bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Witness emittance growth caused by driver density fluctuations in plasma wakefield accelerators
Authors: Minakov V. A. , Tacu M. , Sosedkin A. P. , Lotov K. V.
Published: September 2018

We discovered a novel effect that can cause witness emittance growth in plasma wakefield accelerators. The effect appears in linear or moderately nonlinear plasma waves. The witness experiences a time-varying focusing force and loses quality during the time required for the drive beam to reach transverse equilibrium with the plasma wave. The higher the witness charge, the lower the emittance growth rate because of additional focusing of the witness by its own wakefield. However, the witness head always degrades, and the boundary between degraded and intact parts gradually propagates backward along the witness bunch.
Fabrication and characterization of annular magnetic nanostructures
Authors: Ruiz Ariel , Ruchhoeft Paul , Litvinov Dmitri
Published: September 2018

Large arrays of permalloy (Ni81Fe19) annular structures were fabricated using a self-aligned patterning process based on ion-beam proximity lithography (IBPL), where a broad beam of energetic He ions is shaped into billions of ion beamlet by a stencil mask to pattern electron beam sensitive resist. IBPL was used to form an array of circular openings in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resist, followed by a tone reversal process to form circular pillars in an underlying polymethylglutarimide (PMGI) layer. The PMGI pillars were conformally coated with silicon oxide, which was followed by anisotropic reactive ion etch (RIE) to form silicon oxide rings, which were transferred into the underlying sputter deposited permalloy thin film by ion milling. This fabrication approach was used to make 6 x 6 mm2 arrays of rings on a constant pitch of 670 nm with the outer diameters varied between 350 nm and 450 nm with a fixed inner diameter of 150 nm. Three unique samples that were fabricated and characterized using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The measured M-H loops showed the switching from an onion to a vortex and back to an onion state and are in good agreement with micromagnetic simulations and previously published data.
Introduction to dynamics of manufacturing supply networks
Authors: Gross Thilo , MacCarthy Bart L. , Wildgoose Nick
Published: September 2018

Manufacturing supply networks are complex dynamic networks that play a crucial role in the economy. Nevertheless, there are so far only few studies that apply modern tools of network science and dynamical system theory to the analysis of these networks. Here, we provide a brief introduction to these types of networks highlighting their basic organization, current challenges, and selected previous work. This paper serves as an introduction to a focus topic consisting of five papers by experts on supply network dynamics.
Sociodemographic characteristics and clinical description of congenital syphilis patients and their mothers in Japan: a qualitative study, 2016
Authors: Kanai Mizue , Arima Yuzo , Shimada Tomoe , Hori Narumi , Yamagishi Takuya , Sunagawa Tomimasa , Tada Yuki , Takahashi Takuri , Ohnishi Makoto , Matsui Tamano , Oishi Kazunori
Published: September 2018

Background
In Japan, congenital syphilis (CS) notifications have increased recently. However, little is known about the CS cases or the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of the patients’ mothers. Methods: Twelve cases of CS were reported through national surveillance in the period March–December 2016, and the mothers of seven patients were included in this study. The patients’ mothers and physicians completed a self-administered questionnaire, providing sociodemographic and clinical information of the patients and their mothers. In addition, we explored the awareness and knowledge of, attitudes towards and practices regarding CS occurrence through semistructured interviews with the mothers. Results: Of the seven CS patients, three were asymptomatic, with a range of non-specific clinical manifestations in the rest. The mothers tended to be of young age, unmarried and to have a history of commercial sex work, other sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and no or irregular prenatal care visits during pregnancy. Of the four mothers who had had regular prenatal care visits, two had tested negative for syphilis at the first trimester antenatal screening. Themes emerged that indicated challenges in preventing CS, including a lack of guidance or guidelines for physicians to consider testing for syphilis after the first trimester, lack of physicians’ awareness or experience of syphilis or CS and a lack of awareness or knowledge in pregnant women regarding STIs. Conclusions: Key characteristics of recent CS patients and their mothers in Japan were revealed, identifying previously reported factors as well as new challenges. A holistic approach, designed to address challenges at the level of the healthcare system, healthcare provider and the pregnant woman and her partner will be important in preventing CS.
Movement kinematics drive chain selection toward intention detection
Authors: Soriano Marco , Cavallo Andrea , D’Ausilio Alessandro , Becchio Cristina , Fadiga Luciano
Published: September 2018

Significance

Estimation of intentions from the observation of other people’s actions has been proposed to rely on the same motor chain organization supporting the execution of intentional actions. However, the nature of the mechanism by which a specific neuronal chain is selected among possible alternatives during action observation remains obscure. Our study shows that in absence of discriminative contextual cues, subtle changes in the kinematics of the observed action inform mapping to the most probable chain. These results shed light on the importance of kinematics for the attribution of intentions to actions.
Introduction and background.
Authors: Blair R.
Published: September 2018

