bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kikio
Authors: Faccioni Flávio , Souza Claudete Cameschi de
Published: December 2019

O objetivo desse texto é problematizar as representações de índio no livro “Kikio”, de Geraldo Espíndola, pelo viés discurso e a partir da arqueogenealogia de Foucault (2008). Em busca do objetivo proposto, empreende-se um gesto analítico interpretativo do texto escrito, da ilustração e da editoração, nas quais essas linguagens dialogam. Os resultados apontam para formações discursivas, interdiscursos e memória de um arquivo colonial que habita o imaginário da sociedade envolvente a respeito do indígena.
O "Caindumbo"
Authors: França Luiz Fernando de
Published: December 2019

Neste artigo analiso a formalização das relações de trabalho e do racismo em um livro de contos da chamada “literatura colonial” publicado em 1956: Brancos e negros, de Guilhermina de Azeredo. O objetivo é demonstrar que, ancorada no programa do colonizador, a obra formaliza relações hierarquizadas de trabalho, nas quais o colono branco – o “Caindumbo” – é superiorizado e o trabalhador negro, invisibilizado e subalternizado.
Entrevista com Cidinha da Silva
Authors: Bento Oluwa-Seyi Salles
Published: December 2019

Entrevista realizada com a escritora Cidinha da Silva, por email, em 16 de julho de 2019, em São Paulo.
Experiências transversais
Authors: Rocha Lara Santos
Published: December 2019

Vivências da graduação, da militância pela educação de qualidade, da pós-graduação  e da sala de aula.
Bredia malipoensis (Melastomataceae), a new species from Yunnan, China

Authors: WEN ZHEN-YING , ZENG SI-JIN , FAN WAN-LIN , ZHANG GUO-QIANG , PENG DONG-HUI
Published: December 2019

A new species, Bredia malipoensis D. H. Peng, S. Jin Zeng & Z. Y. Wen, from China, is described and illustrated here. Bredia malipoensis is morphologically similar to B. longiradiosa C. Chen in having cordate leaf blades, umbellate inflorescence and undulate petals with unguiculate bases and retuse apices. It is characterized by its terete stem and petioles, green calyx lobes, purple anthers, yellow connective appendages and white filaments. It is also morphologically similar to B. velutina Diels in having a woody stem, unequal and cordate leaf blades, but it is differentiated by having no reddish trichomes, larger and semiorbicular calyx lobes, and unguiculate petal bases. Bredia malipoensis differs markedly from the former relatives by its densely tomentose indumentum (with uniseriate non-glandular and sparse glandular trichomes) both on vegetative and floral parts, basal leaf venation and purplish-red petals. Our phylogenetic analyses using nuclear ribosomal ITS and chloroplast trnV-trnM regions strongly support the generic placement of B. malipoensis and its relatives B. longiradiosa and B. velutina within Bredia.
High performance epoxy nanocomposites with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties by incorporating amine-terminated oligoimide-grafted graphene oxide
Authors: Khan Muhammad Inshad , Siddiqi Humaira Masood , Park Chan Ho , Han Junghun , Park Hyeonjung , Kim Bumjoon , Hassan Muhmood ul , Akhter Toheed
Published: December 2019

In this work, thermal conductivity and mechanical strength of a commercial epoxy resin were improved by incorporating an amine-terminated oligoimide modified graphene oxide (ATO-GO). For this purpose, the surface of GO was modified with flexible/stable imide backbone and amine terminals. The ATO-GO was incorporated in epoxy proportion to prepare series of nanocomposites. The terminal amino group of ATO-GO also acted as curing moiety for epoxy resin leading to good interfacial compatibility and dispersion in the epoxy matrix resulting in improved properties. The epoxy resin was cured with hardener Aradur-22962 and ATO-GO separately and the results of curing behavior were compared with each other, which clearly showed the curing action of ATO-GO. In the prepared ATO-GO-epoxy nanocomposites, the filler enhanced the thermal conductivity, hardness and elastic modulus without decrease in thermal stability even at higher filler loading. In previous studies, it is reported that at higher GO, filler-loading properties like elastic modulus, hardness values, and glass transition temperature ( T g) were decreased. An enhancement of 59.5% in thermal conductivity was achieved for 5 wt% loading of ATO-GO filler as compared to neat epoxy. Along with this, thermal analysis revealed that the nanocomposites with 5 wt% filler loading have high T g and thermal strength. Nanoindentation results revealed that elastic modulus and hardness values enhanced by 104% and 147%, respectively, for the same nanocomposites. The enhanced thermal conductivity and good elastic behavior of the ATO-GO-epoxy nanocomposites demonstrated that these can be used as high-performance materials in electronic packing and electronic devices.
The use of generic avoidant coping scales for psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability: A systematic review
Authors: Livneh Hanoch
Published: December 2019

