bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reward learning modulates the attentional processing of faces in children with and without autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Li Tianbi , Wang Xueqin , Pan Junhao , Feng Shuyuan , Gong Mengyuan , Wu Yaxue , Li Guoxiang , Li Sheng , Yi Li 
Published: June 2017

The processing of social stimuli, such as human faces, is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which could be accounted for by their lack of social motivation. The current study examined how the attentional processing of faces in children with ASD could be modulated by the learning of face‐reward associations. Sixteen high‐functioning children with ASD and 20 age‐ and ability‐matched typically developing peers participated in the experiments. All children started with a reward learning task, in which the children were presented with three female faces that were attributed with positive, negative, and neutral values, and were required to remember the faces and their associated values. After this, they were tested on the recognition of the learned faces and a visual search task in which the learned faces served as the distractor. We found a modulatory effect of the face‐reward associations on the visual search but not the recognition performance in both groups despite the lower efficacy among children with ASD in learning the face‐reward associations. Specifically, both groups responded faster when one of the distractor faces was associated with positive or negative values than when the distractor face was neutral, suggesting an efficient attentional processing of these reward‐associated faces. Our findings provide direct evidence for the perceptual‐level modulatory effect of reward learning on the attentional processing of faces in individuals with ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1797–1807. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Lay SummaryIn our study, we tested whether the face processing of individuals with ASD could be changed when the faces were associated with different social meanings. We found no effect of social meanings on face recognition, but both groups responded faster in the visual search task when one of the distractor faces was associated with positive or negative values than when the neutral face. The findings suggest that children with ASD could efficiently process faces associated with different values like typical children.
Ezrin as a possible diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker in mice lymphatic metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in vivo
Authors: Bakheet Ahmed Musa Hago , Mahmoud Salma Abdi , Huang Yuhong , Zhang Jun , Wang Jingwen , Wei Yuanyi , Gamallat Yaser , Awadasseid Annoor , Owusu Lawrence , Khidir Yousra , Wang Li , Zhou Shuting , Seewooruttun Pawan Kumar , Xin Boyi , Xuan Wei , Su Zhen , Tang Jianwu 
Published: June 2017

AbstractHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks in the top of cancers leading to death. Early diagnosis is the big challenge in the case of HCC. Our in vitro study showed that Ezrin expression in lymphatic metastasis hepatocellular carcinoma (LNM‐HCC) was associated with the metastatic rate. Here we aim to evaluate Ezrin expression as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker of LNM‐HCC in mice. Chinese inbred 615 mice, Hca‐F and Hca‐P cell lines were used in the study. Histological changes were determined by Hematoxylin and Eosin, while Ezrin expression was assessed by qRT‐PCR, western blot, immunohistochemistry, and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Ezrin expression in this study gives credit to our in vitro study which Ezrin expression was positively correlated with LNM‐HCC and negatively with Annexin7 (A7) expression. The highest histological changes were observed in high metastatic primary/secondary tumors combined with high Ezrin expression. Ezrin and A7 are higher in total primary tumors than in total secondary tumors (P = 0.0001, P = 0.021), respectively. Ezrin expression was enhanced in Hca‐P A7 down‐regulated primary/secondary tumors (P = 0.004), whereas, Ezrin expression was suppressed in Hca‐F A7 upregulated primary/secondary tumors. Serum ELISA indicated differential expression of Ezrin among the study groups (P ≤ 0.0001). Ezrin expression was higher in NC‐Hca‐F than NC‐Hca‐P (P ≤ 0.0001), suppressed in Hca‐F A7 upregulation (P ≤ 0.0001) and in enhanced in Hca‐P A7 down‐regulation (P = 0.0001). In conclusion, Ezrin level may serve as a differential diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker for high and low LNM‐HCC and may be beneficial in the diagnosis of HCC disease. © 2017 BioFactors, 43(5):662–672, 2017
Melatonin ameliorates anxiety and depression‐like behaviors and modulates proteomic changes in triple transgenic mice of Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Nie Lulin , Wei Gang , Peng Shengming , Qu Zhongsen , Yang Ying , Yang Qian , Huang Xinfeng , Liu Jianjun , Zhuang Zhixiong , Yang Xifei 
Published: June 2017

AbstractAlzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. The levels of melatonin decrease in brains of AD patients. The potential effect of melatonin on anxiety and depression behaviors in AD and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we treated 10‐month‐old triple transgenic mice of AD (3xTg‐AD) with melatonin (10 mg/kg body weight/day) for 1 month and explored the effects of melatonin on anxiety and depression‐like behaviors in 3xTg‐AD mice and the protein expression of hippocampal tissues. The behavioral test showed that melatonin ameliorated anxiety and depression‐like behaviors of 3xTg‐AD mice as measured by open field test, elevated plus maze test, forced swimming test, and tail suspension test. By carrying out two‐dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2D‐DIGE) coupled with mass spectrometry, we revealed a total of 46 differentially expressed proteins in hippocampus between the wild‐type (WT) mice and non‐treated 3xTg‐AD mice. A total of 21 differentially expressed proteins were revealed in hippocampus between melatonin‐treated and non‐treated 3xTg‐AD mice. Among these differentially expressed proteins, glutathione S‐transferase P 1 (GSTP1) (an anxiety‐associated protein) and complexin‐1 (CPLX1) (a depression‐associated protein) were significantly down‐regulated in hippocampus of 3xTg‐AD mice compared with the WT mice. The expression of these two proteins was modulated by melatonin treatment. Our study suggested that melatonin could be used as a potential candidate drug to improve the neuropsychiatric behaviors in AD via modulating the expression of the proteins (i.e. GSTP1 and CPLX1) involved in anxiety and depression behaviors. © 2017 BioFactors, 43(4):593–611, 2017
Fusion of plectasin derivative NZ2114 with hydrophilic random coil polypeptide: Recombinant production in Pichia pastoris and antimicrobial activity against clinical strain MRSA
Authors: Lima L. A. , de Vries R. , Biswaro L. S. , Vasconcelos I. M. , Franco O. L. , Dias S. C. 
Published: June 2017

AbstractOne of the roadblocks towards the practical use of antimicrobial peptides for medical use is their relatively high cost when synthesized chemically. Effective recombinant production has only been successful in some cases, such as the previously reported production in Pichia pastoris of the antimicrobial plectasin derivative peptide NZ2114. The same production host has also been used extensively to produce so‐called protein‐polymers: sequences that consist of repetitions of simple amino acid motifs found in structural proteins such as collagen and elastin, and that can be designed to self‐assemble in micelles, fibers and hydrogels. With the eventual goal of producing recombinant biomaterials such as antimicrobial protein polymer, we here explore the secreted production in Pichia pastoris of a fusion of NZ2114 with a hydrophilic random coil protein polymer
. The intact NZ2114‐
fusion copolymer was produced with a yield of purified protein in the order of 1 g L−1 supernatant. We find that purified NZ2114‐
has an activity against clinical strain MRSA, but very much lower than activity of chemically synthesized NZ2114. We conclude that possibly, the activity of NZ2114 is impaired by the C‐terminal attachment to the protein polymer chain, but other reasons for the low activity cannot yet be excluded either.
Meta-analysis of hybrid natural-orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery versus laparoscopic surgery
Authors: Steinemann D C , Müller P C , Probst P , Schwarz A-C , Büchler M W , Müller-Stich B P , Linke G R 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Background
Hybrid natural-orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), combining access through a natural orifice with small-sized abdominal trocars, aims to reduce pain and enhance recovery. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare pain and morbidity in hybrid NOTES and standard laparoscopy.

Methods
A systematic literature search was performed to identify RCTs and non- RCTs comparing hybrid NOTES and standard laparoscopy. The main outcome was pain on postoperative day (POD) 1. Secondary outcomes were pain during the further postsurgical course, rescue analgesia, complications, and satisfaction with the cosmetic result. The results of meta-analysis in a random-effects model were presented as odds ratio (ORs) or standard mean differences (MDs) with 95 per cent confidence intervals.

