bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nfib Regulates Transcriptional Networks That Control the Development of Prostatic Hyperplasia
Authors: Grabowska Magdalena M. , Kelly Stephen M. , Reese Amy L. , Cates Justin M. , Case Tom C. , Zhang Jianghong , DeGraff David J. , Strand Douglas W. , Miller Nicole L. , Clark Peter E. , Hayward Simon W. , Gronostajski Richard M. , Anderson Philip D. , Matusik Robert J. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractA functional complex consisting of androgen receptor (AR) and forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) proteins supports prostatic development, differentiation, and disease. In addition, the interaction of FOXA1 with cofactors such as nuclear factor I (NFI) family members modulates AR target gene expression. However, the global role of specific NFI family members has yet to be described in the prostate. In these studies, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by DNA sequencing in androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells demonstrated that 64.3% of NFIB binding sites are associated with AR and FOXA1 binding sites. Interrogation of published data revealed that genes associated with NFIB binding sites are predominantly induced after dihydrotestosterone treatment of LNCaP cells, whereas NFIB knockdown studies demonstrated that loss of NFIB drives increased AR expression and superinduction of a subset of AR target genes. Notably, genes bound by NFIB only are associated with cell division and cell cycle. To define the role of NFIB in vivo, mouse Nfib knockout prostatic tissue was rescued via renal capsule engraftment. Loss of Nfib expression resulted in prostatic hyperplasia, which did not resolve in response to castration, and an expansion of an intermediate cell population in a small subset of grafts. In human benign prostatic hyperplasia, luminal NFIB loss correlated with more severe disease. Finally, some areas of intermediate cell expansion were also associated with NFIB loss. Taken together, these results show a fundamental role for NFIB as a coregulator of AR action in the prostate and in controlling prostatic hyperplasia.
Induction of cell cycle arrest via the p21, p27–cyclin E,A/Cdk2 pathway in SMMC-7721 hepatoma cells by clioquinol
Authors: Huang Zhiwei , Wang Lianqiu , Chen Lifeng , Zhang Yifei , Shi Ping 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Clioquinol has been shown to have anticancer activity in several carcinoma cells. In this study, we preliminarily examined the effect of clioquinol in human SMMC-7721 hepatoma and QSG-7701 normal hepatic cells. Our results indicated that clioquinol did not significantly affect survival of QSG-7701 cells, whereas it reduced cell viability in a concentration- and time-dependent manner in SMMC-7721 cells. Clioquinol did not trigger autophagy and apoptosis, while it induced cell cycle arrest in the S-phase in SMMC- 7721 cells. Additionally, down-regulation of cyclin D1, A2, E1, Cdk2 and up-regulation of p21, p27 were detected after the treatment with clioquinol. The results demonstrated for the first time that clioquinol suppressed cell cycle progression in the S-phase in SMMC-7721 cells via the p21, p27-cyclin E,A/Cdk2 pathway. This suggests that clioquinol may have a therapeutic potential as an anticancer drug for certain malignances.
On the Bayesian Risk Evaluation of Minimum Guarantees in Variable Annuities
Authors: Yoo Byoung Hark , Ko Bangwon , Kwon Hyuk-Sung 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Long-term equity return models have a substantial impact on calculating reserves and capital requirements for minimum guarantees in variable annuities (VAs). Under a Bayesian statistical framework, we reinvestigate the standard long-term equity return models (independent lognormal, regime-switching lognormal and stochastic log volatility models) with the Korean equity market data. Our empirical analysis shows that the long-term behaviors of the Korean market are best described by the regime-switching lognormal models, and there can be significant difference in the amount of the reserves and the capital requirements depending on the model selection. The long-term nature of the VA contracts requires that more caution be paid for modeling the mean part of the stochastic log volatility model.
