bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Interactive effects of hypoxia and PCB co‐exposure on expression of CYP1A and its potential regulators in Atlantic croaker liver
Authors: Rahman Md Saydur , Thomas Peter 
Published: January 2018

AbstractAlthough marine and coastal environments which are contaminated with xenobiotic organic compounds often become hypoxic during the summer, the interactive effects of hypoxia and xenobiotic exposure on marine species such as teleost fishes remain poorly understood. The expression and activity of monooxygenase enzyme cytochrome P450‐1A (CYP1A) in fishes are upregulated by exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), whereas they are down‐regulated during hypoxia exposure. We investigated the interactive effects of hypoxia and PCB co‐exposure on hepatic CYP1A expression in Atlantic croaker and on potential regulators of CYP1A. Croaker were exposed to hypoxia (1.7 mg/L dissolved oxygen), 3,3′,4,4′‐tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 77, dose: 2 and 8 µg/g body weight), and Aroclor 1254 (a common PCB mixture, dose: 0.5 and 1 µg/g body weight), alone and in combination for 4 weeks. PCB 77 exposure markedly increased hepatic CYP1A mRNA and protein expression, and ethoxyresorufin‐O‐deethylase (EROD, an indicator of CYP1A enzyme) activity and increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) protein expression. PCB 77 treatment also increased interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β, a cytokine) mRNA levels and protein carbonyl (PC, an indicator of reactive oxygen species, ROS) contents. These marked PCB 77‐ and Aroclor 1254‐induced increases in CYP1A mRNA levels and EROD activity were significantly attenuated by co‐exposure to hypoxia, whereas the increases in hepatic eNOS protein and IL‐1β mRNA expression, and PC contents were augmented by hypoxia co‐exposure. The results suggest that biotransformation of organic xenobiotics by CYP1A is reduced in fish during co‐exposure to hypoxia and is accompanied by alterations in eNOS, ROS, and IL‐1β levels.
Liquid futures: Water management systems and anticipated environments
Authors: Randle Sayd , Barnes Jessica 
Published: January 2018

Climate change and its impact on hydrological dynamics have become key topics of concern among water managers and policy makers in many parts of the world. Yet while practitioners often frame adaptation to a climate‐changed future as a novel issue, ideas about future environments have long influenced systems of water management. Reviewing ethnographic and historical accounts of waterscapes across the globe, this article examines the relationship between imagined environmental futures and the policies, practices, infrastructures of water management and legal frameworks. We show, first, how conflicting ideas about environmental stasis and perturbation have been built into water networks across space and time. In some cases, notions of radical landscape change have underpinned these systems, as in programs dedicated to land “reclamation” or interbasin water transfer schemes. In other contexts, water systems have developed based on visions of long‐term sociohydrological stability. Second, we highlight how contrasting notions of human capacity to change environmental outcomes have played into water management systems. In some cases, there has been an assumption of the potential for and desirability of full human control; in others, there has been more recognition of the limits of such mastery. Exploring the wide range of environmental imaginaries mobilized through water management, we contextualize contemporary efforts to build resilient, “climate proof” waterscapes. WIREs Water 2018, 5:e1274. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1274This article is categorized under:

Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented
Science of Water > Water Quality
Human microbiota, blood group antigens, and disease
Authors: Ewald D. Rose , Sumner Susan C.J. 
Published: January 2018

Far from being just “bugs in our guts,” the microbiota interacts with the body in previously unimagined ways. Research into the genome and the microbiome has revealed that the human body and the microbiota have a long‐established but only recently recognized symbiotic relationship; homeostatic balance between them regulates body function. That balance is fragile, easily disturbed, and plays a fundamental role in human health—our very survival depends on the healthy functioning of these microorganisms. Increasing rates of cardiovascular, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases, as well as epidemics in obesity and diabetes in recent decades are believed to be explained, in part, by unintended effects on the microbiota from vaccinations, poor diets, environmental chemicals, indiscriminate antibiotic use, and “germophobia.” Discovery and exploration of the brain‐gut‐microbiota axis have provided new insights into functional diseases of the gut, autoimmune and stress‐related disorders, and the role of probiotics in treating certain affective disorders; it may even explain some aspects of autism. Research into dietary effects on the human gut microbiota led to its classification into three proposed enterotypes, but also revealed the surprising role of blood group antigens in shaping those populations. Blood group antigens have previously been associated with disease risks; their subsequent association with the microbiota may reveal mechanisms that lead to development of nutritional interventions and improved treatment modalities. Further exploration of associations between specific enteric microbes and specific metabolites will foster new dietary interventions, treatment modalities, and genetic therapies, and inevitably, their application in personalized healthcare strategies.This article is categorized under:

