bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effect of nettle (Urtica dioica) supplementation on the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Ziaei Rahele , Foshati Sahar , Hadi Amir , Kermani Mohamad Ail Hojati , Ghavami Abed , Clark Cain C.T. , Tarrahi Mohammad Javad 
Published: December 2019

AbstractType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major health problem, worldwide, that is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Several randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) have investigated the effect of nettle (Urtica dioica) supplementation on markers of glycemic status in patients with T2DM, with conflicting results. Therefore, the present study assessed the effect of nettle on some glycemic parameters in patients with T2DM. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, from database inception up to June 2019, to identify RCTs investigating the effect of nettle supplementation on glycemic markers, including fasting blood sugar (FBS) concentrations, insulin levels, homeostasis model assessment‐estimated insulin resistance index, and glycosylated hemoglobin percentage in adults with T2DM. The Cochrane Collaboration tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Results of this meta‐analysis were reported based on the random effects model. Eight RCTs, comprising 401 participants, were included in the present systematic review and meta‐analysis. Based on the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool, five studies were considered as good quality, one was fair, and two studies were poor, respectively. The results of the meta‐analysis revealed a significant reduction in FBS concentrations (weighted mean difference [WMD]: −18.01 mg/dl, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −30.04 to −5.97, p < .001, I2 = 94.6%) following nettle supplementation. However, no significant reduction was observed in insulin levels (WMD: 0.83 Hedges' g, 95% CI: −0.26 to 1.92, p = .13, I2 = 89.4%), homeostasis model assessment‐estimated insulin resistance index (WMD: −0.22, 95% CI: −0.83 to 0.40, p = .49, I2 = 69.2%), or glycosylated hemoglobin percentage (WMD: −0.77%, 95% CI: −1.77 to 0.22, p = .12, I2 = 83.0%). The findings of the present study suggest that nettle supplementation may be effective in controlling FBS for T2DM patients. However, further studies are needed to confirm the veracity of these results.
The effect of curcumin supplementation on clinical outcomes and inflammatory markers in patients with ulcerative colitis
Authors: Sadeghi Narges , Mansoori Anahita , Shayesteh Aliakbar , Hashemi Seyed Jalal 
Published: December 2019

Background and aimsCurcumin has anti‐inflammatory properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of curcumin on improvement of the disease activity in ulcerative colitis (UC).MethodsIn this randomized double‐blind clinical trial, 70 patients with mild‐to‐moderate UC were randomly assigned to curcumin (1,500 mg/day) or placebo intake for 8 weeks. Disease clinical activity, quality of life, serum levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α), high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) values, and complete blood count were measured.ResultsChanges in Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index score were significantly higher in the curcumin than the placebo group (–5.9 ± 2.08 vs. –2.1 ± 2.6; p = .001). The scores of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire‐9 and quality of life were significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (p = .006). Furthermore, the curcumin supplementation reduced the serum hs‐CRP concentration (–6.3 ± 13.6 vs. 3.7 ± 11.6 μg/ml; p = .01) and ESR levels significantly (–1.6 ± 2.7 vs. –0.09 ± 2.4 mm/hr; p = .02) in comparison with the control group. No significant changes were observed in the TNF‐α levels of both groups.ConclusionsConsumption of the curcumin supplement, along with drug therapy, is associated with significant improvement of the clinical outcomes, quality of life, hs‐CRP, and ESR in patients with mild‐to‐moderate UC.
Recent Progress in Commercial and Novel Catalysts for Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Light Alkanes
Authors: Wang Guowei , Zhu Xiaolin , Li Chunyi 
Published: December 2019

