bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selective photocatalytic C–C coupling of isopropanol into pinacol with concurrent hydrogen evolution over GONaOH photocatalyst
Authors: Cao Baoyue , Yu Yan , Xu Shan , Qu Jia , Gao Ge , Li Honghong , Gao Ni , Ren Youliang , Zhou Chunsheng
Published: December 2018

The average H2 evolution rate could reach 7.36 mmol h−1 over GONaOH photocatalyst. And meanwhile, the sacrificial agent isopropanol could undergo highly selective C–C coupling into pinacol. The isopropanol conversion rate was 77.95%, and the pinacol selectivity was 62.32%.
A new nano-photocatalyst based on Pt and Bi co-doped TiO2 for efficient visible-light photo degradation of amoxicillin
Authors: Salimi Maryam , Behbahani Mohammad , Sobhi Hamid Reza , Gholami Mitra , Jonidi Jafari Ahmad , Rezaei Kalantary Roshanak , Farzadkia Mahdi , Esrafili Ali
Published: December 2018

Herein, the photo degradation of amoxicillin (AMX) was thoroughly investigated using Pt and Bi co-doped TiO2 photocatalysts under visible-light irradiation.
A 3D pillared-layer metal–organic framework with fluorescence property for detection of nitroaromatic explosives
Authors: Wang Qi , Liu Da Jun , Cui Li Li , Hu Xiao-Li , Wang Xin-Long , Su Zhong-Min
Published: December 2018

A novel pillared-layer Cd-MOF was synthesized as luminescent sensor for detection of nitroaromatic explosives with highly selective and recyclable properties. The study also shows that the photoinduced electron transfer and resonance energy transfer were possible mechanisms of fluorescence quenching.
Intracellular targeted delivery of quantum dots with extraordinary performance enabled by a novel nanomaterial design
Authors: Wang Jun , Dai Jie , Yang Xuan , Yu Xiaoya , Emory Steven R. , Yong Xueqing , Xu Jinhua , Mei Ling , Xie Jinbing , Han Ning , Zhang Xuejin , Ruan Gang
Published: December 2018

A new class of quantum dot probes based on hydrophobic nanoparticles is developed to achieve extraordinary intracellular targeted delivery performance.
Direct electron-beam patterning of transferrable plasmonic gold nanoparticles using a HAuCl4/PVP composite resist
Authors: Bi Kaixi , Chen Yiqin , Wan Qiang , Ye Tuo , Xiang Quan , Zheng Mengjie , Wang Xuejiao , Liu Qing , Zhang Guanhua , Li Yongtao , Liu Yupeng , Duan Huigao
Published: December 2018

Reliable fabrication of gold nanoparticles with desirable size, geometry and spatial arrangement is essential for plasmonic applications.
Design of localized spatiotemporal pH patterns by means of antagonistic chemical gradients
Authors: Dúzs Brigitta , Szalai István
Published: December 2018

Spatially localized moving and stationary pH patterns are generated in two-side-fed reaction-diffusion systems.
Highly conjugated architectures and labile reaction intermediates from coupling between 10π electron-deficient heteroaromatics andsym-trihydroxy- or triamino-benzene derivatives
Authors: Micheletti Gabriele , Boga Carla , Cino Silvia , Bordoni Silvia , Chugunova Elena
Published: December 2018

Novel intermediates of the SEAr/SNAr reaction (WMorMcomplexes) have been detected and characterized by NMR at low temperature.
Cargo shuttling by electrochemical switching of core–shell microgels obtained by a facile one-shot polymerization
Authors: Mergel Olga , Schneider Sabine , Tiwari Rahul , Kühn Philipp T. , Keskin Damla , Stuart Marc C. A. , Schöttner Sebastian , de Kanter Martinus , Noyong Michael , Caumanns Tobias , Mayer Joachim , Janzen Christoph , Simon Ulrich , Gallei Markus , Wöll Dominik , van Rijn Patrick , Plamper Felix A.
Published: December 2018

Advancing biomedicine by tunable e-transfer into/from microgels.
Correction: A general approach for the site-selective modification of native proteins, enabling the generation of stable and functional antibody–drug conjugates
Authors: Walsh Stephen J. , Omarjee Soleilmane , Galloway Warren R. J. D. , Kwan Terence T.-L. , Sore Hannah F. , Parker Jeremy S. , Hyvönen Marko , Carroll Jason S. , Spring David R.
Published: December 2018

Correction for ‘A general approach for the site-selective modification of native proteins, enabling the generation of stable and functional antibody–drug conjugates’ by Stephen J. Walsh et al., Chem. Sci., 2019, DOI: 10.1039/c8sc04645j.
Correction: Enantioselective total synthesis of (−)-colchicine, (+)-demecolcinone and metacolchicine: determination of the absolute configurations of the latter two alkaloids
Authors: Chen Bo , Liu Xin , Hu Ya-Jian , Zhang Dong-Mei , Deng Lijuan , Lu Jieyu , Min Long , Ye Wen-Cai , Li Chuang-Chuang
Published: December 2018

