bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Low‐molecular‐weight fucoidan and high‐stability fucoxanthin decrease serum alanine transaminase in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease—A double‐blind, randomized controlled trial
Authors: Cheng I‐Ching , Weng Shih‐Yen , Wu Ming‐Shun , Suk Fat‐Moon , Lien Gi‐Shih , Chen Chun‐Nan 
Published: April 2019

AbstractBrown seaweeds rich in flavonoids and bioactive polysaccharides have shown potential effects of suppressing fat accumulation, oxidative stress, and inflammation in the liver. Refined seaweed compounds such as low‐molecular‐weight fucoidan and high‐stability fucoxanthin, have not been well studied regarding their biological function. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver diseases and is characterized by parameters of liver function and metabolic profiles. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the combined effect of fucoidan and fucoxanthin on NAFLD with respect to the biochemical parameters. Seventy patients with NAFLD confirmed by abdominal echography and FibroScan were screened. Patients with seafood allergy and those taking vitamin E, pioglitazone, or liraglutide were excluded. Forty‐two patients were randomly divided into a group receiving either fucoidan‐fucoxanthin mixture or placebo. Both groups were subjected to 12‐week follow‐up. The degree of fatty liver and liver fibrosis was detected using transient elastography (TE) with a controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) (FibroScan). The biochemistry of creatine, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and fasting blood sugar (FBS) was monitored every 4 weeks during the follow‐up period. Moreover, the metabolic profile, including cholesterol, triglyceride, adiponectin, leptin, uric acid, and insulin, as well as complete blood count/differential count and C‐reactive protein were measured at baseline, 4th, and 12th week of follow‐up. There were no significant differences in the baseline of age, gender, BMI (body mass index), and severity of fibrosis in both groups, but more severe steatosis was observed in the treatment group. Combined supplementation of fucoidan and fucoxanthin led to a significant reduction of serum ALT compared to the control (P < 0.05). No prominent change was detected in the CAP and adiponectin, which may imply that this short intervention is not enough to improve NAFLD in patients receiving fucoidan‐fucoxanthin binary mixture. In this pilot study, the seaweed derivative mixture can significantly reduce ALT, indicating that the combination of fucoidan and fucoxanthin might be a novel hepatoprotective supplement for NAFLD patients.
Bioelectrical impedance vector values in a Spanish healthy newborn population for nutritional assessment
Authors: Redondo‐del‐Río María P. , Escribano‐García Carla , Camina‐Martín María A. , Caserío‐Carbonero Sonia , Cancho‐Candela Ramón , de‐Mateo‐Silleras Beatriz 
Published: April 2019

AbstractIntroductionVector bioimpedance analysis (BIVA) can be very useful for the evaluation of body composition, hydration, and nutritional status in infants and newborns. The objective of this study was to determine the impedance vector distribution for a group of healthy newborn Spanish children.MethodsThis was a cross‐sectional, descriptive study conducted with 154 healthy, Spanish newborns (gestational age: 37‐41 weeks) aged 24 to 72 hours (79 males, 75 females). Weight, height, and cephalic‐circumference were determined. Resistance and reactance were measured with a single‐frequency impedance analyzer at 50 kHz (tetrapolar analysis). The newborns' specific 95% confidence intervals of the mean vectors and the 95%, 75%, and 50% tolerance intervals for the individual vector measurements were plotted using R and Xc components standardized by the subjects' lengths. The mean impedance vectors were compared with Hotelling's‐T2 test for vector analysis (significance level: P < .05).ResultsThe newborns exhibited gender‐related differences in the mean impedance vector (mean [SD] R/H: 833.6 [97.5] Ohm/m in males vs 918.2 [107.7] Ohm/m in females; mean [SD] Xc/H: 91.3 [34.7] Ohm/m in males vs 95.6 [23.2] Ohm/m in females). No statistically significant differences in the mean impedance vectors were observed according to days of life. Lower values of resistance and slightly higher reactance values were observed in the healthy Spanish newborns compared to Italian newborns.ConclusionsNew tolerance ellipses were constructed for healthy Spanish newborns. These data allow detecting alterations in the hydration status and cell mass in term newborns in the first 3 days of life.
Palladium‐Catalyzed 8‐Aminoquinoline‐Aided sp2δ‐C−H Intramolecular Amidation/Annulation: A Route to Tricyclic Quinolones
Authors: Padmavathi Rayavarapu , Babu Srinivasarao Arulananda 
Published: April 2019

