bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Topical application of capsaicin reduces visceral adipose fat by affecting adipokine levels in high‐fat diet‐induced obese mice
Authors: Lee Gong‐Rak , Shin Mi Kyung , Yoon Dong‐Joon , Kim Ah‐Ram , Yu Rina , Park Neung‐Hwa , Han In‐Seob 
Published: March 2013

AbstractObjective:Visceral obesity contributes to the development of obesity‐related disorders such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and fatty liver disease, as well as cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we determined whether topical application of capsaicin can reduce fat accumulation in visceral adipose tissues.Methods and Results:We first observed that topical application of 0.075% capsaicin to male mice fed a high‐fat diet significantly reduced weight gain and visceral fat. Fat cells were markedly smaller in the mesenteric and epididymal adipose tissues of mice treated with capsaicin cream. The capsaicin treatment also lowered serum levels of fasting glucose, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. Immunoblot analysis and RT‐PCR revealed increased expression of adiponectin and other adipokines including peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (PPAR) α, PPARγ, visfatin, and adipsin, but reduced expression of tumor necrosis factor‐α and IL‐6.Conclusions:These results indicate that topical application of capsaicin to obese mice limits fat accumulation in adipose tissues and may reduce inflammation and increase insulin sensitivity.
Metabolic syndrome in healthy obese, overweight, and normal weight individuals: The atherosclerosis risk in communities study
Authors: Bradshaw Patrick T. , Monda Keri L. , Stevens June 
Published: March 2013

AbstractObjective:There is recent interest in characterizing the subset of obese (OB) individuals who have healthy metabolic profiles yet only two studies have examined this group prospectively but not in racially diverse populations.Design and Methods:We analyzed factors associated with the prevalence and incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) among individuals grouped by BMI categories in a multi‐center, community‐based cohort of 14,663 African‐American and white men and women aged 45‐64 years at recruitment in 1987‐1989, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Logistic and proportional hazards regression were utilized to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for the prevalence and hazard ratios (HRs) for incidence of MetSyn with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results:At visit 1, MetSyn was positively associated with age, female gender, African‐American race, and inversely related to education, associations being more pronounced among normal weight (NW) subjects. Among those without MetSyn at visit 1, OB subjects were more likely to develop MetSyn compared with NW (HR (95% CI): 4.53 (4.09‐5.01)). Several factors were associated with incident MetSyn among NW, including older age (per year: 1.05 (1.03‐1.06)), female gender (vs. male: 1.29 (1.10‐1.52)), heavy alcohol intake (vs. never: 0.75 (0.59‐0.94)), and physical activity (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1: 0.71 (0.58‐0.86)) but not OB. Weight gain (>5%) was also more highly associated with MetSyn in NW (1.61 (1.28‐2.02)) compared with OB (1.01 (0.85‐1.20)).Conclusions:We conclude that lifestyle factors may play a stronger role in the development of MetSyn in NW individuals compared with OB and that metabolically healthy obesity may not be a stable condition.
Maternal and fetal leptin, adiponectin levels and associations with fetal insulin sensitivity
Authors: Luo Zhong‐Cheng , Nuyt Anne‐Monique , Delvin Edgard , Fraser William D. , Julien Pierre , Audibert Francois , Girard Isabelle , Shatenstein Bryna , Deal Cheri , Grenier Emilie , Garofalo Carole , Levy Emile 
Published: March 2013

