bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Method and its Composition for encapsulation, stabilization, and delivery of siRNA in Anionic polymeric nanoplex: An In vitro- In vivo Assessment
Authors: Raval Nidhi , Jogi Hardi , Gondaliya Piyush , Kalia Kiran , Tekade Rakesh K. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractSmall interfering RNA (siRNA) are synthetic RNA duplex designed to specifically knockdown the abnormal gene to treat a disease at cellular and molecular levels. In spite of their high potency, specificity, and therapeutic potential, the full-fledged utility of siRNA is predominantly limited to in vitro set-up. Till date, Onpattro is the only USFDA approved siRNA therapeutics available in the clinic. The lack of a reliable in vivo siRNA delivery carrier remains a foremost obstacle towards the clinical translation of siRNA therapeutics. To address the obstacles associated with siRNA delivery, we tested a dendrimer-templated polymeric approach involving a USFDA approved carrier (albumin) for in vitro as well as in vivo delivery of siRNA. The developed approach is simple in application, enhances the serum stability, avoids in vivo RNase-degradation and mediates cytosolic delivery of siRNA following the endosomal escape process. The successful in vitro and in vivo delivery of siRNA, as well as targeted gene knockdown potential, was demonstrated by HDAC4 inhibition in vitro diabetic nephropathy (DN) podocyte model as well as in vivo DN C57BL/6 mice model. The developed approach has been tested using HDAC4 siRNA as a model therapeutics, while the application can also be extended to other gene therapeutics including micro RNA (miRNA), plasmids oligonucleotides, etc.
Fine-scale population structure and ecotypes of anadromous Hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) across complex aquatic ecosystems revealed by NextRAD genotyping
Authors: Asaduzzaman Md , Wahab Md A. , Rahman Md J. , Nahiduzzzaman Md , Dickson Malcom W. , Igarashi Yoji , Asakawa Shuichi , Wong Li Lian 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe anadromous Hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) live in the Bay of Bengal and migrate to the estuaries and freshwater rivers for spawning and nursing of the juveniles. This has led to two pertinent questions: (i) do all Hilsa shad that migrate from marine to freshwater rivers come from the same population? and (ii) is there any relationship between adults and juveniles of a particular habitat? To address these questions, NextRAD sequencing was applied to genotype 31,276 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci for 180 individuals collected from six strategic locations of riverine, estuarine and marine habitats. FST OutFLANK approach identified 14,815 SNP loci as putatively neutral and 79 SNP loci as putatively adaptive. We observed that divergent local adaptations in differing environmental habitats have divided Hilsa shad into three genetically structured ecotypes: turbid freshwater (Western Riverine), clear freshwater (Eastern Riverine) and brackish-saline (Southern Estuarine-Marine). Our results also revealed that genes involved in neuronal activity may have facilitated the juveniles’ Hilsa shad in returning to their respective natal rivers for spawning. This study emphasized the application of fundamental population genomics information in strategizing conservation and management of anadromous fish such as Hilsa shad that intersect diverse ecotypes during their life-history stages.
Development of an improved and accessible diet for western corn rootworm larvae using response surface modeling
Authors: Huynh Man P. , Hibbard Bruce E. , Vella Michael , Lapointe Stephen L. , Niedz Randall P. , Shelby Kent S. , Coudron Thomas A. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is an important pest of maize (Zea mays L.). Published WCR diets contain corn root powder, which is not available for purchase, thereby limiting the practical use of diets containing this ingredient. We applied response surface modeling combined with mixture designs to formulate a WCR diet that does not require corn root powder. We developed the new formulation by systematically exploring eight protein ingredients from animal, plant, and yeast sources based on simultaneous evaluation of three life history parameters (weight, molting, and survival). This formulation (WCRMO-2) without corn root powder supported approximately 97% of larval survival and successful molting. Larval weight gain after 10 days of feeding on WCRMO-2 was 4-fold greater than that of larvae feeding on the current best published WCR diet. Additionally, there was no significant difference in these larval performance traits when larvae were reared on WCRMO-2 and the best proprietary WCR diet. A commercial version of WCRMO-2 was tested and found to perform comparably for these traits. These improvements met our goal of a diet comprised of available ingredients that supports performance of WCR larvae equal to or better than publicly available formulations and proprietary formulations.
