bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Physicochemical Characteristics of Edible Bird’s Nest Proteins and Their Cooking Processing Properties
Authors: Huang Sha , Zhao Liming , Chen Qiming , Qin Zhen , Zhou Jiachun , Qiu Yongjun , Zhang Yin , Ma Mingyue 
Published: April 2018

Abstract
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) has a high nutritional and medicinal value. In this study, physicochemical and processing properties of EBN proteins were investigated for better application of EBN. EBN proteins were extracted by combination of several methods. Electrophoresis showed that EBN contained proteins with molecular weight of 128, 106, 80, 55, 43, and 34 kDa. The denaturation temperature of EBN proteins was 62.5°C and heating promoted hydrophobicity as well as dramatically affecting the gel microstructure of EBN proteins. EBN proteins also showed excellent emulsifying activity and stability while their foaming properties were not good enough.
Covariate Balancing Inverse Probability Weights for Time-Varying Continuous Interventions
Authors: Huffman Curtis , van Gameren Edwin 
Published: April 2018

Abstract
In this paper we present a continuous extension for longitudinal analysis settings of the recently proposed Covariate Balancing Propensity Score (CBPS) methodology. While extensions of the CBPS methodology to both marginal structural models and general treatment regimes have been proposed, these extensions have been kept separately. We propose to bring them together using the generalized method of moments to estimate inverse probability weights such that after weighting the association between time-varying covariates and the treatment is minimized. A simulation analysis confirms the correlation-breaking performance of the proposed technique. As an empirical application we look at the impact the gradual roll-out of Seguro Popular, a universal health insurance program, has had on the resources available for the provision of healthcare services in Mexico.
Probability distribution of the life time of a drift-diffusion-reaction process inside a sphere with applications to transient cathodoluminescence imaging
Authors: Sabelfeld Karl K. , Kireeva Anastasiya 
Published: April 2018

Abstract
Exact representations for the probability density of the life time and survival probability for a sphere and a disc are derived for a general drift-diffusion-reaction process.
Based on these new formulas, we suggest an extremely efficient stochastic simulation algorithm for solving transient cathodoluminescence (CL) problems without any mesh in space and time.
The method can be applied to a broad class of drift-diffusion-reaction problems where the time behavior of the absorbed material is of interest.
The important advantage of the method suggested is the ability to incorporate local inclusions like dislocations, point defects and other singular folds and complicated structures.
General Robin boundary conditions on the boundary are treated in a probabilistic way.
The method is tested against exact solutions for a series of examples with bounded and unbounded domains.
An application to the dislocation imaging problem, which includes thousand threading dislocations, is given.
Blood transfusion in children: the refusal of Jehovah’s Witness parents’
Authors: Conti Adelaide , Capasso Emanuele , Casella Claudia , Fedeli Piergiorgio , Salzano Francesco Antonio , Policino Fabio , Terracciano Lucia , Delbon Paola 
Published: April 2018

Abstract
In Italy, both parents have parental responsibility; as a general principle they have the power to give or withhold consent to medical procedures on their children, including consent for blood transfusion; however these rights are not absolute and exist only to promote the welfare of children.

Methods
The Authors discuss ethical and legal framework for Jehovah’s Witness parents’ refusal of blood transfusion in Italy. They searched national judgments concerning Jehovah’s Witness parents’ refusal of blood transfusion – and related comments – in national legal databases and national legal journals, and literature on medical literature databases.

Results
In the case of Jehovah’s Witness parents’ refusal of blood transfusion for their child, Italian Courts adopt measures that prevents the parents from exercise their parental responsibility not in the child’s best interest.

Discussion
In the event that refusal by the parents, outside of emergency situations, exposes the child’s health to serious risk, health workers must proceed by notifying the competent authority, according also to the Italian Code of Medical Ethics.

