bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluating of Platelet-Rich Fibrin in the Treatment of Alveolar Cleft With Iliac Bone Graft By Means of Volumetric Analysis
Authors: Saruhan Nesrin , Ertas Umit 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of platelet-rich fibrin usage in the treatment of alveolar cleft with iliac bone graft by means of volumetric analysis. In this study, 22 patients with alveolar clefts—including 13 unilateral and 9 bilateral—were treated with anterior iliac crest bone grafts. Patients were divided into 2 groups as control (group A) and platelet-rich fibrin (group B) groups. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans were obtained preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. Three-dimensional reconstructions of CBCT images were created by using Mimics software. Preoperative alveolar cleft volume and postoperative newly formed bone volume were assessed volumetrically. The percentages of preoperative alveolar cleft volume ranged from 0.51 to 2.04 cm3, with a mean volume of 0.98 ± 0.33 cm3. The percentages of newly formed bone in group B ranged from 50.70% to 80.09%, with a mean percentage of 68.21 ± 10.80%. In Group A, the percentages of bone formation ranged from 47.02% to 79.23%, with a mean percentage of 64.62 ± 9.49%. Platelet-rich fibrin can be used in the treatment of alveolar cleft with corticocancellous bone graft harvested from the anterior iliac crest, but in this study, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups for postoperative newly formed bone volume (P > 0.05).
Perftoran (Vidaphor)—Introduction to Western Medicine
Authors: Latson Gary W. 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACT
Perftoran, which has been rebranded as Vidaphor for marketing in North America, is an emulsion of perfluorocarbons in a surfactant and electrolyte mixture. It was developed in Russia as an oxygen-carrying intravenous plasma additive for hemorrhagic anemia and ischemic conditions from various etiologies. It was approved for clinical use in Russia in 1996 and used by the Russian Armed Forces and in civilian medical care. It was also approved in Mexico from 2005 to 2010. It has been reportedly administered to over 35,000 patients with significant evidence of benefit and relatively mild and manageable adverse effects. It may have significant potential for use in hemorrhagic shock if human red blood cells are not available, and for several other applications including treatment of vascular gas embolism, cerebral or spinal trauma, and regional ischemia. It is different from other perfluorocarbon preparations under development in the United States in that it uses a different primary perfluorocarbon (perfluorodecalin) and a surfactant (Proxanol 268) instead of egg-yok phospholipid as the emulsion vehicle. Perftoran has a much smaller particle size resulting in milder adverse effects. It has been safely administered to more patients than any oxygen carrier currently under development. A newly formed United States Corporation (FluorO2 Therapeutics, Inc.) intends to manufacture the product in the United States under GMP standards and make it available for clinical use in Mexico and Latin America and pursue research to support eventual approval in the United States for human and veterinary use. This article will briefly review key information about this product and provide references for the interested reader.
Laboratory examinations for the vestibular system
Authors: van de Berg Raymond , Rosengren Sally , Kingma Herman 
Published: November 2017

Purpose of review
In the last decades, researchers suggested that clinical assessment of labyrinthine function in detail became easy thanks to video head impulse tests (VHITs), vestibular evoked myogenic potential test (VEMP) and video-oculography (VOG). It has been argued that they can replace electronystagmography, the caloric and rotatory chair tests. This review addresses the latest evaluations of these tests and the opportunities they offer, but also the limitations in clinical practice.

Recent findings
The VHIT and suppression head impulse test (SHIMP) are under ideal circumstances able to accurately identify deficits of the VOR in 3D. However, in a relevant part of the patient population, pupil tracking is inaccurate, video-goggles slip and VOR quantification is problematic. The dissociation between the VHIT and caloric test suggests that these tests are complementary. A new 3D-VOG technique claims to quantify eye torsion better than before, opening multiple diagnostic possibilities. VEMPs remain difficult to standardize. Variability in normal cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential amplitude is large. VEMPs become smaller or absent with age, raising questions of whether there is a lower normal limit at all. Recent research shows that the labyrinth is directly stimulated in the MRI offering new opportunities for diagnostics and research.

