bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Oral Mucosa Model for Electrochemotherapy Treatment of Dog Mouth Cancer: Ex Vivo, In Silico, and In Vivo Experiments
Authors: Suzuki Daniela O. H. , Berkenbrock José A. , Frederico Marisa J. S. , Silva Fátima R. M. B. , Rangel Marcelo M. M. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractElectrochemotherapy (EQT) is a local cancer treatment well established to cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors. Electric fields are applied to biological tissue in order to improve membrane permeability for cytotoxic drugs. This phenomenon is called electroporation or electropermeabilization. Studies have reported that tissue conductivity is electric field dependent. Electroporation numerical models of biological tissues are essential in treatment planning. Tumors of the mouth are very common in dogs. Inadequate EQT treatment of oral tumor may be caused by significant anatomic variations between dogs and tumor position. Numerical models of oral mucosa and tumor allow the treatment planning and optimization of electrodes for each patient. In this work, oral mucosa conductivity during electroporation was characterized by measuring applied voltage and current of ex vivo rats. This electroporation model was used with a spontaneous canine oral melanoma. The model outcomes of oral tumor EQT is applied in different parts of the oral cavity including near bones and the hard palate. The numerical modeling for treatment planning will help the development of new electrodes and increase the EQT effectiveness.
Downregulated apoptosis and autophagy after anti‐Aβ immunotherapy in Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Paquet Claire , Nicoll James AR , Love Seth , Mouton‐Liger François , Holmes Clive , Hugon Jacques , Boche Delphine 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAβ immunization of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in the AN1792 (Elan Pharmaceuticals) trial caused Aβ removal and a decreased density of neurons in the cerebral cortex. As preservation of neurons may be a critical determinant of outcome after Aβ immunization, we have assessed the impact of previous Aβ immunization on the expression of a range of apoptotic proteins in post‐mortem human brain tissue. Cortex from 13 AD patients immunized with AN1792 (iAD) and from 27 nonimmunized AD (cAD) cases was immunolabeled for proapoptotic proteins implicated in AD pathophysiology: phosphorylated c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (pJNK), activated caspase3 (a‐casp3), phosphorylated GSK3β on tyrosine 216 (GSK3βtyr216), p53 and Cdk5/p35. Expression of these proteins was analyzed in relation to immunization status and other clinical data. The antigen load of all of these proapoptotic proteins was significantly lower in iAD than cAD (P < 0.0001). In cAD, significant correlations (P < 0.001) were observed between: Cdk5/p35 and GSK3βtyr216; a‐casp3 and Aβ42; p53 and age at death. In iAD, significant correlations were found between GSK3βtyr216 and a‐casp3; both spongiosis and neuritic curvature ratio and Aβ42; and Cdk5/p35 and Aβ‐antibody level. Although neuronal loss was increased by immunization with AN1792, our present findings suggest downregulation of apoptosis in residual neurons and other cells.
Eco‐labelling by a for‐profit certifier: Countervailing power and its consequences
Authors: Barry Ibrahima , Bonroy Olivier , Garella Paolo G. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractFor‐profit certifier's eco‐labelling is common in industries where firms have some “countervailing power” on sharing gains from labelling. We show that the certification standard for an environmental quality is lowered when firms have strong “power.” A certifier with too low bargaining power will prefer to sell to the best offer rather than bargain. This switch in the selling mechanism also thwarts his incentives in setting the standard. This is consequential for evaluating policies. The dimensions and even signs of welfare changes induced by taxes and subsidies depend upon the mechanism used, and ultimately upon firms’ countervailing power.
Enhancing antibiotic stewardship by tackling “spurious” penicillin allergy
Authors: Krishna M. T. , Huissoon A. P. , Li M. , Richter A. , Pillay D. G. , Sambanthan D. , Raman S. C. , Nasser S. , Misbah S. A. 
