bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Production of CoQ10 in fission yeast by expression of genes responsible for CoQ10 biosynthesis
Authors: Moriyama Daisuke , Hosono Kouji , Fujii Makoto , Washida Motohisa , Nanba Hirokazu , Kaino Tomohiro , Kawamukai Makoto
Published: February 2015

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is essential for energy production and has become a popular supplement in recent years. In this study, CoQ10 productivity was improved in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Ten CoQ biosynthetic genes were cloned and overexpressed in S. pombe. Strains expressing individual CoQ biosynthetic genes did not produce higher than a 10% increase in CoQ10 production. In addition, simultaneous expression of all ten coq genes did not result in yield improvements. Genes responsible for the biosynthesis of p-hydroxybenzoate and decaprenyl diphosphate, both of which are CoQ biosynthesis precursors, were also overexpressed. CoQ10 production was increased by overexpression of Eco_ubiC (encoding chorismate lyase), Eco_aroFFBR (encoding 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase), or Sce_thmgr1 (encoding truncated HMG-CoA reductase). Furthermore, simultaneous expression of these precursor genes resulted in two fold increases in CoQ10 production.
Effects of gluteal kinesio‐taping on performance with respect to fatigue in rugby players
Authors: Strutzenberger Gerda , Moore Joseph , Griffiths Hywel , Schwameder Hermann , Irwin Gareth
Published: February 2015

Kinesio‐tape® has been suggested to increase blood circulation and lymph flow and might influence the muscle's ability to maintain strength during fatigue. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of gluteal Kinesio‐tape® on lower limb muscle strength in non‐fatigued and fatigued conditions. A total of 10 male rugby union players performed 20‐m sprint and vertical jump tests before and after a rugby‐specific fatigue protocol. The 20‐m sprint time was collected using light gates (SMARTSPEED). A 9‐camera motion analysis system (VICON, 100 Hz) and a force plate (Kistler, 1000 Hz) measured the kinematics and kinetics during a counter movement jump and drop‐jump. The effect of tape and fatigue on jump height, maximal vertical ground reaction force, reactivity strength index as well as lower limb joint work were analysed via a two‐way analysis of variance. The fatigue protocol resulted in significantly decreased performance of sprint time, jump heights and alterations in joint work. No statistical differences were found between the taped and un‐taped conditions in non‐fatigued and fatigued situation as well as in the interaction with fatigue. Therefore, taping the gluteal muscle does not influence the leg explosive strength after fatiguing in healthy rugby players.
Hypocoercivity for linear kinetic equations conserving mass
Authors: Dolbeault Jean , Mouhot Clément , Schmeiser Christian
Published: February 2015

We develop a new method for proving hypocoercivity for a large class of linear kinetic equations with only one conservation law. Local mass conservation is assumed at the level of the collision kernel, while transport involves a confining potential, so that the solution relaxes towards a unique equilibrium state. Our goal is to evaluate in an appropriately weighted

L
2

L^2

norm the exponential rate of convergence to the equilibrium. The method covers various models, ranging from diffusive kinetic equations like Vlasov-Fokker-Planck equations, to scattering models or models with time relaxation collision kernels corresponding to polytropic Gibbs equilibria, including the case of the linear Boltzmann model. In this last case and in the case of Vlasov-Fokker-Planck equations, any linear or superlinear growth of the potential is allowed.
Nonnegatively curved Alexandrov spaces with souls of codimension two
Authors: Li Xueping
Published: February 2015

In this paper, we study a complete noncompact nonnegatively curved Alexandrov space

A
A

with a soul

S
S

of codimension two. We establish some structural results under additional regularity assumptions. As an application, we conclude that in this case Sharafutdinov retraction,

π
:
 
A
→
S

\pi :\ A\to S

, is a submetry.
Transposome: a toolkit for annotation of transposable element families from unassembled sequence reads
Authors: Staton S. Evan , Burke John M.
Published: February 2015

Motivation: Transposable elements (TEs) can be found in virtually all eukaryotic genomes and have the potential to produce evolutionary novelty. Despite the broad taxonomic distribution of TEs, the evolutionary history of these sequences is largely unknown for many taxa due to a lack of genomic resources and identification methods. Given that most TE annotation methods are designed to work on genome assemblies, we sought to develop a method to provide a fine-grained classification of TEs from DNA sequence reads. Here, we present a toolkit for the efficient annotation of TE families from low-coverage whole-genome shotgun (WGS) data, enabling the rapid identification of TEs in a large number of taxa. We compared our software, Transposome, with other approaches for annotating repeats from WGS data, and we show that it offers significant improvements in run time and produces more precise estimates of genomic repeat abundance. Transposome may also be used as a general toolkit for working with Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data, and for constructing custom genome analysis pipelines.

Availability and implementation: The source code for Transposome is freely available ( http://sestaton.github.io/Transposome ), implemented in Perl and is supported on Linux.

