bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Salvianolic acid B protects against myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury in rats via inhibiting high mobility group box 1 protein expression through the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway
Authors: Liu Hanqing , Liu Wei , Qiu Huiliang , Zou Dezhi , Cai Huayang , Chen Qiuxiong , Zheng Chaoyang , Xu Danping 
Published: December 2019

AbstractSalvianolic acid B (Sal B) has a significant protective effect on myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the effects of Sal B on myocardial ischaemic-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats and to explore whether its underlying mechanism of cardioprotection occurs through activating the expression of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein, kinase B (PI3K/Akt) and inhibiting the expression of high mobility group protein 1 (HMGB1). Ninety Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into five groups: group 1 (sham-operated), group 2 (myocardial I/R), group 3 (low dose of Sal B+I/R), group 4 (high dose of Sal B+I/R), and group 5 (high dose of Sal B+I/R+LY294002, which is a specific PI3k inhibitor). All I/R rats received 30 min myocardial ischaemia followed by 24-h reperfusion. Cardiac function, infarct size, myocardial injury marker levels, inflammatory response and cardiomyocyte apoptosis as well as Bcl-2, Bax, P-Akt, HMGB1 and TLR4 expression were measured. In the current study, Sal B significantly ameliorated myocardial I/R injury in a dose-dependent manner, ameliorated cardiac function, reduced myocardial infarction size, decreased myocardial injury marker expression, decreased inflammatory responses, reduced apoptosis, activated PI3K/Akt expression and inhibited HMGB1 expression. However, all effects of Sal B were significantly reversed by LY294002. Overall, the present study indicated that Sal B attenuated myocardial I/R injury by activating PI3K/Akt and inhibiting the release of HMGB1 in rats.
cGMP: a unique 2nd messenger molecule – recent developments in cGMP research and development
Authors: Friebe Andreas , Sandner Peter , Schmidtko Achim 
Published: December 2019

AbstractCyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is a unique second messenger molecule formed in different cell types and tissues. cGMP targets a variety of downstream effector molecules and, thus, elicits a very broad variety of cellular effects. Its production is triggered by stimulation of either soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) or particulate guanylyl cyclase (pGC); both enzymes exist in different isoforms. cGMP-induced effects are regulated by endogenous receptor ligands such as nitric oxide (NO) and natriuretic peptides (NPs). Depending on the distribution of sGC and pGC and the formation of ligands, this pathway regulates not only the cardiovascular system but also the kidney, lung, liver, and brain function; in addition, the cGMP pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of fibrosis, inflammation, or neurodegeneration and may also play a role in infectious diseases such as malaria. Moreover, new pharmacological approaches are being developed which target sGC- and pGC-dependent pathways for the treatment of various diseases. Therefore, it is of key interest to understand this pathway from scratch, beginning with the molecular basis of cGMP generation, the structure and function of both guanylyl cyclases and cGMP downstream targets; research efforts also focus on the subsequent signaling cascades, their potential crosstalk, and also the translational and, ultimately, the clinical implications of cGMP modulation. This review tries to summarize the contributions to the “9th International cGMP Conference on cGMP Generators, Effectors and Therapeutic Implications” held in Mainz in 2019. Presented data will be discussed and extended also in light of recent landmark findings and ongoing activities in the field of preclinical and clinical cGMP research.
Infiltration Depth is the Most Relevant Risk Factor for Overall Metastases in Early Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Oetzmann von Sochaczewski Christina , Haist Thomas , Pauthner Michael , Mann Markus , Braun Susanne , Ell Christian , Lorenz Dietmar 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBackgroundResearch in early esophageal adenocarcinoma focused on prediction of lymph node metastases in order to stratify patients for endoscopic treatment instead of esophagectomy. Although distant metastases were described in rates of up to 13% of patients within a follow‐up of 3 years, their prediction has been neglected so far.MethodsIn a secondary analysis, a cohort of 217 patients (53 T1a and 164 T1b) treated by esophagectomy was analyzed for histopathological risk factors. Their ability to predict the combination of lymph node metastases at surgery as well as metachronous locoregional and distant metastases (overall metastatic rate) was assessed by uni‐ and multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsTumor invasion depth was correlated with both lymph node metastases at surgery (τ = 0.141; P = .012), tumor recurrences (τ = 0.152; P = .014), and distant metastases (τ = 0.122; P = 0.04). Multivariate analysis showed an odds ratio of 1.31 (95% CI 1.02–1.67; P = .033) per increasing tumor invasion depth and of 3.5 (95% CI 1.70–6.56; P < .001) for lymphovascular invasion. The pre‐planned subgroup analysis in T1b tumors demonstrated an even lower predictive ability of lymphovascular invasion with an odds ratio of 2.5 (95% CI 1.11–5.65; P = 0.028), whereas the predictive effect of sm2 (odds ratio 3.44; 95% CI 1.00–11.9; P = 0.049) and sm3 (odds ratio 3.44; 95% CI 1.00–11.9; P = 0.049) tumor invasion depth was similar.ConclusionsThe present report demonstrates the insufficient risk prediction of histopathologic risk factors for the overall metastatic rate.
Southern-Hemisphere high-latitude stratospheric warming revisit
Authors: Xia Yan , Xu Weixuan , Hu Yongyun , Xie Fei 
Published: December 2019

