bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
6‐Dihydroparadol, a Ginger Constituent, Enhances Cholesterol Efflux from THP‐1‐Derived Macrophages
Authors: Wang Dongdong , Hiebl Verena , Ladurner Angela , Latkolik Simone L. , Bucar Franz , Heiß Elke H. , Dirsch Verena M. , Atanasov Atanas G.
Published: May 2018

Scope

Ginger is reported to be used for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells is an important process in reverse cholesterol transport, whose increase may help to prevent or treat CVD. In this study, we investigated the effects of 6‐dihydroparadol from ginger on macrophage cholesterol efflux.

Methods and results

We show that 6‐dihydroparadol concentration‐dependently enhances both apolipoprotein A1‐ and human plasma–mediated cholesterol efflux from cholesterol‐loaded THP‐1‐derived macrophages using macrophage cholesterol efflux assay. 6‐Dihydroparadol increases protein levels of both ATP‐binding cassette transporters A1 and G1 (ATP‐binding cassette transporter A1 [ABCA1] and ATP‐binding cassette transporter G1 [ABCG1]) according to Western blot analysis. The ABCA1 inhibitor probucol completely abolishes 6‐dihydroparadol‐enhanced cholesterol efflux. Furthermore, increased ABCA1 protein levels in the presence of 6‐dihydroparadol were associated with both increased ABCA1 mRNA levels and increased ABCA1 protein stability. Enhanced ABCG1 protein levels were only associated with increased protein stability. Increased ABCA1 protein stability appeared to be the result of a reduced proteasomal degradation of the transporter in the presence of 6‐dihydroparadol.

Conclusion

We identified 6‐dihydroparadol from ginger as a novel promoter of cholesterol efflux from macrophages that increases both ABCA1 and ABCG1 protein abundance. This newly identified bioactivity might contribute to the antiatherogenic effects of ginger.
Comparison of functional localization accuracy with different co‐registration strategies in presurgical fMRI for brain tumor patients
Authors: Jen Mu‐Lan , Hassan Islam , Hou Ping , Li Guang , Kumar Ashok J. , Prabhu Sujit S. , Colen Rivka R. , Liu Ho‐Ling
Published: May 2018

Purpose

Presurgical fMRI is an important tool for surgery navigation in achieving maximum resection of a brain tumor. However, the functional localization accuracy may be compromised by spatial transformation from echo‐planar images to high‐resolution structural images. We evaluated functional localization errors associated with the spatial transformation process using three algorithms commonly applied to the presurgical fMRI in the clinic.

Methods

MR images of 20 brain tumor patients for presurgical evaluation of eloquent areas near motor cortices were analyzed. All fMRI data were spatially transferred to 3D T1‐weighted images using three algorithms: (a) coordinate matching (CM), (b) automated registration (AR), and (c) AR plus manual adjustment (ARadj). Activation clusters overlaid on original echo‐planar images were manually delineated on slice‐matched 2D T1‐ weighted images and then transferred to the 3D T1‐weighted image volume, and served as the reference localization. Functional localization errors were estimated by measuring the distance between the reference localization and the activation cluster after spatial transformation and then compared for the three algorithms.

Results

The 3D Euclidean distance for AR (10.2 ± 4.9 mm) was found to be significantly larger (P < 0.05) than those for CM (5.6 ± 2.6 mm) and ARadj (5.8 ± 3.0 mm) algorithms. The difference between the localization errors in CM and ARadj was not statistically significant.

Conclusions

A procedure was proposed to evaluate functional localization errors associated with spatial transformation in presurgical fMRI. Our results highlighted the necessity of routine quality control for the AR processing in the clinic.
Chemical exchange rotation transfer (CERT) on human brain at 3 Tesla
Authors: Lin Eugene C. , Li Hua , Zu Zhongliang , Louie Elizabeth A. , Lankford Christopher L. , Dortch Richard D. , Does Mark D. , Gore John C. , Gochberg Daniel F.
Published: May 2018

Purpose

To test the ability of a novel pulse sequence applied in vivo at 3 Tesla to separate the contributions to the water signal from amide proton transfer (APT) and relayed nuclear Overhauser enhancement (rNOE) from background direct water saturation and semisolid magnetization transfer (MT). The lack of such signal source isolation has confounded conventional chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging.

Methods

We quantified APT and rNOE signals using a chemical exchange rotation transfer (CERT) metric, MTRdouble. A range of duty cycles and average irradiation powers were applied, and results were compared with conventional CEST analyses using asymmetry (MTRasym) and extrapolated magnetization transfer (EMR).

Results

Our results indicate that MTRdouble is more specific than MTRasym and, because it requires as few as 3 data points, is more rapid than methods requiring a complete Z‐spectrum, such as EMR. In white matter, APT (1.5 ± 0.5%) and rNOE (2.1 ± 0.7%) were quantified by using MTRdouble with a 30% duty cycle and a 0.5‐µT average power. In addition, our results suggest that MTRdouble is insensitive to B0 inhomogeneity, further magnifying its speed advantage over CEST metrics that require a separate B0 measurement. However, MTRdouble still has nontrivial sensitivity to B1 inhomogeneities.