A method for reconstruction of visually evoked potentials from limited amount of sweeps
Authors: Kybartaite-Ziliene Asta , Gelzinis Arvydas , Krisciukaitis Algimantas 
Published: December 2015

AbstractVisually evoked potentials (VEPs) are signals evoked by a visual stimulus. They consist of brief discrete deflections embedded in background electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, which often has larger amplitude. Background EEG cancelation is a major part of VEPs analysis algorithms often realized by coherent averaging or other methods requiring large minimal amount of registered sweeps. In some cases, especially for pediatric patients, or in poor patient compliance cases, long procedure duration and fatigue might cause impaired attention and non-steady target fixation, affecting the quality of recorded VEPs. The possibility to reconstruct VEPs in every single sweep from limited size ensembles opens new diagnostic possibilities and shortens the registration procedure improving its quality. A proposed method is based on truncated expansion (Karhunen-Loève transform) of VEP signals applying generalized universal basis functions (eigenvectors of covariation matrix) calculated from learning set of sweeps, i.e. an ensemble of collected typical recordings. It realizes the possibility to reconstruct a signal from every single sweep even in limited size ensembles of registered sweeps. Application of adaptively time-shifted basis functions enables optimal reconstruction of the signal with latency shift or jitter.
I Saw it in a Movie: The Effectiveness of Health Regulations on International Travel
Authors: Wells William W. 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
With the ability to travel among nations comes the risk of spreading infections among disparate populations. Travel and the spread of disease has been a topic of health organizations since the nineteenth century. This paper analyzes these health concerns through the lens of nineteenth century cultural concerns over international travel, addresses them with regards to the various international and US federal regulations that have been enacted, and concludes with potential changes demonstrative of modern cultural concerns with international travel.
Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to Become the Villain: Mass Casualty Preparedness in Hospitals and Protecting Doctors from Liability during Mass Casualty Events
Authors: Tseung Ashley 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Since 9/11, the United States and the international community have emphasized the need to protect people from terrorist attacks. The Boston Bombing that took place on April 15, 2013, showed that even with all of the preventive measures in place, the United States is not immune from terrorist attacks. If there had been a bioterrorist attack in Boston instead of a homemade bomb, the amount of casualties would likely have been a lot higher. Many hospitals lack effective emergency preparedness plans that address bioterrorist attacks. One area that will help prepare nations during a mass casualty incident or public health emergency involves implementing effective mass casualty preparedness plans for hospitals. This paper analyzes mass casualty preparedness in hospitals and demonstrates the need to have legislation in place to protect doctors who treat patients during mass casualty events.
Constructing positivity preserving numerical schemes for the two-factor CIR
model
Authors: Halidias Nikolaos 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
We study the two-factor CIR model and using the main
idea of two of our previous papers, we propose explicit
numerical schemes that preserves positivity and converges strongly
in the mean square sense to the true solution. Our results apply
for the multi-factor and the one-factor cases as well.
Synthesis and functionalization of graphene and application in electrochemical biosensing
Authors: Saini Deepshikha 
Published: December 2015

AbstractGraphene is a two-dimensional material with amazing characteristics, which grant it the title “wonder material”. It has grabbed appreciable attention due to its exceptional electrical, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Because of these interesting properties, graphene has found its way into a wide variety of biosensing applications. It has been used as a transducer in electrochemical biosensors, bio-field-effect transistors, impedance biosensors, electrochemiluminescence, and fluorescence biosensors. Functionalization of graphene has further opened up novel fundamental and applied frontiers. The present article reviews recent works dealing with synthesis, functionalization of graphene, and its applications related to biosensors. Various synthesis strategies, mechanism and process parameters, and types of functionalization are discussed in view of biosensor development. Some potential areas for biosensor-related applications of functionalized graphene are highlighted, including catalytic biosensors and bio affinity biosensors. Wherever applicable, the limitations of the present knowledgebase and possible research directions have also been discussed.
