bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial Effects of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized by Fatsia japonica Leaf Extracts for Preservation of Citrus Fruits
Authors: Zhang Jing , Si Guoguo , Zou Jun , Fan Ruiliang , Guo Ailing , Wei Xuetuan 
Published: July 2017

AbstractDue to their potent antimicrobial activity, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by biomass might be promising in food preservation, whereas effects of AgNPs on Penicillium italicum‐induced rot of Citrus fruits have not been investigated. In this study, a novel AgNPs biosynthesis method was developed based on Fatsia japonica leaf extracts. It was revealed that concentrations of leaf extracts, AgNO3 and NaCl affected AgNPs yields and particle sizes obviously. Under the optimized conditions (8 mg/mL extracts, 2 mM AgNO3 and 1 mM NaCl), AgNPs, synthesized within 80 min, showed potent preservative effect against P. italicum‐induced rot of Citrus fruits. Furthermore, inhibition test and TEM analysis indicated that as‐synthesized AgNPs caused cell deformation, cytoplasmic leakage, and thereupon cell death of P. italicum. Moreover, AgNPs had significant antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which might be beneficial for Citrus fruits preservation. Altogether this study develops an efficient AgNPs synthesis method and a novel preservation method for Citrus fruits.
High‐dose Humanin analogue applied during ischemia exerts cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion injury by reducing mitochondrial dysfunction
Authors: Thummasorn Savitree , Shinlapawittayatorn Krekwit , Chattipakorn Siriporn C. , Chattipakorn Nipon 
Published: July 2017

SummaryAimAlthough the gold standard treatment for acute myocardial infarction is reperfusion therapy, reperfusion itself can cause myocardial damage via induction of cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction. This can lead to increased myocardial infarct size, arrhythmias, and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. Recently, a newly discovered peptide, Humanin, has been shown to exert several beneficial effects including antioxidative and antiapoptosis effects. We recently reported that a Humanin analogue (HNG, 84 μg/kg) given prior to cardiac ischemia exerted cardioprotection against I/R injury, but failed to do so when it was given after ischemia was induced. However, in a clinical setting, patients can only be treated after the onset of ischemia. In this study, we investigated the potential benefit of various doses of HNG therapy (84, 168, 252 μg/kg) against myocardial I/R injury when applied during ischemia on cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial infarct size, cardiac mitochondrial function, and LV function.MethodsMyocardial I/R injury was induced in rats by 30‐minute left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion, followed by 120‐minute of reperfusion. HNG at the different doses were given intravenously at 15 minutes after ischemic onset and also at the onset of reperfusion.ResultsHNG (252 μg/kg) applied during the ischemic period not only increased HN levels in the damaged myocardium, but also significantly decreased cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial infarct size, cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction, and left ventricular dysfunction. These benefits were mediated through the attenuation of cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction.ConclusionsHigh‐dose HN applied during ischemia in rats could exert cardioprotection against I/R injury‐induced mitochondrial dysfunction.
Classifying ecosystems with metaproperties from terrestrial laser scanner data
Authors: Paynter Ian , Genest Daniel , Saenz Edward , Peri Francesco , Boucher Peter , Li Zhan , Strahler Alan , Schaaf Crystal 
Published: July 2017

