Telomere length (TL) regulation is an important factor in ageing, reproduction and cancer development. Genetic, hereditary and environmental factors regulating TL are currently widely investigated,... Show moreTelomere length (TL) regulation is an important factor in ageing, reproduction and cancer development. Genetic, hereditary and environmental factors regulating TL are currently widely investigated, however, their relative contribution to TL variability is still understudied. We have used whole genome sequencing data of 250 family trios from the Genome of the Netherlands project to perform computational measurement of TL and a series of regression and genome-wide association analyses to reveal TL inheritance patterns and associated genetic factors. Our results confirm that TL is a largely heritable trait, primarily with mother's, and, to a lesser extent, with father's TL having the strongest influence on the offspring. In this cohort, mother's, but not father's age at conception was positively linked to offspring TL. Age-related TL attrition of 40 bp/year had relatively small influence on TL variability. Finally, we have identified TL-associated variations in ribonuclease reductase catalytic subunit M1 (RRM1 gene), which is known to regulate telomere maintenance in yeast. We also highlight the importance of multivariate approach and the limitations of existing tools for the analysis of TL as a polygenic heritable quantitative trait. Show less
Originality has self-evident importance for science, but objectively measuring originality poses a formidable challenge. We conceptualise originality as the degree to which a scientific discovery... Show moreOriginality has self-evident importance for science, but objectively measuring originality poses a formidable challenge. We conceptualise originality as the degree to which a scientific discovery provides subsequent studies with unique knowledge that is not available from previous studies. Accordingly, we operationalise a new measure of originality for individual scientific papers building on the network betweenness centrality concept. Specifically, we measure the originality of a paper based on the directed citation network between its references and the subsequent papers citing it. We demonstrate the validity of this measure using survey information. In particular, we find that the proposed measure is positively correlated with the self-assessed theoretical originality but not with the methodological originality. We also find that originality can be reliably measured with only a small number of subsequent citing papers, which lowers computational cost and contributes to practical utility. The measure also predicts future citations, further confirming its validity. We further characterise the measure to guide its future use. Show less
The emissions of the Chinese industrial sector alone comprise 24.1% of global emissions (7.8 GtCyr−1 in 2015). This makes Chinese industrial emissions of unique national and international relevance... Show moreThe emissions of the Chinese industrial sector alone comprise 24.1% of global emissions (7.8 GtCyr−1 in 2015). This makes Chinese industrial emissions of unique national and international relevance in climate policy. This study reports a literature survey that quantitatively describes the evolution of these emissions from 2000 to 2050 in the context of policy goals. The survey reveals that: (1) The major historical factor contributing to the decrease in industrial CO2 emissions has been the reduction in energy intensities. However, that decrease has been more than compensated for by increases in industrial activity. (2) An ensemble of projections shows that China's industrial emissions will likely peak in 2030, in alignment with China's commitment to the Paris Agreement. The timing of the peak varies across industrial sub-sectors, with ferrous metals and non-metallic products sectors peaking first, and the electricity sector later. (3) The assumptions underlying optimistic scenarios broadly match the drivers of recent decreases in historical emissions (energy intensity, industrial structure and energy mix). Furthermore, these factors feature prominently in China's policy portfolio to both develop and decarbonize the Chinese industrial sector. The industrial carbon intensity targets of 2020 and 2025 are close to the median predictions in the medium scenarios from studies. Show less
Shao, S.; Li, B.; Cautun, M.; Wang, H.; Wang, J. 2019
