bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TMP778, a selective inhibitor of RORγt, suppresses experimental autoimmune uveitis development, but affects both Th17 and Th1 cell populations
Authors: Lyu Cancan , Bing So Jin , Wandu Wambui S. , Xu Biying , Shi Guangpu , Hinshaw Samuel J. , Lobera Mercedes , Caspi Rachel R. , Lu Lin , Yang Jianfei , Gery Igal 
Published: September 2018

AbstractExperimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU), an animal model for severe intraocular inflammatory eye diseases, is mediated by both Th1 and Th17 cells. Here, we examined the capacity of TMP778, a selective inhibitor of RORγt, to inhibit the development of EAU, as well as the related immune responses. EAU was induced in B10.A mice by immunization with interphotoreceptor retinoid‐binding protein (IRBP). Treatment with TMP778 significantly inhibited the development of EAU, determined by histological examination. In addition, the treatment suppressed the cellular immune response to IRBP, determined by reduced production of IL‐17 and IFN‐γ, as well as lower percentages of lymphocytes expressing these cytokines, as compared to vehicle‐treated controls. The inhibition of IFN‐γ expression by TMP778 is unexpected in view of this compound being a selective inhibitor of RORγt. The observation was further confirmed by the finding of reduced expression of the T‐bet (Tbx21) gene, the transcription factor for IFN‐γ, by cells of TMP778‐treated mice. Thus, these data demonstrate the capacity of TMP778 to inhibit pathogenic autoimmunity in the eye and shed new light on its mode of action in vivo.
A Review on the Effects of Introducing CNTs in the Modification Process of Electrochemical Sensors
Authors: Beitollahi Hadi , Movahedifar Fahimeh , Tajik Somayeh , Jahani Shohreh 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThis review summarizes some developments in the fabrication of modified sensors and biosensors through the incorporating the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in their modification ingredients. A large number of papers have paid attention towards the application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as electrode constituents and studied its electrochemical behavior. Here, we survey the achievements in the detection of various substances with high selectivity and sensitivity provided using CNTs based electrodes. Moreover, modified electrodes by CNTs have demonstrated the electrocatalytic features and higher sensitivity in detection of analytes. The improved characteristics arises from the large surface area and good conductivity of CNTs. However, it should be considered that the use of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) or multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), the presence of impurities, and the chemical procedures adopted are effective on the performance of the modified sensors.
Novel Flow‐through Potentiometric System for Dimethyamine Assessment Using New Ion Exchangers Doped‐polymeric Membrane Sensors
Authors: Hassan Saad S. M. , Kamel Ayman H. , Abd El‐Naby Heba 
Published: September 2018

AbstractNew simple potentiometric sensing systems are described for the sensitive and selective monitoring of dimethylamine (DMA). These systems are based on using polymeric membranes doped in some ion exchangers such as dimethylamine/phosphomolybdate [(CH3)2NH3]22+[MP]2− (Sensor I), dimethylamine/tetraphenylborate [(CH3)2NH3]+[TPB]− (Sensor II) and dimethylamine/phosphotungstate [(CH3)2NH3]+[TP]− (sensor III). All the sensing systems are incorporated in poly(vinyl chloride) matrix plasticized with o‐NPOE. In a Trizma buffer solution of pH 7.1, the sensors exhibit a stable, fast and linear response for 5.0×10−6–1.0×10−2, 2.5×10−5–1.0×10−2, and 5.0×10−6–1.0×10−2 mol L−1 DMA+ with slopes of 53.2±0.4, 49.4±0.6, and 53.8±0.3 mV decade−1, and detection limits of 2.0×10−6 (0.16 μg mL−1), 1.6×10−5(1.3 μg mL−1), and 1.4×10−6 (0.11 μg mL−1) mol L−1 for sensors (I), (II), and (III), respectively. Potentiometric selectivity measurements of these sensors reveal negligible interferences from most common aliphatic and aromatic amines. Satisfactory results are obtained with an average accuracy of 99.5 % and a mean precision of ±0.5 %. Validation of the proposed assay methods are examined by measuring the limit of detection, linearity range, accuracy, precision, within‐day repeatability, between‐days reproducibility and method ruggedness. Good performance characteristics and applicability of these sensors for DMA assessment in different matrices under static and hydrodynamic modes of measurements are demonstrated. The proposed sensors are also prepared in a tubular form and used as DMA detector in a two‐channel flow injection setup for continuous monitoring. The frequency rate is 27–53 samples h−1. The sensors are satisfactory applied for DMA quantification in both biological matrices and environmental samples with recoveries ranging between 95.0 and 104.0 %.