Conclusion

We demonstrated that MTRdouble is an alternative metric to evaluate APT and rNOE, which is fast, robust to B0 inhomogeneity, and easy to process.
Multidisciplinary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis telemedicine care: The store and forward method
Authors: Pulley Michael T. , Brittain Rebecca , Hodges Wayne , Frazier Christine , Miller Leslie , Matyjasik‐Liggett Maria , Maurer Susan , Peters Melissa , Solomon Kimberly , Berger Alan R.
Published: May 2018

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients benefit from multidisciplinary care in an ALS clinic. We studied whether multidisciplinary care of ALS patients using the store and forward method of telemedicine was feasible and acceptable to patients and providers. Methods: ALS patients seen in the University of Florida (UF) Jacksonville ALS clinic were eligible for our study. A trained telemedicine nurse performed and recorded a multidisciplinary assessment of the patient in their home. Clinic team members reviewed the assessments and provided recommendations, and the clinic director discussed the plan with the patient via videoconference. Patient and provider satisfaction was evaluated using surveys. Results: Eighteen patients completed a total of 27 telemedicine visits. Patient satisfaction was excellent and provider satisfaction was very good. Discussion: The store and forward method of telemedicine is an acceptable alternative to live telemedicine for the multidisciplinary care of ALS patients. This method of care may improve access to multidisciplinary care for this patient population. Muscle Nerve 59:34–39, 2019
Effect of Two Levels of Temperature and Natural and Artificial Photoperiod on Growth and Metamorphosis of Bullfrog Tadpoles in an Intensive Rearing System
Authors: Aguirre-Becerra Humberto , García-Trejo Juan Fernando , Peña-Herrejón Guillermo Abraham , Muniz-Afonso Andre , Feregrino-Pérez Ana Angélica , Soto-Zarazúa Genaro Martín
Published: May 2018

The effect of two levels of temperature and natural and artificial photoperiods on the growth and metamorphosis of tadpoles of the American bullfrog Rana catesbeiana were evaluated in an intensive-rearing culture environment. Four groups of tadpoles at Gosner stage 24–25 were subjected for 50 d to four different treatments: (1) Tadpole culture with temperature control system (25.9 ± 0.34°C) and natural photoperiod of 12.25 h light : 11.75 h dark (treatment T), (2) an artificial photoperiod of 10 h light : 14 h dark using a white LED lamp and no temperature control system (18.7 ± 1°C) (treatment P), (3) the combination of temperature control system (26.01 ± 0.44°C) and an artificial photoperiod (10 h light : 14 h dark) (treatment T/P), and (4) culture with no temperature control system (21.87 ± 1.09°C) and a natural photoperiod (12.25 h light : 11.75 h dark) (treatment N/S). The experiment was performed under greenhouse conditions. Tadpoles in treatments T and T/P had the best growth performance as measured by total length (45.34 ± 1.89 mm [mean ± SE] for T/P, 44.72 ± 2.13 mm for T), head length (17.15 ± 0.67 mm for T/P, 18.34 ± 0.70 for T), and weight (1.00 ± 0.03 g for T/P, 1.14 ± 0.013 g for T). Tadpoles reared using white light LED lamps had reduced growth. The best results for tadpole metamorphosis were obtained in treatment T/P (25.9%), while treatment P presented the highest survival (36.2%). This experiment demonstrates that having temperature regulation is important to achieve better tadpole growth in intensive rearing systems. The regulation of both variables (T and P) is recommended for activating metamorphosis in the final phases of the tadpole development.
Gear- and Season-Specific Catch Rates of Age-0 Walleyes and White Bass: Standard Sampling Recommendations for Great Plains Reservoirs
Authors: Miller Brett T. , Schoenebeck Casey W. , Koupal Keith D.
Published: May 2018

Walleye Sander vitreus and White Bass Morone chrysops are two of the most popular sport fish species sought by anglers in the Great Plains. However, not all sampling approaches effectively capture age-0 Walleyes and White Bass, and therefore it may be difficult for fisheries managers to index age-0 year-class strength. We evaluated the differences among three gears for sampling age-0 Walleyes and White Bass: bag seining, boat electrofishing, and small-mesh gill netting. Boat electrofishing had the highest average catch, lowest minimum sample size needed to obtain a relative standard error of 25%, low operational effort, and the lowest mortality. The average catches of age-0 Walleyes and White Bass were positively correlated, suggesting that the two species can be sampled simultaneously. Considering all of the metrics evaluated, we recommend boat electrofishing in September as the most appropriate way to sample age-0 Walleyes and White Bass in reservoirs.
The ability of prior urinary cultures results to predict future culture results in neurogenic bladder patients
Authors: Clark Roderick , Welk Blayne
Published: May 2018

Aims

To determine if previous urinary cultures can predict the organism and susceptibility of subsequent urinary cultures in patients with neurogenic bladder dysfunction.

Methods

We retrospectively identified a sample of neurogenic bladder patients from a tertiary care urology clinic (July 2015‐July 2016). We reviewed the patient chart, and then used the electronic laboratory record to identify all urine cultures done in the 2 years prior. We identified sequential culture pairs and determined the concordance of the initial culture organism to the subsequent one and similarly the concordance of the initial culture's antibiotic resistance status to the subsequent culture's one.