Laboratory Methods and Technologies > Metabolomics
Translational, Genomic, and Systems Medicine > Translational Medicine
Physiology > Mammalian Physiology in Health and Disease
Online Patient Ratings Are Not Correlated with Total Knee Replacement Surgeon–Specific Outcomes
Authors: Trehan Samir K. , Nguyen Joseph T. , Marx Robert , Cross Michael B. , Pan Ting J. , Daluiski Aaron , Lyman Stephen 
Published: January 2018

Background Despite potential concerns regarding their validity, physician-rating websites continue to grow in number and utilization and feature prominently on major search engines, potentially affecting patient decision-making regarding physician selection. Questions/Purposes We sought to determine whether patient ratings on public physician-rating websites correlate with surgeon-specific outcomes for high-volume total knee replacement (TKR) surgeons in New York State (NYS) from 2010 to 2012. Methods Online patient ratings were compared to surgeon-specific outcomes from the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) database from the NYS Department of Health. For each surgeon, we determined the infection rate, re-admission rate, and revision surgery rate within the study period, as well as the mean inpatient length of stay, for TKR from the SPARCS database. Online ratings were collected from two physician-rating websites ( Vitals.com and HealthGrades.com ). Results One hundred seventy-four high-volume TKR surgeons were identified in NYS from 2010 to 2012. The mean rates of in-hospital infection, 90-day infection, 30-day re-admission, 90-day re-admission, and revision surgery were 0.25, 1.00, 4.89, 8.43, and 1.31%, respectively. The mean number of ratings for individual surgeons on HealthGrades.com and Vitals.com were 24.0 (range: 0 to 109) and 19.3 (range: 0 to 114), respectively, and mean overall ratings were 4.2 and 4.1 (out of 5) stars, respectively. As with online patient ratings of individual surgeons, variability was observed in the total adverse event rate distribution for individual surgeons. Despite sufficient variability in both online patient rating and surgeon-specific outcomes for high-volume TKR surgeons in NYS, no correlation was observed. Conclusion There was no correlation between surgeon-specific TKR outcome measures and online patient ratings. We therefore advise that patients exert caution when interpreting ratings on these websites.
Genetik der kortikalen Fehlbildungen
Authors: Di Donato Nataliya 
Published: January 2018

