear layers are characterized by large velocity gradients (both the tangential gradient of the normal velocity with respect to the flamelet surface and the normal gradient of the tangential velocity), whose magnitudes may be comparable with the magnitude of the velocity gradient across the laminar flame. In flamelet zones characterized by a relatively large magnitude of the locally normal gradient of the tangential velocity, the local vorticity magnitude is also large and such zones contribute substantially to the overall generation of vorticity due to baroclinic torque. These results cast doubts on the validity of a simple common modeling approach that consists in directly invoking expressions derived for the laminar flames in order to describe the influence of combustion-induced thermal expansion on weakly turbulent velocity and pressure fields.
Prediction of the electric discharge occurrence under repetitive bipolar rectangular pulsed electric field <20 kV/cm
Authors: Zhang Ruobing , Li Xin , Wang Zhiyuan , Chen ZhiHao , Du Gang
Published: August 2018

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) is a newly developed food sterilization technology applying repetitive electric pulses to inactivate microorganisms and enzymes in liquid food. The evolution of bubbles and consequent electrical breakdown of the liquid treatment chamber have been a bottleneck of its industrial applications. Traditional theory of impulse breakdown cannot be applied to the PEF treatment since its discharge is greatly determined by the size of bubbles. The aim of this study is to clarify the bubbles' evolution characteristics under different pulse parameters and their impact on discharges. A high-precision bubble monitoring system, including a high speed camera was developed to study the behavior of micron-scale bubbles in treated liquids. Quantitative formulas between the bubble cross-sectional area with electric field intensity, pulse duration, and pulse repetition rate were obtained, and the dependence of discharge probability on the bubble area was proposed. Prediction formulas were developed to predict the average discharge time, which makes it possible to find the proper PEF processing time without discharges under given parameters and offer theoretical support to optimize pulse parameters in the PEF food treatment process.
Frequency mixing at an electromagnetically induced transparency like metasurface loaded with gas as a nonlinear element
Authors: Tamayama Yasuhiro , Yoshimura Takuya
Published: August 2018

Local electromagnetic field enhancement in resonant metamaterials is useful for efficient generation of nonlinear phenomena; however, the field enhancement is suppressed by losses of nonlinear elements in metamaterials. For overcoming this issue, we investigate the nonlinear response of an electromagnetically induced transparency-like metasurface loaded with gas as the nonlinear element. To induce nonlinearity in the gas associated with discharges, an electromagnetic wave with a modulated amplitude is incident on the metasurface. The measured waveform and spectrum of the transmitted electromagnetic wave, along with light emission from the discharge microplasma, reveal that frequency mixing can occur on the metasurface. The parameter dependence of the conversion efficiency of the frequency mixing phenomenon shows that the efficiency is determined almost entirely by the ratio of the duration of microplasma generation to the modulation period of the incident wave amplitude. This result implies that the frequency mixing is derived from a binary change in the transmittance of the metasurface caused by the generation and quenching of the microplasma.
Letter: An origin of magnetohydrodynamic reverse flow in 90° bends
Authors: Proskurin Alexander V. , Sagalakov Anatoly M.
Published: August 2018

A two-dimensional flow in a 90° bent channel is considered. A magnetic field is uniform and parallel to the inlet branch of the channel. A spectral element method was used for liquid motion calculations. Three types of steady flows were detected. It was found that magnetic forces can suppress a pressure gradient and eject liquid from the inlet. Consequently, a perceptible reverse flow appears.
Novel apparatus simultaneously and fully characterizes nanoscale reactions
Authors: Kim Meeri
Published: August 2018

A study presents a novel apparatus for the simultaneous measurement of mass change, heat evolution, and stress in order to create a complete picture of nanoscale reactions.
Ambulatory care sensitive chronic conditions: what can we learn from patients about the role of primary health care in preventing admissions?
Authors: Longman Jo M. , Rix Elizabeth , Johnston Jennifer J. , Passey Megan E.
Published: August 2018

