bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TRANSLATE
Authors: Goodwin Amanda P. , Jiménez Robert
Published: June 2015

This teaching tip shares a research‐based instructional model that uses translation to improve the English reading comprehension of English Learners. Within this instruction, English learners work collaboratively in small groups and use translation to facilitate understandings of their required English language arts curriculum. Students are taught to identify key excerpts and to use selected cognitive strategies to facilitate translation and comprehension. After students create translated texts, they compare and evaluate their translations, and then summarize their newfound understandings. The three main lesson components are described and examples and instructional resources are provided to help educators implement the model within their own teaching. We also provide suggestions of productive teacher moves for teachers who do speak students’ native languages.
The wing and the eye: a parsimonious theory for scaling and growth control?
Authors: Romanova‐Michaelides Maria , Aguilar‐Hidalgo Daniel , Jülicher Frank , Gonzalez‐Gaitan Marcos
Published: June 2015

How a developing organ grows and patterns to its final shape is an important question in developmental biology. Studies of growth and patterning in the Drosophila wing imaginal disc have identified a key player, the morphogen Decapentaplegic (Dpp). These studies provided insights into our understanding of growth control and scaling: expansion of the Dpp gradient correlated with the growth of the tissue. A recent report on growth of a Drosophila organ other than the wing, the eye imaginal disc, prompts a reconsideration of our models of growth control. Despite striking differences between the two, the Dpp gradient scales with the target tissues of both organs and the growth of both the wing and the eye is controlled by Dpp. The goal of this review is to discuss whether a parsimonious model of scaling and growth control can explain the relationship between the Dpp gradient and growth in these two different developmental systems. WIREs Dev Biol 2015, 4:591–608. doi: 10.1002/wdev.195

This article is categorized under:

Establishment of Spatial and Temporal Patterns > Gradients

Establishment of Spatial and Temporal Patterns > Regulation of Size, Proportion, and Timing
Metabolic network modeling of microbial communities
Authors: Biggs Matthew B. , Medlock Gregory L. , Kolling Glynis L. , Papin Jason A.
Published: June 2015

Genome‐scale metabolic network reconstructions and constraint‐based analyses are powerful methods that have the potential to make functional predictions about microbial communities. Genome‐scale metabolic networks are used to characterize the metabolic functions of microbial communities via several techniques including species compartmentalization, separating species‐level and community‐level objectives, dynamic analysis, the ‘enzyme‐soup’ approach, multiscale modeling, and others. There are many challenges in the field, including a need for tools that accurately assign high‐level omics signals to individual community members, the need for improved automated network reconstruction methods, and novel algorithms for integrating omics data and engineering communities. As technologies and modeling frameworks improve, we expect that there will be corresponding advances in the fields of ecology, health science, and microbial community engineering. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2015, 7:317–334. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1308

This article is categorized under:

Analytical and Computational Methods > Computational Methods

Biological Mechanisms > Metabolism
High spatial resolution laser cavity extinction and laser-induced incandescence in low-soot-producing flames
Authors: Tian B. , Gao Y. , Balusamy S. , Hochgreb S.
Published: June 2015

Accurate measurement techniques for in situ determination of soot are necessary to understand and monitor the process of soot particle production. One of these techniques is line-of-sight extinction, which is a fast, low-cost and quantitative method to investigate the soot volume fraction in flames. However, the extinction-based technique suffers from relatively high measurement uncertainty due to low signal-to-noise ratio, as the single-pass attenuation of the laser beam intensity is often insufficient. Multi-pass techniques can increase the sensitivity, but may suffer from low spatial resolution. To overcome this problem, we have developed a high spatial resolution laser cavity extinction technique to measure the soot volume fraction from low-soot-producing flames. A laser beam cavity is realised by placing two partially reflective concave mirrors on either side of the laminar diffusion flame under investigation. This configuration makes the beam convergent inside the cavity, allowing a spatial resolution within 200 μm, whilst increasing the absorption by an order of magnitude. Three different hydrocarbon fuels are tested: methane, propane and ethylene. The measurements of soot distribution across the flame show good agreement with results using laser-induced incandescence (LII) in the range from around 20 ppb to 15 ppm.
Myocardial glucose uptake in patients with the m.3243A > G mutation in mitochondrial DNA
Authors: Lindroos Markus M. , Pärkkä Jussi P. , Taittonen Markku T. , Iozzo Patricia , Kärppä Mikko , Hassinen Ilmo E. , Knuuti Juhani , Nuutila Pirjo , Majamaa Kari
Published: June 2015