Conclusion
When the patient is a minor, the child’s best interest always come first.
Der Sportfilm als sportsoziologischer Erkenntnisgegenstand
Authors: Gugutzer Robert 
Published: April 2018

Zusammenfassung
Die empirische Grundlage sportsoziologischer Untersuchungen sind ‚reale‘ Menschen und Institutionen, ‚reale‘ Handlungen und Strukturen, ‚reale‘ Phänomene und Probleme. Wofür sich die Sportsoziologie kaum interessiert, ist der fiktionale Sport, wie er in der Belletristik, der bildenden Kunst oder dem Spielfilm dargestellt wird. Der Beitrag kritisiert dies und vertritt die These, dass auch die literarische, künstlerische oder filmische Inszenierung des Sports sportsoziologisches Erkenntnispotenzial birgt. Am Beispiel des Sportspielfilms wird gezeigt, dass und inwiefern eine soziologische Analyse von Sportfilmen Erkenntnisse über den Sport und die Gesellschaft hervorzubringen vermag. Der Beitrag skizziert dazu erstens die Geschichte des Sportfilms aus historisch-soziologischer Perspektive, rekonstruiert zweitens die zentralen gesellschaftlichen Themen und narrativen Strukturen in Sportfilmen und präsentiert drittens eine soziologische Analyse des Olympiafilms Chariots of Fire.
An Electrophysiological Study of the Postnatal Development of the Corticospinal System in the Macaque Monkey
Authors: Olivier Etienne , Edgley Steve A. , Armand Jean , Lemon Roger N. 
Published: April 2018

Postnatal development of the corticospinal system was investigated in 13 macaques using noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex and direct electrical stimulation of corticospinal axons in the medullary pyramid and spinal cord. The latency of antidromic corticospinal volleys evoked from the pyramid and recorded from the motor cortex decreased dramatically during the first postnatal months. Our data predict that conduction velocity (CV) of the fastest corticospinal neurons over their cranial course would reach adult values at ∼11 months. The CV of corticospinal neurons in the spinal cord increased with age but with a slower time course. In the neonate, the fastest spinal CV was estimated at 7.8 m/sec, ∼10 times slower than in adults (mean 80.0 m/sec). Our data predict that full myelination of corticospinal axons in the spinal cord would not occur until ∼36 months. No short-latency EMG responses were elicited in arm and hand muscles by TMS until 3 months of age; TMS thresholds were high initially and then fell progressively with age. When corrected for body size, relative latencies of EMG responses showed an exponential decrease during the first postnatal months.Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that fine finger movements are not observed before functional CM connections are well established and that rapid changes in the physiological properties of the corticospinal system coincide with the period in which precision grip is known to mature (3–6 months). However, corticospinal development continues long after simple measures of dexterity indicate functional maturity, and these changes may contribute to the improved speed and coordination of skilled hand tasks.
Citron Binds to PSD-95 at Glutamatergic Synapses on Inhibitory Neurons in the Hippocampus
Authors: Zhang Wandong , Vazquez Luis , Apperson Michelle , Kennedy Mary B. 
Published: April 2018

Synaptic NMDA-type glutamate receptors are anchored to the second of three PDZ (PSD-95/Discs large/ZO-1) domains in the postsynaptic density (PSD) protein PSD-95. Here, we report that citron, a protein target for the activated form of the small GTP-binding protein Rho, preferentially binds the third PDZ domain of PSD-95. In GABAergic neurons from the hippocampus, citron forms a complex with PSD-95 and is concentrated at the postsynaptic side of glutamatergic synapses. Citron is expressed only at low levels in glutamatergic neurons in the hippocampus and is not detectable at synapses onto these neurons. In contrast to citron, p135 SynGAP, an abundant synaptic Ras GTPase-activating protein that can bind to all three PDZ domains of PSD-95, and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) are concentrated postsynaptically at glutamatergic synapses on glutamatergic neurons. CaM kinase II is not expressed and p135 SynGAP is expressed in less than half of hippocampal GABAergic neurons.Segregation of citron into inhibitory neurons does not occur in other brain regions. For example, citron is expressed at high levels in most thalamic neurons, which are primarily glutamatergic and contain CaM kinase II. In several other brain regions, citron is present in a subset of neurons that can be either GABAergic or glutamatergic and can sometimes express CaM kinase II. Thus, in the hippocampus, signal transduction complexes associated with postsynaptic NMDA receptors are different in glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons and are specialized in a way that is specific to the hippocampus.
Cascades of Homeostatic Dysregulation Promote Incubation of Cocaine Craving
Authors: Wang Junshi , Ishikawa Masago , Yang Yue , Otaka Mami , Kim James Y. , Gardner George R. , Stefanik Michael T. , Milovanovic Mike , Huang Yanhua H. , Hell Johannes W. , Wolf Marina E. , Schlüter Oliver M. , Dong Yan 
Published: April 2018

