bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ERP components and behavior in the auditory equiprobable go/no‐go task: Inhibition in young adults
Authors: Fogarty Jack S. , Barry Robert J. , De Blasio Frances M. , Steiner Genevieve Z.
Published: January 2018

Previous research suggests that young adults do not need active and effortful inhibition to successfully complete the auditory equiprobable go/no‐go task, a view that was incorporated into Barry and De Blasio's sequential processing schema for this task. However, recent evidence in children suggests that view could be incorrect. The present research aims to clarify the functionality of the N2 and P3 subcomponents within the proposed schema, assessing the role of inhibition in this task. To optimize the quantification of the N2 and P3 subcomponents, separate temporal PCAs were applied to the go/no‐go ERP data from 40 young adults. Correlations were then used to link subcomponent amplitudes with performance outcomes, informing a functional interpretation of each subcomponent. Larger N2b and P3a amplitudes were each linked to fewer commission errors. N2c amplitude also increased with intraindividual reaction time variability, but no performance outcomes were associated with P3b. These findings link the young adult N2b and P3a with inhibition in the auditory equiprobable task, confirming the importance of control for successful nontarget processing in that paradigm. The functionality of N2c and P3b remain unclear from our results. However, these outcomes improve our understanding of cognitive processing in equiprobable tasks, and contribute to an improved conceptualization of the sequential processing schema.
Applying the ecosystem approach to the Sundarbans of Bangladesh: Possibilities and challenges
Authors: Alam Shawkat , Mohammad Sheikh Noor
Published: January 2018

This article considers the relevance of the ecosystem approach as a suitable means of providing for the conservation and sustainable development of the endangered Sundarbans mangrove forests of Bangladesh. Commencing with the genesis of the ecosystem approach in international law and its incorporation in the Convention on Biological Diversity, the article considers its principles in the approach to the regulation, monitoring and management of the Sundarbans. It demonstrates that there is scope for key aspects of the ecosystem approach to be incorporated into the management regime for the Sundarbans. The accommodation of the interests of forest‐dependent communities and the focus on adaptive management are among the aspects of the ecosystem approach that benefit sustainable management for the region. However, successful incorporation of its principles will only be possible if the relevant legislative framework is extensively amended, efforts are made to build the awareness and capacity of forest users to manage the resources on which they rely, and financial support is increased to facilitate the transition to an ecosystem approach‐based management of the Sundarbans.
Improving Heritability Estimation by a Variable Selection Approach in Sparse High Dimensional Linear Mixed Models
Authors: Bonnet Anna , Lévy-Leduc Céline , Gassiat Elisabeth , Toro Roberto , Bourgeron Thomas
Published: January 2018

Motivated by applications in neuroanatomy, we propose a novel methodology to estimate heritability, which corresponds to the proportion of phenotypic variance that can be explained by genetic factors. Since the phenotypic variations may be due to only a small fraction of the available genetic information, we propose an estimator of heritability that can be used in sparse linear mixed models. Since the real genetic architecture is in general unknown in practice, our method enables the user to determine whether the genetic effects are very sparse: in that case, we propose a variable selection approach to recover the support of these genetic effects before estimating heritability. Otherwise, we use a classical maximum likelihood approach. We apply our method, implemented in the R package EstHer that is available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network, on neuroanatomical data from the project IMAGEN.
Unequal and Unfair: Free Riding in One‐Shot Interactions
Authors: McDougal Mary K.
Published: January 2018

This study investigates the effect of status on perceptions of and reactions to free riders. Extrapolating from expectation states theory, I posit that higher status actors are granted a greater degree of social leniency than lower status actors when it comes to free riding. Specifically, I hypothesize that higher status actors are less likely to evoke the same negative emotional and behavioral responses elicited by lower status free riders. Using gender as an indicator of status, I employ a simple vignette to examine this relationship. Results validate previous findings related to the negative emotional and affective responses individuals have toward free riders. Furthermore, while findings fail to support the stated hypotheses, additional results demonstrate the subtle complexity of the relationship between gender, status, and free riding as well as its effect on the emotional and behavioral responses of individuals within small groups. As a result, I suggest that an outright rejection of the stated hypotheses may be premature and that further research in this area is warranted.
Divergent functions of the GAGA‐binding transcription factor family in rice
Authors: Gong Rong , Cao Huasheng , Zhang Jianing , Xie Kun , Wang Dianwen , Yu Sibin
Published: January 2018

OsGBPs are a small family of four genes in rice (Oryza sativa L.) that function as transcription factors recognizing the GAGA motif; however, their functions in plant growth and development remain unclear. Here we report the functions of OsGBPs in plant growth and grain development. Knock‐down and knock‐out of OsGBP1 promoted seedling growth and enhanced grain length, whereas overexpression of OsGBP1 exhibited the opposite effect on seedling growth and grain length, indicating that OsGBP1 repressed grain length and seedling growth. In addition, overexpression of OsGBP1 led to delayed flowering time and suppressed plant height. OsGBP1 could regulate OsLFL1 expression through binding to the (GA)12 element of its promoter. In contrast, OsGBP3 induced grain length and plant height. Grain length and plant height were decreased in OsGBP3RNAi lines and were increased in OsGBP3 overexpression lines. We also found a synergistic effect of these two genes on grain width and plant growth. RNAi of both OsGBP1 and OsGBP3 resulted in severe dwarfism, compared with RNAi of a single gene. These results suggest the presence of functional divergence of OsGBPs in the regulation of grain size and plant growth; these results enrich our understanding of the roles of GAGA‐binding transcription factors in the regulatory pathways of plant development.
Suppression of DELLA signaling induces procambial cell formation in culture
Authors: Yamazaki Kyoko , Kondo Yuki , Kojima Mikiko , Takebayashi Yumiko , Sakakibara Hitoshi , Fukuda Hiroo
Published: January 2018

