bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cougar response to a gradient of human development
Authors: Maletzke Benjamin , Kertson Brian , Swanson Mark , Koehler Gary , Beausoleil Richard , Wielgus Robert , Cooley Hilary 
Published: July 2017

AbstractHuman populations continue to increase and transform Earth's ecosystems. For large carnivores, human development reduces habitat abundance, alters predator–prey dynamics, and increases the risk of mortality, which may threaten the viability of many populations. To investigate how the cougar (Puma concolor) responds to a gradient of human development in four areas in Washington, USA, we used utilization distributions, county tax parcel data, Weibull modeling analysis, and multiple comparison techniques. Cougars used wildland areas the majority of the time (79% ± 2%, n = 112 cougars), with use decreasing as housing densities increased. When present in human‐developed areas in eastern Washington, 99% of the habitat that cougars used had housing densities ≤76.5 residences/km2, which was <846.0 residences/km2 observed in western Washington (P < 0.01). Cougars used areas in western Washington with greater housing density likely because of the clustered nature of housing developments, the connectivity with greenbelts and forested corridors, and security cover of dense maritime vegetation. Our findings suggest a consistent, albeit nuanced response by cougars to human development that may be used by wildlife managers, landscape planners, and environmental educators to guide and enhance their efforts to minimize the impacts of human development on cougars and reduce the potential for conflicts with people. Our model may also provide guidance for thresholds of human development for other adaptable large carnivores.
Multisite musculoskeletal pain in adolescence as a predictor of medical and social welfare benefits in young adulthood: The Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Cohort Study
Authors: Eckhoff C. , Straume B. , Kvernmo S. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractBackgroundPain in adolescence is associated with mental health problems, the main reason for work disability in young adults. This study explores the relationship between multisite musculoskeletal pain in adolescence and later medical (sickness and medical rehabilitation benefits) and social welfare benefits, adjusted for sociodemographic, adolescent psychosocial and mental health problems.MethodsData were obtained by linkage between the National Insurance Registry (2003–11) and the Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study, a school‐based survey in North Norway (2003–05), accepted by 3987 fifteen‐ to sixteen‐year‐olds (68% of the total population). The start of the follow‐up time was July 1st of the corresponding year the participants responded to the health study. Musculoskeletal pain was measured by the number of musculoskeletal pain sites.ResultsWe found a positive linear relationship between adolescent musculoskeletal pain sites and the occurrence of medical and social welfare benefits in young adulthood (p ≤ 0.001). Adolescent musculoskeletal pain was a significant predictor of sickness (p < 0.001) and social welfare benefits in females (p = 0.036), when adjusted for adolescent psychosocial and mental health problems. The most important adolescent psychosocial predictors were externalizing problems, less parental involvement and adverse life events.ConclusionAdolescent multisite musculoskeletal pain was found to be an important predictor of later sickness and social welfare benefit receipt from adolescence to young adulthood.SignificanceAdolescents with multisite musculoskeletal pain are at substantially increased risk of health and social difficulties into young adulthood. Identification and interventions for these adolescent problems could alleviate this risk and be a sound socioeconomic investment.
Articulation of Cut Scores in the Context of the Next‐Generation Assessments
Authors: Kannan Priya , Sgammato Adrienne 
Published: July 2017

AbstractLogistic regression (LR)‐based methods have become increasingly popular for predicting and articulating cut scores. However, the precision of predictive relationships is largely dependent on the underlying correlations between the predictor and the criterion. In two simulation studies, we evaluated the impact of varying the underlying grade‐level correlations on the resultant bias in cut scores articulated using the LR method. In Study 1, we compared different articulation methods (LR and equipercentile smoothing), and in Study 2, we evaluated different criteria for linking (e.g., adjacent grade or end of course). The collective results indicate that as correlations became smaller, cut scores articulated using LR‐based predictions became increasingly biased when compared to a true value obtained under perfect correlation. The predicted values are significantly biased for lower achievement levels, irrespective of the linking criteria used. Results from these studies suggest that the LR method must be used with caution, particularly when articulating cut scores for multiple achievement levels.
On assessing the relative performance of default predictions
Authors: Krämer Walter 
Published: July 2017

