bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The emerging role of biomarkers and bio-impedance in evaluating hydration status in patients with acute heart failure
Authors: Di Somma Salvatore , Navarin Silvia , Giordano Stefania , Spadini Francesco , Lippi Giuseppe , Cervellin Gianfranco , Dieffenbach Bryan V. , Maisel Alan S. 
Published: October 2012

Abstract
The quantitative and qualitative estimation of total body fluid content has proven to be crucial for both diagnosis and prognosis assessment in patients with heart failure. The aim of this review is to summarize the current techniques for assessing body hydration status as well as the principal biomarkers associated with acute heart failure (AHF). Although clinical history, physical examination and classical imaging techniques (e.g., standard radiography and echocardiography) still represent the cornerstones, novel and promising tools, such as biomarkers and bio-electrical impedance are achieving an emerging role in clinical practice for the assessment of total body fluid content. In the acute setting, the leading advantages of these innovative methods over device are represented by the much lower invasiveness and the reasonable costs, coupled with an easier and faster application. This article is mainly focused on AHF patients, not only because the overall prevalence of this disease is dramatically increasing worldwide, but also because it is well-known that their fluid overload has a remarkable diagnostic and prognostic significance. It is thereby conceivable that the bio-electrical vector analysis (BIVA) coupled with laboratory biomarkers might achieve much success in AHF patient management in the future, especially for assisting diagnosis, risk stratification, and therapeutic decision-making.
Applying corpus linguistics and conversation analysis in the investigation of small group teaching in higher education
Authors: O'Keeffe, Anne , Walsh, Steve 
Published: October 2012

AbstractIn this paper, we consider how a combined corpus linguistics and conversation analysis methodology can reveal new insights into the relationship between interaction patterns, language use, and learning. The context of the paper is higher education small group teaching sessions and our data are drawn from a one million word corpus, the Limerick-Belfast Corpus of Academic Spoken English (LI-BEL CASE). Our methodology combines corpus linguistics (CL) and applied conversation analysis (CA), enabling quantitative findings to be elaborated by more close-up qualitative analysis of sequences of interaction. Using a combined CL and CA approach (henceforth CLCA) enables us to consider more closely the relationships between, for example, interaction patterns and lexical chunks and to evaluate the extent to which tutors create or prevent opportunities for learning. Using CLCA, we offer a more detailed description of the linguistic and interactional features of turns at talk and consider how these features combine in the joint enterprise of meaning-making. Put simply, CLCA enables us to characterize seminar talk in a more systematic way. Starting at the level of turn, and using CA to move to a higher level of discourse, we can identify specific features of the spoken interaction, such as sequential organisation and topic management. Similarly, starting again at the level of turn but using CL, we can move our analysis to lower levels of discourse, such as cluster and word patterns, in order to see how words combine. This CLCA approach offers a fuller, richer description of talk in small-group teaching than would be found using either CA or CL alone. Finally, we offer an evaluation of a CLCA methodology and consider its applications in other research settings.
Synthesis and antimicrobial evaluation of substituted benzimidazolyl fluoroquinolones under conventional and microwave irradiation conditions
Authors: Guruswamy Batthini , Arul Ramakrishnan 
Published: October 2012

Abstract
New ciprofloxacin analogs 3a–i were prepared using a conventional methodology and with the help of a microwave irradiation technique. The structures of the synthesized compounds were established on the basis of spectral and analytical data. The antimicrobial activities of newly synthesized compounds were evaluated against a number of microorganisms by using ciprofloxacin as reference. Many of the evaluated compounds exhibit remarkable activities against Gram positive organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococci, Bacillus spp., Gram negative organisms such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella Pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp., Salmonella typhi and antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Among these, compounds 3a, 3b and 3i exhibit excellent antibacterial activity and products 3c and 3f show very good antifungal activity.
Synthesis of new tetracyclic paullone derivatives as potential CDK inhibitors
Authors: Koutsandrea Efthimia G. , Fousteris Manolis A. , Nikolaropoulos Sotiris S. 
Published: October 2012

