bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Historical grassland desertification changes in the Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China (1985–2013)
Authors: Li Jinya , Xu Bin , Yang Xiuchun , Qin Zhihao , Zhao Lina , Jin Yunxiang , Zhao Fen , Guo Jian 
Published: June 2017

AbstractSince rural reforms in the 1980s, both the state and local governments of China have devoted great efforts to combating desertification through a number of eco-environmental restoration campaigns, resulting in burgeoning contention at all levels of government and sparking public concern. Monitoring and accurately assessing the statuses and trends of grassland desertification are important for developing effective restoration strategies. The Horqin Sandy Land (HSL), a very typical desertified grassland (DG) with better hydrothermal conditions among sandy lands in north China, was recently selected (1985–2013) to assess the spatiotemporal dynamic performances of grassland desertification before and after implementing restoration projects. Landsat images (TM/ETM+/OLI), field investigations and expert review were integrated to form a classification scheme for the HSL. Then, spectral mixture analysis and the decision-tree method were used to extract bare-sand ratios and vegetation cover fraction dynamics. A favourable phenomenon of DG was seen to be reversed in an accelerated pace during 2001–2013, despite challenge from both climatic and anthropogenic factors. However, overexploitation of grassland (especially for farming) and ground water for irrigation has led to remarkable decreases in the ground water level in recent decades, which should be highly concerning regarding the formulation of restoration campaigns in the sandy land.
Imaging gold nanoparticles in mouse liver by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Authors: Li Qing , Wang Zheng , Mo Jiamei , Zhang Guoxia , Chen Yirui , Huang Chuchu 
Published: June 2017

AbstractImaging the size distribution of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in a tissue has important implications in terms of evaluating NP toxicity. Microscopy techniques used to image tissue NPs are limited by complicated sample preparation or poor resolution. In this study, we developed a laser ablation (LA) system coupled to single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) for quantitative imaging of gold (G)NPs in tissue samples. In this system, GNPs were ablated but did not disintegrate and integrate under optimised operation conditions, which were verified by characterising LA particles by scanning electron microscopy. The feasibility of imaging size distributions in tissue was validated using reference GNPs 60 and 80 nm in size on matrix-matched kidney. A transport efficiency of 6.07% was obtained by LA-SP-ICP-MS under optimal conditions. We used this system to image 80-nm GNPs in mouse liver and the size distribution thus obtained was in accordance with that determined by nebuliser SP-ICP-MS. The images revealed that 80-nm GNPs mainly accumulate in the liver and did not obviously aggregate. Our results demonstrate that LA-SP-ICP-MS is an effective tool for evaluating the size distribution of metal NPs in tissue.
A protein-protein interaction dictates Borrelial infectivity
Authors: Thakur Meghna , Sharma Kavita , Chao Kinlin , Smith Alexis A. , Herzberg Osnat , Pal Utpal 
Published: June 2017

AbstractTwo Borrelia burgdorferi interacting proteins, BB0238 and BB0323, play distinct roles in pathogen biology and infectivity although a significance of their interaction remained enigmatic. Here we identified the polypeptide segment essential for BB0238-BB0323 interaction and examined how it supports spirochete infectivity. We show that the interaction region in BB0323 requires amino acid residues 22–200, suggesting that the binding encompasses discontinuous protein segments. In contrast, the interaction region in BB0238 spans only 11 amino acids, residues 120–130. A deletion of these 11 amino acids neither alters the overall secondary structure of the protein, nor affects its stability or oligomerization property, however, it reduces the post-translational stability of the binding partner, BB0323. Mutant B. burgdorferi isolates producing BB0238 lacking the 11-amino acid interaction region were able to persist in ticks but failed to transmit to mice or to establish infection. These results suggest that BB0238-BB0323 interaction is critical for post-translational stability of BB0323, and that this interaction is important for mammalian infectivity and transmission of B. burgdorferi. We show that saturation or inhibition of BB0238-BB0323 interaction could be studied in a luciferase assay, which could be amenable for future identification of small molecule inhibitors to combat B. burgdorferi infection.
The Difficult Neck in Facelifting
Authors: Roy Sudeep , Buckingham Edward 
Published: June 2017

