bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mapping new translation practices into translation training
Authors: del Mar Sánchez Ramos María
Published: December 2019

Crowdsourcing and collaborative translation, activities emerging on the translation scene recently, are playing an
increasingly important role in the world of professional translation and in the localization industry. This article focuses on a
study carried out to analyze the perception of a group of translator trainees regarding these new translation practices. A total
of 20 undergraduate students participated in the research and were asked to perform a collaborative localization task using an
online collaborative platform. Data subjected to a quantitative and qualitative analysis suggest that online collaborative
translation tasks enhance students’ motivation towards collaborative translation and help consolidate their technical
knowledge about specific localization tools and files.
Metaphor and National Identity
Authors: Putz Orsolya
Published: December 2019

Due to the Treaty of Trianon – which was signed at the end of World War 1 in 1920 – Hungary lost two thirds of its former territory, as well as the inhabitants of these areas. The book aims to reveal why the treaty still plays a role in Hungarian national identity construction, by studying the alternative conceptualization of the treaty and its consequences. The cognitive linguistic research explores Hungarian politicians’ conceptual system about Trianon, with special interest on conceptual metaphors. It also analyzes the factors that may motivate the emergence of the conceptual system, as well as its synchronic diversity and diachronic changes. The monograph provides a niche insight into the conceptual basis of how contemporary citizens of Hungary interpret the treaty of Trianon and its consequences. The book will be of interest to cognitive and cultural linguists, cultural anthropologists, or any professionals working on national identity construction.
Nine-hundred-channel single-shot surface roughness measurement using hyperspectral interferometry
Authors: Reichold Tobias V , Ruiz Pablo D , Huntley Jonathan M
Published: December 2019

A recently developed hyperspectral interferometer has been applied, for the first time, to the single-shot measurement of surface roughness. Traditional optical surface profiling techniques, such as coherence scanning interferometry (CSI) or focus variation microscopy, require long scan times and mechanical motion of the imaging objectives, making them vulnerable to environmental disturbances and thus inappropriate as an embedded metrology tool for production. Hyperspectral interferometry (HSI) answers these problems by capturing spatial and spectral information to reconstruct the surface profile, from 900 locations measured in parallel, in a single shot. We report here measurement results with both HSI and CSI from 12 individual roughness samples taken from Rubert roughness gauges covering the roughness range

. Very good agreement was obtained for

values in the range 3–30 µm, where the HSI

values were mostly within a few per cent of (and at worst 24% away from) those measured by CSI

. An alternative measure of roughness, based on averaging the widths of the Fourier transform peak of the individual HSI interference signals, is shown to be a statistically reliable measure of local roughness in the medium to high roughness regime, i.e. for

values of 0.8 µm and above. The results thus demonstrate the technique’s potential for real-time surface quality inspection in manufacturing.
Retracted: The activity of the pore-forming toxin lysenin is regulated by crowding
Authors: Munguira Nacho L.B. , Barbas Alfonso , Casuso Ignacio
Published: December 2019

Publisher's notice concerning Nacho L.B. Munguira, Alfonso Barbas and Ignacio Casuso 2019 Nanotechnology

This article has been retracted by IOP Publishing following an institutional investigation by INSERM and AMU. The investigation concluded that the publication broke institutional rules and regulations. As a member of COPE, IOP Publishing agrees to honour the findings of the investigation and retract the paper, in line with COPE guidelines. (30 June 2020)

The β pore-forming toxins (β-PFTs) are cytotoxic proteins produced as soluble monomers, which cluster and oligomerize at the membrane of the target host cells. Their initial oligomeric state, the prepore, is not cytotoxic. The β-PFTs undergo a large structural transition to a second oligomeric state, the pore, which pierces the membrane of the host cell and is cytotoxic. Data from electrophysiology and vesicle permeabilization experiments have suggested the possibility of a correlation between the transition rate from prepore state to pore state and the levels of local crowding in the cluster of β-PFT oligomers. Nevertheless, to this date, visualization and understanding at the molecular level are missing. We have addressed this issue using a panel of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques and simulations. We describe the mechanism by which the rates of formation of the transmembrane pores correlate with the local levels of crowding for the β-PFT lysenin and discuss possible biological and medical implications.
Electron density, temperature and the potential structure of spokes in HiPIMS
Authors: Held J , Maaß P A , Gathen V Schulz-von der , Keudell A von
Published: December 2019

In high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) bright plasma spots are observed during the discharge pulses that rotate with velocities in the order of 10 km s−1 in front of the target surface. It has proven very difficult to perform any quantitative measurements on these so-called spokes, which emerge stochastically during the build-up of each plasma pulse. In this paper, we propose a new time shift averaging method to perform measurements integrating over many discharge pulses, but without phase averaging of the spoke location, thus preserving the information of the spoke structure. This method is then applied to perform Langmuir probe measurements, employing magnetized probe theory to determine the plasma parameters inside the magnetic trap region of the discharge. Spokes are found to have a higher plasma density, electron temperature and plasma potential than the surrounding plasma. The electron density slowly rises at the leading edge of the spoke to a maximum value of about 1 × 1020 m−3 and then drops sharply at the trailing edge to 4 × 1019 m−3. The electron temperature rises from 2.1 eV outside the spoke to 3.4 eV at the trailing end of the spoke. A reversal of the plasma potential from about −7 V outside the spoke to values just above 0 V in a spoke is observed, as has been proposed in the literature.
Project on creating a classifier of lithological types for uranium deposits in Kazakhstan
Authors: Kuchin Yan , Yakunin Kirill , Mukhamedyeva Elena , Mukhamedyev Ravil
Published: December 2019

