bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
In-vitro screening of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of extracts from Palestinian indigenous flora in relation to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Ali-Shtayeh Mohammed Saleem , Jamous Rana Majed , Abu Zaitoun Salam Yousef , Qasem Iman Basem 
Published: December 2019

Background: Cholinesterase inhibitory therapy serves as a strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Several acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) are used for the symptomatic treatment of AD. These compounds have been reported to have adverse effects, including gastrointestinal disturbances. This study was therefore partly aimed at investigating in vitro possible AChEIs in herbal medicines traditionally used in Palestine to treat cognitive disorders, and to point out the role of these plants as potential sources for development of newly potent and safe natural therapeutic agents of AD. Assay of AChE activity plays an important role in vitro characterization of drugs including potential treatments for AD. The most widely used method, is based on Ellman’s method. The reactant used in this method shows chemical reactivity with oxime antidots and thiol leading to false positive reactions. A new alternative assay could be of high interest.Methods: The effect on AChE activity of 92 extracts of 47 medicinal plants were evaluated using a new micro-well plate AChE activity (NA-FB) and Ellman’s assays. In addition, antioxidant activity using DPPH was determined.Results: The main advantages of the new method (NA-FB) is that the colorimetric change is better observable visually allowing spectrophotometric as well as colorimetric assay, and does not show any chemical reactivity with thiol. 67.4% and 37% of extracts inhibited AChE by >50% using the NA-FB and Ellman’s assays, respectively. Using NA-FB assay, 84 extracts interacted reversibly with the enzyme, of which Mentha spicata (94.8%), Foeniculum vulgare (89.81), and Oxalis pes-caprae (89.21) were most potent, and 8 showed irreversible inhibition of which leaves of Lupinus pilosus (92.02%) were most active. Antioxidant activity was demonstrated by 73 extracts Majorana syriaca (IC50 0.21mg/ml), and Rosmarinus officinalis (0.38) were the most active.Conclusions: NA-FB assay has shown to be simple, accurate, sensitive, spectrophotometric and colorimetric, and superior to Ellman’s, and therefore can be used efficiently for qualitative and quantitative studies of AChEI activities of extracts. Palestinian flora have shown to be a rich source for, new and promising agents (AChEIs) for the treatment of AD Further studies are needed to isolate and identify the active compounds responsible for AChEI activities.Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, ACh, medicinal plants, β-naphthyl acetate, micro-well plate AChE activity Assay (NA-FB)
Safety test of a supplement, 5-aminolevulinic acid phosphate with sodium ferrous citrate, in diabetic patients treated with oral hypoglycemic agents
Authors: Yamashita Naohide , Watanabe Atai , Kondo Hikaru , Kawata Satofumi , Tanaka Tohru , Nakajima Motowo 
Published: December 2019

Objective: This study aimed to examine the safety of 5-aminolevulinic acid phosphate (5-ALA) with sodium ferrous citrate (SFC) in diabetic patients treated with one or more oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs).Background: Recent intervention studies performed in the USA and Japan have shown that a nutritional supplement of 5-ALA with SFC efficiently reduced blood glucose levels in pre-diabetic population without any adverse events. Thus, it was anticipated that 5-ALA with SFC may potentially be taken as a beneficial supplement by diabetic patients who were being treated with OHA therapy. Nevertheless, it is important to examine its safety and efficacy in diabetic population.Methods: This study was a prospective single-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled and parallel-group comparison study. Medically treated diabetic patients between the ages of 30 and 75 were recruited from the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan and 45 subjects were selected after screening. These subjects were randomly assigned to three groups: daily intake of 15mg 5-ALA, 50mg 5-ALA, and a placebo (n=15, respectively). The supplement or placebo was administered for 12 weeks followed by a four week washout period. The primary endpoint was safety and occurrence of hypoglycemic attack, while the secondary endpoint was changes of fasting blood glucose (FBG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Results: Adverse events related to 5-ALA with SFC were not observed in all the groups. Abnormalities in blood and urine tests were not observed either. Significant decrease in FBG was not detected in all the groups. However, there was a small but significant decrease in HbA1c at 4 and 8 week in the 15 mg 5-ALA group. Significant decrease in HbA1c was not observed in the 50 mg 5-ALA group, although a tendency to decrease after 4 weeks was apparent.Conclusion: 5-ALA with SFC is a safe and potentially beneficial supplement if taken by diabetic patients treated with OHAs.Trial registration: UMIN 000008038Key words: type 2 diabetes, 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), sodium ferrous citrate (SFC), oral hypoglycemic agent (OHA), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose (FBG)
Remote Homology Detection Using a Kernel Method that Combines	Sequence and Secondary-Structure Similarity Scores
Authors: Wieser Daniela , Niranjan Mahesan 
Published: December 2019

