bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
microRNA‐454‐mediated NEDD4‐2/TrkA/cAMP axis in heart failure: Mechanisms and cardioprotective implications
Authors: Wang Yaowen , Pan Wei , Bai Xinyu , Wang Xukai , Wang Yan , Yin Yuehui 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe current study aimed to investigate the mechanism by which miR‐454 influences the progression of heart failure (HF) in relation to the neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally downregulated 4‐2 (NEDD4‐2)/tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA)/cyclic adenosine 3',5'‐monophosphate (cAMP) axis. Sprague‐Dawley rats were used to establish a HF animal model via ligation of the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery. The cardiomyocyte H9c2 cells were treated with H2O2 to stimulate oxidative stress injury in vitro. RT‐qPCR and Western blot assay were subsequently performed to determine the expression patterns of miR‐454, NEDD4‐2, TrkA, apoptosis‐related proteins and cAMP pathway markers. Dual‐luciferase reporter gene assay coupled with co‐immunoprecipitation was performed to elucidate the relationship between miR‐454, NEDD4‐2 and TrkA. Gain‐ or loss‐of‐function experiments as well as rescue experiments were conducted via transient transfection (in vitro) and adenovirus infection (in vivo) to examine their respective functions on H9c2 cell apoptosis and myocardial damage. Our results suggested that miR‐454 was aberrantly downregulated in the context of HF, while evidence was obtained suggesting that it targeted NEDD4‐2 to downregulate NEDD4‐2 in cardiomyocytes. miR‐454 exerted anti‐apoptotic and protective effects on cardiomyocytes through inhibition of NEDD4‐2, while NEDD4‐2 stimulated ubiquitination and degradation of TrkA protein. Furthermore, miR‐454 activated the cAMP pathway via the NEDD4‐2/TrkA axis, which ultimately suppressed cardiomyocyte apoptosis and attenuated myocardial damage. Taken together, the key findings of the current study highlight the cardioprotective role of miR‐454, which is achieved through activation of the cAMP pathway by impairing NEDD4‐2‐induced TrkA ubiquitination.
Information‐driven stock price comovement
Authors: Box Travis , Shang Danjue 
Published: May 2021

AbstractBy observing changes in stock price comovement for individual firm‐pairs, we can infer which types of information are consumed and incorporated into asset prices. Consistent with the predictions of the information‐driven comovement hypothesis, we find that stock price comovement is stronger when investors consume qualitative information about firms whose payoffs covary strongly with many others. Furthermore, as aggregate correlation falls, so does the demand for these high‐covariance signals. Our findings imply that investor information consumption choices are shaped by a market for information and that these choices can sometimes drive excessive stock price comovement.
Performance evaluation of a modified jaggery making plant: A comparative study
Authors: Kumar Rakesh , Kumar Mahesh 
Published: May 2021

AbstractJaggery is the unrefined form of concentrated sugarcane juice obtained by its continuous heating in traditional plants (TPs). The lack of technological advancements in these plants causes high bagasse consumption and low thermal efficiency. In present research work, a modified plant (MP) having two pans is fabricated to overcome these drawbacks. The improved plant has modified boiling and gutter pans with fins at the bottom to enhance its heat transfer capacity. A TP has also been fabricated and tested for comparison purpose. The performance of these plants has been compared on the basis of performance parameters. The rates of heat utilization (31.23%), water evaporation (32.92%), jaggery production (44.83%), and thermal efficiency (35.32%) of MP are found higher, while the rates of bagasse consumption (4.41%), heat generation (3.38%), heat loss (20.66%), temperature of exhaust gases (8.92%), and draft generated (6.12%) are observed lower than that of TP. The improvement in performance parameters of MP has reduced the concentration time in boiling pan by 8% which makes the plant an economical and fuel self‐sustainable. The actual results obtained for the plants have also been compared with theoretical values and observed in good agreement. The experimental errors have also been evaluated.Practical applicationsThe traditional jaggery manufacturing plants are tiny in size and run by the farmers on their own level with small investments. These plants are designed by local artisans without any technological advancements and are placed in decentralized sectors of India. Any technological upgradation requiring large investment would not be affordable for the farmers. The innovations involving very less investment and modifications in existing plants are acceptable. Moreover, innovations must be universal that can be implemented in different types and capacity of the plants. In present research work, fins are fitted at the bottom of boiling and gutter pans of a two pan jaggery manufacturing plant that enhanced the heat transfer capacity of pans and consequently, improved the overall performance of the plant. The fitment of fins at the bottom of pans is universal that needs very less investment and constructional changes, thus affordable for small investors.
