bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association of plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 and vitamin D receptor expression with the risk of keloid disease in a Chinese population
Authors: Gong Zhen‐Hua , Ji Jian‐Feng , Yang Jun , Xiang Tie , Zhou Chang‐Kai , Pan Xuan‐Liang , Yao Jian 
Published: December 2016

AbstractKeloid disease (KD) is a benign fibroproliferative scarring condition of unknown etiopathogenesis. Plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) have been shown to play important roles in the progression of tissue fibrosis; therefore, both these genes are potential susceptibility genes for KD. We aimed to determine whether the gene expression levels of PAI‐1 and VDR are altered in Chinese KD patients. We measured the expression of PAI and VDR in human peripheral blood lymphocytes in 236 patients with keloid and 219 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. We found that PAI‐1 expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes was significantly higher in patients with KD than in control individuals (p < 0.0001), while VDR expression was significantly lower in KD patients than in control individuals (p < 0.0001). High levels of PAI‐1 and low levels of VDR expression were significantly associated with an increased risk for KD. PAI‐1 and VDR might play important roles in keloid development. Gene expression levels of PAI‐1 and VDR may, therefore, be used as potential markers for the prediction of keloid development after scarring.
Pain reduction due to novel sensory-motor training in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome I – A pilot study
Authors: Schmid Anne-Christine , Schwarz Anja , Gustin Sylvia M. , Greenspan Joel D. , Hummel Friedhelm C. , Birbaumer Niels 
Published: December 2016

Abstract

Background and aims
Patients suffering from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) of the upper limb show a changed cortical representation of the affected hand. The lip area invades the former hand area contralateral to the affected hand. This change in cortical representation is correlated to the intensity of ongoing pain in patients with CRPS. Further studies revealed that restoration of the original representation coincides with a decrease of pain. Sensory-motor training protocols can increase and/or relocate cortical somatosensory and motor representation areas of the fingers, as shown, for example, in Braille reading individuals and professional violin players. Further, there is evidence that sensory-motor discrimination training has a beneficial effect on both the intensity of pain and the mislocalization of sensory-motor cortical areas in CRPS patients. Based on these propositions, we developed a novel sensory-motor self-training paradigm for CRPS patients to use in a home-based manner.

Methods
Ten CRPS patients performed the sensory-motor training for 2 weeks. The training consists of a braille-like haptic task with different training modes (bi-manual, speed and memory training). During the training, as well as 1 week before and after, patients were asked to fill out pain diaries. Furthermore, measures of impairment were acquired at baseline and post training.

Results
Patients showed significant pain reduction after the 2 week training period. The overall disability as well as the depression scores showed a trend to improve after the 2 week training. The reduction in pain was correlated with the total amount of training performed.

Conclusions
This is a first proof of principle study of a novel sensory-motor self-training protocol to reduce pain in CRPS patients. The more consistent the patients trained the larger the pain reduction. Sensory-motor training, which can be performed on a regular basis at home might provide a novel interventional strategy to improve symptoms of CRPS.