A program that provides the task of classifying electric log data using machine learning methods is described. The program, after the training phase, allows one to automatically determine the composition of the rocks along the wellbore, which is necessary to ensure the technological process of uranium mining. The applied methods of data preprocessing, methods of forming a “floating window” of data and some results are briefly described. When using multilayer perceptron, the obtained average values of precision, recall, f1-score with recognition of 7 rock classes are 49%.At the same time, the developed program allows one to apply a wide range of classification algorithms, including Nearest-Neighbor (k-NN)), Logistic regression, Decision Tree, Support Vector Classifier, artificial neural network, busting, LSTM, etc. For example, when using XGBoost on same data with a change in the size of the floating window and the weight of individual classes (rocks), the indicated accuracy metric was up to 54%. The results of a comparative analysis of the mentioned methods on an extended data set will be presented in the next article of the authors.
Methods to identify the destructive information
Authors: Barakhnin V B , Mukhamedyev R I , Mussabaev R R , Kozhemyakina O Yu , Issayeva A , Kuchin Ya I , Murzakhmetov S B , Yakunin K O
Published: December 2019

The article discusses the methods that ensure the detection of destructive messages in the Internet environment. It is shown that to detect them the approaches based on the analysis of the syntactic patterns; analysis of semantic information included in the text, and correlating it with the text corpus; crowd sourcing methods; identification of the patterns of user behavior in social networks; the consideration of the additional information etc., were applied. Good results can be achieved under certain conditions: an access to traffic social networks and other online news resources, opportunities to organize or to get results from crowd sourcing, etc., when there are the restrictions on these conditions the detection of destructive messages can be performed based on indirect signs. The results of the detection of destructive news in the corpus of news reports in Russian, posted on the websites of the Republic of Kazakhstan are shown.
Impact of electric vehicles on the cost-competitiveness of generation and storage technologies in the electricity system
Authors: Taljegard M , Walter V , Göransson L , Odenberger M , Johnsson F
Published: December 2019

The increasing levels of variable renewable electricity (VRE) generation—such as wind and solar power—will create important opportunities for the charging of electric vehicle (EV) batteries during low-cost hours with a lot of VRE generation and for the discharge of EV batteries back to the grid (i.e. vehicle-to-grid; V2G) during high-cost hours. This study investigates how different EV charging strategies influence the cost-competitiveness of generation and storage technologies other than EV batteries in the electricity system, using a regional electricity system investment and dispatch model. The charging requirements of the EVs, which are used as an input to the optimisation model, are derived from the yearly driving patterns of 426 vehicles measured with global positioning system. The study is carried out for four regions in Europe with different conditions for wind, solar and hydro power generation. The results show that optimised EV charging with V2G can: (i) reduce investments in peak power capacity in all the regions investigated; (ii) reduce the need for short-term and long-term storage technologies other than EV batteries (i.e. stationary batteries and hydrogen storage); and (iii) stimulate increased shares of solar and wind power generation, as compared to direct charging in some regions (mainly Hungary). This study also shows that EV battery capacities as low as 30 kWh, which are connected to the grid only at their home location, can to a large extent contribute with flexibility to the electricity system in the way mentioned. The present study also investigates the influences of different shares of the fleet participating in V2G, and shows that the additional benefits for the electricity system level off when approximately 24% of the vehicle fleet participates in V2G.
DBI in the IR
Authors: Mezincescu Luca , Townsend Paul K
Published: December 2019

The infra-red limit of a planar static D3-brane in AdS

is a tensionless D3-brane at the anti-de Sitter horizon with dynamics governed by a strong-field limit of the Dirac–Born–Infeld action, analogous to that found from the Born–Infeld action by Bialynicki-Birula. As in that case, the field equations are those of an interacting 4D conformal invariant field theory with an

electromagnetic duality invariance, but the D3-brane origin makes these properties manifest. We also find an

-invariant action for these equations.
The procedure for determination of the dependence of the cost of insulation materials on their thermophysical characteristics
Authors: Gamayunova O S , Radaev A E , Petrichenko M R
Published: December 2019

Optimal insulation for the walls of the house is selected based on the material of construction and must meet several requirements. This article describes the method of justifying the dependence of the cost of heaters on their technical characteristics, based on a statistical analysis of price and thermophysical characteristics, used later in the development of optimization models for the selection and use of thermal insulation materials (heaters). To assess the quality of the resulting economic and mathematical model, the coefficient of determination was used. In order for the number of regressors (factors) not to affect the statistics of this coefficient, an adjusted coefficient of determination was also calculated, which gives a “penalty” for the factors included in the model.
The Effect of Silica Fume Addition on the Resistance of Concrete to Alkali Silica Reaction
Authors: Nagrockienė D , Rutkauskas A , Pundienė I , Girnienė I
Published: December 2019