Contact:  statonse@biodiversity.ubc.ca

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Expitope: a web server for epitope expression
Authors: Haase Kerstin , Raffegerst Silke , Schendel Dolores J. , Frishman Dmitrij
Published: February 2015

Motivation: Adoptive T cell therapies based on introduction of new T cell receptors (TCRs) into patient recipient T cells is a promising new treatment for various kinds of cancers. A major challenge, however, is the choice of target antigens. If an engineered TCR can cross-react with self-antigens in healthy tissue, the side-effects can be devastating. We present the first web server for assessing epitope sharing when designing new potential lead targets. We enable the users to find all known proteins containing their peptide of interest. The web server returns not only exact matches, but also approximate ones, allowing a number of mismatches of the users choice. For the identified candidate proteins the expression values in various healthy tissues, representing all vital human organs, are extracted from RNA Sequencing (RNA-Seq) data as well as from some cancer tissues as control. All results are returned to the user sorted by a score, which is calculated using well-established methods and tools for immunological predictions. It depends on the probability that the epitope is created by proteasomal cleavage and its affinities to the transporter associated with antigen processing and the major histocompatibility complex class I alleles. With this framework, we hope to provide a helpful tool to exclude potential cross-reactivity in the early stage of TCR selection for use in design of adoptive T cell immunotherapy.

Availability and implementation: The Expitope web server can be accessed via http://webclu.bio.wzw.tum.de/expitope .

Contact:  d.frishman@wzw.tum.de
CNOGpro: detection and quantification of CNVs in prokaryotic whole-genome sequencing data
Authors: Brynildsrud Ola , Snipen Lars-Gustav , Bohlin Jon
Published: February 2015

Motivation: The explosion of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) as a tool in the mapping and understanding of genomes has been accompanied by an equally massive report of tools and pipelines for the analysis of DNA copy number variation (CNV). Most currently available tools are designed specifically for human genomes, with comparatively little literature devoted to CNVs in prokaryotic organisms. However, there are several idiosyncrasies in prokaryotic WGS data. This work proposes a step-by-step approach for detection and quantification of copy number variants specifically aimed at prokaryotes.

Results: After aligning WGS reads to a reference genome, we count the individual reads in a sliding window and normalize these counts for bias introduced by differences in GC content. We then investigate the coverage in two fundamentally different ways: (i) Employing a Hidden Markov Model and (ii) by repeated sampling with replacement (bootstrapping) on each individual gene. The latter bypasses the complex problem of breakpoint determination. To demonstrate our method, we apply it to real and simulated WGS data and benchmark it against two popular methods for CNV detection. The proposed methodology will in some cases represent a significant jump in accuracy from other current methods.

Availability and implementation:  CNOGpro is written entirely in the R programming language and is available from the CRAN repository ( http://cran.r-project.org ) under the GNU General Public License.

Contact : ola.brynildsrud@nmbu.no

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Human placenta: relative content of antibodies of different classes and subclasses (IgG1–IgG4) containing lambda- and kappa-light chains and chimeric lambda-kappa-immunoglobulins
Authors: Lekchnov Evgenii A. , Sedykh Sergey E. , Dmitrenok Pavel S. , Buneva Valentina N. , Nevinsky Georgy A.
Published: February 2015

The specific organ placenta is much more than a filter: it is an organ that protects, feeds and regulates the growth of the embryo. Affinity chromatography, ELISA, SDS–PAGE and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry were used. Using 10 intact human placentas deprived of blood, a quantitative analysis of average relative content [% of total immunoglobulins (Igs)] was carried out for the first time: (92.7), IgA (2.4), IgM (2.5), kappa-antibodies (51.4), lambda-antibodies (48.6), IgG1 (47.0), IgG2 (39.5), IgG3 (8.8) and IgG4 (4.3). It was shown for the first time that placenta contains sIgA (2.5%). In the classic paradigm, Igs represent products of clonal B-cell populations, each producing antibodies recognizing a single antigen. There is a common belief that IgGs in mammalian biological fluids are monovalent molecules having stable structures and two identical antigen-binding sites. However, similarly to human milk Igs, placenta antibodies undergo extensive half-molecule exchange and the IgG pool consists of 43.5±15.0% kappa-kappa-IgGs and 41.6±17.0% lambda-lambda-IgGs, while 15.0±4.0% of the IgGs contained both kappa- and lambda-light chains. Kappa-kappa-IgGs and lambda-lambda-IgGs contained, respectively (%): IgG1 (47.7 and 34.4), IgG2 (36.3 and 44.5), IgG3 (7.4 and 11.8) and IgG4 (7.5 and 9.1), while chimeric kappa-lambda-IgGs consisted of (%): 43.5 IgG1, 41.0 IgG2, 5.6 IgG3 and 7.9 IgG4. Our data are indicative of the possibility of half-molecule exchange between placenta IgGs of various subclasses, raised against different antigens, which explains a very well-known polyspecificity and cross-reactivity of different human IgGs.
β-Lactam combinations with daptomycin provide synergy against vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium
Authors: Smith Jordan R. , Barber Katie E. , Raut Animesh , Aboutaleb Mostafa , Sakoulas George , Rybak Michael J.
Published: February 2015

Objectives

Enterococcus faecalis (Efc) and Enterococcus faecium (Efm) are frequently resistant to vancomycin and β-lactams (BLs). In vitro data suggest synergy between several BLs and glycopeptides or lipopeptides against resistant pathogens. Our objective was to conduct combination MIC and time–kill experiments to evaluate BL synergy with daptomycin against enterococci.