Maintaining teaching quality at a high level inrural and remote areas in China can be supported by the use of digital educational resources. This study examined whichfactors explain differences in... Show moreMaintaining teaching quality at a high level inrural and remote areas in China can be supported by the use of digital educational resources. This study examined whichfactors explain differences in rural teachers' use of digital educational resources in their teaching practice inWestern China. Data were collected from 462 teachers from 25 primary and secondary schools in rural areas via aquestionnaire to gather information about teachers' use of digital educational resources, and school- andteacher-level factors that might influence this. Although various digital educational resources were utilized,electronic lesson plans and multimedia courseware played a dominant role in delivery of lessons. Results from amultilevel regression analysis revealed that no school-level factors seem to be associated with the use of digitaleducational resources. In contrast, at the teacher level, higher levels of attitudes, knowledge and skills, betterfacilitating conditions, and teachers' age and teaching experience significantly explained teachers’ use of digitaleducational resources. However, other key factors such as the intention to use, self-efficacy, and subjective normdid not explain differences in use in the rural school context. The article concludes with some practicalimplications and recommendations for further research. Show less
Yu, M.; Westenberg, P.M.; Li, W.; Wang, J.; Miers, A.C. 2019
PurposeSystems for magnetic resonance (MR-) guided radiotherapy enable daily MR imaging of cancer patients during treatment, which is of interest for treatment response monitoring and biomarker... Show morePurposeSystems for magnetic resonance (MR-) guided radiotherapy enable daily MR imaging of cancer patients during treatment, which is of interest for treatment response monitoring and biomarker discovery using quantitative MRI (qMRI). Here, the performance of a 1.5 T MR-linac regarding qMRI was assessed on phantoms. Additionally, we show the feasibility of qMRI in a prostate cancer patient on this system for the first time.Materials and methodsFour 1.5 T MR-linac systems from four institutes were included in this study. T1 and T2 relaxation times, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, as well as dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) images were acquired. Bland–Altman statistics were used, and accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility were determined.ResultsMedian accuracy for T1 ranged over the four systems from 2.7 to 14.3%, for T2 from 10.4 to 14.1%, and for ADC from 1.9 to 2.7%. For DCE images, the accuracy ranged from 12.8 to 35.8% for a gadolinium concentration of 0.5 mM and deteriorated for higher concentrations. Median short-term repeatability for T1 ranged from 0.6 to 5.1%, for T2 from 0.4 to 1.2%, and for ADC from 1.3 to 2.2%. DCE acquisitions showed a coefficient of variation of 0.1–0.6% in the signal intensity. Long-term repeatability was 1.8% for T1, 1.4% for T2, 1.7% for ADC, and 17.9% for DCE. Reproducibility was 11.2% for T1, 2.9% for T2, 2.2% for ADC, and 18.4% for DCE.ConclusionThese results indicate that qMRI on the Unity MR-linac is feasible, accurate, and repeatable which is promising for treatment response monitoring and treatment plan adaptation based on daily qMRI. Show less
This thesis studied in depth the energy use and CO2 emissions of the industrial sector in China. As discussed in chapter 1, being responsible for about 84% of the Chinese CO2 emissions in 2015, the... Show moreThis thesis studied in depth the energy use and CO2 emissions of the industrial sector in China. As discussed in chapter 1, being responsible for about 84% of the Chinese CO2 emissions in 2015, the industrial sector plays a vital role in achieving the emission goals for China. The regional and sectoral heterogeneities have been considered since the industrial sector is distributed in different regions and consists of different sub-sectors. Chapter 2 studied the regional heterogeneity in industrial carbon intensity and its drivers in specific years of 1999. 2005, 2010 and 2015. Chapter 3 investigated the driving forces of industrial aggregate energy intensity (IAEI) and the contribution of each industrial sub-sector to the changes in IAEI. Chapter 4 studied to what extent performance convergence of energy-intensive industries across provinces can contribute to CO2 emission reductions and China’s emission goals. Chapter 5 provided a critical literature review on the historical drivers of industrial CO2 emissions and the projected ranges for future emissions against the backdrop of policy goals, both for the industrial sector as a whole, and for the major industrial sub-sectors (electricity generation, cement production, steel production, chemicals, petroleum and non-ferrous metals). Show less
