bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Regulation of epithelial–mesenchymal transition via sonic hedgehog/glioma‐associated oncogene homolog 1 signaling pathway in peritoneal mesothelial cells
Authors: Xu Yanyan , Wang Jing , Ding Hong 
Published: April 2020

AbstractSonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling regulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cultured rat peritoneal mesothelial cells (PMCs) remains an under‐investigated topic. The current study aimed to elucidate the role of Shh signaling in the regulation of EMT in PMCs to attenuate peritoneal injury, with the view of enhancing the efficacy of peritoneal dialysis (PD). PMCs were initially extracted from male Wistar rats using pancreatic enzyme digestion. The expression of Shh and glioma‐associated oncogene homolog (Gli1) was quantitatively analyzed using the reverse‐transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) and western blot analysis. Migration of PMCs was determined using Transwell assay. The expression of Shh, Gli1, and EMT markers including α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), fibronectin, collagen I, snail1, and E‐cadherin was examined by RT‐qPCR, western blot analysis, and immunofluorescence respectively. High glucose induction was identified to promote cell migration and increase the expression of Shh and Gli1 in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner in rat PMCs. Cyclopamine (CPN) was observed to block the Shh signaling induced by high glucose, accompanied by cell migration inhibition, decreased expression of α‐SMA, fibronectin, collagen I and snail1 as well as increased expression of E‐cadherin. Altogether, overexpression of Gli1 by transfected Gli1 plasmid promotes cell migration and upregulates α‐SMA, fibronectin, Snail1, and collagen I expression, while downregulating E‐cadherin expression. Shh/Gli1 signaling is important in mediating EMT in rat PMCs, which provides a potential novel therapeutic approach for clinical investigation on renal failure treatment.
Telesupported procedures: when and how
Authors: Megaly Michael , Brilakis Emmanouil S. 
Published: April 2020

Key Points
Telesupport means guidance of a procedure performed at one location by another clinician at a different location.
In a pilot study, 21 percutaneous coronary interventions and nine catheter ablations were successfully performed without complications with telesupport from a remote university hospital.
Telesupport is a powerful tool that can be especially useful when urgent care is needed or when transfer is not an option, but it also has limitations, such as network failure or difficulties handling complications; judicious use is key to optimizing outcomes.
Feasibility and early outcomes of aortic coarctation treatments with BeGraft Aortic stent
Authors: Promphan Worakan , Han Siang Koay , Prachasilchai Pimpak , Jarutach Jirayut , Makonkawkeyoon Krit , Siwaprapakorn Warawut , Chutimapongrat Nantapol , Sueachim Pantipa , Butchan Yuttana 
Published: April 2020

AbstractObjectivesTo assess feasibility and early outcomes of using BeGraft Aortic stent in the treatment of aortic coarctation (CoA).BackgroundBeGraft Aortic stent (Bentley InnoMed, Hechingen, Germany) allows large postdilation diameter up to 30 mm. With availability of lengths of 19–59 mm and lower stent profile, they can be used in native and recurrent CoA in adults and in pediatric patients.Materials and methodsThis is a multicentre retrospective analysis of 12 implanted BeGraft Aortic stents in CoA between May 2017 and April 2019.ResultsTwelve patients aged 7.7–38 years (median 18.3 years) with body weight of 19.9–56 kg (median 45.5 kg). Eight patients (66%) had native juxtaductal CoA while four had recurrent CoA after previous surgical or transcatheter treatments. The stents were implanted successfully in all the patients with no serious adverse events. The length of the stents ranged from 27 to 59 mm and the implanted stent diameter varied from 12 to 18 mm. The median intraprocedural CoA pressure gradient decreased from 25 mmHg (range 16–66 mmHg) to 2 mmHg (range 0–13 mmHg). The mean follow‐up duration was 10.2 months. Two patient (16.6%) had residual stent narrowing requiring staged redilation. One patient (8%) had pseudoaneurysm formation at 1 year cardiac CT follow‐up.ConclusionsThe BeGraft Aortic stent may be considered to be safe and effective in the short term in treatment of CoA from childhood to adulthood. Long‐term follow‐up is needed.
Treatments of dental crown caries, root surface caries, and dentin hypersensitivity using the instant adhesive cyanoacrylate
Authors: Oh Hourei , Kubota Naohiro , Masuno Kazuya , Makita Yoshimasa 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThe instant adhesive cyanoacrylate is appropriate for the suppression of caries progression, dentin hypersensitivity, and secondary caries.
Flame Front Deformation Instabilities of Filtration Combustion for Initial Thermal Perturbation
Authors: Xia Yongfang , Chen Lu , Shi Junrui , Li Benwen 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThe flame front deformation instability of low‐velocity filtration combustion within an inert packed bed is studied based on the initial preheating non‐uniformity. Based on the experimental phenomena, an initial thermal perturbation model is numerically proposed so as to predict the deformation behaviors of the flame front instabilities. The numerical prediction indicates that the assumption of an initial thermal perturbation is a feasible explanation as the cause of the flame front inclination instability. As the initial thermal perturbation increases, the phenomena of the flame front break and shrinking instabilities could easily occur at high filtration velocity or low equivalence ratio. Moreover, the evolutions of the flame front break rate and the shrinking rate are quantitatively analyzed.
Lamellar FeOcPc‐Ni/GO Composite‐Based Enzymeless Glucose Sensor
Authors: Safadi Bill N. , Gonçalves Josué M. , Castaldelli Evandro , Matias Tiago A. , Rossini Pamela O. , Nakamura Marcelo , Angnes Lucio , Araki Koiti 
Published: April 2020