Mitochondrial mutations impair glucose oxidation and increase glucose uptake in cell cultures and lead to cardiomyopathy in patients. Here we characterize cardiac glucose uptake in 14 patients with the m.3243A > G mutation in mitochondrial DNA. The 14 patients with m.3243A > G and 13 controls were similar in age, physical activity and body mass index. Ten patients had diabetes. Left ventricular glucose uptake per tissue mass (LVGU) was measured with 2‐[18 F]fluoro‐2‐deoxyglucose positron emission tomography during euglycemic hyperinsulinemia. Cardiac morphology and function were assessed with magnetic resonance imaging. We found that the LVGU was 25 % lower in the patients than that in the controls (P = 0.029). LVGU was inversely correlated with mutation heteroplasmy, glycated haemoglobin and fasting lactate in patients. The seven patients with mutation heteroplasmy ≥ 49 % had 44 % lower LVGU than the seven patients with heteroplasmy < 49 %. This difference remained significant after adjustment for concurrent free fatty acid concentration or glycated haemoglobin or glucose uptake in skeletal muscle or all (p < 0.048 [All]). Patients with m.3243A > G had a lower stroke volume and a higher heart rate than the controls, whereas cardiac output and work were similar. Myocardial glucose uptake is not increased but decreased with a threshold effect pattern in patients with the m.3243A > G mutation. The glucose hypometabolism adds to the impaired cardiac energetics and likely contributes to the progression of the mitochondrial cardiomyopathy.
Induced Abortions and Birth Outcomes of Women With a History of Severe Psychosocial Problems in Adolescence
Authors: Lehti V. , Gissler M. , Suvisaari J. , Manninen M.
Published: June 2015

Objective

To increase knowledge on the reproductive health of women who have been placed in a residential school, a child welfare facility for adolescents with severe psychosocial problems.

Methods

All women (n = 291) who lived in the Finnish residential schools on the last day of the years 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006 were included in this study and compared with matched general population controls. Register-based information on induced abortions and births was collected until the end of the year 2011.

Results

Compared to controls, women with a residential school history had more induced abortions. A higher proportion of their births took place when they were teenagers or even minors. They were more often single, smoked significantly more during pregnancy and had a higher risk of having a preterm birth or a baby with a low birth weight.

Conclusions

The findings have implications for the planning of preventive and supportive interventions that aim to increase the well-being of women with a residential school history and their offspring.
Histone H3 Ser57 and Thr58 phosphorylation in the brain of 5XFAD mice
Authors: Anderson Kyle W. , Mast Natalia , Pikuleva Irina A. , Turko Illarion V.
Published: June 2015

Alzheimer's disease has been shown to have a global reduction in gene expression, called an epigenetic blockade, which may be regulated by histone post‐translational modifications. Histone H3 has been shown to be highly regulated by phosphorylation. We, therefore, chose H3 for investigation of phosphorylation of the core sites serine‐57 (S57) and threonine‐58 (T58). Hemispheres of brains from a mouse model of rapid amyloid deposition (5XFAD) were used for measurement of S57 and T58 phosphorylation. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) was used to measure the level of phosphorylation, which was normalized to a non‐modified “housekeeping” peptide of H3. S57 phosphorylation was decreased by 40%, T58 phosphorylation was decreased by 45%, and doubly phosphorylated S57pT58p was decreased by 30% in 5XFAD brain in comparison to C57BL/6J age‐ and sex‐matched wild type controls. Amyloid‐β (Aβ) and amyloid precursor protein were also measured to confirm that 5XFAD mice produced high levels of Aβ. Decreased phosphorylation of these sites in close proximity to DNA may lead to stabilization of DNA–histone interactions and a condensed chromatin state, consistent with the epigenetic blockade associated with AD. Our findings of H3 sites S57 and T58 exhibiting lower levels of phosphorylation in 5XFAD model compared to wild type control implicate these sites in the epigenetic blockade in neurodegeneration pathology.
Median splits, Type II errors, and false–positive consumer psychology: Don't fight the power
Authors: McClelland Gary H. , Lynch, John G. , Irwin Julie R. , Spiller Stephen A. , Fitzsimons Gavan J.
Published: June 2015

Considerable prior statistical work has criticized replacing a continuously measured variable in a general linear model with a dichotomy based on a median split of that variable. Iacobucci, Posovac, Kardes, Schneider, and Popovich (2015‐in this issue) defend the practice of “median splits” using both conceptual arguments and simulations. We dispute their conceptual arguments, and we have identified technical errors in their simulations that dramatically change the conclusions that follow from those simulations. We show that there are no real benefits to median splits, and there are real costs in increases in Type II errors through loss of power and increases in Type I errors through false–positive consumer psychology. We conclude that median splits remain a bad idea.
Bacille Calmette‐Guerin can induce cellular apoptosis of urothelial cancer directly through toll‐like receptor 7 activation
Authors: Yu Dah‐Shyong , Wu Chia‐Lun , Ping Szu‐Yuan , Keng Cheng , Shen Kun‐Hung
Published: June 2015