Developing and targeting interventions to reduce hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) chronic conditions for older people is a key focus for improvement of the health system. To do this, an understanding of any modifiable factors that may contribute to such admissions is needed. To date, the literature on ACS admissions has rarely included the patient perspective. This qualitative study involved one-to-one telephone interviews with 24 patients aged ≥45 years who had had an unplanned admission for an ACS chronic condition to one of two participating regional hospitals between February and August 2015. Data were transcribed and analysed thematically. Most participants did not perceive their admission to be preventable, yet they described a series of interlinking factors, which may have contributed to their admission and which may offer potential points of leverage. Key interlinked themes interpreted were: ‘support deficits’, ‘non-adherence to treatment’ (including medication), ‘mental health’ and ‘lack of awareness or understanding of condition’. Improving system-, clinician- and patient-level factors within a framework of appropriately resourced and supported comprehensive primary health care that is accessible, affordable, holistic, practical and evidence-based may contribute to improving patients’ quality of life and to delaying or preventing hospital admission.
Zebrafish type I collagen mutants faithfully recapitulate human type I collagenopathies
Authors: Gistelinck Charlotte , Kwon Ronald Y. , Malfait Fransiska , Symoens Sofie , Harris Matthew P. , Henke Katrin , Hawkins Michael B. , Fisher Shannon , Sips Patrick , Guillemyn Brecht , Bek Jan Willem , Vermassen Petra , De Saffel Hanna , Witten Paul Eckhard , Weis MaryAnn , De Paepe Anne , Eyre David R. , Willaert Andy , Coucke Paul J.
Published: August 2018

Significance

Type I collagenopathies are a heterogenous group of connective tissue disorders, caused by genetic defects in type I collagen. Inherent to these disorders is a large clinical variability, of which the underlying molecular basis remains undefined. By systematically analyzing skeletal phenotypes in a large set of type I collagen zebrafish mutants, we show that zebrafish models are able to both genocopy and phenocopy different forms of human type I collagenopathies, arguing for a similar pathogenetic basis. This study illustrates the future potential of zebrafish as a tool to further dissect the molecular basis of phenotypic variability in human type I collagenopathies, to improve diagnostic strategies as well as promote the discovery of new targetable pathways for pharmacological intervention of these disorders.
A data-driven computational model on the effects of immigration policies
Authors: Simon Miranda , Schwartz Cassilde , Hudson David , Johnson Shane D.
Published: August 2018

Significance

Would more restrictive immigration policies stop individuals from migrating? We present an agent-based computational model, calibrated using original survey and experimental data, which represents an important step in estimating the “substitution effect” whereby migrants reorient toward unauthorized channels due to changes in policy. We find that government-imposed restrictions on migrants can decrease total migration. However, some restrictions are highly ineffective while others decrease legal migration only at the cost of driving migrants into unauthorized channels. Restrictions on students and high-skilled workers are least effective in reducing migration, and restrictions on family-based visas are especially counterproductive in diverting migrants to back channels. We also find that increasing enforcement would not effectively eliminate the diversion to unauthorized channels.
Stabilized photoanodes for water oxidation by integration of organic dyes, water oxidation catalysts, and electron-transfer mediators
Authors: Wang Degao , Eberhart Michael S. , Sheridan Matthew V. , Hu Ke , Sherman Benjamin D. , Nayak Animesh , Wang Ying , Marquard Seth L. , Dares Christopher J. , Meyer Thomas J.
Published: August 2018

Significance

Dye-sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cells (DSPECs) are a very promising approach to convert solar energy into chemical fuels as H
2
or reduced CO
2
species from water or CO
2
. Water oxidation occurring in the photoanode, involving 4e
−
process, is a critical reaction for the artificial photosynthesis. Here, we inserted an electron mediator between light harvester and water oxidation catalyst. In this role it acts as a mimic for the tyrosine (Yz) between the chromophore and catalyst in PSII. The resulting assembly structures were stable for extended periods (3 h) toward water oxidation to O
2
, and they also extended the chromophores used in the DSPECs for water oxidation to a phosphonated porphyrin dye.
In vitro single-cell dissection revealing the interior structure of cable bacteria
Authors: Jiang Zaixing , Zhang Shuai , Klausen Lasse Hyldgaard , Song Jie , Li Qiang , Wang Zegao , Stokke Bjørn Torger , Huang Yudong , Besenbacher Flemming , Nielsen Lars Peter , Dong Mingdong
Published: August 2018

Significance

Cable bacteria were recently discovered as the facilitators of electron transfer over centimeter distances in marine sediments. In this work, we explore the unique structure of the cable bacteria, using atomic force microscopy-based single-cell in vitro dissection. We identify different types of bacterial cell–cell junctions and continuous dimeric strings hidden under the outer membrane that pass through the cell junctions. The strings seem to serve an important function in maintaining the integrity of individual cable bacteria cells as a united filament. On the basis of our findings, we propose a model for the division and growth of the cable bacteria, which illustrate the possible structural requirements for the formation of centimeter-length filaments in the recently discovered cable bacteria.
MICU1 imparts the mitochondrial uniporter with the ability to discriminate between Ca
2+
and Mn
2+
Authors: Kamer Kimberli J. , Sancak Yasemin , Fomina Yevgenia , Meisel Joshua D. , Chaudhuri Dipayan , Grabarek Zenon , Mootha Vamsi K.
Published: August 2018

