bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Novel anticoagulants versus vitamin K antagonists for cardioversion of non- valvular atrial fibrillation – a meta-analysis of more than 17000 patients
Authors: Mincu Raluca Ileana , Mahabadi Amir Abbas , Totzeck Matthias , Rassaf Tienush 
Published: February 2019

AbstractNon-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have proven a favorable risk-benefit profile compared to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for preventing stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF), but actual data are not sufficiently powered to extend this profile on patients with AF that undergo cardioversion. We aimed to compare outcomes after cardioversion of AF under NOACs vs. VKAs. We systematically searched Pubmed, Cochrane, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases for studies published until October 2017. A total of 17506 patients from 11 studies were included. Treatment with NOACs was associated with similar relative risks (RR) of stroke and systemic embolism, hemorrhagic stroke, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular death, and all cause death compared to VKAs treatment. The RR of ischemic stroke was lower in the NOACs group. The risk of major bleeding was similar across treatment groups. Treatment with NOACs in patients with non-valvular AF that undergo cardioversion seems to be as safe and effective as the use of classical VKAs, with a better profile for ischemic stroke. Clinical Trial Registration: PROSPERO Registry, CRD42018086181 https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID = 86181.
De novo assembly of transcriptomes, mining, and development of novel EST-SSR markers in Curcuma alismatifolia (Zingiberaceae family) through Illumina sequencing
Authors: Taheri Sima , Abdullah Thohirah Lee , Rafii M. Y. , Harikrishna Jennifer Ann , Werbrouck Stefaan P. O. , Teo Chee How , Sahebi Mahbod , Azizi Parisa 
Published: February 2019

AbstractCurcuma alismatifolia widely used as an ornamental plant in Thailand and Cambodia. This species of herbaceous perennial from the Zingiberaceae family, includes cultivars with a wide range of colours and long postharvest life, and is used as an ornamental cut flower, as a potted plant, and in exterior landscapes. For further genetic improvement, however, little genomic information and no specific molecular markers are available. The present study used Illumina sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly of two C. alismatifolia cvs, ‘Chiang Mai Pink’ and ‘UB Snow 701’, to develop simple sequence repeat markers for genetic diversity studies. After de novo assembly, 62,105 unigenes were generated and 48,813 (78.60%) showed significant similarities versus six functional protein databases. In addition, 9,351 expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) were identified with a distribution frequency of 12.5% total unigenes. Out of 8,955 designed EST-SSR primers, 150 primers were selected for the development of potential molecular markers. Among these markers, 17 EST-SSR markers presented a moderate level of genetic diversity among three C. alismatifolia cultivars, one hybrid, three Curcuma, and two Zingiber species. Three different genetic groups within these species were revealed using EST-SSR markers, indicating that the markers developed in this study can be effectively applied to the population genetic analysis of Curcuma and Zingiber species. This report describes the first analysis of transcriptome data of an important ornamental ginger cultivars, also provides a valuable resource for gene discovery and marker development in the genus Curcuma.
Identification and Characterization of a Dominant Sulfolane-Degrading Rhodoferax sp. via Stable Isotope Probing Combined with Metagenomics
Authors: Kasanke Christopher Paul , Collins R. Eric , Leigh Mary Beth 
Published: February 2019

