bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Molecular Mechanisms, Characterization Methods, and Utilities of Nanoparticle Biotransformation in Nanosafety Assessments
Authors: Cai Xiaoming , Liu Xi , Jiang Jun , Gao Meng , Wang Weili , Zheng Huizhen , Xu Shujuan , Li Ruibin 
Published: May 2020

AbstractIt is a big challenge to reveal the intrinsic cause of a nanotoxic effect due to diverse branches of signaling pathways induced by engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). Biotransformation of toxic ENMs involving biochemical reactions between nanoparticles (NPs) and biological systems has recently attracted substantial attention as it is regarded as the upstream signal in nanotoxicology pathways, the molecular initiating event (MIE). Considering that different exposure routes of ENMs may lead to different interfaces for the arising of biotransformation, this work summarizes the nano–bio interfaces and dose calculation in inhalation, dermal, ingestion, and injection exposures to humans. Then, five types of biotransformation are shown, including aggregation and agglomeration, corona formation, decomposition, recrystallization, and redox reactions. Besides, the characterization methods for investigation of biotransformation as well as the safe design of ENMs to improve the sustainable development of nanotechnology are also discussed. Finally, future perspectives on the implications of biotransformation in clinical translation of nanomedicine and commercialization of nanoproducts are provided.
The Influence of Nanoparticle Shape on Protein Corona Formation
Authors: Madathiparambil Visalakshan Rahul , González García Laura E. , Benzigar Mercy R. , Ghazaryan Arthur , Simon Johanna , Mierczynska‐Vasilev Agnieszka , Michl Thomas D. , Vinu Ajayan , Mailänder Volker , Morsbach Svenja , Landfester Katharina , Vasilev Krasimir 
Published: May 2020

AbstractNanoparticles have become an important utility in many areas of medical treatment such as targeted drug and treatment delivery as well as imaging and diagnostics. These advances require a complete understanding of nanoparticles' fate once placed in the body. Upon exposure to blood, proteins adsorb onto the nanoparticles surface and form a protein corona, which determines the particles' biological fate. This study reports on the protein corona formation from blood serum and plasma on spherical and rod‐shaped nanoparticles. These two types of mesoporous silica nanoparticles have identical chemistry, porosity, surface potential, and size in the y‐dimension, one being a sphere and the other a rod shape. The results show a significantly larger amount of protein attaching from both plasma and serum on the rod‐like particles compared to the spheres. Interrogation of the protein corona by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry reveals shape‐dependent differences in the adsorption of immunoglobulins and albumin proteins from both plasma and serum. This study points to the need for taking nanoparticle shape into consideration because it can have a significant impact on the fate and therapeutic potential of nanoparticles when placed in the body.
Nanometal Oxides with Special Surface Physicochemical Properties to Promote Electrochemical Detection of Heavy Metal Ions
Authors: Yang Meng , Li Pei‐Hua , Chen Shi‐Hua , Xiao Xiang‐Yu , Tang Xiang‐Hu , Lin Chu‐Hong , Huang Xing‐Jiu , Liu Wen‐Qing 
Published: May 2020

AbstractHeavy metal ions (HMIs) are one of the major environmental pollution problems currently faced. To monitor and control HMIs, rapid and reliable detection is required. Electrochemical analysis is one of the promising methods for on‐site detection and monitoring due to high sensitivity, short response time, etc. Recently, nanometal oxides with special surface physicochemical properties have been widely used as electrode modifiers to enhance sensitivity and selectivity for HMIs detection. In this work, recent advances in the electrochemical detection of HMIs using nanometal oxides, which are attributed to specific crystal facets and phases, surficial defects and vacancies, and oxidation state cycle, are comprehensively summarized and discussed in aspects of synthesis, characterization, electroanalysis application, and mechanism. Moreover, the challenges and opportunities for the development and application of nanometal oxides with functional surface physicochemical properties in electrochemical determination of HMIs are presented.
The Role of Smallholder Farms in a Changing World
Authors: Fan Shenggen , Rue Christopher 
Published: May 2020