In this second edition of Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Poultry, guidance for producers on nutrition and feeding practices that relate to the standards for certification of organic poultry were highlighted. Details on permitted feed ingredients, with an emphasis on those grown or available locally and on suitable dietary formulations, are included. In this edition, producers will benefit form guidelines in formulating diets without and with supplemental amino acids as well as on the standards and rules laid down to accomplish organic production place several restrictions on diet and feeding. Overall the main aim of this book is to present advice on how the appropriate diets can be formulated and how feeding programmes can be integrated into an organic production system. Another goal of this book is to help the regulatory authorities in several countries to address nutritional issues relevant to future revisions of the regulations.
Aims and principles of organic poultry production.
Authors: Blair R.
Published: September 2018

A review on the international guidelines, regulations and standards of poultry feeding was presented in this chapter highlighting its impact on national standards in Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, USA as well as in developing countries. From the regulations and principles its clear that increasing convergence or harmonization of these regulations will occur as the markets for organic feedstuffs and poultry products grow and countries seek to export to others.
Integrating feeding programmes into organic production systems.
Authors: Blair R.
Published: September 2018

A review on the impact of integrating nutritional programmes with housing systems, and genotypes on the performance and profitability of an organic poultry farming system was presented in this chapter.
Ethyl β-d-glucoside: a novel chemoattractant of Ralstonia solanacearum isolated from tomato root exudates by a bioassay-guided fractionation
Authors: Hasegawa Takuya , Okabe Atsushi , Kato Yusuke , Ooshiro Atsushi , Kawaide Hiroshi , Natsume Masahiro
Published: September 2018

A chemoattractant of Ralstonia solanacearum isolated from the activated charcoal-adsorbed fraction of tomato root exudates was identified as ethyl β-d-glucopyranoside by instrumental analyses and comparison with synthetic preparations. Ethyl β-d-glucopyranoside showed unambiguous activity at above 1 µmol/disc. Its stereoisomers and d-glucose were inactive.
Orexigenic action of oral zinc: metabolomic analysis in the rat hypothalamus
Authors: Nishiuchi Mika , Sakai Kumiko , Tajima Hiroyuki , Katayama Kazuo , Kimura Fumiko , Hoshi Seiko , Goto Tomoko , Shirakawa Hitoshi , Komai Michio
Published: September 2018

We previously reported an orexigenic action of oral zinc administration in male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats during an early stage of feeding with a zinc-deficient diet, without decreased zinc concentrations in tissues. The overall conclusion was that orally but not intraperitoneally administered zinc stimulates food intake in short-term zinc-deficient-diet fed rats. We here investigate the mechanism of the orexigenic action of zinc using GC-MS/MS-targeted metabolomic analysis in the rat hypothalamus. Four-week-old, male SD/Slc rats were used, and after 2 days of feeding with a zinc-deficient diet, 3 mg of ZnSO4 in 5 mL saline solution were administered to each rat either orally or intraperitoneally. Three hours after administration, the rats were sacrificed and the hypothalamus were excised and analyzed. We found that the oral administration group showed increased concentrations of 3-aminopropanoic acid (β-alanine), hypotaurine, dopamine, and biotin. In light of metabolomic analysis of these results, we indicate directions for further research.
Impact of surface state in probeless friction stir spot welding of an Al–Li alloy
Authors: Chu Q. , Yang X.W. , Li W.Y. , Lu T. , Zhang Y. , Vairis A. , Wang W.B.
Published: September 2018

Sheets of AA2198 alloy with various surface conditions were welded with probeless friction stir spot welding (P-FSSW). Results show that the oxide layer on the original lap-weld surface produces continuously distributed oxide impurities at the interface of the P-FSSWed joint with a large amount of voids. The visual flow at the interface provides a persuasive explanation of local preferential abrasion. Following surface grinding, local abrasion increases with surface roughness and results in the dispersion of voids and oxides, which contributes to the improvement of metallurgical connection. The corresponding mechanical strength of the P-FSSWed joints shows a relatively significant increase, while the fracture mode remains affected by the hook defect regardless of the surface state.
Laminate fibre wave defect – KDF evaluation
Authors: Brambilla Luciano
Published: September 2018

The positive side of using composite materials in Aerospace industry is the weight reduction. The drawback are the defects created on solid laminates, during manufacturing. Structure life and strength reduction, due to the defects, need to be accurately evaluated against the A/C airworthiness requirements.
Algebraic stratified general position and transversality
Authors: McCrory Clint , Parusiński Adam , Păunescu Laurenţiu
Published: September 2018

The method of Whitney interpolation is used to construct, for any real or complex projective algebraic variety, a stratified submersive family of self-maps that yields stratified general position and transversality theorems for semialgebraic subsets.
Resistance to Stress Can Be Experimentally Dissociated From Longevity
Authors: Dues Dylan J , Andrews Emily K , Senchuk Megan M , Van Raamsdonk Jeremy M
Published: September 2018