Correction for ‘Enantioselective total synthesis of (−)-colchicine, (+)-demecolcinone and metacolchicine: determination of the absolute configurations of the latter two alkaloids’ by Chuang-Chuang Li et al., Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 4961–4966.
Large-grained formamidinium-based films via a 2D–3D conversion mechanism for high-performance perovskite solar cells without anti-solvent
Authors: Xu Xiaoxiao , Li Zhaoqian , Zhu Liangzheng , Zheng Haiying , Liu Guozhen , Hayat Tasawar , Alsaedi Ahmed , Zhang Xianxi , Huang Yang , Pan Xu
Published: December 2018

We present a HI and MACl assisted 2D–3D conversion mechanism for fabricating large-grained perovskite films without anti-solvent, which resulted in higher efficiency solar cells.
“Sacrificial protection in action!”: ultra-high stability of palladesite mineral towards the oxygen reduction reaction
Authors: Sarma Saurav Ch. , Vemuri Vamseedhara , Mishra Vidyanshu , Peter Sebastian C.
Published: December 2018

Pd17Se15nanoparticles have been synthesized by a one-pot colloidal synthesis method. An accelerated degradation test confirms the ultra-high stability of the catalyst which gets enhanced after 50 000 cycles.
Direct blending of multicolor carbon quantum dots into fluorescent films for white light emitting diodes with an adjustable correlated color temperature
Authors: Ding Yuanfei , Zheng Jingxia , Wang Junli , Yang Yongzhen , Liu Xuguang
Published: December 2018

The synthesis and luminescence origin of multicolour long wavelength CQDs and solid state luminous red-green-blue CQD films for CQD phosphor-based WLEDs with a high CRI and an adjustable CCT.
Possible role of phytoestrogens in breast cancer via GPER-1/GPR30 signaling
Authors: Molina Luis , Bustamante Felipe A. , Bhoola Kanti D. , Figueroa Carlos D. , Ehrenfeld Pamela
Published: December 2018

Estrogens generated within endocrine organs and the reproductive system act as ligands for at least three types of estrogen receptors. Estrogen receptors α (ERα) and β (ERβ) belong to the so-called classical family of estrogen receptors, whereas the G protein-coupled receptor GPR30, also known as GPER-1, has been described as a novel estrogen receptor sited in the cell membrane of target cells. Furthermore, these receptors are under stimulation of a family of exogenous estrogens, known as phytoestrogens, which are a diverse group of non-steroidal plant compounds derived from plant food consumed by humans and animals. Because phytoestrogens are omnipresent in our daily diet, they are becoming increasingly important in both human health and disease. Recent evidence indicates that in addition to classical estrogen receptors, phytoestrogens also activate GPER-1 a relevant observation since GPER-1 is involved in several physiopathological disorders and especially in estrogen-dependent diseases such as breast cancer.

The first estrogen receptors discovered were the classical ERα and ERβ, but from an evolutionary point of view G protein-coupled receptors trace their origins in history to over a billion years ago suggesting that estrogen receptors like GPER-1 may have been the targets of choice for ancient phytoestrogens and/or estrogens.

This review provides a comprehensive and systematic literature search on phytoestrogens and its relationship with classical estrogen receptors and GPER-1 including its role in breast cancer, an issue still under discussion.
Expanding the Porphycene Core: Modification and Metalation
Authors: Brewster James , Anguera Gonzalo , Sessler Jonathan
Published: December 2018

Porphycenes, the first structural isomer of porphyrin, display unique chemical and photophysical properties. In this Account, we detail our group’s individual and collaborative efforts in elucidating further the chemical properties of porphycene. Particular emphasis will be placed on recent efforts devoted to expanding the porphycene core.

1 Introduction

2 Exploring the Chemistry of Porphycene

3 Synthesis and Metalation of an Expanded Porphycene

4 Conclusion
Recent Advances in the Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Bisindolylmethane Derivatives
Authors: Petrini Marino , Palmieri Alessandro
Published: December 2018

This review article summarizes the fundamental synthetic procedures aimed at the preparation of unsymmetrical bisindolylmethanes that have appeared in the literature since 2010. To this goal, reactive electrophilic indole-containing intermediates are mostly generated from indolylmethanols, indolylmethanamines, and indolylmethanthio derivatives and then made to react with simple or functionalized indoles. The asymmetric synthesis of bisindolylmethanes can be also achieved under chiral-catalyzed conditions.

1 Introduction

2 Direct Three-Component Coupling

3 Reaction of Indolylmethanols

4 Reaction of Indolylmethanamine Derivatives

5 Reaction of 3-Vinylindoles

6 Reaction of indolylmethanthio Derivatives

7 Bisindolylmethanes by Ring Closure of Alkyne Derivatives

8 Miscellaneous Methods

9 Conclusion
Vortex fibers for STED microscopy
Authors: Yan Lu , Kristensen Poul , Ramachandran Siddharth
Published: December 2018