This systematic review examined the validity of generic coping-with-stress measures in the relationships between avoidance-type coping and psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability. Major data bases were searched for studies on the association between avoidance-type coping and psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability. Findings indicated that reliance upon avoidance-type coping is linked to reports of poorer psychosocial adaptation. The veracity of these findings must be treated cautiously owing to conceptual, structural, psychometric, and other issues. Users of generic coping measures should consider these concerns prior to empirically investigating the link between generic avoidance-type coping measures and psychosocial adaptation among people with chronic illness and disability.
Amplification and overexpression of E2 ubiquitin conjugase UBE2T promotes homologous recombination in multiple myeloma
Authors: Alagpulinsa David A. , Kumar Subodh , Talluri Srikanth , Nanjappa Purushothama , Buon Leutz , Chakraborty Chandraditya , Samur Mehmet K. , Szalat Raphael , Shammas Masood A. , Munshi Nikhil C.
Published: December 2019

Key Points

UBE2T is frequently amplified and/or overexpressed and is required for homologous recombination activity in multiple myeloma cells. UBE2T is a potential therapeutic target to increase chemosensitivity in multiple myeloma cells.
A Numerical Method for Extrication Characteristics of TBM Cutter-Head with the HVC
Authors: Gong Huasheng , Xie Haibo , Yang Huayong
Published: December 2019

Achieving highly efficient extrication of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) cutter-head driving system from the collapsed surrounding rock has become a key problem globally, and significant effort has been directed to improve TBM cutter-head extricating ability. In this study, the characteristics of a hydro-viscous device have been investigated to improve extricating performance of the TBM cutter-head. A numerical method based on an explicit pressure-linked equation is presented for computing the film parameters of the HVC, which is then applied to investigate extrication characteristics of a TBM cutter-head with a hydro-viscous clutch (HVC). The explicit pressure-linked equation is derived from the Navier–Stokes equations and the conservation equation, where boundary conditions are involved. The model of a cutter-head driving system with an HVC is established, and the extrication characteristics of the cutter-head driving system are analyzed and compared with three extrication strategies. The variation in extrication torque shows that the linear strategy or positive parabolic strategy are preferred for their relatively high extrication efficiency and low rigid impact, and the effects of throughflow rate on torque transmission are also investigated. The test rig of the TBM cutter-head driving system was set up to validate the numerical method and the model of a cutter-head driving system, and the feasibility of the proposed numerical method for researching the extrication of the TBM cutter-head is verified.
Hemoptysis from complex pulmonary aspergilloma treated by cavernostomy and thoracoplasty
Authors: Giang Nguyen Truong , Dung Le Tien , Hien Nguyen Thanh , Thiet Truong Thanh , Hiep Phan Sy , Vu Nguyen The , Pho Dinh Cong , Van Nam Nguyen , Hung Pham Ngoc
Published: December 2019

Background

In high-risk patients with complex pulmonary aspergilloma but unable for lung resection, cavernostomy and thoracoplasty could be performed. This study aimed to evaluate this surgery compared two compressing materials.

Methods

A total of 63 in high-risk patients who suffered from hemoptysis due to complex pulmonary aspergilloma and underwent cavernostomy and thoracoplasty surgery from November 2011 to September 2018 at Pham Ngoc Thach hospital were evaluated prospectively studied. Patients were allocated to two groups: the table tennis ball group and tissue expander group. We evaluated at the time of before operation, 6 months and 24 months after operation.

Results

Tuberculosis was the most common comorbidity diseases in both groups. Upper lobe occupied almost in location. Hemoptysis symptoms plunged from time to time. Statistically significant Karnofsky score was observed in both groups. Postoperative pulmonary functions (FVC and FEV1) have remained in both groups at all time points. The remarkable results were no deaths related to surgery and low complications both short and long-term. There was no statistical significance between two groups in operative time, blood loss during operation, ICU length-stay time. Four patients died because of co-morbidity in 24 months follow-up.

Conclusion

Cavernostomy and thoracoplasty was safe and effective surgery for the treatment of complex pulmonary aspergilloma with hemoptysis in high-risk patients. No mortality related to surgery and low complications were recorded. The was no inferiority when compared two compressing materials .
Combining entity co-occurrence with specialized word embeddings to measure entity relation in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Heo Go Eun , Xie Qing , Song Min , Lee Jeong-Hoon
Published: December 2019

Background

Extracting useful information from biomedical literature plays an important role in the development of modern medicine. In natural language processing, there have been rigorous attempts to find meaningful relationships between entities automatically by co-occurrence-based methods. It has been increasingly important to understand whether relationships exist, and if so how strong, between any two entities extracted from a large number of texts. One of the defining methods is to measure semantic similarity and relatedness between two entities.

Methods

We propose a hybrid ranking method that combines a co-occurrence approach considering both direct and indirect entity pair relationship with specialized word embeddings for measuring the relatedness of two entities.

Results

We evaluate the proposed ranking method comparatively with other well-known methods such as co-occurrence, Word2Vec, COALS (Correlated Occurrence Analog to Lexical Semantics), and random indexing by calculating top-ranked entities related to Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, we analyze gene, pathway, and gene–phenotype relationships. Overall, the proposed method tends to find more hidden relationships than the other methods.

