bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Racial/ethnic differences in the prognostic utility of left ventricular mass index for incident cardiovascular disease
Authors: Akintoye Emmanuel , Mahmoud Karim , Shokr Mohamed , Sandio Aubin , Mallikethi‐Reddy Sagar , Sheikh Muhammad , Adegbala Oluwole , Egbe Alexander , Briasoulis Alexandros , Afonso Luis 
Published: April 2018

BackgroundEvidence exists for racial/ethnic differences in left ventricular mass index (LVMI). How this translates to future cardiovascular disease (CVD) events is unknown.HypothesisThe impact of racial/ethnic differences in LVMI on incident cardiovascular outcomes could have potential implications for the optimization of risk stratification strategies.MethodsUsing the prospectively collected database of the Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) involving 4 racial/ethnic groups (non‐Hispanic Whites, Chinese, Blacks, and Hispanics) free of CVD at baseline, we assessed for racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between LVMI and incident CVD using a Cox model.Results5004 participants (mean age, 62 ± 10 years; 48% male) were included in this study. After an average follow‐up of 10.2 years, 369 (7.4%) CVD events occurred. Significant racial/ethnic differences existed in the relationship between LVMI and incident CVD (P for interaction = 0.04). Notably, the relationship was strongest for Chinese (HR per 10‐unit increase in LVMI: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.8) and Hispanics (HR per 10‐unit increase in LVMI: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.5–2.2). Non‐Hispanic Whites demonstrated the lowest relationship (HR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.1–1.5). LVMI values of 36.9 g/m2.7, 31.8 g/m2.7, 39.9 g/m2.7, and 41.7 g/m2.7 were identified as optimal cutpoints for defining left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) for non‐Hispanic Whites, Chinese, Blacks, and Hispanics, respectively. In secondary analysis of LVH (vs no LVH) using these optimal cutpoints, we found a similar pattern of association as above (P for interaction = 0.04). For example, compared with those without LVH, Chinese with LVH had HR: 5.3, 95% CI: 1.6–17, whereas non‐Hispanic Whites with LVH had HR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2–2.1 for CVD events.ConclusionsAmong 4 races/ethnicities studied, LVMI has more prognostic utility predicting future CVD events for Chinese and Hispanics and is least significant for non‐Hispanic Whites.
A comprehensive meta‐analysis of stem cell therapy for chronic angina
Authors: Shah Rahman , Latham Samuel B. , Khan Sajjad A. , Shahreyar Muhammad , Hwang Inyong , Jovin Ion S. 
Published: April 2018

BackgroundA substantial proportion of patients with coronary artery disease do not achieve complete revascularization and continue to experience refractory angina despite optimal medical therapy. Recently, stem cell therapy has emerged as a potential therapeutic option for these patients. However, findings of individual trials have been scrutinized because of their small sample sizes and lack of statistical power. Therefore, we conducted an updated comprehensive meta‐analysis of available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with the largest sample size ever reported on this subject.HypothesisIn patients with chronic angina stem cell therapy improves clinical outcomes.MethodsScientific databases and websites were searched for RCTs. Data were independently collected by 2 investigators, and disagreements were resolved by consensus. Data from 10 trials including 658 patients were analyzed.ResultsStem cell therapy improved Canadian Cardiovascular Society angina class (risk ratio: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.09 to 2.15, P = 0.013), exercise capacity (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.88, P = 0.001), and left ventricular ejection fraction (SMD: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.27 to 1.00, P = 0.001) compared with placebo. It also decreased anginal episodes (SMD: –1.21, 95% CI: –2.40 to −0.02, P = 0.045) and myocardial perfusion defects (SMD: –0.70, 95% CI: –1.11 to −0.29, P = 0.001). However, no improvements in all‐cause mortality were observed after a relatively short follow‐up.ConclusionsIn patients with chronic angina on optimal medical therapy, stem cell therapy improves symptoms, exercise capacity, and left ventricular ejection fraction. These findings warrant confirmation using larger trials.
Localization, distribution, and connectivity of neuropeptide Y in the human and porcine retinas—A comparative study
Authors: Christiansen Anders Tolstrup , Kiilgaard Jens Folke , Klemp Kristian , Woldbye David Paul Drucker , Hannibal Jens 
Published: April 2018

