bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Arginine methylation of DDX5 RGG/RG motif by PRMT5 regulates RNA:DNA resolution
Authors: Mersaoui Sofiane Y. , Yu Zhenbao , Coulombe Yan , Karam Martin , Busatto Franciele F. , Masson Jean-Yves , Richard Stéphane
Published: October 2018

Aberrant transcription-associated RNA:DNA hybrid (R-loop) formation often lead to catastrophic conflicts during replication resulting in DNA double strand breaks and genome instability. To prevent such conflicts, these hybrids require dissolution by helicases and/or RNaseH. Little information is known about how these helicases are regulated. Herein, we identify DDX5, an RGG/RG motif containing DEAD-box family of RNA helicase, as a crucial player in R-loop resolution. We define at the mechanistic level the function of DDX5 in R-loop resolution. In vitro, recombinant DDX5 resolves R-loops in an ATP-dependent manner leading to R-loop degradation by the XRN2 exoribonuclease. DDX5 deficient cells accumulated R-loops at loci known to form R-loops using RNA:DNA immunoprecipitation (DRIP)-qPCR and increased RNaseH sensitive RAD51 foci. PRMT5, an arginine methyltransferase, associated with DDX5 and methylated its RGG/RG motif. This motif was required to associate with XRN2 and resolve cellular R-loops. Furthermore, PRMT5 deficient cells accumulated R-loops, as detected by DRIP-qPCR resulting in increased gH2AX foci. Our findings define a new mechanism by which an RNA helicase, DDX5, is modulated by arginine methylation to resolve R-loops.
Staphylococcus aureus PSMα3 Cross-α Fibril Polymorphism and Determinants of Cytotoxicity
Authors: Tayeb-Fligelman Einav , Salinas Nir , Tabachnikov Orly , Landau Meytal
Published: October 2018

The phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) peptide family, secreted by Staphylococcus aureus, performs various virulence activities, some mediated by the formation of amyloid fibrils of diverse architectures. Specifically, PSMα1 and PSMα4 structure the S. aureus biofilm by assembling into robust cross-β amyloid fibrils. PSMα3, the most cytotoxic member of the family, assembles into cross-α fibrils in which α-helices stack into tightly mated sheets, mimicking the cross-β architecture. Here we demonstrated that massive T-cell deformation and death is linked with PSMα3 aggregation and co-localization with cell membranes. Our extensive mutagenesis analyses supported the role of positive charges, and especially Lys17, in interactions with the membrane, and suggested their regulation by inter- and intra-helical electrostatic interactions within the cross-α fibril. We hypothesize that PSMα3 cytotoxicity is governed by the ability to form cross-α fibrils and involves a dynamic process of co-aggregation with cell membrane, rupturing it.

Highlights

The cytotoxic S. aureus PSMα3 assembles into cross-α fibrils

Cross-α fibril polymorphism and mutations-induced secondary structure switching

Regulation by cross-α fibril inter- and intra-helical electrostatic interactions

Toxicity as a putative dynamic process of PSMα3 co-aggregation with membranes
KCF-Convoy: efficient Python package to convert KEGG Chemical Function and Substructure fingerprints
Authors: Sato Masayuki , Suetake Hirotaka , Kotera Masaaki
Published: October 2018

Motivation

In silico methodologies to assess pharmaceutical activity and toxicity are increasingly important in QSAR, and many chemical fingerprints have been developed to tackle this problem. Among them, KEGG Chemical Function and Substructure (KCF-S) has been shown to perform well in some pharmaceutical and metabolic studies. However, the software that generates KCF-S fingerprints has limited usability: the input file must be Molfile or SDF format, and the output is only a text file.

Results

We established a new Python package, KCF-Convoy, to generate KCF format and KCF-S fingerprints from Molfile, SDF, SMILES, and InChI seamlessly. The obtained KCF-S was used in a number of supervised machine-learning methods to distinguish herbicides from other pesticides, and to find characteristic substructures in taxonomy groups.

Availability

KCF-Convoy is implemented as a Python package freely available at https://github.com/KCF-Convoy and the user can use the package management system “pip” and also the Docker environment.

Contact

maskot@chemsys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Developmental synaptic changes at the transient olivocochlear-inner hair cell synapse
Authors: Kearney Graciela , de San Martín Javier Zorrilla , Vattino Lucas G. , Elgoyhen Ana Belén , Wedemeyer Carolina , Katz Eleonora
Published: October 2018

