bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Emotional politics on Facebook. An exploratory study of Podemos’ discourse during the European election campaign 2014
Authors: Sampietro Agnese , Valera Ordaz Lidia
Published: October 2016

The results of the European elections 2014 in Spain were characterized by the outstanding rise of a new party, Podemos, which obtained five seats in the European Parliament, despite being founded few months before the elections. The present study analyzes both the content and the presence of emotions in Podemos’ discourse on Facebook during the European electoral campaign. In particular, the affective content of both the party’s discourse and the comments of its followers will be analyzed through a pragmatic linguistic approach applied to a corpus of 163 posts and 215 followers’ comments. Results show an insistence on positive emotions in the party’s discourse and a prevalence of negative emotions in the comments of the citizens.Los resultados en España de las elecciones al Parlamento Europeo de 2014 se caracterizaron por el surgimiento de un nuevo partido, Podemos, que, a pesar de haber sido fundado pocos meses antes de las elecciones, obtuvo cinco escaños en el Parlamento Europeo. En este trabajo analizamos el contenido y la presencia de emociones en el discurso de Podemos en Facebook durante la campaña electoral europea. Concretamente, se analiza el contenido afectivo del discurso del partido y de los comentarios de sus seguidores mediante una aproximación lingüística pragmática aplicada a 163 posts y 215 comentarios. Los resultados muestran una insistencia en emociones positivas por parte del partido y una prevalencia de emociones negativas en los comentarios de los internautas.
Basin-scale hydrogeological, geophysical, geochemical and isotopic characterization: an essential tool for building a Decision Support System for the sustainable management of alluvial aquifer systems within the provinces of Milan and Monza-Brianza
Authors: Gorla Maurizio , Simonetti Roberto , Righetti Chiara
Published: October 2016

CAP Group is a public company, supplying the municipalities within the provinces of Milan and Monza/Brianza (Northern Italy) with the integrated water service: 197 municipalities and more than 2 million users served, 887 wells, 154 wall-mounted tanks and hubs, a water supply network of over 7500 km, from which approximately 250 million cubic metres of water per year are withdrawn. The drinking water supply comes exclusively from groundwater resources, circulating in several overlapping aquifer systems. Basin-scale water resource management, as required by the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), is an extremely complex task. In view of this backdrop, CAP is currently developing a project called Infrastructural Aqueduct Plan that relies on a Decision Support System approach. The paper describes the preliminary steps concerning the design of a prototype Decision Support System aiming at the management of groundwater resources on a basin scale (Ticino and Adda rivers area). CAP Group Decision Support System is intended to be a package allowing for water resource assessment, identification of boundary conditions, climatic driving forces and demographic pressures, simulation and investigation of future forecasts and comparison of alternative policy measures. The project has been designed in steps including Geodatabase building, geographic information system (GIS) analysis (including multilayer analysis) and numerical modelling. The data collected in the geodatabase were analyzed to design GIS quantitative and qualitative thematic maps in order to perform the multilayer analysis of current and future state and impacts, for providing the decision maker with a comprehensive picture of the water system. The multilayer analysis relies on specific indicators based on some quantitative and qualitative data: hydrogeological, chemical, isotopic, soil use and hazards, climatic and demographic. Each parameter belonging to these macro areas were classified by 7-criticality classes scale and weights were assigned to each of them. For each macro area a synthetic index was calculated by multiplying class values with weights. These synthetic indexes were managed with a multilayer approach and compared with other models and tools (e.g. geological model, numerical groundwater model, distribution network model) in order to obtain criticality indexes. The assessment of these criticality indexes allow to evaluate alternative and strategic solutions to achieve a more efficient and sustainable water system management using a best choice approach. Currently the project team is working on multilayer analysis. The next task will be the implementation of groundwater numerical model.
A proposal of conceptual model for Pertuso Spring discharge evaluation in the Upper Valley of Aniene River
Authors: Sappa Giuseppe , Ferranti Flavia , De Filippi Francesco Maria
Published: October 2016

The Upper Aniene River basin is part of a large karst aquifer, which interacts with the river, and represents the most important water resource in the southeast part of Latium Region, Central Italy, used for drinking, agriculture and hydroelectric supplies. This work provides hydrogeochemical data and their interpretations for 1 spring and 2 cross section of Aniene River, monitored from July 2014 to December 2015, in the Upper Valley of Aniene River, to identify flow paths and hydrogeochemical processes governing groundwater-surface water interactions in this region. These activities deal with the Environmental Monitoring Plan made for the catchment work project of the Pertuso Spring, in the Upper Valley of Aniene River, which is going to be exploited to supply an important drinking water network in the South part of Rome district. Discharge measurements and hydrogeochemical data were analyzed to develop a conceptual model of aquifer-river interaction, with the aim of achieving proper management and protection of this important hydrogeological system. All groundwater samples are characterized as Ca-HCO3 type. Geochemical modeling and saturation index computation of the water samples show that groundwater and surface water chemistry in the study area was evolved through the interaction with carbonate minerals. All groundwater samples were undersaturated with respect to calcite and dolomite, however some of the Aniene River samples were saturated with respect to dolomite. The analysis of Mg2+/Ca2+ ratios indicates that the dissolution of carbonate minerals is important for groundwater and surface water chemistry, depending on the hydrological processes, which control the groundwater residence time and chemical equilibria in the aquifer.
Dying clothes with black. The springs of Vitriola
Authors: Luzzini Francesco
Published: October 2016