Implications
Although a larger study needs to be conducted to confirm our findings, including long-term follow-up, the results show, that a sensory-motor home-based training is a strategy worth exploring further for the reduction of pain as well as high frequency training for patients with CRPS.
The Boolean model in the Shannon regime: three thresholds and related asymptotics
Authors: Anantharam Venkat , Baccelli François 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
Consider a family of Boolean models, indexed by integers n≥1. The nth model features a Poisson point process in ℝn of intensity e{nρn}, and balls of independent and identically distributed radii distributed like X̅n√n. Assume that ρn→ρ as n→∞, and that X̅n satisfies a large deviations principle. We show that there then exist the three deterministic thresholds τd, the degree threshold, τp, the percolation probability threshold, and τv, the volume fraction threshold, such that, asymptotically as n tends to ∞, we have the following features. (i) For ρ<τd, almost every point is isolated, namely its ball intersects no other ball; (ii) for τd<ρ<τp, the mean number of balls intersected by a typical ball converges to ∞ and nevertheless there is no percolation; (iii) for τp<ρ<τv, the volume fraction is 0 and nevertheless percolation occurs; (iv) for τd<ρ<τv, the mean number of balls intersected by a typical ball converges to ∞ and nevertheless the volume fraction is 0; (v) for ρ>τv, the whole space is covered. The analysis of this asymptotic regime is motivated by problems in information theory, but it could be of independent interest in stochastic geometry. The relations between these three thresholds and the Shannon‒Poltyrev threshold are discussed.
A stochastic two-stage innovation diffusion model on a lattice
Authors: Coletti Cristian F. , de Oliveira Karina B. E. , Rodriguez Pablo M. 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
We propose a stochastic model describing a process of awareness, evaluation, and decision making by agents on the d-dimensional integer lattice. Each agent may be in any of the three states belonging to the set {0, 1, 2. In this model 0 stands for ignorants, 1 for aware, and 2 for adopters. Aware and adopters inform its nearest ignorant neighbors about a new product innovation at rate λ. At rate α an agent in aware state becomes an adopter due to the influence of adopters' neighbors. Finally, aware and adopters forget the information about the new product, thus becoming ignorant, at rate 1. Our purpose is to analyze the influence of the parameters on the qualitative behavior of the process. We obtain sufficient conditions under which the innovation diffusion (and adoption) either becomes extinct or propagates through the population with positive probability.
Detailed computational analysis of queueing-time distributions of the BMAP/G/1 queue using roots
Authors: Singh Gagandeep , Gupta U. C. , Chaudhry M. L. 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
In this paper we present closed-form expressions for the distribution of the virtual (actual) queueing time for the BMAP/R/1 and BMAP/D/1 queues, where `R' represents a class of distributions having rational Laplace‒Stieltjes transforms. The closed-form analysis is based on the roots of the underlying characteristic equation. Numerical aspects have been tested for a variety of arrival and service-time distributions and results are matched with those obtained using the matrix-analytic method (MAM). Further, a comparative study of computation time of the proposed method with the MAM has been carried out. Finally, we also present closed-form expressions for the distribution of the virtual (actual) system time. The proposed method is analytically quite simple and easy to implement.
On a coalescence process and its branching genealogy
Authors: Grosjean Nicolas , Huillet Thierry 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
We define and analyze a coalescent process as a recursive box-filling process whose genealogy is given by an ancestral time-reversed, time-inhomogeneous Bienyamé‒Galton‒Watson process. Special interest is on the expected size of a typical box and its probability of being empty. Special cases leading to exact asymptotic computations are investigated when the coalescing mechanisms are either linear fractional or quadratic.
Asymptotics for randomly reinforced urns with random barriers
Authors: Berti Patrizia , Crimaldi Irene , Pratelli Luca , Rigo Pietro 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
An urn contains black and red balls. Let Zn be the proportion of black balls at time n and 0≤L<U≤1 random barriers. At each time n, a ball bn is drawn. If bn is black and Zn-1<U, then bn is replaced together with a random number Bn of black balls. If bn is red and Zn-1>L, then bn is replaced together with a random number Rn of red balls. Otherwise, no additional balls are added, and bn alone is replaced. In this paper we assume that Rn=Bn. Then, under mild conditions, it is shown that Zn→a.s.Z for some random variable Z, and Dn≔√n(Zn-Z)→𝒩(0,σ2) conditionally almost surely (a.s.), where σ2 is a certain random variance. Almost sure conditional convergence means that ℙ(Dn∈⋅|𝒢n)→w 𝒩(0,σ2) a.s., where ℙ(Dn∈⋅|𝒢n) is a regular version of the conditional distribution of Dn given the past 𝒢n. Thus, in particular, one obtains Dn→𝒩(0,σ2) stably. It is also shown that L<Z<U a.s. and Z has nonatomic distribution.
A generalization of the Mabinogion sheep problem of D. Williams
Authors: Lin Yi-Shen 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
In his well-known textbook Probability with Martingales, David Williams (1991) introduces the Mabinogion sheep problem in which there is a magical flock of sheep, some black, some white. At each stage n=1,2,..., a sheep (chosen randomly from the entire flock, independently of previous events) bleats; if this bleating sheep is white, one black sheep (if any remain) instantly becomes white; if the bleating sheep is black, one white sheep (if any remain) instantly becomes black. No births or deaths occur. Suppose that one may remove any number of white sheep from the flock at (the end of) each stage n=0,1,.... The object is to maximize the expected final number of black sheep. By applying the martingale optimality principle, Williams showed that the problem is solvable and admits a simple nice solution. In this paper we consider a generalization of the Mabinogion sheep problem with two parameters 0≤p, q≤1, denoted M(p,q), in which at each stage, when the bleating sheep is white (black, respectively), a black (white, respectively) sheep (if any remain) instantly becomes white (black, respectively), with probability p (q, respectively) and nothing changes with probability 1-p (1-q, respectively). Note that the original problem corresponds to (p,q)=(1,1). Following Williams' approach, we solve the two cases (p,q)=(1,1/2) and (1/2,1) which admit simple solutions.
A pathology of progress? Locating the historiography of cancer
Authors: Arnold-Forster Agnes 
Published: December 2016

Despite its prominent position in today's medical research, popular culture and everyday life, cancer's history is relatively unwritten. Compared to the other great ‘plagues’ – cholera, tuberculosis or tropical fevers, to name but a scant handful – cancer has few dedicated pages in the general surveys, and its specialists have largely failed to convince the broader community of medical historians – or indeed historians of anything at all – that histories of the disease can tell us fundamental things about the science and practice of medicine, both past and present. Moreover, cancer has a remarkably stable profile over time, at least in terms of its definition, language and terminology – a detail that only makes the disease's absence from historical literature more surprising.
Conscientious Objection in Healthcare and Moral Integrity
Authors: WICCLAIR MARK 
Published: December 2016

