bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Microevolución En San Pedro De Atacama (Norte De Chile): El Cementerio De Quitor
Authors: Varela Héctor Hugo , Cocilovo José Alberto
Published: February 2017

Se estudia la diferenciación temporal y la divergencia genética entre los períodos Formativo (300 a.C–400 d.C), Tiwanaku (400 d.C–1000 d.C.) y Desarrollo Regional (1000 d.C–1470 d.C.) del grupo inhumado en el ayllu de Quitor de San Pedro de Atacama (Norte de Chile), con el fin de conocer si existen cambios biológicos asociados con los períodos o fases del desarrollo cultural de la región. La muestra está representada por 326 individuos provenientes de diferentes sitios o sectores del yacimiento. Para evaluar las diferencias fenotípicas entre períodos se emplearon 37 caracteres métricos del cráneo y un conjunto de procedimientos de análisis estadístico uni y multivariado. En el marco de la teoría genética de los caracteres cuantitativos se espera que el parentesco de cada período junto con la varianza fenotípica, fluctúen de acuerdo con el tamaño efectivo y el aporte migratorio desde regiones próximas y más o menos distantes. En efecto, el parentesco promedio estimado para este ayllu (FST) fue de .03, siendo mayor en mujeres que en hombres. En general, de acuerdo con este valor es posible inferir que los habitantes de Quitor vivieron en una condición de mayor aislamiento que los grupos agroalfareros asentados en el Valle de Azapa (FST = .013). Además en el período Medio (Tiwanaku) se produjo un incremento moderado de la varianza fenotípica producida probablemente por un exceso de flujo gènico proveniente de regiones próximas.
Early Olmec Writing: Reading Format and Reading Order
Authors: Mora-Marín David F.
Published: February 2017

This paper analyzes the reading format and reading order of the recently described Cascajal Block, an artifact with an Olmec-style inscription. The analysis, based not on the iconicity of the signs and their orientation, but solely on the formal and organizational characteristics of the text as a whole, and the patterns of repeated sign sequences, suggests that the text was written from left-to-right, bottom-to-top—if one assumes the orientation assigned to the block by Rodríguez Martínez et al. (2006). However, a simple 90-degree rotation of the block would render the text in left-to-right, top-to-bottom reading format and order—the same as that of later Mesoamerican scripts. It is suggested that the San Andres roller stamp and the La Venta obsidian core, both of which exhibit a pictorial image and an accompanying text, allow for a determination of the relative orientation of text and image with respect to each other, and support the hypothesis for the reading format proposed here. Also, preliminary structural analysis of the text reveals several patterns that are possibly indicative of linguistic structuring, and steps for future work on decipherment are outlined. Finally, the findings are placed within a broader context of previous studies of Olmec writing.
The Terminal Formative to Classic Period Obsidian Assemblage at Palo Errado, Veracruz, Mexico
Authors: Knight Charles L. F. , Glascock Michael D.
Published: February 2017

Abbreviated Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) was carried out on a sample of obsidian artifacts from the Terminal Formative to early Late Classic period site of Palo Errado, located in the southern Gulf lowlands of Veracruz, Mexico. Our understanding of Classic period obsidian economies in the southern Gulf lowlands has been largely informed by studies of the political economies of the highland Mexican cities of Teotihuacan and Cantona, which appear to have controlled the Pachuca and Otumba, and Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian sources, respectively. However, the NAA results from Palo Errado indicate that while the local obsidian economy was dominated by prismatic blade technology utilizing Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian, five additional highland Mexican sources were used during the Early Classic period. The presence of Ucareo and the use of Otumba in core-blade reduction, for instance, set Palo Errado apart from contemporary sites in the southern Gulf lowlands. Temporal variation in quantity of supplemental obsidian sources and their use in different reduction technologies suggest that consumers at Palo Errado had access to abundant Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian of a quality high enough to facilitate the production of fine prismatic blades. At the same time, however, they continued to participate in exchange networks that tied them to other areas of central Mexico, independently from other contemporaneous sites in the southern Gulf lowlands.
War, Chronology, and Causality in the Titicaca Basin
Authors: Arkush Elizabeth
Published: February 2017

In the Late Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1000-1450), people in many parts of the Andean highlands moved away from rich agricultural lands to settle in defensive sites high on hills and ridges, frequently building hilltop forts known as pukaras in Quechua and Aymara. This settlement shift indicates a concern with warfare not equaled at any other time in the archaeological sequence. While the traditional assumption is that warfare in the Late Intermediate Period resulted directly from the collapse of the Middle Horizon polities of Wari and Tiwanaku around A.D. 1000, radiocarbon dates presented here from occupation and wall-building events at pukaras in the northern Titicaca Basin indicate these hillforts did not become common until late in the Late Intermediate Period, after approximately A.D. 1300. Alternative explanations for this late escalation of warfare are evaluated, especially climate change. On a local scale, the shifting nature of pukara occupation indicates cycles of defense, abandonment, reoccupation, and wall building within a broader context of elevated hostilities that lasted for the rest of the Late Intermediate Period and beyond.
French Music Criticism and Musicology at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: New Journals, New Networks
Authors: Duchesneau Michel
Published: February 2017