AbstractNeuropeptide Y (NPY) is a peptide neurotransmitter abundantly expressed in the mammalian retina. Since its discovery, NPY has been studied in retinas of several species, but detailed characterization of morphology, cell‐type, and connectivity has never been conducted in larger mammals including humans and pigs. As the pig due to size and cellular composition is a well‐suited animal for retinal research, we chose to compare the endogenous NPY system of the human retina to that of pigs to support future research in this field. In the present study, using immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy and 3D reconstructions, we found NPY to be expressed in GABAergic and calretinin‐immunoreactive (‐ir) amacrine cells of both species as well as parvalbumin‐ir amacrine cells of humans. Furthermore, we identified at least two different types of medium‐ to wide‐field NPY‐ir amacrine cells. Finally, we detected likely synaptic appositions between the NPY‐ir amacrine cells and melanopsin‐ and nonmelanopsin‐ir ganglion cells, GABAergic and dopaminergic amacrine cells, rod bipolar cells, and horizontal cells, suggesting that NPY‐ir cells play diverse roles in modulation of both image and non‐image forming retinal signaling. These findings extend existing knowledge on NPY and NPY‐expressing cells in the human and porcine retina showing a high degree of comparability. The extensive distribution and connectivity of NPY‐ir cells described in the present study further highlights the potential importance of NPY signaling in retinal function.
Four‐transition 0‐1 functions for reflectance spectra
Authors: Centore Paul 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIt is known that a reflectance spectrum for an optimal colour takes on the value 0 or 1 at every wavelength, with at most two transitions between those values. This article shows that any non‐optimal colour can be produced by a reflectance spectrum that takes on the value 0 or 1 at every wavelength, with at most four transitions. While the two‐transition optimal spectrum is unique, the four‐transition non‐optimal spectrum is not unique.
Tropospheric Reactions of Triazoles with Hydroxyl Radicals: Hydroxyl Addition is Faster than Hydrogen Abstraction
Authors: Derbel Najoua , Ferchichi Olfa , Alijah Alexander 
Published: April 2018

AbstractWe present the results of a systematic investigation, at the BHandHLYP/AVTZ density functional (DFT) level, of the tautomeric equilibria of 1,2,3‐ and 1,2,4‐triazoles and their reactions with hydroxyl radicals in the gas phase. A total of twenty‐six chemical reactions has been studied, and thermodynamical data and rate constants are reported. The reactions can be classified in two categories: hydrogen abstraction and OH addition. Nine of these reactions are favourable at room temperature. It was found that OH addition proceeds more rapidly than hydrogen abstraction, by several orders of magnitude. For the most stable tautomers, which presumably dominate in the gaz‐phase, the fastest reactions are OH addition to 2H‐1,2,3‐triazole and site‐specific OH addition to carbon atom 5 of 1H‐1,2,4‐triazole. In absolute values, however, the rate constants are rather small, k=5.82×10−20 cm3 s−1 and k=4.75×10−18 cm3 s−1, respectively, at room temperature. Therefore, under the conditions of the troposphere, triazoles cannot be eliminated by reactions with OH. The accuracy of the computational approach has been demonstrated by studying the tautomeric equilibria of 1,2,3‐ and 1,2,4‐triazoles in the gas phase. The computed equilibrium constants are in excellent agreement with those derived from spectroscopic observations. Additional assessment of the quality of the computed data was made by comparison with the results from high‐level CCSD(T)‐F12/AVTZ ab initio calculations for three exemplary structures. This comparison demonstrates the high accuracy of our DFT results of 0.29 kcal mol−1 for energy differences between stable isomers.
Human Natural Killer Receptors, Co‐Receptors, and Their Ligands
Authors: Biassoni Roberto , Malnati Mauro S. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIn the last 20 years, the study of human natural killer (NK) cells has moved from the first molecular characterizations of very few receptor molecules to the identification of a plethora of receptors displaying surprisingly divergent functions. We have contributed to the description of inhibitory receptors and their signaling pathways, important in fine regulation in many cell types, but unknown until their discovery in the NK cells. Inhibitory function is central to regulating NK‐mediated cytolysis, with different molecular structures evolving during speciation to assure its persistence. More recently, it has become possible to characterize the NK triggering receptors mediating natural cytotoxicity, unveiling the existence of a network of cellular interactions between effectors of both natural and adaptive immunity. This unit reviews the contemporary history of molecular studies of receptors and ligands involved in NK cell function, characterizing the ligands of the triggering receptor and the mechanisms for finely regulating their expression in pathogen‐infected or tumor cells. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
In‐pixel analog memories for a pixel‐based background subtraction algorithm on CMOS vision sensors
Authors: García‐Lesta Daniel , López Paula , Brea Víctor Manuel , Cabello Diego 
Published: April 2018

SummaryThis paper addresses the most suitable in‐pixel analog memory bank for running a hardware‐oriented approach of the well‐known Pixel‐Based Adaptive Segmenter algorithm on CMOS vision sensors. The high number of memory accesses, typically up to 200 times, along with the long time elapsed before an analog memory in a pixel is updated, around 5 seconds at 30 fps, constrains the memory topology. This work assesses the impact of nominal and process nonidealities of the 3 main analog memory topologies, namely, open‐loop, closed‐loop, and integrator architectures for background subtraction over the CDNET14 database. This is the first step towards the implementation of a CMOS vision chip with per‐pixel processing to run the Pixel‐Based Adaptive Segmenter.
Determination of microparticle characteristics in an etching plasma
Authors: Schepers L.P.T. , Beckers J. , IJzerman W.L. 
Published: April 2018