AbstractSystematic investigations of a Pd(II)‐catalyzed, 8‐aminoquinoline directing group (DG)‐aided sp2 δ‐C−H amidation (C−N bond formation) of different biaryl carboxamides are reported. Various biaryl carboxamides with suitably positioned sp2 δ‐C−H bond with respect to the DG were assembled via β‐C−H arylation and then they were subjected to Pd(II)‐catalyzed sp2 δ‐C−H intramolecular amidation/annulation reactions. While the intramolecular amidation of the sp2 δ‐C−H bond of some carboxamides was not fruitful, several biaryl carboxamides underwent intramolecular amidation of their sp2 δ‐C−H bonds to afford various tricyclic quinolone motifs such as, phenanthridin‐6(5H)‐ones and thieno‐/furo‐/pyrrolo‐[2,3‐c]quinolin‐4(5H)‐ones. The assembly of the required biaryl carboxamides possessing the sp2 δ‐C−H bond via the β‐C−H arylation and the successive intramolecular amidation (C−N bond formation) of the resulting biaryl carboxamides were also performed in one‐pot reaction conditions to afford tricyclic quinolones.
Heterochrony in chimpanzee and bonobo spatial memory development
Authors: Rosati Alexandra G. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractObjectivesThe emergence of human‐unique cognitive abilities has been linked to our species' extended juvenile period. Comparisons of cognitive development across species can provide new insights into the evolutionary mechanisms shaping cognition. This study examined the development of different components of spatial memory, cognitive mechanisms that support complex foraging, by comparing two species with similar life history that vary in wild ecology: bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).Materials and methodsSpatial memory development was assessed using a cross‐sectional experimental design comparing apes ranging from infancy to adulthood. Study 1 tested 73 sanctuary‐living apes on a task examining recall of a single location after a 1‐week delay, compared to an earlier session. Study 2 tested their ability to recall multiple locations within a complex environment. Study 3 examined a subset of individuals from Study 2 on a motivational control task.ResultsIn Study 1, younger bonobos and chimpanzees of all ages exhibited improved performance in the test session compared to their initial learning experience. Older bonobos, in contrast, did not exhibit a memory boost in performance after the delay. In Study 2, older chimpanzees exhibited an improved ability to recall multiple locations, whereas bonobos did not exhibit any age‐related differences. In Study 3, both species were similarly motivated to search for food in the absence of memory demands.DiscussionThese results indicate that closely related species with similar life history characteristics can exhibit divergent patterns of cognitive development, and suggests a role of socioecological niche in shaping patterns of cognition in Pan.
Transformation of Metal‐Organic Frameworks into Stable Organic Frameworks with Inherited Skeletons and Catalytic Properties
Authors: Chen Kai , Wu Chuan‐De 
Published: April 2019

AbstractMetal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of porous materials with attractive properties, however, their practical applications are heavily hindered by their fragile nature. We report herein an effective strategy to transform fragile coordination bonds in MOFs into stable covalent organic bonds under mild annealing decarboxylative coupling reaction conditions, which results in highly stable organic framework materials. This strategy successfully endows intrinsic framework skeletons, porosity and properties of the parent MOFs in the daughter organic framework materials, which exhibit excellent chemical stability under harsh catalytic conditions. Therefore, this work opens a new avenue to synthesize stable organic framework materials derived from MOFs for applications in different fields.
An improved image procession algorithm for bubble flow characteristics in gas–liquid reactor
Authors: Li Xiangli , Li Guohui 
Published: April 2019

