Questions: What is the relative influence of size, connectivity and disturbance history on plant species richness and assemblages of fragmented grasslands? What is the contribution of small fragments to the conservation of native species pool of the region?

Location: Tandilia's Range, Southern Pampa, Argentina.

Methods: Cover of plants was registered within 24 fragments of tall-tussock grassland remnants within an agricultural landscape using modified Whittaker nested sampling. We analysed the influence of site variables related to disturbance history (canopy height, litter thickness) and fragment variables (size, connectivity) on species richness (asymptotic species richness, slope of the species–area curve) as well as on species assemblages by multiple regressions analysis and canonical correspondence analyses, respectively. Cumulative area was used for analysing whether small fragments or large fragments are more important to species diversity in the landscape.

Results: Asymptotic species richness was significantly influenced by site variables, in particular by Paspalum quadrifarium's canopy height, but not by fragment variables. Species assemblages were also affected by site variables (12.2% of total variation), but no additional portion of the species assemblage variability was significantly explained by fragment size and connectivity. Sampling of several small fragments rendered more exotic and native species than sampling of few large fragments of the same total area.

Conclusions: Our results agree with previous studies reporting low sensitivity of species diversity to size and isolation of grassland fragments in fragmented landscapes and high sensitivity of species diversity to local variables. The higher capture of regional native species pool by small grassland fragments than by few larger ones of equivalent accumulated area highlights the value of small fragments for conservation.


We describe the architecture and development of the highest latitude coral reefs currently known on Earth, located in Japan at 34°N. The reefs are distributed within turbid inner bays and undergo winter sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) that fall to 13 °C, well below the generally accepted lower limit (18 °C in winter) of tropical coral reef formation. Despite low SSTs and high turbidity, coring indicates reefs ranging to 555 cm in thickness since ca. 4.3 k.y. ago. The reefs exhibit high adaptability to this extremely marginal environment. Variability of the Tsushima Warm Current and the Asian monsoon could have affected the evolution of these reefs. The corals are dominantly faviids, in contrast to Acropora and Porites that tend to dominate low-latitude, tropical-subtropical reefs. Defining the end of the distributional range, the reefs serve as baselines for understanding coral reef distribution along SST and turbidity gradients.


Abstract The transition from the dormant to the non-dormant state of a viable and mature seed can take place at low hydration by exposure to air-dry storage conditions (dry afterripening; AR). The events occurring during this loss of dormancy are of considerable physiological, ecological and agricultural interest. AR may be attributable to increased sensitivity to germination-stimulating factors and a widening of the temperature window for germination. Genetic, –omics and physiological studies on this mode of dormancy breaking provide support for a key role of the balance between gibberellin (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) metabolism and sensitivity. Recent evidence also supports a possible role for ethylene (ET) in this complex signalling network that is necessary for AR implementation. However, hormone-independent signals, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitrate (NO _{3}^{ - } ) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), also appear to be involved. The way in which hormone- and non-hormone-signalling pathways affects each other (cross-talk) is still under study. This review provides updated information on the programmes that overcome seed dormancy. Thus, we have reviewed: (1) the –omic status in dry seeds; (2) the relationship between temperature and nitrate signalling and AR; (3) alterations in ABA/GA synthesis and signalling; (4) the action of hormone molecules other than ABA and GA (i.e. ET, salicylic and jasmonic acids); and (5) participation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), NAD+ and protein carbonylation. Taken together, the acquisition and implementation of dry AR involve a complex signalling network that is difficult to disentangle.


Abstract. We explore a methodology to statistically downscale snowfall – the primary driver of surface mass
balance in Antarctica – from an ensemble of historical (1850–present day) simulations performed
with an earth system model over the coastal region of Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica).
This approach consists of associating daily snowfall simulations from a polar-oriented regional
atmospheric climate model at 5.5 km spatial resolution with specific weather patterns observed
over 1979–2010 CE with the atmospheric reanalyses ERA-Interim and ERA5. This association is
then used to generate the spatial distribution of snowfall for the period from 1850 to present day for
an ensemble of 10 members from the Community Earth System Model (CESM2). The new dataset of daily and
yearly snowfall accumulation based on this methodology is presented in this paper (MASS2ANT
dataset; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4287517; Ghilain et al., 2021). Based on a comparison
with available ice cores and spatial reconstructions, our results show that the spatio-temporal
distribution of snowfall is improved in the downscaled dataset compared with the CESM2
simulations. This dataset thus provides information that may be useful in identifying the large-scale
patterns associated with the local precipitation conditions and their changes over the past century.


This paper describes a stent which has been specifically designed to facilitate the identification of the ureters during lower urinary tract reconstruction. It has semi-rigid limbs which allow easy ureteric identification and a soft central portion which lies across the trigone without traumatising the ureteric orifices.


BACKGROUND
The selective reporting of a subset of the outcomes that had been originally reported to a registry is a potential threat to the validity of evidence-based medicine. The extent of selective reporting has not been described for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effectiveness of orthopaedic surgical interventions. The objective of this study was (1) to determine the percentage of orthopaedic surgical RCTs published in high-impact orthopaedic journals that were reported to have been registered, (2) to evaluate the consistency between the primary outcome measures recorded in the registry and those reported in the article, and (3) to evaluate whether selective reporting favored statistically significant outcomes.

METHODS
We searched PubMed for articles on RCTs assessing orthopaedic surgical interventions indexed from January 2010 through December 2014 and published in the ten orthopaedic journals with the highest impact factors. For every article in which the authors reported registration of the RCT, we extracted the number and nature of the outcome measures from the article and the corresponding information from the registry. We then evaluated the consistency between the primary outcome measures reported in the registry and those reported in the published article. Moreover, we evaluated whether selective reporting favored statistically significant outcomes.

RESULTS
Of the 362 articles on orthopaedic surgical RCTs, ninety (24.9%) reported that the RCT had been registered and thirty-four (37.8%) of the ninety had been registered adequately (registered before the study end with a clear description of the primary outcome measure and its time frame, with no substantial change after the study end). Twenty-six reports were eligible for our evaluation of the consistency between the registered primary outcome measures and those reported in the published article. This analysis identified one or multiple major discrepancies for fourteen articles, eight of which favored statistically significant results.

CONCLUSIONS
Few articles on orthopaedic surgical RCTs reported registration of the trial, and even fewer of these trials were registered adequately. Inconsistencies between registered primary outcome measures and those reported in the published articles, as well as selective outcome reporting favoring statistically significant outcomes, were prevalent.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Although trial registration is now the rule, it is currently far from optimal for orthopaedic surgical RCTs, and selective outcome reporting is prevalent. Full involvement of authors, editors, and reviewers is necessary to ensure publication of quality, unbiased results.


Abstract Guar Kepah is the only known prehistoric coastal habitation site along the Straits of Malacca, excluding those found in Sumatra. The site of Guar Kepah on the western coast of Malaysia is believed to have been situated on a stranded beach ridge and in close proximity to the Muda River during its period of human settlement. As such, this site is critical for examining long term coastal habitation during this time. In this paper, we examine prehistoric shoreline changes and Muda River shifts through time prior to assessing their degree of impacts on Guar Kepah using 2-Dimensional Resistivity Imaging (2-DRI). 2-DRI profiles show three soil layers composed of sandy-clay, shell, and sand over 4 m in depth. The layers deepen toward the west, in the direction of the shoreline. The physical characteristics of these layers indicate that people who settled Guar Kepah in the past lived in close proximity to the shoreline. Meanwhile, the trend of Muda River shifting also suggests that the river used to be further north than its current location. This indicates that human settlement at Guar Kepah was centered on the coast rather than the river. A strong correlation between shell middens at Guar Kepah and those around the world supports global coastal adaptation during the Holocene. As the only shell middens discovered in Malaysia, this study has potential for helping to track human migration, language, and population diversity in this part of Southeast Asia.


Ideal object detection result in an image is an optimal free shape sub-window that tightly covers the object of interest. However, the sub-windows considered in widely-used sliding window method are limited to rectangles. This paper proposed a new graph-theoretic method which allowed the detection sub-window to be any shape for object detection. Firstly, local features responses were calculated by using locality-constrained linear coding (LLC) technique. Then the proposed method take advantage of local feature response and boundary information to construct an objective function for the whole image and global optimal solution is obtained by graph cut algorithm. We provided results on two challenging object detection datasets, and demonstrated that the proposed method can obtained better spatial support and higher detection precision than existing sliding window method.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains (LRIG)-1 is an endogenous inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. LRIG1 is down-regulated in several forms of human cancer. The LRIG gene family also includes LRIG2 and LRIG3. EGFR signaling is important in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors are today considered standard treatment in patients with advanced disease. Since smoking recently was reported to down-regulate LRIG1 gene expression in lung epithelium and squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, the LRIG family of proteins may be important in lung cancer. The objective of the present study was to investigate if LRIG is a prognostic factor in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and if LRIG1 have any effects of lung cancer growth in vivo and in vitro.

In the present study we analyzed the LRIG protein expression by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray (TMA) from surgically treated patients with NSCLC (n=366). To study the effect of LRIG1 expression on tumor growth, an animal model was used. Transgenic mice with an inducible EGFR L858R mutation were crossbred with LRIG1 knockout mice and tumor growth was assessed with micro-MRI. The impact of ectopic LRIG1 expression on lung cancer cell proliferation was studied in vitro.

In the TMA, patients with high LRIG1 expression had a significantly longer median survival than negative cases (p=0.012). In the animal model, tumor progression was significantly faster in LRIG1 knockout mice 60 days after tumor induction (p=0.025) indicating that LRIG1 is of importance in the early tumor progression. Transient ectopic expression of LRIG1 inhibited lung cancer cell proliferation in vitro.