Impedance Detection of 3‐Phenoxybenzoic Acid with a Noncompetitive Two‐site Phage Anti‐immunocomplex Assay
Authors: Pali Madhavi , Bever Candace R. S. , Vasylieva Natalia , Hammock Bruce D. , Suni Ian I. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractBoth direct and non‐competitive two‐site (sandwich) immunoassays are reported for 3‐phenoxybenzoic acid (3‐PBA) utilizing signal transduction by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and the sandwich immunoassay reduces the detection limit for this small molecule analyte by ∼70×. The direct EIS immunoassay utilizes a polyclonal antibody to 3PBA for biomolecular recognition, while the sandwich EIS immunoassay utilizes in addition a previously reported antiimmunocomplex M13 bacteriophage clone. For both immunoassays, the polyclonal antibody film is immobilized atop an Au electrode by amide bond formation. The direct EIS immunoassay exhibits a 3‐PBA sensitivity of 5.4×104 kΩ cm2 M1, and a detection limit of 2.5×10−4 M (54 μg/ml), while the sandwich EIS immunoassay exhibits a 3PBA sensitivity of 4.2×106 kΩ cm2 M−1, and a detection limit of 3.4×10−6 M (0.74 μg/ml). For the sandwich EIS immunoassay, a constant excess (80×109 PFU/ml) of bacteriophage is maintained during all experiments. This is the first report of a bacteriophage‐assisted sandwich EIS assay.
Recent Advances in the Construction of Biofuel Cells Based Self‐powered Electrochemical Biosensors: A Review
Authors: Fu Liangying , Liu Jingju , Hu Zongqian , Zhou Ming 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe application of biofuel cells (BFCs) for the construction of self‐powered electrochemical biosensors has recently received enormous attention with exciting advancements. The principle of BFCs for electrochemical biosensing is that the BFCs’ power output which is directly extracted by the biological reactions with the help of biocatalysts is closely related to the analyte's concentration. Such unique feature makes BFCs based electrochemical biosensors with two‐electrode system to be operated without the need of any external power source, which provides a more effective way for the miniaturization and convenient construction of electrochemical biosensors than the traditional electrochemical biosensors with three‐electrode system. Following our previous reviews (Electroanalysis 2012, 24, 197–209; Electroanalysis 2015, 27, 1786–1801), the current review is focused on the recent development and advances in the construction of BFCs based self‐powered electrochemical biosensors which are reported in the years between 2015 and 2018, with a particular emphasis on their possible practical applications in the fields of medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, food analysis and wearable devices. For these reported BFCs‐based self‐powered electrochemical biosensors, the design approaches are still within the scope of effects (i.e., substrate, inhibition, blocking, gene regulation, enzyme, co‐stabilization, competition, and hybrid effects) summarized by our previous reviews. The outlook, challenges and developing tendency of the future research for the construction of BFCs based self‐powered electrochemical biosensor are discussed in the end. We expect that the advanced electrochemical biosensors based on BFCs with the unique self‐powered capability will continue attracting increasing research interest and lead to new opportunities in various attractive applications related to analytical chemistry.
