Intensified Arctic warming under greenhouse warming by vegetation–atmosphere–sea ice interaction

Observations and modeling studies indicate that enhanced vegetation activities over high latitudes under an elevated CO2 concentration accelerate surface warming by reducing the surface albedo. In this study, we suggest that vegetation-atmosphere-sea ice interactions over high latitudes can induce an additional amplification of Arctic warming. Our hypothesis is tested by a series of coupled vegetation-climate model simulations under 2xCO(2) environments. The increased vegetation activities over high latitudes under a 2xCO(2) condition induce additional surface warming and turbulent heat fluxes to the atmosphere, which are transported to the Arctic through the atmosphere. This causes additional sea-ice melting and upper-ocean warming during the warm season. As a consequence, the Arctic and high-latitude warming is greatly amplified in the following winter and spring, which further promotes vegetation activities the following year. We conclude that the vegetation-atmosphere-sea ice interaction gives rise to additional positive feedback of the Arctic amplification.open1188sciescopu

Factorizing LambdaMART for cold start recommendations

Recommendation systems often rely on point-wise loss metrics such as the mean squared error. However, in real recommendation settings only few items are presented to a user. This observation has recently encouraged the use of rank-based metrics. LambdaMART is the state-of-the-art algorithm in learning to rank which relies on such a metric. Despite its success it does not have a principled regularization mechanism relying in empirical approaches to control model complexity leaving it thus prone to overfitting. Motivated by the fact that very often the users' and items' descriptions as well as the preference behavior can be well summarized by a small number of hidden factors, we propose a novel algorithm, LambdaMART Matrix Factorization (LambdaMART-MF), that learns a low rank latent representation of users and items using gradient boosted trees. The algorithm factorizes lambdaMART by defining relevance scores as the inner product of the learned representations of the users and items. The low rank is essentially a model complexity controller; on top of it we propose additional regularizers to constraint the learned latent representations that reflect the user and item manifolds as these are defined by their original feature based descriptors and the preference behavior. Finally we also propose to use a weighted variant of NDCG to reduce the penalty for similar items with large rating discrepancy. We experiment on two very different recommendation datasets, meta-mining and movies-users, and evaluate the performance of LambdaMART-MF, with and without regularization, in the cold start setting as well as in the simpler matrix completion setting. In both cases it outperforms in a significant manner current state of the art algorithms

Selenium nanoparticles as candidates for antibacterial substitutes and supplements against multidrug-resistant bacteria

In recent years, multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria have increased rapidly, representing a major threat to human health. This problem has created an urgent need to identify alternatives for the treatment of MDR bacteria. The aim of this study was to identify the antibacterial activity of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and selenium nanowires (SeNWs) against MDR bacteria and assess the potential synergistic effects when combined with a conventional antibiotic (linezolid). SeNPs and SeNWs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential, and UV-visible analysis. The antibacterial effects of SeNPs and SeNWs were confirmed by the macro-dilution minimum inhibi-tory concentration (MIC) test. SeNPs showed MIC values against methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), and vanco-mycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) at concentrations of 20, 80, 320, and >320 μg/mL, respectively. On the other hand, SeNWs showed a MIC value of >320 μg/mL against all tested bacteria. Therefore, MSSA, MRSA, and VRSA were selected for the bacteria to be tested, and SeNPs were selected as the antimicrobial agent for the following experiments. In the time-kill assay, SeNPs at a concentration of 4X MIC (80 and 320 μg/mL) showed bactericidal effects against MSSA and MRSA, respectively. At a concentration of 2X MIC (40 and 160 μg/mL), SeNPs showed bacteriostatic effects against MSSA and bactericidal effects against MRSA, respectively. In the synergy test, SeNPs showed a synergistic effect with linezolid (LZD) through protein degradation against MSSA and MRSA. In conclusion, these results suggest that SeNPs can be candidates for antibacterial substitutes and supplements against MDR bacteria for topical use, such as dressings. However, for use in clinical situations, additional experiments such as toxicity and synergistic mechanism tests of SeNPs are needed

Effect of storage media and time on fin explants culture in the goldfish, Carassius auratus

The effect of storage media and time was investigated on fin explants culture in the goldfish (Carassius auratus). Fin explants under sterile conditions were able to produce cells at different storage media and time. On the outgrowth of cells, fin explants stored for seven days before culturing showed significantly higher growth (P<0.05) as observed on the fin explants stored in Dulbecco’s modified Eagles medium (DMEM, 84.44%), phosphate buffered saline (PBS, 62.42%) and in control/fresh fin explants (100%), compared with the explants with no storage medium (25.56%) at day three of culture. From day seven to 14, all caudal fin explants exhibited a 100% outgrowth of cells regardless of treatment. However, caudal fin explants kept for 10 days in 4°C showed a significant difference (P<0.05) from fin explants stored in DMEM (96.67%), PBS (75.57%) and the control (100%), as compared with no storage medium (no growth) on day three. Moreover, only 6.67% of no storage medium group could maintain outgrowth of cells, while other treatment group reached 100% of outgrowth after 14 days of culture.Key words: Carassius auratus, fin explants, goldfish, storage