In summary, LRIG1 was a positive prognostic factor in lung cancer and LRIG1 expression inhibited lung cancer growth in vivo and in vitro. This suggests that LRIG1 is of biological importance in lung cancer and that further studies of LRIG1 as a biomarker and tumor suppressor in lung cancer are warranted.

Citation Format: Samuel Kvarnbrink, Karolina Edlund, Johan Botling, Patrick Micke, Roger Henriksson, Hakan Hedman, Mikael Johansson. The biological importance of LRIG1 in lung cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5199. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5199


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the clinical features and the surgical treatment outcomes of patients with tuberculous otitis media and mastoiditis.

METHODS
The medical records of 16 patients (18 ears) with tuberculous otitis media and mastoiditis, who received surgery in Beijing Tongren hospital, were reviewed.

RESULTS
The common symptoms were otorrhea and hearing loss, and 3 patients demonstrated severe sensorineural hearing loss. Three patients demonstrated a peripheral-type facial palsy. Temporal bone high resolution CT scans demonstrated the entire tympanum and mastoid air cells were occupied by soft tissue. Eleven patients demonstrated bone destruction and sequestra was found in 7 temporal bones. Contemporary pulmonary tuberculosis were diagnosed in 7 of the 16 patients. Surgical removal of disease lesions in combination with anti-tuberculosis treatment were given to 15 patients. Other than 2 cases of tuberculous otitis media and mastoiditis diagnosed by pre-operational biopsy through the perforated tympanic membrane, the remaining 14 cases were diagnosed intra-operatively or post-operatively. No relapse of tuberculosis in the middle ear and mastoid were found after follow-up for more than 1 year, except for the one case that was lost to follow-up. The 3 cases of facial nerve palsy almost recovered to normal.

CONCLUSIONS
Clinicians should suspect tuberculous otitis media and mastoiditis if clinical findings include refractory otorrhea, total occupation of the tympanic cavity and mastoid ari cells by soft tissue, and erosion of the bone or sequestra as shown by CT. A history of tuberculosis should be asked carefully in order to differentiate tuberculous otitis media and mastoiditis. The patients who received surgery and anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy achieved more rapid healing of the ear.


Myeloid neoplasms (MN) are usually sporadic late-onset cancers; nevertheless, growing evidence suggests that ~5% of the cases could emerge as a consequence of inherited predisposition. Indeed, the 2016 revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) includes hereditary myeloid malignancies (HMMs) as a separate disease entity. Distinguishing somatic from germline variants is of vital importance, in order to establish an appropriate individualized management and counsel the patients and their relatives. Germline tissues are required to discriminate HMMs alterations, but they are not always available for testing at the time of diagnosis; therefore additional strategies should be put in place in order to identify variants potentially conferring genetic predisposition to MN.
 The aim of the present work is to develop a tool to identify HMMs cases from tumour-only sequencing data. To this end, we reviewed tumor-only NGS reports from 299 cases of patients with myeloid malignancies sequenced with a custom Pan Myeloid Panel (PMP) that targets 48 genes, of which 21 are described in literature as HMM-associated genes. All patients signed a written informed consent form for genetic testing, research and tissue banking provided by the Biobank of the University of Navarra (UN) and were approved by the Ethical and Scientific Committees of the UN.
 Variant calling files (VCF) of the 299 cases were run through an algorithm aiming at identifying those variants suggestive of being of germline nature (Figure 1). We considered as indicative of potential inherited origin, variants detected in bone marrow samples at a ~50% VAF classified as pathogenic, likely pathogenic or of unknown significance. This first filter yielded 90 "likely HMMs" patients harboring a total of 104 suspicious of being germline variants affecting at least one of the 21 HMM-associated genes. Our algorithm included three additional filters: mutational patterns suggestive of germline nature of the variants, analysis of variant allele frequency (VAF) on follow up data, and sequencing of non-myeloid tissues (Figure 1).
 Firstly, we found 10 "likely HMMs" patients presenting double hit mutations in one of three genes: DDX41 (n=7), CEBPA (n=2) and RUNX1 (n=1). Additionally, there was available follow up data for 8 cases included in our cohort, harboring 11 suspicious variants. From them, VAFs in 4 variants affecting ASXL1, CBL, IKZF1 and GATA2 genes, drastically changed over time, indicating that those variants were somatic, whereas the other 7 variants affecting ASXL1 (n=2), DDX41 (n=2), IKZF1 (n=1), and RUNX1 (n=1) genes suspected to be germline maintained VAF ~50% with evident change of the accompanying variants over time. Finally, we collected non-myeloid tissue samples from 8 patients, harboring a total of 9 variants in ASXL1 (n=2), DDX41 (n=1), GATA2 (n=1), IKZF1 (n=1), NF1 (n=3), and SH2B3 (n=1) genes. Sequencing data confirmed germline nature of 6 of the 9 tested variants; 3 of the 6 germline variants have previously been shown to be linked to MN (DDX41 p.Asp140Glyfs*2 in UPN1, ASXL1 p.Gly967del in UPN11, and NF1 p.Met992del in UPN19). Of note, two of these bona-fide pathogenic germline mutations had been previously highlighted as potential germline variants when applying our criteria of mutational patterns and/or follow up data indicative of germline nature, in so showing the effectiveness of our algorithm (DDX41 in UPN1, and ASXL1 in UPN11).
 Regarding the usefulness of the different tissues, we found that skin fibroblasts, hair follicles and CD3+ T cells helped discriminating the nature of the variants; on the contrary, DNA from hair follicles showed poor DIN values and scarce DNA concentration. Similarly, DNA isolated from buccal swab showed in general poor quality metrics, and high level of contamination with tumour DNA in one case, proving it unsuitable for discrimination of the nature of the variants in some instances.
 Our data supports the importance of considering variants found upon tumor-only sequencing as potentially of germline origin, and we offer a pipeline to define the nature of the variants. We hope to provide insights for genetic laboratories facing this relatively new challenge of discriminating somatic from germline variants in tumor sequencing data.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The measured excess molar volume data in the recently published paper for the binary chloroform + ethyl acetoacetate system is shown to differ significantly from previously published data. Excess adiabatic compressibilities reported in the paper are shown to be calculated from an incorrect thermodynamic expression.


BACKGROUND
Gasless laparoscopy using abdominal wall lifting (AWL) has been developed in an attempt to avoid the adverse effects of carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum that may occur in conventional laparoscopy. However, lifting has been criticized for its poor operative space and surgical invasiveness. This study compared the AWL method with conventional CO2 pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic cholecystectomy with respect to operation performance, postoperative course, and stress response.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
During a 6-month period, 95 patients with symptomatic gallstones were randomly assigned to receive laparoscopic cholecystectomy with conventional CO2 pneumoperitoneum (CO2 group; N = 47) or the AWL method (AWL group; N = 48). Operative results and operative time were recorded. Cardiopulmonary functions were assessed, and arterial blood gases were analyzed during surgery. Urinary cortisol, vanillylmandelic acid, metanephrines, and nitrogen loss; serum complement 3, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6; postoperative pain; and the presence of nausea and vomiting were assessed for 48 hours after surgery. Postoperative time to recovery of flatus, tolerance of a full oral diet, and full activity were also determined.

RESULTS
Only three significant differences were found. First, intraoperative ventilatory function deteriorated significantly less in the AWL group. Second, arterial blood gas determinations and capnography showed a greater decrease in intraoperative arterial pH and compliance with CO2 retention and an increase in peak airway pressure in the CO2 group (P < 0.05), reflecting poorer ventilatory performance. Third, preparation time and total operating time were significantly greater with the AWL method (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Although AWL required a longer operation time, our results suggest that the technique may still have value in high-risk patients with cardiorespiratory diseases.


[Objective] To learn about the current situation and trends of novel coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-2019) in foreign countries [Methods] The data on confirmed COVID-2019 cases were collected between January 20, 2020 and February 18, 2020 and by age, sex, nationality, contact history, region, and country were performed stratified analysis and onset time analysis [Results]From January 20th to February 18th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-2019 abroad was 804 Excluding the 454 cases on the "Diamond Princess" cruise ship in Japan, the daily number of new cases fluctuated, showed a trend of rising first and then maintaining a steady trend The peak date for new cases was on February 1, with the number of cases reaching 26 The confirmed cases were mainly concentrated in Asian countries, but also distributed in Europe, North America, Oceania and Africa As of February 15, there was no more increase reported in the number of countries where confirmed cases occurred after reaching 25 Among these countries, Singapore, Japan, and Thailand were with the highest number of cases, with 77, 65, and 35 cases, respectively In accordance to available information on confirmed cases, the cases with history of exposure to confirmed cases were more than those with history of living or traveling in Hubei And more cases were non-Chinese nationalities, 40 years old and above, and males [Conclusion] The novel coronavirus has transmitted abroad, and produced second-generation cases Although the incidence is low abroad, its trend fluctuates greatly, so sufficient attention must be paid to the possibility of further transmission


The upsurge in the poultry products demand have made it indispensable for augmented supply of quality feed and nutrition to the poultry industry. The extreme use of antibiotics as growth promoters in poultry industry have outstretched the problems of microbial resistance to antibiotics and entry into the food chain, ultimately affecting the consumers. Thus, emphasis to enhance the immunity of birds is essential. This can be achieved with immune modulators and gut health promoting ingredients used as a supplement in the feed. Novel sources as microalgae can be a part of poultry feed ration, owing to its rich protein, essential amino acids, fatty acids profile and presence of bioactive molecules that have immunomodulation and gut health-enhancing properties. The current review emphasizes the need of immunomodulation and gut health in poultry industry and highlights specifically role of microalgae in immunomodulatory response and gut health improvement in birds.