This article examines the efforts of French musicologists to create a specialized journal at the turn of the twentieth century that would clearly associate music criticism and musicology. Using as case study a set of music journals, from La Revue d’histoire et de critique musicales to the Mercure musical and the Revue S.I.M. that followed, I establish the connections that brought together the nascent musicological milieu, the musical press and the artistic affinities among the principal actors in their attempt to create a new network of music critics guided by musicological exigencies. Jules Combarieu, Romain Rolland, Louis Laloy, Jean Marnold, Émile Vuillermoz and Jules Écorcheville are some of the musicologists engaged in this project between 1900 and 1914. But historical contingencies make this project a relative utopia, and requirements of the young musicology hardly meet that of a music criticism divided between disciplinary tradition and the necessity to support contemporary music. After the war, with the founding of a new Revue musicale, René Prunières, prudently, would not hire musicologists to develop a music criticism. Instead, he took up the characteristically Republican project of promoting musical culture, and thus responding to the interests of both the cultivated bourgeoisie and the musical, literary and artistic milieus through diffusion of music knowledge.
Revisiting the History of Socio-professional Classification in France
Authors: Amossé Thomas
Published: February 2017

The result of a process begun in the nineteenth century, the French system of socio-professional classification (code des catégories socio-professionnelles) was drawn up between 1951 and 1954 and has only been slightly modified since. With no strong theoretical framework and conceived according to a realist approach, it gave substance to social classes in the description of postwar society. During a period of “reworking” (1978-1981), it became an exciting topic of sociological exploration, furnishing a representation of Pierre Bourdieu’s two-dimensional social space and serving as a laboratory for the pragmatic sociology of Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot. In a subsequent period of “updating” (1995-2001), administrative caution regarding changes contrasted with the evolution of categories used in labor law and the goal of analytical purity underpinned by econometrics. The history of this classification details the peculiar position of a statistical tool for representing the social world, ostensibly static amidst constant changes to the institution that managed it, the actors who used it, the social categories—everyday or legal—to which it referred, and, finally, the sociological theories that gave it a conceptual grounding.
Of Loss and Loot: Stalin-Era Culture, Foreign Aid, and Trophy Goods in the Soviet Union during the 1940s
Authors: Moine Nathalie
Published: February 2017

This article focuses on the influx and circulation of foreign objects in the Soviet Union during the 1940s in order to investigate the specific role of these objects during World War II. It reveals how the distribution of humanitarian aid intersected with both the (non)recognition of the genocide of Soviet Jews during the Nazi occupation, and with Stalinist social hierarchies. It explains why erasing the origins and precise circumstances through which these objects entered Soviet homes could in turn be used to hide the abuses that the Red Army perpetrated against their defeated enemies. Finally, it revises the image of a Soviet society that discovered luxury and Western modernity for the first time during the war by reconsidering the place and the trajectories of these objects in Stalinist material culture of the interwar period.
Access to Communication Tools in Stalin’s Soviet Union
Authors: Zakharova Larissa
Published: February 2017

This article examines the status and the place of such means of interpersonal communication as mail, the telegraph, and the telephone in Soviet society under Stalin. Access to tools of communication created a certain hierarchy in the Soviet Union: the telephone was only accessible in large cities, whereas postal services remained limited across the countryside. As it was being implemented, the Soviet project of a communicating society proved to be full of disparities, ultimately centered on the city-dwelling elite. While the radial scheme of communications networks favored contact between the capital and the provinces, the geographical proximity of the regions did not facilitate communications between their inhabitants. The construction of long-distance networks of sociability was affected by the territorial dimensions of the country, varying access to tools of communication, weak technological development, and bureaucratic malfunctioning.
Eighteenth-Century Matrimonial Strategies and Emigration to the Americas: The House of Berrio in La Bastide Clairence
Authors: Force Pierre
Published: February 2017

Prior to the massive wave of emigration to South America during the nineteenth century, inhabitants of rural communities in the western French Pyrenees emigrated in large numbers to Saint-Domingue and other Caribbean islands. This article examines the connections between migratory movements and the organization of these communities into “house societies” (Lévi-Strauss) in which the continuation of the “house” was paramount and no new “houses” could be founded. Adopting a microhistorical approach, it analyzes the complex role of inheritance rights in the decision to emigrate and reconstructs the networks that made emigration possible. Unlike the traditional belief that sons were forced to leave because they were deprived of their share of inheritance, the family unit fully supported the emigration of its younger members. This article also argues that emigration simultaneously resulted from and undermined the “house system.”
Mercantile Credit and Trading Rings in the Eighteenth Century
Authors: Gervais Pierre
Published: February 2017

Merchant credit was the main source of profit for economic agents in the eighteenth-century. Managing cash, commercial instruments, and account books, Atlantic traders such as Gradis of Bordeaux—who dealt in colonial products (including indigo, sugar, and coffee) and exported staples (flour and wine) to Quebec—or Hollingsworth of Philadelphia (an important dealer in flour and colonial produce) achieved market domination through specialized credit networks integrating market exchange and both moral and social interactions. Since a Weberian or a Homo Oeconomicus view of these complex credit activities leads to anachronisms, this article eschews standard economic approaches in favor of more historicized views of early modern economic activity, credit networks, and profit-making techniques.
Gender Regimes and Classical Greek Antiquity in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC
Authors: Cuchet Violaine Sebillotte
Published: February 2017

