bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Overexpression of cytochrome p450 125 in Mycobacterium: a rational strategy in the promotion of phytosterol biotransformation
Authors: Su Liqiu , Shen Yanbing , Xia Menglei , Shang Zhihua , Xu Shuangping , An Xingjuan , Wang Min 
Published: August 2018

Abstract
Androst-4-ene-3, 17-dione (AD) and androst-1, 4-diene-3, 17-dione (ADD) are generally produced by the biotransformation of phytosterols in Mycobacterium. The AD (D) production increases when the strain has high NAD+/NADH ratio. To enhance the AD (D) production in Mycobacterium neoaurum TCCC 11978 (MNR M3), a rational strategy was developed through overexpression of a gene involved in the phytosterol degradation pathway; NAD+ was generated as well. Proteomic analysis of MNR cultured with and without phytosterols showed that the steroid C27-monooxygenase (Cyp125-3), which performs sequential oxidations of the sterol side chain at the C27 position and has the oxidative cofactor of NAD+ generated, played an important role in the phytosterol biotransformation process of MNR M3. To improve the productivity of AD (D), the cyp125-3 gene was overexpressed in MNR M3. The specific activity of Cyp125-3 in the recombinant strain MNR M3C3 was improved by 22% than that in MNR M3. The NAD+/NADH ratio in MNR M3C3 was 131% higher than that in the parent strain. During phytosterol biotransformation, the conversion of sterols increased from 84 to 96%, and the yield of AD (D) by MNR M3C3 was increased by approximately 18% for 96 h fermentation. This rational strain modification strategy may also be applied to develop strains with important application values for efficient production of cofactor-dependent metabolites.
The adoption of automated phenotyping by plant breeders
Authors: Awada Lana , Phillips Peter W. B. , Smyth Stuart J. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractPhenomics or automated phenotyping (AP) is an emerging approach, identified as a priority for future crop breeding research. This approach promises to provide accurate, precise, fast, large-scale, and accumulated phenotyping data which when integrated with corresponding genomic and environmental data is expected to trigger a great leap forward in plant breeding. However, despite promising applications, AP adoption in plant breeding is still in its infancy. It is unclear to many plant breeders how or if much of the enormous volume, diversity, and velocity of imaging and remote-sensing data generated by AP is going to be usefully integrated into breeding programs. This paper develops an economical model of heterogeneous breeders’ decision-making to examine adoption decisions regarding whether to adopt AP or continue using conventional phenotyping. The results of this model indicate that many interlocking factors, including genetic gain/expected return, variable and sunk costs, subsequent rate of technology improvement, and breeders’ level of aversion to AP, are at work as breeders determine whether to adopt AP. This study also provides a numerical example to show the impact of breeders’ aversion toward the adoption of a new technology (e.g., AP) on the expected return generated from breeding a new wheat variety.
A novel enhanced recovery protocol, combining multimodal analgesia with liposomal bupivacaine and pharmacologic intervention, reduces parenteral opioid use and hospital length of stay after colectomy – A cohort study
Authors: Pricolo Victor E. , Fei Patrick , Crowley Scott , Camisa Virginia , Bonvini Matteo 
Published: August 2018

ABSTRACT

Background:
The objective was to evaluate the impact of a focused enhanced recovery protocol (ERP), which included multimodal analgesia with liposomal bupivacaine and targeted pharmacologic intervention with intravenous ketoroloac and metoclopramide, on postoperative parenteral opioids use (PPO) and length of hospital stay (LOS) after elective colectomy.

Methods:
The study was a before-after and non-randomized control trial. 109 consecutive patients undergoing elective colectomy were divided into three cohorts: group 1 (n = 39): patients from surgical team 1 implementing ERP; group 2 (n = 34): time-matched controls from team 2 not using ERP; group 3 (n = 36): historical controls from team 1 before introduction of ERP. Cases for the three groups were reviewed by gender, age, ASA class, diagnosis, right or left colectomy, laparoscopic or open technique.

