bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Optimization of ultrasound‐assisted aqueous extraction to produce virgin avocado oil with low free fatty acids
Authors: Tan Chin Xuan , Gun Hean Chong , Hamzah Hazilawati , Ghazali Hasanah Mohd 
Published: November 2017

AbstractVirgin avocado oil has been suggested to be used as functional oil due to its high nutritional value. The quality and edibility of plant oils are affected by the level of free fatty acids (FFA). As the environmental safety and health concerns arise, the use of “solvent‐free” extraction is highly warranted. Current study investigated ultrasound‐assisted aqueous extraction (UAAE) of low FFA‐virgin avocado oil. Response surface methodology with the Box–Behnken design was used to optimize the experimental variables, namely sonication time (10–30 min), sonication temperature (20–40 °C), and water‐to‐powder ratio (4–6 mL/g) on the responses of oil recovery and FFA. Best‐fitting models with backward elimination of the multiple linear regression were generated for the responses of oil recovery (R2 = 0.9092, p < .0001) and FFA (R2 = 0.9799, p < .0001). The optimum UAAE parameters to produce the highest recovery of low FFA virgin avocado oil were 6 mL/g of water‐to‐powder ratio, 30 min of sonication time, and 35 °C of sonication temperature. The oil recovery and FFA level of virgin avocado oil under these optimum conditions were 72.79 and 0.297%, respectively. Compared to Soxhlet‐extracted avocado oil, virgin avocado oil was lighter in color and contained a higher level of unsaturated fatty acids.Practical applicationsThere has been an increasing research trend focusing on the application and development of virgin avocado oil as a functional product, however, the physicochemical properties of avocado oil are affected by extraction conditions. The edibility and quality of edible oil are influenced by the level of free fatty acids. This study provides an optimization of low free fatty acids virgin avocado oil using ultrasound‐assisted aqueous method. Low free fatty acid virgin avocado oil is useful in developing a diverse array of functional foods, food supplements and health care products.
Functional properties of dopamine transporter oligomers after copper linking
Authors: Zhen Juan , Reith Maarten E. A. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractAlthough it is universally accepted that dopamine transporters (DATs) exist in monomers, dimers and tetramers (i.e. dimers of dimers), it is not known whether the oligomeric organization of DAT is a prerequisite for its ability to take up dopamine (DA), or whether each DAT protomer, the subunit of quaternary structure, functions independently in terms of DA translocation. In this study, copper phenanthroline (CuP) was used to selectively target surface DAT: increasing concentrations of CuP gradually cross‐linked natural DAT dimers in LLC‐PK1 cells stably expressing hDAT and thereby reduced DA uptake functionality until all surface DATs were inactivated. DATs that were not cross‐linked by CuP showed normal DA uptake with DA Km at ~ 0.5 μM and DA efflux with basal and amphetamine‐induced DA efflux as much as control values. The cocaine analog 2β‐carbomethoxy‐3β‐[4‐fluorophenyl]‐tropane (CFT) was capable to bind to copper‐cross‐linked DATs, albeit with an affinity more than fivefold decreased (Kd of CFT = 109 nM after cross‐linking vs 19 nM before). A kinetic analysis is offered describing the changing amounts of dimers and monomers with increasing [CuP], allowing the estimation of dimer functional activity compared with a DAT monomer. Consonant with previous conclusions for serotonin transporter and NET that only one protomer of an oligomer is active at the time, the present data indicated a functional activity of the DAT dimer of 0.74 relative to a monomer.
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Parental Immunisation Needs and Attitudes Survey in paediatric hospital clinics and community maternal and child health centres in Melbourne, Australia
Authors: Costa‐Pinto Jessica C , Willaby Harold W , Leask Julie , Hoq Monsurul , Schuster Tibor , Ghazarian Alice , O'Keefe Jacinta , Danchin Margie H 
Published: November 2017

AimDespite Australia's high vaccination rates, an estimated 3.3% of children are under‐vaccinated due to vaccine refusal and the proportion of parents with concerns is unclear. Amongst Australian parents, we aimed to determine the prevalence of vaccine concerns, resources and health‐care providers (HCPs) accessed and satisfaction with these resources in two different settings. We also aimed to identify relationships between the level of vaccine concern, socio‐economic status and vaccine uptake.MethodsParents of children under 5 years attending general paediatric clinics in a tertiary paediatric hospital (n = 301/398, 76%) and children under 19 months attending community maternal child health centres (n = 311/391, 81%) completed the survey. Vaccination status was obtained from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register.ResultsDespite high support for vaccination (98%, confidence interval (CI) 97–99), 43% of parents reported vaccine concerns (CI 40–47) including the number of vaccines given in the first 2 years (25%, CI 22 to 29), vaccine ingredients (22%, CI 19–25), allergies (18%, CI 15–21), weakening of the immune system (17%, CI 14–20) and autism (11%, CI 8–13). HCPs were the most commonly accessed and trusted information source. In all, 23% of parents reported insufficient knowledge to make good vaccination decisions (CI 20–26). There was little evidence of an association between parental vaccine acceptance or socio‐economic status and vaccination status.ConclusionsDespite high support for vaccines, nearly half of Australian parents have some concerns and a quarter lack vaccine decision‐making confidence regarding childhood vaccines. Parents frequently access and report high trust in HCPs, who are best placed to address parental vaccine concerns through provision of clear information, using effective communication strategies. Further research in more highly hesitant populations is required to determine the relationship between the level and nature of vaccination concerns and vaccine uptake.
Subjective well‐being, consumption comparisons, and optimal income taxation
Authors: Slack Sean , Ulph David 
Published: November 2017

