bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A case-control study of risk factors for rotavirus infections in adults, Denmark, 2005–2009
Authors: DORLEANS F. , FALKENHORST G. , BÖTTIGER B. , HOWITZ M. , MIDGLEY S. , NIELSEN J. , MØLBAK K. , ETHELBERG S.
Published: July 2015

Rotavirus (RV) infections affect young children, but can also occur in adults. We sought to identify risk factors for RV infections in adults aged ⩾18 years in Denmark, and to describe illness and genotyping characteristics. From March 2005 to February 2009, we recruited consecutive cases of laboratory-confirmed RV infection and compared them with healthy controls matched by age, gender and municipality of residence. We collected information on illness characteristics and exposures using postal questionnaires. We calculated univariable and multivariable matched odds ratios (mOR) with conditional logistic regression. The study comprised 65 cases and 246 controls. Illness exceeded 10 days in 31% of cases; 22% were hospitalized. Cases were more likely than controls to suffer serious underlying health conditions [mOR 5·6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·7–18], and to report having had close contact with persons with gastrointestinal symptoms (mOR 9·4, 95% CI 3·6–24), in particular young children aged <3 years and adults aged >18 years. Close contact with young children or adults with gastrointestinal symptoms is the main risk factor for RV infection in adults in Denmark. RV vaccination assessments should consider that RV vaccination in children may indirectly reduce the burden of disease in adults.
Seed dormancy in six cold desert Brassicaceae species with indehiscent fruits
Authors: Lu Juan J. , Zhou Yuan M. , Tan Dun Y. , Baskin Carol C. , Baskin Jerry M.
Published: July 2015

The dispersal unit of many species of Brassicaceae is an indehiscent fruit, but relatively few studies have tested the effect of the pericarp on seed germination in this family. Our aim was to determine the effect of the pericarp on seed dormancy in six species of Brassicaceae native to the cold desert of north-west China. Intact dispersal units and isolated seeds of Chorispora sibirica, Euclidium syriacum, Goldbachia laevigata, Spirorrhynchus sabulosus, Sterigmostemum fuhaiense and Tauscheria lasiocarpa were stored dry at ambient laboratory conditions for 0–12 months and tested for germination in light and in dark at 5/2, 15/2 and 30/15°C. The amount of water absorbed by fruits and by seeds within the fruits was determined. For four species, intact fruits, isolated seeds and isolated seeds plus the removed pericarps were used to test for the mechanical versus possible chemical role of the pericarp in seed dormancy. Fresh isolated seeds, which have a fully developed embryo, germinated to lower percentages and rates than afterripened seeds. Thus, seeds have non-deep physiological dormancy. The pericarp significantly reduced germination, but inhibition was not due to lack of water uptake by seeds or to chemical inhibitors. Afterripened seeds of the six species germinated to 0–50% inside the fruits. We conclude that the pericarp plays a dominant role in seed dormancy of the six study species, and it does so by mechanically restricting embryo growth. Thus, the pericarp has the potential to spread germination over an extended period of time.
Christian Democratic Internationalism: TheNouvelles Equipes Internationalesand the Geneva Circles between European Unification and Religious Identity, 1947–1954
Authors: ACANFORA PAOLO
Published: July 2015

This article analyses Christian Democratic International organisations after the Second World War, namely theNouvelles Equipes Internationales(NEI) and the Geneva Circles (secret discussion groups), in order to understand how and to what extent this international network has been important for European Christian Democratic Parties and for the overall process of European unification. The goal is to describe the relationship between the Christian-inspired parties and their efforts to define a common ideological framework and a successful Europeanism capable of competing with other political groups and ideologies, especially communist and nationalist forces. The main sources used are the minutes of meetings of the NEI and the Geneva Circles.
New Public Management as a Response to the Crisis of the 1970s: The Case of Finland, 1970–1990
Authors: YLIASKA VILLE
Published: July 2015

The article gives an overview of Finland's responses to the economic crisis of the 1970s. In particular, it focuses on public sector reforms that fall under the label New Public Management (NPM). These reforms are interpreted in the context of an overproduction crisis. The article contends that in the 1980s and 1990s power in Finland was centralised through the doctrines of NPM in order to reallocate public resources from welfare services to industrial policy and thus confront post-industrialism. In doing so, it provides a new explanation as to why NPM reforms were carried out. The main justification of NPM-reforms – ‘decentralisation’ – is analysed from different angles. In the late 1960s decentralisation referred to the autonomy of the municipalities. In the 1980s it referred to ‘efficient leadership’, which meant in practice more power over resources for the state. The idea was to reallocate public resources from welfare services to research and development and venture capital. In effect, NPM was part of a new kind of state interventionism not part of a neoliberal project to destroy or hollow out the state.
An Improvement of the Beck–Fiala Theorem
Authors: BUKH BORIS
Published: July 2015

In 1981 Beck and Fiala proved an upper bound for the discrepancy of a set system of degree d that is independent of the size of the ground set. In the intervening years the bound has been decreased from 2d − 2 to 2d − 4. We improve the bound to 2d − log*d.
Factors Associated with Discussion of Disasters by Final Year High School Students: An International Cross-sectional Survey
Authors: Codreanu Tudor A. , Celenza Antonio , Alabdulkarim Ali A. Rahman
Published: July 2015

Introduction

The effect on behavioral change of educational programs developed to reduce the community’s disaster informational vulnerability is not known. This study describes the relationship of disaster education, age, sex, and country-specific characteristics with students discussing disasters with friends and family, a measure of proactive behavioral change in disaster preparedness.

