bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does Calculated Free Testosterone Overcome Total Testosterone in Protecting From Sexual Symptom Impairment? Findings of a Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Boeri Luca , Capogrosso Paolo , Ventimiglia Eugenio , Cazzaniga Walter , Pederzoli Filippo , Moretti Donatella , Dehò Federico , Montanari Emanuele , Montorsi Francesco , Salonia Andrea 
Published: December 2017

Abstract

Background
Although erectile dysfunction (ED) has been associated with low circulating total testosterone (TT) levels, the utility of free testosterone (FT) over TT is debatable.

Aim
To assess the relative impact of low TT and low calculated FT (cFT) on androgen-related sexual symptoms in men with ED.

Methods
Data from 485 men were analyzed. Comorbidities were scored with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Patients completed the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and the Beck Inventory for Depression (BDI). Descriptive statistics tested differences between patients with normal TT levels (&gt;3 ng/mL) and normal cFT levels (&gt;65 pg/mL; group 1) and men with normal TT and low cFT (group 2), low TT and normal cFT (group 3), and low TT and low cFT (group 4). Linear regression models tested the association between clinical predictors and sexual function impairment.

Outcomes
We assessed the impact of different hormonal categories on androgen-related symptoms and the clinical utility of measuring cFT in men with ED.

Results
Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 were composed of 338 (69.6%), 44 (9.1%), 34 (7.0%), and 69 (14.3%) patients, respectively. Compared with group 1, patients in group 2 were older (P &lt; .001), had a higher body mass index (P &lt; .01), and had a larger proportion with CCI scores of at least 1 (P = .006). Likewise, group 2 presented lower scores for the IIEF erectile function (P = .07), sexual desire (P = .04), and orgasmic function (P = .007) domains and lower BDI scores (P = .02) than group 1. Similar findings were found for group 4 vs 1. Conversely, patients in group 3 had similar scores on the questionnaires to those in group 1. Low cFT and normal or low TT achieved independent predictor status for pathologic IIEF domains and BDI scores after accounting for age, CCI, and body mass index. Conversely, low TT and normal cFT status was not associated with pathologic scores on the questionnaires.

Clinical Implications
The inclusion of cFT in the first-line assessment of hypogonadal symptoms in men with ED has major clinical utility.

Strengths and Limitations
This is the first study evaluating the concomitant impact of TT and cFT on men with ED using well-validated instruments to assess patients’ sexuality and depressive symptoms. Limitations are the retrospective nature of the study and lack of physical function data and bone ultrasound measurements.

Conclusions
Although normal cFT was not associated with signs and symptoms suggestive of testosterone deficiency, even when concomitant with low TT or low cFT irrespective of TT values, it was indicative of poorer clinical profiles and impaired sexual and depressive parameters compared with normal TT and normal cFT in a cohort of patients with ED.
Increased striatal activity in adolescence benefits learning
Authors: Peters S. , Crone E. A. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractAdolescence is associated with enhanced striatal activity in response to rewards. This has been linked to increased risk-taking behavior and negative health outcomes. However, striatal activity is also important for learning, yet it is unknown whether heightened striatal responses in adolescence also benefit cognitive learning performance. In this longitudinal fMRI study (736 scans spanning 5 years in participants ages 8–29), we investigate whether adolescents show enhanced striatal activity during feedback learning, and whether this enhanced activity is associated with better learning performance. Here we report that neural activity indicating sensitivity to informative value of feedback peaks in late adolescence and occurs in dorsal caudate, ventral caudate, and nucleus accumbens. Increased activity in dorsal and ventral caudate predicts better current and future learning performance. This suggests that enhanced striatal activity in adolescents is adaptive for learning and may point to adolescence as a unique life phase for increased feedback-learning performance.
Long non-coding RNA SPRY4-IT1 promotes development of hepatic cellular carcinoma by interacting with ERRα and predicts poor prognosis
Authors: Yu Guifang , Lin Jieheng , Liu Chengcheng , Hou Kailian , Liang Min , Shi Boyun 
Published: December 2017

AbstractHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has become one of the most common leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. This study investigates the role of lncRNA, SPRY4-IT1 in the development of HCC. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed and the results showed that SPRY4-IT1 expression was up-regulated in HCC tissues and high expression of SPRY4-IT1 was associated with poor 5-year overall survival in the HCC patient cohort. Clinicopathological analysis showed that the expression of SPRY4-IT1 was significantly correlated with TNM stage in HCC patients. In vitro CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, cell invasion and migration assays demonstrated that knock-down of SPRY4-IT1 suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation, cell invasion and migration in HCC cells. Flow cytometric analysis showed that knock-down of SPRY4-IT1 induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and induced apoptosis. In addition, knock-down of SPRY4-IT1 also suppressed the mRNA and protein expression of estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα). Similarly, knock-down of ERRα inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, cell invasion and migration in HCC cells. More importantly, ERRα overexpression antagonized the effects of SPRY4-IT1 knock-down on cell proliferation, colony formation, cell invasion and migration in HCC cells. Taken together, our data highlights the pivotal role of SPRY4-IT1 in the tumorigenesis of HCC.
β-Sheet Structure within the Extracellular Domain of C99 Regulates Amyloidogenic Processing
Authors: Hu Yi , Kienlen-Campard Pascal , Tang Tzu-Chun , Perrin Florian , Opsomer Rémi , Decock Marie , Pan Xiaoshu , Octave Jean-Noel , Constantinescu Stefan N. , Smith Steven O. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractFamilial mutations in C99 can increase the total level of the soluble Aβ peptides produced by proteolysis, as well as the Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, both of which are linked to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. We show that the extracellular sequence of C99 forms β-sheet structure upon interaction with membrane bilayers. Mutations that disrupt this structure result in a significant increase in Aβ production and, in specific cases, result in an increase in the amount of Aβ42 relative to Aβ40. Fourier transform infrared and solid-state NMR spectroscopic studies reveal a central β-hairpin within the extracellular sequence comprising Y10-E11-V12 and L17-V18-F19 connected by a loop involving H13-H14-Q15. These results suggest how familial mutations in the extracellular sequence influence C99 processing and provide a structural basis for the development of small molecule modulators that would reduce Aβ production.
Sex-related pharmacokinetic differences and mechanisms of metapristone (RU486 metabolite)
Authors: Chen Wenge , Xiao Yingying , Chen Jianzhong , Liu Jian , Shao Jingwei , Li Tao , Zhu Yewei , Ma Ji , Gao Yu , Wang Jichuang , Xu Jianguo , Lu Yusheng , Jia Lee 
Published: December 2017

AbstractMetapristone is the primary metabolite of the abortifacient mifepristone (RU486), and is being developed as a safe and effective cancer metastatic chemopreventive agent for both sexes. Here, we systematically investigated the sex-related pharmacokinetics of metapristone in both rats and dogs, and explored the related mechanisms of actions. Administration of metapristone to rats and dogs showed that plasma concentrations of metapristone (AUC, C
max
) were significantly higher in female dogs and rats than in males. The sex-related differences in pharmacokinetics become more significant after ten consecutive days of oral administration. Female liver microsomes metabolized metapristone significantly slower than the male ones. The results from P450 reaction phenotyping using recombinant cDNA-expressed human CYPs in conjunction with specific CYP inhibitors suggested that CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 are the predominant CYPs involved in the metapristone metabolism, which were further confirmed by the enhanced protein levels of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 induced by 1-week oral administration of metapristone to rats. The highest tissue concentration of metapristone was found in the liver. The study demonstrates, for the first time, the sex-related pharmacokinetics of metapristone, and reveals that activities of liver microsomal CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 as well as the renal clearance are primarily responsible for the sex-related pharmacokinetics.
Photonic time crystals
Authors: Zeng Lunwu , Xu Jin , Wang Chengen , Zhang Jianhua , Zhao Yuting , Zeng Jing , Song Runxia 
Published: December 2017

