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Showing papers by "University of Alberta published in 2014"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Due to complexity of soil-water system in nature, the effectiveness of biochars on remediation of various organic/inorganic contaminants is still uncertain.

3,163 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Enzalutamide significantly decreased the risk of radiographic progression and death and delayed the initiation of chemotherapy in men with metastatic prostate cancer.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Enzalutamide is an oral androgen-receptor inhibitor that prolongs survival in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in whom the disease has progressed after chemotherapy. New treatment options are needed for patients with metastatic prostate cancer who have not received chemotherapy, in whom the disease has progressed despite androgen-deprivation therapy. METHODS: In this double-blind, phase 3 study, we randomly assigned 1717 patients to receive either enzalutamide (at a dose of 160 mg) or placebo once daily. The coprimary end points were radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: The study was stopped after a planned interim analysis, conducted when 540 deaths had been reported, showed a benefit of the active treatment. The rate of radiographic progression-free survival at 12 months was 65% among patients treated with enzalutamide, as compared with 14% among patients receiving placebo (81% risk reduction; hazard ratio in the enzalutamide group, 0.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.23; P<0.001). A total of 626 patients (72%) in the enzalutamide group, as compared with 532 patients (63%) in the placebo group, were alive at the data-cutoff date (29% reduction in the risk of death; hazard ratio, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.84; P<0.001). The benefit of enzalutamide was shown with respect to all secondary end points, including the time until the initiation of cytotoxic chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.35), the time until the first skeletal-related event (hazard ratio, 0.72), a complete or partial soft-tissue response (59% vs. 5%), the time until prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression (hazard ratio, 0.17), and a rate of decline of at least 50% in PSA (78% vs. 3%) (P<0.001 for all comparisons). Fatigue and hypertension were the most common clinically relevant adverse events associated with enzalutamide treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Enzalutamide significantly decreased the risk of radiographic progression and death and delayed the initiation of chemotherapy in men with metastatic prostate cancer. (Funded by Medivation and Astellas Pharma; PREVAIL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01212991.).

2,426 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Peter A. R. Ade1, Nabila Aghanim2, M. I. R. Alves2, C. Armitage-Caplan3  +469 moreInstitutions (89)
TL;DR: The European Space Agency's Planck satellite, dedicated to studying the early Universe and its subsequent evolution, was launched 14 May 2009 and has been scanning the microwave and submillimetre sky continuously since 12 August 2009 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, dedicated to studying the early Universe and its subsequent evolution, was launched 14 May 2009 and has been scanning the microwave and submillimetre sky continuously since 12 August 2009. In March 2013, ESA and the Planck Collaboration released the initial cosmology products based on the first 15.5 months of Planck data, along with a set of scientific and technical papers and a web-based explanatory supplement. This paper gives an overview of the mission and its performance, the processing, analysis, and characteristics of the data, the scientific results, and the science data products and papers in the release. The science products include maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and diffuse extragalactic foregrounds, a catalogue of compact Galactic and extragalactic sources, and a list of sources detected through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. The likelihood code used to assess cosmological models against the Planck data and a lensing likelihood are described. Scientific results include robust support for the standard six-parameter ΛCDM model of cosmology and improved measurements of its parameters, including a highly significant deviation from scale invariance of the primordial power spectrum. The Planck values for these parameters and others derived from them are significantly different from those previously determined. Several large-scale anomalies in the temperature distribution of the CMB, first detected by WMAP, are confirmed with higher confidence. Planck sets new limits on the number and mass of neutrinos, and has measured gravitational lensing of CMB anisotropies at greater than 25σ. Planck finds no evidence for non-Gaussianity in the CMB. Planck’s results agree well with results from the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations. Planck finds a lower Hubble constant than found in some more local measures. Some tension is also present between the amplitude of matter fluctuations (σ8) derived from CMB data and that derived from Sunyaev-Zeldovich data. The Planck and WMAP power spectra are offset from each other by an average level of about 2% around the first acoustic peak. Analysis of Planck polarization data is not yet mature, therefore polarization results are not released, although the robust detection of E-mode polarization around CMB hot and cold spots is shown graphically.

1,719 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Two channelrhodopsins, Chronos and Chrimson, are described, discovered through sequencing and physiological characterization of opsins from over 100 species of alga, that enable two-color activation of neural spiking and downstream synaptic transmission in independent neural populations without detectable cross-talk in mouse brain slice.
Abstract: Optogenetic tools enable examination of how specific cell types contribute to brain circuit functions. A long-standing question is whether it is possible to independently activate two distinct neural populations in mammalian brain tissue. Such a capability would enable the study of how different synapses or pathways interact to encode information in the brain. Here we describe two channelrhodopsins, Chronos and Chrimson, discovered through sequencing and physiological characterization of opsins from over 100 species of alga. Chrimson's excitation spectrum is red shifted by 45 nm relative to previous channelrhodopsins and can enable experiments in which red light is preferred. We show minimal visual system-mediated behavioral interference when using Chrimson in neurobehavioral studies in Drosophila melanogaster. Chronos has faster kinetics than previous channelrhodopsins yet is effectively more light sensitive. Together these two reagents enable two-color activation of neural spiking and downstream synaptic transmission in independent neural populations without detectable cross-talk in mouse brain slice.

