bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antithrombin III Profiles in Malignancy, Relationship to Primary Tumors and Metastatic Sites
Authors: Honegger H , Anderson N , Hewitt L A , Tullis J L 
Published: July 2018

SummaryVariations of antithrombin III were studied in a non-ran-domized population of consecutive cancer cases admitted to a referral hospital. Differences between functional and immunologic assay were observed.Decreases were observed in both assays when compared to a population of hospitalized controls. Patients with cancer of the colon, ovary and prostate showed a deficiency of antithrombin III more frequently than other common tumors. When all tumor cases were subdivided into those in remission compared to those with metastases, a significant decrease in antithrombin III also could be shown.Metastases to the liver were strikingly common in cancer patients with decreased antithrombin III. In these patients, the decrease in antithrombin III could be statistically correlated with reduction in serum albumin.
High Frequency of Low Plasma Haptoglobin Values Found in Hemophilia A Patients on Prophylactic Treatment with Factor VIII Concentrates - A Sign of Hemolysis?
Authors: Egberg Nils , Blombäck Margareta 
Published: July 2018

SummaryLow plasma haptoglobin values have been observed in hemophilia A patients on regular prophylactic treatment with factor VIII concentrates. Two of 3 patients treated with fraction I-0 (Kabi) and 7 of 11 patients treated with high-purity concentrates (Hyland) had low haptoglobin values. Four of 8 patients who were treated with high-purity concentrates prescreened for a low content of anti-A and anti-B immunoglobulins still showed low haptoglobin levels. Unexpectedly, 2 patients of blood group 0 showed low haptoglobin values. The presence of irregular erythrocyte alloantibodies and/or other contaminants of the concentrates might thus also be a cause of hemolysis resulting in an increased consumption of haptoglobin.Elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels were also frequent. No correlations were found between albumin, aspartate or alanine aminotransferase levels and haptoglobin levels.
The In Vitro Effect of Ticlopidine on Fibrinogen and Factor VIII Binding to Human Platelets
Authors: Lee Helen , Paton R C , Ruan C , Caen J P 
Published: July 2018

SummaryThe mode of action of the antiplatelet agent ticlopidine is not yet fully understood. Its multiple effects on platelet function include prolongation of the bleeding time, reduction in primary and secondary Waves of ADP-induced aggregation and inhibition of collagen and thrombin-induced aggregation. We have studied the in vitro effects of ticlopidine on fibrinogen binding induced by ADP and adrenaline as well as factor VIII/vWF binding induced by ristocetin.
125I-fibrinogen binding was measured in suspensions of freshly washed normal platelets stimulated by 10 μM ADP or 10 μM adrenaline. The binding of 125I-factor VIII/vWF in the presence of 1 mg/ml ristocetin was measured in both washed and paraformaldehyde-fixed platelets. Ticlopidine at final concentrations of 200, 100, 50 and 25 μM inhibited both ADP and adrenaline-induced fibrinogen binding in a dose-dependent manner. The mean % inhibition of ADP-induced fibrinogen binding was 82, 73, 42 and 32 respectively. The mean % inhibition of adrenaline induced fibrinogen binding was 86, 82, 60 and 35 respectively. In contrast, the factor VIII/vWF binding was unaffected by ticlopidine at all concentrations except at 200 μM using fresh platelets where a slight inhibition (19%) was observed.These results suggest that ticlopidine either inhibits platelet activation and consequently fibrinogen binding, or inhibits the binding directly, presumably by having an effect on the specific configuration of the platelet membrane required for normal fibrinogen binding.
Changes in Factor VIII Complex Activities During the Production of a Clinical Intermediate Purity Factor VIII Concentrate
Authors: Prowse C V , Griffin B , Pepper D S , Dickson A J , McQuillan T A , Dickson I H , Foster P R 
Published: July 2018

SummarySamples taken at various stages of preparation of intermediate purity factor VIII concentrate were assayed for factor VIII coagulant activity (VIII:C), factor VIII coagulant antigen (VIIIC: Ag) and factor VIII related antigen (VIIIR: Ag). The antigen results were used to assess mechanical loss during fractionation as these markers are relatively stable. In contrast VIII:C is sensitive to both mechanical and inactivation losses.The major loss of factor VIII occurred during the cryoprecipitation and extraction step and was due to both mechanical loss and inactivation. Losses before and after this step were largely due to inactivation of the factor VIII.Assay of VIIIR: Ag in concentrates presented problems and a modified technique is suggested.
Platelet Aggregation, Malondialdehyde Generation and Production Time in Children with Sickle Cell Anaemia
Authors: Buchanan George R , Holtkamp Christine A 
Published: July 2018

