Runaway Events Dominate the Heavy Tail of Citation Distributions

Statistical distributions with heavy tails are ubiquitous in natural and social phenomena. Since the entries in heavy tail have disproportional significance, the knowledge of its exact shape is very important. Citations of scientific papers form one of the best-known heavy tail distributions. Even in this case there is a considerable debate whether citation distribution follows the log-normal or power-law fit. The goal of our study is to solve this debate by measuring citation distribution for a very large and homogeneous data. We measured citation distribution for 418,438 Physics papers published in 1980-1989 and cited by 2008. While the log-normal fit deviates too strong from the data, the discrete power-law function with the exponent $\gamma=3.15$ does better and fits 99.955% of the data. However, the extreme tail of the distribution deviates upward even from the power-law fit and exhibits a dramatic "runaway" behavior. The onset of the runaway regime is revealed macroscopically as the paper garners 1000-1500 citations, however the microscopic measurements of autocorrelation in citation rates are able to predict this behavior in advance.Comment: 6 pages, 5 Figure

A transcriptomic snapshot of early molecular communication between Pasteuria penetrans and Meloidogyne incognita

© The Author(s). 2018Background: Southern root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White, 1919), Chitwood, 1949 is a key pest of agricultural crops. Pasteuria penetrans is a hyperparasitic bacterium capable of suppressing the nematode reproduction, and represents a typical coevolved pathogen-hyperparasite system. Attachment of Pasteuria endospores to the cuticle of second-stage nematode juveniles is the first and pivotal step in the bacterial infection. RNA-Seq was used to understand the early transcriptional response of the root-knot nematode at 8 h post Pasteuria endospore attachment. Results: A total of 52,485 transcripts were assembled from the high quality (HQ) reads, out of which 582 transcripts were found differentially expressed in the Pasteuria endospore encumbered J2 s, of which 229 were up-regulated and 353 were down-regulated. Pasteuria infection caused a suppression of the protein synthesis machinery of the nematode. Several of the differentially expressed transcripts were putatively involved in nematode innate immunity, signaling, stress responses, endospore attachment process and post-attachment behavioral modification of the juveniles. The expression profiles of fifteen selected transcripts were validated to be true by the qRT PCR. RNAi based silencing of transcripts coding for fructose bisphosphate aldolase and glucosyl transferase caused a reduction in endospore attachment as compared to the controls, whereas, silencing of aspartic protease and ubiquitin coding transcripts resulted in higher incidence of endospore attachment on the nematode cuticle. Conclusions: Here we provide evidence of an early transcriptional response by the nematode upon infection by Pasteuria prior to root invasion. We found that adhesion of Pasteuria endospores to the cuticle induced a down-regulated protein response in the nematode. In addition, we show that fructose bisphosphate aldolase, glucosyl transferase, aspartic protease and ubiquitin coding transcripts are involved in modulating the endospore attachment on the nematode cuticle. Our results add new and significant information to the existing knowledge on early molecular interaction between M. incognita and P. penetrans.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Proteome-Wide Search Reveals Unexpected RNA-Binding Proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The vast landscape of RNA-protein interactions at the heart of post-transcriptional regulation remains largely unexplored. Indeed it is likely that, even in yeast, a substantial fraction of the regulatory RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) remain to be discovered. Systematic experimental methods can play a key role in discovering these RBPs - most of the known yeast RBPs lack RNA-binding domains that might enable this activity to be predicted. We describe here a proteome-wide approach to identify RNA-protein interactions based on in vitro binding of RNA samples to yeast protein microarrays that represent over 80% of the yeast proteome. We used this procedure to screen for novel RBPs and RNA-protein interactions. A complementary mass spectrometry technique also identified proteins that associate with yeast mRNAs. Both the protein microarray and mass spectrometry methods successfully identify previously annotated RBPs, suggesting that other proteins identified in these assays might be novel RBPs. Of 35 putative novel RBPs identified by either or both of these methods, 12, including 75% of the eight most highly-ranked candidates, reproducibly associated with specific cellular RNAs. Surprisingly, most of the 12 newly discovered RBPs were enzymes. Functional characteristics of the RNA targets of some of the novel RBPs suggest coordinated post-transcriptional regulation of subunits of protein complexes and a possible link between mRNA trafficking and vesicle transport. Our results suggest that many more RBPs still remain to be identified and provide a set of candidates for further investigation