Abstract
Synthetic efforts towards new tetracyclic heterocycles bearing the pyrrolo[2′,3′:5,6]azepino[4,3-b]indol-4(11H)-one core are described. Synthesized tetracyclic compounds are the first analogs, structurally related to protein kinase inhibitors paullones which incorporate an azepinone, an indole and a pyrrole ring. The synthetic approach involves palladium mediated intramolecular Heck coupling as a key step.
Synthesis of novel trifluoromethyl-containing heterocycle-fused troponoid compounds
Authors: Gao Wentao , Liu Rui , Li Yang 
Published: October 2012

Abstract:
A facile synthesis of novel trifluoromethyl-containing pyrano-, pyrazolo- and isoxazolo-fused tropone compounds 4a,b, 5a,b, and 6a,b, respectively, by cyclizations of (E)-3-[3-(trifluoromethylphenyl)acryloyl]tropolones 3a,b is described. The substrates 3a,b were prepared by Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction of 3-acetyltropolone (1) with 3- or 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzaldehydes 2a,b.
Expression of reprogramming factors in breast cancer cell lines and the regulation by activated Stat3
Authors: Yang Chul Min , Chiba Tomohiro , Groner Bernd 
Published: October 2012

Abstract
Distinct gene expression patterns, accompanied by particular epigenetic states, provide the basis for different stages of cellular differentiation. The programming of cells usually proceeds from stem cells to progenitor cells to differentiated progeny. The process, however, is not irreversible, and pluripotency can be reestablished in terminally differentiated cells through the expression of the reprogramming factors (RFs) octamer-binding transcription factor 3/4 (Oct4), sex-determining region Y box 2 (Sox2), Krüppel-like factor 4 (Klf4), and c-Myc. Tumor cell formation is characterized by partial differentiation, epigenetic alterations, and drastic changes in the transcriptional program. As the RF can cause pluripotency through cellular dedifferentiation and epigenetic alterations, it is possible that the activation of their genes might contribute to cellular transformation. The shared capacity for self-renewal between pluripotent stem cells and cancer stem cells is in line with this assumption. The deregulation of RF has been observed in poorly differentiated, high-grade breast cancer and is associated with unfavorable prognosis. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) mediates a wide variety of cellular functions including survival, proliferation, and differentiation and is constitutively activated in tumor cells of diverse origins. Stat3 is also accelerates somatic cell reprogramming. We investigated the connection between Stat3 activation and the expression of RF in the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-468 and the normal mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10A by real-time quantitative PCR and immunoblot analyses. We detected strong expression of Sox2 and Klf4 messenger RNA (mRNA) in MCF-7 cells and the expression of Oct4 mRNA in all the four cell lines. Immunoblot analyses revealed the strong protein expression of homeobox protein Nanog (Nanog), Oct4, and Sox2 in MCF-7 cells. This cell line only contains a low level of phosphorylated Stat3. We also examined the effect of the Stat3 inhibitor Stattic on the expression of RF and observed that it suppressed mRNA and protein expression of RF in MCF-7 cells. The expression levels of reprogramming proteins can strongly differ from their mRNA expression levels and do not necessarily correspond with the extent of Stat3 activation in the cell lines compared.
The chromatin landscape of the casein gene locus
Authors: Rijnkels Monique , Kabotyanski Elena , Shore Amy , Rosen Jeffrey M. 
Published: October 2012

