bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Giant gastric ulcers: Malignancy yield and predictors from a 10‐year retrospective single centre cohort
Authors: Lord Richard , El-Feki Mohammed , Tomos Lea , Mohammed Noor , Subramanian Venkat , Rembacken Bjorn J
Published: April 2018

Background and study aims

Gastric cancer is known to reside in some gastric ulcers but what predicts this association is still unclear. Historically it has been thought that the increasing size of gastric ulcers may be a predictor for harbouring malignancy. Giant gastric ulcers are arbitrarily defined as ≥3 cm. The aim of this retrospective study was to examine patients with giant gastric ulcers within a single tertiary centre over a 10‐year period. Our primary outcomes included the malignancy yield in giant gastric ulcers and to determine if any demographic, clinical or endoscopic predictors for malignancy exist. Secondary outcomes included the 30‐day and 12‐month mortality.

Method

Patients with giant gastric ulcers ≥3 cm presenting from September 2005 to December 2015 were included in the study. Malignancy yield was obtained by looking at histology reports. Predictors for malignancy were tested using binary logistic regression, after demographic, clinical and endoscopic variables were tested using univariate analysis and for collinearity.

Results

A cohort of 111 patients was included for the final analysis. Forty‐two giant gastric ulcers were malignant, equating to a yield of 37.8% (95% CI 28.8–46.8). Binary logistic regression revealed predictors for malignancy included: ulcer location being within the fundus, cardia or incisura (odds ratio (OR) 4.417; 95% CI 1.10–17.76; P = 0.036); younger age of patient (OR 0.202; 95% CI 0.06–0.71; P = 0.013); and endoscopic ‘non‐suspicion’ (OR 0.138; 95% CI 0.049–0.39; P < 0.001). Patient's 12‐month mortality for giant gastric ulcer was 61.9% (26/42) for malignant and 21.9% (11/73) for benign histology.

Conclusion

We have shown a high malignancy yield of 37.8% (95% CI 28.8–46.8) and a 12‐month mortality of 61.9% for malignant giant gastric ulcers and 21.9% for benign giant gastric ulcers. Predictors for malignancy in patients with giant gastric ulcers include ulcer location, patient's age and endoscopist's ‘suspicion’ during endoscopy.
Make data sing: The automation of storytelling
Authors: Veel Kristin
Published: April 2018

With slogans such as ‘Tell the stories hidden in your data’ ( www.narrativescience.com ) and ‘From data to clear, insightful content – Wordsmith automatically generates narratives on a massive scale that sound like a person crafted each one’ ( www.automatedinsights.com ), a series of companies currently market themselves on the ability to turn data into stories through Natural Language Generation (NLG) techniques. The data interpretation and knowledge production process is here automated, while at the same time hailing narrativity as a fundamental human ability of meaning-making. Reading both the marketing rhetoric and the functionality of the automated narrative services through narrative theory allows for a contextualization of the rhetoric flourishing in Big Data discourse. Building upon case material obtained from companies such as Arria NLG, Automated Insights, Narrativa, Narrative Science, and Yseop, this article argues that what might be seen as a ‘re-turn’ of narrative as a form of knowledge production that can make sense of large data sets inscribes itself in – but also rearticulates – an ongoing debate about what narrative entails. Methodological considerations are thus raised on the one hand about the insights to be gained for critical data studies by turning to literary theory, and on the other hand about how automated technologies may inform our understanding of narrative as a faculty of human meaning-making.
Big–Thick Blending: A method for mixing analytical insights from big and thick data sources
Authors: Bornakke Tobias , Due Brian L
Published: April 2018

Recent works have suggested an analytical complementarity in mixing big and thick data sources. These works have, however, remained as programmatic suggestions, leaving us with limited methodological inputs on how to archive such complementary integration. This article responds to this limitation by proposing a method for ‘blending’ big and thick analytical insights. The paper first develops a methodological framework based on the cognitivist linguistics terminology of ‘blending’. Two cases are then explored in which blended spaces are crafted from engaging big and thick analytical insights with each other. Through these examples, we learn how blending processes should be conducted as a rapid, iterative and collaborative effort with respect for individual expertise. Further, we demonstrate how the unique, but often overlooked, granularity of big data plays a key role in affording the blending with thick data. We conclude by suggesting four commonly appearing blending strategies that can be applied when relying upon big and thick data sources.
What we do and do not know about women and kidney diseases; questions unanswered and answers unquestioned: Reflection on World Kidney Day and International Woman’s Day
Authors: Piccoli Giorgina B , Alrukhaimi Mona , Liu Zhi-Hong , Zakharova Elena , Levin Adeera
Published: April 2018

Chronic kidney disease affects approximately 10% of the world’s adult population: it is within the top 20 causes of death worldwide, and its impact on patients and their families can be devastating. World Kidney Day and International Women’s Day in 2018 coincide, thus offering an opportunity to reflect on the importance of women’s health and specifically their kidney health, on the community, and the next generations, as well as to strive to be more curious about the unique aspects of kidney disease in women, so that we may apply those learnings more broadly. Girls and women, who make up approximately 50% of the world’s population, are important contributors to society and their families. Gender differences continue to exist around the world in access to education, medical care, and participation in clinical studies. Pregnancy is a unique state for women, offering an opportunity for diagnosis of kidney disease but also a state where acute and chronic kidney diseases may manifest, and which may impact future generations with respect to kidney health. There are various autoimmune and other conditions that are more likely to impact women with profound consequences for childbearing, and on the fetus. Women have different complications on dialysis than men and are more likely to be donors than recipients of kidney transplants. In this editorial, we focus on what we do and do not know about women, kidney health, and kidney disease, and what we might learn in the future to improve outcomes worldwide.
Linking neuronal lineage and wiring specificity
Authors: Li Hongjie , Shuster S. Andrew , Li Jiefu , Luo Liqun
Published: April 2018