Distant evolutionary relationships between proteins with low sequence similarity are difficult to recognise by computational methods. Consequently, many sequences obtained from large-scale sequencing projects cannot be assigned to any known proteins or families despite being evolutionarily related. To boost sensitivity, various sequence-based methods have been modified to make use of the better conserved secondary structure. Most of these methods are instance-based or generative. Here, we introduce a kernel-based remote homology detection method that allows for a combination of sequence and secondary-structure similarity scores in a discriminative approach. We studied the ability of the method to predict superfamily membership as defined by the SCOP database. We show that a kernel method that combined sequence similarity scores with predicted secondary-structure similarity scores performed similar to a classifier that used scores calculated from sequences and true secondary structures, but performed better than a sequence-only based classifier and achieved a better mean than recently published results on the same data-set. It can be concluded that SVM classifiers trained to predict homology between distantly related proteins, become more accurate, if a joint sequence/secondary-structure similarity score approach is used.
Amino-Acid Residue Association Models for Large Scale	Protein-Protein Interaction Prediction
Authors: Rao Raghuraj , Tun Kyaw , Makita Yuko , Lakshminarayanan Samavedham , Dhar Pawan K. 
Published: December 2019

The computational prediction of protein-protein interactions (PPI) is an essential complement to direct experimental evidence. Traditional approaches rely on less available or computationally predicted surface properties, show database-specific performances and are computationally expensive for large-scale datasets. Several sensitivity and specificity issues remain. Here, we report a novel method based on 'Amino-acid Residue Associations' (ARA) among interacting proteins which utilizes the accurate and easily available primary sequence. Large scale PPI datasets for six model species (from E. coli to human) were studied. The ARA method shows up to 73% sensitivity and 78% specificity. Furthermore, the method performs remarkably well in terms of stability and generalizability. The performance of ARA method benchmarked against existing prediction techniques shows performance improvement up to 25%. Ability of ARA method to predict PPI across species and across databases is also demonstrated. Overall, the ARA method provides a significant improvement over existing ones in correctly identifying large scale protein-protein interactions, irrespective of the data resource, network size or organism.
DOT corrected fluorescence molecular tomography using targeted	contrast agents for small animal tumor imaging
Authors: Tan Yiyong , Cao Zehong , Sajja Hari Krishna , Lipowska Malgorzata , Wang Y. Andrew , Yang Lily , Jiang Huabei 
Published: December 2019