In human drug users, cue-induced drug craving progressively intensifies after drug abstinence, promoting drug relapse. This time-dependent progression of drug craving is recapitulated in rodent models, in which rats exhibit progressive intensification of cue-induced drug seeking after withdrawal from drug self-administration, a phenomenon termed incubation of drug craving. Although recent results suggest that functional alterations of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) contribute to incubation of drug craving, it remains poorly understood how NAc function evolves after drug withdrawal to progressively intensify drug seeking. The functional output of NAc relies on how the membrane excitability of its principal medium spiny neurons (MSNs) translates excitatory synaptic inputs into action potential firing. Here, we report a synapse-membrane homeostatic crosstalk (SMHC) in male rats, through which an increase or decrease in the excitatory synaptic strength induces a homeostatic decrease or increase in the intrinsic membrane excitability of NAc MSNs, and vice versa. After short-term withdrawal from cocaine self-administration, despite no actual change in the AMPA receptor-mediated excitatory synaptic strength, GluN2B NMDA receptors, the SMHC sensors of synaptic strength, are upregulated. This may create false SMHC signals, leading to a decrease in the membrane excitability of NAc MSNs. The decreased membrane excitability subsequently induces another round of SMHC, leading to synaptic accumulation of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors and upregulation of excitatory synaptic strength after long-term withdrawal from cocaine. Disrupting SMHC-based dysregulation cascades after cocaine exposure prevents incubation of cocaine craving. Thus, cocaine triggers cascades of SMHC-based dysregulation in NAc MSNs, promoting incubated cocaine seeking after drug withdrawal.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTHere, we report a bidirectional homeostatic plasticity between the excitatory synaptic input and membrane excitability of nucleus accumbens (NAc) medium spiny neurons (MSNs), through which an increase or decrease in the excitatory synaptic strength induces a homeostatic decrease or increase in the membrane excitability, and vice versa. Cocaine self-administration creates a false homeostatic signal that engages this synapse-membrane homeostatic crosstalk mechanism, and produces cascades of alterations in excitatory synapses and membrane properties of NAc MSNs after withdrawal from cocaine. Experimentally preventing this homeostatic dysregulation cascade prevents the progressive intensification of cocaine seeking after drug withdrawal. These results provide a novel mechanism through which drug-induced homeostatic dysregulation cascades progressively alter the functional output of NAc MSNs and promote drug relapse.
Unusual presentation of pheochromocytoma: thirteen years of anxiety requiring psychiatric treatment
Authors: Alguire Catherine , Chbat Jessica , Forest Isabelle , Godbout Ariane , Bourdeau Isabelle 
Published: April 2018

Summary
Pheochromocytoma is a rare tumor of the adrenal gland. It often presents with the classic triad of headache, palpitations and generalized sweating. Although not described as a typical symptom of pheochromocytoma, anxiety is the fourth most common symptom reported by patients suffering of pheochromocytoma. We report the case of a 64 year old man who had severe anxiety and panic disorder as presenting symptoms of pheochromocytoma. After 13 years of psychiatric follow-up, the patient was diagnosed with malignant pheochromocytoma. After surgical resection of his pheochromocytoma and his hepatic metastases, the major panic attacks completely disappeared, the anxiety symptoms improved significantly and the psychiatric medications were stopped except for a very low maintenance dose of venlafaxine. We found in our cohort of 160 patients with pheochromocytoma 2 others cases of apparently benign tumors with severe anxiety that resolved after pheochromocytoma resection. These cases highlight that pheochromocytoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of refractory anxiety disorder.

