bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metamaterial electromagnetic energy harvester with high selective harvesting for left- and right-handed circularly polarized waves
Authors: Shang Shuai , Yang Shizhong , Liu Jing , Shan Meng , Cao Hailin
Published: July 2016

In this paper, a metamaterial electromagnetic energy harvester constructed via the capacitive loading of metal circular split rings is presented. Each energy-harvesting cell is loaded with a resistance that imitates the input impedance of a rectifier circuit. Specifically, the metamaterial energy harvester has high selective harvesting for left- and right-handed circularly polarized waves. Here, the energy absorption is mostly induced by the resistive load; thus, effective energy harvesting can be achieved. Moreover, the proposed energy harvester exhibits a high-efficiency harvesting for right-handed circularly polarized waves over a wide range of incident angles. Further, a transmission line model is adopted to interpret the energy harvesting mechanism, which shows that a good impedance matching and low dielectric loss can further enhance the harvesting efficiency. To demonstrate the design, a 15 × 15 unit-cell prototype is fabricated and measured, and the measured results reasonably agree with the simulated ones.
Direct observation of lubricant additives using tomography techniques
Authors: Chen Yunyun , Sanchez Carlos , Parkinson Dilworth Y. , Liang Hong
Published: July 2016

Lubricants play important roles in daily activities such as driving, walking, and cooking. The current understanding of mechanisms of lubrication, particularly in mechanical systems, has been limited by the lack of capability in direct observation. Here, we report an in situ approach to directly observe the motion of additive particles in grease under the influence of shear. Using the K-edge tomography technique, it is possible to detect particular additives in a grease and observe their distribution through 3D visualization. A commercial grease as a reference was studied with and without an inorganic additive of Fe3O4 microparticles. The results showed that it was possible to identify these particles and track their movement. Under a shear stress, Fe3O4 particles were found to adhere to the edge of calcium complex thickeners commonly used in grease. Due to sliding, the grease formed a film with increased density. This approach enables in-line monitoring of a lubricant and future investigation in mechanisms of lubrication.
Survey of parent and carer experiences and expectations of paediatric rheumatology care in New South Wales
Authors: Coda Andrea , Jones Julie , Grech Debra , Grewal Davinder Singh
Published: July 2016

Objective The aim of the present survey of parent and carers was to document the level of care and services currently provided to children diagnosed with rheumatic diseases (RD) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Methods The survey included parents and carers of children presenting to paediatric rheumatology (PR) services in NSW. Subjects attending PR clinics in both public and private settings were invited to participate in an online or paper survey. Results Overall, 148 surveys were completed. The process of obtaining the diagnosis of RD was described as being ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ by 56.1% (n = 83) of the surveyed cohort, and 41.2% (n = 61) saw four or more different clinicians before diagnosis. Between symptom onset and final diagnosis, 42.6% (n = 63) of participants reported a delay of 5 months or more, and 16.9% (n = 25) waited longer than 12 months. Eventually, 91% (n = 134) were referred to a paediatric rheumatologist and 63.5% (n = 94) were seen within 4 weeks from initial referral. More than half the respondents felt that general practitioners (GPs) and general paediatricians were not aware of RD. Overall, respondents felt that improved knowledge of PR diseases among GPs, improved access to PR clinics, improved educational materials for patients and families, access to speciality rheumatology nurses and coordinated rheumatology teams would have significantly improved the experience of their child’s disease. Conclusions Children with RD in NSW still experience significant delays from symptom onset to final diagnosis through consultations with multiple healthcare professionals. Multidisciplinary team care was not the norm for this patient group, despite established national and international management standards. What is known about the topic? Early diagnosis and management by a multidisciplinary team is the gold standard in PR management. Delays in diagnosis may significantly impair the outcomes of children diagnosed with RD, with reduced quality of life, increased pain level and worse long-term prognosis. What does this paper add? Children diagnosed with RD in NSW endure significant delays from symptom onset until a final diagnosis is made, with multiple consultations with different healthcare professionals. When the referral to PR services in NSW is made, RD children are mostly seen within 4 weeks, faster than other international standards. GPs and paediatric rheumatologists in NSW helped improve the children’s and their family’s experience of the diagnosis and treatment of a rheumatic condition and better informed them using appropriate educational materials. What are the implications for practitioners? This paper provides new evidence to practitioners to increase their knowledge of the current experiences and expectation of the paediatric rheumatology care in NSW.
Numb regulates the balance between Notch recycling and late-endosome targeting inDrosophilaneural progenitor cells
Authors: Johnson Seth A. , Zitserman Diana , Roegiers Fabrice
Published: July 2016