AbstractWe compare the accuracy of default predictions as, for instance, produced by professional rating agencies. We extend previous results on partial orderings to nonidentical sets of obligors and show that the calibration requirement virtually rules out the possibility of some partial orderings and that the partial ordering based on the ROC curve is most easily achieved in practice. As an example, we show for more than 5,000 firms rated by Moody's and S&P that these ratings cannot be ranked according to their grade distributions given default or nondefault, but that Moody's dominate S&P with respect to the ROC criterion and the Gini curve.
The independent influences of age and education on functional brain networks and cognition in healthy older adults
Authors: Perry Alistair , Wen Wei , Kochan Nicole A. , Thalamuthu Anbupalam , Sachdev Perminder S. , Breakspear Michael 
Published: July 2017

AbstractHealthy aging is accompanied by a constellation of changes in cognitive processes and alterations in functional brain networks. The relationships between brain networks and cognition during aging in later life are moderated by demographic and environmental factors, such as prior education, in a poorly understood manner. Using multivariate analyses, we identified three latent patterns (or modes) linking resting‐state functional connectivity to demographic and cognitive measures in 101 cognitively normal elders. The first mode (P = 0.00043) captures an opposing association between age and core cognitive processes such as attention and processing speed on functional connectivity patterns. The functional subnetwork expressed by this mode links bilateral sensorimotor and visual regions through key areas such as the parietal operculum. A strong, independent association between years of education and functional connectivity loads onto a second mode (P = 0.012), characterized by the involvement of key hub regions. A third mode (P = 0.041) captures weak, residual brain–behavior relations. Our findings suggest that circuits supporting lower level cognitive processes are most sensitive to the influence of age in healthy older adults. Education, and to a lesser extent, executive functions, load independently onto functional networks—suggesting that the moderating effect of education acts upon networks distinct from those vulnerable with aging. This has important implications in understanding the contribution of education to cognitive reserve during healthy aging. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5094–5114, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Early survival and delayed death of developmentally‐born dentate gyrus neurons
Authors: Cahill Shaina P. , Yu Ru Qi , Green Dylan , Todorova Evgenia V. , Snyder Jason S. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe storage and persistence of memories depends on plasticity in the hippocampus. Adult neurogenesis produces new neurons that mature through critical periods for plasticity and cellular survival, which determine their contributions to learning and memory. However, most granule neurons are generated prior to adulthood; the maturational timecourse of these neurons is poorly understood compared to adult‐born neurons but is essential to identify how the dentate gyrus (DG), as a whole, contributes to behavior. To characterize neurons born in the early postnatal period, we labeled DG neurons born on postnatal day 6 (P6) with BrdU and quantified maturation and survival across early (1 hr to 8 weeks old) and late (2–6 months old) cell ages. We find that the dynamics of developmentally‐born neuron survival is essentially the opposite of neurons born in adulthood: P6‐born neurons did not go through a period of cell death during their immature stages (from 1 to 8 weeks). In contrast, 17% of P6‐born neurons died after reaching maturity, between 2 and 6 months of age. Delayed death was evident from the loss of BrdU+ cells as well as pyknotic BrdU+caspase3+ neurons within the superficial granule cell layer. Patterns of DCX, NeuN, and activity‐dependent Fos expression indicate that developmentally‐born neurons mature over several weeks and a sharp peak in zif268 expression at 2 weeks suggests that developmentally‐born neurons mature faster than adult‐born neurons (which peak at 3 weeks). Collectively, our findings are relevant for understanding how developmentally‐born DG neurons contribute to memory and disorders throughout the lifespan. High levels of early survival and zif268 expression may promote learning, while also rendering neurons sensitive to insults at defined stages. Late neuronal death in young adulthood may result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of DG neurons, which could impact memory persistence and contribute to hippocampal/DG atrophy in disorders such as depression.
Potential of time‐lapse photography for identifying saturation area dynamics on agricultural hillslopes
Authors: Silasari Rasmiaditya , Parajka Juraj , Ressl Camillo , Strauss Peter , Blöschl Günter 
Published: July 2017