SummaryIn view of prior reports of platelet activation in the sickling disorders, platelet aggregation, malondialdehyde (MDA) production following stimulation with N-ethylmaleimide, and/or production time (survival) measurements were examined in 44 children with homozygous sickle cell disease. Aggregation in response to epinephrine, collagen, and adenosine diphosphate was similar to or only slightly less than in normal black controls, rendering highly unlikely the circulation of a sizable population of refractory or “exhausted” platelets. The platelets from the normal blacks aggregated less in response to epinephrine than those from white control subjects. MDA generation in sickle cell platelets was not increased, and platelet production time was not shortened in 6 patients studied during crisis. These observations do not support the occurrence of a marked degree of platelet activation and consumption in sickle cell anaemia.
Weblog “How Do I Breathe?”—Design and View Statistics
Authors: de Luccas Gabriele , Berretin-Felix Giédre , Fukushiro Ana 
Published: July 2018

Introduction Breathing is one of the vital functions of the body and is essential for the maintenance of life. Preventive measures for respiratory disorders can be used by the population, as well as early self-diagnosis and immediate search for treatment based on knowledge of this subject.
Objective this study developed a weblog on the breathing function targeting young people and analyzed the statistical data of views until the present moment.
Methods The weblog was developed, and the stages of analysis, design, development and implementation were followed. All texts were evaluated by the Flesch Reading Index to verify the language, and the statistical data were analyzed by the number of views, countries with the highest number of views, search terms used, most viewed pages and number of comments on the blog.
Results Issues related to the breathing function and those most cited in the literature were selected. The blog was structured using pages with content and curiosities, with texts with minimum readability of 50%, and was made available on the internet by means of the Wordpress tool. The statistics showed an increase in the number of visits after August 2015; the countries with the highest number of views were Brazil, United States and Portugal; the search terms used were unknown or related to mouth breathing; the most viewed pages related to mouth breathing and the comments addressed questions on mouth breathing, reports and compliments.
Conclusion The blog “How do I breathe?,” aimed at young people and containing information about the breathing function, was developed and is available on the internet at the address: https://comoeurespiro.wordpress.com.
The Effect of Fibroblast Growth Factors in Grafted Fascia into the Vocal Fold of Rabbits
Authors: Carvalho Eduardo , Machado-Júnior Almiro , Pauna Henrique , Nicola Ester , Altemani Albina , Crespo Agricio 
Published: July 2018

Introduction The human larynx is a very important organ for communication. Many conditions lead to scarring of the vocal folds, decreasing voice quality.
Objective We aimed to determine whether fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) may influence tissue integration of grafted fascia into the vocal folds of an animal model.
Methods This is an experimental animal study with 12 adult rabbits that were submitted to a grafting fragment obtained from superficial cervical fascia into the vocal fold lamina propria, bilaterally. The right vocal fold was injected with FGFs. The animals were sacrificed after 1 month or 12 months, depending on the group they were assigned to, and a histological analysis of their vocal folds was performed. We analyzed the histological changes (such as the presence of fibrosis and neovascularization) induced by the acute or chronic inflammatory reactions.
Results The FGFs induced acute inflammatory changes in all animals after 1 month of the initial experiment. The presence of FGFs triggered more fibrosis than the expected due to the surgical procedure itself when compared with the control side of all animals after 12 months of the initial experiment.
Conclusions Fibroblast growth factors alone do not represent a good therapeutic option in phonosurgery, since we observed higher levels of fibrosis in the vocal fold lamina propria. Further studies combining more substances may be necessary to elucidate the best option to be used in this kind of surgery.
An Experimental Test of the Lucas Asset Pricing Model
Authors: Crockett Sean , Duffy John , Izhakian Yehuda 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
We implement a dynamic asset pricing experiment in the spirit of Lucas (1978) with storable assets and non-storable cash. In the first treatment, we impose diminishing marginal returns to cash to incentivize consumption smoothing across periods. We find that subjects use the asset to smooth consumption, although the asset trades at a discount relative to the risk-neutral fundamental price. This under-pricing is a departure from the asset price “bubbles” observed in the large experimental asset pricing literature originating with Smith et al. (1988) and can be rationalized by considering subjects’ risk aversion with respect to uncertain money earnings. In a second treatment, with no induced motivation for trade à la the Smith et al. design, we find that the asset trades at a premium relative to its expected value and that shareholdings are highly concentrated. Elimination of asset price uncertainty in additional experimental treatments serves to reinforce the same observations, and suggests that speculative behaviour explains the departure of prices from fundamental value in the absence of a consumption-smoothing motive for asset trades.
Redesign of an Undergraduate General Microbiology Lab to Include Authentic Discovery-Driven Research on Cucumber Fermentations
Authors: Greenstein Jennifer , Ford Brian , Gove Sandra , Breidt Fred , Lee Alice , Taveirne Michael E. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractMany undergraduate introductory microbiology laboratory courses teach basic principles of bacteriology using classical protocol-based experiments, with limited critical thinking and inquiry-based learning practices. We initiated a comprehensive redesign in our General Microbiology Laboratory course to promote scientific critical and creative thinking, while strengthening core microbiology concepts and skills. As part of the redesign, a series of authentic discovery-driven labs, based on cucumber fermentations, were developed as an independent research module within the course curriculum. Integrating discovery-driven labs allowed students to be engaged problem solvers, applying the scientific process to develop hypotheses, design experiments, utilize quantitative reasoning, and effectively communicate results. The inquiry-guided research project was developed to evaluate the minimum concentration of salt (NaCl) required in fermentation brine to safely, and effectively, ferment cucumbers. Over 5 weeks, students assess different aspects of the fermentation process, including quantifying bacterial populations with differential and selective media, measuring pH and glucose concentration of brine solutions, and characterizing the microbial metabolic potential. Additionally, students isolate an unknown bacterium from their fermentations, identifying and characterizing the isolate using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolic tests. Throughout the research project, students collect, graph, and analyze their observations, culminating in students creating and presenting a scientific research poster. With this lab redesign, students generate new knowledge contributing to our understanding of microbial ecology within food fermentations, learn core microbiology skills and techniques, and develop critical and creative thinking skills. The impact of their research is valuable to science educators, researchers, and industry partners.
McImpute: Matrix completion based imputation for single cell RNA-seq data
Authors: Mongia Aanchal , Sengupta Debarka , Majumdar Angshul 
Published: July 2018