Super-resolution imaging using the principles of stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy requires collinear excitation of a sample with a Gaussian-shaped excitation beam and a donut-shaped depletion beam whose spin (polarization) and orbital angular momentum (OAM) signs are aligned. We leverage recent advances in stable OAM mode propagation in optical fibers for telecom applications to design, fabricate, and validate the utility of a vortex fiber as the beam shaping device at visible and near-IR wavelengths for STED microscopy. Specifically, using compact UV-written fiber-gratings yielding high purity mode conversion (98.7%), we demonstrate the simultaneous generation of Gaussian and OAM beams at user-defined wavelengths. Point spread function measurements reveal a depletion beam with >17.5-dB extinction ratio, a naturally co-aligned Gaussian beam, and a setup in which these characteristics are maintained even as the fiber is bent down 6-mm radii. The proof-of-concept of all-fiber STED microscopy realized using this fiber device is used to image fluorescent bead samples yielding a sub-diffraction-limited resolution of 103 nm in the lateral plane. This opens the door to performing fiber-based STED microscopy with a setup that is not only resistant to environmental perturbations but also facilitates the development of endoscopic STED imaging.
Effects of a cathode output aperture on the hollow cathode glow discharge
Authors: Metel A.
Published: December 2018

Glow discharge with a cylindrical hollow cathode mounted on a process vacuum chamber has been studied in a wide range of gas pressures from 0.01 to 10 Pa. The chamber serves as the discharge anode. A diaphragm is fastened on the cathode end to protect the discharge plasma inside the chamber from contamination with the sputtered cathode material. The discharge characteristics depend on area So of the diaphragm orifice. A double layer appears at the orifice when So < S* ≈ (2 m/M)1/2S, where m is the electron mass, M is the ion mass, and S is the cathode surface area. Electrons accelerated in the double layer effectively ionize the gas and can produce, inside the chamber, a plasma with the same density as inside the cathode. At the gas pressure less than ∼0.3 Pa, the low-voltage double layer can be replaced with a high-voltage accelerating gap between the plasma inside the cathode and the plasma produced inside the chamber by a beam-plasma discharge.
Probability analysis of asymmetric tristable energy harvesters
Authors: Li Yi , Zhou Shengxi
Published: December 2018

The excellent energy harvesting performance of tristable energy harvesters with unique physical characteristics has been theoretically and experimentally verified. However, they are very sensitive to ambient vibration conditions which lead to different stable motion states. In particular, the response mechanism of the asymmetric tristable energy harvester is very complex because its potential wells are different with each other. In order to analyze the response mechanism, this paper originally presents probability analysis of the asymmetric tristable energy harvester. The influence of the uncertain excitation frequencies and amplitudes, system parameters on the response of the asymmetric tristable energy harvester is studied based on the Monte Carlo Simulation. The probabilities of vibrations within a single potential well, local interwell vibrations, and global interwell vibrations are calculated, and the variation laws between the probabilities and uncertainties are analyzed.
Antiferromagnetic domain wall creep driven by magnetoelectric effect
Authors: Shiratsuchi Yu , Yoshida Hiroaki , Kotani Yoshinori , Toyoki Kentaro , Nguyen Thi Van Anh , Nakamura Tetsuya , Nakatani Ryoichi
Published: December 2018

We observed the magnetoelectric induced domain wall propagation in a Pt/Co/Au/Cr2O3/Pt stacked thin film based on magnetic domain observations using scanning soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism microscopy. The antiferromagnetic (Cr2O3) domain wall velocity was estimated by a quasi-static approach using a pulsed voltage. At a pulse voltage amplitude of −12 V, corresponding to an electric field of −8.0 × 102 kV/cm, the domain wall velocity was very low, at 0.3 m/s. The domain wall velocity increased with increasing voltage amplitude, reaching 22 m/s at −20 V (−1.3 × 103 kV/cm). The change in the domain wall velocity with the applied voltage amplitude indicates the creep motion of the domain wall. Using a phenomenological model, we estimated the domain wall depinning energy, and found that the bulk and interface terms of the magnetic anisotropy affect the effective magnetic field to the same degree, suggesting that the magnetic domain wall motion may be controllable by the antiferromagnetic layer thickness.
Impact of cross-linking of polymers on transport of salt and water in polyelectrolyte membranes: A mesoscopic simulation study
Authors: Aryal Dipak , Ganesan Venkat
Published: December 2018

Our recent atomistic simulation studies demonstrated that the transport properties of salt ions and water in non-crosslinked polymer electrolyte membrane exhibit an intriguing dependence on salt concentration that is opposite to that seen in electrolyte solutions. Here, we extend our study to probe the influence of the degree of cross-linking of the polymer on the transport properties of salt and water in polymer electrolyte membranes. Towards this objective, we use a coarse-grained model embedded within dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) mesoscale simulations, which allows us to access time scales necessary for studying crosslinked polymer systems. Our DPD simulations on non-crosslinked membranes reproduce results that are in qualitative agreement with our atomistic simulations. For the case of crosslinked membranes, our results demonstrate that the diffusion of salt ions and water is reduced significantly relative to crosslinked systems. However, the trends exhibited by the salt concentration dependence of diffusivities and the coordination of the cations with anions and with the polymer backbone remain qualitatively similar to those observed in non-crosslinked membranes.
Gyrokinetic study of slowing-down α particles transport due to trapped electron mode turbulence
Authors: Yang S. M. , Angioni C. , Hahm T. S. , Na D. H. , Na Y. S.
Published: December 2018