Not available.
Transcriptome analysis reveals candidate genes involved in luciferin metabolism inLuciola aquatilis(Coleoptera: Lampyridae)
Authors: Vongsangnak Wanwipa , Chumnanpuen Pramote , Sriboonlert Ajaraporn
Published: October 2016

Bioluminescence, which living organisms such as fireflies emit light, has been studied extensively for over half a century. This intriguing reaction, having its origins in nature where glowing insects can signal things such as attraction or defense, is now widely used in biotechnology with applications of bioluminescence and chemiluminescence. Luciferase, a key enzyme in this reaction, has been well characterized; however, the enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of its substrate, luciferin, remains unsolved at present. To elucidate the luciferin metabolism, we performed ade novotranscriptome analysis using larvae of the firefly species,Luciola aquatilis. Here, a comparative analysis is performed with the model coleopteran insectTribolium casteneumto elucidate the metabolic pathways inL. aquatilis. Based on a template luciferin biosynthetic pathway, combined with a range of protein and pathway databases, and various prediction tools for functional annotation, the candidate genes, enzymes, and biochemical reactions involved in luciferin metabolism are proposed forL. aquatilis. The candidate gene expression is validated in the adultL. aquatilisusing reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). This study provides useful information on the bio-production of luciferin in the firefly and will benefit to future applications of the valuable firefly bioluminescence system.
A serum metabolomics‐driven approach predicts orange juice consumption and its impact on oxidative stress and inflammation in subjects from the BIONAOS study
Authors: Rangel‐Huerta Oscar D. , Aguilera Concepcion M. , Perez‐de‐la‐Cruz Antonio , Vallejo Fernando , Tomas‐Barberan Francisco , Gil Angel , Mesa Maria D.
Published: October 2016

Scope

To identify biomarkers of orange juice (OJ) consumption containing different doses of polyphenols and to determine its impact on oxidative stress and inflammation using an untargeted metabolomics analysis.

Methods and results

Thirty subjects aged 22–63 years from the BIONAOS study consumed a normal‐polyphenol OJ (NPJ) or a high‐polyphenol OJ (HPJ) (299 or 745 mg/L, respectively) for 12 weeks in a randomized, parallel, double‐blind study. UHPLC‐MS, univariate and multivariate statistical analysis and ROC curves were used to design biomarkers of consumption in serum. We propose betonicine, stachydrine, methyl glucopyranoside (alpha+beta), dihydroferulic acid and galactonate as a new metabolic signature to distinguish the intake of OJ with a different polyphenol content. Changes in metabolites related to OJ, oxidative stress and inflammation were observed. After HPJ consumption, the serum levels of hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (9‐HODE+13‐HODE) and dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid (12,13‐DiHOME and 9,10‐DiHOME) decreased, whereas levels of 12‐hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12‐HETE) increased. 5‐HETE increased after the NPJ intervention exclusively.

Conclusion

We designed a new panel of biomarkers to differentiate the intake of OJs containing different doses of polyphenols. On the other hand, the consumption of an OJ with a high content of flavanones improved oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers.
The Preparation and Plasticizing Characteristics of the N,N‐bis(2‐Alkoxyethyl) Amides of Long Chain Fatty Acids
Authors: Mod R. R. , Magne F. C. , Skau E. L.
Published: October 2016

A number of N‐acyl derivatives of bis(2‐alkoxyethyl) amines have been prepared, characterized and screened as plasticizers for poly (vinyl chloride‐vinyl acetate) copolymer. Included were the N,N‐bis (2‐alkoxyethyl) amides of saturated (normal and branched), unsaturated, epoxy, dimer, terpenic and naphthenic acids as well as mixed acids from animal fats, rapeseed, Limnanthes douglasii seed, parsley seed and selectively hydrogenated cottonseed oils. With the exception of the linoleic acid derivative, all these amides, including the stearamide derivative, were compatible. Some exhibited low‐temp properties comparable to the adipate plasticizers without the adverse volatility characteristics of the adipates. With the exception of the epoxystearamide derivative the N,N‐bis(2‐alkoxyethyl)amides were inferior to dioctyl phthalate in thermal stability. The N,N‐bis(2‐ethoxyethyl)stearamide is of special significance in that it seems to be the only carboxylic derivative of stearic acid known to be effective as a primary plasticizer.
Synthesis and Evaluation of Bis‐quaternary‐Based Surfactants as Additives for Water‐Based Mud
Authors: Ahmed Sahar M. , Dardir Mona M. , Mohamed Dalia E. , Awad Ashgan I.
Published: October 2016