Zusammenfassung
Kortikale Malformationen sind vielfältig und stellen eine wichtige Ursache der geistigen Entwicklungsstörung und der Epilepsie dar. Die Ätiologie der kortikalen Fehlbildungen ist sehr heterogen und beinhaltet sowohl rein exogene Ursachen als auch chromosomale und monogene Erkrankungen. Eine effiziente genetische Diagnostik bedarf der akkuraten Interpretation des Magnetresonanztomographie(MRT)-Musters. Bei einigen klinischen Formen kann eine zielgerichtete Einzelgendiagnostik erfolgen, die anderen klinischen Entitäten erfordern dagegen eine komplexe Stufendiagnostik und können nur mittels Hochdurchsatzsequenzierung aufgeklärt werden. In diesem Beitrag werden die 4 häufigsten kortikalen Fehlbildungen im Hinblick auf die typischen klinischen Symptome, MRT-Merkmale und den Algorithmus der genetischen Abklärung vorgestellt.
Divorce, Separation, and Housing Changes: A Multiprocess Analysis of Longitudinal Data from England and Wales
Authors: Mikolai Júlia , Kulu Hill 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThis study investigates the effect of marital and nonmarital separation on individuals’ residential and housing trajectories. Using rich data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and applying multilevel competing-risks event history models, we analyze the risk of a move of single, married, cohabiting, and separated men and women to different housing types. We distinguish moves due to separation from moves of separated people and account for unobserved codeterminants of moving and separation risks. Our analysis shows that many individuals move due to separation, as expected, but that the likelihood of moving is also relatively high among separated individuals. We find that separation has a long-term effect on individuals’ residential careers. Separated women exhibit high moving risks regardless of whether they moved out of the joint home upon separation, whereas separated men who did not move out upon separation are less likely to move. Interestingly, separated women are most likely to move to terraced houses, whereas separated men are equally likely to move to flats (apartments) and terraced (row) houses, suggesting that family structure shapes moving patterns of separated individuals.
Variation of genes involved in oxidative and nitrosative stresses in depression
Authors: Wigner Paulina , Czarny Piotr , Synowiec Ewelina , Bijak Micha� , Białek Katarzyna , Talarowska Monika , Galecki Piotr , Szemraj Janusz , Sliwinski Tomasz 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe dominating hypothesis among numerous hypotheses explaining the pathogenesis of depressive disorders (DD) is the one involving oxidative and nitrosative stress. In this study, we examined the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the genes encoding SOD2 (superoxide dismutase 2), CAT (catalase), GPx4 (glutathione peroxidase 4), NOS1 (nitric oxide synthase 1), NOS2 (nitric oxide synthase 2), and the development of depressive disorders. Our study was carried out on the DNA isolated from peripheral blood collected from 281 depressed patients and 229 controls. Using TaqMan probes, we genotyped the following six polymorphisms: c.47T > C (p.Val16Ala) (rs4880) in SOD2, c.-89A > T (rs7943316) in CAT, c.660T > C (rs713041) in GPx4, c.-420-34221G > A (rs1879417) in NOS1, c.1823C > T (p.Ser608Leu) (rs2297518), and c.-227G > C (rs10459953) in NOS2. We found that the T/T genotype of the c.47T > C polymorphism was linked with an increased risk of depression. Moreover, the T/T genotype and T allele of c.660T > C increased the risk of DD occurrence, while the heterozygote and C allele decreased this risk. On the other hand, we discovered that the A/A genotype of c.-89A > T SNP was associated with a reduced risk of DD, while the A/T genotype increased this risk. We did not find any correlation between the genotypes/alleles of c.-420-34221G > A, c.1823C > T, and c.-227G > C, and the occurrence of DD. In addition, gene-gene and haplotype analyses revealed that combined genotypes and haplotypes were connected with the disease. Moreover, we found that sex influenced the impact of some SNPs on the risk of depression. Concluding, the studied polymorphisms of SOD2, CAT and GPx4 may modulate the risk of depression. These results support the hypothesis that oxidative and nitrosative stresses are involved in the pathogenesis of depressive disorders.
The case for laboratory experiments in behavioural public policy
Authors: LUNN PETER D. , NÍ CHOISDEALBHA ÁINE 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBehavioural science is increasingly applied to policy in many countries. While the empirical approach to policy development is welcome, we argue with reference to existing literature that laboratory experiments are presently underused in this domain, relative to field studies. Assumptions that field experiments, including randomised controlled trials, produce more generalisable results than laboratory experiments are often misplaced. This is because the experimental control offered by the laboratory allows underlying psychological mechanisms to be isolated and tested. We use examples from recent research on energy efficiency and financial decision-making to argue that mechanism-focused laboratory research is often not only complementary to field research, but also necessary to interpreting field results, and that such research can have direct policy implications. The issues discussed illustrate that in some policy contexts a well-designed laboratory study can be a good – perhaps the best – way to answer the kinds of research questions that policy-makers ask.
Enrolee outcomes after health insurance plan terminations: a diagnosis of default effects
Authors: SINAIKO ANNA D. , ZECKHAUSER RICHARD 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBehavioural economic research has established that defaults, one form of nudge, powerfully influence choices. In most policy contexts, all individuals receive the same nudge. We present a model that analyses the optimal universal nudge for a situation in which individuals differ in their preferences and hence should make different choices and may incur a cost for resisting a nudge. Our empirical focus is onterminated choosers(TCs), individuals whose prior choices become no longer available. Specifically, we examine the power of defaults on individuals who had enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage and whose plans were then discontinued. Currently, if these TCs fail to actively choose another Medicare Advantage plan, they are defaulted into traditional fee-for-service Medicare (TM) without drug coverage. Overall, the rate of transition of TCs into TM is low, implying that original preferences and status quo bias overpower the default. Increasing numbers of Americans are choosing plans in health insurance exchange settings such as Medicare, the Affordable Care Act and private exchanges. Plan exits and large numbers of TCs are inevitable, along with other forms of turmoil. Any guidance and defaults provided for TCs should factor in their past revealed preferences.
Between Rio’s Red-Light District and the League of Nations: Immigrants and Sex Work in 1920s Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Schettini Cristiana 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThis article focuses on sex work relations in the Mangue, one of Rio de Janeiro’s red light districts in the 1920s. It follows multiple simultaneous trajectories that converge in Rio’s changing urban landscape: League of Nation’s investigators (some of them undercover), local Brazilian authorities, particularly the police, and Fanny Galper, a former prostitute and madam. It argues that the spatial mobility of the persons involved in sex work is part of broader debates: On the one hand, these experiences of mobility are closely connected to the variegated attempts at surveillance of sex work that characterized Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s and the specific racialized organization of the women’s work as prostitutes. On the other hand, the actors analysed in this article also participated, in different ways, in the production of meanings in broader debates on the international circulation of policies intended to regulate and surveil prostitution. These encounters offer the opportunity to explore some of the intersections between this international circulation of policies, local social dynamics of European immigration, and the racialized history of labor relations in Brazil.
Video-Based Learning vs Traditional Lecture for Instructing Emergency Medicine Residents in Disaster Medicine Principles of Mass Triage, Decontamination, and Personal Protective Equipment
Authors: Curtis Henry A. , Trang Karen , Chason Kevin W. , Biddinger Paul D. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractIntroductionGreat demands have been placed on disaster medicine educators. There is a need to develop innovative methods to educate Emergency Physicians in the ever-expanding body of disaster medicine knowledge. The authors sought to demonstrate that video-based learning (VBL) could be a promising alternative to traditional learning methods for teaching disaster medicine core competencies.Hypothesis/ProblemThe objective was to compare VBL to traditional lecture (TL) for instructing Emergency Medicine residents in the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP; Irving, Texas USA) disaster medicine core competencies of patient triage and decontamination.MethodsA randomized, controlled pilot study compared two methods of instruction for mass triage, decontamination, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Emergency Medicine resident learning was measured with a knowledge quiz, a Likert scale measuring comfort, and a practical exercise. An independent samples t-test compared the scoring of the VBL with the TL group.ResultsTwenty-six residents were randomized to VBL (n=13) or TL (n=13). Knowledge score improvement following video (14.9%) versus lecture (14.1%) did not differ significantly between the groups (P=.74). Comfort score improvement also did not differ (P=.64) between video (18.3%) and lecture groups (15.8%). In the practical skills assessment, the VBL group outperformed the TL group overall (70.4% vs 55.5%; P<.0001), with significantly better performance in donning PPE and decontamination. Although not part of the original study design, a three-month post-hoc analysis was performed. When comparing the pre-intervention and three-month post-hoc performances, there were no significant differences in knowledge increases between VBL versus TL (P=.41) or in comfort (P=.39).ConclusionVideo modules can be as effective as TL when utilized to train Emergency Medicine residents in the ACEP disaster medicine core competencies of patient triage and decontamination.CurtisHA, TrangK, ChasonKW, BiddingerPD. Video-based learning vs traditional lecture for instructing emergency medicine residents in disaster medicine principles of mass triage, decontamination, and personal protective equipment. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(1):7–12.
Dosimetric evaluation of a novel electron–photon mixed beam, produced by a medical linear accelerator
Authors: Khaledi Navid , Sardari Dariush , Mohammadi Mohammad , Ameri Ahmad , Reynaert Nick 
Published: January 2018