Significance

Mechanisms by which heavy metals contribute to cellular toxicity are not well understood. Here, we report that cellular manganese toxicity is due in part to manganese transport into mitochondria via the calcium uniporter. Genetic loss of the uniporter’s pore-forming subunit in human cells and in worms confers partial resistance against manganese toxicity, while loss of its regulatory subunit, MICU1, sensitizes human cells to manganese toxicity. MICU1 provides an additional checkpoint to discriminate between Ca
2+
and Mn
2+
, enabling the uniporter to evolve high conductance while maintaining selectivity. Our work has implications for understanding mechanisms of manganese toxicity in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.
Constructing the Czech nation
Authors: Batistová Anna , Carpentier Nico
Published: August 2018

The article’s objective is to analyse the discursive construction of the Czech nation in three cultural magazines, produced by
Czech exiles in London during WWII. The theoretical backbone for this analysis is provided by Laclau and Mouffe’s (1985) discourse theory, which in turn supports a discourse-theoretical re-reading of the
literature on the nation, first in general and then in relation to the Czech nation. These three theoretical components support an
analysis of 650 selected contributions in 36 issues of the three main cultural journals of the Czech London exile:
Obzor [Horizon], Kulturní zápisník [Cultural Notebook] and Review. This
discourse-theoretical analysis shows the presence, particularity and contingency of a series of internal nodal points (temporal,
spatial, linguistic, cultural and popular), in combination with the external nodal point of diversity in relation to outgroups. In
the conclusion, the political nature of this construction, which we label the politics of poetry, is emphasized.
Notions of “money” and “house” in the language consciousness of Russians and the Japanese
Authors: Palkin Alexei D.
Published: August 2018

Cross-cultural research is crucially important in the modern globalized world where different cultural notions clash and interact. This article sheds light on the notions “money” and “house”, which represent attitudes to property, in the perception of Russians and the Japanese. The research method is an association experiment that allows to explain the grounds for mutual understanding or possible misunderstanding in the instances of interethnic contacts. Analysis of association fields formed on the basis of two Russian and one Japanese sampling shows that modern Japanese tend to perceive money as beneficial, while modern Russians tend to perceive it as something evil and related to governance. 21st-century Japanese respondents and 21st-century Russian respondents proved to be more work-oriented than their early 1990s Russian counterparts. Regardless of cultural differences, both Russians and the Japanese admitted their need of money as an indispensable element of modern life. A house is understood in both cultures as a place to live in, but 1990s Russians found it less cozy and comfortable than 21st-century Russians and the Japanese.
Chromosome structural anomalies due to aberrant spindle forces exerted at gene editing sites in meiosis
Authors: Manil-Ségalen Marion , Łuksza Małgorzata , Kanaan Joanne , Marthiens Véronique , Lane Simon I.R. , Jones Keith T. , Terret Marie-Emilie , Basto Renata , Verlhac Marie-Hélène
Published: August 2018

Mouse female meiotic spindles assemble from acentriolar microtubule-organizing centers (aMTOCs) that fragment into discrete foci. These are further sorted and clustered to form spindle poles, thus providing balanced forces for faithful chromosome segregation. To assess the impact of aMTOC biogenesis on spindle assembly, we genetically induced their precocious fragmentation in mouse oocytes using conditional overexpression of Plk4, a master microtubule-organizing center regulator. Excessive microtubule nucleation from these fragmented aMTOCs accelerated spindle assembly dynamics. Prematurely formed spindles promoted the breakage of three different fragilized bivalents, generated by the presence of recombined Lox P sites. Reducing the density of microtubules significantly diminished the extent of chromosome breakage. Thus, improper spindle forces can lead to widely described yet unexplained chromosomal structural anomalies with disruptive consequences on the ability of the gamete to transmit an uncorrupted genome.
Microglial translational profiling reveals a convergent APOE pathway from aging, amyloid, and tau
Authors: Kang Silvia S. , Ebbert Mark T.W. , Baker Kelsey E. , Cook Casey , Wang Xuewei , Sens Jonathon P. , Kocher Jeanne-Pierre , Petrucelli Leonard , Fryer John D.
Published: August 2018