Two series of cationic gemini surfactants, alkanediyl‐α,ω‐bis[N,N‐dimethyl alkyl (octyl or dodecyl)ammonium] dibromide (R‐s‐R; s = 6, 10, 12 and R = 8 and 12) were prepared and evaluated as additives for water‐based mud. The chemical structures of the prepared surfactants were confirmed using FTIR and mass spectroscopy. Surface activity of these compounds has been studied and their surface properties including surface tension, emulsification power, critical micelle concentration, effectiveness, maximum surface excess and minimum surface area were determined. The results showed that the prepared compounds have significant surface activity, especially those of longer hydrophobic chain length. The prepared cationic gemini surfactants were evaluated as viscosifiers and filter loss additives for water‐based mud formulated from local Na‐montmorillonite clay. XRD analysis was carried out to the Na‐montmorillonite clay to determine the interaction of the surfactants with inter layers of the clay structure. Rheological properties, gel strength, thixotropy, filtration properties and the effect of temperature on rheological properties of the water‐based mud were studied. The results indicated that the gemini surfactants have a positive effect on the rheological and filtration properties of the Na‐montmorillonite clay according to American Petroleum Institute specifications.
Characterization of Aroma‐Active Compounds in Iranian cv. Mari Olive Oil by Aroma Extract Dilution Analysis and GC–MS‐Olfactometry
Authors: Amanpour Asghar , Kelebek Hasim , Kesen Songul , Selli Serkan
Published: October 2016

Aroma, aroma‐active compounds and fatty acid profiles of Iranian olive oil obtained from the cv. Mari were investigated for the first time in the current study. Aroma extracts were isolated from the oil by using a purge and trap extraction system and their compositions were analyzed by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry‐olfactometry (GC–MS‐O). A total of 35 aroma compounds comprising alcohols, aldehydes, acids, esters, ketones, terpenes and volatile phenols were identified and quantified in the assayed samples. Aldehydes were present at the highest levels, followed by ketones and alcohols. (E)‐2‐Hexenal was quantitatively (1589 µg kg−1) the main aroma compound in the analyzed oils, followed by hexanal and (E)‐2‐heptenal. The aroma‐active volatiles were elucidated in the aromatic extract by applying aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). The results of AEDA revealed 17 aroma‐active compounds. Under these condition it was possible to completely identify 16 of these compounds. Regarding to the flavor dilution (FD) factor, the most potent odorants with the highest FD factor were (E)‐2‐hexenal (512), followed by hexanal, 6‐methyl‐5‐hepten‐2‐one, (E)‐2‐decenal and one unknown compound (LRI = 1871). The fatty acid profile of the tested oils was composed of thirteen compounds. Oleic acid was the main fatty acid (76.01 %) followed by palmitic acid.
Dietary options to reduce the environmental impact of milk production
Authors: WILKINSON J. M. , GARNSWORTHY P. C.
Published: October 2016

A range of options was explored to test the hypothesis that diets for dairy cows could be formulated to reduce the carbon footprint (CFP) of feed, increase efficiency of conversion of potentially human-edible feed into milk, increase nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and reduce methane (CH4) emissions per kg milk. Diets based on grazed grass, grass silage, maize silage or straw, supplemented with raw material feeds, were formulated to meet requirements for metabolizable energy and metabolizable protein for a range of daily milk yields. At similar levels of milk yield, NUE, predicted CH4emissions and diet CFP were generally higher for diets based on maize silage than for those based on grazed grass, grass silage or straw. Predicted CH4emissions and human-edible proportion decreased, while NUE increased with the increasing level of milk yield. It is concluded that there is potential to reduce the environmental impact of milk production by altering diet formulation, but the extent to which this might occur is likely to depend on availability of raw material feeds with low CFPs.
Longitudinal alterations in motivational salience processing in ultra-high-risk subjects for psychosis
Authors: Schmidt A. , Antoniades M. , Allen P. , Egerton A. , Chaddock C. A. , Borgwardt S. , Fusar-Poli P. , Roiser J. P. , Howes O. , McGuire P.
Published: October 2016

Background

Impairments in the attribution of salience are thought to be fundamental to the development of psychotic symptoms and the onset of psychotic disorders. The aim of the present study was to explore longitudinal alterations in salience processing in ultra-high-risk subjects for psychosis.

Method

A total of 23 ultra-high-risk subjects and 13 healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging at two time points (mean interval of 17 months) while performing the Salience Attribution Test to assess neural responses to task-relevant (adaptive salience) and task-irrelevant (aberrant salience) stimulus features.

Results

At presentation, high-risk subjects were less likely than controls to attribute salience to relevant features, and more likely to attribute salience to irrelevant stimulus features. These behavioural differences were no longer evident at follow-up. When attributing salience to relevant cue features, ultra-high-risk subjects showed less activation than controls in the ventral striatum at both baseline and follow-up. Within the high-risk sample, amelioration of abnormal beliefs over the follow-up period was correlated with an increase in right ventral striatum activation during the attribution of salience to relevant cue features.

Conclusions

These findings confirm that salience processing is perturbed in ultra-high-risk subjects for psychosis, that this is linked to alterations in ventral striatum function, and that clinical outcomes are related to longitudinal changes in ventral striatum function during salience processing.
Resting-state brain alteration after a single dose of SSRI administration predicts 8-week remission of patients with major depressive disorder
Authors: Cheng Y. , Xu J. , Arnone D. , Nie B. , Yu H. , Jiang H. , Bai Y. , Luo C. , Campbell R. A. A. , Shan B. , Xu L. , Xu X.
Published: October 2016

Background

The present study investigated alteration of brain resting-state activity induced by antidepressant treatment and attempted to investigate whether treatment efficacy can be predicted at an early stage of pharmacological treatment.

