bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Harvest Discrimination of Pomegranate Fruit: Postharvest Quality Changes and Relationships between Instrumental and Sensory Attributes during Shelf Life
Authors: Fawole Olaniyi Amos , Opara Umezuruike Linus 
Published: July 2013

AbstractHarvest maturity discrimination was carried out for “Ruby” pomegranate cultivar in simulated handling conditions for long distant supply chains. Fruit were harvested at 3 different maturities along days after full bloom (DAFB); Harvest 1 (H1) at 133 DAFB, H2 at 143 DAFB, and H3 at 157 DAFB. The effects of harvest maturity and storage duration on fruit quality attributes during a 6‐wk period of cold storage (5°C, 95% RH) and subsequent 5 d of shelf life (20°C, 75% RH) were investigated. Instrumental evaluation of aril color, juice content, juice absorbance (520 nm), total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acids (TA), and phytochemical components including total phenolics, flavonoids, and anthocyanins were carried out. Textural properties of arils which included hardness, toughness, bioyield point, and Young's modulus were also investigated. During the shelf life period, arils from individual fruit were rated by a trained sensory panel based on appearance, taste, and texture. Relationships between the instrumental and descriptive sensory data were explored and fruit harvest maturities were discriminated using discriminant analysis. Among the attributes evaluated, TSS : TA, sweet taste, and the CIE hue angle (h°) were the most decisive attributes distinguishing the harvest maturities. The optimum time for harvesting was at 143 DAFB (H2) when fruit TSS : TA ratio was > 55, which coincided with significantly higher rating for sweet taste in fruit at H2 than at H1 and H3 during shelf life. The harvest index proposed in the current study could be used as a guide to establish a reliable harvest maturity index to assist in assuring fruit quality in consideration of long supply chains for the investigated cultivar.
Food insecurity, income inequality, and the changing comparative advantage in world agriculture
Authors: Otsuka Keijiro 
Published: July 2013

AbstractI would like to argue in this article that in the process of economic development in land‐poor countries in Asia, agriculture faces three distinctly different problems: food insecurity, sectoral income inequality, and the declining food self‐sufficiency associated with the declining comparative advantage in agriculture at the high‐income stage. Massive imports of food grains to Asia, if they occur, will aggravate the world food shortage, which will have significant implications for the poverty incidence in the world. I argue that in order to avoid such a tragedy, Asia should expand farm size to reduce labor cost by adopting large‐scale mechanization, sub‐Saharan Africa should realize a green revolution in grain production, and Latin America should further expand its grain production capacity.
Trade liberalization in the bio‐economy: coping with a new landscape
Authors: Bureau Jean‐Christophe , Jean Sébastien 
Published: July 2013

AbstractMultilateral trade liberalization has made little progress over the last period, but preferential agreements have multiplied. Recent economic literature helps understand the current negotiation game. New economic and political conditions, in particular the gaining influence of emerging countries, make a multilateral agreement more difficult. Developed countries have given up many of their bargaining chips in previous rounds of negotiation and their remaining agricultural tariffs are not sufficient for extracting the concessions from emerging countries on services, procurement, and intellectual property that would make an agreement possible. The risk of a more fragmented world calls for a revised negotiation agenda and a change in the status of developing countries. Research issues are outlined in order to help revitalize the Doha negotiation agenda.
Survival outcome of re‐resection for recurrent liver metastases of colorectal cancer: a retrospective study
Authors: Chok Kenneth S. H. , Cheung Tan To , Chan Albert C. Y. , Dai Wing Chiu , Chan See Ching , Fan Sheung Tat , Poon Ronnie T. P. , Lo Chung Mau 
Published: July 2013