Concrete mix made of cement CEM I 42.5 R, silica fume, fine aggregate sand of 0/4 fraction and superplasticizer was tested. Five batches of specimens were made with different silica fume content, where up to 10 % of the binding material was replaced with silica fume. Compressive strength, water absorption, density and resistance to alkali silica reaction were tested in concretes modified with different amounts of silica fume addition. The effect of silica fume addition on the expansion of modified concrete conditioned in 1M NaOH solution for 56 days was tested. Concrete modified with silica fume at 10 % by weight of cement was found to be the most appropriate for structures exposed to alkaline environment. The control specimen without mineral addition had the expansion of 0.113 %, which exceeds the limit value by 0.1 %, whereas the expansion of specimens modified with 2.5 % of silica fume was equal to the limit value, i.e. 0.1 %. The expansion values reduced in specimens modified with 5 % and 7.5 % of mineral addition. After 56 days of testing, the expansion values of these specimens were 0.093 % and 0.082 % respectively. The lowest expansion value was obtained in specimens with the highest content of silica fume, i.e. 10 %. The expansion of these specimens was 0.07 % after 56 days of conditioning in 1M NaOH solution of 80 °C temperature. The tests revealed that concrete modified with silica fume replacing 10 % of cement had better resistance to alkali silica reaction and better durability characteristics and thus can be used as structural concrete.
Development of Absorbing Coatings for Protection Against Electromagnetic Pollution of the Environment
Authors: Bakhracheva Yu
Published: December 2019

Radioabsorbing materials are materials whose composition and structure provides effective absorption (with little reflection) of electromagnetic energy in a certain range of radio wavelengths.The paper investigates the weakening effects of screens of various kinds on the electromagnetic waves passing through them. With such solutions, it is possible to make estimates for the weakening effect of electromagnetic screens of arbitrary shape and for radiation with arbitrarily given characteristics.
Using Big data and artificial intelligence to solve the fire safety problem of potentially dangerous objects
Authors: Shahramanyan M , Marchuk V , Shrayfel I , Chernyshov D , Meskhi B , Ananova O
Published: December 2019

In this paper, we consider a hardware-software system for evaluating the level of fire safety in real-time, which allows us to proactively monitor the dynamics of changes in the level of fire safety and provide the supervision authorities with remote access to the information about the level of fire safety
Electrochemical sensing of glucose by chitosan modified graphene oxide
Authors: Poletti Fabrizio , Favaretto Laura , Kovtun Alessandro , Treossi Emanuele , Corticelli Franco , Gazzano Massimo , Palermo Vincenzo , Zanardi Chiara , Melucci Manuela
Published: December 2019

Graphene oxide (GO) coated electrodes provide an excellent platform for enzymatic glucose sensing, induced by the presence of glucose oxidase and an electrochemical transduction. Here, we show that the sensitivity of GO layers for glucose detection redoubles upon blending GO with chitosan (GO+Ch) and increases up to eight times if covalent binding of chitosan to GO (GO−Ch) is exploited. In addition, the conductivity of the composite material GO−Ch is suitable for electrochemical applications without the need of GO reduction, which is generally required for GO based coatings. Covalent modification of GO is achieved by a standard carboxylic activation/amidation approach by exploiting the abundant amino pendants of chitosan. Successful functionalization is proved by comparison with an ad-hoc synthesized control sample realized by using non-activated GO as precursor. The composite GO−Ch was deposited on standard screen-printed electrodes by a drop-casting approach. Comparison with a chitosan-GO blend and with pristine GO demonstrated the superior reliability and efficiency of the electrochemical response for glucose as a consequence of the high number of enzyme binding sites and of the partial reduction of GO during the carboxylic activation synthetic step.
Impact of oxidation morphology on reduced graphene oxides upon thermal annealing
Authors: Antidormi Aleandro , Roche Stephan , Colombo Luciano
Published: December 2019

Thermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO) is an essential technique to produce low-cost and higher quality graphene-based materials and composites used today in a plethora of applications. However, despite a demonstrated efficiency of high-temperature annealing in reducing the oxygen content of GO, the impact of the morphology of the initially oxidized samples on the restored sp
2 graphene plane versus remaining sp
3 imperfections remains unclear and out-of-control. Here using classical molecular dynamics, we simulate the process of thermal reduction on several GO samples for a variety of initial conditions and elucidate how both the concentration of oxygen functional groups and their spatial distribution jeopardize the reduction process efficiency. Our simulations suggest thermal annealing strategies to further optimize the crystallinity of reduced GO, enhancing their transport properties and hence making the resulting composites even more performant for electronic applications.
Care home residents who die in hospital: exploring factors, processes and experiences
Authors: Alcorn Gemma , Murray Scott A , Hockley Jo
Published: December 2019

Background

Care home residents are increasingly frail with complex health and social care needs. Their transfer to hospital at the end-of-life can be associated with unwanted interventions and distress. However, hospitals do enable provision of care that some residents wish to receive. We aimed to explore the factors that influence hospital admission of care home residents who then died in hospital.

