Why heads matter in palaeoanthropology: The impacts and consequences of collecting skulls by Lauren Schroeder, Paige Madison, Rebecca R. Ackermann

“… This piece reflects on the importance of and focus on heads – especially the collecting of skulls and its impacts – in alpha taxonomy, biological anthropology, and Western science more broadly. We consider how the announcement and overall discovery story of the Taung Child revolutionised our understanding of hominin cranial evolution, but also fit within these skull-collecting objectives and contributed to the palaeoanthropological fixation on the skull. …”
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An Evaluation of the Responsiveness and Discriminant Validity of Shoulder Questionnaires among Patients Receiving Surgical Correction of Shoulder Instability by Kyle A. R. Kemp, David M. Sheps, Lauren A. Beaupre, Fiona Styles-Tripp, Charlene Luciak-Corea, Robert Balyk

“…Forty-three patients (32 M, 13 F; mean age  =  26.00  ±  8.19 years) undergoing arthroscopic Bankart repair completed three validated shoulder questionnaires (Western Ontario Shoulder Instability index (WOSI), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment form (ASES), Constant score) preoperatively, and at 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. …”
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Chronic Unexpected Mild Stress Destroys Synaptic Plasticity of Neurons through a Glutamate Transporter, GLT-1, of Astrocytes in the Ischemic Stroke Rat by Dafan Yu, Zhenxing Cheng, Abdoulaye Idriss Ali, Jiamin Wang, Kai Le, Enkhmurun Chibaatar, Yijing Guo

“…We exposed the ischemic stroke rats to ceftriaxone, during the CUMS intervention period to determine the effects of GLT-1 on glutamate circulation by immunofluorescence and mass spectrometry and its influences to synaptic plasticity by western blot and transmission electron microscopy. …”
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Pregnancy Loss Was Associated With the Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Middle-Aged Women: Evidence From the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study by Xiaoyan Yang, Qingling Fan, Can Shen, Ruirui Hou, Ruoling Chen, Jiaqian Yin, Huifeng Xiang, Yunxia Cao, Xiaoqing Peng

“…Objectives: Significant associations between pregnancy loss and risk of future maternal cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been found in Western countries, but the association in China is still unclear. …”
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Expression of SMADs in orthotopic human endometrium, ovarian endometriosis, and endometriotic lesions in a murine model by Yuri Kadota, Takeshi Kato, Kana Kasai, Takako Kawakita, Misaki Murayama, Akari Shinya, Hikari Sasada, Sachiko Katayama, Mari Nii, Shota Yamamoto, Hiroki Noguchi, Kou Tamura, Hidenori Aoki, Miyu Taniguchi, Tomotaka Nakagawa, Takashi Kaji, Masato Nishimura, Riyo Kinouchi, Kanako Yoshida, Takeshi Iwasa

“…We immunohistochemically evaluated orthotopic endometria, ovarian endometriotic tissues, and endometriotic lesions in the murine model followed by western blotting. We found that pSMAD3 and SMAD7 were expressed in ovarian endometriosis and orthotopic endometria from patients with and without endometriosis. …”
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Characterisation of native Dagestan grape cultivars using SSR-analysis and the main ampelographic features of the leaves by E. T. Ilnitskaya, I. I. Suprun, L. G. Naumova, S. V. Tokmakov, V. A. Ganich

“…Evaluation of the genetic similarity of cultivars according to the results of microsatellite analysis showed that the genotypes of Mahbоr cibil and Aliy terskiy are closer to the Western European gene pool of V. vinifera L. than any other native varieties in the sample studied. …”
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Enamel Matrix Derivative Enhances the Odontoblastic Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells via Activating MAPK Signaling Pathways by Beidi Zhang, Min Xiao, Xiaogang Cheng, Yu Bai, Hanze Chen, Qing Yu, Lihong Qiu

“…In vitro phase: cell proliferation was assessed by a cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay; then, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and staining, alizarin red staining, real-time RT-PCR, and western blot analysis were conducted to determine the odontoblastic potential and involvement of MAPK signaling pathways. …”
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PPAR-α regulates metabolic remodelling and participates in myocardial fibrosis in patients with atrial fibrillation of rheumatic heart disease by Xiaoying Hu, Daisong Jiang, Zheng Zhang, Zhenmei An

“…Material and methods The left atrial appendage tissues were evaluated by Masson staining for fibrosis degree, and Western Blot was used to detect the expression of proteins related to glucose metabolism disorder, lipid metabolism abnormality, and mitochondrial dysfunction. …”
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AIM2 Mediates Inflammation-Associated Renal Damage in Hepatitis B Virus-Associated Glomerulonephritis by Regulating Caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18 by Junhui Zhen, Le Zhang, Jiachao Pan, Shumin Ma, Xiaojian Yu, Xiaobo Li, Shijun Chen, Wenjun Du

“…Following siRNA-mediated knockdown of AIM2 in HBV-infected and HBV-uninfected human glomerular mesangial (HGM) cells, expression of caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18 was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Results. AIM2 expression in HBV-GN biopsies (81.4%) was significantly higher than in CGN (4.0%) and positively correlated with caspase-1 and IL-1β expression in HBV-GN. …”
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The use of drought resistance indices in the study of the spring bread wheat collection under the conditions of Aktobe Region by Zh. T. Kalybekova, V. I. Tsygankov, E. V. Zuev, L. Yu. Novikova

