bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Novel insights into the potential role of ion transport in sensory perception in Acanthamoeba
Authors: Siddiqui Ruqaiyyah , Roberts Stephen K. , Ong Timothy Yu Yee , Mungroo Mohammad Ridwane , Anwar Areeba , Khan Naveed Ahmed 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Background
Acanthamoeba is well known to produce a blinding keratitis and serious brain infection known as encephalitis. Effective treatment is problematic, and can continue up to a year, and even then, recurrence can ensue. Partly, this is due to the capability of vegetative amoebae to convert into resistant cysts. Cysts can persist in an inactive form for decades while retaining their pathogenicity. It is not clear how Acanthamoeba cysts monitor environmental changes, and determine favourable conditions leading to their emergence as viable trophozoites.

Methods
The role of ion transporters in the encystation and excystation of Acanthamoeba remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of sodium, potassium and calcium ion transporters as well as proton pump inhibitors on A. castellanii encystation and excystation and their effects on trophozoites.

Results
Remarkably 3′,4′-dichlorobenzamil hydrochloride a sodium–calcium exchange inhibitor, completely abolished excystation of Acanthamoeba. Furthermore, lanthanum oxide and stevioside hydrate, both potassium transport inhibitors, resulted in the partial inhibition of Acanthamoeba excystation. Conversely, none of the ion transport inhibitors affected encystation or had any effects on Acanthamoeba trophozoites viability.

Conclusions
The present study indicates that ion transporters are involved in sensory perception of A. castellanii suggesting their value as potential therapeutic targets to block cellular differentiation that presents a significant challenge in the successful prognosis of Acanthamoeba infections.
Open source 3D printable replacement parts for the WHO insecticide susceptibility bioassay system
Authors: Tomlinson Sean , Carrington Yates Henrietta , Oruni Ambrose , Njoroge Harun , Weetman David , Donnelly Martin J. , Hof Arjen E Van’t 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Background
Malaria vector control and research rely heavily on monitoring mosquito populations for the development of resistance to public health insecticides. One standard method for determining resistance in adult mosquito populations is the World Health Organization test (WHO bioassay). The WHO bioassay kit consists of several acrylic pieces that are assembled into a unit. Parts of the kit commonly break, reducing the capacity of insectaries to carry out resistance profiling. Since there is at present only a single supplier for the test kits, replacement parts can be hard to procure in a timely fashion.

Methods
Using computer-aided design software and widely available polylactic acid (PLA) filament as a printing material, we 3D designed and printed replacement parts for the WHO bioassay system. We conducted a comparison experiment between original WHO bioassay kits and 3D printed kits to assess congruence between results. The comparison experiment was performed on two Kenyan laboratory strains of Anopheles gambiae (s.s.), Kilifi and Mbita. Studentʼs t-tests were used to assess significant differences between tube types. Finally, we exposed the PLA filament to common solutions used with the bioassay kit.

Results
We were able to design and print functional replacements for each piece of the WHO bioassay kit. Replacement parts are functionally identical to and interchangeable with original WHO bioassay parts. We note no significant difference in mortality results obtained from PLA printed tubes and WHO acrylic tubes. Additionally, we observed no degradation of PLA in response to prolonged exposure times of commonly used cleaning solutions.

