No need to justify your choice: pre-compiling line breaks to improve eBook readability

Implementations of eBooks have existed in one form or another for at least the past 20 years, but it is only in the past 5 years that dedicated eBook hardware has become a mass-market item. New screen technologies, such as e-paper, provide a reading experience similar to those of physical books, and even backlit LCD and OLED displays are beginning to have high enough pixel densities to render text crisply at small point sizes. Despite this, the major element of the physical book that has not yet made the transition to the eBook is high-quality typesetting. The great advantage of eBooks is that the presentation of the page can adapt, at rendering time, to the physical screen size and to the reading preferences of the user. Until now, simple first-fit linebreaking algorithms have had to be used in order to give acceptable rendering speed whilst conserving battery life. This paper describes a system for producing well-typeset, scalable document layouts for eBook readers, without the computational overhead normally associated with better-quality typesetting. We precompute many of the complex parts of the typesetting process, and perform the majority of the ‘heavy lifting’ at document compile-time, rather than at rendering time. Support is provided for floats (such as figures in an academic paper, or illustrations in a novel), for arbitrary screen sizes, and also for arbitrary point-size changes within the text

Reliability of the Wingate Anaerobic Test with Ice Hockey Players on the Velotron Cycle Ergometer

Purpose: This study evaluated the test-retest reliability of the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) performed on a Velotron electromagnetically-braked cycle ergometer (EE) for power-trained athletes and assessed whether a familiarization trial was necessary to achieve high test-retest reliability. Methods: Twenty-one male ice hockey players (age 23.5 ± 4.7 yrs, mass 86.3 ± 16.6 kg, height 180.9 ± 7.4 cm) from a collegiate club team (Club = 10) and a recreational league (Rec = 11) performed three, 30-sec WAnTs within 2 weeks, and with at least 24 hours between visits. Mean power, anaerobic capacity, peak power, anaerobic power, maximum RPM, and fatigue index were assessed. Resistance was 8.5% of the participant’s body weight. Results: The effect of time on power output was moderated (p \u3c .001, ηp2 = .24) such that a significant increase was observed after a practice trial, but not between subsequent trials for the Club players; no practice effect was observed among Rec players. Extremely high reliability was found between trials after excluding the practice trial (ICC1,1 \u3e .89). The Club players achieved higher outputs despite no significant differences in body size or age compared to the Rec League players. Conclusion: Ice hockey players performing the 30-sec WAnT on the Velotron EE had highly reliable data, and using a familiarization trial is recommended to increase reliability and achieve higher power outputs. Lastly, because WAnT results from EE and mechanically-braked ergometers cannot be compared, normative tables for EE results need to be created

Mapping of Human Autoantibody Binding Sites on the Calcium-Sensing Receptor

Previously, we have demonstrated the presence of anti-calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) antibodies in patients with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS1), a disease that is characterized in part by hypoparathyroidism involving hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and low serum levels of parathyroid hormone. The aim of this study was to define the binding domains on the CaSR of anti-CaSR antibodies found in APS1 patients and in one patient suspected of having autoimmune hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (AHH). A phage-display library of CaSR peptides was constructed and used in biopanning experiments with patient sera. Selectively enriched IgG-binding peptides were identified by DNA sequencing, and subsequently, immunoreactivity to these peptides was confirmed in ELISA. Anti-CaSR antibody binding sites were mapped to amino acid residues 41–69, 114–126, and 171–195 at the N-terminal of the extracellular domain of the receptor. The major autoepitope was localized in the 41–69 amino acid sequence of the CaSR with antibody reactivity demonstrated in 12 of 12 (100%) APS1 patients with anti-CaSR antibodies and in 1 AHH patient with anti-CaSR antibodies. Minor epitopes were located in the 114–126 and 171–195 amino acid domains, with antibody reactivity shown in 5 of 12 (42%) and 4 of 12 (33%) APS1 patients, respectively. The results indicate that epitopes for anti-CaSR antibodies in the AHH patient and in the APS1 patients who were studied are localized in the N-terminal of the extracellular domain of the receptor. The present work has demonstrated the successful use of phage-display technology in the discovery of CaSR-specific epitopes targeted by human anti-CaSR antibodies. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

Association mapping of malting quality traits in UK spring and winter barley cultivar collections

Key Message: Historical malting quality data was collated from UK national and recommended list trial data and used in a GWAS. 25 QTL were identified, with the majority from spring barley cultivar sets. Abstract: In Europe, the most economically significant use of barley is the production of malt for use in the brewing and distilling industries. As such, selection for traits related to malting quality is of great commercial interest. In order to study the genetic basis of variation for malting quality traits in UK cultivars, a historical set of trial data was collated from national and recommended list trials from the period 1988 to 2016. This data was used to estimate variety means for 20 quality related traits in 451 spring barley cultivars, and 407 winter cultivars. Genotypes for these cultivars were generated using iSelect 9k and 50k genotyping platforms, and a genome wide association scan performed to identify malting quality quantitative trait loci (QTL). 24 QTL were identified in spring barley cultivars, and 2 from the winter set. A number of these correspond to known malting quality related genes but the remainder represents novel genetic variation that is accessible to breeders for the genetic improvement of new cultivars.Mark E. Looseley, Luke Ramsay, Hazel Bull, J. Stuart Swanston, Paul D. Shaw, Malcolm Macaulay, Allan Booth, Joanne R. Russell, Robbie Waugh, on behalf of the IMPROMALT Consortium, William T.B. Thoma

A qualitative study exploring adolescents’ experience of brief behavioural activation for depression and its impact on the symptom of anhedonia

