bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On Optimal Two-Sided Pricing of Congested Networks
Authors: Wang Xin , Ma Richard T.B. , Xu Yinlong
Published: March 2018

Traditionally, Internet Access Providers (APs) only charge end-users for Internet access services; however, to recoup infrastructure costs and increase revenues, some APs have recently adopted two-sided pricing schemes under which both end-users and content providers are charged. Meanwhile, with the rapid growth of traffic, network congestion could seriously degrade user experiences and influence providers' utility. To optimize profit and social welfare, APs and regulators need to design appropriate pricing strategies and regulatory policies that take the effects of network congestion into consideration. In this paper, we model two-sided networks under which users' traffic demands are influenced by exogenous pricing and endogenous congestion parameters and derive the system congestion under an equilibrium. We characterize the structures and sensitivities of profit- and welfare-optimal two-sided pricing schemes and reveal that 1) the elasticity of system throughput plays a crucial role in determining the structures of optimal pricing, 2) the changes of optimal pricing under varying AP's capacity and users' congestion sensitivity are largely driven by the type of data traffic, e.g., text or video, and 3) APs and regulators will be incentivized to shift from one-sided to two-sided pricing when APs' capacities and user demand for video traffic grow. Our results can help APs design optimal two-sided pricing and guide regulators to legislate desirable policies.
WeAllWalk
Authors: Flores Germán H. , Manduchi Roberto
Published: March 2018

We introduce WeAllWalk, a dataset of inertial sensor time series collected from blind and sighted walkers using a long cane or a guide dog. Ten blind volunteers (seven using a long cane, one using a guide dog, and two alternating use of a long cane and of a guide dog) as well as five sighted volunteers contributed to the data collection. The participants walked through fairly long and complex indoor routes that included obstacles to be avoided and doors to be opened. Inertial data were recorded by two iPhone 6s carried by our participants in their pockets and carefully annotated. Ground-truth heel strike times were measured by two small inertial sensor units clipped to the participants’ shoes. We also present an in-depth comparative analysis of various step counting and turn detection algorithms as tested on WeAllWalk. This analysis reveals interesting differences between the achievable accuracy of step and turn detection across different communities of sighted and blind walkers.
A Case for a More Effective, Power-Efficient Turbo Boosting
Authors: Kondguli Sushant , Huang Michael
Published: March 2018

Single-thread performance and throughput often pose different design constraints and require compromises. Mainstream CPUs today incorporate a non-trivial number of cores, even for mobile devices. For power and thermal considerations, by default, a single core does not operate at the maximum performance level. When operating conditions allow, however, commercial products often rely on turbo boosting, which temporarily increases the clock frequency to increase single-thread performance. However, increasing clock speed may result in a poor performance return for invested energy. In this article, we make a case for a more effective boosting strategy, which invests energy in activities with the best estimated return. In addition to running faster clocks, we can also use a look-ahead thread to overlap the penalties of cache misses and branch mispredicts. Overall, for similar power consumptions, the proposed adaptive turbo boosting strategy can achieve about twice the performance benefits while halving the energy overhead.
A Domain-Specific Language and Editor for Parallel Particle Methods
Authors: Karol Sven , Nett Tobias , Castrillon Jeronimo , Sbalzarini Ivo F.
Published: March 2018

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) are of increasing importance in scientific high-performance computing to reduce development costs, raise the level of abstraction, and, thus, ease scientific programming. However, designing DSLs is not easy, as it requires knowledge of the application domain and experience in language engineering and compilers. Consequently, many DSLs follow a weak approach using macros or text generators, which lack many of the features that make a DSL comfortable for programmers. Some of these features—e.g., syntax highlighting, type inference, error reporting—are easily provided by language workbenches, which combine language engineering techniques and tools in a common ecosystem. In this article, we present the Parallel Particle-Mesh Environment (PPME), a DSL and development environment for numerical simulations based on particle methods and hybrid particle-mesh methods. PPME uses the Meta Programming System, a projectional language workbench. PPME is the successor of the Parallel Particle-Mesh Language, a Fortran-based DSL that uses conventional implementation strategies. We analyze and compare both languages and demonstrate how the programmer’s experience is improved using static analyses and projectional editing, i.e., code-structure editing, constrained by syntax, as opposed to free-text editing. We present an explicit domain model for particle abstractions and the first formal type system for particle methods.
Extending Moore’s Law via Computationally Error-Tolerant Computing
Authors: Deng Bobin , Srikanth Sriseshan , Hein Eric R. , Conte Thomas M. , Debenedictis Erik , Cook Jeanine , Frank Michael P.
Published: March 2018

Dennard scaling has ended. Lowering the voltage supply (
V

dd

) to sub-volt levels causes intermittent losses in signal integrity, rendering further scaling (down) no longer acceptable as a means to lower the power required by a processor core. However, it is possible to correct the occasional errors caused due to lower
V

dd

in an efficient manner and effectively lower power. By deploying the right amount and kind of redundancy, we can strike a balance between overhead incurred in achieving reliability and energy savings realized by permitting lower
V

dd

. One promising approach is the Redundant Residue Number System (RRNS) representation. Unlike other error correcting codes, RRNS has the important property of being closed under addition, subtraction and multiplication, thus enabling computational error correction at a fraction of an overhead compared to conventional approaches. We use the RRNS scheme to design a Computationally-Redundant, Energy-Efficient core, including the microarchitecture, Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) and RRNS centered algorithms. From the simulation results, this RRNS system can reduce the energy-delay-product by about 3× for multiplication intensive workloads and by about 2× in general, when compared to a non-error-correcting binary core.
Benzene
Authors: Kim Namhyung , Ahn Junwhan , Choi Kiyoung , Sanchez Daniel , Yoo Donghoon , Ryu Soojung
Published: March 2018

