bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Changes of MicroRNA Expression in the Corpus Cavernosum of a Rat Model With Cavernous Nerve Injury
Authors: Liu Chunhui , Cao Yanna , Ko Tien C. , Chen Ming , Zhou Xiaodong , Wang Run
Published: June 2018

Background

MicroRNAs (miRs) were found to be dysregulated in erectile dysfunction (ED) related to aging, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and vasculogenic abnormalities. However, miR expression in ED after radical prostatectomy (RP) is not known.

Aim

To detect abnormal miR expression in post-RP ED and analyze target genes and pathways.

Methods

16 Sprague Dawley rats were divided into bilateral cavernous nerve crush (BCNC) and control groups. 4 weeks after surgery, erectile function and histological change in the corpus cavernosum were evaluated. Total RNA from 3 rats from each group was isolated and processed to analyze the miR expression profiling by RNA sequencing. The top 10 up-regulated miR profiles were chosen directly and further validated in another 5 rats per each group by quantitative real-time polymerase chain (PCR) reaction. The target genes were predicted by online databases, including: TargetScan, mirwalk, miRanda, miRDB, and DIANA. The enrichment analysis of gene ontology-term analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were performed by DAVID database.

Outcomes

Intra-cavernosal pressure, mean arterial pressure, smooth muscle content, and miR expression were measured.

Results

Compared to the control group, the BCNC group had decreased intra-cavernosal/mean arterial pressure ratio and smooth muscle marker (α-smooth muscle actin). The sequence results showed that 124 miR expression dysregulated in the BCNC group, in which 122 miR expression were up-regulated. Of the 122 miRs, 21 miR expressions were increased above 2-fold. Among the top 10 up-regulated miRs, 4 miRs (miR-101a, miR-138, miR-338, and miR-142) levels were finally validated for over-expression by quantitative (PCR) reaction. The gene ontology analysis results showed that these 4 miRs could regulate the processes of cell apoptosis, fibrosis, endothelium, and smooth muscle cells function. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed the target genes were involved in 7 pathways related to ED.

Clinical Translation

Our findings provide novel insights into post-RP ED that may stimulate further studies to develop miR targeted therapy or damage detection for ED.

Strengths & Limitations

To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify the miR profiling and function in the BCNC rat model. The rat model might not represent the human condition and the miR was only detected at 1 period. Besides that, there is a high probability of false positives for RNA sequence results.

Conclusion

4 dysregulated miRs were found in the BCNC rat model, which may be related to post-RP ED by regulating apoptosis, fibrosis, endothelial, and smooth muscle cells.
ANALYZING LABOR HETEROGENEITY IN GHANAIAN COCOA PRODUCTION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SEPARABILITY IN HOUSEHOLD DECISIONS AND POLICY ASSESSMENT
Authors: TSIBOE FRANCIS , LUCKSTEAD JEFF , DIXON BRUCE L. , NALLEY LAWTON L. , POPP JENNIE S.
Published: June 2018

Researchers have employed farm household models (FHMs) for policy analysis under the separability assumption. However, separability can fail, and the household's production and consumption decisions become simultaneous. Using 5 years of household data, the separability assumption among Ghana's cocoa-producing households is tested via heterogeneity of household adult males and females, household children, and hired and exchange labor. Results show labor is heterogeneous, implying a lack of separability. Simulation analysis also shows that ignoring nonseparability leads to an underestimation of policy effects. Thus, nonseparability in production and consumption decisions must be incorporated in FHMs developed for Ghanaian cocoa-producing households.
Designing a Process Evaluation to Examine Mechanisms of Change in Return to Work Outcomes Following Participation in Occupational Rehabilitation: A Theory-Driven and Interactive Research Approach
Authors: Gensby Ulrik , Braathen Tore Norendal , Jensen Chris , Eftedal Monica
Published: June 2018

There is a growing consensus that professional action in occupational rehabilitation should be research-based, and that practice-based knowledge is needed to achieve contextual insight and new theoretical understanding. Few study design examples exist to help inform an evaluation plan and develop research-practice interactions to examine process complexity of targeted occupational rehabilitation programs. This study design article is a proposal on a theory-driven and interactive research methodology for a process evaluation of a pragmatic intervention trial, known as STAiR. The aim of the process evaluation is to examine the delivery and implementation of an inpatient and an outpatient occupational rehabilitation program, and explore active mechanisms pertaining to patient experiences of the return to work (RTW) process. Qualitative and interactive data collection methods will include (a) participant observation of program setting and activities; (b) participatory dialogue conferences with program providers to facilitate initial logic modelling; (d) individual patient interviews at program intake and follow up; and (d) focus groups with rehabilitation teams and external stakeholders. The qualitative data will be supplemented with description of program activities and patient questionnaires. Program logic modelling is suggested to inform a logic analysis of how expected RTW outcomes and delivery of program activities are aligned and how contextual characteristics may clarify differences in achieved RTW outcomes. The proposed process evaluation approach may inform future design discussions and theoretical understanding, and it is expected that the applied knowledge gained through this study may help rehabilitation professionals better navigate potential challenges in clinical evaluation efforts.
JEWISH LAW, STATE, AND SOCIAL REALITY: PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS FOR THE PREVENTION OF DIVORCE REFUSAL IN ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES
Authors: Radzyner Amihai
Published: June 2018

