Inferring visual contracts from Java programs See

Visual contracts model the operation of components or services by pre- and post-conditions formalised as graph transformation rules. They provide a precise intuitive notation to support testing, understanding and analysis of software. Their detailed specification of internal data states and transformations, referred to as deep behavioural modelling, is an error-prone activity. In this paper we propose a dynamic approach to reverse engineering visual contracts from Java based on tracing the ex...

Alshanqiti, Abdullah; Heckel, Reiko; Kehrer, Timo

Planning a future randomized clinical trial based on a network of relevant past trials See

BACKGROUND: The important role of network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials in health technology assessment and guideline development is increasingly recognized. This approach has the potential to obtain conclusive results earlier than with new standalone trials or conventional, pairwise meta-analyses. METHODS: Network meta-analyses can also be used to plan future trials. We introduce a four-step framework that aims to identify the optimal design for a new trial that will update the...

Salanti, Georgia; Nikolakopoulou, Adriani; Sutton, Alex J.; Reichenbach, Stephan; Trelle, Sven... et al.

p53 Family Proteins: Damage limitation See

A spring-loaded mechanism can explain the activation process for a protein that has a crucial role in maintaining the genomic integrity of immature eggs cells

Amelio, Ivano; Melino, Gerry

Updating probabilistic knowledge on condition/event nets using Bayesian networks See

The paper extends Bayesian networks (BNs) by a mechanism for dynamic changes to the probability distributions represented by BNs. One application scenario is the process of knowledge acquisition of an observer interacting with a system. In particular, the paper considers condition/event nets where the observer’s knowledge about the current marking is a probability distribution over markings. The observer can interact with the net to deduce information about the marking by requesting certain t...

Cabrera, Benjamin; Heindel, Tobias; Heckel, Reiko; König, Barbara

A type III complement factor D deficiency: Structural insights for inhibition of the alternative pathway See

[First paragraph] We investigated an alternative complement pathway (AP) deficiency in a patient with absent alternative pathway hemolytic activity but normal classical pathway hemolytic activity recovering from invasive meningococcal infection (for patient and sibling details, see Patient details in this article's Online Repository at www.jacionline.org). Serum reconstitution with proximal AP components suggested a factor D (FD) deficiency (Fig 1, A). Sanger sequencing of CFD identified a ra...

Sng, Christopher C. T.; O'Byrne, Sorcha; Prigozhin, Daniil M.; Bauer, Matthias R.; Harvey, Jennifer C.... et al.

ΔNp63 regulates the expression of hyaluronic acid-related genes in breast cancer cells See

Triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) represent the most aggressive and clinically relevant breast carcinomas. On the basis of specific molecular signature, the majority of TNBC can be classified as basal-like breast carcinoma. Here, we report data showing that in basal-like breast carcinoma cells ΔNp63 is capable of sustaining the production of the hyaluronic acid (HA), one of the major component of the extracellular matrix (ECM). At molecular level, we found that ΔNp63 regulates the express...

Gatti, Veronica; Fierro, Claudia; Compagnone, Mirco; Giangrazi, Federica; Markert, Elke Katrin... et al.

Chemical Constituents and Antidepressant-Like Effects in Ovariectomized Mice of the Ethanol Extract of Alternanthera philoxeroides See

The previously unreported flavone glycoside, demethyltorosaflavone B (2) and the E-propenoic acid substituted flavone, torosaflavone E (3a), were isolated together with nine previously reported metabolites, including indole-3-carbaldehyde, oleanonic acid, vanillic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, altheranthin (1a), alternanthin B (1b), demethyltorosaflavone D (3b), luteolin 8-C-E-propenoic acid (4) and chrysoeriol 7-O-rhamnoside (5), from the ethanol extract of the aerial part of Althernanthera p...

Khamphukdee, Charinya; Monthakantirat, Orawan; Chulikhit, Yaowared; Buttachon, Suradet; Lee, Michael... et al.

Homotopy of planar Lie group equivariant presheaves See

We utilise the theory of crossed simplicial groups to introduce a collection of local Quillen model structures on the category of simplicial presheaves with a compact planar Lie group action on a small Grothendieck site. As an application, we give a characterisation of equivariant cohomology theories on a site as derived mapping spaces in these model categories.

Balchin, Scott

The Power of Choice: A Study Protocol on How Identity Leadership Fosters Commitment Toward the Organization See

Identity leadership (IL) describes that the effectiveness of a leader will depend upon his capacity to represent a given group, to make the group go forward, to create a group identity, and to make the group matter. An identity leader may increase commitment among his followers by increasing the perception of shared identity and giving more weight in the decision process to his followers. We aim to explore the mechanisms through which a leader who creates a shared group identity can increase ...

Mascarenhas, Mafalda F.; Dübbers, Felix; Hoszowska, Magdalena; Köseoğlu, Aylin; Karakasheva, Ralitsa... et al.

Interacting effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and hydrology on the growth and carbon sequestration of Sphagnum moss See

Peatlands are a critical carbon store comprising 30% of the Earth’s terrestrial soil carbon. Sphagnum mosses comprise up to 90% of peat in the northern hemisphere but impacts of climate change on Sphagnum mosses are poorly understood, limiting development of sustainable peatland management and restoration. This study investigates the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2) (800 ppm) and hydrology on the growth of Sphagnum fallax, Sphagnum capillifolium and Sphagnum papillosum and greenhous...

