bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dietary nitrate consumption and risk of CHD in women from the Nurses’ Health Study
Authors: Jackson Jacklyn K. , Zong Geng , MacDonald-Wicks Lesley K. , Patterson Amanda J. , Willett Walter C. , Rimm Eric B. , Manson JoAnn E. , McEvoy Mark A.
Published: January 2019

The consumption of nitrate-rich vegetables can acutely lower blood pressure and improve mediators shown to optimise vascular health. However, we do not yet understand the impact of long-term habitual dietary nitrate intake and its association with CVD. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was to examine the relationship between habitual dietary nitrate intakes and risk of CHD in women from the Nurses’ Health Study. We prospectively followed 62 535 women who were free from diabetes, CVD and cancer at baseline in 1986. Information on diet was updated every 4 years with validated FFQ. The main outcome was CHD defined by the occurrence of non-fatal myocardial infarction or fatal CHD. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the relative risks (RR) and 95 % CI. During 26 years of follow-up, 2257 cases of CHD were identified. When comparing the highest quintile of nitrate intake with the lowest quintile, in aged-adjusted analysis there was a protective association for CHD (RR=0·77, 95 % CI 0·68, 0·97; P=0·0002) which dissipated after further adjustment for smoking, physical activity, BMI and race (RR=0·91; 95 % CI 0·80, 1·04; P=0·27). This magnitude of association was further attenuated once we adjusted for the Alternative Healthy Eating Index excluding vegetable and fruit consumption (RR=1·04, 95 % CI 0·91, 1·20; P=0·34). Dietary nitrate intake was not related to the risk of CHD after adjustment for other lifestyle and non-vegetable dietary factors in a large group of US women.
TRIM28 down-regulation on methylation imprints in bovine preimplantation embryos
Authors: Ma Xin , Zhang Sheng , Zhang Meiling , Zhu Yiran , Ma Panpan , Yang Shubao , Su Liyan , Li Ziyi , Lv Wenfa , Luan Weimin
Published: January 2019

TRIM28/KAP1/TIF1β was identified as a universal transcriptional co-repressor and is critical for regulating post-fertilization methylation reprogramming in preimplantation embryos. In this study, three siRNAs (si647, si742, and si1153) were designed to target the TRIM28 mRNA sequence. After transfection of the mixture of the three siRNA (siMix) into bovine fibroblast cells, the most effective one for TRIM28 knockdown was selected. By injecting RNAi directed against TRIM28 mRNA, we found that TRIM28 knockdown in oocytes had the most effect on the H19 gene, in which differentially methylated region (DMR) methylation was almost completely absent at the 2-cell stage (1.4%), while control embryos showed 74% methylation. In addition, global H3K9me3 levels at the 2-cell stage were significantly higher in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) group than in the TRIM28 knockdown group (P<0.05). We further show that TRIM28 is highly expressed during oocyte maturation and reaches peak levels at the 2-cell stage. In contrast, at this stage, TRIM28 expression in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos decreased significantly (P<0.05), suggesting that Trim28 transcripts are lost during SCNT. TRIM28 is required for the maintenance of methylation imprints in bovine preimplantation embryos, and the loss of TRIM28 during SCNT may contribute to the unfaithful maintenance of imprints in cloned embryos.
Entwicklung von Curricula für die Pflegeausbildung
Authors: Elsbernd Astrid , Bader Katrin
Published: January 2019

Zusammenfassung. Mit der Entscheidung, die Pflegeausbildung nicht in das duale Berufsbildungssystem in Deutschland zu integrieren, ist auch die Entscheidung gefallen, die Lehrenden vor Ort mit curricularen Aufgaben zu betrauen. Zwar gibt es in einigen Bundesländern Rahmenlehrpläne und Ausbildungsrahmenpläne, doch sind diese in Form, inhaltlicher Fundierung und Präzisierung recht unterschiedlich und können damit den Verantwortlichen der Schulen des Gesundheitswesensnicht die curriculare Verantwortung abnehmen.
Patientenedukation in der Pflege – Themensammlung und Unterrichtsvorschläge
Authors: Zegelin Angelika , Sunder Nadine , Segmüller Tanja
Published: January 2019