AbstractWhen space (time) translation symmetry is spontaneously broken, the space crystal (time crystal) forms; when permittivity and permeability periodically vary with space (time), the photonic crystal (photonic time crystal) forms. We proposed the concept of photonic time crystal and rewritten the Maxwell’s equations. Utilizing Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method, we simulated electromagnetic wave propagation in photonic time crystal and photonic space-time crystal, the simulation results show that more intensive scatter fields can obtained in photonic time crystal and photonic space-time crystal.
Electrically Tunable Fano Resonance from the Coupling between Interband Transition in Monolayer Graphene and Magnetic Dipole in Metamaterials
Authors: Liu Bo , Tang Chaojun , Chen Jing , Zhu Mingwei , Pei Mingxu , Zhu Xiaoqin 
Published: December 2017

AbstractFano resonance modulated effectively by external perturbations can find more flexible and important applications in practice. We theoretically study electrically tunable Fano resonance with asymmetric line shape over an extremely narrow frequency range in the reflection spectra of metamaterials. The metamaterials are composed of a metal nanodisk array on graphene, a dielectric spacer, and a metal substrate. The near-field plasmon hybridization between individual metal nanodisks and the metal substrate results into the excitation of a broad magnetic dipole. There exists a narrow interband transition dependent of Fermi energy E
f
, which manifests itself as a sharp spectral feature in the effective permittivity ε
g
of graphene. The coupling of the narrow interband transition to the broad magnetic dipole leads to the appearance of Fano resonance, which can be electrically tuned by applying a bias voltage to graphene to change E
f
. The Fano resonance will shift obviously and its asymmetric line shape will become more pronounced, when E
f
is changed for the narrow interband transition to progressively approach the broad magnetic dipole.
Reduced vertical displacement of the center of mass is not accompanied by reduced oxygen uptake during walking
Authors: Wurdeman S. R. , Raffalt P. C. , Stergiou N. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe six determinants of gait proposed that the goal of gait is to minimize vertical displacement of the body’s center of mass (CoM) with the objective to optimize energy expenditure. On the contrary, recent investigations suggest that reduced vertical displacement leads to an increase in energy expenditure. However, these investigations had the included subjects deliberately changing their gait, which could bias the endpoint measures. The present study investigated the effect of reduced vertical displacement of the CoM on oxygen uptake and walking economy without imposing altered gait patterns. This was accomplished by having subjects walk on a curved treadmill and on a flat treadmill. Vertical displacement of the CoM (sacrum marker displacement), oxygen uptake, walking economy, stride characteristics and lower limb joint angles were measured. There were significant differences in stride characteristics and phase dependent differences in lower limb movement pattern between the two conditions which in size were comparable to the changes observed between different speeds. The vertical displacement of the CoM was significantly reduced on the curved treadmill. This was accompanied by an increase in oxygen uptake and walking economy. These results support recent assertions that the six determinants of gait do not serve to improve walking economy.
High Dose Parenteral Ascorbate Inhibited Pancreatic Cancer Growth and Metastasis: Mechanisms and a Phase I/IIa study
Authors: Polireddy Kishore , Dong Ruochen , Reed Gregory , Yu Jun , Chen Ping , Williamson Stephen , Violet Pierre-Christian , Pessetto Ziyan , Godwin Andrew K. , Fan Fang , Levine Mark , Drisko Jeanne A. , Chen Qi 
Published: December 2017

AbstractPancreatic cancer is among the most lethal cancers with poorly tolerated treatments. There is increasing interest in using high-dose intravenous ascorbate (IVC) in treating this disease partially because of its low toxicity. IVC bypasses bioavailability barriers of oral ingestion, provides pharmacological concentrations in tissues, and exhibits selective cytotoxic effects in cancer cells through peroxide formation. Here, we further revealed its anti-pancreatic cancer mechanisms and conducted a phase I/IIa study to investigate pharmacokinetic interaction between IVC and gemcitabine. Pharmacological ascorbate induced cell death in pancreatic cancer cells with diverse mutational backgrounds. Pharmacological ascorbate depleted cellular NAD+ preferentially in cancer cells versus normal cells, leading to depletion of ATP and robustly increased α-tubulin acetylation in cancer cells. While ATP depletion led to cell death, over-acetylated tubulin led to inhibition of motility and mitosis. Collagen was increased, and cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was inhibited, accompanied with inhibition in metastasis. IVC was safe in patients and showed the possibility to prolong patient survival. There was no interference to gemcitabine pharmacokinetics by IVC administration. Taken together, these data revealed a multi-targeting mechanism of pharmacological ascorbate’s anti-cancer action, with minimal toxicity, and provided guidance to design larger definitive trials testing efficacy of IVC in treating advanced pancreatic cancer.
2:1 Atrioventricular Conduction due to Congenital Long QT Syndrome
Authors: Rai Maneesh , Ghanta Soma 
Published: December 2017

