bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Radioactive Occurrence in Sediments of Cenozoic Age near Bandha Village, Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan
Authors: Gupta Sumangal , Barik Maninee P. , Ariketi Ravinder , Jain D. , Biswal Samir
Published: July 2017

The radioactivity is dependent on the isotope and their concentration in the mineral such as potassium (K), uranium (U) and thorium (Th). In this paper the presence of a 3 to 5 m thick uranium and thorium bearing sediment of Cenozoic age is reported above Goru Formation of Jaisalmer basin. Gamma ray log response of Well-1 which falls under the study area has marked with very high GR (gamma ray) readings ranging from 350-1488 API coupled with high uranium and thorium content from spectral gamma ray log ranging from 92-178 ppm and 60-80 ppm respectively at the depth of 50 m from ground surface (-110m above MSL). Further studies are required to delineate the lateral thickness variation for mining purpose which may be a radioactive source.
Application of the Korean Version of the Modified Barthel Index: Development of a keyform for use in Clinical Practice
Authors: Hong Ickpyo , Lim Yoonjeong , Han HyunSuk , Hay Catherine Cooper , Woo Hee-Soon
Published: July 2017

Objective

To demonstrate the clinical application of the Korean version of the Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) using Rasch analysis.

Methods

A total of 276 patients with neurological disorders were assessed with the K-MBI in outpatient clinics. The Rasch partial-credit model was used to generate a keyform based on investigating the psychometric properties of the K-MBI, including dimensionality, precision (person strata and reliability), and hierarchical item difficulty. The Minimal Detectable Change (MDC) in item difficulty was used to establish right-challenging treatment goals and long-term treatment plans.

Results

The findings demonstrated that the Korean version of the MBI satisfied the assumption of unidimensionality. It also showed a hierarchical structure in terms of item difficulty, good reliability (Cronbach alpha, 0.92), and approximately five distinct person strata (4.6). The MDC (raw score, 20.1) of the item difficulty of the test items demonstrated equivalent cutoff scores for targeted short-term treatment goals on the keyform, a Rasch-derived display of patient responses. Long-term treatment goals were identified based on the test items of the keyform.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that a Rasch keyform can be applied to clinical practice in Korean settings by identifying clinically and statistically meaningful test items and their step thresholds as short- and long-term goals.
Distribution of Sesamoid Bones in the Hand—A Study in the Chinese Population
Authors: Ting Lam Gloria Yan , San Chow Esther Ching , Ben Ng , Gerry Ho Chi Hei , Wai Chan Chi
Published: July 2017

Objective

To report the prevalence and distribution of hand sesamoid bones in Chinese ethnic group and its left-right symmetry.

Methods

A retrospective study involving hand radiographs taken in patients admitted to United Christian Hospital from January 2011 to June 2014. Exclusion criteria included previous hand fracture, inadequate radiological views and those of non-Chinese ethnic group.

Results

A total of 307 hand radiographs (162 left and 145 right; 181 males and 126 females) in 266 patients were reviewed. Bilateral hand radiographs were available in 41 patients. Their mean age (± standard deviation) was 48.8 ± 11.3 years (range, 25–69 years). The total number of sesamoid bones identified was 1,641. Sesamoid bones were found at the first metacarpophalangeal joint (MCPJ) at a rate of 100%, while the prevalence at the second MCPJ, third MCPJ, fourth MCPJ, fifth MCPJ as well as the first interphalangeal joint (IPJ) was 59.0%, 2.93%, 0%, 47.6% and 28.0%, respectively. Bilateral hand radiographs showed 100% symmetrical distribution of sesamoid bones on right and left sides.

Conclusion

This is the first study in Hong Kong to report prevalence of sesamoid bones in the Chinese Population and identify the symmetry of sesamoid bones in bilateral hands. The result revealed that the Chinese ethnic group had a higher prevalence of sesamoid bones at the 2nd and 3rd MCPJ when compared with other ethnic groups. The distribution of sesamoid bones was symmetrical in bilateral hands.
North Korea’s new capitalists and their workers: Business practice and labor relations
Authors: Lankov Andrei , Ward Peter , Yoo Ho-yeol , Kim Ji-young
Published: July 2017

Over the last two decades, North Korea has gone through a remarkable, though incomplete, transformation. Markets have proliferated and have largely supplanted the moribund state economy. This article discusses labor relations in North Korea’s nascent private sector. It is based on interviews with a number of North Korean entrepreneurs who now reside in the South.
BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF BIG DATA IN INSURANCE PREDICTIVE MODELING USING DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING
Authors: Zhang Yanwei
Published: July 2017

While Bayesian methods have attracted considerable interest in actuarial science, they are yet to be embraced in large-scaled insurance predictive modeling applications, due to inefficiencies of Bayesian estimation procedures. The paper presents an efficient method that parallelizes Bayesian computation using distributed computing on Apache Spark across a cluster of computers. The distributed algorithm dramatically boosts the speed of Bayesian computation and expands the scope of applicability of Bayesian methods in insurance modeling. The empirical analysis applies a Bayesian hierarchical Tweedie model to a big data of 13 million insurance claim records. The distributed algorithm achieves as much as 65 times performance gain over the non-parallel method in this application. The analysis demonstrates that Bayesian methods can be of great value to large-scaled insurance predictive modeling.
Do Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Severity Sub-classification Systems Help to Identify People Who Go on to Experience Long-Term Symptoms?
Authors: Theadom Alice , Barker-Collo Suzanne , Greenwood Andrea , Parmar Priya , Jones Kelly , Starkey Nicola , McPherson Kathryn , Feigin Valery L.
Published: July 2017

Objective: To identify the systems available to sub-classify mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to determine their utility in predicting 1-year outcome.