Methods

Three thousand eight hundred twenty-nine final year high school students were enrolled in an international, multi-center prospective, cross-sectional study using a pre-validated written questionnaire. In order to obtain information from different educational systems, from countries with different risk of exposure to disasters, and from countries with varied economic development status, students from Bahrain, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Timor-Leste were surveyed. Logistic regression analyses examined the relationship between the likelihood of discussing disasters with friends and family (dependent variable) and a series of independent variables (age, gender, participation in school lessons about disasters, existence of a national disaster educational program, ability to list pertinent example of disasters, country's economic group, and disaster risk index) captured by the questionnaire or available as published data.

Results

There was no statistically significant relationship between age, awareness of one’s surroundings, planning for the future, and foreseeing consequences of events with discussions about potential hazards and risks with friends and/or family. The national educational budget did not have a statistically significant influence. Participants who lived in a low disaster risk and high income Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country were more likely to discuss disasters. While either school lessons or a national disaster education program had a unique, significant contribution to the model, neither had a better predictive utility.

Conclusions

The predictors (national disaster program, school lessons, gender, ability to list examples of disasters, country’s disaster risk index, and level of economic development), although significant, were not sufficient in predicting disaster discussions amongst teenagers.

CodreanuTA,CelenzaA,AlabdulkarimAAR.Factors associated with discussion of disasters by final year high school students: an international cross-sectional survey.Prehosp Disaster Med.2015;30(4):1–9.
Psychopharmacological options for adult patients with anorexia nervosa
Authors: Miniati Mario , Mauri Mauro , Ciberti Agnese , Mariani Michela Giorgi , Marazziti Donatella , Dell’Osso Liliana
Published: July 2015

The aim of this review was to summarize evidence from research on psychopharmacological options for adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Database searches of MEDLINE and PsycINFO (from January 1966 to January 2014) were performed, and original articles published as full papers, brief reports, case reports, or case series were included. Forty-one papers were screened in detail, and salient characteristics of pharmacological options for AN were summarized for drug classes. The body of evidence for the efficacy of pharmacotherapy in AN was unsatisfactory, the quality of observations was questionable (eg, the majority were not blinded), and sample size was often small. More trials are needed, while considering that nonresponse and nonremission are typical of patients with AN.
Effect of African leafy vegetables on the micronutrient status of mildly deficient farm-school children in South Africa: a randomized controlled study
Authors: van der Hoeven Marinka , Faber Mieke , Osei Jennifer , Kruger Annamarie , Smuts Cornelius M
Published: July 2015

Objective

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effect of African leafy vegetable (ALV) consumption on Fe, Zn and vitamin A status in children.

Design

Children were randomly allocated to receive either a 300 g cooked ALV dish and school meal starch (n86) or the normal school meal (n81) five times per week for three months. ALV in the dish consisted mainly ofAmaranthus cruentus(at least 80 %) and the remainder ofCleome gynandra,Cucurbita maximaorVigna unguiculata. Nutrient content and consumer acceptance of the ALV dish were also determined.

Setting

North West Province, South Africa.

Subjects

Grade R to grade 4 children (6–12 years old) of two farm schools.

Results

The ALV dish contributed 11·6–15·8 mg Fe and 1·4–3·7 mg Zn. At baseline, prevalence of deficiencies in the intervention group was 16·0 %, 16·3 %, 7·0 % and 75·6 %, respectively, for anaemia (Hb<11·5 g/dl), Fe (serum ferritin<15 µg/l), vitamin A (serum retinol<20 μg/dl) and Zn (serum Zn<65 μg/dl); and in the control group 10·5 %, 18·5 %, 2·5 % and 75·3 %, respectively. No significant estimated intervention effect was found.

Conclusions

This randomized controlled trial showed that ALV were unable to improve serum retinol, serum ferritin or Hb if there are only mild deficiencies present. Furthermore, despite the low Zn status in the study population, ALV consumption did not improve serum Zn concentrations either.
Red and processed meat consumption and mortality: dose–response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
Authors: Wang Xia , Lin Xinying , Ouyang Ying Y , Liu Jun , Zhao Gang , Pan An , Hu Frank B
Published: July 2015

Objective

To examine and quantify the potential dose–response relationship between red and processed meat consumption and risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

Design

We searched MEDLINE, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, CINHAL, Scopus, the Cochrane library and reference lists of retrieved articles up to 30 November 2014 without language restrictions. We retrieved prospective cohort studies that reported risk estimates for all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality by red and/or processed meat intake levels. The dose–response relationships were estimated using data from red and processed meat intake categories in each study. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled relative risks and 95 % confidence intervals and to incorporate between-study variations.