Method

Forty-eight first-episode medication-free patients diagnosed with major depression received treatment with escitalopram. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was administered prior to treatment, 5 h after the first dose, during the course of pharmacological treatment (week 4) and at endpoint (week 8). Resting-state activity was evaluated in the course of the 8-week treatment and in relation to clinical improvement.

Results

Escitalopram dynamically modified resting-state activity in depression during the treatment. After 5 h the antidepressant induced a significant decrease in the signal in the occipital cortex and an increase in the dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortices and middle cingulate cortex. Furthermore, while remitters demonstrated more obvious changes following treatment, these were more modest in non-responders suggesting possible tonic and dynamic differences in the serotonergic system. Changes after 5 h in the caudate, occipital and temporal cortices were the best predictor of clinical remission at endpoint.

Conclusions

This study revealed the possibility of using the measurement of resting-state neural changes a few hours after acute administration of antidepressant to identify individuals likely to remit after a few weeks of treatment.
A comprehensive model of phonological variation: grammatical and non-grammatical factors in variable nasal place assimilation
Authors: Coetzee Andries W.
Published: October 2016

The past two decades have seen the development of several constraint-based models of phonological grammar that can handle variable phenomena. Most of these models, however, are purely grammatical, and do not allow for the contribution of non-grammatical factors towards determining the frequency structure of variation. This paper reviews different approaches to phonological variation, focusing on how grammatical and non-grammatical factors co-determine patterns of variation. Based on this review, a model is developed that incorporates influences from both grammatical and non-grammatical factors. The proposed model is grammar-dominant, in the sense that grammar defines the space of possible variation while non-grammatical factors only contribute towards the frequency with which the grammar determined forms are observed. Following Coetzee & Kawahara (2013), the model is developed in a version of noisy Harmonic Grammar that allows non-grammatical factors to scale the weights of faithfulness constraints up or down.
Comparative and parallel genome-wide association studies for metabolic and agronomic traits in cereals
Authors: Chen Wei , Wang Wensheng , Peng Meng , Gong Liang , Gao Yanqiang , Wan Jian , Wang Shouchuang , Shi Lei , Zhou Bin , Li Zongmei , Peng Xiaoxi , Yang Chenkun , Qu Lianghuan , Liu Xianqing , Luo Jie
Published: October 2016

The plant metabolome is characterized by extensive diversity and is often regarded as a bridge between genome and phenome. Here we report metabolic and phenotypic genome-wide studies (mGWAS and pGWAS) in rice grain that, in addition to previous metabolic GWAS in rice leaf and maize kernel, show both distinct and overlapping aspects of genetic control of metabolism within and between species. We identify new candidate genes potentially influencing important metabolic and/or morphological traits. We show that the differential genetic architecture of rice metabolism between different tissues is in part determined by tissue specific expression. Using parallel mGWAS and pGWAS we identify new candidate genes potentially responsible for variation in traits such as grain colour and size, and provide evidence of metabotype-phenotype linkage. Our study demonstrates a powerful strategy for interactive functional genomics and metabolomics in plants, especially the cloning of minor QTLs for complex phenotypic traits.
Comparative survey of the relative impact of mRNA features on local ribosome profiling read density
Authors: O’Connor Patrick B. F. , Andreev Dmitry E. , Baranov Pavel V.
Published: October 2016

Ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq), a promising technology for exploring ribosome decoding rates, is characterized by the presence of infrequent high peaks in ribosome footprint density and by long alignment gaps. Here, to reduce the impact of data heterogeneity we introduce a simple normalization method, Ribo-seq Unit Step Transformation (RUST). RUST is robust and outperforms other normalization techniques in the presence of heterogeneous noise. We illustrate how RUST can be used for identifying mRNA sequence features that affect ribosome footprint densities globally. We show that a few parameters extracted with RUST are sufficient for predicting experimental densities with high accuracy. Importantly the application of RUST to 30 publicly available Ribo-seq data sets revealed a substantial variation in sequence determinants of ribosome footprint frequencies, questioning the reliability of Ribo-seq as an accurate representation of local ribosome densities without prior quality control. This emphasizes our incomplete understanding of how protocol parameters affect ribosome footprint densities.
Microfluidic cantilever detects bacteria and measures their susceptibility to antibiotics in small confined volumes
Authors: Etayash Hashem , Khan M. F. , Kaur Kamaljit , Thundat Thomas
Published: October 2016

In the fight against drug-resistant bacteria, accurate and high-throughput detection is essential. Here, a bimaterial microcantilever with an embedded microfluidic channel with internal surfaces chemically or physically functionalized with receptors selectively captures the bacteria passing through the channel. Bacterial adsorption inside the cantilever results in changes in the resonance frequency (mass) and cantilever deflection (adsorption stress). The excitation of trapped bacteria using infrared radiation (IR) causes the cantilever to deflect in proportion to the infrared absorption of the bacteria, providing a nanomechanical infrared spectrum for selective identification. We demonstrate the in situ detection and discrimination of Listeria monocytogenes at a concentration of single cell per μl. Trapped Escherichia coli in the microchannel shows a distinct nanomechanical response when exposed to antibiotics. This approach, which combines enrichment with three different modes of detection, can serve as a platform for the development of a portable, high-throughput device for use in the real-time detection of bacteria and their response to antibiotics.
Neofunctionalization of zona pellucida proteins enhances freeze-prevention in the eggs of Antarctic notothenioids
Authors: Cao Lixue , Huang Qiao , Wu Zhichao , Cao Dong-dong , Ma Zhanling , Xu Qianghua , Hu Peng , Fu Yanxia , Shen Yu , Chan Jiulin , Zhou Cong-zhao , Zhai Wanying , Chen Liangbiao
Published: October 2016