This article proposes Benzene, an energy-efficient distributed SRAM/STT-RAM hybrid cache for manycore systems running multiple applications. It is based on the observation that a naïve application of hybrid cache techniques to distributed caches in a manycore architecture suffers from limited energy reduction due to uneven utilization of scarce SRAM. We propose two-level optimization techniques: intra-bank and inter-bank. Intra-bank optimization leverages highly associative cache design, achieving more uniform distribution of writes within a bank. Inter-bank optimization evenly balances the amount of write-intensive data across the banks. Our evaluation results show that Benzene significantly reduces energy consumption of distributed hybrid caches.
Improving MLC PCM Performance through Relaxed Write and Read for Intermediate Resistance Levels
Authors: Rashidi Saeed , Jalili Majid , Sarbazi-Azad Hamid
Published: March 2018

Phase Change Memory (PCM) is one of the most promising candidates to be used at the main memory level of the memory hierarchy due to poor scalability, considerable leakage power, and high cost/bit of DRAM. PCM is a new resistive memory that is capable of storing data based on resistance values. The wide resistance range of PCM allows for storing multiple bits per cell (MLC) rather than a single bit per cell (SLC). Unfortunately, higher density of MLC PCM comes at the expense of longer read/write latency, higher soft error rate, higher energy consumption, and earlier wearout compared to the SLC PCM. Some studies suggest removing the most error-prone level to mitigate soft error and write latency of MLC PCM, hence introducing a less dense memory called Tri-Level memory. Another scheme, called M-Metric, proposes a new read metric to address the soft error problem in MLC PCM.

In order to deal with the limited lifetime of PCM, some extra storage per memory line is required to correct permanent hard errors (stuck-at faults). Since the extra storage is used only when permanent faults occur, it has a low utilization for a long time before hard errors start to occur. In this article, we utilize the extra storage to improve the read/write latency in a 2-bit MLC PCM using a relaxation scheme for reading and writing the cells for intermediate resistance levels. More specifically, we combine the most time-consuming levels (intermediate resistance levels) to reduce the number of resistance levels (making a Tri-Level PCM) and therefore improve write latency. We then store some error correction metadata in the extra storage section to successfully retrieve the exact data values in the read operation. We also modify the Tri-Level PCM cell to increase its read latency when the M-Metric scheme is used. Evaluation results show that the proposed scheme improves read latency by 57.2%, write latency by 56.1%, and overall system performance (IPC) by 26.9% over the baseline. It is noteworthy that combining the proposed scheme and FPC compression method improves read latency by 75.2%, write latency by 67%, and overall system performance (IPC) by 37.4%.
Function-on-Function Regression with Mode-Sparsity Regularization
Authors: Yang Pei , Tan Qi , He Jingrui
Published: March 2018

Functional data is ubiquitous in many domains, such as healthcare, social media, manufacturing process, sensor networks, and so on. The goal of function-on-function regression is to build a mapping from functional predictors to functional response. In this article, we propose a novel function-on-function regression model based on mode-sparsity regularization. The main idea is to represent the regression coefficient function between predictor and response as the double expansion of basis functions, and then use a mode-sparsity regularization to automatically filter out irrelevant basis functions for both predictors and responses. The proposed approach is further extended to the tensor version to accommodate multiple functional predictors. While allowing the dimensionality of the regression weight matrix or tensor to be relatively large, the mode-sparsity regularized model facilitates the multi-way shrinking of basis functions for each mode. The proposed mode-sparsity regularization covers a wide spectrum of sparse models for function-on-function regression. The resulting optimization problem is challenging due to the non-smooth property of the mode-sparsity regularization. We develop an efficient algorithm to solve the problem, which works in an iterative update fashion, and converges to the global optimum. Furthermore, we analyze the generalization performance of the proposed method and derive an upper bound for the consistency between the recovered function and the underlying true function. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified on benchmark functional datasets in various domains.
Performance Optimization of the HPCG Benchmark on the Sunway TaihuLight Supercomputer
Authors: Ao Yulong , Yang Chao , Liu Fangfang , Yin Wanwang , Jiang Lijuan , Sun Qiao
Published: March 2018

In this article, we present some key techniques for optimizing HPCG on Sunway TaihuLight and demonstrate how to achieve high performance in memory-bound applications by exploiting specific characteristics of the hardware architecture. In particular, we utilize a block multicoloring approach for parallelization and propose methods such as requirement-based data mapping and customized gather collective to enhance the effective memory bandwidth. Experiments indicate that the optimized HPCG code can sustain 77% of the theoretical memory bandwidth and scale to the full system of more than 10 million cores, with an aggregated performance of 480.8 Tflop/s and a weak scaling efficiency of 87.3%.
Precomputed Panel Solver for Aerodynamics Simulation
Authors: Xie Haoran , Igarashi Takeo , Miyata Kazunori
Published: March 2018