Molecular detection of Edwardsiella tarda with gyrB gene isolated from pirarucu, Arapaima gigas which is exhibited in an indoor private commercial aquarium

The pirarucu, Arapaima gigas, which was displayed in commercial aquarium was found dead and was submitted for diagnostic examination. Bacteria from different organs of the fish were characterized using Vitek System®2 and showed 98% probability to Edwardsiella tarda. Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) result showed positive for E. tarda gyrB gene. The 16S rRNA gene was identical and exhibited 99% sequence similarity with the other known isolates of E. tarda available in the GenBank. This paper reports the isolation and detection of E. tarda with the gyrB gene in pirarucu, A. gigas, which was exhibited in an indoor private commercial aquarium in Seoul, South Korea.Key words: Arapaima gigas, commercial aquarium, Edwardsiella tarda, gyrB gene, pirarucu

Inhibitory Activity of Bevacizumab to Differentiation of Retinoblastoma Cells

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major regulator in retinal and choroidal angiogenesis, which are common causes of blindness in all age groups. Recently anti-VEGF treatment using anti-VEGF antibody has revolutionarily improved the visual outcome in patients with vaso-proliferative retinopathies. Herein, we demonstrated that bevacizumab as an anti-VEGF antibody could inhibit differentiation of retinoblastoma cells without affection to cellular viability, which would be mediated via blockade of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 activation. The retinoblastoma cells expressed VEGFR-2 as well as TrkA which is a neurotrophin receptor associated with differentiation of retinoblastoma cells. TrkA in retinoblastoma cells was activated with VEGF treatment. Interestingly even in the concentration of no cellular death, bevascizumab significantly attenuated the neurite formation of differentiated retinoblastoma cells, which was accompanied by inhibition of neurofilament and shank2 expression. Furthermore, bevacizumab inhibited differentiation of retinoblastoma cells by blockade of ERK 1/2 activation. Therefore, based on that the differentiated retinoblastoma cells are mostly photoreceptors, our results suggest that anti-VEGF therapies would affect to the maintenance or function of photoreceptors in mature retina

Social Determinants of Community Health Services Utilization among the Users in China: A 4-Year Cross-Sectional Study

Background To identify social factors determining the frequency of community health service (CHS) utilization among CHS users in China. Methods Nationwide cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. A total of 86,116 CHS visitors selected from 35 cities were interviewed. Descriptive analysis and multinomial logistic regression analysis were employed to analyze characteristics of CHS users, frequency of CHS utilization, and the socio-demographic and socio-economic factors influencing frequency of CHS utilization. Results Female and senior CHS clients were more likely to make 3–5 and ≥6 CHS visits (as opposed to 1–2 visits) than male and young clients, respectively. CHS clients with higher education were less frequent users than individuals with primary education or less in 2008 and 2009; in later surveys, CHS clients with higher education were the more frequent users. The association between frequent CHS visits and family income has changed significantly between 2008 and 2011. In 2011, income status did not have a discernible effect on the likelihood of making ≥6 CHS visits, and it only had a slight effect on making 3–5 CHS visits. Conclusion CHS may play an important role in providing primary health care to meet the demands of vulnerable populations in China. Over time, individuals with higher education are increasingly likely to make frequent CHS visits than individuals with primary school education or below. The gap in frequency of CHS utilization among different economic income groups decreased from 2008 to 2011

Warm needle acupuncture for osteoarthritis: A systematic review protocol

Warm needle acupuncture (WA) is widely used the treatment in the East Asian countries. However, there is no critically appraised evidence of the potential benefits and harms. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy of WA for osteoarthritis (OA). Methods and analysis Electronic databases will be searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and AMED, 6 Korean medical databases (Korea Med, the Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, OASIS, DBPIA, the Research Information Service System and the Korean Studies Information Service System), 3 Chinese databases (CNKI, VIP and Wanfang) and a Japanese database (CiNii Articles) will be searched from their inception. We will be searched from their inception. Selection of the studies and data extraction and validation will be performed independently by two reviewers. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs using WA for any type of OA will be considered. The studies will independently undertake study selection, extraction of data and assessment of study quality by two authors. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias standards. All data synthesis and subgroup analyses will be conducted using Review Manager Software. Dissemination Findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journals. This systematic review may inform the treatment of OA patients in clinical practic