Methods: A systematic review to identify mild-TBI sub-classification systems was conducted until March 2016. The identified systems were applied to a cohort ofN= 290 adults who had experienced a mild-TBI, and who had been assessed for post-concussion symptoms 1-year post injury. ANOVAs and regression models were used to determine whether each sub-classification system could distinguish between outcomes and to explore their contribution to explaining variance in post-concussion symptoms 1-year post injury.

Results: Nineteen sub-classification systems for mild-TBI met the inclusion criteria for this review. The Saal (1991) classification system significantly differentiated the experience of post-concussion symptoms in our cohort 1-year post injury (F= 2.39,p= 0.05). However, the findings did not remain significant following correction for multiple comparisons and inclusion of socio-demographic and contextual factors in the regression model.

Conclusions: Current sub-classification systems fail to explain much of the variance in post-concussion symptoms 1 year following mild-TBI. Further research is needed to identify the factors (including socio-demographic and contextual factors) to determine, who may be at risk of developing persistent post-concussion symptoms.
Serratia marcescensBacteremia: Nosocomial Cluster Following Narcotic Diversion
Authors: Schuppener Leah M. , Pop-Vicas Aurora E. , Brooks Erin G. , Duster Megan N. , Crnich Christopher J. , Sterkel Alana K. , Webb Aaron P. , Safdar Nasia
Published: July 2017

OBJECTIVE

To describe the investigation and control of a cluster ofSerratia marcescensbacteremia in a 505-bed tertiary-care center.

METHODS

Cluster cases were defined as all patients withS. marcescensbacteremia between March 2 and April 7, 2014, who were found to have identical or related blood isolates determined by molecular typing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Cases were compared using bivariate analysis with controls admitted at the same time and to the same service as the cases, in a 4:1 ratio.

RESULTS

In total, 6 patients developedS. marcescensbacteremia within 48 hours after admission within the above period. Of these, 5 patients had identicalSerratiaisolates determined by molecular typing, and were included in a case-control study. Exposure to the post-anesthesia care unit was a risk factor identified in bivariate analysis. Evidence of tampered opioid-containing syringes on several hospital units was discovered soon after the initial cluster case presented, and a full narcotic diversion investigation was conducted. A nurse working in the post-anesthesia care unit was identified as the employee responsible for the drug diversion and was epidemiologically linked to all 5 patients in the cluster. No further cases were identified once the implicated employee’s job was terminated.

CONCLUSION

Illicit drug use by healthcare workers remains an important mechanism for the development of bloodstream infections in hospitalized patients. Active mechanisms and systems should remain in place to prevent, detect, and control narcotic drug diversions and associated patient harm in the healthcare setting.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol2017;38:1027–1031
Subglacial flood path development during a rapidly rising jökulhlaup from the western Skaftá cauldron, Vatnajökull, Iceland
Authors: EINARSSON BERGUR , JÓHANNESSON TÓMAS , THORSTEINSSON THORSTEINN , GAIDOS ERIC , ZWINGER THOMAS
Published: July 2017

Discharge and water temperature measurements in the Skaftá river and measurements of the lowering of the ice over the subglacial lake at the western Skaftá cauldron, Vatnajökull, Iceland, were made during a rapidly rising glacial outburst flood (jökulhlaup) in September 2006. Outflow from the lake, flood discharge at the glacier terminus and the transient subglacial volume of floodwater during the jökulhlaup are derived from these data. The 40 km long initial subglacial path of the jökulhlaup was mainly formed by lifting and deformation of the overlying ice, induced by water pressure in excess of the ice overburden pressure. Melting of ice due to the heat of the floodwater from the subglacial lake and frictional heat generated by the dissipation of potential energy in the flow played a smaller role. Therefore this event, like other rapidly rising jökulhlaups, cannot be explained by the jökulhlaup theory of Nye (1976). Instead, our observations indicate that they can be explained by a coupled subglacial-sheet–conduit mechanism where essentially all of the initial flood path is formed as a sheet by the propagation of a subglacial pressure wave.
Counter-Fitting
Authors: Hitchcock Peter
Published: July 2017

This essay on postcolonialism, genre, and Africa will jump scales (in its own version of geo-aesthetic impossibility). The general idea is not to think generic incommensurability as necessarily disabling, but rather that the ill-fitting tropes of genre identification are productively engaged in a politics of non-conformance, here elaborated as a logic of counter-fitting. Counter-fitting, what does not fit generic expectation, is not counterfeiting as false but is a politics of aesthetics in which generic authenticity is put into question by the very unevenness of cultural contact and expression. Like the counterfeit, however, the counter-fit reveals something of the logic of exchange in the circulation of genres while also calling into question the attachment to a pure representation. Drawing on this interpretation of the counterfeit, counter-fitting is less a “paradigm of difference,” to borrow from V. Y. Mudimbe, but rather focuses attention on how such a material production of otherness is problematized at the level of genre. Some examples drawn from Algerian fiction will help to clarify this approach.
African Science Fiction and the Planning Imagination
Authors: Eatough Matthew
Published: July 2017

This essay examines the recent rise in popularity of science fiction in Africa. I argue that this growth can be traced to key shifts within the logic of structural adjustment programs. Over the last twenty years, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have begun to place a heightened emphasis on “poverty reduction strategies” (or PRSs). These PRSs have taken the two organizations’ longstanding commitment to free-market policies and adapted them to the rhetoric of social and economic justice by suggesting that “sustainable” welfare programs can only be constructed through the “long-term” benefits of well-planned “institutions.”