AbstractPrevious studies showed significant stratospheric warming at the Southern-Hemisphere (SH) high latitudes in September and October over 1979–2006. The warming trend center was located over the Southern Ocean poleward of the Western Pacific in September, with a maximum trend of about 2.8 K/decade. The warming trends in October showed a dipole pattern, with the warming center over the Ross and Amundsen Sea, and the maximum warming trend is about 2.6 K/decade. In the present study, we revisit the problem of the SH stratospheric warming in the recent decade. It is found that the SH high-latitude stratosphere continued warming in September and October over 2007–2017, but with very different spatial patterns. Multiple linear regression demonstrates that ozone increases play an important role in the SH high-latitude stratospheric warming in September and November, while the changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation contributes little to the warming. This is different from the situation over 1979–2006 when the SH high-latitude stratospheric warming was mainly caused by the strengthening of the Brewer-Dobson circulation and the eastward shift of the warming center. Simulations forced with observed ozone changes over 2007–2017 shows warming trends, suggesting that the observed warming trends over 2007–2017 are at least partly due to ozone recovery. The warming trends due to ozone recovery have important implications for stratospheric, tropospheric and surface climates on SH.
PrP is a central player in toxicity mediated by soluble aggregates of neurodegeneration-causing proteins
Authors: Corbett Grant T. , Wang Zemin , Hong Wei , Colom-Cadena Marti , Rose Jamie , Liao Meichen , Asfaw Adhana , Hall Tia C. , Ding Lai , DeSousa Alexandra , Frosch Matthew P. , Collinge John , Harris David A. , Perkinton Michael S. , Spires-Jones Tara L. , Young-Pearse Tracy L. , Billinton Andrew , Walsh Dominic M. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractNeurodegenerative diseases are an enormous public health problem, affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. Nearly all of these diseases are characterized by oligomerization and fibrillization of neuronal proteins, and there is great interest in therapeutic targeting of these aggregates. Here, we show that soluble aggregates of α-synuclein and tau bind to plate-immobilized PrP in vitro and on mouse cortical neurons, and that this binding requires at least one of the same N-terminal sites at which soluble Aβ aggregates bind. Moreover, soluble aggregates of tau, α-synuclein and Aβ cause both functional (impairment of LTP) and structural (neuritic dystrophy) compromise and these deficits are absent when PrP is ablated, knocked-down, or when neurons are pre-treated with anti-PrP blocking antibodies. Using an all-human experimental paradigm involving: (1) isogenic iPSC-derived neurons expressing or lackingPRNP, and (2) aqueous extracts from brains of individuals who died with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Pick’s disease, we demonstrate that Aβ, α-synuclein and tau are toxic to neurons in a manner that requires PrPC. These results indicate that PrP is likely to play an important role in a variety of late-life neurodegenerative diseases and that therapeutic targeting of PrP, rather than individual disease proteins, may have more benefit for conditions which involve the aggregation of more than one protein.
Somatosensory changes in Chinese patients after coronectomy vs. total extraction of mandibular third molar: a prospective study
Authors: Yan Zi-Yu , Yan Xiao-Yan , Guo Chuan-Bin , Xie Qiu-Fei , Yang Guang-Ju , Cui Nian-Hui 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Objectives
This study aimed to quantitatively compare the somatosensory function changes of inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) after mandibular third molar extraction with a surgery protocol of coronectomy, as opposed to the conventional method.

