bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients With Severe Bioprosthetic Aortic Valve Stenosis Undergoing Redo Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement
Authors: Naji Peyman , Griffin Brian P. , Sabik Joseph F. , Kusunose Kenya , Asfahan Fadi , Popovic Zoran B. , Rodriguez L. Leonardo , Lytle Bruce W. , Grimm Richard A. , Svensson Lars G. , Desai Milind Y. 
Published: September 2015

Background—
With improved event-free survival of patients undergoing primary bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement (AVR), reoperation to relieve severe prosthetic aortic stenosis (PAS) is increasing. We sought to (1) identify of the characteristics of patients with severe bioprosthetic PAS undergoing redo AVR, and (2) assess the outcomes of these patients, along with factors associated with adverse outcomes.

Methods and Results—

We studied 276 patients with severe bioprosthetic PAS (64±16 years, 58% men) who underwent redo-AVR between 2000 and 2012 (excluding mechanical PAS, severe other valve disease, and transcatheter AVR). Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was calculated. Severe PAS was defined as AV area <0.8 cm
2
, mean AV gradient ≥40 mm Hg, or dimensionless index <0.25. A composite outcome of death and congestive heart failure admission was recorded. Mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score and mean AV gradients were 8±8 and 53±17 mm Hg, whereas 28% had >II+ aortic regurgitation. Only 39% had an isolated redo AVR, the rest were combination surgeries (coronary bypass and/or aortic surgeries). At 4.2±3 years, 64 (23%) patients met the composite end point (48 deaths and 19 congestive heart failure admissions, 2.5% 30-day deaths). On multivariable Cox survival analysis, higher Society of Thoracic Surgeons score (hazard ratio, 1.35), higher grades of aortic regurgitation (hazard ratio, 1.29), and higher right ventricular systolic pressure (hazard ratio, 1.3) were associated with worse longer-term outcomes (all
P
<0.01).

Conclusions—
At an experienced center, in patients with severe bioprosthetic PAS undergoing redo AVR, the majority undergo combination surgeries but have excellent outcomes.
Common Dorsal Stream Substrates for the Mapping of Surface Texture to Object Parts and Visual Spatial Processing
Authors: Zachariou Valentinos , Nikas Christine V. , Safiullah Zaid N. , Behrmann Marlene , Klatzky Roberta , Ungerleider Leslie G. 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
Everyday objects are often composed of multiple parts, each with a unique surface texture. The neural substrates mediating the integration of surface features on different object parts are not fully understood, and potential contributions by both the ventral and dorsal visual pathways are possible. To explore these substrates, we collected fMRI data while human participants performed a difference detection task on two objects with textured parts. The objects could either differ in the assignment of the same texture to different object parts (“texture-location”) or the types of texture (“texture-type”). In the ventral stream, comparable BOLD activation levels were observed in response to texture-location and texture-type differences. In contrast, in a priori localized spatial processing regions of the dorsal stream, activation was greater for texture-location than texture-type differences, and the magnitude of the activation correlated with behavioral performance. We confirmed the reliance of surface texture to object part mapping on spatial processing mechanisms in subsequent psychophysical experiments, in which participants detected a difference in the spatial distance of an object relative to a reference line. In this task, distracter objects occasionally appeared, which differed in either texture-location or texture-type. Distracter texture-location differences slowed detection of spatial distance differences, but texture-type differences did not. More importantly, the distracter effects were only observed when texture-location differences were presented within whole shapes and not between separated shape parts at distinct spatial locations. We conclude that both the mapping of texture features to object parts and the representation of object spatial position are mediated by common neural substrates within the dorsal visual pathway.
Mononchoides macrospiculum n. sp. (Nematoda: Neodiplogastridae) and Teratorhabditis synpapillata Sudhaus, 1985 (Nematoda: Rhabditidae): nematode associates of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliver) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Italy
Authors: Troccoli Alberto , Oreste Monica , Tarasco Eustachio , Fanelli Elena , De Luca Francesca 
Published: September 2015