The Notch signaling pathway plays essential roles in both animal development and human disease. Regulation of Notch receptor levels in membrane compartments has been shown to affect signaling in a variety of contexts. Here we used steady-state and pulse-labeling techniques to follow Notch receptors in sensory organ precursor cells in Drosophila. We find that the endosomal adaptor protein Numb regulates levels of Notch receptor trafficking to Rab7-labeled late endosomes but not early endosomes. Using an assay we developed that labels different pools of Notch receptors as they move through the endocytic system, we show that Numb specifically suppresses a recycled Notch receptor subpopulation and that excess Notch signaling in numb mutants requires the recycling endosome GTPase Rab11 activity. Our data therefore suggest that Numb controls the balance between Notch receptor recycling and receptor targeting to late endosomes to regulate signaling output after asymmetric cell division in Drosophila neural progenitors.
Model-independent counting of molecules in single-molecule localization microscopy
Authors: Hummer Gerhard , Fricke Franziska , Heilemann Mike
Published: July 2016

Most biomolecular processes rely on tightly controlled stoichiometries, from the formation of molecular assemblies to cellular signaling. Single-molecule localization micro­scopy studies of fluorophore blinking offer a promising route to probe oligomeric states. Here we show that the distribution of the number of blinking events assumes a universal functional form, independent of photophysics, under relatively mild assumptions. The number of photophysical states, the kinetics of interconversion, and the fraction of active fluorophores enter as two or three constants. This essentially model-independent formulation allows us to determine molecule counts from fluorophore blinking statistics. The formulas hold even if the fluorophores have many different yet unresolved dark states, as long as there is only a single fluorescent state, or if there are different yet unresolvable fluorescent states, as long as there is only a single dark state. We demonstrate the practical applicability of this approach by quantifying the oligomerization states of membrane proteins tagged with the mEos2 fluorescent protein. We find that the model parameters, obtained by likelihood maximization, are transferable. With the counting statistics being independent of the detailed photophysics and its parameters being transferable, the method should be robust and broadly applicable to counting colocalized molecules in vivo and in vitro.
NCMine: Core-peripheral based functional module detection using near-clique mining
Authors: Tadaka Shu , Kinoshita Kengo
Published: July 2016

Motivation: The identification of functional modules from protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks is an important step toward understanding the biological features of PPI networks. The detection of functional modules in PPI networks is often performed by identifying internally densely connected subnetworks, and often produces modules with “core” and “peripheral” proteins. The core proteins are the ones having dense connections to each other in a module. The difference between core and peripheral proteins is important to understand the functional roles of proteins in modules, but there are few methods to explicitly elucidate the internal structure of functional modules at gene level.

Results: We propose NCMine, which is a novel network clustering method and visualization tool for the core-peripheral structure of functional modules. It extracts near-complete subgraphs from networks based on a node-weighting scheme using degree centrality, and reports subgroups as functional modules. We implemented this method as a plugin of Cytoscape, which is widely used to visualize and analyze biological networks. The plugin allows users to extract functional modules from PPI networks and interactively filter modules of interest. We applied the method to human PPI networks, and found several examples with the core-peripheral structure of modules that may be related to cancer development.

Availability and Implementation: The Cytoscape plugin and tutorial are available at Cytoscape AppStore. (http://apps.cytoscape.org/apps/ncmine).

Contact:  kengo@ecei.tohoku.ac.jp

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Excess positional mutual information predicts both local and allosteric mutations affecting beta lactamase drug resistance
Authors: Cortina George A. , Kasson Peter M.
Published: July 2016

Motivation

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics, particularly plasmid-encoded resistance to beta lactam drugs, poses an increasing threat to human health. Point mutations to beta-lactamase enzymes can greatly alter the level of resistance conferred, but predicting the effects of such mutations has been challenging due to the large combinatorial space involved and the subtle relationships of distant residues to catalytic function. Therefore we desire an information-theoretic metric to sensitively and robustly detect both local and distant residues that affect substrate conformation and catalytic activity.

Results

Here, we report the use of positional mutual information in multiple microsecond-length molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to predict residues linked to catalytic activity of the CTX-M9 beta lactamase. We find that motions of the bound drug are relatively isolated from motions of the protein as a whole, which we interpret in the context of prior theories of catalysis. In order to robustly identify residues that are weakly coupled to drug motions but nonetheless affect catalysis, we utilize an excess mutual information metric. We predict 31 such residues for the cephalosporin antibiotic cefotaxime. Nine of these have previously been tested experimentally, and all decrease both enzyme rate constants and empirical drug resistance. We prospectively validate our method by testing eight high-scoring mutations and eight low-scoring controls in bacteria. Six of eight predicted mutations decrease cefotaxime resistance greater than 2-fold, while only one control shows such an effect. The ability to prospectively predict new variants affecting bacterial drug resistance is of great interest to clinical and epidemiological surveillance.

Availability and implementation

Excess mutual information code is available at https://github.com/kassonlab/positionalmi

Contact

kasson@virginia.edu
Simultaneous gene finding in multiple genomes
Authors: König Stefanie , Romoth Lars W. , Gerischer Lizzy , Stanke Mario
Published: July 2016

Motivation: As the tree of life is populated with sequenced genomes ever more densely, the new challenge is the accurate and consistent annotation of entire clades of genomes. We address this problem with a new approach to comparative gene finding that takes a multiple genome alignment of closely related species and simultaneously predicts the location and structure of protein-coding genes in all input genomes, thereby exploiting negative selection and sequence conservation. The model prefers potential gene structures in the different genomes that are in agreement with each other, or—if not—where the exon gains and losses are plausible given the species tree. We formulate the multi-species gene finding problem as a binary labeling problem on a graph. The resulting optimization problem is NP hard, but can be efficiently approximated using a subgradient-based dual decomposition approach.

