bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
DG Planning with Amalgamation of Operational and Reliability Considerations
Authors: Battu Neelakanteshwar Rao , Abhyankar A. R. , Senroy Nilanjan 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Distributed Generation has been playing a vital role in dealing issues related to distribution systems. This paper presents an approach which provides policy maker with a set of solutions for DG placement to optimize reliability and real power loss of the system. Optimal location of a Distributed Generator is evaluated based on performance indices derived for reliability index and real power loss. The proposed approach is applied on a 15-bus radial distribution system and a 18-bus radial distribution system with conventional and wind distributed generators individually.
Classification and clinical characterization of metabolically “healthy” obese children and adolescents
Authors: Bervoets Liene , Massa Guy 
Published: February 2016

AbstractSome obese children do not show cardiometabolic complications such as prediabetes, dyslipidemia or insulin resistance. The objective of the study was to classify obese children and adolescents as metabolically “healthy” obese (MHO) on the basis of three different definitions, and to compare cardiometabolic features with metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) children and adolescents.The study included 156 obese children and adolescents aged between 10 and 18. Subjects were classified as MHO or MUO using three definitions based on the: (1) pediatric International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria; (2) homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR); (3) combination of the previous two definitions. Cardiometabolic features were compared between MHO and MUO subjects.Six to 19% obese children and adolescents were classified as MHO, and showed a better insulin sensitivity, lower prevalence of prediabetes, lower triglycerides and lower triglyceride-to-HDL-C ratio compared to MUO.Less than 20% obese children and adolescents are identified as MHO and show a healthier cardiometabolic profile as compared to MUO. Implementation of the proposed classifications in future clinical research could contribute towards the standardization of the MHO definition and offer new insights into the manifestation of the pediatric MHO phenotype.
Classification of stillbirths is an ongoing dilemma
Authors: Nappi Luigi , Trezza Federica , Bufo Pantaleo , Riezzo Irene , Turillazzi Emanuela , Borghi Chiara , Bonaccorsi Gloria , Scutiero Gennaro , Fineschi Vittorio , Greco Pantaleo 
Published: February 2016

AbstractAim:To compare different classification systems in a cohort of stillbirths undergoing a comprehensive workup; to establish whether a particular classification system is most suitable and useful in determining cause of death, purporting the lowest percentage of unexplained death.Methods:Cases of stillbirth at gestational age 22–41 weeks occurring at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Foggia University during a 4 year period were collected. The World Health Organization (WHO) diagnosis of stillbirth was used. All the data collection was based on the recommendations of an Italian diagnostic workup for stillbirth. Two expert obstetricians reviewed all cases and classified causes according to five classification systems.Results:Relevant Condition at Death (ReCoDe) and Causes Of Death and Associated Conditions (CODAC) classification systems performed best in retaining information. The ReCoDe system provided the lowest rate of unexplained stillbirth (14%) compared to de Galan-Roosen (16%), CODAC (16%), Tulip (18%), Wigglesworth (62%).Conclusion:Classification of stillbirth is influenced by the multiplicity of possible causes and factors related to fetal death. Fetal autopsy, placental histology and cytogenetic analysis are strongly recommended to have a complete diagnostic evaluation. Commonly employed classification systems performed differently in our experience, the most satisfactory being the ReCoDe. Given the rate of “unexplained” cases, none can be considered optimal and further efforts are necessary to work out a clinically useful system.
Relationship between first-trimester serum placental protein-13 and maternal characteristics, placental Doppler studies and pregnancy outcome
Authors: Seravalli Viola , Grimpel Yael Inna , Meiri Hamutal , Blitzer Miriam , Baschat Ahmet A. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractTo examine potential correlations between maternal serum placental protein-13 (PP-13) and first trimester maternal and placental factors, and to evaluate the association of this marker with adverse pregnancy outcome.Serum samples from prospectively enrolled patients between 11 and 13 weeks and 6 days were analyzed for PP-13 using an ELISA assay. The relationships between maternal serum PP-13 levels and gestational age, maternal age, ethnicity, parity, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), mean arterial blood pressure, uterine and umbilical artery Doppler parameters were examined. The association between first-trimester PP-13 levels and subsequent pre-eclampsia and delivery of a small for gestational age (SGA) neonate was also investigated, after excluding patients who received aspirin.In 908 patients, PP-13 levels ranged from 8.0 to 537.5 pg/mL. A significant negative correlation was identified between PP13 and BMI (Spearman rho –0.20, P<0.0001). Smoking significantly decreased PP-13 (P<0.01). No relationship was identified with the other parameters. In a subgroup of 668 low-risk patients who did not receive aspirin, PP-13 levels were not associated with development of pre-eclampsia, SGA or the combination of them.First-trimester PP-13 levels are significantly correlated with BMI and smoking. These correlations appear independent of uterine and umbilical artery resistance. In low risk patients, PP-13 levels fail to predict the risk for pre-eclampsia or SGA.
Temporal Prediction in lieu of Periodic Stimulation
Authors: Morillon Benjamin , Schroeder Charles E. , Wyart Valentin , Arnal Luc H. 
Published: February 2016