In this article, we introduce an efficient and versatile numerical aerodynamics model for general three-dimensional geometry shapes in potential flow. The proposed model has low computational cost and achieves an accuracy of moderate fidelity for the aerodynamic loads for a given glider shape. In the geometry preprocessing steps of our model, lifting-wing surfaces are recognized, and wake panels are generated automatically along the trailing edges. The proposed aerodynamics model improves the potential theory-based panel method. Furthermore, a new quadratic expression for aerodynamic forces and moments is proposed. It consists of geometry-dependent aerodynamic coefficient matrices and has a continuous representation for the drag/lift-force coefficients. Our model enables natural and real-time aerodynamics simulations combined with general rigid-body simulators for interactive animation. We also present a design system for original gliders. It uses an assembly-based modeling interface and achieves interactive feedback by leveraging the partwise precomputation enabled by our method. We illustrate that one can easily design various flyable gliders using our system.
Distributed Link Anomaly Detection via Partial Network Tomography
Authors: He Ting
Published: March 2018

We consider the problem of detecting link loss anomalies from end-to-end measurements using network tomography. Network tomography provides an alternative to traditional means of network monitoring by inferring link-level performance characteristics from end-to-end measurements. Existing network tomography solutions, however, insist on characterizing the performance of all the links, which introduces unnecessary delays for anomaly detection due to the need of collecting all the measurements at a central location. We address this problem by developing a distributed detection scheme that integrates detection into the measurement fusion process by testing anomalies at the level of minimal identifiable link sequences (MILSs). We develop efficient methods to configure the proposed detection scheme such that its false alarm probability satisfies a given bound. Meanwhile, we provide analytical bounds on the detection probability and the detection delay. We then extend our solution to further improve the detection performance by designing the probing and fusion process. Our evaluations on real topologies verify that the proposed scheme significantly outperforms both centralized detection based on link parameters inferred by traditional network tomography and distributed detection based on raw end-to-end measurements.
A runtime controller for openCL applications on heterogeneous system architectures
Authors: Bolchini Cristiana , Cherubin Stefano , Durelli Gianluca C. , Libutti Simone , Miele Antonio , Santambrogio Marco D.
Published: March 2018

Nowadays Heterogeneous System Architectures (HSAs) are becoming very attractive in the embedded and mobile markets thanks to the possibility to select the best computational resource among the available compute units to optimize the performance per Watt figure of merit. In this scenario, OpenCL is becoming the standard paradigm for heterogeneous computing supporting the programming of all types of units with a single abstraction level. However, the decision of the resource to use together with its architectural tuning is still left to the programmer; this issue is even more exacerbated when considering the fact that the choice depends also on the actual conditions in which the system is operating. This work aims at proposing a runtime controller, integrated in Linux Operating System (OS), for optimizing the power efficiency of a running OpenCL application deciding the system configuration. Our experimental results over a set of applications from the Polybench suite on the Odroid XU3 board show that our controller is able to obtain a power efficiency of more than 90% of the one achievable via offline profiling.
Placental growth factor reverses decreased vascular and uteroplacental MMP-2 and MMP-9 and increased MMP-1 and MMP-7 and collagen types I and IV in hypertensive pregnancy
Authors: Ren Zongli , Cui Ning , Zhu Minglin , Khalil Raouf A.
Published: March 2018

Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy manifested as maternal hypertension (HTN) and fetal intrauterine growth restriction, with unclear mechanisms. Placental ischemia increases antiangiogenic soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) relative to angiogenic placental growth factor (PlGF); however, the molecular targets are unclear. To test the hypothesis that placental ischemia-induced changes in sFlt-1 and PlGF target vascular and uteroplacental matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), we tested whether raising the sFlt-1-to-PlGF ratio by infusing sFlt-1 (10 µg·kg−1·day−1) in pregnant (Preg) rats increases blood pressure (BP) and alters MMPs and whether correcting sFlt-1/PlGF by infusing PlGF (20 µg·kg−1·day−1) in Preg rats with reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) improves BP and reverses the changes in MMPs. On gestational day 19, BP was higher and the litter size and uterine, placenta, and pup weight were less in Preg + sFlt-1 and RUPP than Preg rats and restored in RUPP + PlGF versus RUPP rats. Gelatin and casein zymography and Western blots revealed decreases in MMP-2 and MMP-9 and increases in MMP-1 and MMP-7 in the aorta, uterine artery, uterus, and placenta of Preg + sFlt-1 and RUPP versus Preg rats, which were reversed in RUPP + PlGF versus RUPP rats. Collagen types I and IV were more abundant in Preg + sFlt-1 and RUPP versus Preg rats and were reversed in RUPP + PlGF versus RUPP rats. Thus, PlGF reverses decreased vascular and uteroplacental MMP-2 and MMP-9 and increased MMP-1, MMP-7, and collagen types I and IV induced by placental ischemia and sFlt-1 in HTN in pregnancy. Angiogenic factors and MMP modulators could rectify changes in MMPs and collagen, restore vascular and uteroplacental remodeling, and improve HTN and intrauterine growth restriction in preeclampsia.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Understanding the mechanisms of preeclampsia could help in its prevention and management. This study shows that correcting soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1)/placental growth factor (PlGF) imbalance by infusing PlGF reverses the decreases in vascular and uteroplacental matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 and the increases in MMP-1, MMP-7, and collagen types I and IV induced by placental ischemia and antiangiogenic sFlt-1 in hypertension in pregnancy. Angiogenic factors and MMP modulators could rectify changes in vascular and uteroplacental MMPs and collagen content and ameliorate hypertension and intrauterine growth restriction in preeclampsia.
Nitrosative stress uncovers potent β2-adrenergic receptor-linked vasodilation further enhanced by blockade of clathrin endosome formation
Authors: Frame Mary D. , Dewar Anthony M. , Calizo Rhodora C. , Qifti Androniqi , Scarlata Suzanne F.
Published: March 2018