The mechanisms by which the eggs of the Antarctic notothenioid fishes avoid freezing are not fully understood. Zona pellucida proteins (ZPs) are constituents of the chorion which forms a protective matrix surrounding the egg. Here we report occurrence of freezing temperature-related gene expansion and acquisition of unusual ice melting-promoting (IMP) activity in a family of Antarctic notothenioid ZPs (AnnotoZPs). Members of AnnotoZPs are shown to bind with ice and non-colligatively depress the melting point of a solution in a range of 0.26 to 0.65 °C at a moderate concentration. Eggs of zebrafishes expressing an AnnotoZP transgene show improved melting point depression and enhanced survival in freezing conditions. Mutational analyses in a representative AnnotoZP indicate the ZP domain and patches of acidic residues are essential structures for the IMP activity. AnnotoZPs, therefore, represent a group of macromolecules that prevent freezing by a unique ZP–ice interaction mechanism distinct from the known antifreeze proteins.
Retinal transplantation of photoreceptors results in donor–host cytoplasmic exchange
Authors: Santos-Ferreira Tiago , Llonch Sílvia , Borsch Oliver , Postel Kai , Haas Jochen , Ader Marius
Published: October 2016

Pre-clinical studies provided evidence for successful photoreceptor cell replacement therapy. Migration and integration of donor photoreceptors into the retina has been proposed as the underlying mechanism for restored visual function. Here we reveal that donor photoreceptors do not structurally integrate into the retinal tissue but instead reside between the photoreceptor layer and the retinal pigment epithelium, the so-called sub-retinal space, and exchange intracellular material with host photoreceptors. By combining single-cell analysis, Cre/lox technology and independent labelling of the cytoplasm and nucleus, we reliably track allogeneic transplants demonstrating cellular content transfer between graft and host photoreceptors without nuclear translocation. Our results contradict the common view that transplanted photoreceptors migrate and integrate into the photoreceptor layer of recipients and therefore imply a re-interpretation of previous photoreceptor transplantation studies. Furthermore, the observed interaction of donor with host photoreceptors may represent an unexpected mechanism for the treatment of blinding diseases in future cell therapy approaches.
Magnetodielectric detection of magnetic quadrupole order in Ba(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4 with Cu4O12 square cupolas
Authors: Kimura K. , Babkevich P. , Sera M. , Toyoda M. , Yamauchi K. , Tucker G. S. , Martius J. , Fennell T. , Manuel P. , Khalyavin D. D. , Johnson R. D. , Nakano T. , Nozue Y. , Rønnow H. M. , Kimura T.
Published: October 2016

In vortex-like spin arrangements, multiple spins can combine into emergent multipole moments. Such multipole moments have broken space-inversion and time-reversal symmetries, and can therefore exhibit linear magnetoelectric (ME) activity. Three types of such multipole moments are known: toroidal; monopole; and quadrupole moments. So far, however, the ME activity of these multipole moments has only been established experimentally for the toroidal moment. Here we propose a magnetic square cupola cluster, in which four corner-sharing square-coordinated metal-ligand fragments form a noncoplanar buckled structure, as a promising structural unit that carries an ME-active multipole moment. We substantiate this idea by observing clear magnetodielectric signals associated with an antiferroic ME-active magnetic quadrupole order in the real material Ba(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4. The present result serves as a useful guide for exploring and designing new ME-active materials based on vortex-like spin arrangements.
Non-Hermitian engineering of single mode two dimensional laser arrays
Authors: Teimourpour Mohammad H. , Ge Li , Christodoulides Demetrios N. , El-Ganainy Ramy
Published: October 2016

A new scheme for building two dimensional laser arrays that operate in the single supermode regime is proposed. This is done by introducing an optical coupling between the laser array and lossy pseudo-isospectral chains of photonic resonators. The spectrum of this discrete reservoir is tailored to suppress all the supermodes of the main array except the fundamental one. This spectral engineering is facilitated by employing the Householder transformation in conjunction with discrete supersymmetry. The proposed scheme is general and can in principle be used in different platforms such as VCSEL arrays and photonic crystal laser arrays.
ProQ3: Improved model quality assessments using Rosetta energy terms
Authors: Uziela Karolis , Shu Nanjiang , Wallner Björn , Elofsson Arne
Published: October 2016