In the mature mammalian cochlea, inner hair cells (IHCs) are mainly innervated by afferent fibers that convey sound information to the central nervous system. During postnatal development, however, medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferent fibers transiently innervate the IHCs. The MOC-IHC synapse, functional from postnatal day (P)0 to hearing onset (P12), undergoes dramatic changes in the sensitivity to acetylcholine (ACh) and in the expression of key postsynaptic proteins. To evaluate whether there are associated changes in the properties of ACh release during this period, we used a cochlear preparation from mice at P4, P6-7 and P9-11 and monitored transmitter release from MOC terminals in voltage-clamped IHCs in the whole-cell configuration. The quantum content increased 5.6x from P4 to P9-11 due to increases in the size and replenishment rate of the readily releasable pool (RRP) of synaptic vesicles, without changes in their probability of release (Pvesicle) or quantum size. This strengthening in transmission was accompanied by changes in the short-term plasticity (STP) properties, which switched from facilitation at P4 to depression at P9-11. We have previously shown that at P9-11, ACh release is supported by P/Q and N-type voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) and negatively regulated by BK potassium channels activated by Ca2+influx through L-type VGCCs. We now show that at P4 and P6-7, release is mediated by P/Q-, R- and L-type VGCCs. Interestingly, L-type VGCCs have a dual role: they both support release and fuel BK channels, suggesting that at immature stages the presynaptic proteins involved in release are less compartmentalized.

Significance statement

During postnatal development prior to the onset of hearing, cochlear IHCs present spontaneous Ca2+action potentials which release glutamate at the first auditory synapse in the absence of sound stimulation. The IHC Ca2+action potential frequency pattern, which is crucial for the correct establishment and function of the auditory system, is regulated by the efferent MOC system that transiently innervates IHCs during this period. We show short-term synaptic plasticity properties of the MOC-IHC synapse that tightly shape this critical developmental period.
Selfish mutations dysregulating RAS-MAPK signaling are pervasive in aged human testes
Authors: Maher Geoffrey J. , Ralph Hannah K. , Ding Zhihao , Koelling Nils , Mlcochova Hana , Giannoulatou Eleni , Dhami Pawan , Paul Dirk S. , Stricker Stefan H. , Beck Stephan , McVean Gilean , Wilkie Andrew O.M. , Goriely Anne
Published: October 2018

Mosaic mutations present in the germline have important implications for reproductive risk and disease transmission. We previously demonstrated a phenomenon occurring in the male germline, whereby specific mutations arising spontaneously in stem cells (spermatogonia) lead to clonal expansion, resulting in elevated mutation levels in sperm over time. This process, termed “selfish spermatogonial selection,” explains the high spontaneous birth prevalence and strong paternal age-effect of disorders such as achondroplasia and Apert, Noonan and Costello syndromes, with direct experimental evidence currently available for specific positions of six genes (FGFR2, FGFR3, RET, PTPN11, HRAS, and KRAS). We present a discovery screen to identify novel mutations and genes showing evidence of positive selection in the male germline, by performing massively parallel simplex PCR using RainDance technology to interrogate mutational hotspots in 67 genes (51.5 kb in total) in 276 biopsies of testes from five men (median age, 83 yr). Following ultradeep sequencing (about 16,000×), development of a low-frequency variant prioritization strategy, and targeted validation, we identified 61 distinct variants present at frequencies as low as 0.06%, including 54 variants not previously directly associated with selfish selection. The majority (80%) of variants identified have previously been implicated in developmental disorders and/or oncogenesis and include mutations in six newly associated genes (BRAF, CBL, MAP2K1, MAP2K2, RAF1, and SOS1), all of which encode components of the RAS-MAPK pathway and activate signaling. Our findings extend the link between mutations dysregulating the RAS-MAPK pathway and selfish selection, and show that the aging male germline is a repository for such deleterious mutations.
Numerical investigation of membrane oxygenation using sub-channel analysis
Authors: Subraveti Sai Nikhil , Vinod Kumar V. , Pothukuchi Harish , Sai P.S.T. , Patnaik B.S.V.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

Better membrane oxygenators need to be developed to enable efficient gas exchange between venous blood and air.

Design/methodology/approach

Optimal design and analysis of such devices are achieved through mathematical modeling tools such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this study, a control volume-based one-dimensional (1D) sub-channel analysis code is developed to analyze the gas exchange between the hollow fiber bundle and the venous blood. DIANA computer code, which is popular with the thermal hydraulic analysis of sub-channels in nuclear reactors, was suitably modified to solve the conservation equations for the blood oxygenators. The gas exchange between the tube-side fluid and the shell-side venous blood is modeled by solving mass, momentum and species conservation equations.

Findings

Simulations using sub-channel analysis are performed for the first time. As the DIANA-based approach is well known in rod bundle heat transfer, it is applied to membrane oxygenators. After detailed validations, the artificial membrane oxygenator is analyzed for different bundle sizes (L/W) and bundle porosity (epsilon) values, and oxygen saturation levels are predicted along the bundle. The present sub-channel analysis is found to be reasonably accurate and computationally efficient when compared to conventional CFD calculations.

Research limitations/implications

This approach is promising and has far-reaching ramifications to connect and extend a well-known rod bundle heat transfer algorithm to a membrane oxygenator community. As a variety of devices need to be analyzed, simplified approaches will be attractive. Although the 1D nature of the simulations facilitates handling complexity, it cannot easily compete with expensive and detailed CFD calculations.

Practical implications

This work has high practical value and impacts the design community directly. Detailed numerical simulations can be validated and benchmarked for future membrane oxygenator designs.