Results: The proposed method was tested on whole-genome alignments of 12 vertebrate and 12 Drosophila species. The accuracy was evaluated for human, mouse and Drosophila melanogaster and compared to competing methods. Results suggest that our method is well-suited for annotation of (a large number of) genomes of closely related species within a clade, in particular, when RNA-Seq data are available for many of the genomes. The transfer of existing annotations from one genome to another via the genome alignment is more accurate than previous approaches that are based on protein-spliced alignments, when the genomes are at close to medium distances.

Availability and implementation: The method is implemented in C ++ as part of Augustus and available open source at http://bioinf.uni-greifswald.de/augustus/.

Contact:  stefaniekoenig@ymail.com or mario.stanke@uni-greifswald.de

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Results of biological restoration of varus impacted proximal humeral fracture and stabilization with locked plate and calcar screws
Authors: Sharaby Mohamed M.F.
Published: July 2016

Background:

Varus impacted proximal humeral fractures (B2.2) is a unique type of fracture with multiple sequelae and unpredictable outcome. There is a high incidence of varus collapse and loss of fixation associated with this type of fracture especially in patients with loss of medial calcar. This created the idea of reconstructing the medial calcar during internal fixation to avoid recurring deformity and malunion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of fixation of varus impacted proximal humeral fracture using locking plate fixation with a calcar screw and without the use of bone grafting or opening of the joint capsule for reconstruction of the medial buttress.

Methods:

A series of 39 operative procedures of varus proximal humeral fractures were fixed with locking plate and calcar screws. Clinical and radiographic outcomes were collected and evaluated.

Results:

At 2-year follow-up, the mean Constant score was 83.9±6.4 (range 68-92), with four patients lost for different reasons. At final follow-up, the head-shaft angle was 130.3±8 degrees (range 111-143 degrees), the change in the angle because of subsidence ranged between 0 to 20 degrees (4.4±5.3 degrees). The complications included two superficial wound infections, one developed greater tuberosity nonunion, and nine had subsidence of the head with minor change of the head-shaft angle at follow-up. Six patients had a change of 5 to 10 degrees, while three patients had a 10 to 20-degree change.

Conclusions:

Medial calcar comminution can be treated successfully by the use of locking plate fixation with calcar screws with no additional grafting. Long-term follow-up is required to ensure the persistence of good results.
New developments in genetics of myositis
Authors: Rothwell Simon , Lamb Janine A. , Chinoy Hector
Published: July 2016

Purpose of review

This article reviews the advances that have been made in our understanding of the genetics of the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) in the past 2 years, with a particular focus on polymyositis, dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis.

Recent findings

Two large human leukocyte antigen (HLA) imputation studies have confirmed a strong association with the 8.1 ancestral haplotype in clinical subgroups of myositis and suggest multiple independent associations on this haplotype. Risk in these genes may be due to specific amino acid positions within the peptide-binding grooves of HLA molecules. A large genetic study in 2566 IIM patients revealed associations such as PTPN22, STAT4, UBE2L3 and BLK, which overlap with risk variants reported in other seropositive autoimmune diseases. There is also evidence of different genetic architectures in clinical subgroups of IIM. Candidate gene studies in the Japanese and Chinese populations have replicated previous IIM associations which suggest common aetiology between ethnicities.

International collaborations have facilitated large genetic studies in IIM that have revealed much about the genetics of this rare complex disease both within the HLA region and genome-wide. Future approaches, such as sequencing and trans-ethnic meta-analyses, will advance our knowledge of IIM genetics.
High-dose Cyclophosphamide is Effective Therapy for Pediatric Severe Aplastic Anemia
Authors: Gamper Christopher J. , Takemoto Clifford M. , Chen Allen R. , Symons Heather J. , Loeb David M. , Casella James F. , Dezern Amy E. , King Karen E. , McGonigle Andrea M. , Jones Richard J. , Brodsky Robert A.
Published: July 2016

Objective:

Use of high-dose cyclophosphamide without hematopoietic stem cell transplant to treat severe aplastic anemia (SAA) has been controversial due to concern for increased infectious toxicity as compared with antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporine A. As children often tolerate dose-intensive therapy better than adults, we sought to perform a detailed retrospective analysis of both treatment response and toxicity in 28 patients younger than 22 years of age treated with 29 courses of high-dose cyclophosphamide as the sole form of immunosuppression.

Study Design:

Children and adolescents with SAA who lacked an human leukocyte antigen–matched sibling donor were treated with cyclophosphamide 50 mg/kg/d for 4 consecutive days then received daily granulocyte colony stimulating factor until neutrophil recovery, transfusion support, and antimicrobial prophylaxis.

Results:

Overall survival was 85%, with hematologic response of 79% and complete response of 66%. Cumulative incidences of bacterial infection (86%) and fungal infection (62%) were high but deaths due to infection were rare, as were clonal evolution (1/28), clinically relevant paroxysmal nocturnal (1/28), and relapse (2/28).