Pressure‐induced modification of sodium caseinate techno‐functional properties
Authors: Costo Rocío , Sanz Pedro D. , Guignon Bérengère 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSodium caseinate (NaCas) is a quite common ingredient for the manufacture of food products because of its multiple techno‐functional properties. These properties might be enhanced or impaired by high‐pressure treatment, which could be employed both, as a preservation treatment or for transformation purposes. To check whether pressure could be able to produce changes in the techno‐functional properties of NaCas, aqueous solutions of NaCas at mass fractions of 0.026, and 0.052 were prepared and treated under pressures of 200 or 600 MPa during 15 min at 15, 30, or 60°C. Changes in turbidity, viscosity, foaming, gel‐forming, and emulsifying properties of the NaCas solutions before and after pressure–temperature treatments were measured. Turbidity analyses showed that casein aggregates were significantly modified after pressure treatments at 30°C and 60°C. Several techno‐functional properties of NaCas dispersions were concomitantly affected. This study suggests that some properties as viscosity, foamability, or water holding capacity are affected by high‐pressure treatments but as these changes are below 20%, NaCas should be considered as a pressure‐proof additive.
Nondestructive detection for Panax notoginseng powder grades based on hyperspectral imaging technology combined with CARS‐PCA and MPA‐LSSVM
Authors: Yao Kunshan , Sun Jun , Tang Ningqiu , Xu Min , Cao Yan , Fu Lvhui , Zhou Xin , Wu Xiaohong 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThis study investigated the feasibility of using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology to detect Panax notoginseng powder grades. The hyperspectral images of 240 Panax notoginseng powder samples were collected in the spectral range of 450–1,000 nm. Savitzky–golay (SG) and multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) were used to preprocess the original spectra. A method of combing competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the spectral data and eliminate the influence caused by the randomness of Monte Carlo (MC) sampling. The least‐squares support vector machine (LSSVM) modeling results showed that CARS‐PCA had better spectral information extraction performance than PCA and CARS, and two principal components were extracted for modeling. The average classification accuracy of PCA‐LSSVM, CARS‐LSSVM, and PCA‐CARS‐LSSVM was 88.33, 90.93, and 92.5%, respectively. To further improve the modeling accuracy, a marine predators algorithm least squares support vector machine (MPA‐LSSVM) model was proposed to identify the grades of Panax notoginseng powder. The result indicated that MPA‐LSSVM had higher modeling accuracy and stronger robustness than the other compared models, and the classification accuracy of the training set and test set was 96.67 and 95%, respectively. The results illustrated the potential of HSI technology as an effective tool in Panax notoginseng powder grades detection.Practical ApplicationThis study verified the feasibility of using HSI technology to detect the grades of Panax notoginseng powder. Two principal components were extracted, which were used for simplifying the LSSVM model based on full wavelengths. The simplified model achieved high classification accuracy (95%), which provides a basis for the design of a multispectral imaging system.
Preliminary evaluation of the short‐term outcomes of polytetrafluoroethylene mesh for pelvic organ prolapse
Authors: Nakai Kensaku , Hamuro Akihiro , Kitada Kohei , Tahara Mie , Misugi Takuya , Nakano Akemi , Koyama Masayasu , Tachibana Daisuke 
Published: May 2021

AbstractAimTension‐free vaginal mesh (TVM) surgery using synthetic polypropylene (PP) soft mesh had spread rapidly. However, the frequency of mesh‐related postoperative complications had increased, and PP was banned in April 2019. In Japan, however, transvaginal surgery using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) mesh had been approved. In this study, we evaluated the clinical outcome and quality of life (QOL) of the postoperative course using PP mesh and PTFE mesh (named “ORIHIME™”) in a combination surgery for utero‐sacral ligament suspension and anterior vaginal support using anterior TVM.MethodsThe vaginal hysterectomy and utero‐sacral ligament colpopexy augmented by anterior vaginal mesh implants using PP mesh and PTFE mesh were performed on patients with stage III to IV cystocele and uterine prolapse. The clinical outcome and QOL changes in their postoperative course were evaluated by comparing 15 cases of PP mesh and 13 cases of PTFE mesh.ResultsThere was no difference between the PP group and PTFE group in characteristics. No mesh‐related complications occurred during the follow‐up period. With regard to the pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP‐Q) score, no significant difference was found between the two groups. Comparing the postoperative QOL of both groups, the PTFE group had significantly higher values in two domains than PP group (SF‐12v2 questionnaire).ConclusionsWe used the world's first PTFE mesh to compare PP mesh with postoperative POP‐Q and QOL after the same surgery, with the same operator, and at the same institution. The results showed no significant difference between both mesh materials in the short‐term.