Abstract
For several decades, the regulation of casein gene expression by the lactogenic hormones, prolactin and glucocorticoids, has provided an excellent model system in which to study how steroid and peptide hormones regulate gene expression. Early studies of casein gene regulation defined conserved sequence elements in the 5′ flanking region of these genes, including one of which was identified as a γ-interferon activation sequence (GAS). Although this site was thought to interact with a mammary gland-specific factor, purification and cloning of this factor by Bernd Groner and his colleagues revealed it was instead a new member of the signal transducers and activators of transcription family, Stat5, which was expressed in many tissues. The exquisite tissue-specific expression of the casein genes was subsequently shown to depend not on a single transcription factor but on composite response elements that interacted with a number of ubiquitous transcription factors in response to the combinatorial effects of peptide and steroid hormone signaling. More recent studies have defined cooperative effects of prolactin and glucocorticoids as well as antagonistic effects of progesterone on the chromatin structure of both the casein gene proximal promoter region as well as a distal enhancer. Local chromatin modifications as well as long-range interactions facilitated by DNA looping are required for the hormonal regulation of β-casein gene expression. The casein genes are part of a large gene cluster, and the chromatin landscape of the entire cluster is regulated in a tissue-specific and developmental manner. Finally, newly discovered large non coding RNAs, such as the pregnancy-induced non coding RNA (PINC) may play an important role in the epigenetic regulation of mammary gland differentiation.
Genomic and bioinformatics tools to understand the biology of signal transducers and activators of transcription
Authors: Kang Keunsoo , Hennighausen Lothar 
Published: October 2012

Abstract
The signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family is activated by cytokines and conveys biochemical signals to the genome through binding to specific regulatory sequences, called IFN-γ-activated sequence (GAS) motifs. As common GAS motifs (TTCnnnGAA) contain only six conserved nucleotides, the mammalian genome harbors hundreds of thousands of copies of this sequence. However, it is not possible to predict which specific GAS motifs bind to STATs and are of functional significance. Here, we apply several layers of statistical, bioinformatics and experimental analyses to narrow down the number of GAS sites that might be of biological relevance. In particular, we determined the number of bona fide GAS motifs by utilizing publically available genome-wide STAT5 ChIP-seq data sets. Less than 10% of GAS motifs within the mouse genome are recognized by STAT5 in vivo and only a small portion of them are shared across different cell types. However, even bona fide STAT5 binding did not predict that the respective gene was under cytokine-STAT control. Therefore, additional bioinformatics, genomic and epigenetic parameters, such as patterns of histone modifications, are required to more reliably predict the behavior of cytokine-STAT regulatory networks.
Dissolution Rate of Various Limes into Steelmaking Slag
Authors: Maruoka Nobuhiro , Ishikawa Akira , Shibata Hiroyuki , Kitamura Shin-ya 
Published: October 2012

AbstractIn the steelmaking process, various solid oxides such as lime and dolomite are used as flux. It is well known that the dissolution rate of these oxides into the molten slag has an important role to increase the reaction rate between the steel and slag. Although CaO effectively removes phosphorus from iron, undissolved CaO remains in the slag. The dissolution rate of solid oxides has been previously measured using a sintered rod that was immersed and rotated in the molten slag. However, because this sintered rod was dense, it was difficult to estimate the dissolution rate of the solid oxides used in the actual operations. In this study, the dissolution rate of various limes into the slag was evaluated by measuring the compositional changes in the slag after the addition of these oxides into the molten slag.In an experiment, slag was melted in an iron crucible and Ar gas was injected from the bottom of the crucible. An iron rod was used for stirring. Various limes were added to the molten slag and the slag was sampled at each interval. The slag samples were analyzed using XRF after 1:10-dilution with glass beads followed by fine grinding. A sintered rod of lime made from reagent powder of CaO was used as a dense oxide and the metallurgical lime, used in industrial operation, was used as a porous oxide after preheating at 1273 K. The dissolution rate of metallurgical lime was also measured. Three types of slag were used to evaluate the effect of reaction layer between the lime and molten slag on the dissolution rate of CaO–FeO–SiO2, B2O3-CaO-FeO, and Al2O3-CaO-FeO slag. The CaO–FeO–SiO2 slag caused the formation of a dense reaction layer of 2CaO–SiO2 around the lime. It was found that the influence of porosity of lime on the dissolution rate was not so strong when the reaction layer formed. On the other hand, when the reaction layer did not form, the dissolution rate of the porous lime was higher than that of the dense lime because of the penetration effect of slag into the lime. The dissolution rate of metallurgical lime was fast compared with dense and porous limes due to the gas formation internally.
Rheological Behaviors of the Glass Paste for Hermetic Sealing the Edge of the Vacuum Glazing
Authors: Zhang Xinlin , Zhao Junyan , Luo Shiyong , Xu Wencai 
Published: October 2012