On the basis of multiple experiments demonstrating that high resistance to stress is associated with long lifespan, it has been proposed that stress resistance is a key determinant of longevity. However, the extent to which high resistance to stress is necessary or sufficient for long life is currently unclear. In this work, we use a genetic approach to disrupt different stress response pathways and examine the resulting effect on the longevity of the long-lived insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) receptor mutant daf-2. Although mutation of the heat shock factor gene hsf-1, deletion of sod genes, deletion of the p38 MAPK kinase gene pmk-1, or deletion of the transcription factor gene egl-27 all resulted in decreased resistance to at least one form of stress and decreased lifespan, the magnitude of change in stress resistance did not correspond to the magnitude of change in lifespan. In addition, we found that deletion of the glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase genes gpdh-1 and gpdh-2 or deletion of the DAF-16 cofactor gene nhl-1 also results in decreased resistance to at least one form of stress but increases lifespan. Overall, our results suggest that while increased stress resistance is associated with longevity, stress resistance, and lifespan can be experimentally dissociated.
Clinical Strategies for the Treatment and Management of Patients Prescribed Long-term Opioid Therapy
Authors: Wyse Jessica J , Ganzini Linda , Dobscha Steven K , Krebs Erin E , Zamudio Janet , Morasco Benjamin J
Published: September 2018

Objectives

Across diverse health care systems, growing recognition of the harms associated with long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic pain has catalyzed substantial changes to policy and practice designed to promote safer prescribing and patient care. Although clear goals have been defined, how clinics and providers should most effectively implement these changes has been less well defined, and facilities and providers have had substantial flexibility to innovate.

Methods

Qualitative interviews were conducted with 24 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinicians across the United States who prescribe LTOT for chronic pain. Interviews probed the practices and initiatives providers utilized to meet opioid safety requirements and address common challenges in caring for patients prescribed LTOT.

Results

Innovative strategies in the design and organization of clinical practice (urine drug testing, informed consent, limiting transfer requests, specialty patient panel) and resources utilized (engaged pharmacists, non-opioid pain treatments, intra-organizational collaborations) are described.

Conclusions

We conclude with recommendations designed to improve opioid prescribing practices, both within the VA and in other settings.
What Have We Learned From the Osaka Study?
Authors: Uchino Miki , Uchino Yuichi , Kawashima Motoko , Yokoi Norihiko , Tsubota Kazuo
Published: September 2018

Purpose:

To summarize the results of a cross-sectional epidemiologic study of Japanese office workers who use visual display terminals (VDTs).

Methods:

Workers in a pharmaceutical company head office were recruited. Participants were requested to complete a questionnaire on symptoms of dry eye disease (DED) and evaluations using the Work Limitations Questionnaire, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Subjective Happiness Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Evaluations of ocular status, including conjunctival and corneal vital staining with lissamine green and fluorescein, measurement of tear film breakup time, and the Schirmer test, were performed. The Japanese 2007 diagnostic criteria for DED were implemented.

Results:

The prevalence of DED among VDT workers was high. Definite DED was present in 11.6% (18.7% women and 8.0% men) of participants, and probable DED was present in 54.0% (57.8% women and 52.1% men). Total loss of workplace productivity was significantly greater in the definite DED group (4.82%) than in the probable DED group (4.06%) and the non-DED group (3.56%, P < 0.014, trend test). Participants with definite DED had significantly lower physical activity scores than those without DED (P = 0.025). Subjective happiness correlated with the dry eye symptom score (r = −0.188; P < 0.001). Participants with DED reported poor sleep quality at a higher rate compared with those without DED (45% vs. 34%), with a significant difference in the global score (P = 0.002).

Conclusions:

Dry eye is prevalent among VDT workers. Its impacts on work productivity, physical activity, and sleep quality warrant further study.
Five Misconceptions Related to Punctal Plugs in Dry Eye Management
Authors: Song Jong Suk , Woo In Ho , Eom Youngsub , Kim Hyo Myung
Published: September 2018