AbstractWe introduce reference consumption into the standard utility function from optimal tax analysis. Individuals compare their consumption “narrowly” with those of the same productivity, or “broadly” with the average consumption across society. In both narrow and broad equilibria reference consumption is an increasing function of the tax parameters, so generating new theoretical results. Individual well‐being decreases with the net wage (net‐of‐tax) rate for low productivity workers under narrow (broad) comparisons, thus adjusting redistributive taxation considerations. Further, in both cases reference consumption distorts labor supply away from the social optimum level, giving a distortion‐correcting role for taxation.
Petrogenesis of D'Orbigny‐like angrite meteorites and the role of spinel in the angrite source
Authors: McKibbin Seann J. , O'Neill Hugh St. C. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractAngrite meteorites are samples of early planetesimal magmatic rocks, distinguished from more typical “basaltic eucrites” by compositions that are silica undersaturated, relatively oxidized, and with high CaO/Al2O3. The latter is not expected from nebular, chondritic materials that might form a primitive mantle, such as a source enriched in refractory inclusions with fixed CaO/Al2O3 (e.g., CV chondrite). Here we present results of “reversal” crystallization experiments for two possible parental angrite compositions (approximating the D'Orbigny meteorite) to investigate the role of spinel as a sink for Al2O3. This mineral has previously been produced with angritic melts during “forward” melting of CV chondrite and may be abundant in the angrite source. At oxidizing conditions, we confirm that spinel is a liquidus phase and that angritic magmas form near the olivine‐anorthite‐spinel‐liquid peritectic. A stability gap separates Al‐rich liquidus spinels and lower temperature spinels, the latter of which are similar to those in basaltic eucrites. Al‐rich spinel is likely more abundant in the angritic source than other Fe‐rich core‐forming components such as metal or sulfide, and a CV chondrite‐like composition generates most features of angrite magmas by fractionation of observed olivine and liquidus spinel. Direct CaO excess, via carbonate addition, is therefore limited. In this model, discrepancies remain for Li, Sc, Cr(‐Al), and Ba, which may record local accretion conditions or early processing. The possible role of spinel as a sink for 26Al may have strong influence on the thermal evolution of the angrite parent body.
Pneumococcal meningitis with vertebral osteomyelitis, iliopsoas abscess, and infected abdominal aortic aneurysm
Authors: Mitsutake Akihiko , Matsumoto Hideyuki , Hatano Keiko , Matsuura Sohei , Takayama Toshio , Yamamoto Kota , Hoshina Katsuyuki , Ikemura Masako , Hashida Hideji 
Published: November 2017

AbstractA 69‐year‐old man with a past history of asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysm developed pneumococcal meningitis. Antibiotic therapy improved his meningitis. However, he also developed vertebral osteomyelitis, iliopsoas abscess, and infected abdominal aortic aneurysm. The aneurysm was sequentially dilated, suggesting the impending rupture. An emergency open aneurysm repair using a tube homograft was performed. All of the vertebral osteomyelitis, iliopsoas abscess, and infected abdominal aortic aneurysm are rare complications. In particular, if a patient with bacterial meningitis has a preexisting aortic aneurysm, infected aortic aneurysm should be noted. To prevent the rupture of the aneurysm, the emergent vascular surgery including aorto‐aortic homograft substitution should be considered.
Characterization of the enzymatic activity and physiological function of the lipid droplet‐associated triacylglycerol lipase AtOBL1
Authors: Müller Anna Ophelia , Ischebeck Till 
Published: November 2017

Summary

Similar to seeds, pollen tubes contain lipid droplets that store triacylglycerol (TAG), but the fate of this TAG as well as the enzymes involved in its breakdown are unknown. Therefore, two potential TAG lipases from tobacco and Arabidopsis, NtOBL1 (Oil body lipase 1) and AtOBL1, were investigated, especially with respect to their importance for pollen tube growth.