Methods

This study combined in-depth case note review of care home residents dying in two Scottish teaching hospitals during a 6-month period and semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 26 care home staff and two relatives.

Results

During the 6-month period, 109 care home residents died in hospital. Most admissions occurred out-of-hours (69%) and most were due to a sudden event or acute change in clinical condition (72%). Length of stay in hospital before death was short, with 42% of deaths occurring within 3 days. Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) regarding hospital admission was documented in 44%.

Care home staff wanted to care for residents who were dying; however, uncertain trajectories of decline, acute events, challenges of ACP, relationship with family and lack of external support impeded this.

Conclusions

Managing acute changes on the background of uncertain trajectories is challenging in care homes. Enhanced support is required to improve and embed ACP in care homes and to provide rapid, 24 hours-a-day support to manage difficult symptoms and acute changes.
Inheritance of breeding system in Cakile (Brassicaceae) following hybridization: implications for plant invasions
Authors: Li Chengjun , Mesgaran Mohsen B , Ades Peter K , Cousens Roger D
Published: December 2019

Background and Aims

Hybridization is commonly assumed to aid invasions through adaptive introgression. In contrast, a recent theoretical model predicted that there can be non-adaptive demographic advantages from hybridization and that the population consequences will depend on the breeding systems of the species and the extent to which subsequent generations are able to interbreed and reproduce. We examined cross-fertilization success and inheritance of breeding systems of two species in order to better assess the plausibility of the theoretical predictions.

Methods

Reciprocal artificial crosses were made to produce F1, F2 and backcrosses between Cakile maritima (self-incompatible, SI) and Cakile edentula (self-compatible, SC) (Brassicaceae). Flowers were emasculated prior to anther dehiscence and pollen was introduced from donor plants to the recipient’s stigma. Breeding system, pollen viability, pollen germination, pollen tube growth and reproductive output were then determined. The results were used to replace the assumptions made in the original population model and new simulations were made.

Key Results

The success rate with the SI species as the pollen recipient was lower than when it was the pollen donor, in quantitative agreement with the ‘SI × SC rule’ of unilateral incompatibility. Similar outcomes were found in subsequent generations where fertile hybrids were produced but lower success rates were observed in crosses of SI pollen donors with SC pollen recipients. Much lower proportions of SC hybrids were produced than expected from a single Mendelian allele. When incorporated into a population model, these results predicted an even faster rate of replacement of the SC species by the SI species than previously reported.

Conclusions

Our study of these two species provides even clearer support for the feasibility of the non-adaptive hybridization hypothesis, whereby the colonization of an SI species can be assisted by transient hybridization with a congener. It also provides novel insight into reproductive biology beyond the F1 generation.
SpaCell: integrating tissue morphology and spatial gene expression to predict disease cells
Authors: Tan Xiao , Su Andrew , Tran Minh , Nguyen Quan
Published: December 2019

Motivation

Spatial transcriptomics (ST) technology is increasingly being applied because it enables the measurement of spatial gene expression in an intact tissue along with imaging morphology of the same tissue. However, current analysis methods for ST data do not use image pixel information, thus missing the quantitative links between gene expression and tissue morphology.

Results

We developed a user-friendly deep learning software, SpaCell, to integrate millions of pixel intensity values with thousands of gene expression measurements from spatially barcoded spots in a tissue. We show the integration approach outperforms the use of gene-count data alone or imaging data alone to build deep learning models to identify cell types or predict labels of tissue images with high resolution and accuracy.

Availability and implementation

The SpaCell package is open source under an MIT licence and it is available at https://github.com/BiomedicalMachineLearning/SpaCell.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Homozygous STXBP1 variant causes encephalopathy and gain-of-function in synaptic transmission
Authors: Lammertse Hanna C A , van Berkel Annemiek A , Iacomino Michele , Toonen Ruud F , Striano Pasquale , Gambardella Antonio , Verhage Matthijs , Zara Federico
Published: December 2019

Heterozygous mutations in the STXBP1 gene encoding the presynaptic protein MUNC18-1 cause STXBP1 encephalopathy, characterized by developmental delay, intellectual disability and epilepsy. Impaired mutant protein stability leading to reduced synaptic transmission is considered the main underlying pathogenetic mechanism. Here, we report the first two cases carrying a homozygous STXBP1 mutation, where their heterozygous siblings and mother are asymptomatic. Both cases were diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. In Munc18-1 null mouse neurons, protein stability of the disease variant (L446F) is less dramatically affected than previously observed for heterozygous disease mutants. Neurons expressing Munc18L446F showed minor changes in morphology and synapse density. However, patch clamp recordings demonstrated that L446F causes a 2-fold increase in evoked synaptic transmission. Conversely, paired pulse plasticity was reduced and recovery after stimulus trains also. Spontaneous release frequency and amplitude, the readily releasable vesicle pool and the kinetics of short-term plasticity were all normal. Hence, the homozygous L446F mutation causes a gain-of-function phenotype regarding release probability and synaptic transmission while having less impact on protein levels than previously reported (heterozygous) mutations. These data show that STXBP1 mutations produce divergent cellular effects, resulting in different clinical features, while sharing the overarching encephalopathic phenotype (developmental delay, intellectual disability and epilepsy).
Cholinergic Switch between Two Types of Slow Waves in Cerebral Cortex
Authors: Nghiem Trang-Anh E , Tort-Colet Núria , Górski Tomasz , Ferrari Ulisse , Moghimyfiroozabad Shayan , Goldman Jennifer S , Teleńczuk Bartosz , Capone Cristiano , Bal Thierry , di Volo Matteo , Destexhe Alain
Published: December 2019