Summary
In clinical practice, the VHIT, SHIMP, VEMP and new 3D-VOG techniques improve diagnostic power. Unfortunately, technical issues or variability prevent reliable quantitative evaluation in a part of the regular patient population. The traditional caloric and rotatory chair test can still be considered as valuable complementary tests.
Role for extracellular vesicles in the tumour microenvironment
Authors: O'Loghlen Ana 
Published: November 2017

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small-membrane vesicles secreted by most cells types with the role to provide intercellular communication both locally and systemically. The transfer of their content between cells, which includes nucleic acids, proteins and lipids, confers the means for these interactions and induces significant cellular behaviour changes in the receiving cell. EVs are implicated in the regulation of numerous physiological and pathological processes, including development and neurological and cardiovascular diseases. Importantly, it has been shown that EV signalling is essential in almost all the steps necessary for the progress of carcinomas, from primary tumours to metastasis. In this review, we will focus on the latest findings for EV biology in relation to cancer progression and the tumour microenvironment.
This article is part of the discussion meeting issue ‘Extracellular vesicles and the tumour microenvironment’.
Interplay of target site architecture and miRNA abundance determine miRNA activity and specificity
Authors: Brancati Giovanna , Carl Sarah H. , Großhans Helge 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACTThe recognition that the miRNA seed sequence is a major determinant of miRNA activity has greatly advanced the ability to predict miRNA targets. However, it has remained unclear to what extent miRNAs act redundantly when they are members of the same family and thus share a common seed. Using in vivo studies in C. elegans, we uncover features that drive specific target repression by individual miRNA family members. We find that seed-distal complementarity to a specific family member promotes specificity. However, the extent and robustness of specificity are greatly increased by seed match ‘imperfections’, such as bulges and G:U wobble base pairs. Depending on the seed match architecture, specificity may be overcome by increasing the levels of a miRNA lacking seed-distal complementarity. Hence, in contrast to a binary distinction between functional and non-functional target sites, our data support a model where functionality depends on a combination of target site quality and miRNA abundance. This emphasizes the importance of studying miRNAs under physiological conditions in their endogenous contexts.
Eye movement-related confounds in neural decoding of visual working memory representations
Authors: Mostert Pim , Albers Anke Marit , Brinkman Loek , Todorova Larisa , Kok Peter , de Lange Floris P. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe study of visual working memory (VWM) has recently seen revitalization with the emergence of new insights and theories regarding its neural underpinnings. One crucial ingredient responsible for this progress is the rise of neural decoding techniques. These techniques promise to uncover the representational contents of neural signals, as well as the underlying code and the dynamic profile thereof. Here, we aimed to contribute to the field by subjecting human volunteers to a combined VWM/imagery task, while recording and decoding their neural signals as measured by MEG. At first sight, the results seem to provide evidence for a persistent, stable representation of the memorandum throughout the delay period. However, control analyses revealed that these findings can be explained by subtle, VWM-specific eye movements. As a potential remedy, we demonstrate the use of a functional localizer, which was specifically designed to target bottom-up sensory signals and as such avoids eye movements, to train the neural decoders. This analysis revealed a sustained representation for approximately 1 second, but no longer throughout the entire delay period. We conclude by arguing for more awareness of the potentially pervasive and ubiquitous effects of eye movement-related confounds.Significance statementVisual working memory is an important aspect of higher cognition and has been subject of much investigation within the field of cognitive neuroscience. Over recent years, these studies have increasingly relied on the use of neural decoding techniques. Here, we show that neural decoding may be susceptible to confounds induced by stimulus-specific eye movements. Such eye movements during working memory have been reported before, and may in fact be a common phenomenon. Given the widespread use of neural decoding and the potentially contaminating effects of eye movements, we therefore believe that our results are of significant relevance for the field.