Conclusion

Our proposed method is able to select more useful related entities that not only highly co-occur but also have more indirect relations for the target entity. In pathway analysis, our proposed method shows superior performance at identifying (functional) cross clustering and higher-level pathways. Our proposed method, resulting from phenotype analysis, has an advantage in identifying the common genotype relating to phenotypes from biological literature.
A study of deep learning methods for de-identification of clinical notes in cross-institute settings
Authors: Yang Xi , Lyu Tianchen , Li Qian , Lee Chih-Yin , Bian Jiang , Hogan William R. , Wu Yonghui
Published: December 2019

Background

De-identification is a critical technology to facilitate the use of unstructured clinical text while protecting patient privacy and confidentiality. The clinical natural language processing (NLP) community has invested great efforts in developing methods and corpora for de-identification of clinical notes. These annotated corpora are valuable resources for developing automated systems to de-identify clinical text at local hospitals. However, existing studies often utilized training and test data collected from the same institution. There are few studies to explore automated de-identification under cross-institute settings. The goal of this study is to examine deep learning-based de-identification methods at a cross-institute setting, identify the bottlenecks, and provide potential solutions.

Methods

We created a de-identification corpus using a total 500 clinical notes from the University of Florida (UF) Health, developed deep learning-based de-identification models using 2014 i2b2/UTHealth corpus, and evaluated the performance using UF corpus. We compared five different word embeddings trained from the general English text, clinical text, and biomedical literature, explored lexical and linguistic features, and compared two strategies to customize the deep learning models using UF notes and resources.

Results

Pre-trained word embeddings using a general English corpus achieved better performance than embeddings from de-identified clinical text and biomedical literature. The performance of deep learning models trained using only i2b2 corpus significantly dropped (strict and relax F1 scores dropped from 0.9547 and 0.9646 to 0.8568 and 0.8958) when applied to another corpus annotated at UF Health. Linguistic features could further improve the performance of de-identification in cross-institute settings. After customizing the models using UF notes and resource, the best model achieved the strict and relaxed F1 scores of 0.9288 and 0.9584, respectively.

Conclusions

It is necessary to customize de-identification models using local clinical text and other resources when applied in cross-institute settings. Fine-tuning is a potential solution to re-use pre-trained parameters and reduce the training time to customize deep learning-based de-identification models trained using clinical corpus from a different institution.
Age-related sex differences in the expression of important disease-linked mitochondrial proteins in mice
Authors: Moschinger Michael , Hilse Karolina E. , Rupprecht Anne , Zeitz Ute , Erben Reinhold G. , Rülicke Thomas , Pohl Elena E.
Published: December 2019

The prevalence and progression of many illnesses, such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and cancer, vary between women and men, often in an age-dependent manner. A joint hallmark of these diseases is some type of mitochondrial dysfunction. While several mitochondrial proteins are known to be regulated by sex hormones, the levels of those proteins have not been systematically analyzed with regard to sex and age, and studies that consider sex and/or age differences in the protein expression are very rare. In this study, we compared the expression patterns of physiologically important mitochondrial proteins in female and male C57BL/6N mice of age cohorts frequently used in experiments. We found that sex-related differences in the expression of uncoupling proteins 1 and 3 (UCP1 and UCP3) occur in an age-dependent manner. The sex-specific expression of UCP1 and UCP3 in brown adipose tissue (BAT) was inversely correlated with differences in body weight. Expression of UCP4 in the brain, Complex I in the spleen, and Complex II in the brain and BAT was least affected by the sex of the mouse. We further demonstrated that there are serious limitations in using VDAC1 and actin as markers in western blot analyses, due to their sex- and age-specific fluctuations. Our results confirm that sex and age are important parameters and should be taken into account by researchers who examine the mechanistic aspects of diseases.

Highlights

The levels of UCP1 and UCP3 protein expression differ between females and males in an age-dependent manner.

Pre-pubertal expression of almost all proteins tested in this study does not depend on the sex of the mouse.

Expression of VDAC1 and actin, which are often used as loading control proteins in western blot analysis, is tissue-specifically influenced by sex and age.
Effect of the luxI/R gene on AHL-signaling molecules and QS regulatory mechanism in Hafnia alvei H4
Authors: Li Xue , Zhang Gongliang , Zhu Yaolei , Bi Jingran , Hao Hongshun , Hou Hongman
Published: December 2019