Sleep slow waves are known to participate in memory consolidation, yet slow waves occurring under anesthesia present no positive effects on memory. Here, we shed light onto this paradox, based on a combination of extracellular recordings in vivo, in vitro, and computational models. We find two types of slow waves, based on analyzing the temporal patterns of successive slow-wave events. The first type is consistently observed in natural slow-wave sleep, while the second is shown to be ubiquitous under anesthesia. Network models of spiking neurons predict that the two slow wave types emerge due to a different gain on inhibitory versus excitatory cells and that different levels of spike-frequency adaptation in excitatory cells can account for dynamical distinctions between the two types. This prediction was tested in vitro by varying adaptation strength using an agonist of acetylcholine receptors, which demonstrated a neuromodulatory switch between the two types of slow waves. Finally, we show that the first type of slow-wave dynamics is more sensitive to external stimuli, which can explain how slow waves in sleep and anesthesia differentially affect memory consolidation, as well as provide a link between slow-wave dynamics and memory diseases.
Monitoring Ceftazidime-Avibactam and Aztreonam Concentrations in the Treatment of a Bloodstream Infection Caused by a Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacter sp. Carrying Both Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase–4 and New Delhi Metallo-β-Lactamase–1
Authors: Yasmin Mohamad , Fouts Derrick E , Jacobs Michael R , Haydar Hanan , Marshall Steven H , White Richard , D’Souza Roshan , Lodise Thomas P , Rhoads Daniel D , Hujer Andrea M , Rojas Laura J , Hoyen Claudia , Perez Federico , Edwards Amy , Bonomo Robert A
Published: December 2019

In an infection with an Enterobacter sp. isolate producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase–4 and New Delhi Metallo-β-Lactamase–1 in the United States, recognition of the molecular basis of carbapenem resistance allowed for successful treatment by combining ceftazidime-avibactam and aztreonam. Antimicrobial synergy testing and therapeutic drug monitoring assessed treatment adequacy.
Relationship between microbiology of throat swab and clinical course among primary care patients with acute cough: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Ordóñez-Mena José M , Fanshawe Thomas R , Butler Chris C , Mant David , Longhurst Denise , Muir Peter , Vipond Barry , Little Paul , Moore Michael , Stuart Beth , Hay Alastair D , Thornton Hannah V , Thompson Matthew J , Smith Sue , Van den Bruel Ann , Hardy Victoria , Cheah Laikin , Crook Derrick , Knox Kyle
Published: December 2019

Background

Acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs) account for most antibiotics prescribed in primary care despite lack of efficacy, partly due to clinician uncertainty about aetiology and patient concerns about illness course. Nucleic acid amplification tests could assist antibiotic targeting.

Methods

In this prospective cohort study, 645 patients presenting to primary care with acute cough and suspected ALRTI, provided throat swabs at baseline. These were tested for respiratory pathogens by real-time polymerase chain reaction and classified as having a respiratory virus, bacteria, both or neither. Three hundred fifty-four participants scored the symptoms severity daily for 1 week in a diary (0 = absent to 4 = severe problem).

Results

Organisms were identified in 346/645 (53.6%) participants. There were differences in the prevalence of seven symptoms between the organism groups at baseline. Those with a virus alone, and those with both virus and bacteria, had higher average severity scores of all symptoms combined during the week of follow-up than those in whom no organisms were detected [adjusted mean differences 0.204 (95% confidence interval 0.010 to 0.398) and 0.348 (0.098 to 0.598), respectively]. There were no differences in the duration of symptoms rated as moderate or severe between organism groups.

Conclusions

Differences in presenting symptoms and symptoms severity can be identified between patients with viruses and bacteria identified on throat swabs. The magnitude of these differences is unlikely to influence management. Most patients had mild symptoms at 7 days regardless of aetiology, which could inform patients about likely symptom duration.
Structural joint inversion on irregular meshes
Authors: Jordi C , Doetsch J , Günther T , Schmelzbach C , Maurer H , Robertsson J O A
Published: December 2019

