bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Gallic acid‐loaded electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers as potential wound dressing materials
Authors: Wutticharoenmongkol Patcharaporn , Hannirojram Pornchita , Nuthong Pimchanok 
Published: January 2019

Gallic acid (GA)–loaded cellulose acetate (CA) nanofiber mats with 10 to 40 wt.% GA contents (based on the weight of CA) were fabricated by electrospinning. The effects of GA contents and applied potential on the morphology and the average diameters of fibers were studied. The electrospun fiber mats containing 20 and 40 wt.% GA were investigated for their potential use as carrier of GA in wound dressing application. The GA‐loaded CA films were prepared by solvent casting technique for use in comparative studies. Determination of the release characteristics of GA from the GA‐loaded fiber mats and films was carried out by the total immersion and the transdermal diffusion through a pig skin method in acetate buffer solution (pH 5.5) or normal saline (pH 7.0) at either 32 or 37°C, respectively. In the total immersion method, the maximum amounts of the GA released from the fiber mats containing 20 and 40 wt.% GA in the acetate buffer were approximately 97% and 71% (based on the weight of initial GA), while those of the GA released into the normal saline were approximately 96% and 81%, respectively. Lower values were observed in the experiments of the transdermal diffusion through a pig skin method. The corresponding GA‐loaded CA films showed the lower amounts of GA released into media. The as‐loaded and the as‐released GA remained its antioxidant activity as investigated by 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Lastly, the GA‐loaded CA fiber mats exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, which showed the potential for use as wound dressing materials.
The effects of Nigella sativa on quality of life, disease activity index, and some of inflammatory and oxidative stress factors in patients with ulcerative colitis
Authors: Nikkhah‐Bodaghi Mehrnaz , Darabi Zahra , Agah Shahram , Hekmatdoost Azita 
Published: January 2019

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Nigella sativa (NS) supplementation in patients with ulcerative colitis. Two grams of NS powder or placebo were consumed for 6 weeks by 46 patients with active mild to moderate ulcerative colitis. Using valid and common questionnaires of colitis severity and blood sampling, we estimated disease activity index, quality of life, and some of inflammatory and oxidative stress factors at baseline and after 6 weeks of supplementation. NS‐elevated tumor necrosis factor‐alpha and high‐sensitivity‐c‐reactive‐protein as well as reduced malondialdehyde (p = 0.01, p = 0.02, and p = 0.005, respectively) compared with placebo. There was no significant difference between the two groups in serum total antioxidant capacity and nuclear factor kB levels. Total scores of Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index Questionnaire and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire‐9 were not different between the two groups; however, stool frequency score decreased significantly in NS group. Further clinical trials with different pattern of NS administration (the amount of total and divided daily doses, either powder type or standard extracts/oil and different time arrangement) are needed to clarify the vision.
Trailing edge subcomponent testing for wind turbine blades–Part A: Comparison of concepts
Authors: Rosemeier M. , Antoniou A. , Chen X. , Lahuerta F. , Berring P. , Branner K. 
Published: January 2019

AbstractAs a complement to the mandatory structural full‐scale test for wind turbine blades, the method of subcomponent testing has recently been proposed by international standards and guidelines for the experimental investigation of design‐critical full‐scale parts. This work investigated different subcomponent test (SCT) concepts for a trailing edge of an outboard segment from a 34‐m blade. Detailed analytical models to design the SCT concepts with regard to the boundary conditions were derived. Finite element analyses of the SCT's linear response were benchmarked against each other and against the full blade model in terms of displacements, rotations, in‐plane strains, and energy consumption. All SCT concepts were in good agreement with the full‐scale test with respect to the longitudinal strain response but showed deviations in the transverse and shear strain, as well as in the rotational and displacement response.
Sugar‐based biopolymers as novel imaging agents for molecular magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Han Zheng , Liu Guanshu 
Published: January 2019

