bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A3 Adenosine Receptors as Modulators of Inflammation: From Medicinal Chemistry to Therapy
Authors: Jacobson Kenneth A. , Merighi Stefania , Varani Katia , Borea Pier Andrea , Baraldi Stefania , Aghazadeh Tabrizi Mojgan , Romagnoli Romeo , Baraldi Pier Giovanni , Ciancetta Antonella , Tosh Dilip K. , Gao Zhan‐Guo , Gessi Stefania 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) subtype is a novel, promising therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriasis, as well as liver cancer. A3AR is coupled to inhibition of adenylyl cyclase and regulation of mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, leading to modulation of transcription. Furthermore, A3AR affects functions of almost all immune cells and the proliferation of cancer cells. Numerous A3AR agonists, partial agonists, antagonists, and allosteric modulators have been reported, and their structure–activity relationships (SARs) have been studied culminating in the development of potent and selective molecules with drug‐like characteristics. The efficacy of nucleoside agonists may be suppressed to produce antagonists, by structural modification of the ribose moiety. Diverse classes of heterocycles have been discovered as selective A3AR blockers, although with large species differences. Thus, as a result of intense basic research efforts, the outlook for development of A3AR modulators for human therapeutics is encouraging. Two prototypical selective agonists, N6‐(3‐Iodobenzyl)adenosine‐5′‐N‐methyluronamide (IB‐MECA; CF101) and 2‐chloro‐N6‐(3‐iodobenzyl)‐adenosine‐5′‐N‐methyluronamide (Cl‐IB‐MECA; CF102), have progressed to advanced clinical trials. They were found safe and well tolerated in all preclinical and human clinical studies and showed promising results, particularly in psoriasis and RA, where the A3AR is both a promising therapeutic target and a biologically predictive marker, suggesting a personalized medicine approach. Targeting the A3AR may pave the way for safe and efficacious treatments for patient populations affected by inflammatory diseases, cancer, and other conditions.
Mitochondrial dysfunction and potential anticancer therapy
Authors: Lleonart Matilde E. , Grodzicki Robert , Graifer Dmitri M. , Lyakhovich Alex 
Published: July 2017

AbstractMitochondrial dysfunction (MDF) has been identified as an important factor in various diseases ranging from neurological disorders, to diseases of the cardiovascular system and metabolic syndromes. MDF was also found in cancer as well as in cancer predisposition syndromes with defective DNA damage response (DDR) machinery. Moreover, a recent highlight arises from the detection of MDF in eukaryotic cells upon treatment with antibiotics. In this review, we focus on recent studies of MDF in pathological conditions with a particular emphasis on the effects of various classes of antibiotics on mitochondria. Special attention is given to the role of autophagy/mitophagy in MDF and repurposing antibiotics as anticancer drugs.
Characterization of radiation dose from tube current modulated CT examinations with considerations of both patient size and variable tube current
Authors: Li Xinhua , Yang Kai , Liu Bob 
Published: July 2017