AbstractDespite progress, multiple burdens of malnutrition persist worldwide: 795 million people are hungry more than 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies and over 2 billion are overweight or obese. At the same time, various challenges continue to threaten global food security and nutrition. Smallholder farmers are a key to ending hunger and undernutrition worldwide, but they are increasingly facing barriers to profitability. Yet smallholders should not all receive the same kind of support; they are not a homogenous group. While some smallholders should be supported to move up to commercially oriented and profitable farming systems, some should be supported to move out to seek non-farm employment opportunities. Strategies to promote smallholder agriculture as a business can help to overcome these obstacles and move smallholders with profit potential towards greater prosperity, while also contributing to the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Rural Development Strategies and Africa’s Small Farms
Authors: Larson Donald F. , Muraoka Rie , Otsuka Keijiro 
Published: May 2020

AbstractImproving the productivity of smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) offers the best chance of reducing poverty among this generation of rural poor, by building on the few resources farming households already own. It is also the best and shortest path to meet rising food needs. Using examples from farmers’ maize and rice fields, comparisons with Asia, and an extensive literature review, we explain why the set of technologies promoted to date have produced localised successes rather than transformational change. We also examine the limitations of alternative policies that are not centred on small farms. We give indicative examples of how resource management technologies can supplement seed-fertiliser technologies to speed an African Green Revolution.
Inorganic Fertiliser Use Among Smallholder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for Input Subsidy Policies
Authors: Ricker-Gilbert Jacob 
Published: May 2020

AbstractIn recent years, use of inorganic fertiliser among smallholder farm households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has increased, in large part due to the scale-up of input subsidy programmes (ISPs). However, fertiliser use efficiency for maize remains low, so the benefits of ISPs are often less than their costs. In order to make ISPs more cost-effective, sustainable and beneficial to smallholders, governments who implement ISPs should move towards implementing self-targeting mechanisms where more productive farmers opt into participation and relatively less productive farmers opt out. Such mechanisms include (i) increasing the amount of money that beneficiaries are required to contribute to acquire subsidised inputs and (ii) making receipt of subsidised inputs conditional on a household’s willingness to implement soil fertility management practices that can increase the amount of maize produced per kilogram of fertiliser in future. Limited resource farmers who cannot provide complementary inputs to subsidised fertiliser would likely be better served by a cash transfer programme rather than an input subsidy.
Global Change and Investments in Smallholder Irrigation for Food and Nutrition Security in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Hanjra Munir A. , Williams Timothy O. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractInvestments in irrigation contribute to poverty reduction and enhance food security. This paper considers irrigation investments more broadly in the context of rural–urban linkages and thus examines rural irrigation schemes and peri-urban and urban agriculture using freshwater, groundwater and wastewater. We present case studies from East, West and Southern Africa, while focusing on the imperative of smallholders and of food security and nutrition. Evidence from Big Data and telecoupling show that, amid global change and sustainability issues, irrigation development strengthens connections between humans and nature with notable benefits to food security. Transforming investments to feed the future generation require priority investments in irrigation, solar energy for groundwater pumping, groundwater development policy, and integration of peri-urban and urban agriculture into food systems. Equally important will be no-regret interventions in wastewater reuse, water storage and groundwater buffer, micro-irrigation, and wholesale reconfiguration of farming systems, through anticipatory investments, to safeguard food security and sustainability into the distant future.
Transforming Smallholder Agriculture to Achieve the SDGs
Authors: Abraham Mathew , Pingali Prabhu 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThere is overwhelming historical evidence from the developed world and from the newly emerging economies of the developing world that indicates that agricultural growth has been the primary engine of overall economic growth. The transformation of economies around the world, from predominantly agricultural to industrial, was kick-started by rapid agricultural productivity growth. Does the growth in agricultural productivity have to necessarily come from the small farm sector? Rapid improvement in small farm productivity is one of the primary mechanisms by which dramatic rural poverty reductions can be achieved as shown by the Green Revolution experience in Asia and more recently in sub-Saharan Africa. Economic growth policies that are inclusive of smallholder farmers directly contribute to the SDG 2 that is focused on ending hunger, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture. Past efforts at small farm productivity improvement were focused on staple grains, looking ahead one needs to take a food systems perspective and encourage diversification into nutrition-rich legumes, pulses, horticulture crops and livestock. Investment in rural market infrastructure allows smallholders to commercialise and enhance the supply of perishable products. Linking small farms to urban food value chains is also a promising new avenue for rural poverty reduction.
Digitale Daten für eine effizientere Prävention: Ethische und rechtliche Überlegungen zu Potenzialen und Risiken
Authors: Friele Minou , Bröckerhoff Peter , Fröhlich Wiebke , Spiecker genannt Döhmann Indra , Woopen Christiane 
Published: May 2020

