bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chitosan/poly‐octanoic acid 2‐thiophen‐3‐yl‐ethyl ester blends as a scaffold to maintain myoblasts regeneration potential in vitro
Authors: Padilla Cristina , Ramos Andrea , González Natalia , Isaacs Mauricio , Zacconi Flavia , Olguín Hugo C. , Valenzuela Loreto M. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractSatellite cells are a small cell population that function as muscle‐specific adult stem cells. When muscle damage occurs, these cells are able to activate, proliferate, and ultimately fuse with each other in order to form new myofibers or fuse with existing ones. For tissue engineering applications, obtaining a sufficient number of myoblasts prior transplantation that maintains their regenerative capacity is critical. This can be obtained by in vitro expansion of autologous satellite cells. However, once plated, the self‐renewal and regenerative capacity of myoblasts is rapidly lost, obtaining low yields per biopsy. For this purpose, we evaluated in vitro culture of the murine myoblast cell line C2C12 and mouse primary myoblasts with chitosan and chitosan/poly‐octanoic acid 2‐thiophen‐3‐yl‐ethyl ester blends (poly(OTE)). The films of chitosan/poly(OTE) blends were heterogeneous and slightly rougher than chitosan and poly(OTE) films. Poly(OTE) presence improved myoblast adhesion in both cell types and prevented complete differentiation, but maintaining their differentiation potential in vitro. We identified that the polymer blend chitosan/poly(OTE) could be a suitable substrate to culture satellite cells/myoblasts in vitro preventing differentiation prior transplantation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 118–130, 2017.
Synthesis and evaluation of an 18F‐labeled derivative of F3 for targeting surface‐expressed nucleolin in cancer and tumor endothelial cells
Authors: Lam Phoebe Y.H. , Hillyar Christopher R.T. , Able Sarah , Vallis Katherine A. 
Published: September 2016

The surface overexpression of nucleolin provides an anchor for the specific attachment of biomolecules to cancer and angiogenic endothelial cells. The peptide F3 is a high‐affinity ligand of the nucleolin receptor (NR) that has been investigated as a carrier to deliver biologically active molecules to tumors for both therapeutic and imaging applications. A site‐specific PEGylated F3 derivative was radiolabeled with [18F]Al‐F. The binding affinity and cellular distribution of the compound was assessed in tumor (H2N) and tumor endothelial (2H‐11) cells. Specific uptake via the NR was demonstrated by the siRNA knockdown of nucleolin in both cell lines. The partition and the plasma stability of the compound were assessed at 37°C. The enzyme‐mediated site‐specific modification of F3 to give NODA‐PEG‐F3 (NP‐F3) was achieved. Radiolabeling with [18F]Al‐F gave 18F‐NP‐F3. 18F‐NP‐F3 demonstrated high affinity for cancer and tumor endothelial cells. The siRNA knockdown of nucleolin resulted in a binding affinity reduction of 50% to 60%, confirming cell surface binding via the NR. NP‐F3 was stable in serum for 2 h. 18F‐NP‐F3 is reported as the first 18F‐labeled F3 derivative. It was obtained in a site‐specific, high‐yield, and efficient manner and binds to surface NR in the low nanomolar range, suggesting it has potential as a tumor and angiogenesis tracer.