Several juvenile and adult nematodes were isolated after dissection of pupae and adults of the red palm weevil,Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, recovered from an infestedPhoenix canariensisChabaud exemplar in Bari, Italy. Two species of nematodes were recovered,Teratorhabditis synpapillataandMononchoides macrospiculumn. sp. which is described herein. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI), the ITS-containing region, the 18S rRNA gene (SSU) and the D2-D3 expansion domains of the 28S rRNA gene (LSU) were amplified and sequenced. The new species,M. macrospiculumn. sp., is described at morphological and molecular level. Phylogenetic analyses using SSU and LSU sequences placedM. macrospiculumn. sp. together withM. composticolaandM. striatus. The sequences of the Italian population ofT. synpapillataare identical to those ofT. synpapillatafrom Japan. This is the first report on the association ofM. macrospiculumn. sp. andT. synpapillatawith the red palm weevil in Europe.
Are General Circulation Models Ready for Operational Streamflow Forecasting for Water Management in the Ganges and Brahmaputra River Basins?
Authors: Sikder Safat , Chen Xiaodong , Hossain Faisal , Roberts Jason B. , Robertson Franklin , Shum C. K. , Turk Francis J. 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
This study asks the question of whether GCMs are ready to be operationalized for streamflow forecasting in South Asian river basins, and if so, at what temporal scales and for which water management decisions are they likely to be relevant? The authors focused on the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna basins for which there is a gridded hydrologic model calibrated for the 2002–10 period. The North American Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) suite of eight GCM hindcasts was applied to generate precipitation forecasts for each month of the 1982–2012 (30 year) period at up to 6 months of lead time, which were then downscaled according to the bias-corrected statistical downscaling (BCSD) procedure to daily time steps. A global retrospective forcing dataset was used for this downscaling procedure. The study clearly revealed that a regionally consistent forcing for BCSD, which is currently unavailable for the region, is one of the primary conditions to realize reasonable skill in streamflow forecasting. In terms of relative RMSE (normalized by reference flow obtained from the global retrospective forcings used in downscaling), streamflow forecast uncertainty (RMSE) was found to be 38%–50% at monthly scale and 22%–35% at seasonal (3 monthly) scale. The Ganges River (regulated) experienced higher uncertainty than the Brahmaputra River (unregulated). In terms of anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC), the streamflow forecasting at seasonal (3 monthly) scale was found to have less uncertainty (&gt;0.3) than at monthly scale (&lt;0.25). The forecast skill in the Brahmaputra basin showed more improvement when the time horizon was aggregated from monthly to seasonal than the Ganges basin. Finally, the skill assessment for the individual seasons revealed that the flow forecasting using NMME data had less uncertainty during monsoon season (July–September) in the Brahmaputra basin and in postmonsoon season (October–December) in the Ganges basin. Overall, the study indicated that GCMs can have value for management decisions only at seasonal or annual water balance applications at best if appropriate historical forcings are used in downscaling. The take-home message of this study is that GCMs are not yet ready for prime-time operationalization for a wide variety of multiscale water management decisions for the Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins.
Association between red blood cell distribution width and disease activity in patients with Behçet’s disease
Authors: Aksoy Şefika Nur , Savaş Esen , Sucu Murat , Kisacik Bünyamin , Kul Seval , Zengin Orhan 
Published: September 2015