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-associated neurodegenerative disease characterized by amyloidosis, tauopathy, and activation of microglia, the brain resident innate immune cells. We show that a RiboTag translational profiling approach can bypass biases due to cellular enrichment/cell sorting. Using this approach in models of amyloidosis, tauopathy, and aging, we revealed a common set of alterations and identified a central APOE-driven network that converged on CCL3 and CCL4 across all conditions. Notably, aged females demonstrated a significant exacerbation of many of these shared transcripts in this APOE network, revealing a potential mechanism for increased AD susceptibility in females. This study has broad implications for microglial transcriptomic approaches and provides new insights into microglial pathways associated with different pathological aspects of aging and AD.
The fast block to polyspermy: New insight into a century-old problem
Authors: Jaffe Laurinda A.
Published: August 2018

Jaffe underscores new research that identifies key roles for IP3 and TMEM16a in the fast block to polyspermy.
Nutrient Production and Micronutrient Gaps: Evidence from an Agriculture‐Nutrition Randomized Control Trial
Authors: Dillon Andrew , Arsenault Joanne , Olney Deanna
Published: August 2018

Integrated agriculture nutrition programs can increase the quantity and quality of nutritious foods through multiple pathways. Increased household production increases the availability of own produced food for consumption, as well as income for food purchases. Increased knowledge of nutrition introduced through a behavior change communication strategy can change food preferences and shift purchasing decisions towards nutritious foods. In a randomized control trial, we demonstrate that an integrated agriculture‐nutrition program in Burkina Faso improved the quality of diets by reducing household macro and micronutrient consumption gaps. We estimate production and consumption nutrient gaps for households in our sample by comparing reported consumption or production of nutrients relative to recommended daily allowances for households. Differences between actual nutrient consumption and production values and the recommended daily allowances provide an estimate of the nutrient gaps (surplus or deficit) within the household. We find that the integrated agriculture‐nutrition program reduced consumption nutrient gaps in treatment households. We also investigate whether the production or nutrition knowledge pathways explain the consumption nutrient gap treatment effects. Though crop choice led to a diversified household production of nutritious foods in treatment villages on the extensive production margin, increased household production of nutrients does not explain the improvements in diet quality due to limited treatment effects for the estimated production nutrient gaps at the intensive production margin. Consumption expenditures in treatment villages did increase purchases of nutritious foods, suggesting that the behavior change communication strategy is effective at not only increasing nutrition knowledge, but also in affecting consumer preferences.
Breast cancer prognosis signature: linking risk stratification to disease subtypes
Authors: Yu Fulong , Quan Fei , Xu Jinyuan , Zhang Yan , Xie Yi , Zhang Jingyu , Lan Yujia , Yuan Huating , Zhang Hongyi , Cheng Shujun , Xiao Yun , Li Xia
Published: August 2018

Breast cancer is a very complex and heterogeneous disease with variable molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and clinical behaviors. The identification of prognostic risk factors may enable effective diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. In particular, numerous gene-expression-based prognostic signatures were developed and some of them have already been applied into clinical trials and practice. In this study, we summarized several representative gene-expression-based signatures with significant prognostic value and separately assessed their ability of prognosis prediction in their originally targeted populations of breast cancer. Notably, many of the collected signatures were originally designed to predict the outcomes of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) patients or the whole breast cancer cohort; there are no typical signatures used for the prognostic prediction in a specific population of patients with the intrinsic subtype. We thus attempted to identify subtype-specific prognostic signatures via a computational framework for analyzing multi-omics profiles and patient survival. For both the discovery and an independent data set, we confirmed that subtype-specific signature is a strong and significant independent prognostic factor in the corresponding cohort. These results indicate that the subtype-specific prognostic signature has a much higher resolution in the risk stratification, which may lead to improved therapies and precision medicine for patients with breast cancer.
Comparative Network Reconstruction using mixed integer programming
Authors: Bosdriesz Evert , Prahallad Anirudh , Klinger Bertram , Sieber Anja , Bosma Astrid , Bernards René , Blüthgen Nils , Wessels Lodewyk F A
Published: August 2018

Motivation

Signal-transduction networks are often aberrated in cancer cells, and new anti-cancer drugs that specifically target oncogenes involved in signaling show great clinical promise. However, the effectiveness of such targeted treatments is often hampered by innate or acquired resistance due to feedbacks, crosstalks or network adaptations in response to drug treatment. A quantitative understanding of these signaling networks and how they differ between cells with different oncogenic mutations or between sensitive and resistant cells can help in addressing this problem.