Hafnia alvei H4 is a bacterium subject to regulation by a N-acyl-l-homoserine lactone (AHL)-mediated quorum sensing system and is closely related to the corruption of instant sea cucumber. Studying the effect of Hafnia alvei H4 quorum sensing regulatory genes on AHLs is necessary for the quality and preservation of instant sea cucumber. In this study, the draft genome of H. alvei H4, which comprises a single chromosome of 4,687,151 bp, was sequenced and analyzed and the types of AHLs were analyzed employing thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high resolution triple quadrupole liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Then the wild-type strain of H. alvei H4 and the luxI/R double mutant (ΔluxIR) were compared by transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq). The results indicate that the incomplete genome sequence revealed the presence of one quorum-sensing (QS) gene set, designated as lasI/expR. Three major AHLs, N-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL), N-butyryl-l-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL), and N-(3-oxo-octanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C8-HSL) were found, with C6-HSL being the most abundant. C6-HSL was not detected in the culture of the luxI mutant (ΔluxI) and higher levels of C4-HSL was found in the culture of the luxR mutant (ΔluxR), which suggested that the luxR gene may have a positive effect on C4-HSL production. It was also found that AHL and QS genes are closely related in the absence of luxIR double deletion. The results of this study can further elucidate at the genetic level that luxI and luxR genes are involved in the regulation of AHL.
International workshop on the future of community child healthcare
Authors: Grossman Zachi , Porter Boaz , Meyerovitch Joseph , Rubin Lisa , Kuint Jacob , Wechsler Efrat , Dushnitzky Doron , Ashkenazi Shai
Published: December 2019

Increasing numbers of children with developmental, emotional, and psychosocial issues require adaptation of the services provided by pediatricians in the community. An international workshop that took place in Israel on June 3–4, 2019, addressed this need. Local policy makers and international experts discussed the following topics: (1) the future of training in community pediatrics; (2) enhancing the prestige of the community pediatrician; (3) development of management and research skills; (4) academic advancement within community pediatrics; (5) the future content of community pediatric practice; (6) visit length and community pediatricians’ reimbursement; (7) developing the collaborative model of care in community pediatrics and (8) integrating child healthcare. The meeting provided a venue to understand the challenges and to formulate recommendations to policymakers. A key target highlighted was the increased exposure of all pediatric residents to community pediatrics. This gained the support of the Chief Executive Officers of all four Health Funds in Israel. This document provides a synopsis of the topics addressed and suggested recommendations.
Do wastewater treatment plants increase antibiotic resistant bacteria or genes in the environment? Protocol for a systematic review
Authors: Rodríguez-Molina Daloha , Mang Petra , Schmitt Heike , Chifiriuc Mariana Carmen , Radon Katja , Wengenroth Laura
Published: December 2019

Background

Antibiotic resistance is a global public health threat. Water from human activities is collected at wastewater treatment plants where processes often do not sufficiently neutralize antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes, which are further shed into the local environment. This protocol outlines the steps to conduct a systematic review based on the Population, Exposure, Comparator and Outcome (PECO) framework, aiming at answering the question “Are antimicrobial-resistant enterobacteriaceae and antimicrobial resistance genes present (O) in air and water samples (P) taken either near or downstream or downwind or down-gradient from wastewater treatment plants (E), as compared to air and water samples taken either further away or upstream or upwind or up-gradient from such wastewater treatment plant (C)?” Presence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and genes will be quantitatively measured by extracting their prevalence or concentration, depending on the reviewed study.

Methods

We will search PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane database and Web of Science for original articles published from 1 Jan 2000 to 3 Sep 2018 with language restriction. Articles will undergo a relevance and a design screening process. Data from eligible articles will be extracted by two independent reviewers. Further, we will perform a risk of bias assessment using a decision matrix. We will synthesize and present results in narrative and tabular form and will perform a meta-analysis if heterogeneity of results allows it.

Discussion

Antibiotic resistance in environmental samples around wastewater treatment plants may pose a risk of exposure to workers and nearby residents. Results from the systematic review outlined in this protocol will allow to estimate the extend of exposure, to inform policy making and help to design future studies.
Lithuanian forest biomass resources: legal, economic and ecological aspects of their use and potential
Authors: Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė Iveta , Lukminė Diana , Mizaras Stasys , Beniušienė Lina , Armolaitis Kęstutis
Published: December 2019

The development of bioenergy markets is beneficial from a climate perspective and helps ensure sustainable forest management both locally and globally. This study aimed to provide an overview of the current state of Lithuanian forest biomass resources with a particular focus on the legal, economic and ecological aspects of forest biomass use for energy and to identify the lessons that should be learned from the history of biomass introduction in the country’s energy sector. These experiences and lessons are valuable both nationally and internationally, where good practices and challenges for the introduction and development of forest biomass for energy production are revealed. We examined the question of whether regulatory drivers in the energy sector can increase forest biomass use for energy production and contribute to sustainable development of Lithuania. To answer this question, we described the legal and market instruments regulating forest biomass use for energy production, the forestry sector and renewable energy policy in Lithuania, the current and potential amount of forest biomass available for energy production and ecological considerations relating to forest biomass use for energy. In Lithuania, forest biomass resources are strategically important for the renewable energy sector. The National Energy Strategy of Lithuania aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources, including forest biomass, within the total energy consumption, with targets of 30% in 2020, 45% in 2030 and 80% in 2050. Lithuania successfully achieved the target of EU legislation on renewables in 2015 ahead of the obligation to achieve it in 2020. Renewable energy is mainly used in heating, as well as in the electricity and transport sectors. This has resulted in a significant price reduction for end users due to the increased use of biomass, mainly local forest biomass, for heat energy production and in the emergence of a biofuel exchange, which acts as a system of biomass auctions that to some extent prevent unjustified price increases. Legislation developed for the energy biomass market in Lithuania allows efficient restructuring of the energy sector, especially for heat production. The Lithuanian energy sector has already successfully replaced imported and relatively expensive natural gas with locally available cheaper renewable energy sources (RES). Compliance with formal environmental regulations is required to protect the soil, ground vegetation, understory and biodiversity during commercial tree harvesting. Lithuania has basic guidelines for the use of wood ash as a compensatory fertiliser, with strict requirements for the chemical quality of wood ash.
Targeting γ-secretase triggers the selective enrichment of oligomeric APP-CTFs in brain extracellular vesicles from Alzheimer cell and mouse models
Authors: Lauritzen Inger , Bécot Anaïs , Bourgeois Alexandre , Pardossi-Piquard Raphaëlle , Biferi Maria-Grazia , Barkats Martine , Checler Fréderic
Published: December 2019

