bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
New Hybrid Hydrazinyl Thiazole Substituted Chromones: As Potential α-Amylase Inhibitors and Radical (DPPH & ABTS) Scavengers
Authors: Salar Uzma , Khan Khalid Mohammed , Chigurupati Sridevi , Taha Muhammad , Wadood Abdul , Vijayabalan Shantini , Ghufran Mehreen , Perveen Shahnaz 
Published: November 2017

AbstractCurrent research is based on the identification of novel inhibitors of α-amylase enzyme. For that purpose, new hybrid molecules of hydrazinyl thiazole substituted chromones 5–27 were synthesized by multi-step reaction and fully characterized by various spectroscopic techniques such as EI-MS, HREI-MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. Stereochemistry of the iminic bond was confirmed by NOESY analysis of a representative molecule. All compounds 5–27 along with their intervening intermediates 1–4, were screened for in vitro α-amylase inhibitory, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities. All compounds showed good inhibition potential in the range of IC50 = 2.186–3.405 µM as compared to standard acarbose having IC50 value of 1.9 ± 0.07 µM. It is worth mentioning that compounds were also demonstrated good DPPH (IC50 = 0.09–2.233 µM) and ABTS (IC50 = 0.584–3.738 µM) radical scavenging activities as compared to standard ascorbic acid having IC50 = 0.33 ± 0.18 µM for DPPH and IC50 = 0.53 ± 0.3 µM for ABTS radical scavenging activities. In addition to that cytotoxicity of the compounds were checked on NIH-3T3 mouse fibroblast cell line and found to be non-toxic. In silico studies were performed to rationalize the binding mode of compounds (ligands) with the active site of α-amylase enzyme.
Integrated Genomic and Proteomic Analyses of High-level Chloramphenicol Resistance in Campylobacter jejuni
Authors: Li Hui , Wang Yingyu , Fu Qin , Wang Yang , Li Xiaowei , Wu Congming , Shen Zhangqi , Zhang Qijing , Qin Peibin , Shen Jianzhong , Xia Xi 
Published: November 2017

AbstractCampylobacter jejuni is a major zoonotic pathogen, and its resistance to antibiotics is of great concern for public health. However, few studies have investigated the global changes of the entire organism with respect to antibiotic resistance. Here, we provide mechanistic insights into high-level resistance to chloramphenicol in C. jejuni, using integrated genomic and proteomic analyses. We identified 27 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as well as an efflux pump cmeB mutation that conferred modest resistance. We determined two radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzymes, one each from an SNP gene and a differentially expressed protein. Validation of major metabolic pathways demonstrated alterations in oxidative phosphorylation and ABC transporters, suggesting energy accumulation and increase in methionine import. Collectively, our data revealed a novel rRNA methylation mechanism by a radical SAM superfamily enzyme, indicating that two resistance mechanisms existed in Campylobacter. This work provided a systems biology perspective on understanding the antibiotic resistance mechanisms in bacteria.
Comparing Traditional Service Delivery and Telepractice for Speech Sound Production Using a Functional Outcome Measure
Authors: Coufal Kathy , Parham Douglas , Jakubowitz Melissa , Howell Cassandra , Reyes Jared 
Published: November 2017

Purpose
Using American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA's) National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS) Functional Communication Measure (FCM) as a common metric, this investigation compared traditional service delivery and telepractice service delivery for children receiving therapy for the NOMS diagnostic category of “speech sound production.”

Method
De-identified cases were secured from ASHA's NOMS database and a proprietary database from a private e-learning provider. Cases were included if they met 3 criteria: (a) children received treatment exclusively for speech sound production, (b) they were between 6.0 and 9.5 years old, and (c) they received therapy lasting between 4 and 9 months.

A total of 1,331 ASHA NOMS cases and 428 telepractice cases were included. The 2 groups were matched by initial FCM scores. Mann–Whitney
U
tests were completed to compare differences in the median change scores (the difference between the initial and final FCM scores) between the 2 groups.

Results
There were no significant differences in the median change scores between the traditional group and the telepractice group.

Conclusions
These results suggest comparable treatment outcomes between traditional service delivery and telepractice for treatment of children exhibiting speech sound disorders. The findings provide support for the use of telepractice for school-age children.
The role of the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in identifying the global leaders in ecological research
Authors: Jáuregui Pablo , Salomone Mónica 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACT

Introduction:
This paper outlines the origins and rationale of the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, a new family of international prizes created in 2008 by the BBVA Foundation of Spain. The aim of these awards is to recognize world-class contributions in a range of scientific, technological, and artistic areas which address the central challenges of the twenty-first century. Their key distinguishing feature is the fact that they have incorporated amongst their categories the two fundamental fields of contemporary environmental research: Ecology and Conservation Biology and Climate Change.