Immunotherapy using bacille Calmette‐Guerin (BCG) instillation is the mainstay treatment modality for superficial urothelial cancer (UC) through toll‐like receptor (TLR) activation of cognitive immune response. We investigated the roles of TLR7 in the activation of apoptosis in UC cells after BCG treatment. The in vitro cytotoxicity effect of BCG on UC cells was measured by a modified 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazo‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium assay. Expressions of TLR7 mRNA and protein in native UC cells prior to and after BCG treatment were analyzed using real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot methods. Phagocytotic processes after BCG treatment in UC cells were observed microscopically using a specific immunostain, subsequent cellular apoptosis‐related signals induced by TLR7 were analyzed by western blot. Low‐grade UC cells, TSGH8301, showed significant cellular death (4.23‐fold higher than the high‐grade UC cells T24 and J82) when treated with BCG and the BCG cytotoxicity was displayed in a dose–time‐dependent manner. TSGH8301 cells had the highest content of TLR7 mRNA, 7.2‐ and 4.5‐fold higher than that of T24 and J82 cells, respectively. TLR7 protein expression was also significantly increased in TSGH8301 cells. Phagocytosis‐related markers, including beclin 1, ATG2, and LC3, were increased when TSGH8301 cells were treated by BCG. Interleukin‐1 receptor‐associated kinases 2 and 4 were also increased markedly in TSGH8301 cells. On the contrary, cellular apoptosis of TSGH8301 cells decreased by 34% when TLR7 activation was suppressed by the TLR antagonist IRS661 after BCG treatment. Our findings suggest that well differentiated TCC cells have higher expression of TLR7 and BCG can drive cellular death of TCC cells directly via TLR7 activation and related apoptotic pathway.
Non-axisymmetric flows in a differential-disk rotating system
Authors: Vo Tony , Montabone Luca , Read Peter L. , Sheard Gregory J.
Published: June 2015

The non-axisymmetric structure of an unstable Stewartson shear layer generated via a differential rotation between flush disks and a cylindrical enclosure is investigated numerically using both three-dimensional direct numerical simulation and a quasi-two-dimensional model. Previous literature has only considered the depth-independent quasi-two-dimensional model due to its low computational cost. The three-dimensional model implemented here highlights the supercritical instability responsible for the polygonal deformation of the shear layer in the linear and nonlinear growth regimes and reveals that linear stability analysis is capable of accurately determining the preferred azimuthal wavenumber for flow conditions near the onset of instability. This agreement is lost for sufficiently forced flows where nonlinear effects encourage the coalescence of vortices towards lower-wavenumber structures. Time-dependent flows are found for large Reynolds numbers defined based on the Stewartson layer thickness and azimuthal velocity differential. However, this temporal behaviour is not solely characterized by Reynolds number but is rather a function of both the Rossby and Ekman numbers. At high Ekman and Rossby numbers, unsteady flow emerges through a small-scale azimuthal destabilization of the axial jets within the Stewartson layers; at low Ekman numbers, unsteady flow emerges through a modulation in the strength of one of the axial vortices rolled up by non-axisymmetric instability of the Stewartson layer.
Hairpin-like optimal perturbations in plane Poiseuille flow
Authors: Farano Mirko , Cherubini Stefania , Robinet Jean-Christophe , De Palma Pietro
Published: June 2015

In this work it is shown that hairpin vortex structures can be the outcome of a nonlinear optimal growth process, in a similar way as streaky structures can be the result of a linear optimal growth mechanism. With this purpose, nonlinear optimizations based on a Lagrange multiplier technique coupled with a direct-adjoint iterative procedure are performed in a plane Poiseuille flow at subcritical values of the Reynolds number, aiming at quickly triggering nonlinear effects. Choosing a suitable time scale for such an optimization process, it is found that the initial optimal perturbation is composed of sweeps and ejections resulting in a hairpin vortex structure at the target time. These alternating sweeps and ejections create an inflectional instability occurring in a localized region away from the wall, generating the head of the primary and secondary hairpin structures, quickly inducing transition to turbulent flow. This result could explain why transitional and turbulent shear flows are characterized by a high density of hairpin vortices.
“Civilizing” the Colonial Subject: The Co-Evolution of State and Slavery in South Carolina, 1670–1739
Authors: Grant Daragh
Published: June 2015

South Carolina was a staggeringly weak polity from its founding in 1670 until the 1730s. Nevertheless, in that time, and while facing significant opposition from powerful indigenous neighbors, the colony constructed a robust plantation system that boasted the highest slave-to-freeman ratio in mainland North America. Taking this fact as a point of departure, I examine the early management of unfree labor in South Carolina as an exemplary moment of settler-colonial state formation. Departing from the treatment of state formation as a process of centralizing “legitimate violence,” I investigate how the colonial state, and in particular the Commons House of Assembly, asserted an exclusive claim to authority by monopolizing the question of legitimacy itself. In managing unfree laborers, the colonial state extended its authority over supposedly private relations between master and slave and increasingly recast slavery in racial terms. This recasting of racial slavery rested, I argue, on a distinction, pervasive throughout English North America, which divided the world into spheres of savagery and civility. Beneath the racial reordering of colonial life, the institution of slavery was rooted in the same ideological distinction by which the colonial state's claims to authority were justified, with the putative “savagery” of the slave or of the Indian being counterpoised to the supposed civility of English settlers. This article contributes to the literatures on Atlantic slavery and American colonial history, and invites comparison with accounts of state formation and settler colonialism beyond Anglo-America.
Aesthetics of Acquisition: Notes on the Transactional Life of Persons and Things in Gabon
Authors: Bernault Florence
Published: June 2015