Controlled biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles with Coffea arabica using factorial design
Authors: Keijok Wanderson Juvencio , Pereira Rayssa Helena Arruda , Alvarez Luis Alberto Contreras , Prado Adilson Ribeiro , da Silva André Romero , Ribeiro Josimar , de Oliveira Jairo Pinto , Guimarães Marco Cesar Cunegundes 
Published: November 2019

AbstractGreen synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has become incredibly popular, mainly by minimizing problems of environmental contamination and by being able to reduce, stabilize and potentially functionalize nanomaterials. Such compounds have possible applications in various areas, e.g., pharmaceuticals (drug delivery systems, cosmetics), textile industry (clothing with antimicrobial properties), diagnostic medicine (imaging, high efficiency biosensors), energy (solar panels), bioremediation, among others. However, the lack of reproducibility and information on the control mechanisms during synthesis have made the application of green-synthesized nanoparticles unfeasible. Thus, this study proposed the investigation of the main mechanisms affecting synthesis control, using factorial design for the preparation of gold nanoparticles with extract of Coffea arabica. We obtained stable (Zeta Potential, UV-vis and DLS), monodisperse, and quasi-spherical (TEM) nanoparticles, which presented adsorbed aromatic molecules (FTIR and RAMAN) and defined crystal structure (XRD), proving that the plant extract acted as a reducing agent, as well as a stabilizer and functionalizer for the synthesized nanostructures. The factorial design employed here to obtain gold nanoparticles with Coffea arabica extract allowed for a controlled and reproducible synthesis, enabling new possibilities for the application in several fields.
Effects of oxygen levels and a Lactobacillus plantarum strain on mortality and immune response of chickens at high altitude
Authors: Wang Lihong , Fu Guanhua , Liu Suozhu , Li Long , Zhao Xin 
Published: November 2019

AbstractChickens reared in high altitude regions suffer from a high mortality, possibly due to poor immune responses induced by hypoxia. This experiment was conducted to evaluate whether increasing the oxygen level or administration of a probiotic could improve mortality and immune response of chickens at high altitude (2,986 m above the sea level). One-d-old chickens were randomly allocated to 1 of 6 treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. The first factor was the oxygen level (low and high), while the second factor was the diet (basal diet, basal diet containing aureomycin, and basal diet plus L. plantarum). Increasing the oxygen level significantly reduced the mortality and improved immune responses. The levels of IgA, IgG, IL-10 and anti-BSA antibodies were significantly higher, while IL-1β, LITAF were significantly lower in chickens reared in the high-oxygen room. In the low-oxygen room, L. plantarum significantly decreased the mortality of chickens compared with the other 2 groups. Moreover, L. plantarum significantly increased the levels of IgA, anti-BSA antibodies, IL-10 and decreased IL-1β, LITAF compared with the control group. These results demonstrated that increasing oxygen level or administration of L. plantarum can improve health status of chickens in high altitude regions.
Association of select vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with the risk of tobacco-related cancers – a meta-analysis
Authors: Laczmanski Lukasz , Laczmanska Izabela , Lwow Felicja 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe observed increase in morbidity and mortality due to tobacco-related cancers, especially those in the respiratory system and esophagus, is becoming a public health challenge. Smoking cigarettes is one of the main risk factors predisposing individuals to many types of cancers. The aim of this study was to determine the role of select vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms as risk factors in tobacco-related cancers. The MEDLINE and ResearchGate databases were used to search for articles up to June 2017, and 12 articles including 26 studies concerning FokI, ApaI, TaqI and BsmI polymorphisms and lung, neck, head, esophageal and oral cancers were chosen. In total, 5 113 cases and 5 657 controls were included in the pooled analysis. We found a significant relationship between tobacco-related cancers and the occurrence of the “t” allele in the TaqI polymorphism of VDR. The occurrence of the “t” allele reduced the risk of tobacco-related cancers by 17% (OR = 0.83, 0.72–0.96 95% CI, p-value = 0.0114). Our analysis revealed that there is a correlation between the TaqI polymorphism of VDR and the risk of tobacco-related cancers.