1,701 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
M. G. Aartsen1, Markus Ackermann, Jenni Adams2, Juanan Aguilar3  +299 moreInstitutions (41)
TL;DR: Results from an analysis with a third year of data from the complete IceCube detector are consistent with the previously reported astrophysical flux in the 100 TeV-PeV range at the level of 10(-8) GeV cm-2 s-1 sr-1 per flavor and reject a purely atmospheric explanation for the combined three-year data at 5.7σ.
Abstract: A search for high-energy neutrinos interacting within the IceCube detector between 2010 and 2012 provided the first evidence for a high-energy neutrino flux of extraterrestrial origin. Results from an analysis using the same methods with a third year (2012-2013) of data from the complete IceCube detector are consistent with the previously reported astrophysical flux in the 100 TeV-PeV range at the level of 10(-8) GeV cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) per flavor and reject a purely atmospheric explanation for the combined three-year data at 5.7 sigma. The data are consistent with expectations for equal fluxes of all three neutrino flavors and with isotropic arrival directions, suggesting either numerous or spatially extended sources. The three-year data set, with a live time of 988 days, contains a total of 37 neutrino candidate events with deposited energies ranging from 30 to 2000 TeV. The 2000-TeV event is the highest-energy neutrino interaction ever observed.

1,183 citations


01 Feb 2014
TL;DR: Chronos and Chrimson as mentioned in this paper have been shown to enable two-color activation of neural spiking and downstream synaptic transmission in independent neural populations without detectable cross-talk in mouse brain slice.
Abstract: Optogenetic tools enable examination of how specific cell types contribute to brain circuit functions. A long-standing question is whether it is possible to independently activate two distinct neural populations in mammalian brain tissue. Such a capability would enable the study of how different synapses or pathways interact to encode information in the brain. Here we describe two channelrhodopsins, Chronos and Chrimson, discovered through sequencing and physiological characterization of opsins from over 100 species of alga. Chrimson's excitation spectrum is red shifted by 45 nm relative to previous channelrhodopsins and can enable experiments in which red light is preferred. We show minimal visual system-mediated behavioral interference when using Chrimson in neurobehavioral studies in Drosophila melanogaster. Chronos has faster kinetics than previous channelrhodopsins yet is effectively more light sensitive. Together these two reagents enable two-color activation of neural spiking and downstream synaptic transmission in independent neural populations without detectable cross-talk in mouse brain slice.

1,152 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the microstructure and electrochemical performance relations of MoS2-based anodes and cathodes for secondary lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is presented.
Abstract: This is the first targeted review of the synthesis – microstructure – electrochemical performance relations of MoS2 – based anodes and cathodes for secondary lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Molybdenum disulfide is a highly promising material for LIBs that compensates for its intermediate insertion voltage (∼2 V vs. Li/Li+) with a high reversible capacity (up to 1290 mA h g−1) and an excellent rate capability (e.g. 554 mA h g−1 after 20 cycles at 50 C). Several themes emerge when surveying the scientific literature on the subject: first, we argue that there is excellent data to show that truly nanoscale structures, which often contain a nanodispersed carbon phase, consistently possess superior charge storage capacity and cycling performance. We provide several hypotheses regarding why the measured capacities in such architectures are well above the theoretical predictions of the known MoS2 intercalation and conversion reactions. Second, we highlight the growing microstructural and electrochemical evidence that the layered MoS2 structure does not survive past the initial lithiation cycle, and that subsequently the electrochemically active material is actually elemental sulfur. Third, we show that certain synthesis techniques are consistently demonstrated to be the most promising for battery applications, and describe these in detail. Fourth, we present our selection of synthesis methods that we believe to have a high potential for creating improved MoS2 LIB electrodes, but are yet to be tried.

1,133 citations



Book
31 Mar 2014
TL;DR: Phenomenology of practice is an ethical corrective of the technological and calculative modalities of contemporary life as mentioned in this paper and it finds its source and impetus in practical phenomenologies of reading and writing that open up possibilities for creating formative relations between being and acting, self and other, interiorities and exteriorities between who we are and how we act.
Abstract: Phenomenology of practice is formative of sensitive practice, issuing from the pathic power of phenomenological reflections. Pathic knowing inheres in the sense and sensuality of our practical actions, in encounters with others and in the ways that our bodies are responsive to the things of our world and to the situations and relations in which we find ourselves. Phenomenology of practice is an ethical corrective of the technological and calculative modalities of contemporary life. It finds its source and impetus in practical phenomenologies of reading and writing that open up possibilities for creating formative relations between being and acting, self and other, interiorities and exteriorities, between who we are and how we act.