This study investigated the effect of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) preexposure on vasodilation via the β-adrenergic receptor (BAR) system. SNP was used as a nitrosative/oxidative proinflammatory insult. Small arterioles were visualized by intravital microscopy in the hamster cheek pouch tissue (isoflurane, n = 45). Control dilation to isoproterenol (EC50: 10−7 mol/l) became biphasic as a function of concentration after 2 min of exposure to SNP (10−4 M), with increased potency at picomolar dilation uncovered and decreased efficacy at the micromolar dilation. Control dilation to curcumin was likewise altered after SNP, but only the increased potency at a low dose was uncovered, whereas micromolar dilation was eliminated. The picomolar dilations were blocked by the potent BAR-2 inverse agonist carazolol (10−9 mol/l). Dynamin inhibition with dynasore mimicked this effect, suggesting that SNP preexposure prevented BAR agonist internalization. Using HeLa cells transfected with BAR-2 tagged with monomeric red fluorescent protein, exposure to 10−8−10−6 mol/l curcumin resulted in internalization and colocalization of BAR-2 and curcumin (FRET) that was prevented by oxidative stress (10−3 mol/l CoCl2), supporting that stress prevented internalization of the BAR agonist with the micromolar agonist. This study presents novel data supporting that distinct pools of BARs are differentially available after inflammatory insult.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Preexposure to an oxidative/nitrosative proinflammatory insult provides a “protective preconditioning” against future oxidative damage. We examined immediate vasoactive and molecular consequences of a brief preexposure via β-adrenergic receptor signaling in small arterioles. Blocked receptor internalization with elevated reactive oxygen levels coincides with a significant and unexpected vasodilation to β-adrenergic agonists at picomolar doses.
Ablation of the leptin receptor in myeloid cells impairs pulmonary clearance ofStreptococcus pneumoniaeand alveolar macrophage bactericidal function
Authors: Mancuso Peter , Curtis Jeffrey L. , Freeman Christine M. , Peters-Golden Marc , Weinberg Jason B. , Myers Martin G.
Published: March 2018

Leptin is a pleiotropic hormone produced by white adipose tissue that regulates appetite and many physiological functions, including the immune response to infection. Genetic leptin deficiency in humans and mice impairs host defenses against respiratory tract infections. Since leptin deficiency is associated with obesity and other metabolic abnormalities, we generated mice that lack the leptin receptor (LepRb) in cells of the myeloid linage (LysM-LepRb-KO) to evaluate its impact in lean metabolically normal mice in a murine model of pneumococcal pneumonia. We observed higher lung and spleen bacterial burdens in LysM-LepRb-KO mice following an intratracheal challenge with Streptococcus pneumoniae. Although numbers of leukocytes recovered from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid did not differ between groups, we did observe higher levels of pulmonary IL-13 and TNFα in LysM-LepRb-KO mice 48 h post infection. Phagocytosis and killing of ingested S. pneumoniae were also impaired in alveolar macrophages (AMs) from LysM-LepRb-KO mice in vitro and were associated with reduced LTB4and enhanced PGE2synthesis in vitro. Pretreatment of AMs with LTB4and the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin, restored phagocytosis but not bacterial killing in vitro. These results confirm our previous observations in leptin-deficient ( ob/ob) and fasted mice and demonstrate that decreased leptin action, as opposed to metabolic irregularities associated with obesity or starvation, is responsible for the defective host defense against pneumococcal pneumonia. They also provide novel targets for therapeutic intervention in humans with bacterial pneumonia.
G protein-coupled receptor kinase-2-deficient mice are protected from dextran sodium sulfate-induced acute colitis
Authors: Steury Michael D. , Kang Ho Jun , Lee Taehyung , Lucas Peter C. , McCabe Laura R. , Parameswaran Narayanan
Published: March 2018