As I show, this vision of long-term development has encouraged a move toward fictional forms capable of speaking to elongated temporal scales. Using Nnedi Okorafor’s novelLagoonas my primary example, I investigate how sci-fi narratives have struggled to represent social agency within thelongue duréeof institutional planning.
Introduction: Genre in Africa
Authors: Jaji Tsitsi , Saint Lily
Published: July 2017

In this introduction to this special issue, “Genre and Africa,” Jaji and Saint theorize genre from the perspective of the African continent to explore how such an orientation necessarily interrogates and transforms previous understandings of genre. After a brief review of pivotal work in genre studies, the authors turn to Africa’s particular colonial and postcolonial predicaments to theorize the specific interventions to genre theory that such a vantage point affords. Interwoven are summaries and commentary upon the six essays included in the issue. The introduction then concludes by highlighting several new directions of genre study occasioned by this issue’s contents, including the rise of new media and renewed interest in the intersections of popular forms and affect studies.
“Yes, but . . .” : On Reforming African Literary Scholarship
Authors: Esonwanne Uzoma
Published: July 2017

“Yes, but . . .” subscribes fully to the arguments on the basis of which Tejumola Olaniyan refutes the often unspoken axioms such as the “corporeal” test by which what counts as genuinely “African” in African literary scholarship is determined. In those arguments, which appear in “African Literature in the Post-Global Age: Provocations on Field Commonsense” (PLI 3.3 [2016]: 387–96), he outlines very explicitly the views about the objects of study, methodologies, and critical theories that have implicitly guided the most powerful scholarship on African literature at least since the 1990s. It expresses some concern, however, that, in calling for a reformation of the “ideological test” that appears to tether African Marxist criticism to the critic’s identity, Olaniyan may have inadvertently left open a back door through which the corporeal axiom could sneak back into African literary criticism. To preempt this, it questions the narrative of globalization on the basis of which he posits the category of the “Post-Global Age.” More specifically, it argues that the temporal scheme represented in the “post” in the “post-global” on which his understanding of globalization rests is flawed. Finally, substituting “late capitalism” for globalization, it argues that “If what late capitalism/globalization longs for is to render capitalism as ineluctable ‘as fate,’ then African literary criticism is obliged ‘to consider the possibility that, to the question, “Are “post,” “trans,” and globalist/neo-universalist propositions now (more than ever) definitionally viable for African literature’ ” that Olaniyan poses, “the answer could be a qualified interrogative rather than a simple affirmative: ‘Yes, but . . . ?’ not ‘Yes.’ ”
An Intellectual History of African Literary Studies?
Authors: Osinubi Taiwo Adetunji
Published: July 2017

Twenty-first-century African literary production has generated a number of conundrums for scholars invested in African literary studies as one recognizable field of study. Some of these conundrums drive Tejumola Olaniyan’s declaration of a post-global condition in African literary studies in “African Literature in the Post-Global Age.” Understanding that essay demands a detour through an intellectual history of African literary studies from about 1990 to 2010.
The Ethics of African Studies in the Age of Oga Politics: A Response to Tejumola Olaniyan’s “African Literature in the Post-Global Age”
Authors: Murphy Laura T.
Published: July 2017

In response to Olaniyan’s article “African Literature in the Post-Global Age: Provocations on Field Commonsense,” this paper suggests that Olaniyan’s conception of the “planetary” provides a metaphor for imagining a politics of responsibility in the post-global and anti-globalization age. The urgency for planetary thinking is framed within the current ascendancy of big man or “oga” politics represented by the rise of neoliberal populism around the world and in Huntingtonian “clash of civilizations” logic espoused by both elite nativists such as Donald Trump and grassroots ethnonationalists such as Boko Haram. The paper suggests that African studies continues to play a crucial and increasingly urgent role in amplifying, translating, and supporting various African ways of being and knowing that have long served as critiques of the disenfranchisement of those in global south.
Spatial organization and social relations in a reintroduced population of Endangered Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus
Authors: Sarmento Pedro , Carrapato Carlos , Eira Catarina , Silva João Paulo
Published: July 2017

In 2015 10 Iberian lynxes Lynx pardinus were released in south-eastern Portugal, within the framework of a Spanish–Portuguese reintroduction project. We examined each individual's use of space and social interactions during the first year after their release. Lynxes were selected for reintroduction according to behavioural, genetic and health criteria and fitted with collars with VHF and global positioning systems. Both males and females went through an exploratory phase that lasted 65–105 days. The lynxes did not exhibit any movement directionality from the release site during the exploratory period. During August–December 2015 a stable nucleus comprising seven individuals (four males, three females) was established south-west of the release enclosure. Although the males had a slightly larger mean home range (11.18 ± SE 1.36 km2) than females (9.87 ± SE 8.71 km2), the difference was not significant. The knowledge obtained during the first year of the lynx reintroduction project in Portugal is critical to support the future of this reintroduction strategy. Our results suggest that once the soft release technique is no longer possible because of logistical constraints on the construction of more enclosures, new individuals should be released in unoccupied areas surrounded by occupied territories. This will promote strong social ties to the resident population and prevent lynx dispersal.
Physical constraints on the likelihood of life on exoplanets
Authors: Lingam Manasvi , Loeb Abraham
Published: July 2017

