bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ultra low concentration deltamethrin loaded patch development and evaluation of its repellency against dengue vector Aedes (S) albopictus
Authors: Chattopadhyay Pronobesh , Dhiman Sunil , Devi Kangujam Adiya , Banerjee Subham , Rabha Bipul , Chaurasia Ashwani , Veer Vijay 
Published: September 2013

Abstract

Background
Mosquito repellents and emanators confer protection against mosquito bites through spatial action of emanated vapours which are released into the adjoining environment. Synthetic insecticides released into the environment in ultra low volume vapour phase deter the mosquitoes from biting humans in a protected space.

Methods
Formulation patches were prepared using the solvent evaporation method over a backing membrane and using Dibutylphthalate (DBT) as a plasticizer. The effect of formulation variables on the deltamethrin release from the patch matrices were studied under accelerated conditions, whereas, HPLC was used for quantitative estimation of deltamethrin. The prepared patch formulations were subjected to physicochemical studies, such as, deltamethrin content, thickness, weight variation, percent moisture content, moisture uptake, surface area and surface pH determination. Deltamethrin-polymer interaction and compatibility was ascertained using DSC and FT-IR, while surface morphology and deltamethrin distribution in the patch were studied using SEM technique. Repellent activity of the patch formulations was evaluated against Ae. albopictus mosquitoes.

Results
Blends of polymeric combinations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and ethyl-cellulose (EC) with admixture of deltamethrin provided prolonged repellent activity against Ae. albopictus mosquitoes. Physicochemical characterisation indicated the suitability of deltamethrin patch formulation with the polymeric combinations of PVP and EC. Patches were very effective against laboratory reared Ae. albopictus mosquitoes. No significant difference was observed between the performance of test patches and commercially available repellent cream Mosqshield®.

Conclusion
Deltamethrin loaded patches provided effective repellency against Ae. albopictus mosquitoes. The study emphasised that deltamethrin released to the environment in low concentration could be an excellent spatial repellent against hematophagous mosquitoes.
Candidate microRNA biomarkers of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: meta-analysis, experimental validation and clinical significance
Authors: Ma Ming-Zhe , Kong Xiang , Weng Ming-Zhe , Cheng Kun , Gong Wei , Quan Zhi-Wei , Peng Cheng-Hong 
Published: September 2013

Abstract

Background
The diagnostic and prognostic value of microRNA (miRNA) expression aberrations in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been studied extensively in recent years. However, differences in measurement platforms and lab protocols as well as small sample sizes can render gene expression levels incomparable.

Methods
A comprehensive meta-review of published studies in PDAC that compared the miRNA expression profiles of PDAC tissues and paired neighbouring noncancerous pancreatic tissues was performed to determine candidate miRNA biomarkers for PDAC. Both a miRNA vote-counting strategy and a recently published Robust Rank Aggregation method were employed. In this review, a total of 538 tumour and 206 noncancerous control samples were included.

Results
We identified a statistically significant miRNA meta-signature of seven up- and three down-regulated miRNAs. The experimental validation results showed that the miRNA expression levels were in accordance with the meta-signature. The results from the vote-counting strategy were consistent with those from the Robust Rank Aggregation method. The experimental validation confirmed that the statistically unique profiles identified by the meta-review approach could discriminate PDAC tissues from paired nonmalignant pancreatic tissues. In a cohort of 70 patients, the high expression of miR-21 (p=0.018, HR=2.610; 95% CI=1.179-5.777) and miR-31 (p=0.039, HR=2.735; 95% CI=1.317-6.426), the low expression of miR-375 (p=0.022, HR=2.337; 95% CI=1.431-5.066) were associated with poor overall survival following resection, independent of clinical covariates.

Conclusions
The identified miRNAs may be used to develop a panel of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for PDAC with sufficient sensitivity and specificity for use in a clinical setting.
p66Shc regulates vesicle-mediated secretion in mast cells by affecting F-actin dynamics
Authors: Masi Giulia , Mercati David , Vannuccini Elisa , Paccagnini Eugenio , Riparbelli Maria Giovanna , Lupetti Pietro , Pelicci Pier Giuseppe , Baldari Cosima T , Ulivieri Cristina 
Published: September 2013