AbstractCatalytic dehydrogenation of light alkanes can effectively produce olefins and hydrogen. Even though Pt and CrOx‐based catalysts are widely applied in industry, research to improve the activity and stability of these catalysts continued. This review summarizes important achievements obtained in recent years, focusing on the development of supports, promoters and preparation methods of Pt and CrOx‐based catalysts, which mainly aimed to improve the dispersion of the active species and to enhance coke resistance. Furthermore, the high cost of Pt‐based catalysts and environmental problems encountered with CrOx‐based catalysts have spurred the development of alternative catalysts. The dehydrogenation performances and characteristics of promising alternative VOx‐, modified Ni‐ and Sn‐based catalysts are also reviewed. Comparison with the catalytic reforming process of naphtha further probes the necessity of catalyst acidity in these two different processes. The choice of the dehydrogenation reactor is discussed, and future perspectives and research directions are indicated.
Can marine‐derived fungus Neosartorya siamensis KUFA 0017 extract and its secondary metabolites enhance antitumor activity of doxorubicin? An in vitro survey unveils interactions against lung cancer cells
Authors: Ramos Alice A. , Castro‐Carvalho Bruno , Prata‐Sena Maria , Malhão Fernanda , Buttachon Suradet , Dethoup Tida , Kijjoa Anake , Rocha Eduardo 
Published: December 2019

AbstractDoxorubicin (Dox) is one of the most successful anticancer drugs in use. However, chemoresistance is one of the main limitations that patients face. Therefore, development of new strategies to improve the efficacy of Dox is needed. Marine‐derived fungi are especially promising sources of new anticancer compounds. In this work, antitumor activity of crude ethyl extract of the cultures of the marine‐derived fungus Neosartorya siamensis KUFA 0017 (NS), combined with Dox, was evaluated in six cancer cell lines. To evaluate possible mechanisms involved in the eventual improvement of Dox's cytotoxicity by NS extract, effects on DNA damage, cell death, ultrastructural modifications, and intracellular accumulation of Dox were assessed. The NS extract demonstrated a significant enhancement of Dox's cytotoxic activity in A549 cells, inducing DNA damage, cell death, and intracellular accumulation of Dox. Additionally, the cytotoxic effect of eight compounds, isolated from this extract, that is, 2,4‐dihydroxy‐3‐methylacetophenone‐(C1), nortryptoquivaline‐(C2), chevalone C‐(C3), tryptoquivaline H‐(C4), fiscalin A‐(C5), epi‐fiscalin‐C (C6), epi‐neofiscalin A‐(C7), and epi‐fiscalin A‐(C8), alone and combined with Dox was also evaluated in lung cancer cells. The cytotoxic effect of Dox was potentiated by all the isolated compounds (except C1) in A549 cells. Therefore, we concluded that NS extract potentiated cytotoxicity by inhibiting cell proliferation, increasing intracellular accumulation of Dox, and inducing cell death (possibly by an autophagic process). The isolated compounds also enhanced the activity of Dox, supporting the potential of this sort of combination. These data call for further studies to characterize drug interactions and underlying mechanisms.
High electric charges in M-theory from quiver varieties
Authors: Collinucci Andrés , Fazzi Marco , Morrison David R. , Valandro Roberto 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
M-theory on a Calabi-Yau threefold admitting a small resolution gives rise to an Abelian vector multiplet and a charged hypermultiplet. We introduce into this picture a procedure to construct threefolds that naturally host matter with electric charges up to six. These are built as families of Du Val ADE surfaces (or ALE spaces), and the possible charges correspond to the Dynkin labels of the adjoint of the ADE algebra. In the case of charge two, we give a new derivation of the answer originally obtained by Curto and Morrison, and explicitly relate this construction to the Morrison-Park geometry. We also give a procedure for constructing higher-charge cases, which can often be applied to F-theory models.
The large N phase diagram of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 SU(N) Chern-Simons theory with one fundamental chiral multiplet
Authors: Dey Anshuman , Halder Indranil , Jain Sachin , Minwalla Shiraz , Prabhakar Naveen 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
We study the theory of a single fundamental fermion and boson coupled to Chern-Simons theory at leading order in the large N limit. Utilizing recent progress in understanding the Higgsed phase in Chern-Simons-Matter theories, we compute the quantum effective potential that is exact to all orders in the ’t Hooft coupling for the lightest scalar operator of this theory at finite temperature. Specializing to the zero temperature limit we use this potential to determine the phase diagram of the large N$$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 2 supersymmetric theory with this field content. This intricate two dimensional phase diagram has four topological phases that are separated by lines of first and second order phase transitions and includes special conformal points at which the infrared dynamics is governed by Chern-Simons theory coupled respectively to free bosons, Gross-Neveu fermions, and to a theory of Wilson-Fisher bosons plus free fermions. We also describe the vacuum structure of the most general $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 1 supersymmetric theory with one fundamental boson and one fundamental fermion coupled to an SU(N ) Chern-Simons gauge field, at arbitrary values of the ’t Hooft coupling.
The importance of clinical and labour market histories in psychiatric disability retirement: analysis of the comprehensive Finnish national-level RETIRE data
Authors: Pirkola S. , Nevalainen J. , Laaksonen M. , Fröjd S. , Nurmela K. , Näppilä T. , Tuulio-Henriksson A. , Autio R. , Blomgren J. 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Objectives
Despite the stable incidence of mental disorders in Finland and Europe, mental health-related occupational disability has been increasing. We unveiled the paths to permanent psychiatric disability, recovery, or death, by analysing sequences of labour market participation.