One of the most fundamental questions in exoplanetology is to determine whether a given planet is habitable. We estimate the relative likelihood of a planet's propensity towards habitability by considering key physical characteristics such as the role of temperature on ecological and evolutionary processes, and atmospheric losses via hydrodynamic escape and stellar wind erosion. From our analysis, we demonstrate that Earth-sized exoplanets in the habitable zone around M-dwarfs seemingly display much lower prospects of being habitable relative to Earth, owing to the higher incident ultraviolet fluxes and closer distances to the host star. We illustrate our results by specifically computing the likelihood (of supporting life) for the recently discovered exoplanets, Proximaband TRAPPIST-1e, which we find to be several orders of magnitude smaller than that of Earth.
Medikalisierung und Frauenheilkunde
Authors: Pok Lundquist Judit Lilla
Published: July 2017

Zusammenfassung. Zwei Beispiele für Medikalisierung in der Frauenheilkunde (hormonelle Verhütung und vorsorgliche Asservierung von Eizellen (social freezing)) werden skizziert und mögliche ethische Herausforderungen für Frauen thematisiert.
Ohne hochspezialisierte Medizin war vieles Schicksal – die Änderung des Umfeldes (Patienten, Angehörige, Machbarkeit in der Medizin) schaffte neue Entscheidungszwänge
Authors: Briner Verena
Published: July 2017

Zusammenfassung. Rückblickend auf meine bald 40-jährige Tätigkeit als Ärztin haben sich während dieser Zeit die Gesellschaft, die Patienten, das Umfeld und die medizinischen Möglichkeiten verändert. Dadurch stellen sich neue Herausforderungen in der Patientenbetreuung. Patientenempowerment, das neue Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzgesetz, die zu erfüllenden WZW-Kriterien und nicht zuletzt die enormen Möglichkeiten der modernen Medizin beeinflussen die Entscheidungsfindung heute massgeblich. Die Ärzte* verfügen über die oft langjährige medizinische Expertise und entsprechend wird nach wie vor mehrheitlich entsprechend ihrer Empfehlung entschieden. Ethische Dilemmas entstehen beispielsweise bei Diskrepanz zwischen Autonomieanspruch des Patienten und der Fürsorgepflicht des Behandlungsteams, wenn nicht wirksame oder nicht sinnvolle Diagnostik oder Therapie verlangt werden, wenn unerfüllbare Erwartungen bestehen. Algorithmen helfen im Alltag und Ethikforen an Spitälern in Situationen bei ethisch kritischer Entscheidungsfindung.
„Ich kann doch nicht für jeden Patienten die gleiche Schublade öffnen!“
Authors: Battaglia Denise
Published: July 2017

Zusammenfassung. Weil eine psychische Erkrankungen den Menschen meist als Ganzes beeinflusst und in akuten Phasen auch seine Urteilsfähigkeit, sei es wichtig, dass das Behandlungsteam versuche, die Selbstbestimmung des Patienten zu fördern, sagt Julius Kurmann, Chefarzt der Stationären Dienste der Luzerner Psychiatrie. Dafür sei ein Vertrauensaufbau nötig, und das brauche Zeit. Seit zwei Jahren macht die Klinik mit ihren Patienten individuelle Behandlungsvereinbarungen.
Assessing a New Clue to How Much Carbon Plants Take Up
Authors: Campbell J. , Kesselmeier Jürgen , Yakir Dan , Berry Joe , Peylin Philippe , Belviso Sauveur , Vesala Timo , Maseyk Kadmiel , Seibt Ulrike , Chen Huilin , Whelan Mary , Hilton Timothy , Montzka Stephen , Berkelhammer Max , Lennartz Sinikka , Kuai Le , Wohlfahrt Georg , Wang Yuting , Blake Nicola , Blake Donald , Stinecipher James , Baker Ian , Sitch Stephen
Published: July 2017

Current climate models disagree on how much carbon dioxide land ecosystems take up for photosynthesis. Tracking the stronger carbonyl sulfide signal could help.
A Meaningful Life is a Healthy Life: A Conceptual Model Linking Meaning and Meaning Salience to Health
Authors: Hooker Stephanie A. , Masters Kevin S. , Park Crystal L.
Published: July 2017

Accumulating evidence suggests that a global sense of meaning in life is related to physical health, including increased longevity and reduced morbidity. However, the mechanisms responsible for these relationships remain largely unknown and uninvestigated. Moreover, there is no unifying conceptual framework linking meaning in life to physical health. Our aims are to (a) review the literature linking meaning in life to potential mechanisms associated with better physical health; (b) offer a comprehensive conceptual framework associating meaning in life with physical health; and (c) introduce a new construct, meaning salience, as a potentially important intermediary mechanism. Specifically, we review the evidence suggesting that meaning in life is associated with reduced stress, more adaptive coping, and greater engagement in health-promoting behaviors. Our model proposes that effects of global sense of meaning are potentiated through increased meaning salience, or daily awareness of meaning in the moment, which enhances self-regulation. Suggestions are proposed for empirically examining this new model.
The BH3-only proteins BIM and PUMA are not critical for the reticulocyte apoptosis caused by loss of the pro-survival protein BCL-XL
Authors: Delbridge Alex RD , Aubrey Brandon J , Hyland Craig , Bernardini Jonathan P , Di Rago Ladina , Garnier Jean-Marc , Lessene Guillaume , Strasser Andreas , Alexander Warren S , Grabow Stephanie
Published: July 2017