Conclusions:

Response rates and survival following high-dose cyclophosphamide in pediatric patients with SAA exceed those seen in adults and compare favorably to antithymocyte globulin/cyclosporine A with manageable infectious toxicity.
New Health Canada Nutrition Recommendations for Infants Birth to 24 Months Address the Importance of Early Nutrition
Authors: Perreault Maude , Mikail Sandra , Atkinson Stephanie A.
Published: July 2016

Despite recognition that the first 1000 days from conception to 2 years of life is of critical importance to later health, specific guidelines for infant feeding do not commonly exist in many developed countries, and where they do, recommendations are not consistent across countries. In 2012 and 2014, Health Canada, in partnership with major Canadian child health societies, released an official joint statement to guide health professionals in feeding recommendations for infants targeted separately to birth to 6 months and to 6 to 24 months. Based on an extensive review of recent evidence and accepted practice, the recommendations provide guidance on breastfeeding, age of introduction and types of foods, food safety, family engagement in establishing healthy eating practices, responsive feeding, growth monitoring, as well as menu planning. Future directions should consider harmonization of infant feeding recommendations across countries and their incorporation into population-based dietary guidelines.
Herbs, Spices, and Flavorings
Authors: Grivetti Louis E.
Published: July 2016

Each plant has a story, one that reflects the distance traveled from its ancient geographical origins, from wild to domesticated forms and ultimately to culinary, cultural, medical, and social uses in the 21st century. Herbs and spices have taken these winding historical paths and the journeys reflect a myriad of uses by widely different cultures as they ultimately reach our kitchens, serving plates, and palates.
A common perceptual inference for cross-modally induced illusions of body schema
Authors: Zheng Zane Z. , Munhall Kevin G. , Johnsrude Ingrid S.
Published: July 2016

Body-schema, or the multimodal representation of one’s own body attributes, has been demonstrated previously to be malleable. In the rubber-hand illusion (Botvinick & Cohen, 1998), synchronous visual and tactile stimulation cause a fake hand to be perceived as one’s own. Similarly, if a stranger’s voice is heard synchronously with one’s own vocal production, that voice comes to be attributed to oneself (Zheng et al., 2011). Multimodal illusions like these involve distorting body schema based on correlated input, yet the degree to which different instances of distortion are perceived within the same individuals has never been examined. Here we show that participants embraced the ownership of a fake hand and a stranger’s voice to a similar degree, controlling both for individual suggestibility and for general susceptibility to illusion of body schema. Our findings suggest that the perceptual inference that leads to the distortion of body schema is a stable trait.
Effect of sampling media and culture conditions on dendritic cell generation: ion depleted plasma negatively influences the survival of monocyte-derived dendritic cells
Authors: Parackova Zuzana , Kayserova Jana , Sediva Anna
Published: July 2016

Autologous serum or plasma are often used as a supplementation in culture media for autoimmune disease studies. They contain many biologically and immunologically active molecules that might be involved in the development of these diseases. We examined the effect of different cultivating media supplemented with autologous serum and two types of plasma obtained from heparin and EDTA coated tubes on monocyte-derived dendritic cells viability. Our results show that medium with plasma from EDTA coated tubes is unsuitable for cultivation of myeloid cells due to the absence of bivalent ions and that the type of sampling tubes used for blood collection might be critical for successful experiment.
Genome-wide methylation data mirror ancestry information
Authors: Rahmani Elior , Shenhav Liat , Schweiger Regev , Yousefi Paul , Huen Karen , Eskenazi Brenda , Eng Celeste , Huntsman Scott , Hu Donglei , Galanter Joshua , Oh Sam , Waldenberger Melanie , Strauch Konstantin , Grallert Harald , Meitinger Thomas , Gieger Christian , Holland Nina , Burchard Esteban , Zaitlen Noah , Halperin Eran
Published: July 2016

Genetic data are known to harbor information about human demographics, and genotyping data are commonly used for capturing ancestry information by leveraging genome-wide differences between populations. In contrast, it is not clear to what extent population structure is captured by whole-genome DNA methylation data. We demonstrate, using three large cohort 450K methylation array data sets, that ancestry information signal is mirrored in genome-wide DNA methylation data, and that it can be further isolated more effectively by leveraging the correlation structure of CpGs with cis-located SNPs. Based on these insights, we propose a method, EPISTRUCTURE, for the inference of ancestry from methylation data, without the need for genotype data. EPISTRUCTURE can be used to infer ancestry information of individuals based on their methylation data in the absence of corresponding genetic data. Although genetic data are often collected in epigenetic studies of large cohorts, these are typically not made publicly available, making the application of EPISTRUCTURE especially useful for anyone working on public data. Implementation of EPISTRUCTURE is available in GLINT, our recently released toolset for DNA methylation analysis at:http://glint-epigenetics.readthedocs.io.
A foot in both camps: role identity and entrepreneurial orientation in professional service firms
Authors: Stewart Steven A. , Castrogiovanni Gary J. , Hudson Bryant Ashley
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– Professional service entrepreneurs (PSEs) paradoxically practice their profession in highly institutionalized contexts that require intense socialization, while also enacting another role as an entrepreneur. Activities consistent with entrepreneurship may be unnecessary for – and possibly contradictory with – activities consistent with professional roles. The purpose of this paper is to address the question of how two highly important role identities (professional and entrepreneurial) relate to entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in professional firms.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a survey methodology, the authors measure entrepreneurial and professional role identity importance, and PSE’s perceptions of firm-level EO, using a sample of 138 medical practitioners who own and operate their own small-to medium-sized professional practices. In this paper, the authors examine the associations of the importance of these identities, and the relative importance of one to another, with EO.