Results

We identified 146 people with neurogenic bladder (mostly due to spinal cord injury [n = 61], multiple sclerosis [n = 26], or spina bifida [n = 25]). These individuals used primarily intermittent catheterization (n = 69, 47%) spontaneous voiding (n = 59, 40%), or indwelling foley catheter (n = 31, 21%). During the previous 2‐years, 81 participants had at least two positive urine cultures and a total of 479 cultures could be examined for organism/susceptibility concordance. There was 56% concordance of bacterial species between subsequent urine cultures, and this decreased significantly with increasing time between cultures (P = 0.02). Antibiotic susceptibility concordance was high for ciprofloxacin (77%), nitrofurantoin (79%), and trimethoprim‐sulfamethoxazole (75%), with no significant change with increasing time between cultures (P > 0.90).

Conclusions

Previous positive urine cultures can provide valuable information regarding future organism and antibiotic susceptibility in individuals with neurogenic bladder. The practise of reviewing the previous urine culture when selecting empiric therapy is likely an effective practise in this population.
Electric and thermal performance of poly(phenylene oxide)‐based composites with synergetic modification of carbon nanotubes and nanoplatelets
Authors: He Xuemei , Chen Yuanming , Zhu Kai , Wang Shouxu , Zhang Huaiwu , He Wei , Xia Feng , Jin Xiaofeng , Hu Yongshuan , Su Xinhong
Published: May 2018

The combination of carbon nanotubes (CNT)‐graphene (GE) or CNT‐graphite (GP) was chosen as inorganic fillers to form synergetic modification of poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO). Microstructure, electrical conductivity, dielectric permittivity and heat dissipation were characterized to investigate the performance difference of the composites containing CNT‐GE and CNT‐GP. The results indicated that PPO‐based composites with CNT‐GE could exhibit better electric and thermal performance than those with CNT‐GP when the adding filler was at same content. PPO‐based composite with 1.0 wt% GE and 7.5 wt% CNT exhibited glass transition temperature of 148.2°C, electrical conductivity of 3.7 × 10−6 S·cm−1 at 1 kHz, dielectric permittivity of 283 at 1 kHz and thermal conductivity of 0.73 W·m−1·K−1. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E1920–E1927, 2018. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers
Poly(hexylacrylate)Core‐poly(ethyleneglycol methacrylate)Shell nanogels as fillers for poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) nanocomposite hydrogels
Authors: Cerda‐Sumbarda Yadira D. , Zapata‐Gonzalez Ivan , Licea‐Claverie Angel , Zizumbo‐Lopez Arturo , F. Ramos‐de Valle Luis , Espinoza‐Martínez Adriana
Published: May 2018

The preparation of poly(hexylacrylate)core‐poly(ethyleneglycol methacrylate)shell (PHA‐co‐PEGMA) nanogels, to be used as fillers in nanocomposite hydrogels, is reported. Stable nanogels with particle sizes between 90–300 nm were obtained varying the conditions of synthesis. The synthesis recipe of the nanogels could be easily scaled up. Purified and dispersed nanogels in aqueous solution were used as soft fillers for poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) hydrogels, crosslinked with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). The obtained nanocomposite hydrogels exhibit a larger swelling capacity and a higher thermal stability in comparison with the non‐filled PHEMA hydrogels. Young, storage, and lost moduli, increase largely, in the better case up to 72.5% in the swollen state; while in the dry state the storage modulus increase up to 4.7 fold with a very low load on nanogels (0.64 wt%); resulting in biomaterials with improved properties with potential applications in medical devices. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:170–181, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers
Polymyxin B Pharmacokinetics in Adult Cystic Fibrosis Patients
Authors: Avedissian Sean N. , Miglis Cristina , Kubin Christine J. , Rhodes Nathaniel J. , Yin Michael T. , Cremers Serge , Prickett Michelle , Scheetz Marc H.
Published: May 2018

Objectives

Polymyxin B pharmacokinetics (PK) in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) are not well described. The goals of this pilot study were to identify a PK model for patients with CF receiving polymyxin B with exploration of covariate relationships of the PK parameters, to compare polymyxin B PK parameters in adults without CF, and to probe exposures associated with different dosing schemes through simulation.

Methods

Adult patients with CF treated with polymyxin B at New York‐Presbyterian Hospital had PK samples measured by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (MS)/MS. Multiple PK models were fit utilizing Pmetrics for R. Model covariates considered included: age, total body weight, creatinine clearance, albumin, and body mass index. PK parameters in CF patients were compared with PK parameters for 53 adults without CF who were receiving polymyxin B from the same institution. Simulations with target exposure (area under the curve)/minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 20 mg*L/h were conducted for different dosing schemes and MIC ranges.

Main Results

Nine patients with CF received between 58 and 240 mg of polymyxin B (median 1.47 mg/kg/dose [IQR (1.43–1.65)]). A two‐compartment model adjusting polymyxin B clearance for patient CrCl was better than a standard two‐compartment model (p=0.004) in CF patients. When compared to PK parameters for patients without CF, PK parameters of polymyxin B in CF were similar (p>0.05). Simulations for plasma concentrations showed all regimens performed adequately at MICs between 0.03125 and 0.125 mg/L but not at increasing MICs of 1 and 2 mg/L.