Consumption of palatable foods high in refined carbohydrate has been implicated as a contributing factor to the epidemic levels of obesity. Such foods may disrupt appetite regulation in the hypothalamus through alterations in hunger and satiety signalling. This investigation examined whether a palatable high refined carbohydrate (HRC) diet with the potential to induce obesity was linked to modulation of serotonin and dopamine signalling within the hypothalamus of rats. Male Wistar rats were allowed ad libitum access to either a palatable refined carbohydrate enriched (HRC) diet or standard chow (SC). Visceral fat percentage was used as a measure of the animals' weight gain during the trial. Real-time PCR was applied to determine any variation in levels of expression of the serotonin (Slc6A4 or Sert) and dopamine transporter (Slc6A3 or Dat) genes. After 29 weeks, the HRC group showed a significant increase in visceral fat percentage accompanied by increased expression of Sert. Higher levels of circulating triglycerides were also seen. This investigation determined that a refined high carbohydrate diet is associated with visceral obesity, increased circulating lipids in the blood and distorted serotonergic signalling, which possibly alters satiety and hunger signals.


As a direct consequence of individuality, people typically differ in a number of medical, physical and socio-economic characteristics, for example by age, profession, severity of an accident in the workplace, time off work and speed of recovery. Groups of patients with resource needs, for example representing those who are a particular age or those who have had a particular injury, are usually considered as groups of patients with similar needs. In fact these groups are typically heterogeneous and require more detailed modelling for classification. Resulting resource needs and corresponding costs vary from person to person within each group.


This paper develops non-parametric rotation invariant CUSUMs suited to the detection of changes in the mean direction as well as changes in the concentration parameter of angular data. The properties of the CUSUMs are illustrated by theoretical calculations, Monte Carlo simulation and application to sequentially observed angular data from health science and astrophysics.


Kim Jong-il's abrupt death in December 2011 raises many questions. Will Kim Jong-un pull off the third-generation dynastic succession? Will there be policy changes? How should South Korea deal with North Korea? This essay seeks to answer these questions. Despite all the trappings of power, Kim Jong-un is not likely to wield real power. He is most likely to become a symbolic leader without real power or be dethroned by older leaders. Jang Song-taek, Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, may emerge North Korea's de facto leader. Kim Jong-un will not last long because the North Korean system has two fundamental flaws of power succession and dysfunctional economy. The destruction of the Kim dynasty will come from internal sources. South Korea policy toward the North should be based on two principles, that is, peaceful coexistence and tension reduction. As time passes, North Korea will either reform or fall. In the meantime, South Korea should proactively manage conflicts and reduce tensions with the North. Korean unification may come sooner than later. It's time for South Korea to prepare for unification, reconstruction, and reconciliation.


A controlled release profile of salicylic acid (SA) for transdermal administration has been developed. Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) blended preparations were used to prepare the membranes by solvent-casting technique. The release of the drug from the membranes was evaluated at in vitro conditions. The effects of PVA/PVP (v/v) ratio, pH, SA concentration and temperature were investigated. 60/40 (v/v) PVA/PVP ratio was found to be the best ratio for the SA release. Increase in pH and temperature was observed to increase the transport of SA. Instead of blending PVA with PVP, N-Vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VP) was grafted onto the PVA and the delivery performance for SA was compared with that of the blended PVA/PVP membranes. Grafted membranes gave higher transport percentages than the blended membranes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102:1244–1253, 2006


Multigene and genomic data sets have become commonplace in the field of phylogenetics, but many existing tools are not designed for such data sets, which often makes the analysis time‐consuming and tedious. Here, we present PhyloSuite, a (cross‐platform, open‐source, stand‐alone Python graphical user interface) user‐friendly workflow desktop platform dedicated to streamlining molecular sequence data management and evolutionary phylogenetics studies. It uses a plugin‐based system that integrates several phylogenetic and bioinformatic tools, thereby streamlining the entire procedure, from data acquisition to phylogenetic tree annotation (in combination with iTOL). It has the following features: (a) point‐and‐click and drag‐and‐drop graphical user interface; (b) a workplace to manage and organize molecular sequence data and results of analyses; (c) GenBank entry extraction and comparative statistics; and (d) a phylogenetic workflow with batch processing capability, comprising sequence alignment (mafft and macse), alignment optimization (trimAl, HmmCleaner and Gblocks), data set concatenation, best partitioning scheme and best evolutionary model selection (PartitionFinder and modelfinder), and phylogenetic inference (MrBayes and iq‐tree). PhyloSuite is designed for both beginners and experienced researchers, allowing the former to quick‐start their way into phylogenetic analysis, and the latter to conduct, store and manage their work in a streamlined way, and spend more time investigating scientific questions instead of wasting it on transferring files from one software program to another.


Thermogenic beige adipocytes are recognized as potential therapeutic targets for combating metabolic diseases. However, the metabolic advantages they offer are compromised with aging. Here, we show that treating mice with estrogen (E2), a hormone that decreases with age, to mice can counteract the aging- related decline in beige adipocyte formation when subjected to cold, while concurrently enhancing energy expenditure and improving glucose tolerance. Mechanistically, we find that nicotinamide phosphoribosyltranferase (NAMPT) plays a pivotal role in facilitating the formation of E2-induced beige adipocytes, which subsequently suppresses the onset of age-related ER stress. Furthermore, we found that targeting NAMPT signaling, either genetically or pharmacologically, can restore the formation of beige adipocytes by increasing the number of perivascular adipocyte progenitor cells. Conversely, the absence of NAMPT signaling prevents this process. In conclusion, our findings shed light on the mechanisms governing the age-dependent impairment of beige adipocyte formation and underscore the E2-NAMPT controlled ER stress as a key regulator of this process. Highlights Estrogen restores beige adipocyte failure along with improved energy metabolism in old mice. Estrogen enhances the thermogenic gene program by mitigating age-induced ER stress. Estrogen enhances the beige adipogenesis derived from SMA+ APCs. Inhibiting the NAMPT signaling pathway abolishes estrogen-promoted beige adipogenesis.


Urban planning in China, as well as in many other countries, is viewed as a distinctive governmental function, making strategic and land-use plans for urban development. In recent decades, the urbanization process has intensified, especially in densely populated countries in Asia. Urban centers have often grown faster than the planners' wildest imagination, creating an enormous amount of urban problems, such as congestion, traffic jams, infrastructure shortfalls, service inconveniences, and pollution. By reviewing the dynamics between urban planning models and urban development policy issues and priorities in Beijing, China's mega-capital city, this article demonstrates the importance of viewing urban planning as an essential component of public policy and the importance of striving for the better integration of planning and urban governance. The planning profession itself also needs to be innovated to enable domestic and international learning, to embrace planners with varying disciplinary backgrounds, and to use new and open planning methods. Only by so doing can planning truly lead to an urban formation of enduring utility, aesthetic beauty, and spatial justice that can offer a constantly refreshing urban experience.


The hand hygiene of workers in a number of chicken-, pig-, calf- and cattle slaughter-houses was investigated. The number of E. coli and salmonellae on hands was determined before and after washing hands in order to measure the washing effect on the number of these faecal bacteria. All workers examined carried E. coli on their hands during work. The average logarithmic E. coli count on hands before washing was about 5.0 in chicken-and calf-slaughter-houses, about 3.5 in pig-and 3.0 in cattle-slaughter-houses. Hand washing decreased the E. coli count per hand by about 1.5 log cycle. Salmonellae were isolated from the hands in chicken- (59 pos./145 samples), pig-(42 pos./116 samples) and calf-slaughter-houses (11 pos./68 samples). Even after washing salmonellae were found to be present. Generally 'normal' washing causes a considerable reduction in the number of transient bacteria on hands. The presence of E. coli and Salmonella after washing, however, indicates that the effectiveness of the procedure needs to be improved.


Catalogers have become fluent in information technology such as web design skills, HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), eXensible Markup Language (XML), and programming languages. The knowledge gained from learning information technology can be used to experiment with methods of transforming one metadata schema into another using various software solutions. This paper will discuss the use of eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) for repurposing, editing, and reformatting metadata. Catalogers have the requisite skills for working with any metadata schema, and if they are excluded from metadata work, libraries are wasting a valuable human resource.


Proteus penneri, formerly P. vulgaris biogroup 1, was recognized as a new species in 1982. This species is associated with clinical processes similar to those involving P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris and expresses similar pathogenic determinants. In clinical samples, P. penneri is mainly isolated from urine (50%), wound and soft tissue exudates (25%), and blood cultures (15%), mostly of nosocomial origin. Although P. penneri is easy to identify, it can be misidentified as P. vulgaris by automatic systems that do not include the indol test result in the identification process. This species has a characteristic susceptibility profile, essentially due to the production of the chromosomal inducible beta-lactamase HugA, which presents a high homology (86%) with CumA from P. vulgaris. HugA is inhibited by clavulanic acid and determines resistance to aminopenicillins and first- and second-generation cephalosporins, including cefuroxime, but does not affect cephamycins or carbapenems, and is inhibited by clavulanic acid. HugA is derepressed due to mutational processes in gene regulators, affecting the activity of cefotaxime and, to a much lesser extent, that of ceftazidime and aztreonam. This phenotype resembles the production of an extended spectrum beta-lactamase. Like other Proteus species, P. penneri is resistant to tetracyclines and should be considered resistant to nitrofurantoin.


