bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Hepatoprotective activity assessment of amino acids derivatives of picroside I and II
Authors: Dong PeiLiang , Gao ZhenLei , Yin Xin , Li ZhengQing , Han Hua 
Published: September 2020

AbstractPicrorhiza kurroa has a long medicinal history as a traditional medicinal plant in China and India that is widely used in clinical treatments. It is a common treatment for liver diseases, fever, diarrhoea, indigestion, and some other diseases. Modern pharmacological studies proved that P. kurroa rhizomes have high levels of picroside I and II, which were identified as main constituents with anti‐inflammatory and hepatoprotective activities. In our study, we used picroside I and II as the lead compounds to generate derivatives by reactions with Boc‐valine or Boc‐proline, which underwent dehydration and condensation with the hydroxyl groups in the lead compounds in the presence of coupling reagent N,N′‐dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. We synthesized 11 derivatives and examined their hepatoprotective effects in vitro by assessing the proliferation rates of H2O2‐exposed HepG2 cells using the 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. We found that some derivatives promoted higher proliferation rates in HepG2 cells than the natural compounds before derivatization, suggesting that those derivatives possessed an improved hepatoprotective capacity. The novel derivatization strategy for picrosides had the additional benefit that the esterification of their hydroxyl groups created derivatives not only with increased stability but also with improved pharmacokinetic properties and potentially prolonged half‐life.
Community‐based conservation strategies to end open access: The case of Fish Refuges in Mexico
Authors: Quintana Anastasia C.E. , Basurto Xavier 
Published: September 2020

AbstractSecure property rights are often seen as a precondition of incentives for long‐term sustainable use by communities dependent on natural resources. Securing formal property rights can be challenging in coastal small‐scale fisheries, which often operate under open access conditions. We argue that insecure, informal rights can offer one pathway for property‐rights regime change, and may also provide greater flexibility for developing sustainable fishing practices compatible with climate change adaptation, among other policy‐relevant outcomes. The process of establishing short‐term but renewable area‐based conservation tools, such as the Fish Refuges of Baja California Sur, Mexico, offers the opportunity to examine how community‐based strategies can generate incentives for conservation despite the lack of secure property rights. Using in‐depth qualitative methods, socioeconomic surveys, and ecological data from 2009 to 2019, we studied the process of engagement among fishers, civil society, and government. We focused on understanding the emerging transition from a scenario of open access and limited withdrawal property rights, toward locals' attaining of insecure defacto management and exclusion property rights and longer‐term visions of resource use and conservation. Altogether, this case illustrates the potential and limitations of Fish Refuges as an area‐based fisheries and conservation tool.
Risk of Metformin in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes With COVID‐19: A Preliminary Retrospective Report
Authors: Gao Yongchao , Liu Tao , Zhong Weijun , Liu Rong , Zhou Honghao , Huang Weihua , Zhang Wei 
Published: September 2020

The current outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection has spread across the world. No specific antiviral agents have been adequately evidenced for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Although metformin has been recommended as a host‐directed therapy for COVID‐19, there are some opposite views. The effects of metformin on the disease severity of patients with COVID‐19 with diabetes during hospitalization remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the effect of metformin on disease severity. We enrolled 110 hospitalized patients with COVID‐19 with diabetes prescribed either metformin or non‐metformin hypoglycemic treatment for a case‐control study. The primary outcome was the occurrence of life‐threatening complications. There were no differences between the two groups in age, sex, comorbidities, and clinical severity at admission. Blood glucose and lactate dehydrogenase levels of the metformin group were higher than those of the non‐metformin group at admission. Other laboratory parameters at admission and treatments after admission were not different between the two groups. Strikingly, the percentage of patients who experienced life‐threatening complications was significantly higher in the metformin group (28.6% (16/56) vs. 7.4% (4/54), P = 0.004). Antidiabetic therapy with metformin was associated with a higher risk of disease progression in patients with COVID‐19 with diabetes during hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio = 3.964, 95% confidence interval 1.034–15.194, P = 0.045). This retrospective analysis suggested a potential safety signal for metformin, the use of which was associated with a higher risk of severe COVID‐19. We propose that metformin withdrawal in patients with COVID‐19 be considered to prevent disease progression.
Discordant anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein and RNA staining in cutaneous perniotic lesions suggests endothelial deposition of cleaved spike protein
Authors: Ko Christine J. , Harigopal Malini , Gehlhausen Jeff R. , Bosenberg Marcus , McNiff Jennifer M. , Damsky William 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundPrior studies have shown the presence of immunohistochemical staining for the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein (SP) in endothelial cells and eccrine epithelium of acral perniosis classified as “COVID toes.” Yet, other studies have been unable to detect SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA in skin biopsies of “COVID toes” by reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction testing.ObjectiveIn order to address these apparently conflicting findings, we compared detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 SP, through RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) vs immunohistochemistry (IHC), in skin biopsies of acral perniotic lesions presenting during the COVID‐19 pandemic.ResultsThree of six cases showed positive immunohistochemical labeling of endothelial cells, with one of three cases with sufficient depth also having labeling of eccrine glands, using an anti‐SP SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody. These three cases positive with IHC were negative for SP by RNA ISH.ConclusionWhile the gold standard for detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 in tissue sections has yet to be determined, the detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 SP alone without spike RNA suggests that cleaved SP may be present in cutaneous endothelial cells and eccrine epithelium, providing a potential pathogenetic mechanism of COVID‐19 endotheliitis.
Research in practice: Therapeutic targeting of oncogenic GNAQ mutations in uveal melanoma
Authors: Gaffal Evelyn 
Published: September 2020

