bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Convergent patterns of tissue-level distribution of elements in different tropical woody nickel hyperaccumulator species from Borneo Island
Authors: Abubakari Farida , Mesjasz-Przybyłowicz Jolanta , Przybyłowicz Wojciech J , van der Ent Antony 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
The Malaysian state of Sabah on the Island of Borneo has recently emerged as a global hotspot of nickel hyperaccumulator plants. This study focuses on the tissue-level distribution of nickel and other physiologically relevant elements in hyperaccumulator plants with distinct phylogenetical affinities. The roots, old stems, young stems and leaves of Flacourtia kinabaluensis (Salicaceae), Actephila alanbakeri (Phyllanthaceae), Psychotria sarmentosa (Rubiaceae) and young stems and leaves of Glochidion brunneum (Phyllanthaceae) were studied using nuclear microprobe (micro-PIXE and micro-BS) analysis. The tissue-level distribution of nickel found in these species has the same overall pattern as in most other hyperaccumulator plants studied previously, with substantial enrichment in the epidermal cells and in the phloem. This study also revealed enrichment of potassium in the spongy and palisade mesophyll of the studied species. Calcium, chlorine, manganese and cobalt were found to be enriched in the phloem and also concentrated in the epidermis and cortex of the studied species. Although hyperaccumulation ostensibly evolved numerous times independently, the basic mechanisms inferred from tissue elemental localization are convergent in these tropical woody species from Borneo Island.
Psychosocial Differences Between Transgender Individuals With and Without History of Nonsurgical Facial Injectables
Authors: Kelly Patrick J , Frankel Anne S , D’Avanzo Paul , Suppes Katie , Shanker Adrian , Sarwer David B 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
Considerable research has explored psychosocial characteristics of individuals who seek aesthetic procedures as well as psychological changes experienced after successful treatment. Little research, however, has explored the experiences of transgender individuals who have undergone nonsurgical injectable procedures (NSIPs).

Objectives
This study examined theoretically relevant psychosocial characteristics of transgender individuals who have and have not undergone NSIPs.

Methods
An online survey of demographic and psychosocial constructs was disseminated through transgender-specific support groups and Facebook groups from December 2019 to February 2020. Psychosocial measures included self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory), anticipated discrimination (Intersectional-Anticipated Discrimination), gender identity and physicality congruence (Transgender Congruence Scale), body image (Body Image Quality of Life Inventory), and overall satisfaction with facial appearance (FACE-Q Face Overall). The Mann–Whitney U test assessed differences by history of NSIPs, and the Kruskal–Wallis test assessed gender and racial differences. A P-value of &lt;0.05 was considered significant.

Results
Participants (N = 101) were transfeminine (n = 58), transmasculine (n = 31), gender-diverse (n = 12), and mostly (71%) white. Almost two-thirds of respondents (62%) reported using NSIPs; 6 participants reported undergoing NSIPs from non-licensed providers. History of NSIPs was associated with greater self-esteem (P &lt; 0.01), less anticipated discrimination (P &lt; 0.01), greater physicality and gender identity congruence(P &lt; 0.001), greater body image quality of life (P &lt; 0.001), and greater satisfaction with overall facial appearance (P &lt; 0.01).

Conclusions
Use of NSIPs was associated with more positive psychosocial symptoms. Experiences with NSIPs may play an important role in psychosocial functioning for transgender individuals.

Level of Evidence: 3
MGIDI: toward an effective multivariate selection in biological experiments
Authors: Olivoto Tiago , Nardino Maicon 
Published: November 2020

AbstractMotivationMultivariate data are common in biological experiments and using the information on multiple traits is crucial to make better decisions for treatment recommendations or genotype selection. However, identifying genotypes/treatments that combine high performance across many traits has been a challenger task. Classical linear multi-trait selection indexes are available, but the presence of multicollinearity and the arbitrary choosing of weighting coefficients may erode the genetic gains.ResultsWe propose a novel approach for genotype selection and treatment recommendation based on multiple traits that overcome the fragility of classical linear indexes. Here, we use the distance between the genotypes/treatment with an ideotype defined a priori as a multi-trait genotype–ideotype distance index (MGIDI) to provide a selection process that is unique, easy-to-interpret, free from weighting coefficients and multicollinearity issues. The performance of the MGIDI index is assessed through a Monte Carlo simulation study where the percentage of success in selecting traits with desired gains is compared with classical and modern indexes under different scenarios. Two real plant datasets are used to illustrate the application of the index from breeders and agronomists’ points of view. Our experimental results indicate that MGIDI can effectively select superior treatments/genotypes based on multi-trait data, outperforming state-of-the-art methods, and helping practitioners to make better strategic decisions toward an effective multivariate selection in biological experiments.Availability and implementationThe source code is available in the R package metan (https://github.com/TiagoOlivoto/metan) under the function mgidi().Supplementary informationSupplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Two siblings with early repolarization syndrome: clinical and genetic characterization by whole-exome sequencing
Authors: Steinfurt Johannes , Bezzina Connie R , Biermann Jürgen , Staudacher Dawid , Marschall Christoph , Trolese Luca , Faber Thomas S , Duerschmied Daniel , Zehender Manfred , Bode Christoph , Wilde Arthur A M , Odening Katja E , Lodder Elisabeth M 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Aims
The early repolarization syndrome (ERS) can cause ventricular fibrillation (VF) and sudden death in young, otherwise healthy individuals. There are limited data suggesting that ERS might be heritable. The aim of this study was to characterize the clinical phenotype and to identify a causal variant in an affected family using an exome-sequencing approach.