Mothers' accounts of their stillbirth experiences and of their subsequent relationships with their living infant:an interpretative phenomenological analysis

BACKGROUND: Due to contradictory findings regarding the effects of seeing and holding stillborn infants on women's worsening mental health symptoms, there is a lack of clear of guidance in stillbirth bereavement care. Although some current research examines this phenomenon we are still not certain of the meaning of such experiences to women and what effects there may be on her subsequent parenting. Thus the present study focuses on the meaning of the stillbirth experience to women and its influence on the subsequent pregnancy and subsequent parenting from the mothers' own experiences. METHODS: A purposive sample of six women who experienced a stillbirth during their first pregnancy and who then went on to give birth to a living child after a further pregnancy, took part in email interviews, providing rich and detailed experiential narratives about both the stillbirth itself, and their relationship with their living child. An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was carried out in order to focus on mothers making sense of such experiences. RESULTS: Analysis of written accounts led to the development of three overarching themes. In 'Broken Canopy', 'How This Happened' and 'Continuing Bonds', their accounts revealed an ongoing process where women accepted a new 'unsafe' view of the world, re-evaluated their view of self and others, and established relationships with both the deceased and the living infant. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided an insight into the stillbirth experience of mothers and its meaning to them with an existential focus. Typically the mother struggled with the contradictory process of accepting the existence of her deceased baby (this baby once lived) while being aware of the nonexistence (this baby). Meeting the dead baby was a crucial point at which the mother started processing her grief. The importance of individual differences in dealing with stressful situations was highlighted in terms of attachment strategies. Subsequent parenting experiences of mothers were very much influenced by their own previous experiences. Although some mothers managed to integrate this trauma into their life some remained very concerned and anxious about future and this anxiety then translated into their parenting experiences

Straw blood cell count, growth, inhibition and comparison to apoptotic bodies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mammalian cells transform into individual tubular straw cells naturally in tissues and in response to desiccation related stress <it>in vitro</it>. The transformation event is characterized by a dramatic cellular deformation process which includes: condensation of certain cellular materials into a much smaller tubular structure, synthesis of a tubular wall and growth of filamentous extensions. This study continues the characterization of straw cells in blood, as well as the mechanisms of tubular transformation in response to stress; with specific emphasis placed on investigating whether tubular transformation shares the same signaling pathway as apoptosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There are approximately 100 billion, unconventional, tubular straw cells in human blood at any given time. The straw blood cell count (SBC) is 45 million/ml, which accounts for 6.9% of the bloods dry weight. Straw cells originating from the lungs, liver and lymphocytes have varying nodules, hairiness and dimensions. Lipid profiling reveals severe disruption of the plasma membrane in CACO cells during transformation. The growth rates for the elongation of filaments and enlargement of rabbit straw cells is 0.6~1.1 (μm/hr) and 3.8 (μm³/hr), respectively. Studies using apoptosis inhibitors and a tubular transformation inhibitor in CACO2 cells and in mice suggested apoptosis produced apoptotic bodies are mediated differently than tubular transformation produced straw cells. A single dose of 0.01 mg/kg/day of p38 MAPK inhibitor in wild type mice results in a 30% reduction in the SBC. In 9 domestic animals SBC appears to correlate inversely with an animal's average lifespan (R²= 0.7).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Straw cells are observed residing in the mammalian blood with large quantities. Production of SBC appears to be constant for a given animal and may involve a stress-inducible protein kinase (P38 MAPK). Tubular transformation is a programmed cell survival process that diverges from apoptosis. SBCs may be an important indicator of intrinsic aging-related stress.</p

Glucose Recovery from Different Corn Stover Fractions Using Dilute Acid and Alkaline Pretreatment Techniques