Punctal plugs are an effective treatment option for patients with aqueous-deficient dry eye refractory to topical medications. However, punctal plugs are not commonly used in clinical practice mainly because of various misconceptions, rather than clinical complications. We analyzed previous studies and present 5 misconceptions related to punctal plugs. The first and most important misconception is that ocular surface inflammation should be sufficiently controlled before punctal plug insertion. However, it is unclear how ocular surface inflammation can be sufficiently controlled in patients refractory to conventional topical medications. The second misconception is that silicone punctal plugs are made of nonabsorbable materials and, therefore, permanent. In fact, silicone plugs are reversible and can be easily removed if necessary. Therefore, depending on the specific type, nonabsorbable plugs may be classified as reversible or permanent. The third misconception is that punctal plugs disrupt normal tear drainage. However, punctal plugs maintain natural tears on the ocular surface for extended periods and reduce the frequency of artificial tear use. The fourth is that all punctal and canalicular plugs have similar effects. The efficacy and complication rates differ depending on plug types. The fifth misconception about punctal plugs is that they are effective only in aqueous-deficient dry eye disease. Many studies have reported that plugs are effective in a variety of ocular diseases and conditions. Understanding these 5 misconceptions may provide an opportunity to rethink the use of silicone punctal plugs in clinical practice.
Appropriate Sequence of Combined Intracorneal Ring Implantation and Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking in Keratoconus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Hashemi Hassan , Alvani Azam , Seyedian Mohammad A. , Yaseri Mehdi , Khabazkhoob Mehdi , Esfandiari Hamed
Published: September 2018

Purpose:

To compare surgical sequences of combined intracorneal ring segment (ICRS) implantation and corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) in keratoconus and corneal ectasia in terms of visual, refractive, and keratometric outcomes.

Methods:

A comprehensive electronic search (in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane Library) was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement to find articles on combined ICRS implantation and CXL in keratoconus and corneal ectasia. The search period was from the inception of the database up to April 2017. Eligible articles were categorized into 3 surgical sequences (same day, ICRS first, and CXL first) and assessed qualitatively. Articles with 12 months of follow-up data after combined surgery were included in the meta-analysis.

Results:

The initial search identified 120 related articles, of which 17 were included in the review after screening. The quality assessment showed that visual, refractive, and keratometric improvement was observed in all studies in all 3 groups of combined surgery. Meta-analysis on 6 studies that reported 12-month follow-up outcomes showed no significant differences between the 3 groups regarding uncorrected and best-corrected visual acuity and cylindrical refractive error. However, results with simultaneous surgery were superior to the CXL-first technique in terms of spherical refractive errors and flat-K (P = 0.011 and P = 0.0001, respectively) and to both CXL first and ICRS first in terms of steep-K (P = 0.002 and P = 0.007, respectively).

Conclusions:

Simultaneous ICRS implantation and CXL may provide better outcomes than staged techniques for improving the corneal shape.
Isolated Primary Corneal Acremonium Eumycetoma: Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Mukhija Ritika , Gupta Noopur , Ganger Anita , Kashyap Seema , Hussain Nishat , Vanathi Murugesan , Tandon Radhika
Published: September 2018

Purpose:

To report an unusual case of isolated Acremonium eumycetoma presenting as a protuberant mass over the cornea.

Methods:

Case report and literature review.

Results:

A 55-year-old male patient referred to our center with a case of perforated corneal ulcer with uveal tissue prolapse was examined in the casualty department and found to have central melt, approximately 8 mm, along with suspected uveal tissue prolapse. A provisional diagnosis of sloughed corneal ulcer with uveal prolapse was made along with differential diagnoses of fungal ball and infected foreign body granuloma. Tectonic penetrating keratoplasty under general anesthesia was planned. Intraoperatively, the suspected uveal (brown colored) tissue was found to be an epicorneal mass growing over an intact and infiltrated cornea. Histopathological and microbiological analysis of the epicorneal mass and host cornea revealed it to be a fungal ball (mass full of septate hyphae) with growth of Acremonium species on culture. The patient was administered topical and oral antifungal agents postoperatively, in addition to topical antibiotics and cycloplegics.

Conclusions:

Isolated corneal Acremonium eumycetoma masquerading as a perforated corneal ulcer with prolapsed uveal tissue is a rare entity. Surgical intervention and appropriate antimicrobial therapy are key to successful outcome.
Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty for Failed Penetrating Keratoplasty: Visual Outcomes and Graft Survival
Authors: Pasari Anand , Price Marianne O. , Feng Matthew T. , Price Francis W.
Published: September 2018

Purpose:

To evaluate outcomes and graft survival of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) for failed penetrating keratoplasty (PK).

Methods:

Ninety-three DMEK procedures performed in 84 eyes of 77 patients with failed PK were retrospectively reviewed. The main outcomes were corrected distance visual acuity and graft survival assessed with Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and proportional hazards modeling taking follow-up into consideration.

Results:

Sixty-nine eyes had 1 previous failed PK, 13 had 2, 1 had 3, and 1 had 4. Ten eyes had failed Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK) performed under failed PK. Fourteen cases (15%) had previous glaucoma filtration surgery (9 trabeculectomy alone; 5 trabeculectomy and aqueous shunt). Median follow-up was 21 months (range, 1 month to 7 years). Median Snellen corrected distance visual acuity improved from 20/100 preoperatively (range, 20/30 to count fingers) to 20/30 at 6 months postoperatively (n = 73; range, 20/20–20/200). Rebubbling rates were 53% when the diameter of the DMEK graft was oversized, 27% when same sized, and 33% when undersized relative to that of the previous PK graft. Two grafts (2%) experienced an immunologic rejection episode, and 15 (16%) failed, including 5 primary/early failures and 10 late failures. Previous glaucoma surgery was the only significant risk factor for failure (relative risk, 7.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.1–37.0). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year graft survival rates were 96%, 89%, and 89% without versus 78%, 53%, and 39% with previous glaucoma surgery.