Social implications

Future membrane oxygenators can be designed and analyzed easily and efficiently.

Originality/value

The DIANA algorithm is popularly used in sub-channel analysis codes in rod bundle heat transfer. This efficient approach is being implemented into membrane oxygenator community for the first time.
A new load forecasting model considering planned load shedding effect
Authors: Alkaldy Esam A. Hashim , Albaqir Maythem A. , Akhavan Hejazi Maryam Sadat
Published: October 2018

Purpose

Load forecasting is important to any electrical grid, but for the developing and third-world countries with power shortages, load forecasting is essential. When planed load shedding programs are implemented to face power shortage, a noticeable distortion to the load curves will happen, and this will make the load forecasting more difficult.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, a new load forecasting model is developed that can detect the effect of planned load shedding on the power consumption and estimate the load curve behavior without the shedding and with different shedding programs. A neuro-Fuzzy technique is used for the model, which is trained and tested with real data taken from one of the 11 KV feeders in Najaf city in Iraq to forecast the load for two days ahead for the four seasons. Load, temperature, time of the day and load shedding schedule for one month before are the input parameters for the training, and the load forecasting data for two days are estimated by the model.

Findings

To verify the model, the load is forecasted without shedding by the proposed model and compared to real data without shedding and the difference is acceptable.

Originality/value

The proposed model provides acceptable forecasting with the load shedding effect available and better than other models. The proposed model provides expected behavior of load with different shedding programs an issue helps to select the appropriate shedding program. The proposed model is useful to estimate the real demands by assuming load shedding hours to be zero and forecast the load. This is important in places suffer from grid problems and cannot supply full loads to calculate the peak demands as the case in Iraq.
Going in circles: new business models for efficiency and value
Authors: Lopes de Sousa Jabbour Ana Beatriz
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to explain what managers will want to know about the circular economy by covering some of the key issues and discussing an approach which may help organisations to move towards the circular economy.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper, which blends theory and hard facts to achieve its aims.

Findings

This paper presents a framework which uses multiple levels of analysis to explain how organisations can prepare for and implement circular economy practices.

Originality/value

This paper makes relevant contributions for both academics and practitioners by providing essential practical guidance on the “what”, “how” and “why” of the circular economy, which can help managers to plan and implement a convincing business case for this sustainable approach.
Time required to move cash through slot machines
Authors: Kelly Karen , Schwarz Carl James , Gomez Ricardo , Marsh Kim
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study on the time needed to load and disburse cash using bill validators on slot machines and stand-alone cash dispensers in casinos in British Columbia under a Ticket In Ticket Out (TITO) system.

Design/methodology/approach

Testing took place over two days, using 18 machines. The results were extrapolated to estimate the approximate time required to process $1,000,000 with different average bill amounts in the cash mix and three different bill validator machines in common use. The average value per bill using the cash mix used by the public in the casino was $33.11 [standard error (SE) $2.11].

Findings

The mean time/accepted note ranged from 4.12 to 9.65 s, depending on bill validator type. This implies that the time needed to load $1,000,000 onto credit slips using bill validators on slot machines ranges from 35 to 81 h, excluding rest breaks and other breaks. The time needed to redeem $1,000,000 is estimated to be 3 h.

Practical/implications

The implications of these finding for illicit actors to successfully launder large amounts of cash are discussed. Given the time needed to physically handle the cash, and other control systems currently in use in casinos in British Columbia, processing large amounts of cash using bill validators on slot machines would require a highly organized team that would find it difficult to elude detection.

Originality/value

The trial results provide a baseline estimate to be used going forward when investigating or proposing money laundering methodologies that include slot machines.
Doing good with food
Authors: Ionita Ioana Daniela
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore food access issues as tackled by an association that runs a week-end soup kitchen in a social welfare center in Bucharest, Romania. The research focuses on how the volunteers involved in this food charity activity perceive the beneficiaries of their generous act and their current life circumstances, as well as the extent to which a sense of responsibility informs the charitable cookers’ perspective on the donated food recipients.

Design/methodology/approach

The findings presented in this paper are based on volunteering work done within the association, more precisely on participant observation focusing on the purchase and cooking of ingredients. It also relies on extensive semi-structured interviews with one founding member, and with two other volunteers who regularly participate in the charitable cooking sessions.

Findings

Due to the specific way cooking and food distribution take place within the week-end soup kitchen, contact with beneficiaries is very limited and the volunteering activity is unlikely to fuel reflections on and actions against the underlying causes of inadequate food access.