Structural joint inversion of several data sets on an irregular mesh requires appropriate coupling operators. To date, joint inversion algorithms are primarily designed for the use on regular rectilinear grids and impose structural similarity in the direct neighbourhood of a cell only. We introduce a novel scheme for calculating cross-gradient operators based on a correlation model that allows to define the operator size by imposing physical length scales. We demonstrate that the proposed cross-gradient operators are largely decoupled from the discretization of the modelling domain, which is particularly important for irregular meshes where cell sizes vary. Our structural joint inversion algorithm is applied to a synthetic electrical resistivity tomography and ground penetrating radar 3-D cross-well experiment aiming at imaging two anomalous bodies and extracting the parameter distribution of the geostatistical background models. For both tasks, joint inversion produced superior results compared with individual inversions of the two data sets. Finally, we applied structural joint inversion to two field data sets recorded over a karstified limestone area. By including geological a priori information via the correlation-based operators into the joint inversion, we find P-wave velocity and electrical resistivity tomograms that are in accordance with the expected subsurface geology.
An atomistic perspective on antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity quenching by core-fucosylation of IgG1 Fc N-glycans from enhanced sampling molecular dynamics
Authors: Harbison Aoife , Fadda Elisa
Published: December 2019

The immunoglobulin type G (IgG) Fc N-glycans are known to modulate the interaction with membrane-bound Fc γ receptors (FcγRs), fine-tuning the antibody’s effector function in a sequence-dependent manner. Particularly interesting in this respect are the roles of galactosylation, which levels are linked to autoimmune conditions and aging, of core fucosylation, which is known to reduce significantly the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), and of sialylation, which also reduces antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) but only in the context of core-fucosylation. In this article, we provide an atomistic level perspective through enhanced sampling computer simulations, based on replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD), to understand the molecular determinants linking the Fc N-glycans sequence to the observed IgG1 function. Our results indicate that the two symmetrically opposed N-glycans interact extensively through their core trimannose residues. At room temperature, the terminal galactose on the α (1–6) arm is restrained to the protein through a network of interactions that keep the arm outstretched; meanwhile, the α (1–3) arm extends toward the solvent where a terminal sialic acid remains fully accessible. We also find that the presence of core fucose interferes with the extended sialylated α (1–3) arm, altering its conformational propensity and as a consequence of steric hindrance, significantly enhancing the Fc dynamics. Furthermore, structural analysis shows that the core-fucose position within the Fc core obstructs the access of N162 glycosylated FcγRs very much like a “door-stop,” potentially decreasing the IgG/FcγR binding free energy. These results provide an atomistic level-of-detail framework for the design of high potency IgG1 Fc N-glycoforms.
The Jew and the “Jerrybag”: The Lives of Hedwig Bercu and Dorothea Weber (née Le Brocq)
Authors: Carr Gilly
Published: December 2019

Locals of the Channel Islands have long perceived women who had relationships with soldiers during the German occupation as the lowest form of collaborator. The author challenges this perception through the life stories of two women: a Romanian Jew in hiding and the woman who sheltered her for the last eighteen months of the occupation. Both were in relationships with German soldiers. The families of these two women met for the first time at a recent commemoration in Jersey. The following examines the long-term impact of their “illicit” relationships on the lives of these women, and how they complicate narrow representations of the alleged “Jerrybag.”
Exploring the association between diabetes and breast cancer morbidity: considerations for quality care improvements among Latinas
Authors: Ashing Kimlin Tam , Lai Lily , Meyers Eva , Serrano Mayra , George Marshalee
Published: December 2019

Objective

Cancer and diabetes are two severe chronic illnesses that often co-occur. In cancer patients, diabetes increases the risk for treatment complexities and mortality. Yet patient-reported outcomes with co-occurring chronic illness are understudied.

Design

This preliminary study investigated the association of diabetes with breast cancer-related morbidity among underserved Latina breast cancer survivors (BCS).

Participants

137 Latina BCS were recruited from the California Cancer Registry and hospitals.

Setting and Main Outcome Measure(s): BCS completed a self-administered mailed questionnaire assessing demographic and medical characteristics e.g. Type2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Results

28% Latina BCS reported co-occurring T2DM at twice the general population rate. Diabetes was most prevalent among Latina BCS > 65 years (43%). Latina BCS with diabetes were more likely to report advanced cancer staging at diagnosis (P = 0.036) and more lymphedema symptoms (P = 0.036). Results suggest non-significant but lower general health and greater physical functioning limitations among BCS with T2DM.

Conclusions

This study has relevance for precision population medicine by (i) consideration of routine diabetes screening in Latina BCS, (ii) underscoring attention to disease co-occurrence in treatment planning and care delivery and (iii) informing follow-up care and survivorship care planning e.g. patient self-management, oncology and primarily care surveillance and specialty care. Our findings can inform providers, survivors and caregivers about the impact of disease co-occurrence that influence clinically and patient responsive care for both initial treatment and long-term follow-up care to address disparities.
Susceptibility of invasive Neisseria meningitidis strains isolated in Germany to azithromycin, an alternative agent for post-exposure prophylaxis
Authors: Krone Manuel , Lâm Thiên-Trí , Vogel Ulrich , Claus Heike
Published: December 2019

Background

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for close contacts of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) cases is recommended in most countries to avoid secondary cases by eradicating supposed meningococcal colonization. Currently, rifampicin, ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone are recommended in many countries including Germany. Azithromycin has been shown to eradicate meningococcal colonization.

Objectives

To assess the azithromycin susceptibility of invasive Neisseria meningitidis isolates.