Brain function requires precise neural circuit assembly during development. Establishing a functional circuit involves multiple coordinated steps ranging from neural cell fate specification to proper matching between pre- and post-synaptic partners. How neuronal lineage and birth timing influence wiring specificity remains an open question. Recent findings suggest that the relationships between lineage, birth timing, and wiring specificity vary in different neuronal circuits. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of the cellular, molecular, and developmental mechanisms linking neuronal lineage and birth timing to wiring specificity in a few specific systems in Drosophila and mice, and review different methods employed to explore these mechanisms.
Application of click chemistry in nanoparticle modification and its targeted delivery
Authors: Yi Gawon , Son Jihwan , Yoo Jihye , Park Changhee , Koo Heebeom
Published: April 2018

Background

Click chemistry is termed as a group of chemical reactions with favorable reaction rate and orthogonality. Recently, click chemistry is paving the way for novel innovations in biomedical science, and nanoparticle research is a representative example where click chemistry showed its promising potential. Challenging trials with nanoparticles has been reported based on click chemistry including copper-catalyzed cycloaddition, strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition, and inverse-demand Diels-Alder reaction.

Main body

Herein, we provide an update on recent application of click chemistry in nanoparticle research, particularly nanoparticle modification and its targeted delivery. In nanoparticle modification, click chemistry has been generally used to modify biological ligands after synthesizing nanoparticles without changing the function of nanoparticles. Also, click chemistry in vivo can enhance targeting ability of nanoparticles to disease site.

Conclusion

These applications in nanoparticle research were hard or impossible in case of traditional chemical reactions and demonstrating the great utility of click chemistry.
Robust interaction of IFT70 with IFT52–IFT88 in the IFT-B complex is required for ciliogenesis
Authors: Takei Ryota , Katoh Yohei , Nakayama Kazuhisa
Published: April 2018

In the intraflagellar transport (IFT) machinery, the IFT-B and IFT-A complexes mediate anterograde and retrograde ciliary protein trafficking, respectively. Among the 16 subunits of the IFT-B complex, several subunits are essential for ciliogenesis, whereas others, which are associated peripherally with the complex, are dispensable for ciliogenesis but play a role in protein trafficking. IFT22-knockout (KO) cells established in this study demonstrated no defects in ciliogenesis or ciliary protein trafficking. In stark contrast, IFT70A and IFT70B double-knockout cells did not form cilia, even though IFT70 is associated peripherally with the IFT-B complex via the IFT52–IFT88 dimer, and other IFT-B subunits assembled at the ciliary base in the absence of IFT70. Exogenous expression of either IFT70A or IFT70B restored the ciliogenesis defect of IFT70-KO cells, indicating their redundant roles. IFT70 has 15 consecutive tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs) followed by a short helix (α36). Deletion of the first TPR or α36 of IFT70A greatly reduced its ability to interact with the IFT52–IFT88 dimer. Exogenous expression of any of the IFT70A deletion mutants in IFT70-KO cells could not restore ciliogenesis. These results show that IFT70 plays an essential role in ciliogenesis, although it is dispensable for assembly of the residual IFT-B subunits.
Radical Metalloids with N-Heterocyclic Carbene and Phenanthroline Ligands: Synthesis, Properties, and Cross-Coupling Reaction of [(Nitronyl Nitroxide)-2-ido]metal Complexes with Aryl Halides
Authors: Yamada Kiyomi , Zhang Xun , Tanimoto Ryu , Suzuki Shuichi , Kozaki Masatoshi , Tanaka Rika , Okada Keiji
Published: April 2018

New radical metalloids, NN-AuSIMes and NN-Cu(bdmpphen), were prepared and their properties were investigated. They were applied to Pd(0)-mediated cross-coupling reactions with aryl halides (ArX) to produce 2-aryl (nitronyl nitroxide)s in moderate to high yields.
Synthesis of Substituted Helicenes by Ir-Catalyzed Annulative Coupling of Biarylcarboxylic Acid Chlorides with Alkynes
Authors: Kamikawa Ken , Den Hiroakira , Tsurusaki Akihiro , Nagata Tomoya , Miura Masahiro
Published: April 2018

A series of substituted [4] and [5]helicenes were synthesized in moderate to good yields by an Ir-catalyzed annulative coupling of biarylcarboxylic acid chlorides with internal alkynes, which involves facile C-H bond cleavage and decarbonylation. The double annulative coupling of 1,1′:5′,1′′-ternaphthalene-2,2′′-dicarboxylic acid dichloride with 4-octyne was also accomplished to give rise to an S-shaped double helicene. Unexpectedly, a π-extended benzofluoranthene-merged [5]helicene was constructed through the annulative coupling and the successive C(aryl)-C(aryl) bond forming reaction when 1,1′:4′,1′′-ternaphthalene-2,2′′-dicarboxylic acid dichloride was employed as the substrate. The crystal structure and the optical properties of the latter unique product were also investigated.
Die Gesellschaft der Nachhaltigkeit
Authors: Neckel Sighard , Besedovsky Natalia , Boddenberg Moritz , Hasenfratz Martina , Pritz Sarah Miriam , Wiegand Timo
Published: April 2018