Results
Six RCTs and 21 non-randomized trials including 2186 patients were identified. In hybrid NOTES the score on the numerical pain scale was lower on POD 1 (−0·75, 95 per cent c.i. −1·09 to −0·42; P = 0·001) and on POD 2–4 (−0·58, −0·91 to −0·26; P &lt; 0·001) than that for standard laparoscopy. The need for rescue analgesia was reduced in hybrid NOTES (OR 0·36, 0·24 to 0·54; P &lt; 0·001). The reduction in complications found for hybrid NOTES compared with standard laparoscopy (OR 0·52, 0·38 to 0·71; P &lt; 0·001) was not significant when only RCTs were considered (OR 0·83, 0·43 to 1·60; P = 0·570). The score for cosmetic satisfaction was higher after NOTES (MD 1·14, 0·57 to 1·71; P &lt; 0·001).

Conclusion
Hybrid NOTES reduces postoperative pain and is associated with greater cosmetic satisfaction in selected patients.
Systematic review of mortality risk prediction models in the era of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery
Authors: Lijftogt N , Luijnenburg T W F , Vahl A C , Wilschut E D , Leijdekkers V J , Fiocco M F , Wouters M W J M , Hamming J F 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Background
The introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has reduced perioperative mortality after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surgery. The objective of this systematic review was to assess existing mortality risk prediction models, and identify which are most useful for patients undergoing AAA repair by either EVAR or open surgical repair.

Methods
A systematic search of the literature was conducted for perioperative mortality risk prediction models for patients with AAA published since 2006. PRISMA guidelines were used; quality was appraised, and data were extracted and interpreted following the CHARMS guidelines.

Results
Some 3903 studies were identified, of which 27 were selected. A total of 13 risk prediction models have been developed and directly validated. Most models were based on a UK or US population. The best performing models regarding both applicability and discrimination were the perioperative British Aneurysm Repair score (C-statistic 0·83) and the preoperative Vascular Biochemistry and Haematology Outcome Model (C-statistic 0·85), but both lacked substantial external validation.

Conclusion
Mortality risk prediction in AAA surgery has been modelled extensively, but many of these models are weak methodologically and have highly variable performance across different populations. New models are unlikely to be helpful; instead case-mix correction should be modelled and adapted to the population of interest using the relevant mortality predictors.
The use and analysis of anti‐plagiarism software: Turnitin tool for formative assessment and feedback
Authors: Halgamuge Malka N. 
Published: June 2017

AbstractThis analysis investigates the efficiency of the Turnitin software as a formative writing tool. The inquiry is especially looking into undergraduate and postgraduate students’ experiences while using Turnitin. The perceptions and experiences of students will be prioritized in the study with the purpose of determining ways to improve Turnitin from students’ point of view. Turnitin obtains text matches or similarity index values of 3,173 assignments submitted on subjects uploaded between 2012 and 2014 by university students. We statistically analyzed the similarity index values or levels of plagiarism percentage between the first and the last assignments, using the two‐sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, and we found that there was a significant improvement (p = 0.002). Hence, our results demonstrated that using Turnitin as a formative writing tool, allows students to prepare an assignment in an academically acceptable way, during the second half of the semester, with less plagiarism. The results found in this study suggests an insignificant difference between the draft version and final version of the same assignment (p = 0.192). Similarity index values are also different for different courses, such as writing based project subject and mathematics based engineering subject have different values (p < 0.0001). We also observed that students seem to be able to fool Turnitin tool by uploading images of the assignments instead of the text. Nevertheless, the nature of the subject, individual talent, learning approach, time contribution, and the exclusion of consecutive word count may affect the plagiarism percentage. Our results also indicate that there is a substantial benefit in using Turnitin as an educational writing tool rather than a punitive tool, as the use of Turnitin, promotes student learning outcomes with significantly improved academic skills. Thus, this paper provides an insight into avoiding high levels of plagiarism by using Turnitin as a preemptive tool.
Dual addressing of thymidine synthesis pathways for effective targeting of proliferating melanoma
Authors: Miran Tara , Vogg Andreas T. J. , El Moussaoui Laila , Kaiser Hans‐Jürgen , Drude Natascha , von Felbert Verena , Mottaghy Felix M. , Morgenroth Agnieszka 
Published: June 2017