Findings

– The authors find that a PSE’s entrepreneurial role identity importance is positively related to the EO dimensions of risk taking and innovativeness, while professional role identity importance is negatively related to risk taking. Additionally, the authors find that the degree of relative importance (centrality) of an entrepreneurial role identity to a professional role identity is related positively to the EO dimensions of risk taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness.

Research limitations/implications

– This is a cross-sectional study. As such, the authors examine associations rather than a process. The sample is limited to professional medical practitioners in the USA who own and operate their own practices.

Originality/value

– This paper helps to better understand why some professional firms are more entrepreneurial than others. The findings suggest that, even in the conservative context of professional services, the PSEs entrepreneurial role centrality is consistent with the EO of the firm’s strategies.
Consumer generated brand extensions: definition and response strategies
Authors: Boon Edward , Grant Philip , Kietzmann Jan
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Sometimes consumers express their enthusiasm for a brand by creating brand extensions, products or services in new categories that are closely affiliated with the “parent” brand. This paper aims to examine the positive or negative impact that consumer-generated brand extensions (CGBEs) can have on brand image and revenue, and the options that companies have available to deal with them.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a case study of the collectible strategy card game – Magic: The Gathering – and discusses how the company responded to five different brand extensions that were created by players. This case study was used to develop a framework that allows managers to evaluate CGBEs based on their benefits and risks and to select an appropriate response.

Findings

Four possible responses were identified: challenge, criticize, commend and catalyze. Which of these responses is appropriate for companies depends on whether the CGBE has a positive or negative impact on the brand image and revenue and whether this impact is large enough to merit an active response.

Originality/value

This study shows that it is essential for managers to understand how to evaluate CGBEs. Managed properly, they can improve product usage, help generate new customers and have a positive impact on revenue and brand image. However, CGBEs can also have a negative effect, in particular if they are substitutes for the original product.
Immunosuppression, peripheral inflammation and invasive infection from endogenous gut microbiota activate retinal microglia in mouse models
Authors: Maneu Victoria , Noailles Agustina , Gómez‐Vicente Violeta , Carpena Nuria , Cuenca Nicolás , Gil M Luisa , Gozalbo Daniel
Published: July 2016

Although its actual role in the progression of degenerative processes is not fully known, the persistent activated state of retinal microglia and the concurrent secretion of inflammatory mediators may contribute to neuronal death and permanent vision loss. Our objective was to determine whether non‐ocular conditions (immunosuppression and peripheral inflammation) could lead to activation of retinal microglia. Mouse models of immunosuppression induced by cyclophosphamide and/or peripheral inflammation by chemically induced sublethal colitis in C57BL/6J mice were used. Retinal microglia morphology, spatial distribution and complexity, as well as MHCII and CD11b expression levels were determined by flow cytometry and confocal immunofluorescence analysis with anti‐CD11b, anti‐IBA1 and anti‐MHCIIRT1B antibodies. Retinas of mice with double treatment showed changes in microglial morphology, spatial distribution and expression levels of CD11b and MHCII. These effects were higher than those observed with any treatment separately. In addition, we also observed in these mice: (i) translocation of endogenous bacteria from gut to liver, and (ii) upregulation of TLR2 expression in retinal microglia. Using a mouse model of immunosuppression and gut colonization by Candida albicans, translocation of fungal cells was confirmed to occur in wild type and, to a higher extent, in TLR2 KO mice, which are more susceptible to fungal invasion; interestingly microglial changes were also higher in TLR2 KO mice. Hence, non‐ocular injuries (immunosuppression, peripheral inflammation and invasive infection from endogenous gut microbiota) can activate retinal microglia and therefore could affect the progression of neurodegenerative disorders and should be taken into account to improve therapeutic options.
Subcritical Water Induced Complexation of Soy Protein and Rutin: Improved Interfacial Properties and Emulsion Stability
Authors: Chen Xiao‐Wei , Wang Jin‐Mei , Yang Xiao‐Quan , Qi Jun‐Ru , Hou Jun‐Jie
Published: July 2016