AbstractSulfolane is an industrial solvent and emerging organic contaminant affecting groundwater around the world, but little is known about microbes capable of biodegrading sulfolane or the pathways involved. We combined DNA-based stable isotope probing (SIP) with genome-resolved metagenomics to identify microorganisms associated with sulfolane biodegradation in a contaminated subarctic aquifer. In addition to 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we performed shotgun metagenomics on the 13C-labeled DNA to obtain functional and taxonomic information about the active sulfolane-degrading community. We identified the primary sulfolane degrader, comprising ~85% of the labeled community in the amplicon sequencing dataset, as closely related to Rhodoferax ferrireducens strain T118. We obtained a 99.8%-complete metagenome-assembled genome for this strain, allowing us to identify putative pathways of sulfolane biodegradation. Although the 4S dibenzothiophene desulfurization pathway has been proposed as an analog for sulfolane biodegradation, we found only a subset of the required genes, suggesting a novel pathway specific to sulfolane. DszA, the enzyme likely responsible for opening the sulfolane ring structure, was encoded on both the chromosome and a plasmid. This study demonstrates the power of integrating DNA-SIP with metagenomics to characterize emerging organic contaminant degraders without culture bias and expands the known taxonomic distribution of sulfolane biodegradation.
Asymmetric paralog evolution between the “cryptic” gene Bmp16 and its well-studied sister genes Bmp2 and Bmp4
Authors: Feiner Nathalie , Motone Fumio , Meyer Axel , Kuraku Shigehiro 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe vertebrate gene repertoire is characterized by “cryptic” genes whose identification has been hampered by their absence from the genomes of well-studied species. One example is the Bmp16 gene, a paralog of the developmental key genes Bmp2 and -4. We focus on the Bmp2/4/16 group of genes to study the evolutionary dynamics following gen(om)e duplications with special emphasis on the poorly studied Bmp16 gene. We reveal the presence of Bmp16 in chondrichthyans in addition to previously reported teleost fishes and reptiles. Using comprehensive, vertebrate-wide gene sampling, our phylogenetic analysis complemented with synteny analyses suggests that Bmp2, -4 and -16 are remnants of a gene quartet that originated during the two rounds of whole-genome duplication (2R-WGD) early in vertebrate evolution. We confirm that Bmp16 genes were lost independently in at least three lineages (mammals, archelosaurs and amphibians) and report that they have elevated rates of sequence evolution. This finding agrees with their more “flexible” deployment during development; while Bmp16 has limited embryonic expression domains in the cloudy catshark, it is broadly expressed in the green anole lizard. Our study illustrates the dynamics of gene family evolution by integrating insights from sequence diversification, gene repertoire changes, and shuffling of expression domains.
Metabolite-based mutualism enhances hydrogen production in a two-species microbial consortium
Authors: Wang Shaojie , Tang Hongzhi , Peng Fei , Yu Xijia , Su Haijia , Xu Ping , Tan Tianwei 
Published: February 2019

AbstractSustainable hydrogen production from renewable and low-cost substrates is very important to mitigate environmental and energy-related issues. Microbial consortia are promising for diverse bioenergy and environmental applications, yet microbial interactions are not fully understood. Here, we present comprehensive investigation on how two species in an artificial microbial consortium, consisting of Bacillus cereus A1 and Brevundimonas naejangsanensis B1, mutually cooperate to achieve an overall enhancement in hydrogen production and starch utilization. In this consortium, strains A1 and B1 secrete α-amylase and glucoamylase that are functionally complementary in starch hydrolysis. Moreover, strain A1 converts starch into lactate as a carbon source and electron donor, supporting the cell growth and hydrogen generation of strain B1. In return, strain B1 produces formate as an electron shuttle to strain A1 to enhance hydrogen production. The co-culture re-directs the overall metabolic flux, facilitates the cell growth, and up-regulates the key genes of hydrogen production and starch hydrolysis.
Regulation of cell migration by α4 and α9 integrins
Authors: Hight-Warburton Willow , Parsons Maddy 
Published: February 2019

Abstract
Integrins are heterodimeric transmembrane receptors that play an essential role in enabling cells to sense and bind to extracellular ligands. Activation and clustering of integrins leads to the formation of focal adhesions at the plasma membrane that subsequently initiate signalling pathways to control a broad range of functional endpoints including cell migration, proliferation and survival. The α4 and α9 integrins form a small sub-family of receptors that share some specific ligands and binding partners. Although relatively poorly studied compared with other integrin family members, emerging evidence suggests that despite restricted cell and tissue expression profiles, these integrins play a key role in the regulation of signalling pathways controlling cytoskeletal remodelling and migration in both adherent and non-adherent cell types. This review summarises the known shared and specific roles for α4 and α9 integrins and highlights the importance of these receptors in controlling cell migration within both homeostatic and disease settings.
An ion for an iron: streptococcal metal homeostasis under oxidative stress
Authors: Jakubovics Nicholas S. 
Published: February 2019