Results

Here, we present Comparative Network Reconstruction (CNR), a computational method to reconstruct signaling networks based on possibly incomplete perturbation data, and to identify which edges differ quantitatively between two or more signaling networks. Prior knowledge about network topology is not required but can straightforwardly be incorporated. We extensively tested our approach using simulated data and applied it to perturbation data from a BRAF mutant, PTPN11 KO cell line that developed resistance to BRAF inhibition. Comparing the reconstructed networks of sensitive and resistant cells suggests that the resistance mechanism involves re-establishing wild-type MAPK signaling, possibly through an alternative RAF-isoform.

Availability and implementation

CNR is available as a python module at https://github.com/NKI-CCB/cnr. Additionally, code to reproduce all figures is available at https://github.com/NKI-CCB/CNR-analyses.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A powerful conditional gene-based association approach implicated functionally important genes for schizophrenia
Authors: Li Miaoxin , Jiang Lin , Mak Timothy Shin Heng , Kwan Johnny Sheung Him , Xue Chao , Chen Peikai , Leung Henry Chi-Ming , Cui Liqian , Li Tao , Sham Pak Chung
Published: August 2018

Motivation

It remains challenging to unravel new susceptibility genes of complex diseases and the mechanisms in genome-wide association studies. There are at least two difficulties, isolation of the genuine susceptibility genes from many indirectly associated genes and functional validation of these genes.

Results

We first proposed a novel conditional gene-based association test which can use only summary statistics to isolate independently associated genes of a disease. Applying this method, we detected 185 genes of independent association with schizophrenia. We then designed an in-silico experiment based on expression/co-expression to systematically validate pathogenic potential of these genes. We found that genes of independent association with schizophrenia formed more co-expression pairs in normal post-natal but not pre-natal human brain regions than expected. Interestingly, no co-expression enrichment was found in the brain regions of schizophrenia patients. The genes with independent association also had more significant P-values for differential expression between schizophrenia patients and controls in the brain regions. In contrast, indirectly associated genes or associated genes by other widely-used gene-based tests had no such differential expression and co-expression patterns. In summary, this conditional gene-based association test is effective for isolating directly associated genes from indirectly associated genes, and the results insightfully suggest that common variants might contribute to schizophrenia largely by distorting expression and co-expression in post-natal brains.

Availability and implementation

The conditional gene-based association test has been implemented in a platform ‘KGG’ in Java and is publicly available at http://grass.cgs.hku.hk/limx/kgg/.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Police Education in the USA
Authors: Cordner Gary
Published: August 2018

Higher education for police has a 100-year history in the USA. Initially, it incorporated both ‘education’ and much of what is now considered ‘training’, out of necessity because police occupational training had yet to be widely implemented. Since the 1960s, though, separate police training institutions and systems have been established throughout the country. In conjunction with this bifurcation of education and training, the dominant higher education model for police became ‘criminal justice’. Over the last 40 years, criminal justice has become a very popular field of study in American colleges and universities, curricula have broadened to include a wide variety of crime and justice topics, and faculty academic credentials have risen to meet and exceed higher education standards. In the process, however, policing has become a smaller and smaller part of the criminal justice educational enterprise. Today, what passes for police education in the USA has very little police in it.
Effects of sodium metabisulfite additives on nursery pig growth
Authors: Shawk Dwight J , Dritz Steve S , Goodband Robert D , Tokach Mike D , Woodworth Jason C , DeRouchey Joel M
Published: August 2018