ZusammenfassungDie Digitalisierung bietet erhebliche Potenziale für eine Stärkung der Prävention im Gesundheitswesen. Daten aus verschiedenen klinischen und außerklinischen Quellen können strukturiert erfasst und mithilfe von Algorithmen systematisch verarbeitet werden. Präventionsbedarfe lassen sich schneller und präziser ermitteln, Interventionen zielgruppenspezifisch planen, implementieren und evaluieren. Zugleich ist es jedoch erforderlich, dass die Datenverarbeitung nicht nur hohen technischen, sondern auch ethischen Standards und den gesetzlichen Datenschutzbestimmungen entspricht, um Risiken zu vermeiden oder zu minimieren.Der vorliegende Diskussionsbeitrag beleuchtet in ethischer und rechtlicher Hinsicht die Potenziale und Risiken der digitalen Prävention zum einen aus einer „Datenperspektive“, bei der es um die Nutzung von gesundheitsrelevanten Daten geht, und zum anderen aus einer „Algorithmenperspektive“, bei der der Einsatz algorithmischer Systeme, einschließlich künstlicher Intelligenz, zur Bedarfserhebung und Evaluation präventiver Maßnahmen im Mittelpunkt steht. Abschließend werden Empfehlungen für Rahmenbedingungen formuliert, die geschaffen werden sollten, um die Weiterentwicklung der Prävention im Gesundheitswesen zu stärken.
LATE: Nicht jede Demenz ist Alzheimer – Diskussion einer neuen Krankheitsentität am Fallbeispiel
Authors: Görß Doreen , Kilimann Ingo , Dyrba Martin , Nitsch Sascha , Krause Bernd , Teipel Stefan 
Published: May 2020