Transport of α particles due to trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence is investigated from nonlinear and quasilinear gyrokinetic simulations. We consider both slowing-down and Maxwellian distribution functions for α particles and identify and compare diffusive and convective parts of α particle transport as a function of the α particle's energy normalized to the background plasma temperature. We find that TEM induces much lower transport of energetic α particles such as fusion products than that of thermal Helium ions in the trace limit. This disparity from our study is found to be even greater than that reported previously for the ion temperature gradient mode [C. Angioni and A. G. Peeters, Phys. Plasmas. 15, 052307 (2008)].
Partially replacing Pb2+ by Mn2+ in hybrid metal halide perovskites: Structural and electronic properties
Authors: Bartesaghi Davide , Ray Aniruddha , Jiang Junke , Bouwer Ricardo K. M. , Tao Shuxia , Savenije Tom J.
Published: December 2018

Tailoring the physical properties of hybrid lead metal halide APbX3 perovskites by means of compositional engineering is one of the key factors contributing to the development of highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. While the beneficial effects of partial ionic replacement at the A- and X-sites are largely demonstrated, partial replacement of Pb2+ is less explored. Here, we developed a solution-based procedure to prepare thin films of mixed-metal MAPb1-aMnaI3 perovskites. Although Mn2+ ions have a size that can potentially fit in the B-sites of MAPbI3, using a combination of structural and chemical analysis, we show that only less than 10% of Pb2+ can be replaced by Mn2+. A 3% replacement of Pb2+ by Mn2+ leads to an elongation of the charge carrier lifetimes as concluded from time-resolved PL measurements. However, by analysis of the time-resolved microwave conductance data, we show that the charge carrier mobilities are largely unbalanced, which is in accordance with density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicating that the effective mass of the hole is much higher than that of the electron. Increasing the concentration of Mn2+ in the precursor solution above 10% results in formation of amorphous Mn-rich domains in the film, while the perovskite lattice becomes depleted of Mn2+. These domains negatively affect the charge carrier mobilities and shorten the lifetime of photogenerated carriers. The resulting reduction in charge carrier diffusion lengths will severely limit the photovoltaic properties of solar cells prepared from these mixed metal halide perovskites.
Microwave spectra and nuclear quadrupole structure of the NH3–N2 van der Waals complex and its deuterated isotopologues
Authors: Surin Leonid , Tarabukin Ivan , Pérez Cristóbal , Schnell Melanie
Published: December 2018

The microwave spectrum of the NH3–N2 van der Waals complex has been observed in a supersonic molecular jet expansion via broadband (2-8 GHz) chirped-pulse Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy. Two pure rotational R(0) transitions (J = 1 − 0) with different hyperfine structure patterns were detected. One transition belongs to the (ortho)-NH3–(ortho)-N2 nuclear spin isomer in the ground K = 0 state reported earlier [G. T. Fraser et al., J. Chem. Phys. 84, 2472 (1986)], while another one is assigned to the (para)-NH3–(para)-N2 spin isomer in the K = 0 state not reported before (K is the projection of the total angular momentum J on the intermolecular axis). The complicated hyperfine structure arising from three quadrupole 14N nuclei of NH3–N2 was resolved for both transitions, and the quadrupole coupling constants associated with the NH3 and N2 subunits were precisely determined for the first time. These constants provided the dynamical information about the angular orientation of ammonia and nitrogen indicating that the average angle between the C3 axis of NH3 and the N2 axis is about 66°. The average van der Waals bond lengths are slightly different for (ortho)-NH3–(ortho)-N2 and (para)-NH3–(para)-N2 and amount to 3.678 Å and 3.732 Å, respectively. Similar results for the deuterated isotopologues, ND3–N2, NHD2–N2, and NH2D–N2, and their nuclear spin isomers were also obtained thus confirming and extending the analysis for the parent NH3–N2 complex.
Hybrid simulations of fishbone instabilities and Alfvén eigenmodes in DIII-D tokamak
Authors: Ren Zhen-Zhen , Fu G. Y. , Van Zeeland M. A. , Wang Feng , Wang Zheng-Xiong , Nazikian R. , Turco F. , Petty C. C.
Published: December 2018

In DIII-D hybrid discharges, the intense Alfvén eigenmode (AE) activity driven by Neutral Beam Injection that is typically observed can be suppressed and replaced by fishbone modes when Electron Cyclotron Current Drive (ECCD) is centrally applied. Simulations have been carried out with the kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic hybrid code M3D-K based on DIII-D discharges #161401 without ECCD and #161403 with ECCD, respectively. In both cases, unstable modes are found—the mode frequency and the mode structure indicate that the instability excited in #161403 is of fishbone type, while that in #161401 is identified as the beta-induced Alfvén eigenmode-like mode. Moreover, we find that the calculated mode frequencies of these two shots are consistent with experimental observations. A systematic scan has been performed to study the instability region of n=1,2,3 modes in (q0,βhot) parameter space, where n is the toroidal mode number, q0 is the safety factor value at the magnetic axis, and βhot is the energetic particle beta. It is found that the transition between AEs and fishbone modes can occur when q0 is changed. In addition, the modes of n=1,2,3 are stable or weakly unstable in the region of Phot/Ptotal≤0.5 and 1.2<q0<1.3, where Phot is the central energetic particle pressure and Ptotal is the central total pressure. These results provide useful guidance for future experiments for minimizing energetic particle-driven instabilities and associated transport.
Remediation of inorganic and organic contaminants in military ranges
Authors: Fayiga Abioye O.
Published: December 2018