Anaemia is a major global health problem arising from diverse causes and for which improved therapeutic strategies are needed. Erythroid cells can undergo apoptotic cell death and loss of pro-survival BCL-XL is known to trigger apoptosis during late-stage erythroid development. However, the mechanism by which loss or pharmacological blockade of BCL-XL leads to erythroid cell apoptosis remains unclear. Here we sought to identify the precise stage of erythropoiesis that depends on BCL-XL. We also tested whether deficiency of BIM or PUMA, the two main pro-apoptotic antagonists of BCL-XL, could prevent reticulocyte death and anaemia caused by BCL-XL loss. Using an in vivo mouse model of tamoxifen-inducible Bclx gene deletion and in vitro assays with a BCL-XL-selective inhibitor, we interrogated each stage of erythrocyte differentiation for BCL-XL dependency. This revealed that reticulocytes, but not orthochromatic erythroblasts, require BCL-XL for their survival. Surprisingly, concurrent loss of BIM or PUMA had no significant impact on the development of anemia following acute BCL-XL deletion in vivo. However, analysis of mixed bone marrow chimaeric mice revealed that loss of PUMA, but not loss of BIM, partially alleviated impaired erythropoiesis caused by BCL-XL deficiency. Insight into how the network of pro-survival and pro-apoptotic proteins works will assist the development of strategies to mitigate the effects of abnormal cell death during erythropoiesis and prevent anaemia in patients treated with BCL-XL-specific BH3-mimetic drugs.
A novel three-base duplication, E243dup, of GFAP identified in a patient with Alexander disease
Authors: Yasuda Rei , Yoshida Tomokatsu , Mizuta Ikuko , Nakagawa Masanori , Mizuno Toshiki
Published: July 2017

Alexander disease (AxD) is a rare hereditary neurodegenerative disorder caused by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) gene mutations, most of which are missense mutations. We present an AxD case with a novel de novo three-base duplication mutation in GFAP resulting in E243dup.
IFN‐γ promotes transendothelial migration of CD4+ T cells across the blood–brain barrier
Authors: Sonar Sandip Ashok , Shaikh Shagufta , Joshi Nupura , Atre Ashwini N , Lal Girdhari
Published: July 2017

Transendothelial migration (TEM) of Th1 and Th17 cells across the blood–brain barrier (BBB) has a critical role in the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). How cytokines produced by inflammatory Th1 and Th17 cells damage the endothelial BBB and promote transendothelial migration of immune cells into the central nervous system (CNS) during autoimmunity is not understood. We therefore investigated the effect of various cytokines on brain endothelial cells. Among the various cytokines tested, such as Th1 (IFN‐γ, IL‐1α, IL‐1β, TNF‐α, IL‐12), Th2 (IL‐3, IL‐4, IL‐6 and IL‐13), Th17 (IL‐17A, IL‐17F, IL‐21, IL‐22, IL‐23, GM‐CSF) and Treg‐specific cytokines (IL‐10 and TGF‐β), IFN‐γ predominantly showed increased expression of ICAM‐1, VCAM‐1, MAdCAM‐1, H2‐Kb and I‐Ab molecules on brain endothelial cells. Furthermore, IFN‐γ induced transendothelial migration of CD4+ T cells from the apical (luminal side) to the basal side (abluminal side) of the endothelial monolayer to chemokine CCL21 in a STAT‐1‐dependent manner. IFN‐γ also favored the transcellular route of TEM of CD4+ T cells. Multicolor immunofluorescence and confocal microscopic analysis showed that IFN‐γ induced relocalization of ICAM‐1, PECAM‐1, ZO‐1 and VE‐cadherin in the endothelial cells, which affected the migration of CD4+ T cells. These findings reveal that the IFN‐γ produced during inflammation could contribute towards disrupting the BBB and promoting TEM of CD4+ T cells. Our findings also indicate that strategies that interfere with the activation of CNS endothelial cells may help in controlling neuroinflammation and autoimmunity.
Bacterial lipid droplets bind to DNA via an intermediary protein that enhances survival under stress
Authors: Zhang Congyan , Yang Li , Ding Yunfeng , Wang Yang , Lan Lan , Ma Qin , Chi Xiang , Wei Peng , Zhao Yongfang , Steinbüchel Alexander , Zhang Hong , Liu Pingsheng
Published: July 2017

Lipid droplets (LDs) are multi-functional organelles consisting of a neutral lipid core surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer, and exist in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. Here we study the functions of LDs in the oleaginous bacterium Rhodococcus jostii. We show that these LDs bind to genomic DNA through the major LD protein, MLDS, which increases survival rate of the bacterial cells under nutritional and genotoxic stress. MLDS expression is regulated by a transcriptional regulator, MLDSR, that binds to the operator and promoter of the operon encoding both proteins. LDs sequester MLDSR, controlling its availability for transcriptional regulation. Our findings support the idea that bacterial LDs can regulate nucleic acid function and facilitate bacterial survival under stress.
Quantized circular photogalvanic effect in Weyl semimetals
Authors: de Juan Fernando , Grushin Adolfo G. , Morimoto Takahiro , Moore Joel E
Published: July 2017

The circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE) is the part of a photocurrent that switches depending on the sense of circular polarization of the incident light. It has been consistently observed in systems without inversion symmetry and depends on non-universal material details. Here we find that in a class of Weyl semimetals (for example, SrSi2) and three-dimensional Rashba materials (for example, doped Te) without inversion and mirror symmetries, the injection contribution to the CPGE trace is effectively quantized in terms of the fundamental constants e, h, c and "Equation missing" with no material-dependent parameters. This is so because the CPGE directly measures the topological charge of Weyl points, and non-quantized corrections from disorder and additional bands can be small over a significant range of incident frequencies. Moreover, the magnitude of the CPGE induced by a Weyl node is relatively large, which enables the direct detection of the monopole charge with current techniques.
Combining photocatalytic hydrogen generation and capsule storage in graphene based sandwich structures
Authors: Yang Li , Li Xiyu , Zhang Guozhen , Cui Peng , Wang Xijun , Jiang Xiang , Zhao Jin , Luo Yi , Jiang Jun
Published: July 2017

The challenge of safe hydrogen storage has limited the practical application of solar-driven photocatalytic water splitting. It is hard to isolate hydrogen from oxygen products during water splitting to avoid unwanted reverse reaction or explosion. Here we propose a multi-layer structure where a carbon nitride is sandwiched between two graphene sheets modified by different functional groups. First-principles simulations demonstrate that such a system can harvest light and deliver photo-generated holes to the outer graphene-based sheets for water splitting and proton generation. Driven by electrostatic attraction, protons penetrate through graphene to react with electrons on the inner carbon nitride to generate hydrogen molecule. The produced hydrogen is completely isolated and stored with a high-density level within the sandwich, as no molecules could migrate through graphene. The ability of integrating photocatalytic hydrogen generation and safe capsule storage has made the sandwich system an exciting candidate for realistic solar and hydrogen energy utilization.
A defect in myoblast fusion underlies Carey-Fineman-Ziter syndrome
Authors: Di Gioia Silvio Alessandro , Connors Samantha , Matsunami Norisada , Cannavino Jessica , Rose Matthew F. , Gilette Nicole M. , Artoni Pietro , de Macena Sobreira Nara Lygia , Chan Wai-Man , Webb Bryn D. , Robson Caroline D. , Cheng Long , Van Ryzin Carol , Ramirez-Martinez Andres , Mohassel Payam , Leppert Mark , Scholand Mary Beth , Grunseich Christopher , Ferreira Carlos R. , Hartman Tyler , Hayes Ian M. , Morgan Tim , Markie David M. , Fagiolini Michela , Swift Amy , Chines Peter S. , Speck-Martins Carlos E. , Collins Francis S. , Jabs Ethylin Wang , Bönnemann Carsten G. , Olson Eric N. ,   Moebius Syndrome Research Consortium, Andrews Caroline V. , Barry Brenda J. , Hunter David G. , Mackinnon Sarah E. , Shaaban Sherin , Erazo Monica , Frempong Tamiesha , Hao Ke , Naidich Thomas P. , Rucker Janet C. , Zhang Zhongyang , Biesecker Barbara B. , Bonnycastle Lori L. , Brewer Carmen C. , Brooks Brian P. , Butman John A. , Chien Wade W. , Farrell Kathleen , FitzGibbon Edmond J. , Gropman Andrea L. , Hutchinson Elizabeth B. , Jain Minal S. , King Kelly A. , Lehky Tanya J. , Lee Janice , Liberton Denise K. , Narisu Narisu , Paul Scott M. , Sadeghi Neda , Snow Joseph , Solomon Beth , Summers Angela , Toro Camilo , Thurm Audrey , Zalewski Christopher K. , Carey John C. , Robertson Stephen P. , Manoli Irini , Engle Elizabeth C.
Published: July 2017

Multinucleate cellular syncytial formation is a hallmark of skeletal muscle differentiation. Myomaker, encoded by Mymk (Tmem8c), is a well-conserved plasma membrane protein required for myoblast fusion to form multinucleated myotubes in mouse, chick, and zebrafish. Here, we report that autosomal recessive mutations in MYMK (OMIM 615345) cause Carey-Fineman-Ziter syndrome in humans (CFZS; OMIM 254940) by reducing but not eliminating MYMK function. We characterize MYMK-CFZS as a congenital myopathy with marked facial weakness and additional clinical and pathologic features that distinguish it from other congenital neuromuscular syndromes. We show that a heterologous cell fusion assay in vitro and allelic complementation experiments in mymk knockdown and mymkinsT/insT zebrafish in vivo can differentiate between MYMK wild type, hypomorphic and null alleles. Collectively, these data establish that MYMK activity is necessary for normal muscle development and maintenance in humans, and expand the spectrum of congenital myopathies to include cell-cell fusion deficits.
Ultra strong pyroprotein fibres with long-range ordering
Authors: Cho Se Youn , Yun Young Soo , Jang Dawon , Jeon Jun Woo , Kim Byung Hoon , Lee Sungho , Jin Hyoung-Joon
Published: July 2017