ABSTRACTThe extracellular vesicular compartment has emerged as a novel system of intercellular communication; however, the mechanisms involved in membrane vesicle biogenesis and secretion are as yet unclear. Among immune cells releasing membrane vesicles—mast cells that reside near tissues exposed to the environment—are master modulators of immune responses. Here, we have addressed the role of p66Shc, a novel regulator of mast cell activation and homeostasis, in the dynamic reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton that is associated with morphological changes during secretion. We show that p66Shc is recruited as a complex with the lipid phosphatase SHIP1 to the F-actin skeleton and impairs antigen-dependent cortical F-actin disassembly and membrane ruffling through the inhibition of Vav and paxillin phosphorylation. We also show that in addition to acting as a negative regulator of antigen-dependent mast cell degranulation, p66Shc limits the basal release of granule contents by inhibiting microvesicle budding from the plasma membrane and piecemeal degranulation. These findings identify p66Shc as a critical regulator of actin dynamics in mast cells, providing a basis for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in vesicle-mediated secretion in these cells.
Switchable Aggregation Phenomena of DNA-conjugated Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Driven by Transformation between ssDNA and dsDNA with Control of DNA Charges and Flexibility
Authors: Sugawara Yuuki , Tamaki Takanori , Ohashi Hidenori , Yamaguchi Takeo 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
It is possible to switch between the different aggregation phenomena of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-conjugated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) by controlling the balance of DNA charges and flexibility. The shift in the balance between DNA charges and flexibility occurs by changing the salt concentration in polymer solutions and the DNA fraction in polymer chains. Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-conjugated PNIPAM was more aggregated than double-stranded (dsDNA) when DNA charges are predominant. In contrast, dsDNA-conjugated PNIPAM was more aggregated than ssDNA when flexibility was predominant.
A New Bis-fused π-Electron Donor Composed of Tetrathiafulvalene and 2-(Xanthen-9-ylidene)-1,3-dithiole
Authors: Kato Minami , Shirahata Takashi , Misaki Yohji 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
Derivatives of a new bis-fused TTF analogue 2 composed of TTF and 2-(xanthen-9-ylidene)-1,3-dithiole have been synthesized. Cyclic voltammograms of 2 are composed of three pairs of redox waves, of which the third redox wave corresponds to a two-electron-transfer process. X-ray structure analysis of the ReO4− salt of bis(methylthio)-2 [(2b)ReO4(DCE)0.5] revealed that the 2b molecules form a dimerized one-dimensional stack.
Governance Institutions and Adaptation Costs: Evidence from the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Authors: Frank Douglas H. 
Published: September 2013

This paper investigates how institutions governing the employment relationship influence firms' adaptation to environmental changes. After the Berlin Wall fell, migration from East Germany accounted for an abrupt increase in the supply of a key resource—labor—in the West. I study responses to this disruption among firms in the economically important machinery and equipment industry. I find that western firms adapted to migration by increasing employment unless they were affiliated with a works council, an institution that limits the firm's autonomy in managing its workforce. I also find evidence of institution-contingent responses to migration in two areas of firm strategy: vertical boundaries and the focus on exploration versus exploitation. The results suggest that “hybrid” (i.e., less hierarchical) governance institutions increase adaptation costs. The results also indicate that such adaptation costs have implications for multiple aspects of firm decision making that are nominally beyond the scope of those governance institutions. This paper was accepted by Bruno Cassiman, business strategy.
Optimal Hiring and Retention Policies for Heterogeneous Workers Who Learn
Authors: Arlotto Alessandro , Chick Stephen E. , Gans Noah 
Published: September 2013

We study the hiring and retention of heterogeneous workers who learn over time. We show that the problem can be analyzed as an infinite-armed bandit with switching costs, and we apply results from Bergemann and Välimäki [Bergemann D, Välimäki J (2001) Stationary multi-choice bandit problems. J. Econom. Dynam. Control 25(10):1585–1594] to characterize the optimal hiring and retention policy. For problems with Gaussian data, we develop approximations that allow the efficient implementation of the optimal policy and the evaluation of its performance. Our numerical examples demonstrate that the value of active monitoring and screening of employees can be substantial.This paper was accepted by Yossi Aviv, operations management.
Outsourcing Information Security: Contracting Issues and Security Implications
Authors: Cezar Asunur , Cavusoglu Huseyin , Raghunathan Srinivasan 
Published: September 2013

A unique challenge in information security outsourcing is that neither the outsourcing firm nor the managed security service provider (MSSP) perfectly observes the outcome, the occurrence of a security breach, of prevention effort. Detection of security breaches often requires specialized effort. The current practice is to outsource both prevention and detection to the same MSSP. Some security experts have advocated outsourcing prevention and detection to different MSSPs. We show that the former outsourcing contract leads to a significant disincentive to provide detection effort. The latter contract alleviates this problem but introduces misalignment of incentives between the firm and the MSSPs and eliminates the advantages offered by complementarity between prevention and detection functions, which may lead to a worse outcome than the current contract. We propose a new contract that is superior to these two on various dimensions. This paper was accepted by Lorin Hitt, information systems.
Informed Bond Trading, Corporate Yield Spreads, and Corporate Default Prediction
Authors: Han Song , Zhou Xing 
Published: September 2013