Materials and methods
Patients with a lower third molar directly contacting IAN were recruited and assigned either to a test group (coronectomy group) or a control group (conventional extraction). A standardized quantitative sensory testing (QST) battery was performed for four times: one week before surgery and the second, seventh, and 28th days after surgery. Z-scores and the loss/gain coding system were applied for each participant.

Results
A total of 140 molars (test group: n = 91, control group: n = 49) were enrolled. The sensitivity of the mechanical detection threshold (MDT) and pressure pain threshold (PPT) significantly increased after surgery more than before surgery in both groups (P ≤ 0.001). After the surgery, the sensitivities of the cold detection threshold (CDT), cold pain threshold (CPT), and heat pain threshold (HPT) were significantly higher in the test group than in the control group (P ≤ 0.027). The risk of IANI was significantly larger (P = 0.041) in the test group than in the control group.

Conclusions
QST was a sensitive way to detect somatosensory abnormalities even with no subjective complaint caused by surgery. Coronectomy had less influence on IAN function than conventional total extraction.

Clinical relevance
The somatosensory function changes after mandibular third molar extraction were quantitatively studied, and coronectomy was proved a reliable alternation to reduce IAN injury rate.
Challenges in passenger use of mixed reality headsets in cars and other transportation
Authors: McGill Mark , Williamson Julie , Ng Alexander , Pollick Frank , Brewster Stephen 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThis paper examines key challenges in supporting passenger use of augmented and virtual reality headsets in transit. These headsets will allow passengers to break free from the restraints of physical displays placed in constrained environments such as cars, trains and planes. Moreover, they have the potential to allow passengers to make better use of their time by making travel more productive and enjoyable, supporting both privacy and immersion. However, there are significant barriers to headset usage by passengers in transit contexts. These barriers range from impediments that would entirely prevent safe usage and function (e.g. motion sickness) to those that might impair their adoption (e.g. social acceptability). We identify the key challenges that need to be overcome and discuss the necessary resolutions and research required to facilitate adoption and realize the potential advantages of using mixed reality headsets in transit.
High-resolution modelling of a coastal harbour in the presence of strong tides and significant river runoff
Authors: Paquin Jean-Philippe , Lu Youyu , Taylor Stephanne , Blanken Hauke , Marcotte Guillaume , Hu Xianmin , Zhai Li , Higginson Simon , Nudds Shannon , Chanut Jérôme , Smith Gregory C. , Bernier Natacha , Dupont Frédéric 
Published: December 2019

AbstractIn the context of Canada’s Ocean Protection Plan (OPP), improved coastal and near-shore modelling is needed to enhance marine safety and emergency response capacity in the aquatic environment. In this study, the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO) is adopted to develop an ocean forecasting system for Saint John harbour in the Bay of Fundy, on the east coast of Canada. The challenging regional oceanography is characterized by the presence of some of the world’s strongest tides, significant river runoff and complicated geometry. A three-level one-way nesting approach is used to downscale from a 1/12° North Atlantic-Arctic regional model to very-high-resolution port-scale around Saint John harbour. The three nested grids cover the outer shelf, the Bay of Fundy and finally the approach to the harbour with resolutions of 2.5 km, 500 m and 100 m respectively. Due to the lack of accurate runoff data at the Saint John River outlet, the model’s lateral open boundary condition is modified to introduce the river forcing with the observed time series of water level near the mouth of the river. Evaluation with observational data demonstrates the model’s accuracy for the simulation of tidal elevation and currents, non-tidal water level and currents, temperature and salinity. Comparison with the observed sea surface temperature demonstrates the improved model accuracy through increasing the horizontal resolution. Virtual Lagrangian trajectories computed using the modelled surface currents and including wind effects show good agreement with the observed trajectories of different types of surface drifters. This study demonstrates the capability of the NEMO modelling framework to provide very-high-resolution modelling at port-scale resolution for the Saint John harbour.
Selecting fault revealing mutants
Authors: Titcheu Chekam Thierry , Papadakis Mike , Bissyandé Tegawendé F. , Le Traon Yves , Sen Koushik 
Published: December 2019