The post‐embryonic growth of plants requires the activities of apical meristems and lateral meristems. In the meristems, self‐proliferation and differentiation of stem cells is tightly modulated by plant hormone signaling networks and specific transcription factors. Despite extensive studies on stem cell maintenance in plants, the mechanism by which stem cells are initially established is largely unknown. Vascular stem cells consisting of procambial/cambial cells give rise to xylem and phloem cells. In this study, we analyzed the establishment of procambial cells using the in vitro culture system VISUAL, in which mesophyll cells rapidly differentiate into xylem tracheary elements and phloem sieve elements via procambial cells. We found that procambial cell formation in VISUAL is initiated by light, which can be replaced by application of gibberellin (GA). Gibberellin was able to promote procambial cell formation through degradation of DELLA, whereas light did not elevate the endogenous GA content. Indeed, light in combination with bikinin reduced the accumulation of DELLA protein in VISUAL. Consistently, overexpression of a constitutively active DELLA protein repressed vascular cell differentiation even under light. These combined results suggest that DELLA signaling suppresses procambial cell formation during vascular development in VISUAL.
Enterprise Risk Management and Performance of Selected Listed Consumer Goods Companies in Nigeria
Authors: Salaudeen Yinka M. , Atoyebi Taibat A. , Oyegbile Bamidele A.
Published: January 2018

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is an integrated framework and monitoring tool for managing uncertainties surrounding the business objectives. This study evaluated the relationship between enterprise risk management and performance of Twenty (20) consumer goods companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The independent variables used are existence of risk management committee, existence of financial expertise, existence of audit committee, existence of Chief risk officer and board size. The study adopted ex post facto research design and data were sourced from annual reports and accounts of the selected Consumer Goods Companies. The collated data were analysed using descriptive statistics and generalised least square. The results reveal that risk management committee, financial expertise and board size have significant positive effect on performance. The results also revealed that existence of audit committee has a significant negative effect on performance while existence of chief risk officer has no significant effect on performance. The study therefore recommended that the regulatory authorities and other relevant institutions are enjoined to reassess their supervisory role with the view to strengthen the ERM process and taking the issue of risk management seriously at every level of organisations to provide reasonable assurance.
Increasing cardiac pyruvate dehydrogenase flux during chronic hypoxia improves acute hypoxic tolerance
Authors: Handzlik Michal K. , Constantin‐Teodosiu Dumitru , Greenhaff Paul L. , Cole Mark A.
Published: January 2018

Key points

The cardiac metabolic reprogramming seen in heart diseases such as myocardial infarction and hypertrophy shares similarities with that seen in chronic hypoxia, but understanding of how the hypoxic heart responds to further hypoxic challenge – hypoxic tolerance – is limited.

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex serves to control irreversible decarboxylation of pyruvate within mitochondria, and is a key regulator of substrate metabolism, potentially regulating hypoxic tolerance.

Acute activation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex did not improve cardiac function during acute hypoxia; however, simultaneous activation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex during chronic hypoxic exposure improved tolerance to subsequent acute hypoxia.

Activation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex during chronic hypoxia stockpiled cardiac acetylcarnitine, and this was used during acute hypoxia. This maintained cardiac ATP and glycogen, and improved hypoxic tolerance as a result.

These findings demonstrate that pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activation can improve cardiac function under hypoxia.

The pattern of metabolic reprogramming in chronic hypoxia shares similarities with that following myocardial infarction or hypertrophy; however, the response of the chronically hypoxic heart to subsequent acute injury, and the role of metabolism is not well understood. Here, we determined the myocardial tolerance of the chronically hypoxic heart to subsequent acute injury, and hypothesised that activation of a key regulator of myocardial metabolism, the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC), could improve hypoxic tolerance. Mouse hearts, perfused in Langendorff mode, were exposed to 30 min of hypoxia, and lost 80% of pre‐hypoxic function (P = 0.001), with only 51% recovery of pre‐hypoxic function with 30 min of reoxygenation (P = 0.046). Activation of the PDC with infusion of 1 mm dichloroacetate (DCA) during hypoxia and reoxygenation did not alter function. Acute hypoxic tolerance was assessed in hearts of mice housed in hypoxia for 3 weeks. Chronic hypoxia reduced cardiac tolerance to subsequent acute hypoxia, with recovery of function 22% of pre‐acute hypoxic levels vs. 39% in normoxic control hearts (P = 0.012). DCA feeding in chronic hypoxia (per os, 70 mg kg−1 day−1) doubled cardiac acetylcarnitine content, and this fell following acute hypoxia. This acetylcarnitine use maintained cardiac ATP and glycogen content during acute hypoxia, with hypoxic tolerance normalised. In summary, chronic hypoxia renders the heart more susceptible to acute hypoxic injury, which can be improved by activation of the PDC and pooling of acetylcarnitine. This is the first study showing functional improvement of the chronically hypoxic heart with activation of the PDC, and offers therapeutic potential in cardiac disease with a hypoxic component.
Ca2+ signalling in mouse urethral smooth muscle in situ: role of Ca2+ stores and Ca2+ influx mechanisms
Authors: Drumm Bernard T. , Rembetski Benjamin E. , Cobine Caroline A. , Baker Salah A. , Sergeant Gerard P. , Hollywood Mark A. , Thornbury Keith D. , Sanders Kenton M.
Published: January 2018

