bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Upconversion Nanocarriers Encapsulated with Photoactivatable Ru Complexes for Near‐Infrared Light‐Regulated Enzyme Activity
Authors: Chen Zhijun , Thiramanas Raweewan , Schwendy Mischa , Xie Chaoming , Parekh Sapun H. , Mailänder Volker , Wu Si 
Published: October 2017

AbstractEnzyme activity is important for metabolism, cell functions, and treating diseases. However, remote control of enzyme activity in deep tissue remains a challenge. This study demonstrates near‐infrared (NIR) light‐regulated enzyme activity in living cells based on upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) and a photoactivatable Ru complex. The Ru complex is a caged enzyme inhibitor that can be activated by blue light. To prepare a nanocarrier for NIR photoinhibition of enzyme activity, a UCNP and the caged enzyme inhibitors are encapsulated in a hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticle. In such a nanocarrier, the UCNP can harvest NIR light and convert it into blue light, which can activate the caged enzyme inhibitors. This photoactivation process is feasible in deep tissue because of the tissue penetration ability of NIR light. The nanocarrier is compatible to LNCaP, PC3, and SAOS‐2 cells, which show high enzyme expression. NIR irradiation induces release of the inhibitors and inhibition of enzyme activity in living cells. NIR light provides high spatiotemporal resolution to regulate enzyme activity in deep tissue.
Directed Assembly of Gold Nanorods by Terminal‐Base Pairing of Surface‐Grafted DNA
Authors: Wang Guoqing , Akiyama Yoshitsugu , Kanayama Naoki , Takarada Tohru , Maeda Mizuo 
Published: October 2017

AbstractDirected assemblies of anisotropic metal nanoparticles exhibit attractive physical and chemical properties. However, an effective methodology to prepare differently directed assemblies from the same anisotropic nanoparticles is not yet available. Gold nanorods (AuNRs) region‐selectively modified with different DNA strands can form side‐by‐side (SBS) and end‐to‐end (ETE) assemblies in a non‐crosslinking manner. When the complementary DNA is hybridized to the surface‐bound DNA, stacking interaction between the blunt ends takes place in the designated regions. Such AuNRs assemble into highly ordered structures, assisted by capillary forces emerging on the substrate surface. Moreover, insertion of a mercury(II)‐mediated thymine–thymine base pair into the periphery of the DNA layer allows selective formation of the SBS or ETE assemblies from the strictly identical AuNRs with or without mercury(II).
Software quality model for a research‐driven organization—An experience report
Authors: Wolski Marcin , Walter Bartosz , Kupiński Szymon , Chojnacki Jakub 
Published: October 2017

AbstractIn the paper, we present a measurement framework for evaluating quality in software products developed within the research and innovation framework project GÉANT. The proposed framework is based on the quality models by Boehm and McCall, but also addresses the presence and point of view of a third stakeholder: an external funding agency (EU), which has started and is temporally financing the project, but aims at making it self‐financing in the future. We also provide results of evaluation of 2 projects from the GÉANT ecosystem and one open‐source system with this framework.
Li4Ti5O12 Anode: Structural Design from Material to Electrode and the Construction of Energy Storage Devices
Authors: Chen Zhijie , Li Honsen , Wu Langyuan , Lu Xiaoxia , Zhang Xiaogang 
Published: October 2017

AbstractSpinel Li4Ti5O12, known as a zero‐strain material, is capable to be a competent anode material for promising applications in state‐of‐art electrochemical energy storage devices (EESDs). Compared with commercial graphite, spinel Li4Ti5O12 offers a high operating potential of ∼1.55 V vs Li/Li+, negligible volume expansion during Li+ intercalation process and excellent thermal stability, leading to high safety and favorable cyclability. Despite the merits of Li4Ti5O12 been presented, there still remains the issue of Li4Ti5O12 suffering from poor electronic conductivity, manifesting disadvantageous rate performance. Typically, a material modification process of Li4Ti5O12 will be proposed to overcome such an issue. However, the previous reports have made few investigations and achievements to analyze the subsequent processes after a material modification process. In this review, we attempt to put considerable interest in complete device design and assembly process with its material structure design (or modification process), electrode structure design and device construction design. Moreover, we have systematically concluded a series of representative design schemes, which can be divided into three major categories involving: (1) nanostructures design, conductive material coating process and doping process on material level; (2) self‐supporting or flexible electrode structure design on electrode level; (3) rational assembling of lithium ion full cell or lithium ion capacitor on device level. We believe that these rational designs can give an advanced performance for Li4Ti5O12‐based energy storage device and deliver a deep inspiration.
Hearing crosstalk: the molecular conversation orchestrating inner ear dorsoventral patterning
Authors: Ohta Sho , Schoenwolf Gary C. 
Published: October 2017