Abstract:There are several reasons for accommodating health professionals’ conscientious objections. However, several authors have argued that among the most important and compelling reasons is to enable health professionals to maintain their moral integrity. Accommodation is said to provide “moral space” in which health professionals can practice without compromising their moral integrity. There are, however, alternative conceptions of moral integrity and corresponding different criteria for moral-integrity-based claims. It is argued that one conception of moral integrity, the identity conception, is sound and suitable in the specific context of responding to health professionals’ conscientious objections and their requests for accommodation. According to the identity conception, one maintains one’s moral integrity if and only if one’s actions are consistent with one’s core moral convictions. The identity conception has been subject to a number of criticisms that might call into question its suitability as a standard for determining whether health professionals have genuine moral-integrity-based accommodation claims. The following five objections to the identity conception are critically examined: (1) it does not include a social component, (2) it is a conception of subjective rather than objective integrity, (3) it does not include a reasonableness condition, (4) it does not include any substantive moral constraints, and (5) it does not include any intellectual integrity requirement. In response to these objections, it is argued that none establishes the unsuitability of the identity conception in the specific context of responding to health professionals’ conscientious objections and their requests for accommodation.
Tolerance, Professional Judgment, and the Discretionary Space of the Physician
Authors: SULMASY DANIEL P. 
Published: December 2016

Abstract:Arguments against physicians’ claims of a right to refuse to provide tests or treatments to patients based on conscientious objection often depend on two premises that are rarely made explicit. The first is that the protection of religious liberty (broadly construed) should be limited to freedom of worship, assembly, and belief. The second is that because professions are licensed by the state, any citizen who practices a licensed profession is required to provide all the goods and services determined by the profession to fall within the scope of practice of that professional specialty and permitted by the state, regardless of any personal religious, philosophical, or moral objection. In this article, I argue that these premises ought to be rejected, and therefore the arguments that depend on them ought also to be rejected. The first premise is incompatible with Locke’s conception of tolerance, which recognizes that fundamental, self-identifying beliefs affect public as well as private acts and deserve a broad measure of tolerance. The second premise unduly (and unrealistically) narrows the discretionary space of professional practice to an extent that undermines the contributions professions ought to be permitted to make to the common good. Tolerance for conscientious objection in the public sphere of professional practice should not be unlimited, however, and the article proposes several commonsense, Lockean limits to tolerance for physician claims of conscientious objection.
Conscientious Objection and “Effective Referral”
Authors: TRIGG ROGER 
Published: December 2016

Abstract:Complicity in an immoral, and even criminal, activity, such as robbery or murder, is itself regarded as involving responsibility for those acts. What should the position be of health professionals who are expected to participate in actions that they believe are morally wrong? Professional responsibilities may clash with private conscience. Even referring a patient to someone else, when what is in question may be assisted suicide, or euthanasia, seems to involve some complicity. This is a live issue in Canada, but similar dilemmas occur elsewhere. Physicians and others should not be coerced into involvement of any kind in what they regard as wrong. Such coercion goes against the very principles of liberal democracy. Conscience matters. Reasonable accommodation should be given to those whose moral judgment may be at variance with prevailing professional norms. Moral questions should still be given weight within medicine, and disagreements respected. Dedication to the promotion of human welfare should be paramount, but it should be recognized that there may be different visions of what such welfare consists of.
Coupled molecular and isotopic evidence for denitrifier controls over terrestrial nitrogen availability
Authors: Lennon Erin F E , Houlton Benjamin Z 
Published: December 2016