Key points

Contraction of urethral smooth muscle cells (USMCs) contributes to urinary continence. Ca2+ signalling in USMCs was investigated in intact urethral muscles using a genetically encoded Ca2+ sensor, GCaMP3, expressed selectively in USMCs.

USMCs were spontaneously active in situ, firing intracellular Ca2+ waves that were asynchronous at different sites within cells and between adjacent cells.

Spontaneous Ca2+ waves in USMCs were myogenic but enhanced by adrenergic or purinergic agonists and decreased by nitric oxide.

Ca2+ waves arose from inositol trisphosphate type 1 receptors and ryanodine receptors, and Ca2+ influx by store‐operated calcium entry was required to maintain Ca2+ release events.

Ca2+ release and development of Ca2+ waves appear to be the primary source of Ca2+ for excitation–contraction coupling in the mouse urethra, and no evidence was found that voltage‐dependent Ca2+ entry via L‐type or T‐type channels was required for responses to α adrenergic responses.

Urethral smooth muscle cells (USMCs) generate myogenic tone and contribute to urinary continence. Currently, little is known about Ca2+ signalling in USMCs in situ, and therefore little is known about the source(s) of Ca2+ required for excitation–contraction coupling. We characterized Ca2+ signalling in USMCs within intact urethral muscles using a genetically encoded Ca2+ sensor, GCaMP3, expressed selectively in USMCs. USMCs fired spontaneous intracellular Ca2+ waves that did not propagate cell‐to‐cell across muscle bundles. Ca2+ waves increased dramatically in response to the α1 adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine (10 μm) and to ATP (10 μm). Ca2+ waves were inhibited by the nitric oxide donor DEA NONOate (10 μm). Ca2+ influx and release from sarcoplasmic reticulum stores contributed to Ca2+ waves, as Ca2+ free bathing solution and blocking the sarcoplasmic Ca2+‐ATPase abolished activity. Intracellular Ca2+ release involved cooperation between ryanadine receptors and inositol trisphosphate receptors, as tetracaine and ryanodine (100 μm) and xestospongin C (1 μm) reduced Ca2+ waves. Ca2+ waves were insensitive to L‐type Ca2+ channel modulators nifedipine (1 μm), nicardipine (1 μm), isradipine (1 μm) and FPL 64176 (1 μm), and were unaffected by the T‐type Ca2+ channel antagonists NNC‐550396 (1 μm) and TTA‐A2 (1 μm). Ca2+ waves were reduced by the store operated Ca2+ entry blocker SKF 96365 (10 μm) and by an Orai antagonist, GSK‐7975A (1 μm). The latter also reduced urethral contractions induced by phenylephrine, suggesting that Orai can function effectively as a receptor‐operated channel. In conclusion, Ca2+ waves in mouse USMCs are a source of Ca2+ for excitation–contraction coupling in urethral muscles.
Oxidant K edge x-ray emission spectroscopy of UF4 and UO2
Authors: Tobin J. G. , Yu S.-W. , Qiao R. , Yang W. L. , Shuh D. K.
Published: January 2018

The K-Edge (1s) x-ray emission spectroscopy of uranium tetrafluoride and uranium dioxide were compared to each other and to the results of a pair of earlier cluster calculations. Using a very simplified approach, it is possible to qualitatively reconstruct the main features of the x-ray emission spectra from the cluster calculation state energies and 2p percentages.
Reflection and transmission of thermo-elastic waves without energy dissipation at the interface of two dipolar gradient elastic solids
Authors: Li Yueqiu , Wei Peijun
Published: January 2018

The reflection and transmission of thermal elastic waves at the interface between two different dipolar gradient elastic solids are studied based on the generalized thermo-elastic theory of Green and Naghdi [(1993). J. Elasticity 31, 189–208] (type II of no energy dissipation). First, some thermodynamic formulas are generalized to a dipolar gradient elastic solid and the function of free energy density is postulated. Second, equations of thermal motion and constitutive relations in a dipolar gradient elasticity are derived. Then the nontraditional interfacial conditions are used to determine the amplitude ratio of the reflection and transmission waves with respect to the incident wave. Some numerical results of the reflection and transmission coefficients in the form of an energy flux ratio are given for different microstructure parameters while thermal parameters are fixed. The numerical results are validated by the consideration of energy conservation. It is found that there are a total of five modes of dispersive waves, namely, coupled MT1 wave, coupled MT2 wave, coupled MT3 wave, SV wave, and one evanescent wave which reduces to the surface waves at an interface, namely, SS wave. The thermal parameters mainly affect the coupled MT2 wave while the microstructure parameters affect not only the coupled waves but also the SS surface waves.
Sensory deprivation after focal ischemia in mice accelerates brain remapping and improves functional recovery through Arc-dependent synaptic plasticity
Authors: Kraft Andrew W. , Bauer Adam Q. , Culver Joseph P. , Lee Jin-Moo
Published: January 2018