The inner ear is a structurally and functionally complex organ that functions in balance and hearing. It originates during neurulation as a localized thickened region of rostral ectoderm termed the otic placode, which lies adjacent to the developing caudal hindbrain. Shortly after the otic placode forms, it invaginates to delineate the otic cup, which quickly pinches off of the surface ectoderm to form a hollow spherical vesicle called the otocyst; the latter gives rise dorsally to inner ear vestibular components and ventrally to its auditory component. Morphogenesis of the otocyst is regulated by secreted proteins, such as WNTs, BMPs, and SHH, which determine its dorsoventral polarity to define vestibular and cochlear structures and sensory and nonsensory cell fates. In this review, we focus on the crosstalk that occurs among three families of secreted molecules to progressively polarize and pattern the developing otocyst. WIREs Dev Biol 2018, 7:e302. doi: 10.1002/wdev.302This article is categorized under:

Establishment of Spatial and Temporal Patterns > Gradients
Signaling Pathways > Cell Fate Signaling
Vertebrate Organogenesis > From a Tubular Primordium: Non‐Branched
Extended Serum Lipid Profile Predicting Long‐Term Survival in Patients Treated for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Authors: Khan Niina , Lyytikäinen Leo‐Pekka , Khan Jahangir , Seppälä Ilkka , Lehtomäki Antti , Kuorilehto Tommi , Suominen Velipekka , Lehtimäki Terho , Oksala Niku 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBackgroundIndividuals treated for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are high‐risk patients in whom better risk prediction could improve survival. Contemporary serum lipid parameters, such as apolipoproteins and lipoprotein subfractions, may improve or complement the prognostic value of traditional serum lipids. The aim of this study was to ascertain the extended serum lipid profiles, long‐term prognosis and their association in AAA patients.MethodsAltogether 498 patients treated for AAAs and with available serum lipid values were retrospectively analysed. Contemporary lipid parameters were estimated using a neural network model, the extended Friedewald formula.ResultsYounger age, smoking and urgent or emergency surgery were associated with an unfavourable, and coronary disease and previous stroke with a favourable lipid profile. In multivariable analysis—in addition to advanced age, aneurysm rupture, smoking, pulmonary disease and diabetes—high triglycerides and traditional LDL cholesterol were significant independent risk factors for mortality, HR 1.84 (95% CI 1.20–2.81) and 1.79 (95% CI 1.18–2.73), respectively, while higher EFW‐IDL cholesterol was associated with better survival, HR 0.31 (95% CI 0.19–0.65). Including serum lipid parameters improved the prediction of 5‐year survival (NRI = 17.7%, p = 0.016).ConclusionsExtended serum lipid parameters complement risk prediction of patients treated for AAAs. An unfavourable lipid profile is associated with treatment of AAA earlier in life and with inferior long‐term survival.
Therapeutic potential of HIV nosode 30c as evaluated in A549 lung cancer cells
Authors: Mondal Jesmin , Shah Rajesh , Khuda-Bukhsh Anisur Rahman 
Published: October 2017