The properties of one single melamine formaldehyde microparticle, levitated in the sheath of a low‐pressure radio frequency‐driven plasma, are determined with a novel procedure using in situ Mie scattering. By placing the measurement equipment inside the vacuum vessel, optical access is not limited to available viewports, and the complete scatter profile can be measured. The developed fitting routine uses peaks and valleys in the angular scatter profile to accurately determine the particle's refractive index, size, and plasma‐induced etch rate. In plasma at a pressure of 13 Pa operated at 10 W, obtained refractive indices of 1.657 ± 0.01 are close to those specified by the supplier, while the initial size (2.168 ± 0.007 μm) is relatively 8% off from the supplier‐specified value. With an estimated contamination of ambient air of 4 ± 1% in pristine Ar, etch rates of 1.9 ± 0.2 nm/min are measured.
DAFi: A directed recursive data filtering and clustering approach for improving and interpreting data clustering identification of cell populations from polychromatic flow cytometry data
Authors: Lee Alexandra J. , Chang Ivan , Burel Julie G. , Lindestam Arlehamn Cecilia S. , Mandava Aishwarya , Weiskopf Daniela , Peters Bjoern , Sette Alessandro , Scheuermann Richard H. , Qian Yu 
Published: April 2018

AbstractComputational methods for identification of cell populations from polychromatic flow cytometry data are changing the paradigm of cytometry bioinformatics. Data clustering is the most common computational approach to unsupervised identification of cell populations from multidimensional cytometry data. However, interpretation of the identified data clusters is labor‐intensive. Certain types of user‐defined cell populations are also difficult to identify by fully automated data clustering analysis. Both are roadblocks before a cytometry lab can adopt the data clustering approach for cell population identification in routine use. We found that combining recursive data filtering and clustering with constraints converted from the user manual gating strategy can effectively address these two issues. We named this new approach DAFi: Directed Automated Filtering and Identification of cell populations. Design of DAFi preserves the data‐driven characteristics of unsupervised clustering for identifying novel cell subsets, but also makes the results interpretable to experimental scientists through mapping and merging the multidimensional data clusters into the user‐defined two‐dimensional gating hierarchy. The recursive data filtering process in DAFi helped identify small data clusters which are otherwise difficult to resolve by a single run of the data clustering method due to the statistical interference of the irrelevant major clusters. Our experiment results showed that the proportions of the cell populations identified by DAFi, while being consistent with those by expert centralized manual gating, have smaller technical variances across samples than those from individual manual gating analysis and the nonrecursive data clustering analysis. Compared with manual gating segregation, DAFi‐identified cell populations avoided the abrupt cut‐offs on the boundaries. DAFi has been implemented to be used with multiple data clustering methods including K‐means, FLOCK, FlowSOM, and the ClusterR package. For cell population identification, DAFi supports multiple options including clustering, bisecting, slope‐based gating, and reversed filtering to meet various autogating needs from different scientific use cases. © 2018 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Deploying wireless sensor networks–based smart grid for smart meters monitoring and control
Authors: de Souza Renato William R. , Moreira Leonardo R. , Rodrigues Joel J. P. C. , Moreira Rafael R. , de Albuquerque Victor Hugo C. 
Published: April 2018

SummaryTransmission and distribution systems for electricity have undergone a technological revolution in terms of operation and management using computer networks, automation, remote sensing, and information and communication technologies to improve the performance of digital electronic meters. This work describes the integration of a wireless sensor networks (WSNs)–based communication system with an electrical energy‐measurement structure, to verify the feasibility of large‐scale installation of intelligent electronic meters in low‐voltage consumer units. The study is based on simulations, using Castalia, considering 2 scenarios, the first in a flat network and the second in a hierarchical network of WSNs to analyze the feasibility of sending messages from intelligent electronic meters to the concessionaires through a ZigBee network.In addition, the time requirements of the IEC 61850 standard for sending and receiving manufacturing message specifications and generic object‐oriented substation event type messages are verified. This work demonstrated the technical feasibility of using WSNs for different node densities by region and evaluated the location of the sink node, and adequate infrastructures for WSNs were found. This extends time checks for both vertical (usually for supervision) and horizontal (used for protection) messages. The proposed model has great potential to use a WSN infrastructure and to evaluate if this infrastructure allows data transmission of the protocols used in smart grids, mainly verifying the requirements of transmission times required by each application.
The mir‐7 and bag of marbles genes regulate Hedgehog pathway signaling in blood cell progenitors in Drosophila larval lymph glands
Authors: Tokusumi Tsuyoshi , Tokusumi Yumiko , Schulz Robert A. 
Published: April 2018