AbstractHere, we examined the potential of blocking the thymidine de novo synthesis pathways for sensitizing melanoma cells to the nucleoside salvage pathway targeting endogenous DNA irradiation. Expression of key nucleotide synthesis and proliferation enzymes thymidylate synthase (TS) and thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) was evaluated in differentiated (MITFhigh [microphthalmia‐associated transcription factor] IGR1) and invasive (MITFmedium IGR37) melanoma cells. For inhibition of de novo pathways cells were incubated either with an irreversible TS inhibitor 5‐fluoro‐2′‐deoxyuridine (FdUrd) or with a competitive dihydrofolate‐reductase (DHFR) inhibitor methotrexate (MTX). Salvage pathway was addressed by irradiation‐emitting thymidine analog [123/125I]‐5‐iodo‐4′‐thio‐2′‐deoxyuridine (123/125I‐ITdU). The in vivo targeting efficiency was visualized by single‐photon emission computed tomography. Pretreatment with FdUrd strongly increased the cellular uptake and the DNA incorporation of 125I‐ITdU into the mitotically active IGR37 cells. This effect was less pronounced in the differentiated IGR1 cells. In vivo, inhibition of TS led to a high and preferential accumulation of 123I‐ITdU in tumor tissue. This preclinical study presents profound rationale for development of therapeutic approach by highly efficient and selective radioactive targeting one of the crucial salvage pathways in melanomas.
Visible‐Light‐Mediated [4+2] Annulation of N‐Cyclobutylanilines with Alkynes Catalyzed by Self‐Doped Ti3+@TiO2
Authors: Wang Jiang , Mao Chengyu , Feng Pingyun , Zheng Nan 
Published: June 2017

AbstractWe herein report a visible‐light‐mediated heterogeneous [4+2] annulation of N‐cyclobutylanilines with alkynes catalyzed by self‐doped Ti3+@TiO2. The self‐doped Ti3+@TiO2 is stable under photooxidation conditions, easy to recycle, and can be used multiple times without appreciable loss of activity. Extensive mechanistic studies suggest that the annulation reaction is mediated by singlet oxygen, which is generated through the photosensitization of oxygen in the air by the self‐doped Ti3+@TiO2. In contrast, the homogeneous variant catalyzed by a far more expensive iridium complex proceeds under an inert atmosphere, which indicates a different mechanism. The substrate scopes of the two processes are comparable.
COMPARISON AND ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL PLANETARY BOUNDARY LAYER SCHEMES IN WRF MODEL BETWEEN CLEAR AND OVERCAST DAYS
Authors: Cheng‐Gang WANG , Ying‐Jie SHEN , Feng LUO , Le CAO , Jia‐De YAN , Hai‐Mei JIANG 
Published: June 2017

AbstractIn the present study, several most commonly used planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization schemes in the WRF model are utilized together with the observational data at Shouxian (from August to December, 2008). The present work is a part of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility supported by the U.S. Department of Energy installed at Shouxian in China. In this study, we compared the simulation effect of meteorological elements and the structure of PBL over typical farmlands underlying surface from different parameterization schemes between clear and overcast days. The observational results revealed that for the simulation of cloud status, non‐local schemes such as ACM2 and YSU are superior to the local schemes. Further, the ACM2 scheme is better in simulating temperature and vapor at a height of 2 m from the surface, and the MYJ scheme has an advantage over other schemes when simulating the wind direction or its speed. Also, for the simulation of potential temperature and vapor profile, non‐local schemes (ACM2 and YSU) are superior to the local schemes both during clear and overcast days. It is depicted that the ACM2 scheme has better advantages when simulating under weak stable conditions and humidity inversion structure during night time. Moreover, for the simulation of wind speed profile, the MYJ and MYNN2.5 schemes are the best respectively during the clear and overcast days, under unstable day time condition. However, when considering weak stable condition, ACM2 scheme has a minimum deviation on clear days and YSU scheme is the best choice on overcast days. From the overall results, ACM2 scheme is superior both on clear and overcast days, when simulation is based on typical farmland underlying surface.
TIME‐VARYING SEISMIC WAVELET ESTIMATION FROM NONSTATIONARY SEISMIC DATA
Authors: Wei FENG , Tian‐Yue HU , Feng‐Chang YAO , Yan ZHANG , Yong‐Fu Cui , Geng‐Xin PENG 
Published: June 2017