Gender studies use gender to characterize behavioral norms, personality traits, and the relative importance given to differences between the sexes in individual relationships. In the field of Classical studies, these three definitions usually converge to isolate a single gender system: the polarity betweenanēr(male citizen) andgunē(wife and mother), which is strictly articulated as a division between male/female. Nonetheless, a number of studies, particularly those dealing with sexuality, have demonstrated that ancient Greek societies were not systematically organized according to gender differences. These conclusions encourage researchers to examine the various points of view expressed in documents elaborated by the Greeks living on the shores of the ancient Mediterranean. Contrary to what is commonly believed, the male/female division often seems secondary to that opposing members of the community to foreigners, Greeks to Barbarians or mortals to immortals.
Gender and Peace Intermarriage Between Four Communes in the March of Ancona in 1306
Authors: Lett Didier
Published: February 2017

On February 18, 1306, the city of Camerino signed a peace treaty with three neighboring communes (Matelica, San Severino, and Fabriano). Among its provisions was a plan for a series of marriages between the inhabitants of the four communes, which would have made a group of 140 men brothers-in-law through the exchange of 140 women. Analyzing this document and its extraordinary clause—which was never enforced and did not bring hostilities to an end—, this article examines the genesis of a gender regime in a specific historical, documentary, and relational context. Adopting a pragmatic approach to gender as a means for understanding social interactions, the article analyzes the roles elite men assigned to women of their communities in reconciliation rituals, matrimonial alliances as miniature figures of peace, and the systems established to ensure the transfer of dowries and the granting of citizenship. Under such gender regimes, women served as mediators, promoting peace in their households so that it would spread throughout the entire community. They also provided dowries and citizenship to men, allowing them to maintain their dominant role in society.
The Paragraph as Information Technology: How News Traveled in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World
Authors: Slauter Will
Published: February 2017

The newspapers of the eighteenth-century Atlantic world copied, translated, and corrected each other. Part of the technology facilitating the transmission of international news was the paragraph, a textual unit that was easily removed from one source and inserted into another. In eighteenth-century London the paragraph became the basic unit of printed news, relaying political messages and also providing the means by which these messages could be analyzed. Subject to a whole range of editorial interventions, the form and content of news reports evolved as they circulated from one place to the other. Integrating scholarship on journalism in Europe, Great Britain, and the United States, this article compares reports in French, English, and Spanish-language newspapers in order to understand the process of newsmaking. Two detailed examples from the American Revolutionary war demonstrate how political news in the Revolutionary age was a collaborative process linking printers, translators, readers, and ship captains on both sides of the Atlantic. In doing so it highlights the importance of the paragraph as an object of historical study.
Manorialism and Risk Management in Pre-Industrial Society: Sweden in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Authors: Dribe Martin , Olsson Mats , Svensson Patrick
Published: February 2017

Throughout pre-industrial Europe, the manorial estate was an important institution in the rural economy. Related literature communicates the widespread view that the estates insured their tenants against uncertainties, for example, in times of economic hardship. By distributing grain or accepting deferment of rents, the manors helped to alleviate hunger in times of scarcity. If this insurance was indeed effective, then manorial tenants should have experienced less fluctuation in income or food availability than other peasants. However, there has not been much empirical confirmation that the pre-industrial estates were effective in providing this kind of insurance. This study uses the impact of grain prices on demographic outcomes as a measure of the efficiency of the manorial system in protecting its inhabitants against economic stress. Looking at four hundred parishes in Sweden (1749-1859), the manorial estate seems to have been able to insure its inhabitants against risks of economic stress, but the protective effect was imperfect and only visible in the short term.
Hiring Freeze Sparks Worries at Science Agencies
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: February 2017

Other presidents have instituted hiring freezes, but some federal employee representatives worry that President Donald Trump's order is different because more draconian measures might follow.
Correction: Corrigendum: A magneto-electro-optical effect in a plasmonic nanowire material
Authors: Valente João , Ou Jun-Yu , Plum Eric , Youngs Ian J. , Zheludev Nikolay I.
Published: February 2017

Nature Communications 6: Article number: 7021 (2015); Published 24 April 2015; Updated 7 February 2017 This Article was originally published under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, but has now been made available under a CC BY 4.0 license. The PDF and HTML versions of the paper have been modified accordingly.
The Nedd8 Non-covalent Binding Region in the Smurf HECT Domain is Critical to its Ubiquitn Ligase Function
Authors: He Shan , Cao Yu , Xie Ping , Dong Guanglong , Zhang Lingqiang
Published: February 2017

Nedd8 is a ubiquitin-like protein that controls vital biological events through conjugation to target proteins. We previously identified the HECT-type ubiquitin ligase Smurf1 which controls diverse cellular processes is activated by Nedd8 through covalent neddylation. However, the effect of non-covalent binding to Nedd8 remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that both Smurf1 and its homologue Smurf2 carry a non-covalent Nedd8-binding site within its catalytic HECT domain. Structural analysis reveals that Smurf2 has Nedd8-binding sites within the small sub-domain of N-lobe and the C-lobe of HECT domain. Interestingly, the consensus Nedd8 binding sequence, L(X7)R(X5)F(X)ALQ is conserved in both Smurfs. Mutational studies reveal that all the five residues in the conserved sequence are required for binding to Nedd8. Functional studies suggest that mutations that disrupt Smurf interaction with Nedd8 reduce its neddylation and stabilize the protein. Furthermore, Nedd8 binding site in Smurf is shown to be necessary for its ubiquitin ligase activity towards the substrate and also the self-ubiquitylation. Finally, we show that Nedd8 binding to Smurf plays important roles in the regulation of cell migration and the BMP and TGFβ signaling pathways.
Improving the therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stromal cells to restore perfusion in critical limb ischemia through pulsed focused ultrasound
Authors: Tebebi Pamela A. , Kim Saejeong J. , Williams Rashida A. , Milo Blerta , Frenkel Victor , Burks Scott R. , Frank Joseph A.
Published: February 2017