AbstractBubble size distributions in bubble‐liquid reactors are essentially determined by the multiphase turbulent hydrodynamic behaviors, which take greatly effects on the heat and mass transfer. An improved image procession algorithm, effectively combined for the first time, color space transformation, shadow detection and removal, and watershed segmentation to handle the raw pictures captured by high‐speed camera was proposed to characterize the distributions of bubble sizes. The hue–saturation–intensity color space approach to detect bubble edges and shadow regions for their intensity was set to as input value for processing background subtraction. Furthermore, the removal of bubble shadow was successfully performed by means of extracting shadow regions to attain the satisfied compensation images, a watershed transformation function was also developed to segment the overlapping bubbles into the individual bubble objects after shadow removed as well. Bubble parameters, that is, bubble areas and bubble perimeters are obtained details, and results showed that the maximum errors between calculated results and measurement without considering shadow effects are approximately 25%. Thus, it indicated that the effects of shadow are seriously, and it must be optimized for better prediction regarding the ability and the capacity of reactor design.
Tailored interphase and thermal interface resistance of self‐assembled thermally reduced graphene oxide–polyamide hybrid/epoxy composites with enhanced thermal conductivity
Authors: Li Bo , Wu Di , Lu Kangyi , Xu Peng , Li Gang , Yang Xiaoping 
Published: April 2019

ABSTRACTThermally reduced graphene oxide–polyamide (TrGO‐PA) hybrids were fabricated by self‐assembly between TrGO nanosheets and PA microparticles, and the dispersibility, interphase extension, and thermal conduction mechanism of TrGO‐PA/epoxy (EP) composites were investigated. Most of the oxygen‐containing functional groups of TrGO were removed, and a conjugated structure of graphene was recovered. TrGO was distributed evenly on the PA surface via electrostatic adsorption between TrGO and PA, which resulted in the inhibition of TrGO aggregation in the epoxy matrix. Compared with that of TrGO/EP and PA/EP composites, the thermal interface resistance (RTIM) of TrGO‐PA/EP composites was greatly decreased to 38.3 mm2 kW−1 and the thermal conductivity was improved to 0.268 W/(m K), which was attributed to the enhanced dispersibility of TrGO‐PA and the enlarged interphase in TrGO‐PA/EP composites. A schematic model of thermal conduction mechanisms was proposed based on the formation of contiguous thermal transfer pathways by bridged TrGO adsorbed on well‐dispersed PA microparticles in TrGO‐PA/EP composites. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47826.
Green synthesis of porous polyvinyl alcohol membranes functionalized with l‐arginine and their application in the removal of 4‐nitrophenol from aqueous solution
Authors: Narkkun Thanitporn , Boonying Patharawadee , Yuenyao Chalad , Amnuaypanich Sittipong 
Published: April 2019

ABSTRACTGreen and single‐step synthesis of porous poly(vinyl alcohol) membrane functionalized with l‐arginine (PVA‐g‐Arg) is presented. Crosslinking, l‐arginine functionalization and pore forming occurred simultaneously by a thermally induced process without using a crosslinker or an initiator. As‐synthesized PVA‐g‐Arg membranes possessed a porous structure with an average pore size of 32–56 μm depending on the amount of l‐arginine. The PVA‐g‐Arg were utilized as adsorbent membranes for the removal of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP) from aqueous solutions and demonstrated higher adsorption capacity than that of the unmodified PVA porous membrane. The pseudo‐second‐order described satisfactorily the kinetic adsorption of 4‐NP by the membranes while the isotherms followed both the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The negative values of ΔG° and thermodynamic parameters confirmed that the adsorption of 4‐NP by the PVA‐g‐Arg membranes was spontaneous and exothermic. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47835.
Construction and flame‐retardant performance of layer‐by‐layer assembled hexagonal boron nitride coatings on flexible polyurethane foams
Authors: Qiu Xiaoqing , Li Zhiwei , Li Xiaohong , Yu Laigui , Zhang Zhijun 
Published: April 2019

ABSTRACTWe first prepared a novel hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) nanosheet filled flame‐retardant coating on the surface of flexible polyurethane foams (FPUFs) by a layer‐by‐layer assembly method to improve the fire safety of the FPUFs. The microstructures and compositions of the coatings could be well tailored by the alteration of the concentrations of the h‐BN dispersions; this resulted in obvious improvements in the thermal stability and flame‐retardant properties for the FPUFs under optimal conditions. Particularly, cone calorimetry testing confirmed that the FPUFs coated with a proper amount of h‐BN nanosheets effectively reduced the peak of the heat‐release rate (50.1%) and CO production (53.8%) of the FPUFs, which demonstrated excellent flame‐retardant performance. The excellent flame‐retardant properties were attributed to the physical barrier and tortuous‐path effects and anisotropic thermal conductivity of the h‐BN nanosheets; these retarded the transfer and diffusion of heat toward the polymer matrix. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47839.
Early life‐history adaptation influences conservation approaches for facultatively amphidromous fish
Authors: Augspurger Jason M. , Closs Gerard P. 
Published: April 2019