Sensory loss induced by whisker trimming facilitates behavioral recovery after focal cerebral ischemia in mice by accelerating Arc-dependent neuronal remapping into the whisker barrel cortex.
Eradication of spontaneous malignancy by local immunotherapy
Authors: Sagiv-Barfi Idit , Czerwinski Debra K. , Levy Shoshana , Alam Israt S. , Mayer Aaron T. , Gambhir Sanjiv S. , Levy Ronald
Published: January 2018

In situ vaccination with low doses of TLR ligands and anti-OX40 antibodies can cure widespread cancers in preclinical models.
Therapeutic synergy between tigecycline and venetoclax in a preclinical model of
MYC
/
BCL2
double-hit B cell lymphoma
Authors: Ravà Micol , D’Andrea Aleco , Nicoli Paola , Gritti Ilaria , Donati Giulio , Doni Mirko , Giorgio Marco , Olivero Daniela , Amati Bruno
Published: January 2018

The antibiotic tigecycline and the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax cooperate to treat
MYC/BCL2
double-hit lymphomas in xenografted mice.
p53: Jack of all (cell death) trades, master of all
Authors: Sarosiek Kristopher
Published: January 2018

p53 has well-established roles in modulating many forms of cell death including apoptosis, autophagy, necrosis, necroptosis, and increasingly, ferroptosis as well.
Phase 1 Study of the Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetics of Vaborbactam and Meropenem Alone and in Combination following Single and Multiple Doses in Healthy Adult Subjects
Authors: Rubino Christopher M. , Bhavnani Sujata M. , Loutit Jeffery S. , Morgan Elizabeth E. , White Dan , Dudley Michael N. , Griffith David C.
Published: January 2018

Meropenem-vaborbactam is a fixed combination of the novel β-lactamase inhibitor vaborbactam and the carbapenem antibiotic meropenem, developed for the treatment of serious infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. The safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of vaborbactam and meropenem following single and multiple ascending doses of each study drug administered alone or combined were evaluated in 76 healthy adult subjects in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Subjects were enrolled in 1 of 5 dose cohorts (receiving 250 to 2,000 mg vaborbactam and/or 1,000 to 2,000 mg meropenem) alone or in combination. No subjects discontinued the study due to adverse events (AEs), and no serious AEs were observed. The pharmacokinetics of meropenem and vaborbactam were similar when given alone or in combination; all evaluated plasma PK exposure measures (peak plasma concentration, area under the plasma concentration-time curve [AUC] from time zero to the last measurable concentration area under the plasma concentration-time curve, and AUC from time zero to infinity) were similar for the study drugs alone versus those in combination, indicating no pharmacokinetic interaction between meropenem and vaborbactam. Across all treatments, 47 to 64% of an administered meropenem dose and 75 to 95% of vaborbactam was excreted unchanged in the urine over 48 h postdose. Meropenem and vaborbactam, when given alone or in combination, have similar pharmacokinetic properties, with no plasma or urine PK drug-drug interactions, and are well tolerated. These findings supported further clinical investigation of the combination product. (This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT01897779.)
Complete Genome Sequences of 44
Arthrobacter
Phages
Authors: Klyczek Karen K. , Jacobs-Sera Deborah , Adair Tamarah L. , Adams Sandra D. , Ball Sarah L. , Benjamin Robert C. , Bonilla J. Alfred , Breitenberger Caroline A. , Daniels Charles J. , Gaffney Bobby L. , Harrison Melinda , Hughes Lee E. , King Rodney A. , Krukonis Gregory P. , Lopez A. Javier , Monsen-Collar Kirsten , Pizzorno Marie C. , Rinehart Claire A. ,   SEA-PHAGES Program,   PHIRE Program, Staples Amanda K. , Stowe Emily L. , Garlena Rebecca A. , Russell Daniel A. , Cresawn Steven G. , Pope Welkin H. , Hatfull Graham F.
Published: January 2018

We report here the complete genome sequences of 44 phages infecting
Arthrobacter
sp. strain ATCC 21022. These phages have double-stranded DNA genomes with sizes ranging from 15,680 to 70,707 bp and G+C contents from 45.1% to 68.5%. All three tail types (belonging to the families
Siphoviridae
,
Myoviridae
, and
Podoviridae
) are represented.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Wine Yeast Strain
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
I-328
Authors: Mardanov Andrey V. , Beletsky Alexey V. , Eldarov Mikhail A. , Tanashchuk Tatiana N. , Kishkovskaya Svetlana A. , Ravin Nikolai V.
Published: January 2018