This paper explores the complex relationship between scientific novelty and technological impact. We measure novel science as publications which make new combinations of prior knowledge, as... Show moreThis paper explores the complex relationship between scientific novelty and technological impact. We measure novel science as publications which make new combinations of prior knowledge, as reflected in new combinations of journals in their references, and trace links between science and technology by scientific references in patent applications. We draw on all the Web of Science SCIE journal articles published in 2001 and all the patents in PATSTAT (October 2013 edition). We find that the small proportion of scientific publications which score on novelty, particularly the 1% highly novel scientific publications in their field, are significantly and sizably more likely to have direct technological impact than comparable non-novel publications. In addition to this superior likelihood of direct impact, novel science also has a higher probability for indirect technological impact, being more likely to be cited by other scientific publications which have technological impact. Among the set of scientific publications cited at least once by patents, there are no additional significant differences in the speed or the intensity of the technological impact between novel and non-novel scientific prior art, but the technological impact from novel science is significantly broader and reaching new technology fields previously not impacted by its scientific discipline. Novel science is also more likely to lead to patents which are themselves novel. Show less
Wang, J.; Hu, M.; Tukker, A.; Dias Rodrigues, J.F. 2019
In order to respond to climate change, China has committed to reduce national carbon intensity by 40–45% in 2020 and 60–65% in 2030, relative to 2005. Given that energy-intensive industries... Show moreIn order to respond to climate change, China has committed to reduce national carbon intensity by 40–45% in 2020 and 60–65% in 2030, relative to 2005. Given that energy-intensive industries represent ~80% of total CO2 emissions in China and that China is a large and diverse country, this paper aims to investigate the potential contribution of regional convergence in energy-intensive industries to CO2 emissions reduction and to meeting China's emissions goals. To the best of our knowledge this matter has never been explored before. Using panel data from 2001 to 2015, we build three scenarios of future carbon intensities: business as usual (BAU), frontier (based on the directional distance function, in which all regions reach the efficiency frontier) and best available technology (BAT, in which all regions adopt the lowest-emitting technology). The frontier and BAT scenarios represent a weak and a strong form of regional convergence, respectively, and the BAU assumes that it develops following historical patterns. We then use the Kaya identity to estimate CO2 emissions up to 2030 under the three scenarios. Our results are as follows: (1) Under BAU, the CO2 emissions of energy-intensive industries increase from 7382.8 Mt in 2015 to 8127.6 Mt in 2030. Under the frontier scenario the emissions in 2030 are 44.23% lower than under business as usual, while under the BAT scenario this value becomes 84.81%. Electricity and ferrous metals are the sectors that most contribute to the reduction potential. (2) Even under BAU the carbon intensity of energy-intensive industries as a whole and all of its constituent sub-sectors except for electricity will decrease by more than the nationally-mandated averages. (3) Regional convergence could help the energy-intensive industries peak its CO2 emissions before 2030, while under BAU the absolute emissions of the energy-intensive industries keep increasing. Show less
Massarelli, E.; William, W.; Johnson, F.; Kies, M.; Ferrarotto, R.; Guo, M.; ... ; Glisson, B. 2019
Question Urbanization has remarkable impacts on the phylogenetic and functional structures of plant communities. Both temporal and spatial comparisons along urbanization gradients are widely used... Show moreQuestion Urbanization has remarkable impacts on the phylogenetic and functional structures of plant communities. Both temporal and spatial comparisons along urbanization gradients are widely used in related studies, but there has been a lack of consistency in the results. Moreover, there is a need for studies that determine species assembly mechanisms through immigration and extinction. Therefore, two questions were addressed: (a) How do the phylogenetic and functional structures of ruderal species respond to urbanization, and do their shifts follow a similar pattern along temporal and spatial urbanization gradients? (b) What are the key underlying processes, i.e., either extinction‐ or colonization‐caused clustering, that determine the phylogenetic and functional structures of ruderal species under urbanization? Study site Two metropoles (Shanghai and Harbin) experiencing rapid urbanization in China. Methods We collected occurrence data on ruderal species from 1955 and the present in two cities. Standardized effect sizes of mean pairwise phylogenetic distance and of mean pairwise functional distance values (MPDSES and MFDSES, resp.) were calculated to test whether there was phylogenetic and/or functional structure clustering along spatial or temporal urbanization gradients. β‐MPDSES and