bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evolution of pyrrolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis in Apocynaceae: revisiting the defence de‐escalation hypothesis
Authors: Livshultz Tatyana , Kaltenegger Elisabeth , Straub Shannon C. K. , Weitemier Kevin , Hirsch Elliot , Koval Khrystyna , Mema Lumi , Liston Aaron 
Published: February 2018

Summary

Plants produce specialized metabolites for their defence. However, specialist herbivores adapt to these compounds and use them for their own benefit. Plants attacked predominantly by specialists may be under selection to reduce or eliminate production of co‐opted chemicals: the defence de‐escalation hypothesis.

We studied the evolution of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in Apocynaceae, larval host plants for PA‐adapted butterflies (Danainae, milkweed and clearwing butterflies), to test if the evolutionary pattern is consistent with de‐escalation.

We used the first PA biosynthesis specific enzyme (homospermidine synthase, HSS) as tool for reconstructing PA evolution. We found hss orthologues in diverse Apocynaceae species, not all of them known to produce PAs. The phylogenetic analysis showed a monophyletic origin of the putative hss sequences early in the evolution of one Apocynaceae lineage (the APSA clade). We found an hss pseudogene in Asclepias syriaca, a species known to produce cardiac glycosides but no PAs, and four losses of an HSS amino acid motif. APSA clade species are significantly more likely to be Danainae larval host plants than expected if all Apocynaceae species were equally likely to be exploited.

Our findings are consistent with PA de‐escalation as an adaptive response to specialist attack.
Knowledge about oral leukoplakia for use at different levels of expertise, including patients
Authors: van der Waal I 
Published: February 2018

ObjectiveThe purpose of this contribution is to discuss how the subject of oral leukoplakia might be communicated among the various healthcare workers and also among patients.Material and MethodsThe discussion is based on the available literature and on many decades of clinical and histopathological experience of the author.ResultsThe literature does not contain guidelines on what level of expertise can be expected from the various dental and medical healthcare workers in the field of oral leukoplakia, nor on how to communicate this disorder with patients. Based on personal experience, a number of suggestions have been proposed to overcome this shortcoming.ConclusionKnowledge about oral leukoplakia varies among the various healthcare workers, depending on their level of expertise. Communication on this subject with patients should be in easy to understand wording, avoiding professional terminology as much as possible.
Lyophilized bone marrow cell extract functionally restores irradiation‐injured salivary glands
Authors: Su X , Fang D , Liu Y , Ruan G , Seuntjens J , Kinsella JM , Tran SD 
Published: February 2018

ObjectiveBone marrow cell extract (BMCE) was previously reported to restore salivary gland hypofunction caused by irradiation injury. Proteins were shown to be the main active factors in BMCE. However, BMCE therapy requires multiple injections and protein denaturation is a concern during BMCE storage. This study aimed to preserve, by lyophilization (freeze‐drying), the bioactive factors in BMCE.MethodsWe developed a method to freeze‐dry BMCE and then to analyze its ingredients and functions in vivo. Freeze‐dried (FD) BMCE, freshly prepared BMCE (positive control), or saline (vehicle control) was injected into the tail vein of mice that had received irradiation to damage their salivary glands.ResultsResults demonstrated that the presence of angiogenesis‐related factors and cytokines in FD‐BMCE remained comparable to those found in fresh BMCE. Both fresh and FD‐BMCE restored comparably saliva secretion, increased cell proliferation, upregulated regenerative/repair genes, protected salivary acinar cells, parasympathetic nerves, and blood vessels from irradiation‐damaged salivary glands.ConclusionLyophilization of BMCE maintained its bioactivity and therapeutic effect on irradiation‐injured salivary glands. The advantages of freeze‐drying BMCE are its storage and transport at ambient temperature.
Treatment of Refractory Idiopathic Supraorbital Neuralgia Using Percutaneous Pulsed Radiofrequency
Authors: Luo Fang , Lu Jingjing , Ji Nan 
Published: February 2018