Rutin is a common dietary flavonoid with important antioxidant and pharmacological activities. However, its application in the food industry is limited mainly because of its poor water solubility. The subcritical water (SW) treatment provides an efficient technique to solubilize and achieve the enrichment of rutin in soy protein isolate (SPI) by inducing their complexation. The physicochemical, interfacial, and emulsifying properties of the complex were investigated and compared to the mixtures. SW treatment had much enhanced rutin‐combined capacity of SPI than that of conventional method, ascribing to the well‐contacted for higher water solubility of rutin with stronger collision‐induced hydrophobic interactions. Compared to the mixtures of rutin with proteins, the complex exhibited an excellent surface activity and improved the physical and oxidative stability of its stabilized emulsions. This improving effect could be attributed to the targeted accumulation of rutin at the oil–water interface accompanied by the adsorption of SPI resulting in the thicker interfacial layer, as evidenced by higher interfacial protein and rutin concentrations. This study provides a novel strategy for the design and enrichment of nanovehicle providing water‐insoluble hydrophobic polyphenols for interfacial delivery in food emulsified systems.
Is there a difference between EQ‐5D and SF‐6D in the clinical setting? a comparative study on the quality of life measured by AIMS2‐SF, EQ‐5D and SF‐6D scales for osteoarthritis patients
Authors: Zhang Fang , Yang Yu , Huang Tao , Zhang Yiye , Zhao Li , Li Shuchuen
Published: July 2016

Background

The use of both generic and disease‐specific instruments in assessing quality of life (QoL) in subjects may pose a barrier in a busy clinical setting with heavy case load. Our current study attempted to evaluate the responsiveness of generic scales, EQ‐5D and SF‐6D, as compared with a disease‐specific instrument, AIM2‐SF, in patients with osteoarthritis, to judge which of the two generic instruments would be more suitable to be used alone in the clinical setting.

Methods

Correlation tests with Pearson correlation coefficient were carried out between EQ‐5D and SF‐6D scales, and AIMS2‐SF scale for both 100 first‐diagnosed osteoarthritis patients and 22 patients with two follow‐up interviews. Multivariate stepwise regression analysis was further performed on the impact of dimensions that affect the change of QoL.

Results

In the evaluation of QoL for 100 patients with osteoarthritis by the EQ‐5D scale, anxiety was the dimension with the highest sensitivity; while the SF‐6D scale had higher sensitivity on two dimensions of psychological health and role limitations. Therefore, SF‐6D would appear more suitable for evaluating QoL of arthritis patients at first presentation. For patients at follow‐up interviews, EQ‐5D scale maintained the highest sensitivity on anxiety and SF‐6D scale only had high sensitivity on the psychological health dimension. As such, the two scales would have equivalent effects for the patients at follow‐up interviews. In comparison, all the dimensions of SF‐6D showed significant correlation with practically every dimension of AIMS2‐SF. Hence, the overall results indicate SF‐6D may be more suitable for use in patients with clinical osteoarthritis.
Postoperative chylothorax after pulmonary wedge resection in two patients who underwent radical neck dissection: A case report
Authors: Seto Katsutoshi , Kuroda Hiroaki , Mizuno Tetsuya , Sakakura Noriaki , Sakao Yukinori
Published: July 2016

Postoperative chylothorax after wedge resection without mediastinal lymph node dissection is extremely rare. Herein, we report two cases: one case of postoperative chylothorax that developed after wedge resection and another of expanded collaterals detected during thoracoscopic surgery. We believe the cause of this complication to be the history of neck and pulmonary ligament dissections during pulmonary surgery.
Upregulation of cystathione β‐synthase and p70S6K/S6 in neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury
Authors: Lechpammer Mirna , Tran Yen P. , Wintermark Pia , Martínez‐Cerdeño Veronica , Krishnan Viswanathan V. , Ahmed Waseem , Berman Robert F. , Jensen Frances E. , Nudler Evgeny , Zagzag David
Published: July 2016

Encephalopathy of prematurity (EOP) is a complex form of cerebral injury that occurs in the setting of hypoxia‐ischemia (HI) in premature infants. Using a rat model of EOP, we investigated whether neonatal HI of the brain may alter the expression of cystathionine β‐synthase (CBS) and the components of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. We performed unilateral carotid ligation and induced HI (UCL/HI) in Long‐Evans rats at P6 and found increased CBS expression in white matter (i.e. corpus callosum, cingulum bundle and external capsule) as early as 24 h (P7) postprocedure. CBS remained elevated through P21, and, to a lesser extent, at P40. The mTOR downstream target 70 kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K and phospho‐p70S6K) and 40S ribosomal protein S6 (S6 and phospho‐S6) were also overexpressed at the same time points in the UCL/HI rats compared to healthy controls. Overexpression of mTOR components was not observed in rats treated with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus. Behavioral assays performed on young rats (postnatal day 35–37) following UCL/HI at P6 indicated impaired preference for social novelty, a behavior relevant to autism spectrum disorder, and hyperactivity. Everolimus restored behavioral patterns to those observed in healthy controls. A gait analysis has shown that motor deficits in the hind paws of UCL/HI rats were also significantly reduced by everolimus. Our results suggest that neonatal HI brain injury may inflict long‐term damage by upregulation of CBS and mTOR signaling. We propose this cascade as a possible new molecular target for EOP—a still untreatable cause of autism, hyperactivity and cerebral palsy.
Anti-microbial peptide gene expression during oral vaccination: analysis of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Simuyandi M , Kapulu M , Kelly P
Published: July 2016

