bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen addition decreases seed germination in a temperate steppe
Authors: Zhong Mingxing , Miao Yuan , Han Shijie , Wang Dong 
Published: July 2019

AbstractSeed germination and seedling establishment play an important role in driving the responses of plant community structure and function to global change. Nitrogen (N) deposition is one of the driving factors of global change, which often leads to a loss in species richness in grassland ecosystems. However, how seed germination responds to N addition remains unclear. A pot incubation test was conducted in a semi‐arid grassland in the Mongolian Plateau, Northern China, to investigate the effect of N addition (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 g N/m2) on seed germination from May to October 2016. Twenty species germinated under all treatments; however, the responses of the 20 species to N addition were different. The densities of Stipa krylovii, Leymus chinensis, and Artemisia frigida, which are the dominant species in this temperate steppe, decreased significantly as the amount of N addition. Moreover, N addition significantly suppressed seedling densities of the community, perennial forbs, perennial grasses, and annuals and biennials. Furthermore, species richness of the community, perennial forbs, and annuals and biennials decreased sharply with increasing N addition level, but perennial grass species richness did not change. The Shannon–Wiener diversity index also decreased as the amount of N addition increased. Our results suggest that N enrichment plays an important role in the seed germination stage and decreases supplements of seedlings to adult plants. These findings may help explain the causes of species loss by atmospheric N deposition in grassland ecosystems.
Fundamental experiments of radio‐frequency preionized inert gas plasma MHD electrical power generation
Authors: Nakane Takayuki , Uehigashi Katsuya , Iwamoto Takuya , Okuno Yoshihiro 
Published: July 2019

AbstractA seed‐free radio‐frequency (RF) preionized inert gas plasma MHD electrical power generation has been first demonstrated in fundamental experiments with a shock‐tunnel facility. An enthalpy extraction ratio of 2.6% was successfully obtained even under an inlet total temperature of 2200 K at which the power generation can be operated continuously. Since the RF input power required for the preionization tends to be increased for lower inlet total temperature, the reduction of the RF input power is needed for further improvement in the total performance.
Influence of Water Addition on Lipid Oxidation in Protein Oleogels
Authors: Meissner Philipp M. , Keppler Julia K. , Stöckmann Heiko , Schrader Katrin , Schwarz Karin 
Published: July 2019

The aim of the present study is the investigation of lipid oxidation in protein based oleogels. For this purpose, oleogels are prepared by suspension of freeze dried whey protein isolate aggregates and small amounts of water (<10%) in purified oleic rich safflower oil. The formation of conjugated dienes positively correlates with the addition of water. In contrast, a lower concentration of aldehydes is measured by headspace gas chromatography in oleogels with higher water addition, indicating a water facilitated degradation of aldehydes reacting with proteins. Determination of water activity indicates the presence of water droplets at higher water addition to oleogels. Furthermore, changes in the surface appearance (greasy‐glossy to dull) and the texture (consistent gel vs. crumbly) structure are indicative of microstructural changes due to increased water addition. The study suggests that water droplet formation is responsible for the marked increase in lipid oxidation. However, cross reaction of aldehydes with proteins is suggested to result in lowering the levels of secondary lipid oxidation products hexanal and propanal in oleogel.Practical Applications: The practical applications of the present work are related to the fabrication, processing, storage and consumption of oleogels and other protein‐lipid‐matrices. The results clearly indicate oleogels are prone to oxidation and proteins are involved by cross‐reaction resulting in visible browning during storage. Oxidation products such as hexanal (marker for secondary lipid oxidation) may not reflect the level of oxidation due to degradation by cross‐reactions with proteins.The aim of the present study is the investigation of lipid oxidation in protein based oleogels. The formation of conjugated dienes positively correlates with the addition of water. In contrast, a lower concentration of aldehydes is measured in oleogels with higher water addition. Water activity indicates the presence of water droplets at higher water addition to oleogels, which are likely responsible for the marked increase in lipid oxidation. However, cross reaction of aldehydes with proteins is suggested to result in lowering the levels of secondary lipid oxidation products hexanal and propanal in oleogels.