Objectives: Anhedonia, the loss of interest and pleasure, is a core symptom of depression and is associated with deficits in reward processing. Behavioural Activation for depression may address this symptom due to its focus on identifying and increasing intrinsically rewarding activities. Design: This was a qualitative study employing reflexive Thematic Analysis (TA) to analyse data from semi-structured interviews with young people after treatment. Methods: Participants were eight treatment-seeking adolescents with a recent primary diagnosis of depression who had received eight sessions of Brief Behavioural Activation. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted after treatment was completed. Results: Three main themes emerged: 1) Connecting, reviewing and taking action: ‘focus on getting better rather than what you’re feeling;’ 2) Struggles, restrictors and motivators: ‘it seemed really unachievable;’ and 3) Feeling, acting or seeing things differently: ‘looking forwards in a more healthy way.’ Conclusions: Specific Brief Behavioural Activation strategies (e.g. connecting with values) and more generic therapeutic strategies (e.g. self-monitoring) may both be helpful in treating the symptom of anhedonia in adolescents with depression. Motivational aspects of anhedonia, as well as anxiety, fatigue and academic pressures act as potential barriers to recovery. This highlights the need for psychological treatments for adolescent depression to include explicit and targeted strategies to enhance motivation

Roles of Major Facilitator Superfamily Transporters in Phosphate Response in Drosophila

The major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter Pho84 and the type III transporter Pho89 are responsible for metabolic effects of inorganic phosphate in yeast. While the Pho89 ortholog Pit1 was also shown to be involved in phosphate-activated MAPK in mammalian cells, it is currently unknown, whether orthologs of Pho84 have a role in phosphate-sensing in metazoan species. We show here that the activation of MAPK by phosphate observed in mammals is conserved in Drosophila cells, and used this assay to characterize the roles of putative phosphate transporters. Surprisingly, while we found that RNAi-mediated knockdown of the fly Pho89 ortholog dPit had little effect on the activation of MAPK in Drosophila S2R+ cells by phosphate, two Pho84/SLC17A1–9 MFS orthologs (MFS10 and MFS13) specifically inhibited this response. Further, using a Xenopus oocyte assay, we show that MSF13 mediates uptake of [³³P]-orthophosphate in a sodium-dependent fashion. Consistent with a role in phosphate physiology, MSF13 is expressed highest in the Drosophila crop, midgut, Malpighian tubule, and hindgut. Altogether, our findings provide the first evidence that Pho84 orthologs mediate cellular effects of phosphate in metazoan cells. Finally, while phosphate is essential for Drosophila larval development, loss of MFS13 activity is compatible with viability indicating redundancy at the levels of the transporters.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIDDK 5K08DK078361)Harvard Catalys

Genetic dissection of fruit quality traits in the octoploid cultivated strawberry highlights the role of homoeo-QTL in their control

Fruit quality traits are major breeding targets in the Rosaceae. Several of the major Rosaceae species are current or ancient polyploids. To dissect the inheritance of fruit quality traits in polyploid fleshy fruit species, we used a cultivated strawberry segregating population comprising a 213 full-sibling F1 progeny from a cross between the variety ‘Capitola’ and the genotype ‘CF1116’. We previously developed the most comprehensive strawberry linkage map, which displays seven homoeology groups (HG), including each four homoeology linkage groups (Genetics 179:2045–2060, 2008). The map was used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 19 fruit traits related to fruit development, texture, colour, anthocyanin, sugar and organic acid contents. Analyses were carried out over two or three successive years on field-grown plants. QTL were detected for all the analysed traits. Because strawberry is an octopolyploid species, QTL controlling a given trait and located at orthologous positions on different homoeologous linkage groups within one HG are considered as homoeo-QTL. We found that, for various traits, about one-fourth of QTL were putative homoeo-QTL and were localised on two linkage groups. Several homoeo-QTL could be detected the same year, suggesting that several copies of the gene underlying the QTL are functional. The detection of some other homoeo-QTL was year-dependent. Therefore, changes in allelic expression could take place in response to environmental changes. We believe that, in strawberry as in other polyploid fruit species, the mechanisms unravelled in the present study may play a crucial role in the variations of fruit quality

Plasticity in the Germination of California Fragaria Seeds

Volume: 26Start Page: 145End Page: 14

Wingate Anaerobic Test Reliability on the Velotron With Ice Hockey Players

Bringhurst, RF, Wagner, DR, and Schwartz, S. Wingate anaerobic test reliability on the velotron with ice hockey players. J Strength Cond Res 34(6): 1716-1722, 2020—This study evaluated the test-retest reliability of the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) performed on a Velotron electromagnetically braked cycle ergometer for power-trained athletes and assessed whether a familiarization trial was necessary to achieve high test-retest reliability. Twenty-one male ice hockey players (age 23.5 ± 4.7 years, mass 86.3 ± 16.6 kg, height 180.9 ± 7.4 cm) from a collegiate club team (Club = 10) and a recreational league (Rec = 11) performed three 30-second WAnTs within 2 weeks and with at least 24 hours between visits. Mean power (MP), anaerobic capacity, peak power (PP), anaerobic power, maximum revolutions per minute, and fatigue index were assessed. Resistance was 8.5% of the participant\u27s body mass. The effect of time on power output was moderated n2p (p \u3c 0.001, = 0.24) such that a significant increase was observed after a practice trial, but not between subsequent trials for the Club players; no practice effect was observed among Rec players. Extremely high reliability (ICC1,1) was found between trials after excluding the practice trial (MP = 0.973, anaerobic capacity = 0.975, PP = 0.957, and anaerobic power = 0.890). Club players achieved higher outputs despite no significant differences in body size or age compared with Rec players. Ice hockey players performing the 30-second WAnT on the Velotron electromagnetically braked cycle ergometer had highly reliable data, and using a familiarization trial is recommended to increase reliability and achieve higher power outputs