Environmental contextContaminants occur in the soil and water associated with military ranges. This review article describes how the extent of contamination depends not only on the type of military range and its period of activity, but also on the chemistry of both the soil and the contaminant. A full understanding of the soil chemistry is necessary to develop effective remediation methods for the restoration of these impacted environments.
AbstractThis review discusses the contaminants associated with military ranges and the approaches taken to remediate these sites. The type and extent of contamination depends on the type of range, period of activity, soil chemistry and contaminant chemistry. Small arms firing ranges typically have high concentrations of metals and metalloids whereas military ranges typically have high concentrations of perchlorates, white phosphorus, explosives and propellants. For explosives, higher concentrations are found in sites that have undergone a low order detonation than in sites with a high order detonation. Remediation technologies for small arms firing ranges include leaching and immobilisation whereas for military ranges, methods such as alkaline hydrolysis, photolysis, bioremediation and phytoremediation have been tested. A lot of work has been done to immobilise metals/metalloids using soil amendments, which show a high effectiveness in stabilising them. Some of these amendments, however, also mobilise other co-contaminants. More studies are needed to simultaneously immobilise all inorganic contaminants. Explosives can be transformed into simpler non-toxic forms by photolysis, bioremediation or phytodegradation. The introduction of bacteria transgenes into plants has been used to enhance uptake and degradation of explosives in transgenic plants. Adoption of appropriate remediation technologies in impacted military ranges will reduce contaminant levels and protect public health.
Post-fire invasion in Torres del Paine Biosphere Reserve: the role of seed tolerance to heat
Authors: Paula Susana , Labbé Daniela L.
Published: December 2018

Biological invasions are one of the major causes of biodiversity loss. Anthropogenic alteration in fire regimes has promoted plant invasion in several regions and ecosystems worldwide, especially in those where fires are historically rare. This is the case of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Torres del Paine National Park (TPNP), located in southern South America. In this study, we hypothesised that the seeds of native species of the TPNP do not resist fire-related high soil temperatures as do exotic plants, which could facilitate the spread of exotic plant invasion in post-fire environments. To test this hypothesis, we exposed seeds of plant species collected from the TPNP to different heat doses (60°C, 5min; 90°C, 5min; 90°C, 10min; 120°C, 5min) and compared their final germination and viability with those of unheated seeds. The study was conducted on five native species and three aliens inhabiting the TPNP. Almost all the seeds of native species died after exposure to temperatures higher than 60°C, whereas seeds of the alien species resisted higher heat doses. The on-site resistance of the aliens (through fire-tolerant soil seed banks) and the fire sensitivity of native seeds contribute to our understanding on post-fire invasion in the TPNP.
Right temporal alpha oscillations as a neural mechanism for inhibiting obvious associations
Authors: Luft Caroline Di Bernardi , Zioga Ioanna , Thompson Nicholas M. , Banissy Michael J. , Bhattacharya Joydeep
Published: December 2018

Significance

“Taking a less-traveled path” is often considered an effective approach to creativity (i.e., creative thinking calls for a break from habitual thinking and associations), yet little is known about its underlying neural mechanism. In a series of four independent experiments involving electrophysiological and brain stimulation methods we provide evidence that this process is mediated by the right temporal alpha oscillations. Alpha oscillations are known to represent a process of active inhibition to suppress irrelevant information, such as inhibiting distractions during visual search. Through monitoring the brain’s electrical activity during different creativity tasks and by stimulating the right temporal brain region at the alpha frequency we show that a similar process of active inhibition is also key to creative thinking.
DeltaNp63-dependent super enhancers define molecular identity in pancreatic cancer by an interconnected transcription factor network
Authors: Hamdan Feda H. , Johnsen Steven A.
Published: December 2018

Molecular subtyping of cancer offers tremendous promise for the optimization of a precision oncology approach to anticancer therapy. Recent advances in pancreatic cancer research uncovered various molecular subtypes with tumors expressing a squamous/basal-like gene expression signature displaying a worse prognosis. Through unbiased epigenome mapping, we identified deltaNp63 as a major driver of a gene signature in pancreatic cancer cell lines, which we report to faithfully represent the highly aggressive pancreatic squamous subtype observed in vivo, and display the specific epigenetic marking of genes associated with decreased survival. Importantly, depletion of deltaNp63 in these systems significantly decreased cell proliferation and gene expression patterns associated with a squamous subtype and transcriptionally mimicked a subtype switch. Using genomic localization data of deltaNp63 in pancreatic cancer cell lines coupled with epigenome mapping data from patient-derived xenografts, we uncovered that deltaNp63 mainly exerts its effects by activating subtype-specific super enhancers. Furthermore, we identified a group of 45 subtype-specific super enhancers that are associated with poorer prognosis and are highly dependent on deltaNp63. Genes associated with these enhancers included a network of transcription factors, including HIF1A, BHLHE40, and RXRA, which form a highly intertwined transcriptional regulatory network with deltaNp63 to further activate downstream genes associated with poor survival.
PF deletion within Chinese DPs
Authors: Chiu Liching Livy
Published: December 2018