Effects of Piper cubeba L. essential oil on methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus: an AFM and TEM study
Authors: Alharbi Naiyf S. , Khaled Jamal M. , Alzaharni Khalid E. , Mothana Ramzi A. , Alsaid Mansour S. , Alhoshan Mansour , Dass Lawrence Arockiasamy , Kadaikunnan Shine , Alobaidi Ahmed S. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThe increasing prevalence of antibiotic‐resistant bacteria is creating a real challenge for health care systems worldwide, making the development of novel antibiotics a necessity. In addition to the development of new antibiotics, there is an urgent need for in‐depth characterization of the mechanisms of bacterial resistance toward new drugs. Here, we used essential oils extracted in our laboratory from Piper cubeba against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300, one of the most prominent antibiotic‐resistant bacteria. Effects of the essential oils extracted from P cubeba on bacteria were mainly evaluated using 2 powerful microscopy techniques: atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. High‐resolution atomic force microscopy images of the cells were obtained close to their native environment by immobilizing the cells on porous Polyether sulfone membranes, which were prepared in our laboratory with a wide range and distribution of pore sizes and depth. Inhibition zones (mm) and minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined. Two different concentrations of the oil were used to treat the cells: 50 μg/mL minimum inhibitory concentration and 25 μg/mL. The 50 μg/mL oil solution caused severe damage to the bacterial cells at microscopic levels while the 25 μg/mL solution showed no effects compared to the control. However, at nanoscopic levels, the 25 μg/mL oil solution caused significant changes in the cell wall, which could potentially impair bacterial activities. These results were also confirmed by transmission electron microscopy micrographs. Our results indicate that the extract has a good biological activity against methicillin‐ and oxacillin‐resistant S aureus and that it acts on the cell wall and plasma (cytoplasmic) membrane.
Assessing distribution‐based climate model bias correction methods over an alpine domain: added value and limitations
Authors: Ivanov Martin A. , Kotlarski Sven 
Published: September 2016

ABSTRACTClimate impact assessment and decision making in the light of projected future climate change require accurate and robust climate scenarios at the local scale. The latter are targeted by statistical bias correction (BC) and downscaling of climate model output. A nowadays well‐established technique is quantile mapping (QM). Here, we apply several different implementations of empirical QM, a parametric (and computationally more expensive) QM method for daily precipitation, and a mean‐BC to an ensemble of regional climate scenarios over the topographically structured terrain of Switzerland. The performance of these methods in the current climate and their long‐term stability are analysed with respect to distributional and temporal statistics as well as climate impact indices for daily temperature and precipitation. We select an optimal QM implementation, study its effect on the inter‐variable consistency, and compare its climate change signal (CCS) to that of a delta‐change (DC) method. The results demonstrate that QM effectively reduces raw model biases. The most important improvements are corrected magnitudes and, for precipitation, also wet‐day frequencies. The quantile‐dependent bias removal is superior to the mean‐BC with respect to distribution‐tail statistics. Temporal statistics and climate impact indices are also improved. There is no performance benefit from the parametric QM method. The selected empirical QM implementation substantially improves the joint temperature–precipitation distribution and maintains the temperature–precipitation cross‐correlation function as represented by raw climate model data. The CCS analysis reveals the superiority of QM over the DC method with respect to distribution‐tail characteristics and temporal statistics. This work reveals empirical QM as a reliable and stable method for BC and downscaling from state‐of‐the‐art regional climate models to local weather stations over alpine terrain, confirming and expanding previous studies.