AbstractDiabetes is a serious yet controllable disease, primarily caused by a disorder in insulin production, which has become a major public health problem worldwide, motivating the development of enzymatic and non‐enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensors. In this work, a lamellar composite was prepared by coordinating nickel(II) ions on graphene oxide (GO) sheets and then attaching iron octacarboxyphthalocyanine (FeOcPc) and nickel hydroxide (Ni) on the nickel sites leading to their stacking and formation of a stable material for enzymeless glucose sensor, through a facile solvothermal route. The new composite was shown to be formed by amorphous and ultrasmall α‐Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles that are not easily converted to the less active β‐Ni(OH)2 phase even in the presence of 5 mM of glucose, asserting its stability and reproducibility, allied to a sensitivity as high as 192.13 μA mM−1 cm−2, and a limit of detection as low as 0.625 μM.
Formic Acid, a Ubiquitous but Overlooked Component of the Early Earth Atmosphere
Authors: Mohammadi Elmira , Petera Lukáš , Saeidfirozeh Homa , Knížek Antonín , Kubelík Petr , Dudžák Roman , Krůs Miroslav , Juha Libor , Civiš Svatopluk , Coulon Rémi , Malina Ondřej , Ugolotti Juri , Ranc Václav , Otyepka Michal , Šponer Jiří , Ferus Martin , Šponer Judit E. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractTerrestrial volcanism has been one of the dominant geological forces shaping our planet since its earliest existence. Its associated phenomena, like atmospheric lightning and hydrothermal activity, provide a rich energy reservoir for chemical syntheses. Based on our laboratory simulations, we propose that on the early Earth volcanic activity inevitably led to a remarkable production of formic acid through various independent reaction channels. Large‐scale availability of atmospheric formic acid supports the idea of the high‐temperature accumulation of formamide in this primordial environment.
Cobalt‐Catalyzed Intramolecular Hydroacylation Involving Cyclopropane Cleavage
Authors: Yang Junfeng , Mori Yuto , Yamanaka Masahiro , Yoshikai Naohiko 
Published: April 2020