Quality assessment of protein models using no other information than the structure of the model itself has been shown to be useful for structure prediction. Here, we introduce two novel methods, ProQRosFA and ProQRosCen, inspired by the state-of-art method ProQ2, but using a completely different description of a protein model. ProQ2 uses contacts and other features calculated from a model, while the new predictors are based on Rosetta energies: ProQRosFA uses the full-atom energy function that takes into account all atoms, while ProQRosCen uses the coarse-grained centroid energy function. The two new predictors also include residue conservation and terms corresponding to the agreement of a model with predicted secondary structure and surface area, as in ProQ2. We show that the performance of these predictors is on par with ProQ2 and significantly better than all other model quality assessment programs. Furthermore, we show that combining the input features from all three predictors, the resulting predictor ProQ3 performs better than any of the individual methods. ProQ3, ProQRosFA and ProQRosCen are freely available both as a webserver and stand-alone programs at http://proq3.bioinfo.se/.
Short-term Effects of Risperidone Monotherapy on Spontaneous Brain Activity in First-episode Treatment-naïve Schizophrenia Patients: A Longitudinal fMRI Study
Authors: Hu Mao-Lin , Zong Xiao-Fen , Zheng Jun-Jie , Pantazatos Spiro P. , Miller Jeffrey M. , Li Zong-Chang , Liao Yan-Hui , He Ying , Zhou Jun , Sang De-En , Zhao Hong-Zeng , Lv Lu-Xian , Tang Jin-Song , Mann J. John , Chen Xiao-Gang
Published: October 2016

It is unclear whether abnormal spontaneous neural activation patterns found in chronic schizophrenia patients (CSP) are part of the pathogenesis of disease, consequences of chronic illness, or effects of antipsychotic treatment. We performed a longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in 42 treatment-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients (FESP) at baseline and then after 8-weeks of risperidone monotherapy and compared the findings to 38 healthy volunteers. Spontaneous brain activity was quantified using the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) and compared between patients and controls. Pretreatment, patients exhibited higher fALFF in left caudate compared with controls. After treatment, patients had elevated fALFF in bilateral putamen and right caudate and increased ReHo in right caudate and left putamen. Greater increase of fALFF in the left putamen correlated with less improvement in positive symptoms. Thus, abnormalities of spontaneous neural activity in chronic schizophrenia is at least partly due to a medication effect. The observed post-treatment increase in striatal intrinsic activity may reflect counter-therapeutic functional adaptation to dopamine D2 receptor occupancy required for medication effects on psychosis.
A novel injectable BRET-based in vivo imaging probe for detecting the activity of hypoxia-inducible factor regulated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system
Authors: Kuchimaru Takahiro , Suka Tomoya , Hirota Keisuke , Kadonosono Tetsuya , Kizaka-Kondoh Shinae
Published: October 2016

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is a selective protein degradation system that plays a critical role in many essential biological processes by regulating the existence of various cellular proteins. The target proteins of UPS are recognized and tagged with polyubiquitin chains by E3 ubiquitin ligases, which have high substrate-specific activities. Here we present a novel injectable imaging probe POL-N that can detect the UPS-regulated hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) activity in vivo. Because the luciferase is fused to the E3 ligase-recognition domain of the HIF-1α, POL-N is intact only in the HIFα-overexpressing cells, that is, HIF-active cells, generating signals via an intramolecular bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) between luciferase and a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye at the C-terminal end of the probe. Off-target signals of the NIR-BRET were so low that we could achieve highly sensitive and fast detection of intratumoral HIF-activity. Notably, we successfully detected hypoxic liver metastasis, which is extremely difficult to detect by injectable imaging probes due to strong off-target signals, as early as 1 h after systemic injection of POL-N. Our probe design can be widely adapted to UPS-target proteins and may contribute to the exploration of their roles in animal disease models.
Efficiency Enhancement of Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells with MEH-PPV Hole-Transporting Layers
Authors: Chen Hsin-Wei , Huang Tzu-Yen , Chang Ting-Hsiang , Sanehira Yoshitaka , Kung Chung-Wei , Chu Chih-Wei , Ikegami Masashi , Miyasaka Tsutomu , Ho Kuo-Chuan
Published: October 2016

In this study, hybrid perovskite solar cells are fabricated using poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) and poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) as dopant-free hole-transporting materials (HTMs) and two solution processes (one- and two-step methods, respectively) for preparing methylammonium lead iodide perovskite. By optimizing the concentrations and solvents of MEH-PPV solutions, a power conversion efficiency of 9.65% with hysteresis-less performance is achieved, while the device with 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) doped with lithium salts and tert-butylpyridine (TBP) exhibits an efficiency of 13.38%. This result shows that non-doped MEH-PPV is a suitable, low-cost HTM for efficient polymer-based perovskite solar cells. The effect of different morphologies of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite on conversion efficiency is also investigated by incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
Relationship between neuroticism, childhood trauma and cognitive-affective responses to auditory verbal hallucinations
Authors: So Suzanne Ho-wai , Begemann Marieke J. H. , Gong Xianmin , Sommer Iris E.
Published: October 2016

Neuroticism has been shown to adversely influence the development and outcome of psychosis. However, how this personality trait associates with the individual’s responses to psychotic symptoms is less well known. Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) have been reported by patients with psychosis and non-clinical individuals. There is evidence that voice-hearers who are more distressed by and resistant against the voices, as well as those who appraise the voices as malevolent and powerful, have poorer outcome. This study aimed to examine the mechanistic association of neuroticism with the cognitive-affective reactions to AVH. We assessed 40 psychotic patients experiencing frequent AVHs, 135 non-clinical participants experiencing frequent AVHs and 126 healthy individuals. In both clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers alike, a higher level of neuroticism was associated with more distress and behavioral resistance in response to AVHs, as well as a stronger tendency to perceive voices as malevolent and powerful. Neuroticism fully mediated the found associations between childhood trauma and the individuals’ cognitive-affective reactions to voices. Our results supported the role of neurotic personality in shaping maladaptive reactions to voices. Neuroticism may also serve as a putative mechanism linking childhood trauma and psychological reactions to voices. Implications for psychological models of hallucinations are discussed.
Bimodal Control of Heat Transport at Graphene–Metal Interfaces Using Disorder in Graphene
Authors: Kim Jaehyeon , Khan Muhammad Ejaz , Ko Jae-Hyeon , Kim Jong Hun , Lee Eui-Sup , Suh Joonki , Wu Junqiao , Kim Yong-Hyun , Park Jeong Young , Lyeo Ho-Ki
Published: October 2016