AbstractLong QT syndrome patients can present as second-degree AV block due to prolongation of refractory period. We report a case of pseudo 2:1 AV block due to long QT syndrome in which treatment differs from conventional second-degree AV block because of uncommon presentation and poor prognosis with no consensus.
Electrocardiographic Changes during Normal Pregnancy
Authors: Sumalatha Beeram , Jyotsna Maddury , Indrani Garre 
Published: December 2017

Background Pregnancy is a physiologic condition which is unique in that it alters the physiology of each organ in the body. Cardiovascular changes during pregnancy are significant and start at 6 to 8 weeks of gestation. Physiologic cardiovascular changes during pregnancy suggest the chance of altered electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters during pregnancy. Study of variations in ECG in normal pregnant women serves as a basis to detect pathologic changes in pregnant women.
Material and Methods This is a cross-sectional data of case series of pregnant women across all stages of gestation who attended antenatal clinic of our teaching hospital, on Women's Day (March 8, 2017). A 12-lead ECG was recorded in all the participants in supine position. The parameters noted from the ECG include heart rate, PR interval, QRS duration, QRS axis, corrected QT (QTc) interval, and ST-T changes.
Results Total 151 pregnant women were studied. The average age was 23.38 ± 3.49 years. With respect to gestational age, 12 (7.94%), 48 (31.78%), and 91 (60.26%) women were in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. With respect to parity, 60 (39.7%) were primigravidae and 91 (60.26%) were multigravidae. The mean ECG heart rate was increased (100.15 ± 12.48 beats/min). The mean systolic blood pressure (109.67 ± 9.34 mm Hg) and the mean diastolic blood pressure (71.32 ± 6.89 mm Hg) were decreased. The mean of ECG intervals and durations (PR, QRS, QTc) were in normal range (0.14 ± 0.01, 0.08 ± 0.008, and 407.83 ± 11.98, respectively). There was no abnormal P-wave dispersion. Even though the QTc was in normal range in 63.56% of pregnant women, this parameter was in upper quadrant of the normal range. General linear regression demonstrated that systolic blood pressure and palpitations were the only variables to independently predict QTc in upper quadrant of normal range (p = 0.05, 0.03, respectively).
Conclusion The cardiovascular hemodynamic adaptation to pregnancy is a well-established fact that is also seen in our study. There is shortening of PR interval and QRS duration. Even though QTc is with in normal range, in more than half (63.56%) of pregnant women, it is in the upper quadrant of the normal range.
The Role of Hair Transplantation for Managing Facial Trauma
Authors: Kuka Gorana , Epstein Jeffrey 
Published: December 2017

AbstractOftentimes, multiple treatment modalities are indicated for the management of trauma to the face. When this trauma involves a hair-bearing area, such as the eyebrow, eyelid, or beard region, hair transplantation can be an effective modality. While most of these facial hair transplants are performed for elective cosmetic indications, advanced techniques of hair transplantation can assure aesthetic outcomes in the optimizing of appearance after trauma. Because hair regrowth requires a good recipient bed, adjuvant therapies to promote vascularization, such as fat transfer and platelet-rich plasma, can be applied in conjunction with hair transplantation. The authors review the indications and the essential techniques of graft harvesting by follicular unit extraction and follicular unit grafting, and recipient site formation and graft planting and management, and present different case examples illustrating these technique.
Helicobacter pylori siedelt gerne auf Mandel-Gewebe
Authors: Lorenz Kai J. 
Published: December 2017