Voluntary control of illusory contour formation
Authors: Harrison William J , Rideaux Reuben 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACTThe extent to which visual inference is shaped by attentional goals is unclear. Voluntary attention may simply modulate the priority with which information is accessed by higher cognitive functions involved in perceptual decision making. Alternatively, voluntary attention may influence fundamental visual processes, such as those involved in segmenting an incoming retinal signal into a structured scene of coherent objects, thereby determining perceptual organisation. Here we tested whether the segmentation and integration of visual form can be determined by an observer’s goals by exploiting a novel variant of the classical Kanizsa figure. We generated predictions about the influence of attention with a machine classifier, and tested these predictions with a psychophysical response classification technique. Despite seeing the same image on each trial, observers’ perception of illusory spatial structure depended on their attentional goals. These attention-contingent illusory contours directly conflicted with equally plausible visual form implied by the geometry of the stimulus, revealing that attentional selection can determine the perceived layout of a fragmented scene. Attentional goals, therefore, not only select pre-computed features or regions of space for prioritised processing, but, under certain conditions, also greatly influence perceptual organisation and thus visual appearance.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe extent to which higher cognitive functions can influence perceptual organisation is debated. The role of voluntary spatial attention, the ability to focus on only some parts of a scene, has been particularly controversial among neuroscientists and psychologists who aim to uncover the basic neural computations involved in grouping image features into coherent objects. To address this issue, we repeatedly presented the same novel ambiguous image to observers and changed their attentional goals by having them make fine spatial judgements about only some elements of the image. We found that observers’ attentional goals determine the perceived organisation of multiple illusory shapes. We thus reveal that voluntary spatial attention can control the fundamental processes that determine perceptual organisation.
Balances: a new perspective for microbiome analysis
Authors: Rivera-Pinto J. , Egozcue J.J. , Pawlowsky–Glahn V. , Paredes R. , Noguera-Julian M. , Calle M. L. 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACTHigh-throughput sequencing technologies have revolutionized microbiome research by allowing the relative quantification of microbiome composition and function in different environments. One of the main goals in microbiome analysis is the identification of microbial species that are differentially abundant among groups of samples, or whose abundance is associated with a variable of interest. Most available methods for microbiome abundance testing perform univariate tests for each microbial species or taxa separately, ignoring the compositional nature of microbiome data.We propose an alternative approach for microbiome abundance testing that consists on the identification of two groups of taxa whose relative abundance, or balance, is associated with the response variable of interest. This approach is appealing, since it has direct translation to the biological concept of ecological balance between species in an ecosystem. In this work, we present selbal, a greedy stepwise algorithm for balance selection. We illustrate the algorithm with 16s abundance data from an HIV-microbiome study and a Crohn-microbiome study.ImportanceA more meaningful approach for microbiome abundance testing is presented. Instead of testing each taxon separately we propose to explore abundance balances among groups of taxa. This approach acknowledges the compositional nature of microbiome data.
Gender-biased perceptions of important ecology articles
Authors: Bradshaw Corey J. A. , Courchamp Franck 
Published: November 2017

AbstractGender bias is still unfortunately rife in the sciences, and men co-author most articles (> 70%) in ecology. Whether ecologists subconsciously rate the quality of their peers’ work more favourably if men are the dominant co-authors is still unclear. To test this hypothesis, we examined how expert ecologists ranked important ecology articles based on a previously compiled list. Women proposed articles with a higher average proportion of women co-authors (0.18) than did men proposers (0.07). For the 100 top-ranked articles, women voters placed more emphasis on articles co-authored by women (0.06) than did men (0.02). However, women voters were still biased because they ranked men-dominated articles more highly, albeit not by as much as men did. This effect disappeared after testing read-only articles. This indicates a persistent, subconscious bias that men-dominated articles are considered to be of higher quality before actual assessment. We add that ecologists need to examine their own subconscious biases when appointing students, hiring staff, and choosing colleagues with whom to publish.