Sugar‐based biopolymers have been recognized as attractive materials to develop macromolecule‐ and nanoparticle‐based cancer imaging and therapy. However, traditional biopolymer‐based imaging approaches rely on the use of synthetic or isotopic labeling, and because of it, clinical translation often is hindered. Recently, a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST), has emerged, which allows the exploitation of sugar‐based biopolymers as MRI agents by their hydroxyl protons‐rich nature. In the study, we reviewed recent studies on the topic of CEST MRI detection of sugar‐based biopolymers. The CEST MRI property of each biopolymer was briefly introduced, followed by the pre‐clinical and clinical applications. The findings of these preliminary studies imply the enormous potential of CEST detectable sugar‐based biopolymers in developing highly sensitive and translatable molecular imaging agents and constructing image‐guided biopolymer‐based drug delivery systems.This article is categorized under:
Diagnostic Tools > in vivo Nanodiagnostics and Imaging
Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies
Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum by synthetic small regulatory RNAs
Authors: Sun Dehu , Chen Jiuzhou , Wang Yu , Li Mingyue , Rao Deming , Guo Yanmei , Chen Ning , Zheng Ping , Sun Jibin , Ma Yanhe 
Published: January 2019

Abstract
Corynebacterium glutamicum is an important platform strain that is wildly used in industrial production of amino acids and various other biochemicals. However, due to good genomic stability, C. glutamicum is more difficult to engineer than genetically tractable hosts. Herein, a synthetic small regulatory RNA (sRNA)-based gene knockdown strategy was developed for C. glutamicum. The RNA chaperone Hfq from Escherichia coli and a rationally designed sRNA consisting of the E. coli MicC scaffold and a target binding site were proven to be indispensable for repressing green fluorescent protein expression in C. glutamicum. The synthetic sRNA system was applied to improve glutamate production through knockdown of pyk, ldhA, and odhA, resulting almost a threefold increase in glutamate titer and yield. Gene transcription and enzyme activity were down-regulated by up to 80%. The synthetic sRNA system developed holds promise to accelerate C. glutamicum metabolic engineering for producing valuable chemicals and fuels.
Smithian platform-bearing gondolellid conodonts from Yiwagou Section, northwestern China and implications for their geographic distribution in the Early Triassic
Authors: Li Hanxiao , Jiang Haishui , Chen Yanlong , Wignall Paul B. , Wu Baojin , Zhang Zaitian , Zhang Muhui , Ouyang Zhumin , Lai Xulong 
Published: January 2019

AbstractAbundant platform-bearing gondolellid conodonts, includingScythogondolella mosheri(Kozur and Mostler),Sc.phrynaOrchard and Zonneveld, andSc. cf.milleri(Müller), have been discovered from the Yiwagou Section of Tewo, together withNovispathodus waageni waageni(Sweet) andNv.w.eowaageniZhao and Orchard. This is the first report of Smithian platform-bearing gondolellids from the Paleo-Tethys region. In addition,Eurygnathodus costatusStaesche,E.hamadai(Koike),Parafurnishius xuanhanensisYang et al., and the generaPachycladinaStaesche,ParachirognathusClark, andHadrodontinaStaesche have also been recovered from Dienerian to Smithian strata at Yiwagou Section. Three conodont zones are established, in ascending order:Eurygnathodus costatus-E.hamadaiAssemblage Zone,Novispathodus waageni-Scythogondolella mosheriAssemblage Zone, and thePachycladina-ParachirognathusAssemblage Zone.The platform-bearing gondolellids were globally distributed just after the end-Permian mass extinction, but the formerly abundantClarkinaKozur disappeared in the late Griesbachian. Platform-bearing gondolellids dramatically decreased to a minimum of diversity and extent in the Dienerian before recovering in the Smithian.ScythogondolellaKozur, probably a thermophilic and eurythermic genus, lived in all latitudes at this time whereas other genera did not cope with Smithian high temperatures and so became restricted to the high-latitude regions. However, the maximum temperature in the late Smithian likely caused the extinction of almost all platform-bearing gondolellids. Finally, the group returned to equatorial regions and achieved global distribution again in the cooler conditions of the late Spathian. We conclude that temperature (and to a lesser extent oxygen levels) exerted a strong control on the geographical distribution and evolution of platform-bearing gondolellids in the Early Triassic.
Fatou components and singularities of meromorphic functions
Authors: Barański Krzysztof , Fagella Núria , Jarque Xavier , Karpińska Bogusława 
Published: January 2019