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are promising therapeutics for critical limb ischemia (CLI). Mechanotransduction from pulsed focused ultrasound (pFUS) upregulates local chemoattractants to enhance homing of intravenously (IV)-infused MSC and improve outcomes. This study investigated whether pFUS exposures to skeletal muscle would improve local homing of iv-infused MSCs and their therapeutic efficacy compared to iv-infused MSCs alone. CLI was induced by external iliac arterial cauterization in 10–12-month-old mice. pFUS/MSC treatments were delayed 14 days, when surgical inflammation subsided. Mice were treated with iv-saline, pFUS alone, IV-MSC, or pFUS and IV-MSC. Proteomic analyses revealed pFUS upregulated local chemoattractants and increased MSC tropism to CLI muscle. By 7 weeks post-treatment, pFUS + MSC significantly increased perfusion and CD31 expression, while reducing fibrosis compared to saline. pFUS or MSC alone reduced fibrosis, but did not increase perfusion or CD31. Furthermore, MSCs homing to pFUS-treated CLI muscle expressed more vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) than MSCs homing to non-pFUS-treated muscle. pFUS + MSC improved perfusion and vascular density in this clinically-relevant CLI model. The molecular effects of pFUS increased both MSC homing and MSC production of VEGF and IL-10, suggesting microenvironmental changes from pFUS also increased potency of MSCs in situ to further enhance their efficacy.
A hybrid electrochemical device based on a synergetic inner combination of Li ion battery and Li ion capacitor for energy storage
Authors: Zheng Jun-Sheng , Zhang Lei , Shellikeri Annadanesh , Cao Wanjun , Wu Qiang , Zheng Jim P.
Published: February 2017

Li ion battery (LIB) and electrochemical capacitor (EC) are considered as the most widely used energy storage systems (ESSs) because they can produce a high energy density or a high power density, but it is a huge challenge to achieve both the demands of a high energy density as well as a high power density on their own. A new hybrid Li ion capacitor (HyLIC), which combines the advantages of LIB and Li ion capacitor (LIC), is proposed. This device can successfully realize a potential match between LIB and LIC and can avoid the excessive depletion of electrolyte during the charge process. The galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling tests reveal that at low current, the HyLIC exhibits a high energy density, while at high current, it demonstrates a high power density. Ragone plot confirms that this device can make a synergetic balance between energy and power and achieve a highest energy density in the power density range of 80 to 300 W kg−1. The cycle life test proves that HyLIC exhibits a good cycle life and an excellent coulombic efficiency. The present study shows that HyLIC, which is capable of achieving a high energy density, a long cycle life and an excellent power density, has the potential to achieve the winning combination of a high energy and power density.
Phase Diagram of Continuous Binary Nanoalloys: Size, Shape, and Segregation Effects
Authors: Cui Mingjin , Lu Haiming , Jiang Haiping , Cao Zhenhua , Meng Xiangkang
Published: February 2017

The phase diagrams of continuous binary nanoalloys are important in providing guidance for material designs and industrial applications. However, experimental determination of the nano-phase diagram is scarce since calorimetric measurements remain quite challenging at the nanoscale. Based on the size-dependent cohesive energy model, we developed a unified nano-thermodynamic model to investigate the effects of the size, shape, and segregation on the phase diagrams of continuous binary nanoalloys. The liquidus/solidus dropped in temperature, two-phase zone was narrowed, and the degree of surface segregation decreased with decrease in the size or increase in the shape factor. The congruent melting point of Cu-Au nanoalloys with and without segregation is linearly shifted to higher Au component and lower temperature with decreasing size or increasing shape factor. By reviewing surface segregated element of different binary nanoalloys, two segregation rules based on the solid surface energy and atomic size have been identified. Moreover, the established model can be employed to describe other physicochemical properties of nanoalloys, e.g. the cohesive energy, catalytic activation energy, and order-disorder transition temperature, and the validity is supported by available other theoretical prediction, experimental data and molecular dynamic simulations results. This will help the experimentalists by guiding them in their attempts to design bimetallic nanocrystals with the desired properties.
Effect of exogenous selenium supply on photosynthesis, Na+ accumulation and antioxidative capacity of maize (Zea mays L.) under salinity stress
Authors: Jiang Chaoqiang , Zu Chaolong , Lu Dianjun , Zheng Qingsong , Shen Jia , Wang Huoyan , Li Decheng
Published: February 2017