Objectives: To examine if HIV nosode in 30c dilution (HIV 30c) has therapeutic potential against lung cancer cells (A549) as compared to WRL-68 normal cells and to elucidate its possible molecular mechanism of action on DNA replication and apoptosis.Methods: Effects of HIV 30c were thoroughly tested for its possible anticancer potential on A549 cells (lung cancer); WRL-68 normal liver cells served as control. Three doses, one at LD50 and two below LD-50, were used. Proliferation, migration and senescence assays were made and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) studied by routine techniques. The ability of HIV 30c to induce apoptosis in A549 cells and its possible signalling pathway were determined using immunoblots of relevant signal proteins and confocal microscopy, including studies on telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and topoisomerase II (Top II) activities, intimately associated with cell division and DNA replication.Results: HIV 30c prevented cancer cell proliferation and migration, induced pre-mature senescence, enhanced pro-apoptotic signal proteins like p53, bax, cytochrome c, caspase-3 and inhibited anti-apoptotic signal proteins Bcl2, TERT and Top II, changed mitochondrial membrane potential and caused externalization of phosphatidyl serine. Thus, it induced apoptosis as also evidenced from increase in cells with distorted membrane morphology, nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation, and ROS, typical of apoptosis in progress.Conclusion: HIV 30c nosode has therapeutic potential for inducing cytotoxic effects on A549 cells as manifested by changes in nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation, ROS generation and MMP, and for its inhibitory action on cell proliferation, cell migration, expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase and Top II genes, and increasing expression of pro-apoptotic genes.
Modification of standard laparoscopic total extra peritoneal hernia repair technique: Methods to improve feasibility in the UK health service
Authors: Hanif Zulfiqar , Sajid Mohammad Ahmed , Pandya Rishi , Shanmugarajah Kumaran , Mahmud Sajid 
Published: October 2017

Abstract
Laparoscopic Hernia repair is a commonly performed procedure with inguinal hernias affecting 27% of males and 3% of females during their lifetime. Hernia repairs have a significant implication for the health service in the UK. Current guidance advocates bilateral or recurrent hernias should be treated where possible laparoscopically and offered also offered to patients with primary unilateral hernias. With the technique being more expensive than open repair, we promote the utilization of a modified technique which significantly reduces equipment costs making it more attractive and viable.
The aim of this study was to compare the true costs for day case laparoscopic total extraperitoneal (TEP) hernia repair using a technique which minimizes the utilization of disposable equipment and relatively expensive materials with that in which the use of such equipment and material was routine. We quantify the savings that can be made to hospitals by implementing this modification.

Highlights
Syncope in patients with inherited arrhythmias
Authors: Nakano Yukiko , Wataru Shimizu 
Published: October 2017

AbstractSyncope, a common symptom of cerebral ischemia often shows a multifactorial etiopathogenesis. Although inherited arrhythmias causing syncope is uncommon, such an occurrence could be a warning sign preceding cardiac arrest. Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a typical inherited arrhythmia causing syncope in children. Early diagnosis and treatment of LQTS using beta‐blockers prevents recurrent syncope in LQTS. Brugada syndrome, another typical inherited arrhythmia causes syncope or sudden cardiac arrest in young individuals. Syncope as a symptom is useful for risk stratification of fatal arrhythmias and in selection of appropriate therapy. Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, another rare inherited arrhythmia causing recurrent syncope is associated with poor outcomes without medication. Early detection and therapeutic intervention improve prognosis; thus, correct diagnosis of syncope is imperative in cases of these inherited arrhythmias. We describe syncope associated with three typical inherited arrhythmias and discuss various diagnostic modalities.
FIRE AND ITS ASIAN WORSHIPPERS: A NOTE ON FIRMICUS MATERNUS’DE ERRORE PROFANARVM RELIGIONVM5.1
Authors: Mancini Alessio , Mari Tommaso 
Published: October 2017