Outcomes:
By documenting the winners of the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in these two areas, as well as the reasons for which they received this recognition during their previous nine editions, we show how these prizes have helped to identify some of the leading international figures in environmental science, such as Edward O. Wilson, Daniel H. Hanzen, Jane Lubchenco, and Ilkka Hanski.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, we suggest that this initiative contributes to the public salience of the global ecological problems which threaten the future of our species. At the same time, the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards serve to highlight the fundamental importance of the pioneering scientists whose research can provide the only reliable basis on which global-policy makers must make informed decisions to successfully confront the environmental challenges of our time.
Relationship Between Neurocognitive Function and Self-Discrepancy After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Beadle Elizabeth Jane , Ownsworth Tamara , Fleming Jennifer , Shum David H. K. 
Published: November 2017

Objective:
Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often make unfavorable comparisons between their preinjury and postinjury selves. Although it is known that negative “self-discrepancy” is related to poorer emotional adjustment, the impact of neurocognitive function on self-discrepancy is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between current neurocognitive function (attention, memory, executive function, and self-awareness) and self-discrepancy after severe TBI.

Design:
Fifty-four adults with severe TBI were recruited from outpatient and community rehabilitation services and completed measures of self-discrepancy (Head Injury Semantic Differential Scale-III) and self-awareness (Awareness Questionnaire) and a battery of standardized tests of attention, memory, and executive functions.

Results:
More negative self-discrepancy was significantly associated with greater self-awareness (r = −0.40, P < .001) and better performance on tests of immediate memory (r = −0.43, P < .01), working memory (r = −0.35, P < .05), and verbal fluency (r = −0.34, P < .05). Self-awareness was the only neurocognitive factor significantly and uniquely related to self-discrepancy, accounting for 8.6% of the variance (P < .05). Furthermore, self-awareness was found to partially mediate the relationship between immediate memory and self-discrepancy.

Conclusion:
Better neurocognitive function is related to more negative self-discrepancy. These findings improve understanding of the process of identity reconstruction following TBI.
Core outcome measurement instruments for clinical trials in nonspecific low back pain
Authors: Chiarotto Alessandro , Boers Maarten , Deyo Richard A. , Buchbinder Rachelle , Corbin Terry P. , Costa Leonardo O.P. , Foster Nadine E. , Grotle Margreth , Koes Bart W. , Kovacs Francisco M. , Lin C.-W. Christine , Maher Chris G. , Pearson Adam M. , Peul Wilco C. , Schoene Mark L. , Turk Dennis C. , van Tulder Maurits W. , Terwee Caroline B. , Ostelo Raymond W. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractTo standardize outcome reporting in clinical trials of patients with nonspecific low back pain, an international multidisciplinary panel recommended physical functioning, pain intensity, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as core outcome domains. Given the lack of a consensus on measurement instruments for these 3 domains in patients with low back pain, this study aimed to generate such consensus. The measurement properties of 17 patient-reported outcome measures for physical functioning, 3 for pain intensity, and 5 for HRQoL were appraised in 3 systematic reviews following the COSMIN methodology. Researchers, clinicians, and patients (n = 207) were invited in a 2-round Delphi survey to generate consensus (≥67% agreement among participants) on which instruments to endorse. Response rates were 44% and 41%, respectively. In round 1, consensus was achieved on the Oswestry Disability Index version 2.1a for physical functioning (78% agreement) and the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for pain intensity (75% agreement). No consensus was achieved on any HRQoL instrument, although the Short Form 12 (SF12) approached the consensus threshold (64% agreement). In round 2, a consensus was reached on an NRS version with a 1-week recall period (96% agreement). Various participants requested 1 free-to-use instrument per domain. Considering all issues together, recommendations on core instruments were formulated: Oswestry Disability Index version 2.1a or 24-item Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire for physical functioning, NRS for pain intensity, and SF12 or 10-item PROMIS Global Health form for HRQoL. Further studies need to fill the evidence gaps on the measurement properties of these and other instruments.
Prosthetic Reconstruction for a Patient with Partial Hand Amputation
Authors: Zarezadeh Fatemeh , Mardani Mohammad Ali , Arazpour Mokhtar 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACT

Introduction
Partial hand amputations are one of the most common types of hand amputation. Provision of an aesthetic prosthesis with adequate performance can reduce negative social and psychological impacts of hand amputation. The aim of this study was to describe the fabrication of a silicone prosthesis for a patient with partial hand amputation.

Materials and Methods
Alginate impression was taken from the residual limb and donor hand. The thumb of the patient on the affected side was covered with a thin layer of silicone so as to not prevent the natural movements of the fingers. A thin layer of wax sculpted on the residual limb plaster mold of the thumb. Four metal wires were put on the residual limb plaster mold. These metal wires are temporary and, after the curing of silicone, are removed from within the final prosthesis to create a suction suspension and lightweight prosthesis.