The mechanism of selenium-mediated salt tolerance has not been fully clarified. This study investigated the possible role of selenium (Se) in regulating maize salt tolerance. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the role of Se (0, 1, 5 and 25 μM Na2SeO3) in photosynthesis, antioxidative capacity and ion homeostasis in maize under salinity. The results showed that Se (1 μM) relieved the salt-induced inhibitory effects on the plant growth and development of 15-day-old maize plants. Se application (1 μM) also increased the net photosynthetic rate and alleviated the damage to chloroplast ultrastructure induced by NaCl. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities were increased, and ZmMPK5, ZmMPK7 and ZmCPK11 were markedly up-regulated in the roots of Se-treated plants, likely contributing to the improvement of antioxidant defence systems under salinity. Moreover, 1 μM Se increased K+ in the shoots while decreasing Na+ in the roots, indicating that Se up-regulates ZmNHX1 in the roots, which may be involved in Na+ compartmentalisation under salinity. The findings from this single experiment require repetition together with measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS), but nevertheless suggest that exogenous Se alleviates salt stress in maize via the improvement of photosynthetic capacity, the activities of antioxidant enzymes and the regulation of Na+ homeostasis.
Phytoalexin Phenalenone Derivatives Inactivate Mosquito Larvae and Root-knot Nematode as Type-II Photosensitizer
Authors: Song Runjiang , Feng Yian , Wang Donghui , Xu Zhiping , Li Zhong , Shao Xusheng
Published: February 2017

Phytoalexins phenalenones (PNs) are phytochemicals biosynthesized inside the plant in responsive to exterior threat. PNs are excellent type-II photosensitizers, which efficiently produce singlet oxygen upon light irradiation. Based on the core functional structure of PNs, novel PN derivatives were synthesized here and their singlet oxygen generating abilities and their phototoxicity were evaluated. At the presence of light, these PNs have photoinduced toxicity towards Aedes albopictus larvae and nematode Meloidogyne incognita, while the activity lost in the dark. The obvious tissue damage was observed on the treated mosquito larvae and nematode due to the generation of singlet oxygen. Our results revealed the potential of phenalenones as photoactivated agents for mosquito and root-knot nematode management together with light.
Noninvasive and quantitative intracranial pressure estimation using ultrasonographic measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter
Authors: Wang Li-juan , Yao Yan , Feng Liang-shu , Wang Yu-zhi , Zheng Nan-nan , Feng Jia-chun , Xing Ying-qi
Published: February 2017

We aimed to quantitatively assess intracranial pressure (ICP) using optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) measurements. We recruited 316 neurology patients in whom ultrasonographic ONSD was measured before lumbar puncture. They were randomly divided into a modeling and a test group at a ratio of 7:3. In the modeling group, we conducted univariate and multivariate analyses to assess associations between ICP and ONSD, age, sex, BMI, mean arterial blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure. We derived the mathematical function “Xing & Wang” from the modelling group to predict ICP and evaluated the function in the test group. In the modeling group, ICP was strongly correlated with ONSD (r = 0.758, p < 0.001), and this association was independent of other factors. The mathematical function was ICP = −111.92 + 77.36 × ONSD (Durbin-Watson value = 1.94). In the test group, a significant correlation was found between the observed and predicted ICP (r = 0.76, p < 0.001). Bland-Altman analysis yielded a mean difference between measurements of −0.07 ± 41.55 mmH2O. The intraclass correlation coefficient and its 95%CIs for noninvasive ICP assessments using our prediction model was 0.86 (0.79–0.90). Ultrasonographic ONSD measurements provide a potential noninvasive method to quantify ICP that can be conducted at the bedside.
Investigating the temporal dynamics of suspended sediment during flood events with 7Be and 210Pbxs measurements in a drained lowland catchment
Authors: Le Gall Marion , Evrard Olivier , Foucher Anthony , Laceby J. Patrick , Salvador-Blanes Sébastien , Manière Louis , Lefèvre Irène , Cerdan Olivier , Ayrault Sophie
Published: February 2017

Soil erosion is recognized as one of the main processes of land degradation in agricultural areas. High suspended sediment loads, often generated from eroding agricultural landscapes, are known to degrade downstream environments. Accordingly, there is a need to understand soil erosion dynamics during flood events. Suspended sediment was therefore sampled in the river network and at tile drain outlets during five flood events in a lowland drained catchment in France. Source and sediment fallout radionuclide concentrations (7Be, 210Pbxs) were measured to quantify both the fraction of recently eroded particles transported during flood events and their residence time. Results indicate that the mean fraction of recently eroded sediment, estimated for the entire Louroux catchment, increased from 45 ± 20% to 80 ± 20% between December 2013 and February 2014, and from 65 ± 20% to 80 ± 20% in January 2016. These results demonstrate an initial flush of sediment previously accumulated in the river channel before the increasing supply of sediment recently eroded from the hillslopes during subsequent events. This research highlights the utility of coupling continuous river monitoring and fallout radionuclide measurements to increase our understanding of sediment dynamics and improve the management of soil and water resources in agricultural catchments.
Dynamic hub load predicts cognitive decline after resective neurosurgery
Authors: Carbo Ellen W. S. , Hillebrand Arjan , van Dellen Edwin , Tewarie Prejaas , de Witt Hamer Philip C. , Baayen Johannes C. , Klein Martin , Geurts Jeroen J. G. , Reijneveld Jaap C. , Stam Cornelis J. , Douw Linda
Published: February 2017