Based on a historical study of older and newer visual regimes in Gabon, Equatorial Africa, this paper examines spectacles as world-manufacturing processes that produce and circulate assets. Visual and aesthetic strategies have often been analyzed as technologies of the self that transform and manifest people's identities. I show here that they also work as a means to create resources and put them into motion. The notion of “aesthetics of acquisition” helps to capture the dynamic energy of visual events and reinsert them into the realms of economic production and material exchange. If spectacles allow people to acquire riches, produce new statuses, and circulate resources, I argue, the process through which this occurs cannot be analytically reduced to a mere commodification of the person. Instead, I explain how aesthetics of acquisition enable institutional and social actors to assume temporary commodity status, a moment and a strategy that I call “transactional life.”
Voices and Votes in the Fields of Settler Society: American Indian Media and Electoral Politics in 1930s Wisconsin
Authors: Arndt Grant
Published: June 2015

In 1939, Wisconsin readers of a weekly newspaper column by Mitchell Redcloud, a member of the Ho-Chunk Indian community settled within the rural township of Komensky, were greeted with a set of headlines from the imaginary “Komensky News” about an actual local event. The headlines reported that despite opposition from local whites, Ho-Chunk people had successfully elected a Ho-Chunk candidate to the township board. This article draws on studies of Indigenous media and recent efforts to develop field-theoretic accounts of social action to understand the interdependence of Redcloud's headlines and the Ho-Chunk vote as part of an incipient project of Indigenous political action. Using census records, I first describe the positions in the everyday field of race and class relations that Ho-Chunk people occupied in Komensky, based on their incomes, educations, and occupational statuses. I then draw on this description to understand Redcloud's position-taking strategies before the election. I next examine Redcloud's writing career in the newspaper to understand his strategy of self-positioning as a marked Indian voice within a print-based discursive field that denigrated other Ho-Chunk voices. I finish by examining new position-taking strategies manifest in the 1939 vote and in Redcloud's turn to headline register. I argue that both media and electoral mechanisms offered relatively autonomous fields that made these experiments with Indigenous action possible despite the absence of tribal political institutions necessary to transform the positions Ho-Chunk people occupied in their everyday lives. Together, the headlines and the election suggest the interdependence of activism carried out in media and in governmental structures in the production of transformative acts of political self-representation.
Tales from the Land of Magic Plants: Textual Ideologies and Fetishes of Indigeneity in Mexico's Sierra Mazateca
Authors: Faudree Paja
Published: June 2015

Anthropology and other disciplines are engaged in an extended conversation about how to understand the dynamics of global interconnection. One dominant approach stresses political economies of global markets, exploring how commodity chains structure social relations and vice versa. I propose instead an emphasis on how semiotic mediation, specifically textual representation, shapes the circulation of material goods and surrounding social relations. I draw on ethnographic and archival research concerning the Mazatec region of Oaxaca, where psychedelic plants that local people have long used ritually have more recently become the subject of intense, socially violent consumer interest. I examine recent histories of interest in the region through texts written by outsiders, first “mushroom seekers,” and then Protestant missionary-linguists. Applying Keane's (2003) concept of “semiotic ideologies” to ideas about texts, I suggest that competing textual ideologies undergird conflicts between how outsiders have written about the region and local people have responded to their accounts. The nearly century-deep corpus of writings about the region tends to depict its people through reference to its hallucinogenic plants, a form of “semiotic collapse” wherein the commodities become fetishized proxies for people. Local people, particularly Mazatec authors, react by trying to manage this “representational hangover” from the history of outsider depictions. They adopt strategies to undo the power of the fetish by re-socializing the plants and re-embedding them in local social relations. This analysis offers a fruitful entry point for ethnographies of global connection while furthering the interdisciplinary project of attending jointly to materiality and semiotic representations.
Efficacy of fish- and hydramethylnon-based baits for conservation of the African weaver ant Oecophylla longinoda (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) during cashew off-seasons in Tanzania
Authors: Olotu Moses I. , du Plessis Hannalene , Seguni Zuberi S. , Ekesi Sunday , Maniania Nguya K.
Published: June 2015

The efficacy of fish- and hydramethylnon-based baits for conservation of the African weaver ant (AWA)Oecophylla longinodaLatreille was evaluated at orchards in Bagamoyo and Mkuranga districts, Coast region of Tanzania, during the cashew off-seasons in 2011 and 2012. The baits were applied at monthly intervals; the dynamics of AWA were monitored by counting the number of leaf nests/tree and the colonization trails on main branches. The numbers of leaf nests recorded before baiting ranged between 3.5 and 5.3 and were not significantly different at both sites and in both seasons; after baiting, they ranged between 3.2 and 11.6 at Bagamoyo and between 3.0 and 10.2 at Mkuranga. The colonization of AWA trails recorded before baiting was also not significantly different at both sites and in both seasons and ranged between 37.9 and 50.0%; after baiting, this ranged between 35.9 and 75.1% at Bagamoyo and between 34.6 and 79.2% at Mkuranga. The provision of fish- and hydramethylnon-based baits can effectively contribute to the conservation of AWA during the cashew off-seasons. The fish-based bait is cheaper and more easily affordable by local farmers and can, therefore, be used as an alternative diet for AWA at this time.
New record of the rare alien grapsoid crab Percnon affine (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Grapsoidea, Plagusidae) from the northern Indian Ocean
Authors: Naderloo Reza , Fatemi Yaser
Published: June 2015