Originality/value

There is a growing interest in studying food poverty in Romania, where private, non-denominational organizations focusing on food access are struggling to build a stable and equitable food (re)distribution system. This paper offers new insights into food aid organizational features that support and help advance both wider participation and long-term sustainability.
Examining the ParticipACTION brand using the brand equity pyramid
Authors: Lithopoulos Alexander , Dacin Peter A. , Berry Tanya R. , Faulkner Guy , O’Reilly Norm , Rhodes Ryan E. , Spence John C. , Tremblay Mark S. , Vanderloo Leigh M. , Latimer-Cheung Amy E.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The brand equity pyramid is a theory that explains how people develop loyalty and an attachment to a brand. The purpose of this study is to test whether the predictions made by the theory hold when applied to the brand of ParticipACTION, a Canadian non-profit organization that promotes active living. A secondary objective was to test whether this theory predicted intentions to be more physically active.

Design/methodology/approach

A research agency conducted a cross-sectional, online brand health survey on behalf of ParticipACTION. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis established the factor structure. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model.

Findings

A nationally representative sample of Canadian adults (N = 1,191) completed the survey. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis supported a hypothesized five-factor brand equity framework (i.e. brand identity, brand meaning, brand responses, brand resonance and intentions). A series of structural equation models also provided support for the hypothesized relationships between the variables.

Practical implications

Though preliminary, the results provide a guide for understanding the branding process in the activity-promotion context. The constructs identified as being influential in this process can be targeted by activity-promotion organizations to improve brand strength. A strong organizational brand could augment activity-promotion interventions. A strong brand may also help the organization better compete against other brands promoting messages that are antithetical to their own.

Originality/value

This is the first study to test the brand equity pyramid using an activity-promotion brand. Results demonstrate that the brand equity pyramid may be useful in this context.
Nutritional status of children with sickle cell disease
Authors: Osei Tracy Bonsu , Apprey Charles , Mills-Robertson Felix Charles , Ohemeng Agartha N.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This study aims to assess the nutritional status of children with sickle cell diseases using anthropometric measurements, biochemical markers and dietary intakes.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in 100 children of 3-12 years of age with sickle cell diseases (SCDs) at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Weight, height and age of participants were used to calculate body mass index-for-age. The mid-upper-arm-circumference-for-age, weight-for-age (percentiles) and height-for-age (percentiles) were compared with standards growth charts for children. Biochemical measures such as serum albumin and ferritin, as well as full blood count, were assessed. Dietary intake was assessed using 24-h dietary recall and food frequency questionnaire.

Findings

From the study, 73 and 37 per cent of the children with SCD recorded inadequate intake of iron and vitamin E, respectively, when compared to the recommended daily allowance. Out of the 100 participants, 37 per cent were underweight and 22 per cent were stunted. There was significant difference (p< 0.05) in underweight (weight-for-age) prevalence by gender. A multiple variate regression showed a significant association between zinc (r2= 0.763,p< 0.05) and haemoglobin levels.

Originality/value

The evidence in this paper is relevant for treatment, health education and nutritional counselling of parents with children who have SCD.
A systematic test for myopic loss aversion theory
Authors: Costa Raone Botteon
Published: October 2018

Purpose

Myopic loss aversion, or the combination of loss aversion and frequent portfolio evaluation, has been argued to possibly be one of the factors behind the equity premium puzzle. The purpose of this paper is to offer an alternative systematic test that looks at the relationship between inflation and equity premium to test for this theory.

Design/methodology/approach

Inflation and equity premium tends to be positively associated, both in standard rational-agents theoretical models and in simple empirical measures of correlation. Nonetheless, under the presence of nominal return evaluation, behavioral models such as myopic loss aversion do predict a negative causal relationship between those variables. This study aims to check this negative causal relationship. The identification strategy combines elements of two approaches: fixed effects regression on short-term returns and long-term least squares regression. As both methods have different strengths and weaknesses, and use different sources of data variation to compute their estimators, it is argued that the combination of these approaches provides a better identification strategy than each individual method.

Findings

This paper finds evidence for a negative relationship between inflation and equity premium in both methods, which supports myopic loss aversion theory. The magnitude of the coefficients is also relevant ranging from −0.23 to −0.80. However, it is also shown that these effects explain only a small part of equity premium observed variation, and are more prevalent in non-industrialized countries, which limits the scope of the theory.

Originality/value

The current method for testing myopic loss aversion theory is overly reliant on experimental evidence collected in the lab to estimate behavioral parameters and simulations. The authors complement these by providing an empirical study.
Performance management of National Sports Organisations: a holistic theoretical model
Authors: Kasale Lobone Lloyd , Winand Mathieu , Robinson Leigh
Published: October 2018

Purpose

Organisational performance of sport organisations has been studied over the last three decades. However, little attention was paid towards performance management (PM) compared to performance measurement. The purpose of this paper is to close this research gap by establishing a holistic perspective for PM of National Sports Organisations (NSOs) that accounts for their uniqueness, the interdependence of their operating systems and their relationship with their environments. Furthermore, this paper presents a holistic model of PM for NSOs.

Design/methodology/approach

The model was developed from a literature review process and uses the macro, meso and micro framework to describe external and internal environmental influences that affect the PM of NSOs.