AbstractWe prove several results concerning the relative position of points in the postsingular set P(f) of a meromorphic map f and the boundary of a Baker domain or the successive iterates of a wandering component. For Baker domains we answer a question of Mihaljević-Brandt and Rempe-Gillen. For wandering domains we show that if the iterates Un of such a domain have uniformly bounded diameter, then there exists a sequence of postsingular values pn such that ${\rm dist} (p_n, U_n)\to 0$ as $n\to \infty $. We also prove that if $U_n \cap P(f)=\emptyset $ and the postsingular set of f lies at a positive distance from the Julia set (in ℂ), then the sequence of iterates of any wandering domain must contain arbitrarily large disks. This allows to exclude the existence of wandering domains for some meromorphic maps with infinitely many poles and unbounded set of singular values.
A priori bounds and multiplicity of positive solutions for p-Laplacian Neumann problems with sub-critical growth
Authors: Boscaggin Alberto , Colasuonno Francesca , Noris Benedetta 
Published: January 2019

AbstractLet 1 < p < +∞ and let Ω ⊂ ℝN be either a ball or an annulus. We continue the analysis started in [Boscaggin, Colasuonno, Noris, ESAIM Control Optim. Calc. Var. (2017)], concerning quasilinear Neumann problems of the type
$-\Delta _pu = f(u),\quad u > 0\,{\rm in }\,\Omega ,\quad \partial _\nu u = 0\,{\rm on }\,\partial \Omega .$We suppose that f(0) = f(1) = 0 and that f is negative between the two zeros and positive after. In case Ω is a ball, we also require that f grows less than the Sobolev-critical power at infinity. We prove a priori bounds of radial solutions, focussing in particular on solutions which start above 1. As an application, we use the shooting technique to get existence, multiplicity and oscillatory behaviour (around 1) of non-constant radial solutions.
Effect of the flavonoid hesperidin on glucose and fructose transport, sucrase activity and glycaemic response to orange juice in a crossover trial on healthy volunteers
Authors: Kerimi Asimina , Gauer Julia S. , Crabbe Susannah , Cheah Jia W. , Lau Jay , Walsh Rosa , Cancalon Paul F. , Williamson Gary 
Published: January 2019

AbstractAlthough polyphenols inhibit glucose absorption and transportin vitro, it is uncertain whether this activity is sufficient to attenuate glycaemic responsein vivo. We examined this using orange juice, which contains high levels of hesperidin. We first used a combination ofin vitroassays to evaluate the potential effect of hesperidin and other orange juice components on intestinal sugar absorption and then tested whether this translated to an effect in healthy volunteers. Hesperidin attenuated transfer of14C-labelled glucose across differentiated Caco-2/TC7 cell monolayers. The involvement of the sugar transporter GLUT2 was demonstrated by experiments carried out in the absence of Na to exclude the contribution of sodium-glucose linked transporter 1 and further explored by the use ofXenopus laevisoocytes expressing human GLUT2 or GLUT5. Fructose transport was also affected by hesperidin partly by inhibition of GLUT5, while hesperidin, even at high concentration, did not inhibit rat intestinal sucrase activity. We conducted three separate crossover interventions, each on ten healthy volunteers using orange juice with different amounts of added hesperidin and water. The biggest difference in postprandial blood glucose between orange juice and control, containing equivalent amounts of glucose, fructose, sucrose, citric acid and ascorbate, was when the juice was diluted (ΔCmax=–0·5 mm,P=0·0146). The effect was less pronounced when the juice was given at regular strength. Our data indicate that hesperidin can modulate postprandial glycaemic response of orange juice by partial inhibition of intestinal GLUT, but this depends on sugar and hesperidin concentrations.
Dietary patterns and hearing loss in older men enrolled in the Caerphilly Study
Authors: Gallagher Nicola E. , Patterson Chris C. , Neville Charlotte E. , Yarnell John , Ben-Shlomo Yoav , Fehily Anne , Gallacher John E. , Lyner Natalie , Woodside Jayne V. 
Published: January 2019