Published: October 2017

SummaryApproximately 90‐99% of patients with a label of penicillin allergy (PenA) are not allergic when comprehensively investigated. An inaccurate label of PenA has major public health implications—longer hospital stay, more frequent hospital admissions, greater use of fluoroquinolones, glycopeptides, cephalosporins and other expensive antibiotics resulting in significantly higher costs to the health service and predisposing to Clostridium difficile, methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections and vancomycin‐resistant enterococcus. We describe lessons learnt from recent studies regarding possible reasons contributing to an inaccurate label of PenA as well as propose a concerted multidisciplinary approach to address this important public health problem. Given the unmet need for allergy services in the UK and several other countries and knowledge gaps regarding PenA amongst healthcare professionals, we describe the potential role for a computerized clinical decision support system to enable non‐specialists rapidly identify and de‐label “low‐risk” hospitalized patients with a label of PenA thereby obviating the need for allergy tests. This approach however needs rigorous evaluation for feasibility, safety, patient and physician acceptability, cost‐effectiveness and its compatibility with information technology systems currently employed in the health service.
Hypochlorous acid is antipruritic and anti‐inflammatory in a mouse model of atopic dermatitis
Authors: Fukuyama T. , Martel B. C. , Linder K. E. , Ehling S. , Ganchingco J. R. , Bäumer W. 
Published: October 2017

SummaryBackgroundIt has been reported that topical hypochlorous acid (HOCl) formulations lead to relief of itch in human patients with atopic dermatitis; however, the specific antipruritic mechanism of action remains unclear.ObjectiveTo confirm itch relief and reduction of lesions in a mouse model of atopic dermatitis and to elucidate possible HOCl's mode of action.MethodsIn this study, the effects of topical administration of HOCl hydrogel (0.05%) on atopic dermatitis‐like lesions in NC/Nga mice model as well as in vitro effects of HOCl on dorsal root ganglia neurons and mouse bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells (mBMDCs) were investigated. NC/Nga mice were sensitized with house dust mite allergen and treated topically with HOCl hydrogel both preventively and therapeutically against established lesions. Allergen challenge was continued during HOCl hydrogel application.ResultsTreatment with HOCl hydrogel prevented the development of lesions and scratching bouts during the whole observation period. When administered after full development of lesions, HOCl reduced lesions and scratching behaviour to a similar extent as a positive control 0.1% betamethasone dipropionate ointment. The reduced inflammatory response by HOCl treatment was demonstrated by reduced secretion of inflammatory cytokines in affected skin tissue from NC/Nga mice. In addition, HOCl significantly reduced IL‐12 production in mBMDC. The diminished scratching behaviour was confirmed by impaired response to several pruritogens in dorsal root ganglia neurons excised from NC/Nga mice after termination of the studies. The response to the stimuli was also reduced by pre‐incubation of sensory neurons from untreated BALB/c mice with 0.0001% HOCl.Conclusions and Clinical RelevanceThese data indicate a direct reduction in sensory response by HOCl, leading to significantly reduced itch and inflammation in vivo.
Co-inhibitory profile and cytotoxicity of CD57+PD-1− T cells in end-stage renal disease patients
Authors: Kraaijeveld R , de Graav G N , Dieterich M , Litjens N H R , Hesselink D A , Baan C C 
Published: October 2017

SummaryBlockade of the CD80/86-CD28 pathway by belatacept after kidney transplantation is associated with an increased risk of rejection compared with standard, calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-based therapy. CD28− T cells, which express CD57, are not susceptible to belatacept treatment. High numbers of CD4+CD57+programmed death 1 (PD-1)− T cells pretransplantation have been associated with a higher chance of rejection, although conflicting data have been reported. To investigate the working mechanism behind this possible higher chance of rejection, we studied the expression of co-inhibitory molecules (CD223, CD244 and PD-1), proliferative capacity and cytotoxic potential of fluorescence activated cell sorted (FACS) CD4+CD57+PD-1− and CD8+CD57+PD-1− T cells, and their CD57− control populations, after alloantigen stimulation. The effect of belatacept on the cytotoxic capacity of pretransplantation peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 20 patients who received belatacept post-transplantation was also tested. Expression of co-inhibitory molecule CD223 increased by approximately 10-fold after allogeneic stimulation in all four T cell subsets. Proliferation and up-regulation of CD244 and PD-1 was observed for CD4+CD57−PD-1− T cells after allogeneic stimulation, but no up-regulation of these markers occurred on CD8+ T cells or CD4+CD57+PD-1− T cells. However, CD4+CD57+PD-1− T cells and, to a lesser extent, CD8+CD57+PD-1− T cells displayed higher cytotoxicity as indicated by granzyme B expression. Belatacept inhibited the cytotoxic potential of CD4+CD57+PD-1− T cells (median of inhibition 31%, P &lt; 0·01) and CD8+CD57+PD-1− T cells (median of inhibition 10%, P &lt; 0·05). In conclusion, alloantigen-activated CD4+CD57+PD-1− T cells exhibited a less proliferative but more cytotoxic profile than their CD57− counterparts. Their cytotoxic capacity can be inhibited partly by belatacept and was not associated with development of rejection after kidney transplantation.