Objectives To examine associations between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and organ involvement and disease activity in patients with Behçet’s disease. Methods Haematological and inflammatory parameters including RDW, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were examined in patients with Behçet’s disease and in healthy controls. Patients were divided into those with active or inactive disease. Results Data from 236 patients with Behçet’s disease (77 with active and 159 with inactive disease) and 72 controls were analysed. RDW, ESR and hsCRP were significantly higher in patients with Behçet’s disease than in controls, and in those with active disease compared with inactive disease or controls. In addition, ESR and hsCRP were significantly higher in those with inactive disease than controls. No correlations were found between hsCRP, ESR and RDW. No differences were observed in RDW, ESR or hsCRP between patients with or without ocular or vascular involvement. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that RDW was significantly higher in active disease compared with inactive disease. Conclusions RDW was increased in active disease compared with inactive disease. No relationships were found between organ involvement and RDW. RDW may be a cost-effective, novel potential parameter to evaluate disease activity in Behçet’s disease.
Altered N-glycosylation modulates TgrB1- and TgrC1-mediated development but not allorecognition in Dictyostelium
Authors: Li Cheng-Lin Frank , Chen Gong , Webb Amanda Nicole , Shaulsky Gad 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACT
Cell surface adhesion receptors play diverse functions in multicellular development. In Dictyostelium, two immunoglobulin-like adhesion proteins, TgrB1 and TgrC1, are essential components with dual roles in morphogenesis and allorecognition during development. TgrB1 and TgrC1 form a heterophilic adhesion complex during cell contact and mediate intercellular communication. The underlying signaling pathways, however, have not been characterized. Here, we report on a mutation that suppresses the tgrB–tgrC1-defective developmental arrest. The mutated gene alg9 encodes a putative mannosyl transferase that participates in N-linked protein glycosylation. We show that alteration in N-linked glycosylation, caused by an alg9 mutation with a plasmid insertion (alg9ins) or tunicamycin treatment, can partially suppress the developmental phenotypes caused by tgrC1 deletion or replacement with an incompatible allele. The alg9ins mutation also preferentially primed cells toward a stalk-cell fate. Despite its effect on development, we found that altered N-linked glycosylation had no discernable effect on TgrB1-TgrC1-mediated allorecognition. Our results show that N-linked protein glycosylation can modulate developmental processes without disturbing cell-cell recognition, suggesting that tgrB1 and tgrC1 have distinct effects in the two processes.
Efficient Solid-phase Gene Delivery Mediated by Cerasome: Effect of Reverse Procedure on Transfection Performances in Comparison with Solution-based Method
Authors: Tahara Keishiro , Tsukui Miku , Maeno Takanori , Inagaki Naoyuki , Kikuchi Jun-ichi 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
An organic–inorganic hybrid liposome, cerasome, was utilized as a new gene carrier for solid-phase transfection. The cerasome-modified glass substrate exhibited an increased transfection performance for HEK293T cells, compared to a solution-based bulk method, because of the efficient contact between the cells and the cerasome–plasmid DNA complex on the substrate surface.
The Role of the Supplementary Professional Education in Building the Shared Information-Educational Environment
Authors: Шанин  , Shanin S. , Шехматов  , Shekhmatov S. 
Published: September 2015

The paper concerns such timely and promising approach to improve the system of retraining and professional development of educators as creating
the shared information-educational environment, which would integrate several educational stages. Challenges and tasks facing the above mentioned
educational institutions are analyzed. It is further concluded that the system of retraining and professional development needs to be fundamentally
restructured and modernized. These activities should be undertaken in a variety of areas, including one of the most important goals — to introduce
inforamtization to the system of supplementary professional education, where the primary task is to create the shared information-educational
environment. Beside the advantages of informatization the authors also point out to the risks along the process and emphasize that introduction of IT
technologies should be incremental, targeted and well-thought-out.
Evaluation of TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-6 Cytokine Production and Their Correlation with Genotype Variants amongst Tuberculosis Patients and Their Household Contacts
Authors: Joshi Lavanya , Ponnana Meenakshi , Sivangala Ramya , Chelluri Lakshmi Kiran , Nallari Prathiba , Penmetsa Sitaramaraju , Valluri Vijayalakshmi , Gaddam Sumanlatha 
Published: September 2015

Background
Household contacts of diagnostically established tuberculosis (TB) patients are highly susceptible to disease development. It is surmised that cytokines perhaps play a synergistic and a prognostic role in the activation of the otherwise latent infection in these house hold contacts. Evaluation of the cytokines and any of their inherent polymorphisms might provide a useful diagnostic tool in evaluating the immune regulation and the progression of the disease. The cytokines thus released in a paracrine manner in serum may also provide an indirect measure of the cytokine function.

Objective
The present study was aimed to evaluate the levels of TNF-α, IL-10 & IL-6 cytokines and their correlation with genotype variants amongst tuberculosis patients and their household contacts.

