bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Innate and Acquired Quinine‐Resistant Alcohol, but not Saccharin, Drinking in Crossed High–Alcohol‐Preferring Mice
Authors: Houck Christa A. , Carron Claire R. , Millie Lauren A. , Grahame Nicholas J. 
Published: September 2019

BackgroundAlcohol consumption despite aversive consequences is often a key component of an alcoholism diagnosis. Free‐choice alcohol consumption despite bitter quinine adulteration in rodents has been seen following several months of free‐choice drinking, but there has been little study of whether prolonged access to other palatable substances such as saccharin yields quinine resistance. Selectively bred crossed high–alcohol‐preferring (cHAP) mice average blood alcohol levels of over 250 mg/dl during free‐choice access, considerably higher than other models. We hypothesized that higher intakes would yield more rapid development of quinine‐resistant alcohol (QRA) drinking and quinine‐resistant saccharin (QRS) drinking.MethodsAll experiments used male and female cHAP mice. Experiment 1 compared mice with either 0 or 5 weeks of alcohol drinking history, testing varying (0.032, 0.10, 0.32 g/l) quinine concentrations in ethanol. Experiment 2 examined whether innate QR may exist, comparing animals with a 1 or zero day of drinking history. Experiment 3 examined the effect of varying histories (0, 2, or 5 weeks) of free‐choice 10% alcohol drinking on QR alcohol consumption at high quinine concentrations. Finally, Experiment 4 investigated the development of QRS drinking.ResultsWe found that we could not detect a history effect in commonly used quinine concentrations, indicating that cHAP mice are innately quinine resistant to 0.10 g/l quinine. However, we were able to determine that a 2‐week drinking history was sufficient to induce QRA drinking in cHAP mice at extremely high quinine concentrations (0.74 and 0.32 g/l). However, the history effect was specific to QRA, a saccharin drinking history, did not yield QRS drinking.ConclusionsThese data suggest that an alcohol drinking history induces maladaptive behaviors, such as drinking in spite of negative consequences, a pattern not seen with saccharin. Furthermore, a strong genetic predisposition to drink may promote an innate aversion resistance compared with commonly used inbred strains.
Histological and histochemical study of the proventriculus (Ventriculus glandularis) of common starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Authors: Sayrafi Reza , Aghagolzadeh Mahboobeh 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThe histological and histochemical structures of the proventriculus of starling (Sturnus vulgaris) were examined using haematoxylin and eosin and special staining, that is periodic acid schiff (PAS), Masson's trichrome, Alcian blue, Orcein and Reticulin. All three cranial, middle and caudal parts of the proventriculus were also studied. The study results showed that the wall of the proventriculus consisted of mucosal, submucosal, muscular and serosal tunics. The mucosal tunic presented folds and sulci on its luminal surface. In the first third of the proventriculus, the tunica mucosa characterized by presence of folds lined by stratified squamous epithelium and presence of simple tubular glands in the lamina propria. In the middle and caudal thirds of the proventriculus, the surface was covered by a columnar epithelium, and the branched tubular glands were extended through the lamina propria. From the base of the branched tubular glands, the deep proventricular glands were observed that were compound tubuloalveolar lobules. The surface epithelium of the tunica mucosa and the cells lining the proventricular glands showed a positive reaction to PAS and Alcian blue stainings. In addition, the epithelial cells of the tubular and branched tubular glands showed Masson's trichrome‐positive reaction. The submucosal tunic was thin in the proventricular wall. The tunica muscularis was formed by a thin inner layer of longitudinal smooth muscle fibres and a thick outer layer of circular fibres. The serosa consisted of loose connective tissue, rich in blood vessels and covered by mesothelium.