1,070 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Strong and robust support is found for a sister-group relationship between land plants and one group of streptophyte green algae, the Zygnematophyceae, and suggests that phylogenetic hypotheses used to understand the evolution of fundamental plant traits should be reevaluated.
Abstract: Reconstructing the origin and evolution of land plants and their algal relatives is a fundamental problem in plant phylogenetics, and is essential for understanding how critical adaptations arose, including the embryo, vascular tissue, seeds, and flowers. Despite advances in molecular systematics, some hypotheses of relationships remain weakly resolved. Inferring deep phylogenies with bouts of rapid diversification can be problematic; however, genome-scale data should significantly increase the number of informative characters for analyses. Recent phylogenomic reconstructions focused on the major divergences of plants have resulted in promising but inconsistent results. One limitation is sparse taxon sampling, likely resulting from the difficulty and cost of data generation. To address this limitation, transcriptome data for 92 streptophyte taxa were generated and analyzed along with 11 published plant genome sequences. Phylogenetic reconstructions were conducted using up to 852 nuclear genes and 1,701,170 aligned sites. Sixty-nine analyses were performed to test the robustness of phylogenetic inferences to permutations of the data matrix or to phylogenetic method, including supermatrix, supertree, and coalescent-based approaches, maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods, partitioned and unpartitioned analyses, and amino acid versus DNA alignments. Among other results, we find robust support for a sister-group relationship between land plants and one group of streptophyte green algae, the Zygnematophyceae. Strong and robust support for a clade comprising liverworts and mosses is inconsistent with a widely accepted view of early land plant evolution, and suggests that phylogenetic hypotheses used to understand the evolution of fundamental plant traits should be reevaluated.

1,026 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The IOC expert working group introduces a broader, more comprehensive term for the condition previously known as ‘Female Athlete Triad’, ‘Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport’ (RED-S), and recommends practical clinical models for the management of affected athletes.
Abstract: Protecting the health of the athlete is a goal of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC convened an expert panel to update the 2005 IOC Consensus Statement on the Female Athlete Triad. This Consensus Statement replaces the previous and provides guidelines to guide risk assessment, treatment and return-to-play decisions. The IOC expert working group introduces a broader, more comprehensive term for the condition previously known as ‘Female Athlete Triad’. The term ‘Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport’ (RED-S), points to the complexity involved and the fact that male athletes are also affected. The syndrome of RED-S refers to impaired physiological function including, but not limited to, metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, cardiovascular health caused by relative energy deficiency. The cause of this syndrome is energy deficiency relative to the balance between dietary energy intake and energy expenditure required for health and activities of daily living, growth and sporting activities. Psychological consequences can either precede RED-S or be the result of RED-S. The clinical phenomenon is not a ‘triad’ of the three entities of energy availability, menstrual function and bone health, but rather a syndrome that affects many aspects of physiological function, health and athletic performance. This Consensus Statement also recommends practical clinical models for the management of affected athletes. The ‘Sport Risk Assessment and Return to Play Model’ categorises the syndrome into three groups and translates these classifications into clinical recommendations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) as discussed by the authors is a collection of digital outlines of glaciers, excluding the ice sheets, developed to meet the needs of the Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for estimates of past and future mass balance.
Abstract: The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) is a globally complete collection of digital outlines of glaciers, excluding the ice sheets, developed to meet the needs of the Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for estimates of past and future mass balance. The RGI was created with limited resources in a short period. Priority was given to completeness of coverage, but a limited, uniform set of attributes is attached to each of the � 198 000 glaciers in its latest version, 3.2. Satellite imagery from 1999-2010 provided most of the outlines. Their total extent is estimated as 726 800 � 34 000 km 2 . The uncertainty, about � 5%, is derived from careful single-glacier and basin-scale uncertainty estimates and comparisons with inventories that were not sources for the RGI. The main contributors to uncertainty are probably misinterpretation of seasonal snow cover and debris cover. These errors appear not to be normally distributed, and quantifying them reliably is an unsolved problem. Combined with digital elevation models, the RGI glacier outlines yield hypsometries that can be com- bined with atmospheric data or model outputs for analysis of the impacts of climatic change on glaciers. The RGI has already proved its value in the generation of significantly improved aggregate estimates of glacier mass changes and total volume, and thus actual and potential contributions to sea-level rise.