Methods
The RETIRE register database includes information regarding all persons (n = 42,170) awarded an ICD-10 psychiatric disability pension between 2010 and 2015 in Finland. We identified clusters of typical paths of pre-retirement labour market history. Controlling for major mental disorders, age, and sex, we evaluated factors associated with returning to work (RTW), or death, over a 5-year follow-up period.

Results
Only 10.5% of the disabled subjects returned to work within the follow-up. Half of them ended up with a permanent disability pension. Seven distinguishable paths to disability were identified. Subjects in the cluster characterized by steady employment were relatively often females, lost their work ability due to affective disorders, and had the highest rate of returning to work (16.3%). Mortality was highest (9%) among the cluster characterized by long-term unemployment. Distributions of major diagnostic groups, as well as age and sex, differed between clusters. After their adjustment in the analysis of RTW or death, the identified labour market history paths prior to losing work ability remained as important independent prognostic factors for both outcomes.

Conclusions
The complex retirement process involves identifiable clinical and contextual associating factors. Labour market history patterns associate with varying prognoses after psychiatric retirement. Prolonged unemployment appears as a predictor of relatively poor prognoses, whereas employment indicates the opposite.
Plate-Nematic Phase in Three Dimensions
Authors: Disertori Margherita , Giuliani Alessandro , Jauslin Ian 
Published: December 2019

AbstractWe consider a system of anisotropic plates in the three-dimensional continuum, interacting via purely hard core interactions. We assume that the particles have a finite number of allowed orientations. In a suitable range of densities, we prove the existence of a uni-axial nematic phase, characterized by long range orientational order (the minor axes are aligned parallel to each other, while the major axes are not) and no translational order. The proof is based on a coarse graining procedure, which allows us to map the plate model into a contour model, and in a rigorous control of the resulting contour theory, via Pirogov-Sinai methods.
Biochemical characterization of an esterase from Clostridium acetobutylicum with novel GYSMG pentapeptide motif at the catalytic domain
Authors: Nagaroor Vijayalakshmi , Gummadi Sathyanarayana N 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Gene CA_C0816 codes for a serine hydrolase protein from Clostridium acetobutylicum (ATCC 824) a member of hormone-sensitive lipase of lipolytic family IV. This gene was overexpressed in E. coli strain BL21and purified using Ni2+–NTA affinity chromatography. Size exclusion chromatography revealed that the protein is a dimer in solution. Optimum pH and temperature for recombinant Clostridium acetobutylicum esterase (Ca-Est) were found to be 7.0 and 60 °C, respectively. This enzyme exhibited high preference for p-nitrophenyl butyrate. K M and k cat/K M of the enzyme were 24.90 µM and 25.13 s−1 µM−1, respectively. Sequence analysis of Ca-Est predicts the presence of catalytic amino acids Ser 89, His 224, and Glu 196, presence of novel GYSMG conserved sequence (instead of GDSAG and GTSAG motif), and undescribed variation of HGSG motif. Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed that Ser 89 and His 224 play a major role in catalysis. This study reports that Ca-Est is hormone-sensitive lipase with novel GYSMG pentapeptide motif at a catalytic domain.
Calcification Microstructure Reflects Breast Tissue Microenvironment
Authors: Gosling Sarah , Scott Robert , Greenwood Charlene , Bouzy Pascaline , Nallala Jayakrupakar , Lyburn Iain D. , Stone Nicholas , Rogers Keith 
Published: December 2019