AbstractA simple cobalt‐diphosphine catalyst has been found to efficiently promote intramolecular cyclization of ortho‐cyclopropylvinyl‐ and cyclopropylidenemethyl‐substituted benzaldehydes into benzocyclooctadienone and benzocycloheptadienone derivatives, respectively. This ring‐opening hydroacylation likely involves aldehyde C−H oxidative addition, olefin insertion, cyclopropane cleavage by β‐carbon elimination, and C−C bond‐forming reductive elimination, as was supported by mechanistic experiments and DFT calculations.
Self‐Assembled Supramolecular Hybrid Hydrogel Beads Loaded with Silver Nanoparticles for Antimicrobial Applications
Authors: Piras Carmen C. , Mahon Clare S. , Smith David K. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThis Full Paper reports the formation of silver (Ag) NPs within spatially resolved two‐component hydrogel beads, which combine a low‐molecular‐weight gelator (LMWG) DBS‐CONHNH2 and a polymer gelator (PG) calcium alginate. The AgNPs are formed through in situ reduction of AgI, with the resulting nanoparticle‐loaded gels being characterised in detail. The antibacterial activity of the nanocomposite gel beads was tested against two drug‐resistant bacterial strains, often associated with hospital‐acquired infections: vancomycin‐resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14), and the AgNP‐loaded gels showed good antimicrobial properties against both types of bacteria. It is suggested that the gel bead format of these AgNP‐loaded hybrid hydrogels makes them promising versatile materials for potential applications in orthopaedics or wound healing.
Renal tubular damage and worsening renal function in chronic heart failure: Clinical determinants and relation to prognosis (Bio‐SHiFT study)
Authors: Brankovic Milos , Akkerhuis K. Martijn , Hoorn Ewout J. , van Boven Nick , van den Berge Jan C. , Constantinescu Alina , Brugts Jasper , van Ramshorst Jan , Germans Tjeerd , Hillege Hans , Boersma Eric , Umans Victor , Kardys Isabella 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundIt is uncertain that chronic heart failure (CHF) patients are susceptible to renal tubular damage with that of worsening renal function (WRF) preceding clinical outcomes.HypothesisChanges in tubular damage biomarkers are stronger predictors of subsequent clinical events than changes in creatinine (Cr), and both have different clinical determinants.MethodsDuring 2.2 years, we repeatedly simultaneously collected a median of 9 blood and 8 urine samples per patient in 263 CHF patients. We determined the slopes (rates of change) of the biomarker trajectories for plasma (Cr) and urinary tubular damage biomarkers N‐acetyl‐β‐d‐glucosaminidase (NAG), and kidney‐injury‐molecule (KIM)‐1. The degree of tubular injury was ranked according to NAG and KIM‐1 slopes: increase in neither, increase in either, or increase in both; WRF was defined as increasing Cr slope. The composite endpoint comprised HF‐hospitalization, cardiac death, left ventricular assist device placement, and heart transplantation.ResultsHigher baseline NT‐proBNP and lower eGFR predicted more severe tubular damage (adjusted odds ratio, adj. OR [95%CI, 95% confidence interval] per doubling NT‐proBNP: 1.26 [1.07‐1.49]; per 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 eGFR decrease 1.16 [1.03‐1.31]). Higher loop diuretic doses, lower aldosterone antagonist doses, and higher eGFR predicted WRF (furosemide per 40 mg increase: 1.32 [1.08‐1.62]; spironolactone per 25 mg decrease: 1.76 [1.07‐2.89]; per 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 eGFR increase: 1.40 [1.20‐1.63]). WRF and higher rank of tubular injury individually entailed higher risk of the composite endpoint (adjusted hazard ratios, adj. HR [95%CI]: WRF 1.9 [1.1‐3.4], tubular 8.4 [2.6‐27.9]; when combined risk was highest 15.0 [2.0‐111.0]).ConclusionSlopes of tubular damage and WRF biomarkers had different clinical determinants. Both predicted clinical outcome, but this association was stronger for tubular injury. Prognostic effects of both appeared independent and additive.
Stable Trimetallic NiFeCu Catalysts with High Carbon Resistance for Dry Reforming of Methane
Authors: Jin Feikai , Fu Yu , Kong Wenbo , Wang Jiyang , Cai Fufeng , Yuan Changkun , Pan Bingrong , Zhang Jun , Sun Yuhan 
Published: April 2020

AbstractCopper has been incorporated into Ni−Fe alloys to form a series of ternary NiFeCu alloy catalysts with molar ratio of Cu/Fe varying from 0 to 1.5, which were tested in dry reforming of methane (DRM) at 923 K and atmospheric pressure with a CH4/CO2 ratio of 1. XRD, TPR‐H2 and FE‐TEM measurements confirm the formation of Ni−Fe−Cu alloys with particle size of 5.0‐5.7 nm. The Ni3Fe1Cu1‐MgxAlyOz (2.6 wt% Cu) shows the highest carbon resistance with only 5.0 % carbon by thermogravimetric analysis. Importantly, XPS analyses complemented with XAFS demonstrate that doping an appropriate quantity of Cu to form stable trimetallic alloy enhances the interaction between Ni and Fe, thus inhibiting Fe segregation and reducing carbon deposition. However, doping excessive Cu (3.9 wt%) weakens the Ni−Fe bond, preventing Fe from providing labile oxygen to Ni sites, which is unfavorable for carbon elimination.
Shelter availability and human attitudes as drivers of rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) expansion along a rural–urban gradient
Authors: Ben‐Moshe Noam , Iwamura Takuya 
Published: April 2020