Rabbinical courts in Israel serve as official courts of the state, and state law provides that a Jewish couple can obtain a divorce only in these courts, and only strictly according to Jewish law. By contrast, in the Western world, especially the United States, which has the largest concentration of Jews outside of Israel, the Jewish halakha is not a matter of state law, and rabbinical courts have no official status. This article examines critically the common argument that for a Jew committed to the halakha, and in particular for a Jewish woman who wants to divorce her husband, a state-sponsored halakhic system is preferable to a voluntary one. This argument is considered in light of the main tool that has been proven to help American Jewish women who wish to obtain a halakhic divorce from husbands refusing to grant it: the prenuptial agreement. Many Jewish couples in the United States sign such an agreement, but only a few couples in Israel do so, primarily because of the opposition of the rabbinical courts in Israel to these agreements. The article examines the causes of this resistance, and offers reasons for the distinction that exists between the United States and Israel. It turns out that social and legal reality affect halakhic considerations, to the point where rabbis claim that what the halakha allows in the United States it prohibits in Israel. The last part of the article uses examples from the past to examine the possibility that social change in Israel will affect the rulings of rabbinical courts on this issue.
Domesticating a Mystic: Catholic Saint-Making in Weimar Germany
Authors: Painter Cassandra
Published: June 2018

Veneration of Westphalian stigmatic and visionary Anna Katharina Emmerick (1774–1824) reached new heights during the Weimar Republic. German Catholics engaged in promoting her beatification cause organized a multipronged, multimedia campaign. Priests and laypersons, as well as the popular press and theological journals, all encouraged the veneration of Emmerick as “a crucified saint for a crucifiedVolk.” Memories of Napoleonic French aggression, secularization, and waning religious belief provided revanchist Weimar German Catholics with a readymade narrative of victimization. Moreover, as a poster child of the WestphalianHeimat, her pilgrimage sites offered a spiritual antidote to the “godless” modern city. Meanwhile, everyday Catholics continued a century-old, locally-based tradition of veneration that did not strictly conform to the new “official” line. Emmerick's Weimar cult, and the modern saint-making process more generally, thus provide a window onto the push and pull between clergy and laity, men and women, institutional and popular forces, in shaping lived German Catholicism in the 1920s.
Fixing Prussia's Peripheries: Rural Disasters and Prusso-German State-Building, 1866–1914
Authors: Jones Elizabeth B.
Published: June 2018

In the 1860s, rural disasters on Prussia's eastern and western peripheries forced lawmakers to wrestle with the definition of the termemergency(Notstand), as well as with its temporal and spatial boundaries. The article first explores the legislative decision by Berlin politicians to limit state aid to East Prussia in 1868, even as other hunger crises devastated remote regions in the northwestern state of Hanover. The article then turns to the political conflicts over the 1868 law, including the disputes after unification over how to determine eligibility for state funds; the jostling among representatives of poor regions for attention; the creation of permanent relief funds; and politicians’ use of new understandings of moor science to strengthen and link Prussia's eastern and western peripheries. The article also considers the larger political context, emphasizing that the dismay over Prussian “backwardness” and inner-Prussian competition for disaster aid unfolded against the backdrop of the state's successful leadership during German unification.
A Sequence of Cultural Development in Meso-America
Authors: Armillas Pedro
Published: June 2018

To understand better the nature of the American Indian civilizations they must be viewed as a whole. To do this it is necessary, as Dr. Steward indicated in his paper, to establish adequate bases for the comparison of general trends in cultural development, leaving out for the time being the frequently confusing individual traits and peculiarities of style.

Such a point of departure requires a re-evaluation of our knowledge of the Meso-American cultural sequence, but to do this there is the obvious difficulty that the available information is as yet quite inadequate. From the beginning of the modern period of research in this area the efforts of most investigators were attracted almost exclusively to the ceremonial aspects of Meso-American civilization and their artistic expressions. Perhaps inevitable because of the dazzling splendor of the ruined buildings and ritualistic art, this resulted, nevertheless, in an overbalance of our knowledge in that direction.
Population, Disease, and Evolution
Authors: Armelagos George J. , McArdle Alan
Published: June 2018

The Study of Infectious Disease in human populations has traditionally focused on the biological factors of virulence of the pathogen and the immunity of the host. Since this type of research has been stimulated by the need for the development of treatments for specific diseases, it is not difficult to understand this orientation. The definition of symptoms, differential diagnosis and the isolation of the pathogen are essential elements in the eventual treatment of a disease. The clinical approach to the study of disease was necessarily particularistic. Although population parameters were considered in evaluating the incidence of a disease, the social and cultural factors were seldom dealt with fully. Alland's (1970) study is one of the best attempts to examine the interaction of disease and population in the perspective of adaptation.