Findings

The NSO’s ability to respond to the dynamics of their external environment by implementing organisational processes that account for the resources available and their structural designs influences their PM. Furthermore, the ability of the individuals within NSO to create enabling environments for PM influences organisational efficiency and effectiveness.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to sport management literature on the PM of NSOs, and informs sport managers on ways to improve organisational performance by implementing holistic approaches to PM.

Originality/value

This is the first study that takes a holistic approach to PM of NSO and depicts the specific elements that play a crucial role in managing NSO’s multi-dimensional performance.
Networks and the idea-fruition process of female social entrepreneurs in South Africa
Authors: Halberstadt Jantje , Spiegler Anna B.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the lack of research on female social entrepreneurs and their social and contextual embeddedness, promoting women’s social entrepreneurial activity as promising, specifically in the South African context.

Design/methodology/approach

By analyzing the founding process and networks of 11 female social entrepreneurs in South Africa using a mixed-method approach consisting of semi-structured interviews, media analysis and egocentric network analysis, this paper seeks to discover the idea-fruition process of female social entrepreneurs. This approach enables us to analyze contextual factors with a focus on personal networks and their influence on the processes of idea-generation and development.

Findings

The results indicate that social networks are an important part of the personal context which influences the idea-fruition process of female social entrepreneurs. The paper identifies specific actors as well as group outcomes as particular relevant within this context.

Research limitations/implications

While the results enable the generation of a structure based on the authors’ first insights into how social relational networks influence female social entrepreneurship, it remains unclear if these results can be specifically traced to women or social entrepreneurial aspects, which suggests that further attention is needed in future studies.

Practical implications

Practical implications can be derived from the results concerning the support of female social entrepreneurs by, for example, optimizing or using their (social entrepreneurial) environment. Contrary to studies on business idea-generation, the results stress that women can make use of certain network constructions that are often considered to be obstructive.

Originality/value

This study introduces an innovative gender perspective on social entrepreneurship in South Africa and offers new directions for future research on the opportunity recognition process of female social entrepreneurs.
Hospitality trends: opportunities and challenges
Authors: Salazar Ana
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to summarize the trends and suggestions for the hospitality sector, identified by a number of authors and publications.

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis was performed using publications available on reliable websites on the internet as the source for data collection.

Findings

In general, technology will have an enormous emphasis on how the hotel industry is changing. The new generation of millennial travellers and growing competition brought on by the ever-evolving sharing economy has led to the industry upping its game to cater to a rapidly changing customer base that looks for meaningful local experiences and personalized services.

Originality/value

Gathering this information and making recommendations to cope with those trends can lead managers to have a more proactive approach on their strategic and operational decisions, thus enhancing their competitiveness on the hospitality market.
Opportunities and challenges brought by the China outbound travel market
Authors: Huang Rong , Xu Tao
Published: October 2018

Purpose

As the Chinese outbound travel market has become a paramount target for world tourism with significant growth potential, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact that the Chinese outbound travel market has on the European tourism industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews both academic and trade literature to provide an overview of the opportunities and challenges that the China outbound travel market might bring to the European tourism industry.

Findings

The paper presents the major topics relating to China outbound tourism research and the current research gaps. Chinese outbound tourists are not a homogenous group of tourists. The paper addresses opportunities and challenges from two key segments of China outbound travel (Chinese international students and Chinese senior tourists).

Practical implications

The paper calls for alternative and innovative research methods and research behaviour in tracking the impact of Chinese outbound tourists. Closer collaboration between academics and industry practitioners might provide a better understanding of this market.

Originality/value

The paper offers recent insights on the Chinese outbound tourism market based on an analysis of relevant literature by both academics and industry practitioners. This allows the relevant stakeholders to adopt proactive strategies to minimise potential negative impacts and maximise opportunities.
What challenges and opportunities will lead to success?
Authors: Costa Jorge , Montenegro Mónica , Gomes João
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the papers in this issue and explain the pertinence of the strategic question.

Design/methodology/approach

A brief context for the strategic question is provided, as well as the issue alignment and a content analysis of the papers selected.

Findings

From the analysis of the papers selected for this theme issue, it becomes clear that tourism has become one of the major players in international economic, social and technological sectors, while representing one of the main income sources for developed and developing countries.

Originality/value

The papers selected for this issue shed light on an important problem: increasing tourist flows and overtourism at some world top destinations.
Development and relative validity of a self‐administered semi‐quantitative drinks frequency questionnaire, validated in a population of university students
Authors: Marakis Georgios , Kontopoulou Lamprini , Garofalakis Gorgias , Vasara Eleni , Vasiliadis Georgios , Grammatikopoulou Maria G.
Published: October 2018

Aim

Drinks can contribute to energy as well as micro‐ and macro‐nutrient intake. Drink‐specific, validated, quick and easy to administer questionnaires are needed to monitor secular trends in beverage consumption for different populations. The aim of the present cross‐sectional study was to develop and validate a drink‐specific questionnaire for the Greek population.

Methods

A 41‐item semi‐quantitative drinks frequency questionnaire (DFQ) was developed and validated against 7‐day weighed food records, among young Greek adults. Wilcoxon ranks tests, Kendall tau‐b correlations and Bland–Altman plot were used to compare the two methods. Fifty‐nine Greek University students (28 males, 31 females) completed both methods.