The aim of this paper is to study the empty categories which may exist inside the Chinese DP domain. The primary discussion concerns an empty category which results from the deletion of NP. This paper introduces a novel observation that equation sentences with a “Modifier- Empty-NP” object can only result from ellipsis, and cannot be a base-generated pro-Form in Mandarin Chinese. I further show that the rich array of functional elements and modifications in the internal structure of the Chinese DP can aid linguists in ascertaining the domain over which deletion happens.
Race and Labor in Sixteenth-Century Seville through the Prism of Accounting Books (Hijuelas) from the Reales Alcázares
Authors: Beck Lauren
Published: December 2018

Hijuelasfurnish scholars with more than account balances and bills paid: ledgers such as the ones that detailed the expenses of Seville’s sixteenth-century Alcázar also yield important insight into the facility’s work environment. These hardly studied ledgers describe the workers’ backgrounds, including their wages and any special accommodations they required, as well as the transaction of material goods, which in this period included slaves. The following examination ofhijuelasuncovers the racial and labor realities of a royal property. These documents also challenge established scholarly observations about working life in early modern Seville in important ways.
Sidney’s Legal Patronage and the International Protestant Cause
Authors: Crowley Timothy D.
Published: December 2018

This study brings to light a legal treatise from the mid-1580s on diplomatic and royal immunities and the authority of magistrates. Comparison of extant manuscript copies elucidates the work’s authorship by John Hammond, its commission by Sir Philip Sidney, its legal argument, and its textual transmission to those who orchestrated the treason trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1586. Documentary evidence from 1584 to 1585 aligns Sidney with Elizabeth I’s Scottish policy, not directly with the campaign against Mary Stuart. When Sidney commissioned Hammond’s treatise, this study argues, he aimed primarily to prepare himself for anticipated service as a foreign magistrate.
Rites of Reversion: Ceremonial Memory and Community in the Funeral Services for Philip II in the Netherlands (1598)
Authors: Thiry Steven
Published: December 2018

Philip II’s death in September 1598 coincided with the restoration of Habsburg authority in the southern Low Countries after decades of revolt. Local obsequies for the deceased ruler therefore reclaimed ecclesiastical infrastructure and revived urban cohesion. In contrast to previous funerals, the Brussels service did not significantly stage a transfer of power. Instead, by selectively drawing on traces of former ceremonies, particularly Charles V’s 1558 funeral, the ritual overcame the recent upheavals and soothed the anxieties surrounding the cession of sovereignty to the archdukes. Simultaneously, each important urban center also staged its own ceremonial, thereby stressing local privilege.
Another Approach to Consensus and Maximally Informed Opinions with Increasing Evidence
Authors: Stewart Rush T. , Nielsen Michael
Published: December 2018

Merging of opinions results underwrite Bayesian rejoinders to complaints about the subjective nature of personal probability. Such results establish that sufficiently similar priors achieve consensus in the long run when fed the same increasing stream of evidence. Here, we establish a merging result for sets of probability measures updated by Jeffrey conditioning. This generalizes a number of different merging results in the literature. We also show that such sets converge to a shared, maximally informed opinion. Finally, we demonstrate the philosophical significance of our study by detailing applications to the topics of dynamic coherence, imprecise probabilities, and opinion pooling.
Phonetic Segments and the Organization of Speech
Authors: Gasparri Luca
Published: December 2018

According to mainstream linguistic phonetics, speech can be modeled as a string of discrete sound segments or “phones” drawn from a universal phonetic inventory. Recent work has argued that a mature phonetics should refrain from theorizing about speech and speech processing using sound segments and that the phone concept should be eliminated from linguistic theory. The article lays out the tenets of the phone methodology and evaluates its prospects in light of the eliminativist arguments. I claim that the eliminativist arguments fail to show that the phone concept should be eliminated from linguistic theory.
The Representational Semantic Conception
Authors: Suárez Mauricio , Pero Francesca
Published: December 2018

This article argues for a representational semantic conception (RSC) of scientific theories, which respects the bare claim of any semantic view, namely, that theories can be characterized as sets of models. RSC must be sharply distinguished from structural versions that assume a further identity of ‘models’ and ‘structures’, which we reject. The practice turn in the recent philosophical literature suggests instead that modeling must be understood in a deflationary spirit, in terms of the diverse representational practices in the sciences. These insights are applied to some mathematical models, thus showing that the mathematical sciences are not in principle counterexamples to RSC.
6. Social and political movements
Authors: Attfield Robin
Published: December 2018