Background: Limited availability of corn stover due to the competing uses (organic manure, animal feed, bio-materials, and bioenergy) presents a major concern for its future in the bio-economy. Furthermore, biomass research has exhibited different results due to the differences in the supply of enzymes and dissimilar analytical methods. The effect of the two leading pretreatment techniques (dilute acid and alkaline) on glucose yield from three corn stover fractions (cob, stalk, and leaf) sourced from a single harvest in Uganda were studied at temperatures 100, 120, 140, and 160 °C over reaction times of 5, 10, 30, and 60 min. Results: From this study, the highest glucose concentrations obtained from the dilute acid (DA) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 18.4 g/L (66.8% glucose yield), 16.2 g/L (64.1% glucose yield), and 11.0 g/L (49.5% glucose yield), respectively. The optimal pretreatment settings needed to obtain these yields from the DA pretreated samples were at a temperature of 160 °C over an incubation time of 30 min. The highest glucose concentrations obtained from the alkaline (AL) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 24.7 g/L (81.73% glucose yield), 21.3 g/L (81.23% glucose yield), and 15.0 g/L (51.92% glucose yield), respectively. To be able to achieve these yields, the optimal pretreatment settings for the cobs and stalks were 140 °C and for a retention time of 30 min, while the leaves require optimal conditions of 140 °C and for a retention time of 60 min. Conclusions: The study recommends that the leaves could be left on the field during harvesting since the recovery of glucose from the pretreated cobs and stalks is higher

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL DOES NOT INFLUENCE THE NEUROMUSCULAR FATIGUE IN ADULTS

Introduction: Fatigue during voluntary muscle contractions is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon associated with central changes and adaptations of the neuromuscular system. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fatigue induced by intermittent successive extension of the knee between active and inactive university students. Method: Twenty healthy men (≥18 years), voluntarily participated in this study. To determine the maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of the knee extensors muscle group, three sets of isometric contractions of knee extension were performed for five seconds with five minutes of rest between sets. The fatigue protocol consisted of 10 sets of 10 maximal concentric contractions of the extensor on the right knee, performed at 75% of MVIC with an interval of 45". Results: Significant reductions were observed (p<0.01), both in isometric strength (-34±4%) and the dynamic strength (-40 ± 3%). In addition, the slope of relationship strength x repetition was -0.79±0.07 Nm/repetitions and the magnitude of the effect reached -8.90. Conclusion: The protocol was useful to induce peripheral fatigue, although muscle strength is greater in the active group. In both isometric and dynamic action, muscle fatigue did not differ between groups

What Do We Know About Contracting Out in the United States? Evidence from Household and Establishment Surveys

A variety of evidence points to significant growth in domestic contracting out over the last two decades, yet the phenomenon is not well documented. In this paper, we pull together data from various sources to shed light on the extent of and trends in domestic outsourcing, the occupations in which it has grown, and the industries engaging in outsourcing for the employment services sector, which has been a particularly important area of domestic outsourcing. In addition, we examine evidence of contracting out of selected occupations to other sectors. We point to many gaps in our knowledge on trends in domestic outsourcing and its implications for employment patterns and to inconsistencies across data sets in the information that is available. We recommend steps to improve data in this area

Cardiovascular imaging 2010 in the International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging

Cardiovascular Aspects of Radiolog

Targeting KSHV/HHV-8 Latency with COX-2 Selective Inhibitor Nimesulide: A Potential Chemotherapeutic Modality for Primary Effusion Lymphoma

The significance of inflammation in KSHV biology and tumorigenesis prompted us to examine the role of COX-2 in primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), an aggressive AIDS-linked KSHV-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) using nimesulide, a well-known COX-2 specific NSAID. We demonstrate that (1) nimesulide is efficacious in inducing proliferation arrest in PEL (KSHV+/EBV-; BCBL-1 and BC-3, KSHV+/EBV+; JSC-1), EBV-infected (KSHV-/EBV+; Raji) and non-infected (KSHV-/EBV-; Akata, Loukes, Ramos, BJAB) high malignancy human Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) as well as KSHV-/EBV+ lymphoblastoid (LCL) cell lines; (2) nimesulide is selectively toxic to KSHV infected endothelial cells (TIVE-LTC) compared to TIVE and primary endothelial cells (HMVEC-d); (3) nimesulide reduced KSHV latent gene expression, disrupted p53-LANA-1 protein complexes, and activated the p53/p21 tumor-suppressor pathway; (4) COX-2 inhibition down-regulated cell survival kinases (p-Akt and p-GSK-3β), an angiogenic factor (VEGF-C), PEL defining genes (syndecan-1, aquaporin-3, and vitamin-D3 receptor) and cell cycle proteins such as cyclins E/A and cdc25C; (5) nimesulide induced sustained cell death and G1 arrest in BCBL-1 cells; (6) nimesulide substantially reduced the colony forming capacity of BCBL-1 cells. Overall, our studies provide a comprehensive molecular framework linking COX-2 with PEL pathogenesis and identify the chemotherapeutic potential of nimesulide in treating PEL