Tumour-stroma ratio and 5-year mortality in gastric adenocarcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Kemi Niko , Eskuri Maarit , Kauppila Joonas H. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractTumour-stroma ratio (TSR) is a novel potential prognostic factor in cancers and based on the proportions of stroma and tumour area. The prognostic value of TSR in gastric cancer is incompletely known. The aim of this study was to estimate prognostic significance of TSR in gastric adenocarcinoma. A search of PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane and Scopus databases was performed. A meta-analysis was conducted on five-year survival in gastric cancer patients using inverse variance random-effects methods. The literature search yielded 5329 potential titles, of which a total of seven studies were eligible. Results of six studies including a total of 1779 patients were pooled in the meta-analysis. Only 23 (1.3%) of the patients received neoadjuvant therapy. All six studies had a cut-off of 50% for the proportion of stroma when dividing the patients into low- and high stroma groups. Low TSR (high amount of stroma) was strongly associated with increased five-year mortality (hazard ratio 2.19, 95% CI 1.69–2.85). In conclusion, TSR is a strong prognostic factor in gastric cancer. It could be used to estimate prognosis of gastric cancer patients not receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Further studies including patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy are recommended.
Subvastus Exposure Compared to Parapatellar Approach in Navigated Sequential Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty (SBTKA): A Prospective Randomized Study
Authors: Jhurani Anoop , Agarwal Piyush , Aswal Mukesh , Rasquinha Chetan , Srivastava Mudit 
Published: November 2019

AbstractSubvastus approach preserves the quadriceps mechanism and may lead to improved early functional outcomes as compared with a parapatellar approach in primary knee arthroplasty. We performed a prospective randomized study to test the hypothesis if subvastus approach improves patient- and physician-reported outcomes in navigated sequential bilateral knee arthroplasty when compared with the standard parapatellar approach. A total of 93 patients were allotted in each group after power analysis and randomization done by computer-generated sequence: group S by subvastus approach and control group P by parapatellar approach. The patient's ability to walk without an aid, range of motion, blood loss, tourniquet time, complications, Knee Society Score (KSS), Knee Society Functional Score (KSFS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), High Flexion Knee Score (HFKS), and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain were recorded preoperatively and postoperatively at 2 and 6 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months. Final follow-up was done at 2 years. There was no statistical difference in the patient's ability to achieve a straight leg raise (p = 0.88), walk without an aid (p = 0.25), leaving pain medication (p = 0.48), and mean duration of hospital stay (p = 0.58) between both groups. There was no difference in KSS, FS, KOOS, WOMAC, HFKS, and VAS at 2 weeks and later follow-ups. There was no significant difference in range of motion or lateral retinacular release in both groups. Blood loss was significantly less in group S (p < 0.05), but there was a higher rate of proximal wound dehiscence and delayed healing in subvastus group (p = 0.03). Subvastus approach does not improve patient- and physician-reported outcome measures except blood loss in computer-navigated sequential bilateral knee arthroplasty and has an increased incidence of wound healing problems. The Level of evidence for the study is I.
