bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lipidomic Profiling of Plasma and Erythrocytes From Septic Patients Reveals Potential Biomarker Candidates
Authors: Mecatti Giovana Colozza , Fernandes Messias Marcia Cristina , Sant’Anna Paiola Rafaela Maria , Figueiredo Angolini Célio Fernando , da Silva Cunha Ildenize Barbosa , Eberlin Marcos Nogueira , de Oliveira Carvalho Patricia 
Published: March 2018

Background: Sepsis remains the primary cause of death from infection, despite advances in modern medicine. The identification of reliable diagnostic biomarkers for the early detection of this disease is critical and may reduce the mortality rate as it could allow early treatment. The purpose of this study was to describe the changes in the plasma and red cells blood lipidome profiling of patients diagnosed with sepsis and septic shock with the aim to identify potentially useful metabolic markers. Methods: Lipids from plasma and erythrocytes from septic patients (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20) were evaluated by electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and the fatty acid composition of the phospholipids fraction of erythrocytes was determined by gas chromatography. The data were treated with multivariate data analysis, including principal component analysis and (orthogonal) partial least squares discriminant analysis. Results: Potential biomarkers including lysophosphatidylcholines (lyso-PCs) and sphingomyelin (SMs) with specific fatty acid chains were identified. Both Lyso-PCs and SMs were downregulated, whereas the saturated and unsaturated phosphatidylcholines (PCs) were upregulated in the plasma and erythrocytes of septic patients. An increase in oleic acid (C18:1 n-9) accompanied by a decrease in the unsaturation index as well as in the levels on n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was observed in erythrocytes phospholipids patients as compared with healthy controls. Conclusions: These results suggest that lipidome profiling has great potential in discovering potential clinical biomarkers for sepsis and helping to understand its underlying mechanisms.
Connective tissue growth factor expression after angiotensin II exposure is dependent on transforming growth factor-β signaling via the canonical Smad-dependent pathway in hypertensive induced myocardial fibrosis
Authors: Wong Chloe Kok Sum , Falkenham Alec , Myers Tanya , Légaré Jean-Francois 
Published: March 2018

Introduction: Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) are often described as the initial pro-fibrotic mediators upregulated early in fibrosis models dependent on angiotensin II (Ang-II). In the present study, we explore the mechanistic link between TGF-β and CTGF expression by using a novel TGF-β trap. Materials and methods: NIH/3T3 fibroblasts were subjected to TGF-β with or without TGF-β trap or 1D11 antibody, CTGF or CTGF plus TGF-β for six or 24 hours, and then used for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or immunocytochemistry. Male C57BL/6 mice were infused with Ang-II and randomly assigned TGF-β trap for six or 24 hours. Hearts were harvested for histological analyses, qRT-PCR and western blotting. Results: Exogenous TGF-β-induced fibroblasts resulted in significant upregulation of CTGF, TGF-β and type I collagen transcript levels in vitro. Additionally, TGF-β promoted the differentiation of fibroblasts into α-SMA+ myofibroblasts. CTGF expression was reduced by the addition of TGF-β trap or neutralizing antibody, confirming that its expression is dependent on TGF-β signaling. In contrast, exogenous CTGF did not appear to have an effect on fibroblast production of pro-fibrotic transcripts or fibroblast differentiation. Ang-II infusion in vivo led to a significant increase in TGF-β and CTGF mRNA expression at six and 24 hours with corresponding changes in Smad2 phosphorylation (pSmad2), indicative of increased TGF-β signaling. Ang-II animals that received the TGF-β trap demonstrated reduced CTGF mRNA levels and pSmad2 at six hours, suggesting that early CTGF expression is dependent on TGF-β signaling. Conclusions: We demonstrated that CTGF expression is dependent on TGF-β signaling both in vitro and in vivo in a model of myocardial fibrosis. This also suggests that early myocardial CTGF mRNA expression (six hours) after Ang-II exposure is likely dependent on latent TGF-β activation via the canonical Smad-dependent pathway in resident cardiac cells.
Device and Method for Noninvasive Glucose Assessment
Authors: Segman Yosef (Joseph) 
Published: March 2018

