bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A dynamic computational network model for the role of nitric oxide and the myogenic response in microvascular flow regulation
Authors: Liu Yien , Buerk Donald G. , Barbee Kenneth A. , Jaron Dov 
Published: June 2018

AbstractObjectivesThe effect of NO on smooth muscle cell contractility is crucial in regulating vascular tone, blood flow, and O2 delivery. Quantitative predictions for interactions between the NO production rate and the myogenic response for microcirculatory blood vessels are lacking.MethodsWe developed a computational model of a branching microcirculatory network with four representative classes of resistance vessels to predict the effect of endothelium‐derived NO on the microvascular pressure‐flow response. Our model links vessel scale biotransport simulations of NO and O2 delivery to a mechanistic model of autoregulation and myogenic tone in a simplified microcirculatory network.ResultsThe model predicts that smooth muscle cell NO bioavailability significantly contributes to resting vascular tone of resistance vessels. Deficiencies in NO seen during hypoxia or ischemia lead to a decreased vessel diameter for all classes at a given intravascular pressure. At the network level, NO deficiencies lead to an increase in pressure drop across the vessels studied, a downward shift in the pressure‐flow curve, and a decrease in the effective range of the autoregulatory response.ConclusionsOur model predicts the steady state and transient behavior of resistance vessels to perturbations in blood pressure, including effects of NO bioavailability on vascular regulation.
A cell length‐dependent transition in MinD‐dynamics promotes a switch in division‐site placement and preservation of proliferating elongated Vibrio parahaemolyticus swarmer cells
Authors: Muraleedharan Samada , Freitas Carolina , Mann Petra , Glatter Timo , Ringgaard Simon 
Published: June 2018

SummaryVibrio parahaemolyticus exists as swimmer and swarmer cells, specialized for growth in liquid and on solid environments respectively. Swarmer cells are characteristically highly elongated due to an inhibition of cell division, but still need to divide in order to proliferate and expand the colony. It is unknown how long swarmer cells divide without diminishing the population of long cells required for swarming behavior. Here we show that swarmer cells divide but the placement of the division site is cell length‐dependent; short swarmers divide at mid‐cell, while long swarmers switch to a specific non‐mid‐cell placement of the division site. Transition to non‐mid‐cell positioning of the Z‐ring is promoted by a cell length‐dependent switch in the localization‐dynamics of the division regulator MinD from a pole‐to‐pole oscillation in short swarmers to a multi‐node standing‐wave oscillation in long swarmers. Regulation of FtsZ levels restricts the number of divisions to one and SlmA ensures sufficient free FtsZ to sustain Z‐ring formation by preventing sequestration of FtsZ into division deficient clusters. By limiting the number of division‐events to one per cell at a specific non‐mid‐cell position, V. parahaemolyticus promotes the preservation of long swarmer cells and permits swarmer cell division without the need for dedifferentiation.
Sialylated Receptor Setting Influences Mycoplasma pneumoniae Attachment and Gliding Motility
Authors: Williams Caitlin R. , Chen Li , Driver Ashley D. , Arnold Edward A. , Sheppard Edward S. , Locklin Jason , Krause Duncan C. 
Published: June 2018

SummaryMycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of human respiratory tract infections, including bronchitis and atypical pneumonia. M. pneumoniae binds glycoprotein receptors having terminal sialic acid residues via the P1 adhesin protein. Here, we explored the impact of sialic acid presentation on M. pneumoniae adherence and gliding on surfaces coated with sialylated glycoproteins, or chemically functionalized with α‐2,3‐ and α‐2,6‐sialyllactose ligated individually or in combination to a polymer scaffold in precisely controlled densities. In both models, gliding required a higher receptor density threshold than adherence, and receptor density influenced gliding frequency but not gliding speed. However, very high densities of α‐2,3‐sialyllactose actually reduced gliding frequency over peak levels observed at lower densities. Both α‐2,3‐ and α‐2,6‐sialyllactose supported M. pneumoniae adherence, but gliding was only observed on the former. Finally, gliding on α‐2,3‐sialyllactose was inhibited on surfaces also conjugated with α‐2,6‐sialyllactose, suggesting that both moieties bind P1 despite the inability of the latter to support gliding. Our results indicate that the nature and density of host receptor moieties profoundly influences M. pneumoniae gliding, which could affect pathogenesis and infection outcome. Furthermore, precise functionalization of polymer scaffolds shows great promise for further analysis of sialic acid presentation and M. pneumoniae adherence and gliding.
Expression and regulation of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa hibernation promoting factor
Authors: Akiyama Tatsuya , Williamson Kerry S. , Franklin Michael J. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractBacterial biofilms contain subpopulations of cells that are dormant and highly tolerant to antibiotics. While dormant, the bacteria must maintain the integrity of macromolecules required for resuscitation. Previously, we showed that hibernation promoting factor (HPF) is essential for protecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa from ribosomal loss during dormancy. In this study, we mapped the genetic components required for hpf expression. Using 5ʹ‐RACE and fluorescent protein reporter fusions, we show that hpf is expressed as part of the rpoN operon, but that hpf also has a second promoter (Phpf) within the rpoN gene. Phpf is active when the cells enter stationary phase, and expression from Phpf is modulated, but not eliminated, in mutant strains impaired in stationary phase transition (ΔdksA2, ΔrpoS and ΔrelA/ΔspoT mutants). The results of reporter gene studies and mRNA folding predictions indicated that the 5ʹ end of the hpf mRNA may also influence hpf expression. Mutations that opened or that stabilized the mRNA hairpin loop structures strongly influenced the amount of HPF produced. The results demonstrate that hpf is expressed independently of rpoN, and that hpf regulation includes both transcriptional and post‐transcriptional processes, allowing the cells to produce sufficient HPF during stationary phase to maintain viability while dormant.
Blood‐induced differential gene expression in Anopheles dirus evaluated using RNA sequencing
Authors: Mongkol W. , Nguitragool W. , Sattabongkot J. , Kubera A. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractMalaria parasites are transmitted through blood feeding by female Anopheline mosquitoes. Unveiling the blood‐feeding process will improve understanding of vector biology. Anopheles dirus (Diptera: Culicidae) is one of the primary malaria vectors in the Greater Mekong Subregion, the epicentre of malaria drug resistance. In this study, differential gene expression between sugar‐ and blood‐fed An. dirus was investigated by RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq). A total of 589 transcripts were found to be upregulated and 703 transcripts downregulated as a result of blood feeding. Transcriptional differences were found in genes involved in blood digestion, peritrophic matrix formation, oogenesis and vitellogenesis. The expression levels of several genes were validated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The present results provide better understanding of An. dirus biology in relation to its blood feeding.
Matching global and regional distribution models of the recluse spider Loxosceles rufescens: to what extent do these reflect niche conservatism?
Authors: Taucare‐Ríos A. , Nentwig W. , Bizama G. , Bustamante R. O. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThe Mediterranean recluse spider, Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820) (Araneae: Sicariidae) is a cosmopolitan spider that has been introduced in many parts of the world. Its bite can be dangerous to humans. However, the potential distribution of this alien species, which is able to spread fairly quickly with human aid, is completely unknown. Using a combination of global and regional niche models, it is possible to analyse the spread of this species in relation to environmental conditions. This analysis found that the successful spreading of this species varies according to the region invaded. The majority of populations in Asia are stable and show niche conservatism, whereas in North America this spider is expected to be less successful in occupying niches that differ from those in its native region and that do not support its synanthropic way of living.
Tissue protein biomarker candidates to predict progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions
Authors: Wang Meng , Smith Jennifer S. , Wei Wen‐Qiang 
Published: June 2018

AbstractEsophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most predominant malignancies worldwide. The 5‐year survival rate is still relatively low due to few symptoms presenting with the early disease, diagnosis at middle to late stage, and high risk of recurrence after therapy. Novel protein biomarkers for early detection and treatment of ESCC have the potential to reduce incidence and mortality rates, and significantly prolong the 5‐year survival rate. To date, several ESCC biomarkers are being investigated for screening, diagnosis, and treatment to decrease the disease burden. This review summarizes recent developments in candidate protein biomarkers for early diagnosis, predictors for precancerous disease progression, and prognosis of ESCC. Protein biomarkers that enable identification of the different pathologic grades of ESCC will need to be identified. ESCC biomarkers have the potential to improve screening and treatment strategies; multicenter prospective studies with large sample sizes will be required to confirm the usefulness of these candidate biomarkers.
Leaders and followers behaving badly: A meta‐analytic examination of curvilinear relationships between destructive leadership and followers’ workplace behaviors
Authors: Mackey Jeremy D. , McAllister Charn P. , Maher Liam P. , Wang Gang 
Published: June 2018

AbstractWe draw from social psychological and resource‐based theories to meta‐analytically examine curvilinear relationships between destructive leadership and followers’ workplace behaviors (i.e., job performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, and workplace deviance). Overall, our meta‐analytic results demonstrate that relationships between destructive leadership and followers’ workplace behaviors are essentially linear. The limited evidence of curvilinear relationships we did find supports the application of social psychological theories when examining high levels of destructive leadership. Overall, this study's meta‐analytic regression, relative weight, and semipartial correlation results have important implications for how to interpret the conclusions drawn from prior destructive leadership research, how to conduct future studies that examine destructive leadership, and practitioners’ attempts to limit the effects of destructive leadership on followers’ workplace behaviors.
Equine Chorionic Gonadotropin (eCG) improves bucks’ semen quality during the nonbreeding season
Authors: Beracochea Florencia , Viera María Noel , Acevedo Lucía , Santiago‐Moreno Julián , Ungerfeld Rodolfo 
Published: June 2018

AbstractIn most goat breeds, testosterone serum concentration and semen quality decrease during the nonbreeding season. However, bucks reproductive activity may be stimulated with the administration of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG). Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether the repeated administration of eCG stimulates the reproductive status of bucks during the nonbreeding season. The study was performed with 19 bucks that were assigned to a group that was treated with eCG (GeCG) and an untreated control group (GCon). The GeCG bucks received an initial dose of 800 IU of eCG (Day 0), followed by four doses of 500 IU administered every 5 days beginning on Day 5. Serum testosterone and anti‐eCG antibody concentrations, testicular and seminal traits were determined until Day 60. Testosterone concentration (from Day 3 to 21: p < 0.0001), anti‐eCG titre (from Day 12 to 44: p ≤ 0.01), percentage of motile spermatozoa (Day 6: p = 0.006 and 14: p = 0.001) and of spermatozoa with progressive motility (Day 6: p = 0.01 and 14: p = 0.002) and the percentage of spermatozoa with functional membrane (Day 6: p = 0.02 and 22: p = 0.008) were higher in GeCG than in GCon bucks. Also in frozen‐thawed samples, the percentage of motile spermatozoa tended to be higher in GeCG than that of GCon bucks (p = 0.07). In conclusion, the administration of eCG during the nonbreeding season stimulated the secretion of testosterone and improved fresh and possibly frozen‐thawed semen quality. However, it also resulted in an increase in anti‐eCG antibody titre.
Dialysate bicarbonate concentration: Too much of a good thing?
Authors: Basile Carlo , Rossi Luigi , Lomonte Carlo 
Published: June 2018