AbstractMutant selection refers to the problem of choosing, among a large number of mutants, the (few) ones that should be used by the testers. In view of this, we investigate the problem of selecting the fault revealing mutants, i.e., the mutants that are killable and lead to test cases that uncover unknown program faults. We formulate two variants of this problem: the fault revealing mutant selection and the fault revealing mutant prioritization. We argue and show that these problems can be tackled through a set of ‘static’ program features and propose a machine learning approach, named FaRM, that learns to select and rank killable and fault revealing mutants. Experimental results involving 1,692 real faults show the practical benefits of our approach in both examined problems. Our results show that FaRM achieves a good trade-off between application cost and effectiveness (measured in terms of faults revealed). We also show that FaRM outperforms all the existing mutant selection methods, i.e., the random mutant sampling, the selective mutation and defect prediction (mutating the code areas pointed by defect prediction). In particular, our results show that with respect to mutant selection, our approach reveals 23% to 34% more faults than any of the baseline methods, while, with respect to mutant prioritization, it achieves higher average percentage of revealed faults with a median difference between 4% and 9% (from the random mutant orderings).
Migration and Memorials: Irish Cultural Identity in Early Nineteenth-Century Lowell, Massachusetts
Authors: Donnelly Colm , Murphy Eileen , McKean Dave , McKerr Lynne 
Published: December 2019

AbstractLowell is considered as the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the early nineteenth-century United States. Originating in 1822, the new textile factories harnessed the waters of the Merrimack River using a system of canals, dug and maintained by laborers. While this work employed many local Yankees, it also attracted groups of emigrant Irish workers. Grave memorials are a valuable source of information concerning religious and ethnic identity and an analysis of the slate headstones contained within Yard One of St Patrick’s Cemetery, opened in 1832, provides insight into the mindset of this migrant community. The headstones evolved from contemporary Yankee memorials but incorporated Roman Catholic imagery, while the inclusion of shamrocks and details of place of origin on certain memorials attests to a strong sense of Irish identity. The blatant display of such features at a time of ethnic and religious sectarian tensions in Massachusetts demonstrates the confidence that the Irish had of their place in the new industrial town.
Selective Roasting of Nd–Fe‒B Permanent Magnets as a Pretreatment Step for Intensified Leaching with an Ionic Liquid
Authors: Orefice Martina , Van den Bulck Amy , Blanpain Bart , Binnemans Koen 
Published: December 2019