AbstractMotivationSingle cell RNA sequencing has been proved to be revolutionary for its potential of zooming into complex biological systems. Genome wide expression analysis at single cell resolution, provides a window into dynamics of cellular phenotypes. This facilitates characterization of transcriptional heterogeneity in normal and diseased tissues under various conditions. It also sheds light on development or emergence of specific cell populations and phenotypes. However, owing to the paucity of input RNA, a typical single cell RNA sequencing data features a high number of dropout events where transcripts fail to get amplified.ResultsWe introduce mcImpute, a low-rank matrix completion based technique to impute dropouts in single cell expression data. On a number of real datasets, application of mcImpute yields significant improvements in separation of true zeros from dropouts, cell-clustering, differential expression analysis, cell type separability, performance of dimensionality reduction techniques for cell visualization and gene distribution.Availability and Implementationhttps://github.com/aanchalMongia/McImpute_scRNAseq
Modulation of corneal tissue mechanics influences epithelial cell phenotype
Authors: Gouveia Ricardo M. , Lepert Guillaume , Gupta Suneel , Mohan Rajiv R. , Paterson Carl , Connon Che J. 
Published: July 2018

SummaryWhilst the control of stem cell differentiation using substrates of differing compliance has been extensively exploredin vitro, the significance of this mechanism at a physiological level is not known. Here we set to explore the role of corneal surface biomechanics in controlling epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. Using non-contact high-resolution Brillouin spectro-microscopy we showed that the corneal outer edge (limbus) has significantly lower bulk modulus compared to the central cornea, and that this difference is precisely delimited in the organ. Furthermore, the areas of the limbus with distinctly softer properties were shown to be associated with limbal epithelial stem cell (LESC) residence. Based on these findings, we then provided the first demonstration of the capacity to modulate LESC phenotype, bothin vivoandex vivo, solely through the recreation/restoration of suitable biomechanical niches. These results thus confirm the fundamental role of corneal biomechanics in directing epithelial stem cell behavior.
Expansion of the fatty acyl reductase gene family shaped pheromone communication in Hymenoptera
Authors: Tupec Michal , Buček Aleš , Vogel Heiko , Janoušek Václav , Prchalová Darina , Kindl Jiří , Pavlíčková Tereza , Wenzelová Petra , Jahn Ullrich , Valterová Irena , Pichová Iva 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe conserved fatty acyl reductase (FAR) family is involved in biosynthesis of fatty alcohols that serve a range of biological roles. In moths, butterflies (Lepidoptera), and bees (Hymenoptera), FARs biosynthesize fatty alcohol pheromones participating in mate-finding strategies. Using a combination of next-generation sequencing, analysis of transposable elements (TE) in the genomic environment of FAR genes, and functional characterization of FARs fromBombus lucorum, B. lapidarius, andB. terrestris, we uncovered a massive expansion of the FAR gene family in Hymenoptera, presumably facilitated by TEs. Expansion occurred in the common ancestor of bumblebees (Bombini) and stingless bees (Meliponini) after their divergence from the honeybee lineage. We found that FARs from the expanded FAR-A orthology group contributed to the species-specific male marking pheromone composition. Our results indicate that TE-mediated expansion and functional diversification of the FAR gene family played a key role in the evolution of pheromone communication in the crown group of Hymenoptera.AbbreviationsMMP: male marking pheromone, FA: fatty acid, FAME: fatty acid methyl ester, FAR: fatty acyl reductase, LG: labial gland, FB: fat body, TE: transposable element.
Evidence for secondary-variant genetic burden and non-random distribution across biological modules in a recessive ciliopathy