Resective neurosurgery carries the risk of postoperative cognitive deterioration. The concept of ‘hub (over)load’, caused by (over)use of the most important brain regions, has been theoretically postulated in relation to symptomatology and neurological disease course, but lacks experimental confirmation. We investigated functional hub load and postsurgical cognitive deterioration in patients undergoing lesion resection. Patients (n = 28) underwent resting-state magnetoencephalography and neuropsychological assessments preoperatively and 1-year after lesion resection. We calculated stationary hub load score (SHub) indicating to what extent brain regions linked different subsystems; high SHub indicates larger processing pressure on hub regions. Dynamic hub load score (DHub) assessed its variability over time; low values, particularly in combination with high SHub values, indicate increased load, because of consistently high usage of hub regions. Hypothetically, increased SHub and decreased DHub relate to hub overload and thus poorer/deteriorating cognition. Between time points, deteriorating verbal memory performance correlated with decreasing upper alpha DHub. Moreover, preoperatively low DHub values accurately predicted declining verbal memory performance. In summary, dynamic hub load relates to cognitive functioning in patients undergoing lesion resection: postoperative cognitive decline can be tracked and even predicted using dynamic hub load, suggesting it may be used as a prognostic marker for tailored treatment planning.
Loss of DLG5 promotes breast cancer malignancy by inhibiting the Hippo signaling pathway
Authors: Liu Jie , Li Juan , Li Pingping , Wang Yaochun , Liang Zheyong , Jiang Yina , Li Jing , Feng Chen , Wang Ruiqi , Chen He , Zhou Can , Zhang Jianmin , Yang Jin , Liu Peijun
Published: February 2017

Discs Large Homolog 5 (DLG5) plays an important role in the maintenance of epithelial cell polarity. Recent research showed that DLG5 is decreased in Yes-associated protein (YAP)-overexpressing cells. However, the exact relationship between DLG5 and YAP is not clear. In this study, we showed that loss of DLG5 promoted breast cancer cell proliferation by inhibiting the Hippo signaling pathway and increasing nuclear YAP expression. Furthermore, depletion of DLG5 induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and disrupted epithelial cell polarity, which was associated with altered expression of Scribble, ZO1, E-cadherin and N-cadherin and their mislocalization. Interestingly, we first reported that loss of DLG5 inhibited the interaction of Mst1 and Lats1 with Scribble, which was crucial for YAP activation and the transcription of TEA domain (TEAD) family members. In summary, loss of DLG5 expression promoted breast cancer malignancy by inactivating the Hippo signaling pathway and increasing nuclear YAP.
Bis(3,5-diiodo-2,4,6-trihydroxyphenyl)squaraine photodynamic therapy disrupts redox homeostasis and induce mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in human breast cancer cells
Authors: Saneesh Babu P. S. , Manu Prasad M. , Dhanya T. Jayaram , Tapas Pradhan , Meera R. Nair , Surendran Arun , Aneesh Kumar A. , Vadakkancheril S. Jisha , Ramaiah Danaboyina , Nair S. Asha , Pillai M. Radhakrishna
Published: February 2017

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinically established and highly evolving treatment modality for cancer. PDT utilizes a light responsive drug called photosensitizer that selectively destroys tumor cells upon light irradiation. Squaraines are a class of dyes possessing all favorable characteristics of a photosensitizer and have been considered to be a potent candidate for next generation PDT. In this study we chose an iodo derivative of squaraine called diiodo-squaraine (bis(3, 5-diiodo-2,4,6-trihydroxyphenyl)squaraine) which has been reported for its tumor specificity but least studied for its cellular and molecular functions. Our studies revealed that the iodo derivative of squaraine possess maximum photodynamic activity in human breast cancer cells MDA- MB- 231 and had very little cytotoxicity in normal breast cells MCF-10A. We analyzed its pro and anti-apoptotic events initiated by oxidative stress exploring a proteomic approach and delineated other critical molecular pathways and key proteins involved in regulating the complex network of cellular response upon PDT. Our study showed that, diiodo- squaraines predominantly accumulate in mitochondria and induce mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Our study also reveals the novel mechanistic role of diiodo-squaraines to induce oxidative stress there by activating both protective and death inducing pathways post PDT.
Metacarpal Bone Plane Examination by Ultrasonography for the Diagnosis of Fetal Forearm and Hand Deformity
Authors: Zhou Leiping , Lv Mingli , Zeng Min , Zhou Yun , Yang Tian , Yang Yu , Cao Yunyun , Kong Xiaoxiao , Niu Jianmei
Published: February 2017