PURPOSE: To demonstrate diffuse optical tomography (DOT) corrected fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) for quantitatively imaging tumor-targeted contrast agents in a 4T1 mouse mammary tumor model. PROCEDURES: In the first set of experiments, we validated our DOT corrected FMT method using subcutaneously injected 4T1 cells pre-labeled with a near-infrared (NIR) Cy 5.5 dye labeled recombinant amino-terminal fragment (ATF) of the receptor binding domain of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), which binds to uPA receptor (uPAR) that is highly expressed in breast cancer tissues. Next, we apply the DOT corrected FMT method to quantitatively evaluate the ability of sensitive tumor imaging after systemic delivery of new uPAR-targeted optical imaging probes in the mice bearing 4T1 mammary tumors. These uPAR-targeted optical imaging probes are ATF peptides labeled with a newly developed NIR-830 dye being conjugated to magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). RESULTS: Our results have shown that DOT corrected FMT can accurately quantify and localize the injected imaging probe labeled 4T1 cells. Following systemic delivery of the targeted imaging nanoprobes into the mice bearing orthotopic mammary tumors, specific accumulation of the imaging probes in the orthotopic mammary tumors was detected in the mice that received uPAR targeted NIR-830-ATF-IONP probes but not in the mice injected with non-targeted NIR-830-mouse serum albumin (MSA)-IONPs. Additionally, DOT corrected FMT also enables the detection of both locally recurrent tumor and lung metastasis in the mammary tumor model 72 hrs after systemic administration of the uPAR-targeted NIR-830-labeled ATF peptide imaging probes. CONCLUSIONS: DOT corrected FMT and uPAR-targeted optical imaging probes have great potential for detection of breast cancer, recurrent tumor and metastasis in small animals.
X-ray determination of the thickness of thin metal foils
Authors: Block Robert C. , Geuther Jeffrey A. , Methe Brian , Barry Devin P. , Leinweber Gregory 
Published: December 2019

The interpretation of neutron cross section experiments depends upon an in-depth knowledge of the physical characteristics of the target sample. An x-ray image of an encapsulated metallic Eu sample used in a neutron cross section measurement showed a very non-uniform thickness as well as holes in the sample. In light of this problem it was found necessary to determine the thickness distribution in four thin metallic Eu samples without disturbing the encapsulation (and exposing the Eu to air). All four Eu samples were subsequently x-rayed along with a Sm step wedge. The gray levels in the Eu images were then compared to the Sm gray levels and, taking into account differences in the x-ray absorption and density of Eu and Sm, the sample thickness distributions were obtained for each Eu sample. This work demonstrates that a step wedge can be used to calibrate x-ray images to a thickness scale, and allows the thickness variation of the samples to be represented in a simple probability table for incorporation into the analysis of neutron experiments.
Retroperitoneal laparoscopic versus open dismembered pyeloplasty	for ureteropelvic junction obstruction
Authors: Wang Xisheng , Zhang Zejian , Peng Naixiong , Liu Chunxiao 
Published: December 2019

OBJECTIVE: To compare classical open pyeloplasty with retroperitoneal laparoscopic pyeloplasty in effectiveness, potential advantages and complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2006 and April 2010, 113 patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction underwent retroperitoneal laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty were retrospectively compared with those of 59 patients who underwent open dismemberse pyeloplasty through a retroperitoneal flank approach. The Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis of qualitative data and the Student t-test for analysis of quantitative data. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Operative time was shorter in the retroperitoneal laparoscopic group (mean 125 min) compared to the open pyeloplasty group (mean 142 min, P < 0.05). Mean hospital stay was shorter in the retroperitoneal laparoscopic group (mean 6 days, compared to 9 days, open). Complication rates, including anastomotic urinary leakage, stenosis and infection, were 4.42% in retroperitoneoscopic compared to 6.78% open surgery. Anastomotic leakage was 3 cases in the retroperitoneoscopic group versus 1 case in the open group. Success, defined as improved ultrasonic or renographic parameters, with resolution of symptoms where discernable, was noted in 98.0% of the open group and 98.1% of the retroperitoneoscopic group with a mean follow up of 38.4 and 32.7 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Retroperitoneal laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty in treatment of ureteropelvic junction obstruction is a minimally invasive, safe and effective therapy with short procedure time, less complications, and shorter convalescence.
Flexible methods for segmentation evaluation: Results from	CT-based luggage screening
Authors: Karimi Seemeen , Jiang Xiaoqian , Cosman Pamela , Martz Harry 
Published: December 2019