Conclusions:

Treatment of failed PK with DMEK produced similar 4-year survival (76%) and better visual outcomes than previously reported with Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty or an initial PK regraft.
Comparative Evaluation of the Prognostic Value Between the Ocular Trauma Score and the Pediatric Penetrating Ocular Trauma Score
Authors: Morgan Adriana M. , Kasahara Niro
Published: September 2018

Controversy exists about the utility of the Ocular Trauma Score (OTS) in children. A new score was developed specifically for children—the Pediatric Penetrating Ocular Trauma Score (POTS)—which proved to be of prognostic value in young patients with penetrating eye injuries. The purpose of the study was to compare the prognostic value of OTS and POTS in children with open-globe injuries in a cohort of Brazilian children. This was a retrospective, interventional case series and included 37 children with open-globe injuries seen at the Santa Casa de Sao Paulo Emergency Service. Mean age was 8.0 ± 3.9 years; 28 were male and 9 female. All patients were reviewed on the basis of time and circumstance of injury, time of surgery, type of penetrating injury, initial and final visual acuity (VA), and concomitant eye disease. Both OTS and POTS categories were calculated based on specific variables. The final achieved VA was compared with the predicted VA for both scores with Kendall's test for significant association; the agreement between the predicted VA for both OTS and POTS was accessed with the Cohen kappa coefficient. The association between OTS and achieved VA was good (Kendall Tau-b = 0.511, P = 0.001), as well as between POTS and achieved VA (Kendall Tau-b = 0.422, P = 0.002). The agreement between the predicted VA for OTS and POTS was fair (kappa = 0.400). In conclusion, in this small cohort of Brazilian children with open-globe injuries, there was no superiority of one score over the other and both OTS and POTS underestimated the potential best-corrected VA after treatment.
Traumatic Facial Fractures in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Wang Hongwei , Song Guoli , Ren Weijian , Zhou Yue , Li Changqing , Ou Lan , Liu Jun , Xiang Liangbi
Published: September 2018

This study showed a retrospective analysis of the incidence and pattern of traumatic facial fractures in a pediatric and adolescent population (≤18 years old) in China. The authors retrospectively reviewed 154 children and adolescent who had traumatic facial fractures and who were admitted to our university-affiliated hospitals from 2005 to 2010. This study enrolled 109 males and 45 females aged 11.9 ± 5.2 years old. The incidence peaked around the periods of 12 to 18 years in the male, ≤6 and 16 to 18 years in the female. The most common etiologies were motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) (60, 39.0%), followed by high fall (40, 26.0%), low fall (32, 20.8%). The most common fracture sites were mandible (78, 50.6%) and nose (33, 21.4%), followed by orbit (31, 20.1%). A total of 35 (22.7%) patients suffered neurological deficit. The patients in the 12 to 18 age range group accounted for the largest proportion of 54.5%. Fracture incidence showed peaks between the hours of 12:00 to 16:00 pm (33.7%), during the autumn season (30.5%) and on Friday to Sunday (50.0%). The most common etiology and fracture site were MVCs and mandible, respectively. Etiologies and patterns of traumatic facial fractures vary with age. Continued efforts toward injury prevention of traumatic facial fracture among the children and adolescents are warranted.
The Promising Effects of Transplanted Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells on the Treatment in Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Qi Lifeng , Xue Xinhong , Sun Jijun , Wu Qingjian , Wang Hongru , Guo Yan , Sun Baoliang
Published: September 2018

Many studies have reported the recovery ability of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) for neural diseases. In this study, the authors explored the roles of UC-MSCs to treat the traumatic brain injury. Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from healthy neonatal rat umbilical cord immediately after delivery. The traumatic brain injury (TBI) model was formed by the classical gravity method. The authors detected the behavior changes and measured the levels of inflammatory factors, such as interleukin-lβ and tumor necrosis factor-α by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks after transplantation between TBI treated and untreated with UC-MSCs. Simultaneously, the expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were measured by real-time–polymerase chain reaction and ELISA.