AbstractThe association between dietary patterns (DP) and prevalence of hearing loss in men enrolled in the Caerphilly Prospective Study was investigated. During 1979–1983, the study recruited 2512 men aged 45–59 years. At baseline, dietary data were collected using a semi-quantitative FFQ, and a 7-d weighed food intake (WI) in a 30 % subsample. Five years later, pure-tone unaided audiometric threshold was assessed at 0·5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified three DP and multiple logistic and ordinal logistic regression models examined the association with hearing loss (defined as pure-tone average of frequencies 0·5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz >25 dB). Traditional, healthy and high-sugar/low-alcohol DP were found with both FFQ and WI data. With the FFQ data, fully adjusted models demonstrated significant inverse association between the healthy DP and hearing loss both as a dichotomous variable (OR=0·83; 95 % CI 0·77, 0·90; P<0·001) and as an ordinal variable (OR=0·87; 95 % CI 0·81, 0·94; P<0·001). With the WI data, fully adjusted models showed a significant and inverse association between the healthy DP and hearing loss (OR=0·85; 95 % CI 0·73, 0·99; P<0·03), and a significant association between the traditional DP (per fifth increase) and hearing loss both as a dichotomous variable (OR=1·18; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·35; P=0·02) and as an ordinal variable (OR=1·17; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·33; P=0·02). A healthy DP was significantly and inversely associated with hearing loss in older men. The role of diet in age-related hearing loss warrants further investigation.
Do Parties and Voters Counteract Quota Regulations? The Impact of Legislative Gender Quotas on Ballot Ranking and Preference Voting in Poland
Authors: Gendźwiłł Adam , Żółtak Tomasz 
Published: January 2019

AbstractThis article investigates how the introduction of gender quotas affected female representation in an open-list proportional representation system. Based on the Polish parliamentary elections of 2005, 2007, 2011, and 2015, it attempts to explain the gap between the share of female candidates and the share of female legislators. The authors estimate changes in individual electoral chances using logistic regression. Subsequently, counterfactual reasoning is applied to display the results in the metrics of seat shares. The analyses of candidate-level data demonstrate that after the introduction of quotas, significantly more women ran for office, but parties and voters, on average, changed their preferences to the disadvantage of female candidates, even when incumbency and previous electoral experience were controlled. The article demonstrates that women benefited from the introduction of quotas, but not right away. The desired effect of gender quotas (an increase in female legislative representation) was mitigated mainly by the unequal distribution of “electoral capital” among candidates of both genders. The impact of this factor was moderated by ballot ranking patterns. Once women acquire more electoral capital, the role of party elites’ negative bias in ballot ranking becomes more visible.
Vertebrate remains from the Insect Limestone (latest Eocene), Isle of Wight, UK
Authors: HOOKER Jerry J. , EVANS Susan E. , DAVIS Paul G. 
Published: January 2019

ABSTRACTA small fauna of vertebrates is recorded from the Insect Limestone, Bembridge Marls Member, Bouldnor Formation, late Priabonian, latest Eocene, of the Isle of Wight, UK. The taxa represented are unidentified teleost fishes, lizards including a scincoid, unidentified birds and the theridomyid rodent Isoptychus. The scincoid represents the youngest record of the group in the UK. Of particular note is the taphonomic interpretation based on the preservation of anatomical parts of land-based tetrapods that would have been most likely transported to the site of deposition by wind, namely bird feathers and pieces of shed lizard skin. These comprise the majority of the specimens and suggest that the dominant transport mechanism was wind.
Thymine DNA glycosylase as a novel target for melanoma
Authors: Mancuso Pietro , Tricarico Rossella , Bhattacharjee Vikram , Cosentino Laura , Kadariya Yuwaraj , Jelinek Jaroslav , Nicolas Emmanuelle , Einarson Margret , Beeharry Neil , Devarajan Karthik , Katz Richard A. , Dorjsuren Dorjbal G. , Sun Hongmao , Simeonov Anton , Giordano Antonio , Testa Joseph R. , Davidson Guillaume , Davidson Irwin , Larue Lionel , Sobol Robert W. , Yen Timothy J. , Bellacosa Alfonso 
Published: January 2019