ZusammenfassungDie limbisch prädominante altersassoziierte TDP-43(Transactivation response(TAR)-DNA-binding protein 43 kDa)-Enzephalopathie (LATE) wurde kürzlich als eigene neuropathologische Entität im Demenzspektrum charakterisiert. Neuropathologische Veränderungen im Sinne von LATE wurden zuvor bereits als Komorbidität der Alzheimer-Krankheit (AD) beschrieben und spätestens seit 2008 auch als ein von der AD unabhängiger autoptischer Befund. Die Konzeptualisierung von LATE rückt nun die pathogenetische Bedeutung von limbischem TDP-43 als alternative oder komorbide Ursache einer der klinischen AD ähnlichen amnestischen Demenz in das Bewusstsein. LATE könnte divergierende klinische und Biomarkerbefunde erklären, bei denen eine ausgeprägte mnestische Störung ohne Amyloid- und Tau-Veränderungen im Sinne einer AD-Pathologie nachweisbar ist. Ob LATE eine eigenständige neuropathologische Entität darstellt oder eine regionale Ausprägung innerhalb des Spektrums der bekannten TDP-43-assoziierten neurodegenerativen Erkrankungen ist aktuell Gegenstand kontroverser Diskussionen. Die weitere, gezielte Erforschung von TDP-43-Proteinopathien ist davon unabhängig ein vielversprechender Forschungsansatz, um Wissenslücken in der Alzheimer- und Demenzforschung zu schließen. So könnte ganz praktisch die Anreicherung eines amnestischen Phänotyps in klinischen Studien zu amyloidzentrierten Therapien durch das erhöhte Risiko limbischer TDP-43-Komorbidität den Nachweis der klinischen Wirksamkeit erschweren. Dieser Artikel stellt den aktuellen Stand der Diskussion zu LATE vor und illustriert das Konzept und daraus abgeleitete klinische Überlegungen an einem Fallbeispiel.
Lack of M4 muscarinic receptors in the striatum, thalamus and intergeniculate leaflet alters the biological rhythm of locomotor activity in mice
Authors: Riljak Vladimir , Janisova Katerina , Myslivecek Jaromir 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThe deletion of M4 muscarinic receptors (MRs) changes biological rhythm parameters in females. Here, we searched for the mechanisms responsible for these changes. We performed biological rhythm analysis in two experiments: in experiment 1, the mice [C57Bl/6NTac (WT) and M4 MR −/− mice (KO)] were first exposed to a standard LD regime (12/12-h light/dark cycle) for 8 days and then subsequently exposed to constant darkness (for 24 h/day, DD regime) for another 16 days. In experiment 2, the mice (after the standard LD regime) were exposed to the DD regime and to one light pulse (zeitgeber time 14) on day 9. We also detected M1 MRs in brain areas implicated in locomotor biological rhythm regulation. In experiment 1, the biological rhythm activity curves differed: the period (τ, duration of diurnal cycle) was shorter in the DD regime. Moreover, the day mean, mesor (midline value), night mean and their difference were higher in KO animals. The time in which the maximal slope occurred was lower in the DD regime than in the LD regime in both WT and KO but was lower in KO than in WT mice. In experiment 2, there were no differences in biological rhythm parameters between WT and KO mice. The densities of M1 MRs in the majority of areas implicated in locomotor biological rhythm were low. A significant amount of M1 MR was found in the striatum. These results suggest that although core clock output is changed by M4 MR deletion, the structures involved in biological rhythm regulation in WT and KO animals are likely the same, and the most important areas are the striatum, thalamus and intergeniculate leaflet.
Single breath-hold saturation recovery 3D cardiac T1 mapping via compressed SENSE at 3T
Authors: Ferreira da Silva Tiago , Galan-Arriola Carlos , Montesinos Paula , López-Martín Gonzalo Javier , Desco Manuel , Fuster Valentín , Ibáñez Borja , Sanchez-Gonzalez Javier 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Objectives
To propose and validate a novel imaging sequence that uses a single breath-hold whole-heart 3D T1 saturation recovery compressed SENSE rapid acquisition (SACORA) at 3T.

Methods
The proposed sequence combines flexible saturation time sampling, compressed SENSE, and sharing of saturation pulses between two readouts acquired at different RR intervals. The sequence was compared with a 3D saturation recovery single-shot acquisition (SASHA) implementation with phantom and in vivo experiments (pre and post contrast; 7 pigs) and was validated against the reference inversion recovery spin echo (IR-SE) sequence in phantom experiments.

Results
Phantom experiments showed that the T1 maps acquired by 3D SACORA and 3D SASHA agree well with IR-SE. In vivo experiments showed that the pre-contrast and post-contrast T1 maps acquired by 3D SACORA are comparable to the corresponding 3D SASHA maps, despite the shorter acquisition time (15s vs. 188s, for a heart rate of 60 bpm). Mean septal pre-contrast T1 was 1453 ± 44 ms with 3D SACORA and 1460 ± 60 ms with 3D SASHA. Mean septal post-contrast T1 was 824 ± 66 ms and 824 ± 60 ms.