The authors found that the group of transplantation UC-MSCs has a significant improvement than other group treated by phosphate buffered saline. In the behavioral test, the Neurological Severity Scores of UC-MSCs + TBI group were lower than TBI group (P < 0.05), but not obviously higher than control group at 2, 3, and 4week, respectively. The inflammatory factors are significantly reduced comparison with TBI group (P < 0.05), but both GDNF and BDNF were higher than TBI group (P < 0.05). The results indicated that UC-MSCs might play an important role in TBI recovery through inhibiting the release of inflammatory factors and increasing the expression of GDNF and BDNF.
Should You Buy a Three-Dimensional Printer? A Study of an Orbital Fracture
Authors: Valding Bastien , Zrounba Hugues , Martinerie Sébastien , May Laurence , Broome Martin
Published: September 2018

The use of three-dimensional (3D) printing has been growing significantly in medicine for the past 10 years, especially in maxillofacial surgery. A lot a different softwares and printers are available on the market, and it can be difficult to choose which one fits best one's needs. In the authors’ institution, the authors regularly print orbits to prepare the reconstruction. The authors then compared the 3D printing of an orbital fracture between a professional and nonprofessional software and between a bottom of the range and a more elaborated printer. The results show that there is a wide variation between the quality of the printing, as well as the time used for the preparation. Costs between free or professional software must also be considered. In conclusion, an analysis of needs and what is available on the market must be studied before investing in 3D printing.
Use of Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 Associated With Lyophilized Bovine Bone in Reconstruction of Atrophic Maxilla
Authors: Zanettini Leonardo Matos Santolim , Vieira Fabrício , Fritscher Guilherme Genehr , Pagnoncelli Rogério Miranda , Heitz Cláiton
Published: September 2018

Cases of severely atrophic edentulous maxilla require reconstruction techniques employing bone grafts to promote adequate bone dimension for the successful placement of dental implants for prosthetic rehabilitation that reestablishes the patient's function and aesthetics. This study aims to present a severely atrophic edentulous maxilla reconstruction with the off-label use of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein type 2 (rhBMP-2) associated with lyophilized particulate bovine bone xenograft for the prosthetic rehabilitation with osseointegrable dental implants. The paper describes a case of severely atrophic edentulous maxilla in a 42-year-old woman referred to the dental school with complaint of failure in adaptating to the dentures. The patient reported 27 years of maxilla edentulism and consecutive treatment failures, so the proposed therapy was the reconstruction of the maxilla with an association of rhBMP-2 and lyophilized bovine bone xenograft for increasing bone volume and further prosthetic rehabilitation with osseointegrated dental implants. The present report illustrates a case of atrophic edentulous maxilla in which the off-label use of rhBMP-2 was successful and the patient's prosthetic rehabilitation could be concluded. The 8 dental implants received prosthetic functional load during 1 year of follow-up with no complications. Based on the case presented, the association between rhBMP-2 and a bovine bone xenograft could be considered a viable option for the reconstruction of atrophic edentulous maxilla. After a year of functional prosthetic load follow-up, the patient is asymptomatic and satisfactorily adaptated to the prosthesis, which restored her functional and aesthetic demands.
Short Communication Principal Component Analysis Applied to Alzheimer’s Disease: USA by State
Authors: Parady Bodo
Published: September 2018

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and twelve epidemiological and socio-economic components of the USA states inform etiology by extracting large scale patterns. The twelve components demonstrate simple pairwise Pearson correlations to AD, and then are analyzed by PCA for loadings associated with AD. Repetitive factor analysis and the culling of questionable data reduced the factors (all per capita) associated with AD to two, one factor with the components dentists and wine consumption and another factor with the components beer consumption and dentists. Dentists and wine are likely associated with reduced AD incidence because of the known inverse association with elevated education. Dental care is known to be inversely associated with AD incidence. The contribution of beer consumption to AD incidence is likely because of the negative effect on the innate immune system from either phytoestrogens in hops, or detritus from fermentation permitting the fungal colonization seen in AD brains.
Characterization of the olfactory system in Apis dorsata, an Asian honey bee
Authors: Mogily Sandhya , VijayKumar Meenakshi , Sethy Sunil Kumar , Joseph Joby
Published: September 2018

The European honeybee, Apis mellifera is the most common insect model system for studying learning and memory. We establish that the olfactory system of Apis dorsata, an Asian species of honeybee as an equivalent model to Apis mellifera to study physiology underlying learning and memory. We created an Atlas of the antennal lobe and counted the number of glomeruli in the antennal lobe of Apis dorsata to be around 165 which is similar to the number in the other honey bee species Apis mellifera and Apis florea. Apis dorsata was found to have five antenno-cerebral tracts namely mACT, lACT and 3 mlACTS which appear identical to Apis mellifera. Intracellular recording showed that the antennal lobe interneurons exhibit temporally patterned odor-cell specific responses. The neuritis of Kenyon cells with cell bodies located in a neighborhood in calyx retain their relative neighborhoods in the peduncle and alpha lobe forming a columnar organization in the mushroom body. Alpha lobe and the calyx of the mushroom body were innervated by extrinsic neurons with cell bodies in the lateral protocerebrum. A set of GABA positive cells in the lateral protocerebrum send their neurites towards alpha-lobe. Apis dorsata was amenable to olfactory conditioning and showed good learning and memory retention at 24 hours. They were amenable to massed and spaced conditioning and could distinguish trained odor from an untrained novel odor.
Objective versus Self-Reported Energy Intake Changes During Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diets
Authors: Guo Juen , Robinson Jennifer L. , Gardner Christopher , Hall Kevin D.
Published: September 2018

Objective

To examine objective versus self-reported energy intake changes (ΔEI) during a 12-month diet intervention.