Predicting not only what will happen, but also when it will happen is extremely helpful for optimizing perception and action. Temporal predictions driven by periodic stimulation increase perceptual sensitivity and reduce response latencies. At the neurophysiological level, a single mechanism has been proposed to mediate this twofold behavioral improvement: the rhythmic entrainment of slow cortical oscillations to the stimulation rate. However, temporal regularities can occur in aperiodic contexts, suggesting that temporal predictions per se may be dissociable from entrainment to periodic sensory streams. We investigated this possibility in two behavioral experiments, asking human participants to detect near-threshold auditory tones embedded in streams whose temporal and spectral properties were manipulated. While our findings confirm that periodic stimulation reduces response latencies, in agreement with the hypothesis of a stimulus-driven entrainment of neural excitability, they further reveal that this motor facilitation can be dissociated from the enhancement of auditory sensitivity. Perceptual sensitivity improvement is unaffected by the nature of temporal regularities (periodic vs aperiodic), but contingent on the co-occurrence of a fulfilled spectral prediction. Altogether, the dissociation between predictability and periodicity demonstrates that distinct mechanisms flexibly and synergistically operate to facilitate perception and action.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTTemporal predictions are increasingly recognized as fundamental instruments for optimizing performance, enabling mammals to exploit regularities in the world. However, the notion of temporal predictions is often confounded with the idea of entrainment to periodic sensory inputs. At the behavioral level, it is also unclear whether perceptual sensitivity and reaction time improvements benefit the same way from temporal predictions and periodic stimulation. In two behavioral experiments on human participants, we find that periodic stimulation facilitates response readiness, whereas temporal predictions improve the precision of auditory processing. This latter effect arises regardless of the nature of temporal regularities (periodic vs aperiodic), but depends on the co-occurrence of a fulfilled spectral prediction.
The Disease Protein Tulp1 Is Essential for Periactive Zone Endocytosis in Photoreceptor Ribbon Synapses
Authors: Wahl Silke , Magupalli Venkat Giri , Dembla Mayur , Katiyar Rashmi , Schwarz Karin , Köblitz Louise , Alpadi Kannan , Krause Elmar , Rettig Jens , Sung Ching-Hwa , Goldberg Andrew F. X. , Schmitz Frank 
Published: February 2016