AbstractBackgroundThis study aimed to investigate whether re‐resection can achieve a good survival outcome in the treatment of recurrent liver metastases of colorectal cancer.MethodsProspectively collected data of patients who underwent hepatectomy for liver tumours were reviewed. Patients whose liver tumours were metastases of colorectal cancer were included in the study provided that they had no extrahepatic metastases and received no loco‐ablative treatment simultaneous with hepatectomy. Patients who did not have recurrent liver metastasis after their first liver resection (group R) and patients who underwent re‐resection for recurrent liver metastasis (group RR) were compared.ResultsIn total, 321 patients were included in the study, with 307 in group R and 14 in group RR. The two groups had comparable demographics. Insignificantly more patients in group R received major resection (55.6% versus 30.8%, P = 0.079). The median blood loss volume was 0.6 (0–12.7) L in group R and 0.35 (0–15) L in group RR (P = 0.202). Group RR had a significantly smaller median tumour size (2.5 cm versus 3.5 cm, P = 0.020) and resection margin width (0.3 cm versus 0.7 cm, P = 0.037). On univariate analysis, re‐resection was not a risk factor in overall survival. On multivariate analysis, post‐operative complication (hazard ratio (HR) 1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–2.39, P = 0.007), microscopic margin involvement (HR 1.95, 95% CI 1.26–3.04, P = 0.003) and multiple tumours (HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.17–2.14, P = 0.003) were risk factors in overall survival. The two groups had no significant differences in disease‐free survival and overall survival.ConclusionRe‐resection for recurrent colorectal liver metastases can achieve a favourable survival outcome at centres with expertise.
Cure for peritoneal metastases? An evidence‐based review
Authors: Ung Lawson , Chua Terence C. , Morris David L. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractThere is now a considerable body of published evidence supporting the use of a multimodal approach consisting of cytoreductive surgery (CS) and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in the treatment of peritoneal metastases (PM) arising from selected gastrointestinal tract malignancies. In the absence of systemic metastases, it is thought that disease confined to the peritoneum may be eradicated through optimum cytoreduction. This review critically evaluates the current body of published evidence for the use of CS/HIPEC in the treatment of advanced colorectal, appendiceal and gastric cancer. Although its role remains less defined in patients with gastric PM, current evidence provides a compelling argument for its use in PM of colorectal and appendiceal origin. With a low mortality and acceptable morbidity rate, CS/HIPEC may offer hope of long‐term survival and cure in a defined group of patients with this disease.
Vasomotor Dysfunction in the Mesenteric Artery after Organ Culture with Cyclosporin A
Authors: Zheng Jian‐Pu , Zhang Xuemei , Wang Hao , Wang Yunman , Cheng Zhuoan , Yin Peihao , Peng Wen 
Published: July 2013

AbstractCyclosporin A (CsA) is a widely used immunosuppressive agent that also causes hypertension. However, the molecular basis for CsA‐induced hypertension remains elusive. In this study, we established an in vitro model for CsA‐induced pathological changes in vasculature. Rat mesenteric arteries were incubated with CsA for 24 hr in an organ culture system. Both vasocontraction and vasorelaxation in mesenteric artery were studied using myograph technology, and mRNA expressions of the contractile receptors were determined by real‐time PCR. The results showed that CsA increased the mRNA expression and contractile function of several G‐protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs), such as endothelin receptor type B (ETB), 5‐hydroxytryptamine type 1B (5‐HT1B) and 1D (5‐HT1D), in vascular smooth muscle cells. In addition, both nitric oxide (NO)‐mediated vasorelaxation and endothelium‐independent relaxation were impaired by CsA. In summary, this study showed the enhanced GPCRs‐mediated contraction and reduced vasorelaxation in mesenteric artery after organ culture with CsA, which mimicked the CsA‐induced pathological changes in the vascular system in vivo. Furthermore, this organ culture system would be an ideal in vitro tool to study the molecular mechanisms of CsA‐induced hypertension.
Activated γδ T cells inhibit osteoclast differentiation and resorptive activityin vitro
Authors: Pappalardo A , Thompson K 
Published: July 2013