PurposeThe volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) and the size‐specific dose estimate (SSDE) are widely used for monitoring patient dose from CT examinations. Both metrics may represent the average dose over the central scan plane of the CTDI phantom or the patient under constant tube current (mA), but they are not intended for the tube current modulation (TCM)‐enabled CT examinations, in which the peak dose across the scanned range may not be at the scan range center. To overcome the limitation, this paper illustrates an alternative approach, its implementation, and the relationship between longitudinal dose distribution DL(z) in water cylinder and mA line shape, scan length, as well as phantom diameter.MethodsA dose calculation algorithm and the published data by Li et al. [Med. Phys. 40, 031903 (10pp.) (2013); 41, 111910 (5pp.) (2014)] were used to calculate DL(z) for the central and peripheral axes of 10‐ to 50‐cm diameter water phantoms undergoing CT scans of one constant and three variable mA distributions, each of which in three scan lengths of 10, 28.6, and 50 cm. All scans had an identical average tube current over the scan ranges. The results in the scanned ranges were used to assess the DL(z) to mA(z) ratios, and their coefficients of variation (CV = stdev/mean) were used to compare the line shapes of DL(z) and mA(z) for congruence: identical line shapes would result in CV = 0, but largely different line shapes would result in high CV.ResultsIn 30‐cm diameter water phantom, the line shape of DL(z) was largely different from that of mA(z). CV was higher in a variable mA scan than in a constant mA scan. As the scan length of variable mA scan increased, CV mostly decreased, and the line shape of DL(z) more closely resembled that of mA(z). When two phantom axes were compared, CV was smaller and the line shape of DL(z) more closely resembled that of mA(z) on the peripheral axis than on the central axis. In 41 water phantoms included in this study, CV mostly increased with phantom diameter, and approached the limiting levels on the peripheral axes of large phantoms. In constant mA scans, CV ranged from 5.5% to 14.0% on the phantom central axes and from 4.6% to 6.4% on the phantom peripheral axes. However, in variable tube current scans, CV ranged from 7.4% to 70.0% on the phantom central axes and from 5.1% to 35.9% on the phantom peripheral axes.ConclusionDL(z) (water) may be advantageous over current CT dose metrics in characterizing the dose dependences on both patient size and mA line shape from tube current modulated examinations. Evaluating DL(z) (water) with the water equivalent diameter and tube current curve from clinical examinations has a potential to improve CT dose monitoring program.
Hydrophobically modified alginate for extended release of pharmaceuticals
Authors: Choudhary Soumitra , Reck Jason M. , Carr Amanda J. , Bhatia Surita R. 
Published: July 2017

Hydrophobically modified alginate hydrogels have great potential in drug delivery as they are biologically compatible and cost efficient. While previous works have shown successful protein, and hydrophobic and hydrophilic drug delivery, little information regarding the relationship between crosslinker density and drug release rate is known. This paper investigates the impact of crosslinker density and hydrophobic degree of substitution within modified alginate gels and solutions on the release kinetics using model hydrophobic drug, sulindac. Near zero‐order release was obtained for an extended period of 5 days. Drug release rates decreased as the crosslinker density within both modified alginate hydrogels and solutions increased. Release data fit well to a simplified Fickian relationship, suggesting that the release mechanism is diffusion‐limited. These release characteristics also correlate with bulk rheological measurements, indicating a strong interrelationship between the mechanical properties and the drug release characteristics of the hydrogels.
Weight‐correction of carbon dioxide diffusion coefficient (DCO2) reduces its inter‐individual variability and improves its correlation with blood carbon dioxide levels in neonates receiving high‐frequency oscillatory ventilation
Authors: Belteki Gusztav , Lin Benjamin , Morley Colin J. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractBackgroundCarbon‐dioxide elimination during high‐frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) is thought to be proportional to the carbon dioxide diffusion coefficient (DCO2) which is calculated as frequency x (tidal volume)2. DCO2 can be used to as an indicator of CO2 elimination but values obtained in different patients cannot be directly compared.ObjectivesTo analyze the relationship between DCO2, the weight‐corrected DCO2 (DCO2corr) and blood gas PCO2 values obtained from infants receiving HFOV.MethodsDCO2 data were obtained from 14 infants at 1/s sampling rate and the mean DCO2 was determined over 10 min periods preceding the time of the blood gas. DCO2corr was calculated by dividing the DCO2 by the square of the body weight in kg.ResultsWeight‐correction significantly reduced the inter‐individual variability of DCO2. When data from all the babies were combined, standard DCO2 showed no correlation with PCO2 but DCO2corr showed a weak but statistically significant inverse correlation. The correlation was better when the endotracheal leak was <10%. There was significant inverse but weaker correlation between the HFOV tidal volume (VThf) and the PCO2. In any baby, DCO2corr >50 mL2/sec/kg2 or VThf > 2.5 mL/kg was rarely needed to avoid hypercapnia.ConclusionsWeight‐correction of DCO2 values improved its comparability between patients. Weight‐corrected DCO2 correlated better with PCO2 than uncorrected DCO2 but the correlation was weak.
The extraordinary thermal stability of EstA from S. islandicus is independent of post translational modifications
Authors: Stiefler‐Jensen Daniel , Schwarz‐Linnet Troels , de Lichtenberg Casper , Nguyen Tam T. T. N. , Rand Kasper D. , Huang Li , She Qunxin , Teilum Kaare 
Published: July 2017