Conclusions
Our designs can be used to produce replacement parts for the WHO bioassay kit in any facility with a 3D printer, which are becoming increasingly widespread. 3D printing technologies can affordably and rapidly address equipment shortages and be used to develop bespoke equipment in laboratories.
Novel risk genes and mechanisms implicated by exome sequencing of 2572 individuals with pulmonary arterial hypertension
Authors: Zhu Na , Pauciulo Michael W. , Welch Carrie L. , Lutz Katie A. , Coleman Anna W. , Gonzaga-Jauregui Claudia , Wang Jiayao , Grimes Joseph M. , Martin Lisa J. , He Hua ,   PAH Biobank Enrolling Centers’ Investigators, Hirsch Russel , White R. James , Simon Marc , Badesch David , Rosenzweig Erika , Burger Charles , Chakinala Murali , Thenappan Thenappan , Elliott Greg , Simms Robert , Farber Harrison , Frantz Robert , Elwing Jean , Hill Nicholas , Ivy Dunbar , Klinger James , Nathan Steven , Oudiz Ronald , Robbins Ivan , Schilz Robert , Fortin Terry , Wilt Jeffrey , Yung Delphine , Austin Eric , Ahmad Ferhaan , Bhatt Nitin , Lahm Tim , Frost Adaani , Safdar Zeenat , Rehman Zia , Walter Robert , Torres Fernando , Bakshi Sahil , Archer Stephen , Argula Rahul , Barnett Christopher , Benza Raymond , Desai Ankit , Maddipati Veeranna , Shen Yufeng , Chung Wendy K. , Nichols William C. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractBackgroundGroup 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease with high mortality despite recent therapeutic advances. Pathogenic remodeling of pulmonary arterioles leads to increased pulmonary pressures, right ventricular hypertrophy, and heart failure. Mutations in bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 and other risk genes predispose to disease, but the vast majority of non-familial cases remain genetically undefined.MethodsTo identify new risk genes, we performed exome sequencing in a large cohort from the National Biological Sample and Data Repository for PAH (PAH Biobank,n = 2572). We then carried out rare deleterious variant identification followed by case-control gene-based association analyses. To control for population structure, only unrelated European cases (n = 1832) and controls (n = 12,771) were used in association tests. Empiricalpvalues were determined by permutation analyses, and the threshold for significance defined by Bonferroni’s correction for multiple testing.ResultsTissue kallikrein 1 (KLK1) and gamma glutamyl carboxylase (GGCX) were identified as new candidate risk genes for idiopathic PAH (IPAH) with genome-wide significance. We note that variant carriers had later mean age of onset and relatively moderate disease phenotypes compared to bone morphogenetic receptor type 2 variant carriers. We also confirmed the genome-wide association of recently reported growth differentiation factor (GDF2) with IPAH and further implicate T-box 4 (TBX4) with child-onset PAH.ConclusionsWe report robust association of novel genesKLK1andGGCXwith IPAH, accounting for ~ 0.4% and 0.9% of PAH Biobank cases, respectively. Both genes play important roles in vascular hemodynamics and inflammation but have not been implicated in PAH previously. These data suggest new genes, pathogenic mechanisms, and therapeutic targets for this lethal vasculopathy.
Developing a high-performance liquid chromatography fast and accurate method for quantification of silibinin
Authors: Bakhshi Faezeh , Molavi Ommoleila , Rashidi Mohammad Reza , Shayanfar Ali , Amini Hassan 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Objective
Silibinin is an antioxidant agent and is shown to have anticancer effects in different cancers including lung, breast, colorectal, liver, prostate, and kidney. There are challenges in the clinical use of silibinin. The main limitation is low solubility, poor oral absorption, and extensive hepatic metabolism. We aim to develop a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) sensitive method for quantification of silibinin in aqueous samples to quantify its concentration in new formulations. A reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) composed of C18 column as stationary phase and the mixture of methanol (90%) and water (10%) as mobile phase. The developed method was validated based on the established guidelines.

Results
The retention time for silibinin was seen in 2.97 min after injection. The calibration curve was drawn and the established method demonstrated a linear ranged from 10 to 100 µg/ml, with a correlation coefficient of 0.996. The sensitivity of the developed method was 10 µg/ml. The accuracy calculated in the range of 88–105.9% and the precision (as relative standard deviation) was between 2.7 and 10.9%. These results demonstrate that the developed method can be a fast and accurate method for quantification of silibinin in aqueous samples.
New delay-dependent observer-based control for uncertain stochastic time-delay systems
Authors: Miao Xiu-feng , Li Long-suo 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThis paper considers the problem of estimating the state vector of uncertain stochastic time-delay systems, while the system states are unmeasured. The system under study involves parameter uncertainties, noise disturbances and time delay, and they are dependent on the state. Based on the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional approach, we present a delay-dependent condition for the existence of a state observer in terms of a linear matrix inequality. A numerical example is exploited to show the validity of the results obtained.
Spectral analysis of the matrix Sturm–Liouville operator
Authors: Bondarenko Natalia P. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe self-adjoint matrix Sturm–Liouville operator on a finite interval with a boundary condition in general form is studied. We obtain asymptotic formulas for the eigenvalues and the weight matrices of the considered operator. These spectral characteristics play an important role in the inverse spectral theory. Our technique is based on an analysis of analytic functions and on the contour integration in the complex plane of the spectral parameter. In addition, we adapt the obtained asymptotic formulas to the Sturm–Liouville operators on a star-shaped graph with two different types of matching conditions.
Positive solutions of beam equations under nonlocal boundary value conditions
Authors: Wang Shenglin , Chai Jialong , Zhang Guowei 
Published: November 2019