Zusammenfassung. Pflege ist ein Kommunikations- und Beziehungsberuf. Bis heute fehlt es jedoch an Theorie und Empirie zur Interaktionsarbeit in der Pflege. Diese Handreichung zu Patientenedukation wird als Mehrteiler in der PADUA angeboten, sie soll helfen, entsprechende Lehre auf verschiedenen Stufen vorzubereiten. Zunächst geht es um Grundlagen, dann um einzelne Elemente wie Information, Schulung oder Beratung. Zum Schluss wird eine umfangreiche Literaturliste die Texte ergänzen.
Real-time high-resolution mid-infrared optical coherence tomography
Authors: Israelsen Niels M. , Petersen Christian R. , Barh Ajanta , Jain Deepak , Jensen Mikkel , Hannesschläger Günther , Tidemand-Lichtenberg Peter , Pedersen Christian , Podoleanu Adrian , Bang Ole
Published: January 2019

The potential for improving the penetration depth of optical coherence tomography systems by using light sources with longer wavelengths has been known since the inception of the technique in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, the development of mid-infrared optical coherence tomography has long been challenged by the maturity and fidelity of optical components in this spectral region, resulting in slow acquisition, low sensitivity, and poor axial resolution. In this work, a mid-infrared spectral-domain optical coherence tomography system operating at a central wavelength of 4 µm and an axial resolution of 8.6 µm is demonstrated. The system produces two-dimensional cross-sectional images in real time enabled by a high-brightness 0.9- to 4.7-µm mid-infrared supercontinuum source with a pulse repetition rate of 1 MHz for illumination and broadband upconversion of more than 1-µm bandwidth from 3.58–4.63 µm to 820–865 nm, where a standard 800-nm spectrometer can be used for fast detection. The images produced by the mid-infrared system are compared with those delivered by a state-of-the-art ultra-high-resolution near-infrared optical coherence tomography system operating at 1.3 μm, and the potential applications and samples suited for this technology are discussed. In doing so, the first practical mid-infrared optical coherence tomography system is demonstrated, with immediate applications in real-time non-destructive testing for the inspection of defects and thickness measurements in samples that exhibit strong scattering at shorter wavelengths.
Large optical nonlinearity enabled by coupled metallic quantum wells
Authors: Qian Haoliang , Li Shilong , Chen Ching-Fu , Hsu Su-Wen , Bopp Steven Edward , Ma Qian , Tao Andrea R. , Liu Zhaowei
Published: January 2019

New materials that exhibit strong second-order optical nonlinearities at a desired operational frequency are of paramount importance for nonlinear optics. Giant second-order susceptibility χ(2) has been obtained in semiconductor quantum wells (QWs). Unfortunately, the limited confining potential in semiconductor QWs causes formidable challenges in scaling such a scheme to the visible/near-infrared (NIR) frequencies for more vital nonlinear-optic applications. Here, we introduce a metal/dielectric heterostructured platform, i.e., TiN/Al2O3 epitaxial multilayers, to overcome that limitation. This platform has an extremely high χ(2) of approximately 1500 pm/V at NIR frequencies. By combining the aforementioned heterostructure with the large electric field enhancement afforded by a nanostructured metasurface, the power efficiency of second harmonic generation (SHG) achieved 10−4 at an incident pulse intensity of 10 GW/cm2, which is an improvement of several orders of magnitude compared to that of previous demonstrations from nonlinear surfaces at similar frequencies. The proposed quantum-engineered heterostructures enable efficient wave mixing at visible/NIR frequencies into ultracompact nonlinear optical devices.
Preclinical study using circular RNA 17 and micro RNA 181c-5p to suppress the enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer progression
Authors: Wu Gang , Sun Yin , Xiang Zhendong , Wang Keliang , Liu Bo , Xiao Guangqian , Niu Yuanjie , Wu Denglong , Chang Chawnshang
Published: January 2019

Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with newly developed antiandrogen enzalutamide (Enz) may increase the castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients survival an extra 4.8 months. Yet eventually most patients may fail with development of Enz resistance. While recent clinical studies indicated that the increased expression of the androgen receptor (AR) splicing variant ARv7 might have key roles for the development of Enz resistance in CRPC, its detailed mechanism, especially its linkage to the circular RNAs (circRNAs), a form of non-coding RNA, however, remains unclear. Here we found from human clinical sample survey that circRNA17 (hsa_circ_0001427) has a lower expression in higher Gleason score PCa, and results from in vitro cell lines studies also revealed the lower expression in CRPC C4–2 Enz-resistant (EnzR-C4–2) cells compared to their parental Enz-sensitive (EnzS-C4–2) cells. Mechanism dissection indicated that suppressing circRNA17 in EnzS-C4–2 cells increased ARv7 expression that might then lead to increase the Enz resistance and cell invasion. Mechanism dissection demonstrated that Enz could suppress the circRNA17 expression at the transcriptional level via suppressing transcription of its host gene PDLIM5, and circRNA17 could regulate ARv7 expression via altering the expression of miR-181c-5p that involved the direct binding of miR-181c-5p to the 3′UTR of ARv7. Preclinical study using in vivo mouse model with xenografted EnzR-CWR22Rv1 cells revealed that adding circRNA17 or miRNA-181c-5p could suppress the EnzR-CWR22Rv1 cells growth. Together, results from these preclinical studies suggest that circRNA17 may function as suppressor to alter the Enz sensitivity and cell invasion in CRPC cells via altering the miR-181c-5p/ARv7 signaling and targeting this newly identified signaling may help in the development of a better therapy to further suppress the EnzR cell growth.
PPARα and PPARγ activation attenuates total free fatty acid and triglyceride accumulation in macrophages via the inhibition of Fatp1 expression
Authors: Ye Guozhu , Gao Han , Wang Zhichao , Lin Yi , Liao Xu , Zhang Han , Chi Yulang , Zhu Huimin , Dong Sijun
Published: January 2019

Lipid accumulation in macrophages interacts with microenvironment signals and accelerates diabetic atherosclerosis. However, the molecular mechanisms by which macrophage metabolism interacts with microenvironment signals during lipid accumulation are not clearly understood. Accordingly, an untargeted metabolomics approach was employed to characterize the metabolic reprogramming, and to identify potential regulatory targets related to lipid accumulation in macrophages treated with oleate, an important nutrient. The metabolomics approach revealed that multiple metabolic pathways were significantly disturbed in oleate-treated macrophages. We discovered that amino acids, nucleosides, lactate, monoacylglycerols, total free fatty acids (FFAs), and triglycerides (TGs) accumulated in oleate-treated macrophages, but these effects were effectively attenuated or even abolished by resveratrol. Notably, 1-monooleoylglycerol and 2-monooleoylglycerol showed the largest fold changes in the levels among the differential metabolites. Subsequently, we found that oleate triggered total FFA and TG accumulation in macrophages by accelerating FFA influx through the activation of Fatp1 expression, but this effect was attenuated by resveratrol via the activation of PPARα and PPARγ signaling. We verified that the activation of PPARα and PPARγ by WY14643 and pioglitazone, respectively, attenuated oleate triggered total FFA and TG accumulation in macrophages by repressing FFA import via the suppression of Fatp1 expression. Furthermore, the inhibition of Fatp1 by tumor necrosis factor α alleviated oleate-induced total FFA and TG accumulation in macrophages. This study provided the first demonstration that accumulation of amino acids, nucleosides, lactate, monoacylglycerols, total FFAs, and TGs in oleate-treated macrophages is effectively attenuated or even abolished by resveratrol, and that the activation of PPARα and PPARγ attenuates oleate-induced total FFA and TG accumulation via suppression of Fatp1 expression in macrophages. Therapeutic strategies aim to activate PPAR signaling, and to repress FFA import and triglyceride synthesis are promising approaches to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis.
Increased expression of lncRNA CASC9 promotes tumor progression by suppressing autophagy-mediated cell apoptosis via the AKT/mTOR pathway in oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Yang Yixin , Chen Dan , Liu Huan , Yang Kai
Published: January 2019