Nachhaltigkeit ist zu einem Leitbegriff des gesellschaftlichen Wandels geworden, mit dem sich unterschiedliche Zielvorstellungen verbinden - sei es ein grüner Kapitalismus, der auf ökologischer Modernisierung beruht, oder eine sozial-ökologische Transformation, die eine postkapitalistische Ära einläuten könnte. In dieser Programmschrift von Sighard Neckel und seinem Hamburger Forschungsteam werden die gesellschaftlichen Dimensionen von Nachhaltigkeit aufgezeigt, aber auch die Paradoxien, die mit einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung im globalen Kapitalismus verbunden sind. Grundlegende soziologische Perspektiven auf Nachhaltigkeit sind ebenso Thema wie Ausblicke in konkrete Felder einer kritisch-reflexiven Sozialforschung zu den gesellschaftlichen Konflikten um Nachhaltigkeit.
When Celebrities Count: Power Distance Beliefs and Celebrity Endorsements
Authors: Winterich Karen Page , Gangwar Manish , Grewal Rajdeep
Published: April 2018

The use of celebrity endorsements varies across countries; does their effectiveness similarly vary across cultures? The authors propose that power distance beliefs (PDB), a cultural orientation related to the extent to which people expect and accept differences in power, moderate the effects of celebrity endorsements. A positive effect of celebrity endorsers on evaluations of advertising should be more potent with greater PDB; source expertise and trustworthiness likely underlie this effect. To test the hypotheses, the authors use moderated mediation analyses, with corrections for measurement error and endogeneity of the mediators (source expertise and trustworthiness). The results of three studies, using both manipulated and measured PDB for respondents in different countries and with a variety of endorsers, demonstrate that PDB determine the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements on attitudes toward the advertisement and the brand. In support of the moderated mediation model, perceptions of source expertise and trust mediate the effect of celebrity endorsements, conditional on PDB. The results hold for nondurables but do not generalize to durable products.
Negotiating Ethnic Difference in RestorationTravel Fiction
Authors: Bayer Gerd
Published: April 2018

Following the skeptical attitude towards foreign nations and culturesduring the Renaissance, travel fictions during the English Restoration took amore liberal approach to ethnic difference. The anonymous novel Peppa (1689)artfully presents Western stereotypes about ethnic others as being based on falseassumptions and outright lies. A crucial scene in this cross-national love plot isbased on ethnic fakery, thereby presenting to its readers the constructedness ofnational and cultural identities. A second text example discusses John Dunton’sA Voyage round the World (1691), arguing that through its unusual form and theresulting openness it reveals the relativity of all cultural norms and nationalstereotypes. By presenting domestic scenes through the prism of colonialistderision, Dunton turns the tables on English nationalist discourse. Both textsthus invite their readers to confront national, ethnic, and cultural differencemore open-mindedly and be aware of the power of language and discourse toinfluence public opinion.
Euripides’ Medea und die stoischeAffektenlehre
Authors: Lindemann Anna
Published: April 2018

How does philosophy interact with literature? The reception of Medea’scentral monologue (lines 1019–1080) in Euripides’ homonymously titled tragedyshows how literature can generate philosophical conceptions. Medea, amythological and literary character, murders her own children in order to getback at her husband and rebuild her status and her notion of justice. Hercharacter and her actions have become different models for the opposed schoolsof platonic and orthodox stoic philosophers. A new historical reconstruction oflost stoic interpretations of Euripides’ tragedy, based on philosophical discussionsof the play and stoic theories of mind and action, allows us a new understandingof the debate, of the distinctions between platonic and stoic theories ofmind, and of the role that literature can play in developing philosophicaltheories.
Mario Domenichelli’s Lugemalé: Heart ofDarknesss revisited in Post-colonial Italy
Authors: Manai Franco
Published: April 2018

Mario Domenichelli’s novel Lugemalé is set in the late 1980s and early2000s, between Rome and Somalia. The book follows the narrator,Valerio, as hereads, in the early 2000s in Rome, the typescript of a novel written by a friend,Tomas, before his mysterious death in Mogadishu. Tomas’ novel describes theevents which took place in 1989 at the end of the Siad Barre regime, when Italywas still committed to fulfilling its responsibilities as an ex-colonial power,through major projects of cooperative development. Both Valerio and Tomas wereemployed by the Italian government’s Development Cooperation Agency as lecturersat the University of Mogadishu. In his narration, Tomas merges his ownexperiences with Valerio’s, through the main characters of Gigi and Marco. In acomplex play of mirrors (a novel within a novel, a reading of a tale within the taleof a reading) that reveals the ambiguities and contradictions of both characters,Lugemalé is merciless in its judgment of the generation of Europeans whobecame the ruling class of the 1980s. Such a post-colonial adventure offers apowerfully alienating perspective for the representation, post res perditas, of the vanishing of that class’s commitment to changing the status quo and breakingwith a capitalist society based on the most depraved and egoistic consumerism.
The Grand Narrative Revisited;Contemporary Flemish Novelists Take Up theChallenge to Create Plots of the Flat World
Authors: van Rooden Aukje
Published: April 2018