Results:
Mean overnight PPO use in mg of hydromorphone analgesic equivalents was: 1.78 in group 1, vs 5.15 in group 2 (p < 0.0001), vs 4.36 in group 3 (p = 0.0006). Mean total PPO use was 2.69 in group 1, vs 16.17 in group 2 (p < 0.0001), vs 10.30 in group 3 (p = 0.0017). Mean LOS in days for group 1 was 2.31 (lap = 2.11, open = 2.82), vs 6.32 for group 2 (lap = 4.38, open = 7.52) (p < 0.0001), vs 4.08 for group 3 (lap = 3.38, open = 5.06) (p < 0.0001). There were 2 ileus cases in group 1 (5.3%), 7 in group 2 (20.6%), and 5 in group 3 (13.9%).

Conclusions:
A novel ERP, using long-acting local anesthesia with liposomal bupivacaine and pharmacologic intervention, proved feasible and effective in reducing PPO, ileus and LOS in elective colectomy cases.

Highlights:
THE VIRTUE OF CURIOSITY
Authors: Ross Lewis 
Published: August 2018

ABSTRACTA thriving project in contemporary epistemology concerns identifying and explicating the epistemic virtues. Although there is little sustained argument for this claim, a number of prominent sources suggest that curiosity is an epistemic virtue. In this paper, I provide an account of the virtue of curiosity. After arguing that virtuous curiosity must be appropriately discerning, timely and exacting, I then situate my account in relation to two broader questions for virtue responsibilists: What sort of motivations are required for epistemic virtue? And do epistemic virtues need to be reliable? I will sketch an account on which curiosity is only virtuous when rooted in a non-instrumental appreciation of epistemic goods, before arguing that curiosity can exhibit intellectual virtue irrespective of whether one is reliable in satisfying it.
Antimicrobial prescribing in patients with advanced-stage illness in the antimicrobial stewardship era
Authors: Tagashira Yasuaki , Kawahara Kanae , Takamatsu Akane , Honda Hitoshi 
Published: August 2018

AbstractObjectiveAntimicrobials are frequently administered to patients with an advanced-stage illness. Understanding the current practice of antimicrobial use at the end of life and the factors influencing physicians’ prescribing behavior is necessary to develop an effective antimicrobial stewardship program and to provide optimal end-of-life care for terminally ill patients.DesignA 1-year retrospective cohort study.SettingA public tertiary-care center.PatientsThe study included 260 adult patients who were hospitalized and later died at the study institution with an advanced-stage illness.ResultsOf 260 patients in our study cohort, 192 (73.8%) had an advanced-stage malignancy and 136 (52.3%) received antimicrobial therapy in the last 14 days of their life; of the latter, 60 (44.1%) received antimicrobials for symptom relief. Overall antimicrobial use in the last 14 days of life was 421.9 days of therapy per 1,000 patient days. Factors associated with antimicrobial use in this period included a history of antimicrobial use prior to the last 14 days of life during index hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 4.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.67–8.84) and antipyretic use in the last 14 days of life (aOR, 4.19; 95% CI, 2.01–8.71).ConclusionApproximately half of the patients hospitalized with an advanced-stage illness received antimicrobials in the last 14 days of life. The factors associated with antimicrobial use at the end of life in this study are likely to explain physicians’ prescribing behaviors. In the current era of antimicrobial stewardship, reconsidering antimicrobial use in terminally ill patients is necessary.
Electroviscous Effect of Power Law Fluids in a Slit Microchannel With Asymmetric Wall Zeta Potentials
Authors: Sailaja A. , Srinivas B. , Sreedhar I. 
Published: August 2018