Cardiopulmonary Bypass Strategy to Facilitate Transfusion-Free Congenital Heart Surgery in Neonates and Infants
Authors: Boettcher Wolfgang , Dehmel Frank , Redlin Mathias , Sinzobahamvya Nicodème , Photiadis Joachim 
Published: November 2019

AbstractPriming the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit without the addition of homologous blood constitutes the basis of blood-saving strategies in open-heart surgery. For low-weight patients, in particular neonates and infants, this implies avoidance of excessive hemodilution during extracorporeal circulation. The circuit has to be miniaturized and tubing must be cut as short as possible to reduce the priming volume to prevent unacceptable hemodilution with initiating CPB. During perfusion, measures should be taken to prevent blood loss from the primary circuit to avoid replacement by additional volume. Favorable factors such as mild hypothermia/normothermia and high heparin concentrations during extracorporeal circulation promote earlier hemostasis after coming off bypass.Lower mortality score, first chest entry, higher hemoglobin concentration before going on bypass, and shorter CPB duration support transfusion-free CPB procedure. Reduced postoperative morbidity and mortality were observed when CPB was performed without blood transfusion. In our experience, this can be achieved in at least 70% of CPBs, even in low-weight patients.Bloodless CPB circuit priming should become a widespread reality, even in neonates and young infants, in any open-heart procedure.
Atrial Resection without Cardiopulmonary Bypass for Lung Cancer
Authors: Galetta Domenico , Spaggiari Lorenzo 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Background Results of resection of lung cancer invading left atrium (T4atrium) without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) remain controversial. We reviewed our experience analyzing surgical results and postoperative outcomes.
Methods Patients who underwent extended lung resection for T4atrium without CPB between 1998 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed using a prospective database.
Results The study included 44 patients (34 males and 10 females; median age: 63 years). Twenty-five patients underwent preoperative mediastinal staging and 27 received induction treatment (IT). Surgery included 40 (90.9%) pneumonectomies, 3 (6.8%) lobectomies, and 1 bilobectomy (2.3%). Pathological nodal status was N0 in 10 patients (22.7%), N1 in 18 (40.9%), and N2 in 16 (36.4%). Four patients receiving IT had a complete pathological response (9.1%). Eight (18.2%) patients had microscopic tumor evidence on atrial resected margins. Mortality was nil. The major complication rate was 11.4%, including one bronchopleural fistula, one cardiac herniation, and three hemothoraces, all requiring reintervention. The minor complication rate was 25.5%. After a median survival of 37 months (range: 1–144 months), 20 (45.4%) patients were alive. Five-year survival rate and disease-free interval were 39 and 45.8%, respectively. Patients with N0 and R0 disease had a best prognosis (log-rank test: p = 0.03 and p = 0.01, respectively). IT neither influenced survival nor postoperative complications. On multivariate analysis, pN0 (p = 0.04 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65–9.66] and negative atrial margins (p = 0.02 [95% CI: 0.96–8.35]) were positive independent prognostic factors.
Conclusions T4atrium is technically feasible without mortality and acceptable morbidity. Patients with N2 cancers should not be operated. T4atrium should not be systematically considered as a definitive contraindication to surgery.
Nucleation and dissociation of methane clathrate embryo at the gas–water interface
Authors: Liang Rongda , Xu Huijie , Shen Yuneng , Sun Shumei , Xu Jiyu , Meng Sheng , Shen Y. Ron , Tian Chuanshan 
Published: November 2019

Significance
Clathrate hydrates are of great current interest because of their relevance to energy and environment. Methane clathrate has attracted particular attention for being the world’s largest natural gas resources beneath permafrost and ocean sediments. Yet nucleation of clathrate is still a poorly understood process although its knowledge is crucial for control of clathrate formation and dissociation in many applications. In this work, we used sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy to probe water under high-pressure methane vapor, and found that nucleation and growth of methane clathrates start at methane–water interface. The spectral change with lowering temperature showed evidence that similar to usual crystal growth, clathrates begin to form when nuclei of cage-like methane–water complex structure at the water interface reach critical size.
Markovian approaches to modeling intracellular reaction processes with molecular memory
Authors: Zhang Jiajun , Zhou Tianshou 
Published: November 2019

Significance
Modeling intracellular processes has long relied on the markovian assumption. However, as soon as a reactant interacts with its environment, molecular memory definitely exists and its effects cannot be neglected. Since the Markov theory cannot translate directly to modeling and analysis of nonmarkovian processes, this leads to many significant challenges. We develop a formulation, namely the stationary generalized chemical-master equation, to model intracellular processes with molecular memory. This formulation converts a nonmarkovian question to a markovian one while keeping the stationary probabilistic behavior unchanged. Both a stationary generalized Fokker–Planck equation and a generalized linear noise approximation are further developed for the fast evaluation of fluctuations. These formulations can have broad applications and may help us discover new biological knowledge.