Authors: Kousi Maria , Söylemez Onuralp , Ozanturk Aysegül , Akle Sebastian , Jungreis Irwin , Muller Jean , Cassa Christopher A. , Brand Harrison , Mokry Jill Anne , Wolf Maxim Y. , Sadeghpour Azita , McFadden Kelsey , Lewis Richard A. , Talkowski Michael E. , Dollfus Hélène , Kellis Manolis , Davis Erica E. , Sunyaev Shamil R. , Katsanis Nicholas 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe influence of genetic background on driver mutations is well established; however, the mechanisms by which the background interacts with Mendelian loci remains unclear. We performed a systematic secondary-variant burden analysis of two independent Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) cohorts with known recessive biallelic pathogenic mutations in one of 17 BBS genes for each individual. We observed a significant enrichment oftrans-acting rare nonsynonymous secondary variants compared to either population controls or to a cohort of individuals with a non-BBS diagnosis and recessive variants in the same gene set. Strikingly, we found a significant over-representation of secondary alleles in chaperonin-encoding genes, a finding corroborated by the observation of epistatic interactions involving this complexin vivo. These data indicate a complex genetic architecture for BBS that informs the biological properties of disease modules and presents a model paradigm for secondary-variant burden analysis in recessive disorders.
Enhanced bottom-up and reduced top-down fMRI activity is related to long-lasting non-reinforced behavioral change
Authors: Botvinik-Nezer Rotem , Salomon Tom , Schonberg Tom 
Published: July 2018

AbstractBehavioral change studies and interventions focus on self-control and external reinforcements as means to influence preferences. Cue-approach training (CAT) has been shown to induce preference changes lasting months following a mere association of items with a neutral cue and a speeded response, without external reinforcements. We utilized this paradigm to study preference representation and modification in the brain without external reinforcements. We scanned 36 participants with fMRI during a novel passive viewing task before, after and 30 days following CAT. We pre-registered the predictions that activity in regions related to memory, top-down attention and value processing underlie behavioral change. We found that bottom-up neural mechanisms, involving visual processing regions, were associated with immediate behavioral change, while reduced top-down parietal activity and enhanced hippocampal activity were related to the long-term change. Enhanced activity in value-related regions was found both immediately and in the long-term. Our findings suggest a novel neural mechanism of preference representation and modification. We suggest that non-reinforced change occurs initially in perceptual representation of items, which putatively lead to long-term changes in memory and top-down processes. These findings could lead to implementation of bottom-up instead of top-down targeted interventions to accomplish long-lasting behavioral change.
The role of ambiances and aesthetics on millennials’ museum visiting behavior
Authors: Hyun Hyowon , Park Jungkun , Ren Tianbao , Kim Hyunjin 
Published: July 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for millennials’ museum visiting behaviour and to explore the moderating effects of aesthetics and ambience for visiting art museums. This study uses the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) model (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) in order to confirm the relationship among variables.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected using online surveys from millennial art museum visitors who had visited a museum within three months. In all, 287 responses were collected. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the model.FindingsKorean millennial visitors pursue hedonic value rather than utilitarian value when they visit art museums. It turns out that hedonic value accelerates visitor satisfaction and promotes visitor loyalty more than utilitarian value in the art museum setting. Both ambiance and aesthetics play stimulating roles in the art museum context and moderate the relationships among visitor-perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty. Utilitarian values are identified as unimportant elements for young Korean museumgoers.Practical implicationsAmbiance and aesthetic factors play important roles in promoting art museum visits. An art museum may elevate its atmospheric factors by emphasising the visit’s fun value (i.e. hedonic value) for millennials.Originality/valueThis study expands on previous studies concerning conceptualization of multidimensional constructs of millennials’ value for experience of arts museums in terms of aesthetics and ambiance. The results also confirm the value of the S–O–R framework in an art museum context.