AbstractIn this article, we study the fourth-order problem with the first and second derivatives in nonlinearity under nonlocal boundary value conditions
$$\begin{aligned}& \left \{ \textstyle\begin{array}{l}u^{(4)}(t)=h(t)f(t,u(t),u'(t),u''(t)),\quad t\in(0,1),\\ u(0)=u(1)=\beta_{1}[u],\qquad u''(0)+\beta_{2}[u]=0,\qquad u''(1)+\beta_{3}[u]=0, \end{array}\displaystyle \right . \end{aligned}$$ {u(4)(t)=h(t)f(t,u(t),u′(t),u″(t)),t∈(0,1),u(0)=u(1)=β1[u],u″(0)+β2[u]=0,u″(1)+β3[u]=0, where $f: [0,1]\times\mathbb{R}_{+}\times\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{R}_{-}\to \mathbb{R}_{+}$f:[0,1]×R+×R×R−→R+ is continuous, $h\in L^{1}(0,1)$h∈L1(0,1) and $\beta_{i}[u]$βi[u] is Stieltjes integral ($i=1,2,3$i=1,2,3). This equation describes the deflection of an elastic beam. Some inequality conditions on nonlinearity f are presented that guarantee the existence of positive solutions to the problem by the theory of fixed point index on a special cone in $C^{2}[0,1]$C2[0,1]. Two examples are provided to support the main results under mixed boundary conditions involving multi-point with sign-changing coefficients and integral with sign-changing kernel.
Investigation of the trends of electricity demands in Jordan and its susceptibility to the ambient air temperature towards sustainable electricity generation
Authors: Almuhtady Ahmad , Alshwawra Ahmad , Alfaouri Marwa , Al-Kouz Wael , Al-Hinti Ismael 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Background
Efficient production and reliable availability of electricity requires comprehensive understanding of load demand trends to plan and match production with consumption. Although electricity demand depends on a combination of cultural and economic conditions, weather conditions remain as the major driver. With increased capabilities of accurate predictions of weather, the importance of investigating and quantifying its impact on electricity demand becomes obvious. The electrical system in Jordan has been facing several challenges including the failure to respond to increased demands induced by extreme temperatures. This paper covers a clear gap in literature through presenting a detailed investigation of the electricity consumption trends and in identifying the susceptibility of these trends to weather.

Methods
This study relies on the statistical processing and analysis, through modeling of hourly electricity demands in Jordan in the period of 10 years between 2007 and 2016. Actual weather data was used employing the degree-day approach. The monthly, daily, and hourly seasonal variation indices were determined. Optimally formulated piecewise functions were used to track the thermal comfort zone and rate of increase in electricity demand for temperatures beyond it for each year. Moreover, the elasticity of polynomial functions was adopted to identify saturation points to thermally map the electricity consumption.

Results
The developed models successfully described the relationship between the daily electricity demand and the mean daily ambient temperature. The average comfort zone width was 4 °C and the average mean base temperature was 17.9 °C. The sensitivity of electricity demand to both high and low temperatures has increased on average, with 11% and 16.4% to hot and cold weather, respectively. Finally, the electricity demand in cooling was found to saturate at 32.9 °C, whereas it saturates for heating at 4.7 °C.