Conclusions

In this pilot study of polymyxin B PK in adults with CF, the PK parameters of polymyxin B were mostly similar to adults without CF. We observed a potential association between CrCl and polymyxin B clearance, which stands in contrast to the general adult population. However, this observation requires further study. Additional studies focusing on optimal and safe polymyxin B dosing in CF are needed.
Quality of life and psychological distress are differentially associated with distinct symptom‐functional states in terminally ill cancer patients' last year of life
Authors: Wen Fur‐Hsing , Chen Jen‐Shi , Chou Wen‐Chi , Hsieh Chia‐Hsun , Chang Wen‐Cheng , Shen Wen Chi , Tang Siew Tzuh
Published: May 2018

Objective

Quality of life (QOL) and psychological distress at end of life (EOL) heavily depend on symptom distress and functional impairment, which may not deteriorate synchronously at EOL.

Methods

Using multivariate hierarchical linear modeling, we simultaneously evaluated the differential association of 5 previously identified, worsening conjoint symptom‐functional states with QOL, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms over 317 terminally ill cancer patients' last year of life. Quality of life, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms were measured by the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, respectively.

Results

Quality of life, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms deteriorated significantly more for patients in the 4 worst symptom‐functional states (states 2‐5) than in the best state (state 1). Quality of life did not differ significantly among patients in states 2 to 5. However, patients in state 4 had significantly lower anxiety‐symptom levels than patients in states 2, 3, and 5, whose anxiety‐symptom levels did not differ significantly. In contrast, depressive‐symptom levels differed significantly between participants in any 2 of the worst symptom‐functional states, except between participants in states 3 and 5 as well as between those in states 2 and 4.

Conclusion

The 5 distinct symptom‐functional states contributed to worsening QOL, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms, but each was negatively and uniquely associated with psychological well‐being in terminally ill cancer patients' last year of life.

Clinical Implications

The psychological well‐being and QOL of high‐risk patients in states 3 and 5 may be improved at EOL by targeting them with appropriate symptom management interventions and facilitating their functioning.
Evaluating the Trade‐Offs between Invasion and Isolation for Native Brook Trout and Nonnative Brown Trout in Pennsylvania Streams
Authors: Kirk Mark A. , Rosswog Anna N. , Ressel Kirsten N. , Wissinger Scott A.
Published: May 2018

A popular conservation strategy for native trout species in western North America is to prevent invasions by nonnative trout by installing barriers that isolate native trout populations into headwater streams. In eastern North America, native Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis are frequently replaced in coolwater habitats by nonnative Brown Trout Salmo trutta and relegated to small headwater streams. In this study, we compared the effects of isolation and invasion by nonnative Brown Trout on the distribution and demographic structure of Brook Trout populations from 78 trout streams in northwestern Pennsylvania. The Brook Trout and Brown Trout distributions varied in predictable ways along the stream size gradient, with Brown Trout becoming dominant in larger streams. However, there was a prominent barrier effect, with streams 12 times more likely to have Brook Trout than Brown Trout when a downstream barrier was present between the sample site and the nearest Brown Trout stocking location. In comparison, 91% of the streams with Brown Trout had no downstream barrier, suggesting that barriers are important in creating refugia for Brook Trout. Brown Trout also appeared to have a negative impact on Brook Trout population demographics, as Brook Trout populations in sympatry with Brown Trout had fewer age‐classes and lower population densities than allopatric Brook Trout populations. Isolating Brook Trout to small headwater streams with downstream barriers that prevent Brown Trout invasion could be a viable conservation strategy in regions where barriers would serve to reduce the negative impacts from Brown Trout. Since barriers could further fragment local Brook Trout populations, however, they would need to be strategically placed to allow for seasonal movements to maintain metapopulation structure and ensure population persistence.
Measurement of gas temperature in self‐blast chamber of model gas circuit breaker at high current interruption
Authors: Kotsuji Hideyuki , Urai Hajime , Sakuyama Toshiaki , Shiraishi Katsuhiko , Yaginuma Noriyuki
Published: May 2018

Gas circuit breakers have been developed to be small and have low operating energy. To reduce their operating energy, a self‐blast technique has been used. The self‐blast gas circuit breaker obtains high pressure by utilizing arc energy in a fixed‐volume chamber. Consequently, the temperature of the blasting gas rises. However, when the gas temperature rises, the interrupting efficiency of SF6 gas decreases. Therefore, gas temperature is an important parameter that determines the interrupting performance. Gas temperature and pressure in a thermal puffer chamber of a self‐blast circuit breaker using a model circuit breaker were measured by using a parameter of interrupting current and arcing time to estimate the blast gas temperature for a large current. Gas temperature in the thermal puffer chamber of the model circuit breaker was measured by a micro‐gap discharge method in which the gas temperature was calculated by the breakdown voltage of a micro‐gap by using critical electric field strength data. Two micro‐gaps were installed in a thermal puffer chamber. The measured behavior of the hot gas was compared with flow analysis. The hot gas mixing processes with the parameter of interrupting current and arc duration time were estimated. The inlet gas temperature depends on the interrupting current, but the blowing gas did not depend on the arcing time at high currents. Results show that the temperature of the gas flowing out from the thermal puffer chamber reaches 2000 K for a’ large interrupting current of 57 kA. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Teaching in context: Integrating community‐based service learning into TESOL education
Authors: Schneider Jason
Published: May 2018