ABSTRACTThis work analyzes the pressure driven flow of a power law fluid in a slit microchannel of asymmetric walls with electroviscous effects. The steady state Cauchy momentum and the Poisson-Boltzmann equation are solved for the velocity and the potential distribution inside the microchannel. The Debye-Huckel approximation as applicable for low zeta potentials is not made in the present work. The unknown streaming potential is solved by casting the governing equations as an optimization problem using COMSOL Multiphysics. This proposed method is very robust and can be used for a wide variety of cases. It is found that the asymmetry of the zeta potential at the two walls plays an important role on the streaming potential developed. There is a unique zeta potential ratio at which the streaming potential exhibits a maxima for both Debye-Huckel parameter and the power law index. Shear thinning fluids exhibit a stronger dependency of the streaming potential on asymmetry of the zeta potential than shear thickening fluids. For Newtonian fluids narrow slit microchannels develop larger streaming potentials compared to wider microchannels for a given asymmetry.
Evaluation of Sardari bread wheat ecotypes under the rainfed cold conditions of Iran
Authors: Roostaei M. , Jalal Kamali M. R. , Roohi E. , Mohammadi R. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractPlant ecotypes represent heterogeneous, local adaptation of domesticated species and thereby provide genetic resources that meet current and new challenges for farming in drought-prone environments. A total of 536 Sardari bread wheat ecotypes, assembled from different geographical regions of Iran, were studied under rainfed cold conditions for three cropping seasons (2009–12). The main objectives were to (i) quantify the performance of the Sardari wheat ecotypes under cold rainfed conditions and (ii) provide information that would enable germplasm management and utilization in wheat breeding programmes to enhance the development of better adapted varieties for the rainfed cold conditions of Iran. All the ecotypes were evaluated for grain yield and several drought-adaptive traits. Combined analysis of variance indicated significant differences between years, ecotypes and their interaction effects for each studied trait. The Sardari wheat ecotypes showed considerable variability for the phenotypic traits and stability performance that could be utilized for wheat improvement in cold rainfed areas. Many of the Sardari wheat ecotypes exhibited a high combination of yield and stability for both drought and cold stresses, comparable to control cultivars. Multivariate analyses indicated several significant patterns among ecotypes from different geographical regions. In conclusion, selection from current Sardari wheat ecotypes may lead to yield stability and specific adaptation, which provides opportunities for this collection to be useful for genetic improvement of drought tolerance in bread wheat.
Can delay discounting deliver on the promise of RDoC?
Authors: Lempert Karolina M. , Steinglass Joanna E. , Pinto Anthony , Kable Joseph W. , Simpson Helen Blair 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe National Institute of Mental Health launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative to better understand dimensions of behavior and identify targets for treatment. Examining dimensions across psychiatric illnesses has proven challenging, as reliable behavioral paradigms that are known to engage specific neural circuits and translate across diagnostic populations are scarce. Delay discounting paradigms seem to be an exception: they are useful for understanding links between neural systems and behavior in healthy individuals, with potential for assessing how these mechanisms go awry in psychiatric illnesses. This article reviews relevant literature on delay discounting (or the rate at which the value of a reward decreases as the delay to receipt increases) in humans, including methods for examining it, its putative neural mechanisms, and its application in psychiatric research. There exist rigorous and reproducible paradigms to evaluate delay discounting, standard methods for calculating discount rate, and known neural systems probed by these paradigms. Abnormalities in discounting have been associated with psychopathology ranging from addiction (with steep discount rates indicating relative preference for immediate rewards) to anorexia nervosa (with shallow discount rates indicating preference for future rewards). The latest research suggests that delay discounting can be manipulated in the laboratory. Extensively studied in cognitive neuroscience, delay discounting assesses a dimension of behavior that is important for decision-making and is linked to neural substrates and to psychopathology. The question now is whether manipulating delay discounting can yield clinically significant changes in behavior that promote health. If so, then delay discounting could deliver on the RDoC promise.
Testing the programming of temperament and psychopathology in two independent samples of children with prenatal substance exposure
Authors: Lin Betty , Ostlund Brendan D. , Conradt Elisabeth , Lagasse Linda L. , Lester Barry M. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractPrenatal programming models have rarely been applied to research on children with prenatal substance exposure, despite evidence suggesting that prenatal drug exposure is a form of stress that impacts neurodevelopmental outcomes and risk for psychopathology. Utilizing data from two longitudinal multisite studies comprising children prenatally exposed to substances as well as a nonexposed comparison group (Maternal Lifestyle Study,n= 1,388; Infant Development, Environment, and Lifestyle study,n= 412), we tested whether early phenotypic indicators of hypothesized programming effects, indexed by growth parameters at birth and infant temperament, served as a link between prenatal substance exposure and internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 5. Latent profile analysis indicated that individual differences in reactivity and regulation for infants prenatally exposed to substances was best characterized by four temperament profiles. These profiles were virtually identical across two independent samples, and demonstrated unique associations with adjustment difficulties nearly 5 years later. Results of path analysis using structural equation modeling also showed that increased prenatal substance exposure was linked to poorer growth parameters at birth, profiles of temperamental reactivity in infancy, and internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 5. This pathway was partially replicated across samples. This study was among the first to link known individual-level correlates of prenatal substance exposure into a specific pathway to childhood problem behavior. Implications for the developmental origins of a child's susceptibility to psychopathology as a result of intrauterine substance exposure are discussed.
An experimental test of the fetal programming hypothesis: Can we reduce child ontogenetic vulnerability to psychopathology by decreasing maternal depression?
Authors: Davis Elysia Poggi , Hankin Benjamin L. , Swales Danielle A. , Hoffman M. Camille 
Published: August 2018

