bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sodium‐glucose cotransporter 2 inhibition does not reduce hepatic steatosis in overweight, insulin‐resistant patients without type 2 diabetes
Authors: Marjot Thomas , Green Charlotte J , Charlton Catriona A , Cornfield Thomas , Hazlehurst Jonathan , Moolla Ahmad , White Sarah , Francis Jane , Neubauer Stefan , Cobbold Jeremy FL , Hodson Leanne , Tomlinson Jeremy W 
Published: November 2019

Background and AimNon‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming the leading indication for liver transplant and is associated with increased cardiovascular and liver mortality, yet there are no licensed therapies. Sodium‐glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are widely used for their glucose‐lowering effects in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Preclinical models have suggested a beneficial impact on NAFLD, but clinical data are limited, and there are currently no data on patients without T2D. We aimed to investigate the impact of SGLT2 inhibition on NAFLD in overweight, nondiabetic patients and establish the effect these agents may have on the processes that regulate hepatic steatosis in vivo.MethodsWe conducted an open‐label, experimental medicine pilot study on insulin‐resistant overweight/obese individuals (n = 10) using gold‐standard noninvasive assessments of NAFLD phenotype, including magnetic resonance spectroscopy, two‐step hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps, and stable isotope tracers to assess lipid and glucose metabolism. Investigations were performed before and after a 12‐week treatment with the SGLT2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin.ResultsDespite a body weight reduction of 4.4 kg, hepatic steatosis was unchanged following treatment. Hepatic glucose production increased, and there was impairment of glucose disposal during the low‐dose insulin infusion. Although circulating, nonesterified, fatty acid levels did not change, the ability of insulin to suppress lipolysis was reduced.ConclusionsSGLT2 inhibition for 12 weeks does not improve hepatic steatosis in patients without T2D. Additional studies in patients with established T2D or impairments of fasting or postprandial glucose homeostasis are needed to determine whether SGLT2 inhibition represents a viable therapeutic strategy for NAFLD. (ClinicalTrials.gov Number NCT02696941).
MicroRNA‐425‐5p promotes breast cancer cell growth by inducing PI3K/AKT signaling
Authors: Zhang Li‐Feng , Zhang Ji‐Gang , Zhou Hao , Dai Tian‐Tian , Guo Feng‐Bao , Xu Shao‐Yong , Chen Yan 
Published: November 2019

AbstractMicroRNA‐425‐5p (miR‐425‐5p) has been reported to be involved in the tumorigenesis of several tumors, but its function in breast cancer is still unknown. In this study, miR‐425‐5p was found significantly upregulated in breast cancer cells, and predicted a poor prognosis for breast cancer patients. Overexpression of miR‐425‐5p could significantly promote breast cancer cell growth. Further studies showed that overexpression of miR‐425‐5p upregulated the protein levels of Cyclin D1, Cyclin D3, CDK4, and CDK6. However, inhibiting miR‐425‐5p downregulated their expression and induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. In mechanism, overexpression of miR‐425‐5p increased the phosphorylation of PI3K p85 and AKT, but inhibiting miR‐425‐5p displayed opposite effects. Moreover, miR‐425‐5p bound to the 3'UTR of PTEN mRNA, and downregulated the expression levels of PTEN in both mRNA and protein levels in breast cancer cells. Collectively, the results above demonstrated that miR‐425‐5p was involved in the tumorigenesis of breast cancer by inducing PI3K/AKT signaling and indicated that miR‐425‐5p could be as a potential target for breast cancer therapy in the future.
Microplastic occurrence and effects in commercially harvested North American finfish and shellfish: Current knowledge and future directions
Authors: Baechler Britta R. , Stienbarger Cheyenne D. , Horn Dorothy A. , Joseph Jincy , Taylor Alison R. , Granek Elise F. , Brander Susanne M. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractCommercial fisheries yield essential foods, sustain cultural practices, and provide widespread employment around the globe. Commercially harvested species face a myriad of anthropogenic threats including degraded habitats, changing climate, overharvest, and pollution. Microplastics are pollutants of increasing concern, which are pervasive in the environment and can harbor or adsorb pollutants from surrounding waters. Aquatic organisms, including commercial species, encounter and ingest microplastics, but there is a paucity of data about those caught and cultured in North America. Additional research is needed to determine prevalence, physiological effects, and population‐level implications of microplastics in commercial species from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Investigations into possible human health effects of microplastic exposure from seafood are also greatly needed. This synthesis summarizes current knowledge, identifies data gaps, and provides future research directions for addressing microplastics effects in commercially valuable North American fishery species.
Nonlinear control with integral sliding properties for circular aerial robot trajectory tracking: Real‐time validation
Authors: Ibarra‐Jimenez E. , Castillo P. , Abaunza H. 
Published: November 2019

