bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Growth of high quality ZnO thin films with a homonucleation on sapphire
Authors: Wei Ming , Casey Boutwell Ryan , Faleev Nikolai , Osinsky Andrei , Schoenfeld Winston V.
Published: July 2013

ZnO thin films were epitaxially grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. A low temperature homonucleation ZnO layer was found crucial at the interfacial region to absorb the defects formed by the lattice mismatch between the sapphire and ZnO, resulting in a smooth surface that enables smooth 2D epitaxial growth. High quality ZnO films were achieved after careful optimization of critical growth conditions: the sequence of Zn and O source shutters, growth temperature for both the ZnO nucleation and growth layer, and Zn/O ratio. Oxygen plasma pretreatment was not applied prior to the growth, thus shortening the growth time and reducing oxidation of the metallic sources. Resultant epitaxial ZnO films on sapphire demonstrated a root-mean-square surface roughness of 0.373 nm for 1 μm × 1 μm atomic force microscope images with clear hexagonal structure and terrace steps. The x-ray diffraction full width at half maximum (FWHM) for ω and ω-2θ ZnO (0002) triple-crystal rocking curves were measured to be 13 and 26 arc/s, respectively. This FWHM value is lower than any reported to date in the literature, with ω and ω-2θ values indicating excellent coherence of the epitaxial layer along the interface and the growth direction, accordingly. These x-ray diffraction and surface roughness values are lower than those obtained using common nucleation layers such as MgO, indicating that growth with ZnO nucleation layers on sapphire may lead to higher quality electrical and optical devices.
Transglutaminase-Catalyzed Protein-Protein Cross-Linking Suppresses the Activity of the NF-κB–Like Transcription Factor Relish
Authors: Shibata Toshio , Sekihara Sanae , Fujikawa Takumi , Miyaji Ryuta , Maki Kouki , Ishihara Takeshi , Koshiba Takumi , Kawabata Shun-ichiro
Published: July 2013

Cross-linking a transcription factor involved in inflammation suppresses immune responses to gut commensal bacteria in
Drosophila
.
Alk Regulates Gli Activity
Authors: VanHook Annalisa M.
Published: July 2013

Alk signaling promotes nuclear exclusion of the Gli family transcription factor Lmd in the fruit fly.
An Angiogenic Switch
Authors: Ferrarelli Leslie K.
Published: July 2013

A secreted glycoprotein acts as a switch to induce the formation of new blood vessels in disease or injury.
An Integrated Clinico-Metabolomic Model Improves Prediction of Death in Sepsis
Authors: Langley Raymond J. , Tsalik Ephraim L. , Velkinburgh Jennifer C. van , Glickman Seth W. , Rice Brandon J. , Wang Chunping , Chen Bo , Carin Lawrence , Suarez Arturo , Mohney Robert P. , Freeman Debra H. , Wang Mu , You Jinsam , Wulff Jacob , Thompson J. Will , Moseley M. Arthur , Reisinger Stephanie , Edmonds Brian T. , Grinnell Brian , Nelson David R. , Dinwiddie Darrell L. , Miller Neil A. , Saunders Carol J. , Soden Sarah S. , Rogers Angela J. , Gazourian Lee , Fredenburgh Laura E. , Massaro Anthony F. , Baron Rebecca M. , Choi Augustine M. K. , Corey G. Ralph , Ginsburg Geoffrey S. , Cairns Charles B. , Otero Ronny M. , Fowler Vance G. , Rivers Emanuel P. , Woods Christopher W. , Kingsmore Stephen F.
Published: July 2013

A molecular signature, derived from integrated analysis of clinical data, the metabolome, and the proteome in prospective human studies, improved the prediction of death in patients with sepsis, potentially identifying a subset of patients who merit intensive treatment.
When Killers Become Helpers
Authors: Deshmukh Umesh S. , Bagavant Harini
Published: July 2013

Interplay between natural killer and other cells in salivary glands influences pathogenesis of the autoimmune disease Sjögren's syndrome.
Two Independent Pathways for Self-Recognition in Proteus mirabilis Are Linked by Type VI-Dependent Export
Authors: Wenren Larissa M. , Sullivan Nora L. , Cardarelli Lia , Septer Alecia N. , Gibbs Karine A.
Published: July 2013

Swarming colonies of the bacterium
Proteus mirabilis
are capable of self-recognition and territorial behavior. Swarms of independent
P. mirabilis
isolates can recognize each other as foreign and establish a visible boundary where they meet; in contrast, genetically identical swarms merge. The
ids
genes, which encode self-identity proteins, are necessary but not sufficient for this territorial behavior. Here we have identified two new gene clusters: one (
idr
) encodes
rhs
-related products, and another (
tss
) encodes a putative type VI secretion (T6S) apparatus. The Ids and Idr proteins function independently of each other in extracellular transport and in territorial behaviors; however, these self-recognition systems are linked via this type VI secretion system. The T6S system is required for export of select Ids and Idr proteins. Our results provide a mechanistic and physiological basis for the fundamental behaviors of self-recognition and territoriality in a bacterial model system.