Learning points:

Anxiety and panic disorder may be the main presenting symptoms of pheochromocytoma.

The diagnosis of pheochromocytoma should be excluded in cases of long-term panic disorder refractory to medications since the anxiety may be secondary to a catecholamine-secreting tumor.

Surgical treatment of pheochromocytoma leads to significant improvement of anxiety disorders.
Differences between ATA, AACE/ACE/AME and ACR TI-RADS ultrasound classifications performance in identifying cytological high-risk thyroid nodules
Authors: Lauria Pantano A , Maddaloni E , Briganti S I , Beretta Anguissola G , Perrella E , Taffon C , Palermo A , Pozzilli P , Manfrini S , Crescenzi A 
Published: April 2018

Objective
Thyroid ultrasound is crucial for clinical decision in the management of thyroid nodules. In this study, we aimed to estimate and compare the performance of ATA, AACE/ACE/AME and ACR TI-RADS ultrasound classifications in discriminating nodules with high-risk cytology.

Design
Cross-sectional study.

Methods
1077 thyroid nodules undergoing fine-needle aspiration were classified according to ATA, AACE/ACE/AME and ACR TI-RADS ultrasound classifications by an automated algorithm. Odds ratios (ORs) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for high-risk cytology categories (TIR3b, TIR4 and TIR5) were calculated for the different US categories and compared.

Results
Cytological categories of risk increased together with all US classifications’ sonographic patterns (P < 0.001). The diagnostic performance (C-index) of ACR TI-RADS and AACE/ACE/AME significantly improved when adding clinical data as gender and age in the regression model (P < 0.001). A significant difference in the final model C-index between the three US classification systems was found (P < 0.029), with the ACR TI-RADS showing the highest nominal C-index value, significantly superior to ATA (P = 0.008), but similar to AACE/ACE/AME (P = 0.287). ATA classification was not able to classify 54 nodules, which showed a significant 7 times higher risk of high-risk cytology than the ‘very low suspicion’ nodules (OR: 7.20 (95% confidence interval: 2.44–21.24), P < 0.001).

Conclusions
The ACR TI-RADS classification system has the highest area under the ROC curve for the identification of cytological high-risk nodules. ATA classification leaves ‘unclassified’ nodules at relatively high risk of malignancy.
Micromorphological properties of al-fe- humus soils of the north taiga of Western Siberia
Authors: Kritskov I. V. , Loiko S. V. , Geras'ko L. I. , Istigechev G. I. , Kuzmina D. M. 
Published: April 2018

<p>Soil-forming rocks rock of the territory being researched consists of layers of polymict sands which is distinctly visible in the soil profile of present-day soil. The prevalent components of the sandy rocks are minerals resistant to weathering, namely quartz and feldspars. One can observe a high content of minerals that do not participate in the soil formation process; their amount can reach up to 90% of the sample’s weight. Minerals susceptible to weathering are featured in the altered feldspars which are comprised of a mixture of acid plagioclase grains partially or completely replaced by sericite particles. These particles are susceptible to various degrees of weathering due to mineralogical compositional heterogeneity. A sample of the sandy fraction was compared with the microscopic structure of soil particles selected from the primary genetic horizons. Due to the acid hydrolysis, the diagnostics of the primary mineral weathering was conducted based on eluvial horizons, where the crystal lattice of the mineral is most actively destroyed through the influence of acidic solutions, which results into a series of cavities in the dissolution area. Two main types of particle dissolution were identified and the connection between the type of weathering and soil composition was established. The intensity of illuviation was examined through the morphology of iron hydr/oxide films, as well as the description of their amount, shape, and structure. A characteristic of the primary soil processes featuring the description of the surfaces of mineral particles was revealed. In addition, current primary processes were identified; specifically, Al-Fe-humus process and superficial gleying process. A comparison between the eluvial horizon sandy particles and the particles of the parent rock material indicates a small number of mechanisms transforming them via soil processes. Consequently, coarse particles retain a greater volume of lithogenic memory. <em></em></p>
Synantropic flora in phytocoenoses of ecological network (the case of Vinnytsia region, Ukraine)
Authors: Shavrina V. I. , Tkach E. D. , Mykolayko V. P. 
Published: April 2018