Surveillance and molecular typing of Cronobacter spp. in commercial powdered infant formula and follow‐up formula from 2011 to 2013 in Shandong Province, China
Authors: Zhang Huaning , Hou Peibin , Lv Hui , Chen Yuzhen , Li Xinpeng , Ren Yanyan , Wang Mei , Tan Hailian , Bi Zhenwang 
Published: September 2016

AbstractBACKGROUNDInfection with Cronobacter spp. leads to neonatal meningitis, necrotizing enterocolitis and bacteremia. Cronobacter spp. are reported to comprise an important pathogen contaminating powdered infant formula (PIF) and follow‐up formula (FUF), although little is known about the contamination level of Cronobacter spp. in PIFs and FUFs in China.RESULTSIn total, 1032 samples were collected between 2011 and 2013. Forty‐two samples were positive, including 1.6% in PIFs and 6.5% in FUFs. The strains were susceptible to most antibiotics except for cefoxitin. Pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis after XbaI digestion produced a total of 36 banding patterns. The 38 strains were found in 27 sequence types (STs), of which nine types (ST454 to ST462) had not been reported in other countries. The clinically relevant strains obtained from the 38 isolates in the present study comprised three ST3, two ST4, two ST8 and one ST1.CONCLUSIONThe contamination rate in the PIF and FUF has stayed at a relatively high level. The contamination rate of PIF was significantly lower than FUF. The isolates had high susceptibility to the antibiotics tested, except cefoxitin. There were polymorphisms between the Cronobacter spp. as indicated by pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing. Therefore, contamination with Cronobacter spp. remains a current issue for commercial infant formulas in China. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
Effects of licury cake in young Nellore bull diets: salted sun‐dried meat is preferred rather than fresh meat by consumers despite similar physicochemical characteristics
Authors: Gouvêa Ana AL , Oliveira Ronaldo L , Leão André G , Bezerra Leilson R , Assis Dallyson YC , Albuquerque Italo RR , Pellegrini Caius B , Rocha Tiago C 
Published: September 2016

AbstractBACKGROUNDSalted Sun‐dried meat is a traditional process of meat salting that can improve quality and overall acceptance. The present study compared the physicochemical and sensory attributes of fresh and salted sun‐dried meat from Nellore Zebu (Bos taurus indicus) bulls (n = 32) and evaluated diets containing different levels (0%, 7%, 14% and 21%) of licury cake in diets provided to Nellore finished in a feedlot.RESULTSSalted sun‐dried meat decreased moisture (P < 0.0001) and ether extract (P = 0.0002) contents but increased ash (P < 0.0001) and protein (P < 0.0001) contents compared to fresh meat. The addition of licury resulted in linear increases in moisture (P = 0.02) and quadratic effects on Warner–Bratzler shear force (P < 0.03) in fresh meat. Cooking weight loss (P < 0.0001) and Warner–Bratzler shear force (P = 0.03) were reduced by the manufacturing process of sun‐dried meat. Sun‐dried meat presented greater color index L* (P = 0.0032), a* (P < 0.0001) and c* (P < 0.0001) values but a lower index color b* (P < 0.0001) value compared to fresh meat. Salted sun‐dried meat presented greater sensory characteristic scores compared to fresh meat (P > 0.05).CONCLUSIONLicury cake can be used in 21% of dry matter in diets to finish animals in feedlot without lessening the quality fresh meat or sundried meat. Salted sun‐dried meat presented a greater overall acceptance. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
Higher‐order Sobolev‐type embeddings on Carnot–Carathéodory spaces
Authors: Franců Martin 
Published: September 2016

A sufficient condition for higher‐order Sobolev‐type embeddings on bounded domains of Carnot–Carathéodory spaces is established for the class of rearrangement‐invariant function spaces. The condition takes form of a one‐dimensional inequality for suitable integral operators depending on the isoperimetric function relative to the Carnot–Carathéodory structure of the relevant sets. General results are then applied to particular Sobolev spaces built upon Lebesgue, Lorentz and Orlicz spaces on John domains in the Heisenberg group. In the case of the Heisenberg group, the condition is shown to be necessary as well.