SummaryA nonlinear control algorithm for tracking dynamic trajectories using an aerial vehicle is developed in this work. The control structure is designed using a sliding mode methodology, which contains integral sliding properties. The stability analysis of the closed‐loop system is proved using the Lyapunov formalism, ensuring convergence in a desired finite time and robustness toward unknown and external perturbations from the first time instant, even for high frequency disturbances. In addition, a dynamic trajectory is constructed with the translational dynamics of an aerial robot for autonomous take‐off, surveillance missions, and landing. This trajectory respects the constraints imposed by the vehicle characteristics, allowing free initial trajectory conditions. Simulation results demonstrate the good performance of the controller in closed‐loop system when a quadrotor follows the designed trajectory. In addition, flight tests are developed to validate the trajectory and the controller behavior in real time.
Nanoscale Spatial Separation to Regulate Gold Microstructures Formation
Authors: Balgley Renata , Rechav Katya , Lahav Michal , van der Boom Milko E. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractFlower‐like gold microstructures are directly formed from solution on the surface of nanometric molecular assemblies. We show that the size and morphology of these microstructures are controlled by the nanoscale thickness of the assemblies, which consist of ruthenium polypyridyl complexes crosslinked with a palladium salt. Gold electrodeposition on these ultrathin (3–15 nm) molecular assemblies, bound to a conductive substrate, follows an instantaneous nucleation regime that results in multiple small clusters. On thicker assemblies (15–55 nm) a progressive nucleation mode is dominant, which leads to the formation of larger (up to 50 times) and highly branched microstructures. The ability to control the characteristics of these microstructures by nanoscale assemblies is based on the mechanistic insights of the nucleation and growth processes obtained by electrochemical means and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurement.
Experimental investigations on hybrid strengthening of short reinforced concrete column elements under eccentric compression
Authors: Chellapandian Maheswaran , Prakash Shanmugam Suriya , Sharma Akanshu 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThis work experimentally investigates the efficacy of hybrid strengthening technique using a combination of near‐surface mounted (NSM) carbon fiber laminates and externally bonded (EB) carbon fiber‐reinforced polymer (CFRP) wraps for short reinforced concrete (RC) columns under eccentric loads. The performance of the hybrid FRP strengthened column elements was compared with the members strengthened using only NSM CFRP laminates or only EB CFRP wraps. The behavior of columns without and with different types of strengthening under concentric and eccentric compression was also compared. The tests showed that the RC column elements upgraded using hybrid strengthening displayed significant improvement in both the stiffness and strength, especially under eccentric compression. The performance improvement was primarily due to the substantial contribution of NSM laminates to the bending resistance. Existing analytical models were used to validate the observed behavior. The analytical results obtained had a close match when compared to the experimental results.
Extracellular vesicles in metabolic disease
Authors: Akbar Naveed , Azzimato Valerio , Choudhury Robin P. , Aouadi Myriam 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are submicron-sized lipid envelopes that are produced and released from a parent cell and can be taken up by a recipient cell. EVs are capable of mediating cellular signalling by carrying nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and cellular metabolites between cells and organs. Metabolic dysfunction is associated with changes in plasma concentrations of EVs as well as alterations in their EV cargo. Since EVs can act as messengers between parent and recipient cells, they could be involved in cell-to-cell and organ-to-organ communication in metabolic diseases. Recent literature has shown that EVs are produced by cells within metabolic tissues, such as adipose tissue, pancreas, muscle and liver. These vesicles have therefore been proposed as a novel intercellular communication mode in systemic metabolic regulation. In this review, we will describe and discuss the current literature that investigates the role of adipose-derived EVs in the regulation of obesity-associated metabolic disease. We will particularly focus on the EV-dependent communication between adipocytes, the vasculature and immune cells in type 2 diabetes.
Correlating the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology with Histology and Extent of Surgery: A Review of 21,746 Patients from Four Endocrine Surgery Registries Across Two Continents
Authors: Inabnet William B. , Palazzo Fausto , Sosa Julie Ann , Kriger Joshua , Aspinall Sebastian , Barczynski Marcin , Doherty Gerard , Iacobone Maurizio , Nordenstrom Erik , Scott‐Coombes David , Wallin Goran , Williams Lauren , Bray Rachel , Bergenfelz Anders 
Published: November 2019