β‐MFDSES values were used to quantify the similarities among colonists, extinct species, and residents. Results Along both the spatial and temporal gradients, the MPDSES values in each city decreased from significantly positive to significantly negative with increasing urbanization. Inconsistently, along the temporal gradients, the β‐MPDSES values of the colonists/extinct species to the residents were significantly negative; along the spatial gradients, the β‐MPDSES values of extinct species to residents were significantly positive with increasing urbanization. Conclusions We found there was a clear phylogenetic clustering of ruderal species with increasing spatial and temporal urbanization gradients. Our analysis showed that the changes across the urban–rural gradient are mainly driven by species going extinct that are phylogenetically dissimilar to the resident species. The temporal dynamics are, however, primarily driven by colonist species that are phylogenetically similar to the resident species. Show less
BACKGROUND The Shockless IMPLant Evaluation (SIMPLE) trial showed that defibrillation testing (DT) at the time of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implant did not improve shock efficacy... Show moreBACKGROUND The Shockless IMPLant Evaluation (SIMPLE) trial showed that defibrillation testing (DT) at the time of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implant did not improve shock efficacy or reduce mortality. There are no data regarding the risk of complications, including stroke, among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who undergo DT.OBJECTIVE The purpose of this prospectively planned substudy of SIMPLE was to evaluate the effect of DT vs no DT on clinical outcomes among patients with AF.METHODS We compared efficacy (failed appropriate shock/arrhythmic death) and safety between patients who had AF on their immediate preprocedural ECG to the rest of the study patients. Then among patients with AF we compared these outcomes between patients randomized to DT vs no DT.RESULTS Of the 2500 patients enrolled in SIMPLE, 251 (10%) were in AF immediately before ICD implant. AF patients had an increased risk of failed appropriate shock/arrhythmic death adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-2.39; P = .009) and higher all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 1.58; 95% CI 1.2-2.08; P = .001). Among AF patients, perioperative complications and stroke did not significantly differ between DT vs no-DT groups (9.2% vs 5.4 0 /0; P = .2; and 1.7% vs 1.5%; P >.999, respectively). Failed appropriate shock or arrhythmic death occurred in 35 of 251 AF patients (14%), and the no-DT group proved not inferior to the DT group (HR 0.58; 95 0 /0 CI 0.30-1.15; P-noninferiority = .006).CONCLUSION ICD recipients with AF are at increased risk for adverse outcomes; however, DT does not improve arrhythmic survival or shock efficacy. There is no evidence that DT increased the occurrence of perioperative stroke. Show less
X-inactivation is a well-established dosage compensation mechanism ensuring that X-chromosomal genes are expressed at comparable levels in males and females. Skewed X-inactivation is often... Show moreX-inactivation is a well-established dosage compensation mechanism ensuring that X-chromosomal genes are expressed at comparable levels in males and females. Skewed X-inactivation is often explained by negative selection of one of the alleles. We demonstrate that imbalanced expression of the paternal and maternal X-chromosomes is common in the general population and that the random nature of the X-inactivation mechanism can be sufficient to explain the imbalance. To this end, we analyzed blood-derived RNA and whole-genome sequencing data from 79 female children and their parents from the Genome of the Netherlands project. We calculated the median ratio of the paternal over total counts at all X-chromosomal heterozygous single-nucleotide variants with coverage ≥10. We identified two individuals where the same X-chromosome was inactivated in all cells. Imbalanced expression of the two X-chromosomes (ratios ≤0.35 or ≥0.65) was observed in nearly 50% of the population. The empirically observed skewing is explained by a theoretical model where X-inactivation takes place in an embryonic stage in which eight cells give rise to the hematopoietic compartment. Genes escaping X-inactivation are expressed from both alleles and therefore demonstrate less skewing than inactivated genes. Using this characteristic, we identified three novel escapee genes (SSR4, REPS2, and SEPT6), but did not find support for many previously reported escapee genes in blood. Our collective data suggest that skewed X-inactivation is common in the general population. This may contribute to manifestation of symptoms in carriers of recessive X-linked disorders. We recommend that X-inactivation results should not be used lightly in the interpretation of X-linked variants. Show less