In this paper, we will review studies which demonstrate the importance of culture in the transmission of infectious diseases, and from this perspective, we will attempt to develop an evolutionary framework for studying disease in human populations. Specifically, we will examine the effect of infectious diseases in small populations and propose models which will allow the measurement of these effects.
The Pueblos and the Turkey: Who Domesticated Whom?
Authors: Pinkley Jean M.
Published: June 2018

Extinct at Mesa Verde in historic times, the turkey was reintroduced in 1944. This permitted observation of the relationship between wild birds and domesticated employees at the park. Timid at first, the turkeys soon knew where food could be found. They took over the feeding stations set out for small birds and took advantage of warm roosting places in the residential area. Despite efforts to chase them away (tossing cherry bombs and firing guns in the air), turkeys continued to congregate around park homes. It can be conjectured that the prehistoric Indians suffered likewise. When they learned that they could not drive off the turkeys, they most likely decided to corral them to protect their crops and food stores. Recognition of the value of this bird for food and artifacts was the logical next step. Domestication must have been a means for establishing order and maintaining sanity among the prehistoric Indians, who might otherwise have been driven wild by turkeys.
Phantoms in the Pinyon: An Investigation Of UTE-Pueblo Contacts
Authors: Kayser Joyce
Published: June 2018

Despite Fewkes's reports of 1909 and 1916 that a legend of a battle with the Anasazi was obtained from the Utes, such knowledge was denied by all Southern Utes queried in 1963. Their matter-of-fact acceptance of a common identity between the ruins builders and the modern Pueblo peoples, together with evidence from Spanish documents, led to the hypothesis that the Utes have had a long, unbroken (if somewhat peripheral), and for the most part nonviolent contact with the Anasazi-Pueblo. Spanish records also suggest that eastern Utes in early historic times had become quite unlike their more closely studied Great Basin relatives, and that as participants in the general plains culture they had further contact with the Pueblos and the Spanish. Evidence that an Athapascan intrusion successfully blocked Ute-Pueblo contact seems far from conclusive.
Identification of Medicinally Used Flora Using Pollen Features Imaged in the Scanning Electron Microscopy in the Lower Margalla Hills Islamabad Pakistan
Authors: Sufyan Muhammad , Badshah Ikram , Ahmad Mushtaq , Zafar Muhammad , Bahadur Saraj , Rashid Neelam
Published: June 2018

The present study planned to assess the medicinally important plants in the lower Margalla Hills of Islamabad, Pakistan using scanning electron microscopy of their pollens. Both quantitative and qualitative characters of the pollens were analyzed. The shapes of the pollen were prolate, spheroidal, elliptical, and oblate. Exine sculpturing showed rugulate, scabrate, psilate gemmate, and reticulate ornamentation. The people residing in the rural areas are thought to depend, primarily, on medicinal plant resources for many health care needs. A sample of 140 respondents was selected and interviewed by using a stratified random sampling technique. Results showed that the local communities of lower Margalla Hills are highly dependent on plants to treat various ailments, for example, respiratory (28%), digestive (46%) nervous, circulatory and dermatological problems (6% each), and reproductive problems (8%). The continuous dependence of the local community on ethnomedicinally important plants has led to serious degradation of the natural forest of lower Margalla Hills. Priority-based conservation and sustainable use of these forest resources are necessary, and use of alternative resources will also help in the forest conservation.
Hard choices in global deliberative system reform: functional fragmentation, social integration, and cosmopolitan republicanism
Authors: Thirkell-White Ben
Published: June 2018

The ‘systems turn’ amongst deliberative democrats advocates incremental institutional reform guided by deliberative democratic ideals. Whilst ideal global democracy is beyond our reach, incremental reforms can improve the quality and inclusiveness of global deliberation. However, incremental reform in non-ideal circumstances involves trade-offs between competing normative goals. The paper highlights a neglected purpose of democratic deliberation: the integration of highly fragmented technocratic deliberation on isolated issues with more holistic social perspectives emerging from the public sphere. As global governance has shifted beyond the nation state, jurisdictions have become functionally fragmented encouraging issue-specific technical framings of problems (trade policy is institutionally separated from labour, the environment and development). Fragmentation across the domestic executive is mitigated by the legislature’s role in bringing isolated technical perspectives together and subjecting them to wider public scrutiny. No analogous institution exists internationally. Highlighting functional fragmentation is important because dominant concerns with cosmopolitanism (unsettling state-centric issue framing) and republicanism (the need for institutional variety to combat the potential domination of a world state) in global governance lead to an active enthusiasm for overlapping functional jurisdictions in much of the literature, obscuring important trade-offs with the need for social integration.
Stent fractures after common femoral artery bail-out stenting due to suture device failure in TAVR
Authors: Veulemans Verena , Afzal Shazia , Ledwig Paul , Heiss Christian , Busch Lucas , Sansone Roberto , Soetemann Dagmar B. , Maier Oliver , Kleinebrecht Laura , Kelm Malte , Zeus Tobias , Hellhammer Katharina
Published: June 2018