Conclusions
The electricity demand in Jordan observes seasonal trends in a consistent and predictable manner. An optimally formulated piecewise function successfully tracked the thermal comfort zone and the rate of increase in electricity demand for temperatures beyond it for each year of the study period. Finally, saturation heating and cooling temperatures were acquired from the elasticity of the daily electricity demands modeled against daily HDD and CDD.
Production, characterization, and cross-reactivity of a polyclonal antibody against Arabidopsis TARGET OF RAPAMYCIN
Authors: Shin Gyeong-Im , Moon Sun Young , Jeong Song Yi , Ji Myung Geun , Cha Joon-Yung , Kim Woe-Yeon 
Published: November 2019

AbstractTARGET OF RAPAMYCIN (TOR), a member of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related family of protein kinases, is encoded by a single, large gene and is evolutionarily conserved in all eukaryotes. TOR plays a role as a master regulator that integrates nutrient, energy, and stress signaling to orchestrate development. TOR was first identified in yeast mutant screens, as its mutants conferred resistance to rapamycin, an antibiotic with immunosuppressive and anticancer activities. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the loss-of-function tor mutant displays embryo lethality, but the precise mechanisms of TOR function are still unknown. Moreover, a lack of reliable molecular and biochemical assay tools limits our ability to explore TOR functions in plants. Here, we produced a polyclonal α-TOR antibody using two truncated variants of TOR (1–200 and 1113–1304 amino acids) as antigens because recombinant full-length TOR is challenging to express in Escherichia coli. Recombinant His-TOR1−200 and His-TOR1113−1304 proteins were individually expressed in E. coli, and a mixture of proteins (at a 1:1 ratio) was used for immunizing rabbits. Antiserum was purified by an antigen-specific purification method, and the purified polyclonal α-TOR antibody successfully detected endogenous TOR proteins in wild-type Arabidopsis and TOR orthologous in major crop plants, including tomato, maize, and alfalfa. Moreover, our α-TOR antibody is useful for coimmunoprecipitation assays. In summary, we generated a polyclonal α-TOR antibody that detects endogenous TOR in various plant species. Our antibody could be used in future studies to determine the precise molecular mechanisms of TOR, which has largely unknown multifunctional roles in plants.
Analysis of households’ vulnerability to food insecurity and its influencing factors in East Hararghe, Ethiopia
Authors: Sileshi Million , Kadigi Reuben , Mutabazi Khamaldin , Sieber Stefan 
Published: November 2019

AbstractPrevious studies on food insecurity in many developing countries, including Ethiopia, have mainly focused on current food insecurity, lacking theex-anteanalysis. An understanding of household vulnerability to food insecurity is critically important to inform the formulation of policies and strategies to enhance food security and reduce vulnerability to food insecurity among smallholder farmers. This paper analyses vulnerability to food insecurity of farming households using the vulnerability as expected poverty (VEP) approach. The paper is based on cross-section data collected from a sample of 408 households in East Hararghe, Ethiopia, selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The factors which influenced vulnerability to food insecurity were analyzed using the Feasible General Least Squares regression model. The results of analysis indicate that vulnerability to food insecurity increased with the age of household head (P < 0.1), and family size (P < 0.01). It decreased with access to improved seeds (P < 0.01), adoption of soil and water conservation (P < 0.01), size of cultivated land (P < 0.1), and access to credits (P < 0.1). Based on the intensity of their vulnerability, households were grouped as chronic food insecure (24.27%), transient food insecure (11.77%), highly vulnerable-food secure (18.38%), and low vulnerable-food secure (45.59%). Overall, about 54% of households were categorized as vulnerable to food insecurity. These included households who were food insecure at the time of the survey (36.02%) and those who were categorized as transient food secure group (18.38%). These findings imply that food insecurity policies and interventions in developing countries should focus not only on households that are currently food insecure, but also on those categorized as transient food insecure or households that are more likely to be food insecure in the near future.
Minding the adolescent in family-based inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa: a qualitative study of former inpatients’ views on treatment collaboration and staff behaviors
Authors: Nilsen Jan-Vegard , Hage Trine Wiig , Rø Øyvind , Halvorsen Inger , Oddli Hanne Weie 
Published: November 2019