AbstractEnzymes from thermophilic and hyper‐thermophilic organisms have an intrinsic high stability. Understanding the mechanisms behind their high stability will be important knowledge for the engineering of novel enzymes with high stability. Lysine methylation of proteins is prevalent in Sulfolobus, a genus of hyperthermophilic and acidophilic archaea. Both unspecific and temperature dependent lysine methylations are seen, but the significance of this post‐translational modification has not been investigated. Here, we test the effect of eliminating in vivo lysine methylation on the stability of an esterase (EstA). The enzyme was purified from the native host S. islandicus as well as expressed as a recombinant protein in E. coli, a mesophilic host that does not code for any machinery for in vivo lysine methylation. We find that lysine mono methylation indeed has a positive effect on the stability of EstA, but the effect is small. The effect of the lysine methylation on protein stability is secondary to that of protein expression in E. coli, as the E. coli recombinant enzyme is compromised both on stability and activity. We conclude that these differences are not attributed to any covalent difference between the protein expressed in hyperthermophilic versus mesophilic hosts.
Construction of an Ec‐LDP‐D5 fusion protein that targets human epidermal growth factor receptor and its anti‐pancreatic cancer activity
Authors: Liu Wen‐juan , Song Xian‐rang , Zuo Bin‐li , Wang Xing‐wu 
Published: July 2017

AbstractObjectiveIt is well known that α‐defensins are mainly packaged in neutrophil granules (HNP1, HNP2, and HNP3) or secreted by intestinal Paneth cells (human defensin [HD]5 and HD6). HNP1–3 peptides are also secreted, and their accumulation in biological fluids was proposed as a tumor biomarker. It has been reported that α‐defensins promote tumor cell growth, but also provoke cell death at higher concentrations. The aim of the present study was to construct a novel fusion protein consisting of oligopeptides specific for human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), lidamycin apoprotein (LDP), and HD5, and investigate its anti‐pancreatic cancer activities.MethodsHD5 was fused to the Ec‐LDP protein to obtain the Ec‐LDP‐D5 fusion protein by DNA recombination. Then, immunofluorescence and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays were used to investigate the binding activities of Ec‐LDP‐D5 to EGFR‐overexpressed cancer cells. CCK‐8 assay was used to measure Ec‐LDP‐D5 in vitro cytotoxicity, and AnnexinV‐FITC/PI staining assay was used to analyze its apoptosis‐inducing efficacy.ResultsThe Ec‐LDP‐D5 fusion protein was constructed correctly and expressed in Escherichia coli in insoluble inclusion bodies. The production of Ec‐LDP‐D5 was 1 mg/L fermentation broth, and the purity of the fusion protein was 85% as analyzed by high‐performance liquid chromatography. Ec‐LDP‐D5 showed strong binding activities for pancreatic cancer cells that highly express EGFR, including PNAC‐1 and Aspc‐1 cells. The Ec‐LDP‐D5 fusion protein showed more potent cytotoxicity to cancer cells compared with Ec‐LDP. The results from the AnnexinV‐FITC/PI staining assay also revealed that Ec‐LDP‐D5 significantly induced cell apoptosis.ConclusionThe novel Ec‐LDP‐D5 fusion protein binds to EGFR specifically, and shows potent cytotoxicity and apoptosis‐inducing activities towards pancreatic cancer cells, which suggests that it would be a promising cancer therapeutics candidate.
Variations in the surface chemistry of methanol with CeO2(100) at low and elevated pressures
Authors: Mullins David R. 
Published: July 2017