Both in literature and philosophy it is assumed that the beginning ofpost-modernity coincides with the end of the so-called grand narrative. Referringto Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe’s last book L’“Allégorie”, one could claim that sincethen, literary (re)presentation manifests itself as essentially ‘chronic’ and nonallegorical.Moreover, in the wake of Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat thetwenty-first century is often referred to as an all-visible flat world. This flatness,however, both extends and challenges the postmodern end of the grand narrative.After all, a world without reverse might be particularly suitable for an allencompassingstory. This seems to be the conclusion drawn by the remarkableand comparable recent novels of three Flemish literary writers. Putting to the testexisting ideas of literary presentation of post-modernity, they return to the grandnarrative while at the same time subscribing to the main characteristics ofcontemporary literature.
Naturtherapie und Subjektreflexion: Der hohe Norden bei Judith Hermann und Anna Kim
Authors: Prutti Brigitte
Published: April 2018

The article discusses the neo-romantic vision of Iceland in Judith Hermann’s travel story „Kaltblau“ (2003) and the essayistic portrait of postcolonial Greenland in Anna Kim’s travelogue „Invasionen des Privaten“ (2011). It compares the postmodern version of the Icelandic sublime with the sublime experience of Greenland’s ice sheet and juxtaposes the therapeutic aspects of contemporary nature tourism in Hermann’s story with the critical focus on questions of cultural identity in Kim’s essay.
“Who are these people?”: Anthropomorphism, Dehumanization and the Question of the Other
Authors: Park Sowon S.
Published: April 2018

Discussions of the animal have repeatedly examined both our epistemological desire and our epistemological insufficiency towards the non-human animal. In different ways Spinoza, Derrida, Nagel and Berger have shown that once the anthropomorphic layer of assumption has been peeled back, there appears the abyss of incomprehension between humans and the non-human animals. Yet the ‘abyssal difference’ does not address the scale or the scope of existing knowledge; it only points to the elusive and ultimate epistemological certainty, obscuring important distinctions between degrees and kinds of interspecies communication. This paper will consider the ground that is too often overlooked in arguments that appeal to the anthropomorphic fallacy. While we cannot share another species’ experience, we can, to some extent understand it through processes of inductive inference – that is anthropomorphism – and through studying it, broaden and deepen the ontological significance of both humans and animals. By looking at the process of humanizing the non-human as a basic cognitive method, this paper will argue that anthropomorphic reasoning can not only bridge the ‘abyss’ in crucial ways but have a powerful impact on animal ethics. Then it will link anthropomorphic reasoning to the process of othering – dehumanizing the human – and make salient the processes that inform the discursive and political practices of speciesistic and cultural hierarchization. Finally, it will examine representations of anthropomorphism, dehumanization and the construction of otherness in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide (2005), a novel which is based on the Morichjhani massacre of 1978–79, when animal rights came into conflict with human rights.
Le futur antérieur de Ce qui reste
Authors: Wohlfarth Irving
Published: April 2018

Written in 1978–79 and published shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, Christa Wolf’s novella What remains records the interior monologue of a day in the life of a cautiously dissident writer under surveillance by the secret police. A latter-day Cassandra here asks herself what remains of the Communist project amidst its ongoing extinction. Subjected at the time to an ideologically motivated media campaign in West Germany, this report from a no man’s land – a No place. Nowhere – between East and West remains as valid under global capitalism as it was under Soviet communism. What remains is its search for political, existential and literary alternatives. Its botched reception ironically confirms W. H. Auden’s remark that we don’t read major literature: it “reads us”.
Die andere Enzyklopädie – Johann Fischarts Geschichtklitterung
Authors: Bulang Tobias
Published: April 2018

Johann Fischart’s parody of encyclopaedic literature was first published in his German translation of Rabelais’ „Gargantua“ as „Geschichtschrift“ (1575), in later editions as „Geschichtklitterung“ (1582, 1590). The German author provides an astonishing number of catalogues, among them an exuberant list of ‚lusoria‘ (names of games and entertainments), which is with more than six hundred entries significantly larger than Rabelais’ famous catalogue of two hundred seventeen games. Within their literary and epistemical contexts, these catalogues indicate the anti-encyclopaedic character of Fischart’s novel. In their poetical excesses, they show Fischart’s efforts to obscure and transgress the rules of knowledge and knowledge-organisation, thus exposing the other side of encyclopaedic order.
“The same blinding void as before”: Irish Neutrality in Samuel Beckett’s nouvelles
Authors: Fernández José Francisco
Published: April 2018

When the Second World War ended, Samuel Beckett returned to his flat in Paris and set about writing. The experiences that he had gone through during the conflict (his subversive activities with the Resistance, his two-year period of hiding in Roussillon, his first-hand knowledge of the human cost of war as a hospital attendant in Saint-Lô) found their tortuous expression in the literary production that ensued. The Irish government’s official status as neutral over the previous five years was also a matter of concern for the exiled intellectual in Paris, and his opinions on this matter can be gleaned from a close reading of his nouvelles, particularly “The Calmative,” a narrative in which the blinding lights of the city of Dublin stand out as a disturbing element that demands an interpretation.
The changing functions of competing forms: Attraction and differentiation
Authors: Smet Hendrik De , D’hoedt Frauke , Fonteyn Lauren , Goethem Kristel Van
Published: April 2018