AbstractVacuum glazing is a new building material with excellent energy conservation and sound insulation properties. Usually, the edge sealing layer between two sheets of glass substrates is prepared by spraying the seal glass paste and then sintering. In the present research, a more effective preparation method is reported. The edge sealing layer is prepared with a glass paste by screen printing and then sintering. The glass paste for the preparation of edge sealing layer of vacuum glazing was composed of low melting glass powder, ZrW2O8 powder with negative coefficient of thermal expansion and ethyl cellulose terpineol solution. The rheological, thixotropy and the screen printing behaviors of the typical paste were characterized and discussed. To get a thicker as-printed layer, the paste has high solid content and little thixotropy. The typical paste behaves a typical rheological behavior of pseudoplastic fluid. The test result of the shear strength of the sealing layer indicated that the sealing is reliable.
Viscosity Determination of Molten Ash from Low-Grade US Coals
Authors: Zhu Jingxi , Nakano Jinichiro , Kaneko Tetsuya Kenneth , Mu Haoyuan , Bennett James P. , Kwong Kyei-Sing , Rozelle Peter , Sridhar Seetharaman 
Published: October 2012

AbstractIn entrained slagging gasifiers, the fluidity of the molten ash is a critical factor for process control since it affects slag formation, the capture of inorganic constituents, refractory wear, and slag drainage along the gasification chamber walls. The use of western coal, or mixtures of eastern and western coals as gasifier feedstock, is likely to occur as western coals become available and technological issues that hinder their use are being resolved. In the present work, the viscosity of synthetic slags with ash chemistries simulating the western U.S. coals, was experimentally measured at a Po2 = 10−8 atm in the temperature range of 1773–1573 K (1500–1300 °C) using a rotating-bob viscometer. Alumina spindles and containment crucibles of both alumina and zirconia were used. Crystallization studies of this slag using a confocal scanning laser microscope found that a (Mg,Fe)Al2O4-based spinel precipitated at temperatures below 1723 K (1450 °C), and this agreed with FactSage equilibrium phase prediction. The same spinels were observed in the post-viscometry experiment slags when ZrO2 crucibles were used and assumed to be in equilibrium with the slag at the higher temperatures. Zirconia dissolution resulted in a slight increase in the solid fraction present in slags at lower temperatures, compared to spinel fraction. Crystal precipitation changed the apparent activation energy and required a longer stabilization times for viscosity measurements. The viscosity results were used in predictive equations based on Veytsman and Einstein's models, with critical nucleation temperatures and the solid fraction calculated with FactSage. In the simulated eastern/western coal feedstock blends based on ash compositions, the fractions of the solid precipitates were also calculated using the thermodynamic program FactSage for each blend composition, and the plastic viscosity of each eastern/western coal slag blend was predicted using Veytsman's model and compared to available experimental data.
A Thermodynamic Analysis of the Selective Sulphidation of Nickel from a Nickeliferous Lateritic Ore
Authors: Harris C. T. , Pickles C. A. , Peacey J. G. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractThe production of a nickel sulphide concentrate through selective sulphidation of a nickeliferous lateritic ore at temperatures lower than current smelting temperatures, is being studied as a potential production method for upgrading lateritic ores. The ability to produce such a nickel sulphide concentrate at economically attractive grades, while achieving reasonable nickel recoveries, relies on the conversion of the maximum amount of nickel oxide to sulphide, while minimizing the amount of iron sulphide. This paper examines the thermodynamic basis for this selective sulphidation. The analysis includes both pure component equilibrium as well as various solid and liquid solution phases, which are anticipated to set limits on the maximum achievable grade/recovery combinations. Thermodynamic calculations show that, for high iron limonitic ores, grades of up to 20 to 25 mass percent nickel should be possible, while maintaining recoveries of greater than 80 percent.
Interfacial Phenomena in Fe-TiC Systems and the Effect of Cr and Ni
Authors: Kiviö Miia , Holappa Lauri , Yoshikawa Takeshi , Tanaka Toshihiro 
Published: October 2012