SummaryExtensive evidence suggests that the immune system exerts powerful effects on bone cells, particularly in chronic disease pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The chronic inflammatory state in RA, particularly the excessive production of T cell-derived proinflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-17, triggers bone erosions through the increased stimulation of osteoclast formation and activity. While evidence supports a role for IL-17 and TNF-α secreted by conventional CD4+ T cells in RA, recent evidence in animal models of RA have implicated γδ T cells as a major producer of pathogenic IL-17. However, the capacity of γδ T cells to influence osteoclast formation and activity in humans has not yet been investigated widely. To address this issue we investigated the effects of γδ T cells on osteoclast differentiation and resorptive activity. We have demonstrated that anti-CD3/CD28-stimulated γδ T cells or CD4+ T cells inhibit human osteoclast formation and resorptive activity in vitro. Furthermore, we assessed cytokine production by CD3/CD28-stimulated γδ T cells and observed a lack of IL-17 production, with activated γδ T cells producing abundant interferon (IFN)-γ. The neutralization of IFN-γ markedly restored the formation of osteoclasts from precursor cells and the resorptive activity of mature osteoclasts, suggesting that IFN-γ is the major factor responsible for the inhibitory role of activated γδ T cells on osteoclastogenesis and resorptive activity of mature osteoclasts. Our work therefore provides new insights on the interactions between γδ T cells and osteoclasts in humans.
Immunoglobulin G anti-endothelial cell antibodies: inducers of endothelial cell apoptosis in pulmonary arterial hypertension?
Authors: Arends S J , Damoiseaux J G M C , Duijvestijn A M , Debrus-Palmans L , Vroomen M , Boomars K A , Brunner-La Rocca H-P , Reutelingsperger C P M , Cohen Tervaert J W , van Paassen P 
Published: July 2013

Summary
Endothelial cell (EC) apoptosis seems to play an important role in the pathophysiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We aimed to test the hypothesis that circulating anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) of PAH patients induce EC apoptosis. Immunoglobulin (Ig)G was purified from sera of PAH patients (n = 26), patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) nephritis without PAH (n = 16), patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) without PAH (n = 58) and healthy controls (n = 14). Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were incubated with patient or healthy control IgG for 24 h. Thereafter, apoptosis was quantified by annexin A5 binding and hypoploid cell enumeration by flow cytometry. Furthermore, real-time cell electronic sensing (RT–CES™) technology was used to monitor the effects of purified IgG from patient and healthy control IgG on HUVECs. As demonstrated previously, IgG of AECA-positive SLE nephritis patients (n = 7) induced a higher percentage of apoptosis of HUVECs compared to IgG of AECA-negative SLE nephritis patients and healthy controls. Furthermore, IgG of AECA-positive SLE nephritis patients induced a marked decrease in cell index as assessed by RT–CES™ technology. IgG of AECA-positive PAH patients (n = 12) and SSc patients (n = 13) did not alter the percentage of HUVEC apoptosis or cell index compared to IgG of AECA-negative PAH and SSc patients and healthy controls. AECA-positive PAH patients, in contrast to SLE nephritis patients, do not have circulating IgG AECA that enhances apoptosis of HUVECs in vitro. Further studies should focus on other mechanisms by which AECA may enhance EC apoptosis in PAH, such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity.
Smoking reduces the risk of hypothyroidism and increases the risk of hyperthyroidism: evidence from 450 842 mothers giving birth in Denmark
Authors: Andersen Stine Linding , Olsen Jørn , Wu Chun Sen , Laurberg Peter 
Published: July 2013

AbstractObjectiveSmoking may influence on the occurrence of thyroid disease, but studies have led to inconsistent results. In Denmark, information on maternal smoking during pregnancy is registered by midwives, and we investigated the association between maternal smoking as reported during pregnancy and the subsequent maternal risk of having hyper‐ or hypothyroidism diagnosed.DesignPopulation‐based cohort study.ParticipantsUsing Danish nationwide registers, we identified mothers giving birth in Denmark, 1996–2008, and studied their first pregnancy in the study period.MeasurementsInformation on maternal smoking during the pregnancy and maternal diagnosis of hyper‐ or hypothyroidism was obtained from the Danish National Hospital Register (DNHR) and prescription of thyroid medication from the Danish National Prescription Register (DNPR). Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for onset of maternal hyper‐ or hypothyroidism after birth of the child in multivariate analyses adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsAmong mothers included (n = 450 842), altogether 89 022 (19·7%) reported that they were smokers during the first pregnancy in the study period, and 8905 (2·0%) developed hyper (n = 3389)‐ or hypothyroidism (n = 5516) after birth of the child. Maternal smoking was associated with a subsequent decreased risk of developing hypothyroidism (adjusted HR 0·75 (95% CI 0·70–0·81)) and an increased risk of hyperthyroidism (1·38 (1·27–1·49)).ConclusionsDanish nationwide registration of maternal smoking during pregnancy adds further evidence to an association between smoking and thyroid dysfunction; smoking reduced the risk of hypothyroidism and increased the risk of hyperthyroidism.
Letrozole stimulation in endometrial preparation for cryopreserved–thawed embryo transfer in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: A pilot study
Authors: Hu Yan‐Jun , Chen Yue‐Zhou , Zhu Yi‐Min , Huang He‐Feng 
Published: July 2013