AbstractMapping saturation areas during rainfall events is important for understanding the dynamics of overland flow. In this study, we evaluate the potential of high temporal resolution time‐lapse photography for mapping the dynamics of saturation areas (i.e., areas where water is visually ponding on the surface) on the hillslope scale during natural rainfall. We take 1 image per minute over a 100 × 15 m2 depression area on an agricultural field in the Hydrological Open Air Laboratory, Austria. The images are georectified and classified by an automated procedure, using grey intensity as a threshold to identify saturation area. The optimum threshold T is obtained by comparing saturation areas from the automated analysis with the manual analysis of 149 images. T is found to be highly correlated with an image brightness characteristic defined as the greyscale image histogram mode M (Pearson correlation r = 0.91). We estimate T as T = M + C where C is a calibration parameter assumed to be constant during each event. The automated procedure estimates the total saturation area close to the manual analysis with mean normalized root mean square error of 9% and 21% if C is calibrated for each event and taken constant for all events, respectively. The spatial patterns of saturation are estimated with a geometric mean accuracy index of 94% as compared to the manual analysis of the same photos. The patterns are tested against field observations for one date as a preliminary demonstration, which yields a root mean square error of the shortest distance between the measured boundary points and the automatically classified boundary as 23 cm. The usefulness of the patterns is illustrated by exploring run‐off generation processes of an example event. Overall, the proposed classification method based on grey intensity is found to process images with highly varying brightnesses well. It is more efficient than the manual tracing for a large number of images, which allows the exploration of surface flow processes at high temporal resolution.
Fundamental Developments of Chiral Phase Chromatography in Connection with Enantioselective Synthesis of β‐Amino Acids
Authors: Vargas‐Caporali Jorge , Juaristi Eusebio 
Published: July 2017

AbstractA few decades ago, the enantiomeric purities of chiral compounds were usually determined by comparison of experimental optical rotations or by preparation of diastereomeric derivatives followed by analysis of their 1H NMR spectra. This situation changed when Emanuel Gil‐Av, Binyamin Feibush and Rosita Charles‐Sigler achieved the separation of single enantiomers from racemic α‐amino acids by means of a chiral stationary phase. Indeed, chiral chromatography allowed a direct comparison of chromatograms obtained from enantiopure samples with those recorded with their racemates. With the aim of celebrating the relevance of Gil‐Av's achievement, this review also presents several applications of chiral chromatography in the area of asymmetric synthesis of β‐amino acids.
Asiatic acid enhances survival of human AC16 cardiomyocytes under hypoxia by upregulating miR‐1290
Authors: Wu Kai , Hu Min , Chen Zejin , Xiang Feixiang , Chen Guojian , Yan Weihong , Peng Qing , Chen Xiaoping 
Published: July 2017

AbstractAsiatic acid (AA) could attenuate ischemia/reperfusion induced myocardial apoptosis through upregulating the Akt/GSK‐3β/HIF‐1α pathway. HIF‐3α is a negative regulator of HIF‐1α, whose mRNA is a potential target of miR‐1290. AA could upregulate miR‐1290 in non‐small‐cell lung cancer A549 cells. This work aimed to investigate whether AA could inhibit hypoxia induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis through regulating the miR‐1290/HIF3A/HIF‐1α axis. The AC16 human myocardial cell line cultured under normoxic or hypoxic conditions was treated with various doses of AA for 24 h. Afterwards cell viability, apoptosis and the expression of miR‐1290, HIF3A, and HIF1A were evaluated. Cells transfected with miR‐1290 mimic or inhibitor were used to determine the role of miR‐1290 in the anti‐apoptosis effect of AA and the expression of HIF3A and HIF1A. Dual luciferase assay was performed to confirm miR‐1290 targeting of HIF3A. HIF3A overexpression was achieved by transfection of HIF3A1 overexpressing lentivirus, and its effect on miR‐1290 and AA‐regulated survival of cardiomyocytes was evaluated. AA treatment protected cardiomyocytes from hypoxia‐induced apoptosis and upregulated miR‐1290 and HIF1A, but downregulated HIF3A under hypoxia. The protective effect of AA was abolished by miR‐1290 knockdown, whereas enhanced by miR‐1290 overexpression. In addition, miR‐1290 knockdown increased HIF1A expression, but reduced HIF3A expression in cardiomyocytes. Dual luciferase assay confirmed miR‐1290 direct targeting the 3′ UTR of HIF3A. HIF3A overexpression counteracted the anti‐apoptosis effect of AA or miR‐1290. In conclusion, AA can protect cardiomyocytes against hypoxia‐induced apoptosis through regulating the miR‐1290/HIF3A/HIF‐1α axis, and miR‐1290 may be a potential target in the prevention of myocardial ischemia‐reperfusion injury. © 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(9):660–667, 2017
Longitudinal Adaptations of Bone Mass, Geometry, and Metabolism in Adolescent Male Athletes: The PRO-BONE Study
Authors: Vlachopoulos Dimitris , Barker Alan R , Ubago-Guisado Esther , Fatouros Ioannis G , Knapp Karen M , Williams Craig A , Gracia-Marco Luis 
Published: July 2017

