bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Anti-SIRPα antibody immunotherapy enhances neutrophil and macrophage antitumor activity
Authors: Ring Nan Guo , Herndler-Brandstetter Dietmar , Weiskopf Kipp , Shan Liang , Volkmer Jens-Peter , George Benson M. , Lietzenmayer Melanie , McKenna Kelly M. , Naik Tejaswitha J. , McCarty Aaron , Zheng Yunjiang , Ring Aaron M. , Flavell Richard A. , Weissman Irving L. 
Published: November 2017

SignificanceCancer immunotherapy is a promising therapeutic intervention. However, complete and durable responses are only seen in a fraction of patients who have cancer. Although cells of the myeloid lineage frequently infiltrate tumors and limit therapeutic success, currently approved immunotherapies primarily target tumor-infiltrating T and natural killer lymphocytes. The inhibitory receptor signal regulatory protein-α (SIRPα) represents a myeloid-specific immune checkpoint that engages the “don’t eat me” signal CD47. Here, we developed an anti-human SIRPα antibody, KWAR23, which in combination with tumor-opsonizing antibodies, greatly augmented neutrophil and macrophage antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Thus, KWAR23 may represent a promising candidate for combination therapies and may achieve durable responses in a greater number of patients with cancer.
Kinesin-dependent mechanism for controlling triglyceride secretion from the liver
Authors: Rai Priyanka , Kumar Mukesh , Sharma Geetika , Barak Pradeep , Das Saumitra , Kamat Siddhesh S. , Mallik Roop 
Published: November 2017

Significance
The liver secretes lipids in a controlled manner despite vast changes in its internal lipid content. This buffering function of the liver is essential for lipid/energy homeostasis, but its molecular and cellular mechanism is unknown. We show that motor protein kinesin transports lipid droplets (LDs) to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in liver cells, engineering ER−droplet contacts and supplying lipids to the ER for secretion as lipoprotein. However, when fasting induces massive lipid accumulation in liver, kinesin is removed from LDs, inhibiting lipid supply to the ER and homeostatically tempering lipid secretion from liver in a fasted state. Interestingly, reducing kinesin also blocks propagation of hepatitis-C virus inside liver cells, possibly because viral proteins cannot transfer from the ER to LDs.
International media framing
Authors: Jang Won Yong , Frederick Edward 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe relationship between Japan and South Korea has been particularly tumultuous in recent years. One of the major sources of unrest is the unresolved Dokdo (a.k.a. Takeshima) issue. This study examines the framing of the issue by four international news agencies. It explores whether international news agencies from different countries would frame the issue differently. Results suggest that the news agencies frame the issue differently depending on the agencies’ country of origin.
Spelling reformers and artificial language advocates
Authors: Garvía Roberto 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThis article explores the shifting relations that took place from the last decades of the 19th to the first years of the 20th century between two of the most innovative language movements of the time: the spelling reform and the artificial language movements. The article focuses on the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Although both movements shared a similar language ideology which run counter to the organicist perception of language and emphasized its democratic function, the article shows how the shifting political environment in which they operated affected their relation. The article identifies three stages. In a first stage, and convinced that the reform of the spelling and the promotion of an artificial, neutral language were not mutually exclusive projects, the spelling reformers were favorably inclined towards artificial language projects. In a second stage relations began to skew when some reformers advocated for the “natural Esperanto” solution, which implied the promotion of a small language to the status of the international lingua franca. In the last stage, when nationalist sentiments and international rivalries mounted, the spelling reformers broke ties with the artificial language movement and worked to improve as much as possible the international standing of their own languages.
The Association Between Serum Activin A Levels and Hypertension in the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study
Authors: Tsai Yi-Lin , Chang Chun-Chin , Liu Li-Kuo , Huang Po-Hsun , Chen Liang-Kung , Lin Shing-Jong 
Published: November 2017

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor-β cytokine family, has been shown to regulate blood pressure through the renin–angiotensin system. However, the relationship between activin A and blood pressure remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to determine whether serum activin A levels are associated with blood pressure.

METHOD
A total of 470 participants of I-Lan longitudinal Aging Study (ILAS) were eligible for this study. Serum levels of activin A were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cross-sectional analyses were performed, including comparisons of demographic characteristics, hypertensive status, and activin A levels.