Methods and results
Early repolarization syndrome was diagnosed according to the recently proposed Shanghai ERS Score. After sequencing of known ERS candidate genes, whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed. The index patient (23 years, female) showed a dynamic inferolateral early repolarization (ER) pattern and electrical storm with intractable VF. Isoproterenol enabled successful termination of electrical storm with no recurrence on hydroquinidine therapy during 33 months of follow-up. The index patient’s brother (25 years) had a persistent inferior ER pattern with malignant features and a history of syncope. Both parents were asymptomatic and showed no ER pattern. While there was no pathogenic variant in candidate genes, WES detected a novel missense variant affecting a highly conserved residue (p. H2245R) in the ANK3 gene encoding Ankyrin-G in the two siblings and the father.

Conclusion
We identified two siblings with a malignant ERS phenotype sharing a novel ANK3 variant. A potentially pathogenic role of the novel ANK3 variant is suggested by the direct interaction of Ankyrin-G with the cardiac sodium channel, however, more patients with ANK3 variants and ERS would be required to establish ANK3 as novel ERS susceptibility gene. Our study provides additional evidence that ERS might be a heritable condition.
An online corpus for the study of historical dialectology:Oralia diacrónica del español
Authors: Calderón Campos Miguel , Díaz-Bravo Rocío 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThis article presents Oralia diacrónica del español (ODE: Spanish diachronic oral corpus), a new digital resource for the study of historical dialectology. This corpus was created using TEITOK, ‘a web-based framework for corpus creation, annotation, and distribution, that combines textual and linguistic annotation within a single TEI-based XML document’ (Janssen, 2016, p. 3047). ODE is a diachronic corpus of Spanish documents written between 1492 and the end of the 19th century that consists of two sub-corpora: a main corpus comprising of manuscripts from the old Kingdom of Granada (the modern-day provinces of Granada, Málaga, and Almería) and a control corpus comprising of documents from the Northern half of Spain. The texts include inventories of goods, witnesses’ testimonies in criminal trials and medical certificates. The final goal is to create a corpus of approximately 600,000 tokens, especially designed for the analysis of historical dialectal research. The new online corpus has successfully overcome the following difficulties: (1) It combines a philological/textual scholarship and a corpus linguistics approach. (2) It allows working in a single edition visualised in different formats by the end user in the digital resource. (3) Furthermore, it permits independent management, since scholars can upload and edit their work, having control over their own research without the need for an external person in charge of the digital resource.
Clinical Medicine for the MRCP PACES
Authors: Mehta Gautam , Iqbal Bilal , Bowman Deborah 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Volume 2 of a two volume MRCP text, this book includes cases which mimic the style and approach of the MRCP PACES exam. Clinical Medicine for MRCP PACES will equip the candidate attempting the MRCP examination with the skills and knowledge necessary for success, and will also provide an overview of evidence-based medicine for competency-based training. Throughout this and Volume 1, the authors explore all aspects of the candidate's performance, from clinical examination, to presentation, communication and medical ethics and up-to-date clinical evidence. Volume 2 includes 75 cases and covers Stations 2 and 4: Station 2 covers history taking skills; Station 4 covers communication skills and ethics. This book follows a structured approach to history taking and communication issues, which not only facilitates learning and understanding, but is also required for other workplace based assessments. This book will continue with the theme of Volume 1, in providing candidates with an accurate, authoritative, evidence-based companion for both the MRCP examination, and postgraduate training in the MMC era. Visit our website for details of our range of titles for MRCP and more in the Oxford Specialty Training series at www.oup.com/uk/medicine/ost http://www.oup.com/uk/medicine/ost Advance praise for Clinical Medicine for MRCP PACES: "The authors have produced two volumes packed with the information needed to pass PACES and to practise high quality medicine. While written specifically for those aspiring to be physicians these volumes deserve to be widely read by all with an interest in clinical medicine. Candidates in particular and patients have good reason to welcome these volumes." Sir Graeme Catto
Preparation and handling of peptides containing methionine and cysteine