IMPORTANCE
Our results support a model in which self-recognition in
P. mirabilis
is achieved by the combined action of two independent pathways linked by a shared machinery for export of encoded self-recognition elements. These proteins together form a mechanistic network for self-recognition that can serve as a foundation for examining the prevalent biological phenomena of territorial behaviors and self-recognition in a simple, bacterial model system.
Interspecies Communication among Commensal and Pathogenic Streptococci
Authors: Cook Laura C. , LaSarre Breah , Federle Michael J.
Published: July 2013

Quorum sensing (QS) regulates diverse and coordinated behaviors in bacteria, including the production of virulence factors, biofilm formation, sporulation, and competence development. It is now established that some streptococci utilize Rgg-type proteins in concert with short hydrophobic peptides (SHPs) to mediate QS, and sequence analysis reveals that several streptococcal species contain highly homologous Rgg/SHP pairs. In group A streptococcus (GAS), two SHPs (SHP2 and SHP3 [SHP2/3]) were previously identified to be important in GAS biofilm formation. SHP2/3 are detected by two antagonistic regulators, Rgg2 and Rgg3, which control expression of the
shp
genes. In group B streptococcus (GBS), RovS is a known virulence gene regulator and ortholog of Rgg2, whereas no apparent Rgg3 homolog exists. Adjacent to
rovS
is a gene (
shp1520
) encoding a peptide nearly identical to SHP2. Using isogenic mutant strains and transcriptional reporters, we confirmed that RovS/SHP1520 comprise a QS circuit in GBS. More important, we performed experiments demonstrating that production and secretion of SHP1520 by GBS can modulate Rgg2/3-regulated gene expression in GAS in
trans
; likewise, SHP2/3 production by GAS can stimulate RovS-mediated gene regulation in GBS. An isolate of
Streptococcus dysgalactiae
subsp.
equisimilis
also produced a secreted factor capable of simulating the QS circuits of both GAS and GBS, and sequencing confirms the presence of an orthologous Rgg2/SHP2 pair in this species as well. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of bidirectional signaling between streptococcal species in coculture and suggests a role for orthologous Rgg/SHP systems in interspecies communication between important human pathogens.

IMPORTANCE
Pathogenic streptococci, such as group A (GAS) and group B (GBS) streptococcus, are able to persist in the human body without causing disease but become pathogenic under certain conditions that are not fully characterized. Environmental cues and interspecies signaling between members of the human flora likely play an important role in the transition to a disease state. Since quorum-sensing (QS) peptides have been consistently shown to regulate virulence factor production in pathogenic species, the ability of bacteria to signal via these peptides may prove to be an important link between the carrier and pathogenic states. Here we provide evidence of a bidirectional QS system between GAS, GBS, and
Streptococcus dysgalactiae
subsp.
equisimilis
, demonstrating the possibility of evolved communication systems between human pathogens.
Consensus criteria for defining ‘successful outcome’ after ACL injury and reconstruction: a Delaware-Oslo ACL cohort investigation
Authors: Lynch Andrew D , Logerstedt David S , Grindem Hege , Eitzen Ingrid , Hicks Gregory E , Axe Michael J , Engebretsen Lars , Risberg May Arna , Snyder-Mackler Lynn
Published: July 2013

Background

No gold standard exists for identifying successful outcomes 1 and 2 years after operative and non-operative management of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. This limits the ability of a researcher and clinicians to compare and contrast the results of interventions.

Purpose

To establish a consensus based on expert consensus of measures that define successful outcomes 1 and 2 years after ACL injury or reconstruction.

Methods

Members of international sports medicine associations, including the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the European Society for Sports Traumatology, Surgery, and Knee Arthroscopy and the American Physical Therapy Association, were sent a survey via email. Blinded responses were analysed for trends with frequency counts. A summed importance percentage (SIP) was calculated and 80% SIP operationally indicated consensus.

Results

1779 responses were obtained. Consensus was achieved for six measures in operative and non-operative management: the absence of giving way, patient return to sports, quadriceps and hamstrings’ strength greater than 90% of the uninvolved limb, the patient having not more than a mild knee joint effusion and using patient-reported outcomes (PRO). No single PRO achieved consensus, but threshold scores between 85 and 90 were established for PROs concerning patient performance.

Conclusions

The consensus identified six measures important for successful outcome after ACL injury or reconstruction. These represent all levels of the International Classification of Functioning: effusion, giving way, muscle strength (body structure and function), PRO (activity and participation) and return to sport (participation), and should be included to allow for comparison between interventions.
Cognitive debiasing 1: origins of bias and theory of debiasing
Authors: Croskerry Pat , Singhal Geeta , Mamede Sílvia
Published: July 2013