Taking advantage of recently augmented corporate bond transaction data, we examine the pricing implications of informed trading in corporate bonds and its ability to predict corporate defaults. We find that microstructure measures of information asymmetry seem to capture adverse selection in corporate bond trading reasonably well. We demonstrate that information asymmetry in bond trading has explanatory power for corporate bond yield spreads, and this result holds after controlling for the transaction costs of liquidity, credit risk, and other traditional bond pricing factors. Furthermore, information asymmetry can help forecast corporate defaults after conditioning on other default prediction variables. Such forecasting ability of informed bond trading is especially useful for private firms because the bond market constitutes the only venue for informed traders to exploit their information advantages. This paper was accepted by Wei Xiong, finance.
Building on the past: The pâtes-de-verre sculpture of Max Stewart
Authors: Cummings Keith , Stewart Max 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
Professor Keith Cummings and Dr Max Stewart discuss their collaboration in an A.H.R.C.-funded project into the techniques of a glass casting process known as pâte(s)-de-verre within the works of the French pioneer of the process, Amalric Walter (1870–1959). The results of this project (completed in 2006) provided the starting point for the extension of this process, its description and publication in the form of repeatable recipes and clear scientific principles, the generation of new glass colours and their use within a personal body of glass sculpture. The article describes the journey from the original empirical investigation, through the experimental reproduction of Walter’s process, the codification of that process for publication, the extension of the process through the production of new colours and additions to the casting process itself, and their use as expressive vocabulary.
Crafts and successful ageing: The Découpage Guild Australia
Authors: Joseph Dawn , Southcott Jane 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
Community arts can provide older people with opportunities to enhance their quality of life, provide a sense of fulfillment and create a space for teaching, learning and sharing. Our research question asks how and why do older Australian people who are active in society engage with craft? This article discusses one particular case study from a larger ongoing joint research project, ‘Well-being and ageing: Community, diversity and the arts in Victoria’. The project, which began in 2008, has been undertaken by academic researchers from two metropolitan Australian universities in Melbourne, Victoria (Deakin University and Monash University). This research has entailed a number of case studies of individual visual and performing arts community organizations that cater for older people, active in the community. This phenomenological qualitative case study sought in-depth understandings of the group of découpers (all members of the Découpage Guild Australia). Phenomenological research entails an exploration of participants’ lifeworlds, experiences, understandings and perceptions. The data are reported under three overarching themes: Learning and Teaching; Being Creative; and Well-being. The study demonstrates that craft engagement can provide participants with new learning experiences, teaching opportunities in a collaborative community, an outlet for their creativity, which fosters an enhanced sense of self and well-being.
Pottery function and Nkore social activity
Authors: Kwesiga Philip 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
This article presents research regarding the instruction and production of pottery in Uganda during the twentieth century. It investigates how local low-tech pottery and community attitudes, as well as norms and values in traditional Ugandan pottery, have been displaced by competing modern technologies and selected community actions, which they in turn can be seen to influence. The proposition is that this shift in pottery manufacture reflects patterns of contemporary technological, socio-economic, cultural and power relations in Uganda in general and Nkore in particular. The proposition is further that this shift retains previous technological knowledge dispositions, specific to economic, social and cultural history in Uganda and its position in the global market. In other words, past local technology has left its mark on both past and present activities and attitudes to pottery making.
Digital Kanthas: Print waste as ornament
Authors: Rigley Steve 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
This article reflects on a body of practice-based research that considers the recycling of images found in discarded waste sheets from commercial offset-lithography. Specifically, it considers how images derived from Indian print waste might be recycled to create new forms of ornament that reflect upon cross-cultural exchange and globalization. Initially working with large-format waste sheets derived from billboard advertising in the United Kingdom, the author utilized cropping and re-contextualization to create new works. Working with waste gathered from the floors of a thriving print hub in southern India provided an opportunity to extend this exploration to consider waste sheets as catalysts for new forms of ornament, with the content directly referencing themes of historical and contemporary cultural exchange and globalization. Largely facilitated by digital tools and connectivity, a new generation of Indian designers have overseen a significant shift in Indian graphic design over the past twenty years. This has been most evident in the packaging of fireworks and hand-rolled cigarettes, where traditional and religious motifs have increasingly been marginalized in favour of the integration of western, secular imagery. Working with waste sheets used in the packaging of Indian fireworks and cigarettes, the author considers the Bengali Kantha – a traditional form of embroidered blanket – as a suitable model with which to explore new forms of ornament, connecting the traditional crafts practices of India with contemporary graphic design, and in turn provide a platform for a body of new works that reflect on perceived narrowing of the gap between graphic and textile design through digital production and print technologies.
Evidence for Tissue-Specific JAK/STAT Target Genes inDrosophilaOptic Lobe Development
Authors: Wang Hongbin , Chen Xi , He Teng , Zhou Yanna , Luo Hong 
Published: September 2013