AbstractAcid‐base equilibrium is a complex and vital system whose regulation is impaired in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Metabolic acidosis is a common complication of CKD. It is typically due to the accumulation of sulfate, phosphorus, and organic anions. Metabolic acidosis is correlated with several adverse outcomes, such as morbidity, hospitalization and mortality. In patients undergoing hemodialysis, acid‐base homeostasis depends on many factors: net acid production, amount of alkali given by the dialysate bath, duration of interdialytic period, as well as residual diuresis, if any. Recent literature data suggest that the development of postdialysis metabolic alkalosis may contribute to adverse clinical outcomes. Unfortunately, no randomized studies exist about the effect of different dialysate bicarbonate concentrations on hard outcomes, such as mortality. Like everything else in dialysis, the quest for the “ideal” dialysate bicarbonate concentration is far from over. The Latin aphorism “ne quid nimis” ie “nothing in excess” (excess of neither acid nor base) probably best summarizes our current state of knowledge in this field. For the present, the clinician should understand that target values for predialysis serum bicarbonate concentrations have been established primarily based on observational studies and expert opinion. On the basis of this information, we should keep predialysis serum bicarbonate concentrations at least at 22 mEq/L. Furthermore, a specific focus should be addressed to the clinical and nutritional status of the major outliers on both the acid and alkaline sides of the curve.
Inflection points in longitudinal models: Tracking recovery and return to play following concussion
Authors: Parrington L. , Fino N. F. , Fino P. C. , Murchison C. F. , Chesnutt J. C. , King L. A. 
Published: June 2018

The return to play (RTP) process may occur during longitudinal studies tracking recovery after concussion. This factor, which is often omitted within statistical designs, could affect the fit and overall interpretation of the statistical model. This article demonstrates the difference in results and interpretation between 2 linear mixed‐model designs: (1) a between‐group longitudinal (GROUP) analysis and (2) a between‐group longitudinal model that used an inflection point to account for changes around the time of RTP (RTP analysis). These analyses were conducted on instrumented balance data collected on 23 concussed athletes and 25 controls over 8 weeks following concussion. Total sway area and the range of mediolateral acceleration were used as outcome measures. No significant findings were found in the GROUP design for either outcome measure. In contrast, the RTP analysis revealed significant effects of time (P = .007) and RTP change (P = .007), and group*time (P = .028) and group*RTP change (P = .022) interactions for total sway area, and effects of group (P = .011), time (P = .010), and RTP change (P = .014), and group*time (P = .013) and group*RTP change interactions (P = .013) for range of mediolateral acceleration. For both outcomes, the RTP model fit the data significantly better on comparison of likelihood ratios (P ≤ .027). These results suggest that allowing for an inflection point in the statistical design may assist understanding of what happens around clinically meaningful time points. The choice of statistical model had a considerable effect on the interpretation of findings, and provokes discussion around the best method for analyzing longitudinal datasets when important clinical time points like RTP exist.
Evidence of balance training‐induced improvement in soccer‐specific skills in U11 soccer players
Authors: Cè E. , Longo S. , Paleari E. , Riboli A. , Limonta E. , Rampichini S. , Coratella G. , Esposito F. 
Published: June 2018

The present study aimed to determine the role of balance training improving technical soccer skills in young players. Two U11 soccer teams were randomly assigned one to either balance training (BT; n = 22) or control group (Ctrl; n = 21). At the end of their habitual soccer training (identical in BT and Ctrl), BT underwent additional balance training for 12 weeks (3 sessions/week, 20 minutes per session), while Ctrl had a 20‐minute scrimmage. Before and after the intervention, BT and Ctrl underwent two soccer‐specific tests (Loughborough Soccer Passing, LSPT, and Shooting, LSST, Tests), and bipedal and unipedal balance evaluations. After intervention, both groups decreased the trials time and improved passing accuracy, with larger improvements in BT than Ctrl (LSPT penalty time [CI95%]: −2.20 seconds [−2.72/−1.68]; ES [CI95%]: −2.54 seconds [−3.34/−1.74]). Both groups improved balance ability, with BT showing larger increments in bipedal tests than Ctrl (static balance: −29 mm [−42/−16]; ES: −1.39 [−2.05/−0.72]; limit of stability: 4% [3/5]; ES 3.93 [2.90/4.95]; unipedal quasi‐dynamic balance: 0.07 a.u. [0.03/0.11]; ES: 1.04 [0.40/1.67] and active range of motion: −5% [−8/−2]; ES −0.89 [−1.51/−0.26]). Low‐to‐moderate correlations between the players’ technical level and unipedal balance ability were retrieved, particularly in the non‐dominant limb (R from 0.30 to 0.48). Balance training improved some technical soccer skills more than habitual soccer training alone, suggesting that young soccer players may benefit from additional balance training added to their traditional training.
Emitter Velocity Estimation Comparison for Frequency Difference of Arrival Measurement Based Single and Multiple Reference Lateration Algorithm
Authors: Yaro Abdulmalik Shehu , Sha'ameri Ahmad Zuri 
Published: June 2018