We explored the value of the metacarpal bone plane in screening for serious fetal forearm and hand deformities, excluding simple polydactyly and dactylion deformity, by ultrasonographic examination. Observed the second to fifth metacarpal bone plane of fetuses in 20,139 pregnant women at a gestational age of 16 to 30 weeks in The International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital of China Welfare Institute (IPMCH). There was a total 138 cases of fetal forearm and/or hand deformity among the 20,139 pregnant women. Of these, 134 cases were diagnosed, 4 cases were not diagnosed, and 1 case was misdiagnosed. Among the 134 diagnosed cases, there were 19 cases of hand absence, 5 cases of cleft hand, 13 cases of ectrodactyly, 26 cases of radius absence, 9 cases of forearm and hand dysplasia, 55 cases of thanatophoric dysplasia, 6 cases of wrist joint dysplasia, and 1 case of forearm amputation deformity. The deformity rate was 0.76%, the diagnostic coincidence rate was 99.97%, the sensitivity was 97.10%, the specificity was 99.99%, and the false negative rate was 2.9%. As such, careful observation of the metacarpal bone plane can be used increase the diagnosis rate of fetal forearm and hand deformity.
Physiological and transcriptomic analyses reveal a response mechanism to cold stress in Santalum album L. leaves
Authors: Zhang Xinhua , Teixeira da Silva Jaime A. , Niu Meiyun , Li Mingzhi , He Chunmei , Zhao Jinhui , Zeng Songjun , Duan Jun , Ma Guohua
Published: February 2017

Santalum album L. (Indian sandalwood) is an economically important plant species because of its ability to produce highly valued perfume oils. Little is known about the mechanisms by which S. album adapts to low temperatures. In this study, we obtained 100,445,724 raw reads by paired-end sequencing from S. album leaves. Physiological and transcriptomic changes in sandalwood seedlings exposed to 4 °C for 0–48 h were characterized. Cold stress induced the accumulation of malondialdehyde, proline and soluble carbohydrates, and increased the levels of antioxidants. A total of 4,424 differentially expressed genes were responsive to cold, including 3,075 cold-induced and 1,349 cold-repressed genes. When cold stress was prolonged, there was an increase in the expression of cold-responsive genes coding for transporters, responses to stimuli and stress, regulation of defense response, as well as genes related to signal transduction of all phytohormones. Candidate genes in the terpenoid biosynthetic pathway were identified, eight of which were significantly involved in the cold stress response. Gene expression analyses using qRT-PCR showed a peak in the accumulation of SaCBF2 to 4, 50-fold more than control leaves and roots following 12 h and 24 h of cold stress, respectively. The CBF-dependent pathway may play a crucial role in increasing cold tolerance.
Microbiota composition of simultaneously colonized mice housed under either a gnotobiotic isolator or individually ventilated cage regime
Authors: Lundberg Randi , Bahl Martin I. , Licht Tine R. , Toft Martin F. , Hansen Axel K.
Published: February 2017

Germ-free rodents colonized with microbiotas of interest are used for host-microbiota investigations and for testing microbiota-targeted therapeutic candidates. Traditionally, isolators are used for housing such gnotobiotic rodents due to optimal protection from the environment, but research groups focused on the microbiome are increasingly combining or substituting isolator housing with individually ventilated cage (IVC) systems. We compared the effect of housing systems on the gut microbiota composition of germ-free mice colonized with a complex microbiota and housed in either multiple IVC cages in an IVC facility or in multiple open-top cages in an isolator during three generations and five months. No increase in bacterial diversity as assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing was observed in the IVC cages, despite not applying completely aseptic cage changes. The donor bacterial community was equally represented in both housing systems. Time-dependent clustering between generations was observed in both systems, but was strongest in the IVC cages. Different relative abundance of a Rikenellaceae genus contributed to separate clustering of the isolator and IVC communities. Our data suggest that complex microbiotas are protected in IVC systems, but challenges related to temporal dynamics should be addressed.
RNA-Seq analysis of nodule development at five different developmental stages of soybean (Glycine max) inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain 113-2
Authors: Yuan Song L. , Li Rong , Chen Hai F. , Zhang Chan J. , Chen Li M. , Hao Qing N. , Chen Shui L. , Shan Zhi H. , Yang Zhong L. , Zhang Xiao J. , Qiu De Z. , Zhou Xin A.
Published: February 2017

Nodule development directly affects nitrogen fixation efficiency during soybean growth. Although abundant genome-based information related to nodule development has been released and some studies have reported the molecular mechanisms that regulate nodule development, information on the way nodule genes operate in nodule development at different developmental stages of soybean is limited. In this report, notably different nodulation phenotypes in soybean roots inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain 113-2 at five developmental stages (branching stage, flowering stage, fruiting stage, pod stage and harvest stage) were shown, and the expression of nodule genes at these five stages was assessed quantitatively using RNA-Seq. Ten comparisons were made between these developmental periods, and their differentially expressed genes were analysed. Some important genes were identified, primarily encoding symbiotic nitrogen fixation-related proteins, cysteine proteases, cystatins and cysteine-rich proteins, as well as proteins involving plant-pathogen interactions. There were no significant shifts in the distribution of most GO functional annotation terms and KEGG pathway enrichment terms between these five development stages. A cystatin Glyma18g12240 was firstly identified from our RNA-seq, and was likely to promote nodulation and delay nodule senescence. This study provides molecular material for further investigations into the mechanisms of nitrogen fixation at different soybean developmental stages.
Regulation of dopaminergic function: an [18F]-DOPA PET apomorphine challenge study in humans.
Authors: Jauhar S , Veronese M , Rogdaki M , Bloomfield M , Natesan S , Turkheimer F , Kapur S , Howes O D
Published: February 2017