Background: Intensive monitoring of blood glucose levels is crucial in diabetes management. This article presents a new device, the TensorTip Combo Glucometer (CoG), developed by Cnoga Medical Ltd, which enables to predict capillary tissue glucose concentration noninvasively. Methods: Noninvasive glucose readings usually provide irregular or disordered mathematical manifold over the measurement space. To establish a transfer function, which correctly correlates the noninvasive raw data and the actual invasive glucose level, we suggest a mathematical concept that employs a personal calibration procedure to associate glucose pattern and multiple optical signals derived from tissue response to light emission in the range of visible to IR. The traversed light is detected by a color image sensor to predict the tissue glucose concentration at the fingertip. This article presents the mathematical concept underlying the technology and the requirements for device operation. Results: The device was clinically evaluated and compared to standard invasive blood glucose monitoring devices in few medical centers and by home users. Based on consensus error grid analysis, more than 98% of the measurements of each study were in zones A (more than 81%) and B (more than 11%). Postmarketing evaluations showed high correlations comparing the CoG to other invasive reference devices. Conclusions: The CoG device employs a unique mathematical approach to predict glucose concentrations based on multiple optical signals. The first clinical results indicate that the device may show appropriate agreement with reference methods to be used for pain-free glucose assessment in daily routine.
“Good Law” Versus “Bad Law”: Civil Disobedience During the Desegregation Process in the United States of America
Authors: Laidler Paweł 
Published: March 2018

In 1954, after almost sixty years of tolerating the separate-but-equal doctrine shaped in Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to reject the unequal policy of the government in educational system, and thus to initiate changes in the status of racial segregation. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision ignited both positive and negative feelings and emotions of Americans, who began to show two types of civil disobedience. The first type of disobedience was addressed against the Court and its controversial precedent, and could be visible mainly in Southern states among white citizens and some state authorities. Despite the fact that the Court’s decision was binding, Southern judges, politicians as well as ordinary people showed their disobedience towards the highest judicial institution in the country and its notion of desegregation. The second type of civil disobedience was addressed towards these institutions which neglected the necessity of social change and promotion of equality, and could be observed in actions undertaken by various individuals and organizations aiming at broadening the constitutional protection of black Americans. The purpose of the article is to analyze both types of civil disobedience which were initiated by the same source – a judicial precedent, and had an enormous impact on American society of the late 1950s and early 1960s, leading to final change in the perception of the equality principle as well as the status of civil rights. The article proposes a thesis that the scope and character of civil disobedience may depend on the ideology of certain social groups and therefore influence their attitude to the direction of changes in law.
Źródła rosyjskiej myśli konserwatywnej
Authors: Romanowski Dymitr 
Published: March 2018

Sources of Russian conservative thought. Political Theology of Metropolitan Philaret
The article is dedicated to the expositon of the political theology of Metropolitan Philaret (secular name Vasily Mikhaylovich Drozdov). He was an Orthodox metropolitan of Moscow, the first professor of theology in Russia. Under the influence of secular culture Filaret gives special attention to the theory of the state, creating the first in Russia historiosophical concept of the monarchy, based on a ‘symphony’ of the State and the Church.
Projekt etyki absolutnej
Authors: Drelich Sławomir 
Published: March 2018

Ayn Rand’s project of absolute ethics
Ayn Rand is one of the most famous American thinkers identified with libertarian thought. She is primarily known as the founder of the philosophical system, which she described as the Objectivism or Objectivist philosophy. This concept became the foundation for created by her ethics and axiology, as well as her interesting vision of society, state and economy. This article gives an overview of Ayn Rand’s absolute ethics, which has never been formulated as a separate theory. However it can be reconstructed on the basis of Rand’s essays, novels and journalism. This kind of ethics can be defined as an absolute or objective ethics. The foundation of this concept of ethics is Randian dogma of the objective existence of the world and human being. That is why the central ideas of this concept are: individualism, rationalism, voluntarism and vitalism. And the key values are accordingly: man, reason, freedom and life. Ayn Rand refers to the Aristotle’s concepts but also attempts to restore the principles of the classical liberalism.
Reforma systemu zabezpieczeń i weryfikacji materiałów jądrowych jako warunek bezpieczeństwa nuklearnego w XXI w.
Authors: Młynarski Tomasz 
Published: March 2018

The reform of the nuclear safeguards and verification of nuclear materials as a condition of nuclear safety in the 21 Century
The condition of maintaining nuclear safety in the twentieth century is to ensure a global system of nuclear materials safeguards. In practice, this means the need for a global system of verification of compliance with non‑proliferation requirements equipped with mechanisms of international control, accounting and physical protection of nuclear materials and facilities, as means of preventing the usage of nuclear dual‑use technology for non‑peaceful purposes (construction of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices). The track record of non‑proliferation regime discovered the weakness of the nuclear safeguards and verification system, in particular, limits of the IAEA control functions. Maintaining the “Nuclear Peace” can be assured only by a global system of physical protection, accounting, and security of nuclear materials, which means the need to improve the internationally comprehensive system of verification of compliance with non‑proliferation. The aim of the article is to present the principles of the international system of nuclear safeguards and the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in maintaining nuclear peace and nuclear challenges of non‑proliferation regime reform. The analysis leads, among others, to the conclusion that the Agency should develop a procedure to standardize the rules, structure, and terminology of reporting non‑compliance, promote the internationalization of the fuel cycle while the UN Security Council should react faster in the case of non‑compliance detection.
Medial subvastus versus the medial parapatellar approach for total knee replacement
Authors: Berstock James R. , Murray James R. , Whitehouse Michael R. , Blom Ashley W. , Beswick Andrew D. 
Published: March 2018