G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) is a serine/threonine kinase and plays a key role in different disease processes. Previously, we showed that GRK2 knockdown enhances wound healing in colonic epithelial cells. Therefore, we hypothesized that ablation of GRK2 would protect mice from dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced acute colitis. To test this, we administered DSS to wild-type (GRK2+/+) and GRK2 heterozygous (GRK+/−) mice in their drinking water for 7 days. As predicted, GRK2+/− mice were protected from colitis as demonstrated by decreased weight loss (20% loss in GRK2+/+ vs. 11% loss in GRK2+/−). lower disease activity index (GRK2+/+ 9.1 vs GRK2+/− 4.1), and increased colon lengths (GRK2+/+ 4.7 cm vs GRK2+/− 5.3 cm). To examine the mechanisms by which GRK2+/− mice are protected from colitis, we investigated expression of inflammatory genes in the colon as well as immune cell profiles in colonic lamina propria, mesenteric lymph node, and in bone marrow. Our results did not reveal differences in immune cell profiles between the two genotypes. However, expression of inflammatory genes was significantly decreased in DSS-treated GRK2+/− mice compared with GRK2+/+. To understand the mechanisms, we generated myeloid-specific GRK2 knockout mice and subjected them to DSS-induced colitis. Similar to whole body GRK2 heterozygous knockout mice, myeloid-specific knockout of GRK2 was sufficient for the protection from DSS-induced colitis. Together our results indicate that deficiency of GRK2 protects mice from DSS-induced colitis and further suggests that the mechanism of this effect is likely via GRK2 regulation of inflammatory genes in the myeloid cells.
Use of the Tei Index in the Conservative Management of TRAP Sequence Pregnancies Diagnosed during the Periviable Period: A Case Series
Authors: Martimucci Kristina , Kuhn Theresa , Bilinski Robyn , Alvarez-Perez Jesus
Published: March 2018

Twin Reverse Arterial Perfusion (TRAP) Sequence is a rare complication of monochorionic pregnancies. Without intervention, the viable pump twin in a case of TRAP Sequence may develop high output cardiac failure leading to an intrauterine fetal demise. We present 3 cases of TRAP Sequence pregnancy diagnosed during the second or third trimesters of pregnancy. There are minimal sonographic tools for the guidance of a fetal therapeutic interventional procedure during the second trimester or timing of delivery during the third trimester to reduce morbidity and mortality of a viable fetus. Tei index may be a useful sonographic tool in the management of TRAP Sequence during the second or third trimester of pregnancy.
Stretchable and Hydrophobic Electrochromic Devices Using Wrinkled Graphene and PEDOT:PSS
Authors: Nemani Srinivasa Kartik , Chen Dayong , Mohamed Marwan H. , Sojoudi Hossein
Published: March 2018

We present an electrochromic device (ECD) fabricated using PEDOT:PSS and graphene as active conductive electrode films and a flexible compliant polyurethane substrate with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMI-TSFI) additive, as ionic medium. This device with a docile, elastic intermediate substrate along with a transparency controlled PEDOT:PSS film provides a wide color contrast and fast switching rate. We harness wrinkling instability of graphene to achieve a hydrophobic nature without compromising transparency of the ECD. This mechanical self-assembly approach helps in controlling the wavelength of wrinkles generated by inducing measured prestrain conditions and regulating the modulus contrast by selection of underlying materials used, hereby controlling the extent of transparency. The reduction and oxidation switching times for the device were analyzed to be 5.76 s and 5.34 s for a 90% transmittance change at an operating DC voltage of 15 ± 0.1 V. Strain dependent studies show that the performance was robust with the device retaining switching contrasts even at 15% uniaxial strain conditions. Our device also exhibits superior antiwetting properties with an average water contact angle of 110°  ± 2° at an induced radial prestrain of 30% in the graphene film. A wide range color contrast, flexibility, and antiwetting nature of the device envision its uses in smart windows, visors, and other wearable equipment where these functionalities are of outmost importance for developing new generation of smart interactive devices.
Effects of Afternoon Nap Deprivation on Adult Habitual Nappers’ Inhibition Functions
Authors: Chen Qingwei , Ru Taotao , Yang Minqi , Yan Pei , Li Jinghua , Yao Ying , Li Xiaoran , Zhou Guofu
Published: March 2018

Multiple studies have established the effects of afternoon naps on cognition. However, relatively few studies have investigated the domain of executive functions. Moreover, the effects of napping on inhibition are far from conclusive. The present study employed adult habitual nappers to investigate the effects of afternoon nap deprivation on response-based inhibition assessed by a Go/No-go task and stimulus-based inhibition assessed by a Flanker task and on alertness assessed by a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) and the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS). The results showed that afternoon nap deprivation significantly decreased participants’ accuracy and reaction speed for the Go/No-go task but not for the Flanker task. In addition, participants’ alertness was significantly impaired after nap deprivation in terms of increased subjective sleepiness and worse PVT performance. Task-specific effects of napping on inhibition were demonstrated. The implications of the results are discussed.
IL22RA1/STAT3 Signaling Promotes Stemness and Tumorigenicity in Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: He Weizhi , Wu Jinghua , Shi Juanjuan , Huo Yan-Miao , Dai Wentao , Geng Jing , Lu Ping , Yang Min-Wei , Fang Yuan , Wang Wei , Zhang Zhi-Gang , Habtezion Aida , Sun Yong-Wei , Xue Jing
Published: March 2018

Chronic inflammation is a feature of pancreatic cancer, but little is known about how immune cells or immune cell–related signals affect pancreatic cancer stemness and development. Our previous work showed that IL22/IL22RA1 plays a vital role in acute and chronic pancreatitis progression by mediating cross-talk between immune cells and acinar cells or stellate cells, respectively. Here, we find IL22RA1 is highly but heterogeneously expressed in pancreatic cancer cells, with high expression associated with poor prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer. The IL22RA1hi population from pancreatic cancer harbored higher stemness potential and tumorigenicity. Notably, IL22 promoted pancreatic cancer stemness via IL22RA1/STAT3 signaling, establishing the mechanism of regulation of cancer stemness by microenvironmental factors. Moreover, STAT3 was indispensable for the maintenance of IL22RA1hi cells. Overall, these findings provide a therapeutic strategy for patients with PDAC with high expression of IL22RA1.