AbstractObjective:It remains uncertain whether leptin and adiponectin levels are correlated in maternal vs. fetal circulations. Little is known about whether leptin and adiponectin affect insulin sensitivity during fetal life.Design and Methods:In a prospective singleton pregnancy cohort (n = 248), we investigated leptin and adiponectin concentrations in maternal (at 24‐28 and 32‐35 weeks of gestation) and fetal circulations, and their associations with fetal insulin sensitivity (glucose/insulin ratio, proinsulin level).Results:Comparing concentrations in cord vs. maternal blood, leptin levels were 50% lower, but adiponectin levels more than doubled. Adjusting for gestational age at blood sampling, consistent and similar positive correlations (correlation coefficients: 0.31‐0.34, all P < 0.0001) were observed in leptin or adiponectin levels in maternal (at 24‐28 or 32‐25 weeks of gestation) vs. fetal circulations. For each SD increase in maternal plasma concentration at 24‐28 weeks, cord plasma concentration increased by 12.7 (95% confidence interval 6.8‐18.5) ng/ml for leptin, and 2.9 (1.8‐4.0) µg/ml for adiponectin, respectively (adjusted P < 0.0001). Fetal insulin sensitivity was negatively associated with cord blood leptin (each SD increase was associated with a 5.4 (2.1‐8.7) mg/dl/µU/ml reduction in cord plasma glucose/insulin ratio, and a 5.6 (3.9, 7.4) pmol/l increase in proinsulin level, all adjusted P < 0.01) but not adiponectin (P > 0.4) levels). Similar associations were observed in nondiabetic full‐term pregnancies (n = 211).Conclusions:The results consistently suggest a maternal impact on fetal leptin and adiponectin levels, which may be an early life pathway in maternal‐fetal transmission of the propensity to obesity and insulin resistance.
Sleep duration and weight change in midlife women: The SWAN sleep study
Authors: Appelhans Bradley M. , Janssen Imke , Cursio John F. , Matthews Karen A. , Hall Martica , Gold Ellen B. , Burns John W. , Kravitz Howard M. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractObjective:Short sleep duration has been associated with higher current BMI and subsequent weight gain. However, most prior longitudinal studies are limited by reliance on self‐reported sleep duration, and none accounted for the potential confounding effect of sleep‐disordered breathing. The associations of sleep duration with current BMI and BMI change were examined among 310 midlife women in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Sleep Study (2003‐2005).Methods:Sleep duration was assessed for approximately one month with concurrent wrist actigraphy and sleep diaries. The presence and severity of sleep‐disordered breathing was quantified using the apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI) based on in‐home polysomnography. BMI was assessed annually through core SWAN visit 10 (2006 and 2008).Results:Mean BMI increased from 29.6 (SD = 7.8) kg/m2 to 30.0 (SD = 8.0) kg/m2 over an average of 4.6 years (SD = 1.0) of follow‐up. In cross‐sectional analyses controlling for AHI, demographic variables, and several potential confounding variables, actigraphy (estimate = ‐1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): ‐2.03, ‐0.42) and diary (estimate = ‐0.86, 95% CI ‐1.62, ‐0.09) measures of sleep duration were inversely associated with BMI. Each hour of less sleep was associated with 1.22 kg/m2 greater BMI for actigraphy sleep duration, and a 0.86 kg/m2 greater BMI for diary sleep duration. Longitudinal associations between sleep duration and annual BMI change were nonsignificant in unadjusted and fully adjusted models.Conclusion:In this cohort of midlife women, cross‐sectional associations between sleep duration and current BMI were independent of sleep‐disordered breathing, but sleep duration was not prospectively associated with weight change.
Digital Protest Skills and Online Activism Against Copyright Reform in France and the European Union
Authors: Breindl Yana , Briatte François 
Published: March 2013

AbstractIn the past decade, parliaments in industrialized countries have been pressured to adopt more restrictive legislation to prevent unauthorized file‐sharing and enforce higher standards of digital copyright enforcement over entertainment media and computer software. A complex process of supranational and national lawmaking has resulted in several legislatures adopting such measures, with wide variations in content and implementation. These policy developments offer an interesting research puzzle, given their high political salience and the amount of controversy they have generated. Specifically, the introduction of harsher intellectual property regulations has resulted in intense “online” and “offline” collective action by skilled activists who have significantly altered the digital copyright policy field over the years. In France, grassroots movements have turned the passing of digital copyright infringement laws through Parliament into highly controversial episodes. Similarly, at the European level, the Telecoms Package Reform has given rise to an intense protest effort, carried by anad hoccoalition of European activists. In both cases, online mobilization was an essential element of political contention against these legislative initiatives. In both cases, our analysis shows that online mobilization and contention can substantially affect policymaking by disrupting the course of parliamentary lawmaking at both the national and European levels. We provide an analytical framework to study these processes, as well as an analysis of the frames and digital network repertoires involved in the two cases under scrutiny, with reference to the nascent research agenda formed by the politics of intellectual property.
Pyridyl‐Dicarboxylate Tuned Cadmium(II) Complexes and Their Fluorescence Emission Properties
Authors: Hu Jiyong , Zhao Zhenxin , Zhao Dandan , Chen Shufang , Zhao Jin'an , Zhao Haipeng 
Published: March 2013