Saccharomyces cerevisiae
I-328 is a yeast strain used for production of sherry-like wine in Russia. Here we report the draft genome sequence of this strain, which will facilitate comparative genomic studies of yeast strains used for winemaking.
Draft Genome Sequence of
Zhihengliuella
sp. Strain ISTPL4, a Psychrotolerant and Halotolerant Bacterium Isolated from Pangong Lake, India
Authors: Mishra Arti , Jha Gopaljee , Thakur Indu Shekhar
Published: January 2018

Zhihengliuella
sp. strain ISTPL4, a psychrotolerant bacterium, was isolated from brackish water of the high-altitude Pangong Lake in India. In this study, we report its draft genome sequence, which contains 3,529,629 bp with a G+C content of 69.84%. The genome is enriched in genes associated with cold adaptation and plant growth promotion.
Draft Genome Sequences of Two Thermotolerant Cyanobacterial Strains Isolated from Hot Springs
Authors: Mironov Kirill S. , Sinetova Maria A. , Kupriyanova Elena V. , Ustinova Vera V. , Kozlova Anna Y. , Messineva Ekaterina M. , Gabrielyan David A. , Bedbenov Vladimir S. , Zayadan Bolatkhan K. , Los Dmitry A.
Published: January 2018

We report here two draft cyanobacterial genome sequences, those of
Cyanobacterium aponinum
IPPAS B-1201, isolated from a hot spring in the Turgen Gorge (Kazakhstan), and the uncharacterized cyanobacterium IPPAS B
-
1203, isolated from a hot spring in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic). These two strains were deposited at the Collection of Microalgae (IPPAS) of the Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists are not associated with retinal adverse events in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System
Authors: Fadini Gian Paolo , Sarangdhar Mayur , Avogaro Angelo
Published: January 2018

Objectives

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) are widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In large trials, the GLP-1RAs liraglutide and semaglutide improved cardiovascular outcomes, but semaglutide was associated with an increased risk of retinopathy progression. We herein evaluated the association between GLP-1RA and retinal adverse events (AE) in the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).

Research design and methods

We mined the FAERS between 2004q1 and 2017q1 (for a total of 9 217 555 AE reports) to analyze disproportionality and evaluate the association between GLP-1RAs and AEs involving the retina. We compared the frequency of retinal AEs among reports including GLP-1RAs and in those including other glucose-lowering medications (GLMs) as suspect or concomitant drugs.

Results

We retrieved 114 814 reports involving GLP-1RA and 694 725 reports involving other GLMs as suspect or concomitant drugs. The cumulative frequency of retinal AEs was 2.53/1000 for reports involving GLP-1RA vs 6.62/1000 for reports involving other GLMs, with a proportional reporting ratio of 0.38 (95% CI 0.34 to 0.43; P<0.0001). Reports involving GLP-1RAs listed significantly more comorbid conditions and concomitant medications. Findings were consistent after filtering the diabetes indication irrespective of concomitant GLM, in reports including and in those not including insulin, and for the various GLP-1RAs.

Conclusions

In the FAERS there is no evidence that GLP-1RAs are associated with AEs suggestive of retinopathy progression. Despite more comorbid conditions and concomitant medications, in reports with GLP-1RA the frequency of retinal AEs was significantly lower than in reports with other GLMs.
Tumour risks and genotype–phenotype correlations associated with germline variants in succinate dehydrogenase subunit genes SDHB, SDHC and SDHD
Authors: Andrews Katrina A , Ascher David B , Pires Douglas Eduardo Valente , Barnes Daniel R , Vialard Lindsey , Casey Ruth T , Bradshaw Nicola , Adlard Julian , Aylwin Simon , Brennan Paul , Brewer Carole , Cole Trevor , Cook Jackie A , Davidson Rosemarie , Donaldson Alan , Fryer Alan , Greenhalgh Lynn , hodgson Shirley V , Irving Richard , Lalloo Fiona , McConachie Michelle , McConnell Vivienne P M , Morrison Patrick J , Murday Victoria , Park Soo-Mi , Simpson Helen L , Snape Katie , Stewart Susan , Tomkins Susan E , Wallis Yvonne , Izatt Louise , Goudie David , Lindsay Robert S , Perry Colin G , Woodward Emma R , Antoniou Antonis C , Maher Eamonn R
Published: January 2018

Background

Germline pathogenic variants in SDHB/SDHC/SDHD are the most frequent causes of inherited phaeochromocytomas/paragangliomas. Insufficient information regarding penetrance and phenotypic variability hinders optimum management of mutation carriers. We estimate penetrance for symptomatic tumours and elucidate genotype–phenotype correlations in a large cohort of SDHB/SDHC/SDHD mutation carriers.

Methods

A retrospective survey of 1832 individuals referred for genetic testing due to a personal or family history of phaeochromocytoma/paraganglioma. 876 patients (401 previously reported) had a germline mutation in SDHB/SDHC/SDHD (n=673/43/160). Tumour risks were correlated with in silico structural prediction analyses.