Interpersonal relationships and creativity at work: A network building perspective
Authors: Ozer Muammer , Zhang Guangxi 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe important role of social networks in creativity has long been recognized in the literature. However, research to date has primarily focused on the structural, informational, and relational dimensions of social networks in creativity. Acknowledging the importance of employees themselves, past research has also called for further research to study the human side of social networks in addition to their structural, informational, and relational dimensions. Addressing this research need, we studied the indirect relationship between employees’ tertius iungens orientation (i.e., their strategic, purposeful, and effortful behavior to either connect otherwise disconnected coworkers in their organization or facilitate preexisting relationships among them) and their creativity through their interpersonal relationships with their coworkers. In addition, we studied how this indirect relationship is moderated by the expectations of both the focal employees and their coworkers. Based on a multi‐source and multi‐wave survey study in one of the major Internet companies in the world, our results showed that employees with a tertius iungens orientation enjoyed high‐quality interpersonal relationships with their coworkers and in turn exhibited high levels of creativity. The results also indicated that while employees’ job aspirations positively moderated the relationship between their tertius iungens orientation and interpersonal relationships, their organizational status positively moderated the relationship between their interpersonal relationships and creativity. These results expand extant research in the area by showing how and under what conditions employees’ creativity is influenced by their strategic, purposeful, and effortful behaviors to take advantage of the benefits of social networks. Considering firms’ interest and efforts to increase employee creativity, our study also suggests that firms can increase employee creativity by hiring people with a strong tertius iungens orientation and training their existing employees about the value of such an orientation.
Poor sleep is associated with small hippocampal subfields in cognitively normal elderly individuals
Authors: Liu Che , Lee Sang H. , Hernandez‐Cardenache Rene , Loewenstein David , Kather Josefina , Alperin Noam 
Published: May 2021

SummaryRecent studies demonstrated reduced hippocampal volumes in elderly healthy individuals who are cognitively normal but poor sleepers. The association between sleep quality and the pattern of volume loss across hippocampal subfields (HSs) is not well known. Thus, it is the focus of the present study. Sleep quality was self‐assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The HS volumes were measured using sub‐millimetre in‐plane resolution T2‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging data. A total of 67 cognitively normal elderly individuals aged 60–83 years were classified into 30 normal sleepers with a PSQI <5 and 37 poor sleepers with a PSQI ≥5. The two groups were equivalent in age, gender distribution, ethnicity, education attainment, handedness and cognitive performance. Compared to normal sleepers, poor sleepers exhibited significantly lower normalised volumes in the left cornu ammonis field 1 (CA1), dentate gyrus (DG) and subiculum. In contrast, there were no significant differences in normalised grey and white matter volumes between the two groups. The global PSQI was negatively associated with the normalised volumes of the left CA1, DG and subiculum. Sleep duration was associated with the normalised volumes of the bilateral CA1, DG, left CA2 and subiculum. Verbal memory scores were associated with the left CA1 volume. In conclusion, poor sleep quality, especially insufficient sleep duration, was associated with volume loss in several HSs that are involved in specific learning and memory tasks. As the hippocampus does not regulate sleep, it is more likely that poor sleep leads to small hippocampi. Thus, based on this assumption, improving sleep quality of poor sleeper elderly individuals could benefit hippocampal health.
Spatial regulation of protein A in Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Zhang Ran , Shebes Mac A. , Kho Kelvin , Scaffidi Salvatore J. , Meredith Timothy C. , Yu Wenqi 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSurface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus play vital roles in bacterial physiology and pathogenesis. Recent work suggests that surface proteins are spatially regulated by a YSIRK/GXXS signal peptide that promotes cross‐wall targeting at the mid‐cell, though the mechanisms remain unclear. We previously showed that protein A (SpA), a YSIRK/GXXS protein and key staphylococcal virulence factor, mis‐localizes in a ltaS mutant deficient in lipoteichoic acid (LTA) production. Here, we identified that SpA contains another cross‐wall targeting signal, the LysM domain, which, in addition to the YSIRK/GXXS signal peptide, significantly enhances SpA cross‐wall targeting. We show that LTA synthesis, but not LtaS, is required for SpA septal anchoring and cross‐wall deposition. Interestingly, LTA is predominantly found at the peripheral cell membrane and is diminished at the septum of dividing staphylococcal cells, suggesting a restriction mechanism for SpA septal localization. Finally, we show that D‐alanylation of LTA abolishes SpA cross‐wall deposition by disrupting SpA distribution in the peptidoglycan layer without altering SpA septal anchoring. Our study reveals that multiple factors contribute to the spatial regulation and cross‐wall targeting of SpA via different mechanisms, which coordinately ensures efficient incorporation of surface proteins into the growing peptidoglycan during the cell cycle.