We expressed NtOBL1 and AtOBL1 as fluorescent fusion proteins to study their localization by confocal microscopy. Furthermore, we overexpressed AtOBL1 in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves to characterize it enzymatically. The obl1 mutant was studied in respect to its pollen tube growth in vivo and its seed germination.

Both NtOBL1 and AtOBL1 localized to lipid droplets. AtOBL1 was abundant in pollen tubes and seedlings, and acted as a lipase on TAG, diacylglycerol and 1‐monoacylglycerol at a pH optimum of 5.5. The obl1 mutant was hampered in pollen tube growth, whereas seedling establishment was not affected under optimal conditions, even though AtOBL1 accounted for a major lipase activity in seeds.

TAG could be a direct precursor for the synthesis of membrane lipids in pollen tubes and proteins of the OBL family involved in the flux of acyl groups.
Risk factors for asthma occurrence in children with early‐onset atopic dermatitis: An 8‐year follow‐up study
Authors: Huang Ching‐Chun , Chiang Tung‐Liang , Chen Pau‐Chung , Lin Shio‐Jean , Wen Hui‐Ju , Guo Yue Leon 
Published: November 2017

AbstractBackgroundChildren with early‐onset atopic dermatitis (AD) are at substantial risk of developing asthma later in life, and identifying the critical window of detrimental exposure is advantageous for implementing preventive actions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of exposure to environmental modifiers during pregnancy and early childhood in asthma occurrence in an infantile AD cohort.MethodsEligible study participants were selected from the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study, which enrolled 24 200 newborns in 2005. We enrolled those cases who had been diagnosed as having AD before 3 years of age and followed them up till age 8. We excluded those ever diagnosed with asthma before AD onset. The dependent variable was defined in terms of whether the participant was diagnosed as having asthma before 8 years of age. We applied logistic regression models to evaluate the risks of exposure to different determinants in asthma occurrence.ResultsA total of 1549 children with AD had completed the 8‐year follow‐up, and 334 (21.6%) of them had asthma. The results revealed that male sex, lower birth order, maternal asthma history, maternal obesity before pregnancy, and environmental tobacco smoke exposure before 3 years of age were significant risk factors for further development of asthma. Furthermore, food allergy during early life, lower respiratory tract infection, and longer durations of symptomatic AD influenced asthma development later in life.ConclusionsThe findings confirmed the critical determinants for asthma occurrence in infantile AD, which may enable a more personalized approach to the prevention of asthma.
Vested Interests and the Diffusion of Education Reform across the States
Authors: Finger Leslie K. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractHow do interest groups shape the diffusion of policies they oppose across the states? This study explores this question using the case of teachers' unions and education reform policies. Using a novel dataset on charter, voucher, and performance pay policies spanning 1992–2013, I find evidence that strength of the teachers' unions decreases the likelihood of performance pay and that additional strength is less impactful with more Democratic control of the legislature. Teachers' unions are weakly related to a lack of charter laws and do not impact voucher laws. The latter two policies are more strongly associated with policymaker learning and education reform advocacy groups, respectively. These findings suggest that vested interests most strongly impact the policies that most fundamentally threaten their organizational strength and that this effect is conditioned on the party in power; increases in interest group strength are not necessary when policymakers are already sympathetic.
Characterizing Risk for Cumulative Risk Assessments
Authors: MacDonell Margaret M. , Hertzberg Richard C. , Rice Glenn E. , Wright J. Michael , Teuschler Linda K. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractIn assessing environmental health risks, the risk characterization step synthesizes information gathered in evaluating exposures to stressors together with dose–response relationships, characteristics of the exposed population, and external environmental conditions. This article summarizes key steps of a cumulative risk assessment (CRA) followed by a discussion of considerations for characterizing cumulative risks. Cumulative risk characterizations differ considerably from single chemical‐ or single source‐based risk characterization. CRAs typically focus on a specific population instead of a pollutant or pollutant source and should include an evaluation of all relevant sources contributing to the exposures in the population and other factors that influence dose–response relationships. Second, CRAs may include influential environmental and population‐specific conditions, involving multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors. Third, a CRA could examine multiple health effects, reflecting joint toxicity and the potential for toxicological interactions. Fourth, the complexities often necessitate simplifying methods, including judgment‐based and semi‐quantitative indices that collapse disparate data into numerical scores. Fifth, because of the higher dimensionality and potentially large number of interactions, information needed to quantify risk is typically incomplete, necessitating an uncertainty analysis. Three approaches that could be used for characterizing risks in a CRA are presented: the multiroute hazard index, stressor grouping by exposure and toxicity, and indices for screening multiple factors and conditions. Other key roles of the risk characterization in CRAs are also described, mainly the translational aspect of including a characterization summary for lay readers (in addition to the technical analysis), and placing the results in the context of the likely risk‐based decisions.