Methods
The cytokine levels were estimated in serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and their polymorphisms were studied by amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction (ARMs PCR) in active pulmonary tuberculosis patients (APTB = 150), household contacts (HHC = 190), and healthy controls (HC = 150).

Results
The median values of TNF-α cytokine were significantly high among APTB and HHC compared to HCs (P< 0.0001 and 0.0001). IL-6 levels also were elevated among APTB compared to HHC and HC, and a significant difference was observed between APTB and HHC at P<0.0001; APTB & HC at P< 0.04; HHC & HC at P< 0.01. The IL-10 levels were low in APTB compared to HHC and HCs and no significant difference was observed. TNF-α/IL-10 ratio was significant and indicated Th1 predominance in APTB and HHC. IL-6/IL-10 showed pronounced Th1 expression in APTB and Th2 in HHC and HC. The ROC analysis indicated that both IL-10 and IL-6 can be used to decide the risk of exposed individual to a disease. The results of multivariate analysis indicate that IL-10 (-1082) GA genotype was significantly associated with p<0.028 in APTB. No significant association was observed between genotypes, other serum cytokine levels and clinical characteristics between APTB, HHC and HCs.

Conclusion
Large sample size with follow-up at different time points may further illuminate the role of IL-10 and IL-6 cytokines as a prognostic marker in house hold contacts.
Mechanism of Spontaneous Autogamy in the Allogamous Lepidopteran Orchid Gymnadenia Conopsea (L.) R. Br. (Orchidaceae)
Authors: Tałałaj Izabela , Skierczyński Michał 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
Studies of plant breeding systems are particularly important when they involve facultative processes, which can be overlooked in natural conditions. This especially applies to species that are considered allogamous, due to their pollination syndrome and floral architecture. We examined the potential level and factors enabling or limiting spontaneous autogamy in three populations of the lepidopteran orchid Gymnadenia conopsea. Using a bagging experiment, we noted the stages of the anther thecae and the positions of the pollinaria at the five phenological stages of the flower, as well as the quantity of autogamously set fruits and the number of properly formed seeds. In the studied populations, autogamy represents an accidental character, with a maximum of 3.3% of fruits set spontaneously per analysed sample in a given population, and with seed numbers ranging from 29 to 354. This process is an environmentally dependent co-product of the mechanisms that enable a position appropriate for touching the stigma (bending of the caudicle) and increase male fitness (disintegration of the massulae), preceded by the gradual opening of the anther chambers. Autopollination of G. conopsea may occur in the flowers at various flowering stages (excluding the beginning of anthesis) at each position on the inflorescence.
A C1,α$C^{1,\alpha}$ partial regularity result for integral functionals with p⁢(x)$p(x)$-growth condition
Authors: Giannetti Flavia 
Published: September 2015

AbstractWe establish${C^{1,\alpha}}$partial regularity for the local minimizers of integral functionals of the type$\mathcal{F}(u;\Omega):=\int_{\Omega}(1+|Du|^{2})^{\frac{p(x)}{2}}\,dx,$where the gradient of the exponent function${p(\,\cdot\,)\geq 2}$belongs to a suitable Orlicz–Zygmund class.
Multi-Level Construction of Polar Codes for Half-Duplex Wireless Coded-Cooperative Networks
Authors: Ejaz Saqib , FengFan Yang , Soliman Tamer H. M. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractIn this paper, Plotkin’s construction is employed to buildup longer length polar codes with the help of shorter length polar codes. Firstly, we present the multi-level code construction steps for non-cooperative communication schemes. Secondly, we extend the proposed multi-level polar code construction to coded-cooperative scenarios due to the parallel split in the proposed encoding scheme. Since, relay plays a pivotal role in the overall bit error rate (BER) performance of the coded-cooperative schemes, therefore, an efficient criteria of information bit selection at the relay is also presented. Furthermore, we propose a novel joint successive cancellation decoding scheme, which is employed at the destination and provides significant coding gains. Various numerical simulations show that the proposed polar coded-cooperative scheme (PCCS) scheme not only outperforms non-cooperative polar coded scheme but also the existing cooperative schemes for polar codes under identical conditions over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and quasi-static Rayleigh fading channels.
The Sticky Temptation of Poetry
Authors: Driscoll Kári 
Published: September 2015