Results

No difference was observed in total drinks intake between the two methods. The Bland–Altman plot showed that the two methods are likely to agree concerning the total drinks intake. Wilcoxon's rank test showed no significant differences between the two methods, except for the ‘whiskey/vodka/gin’ intake (P < 0.001). ‘Good’ agreement (tau‐b > 0.61) was observed for most DFQ items, including low‐fat and chocolate milk, hot chocolate, Greek/espresso coffee, commercial tea, packaged fruit juices, wine, alcohol‐free beer, light cola‐type drinks and water (tap/bottled/sparkling). ‘Low’ agreement (<0.30) was noted for filtered/instant/iced coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice and some alcoholic drinks (beer/whiskey/vodka/gin).

Conclusions

The DFQ appears to be an overall valid means of estimating the habitual intake of drinks in large‐scale epidemiological surveys. The study supports the use of DFQ for assessing drinks consumption patterns and secular trends.
The effects of metabolic status on non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease‐related outcomes, beyond the presence of obesity
Authors: Ampuero Javier , Aller Rocío , Gallego‐Durán Rocío , Banales Jesus M. , Crespo Javier , García‐Monzón Carmelo , Pareja María Jesús , Vilar‐Gómez Eduardo , Caballería Juan , Escudero‐García Desamparados , Gomez‐Camarero Judith , Calleja José Luis , Latorre Mercedes , Albillos Agustín , Salmeron Javier , Aspichueta Patricia , Lo Iacono Oreste , Francés Rubén , Benlloch Salvador , Fernández‐Rodríguez Conrado , García‐Samaniego Javier , Estévez Pamela , Andrade Raúl J. , Turnes Juan , Romero‐Gómez Manuel ,   HEPAmet Registry
Published: October 2018

Background

Metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) shows a reduced risk compared with obese patients with adverse metabolic conditions. Lean people suffering some metabolic derangements also have non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)‐related outcomes compared with non‐obese subjects with a few metabolic risks.

Aim

To define the impact of the metabolic status on the NAFLD‐related outcomes, beyond the presence of obesity.

Methods

We designed a multicentre cross‐sectional study, including 1058 biopsy‐proven NAFLD patients. Metabolically healthy status was strictly defined by the lack of metabolic risk factors (diabetes mellitus, low HDL, hypertriglyceridemia, arterial hypertension). Non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and significant fibrosis (F2‐F4) were identified by liver biopsy. Chronic kidney disease epidemiology collaboration equation was calculated for kidney function and the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) for cardiovascular risk.

Results

Metabolically healthy (OR 1.88; P = 0.050) and unhealthy obesity (OR 3.47: P < 0.0001), and unhealthy non‐obesity (OR 3.70; P < 0.0001) were independently associated with NASH together with homeostatic model assessment (HOMA), ALT, and platelets. Significant fibrosis was more frequently observed in the presence of adverse metabolic conditions in obese (OR 3.89; P = 0.003) and non‐obese patients (OR 3.92; P = 0.002), and independently associated with platelets, albumin, ALT, HOMA, and age. The number of metabolic factors determined the risk of NASH and significant fibrosis. Glomerular filtration rate was lower in unhealthy (91.7 ± 18) than healthy metabolism (95.6 ± 17) (P = 0.007). AIP was higher in adverse metabolic conditions (P = 0.0001). Metabolically unhealthy non‐obesity showed higher liver damage (NASH 55.8% vs 42.4%; P < 0.05; significant fibrosis 31.7% vs 11.4%; P < 0.0001) and cardiovascular risk (P < 0.0001) than healthy obesity.

Conclusions

Metabolic unhealthy status showed a greater impact on NASH, significant fibrosis, kidney dysfunction, and atherogenic profile than obesity. However, metabolically healthy obesity was not a full healthy condition. We should focus our messages especially on patients with adverse metabolic conditions.
The neuromuscular system of the cyclostome bryozoan Crisia eburnea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Authors: Worsaae Katrine , Frykman Tobias , Nielsen Claus
Published: October 2018

The cyclostome bryozoans constitute an old and divergent group of bryozoans, whose muscle and nervous systems are poorly known. The entire neuromuscular system of the cyclostome Crisia eburnea is here mapped with phalloidin, DAPI and antibodies directed against acetylated α‐tubulin and serotonin. Innervation of most muscles as well as the ganglion of C. eburnea is described, and several new details are reported, for example, on the additional and branched ectodermal muscles of the cystid, the presence of subtentacular muscles, the retractor muscles being distinctly striated and the presence of an additional pair of lateroabfrontal nerves in the proximal part of the tentacles. The serotonin‐like immunoreactivity in the nervous system of C. eburnea shares many features with those of the other bryozoans studied so far, which probably reflects a common ancestry of the neural architecture. However, the nervous system shows somewhat less complexity compared to that of the sister clade, Eurystomata, and contains fewer cells and nerves compared to the cyclostome Cinctipora which has much larger zooids and more than eight tentacles. No interzooidal neural connections were found in C. eburnea, which is in agreement with the individual response of the zooids.
Informative Group Testing for Multiplex Assays
Authors: Bilder Christopher R. , Tebbs Joshua M. , McMahan Christopher S.
Published: October 2018