Methods

Fifteen Efc and 20 Efm strains were evaluated for daptomycin enhancement via combination MICs. Daptomycin MICs were obtained by microdilution in the absence and presence of ceftaroline, ertapenem, cefepime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, cefazolin and ampicillin. Two Efc strains (R6981 and R7808) and one isogenic daptomycin-susceptible/daptomycin-non-susceptible Efm pair (8019/5938) were evaluated in time–kill experiments. Daptomycin at 0.5 × MIC was used in combination with BL at biological free concentration. Strain 5938 was evaluated for enhancement of daptomycin binding in fluorescently labelled daptomycin (BoDipy) experiments.

Results

Ceftaroline reduced daptomycin MIC values the most against all strains. In time–kill experiments, ceftaroline, ertapenem, cefepime, ceftriaxone and ampicillin demonstrated synergy with daptomycin against all strains, cefazolin demonstrated none and cefotaxime demonstrated synergy against only R7808. Bacterial reduction at 24 h was greater for daptomycin + ceftaroline, ertapenem, cefepime, ceftriaxone or ampicillin for all strains compared with any single agent or daptomycin + cefazolin or cefotaxime (P < 0.001). In BoDipy daptomycin experiments, ceftaroline enhanced daptomycin binding most compared with all other agents (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

The data support the potential use of daptomycin/BL combination therapy in infections caused by VRE. Combination regimens, other than those involving cefazolin and cefotaxime, provide better kill compared with daptomycin alone. Further clinical research involving daptomycin combinations is warranted.
Remote Sensing
Authors: Eckardt Frank D.
Published: February 2015

This article on remote sensing or earth observation focuses on mapping and monitoring systems that produce global-scale data sets which are easily accessible to the wider public. It makes particular reference to low-earth-orbiting remote sensing platforms and sensors and associated image archives such as provided by the Landsat and Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) programs. It also draws attention to handheld space photography, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and the high-spatial-resolution capability obtained from the commercial remote sensing sector. This entry examines applications that are of global interest and are facilitated through image and data portals. Particular emphasis is placed on products such as the normalized difference vegetation index, real-time fire mapping, forest cover change, geomorphology, and global elevation data as well as actual true- and false-color imagery. All of these can be readily imported as shape or raster files into a Geographic Information System (GIS). Key papers dealing with the global monitoring of the biosphere, dynamic topography, and gravity are being cited. Special emphasis is placed on current capabilities in monitoring recent and ongoing changes in the tropics as well as Arctic and Antarctic environment. Numerous remote sensing systems capture the state and dynamics of rainforests, ice caps, glaciers, and shelf and sea ice, some of which are available in near-real-time trend analysis. Not all sensors produce images; some measure passive microwaves, send laser pulses, or detect small fluctuations in gravitational attraction. Nevertheless, all instruments measure changes in earth’s surface state, indicative of seasonal cycles and long-term trends as well as human impact. This article also makes reference to historic developments, social benefits, and ethical considerations in remote sensing as well as the modern role of aerial photography and airborne platforms. Most people will never get to see a satellite or its instruments, they might not even get to see the available data or imagery, but these systems are directly informing the masses or indirectly shaping the perception of a changing and dynamic world. Future revisions to this article will consider oceanographic and atmospheric remote sensing capabilities.
Celebrity and Public Persona
Authors: Marshall P. David
Published: February 2015