ABSTRACT

Adolescence is a crucial period for bone development, and exercise can enhance bone acquisition during this period of life. However, it is not known how the different loading sports practiced can affect bone acquisition in adolescent male athletes. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the 1-year longitudinal bone acquisition among adolescent males involved in osteogenic (football) and non-osteogenic (swimming and cycling) sports and to compare with active controls. A total of 116 adolescent males aged 12 to 14 years at baseline were followed for 1 year: 37 swimmers, 37 footballers, 28 cyclists, and 14 active controls. Bone mineral content (BMC) was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA); cross-sectional area (CSA), cross-sectional moment of inertia (CSMI), and section modulus (Z) at the femoral neck was assessed using hip structural analysis (HSA); and bone texture of the lumbar spine was assessed using trabecular bone score (TBS). Serum N-terminal propeptide of procollagen type I (PINP), isomer of the Carboxi-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (CTX-I), total serum calcium, and 25 hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were analyzed. Footballers had significantly higher adjusted BMC at the lumbar spine (7.0%) and femoral neck (5.0%) compared with cyclists, and significantly greater BMC at the lumbar spine (6.9%) compared with swimmers. Footballers presented significantly greater TBS (4.3%) compared with swimmers, and greater CSMI (10.2%), CSA (7.1%), Z (8.9%) and TBS (4.2%) compared with cyclists. No differences were noted between cyclists and swimmers, both groups had similar bone acquisition compared with controls. PINP was significantly higher in footballers and controls compared with cyclists and swimmers (3.3% to 6.0%), and 25(OH)D was significantly higher in footballers and cyclists compared with swimmers and controls (9.9% to 13.1%). These findings suggest that bone acquisition is higher in adolescent male footballers compared with swimmers and cyclists at the femoral neck and lumbar spine sites of the skeleton. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Retracted: MicroRNA‐300 promotes apoptosis and inhibits proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition via the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway by targeting CUL4B in pancreatic cancer cells
Authors: Zhang Jia‐Qiang , Chen Shi , Gu Jiang‐Ning , Zhu Yi , Zhan Qian , Cheng Dong‐Feng , Chen Hao , Deng Xia‐Xing , Shen Bai‐Yong , Peng Cheng‐Hong 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe study aims to verify the hypothesis that up‐regulation of microRNA‐300 (miR‐300) targeting CUL4B promotes apoptosis and suppresses proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) of pancreatic cancer cells by regulating the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway. Pancreatic cancer tissues and adjacent tissues were collected from 110 pancreatic cancer patients. Expression of miR‐300, CUL4B, Wnt, β‐catenin, E‐cadherin, N‐cadherin, Snail, GSK‐3β, and CyclinD1 were detected using qRT‐PCR and Western blot. CFPAC‐1, Capan‐1, and PANC‐1 were classified into blank, negative control (NC), miR‐300 mimics, miR‐300 inhibitors, siRNA‐CUL4B, and miR‐300 inhibitors + siRNA‐CUL4B groups. The proliferation, migration, invasion abilities, the cell cycle distribution, and apoptosis rates were measured in CCK‐8 and Transwell assays. Pancreatic cancer tissues showed increased CUL4B expression but decreased miR‐300 expression. When miR‐300 was lowly expressed, CUL4B was upregulated which in‐turn activated the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway to protect the β‐catenin expression and thus induce EMT. When miR‐300 was highly expressed, CUL4B was downregulated which in‐turn inhibited the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway to prevent EMT. Weakened cell migration and invasion abilities and enhanced apoptosis were observed in the CUL4B group. The miR‐300 inhibitors group exhibited an evident increase in growth rate accompanied the largest tumor volume. Smaller tumor volume and slower growth rate were observed in the miR‐300 mimics and siRNA‐CUL4B group. Our study concludes that lowly expressed miR‐300 may contribute to highly expressed CUL4B activating the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway and further stimulating EMT, thus promoting proliferation and migration but suppressing apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells.
Second hydrogen atom abstraction by molecular ions
Authors: Tsizin Svetlana , Seemann Boaz , Alon Tal , Amirav Aviv 
Published: July 2017