AbstractAs the popularity and acceptance of facial and cervical rejuvenation procedures grows, surgeons are increasingly encountering patients with less favorable anatomical characteristics for rhytidectomy. These patients will typically display an obtuse cervicomental angle, underprojected chin, excess cervical adiposity, and platysmal banding, in addition to ptotic submandibular glands, tenacious jowls, and prejowl volume deficits. Recognition of these problems and the correct application of available techniques to address the difficult neck in facelifting are critical in maximizing success.
Making the Case: Intra-arterial Therapy for Less Common Metastases
Authors: Gordon Andrew , Uddin Omar , Riaz Ahsun , Salem Riad , Lewandowski Robert 
Published: June 2017

AbstractIntra-arterial therapies have high antitumor activity for both primary and secondary hepatic malignancies. Selective infusions allow increased delivery of cytoreductive therapy to the tumor bed while sparing the normal hepatic parenchyma. These therapies are now often applied in the outpatient setting or with short overnight hospital stays and have a growing role in the treatment of liver-dominant disease from metastatic colorectal cancer and from neuroendocrine tumors. Less commonly, intra-arterial therapies are applied to treat secondary hepatic malignancies from breast cancer, melanoma, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and soft-tissue sarcomas. The available data are limited and generally retrospective observational cohort series of single institutions. The purpose of this article is to summarize the recent literature on outcomes for intra-arterial therapy in nonsurgical patients. Multi-institutional registries and prospective data are greatly needed, as intra-arterial therapies are increasingly applied in these patients to stop progression of chemorefractory tumors.
Decision Making in Interventional Oncology: Intra-arterial Therapies for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer—Y90 and Chemoembolization
Authors: Fairchild Alexandra , White Sarah 
Published: June 2017

AbstractColorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States and the liver is the most common site of metastatic disease. The presence and extent of hepatic metastases are a major prognostic indicator. Although surgical resection is the accepted first-line therapy for colorectal liver metastasis, only 20 to 25% of patients are eligible for resection due to the extent and location of disease. This article discusses the current role of transarterial therapies in the treatment of colorectal liver metastases.
Decision Making: Thermal Ablation Options for Small Renal Masses
Authors: Gervais Debra , McCarthy Colin 
Published: June 2017

AbstractRenal cell carcinoma is a relatively common tumor, with an estimated 63,000 new cases being diagnosed in the United States in 2016. Surgery, be it with partial or total nephrectomy, is considered the mainstay of treatment for many patients. However, those patients with small renal masses, typically less than 3 to 4 cm in size who are deemed unsuitable for surgery, may be suitable for percutaneous thermal ablation. We review the various treatment modalities, including radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, and cryoablation; discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method; and review the latest data concerning the performance of the various ablative modalities compared with each other, and compared with surgery.
Transarterial Chemoembolization and Radioembolization across Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stages
Authors: Titano Joseph , Noor Amir , Kim Edward 
Published: June 2017

AbstractTransarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a well-established treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). TACE has a clearly delineated role within the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging framework, and TACE has been shown to bridge patients to transplantation and to downsize patients' tumor burden to meet transplantation criteria. Radioembolization (RE) also has an evolving role in the treatment of HCC. RE has evidence-based applications across the range of BCLC stages ranging from segmentectomy for patients with solitary lesions not amenable to ablation to lobar therapy for patients with multifocal HCC, and to treatment of advanced disease with portal vein thrombosis. This article aims to elucidate the evidence behind these therapies and to provide a rationale for their utilization across the spectrum of BCLC stages in the treatment of HCC.
L1 effects as manifestations of individual differences in the L2 acquisition of the Spanish tense-aspect-system
Authors: Diaubalick Tim , Guijarro Fuentes Pedro 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Several hypotheses about aspect in Spanish SLA focus on postulating patterns a learner will go through. The Lexical Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen, 1986, 1991) and the Default Past Tense Hypothesis (Salaberry, 1999) are two examples discussed in recent studies (see e.g. Comajoan, 2013). This chapter shows that our results obtained via Grammaticality Judgments and a Production Task do not align completely with any of these hypotheses. Instead, individual differences (Dörnyei, 2006) must be considered, which a comparison between 61 German and 70 Romance speakers supports. Findings reveal some general attainment difficulties for all learners, but the emerging structures are not universal. Interestingly, our native control group (n = 15) also shows high variation, strengthening the observation that the selection of a tense-aspect form is heavily dependent on subjectivity.
The influence of structural distance in cross-linguistic transfer
Authors: Munarriz Amaia 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
We report on a case study of a Spanish-Basque bilingual with aphasia. Our aim is to explore the (dis)similarities between symptoms across linguistic components to see whether the impairment affects the two languages similarly, and whether the structural distance between these languages may influence the (dis)similarities found and the cross-linguistic pattern. Qualitative similarities in lexical and phonological impairments point towards cross-linguistic transfer of therapy benefits due to the typological proximity of the Spanish and Basque lexicon (cognates) and phonological systems. However, qualitative differences in comprehension make it difficult to sustain any cross-linguistic influence, which might be hindered by the structural distance between the morphosyntactic features of Spanish and Basque. Finally, the pattern of impairment observed supports the neurofunctional distinction of languages in bilinguals.
Bilingual production of relative clauses in languages with opposite head-complement directionality
Authors: Ezeizabarrena Maria-José , Munarriz Amaia , Loidi Udane 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The so-called SR advantage, based on the observation that S(ubject) R(elatives) are easier to acquire, comprehend or process as compared to O(bject) R(elatives) in many Verb-Object languages, contrasts with the pattern attested in some languages with prenominal relative clauses and/or Object-Verb word order. This study analyses the elicited production of relative clauses by four groups of Spanish-Basque bilinguals in their two languages. Results reveal a generally (similar or) higher accuracy in SR than in OR production across groups, regardless of language specificities (VO vs. OV, prenominal vs. postnominal RCs) and participants’ language and/or age profiles. A more detailed analysis of the non-target productions revealed that adult and even six-year-old bilinguals make use of language specific cues to distinguish SRs and ORs in their two languages discarding any crosslinguistic influence in this particular contact situation.
Attitudes towards globalized company names
Authors: Mattfolk Leila 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The study applies general sociolinguistic and pragmatic methods of attitude analysis onto analyses of attitudes towards English elements in company names found in the countryside of Swedish-language Finland. The method used is discourse analysis of focus group discussions about names. The distinction between explicit opinions, implicit (i.e., subconscious) attitudes and socioconscious attitudes that have been found important in explicating speakers’ views on globalized elements in the local language generally, is found not to be of major importance in discussions of attitudes towards globalized names. This tallies with the general view that names (proper nouns) and appellatives (common nouns) are interactively viewed as, processed as, and culturally seen as different kinds of elements. The study furthermore shows that foreign elements are more readily accepted in company names than in the language generally, but because of this, such foreign elements in names can become a back door for the admittance of more foreign elements in the language generally.
JDINAC: joint density-based non-parametric differential interaction network analysis and classification using high-dimensional sparse omics data
Authors: Ji Jiadong , He Di , Feng Yang , He Yong , Xue Fuzhong , Xie Lei 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Motivation
A complex disease is usually driven by a number of genes interwoven into networks, rather than a single gene product. Network comparison or differential network analysis has become an important means of revealing the underlying mechanism of pathogenesis and identifying clinical biomarkers for disease classification. Most studies, however, are limited to network correlations that mainly capture the linear relationship among genes, or rely on the assumption of a parametric probability distribution of gene measurements. They are restrictive in real application.