SummaryObjectiveTo study the efficiency of letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor, in endometrial preparation for cryopreserved–thawed embryo transfer (FET) in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).DesignRetrospective observational study.PatientsOne hundred and twenty patients with PCOS who met the inclusion criteria for the study.MeasurementsWe assessed in vitro fertilization outcomes in one hundred and twenty patients with PCOS (148 cycles) who were prepared for and underwent FET between June 2011 and December 2012. Patients were prepared for FET using artificial hormone cycles induced with oestrogen and progesterone supplementation (n = 76), letrozole stimulation (n = 40) or hMG stimulation (n = 32).ResultsThere were no differences in demographic characteristics between the groups, except that the letrozole group had a higher incidence of embryo transfer failure in the past. The letrozole stimulation group had a significantly higher maximal endometrial thickness and significantly higher rates of clinical pregnancy per transfer, ongoing pregnancy per transfer and implantation, compared with the artificial and hMG stimulation groups. Differences in these parameters between the artificial and hMG stimulation groups were not significant.ConclusionUsing letrozole stimulation in endometrial preparation for cryopreserved–thawed embryo transfer in patients with PCOS may be associated with better outcomes than using hormonal manipulation or hMG stimulation.
Evaluating Isosurfaces with Level‐set‐based Information Maps
Authors: Wei Tzu‐Hsuan , Lee Teng‐Yok , Shen Han‐Wei 
Published: July 2013