Methods

We calculated ΔEI in subjects who participated in a 1-year randomized low-carbohydrate versus low-fat diet trial using repeated body weight measurements as inputs to an objective mathematical model (ΔEIModel) and compared these values with self-reported energy intake changes assessed by repeated 24-hr recalls (ΔEI24hrRecall).

Results

ΔEI24hrRecall indicated a relatively persistent state of calorie restriction ≥500 kcal/d throughout the year with no significant differences between diets. ΔEIModel demonstrated large early decreases in calorie intake >800 kcal/d followed by an exponential return to approximately 100 kcal/d below baseline at the end of the year. The low-carbohydrate diet resulted in ΔEIModel that was 162±53 kcal/d lower than the low-fat diet over the first 3 months (p=0.002), but no significant diet differences were found at later times. Weight loss at 12 months was significantly related to ΔEIModel at all time intervals for both diets (p<0.0001).

Conclusions

Self-reported measurements of ΔEI were inaccurate. Model-based calculations of ΔEI found that instructions to follow the low-carbohydrate diet resulted in greater calorie restriction than the low-fat diet in the early phases of the intervention, but these diet differences were not sustained.

What is already known about this subject?

Diet assessments that rely on self-report, such as 24hr dietary recall, are known to underestimate actual energy intake as measured by doubly labeled water. However, it is possible that repeated self-reported measurements could accurately detect changes in energy intake over time if the absolute bias of self-reported of measurements is approximately constant for each subject.

What this study adds

We compared energy intake changes measured using repeated 24hr dietary recall measurements collected over the course of the 1-year Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with Treatment Success (DIETFITS) trial versus energy intake changes calculated using repeated body weight measurements as inputs to a validated mathematical model.

Whereas self-reported measurements indicated a relatively persistent state of calorie restriction, objective model-based measurements demonstrated a large early calorie restriction followed by an exponential rise in energy intake towards the pre-intervention baseline.

Model-based calculations, but not self-reported measurements, found that low-carbohydrate diets led to significantly greater early decreases in energy intake compared to low-fat diets, but long-term energy intake changes were not significantly different.
Whole transcriptome sequencing and biomineralization gene architecture associated with cultured pearl quality traits in the pearl oyster, Pinctada margaritifera
Authors: Le Luyer J. , Auffret P. , Quillien V. , Leclerc N. , Reisser C. , Vidal-Dupiol J. , Ky C.-L.
Published: September 2018

Background

Cultured pearls are unique gems produced by living organisms, mainly molluscs of the Pinctada genus, through the biomineralization properties of pearl sac tissue. Improvement of P. margaritifera pearl quality is one of the biggest challenges that Polynesian research has faced to date. To achieve this goal, a better understanding of the complex mechanisms related to nacre and pearl formation is essential and can now be approached through the use of massive parallel sequencing technologies. The aim of this study was to use RNA-seq to compare whole transcriptome expression of pearl sacs that had producing pearls with high and low quality. For this purpose, a comprehensive reference transcriptome of P. margaritifera was built based on multi-tissue sampling (mantle, gonad, whole animal), including different living stages (juvenile, adults) and phenotypes (colour morphotypes, sex).

Results

Strikingly, few genes were found to be up-regulated for high quality pearls (n = 16) compared to the up-regulated genes in low quality pearls (n = 246). Biomineralization genes up-regulated in low quality pearls were specific to prismatic and prism-nacre layers. Alternative splicing was further identified in several key biomineralization genes based on a recent P. margaritifera draft genome.

Conclusion

This study lifts the veil on the multi-level regulation of biomineralization genes associated with pearl quality determination.
MOSim: bulk and single-cell multi-layer regulatory network simulator
Authors: Monzó Carolina , Aguerralde-Martin Maider , Martínez-Mira Carlos , Arzalluz-Luque Ángeles , Conesa Ana , Tarazona Sonia
Published: September 2018

As multi-omics sequencing technologies advance, the need for simulation tools capable of generating realistic and diverse (bulk and single-cell) multi-omics datasets for method testing and benchmarking becomes increasingly important. We present MOSim, an R package that simulates both bulk (via mosim function) and single-cell (via sc_mosim function) multi-omics data. The mosim function generates bulk transcriptomics data (RNA-seq) and additional regulatory omics layers (ATAC-seq, miRNA-seq, ChIP-seq, Methyl-seq and Transcription Factors), while sc_mosim simulates single-cell transcriptomics data (scRNA-seq) with scATAC-seq and Transcription Factors as regulatory layers. The tool supports various experimental designs, including simulation of gene co-expression patterns, biological replicates, and differential expression between conditions.