Abstract. Background: Vascular access site-related complications are frequent in the context of transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The implantation of a covered stent graft is an effective treatment option for bleeding control. However, the external iliac and common femoral arteries are exposed to flexion of the hip joint. Therefore, stent compression and stent/strut fractures may occur, facilitating stent occlusion. Patients and methods: In all 389 patients who received transfemoral TAVR from 2013–2015 at the Düsseldorf Heart Centre, we monitored the management of vascular access site-related complications. Our analyses focused on immediate technical success and bleeding control, primary patency, and the occurrence of stent/strut fractures after six to 12 months of follow-up. Results: Vascular access site-related complications occurred in 13 % (n = 51), whereof in 10 patients, the bleeding was successfully managed by prolonged compression. In 40 out of 51 patients, a covered stent graft was implanted in the common femoral artery, leading to 100 % immediate bleeding control. After a mean follow-up of 334 ± 188 days, 28 stents out of 29 patients with completed follow-up (excluding e. g. death) were without flow-limiting stenosis (primary patency 97 %) or relevant stent compression (diameter pre/post 8.6/8.1 mm, p = 0.048, late lumen loss 1.1 ± 0.2 mm, mean flow velocity 92 ± 34 cm/s). In four asymptomatic patients, stent/strut fractures were detected (14 %) without flow-limiting stenosis. Conclusions: The implantation of a covered stent graft is highly effective and safe to control vascular access site-related complications after TAVR. Stent/strut fractures in the flexible segment of the common femoral artery may occur, as consequently verified by X-ray visualization, but show no impairment on flow or clinical parameters after six to 12 months.
Asymmetry of the Predictability Limit of the Warm ENSO Phase
Authors: Hou Zhaolu , Li Jianping , Ding Ruiqiang , Karamperidou Christina , Duan Wansuo , Liu Ting , Feng Jie
Published: June 2018

A nonlinear local Lyapunov exponent method based on monthly sea surface temperature data is employed to explore the predictability limit of warm El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Results using observational data show an asymmetry of the predictability limit between the developing and decaying stages of the warm ENSO phase. To wit, predictability of the developing stage of warm ENSO events is found to approach a limit of 10 months, less than that of the mature and decaying stages. This asymmetrical predictability limit is also found in a long climate model simulation and may explain the asymmetry in operational forecast skill of warm ENSO events. Through exploring the error growth rate as represented by nonlinear local Lyapunov exponent and the instantaneous error growth rate, it is shown that error growth, especially during the first 8‐month lead forecasts, is the primary contributor to the asymmetry of the predictability limit of warm ENSO events.
Evolutionary conservation of the antimicrobial function of mucus: a first defence against infection
Authors: Bakshani Cassie R , Morales-Garcia Ana L , Althaus Mike , Wilcox Matthew D , Pearson Jeffrey P , Bythell John C , Burgess J Grant
Published: June 2018

Mucus layers often provide a unique and multi-functional hydrogel interface between the epithelial cells of organisms and their external environment. Mucus has exceptional properties including elasticity, changeable rheology and an ability to self-repair by re-annealing, and is therefore an ideal medium for trapping and immobilising pathogens and serving as a barrier to microbial infection. The ability to produce a functional surface mucosa was an important evolutionary step, which evolved first in the Cnidaria, which includes corals, and the Ctenophora. This allowed the exclusion of non-commensal microbes and the subsequent development of the mucus-lined digestive cavity seen in higher metazoans. The fundamental architecture of the constituent glycoprotein mucins is also evolutionarily conserved. Although an understanding of the biochemical interactions between bacteria and the mucus layer are important to the goal of developing new antimicrobial strategies, they remain relatively poorly understood. This review summarises the physicochemical properties and evolutionary importance of mucus, which make it so successful in the prevention of bacterial infection. In addition, the strategies developed by bacteria to counteract the mucus layer are also explored.
The prognostic significance of metabolic syndrome and weight loss in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Liu Bowen , Cheng Bo , Wang Cong , Chen Pengxiang , Cheng Yufeng
Published: June 2018

Our study aimed to investigate the association between metabolic syndrome and postoperative survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and evaluate whether metabolic syndrome can predict the prognosis in esophageal cancer patients. The retrospective study reviewed 519 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who had received esophagetomy and lymphnode dissections in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University between January 2007 and December 2011. All patients were followed up until December 2016. The median follow-up time was 39.59 months (range 0.25–72 months). The 3-year and 5-year survival rate was 51.4% and 37.0%, respectively. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed a significant correlation between OS and obesity (P = 0.000), weight loss (P = 0.000), diabetes (P = 0.001) and dyslipidemia (P = 0.030). Multivariate analysis indicated that advanced TNM staging (P = 0.007, HR: 1.760, 95% CI: 1.167–2.654) and more weight loss (P = 0.000, HR: 1.961, 95% CI: 1.697–2.267) were independent factors for adverse prognosis of esophageal squamous carcinoma patients. In contrast, diabetes was a protective factor in the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer (P = 0.018, HR: 0.668, 95% CI: 0.478–0.933). Our findings suggest that TNM staging, weight changes and diabetes were independent predictors for the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients.
A distance-based paper sensor for the determination of chloride ions using silver nanoparticles
Authors: Phoonsawat Kamonchanok , Ratnarathorn Nalin , Henry Charles S. , Dungchai Wijitar
Published: June 2018

We report for the first time the development of a distance-based paper sensor for a simple, inexpensive, instrument-free, and portable determination of chloride ions.
A versatile biosynthetic approach to amide bond formation
Authors: Philpott Helena K. , Thomas Pamela J. , Tew David , Fuerst Doug E. , Lovelock Sarah L.
Published: June 2018