Abstract

Early life history is widely recognized as the stage of fish life history where mortality is the highest. Incorrect adaptation of early life‐history characteristics to environmental conditions will result in high larval mortality and therefore recruitment failure. As a result, understanding early life‐history requirements is critical if conservation techniques such as translocations are to be successful.
For amphidromous fishes, landlocked and marine rearing environments present fundamentally different challenges, and thus early life history must be adapted to allow the establishment of landlocked populations. This study investigated gonadal development to determine spawning time, egg size, and fecundity in landlocked and diadromous populations of the threatened fish Galaxias brevipinnis to assess early life‐history adaptation to facultative amphidromy in southern New Zealand.
Ripening and spawning times of landlocked populations were protracted compared with diadromous populations. Diadromous populations simultaneously spawned during a March flood, whereas ovulating landlocked individuals were found from August to December, with a peak in October. Oocyte size in landlocked individuals was approximately 25% smaller than that in diadromous populations, and the fecundity of landlocked individuals was higher than that for diadromous individuals.
Translocations of landlocked individuals to diadromous stocks are therefore unlikely to be successful, whereas the large egg size of diadromous populations would allow the translocation of diadromous stocks to landlocked environments.
Synthesis of Co0.5Mn0.1Ni0.4C2O4⋅n H2O Micropolyhedrons: Multimetal Synergy for High‐Performance Glucose Oxidation Catalysis
Authors: Li Nan , Li Qing , Yuan Meijuan , Guo Xiaotian , Zheng Shasha , Pang Huan 
Published: April 2019

AbstractOwing to the synergy between metals, trimetal oxalate micropolyhedrons have been synthesized by means of a room‐temperature coprecipitation strategy. The effect of their nanoscale size on their electrochemical performance toward glucose oxidation was investigated. In particular, the Co0.5Mn0.1Ni0.4C2O4⋅n H2O micropolyhedrons illustrated prominent electrocatalytic activity for the glucose oxidation reaction. Additionally, the Co0.5Mn0.1Ni0.4C2O4⋅n H2O micropolyhedrons, when used as an electrode material, illustrated an excellent lower limit of detection (1.5 μm), a wide detection concentration range (0.5–5065.5 μm), and a high sensitivity (493.5 μA mm−1 cm−2). Further analysis indicated that the effectively improved conductivity may have been due to the small size of the materials, and it was easier to form a flat film when Nafion was coated onto the glassy carbon electrode.
Cellulase production from kraft hardwood pulp by Trichoderma reesei rut C‐30
Authors: Li Jing , Shi Suan , Kang Li , Wang Wei , Guan Wenjian 
Published: April 2019

AbstractCellulase on‐site production can occur in a supplementary unit in a kraft paper mill to create additional revenue. In this study, the production of cellulase enzyme from kraft hardwood pulp by Trichoderma reesei Rut C‐30 was investigated in a 3 L fermenter. Experiments were conducted at three pH levels, 3.5, 4.0, and 5.0, to study their impact on T. reesei Rut C‐30 growth and cellulase production. It was found that higher pH values promoted cell proliferation but not cellulase production. The highest cellulase activity and productivity were obtained at a pH level of 3.5. The solid loading effect of the substrate was also investigated over the range of 2% to 5% (w/v) to determine the maximum levels of cellulase activity obtainable. The highest titer of 7.5 FPU mL–1 was achieved at 4% (w/v) of hardwood pulp. Cellulase production in this condition yielded 246.7 FPU/g‐glucan of hardwood pulp with a productivity of 56.8 FPU L–1h–1. The higher xylanase activity in the enzyme produced in‐house resulted in higher glucan and xylan digestibility than the commercial enzyme. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
A novel fluorescent sensor based on electrosynthesized benzene sulfonic acid‐doped polypyrrole for determination of Pb(II) and Cu(II)
Authors: Lo Momath , Diaw Abdou K.D. , Gningue‐Sall Diariatou , Oturan Mehmet A. , Chehimi Mohamed M. , Aaron Jean‐Jacques 
Published: April 2019