Significance: IL22RA1/STAT3 signaling enhances stemness and tumorigenicity in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Res; 78(12); 3293–305. ©2018 AACR.
Epigenome-wide SRC-1–Mediated Gene Silencing Represses Cellular Differentiation in Advanced Breast Cancer
Authors: Ward Elspeth , Varešlija Damir , Charmsaz Sara , Fagan Ailis , Browne Alacoque L. , Cosgrove Nicola , Cocchiglia Sinéad , Purcell Siobhan P. , Hudson Lance , Das Sudipto , O'Connor Darran , O'Halloran Philip J. , Sims Andrew H. , Hill Arnold D. , Young Leonie S.
Published: March 2018

Purpose: Despite the clinical utility of endocrine therapies for estrogen receptor–positive (ER) breast cancer, up to 40% of patients eventually develop resistance, leading to disease progression. The molecular determinants that drive this adaptation to treatment remain poorly understood. Methylome aberrations drive cancer growth yet the functional role and mechanism of these epimutations in drug resistance are poorly elucidated.

Experimental Design: Genome-wide multi-omics sequencing approach identified a differentially methylated hub of prodifferentiation genes in endocrine resistant breast cancer patients and cell models. Clinical relevance of the functionally validated methyl-targets was assessed in a cohort of endocrine-treated human breast cancers and patient-derived ex vivo metastatic tumors.

Results: Enhanced global hypermethylation was observed in endocrine treatment resistant cells and patient metastasis relative to sensitive parent cells and matched primary breast tumor, respectively. Using paired methylation and transcriptional profiles, we found that SRC-1–dependent alterations in endocrine resistance lead to aberrant hypermethylation that resulted in reduced expression of a set of differentiation genes. Analysis of ER-positive endocrine-treated human breast tumors (n = 669) demonstrated that low expression of this prodifferentiation gene set significantly associated with poor clinical outcome (P = 0.00009). We demonstrate that the reactivation of these genes in vitro and ex vivo reverses the aggressive phenotype.

Conclusions: Our work demonstrates that SRC-1-dependent epigenetic remodeling is a ’high level’ regulator of the poorly differentiated state in ER-positive breast cancer. Collectively these data revealed an epigenetic reprograming pathway, whereby concerted differential DNA methylation is potentiated by SRC-1 in the endocrine resistant setting. Clin Cancer Res; 24(15); 3692–703. ©2018 AACR.
Triamcinolone Acetonide-Assisted Descemetectomy for Retained Descemet Membrane
Authors: Tyring Ariel , Chang Oliver , Jung Hoon
Published: March 2018

We present a case of decreased vision due to the presence of retained Descemet membrane (DM) following Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) and penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). A 78-year-old male presented postoperatively from PKP after previous failed DSAEK with retained DM. We present a unique technique for combined surgical resection using bimanual vitrectomy and forceps excision assisted by triamcinolone acetonide for membrane visualization. Histopathological evaluation confirmed incomplete DM removal during the PKP. With surgical excision, there was an improvement in best spectacle-corrected visual acuity from 20/80 to 20/30.
Macroscopic Localized Subicular Thinning as a Potential Indicator of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Yamada Hiroki , Takeda Takahiro , Uchihara Toshiki , Sato Shizuko , Kirimura Susumu , Hirota Yuka , Kodama Makoto , Kitagawa Masanobu , Hirokawa Katsuiku , Yokota Takanori , Toru Shuta
Published: March 2018

Subicular degeneration occurs in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. However, it was unknown whether microscopic subicular degeneration could be observed as macroscopic changes and whether these changes were associated with the transactive-response DNA binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) pathology. Topographic differences between subicular degeneration caused by ALS and Alzheimer disease (AD) had also not been characterized. Here we investigated the subiculum and related areas in autopsied brains from 3 ALS and 3 AD patients. Macroscopic subicular thinning and corresponding astrocytosis were pronounced in ALS compared to AD. This thinning was frequently accompanied by TDP-43 pathology in the transentorhinal cortex and nucleus accumbens. The preferential susceptibility of the perforant pathway to TDP-43 deposition may be an underlying cause of subicular thinning in ALS.
MicroRNA-183 Acts as a Tumor Suppressor in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer by Down-Regulating MTA1
Authors: Yang Cheng-Liang , Zheng Xiao-Li , Ye Ke , Ge Hong , Sun Ya-Nan , Lu Yu-Fei , Fan Qing-Xia
Published: March 2018