The relation between functionally similar forms is often described in terms of competition. This leads to the expectation that over time only one form can survive (substitution) or each form must find its unique niche in functional space (differentiation). However, competition cannot easily explain what causes functional overlap or how form-function mappings will be reorganized. It is argued here that the changes which competing forms undergo are steered by various analogical forces. As a result of analogy, competing forms often show attraction, becoming functionally more (instead of less) alike. Attraction can maintain and increase functional overlap in language. At the same time, competing forms are analogically anchored to a broader constructional network. Cases of differentiation typically follow from the relations in that network. Evidence is drawn from the literature and from three corpus-based case studies, addressing attraction and differentiation in English aspectual constructions, English secondary predicate constructions, and in a pair of Dutch degree modifiers. Evidence is provided of a phenomenon competition-based accounts could not predict (attraction), and a solution is offered for one they could not very well explain (differentiation). More generally it is shown that the development of competing forms must be understood against their broader grammatical context.
OnsetCyand High Vowel Devoicing in Japanese
Authors: Hirayama Manami , Vance Timothy J.
Published: April 2018

Japanese has contrasts between onsets romanized as singletons andCyclusters (e.g.,kaku‘rank’ vs.kyaku‘guest’). It is uncertain whetherCyshould be treated as a distinctively palatalized consonant /Cy/ or as a /Cy/ cluster; the phonetic realization is compatible with either. A distributional argument favoring the /Cy/ analysis is the neutralization of the contrast before front vowels:Ci, Ce, *Cyi, *Cye; the absence of */Cyi/ and */Cye/ follows automatically from */yi/ and */ye/. In this paper, high vowel devoicing is used as a diagnostic to investigate this phonemicization issue. A production experiment was conducted, comparing the rates of vowel devoicing in words containingCu/iCandCyuCsequences (e.g.,maputavs.mapyuta). The devoicing rate was significantly lower inCyuCthan inCu/iC. This supports the cluster analysis /Cy/ (with the /y/ inhibiting devoicing) over the singleton analysis /Cy/ for the onset palatalized consonants of Japanese.
How native speakers of Japanese try to sound polite
Authors: Tsurutani Chiharu , Shi Shuju
Published: April 2018

This study examines phonetic cues used to express politeness in spoken Japanese. The tasks of producing polite and non-polite speech in two different types of sentences (a question and a polite imperative) and in attitudinal speech (a request and a decline) were used to examine various F0 and temporal aspects of polite speech. Eight sentences spoken by 18 native speakers were acoustically measured at both sentence level and sentence final mora level. It was found that Japanese native speakers generally use a slower speech rate and a breathy voice for polite speech, but not necessarily a high pitched voice or wider pitch range, even in the case of female speakers. The use of pitch was found to be attitude dependent, but was not affected by the sentence type. Clear gender differences were seen in various phonetic aspects. Some politeness strategies observed at individual level are also reported.
The crystal structure of 2-carboxybenzaldehyde-2-phenylacetohydrazone, C16H14N2O3
Authors: Peng-Fei Li , Chang-Qing Cao , Xi-Shi Tai
Published: April 2018

C16H14N2O3, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 7.7698(16) Å, b = 8.3020(17) Å, c = 12.197(2) Å, α = 92.94(3)°, β = 107.03(3)°, γ = 110.41(3)°, V = 694.6(3) Å3, Z = 2, R
gt(F) = 0.0582, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.1683, T = 293(2) K.
Synthesis and ionic conductivity of siloxane based polymer electrolytes with pendant propyl acetoacetate groups
Authors: Mukbaniani Omari , Brostow Witold , Aneli Jimsher , Tatrishvili Tamara , Markarashvili Eliza , Chigvinadze Maia , Esartia Izabela
Published: April 2018

Hydrosilylation reaction of 2.4.6.8-tetrahydro-2.4.6.8-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4
H) with allyl acetoacetate at 1:4.1 molar ratios of initial compounds in the presence of platinum hydrochloric acid (0.1 M solution in THF), Karstedt’s catalyst (Pt2[(VinSiMe2)2O]3) and platinum on the carbon have been carried out and D4
R type compounds obtained. Reaction order, rate constants and activation energies for hydrosilylation reactions in the presence of Karstedt’s catalyst have been determined. Ring-opening polymerization reaction of D4
R in the presence of catalytic amounts of powder-like potassium hydroxide has been carried out. A linear methylsiloxane oligomer with regular arrangement of propyl acetoacetate groups in the side chain has been obtained. The synthesized methylorganocyclotetrasiloxane and oligomers were studied by FTIR, 1H, 13C and 29Si NMR spectroscopy. Comb-type oligomers were characterized by gel-permeation chromatography, wide-angle X-ray diffractometry and differential scanning calorimetry. Solid oligomer electrolyte membranes have been obtained via sol–gel processes involving lithium trifluoromethylsulfonate (triflate) or lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide. The specific volumetric electrical conductivity of the membranes at room temperature covers a wide range, from 10−10 to 10−4 S · cm−1, and depends on the structures of grafted anion receptors and the polymer backbones. Higher values of the specific conductivity are seen for the membranes containing triflate.
Wireless peripheral nerve stimulation for complex regional pain syndrome type I of the upper extremity: a case illustration introducing a novel technology
Authors: Herschkowitz Daniel , Kubias Jana
Published: April 2018

Background

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a debilitating painful disorder, cryptic in its pathophysiology and refractory condition with limited therapeutic options. Type I CRPS with its variable relationship to trauma has often no discernible fractures or nerve injuries and remains enigmatic in its response to conservative treatment as well as the other limited interventional therapies. Neuromodulation in the form of spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion stimulation (SCS, DRGS) has shown encouraging results, especially of causalgia or CRPS I of lower extremities. Upper extremity CRPS I is far more difficult.