“…Due to the global climate warming trend, the breeding of new drought-resistant cultivars of spring bread wheat remains a priority task for Western Kazakhstan breeders. However, an increase in resistance is often accompanied by a decrease in genotype productivity, and searching for an optimal combination of these characteristics is a trend in contemporary plant breeding.Materials and methods. …”
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Quantifying Urban Sprawl and Its Driving Forces in China by Jintao Wang, Shiyou Qu, Ke Peng, Yanchao Feng

“…The continuous outflow of population and loosely land supply have accelerated the intensity of urban land sprawl in the central and western regions. The findings of the article may help people to realize that urban sprawl has become a staggering reality among Chinese cities; thereby urban planners as well as policymakers should make some actions to hinder the urban sprawl.…”
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Geranylgeraniol (GGOH) as a Mevalonate Pathway Activator in the Rescue of Bone Cells Treated with Zoledronic Acid: An In Vitro Study by Riham M. Fliefel, Saleh A. Entekhabi, Michael Ehrenfeld, Sven Otto

“…Here, the effect of different concentrations of zoledronate (ZA) on the bone cells has been investigated by cell viability assay, live/dead staining, and western blot to understand if GGOH was able to rescue bone cells and levels of statistical significance were indicated at ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001, and ∗∗∗∗P<0.0001. …”
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Curcumin inhibits migration and invasion of non-small cell lung cancer cells through up-regulation of miR-206 and suppression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway by Wang Naizhi, Feng Tao, Liu Xiaona, Liu Qin

“…MiRNA-206 expression was detected by real-time PCR. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. …”
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Expression of Duodenal Iron Transporter Proteins in Diabetic Patients with and without Iron Deficiency Anemia by Efrat Broide, Ram Reifen, Shay Matalon, Zipi Berkovich, Haim Shirin

“…Duodenal mucosal expression of divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), ferroportin 1 (FPN), hephaestin (HEPH), and transferrin receptor 1 (TfR) was evaluated by Western blotting. Chronic disease activity markers were measured as well. …”
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Climate Change Scenarios of Precipitation Extremes in the Carpathian Region Based on an Ensemble of Regional Climate Models by Ladislav Gaál, Romana Beranová, Kamila Hlavčová, Jan Kyselý

“…The study area is the Carpathian Basin (Central and Southeastern Europe) which has a complex topography and encompasses the whole territory of Slovakia and Hungary as well as major parts of Romania and western Ukraine. We focus on changes in mean seasonal maxima and high quantiles (50-year return values) projected for the late 21st century (time slice 2070–2099) in comparison to the control period (time slice 1961–1990), for summer and winter. …”
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How fast is the frequency of precipitation extremes doubling in global land regions? by Guillaume Chagnaud, Juliette Blanchet, Guillaume Evin, Benoit Hingray, Thierry Lebel, Geremy Panthou, Théo Vischel

“…The fastest frequency doubling, in the coming two decades, is found in the highly vulnerable tropical regions of Western and South Eastern Africa, with strong implications for hydrological risk management there. …”
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Investigation of the effects of combined exercises and self-management education, with and without functional exercises, on pain and functional outcomes in patients with avascular... by Zohreh Gholami, Seyedeh Tahereh Faezi, Elham Madreseh, Raghad Mimar

“…Secondary outcomes will include the Harris Hip Score, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) for hip osteoarthritis, the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, the 30 s Chair Stand Test, active range of motion, muscle strength and the 10-metre walk test. …”
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Effects of Laminaria Japonica Polysaccharides on the Survival of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer A549 Cells by Mengxing Yao, XiaoJun Qian, Houying Qin

“…After corresponding treatment, the survival rate and the expression of proteins related to proliferation, apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and signaling pathway were detected by CCK8 assay and Western blot, respectively. In vivo: a xenograft model was established to detect the tumor volume and mass and the expression of the above pathway proteins. …”
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Transient degradation of NF-κB proteins in macrophages after interaction with mast cell granules by Noriko Ito, Yuai Li, Tsuneo Suzuki, Daniel J. Stechschulte, Kottarappat N. Dileepan

“…Antibodies to N-terminal peptides of p50, p52, p65 or c-Rel supershifted only a fraction of NF-κBx. Western blot analyses revealed that nuclear p65 and c-Rel were progressively degraded after exposure to MCG, whereas nuclear p50 appeared to be unaffected. …”
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Trifarotene alleviates skin photoaging injury by inhibition of JNK/c-Jun/MMPs by Fei Xuan, Yang Lele Zixin, Zhang Jingjing, Li Xiang, Pan Mengtian, Xu Guangchen, Zhang Cuixia, Liu Fei, Fang Weirong

“…This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of trifarotene, a functional retinoic acid analog, on UV-irradiated photoaging ICR and BALB/c nude mice and UVB photodamaged human epidermal keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells by examining indicators such as collagen, oxidoreductase, and inflammatory factor presence through histochemical staining, Western blot, and ELISA. Results suggested that trifarotene significantly reduced UV-induced photoaging in mouse skin tissue, potentially by reducing oxidative stress damage and inflammatory factor release, and inhibiting melanin deposition and collagen degradation by downregulating MMP expression. …”
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