Results

Nine articles with seventeen prospective cohorts were eligible in this meta-analysis, including a total of 150 328 deaths. There was evidence of a non-linear association between processed meat consumption and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, but not for cancer mortality. For processed meat, the pooled relative risk with an increase of one serving per day was 1·15 (95 % CI 1·11, 1·19) for all-cause mortality (five studies; P<0·001 for linear trend), 1·15 (95 % CI 1·07, 1·24) for cardiovascular mortality (six studies; P<0·001) and 1·08 (95 % CI 1·06, 1·11) for cancer mortality (five studies; P<0·001). Similar associations were found with total meat intake. The association between unprocessed red meat consumption and mortality risk was found in the US populations, but not in European or Asian populations.

Conclusions

The present meta-analysis indicates that higher consumption of total red meat and processed meat is associated with an increased risk of total, cardiovascular and cancer mortality.
Re-criticizing RNA-mediated cell evolution: a radical perspective
Authors: Kotakis Christos
Published: July 2015

Genetic inter-communication of the nucleic-organellar dual in eukaryotes is dominated by DNA-directed phenomena. RNA regulatory circuits have also been observed in artificial laboratory prototypes where gene transfer events are reconstructed, but they are excluded from the primary norm due to their rarity. Recent technical advances in organellar biotechnology, genome engineering and single-molecule tracking give novel experimental insights on RNA metabolism not only at cellular level, but also on organismal survival. Here, I put forward a hypothesis for RNA's involvement in gene piece transfer, taken together the current knowledge on the primitive RNA character as a biochemical modulator with model organisms from peculiar natural habitats. It is proposed that RNA molecules of special structural signature and functional identity can drive evolution, integrating the ecological pressure of environmental oscillations into genome imprinting by buffering-out epigenetic aberrancies.
First GB records of the invasive Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus from Glamorgan, Wales and Kent, England
Authors: Seeley Becky , Sewell Jack , Clark Paul F.
Published: July 2015

The present contribution reports on the capture of two adult male specimens of the Asian/Japanese shore crab,Hemigrapsus sanguineus(de Haan, 1835) from Glamorgan, south Wales and Kent, southern England. These represent the first records of this species from mainland Great Britain.
“Striking Deaths” at their Roots: Assaying the Social Determinants of Extreme Labor-Management Violence in US Labor History—1877–1947
Authors: Lipold Paul F.
Published: July 2015

The seven decades framed by the Great Railway Strike of 1877 and institutionalization of organized labor in the wake of World War II constituted a unique period of US labor relations, one that labor historians have identified as the most violent and bloody of any Western industrialized nation. Despite long-standing scholarly interest in the issues of labor-management conflict, however, important questions regarding the causes of extreme labor-management violence within the United States have never been adequately addressed. In this paper, I utilize a recently compiled and unique data set of American strike fatalities to statistically model the causes of extreme strike violence in the United States. The time-series evidence suggests that picket-line violence increased in association with (1) the struggle for and against unionization and (2) economic desperation associated with tightening labor markets. The results also both depict the stultifying effect of massacres and suggest that state support for labor's right to organize tended to decrease the likelihood of violence and vice versa. This paper not only thus provides fresh insights into classic questions, but also offers a basis for both transhistorical and international comparison.
How Is Leadership Exercised in the US House? Party Leaders' and Committee Chairs' “Actions”
Authors: Bekafigo Marija Anna
Published: July 2015

Party leaders and committee chairs are rarely studied side by side. This study takes a step toward resolving that shortcoming by using an approach developed by David Mayhew to content analyze 3,163 original leadership “actions” from the Washington Post to demonstrate how leadership is exercised in the US House before and after the 1970 reforms. Existing studies demonstrate a shift in the locus of power from committee chairs to party leaders. This study details that transformation by illustrating how these leaders operate and reveals a shift in the number and type of leadership maneuvers that capture the essence of the reforms. Mainly, committee chairs were more likely to lead by legislating and party leaders are shown to lead by taking stands. The results also provide comparative evidence that party leaders had a greater connection to the president than chairs.
The Past Is Prologue: African American Opinion toward Undocumented Immigration
Authors: Nteta Tatishe M.
Published: July 2015

Using data from the 2011 Multi-State Survey on Race and Politics (Parker 2011), I ask if African American1opinion toward undocumented immigration mirrors African American opinion toward immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I find evidence that contemporary African American opinion does reflect the manner in which a previous generation of African Americans reacted to immigrant newcomers. More specifically, I find that factors associated with past reactions to new immigration, most notably political and economic competition, egalitarianism, the belief that new immigrants are distancing themselves from African Americans, and the belief that restrictive immigration policies were fueled by racism, continue to predict contemporary African American opinion on undocumented immigration. Taken together, I take my findings as evidence that the past may be prologue in accounting for black opinion toward the newest wave of immigration.
Louise Tilly in Intergenerational Perspective
Authors: Hanagan Michael , Maynes Mary Jo
Published: July 2015