AbstractOxidative roasting of Nd–Fe‒B permanent magnets prior to leaching improves the selectivity in the recovery of rare-earth elements over iron. However, the dissolution rate of oxidatively roasted Nd–Fe‒B permanent magnets in acidic solutions is very slow, often longer than 24 h. Upon roasting in air at temperatures above 500 °C, the neodymium metal is not converted to Nd2O3, but rather to the ternary NdFeO3 phase. NdFeO3 is much more difficult to dissolve than Nd2O3. In this work, the formation of NdFeO3 was avoided by roasting Nd–Fe‒B permanent magnet production scrap in argon atmosphere, having an oxygen content of $$ p_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }} \, \le \,10^{ - 20} \;{\text{atm}}, $$pO2≤10-20atm, with the addition of 5 wt% of carbon as an iron reducing agent. For all the non-oxidizing iron roasting conditions investigated, the iron in the Nd–Fe‒B scrap formed a cobalt-containing metallic phase, clearly distinct from the rare-earth phase at microscopic level. The thermal treatment was optimized to obtain a clear phase separation of metallic iron and rare-earth phase also at the macroscopic level, to enable easy mechanical removal of iron prior to the leaching step. The sample roasted at the optimum conditions (i.e., 5 wt% carbon, no flux, no quenching step, roasting temperature of 1400 °C and roasting time of 2 h) was leached in the water-containing ionic liquid betainium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [Hbet][Tf2N]. A leaching time of only 20 min was sufficient to completely dissolve the rare-earth elements. The rare-earth elements/iron ratio in the leachate was about 50 times higher than the initial rare-earth elements/iron ratio in the Nd–Fe‒B scrap. Therefore, roasting in argon with addition of a small amount of carbon is an efficient process step to avoid the formation of NdFeO3 and to separate the rare-earth elements from the iron, resulting in selective leaching for the recovery of rare-earth elements from Nd–Fe‒B permanent magnets.
Managing Balance: Pursuit of Equilibrium Permeates the History of Science and Influences Contemporary Investigations
Authors: Kasmire J. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThe word “sustainable” débuted in 1987 but has since become a hot topic issue, both for scientific research and wider society. Although sustainability may appear to be a thoroughly twenty-first century goal, sustainability science concepts and goals such as balance, endurance, order and change, reach back at least as far as the proto-scientific investigations of alchemy. Both alchemy and sustainability science can be understood as systems or strategies which individuals and societies can use to organise and manage themselves in a complex world filled with dynamic problems. Alchemy never created a panacea or transmuted base metals into gold because those goals proved to be based on fundamentally flawed theories and premises. Nevertheless, alchemy did succeed in helping adherents manage themselves and their societies in advantageous ways. Alchemy also positively and significantly influenced subsequent scientific development. Likewise, science helps humanity manage itself on multiple scales, from the individual to the international, and will certainly contribute to further scientific research and development. However, it is not yet known whether carbon neutrality, entirely renewable energy and other sustainability goals will be achieved or whether these goals will also come to be seen as based on flawed understandings and theories. For this reason, this article explores key features of alchemy, traces how they persisted through Enlightenment-era science and how they continue to be present and influential within scientific efforts today. The article goes on to reflect on how the history, development and continued use of concepts such as balance, endurance, order and change may be useful portents of how humans and human society will manage themselves in the future. Such reflections may also temper the zeal with which individuals that accept or reject sustainability goals treat each other, thereby offering a way for divergent groups to manage their interactions. Flawed theories prevented alchemy from achieving many of its primary stated goals. However, alchemy was very beneficial, both during its period of use and subsequently through its influence on subsequent development. This article identifies ideas from alchemy that were originally beneficial and that have persisted through Enlightenment-era science and into contemporary science. The article also explores how those ideas continue to influence scientific and sustainability goals today. Understanding and reflecting on alchemy’s successes and failures facilitates reflection on the potential successes and failures of sustainability and the human consequences of trying to manage a sustainable future.
Preliminary assessment of aneuploidy rates between the polar, mid and mural trophectoderm
Authors: Taylor Tyl H. , Stankewicz Tiffany , Katz Seth L. , Patrick Jennifer L. , Johnson Lauren , Griffin Darren K. 
Published: December 2019

SummaryThe objective of this study is to compare aneuploidy rates between three distinct areas of the human trophectoderm: mural, polar and a region in between these two locations termed the ‘mid’ trophectoderm. This is a cohort study on in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients undergoing comprehensive chromosome screening at the blastocyst stage at a private IVF clinic. All embryos underwent assisted hatching on day 3 with blastocyst biopsy and comprehensive chromosome screening. Biopsied blastocysts were divided into three groups depending on which area (polar, mid, or mural) of the trophectoderm was protruding from the zona pellucida and biopsied. Aneuploidy rates were significantly higher with cells from the polar region of the trophectoderm (56.2%) compared with cells removed from the mural region of the trophectoderm (30.0%; P = 0.0243). A comparison of all three areas combined also showed a decreasing trend, but this did not reach clinical significance, polar (56.2%), mid (47.4%) and mural trophectoderm (30.0%; P = 0.1859). The non-concordance demonstrated between polar and mural trophectoderm can be attributed to biological occurrences including chromosomal mosaicism or procedural differences between embryologists.