Optimized AIR and investigational MOLLI cardiac T1 mapping pulse sequences produce similar intra‐scan repeatability in patients at 3T
Authors: Hong KyungPyo , Collins Jeremy , Lee Daniel C. , Wilcox Jane E. , Markl Michael , Carr James , Kim Daniel 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThis study was conducted to improve the precision of arrhythmia‐insensitive rapid (AIR) cardiac T1 mapping through pulse sequence optimization and then evaluate the intra‐scan repeatability in patients at 3T against investigational modified Look–Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) T1 mapping. In the first development phase (five human subjects), we implemented and tested centric‐pair k‐space ordering to suppress image artifacts associated with eddy currents. In the second development phase (15 human subjects), we determined optimal flip angles to reduce the measurement variation in T1 maps. In the validation phase (35 patients), we compared the intra‐scan repeatability between investigational MOLLI and optimized AIR. In 23 cardiac planes, conventional centric k‐space ordering (3.7%) produced significantly (p < 0.05) more outliers as a fraction of left ventricular cavity area than optimal centric k‐space ordering (1.4%). In 15 human subjects, for each of four types of measurement (native myocardial T1, native blood T1, post‐contrast myocardial T1, post‐contrast blood T1), flip angles of 55–65° produced lower measurement variation while producing results that are not significantly different from those produced with the previously used flip angle of 35° (p > 0.89, intra‐class correlation coefficient ≥ 0.95 for all four measurement types). Compared with investigational MOLLI (coefficient of repeatability, CR = 40.0, 77.2, 26.5, and 25.9 ms for native myocardial, native blood, post‐contrast myocardial, and post‐contrast blood T1, and 2.0% for extracellular volume (ECV) measurements, respectively), optimized AIR (CR = 54.3, 89.7, 30.5, and 14.7 ms for native myocardial, native blood, post‐contrast myocardial, and post‐contrast blood T1, and 1.6% for ECV measurements, respectively) produced similar absolute intra‐scan repeatability in all 35 patients in the validation phase. High repeatability is critically important for longitudinal studies, where the goal is to monitor physiologic/pathologic changes, not measurement variation. Optimized AIR cardiac T1 mapping is likely to yield high scan–retest repeatability for pre‐clinical and clinical applications.
XFEM‐based element subscale refinement for detailed representation of crack propagation in large‐scale analyses
Authors: Mostofizadeh S. , Fagerström M. , Larsson R. 
Published: September 2016

SummaryIn the present paper, we address the delicate balance between computational efficiency and level of detailing at the modelling of ductile fracture in thin‐walled structures. To represent the fine‐scale nature of the ductile process, we propose a new extended finite element method‐based enrichment of the displacement field to allow for crack tips that end or kink within an element. The idea is to refine the crack tip element locally in a way such that the macroscale node connectivity is unaltered. This allows for a better representation of the discontinuous kinematics without affecting the macroscale solution procedure, which would be a direct consequence of a regular mesh refinement. The method is first presented in a general 3D setting, and thereafter, it is specialised to shell theory for the modelling of crack propagation in thin‐walled structures. The paper is concluded by a number of representative examples showing the accuracy of the method. We conclude that the ideas proposed in the paper enhance the current methodology for the analysis of ductile fracture of thin‐walled large‐scale structures under high strain rates. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Probabilistic bias analysis in pharmacoepidemiology and comparative effectiveness research: a systematic review
Authors: Hunnicutt Jacob N. , Ulbricht Christine M. , Chrysanthopoulou Stavroula A. , Lapane Kate L. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractPurposeWe systematically reviewed pharmacoepidemiologic and comparative effectiveness studies that use probabilistic bias analysis to quantify the effects of systematic error including confounding, misclassification, and selection bias on study results.MethodsWe found articles published between 2010 and October 2015 through a citation search using Web of Science and Google Scholar and a keyword search using PubMed and Scopus. Eligibility of studies was assessed by one reviewer. Three reviewers independently abstracted data from eligible studies.ResultsFifteen studies used probabilistic bias analysis and were eligible for data abstraction—nine simulated an unmeasured confounder and six simulated misclassification. The majority of studies simulating an unmeasured confounder did not specify the range of plausible estimates for the bias parameters. Studies simulating misclassification were in general clearer when reporting the plausible distribution of bias parameters. Regardless of the bias simulated, the probability distributions assigned to bias parameters, number of simulated iterations, sensitivity analyses, and diagnostics were not discussed in the majority of studies.ConclusionDespite the prevalence and concern of bias in pharmacoepidemiologic and comparative effectiveness studies, probabilistic bias analysis to quantitatively model the effect of bias was not widely used. The quality of reporting and use of this technique varied and was often unclear. Further discussion and dissemination of the technique are warranted. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A probabilistic bias analysis for misclassified categorical exposures, with application to oral anti‐hyperglycaemic drugs