A large well-established population of the grapsoid crabPercnon affine(H. Milne Edwards, 1853) was observed in the rocky low-intertidal zone of Chabahar Bay, along the Iranian coasts of the Gulf of Oman. This is the first record ofP. affinefrom the northern Indian Ocean.
A new colour morph for Elacatinus figaro, an endemic threatened cleaner
Authors: Dias R.M. , Almeida D.F. , Noguchi R. , Lima S.M.Q. , Corrêa C.
Published: June 2015

We report here, for the first time, the existence of a white colour morphElacatinus figaro, an endemic threatened cleaner goby from the Brazilian Coast. The specimen from this study lived in a cleaning station along with otherE. figaro. Records were made based on pictures and the specimen was collected and preserved for genetic studies. Although the strong bright yellow colour is of vital importance for attracting other fish to the cleaning station, we speculate that living alongside regular-coloured individuals can diminish the disadvantage of not having the flashy stripe.
Directivity improvement and optimal far field pattern of time modulated concentric circular antenna array using hybrid evolutionary algorithms
Authors: Ram Gopi , Mandal Durbadal , Kar Rajib , Ghoshal Sakti Prasad
Published: June 2015

In this paper time modulated nine-ring concentric circular antenna array (TMCCAA) using fitness based novel hybrid adaptive differential evolution with particle swarm optimization (ADEPSO) has been studied. ADEPSO is hybrid of fitness based adaptive differential evolution and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Differential evolution is a simple and robust evolutionary algorithm but sometimes causes instability problem; PSO is also a simple, population based robust evolutionary algorithm but has the problem of sub-optimality. ADEPSO has overcome the above individual disadvantages faced by both the algorithms and is used for the design of TMCCAA. The comparative case studies as Case-1 and Case-2 are made with three control parameters like uniform inter-element spacing in rings, inter-ring radii and the switching “ON” times of rings. The same array radiates at various harmonic frequencies. The first two harmonic frequencies have been considered in this work. The numerical results show Case-2, outperforms Case-1 with respect to better side lobe level (SLL), and more improved directivity. Apart from this, the authors have computed powers radiated at the center/fundamental frequency and the first two sideband frequencies, and dynamic efficiency. It is found that power radiated by any sideband frequency is very less as compared with the power radiated at the center frequency. It has been observed that as the sideband frequency increases, side band level decreases to the greater extent as compared with SLL. The aperture size is a very important constraint for the array, since there is an upper limit for the aperture size of a given array in real-life environment. Hence, in our optimization design, the maximum radius of the concentric ring array is constrained.
Lucilia cuprina genome unlocks parasitic fly biology to underpin future interventions
Authors: Anstead Clare A. , Korhonen Pasi K. , Young Neil D. , Hall Ross S. , Jex Aaron R. , Murali Shwetha C. , Hughes Daniel S.T. , Lee Siu F. , Perry Trent , Stroehlein Andreas J. , Ansell Brendan R.E. , Breugelmans Bert , Hofmann Andreas , Qu Jiaxin , Dugan Shannon , Lee Sandra L. , Chao Hsu , Dinh Huyen , Han Yi , Doddapaneni Harsha V. , Worley Kim C. , Muzny Donna M. , Ioannidis Panagiotis , Waterhouse Robert M. , Zdobnov Evgeny M. , James Peter J. , Bagnall Neil H. , Kotze Andrew C. , Gibbs Richard A. , Richards Stephen , Batterham Philip , Gasser Robin B.
Published: June 2015

Lucilia cuprina is a parasitic fly of major economic importance worldwide. Larvae of this fly invade their animal host, feed on tissues and excretions and progressively cause severe skin disease (myiasis). Here we report the sequence and annotation of the 458-megabase draft genome of Lucilia cuprina. Analyses of this genome and the 14,544 predicted protein-encoding genes provide unique insights into the fly’s molecular biology, interactions with the host animal and insecticide resistance. These insights have broad implications for designing new methods for the prevention and control of myiasis.
Lead iodide perovskite light-emitting field-effect transistor
Authors: Chin Xin Yu , Cortecchia Daniele , Yin Jun , Bruno Annalisa , Soci Cesare
Published: June 2015

Despite the widespread use of solution-processable hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites in photovoltaic and light-emitting applications, determination of their intrinsic charge transport parameters has been elusive due to the variability of film preparation and history-dependent device performance. Here we show that screening effects associated to ionic transport can be effectively eliminated by lowering the operating temperature of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (CH3NH3PbI3) field-effect transistors. Field-effect carrier mobility is found to increase by almost two orders of magnitude below 200 K, consistent with phonon scattering-limited transport. Under balanced ambipolar carrier injection, gate-dependent electroluminescence is also observed from the transistor channel, with spectra revealing the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition. This demonstration of CH3NH3PbI3 light-emitting field-effect transistors provides intrinsic transport parameters to guide materials and solar cell optimization, and will drive the development of new electro-optic device concepts, such as gated light-emitting diodes and lasers operating at room temperature.
Piezoelectric effect in chemical vapour deposition-grown atomic-monolayer triangular molybdenum disulfide piezotronics
Authors: Qi Junjie , Lan Yann-Wen , Stieg Adam Z. , Chen Jyun-Hong , Zhong Yuan-Liang , Li Lain-Jong , Chen Chii-Dong , Zhang Yue , Wang Kang L.
Published: June 2015