AbstractBackgroundThe Bethesda system for cytopathology (TBSRTC) is a 6‐tier diagnostic framework developed to standardize thyroid cytopathology reporting. The aim of this study was to determine the risk of malignancy (ROM) for each Bethesda category.MethodsThyroidectomy‐related data from 314 facilities in 22 countries were entered into the following outcome registries: CESQIP (North America), Eurocrine (Europe), SQRTPA (Sweden) and UKRETS (UK). Demographic, cytological, pathologic and extent of surgery data were mapped into one dataset and analyzed.ResultsOut of 41,294 thyroidectomy patient entries from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2017, 21,746 patients underwent both thyroid FNA and surgery. A comparison of cytology and surgical pathology data demonstrated a ROM for Bethesda categories 1 to 6 of 19.2%, 12.7%, 31.9%, 31.4%, 77.8% and 96.0%, respectively. Male patients had a higher rate of malignancy for every Bethesda category. Secondary analysis demonstrated a high ROM in male patients with Bethesda 3 category aged 31–35 years (52.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 37.9–66.2%), aged 36–40 years (55.9%, 95% CI 39.2–72.6%) and aged 41–45 years (46.9%, 95% CI 33–60.9%). Patients with Bethesda 5 and 6 scores were more likely to undergo total thyroidectomy (65.9% and 84.6%); for patients with Bethesda scores 2 and 3, a higher percentage of females underwent total thyroidectomy compared to males in spite of a higher ROM for males.ConclusionsThese data demonstrate that Bethesda categories 1–4 are associated with a higher ROM compared to the first edition of TBSRTC, especially in male patients, and validate findings from the second edition of TBSRTC.
Was sagt die LAC-Depressionsstudie wirklich aus?
Authors: Kaiser Tim , Kolar David , Kok Robin N. , Schuster Raphael 
Published: November 2019

Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund
Kognitiv-behaviorale und psychodynamische Therapieverfahren befinden sich in einem Konkurrenzverhältnis, was den Nachweis ihrer Wirksamkeit angeht. Obwohl es bereits vergleichende Wirksamkeitsstudien gab, bilden diese oft nicht die Versorgungssituation in Deutschland ab. Anfang des Jahres wurden die Ergebnisse der „LAC-Depressionsstudie“ vorgelegt, die diese beiden Verfahren in einem naturalistischen Studiendesign vergleicht. Diese Ergebnisse suggerieren die gleiche Effektivität von kognitiver Verhaltenstherapie (KVT) und psychoanalytischer Therapie (PAT).

Material und Methode
Methodenkritische Betrachtung mehrerer, aus den Ergebnissen der LAC-Depressionsstudie publizierter Forschungsberichte, alternative Darstellung der primären Ergebnismaße relativ zur Anzahl der Behandlungssitzungen.

Ergebnisse
Die LAC-Depressionsstudie wich an entscheidenden Stellen vom vorher veröffentlichten Versuchsprotokoll ab. Die KVT erreicht die gleichen Ergebnisse mit deutlich weniger Therapiesitzungen. Das Versuchsdesign sowie die erreichte Stichprobengröße sind ungeeignet, um die in den Hypothesen vermuteten Effekte nachzuweisen.