Interest in service‐learning within TESOL has increased in recent years. Teacher‐scholars have described multiple uses of such pedagogy in programs for students of English as a second language (ESL) and in courses of ESL teacher education. This article employs action research to focus on an introductory TESOL class at a U.S. university for which students volunteered as ESL tutors and teachers at local community‐based organizations. By describing the course design and implementation, and by drawing on a data set comprising both student writing and interviews with community partners, the article highlights an undertheorized value of service‐learning in TESOL: its potential to raise novice teachers' awareness about the sociopolitical contexts of language education and, in turn, to help them recognize the importance of attending to such dynamics in pedagogic decision making. In this way, the course offers a case study that can support TESOL educators who want to help teachers‐in‐training situate second language learners in larger contexts. Two specific recommendations that emerge from the study are the need to move beyond the traditional content areas of TESOL/second language acquisition in designing such courses and the importance of collaborating with community‐based organizations as true partners.
1/2-BPS D-branes from covariant open superstring in AdS4 × CP3 background
Authors: Park Jaemo , Shin Hyeonjoon
Published: May 2018

Abstract

We consider the open superstring action in the AdS4 × CP
3 background and investigate the suitable boundary conditions for the open superstring describing the 1/2-BPS D-branes by imposing the κ-symmetry of the action. This results in the classification of 1/2-BPS D-branes from covariant open superstring. It is shown that the 1/2-BPS D-brane configurations are restricted considerably by the Kähler structure on CP
3. We just consider D-branes without worldvolume fluxes.
Conditions for the custodial symmetry in multi-Higgs-doublet models
Authors: Solberg M. Aa.
Published: May 2018

Abstract

We derive basis-independent, necessary and sufficient conditions for the custodial symmetry in N-Higgs-doublet models (NHDM) for N ≥ 3, and apply them on some 3HDM examples.
The function of modal judgment and the Kantian gap
Authors: Leech Jessica
Published: May 2018

What is the function of modal judgment? Why do we (need to be able to) make judgments of possibility and necessity? Or are such judgments, in fact, dispensable? This paper introduces and develops an answer to these questions based on Kant’s remarks in section 76 of theCritique of Judgment.Here, Kant appears to argue the following: that a capacity to make modal judgments using (categorial) modal concepts is required for a capacity for objective representation, in light of our split cognitive architecture. This split cognitive architecture leaves room for a mismatch between our concepts and intuitions and, Kant argues, that is why we need modal concepts and modal judgments. In this paper, I develop this account of the function of modal judgment and to explore the extent to which it may improve upon contemporary alternatives. I focus on one particularly important challenge for the account: to explain why a distinction between the actual and thepossible,rather than merely a distinction between the actual and thenon-actual, is required. In order to answer this question, I supplement the account with a particular way of thinking about objectivity.
Morphometric Analysis and Hydrological Inference for Water Resource Management in Atrai-Sib River Basin, NW Bangladesh Using Remote Sensing and GIS Technique
Authors: Jahan Chowdhury Sarwar , Rahaman Md. Ferozur , Arefin Riad , Ali Shamser , Mazumder Quamrul Hasan
Published: May 2018

Demand for irrigation water increases day by day along with meteorological vagaries and extension of irrigated area in the drought-prone Barind area of Bangladesh. This increasing stress on water resource is gradually making the area water scare. The study is aimed at studying the morphometric parameters of the Atrai-Sib river basin in the Barind area and on their relevance in water resource management based on satellite images and SRTM DEM. Computation and delineation of linear and areal aspects of the river basin and its morphometric components reveals that stream order ranges from first to eighth order showing dendritic drainage pattern. The basin represents homogeneity of soil texture; possibility of flash flood after heavy rainfall with low discharge of runoff; and is not largely affected by structural disturbance. Moderate drainage density of the river basin area indicates semi-permeable soil lithology with moderate vegetation. Mean bifurcation ratio of the basin is calculated as 3.92 and elongation ratio 0.75, which indicate elongated shape of the river basin with low to moderate relief bounded in the east and west by ‘moderate to steep’ sloping land area. It reveals a flatter peak of runoff flow for longer duration and gravity flow of water. The gentle but undulating slope of the basin represents ‘excellent’ category for groundwater management as the site is favorable for infiltration due to maximum time of runoff water percolation. The east facing slopes of the basin show higher moisture content and higher vegetation than the west-facing slope. The land use pattern of the area shows that major part (95.29%) comes under the cultivated land which will support future river basin development and management. Results obtained from the study would be useful in categorization of river basins for future water resource development and management, and selection of suitable sites for water conservation structures such as check dam, percolation tank, artificial recharge of groundwater through MAR technique etc.
Cyclodextrin–PEG conjugate-wrapped magnetic ferrite nanoparticles for enhanced drug loading and release
Authors: Enoch Israel V. M. V. , Ramasamy Sivaraj , Mohiyuddin Shanid , Gopinath Packirisamy , Manoharan R.
Published: May 2018