Objective

To report a case of upper extremity CRPS I treated by wireless peripheral nerve stimulation (WPNS) for its unique features and minimally invasive technique. The system does not involve implantation of battery or its connections.

Case report

A 47 year old female patient presented with refractory CRPS I following a blunt trauma to her right forearm. As interventional treatment in the form of local anesthetics (Anesthesia of peripheral branches of radial nerve) and combined infusions of ketamine/lidocaine failed to provide any significant relief she opted for WPNS treatment. Based on the topographic distribution, two electrodes (Stimwave Leads: FR4A-RCV-A0 with tines, Generation 1 and FR4A-RCV-B0 with tines, Generation 1), were placed along the course of radial and median nerves under ultrasonography monitoring and guided by intraoperative stimulation. This procedure did not involve implantation of extension cables or the power source. At a frequency of 60 Hz and 300 μs the stimulation induced paresthesia along the distribution of the nerves. Therapeutic relief was observed with high frequency (HF) stimulation (HF 10 kHz/32 μs, 2.0 mA) reducing her pain from a visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 7–4 postoperatively. Three HF stimulations programs were provided at the time of discharge, as she improved in her sensory impairment to touch, pressure and temperature at her first follow up visit. At 5-months she was able to drive, did not require opioids and allodynia disappeared.

Conclusions

In a case with difficult CRPS I involving upper extremity, a minimally invasive WPNS of radial and median nerves provided good symptomatic relief. The procedure was tolerated well and both electrodes remained in place without any adverse events.

Implications

In view of the very limited options currently available to manage CRPS, WPNS can be a promising therapeutic modality.
Endophytic Bacillus spp. from medicinal plants inhibit mycelial growth of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and promote plant growth
Authors: Ansary Waheda Rahman , Prince Ferdous Rezwan Khan , Haque Effi , Sultana Farzana , West Helen M. , Rahman Mahbubur , Mondol Abdul Mojid , Akanda Abdul Mannan , Rahman Mahfuz , Clarke Michele L. , Islam Tofazzal
Published: April 2018

Plant growth-promoting bacteria that are also capable of suppressing plant pathogenic fungi play an important role in sustainable agriculture. There is a critical need for conducting research to discover, characterize and evaluate the efficacy of new strains of such bacteria in controlling highly aggressive plant pathogens. In this study, we isolated endophytic bacteria from medicinal plants of Bangladesh and evaluated their antagonistic capacity against an important phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Growth-promoting effects of those isolates on cucumber and rice seedlings were also assessed. Among 16 morphologically distinct isolates, BDR-2, BRtL-2 and BCL-1 significantly inhibited the growth of S. sclerotiorum through induction of characteristic morphological alterations in hyphae and reduction of mycelial dry weight. When cucumber and rice seeds were treated with these endophytic bacteria, seven isolates (BCL-1, BDL-1, BRtL-2, BRtL-3, BDR-1, BDR-2 and BBoS-1) enhanced seed germination, seedling vigor, seedling growth and number of roots per plant at a varying level compared to untreated controls. All isolates produced high levels of indole-3-acetic acid (6 to 63 μg/mL) in vitro. Two most potential isolates, BDR-2 and BRtL-2, were identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and B. subtilis, respectively, based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. These results suggest that endophytic Bacillus species from native medicinal plants have great potential for being used as natural plant growth promoter and biopesticides in sustainable crop production.
Rostrocaudal Areal Patterning of Human PSC-Derived Cortical Neurons by FGF8 Signaling
Authors: Imaizumi Kent , Fujimori Koki , Ishii Seiji , Otomo Asako , Hosoi Yasushi , Miyajima Hiroaki , Warita Hitoshi , Aoki Masashi , Hadano Shinji , Akamatsu Wado , Okano Hideyuki
Published: April 2018

The cerebral cortex is subdivided into distinct areas that have particular functions. The rostrocaudal (R-C) gradient of fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF8) signaling defines this areal identity during neural development. In this study, we recapitulated cortical R-C patterning in human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) cultures. Modulation of FGF8 signaling appropriately regulated the R-C markers, and the patterns of global gene expression resembled those of the corresponding areas of human fetal brains. Furthermore, we demonstrated the utility of this culture system in modeling the area-specific forebrain phenotypes [presumptive upper motor neuron (UMN) phenotypes] of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We anticipate that our culture system will contribute to studies of human neurodevelopment and neurological disease modeling.
Muscarinic Receptor Activity Has Multiple Effects on the Resting Membrane Potentials of CA1 Hippocampal Interneurons
Authors: McQuiston A. Rory , Madison Daniel V.
Published: April 2018