Methods

A subset of German invasive meningococcal isolates from 2006–18 was selected for this study. Azithromycin MIC was determined using broth microdilution and agar gradient diffusion.

Results

Azithromycin MICs as determined by broth microdilution ranged from <0.003 to 2 mg/L (median 0.50 mg/L, Q75 1 mg/L). All isolates were susceptible to azithromycin according to the CLSI breakpoint (95% CI 0.0%–1.5%). There was no significant correlation between MICs determined by broth microdilution and agar gradient diffusion. Nevertheless, the two methods were consistent regarding the categorization of all isolates as susceptible.

Conclusions

Azithromycin is an eligible antibiotic for PEP of IMD close contacts. It is approved for adults as well as children and may even be used in pregnancy. Because of easier application and lower toxicity, it might be an alternative to rifampicin and ciprofloxacin, as we found no resistant isolates. Since a gonococcal gene associated with elevated azithromycin MICs has been reported in N. meningitidis, careful monitoring of the emergence of resistant strains is nevertheless necessary for meningococci. Lack of concordance of MICs between broth microdilution and agar gradient diffusion needs to be considered.
Cross-tolerance to Desiccation and Cold in Khapra Beetle (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)
Authors: Shivananjappa Sunil , Laird Robert A , Floate Kevin D , Fields Paul G
Published: December 2019

Khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts, is unusual in two key respects. First, they are among the most cold hardy of stored-product insect pests even though they originate in hot and dry regions of the Indian subcontinent. Second, their larvae can enter into diapause to survive harsh environmental conditions. In the present study, we examined whether these two phenomena are related, i.e., due to cross-tolerance. Cross-tolerance is the tolerance to one ecological stress when induced by a separate stress. To investigate this, khapra beetle larvae were reared at different relative humidities (3, 28, 49, and 79%) in either nondiapausing or diapausing conditions. Then the cold tolerance of larvae was estimated by measuring mortality after different durations at −10°C. For nondiapausing larvae, relative humidity had little effect on cold tolerance with the lethal time to 50% mortality (LT50) occurring between 2 and 4 d. For diapausing larvae, cold tolerance increased with greater desiccation stress with LT50’s of 5, 7, 10, and 18 d at 79, 49, 28, and 3% RH, respectively. This suggests that the physiological mechanisms that protect diapausing larvae from desiccation may also increase cold tolerance, even though these insects may rarely be exposed to low temperatures.
EU General Court dismisses Piaggio’s appeal against Vespa decision
Authors: Cerri Alessandro , Mark Ben
Published: December 2019

General Court, T–219/18, Piaggio & C SpA v EUIPO and Zhejiang Zhongneng Industry Group Co. Ltd [2019] EU:T:2019:681 (24 September 2019)

The EU General Court has dismissed Piaggio's appeal against EUIPO's refusal of its application for a declaration of invalidity in respect of Zhejiang's registered Community design for its scooter.
Epidemic West Nile Virus Infection Rates and Endemic Population Dynamics Among South Dakota Mosquitoes: A 15-yr Study from the United States Northern Great Plains
Authors: Vincent Geoffrey P , Davis Justin K , Wittry Matthew J , Wimberly Michael C , Carlson Chris D , Patton Denise L , Hildreth Michael B
Published: December 2019

Mosquito surveillance has been conducted across South Dakota (SD) to record and track potential West Nile virus (WNV) vectors since 2004. During this time, communities from 29 counties collected nearly 5.5 million mosquitoes, providing data from over 60,000 unique trapping nights. The nuisance mosquito, Aedes vexans (Meigen) was the most abundant species in the state (39.9%), and most abundant in most regions. The WNV vector, Culex tarsalis Coquillett (Diptera: Culicidae), was the second most abundant species (20.5%), and 26 times more abundant than the other Culex species that also transmit WNV. However, geographic variation did exist between WNV vector species, as well as relative abundance of vector and nuisance mosquitoes. The abundance of Ae. vexans decreased from east to west in South Dakota, resulting in an increase in the relative abundance of Cx. tarsalis. Other species are reported in this study, with various relative abundances throughout the different regions of South Dakota. WNV infection rates of mosquitoes showed that Cx. tarsalis had the most positive sampling pools and the highest vector index of all the species tested. This study addressed the need for an updated summary of the predominant mosquito species present in the United States Northern Great Plain and provides infection rate data for WNV among these predominant species.
Weak lensing reveals a tight connection between dark matter halo mass and the distribution of stellar mass in massive galaxies
Authors: Huang Song , Leauthaud Alexie , Hearin Andrew , Behroozi Peter , Bradshaw Christopher , Ardila Felipe , Speagle Joshua , Tenneti Ananth , Bundy Kevin , Greene Jenny , Sifón Cristóbal , Bahcall Neta
Published: December 2019