Abstract
The ability of opportunistic pathogens such as Group A Streptococcus (GAS) to transition between mucosal colonisation and invasive disease requires complex systems for adapting to markedly different host environments. The battle to acquire essential trace metals such as manganese and iron from the host is central to pathogenesis. Using a molecular genetic approach, Turner et al. [Biochem. J. (2019) 476, 595–611] show that it is not just individual metal concentrations that are important, but the ratio of iron to manganese within cells. Increasing this ratio by knocking out pmtA, encoding the Fe(II) exporter PmtA, or by disrupting mtsA, encoding an MtsABC Mn(II)-import system component, led to reductions in superoxide dismutase (SodA) activity and increased sensitivity to oxidative stress. The authors show that SodA is at least 4-fold more active with Mn bound than with Fe and speculate that high intracellular Fe:Mn ratios reduce superoxide dismutase activity through the mismetalation of SodA. Challenging wild-type GAS with 1 mM H2O2 led to a decrease in Fe:Mn ratio and a 3-fold increase in SodA activity, indicating that modulation of the balance between intracellular Fe and Mn may play an important role in adaptation to oxidative stress. This work unravels some of the key mechanisms for maintaining appropriate Mn and Fe concentrations within bacterial cells and underscores the need for future studies that take an holistic view to metal ion homeostasis in bacteria. Strategies aimed at interfering with the balance of intracellular metal ions represent a promising approach for the control of invasive microbial infections.
Genetic obesity increases pancreatic expression of mitochondrial proteins which regulate cholesterol efflux in BRIN-BD11 insulinoma cells
Authors: Caridis Anna-Maria , Lightbody Richard J. , Tarlton Jamie M.R. , Dolan Sharron , Graham Annette 
Published: February 2019

Abstract
Pancreatic β-cells are sensitive to fluctuations in cholesterol content, which can damage the insulin secretion pathway, contributing to the aetiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Cholesterol efflux to (apo)lipoproteins, via ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter A1 (ABCA1), can prevent intracellular cholesterol accumulation; in some peripheral cells, ABCA1-dependent efflux is enhanced by promotion of cholesterol trafficking to, and generation of Liver X receptor (LXR) ligands by, mitochondrial sterol 27-hydroxylase (Cyp27A1 (cytochrome P450 27 A1/sterol 27-hydroxylase)) and its redox partners, adrenodoxin (ADX) and ADX reductase (ADXR). Despite this, the roles of mitochondrial cholesterol trafficking (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein [StAR] and 18-kDa translocator protein [TSPO]) and metabolising proteins in insulin-secreting cells remain wholly uncharacterised. Here, we demonstrate an increase in pancreatic expression of Cyp27A1, ADXR, TSPO and LXRα, but not ADX or StAR, in obese (fa/fa) rodents compared with lean (Fa/?) controls. Overexpression of Cyp27A1 alone in BRIN-BD11 cells increased INS2 expression, without affecting lipid metabolism; however, after exposure to low-density lipoprotein (LDL), cholesterol efflux to (apo)lipoprotein acceptors was enhanced in Cyp27A1-overexpressing cells. Co-transfection of Cyp27A1, ADX and ADXR, at a ratio approximating that in pancreatic tissue, stimulated cholesterol efflux to apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) in both basal and cholesterol-loaded cells; insulin release was stimulated equally by all acceptors in cholesterol-loaded cells. Thus, genetic obesity increases pancreatic expression of Cyp27A1, ADXR, TSPO and LXRα, while modulation of Cyp27A1 and its redox partners promotes cholesterol efflux from insulin-secreting cells to acceptor (apo)lipoproteins; this response may help guard against loss of insulin secretion caused by accumulation of excess intracellular cholesterol.
Comparison of Tinnitus Loudness Measures: Matching, Rating, and Scaling
Authors: Manning Candice , Grush Leslie , Thielman Emily , Roberts Larry , Henry James A. 
Published: February 2019

Purpose
Chronic tinnitus (“ringing in the ears”) is a phantom auditory perception with no cure. A goal of treatment is often to reduce the loudness of tinnitus. However, tinnitus loudness cannot be measured objectively. It is most commonly assessed by obtaining a loudness match (LM) with a pure tone and by using a numeric rating scale (NRS). Constrained loudness scaling (CLS) is a more recent measure of tinnitus loudness that utilizes auditory training of a fixed loudness scale to guide tinnitus loudness judgments. The purpose of this study was to compare results using these 3 measures of tinnitus loudness.