We have observed previously that micronutrient supplementation ameliorated suppression of α-defensin expression during diarrhoea. However, how interactions between anti-microbial peptide (AMP) expression and diarrhoeal disease are altered by micronutrient supplementation remain unclear. Using oral vaccination as a model of intestinal infection, we measured changes in AMP expression during multiple micronutrient supplementation. In the first part, volunteers underwent duodenal jejunal biopsy before and at 1, 2, 4 or 7 days after administration of one of three live, attenuated oral vaccines against rotavirus, typhoid and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. In the second part, participants were randomized to receive a multiple micronutrient supplement or placebo for 6 weeks before undergoing intestinal biopsy, vaccination against typhoid and rebiopsy after 14 days. Expression of human alpha-defensin (HD)5, HD6, hBD1, hBD2 and LL-37 was measured by quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. Taken together, the bacterial vaccines, but not rotavirus vaccine, reduced HD5 expression (P = 0·02, signed-rank test) and reduced LL-37 expression in seven of the eight individuals whose biopsies had expression prevaccination (P = 0·03). hBD2 was not detected. In the controlled trial, HD5 and HD6 expression after vaccination was lower [median ratio 0·5, interquartile range (IQR) = 0·07–2·2 and 0·58, IQR = 0·13–2·3, respectively] than before vaccination. There was no significant effect detected of micronutrient supplementation on expression of HD5, HD6, hBD1 or LL-37. We conclude that live attenuated bacterial vaccines, but not rotavirus vaccine, can reduce intestinal α-defensins, and typhoid vaccine reduced LL-37 expression. We found no evidence that micronutrient supplementation in the short term had any impact on anti-microbial peptide expression.
Redefining Access: Embracing multimodality, memorability and shared experience in Museums
Authors: Eardley Alison F. , Mineiro Clara , Neves Joselia , Ride Peter
Published: July 2016

The authors discuss the principles of “access for all” in museums, both physical and intellectual access. They explore this question of multisensory processing in neurologically typical individuals, and case studies of two Portuguese museums that experimented with implementation of an “access for all” approach to the presentation of their permanent collections. The study was designed with three phases: addressing architectural barriers to access, preparation of accessible information about space and objects, and testing of alternative formats to convey this information to learn how to meet diverse needs in different ways. Set in the context of research on multisensory learning, this article discusses why an access for all principle is a majority issue as well as a moral and legal concept. It discusses two case studies where an “access for all” museological approach has been applied to access to the collections, with differing success. The discussion focuses on how an “access for all” approach could enhance learning, long‐term memorability and the ‘cultural value’ of a museum experience for all visitors.
Creating a Business Strategy Evaluation Model for National Museums Based on the Views of Curators
Authors: Tsai Pei‐Hsuan , Lin Chin‐Tsai
Published: July 2016

The aim of this study is to find the critical factors that influence Taiwan's national museum business performance based on its curators’ views. The study explored the causal relationships among the criteria that emerged in the study and of each sub‐criteria. Since developing a business strategy is a multiple‐criteria decision‐making (MCDM) problem, this study adopted the causal‐effect model of decision‐making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique. The DEMATEL technique simplifies and visualizes the interrelationships among decision‐making criteria. The study identified four core criteria – benefits, opportunity, costs, and risks, as key influencers in the national museum business performance. Each key criteria was supported by a set of sub‐criteria which, when considered together, produced an influential network relations map. The results of this study provided Taiwan's national museum curators with an idea‐based understanding of how to create business and marketing strategies that could enhance exhibition features, experience activities, and facilities that could be linked to satisfaction of visitors’ desires and offer a potentials strategy for assessing likelihood of return visits.
Adipophilin expression in lung adenocarcinoma is associated with apocrine‐like features and poor clinical prognosis: an immunohistochemical study of 328 cases
Authors: Fujimoto Masakazu , Yoshizawa Akihiko , Sumiyoshi Shinji , Sonobe Makoto , Menju Toshi , Hirata Masahiro , Momose Masanobu , Date Hiroshi , Haga Hironori
Published: July 2016

Aims

The lipogenic pathway is up‐regulated in proliferating cells. However, the clinical impact of neoplastic steatogenesis in lung cancer is unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of intracytoplasmic lipids with the clinicopathological features of lung adenocarcinoma (ADC), by immunohistochemical analysis of adipophilin (ADP), a coating protein found on intracytoplasmic lipid droplets.

Methods and results

Tissue microarrays consisting of 328 primary lung ADCs surgically resected at Kyoto University Hospital were immunostained for ADP. Subsequently, correlations between ADP expression and clinical, molecular and survival data were performed. Fifty‐one (15.5%) cases were ADP‐positive. The presence of vascular invasion (P = 0.003), predominantly solid histology (P < 0.001), poorly differentiated type (P < 0.001), wild‐type EGFR (P = 0.002), ALK fusion (P < 0.001), strong/diffuse mitochondrial staining (P < 0.001), a lack of surfactant protein B expression (P = 0.014) and a high Ki67 index (P < 0.001) were significantly correlated with ADP‐positive ADC. In contrast, there were no correlations between ADP‐positive ADC and sex, age, smoking history, tumour stage, thyroid transcription factor‐1 expression, or KRAS mutational status. ADP‐positive ADCs had apocrine‐like features (P < 0.001). Patients with ADP‐positive ADC had worse disease‐free and overall survival (P = 0.047 and P = 0.013, respectively) than those with ADP‐negative ADC.