Schlussfolgerungen
Aufgrund von methodischen Problemen, teils deutlichen Abweichungen vom Studienprotokoll und gravierenden Dosis-Wirkung-Unterschieden können die Ergebnisse dieser Studie jedoch nicht als Beleg für eine vermeintlich gleiche Effektivität von PAT und KVT gewertet werden.
Developing Soft Sensors for Polymer Melt Index in an Industrial Polymerization Process Using Deep Belief Networks
Authors: Zhu Chang-Hao , Zhang Jie 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
This paper presents developing soft sensors for polymer melt index in an industrial polymerization process by using deep belief network (DBN). The important quality variable melt index of polypropylene is hard to measure in industrial processes. Lack of online measurement instruments becomes a problem in polymer quality control. One effective solution is to use soft sensors to estimate the quality variables from process data. In recent years, deep learning has achieved many successful applications in image classification and speech recognition. DBN as one novel technique has strong generalization capability to model complex dynamic processes due to its deep architecture. It can meet the demand of modelling accuracy when applied to actual processes. Compared to the conventional neural networks, the training of DBN contains a supervised training phase and an unsupervised training phase. To mine the valuable information from process data, DBN can be trained by the process data without existing labels in an unsupervised training phase to improve the performance of estimation. Selection of DBN structure is investigated in the paper. The modelling results achieved by DBN and feedforward neural networks are compared in this paper. It is shown that the DBN models give very accurate estimations of the polymer melt index.
He who pays the piper calls the tune? Setting the stage for an informed discourse on third-party funding of academic business research
Authors: Fink Matthias , Hatak Isabella , Scholz Markus , Down Simon 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThird-party funding of academic research has grown rapidly in its scope and impact. However, several forces demand greater attention to potential opportunities, challenges and threats of third-party research funding. Adopting a historical approach rooted in Anglo-Saxon academia, we discuss what third-party research funding means for European business researchers, which opportunities and tensions arise, and how to best manage them in the interest of the diverse stakeholders of our field. Finally, we introduce the six papers in this special issue and how they move the conversation on third-party research funding forward. The evidence base provided here is composed of a rich blend of empirical data, reflections on personal experience and conclusions drawn from formal mathematical models. As a result, the collection of papers offers a kaleidoscope of the state-of-the-art of research on third-party funding of academic business research in Europe. The insights emerging from these six papers collapse into a clear overall picture with each paper contributing a distinct jigsaw piece, a picture we present and discuss in this paper.
The Elastin-Derived Peptide VGVAPG Does Not Activate the Inflammatory Process in Mouse Cortical Astrocytes In Vitro
Authors: Szychowski Konrad A. , Gmiński Jan 
Published: November 2019

