bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Contribution of enhanced engagement of antigen presentation machinery to the clinical immunogenicity of a human interleukin (IL)-21 receptor-blocking therapeutic antibody
Authors: Xue L , Hickling T , Song R , Nowak J , Rup B 
Published: September 2015

SummaryReliable risk assessment for biotherapeutics requires accurate evaluation of risk factors associated with immunogenicity. Immunogenicity risk assessment tools were developed and applied to investigate the immunogenicity of a fully human therapeutic monoclonal antibody, ATR-107 [anti-interleukin (IL)-21 receptor] that elicited anti-drug antibodies (ADA) in 76% of healthy subjects in a Phase 1 study. Because the ATR-107 target is expressed on dendritic cells (DCs), the immunogenicity risk related to engagement with DC and antigen presentation pathways was studied. Despite the presence of IL-21R on DCs, ATR-107 did not bind to the DCs more extensively than the control therapeutic antibody (PF-1) that had elicited low clinical ADA incidence. However, ATR-107, but not the control therapeutic antibody, was translocated to the DC late endosomes, co-localized with intracellular antigen-D related (HLA-DR) molecules and presented a dominant T cell epitope overlapping the complementarity determining region 2 (CDR2) of the light chain. ATR-107 induced increased DC activation exemplified by up-regulation of DC surface expression of CD86, CD274 (PD-L1) and CD40, increased expansion of activated DC populations expressing CD86hi, CD40hi, CD83hi, programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)hi, HLA-DRhi or CCR7hi, as well as elevated secretion of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α by DCs. DCs exposed to ATR-107 stimulated an autologous T cell proliferative response in human donor cells, in concert with the detection of immunoglobulin (Ig)G-type anti-ATR-107 antibody response in clinical samples. Collectively, the enhanced engagement of antigen presentation machinery by ATR-107 was suggested. The approaches and findings described in this study may be relevant to identifying lower immunogenicity risk targets and therapeutic molecules.
Early Implant Failures Related to Individual Surgeons: An Analysis Covering 11,074 Operations Performed during 28 Years
Authors: Jemt Torsten , Olsson Malin , Renouard Franck , Stenport Victoria , Friberg Bertil 
Published: September 2015