Result
In this study, the prosthesis was designed and built for a 30-year-old woman who worked in a toy factory and had four fingers of her left hand amputated.

Conclusion
The patient was satisfied with the prosthesis in terms of appearance, weight, and color. The thumb function was not limited by the prosthesis. The patient could easily use her thumb while wearing the prosthesis.
Pathogen evolution: slow and steady spreads the best
Authors: Parsons Todd L. , Lambert Amaury , Day Troy , Gandon Sylvain 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe theory of life history evolution provides a powerful framework to understand the evolutionary dynamics of pathogens in both epidemic and endemic situations. This framework, however, relies on the assumption that pathogen populations are very large and that one can neglect the effects of demographic stochasticity. Here we expand the theory of life history evolution to account for the effects of finite population size on the evolution of pathogen virulence. We show that demographic stochasticity introduces additional evolutionary forces that can qualitatively affect the dynamics and the evolutionary outcome. We discuss the importance of the shape of pathogen fitness landscape and host heterogeneity on the balance between mutation, selection and genetic drift. In particular, we discuss scenarios where finite population size can dramatically affect classical predictions of deterministic models. This analysis reconciles Adaptive Dynamics with population genetics in finite populations and thus provides a new theoretical toolbox to study life-history evolution in realistic ecological scenarios.
Tumor-specific Causal Inference (TCI): A Bayesian Method for Identifying Causative Genome Alterations within Individual Tumors
Authors: Cooper Gregory , Cai Chunhui , Lu Xinghua 
Published: November 2017

AbstractPrecision medicine for cancer involves identifying and targeting the somatic genome alterations (SGAs) that drive the development of an individual tumor. Much of current efforts at finding driver SGAs have involved identifying the genes that are mutated more frequently than expected among a collection of tumors. When these population-derived driver genes are altered (perhaps in particular ways) in a given tumor, they are posited as driver genes for that tumor. In this technical report, we introduce an alternative approach for identifying causative SGAs, also known as “drivers”, by inferring causal relationships between SGAs and molecular phenotypes at the individual tumor level. Our tumor-specific causal inference (TCI) algorithm uses a Bayesian method to identify the SGAs in a given tumor that have a high probability of regulating transcriptomic changes observed in that specific tumor. Thus, the method is focused on identifying the tumor specific SGAs that are causing expression changes that are specific to the tumor. Those SGAs that have a high probability of regulating transcriptomic changes related to oncogenic processes are then designated to be the putative drivers of the tumor. In this paper, we describe in detail the TCI algorithm and its implementation.
Statistical power of clinical trials has increased whilst effect size remained stable: an empirical analysis of 137 032 clinical trials between 1975-2017
Authors: Lamberink Herm J. , Otte Willem M. , Sinke Michel R.T. , Lakens Daniël , Glasziou Paul P. , Tijdink Joeri K. , Vinkers Christiaan H. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractBackgroundBiomedical studies with low statistical power are a major concern in the scientific community and are one of the underlying reasons for the reproducibility crisis in science. If randomized clinical trials, which are considered the backbone of evidence-based medicine, also suffer from low power, this could affect medical practice.MethodsWe analysed the statistical power in 137 032 clinical trials between 1975 and 2017 extracted from meta-analyses from the Cochrane database of systematic reviews. We determined study power to detect standardized effect sizes according to Cohen, and in meta-analysis with p-value below 0.05 we based power on the meta-analysed effect size. Average power, effect size and temporal patterns were examined.ResultsThe number of trials with power ≥80% was low but increased over time: from 9% in 1975–1979 to 15% in 2010–2014. This increase was mainly due to increasing sample sizes, whilst effect sizes remained stable with a median Cohen’s h of 0.21 (IQR 0.12-0.36) and a median Cohen’s d of 0.31 (0.19-0.51). The proportion of trials with power of at least 80% to detect a standardized effect size of 0.2 (small), 0.5 (moderate) and 0.8 (large) was 7%, 48% and 81%, respectively.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that sufficient power in clinical trials is still problematic, although the situation is slowly improving. Our data encourages further efforts to increase statistical power in clinical trials to guarantee rigorous and reproducible evidence-based medicine.
Tracking the dynamic functional connectivity structure of the human brain across the adult lifespan
Authors: Xia Yunman , Chen Qunlin , Li Mengze , Gong Weikang , Qiu Jiang 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe transition from early adulthood to older is marked by pronounced functional and structural brain transformations that impact cognition and behaviour. Here, we use dynamic functional network connectivity method to examine resting state functional network changes over aging process. In general, the features of dynamic functional states are generally varying across ages, such as the frequency of expression and the amount of time spent in the certain state. Increasing age is associated with less variability of functional state across time at rest period. From age point of view, examining the age-related difference of topology index revealed 19-30 age range has the significant largest global efficiency, largest local efficiency of default-mode network (DMN), cognitive control network (CCN) and salience network (SN). As for functional states, one state displayed the whole positive connectivity, in the meantime, it has the largest global efficiency and local efficiency of three subnetworks. Besides, the frequency of another state was negatively correlated to the box block (The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale subset, which is thought to evaluate fine motor skills, processing speed, and visuospatial ability), while positively correlated with age, and the box block was inversely correlated to age. The results suggested that cognitive aging may be characterized by the dynamic functional network connectivity. Taken together, these findings suggested the importance of a dynamic approach to understanding cognitive aging in lifespan.
Thalamocortical Projectional Divergence Leads to Complexity in Functional Organizations in Mouse Auditory Cortex
Authors: Ohga Shinpei , Tsukano Hiroaki , Horie Masao , Terashima Hiroki , Nishio Nana , Kubota Yamato , Takahashi Kuniyuki , Hishida Ryuichi , Takebayashi Hirohide , Shibuki Katsuei 
Published: November 2017