AbstractAimThis study deals with the characteristics of simultaneous photon and electron beams in homogenous and inhomogeneous phantoms by experimental and Monte Carlo dosimetry, for therapeutic purposes. Materials and methods: Both 16 and 20 MeV high-energy electron beams were used as the original beam to strike perforated lead sheets to produce the mixed beam. The dosimetry results were achieved by measurement in an ion chamber in a water phantom and film dosimetry in a Perspex nasal phantom, and then compared with those calculated through a simulation approach. To evaluate two-dimensional dose distribution in the inhomogeneous medium, the dose–area histogram was obtained.ResultsThe highest percentage of photon contribution in mixed beam was found to be 36% for 2-mm thickness of lead layer with holes diameter of 0·2 cm for a 20 MeV primary electron energy. For small fields, the percentage depth dose parameters variations were found to be similar to pure electron beam within ±2%. The most feasible flatness in beam profile was 11% for pure electron and 7% for the mixed beam. Penumbra changes as function of depth was about ten times better than in pure electron field.ConclusionsThe results present some dosimetric advantages that can make this study a platform for the production of simultaneous mixed beams in future linear accelerators (LINACs), which through redesign of the LINAC head, which could lead to setup error reduction and a decrease of intra-fractional tumour cells repair.
Shot-by-shot characterization of focused X-ray free electron laser pulses
Authors: Kobayashi Amane , Sekiguchi Yuki , Oroguchi Tomotaka , Yamamoto Masaki , Nakasako Masayoshi 
Published: January 2018