AbstractWhile anthropogenic land‐use changes threaten wildlife globally, some species take advantage of such changes and disperse into urban areas. The wildlife in urban areas often promotes conflicts with humans, notably when the animals are associated with the spread of zoonotic diseases. In Israel, current urban invasion of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) draws public attention, since the species is a reservoir host of cutaneous leishmaniasis, a serious skin disease. The rock hyrax, however, has seldom been studied in densely populated areas, and the drivers for its urban expansion, as well as its abilities to live and spread in core urban areas, are relatively unknown. Here, we explore the rock hyrax expansion to urban areas process by examining the availability, characteristics and use of shelter along an urban gradient. Our findings suggest that a series of factors determines shelter availability and quality for the rock hyrax, which facilitates its dispersion across the urban gradient. We found that rock hyraxes from the Judean Desert expand to the peri‐urban region of Jerusalem by colonizing new rocky shelters formed as by‐products of urban development. With their populations reaching extreme densities in this area and saturating the available shelters, there is some spill over to the adjacent core urban areas where they colonize littered sites, which are made available due to the local socio‐economic conditions and cultural norms of waste disposal and illegal placement of temporary structures. Our work emphasizes the significance of the urban gradient approach for studying the mechanisms promoting wildlife expansion to cities. Our findings suggest that changes in shelter availability and quality due to urban development, and cultural norms promote shifts of the hyrax population by pushing from the already established areas and pulling into new environment across the urban gradient.
City limits: Heat tolerance is influenced by body size and hydration state in an urban ant community
Authors: Johnson Dustin J. , Stahlschmidt Zachary R. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractCities are rapidly expanding, and global warming is intensified in urban environments due to the urban heat island effect. Therefore, urban animals may be particularly susceptible to warming associated with ongoing climate change. We used a comparative and manipulative approach to test three related hypotheses about the determinants of heat tolerance or critical thermal maximum (CTmax) in urban ants—specifically, that (a) body size, (b) hydration status, and (c) chosen microenvironments influenceCTmax. We further tested a fourth hypothesis that native species are particularly physiologically vulnerable in urban environments. We manipulated water access and determinedCTmaxfor 11 species common to cities in California's Central Valley that exhibit nearly 300‐fold variation in body size. There was a moderate phylogenetic signal influencingCTmax, and inter (but not intra) specific variation in body size influencedCTmaxwhere larger species had higherCTmax. The sensitivity of ants’CTmaxto water availability exhibited species‐specific thresholds where short‐term water limitation (8 hr) reducedCTmaxand body water content in some species while longer‐term water limitation (32 hr) was required to reduce these traits in other species. However,CTmaxwas not related to the temperatures chosen by ants during activity. Further, we found support for our fourth hypothesis becauseCTmaxand estimates of thermal safety margin in native species were more sensitive to water availability relative to non‐native species. In sum, we provide evidence of links between heat tolerance and water availability, which will become critically important in an increasingly warm, dry, and urbanized world that others have shown may be selecting for smaller (not larger) body size.
Plant–parasite coevolution: A weak signature of local adaptation between Peruvian Globodera pallida populations and wild potatoes
Authors: Gautier Camille , Fournet Sylvain , Piriou Christophe , Renault Lionel , Yvin Jean‐Claude , Nguema‐Ona Eric , Grenier Eric , Montarry Josselin 
Published: April 2020