Large contributions have been made to environmental ethics by social and political movements, such as Deep Ecology, ecofeminism, Social Ecology, the Environmental Justice Movement, and Green political movements. ‘Social and political movements’ considers these in turn. Social Ecology and the Environmental Justice Movement serve as correctives to Deep Ecology in foregrounding social structures in which environmental problems are often found. But Deep Ecology and ecofeminism serve as counter-correctives to these movements, with their concern for non-human species, habitats, and ecosystems. Green movements (and Deep Ecology too) emphasize our obligations to future generations and to the non-human world. Tensions can arise between environmentalism and liberalism, but they are not always insuperable.
Passage Adaptation Correlates With the Reduced Efficacy of the Influenza Vaccine
Authors: Chen Hui , Alvarez Jacob Josiah Santiago , Ng Sock Hoon , Nielsen Rasmus , Zhai Weiwei
Published: December 2018

Background

As a dominant seasonal influenza virus, H3N2 virus rapidly evolves in humans and is a constant threat to public health. Despite sustained research efforts, the efficacy of H3N2 vaccine has decreased rapidly. Even though antigenic drift and passage adaptation (substitutions accumulated during vaccine production in embryonated eggs) have been implicated in reduced vaccine efficacy (VE), their respective contributions to the phenomenon remain controversial.

Methods

We utilized mutational mapping, a powerful probabilistic method for studying sequence evolution, to analyze patterns of substitutions in different passage conditions for an unprecedented amount of H3N2 hemagglutinin sequences (n = 32 278).

Results

We found that passage adaptation in embryonated eggs is driven by repeated convergent evolution over 12 codons. Based on substitution patterns at these sites, we developed a metric, adaptive distance (AD), to quantify the strength of passage adaptation and subsequently identified a strong negative correlation between AD and VE.

Conclusions

The high correlation between AD and VE implies that passage adaptation in embryonated eggs may be a strong contributor to the recent reduction in H3N2 VE. We developed a computational package called MADE (Measuring Adaptive Distance and vaccine Efficacy based on allelic barcodes) to measure the strength of passage adaptation and predict the efficacy of a candidate vaccine strain. Our findings shed light on strategies for reducing Darwinian evolution within the passaging medium in order to potentially restore an effective vaccine program in the future.
Utilization of Vector Autoregressive and Linear Transfer Models to Follow Up the Antibiotic Resistance Spiral in Gram-negative Bacteria From Cephalosporin Consumption to Colistin Resistance
Authors: Tóth Hajnalka , Fésűs Adina , Kungler-Gorácz Orsolya , Balázs Bence , Majoros László , Szarka Krisztina , Kardos Gábor
Published: December 2018

Background

Increasing antibiotic resistance may reciprocally affect consumption and lead to use of broader-spectrum alternatives; a vicious cycle that may gradually limit therapeutic options. Our aim in this study was to demonstrate this vicious cycle in gram-negative bacteria and show the utility of vector autoregressive (VAR) models for time-series analysis in explanatory and dependent roles simultaneously.

Methods

Monthly drug consumption data in defined daily doses per 100 bed-days and incidence densities of gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii) resistant to cephalosporins or to carbapenems were analyzed using VAR models. These were compared to linear transfer models used earlier.

Results

In case of all gram-negative bacteria, cephalosporin consumption led to increasing cephalosporin resistance, which provoked carbapenem use and consequent carbapenem resistance and finally increased colistin consumption, exemplifying the vicious cycle. Different species were involved in different ways. For example, cephalosporin-resistant Klebsiella spp. provoked carbapenem use less than E. coli, and the association between carbapenem resistance of P. aeruginosa and colistin use was weaker than that of A. baumannii. Colistin use led to decreased carbapenem use and decreased carbapenem resistance of P. aeruginosa but not of A. baumannii.

Conclusions

VAR models allow analysis of consumption and resistance series in a bidirectional manner. The reconstructed resistance spiral involved cephalosporin use augmenting cephalosporin resistance primarily in E. coli. This led to increased carbapenem use, provoking spread of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii and consequent colistin use. Emergence of panresistance is fueled by such antibiotic-resistance spirals.
Penis size and sperm quality, are all bats grey in the dark?
Authors: Fasel Nicolas Jean , Kołodziej-Sobocińska Marta , Komar Ewa , Zegarek Marcin , Ruczyński Ireneusz
Published: December 2018

Penises play a key role in sperm transport and in stimulating female genitals. This should impact post-copulatory competition, and expose penis characteristics to sexual selective pressures. Studies of male genitalia have repeatedly reported negative static allometries, which mean that, within species, large males have disproportionally small genitals when compared with smaller individuals. Males of some sperm-storing bat species may stand as an exception to such a pattern by arousing from hibernation to copulate with torpid females. The selection for large penises might take place, if a long organ provides advantages during post-copulatory competition and/or if females have evolved mechanisms allowing the choice of sire, relying on characters other than pre-copulatory traits (e.g., penis size). In this study, we measured dimensions of the erected penis in 4 sperm-storing bat species. Furthermore, we collected sperm and evaluated the link between penis dimensions and sperm velocity. Our results revealed steep allometric slopes of the erected penis length in Barbastella barbastellus and an inverse allometry of penis head width in Myotis nattereri. More detailed studies of copulatory behavior are urgently needed to explain the range of observed scaling relations. Furthermore, penis head width correlates with sperm velocity in Plecotus auritus. For this last species, we propose that penis shape might act as a marker of male fertility.
Financial Fraud Among Older Americans: Evidence and Implications
Authors: DeLiema Marguerite , Deevy Martha , Lusardi Annamaria , Mitchell Olivia S
Published: December 2018

Objectives

The consequences of poor financial capability at older ages are serious and include making mistakes with credit, spending retirement assets too quickly, and being defrauded by financial predators. Because older persons are at or past the peak of their wealth accumulation, they are often the targets of fraud.