Louise Tilly is noteworthy as an historian, a mentor, and a distiller of feminist thought. Her work covers a variety of fields. In the field of labor history she produced an important study of political contention in Italy, Politics and Class in Milan, 1881–1901, and, along with Charles and Richard Tilly, a widely influential study of collective action, The Rebellious Century (Tilly 1994; Tilly et al. 1975). Her most influential work is in the arena of women's and family history, most notably Women, Work, and Family, a product of her collaboration with Joan Scott (Tilly and Scott 1978). She was also a member of the Panel on Women's Work and Technology of the National Research Council, which produced a signal study of the evolution of women's white collar work and its prospects, Computer Chips and Paper Clips: Technology and Women's Employment, and she possessed a keen interest in the intersection between demographic and family history as shown in her coedited collection on European fertility decline (Gillis et al. 1992; National Research Council 1986). Before illness forced her to cease work, she was moving into global history where her most important contribution was her presidential address to the American Historical Association (AHA) that outlined a distinctive and original approach to world history (Tilly 1994).
From Subjects to Actors: Italians and Jews and the Fight against Immigration Restriction in the United States
Authors: Marinari Maddalena
Published: July 2015

This article explores how Louise Tilly's examination of nonstate actors, collective action, and transnationalism remains relevant to scholars today. More specifically, I address how her scholarship has influenced the conceptualization of my first book project, which investigates how Italian and Jewish immigration reform advocates in the United States mobilized against restrictive immigration laws within a transnational framework. Tilly's work has helped me complicate the story of immigration restriction in the United States by looking at how grassroots ethnic organizations took advantage of their members’ ability to naturalize to challenge the legitimacy of draconian immigration laws that marked them as undesirable. In addition to the influence that her scholarly agenda still has on the field, this article contends that Louise Tilly's commitment to interdisciplinarity and collaboration with other scholars is a model to emulate and represents another major aspect of her legacy.
Evaluation des Gesundheitsverhaltens Studierender
Authors: Kuhlmann Kerstin , Beauducel André , Predel Georg , Preuß Manuela , Preuß Peter , Rudinger Georg
Published: July 2015

Im Rahmen der Gesundheitsinitiative „Healthy Campus” werden an der Universität Bonn über Online-Befragungen Gesundheits- und Lebensstilparameter der Studierenden evaluiert. Einen zentralen Bestandteil der Befragungen bilden Skalen, die verschiedene gesundheitsbezogene Kompetenzen abbilden. An einer semesterübergreifenden Stichprobe von N = 1 879 Studierenden (67 % Frauen, 33 % Männer) konnte ein in vorangegangenen Studien erarbeitetes Modell der Gesundheitskompetenz erstmals an einer substantiellen studentischen Stichprobe repliziert werden. Zusätzlich konnte anhand eines MIMIC-Modells die Modellgültigkeit sowie die Messäquivalenz für weibliche und männliche Studierende nachgewiesen werden. Darüber hinaus konnten durch das Modell 40 % der Varianz in der Häufigkeit gesundheitlicher Beschwerden vorhergesagt werden. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass neben einer an den Bedürfnissen und Erfordernissen der Studierenden ausgerichteten Modifikation universitärer Angebote eine gezielte Stärkung gesundheitsbezogener Kompetenzen zu einer Verbesserung der psychischen und körperlichen Gesundheit der Studierenden beitragen könnte. Die Erfassung der Gesundheitskompetenz kann daher zur differentiellen Entwicklung individueller Interventionen genutzt werden.
Die Überprüfung der Konstruktvalidität des Deutschen Motorik-Tests 6-18 für 9- bis 10-Jährige
Authors: Utesch Till , Strauß Bernd , Tietjens Maike , Büsch Dirk , Ghanbari Marie-Christine , Seidel Ilka
Published: July 2015

Für den aus 8 Items bestehenden Deutschen Motorik-Test 6-18 ( Bös et al., 2009 ) konnte bislang weder ein eindimensionales noch zweidimensionales (Koordination/Kondition) Strukturmodell bestätigt werden. Anhand probabilistischer (Mixed-Rasch-Modell) und klassischer (konfirmatorische Faktorenanalyse) Testmodelle wird geprüft, ob von Bös et al. (2009) empfohlene Normkategorien oder eine alternative Kategorisierung empirische Validität besitzen. Im Kreuzvalidierungsdesign werden für 9 – 10-Jährige mittels zweier Stichproben (N1= 1495, N2= 1357; 49,2 % weiblich) Analysen mit den Norm-Quintilen und Z-normierten Norm-Leistungsklassen sowie Standardnoten nach T-Transformation der empirischen Daten (eT-Kategorien) durchgeführt. Die Konstruktvalidität bezüglich der beiden publizierten Normkategorisierungen kann nicht nachgewiesen werden. Demgegenüber ergibt die Analyse der eT-Kategorisierung eine Ein-Klassen-Lösung des Mixed-Rasch-Modells, wobei theoriekonform „Rumpfbeuge“ und aufgrund lokaler Modellverletzungen „Balancieren rückwärts“ auszuschließen sind. Die faktorielle Validität dieses eindimensionalen Modells wird bestätigt. Für 9 – 10-Jährige kann demnach Homogenität bezüglich eines eindimensionalen Motorik-Index (mit sechs Items) angenommen werden. Dieser Motorik- resp. Fitness-Index kann aus den sechs homogenen Items gebildet werden und ist für sportmotorische Testungen valide interpretierbar.
The Lack of Cross-National Equivalence of a Therapist Adherence	Measure (TAM-R) in Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
Authors: Lange Aurelie M. C. , Scholte Ron H. J. , van Geffen Wim , Timman Reinier , Busschbach Jan J. V. , van der Rijken Rachel E. A.
Published: July 2015