Conclusion
3D SACORA acquires 3D T1 maps in 15 heart beats (heart rate, 60 bpm) at 3T. In addition to its short acquisition time, the sequence achieves good T1 estimation precision and accuracy.
Passive Trunk Exoskeleton Acceptability and Effects on Self-efficacy in Employees with Low-Back Pain: A Mixed Method Approach
Authors: Baltrusch S. J. , Houdijk H. , van Dieën J. H. , Kruif J. Th. C. M. de 
Published: May 2020

AbstractPurpose Determinants of successfully introducing passive exoskeletons in the working environment to decrease mechanical loading on the back, are acceptability of the device to management and employees, including self-efficacy of employees when using the device. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess self-efficacy of employees with low-back pain when using an exoskeleton and the acceptability of such a device to these employees and their managers. Methods We used a mixed method approach. We quantitatively assessed the change in self-efficacy of 17 employees with low-back pain when performing daily activity tasks with the exoskeleton, using the modified spinal function sort (M-SFS). Qualitatively, we conducted a focus group with employees and a double interview with two managers to add more insight and understandings into changes in self-efficacy and to discuss challenges of implementing an exoskeleton in the working environment. Results Self-efficacy significantly increased by 7% when using the exoskeleton. Employees acknowledged the flexibility of the exoskeleton being advantageous to current static external lifting devices, which confirmed the increase of self-efficacy in both static and dynamic tasks. Individual data showed that the increase in self-efficacy was largest for participants, being greatly restricted by their low-back pain. In the focus group, employees confirmed that they are mostly open to wearing the exoskeleton if they suffer from low-back pain. Conclusion If potential challenges, e.g. visibility and potential refusal of wearing an exoskeleton are considered in the implementation strategy, acceptability of and self-efficacy in using the passive trunk exoskeleton would be further improved, potentially contributing to reduced risk of low-back pain.
What are the determinants of the willingness to share rides in pooled on-demand services?
Authors: Alonso-González María J. , Cats Oded , van Oort Niels , Hoogendoorn-Lanser Sascha , Hoogendoorn Serge 
Published: May 2020

AbstractSimulation studies suggest that pooled on-demand services (also referred to as Demand Responsive Transport, ridesharing, shared ride-hailing or shared ridesourcing services) have the potential to bring large benefits to urban areas while inducing limited time losses for their users. However, in reality, the large majority of users request individual rides (and not pooled rides) in existing on-demand services, leading to increases in motorised vehicle miles travelled. In this study, we investigate to what extent fare discounts, additional travel time, and the (un)willingness to share the ride with (different numbers of) other passengers play a role in the decision of individuals to share rides. To this end, we design a stated preference study targeting Dutch urban individuals. In our research, we (1) disentangle the sharing aspect from related time–cost trade-offs (e.g. detours), (2) investigate preference heterogeneity regarding the studied attributes and identify distinct market segments, and (3) simulate scenarios to understand the impact of the obtained parameters in the breakdown between individual and pooled services. We find that less than one third of respondents have strong preferences against sharing their rides. Also, we find that different market segments vary not only in their values of the willingness to share, but also in how they perceive this willingness to share (per-ride or proportional to the in-vehicle time). Further, the scenario analysis demonstrates that the share of individuals who are willing to share rides depends primarily on the time–cost trade-offs, rather than on the disutility stemming from pooling rides per se.
Information load in escalation situations: combustive agent or counteractive measure?
Authors: Roetzel Peter Gordon , Pedell Burkhard , Groninger Daniel 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThis experimental study analyzes how a key factor, information load, influences decision making in escalation situations, i.e., in situations in which decision makers reinvest further resources in a losing course of action, even when accounting information indicates that the project is performing poorly and should be discontinued. This study synthesizes prior escalation research with information overload and investigates how different levels of information load influence the escalation of commitment. Our findings reveal a U-shaped effect of information load: When decision makers face negative feedback, a higher information load mitigates the escalation tendency up to a certain point. However, beyond this point, more information reinforces the escalation tendency. Moreover, we find that the type of feedback affects self-justification, and we find a negative and significant interaction between information load and self-justification in negative-feedback cases. Thus, studies investigating escalation of commitment should control for self-justification and information load when utilizing high levels of information load. Finally, in the positive-feedback condition, higher information load encourages decision makers to continue promising courses of action, i.e., increases decision-making performance.