Gain‐of‐function mutations in G‐protein–coupled receptor genes associated with human endocrine disorders
Authors: Fukami Maki , Suzuki Erina , Igarashi Maki , Miyado Mami , Ogata Tsutomu 
Published: October 2017

SummaryThe human genome encodes more than 700 G‐protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs), many of which are involved in hormone secretion. To date, more than 100 gain‐of‐function (activating) mutations in at least ten genes for GPCRs, in addition to several loss‐of‐function mutations, have been implicated in human endocrine disorders. Previously reported gain‐of‐function GPCR mutations comprise various missense substitutions, frameshift mutations, intragenic inframe deletions and copy‐number gains. Such mutations appear in both germline and somatic tumour cells, and lead to various hormonal abnormalities reflecting excessive receptor activity. Phenotypic consequences of these mutations include distinctive endocrine syndromes, as well as relatively common hormonal abnormalities. Such mutations encode hyperfunctioning receptors with increased constitutive activity, broadened ligand specificity, increased ligand sensitivity and/or delayed receptor desensitization. Furthermore, recent studies proposed a paradoxical gain‐of‐function mechanism caused by inactive GPCR mutants. Molecular diagnosis of GPCR activating mutations serves to improve the clinical management of mutation‐positive patients. This review aims to introduce new aspects regarding gain‐of‐function mutations in GPCR genes associated with endocrine disorders.
Data‐Driven Sparse Priors of 3D Shapes
Authors: Remil O. , Xie Q. , Xie X. , Xu K. , Wang J. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractWe present a sparse optimization framework for extracting sparse shape priors from a collection of 3D models. Shape priors are defined as point‐set neighborhoods sampled from shape surfaces which convey important information encompassing normals and local shape characterization. A 3D shape model can be considered to be formed with a set of 3D local shape priors, while most of them are likely to have similar geometry. Our key observation is that the local priors extracted from a family of 3D shapes lie in a very low‐dimensional manifold. Consequently, a compact and informative subset of priors can be learned to efficiently encode all shapes of the same family. A comprehensive library of local shape priors is first built with the given collection of 3D models of the same family. We then formulate a global, sparse optimization problem which enforces selecting representative priors while minimizing the reconstruction error. To solve the optimization problem, we design an efficient solver based on the Augmented Lagrangian Multipliers method (ALM). Extensive experiments exhibit the power of our data‐driven sparse priors in elegantly solving several high‐level shape analysis applications and geometry processing tasks, such as shape retrieval, style analysis and symmetry detection.
Regression‐Based Landmark Detection on Dynamic Human Models
Authors: Jang Deok‐Kyeong , Lee Sung‐Hee 
Published: October 2017

AbstractDetecting anatomical landmarks on various human models with dynamic poses remains an important and challenging problem in computer graphics research. We present a novel framework that consists of two‐level regressors for finding correlations between human shapes and landmark positions in both body part and holistic scales. To this end, we first develop pose invariant coordinates of landmarks that represent both local and global shape features by using the pose invariant local shape descriptors and their spatial relationships. Our body part‐level regression deals with the shape features from only those body parts that correspond to a certain landmark. In order to do this, we develop a method that identifies such body parts per landmark, by using geometric shape dictionary obtained through the bag of features method. Our method is nearly automatic, as it requires human assistance only once to differentiate the left and right sides. The method also shows the prediction accuracy comparable to or better than those of existing methods, with a test data set containing a large variation of human shapes and poses.