Conclusions

ADP was expressed in a small proportion of lung ADCs. ADP‐positive lung ADC was significantly associated with apocrine‐like features, wild‐type EGFR, and poor prognosis, suggesting that ADP‐positive lung ADC could be a distinct subtype of lung adenocarcinoma, induced by up‐regulation of the lipogenic pathway.
Influence of Carbon Content on Ceramic Injection Molding of Reaction‐Bonded Silicon Carbide
Authors: Zhang Zhao , Zhang Yujun , Gong Hongyu , Guo Xue , Zhang Yubai , Wang Xianli , Yu Jincheng
Published: July 2016

Reaction‐bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) was prepared by ceramic injection molding (CIM) technique with feedstocks containing silicon carbide (SiC), a wax‐based organic system and different amounts of carbon black. As a critical effect of the reaction sintering process, carbon was introduced from the carbon black and the decomposition product of the organic polymers, respectively. This study described the influence of carbon content on the mixing and injection process firstly and then emphasized the debinding process since it played a large role in the process of the pyrolysis of organic. Results indicated that the preferable thermal debinding was performed in N2 and the optimal performance was obtained for RBSC with 7 wt.% of carbon black, with the density of 2.98 g/cm3, apparent porosity of 0.24%, bending strength of 301.59 MPa and fracture toughness of 4.18 MPa·m1/2.
Ultrashort pulse laser processing of silica at high repetition rates—from network change to residual strain
Authors: Zimmermann Felix , Lancry Matthieu , Plech Anton , Richter Sören , Ullsperger Tobias , Poumellec Bertrand , Tünnermann Andreas , Nolte Stefan
Published: July 2016

We report on the analysis of silica‐based glasses after processing with ultrashort laser pulses at high repetition rates. Heat accumulation leads to strong local heating of the glass. The subsequent quenching results in a fictive temperature rise that scales with the repetition rate. Consequently, the relative volume change leads to residual tensile strain within the modified volume of larger than 10−3, which is confirmed by wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS) measurements. Studying the surface topography after cleaving of laser‐modified regions allows for quantification of the corresponding elastic strain as well as the glass density behavior on the fictive temperature.
A comparison of health‐related quality of life in 5‐ and 10‐year‐old Swedish children with and without cleft lip and/or palate
Authors: Sundell Anna Lena , Törnhage Carl‐Johan , Marcusson Agneta
Published: July 2016

Background

The current understanding on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in young Swedish children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) is sparse, and therefore, research on impact of CL/P on HRQoL in children is needed.

Aims

To investigate HRQoL in 5‐ and 10‐year‐old Swedish children with CL/P in comparison with non‐cleft controls. Also to analyse whether there were any differences in HRQoL between children with cleft lip (with or without cleft palate, CL ± P) and cleft palate only (CP) and/or gender differences.

Design

A total of 137 children with CL/P and 305 non‐cleft controls participated. HRQoL was measured with KIDSCREEN‐52.

Results

All children in the study exhibited HRQoL within or above the age‐matched reference interval of the method with similar results in both groups; however, in the dimension ‘social support and peers’, the 10‐year‐old children with CL/P perceived lower HRQoL than the non‐cleft controls, but it did not reach statistical significance. Type of cleft or gender did not influence HRQoL.

Conclusions

Both 5‐ and 10‐year‐old Swedish children with CL/P had HRQoL in the normal reference interval. Their general life situations were well adjusted to their clefts, but the older children with CL/P felt more excluded and less supported by peers.
Ab initio Modeling of the Electronic Structures and Physical Properties of a‐Si1−xGexO2 Glass (x = 0 to 1)
Authors: Baral Khagendra , Adhikari Puja , Ching Wai‐Yim
Published: July 2016

The amorphous silica (a‐SiO2) and germania (a‐GeO2) have a wide range of applications in glass industry. Based on a previously constructed near‐perfect continuous random network model with 1296 atoms and periodic boundary conditions, we extend our study to amorphous Si1−xGexO2 models of homogeneous random substitution of Si by Ge with x ranging from 0 to 1. We have calculated the structural, electronic, mechanical, and optical properties for the series by using the first‐principles density functional theory methods. The x‐dependence of the variations in the properties is analyzed and critically compared with available experimental data. The mass density, volume, total bond order density, bulk mechanical properties, and refractive index are found to vary linearly as a function of x. For x = 0.5, we have also constructed six different kinds of particle immersion models to test the effect of inclusion of spherical particles of one glass of different sizes in the medium of the other glass on their physical properties. It is shown that particle sizes do affect the properties of particle immersion. Our calculations provide deep insight on the properties of mixture and nanocomposites of a‐SiO2 and a‐GeO2 glasses.