Authors: Arfè Andrea , Nicotra Federica , Ghirardi Arianna , Simonetti Monica , Lapi Francesco , Sturkenboom Miriam , Corrao Giovanni 
Published: September 2016

AbstractPurposeThe effect of drug exposure misclassification generally receives little attention in pharmacoepidemiological research. In this paper, we illustrate a probabilistic bias analysis approach for misclassified categorical exposures and apply it in a database study of oral anti‐hyperglycaemic drugs (OADs).MethodsA cohort study based on the Health Search Database general‐practice database was carried out by including 12 640 adult (≥40 years) patients newly treated with OADs during 2003–2010. The proportion of days covered by OADs prescriptions during the first year of follow‐up was evaluated for each individual, either by means of the prescribed daily dose or the defined daily dose. The effect of misclassification on hypothetical OAD–outcome association profiles was assessed through the proposed probabilistic bias analysis approach, taking advantage of available exposure validation data.ResultsDuring the first year of follow‐up, the average (SD) number of months with OADs available was 7 (4) months and 5 (3) months according to the prescribed daily dose and defined daily dose metrics, respectively. Probabilistic bias analysis results based on validation data suggest that the effect of misclassification is complex, as conventional exposure–outcome association estimates may be of greater or lower magnitude than their misclassification‐adjusted values.ConclusionsMisclassification should be taken into account in database studies on the safety of prescribed medications. To this aim, investigators should take advantage of external exposure validation data in sensitivity analysis approaches such as ours. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Photoinitiated polymerization in ionic liquids and its application
Authors: Andrzejewska Ewa 
Published: September 2016

AbstractIonic liquids (ILs) are low‐melting organic salts often liquid at room temperature, whose unique properties are the reason of increasing interest for their applications as solvents, reaction media and functional additives. The exceptional properties ofILshave proved to be particularly useful in polymer science giving the potential to produce polymeric materials with improved properties or to immobilizeILsin polymer matrices while keeping their special characteristics. One of the possibilities is polymerization inILswhich can also affect positively polymerization reactions. An especially attractive technique is photopolymerization due to the ease of process control, short reaction time and ambient working temperature. This review gives a literature survey of developments in photopolymerization processes carried out inILsas well as applications of these processes. It covers both the photopolymerizationinILsas well as photopolymerizationofILmonomers. The first part presents a short overview of physicochemical and photochemical properties ofILs; it includes also photochemical reactions and photoinitiation of polymerization inILs. The second part covers both the basic research (kinetics of photopolymerization including polymerization rate coefficients and polymerization ofILmonomers) as well as applications ofUV‐induced polymerization inILs. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
Economic competitiveness of III–V on silicon tandem one‐sun photovoltaic solar modules in favorable future scenarios
Authors: Bobela David C. , Gedvilas Lynn , Woodhouse Michael , Horowitz Kelsey A. W. , Basore Paul A. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractTandem modules combining a III–V top cell with a Si bottom cell offer the potential to increase the solar energy conversion efficiency of one‐sun photovoltaic modules beyond 25%, while fully utilizing the global investment that has been made in Si photovoltaics manufacturing. At present, the cost of III–V cells is far too high for this approach to be competitive for one‐sun terrestrial power applications. We investigated the system‐level economic benefits of both GaAs/Si and InGaP/Si tandem modules in favorable future scenarios where the cost of III–V cells is substantially reduced, perhaps to less than the cost of Si cells. We found, somewhat unexpectedly, that these tandems can reduce installed system cost only when the area‐related balance‐of‐system cost is high, such as for area‐constrained residential rooftop systems in the USA. When area‐related balance‐of‐system cost is lower, such as for utility‐scale systems, the tandem module offers no benefit. This is because a system using tandem modules is more expensive than one using single‐junction Si modules when III–V cells are expensive, and a system using tandem modules is more expensive than one using single‐junction III–V modules when III–V cells are inexpensive. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.