Results
We propose a new Joint density based non-parametric Differential Interaction Network Analysis and Classification (JDINAC) method to identify differential interaction patterns of network activation between two groups. At the same time, JDINAC uses the network biomarkers to build a classification model. The novelty of JDINAC lies in its potential to capture non-linear relations between molecular interactions using high-dimensional sparse data as well as to adjust confounding factors, without the need of the assumption of a parametric probability distribution of gene measurements. Simulation studies demonstrate that JDINAC provides more accurate differential network estimation and lower classification error than that achieved by other state-of-the-art methods. We apply JDINAC to a Breast Invasive Carcinoma dataset, which includes 114 patients who have both tumor and matched normal samples. The hub genes and differential interaction patterns identified were consistent with existing experimental studies. Furthermore, JDINAC discriminated the tumor and normal sample with high accuracy by virtue of the identified biomarkers. JDINAC provides a general framework for feature selection and classification using high-dimensional sparse omics data.

Availability and implementation
R scripts available at https://github.com/jijiadong/JDINAC

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Gastrointestinal tract involvement in melioidosis
Authors: Teparrukkul Prapit , Kongkasame Worrarat , Chitsaeng Songla , Wongsuwan Gumphol , Wuthiekanun Vanaporn , Peacock Sharon J. , Limmathurotsakul Direk 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Background
Little is known about the involvement of the human gut in carriage and disease associated with Burkholderia pseudomallei, the cause of melioidosis.

Methods
A hospital-based study was conducted in Northeast Thailand to culture stools or rectal swabs from patients with melioidosis, stools from controls with non-infectious diseases, and gastric biopsies from patients undergoing routine endoscopic investigation.

Results and Conclusion
B. pseudomallei was isolated from 9/83 (11%) stools and 9/58 (16%) rectal swabs from 141 patients with melioidosis. All stools from 244 control patients and 799 gastric biopsies from 395 patients with no evidence of melioidosis were culture negative for B. pseudomallei. It is not uncommon for melioidosis patients to shed B. pseudomallei in stool. Colonization of the gut of individuals without signs and symptoms of melioidosis may be rare.
Camera-based measurement of respiratory rates is reliable
Authors: Becker Christoph , Achermann Stefan , Rocque Mukul , Kirenko Ihor , Schlack Andreas , Dreher-Hummel Thomas , Zumbrunn Thomas , Bingisser Roland , Nickel Christian H. 
Published: June 2017

Objectives
Respiratory rate (RR) is one of the most important vital signs used to detect whether a patient is in critical condition. It is part of many risk scores and its measurement is essential for triage of patients in emergency departments. It is often not recorded as measurement is cumbersome and time-consuming. We intended to evaluate the accuracy of camera-based measurements as an alternative measurement to the current practice of manual counting.

Materials and methods
We monitored the RR of healthy male volunteers with a camera-based prototype application and simultaneously by manual counting and by capnography, which was considered the gold standard. The four assessors were mutually blinded. We simulated normoventilation, hypoventilation and hyperventilation as well as deep, normal and superficial breathing depths to assess potential clinical settings. The volunteers were assessed while being undressed, wearing a T-shirt or a winter coat.

Results
In total, 20 volunteers were included. The results of camera-based measurements of RRs and capnography were in close agreement throughout all clothing styles and respiratory patterns (Pearson’s correlation coefficient, r=0.90–1.00, except for one scenario, in which the volunteer breathed slowly dressed in a winter coat r=0.84). In the winter-coat scenarios, the camera-based prototype application was superior to human counters.