Method
This study obtained tinnitus loudness measures of LM, NRS, and CLS with 170 participants. These participants are part of a larger study obtaining repeated measures over 6 months. Only baseline data are presented.

Results

Correlations between all measures were weak to moderate: LM versus CLS (
r
= .46), CLS versus NRS (
r
= .49), and LM versus NRS (
r
= .38).

Conclusion
Further systematic research is needed to more fully understand the relationships between these different measures and to establish a valid measure of tinnitus loudness.
Effects of Adaptive Hearing Aid Directionality and Noise Reduction on Masked Speech Recognition for Children Who Are Hard of Hearing
Authors: Browning Jenna M. , Buss Emily , Flaherty Mary , Vallier Tim , Leibold Lori J. 
Published: February 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate speech-in-noise and speech-in-speech recognition associated with activation of a fully adaptive directional hearing aid algorithm in children with mild to severe bilateral sensory/neural hearing loss.

Method
Fourteen children (5–14 years old) who are hard of hearing participated in this study. Participants wore laboratory hearing aids. Open-set word recognition thresholds were measured adaptively for 2 hearing aid settings: (a) omnidirectional (OMNI) and (b) fully adaptive directionality. Each hearing aid setting was evaluated in 3 listening conditions. Fourteen children with normal hearing served as age-matched controls.

Results
Children who are hard of hearing required a more advantageous signal-to-noise ratio than children with normal hearing to achieve comparable performance in all 3 conditions. For children who are hard of hearing, the average improvement in signal-to-noise ratio when comparing fully adaptive directionality to OMNI was 4.0 dB in noise, regardless of target location. Children performed similarly with fully adaptive directionality and OMNI settings in the presence of the speech maskers.

Conclusions
Compared to OMNI, fully adaptive directionality improved speech recognition in steady noise for children who are hard of hearing, even when they were not facing the target source. This algorithm did not affect speech recognition when the background noise was speech. Although the use of hearing aids with fully adaptive directionality is not proposed as a substitute for remote microphone systems, it appears to offer several advantages over fixed directionality, because it does not depend on children facing the target talker and provides access to multiple talkers within the environment. Additional experiments are required to further evaluate children's performance under a variety of spatial configurations in the presence of both noise and speech maskers.
Direct voltage control of stand‐alone DFIG under asymmetric loads based on non‐singular terminal sliding mode control and improved extended state observer
Authors: Guo Lei , Wang Dan , Diao Liang , Peng Zhouhua 
Published: February 2019

This study investigates direct voltage control of stand‐alone doubly‐fed induction generator (DFIG) system subject to asymmetric loads. An improved voltage regulator is designed based on non‐singular terminal sliding mode control and an improved extended state observer (ESO). Due to the salient features of the improved ESO, the rotor current transducer is not required and the sinusoidal fluctuation in the sliding surface caused by asymmetric loads is eliminated. As a result, satisfactory balanced stator voltage can be generated under asymmetric loads. The proposed method is characterised by the rapid dynamic response and the elimination of sequence decomposition operations. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a 6 kW DFIG‐based hardware system under various loads and varying speed conditions. Both simulation and experiment results are given to validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method for stand‐alone DFIG system.
Analysis, design, and experimentation of the active hybrid‐series‐parallel PWM dimming scheme for high‐efficient off‐line LED drivers
Authors: Abdelmessih Guirguis Z. , Alonso José Marcos , Dalla Costa Marco A. 
Published: February 2019