AbstractDuring vascular aging or in pathological conditions in humans, elastin is degraded and its by-products, the elastin-derived peptides (EDPs), enter the blood circulation. EDPs may be detected in the serum of healthy subjects or people who suffered a stroke. Moreover, recent evidence suggests a potential role of inflammatory mechanisms in neurological conditions, which are usually not categorized as inflammatory. Therefore, the present in vitro study was conducted to investigate the impact of the VGVAPG peptide on the activation of inflammatory process in mouse primary astrocytes, which were maintained in phenol red-free DMEM/F12 supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. The cells were exposed to VGVAPG or VVGPGA peptides for 24 and 48 h; this was followed by the determination of the activity of caspase-1 and levels of SOD, CAT, PPARγ, NF-κB, IL-1β, and IL-1βR1. Furthermore, rosiglitazone—a PPARγ agonist—was applied. Our study pioneered the finding that the VGVAPG peptide increases caspase-1 activity in astrocytes in vitro. The VGVAPG peptide simultaneously decreases the release of IL-1β into the cell-culture medium from astrocytes.The ELISA method revealed that the VGVAPG peptide increases the protein expression of SOD1 whereas it decreases the expression of IL-1βR1, CAT, and NF-κB. Therefore, the available data suggest that the VGVAPG peptide (concentration 10 nM) synergistically acts with agonists of PPARγ in mouse astrocytes. However, given the lack of sufficient data to explain the molecular mechanism of action of the VGVAPG peptide in the nervous system, more studies in this area are necessary.
Hybrids and the Boundaries of Moral Considerability or Revisiting the Idea of Non-Instrumental Value
Authors: Holy-Luczaj Magdalena , Blok Vincent 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe transgressive ontological character of hybrids—entities crossing the ontological binarism of naturalness and artificiality, e.g., biomimetic projects—calls for pondering the question of their ethical status, since metaphysical and moral ideas are often inextricably linked. The example of it is the concept of “moral considerability” and related to it the idea of “intrinsic value” understood as a non-instrumentality of a being. Such an approach excludes hybrids from moral considerations due to their instrumental character. In the paper, we revisit the boundaries of moral considerability by reexamining the legitimacy of identifying intrinsic value with a non-instrumental one. We offer the concept of “functional value,” which we define as a simultaneous contribution to the common good of the ecosystem and the possibility to disclose the full variety of aspects of a being’s identity. We argue that such a value of hybrids allows us to include them into the scope of moral considerability.
A globally convergent hybrid conjugate gradient method with strong Wolfe conditions for unconstrained optimization
Authors: Kaelo P. , Mtagulwa P. , Thuto M. V. 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
In this paper, we develop a new hybrid conjugate gradient method that inherits the features of the Liu and Storey (LS), Hestenes and Stiefel (HS), Dai and Yuan (DY) and Conjugate Descent (CD) conjugate gradient methods. The new method generates a descent direction independently of any line search and possesses good convergence properties under the strong Wolfe line search conditions. Numerical results show that the proposed method is robust and efficient.
Competing for kayabo: gendered struggles for fish and livelihood on the shore of Lake Victoria
Authors: Medard Modesta , van Dijk Han , Hebinck Paul 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe dry-salted trade of Nile perch or kayabo is important for many along the shores of Lake Victoria. The kayabo trade started in the 1990s and has been increasingly restructured due to changing regional and global trade relationships. This shift has led to the emergence of hierarchical trading relations, which create an exploitative network in which powerful middlemen control the access of trade for women from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and marginalizes the Tanzanian women, changing the organization from a poly-centric to a more centralized trade organization in the hands of a small group of powerful business men. We show in this paper that whereas the women traders from the DRC manoeuvred themselves in positions from which they could manipulate the network through bribery and conniving to derive substantial capital gains from the kayabo trade, their Tanzanian counterparts however are excluded from the decision-making processes, access to fish resources, financial capital, and negotiation power. They persevere by operating in increasingly competitive markets, relying on illegal fish that they sell with little profit at local and domestic markets. They survive in jobs that are insecure and risky by nature.
Shadow Zones: Transparency and Pesticides Regulation in the European Union
Authors: HAMLYN Olivia 
Published: November 2019

AbstractIn recent years, pesticides have captured the attention of both policymakers and the general public. A particular focus has been the transparency of the EU-level procedure for approving active substances, spurred by controversies surrounding the active substance glyphosate. Active substances are the ingredient in pesticides with the pesticidal effect. Once an active substance is approved at EU level, the pesticide containing that active substance must be authorised by each Member State. For this purpose, the EU's 2009 Plant Protection Product Regulation divides Member States into three zones—Northern, Central, and Southern—within which, zonal rapporteur Member States evaluate applications for authorisation. National authorisation decisions are based on these zonal evaluations. This novel system governing pesticides is under-researched. Furthermore, unlike active substance approval, the transparency of pesticide authorisation escapes public and policy scrutiny. Drawing on empirical research conducted for the European Parliament, this article evaluates the transparency of the zonal pesticide authorisation procedure. It thus contributes to the literature on transparency a detailed exploration of transparency in a highly complex, decentred, and polycentric risk regulation regime. While it finds that the zonal pesticide authorisation procedure, generally speaking, does not operate transparently, it argues further that levels of transparency within the regime as a whole may vary significantly depending on multiple different factors. It introduces the concept of ‘chiaroscuro regulation’ to characterise and understand these varying levels of transparency across different elements of the regime and considers some of its implications.