Abstract. This two-study report investigates the equivalence of the Dutch Therapist Adherence Measure Revised (TAM-R) to the US original. The TAM-R is a questionnaire measuring therapist adherence to the treatment model of Multisystemic Therapy (MST). Monitoring of therapist adherence is essential for evidence-based interventions to ensure the quality of the delivered treatment. International implementation of the TAM-R assumes cross-national equivalence, even though this assumption has never been investigated. In study 1 Rasch analysis was applied to 1,875 Dutch TAM-R reports and the response category frequency distributions of the items of 1,875 US TAM-R reports. Response frequencies were more heavily skewed in the US compared to the Netherlands and several items showed Differential Item Functioning (DIF). Study 2 investigated whether adaptations to the translation of the items and response categories could improve equivalence. For this purpose, 237 families were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 versions (original TAM-R, adapted items only, adapted items and response categories) and the analyses from study 1 were replicated. Results indicated that equivalence was not improved by the adapted translations. The article concludes with a discussion of several potential other sources of bias, such as differences in sample characteristics, implementation of MST, and response styles.
The Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C)
Authors: Kokkinos Constantinos M. , Markos Angelos
Published: July 2015

Abstract. The purpose of the present study was to examine measurement invariance of the Greek translation of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C) across different sex and age groups using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 1,103 Greek preadolescents. Results supported measurement invariance across sex. Evidence of configural and metric, but not scalar or strict invariance, was found across age. Implications for personality assessment with the Greek BFQ-C scale are discussed.
Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Goes to Jail
Authors: Pihet Sandrine , De Ridder Jill , Suter Maya
Published: July 2015

Abstract. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) involves the repeated collection of data in everyday life. This method has helped uncover underlying mechanisms in several mental disorders. EMA studies are still scarce in adolescent patients and particularly incarcerated juvenile offenders (IJO), possibly due to their frequent rule-breaking and high impulsivity. This study evaluated the feasibility and reliability of EMA in IJO. One hundred three antisocial adolescents (mean age 14.8, 78% boys, including 52 IJO and 51 institutionalized antisocial adolescents, IAA) answered four times a day during 8 days questions about their antisocial behavior, negative affect, impulsivity, and fear of punishment, on a handheld computer. Staff members also regularly reported on each participant’s antisocial behavior. This first application of EMA in IJO overall supported its feasibility, with an excellent participation rate (95%) and a good compliance in completers (84%). About one-third of IJO participants dropped out, with no evidence of sampling bias across a wide range of indicators, while 96% of IAA completed EMA. No reactivity or lack of objectivity was observed. One- to two-thirds of the variance was within-person and reliability was acceptable to good. EMA can thus be reliably used in IJO to study the dynamics of daily antisocial behavior as it naturally unfolds in its context.
Social Interactions With Familiar and Unfamiliar Peers in Chinese Children: Relations With Social, School, and Psychological Adjustment
Authors: Zhang Guangzhen , Zhao Siman , Liang Zongbao , Li Dan , Chen Huichang , Chen Xinyin
Published: July 2015

This study examined how interactions with familiar and unfamiliar peers were associated with social, school, and psychological adjustment in Chinese children. A sample of children ( N = 256, 104 boys and 152 girls, M age = 11 years, ranging from 9 to 13 years) engaged in free play sessions in quartets consisting of 2 pairs of familiar children. Information on the relative proportion of time spent interacting with familiar, unfamiliar, and mixed peers was obtained from videotaped observations. Data on social (e.g., leadership, victimization), school (e.g., school competence, learning problems), and psychological (e.g., perceived self-worth, depression) adjustment were collected from multiple sources including teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. The results showed that interaction with familiar peers was positively associated with social and school competence and negatively associated with social, behavioral, and learning problems. Interaction with mixed familiar and unfamiliar peers was positively associated with indexes of psychological adjustment and negatively associated with psychological problems. In addition, interaction with unfamiliar peers was infrequent and not associated with adjustment or problems. The results indicate that social interactions with different types of peers may reflect different aspects of competence among Chinese children.
Concentration- and chromosome-organization-dependent regulator unbinding from DNA for transcription regulation in living cells
Authors: Chen Tai-Yen , Santiago Ace George , Jung Won , Krzemiński Łukasz , Yang Feng , Martell Danya J. , Helmann John D. , Chen Peng
Published: July 2015