Political Islam, Internet Use and Willingness to Migrate: Evidence from the Arab Barometer
Authors: Falco Chiara , Rotondi Valentina 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThis paper investigates the relationship between political Islam, willingness to migrate and Internet use by exploiting the second (2010–2011) and the third (2012–2014) waves of the Arab Barometer. In an effort to explain individual-level willingness to migrate from the Arab world, it investigates the channel through which the more people support political Islam the less they are willing to migrate. At the same time, it explores the fact that the Internet could potentially act as a vehicle of political Islam. Indeed, our findings indicate that there exists a positive relationship between Internet use and individual-level willingness to migrate, while there exists a negative relationship between political Islam and individual-level willingness to migrate. The findings indicate also that there is no significant effect of Internet use on political Islam.
Optical fiber solutions for laser ablation of tissue and immunostimulating interstitial laser thermotherapy – Product development in the network of developers, industry and users
Authors: Pantaleone Cristina , Dymling Stephan , Axelsson Jakob 
Published: December 2015

Abstract:
Clinical Laserthermia Systems AB (CLS) has developed a treatment protocol named immunostimulating interstitial laser thermotherapy (imILTCLS) which is intended to improve current treatment regimens for metastatic cancer diseases. It aims at a controlled local tumor ablation with a subsequent release of tumor specific antigens resulting in a systemic immune activation against the remaining cancer cells. The approach has its origins in the laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy procedure and is based on a proprietary and patented technique to optimize the immunological effect. CLS has gained know-how through long experience both in clinical and pre-clinical studies of the application, laser technology, thermometry, and expertise in regulatory affairs. However, CLS does not have the in-house expertise required for fiber development and production. Therefore the company has actively searched for industrial partners to collaborate with on the design and development of a fiber delivery system tailored to imILTCLS. The aim of this collaboration is to design an application-specific laser fiber that allows the treatment of a wider range of tumors with a single treatment and overcomes the limitations of currently available laser fibers, such as the limited achievable lesion sizes due the maximum power that can be used without carbonizing tissue. The present contribution gives a short overview about the current development steps within the network of developers, industry and users.
Effect of mechanical properties of metal powder-filled hybrid moulded products
Authors: Głogowska Karolina , Sikora Janusz W. , Duleba Branislav 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
The extensive research on polymer composites is motivated by the fact that it can result in obtaining new materials with enhanced properties. This research primarily focuses on investigating basic mechanical properties which determine the use of a particular composite material. This paper presents the results of tests investigating the mechanical properties, i.e. tensile strength, hardness and impact strength, of hybrid injection mouldings produced at constant processing parameters. We used five metal powder fillers: aluminium, zinc, tin, iron and copper powders, with their contents ranging from 2.5 wt% to 15 wt% relative to a polypropylene matrix composite material. The relationships were determined between different contents of the aforementioned metal powder fillers and Young’s modulus, maximum tensile stress, tensile stress at break, strains, Shore hardness and Charpy impact strength. The research also involved investigating mould shrinkage. Relevant conclusions were drawn.
Fracture behavior and deformation mechanisms of polypropylene/ethylene-propylene-diene blends
Authors: Ao Yuhui , Feng Fang , Zhang Huixuan 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
The fracture behavior and deformation mechanism of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM) were studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses. The deformation mechanism was investigated under different conditions. Voids were seen under all the conditions because of matrix shear yielding, indicating that rubber particle cavitation took place during the blend fracture process; moreover, the void size and density increased as the fracture surface was approached. However, the void density and extent of elongation of the rubber particles in the deformation zone decreased with increasing test speed rate. Many voids were positioned in the rubber particles, confirming that matrix shear yielding initiated by rubber particle cavitation was the main deformation mechanism during ductile fracture in the matrix.