Early evidence of establishment of the tropical bedbug (Cimex hemipterus) in Central Europe
Authors: Balvín O. , Sasínková M. , Martinů J. , Nazarizadeh M. , Bubová T. , Booth W. , Vargo E. L. , Štefka J. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIn recent decades, the world has witnessed a remarkable resurgence of bedbugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae). Although populations of the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius L., expanded in temperate regions of its original distribution, the tropical bedbug, C. hemipterus (F.), increased its abundance in warmer regions, where it also had been historically distributed. However, C. hemipterus has recently been observed to be expanding to other areas, e.g. North Australia, Middle East, the United States and Russia. In other parts of Europe, few sporadic and ephemeral introductions of C. hemipterus were recorded until recently. We conducted an extensive sampling of European bedbug populations starting in 2002 and found that C. hemipterus has recently become locally established. Among 566 examined infestations, nearly all of which involved C. lectularius, C. hemipterus occurred in six infestations collected since 2019. In at least three cases, the social background of inhabitants of the infested properties indicated that tropical bedbugs likely spread within local communities. Using cytochrome oxidase subunit I, we linked five of the infestations to the most common haplotype found globally, and one to an African haplotype. In all infestations, we observed two kdr‐associated mutations in the sodium channel gene, which are also commonly found across the world.
Agents’ Self‐Routing for Blended Operations to Balance Inbound and Outbound Services
Authors: Legros Benjamin 
Published: May 2021

This study aims to evaluate the cost of agents’ self‐routing in a service system with inbound and outbound customers. We assume that inbound customers arrive over time depending on the waiting time offered, while outbound customers can be contacted at all times. Furthermore, agents are in control of routing decisions and are aware of the state of the system. Accordingly, they decide whether to serve an inbound or outbound customer, or to idle. The system manager seeks to provide a suitable trade‐off between agents’ choice of serving inbound and outbound customers by incentivizing their actions through linear payouts. Hence, there arises a problem of determining the cost of agents’ self‐routing, which can be interpreted as a variant of the principal‐agent problem where the agents’ efforts are directed toward selecting their routing policy. Through a Markov decision process, we show that the agents’ optimal policy is a reservation threshold policy for inbound customers, and express the compensation parameters that minimize staffing cost. We conclude that motivating idling decisions through linear payouts incurs high costs. This justifies the current practice of using automated routing in call centers. Moreover, paying for idling cannot reduce staffing cost. However, discriminating between delayed and non‐delayed customers in the reward structure presents a high potential of reducing agents’ pay. Finally, in situations where agents do not know the status of their colleagues, our analysis argues in favor of not revealing the state of the system to them through delay announcements when the objective waiting time is low.
Embodied spatial mobility (in)justice: Cycling refrains and pedalling geographies of men, masculinities, and love
Authors: Waitt Gordon , Buchanan Ian , Lea Tess , Fuller Glen 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThis paper seeks to better understand spatial mobility justice with reference to the bodily sensations of cycling, discerned here as different pedalling rhythms in emergent territories that our participants narrate as “love.” Differential or striated mobility is not just the result of gendered, classed, and racialised social norms but is productive of the frictions and affordances of these social hierarchies. We build on these arguments by asking the question: Are some places more affective than others in working for and against mobility justice for cyclists? This paper takes up this challenge by drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s notions of the refrain. In this way, mobility justice is conceptualised as repeated sequences of living that temporarily order space, time, bodies, and selves through which differential subjects and uneven spatial conditions are constituted. Through an appreciation of mobility justice as a mobile assemblage comprised of rhythmic qualities of spatiality, contingent subjects, embodied knowledge, and fleeting practice, the paper draws on the experiences of three men‐who‐cycle and drive to map processes of gendered, classed, sexed, and aged inclusion and exclusion from public space in the car‐dominated small city of Wollongong, Australia. Considering the politics of “love,” we explore the possibility of cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers to move together, or not, in proximity with each other.
Return to Preinjured Function Following Ankle Injury
Authors: Sciascia Aaron D. , Nitz Arthur J. , McKeon Patrick O. , Havens Jennifer , Uhl Timothy L. 
Published: May 2021

Athletic preinjury function is typically determined via subjective recall; however, obtaining preinjury function before injury occurs should be attempted in order to establish an individual baseline for postinjury comparison. The purpose of this study was to obtain preinjury baseline values for the Foot and Ankle Disability Index (FADI) and Foot and Ankle Disability Index sport version (FADISP), single-leg hop for distance, and Star Excursion Balance Test anterior reach and determine if athletes returned to those values following ankle injury. Out of 41 qualifying injuries, FADI/FADISP scores were significantly reduced at initial injury compared with baseline and all other time points (p < .001) but recovered by discharge. Single-leg hop and Star Excursion Balance Test recovered to baseline values by the discharge time point (p ≥ .98). Subjective and objective preinjury function can be reestablished by discharge from supervised treatment following low-grade ankle injury and maintained for at least 6 months following the cessation of treatment. However, testing metrics should be reviewed on an individual athlete basis, because group data may mask individual patient needs.