Binding and unbinding of transcription regulators at operator sites constitute a primary mechanism for gene regulation. While many cellular factors are known to regulate their binding, little is known on how cells can modulate their unbinding for regulation. Using nanometer-precision single-molecule tracking, we study the unbinding kinetics from DNA of two metal-sensing transcription regulators in living Escherichia coli cells. We find that they show unusual concentration-dependent unbinding kinetics from chromosomal recognition sites in both their apo and holo forms. Unexpectedly, their unbinding kinetics further varies with the extent of chromosome condensation, and more surprisingly, varies in opposite ways for their apo-repressor versus holo-activator forms. These findings suggest likely broadly relevant mechanisms for facile switching between transcription activation and deactivation in vivo and in coordinating transcription regulation of resistance genes with the cell cycle.
A post-transcriptional mechanism pacing expression of neural genes with precursor cell differentiation status
Authors: Dai Weijun , Li Wencheng , Hoque Mainul , Li Zhuyun , Tian Bin , Makeyev Eugene V.
Published: July 2015

Nervous system (NS) development relies on coherent upregulation of extensive sets of genes in a precise spatiotemporal manner. How such transcriptome-wide effects are orchestrated at the molecular level remains an open question. Here we show that 3′-untranslated regions (3′ UTRs) of multiple neural transcripts contain AU-rich cis-elements (AREs) recognized by tristetraprolin (TTP/Zfp36), an RNA-binding protein previously implicated in regulation of mRNA stability. We further demonstrate that the efficiency of ARE-dependent mRNA degradation declines in the neural lineage because of a decrease in the TTP protein expression mediated by the NS-enriched microRNA miR-9. Importantly, TTP downregulation in this context is essential for proper neuronal differentiation. On the other hand, inactivation of TTP in non-neuronal cells leads to dramatic upregulation of multiple NS-specific genes. We conclude that the newly identified miR-9/TTP circuitry limits unscheduled accumulation of neuronal mRNAs in non-neuronal cells and ensures coordinated upregulation of these transcripts in neurons.
Electronic polymers and soft-matter-like broken symmetries in underdoped cuprates
Authors: Capati M. , Caprara S. , Di Castro C. , Grilli M. , Seibold G. , Lorenzana J.
Published: July 2015

Empirical evidence in heavy fermion, pnictide and other systems suggests that unconventional superconductivity appears associated to some form of real-space electronic order. For the cuprates, despite several proposals, the emergence of order in the phase diagram between the commensurate antiferromagnetic state and the superconducting state is not well understood. Here we show that in this regime doped holes assemble in ‘electronic polymers’. Within a Monte Carlo study, we find that in clean systems by lowering the temperature the polymer melt condenses first in a smectic state and then in a Wigner crystal both with the addition of inversion symmetry breaking. Disorder blurs the positional order leaving a robust inversion symmetry breaking and a nematic order, accompanied by vector chiral spin order and with the persistence of a thermodynamic transition. Such electronic phases, whose properties are reminiscent of soft-matter physics, produce charge and spin responses in good accord with experiments.
Quantum simulation of 2D topological physics in a 1D array of optical cavities
Authors: Luo Xi-Wang , Zhou Xingxiang , Li Chuan-Feng , Xu Jin-Shi , Guo Guang-Can , Zhou Zheng-Wei
Published: July 2015

Orbital angular momentum of light is a fundamental optical degree of freedom characterized by unlimited number of available angular momentum states. Although this unique property has proved invaluable in diverse recent studies ranging from optical communication to quantum information, it has not been considered useful or even relevant for simulating nontrivial physics problems such as topological phenomena. Contrary to this misconception, we demonstrate the incredible value of orbital angular momentum of light for quantum simulation by showing theoretically how it allows to study a variety of important 2D topological physics in a 1D array of optical cavities. This application for orbital angular momentum of light not only reduces required physical resources but also increases feasible scale of simulation, and thus makes it possible to investigate important topics such as edge-state transport and topological phase transition in a small simulator ready for immediate experimental exploration.
Subetta increases phosphorylation of insulin receptor β-subunit alone and in the presence of insulin
Authors: Gorbunov E A , Nicoll J , Kachaeva E V , Tarasov S A , Epstein O I
Published: July 2015

It has been previously shown that Subetta (a drug containing released-active forms of antibodies to the insulin receptor β-subunit and antibodies to endothelial nitric oxide synthase) stimulated insulin-induced adiponectin production by mature human adipocytes in the absence of insulin. Therefore, it was assumed that Subetta could activate the insulin receptor. To confirm this hypothesis, the capacity of Subetta to activate the insulin receptor in mature human adipocytes in the absence or presence of the insulin was investigated. Cells were incubated either with Subetta or with vehicle, or with basal medium for 3 days. Then, adipocytes were treated with water or insulin (100 nm) for 15 min. Following treatment, lysates were prepared and phosphorylation of insulin receptor β-subunits was analyzed by western blot analysis. It was shown that Subetta significantly increased (P<0.001) the ‘phosphorylated-insulin receptor β-subunit/total insulin receptor β-subunit’ ratios in both the presence and the absence of insulin. These results support previously published data and indicate that Subetta could activate the insulin receptor through the effect on its β-subunits, whose conformational state is essential for insulin receptor activation. This action might serve as one of the primary mechanisms of the drug’s antidiabetic effect.
Brain Genomics Superstruct Project initial data release with structural, functional, and behavioral measures
Authors: Holmes Avram J. , Hollinshead Marisa O. , O’Keefe Timothy M. , Petrov Victor I. , Fariello Gabriele R. , Wald Lawrence L. , Fischl Bruce , Rosen Bruce R. , Mair Ross W. , Roffman Joshua L. , Smoller Jordan W. , Buckner Randy L.
Published: July 2015