Research on celebrity and public persona derives from fundamentally interdisciplinary sources. Although at its core, the study of public personality has been the object of investigations by those more closely associated with media and communication, the key disciplines of sociology, cultural studies, literary studies, political science, social psychology, and even anthropology and history have been part of its analysis. Celebrity identifies the “extra-textual” dimensions of the famous, in which the lives of the renowned are followed, read, and reported. It is a public celebration of individuality that is (but not exclusively) connected to consumer culture and democratic capitalism. Through these larger cultural tropes celebrity has had its strongest affiliations with the contemporary entertainment industries, particularly in terms of how they are covered by the media and the press for further value beyond the cultural forms that are often the origins of stardom—the public individual’s performances in fields such as film, television, sport, and popular music. Celebrity is a site of celebration and derogation in any culture: these public individuals are truly exalted and given a status beyond others, but they are also ridiculed for their believed-to-be unearned credentials for having such a public platform and voice. Moreover, the study of celebrity and public persona is also an investigation into the connection between the populace and these public personalities, where parasocial relations most evident in fandom identify how celebrities embody audiences with an affective connection that is truly powerful in contemporary culture. That power of embodiment and connection that celebrities possess is subsequently exploited by the media industries to promote and sell new connected cultural products. Identifying celebrities as part of a spectrum of public personas links the study of celebrity to the investigation of the celebrated and famed in a variety of professions and fields well beyond entertainment. Thus, the term persona is used in these studies of public personalities to acknowledge the mask that is deployed to present a public version of the self for this external consumption and reading by an audience, a collective, a network, a nation, a citizenry, or a community. Research into public personas has led to related studies of political leadership, self-branding, notoriety in business, and reputation management, and research delves into the presentation of the public self by greater portions of the populace in online cultures. Celebrity and public persona is a field in which research aims to investigate the significance and meaning of various versions of the public self in both contemporary culture and historically.
Cultural Resource Management
Authors: Garrow Patrick H.
Published: February 2015

Cultural resource management, normally referred to as “CRM,” may be defined as cultural heritage management within a framework of federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines. Cultural heritage, in terms of cultural resource management, may be defined as those places, objects, structures, buildings, and evidence of past material culture and life that are important to understanding, appreciating, or preserving the past. CRM is similar to heritage programs in other countries, but the term and practice of CRM as defined here is unique to the United States. America’s concern with cultural resources was reflected early in the 20th century with passage of the American Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorized the president to establish national monuments of federally owned or controlled properties, and for the secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and the Army to issue permits for investigations of archaeological sites and objects on lands they controlled. The National Park Service was created in 1916 and assumed responsibility for cultural resources associated with national parks and monuments. Archaeology played a prominent role in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and other relief programs during the Great Depression, and large-scale investigations that employed thousands were conducted across the country. Cultural resource management, as it is currently practiced, was a product of the environmental movement of the 1960s, when federal cultural resources were given the same level of protection as elements of the natural environment, such as wetlands and protected plant and animal species. Cultural resource management deals with a range of resource types, and the breadth of the field will be reflected in the discussions that follow.
Romanian Cinema
Authors: Parvulescu Constantin
Published: February 2015

Until the second decade of the 21st century, scholarship on Romanian film has been written almost exclusively in Romanian. Its pioneering representatives were D. I. Suchianu and Ion Cantacuzino, who published their first books in the 1930s. Since Romania had not generated consistent cinematic output until the 1950s, its historical studies came out also late, in the 1960s. The year 1989 was another turning point in Romanian film historiography, spurring post-socialist reconsiderations, and so was 1996, when the celebration of one hundred years of Romanian cinema triggered the publication of several historical studies. Consistent international representation started in the late 2000s, prompted by the international visibility of the New Romanian Cinema (also known as the Romanian New Wave). Since then, English-language film magazines delivered reviews of every new Romanian production, and academic scholarship started to yield its first articles. Soon, interest in Romanian film traditions also surged (both in Romania and abroad), coupled with a concentrated effort of the Romanian state to promote its cinema, both new and old. Romanian film is still approached mainly in the framework of national cinema, but recent studies tend to broaden the perspective and employ comparative, transnational, intermedial, and media-theory perspectives.
The Films of Andy Warhol
Authors: Murphy J. J.
Published: February 2015

Andy Warhol (b. 1928–d. 1987) began making films in 1963, at the height of his success as a painter and sculptor. Beginning with the 5-hour-and-21-minute Sleep (1963), Warhol made hundreds of films between 1963 and 1968. Following his near-fatal shooting by Valerie Solanas, Warhol shifted into the role of producer with Flesh (1968–1969), directed by his associate, Paul Morrissey. Generally speaking, Warhol’s films interrogate cinematic conventions. For instance, instead of the shot or frame, Warhol used the film roll (whose length was determined by Kodak) as the basic unit of his cinema. He also projected his early films without sound as well as the silent Screen Tests (1964–1966) at 16 fps, a slower speed than the standard 24 fps. Warhol’s films can be broken down into several different phases or periods, including works created with different collaborators. His early films, such as Sleep, Eat (1964), Blow Job (1964), and Empire (1964), are notorious for being excessively “minimal.” He later switched to shooting in synchronous sound, first using scenarios written by playwright Ronald Tavel, and then later with the involvement of Chuck Wein and Paul Morrissey. Warhol also made sound portraits (including biopics), including 472 cinematic portraits or Screen Tests. These were short, 100-footlong film portraits of artists, celebrities, and ordinary people who gravitated to his infamous art studio known as the Factory. Warhol’s “middle period” experimented with expanded cinema and utilizing multiple screens. Warhol called these multimedia events “the Exploding Plastic Inevitable,” which involved films, dancing, light shows, theater, and music by the Velvet Underground. This period culminated in the release of Warhol’s most commercially successful film, The Chelsea Girls (1966), which became the epic of the underground cinema. In 1967, Warhol began making sexploitation films at the bequest of the owner of the Hudson Theater in Midtown Manhattan, where his earlier My Hustler (1965) had been a box office success. Many of Warhol’s films, most notably Lonesome Cowboys (1967–1968) and Blue Movie (1968), ran into censorship problems. Warhol also worked in video and television.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Authors: Bierman Leonard
Published: February 2015

Equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws prohibit employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, age, religion, disability, and national origin; in the United States, these laws apply to employers with fifteen or more employees. The concept means that all employees shall have an “equal opportunity” based hypothetically on their skills and performance to obtain employment and advance on the job once they have obtained such employment. In practice, though, the concept is much more complicated. In most family businesses (of which there are many), for example, family relationships/nepotism tend to play a major role in employment decisions, creating a high degree of “unequal employment opportunity” for non-family members. Moreover, the concept of “affirmative action,” discussed below, involves giving preferential treatment to members of certain groups such as veterans, those with disabilities, etc.—again something the opposite of providing “equal” opportunity to all. Our analysis, however, basically tracks the legal definition of “equal employment opportunity” in most of the developed world, which is essentially that employers must not discriminate (i.e., they should provide equal opportunity) in employment on the basis of race/color, sex, religion, age, etc.
Américo Paredes
Authors: García Derek Xavier , Stavans Ilan
Published: February 2015

Américo Paredes (b. 1915–d. 1999) was considered to be one of the foremost Mexican-American scholars of the twentieth century. Having influenced an entire generation of Chicano scholars—such as José E. Limón, David Montejano, and Ramón Saldívar—he is one of the forerunners of Chicano studies. A self-described “proto-Chicano,” he was born in Brownsville, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Fascinated with the border tales and ballads of his youth, Paredes soon began to write poetry. During the Great Depression, he worked as a writer for a local newspaper. In 1944, he enlisted in the US Army and was stationed in Japan as a journalist for Stars and Stripes and the Mexican newspaper El Universal. After he was discharged, he served with the American Red Cross and traveled across Asia. When he returned from Japan, Paredes enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin where he acquired his doctorate degree at the age of forty-one. In 1957, he began to teach at the University of Texas at Austin. The next year, his doctoral dissertation, With His Pistol in His Hand: A Border Ballad and its Hero, was published. An analysis of a popular corrido, the book expands several genres, presenting a folkloric, ethnographic, and sociocultural study of South Texas Mexicans. During his time at the University of Texas, Paredes was instrumental in furthering scholarship in folklore and Mexican-American studies. He successfully founded the Center for Intercultural Studies for Folklore and Musicology in 1967 and cofounded the Center for Mexican American Studies in 1970. He continued to publish studies on border folklore, such as A Texas-Mexican Cancionero: Folksongs of the Lower Border in 1976, and Folklore and Culture of the Texas-Mexican Border in 1992. He received numerous accolades during his lifetime, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1962 and the Charles Frankel Prize from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1989. A year later, he was awarded the Orden del Aguila Azteca from the Mexican government, the highest honor afforded to foreign citizens. In 1991, he received the Orden de José de Escandón. In his later life, Paredes began to publish the Creative Works he originally wrote during his adolescence and time abroad. Some of these include George Washington Gómez (1990) and The Hammon and the Beans (1994). Paredes’s works concerning border life have become the focal point for numerous scholars wanting to research folklore and the Mexican-American experience.
Shanghai
Authors: Horesh Niv , Sullivan Jonathan
Published: February 2015