Heat distortion temperature and mechanical properties of agricultural wastes-reinforced phenolic composites
Authors: Lai Jau Choy , Hassan Azman , Hasan Mahbub , Ani Farid Nasir , Tanjung Faisal Amri 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Phenolic composites containing three different types of agricultural waste fillers (i.e. oil palm shell flour, rice husk flour, and coconut shell) have been prepared consecutively using the two-roll milling and hot pressed methods. The resulting granules were compression molded before mechanical testing. Mechanical properties of the agro-fillers/phenolic composites were investigated by means of flexural test, impact test, and heat distortion temperature measurement. Flexural test was conducted following ASTM D790, impact test was carried out according to ASTM D-256, while heat distortion temperature was measured using ASTM D648. The stiffness of the composites is insensitive to the increasing of the filler loading. The incorporation of the three different types of agro-waste fillers into the phenolic matrix produced composites with better heat distortion temperature as compared to that of the neat resin. Overall, coconut shell flour was superior in improving the flexural strength of the composites, while oil palm shell composites exhibited the most apparent improvement in heat distortion temperature.
Product Quality Effects of International Airline Alliances, Antitrust Immunity, and Domestic Mergers
Authors: Gayle Philip G. , Thomas Tyson 
Published: December 2015

AbstractMuch of the literature on airline cooperation focuses on the price effects of cooperation. A key contribution of our paper is to empirically examine the product quality effects of airline cooperation. Two common types of cooperation among airlines involve international alliances and antitrust immunity (ATI), where ATI allows for more extensive cooperation. Additionally, this paper examines the extent to which domestic mergers affect the quality of international air travel products. The results suggest that increases in the membership of a carrier’s alliance or ATI partners and domestic mergers are associated with the carrier’s own products having more travel-convenient routing quality. Therefore, a complete welfare evaluation of airline cooperation and mergers should not ignore product quality effects.
Empirical likelihood tests for nonparametric detection of differential expression from RNA-seq data
Authors: Thorne Thomas 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe availability of large quantities of transcriptomic data in the form of RNA-seq count data has necessitated the development of methods to identify genes differentially expressed between experimental conditions. Many existing approaches apply a parametric model of gene expression and so place strong assumptions on the distribution of the data. Here we explore an alternate nonparametric approach that applies an empirical likelihood framework, allowing us to define likelihoods without specifying a parametric model of the data. We demonstrate the performance of our method when applied to gold standard datasets, and to existing experimental data. Our approach outperforms or closely matches performance of existing methods in the literature, and requires modest computational resources. An R package, EmpDiff implementing the methods described in the paper is available from:
Effects of Acutely Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure on Running Economy and Physical Performance in Basketball Players
Authors: Kilding Andrew E. , Dobson Bryan P. , Ikeda Erika 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Kilding, AE, Dobson, BP, and Ikeda, E. Effects of acutely intermittent hypoxic exposure on running economy and physical performance in basketball players. J Strength Cond Res 30(7): 2033–2042, 2016—The aim of this study was to determine the effect of short duration intermittent hypoxic exposure (IHE) on physical performance in basketball players. Using a single-blind placebo-controlled group design, 14 trained basketball players were subjected to 15 days of passive short duration IHE (n = 7), or normoxic control (CON, n = 7), using a biofeedback nitrogen dilution device. A range of physiological, performance, and hematological variables were measured at baseline, and 10 days after IHE. After intervention, the IHE group, relative to the CON group, exhibited improvements in the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 (+4.8 ± 1.6%; effect size [ES]: 1.0 ± 0.4) and repeated high-intensity exercise test performance (−3.5 ± 1.6%; ES: −0.4 ± 0.2). Changes in hematological parameters were minimal, although soluble transferrin receptor increased after IHE (+9.2 ± 10.1%; ES: 0.3 ± 0.3). Running economy at 11 km·h−1 (−9.0 ± 9.7%; ES: −0.7 ± 0.7) and 13 km·h−1 was improved (−8.2 ± 6.9%; ES: −0.7 ± 0.5), but changes to V̇o
2peak, HRpeak, and lactate were unclear. In summary, acutely IHE resulted in worthwhile changes in physical performance tests among competitive basketball players. However, physiological measures explaining the performance enhancement were in most part unclear.