Journal ArticleDOI
Dalila Pinto1, Elsa Delaby2, Elsa Delaby3, Elsa Delaby4, Daniele Merico5, Mafalda Barbosa1, Alison K. Merikangas6, Lambertus Klei7, Bhooma Thiruvahindrapuram5, Xiao Xu1, Robert Ziman5, Zhuozhi Wang5, Jacob A. S. Vorstman8, Ann P. Thompson9, Regina Regan10, Regina Regan11, Marion Pilorge2, Marion Pilorge3, Marion Pilorge4, Giovanna Pellecchia5, Alistair T. Pagnamenta12, Bárbara Oliveira13, Bárbara Oliveira14, Christian R. Marshall5, Tiago R. Magalhaes10, Tiago R. Magalhaes11, Jennifer K. Lowe15, Jennifer L. Howe5, Anthony J. Griswold16, John R. Gilbert16, Eftichia Duketis17, Beth A. Dombroski18, Maretha de Jonge8, Michael L. Cuccaro16, Emily L. Crawford19, Catarina Correia14, Catarina Correia13, Judith Conroy20, Inȇs C. Conceição14, Inȇs C. Conceição13, Andreas G. Chiocchetti17, Jillian P. Casey10, Jillian P. Casey11, Guiqing Cai1, Christelle Cabrol2, Christelle Cabrol3, Christelle Cabrol4, Nadia Bolshakova6, Elena Bacchelli21, Richard Anney6, Steven Gallinger5, Michelle Cotterchio22, Graham Casey23, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum24, Kerstin Wittemeyer25, Kirsty Wing12, Simon Wallace12, Herman van Engeland8, Ana Tryfon26, Susanne Thomson19, Latha Soorya27, Bernadette Rogé, Wendy Roberts5, Fritz Poustka17, Susana Mouga28, Nancy J. Minshew7, L. Alison McInnes29, Susan G. McGrew19, Catherine Lord30, Marion Leboyer, Ann Le Couteur31, Alexander Kolevzon1, Patricia Jiménez González, Suma Jacob32, Suma Jacob33, Richard Holt12, Stephen J. Guter32, Jonathan Green, Andrew Green11, Andrew Green10, Christopher Gillberg34, Bridget A. Fernandez35, Frederico Duque28, Richard Delorme, Geraldine Dawson36, Pauline Chaste, Cátia Café, Sean Brennan6, Thomas Bourgeron37, Patrick Bolton38, Patrick Bolton39, Sven Bölte17, Raphael Bernier40, Gillian Baird38, Anthony J. Bailey12, Evdokia Anagnostou5, Joana Almeida, Ellen M. Wijsman40, Veronica J. Vieland41, Astrid M. Vicente13, Astrid M. Vicente14, Gerard D. Schellenberg18, Margaret A. Pericak-Vance16, Andrew D. Paterson5, Jeremy R. Parr31, Guiomar Oliveira28, John I. Nurnberger42, Anthony P. Monaco43, Anthony P. Monaco12, Elena Maestrini21, Sabine M. Klauck44, Hakon Hakonarson18, Jonathan L. Haines19, Daniel H. Geschwind15, Christine M. Freitag17, Susan E. Folstein16, Sean Ennis11, Sean Ennis10, Hilary Coon45, Agatino Battaglia, Peter Szatmari9, James S. Sutcliffe19, Joachim Hallmayer46, Michael Gill6, Edwin H. Cook32, Joseph D. Buxbaum1, Bernie Devlin7, Louise Gallagher6, Catalina Betancur4, Catalina Betancur3, Catalina Betancur2, Stephen W. Scherer5 
TL;DR: For example, the authors analyzed 2,446 ASD-affected families and confirmed an excess of genic deletions and duplications in affected versus control groups (1.41-fold, p = 1.0 × 10(-5)) and an increase in affected subjects carrying exonic pathogenic CNVs overlapping known loci associated with dominant or X-linked ASD and intellectual disability.
Abstract: Rare copy-number variation (CNV) is an important source of risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We analyzed 2,446 ASD-affected families and confirmed an excess of genic deletions and duplications in affected versus control groups (1.41-fold, p = 1.0 × 10(-5)) and an increase in affected subjects carrying exonic pathogenic CNVs overlapping known loci associated with dominant or X-linked ASD and intellectual disability (odds ratio = 12.62, p = 2.7 × 10(-15), ∼3% of ASD subjects). Pathogenic CNVs, often showing variable expressivity, included rare de novo and inherited events at 36 loci, implicating ASD-associated genes (CHD2, HDAC4, and GDI1) previously linked to other neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as other genes such as SETD5, MIR137, and HDAC9. Consistent with hypothesized gender-specific modulators, females with ASD were more likely to have highly penetrant CNVs (p = 0.017) and were also overrepresented among subjects with fragile X syndrome protein targets (p = 0.02). Genes affected by de novo CNVs and/or loss-of-function single-nucleotide variants converged on networks related to neuronal signaling and development, synapse function, and chromatin regulation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: With an increase of >50% in CHD prevalence since 2000, by 2010 adults accounted for two thirds of patients with severe and other forms of CHD in the general population.
Abstract: Background— Our objective was to obtain contemporary lifetime estimates of congenital heart disease (CHD) prevalence using population-based data sources up to year 2010. Methods and Results— The Quebec CHD database contains 28 years of longitudinal data on all individuals with CHD from 1983 to 2010. Severe CHD was defined as tetralogy of Fallot, truncus arteriosus, transposition complexes, endocardial cushion defects, and univentricular hearts. We used latent class bayesian models combining case definitions from physician claims, hospitalization, and surgical data to obtain point and interval prevalence estimates of CHD in the first year of life, in children ( Conclusions— With an increase of >50% in CHD prevalence since 2000, by 2010 adults accounted for two thirds of patients with severe and other forms of CHD in the general population. Our findings should inform allocation of resources and the planning of workforce needs for the predominantly adult CHD population.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These guidelines were developed by Canadian experts in anxiety and related disorders through a consensus process based on global impression of efficacy, effectiveness, and side effects, using a modified version of the periodic health examination guidelines.
Abstract: Anxiety and related disorders are among the most common mental disorders, with lifetime prevalence reportedly as high as 31%. Unfortunately, anxiety disorders are under-diagnosed and under-treated. These guidelines were developed by Canadian experts in anxiety and related disorders through a consensus process. Data on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment (psychological and pharmacological) were obtained through MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and manual searches (1980–2012). Treatment strategies were rated on strength of evidence, and a clinical recommendation for each intervention was made, based on global impression of efficacy, effectiveness, and side effects, using a modified version of the periodic health examination guidelines. These guidelines are presented in 10 sections, including an introduction, principles of diagnosis and management, six sections (Sections 3 through 8) on the specific anxiety-related disorders (panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder), and two additional sections on special populations (children/adolescents, pregnant/lactating women, and the elderly) and clinical issues in patients with comorbid conditions. Anxiety and related disorders are very common in clinical practice, and frequently comorbid with other psychiatric and medical conditions. Optimal management requires a good understanding of the efficacy and side effect profiles of pharmacological and psychological treatments.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The fundamental engineering principles used to design RCA nanotechnologies are introduced, the recently developed RCA-based diagnostics and bioanalytical tools are discussed, and the use of RCA to construct multivalent molecular scaffolds and nanostructures for applications in biology, diagnostic and therapeutics is summarized.
Abstract: Rolling circle amplification (RCA) is an isothermal enzymatic process where a short DNA or RNA primer is amplified to form a long single stranded DNA or RNA using a circular DNA template and special DNA or RNA polymerases. The RCA product is a concatemer containing tens to hundreds of tandem repeats that are complementary to the circular template. The power, simplicity, and versatility of the DNA amplification technique have made it an attractive tool for biomedical research and nanobiotechnology. Traditionally, RCA has been used to develop sensitive diagnostic methods for a variety of targets including nucleic acids (DNA, RNA), small molecules, proteins, and cells. RCA has also attracted significant attention in the field of nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology. The RCA-produced long, single-stranded DNA with repeating units has been used as template for the periodic assembly of nanospecies. Moreover, since RCA products can be tailor-designed by manipulating the circular template, RCA has been employed to generate complex DNA nanostructures such as DNA origami, nanotubes, nanoribbons and DNA based metamaterials. These functional RCA based nanotechnologies have been utilized for biodetection, drug delivery, designing bioelectronic circuits and bioseparation. In this review, we introduce the fundamental engineering principles used to design RCA nanotechnologies, discuss recently developed RCA-based diagnostics and bioanalytical tools, and summarize the use of RCA to construct multivalent molecular scaffolds and nanostructures for applications in biology, diagnostics and therapeutics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of piezoelectric polymers based on their operating principle is given in this paper, which includes three main categories: bulk polymers, piezocomposites and voided charged polymers.
Abstract: Polymer based MEMS and microfluidic devices have the advantages of mechanical flexibility, lower fabrication cost and faster processing over silicon based ones. Also, many polymer materials are considered biocompatible and can be used in biological applications. A valuable class of polymers for microfabricated devices is piezoelectric functional polymers. In addition to the normal advantages of polymers, piezoelectric polymers can be directly used as an active material in different transduction applications. This paper gives an overview of piezoelectric polymers based on their operating principle. This includes three main categories: bulk piezoelectric polymers, piezocomposites and voided charged polymers. State-of-the-art piezopolymers of each category are presented with a focus on fabrication techniques and material properties. A comparison between the different piezoelectric polymers and common inorganic piezoelectric materials (PZT, ZnO, AlN and PMN?PT) is also provided in terms of piezoelectric properties. The use of piezopolymers in different electromechanical devices is also presented. This includes tactile sensors, energy harvesters, acoustic transducers and inertial sensors.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The conclusion is that SOAPdenovo-Trans provides higher contiguity, lower redundancy and faster execution, compared with two other popular transcriptome assemblers.
Abstract: Motivation: Transcriptome sequencing has long been the favored method for quickly and inexpensively obtaining a large number of gene sequences from an organism with no reference genome. Owing to the rapid increase in throughputs and decrease in costs of next- generation sequencing, RNA-Seq in particular has become the method of choice. However, the very short reads (e.g. 2 � 90 bp paired ends) from next generation sequencing makes de novo assembly to recover complete or full-length transcript sequences an algorithmic challenge. Results: Here, we present SOAPdenovo-Trans, a de novo transcriptome assembler designed specifically for RNA-Seq. We evaluated its performance on transcriptome datasets from rice and mouse. Using as our benchmarks the known transcripts from these wellannotated genomes (sequenced a decade ago), we assessed how SOAPdenovo-Trans and two other popular transcriptome assemblers handled such practical issues as alternative splicing and variable expression levels. Our conclusion is that SOAPdenovo-Trans provides higher contiguity, lower redundancy and faster execution. Availability and implementation: Source code and user manual are available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/soapdenovotrans/. Contact: xieyl@genomics.cn or bgi-soap@googlegroups.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery, MINS was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality and had the highest population-attributable risk of the perioperative complications.
Abstract: Background Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery (MINS) was defined as prognostically relevant myocardial injury due to ischemia that occurs during or within 30 days after noncardiac surgery. The study's four objectives were to determine the diagnostic criteria, characteristics, predictors, and 30-day outcomes of MINS. Methods In this international, prospective cohort study of 15,065 patients aged 45 yr or older who underwent in-patient noncardiac surgery, troponin T was measured during the first 3 postoperative days. Patients with a troponin T level of 0.04 ng/ml or greater (elevated "abnormal" laboratory threshold) were assessed for ischemic features (i.e., ischemic symptoms and electrocardiography findings). Patients adjudicated as having a nonischemic troponin elevation (e.g., sepsis) were excluded. To establish diagnostic criteria for MINS, the authors used Cox regression analyses in which the dependent variable was 30-day mortality (260 deaths) and independent variables included preoperative variables, perioperative complications, and potential MINS diagnostic criteria. Results An elevated troponin after noncardiac surgery, irrespective of the presence of an ischemic feature, independently predicted 30-day mortality. Therefore, the authors' diagnostic criterion for MINS was a peak troponin T level of 0.03 ng/ml or greater judged due to myocardial ischemia. MINS was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.87; 95% CI, 2.96-5.08) and had the highest population-attributable risk (34.0%, 95% CI, 26.6-41.5) of the perioperative complications. Twelve hundred patients (8.0%) suffered MINS, and 58.2% of these patients would not have fulfilled the universal definition of myocardial infarction. Only 15.8% of patients with MINS experienced an ischemic symptom. Conclusion Among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery, MINS is common and associated with substantial mortality.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Administration of aspirin before surgery and throughout the early postsurgical period had no significant effect on the rate of a composite of death or nonfatal myocardial infarction but increased the risk of major bleeding.
Abstract: The primary outcome occurred in 351 of 4998 patients (7.0%) in the aspirin group and in 355 of 5012 patients (7.1%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio in the aspirin group, 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86 to 1.15; P = 0.92). Major bleeding was more common in the aspirin group than in the placebo group (230 patients [4.6%] vs. 188 patients [3.8%]; hazard ratio, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.01, to 1.49; P = 0.04). The primary and secondary outcome results were similar in the two aspirin strata. Conclusions Administration of aspirin before surgery and throughout the early postsurgical period had no significant effect on the rate of a composite of death or nonfatal myocardial infarction but increased the risk of major bleeding. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and others; POISE-2 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01082874.)