Numerous studies have shown that diagnostic failure depends upon a variety of factors. Psychological factors are fundamental in influencing the cognitive performance of the decision maker. In this first of two papers, we discuss the basics of reasoning and the Dual Process Theory (DPT) of decision making. The general properties of the DPT model, as it applies to diagnostic reasoning, are reviewed. A variety of cognitive and affective biases are known to compromise the decision-making process. They mostly appear to originate in the fast intuitive processes of Type 1 that dominate (or drive) decision making. Type 1 processes work well most of the time but they may open the door for biases. Removing or at least mitigating these biases would appear to be an important goal. We will also review the origins of biases. The consensus is that there are two major sources: innate, hard-wired biases that developed in our evolutionary past, and acquired biases established in the course of development and within our working environments. Both are associated with abbreviated decision making in the form of heuristics. Other work suggests that ambient and contextual factors may create high risk situations that dispose decision makers to particular biases. Fatigue, sleep deprivation and cognitive overload appear to be important determinants. The theoretical basis of several approaches towards debiasing is then discussed. All share a common feature that involves a deliberate decoupling from Type 1 intuitive processing and moving to Type 2 analytical processing so that eventually unexamined intuitive judgments can be submitted to verification. This decoupling step appears to be the critical feature of cognitive and affective debiasing.
Are circulating cytokine responses to exercise in the heat augmented in older men?
Authors: Wright Heather E. , McLellan Tom M. , Larose Joanie , Hardcastle Stephen G. , Boulay Pierre , Kenny Glen P.
Published: July 2013

Age-related chronic low-grade inflammation may render older individuals more susceptible to heat illnesses. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of intermittent work in the heat on the circulating cytokine responses of older workers. Fourteen young (aged 25.6 ± 0.7 years) and older (aged 57.7 ± 1.5 years) males, matched for body surface area, cycled for 4 × 15 min (separated by 15-min rest) at moderate to heavy intensity (400 W heat production) in warm/dry (35 °C, 20% relative humidity (RH)) and warm/humid (35 °C, 60% RH) conditions. Rectal (Tre) and mean skin (MTsk) temperatures and heart rate were measured continuously, ratings of perceived exertion and thermal sensation recorded at the end of each exercise bout, and blood samples at baseline (PRE) and following the final 60-min recovery (POST) were analyzed for interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and percent changes in blood (BV) and plasma (PV) volumes. No differences were observed between the age groups for Tre, MTsk, heart rate, perceptual strain, or percentage of changes in BV, PV, or ΔTNF-α. Under both conditions, the older males had elevated IL-6 and TNF-α (PRE, POST) compared with the young males. ΔIL-6 tended to be greater in the warm/humid condition (+2.53 ± 0.49 and +1.52 ± 0.41 pg·mL−1) compared with the warm/dry condition (+1.02 ± 0.13 and +0.68 ± 0.18 pg·mL−1) for older but not young males, respectively. Young and older males experienced similar thermal, cardiovascular, and perceptual strain within the warm/dry and warm/humid conditions.
Evaluation of a chemical dissolved air flotation system for the treatment of restaurant dishwasher effluent
Authors: Chung Wayne , Young Stephanie
Published: July 2013

Restaurant dishwashers consume a large quantity of fresh water and produce significant amounts of high strength oily wastewater which may cause serious problems when discharged into the sewer. An analysis of restaurant dishwasher effluent (RDE) from a busy upscale restaurant identified high levels of oil and grease, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), alkalinity, pH, and chlorine, but low levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. In this study, RDE was treated using an internationally patented chemical dissolved air flotation (chemical DAF) system. The chemical DAF system was designed so that coagulation, flocculation, and flotation processes could be carried out within the same reactor. The treatment system is therefore small and compact and suitable for use in restaurants where space is limited. The treatment performance of the chemical DAF was evaluated by determining optimal process conditions, contaminant removal efficiencies, and residual contaminant concentrations. It was found that removal efficiencies of 98.90%, 93.16%, 98.68%, 90.04%, and 88.20% could be achieved under optimal process conditions for turbidity, oil, TSS, BOD5, and COD, respectively. Total coliform and E. coli were not detected in either the raw dishwasher effluent or the treated dishwasher effluent due to the use of sodium hypochlorite as a dishwashing sanitizer. Water quality of the treated effluent met the criteria put forth in the Canadian Guidelines for Domestic Reclaimed Water for Use in Toilet and Urinal Flushing, with the exception of BOD5. Present findings suggest that chemical DAF is a promising treatment process for the removal of contaminants from restaurant dishwasher effluent.
Performance indicators for small- and medium-sized water supply systems: a review
Authors: Haider Husnain , Sadiq Rehan , Tesfamariam Solomon
Published: July 2013

Water supply systems (WSSs) are one of the most important and expensive core public infrastructures. The primary objective of a water supply utility is to have this valuable asset operate at its maximum possible efficiency with minimum cost throughout its design period. To achieve this objective, the first step is to evaluate the existing efficiency of all the components of the WSS using suitable performance indicators (PIs). Various agencies and organizations worldwide have developed detailed performance evaluation frameworks including several indicators to comprehensively cover all the aspects (e.g., physical asset, staffing, operational, customer satisfaction, economical) of the WSSs. Most of these frameworks and indicators have been developed for large-sized WSSs. Small- and medium-sized water supply systems (SM-WSSs) have specific performance-related issues, ranging from difficulties in collecting the data required to use the available systems of PIs to lack of skilled personnel and financial resources for efficient operations. A comprehensive review of the literature has been carried out to assess the suitability of reported performance evaluation systems for SM-WSSs in terms of their simplicity (easy and simple data requirements) and comprehensiveness (i.e., all the components of a WSS). This review also evaluates the individual PI with respect to its understandability, measurability, and comparability (i.e., within and across utility comparisons). On the basis of this detailed review, a conceptual performance evaluation system for SM-WSSs, consisting of a list of PIs grouped into their respective categories, has been proposed. The proposed system provides a stepwise approach, starting the performance evaluation process with the most significant and easy to measure PIs for small-sized WSSs and moving to a relatively complex set of indicators for SM-WSS depending on the availability of resources and specific operating conditions.
A FRACTIONAL CALCULUS APPROACH TO INVESTIGATE THE ALPHA DECAY PROCESSES
Authors: ÇALIK ABDULLAH ENGİN , ERTİK HÜSEYİN , ÖDER BUKET , ŞİRİN HÜSEYİN
Published: July 2013