Streamlined microfluidic analysis of phosphopeptides using stable isotope‐labeled synthetic peptides and MRM‐MS detection
Authors: Deng Jingren , Ikenishi Fumio , Smith Nicole , Lazar Iulia M. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractModern high‐throughput and high‐content biological research is performed with advanced instrumentation and complex and time‐consuming protocols, which, as a whole, pose a challenge for routine implementation in a research laboratory. In support of a “bioanalytical toolbox” with potential utility for exploring cellular functions mediated via protein phosphorylation‐a post‐translational modification (PTM) with essential regulatory roles in a variety of cellular processes‐in this work, we describe the development of a simple, integrated microfluidic chip that can perform targeted, quantitative analysis of phosphopeptides involved in cancer‐relevant signaling pathways. The microfluidic device comprises microreactors packed with C18 and TiO2 particles for on‐chip solid phase extraction (SPE) and phosphopeptide enrichment, and an ESI interface for facilitating multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)‐mass spectrometry (MS) detection. The chips are demonstrated for the detection of three phosphopeptides involved in ERBB2/MAPK signaling pathways, selected from the outcome of a proteomic study involving EGF stimulation of SKBR3/HER2+ breast cancer cells. The data demonstrate that the proposed microfluidic strategy can be used for the MS quantification of phosphopeptides in the low nM range from cell lysates without any prior sample pretreatment, fractionation or bioaffinity enrichment, and is generally applicable to the analysis of any phosphopeptide targets.
Stability of reagents used for chiral amino acid analysis during spaceflight missions in high‐radiation environments
Authors: Creamer Jessica S. , Mora Maria F. , Willis Peter A. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe search for biosignatures on spaceflight missions requires in situ instrumentation capable of highly selective and sensitive organic analyses. To this end, CE–LIF is a uniquely promising technique, capable of determining the type, abundance, and chirality of amino acids present in environmental samples at nanomolar concentrations. However, this type of assay requires several reagents that have not yet been used on spaceflight missions. A key concern, particularly for future missions to Europa, is the survivability of these critical components for CE separation and LIF detection under high levels of radiation. Here we present an investigation of the chemical stability of the reagents and associated fused silica capillary after a total ionizing dose of 300 krad, exceeding the predicted total ionizing dose for the potential Europa Lander Mission payload by two‐fold. Neither the fused silica capillary nor the fluorescent dye (5‐carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester) showed significant change in performance following irradiation. Following the irradiation of the pre‐mixed background electrolyte, both migration time and resolution were affected. However, when the reagents (sodium tetraborate, sodium taurocholate, and γ‐cyclodextrin) and the acetonitrile solution were irradiated separately and mixed afterwards, there was no change in the separation performance.
Searching for biomarkers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using proteomics: The current state
Authors: Cagnone Maddalena , Salvini Roberta , Bardoni Anna , Fumagalli Marco , Iadarola Paolo , Viglio Simona 
Published: September 2018

AbstractDetection of proteins which may be potential biomarkers of disorders represents a big step forward in understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie pathological processes. In this context proteomics plays the important role of opening a path for the identification of molecular signatures that can potentially assist in early diagnosis of several clinical disturbances. Aim of this report is to provide an overview of the wide variety of proteomic strategies that have been applied to the investigation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a severe disorder that causes an irreversible damage to the lungs and for which there is no cure yet. The results in this area published over the past decade show that proteomics indeed has the ability of monitoring alterations in expression profiles of proteins from fluids/tissues of patients affected by COPD and healthy controls. However, these data also suggest that proteomics, while being an attractive tool for the identification of novel pathological mediators of COPD, remains a technique mainly generated and developed in research laboratories. Great efforts dedicated to the validation of these biological signatures will result in the proof of their clinical utility.