AbstractMelanoma is an aggressive neoplasm with increasing incidence that is classified by the NCI as a recalcitrant cancer, i.e., a cancer with poor prognosis, lacking progress in diagnosis and treatment. In addition to conventional therapy, melanoma treatment is currently based on targeting the BRAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway and immune checkpoints. As drug resistance remains a major obstacle to treatment success, advanced therapeutic approaches based on novel targets are still urgently needed. We reasoned that the base excision repair enzyme thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) could be such a target for its dual role in safeguarding the genome and the epigenome, by performing the last of the multiple steps in DNA demethylation. Here we show thatTDGknockdown in melanoma cell lines causes cell cycle arrest, senescence, and death by mitotic alterations; alters the transcriptome and methylome; and impairs xenograft tumor formation. Importantly, untransformed melanocytes are minimally affected byTDGknockdown, and adult mice with conditional knockout ofTdgare viable. Candidate TDG inhibitors, identified through a high-throughput fluorescence-based screen, reduced viability and clonogenic capacity of melanoma cell lines and increased cellular levels of 5-carboxylcytosine, the last intermediate in DNA demethylation, indicating successful on-target activity. These findings suggest that TDG may provide critical functions specific to cancer cells that make it a highly suitable anti-melanoma drug target. By potentially disrupting both DNA repair and the epigenetic state, targeting TDG may represent a completely new approach to melanoma therapy.
Thymidine phosphorylase promotes malignant progression in hepatocellular carcinoma through pentose Warburg effect
Authors: Zhang Qiang , Qin Yuan , Zhao Jianmin , Tang Yuanhao , Hu Xuejiao , Zhong Weilong , Li Mimi , Zong Shumin , Li Meng , Tao Honglian , Zhang Zhen , Chen Shuang , Liu Huijuan , Yang Lan , Zhou Honggang , Liu Yanrong , Sun Tao , Yang Cheng 
Published: January 2019

AbstractTumor progression is dependent on metabolic reprogramming. Metastasis and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) are typical characteristics of tumor progression. The relationship among metastasis, VM, and metabolic reprogramming remains unclear. In this study, we identified the novel role of Twist1, a VM regulator, in the transcriptional regulation of thymidine phosphorylase (TP) expression. TP promoted the extracellular metabolism of thymidine into ATP and amino acids through the pentose Warburg effect by coupling the pentose phosphate pathway and glycolysis. Moreover, Twist1 relied on TP-induced metabolic reprogramming to promote hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis and VM formation mediated by VE–Cad, VEGFR1, and VEGFR2 in vitro and in vivo. The TP inhibitor tipiracil reduced the effect of TP on promoting HCC VM formation and metastasis. Hence, TP, when transcriptionally activated by Twist1, promotes HCC VM formation and metastasis through the pentose Warburg effect and contributes to tumor progression.
Age and pattern of the southern high-latitude continental end-Permian extinction constrained by multiproxy analysis
Authors: Fielding Christopher R. , Frank Tracy D. , McLoughlin Stephen , Vajda Vivi , Mays Chris , Tevyaw Allen P. , Winguth Arne , Winguth Cornelia , Nicoll Robert S. , Bocking Malcolm , Crowley James L. 
Published: January 2019

AbstractPast studies of the end-Permian extinction (EPE), the largest biotic crisis of the Phanerozoic, have not resolved the timing of events in southern high-latitudes. Here we use palynology coupled with high-precision CA-ID-TIMS dating of euhedral zircons from continental sequences of the Sydney Basin, Australia, to show that the collapse of the austral Permian Glossopteris flora occurred prior to 252.3 Ma (~370 kyrs before the main marine extinction). Weathering proxies indicate that floristic changes occurred during a brief climate perturbation in a regional alluvial landscape that otherwise experienced insubstantial change in fluvial style, insignificant reorganization of the depositional surface, and no abrupt aridification. Palaeoclimate modelling suggests a moderate shift to warmer summer temperatures and amplified seasonality in temperature across the EPE, and warmer and wetter conditions for all seasons into the Early Triassic. The terrestrial EPE and a succeeding peak in Ni concentration in the Sydney Basin correlate, respectively, to the onset of the primary extrusive and intrusive phases of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province.
No mass extinction for land plants at the Permian–Triassic transition
Authors: Nowak Hendrik , Schneebeli-Hermann Elke , Kustatscher Evelyn 
Published: January 2019

AbstractThe most severe mass extinction among animals took place in the latest Permian (ca. 252 million years ago). Due to scarce and impoverished fossil floras from the earliest Triassic, the common perception has been that land plants likewise suffered a mass extinction, but doubts remained. Here we use global occurrence data of both plant macro- and microfossils to analyse plant biodiversity development across the Permian–Triassic boundary. We show that the plant fossil record is strongly biased and that evidence for a mass extinction among plants in the latest Permian is not robust. The taxonomic diversities of gymnosperm macrofossils and of the pollen produced by this group are particularly incongruent. Our results indicate that gymnosperm macrofossils are considerably undersampled for the Early Triassic, which creates the impression of increased gymnosperm extinction in the latest Permian.