In this study, the nuclear decay equation is taken under consideration by making use of fractional calculus. In this context, the first-order time derivative is changed to a Caputo fractional derivative hence, the resulting equation is the time fractional nuclear decay equation. The solution of this equation is obtained in terms of Mittag–Leffler function which plays an important role to study the non-Markovian feature of physical processes. As an application of this time fractional formalism, alpha decay half-life values have been calculated for Pb , Po , Rn , Ra , Th and U isotopes. Consequently, the theoretical half-life values have been obtained in consistent with the experimental data. The dependence of the order of fractional derivative μ being a measure of fractality of time, on the nuclear structure has been established. In the investigations carried out, we have arrived to the conclusion that for the μ values which are closed to one, where time becomes homogenous and continuous, the shell closure effects are predominant and that the fractional derivative order μ (i.e., fractality of time) and nuclear structure are closely related to each other.
ASYMPTOTIC DENSITY AND COMPUTABLY ENUMERABLE SETS
Authors: DOWNEY RODNEY G. , JOCKUSCH CARL G. , SCHUPP PAUL E.
Published: July 2013

We study connections between classical asymptotic density, computability and computable enumerability. In an earlier paper, the second two authors proved that there is a computably enumerable set A of density 1 with no computable subset of density 1. In the current paper, we extend this result in three different ways: (i) The degrees of such sets A are precisely the nonlow c.e. degrees. (ii) There is a c.e. set A of density 1 with no computable subset of nonzero density. (iii) There is a c.e. set A of density 1 such that every subset of A of density 1 is of high degree. We also study the extent to which c.e. sets A can be approximated by their computable subsets B in the sense that A\B has small density. There is a very close connection between the computational complexity of a set and the arithmetical complexity of its density and we characterize the lower densities, upper densities and densities of both computable and computably enumerable sets. We also study the notion of "computable at density r" where r is a real in the unit interval. Finally, we study connections between density and classical smallness notions such as immunity, hyperimmunity, and cohesiveness.
Optimized code generation for finite element local assembly using symbolic manipulation
Authors: Russell Francis P. , Kelly Paul H. J.
Published: July 2013

Automated code generators for finite element local assembly have facilitated exploration of alternative implementation strategies within generated code. However, even for a theoretical performance indicator such as operation count, an optimal strategy for local assembly is unknown. We explore a code generation strategy based on symbolic integration and polynomial common subexpression elimination (CSE). We present our implementation of a local assembly code generator using these techniques. We systematically evaluate the approach, measuring operation count, execution time and numerical error using a benchmark suite of synthetic variational forms, comparing against the FEniCS Form Compiler (FFC). Our benchmark forms span complexities chosen to expose the performance characteristics of different code generation approaches. We show that it is possible with additional computational cost, to consistently achieve much of, and sometimes substantially exceed, the performance of alternative approaches without compromising precision. Although the approach of using symbolic integration and CSE for optimizing local assembly is not new, we distinguish our work through our strategies for maintaining numerical precision and detecting common subexpressions. We discuss the benefits of the symbolic approach for inferring numerical relationships, and analyze the relationship to other proposed techniques which also have greater computational complexity than those of FFC.
Towards efficient indexing of arbitrary similarity
Authors: Bartoš Tomáš , Skopal Tomáš , Moško Juraj
Published: July 2013

The popularity of similarity search expanded with the increased interest in multimedia databases, bioinformatics, or social networks, and with the growing number of users trying to find information in huge collections of unstructured data. During the exploration, the users handle database objects in different ways based on the utilized similarity models, ranging from simple to complex models. Efficient indexing techniques for similarity search are required especially for growing databases.

In this paper, we study implementation possibilities of the recently announced theoretical framework SIMDEX, the task of which is to algorithmically explore a given similarity space and find possibilities for efficient indexing. Instead of a fixed set of indexing properties, such as metric space axioms, SIMDEX aims to seek for alternative properties that are valid in a particular similarity model (database) and, at the same time, provide efficient indexing. In particular, we propose to implement the fundamental parts of SIMDEX by means of the genetic programming (GP) which we expect will provide highquality resulting set of expressions (axioms) useful for indexing.
Research endogamy as an indicator of conference quality
Authors: Montolio Sergio Lopez , Dominguez-Sal David , Larriba-Pey Josep Lluis
Published: July 2013