AbstractMaternal depression is one of the most common prenatal complications, and prenatal maternal depression predicts many child psychopathologies. Here, we apply the fetal programming hypothesis as an organizational framework to address the possibility that fetal exposure to maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy affects fetal development of vulnerabilities and risk mechanisms, which enhance risk for subsequent psychopathology. We consider four candidate pathways through which maternal prenatal depression may affect the propensity of offspring to develop later psychopathology across the life span: brain development, physiological stress regulation (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis), negative emotionality, and cognitive (effortful) control. The majority of past research has been correlational, so potential causal conclusions have been limited. We describe an ongoing experimental test of the fetal programming influence of prenatal maternal depressive symptoms using a randomized controlled trial design. In this randomized controlled trial, interpersonal psychotherapy is compared to enhanced usual care among distressed pregnant women to evaluate whether reducing prenatal maternal depressive symptoms has a salutary impact on child ontogenetic vulnerabilities and thereby reduces offspring's risk for emergence of later psychopathology.
Social buffering of the maternal and infant HPA axes: Mediation and moderation in the intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences
Authors: Thomas Jenna C. , Letourneau Nicole , Campbell Tavis S. , Giesbrecht Gerald F. ,   Apron Study Team
Published: August 2018

AbstractSupportive social relationships can reduce both psychological and physiological responses to stressful experiences. Recently, studies have also assessed the potential for social relationships to buffer the intergenerational transmission of stress. The majority of these studies, however, have focussed on social learning as a mechanism responsible for the intergenerational transmission of stress. Evidence of biological mechanisms is lacking. The objective of the current study was, therefore, to determine whether the association between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and infant hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function is mediated by maternal HPA axis function during pregnancy and moderated by social support. Data were from 243 mother–infant dyads enrolled in a prospective longitudinal cohort (the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition Study). Maternal history of ACEs was retrospectively assessed while maternal perceived social support and salivary cortisol were assessed prospectively at 6–22 weeks gestation (Time 1) and 27–37 weeks gestation (Time 2), and infant cortisol reactivity to a laboratory stressor and maternal perceived social support were assessed at 5–10 months postnatal (Time 3). Results revealed that maternal HPA axis function during pregnancy mediated the effects of maternal ACEs on infant HPA axis reactivity, suggesting that the maternal HPA axis is a mechanism by which maternal early life stress is transmitted to offspring. Furthermore, social support in the prenatal and postnatal periods moderated the cascade from maternal ACEs to infant HPA axis reactivity. Specifically, prenatal social support moderated the association between ACEs and maternal HPA axis function during pregnancy, and postnatal social support moderated the association between maternal HPA axis function and infant cortisol reactivity. These findings highlight the social sensitivity of the HPA axis and suggest the utility of social relationships as an intervention target to reduce the effects of maternal early life stress on infant outcomes.
Prenatal CRH: An integrating signal of fetal distress
Authors: Sandman Curt A. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractCorticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is distributed throughout the brain and in peripheral sites but primarily is localized in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. It is a “master” stress hormone that is responsible for the synthesis of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) in the anterior pituitary gland. Behaviorally active peptide hormones, including adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) and B-endorphin, are liberated from POMC by enzymes to activate critical processes during stress. CRH is not detectable in the circulation even during extreme stress. However, during human pregnancy, the human placenta expresses the gene for CRH (pCRH) resulting in detectable levels in maternal plasma that increases 20- to 40-fold over the course of gestation. Placental CRH is identical to CRH of hypothalamic origin in size, structure, immunoreactivity, and bioactivity. However, unlike the negative feedback between adrenal cortisol and hypothalamic CRH, cortisol stimulates the synthesis and release of pCRH. The bidirectional release of pCRH into maternal and fetal compartments is associated with regulating the timing of delivery, remodeling the fetal nervous system, and influencing developmental trajectories. Fetal exposure to pCRH during early and late gestation is associated with unique patterns of cortical thinning in school-age children. Placental CRH is elevated in response to physical and behavioral stress and may be an integrative marker of early adversity.
Postoperative feeding problems in patients with tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia, and major aortopulmonary collaterals undergoing unifocalisation surgery
Authors: Koth Andrew M. , Sakarovitch Charlotte , Sidell Douglas R. , Schultz Lisa M. , Freccero Allison , Rizzuto Sandra , Hanley Frank L. , Asija Ritu 
Published: August 2018