Abstract

In this study, we introduce metaproperty analysis of terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) data, and demonstrate its application through several ecological classification problems. Metaproperty analysis considers pulse level and spatial metrics derived from the hundreds of thousands to millions of lidar pulses present in a single scan from a typical contemporary instrument. In such large aggregations, properties of the populations of lidar data reflect attributes of the underlying ecological conditions of the ecosystems.
In this study, we provide the Metaproperty Classification Model to employ TLS metaproperty analysis for classification problems in ecology. We applied this to a proof‐of‐concept study, which classified 88 scans from rooms and forests with 100% accuracy, to serve as a template.
We then applied the Metaproperty Classification Model in earnest, to separate scans from temperate and tropical forests with 97.09% accuracy (N = 224), and to classify scans from inland and coastal tropical rainforests with 84.07% accuracy (N = 270).
The results demonstrate the potential for metaproperty analysis to identify subtle and important ecosystem conditions, including diseases and anthropogenic disturbances. Metaproperty analysis serves as an augmentation to contemporary object reconstruction applications of TLS in ecology, and can characterize regional heterogeneity.
Transperitoneal rectus sheath block and transversus abdominis plane block for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair: A novel approach
Authors: Nagata Jun , Watanabe Jun , Nagata Masato , Sawatsubashi Yusuke , Akiyama Masaki , Tajima Takehide , Arase Koichi , Minagawa Noritaka , Torigoe Takayuki , Nakayama Yoshifumi , Horishita Reiko , Kida Kentaro , Hamada Kotaro , Hirata Keiji 
Published: July 2017

AbstractIntroductionA laparoscopic approach for inguinal hernia repair is now considered the gold standard. Laparoscopic surgery is associated with a significant reduction in postoperative pain. Epidural analgesia cannot be used in patients with perioperative anticoagulant therapy because of complications such as epidural hematoma. As such, regional anesthetic techniques, such as ultrasound‐guided rectus sheath block and transversus abdominis plane block, have become increasingly popular. However, even these anesthetic techniques have potential complications, such as rectus sheath hematoma, if vessels are damaged. We report the use of a transperitoneal laparoscopic approach for rectus sheath block and transversus abdominis plane block as a novel anesthetic procedure.Material and Surgical TechniqueAn 81‐year‐old woman with direct inguinal hernia underwent laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal inguinal repair. Epidural anesthesia was not performed because anticoagulant therapy was administered. A Peti‐needle™ was delivered through the port, and levobupivacaine was injected though the peritoneum. Surgery was performed successfully, and the anesthetic technique did not affect completion of the operative procedure. The patient was discharged without any complications.DiscussionThis technique was feasible, and the procedure was performed safely. Our novel analgesia technique has potential use as a standard postoperative regimen in various laparoscopic surgeries. Additional prospective studies to compare it with other techniques are required.
Chitosan‐Fe (III) Complex as a Phosphate Chelator in Uraemic Rats: A Novel Treatment Option
Authors: do Carmo Wander Barros , Castro Bárbara Bruna Abreu , Rodrigues Clóvis Antônio , Custódio Melani Ribeiro , Sanders‐Pinheiro Helady 
Published: July 2017

AbstractPhosphate retention and hyperphosphataemia are associated with increased mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We tested the use of cross‐linked iron chitosan III (CH‐FeCl) as a potential phosphate chelator in rats with CKD. We evaluated 96 animals, divided equally into four groups (control, CKD, CH‐FeCl and CKD/CH‐FeCl), over 7 weeks. We induced CKD by feeding animals an adenine‐enriched diet (0.75% in the first 4 weeks and 0.1% in the following 3 weeks). We administered 30 mg/kg daily of the test polymer, by gavage, from the third week until the end of the study. All animals received a diet supplemented with 1% phosphorus. Uraemia was confirmed by the increase in serum creatinine in week 4 (36.24 ± 18.56 versus 144.98 ± 22.1 μmol/L; p = 0.0001) and week 7 (41.55 ± 22.1 versus 83.98 ± 18.56 μmol/L; p = 0.001) in CKD animals. Rats from the CKD group treated with CH‐FeCl had a 54.5% reduction in serum phosphate (6.10 ± 2.23 versus 2.78 ± 0.55 mmol/L) compared to a reduction of 25.6% in the untreated CKD group (4.75 ± 1.45 versus 3.52 ± 0.74 mmol/L, p = 0.021), between week 4 and week 7. At week 7, renal function in both CKD groups was similar (serum creatinine: 83.98 ± 18.56 versus 83.10 ± 23.87 μmol/L, p = 0.888); however, the CH‐FeCl‐treated rats had a reduction in phosphate overload measured by fractional phosphate excretion (FEPi) (0.71 ± 0.2 versus 0.4 ± 0.16, p = 0.006) compared to the untreated CKD group. Our study demonstrated that CH‐FeCl had an efficient chelating action on phosphate.
Competition for natural resources and the hold‐up problem
Authors: Hefeker Carsten , Kessing Sebastian G. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractWe study the role of competition for the hold‐up problem in foreign direct investment in resource‐based industries. The host country government is not only unable to commit not to expropriate investment ex post but also unable to commit to the provision of local resources. In the case of competition for local resources, this dual commitment problem triggers higher investment levels and increases host country revenues, but hurts profits of international investors.
Increased fibre and reduced trans fatty acid intake are primary predictors of metabolic improvement in overweight polycystic ovary syndrome—Substudy of randomized trial between diet, exercise and diet plus exercise for weight control
Authors: Nybacka Åsa , Hellström Per M. , Hirschberg Angelica L. 
Published: July 2017

SummaryObjectivePolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is commonly affected by obesity. PCOS phenotypes are prone to increased waist/hip ratio, insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia. This substudy was undertaken to evaluate the effects of lifestyle interventions on metabolic biomarkers in overweight/obese PCOS women and the interventional effects of dietary components related to metabolic outcomes.DesignRandomized three‐arm parallel study.PatientsFifty‐seven PCOS women body mass index (BMI >27 kg/m2, age 18‐40) were randomly assigned to diet (D, n = 19), exercise (E, n = 19) or diet plus exercise (DE, n = 19) in three‐arm fashion over 16 weeks. The D group received nutritional counselling by a dietician to reduce their energy intake by at least 600 kcal/d. The E group received an ambulatory exercise regimen from a physiotherapist. The DE group had both interventions.MeasurementsSelf‐reported food intake over 4 days, exercise pedometers, BMI, waist/hip ratio, blood pressure, body composition and oral glucose tolerance test were performed before and at the end of intervention.ResultsBMI, waist circumference and total cholesterol were significantly reduced in the D and DE groups, as well as low‐density lipoprotein and Homeostasis Model of Assessment index in the D group. In the E group, exercise was increased along with a decrease in BMI and waist circumference. The strongest predictor of reduced BMI was increased fibre intake (−0.44, P = .03), while a decrease in trans fatty acid intake predicted reduced insulinogenic index (0.44, P < .01).ConclusionsNutritional counselling with dieting is clearly effective to improve metabolic disturbances in overweight/obese women with PCOS. Increased fibre and reduced trans fatty acid intake are primary predictors of metabolic improvement and weight control.
Impact of plant cover on the cavity‐nesting ant Temnothorax crassispinus
Authors: MITRUS SŁAWOMIR , MOROŃ DAWID , NOWAK ARKADIUSZ 
Published: July 2017

1. Plant communities influence the availability of important resources for ants, such as nest sites and food, as well as environmental conditions. Thus, plants affect the abundance and distribution of ants.2. In a field experiment, the influence of plant cover on the settlement of nest sites and per‐capita productivity of sexual individuals by the ant Temnothorax crassispinus was analysed. In July 2014, in five areas with patches of alien balsam Impatiens parviflora, and another five of native balsam I. noli‐tangere, transects composed of artificial nests were established; the nest sites were situated inside patches of balsams, and outside of them. Four hundred and forty artificial nests were used. One year later, the nests were collected.3. Colonies of the ants three times more often inhabited nest sites outside the patches of both balsams. Besides, colonies with queens were more frequently found in nest sites located away from balsams. The per‐capita productivity of sexual individuals was higher in nests collected in patches of balsam, and the colonies from patches of alien balsam produced a more female‐biased sex ratio.4. In terms of the impact on the ant, no clear differences were found between the alien balsam and the native one. The most important factor affecting the fitness of ants in areas dominated by balsams is the presence of herbaceous plant cover rather than whether the plant is alien or native.
Glucocorticoid assessment in the domestic horse: The impacts of time and climatic variables on sample integrity
Authors: Yarnell K. , Walker S. L. 
Published: July 2017