The role of land cover change in Arctic-Boreal greening and browning trends
Authors: Wang Jonathan A , Friedl Mark A 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Many studies have used time series of satellite-derived vegetation indices to identify so-called greening and browning trends across the northern high-latitudes and to suggest that the productivity of Arctic-Boreal ecosystems is changing in response to climate forcing at local and continental scales. However, disturbances that alter land cover are prevalent in Arctic-Boreal ecosystems, and changes in Arctic-Boreal land cover, which complicate interpretation of trends in vegetation indices, have mostly been ignored in previous studies. Here we use a new land cover change dataset derived from Landsat imagery to explore the extent to which land cover and land cover change influence trends in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) over a large (3.76 M km2) area of NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, which spans much of northwestern Canada and Alaska. Between 1984 and 2012, 21.2% of the study domain experienced land cover change and 42.7% had significant NDVI trends. Land cover change occurred in 27.6% of locations with significant NDVI trends during this period and resulted in greening and browning rates 48%–128% higher than in areas of stable land cover. While the majority of land cover change areas experienced significant NDVI trends, more than half of areas with stable land cover did not. Further, the extent and magnitude of browning and greening trends varied substantially as a function of land cover class and land cover change type. Forest disturbance from fire and timber harvest drove over one third of statistically significant NDVI trends and created complex mosaics of recent forest loss (as browning) and post-disturbance recovery (as greening) at both landscape and continental scale. Our results demonstrate the importance of land cover changes in highly disturbed high-latitude ecosystems for interpreting trends of NDVI and productivity across multiple spatial scales.
Exploring the stationarity of Australian temperature, precipitation and pan evaporation records over the last century
Authors: Ukkola A M , Roderick M L , Barker A , Pitman A J 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Australia has experienced regional climate trends over recent decades with consequences for agriculture and water management. We investigate the statistical significance of these trends at annual and seasonal scales using the concept of stationarity. Using long-term high quality regional-scale observations of temperature, precipitation and pan evaporation (a measure of atmospheric evaporative demand), we find that despite highly significant increases in temperature that are non-stationary, few regions of Australia have experienced annual or seasonal changes in precipitation or pan evaporation that are outside the range of observed variability over the last century. Despite a common assumption of increasing water demand under a warming climate, atmospheric evaporative demand (as measured by pan evaporation) largely remains unchanged. This is because evaporative demand depends strongly on factors other than temperature. Similarly, seasonal and annual precipitation over the last century is found to be stationary in most (but not all) regions. These findings suggest that the Australian precipitation has largely remained within the bounds of observed variability to date and emphasises the need to better account for variability in water resource management.
Voter model on networks partitioned into two cliques of arbitrary sizes
Authors: Gastner Michael T , Ishida Kota 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
The voter model is an archetypal stochastic process that represents opinion dynamics. In each update, one agent is chosen uniformly at random. The selected agent then copies the current opinion of a randomly selected neighbour. We investigate the voter model on a network with an exogenous community structure: two cliques (i.e. complete subgraphs) randomly linked by X interclique edges. We show that, counterintuitively, the mean consensus time is typically not a monotonically decreasing function of X. Cliques of fixed proportions with opposite initial opinions reach a consensus, on average, most quickly if X scales as N
3/2, where N is the number of agents in the network. Hence, to accelerate a consensus between cliques, agents should connect to more members in the other clique as N increases but not to the extent that cliques lose their identity as distinct communities. We support our numerical results with an equation-based analysis. By interpolating between two asymptotic heterogeneous mean-field approximations, we obtain an equation for the mean consensus time that is in excellent agreement with simulations for all values of X.