AbstractFrequency-related topological projections from the ventral division of the medial geniculate body (MGv) relay the tonotopic organization found in primary auditory cortex (A1). However, relaying circuits of the functional organization to higher-order, secondary auditory field (A2) have not been identified so far. Here, using tracing, we found that A2 receives dense topological projections from MGv in mice, and that tonotopy was established in A2 even when primary fields including A1 were removed. These indicate that thalamic inputs to A2 are sufficient for generating its tonotopy. Moreover, neuronal responses in the thalamocortical recipient layer of A2 showed wider bandwidth and greater heterogeneity of the best frequency distribution than those of A1, which was attributed to larger divergence of thalamocortical projections from MGv to A2 than those from MGv to A1. The current study identifies that the functional organization in the auditory cortex can be determined by the structure of thalamocortical input.Significant StatementAlthough peripheral input patterns to the primary auditory cortex (A1) of the brain are well understood, how tonal information is relayed to higher-order regions such as the secondary auditory field (A2) remains unclear. This work revealed a new source of auditory information to A2; the tonal map in mouse A2 is primarily produced by orderly projections from the primary auditory thalamus. We also found that the complex behaviour and organization of neurons in A2 is generated by divergent projections from the primary thalamus that converge on neurons in A2. Our findings indicate that thalamocortical projections constitute a major factor that determines the regional properties and functional organization of mouse A2.
Alternative mating tactics and tactical deception: Is the common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) nothing but a common cheat?
Authors: Cooke Gavan M , Johnson Claire , Reed Tony , Jackson Andrew C 
Published: November 2017

AbstractAlternative mating tactics (AMTs) are common in the animal kingdom, yet much work remains before their evolution and role in driving sexual selection is fully understood. Utilizing features of citizen science, we present compelling evidence that a third species in the cuttlefish genusSepia(Cephalopoda) possess males who use sneaky mating and female mimicry as alternative strategies to conspicuous signalling and fighting. We also present new evidence of large aggregations (n~30) in this species that possibly drive alternative mating strategies. Lastly, we provide footage of an opportunistic sneaky copulation in this species. We believe that alternative mating tactics may be more common in this genus than previously recorded (based on observations presented here and a search of the literature for similar life history, environmental and behavioural factors found in other species within theSepiagenus), and as much of their captive husbandry is well known, they could an ideal system for studying the evolution of alternative reproductive strategies.
Caudal counter-represses Hunchback to regulateeven-skippedstripe 2 expression in Drosophila embryos
Authors: Vincent Ben J. , Staller Max V. , Lopez-Rivera Francheska , Bragdon Meghan D.J. , Wunderlich Zeba , Estrada Javier , DePace Angela H. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractHunchback is a bifunctional transcription factor that can activate and repress gene expression in Drosophila development. We investigated the regulatory DNA sequence features that control Hunchback function by perturbing enhancers for one of its target genes,even-skipped. While Hunchback directly represses theevestripe 3+7 enhancer, we found that in theevestripe 2+7 enhancer, Hunchback repression is prevented by Caudal binding—this relationship is called counter-repression. We found evidence that this relationship is conserved by comparing predicted binding sites for Hunchback and Caudal across orthologousevestripe 2 enhancers. These results alter the textbook view ofevestripe 2 regulation wherein Hb is depicted as a direct activator. Instead, to generate stripe 2, Hunchback repression must be counteracted by Caudal binding. We discuss the implications of this interaction forevestripe 2 regulation and evolution.