Running‐down phenomenon captured with chronic electrocorticography
Authors: Geller Aaron S. , Friedman Daniel , Fang May , Doyle Werner K. , Devinsky Orrin , Dugan Patricia 
Published: September 2018

SummaryThe running‐down phenomenon refers to 2 analogous but distinct entities that may be seen after epilepsy surgery. The first is clinical, and denotes a progressive diminution in seizures after epilepsy surgery in which the epileptogenic zone could not be completely removed (Modern Problems of Psychopharmacology 1970;4:306, Brain 1996:989). The second is electrographic, and refers to a progressive deactivation of a secondary seizure focus after removal of the primary epileptogenic zone. This progressive decrease in epileptiform activity may represent a reversal of secondary epileptogenesis, where a primary epileptogenic zone is postulated to activate epileptiform discharges at a second site and may become independent.3 The electrographic running‐down phenomenon has been reported in only limited numbers of patients, using serial postoperative routine scalp electroencephalography (EEG) (Arch Neurol 1985;42:318). We present what is, to our knowledge, the most detailed demonstration of the electrographic running‐down phenomenon in humans, made possible by chronic electrocorticography (ECoG). Our patient's left temporal seizure focus overlapped with language areas, limiting the resection to a portion of the epileptogenic zone, followed by implantation of a direct brain‐responsive neurostimulator (RNS System, NeuroPace Inc.) to treat residual epileptogenic tissue. Despite the limited extent of the resection, the patient remains seizure‐free more than 2 years after surgery, with the RNS System recording ECoG without delivering stimulation. We reviewed the chronic recordings with automated spike detection and inspection of electrographic episodes marked by the neurostimulator. These recordings demonstrate progressive diminution in spiking and rhythmic discharges, consistent with an electrographic running‐down phenomenon.
A small‐sample kernel association test for correlated data with application to microbiome association studies
Authors: Zhan Xiang , Xue Lingzhou , Zheng Haotian , Plantinga Anna , Wu Michael C. , Schaid Daniel J. , Zhao Ni , Chen Jun 
Published: September 2018

AbstractRecent research has highlighted the importance of the human microbiome in many human disease and health conditions. Most current microbiome association analyses focus on unrelated samples; such methods are not appropriate for analysis of data collected from more advanced study designs such as longitudinal and pedigree studies, where outcomes can be correlated. Ignoring such correlations can sometimes lead to suboptimal results or even possibly biased conclusions. Thus, new methods to handle correlated outcome data in microbiome association studies are needed. In this paper, we propose the correlated sequence kernel association test (CSKAT) to address such correlations using the linear mixed model. Specifically, random effects are used to account for the outcome correlations and a variance component test is used to examine the microbiome effect. Compared to existing genetic association tests for longitudinal and family samples, we implement a correction procedure to better calibrate the null distribution of the score test statistic to accommodate the small sample size nature of data collected from a typical microbiome study. Comprehensive simulation studies are conducted to demonstrate the validity and efficiency of our method, and we show that CSKAT achieves a higher power than existing methods while correctly controlling the Type I error rate. We also apply our method to a microbiome data set collected from a UK twin study to illustrate its potential usefulness. A free implementation of our method in R software is available at https://github.com/jchen1981/SSKAT.
Limited self‐control and longevity
Authors: Strulik Holger 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThis paper proposes a new framework to discuss self‐control problems in the context of life‐cycle health and longevity. Individual decisions are conceptualized as the partial control of impulsive desires of a short‐run self by a rationally forward‐looking long‐run self. The short‐run self strives for immediate gratification through consumption of health‐neutral and unhealthy goods. The long‐run self reflects the long‐term consequences of unhealthy behavior on health outcomes and longevity and invests time and money to improve current and future health. The model is calibrated with data from the United States and used to provide an assessment of the impact of imperfect self‐control on unhealthy consumption, health investments, lifetime health, and the age at death.