Magnetic nanoparticles are envisaged to overcome the impediments in the methods of targeted drug delivery and hence cure cancer effectively. We report herein, manganese ferrite nanoparticles, coated with β-cyclodextrin-modified polyethylene glycol as a carrier for the drug, camptothecin. The particles are of the size of ~ 100 nm and they show superparamagnetic behaviour. The saturation magnetization does not get diminished on polymer coverage of the nanoparticles. The β-cyclodextrin–polyethylene glycol conjugates are characterized using NMR and mass spectrometric techniques. By coating the magnetic nanoparticles with the cyclodextrin–tethered polymer, the drug-loading capacity is enhanced and the observed release of the drug is slow and sustained. The cell viability of HEK293 and HCT15 cells is evaluated and the cytotoxicity is enhanced when the drug is loaded in the polymer-coated magnetic nanoparticles. The noncovalent-binding based and enhanced drug loading on the nanoparticles and the sustained release make the nanocarrier a promising agent for carrying the payload to the target.
Defending eugenics
Authors: Anomaly Jonathan
Published: May 2018

For most of human history children have been a byproduct of sex rather than a conscious choice by parents to create people with traits that they care about. As our understanding of genetics advances along with our ability to control reproduction and manipulate genes, prospective parents have stronger moral reasons to consider how their choices are likely to affect their children, and how their children are likely to affect other people. With the advent of cheap and effective contraception, and the emergence of new technologies for in vitro fertilization, embryo selection, and genetic engineering, it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify rolling the genetic dice by having children without thinking about the traits they will have. It is time to face up to the awesome responsibilities that accompany our reproductive choices.
The University in a World of Digital Technologies: Tensions and Challenges
Authors: Nguyen Dang
Published: May 2018

This paper discusses the challenges and tensions in the relationship between the university as a social institution and the world of digital technologies in which it finds itself, from the perspective of an early-career academic in her late 20s. It argues that problems abound in the university's tendency to adopt non-educational digital technologies for educational purposes in the name of student engagement, and that this approach should be avoided. It also argues that, faced with an uncertain future of job automation and gig economy, universities should move away from the ‘work-ready’ graduate model. Instead, it should empower its students with the capacity to flexibly reprogram their skillsets for the changing nature of work, and play an active role in envisioning new (non)work realities by engaging students in the transformation of their education.
Austrian firearm legislation and its effects on suicide and homicide mortality: A natural quasi-experiment amidst the global economic crisis
Authors: König Daniel , Swoboda Patrick , Cramer Robert J. , Krall Christoph , Postuvan Vita , Kapusta Nestor D.
Published: May 2018

Background:

Restriction of access to suicide methods has been shown to effectively reduce suicide mortality rates.

Aims:

To examine how the global economic crisis of 2008 and the firearm legislation reform of 1997 affected suicide and homicide mortality rate within Austria.

Methods:

Official data for the years 1985–2016 for firearm certificates, suicide, homicide, unemployment rates and alcohol consumption were examined using auto regressive error and Poisson regression models.

Results:

Firearm certificates, total suicide mortality rate, suicide and homicides by firearms, and the fraction of firearm suicides/homicides among all suicides/homicides decreased after the firearm legislation reform in 1997. However, significant trend changes can be observed after 2008. The availability of firearm certificates significantly increased and was accompanied by significant changes in trends of firearm suicide and homicide rates. Concurrently, the total suicide mortality rate in 2008, for the first time since 1985, stopped its decreasing trend. While the total homicide rate further decreased, the fraction of firearm homicides among all homicides significantly increased.

Conclusion:

The initially preventative effect of the firearm legislation reform in Austria in 1997 seems to have been counteracted by the global economic downturn of 2008. Increased firearm availability was associated with corresponding increases in both firearm suicide and firearm homicide mortality. Restrictive firearm legislation should be an imperative part of a country’s suicide prevention programme. Although firearm legislation reform may have long-lasting effects, societal changes may facilitate compensatory firearm acquisitions and thus counteract preventive efforts, calling in turn again for adapted counter-measures.
mRNA expression of transient receptor potential melastatin (TRPM) channels 2 and 7 in perinatal brain development
Authors: Ratnam Melanie , Chan Jonathan , Lesani Naghmeh , Sidorova‐Darmos Elena , Eubanks James H. , Aarts Michelle M.
Published: May 2018

TRPM7 and TRPM2 are non‐specific cation channels of the Transient Receptor Potential channel superfamily. Each channel has gained attention for their potential to mediate oxidative and anoxic cell death (Rama and García, 2016; Nazıroğlu, 2011a; Abiria et al., 2017; Sun, 2017), however their physiological expression and roles in the developing brain remain poorly defined. We employed real‐time reverse transcription PCR to examine mRNA expression of TRPM7 and TRPM2 in the developing rat brain and brain‐specific cell types. We determined the temporal and spatial expression patterns at four developmental time points (postnatal day 7, 14, 21, and 90) in four critical regions of the brain (cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellum) and examined gene expression in neuronal, astrocytic, and microglial primary cell cultures. Our results revealed that TRPM7 mRNA expression peaks in the cortex at 2‐weeks after birth, and thus correlates most closely with a period of rat brain development associated with neurite outgrowth, which is heightened at 2‐weeks after birth. Our cell‐specific gene expression assays revealed that TRPM7 was expressed at equivalent levels in neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. Conversely, TRPM2 was most highly expressed in microglia with little expression in neurons and astrocytes. In the hippocampus and striatum, the expression profile of TRPM2 parallels the perinatal expression timeline for microglial infiltration and maturation in the rat brain. Microglial maturation is highest from the time of birth, up to 7‐days, but subsequently declines. The latter developmental expression profiles indicate a role for TRPM2 in microglial activation.
The effect of bleomycin embolization on symptomatic improvement and hemangioma size among patients with giant liver hemangiomas
Authors: Kirnap Mahir , Boyvat Fatih , Boyacioglu Sedat , Hilmioglu Fatih , Moray Gokhan , Haberal Mehmet
Published: May 2018