Authors: Royo Miriam , Barany George 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Among the genetically encoded amino acid residues, methionine (Met) and cysteine (Cys) are special because they each contain an atom of sulphur. The present chapter describes how these residues are incorporated into peptides in the context of an Fmoc/tBu solid-phase synthesis strategy, as well as further considerations once the synthetic peptide is released from the support. Of added interest, some manipulations of Cys are advantageously performed at the level of the assembled peptide-resin, prior to cleavage. Many of the aspects discussed here also carry over to the preparation of peptides using a Boc/Bzl strategy. The major problems associated with management of Met reflect the susceptibility of the thioether to alkylation and oxidation. One of the merits of the Fmoc/tBu strategy, in contrast to Boc/Bzl, is that in the former strategy Met is usually introduced without recourse to a protecting group for the thioether side-chain. As documented in this chapter, a proper understanding of acidolytic cleavage conditions and the availability of selective procedures to reverse any inadvertent oxidation are likely to lead to success in obtaining homogeneous peptides containing Met. Management of Cys provides additional significant challenges. For some targets, Cys is required with its side-chain in the free thiol form, whereas for other targets, an even number of Cys residues pair with each other via disulphide linkage(s) to provide cystine residue(s). Disulphide bridges play an important role in the folding and structural stabilization of many natural peptides and proteins, and their artificial introduction into natural or designed peptides is a useful approach to improve biological activities/specificities and stabilities. Furthermore, use of a disulphide bridge is a preferred method to conjugate peptides to protein carriers for increasing the response in immuno-logical studies, to link two separate chains for developing discontinuous epitopes, and to generate active site models. This chapter describes Cys protecting groups, how they are removed to provide either free thiols or disulphides directly, and various strategies and practical considerations to minimize side reactions and maximize formation of the desired products. The thioether side-chain of Met is subject to alkylation and oxidation side reactions, either during the synthetic process or during subsequent handling of the Met-containing peptide.
Glycopeptide synthesis
Authors: Kihlberg Jan 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Most eukaryotic proteins, some bacterial and many viral proteins carry structurally diverse carbohydrates that are covalently attached through N- or O-glycosidic bonds to the side chains of asparagine, serine, threonine, hydroxylysine, tyrosine, and hydroxyproline. In nature, N-linked glycoproteins are assembled by post-translational, enzymatic attachment of a common oligosaccharide having the composition Glc3Man9GlcNAc2 to the side chain of asparagine. This saccharide is then modified enzymatically, thereby giving structural variation to the part remote from the protein. However, N-linked glycoproteins have a common pentasaccharide core (Manα3(Manα6)Manβ4GlcNAcβ4GlcNAc) in which the chitobiose moiety (GlcNAcβ4GlcNAc) is bound to asparagine. By contrast, O-linked glycoproteins are built up by sequential attachment of monosaccharides by different enzymes to hydroxylated amino acids in the protein, and therefore no common core is formed. Thus, N-acetyl-α-D-galactosamine attached to serine and threonine is found in mucin secreted from epithelial cells. β-D-Xylosyl serine is found in many proteoglycans, whereas β-D-galactosyl hydroxylysine is common in collagen found in connective tissue. α-L-Fucosyl residues linked to serine and threonine are found in fibrinolytic and coagulation proteins. N-Acetyl-β-D-glucosamine attached to serine and threonine occurs frequently in glycoproteins located in the nucleus and cytoplasm, whereas glycoproteins produced by yeast have α-D-mannosyl residues linked to serine and threonine. Larger structures are usually formed by attachment of additional saccharides to the O-linked 2-4 when found in glycoproteins. Structures 5,10, and 11 can also carry additional monosaccharides. In recent years numerous glycoproteins have been isolated and characterized, but the roles for the protein-bound carbohydrates have only just begun to be unravelled. It is now well established that glycosylation affects both the physiochemical properties and the biological functions of a glycoprotein. For instance, glycosylation has been found to influence uptake, distribution, excretion, and proteolytic stability. It is also known to have important roles in communication between cells and in attachment of bacteria and viruses to the host. Efforts to understand the role of glycosylation of proteins, or to develop glycopeptides as tools in drug discovery and drug design, have led to substantial progress in development of methodology for the synthesis of glycopeptides during the last decades.
Methods of preparing peptide-carrier conjugates
Authors: Drijfhout Jan W , Hoogerhout Peter 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
For many applications, peptides should be conjugated to carriers. An important example is the conjugation of peptides to proteins, carbohydrates, or lipids for immunological studies. Further examples are the preparation of peptide affinity media and the conjugation of peptides to suitable coating compounds on surfaces for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and plasma resonance. The most important consideration in designing conjugates is that the peptide part of the conjugate must retain its biological activity. This means that the site of activity of the peptide must not be involved in the conjugation reaction. However, the active part of the peptide is often not precisely known, which complicates the design of a proper conjugation strategy. In addition, if the peptide is a fragment of a larger biologically active protein, the small peptide will frequently not adopt the conformation (for instance, a loop structure) of the corresponding sequence in the native protein. This might also abolish