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a large-scale hydrodynamical cosmological simulation, Horizon-AGN, is used to investigate the alignment between the spin of galaxies and the largescale cosmic filaments above red-shift one.
Abstract: A large-scale hydrodynamical cosmological simulation, Horizon-AGN , is used to investigate the alignment between the spin of galaxies and the large-scale cosmic filaments above redshift one. The analysis of more than 150 000 galaxies with morphological diversity in a 100h −1 Mpc comoving box size shows that the spin of low-mass, rotationdominated, blue, star-forming galaxies is preferentially aligned with their neighbouring filaments. High-mass, dispersion-dominated, red, quiescent galaxies tend to have a spin perpendicular to nearby filaments. The reorientation of the spin of massive galaxies is provided by galaxy mergers which are significant in the mass build up of high-mass galaxies. We find that the stellar mass transition from alignment to misalignment happens around 3×10 10 M⊙. This is consistent with earlier findings of a dark matter mass transition for the orientation of the spin of halos (5 × 10 11 M⊙ at the same redshift from Codis et al. 2012). With these numerical evidence, we advocate a scenario in which galaxies form in the vorticity-rich neighbourhood of filaments, and migrate towards the nodes of the cosmic web as they convert their orbital angular momentum into spin. The signature of this process can be traced to the physical and morphological properties of galaxies, as measured relative to the cosmic web. We argue that a strong source of feedback such as Active Galactic Nuclei is mandatory to quench in situ star formation in massive galaxies. It allows mergers to play their key role by reducing post-merger gas inflows and, therefore, keeping galaxy spins misaligned with cosmic filaments. It also promotes diversity amongst galaxy properties.