Not long after its establishment as a treaty port in 1842, and roughly until the Japanese invasion of China proper in 1937, Shanghai maintained a reputation as one of Asia’s most spellbinding, entrepreneurial, and freewheeling cities. It had served as the mainland China’s commercial, industrial, and cultural hub during that period, and since 1991, it has indisputably re-emerged as China’s second most important city after the capital, Beijing. Yet, although first mentioned by name in Chinese records dating back to the 12th century, Shanghai was not among the 10 most populous cities on the mainland on the eve of Western settlement in 1842. Perched advantageously 15 km downstream from the confluence of the Huangpu River, the Yangtze River (Changjiang), and the East China Sea, Shanghai’s Chinese population numbered around two hundred thousand inhabitants in 1842, most of whom resided within the ancient city walls. By the 1930s, the city’s population exceeded three million, with new neighborhoods sprawling far beyond the historic walled area west of the Huangpu River. Today, the Shanghai Municipality (6,340 sq km) is one of four self-governing urban areas not affiliated with any other province. The city’s perimeters are thus much wider than was the case before 1949, including jurisdiction over fifteen districts, one county, and several offshore islands. Over twenty-three million people now reside in Shanghai, making it the most populous city in China, and one of the largest in the world. Shanghai’s newly built port, sprawling tens of kilometers along the East China Sea, is the busiest in the world, and the skyscrapers in the Pudong district have come to symbolize China’s re-established economic power. Interest in the city’s pre-war legacy has increased in recent years as a result of China’s rapid economic reforms and the opening up of its archives to foreign scholars. Western academics have begun engaging with these newly declassified materials in ways that often reshape our understanding of Chinese modern history. Yet the development path that makes Shanghai so vital to what may be loosely defined as “Chinese modernity,” has not yet been agreed on. One of many testaments to Shanghai’s enduring appeal, is the 2006 CBC television documentary Legendary Cities of Sin, in which Shanghai is portrayed as a megalopolis on par with Paris and Berlin between the two world wars. Shanghai’s mystique is even more potent in the realm of cinema, with scores of Hollywood and Chinese productions set in the pre-Communist era—Ang Lee’s acclaimed feature film Lust, Caution (2007) is an obvious example. Shanghai is also the city where past and present are most studied and written about by China specialists. The body of scholarly literature on post-1842 Shanghai is particularly abundant.
Transient Receptor Potential A1 Activation Prolongs Isoflurane Induction Latency and Impairs Respiratory Function in Mice
Authors: Li Fengxian , Guo Changxiong J. , Huang Cheng-Chiu , Yu Guang , Brown Sarah M. , Xu Shiyuan , Liu Qin
Published: February 2015

AbstractAbstract

Mice not expressing Transient Receptor Potential A1 (TRPA1) had faster onset of isoflurane anesthesia than wild-type or TRPV1-deficient mice, whereas sevoflurane onset was independent of genotype. Onset of the pungent anesthetic isoflurane is delayed due to activation of TRPA1 receptor–mediated nocifensive reflexes that reduce ventilation, pulmonary compliance, and anesthetic uptake.

Background:

Isoflurane is a potent volatile anesthetic; however, it evokes airway irritation and neurogenic constriction through transient receptor potential (TRP) A1 channels and sensitizes TRPV1 channels, which colocalizes with TRPA1 in most of the vagal C-fibers innervating the airway. However, little is known about the precise effects of these two channels on the respiratory function during isoflurane anesthesia.

Methods:

By using a rodent behavioral model and whole-body plethysmograph, the authors examined the response of Trpa1

−/−
and Trpv1

−/−
mice to isoflurane anesthesia and monitored their respiratory functions during anesthesia.

Results:

This study showed that Trpa1

−/−
mice (n = 9), but not Trpv1

−/−
mice (n = 11), displayed a shortened induction latency compared with wild-type mice (n = 10) during isoflurane anesthesia (33 ± 2.0 s in wild-type and 33 ± 3.8 s in Trpv1

−/−

vs. 17 ± 1.8 in Trpa1

−/−
at 2.2 minimum alveolar concentrations). By contrast, their response to the nonpungent volatile anesthetic sevoflurane is indistinguishable from wild-type mice (24 ± 3.6 s in wild-type vs. 26 ± 1.0 s in Trpa1

−/−
at 2.4 minimum alveolar concentrations). The authors discovered that Trpa1

−/−
mice inhaled more anesthetic but maintained better respiratory function. Further respiration pattern analysis revealed that isoflurane triggered nociceptive reflexes and led to prolonged resting time between breaths during isoflurane induction as well as decreased dynamic pulmonary compliance, an indicator of airway constriction, throughout isoflurane anesthesia in wild-type and Trpv1

−/−
mice, but not in Trpa1

−/−
mice.

Conclusion:

Activation of TRPA1 by isoflurane negatively affects anesthetic induction latency by altering respiratory patterns and impairing pulmonary compliance.
The Efficacy of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Harboring Wild-type Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor
Authors: Sheng Zhixin , Zhang Yanxia
Published: February 2015

Objective:

To determine the efficacy of first-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with wild-type (WT) EGFR tumors, we performed an indirect meta-analysis to assess the treatment effects of EGFR-TKIs in such patients.

Methods:

We searched for randomized controlled trials in Medline, Embase, the Cochrane controlled trials register, the Science Citation Index, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meetings. Effect measures used were hazard ratios (HR) for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival.

Results:

Out of 2134 retrieved articles, 25 randomized controlled trials including more than 4467 patients were identified. This pooled analysis showed the inferior efficacy of TKI over chemotherapy among patients with WT EGFR NSCLC in terms of PFS (HR, 1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10, 1.72; P=0.006). When used as first-line treatment, TKIs have also fared worse than chemotherapy when compared with standard platinum doublet regimens in patients with WT EGFR in terms of PFS (HR, 2.15; 95% CI: 1.68, 2.76; P<0.001). And, the same inferior trend was found with TKIs in those trials of second-line/third-line treatment in terms of PFS (HR, 1.35; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.61; P<0.001). However, according to the pooled results, EGFR-TKIs still produced a reduction of 19% in the risk of progression over placebo in such WT EGFR patients ineligible for further chemotherapy (HR, 0.81; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.97; P=0.02). Furthermore, addition of EGFR-TKI to chemotherapy resulted in an improvement of PFS over chemotherapy alone (HR, 0.83; 95% CI: 0.71, 0.96; P=0.01).