Backgrounds/Aims: MicroRNAs (miRs) often contribute to the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) via regulation of mRNAs that are involved in lung homeostasis. We conducted a study aimed at exploring the roles of miR-183 in the proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion and migration of human NSCLC cells via targeting MTA1. Methods: NSCLC and adjacent normal tissues were collected from 194 patients with NSCLC. Positive expression of MTA1 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry. The highest levels of expression of miR-183 were detected using RT-qPCR in SPC-A-1 cells, which were selected and assigned to the following groups: blank, negative control (NC), miR-183 mimic, miR-183 inhibitor, siRNA-MTA1, and miR-183 inhibitor + siRNA-MTA1. The expression of miR-183 and the mRNA and protein expression of MTA1, E-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, PCNA, Bax and Bcl-2 in tissues and transfected cells were measured using RT-qPCR and western blot analysis. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion were evaluated by CCK-8, flow cytometry, scratch tests and Transwell assays. Tumor xenografts were conducted in nude mice to determine tumor growth. Results: SPC-A-1 cells with the highest levels of miR-183 expression were selected. Compared with adjacent normal tissues, the expression of miR-183 and the mRNA and protein expression of E-cadherin and Bax were decreased in NSCLC tissues, while mRNA and protein expression of MTA1, Vimentin, snail, PCNA and Bcl-2 were increased. MiR-183 was over-expressed in the miR-183 mimic group and under-expressed in the miR-183 inhibitor and miR-183 inhibitor + siRNA-MTA1 groups. In the miR-183 mimic and siRNA-MTA1 groups, the mRNA and protein expression of E-cadherin and Bax, as well as cell apoptosis, were enhanced, while the expression levels of MTA1, Vimentin, snail, PCNA and Bcl-2 mRNA and protein, cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor growth were reduced relative to the blank and NC groups. The miR-183 inhibitor group exhibited an opposite trend. Conclusion: Our study indicates that miR-183 down-regulates MTA1 to inhibit the proliferation, EMT, migration and invasion of human NSCLC cells.
A Role for the Frontal Aslant Tract in Speech Planning: A Neurosurgical Case Study
Authors: Chernoff Benjamin L. , Teghipco Alex , Garcea Frank E. , Sims Max H. , Paul David A. , Tivarus Madalina E. , Smith Susan O. , Pilcher Webster H. , Mahon Bradford Z.
Published: March 2018

Frontal and temporal white matter pathways play key roles in language processing, but the specific computations supported by different tracts remain a matter of study. A role in speech planning has been proposed for a recently described pathway, the frontal aslant tract (FAT), which connects the posterior inferior frontal gyrus to the pre-SMA. Here, we use longitudinal functional and structural MRI and behavioral testing to evaluate the behavioral consequences of a lesion to the left FAT that was incurred during surgical resection of a frontal glioma in a 60-year-old woman, Patient AF. The pattern of performance in AF is compared, using the same measures, with that in a 37-year-old individual who underwent a left anterior temporal resection and hippocampectomy (Patient AG). AF and AG were both cognitively intact preoperatively but exhibited specific and doubly dissociable behavioral deficits postoperatively: AF had dysfluent speech but no word finding difficulty, whereas AG had word finding difficulty but otherwise fluent speech. Probabilistic tractography showed that the left FAT was lesioned postoperatively in AF (but not AG) whereas the inferior longitudinal fasciculus was lesioned in AG (but not AF). Those structural changes were supported by corresponding changes in functional connectivity to the posterior inferior frontal gyrus: decreased functional connectivity postoperatively between the posterior inferior frontal gyrus and pre-SMA in AF (but not AG) and decreased functional connectivity between the posterior inferior frontal gyrus and the middle temporal gyrus in AG (but not AF). We suggest from these findings that the left FAT serves as a key communicative link between sentence planning and lexical access processes.
Hidden Quantum Processes, Quantum Ion Channels, and 1/fθ-Type Noise
Authors: Paris Alan , Vosoughi Azadeh , Berman Stephen A. , Atia George
Published: March 2018

In this letter, we perform a complete and in-depth analysis of Lorentzian noises, such as those arising from [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] channel kinetics, in order to identify the source of [Formula: see text]–type noise in neurological membranes. We prove that the autocovariance of Lorentzian noise depends solely on the eigenvalues (time constants) of the kinetic matrix but that the Lorentzian weighting coefficients depend entirely on the eigenvectors of this matrix. We then show that there are rotations of the kinetic eigenvectors that send any initial weights to any target weights without altering the time constants. In particular, we show there are target weights for which the resulting Lorenztian noise has an approximately [Formula: see text]–type spectrum. We justify these kinetic rotations by introducing a quantum mechanical formulation of membrane stochastics, called hidden quantum activated-measurement models, and prove that these quantum models are probabilistically indistinguishable from the classical hidden Markov models typically used for ion channel stochastics. The quantum dividend obtained by replacing classical with quantum membranes is that rotations of the Lorentzian weights become simple readjustments of the quantum state without any change to the laboratory-determined kinetic and conductance parameters. Moreover, the quantum formalism allows us to model the activation energy of a membrane, and we show that maximizing entropy under constrained activation energy yields the previous [Formula: see text]–type Lorentzian weights, in which the spectral exponent [Formula: see text] is a Lagrange multiplier for the energy constraint. Thus, we provide a plausible neurophysical mechanism by which channel and membrane kinetics can give rise to [Formula: see text]–type noise (something that has been occasionally denied in the literature), as well as a realistic and experimentally testable explanation for the numerical values of the spectral exponents. We also discuss applications of quantum membranes beyond [Formula: see text]–type -noise, including applications to animal models and possible impact on quantum foundations.
Facet Annotation by Extending CNN with a Matching Strategy
Authors: Wu Bei , Wei Bifan , Liu Jun , Guo Zhaotong , Zheng Yuanhao , Chen Yihe
Published: March 2018