<p>The floristic diversity of the connecting areas of the four ecological corridors (further referred to as ecocorridors) of Vinnytsia region includes 262 synanthropic species (45.2%) out of 580 species of higher vascular plants in total. Apophytes are predominant: 138 of them were found at the Nemiysky, 120 – at the Dniestrovsky, 104 – at the Southern Bug, and 59 – at the Lyadivskyi eocorridors. According to the degree of adaptation to anthropogenically disturbed conditions, these apophytes<br />belong to hemiapophytes — 85, 73, 61, and 25 species respectively at the ecocorridors. The adventive flora was evaluated on the time of entry, the naturalization degree, and the mean of distribution. It was found that archaeophytes predominate among anthropophytes according to the time of entry, epecophytes – to the naturalization degree, and akolyutophytes – to the mean of distribution. Five indices – synanthropization (IS), apophytization (IAp), anthropophyzation (IAn), archeophytization (IAr), and kenophytization (IKn) – have been determined. Moreover, it was established that apophytic processes prevail over the adventive ones at the areas studied.</p>
Feed conversion efficiency in different groups of dairy cows
Authors: Ruban S. Yu. , Perekrestova A. V. , Shablia V. P. , Bochkov V. M. 
Published: April 2018

<p>It was estimated the conversion of feed into milk, content of urea, fat, protein, somatic cells in the milk of cows of different breeds in different seasons and months of the year. It was established that the peculiarities of the organization of feeding process significantly influence the productive indicators. Thus, in the conditions of a modern milk complex for 1500 cows with an unattached system of keeping in boxes and feeding with the use of mixed rations, the average value of feed conversion (the measures of digestibility of the feed when it "converted" into dairy products) is 1.38 kg of milk per kilogram of dry matter of<br />feed, and the ratio of fat to protein is 1.10, which is lower than the existing standards. It was established that changes in the conditions by months of the year significantly influenced practically all analyzed qualitative characteristics of milk. And this fact entails the corresponding monthly fluctuations of indicators of safety of products, emissions of by-products of metabolism, and, consequently, fluctuations of dairy cattle breeding impact on the environment and ecology. It was found that milk yield positively and significantly (P≥0.999) correlated with the consumption of feed dry matter (r = 0.454) and feed conversion rate (r<br />= 0.547). At the same time, the milk yield is negatively related to the fat content (r = –0.211) and the protein content (r = –0.192) in milk. The level of urea in milk positively correlates with the content of protein in milk (r = 0.130; P≥0.99). The influence of the factor "breed" on the following important economic-useful traits such as daily milk yield (η2 = 0.131) and feed conversion rate (η2 = 0.130) are proved.</p>
Application of morphogeometric method estimation of fluctuating asymmetry of Acer pseudoplatanus L.
Authors: Prikhodko S. A. , Shtirts Yu. A. 
Published: April 2018

<p>The possibility of using a morpho-geometric method for determining the indices of the fluctuating asymmetry of <em>Асе</em><em>r</em> <em>pseudoplatanus</em> L. leaf for bioindication is evaluated. The material was collected on the roadside territories of motorways of the city of Donetsk with different traffic intensity. The values of the fluctuating asymmetry of <em>A.</em><em> </em><em>pseudoplatanus</em> leaf blade, grown in conditions of city roadside ecosystems, are increased with the increase in the transport load, obtained through Procrustean analysis of variance. The morphogeometric method for determining the fluctuating asymmetry showed greater sensitivity in comparison with the use of an index calculated by the normalizing formula based on measurements of individual bilateral features. It is expedient to carry out studies in which the task is to accumulate data on the dynamics of fluctuating asymmetry indices obtained by a morphogeometric method, with a view to the subsequent widespread application of this approach for bioindication and biomonitoring of the state of the environment.</p>