Noise-activated escape of a particle out of a metastable well was treated by Kramers, who derived results covering the three cases of heavy damping, moderate damping, and extreme underdamping. In the case of extreme underdamping, the escape occurs through diffusive motion along the energy coordinate. We extend Kramers's treatment of this extremely underdamped case to cover a wider range of damping constants, taking into account that at energies just above the barrier peak and within the initial well, the distribution is controlled both by uphill diffusion in energy, and by the flow out of the well. This new result is compared with computer simulations of escape events for the case of Josephson junctions under constant current bias. In addition to a conventional simulation which initially puts the particles at the bottom of the well, a method is developed which requires simulation only in an energy range close to the peak of the barrier.


An experimental site devoted to the study of direct lightning impacts to lightning rods has been selected at the top of the Pic du Midi in the French Pyrénées. This site offers the exceptional opportunity of investigating lightning strokes to a complex structure of limited extension, intermediate between a large building at moderate altitude and a high-elevated structure such like the well-known instrumented telecommunication towers (Gaisberg, Peissenberg, Säntis or CN Tower). At the Pic du Midi, the famous astronomical Observatory offers a unique scientific environment for lightning observations. Among various experiments, we will devote this paper to that installed at the top of the so-called DIMM platform. Several scientific sensors are here installed, such like measurements of lightning current, electric field, highspeed video and related recordings. This will enable to characterize both lightning attachment to an instrumented rod and lightning detection network efficiency at high altitude (about 2,900 m).


This paper examines problems in the interpretation of attitude data which may arise when the dimensionality of the instrument and sources of heterogeneity in the population are ignored. As a specific example, the paper describes the development and analysis of an instrument designed to measure primary school children's liking of science-related activities. Careful analysis of the patterns of response to the questionnaire created some disquiet about the conventional methods used to collapse data from attitude scales. The results demonstrate that conclusions drawn from attitude measurement can be misleading when proper attention is not given to the structure of the instrument nor to the structure of the population from which the measurements are made.


This paper discusses the characteristics and influence of the teaching environment design of College Politics Course under the campus humanistic governance environment. Based on Rogers' humanistic theory in the campus humanistic governance environment, this paper designs the teaching environment of college politics course from the aspects of learning situation analysis, teaching method design, teaching content design, teaching objectives and process design, and teaching evaluation design. Through the way of scoring, we evaluate the impact of environmental design on teaching. Results. After the design of teaching environment, the scores of teachers were (8.21 ± 1.22), (7.84 ± 1.20), (9.25 ± 0.12), and (9.10 ± 0.51), respectively, in terms of vivid and intuitive teaching methods and means, method innovation, teacher-student interaction, and knowledge expansion. Students' scores were (8.65 ± 4.10), (8.52 ± 1.00), (9.33 ± 0.16), and (8.77 ± 0.54), respectively, and other teaching conditions were also improved. Conclusion. Based on the campus humanistic governance environment, designing the teaching environment of college politics course can effectively improve the teaching effect and teaching quality.


Measurements of gross photosynthesis; respiration, rate of net oxygen diffusion, and organic storage are reported for 7 microcosms maintained over periods of 5 to 7 months. Average rates of gross photosynthesis ranged from 0.86 to 1.69 g Oz/m2/day and were related to the amounts of inorganic nutrients added. Average final organic storage was equal to 35.6% of gross photosynthesis. Assumed photosynthetic quotients between 0.88 and 1.03 allowed the construction of oxygen budgets in which the total product of gross photosynthesis was accounted for. Some problems of establishing productive microcosms representing natural situations are also discussed.


This study evaluates the sensitivity of the surface albedo simulated by the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) to a set of Amazonian tropical rainforest canopy architectural and optical parameters. The parameters tested in this study are the orientation and reflectance of the leaves of upper and lower canopies in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) spectral bands. The results are evaluated against albedo measurements taken above the K34 site at the INPA (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia) Cuieiras Biological Reserve. The sensitivity analysis indicates a strong response to the upper canopy leaves orientation (χup) and to the reflectivity in the near-infrared spectral band (ρNIR,up), a smaller sensitivity to the reflectivity in the visible spectral band (ρVIS,up) and no sensitivity at all to the lower canopy parameters, which is consistent with the canopy structure. The combination of parameters that minimized the Root Mean Square Error and mean relative error are χup = 0.86, ρVIS,up = 0.062 and ρNIR,up = 0.275. The parameterizations performed resulted in successful simulations of tropical rainforest albedo by IBIS, indicating its potential to simulate the canopy radiative transfer for narrow spectral bands and permitting close comparison with remote sensing products.


The main terms of reference for the The ICES Working Group for the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK) were: to update, quality check and report relevant data for the working group, to update and audit the assessment and forecasts of the stocks, to produce a first draft of the advice on the fish stocks and to prepare planning for bench-marks in future years.. Ecosystem changes have been analytically considered in the assessments for cod, haddock and whiting in the form of varying natural mortalities estimated by the ICES Working Group on Multi Species Assessment Methods (WGSAM)...


It certainly sounds that you've gone the extra mile to make the oral sex situation rosier between you and your boyfriend. Some dietary changes may affect the natural balance of chemicals in vaginal fluids, and sweeter oral sex may also be possible by incorporating some delectable sex products into your routine. While these options are ripe for exploring, some deep discussing and soul-searching about your natural smell and taste may also be in order.


Lysophospholipase1 (LYPLA1) also known as acyl‑protein thioesterase1 (APT1) belongs to the superfamily of α/β hydrolase. It has been found to have the properties of a homodimer by manifesting depalmitoylation as well as lysophospholipase activity. LYPLAs are under the control of both microRNAs, miR‑138 and miR‑424. They were observed to be significantly overexpressed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. To date, LYPLAs are the sole enzymes recognized to activate depalmitoylation. In this study, we provide the expression pattern of LYPLA1 in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using four different NSCLC cell lines. Western blot analysis and RT‑PCR were performed to detect the protein expression and mRNA expression of LYPLA1 in NSCLC cell lines. We detected the highest LYPLA1 protein expression level in SPC‑A‑1 cells followed by A549 cells, and the highest LYPLA1 mRNA expression level was detected in the SPC‑A‑1 cells followed by the H1299 cell line. We found that suppression of LYPLA1 expression using small‑interfering RNA significantly inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of the LYPLA1‑transfected NSCLC cells. Furthermore, we explored the involvement of LYPLA1 in the regulation of epithelial‑mesenchymal transition (EMT). The epithelial marker E‑cadherin was significantly increased, while mesenchymal markers N‑cadherin, vimentin and SNAIL were markedly decreased in the LYPLA1‑silenced cells. Collectively the results of the present study suggest that the LYPLA1 gene plays a tumor‑promotor role in NSCLC cells in vitro.


When solid bodies contact and slide against each other, the frictional phenomenon occurs. The origin of the related frictional force is studied by assuming the existence of two clean crystal surfaces, which follows the current experimental trends. This study theoretically clarifies the atomistic origin of the frictional force intrinsically generated by the molecular interactions between the constituent atoms of solids, but not the force extrinsically generated by surface asperities, the existence of foreign atoms, etc. Furthermore, this study assumes that the constituent atoms of the two contacting surfaces interact with each other due to the interaction potential. This study found that there are two origins: atomistic locking and dynamic locking. Atomistic locking occurs when the configuration of the atoms on a contact surface continuously changes with the sliding distance and when the interatomic potentials have an arbitrary strength. In contrast, dynamic locking occurs when the configuration discontinuously changes due to the dynamic process and if the interatomic potential is stronger than a specific given value. A criterion is derived for the occurrence of dynamic locking. From studying various systems, it can be seen that dynamic locking is unlikely to occur in realistic systems. The frictional forces due to atomistic locking are calculated for \ensuremath{\alpha}-iron. One other important finding prior to the experiments is that certain unique cases exist where the frictional force exactly vanishes if completely clean solid surfaces are prepared.


ABSTRACT Specialty workers are a source of critical, locally scarce technical skills. This study aimed to understand the experience of work-family conflict among specialty workers in the US by exploring the process of transitioning from working in their home countries to working in the US. While participants perceived initial difficulties in adapting to the new environment, over time, they experienced lower work-family conflict in the US compared to working in their own home countries. In their home countries, where work and family domains were considered separate and culturally defined boundaries separating these domains are rigidly maintained; these participants relied heavily on family support to manage work-family conflict. Moving to the US, where greater integration of work and family domains is prevalent, these participants managed work-family conflict by revisiting altered demands, accessing alternate organizational resources and learning new skills to create and maintain work-family boundaries. This study contributes to the nascent body of literature on work-family relations in the context of international migration by highlighting a specific case of Indian specialty workers who adopt different boundary-spanning strategies to manage work-family conflict in changed social and working conditions. In essence, participants managed work-family conflict by using enhanced autonomy to increase flexible working and accessing other resources such as supervisory support and organizational flexible working policies.


Virtual Reality becomes more and more important within the product development process. It enables the engineer to realize constraints or mistakes in the product design at a very early stage by viewing the digital geometric prototype. Beside viewing the design of a product, additional functionalities like simulation of assembling, the physically correct behavior of a machine or the machine control come into focus of interest. Therefore, the interaction modality of haptic feedback gains more and more importance for simulation tasks in virtual environments. However there are only a few portable haptic interfaces with which the user can experience in a natural way the sensation of force feedback. The scope of this paper is to present a new passive haptic interface that is lightweight and easy to use. Furthermore it has no constraints in the workspace and applies high forces to the fingertips of the user by blocking the natural grasping.