Highlights:
The Role of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training in the Conservative and Surgical Management of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence: Does the Strength of the Pelvic Floor Muscles Matter?
Authors: Lasak Anna Maria , Jean‐Michel Marjorie , Le Phuong Uyen , Durgam Roshni , Harroche Jessica
Published: May 2018

The purpose of this review is to provide an in‐depth overview of the role of pelvic floor muscle (PFM) training in the management of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The definition, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of SUI are described. We review the anatomy of the PFM and the importance of PFM strength in maintaining urinary continence and establishing normal voiding function. A brief description of the surgical options currently available for SUI and the existing data regarding the role of perioperative PFM training for SUI are included. Critical research questions to better evaluate and assess PFM training during the perioperative period are proposed. Promising novel approaches in the treatment of SUI are also presented. This review is useful for physiatrists, urogynecologists, female urologists, and nurse practitioners who specialize in the management and treatment of women with SUI.

Level of Evidence

IV
Confidentiality, integrity and availability – finding a balanced IT framework
Authors: Aminzade Michael
Published: May 2018

With the high level of cyber-risk facing organisations today, taking a thorough look at their risk management processes can be one of the most important activities of the year. Conducting a regular IT risk assessment is an essential task to ensure that the business's compliance standards are met. However, going above and beyond regulatory mandates, it is also vital for an organisation to be aware of what risks it is facing and what should be done to mitigate the threat and the impact.

With the high level of cyber-risk facing organisations today, taking a thorough look at their risk management processes can be one of their most important activities.

Conducting a regular IT risk assessment is an essential task to ensure that the compliance standards of the business are met. However, going above and beyond regulatory mandates, it is also vital for an organisation to be aware of what risks it is facing and what should be done to mitigate the threat and the impact, says Michael Aminzade of Trustwave.
Is artificial intelligence a help or hindrance?
Authors: Wilkins Jonathan
Published: May 2018

A recent report by Cisco found that over half of cyber-attacks reported in 2017 resulted in financial damages of more than $500,000. 1 As cyber-attacks become more common, manufacturers need to secure their industrial data to avoid losing more than just their money to hackers. But what part can machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) play in this?
Editorial
Authors: Mansfield-Devine Steve
Published: May 2018

What do you do when the primary concept underlying your entire business model becomes ethically unacceptable? That's the dilemma facing Facebook – and, pretty soon, other social networking platforms. And it's not taking it well.
The miners strike – addressing the crypto-currency threat to enterprise networks
Authors: Caldwell Tracey
Published: May 2018

The proliferation of crypto-currency has led inevitably to high-profile impacts on networks. In February, crypto-mining hackers hit more than 4,000 websites around the world, including UK government websites, the UK student loans company, the US courts and the City University of New York. They inserted Coinhive's Monero miner into every web page offering the Browsealoud plug-in that enables blind and partially sighted people to access web content. 1 Visitors to these websites found themselves inadvertently mining for crypto-currency.

The proliferation of crypto-currency has led to high-profile impacts on networks. Crypto-mining presents a number of risks to enterprise networks, ranging from enterprises' websites being hijacked to staff installing coin-mining plugins.

Most major crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin can now only be mined using enterprise-level computing power, thus making enterprise networks a juicy target for illicit mining software. At the same time, more recent crypto-currencies such as Monero may still be mined using the CPU power of an individual device – which could be in your corporate network. Tracey Caldwell explores the threats and what can be done about them.
Safe talk: setting the standard for secure communications
Authors: Mansfield-Devine Steve
Published: May 2018

The popularity of apps such as WhatsApp, Proton Mail and even, in its day, BlackBerry Messenger, shows that there is an appetite in the market for communications solutions that cater to people's needs for privacy and security. However, the focus has often been on consumer-oriented offerings and siloed, proprietary solutions. As Elisabetta Zaccaria and Roderick Hodgson of Secure Chorus explain in this interview, when it comes to enterprises and governments, there's a need for standards and compatibility in secure communications technology.

The popularity of apps such as WhatsApp and Proton Mail shows that there is an appetite in the market for communications solutions that cater to people's needs for privacy and security.