AbstractDenitrification removes ecologically available nitrogen (N) from the biosphere and influences both the pace and magnitude of global climate change. Disagreements exist over the degree to which this microbial process influences N-availability patterns across Earth’s ecosystems. We combine natural stable isotope methods with qPCR to investigate how denitrifier gene abundance is related to variations in nitrate (NO3−) pool sizes across diverse terrestrial biomes and conditions. We analyze NO3− isotope composition (15N/14N, 18O/16O) and denitrifier gene nirS in 52 soil samples from different California ecosystems, spanning desert, chaparral, oak-woodland/savanna and forest. δ15N-NO3− correlates positively with δ18O-NO3− (P⩽0.03) and nirS abundance (P=0.00002) across sites, revealing the widespread importance of isotopic discrimination by soil denitrifiers. Furthermore, NO3− concentrations correlate negatively to nirS (P=0.002) and δ15N-NO3− (P=0.003) across sites. We also observe these spatial relationships in short-term (7-day), in situ soil-incubation experiments; NO3−-depletion strongly corresponds with increased nirS, nirS/16 rRNA, and enrichment of heavy NO3− isotopes over time. Overall, these findings suggest that microbial denitrification can consume plant-available NO3− to low levels at multiple time scales, contributing to N-limitation patterns across sites, particularly in moist, carbon-rich soils. Furthermore, our study provides a new approach for understanding the relationships between microbial gene abundance and terrestrial ecosystem functioning.
Plant–mediated horizontal transmission of Wolbachia between whiteflies
Authors: Li Shao-Jian , Ahmed Muhammad Z , Lv Ning , Shi Pei-Qiong , Wang Xing-Min , Huang Ji-Lei , Qiu Bao-Li 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
Maternal transmission is the main transmission pathway of facultative bacterial endosymbionts, but phylogenetically distant insect hosts harbor closely related endosymbionts, suggesting that horizontal transmission occurs in nature. Here we report the first case of plant-mediated horizontal transmission of Wolbachia between infected and uninfected Bemisia tabaci AsiaII7 whiteflies. After infected whiteflies fed on cotton leaves, Wolbachia was visualized, both in the phloem vessels and in some novel ‘reservoir’ spherules along the phloem by fluorescence in situ hybridization using Wolbachia-specific 16S rRNA probes and transmission electron microscopy. Wolbachia persisted in the plant leaves for at least 50 days. When the Wolbachia-free whiteflies fed on the infected plant leaves, the majority of them became infected with the symbiont and vertically transmitted it to their progeny. Multilocus sequence typing and sequencing of the wsp (Wolbachia surface protein) gene confirmed that the sequence type of Wolbachia in the donor whiteflies, cotton phloem and the recipient whiteflies are all identical (sequence type 388). These results were replicated using cowpea and cucumber plants, suggesting that horizontal transmission is also possible through other plant species. Our findings may help explain why Wolbachia bacteria are so abundant in arthropods, and suggest that in some species, Wolbachia may be maintained in populations by horizontal transmission.
Single-cell mass spectrometry reveals the importance of genetic diversity and plasticity for phenotypic variation in nitrogen-limited Chlamydomonas
Authors: Krismer Jasmin , Tamminen Manu , Fontana Simone , Zenobi Renato , Narwani Anita 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
Phenotypic variation is vital for microbial populations to survive environmental perturbations. Both genetic and non-genetic factors contribute to an organism’s phenotypic variation and therefore its fitness. To investigate the correlation between genetic diversity and phenotypic variation, we applied our recently developed mass spectrometry method that allows for the simultaneous measurement of more than 25 different lipids and pigments with high throughput in the unicellular microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We monitored the impact of nitrogen limitation on a genetically diverse wild-type strain CC-1690 and two isoclonal isolates from CC-1690 named ANC3 and ANC5. Measuring molecular composition of thousands of single cells at different time points of the experiment allowed us to capture a dynamic picture of the phenotypic composition and adaptation of the populations over time. Although the genetically diverse population maintained phenotypic variation over the whole time course of the experiment, the isoclonal cultures showed higher synchronicity in their phenotypic response. Furthermore, the genetically diverse population showed equal or greater phenotypic variation over the whole time range in multidimensional trait space compared with isoclonal populations. However, along individual trait axes non-genetic variance was higher in isoclonal populations.
Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV, a thermoacidophilic ‘Knallgas’ methanotroph with both an oxygen-sensitive and -insensitive hydrogenase
Authors: Mohammadi Sepehr , Pol Arjan , van Alen Theo A , Jetten Mike S M , Op den Camp Huub J M 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
Methanotrophs play a key role in balancing the atmospheric methane concentration. Recently, the microbial methanotrophic diversity was extended by the discovery of thermoacidophilic methanotrophs belonging to the Verrucomicrobia phylum in geothermal areas. Here we show that a representative of this new group, Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV, is able to grow as a real ‘Knallgas’ bacterium on hydrogen/carbon dioxide, without addition of methane. The full genome of strain SolV revealed the presence of two hydrogen uptake hydrogenases genes, encoding an oxygen-sensitive (hup-type) and an oxygen-insensitive enzyme (hhy-type). The hhy-type hydrogenase was constitutively expressed and active and supported growth on hydrogen alone up to a growth rate of 0.03 h−1, at O2 concentrations below 1.5%. The oxygen-sensitive hup-type hydrogenase was expressed when oxygen was reduced to below 0.2%. This resulted in an increase of the growth rate to a maximum of 0.047 h−1, that is 60% of the rate on methane. The results indicate that under natural conditions where both hydrogen and methane might be limiting strain SolV may operate primarily as a methanotrophic ‘Knallgas’ bacterium. These findings argue for a revision of the role of hydrogen in methanotrophic ecosystems, especially in soil and related to consumption of atmospheric methane.