Persae et Magi omnes qui Persicae regionis incolunt fines ignem praeferunt et omnibus elementis ignem putant debere praeponi. (Firm. Mat.Err. prof. rel.5.1)The Persians and all the Magi who dwell in the confines of the Persian land give their preference to fire and think it ought to be ranked above all the other elements.Iulius Firmicus Maternus was a Latin writer who lived in the fourth centurya.d. In the 340s, following his conversion to Christianity, he wrote theDe errore profanarum religionum, which has been preserved only in the tenth-century manuscript Vaticanus Palatinus Latinus 165. In this work he argues against the pagan cults, calling for the emperors to suppress them. The first sections are dedicated to the pagan worship of the natural elements: objects of a cult are water among the Egyptians, earth among the Phrygians, air among the Assyrians. The chapter we are dealing with, the fifth, is dedicated to fire, a central element of the Zoroastrian religion. Greek and Roman writers, pagans and Christians alike, were aware of this, and references to some sort of fire-cult among Persians are numerous in literature and are found as early as Herodotus (1.131, 3.16). Just like Firmicus Maternus, some authors also state that the Magi worship fire as a god or divine element and that they conduct fire-related rituals. In Greek and Latin authors there is a view that the Magi, these specialists of the rituals of the Persian religion, were originally a Median tribe. As shown by the passages of Ammianus and Basil, such knowledge was also available to Firmicus Maternus’ contemporaries, and there do not appear to be particular differences in the way in which Greek and Latin authors viewed the Magi in Achaemenid and Sassanid times. Regrettably, one cannot know for certain which of these sources Firmicus Maternus knew.
Folk-economic beliefs: An evolutionary cognitive model
Authors: Boyer Pascal , Petersen Michael Bang 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe domain of “folk-economics” consists in explicit beliefs about the economy held by laypeople, untrained in economics, about such topics as, for example, the causes of the wealth of nations, the benefits or drawbacks of markets and international trade, the effects of regulation, the origins of inequality, the connection between work and wages, the economic consequences of immigration, or the possible causes of unemployment. These beliefs are crucial in forming people's political beliefs and in shaping their reception of different policies. Yet, they often conflict with elementary principles of economic theory and are often described as the consequences of ignorance, irrationality, or specific biases. As we will argue, these past perspectives fail to predict the particular contents of popular folk-economic beliefs and, as a result, there is no systematic study of the cognitive factors involved in their emergence and cultural success. Here we propose that the cultural success of particular beliefs about the economy is predictable if we consider the influence of specialized, largely automatic inference systems that evolved as adaptations to ancestral human small-scale sociality. These systems, for which there is independent evidence, include free-rider detection, fairness-based partner choice, ownership intuitions, coalitional psychology, and more. Information about modern mass-market conditions activates these specific inference systems, resulting in particular intuitions, for example, that impersonal transactions are dangerous or that international trade is a zero-sum game. These intuitions in turn make specific policy proposals more likely than others to become intuitively compelling, and, as a consequence, exert a crucial influence on political choices.
The aerobic transition as an economic ratchet
Authors: Wallace Rodrick 
Published: October 2017

AbstractPunctuated equilibrium, in the sense of Eldredge and Gould in 1972, and path dependence (Gould in 2002), dominate evolutionary processes, many of whose dynamics can be expressed in terms of interacting information sources (Wallace in 2010). Argument based on Feynman's (in 2000) characterization of information as a form of free energy leads to a close, if inverse, analogy between evolutionary transitions and economic ratchets. Driven by such a ‘self-referential’ mechanism, increases in available metabolic free energy – via the aerobic transition – led to the eukaryotic transition and to life as we know it. Formal analysis focuses on groupoid symmetries associated with the cognitive processes of gene expression, an extension of the symmetry breaking/making perspectives of physical science into biological phenomena. This suggests that understanding modalities of cognitive gene expression, as opposed to focus on genes themselves, provides the deepest insight into evolutionary phenomena, a perspective at some variance with current simplistic gene-centred views that constrain evolutionary theory.
Developing Standards for Post-Hoc Weighting in Population-Based Survey Experiments
Authors: Franco Annie , Malhotra Neil , Simonovits Gabor , Zigerell L. J. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractWeighting techniques are employed to generalize results from survey experiments to populations of theoretical and substantive interest. Although weighting is often viewed as a second-order methodological issue, these adjustment methods invoke untestable assumptions about the nature of sample selection and potential heterogeneity in the treatment effect. Therefore, although weighting is a useful technique in estimating population quantities, it can introduce bias and also be used as a researcher degree of freedom. We review survey experiments published in three major journals from 2000–2015 and find that there are no standard operating procedures for weighting survey experiments. We argue that all survey experiments should report the sample average treatment effect (SATE). Researchers seeking to generalize to a broader population can weight to estimate the population average treatment effect (PATE), but should discuss the construction and application of weights in a detailed and transparent manner given the possibility that weighting can introduce bias.
Increasing AR by HIF-2α inhibitor (PT-2385) overcomes the side-effects of sorafenib by suppressing hepatocellular carcinoma invasion via alteration of pSTAT3, pAKT and pERK signals
Authors: Xu Junjie , Zheng Longbo , Chen Jiang , Sun Yin , Lin Hui , Jin Ren-an , Tang Minyue , Liang Xiao , Cai Xiujun 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAlthough sorafenib is currently used as a standard treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, low response rate, transient and limited efficacy, primary and acquired resistance and negative side-effects gain increasing attentions, suggesting the need for better efficacious combination therapy. Here, we demonstrated that the sorafenib-induced or hypoxia-induced hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-2α could bind to an hypoxia responsive element within 500 bp region of androgen receptor (AR) promoter and thus transcriptionally suppress AR. Importantly, In vitro and In vivo studies suggested a specific and potent HIF-2α inhibitor, PT-2385, could significantly enhance sorafenib efficacy by suppressing HIF-2α, increasing AR and suppressing downstream pSTAT3/pAKT/pERK pathways. Clinical samples further confirmed the role of HIF-2α and AR. It is promising that PT-2385 could alleviate the undesirable side-effects of sorafenib treatment by sorafenib-PT-2385 combination therapy, which may shed light for late-stage HCC patients.
Superoxide drives progression of Parkin/PINK1-dependent mitophagy following translocation of Parkin to mitochondria
Authors: Xiao Bin , Deng Xiao , Lim Grace G Y , Xie Shaoping , Zhou Zhi Dong , Lim Kah-Leong , Tan Eng-King 
Published: October 2017

AbstractReactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitophagy are profoundly implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Several studies have suggested that ROS are not involved in mitochondrial translocation of Parkin which primes mitochondria for autophagic elimination. However, whether ROS play a role in the execution of mitophagy is unknown. In the present study, we show that carbonyl cyanidem-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) treatment induced both mitochondrial depolarization and generation of ROS that were needed for the mitophagy process. Cells failed to proceed to complete mitophagy if CCCP treatment was discontinued even after recruitment of Parkin and autophagy machinery to mitochondria. Notably, treatment of pro-oxidant was able to replace CCCP treatment to take mitophagy forward, while it alone was insufficient to induce translocation of Parkin to mitochondria or autophagic clearance of mitochondria. In addition, an SOD mimetic that attenuated the superoxide level suppressed mitophagy, while an SOD inhibitor accumulated cellular superoxide and promoted mitophagy. Furthermore, blockage of the p38 signaling pathway inhibited mitophagy induced by ROS, suggesting that it may contribute to the activation of ROS-mediated mitophagy. Together, our study sheds light on the link between ROS and mitophagy at a molecular level, and suggests the therapeutic potential of regulating mitophagy through the superoxide–p38–mitophagy axis.
Trehalose protects against cadmium-induced cytotoxicity in primary rat proximal tubular cells via inhibiting apoptosis and restoring autophagic flux
Authors: Wang Xin-Yu , Yang Heng , Wang Min-Ge , Yang Du-Bao , Wang Zhen-Yong , Wang Lin 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAutophagy has an important renoprotective function and we recently found that autophagy inhibition is involved in cadmium (Cd)-induced nephrotoxicity. Here, we aimed to investigate the protective effect of trehalose (Tre), a novel autophagy activator, against Cd-induced cytotoxicity in primary rat proximal tubular (rPT) cells. First, data showed that Tre treatment significantly decreased Cd-induced apoptotic cell death of rPT cells via inhibiting caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway, evidenced by morphological analysis, flow cytometric and immunoblot assays. Also, administration with Tre protected rPT cells against Cd-induced lipid peroxidation. Inhibition of autophagic flux in Cd-exposed rPT cells was markedly restored by Tre administration, demonstrated by immunoblot analysis of autophagy marker proteins and GFP and RFP tandemly tagged LC3 method. Resultantly, Cd-induced autophagosome accumulation was obviously alleviated by Tre treatment. Meanwhile, blockage of autophagosome–lysosome fusion by Cd exposure was noticeably restored by Tre, which promoted the autophagic degradation in Cd-exposed rPT cells. Moreover, Tre treatment markedly recovered Cd-induced lysosomal alkalinization and impairment of lysosomal degradation capacity in rPT cells, demonstrating that Tre has the ability to restore Cd-impaired lysosomal function. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that Tre treatment alleviates Cd-induced cytotoxicity in rPT cells by inhibiting apoptosis and restoring autophagic flux.