AbstractSeismic wavelet estimation is an important part of seismic data processing and interpretation, whose reliability is directly related to the results of deconvolution and inversion. The methods for seismic wavelet estimation can be classified into two basic types: deterministic and statistical. By combining the deterministic spectral coherence method and the statistical skewness attribute method, the amplitude and phase of the time‐varying wavelet are estimated separately. There is no assumption on the wavelet's time‐independent nature or the phase characteristic. The advantage of this method is the ability to estimate time‐varying phase. Phase‐only corrections can then be applied by means of a time‐varying phase rotation. Alternatively, amplitude and phase deconvolution can be achieved to enhance the resolution and support the fine reservoir prediction and description. We illustrate the method with both synthetic and real data examples. Synthetic examples certify its feasibility while real data example demonstrates the ability to estimate the time‐varying characteristic of wavelets.
APPLICATION OF AN ENHANCED THETA‐BASED FILTER FOR POTENTIAL FIELD EDGE DETECTION: A CASE STUDY OF THE LUZONG ORE DISTRICT
Authors: An‐Guo CHEN , Tao‐Fa ZHOU , Dong‐Jia LIU , Shu ZHANG 
Published: June 2017

AbstractEdge detection plays an important role in interpreting potential field data, and is widely used to delineate geologic boundaries and structures. Geologic boundaries can be determined by tracing the enhanced analytical signal, and many filters are developed to detect and enhance the edges. Horizontal and vertical derivatives are commonly used to enhance edge features, but they can only outline the edges of large‐amplitude anomalies. In order to display large and small amplitude anomalies simultaneously, some balanced filters have been proposed. We define new filters based on the Theta map method, using 2nd order horizontal and vertical directional derivatives, and display large and small amplitude edges simultaneously. These methods were tested on synthetic gravity data, and compared with other traditional filters; the results show that the new filters can achieve better results and reveal more details. The method has been applied to gravity‐magnetic data acquired in the Luzong ore district in the Middle‐Lower Yangtze River Valley Metallogenic Belt (MLYB, Eastern China). Based on the relations between lithology, density and magnetic susceptibility, the calculated results were analyzed. The edge detection results accurately depict the location of the Tanlu fault zone. A gravity boundary north of the Yangtze River is interpreted to be part of the Yangtze River fault. The identified boundaries from the magnetic data are consistent with the margins of the Luzong basin, and indicate that the bounding faults dip towards the basin. Some ring‐like closed boundaries occur in the periphery of the Luzong basin. Recent exploration results confirm that there are buried intrusions beneath the gravity‐magnetic anomaly bodies, where Fe‐Cu skarn mineralization is present. The results of this study provide significant insights for regional deep‐level Fe‐Cu exploration.
High‐Affinity “Click” RGD Peptidomimetics as Radiolabeled Probes for Imaging αvβ3 Integrin
Authors: Piras Monica , Testa Andrea , Fleming Ian N. , Dall'Angelo Sergio , Andriu Alexandra , Menta Sergio , Mori Mattia , Brown Gavin D. , Forster Duncan , Williams Kaye J. , Zanda Matteo 
Published: June 2017

AbstractNonpeptidic Arg‐Gly‐Asp (RGD)‐mimic ligands were designed and synthesized by click chemistry between an arginine–azide mimic and an aspartic acid–alkyne mimic. Some of these molecules combine excellent in vitro properties (high αvβ3 affinity, selectivity, drug‐like logD, high metabolic stability) with a variety of radiolabeling options (e.g., tritium and fluorine‐18, plus compatibility with radio‐iodination), not requiring the use of chelators or prosthetic groups. The binding mode of the resulting triazole RGD mimics to αvβ3 or αIIbβ3 receptors was investigated by molecular modeling simulations. Lead compound 12 was successfully radiofluorinated and used for in vivo positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) studies in U87 tumor models, which showed only modest tumor uptake and retention, owing to rapid excretion. These results demonstrate that the novel click RGD mimics are excellent radiolabeled probes for in vitro and cell‐based studies on αvβ3 integrin, whereas further optimization of their pharmacokinetic and dynamic profiles is necessary for successful use in in vivo imaging.