SummaryBackgroundAssessment of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) offers a noninvasive method of monitoring adrenal activity in domestic horses. Samples are collected on an opportunistic basis and, if they are not fresh or have been exposed to the elements before they are identified, may not accurately reflect FGM concentrations.ObjectivesTo explore the impact of a range of environmental conditions upon the integrity of FGM levels in equine faeces.Study designIn vitro experiment.MethodEquine faeces were exposed to six controlled environmental conditions intended to simulate a range of weather and seasonal patterns (temperate climate, high heat, high heat and rainfall, temperate climate and rainfall, high heat/temperate climate, freeze/thaw) over a period of 5 days. FGM were quantified using an enzyme‐linked immunoassay.ResultsFaecal samples exposed to room temperature and high heat demonstrated significant increases in FGM levels over time. No changes in FGM levels were observed in the remaining treatments.Main limitationsThe study should be repeated in field conditions and with known high and low levels of FGM to further inform sampling regimes.ConclusionsAdrenal monitoring in the domestic horse should be performed with consideration of the impact of climate on the integrity of faecal samples in order to further inform sampling schedules and improve the reliability of results.
How We Invest
Authors: Bloomberg Michael , Pope Carl 
Published: July 2017

In this chapter from their new book, Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet, the founder of Bloomberg LP and former mayor of New York City collaborates with the former executive director of the Sierra Club in showing how the pursuit of profit by companies and their investors is playing an important role in the battle against global warming. Climate change is shown as posing a series of discrete, manageable challenges—such as accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy—that have spurred a search for solutions that promise to make our society healthier and stronger. National governments, the authors argue, are not the best places to create or carry out these solutions. Rather, it is the mayors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, activists, concerned citizens, and other local actors who have the strongest incentives as well as the power and means to win the battle against climate change—and in ways that have already begun to generate economic growth and improve public health.State governors and mayors of cities around the U.S., in red and blue states alike, have been responsible for much of this progress. Cities and states have negotiated contracts with local utilities to provide greater amounts of clean energy, and used combinations of public and private capital to fund rapid transit, waste‐water treatment, and other infrastructure programs. But an equally important if not larger role is now being played by business. Companies large and small, with the backing of a growing number of environmentally conscious but resolutely profit‐seeking investors, are finding ways to reduce waste and strengthen worker protection and morale throughout supply chains that are providing increasingly climatefriendly products and services.The authors' bottom line, then, is that preventing climate change will require more than goodwill and government regulation. It will take the profit motive, a force that that many environmentalists have long viewed with suspicion. While acknowledging the past efforts of socially responsible investment funds that have shown a willingness to sacrifice returns, the authors conclude that the enlightened self‐interest of value‐seeking investors may well prove more effective than the “beneficence” of social investors and philanthropists in producing investments of sufficient scale and practical efficacy to meet the challenges of global warming.
The SEC and Improving Sustainability Reporting
Authors: Higgins Keith , White John , Beller Alan , Schapiro Mary 
Published: July 2017