Conclusion
In our pilot study, we found that camera-based measurements delivered accurate and reliable results. Future studies need to show that camera-based measurements are a secure alternative for measuring RRs in clinical settings as well.
Stochastic Simulation of Dopamine Neuromodulation for Implementation of Fluorescent Neurochemical Probes in the Striatal Extracellular Space
Authors: Beyene Abraham G. , McFarlane Ian R. , Pinals Rebecca L. , Landry Markita P. 
Published: June 2017

AbstractImaging the dynamic behavior of neuromodulatory neurotransmitters in the extracelluar space arising from individual quantal releases would constitute a major advance in neurochemical imaging. Spatial and temporal resolution of these highly stochastic neuromodulatory events requires concurrent advances in the chemical development of optical nanosensors selective for neuromodulators in concert with advances in imaging methodologies to capture millisecond neurotransmitter release. Herein, we develop and implement a stochastic model to describe dopamine dynamics in the extracellular space (ECS) of the brain dorsal striatum. Our model is developed from first principles and simulates release, diffusion, and reuptake of dopamine in a 3D simulation volume of striatal tissue. We find thatin vivoimaging of neuromodulation requires simultaneous optimization of dopamine nanosensor reversibility and sensitivity: dopamine imaging in the striatum or nucleus accumbens requires nanosensors with an optimal dopamine dissociation constant (Kd) of 1 μM, whereasKdabove 10 μM are required for dopamine imaging in the prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, our model reveals that imaging frame rates of 20 Hz are optimal for imaging temporally-resolved dopamine release events based on the probabilistic nature of dopaminergic terminal activity in the striatum. Our work provides a modeling platform to probe how complex neuromodulatory processes can be studied with fluorescent nanosensors and enables direct evaluation of nanosensor chemistry and imaging hardware parameters. Our stochastic model is generic for evaluating fluorescent neurotransmission probes, and is broadly applicable to the design of other neurotransmitter fluorophores and their optimization for implementationin vivo.
Task-dependent representations of stimulus and choice in mouse parietal cortex
Authors: Pho Gerald N. , Goard Michael J. , Woodson Jonathan , Crawford Benjamin , Sur Mriganka 
Published: June 2017

AbstractThe posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has been implicated in perceptual decisions, but whether its role is specific to sensory processing or sensorimotor transformation is not well understood. To distinguish these possibilities, we trained mice of either sex to perform a visual discrimination task and imaged the activity of PPC populations during both engaged behavior and passive viewing. Unlike neurons in primary visual cortex (V1), which responded robustly to stimuli in both conditions, most neurons in PPC responded exclusively during task engagement. However, PPC responses were heterogeneous, with a smaller subset of neurons exhibiting stimulus-driven, contrast-dependent responses in both conditions. Neurons in PPC also exhibit stronger modulation by noise correlations relative to V1, as illustrated by a generalized linear model that takes into account both task variables and between-neuron correlations. To test whether PPC responses primarily encoded the stimulus or the learned sensorimotor contingency, we imaged the same neurons before and after re-training mice on a reversed task contingency. Unlike V1 neurons, most PPC neurons exhibited a dramatic shift in selectivity after re-training and reflected the new sensorimotor contingency, while a smaller subset of neurons preserved their stimulus selectivity. Mouse PPC is therefore strongly task-dependent, contains heterogeneous populations sensitive to stimulus and choice, and may play an important role in the flexible transformation of sensory inputs into motor commands.Significance StatementPerceptual decision making involves both processing of sensory information and mapping that information onto appropriate motor commands via learned sensorimotor associations. While visual cortex (V1) is known to be critical for sensory processing, it is unclear what circuits are involved in the process of sensorimotor transformation. While the mouse posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has been implicated in visual decisions, its specific role has been controversial. By imaging population activity while manipulating task engagement and sensorimotor contingencies, we demonstrate that PPC, unlike V1, is highly task-dependent, heterogeneous, and sensitive to the learned task demands. Our results suggest that PPC is more than a visual area, and may instead be involved in the flexible mapping of visual information onto appropriate motor actions.