OxPLs‐Masking/Degradation Immune Assay: An “All‐Included” Analysis of Mechanisms Detoxifying Oxidized Phospholipids
Authors: Philippova Maria , Oskolkova Olga V. , Bochkov Valery N. 
Published: July 2019

The manuscript discusses the use of circulating oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs) as potential disease biomarkers. Blood levels of OxPLs have been previously demonstrated to be strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. These data were obtained using an immune assay based on monoclonal antibody E06 which detects oxidized phosphatidylcholine. The impact of other classes of OxPLs on disease progression is not known. It is postulated that 1) other classes of OxPLs may contribute to cardiovascular disease and 2) both the absolute concentrations of OxPLs and the activity of detoxifying mechanisms are essential factors linking OxPLs with disease progression. Among such mechanisms is opsonization of OxPLs by endogenous antibodies and other plasma proteins. Furthermore, plasma contains enzymes degrading OxPLs. Experimental data from this study show that highly diluted blood plasma significantly reduces (“masks”) binding of E06, as well as another anti‐OxPL monoclonal antibody that recognizes oxidized phosphatidylethanolamine, to OxLDL. Potentially, sequestration or degradation of OxPLs by plasma proteins, antibodies or enzymes can ameliorate pathogenic effects of OxPLs, thus preventing disease onset. Based on these considerations, it is hypothesized that analysis of blood levels of “masking/degrading” proteins may provide important additional information complementary to the E06‐based assay and therefore improve its diagnostic value.Practical Applications: The manuscript discusses application of antibodies against OxPLs for their analysis as potential disease biomarkers.Plates are coated with OxLDL, blocked and incubated with either control buffer or plasma, which contains proteins and enzymes binding or degrading OxPLs present on OxLDL. Then the amount of remaining OxPLs is determined using monoclonal antibodies detecting OxPCs or OxPEs. The difference in signal intensities between the buffer‐ and plasma‐treated wells represents the activity of OxPLs‐masking/degradation.
An Approach for Using In Vitro and In Silico Data to Identify Pharmaceuticals with Potential (Anti-)Estrogenic Activity in Aquatic Vertebrates at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations
Authors: Pinto Caroline Lucia , Bloom Raanan A. , Laurenson James P. 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
Endocrine-active pharmaceuticals can cause adverse reproductive and developmental effects in nontarget organisms. Aquatic vertebrates may be susceptible to the effects of such pharmaceuticals given that the structure of hormone receptors and the physiology of the endocrine system are highly conserved across vertebrates. To aid in the regulatory review of the environmental impact of drugs, we demonstrate an approach to screen and support the prioritization of pharmaceuticals based on their ability to interact with estrogen receptors (ERs) at environmentally relevant concentrations. Tox21 in vitro results from ER agonist and antagonist assays were retrieved for 1123 pharmaceuticals. In silico predictions from the Collaborative Estrogen Receptor Activity Prediction Project (CERAPP) models were used to estimate ER agonist and antagonist activity for an additional 170 pharmaceuticals not tested in the Tox21 assay platform. The estrogenic effect ratio (EER) and anti-estrogenic effect ratio (AEER) were calculated by comparing the activity concentration at half-maximal response (AC50) for ER agonism and antagonism, respectively, with estimated pharmaceutical concentrations in fish tissue based on estimates of environmental exposures. A total of 73 and 127 pharmaceuticals were identified as ER agonists and antagonists, respectively. As expected, 17β-estradiol and 17α-ethinylestradiol displayed EERs  &gt; 1, and raloxifene and bazedoxifene acetate displayed AEERs &gt; 1, thus indicating that these pharmaceuticals have the potential to reach fish tissue levels that exceed concentrations estimated to interact with ERs. Four pharmaceuticals displayed EERs between 0.1 and 1, and 6 displayed AEERs between 0.1 and 1. This approach may help determine the need for submission of environmental assessment data for new drug applications and support prioritization of pharmaceuticals with the potential to disrupt endocrine signaling in vertebrates. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2154–2168. © 2019 SETAC.
The impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on dispensing for older person's mental health
Authors: Beaglehole Ben , Bloomer Christopher , Zhang Tao , Hamilton Greg , Boden Joseph M. , Mulder Roger T. , Bell Caroline , Frampton Chris 
Published: July 2019

ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on the mental health of older people by examining dispensing patterns of psychotropic medication.MethodDispensing data from community pharmacies for antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and sedative/hypnotics are routinely recorded in a national database. Longitudinal data are available for residents of the Canterbury District Health Board (DHB) (n = 67 760 at study onset) and the rest of New Zealand (n = 469 055 at study onset). We compared older age dispensing data between 2008 and 2018 for Canterbury DHB with older age dispensing data nationally in order to assess the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on the mental health of older persons.ResultsOlder age residents of Canterbury are dispensed antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anxiolytics at higher rates than national comparators, but this finding predated the onset of the earthquakes. Short‐term increases in anxiolytic and sedative/hypnotic dispensing occurred for the month following the February 2011 earthquake. No other short‐ or longer‐term increases in dispensing of psychiatric medication were present.ConclusionThe February 2011 Canterbury earthquake caused a short‐term increase in dispensing of anxiolytics and sedative/hypnotics. No longer‐term effects on dispensing were observed. This suggests that older persons sought assistance for insomnia and anxiety in the aftermath of the most devastating earthquake, but longer‐term rates of clinically significant anxiety and depression for older persons did not increase as a consequence of the earthquakes sequence
Dopaminergic modulation of motor network compensatory mechanisms in Parkinson's disease
Authors: Jastrzębowska Maya A. , Marquis Renaud , Melie‐García Lester , Lutti Antoine , Kherif Ferath , Herzog Michael H. , Draganski Bogdan 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe dopaminergic system has a unique gating function in the initiation and execution of movements. When the interhemispheric imbalance of dopamine inherent to the healthy brain is disrupted, as in Parkinson's disease (PD), compensatory mechanisms act to stave off behavioral changes. It has been proposed that two such compensatory mechanisms may be (a) a decrease in motor lateralization, observed in drug‐naïve PD patients and (b) reduced inhibition ‐ increased facilitation. Seeking to investigate the differential effect of dopamine depletion and subsequent substitution on compensatory mechanisms in non‐drug‐naïve PD, we studied 10 PD patients and 16 healthy controls, with patients undergoing two test sessions — “ON” and “OFF” medication. Using a simple visually‐cued motor response task and fMRI, we investigated cortical motor activation — in terms of laterality, contra‐ and ipsilateral percent BOLD signal change and effective connectivity in the parametric empirical Bayes framework. We found that decreased motor lateralization persists in non‐drug‐naïve PD and is concurrent with decreased contralateral activation in the cortical motor network. Normal lateralization is not reinstated by dopamine substitution. In terms of effective connectivity, disease‐related changes primarily affect ipsilaterally‐lateralized homotopic cortical motor connections, while medication‐related changes affect contralaterally‐lateralized homotopic connections. Our findings suggest that, in non‐drug‐naïve PD, decreased lateralization is no longer an adaptive cortical mechanism, but rather the result of maladaptive changes, related to disease progression and long‐term dopamine replacement. These findings highlight the need for the development of noninvasive therapies, which would promote the adaptive mechanisms of the PD brain.