Results

Tumour risks analysis provided novel penetrance estimates and genotype–phenotype correlations. In addition to tumour type susceptibility differences for individual genes, we confirmed that the SDHD:p.Pro81Leu mutation has a distinct phenotype and identified increased age-related tumour risks with highly destabilising SDHB missense mutations. By Kaplan-Meier analysis, the penetrance (cumulative risk of clinically apparent tumours) in SDHB and (paternally inherited) SDHD mutation-positive non-probands (n=371/67 with detailed clinical information) by age 60 years was 21.8% (95% CI 15.2% to 27.9%) and 43.2% (95% CI 25.4% to 56.7%), respectively. Risk of malignant disease at age 60 years in non-proband SDHB mutation carriers was 4.2%(95% CI 1.1% to 7.2%). With retrospective cohort analysis to adjust for ascertainment, cumulative tumour risks for SDHB mutation carriers at ages 60 years and 80 years were 23.9% (95% CI 20.9% to 27.4%) and 30.6% (95% CI 26.8% to 34.7%).

Conclusions

Overall risks of clinically apparent tumours for SDHB mutation carriers are substantially lower than initially estimated and will improve counselling of affected families. Specific genotype–tumour risk associations provides a basis for novel investigative strategies into succinate dehydrogenase-related mechanisms of tumourigenesis and the development of personalised management for SDHB/SDHC/SDHD mutation carriers.
In-flight social calls: a primer for biologists and managers studying echolocation
Authors: Bohn K.M. , Gillam E.H.
Published: January 2018

Recent technological advances have permitted collection of immense data sets through automated recordings that are primarily aimed at capturing bat echolocation. Analyses of echolocation calls are used to identify species, relative abundance, and some aspects of behaviour, such as foraging or commuting. Here we propose that social calls recorded in flight are also valuable tools for understanding bat ecology and behaviour. First, we examine how and why the acoustic structure of social calls differ from echolocation. Differences in form make social calls often, but not always, easy to identify. We then use a case study on in-flight song in Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis (I. Geoffroy, 1824)) to show that what may appear as echolocation may instead be predominantly used for social communication. Next, we review three basic functions of in-flight social calls, including examples of each, and develop a framework for testing these alternative functions using automated recordings. In a second case study, we use automated recordings of the endangered Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus (G.M. Allen, 1932)) to illustrate how behavioural information can be gleaned by examining patterns of social call production. Finally, we discuss why and how social calls provide novel information that can be crucial for conservation and management efforts.
Ahkera Smart Tech: A High-Tech Venture’s Global Entrepreneurship in Asia
Authors: Kim Young-Choon , Cha Hyeonjin , Kim Taekyun
Published: January 2018

Ahkera Smart Tech is a technology start-up specialized in baggage loading, a niche market of airport baggage handling system. Its robotics technology has great potential to revolutionize baggage loading by improving operational efficiency, accuracy and safety in the airport. As Ahkera brings its innovation to a global stage, the management team is keen on Asian markets. Aviation industry in Asia has observed exploding demand for air traffic, providing great market opportunities for Ahkera. As a non-Asian startup, Ahkera faces significant challenges in market penetration and global strategic management in order to ride on Asian opportunities.
A Simple Approach for Simulating the Road Surface Roughness Involved in Vehicle-Bridge Interaction Systems
Authors: Zhang Yao , Zhao Hai Sheng , Lie Seng Tjhen
Published: January 2018

This paper presents an idea for modeling the road surface roughness in a vehicle–bridge interaction (VBI) system, by simulating it equivalently as two external forces each acting on the two subsystems of vehicle and bridge. Such an idea can be easily included in general-purpose commercial finite element (FE) software like ABAQUS and ANSYS. Compared with frequently used coupled and uncoupled FE models, the present approach is more convenient, since it does not require any self-developed FE codes. The other advantage is that it does not require very small elements in the FE modeling, as is the case with conventional approaches for simulating the irregularity in the profile of road surface roughness, which may be computationally inefficient.
MethyMer: Design of combinations of specific primers for bisulfite sequencing of complete CpG islands
Authors: Krasnov George S. , Melnikova Nataliya V. , Lakunina Valentina A. , Snezhkina Anastasiya V. , Kudryavtseva Anna V. , Dmitriev Alexey A.
Published: January 2018

We present MethyMer, a Python-based tool aimed at selecting primers for amplification of complete CpG islands. These regions are difficult in terms of selecting appropriate primers because of their low-complexity, high GC content. Moreover, bisulfite treatment, in fact, leads to the reduction of the 4-letter alphabet (ATGC) to 3-letter one (ATG, except for methylated cytosines), and this also reduces region complexity and increases mispriming potential. MethyMer has a flexible scoring system, which optimizes the balance between various characteristics such as nucleotide composition, thermodynamic features (melting temperature, dimers [Formula: see text]G, etc.), the presence of CpG sites and polyN tracts, and primer specificity, which is assessed with aligning primers to the bisulfite-treated genome using bowtie (up to three mismatches are allowed). Users are able to customize desired or limit ranges of various parameters as well as penalties for non-desired values. Moreover, MethyMer allows picking up the optimal combination of PCR primer pairs to perform the amplification of a large genomic locus, e.g. CpG island or other hard-to-study region, with minimal overlap of the individual amplicons. MethyMer incorporates ENCODE genome annotation records (promoter/enhancer/insulator), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) CpG methylation data derived with Illumina Infinium 450K microarrays, and records on correlations between TCGA RNA-Seq and CpG methylation data for 20 cancer types. These databases are included in the MethyMer release. Our tool is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/methymer/ .
The Role of R&D Cooperation in Firm Innovation
Authors: Pennacchio Luca , Piroli Giuseppe , Ardovino Otello
Published: January 2018