Using deep images from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey and taking advantage of its unprecedented weak lensing capabilities, we reveal a remarkably tight connection between the stellar mass distribution of massive central galaxies and their host dark matter halo mass. Massive galaxies with more extended stellar mass distributions tend to live in more massive dark matter haloes. We explain this connection with a phenomenological model that assumes, (1) a tight relation between the halo mass and the total stellar content in the halo, (2) that the fraction of in situ and ex situ mass at r <10 kpc depends on halo mass. This model provides an excellent description of the stellar mass functions (SMFs) of total stellar mass ($M_{\star }^{\mathrm{max}}$) and stellar mass within inner 10 kpc ($M_{\star }^{10}$) and also reproduces the HSC weak lensing signals of massive galaxies with different stellar mass distributions. The best-fitting model shows that halo mass varies significantly at fixed total stellar mass (as much as 0.4 dex) with a clear dependence on $M_{\star }^{10}$. Our two-parameter $M_{\star }^{\mathrm{max}}$–$M_{\star }^{10}$ description provides a more accurate picture of the galaxy–halo connection at the high-mass end than the simple stellar–halo mass relation (SHMR) and opens a new window to connect the assembly history of haloes with those of central galaxies. The model also predicts that the ex situ component dominates the mass profiles of galaxies at r < 10 kpc for log M⋆ ≥ 11.7. The code used for this paper is available online https://github.com/dr-guangtou/asap
Lizards from the Lost World: two new species and evolutionary relationships of the Pantepui highland Riolama (Gymnophthalmidae)
Authors: Recoder Renato , Prates Ivan , Marques-Souza Sergio , Camacho Agustín , Nunes Pedro M Sales , Dal Vechio Francisco , Ghellere José Mario , McDiarmid Roy W , Rodrigues Miguel Trefaut
Published: December 2019

The Pantepui region of northern South America harbours an endemic fauna that differs dramatically from those of the surrounding lowland rainforests and savannas. A component of this unique fauna is Riolama, a poorly known genus of microteiid lizards with four described and two undescribed species restricted to tepui mountains. We here implement an integrative approach to formally describe the two unnamed species and investigate the phylogenetic relationships and timing of diversification in Riolama using a fossil-calibrated molecular approach. Our results suggest that diversification initiated in Riolama during the Oligocene (c. 28 Mya), thereby characterizing the genus as an ancient lineage. This supports the Plateau biogeographic hypothesis to explain the diversification of the Pantepui fauna. Our divergence time estimation analysis also provides an updated temporal framework for the diversification of the highly diverse Gymnophthalmidae clade.
Progress on Molecular Genetics and Manipulation of Rust Fungi
Authors: Bakkeren Guus , Szabo Les J.
Published: December 2019

Among the thousands of rust species described, many are known for their devastating effects on their hosts, which include major agriculture crops and trees. Hence, for over a century, these basidiomycete pathogenic fungi have been researched and experimented with. However, due to their biotrophic nature, they are challenging organisms to work with and, needing their hosts for propagation, represent pathosystems that are not easily experimentally accessible. Indeed, efforts to perform genetics have been few and far apart for the rust fungi, though one study performed in the 1940s was famously instrumental in formulating the gene-for-gene hypothesis describing pathogen−host interactions. By taking full advantage of the molecular genetic tools developed in the 1980s, research on many plant pathogenic microbes thrived, yet similar work on the rusts remained very challenging though not without some successes. However, the genomics era brought real breakthrough research for the biotrophic fungi and with innovative experimentation and the use of heterologous systems, molecular genetic analyses over the last 2 decades have significantly advanced our insight into the function of many rust fungus genes and their role in the interaction with their hosts. This has allowed optimizing efforts for resistance breeding and the design and testing of various novel strategies to reduce the devastating diseases they cause.
Pharmacological inhibition of CSF1R by GW2580 reduces microglial proliferation and is protective against neuroinflammation and dopaminergic neurodegeneration
Authors: Neal Matthew L. , Fleming Sheila M. , Budge Kevin M. , Boyle Alexa M. , Kim Chunki , Alam Gelareh , Beier Eric E. , Wu Long‐Jun , Richardson Jason R.
Published: December 2019

Increased pro‐inflammatory cytokine levels and proliferation of activated microglia have been found in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and animal models of PD, suggesting that targeting of the microglial inflammatory response may result in neuroprotection in PD. Microglial proliferation is regulated by many factors, but colony stimulating factor‐1 receptor (CSF1R) has emerged as a primary factor. Using data mining techniques on existing microarray data, we found that mRNA expression of the CSF1R ligand, CSF‐1, is increased in the brain of PD patients compared to controls. In two different neurotoxic mouse models of PD, acute MPTP and sub‐chronic LPS treatment, mRNA and protein levels of CSF1R and CSF‐1 were significantly increased. Treatment with the CSF1R inhibitor GW2580 significantly attenuated MPTP‐induced CSF1R activation and Iba1‐positive cell proliferation, without a reduction of the basal Iba1‐positive population in the substantia nigra. GW2580 treatment also significantly decreased mRNA levels of pro‐inflammatory factors, without alteration of anti‐inflammatory mediators, and significantly attenuated the MPTP‐induced loss of dopamine neurons and motor behavioral deficits. Importantly, these effects were observed in the absence of overt microglial depletion, suggesting that targeting CSF1R signaling may be a viable neuroprotective strategy in PD that disrupts pro‐inflammatory signaling, but maintains the beneficial effects of microglia.