High-dimensional data are common in many domains, and dimensionality reduction is the necessary to cope with the curseof-dimensionality. This phenomenon states that an enormous number of samples is required to perform accurate predictions on problems with high dimensionality. Dimensionality reduction, which extracts a small number of features by removing irrelevant, redundant, and noisy information, can be an effective solution. Different statistical methods for dimensionality reduction have been proposed in recent years and various research groups have reported contradictory results when comparing them. The commonly used dimensionality reduction techniques include supervised approaches such as Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), and unsupervised ones such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and additional spectral and manifold learning methods. When class labels are available, the supervised approaches such as LDA are generally more effective than the unsupervised ones like PCA for classification. This paper aims at the review of two most widely used dimensionality reduction techniques, PCA and LDA. Based on this a way ahead will be presented to facilitate research and development in sediment classification.


Second‐harmonic generation (SHG) is induced in molecular crystals by the variation through the surface region of the electric fields associated with the optical wave and with the permanent electric multipole moments of the molecules. It arises from the molecular first hyperpolarizability, whether permanent or induced by electric fields at noncentrosymmetric sites in the bulk crystal or at sites in the surface region where centrosymmetry is lost. Algebraic expressions suitable for iterative numerical evaluation are derived for the molecular response coefficients as affected by the multipole fields in the surface region. Detailed expressions are then derived for the surface second‐harmonic generation in terms of the spatially varying molecular response and a microscopic expression that is derived for the variation of optical electric field through the surface region. The treatment does not require the introduction of a surface dielectric constant but incidentally yields a microscopic expression for it. The ...


Measurements and illustrations of populations of Xiphinema chambersi Thorne, 1939 from Florida are provided, X. naturale sp,n" also from Florida, is described, Both species are characterized by isoelectrofocusing of superoxide dismutase isoforms profile and by genomic DNA PCR amplification with the ITS primers and digestion of the amplification products with restriction enzymes. X. cbambersi and X. naturale sp,n, are medium size (2 to 3 mm) mono delphic species with anterior vulva (V=23-25%) and elongate, conical tail.


We consider the recently proposed notion of serialisability of semantics for abstract argumentation frameworks.

This notion describes a method for the serialised non-deterministic construction of extensions through iterative addition of non-empty minimal admissible sets.

Depending on the semantics, the task of enumerating all extensions for an argumentation framework can be computationally complex.

Serialisability provides a natural way of parallelising the construction of extensions for most admissible-based semantics.

In this work, we investigate the feasibility of using the serialisable construction scheme for a more efficient enumeration of extensions on the example of the recently introduced unchallenged semantics and provide an experimental evaluation.


BACKGROUND
Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) is currently the standard approach for resection of a normal-sized spleen. However, this method becomes technical challenge in cases of splenomegaly due to intraoperative hemorrhage. A complete understanding of the splenic vessel anatomy is important to facilitate the difficult laparoscopic procedure. In this retrospective study, we examined the role of color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) in splenic vessel anatomy and evaluated its value for LS.

METHODS
Forty-eight patients who underwent splenectomy for various hematologic and autoimmune disorders from May 2004 to December 2007 were enrolled in this study. Twenty-three patients underwent preoperative CDFI examination that included examination of the anatomic type of splenic pedicle, the adjacent relationship between the splenic vessel and pancreas, and spleen size (CDFI group). In the remaining 25 patients, ultrasonic inspections of the splenic vessel were not performed (non-CDFI group). Laparoscopic splenectomies in the CDFI group were performed in accordance with the information provided by the preoperative CDFI in each patient. In the non-CDFI group, LS was performed according to the conventional method. In the CDFI group, the constituent ratios of the above-mentioned parameters by CDFI were compared with those recorded during LS using the chi square test. The effectiveness of the technique on surgery in both groups was compared with an independent sample Student's t test.

RESULTS
All laparoscopic splenectomies in both groups were performed successfully. However, 2 cases in the non-CDFI group were converted to LS with the assistance of micro-incision because the branches of the splenic vein were inadvertently torn. Two anatomic types of splenic pedicle and four different adjacent relationships between the splenic vessel and pancreas were detected by CDFI. About 80% of spleens fit the criteria of megalosplenia. There were no statistically significant differences between the constituent ratios of the parameters by CDFI and those by intraoperative telerecording in the CDFI group (chi(2) = 0.383, 1.072, 0.119, P = 0.536, 0.784, 0.730). However, statistically significant differences were observed in the operative time ((158.70 +/- 42.51) minutes vs (200.65 +/- 47.89) minutes, P = 0.003), intraoperative blood loss ((55.87 +/- 17.36) ml vs (101.83 +/- 62.21) ml, P = 0.001), and recovery time of gastrointestinal function ((24.39 +/- 8.88) hours vs (30.60 +/- 9.45) hours, P = 0.024) between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The individual operative route and schedule can be successfully determined on the basis of various kinds of reproducible anatomic frameworks of the spleen provided by preoperative CDFI. This technique facilitates the surgical procedure, shortens the operative time, reduces intraoperative blood loss and decreases the risk of LS in splenomegaly cases.


Treatment decisions in the prevention and management of coronary heart disease (CHD) often require knowledge about the level of risk. Risk is defined as the probability of encountering a particular event. Information about risk is obtained from cohort studies or other longitudinal studies such as randomised controlled trials. In these studies, risk is simply the incidence of the event in a particular group. For example, the risk (or probability) of death associated with coronary angiography is 0.1% (or 1 in 1000).1 This is termed the absolute risk.

In order to inform clinical decisions, it is often useful to compare the absolute risk in two or more groups having different exposures or different treatments (including treatment versus no treatment). The two main measures we use when comparing risk are attributable risk (risk difference) and relative risk (risk ratio).

Attributable risk measures the excess risk accounted for by exposure to a particular factor.2 This is simply the difference between the absolute risks in the two groups. The term attributable risk is most commonly used in epidemiological studies. In the clinical environment, when comparing a particular treatment with placebo for example, the excess risk associated with treatment (attributable risk) may well be negative, if the treatment is beneficial. This is therefore termed an absolute risk reduction. Absolute risk reduction …


The popular perception concerning Norway's particular commitment to peace and impartiality in international politics has from time to time been bracketed by the fact that the country has no colonial past. Such an understanding fails to address Norway's rise to a major position in the global shipping system and maritime trade during the colonial era and that this economic expansion had only been possible due to Britain's liberal trade policy and imperial rule. The article shows that reliance on Britain's global leadership moulded Norway's vision of the emerging international order in the aftermath of World War I and was one of the most crucial arguments for the country to become a member of the League of Nations. It argues that Norway's advocacy of free trade as a key to international peace in the interwar period has to be seen in the light of the country's commercial interests and assumptions about Britain's civilizing mission.


the trend in hydraulic power applications is to improve efficiency and performance of the hydraulic system parts. This paper examines the performance of direct operated relief valve type(DPR06). A mathematical model is derived that describes the dynamics of a single stage relief valve embedded within a simple hydraulic circuit. The aim is to capture the mechanisms of instability of such valves, taking into account of oil compressibility. The model is simulated using MATLAB / SIMULINK model (R2007). This report contains the assumptions, variables, mathematical modeling and analysis involved in modeling and simulating pressure relief valve.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Purpose of Study: Psoriasin (S100A7) is a small 11 kDa calcium binding protein which is highly expressed in invasive breast carcinomas and high grade ductal carcinoma in situ. It has also been shown to be associated with ER-α negative phenotypes. However, not much is known about how S100A7 regulates tumor growth and metastasis in ER-α negative breast tumors. Here we elucidate S100A7-mediated effects in breast tumorogenesis.

Methods: We studied EGF and IGF-mediated cell migration and cell motility in vitro in S100A7 overexpressing MDA-MB-231 cells by standard assays. For in vivo metastasis, luciferase positive MDA-MB-231-S100A7 or vector cells were injected intracardially in mice and monitored weekly by bioluminescence imaging (BLI). To study the role of S100A7 in mammary tumorogenesis, we generated MMTV-rtTA/S100A7/A15 transgenic mice which expressed S100A7/A15 in mammary glands under doxycycline induction (1g/kg). Mammary glands were isolated and stained for carmine, H&E and immunostaining according to the standard protocols.

Results: We have observed significant increase in EGF-induced migration and wound healing of MB-231-S100A7 compared to vector control. This effect on cell migration/motility was further associated with sustained EGF-induced phosphorylation of EGFR, AKT and ERK. Furthermore, we observed that IGF-1-induced cell migration, cell motility and cell proliferation were significantly enhanced in MB-231-S100A7 cells relative to control. We have also shown that IGF/IGFR-mediated signaling is enhanced in MB-231-S100A7 cells. Furthermore, microarray analysis of MB-231-S100A7cells showed enhanced expression of several target genes involved in metastasis such as MMPs and cell cycle-associated genes. We confirmed the expression of these genes in MB-231-S100A7 cells by Western blot analysis. Since S100A7 has Jab-1 binding site, we studied the effect of IGF or EGF on Jab-1, EGFR and IGFR association. We observed enhanced association of EGFR/IGFR with Jab-1 in MB-231-S100A7 cells compared to control. In in vivo mouse model system, we observed enhanced metastasis in mice injected with luc-MB-231-S100A7 cells, compared to vector controls. To further investigate the role of S100A7 in mammary tumorigenesis, we used MMTV-rtTA/S100A7/A15 transgenic mouse model system. We observed significant increase in mammary hyperplasia in doxycycline-induced mice compared to uninduced group.