High-performance piezoelectricity in monolayer semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides is highly desirable for the development of nanosensors, piezotronics and photo-piezotransistors. Here we report the experimental study of the theoretically predicted piezoelectric effect in triangle monolayer MoS2 devices under isotropic mechanical deformation. The experimental observation indicates that the conductivity of MoS2 devices can be actively modulated by the piezoelectric charge polarization-induced built-in electric field under strain variation. These polarization charges alter the Schottky barrier height on both contacts, resulting in a barrier height increase with increasing compressive strain and decrease with increasing tensile strain. The underlying mechanism of strain-induced in-plane charge polarization is proposed and discussed using energy band diagrams. In addition, a new type of MoS2 strain/force sensor built using a monolayer MoS2 triangle is also demonstrated. Our results provide evidence for strain-gating monolayer MoS2 piezotronics, a promising avenue for achieving augmented functionalities in next-generation electronic and mechanical–electronic nanodevices.
Printable elastic conductors with a high conductivity for electronic textile applications
Authors: Matsuhisa Naoji , Kaltenbrunner Martin , Yokota Tomoyuki , Jinno Hiroaki , Kuribara Kazunori , Sekitani Tsuyoshi , Someya Takao
Published: June 2015

The development of advanced flexible large-area electronics such as flexible displays and sensors will thrive on engineered functional ink formulations for printed electronics where the spontaneous arrangement of molecules aids the printing processes. Here we report a printable elastic conductor with a high initial conductivity of 738 S cm−1 and a record high conductivity of 182 S cm−1 when stretched to 215% strain. The elastic conductor ink is comprised of Ag flakes, a fluorine rubber and a fluorine surfactant. The fluorine surfactant constitutes a key component which directs the formation of surface-localized conductive networks in the printed elastic conductor, leading to a high conductivity and stretchability. We demonstrate the feasibility of our inks by fabricating a stretchable organic transistor active matrix on a rubbery stretchability-gradient substrate with unimpaired functionality when stretched to 110%, and a wearable electromyogram sensor printed onto a textile garment.
Superstatistical analysis and modelling of heterogeneous random walks
Authors: Metzner Claus , Mark Christoph , Steinwachs Julian , Lautscham Lena , Stadler Franz , Fabry Ben
Published: June 2015

Stochastic time series are ubiquitous in nature. In particular, random walks with time-varying statistical properties are found in many scientific disciplines. Here we present a superstatistical approach to analyse and model such heterogeneous random walks. The time-dependent statistical parameters can be extracted from measured random walk trajectories with a Bayesian method of sequential inference. The distributions and correlations of these parameters reveal subtle features of the random process that are not captured by conventional measures, such as the mean-squared displacement or the step width distribution. We apply our new approach to migration trajectories of tumour cells in two and three dimensions, and demonstrate the superior ability of the superstatistical method to discriminate cell migration strategies in different environments. Finally, we show how the resulting insights can be used to design simple and meaningful models of the underlying random processes.
Nanoscale control of phonon excitations in graphene
Authors: Kim Hyo Won , Ko Wonhee , Ku JiYeon , Jeon Insu , Kim Donggyu , Kwon Hyeokshin , Oh Youngtek , Ryu Seunghwa , Kuk Young , Hwang Sung Woo , Suh Hwansoo
Published: June 2015

Phonons, which are collective excitations in a lattice of atoms or molecules, play a major role in determining various physical properties of condensed matter, such as thermal and electrical conductivities. In particular, phonons in graphene interact strongly with electrons; however, unlike in usual metals, these interactions between phonons and massless Dirac fermions appear to mirror the rather complicated physics of those between light and relativistic electrons. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of the underlying physics through systematic studies of phonon interactions and excitations in graphene is crucial for realising graphene-based devices. In this study, we demonstrate that the local phonon properties of graphene can be controlled at the nanoscale by tuning the interaction strength between graphene and an underlying Pt substrate. Using scanning probe methods, we determine that the reduced interaction due to embedded Ar atoms facilitates electron–phonon excitations, further influencing phonon-assisted inelastic electron tunnelling.
Single-site trinuclear copper oxygen clusters in mordenite for selective conversion of methane to methanol
Authors: Grundner Sebastian , Markovits Monica A.C. , Li Guanna , Tromp Moniek , Pidko Evgeny A. , Hensen Emiel J.M. , Jentys Andreas , Sanchez-Sanchez Maricruz , Lercher Johannes A.
Published: June 2015