AbstractPlant–parasite coevolution has generated much interest and studies to understand and manage diseases in agriculture. Such a reciprocal evolutionary process could lead to a pattern of local adaptation between plants and parasites. Based on the phylogeography of each partner, the present study tested the hypothesis of local adaptation between the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida and wild potatoes in Peru. The measured fitness trait was the hatching of cysts which is induced by host root exudates. Using a cross‐hatching assay between 13 populations of G. pallida and root exudates from 12 wild potatoes, our results did not show a strong pattern of local adaptation of the parasite but the sympatric combinations induced better hatching of cysts than allopatric combinations, and there was a negative relationship between the hatching percentage and the geographical distance between nematode populations and wild potatoes. Moreover, a strong effect of the geographic origin of root exudates was found, with root exudates from south of Peru inducing better hatching than root exudates from north of Peru. These results could be useful to develop new biocontrol products or potato cultivars to limit damages caused by G. pallida.
Weights of gaur (Bos gaurus) and banteng (Bos javanicus) killed by tigers in Thailand
Authors: Khaewphakdee Supawat , Simcharoen Achara , Duangchantrasiri Somphot , Chimchome Vijak , Simcharoen Saksit , Smith James L. D. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThe primary prey of tigers across much of South‐East Asia has been depleted, reducing the ability of already limited habitat to support tigers. To better understand the extent to which two of the largest prey species, gaur (Bos gaurus) and banteng (Bos javanicus), contribute to the tiger's diet, we estimated the average size of these species killed by tigers. This information is needed to more accurately calculate biomass of these species in the tiger's diet and to devise strategies to increase tiger carrying capacity where habitat is fragmented and limited in west‐central Thailand. We used temporally clumped locations of 24 satellite radio‐collared tigers to identify their kill sites and obtained mandibles from 82 gaur and 79 banteng. Kills were aged by teeth eruption sequence, sectioning the M1 molar and counting cementum annuli. Of all gaur killed, 45.2% were adults; of all banteng killed, 55.7% were adults. The average weight of banteng killed was 423.9 kg, which was similar to the 397.9 kg average weight for gaur. The mean weight of both prey species is 3.5–4.5 times greater than the predicted 1:1 preferred prey to predator ratio. In the absence of medium‐sized prey, killing these larger animals may be especially critical for female tigers provisioning nearly independent young when male offspring are already larger than the mother. This is the first study to present data on the average weights of gaur and banteng killed in South‐East Asia, and these results suggest that these are key prey species to target in tiger prey recovery efforts.
Refining predictions of metacommunity dynamics by modeling species non‐independence
Authors: Opedal Øystein H. , von Numers Mikael , Tikhonov Gleb , Ovaskainen Otso 
Published: April 2020

AbstractPredicting the dynamics of biotic communities is difficult because species’ environmental responses are not independent, but covary due to shared or contrasting ecological strategies and the influence of species interactions. We used latent‐variable joint species distribution models to analyze paired historical and contemporary inventories of 585 vascular plant species on 471 islands in the southwest Finnish archipelago. Larger, more heterogeneous islands were characterized by higher colonization rates and lower extinction rates. Ecological and taxonomical species groups explained small but detectable proportions of variance in species’ environmental responses. To assess the potential influence of species interactions on community dynamics, we estimated species associations as species‐to‐species residual correlations for historical occurrences, for colorizations, and for extinctions. Historical species associations could to some extent predict joint colonization patterns, but the overall estimated influence of species associations on community dynamics was weak. These results illustrate the benefits of considering metacommunity dynamics within a joint framework, but also suggest that any influence of species interactions on community dynamics may be hard to detect from observational data.
The occurrence of inositolphosphoceramides in spirulina microalgae
Authors: Calvano C.D. , Coniglio D. , D'Alesio P.E. , Losito I. , Cataldi T.R.I. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractSpirulina microalga (Arthrospira platensis) is an interesting phototrophic organism because of its high content of nutrients including proteins, lipids, essential amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins, polysaccharides, and minerals. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled to linear ion trap (LIT) and Orbitrap Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) via ESI was employed for the separation and characterization of lipid species in A. platensis. Inositolphosphoceramides (IPC) are minor but important constituents of spirulina; their investigation was accomplished by HILIC–ESI–MS including collision‐induced dissociation (MS2, MS3) of deprotonated molecules in the LIT analyzer and a schematic fragmentation pattern is described. All four commercial spirulina samples revealed the occurrence of the same IPC species at m/z 796.6 (d18:0/16:0;1), 810.6 (d18:0/17:0;1), 824.6 (d18:0/18:0;1), and 826.6 (d18:0/17:0;2) but in diverse relative abundance. This study sets the stage for future investigations on IPC in other algae and microalgae.