Journal ArticleDOI
06 Jun 2014-ACS Nano
TL;DR: A combination of XRD and XPS demonstrates highly reversible Na intercalation rather than metal underpotential deposition, and the same analysis proves the presence of metallic Li in the pores, withintercalation being much less pronounced.
Abstract: Banana peel pseudographite (BPPG) offers superb dual functionality for sodium ion battery (NIB) and lithium ion battery (LIB) anodes. The materials possess low surface areas (19–217 m2 g–1) and a relatively high electrode packing density (0.75 g cm–3 vs ∼1 g cm–3 for graphite). Tested against Na, BPPG delivers a gravimetric (and volumetric) capacity of 355 mAh g–1 (by active material ∼700 mAh cm–3, by electrode volume ∼270 mAh cm–3) after 10 cycles at 50 mA g–1. A nearly flat ∼200 mAh g–1 plateau that is below 0.1 V and a minimal charge/discharge voltage hysteresis make BPPG a direct electrochemical analogue to graphite but with Na. A charge capacity of 221 mAh g–1 at 500 mA g–1 is degraded by 7% after 600 cycles, while a capacity of 336 mAh g–1 at 100 mAg–1 is degraded by 11% after 300 cycles, in both cases with ∼100% cycling Coulombic efficiency. For LIB applications BPPG offers a gravimetric (volumetric) capacity of 1090 mAh g–1 (by material ∼2200 mAh cm–3, by electrode ∼900 mAh cm–3) at 50 mA g–1. The...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The 1000 bull genomes project supports the goal of accelerating the rates of genetic gain in domestic cattle while at the same time considering animal health and welfare by providing the annotated sequence variants and genotypes of key ancestor bulls.
Abstract: The 1000 bull genomes project supports the goal of accelerating the rates of genetic gain in domestic cattle while at the same time considering animal health and welfare by providing the annotated sequence variants and genotypes of key ancestor bulls. In the first phase of the 1000 bull genomes project, we sequenced the whole genomes of 234 cattle to an average of 8.3-fold coverage. This sequencing includes data for 129 individuals from the global Holstein-Friesian population, 43 individuals from the Fleckvieh breed and 15 individuals from the Jersey breed. We identified a total of 28.3 million variants, with an average of 1.44 heterozygous sites per kilobase for each individual. We demonstrate the use of this database in identifying a recessive mutation underlying embryonic death and a dominant mutation underlying lethal chrondrodysplasia. We also performed genome-wide association studies for milk production and curly coat, using imputed sequence variants, and identified variants associated with these traits in cattle.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a coexpression vector, Optopatch, enabled cross-talk-free genetically targeted all-optical electrophysiology without the use of conventional electrodes.
Abstract: All-optical electrophysiology-spatially resolved simultaneous optical perturbation and measurement of membrane voltage-would open new vistas in neuroscience research. We evolved two archaerhodopsin-based voltage indicators, QuasAr1 and QuasAr2, which show improved brightness and voltage sensitivity, have microsecond response times and produce no photocurrent. We engineered a channelrhodopsin actuator, CheRiff, which shows high light sensitivity and rapid kinetics and is spectrally orthogonal to the QuasArs. A coexpression vector, Optopatch, enabled cross-talk-free genetically targeted all-optical electrophysiology. In cultured rat neurons, we combined Optopatch with patterned optical excitation to probe back-propagating action potentials (APs) in dendritic spines, synaptic transmission, subcellular microsecond-timescale details of AP propagation, and simultaneous firing of many neurons in a network. Optopatch measurements revealed homeostatic tuning of intrinsic excitability in human stem cell-derived neurons. In rat brain slices, Optopatch induced and reported APs and subthreshold events with high signal-to-noise ratios. The Optopatch platform enables high-throughput, spatially resolved electrophysiology without the use of conventional electrodes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors systematically analyzed the research exploring two psychological characteristics (selfefficacy and personality) and measures of teaching effectiveness (evaluated teaching performance and student achievement) and revealed a significant but small effect size of r ¯ =. 10 between overall psychological characteristics and teaching effectiveness.