SummaryUveal melanoma is the most common form of eye cancer and has a poor prognosis. Although the primary tumor in most cases is treated effectively by local surgery or radiotherapy, over 50 % of patients develop systemic metastasis, especially in the liver. In contrast to cutaneous melanoma, there is no standard‐of‐care treatment for metastasized uveal melanoma. Recently, oncogenic driver mutations in GNAQ or GNA11 were identified in about 85 % of uveal melanomas, which lead to constitutively active signaling in the Gαq/11 pathway and its downstream effectors. Direct targeting of deregulated Gαq/11 signaling might therefore be a therapeutic option for patients with uveal melanoma. In our study we identified the cyclic depsipeptide FR‐900359, which is isolated from the evergreen plant Ardisia crenata as an effective inhibitor of constitutively active Gαq/11 proteins and their downstream targets. Although our data are preliminary, they might contribute to a future treatment option for patients with metastasized uveal melanoma.
Aiming at ecological validity—Midfrontal theta oscillations in a toy gun shooting task
Authors: Lange Leon , Osinsky Roman 
Published: September 2020

AbstractLaboratory electroencephalography (EEG) studies have already provided important insights into the neuronal mechanisms of performance monitoring. However, to our knowledge no study so far has examined neuronal correlates of performance monitoring using an ecologically valid task outside a typical laboratory setting. Therefore, we examined midfrontal theta and the feedback‐related negativity (FRN) using mobile EEG in a physical shooting task within an ecologically valid environment with highly dynamical visual feedback. Participants shot a target using a toy gun while moving and looking around freely. Shots that missed the target evoked stronger midfrontal theta activity than hits and this response was rather phase‐unlocked. There was no difference between misses and hits in the FRN. The results raise the question whether the absence of certain ERP components like the FRN could be due to methodological reasons or to the fact that partially different neuronal processes may be activated in the laboratory as compared to more ecologically valid tasks. Overall, our results indicate that crucial neurocognitive processes of performance monitoring can be assessed in highly dynamic and ecologically valid settings by mobile EEG.
Evolution of morphological but not aggressiveness‐related traits following a major resistance breakdown in the poplar rust fungus, Melampsora larici‐populina
Authors: Maupetit Agathe , Fabre Bénédicte , Pétrowski Jérémy , Andrieux Axelle , De Mita Stéphane , Frey Pascal , Halkett Fabien , Hayden Katherine J. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractCrop varieties carrying qualitative resistance to targeted pathogens lead to strong selection pressure on parasites, often resulting in resistance breakdown. It is well known that qualitative resistance breakdowns modify pathogen population structure but few studies have analyzed the consequences on their quantitative aggressiveness‐related traits. The aim of this study was to characterize the evolution of these traits following a resistance breakdown in the poplar rust fungus, Melampsora larici‐populina. We based our experiment on three temporal populations sampled just before the breakdown event, immediately after and four years later. First, we quantified phenotypic differences among populations for a set of aggressiveness traits on a universally susceptible cultivar (infection efficiency, latent period, lesion size, mycelium quantity, and sporulation rate) and one morphological trait (mean spore volume). Then, we estimated heritability to establish which traits could be subjected to adaptive evolution and tested for evidence of selection. Our results revealed significant changes in the morphological trait but no variation in aggressiveness traits. By contrast, recent works have demonstrated that quantitative resistance (initially assumed more durable) could be eroded and lead to increased aggressiveness. Hence, this study is one example suggesting that the use of qualitative resistance may be revealed to be less detrimental to long‐term sustainable crop production.
A smartly designed automated map based clustering algorithm for the enhanced diagnosis of pathologies in brain MR images
Authors: Senthilvel Vigneshwaran , Govindaraj Vishnuvarthanan , Zhang Yu‐Dong , Murugan Pallikonda Rajasekaran , Thiyagarajan Arun Prasath 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe competitive segmentation of fuzzy clustering is utilized in a greater manner to deal with the local spatial information of input medical images. Fuzzy clustering favours lesions and tumour identification through the segmentation process where less accuracy attainment and time complexity might be instigated for the identification of oddities. To rectify the above‐said problems, a novel methodology that encapsulates the combination of unsupervised neural network and fuzzy clustering processes, which effortlessly distinguishes the lesion and tumour region in MR brain images is developed through this study. The initial process of the proposed algorithm employs the histogram‐based feature extraction of the input images; whereof, a feature vector selection is made for the operation of self‐organizing map (SOM), which is a neural network functionary that progresses through the mapping process. Modification regarding the membership function of fuzzy entropy clustering (MFEC) is done based on the entropy value of the input image that results in quicker convergence. Finally, the updated objective function of MFEC algorithm augments the SOM result. It is found that the proposed SOM based MFEC algorithm is superior to other traditional segmentation algorithms, which have rendered the better visible understanding of the image. Further, the end‐results of the algorithm are verified through the evaluation of quantity metrics using ground truth of the brain MR images. The proposed SOM based MFEC algorithm precisely provides 82.26% of Jaccard value and 90.05% of Dice Overlap Index value, and these values prove better brain slices segmentation and provide enormous help to radiologists during patient diagnosis.
Rethinking Religious Marriages When Done Without Any Civil Marriage: Non‐Marriage, Neo‐Marriage, Marriage, or Something Else?
Authors: Broyde Michael J. , Peltzer Rachel M. 
Published: September 2020