BACKGROUND: Imaging systems used in aviation security include segmentation algorithms in an automatic threat recognition pipeline. The segmentation algorithms evolve in response to emerging threats and changing performance requirements. Analysis of segmentation algorithms' behavior, including the nature of errors and feature recovery, facilitates their development. However, evaluation methods from the literature provide limited characterization of the segmentation algorithms. OBJECTIVE: To develop segmentation evaluation methods that measure systematic errors such as oversegmentation and undersegmentation, outliers, and overall errors. The methods must measure feature recovery and allow us to prioritize segments. METHODS: We developed two complementary evaluation methods using statistical techniques and information theory. We also created a semi-automatic method to define ground truth from 3D images. We applied our methods to evaluate five segmentation algorithms developed for CT luggage screening. We validated our methods with synthetic problems and an observer evaluation. RESULTS: Both methods selected the same best segmentation algorithm. Human evaluation confirmed the findings. The measurement of systematic errors and prioritization helped in understanding the behavior of each segmentation algorithm. CONCLUSIONS: Our evaluation methods allow us to measure and explain the accuracy of segmentation algorithms.
Value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging on the	follow-up of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy
Authors: Xu Ji-Fei , Wu Xing-Wang , Wang Wan-Qin , Kong Ling-Ling , Wu Li-Ming , Wang Fan 
Published: December 2019

PURPOSE: To explore the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the follow-up of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty-three NPC patients after radiotherapy were divided into two groups: 4 cases of residual tumor and 33 cases of non-residual within 6 months, the cases of recurrent and non-recurrent were 5 and 41 over 6 months, respectively. MRI and DWI imaging of these cases were closely analyzed, and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the nasopharyngeal residual mass and nasopharyngeal wall thickening, skull base destruction and lateral pterygoid muscle were measured. RESULTS: The ADC of the lateral pterygoid muscle was (1.501 ± 0.069) × 10 $^{ - 3}$ mm $^{2}$ /s in 83 cases. The ADCs of the non-residual group, residual group, non-recurrent group and recurrent group were (1.843 ± 0.133.4) × 10 $^{ - 3}$ mm $^{2}$ /s, (1.097 ± 0.183) × 10 $^{ - 3}$ mm $^{2}$ /s, (1.884 ± 0.134) × 10 $^{ - 3}$ mm $^{2}$ /s and (0.787 ± 0.067) × 10 $^{ - 3}$ mm $^{2}$ /s respectively.The ADCs of the residual group and recurrent group were lower than that of the lateral pterygoid muscle, while the ADCs of the non-residual group and non-recurrent group were higher than that of the lateral pterygoid muscle.The differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: DWI can provide qualitative and quantitative information about the tumor cellular level; it can also identify residual, local fibrosis and recurrence after NPC radiotherapy sensitively and accurately by measuring the ADC of the region of interest.
A systematic procedure to optimise dose and image quality for the	measurement of inter-vertebral angles from lateral spinal projections using	Cobb and superimposition methods
Authors: Al Qaroot Bashar , Hogg Peter , Twiste Martin , Howard David 
Published: December 2019

BACKGROUND: Patients with vertebral column deformations are exposed to high risks associated with ionising radiation exposure. Risks are further increased due to the serial X-ray images that are needed to measure and asses their spinal deformation using Cobb or superimposition methods. Therefore, optimising such X-ray practice, via reducing dose whilst maintaining image quality, is a necessity. OBJECTIVES: With a specific focus on lateral thoraco-lumbar images for Cobb and superimposition measurements, this paper outlines a systematic procedure to the optimisation of X-ray practice. METHODS: Optimisation was conducted based on suitable image quality from minimal dose. Image quality was appraised using a visual-analogue-rating-scale, and Monte-Carlo modelling was used for dose estimation. The optimised X-ray practice was identified by imaging healthy normal-weight male adult living human volunteers. RESULTS: The optimised practice consisted of: anode towards the head, broad focus, no OID or grid, 80 kVp, 32 mAs and 130 cm SID. CONCLUSION: Images of suitable quality for laterally assessing spinal conditions using Cobb or superimposition measurements were produced from an effective dose of 0.05 mSv, which is 83% less than the average effective dose used in the UK for lateral thoracic/lumbar exposures. This optimisation procedure can be adopted and use for optimisation of other radiographic techniques.
A scatter correction method for dual-energy digital mammography:	Monte Carlo simulation
Authors: Ai Kai , Gao Yanhua , Yu Gang 
Published: December 2019