Journal ArticleDOI
13 Mar 2014-Nature
TL;DR: X-ray diffraction, Raman and infrared spectroscopic data are reported that provide the first evidence for the terrestrial occurrence of any higher-pressure polymorph of olivine: ringwoodite is included in a diamond from Juína, Brazil, providing direct evidence that, at least locally, the transition zone is hydrous.
Abstract: X-ray diffraction, Raman and infrared spectroscopic evidence for the inclusion of water-rich ringwoodite in diamond from Juina, Brazil, indicates that, at least locally, the Earth’s transition zone is hydrous to about 1 weight per cent. It is not clear just how much water resides within the solid Earth, and where it is to be found, with many indirect measurements yielding conflicting results. Here Graham Pearson and co-authors present evidence from a diamond inclusion from Juina, Brazil, for the first known terrestrial occurrence of ringwoodite — a high-pressure polymorph of olivine first identified in meteorites and thought to be a major constituent of the Earth's mantle transition zone. The water-rich nature of this inclusion provides direct evidence that, at least locally, the transition zone is hydrous, to about 1 weight per cent. The ultimate origin of water in the Earth’s hydrosphere is in the deep Earth—the mantle. Theory1 and experiments2,3,4 have shown that although the water storage capacity of olivine-dominated shallow mantle is limited, the Earth’s transition zone, at depths between 410 and 660 kilometres, could be a major repository for water, owing to the ability of the higher-pressure polymorphs of olivine—wadsleyite and ringwoodite—to host enough water to comprise up to around 2.5 per cent of their weight. A hydrous transition zone may have a key role in terrestrial magmatism and plate tectonics5,6,7, yet despite experimental demonstration of the water-bearing capacity of these phases, geophysical probes such as electrical conductivity have provided conflicting results8,9,10, and the issue of whether the transition zone contains abundant water remains highly controversial11. Here we report X-ray diffraction, Raman and infrared spectroscopic data that provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence for the terrestrial occurrence of any higher-pressure polymorph of olivine: we find ringwoodite included in a diamond from Juina, Brazil. The water-rich nature of this inclusion, indicated by infrared absorption, along with the preservation of the ringwoodite, is direct evidence that, at least locally, the transition zone is hydrous, to about 1 weight per cent. The finding also indicates that some kimberlites must have their primary sources in this deep mantle region.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Aug 2014
TL;DR: Submissions to SemEval-2014 stood first in detecting aspect categories, first in detects sentiment towards aspects categories, third in detecting aspects terms, and first and second in detecting sentiment towards aspect terms in the laptop and restaurant domains, respectively.
Abstract: Reviews depict sentiments of customers towards various aspects of a product or service. Some of these aspects can be grouped into coarser aspect categories. SemEval-2014 had a shared task (Task 4) on aspect-level sentiment analysis, with over 30 teams participated. In this paper, we describe our submissions, which stood first in detecting aspect categories, first in detecting sentiment towards aspect categories, third in detecting aspect terms, and first and second in detecting sentiment towards aspect terms in the laptop and restaurant domains, respectively.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The remodelling processes in atherosclerosis, vascular and myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury, and heart failure are characterised, and potential avenues for innovative therapeutic approaches are drawn attention, including conditioning and metabolic strategies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The amount of research conducted on the topic of international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) has grown exponentially in recent years, thus inviting an analysis of the scholarly conversations about IEO.
Abstract: The amount of research conducted on the topic of international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) has grown exponentially in recent years, thus inviting an analysis of the scholarly conversations ta...