Newman, Thomas R.; Wright, Neal; Wright, Barbara; Sjögersten, Sofie

Genetic analyses favour an ancient and natural origin of elephants on Borneo See

The origin of the elephant on the island of Borneo remains elusive. Research has suggested two alternative hypotheses: the Bornean elephant stems either from a recent introduction in the 17th century or from an ancient colonization several hundreds of thousands years ago. Lack of elephant fossils has been interpreted as evidence for a very recent introduction, whereas mtDNA divergence from other Asian elephants has been argued to favor an ancient colonization. We investigated the demographic ...

Sharma, Reeta; Goossens, Benoit; Heller, Rasmus; Rasteiro, Rita; Othman, Nurzhafarina... et al.

Cinacalcet use and the risk of cardiovascular events, fractures and mortality in chronic kidney disease patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism See

With the aim to expand the randomized controlled trial evidence of cinacalcet treatment to the unselected, general chronic kidney disease (CKD) population we analysed a large inception cohort of CKD patients in the region of Stockholm, Sweden 2006–2012 (both non-dialysis, dialysis and transplanted) with evidence of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). We used marginal structural models to account for both confounding by indication and time-dependent confounding. Over 37 months, 435/3,526 (12...

Evans, Marie; Methven, Shona; Gasparini, Alessandro; Barany, Peter; Birnie, Kate... et al.

p73 Alternative Splicing: Exploring a Biological Role for the C-Terminal Isoforms See

p73 (encoded by TP73 gene) is a p53 related protein that functions as a transcriptional factor. Similarly to p53, following DNA damage, p73 is stabilized and activated and controls expression of target genes that are involved in the regulation of cycle arrest and apoptosis. However, great complexity to the function of this gene is given by the wide range of its non-tumor-related roles, which include neurological development, ciliogenesis and fertility. From the structural point of view, p73 d...

Vikhreva, Polina; Melino, Gerry; Amelio, Ivano

Crossed Simplicial Group Categorical Nerves See

We extend the notion of the nerve of a category for a small class of crossed simplicial groups, explicitly describing them using generators and relations. We do this by first considering a generalised bar construction of a group before looking at twisted versions of some of these nerves. As an application we show how we can use the twisted nerves to give equivariant versions of certain derived stacks.

Balchin, Scott

Sociodemographic variation in the use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in patients with stage IV lung, oesophageal, stomach and pancreatic cancer: evidence from population-based data in England during 2013–2014 See

Background Sociodemographic inequalities in cancer treatment have been generally described, but there is little evidence regarding patients with advanced cancer. Understanding variation in the management of these patients may provide insights into likely mechanisms leading to inequalities in survival. Methods We identified 50,232 patients with stage IV lung, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach cancer from the English national cancer registry. A generalised linear model with a Poisson err...

Henson, Katherine E.; Fry, Anna; Lyratzopoulos, Georgios; Peake, Michael; Roberts, Keith J.... et al.

Pir2/Rnf144b is a potential endometrial cancer biomarker that promotes cell proliferation See

Endometrial cancer is one of the most common gynaecological cancers in developed countries. Its incidence has increased 20% over the last decade and the death rate has increased >100% over the past two decades. Current models for prediction of prognosis and treatment response are suboptimal, and as such biomarkers to support clinical decision-making and contribute to individualised treatment are needed. In this study, we show that the E3-ubiquitin ligase PIR2/RNF144B is a potential targetable...

Zhou, Qing; Eldakhakhny, Sahar; Conforti, Franco; Crosbie, Emma J.; Melino, Gerry... et al.

Assessing low-maturity organic matter in shales using Raman spectroscopy: Effects of sample preparation and operating procedure See

Laser Raman spectroscopy is used to assess the thermal maturity of organic matter in sedimentary rocks, particularly organic-rich mudstones. However, discrepancies exist between quantified Raman spectral parameters and maturity values obtained by vitrinite reflectance. This has prevented the adoption of a standard protocol for the determination of thermal maturity of organic matter (OM) by Raman spectroscopy. We have examined the factors influencing the Raman spectra obtained from low-maturit...

Henry, Delano G.; Jarvis, Ian; Gillmore, Gavin; Stephenson, Michael; Emmings, Joseph F.

A scheme based on ICD-10 diagnoses and drug prescriptions to stage chronic kidney disease severity in healthcare administrative records See

Background Information about renal function is important for drug safety studies using administrative health databases. However, serum creatinine values are seldom available in these registries. Our aim was to develop and test a simple scheme for stratification of renal function without access to laboratory test results. Methods Our scheme uses registry data about diagnoses, contacts, dialysis and drug use. We validated the scheme in the Stockholm CREAtinine Measurements (SCREAM) project...

Friberg, Leif; Gasparini, Alessandro; Carrero, Juan Jesus

Bis-Indolyl Benzenoids, Hydroxypyrrolidine Derivatives and Other Constituents from Cultures of the Marine Sponge-Associated Fungus Aspergillus candidus KUFA0062 See

A previously unreported bis-indolyl benzenoid, candidusin D (2e) and a new hydroxypyrrolidine alkaloid, preussin C (5b) were isolated together with fourteen previously described compounds: palmitic acid, clionasterol, ergosterol 5,8-endoperoxides, chrysophanic acid (1a), emodin (1b), six bis-indolyl benzenoids including asterriquinol D dimethyl ether (2a), petromurin C (2b), kumbicin B (2c), kumbicin A (2d), 2″-oxoasterriquinol D methyl ether (3), kumbicin D (4), the hydroxypyrrolidine alkalo...

Buttachon, Suradet; Ramos, Alice A.; Inácio, Ângela; Dethoup, Tida; Gales, Luís... et al.