AbstractBackgroundCompared with knowledge on patient and implant component factors, little knowledge is available on surgeons' role in early implant failures.PurposeTo report incidence of early implant failures related to total number of operations performed by individual surgeons.Materials and MethodsEarly implant failures (≤1 year of implant prosthesis function) were reported after a total of 11,074 implant operations at one specialist clinic during 28 years of surgery. Altogether, 8,808 individual patients were treated by 23 different dentists, of whom 21 surgeons were specialists in oral surgery or periodontology. Recorded failures were related to total numbers of performed operations per surgeon, followed by statistical comparisons (χ2) between surgeons with regard to type of treated jaw and implant surface.ResultsAltogether, 616 operations were recorded with early implant failures (5.6%), most often observed in edentulous upper jaws after placing implants with a turned surface (p < .05). Significant differences between surgeons, gender of surgeon, type of treated jaws by the surgeon, and implant surface used by the surgeon could be observed (p < .05).ConclusionsEarly implant failures are complex, multifactorial problems associated with many aspects in the surgical procedure. A stochastic variation of failures for individual surgeons could be observed over the years. Different levels of failure rate could be observed between the surgeons, occasionally reaching significant levels as a total or for different jaw situations (p < .05). The surgeons reduced their failure rates when using implants with moderately rough surfaces (p < .5), but the relationship of failure rate between the surgeons was maintained.
Conserving tigers in working landscapes
Authors: Chanchani Pranav , Noon Barry R. , Bailey Larissa L. , Warrier Rekha A. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractTiger (Panthera tigris) conservation efforts in Asia are focused on protected areas embedded in human‐dominated landscapes. A system of protected areas is an effective conservation strategy for many endangered species if the network is large enough to support stable metapopulations. The long‐term conservation of tigers requires that the species be able to meet some of its life‐history needs beyond the boundaries of small protected areas and within the working landscape, including multiple‐use forests with logging and high human use. However, understanding of factors that promote or limit the occurrence of tigers in working landscapes is incomplete. We assessed the relative influence of protection status, prey occurrence, extent of grasslands, intensity of human use, and patch connectivity on tiger occurrence in the 5400 km2 Central Terai Landscape of India, adjacent to Nepal. Two observer teams independently surveyed 1009 km of forest trails and water courses distributed across 60 166‐km2 cells. In each cell, the teams recorded detection of tiger signs along evenly spaced trail segments. We used occupancy models that permitted multiscale analysis of spatially correlated data to estimate cell‐scale occupancy and segment‐scale habitat use by tigers as a function of management and environmental covariates. Prey availability and habitat quality, rather than protected‐area designation, influenced tiger occupancy. Tiger occupancy was low in some protected areas in India that were connected to extensive areas of tiger habitat in Nepal, which brings into question the efficacy of current protection and management strategies in both India and Nepal. At a finer spatial scale, tiger habitat use was high in trail segments associated with abundant prey and large grasslands, but it declined as human and livestock use increased. We speculate that riparian grasslands may provide tigers with critical refugia from human activity in the daytime and thereby promote tiger occurrence in some multiple‐use forests. Restrictions on human‐use in high‐quality tiger habitat in multiple‐use forests may complement existing protected areas and collectively promote the persistence of tiger populations in working landscapes.
Colon cancer with unresectable synchronous metastases: the AAAP scoring system for predicting the outcome after primary tumour resection
Authors: Li Z.‐M. , Peng Y.‐F. , Du C.‐Z. , Gu J. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractAimThe aim of this study was to develop a prognostic scoring system to predict the outcome of patients with unresectable metastatic colon cancer who received primary colon tumour resection.MethodPatients with confirmed metastatic colon cancer treated at the Peking University Cancer Hospital between 2003 and 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. The correlation of clinicopathological factors with overall survival was analysed using the Kaplan–Meier method and the log‐rank test. Independent prognostic factors were identified using a Cox proportional hazards regression model and were then combined to form a prognostic scoring system.ResultsA total of 110 eligible patients were included in the study. The median survival time was 10.4 months and the 2‐year overall survival (OS) rate was 21.8%. Age over 70 years, an alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level over 160 IU/l, ascites, a platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) above 162 and no postoperative therapy were independently associated with a shorter OS in multivariate analysis. Age, ALP, ascites and PLR were subsequently combined to form the so‐called AAAP scoring system. Patients were classified into high, medium and low risk groups according to the score obtained. There were significant differences in OS between each group (P < 0.001).ConclusionAge, ALP, ascites, PLR and postoperative therapy were independent prognostic factors for survival of patients with metastatic colonic cancer who underwent primary tumour resection. The AAAP scoring system may be a useful tool for surgical decision making.
Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy with oxaliplatin in colorectal peritoneal metastasis
Authors: Demtröder C. , Solass W. , Zieren J. , Strumberg D. , Giger‐Pabst U. , Reymond M.‐A. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractAimPressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) is an experimental drug delivery method that applies chemotherapy into the abdominal cavity as an aerosol under pressure. We present the first results obtained with PIPAC in colorectal peritoneal metastasis (CPM).MethodThis is a retrospective analysis. PIPAC was applied in 17 consecutive patients with pretreated CPM. All patients had previously undergone surgery, and 16 had undergone previous lines of systemic chemotherapy (median, two lines). The mean peritoneal metastasis index (peritoneal cancer index) was 16 ± 10. Forty‐eight applications of PIPAC with oxaliplatin (92 mg/m2) were given every 6 weeks at 37°C and 12 mmHg for 30 min. The outcome criteria were microscopic pathological response, survival and adverse events according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0.ResultsForty‐eight PIPAC administrations were performed with no intra‐operative complications. The mean number of PIPAC administrations per patient was 2.8 (minimum one, maximum six). Postoperative adverse events (CTCAE level 3) were observed in four patients (23%), no CTCAE level‐4 adverse events were reported. The hospital mortality was zero. Objective tumour responses were observed in 12/17 patients (71%), and the overall responses were as follows: complete pathological response (seven patients), major response (four patients), partial response (one patient), no response (two patients) and not eligible (three patients). The mean survival after first PIPAC was 15.7 months.ConclusionRepeated PIPAC with oxaliplatin can induce the regression of pretreated CPM. The toxicity appears to be low. These preliminary results are encouraging and justify prospective clinical studies.
Moving to Learn: How Guiding the Hands Can Set the Stage for Learning
Authors: Brooks Neon , Goldin‐Meadow Susan 
Published: September 2015