Endogamy in scientific publications is a measure of the degree of collaboration between researchers. In this paper, we analyze the endogamy of a large set of computer science conferences and journals. We observe a strong correlation between the quality of those conferences and the endogamy of their authors: conferences where researchers collaborate with new peers have significantly more quality than conferences where researchers work in groups that are stable along time.
The relational model is dead, SQL is dead, and I don't feel so good myself
Authors: Atzeni Paolo , Jensen Christian S. , Orsi Giorgio , Ram Sudha , Tanca Letizia , Torlone Riccardo
Published: July 2013

We report the opinions expressed by well-known database researchers on the future of the relational model and SQL during a panel at the International Workshop on Non-Conventional Data Access (NoCoDa 2012), held in Florence, Italy in October 2012 in conjunction with the 31st International Conference on Conceptual Modeling. The panelists include: Paolo Atzeni (Università Roma Tre, Italy), Umeshwar Dayal (HP Labs, USA), Christian S. Jensen (Aarhus University, Denmark), and Sudha Ram (University of Arizona, USA). Quotations from movies are used as a playful though effective way to convey the dramatic changes that database technology and research are currently undergoing.
Report from Dagstuhl
Authors: Andrienko Gennady , Gkoulalas-Divanis Aris , Gruteser Marco , Kopp Christine , Liebig Thomas , Rechert Klaus
Published: July 2013

With the emergence of the mobile app ecosystem, user location data has escaped the grip of the tightly regulated telecommunication industry and is now being collected at unprecedented scale and accuracy by mobile advertising, platform, and app providers. This position paper is based on discussions of the authors at the Dagstuhl seminar on Mobility Data Mining and Privacy. It seeks to highlight this shift by providing a tutorial on location data flows and associated privacy risks in this mobile app ecosystem. Moreover, it reflects on the implications of this shift to the mobile privacy research community.
5th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Computational Transportation Science
Authors: Winter Stephan , Müller-Hannemann Matthias
Published: July 2013

The
5

th

International Workshop on Computational Transportation Science
was held in conjunction with the 20th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems (ACM SIGSPATIAL GIS 2012) on November 6, 2012 in Redondo Beach, CA. It has brought together communities interested in the computation, knowledge discovery and technology policy aspects of surface transportation systems. Since the range of topics of a Computational Transportation Science reaches deep into multiple disciplines, such as computer science, urban and regional planning, civil engineering, geography, geoinformatics and related disciplines, the workshop series has become a platform for interdisciplinary dialog, reflected again in this year's proceedings.
Highlights from IWGS 2012
Authors: Ali Mohamed , Banaei-Kashani Farnoush , Hoel Erik
Published: July 2013

The ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Geostreaming (IWGS) was held for the third time in conjunction with the 20th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems (ACM GIS 2012). The workshop has been a successful event that attracted participants from both academia and industry. The workshop addressed topics that are at the intersection of data streaming and geospatial systems. The workshop fostered an environment where geospatial researchers can benefit from the advances in geosensing technologies and data streaming systems.
MobiGIS 2012 workshop report
Authors: Chow Chi-Yin , Shekhar Shashi
Published: July 2013

Combining the functionality of mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), wireless communication (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3/4G), and positioning technologies (GPS, Assisted GPS and GLONASS) results in a new era of mobile geographic information systems (MobiGIS) that aim at providing various invaluable services, including location-based services, intelligent transportation systems, logistics management, security and safety, etc. Many MobiGIS have been developed to solve challenging real-world problems and improve our quality of life.
Trust and ecological rationality in a computing context
Authors: Buechner Jeff
Published: July 2013

In this paper, I examine a key issue affecting trust in the context of a computing environment, as it affects human agents and artificial agents. Specifically, the paper focuses on the role that "resource conservation" plays in an analysis of moral trust and epistemic trust involving agents. I will argue that resource conservation is a necessary condition in the definition of a moral trust relation, that there is a conceptual relationship between a moral trust relation and epistemic trust---that epistemic trust is a necessary condition for moral trust---, and that a moral trust relation might provide a basic mechanism for the realization of ecological rationality in human agents.
Trehalose prevents neural tube defects by correcting maternal diabetes-suppressed autophagy and neurogenesis
Authors: Xu Cheng , Li Xuezheng , Wang Fang , Weng Hongbo , Yang Peixin
Published: July 2013

Preexisting maternal diabetes increases the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs). The mechanism underlying maternal diabetes-induced NTDs is not totally defined, and its prevention remains a challenge. Autophagy, an intracellular process to degrade dysfunction protein and damaged cellular organelles, regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Because autophagy impairment causes NTDs reminiscent of those observed in diabetic pregnancies, we hypothesize that maternal diabetes-induced autophagy impairment causes NTD formation by disrupting cellular homeostasis, leading to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis, and that restoration of autophagy by trehalose, a natural disaccharide, prevents diabetes-induced NTDs. Embryos from nondiabetic and type 1 diabetic mice fed with or without 2 or 5% trehalose water were used to assess markers of autophagy, ER stress, and neurogenesis, numbers of autophagosomes, gene expression that regulates autophagy, NTD rates, indices of mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroepithelial cell apoptosis. Maternal diabetes suppressed autophagy by significantly reducing LC3-II expression, autophagosome numbers, and GFP-LC3 punctate foci in neuroepithelial cells and by altering autophagy-related gene expression. Maternal diabetes delayed neurogenesis by blocking Sox1 neural progenitor differentiation. Trehalose treatment reversed autophagy impairment and prevented NTDs in diabetic pregnancies. Trehalose resolved homeostatic imbalance by correcting mitochondrial defects, dysfunctional proteins, ER stress, apoptosis, and delayed neurogenesis in the neural tubes exposed to hyperglycemia. Our study demonstrates for the first time that maternal diabetes suppresses autophagy in neuroepithelial cells of the developing neural tube, leading to NTD formation, and provides evidence for the potential efficacy of trehalose as an intervention against hyperglycemia-induced NTDs.
Acute exercise suppresses hypothalamic PTP1B protein level and improves insulin and leptin signaling in obese rats
Authors: Chiarreotto-Ropelle Eloize C. , Pauli Luciana S. S. , Katashima Carlos K. , Pimentel Gustavo D. , Picardi Paty K. , Silva Vagner R. R. , de Souza Claudio T. , Prada Patrícia O. , Cintra Dennys E. , Carvalheira José B. C. , Ropelle Eduardo R. , Pauli José R.
Published: July 2013