AbstractBackground and AimsNo ideal therapeutic method currently exists for refractory idiopathic supraorbital neuralgia patients who do not respond to conservative therapy, including medications and nerve blocks. Pulsed radiofrequency is a neuromodulation technique that does not produce sequelae of nerve damage after treatment. However, the efficacy of percutaneous pulsed radiofrequency for the treatment of refractory idiopathic supraorbital neuralgia is still not clear. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the supraorbital nerve for refractory supraorbital neuralgia patients.MethodsWe prospectively investigated the long‐term effects of ultrasound‐guided percutaneous pulsed radiofrequency in the treatment of 22 refractory idiopathic supraorbital neuralgia patients. A reduction in the verbal pain numeric rating scale score of more than 50% was used as the standard of effectiveness. The effectiveness rates at different time points within 2 years were calculated.ResultsAfter a single pulsed radiofrequency treatment, the effectiveness rate at 1 and 3 months was 77%, and the rates at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years were 73%, 64%, and 50%, respectively. Except for a small portion of patients (23%) who experienced mild upper eyelid ecchymosis that gradually disappeared after approximately 2 weeks, no obvious complications were observed.ConclusionsIn conclusion, the results of our study demonstrate that for patients with refractory idiopathic supraorbital neuralgia, percutaneous pulsed radiofrequency may be an effective and safe treatment choice.
Engineering rice with lower grain arsenic
Authors: Deng Fenglin , Yamaji Naoki , Ma Jian Feng , Lee Sang‐Kyu , Jeon Jong‐Seong , Martinoia Enrico , Lee Youngsook , Song Won‐Yong 
Published: February 2018

SummaryArsenic (As) is a poisonous element that causes severe skin lesions and cancer in humans. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major dietary source of As in humans who consume this cereal as a staple food. We hypothesized that increasing As vacuolar sequestration would inhibit its translocation into the grain and reduce the amount of As entering the food chain. We developed transgenic rice plants expressing two different vacuolar As sequestration genes, ScYCF1 and OsABCC1, under the control of the RCc3 promoter in the root cortical and internode phloem cells, along with a bacterial γ‐glutamylcysteine synthetase driven by the maize UBI promoter. The transgenic rice plants exhibited reduced root‐to‐shoot and internode‐to‐grain As translocation, resulting in a 70% reduction in As accumulation in the brown rice without jeopardizing agronomic traits. This technology could be used to reduce As intake, particularly in populations of South East Asia suffering from As toxicity and thereby improve human health.
The genetic background modulates the intensity of Rpv3‐dependent downy mildew resistance in grapevine
Authors: Foria Serena , Magris Gabriele , Morgante Michele , Di Gaspero Gabriele 
Published: February 2018

AbstractGrape varieties with resistance to downy mildew (DM) carry alien chromosome segments in Vitis vinifera backgrounds. We previously showed that the largest descent group shares a non‐vinifera haplotype at the locus Rpv3. Here, we performed a common garden experiment with 76 varieties to evaluate the level of field resistance across four years. All varieties exhibited effector‐triggered immunity (ETI)‐associated necrosis. On a scale of 1–9, the median OIV452 value for foliar resistance was 7.1 in the resistant lineage vs. 3.2 in vinifera controls. Genotype, year and their interaction significantly affected the level of resistance. Some resistant genotypes showed high mean values of OIV452 and low variance among years. Other resistant genotypes showed lower mean OIV452 and higher variance. They were capable of activating ETI, but the intensity was inadequate to restrict pathogen growth under highly conducive conditions. Rpv3‐dependent responses were stronger in highly native genetic backgrounds and tended to attenuate in late backcross generations. Genetic backgrounds donated by European winegrapes of the convarietas occidentalis provided on average higher levels of Rpv3 resistance than backgrounds of orientalis table grapes.
Do current quality measures truly reflect the quality of dialysis?
Authors: Gupta Nupur , Wish Jay B. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe US End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program, which came into existence in 1973, was initially envisioned to provide needed financial coverage for about 50 000 patients through Medicare. Over the past 45 years the evolution of the ESRD program has been quite different, and it now serves over one half million dialysis and transplant patients. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008 Section 153(c) requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop and implement quality measures for dialysis patients as part of the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) beginning in payment year (PY) 2012. The annual ESRD Prospective Payment System (PPS) rulemaking process allows CMS to create ESRD QIP rules that specify the measures, scoring methods, and payment reduction ranges applicable to the respective PY. CMS assesses each facility's performance and calculates a score for each measure, according to the method detailed for that PY. Scores for each measure are combined to create the Total Performance Score (TPS) for each facility. If a facility's TPS does not meet or exceed the performance standards established during the earlier comparison period, the facility will incur a payment reduction of up to 2% for the entire PY. The QIP program has evolved over the several years since its inception. There have been deletions and additions of various measures. CMS uses additional measures in its Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) website which is available to the public and forms the basis of the 5‐star rating system for dialysis facilities. The evidence underlying inclusion many of these measures in the QIP and DFC remains an area of debate. In this review, we discuss the evolution of these measures and their appropriateness. We recommend that some of the current QIP and DFC measures should not be used for public reporting and/or payment as unintended consequences may occur. Nonetheless, all the current QIP and DFC measures and others are suitable for internal quality review.
Approaching The Double‐Nominal Construction In Mandarin Chinese Through The Semantic‐Cognitive Interaction
Authors: Sun Kun 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe double‐nominal construction (DNC), also called ‘topic construction’, is a common occurrence in Chinese and other East Asian languages. It is characterized by two initial NPs which appear before the predicate verb. The construction has mostly been analyzed using the syntactic angle singly approach. The topic (the initial nominal phrase, abbreviated as NP1) needs to syntactically establish some connection with the comment (the rest of the construction) but this has, unfortunately, not been the case due to numerous counterexamples. This construction is so complex that other factors have to be taken into account. This paper addresses the major concern about the problem of the two Initial NPs’ transposition in various DNCs, an area that does not appear to have previously been sufficiently explored. Compared with other languages, the transposition of two initial NPs in DNC is unique to Chinese. The transposition with two initial NPs in each type of DNC performs quite differently, so we should make finer classification for DNC reasonably. In order to propose reasonable classification of DNC, we need to clarify the relationship between NP1 and the rest of the construction. Meanwhile, in order to tackle the problem of the two NPs’ transposition in a special type of DNC called dangling topic construction, we propose a more reasonable and precise interpretation of the relationship between topic and comment in this construction using the event‐based model and the event integration. This study shows how, depending on the syntactic‐semantic behavior of NP1, Chinese DNCs can be classified into three types. Finally, based on the three types of DNC proposed, a semantic‐cognitive interaction helps to explain and resolve the problem of NPs’ transposition for each type. This study, therefore, provides a unified and more developed account of Chinese DNC. Consequently, a semantic‐cognitive approach is likely to shed more light on the notion of topic construction and help understand how Chinese native speakers comprehend its structure and construct the meaning.
O– product transfusion, inventory management, and utilization during shortage: the OPTIMUS study
Authors: Dunbar Nancy M. , Yazer Mark H. ,   the OPTIMUS Study Investigators on behalf of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative
Published: February 2018