Conclusion: These data suggest that S100A7 plays a major role in breast cancer progression as well as metastasis that is likely mediated by its association with Jab-1. Further, S100A7/A15 plays a role in initiation and progression of mammary tumorogenesis. Thus, interference with S100A7 functions may provide a novel approach for the treatment of breast cancer.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3949.


We consider a magnet with uniaxial anisotropy in an external magnetic field along the anisotropy direction, but with a field magnitude smaller than the coercive field. There are three representative magnetization configurations corresponding to three extrema of the free energy. The equilibrium and metastable configurations, which are magnetized approximately parallel and antiparallel to the applied field, respectively, both correspond to local free-energy minima. The third extremum configuration is the saddle point separating these minima. It is also called the transition state for magnetization reversal. The free-energy difference between the metastable and transition-state configurations determines the thermal stability of the magnet. However, it is difficult to determine the location of the transition state in both experiments and numerical simulations. Here it is shown that the computational Projective Dynamics method, applied to the time dependence of the total magnetization, can be used to determine the transition state. From large-scale micromagnetic simulations of a simple model of magnetic nanowires with no crystalline anisotropy, the magnetization associated with the transition state is found to be linearly dependent on temperature, and the free-energy barrier is found to be dominated by the entropic contribution at reasonable temperatures and external fields. The effect of including crystalline anisotropy is also discussed. Finally, the influence of the spin precession on the transition state is determined by comparison of the micromagnetic simulations to kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of precession-free (overdamped) dynamics.We consider a magnet with uniaxial anisotropy in an external magnetic field along the anisotropy direction, but with a field magnitude smaller than the coercive field. There are three representative magnetization configurations corresponding to three extrema of the free energy. The equilibrium and metastable configurations, which are magnetized approximately parallel and antiparallel to the applied field, respectively, both correspond to local free-energy minima. The third extremum configuration is the saddle point separating these minima. It is also called the transition state for magnetization reversal. The free-energy difference between the metastable and transition-state configurations determines the thermal stability of the magnet. However, it is difficult to determine the location of the transition state in both experiments and numerical simulations. Here it is shown that the computational Projective Dynamics method, applied to the time dependence of the total magnetization, can be used to determine...


mRNA translation is the most energy-consuming process in the cell and strongly correlates with cellular metabolic activity. Translation and energy metabolism play important roles in homeostatic cell growth and proliferation, and when dysregulated lead to cancer. eIF4E is a key regulator of translation, which promotes oncogenesis by selectively enhancing translation of a subset of tumor-promoting mRNAs (e.g., cyclins and c-myc). PI3K/AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, which are strongly implicated in cancer etiology, exert a number of their biological effects by modulating translation. The PI3K/AKT pathway regulates eIF4E function by inactivating the inhibitory 4E-BPs via mTORC1, whereas MAPKs activate MAP kinase signal-integrating kinases 1 and 2, which phosphorylate eIF4E. In addition, AMP-activated protein kinase, which is a central sensor of the cellular energy balance, impairs translation by inhibiting mTORC1. Thus, eIF4E plays a major role in mediating the effects of PI3K/AKT, MAPK, and cellular energetics on mRNA translation.


The light environment provides signals that play a critical role in the control of stem growth in plants. The reduced irradiance and altered spectral composition of shade light promote stem growth compared with unfiltered sunlight. However, whereas most studies have used seedlings exposed to contrasting but constant light treatments, the natural light environment may exhibit strong fluctuations. As a result of gaps in the canopy, plants shaded by neighbours may experience sunflecks, i.e., brief periods of exposure to unfiltered sunlight. Here, we show that sunflecks are perceived by phytochromes A and B, and inhibit hypocotyl growth in Arabidopsis thaliana mainly if they occur during the final portion of the photoperiod. By using forward and reverse genetic approaches we found that ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5, LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL, PHYTOCHROME KINASE SUBSTRATE 4 and auxin signalling are key players in this response.


The typhlocybine leafhoppers of Rwenzori National Park, a famous game area of Uganda were partly described by Einyu & Ahmed (1979 a, b, c). The present description consists of six new species of Erythroneurini from the same area. These are Molopopterus ishashaensis, fmbecilla rhyncosiae, Accacidia kenyii, Accacidia chamburasca, Helionidia indigoferae and Lamtoana hoslundiae.


To elucidate the principal of orthogonal factor analysis, using an example of factor analysis of metabolic syndrome. The basic structures and the fundamental concepts of orthogonal factor analysis were introduced and data involving 1877 women aged of 35-65 years, selected from a cross-sectional study, which was conducted in 1998 - 2001 in Shanghai, were included in this study. Factor analysis was carried out using principle components analysis with Varimax orthogonal rotation of the components of the metabolic syndrome. The different components of the metabolic syndrome were not linked closely with the other components and loaded on the six different factors,which mainly reflected by the variables of obesity, blood pressure, plasma glucose, plasma insulin, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol respectively. Six major factors of the metabolic syndrome were uncorrelated with each other and explained 86% of the variance in the original data. The factor score and total factor score for the individual could be obtained according to the component score coefficient matrix. Although the components of the metabolic syndrome were related statistically, the finding of six factors suggested that the components of the metabolic syndrome did not show high degrees of intercorrelation. As a linear method of data reduction, the mode reduced a large set of measured intercorrelation variables into a smaller set of uncorrelated factors, which explained the majority of the variance in the original variables. Factor analysis was well suited for revealing underlying patterns or structure among variables showing high degrees of intercorrelation.


This thesis attempts to show how artificial neural networks can be used to implement computer monitoring systems based on internal state in the operating system running on the computer. Through experiments it will show how to implement such a system for Linux and show that this is a viable method for computer system monitoring. Through exposing the frequencies of system call invocations in the Linux kernel, the neural network will attempt to classify the system state according to training.


Mapping where an object has been is a fundamental challenge for human health, commerce, and food safety. Location-specific microbes offers the potential to cheaply and sensitively determine object provenance. We created a synthetic, scalable microbial spore system that identifies object provenance in under one hour at meter-scale resolution and near single spore sensitivity, and that can be safely introduced into and recovered from the environment. This system solves the key challenges in object provenance: persistence in the environment, scalability, rapid and facile decoding, and biocontainment. Our system is compatible with SHERLOCK, facilitating its implementation in a wide range of applications.


The influence of interplanetary shock waves on energetic charged particles is studied in this work. Emphasis is given to the acceleration of protons in almost perpendicular shock waves (the angle ψ between the shock normal and the upstream magnetic field being greater than about 80°). The special case of protons accelerated in ideal perpendicular shock waves is treated analytically. The protons gain energy by repeated crossings of the shock front until they are finally permanently transmitted downstream. The resulting energy gain complies with the conservation of the first adiabatic invariant. It is found that the times required by protons to reach a given relative energy gain at the shock front are longer for higher proton energies. In about 3 min a 0.3-MeV proton has almost tripled its energy at a shock front of strength 3, whereas a 10-MeV proton has barely started gaining some energy in the same time interval. The acceleration of protons by reflection at oblique shock waves as well as the required times is also examined: significant energy gains are found for ψ greater than about 80°, increasing with ψ. Intensive acceleration of protons thus occurs when the upstream interplanetary magnetic field is almost parallel to the shock front. However, because of the directional magnetic fluctuations that characterize the interplanetary medium the magnetic field vector ahead of the shock stays almost parallel to the front for only a short time (a few minutes, in general). This time is enough for the low-energy protons (Ep ≲1 MeV) to be accelerated to about 2–3 times their original energy but not enough for the high-energy protons (Ep > 10 MeV) to be noticeably affected by the shock wave. This result explains the absence of 'spike' events from the high-energy proton observations. The intensity and energy spectrum variations of a given proton population interacting with a perpendicular shock wave are also obtained theoretically as functions of time. It is found that a softer spectrum results after the intense acceleration in perpendicular shock fronts; also, large intensity enhancements created within a few minutes are predicted that can account for the observed impulsive low-energy storm proton events (spikes or LESP's). Simultaneous low-energy proton (Ep > 0.3 MeV) and magnetic field observations from July 1967 to December 1970 by the Iowa particle experiments and the Ames magnetometers on board the satellites Explorer 33 and 35 are analyzed, and the experimental results are found to be in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. Large spike events are observed only in association with almost perpendicular shock waves. On the other hand, oblique shock waves are associated only with weak spike events, which can be accounted for by sweeping and albedo acceleration.


This paper presents a knowledge discovery system based on rough sets and attribute-oriented generalization and its application to medicine. Diagnostic rules and information on attributes are extracted from clinical databases on diseases of congenital anomaly. The induced results show that this method extracts experts' knowledge correctly and it also discovers that symptoms observed in six positions (eyes, noses, ears, lips, fingers and feet) play important roles in differential diagnosis.


Summary The motions of the respiratory movement of the diaphragms were filmed and the character of the motion was evaluated. The line-spread function of a motionless line source was compared with that of a moving source (for two kinds of motion: regular and harmonic). Similar calculations were made for increasing the motion amplitudes of the source and for different values of static resolution. The final dynamic resolution was calculated. The results show that when respiratory motion exceeds 13 mm (which happens in about 50% of clinical examinations) the resolution decreases by more than 25% so that it is necressary to use special methods of eliminating these artefacts.


The invention provides a separate item type security network platform, comprising a general control device, an information storage module, a security verification device, a network service module and an exchanger module. The information storage module, the security verification device, the network service module and the exchanger module are in a circuit connection with the general control device; an IP address monitoring device, a verification code monitoring device and an information processing device are arranged inside the security verification device and are in a circuit connection with the general control device; a database in a circuit connection with the general control device and a database maintenance device in a circuit connection with the database are arranged inside the information storage module; and a secondary exchanger and a minicomputer are arranged inside the exchanger module. The separate item type security network platform solves a problem that the present network platform has worse security performance because of too simple structure and principle of the security monitoring system.