This study presents a high power factor (PF) light‐emitting diode (LED) driver featuring a pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming technique. The integrated buck‐flyback‐buck converter (IBFBC) is built by connecting a buck converter to the integrated buck‐flyback converter's output. The IBFBC ensures a constant output current regulation as well as high PF at all dimming ratios. The purpose of the output buck converter is to clear up the discontinuous power operation created by the PWM dimming. This occurs when the buck converter absorbs the output power, at LED switched‐off, and sends it back to the input. Thus, the IBFBC maintains the operational enhancement shown by the hybrid‐series‐parallel (HSP)‐PWM technique, ensuring greater efficiency. This study explains the operating principles of the IBFBC using circuit diagrams as well as an average model for the entire converter. Moreover, the study presents a mathematical analysis of the IBFBC power flow. It provides guidance on how to select the optimum value for the output buck inductance. A 230V, 50Hz input, 160V output, 100W AC–DC converter operating at 100 kHz has been implemented. The prototype is fully tested to demonstrate the active HSP‐PWM technique. An efficiency ranging 50–86% corresponding to the dimming ratio of 5–100% is reached, where 5% dimming refers to an output power of 4W.
Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of YVO4 nanocrystals through ethylenediaminetetraacetate‐assisted hydrothermal process
Authors: Li Li , Xu Mai , Xu Airong , Wang Yue , Pan Lu , Sun Zhimei , Wang Fengwu 
Published: February 2019

Tetragonal YVO4 nanoparticles of different sizes were successfully prepared through an ethylenediaminetetraacetate ‐mediated hydrothermal method. The crystalline structure and optical property were characterised by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution TEM, X‐ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectra, and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflection spectra, respectively. The as‐prepared YVO4 displayed excellent photocatalytic performance. Among them, sample S2 has the highest photocatalytic activity with a photodegradation efficiency of 85% within 180 min illumination, which is due to its smaller size and larger specific surface area. The investigation on the photocatalytic mechanism reveals that hydroxyl radical (•OH) is the main active species in the photocatalytic oxidation process.
Anode modified by BiFeO3 and application in resourceful treatment of salty organic wastewater
Authors: Zhang Xiang , Song Xiaoli , Lu Zeqiang , Chen Aiping , Li Chunzhong 
Published: February 2019

The Ni foil or fluorine‐doped SnO2 transparent conductive glass substrates modified by BiFeO3 film with a different atomic ratio of Bi to Fe were prepared by the method of spin coating‐calcination at a different temperature. Coupling photo‐catalysis with electro‐catalysis, resourceful treatment of salty organic wastewater containing methyl orange and cadmium ion was proposed and experimentally achieved. Under visible light irradiation, the highest H2‐production rate (5.46 ml/h cm2), degradation efficiency of methyl orange (51.6%), and the recovery precipitation weight of cadmium hydroxide (0.1846 g) were obtained with Ni foil modified by BiFeO3 (Bi:Fe = 1.10:1.00) film at 550°C of calcination. X‐ray diffraction, ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and the resourceful treatment test of salty organic wastewater were used to characterise the catalyst film.
A method to deconvolve stellar rotational velocities
Authors: Orellana R. , Escárate P. , Curé M. , Christen A. , Carvajal R. , Agüero J. C. 
Published: February 2019

Aims. The study of accurate methods to estimate the distribution of stellar rotational velocities is important for understanding many aspects of stellar evolution. From such observations we obtain the projected rotational speed (vsini) in order to recover the true distribution of the rotational velocity. To that end, we need to solve a difficult inverse problem that can be posed as a Fredholm integral of the first kind.Methods. In this work we have used a novel approach based on maximum likelihood (ML) estimation to obtain an approximation of the true rotational velocity probability density function (PDF) expressed as a sum of known distribution families. In our proposal, the measurements have been treated as random variables drawn from the projected rotational velocity PDF. We analyzed the case of Maxwellian sum approximation, where we estimated the parameters that define the sum of distributions.Results. The performance of the proposed method is analyzed using Monte Carlo simulations considering two theoretical cases for the PDF of the true rotational stellar velocities: (i) an unimodal Maxwellian probability density distribution and (ii) a bimodal Maxwellian probability density distribution. The results show that the proposed method yielded more accurate estimates in comparison with the Tikhonov regularization method, especially for small sample length (N = 50). Our proposal was evaluated using real data from three sets of measurements, and our findings were validated using three statistical tests.Conclusions. The ML approach with Maxwellian sum approximation is a accurate method to deconvolve the rotational velocity PDF, even when the sample length is small (N = 50).