Group‐Theme Recoloring for Multi‐Image Color Consistency
Authors: Nguyen R.M.H. , Price B. , Cohen S. , Brown M. S. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractModifying the colors of an image is a fundamental editing task with a wide range of methods available. Manipulating multiple images to share similar colors is more challenging, with limited tools available. Methods such as color transfer are effective in making an image share similar colors with a target image; however, color transfer is not suitable for modifying multiple images. Approaches for color consistency for photo collections give good results when the photo collection contains similar scene content, but are not applicable for general input images. To address these gaps, we propose an application framework for achieving color consistency for multi‐image input. Our framework derives a group color theme from the input images′ individual color palettes and uses this group color theme to recolor the image collection. This group‐theme recoloring provides an effective way to ensure color consistency among multiple images and naturally lends itself to the inclusion of an additional external color theme. We detail our group‐theme recoloring approach and demonstrate its effectiveness on a number of examples.
Photometric Stabilization for Fast‐forward Videos
Authors: Zhang Xuaner , Lee Joon‐Young , Sunkavalli Kalyan , Wang Zhaowen 
Published: October 2017

AbstractVideos captured by consumer cameras often exhibit temporal variations in color and tone that are caused by camera auto‐adjustments like white‐balance and exposure. When such videos are sub‐sampled to play fast‐forward, as in the increasingly popular forms of timelapse and hyperlapse videos, these temporal variations are exacerbated and appear as visually disturbing high frequency flickering. Previous techniques to photometrically stabilize videos typically rely on computing dense correspondences between video frames, and use these correspondences to remove all color changes in the video sequences. However, this approach is limited in fast‐forward videos that often have large content changes and also might exhibit changes in scene illumination that should be preserved. In this work, we propose a novel photometric stabilization algorithm for fast‐forward videos that is robust to large content‐variation across frames. We compute pairwise color and tone transformations between neighboring frames and smooth these pair‐wise transformations while taking in account the possibility of scene/content variations. This allows us to eliminate high‐frequency fluctuations, while still adapting to real variations in scene characteristics. We evaluate our technique on a new dataset consisting of controlled synthetic and real videos, and demonstrate that our techniques outperforms the state‐of‐the‐art.
Albero: A Visual Analytics Approach for Probabilistic Weather Forecasting
Authors: Diehl A. , Pelorosso L. , Delrieux C. , Matković K. , Ruiz J. , Gröller M.E. , Bruckner S. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractProbabilistic weather forecasts are amongst the most popular ways to quantify numerical forecast uncertainties. The analog regression method can quantify uncertainties and express them as probabilities. The method comprises the analysis of errors from a large database of past forecasts generated with a specific numerical model and observational data. Current visualization tools based on this method are essentially automated and provide limited analysis capabilities. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that breaks down the automatic process using the experience and knowledge of the users and creates a new interactive visual workflow. Our approach allows forecasters to study probabilistic forecasts, their inner analogs and observations, their associated spatial errors, and additional statistical information by means of coordinated and linked views. We designed the presented solution following a participatory methodology together with domain experts. Several meteorologists with different backgrounds validated the approach. Two case studies illustrate the capabilities of our solution. It successfully facilitates the analysis of uncertainty and systematic model biases for improved decision‐making and process‐quality measurements.