Human sperm capacitation is necessary for SNARE assembly in neurotoxin‐resistant complexes
Authors: Mayorga L. , Altamirano K. , Zanni Ruiz E. , Pavarotti M. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractBackgroundCapacitation is not a well‐defined process, required for the acrosome reaction triggered by physiological stimuli. In vitro, capacitation is achieved by sperm incubation in artificial media supplemented with HCO3−, Ca2+, and albumin. The role of capacitation in the membrane fusion machinery required for acrosomal exocytosis is not well‐known. SNARE proteins are fundamental for intracellular membrane fusion and acrosomal exocytosis. We have previously shown that in capacitated spermatozoa, the fusion machinery is maintained in an inactive state until the acrosome reaction is initiated. In particular, SNARE proteins are assembled in neurotoxin‐resistant complexes.ObjectiveThis work aimed to study the dynamic changes of SNARE complexes during capacitation.Materials and MethodsThe light chain of tetanus and botulinum neurotoxin has been widely used to study the configuration of SNARE proteins. For this purpose, we developed a recombinant light chain of tetanus neurotoxin linked to a polyarginine peptide. This membrane‐permeant protein was able to cleave cytosolic VAMP2 (a SNARE protein required for acrosome reaction) when present in a monomeric configuration.ResultsThe results show that the VAMP2 is cleaved by the membrane‐permeant tetanus neurotoxin in non‐capacitated spermatozoa, indicating that, before capacitation, SNAREs are not assembled in stable toxin‐resistant complexes. However, 2 h of incubation in a capacitation medium containing albumin was sufficient to render VAMP2 insensitive to the toxin.DiscussionWe conclude that during capacitation, the SNARE proteins become engaged in stable fully assembled cis‐SNARE complexes. This step is likely essential to prevent untimely activation of the membrane fusion machinery.ConclusionWe propose that capacitation promotes the stabilization of the membrane fusion machinery required for acrosomal exocytosis in preparation for the stimulus‐triggered acrosome reaction.
The relationship between systolic pulmonary arterial pressure and Tp‐e interval, Tp‐e/QT, and Tp‐e/QTc ratios in patients with newly diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Cosgun Ayhan , Oren Huseyin , Turkkani Mustafa Hamidullah 
Published: September 2019

AbstractIntroductionThe risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and arrhythmias has been shown to be common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) subjects. We aimed to evaluate the markers of arrhythmia such as QT, QTc (corrected QT), Tp‐e, and cTp‐e (corrected Tp‐e) intervals, Tp‐e/QT ratio, and Tp‐e/QTc ratio in newly diagnosed COPD subjects in both right and left precordial leads.Materials and MethodsThe study group consisted of 74 subjects with obstructive respiratory function tests (RFTs). The control group consisted of 78 subjects who had nonobstructive RFTs. RFTs, electrocardiograms (ECG), and transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) were performed, and QTR (QT interval in right precordial leads), QTL (QT interval in left precordial leads), Tp‐eR (Tp‐e interval in right precordial leads), and Tp‐eL (Tp‐e interval in left precordial leads) intervals; systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP); forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC); and peripheral oxygen saturation(POS) values were measured.ResultsTp‐eR interval 85.82 ± 5.34 millisecond (ms) versus 62.87 ± 3.55 ms (t = 31.29/p < .00001), cTp‐eR interval 97.51 ± 7.18 ms versus 71.07 ± 4.58 ms (t = 27.20/p < .00001), Tp‐eR/QTR ratio 0.234 ± 0.02 versus 0.164 ± 0.01 (t = 2.2/p = .014), and Tp‐eR/QTcR ratio 0.201 ± 0.01 versus 0.141 ± 0.01 (t = 1.92/p = .028) were statistically significantly higher in COPD subjects. There was a strong negative correlation between RFT and sPAP (sPAP, 29.93 ± 5.1 mm Hg; and FEV1/FVC, 63.78 ± 3.33%, r = −.85/p < .00001). There was a moderate positive correlation between sPAP and Tp‐eR.ConclusionWe found Tp‐e and cTp‐e intervals, Tp‐e/QT ratio, and Tp‐e/QTc ratio were significantly higher in the COPD patients than in the control group. In addition, in the COPD group, heart rate variability (HRV) parameters were significantly lower on ECG.