In this discussion that took place at the SASB 2016 Symposium, the former Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission explores recent developments in corporate sustainability reporting with three Directors—two past and one current—of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance (or “CorpFin”). The consensus of the panelists was that investors want companies to provide more and better disclosure of their ESG exposures, particularly climate change, and their plans to manage those exposures. According to the current director of CorpFin, the most common demand expressed in the thousands of “comment letters” elicited by the SEC's recent concept release was for more and better sustainability information. And among the many issues cited by investors in those letters, including economic inequality, corruption, indigenous rights, and community relations, the subject of greatest interest by far was climate change.While none of the panelists claimed to see private‐sector demand for SEC action and a new set of mandatory requirements, all seemed to agree that many companies would welcome the establishment of voluntary guidelines and standards for providing ESG information—and that the guidelines recently developed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board are a promising model. For companies in each of 79 different industries, the SASB has identified a specific set of “material” concerns along with metrics or KPIs that can be used to evaluate corporate performance in responding to those concerns. Perhaps the most important advantage of this approach is that, by limiting such reporting to material exposures (and so adhering to a principle that has long informed SEC requirements), the SASB guidelines should significantly increase the relevance and value to investors—while possibly holding down the costs—of the sustainability reports that large companies in the U.S. and abroad have been producing for decades.But, as the former SEC Chair also notes in closing, the adoption of such guidelines by companies should be viewed as just a first step toward improving disclosure. To help companies develop the most useful and cost‐effective disclosure practices, investors themselves will have to become more active in communicating their own demands and preferences for information.
The mother–offspring dyad: microbial transmission, immune interactions and allergy development
Authors: Jenmalm M. C. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe increasing prevalence of allergy in affluent countries may be caused by reduced intensity and diversity of microbial stimulation, resulting in abnormal postnatal immune maturation. Most studies investigating the underlying immunomodulatory mechanisms have focused on postnatal microbial exposure, for example demonstrating that the gut microbiota differs in composition and diversity during the first months of life in children who later do or do not develop allergic disease. However, it is also becoming increasingly evident that the maternal microbial environment during pregnancy is important in childhood immune programming, and the first microbial encounters may occur already in utero. During pregnancy, there is a close immunological interaction between the mother and her offspring, which provides important opportunities for the maternal microbial environment to influence the immune development of the child. In support of this theory, combined pre‐ and postnatal supplementations seem to be crucial for the preventive effect of probiotics on infant eczema. Here, the influence of microbial and immune interactions within the mother–offspring dyad on childhood allergy development will be discussed. In addition, how perinatal transmission of microbes and immunomodulatory factors from mother to offspring may shape appropriate immune maturation during infancy and beyond, potentially via epigenetic mechanisms, will be examined. Deeper understanding of these interactions between the maternal and offspring microbiome and immunity is needed to identify efficacious preventive measures to combat the allergy epidemic.
Enhancing children's literacy skills: designing the Q‐Tales ecosystem for children's e‐book design and publication
Authors: Thompson Long Bonnie , Hall Tony , Hogan Michael , Papastamatiou Nikos 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThis article describes the conceptualisation and development of a pedagogical framework to support the design of e‐books for children to enhance literacy development. It emerged from research undertaken within the Q‐Tales international consortium project of the EU's Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and Innovation, where the aim was to facilitate key stakeholders to collaborate and participate in the online production and publication of high‐quality, educational e‐books for children. The pedagogical framework described here sought to answer the question “What concepts and principles undergird the effective design of pedagogically impactful e‐books for children?” It is grounded by the theoretical underpinnings of socio‐constructivism, constructionism and skill theory, and how they relate to children's literacy development. A framework describing different narrative forms and component features, key pedagogical activities appropriate for different stages of reading development and design recommendations regarding the integration of multimedia into e‐books are also central to the pedagogical framework. As well as informing the design of the Q‐Tales infrastructure for children's e‐book design and publication, we hope the guidelines and pedagogical activities enumerated here will be widely useful for those designing and developing digital, interactive narratives, particularly e‐books to enhance children's emerging literacy.
All's fair in love and war
Authors: Scheidel Walter 
Published: July 2017

Walter Scheidel's monumental new study traces the global history of inequality from the Stone Age to today, and shows that inequality never dies peacefully. His claim – that inequality declines when carnage and disaster strike and increases when peace and stability return – is of critical importance to debates about the future of equality.In this interview, IPPR Progressive Review discuss the crucial role of violent shocks in reducing inequality over the full sweep of human history around the world and what lessons progressives can draw in trying to promote inequality in the future.