Inhibitory interneurons appear to be an important target for the muscarinic actions of cholinergic inputs to the hippocampus. We investigated the effect of muscarinic receptor activity on the membrane potential (Vm) and currents of rat hippocampal CA1 interneurons using whole-cell recording from visually identified CA1 interneurons. The predominant response observed was a muscarinic depolarization that was detected in interneurons from all layers of CA1. This depolarization was mediated by at least two mechanisms: a reduction in a potassium current and a mechanism that depended on extracellular sodium. Other interneurons responded to muscarinic agonists with a hyperpolarization or a biphasic response (hyperpolarization followed by depolarization). Hyperpolarizations and biphasic responses were found in all layers of CA1 but more frequently in stratum radiatum and stratum lacunosum moleculare. Muscarinic hyperpolarization was caused by the activation of a barium- and cesium-sensitive inwardly rectifying potassium channel. A small number of interneurons, primarily in or bordering the stratum pyramidale, produced slow membrane potential (0.04 Hz) oscillations. Many interneurons did not respond to muscarinic activity at all; half of these were in the stratum oriens. There was no strong correlation between any changes inVmresponse to muscarine and morphology, as determined by reconstruction of the interneurons. It was not possible to predict the morphology or the layer distribution of an interneuron based on the type of muscarinic membrane potential response it had. This lack of correlation between muscarinic function and morphology implies a greater complexity of interneuron function than has been realized previously.
Disruption of a Retinal Guanylyl Cyclase Gene Leads to Cone-Specific Dystrophy and Paradoxical Rod Behavior
Authors: Yang Ruey-Bing , Robinson Susan W. , Xiong Wei-Hong , Yau King-Wai , Birch David G. , Garbers David L.
Published: April 2018

One of two orphan photoreceptor guanylyl cyclases that are highly conserved from fish to mammals, GC-E (or retGC1) was eliminated by gene disruption. Expression of the second retinal cyclase (GC-F) as well as the numbers and morphology of rods remained unchanged in GC-E null mice. However, rods isolated from such mice, despite having a normal dark current, recovered from a light flash markedly faster. Unexpectedly, the a- and b-waves of electroretinograms (ERG) from dark-adapted null mice were suppressed markedly. Cones, initially present in normal numbers in the retina, disappeared by 5 weeks, based on ERG and histology. Thus, the GC-E-deficient mouse defines a model for cone dystrophy, but it also demonstrates that morphologically normal rods display paradoxical behavior in their responses to light.
Promoter Transgenics Reveal Multiple Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone-I-Expressing Cell Populations of Different Embryological Origin in Mouse Brain
Authors: Skynner Michael J. , Slater Ruth , Sim Joan A. , Allen Nick D. , Herbison Allan E.
Published: April 2018

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-I (GnRH-I) is thought to be expressed by a single, highly spatially restricted group of neurons, which originate in the olfactory placode and migrate through the nose into the medial septum and hypothalamus from where they control fertility. Transgenic mice bearing a 13.5 kb GnRH-I-lacZ reporter construct were derived and found to express high levels of β-galactosidase mRNA and protein within the septohypothalamic GnRH neurons in a correct temporal and spatial manner. Unexpectedly, low levels of β-galactosidase were also present in three further populations of cells within the lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and tectum. Analysis of wild-type mice with three different GnRH-I antibodies revealed distinct and transient patterns of GnRH-I peptide expression during development in all three of these populations revealed by transgenics. The synthesis of GnRH by cells of the lateral septum was the most persistent and remained until the third postnatal week. Embryonic “small eye” Pax-6 null mice, which fail to develop an olfactory placode, were also examined and shown to have equivalent populations of GnRH-I-immunoreactive cells in the lateral septum, tectum, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis but none of the migrating cells that form the septohypothalamic GnRH population. These results prove that so-called “ectopic” expression in promoter transgenic lines can reflect authentic developmental patterns of gene expression. They further provide the first demonstration in mammalian brain that multiple neuronal populations of different embryological origin express GnRH-I peptide during embryonic and postnatal development.
Increased Anxiety and Impaired Pain Response in Puromycin-Sensitive Aminopeptidase Gene-Deficient Mice Obtained by a Mouse Gene-Trap Method
Authors: Osada Tomoharu , Ikegami Shiro , Takiguchi-Hayashi Keiko , Yamazaki Yukiko , Katoh-Fukui Yuko , Higashinakagawa Toru , Sakaki Yoshiyuki , Takeuchi Takashi
Published: April 2018

A mouse mutation, termedgoku, was generated by a gene-trap strategy.gokuhomozygous mice showed dwarfism, a marked increase in anxiety, and an analgesic effect. Molecular analysis indicated that the mutated gene encodes a puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase (Psa; EC3.4.11.14), whose functionsin vivoare unknown. Transcriptional arrest of the Psa gene and a drastic decrease of aminopeptidase activity indicated that the function of Psa is disrupted in homozygous mice. Together with the finding that the Psa gene is strongly expressed in the brain, especially in the striatum and hippocampus, these results suggest that the Psa gene is required for normal growth and the behavior associated with anxiety and pain.
Distinct Patterns of Neuropeptide Gene Expression in the Lateral Hypothalamic Area and Arcuate Nucleus Are Associated with Dehydration-Induced Anorexia
Authors: Watts Alan G. , Sanchez-Watts Graciela , Kelly Andrea B.
Published: April 2018