PURPOSE: To develop a novel scatter correction method without additional patient dose for dual-energy digital mammography (DEDM) to reduce scatter's impacts and enhance microcalcification detectability in dual-energy X-ray subtraction image. METHODS: Combining scatter radiation is lower spatial frequency component and calcifications are sparsely distributed in digital mammogram, we develop a new scatter correction strategy. First, an adaptive sampling scheme is presented to find possible noncalcification (zero calcification) pixels. Then the maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) algorithm is applied to evaluate initial scatter surface. The accurate scatter radiation of sampling pixels is obtained by solving dual-energy computational formula with zero calcification constraint and scatter surface constraint. RESULTS: After scatter correction, the scatter-to-primary ratio (SPR) of wedge phantom is reduced from ∼36.0% to ∼3.1% for low-energy (LE) image and ∼29.6% to ∼0.6% for high-energy (HE) image. For step phantom, the SPR is reduced from ∼42.1% and ∼30.3% to ∼3.9% and ∼0.9% for LE and HE image, respectively. The calcification contrast-to-noise ratio is improved by two orders of magnitudes in calcification images. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method shows an excellent performance on scatter reduction and calcification detection. Compared with hardware based scatter correction strategy, our method need no extra exposure and is easy to implementation.
Noncontrast multidetector-row computed tomography scanning for	detection of radiolucent calculi in acute renal insufficiency caused by	bilateral ureteral obstruction of ceftriaxone crystals
Authors: Lu Xiongbing , Wu Rongpei , Huang Xiaoning , Zhang Yuanyuan 
Published: December 2019

Noncontrast computed tomography (CT) has great advantage with higher sensitivity and more clear modalities in detecting urinary tract radiolucent calculi in patients with acute renal insufficiency (ARI) compared to other image diagnosis approaches. We report two cases (female, 28 years old; male, 39 years old) with persistent flank pain and acute anuria after the administration of ceftriaxone (4.0 g daily) for 2 days intravenously. No abnormality was found in the kidney-ureter- bladder (KUB) areas with plain abdomen X-rays. A diagnosis of bilateral hydronephrosis was made by ultrasound examination in both cases. Serum creatinine levels reached up to 257 and 810 μ mol/L (normal serum creatinine level is 40–130 μ mol/L), respectively. Vague density spots were noticed in the pelvis with noncontrast multidetector-row CT (MDCT) scanning. However, distinguishable clusters of high-density shadows were seen in pelvic areas with maximum intensity projections (MIP, CT values in 30–128 HU). Ceftriaxone crystal calculi were found on both sides of distal ureters under endoscopy. Renal function recovered in both patients after double-J ureteral stents were installed. Out results demonstrated that noncontrast MDCT scanning and MIP reconstruction as an effective diagnostic tool could provide clear images in detection of radiolucent calculi in urinary tract when conventional X-rays image are not suitable in the patients with obstructive anuria and ARI of unknown origin.
A phantom-based calibration method for digital x-ray	tomosynthesis
Authors: Miao Hui , Wu Xizeng , Zhao Huijuan , Liu Hong 
Published: December 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a phantom-based experimental calibration method to minimize the reconstruction artifacts for the geometric misalignments of the digital tomosynthesis prototype. Methods: A calibration phantom with ten fiducial markers was designed. Using this calibration phantom, the projection matrices of an experimental digital tomosynthesis prototype were acquired from each projection view under a series of misalignment conditions. The American College of Radiology mammography phantom was imaged and reconstructed with and without using the correction of the corresponding calibration projection matrices. The effectiveness of the calibration technique was then quantitatively analyzed through comparison of the calibrated and uncalibrated images. Results: As the isocenter horizontal-shift increases, the reconstruction artifacts become clearly distinguishable. Using the calibration technique, the reconstruction artifacts resulting from the isocenter horizontal-shift were effectively minimized for the prototype. Conclusions: For the specific experimental conditions utilized in this study, the phantom-based calibration method effectively reduced reconstruction artifacts for the prototype investigated in this study. The calibration method holds potential to benefit other tomosynthesis applications.