Combining N-acyltransferases and CoA ligases with desired substrate profiles allows the construction of non-natural biosynthetic pathways for the synthesis of structurally diverse secondary and tertiary amides in high yields.
Correction: Truncated hexagonal bi-pyramidal gallium ferrite nanocrystals: integration of structural details with visible-light photo-activity and self-cleaning properties
Authors: Mishra Monali , Mukherjee Indrani , Mall Ashish Kumar , Mitra Arijit , Dash Sukalyan , Chatterjee Sriparna , Mukherjee Somdutta , Roy Amritendu
Published: June 2018

Correction for ‘Truncated hexagonal bi-pyramidal gallium ferrite nanocrystals: integration of structural details with visible-light photo-activity and self-cleaning properties’ by Monali Mishra et al., J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, DOI: 10.1039/c8ta02749h.
Interaction of the cryptic fragment of myelin basic protein with mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion-selective channel-1 affects cell energy metabolism
Authors: Remacle Albert G. , Hullugundi Swathi K. , Dolkas Jennifer , Angert Mila , Cieplak Piotr , Scott David , Chernov Andrei V. , Shubayev Veronica I. , Strongin Alex Y.
Published: June 2018

In demyelinating nervous system disorders, myelin basic protein (MBP), a major component of the myelin sheath, is proteolyzed and its fragments are released in the neural environment. Here, we demonstrated that, in contrast with MBP, the cellular uptake of the cryptic 84–104 epitope (MBP84-104) did not involve the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1, a scavenger receptor. Our pull-down assay, mass spectrometry and molecular modeling studies suggested that, similar with many other unfolded and aberrant proteins and peptides, the internalized MBP84-104 was capable of binding to the voltage-dependent anion-selective channel-1 (VDAC-1), a mitochondrial porin. Molecular modeling suggested that MBP84-104 directly binds to the N-terminal α-helix located midway inside the 19 β-blade barrel of VDAC-1. These interactions may have affected the mitochondrial functions and energy metabolism in multiple cell types. Notably, MBP84-104 caused neither cell apoptosis nor affected the total cellular ATP levels, but repressed the aerobic glycolysis (lactic acid fermentation) and decreased the l-lactate/d-glucose ratio (also termed as the Warburg effect) in normal and cancer cells. Overall, our findings implied that because of its interactions with VDAC-1, the cryptic MBP84-104 peptide invoked reprogramming of the cellular energy metabolism that favored enhanced cellular activity, rather than apoptotic cell death. We concluded that the released MBP84-104 peptide, internalized by the cells, contributes to the reprogramming of the energy-generating pathways in multiple cell types.
Syntheses of Cyanophycin Segments for Investigations of Cell-Penetration
Authors: Grogg Marcel , Hilvert Donald , Beck Albert , Seebach Dieter
Published: June 2018

Novel guanidinium-rich oligopeptide derivatives R-[Adp(X)]8-NH2 are described, which consist of an octa-aspartic acid backbone with argininylated side chains that are derived from the biopolymer cyanophycin [H-(Adp)n-OH]. The Fmoc-Adp(X,Pbf)-OH building blocks for solid-state peptide synthesis (SSPS) of Adp octamers were prepared from Fmoc-Arg(Pbf)-OH and Fmoc-Asp-OAll. Coupling on PAL resin provided four octamers with and without N-terminal fluorescent groups (FAM) and C-terminal amide groups. Milligram quantities of Adp-octamers were isolated after preparative HPLC purification. The structure of the novel guanidinium-rich oligomers is unique insofar as the side chains of the Asp8-backbone include both a guanidino and a carboxylic acid group, the influence of which will be tested with the corresponding ester and amide derivatives that were synthesized in parallel. Unusual cell-penetrating properties of the Adp-octamers are expected.
Modification of an Amidolytic Heparin Assay to Express Protein-Bound Heparin and to Correct for the Effect of Antithrombin III Concentration
Authors: Lyon Sandra G , Lasser Elliott C , Stein Rosalyn
Published: June 2018

A modification of an anti-Xa assay for plasma heparin has been devised using a low molecular weight dextran sulfate that competitively binds protein heparin neutralizers and displaces masked heparin. The addition of 0.12 mg dextran sulfate per ml of plasma permits heparin, neutralized by the products of platelet aggregation, to recover full functional activity against Xa. The assay will permit a more accurate assessment of both exogenous plasma heparin and endogenous liepaiin-like activity in blood samples collected with varying techniques. A further modification is proposed employing polybrene to neutralize the plasma heparin-like material providing a concurrent control for each sample that increases accuracy by eliminating the effect of varying AT-III levels which have anti-Xa activity.
A Simple Method to Measure Dermatan Sulfate at Sub-Microgram Concentrations in Plasma
Authors: Dupouy D , Sié P , Dol F , Boneu B
Published: June 2018

A simple method for biological assay of dermatan sulfate (DS) in plasma is described. DS accelerates thrombin inhibition by heparin cofactor II (HC II). The principle of the assay is to measure the residual amidolytic thrombin activity after a short period of incubation with HC II in defibrinated plasma at low ionic strength. For this method we take advantage of two observations. Firstly, at fixed concentrations of DS and of HC II, the rate of thrombin inhibition increases when the ionic strength of the medium decreases. Secondly, defibrination by bentonite absorption also removes antithrombin III, HC II and for a large part alpha-2 macroglobulin from the plasma, so that no other thrombin inhibitor competes with HC II added as a reagent in a second step.