Mutations in the Tulp1 gene cause severe, early-onset retinitis pigmentosa (RP14) in humans. In the retina, Tulp1 is mainly expressed in photoreceptors that use ribbon synapses to communicate with the inner retina. In the present study, we demonstrate that Tulp1 is highly enriched in the periactive zone of photoreceptor presynaptic terminals where Tulp1 colocalizes with major endocytic proteins close to the synaptic ribbon. Analyses of Tulp1 knock-out mice demonstrate that Tulp1 is essential to keep endocytic proteins enriched at the periactive zone and to maintain high levels of endocytic activity close to the synaptic ribbon. Moreover, we have discovered a novel interaction between Tulp1 and the synaptic ribbon protein RIBEYE, which is important to maintain synaptic ribbon integrity. The current findings suggest a new model for Tulp1-mediated localization of the endocytic machinery at the periactive zone of ribbon synapses and offer a new rationale and mechanism for vision loss associated with genetic defects in Tulp1.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTMutations in the Tulp1 gene cause severe, early-onset retinitis pigmentosa (RP14) and Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA15) in human patients. In this study, we discovered that the phosphoinositol-4,5-bisphosphate-binding protein Tulp1 is essential for the structural and functional organization of the periactive zone in photoreceptor synapses. Using Tulp1 knock-out mice, we found that Tulp1 is required to enrich major endocytic proteins at the periactive zone next to the synaptic ribbon. We demonstrate that Tulp1 is needed to promote endocytic vesicle retrieval at the periactive zone. Moreover, we discovered a novel interaction between Tulp1 and the synaptic ribbon protein RIBEYE. This newly discovered disease-sensitive interaction provides a molecular model for the control of endocytosis close to the synaptic ribbon.
An Allometric Analysis of Sex and Sex Chromosome Dosage Effects on Subcortical Anatomy in Humans
Authors: Reardon Paul Kirkpatrick , Clasen Liv , Giedd Jay N. , Blumenthal Jonathan , Lerch Jason P. , Chakravarty M. Mallar , Raznahan Armin 
Published: February 2016

Structural neuroimaging of humans with typical and atypical sex-chromosome complements has established the marked influence of both Yand X-/Y-chromosome dosage on total brain volume (TBV) and identified potential cortical substrates for the psychiatric phenotypes associated with sex-chromosome aneuploidy (SCA). Here, in a cohort of 354 humans with varying karyotypes (XX, XY, XXX, XXY, XYY, XXYY, XXXXY), we investigate sex and SCA effects on subcortical size and shape; focusing on the striatum, pallidum and thalamus. We find large effect-size differences in the volume and shape of all three structures as a function of sex and SCA. We correct for TBV effects with a novel allometric method harnessing normative scaling rules for subcortical size and shape in humans, which we derive here for the first time. We show that all three subcortical volumes scale sublinearly with TBV among healthy humans, mirroring known relationships between subcortical volume and TBV among species. Traditional TBV correction methods assume linear scaling and can therefore invert or exaggerate sex and SCA effects on subcortical anatomy. Allometric analysis restricts sex-differences to: (1) greater pallidal volume (PV) in males, and (2) relative caudate head expansion and ventral striatum contraction in females. Allometric analysis of SCA reveals that supernumerary X- and Y-chromosomes both cause disproportionate reductions in PV, and coordinated deformations of striatopallidal shape. Our study provides a novel understanding of sex and sex-chromosome dosage effects on subcortical organization, using an allometric approach that can be generalized to other basic and clinical structural neuroimaging settings.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSex and sex-chromosome dosage (SCD) are known to modulate human brain size and cortical anatomy, but very little is known regarding their impact on subcortical structures that work with the cortex to subserve a range of behaviors in health and disease. Moreover, regional brain allometry (nonlinear scaling) poses largely unaddressed methodological and theoretical challenges for such research. We build the first set of allometric norms for global and regional subcortical anatomy, and use these to dissect out the complex, distributed and topologically organized patterns of areal contraction and expansion, which characterize sex and SCD effects on subcortical anatomy. Our data inform basic research into the patterning of neuroanatomical variation, and the clinical neuroscience of sex-chromosome aneuploidy.
Embedding a Panoramic Representation of Infrared Light in the Adult Rat Somatosensory Cortex through a Sensory Neuroprosthesis
Authors: Hartmann Konstantin , Thomson Eric E. , Zea Ivan , Yun Richy , Mullen Peter , Canarick Jay , Huh Albert , Nicolelis Miguel A. L. 
Published: February 2016