BACKGROUNDDespite conservation strategies, shortages of O– red blood cells (RBCs) occur. The goal of this study was to determine how utilization of O– RBCs can be reduced using age‐ and location‐based O+ substitution for routine transfusions in O– patients during O– shortages.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSRecipient age and ABO and D group were obtained for allogeneic RBC transfusions during the 2016 calendar year from 31 participating centers. ABO and D group of each RBC unit was compared to that of the recipient to determine the number of O– RBC units transfused to all patients, the number of RBC units transfused to O– patients, and the number of O– RBC units transfused to O– patients. O– RBC transfusions to O– patients were further analyzed by patient age and location.RESULTSThe fraction of all transfused RBCs that were O– at the participating centers ranged from 3.0% to 13.9%. The percentage of O– RBCs transfused to O– patients ranged from 36.6% to 93.7%. Hospitals differed in the frequency of issuing O– RBCs for O– patient transfusions (55.9%‐100%). Relative to current issuing practice, overall use of O– RBCs could have been reduced by 44.5% if O+ units had been given to all O– patients at least 50 years old, 9.9% for all O– patients at least 80 years old, or 8.7% for all O– critical care patients at least 50 years old.CONCLUSIONDuring O– shortages, O+ switching rules based on the recipient's age and hospital location can be applied for routine transfusions to ensure the availability of O– RBC units for O– females of childbearing age.
Shifting in optoelectronic properties from pure K2O and Rb2O compounds to their V- and Cr-doped alloys
Authors: Monir Mohammed El Amine , Ullah Hayat , Baltach Hadj , Mouchaal Younes , Merabiha Omar , Bahnes Aicha , Rached Djamel 
Published: February 2018

First principle calculations within the density functional theory (DFT) have been used in this approach to study the electronic and optical properties of vanadium (V) and chromium (Cr) doped K2O and Rb2O compounds. Based on the structure properties reported in our previous work, the study of electronic and optoelectronic properties of V- and Cr-doped K2O and Rb2O alloys have been vastly investigated. K2O and Rb2O are found to be semiconductors while their V- and Cr-alloys are metallic in nature. The optical functions like complex dielectric constant, complex index of refraction, absorption coefficient, and reflectivity of these alloys are computed and compared with those of pure K2O and Rb2O compounds. It has been shown that due to TM-doping (TM = V and Cr transition metals), many distinguished peaks appeared in the lower energy part (infrared) of the spectrum. The negative value of [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) in this energy range confirmed the metallic behavior of these alloys. Furthermore, the frequency-dependent optical conductivity is also predicted in the entire spectrum, where it increases with increasing photon energy for all the studied alloys. The significant results of [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) predict that all these compounds are useful in different optoelectronic applications in a wide part of the spectrum (between 13 eV and 27 eV).
<b>Pollination ecology of <I>Merremia tridentata</I> (L.) Hallier f. (Convolvulaceae)</b>
Authors: Lakshminarayana G. , Raju A.J. Solomon 
Published: February 2018