Sodium metabisulfite (SMB)-based feed additive efficacy was evaluated in three nursery pig growth experiments where pigs were fed diets containing low deoxynivalenol (<1.5 mg/kg; DON) concentrations. Pigs were weaned at approximately 22 d of age and randomly allotted to pens with one pen of 27 gilts and one pen of 27 barrows per feeder; thus, feeder was the experimental unit. In experiment 1, a total of 2,268 pigs were used in a 35-d trial with 21 feeders per treatment. Experimental treatments included a control diet or the control with 0.50% SMB-based Product 1 (Defusion; Provimi, Brookville, OH) fed in phase 1 and 0.25% fed in phases 2 and 3, then all pigs were fed a control diet for the last week of the study. Pigs fed Product 1 had greater (P < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, and G:F compared with pigs fed the control diet from days 0 to 28. However, from days 28 to 35, the opposite response was observed with pigs fed the control diet having greater ADG and G:F than pigs previously fed Product 1. Despite this response, pigs fed Product 1 were heavier (P < 0.05) on day 35 than control-fed pigs. In experiment 2, a total of 4,320 pigs were used in a 42-d trial. Pigs were fed a control diet or diets with SMB-based either Product 1 or Product 2 (NutriQuest, Mason City, IA) at different concentrations and durations. Among the various treatments, Product 1 or Product 2 concentrations ranged from 0.50% initially to 0.25%, 0.15%, or none the last week of the study. Overall, pigs fed either of the additives at the highest concentrations and for the longest period of time had greater (P < 0.05) ADG and ADFI compared with pigs fed the control diet, with those fed lower concentrations or shorter durations being intermediate. In experiment 3, a total of 2,808 pigs were used in a 28-d trial with 13 feeders per treatment. All pigs were fed a common diet for 7 d after weaning. Pigs were then fed either a control diet (without any SMB-containing product) or a diet containing Product 1 (0.50% and 0.25% from days 0 to 21 and 21 to 28, respectively) or SMB (0.50% and 0.25% from days 0 to 21 and 21 to 28, respectively) or 0.25% SMB from days 0 to 28. Overall, pigs fed Product 1 or high-SMB diets had greater (P < 0.05) ADG compared with pigs fed low-SMB or control diets. In conclusion, results of these experiments indicate that in diets with low DON concentrations, these SMB-based products increased ADG compared with control diets.
Improving Value Delivery for Children With Congenital Hand Differences
Authors: Zelenski Nicole A. , Shah Apurva S.
Published: August 2018

Value is a measurement of the relative quality and cost of a product or service. High-quality and low-cost increase value. Understanding cost and outcomes in health care can help us understand how to improve value in congenital hand surgery. To do this, we need to better measure and track cost of this pediatric condition as well as quantify outcomes. Delivering care in high-volume centers with pediatric specialists and a multimodal team will improve value in congenital hand differences.
Discovering an Anatomic Variant of the Palmaris Profundus during Open Carpal Tunnel Release
Authors: Van Demark Robert E. , Anderson Matthew C. , List Jeb T. , Hayes Meredith , Hayes Matthew , Woodard David
Published: August 2018

A 46-year-old female presented after 3 years of steadily increasing numbness in her hands bilaterally with worse symptoms in her right hand. She reported nighttime paresthesia and exacerbation of her symptoms while writing, typing, and driving. Tinel’s and carpal tunnel compression test were positive bilaterally. During the right hand carpal tunnel release, a layer of synovium was present deep to the carpal ligament with a tendinous portion running midline longitudinally along the median nerve. This layer was an anomalous palmaris profundus (PP) tendon within the carpal tunnel, which inserted distally in the palmar fascia. The PP tendon was freed and released. The PP is a rare muscle variation of the forearm and wrist, and although it has no function, it has been reported as a cause of median nerve compression at the wrist. More commonly, it is an incidental finding during carpal tunnel surgery. Because of its close association with the median nerve, it can cause confusion when encountered during carpal tunnel surgery. Clinicians should be aware of this rare finding, which may be present during carpal tunnel surgery. We present a case, with intraoperative photographs, of a PP tendon that was encountered during a carpal tunnel release.
How different governance models may impact physician–hospital alignment
Authors: Burns Lawton R. , Alexander Jeffrey A. , Andersen Ronald M.
Published: August 2018

Background:

Hospitals utilize three ideal type models for governing relationships with their physicians: the traditional medical staff, strategic alliances, and employment. Little is known about how these models impact physician alignment.

Purpose:

The study compares the level of physician–hospital alignment across the three models.

Approach:

We used survey data from 1,895 physicians in all three models across 34 hospitals in eight systems to measure several dimensions of alignment. We used logistic equations to predict survey nonresponse and differential physician selection into the alliance and employment models. Controlling for these selection effects, we then used multiple regression to estimate the effects of alliance and employment models on alignment.

Results:

Physicians in employment models express greater alignment with their hospital on several dimensions, compared to physicians in alliances and the traditional medical staff. There were no differences in physician alignment between the latter two models.

Conclusions:

Employment models promote greater alignment on some (but not all) dimensions, controlling for physician selection. The impact of employment on alignment is not large, however.

Practice Implications:

Hospitals and accountable care organizations that rely on employment may achieve higher physician alignment compared to the other two models. It is not clear that the gain in alignment is worth the cost of employment. Given the small impact of employment on alignment, it is also clear that they are not identical. Hospitals may need to go beyond structural models of integration to achieve alignment with their physicians.