AbstractTo investigate the effect of organic anions on coordination frameworks, the complexes [Cd(2, 6‐pydc)(bibix)2(H2O)2]n (1) and {[Cd4(2, 5‐pydc)4(bibix)4(H2O)4](H2O)8}n (2) were isolated by the reactions of 1‐{4‐[(1H‐benzoimidazol‐1‐yl)methyl]benzyl}‐1H‐benzoimidazole (bibix) and two distinct pyridyl‐dicarboxylates as organic anions with d10 metal salts. In the resulting structures, bibix adopts different coordination modes affected by the aromatic anions, which have distinct geometric structure and bonding modes. Thus, complex 1 has a 1D chain structure, whereas complex 2 has a 2D architecture. Both complexes 1 and 2 have a strong fluorescence emission, which may be tentatively assigned to metal‐perturbed intraligand interactions.
Preparation of High Purity Sodium 5‐Nitrotetrazolate (NaNT): An Essential Precursor to the Environmentally Acceptable Primary Explosive, DBX‐1
Authors: Klapötke Thomas M. , Piercey Davin G. , Mehta Neha , Oyler Karl D. , Jorgensen Matthew , Lenahan Shannon , Salan Jerry S. , Fronabarger John W. , Williams Michael D. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractSodium 5‐nitrotetrazolate dihydrate (NaNT) is a useful precursor compound for the synthesis of lead‐free primary explosives; however, currently employed syntheses for the compound are tedious, dangerous, and plagued by impurities. Through comprehensive analysis, we elucidate the identity of the most detrimental impurities and further report an improved procedure for preparation of NaNT, which greatly improves the purity, while avoiding the handling of acid copper(II) nitrotetrazolate, a highly sensitive explosive intermediate. In the new procedure, 5‐aminotetrazole is diazotized with sodium nitrite, cupric sulfate, and nitric acid. Copper is precipitated as its oxide and the aqueous solution evaporated. After soxhlet extraction with acetone, large crystals of NaNT are obtained. The prepared material is suitable for preparation of lead azide replacement DBX‐1 [copper(I) 5‐nitrotetrazolate] as evidenced by successful use in M55 stab detonators.
Freezing and Hydrate Formation in Aqueous Sodium Perchlorate Solutions
Authors: Hennings Erik , Heinz Jacob , Schmidt Horst , Voigt Wolfgang 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe determination of the phase diagram of the binary system sodium perchlorate – water is reported. Beside the eutectic point, two polymorph crystal structures of sodium perchlorate dihydrate were determined. The two crystal structures are discussed, compared to each other and to other known sodiumhalide dihydrate crystal structures. The two polymorphs of the perchlorate dihydrate represent the two variants of connected octahedra in the layer structure found for sodium halide dihydrates.
Nanolipid carrier-based thermoreversible gel for localized delivery of docetaxel to breast cancer
Authors: Vohra Tanya , Kaur Inderpreet , Heer Hemraj , Murthy Rayasa Ramachandra 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
Intratumoral and intralesional administration of anticancer drugs in gels and implantable formulations is gaining much importance on account of its advantage of site-specific delivery with highly dependable freedom from unwanted side effects. Nanolipid carriers (NLC) are the preferred vehicle due to their improved properties particularly drug loading. In the present investigation, glyceryl monostearate–oleic acid NLCs loaded with docetaxel were prepared by emulsification and ultrasonication technique and were incorporated in thermoreversible pluronic F127 gel (TRPgel) for intralesion injection to breast tissue. The NLCs were spherical particles of 113 nm size with a negative zeta potential of −32.8 and 85 % drug entrapment. In vitro drug release profile of the NLC showed 96 % drug release in 48 h following Higuchi release kinetics. NLC incorporated TRPgel showed mucoadhesive force of 3.07 dynes/cm2 and gelling temperature in the range of 32 to 37 °C. The drug entrapped gel was also subjected to in vitro cytotoxicity study in human B-16 and HeLa cell lines by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and in vivo drug distribution study in breast tissue in healthy Wistar rats. The MTT assay revealed that docetaxel-loaded NLC incorporated into gel showed lower cytotoxicity than docetaxel. However, in vivo breast tissue distribution studies showed high tissue drug concentration, sustained over a period of 60 h in comparison to docetaxel and docetaxel-loaded NLCs. These results suggest that nanolipid carrier of docetaxel in TRPgel could be a promising carrier system to deliver drug to tumor by intralesional administration for improving therapeutic benefits of docetaxel.
“Seeing” the social roles of brands: How physical positioning influences brand evaluation
Authors: Huang Xun (Irene) , Li Xiuping , Zhang Meng 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThis paper investigates when the brand is promoting a specific social role (as a friend or as a leader), whether the physical position of a brand image in relation to the customer's image influences brand evaluations. Two studies reveal that the match between the promoted social role and the visual representations of the brand and customer in the ad layout improves evaluations. When the brand is promoted as a friend to its customers, consumers evaluate it more positively if the image of the brand is located horizontally and near to the image of the customer. However, when the brand is promoted as a leader to its customers, consumers evaluate it more positively if the image of the brand is located above and far from the image of the customer.
Efficacy of a Social Cognition Training Program for Schizophrenic Patients: A Pilot Study
Authors: Sanz David Gil , Lorenzo Marián Diego , Seco Rosario Bengochea , Rodríguez Marta Arrieta , Martínez Ismael Lastra , Calleja Raúl Sánchez , Soltero Ana Álvarez 
Published: March 2013