RESULTS
Among the study participants (50% men, mean age, 69 years), 236 (50.2%) were hypertensive and 234 (49.8%) were normotensive. Hypertensive patients had significantly higher serum activin A levels than normotensives (normotensive vs. hypertensive: 507 ± 169 vs. 554 ± 176 pg/ml, mean ± SD, P &lt; 0.001). All subjects were divided into 3 tertiles on the basis of serum activin A levels. Increasing tertiles of activin A were associated with higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure and pulse pressure (PP) (all P &lt; 0.001). After adjusting for all the potential confounding factors, serum activin A concentration was still significantly associated with SBP (P = 0.02) and PP (P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS
Serum activin A level was associated with SBP and PP. Further studies are required to assess their causal relationship and the clinical relevance.
Unsweetening the Heart: Possible Pleiotropic Effects of SGLT2 Inhibitors on Cardio and Cerebrovascular Alterations in Resistant Hypertensive Subjects
Authors: Pioli Mariana R , Ritter Alessandra M V , Modolo Rodrigo 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Resistant hypertension (RH) is a multifactorial disease associated with several target organ damage, such as microalbuminuria, left ventricular hypertrophy, and arterial stiffness. These subjects have high cardiovascular complications, especially when associated with diabetes condition. Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors represent a new class of oral antidiabetic drugs that have shown positive effects in diabetics and even hypertensives subjects. Several studies demonstrated positive outcomes related to blood pressure levels, body weight, and glycemic control. Also found a reduction on microalbuminuria, cardiac and arterial remodeling process, and decrease in hospitalization care due heart failure. Despite these positive effects, the outcomes found for stroke were conflicted and tend neutral effect. Based on this, we sought to assess the pleiotropic effects of SGLT-2 inhibitors and the possible impact in RH subjects. In order to analyze the prospects of SGLT-2 inhibitors as a possible medication to complement the therapy manage of this high-risk class of patients.
ASElux: an ultra-fast and accurate allelic reads counter
Authors: Miao Zong , Alvarez Marcus , Pajukanta Päivi , Ko Arthur 
Published: November 2017

Abstract

Motivation
Mapping bias causes preferential alignment to the reference allele, forming a major obstacle in allele-specific expression (ASE) analysis. The existing methods, such as simulation and SNP-aware alignment, are either inaccurate or relatively slow. To fast and accurately count allelic reads for ASE analysis, we developed a novel approach, ASElux, which utilizes the personal SNP information and counts allelic reads directly from unmapped RNA-sequence (RNA-seq) data. ASElux significantly reduces runtime by disregarding reads outside single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) during the alignment.

Results
When compared to other tools on simulated and experimental data, ASElux achieves a higher accuracy on ASE estimation than non-SNP-aware aligners and requires a much shorter time than the benchmark SNP-aware aligner, GSNAP with just a slight loss in performance. ASElux can process 40 million read-pairs from an RNA-sequence (RNA-seq) sample and count allelic reads within 10 min, which is comparable to directly counting the allelic reads from alignments based on other tools. Furthermore, processing an RNA-seq sample using ASElux in conjunction with a general aligner, such as STAR, is more accurate and still ∼4× faster than STAR + WASP, and ∼33× faster than the lead SNP-aware aligner, GSNAP, making ASElux ideal for ASE analysis of large-scale transcriptomic studies. We applied ASElux to 273 lung RNA-seq samples from GTEx and identified a splice-QTL rs11078928 in lung which explains the mechanism underlying an asthma GWAS SNP rs11078927. Thus, our analysis demonstrated ASE as a highly powerful complementary tool to cis-expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis.