Study of changes of obesity‐related inflammatory cytokines after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy
Authors: Salman Mohamed Abdalla , Salman Ahmed Abdallah , Nafea Mohammed A. , Sultan Ahmed Abd El Aal , Anwar Hisham W. , Ibrahim Ayman Helmy , Awad Abeer , Ahmed Reham Abdelghany , Seif El Nasr Sayed M. , Abouelregal Tarek Elsayed , Shaaban Hossam El‐Din , Mohamed Fatma Abdel Hamid 
Published: September 2019

AbstractBackgroundChronic inflammation in adipose tissue may play a substantial role in the pathogenesis of obesity‐related metabolic disorders. The present study aims to evaluate the changes in adipocytokines, bile acids, fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF‐19) and pro‐inflammatory cytokines 6 months after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).MethodsThis prospective study included 75 obese patients with body mass index >35 kg/m2 who underwent LSG. All patients were recruited preoperatively and followed up post‐operatively at 6 months, with laboratory assessment of their cytokines including adiponectin, leptin, resistin, bile acid, interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐8, tumour necrosis factor‐α, monocyte chemotactic protein‐1, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1, serum amyloid‐A and FGF‐19.ResultsThere were statistically highly significant changes regarding anthropometric parameters (weight, body mass index and waist‐to‐hip ratio), blood glucose and lipid profile as well as liver enzymes at 6 months post‐sleeve gastrectomy. The present study showed that the levels of serum adiponectin and FGF‐19 significantly increased at 6 months of follow‐up after surgery (P < 0.001), while the levels of serum leptin, resistin, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 and serum amyloid‐A significantly decreased at 6 months of follow‐up after surgery (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences regarding serum bile acid, IL‐6, IL‐8, tumour necrosis factor‐α and monocyte chemotactic protein‐1.ConclusionWeight loss after LSG is associated with significant improvement of the adipokine levels towards anti‐diabetic and anti‐inflammatory profiles. Future studies should use a larger sample size and longer follow‐up periods.
Three times as much physical education reduced the risk of children being overweight or obese after 5 years
Authors: Kühr Petra , Lima Rodrigo Antunes , Grøntved Anders , Wedderkopp Niels , Klakk Heidi 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAimWe evaluated the effect that increasing physical education lessons from 1.5 to 4.5 hours per week for 5 years had on the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumferences of children aged 5‐11 years at inclusion.MethodsFrom 2008 to 2013, six intervention schools in Svendborg, Denmark, delivered 4.5 hours of physical education lessons per week to 750 children. Meanwhile, four matched control schools gave 549 children the standard 1.5 hours of physical education lessons per week. Measurements were taken at baseline and yearly for 5 years. Of the 1299 children, 81 joined the schools after 2008.ResultsAt baseline, the percentage of overweight children was 12% in the intervention schools and 13% in the control schools, whereas 15% and 19% were abdominal obese, respectively. After 5 years, the respective risks of remaining abdominal obese or overweight were 43% and 51% in the intervention schools and 78% and 84% in the control schools. Mean BMI increased 0.450 kg/m2 more in the control group over the five‐year period. The intervention was not effective in decreasing the average waist circumference.ConclusionThree times as much physical education lessons per week, for 5 years, effectively decreased BMI and the likelihood of remaining overweight or obese.
Bubbly and cystic appearance on chest radiograph of extremely preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia is associated with wheezing disorder
Authors: Arai Hirokazu , Ito Masato , Ito Tomoo , Ota Syozo , Takahashi Tsutomu ,   the Neonatal Research Network of Japan
Published: September 2019

AbstractAimBubbly/cystic appearance on chest X‐ray (CXR) is an important factor in cases of severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). We aimed to determine whether CXR ‐based BPD classifications obtained in extremely preterm infants with oxygen dependency at 28 days after birth (BPD28) is associated with wheezing disorders.MethodsThis was a multicentre retrospective cohort study of population data from infants (body weight, <1500 g) enrolled in the Neonatal Research Network of Japan. Of the 15 480 infants born at <28 weeks of gestation between 2003 and 2012, 8979 met the BPD28 criteria, and 4007 were classified as the no BPD28 group. BPD28 infants were classified according to the bubbly/cystic or no bubbly/cystic appearance on CXR at postnatal ≧28 days. The effects on wheezing disorder at 3 years of age were analysed.ResultsBubbly/cystic BPD28 infants showed higher rates of wheezing disorders compared with no BPD28 infants. Bubbly/cystic BPD28 (odds ratio 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.3‐2.2) was a significant independent factor for wheezing disorders.ConclusionA bubbly/cystic appearance on CXR with BPD28 was a potential risk factor of wheezing disorders at 3 years of age. This may be a useful early diagnostic tool at ≧28 postnatal days in extremely preterm infants.