In an era in which relationships that look like marriage, but are not civilly recognized as such, are common, states face questions of how to regulate these “quasi‐marital” relationships. Constitutional questions surround the regulation of consensual sexual relationships. In response, many states permit these relationships to occur with minimal governmental involvement. Some states may find, based on the couple's actions, that the individuals are common law married. Other states will simply never recognize the parties as married. Beyond marital status, some states find that the relationship has implications for support and benefits. Additional questions arise when the parties to a “quasi‐marital” relationship attempt to marry in the eyes of God, without also seeking a civil marriage. The regulation of a solely religious marriage is fraught with First Amendment concerns, and yet, many states criminalize the solemnization of a purely religious marriage in some fashion. How and whether these laws are enforced impact an individual's exercise of religion. Governmental non‐regulation of other premarital sexual arrangements suggests that there is no state interest in the regulation of a solely religious marriage.This Article provides a foray into the law that governs solely religious marriages. It addresses the factors that motivate individuals to enter into a religious marriage without also entering into a civil marriage, discusses models of religious marriage regulation abroad and within the United States, and provides insight into how the government treats quasi‐marital relationships in general. This Article advocates that states ought to treat all persons who have chosen to avoid the secular marriage process the same. That is, the regulation of individuals who have crafted a marital relationship that is purely religious should be consistent with the regulation of other non‐marital sexual arrangements. In deciding whether a solely religious marriage constitutes non‐marriage, neo‐marriage, marriage, or something else, the government should pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,1 which in this case is the existence of a religious marriage.
Trait‐based ecology at large scales: Assessing functional trait correlations, phylogenetic constraints and spatial variability using open data
Authors: Wilkes Martin A. , Edwards François , Jones J. Iwan , Murphy John F. , England Judy , Friberg Nikolai , Hering Daniel , Poff N. LeRoy , Usseglio‐Polatera Philippe , Verberk Wilco C. E. P. , Webb Jon , Brown Lee E. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe growing use of functional traits in ecological research has brought new insights into biodiversity responses to global environmental change. However, further progress depends on overcoming three major challenges involving (a) statistical correlations between traits, (b) phylogenetic constraints on the combination of traits possessed by any single species, and (c) spatial effects on trait structure and trait–environment relationships. Here, we introduce a new framework for quantifying trait correlations, phylogenetic constraints and spatial variability at large scales by combining openly available species’ trait, occurrence and phylogenetic data with gridded, high‐resolution environmental layers and computational modelling. Our approach is suitable for use among a wide range of taxonomic groups inhabiting terrestrial, marine and freshwater habitats. We demonstrate its application using freshwater macroinvertebrate data from 35 countries in Europe. We identified a subset of available macroinvertebrate traits, corresponding to a life‐history model with axes of resistance, resilience and resource use, as relatively unaffected by correlations and phylogenetic constraints. Trait structure responded more consistently to environmental variation than taxonomic structure, regardless of location. A re‐analysis of existing data on macroinvertebrate communities of European alpine streams supported this conclusion, and demonstrated that occurrence‐based functional diversity indices are highly sensitive to the traits included in their calculation. Overall, our findings suggest that the search for quantitative trait–environment relationships using single traits or simple combinations of multiple traits is unlikely to be productive. Instead, there is a need to embrace the value of conceptual frameworks linking community responses to environmental change via traits which correspond to the axes of life‐history models. Through a novel integration of tools and databases, our flexible framework can address this need.
Discontinued dental care attendance among people with dementia: A register‐based longitudinal study
Authors: Lexomboon Duangjai , Gavriilidou Nivetha Natarajan , Höijer Jonas , Skott Pia , Religa Dorota , Eriksdotter Maria , Sandborgh‐Englund Gunilla 
Published: September 2020