Background

We recently demonstrated an endolysosomal accumulation of the β-secretase-derived APP C-terminal fragment (CTF) C99 in brains of Alzheimer disease (AD) mouse models. Moreover, we showed that the treatment with the γ-secretase inhibitor (D6) led to further increased endolysosomal APP-CTF levels, but also revealed extracellular APP-CTF-associated immunostaining. We here hypothesized that this latter staining could reflect extracellular vesicle (EV)-associated APP-CTFs and aimed to characterize these γ-secretase inhibitor-induced APP-CTFs.

Methods

EVs were purified from cell media or mouse brains from vehicle- or D6-treated C99 or APPswedishexpressing cells/mice and analyzed for APP-CTFs by immunoblot. Combined pharmacological, immunological and genetic approaches (presenilin invalidation and C99 dimerization mutants (GXXXG)) were used to characterize vesicle-containing APP-CTFs. Subcellular APP-CTF localization was determined by immunocytochemistry.

Results

Purified EVs from both AD cell or mouse models were enriched in APP-CTFs as compared to EVs from control cells/brains. Surprisingly, EVs from D6-treated cells not only displayed increased C99 and C99-derived C83 levels but also higher molecular weight (HMW) APP-CTF-immunoreactivities that were hardly detectable in whole cell extracts. Accordingly, the intracellular levels of HMW APP-CTFs were amplified by the exosomal inhibitor GW4869. By combined pharmacological, immunological and genetic approaches, we established that these HMW APP-CTFs correspond to oligomeric APP-CTFs composed of C99 and/or C83. Immunocytochemical analysis showed that monomers were localized mainly to thetrans-Golgi network, whereas oligomers were confined to endosomes and lysosomes, thus providing an anatomical support for the selective recovery of HMW APP-CTFs in EVs. The D6-induced APP-CTF oligomerization and subcellular mislocalization was indeed due to γ-secretase blockade, since it similarly occurred in presenilin-deficient fibroblasts. Further, our data proposed that besides favoring APP-CTF oligomerization by preventing C99 proteolysis, γ-secretase inhibiton also led to a defective SorLA-mediated retrograde transport of HMW APP-CTFs from endosomal compartments to the TGN.

Conclusions

This is the first study to demonstrate the presence of oligomeric APP-CTFs in AD mouse models, the levels of which are selectively enriched in endolysosomal compartments including exosomes and amplified by γ-secretase inhibition. Future studies should evaluate the putative contribution of these exosome-associated APP-CTFs in AD onset, progression and spreading.
Lactobacillus frumenti mediates energy production via fatty acid β-oxidation in the liver of early-weaned piglets
Authors: Wang Zhichang , Hu Jun , Zheng Wenyong , Yang Tao , Wang Xinkai , Xie Chunlin , Yan Xianghua
Published: December 2019

Background

Early-weaning of piglets is often accompanied by severe disorders, especially diarrhea. The gut microbiota and its metabolites play a critical role in the maintenance of the physiologic and metabolic homeostasis of the host. Our previous studies have demonstrated that oral administration of Lactobacillus frumenti improves epithelial barrier functions and confers diarrhea resistance in early-weaned piglets. However, the metabolic response to L. frumenti administration remains unclear. Then, we conducted simultaneous serum and hepatic metabolomic analyses in early-weaned piglets administered by L. frumenti or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).