Siupsinskiene N et al. Helicobacter pylori in the tonsillar tissue: a possible association with chronic tonsillitis and laryngopharyngeal reflux.
J Laryngol Otol 2017; 131: 549–55
Wie häufig finden sich Helicobacter pylori Infektionen in den Gaumenmandeln und welcher Zusammenhang besteht zwischen H. pylori, den
soziodemografischen Patientendaten und dem laryngopharyngealen Reflux?
Metabolic activity induces membrane phase separation in endoplasmic reticulum
Authors: Shen Yihui , Zhao Zhilun , Zhang Luyuan , Shi Lingyan , Shahriar Sanjid , Chan Robin B. , Di Paolo Gilbert , Min Wei 
Published: December 2017

Significance
Membranes can adopt distinct phases. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the largest membrane system inside cells and also harbors the richest metabolic activity including lipid synthesis. Unlike plasma membrane where separated “lipid raft” domains have been predicted and observed, ER membrane is thought to be uniformly fluidic. However, such understanding is based on biophysical studies of model membrane under thermodynamic equilibrium. It remains unclear whether and how lipid synthesis activity perturbs the equilibrium and promotes phase segregation in ER membrane. Herein, we utilized coherent Raman imaging technique to track lipid synthesis and surprisingly revealed solid-like domains emerging from liquid ER membrane. Interestingly, this phenomenon can be tuned by the incoming nutrient source, demonstrating the susceptibility of ER membrane to nonequilibrium modulation.
Effects of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on anxiety-like behavior in socially isolated rats
Authors: Oshima Yasuyo , Watanabe Tasuku , Endo Shun , Hata Shuichi , Watanabe Tsuyoshi , Osada Kyoichi , Takenaka Asako 
Published: December 2017

Abstract
The effects of fish oil for improving mental health have been reported. The present study was undertaken to compare the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on anxiety-like behavior using a rat model. Experimental diets enriched in EPA or DHA as glycerides were prepared. Rats were exposed to social isolation stress and fed the experimental diet for 14 days. The results of behavioral tests revealed that rats fed the EPA-enriched diet exhibited less anxiety-like behavior than rats fed the control or DHA-enriched diets. Furthermore, EPA suppressed anxiety-like behavior only in socially isolated rats. The increase in EPA contents in the brain phospholipid fraction by feeding EPA-enriched diet was more significant than that of DHA by feeding DHA-enriched diet. These results suggest that dietary EPA is more anxiolytic than DHA in rats exposed to social isolation stress and is effective in increasing EPA content in brain membranes.
Bicycle: a bioinformatics pipeline to analyze bisulfite sequencing data
Authors: Graña Osvaldo , López-Fernández Hugo , Fdez-Riverola Florentino , González Pisano David , Glez-Peña Daniel 
Published: December 2017

Abstract

Summary
High-throughput sequencing of bisulfite-converted DNA is a technique used to measure DNA methylation levels. Although a considerable number of computational pipelines have been developed to analyze such data, none of them tackles all the peculiarities of the analysis together, revealing limitations that can force the user to manually perform additional steps needed for a complete processing of the data. This article presents bicycle, an integrated, flexible analysis pipeline for bisulfite sequencing data. Bicycle analyzes whole genome bisulfite sequencing data, targeted bisulfite sequencing data and hydroxymethylation data. To show how bicycle overtakes other available pipelines, we compared them on a defined number of features that are summarized in a table. We also tested bicycle with both simulated and real datasets, to show its level of performance, and compared it to different state-of-the-art methylation analysis pipelines.

Availability and implementation
Bicycle is publicly available under GNU LGPL v3.0 license at http://www.sing-group.org/bicycle. Users can also download a customized Ubuntu LiveCD including bicycle and other bisulfite sequencing data pipelines compared here. In addition, a docker image with bicycle and its dependencies, which allows a straightforward use of bicycle in any platform (e.g. Linux, OS X or Windows), is also available.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.