Infectious disease testing frequently takes advantage of two tools—group testing and multiplex assays—to make testing timely and cost effective. Until the work of Tebbs et al. (2013) and Hou et al. (2017), there was no research available to understand how best to apply these tools simultaneously. This recent work focused on applications where each individual is considered to be identical in terms of the probability of disease. However, risk-factor information, such as past behavior and presence of symptoms, is very often available on each individual to allow one to estimate individual-specific probabilities. The purpose of our paper is to propose the first group testing algorithms for multiplex assays that take advantage of individual risk-factor information as expressed by these probabilities. We show that our methods significantly reduce the number of tests required while preserving accuracy. Throughout this paper, we focus on applying our methods with the Aptima Combo 2 Assay that is used worldwide for chlamydia and gonorrhea screening.
From self‐determination to service delivery: Assessing Indigenous inclusion in municipal governance in Canada
Authors: Heritz Joanne
Published: October 2018

Over half of Canada's Indigenous identity population reside in urban centres. Despite their growing numbers, Indigenous Peoples remain under represented in municipal government. While it has been argued that all levels of government have responsibility for urban Indigenous Peoples, neither the federal government nor the provinces have provided direction regarding their representation in urban centres. The local response to urban Indigenous input has emerged over the past ten years in the form of Aboriginal advisory boards in some municipalities. While these nascent entities provide a bridge to Indigenous Peoples to access municipal government, they fall short of providing them with governance models recommended in various consultations with Indigenous Peoples over the past twenty years. This article argues that over time models of representation are being overshadowed by policies of service delivery for urban Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Significance of follow‐up thoracic imaging in myasthenia gravis
Authors: Murai Hiroyuki , Nagane Yuriko , Suzuki Shigeaki , Imai Tomihiro , Motomura Masakatsu , Utsugisawa Kimiaki
Published: October 2018

Objectives

Most patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) undergo thoracic imaging at initial diagnosis. However, the follow‐up protocol is unclear. The objective of the present study was to clarify the follow‐up status and main findings of thoracic imaging in patients with MG.

Methods

A total of 649 patients with disease duration ≥1 year were included in the study. The follow‐up rate and time from the initial scan to the latest thoracic imaging were evaluated. The rate of abnormality and details of abnormal findings in both non‐thymomatous MG and thymoma‐associated MG were investigated.

Results

The follow‐up thoracic imaging rate of 145 patients with thymoma‐associated MG was 71.7%, whereas just 46.2% of 504 patients with non‐thymomatous MG underwent follow‐up imaging. Abnormal findings were detected in 8.6% of patients with non‐thymomatous MG and 26.0% of those with thymoma‐associated MG. Abnormal findings included cancer, lung infection and lymph node swelling in the former, and relapse or increased size of thymoma in the latter.

Conclusions

Frequent follow up by thoracic imaging is necessary in patients with MG.
Ellipsoid Packing Structures on Freeform Surfaces
Authors: Xu Qun‐Ce , Deng Bailin , Yang Yong‐Liang
Published: October 2018

Designers always get good inspirations from fascinating geometric structures gifted by the nature. In the recent years, various computational design tools have been proposed to help generate cell packing structures on freeform surfaces, which consist of a packing of simple primitives, such as polygons, spheres, etc. In this work, we aim at computationally generating novel ellipsoid packing structures on freeform surfaces. We formulate the problem as a generalization of sphere packing structures in the sense that anisotropic ellipsoids are used instead of isotropic spheres to pack a given surface. This is done by defining an anisotropic metric based on local surface anisotropy encoded by principal curvatures and the corresponding directions. We propose an optimization framework that can optimize the shapes of individual ellipsoids and the spatial relation between neighboring ellipsoids to form a quality packing structure. A tailored anisotropic remeshing method is also employed to better initialize the optimization and ensure the quality of the result. Our framework is extensively evaluated by optimizing ellipsoid packing and generating appealing geometric structures on a variety of freeform surfaces.
Non‐Local Low‐Rank Normal Filtering for Mesh Denoising
Authors: Li Xianzhi , Zhu Lei , Fu Chi‐Wing , Heng Pheng‐Ann
Published: October 2018