However, the focus has often been on consumer-oriented offerings and siloed, proprietary solutions. As Elisabetta Zaccaria and Roderick Hodgson of Secure Chorus explain in this interview, when it comes to enterprises and governments, there's a need for standards and compatibility in secure communications technology.
Motor neuron disease presenting with fetal akinesia
Authors: Shannon P. , Chitayat D. , Chong K. , Dunham C. , Fallet-Bianco C.
Published: May 2018

By contrast to infantile spinal muscular atrophy, which usually links to deletions in the SMN genes, fetal onset motor neuron disease is poorly reported. We collected a series of twelve cases of fetal arthrogryposis (16-31 weeks gestational age) with fetal motor neuron disease and excluded infectious diseases, lysosomal storage disease and neuroaxonal dystrophy. Of these twelve, 3 were thought to be ischemic in nature with microvascular alterations and systemic or central nervous system ischemic injury. The remaining 9 all displayed marked reduction in anterior horn motor neurons. Of these 9, four demonstrated mineralised neurons, four demonstrated either neuronal loss or cavitation in the globus pallidus, and in two, degenerating neurons were detectable in the brainstem or globus pallidus. Specific sequencing of SMN1 was performed in 6 of 9 and was reported as normal. Whole exome sequencing was performed in 4 without definitive diagnosis. We conclude that fetal motor neuron disease can be distinguished from ischemic injury, is morphologically heterogeneous, may affect the globus pallidus and is rarely linked to SMN1 mutations.
‘You are the music while the music lasts’: Kwame Tua between the Asante and the British
Authors: McCaskie Tom
Published: May 2018

This article is an interpretive biography of Kwame Tua (c.1865–1950), one of millions of Africans born into an independent society that was overtaken by colonial conquest and overrule. Kwame Tua was from Asante, now in the republic of Ghana, and held the ascriptive status of a royal servant (ahenkwaa) who might have expected a specialist career as a royal hornblower. He was musically very gifted. However, after ruinous civil wars in the 1880s, the Asante king was sent into exile in 1896, and from 1901 to 1957 his kingdom was a British Crown Colony. This article discusses Kwame Tua's responses to these radically altered circumstances and his efforts to forge a place and identity for himself between the new imperial order and his Asante inheritance. It is argued throughout that the pursuit of detail is all in such a study so that we can get as close as possible to the personality of the individual in interaction with the times he lived through.
‘My desire is to be the possessor of all the best books in this world of struggle’: respectability and literary materialism in colonial Ibadan
Authors: Watson Ruth
Published: May 2018

This article argues for the importance of ‘literary materialism’ in colonial African understandings of respectability. It draws attention to a particular form of acquisitiveness that placed value on the materiality of literary things. That is, literary objects – books, journals, magazines, notebooks, diaries and encyclopaedia volumes – were valued for their material and physical qualities as well as for their use in imparting ‘knowledge’. They had the capacity, in Bourdieu's terms, to display cultural capital. My focus is Akinpelu Obisesan, a voluminous diarist whose life spanned the entire colonial period in the Yoruba city of Ibadan. The article first re-examines Obisesan's early years of diary writing, particularly how the activity related to his professional identity as a clerk, and then goes on to reconstruct the fraught circumstances that surrounded his purchase of the Encyclopaedia Britannica between 1928 and 1931. Obisesan struggled to pay his debt for the encyclopaedia, and all the time used his diary to confess his dire financial state. Ultimately, his claim to the cultural capital that the encyclopaedia embodied was undermined by his lack of economic resources.
Infrastructures of utopia: ruination and regeneration of the African future
Authors: de Jong Ferdinand , Valente-Quinn Brian
Published: May 2018

Ruination has recently received much attention as a defining aspect of the materiality of modernity. Less attention is given to the processes of regeneration that occur within sites of ruination. In this article, we examine how processes of ruination and regeneration are folded into each other, by looking at the materiality of a single site, a small village in the vicinity of Dakar, Senegal. By building the University of the African Future at Sébikotane, the Senegalese president has sought to rekindle the spirit of excellence that inspired education at the École normale William Ponty in a Pan-African spirit. As part of a larger plan for urban expansion, the site of Sébikotane has inspired hope for development. Examining how the different temporalities of utopian modernism and Afro-nostalgia intersect in the ruined site, this article reflects on the ruination of African futures on a site of ever renascent utopian infrastructures.
Spatial distribution of coal-fired power plants in China
Authors: Xie Lunyu , Huang Ying , Qin Ping
Published: May 2018

Coal has fueled China's rapid growth in recent decades, but it also severely pollutes the air and causes many health issues. The magnitude of the health damage caused by air pollution depends on the location of emission sources. In this paper, we look into the spatial distribution of coal-fired power plants, which are the major emission sources in China, and investigate the determining factors behind the distribution. We find that the driving factors are economic development and expansion of electricity grid coverage; the latter factor plays a key role in provinces that are less developed but have abundant coal resources. This suggests a way to reduce health damages caused by air pollution without harming the economy: attracting coal-fired plants to less populated areas by developing trans-province electricity trade and grid coverage.
Assessing and Understanding Climate Change in Africa
Authors: Bouimetarhan Ilham , Carr� Matthieu , Cheddadi Rachid
Published: May 2018

Climate Change in Africa: Evidence, Mechanisms, and Impacts, Past and Present; Marrakesh, Morocco, 6–11 November 2017
Correction to: Ret is essential to mediate GDNF’s neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effect in a Parkinson disease mouse model
Authors: Drinkut Anja , Tillack Karsten , Meka Durga P. , Schulz Jorg B. , Kügler Sebastian , Kramer Edgar R.
Published: May 2018

Correction to: Cell Death Dis. (2016) 7, e2359; https://doi.org/10.1038/cddis.2016.263; published online 08 September 2016