The accuracy at which the instantaneous velocity and position of a non-stationary emitting source estimated using a lateration algorithm depends on several factors such as the lateration algorithm approach, the number and choice of reference receiving station (RS) used in developing the lateration algorithm. In this paper, the use of multiple reference RSs was proposed to improve the velocity estimation accuracy of the frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) based lateration algorithm. The velocity estimation performance of the proposed multiple reference FDOA based lateration algorithm is compared with the conventional approach of using single reference RS at some selected emitter positions using Monte Carlo simulation. Simulation result based on an equilateral triangle RS configuration shows that the use of multiple reference RSs improved the velocity estimation accuracy of the lateration algorithm. Based on the selected emitter positions, a reduction in velocity estimation error of about 0.033 and 1.31 for emitter positions at ranges 0.5 km and 5 km respectively was achieved using the multiple reference lateration algorithm.
ZnO Thin Film Transistor: Effect of Traps and Grain Boundaries
Authors: Razak A.A. , Khoo W.H. , Mohamed Sultan Suhana 
Published: June 2018

Recently ZnO has drawn a lot of attention in semiconductor industry due to its interesting features. High exciton binding energy, high resistivity against radiation, high breakdown voltage, low temperature deposition are some of the interesting features of this material. Zinc oxide TFT device gains an increasing interest for its potential in sensing applications due to its biocompability, chemical stability and simple fabrication process with various methods and high surface-to-volume ratio. However, ZnO TFT devices from previous work exhibited poor ION and field effect mobility. This work investigates the cause of its poor performance by focusing only two factors: traps and defects in the channel and grain boundary. The work was performed in Silvaco TCAD 2D simulator. It was found that a single grain boundary in the channel causes a reduction of the ION by 95%. The effect in the ION is less severe when traps and defects were introduced in the ZnO channel. The results can assist in optimizing the TFT device performance for sensing applications.
Influence of drying methods on the quality of Orthosiphon stamineus extract
Authors: Lau Cher Haan , Chua Lee Suan 
Published: June 2018

The interest in herbal products is tremendously increasing in recent years, probably due to their health promoting benefits. Drying is one of the important processes in herbal extract preparation. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of drying methods on the quality of Orthosiphon stamineus (OS) extract. The OS extract was concentrated by a centrifugal concentrating system operated at three different modes (Infrared (IR), IR-Heat and Heat), vacuum evaporator (VE) and oven dryer. The phytochemical profiles of the dried extracts were analysed by LC-MS/MS. The oven-dried OS extract showed the highest yield (26.2%), followed by heat-dried, IR-heat-dried, IR-dried and VE-dried. The VE-dried extract showed the highest reduction of extract quality in term of its phytochemical content, particularly for the major compounds such as caffeic acid, eupatorin, eupatorin derivative, myricetin, rosmarinic acid, rutin and sinensetin. The drying kinetic for IR, heat and IR-heat methods were fitted well into Page model with R2>0.99. This research concluded that the selection of drying method is important because it will affect the phytochemical profile of the plant extract significantly.