Availability and implementation
The software can be downloaded from https://github.com/abl0719/ASElux.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Procreative Liberty
Authors: de Melo-Martín Inmaculada 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Proponents of reprogenetics usually use a right-based liberal approach as the framework to assess and defend these technologies. They claim that reproductive choice is a basic freedom and that interfering with individuals’ autonomous reproductive choices is legitimate only when such choices clearly and seriously harm others. This chapter shows that, although appeals to procreative freedom are persuasive regarding some aspects of reproduction, they fail to settle important questions about the permissibility of reprogenetics. It calls attention to the lack of agreement on the existence and nature of reproductive liberty. It then shows that even if one agreed that reproductive liberty entails the right to procreate, further argument is needed to show that such a right also involves a right to have a particular child. It also shows that proponents’ contention that no relevant harms can be proven to result from the use of reprogenetics is unpersuasive.
Enhancing the Assessment of Reprogenetic Technologies
Authors: de Melo-Martín Inmaculada 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Mitochondrial replacement, a new technological development that allows the creation of an embryo with genetic material from three different people, two of whom are women, has been enthusiastically embraced by reprogenetic proponents. Unlike other reprogenetic technologies currently in use, mitochondrial transfer results in germline modifications. This chapter offers a more adequate assessment of reprogenetic technologies, one that attends to context, is gendered, and recognizes the value-laden nature of these technologies. It points out that even if one were to accept that these techniques have a reasonable safety profile—something for which current evidence is actually lacking—attention to the ends that these techniques will presumably help achieve, and to the values that they reinforce and oppose, calls for skepticism about their moral permissibility.
Dynamical equivalence, the origin of the Galactic field stellar and binary population, and the initial radius–mass relation of embedded clusters
Authors: Belloni Diogo , Kroupa Pavel , Rocha-Pinto Helio J , Giersz Mirek 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
In order to allow a better understanding of the origin of Galactic field populations, dynamical equivalence of stellar-dynamical systems has been postulated by Kroupa and Belloni et al. to allow mapping of solutions of the initial conditions of embedded clusters such that they yield, after a period of dynamical processing, the Galactic field population. Dynamically equivalent systems are defined to initially and finally have the same distribution functions of periods, mass ratios and eccentricities of binary stars. Here, we search for dynamically equivalent clusters using the mocca code. The simulations confirm that dynamically equivalent solutions indeed exist. The result is that the solution space is next to identical to the radius–mass relation of Marks & Kroupa, $\left( r_{\rm h}/{\rm pc} \right)= 0.1^{+0.07}_{-0.04}{\, } \left( M_{\rm ecl}/{\rm M}_{\odot } \right)^{0.13\pm 0.04}$. This relation is in good agreement with the observed density of molecular cloud clumps. According to the solutions, the time-scale to reach dynamical equivalence is about 0.5 Myr which is, interestingly, consistent with the lifetime of ultra-compact H ii regions and the time-scale needed for gas expulsion to be active in observed very young clusters as based on their dynamical modelling.
Post-Conflict Mine Action
Authors: Hofmann Ursign , Rapillard Pascal 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Contamination from remnants of conflict is a legacy of many armed conflicts, threatening the environment and human security. Addressing these hazards, reopening access to resources and livelihoods and re-establishing basic security, mine action is a critical activity in the transition from conflict to peace. Yet, clearance of remnants on land may also lead to environmental damage. Furthermore, residual risks remain after clearance and states and mine action organizations may face liability in case of accidents. This chapter examines the negative environmental impact of remnants of conflict and discusses the normative framework and good practice aimed to ensure that clearance does not further harm the environment. It is also demonstrated how mine action illustrates and is relevant to a holistic jus post bellum framework. This chapter finally scrutinizes the different challenges related to addressing liability for environmental degradation and damage to individuals from remnants of conflict and from their removal.
From Plural to Institutional Agency
Authors: Ludwig Kirk 
Published: November 2017

AbstractCan institutional agency be understood in terms of informal (plural) group agency? This book argues that the answer is ‘yes’, and more specifically that both can be understood ultimately in terms of the agency of individuals who are members of such groups and in terms of the concepts already at play in our understanding of individual agency. Thus, the book argues for a strong form of methodological individualism. It is the second part of a two-part project that extends the multiple agents account of plural agency in From Individual to Plural Agency (OUP 2016) to institutional agency. It argues that the key to understanding institutional agency is recognizing that the time-indexed institutional membership relation is socially constructed in the sense that it is a special type of status function, a status role, which is accepted by the agent who fills the role. The book analyzes constitutive rules in terms of essentially intentional patterns of collective action and status functions in terms of constitutive rules and conventions. It analyzes institutions as structures of interrelated status roles that can be successively occupied by different agents, and provides a reductive account of institutional action in terms of these roles and the notion of proxy agency, in which one agent or group acts through another who is authorized to act for them. The account is applied to both corporations and nation states.
Statistical mechanics
Authors: Allen Michael P. , Tildesley Dominic J. 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
This chapter contains the essential statistical mechanics required to understand the inner workings of, and interpretation of results from, computer simulations. The microcanonical, canonical, isothermal–isobaric, semigrand and grand canonical ensembles are defined. Thermodynamic, structural, and dynamical properties of simple and complex liquids are related to appropriate functions of molecular positions and velocities. A number of important thermodynamic properties are defined in terms of fluctuations in these ensembles. The effect of the inclusion of hard constraints in the underlying potential model on the calculated properties is considered, and the addition of long-range and quantum corrections to classical simulations is presented. The extension of statistical mechanics to describe inhomogeneous systems such as the planar gas–liquid interface, fluid membranes, and liquid crystals, and its application in the simulation of these systems, are discussed.
Magnitude of Soft-Tissue Defect as a Predictor of Free Flap Failures: Does Size Matter?
Authors: Shasti Mark , Jauregui Julio J. , Malik Awais , Slobogean Gerard , Eglseder Walter Andrew , Pensy Raymond A. 
Published: November 2017

Objectives:
To examine the relationship between the magnitude of soft-tissue defect and the risk of free-flap and limb-salvage complications/failures.

Design:
Retrospective cohort.

Setting:
Level I Trauma Center.

Patients:
One hundred twelve patients with free tissue transfers between January 2009 and June 2015.

Intervention:
A standardized approach using a consistent team of 2 orthopaedic microvascular surgeons was used for each free-flap reconstruction.