Detection of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus, and hepatitis B virus in postmortem blood specimens using infectious disease assays licensed for cadaveric donor screening
Authors: Greenwald Melissa A. , Kerby Stephen , Francis Kori , Noller Anna C. , Gormley William T. , Biswas Robin , Forshee Richard A. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractBackgroundEvaluation of assay performance on postmortem blood specimens (obtained after cessation of the heartbeat) presents unique scientific and regulatory challenges. In the United States, assay performance is evaluated in part by spiking postmortem specimens.MethodsFifty‐four specimens obtained from decedents known to be infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), or hepatitis B virus (HBV), including some coinfections, were tested for each virus using Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐licensed donor screening tests for nucleic acid, antibody, and antigen.ResultsFor each disease, >95% of subjects who were reported to have an infection at the time of death had a positive test result on at least one of the donor screening assays for that infection.ConclusionLicensed donor screening tests were positive on postmortem specimens obtained within 24 hours of death from individuals dying with HIV, HCV, and/or HBV, and were able to detect presence of the virus. The use of multiple tests (including antibody and direct viral detection methods) is necessary to adequately evaluate donors.
Perceptions and opinions of pet owners in theUnitedSates about surgery, pain management, and anesthesia in dogs and cats
Authors: Simon Bradley T. , Scallan Elizabeth M. , Von Pfeil Dirsko J. F. , Boruta Daniel T. , Wall Rick , Nibblett Belle M. , Odette O , Beauchamp Guy , Steagall Paulo V. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate pet owners' perceptions and understanding of surgical pain, perioperative pain management, and anesthesia.Study DesignProspective owner survey.Sample PopulationEight veterinary hospitals each provided 200 surveys for distribution to pet owners.MethodsA survey evaluated owners' perceptions and opinions related to surgical pain, perioperative pain management, anesthesia in dogs and cats, and owner demographics (sex, age, education, employment, previous surgical experience, and pet ownership) in 8 regions of the United States (Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, Ohio, Texas, Washington, DC). Effects of demographics on survey questions were analyzed by using a Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel test. Descriptive statistics and frequency distributions were calculated when applicable.Results948/1600 (59.25%) of distributed questionnaires were completed. Owners reported that analgesics were “always needed” more often for surgical procedures than medical conditions. Knowing what to expect during recovery (99%), being informed of procedures and risks (98%), adequate pain management (98%), and having a board‐certified anesthesiologist perform anesthesia (94%) were considered “important” or “very important” by owners. The majority of owners agreed that pain affects quality of life (81%), interactions with family and pets (73%), and that declawing is a painful procedure (59%). Older respondents (>46 years), women, owners who have had previous surgery or who have pets that have had previous surgery, and those in health care professions have a better understanding of pain but also expect effective client communication.ConclusionImproving our understanding of pet owners' perceptions and knowledge related to anesthesia, surgery, and pain may lead to improved client education, satisfaction, and compliance with administration of analgesics.
Interdependent feedback regulation of breathing by the carotid bodies and the retrotrapezoid nucleus
Authors: Guyenet Patrice G. , Bayliss Douglas A. , Stornetta Ruth L. , Kanbar Roy , Shi Yingtang , Holloway Benjamin B. , Souza George M. P. R. , Basting Tyler M. , Abbott Stephen B. G. , Wenker Ian C. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) regulates breathing in a CO2‐ and state‐dependent manner. RTN neurons are glutamatergic and innervate principally the respiratory pattern generator; they regulate multiple aspects of breathing, including active expiration, and maintain breathing automaticity during non‐REM sleep. RTN neurons encode arterial /pH via cell‐autonomous and paracrine mechanisms, and via input from other CO2‐responsive neurons. In short, RTN neurons are a pivotal structure for breathing automaticity and arterial homeostasis. The carotid bodies stimulate the respiratory pattern generator directly and indirectly by activating RTN via a neuronal projection originating within the solitary tract nucleus. The indirect pathway operates under normo‐ or hypercapnic conditions; under respiratory alkalosis (e.g. hypoxia) RTN neurons are silent and the excitatory input from the carotid bodies is suppressed. Also, silencing RTN neurons optogenetically quickly triggers a compensatory increase in carotid body activity. Thus, in conscious mammals, breathing is subject to a dual and interdependent feedback regulation by chemoreceptors. Depending on the circumstance, the activity of the carotid bodies and that of RTN vary in the same or the opposite directions, producing additive or countervailing effects on breathing. These interactions are mediated either via changes in blood gases or by brainstem neuronal connections, but their ultimate effect is invariably to minimize arterial fluctuations. We discuss the potential relevance of this dual chemoreceptor feedback to cardiorespiratory abnormalities present in diseases in which the carotid bodies are hyperactive at rest, e.g. essential hypertension, obstructive sleep apnoea and heart failure.
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