AbstractTo develop conducting organic polymers (COPs) as luminescent sensors for determination of toxic heavy metals, a new benzene sulfonic acid‐doped polypyrrole (PPy‐BSA) thin film was electrochemically prepared by cyclic voltammetry (CV) on flexible indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode in aqueous solution. PPy‐BSA film was characterized by FTIR spectrometry, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optical properties of PPy‐BSA were investigated by ultraviolet (UV)‐visible absorption and fluorescence spectrometry in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) diluted solutions. PPy‐BSA fluorescence spectra were strongly quenched upon increasing copper(II) ion (Cu2+) and lead(II) ion (Pb2+) concentrations in aqueous medium, and linear Stern–Volmer relationships were obtained, which indicated the existence of a main dynamic fluorescence quenching mechanism. BSA‐PPy sensor showed a high sensitivity for detection of both metallic ions, Cu2+ and Pb2+, with very low limit of detection values of 3.1 and 18.0 nM, respectively. The proposed quenching‐fluorimetric sensor might be applied to the determination of traces of toxic heavy metallic ions in water samples.
A novel numerical model for protein sequences analysis based on spherical coordinates and multiple physicochemical properties of amino acids
Authors: Yu Jia‐Feng , Qu Ang , Tang Hu‐Cheng , Wang Fang‐Hua , Wang Chun‐Ling , Wang Hong‐Mei , Wang Ji‐Hua , Zhu Huai‐Qiu 
Published: April 2019

AbstractHow to characterize short protein sequences to make an effective connection to their functions is an unsolved problem. Here we propose to map the physicochemical properties of each amino acid onto unit spheres so that each protein sequence can be represented quantitatively. We demonstrate the usefulness of this representation by applying it to the prediction of cell penetrating peptides. We show that its combination with traditional composition features yields the best performance across different datasets, among several methods compared. For the convenience of users, a web server has been established for automatic calculations of the proposed features at http://biophy.dzu.edu.cn/SNumD/.
Heat‐inactivated coelomic fluid of the earthworm Perionyx excavatus is a possible alternative source for fetal bovine serum in animal cell culture
Authors: Chellathurai Vasantha Niranjan , Rajagopalan Kamarajan , Selvan Christyraj Jackson Durairaj , Subbiahanadar Chelladurai Karthikeyan , Ganesan Mijithra , Azhagesan Ananthaselvam , Rajaian Pushpabai Rajesh , Mohan Manikandan , Selvan Christyraj Johnson Retnaraj Samuel 
Published: April 2019

AbstractFetal Bovine Serum (FBS) is used as a major supplement in culturing animal cells under in vitro conditions. Due to ethical concern, high cost, biosafety, and geographical as well as batchwise result variations, it is important to reduce or replace the use of FBS in animal cell culture. The major objective of this work is to evaluate the feasibility of heat‐inactivated coelomic fluid (HI‐CF) of the earthworm, Perionyx excavatus as a possible alternative for FBS in animal cell culture experiments. The coelomic fluid (CF) was extruded from the earthworm using electric shock method and used for the experiments. Electric shock method is a simple non‐invasive technique, which has no harmful effect on earthworms. Mouse primary fibroblast and HeLa cell lines were used in this study. Among HI‐CF, autoclaved CF and crude CF, the supplement of medium with HI‐CF shows positive results. The processed HI‐CF (90°C for 5 min) at 10% supplement in cell culture medium promote maximum cell growth but cells need the initial support of FBS for the attachment to the culture flask. Microscopic observation and immunofluorescence assay with actin and lamin A confirm that the cellular and molecular morphology of the cells is maintained intact. The HI‐CF of earthworm, P. excavatus has shown better cellular viability when compared with FBS and making it possible as an alternative supplement to minimize the use of FBS.