Main Outcome Measure:
Soft tissue defect size, total or partial flap failure, and unplanned reoperations.

Results:
Of 112 free-flap reconstructions, 57 complications occurred in 43-cases (38%) including 5 total flap failures (4.5%), 7 partial flap failures (6%), and 8 early (7%) and 38 delayed complications (33%). There was a significant correlation between the large defect size (≥200 cm2) and partial/total flap failure (n = 80, P = 0.023). There was also a significant correlation between large soft tissue defect size and any complication that is, total or partial failure and early or delayed unplanned return to the operating room (n = 80, P = 0.002). Of the flaps used, multivariate analysis revealed that latissimus flaps had higher odds for failure.

Conclusions:
Soft-tissue defect size ≥200 cm2 can be associated with a higher rate of total or partial flap failure and any complication in acute trauma setting, which may be due to a larger zone of injury, a higher level of difficulty in achieving complete debridement, and a more complex microvascular dissection. Current and future efforts will need to continue to focus on risk stratification for limb salvage efforts because an accurate assessment of risk is important to the patient, health care provider, and the health care system in general.

Level of Evidence:
Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Vascular Occlusion in a Porcine Flap Model: Effects on Blood Cell Concentration and Oxygenation
Authors: Bergkvist Max , Zötterman Johan , Henricson Joakim , Iredahl Fredrik , Tesselaar Erik , Farnebo Simon 
Published: November 2017

Background:
Venous congestion in skin flaps is difficult to detect. This study evaluated the ability of tissue viability imaging (TiVi) to measure changes in the concentration of red blood cells (CRBC), oxygenation, and heterogeneity during vascular provocations in a porcine fasciocutaneous flap model.

Methods:
In 5 pigs, cranial gluteal artery perforator flaps were raised (8 flaps in 5 pigs). The arterial and venous blood flow was monitored with ultrasonic flow probes. CRBC, tissue oxygenation, and heterogeneity in the skin were monitored with TiVi during baseline, 50% and 100% venous occlusion, recovery, 100% arterial occlusion and final recovery, thereby simulating venous and arterial occlusion of a free fasciocutaneous flap. A laser Doppler probe was used as a reference for microvascular perfusion in the flap.

Results:
During partial and complete venous occlusion, increases in CRBC were seen in different regions of the flap. They were more pronounced in the distal part. During complete arterial occlusion, CRBC decreased in all but the most distal parts of the flap. There were also increases in tissue oxygenation and heterogeneity during venous occlusion.

Conclusions:
TiVi measures regional changes in CRBC in the skin of the flap during arterial and venous occlusion, as well as an increase in oxygenated hemoglobin during venous occlusion that may be the result of reduced metabolism and impaired delivery of oxygen to the tissue. TiVi may provide a promising method for measuring flap viability because it is hand-held, easy to-use, and provides spatial information on venous congestion.
Concurrent Community Transmission of Enterovirus D68 With Human Rhinoviruses and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Among Children in Sendai, Japan
Authors: Metoki Takaya , Okamoto Michiko , Suzuki Akira , Kitaoka Setsuko , Miyabayashi Hiroki , Rokugo Yuka , Onuma Ryoichi , Noguchi Rie , Sato Taiki , Watanabe Yohei , Ohmiya Suguru , Sato Ko , Nishimura Hidekazu , Oshitani Hitoshi , Kumaki Satoru 
Published: November 2017

Background:
In the autumn of 2015, we experienced a surge in the number of pediatric cases of wheeze in our hospital, which was suspected to be caused by enterovirus (EV)-D68 transmission in the community. Thus, we implemented an ad hoc retrospective surveillance for EV-D68.

Methods:
Patients <15 years of age with acute respiratory infection were eligible for inclusion in this study. All enrolled patients underwent virus detection test. Additionally, neutralization tests (NTs) were performed using the stored serum samples of the enrolled patients to compare the antigenicity of the virus isolated in this study with that isolated in 2010 and evaluate the anti-EV-D68 antibody prevalence.

Results:
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was the most commonly detected virus (35%), followed by EV-D68 (19%) and non-EV-D68 enteroviruses/human rhinoviruses (14%). Patients with EV-D68 infection had higher median age than those with RSV infection (P < 0.05). Moreover, patients with EV-D68 infection showed a higher expiratory wheeze prevalence than those with non-EV-D68 enterovirus/rhinovirus and RSV infections. The antigenicity of the isolate from the current study was similar to the virus that circulated in 2010. At the early study phase, children in our community did not have high NT titers, but the median log NT titer increased from 1.5 to 5 over time (P < 0.05).

Conclusion:
This study showed the concurrent circulation of EV-D68 with non-EV-D68 enteroviruses/rhinoviruses and RSV in infants and children in our community and captured the early stage of EV-D68 transmission.