Silks are protein-based natural structured materials with an unusual combination of high strength and elongation. Their unique microstructural features composed of hard β-sheet crystals aligned within a soft amorphous region lead to the robust properties of silks. Herein we report a large enhancement in the intrinsic properties of silk through the transformation of the basic building blocks into a poly-hexagonal carbon structure by a simple heat treatment with axial stretching. The carbon clusters originating from the β-sheet retain the preferred orientation along the fibre axis, resulting in a long-range-ordered graphitic structure by increasing heat-treatment temperatures and leading improvements in mechanical properties with a maximum strength and modulus up to ∼2.6 and ∼470 GPa, respectively, almost four and thirty times surpassing those of raw silk. Moreover, the formation of sp2 carbon configurations induce a significant change in the electrical properties (e.g. an electrical conductivity up to 4.37 × 103 S cm−1).
Seed Metabolome Analysis of a Transgenic Rice Line Expressing Cholera Toxin B-subunit
Authors: Ogawa Takumi , Kashima Koji , Yuki Yoshikazu , Mejima Mio , Kurokawa Shiho , Kuroda Masaharu , Okazawa Atsushi , Kiyono Hiroshi , Ohta Daisaku
Published: July 2017

Plant-based human vaccines have been actively developed in recent years, and rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the best candidate crops for their production and delivery. By expressing a modified cholera toxin B (CTB) subunit, we previously developed MucoRice-CTB, a rice-based vaccine against cholera, which is caused by infection of the intestine with the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. MucoRice-CTB lines have been extensively characterized by whole-genome sequencing and proteome analyses to evaluate the mutation profiles and proteome status, respectively. Here, we report non-targeted metabolomic profiling of the MucoRice-CTB transgenic rice line 51A (MR-CTB51A), MucoRice-RNAi (MR-RNAi), and their non-transgenic parent line by using gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The levels of several amino acids, organic acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and secondary metabolites were significantly increased in MR-CTB51A compared with the non-transgenic parent line. These metabolomics results complement essential information obtained by genome sequencing and proteomics approaches, thereby contributing to comprehensive understanding of the properties of MucoRice-CTB as a plant-based vaccine.
A Robust Method for Inferring Network Structures
Authors: Yang Yang , Luo Tingjin , Li Zhoujun , Zhang Xiaoming , Yu Philip S.
Published: July 2017

Inferring the network structure from limited observable data is significant in molecular biology, communication and many other areas. It is challenging, primarily because the observable data are sparse, finite and noisy. The development of machine learning and network structure study provides a great chance to solve the problem. In this paper, we propose an iterative smoothing algorithm with structure sparsity (ISSS) method. The elastic penalty in the model is introduced for the sparse solution, identifying group features and avoiding over-fitting, and the total variation (TV) penalty in the model can effectively utilize the structure information to identify the neighborhood of the vertices. Due to the non-smoothness of the elastic and structural TV penalties, an efficient algorithm with the Nesterov’s smoothing optimization technique is proposed to solve the non-smooth problem. The experimental results on both synthetic and real-world networks show that the proposed model is robust against insufficient data and high noise. In addition, we investigate many factors that play important roles in identifying the performance of ISSS.
A New Paradigm for Understanding and Enhancing the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) Limit
Authors: Fazeli Abdolreza , Moghaddam Saeed
Published: July 2017

Nearly a century of research on enhancing critical heat flux (CHF) has focused on altering the boiling surface properties such as its nucleation site density, wettability, wickability and heat transfer area. But, a mechanism to manipulate dynamics of the vapor and liquid interactions above the boiling surface as a means of enhancing CHF has not been proposed. Here, a new approach is implemented to limit the vapor phase lateral expansion over the heat transfer surface and actively control the surface wetted area fraction, known to decline monotonically with increasing heat flux. This new degree of freedom has enabled reaching unprecedented CHF levels and revealed new details about the physics of CHF. The impact of wickability, effective heat transfer area, and liquid pressure on CHF is precisely quantified. Test results show that, when rewetting is facilitated, the CHF increases linearly with the effective surface heat transfer area. A maximum CHF of 1.8 kW/cm2 was achieved on a copper structure with the highest surface area among all tested surfaces. A model developed based on the experimental data suggests that the thermal conductivity of the surface structures ultimately limits the CHF; and a maximum CHF of 7–8 kW/cm2 may be achieved using diamond surface structures.
Lybatides from Lycium barbarum Contain An Unusual Cystine-stapled Helical Peptide Scaffold
Authors: Tan Wei Liang , Wong Ka H. , Lei Jian , Sakai Naoki , Tan Hong Wei , Hilgenfeld Rolf , Tam James P.
Published: July 2017

Cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) of 2–6 kDa are generally thermally and proteolytically stable because of their multiple cross-bracing disulfide bonds. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of two novel cystine-stapled CRPs, designated lybatide 1 and 2 (lyba1 and lyba2), from the cortex of Lycium barbarum root. Lybatides, 32 to 33 amino acids in length, are hyperstable and display a novel disulfide connectivity with a cysteine motif of C-C-C-C-CC-CC which contains two pairs of adjacent cysteines (-CC-CC). X-ray structure analysis revealed the presence of a single cystine-stabilized (α + π)-helix in lyba2, a rare feature of CRPs. Together, our results suggest that lybatides, one of the smallest four-disulfide-constrained plant CRPs, is a new family of CRPs. Additionally, this study provides new insights into the molecular diversity of plant cysteine-rich peptides and the unusual lybatide scaffold could be developed as a useful template for peptide engineering and therapeutic development.
The lncRNA MALAT1 acts as a competing endogenous RNA to regulate KRAS expression by sponging miR-217 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Authors: Liu Pingping , Yang Haiyan , Zhang Jing , Peng Xiaozhong , Lu Zhaohui , Tong Weimin , Chen Jie
Published: July 2017