AbstractPrevious work has found that guiding problem‐solvers' movements can have an immediate effect on their ability to solve a problem. Here we explore these processes in a learning paradigm. We ask whether guiding a learner's movements can have a delayed effect on learning, setting the stage for change that comes about only after instruction. Children were taught movements that were either relevant or irrelevant to solving mathematical equivalence problems and were told to produce the movements on a series of problems before they received instruction in mathematical equivalence. Children in the relevant movement condition improved after instruction significantly more than children in the irrelevant movement condition, despite the fact that the children showed no improvement in their understanding of mathematical equivalence on a ratings task or on a paper‐and‐pencil test taken immediately after the movements but before instruction. Movements of the body can thus be used to sow the seeds of conceptual change. But those seeds do not necessarily come to fruition until after the learner has received explicit instruction in the concept, suggesting a “sleeper effect” of gesture on learning.
Managing Quality in a Heterogeneous Contract Manufacturing Environment
Authors: Handley Sean , Gray John 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACTThe outsourcing of production is a prominent strategy across industries. While the strategy can have many benefits, the popular press reports numerous examples of quality issues originating with contract manufacturers (CMs). Observing these quality issues, multiple scholars call for the quality management (QM) literature to be extended to explicitly address the challenges of managing quality in an inter‐organizational context. Additionally, QM researchers recognize the need to consider contextual contingencies for the effectiveness of specific QM practices. Responding to these calls, we focus on the potential contingent factor of CM heterogeneity (i.e. the degree of product and process diversity at the CM plant). We first test the direct relationship between CM manufacturing heterogeneity and CM quality conformance performance, as reported by the CM's customers, brand‐owning firms. Next, we evaluate the effectiveness of multiple practices that these brand‐owning firms can employ to mitigate the anticipated negative effect of heterogeneity on their CM's conformance quality. We utilize paired dyadic data on 106 contract manufacturing relationships in the food, drug, and medical device industries to test our hypothesized model. The results of our analysis reveal a negative association between heterogeneity at CM facilities and their conformance quality performance. Our results also identify cooperative relationships, contractual coordination provisions, and formal performance assessment programs as practices that brand‐owning firms can employ to largely eliminate the negative impact of heterogeneity on CMs’ conformance quality performance.
Reliability tests and guidelines for B‐mode ultrasound assessment of central adiposity
Authors: Stoner Lee , Chinn Victoria , Cornwall Jon , Meikle Grant , Page Rachel , Lambrick Danielle , Faulkner James 
Published: September 2015