Hypothalamic inflammation is associated with insulin and leptin resistance, hyperphagia, and obesity. In this scenario, hypothalamic protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) has emerged as the key phosphatase induced by inflammation that is responsible for the central insulin and leptin resistance. Here, we demonstrated that acute exercise reduced inflammation and PTP1B protein level/activity in the hypothalamus of obese rodents. Exercise disrupted the interaction between PTP1B with proteins involved in the early steps of insulin (IRβ and IRS-1) and leptin (JAK2) signaling, increased the tyrosine phosphorylation of these molecules, and restored the anorexigenic effects of insulin and leptin in obese rats. Interestingly, the anti-inflammatory action and the reduction of PTP1B activity mediated by exercise occurred in an interleukin-6 (IL-6)-dependent manner because exercise failed to reduce inflammation and PTP1B protein level after the disruption of hypothalamic-specific IL-6 action in obese rats. Conversely, intracerebroventricular administration of recombinant IL-6 reproduced the effects of exercise, improving hypothalamic insulin and leptin action by reducing the inflammatory signaling and PTP1B activity in obese rats at rest. Taken together, our study reports that physical exercise restores insulin and leptin signaling, at least in part, by reducing hypothalamic PTP1B protein level through the central anti-inflammatory response.
Rat Genome Database: a unique resource for rat, human, and mouse quantitative trait locus data
Authors: Nigam Rajni , Laulederkind Stanley J. F. , Hayman G. Thomas , Smith Jennifer R. , Wang Shur-Jen , Lowry Timothy F. , Petri Victoria , Pons Jeff De , Tutaj Marek , Liu Weisong , Jayaraman Pushkala , Munzenmaier Diane H. , Worthey Elizabeth A. , Dwinell Melinda R. , Shimoyama Mary , Jacob Howard J.
Published: July 2013

The rat has been widely used as a disease model in a laboratory setting, resulting in an abundance of genetic and phenotype data from a wide variety of studies. These data can be found at the Rat Genome Database (RGD, http://rgd.mcw.edu/ ), which provides a platform for researchers interested in linking genomic variations to phenotypes. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) form one of the earliest and core datasets, allowing researchers to identify loci harboring genes associated with disease. These QTLs are not only important for those using the rat to identify genes and regions associated with disease, but also for cross-organism analyses of syntenic regions on the mouse and the human genomes to identify potential regions for study in these organisms. Currently, RGD has data on >1,900 rat QTLs that include details about the methods and animals used to determine the respective QTL along with the genomic positions and markers that define the region. RGD also curates human QTLs (>1,900) and houses >4,000 mouse QTLs (imported from Mouse Genome Informatics). Multiple ontologies are used to standardize traits, phenotypes, diseases, and experimental methods to facilitate queries, analyses, and cross-organism comparisons. QTLs are visualized in tools such as GBrowse and GViewer, with additional tools for analysis of gene sets within QTL regions. The QTL data at RGD provide valuable information for the study of mapped phenotypes and identification of candidate genes for disease associations.
Celiac Disease and Autoimmune-Associated Conditions
Authors: Lauret Eugenia , Rodrigo Luis
Published: July 2013

Celiac disease (CD) is frequently accompanied by a variety of extradigestive manifestations, thus making it a systemic disease rather than a disease limited to the gastrointestinal tract. This is primarily explained by the fact that CD belongs to the group of autoimmune diseases. The only one with a known etiology is related to a permanent intolerance to gluten. Remarkable breakthroughs have been achieved in the last decades, due to a greater interest in the diagnosis of atypical and asymptomatic patients, which are more frequent in adults. The known presence of several associated diseases provides guidance in the search of oligosymptomatic cases as well as studies performed in relatives of patients with CD. The causes for the onset and manifestation of associated diseases are diverse; some share a similar genetic base, like type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D); others share pathogenic mechanisms, and yet, others are of unknown nature. General practitioners and other specialists must remember that CD may debut with extraintestinal manifestations, and associated illnesses may appear both at the time of diagnosis and throughout the evolution of the disease. The implementation of a gluten-free diet (GFD) improves the overall clinical course and influences the evolution of the associated diseases. In some cases, such as iron deficiency anemia, the GFD contributes to its disappearance. In other disorders, like T1D, this allows a better control of the disease. In several other complications and/or associated diseases, an adequate adherence to a GFD may slow down their evolution, especially if implemented during an early stage.
Integrin Signaling as a Cancer Drug Target
Authors: Danen Erik H. J.
Published: July 2013