MOSim enables users to generate quantification matrices for each simulated omics data type, capturing the heterogeneity and complexity of bulk and single-cell multi-omics datasets. Furthermore, MOSim provides differentially abundant features within each omics layer and elucidates the active regulatory relationships between regulatory omics and gene expression data at both bulk and single-cell levels.

By leveraging MOSim, researchers will be able to generate realistic and customizable bulk and single-cell multi-omics datasets to benchmark and validate analytical methods specifically designed for the integrative analysis of diverse regulatory omics data.

Key Points

MOSim is capable of generating synthetic datasets for a broad spectrum of omics types, supporting bulk RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, miRNA-seq, Methyl-seq, and transcription factor data, as well as single-cell omics, including scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, and transcription factors.

MOSim enables the robust simulation of complex, many-to-many regulatory relationships across molecular layers, faithfully capturing intricate regulatory patterns.

Offering extensive options for customization, MOSim’s flexible experimental design and parameterization empowers users to simulate count matrices and multilayer regulatory networks, tailoring simulations to diverse experimental scenarios and omics types.
Male Anolis lizards prefer virgin females
Authors: Stapley Jessica
Published: September 2018

Males can gain fitness benefits by preferentially courting and mating with virgin females if they represent a lower risk of sperm competition. When females mate multiply, but do not remate frequently, males can experience a lower level of sperm competition when mating with virgins. Male preference for virgins has been demonstrated many times in invertebrates but rarely in vertebrates. In this study, I tested if Anolis apletophallus males preferentially courted virgin females more than non-virgin females, in two-choice trails where the virgin was smaller than the non-virgin, and trails where the females were size-matched. In both trails males preferentially courted the virgin females more than non-virgin females. This suggests males can discriminate between females based on their reproductive history and that they do not use body size as a cue. Males most likely used visual signals from the female, although these signals could not be identified in this study. This is only the second study to show male preference for virgins in vertebrates. Although it is possible that male preference for virgins is relatively rare in vertebrates, I argue that certain life history traits, namely, where large females do not have reproductive benefits, and or when sperm is stored between subsequent reproductive events this preference function can evolve. Future studies focusing on such systems are likely to be fruitful with respect to this male mating preference and may help us to better understand the evolution of male mating preferences and female traits.
Actomyosin controls planarity and folding of epithelia in response to compression
Authors: Wyatt Tom P. J. , Fouchard Jonathan , Lisica Ana , Khalilgharibi Nargess , Baum Buzz , Recho Pierre , Kabla Alexandre J. , Charras Guillaume T.
Published: September 2018

Throughout embryonic development and adult life, epithelia are subjected to external forces. The resulting deformations can have a profound impact on tissue development and function. These include compressive deformations which, although hard to study in model systems due to the confounding effects of the substrate, are thought to play an important role in tissue morphogenesis by inducing tissue folding and by triggering mechanosensitive responses including cell extrusion and cell differentiation. Here, using suspended epithelia, we are able to uncover the immediate response of epithelial tissues to the application of large (5-80%) in-plane compressive strains. We show that fast compression induces tissue buckling followed by active tissue flattening which erases the buckle within tens of seconds. Strikingly, there is a well-defined limit to this second response, so that stable folds form in the tissue for compressive strains larger than ∼35%. Finally, a combination of experiment and modelling shows that the response to compression is orchestrated by the automatic adaptation of the actomyosin cytoskeleton as it re-establishes tension in compressed tissues. Thus, tissue pre-tension allows epithelia to both buffer against fast compression and regulate folding.
Defensive symbiosis and the evolution of virulence
Authors: Nelson Paul G. , May Georgiana
Published: September 2018

Although environments rife with enemies should cause selection for defensive traits, such enemy-rich environments should also select for greater virulence in co-occurring symbionts, yet many defensive symbionts cause little to no damage while protecting their hosts from enemies. Thus, co-infection of a defensive symbiont and a parasite is predicted to select both for increased virulence in co-infecting symbionts and for increased defense in the protective symbiont. Why then do we observe defensive mutualists that protect hosts while causing little damage? To address this question, we build a symbiont-centered model that incorporates the evolution of two independent traits: defense and virulence. Virulence is modeled as a continuous trait spanning mutualism (negative virulence) and parasitism (virulence) and thus accounts for the entire range of direct effects that symbionts have on host mortality. Defense is modeled as a continuous trait that ameliorates the costs to the host associated with co-infection with a deleterious parasite. We obtain the counterintuitive result that the evolution of increased defense in one symbiont largely leads to the evolution of lower virulence in both symbionts and may even facilitate pathogens evolving to mutualism. However, results are context-dependent and when defensive traits are costly, the evolution of greater defense may also lead to higher virulence.