The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript-1 (MALAT1) has been shown to play an important role in tumourigenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of MALAT1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. MALAT1 is expressed at higher levels in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tissues than in nontumour tissues and in metastatic PDAC than in localized tumours. Patients with PDAC and high MALAT1 expression levels have shorter overall survival than patients with PDAC and low MALAT1 expression levels. Knocking down MALAT1 reduces pancreatic tumour cell growth and proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, MALAT1 knockdown inhibits cell cycle progression and impairs tumour cell migration and invasion. We found that miR-217 can bind MALAT1 and regulate its expression in PDAC cell lines. We also found MALAT1 knockdown attenuates the protein expression of KRAS, a known target of miR-217. After MALAT1 knockdown, KRAS protein expression levels can be rescued through inhibition of miR-217 expression. More importantly, MALAT1 knockdown does not directly affect cellular miR-217 expression but decreases the miR-217 nucleus/cytoplasm ratio, suggesting that MALAT1 inhibits the translocation of miR-217 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.
The behavioral and neural basis of empathic blame
Authors: Patil Indrajeet , Calò Marta , Fornasier Federico , Cushman Fiery , Silani Giorgia
Published: July 2017

Mature moral judgments rely both on a perpetrator’s intent to cause harm, and also on the actual harm caused–even when unintended. Much prior research asks how intent information is represented neurally, but little asks how even unintended harms influence judgment. We interrogate the psychological and neural basis of this process, focusing especially on the role of empathy for the victim of a harmful act. Using fMRI, we found that the ‘empathy for pain’ network was involved in encoding harmful outcomes and integrating harmfulness information for different types of moral judgments, and individual differences in the extent to which this network was active during encoding and integration of harmfulness information determined severity of moral judgments. Additionally, activity in the network was down-regulated for acceptability, but not blame, judgments for accidental harm condition, suggesting that these two types of moral evaluations are neurobiologically dissociable. These results support a model of “empathic blame”, whereby the perceived suffering of a victim colors moral judgment of an accidental harmdoer.
Inhibition of β-Glucocerebrosidase Activity Preserves Motor Unit Integrity in a Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Henriques Alexandre , Huebecker Mylene , Blasco Hélène , Keime Céline , Andres Christian R. , Corcia Philippe , Priestman David A. , Platt Frances M. , Spedding Michael , Loeffler Jean-Philippe
Published: July 2017

Recent metabolomic reports connect dysregulation of glycosphingolipids, particularly ceramide and glucosylceramide, to neurodegeneration and to motor unit dismantling in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at late disease stage. We report here altered levels of gangliosides in the cerebrospinal fluid of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients in early disease stage. Conduritol B epoxide is an inhibitor of acid beta-glucosidase, and lowers glucosylceramide degradation. Glucosylceramide is the precursor for all of the more complex glycosphingolipids. In SOD1G86R mice, an animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, conduritol B epoxide preserved ganglioside distribution at the neuromuscular junction, delayed disease onset, improved motor function and preserved motor neurons as well as neuromuscular junctions from degeneration. Conduritol B epoxide mitigated gene dysregulation in the spinal cord and restored the expression of genes involved in signal transduction and axonal elongation. Inhibition of acid beta-glucosidase promoted faster axonal elongation in an in vitro model of neuromuscular junctions and hastened recovery after peripheral nerve injury in wild type mice. Here, we provide evidence that glycosphingolipids play an important role in muscle innervation, which degenerates in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis from the early disease stage. This is a first proof of concept study showing that modulating the catabolism of glucosylceramide may be a therapeutic target for this devastating disease.
Membrane progesterone receptor beta (mPRβ/Paqr8) promotes progesterone-dependent neurite outgrowth in PC12 neuronal cells via non-G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling
Authors: Kasubuchi Mayu , Watanabe Keita , Hirano Kanako , Inoue Daisuke , Li Xuan , Terasawa Kazuya , Konishi Morichika , Itoh Nobuyuki , Kimura Ikuo
Published: July 2017

Recently, sex steroid membrane receptors garnered world-wide attention because they may be related to sex hormone-mediated unknown rapid non-genomic action that cannot be currently explained by their genomic action via nuclear receptors. Progesterone affects cell proliferation and survival via non-genomic effects. In this process, membrane progesterone receptors (mPRα, mPRβ, mPRγ, mPRδ, and mPRε) were identified as putative G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) for progesterone. However, the structure, intracellular signaling, and physiological functions of these progesterone receptors are still unclear. Here, we identify a molecular mechanism by which progesterone promotes neurite outgrowth through mPRβ (Paqr8) activation. Mouse mPRβ mRNA was specifically expressed in the central nervous system. It has an incomplete GPCR topology, presenting 6 transmembrane domains and did not exhibit typical GPCR signaling. Progesterone-dependent neurite outgrowth was exhibited by the promotion of ERK phosphorylation via mPRβ, but not via other progesterone receptors such as progesterone membrane receptor 1 (PGRMC-1) and nuclear progesterone receptor in nerve growth factor-induced neuronal PC12 cells. These findings provide new insights of regarding the non-genomic action of progesterone in the central nervous system.