Integrins are transmembrane receptors that mediate cell adhesion to neighboring cells and to the extracellular matrix. Here, the various modes in which integrin-mediated adhesion regulates intracellular signaling pathways impinging on cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation are considered. Subsequently, evidence that integrins also control crucial signaling cascades in cancer cells is discussed. Lastly, the important role of integrin signaling in tumor cells as well as in stromal cells that support cancer growth, metastasis, and therapy resistance indicates that integrin signaling may be an attractive target for (combined) cancer therapy strategies. Current approaches to target integrins in this context are reviewed.
Unexpected Diagnosis of Both Adenocarcinoma of the Colon and Metastatic Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast in the Gastrointestinal Tract
Authors: Miller Tegan , Ross Carol , Al-Rawi Haitham , Taylor Barry , Al-Jafari Mohammad
Published: July 2013

Breast cancer rarely metastasises to the gastrointestinal tract. Lobular carcinoma more commonly metastasises to the uterus and appendages, peritoneum, and gastrointestinal tract than other types of breast cancer, while ductal carcinoma has a propensity to metastasise to the lungs, liver, and brain. We describe the case of a patient with no known history of breast cancer, whose primary presentation of lobular breast cancer was with malignant small intestinal and colonic strictures, with coexisting previously undiagnosed adenocarcinoma of the colon.
An Overview of Indian Forestry Sector with REDD+ Approach
Authors: Sharma Vandana , Chaudhry Smita
Published: July 2013

Forest ecosystems cover large parts of the terrestrial land surface and are major components of the terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. The primary objective of REDD+ is to minimize the carbon emissions from deforestation in developing countries and enhance their carbon storage capacities through sustainable management programme. The recognition of REDD+ throughout the international community, its support by donors and promotion in the perspectives of the UNFCCC negotiations are mainly due to vital functions of forests in regulating the world’s climate. This paper gives an overview of REDD+ approach and its methodological guidance in context of Indian forestry sector. The strengthening of governance arrangements and institutions in India needs to integrate learning through piloting, adaptive management, and knowledge transfer. A phased approach for India for REDD+ implementation having safeguards for local communities and biodiversity along with a system of their reporting and capacity building has to be developed. Successfully designed REDD+ implementation in India entirely depends on a rigid, scalable, and reliable finance mechanism, technological assistance, and effective forest-related legislation along with transparent and equitable political momentum which has support of core stakeholder groups.
Tunable Reflectarray Cell for Wide Angle Beam-Steering Radar Applications
Authors: Venneri F. , Costanzo S. , Di Massa G.
Published: July 2013

An electronically tunable reflectarray element is proposed in this work to design beam-steering antennas useful for radar applications. A reduced size reflectarray unit cell is properly synthesized in order to extend the antenna beam scanning capabilities within a wider angular region. The radiating structure is accurately optimized to provide a full phase tuning range by adopting a single varactor load as phase shifter element. A 0.46λ-reflectarray cell is designed at the frequency of 11.5 GHz, obtaining a phase agility of about 330°. The cell is successfully adopted for the design of a21 × 21reconfigurable reflectarray. The antenna is numerically tested for different configurations of the varactors capacitance values, and good beam-steering performances are demonstrated within a wide angular range.
An Autocorrelation Term Method for Curve Fitting
Authors: Houston Louis M.
Published: July 2013

The least-squares method is the most popular method for fitting a polynomial curve to data. It is based on minimizing the total squared error between a polynomial model and the data. In this paper we develop a different approach that exploits the autocorrelation function. In particular, we use the nonzero lag autocorrelation terms to produce a system of quadratic equations that can be solved together with a linear equation derived from summing the data. There is a maximum of solutions when the polynomial is of degree . For the linear case, there are generally two solutions. Each solution is consistent with a total error of zero. Either visual examination or measurement of the total squared error is required to determine which solution fits the data. A comparison between the comparable autocorrelation term solution and linear least squares shows negligible difference.
Spectroscopic Studies on Unfolding Processes of Apo-Neuroglobin Induced by Guanidine Hydrochloride and Urea
Authors: Zhang Cui , Gao Chaohui , Mu Jianshuai , Qiu Zhanglei , Li Lianzhi
Published: July 2013