AbstractSometime around 1900, a fundamental shift occurred in the way animals were represented in works of Western literature, art, and philosophy. Authors began to write about animals in a way that was unheard-of or even unimaginable in previous epochs. Traditionally, animals had fulfilled a symbolic, allegorical, or satirical function. But in the period around the turn of the twentieth century these animals begin, as it were, to »misbehave« or to »resist« the metaphorical values attributed to them. There is a conspicuous abundance of animals in the literature of this period, and this animal presence is frequently characterised by a profound and troubling ambiguity, which is often more or less explicitly linked to the problem of writing, representation, and language – specifically poetic or metaphorical language.Taking the Austrian literary scholar Oskar Walzel’s 1918 essay »Neue Dichtung vom Tiere« as its starting point, this essay explores the historical and philosophical background of this paradigm shift as well as its implications for the study of animals in literature more generally. Zoopoetics is both an object of study in its own right and a specific methodological and disciplinary problem for literary animal studies: what can the study of animals can contribute to literary studies and vice versa? What can literary animal studies tell us about literature that conventional literary studies might otherwise be blind to? Although animals abound in the literature of almost every geographical area and historical period, traditional literary criticism has been marked by the tendency to disregard this ubiquitous animal presence in literary texts, or else a single-minded determination to read animals exclusively as metaphors and symbols for something else, in short as »animal imagery«, which, as Margot Norris writes, »presupposes the use of the concrete to express the abstract, and indeed, it seem[s] that nowhere in literature [are] animals to be allowed to be themselves« (Norris 1985, 17). But what does it mean for literary theory and criticism to allow animals to »be themselves«? Is it possible to resist the tendency to press animals »into symbolic service« (ibid.) as metaphors and allegories for the human, whilst also avoiding a naïve literalism with respect to the literary animal?The pervasive uneasiness regarding the metaphorical conception of the animal within recent scholarship in animal studies stems from a more general suspicion that such a conception serves ultimately to assimilate the animal to a fundamentally logocentric discourse and hence to reduce »animal problems to a principle that functions within the
Propagation and survival of frequency-bin entangled photons in metallic nanostructures
Authors: Olislager Laurent , Kubo Wakana , Tanaka Takuo , Ungureanu Simona , Vallée Renaud A. L. , Kolaric Branko , Emplit Philippe , Massar Serge 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
We report on the design of two plasmonic nanostructures and the propagation of
frequency-bin entangled photons through them. The experimental findings clearly
show the robustness of frequency-bin entanglement, which survives after
interactions with both a hybrid plasmo-photonic structure, and a nano-pillar
array. These results confirm that quantum states can be encoded into the
collective motion of a many-body electronic system without demolishing their
quantum nature, and pave the way towards applications of plasmonic structures in
quantum information.
Photoconductivity of Low-Bandgap Polymer and Polymer: Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Studied by Constant Photocurrent Method
Authors: Malov V. V. , Tameev A. R. , Novikov S. V. , Khenkin M. V. , Kazanskii A. G. , Vannikov A.V. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractOptical and photoelectric properties of modern photosensitive polymers are of great interest due to their prospects for photovoltaic applications. In particular, an investigation of absorption and photoconductivity edge of these materials could provide valuable information. For these purpose we applied the constant photocurrent method which has proved its efficiency for inorganic materials. PCDTBT and PTB7 polymers were used as objects for the study as well as their blends with a fullerene derivative PC71BM. The measurements by constant photocurrent method (CPM) show that formation of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) in the blends increases photoconductivity and results in a redshift of the photocurrent edge in the doped polymers compared with that in the neat polymers. Obtained from CPM data, spectral dependences of absorption coefficient were approximated using Gaussian distribution of density-of-states within HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) and LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) bands. The approximation procedure allowed us to evaluate rather optical than electrical bandgaps for the studied materials. Moreover, spectra of polymer:PC71BM blends were fitted well by the sum of two Gaussian peaks which reveal both the transitions within the polymer and the transitions involving charge transfer states at the donor-acceptor interface in the BHJ.