Results

A total of 100 6-day-old crossbred piglets (Landrace × Yorkshire) were randomly divided into two groups and piglets received PBS (sterile, 2 mL) or L. frumenti (suspension in PBS, 108 CFU/mL, 2 mL) by oral administration once per day from 6 to 20 days of age. Piglets were weaned at 21 days of age. Serum and liver samples for metabolomic analyses were collected at 26 days of age. Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that L. frumenti altered metabolism in serum and liver. Numerous correlations (P < 0.05) were identified among the serum and liver metabolites that were affected by L. frumenti. Concentrations of guanosine monophosphate (GMP), inosine monophosphate (IMP), and uric acid were higher in serum of L. frumenti administration piglets. Pathway analysis indicated that L. frumenti regulated fatty acid and amino acid metabolism in serum and liver. Concentrations of fatty acid β-oxidation related metabolites in serum (such as 3-hydroxybutyrylcarnitine, C4-OH) and liver (such as acetylcarnitine) were increased after L. frumenti administration.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that L. frumenti regulates lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism in the liver of early-weaned piglets, where it promotes fatty acid β-oxidation and energy production. High serum concentrations of nucleotide intermediates, which may be an alternative strategy to reduce the incidence of diarrhea in early-weaned piglets, were further detected. These findings broaden our understanding of the relationships between the gut microbiota and nutrient metabolism in the early-weaned piglets.
Research on vector-borne diseases: implementation of research communication strategies
Authors: Scalway Thomas , Otmani del Barrio Mariam , Ramirez Bernadette
Published: December 2019

Background

Effective communication of research findings on vector-borne diseases in Africa is challenging for a number of reasons. Following the experiences of a number of researchers over the life of a project, this article looks for lessons that can be shared with the wider research community.

Main body

Between 2014 and 2017, a set of five inter-disciplinary teams from seven African countries collaborated on a project focusing on vector-borne diseases in the context of climate change. A central objective of this work was to influence policy and programming with relevant research findings. This article examines how principles of research communication, derived from the literature and current guidelines, can be applied in practice. Several challenges and lessons are highlighted, showing that research communication takes place within difficult constraints and in complex, fluid institutional and political environments. The processes of communication between policymakers and researchers including stakeholder mapping, defining research communication plans and tailoring communication products are discussed.

Conclusions

The article concludes that while guidelines and frameworks for research communication are helpful, they should not detract from the ability of local teams to adapt to circumstances. Of key importance are the relationships and networks of local research teams.
Water distribution in quartz schists of the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Belt, Japan: infrared spectroscopic mapping and comparison of the calibrations proposed for determining water contents
Authors: Fukuda Jun-ichi , Shimizu Ichiko
Published: December 2019

We evaluated water distributions in deformed quartz in schists along the Asemi River, Central Shikoku, in the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Belt, Japan, using infrared spectroscopic (IR) mapping. The water trapped in quartz as molecular H2O showed a broad IR absorption band at 2800–3750 cm−1. A necessary step before assessing the quartz water content was to evaluate and compare six previously proposed IR calibrations in terms of the molar absorption coefficients of H2O (L/mol H2O cm2). The coefficients vary from 24,100 to 89,000 L/mol H2O cm2, and the values of the coefficients show a rough increase with increasing component of structural –OH in the IR spectra. We used Paterson’s calibration, which does not require input regarding the mineral species, but which was modified in his paper for measurements of molecular H2O in quartz. The absorption coefficient is 38,000 L/mol H2O cm2. IR mapping was performed on Sanbagawa metamorphic rocks with increasing grades of metamorphism, where the mean grain size of quartz increases from ~ 40 to ~ 120 µm. The absorption bands that are only from the quartz can be distinguished on the basis of microstructural observations and the corresponding mapping results. The IR spectra of quartz commonly show dominant molecular H2O bands at 2800–3750 cm−1 with no additional bands associated with crystalline –OH when only quartz is measured. The water contents of quartz in all our samples were 40–310 ppm, and these values are about one-third of previously reported values measured using point analyses with the unified Paterson’s calibration. This difference seems to reflect the incorporation of phyllosilicates in previous measurements that showed a broad band around 3600 cm−1. The lowest and highest water contents in our quartz samples are associated with intragranular water and grain boundary water, respectively. We estimated the grain boundary widths to be at most ~ 10 nm on the basis of the water contents at grain boundaries.
Effect of data error correlations on trans-dimensional MT Bayesian inversions
Authors: Guo Rongwen , Liu Liming , Liu Jianxin , Sun Ya , Liu Rong
Published: December 2019

Real magnetotelluric (MT) data errors are commonly correlated, but MT inversions routinely neglect such correlations without an investigation on the impact of this simplification. This paper applies a hierarchical trans-dimensional (trans-D) Bayesian inversion to examine the effect of correlated MT data errors on the inversion for subsurface geoelectrical structures, and the model parameterization (the number of conductivity interfaces) is treated as an unknown. In the inversion considering error correlations, the data errors are parameterized by the first-order autoregressive (AR(1)) process, which is included as an unknown in the inversion. The data information itself determines the AR(1) parameter. The trans-D inversion applies the reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to sample the trans-D posterior probability density (PPD) for the model parameters, model parameterization and AR(1) parameters, accounting for the uncertainties of the model dimension and data error correlation in the uncertainty estimates of the conductivity profile. In the inversion ignoring the correlation, we neglect the correlation effect by turning off the AR(1) parameter. Then the correlation effect on the MT inversion can be examined upon comparing the posterior marginal conductivity profiles from the two inversions. Further investigation is then carried out for a synthetic case and a real MT data example. The results indicate that for strong correlation cases, neglecting error correlations can significantly affect the inversion results.
Factors affecting demand for modern contraceptives among currently married reproductive age women in rural Kebeles of Nunu Kumba district, Oromia, Ethiopia
Authors: Kebede Alemu , Abaya Sileshi G. , Merdassa Elias , Bekuma Tariku Tesfaye
Published: December 2019

Background

Family planning plays a key role in improving the health of the mother and the child. Yet there are still significant levels of demand for family planning that are unmet and these can lead to unintended pregnancy. So, women’s demand for contraceptive utilization to limit, space, or delay the number of family size can be increased by integrating family planning service at each service delivery points.