We have investigated the hormonal and hypothalamic neuropeptidergic substrates of dehydration-associated anorexia.In situhybridization and hormone analyses of anorexic and paired food-restricted rats revealed two distinct profiles. First, both groups had the characteristic gene expression and endocrine signatures usually associated with starvation: increased neuropeptide Y and decreased proopiomelanocortin and neurotensin mRNAs in the arcuate nucleus (ARH); increased circulating glucocorticoid but reduced leptin and insulin. Dehydrated animals are strongly anorexic despite these attributes, showing that the output of leptin- and insulin-sensitive ARH neurons that ordinarily stimulate eating must be inhibited. The second pattern occurred only in anorexic animals and had two components: (1) reduced corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA in the neuroendocrine paraventricular nucleus (PVH) and (2) increased CRH and neurotensin mRNAs in the lateral hypothalamic (LHA) and retrochiasmatic areas. However, neither corticosterone nor suppressed PVH CRH gene expression is required for anorexia after dehydration because PVH CRH mRNA in dehydrated adrenalectomized animals is unchanged from euhydrated adrenalectomized controls. We also showed that LHA CRH mRNA was strongly correlated with the intensity of anorexia, increased LHA CRH gene expression preceded the onset of anorexia, and dehydrated adrenalectomized animals (which also develop anorexia) had elevated LHA CRH gene expression with a distribution pattern similar to intact animals. Finally, we identified specific efferents from the CRH-containing region of the LHA to the PVH, thereby providing a neuroanatomical framework for the integration by the PVH of neuropeptidergic signals from the ARH and the LHA. Together, these observations suggest that CRH and neurotensin neurons in the LHA constitute a novel anatomical substrate for their well known anorexic effects.
Ceramide Signaling Downstream of the p75 Neurotrophin Receptor Mediates the Effects of Nerve Growth Factor on Outgrowth of Cultured Hippocampal Neurons
Authors: Brann Adi B. , Scott Randolph , Neuberger Yael , Abulafia Denise , Boldin Swetlana , Fainzilber Michael , Futerman Anthony H.
Published: April 2018

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) binds all known neurotrophins and has been suggested to either function as a coreceptor for the trk receptor tyrosine kinases or be involved in independent signaling leading to cell death. We have analyzed the effects of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the growth of cultured hippocampal pyramidal neurons and examined the possibility that the effects of NGF are mediated via generation of ceramide produced by neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase). During the initial hour of culture, the only detectable NGF receptor is p75NTR, which by comparative Western blot is expressed at 50- to 100-fold lower levels than on PC12 cells. At this early stage of culture, NGF accelerates neurite formation and outgrowth and induces ceramide formation in a dose-dependent manner. An NGF mutant that is deficient in p75NTR binding has no effect on neuronal morphology or ceramide formation. Furthermore, two anti-p75NTR antibodies (REX and 9651), which are known to compete with NGF for binding to p75NTR, mimic the effects of NGF, whereas a monoclonal antibody (MC192) targeted against a different epitope does not. Finally, scyphostatin, a specific N-SMase inhibitor, blocks the effects of NGF. We propose that a neurotrophin–p75NTR–ceramide signaling pathway influences outgrowth of hippocampal neurons. This signaling role of p75NTR may be distinct from other signaling pathways that lead to apoptosis.
NMDA-Induced Dendritic Oscillations during a Soma Voltage Clamp of Chick Spinal Neurons
Authors: Moore L. E. , Chub N. , Tabak J. , O’Donovan M.
Published: April 2018

An investigation of dendritic membrane properties was performed by whole-cell patch measurements of the biophysical properties of intact chick spinal neurons that are involved in rhythmogenesis. A whole-cell voltage clamp of the somatic membrane was used to block NMDA-induced voltage oscillations from the cell body, thus partially isolating the intrinsic oscillatory properties of dendritic membranes from those of the soma. An experimental approach was developed that takes into account the complexity of the dendritic tree in an environment as normal as possible, without the need for cell isolation or slice preparations. A computational study of the experimentally determined model showed that excitatory amino acid receptors on dendrites can dynamically control the electrotonic length of the dendrites through the activation of negative slope conductances. These experiments demonstrate the presence of NMDA receptors on the dendrites and that they induce intrinsic oscillations when the synaptic input from other cells is significantly reduced.
Identification of a New Exon in the Myelin Proteolipid Protein Gene Encoding Novel Protein Isoforms That Are Restricted to the Somata of Oligodendrocytes and Neurons
Authors: Bongarzone Ernesto R. , Campagnoni Celia W. , Kampf Kathy , Jacobs Erin C. , Handley Vance W. , Schonmann Vilma , Campagnoni Anthony T.
Published: April 2018

The myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) gene (i.e., the PLP/DM20 gene) has been of some interest because of its role in certain human demyelinating diseases, such as Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease. A substantial amount of evidence, including neuronal pathology in knock-out and transgenic animals, suggests the gene also has functions unrelated to myelin structure, but the products of the gene responsible for these putative functions have not yet been identified. Here we report the identification of a new exon of the PLP/DM20 gene and at least two new products of the gene that contain this exon. The new exon, located between exons 1 and 2, is spliced into PLP and DM20 mRNAs creating a new translation initiation site that generates PLP and DM20 proteins with a 12 amino acid leader sequence. This leader sequence appears to target these proteins to a different cellular compartment within the cell bodies of oligodendrocytes and away from the myelin membranes. Furthermore, these new products are also expressed in a number of neuronal populations within the postnatal mouse brain, including the cerebellum, hippocampus, and olfactory system. We term these products somal-restricted PLP and DM20 proteins to distinguish them from the classic PLP and DM20 proteolipids. They represent putative candidates for some of the nonmyelin-related functions of the PLP/DM20 gene.