Dopaminergic function has a key role in normal brain function, dopaminergic dysfunction being implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders. Animal studies show that dopaminergic stimulation regulates dopaminergic function, but it is not known whether this exists in humans. In the first study (study 1), we measured dopamine synthesis capacity (indexed as Kicer) to identify the relationship between baseline and change in Kicer under resting conditions for comparison with effects of dopaminergic stimulation. In the second study (study 2), we used a within-subjects design to test effects of dopaminergic stimulation on dopamine synthesis capacity. In study 1, eight volunteers received two 18F-DOPA scans on separate days, both at rest. In study 2, 12 healthy male volunteers received two 18F-DOPA positron emission tomographic (PET) scans after treatment with either the dopamine partial agonist apomorphine (0.03 or 0.005 mg kg−1) or placebo. In study 1, no significant correlation was found between baseline and change in dopamine synthesis capacity between scans (r=−0.57, n=8, P=0.17, two-tailed). In study 2, a significant negative correlation was found between baseline dopamine synthesis capacity and percentage change in dopamine synthesis capacity after apomorphine challenge (r=−0.71, n=12, P=0.01, two-tailed). This correlation was significantly different (P<0.01) from the correlation between baseline and change in dopamine synthesis capacity under unstimulated conditions. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a significant group (study 1/study 2) × time interaction (F(1,18)=11.5, P=0.003). Our findings suggest that regulation of dopamine synthesis capacity by apomorphine depends on baseline dopamine function, consistent with dopamine stimulation stabilizing dopaminergic function. Loss of this autoregulation may contribute to dopaminergic dysfunction in brain disorders such as schizophrenia, substance dependence, and Parkinson's disease.
Selective hydrogenolysis of carbon–oxygen bonds with formic acid over a Au–Pt alloy catalyst
Authors: Wang Liang , Zhang Jian , Wang Guoxiong , Zhang Wei , Wang Chengtao , Bian Chaoqun , Xiao Feng-Shou
Published: February 2017

A CeO2-supported Au–Pt alloy catalyst is highly efficient for selective hydrogenolysis of carbon–oxygen species using formic acid as the hydrogen source.
Magic size InP and InAs clusters: synthesis, characterization and shell growth
Authors: Ning Jiajia , Banin Uri
Published: February 2017

Magic size InP and InAs nanocrystals (MSCs) have been synthesized. Based on InP MSCs, InP/ZnS and InP/ZnSe core/shell nanocrystals can be produced. An emission from interfacial traps can be observed with thicker ZnS shells.
Brønsted acid-catalyzed α-halogenation of ynamides from halogenated solvents and pyridine-N-oxides
Authors: Kim Seung Woo , Um Tae-Woong , Shin Seunghoon
Published: February 2017

The keteniminium ions generated from the protonation of ynamides formed reversible adducts with counter anions and pyridine-N-oxides as well as halogenated solvents.
How persistent microbubbles shield nanoparticle productivity in laser synthesis of colloids – quantification of their volume, dwell dynamics, and gas composition
Authors: Kalus Mark-Robert , Bärsch Niko , Streubel René , Gökce Emine , Barcikowski Stephan , Gökce Bilal
Published: February 2017

With lifetimes up to seconds persistent bubbles are systematically studied by quantifying their amount, size and dwell time at different liquid viscosities and by relating the results to the nanoparticle productivities.
Strain effects on oxygen vacancy energetics in KTaO3
Authors: Xi Jianqi , Xu Haixuan , Zhang Yanwen , Weber William J.
Published: February 2017

Site preferences occur under epitaxial strain, resulting in orders of magnitude differences in vacancy concentrations on different oxygen sites.
Synthesis and evaluation of new copper ketoiminate precursors for a facile and additive-free solution-based approach to nanoscale copper oxide thin films
Authors: Karle Sarah , Rogalla Detlef , Ludwig Arne , Becker Hans-Werner , Wieck Andreas Dirk , Grafen Markus , Ostendorf Andreas , Devi Anjana
Published: February 2017

A streamlined approach towards high-quality p-type CuOxnanostructures was successfully established based on rational precursor design for chemical solution deposition.
Metal–organic frameworks utilising an interlocked, hexadentate linker containing a tetra-carboxylate axle and a bis(pyridine) wheel
Authors: Gholami Ghazale , Baggi Giorgio , Zhu Kelong , Loeb Stephen J.
Published: February 2017

A mechanically interlocked ligand which combines an H-shaped axle containing four terminal 3-carboxyphenyl groups and a macrocyclic wheel with two 4-pyridyl groups was used to create Zn(ii) and Cu(ii) metal–organic framework materials that contain unique frameworks threaded solely due to the interpenetrated nature of the linker.
Beneficial effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide on spermatogenesis by improving antioxidant activity and inhibiting apoptosis in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male mice
Authors: Shi Guang-Jiang , Zheng Jie , Wu Jing , Qiao Hai-Qi , Chang Qing , Niu Yang , Sun Tao , Li Yu-Xiang , Yu Jian-Qiang
Published: February 2017

We determine if LBP contributes to the recovery from spermatogenic dysfunction in diabetic individuals.
Non-active site mutations disturb the loop dynamics, dimerization, viral budding and egress of VP40 of the Ebola virus
Authors: Balmith Marissa , Soliman Mahmoud E. S.
Published: February 2017

The first account of the dynamic features of the loop region of VP40 of the Ebola virus (EboV) using accelerated molecular dynamics (aMD) simulations is reported herein.