We report the observation of a new physical phenomenon of the addition of 2 hydrogen atoms to molecular ions thus forming [M + 2H]+ ions. We demonstrate such second hydrogen atom abstraction onto the molecular ions of pentaerythritol and trinitrotoluene (TNT). We used both gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) with supersonic molecular beam (SMB) with methanol added into its make‐up gas and electron ionization (EI) liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) with SMB with methanol as the LC solvent. We found that the formation of methanol clusters resulted upon EI in the formation of dominant protonated pentaerythritol ion at m/z = 137 plus about 70% relative abundance of pentaerythritol molecular ion with 2 additional hydrogen atoms at m/z = 138 which is well above the 5.7% natural C13 isotope abundance of protonated pentaerythritol. Similarly, we found an abundant protonated TNT ion at m/z = 228 and a similar abundance of TNT molecular ion with 2 additional hydrogen atoms at m/z = 229. Upon the use of deuterated methanol (CD3OD) as the solvent, we observed an abundant m/z = 231 (M + 2D)+ of TNT with 2 deuterium atoms. We found such abundant second hydrogen atom abstraction with butylglycolate and at low abundances in dioctylphthalate, Vitamin K3, phenazine, and RDX. At this time, we are unable to report the magnitude and frequency of occurrence of this phenomenon in standard electrospray LC‐MS.This observation could have important implications on the provision of elemental formula from mass spectra that are involved with protonated molecules. Accordingly, while accurate mass measurements can serve for the generation of elemental formula, their further support and improvement via isotope abundance analysis are questionable. Consequently, if a given compound can be analyzed by both GC‐MS and LC‐MS, its GC‐MS analysis can be superior for the provision of accurate elemental formulae if its EI mass spectrum exhibits abundant molecular ions such as with GC‐MS with SMB (also known as cold EI).
Rapid solid‐phase extraction coupled with GC–MS method for the determination of venlafaxine in rat plasma: Application to the drug–drug pharmacokinetic interaction study of venlafaxine combined with fluoxetine
Authors: Song Lin , Zheng Zhen , Liang Chen , Chen Xiujuan , Zhang Runsheng , Hong Zhanying , Chai Yifeng 
Published: July 2017

AbstractA rapid and sensitive gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method for the determination of venlafaxine in rat plasma has been developed and applied to a drug–drug interaction study of fluoxetine on pharmacokinetics of venlafaxine in rats. Rat plasma was spiked with 2% aqueous ammonia before subjected to preactivated C18 solid‐phase extraction columns and eluted with methanol. No endogenous interferences were observed under optimal condition. The calibration curve was linear (R2 = 0.9994) in the range of 10–1000 ng/mL. The quantification limit of venlafaxine in rat plasma was 10 ng/mL. The accuracy was in the range of 85–110%, and the extraction recovery was no less than 50%. Both the intra‐ and interday precision were 5.0–10.7%. The concentration–time curve showed that plasma concentrations of the coadministration group (group B) were higher than that of single dose group (group A). Both values of Cmax (0.069 mg/L) and AUC0→∞ (0.291 mg h/L) in group B were statistically greater than that of Cmax (0.046 mg/L) and AUC0→∞ (0.181 mg·h/L) in group A (P < 0.05). The results indicated that a significant effect of fluoxetine was shown on the pharmacokinetics of venlafaxine, suggesting that drug–drug interactions are of concern for the treatment of depression with the combined use of venlafaxine and fluoxetine.