This paper presents a non‐local low‐rank normal filtering method for mesh denoising. By exploring the geometric similarity between local surface patches on 3D meshes in the form of normal fields, we devise a low‐rank recovery model that filters normal vectors by means of patch groups. In summary, our method has the following key contributions. First, we present the guided normal patch covariance descriptor to analyze the similarity between patches. Second, we pack normal vectors on similar patches into the normal‐field patch‐group (NPG) matrix for rank analysis. Third, we formulate mesh denoising as a low‐rank matrix recovery problem based on the prior that the rank of the NPG matrix is high for raw meshes with noise, but can be significantly reduced for denoised meshes, whose normal vectors across similar patches should be more strongly correlated. Furthermore, we devise an objective function based on an improved truncated γ norm, and derive an optimization procedure using the alternative direction method of multipliers and iteratively re‐weighted least squares techniques. We conducted several experiments to evaluate our method using various 3D models, and compared our results against several state‐of‐the‐art methods. Experimental results show that our method consistently outperforms other methods and better preserves the fine details.
Dynamic Deep Octree for High‐resolution Volumetric Painting in Virtual Reality
Authors: Kim Yeojin , Kim Byungmoon , Kim Young J.
Published: October 2018

With virtual reality, digital painting on 2D canvas is now being extended to 3D space. In this paper, we generalize the 2D pixel canvas to a 3D voxel canvas to allow artists to synthesize volumetric color fields. We develop a deep and dynamic octree‐based painting and rendering system using both CPU and GPU to take advantage of the characteristics of both processors (CPU for octree modeling and GPU for volume rendering). On the CPU‐side, we dynamically adjust an octree and incrementally update the octree to GPU with low latency without compromising the frame rates of the rendering. Our octree is balanced and uses a novel 3‐neighbor connectivity for format simplicity and efficient storage, while allowing constant neighbor access time in ray casting. To further reduce the GPU‐side 3‐neighbor computations, we precompute a culling mask in CPU and upload it to GPU. Finally, we analyze the numerical error‐propagation in ray casting through high resolution octree and present a theoretical error bound.
A New Uniform Format for 360 VR Videos
Authors: Guo J. , Pei Q. K. , Ma G. L. , Liu L. , Zhang X. Y.
Published: October 2018

Recent breakthroughs in VR technologies, especially in economic VR headsets and massive smartphones are creating a fast‐growing demand for 3D immersive VR content. 360 VR videos record a surrounding environment in every direction and give users a fully immersive experience. Thanks to a ton of 360 cameras that launched in the past years, 360 video content creation is exploding and 360 VR videos are becoming a new video standard in the digital industry. When ERP and CMP are perhaps the most prevalent projection and packing layout for storing 360 VR videos, they have severe projection distortion, internal discontinuous seams or disadvantages in aspect ratio. We introduce a new format for packing and storing 360 VR videos using two stage mappings. Hemispheres are seamlessly and uniformly mapped onto squares. Two respective squares are stitched to form a rectangle with the aspect ratio 2:1. Our approach is able to avoid internal discontinuity and generate uniform pixel distribution, while keeping the aspect ratio close to the majority standard aspect ratio of 16 : 9.
Defocus and Motion Blur Detection with Deep Contextual Features
Authors: Kim Beomseok , Son Hyeongseok , Park Seong‐Jin , Cho Sunghyun , Lee Seungyong
Published: October 2018

We propose a novel approach for detecting two kinds of partial blur, defocus and motion blur, by training a deep convolutional neural network. Existing blur detection methods concentrate on designing low‐level features, but those features have difficulty in detecting blur in homogeneous regions without enough textures or edges. To handle such regions, we propose a deep encoder‐decoder network with long residual skip‐connections and multi‐scale reconstruction loss functions to exploit high‐level contextual features as well as low‐level structural features. Another difficulty in partial blur detection is that there are no available datasets with images having both defocus and motion blur together, as most existing approaches concentrate only on either defocus or motion blur. To resolve this issue, we construct a synthetic dataset that consists of complex scenes with both types of blur. Experimental results show that our approach effectively detects and classifies blur, outperforming other state‐of‐the‐art methods. Our method can be used for various applications, such as photo editing, blur magnification, and deblurring.
Skeletex: Skeleton‐texture Co‐representation for Topology‐driven Real‐time Interchange and Manipulation of Surface Regions
Authors: Madaras M. , Riečický A. , Mesároš M. , Stuchlík M. , Piovarči M.
Published: October 2018

Mesh processing algorithms depend on quick access to the local neighborhood, which requires costly memory queries. Moreover, even having access to the local neighborhood is not enough to efficiently perform many geometry processing algorithms in an automatic or semi‐automatic way. As humans, we often imagine mesh editing at the level of topological information, e.g., altering surface features, adding limbs, etc., which is not supported by current data structures. These limitations come from the widely used mesh representations because the needed information is not implicitly defined by the structure. We propose a novel model representation called Skeletex. Each 3D model is decomposed into two elements: a skeletal structure that encodes the model topology and a vector displacement map to capture fine details of the geometry. Such a co‐representation contains the topology information, as well as the information about the local vertex neighborhood at each texel. Additionally, our data structure facilitates an automatic skeleton‐based cross‐parameterization. This allows us to implement the mesh manipulation tasks in parallel, using a unified streamlined pipeline that directly maps to the GPU. We demonstrate the capabilities of our data structure by implementing surface region transfer and mesh morphing of 3D models.