AbstractX-ray free electron lasers (XFEL) provide intense and almost coherent X-ray pulses. They are used for various experiments investigating physical and chemical properties in materials and biological science because of their complete coherence, high intensity, and very short pulse width. In XFEL experiments, specimens are irradiated by XFEL pulses focused by mirror optics. The focused pulse is too intense to measure its coherence by placing an X-ray detector on the focal spot. Previously, a method was proposed for evaluating the coherence of focused pulses from the visibility of the diffraction intensity of colloidal particles by the speckle visibility spectroscopy (SVS). However, the visibility cannot be determined exactly because the diffraction intensity is integrated into each finite size detector pixel. Here, we propose a method to evaluate the coherence of each XFEL pulse by using SVS in combination with a theory for exact sampling of the diffraction pattern and a technique of multiplying the diffraction data by a Gaussian masks, which reduces the influence of data missing in small-angle regions due to the presence of a direct beamstop. We also introduce a method for characterizing the shot-by-shot size of each XFEL pulse by analysing the X-ray irradiated area.
A new group of synthetic phenolic-containing amphiphilic molecules for multipurpose applications: Physico-chemical characterization and cell-toxicity study
Authors: Anankanbil Sampson , Pérez Bianca , Fernandes Iva , Widzisz Katarzyna Magdalena , Wang Zegao , Mateus Nuno , Guo Zheng 
Published: January 2018

AbstractNine synthetic amphiphilic phenolic lipids, varied in phenolic moiety (caffeoyl/dimethylcaffeoyl) and fatty acid chain lengths (8–18) were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature-ramp Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). FT-IR and DSC results revealed that the physical state and lateral packing of synthetic molecules were largely governed by fatty acyls. The critical micelle concentrations (CMC) of synthetic lipids was in the range of 0.1 mM to 2.5 mM, affording generation of stable oil-in-water emulsions; as evidenced by the creaming index (<5%) of emulsions stabilized by compounds C12‒C16, and C12a‒C16a after 7 days’ storage. AFM analysis revealed that compound C14 formed stable double-layers films of 5.2 nm and 6.7 nm. Application studies showed that formulations stabilized by synthesized compounds containing 30% fish oil had superior physical and oxidative stability compared to formulations containing commercial emulsifiers or their mixtures with phenolic acids. Moreover, the synthetic compounds were non-toxic against in vitro transformed keratinocytes from histologically normal skin and Caco-2 cell lines. This study demonstrates the relevance of using a natural hydroxycarboxylic acid as a flexible linker between natural antioxidants, glycerol and fatty acids to generate multifunctional amphiphiles with potential applications in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.