The goal of the Brain Genomics Superstruct Project (GSP) is to enable large-scale exploration of the links between brain function, behavior, and ultimately genetic variation. To provide the broader scientific community data to probe these associations, a repository of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans linked to genetic information was constructed from a sample of healthy individuals. The initial release, detailed in the present manuscript, encompasses quality screened cross-sectional data from 1,570 participants ages 18 to 35 years who were scanned with MRI and completed demographic and health questionnaires. Personality and cognitive measures were obtained on a subset of participants. Each dataset contains a T1-weighted structural MRI scan and either one (n=1,570) or two (n=1,139) resting state functional MRI scans. Test-retest reliability datasets are included from 69 participants scanned within six months of their initial visit. For the majority of participants self-report behavioral and cognitive measures are included (n=926 andn=892 respectively). Analyses of data quality, structure, function, personality, and cognition are presented to demonstrate the dataset’s utility.
Novel ZnO hollow-nanocarriers containing paclitaxel targeting folate-receptors in a malignant pH-microenvironment for effective monitoring and promoting breast tumor regression
Authors: Puvvada Nagaprasad , Rajput Shashi , Kumar B.N. Prashanth , Sarkar Siddik , Konar Suraj , Brunt Keith R. , Rao Raj R. , Mazumdar Abhijit , Das Swadesh K. , Basu Ranadhir , Fisher Paul B. , Mandal Mahitosh , Pathak Amita
Published: July 2015

Low pH in the tumor micromilieu is a recognized pathological feature of cancer. This attribute of cancerous cells has been targeted herein for the controlled release of chemotherapeutics at the tumour site, while sparing healthy tissues. To this end, pH-sensitive, hollow ZnO-nanocarriers loaded with paclitaxel were synthesized and their efficacy studied in breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. The nanocarriers were surface functionalized with folate using click-chemistry to improve targeted uptake by the malignant cells that over-express folate-receptors. The nanocarriers released ~75% of the paclitaxel payload within six hours in acidic pH, which was accompanied by switching of fluorescence from blue to green and a 10-fold increase in the fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence-switching phenomenon is due to structural collapse of the nanocarriers in the endolysosome. Energy dispersion X-ray mapping and whole animal fluorescent imaging studies were carried out to show that combined pH and folate-receptor targeting reduces off-target accumulation of the nanocarriers. Further, a dual cell-specific and pH-sensitive nanocarrier greatly improved the efficacy of paclitaxel to regress subcutaneous tumors in vivo. These nanocarriers could improve chemotherapy tolerance and increase anti-tumor efficacy, while also providing a novel diagnostic read-out through fluorescent switching that is proportional to drug release in malignant tissues.
Multidimensional High-Resolution Magic Angle Spinning and Solution-State NMR Characterization of 13C-labeled Plant Metabolites and Lignocellulose
Authors: Mori Tetsuya , Tsuboi Yuuri , Ishida Nobuhiro , Nishikubo Nobuyuki , Demura Taku , Kikuchi Jun
Published: July 2015

Lignocellulose, which includes mainly cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, is a potential resource for the production of chemicals and for other applications. For effective production of materials derived from biomass, it is important to characterize the metabolites and polymeric components of the biomass. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been used to identify biomass components; however, the NMR spectra of metabolites and lignocellulose components are ambiguously assigned in many cases due to overlapping chemical shift peaks. Using our 13C-labeling technique in higher plants such as poplar samples, we demonstrated that overlapping peaks could be resolved by three-dimensional NMR experiments to more accurately assign chemical shifts compared with two-dimensional NMR measurements. Metabolites of the 13C-poplar were measured by high-resolution magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy, which allows sample analysis without solvent extraction, while lignocellulose components of the 13C-poplar dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide/pyridine solvent were analyzed by solution-state NMR techniques. Using these methods, we were able to unambiguously assign chemical shifts of small and macromolecular components in 13C-poplar samples. Furthermore, using samples of less than 5 mg, we could differentiate between two kinds of genes that were overexpressed in poplar samples, which produced clearly modified plant cell wall components.
Atomic-Scale Interfacial Magnetism in Fe/Graphene Heterojunction
Authors: Liu W. Q. , Wang W. Y. , Wang J. J. , Wang F. Q. , Lu C. , Jin F. , Zhang A. , Zhang Q. M. , Laan G. van der , Xu Y. B. , Li Q. X. , Zhang R.
Published: July 2015