Is the HIV epidemic over? Investigating population dynamics using Bayesian methodology to estimate epidemiological parameters for a system of stochastic differential equations
Authors: Dale Renee , Guo Beibei 
Published: November 2017

AbstractCurrent estimates of the HIV epidemic indicate a decrease in the incidence of the disease in the undiagnosed subpopulation over the past 10 years. However, a lack of access to care has not been considered when modeling the population. Populations at high risk for contracting HIV are twice as likely to lack access to reliable medical care. In this paper, we consider three contributors to the HIV population dynamics: susceptible pool exhaustion, lack of access to care, and usage of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) by diagnosed individuals. We consider the change in the proportion of undiagnosed individuals as the parameter in a simple Markov model. We obtain conservative estimates for the proportional change of the infected subpopulations using hierarchical Bayesian statistics. The estimated proportional change is used to derive epidemic parameter estimates for a system of stochastic differential equations (SDEs). Epidemic parameters are modified to capture the dynamics of each of the three contributors, as well as all their possible combinations. Model fit is quantified to determine the best explanation for the observed dynamics in the infected subpopulations.Author summaryUsing a combination of statistics and mathematical modeling, we look at some possible reasons for the reported decrease in the number of undiagnosed people living with HIV. One possibility is that the population of people at significant risk to contract HIV is being depleted (susceptibles). This might happen if significant risk for HIV infection occurs in small percentages of the overall population. Another possibility is that infected individuals lack access to care in some regions due to poverty or other cause. In this case we have to question the accuracy of the estimated size of that population. Finally, most diagnosed individuals report being on medication that reduces their viral load. This greatly reduces their chance to transmit HIV to susceptible individuals. We also combine these possibilities and look at the best explanation for the infected population size.
Effects of polyploidy on response ofDunaliella salinato salinity
Authors: Soltani Nezhad Fatemeh , Mansouri Hakimeh 
Published: November 2017

AbstractIn this study, effect of different percentages of polyploid cells ofDunaliella salinain culture medium, on growth and other biochemical parameters of algae under different salinity levels were investigated. The results indicated that concentration 3M NaCl is the optimal concentration of salt, since in this concentration, the highest enhancement in fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll and carotenoids, soluble sugar, glycerol, protein and starch content was observed in comparison with other concentrations. The amount of these metabolites declined in the concentrations under the optimum salinity. The least and highest amounts of MDA were observed at 1 and 4 M NaCl respectively. Polyploidy in optimum concentration of salt, caused further increment of the above growth parameters. In this relation, in most cases, treatment of 0.1% was more effective. The beneficial effects of polyploidy in non-optimal conditions were also found in some parameters such as biomass, chlorophyll, carotenoids, proteins and starch. The activity of antioxidant enzymes CAT, SOD and POD were maximum in 4 M NaCl. Polyploidy affected activity of these antioxidant enzymes in some concentrations of salt. Overall, our results suggest that the microalgae have significantly different responses to salt stress based on ploidy level of the algae.AbbreviationsAOSActive Oxygen ProductsCATCatalaseGPXGuaiacol PeroxidaseEDTAEthylene Diamine Tetraacetic AcidMDAMalondialdehydePMSFPhenyl Methanesulfonyl FluoridePVPPolyvinylpyrrolidoneSODSuperoxide Dismutase
Peptide Terminus Tilting: an Unusual conformational transition of MHC Class I Revealed by Molecular Dynamics Simulations
Authors: Sun Yeping , Tian Po 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACTA conventional picture for major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) antigen presentation is that the terminal anchor residues of the antigenic peptide bind to the pockets at the bottom of the MHC cleft, leaving the central peptide residues exposed for T cell antigen receptor (TCR) recognition. However, in the present study, we show that in canonical or accelerated molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the peptide terminus in some immunodominant peptide-MHCI (pMHCI) complexes can detach from their binding pockets and stretch outside the MHC cleft. These pMHCI complexes include the complex of the H-2Kb and the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) gp33 peptide, and the complex of the HLA-A*0201 and the influenza A virus M1 peptide. The detached peptide terminus becomes the most prominent spot at the pMHC interface, and so can serves as a novel TCR recognition target. Thus, peptide terminus detaching may be a novel mechanism for MHC antigen presentation.