Journal ArticleDOI
09 Oct 2014-Nature
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the vibrational signal has both high- and low-spatial-resolution components, that the first component can be used to map vibrational features at nanometre-level resolution, and that the second component can been used for analysis carried out with the beam positioned just outside the sample—that is, for ‘aloof’ spectroscopy that largely avoids radiation damage.
Abstract: Vibrational spectroscopies using infrared radiation, Raman scattering, neutrons, low-energy electrons and inelastic electron tunnelling are powerful techniques that can analyse bonding arrangements, identify chemical compounds and probe many other important properties of materials. The spatial resolution of these spectroscopies is typically one micrometre or more, although it can reach a few tens of nanometres or even a few angstroms when enhanced by the presence of a sharp metallic tip. If vibrational spectroscopy could be combined with the spatial resolution and flexibility of the transmission electron microscope, it would open up the study of vibrational modes in many different types of nanostructures. Unfortunately, the energy resolution of electron energy loss spectroscopy performed in the electron microscope has until now been too poor to allow such a combination. Recent developments that have improved the attainable energy resolution of electron energy loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope to around ten millielectronvolts now allow vibrational spectroscopy to be carried out in the electron microscope. Here we describe the innovations responsible for the progress, and present examples of applications in inorganic and organic materials, including the detection of hydrogen. We also demonstrate that the vibrational signal has both high- and low-spatial-resolution components, that the first component can be used to map vibrational features at nanometre-level resolution, and that the second component can be used for analysis carried out with the beam positioned just outside the sample--that is, for 'aloof' spectroscopy that largely avoids radiation damage.