AbstractBackgroundFor some young persons diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, treatment will inevitably involve phases where hospitalization is required. Inspired by the encouraging evidence-base for outpatient family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa, clinicians and program developers have started to incorporate outpatient family-based treatment principles into higher levels of care. During family-based inpatient treatment, collaborative efforts are largely directed toward the parents of the adolescent. Consequently, the therapeutic focus on the young person is more of an indirect one. With this study we aimed to understand how young persons with lived experience from a family-based inpatient treatment setting, where the adolescents were admitted together with their parents, viewed therapeutic aspects related to staff-patient collaboration and staff-related behaviors.MethodsThirty-seven semi-structured interviews of former adolescent inpatients were conducted. Participants’ post-treatment reflections were inductively analyzed by applying a thematic analytic framework.ResultsBased upon user perspectives from a treatment setting highly influenced by a family therapeutic approach, findings revealed that former inpatients prefer tailored treatment and a collaborative approach. Eight subthemes constituting two main themes emerged: 1)There are no ready-made solutions. Staff should facilitate collaboration by tailoring treatment toward the young person’s perspectives, and 2) Emphasizing skills that matter. Staff should display a non-judgmental stance, educate patients, stimulate motivation, enable activities and prevent iatrogenic effects during the stay.ConclusionsThis study adds valuable user perspectives to the ongoing work with adapting family-based frameworks into higher levels of care. Clinicians could benefit from viewing their practice from the standpoint of the young person’s post-treatment reflections. From their unique perspectives as having lived experience and hence, “insider knowledge” with a specific treatment situation, clinicians are reminded of the importance of being mindful on the young persons’ views.
Reply to comment by Vallée et al. on “Earthquake-induced prompt gravity signals identified in dense array data in Japan”
Authors: Kimura Masaya , Kame Nobuki , Watada Shingo , Ohtani Makiko , Araya Akito , Imanishi Yuichi , Ando Masaki , Kunugi Takashi 
Published: November 2019

AbstractDensity perturbations accompanying seismic waves are expected to generate prompt gravity perturbations preceding the arrival of P-waves. Vallée et al. (Science 358:1164–1168, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao0746) reported the detection of such pre-P-wave signals in broadband seismograms during the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. Kimura et al. (Earth Planets Space 71:27, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-019-1006-x) considered that their detection involved some uncertain points, including a concern regarding their signal processing procedure. Specifically, to remove the instrumental response, Vallée et al. (2017) applied acausal deconvolution to the seismograms truncated at the P-wave arrivals. Generally, acausal deconvolution produces artifacts at the edge of the time window. However, they did not present quantitative assessment whether the detected signals were artifacts due to the signal processing. To avoid this concern, Kimura et al. (2019) employed another procedure that eliminated acausal processes, resulting in the detection of a pre-P-wave signal with a statistical significance of 7σ in stacked broadband seismograms. Subsequently, Vallée et al. (Earth Planets Space 71:51, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-019-1030-x) commented that the procedure employed by Kimura et al. (2019) for the signal detection was inappropriate because it dismissed the low-frequency components of data. Although we admit the loss of low-frequency components in the data in Kimura et al. (2019), Vallée et al. (2019) have not yet provided a full account of the validity of their own procedure. Here, we assessed the validity of the procedure employed by Vallée et al. (2017) by quantitatively evaluating the magnitude of the acausal artifacts. First, we investigated how the input acceleration waveform, having an ideal signal-like shape, was distorted by their procedure. Their acausal deconvolution indeed generated a large-amplitude terminal artifact; however, it was removed by the causal band-pass filtering performed after the deconvolution and consequently became negligible. Next, we constrained the maximum amplitude of the artifact due to the noise in a seismogram and showed that it was sufficiently small compared to the reported signal amplitudes. These results suggest that the signal waveforms seen after their procedure were not artifacts but were representing the input acceleration with sufficient accuracy. Namely, their procedure well functions as a detection method for pre-P-wave signals. In the context of this validation, we replied to the comments of Vallée et al. (2019).