In the conditions described, there is a linear relationship between DS concentrations in plasma from 0 to 2 μg/ml and the log of residual thrombin activity. The limit of sensitivity is 0.1 μg/ ml. The assay displays an acceptable reproducibility in intraassay, inter-assay and inter-individual experiments. It can be used to measure DS in human, rabbit and rat plasmas. The assay is also sensitive to other HC II activators such as heparin and pentosan polysulfate.

DS is effective in experimental thrombosis without any detectable anticoagulant effect ex vivo. Pharmacological concentrations of DS in plasma fall into the range of sensitivity of this assay, which would be helpful in experimental or clinical studies of DS and related glycosaminoglycans.
Monitoring Heparin Therapy by the Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time - The Effect of Pre-Analytical Conditions
Authors: van den Besselaar A M H P , Meeuwisse-Braun J , Jansen-Grüter R , Bertina R M
Published: June 2018

Blood and plasma specimens from patients receiving heparin were collected and stored under various conditions. The effect of these conditions on the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) was assessed. Four APTT reagents were used. Blood samples centrifuged at 600 × g gave slightly shorter APTTs than samples centrifuged at 940 × g and 2200 × g. Storage of uncentrifuged citrated-blood at room temperature resulted in 15-29% shortening of the APTT, depending on the reagent used. Storage of the same blood samples at 4° C resulted in 6-19% lengthening of the APTT. The presence of HEPES-buffer in citrated-blood shortened the APTT of heparinized patient specimens, but not of normal specimens. When blood was collected in a mixture of citric acid, theophylline, adenosine and dipyridamole (CTAD-mix-ture), storage at room temperature induced 0-11% decrease of the APTT, depending on the reagent used. Storage of CTAD-blood at 4° C resulted in 7-19% lengthening of the APTT. Shortening of the APTT could be explained by release of platelet factor 4 (PF4). Release of PF4 could be inhibited by CTAD-mixture. These data suggest that storage of CTAD-blood at room temperature is the best pre-analytical condition for reliable monitoring of heparin therapy by the APTT.
Effect of Congo Red on Blood Platelets and Leucocytes of Rabbits and Cats
Authors: Tschopp Th B. , Baumgartner H.-R , Studer A
Published: June 2018

In rabbits and cats Congo red administered intravenously causes severe thrombocytopenia and ultrastructural alterations of platelets and leucocytes, similar to those produced by some fatty acids and endotoxin. Transient leucopenia is followed by leucocytosis. In contrast, incubation of Congo red in citrated blood or platelet rich plasma has no effect. Therefore, an indirect mechanism is postulated to explain the in vivo effect of Congo red.
Platelet Aggregation by a Specific Human Immunoglobulin Preparation
Authors: de Gaetano G , Vermylen J , Verstraete M
Published: June 2018

A patient with severe chronic thrombocytopenic purpura is described, whose serum, after repeated transfusions of platelet-rich plasma, of her ABO blood group, was found to contain immunoglobulin G, which produced clumping in platelet-rich plasma from 15 volunteers out of 20. Direct and indirect evidence was obtained that clumping was due to release of endogenous platelet-ADP. In addition, a direct effect of the immunoglobulin preparation on the platelet membrane could be demonstrated.
Separation and Characterization of Two Fibrinolytic Inhibitors from Human Placenta
Authors: Uszynski M , Abildgaard U
Published: June 2018

Procedures for the separation of two inhibitors of the activation of plasminogen to plasmin by urokinase are described. Tissue thromboplastin was removed by adsorption to Al(0H)3 gel followed by ultracentrifugation. Plasminogen, plasminogen activator, a coagulation inhibitor and hemoglobin were removed by ion exchange chromatography (CM- or DEAE-Sephadex with NaCl gradients). The minor UK inhibitor is a relative basic protein with a pI of about 5.8. The major inhibitor was purified further by isoelectric focusing, preparative electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel, and gel filtration. This inhibitor has α1-motility, the pI is about 5.2, and the molecular weight about 100,000. It inactivates urokinase progressively, but does not inhibit streptokinase, plasmin or thrombin.
Using the Hand-Sewn Purse-String Stapled Anastomotic Technique for Minimally Invasive Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy
Authors: Zhan Bicheng , Chen Jian , Du Shaoming , Xiong Yanzheng , Liu Jian
Published: June 2018

Background Minimally invasive Ivor Lewis esophagectomy (MIILE) is increasingly being used in the treatment of middle or lower esophageal cancer. Hand-sewn purse-string stapled anastomosis is a classic approach in open esophagectomy. However, this procedure is technically difficult under thoracoscopy. The hardest part is delivering the anvil into the esophageal stump. Herein, we report an approach to performing this step under thoracoscopy.