Twenty randomized controlled trials comprising 1893 primary total knee replacements were included in this review. The subvastus approach conferred superior results for mean difference (MD) in time to regain an active straight leg raise (1.7 days, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0 to 2.3), visual analogue score for pain on day one (0.8 points on a scale out of 10, 95% CI 0.2 to 1.4) and total range of knee movement at one week (7°, 95% CI 3.2 to 10.7). The subvastus approach also resulted in fewer lateral releases (odds ratio 0.4, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.7) and less peri-operative blood loss (MD 57 mL, 95% CI 10.5 to 106.4) but prolonged surgical times (MD 9.7 min, 95% CI 3.9 to 15.6). There was no difference in Knee Society Score at six weeks or one year, or the rate of adverse events including superficial or deep infection, deep vein thrombosis or knee stiffness requiring manipulation under anaesthesia. This review demonstrates evidence of early post-operative benefits following the subvastus approach with equivalence between approaches thereafter. Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2018;3:78-84. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.3.170030.
The Formation of Fe-Bearing Secondary Phase Minerals from the Basalt—Sediment Interface, South Pacific Gyre: IODP Expedition 329
Authors: Yang Kiho , Park Hanbeom , Baik Hionsuck , Kogure Toshihiro , Kim Jinwook 
Published: March 2018

AbstractAlteration of basalt is a ubiquitous process on the vast oceanic crust surface and results in the formation of secondary-phase minerals that include clay minerals and Fe-(oxyhydr)oxides. Thus, this process is a significant consequence of water/rock interactions that could reveal the (bio)geochemical conditions of formation. Core samples at the basalt/sediment interface from a depth of 74.79 m below sea floor (mbsf) were recovered during the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition 329 (2010.10.10–2010.12.13) in the South Pacific Gyre (SPG). Two distinct regions of yellow- and red-colored sediment were observed. The mineralogy, elemental composition, Fe oxidation state, and mineral structure of the altered basalt samples were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF). In the yellow sediment, K-nontronite and feroxyhyte (δ’-FeO(OH)) were the dominant mineral phases, while Mg-rich smectite (saponite), chlorite, and hematite were found predominantly in the reddish sediment. The appearance of K-nontronite and feroxyhyte mineral assemblages in altered sediment indicated that oxidative conditions prevailed during basalt alteration. Variation in the Fe-oxidation states in the K-nontronite structure, however, may indicate that local reducing conditions persisted throughout the biogeochemical reactions.
The Effects of Cryotherapy on Knee Joint Position Sense and Force Production Sense in Healthy Individuals
Authors: Furmanek Mariusz P. , Słomka Kajetan J. , Sobiesiak Andrzej , Rzepko Marian , Juras Grzegorz 
Published: March 2018

Abstract
The proprioceptive information received from mechanoreceptors is potentially responsible for controlling the joint position and force differentiation. However, it is unknown whether cryotherapy influences this complex mechanism. Previously reported results are not universally conclusive and sometimes even contradictory. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of local cryotherapy on knee joint position sense (JPS) and force production sense (FPS). The study group consisted of 55 healthy participants (age: 21 ± 2 years, body height: 171.2 ± 9 cm, body mass: 63.3 ± 12 kg, BMI: 21.5 ± 2.6). Local cooling was achieved with the use of gel-packs cooled to -2 ± 2.5°C and applied simultaneously over the knee joint and the quadriceps femoris muscle for 20 minutes. JPS and FPS were evaluated using the Biodex System 4 Pro apparatus. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show any statistically significant changes of the JPS and FPS under application of cryotherapy for all analyzed variables: the JPS’s absolute error (p = 0.976), its relative error (p = 0.295), and its variable error (p = 0.489); the FPS’s absolute error (p = 0.688), its relative error (p = 0.193), and its variable error (p = 0.123). The results indicate that local cooling does not affect proprioceptive acuity of the healthy knee joint. They also suggest that local limited cooling before physical activity at low velocity did not present health or injury risk in this particular study group.
Strength and Conditioning Coaches’ Application of the Session Rating of Perceived Exertion Method of Monitoring Within Professional Rugby Union
Authors: Comyns Thomas , Hannon Aoife 
Published: March 2018