Can the adult brain assimilate a novel, topographically organized, sensory modality into its perceptual repertoire? To test this, we implemented a microstimulation-based neuroprosthesis that rats used to discriminate among infrared (IR) light sources. This system continuously relayed information from four IR sensors that were distributed to provide a panoramic view of IR sources, into primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Rats learned to discriminate the location of IR sources in <4 d. Animals in which IR information was delivered in spatial register with whisker topography learned the task more quickly. Further, in animals that had learned to use the prosthesis, altering the topographic mapping from IR sensor to stimulating electrode had immediate deleterious effects on discrimination performance. Multielectrode recordings revealed that S1 neurons had multimodal (tactile/IR) receptive fields, with clear preferences for those stimuli most likely to be delivered during the task. Neuronal populations predicted, with high accuracy, which stimulation pattern was present in small (75 ms) time windows. Surprisingly, when identical microstimulation patterns were delivered during an unrelated task, cortical activity in S1 was strongly suppressed. Overall, these results show that the adult mammalian neocortex can readily absorb completely new information sources into its representational repertoire, and use this information in the production of adaptive behaviors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTUnderstanding the potential for plasticity in the adult brain is a key goal for basic neuroscience and modern rehabilitative medicine. Our study examines one dimension of this challenge: how malleable is sensory processing in adult mammals? We implemented a panoramic infrared (IR) sensory prosthetic system in rats; it consisted of four IR sensors equally spaced around the circumference of the head of the rat. Each sensor was coupled to a microstimulating electrode placed in the somatosensory cortex of the rat. Within days, rats learned to use the prosthesis to track down items associated with IR light in their environment. This is quite promising clinically, as the largest demand for sensory prosthetic devices is in adults whose brains are already fully developed.
Functional Organization of the Parahippocampal Cortex: Dissociable Roles for Context Representations and the Perception of Visual Scenes
Authors: Baumann Oliver , Mattingley Jason B. 
Published: February 2016

The human parahippocampal cortex has been ascribed central roles in both visuospatial and mnemonic processes. More specifically, evidence suggests that the parahippocampal cortex subserves both the perceptual analysis of scene layouts as well as the retrieval of associative contextual memories. It remains unclear, however, whether these two functional roles can be dissociated within the parahippocampal cortex anatomically. Here, we provide evidence for a dissociation between neural activation patterns associated with visuospatial analysis of scenes and contextual mnemonic processing along the parahippocampal longitudinal axis. We used fMRI to measure parahippocampal responses while participants engaged in a task that required them to judge the contextual relatedness of scene and object pairs, which were presented either as words or pictures. Results from combined factorial and conjunction analyses indicated that the posterior section of parahippocampal cortex is driven predominantly by judgments associated with pictorial scene analysis, whereas its anterior section is more active during contextual judgments regardless of stimulus category (scenes vs objects) or modality (word vs picture). Activation maxima associated with visuospatial and mnemonic processes were spatially segregated, providing support for the existence of functionally distinct subregions along the parahippocampal longitudinal axis and suggesting that, in humans, the parahippocampal cortex serves as a functional interface between perception and memory systems.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe functional neuroanatomy of the parahippocampal cortex is still subject to considerable debate. Specifically, its relative contributions to visuospatial and mnemonic functions remain unclear. This study constitutes the first evidence for the existence of distinct information-processing properties along the parahippocampal longitudinal axis. Our findings implicate the posterior section of the parahippocampus in visuospatial perception and the anterior section in contextual mnemonic processes. Our study provides novel neuroanatomical information critical for understanding the diversity of the purported functions of the human parahippocampal cortex.
Human Hippocampal Structure: A Novel Biomarker Predicting Mnemonic Vulnerability to, and Recovery from, Sleep Deprivation
Authors: Saletin Jared M. , Goldstein-Piekarski Andrea N. , Greer Stephanie M. , Stark Shauna , Stark Craig E. , Walker Matthew P. 
Published: February 2016