Conclusions:

Among patients with advanced NSCLC harboring WT EGFR, EGFR-TKIs were inferior to standard chemotherapy both for first-line treatment and for second-line/third-line treatment, but still superior to placebo in patients unfit for further chemotherapy. And, addition of EGFR-TKIs to chemotherapy could provide additive benefit over chemotherapy alone in such patients.
Apraxia, Autism, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Do We Have a New Spectrum?
Authors: Schumacher Jayna , Strand Kristine E. , Augustyn Marilyn
Published: February 2015

CASE: Gio is a bilingual 6-year 10-month-old boy new to your practice who presents for an unscheduled visit with concerns for speech and language delay. He was born in Portugal, and his native language is Portuguese. When he was 21 months old, his family moved to Italy and then moved to the United States 3 years later. He had very little contact with other children while living in Italy, but his parents report that he has made friends quickly in the United States. His family speaks Portuguese at home, although his father is fluent in English.

He started school 3 months after moving to the United States and is currently repeating kindergarten. He is in a sheltered English classroom with several other students who speak Portuguese. He is able to understand and follow directions in English. A recent school evaluation revealed solidly average nonverbal reasoning skills and relative weaknesses in verbal reasoning and working memory. His speech is described as unintelligible in conversation, both in English and Portuguese.

Results of a special education evaluation qualified him for services with a bilingual therapist. His teachers are very concerned that he may have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They describe him as having limited interest in other children, poor eye contact, and hypersensitivities. He wanders at recess. He is very skilled at art and seems to prefer to draw rather than interact with others. He needs constant support and redirection throughout the school day. He has difficulty putting on his coat, using playground equipment, and following daily classroom routines. On the Vanderbilt Rating Scale, his teacher endorses 17 of 18 ADHD symptoms as present often or very often and significant impairment in his performance.

Gio presents to your clinic as a relatable young boy with childhood apraxia of speech. Only his productions of single words and short routine phrases are intelligible. He attempts to engage in conversation but averts his gaze and becomes frustrated when asked to repeat things. Scores on the Parent Conners Rating Scale and Social Responsiveness Scale are not elevated. When you bring up school's concerns, his father describes feeling somewhat badgered by his teachers about possibility of ASD.

School is considering placement in an inclusion classroom for children with ASD. What do you recommend? How would you advise his parents?
Tunneled Pleural Catheter for the Treatment of Malignant Pleural Effusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Kheir Fayez , Shawwa Khaled , Alokla Khalid , Omballi Mohamed , Alraiyes Abdul Hamid
Published: February 2015

Tunneled pleural catheter (TPC) has been widely used to control malignant pleural effusion (MPE); however, it is still not clear whether it is more effective than chemical pleurodesis. We performed a systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate success and complication rate of TPC as compared with chemical pleurodesis in the management of MPE. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane central register of controlled trials, and MEDLINE were searched for English-language studies of clinical controlled trials comparing TPC with chemical pleurodesis until May 2014. Overall success and complication rate were evaluated. Relative risks (RRs) were estimated using random-effects model, and statistical heterogeneity was assessed using I2 test. Three trials involving 307 patients with MPE were included. The success rate was comparable between TPC and chemical pleurodesis group when all studies included in the analysis (RR, 0.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.53–1.19; P = 0.27). TPC had slightly higher complication rate but was not statistically significant (RR, 2; 95% confidence interval, 0.91–4.4; P = 0.09). Current evidence suggests that TPC and chemical pleurodesis are both effective treatment for recurrent MPE with similar success and complication rate. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to compare TPC with other therapies in patients with MPE.
Neural overlap in processing music and speech
Authors: Peretz Isabelle , Vuvan Dominique , Lagrois Marie-Élaine , Armony Jorge L.
Published: February 2015

Neural overlap in processing music and speech, as measured by the co-activation of brain regions in neuroimaging studies, may suggest that parts of the neural circuitries established for language may have been recycled during evolution for musicality, or vice versa that musicality served as a springboard for language emergence. Such a perspective has important implications for several topics of general interest besides evolutionary origins. For instance, neural overlap is an important premise for the possibility of music training to influence language acquisition and literacy. However, neural overlap in processing music and speech does not entail sharing neural circuitries. Neural separability between music and speech may occur in overlapping brain regions. In this paper, we review the evidence and outline the issues faced in interpreting such neural data, and argue that converging evidence from several methodologies is needed before neural overlap is taken as evidence of sharing.
Finding the beat: a neural perspective across humans and non-human primates
Authors: Merchant Hugo , Grahn Jessica , Trainor Laurel , Rohrmeier Martin , Fitch W. Tecumseh
Published: February 2015