Copper-exchanged zeolites with mordenite structure mimic the nuclearity and reactivity of active sites in particulate methane monooxygenase, which are enzymes able to selectively oxidize methane to methanol. Here we show that the mordenite micropores provide a perfect confined environment for the highly selective stabilization of trinuclear copper-oxo clusters that exhibit a high reactivity towards activation of carbon–hydrogen bonds in methane and its subsequent transformation to methanol. The similarity with the enzymatic systems is also implied from the similarity of the reversible rearrangements of the trinuclear clusters occurring during the selective transformations of methane along the reaction path towards methanol, in both the enzyme system and copper-exchanged mordenite.
IL-21 induces antiviral microRNA-29 in CD4 T cells to limit HIV-1 infection
Authors: Adoro Stanley , Cubillos-Ruiz Juan R. , Chen Xi , Deruaz Maud , Vrbanac Vladimir D. , Song Minkyung , Park Suna , Murooka Thomas T. , Dudek Timothy E. , Luster Andrew D. , Tager Andrew M. , Streeck Hendrik , Bowman Brittany , Walker Bruce D. , Kwon Douglas S. , Lazarevic Vanja , Glimcher Laurie H.
Published: June 2015

Initial events after exposure determine HIV-1 disease progression, underscoring a critical need to understand host mechanisms that interfere with initial viral replication. Although associated with chronic HIV-1 control, it is not known whether interleukin-21 (IL-21) contributes to early HIV-1 immunity. Here we take advantage of tractable primary human lymphoid organ aggregate cultures to show that IL-21 directly suppresses HIV-1 replication, and identify microRNA-29 (miR-29) as an antiviral factor induced by IL-21 in CD4 T cells. IL-21 promotes transcription of all miR-29 species through STAT3, whose binding to putative regulatory regions within the MIR29 gene is enriched by IL-21 signalling. Notably, exogenous IL-21 limits early HIV-1 infection in humanized mice, and lower viremia in vivo is associated with higher miR-29 expression. Together, these findings reveal a novel antiviral IL-21-miR-29 axis that promotes CD4 T-cell-intrinsic resistance to HIV-1 infection, and suggest a role for IL-21 in initial HIV-1 control in vivo.
Understanding nanocellulose chirality and structure–properties relationship at the single fibril level
Authors: Usov Ivan , Nyström Gustav , Adamcik Jozef , Handschin Stephan , Schütz Christina , Fall Andreas , Bergström Lennart , Mezzenga Raffaele
Published: June 2015

Nanocellulose fibrils are ubiquitous in nature and nanotechnologies but their mesoscopic structural assembly is not yet fully understood. Here we study the structural features of rod-like cellulose nanoparticles on a single particle level, by applying statistical polymer physics concepts on electron and atomic force microscopy images, and we assess their physical properties via quantitative nanomechanical mapping. We show evidence of right-handed chirality, observed on both bundles and on single fibrils. Statistical analysis of contours from microscopy images shows a non-Gaussian kink angle distribution. This is inconsistent with a structure consisting of alternating amorphous and crystalline domains along the contour and supports process-induced kink formation. The intrinsic mechanical properties of nanocellulose are extracted from nanoindentation and persistence length method for transversal and longitudinal directions, respectively. The structural analysis is pushed to the level of single cellulose polymer chains, and their smallest associated unit with a proposed 2 × 2 chain-packing arrangement.
The first crop plant genetically engineered to release an insect pheromone for defence
Authors: Bruce Toby J.A. , Aradottir Gudbjorg I. , Smart Lesley E. , Martin Janet L. , Caulfield John C. , Doherty Angela , Sparks Caroline A. , Woodcock Christine M. , Birkett Michael A. , Napier Johnathan A. , Jones Huw D. , Pickett John A.
Published: June 2015

Insect pheromones offer potential for managing pests of crop plants. Volatility and instability are problems for deployment in agriculture but could be solved by expressing genes for the biosynthesis of pheromones in the crop plants. This has now been achieved by genetically engineering a hexaploid variety of wheat to release (E)-β-farnesene (Eβf), the alarm pheromone for many pest aphids, using a synthetic gene based on a sequence from peppermint with a plastid targeting amino acid sequence, with or without a gene for biosynthesis of the precursor farnesyl diphosphate. Pure Eβf was produced in stably transformed wheat lines with no other detectable phenotype but requiring targeting of the gene produced to the plastid. In laboratory behavioural assays, three species of cereal aphids were repelled and foraging was increased for a parasitic natural enemy. Although these studies show considerable potential for aphid control, field trials employing the single and double constructs showed no reduction in aphids or increase in parasitism. Insect numbers were low and climatic conditions erratic suggesting the need for further trials or a closer imitation, in the plant, of alarm pheromone release.
The stage-classified matrix models project a significant increase in biomass carbon stocks in China’s forests between 2005 and 2050
Authors: Hu Huifeng , Wang Shaopeng , Guo Zhaodi , Xu Bing , Fang Jingyun
Published: June 2015

China’s forests are characterized by young age, low carbon (C) density and a large plantation area, implying a high potential for increasing C sinks in the future. Using data of provincial forest area and biomass C density from China’s forest inventories between 1994 and 2008 and the planned forest coverage of the country by 2050, we developed a stage-classified matrix model to predict biomass C stocks of China’s forests from 2005 to 2050. The results showed that total forest biomass C stock would increase from 6.43 Pg C (1 Pg = 1015 g) in 2005 to 9.97 Pg C (95% confidence interval: 8.98 ~ 11.07 Pg C) in 2050, with an overall net C gain of 78.8 Tg C yr−1 (56.7 ~ 103.3 Tg C yr−1; 1 Tg = 1012 g). Our findings suggest that China’s forests will be a large and persistent biomass C sink through 2050.
A new mechanism for low and temperature-independent elastic modulus
Authors: Zhang Liangxiang , Wang Dong , Ren Xiaobing , Wang Yunzhi
Published: June 2015