AbstractIntroductionUltrasound represents a validated and relatively inexpensive diagnostic device for assessing central adiposity; however, widespread adoption has been impeded by the lack of reliable standard operating procedures.PurposeTo examine the reliability of, and describe guidelines for, ultrasound‐derived recording of intra‐abdominal fat thickness (IAT) and maximal preperitoneal fat thickness (PFT).MethodsUltrasound scans were obtained from 20 adults (50% female, 26 ± 7 years, 24·5 kg/m2) on three different mornings. IAT was assessed 2 cm above the umbilicus (transverse plane) measuring from linea alba to: (i) anterior aorta, (ii) posterior aorta and (iii) anterior aspect of the vertebral column. PFT was measured from linea alba to visceral peritoneum in (i) sagittal and (ii) transverse planes, immediately over and inferior to the xiphi‐sternum, respectively.ResultsFor IAT, the criterion intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0·75 was exceeded for measurements to anterior aorta (0·95), posterior aorta (0·94) and vertebra (0·96). The reliability coefficient expressed as a percentage of the mean (RC%) was lowest (better) for measurement to vertebrae (9·8%). For PFT, mean thickness was comparable for sagittal (1·74 cm) and transverse (1·76 cm) planes; ICC values were also comparable for both planes (0·98 vs. 0·98, respectively), as were RC% (7·5% vs. 7·1%, respectively).ConclusionsIAT assessments to the vertebra were marginally more reliable than those to other structures. While PFT assessments were equally reliable for both measurements planes, precise probe placement was easier for the sagittal plane. Based on these findings, guidelines for the reliable measurement of central adiposity using ultrasound are presented.
Gene‐to‐ecosystem impacts of a catastrophic pesticide spill: testing a multilevel bioassessment approach in a river ecosystem
Authors: Thompson Murray S. A. , Bankier Claire , Bell Thomas , Dumbrell Alex J. , Gray Clare , Ledger Mark E. , Lehmann Katja , McKew Boyd A. , Sayer Carl D. , Shelley Felicity , Trimmer Mark , Warren Scott L. , Woodward Guy 
Published: September 2015

Summary

Pesticides can have strong deleterious impacts in fresh waters, but understanding how these effects cascade through natural ecosystems, from microbes to apex predators, is limited because research that spans multiple levels of biological organisation is rare.

We report how an accidental insecticide spill altered the structure and functioning of a river across levels ranging from genes to ecosystems. We quantified the impacts on assemblages of microbes, diatoms, macroinvertebrates and fish and measured leaf‐litter decomposition rates and microbial functional potential at upstream control and downstream impacted sites 2 months after the spill.

Both direct and indirect impacts were evident across multiple levels of organisation and taxa, from the base of the food web to higher trophic levels. At the molecular level, differences in functional gene abundance within the impacted sites reflected a combination of direct and indirect effects of the pesticide, via elevated abundances of microbial populations capable of using chlorpyrifos as a resource (i.e. direct effect) and oxidising ammonia released by decaying macroinvertebrate carcasses (i.e. indirect effect).

At the base of the food chains, diatom taxa found only in the impacted sites were an order‐of‐magnitude larger in cell size than the largest comparable taxa in control communities, following the near extirpation of their consumers. Population biomass of the key detritivore Gammarus pulex was markedly lower, as was the rate of litter decomposition in the impacted sites. This was partially compensated for, however, by elevated microbial breakdown, suggesting another indirect food‐web effect of the toxic spill.

Although many species exhibited population crashes or local extirpation, total macroinvertebrate biomass and abundance were largely unaffected due to a compensatory elevation in small tolerant taxa such as oligochaetes, and/or taxa which were in their adult aerial life stage at the time of the spill (e.g. chironomids) and thus avoided contact with the polluted waters and were able to repopulate the river quickly. Mass–abundance scaling of trophic links between consumers and resources revealed extensive restructuring within the food web.

This case study shows that pesticides can affect food‐web structure and ecosystem functioning, both directly and indirectly across levels of biological organisation. It also demonstrates how an integrated assessment approach, as adopted here, can elucidate links between microbiota, macroinvertebrates and fish, for instance, thus improving our understanding of the range of biological consequences of chemical contamination in natural ecosystems.
Contagion of Self-Interested Behavior: Evidence from Group Dictator Game Experiments
Authors: Ito Takehiro , Suzuki Akihiro , Takemoto Toru , Ogawa Kazuhito , Takahashi Hiromasa 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
We examine how group decision-making affects other-regarding behavior in experimental dictator games. In particular, we assess whether the effects of iterated games differ for group and individual decision-making and whether the difference in decision-making style (individual or group) changes the perception of social identity. We make two findings on group decision-making. First, group decisions become more selfish when repeating the game after changing group members. Second, a dictator group donates more to a recipient group at the same university than to a recipient group at a different university. These findings are not true for individual decision-making.
Synthesis and properties of feruloyl corn bran arabinoxylan esters
Authors: Li Y. , Yang C. 
Published: September 2015