AbstractMicrocalcifications are important diagnostic indicators of disease in breast tissue. Tissue microenvironments differ in many aspects between normal and cancerous cells, notably extracellular pH and glycolytic respiration. Hydroxyapatite microcalcification microstructure is also found to differ between tissue pathologies, including differential ion substitutions and the presence of additional crystallographic phases. Distinguishing between tissue pathologies at an early stage is essential to improve patient experience and diagnostic accuracy, leading to better disease outcome. This study explores the hypothesis that microenvironment features may become immortalised within calcification crystallite characteristics thus becoming indicators of tissue pathology. In total, 55 breast calcifications incorporating 3 tissue pathologies (benign – B2, ductal carcinoma in-situ - B5a and invasive malignancy - B5b) from archive formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded core needle breast biopsies were analysed using X-ray diffraction. Crystallite size and strain were determined from 548 diffractograms using Williamson-Hall analysis. There was an increased crystallinity of hydroxyapatite with tissue malignancy compared to benign tissue. Coherence length was significantly correlated with pathology grade in all basis crystallographic directions (P < 0.01), with a greater difference between benign and in situ disease compared to in-situ disease and invasive malignancy. Crystallite size and non-uniform strain contributed to peak broadening in all three pathologies. Furthermore, crystallite size and non-uniform strain normal to the basal planes increased significantly with malignancy (P < 0.05). Our findings support the view that tissue microenvironments can influence differing formation mechanisms of hydroxyapatite through acidic precursors, leading to differential substitution of carbonate into the hydroxide and phosphate sites, causing significant changes in crystallite size and non-uniform strain.
Efficient and Accurate Evaluation Methods for Concordance Measures via Functional Tensor Characterizations of Copulas
Authors: Dalessandro Antonio , Peters Gareth W. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThere is now an increasingly large number of proposed concordance measures available to capture, measure and quantify different notions of dependence in stochastic processes. However, evaluation of concordance measures to quantify such types of dependence for different copula models can be challenging. In this work, we propose a class of new methods that involves a highly accurate and computationally efficient procedure to evaluate concordance measures for a given copula, applicable even when sampling from the copula is not easily achieved. In addition, this then allows us to reconstruct maps of concordance measures locally in all regions of the state space for any range of copula parameters. We believe this technique will be a valuable tool for practitioners to understand better the behaviour of copula models and associated concordance measures expressed in terms of these copula models.
Assessment of groundwater quality status by using water quality index (WQI) and geographic information system (GIS) approaches: a case study of the Bokaro district, India
Authors: Verma Poornima , Singh Prasoon Kumar , Sinha Ritu Ranjan , Tiwari Ashwani Kumar 
Published: December 2019