The first Elinvar alloy, FeNiCr, which has invariant elastic modulus over a wide temperature range, was discovered almost 100 years ago by Guillaume. The physical origin of such an anomaly has been attributed to the magnetic phase transition taking place in the system. However, the recent discovery of non-magnetic Elinvar such as multi-functional β-type Ti alloys has imposed a new challenge to the existing theories. In this study we show that random field from stress-carrying defects could suppress the sharp first-order martensitic transformation into a continuous strain glass transition, leading to continued formation and confined growth of nano-domains of martensite in a broad temperature range. Accompanying such a unique transition, there is a gradual softening of the elastic modulus over a wide temperature range, which compensates the normal modulus hardening due to anharmonic atomic vibration, resulting in a low and temperature-independent elastic modulus. The abundance of austenite/martensite interfaces are found responsible for the low elastic modulus.
Molecular and neuronal homology between the olfactory systems of zebrafish and mouse
Authors: Saraiva Luis R. , Ahuja Gaurav , Ivandic Ivan , Syed Adnan S. , Marioni John C. , Korsching Sigrun I. , Logan Darren W.
Published: June 2015

Studies of the two major olfactory organs of rodents, the olfactory mucosa (OM) and the vomeronasal organ (VNO), unraveled the molecular basis of smell in vertebrates. However, some vertebrates lack a VNO. Here we generated and analyzed the olfactory transcriptome of the zebrafish and compared it to the olfactory transcriptomes of mouse to investigate the evolutionary and molecular relationship between single and dual olfactory systems. Our analyses revealed a high degree of molecular conservation, with orthologs of mouse olfactory cell-specific markers and all but one of their chemosensory receptor classes expressed in the single zebrafish olfactory organ. Zebrafish chemosensory receptor genes are expressed across a large dynamic range and their RNA abundance correlates positively with the number of neurons expressing that RNA. Thus we estimate the relative proportions of neuronal sub-types expressing different chemosensory receptors. Receptor repertoire size drives the absolute abundance of different classes of neurons, but we find similar underlying patterns in both species. Finally, we identified novel marker genes that characterize rare neuronal populations in both mouse and zebrafish. In sum, we find that the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning olfaction in teleosts and mammals are similar despite 430 million years of evolutionary divergence.
Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) in the Mediterranean: A permanent invasion or a casual appearance?
Authors: Prieto L. , Macías D. , Peliz A. , Ruiz J.
Published: June 2015

In 2010, the Mediterranean basin experienced Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) swarms that had dramatic consequences, including the region’s first recorded human fatality attributed to a jellyfish sting. Despite the impact of jellyfish on coastal economic activity and the importance of the tourism industry for the Mediterranean region (accounting for 15% of global tourism), no scientific consensus has been achieved regarding the causes of this episode. Here, we analyse the meteorological and oceanographic conditions of the North-East Atlantic Ocean during the months previous to the appearance of P. physalis in the Mediterranean. We simulate the probable drift of Atlantic populations into the Mediterranean basin with a numerical model and compare model results with available observations. We conclude that the summer 2010 P. Physalis swarm was the result of an unusual combination of meteorological and oceanographic conditions during the previous winter and not a permanent invasion favoured by climatic changes.
Diversity of gut microflora is required for the generation of B cell with regulatory properties in a skin graft model
Authors: Alhabbab R. , Blair P. , Elgueta R. , Stolarczyk E. , Marks E. , Becker P. D. , Ratnasothy K. , Smyth L. , Safinia N. , Sharif-Paghaleh E. , O’Connell S. , Noelle R. J. , Lord G. M. , Howard J. K. , Spencer J. , Lechler R. I. , Lombardi G.
Published: June 2015

B cells have been reported to promote graft rejection through alloantibody production. However, there is growing evidence that B cells can contribute to the maintenance of tolerance. Here, we used a mouse model of MHC-class I mismatched skin transplantation to investigate the contribution of B cells to graft survival. We demonstrate that adoptive transfer of B cells prolongs skin graft survival but only when the B cells were isolated from mice housed in low sterility “conventional” (CV) facilities and not from mice housed in pathogen free facilities (SPF). However, prolongation of skin graft survival was lost when B cells were isolated from IL-10 deficient mice housed in CV facilities. The suppressive function of B cells isolated from mice housed in CV facilities correlated with an anti-inflammatory environment and with the presence of a different gut microflora compared to mice maintained in SPF facilities. Treatment of mice in the CV facility with antibiotics abrogated the regulatory capacity of B cells. Finally, we identified transitional B cells isolated from CV facilities as possessing the regulatory function. These findings demonstrate that B cells and in particular transitional B cells, can promote prolongation of graft survival, a function dependent on licensing by gut microflora.