Analysis of gestational surrogates’ birthing experiences and relationships with intended parents during pregnancy and post‐birth
Authors: Yee Samantha , Librach Clifford L. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractBackgroundThis study investigated the surrogates’ birth experiences, their levels of emotional struggle at relinquishment, how often they thought about the surrogacy children, and the surrogate–parent relationship dynamics during pregnancy and post‐birth.MethodsData were collected from 06/2016 to 02/2017 using an anonymous questionnaire. Participants were Canadian gestational surrogates who had completed the process with or without a successful live birth, and who were at various stages of an ongoing surrogacy. For this paper, only a subgroup of cases with a successful live birth was selected for analysis.ResultsThe data set included 131 births involving 90 surrogates who delivered 157 babies (105 singletons and 26 sets of twins). Their mean age at the time of surrogacy was 31.7 ± 5 years (range: 21‐47y). More than one‐third (37.4%) of the cases were for intended parents who were same‐sex male couples and single men. Surrogates assisting Canadian‐resident intended parents had an overall better birthing experience compared with those assisting nonresidents. There was none or very little struggle with the relinquishment of the baby in 96.9% of cases. Continued contact with parents after the births was reported in 93.0% of cases. Surrogates were significantly more likely to have frequent post‐birth contact with same‐sex and single fathers compared with heterosexual parents and single mothers (76.6% vs 54.3%).ConclusionsSame‐sex male couples and single men can develop a long‐lasting relationship with their surrogates even when no intended female partners are involved. The development of institutional practice guidelines in standardizing surrogacy birth practice is paramount in optimizing surrogates’ care.
Dysregulated Fcγ receptor IIa-induced cytokine production in dendritic cells of lupus nephritis patients
Authors: Newling M , Fiechter R H , Sritharan L , Hoepel W , van Burgsteden J A , Hak A E , van Vollenhoven R F , van de Sande M G H , Baeten D L P , den Dunnen J 
Published: September 2019

Summary
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology. One of the key factors associated with SLE pathogenesis is excessive production of type I interferons (IFNs). This could result from increased activation of type I IFN-stimulating pathways, but also from decreased activation of type I IFN-inhibitory pathways. Recently, we have identified that immunoglobulin (Ig)G immune complexes strongly inhibit type I IFN production in healthy individuals by inhibitory signaling through Fcγ receptor IIa (FcγRIIa) on dendritic cells (DCs). Because, in SLE patients, immune complexes are characteristically present, we assessed whether FcγR-induced suppression of type I IFN is functional in DCs of SLE patients. We divided the SLE patients into one group without, and one group with, previous major organ involvement, for which we chose nephritis as a prototypical example. We show that DCs of lupus nephritis patients displayed impaired FcγR-mediated type I IFN inhibition compared to SLE patients without major organ involvement or healthy controls. We verified that this impaired type I IFN inhibition was not related to differences in disease activity, medication, FcγRIIa expression or expression of IFN regulatory transcription factors (IRF)1 and IRF5. In addition, we identified that DCs of lupus nephritis patients show increased FcγR-induced interleukin (IL)-1β production, which is another important cytokine that promotes kidney inflammation. Taken together, these data indicate that DCs of lupus nephritis patients display altered FcγR-mediated regulation of cytokine production, resulting in elevated levels of type I IFN and IL-1β. This dysregulation may contribute to the development of nephritis in SLE patients.