SummaryHedgehog (Hh) pathway signaling is crucial for the maintenance of blood cell progenitors in the lymph gland hematopoietic organ present in Drosophila third instar larvae. Previous studies from our lab have likewise shown the importance of the mir‐7 and bag of marbles (bam) genes in maintaining the progenitor state. Thus, we sought to investigate a possible interaction between the Hh pathway and mir‐7/bam in the prohemocyte population within this hematopoietic tissue. Gain of function mir‐7 was able to rescue a blood cell progenitor depletion phenotype caused by Patched (Ptc) inhibition of Hh pathway signaling in these cells. Similarly, expression of a dominant/negative version of Ptc was able to rescue the severe reduction of prohemocytes due to bam loss of function. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Suppressor of fused [Su(fu)], another known inhibitor of Hh signaling, likely serves as a translational repression target of the mir‐7 miRNA. Our results suggest the mir‐7/bam combination regulates the Hh signaling network through repression of Su(fu) to maintain hemocyte progenitors in the larval lymph gland.
Soil properties and climate mediate the effects of biotic interactions on the performance of a woody range expander
Authors: Tomiolo Sara , Ward David 
Published: April 2018

AbstractExpansion of trees into grasslands and old fields is a complex process that leads to a decline of biodiversity and reduces rangeland availability. Climate and land‐use change contribute to accelerated rates of range expansion. However, the role of biotic interactions in promoting or hindering woody range expanders is still unclear. We investigated the combined effects of abiotic (soil properties and climate) and biotic (simulated grazing and intra‐ and interspecific plant–plant interactions) factors on a woody range‐expander, Juniperus virginiana, which has been spreading into grasslands and old‐field habitats in North America. We hypothesized that interspecific competition would negatively affect growth and survival of J. virginiana due to belowground competition with herbaceous species; grazing would favor J. virginiana via competitive release, and intraspecific interactions would be beneficial to tree seedlings during early life stages by means of facilitation. We also predicted that a thicker winter snowpack would have a positive impact on tree growth by providing protection from frost damage. In a multisite field experiment, we exposed J. virginiana seedlings to intra‐ and interspecific interactions, as well as simulated grazing of surrounding herbaceous species. These treatments were repeated at three different sites that vary in soil properties and that are situated along a precipitation gradient. Additionally, we conducted a snow‐manipulation experiment at one of the sites. We conducted our monitoring for two consecutive growing seasons characterized by very different rainfall conditions, the second growing season receiving between 6% and 14% more rainfall than the first. Under lower rainfall availability, interspecific interactions between tree seedlings and herbaceous species negatively affected seedling growth rates. However, this effect was detectable only during the drier year and at the site characterized by more favorable soil properties. During winter, we found that deeper snow cover was associated with decreased growth rate of plants, probably due to repeated freeze‐thaw cycles. Our results indicate that the role of biotic interactions had an effect only under harsh climatic conditions and that abiotic factors may affect range expansion directly and indirectly via biotic interactions.
Carbon fluxes from a temperate rainforest site in southern South America reveal a very sensitive sink
Authors: Perez‐Quezada Jorge F. , Celis‐Diez Juan L. , Brito Carla E. , Gaxiola Aurora , Nuñez‐Avila Mariela , Pugnaire Francisco I. , Armesto Juan J. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractEcosystems where carbon fluxes are being monitored on a global scale are strongly biased toward temperate Northern Hemisphere latitudes. However, forest and moorland ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere may contribute significantly to the global and regional C balance and are affected by different climate systems. Here, we present the first data from an old‐growth forest representative of temperate, broad‐leaved rainforests from southern South America. Carbon fluxes monitored over two years using the eddy covariance technique showed that this rainforest acts as an annual sink (−238 ± 31 g C/m2). However, there were significant pulses of carbon emission associated with dry episodes during the summer months (i.e., peak of the growing season) and periods of significant carbon fixation during the cold austral winter, indicating that the carbon balance in this forest is very sensitive to climate fluctuations. The carbon fixation surges in winter seem to be related to the mild temperatures recorded during this period of the year under the prevailing oceanic climate. Winter carbon gain was more relevant in determining the annual carbon balance than summer pulse emissions. Regarding the annual carbon balance, this southern forest resembles the patterns observed in montane tropical forests more than the behavior of narrow‐leaved evergreen temperate forests from the Northern Hemisphere. These patterns make this southern forest type relevant to understanding the mechanisms and thresholds that control ecosystem shifts from carbon sinks and sources and will provide key data to improve global dynamic vegetation models.