AbstractBackgroundPatients with tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia, and major aortopulmonary collaterals are at risk for prolonged hospitalisation after unifocalisation. Feeding problems after congenital heart surgery are associated with longer hospital stay. We sought to determine the impact of baseline, intra-operative, and postoperative factors on the need for feeding tube use at the time of discharge.MethodsWe included patients with the aforementioned diagnosis undergoing unifocalisation from ages 3 months to 4 years from 2010 to 2016. We excluded patients with a pre-existing feeding tube. Patients discharged with an enteric tube were included in the feeding tube group. We compared the feeding tube group with the non-feeding-tube group by univariable and multi-variable logistic regression.ResultsOf the 56 patients studied, 41% used tube feeding. Median age and weight z-score were similar in the two groups. A chromosome 22q11 deletion was associated with the need for a feeding tube (22q11 deletion in 39% versus 15%, p=0.05). Median cardiopulmonary bypass time in the feeding tube group was longer (335 versus 244 minutes, p=0.04). Prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation was associated with feeding tube use (48 versus 3%, p=0.001). On multi-variable analysis, prolonged mechanical ventilation was associated with feeding tube use (odds ratio 10.2, 95% confidence intervals 1.6; 63.8).ConclusionAmong patients with tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia, and major aortopulmonary collaterals who were feeding by mouth before surgery, prolonged mechanical ventilation after unifocalisation surgery was associated with feeding tube use at discharge. Anticipation of feeding problems in this population and earlier feeding tube placement may reduce hospital length of stay.
Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome presenting with steroid-induced bradycardia in a patient with acute rheumatic fever
Authors: Orgun Ali , Gursu Hazım A. , Cetin Ibrahim I. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractSteroids are used in the treatment of acute rheumatic fever with moderate-to-severe carditis. Corticosteroids have several cardiovascular side affects that are more common in adults than in children. Corticosteroid-related bradycardia is a rarely seen side effect. Children with bradycardia following oral corticosteroid use are rarely reported previously. We present a child who developed bradycardia after oral corticosteroid treatment and concurrent Wolff–Parkinson–White pattern.
Spaceflight from Super-Earths is difficult
Authors: Hippke Michael 
Published: August 2018

AbstractMany rocky exoplanets are heavier and larger than the Earth and have higher surface gravity. This makes space-flight on these worlds very challenging because the required fuel mass for a given payload is an exponential function of planetary surface gravity, exp(g0). We find that chemical rockets still allow for escape velocities on Super-Earths up to 10× Earth mass. More massive rocky worlds, if they exist, would require other means to leave the planet, such as nuclear propulsion. This is relevant for space colonization and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.