Effects of the Molecular Design on the Supramolecular Organization of Luminescent Pt(II) Complexes
Authors: Aliprandi Alessandro , Capaldo Luca , Bobica Carla , Silvestrini Simone , De Cola Luisa 
Published: July 2019

AbstractSelf‐assembly is an extremely important processes that allows the constructions of large supramolecular architectures through encoded information present in the components. A subtle change in the chemical structure of the single unit can dramatically change the kinetics and thermodynamic pathway. We demonstrate that a minor change, introduced by designing the structure of a family of Pt(II) complexes can influence the color of the emission of the assemblies and their kinetic behaviour. The assembly processes, visualized by confocal microscopy, and detailed through photophysical measurements, reveal that the establishment of intermolecular interactions, as well as electronic factors lead to completely different assemblies in solution of the platinum compounds. A correlation between the observed behaviour and the chemical structure of the compounds is discussed and the results indicate a strong kinetic control of the supramolecular processes.
Aberration corrections of doughnut beam by adaptive optics in the turbid medium
Authors: Wu Chenxue , Chen Jiajia , Si Ke , Song Yanchun , Zhu Xinpei , Hu Lejia , Zheng Yao , Gong Wei 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe doughnut beam is a spatially structured beam which has been widely used in super‐resolution microscopy, laser trapping and so on. However, when it passes through thick scattering medium, aberrations will seriously affect its performance. Currently, adaptive optics (AO) has become one of the most powerful tools to compensate aberrations. However, conventional AO always suffers from limited corrected field of view (FOV). Here, we propose a method with conjugate AO system based on coherent optical adaptive technique. The results show that the corrected FOV can be improved effectively. For a wide range of the optical applications with doughnut beam, our method has potentials in correcting aberrations with high speed in turbid media.(A) Mouse brain slice, (B) the distribution of r
PAO, (C) the distribution of r
CAO. The vortex beam focus of the blue point in (B) and (C) among a 137.5 × 137.5 μm FOV (D1) ideally, (D2) with scattering, (D3) in pupil AO system and (D4) in conjugate AO system.
Investigation of the source‐detector separation in near infrared spectroscopy for healthy and clinical applications
Authors: Wang Lei , Ayaz Hasan , Izzetoglu Meltem 
Published: July 2019

AbstractUnderstanding near infrared light propagation in tissue is vital for designing next generation optical brain imaging devices. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations provide a controlled mechanism to characterize and evaluate contributions of diverse near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) sensor configurations and parameters. In this study, we developed a multilayer adult digital head model under both healthy and clinical settings and assessed light‐tissue interaction through MC simulations in terms of partial differential pathlength, mean total optical pathlength, diffuse reflectance, detector light intensity and spatial sensitivity profile of optical measurements. The model incorporated four layers: scalp, skull, cerebrospinal‐fluid and cerebral cortex with and without a customizable lesion for modeling hematoma of different sizes and depths. The effect of source‐detector separation (SDS) on optical measurements' sensitivity to brain tissue was investigated. Results from 1330 separate simulations [(4 lesion volumes × 4 lesion depths for clinical +3 healthy settings) × 7 SDS × 10 simulation = 1330)] each with 100 million photons indicated that selection of SDS is critical to acquire optimal measurements from the brain and recommended SDS to be 25 to 35 mm depending on the wavelengths to obtain optical monitoring of the adult brain function. The findings here can guide the design of future NIRS probes for functional neuroimaging and clinical diagnostic systems.