The reactions of methanol with and without O2 were studied on a flat, highly crystalline CeO2(100) thin‐film surface with ambient pressure XPS. In the absence of O2, the ambient pressure XPS results indicate that in both low‐pressure (≤10−5 Torr) and high‐pressure regimes (≥10−1 Torr), the dominant surface species is methoxy. Methanol decomposition substantially reduces the ceria and CX deposit build‐up on the surface. When O2 is present, CX does not accumulate on the surface and the dominant surface species is different in the low‐pressure and high‐pressure regimes. Methoxy dominates at low pressure, while formate dominates at the higher pressure. The type of surface species appears to be related to the ability of O2 to fully oxidize the ceria surface during the methanol reaction.
Investigating a learning progression for energy ideas from upper elementary through high school
Authors: Herrmann‐Abell Cari F. , DeBoer George E. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThis study tests a hypothesized learning progression for the concept of energy. It looks at 14 specific ideas under the categories of (i) Energy Forms and Transformations; (ii) Energy Transfer; (iii) Energy Dissipation and Degradation; and (iv) Energy Conservation. It then examines students’ growth of understanding within each of these ideas at three levels of increasing conceptual complexity. The basic level of the model focuses on simple energy relationships and easily observable effects of energy processes; the intermediate level focuses on more complex energy concepts and applications; and the advanced level focuses on still more complex energy concepts, often requiring an atomic/molecular model to explain phenomena. The study includes results from 359 distractor‐driven, multiple‐choice test items administered to over 20,000 students in grades 4 through 12 from across the U.S. Rasch analysis provided linear measures of student performance and item difficulty on the same scale. Results largely supported a model of students’ growth of understanding that progresses from an understanding of forms and transformations of energy to energy transfer to conservation while also progressing along a separate dimension of cognitive complexity. An analysis of the current state of students’ understanding with respect to the knowledge identified in the learning progression showed that elementary level students perform well in comparison to expectations but that middle and high school students’ performance does not meet expectations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 68–93, 2018
Improved approach for the determination of low‐Z elements in uranium samples using a vacuum chamber TXRF spectrometer
Authors: Sanyal Kaushik , Dhara Sangita , Misra N.L. 
Published: July 2017

Total reflection X‐ray fluorescence (TXRF) method for the determination of low atomic number (Z) elements Na (Z = 11) to Ca (Z = 20) using Cr Kα excitation, vacuum atmosphere sample chamber, and ultrathin window detector of a low Z–high Z TXRF spectrometer has been developed. The earlier reported problem in determination of Al, due to interference of U Mα escape peak with Al Kα, was taken care by more intense solvent extraction‐based separation of uranium matrix from the sample solutions. Any dissolved tri‐n‐butyl phosphate having traces of uranium left after solvent extraction was removed from the sample solutions by equilibrating with n‐dodecane. This approach resulted in the betterment of analytical results. The method developed was validated by analyzing three Certified Reference Materials for trace metals in uranium oxide, developed by Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. The TXRF determined results were found to have an average precision of 8.0% (1σ, n = 3) and the average deviation of the TXRF determined values from the certified concentrations was 7.3%. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hybridization and emergence of virulence in opportunistic human yeast pathogens
Authors: Mixão Verónica , Gabaldón Toni 
Published: July 2017

AbstractHybridization between different species can result in the emergence of new lineages and adaptive phenotypes. Occasionally, hybridization in fungal organisms can drive the appearance of opportunistic lifestyles or shifts to new hosts, resulting in the emergence of novel pathogens. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have documented the existence of hybrids in diverse yeast clades, including some comprising human pathogens. Comparative and population genomics studies performed on these clades are enabling us to understand what roles hybridization may play in the evolution and emergence of a virulence potential towards humans. Here we survey recent genomic studies on several yeast pathogenic clades where hybrids have been identified, and discuss the broader implications of hybridization in the evolution and emergence of pathogenic lineages. © 2017 The Authors. Yeast published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Patterns of microbial growth in urine cultures in a pediatric hematology/oncology unit over a one-year period
Authors: Hirmas Nader , Mubarak Sawsan , Sultan Iyad 
Published: July 2017

Background:
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) may present with nonspecific symptoms and without any definitive clinical signs other than fever, hence may be missed without a routine urine analysis. We retrospectively evaluated all cases of culture-positive urine infections in pediatric oncology patients in our center during the year 2015.

Methods:
We assessed all positive urine culture incidents for pediatric patients receiving treatment and/ or follow-up at our center during 2015. Analysis was performed on patients with regards to clinical, microbiology and pertinent lab findings as well as associated risk factors.

Results:
There were 151 episodes of documented positive urine cultures among 73 patients. Majority of positive urine cultures were found in solid tumor patients (41%), followed by hematological malignancies (26%). Most organisms detected were gram-negative organisms (84%), with E.coli being the most frequent (51%). Forty percent of bacteria were resistant to standard broad-spectrum antibiotics, with the majority being extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing. Most of these infections occurred in patients receiving prophylactic antibiotics (46 out of 50). Approximately two thirds of patients were not febrile on the day of culture (64%) and almost half of the reported episodes were associated with urinary symptoms. Pyuria, leukocyte esterase and nitrites were positive in 39%, 51% and 19% of samples, respectively.