AbstractObjectiveTo enhance the antioxidant activity and UV absorption coefficient of corn bran arabinoxylan (CAX), ferulic acid (FA) with this physiological activity is used to modify CAX.MethodsCorn bran arabinoxylan was extracted from corn bran according to alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) method. FA was covalently linked to CAX by esterification in a two‐step feasible synthesis to generate ferulic acid arabinoxylan esters (FA‐CAX). The structure and molecular weight of FA‐CAX were characterized by NMR and HPSEC, the degrees of substitution (DS) was determined by HPLC, and the ultraviolet (UV) coefficient of FA‐CAX was tested by UV spectroscopy. The antioxidant activity of FA‐CAX was investigated on the basis of 2,2′‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical assay, and protecting ability of FA‐CAX to UV‐induced oxidative damage was tested using linolenic acid dispersion as stratum corneum lipid model.ResultsThe results demonstrated that FA was attached to CAX successfully, and the inherent structure of CAX would not be broken during the process of the synthesis. FA‐CAX‐1 and FA‐CAX‐2 contained different amount of FA, with DS at 0.33 and 1.25, respectively, can absorb UV both at UVA and UVB. Moreover, FA‐CAX‐2 exhibited better antioxidant activity than FA‐CAX‐1 based on the two test methods.ConclusionFerulic acid modified CAX had significant antioxidant ability and UV absorption coefficient. And higher amount of FA leads to higher antioxidant activity and stronger UV absorption and stability. With increasing amount of FA attached to CAX, the antioxidant activities were better and the UV absorption was stronger and more durable.
Synthesis and Electrical Properties of (Pb,Bi)TiO3 Ceramics
Authors: Gautam Chandkiram , Madheshiya Abhishek , Sharma Prabhuta , Dwivedi Rakesh 
Published: September 2015

Lead bismuth titanate ceramics were prepared using solid‐state method. The structural and dielectric behaviors were studied using X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and LCR meter. X‐ray diffraction studies showed that crystal structure changed with changing compositions and sintering temperatures. The value of dielectric constant was found to be more for lead‐free samples with the addition of 1 mol% Fe2O3 rather than CrO3‐doped samples. Activation energy, Ea, was determined from the slope of log τ versus 1000/T plots for ceramic samples 3P7BT1C800 and 3P7BT1C900. Impedance spectroscopy revealed that resistance decreases with increasing temperature.
The RUNX complex: reaching beyond haematopoiesis into immunity
Authors: Voon Dominic Chih‐Cheng , Hor Yit Teng , Ito Yoshiaki 
Published: September 2015

SummaryAmong their diverse roles as transcriptional regulators during development and cell fate specification, the RUNX transcription factors are best known for the parts they play in haematopoiesis. RUNX proteins are expressed throughout all haematopoietic lineages, being necessary for the emergence of the first haematopoietic stem cells to their terminal differentiation. Although much progress has been made since their discoveries almost two decades ago, current appreciation of RUNX in haematopoiesis is largely grounded in their lineage‐specifying roles. In contrast, the importance of RUNX to immunity has been mostly obscured for historic, technical and conceptual reasons. However, this paradigm is likely to shift over time, as a primary purpose of haematopoiesis is to resource the immune system. Furthermore, recent evidence suggests a role for RUNX in the innate immunity of non‐haematopoietic cells. This review takes a haematopoiesis‐centric approach to collate what is known of RUNX's contribution to the overall mammalian immune system and discuss their growing prominence in areas such as autoimmunity, inflammatory diseases and mucosal immunity.