Thermal energy transport across the interfaces of physically and chemically modified graphene with two metals, Al and Cu, was investigated by measuring thermal conductance using the time-domain thermoreflectance method. Graphene was processed using a He2+ ion-beam with a Gaussian distribution or by exposure to ultraviolet/O3, which generates structural or chemical disorder, respectively. Hereby, we could monitor changes in the thermal conductance in response to varying degrees of disorder. We find that the measured conductance increases as the density of the physical disorder increases, but undergoes an abrupt modulation with increasing degrees of chemical modification, which decreases at first and then increases considerably. Moreover, we find that the conductance varies inverse proportionally to the average distance between the structural defects in the graphene, implying a strong in-plane influence of phonon kinetics on interfacial heat flow. We attribute the bimodal results to an interplay between the distinct effects on graphene’s vibrational modes exerted by graphene modification and by the scattering of modes.
Multiphoton imaging reveals that nanosecond pulsed electric fields collapse tumor and normal vascular perfusion in human glioblastoma xenografts
Authors: Bardet Sylvia M. , Carr Lynn , Soueid Malak , Arnaud-Cormos Delia , Leveque Philippe , O’Connor Rodney P.
Published: October 2016

Despite the biomedical advances of the last century, many cancers including glioblastoma are still resistant to existing therapies leaving patients with poor prognoses. Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) are a promising technology for the treatment of cancer that have thus far been evaluated in vitro and in superficial malignancies. In this paper, we develop a tumor organoid model of glioblastoma and apply intravital multiphoton microscopy to assess their response to nsPEFs. We demonstrate for the first time that a single 10 ns, high voltage electric pulse (35–45 kV/cm), collapses the perfusion of neovasculature and also alters the diameter of capillaries and larger vessels in normal tissue. These results contribute to the fundamental understanding of nsPEF effects in complex tissue environments and confirm the potential of nsPEFs to disrupt the microenvironment of solid tumors such as glioblastoma.
Non-invasive modulation of somatosensory evoked potentials by the application of static magnetic fields over the primary and supplementary motor cortices
Authors: Kirimoto Hikari , Asao Akihiko , Tamaki Hiroyuki , Onishi Hideaki
Published: October 2016

This study was performed to investigate the possibility of non-invasive modulation of SEPs by the application of transcranial static magnetic field stimulation (tSMS) over the primary motor cortex (M1) and supplementary motor cortex (SMA) and to measure the strength of the NdFeB magnetic field by using a gaussmeter. An NdFeB magnet or a non-magnetic stainless steel cylinder (for sham stimulation) was settled on the scalp over M1 and SMA of 14 subjects for periods of 15 min. SEPs following right median nerve stimulation were recorded before and immediately after, 5 min after and 10 min after tSMS from sites C3′ and F3. Amplitudes of the N33 component of SEPs at C3′ significantly decreased immediately after tSMS over M1 by up to 20%. However, tSMS over the SMA did not affect the amplitude of any of the SEP components. At a distance of 2–3 cm (rough depth of the cortex), magnetic field strength was in the range of 110–190 mT. Our results that tSMS over M1 can reduce the amplitude of SEPs are consistent with those of low-frequency repeated TMS and cathodal tDCS studies. Therefore, tSMS could be a useful tool for modulating cortical somatosensory processing.
“RaMassays”: Synergistic Enhancement of Plasmon-Free Raman Scattering and Mass Spectrometry for Multimodal Analysis of Small Molecules
Authors: Alessandri Ivano , Vassalini Irene , Bertuzzi Michela , Bontempi Nicolò , Memo Maurizio , Gianoncelli Alessandra
Published: October 2016

SiO2/TiO2core/shell (T-rex) beads were exploited as “all-in-one” building-block materials to create analytical assays that combine plasmon-free surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface assisted laser desorption/ionization (SALDI) mass spectrometry (RaMassays). Such a multi-modal approach relies on the unique optical properties of T-rex beads, which are able to harvest and manage light in both UV and Vis range, making ionization and Raman scattering more efficient. RaMassays were successfully applied to the detection of small (molecular weight, M.W. <400 Da) molecules with a key relevance in biochemistry and pharmaceutical analysis. Caffeine and cocaine were utilized as molecular probes to test the combined SERS/SALDI response of RaMassays, showing excellent sensitivity and reproducibility. The differentiation between amphetamine/ephedrine and theophylline/theobromine couples demonstrated the synergistic reciprocal reinforcement of SERS and SALDI. Finally, the conversion of L-tyrosine in L-DOPA was utilized to probe RaMassays as analytical tools for characterizing reaction intermediates without introducing any spurious effects. RaMassays exhibit important advantages over plasmonic nanoparticles in terms of reproducibility, absence of interference and potential integration in multiplexed devices.
Attenuation of Na/K-ATPase Mediated Oxidant Amplification with pNaKtide Ameliorates Experimental Uremic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Liu Jiang , Tian Jiang , Chaudhry Muhammad , Maxwell Kyle , Yan Yanling , Wang Xiaoliang , Shah Preeya T. , Khawaja Asad A. , Martin Rebecca , Robinette Tylor J. , El-Hamdani Adee , Dodrill Michael W. , Sodhi Komal , Drummond Christopher A. , Haller Steven T. , Kennedy David J. , Abraham Nader G. , Xie Zijian , Shapiro Joseph I.
Published: October 2016