The present paper investigates the role of research and development (R&D) cooperation in firm innovation. In particular, we evaluate the direct impact of cooperation on firm innovation and its moderating effect on the relationship between internal R&D and innovation. The empirical analysis is based on a large sample of Italian firms drawn from the Sixth Community Innovation Survey. We estimate a multivariate probit model which takes into account the complementarity of different types of innovation and the heterogeneity in the choice of cooperation partners. The estimation results indicate a strong and positive effect of non-competitive collaborations with suppliers, clients and private research institutes on the different types of firm innovation. Collaborations with universities enhance organizational innovations but have weak effects on the other types of innovations. Also cooperation with competitors positively affects firms’ innovations, especially in the case of organizational innovations. On the other hand, moderating effects are scant and restricted to some forms of non-competitive cooperation.
Novel phthalocyanines containing azo chromophores; synthesis, characterization, photophysical, and electrochemical properties
Authors: Garip Ebru Özkan , Özçeşmeci Mukaddes , Nar Ilgın , Özçeşmeci İbrahim , Hamuryudan Esin
Published: January 2018

A series of novel metal-free and zinc (II), copper (II), cobalt (II), and manganese (III) phthalocyanine complexes bearing peripheral 2,6-dimethyl-4-(4-tert-butyl-phenylazo)phenoxy units have been synthesized. Novel phthalonitrile derivative required for the preparation of these phthalocyanine complexes was prepared by a base-catalyzed nucleophilic aromatic nitro displacement of 4-nitrophthalonitrile with 2,6-dimethyl-4-(4-tert-butyl-phenylazo)phenol. The structures of these new compounds were characterized by using elemental analyses, proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The photophysical properties of metal-free and zinc(II) phthalocyanines were studied in tetrahydrofuran. The electrochemical properties of the phthalocyanine complexes were investigated by cyclic and square wave voltammetry.
Smooth crossed product of minimal unique ergodic diffeomorphisms of a manifold and cyclic cohomology
Authors: Liu Hongzhi
Published: January 2018

Different diffeomorphisms can give the same [Formula: see text] crossed product algebra. Our main purpose is to show that we can still classify dynamical systems with some appropriate smooth crossed product algebras when their corresponding [Formula: see text] crossed product algebras are isomorphic. For this purpose, we construct two minimal unique ergodic diffeomorphisms [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]. The [Formula: see text] algebras classification theory, smooth crossed product algebras considered by R. Nest and cyclic cohomology are used to show that [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] give the same [Formula: see text] algebra and induce different smooth crossed product algebras.
Strong China-US Trade Relations Despite Occasional Squabbles
Authors: TONG Sarah Y , LÜ Yue
Published: January 2018

Trade relations between China and the United States continue to strengthen. Meanwhile, widening bilateral imbalance persists, as China becomes increasingly central in the Asian production network. New trends have emerged since 2011. China’s trade with its immediate neighbours have weakened in relative terms and the importance of process trade declined. China’s surging trade surplus is increasingly domestically originated. Bilateral economic relations face many challenges, especially when the new US administration has stronger inward-looking tendencies.
Increasing Government Social Expenditure and Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in China
Authors: QIAN Jiwei
Published: January 2018

In 2016, the Chinese government spent about 37% of total government expenditure on social policy areas. With demographic changes and new government initiatives, this spending is likely to increase further. Local fiscal capacity is insufficient to fulfil this responsibility. To remedy, two recent policy initiatives have been introduced including reallocating expenditure responsibility between central and local governments and encouraging the entry of the private sector to share some outlays of the social programmes.
Political Attitudes of China’s Post-1980s Generation
Authors: SHAN Wei
Published: January 2018

The political attitudes of the post-1980s generation in China are important for understanding the country’s political future. Public opinion surveys reveal the post-1980s group as the least nationalistic and more sceptical of the government than the older generations. They show little interest in politics despite their confidence of participating in public issues. In the long term, Beijing will have to face a society led by the more critical and less obedient post-1980s.
A Multi-Label Multi-View Learning Framework for In-App Service Usage Analysis
Authors: Fu Yanjie , Liu Junming , Li Xiaolin , Xiong Hui
Published: January 2018

The service usage analysis, aiming at identifying customers’ messaging behaviors based on encrypted App traffic flows, has become a challenging and emergent task for service providers. Prior literature usually starts from segmenting a traffic sequence into single-usage subsequences, and then classify the subsequences into different usage types. However, they could suffer from inaccurate traffic segmentations and mixed-usage subsequences. To address this challenge, we exploit a multi-label multi-view learning strategy and develop an enhanced framework for in-App usage analytics. Specifically, we first devise an enhanced traffic segmentation method to reduce mixed-usage subsequences. Besides, we develop a multi-label multi-view logistic classification method, which comprises two alignments. The first alignment is to make use of the classification consistency between packet-length view and time-delay view of traffic subsequences and improve classification accuracy. The second alignment is to combine the classification of single-usage subsequence and the post-classification of mixed-usage subsequences into a unified multi-label logistic classification problem. Finally, we present extensive experiments with real-world datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. We find that the proposed multi-label multi-view framework can help overcome the pain of mixed-usage subsequences and can be generalized to latent activity analysis in sequential data, beyond in-App usage analytics.
Participatory Design in Emerging Civic Engagement Initiatives in the New Public Sector
Authors: Pilemalm Sofie
Published: January 2018