AbstractThe evolutionarily conserved JAK/STAT pathway plays important roles in development and disease processes in humans. Although the signaling process has been well established, we know relatively little about what the relevant target genes are that mediate JAK/STAT activation during development. Here, we have used genome-wide microarrays to identify JAK/STAT targets in the optic lobes of the Drosophila brain and identified 47 genes that are positively regulated by JAK/STAT. About two-thirds of the genes encode proteins that have orthologs in humans. The STAT targets in the optic lobe appear to be different from the targets identified in other tissues, suggesting that JAK/STAT signaling may regulate different target genes in a tissue-specific manner. Functional analysis of Nop56, a cell-autonomous STAT target, revealed an essential role for this gene in the growth and proliferation of neuroepithelial stem cells in the optic lobe and an inhibitory role in lamina neurogenesis.
Gene Amplification and Functional Diversification of Melanocortin 4 Receptor at an Extremely Polymorphic Locus Controlling Sexual Maturation in the Platyfish
Authors: Volff Jean-Nicolas , Selz Yvonne , Hoffmann Carsten , Froschauer Alexander , Schultheis Christina , Schmidt Cornelia , Zhou Qingchun , Bernhardt Wolfgang , Hanel Reinhold , Böhne Astrid , Brunet Frédéric , Ségurens Béatrice , Couloux Arnaud , Bernard-Samain Sylvie , Barbe Valérie , Ozouf-Costaz Catherine , Galiana Delphine , Lohse Martin J , Schartl Manfred 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
In two swordtail species of the genus Xiphophorus, the onset of puberty has been shown to be modulated at the P locus by sequence polymorphism and gene copy-number variation affecting the type 4 melanocortin hormone receptor Mc4r. The system works through the interaction of two allelic types, one encoding wild type and the other dominant-negative receptors. We have analyzed the structure and evolution of the P locus in the platyfish Xiphophorus maculatus, where as many as nine alleles of P determining the onset of sexual maturity in males and females, fecundity in females, and adult size in males are located on both the X and Y chromosomes in a region linked to the master sex-determining locus. In this species, mc4r has been amplified to up to 10 copies on both the X and Y chromosomes through recent large serial duplications. Subsequently, mc4r paralogues have diverged considerably into many different subtypes. Certain copies have acquired new untranslated regions through genomic rearrangements, and transposable element insertions and other mutations have accumulated in promoter regions, possibly explaining observed deviations from the classical mc4r transcriptional pattern. In the mc4r-coding sequence, in-frame insertions and deletions as well as nonsense and missense mutations have generated a high diversity of Mc4r-predicted proteins. Most of these variants are expressed in embryos, adults, and/or tumors. Functional receptor characterization demonstrated major divergence in pharmacological behavior for Mc4r receptors encoded by different copies of platyfish mc4r, with differences in constitutive activity as well as binding and stimulation by hormones. The high degree of allelic and copy-number variation observed between individuals can explain the high level of polymorphism for sexual maturation, fecundity, and body size in the platyfish: multiple combinations of Mc4r variants with different biochemical properties might interact to modulate the melanocortin signaling that regulates the hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal axis.
Initiation of Meiotic Recombination in Ustilago maydis
Authors: Kojic Milorad , Sutherland Jeanette H , Pérez-Martín José , Holloman William K 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
A central feature of meiosis is the pairing and recombination of homologous chromosomes. Ustilago maydis, a biotrophic fungus that parasitizes maize, has long been utilized as an experimental system for studying recombination, but it has not been clear when in the life cycle meiotic recombination initiates. U. maydis forms dormant diploid teliospores as the end product of the infection process. Upon germination, teliospores complete meiosis to produce four haploid basidiospores. Here we asked whether the meiotic process begins when teliospores germinate or at an earlier stage in development. When teliospores homozygous for a cdc45 mutation temperature sensitive for DNA synthesis were germinated at the restrictive temperature, four nuclei became visible. This implies that teliospores have already undergone premeiotic DNA synthesis and suggests that meiotic recombination initiates at a stage of infection before teliospores mature. Determination of homologous recombination in plant tissue infected with U. maydis strains heteroallelic for the nar1 gene revealed that Nar+ recombinants were produced at a stage before teliospore maturation. Teliospores obtained from a spo11Δ cross were still able to germinate but the process was highly disturbed and the meiotic products were imbalanced in chromosomal complement. These results show that in U. maydis, homologous recombination initiates during the infection process and that meiosis can proceed even in the absence of Spo11, but with loss of genomic integrity.