Psychosocial functioning impairment is recognized as a core feature of schizophrenia. Numerous studies have assessed the process that may underlie this impairment. In the last years, one of these processes that has been studied more is social cognition, which has been proposed as a mediator variable between neurocognition and functional outcome. Social cognition includes the subdomains of emotion recognition and social perception, and in recent years several authors have developed diverse training programs in these areas.The purpose of the present article is to assess the efficacy of the Social Cognition Training Program, a program that includes emotion recognition training and social perception training. The sample was made up of 14 outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to CIE-10 criteria, randomly divided into two groups: experimental and control. All patients were assessed before and after the training program. Cognitive and psychopathological variables, social functioning, emotion recognition and social perception performance were assessed. Results suggest improvement in social perception and interpretation in the experimental group, in comparison with the control group, but not in emotion recognition. No significant correlations were obtained between social cognition training and other variables tested.
Analysis of the control limit for rotor‐side converter of doubly fed induction generator‐based wind energy conversion system under various voltage dips
Authors: Xiao Shuai , Geng Hua , Zhou Honglin , Yang Geng 
Published: March 2013

For the grid‐connected doubly‐fed induction generator (DFIG)‐based wind energy conversion system (WECS), many improved control algorithms have been developed for the rotor‐side converter (RSC) to suppress the overcurrents in the rotor‐side under voltage dips. However, such objective can hardly be achieved under severe grid fault conditions because of the limitation of RSCs output voltage. An analysis tool is proposed to estimate the the theoretical control limit of the RSC in suppressing the short‐circuit rotor currents during grid faults in this study. The tool is based on the optimisation theory and takes the practical constraints of the RSC into account. To execute the analysis, a simplified DFIG model with decoupled stator and rotor fluxes is presented, and the low‐voltage ride through (LVRT) problem can be formulated as an optimisation problem, which intends to suppress the rotor winding currents with voltage constraints. The Pontryagin's minimum principle is employed to solve the optimisation problem and the results can identify the control limit of the RSC. A case study based on a typical 1.5 MW DFIG‐based WECS under various grid voltage dips is carried out to validate the analytical method. The proposed method is also further verified by experimental tests on a scaled 3 KW DFIG system. The results are expected to help the manufacturers to assess and improve their RSC controllers or LVRT measures.
Design of a new reactor-like high temperature near ambient pressure scanning tunneling microscope for catalysis studies
Authors: (Feng) Tao Franklin , Nguyen Luan , Zhang Shiran 
Published: March 2013