Humans possess an ability to perceive and synchronize movements to the beat in music (‘beat perception and synchronization’), and recent neuroscientific data have offered new insights into this beat-finding capacity at multiple neural levels. Here, we review and compare behavioural and neural data on temporal and sequential processing during beat perception and entrainment tasks in macaques (including direct neural recording and local field potential (LFP)) and humans (including fMRI, EEG and MEG). These abilities rest upon a distributed set of circuits that include the motor cortico-basal-ganglia–thalamo-cortical (mCBGT) circuit, where the supplementary motor cortex (SMA) and the putamen are critical cortical and subcortical nodes, respectively. In addition, a cortical loop between motor and auditory areas, connected through delta and beta oscillatory activity, is deeply involved in these behaviours, with motor regions providing the predictive timing needed for the perception of, and entrainment to, musical rhythms. The neural discharge rate and the LFP oscillatory activity in the gamma- and beta-bands in the putamen and SMA of monkeys are tuned to the duration of intervals produced during a beat synchronization–continuation task (SCT). Hence, the tempo during beat synchronization is represented by different interval-tuned cells that are activated depending on the produced interval. In addition, cells in these areas are tuned to the serial-order elements of the SCT. Thus, the underpinnings of beat synchronization are intrinsically linked to the dynamics of cell populations tuned for duration and serial order throughout the mCBGT. We suggest that a cross-species comparison of behaviours and the neural circuits supporting them sets the stage for a new generation of neurally grounded computational models for beat perception and synchronization.
Yamadazyma insecticola f.a., sp. nov. and Yamadazyma epiphylla f.a., sp. nov., two novel yeast species
Authors: Jindamorakot Sasitorn , Am-In Somjit , Kaewwichian Rungluk , Limtong Savitree
Published: February 2015

Two yeast strains representing two novel yeast species were isolated from frass of an unidentified insect (ST-78T) and the external surfaces of rice leaves (YE170T) collected in Thailand. The two strains were genetically, morphologically and phenotypically distinct from recognized species and were found to represent two novel species of the genus Yamadazyma although formation of ascospores was not observed. In terms of pairwise sequence similarity of the D1/D2 region of the large subunit rRNA gene, the closest relative of strain ST-78T was Candida lessepsii CBS 9941T but with 3.8 % nucleotide substitutions, while the closest relative of strain YE170T was strain ST-78T but with 4.3 % nucleotide substitutions. Analysis of the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 (ITS1–2) regions revealed that strain ST-78 differed from C. lessepsii CBS 9941T by 8.8 % nucleotide substitutions and from strain YE170T by 9.4 % nucleotide substitutions. The result of pairwise sequence similarity of the D1/D2 and ITS1–2 regions together with phylogenetic analysis indicated that strains ST-78T and YE170T represented two novel species within the Yamadazyma clade. The names Yamadazyma insecticola f.a., sp. nov. (type strain ST-78T = BCC 8314T = NBRC 110421T = CBS 13382T; MycoBank no. MB810546) and Yamadazyma epiphylla f.a., sp. nov. (type strain YE170T = BCC 63466T = NBRC 110423T = CBS 13384T; MycoBank no. MB810547) are proposed for the two novel yeast species.
A case of suspected infective endocarditis with Lactococcus garvieae: lack of in vitro synergy between ampicillin and gentamicin
Authors: Sunnerhagen Torgny , Hammarlund Peter , Rasmussen Magnus
Published: February 2015

Introduction:

Lactococcus garvieae is an uncommon cause of infective endocarditis (IE) and, despite the fact that synergy between beta‐lactam antibiotics and aminoglycosides has not been demonstrated for lactococci, combination therapy is often used.

Case presentation:

We report a case of suspected L. garvieae IE in an 82‐year‐old man, which was successfully treated with a combination of ampicillin and gentamicin. Despite careful dosing and monitoring of gentamicin levels, the patient developed a transient decrease in renal function and permanent bilateral vestibular deficiency. The combination of gentamicin and ampicillin did not demonstrate synergistic killing effects in vitro against the L. garvieae isolate from this patient. However, synergy was noted against two of the four L. garvieae isolates tested. Unfortunately, an Etest‐based method, which would be easy to use in a routine laboratory, was unable to predict synergy in the time‐kill methods.

Conclusions:

The use of combination therapy in IE is based solely on in vitro synergy between beta‐lactams and aminoglycosides. Here we demonstrate that a combination of ampicillin and gentamicin induces synergistic killing only of some L. garvieae isolates. Since synergy does not seem to be omnipresent, the risks for aminoglycoside toxicity must be carefully weighed against the potential theoretical benefit of combination therapy in L. garvieae IE.