Objective

The main aim of this study was to assess the demand for modern contraceptive and associated factors among currently married women of the reproductive age group in rural kebeles of Nunu Kumba District, 2015.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from January 15–30, 2015 among 584 systematically selected currently married women of reproductive age in six rural kebeles of Nunu Kumba District. A pre-tested and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics were done to summarize the data. A multivariate logistic regressions analysis method was employed and odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to control for possible confounders. P-value < 0.05 was used to declare a significant association.

Results

The total demand for modern methods of contraceptive was 450 (77.1%) of which 325 (55.7%) of them were current user and 125 (21.4%) of them were had unmet need for modern contraceptive methods. Being in the younger age group (15–24 and 25–34 years [AOR = 0.196; 95% CI: 0.055, 0.692] and [AOR = 0.179, 95% CI: 0.043, 0.745] respectively, husband having no intention for more children [AOR = 4.124, 95% CI: 1.891, 8.996], number of children alive [AOR = 2.617, 95% CI: 1.056, 6.486], and couples ever not discussed on family planning [AOR = 0.340, 95% CI: 0.187, 0.619] were factors associated with demand for modern methods of contraception.

Conclusion

The total demand for modern methods of contraceptive was high in the study area except for long-acting and permanent methods with high unmet need for spacing than for limiting. Therefore, any program aimed at promoting family planning at the district level should look for ways and means of increasing demand for long-acting and permanent family planning methods and encouraging husband involvement to increase its utilization.
Transcranial electrical stimulation motor-evoked potentials in a spinal cord ischaemia rabbit model
Authors: Lu Yucheng , Lv Baotao , Song Qimin
Published: December 2019

Background

Spinal cord ischaemia animal models were established by selective ligation of the lumbar artery in a craniocaudal direction between the renal artery and the aortic bifurcation. Transcranial electrical stimulation motor-evoked potentials were measured to enable their use in future studies on spinal cord ischaemia protection.

Methods

Thirty-three New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into 6 groups. Transcranial electrical stimulation motor-evoked potentials were recorded before vascular ligation, 30 min after vascular ligation, and 2 days after vascular ligation. Motor functions were assessed after surgery and 2 days after vascular ligation. The specimens were taken 2 days after ligation for histopathologic observation.

Results

With increased numbers of ligations, a transient extension of the latency became clear, but there were no significant differences in the statistical analysis. Analysis of variance after ligation at the same time in each group and t tests before and after ligation (P > 0.05) were not significant. One or 2 ligations did not cause spinal cord ischaemic damage. There were no significant differences before and after ligation for the amplitude (P > 0.05). With increased numbers of ligations, the amplitude before and after ligation was gradually reduced in the 3–5 ligation groups (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Ligation of segmental spinal cord vessels on 1 or 2 levels did not cause ischaemic damage. Spinal cord ischaemia was observed after 3, 4, or 5 ligations. The amplitude was more sensitive to spinal cord ischaemia than latency. Spinal cord function can be predicted by early changes in the amplitude.
Plasma exchange for thrombotic microangiopathy secondary to dermatomyositis associated with acute kidney injury and complement activation: a case report with literature review
Authors: Hayashi Norifumi , Okada Keiichirou , Tsuruyama Yuko , Kagaya Yu , Kumano Sho , Ishikura Yuki , Takeda Kiminobu , Nanbu Masayuki , Fujimoto Keiji , Adachi Hiroki , Yokoyama Hitoshi
Published: December 2019

Background

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) in patients with connective tissue disease is rare but life-threatening. In particular, the survival rate of patients with dermatomyositis (DM) that develop TMA is low. The effectiveness of plasma exchange (PEX) therapy is unclear for the treatment of TMA secondary to DM.

Case presentation

We describe a case of a 28-year-old woman who developed severe DM complicated by aspiration pneumonia from dysphagia and acute kidney injury. The patient was unresponsive to corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy and developed TMA. In this case, immunofluorescence of skin biopsy revealed that complement activation was involved in the pathogenesis of DM. After 6 PEX therapies, thrombocytopenia improved. She was successfully treated by intensive care and PEX therapy.

Conclusions

PEX therapy was effective to treat TMA secondary to DM associated with complement activation.
Virulence factors and antibiotic resistance properties of the Staphylococcus epidermidis strains isolated from hospital infections in Ahvaz, Iran
Authors: Chabi Roya , Momtaz Hassan
Published: December 2019

Background

Resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis strains are considered to be one of the major causes of human clinical infections in hospitals. The present investigation was done to study the pattern of antibiotic resistance and the prevalence of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes amongst the S. epidermidis strains isolated from human hospital infections.