Sleep deprivation impairs the formation of new memories. However, marked interindividual variability exists in the degree to which sleep loss compromises learning, the mechanistic reasons for which are unclear. Furthermore, which physiological sleep processes restore learning ability following sleep deprivation are similarly unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the structural morphology of human hippocampal subfields represents one factor determining vulnerability (and conversely, resilience) to the impact of sleep deprivation on memory formation. Moreover, this same measure of brain morphology was further associated with the quality of nonrapid eye movement slow wave oscillations during recovery sleep, and by way of such activity, determined the success of memory restoration. Such findings provide a novel human biomarker of cognitive susceptibility to, and recovery from, sleep deprivation. Moreover, this metric may be of special predictive utility for professions in which memory function is paramount yet insufficient sleep is pervasive (e.g., aviation, military, and medicine).SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSleep deprivation does not impact all people equally. Some individuals show cognitive resilience to the effects of sleep loss, whereas others express striking vulnerability, the reasons for which remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that structural features of the human brain, specifically those within the hippocampus, accurately predict which individuals are susceptible (or conversely, resilient) to memory impairments caused by sleep deprivation. Moreover, this same structural feature determines the success of memory restoration following subsequent recovery sleep. Therefore, structural properties of the human brain represent a novel biomarker predicting individual vulnerability to (and recovery from) the effects of sleep loss, one with occupational relevance in professions where insufficient sleep is pervasive yet memory function is paramount.
Defects in Motoneuron–Astrocyte Interactions in Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Authors: Zhou Chunyi , Feng Zhihua , Ko Chien-Ping 
Published: February 2016

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a motoneuron disease caused by loss or mutation in Survival of Motor Neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. Recent studies have shown that selective restoration of SMN protein in astrocytes partially alleviates pathology in an SMA mouse model, suggesting important roles for astrocytes in SMA. Addressing these underlying mechanisms may provide new therapeutic avenues to fight SMA. Using primary cultures of pure motoneurons or astrocytes fromSMNΔ7(SMA) and wild-type (WT) mice, as well as their mixed and matched cocultures, we characterized the contributions of motoneurons, astrocytes, and their interactions to synapse loss in SMA. In pure motoneuron cultures, SMA motoneurons exhibited normal survival but intrinsic defects in synapse formation and synaptic transmission. In pure astrocyte cultures, SMA astrocytes exhibited defects in calcium homeostasis. In motoneuron–astrocyte contact cocultures, synapse formation and synaptic transmission were significantly reduced when either motoneurons, astrocytes or both were from SMA mice compared with those in WT motoneurons cocultured with WT astrocytes. The reduced synaptic activity is unlikely due to changes in motoneuron excitability. This disruption in synapse formation and synaptic transmission by SMN deficiency was not detected in motoneuron–astrocyte noncontact cocultures. Additionally, we observed a downregulation of Ephrin B2 in SMA astrocytes. These findings suggest that there are both cell autonomous and non–cell-autonomous defects in SMA motoneurons and astrocytes. Defects in contact interactions between SMA motoneurons and astrocytes impair synaptogenesis seen in SMA pathology, possibly due to the disruption of the Ephrin B2 pathway.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAstrocytes have been implicated in various neurological diseases, including spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a childhood motoneuron disease. However, how bidirectional motoneuron–astrocyte communications may contribute to SMA disease mechanisms is unclear. Usingin vitroculture systems, we demonstrate that SMN deficiency affects both astrocytes and motoneurons, as well as their contact interactions, leading to defects in synapse formation and synaptic transmission onto motoneurons, probably through downregulation of Ephrin B2 expression in astrocytes. Our work suggests that defects in motoneuron–astrocyte interactions exacerbate SMA synaptic pathology and that therapeutic restoration of SMN should target multiple cell types, including astrocytes.