Methods A total of 257 consecutive patients who underwent MIILE between April 2013 and July 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. The operator hand sewed the purse string using silk thread under thoracoscopy, and the 25-mm circular stapler was passed through the anterior axillary line at the fourth intercostal space to finish the side-to-end gastroesophageal anastomosis. Patient demographics, intraoperative data, postoperative complications were evaluated.

Results The mean operative time, thoracoscopy time, and anvil fixation time was 307.0 ± 34.3, 155.4 ± 21.5, and 7.1 ± 1.6 minute, respectively. The anastomotic leak and anastomotic stricture occurred in 6.6% (17 of 257) and 3.9% (10 of 257) of patients, respectively. There was no intraoperative death; one case was death of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) for conduit gastric leakage on the 21st postoperative day.

Conclusion Using the hand-sewn purse-string stapled anastomotic technique for MIILE is feasible and relatively safe in patients with middle or lower esophageal cancer.
Right-wing populism and the dynamics of style: a discourse-analytic perspective on mediated political performances
Authors: Ekström Mats , Patrona Marianna , Thornborrow Joanna
Published: June 2018

This article offers new ways of conceptualising style in right wing populist communicative performances, by foregrounding a structured and conceptually informed use of “style” that moves beyond the descriptive sense routinely employed in political communication. Specifically, it explores how a discourse-analytic approach to mediated populist discourse can inform and advance the current understanding of populist ‘style’ by analysing some contextually produced linguistic and discursive choices in populist rhetorical repertoires—i.e., the communicative strategies that are deployed in mediated contexts for right-wing populist political communication. Taking three illustrative examples of right wing populist party performances on TV news and current affairs broadcasts in Greece (GD), France (FN) and the UK (UKIP), the speakers’ use of a range of rhetorical devices is examined using models from socio-linguistics and discourse analysis: aspects of register shifts by GD in blame attribution speeches, interactional ‘bad manners’ in a French political debate, and Nigel Farage speaking ‘candidly’ in three different contexts of news reporting from the UK. In taking such a qualitative approach, it is argued that populist style cannot be defined in terms of one single feature, or set of features, common to all right wing populists and transferrable from one socio-cultural context to another, but more usefully as a set of motivated choices among alternative semiotic resources (linguistic/discursive, interactional and visual), which have social and cultural resonance. This focus on micro-level features of mediated interaction thus offers a more fine-grained understanding of style than is currently the case, as it shows how right-wing populist politicians’ performative styles are situated within specific (here European) socio-cultural and political communicative contexts; in this study, this is to say, the various television broadcasts in which they occur.
Exact solutions and singularities of an X-point collapse in Hall magnetohydrodynamics
Authors: Janda Artur Z.
Published: June 2018

Magnetic collapse is a basic dynamic scenario forming a current sheet, where magnetic reconnection can take place and convert magnetic energy into other forms. We discuss a self-similar magnetic collapse of a planar X-point configuration in incompressible Hall magnetohydrodynamics. There are two classes of exact solutions: globally regular and singular ones. The structure of solutions provides an exact expression for the time of breakdown in terms of the initial conditions.
Structural evolution and bonding properties of Au2Sin−/0 (n = 1–7) clusters: Anion photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical calculations
Authors: Lu Sheng-Jie , Xu Xi-Ling , Xu Hong-Guang , Zheng Wei-Jun
Published: June 2018

The photoelectron spectra of Au2Sin− (n = 1–7) clusters were measured, and the structural evolution and bonding properties of Au2Si1–7− anions and their corresponding neutral counterparts were investigated by theoretical calculations. The two Au atoms in Au2Si1–7−/0 prefer to occupy low coordinate sites and form fewer Au–Si bonds. The aurophilic interaction is fairly weak in these clusters. The most stable structures of both Au2Sin− anions and Au2Sin neutrals can be described as the two Au atoms interacting with the Sin frameworks. The most stable isomers of Au2Sin− anions are in spin doublet states, while those of the neutral clusters are in spin singlet states. The lowest-lying isomers of Au2Si1−/0 have C2v symmetric V-shaped structures. The global minimum of the Au2Si2− anion has a D2h symmetric planar rhombus structure, while that of the Au2Si2 neutral adopts a C2v symmetric dibridged structure. In Au2Si3−/0, the two Au atoms independently interact with the different Si–Si bonds of the Si3 triangular structure. The global minima of Au2Si4–7−/0 primarily adopt prismatic based geometries. Interestingly, Au2Si6−/0 have significant 3D aromaticity and possess σ plus π double bonding characters, which play important roles in their structural stability.
Off-current reduction in p-type SnO thin film transistors
Authors: Hung M. P. , Genoe J. , Heremans P. , Steudel S.
Published: June 2018