The Mecp2 gene has been shown to be mutated in most cases of human Rett syndrome, and mouse models deleted for the ortholog have been generated. Lineage-specific deletion of the gene indicated that the Rett-like phenotype is caused by Mecp2 deficiency in neurons. Biochemical evidence suggests that Mecp2 acts as a global transcriptional repressor, predicting that mutant mice should have genome-wide transcriptional deregulation. We tested this hypothesis by comparing global gene expression in wild-type and Mecp2 mutant mice. The results of numerous microarray analyses revealed no dramatic changes in transcription even in mice displaying overt disease symptoms, although statistical power analyses of the data indicated that even a small number of relatively subtle changes in transcription would have been detected if present. However, a classifier consisting of a combined small set of genes was able to distinguish between mutant and wild-type samples with high accuracy. This result suggests that Mecp2 deficiency leads to subtle gene expression changes in mutant brains which may be associated with the phenotypic changes observed.


This paper describes the optimization of a power system that has connected a distributed generation source (a distributed generator). The optimal location of the distributed generator is determined first based on the power losses. Then, the optimization is performed for two objective functions, the generation cost and the power losses, subjected to constraints. The optimization is performed for two cases: when the distributed generator is connected to the system, and when the distributed generator is not connected to the system. The optimization results for the two cases are presented. The analyzes are performed with a specialized software for the simulation and analysis of power systems.


In geophysics, crowdsourcing is an emerging nontraditional environmental monitoring approach that supports data acquisition from individual citizens. However, because of the involvement of undertrained citizens and imprecise low‐cost sensors, crowdsourced data applications suffer from different types of noises that can deteriorate the overall monitoring accuracy. In this study, we propose a machine learning approach for automatic crowdsourced data quality control (CSQC) that detects and removes noisy data inputs in spatially and temporally discrete crowdsourced observations coming from both fixed‐point sensors (e.g., surveillance cameras) and moving sensors (e.g., moving cars/pedestrians). We design a set of features from original and interpolated rainfall data and use them to train and test the CSQC models using both supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms. The performances of the CSQC models under various scenarios assuming no retraining are also tested (hereafter referred to as transferability). The results based on synthetic but realistic data show that the CSQC models can significantly reduce the overall rainfall estimate errors. Under the stationary assumption, the CSQC models based on both supervised and unsupervised algorithms perform well in noisy data identification and overall rainfall estimation error reduction; however, if the model is transferred to other cities with different rainfall patterns or noise compositions (without retraining), supervised multilayer perceptrons (MLPs) show the best performance.


This is a 'small' paper that offers a broad-brush view of the nature of bourgeois values and implications of the same for our understanding of certain aspects of hospitality. The argument is speculative, but assertive. Bourgeois values, it is suggested, are inevitably snobbish in nature and designed to both construct and maintain largely irrelevant 'cultural' differences between and within social classes. This generation of difference is integrally consistent with the capitalist mode of production, facilitating the creation of demand for essentially artificial needs and wants. In the context of hospitality, bourgeois values sustain a language of hierarchy that simultaneously creates a culture of aspiration while allowing enterprises to extract optimum economic value from carefully segmented markets.


Background:Active surveillance [(AS), sometimes called active monitoring (AM)],is a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended management option for men with clinically localised prostate cancer (PCa). It aims to target radical treatment only to those who would benefit most. Little consensus exists nationally or internationally about safe and effective protocols for AM/AS or triggers that indicate if or when men should move to radical treatment.Objective:The aims of this project were to review how prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has been used in AM/AS programmes; to develop and test the validity of a new model for predicting future PSA levels; to develop an instrument, based on PSA, that would be acceptable and effective for men and clinicians to use in clinical practice; and to design a robust study to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the instrument.Methods:A systematic review was conducted to investigate how PSA is currently used to monitor men in worldwide AM/AS studies. A model for PSA change with age was developed using Prostate testing for cancer and Treatment (ProtecT) data and validated using data from two PSA-era cohorts and two pre-PSA-era cohorts. The model was used to derive 95% PSA reference ranges (PSARRs) across ages. These reference ranges were used to predict the onset of metastases or death from PCa in one of the pre-PSA-era cohorts. PSARRs were incorporated into an active monitoring system (AMS) and demonstrated to 18 clinicians and 20 men with PCa from four NHS trusts. Qualitative interviews investigated patients' and clinicians' views about current AM/AS protocols and the acceptability of the AMS within current practice.Results:The systematic review found that the most commonly used triggers for clinical review of PCa were PSA doubling time (PSADT) 1 ng/ml/year. The model for PSA change (developed using ProtecT study data) predicted PSA values in AM/AS cohorts within 2 ng/ml of observed PSA in up to 79% of men. Comparing the three PSA markers, there was no clear optimal approach to alerting men to worsening cancer. The PSARR and PSADT markers improved the model c-statistic for predicting death from PCa by 0.11 (21%) and 0.13 (25%), respectively, compared with using diagnostic information alone [PSA, age, tumour stage (T-stage)]. Interviews revealed variation in clinical practice regarding eligibility and follow-up protocols. Patients and clinicians perceive current AM/AS practice to be framed by uncertainty, ranging from uncertainty about selection of eligible AM/AS candidates to uncertainty about optimum follow-up protocols and thresholds for clinical review/radical treatment. Patients and clinicians generally responded positively to the AMS. The impact of the AMS on clinicians' decision-making was limited by a lack of data linking AMS values to long-term outcomes and by current clinical practice, which viewed PSA measures as one of several tools guiding clinical decisions in AM/AS. Patients reported that they would look to clinicians, rather than to a tool, to direct decision-making.Limitations:The quantitative findings were severely hampered by a lack of clinical outcomes or events (such as metastases). The qualitative findings were limited through reliance on participants' reports of practices and recollections of events rather than observations of actual interactions.Conclusions:Patients and clinicians found that the instrument provided additional, potentially helpful, information but were uncertain about the current usefulness of the risk model we developed for routine management. Comparison of the model with other monitoring strategies will require clinical outcomes from ongoing AM/AS studies.Funding:The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.


The tissue-specific expression of tubulin isotypes has been well described, although–with few exceptions_unique roles for the tubulin isotypes within their respective tissues have not been found. β-1 tubulin (Hβ-1 or Class VI in humans) is a hematopoietic-restricted tubulin isotype restricted to platelets and megakaryocytes in the mouse; human expression has not been fully studied. Hβ-1 tubulin is unique among β-tubulin isotypes, with the most sequence diversity. This diversity lies mainly in the C-terminus where microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) are hypothesized to interact. Furthermore, Hβ-1 has known small nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), some of which have been shown to have profound physiologic effects. These SNPs include the Q43P substitution with a phenotype including spherocytosis, impaired platelet aggregation, and possible cardioprotection against thrombosis, and R318W which is implicated in macrothrombocytopenia. Other SNPs have undetermined clinical significance. Given these properties of Hβ-1 tubulin, as well as the diverse clinical manifestations of leukemias and myeloproliferative neoplasms, we have begun to investigate the possible roles of Hβ-1 tubulin and its associated SNPs in these diseases. We have developed a highly specific polyclonal antibody against the Hβ-1 tubulin C-terminus. We found that in addition to megakaryocytes and platelets, Hβ-1 is expressed in CD34+ cells and in mature cells of myelogenous origin, but not in lymphocytes. Using the CML-derived K562 cell line, we performed indirect immunofluorescence for Hβ-1. Although Western blot confirmed the presence of Hβ-1 expression in this cell line, immunofluorescence did not show the expected microtubule network pattern, but rather a more diffuse, punctate cytoplasmic distribution similar to that seen in CD34+ and myeloid cells. To further explore this unique pattern, we transfected wild-type Hβ-1 tubulin into K562 cells as well as PC3 cells, a prostate cancer-derived cell line which has no detectable native Hβ-1 expression. Similar to previously published data, Hβ-1 tubulin labeling in PC3 cells showed a tubular pattern overlapping with the native MT network, suggesting free incorporation into the native MT network in PC3 cells. In K562, however, Hβ-1 immunofluorescence was punctate and did not completely co-localize with the native MT network, even with variations in the methods of cell fixation and permeabilization. This suggests that Hβ-1 tubulin may be sequestered from free incorporation into the native MT network in this malignant cell line, a novel process never previously described for Hβ-1 or other tubulin isotypes. Further studies are ongoing to elucidate the unique role of Hβ-1 tubulin in these malignant cells as well as clinical correlative studies to investigate the possible roles SNPs within Hβ-1 may play in disease manifestations. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 835.


BACKGROUND
Parenting and parent-child relationships influence children's emotional and social development and evidence exists that they may be life-course determinants of health. This study tests the hypothesis that adverse parenting in the early years predicts poor health in mid-childhood.

METHODS
A prospective study using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. Health data on over 8000 children (60% of those recruited) were available for analysis at 6.9 and 7.7 years.

EXPOSURES
self-reported maternal hostility, resentment and hitting/shouting in early childhood.

OUTCOMES
maternal report of child's health in general and number of health problems when the child was 6.9 and 7.7 years, adjusting for socioeconomic factors.

RESULTS
Sub-optimal parenting, as measured here, was observed among 62, 80 and 83% of families for hostility, resentment and hitting/shouting, respectively. Resentment was more common among older mothers in owner-occupied housing. Resentment and hostility predicted health at both ages independently of socioeconomic circumstances. 'Hitting/shouting' was weakly predictive of number of health problems. A greater proportion of variance was explained by parenting variables than by socio-economic variables.