Conclusions:
Positive urine culture in children with cancer may not be associated with urinalysis abnormalities, particularly in patients with neutropenia. When selecting empiric treatment for cancer patients with UTIs, one should take into consideration the institutional patterns for resistance and use of prophylactic antibiotics.
One Year of Monitoring the Vela Pulsar Using a Phased Array Feed
Authors: Sarkissian John M. , Reynolds John E. , Hobbs George , Harvey-Smith Lisa 
Published: July 2017

AbstractWe have observed the Vela pulsar for 1 year using a phased array feed receiver on the 12-m antenna of the Parkes Test-Bed Facility. These observations have allowed us to investigate the stability of the phased array feed beam weights over time, to demonstrate that pulsars can be timed over long periods using phased array feed technology and to detect and study the most recent glitch event that occurred on 2016 December 12. The beam weights are shown to be stable to 1% on time scales on the order of three weeks. We discuss the implications of this for monitoring pulsars using phased array feeds on single dish telescopes.
What Is and Where Is Francophone African Popular Fiction?
Authors: Higginson Pim 
Published: July 2017

AbstractAfrica, and the specificities of its individual countries’ colonial experiences, poses important questions concerning genre and popular culture. Specifically, it is difficult to situate something like, for example, “crime fiction,” using the “culture industries” model proposed by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. Although helpful, Stuart Hall’s major rehabilitation of the popular removed Adorno and Horkheimer’s cultural elitism but nevertheless continued to tie the popular to a mode of production concomitant with late capitalism. What, this essay asks, should then be done with the “popular” productions of an African continent that has been systematically underdeveloped? Likewise, how should we categorize the work of Francophone African writers of noir whose books are principally sold in France? These cases further destabilize the already precarious concept of the popular, not only in its application to Africa, but globally.
Africa in What Age: Post-Global or Post-Rwanda?
Authors: Korang Kwaku Larbi 
Published: July 2017

AbstractIn “African Literature in the Post-Global Age” Tejumola Olaniyan is to be found asking: Where is the world at—and Africa with it? And for Olaniyan, the contemporary world is most ideally mapped as “post-global.” The purview of the post-global—its “field commonsense”—yields a world of humanity beyond the boundaries of nation, race, and territory, joined in commonalities of global need and planetary responsibility. What are the implications of the world thus known for Africanist literary practice? Can it rightly continue to be a particularist practice dedicated in restricted humanist service to Africa known in racialist, nationalist, and nativist particularity? Or ought Africanist practice to direct its humanism expansively to the service of a world in transnational and cosmopolitan linkage? Olaniyan wants Africanist literary practice to be post-global—and therefore universalist. But is Africanist literary practice well served in discarding the particular? This essay is guided in answer by Aimé Césaire’s caveat: “There are two ways to lose oneself: by segregation in the particular or by dilution in the universal.”
Corps diplomatique:The body, British diplomacy, and independent Afghanistan, 1922–47
Authors: DREPHAL MAXIMILIAN 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThis article studies diplomatic history in its physical dimensions. Its point of departure is the interpretation of the term ‘corps diplomatique’ in a literal sense. The article introduces the concept of the diplomatic body as a diplomat's body and as a body with diplomatic functions and meanings. Based on material relating to the British Legation in Kabul from 1922 until 1947, the body's ubiquity in international relations is revealed through the themes of space, language, and medicine. The article first looks at the impact of Kabul's spatial conditions and the physical reactions it excited in British diplomats. It then considers the bodies of Afghanistan's ruling elite as objects of British attention, whose appearance was documented in diplomatic records. Descriptions of these bodies in diplomatic language expressed intimacy and consensus as well as estrangement in British–Afghan relations. In addition to the metaphorical use of the diplomatic body, the provision of healthcare through the Legation's medical unit addressed the needs of British and Afghan bodies alike. It was also employed to further diplomatic ends by extending colonial medicine to the Afghan population. The study of the Legation's physical practices ultimately reveals the diplomatic mission's colonial origins and character.