We have previously reported that the sodium potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na/K-ATPase) can effect the amplification of reactive oxygen species. In this study, we examined whether attenuation of oxidant stress by antagonism of Na/K-ATPase oxidant amplification might ameliorate experimental uremic cardiomyopathy induced by partial nephrectomy (PNx). PNx induced the development of cardiac morphological and biochemical changes consistent with human uremic cardiomyopathy. Both inhibition of Na/K-ATPase oxidant amplification with pNaKtide and induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) with cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP) markedly attenuated the development of phenotypical features of uremic cardiomyopathy. In a reversal study, administration of pNaKtide after the induction of uremic cardiomyopathy reversed many of the phenotypical features. Attenuation of Na/K-ATPase oxidant amplification may be a potential strategy for clinical therapy of this disorder.
Tunable Resonators for Nonlinear Modal Interactions
Authors: Ramini Abdallah H. , Hajjaj Amal Z. , Younis Mohammad I.
Published: October 2016

Understanding the various mechanisms of nonlinear mode coupling in micro and nano resonators has become an imminent necessity for their successful implementation in practical applications. However, consistent, repeatable, and flexible experimental procedures to produce nonlinear mode coupling are lacking, and hence research into well-controlled experimental conditions is crucial. Here, we demonstrate well-controlled and repeatable experiments to study nonlinear mode coupling among micro and nano beam resonators. Such experimental approach can be applied to other micro and nano structures to help study their nonlinear interactions and exploit them for higher sensitive and less noisy responses. Using electrothermal tuning and electrostatic excitation, we demonstrate three different kinds of nonlinear interactions among the first and third bending modes of vibrations of slightly curved beams (arches): two-one internal resonance, three-one internal resonance, and mode veering (near crossing). The experimental procedure is repeatable, highly flexible, do not require special or precise fabrication, and is conducted in air and at room temperature. This approach can be applied to other micro and nano structures, which come naturally curved due to fabrication imperfections, such as CNTs, and hence lays the foundation to deeply investigate the nonlinear mode coupling in these structures in a consistent way.
Electrodynamic study of YIG filters and resonators
Authors: Krupka Jerzy , Salski Bartlomiej , Kopyt Pawel , Gwarek Wojciech
Published: October 2016

Numerical solutions of coupled Maxwell and Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations for a magnetized yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere acting as a one-stage filter are presented. The filter is analysed using finite-difference time-domain technique. Contrary to the state of the art, the study shows that the maximum electromagnetic power transmission through the YIG filter occurs at the frequency of the magnetic plasmon resonance with the effective permeability of the gyromagnetic medium μr ≈ −2, and not at a ferromagnetic resonance frequency. Such a new understanding of the YIG filter operation, makes it one of the most commonly used single-negative plasmonic metamaterials. The frequency of maximum transmission is also found to weakly depend on the size of the YIG sphere. An analytic electromagnetic analysis of resonances in a YIG sphere is performed for circularly polarized electromagnetic fields. The YIG sphere is situated in a free space and in a large spherical cavity. The study demonstrates that both volume resonances and magnetic plasmon resonances can be solutions of the same transcendental equations.
Characterization of a very rare case of living ewe-buck hybrid using classical and molecular cytogenetics
Authors: Pauciullo Alfredo , Knorr Christoph , Perucatti Angela , Iannuzzi Alessandra , Iannuzzi Leopoldo , Erhardt Georg
Published: October 2016

The natural occurrence of live hybrid offsprings between sheep and goats has been documented in literature, however all the studies have reported the mating of goats with rams, whereas the reciprocal cross was never documented. This study reports on a very rare case of interspecies hybridization occurred between a ewe (2n = 54, XX) and a buck (2n = 60, XY). The hybrid, born in a German flock under natural conditions, is characterised by an intermediate karyotype (2n = 57, XX). The CBA-banding has shown 3 metacentric and 54 acrocentric chromosomes, whereas the GTG- and RBA-banding have revealed that the autosomes involved in the hybrid combination were CHI1, 3; CHI2, 8 and CHI5, 11 corresponding to the metacentric chromosomes OAR1, OAR2 and OAR3. A tri-colour FISH using chromosome paintings and BAC probes has validated this arrangement. A further FISH analysis has been carried out to analyse the telomeres, which showed a normal structure. Nucleolus organiser-bearing chromosomes were identified as pairs OAR1p(CHI3), OAR2q(CHI2), OAR3q(CHI5), OAR4(CHI4) and OAR25(CHI28), and nuclear associations were found. Sex chromosomes were correctly arranged. The odd number of the karyotype might be responsible for a reduced fertility as consequence of the incorrect chromosomal pairing and/or segregation during the meiosis.