Neuroglobin (Ngb), a recently discovered globin, is predominantly expressed in the brain, retina, and other nerve tissues of vertebrates. The unfolding processes of apo-neuroglobin (apoNgb) induced by guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) and urea were investigated by spectroscopic methods. In the unfolding processes, apoNgb's tertiary structural transition was monitored by the changes of intrinsic fluorescence emission spectra, and its secondary structural transition was measured by the changes of far-ultraviolet circular dichroism (CD) spectra. In addition, 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS), a hydrophobic cluster binding dye, was also used to monitor the unfolding process of apoNgb and to explore its intermediates. Results showed that GdnHCl-induced unfolding of apoNgb was via a three-state pathway, that is, Native state(N)→ Intermediate state(I)→ Unfolded state(U), during which the intermediate was inferred by an increase in fluorescence intensity and the change of CD value. Gibbs free energy changes are 10.2 kJ·mol−1for the first unfolding transition and 14.0 kJ·mol−1for the second transition. However, urea-induced unfolding of apoNgb only underwent a two-state transition: Native state(N)→ Partially unfolded state(P). The result showed that GdnHCl can efficiently affect the conformational states of apoNgb compared with those of urea. The work will benefit to have an understanding of the unfolding mechanism of apoNgb induced by GdnHCl and urea.
The Investigation of Laparoscopic Instrument Movement Control and Learning Effect
Authors: Lin Chiuhsiang Joe , Chen Hung-Jen
Published: July 2013

Laparoscopic surgery avoids large incisions for intra-abdominal operations as required in conventional open surgery. Whereas the patient benefits from laparoscopic techniques, the surgeon encounters new difficulties that were not present during open surgery procedures. However, limited literature has been published in the essential movement characteristics such as magnification, amplitude, and angle. For this reason, the present study aims to investigate the essential movement characteristics of instrument manipulation via Fitts' task and to develop an instrument movement time predicting model. Ten right-handed subjects made discrete Fitts' pointing tasks using a laparoscopic trainer. The experimental results showed that there were significant differences between the three factors in movement time and in throughput. However, no significant differences were observed in the improvement rate for movement time and throughput between these three factors. As expected, the movement time was rather variable and affected markedly by direction to target. The conventional Fitts' law model was extended by incorporating a directional parameter into the model. The extended model was shown to better fit the data than the conventional model. These findings pointed to a design direction for the laparoscopic surgery training program, and the predictive model can be used to establish standards in the training procedure.
A Novel Technique of Ultra-Mini-Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: Introduction and an Initial Experience for Treatment of Upper Urinary Calculi Less Than 2 cm
Authors: Desai Janak , Zeng Guohua , Zhao Zhijian , Zhong Wen , Chen Wenzhong , Wu Wenqi
Published: July 2013

Objectives. To describe our novel modified technique of ultra-mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (UMP) using of a novel 6 Fr mininephroscope through an 11–13 Fr metal sheath to perform holmium: YAG laser lithotripsy.Methods. The medical records of 36 patients with moderate-sized (<20 mm) kidney stones treated with UMP from April to July 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were assessed at the 1st day and 1st month postoperatively by KUB and US to assess stone-free status.Results. The mean stone size was 14.9 ± 4.1 mm (rang: 6–20). The average operative time was 59.8 ± 15.9 (30–90) min. The stone-free rate at postoperative 1st day and 1st month was 88.9% and 97.2%. The mean hospital stay was 3.0 ± 0.9 (2–5) days. Complications were noted in 6 (16.7%) cases according to the Clavien classification, including sepsis in 2 (5.6%) cases (grade II), urinary extravasations in 1 (2.8%) case (grade IIIa), and fever in 3 (8.3%) cases (grade II). No patients needed blood transfusion.Conclusions. UMP is technically feasible, safe, and efficacious for moderate-sized renal stones with an advantage of high stone-free rates and low complication rates. However, due to the limits of its current unexplored indications, UMP is therefore a supplement to, not a substitute for, the standard mini-PCNL technology.
Spin Foam Models with Finite Groups
Authors: Bahr Benjamin , Dittrich Bianca , Ryan James P.
Published: July 2013

Spin foam models, loop quantum gravity, and group field theory are discussed as quantum gravity candidate theories and usually involve a continuous Lie group. We advocate here to consider quantum gravity-inspired models with finite groups, firstly as a test bed for the full theory and secondly as a class of new lattice theories possibly featuring an analogue diffeomorphism symmetry. To make these notes accessible to readers outside the quantum gravity community, we provide an introduction to some essential concepts in the loop quantum gravity, spin foam, and group field theory approach and point out the many connections to the lattice field theory and the condensed-matter systems.
Computational Elucidation of Structural Basis for Ligand Binding withLeishmania donovaniAdenosine Kinase
Authors: Kar Rajiv K. , Ansari Md. Yousuf , Suryadevara Priyanka , Sahoo Bikash R. , Sahoo Ganesh C. , Dikhit Manas R. , Das Pradeep
Published: July 2013

Enzyme adenosine kinase is responsible for phosphorylation of adenosine to AMP and is crucial for parasites which are purine auxotrophs. The present study describes development of robust homology model ofLeishmania donovaniadenosine kinase to forecast interaction phenomenon with inhibitory molecules using structure-based drug designing strategy. Docking calculation using reported organic small molecules and natural products revealed key active site residues such as Arg131 and Asp16 for ligand binding, which is consistent with previous studies. Molecular dynamics simulation of ligand protein complex revealed the importance of hydrogen bonding with active site residues and solvent molecules, which may be crucial for successful development of drug candidates. Precise role of Phe168 residue in the active site was elucidated in this report that provided stability to ligand-protein complex via aromatic-πcontacts. Overall, the present study is believed to provide valuable information to design a new compound with improved activity for antileishmanial therapeutics development.