Methods

Our project analyzes a module we developed and fielded on people aged 50 an older years in the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Using this data set, we evaluated the incidence and prospective risk factors (measured in 2010) for investment fraud and prize/lottery fraud using logistic regression (N = 1,220).

Results

Relatively few HRS respondents mentioned any single form of fraud over the prior 5 years, but 5.0% reported at least one form of investment fraud and 4.4% recounted prize/lottery fraud. Greater wealth (nonhousing) was associated with investment fraud, whereas lower housing wealth and symptoms of depression were associated with prize/lottery fraud. Hispanics were significantly less likely to report either type of fraud. Other suspected risk factors—low social integration and financial literacy—were not significant.

Discussion

Fraud is a complex phenomenon and no single factor uniquely predicts victimization across different types, even within the category of investment fraud. Prevention programs should educate consumers about various types of fraud and increase awareness among financial services professionals.
Religious Participation and Mortality Risk in Mexico
Authors: Hill Terrence D , Saenz Joseph L , Rote Sunshine M
Published: December 2018

Objectives

Although research suggests that religious involvement tends to favor longevity, most of this work has been conducted in the United States. This article explores the association between religious participation and all-cause mortality risk in Mexico.

Methods

We used data from the 2003–2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study (n = 14,743) and Cox proportional hazard regression models to assess the association between religious participation and all-cause mortality risk.

Results

Our key finding is that older Mexicans who participate once or more per week in religious activities tend to exhibit a 19% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality than those who never participate. This estimate persisted with adjustments for health selection (chronic disease burden, activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, cognitive functioning, and depressive symptoms), several potential mediators (social support, smoking, and drinking), and a range of sociodemographic characteristics. Although we observed considerable health selection due to physical health and cognitive functioning, we found no evidence of mediation.

Discussion

Our results confirm that religious participation is associated with lower all-cause mortality risk among older adults in Mexico. Our analyses contribute to previous research by replicating and extending the external validity of studies conducted in the United States, Israel, Denmark, Finland, and Taiwan.
Re-assembly, quality evaluation, and annotation of 678 microbial eukaryotic reference transcriptomes
Authors: Johnson Lisa K , Alexander Harriet , Brown C Titus
Published: December 2018

Background

De novo transcriptome assemblies are required prior to analyzing RNA sequencing data from a species without an existing reference genome or transcriptome. Despite the prevalence of transcriptomic studies, the effects of using different workflows, or “pipelines," on the resulting assemblies are poorly understood. Here, a pipeline was programmatically automated and used to assemble and annotate raw transcriptomic short-read data collected as part of the Marine Microbial Eukaryotic Transcriptome Sequencing Project. The resulting transcriptome assemblies were evaluated and compared against assemblies that were previously generated with a different pipeline developed by the National Center for Genome Research.

Results

New transcriptome assemblies contained the majority of previous contigs as well as new content. On average, 7.8% of the annotated contigs in the new assemblies were novel gene names not found in the previous assemblies. Taxonomic trends were observed in the assembly metrics. Assemblies from the Dinoflagellata showed a higher number of contigs and unique k-mers than transcriptomes from other phyla, while assemblies from Ciliophora had a lower percentage of open reading frames compared to other phyla.

Conclusions

Given current bioinformatics approaches, there is no single “best” reference transcriptome for a particular set of raw data. As the optimum transcriptome is a moving target, improving (or not) with new tools and approaches, automated and programmable pipelines are invaluable for managing the computationally intensive tasks required for re-processing large sets of samples with revised pipelines and ensuring a common evaluation workflow is applied to all samples. Thus, re-assembling existing data with new tools using automated and programmable pipelines may yield more accurate identification of taxon-specific trends across samples in addition to novel and useful products for the community.
Neutrophil-mediated antifungal activity against highly virulent Cryptococcus gattii strain R265
Authors: Ueno Keigo , Yanagihara Nao , Otani Yoshiko , Shimizu Kiminori , Kinjo Yuki , Miyazaki Yoshitsugu
Published: December 2018

Vaccine-induced immune responses, including neutrophil, macrophage, and T-cell responses, ameliorate cryptococcosis caused by Cryptococcus gattii. However, whether neutrophils can exert fungicidal activity against C. gattii remains to be elucidated. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the neutrophil-mediated fungicidal effect against C. gattii R265 in vitro and compared it to the related fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans standard strain H99. We found that neutrophils recognized, phagocytosed, and killed C. gattii R265 in the presence of fresh mouse serum. This antifungal effect required phagocytosis and serine protease activity but not nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase activity. We also demonstrated that C. gattii R265 was more resistant to oxidative and nitrosative stress than C. neoformans H99. Together, these findings indicate that neutrophils can exert fungicidal activity against highly virulent C. gattii, at least under in vitro conditions.