Underwater compensation for exaggerated weaponry: The role of morphology and environment on crab locomotor performance
Authors: Benso‐Lopes Fernando , Santos Sandro , Palaoro Alexandre V. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractExaggerated morphologies may increase fitness, but they might be costly to bear; heavy weight, for instance, might hinder locomotion. Evidence supporting these costs are sparse because animals that move on land or swim have traits reducing those costs, called compensatory traits. Animals that walk underwater, however, are under different environmental pressures than land animals. Buoyancy, for instance, reduces the effective weight of any object, which could decrease the locomotion costs of carrying exagerrated traits. Hence, underwater species might maintain performance without compensation. To test this, we compared males of the freshwater anomuran Aegla longirostri that bear an exaggerated claw to females (the natural control). We first tested whether the exaggerated claw decreased male locomotor performance. Next, we tested if sexual dimorphism in performance is associated with differences in leg asymmetry, length, and muscle size. Lastly, we tested if large males have proportionally heavier legs than smaller males. Unexpectedly, females are faster than males while also having relatively longer legs than males. Therefore, females might walk faster because of the longer legs, which might be unrelated to the male exaggerated claw. Furthermore, larger males did not have proportionally heavier legs than smaller males, further suggesting no compensation. Hence, even though aeglid's claw weigh ~25% of their total body weight, we did not find evidence for burden or compensation on males. The environment might thus decrease the costs of exaggerated traits.
Response to Wilkinson: A Neuro‐Informed Humanistic Perspective
Authors: LUKE CHAD 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe surge in neuroscience‐integrated counseling practice represents threats to humanistic counseling principles and practices as well as opportunities to engage humanism in potentially complementary ways. This article challenges Wilkinson's (2018) view of neuroscience threats to humanism and offers an alternative that expands the opportunities for thoughtful practice.
Bridging the Brain–Body Divide: A Commentary and Response to Wilkinson
Authors: FIELD THOMAS A. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractIn response to Wilkinson's (2018) critique of humanistic counseling's alliance with neuroscience, the author explores the concept of the brain–body divide, proposes an adjustment to Wilkinson's quadripartite model, and suggests ways for humanistic counselors to integrate levels of consciousness and the brain–body connection into their work with clients.
A Refined and Further Defined Argument on the Limits of Neuroscience in Counseling: Response to Field, Luke, and Beeson and Miller
Authors: WILKINSON BRETT D. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractResponding to multiple critiques of his article on the limits of neuroscience in counseling (Wilkinson, 2018), the author further explores and defines these limits, clarifying his perspective on the hard problem of consciousness, the support–inform distinction, and the quadripartite humanistic neuroscience model. Identifying naive mischaracterizations of humanistic principles and practices, the author also discusses the limits of neuroscientific support in relation to neurofeedback, neuroeducation, and explanatory power. Finally, the author calls into question the accuracy of the term neurocounseling and the notion that neuroscientific evidence lends greater legitimacy to the counseling profession.
Effectiveness of ‘do not disturb’ strategies in reducing errors during discharge prescription writing
Authors: Zamani Mazdak , Hall Kylie , Cunningham Amanda , Chin Nicholas , Kent‐Ferguson Sally , Wadhwa Vikas 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBackgroundPrescribing errors not only impose safety risks, but also delay hospital discharges and adversely affect patient satisfaction. The effect of reducing environmental interruptions on prescribing errors has not been published previously.AimThe aim of this study was to determine the combined effect of two ‘do not disturb’ (DND) strategies in decreasing the average number of prescribing errors by reducing distractions during discharge prescription writing. A secondary aim was to assess the effect of the interventions on prescription correction time.MethodsIn all, 392 discharge prescriptions from two general medical wards of a teaching hospital were audited over a 10‐week period in a prospective interventional before‐and‐after audit. Clinical pharmacists collected data on the number and type of errors, and time taken to correct errors. DND vests and workstations were made available during the intervention phase. Junior medical officers (JMO) provided daily feedback to the nurse unit managers (NUM) on the number and source of distractions, as well as the use of DND vests and workstations after the intervention.ResultsThe percentage of error‐free discharge prescriptions increased from 29.7% before to 51.5% after the intervention (p < 0.0001). The mean number of errors per prescription decreased from 1.7 to 1.1 (p < 0.01) in both wards combined. The median time taken to correct erroneous prescriptions did not change significantly. Feedback provided by JMOs showed a marked reduction in interruptions, with 73% stating they were not interrupted at all or just once during prescribing after the intervention, compared with 17% before the intervention.ConclusionDND strategies decreased the rate of erroneous prescriptions.