SnO is one of the few candidates for p-type oxide thin film transistors (TFTs) because it retains a reasonable high hole mobility in a nanocrystalline film. However, the high off-current of SnO TFT limits its usefulness. In this work, SnO TFTs were fabricated using thermal evaporation under ultra-high vacuum. In order to decrease the off-current in p-type SnO thin film transistors (TFTs), we used yttrium to reduce n-type minority charges in the channel. The on/off ratio of the TFT increases from 102 to 5 × 104 and the mobility of the TFT in the saturated regime reduces from 1.6 to 1.4 cm2/V s when the SnO channel is doped with 1 wt. % of Y. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveal that the reduction of SnO2 in the Y-doped SnO TFT channel is the main reason for the improvement in the TFT characteristics.
Effects of a mixture of ligands on metal accumulation in diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT)
Authors: Altier Alexandra , Jiménez-Piedrahita Martín , Uribe Ramiro , Rey-Castro Carlos , Cecília Joan , Galceran Josep , Puy Jaume
Published: June 2018

Environmental contextThe availability of trace metals to aquatic organisms is influenced by the natural ligands present in water. We investigate the influence of the composition of the system on the availability of metal cations as nutritive or toxic species. The focus is on clarifying whether availability measured in single-ligand systems with diffusive gradients in thin film devices can be used to predict accumulation in mixtures.
AbstractNatural waters contain mixtures of ligands, which collectively affect the availability of trace metals. The individual contribution of each complex to the overall metal flux received by a sensor can be described in terms of its lability degree. The question arises as to whether the mixture entails specific non-additive effects, i.e. to what extent is it possible to predict the collective behaviour of the mixture from the values of the lability degree of each single ligand system (SLS). For this reason, a series of experiments with diffusion gradients in thin films (DGT) devices were carried out to measure nickel accumulation from synthetic media comprising either nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), ethylenediamine (EN) or mixtures of both ligands. The results were compared with numerical simulations. It is shown that NiNTA becomes more inert in the mixture than in the SLS that contains the same concentration of free Ni and NiNTA, whereas the opposite is true for the Ni bound to EN, which becomes more labile in the mixture than in the SLS. This unprecedented behaviour arises when one of the ligands (NTA, forming strong and partially labile complexes) is present under non-excess conditions. As NiNTA and NiEN have an opposite influence on the lability degree of each other, the sum of partial fluxes calculated from the lability degrees obtained in SLSs yields a reasonable estimate of DGT performance in the mixture. Experimental accumulations in the mixture are just slightly below the predicted values, with errors lower than 11 % when NTA concentrations vary from 20 to 100 % of the total Ni concentration.
Amyloid seeding of transthyretin by ex vivo cardiac fibrils and its inhibition
Authors: Saelices Lorena , Chung Kevin , Lee Ji H. , Cohn Whitaker , Whitelegge Julian P. , Benson Merrill D. , Eisenberg David S.
Published: June 2018

Significance

Transthyretin (TTR) cardiac amyloidosis is characterized by the deposition of TTR amyloid fibrils in the heart. No therapy is currently available for wild-type cardiac amyloidosis. Hereditary cases are treated by liver transplantation, a crude form of gene therapy which replaces amyloidogenic mutant TTR by the more stable wild-type form, with the goal of halting further deposition and disease progression. However, wild-type TTR continues to deposit in the heart of many patients after the procedure. Until now, seeding of TTR fibril formation has not been demonstrated in vitro. We show that patient-extracted cardiac fibrils can seed both wild-type and mutant TTR fibril formation in vitro. This process can be inhibited by structure-based peptide inhibitors, thereby providing an alternative approach to therapy.
Does the source matter?
Authors: Kotwica Dorota
Published: June 2018

This article provides an insight into the expression of reportative evidentiality in Spanish scientific articles published between 1799 and 1920. Central to the discussion is the presence and specificity of sources in reportative constructions. While contemporary scientific discourse prioritizes the use of specific, reportative-quotative evidentials, this is not a constant feature of articles analyzed in this study. In order to trace this historical variation, we established a classification of reportative constructions according to the specificity of the evidence they convey and we conducted both qualitative and quantitative analyses. According to our results, different specificity patterns were prominent in different temporal stages of the period under review. We argue that this can be interpreted in light of the growth and changing practices of the scientific community.
Evidential language in Internet forums
Authors: Torrent i Alamany-Lenzen Aina
Published: June 2018

This article analyses the function of the multiword lexemeya me dirás túas used in Internet forums. We defend the notion thatya me dirás túis a highly polyphonic discourse marker. Its function is evidential as of the moment in which the speaker uses this unit to present a subjective appraisal as a logical truth within the framework of an assertion. We therefore focus on evidentiality from not only a lexical but also a textual-discursive standpoint. Internet forums are the ideal type of text for studying a unit likeya me dirás tú, which is typically used in colloquial language.
Evidentiality in illness narratives
Authors: Figueras Bates Carolina
Published: June 2018

Narratives of severe mental illness can be regarded as the discursive efforts of a healthy self to restore a sense of selfhood disrupted by the illness. Focusing on a sample of 87 unsolicited online illness narratives of eating disorders in Spanish, this article explores how narrators deployed evidential constructions introduced by the perception verb “ver” (to see) to manage identity in the autobiographical telling. The analysis revealed that “ver” indexed information as coming from different sources (perception, mental states, inference). This evidential material was discursively evaluated (via the adoption of a specific epistemic stance) and applied to construe conflicting versions of self in the eating disorder narratives. Resorting to the evidential marking, narrators could rhetorically negotiate the transition from their perceptual self, created during the illness, to their cognitive self, elaborated in the recovery.