CONCLUSIONS
Parenting and parent-child relationships in the early years predict health in mid-childhood in a way consistent with a causal role. If further studies replicate this finding, policies to improve parenting could be expected to have a modest beneficial impact on health as well as emotional and social development. As some aspects of sub-optimal parenting show reverse social class distribution, initiatives targeted at those living in social deprivation may not achieve the optimum impact on health.


In this article, we describe a series of new complex salts in which electron-rich transition-metal centers are coordinated to three electron-accepting N-methyl/aryl-2,2':4,4' ':4',4' ''-quaterpyridinium ligands. These complexes contain either Ru(II) or Fe(II) ions and have been characterized by using various techniques, including electronic absorption spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Molecular quadratic nonlinear optical (NLO) responses beta have been determined by using hyper-Rayleigh scattering at 800 nm and also via Stark (electroabsorption) spectroscopic studies on the intense, visible d --> pi* metal-to-ligand charge-transfer bands. The latter experiments reveal that these putatively octupolar D(3) chromophores exhibit two substantial components of the beta tensor which are associated with transitions to dipolar excited states. Computations involving time-dependent density-functional theory and the finite field method serve to further illuminate the electronic structures and associated linear and NLO properties of the new chromophoric salts.


Ni-SiC nano-composite coatings with various contents of SiC nano-particulates were prepared by means of the conventional electrodeposition in a nickel-plating bath containing SiC nano-particulates to be co-deposited. The surface morphology and structural constituent in the electrolyte layer were observed by SEM and EDS. The dependence of SiC nano-particulates amount in the nano-composite coatings was investigated in relation to the SiC concentration in bath. The effect of SiC nano-particulate incorporation content on micro-hardness as well as wear-resistance was studied too. The results showed that the nano-Ni-SiC plating layer had smooth and flat surface, uniform microstructure as well as higher micro-hardness and wear-resistance than pure Ni coating. The optimum experimental parameters were derived at condition of, addition of 6g/L SiC nano-particulates in the bath, 40°C temperature, current density of 4A/dm2 , and a stirring rate of 250rpm.


Indoor scenarios, especially industrial ones, are harsh environments: Due to enclosing walls, furniture, machines, moving persons, etc., the direct signal path between anchors and mobile devices can easily be blocked; the number and density of the multipath components caused by reflections and scattering is large. While this causes major problems for existing localization systems, MINT can actively exploit the relevant information in these socalled multipath radio signals.


In mid-May 1395, Philippe de Mezieres writes a Letter to king Richard II of England, an urgent call, which does not belong to the epistolary but to the allegorical and the mirror for princes genre. This letter, revealing a clear similarity of thought between the author and the king of France, Charles VI, to whose education the former contributed, is preserved as a unique manuscript, the Royal 20 B VI, in the British Library. This manuscript turns out to be the one offered to the English monarch and, being addressed to the latter, ended up in the hands of a prince, who was particularly able to appreciate its meaning and all its wit. Although Mezieres advocates a reconciliation between the kings of France and England, to be sealed with a marriage between Isabelle de Valois, the former's oldest daughter and the latter, which was the safest way to achieve his ultimate aim of a reconciliation within the Church and the re-conquest of the Holy Land, what he truly hoped for was the founding of the Order of the Passion of Jesus Christ.


Abstract In general, understanding requires cognitive and linguistic skills, encompasses cultural, social, contextual and individual aspects, and is characterised by gradualness and dynamicity. In this study, the intertwined set of relevant components involved in the complex process of understanding space deixis will be analysed in the specific context of face-to-face interaction. In everyday conversation, this process is unavoidably mutual and may include misunderstanding (which often opens up a way to understanding), repairs, reformulations and negotiation cycles, all of which eventually lead to understanding and mutual comprehension or to communication failure. Many scholars have already pointed out several elements that influence interactants' understanding in a positive or negative way: on the one hand, shared physical context, cotext, common ground, shared knowledge and avoidance devices; on the other, ambiguity, speakers' failures, and interactants' asymmetric features with regard to language and culture. The interactional context, the cotext and the use of multimodal resources (resorted to as co-speech or to substitute language) play a significant role in the dynamic process of understanding spatial deixis, often helping to overcome the difficulties related to peripheral cases of spatial deictics and other causes of misunderstandings, which can either work as a starting point for understanding or lead to communication failure.


Abstract. The Isanacetus-group is one of the most enigmatic groups of cetaceans. Although their phylogeny is still controversial, many previous studies suggested that they are a paraphyletic group of baleen whales, including an ancestor of Balaenopteridae and Eschrichtiidae. A new fossil from an Isanacetus-group baleen whale has been recovered from the Minamishirado Formation (latest early Miocene, Burdigalian), Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The specimen consists of a cranium, mandible, and postcranial elements, including cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae, scapula, ulna, and ribs. We describe and diagnose the specimen as a new genus and species, Jobancetus pacificus. A unique combination of morphological characters characterized the specimen, e.g. frontals forming a triangular elevated plateau at the vertex, sharp, and well-developed transverse crest on the supraorbital process of frontal, sagittal crest formed by frontals and parietals, and large squamosal fossa, which is posteriorly extended well beyond the level of the posterior surface of the occipital condyle. Phylogenetic analysis under equal weighting suggests that J. pacificus is a stem group of Pligogulae, whereas the phylogenetic analyses under implied weightings suggest that J. pacificus is a stem group of Balaenopteridae + Eschrichtiidae. The discovery of J. pacificus expands our knowledge of the enigmatic Isanacetus-group.


In December 2011, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) instructed the bank's Chief Investment Office to reduce the size of its Synthetic Credit Portfolio (SCP) during 2012, so that JPM could decrease its Risk-Weighted Assets as the bank prepared to adopt the impending Basel III bank capital regulations. However, the SCP traders were also told to minimize the trading costs incurred to reduce Risk-Weighted Assets, while still maintaining the opportunity to profit from unexpected corporate bankruptcies. In an attempt to balance these competing objectives, head SCP derivatives trader Bruno Iksil suggested in January 2012 that the SCP expand a strategy first implemented in 2011 to buy large volumes of certain credit derivatives, while simultaneously selling large volumes of other credit derivatives. The strategy quickly proved unsuccessful, and JPM's Chief Investment Officer ordered Iksil and the other SCP traders to halt this strategy on March 23. However, losses continued to mount as the credit derivative positions were unwound, ultimately reaching $6.2 billion by December 2012.


N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent internal modification on mRNA, but its functions in human diseases are poorly understood. The dynamic and reversible m6A modification installed and erased by N6-methyltransferases and demethylases regulates cell fate and gene expression. We show that the m6A demethylase ALKBH5 is highly expressed in patient-derived glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs) and informs poor survival of patients with glioblastoma. Silencing ALKBH5 suppresses the proliferation of GSCs in vitro and in vivo. Results of integrated transcriptome and m6A-seq analyses reveal a global change of gene expression enriched in cell cycle and altered expression of select ALKBH5 targets. Among these targets, Ingenuity's upstream regulator analysis identified FOXM1, an essential transcription factor for GSC proliferation, as a key mediator responsible for the disrupted proliferation program. Using multiple molecular and biochemical approaches, we demonstrate that ALKBH5 binds to and demethylates FOXM1 nascent transcripts. This promotes the interaction of FOXM1 pre-mRNA with HuR, thereby maintaining FOXM1 expression. Further, a long noncoding RNA antisense to the FOXM1 (FOXM1-AS) interacts with ALKBH5 as well as FOXM1 pre-mRNA and promotes their interaction. Depleting ALKBH5 and FOXM1-AS abolishes GSC tumorigenesis through the FOXM1 axis. The vulnerability of GSCs to disruptions in ALKBH5-dependent gene expression suggests that m6A has a central role in tumor development and provides a rationale for therapeutically targeting epitranscriptomic modulators in patients with glioblastoma. Citation Format: Sicong Zhang, Aidong Zhou, Oliver Bogler, Sadhan Majumder, Suyun Huang. The m6A hallmark of cancer: RNA demethylase ALKBH5 maintains tumorigenicity of glioblastoma stem-like cells by sustaining FOXM1 expression and cell proliferation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4996. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4996


europhysicsnews 24 • volume 38 • number 2 amounts of uranium 233 available remained tiny, insufficient to allow the rapid development of a thorium-uranium concept. It appears today that the growth rate of nuclear power worldwide does not require the fast development of breeder reactor concepts. It is then possible, as we show in this paper, to constitute a stockpile of uranium 233 that could allow the development of a fleet of thorium-uranium reactors. We show also that such a concept has many major advantages, in particular concerning the disposal of radioactive waste and the risks of nuclear proliferation.We give a brief description of the types of reactors being considered to implement this fuel cycle and of a strategy that makes use of today's reactors to create the initial stockpiles of uranium 233.


Spontaneous baroreflex function and vascular changes were assessed in young adults during dynamical mild exercise. Windkessel time constant was assessed by two different methods: two-element windkessel model, and by an autoregressive (AR) model, while the baroreflex sensitivity (BRS, ms/mmHg) was assessed by the sequence method. Results showed a change in the baroreflex control of heart rate (HR) with the severity of exercise, as well as the resetting phenomenon. Methods used to estimate the windkessel time constant were poorly correlated. Subject by subject correlation was found between the BRS and the time constant derived from the AR model within exercise and recovery period. These results may suggest that reflex mechanisms controlling HR may also participate in controlling peripheral circulation or, viceversa, BRS is influenced by vascular tone.