Here, we present the design of a new reactor-like high-temperature near ambient pressure scanning tunneling microscope (HT-NAP-STM) for catalysis studies. This HT-NAP-STM was designed for exploration of structures of catalyst surfaces at atomic scale during catalysis or under reaction conditions. In this HT-NAP-STM, the minimized reactor with a volume of reactant gases of ∼10 ml is thermally isolated from the STM room through a shielding dome installed between the reactor and STM room. An aperture on the dome was made to allow tip to approach to or retract from a catalyst surface in the reactor. This dome minimizes thermal diffusion from hot gas of the reactor to the STM room and thus remains STM head at a constant temperature near to room temperature, allowing observation of surface structures at atomic scale under reaction conditions or during catalysis with minimized thermal drift. The integrated quadrupole mass spectrometer can simultaneously measure products during visualization of surface structure of a catalyst. This synergy allows building an intrinsic correlation between surface structure and its catalytic performance. This correlation offers important insights for understanding of catalysis. Tests were done on graphite in ambient environment, Pt(111) in CO, graphene on Ru(0001) in UHV at high temperature and gaseous environment at high temperature. Atom-resolved surface structure of graphene on Ru(0001) at 500 K in a gaseous environment of 25 Torr was identified.
ChemoPy: freely available python package for computational biology and chemoinformatics
Authors: Cao Dong-Sheng , Xu Qing-Song , Hu Qian-Nan , Liang Yi-Zeng 
Published: March 2013

AbstractMotivation: Molecular representation for small molecules has been routinely used in QSAR/SAR, virtual screening, database search, ranking, drug ADME/T prediction and other drug discovery processes. To facilitate extensive studies of drug molecules, we developed a freely available, open-source python package called chemoinformatics in python (ChemoPy) for calculating the commonly used structural and physicochemical features. It computes 16 drug feature groups composed of 19 descriptors that include 1135 descriptor values. In addition, it provides seven types of molecular fingerprint systems for drug molecules, including topological fingerprints, electro-topological state (E-state) fingerprints, MACCS keys, FP4 keys, atom pairs fingerprints, topological torsion fingerprints and Morgan/circular fingerprints. By applying a semi-empirical quantum chemistry program MOPAC, ChemoPy can also compute a large number of 3D molecular descriptors conveniently.Availability: The python package, ChemoPy, is freely available via http://code.google.com/p/pychem/downloads/list, and it runs on Linux and MS-Windows.Contact: yizeng_liang@263.netSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Expression of9-cis-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE4Is Essential for Thermoinhibition of Lettuce Seed Germination but Not for Seed Development or Stress Tolerance
Authors: Huo Heqiang , Dahal Peetambar , Kunusoth Keshavulu , McCallum Claire M. , Bradford Kent J. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThermoinhibition, or failure of seeds to germinate at warm temperatures, is common in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) cultivars. Using a recombinant inbred line population developed from a lettuce cultivar (Salinas) and thermotolerant Lactuca serriola accession UC96US23 (UC), we previously mapped a quantitative trait locus associated with thermoinhibition of germination to a genomic region containing a gene encoding a key regulated enzyme in abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis, 9-cis-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE4 (NCED4). NCED4 from either Salinas or UC complements seeds of the Arabidopsis thaliana nced6-1 nced9-1 double mutant by restoring germination thermosensitivity, indicating that both NCED4 genes encode functional proteins. Transgenic expression of Salinas NCED4 in UC seeds resulted in thermoinhibition, whereas silencing of NCED4 in Salinas seeds led to loss of thermoinhibition. Mutations in NCED4 also alleviated thermoinhibition. NCED4 expression was elevated during late seed development but was not required for seed maturation. Heat but not water stress elevated NCED4 expression in leaves, while NCED2 and NCED3 exhibited the opposite responses. Silencing of NCED4 altered the expression of genes involved in ABA, gibberellin, and ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathways. Together, these data demonstrate that NCED4 expression is required for thermoinhibition of lettuce seeds and that it may play additional roles in plant responses to elevated temperature.