Abstract
Session rating of perceived exertion (session-RPE) is a method of monitoring and managing training loads. The purpose of this study was to research how and for what purpose strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches implement this monitoring method within professional rugby union. The study also aimed to assess if S&C coaches found this monitoring method to be valid and effective. An online survey containing 24 fixed response questions was used to assess how S&C coaches applied the session-RPE method. The survey was piloted with expert researchers and practitioners in the area of session-RPE prior to distribution and alterations were made to the survey based on the experts’ feedback. Twenty S&C coaches working with professional rugby union clubs in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales completed the survey. The coaches’ responses indicated that the majority found the session-RPE to be a valid and effective monitoring method. While some good implementation practices were identified, not all of the coaches adhered to these guidelines which may impact on the accuracy of the collected data. For example, 30% of coaches do not collect the RPE for every session that a player does per week limiting the use of the session-RPE variables cumulative training load, training monotony, training strain and acute:chronic load ratio. S&C coaches within rugby should consider using session-RPE as a method of monitoring and implement the method in a manner reflective of research findings to enhance the potential applications of this system in maximising adaptations and minimising the risk of injury.
Effect of Two Different Types of Olympic Rotation Order on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Variables in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics
Authors: Mkaouer Bessem , Jemni Monèm , Chaabene Helmi , Amara Samiha , Njah Ahmad , Chtara Mokhtar 
Published: March 2018

Abstract
The rotation sequence-order differs from a gymnast to another according to the draw at the time of the qualifying competitions in men’s artistic gymnastics. Only the six best gymnasts start on the floor exercises, the others could start on any of the other five apparatuses. It has been demonstrated that some gymnastics events are physiologically less taxing than others; hence some gymnasts could experience lower and/or higher levels of cardiovascular and metabolic stress compared to others, depending on the apparatus they start with. In this regard, the objective of this investigation was to compare cardiovascular and metabolic variables between two different types of Olympic rotation-order; one began with the floor exercises and the other began with the pommel horse. Six elite male gymnasts took part in this investigation. Heart rates, synchronized with real-time video acquisition, as well as capillary lactate concentration following each apparatus routine were monitored. Cardiovascular and metabolic stresses were significantly higher when gymnasts started their rotation with the pommel horse in all apparatuses except the pommel horse. The floor exercises’ score was significantly affected when gymnasts ended up their competition on this apparatus. As a conclusion, starting gymnastics’ competition on the floor exercises implicates less cardiovascular and metabolic stress associated with better performance compared with the other rotation order. As a matter of fact, best gymnasts who start on this apparatus could have a slight advantage compared with the other athletes.
Understanding Trail Runners’ Activity on Online Community Forums: An Inductive Analysis of Discussion Topics
Authors: Rochat Nadège , Hauw Denis , Gür Gaëlle , Seifert Ludovic 
Published: March 2018

AbstractRecreational trail runners often participate in online community forums where they can freely read posted messages, join discussions and/or introduce new discussion topics. This tool can enhance learning as runners connect with other trail runners and reflect on how they can better organize their own practice. Studying forum activity would provide greater insight into the relationship between field practice and dedicated forums. The aim of this study was therefore to detect the topics discussed online by trail runners in order to understand how they collectively look for solutions that help them adapt to issues that emerge during actual practice. The discussion topics (n = 171) on the forum hosted by the Raidlight brand were examined using inductive content analysis, which distinguished two general dimensions. The first dimension was training and had four first-order themes (i.e., “specific trail running sessions”, “complementary trail running sessions”. “training plans” and “specific questions about races”) grouped into two second-order themes (i.e., “training session contents” and “structure and schedule”). The second dimension was health and had seven first-order themes (i.e., “tendinitis”, “muscle issues”, “foot issues”, “sprains and fractures”, “pain”, “physiology” and “substances and practitioners”) grouped into two second-order themes (i.e., “pain and injury” and “prevention”). The results indicate that the issues that trail runners discuss on forums are significant and that the successions of questions and solutions are a fruitful means for building, enriching and adjusting their activity as they cope with constraints. As a practical consequence, suggestions for improving such online platforms are made.
Physical Performance Comparison Between Under 15 Elite and Sub-Elite Soccer Players
Authors: Trecroci Athos , Milanović Zoran , Frontini Matteo , Iaia F. Marcello , Alberti Giampietro 
Published: March 2018

Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the physical performance profile among young soccer players of different competitive levels. Two teams of elite (n = 22) and sub-elite (n = 22) soccer players at national (highly skilled) and regional (moderately skilled) level were recruited in the study. All participants were tested using a modified Illinois change of direction speed test, a T-drill with and without a ball, a countermovement jump, and a 10-m sprint. The analysis revealed significant differences in favor of elite players in sprint (d = 1.54, large) and vertical jump (d = 2.03, very large) outcomes, while no differences were observed in both modified Illinois change of direction speed (d = 0.16, trivial) and T-drill (d = 0.20, small) tests between the groups. The ability to change direction and speed with and without a ball was found not to be suitable enough to highlight the difference among youth players with moderate-to-high level of play. In conclusion, multi-testing approach based on task-related power should include vertical jump and sprint performance to delineate players of a higher level.