AbstractOne hundred two groundwater samples were collected from the Bokaro district of Jharkhand state, India, during the pre-and post-monsoon seasons of the year 2014–2015. In the present study, groundwater samples were analysed for pH, TDS, TH, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl−, SO42−, HCO3−, F− and NO3− to evaluate the suitability of the groundwater for drinking purposes through geographic information system (GIS)-based water quality index (WQI) model. For quality assessment, values of analysed parameters of the groundwater samples were compared with the Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) and World Health Organization (WHO) water quality standards. The analytical results indicate slightly acidic to slightly alkaline nature of the groundwater in the study area. Concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3−, F−, NO3−, TDS and TH exceeded the desirable as well as permissible limits of drinking water quality standards recommended by the BIS (Indian Standard Drinking Water Specification, 2012) and WHO (Guidelines for drinking water quality: training pack, WHO, Geneva, 2004) in the study area during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. However, Na+, K+, Cl− and SO42− concentrations were within the permissible limits during both seasons. The hydrochemical analysis of the studied groundwater samples documented with ternary and Durov diagram revealed that most of the groundwater samples belong to HCO3− type of anions facies and no dominant type of cation facies. The GIS-based WQI maps for the study area indicate that the poor quality of water was found the maximum in the pre-monsoon season as compared to the post-monsoon season in the study area, respectively. The high values of WQI in the several groundwater samples of the Bokaro district indicate that water is not suitable for direct consumptions and it required sustainable treatment before its utilization for drinking uses.
An integrated study on change detection and environment evaluation of surface water
Authors: Guo Qiaozhen , Wu Xiaoxu , Sang Xiao , Fu Ying , Zang Yuchen , Gong Xuemei 
Published: December 2019

AbstractSurface water pollution is one of the serious environment pollution problems, posing threat to human and other creatures. Extraction, change detection and environment evaluation of surface water are prerequisite for water resource management. Undoubtedly, remote sensing data play an important role in these researches because of its large geographic coverage and high temporal frequency. In this study, the Tianjin Binhai New Area was chosen as the study area and the surface water extraction method Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) was used by combining with adaptive dynamic threshold to extract surface water and detect its change. Comparing with single-band threshold, model of multi-band spectral relationship, Iterative Self-organizing Data Analysis Technique Algorithm and MNDWI, MNDWI-based adaptive dynamic threshold method performed better, which considered the influence of background. Analysis on dynamic change of water showed the area of lake and river had increased and the area of seawater had decreased. Meanwhile, the correlation analysis between area change of surface water and impact factors indicated both climatic and anthropogenic factors made positive contribution to the present water environment situation. Finally, an improved model of surface water environment evaluation was established to evaluate water quality by combining genetic algorithm (GA) and backpropagation (BP) neural network model. And the test results proved that the optimized GA-BP neural network is better than the single BP neural network. The environment evaluation indicated that water quality of the Haihe River section in the study area was poor. Therefore, water environment protection should be strengthened in this area. Some suggestions on practical management were given accordingly.
Study of the impact of injection parameters on the performance of miscible sour gas injection for enhanced oil recovery
Authors: Kaita Aminu Yau , Ogolo Oghenerume , Wu Xingru , Mohammed Isah , Akpan Emmanuel Akaninyene 
Published: December 2019

AbstractSour gas reservoirs have faced critics for environmental concerns and hazards, necessitating a novel outlook to how the produced sour gases could be either utilized or carefully disposed. Over the years of research and practice, several methods of sour gas processing and utilization have been developed, from the solid storage of sulfur to reinjecting the sour gas into producing or depleted light oil reservoir for miscible flooding enhanced oil recovery. This paper seeks to investigate the impact of injection parameters on the performance of sour gas injection for enhance oil recovery. In designing a miscible gas flooding project, empirical correlations are used and the key parameter which impacts the phase behavior is identified to be the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP). A compositional simulator was utilized in this research work to study the effect of injection parameters such as minimum miscibility pressure, acid gas concentration, injection pressure and injection rate on the performance of miscible sour gas injection for enhanced oil recovery. The findings showed that methane concentration had a significant impact on the MMP of the process. Additionally, an increase in acid gas concentration decreases the MMP of the process as a result of an increase in gas viscosity, consequently extending the plateau period resulting in late gas breakthrough and increased overall recovery of the process.