Merremia tridentata is a twining and prostrate herb. The flowers are campanulate, bisexual, weakly protandrous, self-compatible and facultative autogamous. The forager guilds indicate that thripsophily, melittophily and psychophily are functional pollination syndromes. Ballistichory, anemochory and hydrochory are the seed dispersal modes. Seeds germinate as soon as they reach the ground if the soil has sufficient moisture or else they remain dormant and germinate during the rainy season. Such seed dispersal modes and flexible germination responses enable the plant to invade and colonize new areas. Further, the plant with perennial woody root stock stays alive during the dry season, sprouts back to life during the rainy season to re-start its life cycle. The dual modes of regeneration enable the plant to form extensive herbaceous cover and bind the soil effectively. Therefore, the plant is an important soil binder and useful at controlling soil erosion.
Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) recorded from Ireland: Catalogue, historical records, species habitats and geographical distribution, combinations, variations and synonyms
Authors: ARROYO JULIO , CONNELL TAGDH O , BOLGER THOMAS 
Published: February 2018

We provide a catalogue of the oribatid species (Arachnida, Acari, Oribatida) recorded from Ireland between the first records at the beginning of the 20th century and 2015. The catalogue, which contains 246 named species includes information on the habitats and locations where the species were found in Ireland as well as the references (if the data were published) where these were recorded. In addition, we include information on the species authorship, together with comprehensive nomenclatural data on synonyms and combination/variations of the named species. This catalogue increases the number of oribatids species known in Ireland by 50% since the most recent catalogue published in 1998 by Malcom Luxton.
Causes and Probability of Occurrence of Extreme Precipitation Events like Chennai 2015
Authors: Krishnamurthy Lakshmi , Vecchi Gabriel A. , Yang Xiaosong , van der Wiel Karin , Balaji V. , Kapnick Sarah B. , Jia Liwei , Zeng Fanrong , Paffendorf Karen , Underwood Seth 
Published: February 2018

Abstract
Unprecedented high-intensity flooding induced by extreme precipitation was reported over Chennai in India during November–December of 2015, which led to extensive damage to human life and property. It is of utmost importance to determine the odds of occurrence of such extreme floods in the future, and the related climate phenomena, for planning and mitigation purposes. Here, a suite of simulations from GFDL high-resolution coupled climate models are used to investigate the odds of occurrence of extreme floods induced by extreme precipitation over Chennai and the role of radiative forcing and/or large-scale SST forcing in enhancing the probability of such events in the future. The climate of twentieth-century experiments with large ensembles suggest that the radiative forcing may not enhance the probability of extreme floods over Chennai. Doubling of CO2 experiments also fails to show evidence for an increase of such events in a global warming scenario. Further, this study explores the role of SST forcing from the Indian and Pacific Oceans on the odds of occurrence of Chennai-like floods. Neither El Niño nor La Niña enhances the probability of extreme floods over Chennai. However, a warm Bay of Bengal tends to increase the odds of occurrence of extreme Chennai-like floods. In order to trigger a Chennai like-flood, a conducive weather event, such as a tropical depression over the Bay of Bengal with strong transport of moisture from a moist atmosphere over the warm Bay, is necessary for the intense precipitation.
Ferritin nanoparticles for improved self-renewal and differentiation of human neural stem cells
Authors: Lee Jung Seung , Yang Kisuk , Cho Ann-Na , Cho Seung-Woo 
Published: February 2018

Abstract

Background
Biomaterials that promote the self-renewal ability and differentiation capacity of neural stem cells (NSCs) are desirable for improving stem cell therapy to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Incorporation of micro- and nanoparticles into stem cell culture has gained great attention for the control of stem cell behaviors, including proliferation and differentiation.

Method
In this study, ferritin, an iron-containing natural protein nanoparticle, was applied as a biomaterial to improve the self-renewal and differentiation of NSCs and neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Ferritin nanoparticles were added to NSC or NPC culture during cell growth, allowing for incorporation of ferritin nanoparticles during neurosphere formation.

Results
Compared to neurospheres without ferritin treatment, neurospheres with ferritin nanoparticles showed significantly promoted self-renewal and cell-cell interactions. When spontaneous differentiation of neurospheres was induced during culture without mitogenic factors, neuronal differentiation was enhanced in the ferritin-treated neurospheres.

Conclusions
In conclusion, we found that natural nanoparticles can be used to improve the self-renewal ability and differentiation potential of NSCs and NPCs, which can be applied in neural tissue engineering and cell therapy for neurodegenerative diseases.