In this study, we address the role of Participatory Design (PD) in emerging public sector governance forms and, more specifically, civic engagement and we-government initiatives. We achieve this by first providing a research overview of the development of PD approaches since they originated in the 1970s, identifying different PD generations and associated concepts, contexts, and challenges, and then relating them to current public sector trends. Next, we link the overview to a practical example by presenting a case of applying PD to a civic engagement project that takes place in the Swedish emergency response system. Our example findings sustain previously identified needs to return to broad change processes and balance this with ICT re-configuration and structuration of the collaborative processes, the related stakeholders, and their needs, this time in a context where work tasks and responsibilities are not yet defined, known or experienced among stakeholders. We then suggest methodological ways to handle this by (1) applying an interdisciplinary PD approach, (2) replacing the traditional design group with a combination of various qualitative methods and PD techniques, e.g., focus groups, modified scenario-based future workshops, exercises, and after-action-reviews, and (3) support PD activities with context-specific frameworks. We argue that applying PD concepts to the governance forms that are emerging in resource-constrained public sector organizations poses a number of challenges, many of them relating directly to the unknown character of the work setting and the practical difficulties of involving civil citizens as end-users. However, if they are addressed and handled adequately, making civic engagement initiatives work processes and ICT support to work smoothly, this can contribute to a re-politicization of PD in terms of space, action, and the empowerment of citizens both by enhancing their skills and by having them represented in design activities.
Quick Bootstrapping of a Personalized Gaze Model from Real-Use Interactions
Authors: Huang Michael Xuelin , Li Jiajia , Ngai Grace , Leong Hong Va
Published: January 2018

Understanding human visual attention is essential for understanding human cognition, which in turn benefits human--computer interaction. Recent work has demonstrated a Personalized, Auto-Calibrating Eye-tracking (PACE) system, which makes it possible to achieve accurate gaze estimation using only an off-the-shelf webcam by identifying and collecting data implicitly from user interaction events. However, this method is constrained by the need for large amounts of well-annotated data. We thus present fast-PACE, an adaptation to PACE that exploits knowledge from existing data from different users to accelerate the learning speed of the personalized model. The result is an adaptive, data-driven approach that continuously “learns” its user and recalibrates, adapts, and improves with additional usage by a user. Experimental evaluations of fast-PACE demonstrate its competitive accuracy in iris localization, validity of alignment identification between gaze and interactions, and effectiveness of gaze transfer. In general, fast-PACE achieves an initial visual error of 3.98 degrees and then steadily improves to 2.52 degrees given incremental interaction-informed data. Our performance is comparable to state-of-the-art, but without the need for explicit training or calibration. Our technique addresses the data quality and quantity problems. It therefore has the potential to enable comprehensive gaze-aware applications in the wild.
A Bayesian Approach to Intervention-Based Clustering
Authors: Kulev Igor , Pu Pearl , Faltings Boi
Published: January 2018

An important task for intelligent healthcare systems is to predict the effect of a new intervention on individuals. This is especially true for medical treatments. For example, consider patients who do not respond well to a new drug or have adversary reactions. Predicting the likelihood of positive or negative response before trying the drug on the patient can potentially save his or her life. We are therefore interested in identifying distinctive subpopulations that respond differently to a given intervention. For this purpose, we have developed a novel technique, Intervention-based Clustering, based on a Bayesian mixture model. Compared to the baseline techniques, the novelty of our approach lies in its ability to model complex decision boundaries by using soft clustering, thus predicting the effect for individuals more accurately. It can also incorporate prior knowledge, making the method useful even for smaller datasets. We demonstrate how our method works by applying it to both simulated and real data. Results of our evaluation show that our model has strong predictive power and is capable of producing high-quality clusters compared to the baseline methods.
Concentration-Resilient Mixture Preparation with Digital Microfluidic Lab-on-Chip
Authors: Bhattacharjee Sukanta , Chen Yi-Ling , Huang Juinn-Dar , Bhattacharya Bhargab B.
Published: January 2018

Sample preparation plays a crucial role in almost all biochemical applications, since a predominant portion of biochemical analysis time is associated with sample collection, transportation, and preparation. Many sample-preparation algorithms are proposed in the literature that are suitable for execution on programmable digital microfluidic (DMF) platforms. In most of the existing DMF-based sample-preparation algorithms, a fixed target ratio is provided as input, and the corresponding mixing tree is generated as output. However, in many biochemical applications, target mixtures with exact component proportions may not be needed. From a biochemical perspective, it may be sufficient to prepare a mixture in which the input reagents may lie within a range of concentration factors. The choice of a particular valid ratio, however, strongly impacts solution-preparation cost and time. To address this problem, we propose a concentration-resilient ratio-selection method from the input ratio space so that the reactant cost is minimized. We propose an integer linear programming--based method that terminates very fast while producing the optimum solution, considering both uniform and weighted cost of reagents. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method can be used conveniently in tandem with several existing sample-preparation algorithms for improving their performance.