Synthetic resampling strategies and machine learning for digital soil mapping in Iran
Authors: Taghizadeh‐Mehrjardi Ruhollah , Schmidt Karsten , Eftekhari Kamran , Behrens Thorsten , Jamshidi Mohammad , Davatgar Naser , Toomanian Norair , Scholten Thomas 
Published: September 2019

AbstractMost common machine learning (ML) algorithms usually work well on balanced training sets, that is, datasets in which all classes are approximately represented equally. Otherwise, the accuracy estimates may be unreliable and classes with only a few values are often misclassified or neglected. This is known as a class imbalance problem in machine learning and datasets that do not meet this criterion are referred to as imbalanced data. Most datasets of soil classes are, therefore, imbalanced data. One of our main objectives is to compare eight resampling strategies that have been developed to counteract the imbalanced data problem. We compared the performance of five of the most common ML algorithms with the resampling approaches. The highest increase in prediction accuracy was achieved with SMOTE (the synthetic minority oversampling technique). In comparison to the baseline prediction on the original dataset, we achieved an increase of about 10, 20 and 10% in the overall accuracy, kappa index and F‐score, respectively. Regarding the ML approaches, random forest (RF) showed the best performance with an overall accuracy, kappa index and F‐score of 66, 60 and 57%, respectively. Moreover, the combination of RF and SMOTE improved the accuracy of the individual soil classes, compared to RF trained on the original dataset and allowed better prediction of soil classes with a low number of samples in the corresponding soil profile database, in our case for Chernozems. Our results show that balancing existing soil legacy data using synthetic sampling strategies can significantly improve the prediction accuracy in digital soil mapping (DSM).Highlights
Spatial distribution of soil classes in Iran can be predicted using machine learning (ML) algorithms.
The synthetic minority oversampling technique overcomes the drawback of imbalanced and highly biased soil legacy data.
When combining a random forest model with synthetic sampling strategies the prediction accuracy of the soil model improves significantly.
The resulting new soil map of Iran has a much higher spatial resolution compared to existing maps and displays new soil classes that have not yet been mapped in Iran.
Genetic and phenotypic characterization of NKX6‐2‐related spastic ataxia and hypomyelination
Authors: Chelban V. , Alsagob M. , Kloth K. , Chirita‐Emandi A. , Vandrovcova J. , Maroofian R. , Davagnanam I. , Bakhtiari S. , AlSayed M. D. , Rahbeeni Z. , AlZaidan H. , Malintan N. T. , Johannsen J. , Efthymiou S. , Ghayoor Karimiani E. , Mankad K. , Al‐Shahrani S. A. , Beiraghi Toosi M. , AlShammari M. , Groppa S. , Haridy N. A. , AlQuait L. , Qari A. , Huma R. , Salih M. A. , Almass R. , Almutairi F. B. , Hamad M. H. , Alorainy I. A. , Ramzan K. , Imtiaz F. , Puiu M. , Kruer M. C. , Bierhals T. , Wood N. W. , Colak D. , Houlden H. , Kaya N. 
Published: September 2019

Background and purposeHypomyelinating leukodystrophies are a heterogeneous group of genetic disorders with a wide spectrum of phenotypes and a high rate of genetically unsolved cases. Bi‐allelic mutations in NKX6‐2 were recently linked to spastic ataxia 8 with hypomyelinating leukodystrophy.MethodsUsing a combination of homozygosity mapping, exome sequencing, and detailed clinical and neuroimaging assessment a series of new NKX6‐2 mutations in a multicentre setting is described. Then, all reported NKX6‐2 mutations and those identified in this study were combined and an in‐depth analysis of NKX6‐2‐related disease spectrum was provided.ResultsEleven new cases from eight families of different ethnic backgrounds carrying compound heterozygous and homozygous pathogenic variants in NKX6‐2 were identified, evidencing a high NKX6‐2 mutation burden in the hypomyelinating leukodystrophy disease spectrum. Our data reveal a phenotype spectrum with neonatal onset, global psychomotor delay and worse prognosis at the severe end and a childhood onset with mainly motor phenotype at the milder end. The phenotypic and neuroimaging expression in NKX6‐2 is described and it is shown that phenotypes with epilepsy in the absence of overt hypomyelination and diffuse hypomyelination without seizures can occur.ConclusionsNKX6‐2 mutations should be considered in patients with autosomal recessive, very early onset of nystagmus, cerebellar ataxia with hypotonia that rapidly progresses to spasticity, particularly when associated with neuroimaging signs of hypomyelination. Therefore, it is recommended that NXK6‐2 should be included in hypomyelinating leukodystrophy and spastic ataxia diagnostic panels.