desired biological properties, such as the possibility to induce functional antibodies recognizing the native protein. In that case, appropriate artificial conformational restrictions should be introduced into the peptide - if possible. From the numerous conjugation methods available, only a few are described in this chapter. One example concerns the application of the homobifunctional cross-linker glutaraldehyde. Heterobifunctional cross-linking is illustrated by coupling of thiol-containing peptides or carriers to sulphydryl-reactive carriers or peptides, respectively. A general and easy method of conjugating peptides to proteins is to make use of homobifunctional cross-linkers. An example of a homobifunctional cross-linker is glutaraldehyde. This bis-aldehyde reacts with amine groups at neutral or basic pH to yield enamines, which can be reduced optionally to amines with sodium cyanoborohydride. The peptide and the protein react selectively via their N-terminus and/or lysine side chains to give not only a very complex mixture of products—peptide-peptide, peptide-protein, and protein-protein conjugates—but also large constructs containing peptide and protein. Typically, several peptide molecules per protein molecule are coupled. In view of the complex reaction pathway, the batch-to-batch reproducibility of the conjugate is difficult to control. If the peptide contains a lysine in the active part, it is recommended to extend the peptide N- or C-terminally with some additional lysines during synthesis in order to provide more amine groups for conjugation.
Instrumentation for automated solid phase peptide synthesis
Authors: Cammish Linda E , Kates Steven A 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
The concept of solid phase peptide synthesis introduced by Merrifield in 1963 involves elongating a peptide chain on a polymeric support via a two-step repetitive process: removal of the Nα-protecting group and coupling of the next incoming amino acid. A second feature of the solid phase technique is that reagents are added in large excesses which can be removed by simple filtration and washing. Since these operations occur in a single reaction vessel, the entire process is amenable to automation. Essential requirements for a fully automatic synthesizer include a set of solvent and reagent reservoirs, as well as a suitable reaction vessel to contain the solid support and enable mixing with solvents and reagents. Additionally, a system is required for selection of specific solvents and reagents with accurate measurement for delivery to and removal from the reaction vessel, and a programmer to facilitate these automatic operations is necessary. The current commercially available instruments offer a variety of features in terms of their scale (15 mg to 5 kg of resin), chemical compatibility with 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl/tert-butyl (Fmoc/tBu) and tert-butyloxycarbonyl/ benzyl (Boc/Bzl)-based methods, software (reaction monitoring and feedback control), and flexibility (additional washing and multiple activation strategies). In addition, certain instruments are better suited for the synthesis of more complex peptides such as cyclic, phosphorylated, and glycosylated sequences while others possess the ability to assemble a large number of peptide sequences. The selection of an instrument is dependent on the requirements and demands of an individual laboratory. This chapter will describe the features of the currently available systems. As the field of solid phase synthesis evolved, manufacturers designed systems based on the synergy between chemistry and engineering. A key component to an instrument is the handling of amino acids and their subsequent activation to couple to a polymeric support. The goal of an automated system is to duplicate conditions that provide stability to reactive species that might decompose. Standard protocols for automated synthesis incorporate carbodiimide, phosphonium, and aminium/uronium reagents, preformed active esters, and acid fluorides. For further details on coupling methods, see Chapter 3. A second issue related to coupling chemistry is the time required to dissolve an amino acid and store this solution.
MCQs for Cardiology Knowledge Based Assessment
Authors: Augustine Daniel , Leeson Paul , Khavandi Ali 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
The first MCQ preparation book on the market for the KBA in Cardiology, MCQs for Cardiology Knowledge Based Assessment features over 260 questions exactly mirroring the format and content of the exam. 11 focused sequences of questions are followed by detailed explanatory answers, which draw in the relevant aspects of the current syllabus, refer you to further reading and provide you with the broad base of knowledge the examiners expect. Written by a team of cardiology registrars and consultants with recent experience of the exam, the format is designed to give you hands-on experience of the level and type of questions you can expect in the real thing. In addition to a huge variety of images and case scenarios forming the basis of clinical question stems, the book is accompanied by a DVD featuring dozens of video loops - ranging from coronary angiograms to echocardiography - to help you become practised at responding to a clinical stimulus in the context of a Single Best Answer question. Covering the whole scope of the syllabus and offering a truly authentic experience of the exam, MCQs for Cardiology Knowledge Based Assessment is the insider's guide to the KBA, to ensure you gain both the confidence and knowledge to pass.