Widespread shorter cortical adaptation in dyslexia
Authors: Jaffe-Dax Sagi , Kimel Eva , Ahissar Merav 
Published: November 2017

AbstractStudies of dyslexics’ performance on perceptual tasks suggest that their implicit inference of sound statistics is impaired. In a previous paper (Jaffe-Dax, Frenkel, & Ahissar, 2017), using 2-tone frequency discrimination, we found that the effect of previous trial frequencies on dyslexics’ judgments decayed faster than the effect on controls’ judgments, and that the adaptation of their ERP responses to tones recovered faster. Here, we show the cortical distribution of this abnormal dynamics of adaptation using fast acquisition fMRI. We find that dyslexics’ faster decay of adaptation is widespread, though the most significant effects are found in the left superior temporal lobe, including the auditory cortex. This broad distribution suggests that dyslexics’ faster decay of implicit memory is a general characteristic of their cortical dynamics, which also encompasses the sensory cortices.
Simultaneous Determination of Protein Structure and Dynamics Using Cryo-Electron Microscopy
Authors: Bonomi M. , Pellarin R. , Vendruscolo M. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractCryo-electron microscopy is rapidly emerging as a powerful technique to determine the structures of complex macromolecular systems elusive to other techniques. Since many of these systems are highly dynamical, characterising also their movements is a crucial step to unravel their biological functions. To achieve this goal, we report an integrative modelling approach to simultaneously determine structure and dynamics from cryo-electron microscopy density maps. By quantifying the level of noise in the data and dealing with their ensemble-averaged nature, this approach enables the integration of multiple sources of information to model ensembles of structures and infer their populations. We illustrate the method by characterising structure and dynamics of the integral membrane receptor STRA6, thus providing insights into the mechanisms by which it interacts with retinol binding protein and translocates retinol across the membrane.
Assessment of the aging of the brown adipose tissue by18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in the progeria mouse model LmnaG609G/G609G
Authors: Wang Zhengjie , Xu Xiaolong , Liu Yi , Gao Yongheng , Ma Ennui , Yang Welding , Kang Fei , Liu Baohua , Wang Jing 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACTBrown adipose tissue (BAT) is an important energy metabolic organ that is closely related to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Aging is one of the most important determinants of BAT activity. In this study, we used18F-FDG PET/CT imaging to assess the aging of the BAT in LmnaG609G/G609Gmice. To evaluate the BAT activity, LmnaG609G/G609Gand wild-type (WT) mice were injected with 18F-FDG, and PET/CT imaging was performed. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVMax) of the BAT was measured and the target/nontarget (T/NT) values of BAT were calculated. The transcription and the protein expression levels of the uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), beta3-adrenergic receptor (β3-AR), and the PRdomain-containing16 (PRDM16), were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting or immunohistochemical analysis. Apoptosis and cell senescence of the BAT, in WT and LmnaG609G/G609Gmice, was detected by Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL), and by CDKN2A/p16INK4a immunohistochemical staining, respectively. At 14 weeks of age, the BAT SUVMaxand the expression levels of UCP1, β3-AR and PRDM16 in LmnaG609G/G609Gmice was significantly lower than that in WT mice. At the same time, the number of p16INK4a and TUNEL positively stained cells (%) increased in LmnaG609G/G609Gmice. LmnaG609G/G609Gmice are an ideal model for studying BAT aging. The aging characteristics and the aging mechanism of BAT in LmnaG609G/G609Gmice can mimic normal BAT aging.