Exploring Online Learners' Interactive Dynamics by Visually Analyzing Their Time‐anchored Comments
Authors: Sung Ching‐Ying , Huang Xun‐Yi , Shen Yicong , Cherng Fu‐Yin , Lin Wen‐Chieh , Wang Hao‐Chuan 
Published: October 2017

AbstractMOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are increasingly prevalent as an online educational resource open to everyone and have attracted hundreds of thousands learners enrolling these online courses. At such scale, there is potentially rich information of learners' behaviors embedded in the interactions between learners and videos that may help instructors and content producers adjust the instructions and refine the online courses. However, the lack of tools to visualize information from interactive data, including messages left to the videos at particular timestamps as well as the temporal variations of learners' online participation and perceived experience, has prevented people from gaining more insights from video‐watching logs. In this paper, we focus on extracting and visualizing useful information from time‐anchored comments that learners left to specific time points of the videos when watching them. Timestamps as a kind of metadata of messages can be useful to recover the interactive dynamics of learners occurring around the videos. Therefore, we present a visualization system to analyze and categorize time‐anchored comments based on topics and content types. Our system integrates visualization methods of temporal text data, namely ToPIN and ThemeRiver, which can help people understand the quality and quantity of online learners' feedback and their states of learning. To evaluate the proposed system, we visualized time‐anchored commenting data from two online course videos, and conducted two user studies participated by course instructors and third‐party educational evaluators. The results validate the usefulness of the approach and show how the quantitative and qualitative visualizations can be used to gain interesting insights around learners' online learning behaviors.
Doppler‐guided goal‐directed fluid therapy does not affect intestinal cell damage but increases global gastrointestinal perfusion in colorectal surgery: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Reisinger K. W. , Willigers H. M. , Jansen J. , Buurman W. A. , Von Meyenfeldt M. F. , Beets G. L. , Poeze M. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAimIndividualized, goal‐directed fluid therapy (GDFT), based on Doppler measurements of stroke volume, has been proposed as a treatment strategy in terms of reducing complications, mortality and length of hospital stay in major bowel surgery. We studied the effect of Doppler‐guided GDFT on intestinal damage as compared with standard postoperative fluid replacement.MethodPatients undergoing elective colorectal resection for malignancy were randomized either to standard intra‐ and postoperative fluid therapy or to standard fluid therapy with additional Doppler‐guided GDFT. The primary outcome was intestinal epithelial cell damage measured by plasma levels of intestinal fatty acid‐binding protein (I‐FABP). Global gastrointestinal perfusion was measured by gastric tonometry, expressed as regional (gastric) minus arterial CO2‐gap (Pr‐aCO2‐gap).ResultsI‐FABP levels were not significantly different between the intervention group and the control group (respectively, 440.8 (251.6) pg/ml and 522.4 (759.9) pg/ml, P = 0.67). Mean areas under the curve (AUCs) of intra‐operative Pr‐aCO2‐gaps were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (P = 0.01), indicating better global gastrointestinal perfusion in the intervention group. Moreover, the mean intra‐operative Pr‐aCO2‐gap peak in the intervention group was 0.5 (1.0) kPa, which was significantly lower than the mean peak in the control group, of 1.4 (1.4) kPa (P = 0.03).ConclusionDoppler‐guided GDFT during and in the first hours after elective colorectal surgery for malignancy increases global gastrointestinal perfusion, as measured by Pr‐aCO2‐gap.
Oestrogen retains human periodontal ligament stem cells stemness in long‐term culture
Authors: Ou Qianmin , Wang Xiaoxiao , Wang Yanlan , Wang Yan , Lin Xuefeng 
Published: October 2017

AbstractObjectivesDuring long‐term culture, loss of stemness is observed which greatly restricts the application of human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) in tissue regeneration. Oestrogen (E2) was found to significantly enhance the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation capacity in mesenchymal stem cells. Therefore, in this study, we investigated effects of E2 onhPDLSCs stemness in long‐term culture.Materials and methodsEffects of E2 onhPDLSCs stemness were systematically evaluated. To characterize underlying the mechanisms, its effects onPI3K/AKTsignalling pathway were determined.ResultsOur results showed that E2 was able to enhance the proliferation, modify cell cycle, up‐regulate stemness‐related genes expression, promote osteogenic differentiation and elevate the positive rate ofCD146 andSTRO‐1 over 10 passages inhPDLSCs. Importantly,PI3K/AKTsigning pathway might play a role in these effects.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that E2 retainshPDLSCs stemness in long‐term culture, which might enhance its application in tissue engineering.