AbstractWhile isosurfaces have been widely used for scalar data visualization, it is often difficult to determine if the selected isosurfaces for visualization are sufficient to represent the entire scalar field. In this paper, we present an information‐theoretic approach to evaluate the representativeness of a given isosurface set. Our basic idea is that given two isosurfaces that enclose a subvolume, if the intermediate isosurfaces in the subvolume can be generated by smoothly morphing from one isosurface to the other, no additional isosurfaces are needed since the geometry of the true isosurfaces within the subvolume can be easily inferred. To realize this idea, given a pair of isosurfaces, to determine if such a smooth condition in the enclosed region is satisfied, we use a level‐set approach to generate the intermediate surfaces. On each intermediate surface, we sample the values from the scalar field and exam the distribution. If the entropy of the distribution is low, this intermediate surface is aligned well with a true isosurface in the scalar field. For the intermediate surfaces generated by the level‐set method from the boundary isosurfaces, the distributions of scalar values from the level‐set surfaces form a 2D distribution, called isosurface information map. This information map can be used as an indicator of the representativeness of the boundary isosurfaces for the data in the subregion, allowing a quantitative measurement of information representable by the input isosurfaces. Based on this information‐theoretic approach, this paper presents an isosurface selection algorithm that can automatically select isosurfaces for more effective visualization of scalar fields.
Evolutionary Visual Exploration: Evaluation With Expert Users
Authors: Boukhelifa N. , Cancino W. , Bezerianos A. , Lutton E. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractWe present an Evolutionary Visual Exploration (EVE) system that combines visual analytics with stochastic optimisation to aid the exploration of multidimensional datasets characterised by a large number of possible views or projections. Starting from dimensions whose values are automatically calculated by a PCA, an interactive evolutionary algorithm progressively builds (or evolves) non‐trivial viewpoints in the form of linear and non‐linear dimension combinations, to help users discover new interesting views and relationships in their data. The criteria for evolving new dimensions is not known a priori and are partially specified by the user via an interactive interface: (i) The user selects views with meaningful or interesting visual patterns and provides a satisfaction score. (ii) The system calibrates a fitness function (optimised by the evolutionary algorithm) to take into account the user input, and then calculates new views. Our method leverages automatic tools to detect interesting visual features and human interpretation to derive meaning, validate the findings and guide the exploration without having to grasp advanced statistical concepts. To validate our method, we built a prototype tool (EvoGraphDice) as an extension of an existing scatterplot matrix inspection tool, and conducted an observational study with five domain experts. Our results show that EvoGraphDice can help users quantify qualitative hypotheses and try out different scenarios to dynamically transform their data. Importantly, it allowed our experts to think laterally, better formulate their research questions and build new hypotheses for further investigation.
Maximum Entropy Summary Trees
Authors: Karloff Howard , Shirley Kenneth E. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractGiven a very large, node‐weighted, rooted tree on, say, n nodes, if one has only enough space to display a k‐node summary of the tree, what is the most informative way to draw the tree? We define a type of weighted tree that we call a summary tree of the original tree that results from aggregating nodes of the original tree subject to certain constraints. We suggest that the best choice of which summary tree to use (among those with a fixed number of nodes) is the one that maximizes the information‐theoretic entropy of a natural probability distribution associated with the summary tree, and we provide a (pseudopolynomial‐time) dynamic‐programming algorithm to compute this maximum entropy summary tree, when the weights are integral. The result is an automated way to summarize large trees and retain as much information about them as possible, while using (and displaying) only a fraction of the original node set. We illustrate the computation and use of maximum entropy summary trees on five real data sets whose weighted tree representations vary widely in structure. We also provide an additive approximation algorithm and a greedy heuristic that are faster than the optimal algorithm, and generalize to trees with real‐valued weights.
HiFiVE: A Hilbert Space Embedding of Fiber Variability Estimates for Uncertainty Modeling and Visualization
Authors: Schultz T. , Schlaffke L. , Schölkopf B. , Schmidt‐Wilcke T. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractObtaining reproducible fiber direction estimates from diffusion MRI is crucial for successful fiber tracking. Modeling and visualizing the probability distribution of the inferred fiber directions is an important step in evaluating and comparing different acquisition schemes and fiber models. However, this distribution is usually strongly dominated by its main direction, which makes it difficult to examine when plotted naively.In this work, we propose a new visualization of the fiber probability distribution. It is based on embedding the probability measure into a particular reproducing kernel Hilbert space. This permits a decomposition into an embedded delta peak, representing the main direction, and a non‐negative residual. They are then combined into a new glyph representation which visually enhances the residual, in order to highlight even subtle differences. Moreover, the magnitude of the delta peak component quantifies precision of the main fiber direction. We demonstrate that our new glyph provides a more detailed impression of the uncertainty than the current standard method, cones that contain 95% of the estimated directions. We use our new method to contribute to the validation of different ways of resampling the data (bootstrapping), and to visualize the differences between alternative acquisition schemes and models for high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI).
Visualizing Large‐scale Parallel Communication Traces Using a Particle Animation Technique
Authors: Sigovan Carmen , Muelder Chris W. , Ma Kwan‐Liu 
Published: July 2013

AbstractLarge‐scale scientific simulations require execution on parallel computing systems in order to yield useful results in a reasonable time frame. But parallel execution adds communication overhead. The impact that this overhead has on performance may be difficult to gauge, as parallel application behaviors are typically harder to understand than the sequential types. We introduce an animation‐based interactive visualization technique for the analysis of communication patterns occurring in parallel application execution. Our method has the advantages of illustrating the dynamic communication patterns in the system as well as a static image of MPI (Message Passing Interface) utilization history. We also devise a data streaming mechanism that allows for the exploration of very large data sets. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach scaling up to 16 thousand processes using a series of trace data sets of ScaLAPACK matrix operations functions.