Methods

One hundred hospital infectious samples were collected and S. epidermidis strains were identified using culture and biochemical tests. Isolated strains were subjected to disk diffusion and PCR.

Results

Forty-six out of 100 hospital infectious samples (46%) were positive for S. epidermidis. S. epidermidis strains harbored the highest prevalence of resistance against penicillin (95.65%), tetracycline (91.30%), erythromycin (82.60%), cefazolin (78.26%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (73.91%). All S. epidermidis strains had resistance against at least three different types of antibiotics, while the prevalence of resistance against more than seven types of antibiotics was 17.39%. AacA-D (69.56%), tetK (56.52%), mecA (45.65%), msrA (39.13%), and tetM (39.13%) were most commonly detected antibiotic resistance genes. The prevalence of vatC (4.34%), ermA (8.69%), vatA (8.69%), vatB (13.04%), ermC (13.04%), and linA (10.86%) were lower than other detected antibiotic resistance genes. ClfA (32.60%), agrIII (17.39%), and etB (13.04%) were the most commonly detected virulence factors.

Conclusions

The presence of virulent and multi-drug resistance S. epidermidis strains showed an important public health issue in hospitals.
Effectiveness of Pentoxifylline in the treatment of oral submucous fibrosis patients: a case-control study
Authors: Bhambal Annette M. , Bhambal Ajay , Shukla U. S. , Dhingra Aashna
Published: December 2019

Background

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a potentially malignant disorder largely seen in the South-Asian countries where areca nut is found to be the main predisposing factor. Pentoxifylline, a methylxanthine derivative, has vasodilating properties and is believed to increase the vascularity of the mucosal layer. This study was designed to determine the effect of pentoxifylline (Trental) on the clinical progression of oral submucous fibrosis. Aim: The present study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of drug pentoxifylline in the management of OSMF and to correlate the clinical parameters evaluated before and after treatment.

Methods

Study Design: This investigation was conducted as a case-control study incorporating a Control Group in comparison to a Study Group where pentoxifylline 400 mg was administered 3 times daily, as coated, sustained-release tablets for prescribed for 3 months. The stipulated period for the study was 8 months and a total of 80 cases of oral submucous fibrosis (40 test subjects and 40 controls) were included in this study and 100% acquiescence was reported at the end of the test period.

Results

Mild dizziness and gastric irritation were the only untoward symptoms reported in 2 of the volunteers in the study group during this trial. These were managed by diet protocols. A review of the patients and controls was done at an interval of every 4 weeks for 3 months. The subjective and objective measurements were recorded. The follow-up data at each visit concerning each other and to base-line values were calibrated using nonparametric tests of the Chi-Square test and Mann-Whitney. Significant comparisons with regard to improvement were recorded as objective criteria of mouth opening (u value =1.137, p = 0.260), tongue protrusion (u value = 0.262, p = 0.794 and cheek flexibility (u value =0.990, p = 0.326). Subjective symptoms of burning sensation of mouth (U value = 2.673, p = 0.008), pain on opening the mouth (U value = 4.320, p < 0.0001), difficulty in swallowing and difficulty in the speech were also recorded.

Conclusion

This study showed the effectiveness of pentoxifylline as an additional therapy in the routine management of oral submucous fibrosis.
Recent advances in understanding of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): how genetics are shaping our conceptualization of this disorder
Authors: Zayats Tetyana , Neale Benjamin M
Published: December 2019

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a clinically defined disorder, and inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity are its main symptom domains. The presentation, lifelong continuation and treatment response of ADHD symptoms, however, is highly heterogeneous. To better define, diagnose, treat and prevent ADHD, it is essential that we understand the biological processes underlying all of these elements. In this review, given the high heritability of ADHD, we discuss how and why genetics can foster such progress. We examine what genetics have taught us so far with regard to ADHD definition, classification, clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment. Finally, we offer a prospect of what genetic studies on ADHD may bring in the future.
Honey Bee Optimization based Sink Mobility Aware Heterogeneous Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network
Authors: Luhach Ashish Kumar , Khamparia Aditya , Sihag Ravindra , Kumar Raj
Published: December 2019

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) has emerged as one of the most important technologies serving an array of solutions for critical applications such as defense, industrial monitoring and decision purposes. Data routing in WSN is effective or non-effective depending upon the energy saving for nodes while transferring data packets to the sink. Mainly WSN divided into two modes; heterogeneous and homogeneous. Heterogeneous network in WSN mainly focused on the cluster head selection. Sink mobility in the heterogeneous network has still many open research issues, it is observed that it makes the network more energy efficient. The optimization in the network leads to the stability of the network at a much higher level. In this paper, the sink mobility is optimized for WSN using Honey Bee Optimization (HBO) technique by considering the parameters such as energy and distance. The proposed protocol shows significant improvement in the stability period by 33 % by covering 2928 rounds and enhanced network lifetime by 1500 rounds in compared with 2033 and 14084 rounds for iMBEENISH protocol respectively.