Successful spin injection into graphene makes it a competitive contender in the race to become a key material for quantum computation, or the spin-operation-based data processing and sensing. Engineering ferromagnetic metal (FM)/graphene heterojunctions is one of the most promising avenues to realise it, however, their interface magnetism remains an open question up to this day. In any proposed FM/graphene spintronic devices, the best opportunity for spin transport could only be achieved where no magnetic dead layer exists at the FM/graphene interface. Here we present a comprehensive study of the epitaxial Fe/graphene interface by means of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The experiment has been performed using a specially designed FM1/FM2/graphene structure that to a large extent restores the realistic case of the proposed graphene-based transistors. We have quantitatively observed a reduced but still sizable magnetic moments of the epitaxial Fe ML on graphene, which is well resembled by simulations and can be attributed to the strong hybridization between the Fe 3dz2 and the C 2pz orbitals and the sp-orbital-like behavior of the Fe 3d electrons due to the presence of graphene.
A plasmon-driven selective surface catalytic reaction revealed by surface-enhanced Raman scattering in an electrochemical environment
Authors: Cui Lin , Wang Peijie , Fang Yurui , Li Yuanzuo , Sun Mengtao
Published: July 2015

Plasmonic catalytic reactions of molecules with single amine or nitro groups have been investigated in recent years. However, plasmonic catalysis of molecules with multiple amine and/or nitro groups is still unknown. In this paper, plasmon-driven catalytic reactions of 4,4'-dinitroazobenzene (DNAB), 4,4'-diaminoazobenzene (DAAB) and 4-nitro-4'-aminoazobenzene (NAAB) are investigated using electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The results reveal that a plasmon-driven reduction reaction occurred for DNAB and NAAB in which the NO2 group was reduced to NH2, while the plasmon-driven oxidation reaction of NH2 did not occur. This result demonstrates that plasmon-driven reduction reactions are much easier than plasmon-driven oxidization reactions in electrochemical environments. The molecular resonance may also play an important role in plasmon-driven catalytic reactions. These findings provide us with a deeper understanding of plasmon-driven catalytic reactions.
Boosting Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Using Silver Nanoparticle-Decorated N,S-Co-Doped-TiO2 Photoanode
Authors: Lim Su Pei , Pandikumar Alagarsamy , Lim Hong Ngee , Ramaraj Ramasamy , Huang Nay Ming
Published: July 2015

A silver nanoparticle-decorated N,S-co-doped TiO2 nanocomposite was successfully prepared and used as an efficient photoanode in high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with N719 dye. The DSSCs assembled with the N,S-TiO2@Ag-modified photoanode demonstrated an enhanced solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 8.22%, which was better than that of a DSSC photoanode composed of unmodified TiO2 (2.57%) under full sunlight illumination (100 mWcm−2, AM 1.5 G). This enhanced efficiency was mainly attributed to the reduced band gap energy, improved interfacial charge transfer and retarded charge recombination process. The influence of the Ag content on the overall efficiency was also investigated and the optimum Ag content with N,S-TiO2 was found to be 20 wt%. Because of the enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency of the N,S-TiO2@Ag nanocomposite, it should be considered as a potential photoanode for high-performance DSSCs.
Motif analysis in directed ordered networks and applications to food webs
Authors: Paulau Pavel V. , Feenders Christoph , Blasius Bernd
Published: July 2015

The analysis of small recurrent substructures, so called network motifs, has become a standard tool of complex network science to unveil the design principles underlying the structure of empirical networks. In many natural systems network nodes are associated with an intrinsic property according to which they can be ordered and compared against each other. Here, we expand standard motif analysis to be able to capture the hierarchical structure in such ordered networks. Our new approach is based on the identification of all ordered 3-node substructures and the visualization of their significance profile. We present a technique to calculate the fine grained motif spectrum by resolving the individual members of isomorphism classes (sets of substructures formed by permuting node-order). We apply this technique to computer generated ensembles of ordered networks and to empirical food web data, demonstrating the importance of considering node order for food-web analysis. Our approach may not only be helpful to identify hierarchical patterns in empirical food webs and other natural networks, it may also provide the base for extending motif analysis to other types of multi-layered networks.
Core-shell Au@Pd nanoparticles with enhanced catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction via core-shell Au@Ag/Pd constructions
Authors: Chen Dong , Li Chengyin , Liu Hui , Ye Feng , Yang Jun
Published: July 2015

Core-shell nanoparticles often exhibit improved catalytic properties due to the lattice strain created in these core-shell particles. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of core-shell Au@Pd nanoparticles from their core-shell Au@Ag/Pd parents. This strategy begins with the preparation of core-shell Au@Ag nanoparticles in an organic solvent. Then, the pure Ag shells are converted into the shells made of Ag/Pd alloy by galvanic replacement reaction between the Ag shells and Pd2+ precursors. Subsequently, the Ag component is removed from the alloy shell using saturated NaCl solution to form core-shell Au@Pd nanoparticles with an Au core and a Pd shell. In comparison with the core-shell Au@Pd nanoparticles upon directly depositing Pd shell on the Au seeds and commercial Pd/C catalysts, the core-shell Au@Pd nanoparticles via their core-shell Au@Ag/Pd templates display superior activity and durability in catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction, mainly due to the larger lattice tensile effect in Pd shell induced by the Au core and Ag removal.