Clinical and Immunological Features of Infectious Complications in Patients with Multiple Myeloma
Authors: Smirnova O. V. , Manchuk V. T. , Agilova Yu. N. 
Published: December 2015

Background: Infectious complications — the leading cause of mortality in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), their appearance is regarded as an adverse prognostic factor in the course of the disease.Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical and immunological features of infectious complications in patients with G- immunochemical MM to find the most informative indicators in their forecasting. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was made. All patients were divided into 3 groups for comparison: Group 1 (n =47) — MM patients, G-immunochemical variant with infection, Group 2 (n =54) — MM patients, G-immunochemical option no infectious complications, and Group 3 (n =125) — healthy volunteers. Research material was deoxygenated blood taken on admission of a patient to the hematology department before the pathogenetic treatment. Identification of G-variant was carried by immunofixation and electrophoresis. The immune status was assessed by indirect immunofluorescence. The concentration of IgA, M, E and G, and the levels of IL 2, IL 4, IL 8, TNF α, IFN γ in serum was determined by enzyme immunoassay. The activity of neutrophil granulocytes (NG) was studied by chemiluminescent analysis of spontaneous and induced production of reactive oxygen species. Statistical analysis was performed using the software STATISTICA v. 8.0 (USA).Results: We analyzed data from 101 patients with MM and 125 healthy volunteers. The average age of MM patients was 60.53±6.78 years. The group of healthy volunteers was similar in sex and age to groups of patients with MM. In patients with MM in the presence of infectious complications the researchers detected combined secondary development of T and B cell immunodeficiency, changes in non-specific immunity depended on the stage of the disease, unidirectional irregularities in spontaneous and induced chemiluminescence activity NG in II stage disease and multidirectional irregularities in stage III (p =0.045). Prevalence of the content of proinflammatory cytokines on inflammatory (p 0.001) and the deviation of the immune response to Th1-type were detected.Conclusion: the set of 6 informative indicators (the content of IL 4, IL 2, TNF α, IgG, the absolute number of CD4+ and CD19+ cells) enables the development of prediction method of infectious complications in patients with MM.
Causes and Factors of Male Infertility
Authors: Kolesnikova L. I. , Kolesnikov S. I. , Kurashova N. A. , Bairova T. A. 
Published: December 2015

The preservation of reproductive health of the population is an important factor of demographic policy of the state. According to some authors from 14 to 30% of couples of reproductive age suffer from infertility, male factor in such marriages is detected in more than half of the cases. As you know, in recent years there has been a significant deterioration in the main indicators of reproductive function of men. Increased the number of andrological diseases, morphological disorders of the male reproductive system, almost halved the production of sperm in men of reproductive age. The reason probably lies behind a whole range of stress factors, such as medical ignorance, uncontrolled and inappropriate use of medication, metabolic disturbances, lack of vitamins and minerals, the impact of industrial pollutants, as well as the growth of addictive disorders (alcoholism, smoking and drug addiction). The forms of infertility differ according to its etiology and severity from minor changes to complete spermatogenesis dysfunction of the gonads, and can also occur due to genetic disorders. The lack of analysis of the relationship between clinical and genetic-biochemical components in men with infertility makes it impossible to understand the pathogenesis of infertility and to assess the risks of male infertility. High level of current medicine does not always guarantee an identification of the cause of male infertility. The article analyzes data from the review of specialized literature on the diagnosis and etiopathogenesis of male infertility. Frequency and clinical signs of pathology of the male reproductive system depend on the combinatorial effects of environmental influences, manifested most often in mutually reinforcing effect. A combination of several, seemed to be imperceptible factors makes the risk of development of male reproductive pathology very high. This situation compels specialists to conduct comprehensive studies on the men reproductive potential.