Most community question answering (CQA) websites manage plenty of question-answer pairs (QAPs) through topic-based organizations, which may not satisfy users' fine-grained search demands. Facets of topics serve as a powerful tool to navigate, refine, and group the QAPs. In this work, we propose FACM, a model to annotate QAPs with facets by extending convolution neural networks (CNNs) with a matching strategy. First, phrase information is incorporated into text representation by CNNs with different kernel sizes. Then, through a matching strategy among QAPs and facet label texts (FaLTs) acquired from Wikipedia, we generate similarity matrices to deal with the facet heterogeneity. Finally, a three-channel CNN is trained for facet label assignment of QAPs. Experiments on three real-world data sets show that FACM outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.
Too Much, Too Little, or the Wrong Kind of ‘Theory’ in the Study of Religions?
Authors: Kavanagh Christopher M.
Published: March 2018

In response to the recent publication ofTheory In a Time of Excessthis article offers an outsider perspective on the theoretical issues raised and why they are ultimately unlikely to be resolved. The article argues that there is a widespread problematic tendency to equatetheorywith a specific category ofcritical theorythat tautologically restricts the theoretical boundaries of the study of religion field and neglects the contributions of more empirically inclined theorists. In a similar manner, essentialising narratives about the Cognitive Science of Religion that portray the field as unified and monolithic are highlighted and the validity of such critiques is questioned.
Responsibility to Protect the Future: Children on the Move and the Politics of Becoming
Authors: Tabak Jana , Carvalho Letícia
Published: March 2018

Protection, development, progress: this is the trilogy of promises carried by the international framework for protecting young people. Based on the analysis of the unicef
Unfairy Tales project videos, this article aims to unveil the fierce battle over the meaning of children for the international arena. Specifically, how the compelling claim for an international responsibility to protect children contains a promise of a progressive future to global politics. The focus is on the discursive manoeuvres that articulate the so called ‘children on the move’ as the epitome of vulnerability, positioning them as requiring protection; and, at the same time, as the image of a future at risk, threatened by violence and the prospects of an uncivilised becoming. We intend to discuss how this ambivalent understanding of childhood might produce limits to contemporary application of child protection practices.
LAYERS AND LEVELS: What a Column of Water Tells Us about Human Cognition
Authors: Raykowski Wes
Published: March 2018

The notion of levels can be found in many everyday expressions, such as top-level destination, entry-level sales, low-level panic, high risk level, basic-level research, high level of care, level of meaning, level of knowledge, level of freedom, and level of importance. I argue that these are metaphorical expressions in which the respective abstract concepts can be understood in terms of the more palpable experience of the levels to which we are accustomed through the handling of liquids. By looking at the interaction between SCALE and ITERATION image schemas, this article examines an embodied interpretation of levels, layers and water columns in the context of containers to facilitate a better understanding of these experiences and their use as a source domain for conceptual metaphors in language, science and mathematics. The conceptual analysis in this paper is limited to English expressions.
Hemilamprops chilensis sp. nov. (Crustacea: Cumacea: Lampropidae) from the coast of Chile, with a key to the Chilean Lampropidae and remarks on the status of H. ultimaespei Zimmer, 1921 and H. lotusae Băcescu, 1969
Authors: GERKEN SARAH , HAYE PILAR A.
Published: March 2018

A new species is described, Hemilamprops chilensis, from Chile. The new species was collected at several localities, from Bahia Herradura in the central part of the country, to Ancud on the island of Chiloe in the south. The depth of collection ranged from 0–30 m. The species with the closest affinity to H. chilensis is the South African species, H. glabrus Day, 1978. The new species is distinguished from all other Hemilamprops by the combination of a short lateral ridge anteriorly on the carapace, maxilliped 3 with the basis much longer than the remainder of the appendage, and the telson bearing 3 terminal setae and 2 pairs of small lateral setae. The identities of H. ultimaespei and H. lotusae are fixed by lectotype and neotype designation, respectively. The lectotype of H. ultimaespei is selected as the neotype of H. lotusae, making H. lotusae a junior objective synonym of H. ultimaespei.
Ensemble Sensitivity Analysis for Targeted Observations of Supercell Thunderstorms
Authors: Limpert George L. , Houston Adam L.
Published: March 2018

Ensemble sensitivity analysis (ESA) has been demonstrated for observation targeting of synoptic-scale and mesoscale phenomena, but could have similar applications for storm-scale observations with mobile platforms. This paper demonstrates storm-scale ESA using an idealized supercell simulated with a 101-member CM1 ensemble. Correlation coefficients are used as a measure of sensitivity and are derived from single-variable and multivariable linear regressions of pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind with forecast response variables intended as proxies for the strength of supercells. This approach is suitable for targeting observing platforms that simultaneously measure multiple base-state variables. Although the individual correlations are found to be noisy and difficult to interpret, averaging across small areas of the domain and over the duration of the simulation is found to simplify the analysis. However, it is difficult to identify physically meaningful results from the sensitivity calculations, and evaluation of the results suggests that the overall skill would be low in targeting observations at the storm scale solely based on these sensitivity calculations. The difficulty in applying ESA at the scale of an individual supercell is likely due to applying the linear model to an environment with highly nonlinear dynamics, rapidly changing forecast metrics, and autocorrelation.