AbstractTitanium carbide is used as reinforcement component in composites due to its stability, hardness and wear resistance. A potential application is local reinforcement of stainless steel castings in which TiC is added only to the surfaces, which acquire wear resistance. This work is part of the study in which Ti and C are added in the mould during casting of stainless steel to form TiC at a specific surface. Wettability, stability and dissolution of the reinforcement particles are key phenomena in producing these composites in liquid state. Wetting experiments between TiC and Fe as well as FeNi and FeCr alloys were performed in order to get information about wettability, dissolution and formation of TiC and other phases related to the systems. Contact angles for the systems were attained without any reactions between the substrate and the alloy during heating. Wetting was not significantly improved by adding Ni or Cr. Dissolution of TiC was very strong into all the alloys. No new phases at the interface were formed in the experiments except for Cr-carbides in Cr-containing alloys. These results gave important information about the interfacial phenomena needed in developing the production methods.
The Use of Thermodynamic Modeling to Examine Alkali Recirculation in the Iron Blast Furnace
Authors: Jak Evgueni , Hayes Peter 
Published: October 2012

AbstractIt is widely recognized that alkali metals, such as, potassium and sodium can cause operational problems in the iron blast furnace. These elements can influence properties, such as, the softening and melting of ores, formation of scaffolds, coke properties, and refractory life. It has been established that recirculation of these elements occurs within the furnace. In the lower furnace vaporization occurs in the high temperature hearth and bosch regions, and condensation occurs in the upper furnace below or in the cohesive zone. For these reasons the input of alkalis into the furnace is strictly controlled.Optimized thermodynamic databases describing slags in the system Al2O3-CaO-FeO-Fe2O3-Na2O-K2O-MgO-SiO2 have been developed and, combined with the computer software FactSage; these databases have been used to predict the possible behaviour of alkalis in the blast furnace and to examine the effects of changing process variables on reactor performance. To demonstrate this approach to process modeling the furnace is considered as a two-stage equilibrium reaction system and the results of initial analysis are reported.
Quercetin protects against testicular toxicity induced by chronic administration of therapeutic dose of quinine sulfate in rats
Authors: Farombi Ebenezer O. , Ekor Martins , Adedara Isaac A. , Tonwe Kingsley E. , Ojujoh Timi O. , Oyeyemi Matthew O. 
Published: October 2012

Abstract

Background: Quinine, a rapidly acting blood schizonticide with a long history of use for the treatment of malaria, is gradually been implicated in reproductive toxicity.

Methods: In this study, testicular and spermatotoxic effects of quinine sulfate (QS) following treatment with an oral dose of 10 mg/kg/day (normal therapeutic dose) for 8 weeks was investigated in male albino rats. Toxicity was evaluated by assessing antioxidant defense capacity and markers of oxidative stress and testicular dysfunction in the testes and epididymal sperm. The possible ameliorative effect of quercetin (QC), when co-administered with QS, was also assessed.

Results: Administration of QS induced oxidative stress in rats. The activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and malondialdehyde (a marker of lipid peroxidation) increased (p<0.05) both in the testes and epididymal sperm following QS treatment when compared with saline-treated (control) rats. Ascorbic acid levels were significantly reduced, with an insignificant decrease in glutathione and testosterone levels in the QS-treated rats, when compared with control. The spermiogram decreased with increase in total sperm abnormalities in QS-treated rats and was associated with histopathological changes. Our results revealed that QC significantly ameliorated QS-induced testicular toxicity and oxidative stress.

Conclusions: The testicular toxicity of QS is in part due to impairment of testicular antioxidant defense, spermatogenesis and enhancement of lipid peroxidation. Also, the ability of QC to reverse the deleterious effects of QS on the testes and epididymis qualifies it as a potent chemo-protective agent against QS-induced reproductive toxicity.