A hexagonal Fourier model of grid cells
Authors: Rodríguez‐Domínguez Ulises , Caplan Jeremy B. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractGrid cells in rat medial entorhinal cortex are widely thought to play a major role in spatial behavior. However, the exact computational role of the population of grid cells is not known. Here we provide a descriptive model, which nonetheless considers biologically feasible mechanisms, whereby the grid cells are viewed as a two‐dimensional Fourier basis set, in hexagonal coordinates, with restricted availability of basis functions. With known properties imposed in the model parameters, we demonstrate how various empirical benchmark findings are straight‐forward to understand in this model. We also explain how complex computations, inherent in a Fourier model, are feasible in the medial entorhinal cortex with simple mechanisms. We further suggest, based on model experiments, that grid cells may support a form of lossy compression of contextual information, enabling its representation in an efficient manner. In sum, this hexagonal Fourier model suggests how the entire population of grid cells may be modeled in a principled way, incorporates biologically feasible mechanisms and provides a potentially powerful interpretation of the relationship between grid‐cell activity and contextual information beyond spatial knowledge. This enables various phenomena to be modeled with relatively simple mechanisms, and leads to novel and testable predictions.
Implementation process and quality of a primary health care system improvement initiative in a decentralized context: A retrospective appraisal using the quality implementation framework
Authors: Eboreime Ejemai Amaize , Eyles John , Nxumalo Nonhlanhla , Eboreime Oghenekome Lauretta , Ramaswamy Rohit 
Published: September 2018

SummaryBackgroundEffective implementation processes are essential in achieving desired outcomes of health initiatives. Whereas many approaches to implementation may seem straightforward, careful advanced planning, multiple stakeholder involvements, and addressing other contextual constraints needed for quality implementation are complex. Consequently, there have been recent calls for more theory‐informed implementation science in health systems strengthening. This study applies the quality implementation framework (QIF) developed by Meyers, Durlak, and Wandersman to identify and explain observed implementation gaps in a primary health care system improvement intervention in Nigeria.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective process appraisal by analyzing contents of 39 policy document and 15 key informant interviews. Using the QIF, we assessed challenges in the implementation processes and quality of an improvement model across the tiers of Nigeria's decentralized health system.ResultsSignificant process gaps were identified that may have affected subnational implementation quality. Key challenges observed include inadequate stakeholder engagements and poor fidelity to planned implementation processes. Although needs and fit assessments, organizational capacity building, and development of implementation plans at national level were relatively well carried out, these were not effective in ensuring quality and sustainability at the subnational level.ConclusionsImplementing initiatives between levels of governance is more complex than within a tier. Adequate preintervention planning, understanding, and engaging the various interests across the governance spectrum are key to improving quality.
Review of polyphenol‐rich products as potential protective and therapeutic factors against cadmium hepatotoxicity
Authors: Mężyńska Magdalena , Brzóska Malgorzata M. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractRecently, the growing attention of the scientific community has been focused on the threat to health created by environmental pollutants, including toxic metals such as cadmium (Cd), and on the need of finding effective ways to prevent and treat the unfavorable health effects of exposure to them. Particularly promising for Cd, and thus arousing the greatest interest, is the possibility of using various ingredients present in plants, including mainly polyphenolic compounds. As the liver is one of the target organs for this toxic metal and disturbances in the proper functioning of this organ have serious consequences for health, the aim of the present review was to discuss the possibility of using polyphenol‐rich food products (e.g., chokeberry, black and green tea, blueberry, olive oil, rosemary and ginger) as the strategy in protection from this xenobiotic hepatotoxicity and treatment of this heavy metal‐induced liver damage. Owing to the ability of polyphenols to bind ions of Cd and the strong antioxidative potential of these compounds, as well as their abundance in dietary products, it seems to be of high importance to consider the possibility of using polyphenols as potential preventive and therapeutic agents against Cd hepatotoxicity, determined by its strong pro‐oxidative properties. Although most of the data on the effectiveness of polyphenols comes from studies in animals, the fact that some of them are derived from experimental models that reflect human exposure to this metal allows us to assume that some polyphenol‐rich food products may be promising protective agents against Cd hepatotoxicity in humans.