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the factors that increase the risk of discontinuing dental care utilisation after dementia is diagnosed in a population in Stockholm County, Sweden.BackgroundAs the progression of dementia results in a deteriorating ability to maintain good oral health, it is important to identify people at risk of discontinued dental care after being diagnosed with dementia.Materials and MethodsThis study is a register‐based longitudinal study. Data were extracted from the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem), the Swedish National Patient Register, the Dental Health Register and the Municipal Dental Care Register (Stockholm County Council). The data included people using both general public dental services and care‐dependent individuals. Dental visits three years before and after dementia had been diagnosed were analysed.ResultsIn total, 10 444 people were included in the analysis, of which 19% did not have dental visits recorded after they were diagnosed with dementia. A logistic regression model, adjusted for relevant factors, showed that the factors associated with a greater risk for discontinued dental attendance were fewer remaining teeth (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.95, 0.97) and living alone compared to living with another adult (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.43). People with Parkinson's disease dementia had a lower risk (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.19, 0.84) than people with Alzheimer's disease.ConclusionPatients, dental and healthcare personnel, and family members should all be aware of these risk factors so that appropriate support and oral care for people with dementia can be delivered.
Consumer decision‐making in omnichannel retailing: Literature review and future research agenda
Authors: Mishra Ruchi , Singh Rajesh Kumar , Koles Bernadett 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe emergence of omnichannel retailing has revolutionized the way traditional e‐commerce business operates, subsequently bringing fundamental changes to consumer expectations and decision‐making processes. Despite the unquestionable relevance of this area of inquiry, the focal literature concerning omnichannel retailing remains sporadic and fragmented. With this in mind, the purpose of the current paper is to provide a comprehensive and concise state of the art literature review on omnichannel retailing. More specifically, we engage and draw upon the cognitive‐affective‐conative model to understand consumer behaviour within the omnichannel retailing context. The current study is built based on a review of total 131 research papers that were identified following a comprehensive search of the Web of Science database, capturing the time period between January 2011 and April 2020. This set of work was reviewed thoroughly to explore the aims, methodology and key contributions. In addition to engaging a systematic assessment and rigorous evaluation of the studies, we also extend literature by studying the relationship between omnichannel retailing and consumer decision making, with specific attention to consumer motivation, attitude and behaviour towards omnichannel retailing. Previous studies suggest consumer behaviour in omnichannel retailing to be a promising yet underexplored area with several potential avenues for future research. Among these, particularly lucrative directions include theory‐driven research, comparative cross‐cultural studies and qualitative approaches that capture rich first‐hand accounts of consumer decision‐making encounters. The current paper is timely and advantageous because it offers a holistic picture of omnichannel retailing research and provides literature‐driven evidence about a range of relevant consumer behavioural dimensions. It also integrates consumer responses using the cognitive‐affective‐conative model to advance our understanding of consumer decision‐making in the omnichannel customer journey. Recommendations for future research are provided using the Theory, Methodology and Context (TMC) framework. We conclude the paper by discussing implications for academics and practitioners.