Recent studies showed that lncRNA CASC9 was upregulated and acted as an oncogene in a variety of tumors. However, the expression and biological functions of CASC9 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remain unknown. In this study, we found for the first time that CASC9 was remarkably upregulated in OSCC tissues and cell lines compared with paired noncancerous tissues and normal oral epithelial cells. Highly expressed CASC9 is strongly associated with tumor size, clinical stage, regional lymph node metastasis and overall survival time in OSCC patients. In vitro, CASC9 knockdown in OSCC cells SCC15 and CAL27 significantly promotes autophagy and apoptosis, while inhibiting proliferation. Moreover, the expression levels of p-AKT, p-mTOR, P62 and BCL-2 were significantly decreased, while the expression levels of BAX and the LC3BII/LC3BI ratio were increased in CASC9-knockdown SCC15 and CAL27 cells. After the addition of the AKT activator SC79 in CASC9-knockdown SCC15 and CAL27 cells, we found that the increased autophagy and apoptosis were remarkably rescued. Furthermore, the increased apoptosis was remarkably rescued in CASC9-knockdown OSCC cells treated with the autophagy inhibitor Autophinib. In addition, CASC9 depletion suppressed tumor growth in vivo. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that lncRNA CASC9 promotes OSCC progression through enhancing cell proliferation and suppressing autophagy-mediated cell apoptosis via the AKT/mTOR pathway. CASC9 could potentially be used as a valuable biomarker for OSCC diagnosis and prognosis.
Glutaminase 1 expression in colorectal cancer cells is induced by hypoxia and required for tumor growth, invasion, and metastatic colonization
Authors: Xiang Lisha , Mou Jun , Shao Bin , Wei Yuquan , Liang Houjie , Takano Naoharu , Semenza Gregg L. , Xie Ganfeng
Published: January 2019

Cancer cells re-program their metabolic machinery to meet the requirements of malignant transformation and progression. Glutaminase 1 (GLS1) was traditionally known as a mitochondrial enzyme that hydrolyzes glutamine into glutamate and fuels rapid proliferation of cancer cells. However, emerging evidence has now revealed that GLS1 might be a novel oncogene involved in tumorigenesis and progression of human cancers. In this study, we sought to determine whether GLS1 implicated in invasion and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma, and its underlying molecular mechanism. By analyzing a large set of clinical data from online datasets, we found that GLS1 is overexpressed in cancers compared with adjacent normal tissues, and associated with increased patient mortality. Immunohistochemical analysis of GLS1 staining showed that high GLS1 expression is significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and advanced clinical stage in colorectal cancer patients. To investigate the underlying mechanism, we analyzed the Cancer Genome Atlas database and found that GLS1 mRNA expression is associated with a hypoxia signature, which is correlated with an increased risk of metastasis and mortality. Furthermore, reduced oxygen availability increases GLS1 mRNA and protein expression, due to transcriptional activation by hypoxia-inducible factor 1. GLS1 expression in colorectal cancer cells is required for hypoxia-induced migration and invasion in vitro and for tumor growth and metastatic colonization in vivo.
Next-generation ferroelectric domain-wall memories: principle and architecture
Authors: Jiang An Quan , Zhang Yan
Published: January 2019

The downscaling of commercial one-transistor–one capacitor ferroelectric memory cells is limited by the available signal window for the use of a charge integration readout technique. However, the erasable conducting charged walls that occur in insulating ferroelectrics can be used to read the bipolar domain states. Both out-of-plane and in-plane cell configurations are compared for the next sub-10-nm integration of ferroelectric domain wall memories with high reliability. It is highlighted that a nonvolatile read strategy of domain information within mesa-like cells under the application of a strong in-plane read field can enable a massive crossbar connection to reduce mobile charge accumulation at the walls and crosstalk currents from neighboring cells. The memory has extended application in analog data processing and neural networks.
Functionalized magnetic biopolymeric graphene oxide with outstanding performance in water purification
Authors: Sarkar Amit Kumar , Bediako John Kwame , Choi Jong-Won , Yun Yeoung-Sang
Published: January 2019

Graphene oxide (GO) is an attractive material for water treatment, although its high surface energy restricts its practical application. To overcome this challenge, we have developed a well-dispersed and interconnected, functionalized biopolymeric GO with magnetic activity, namely, cl–CS–p(MA)/Fe3O4NPs. This three-dimensional, sponge-like nanostructured material is composed of graphene oxide nanosheets dispersed in functionalized chitosan/poly(methacrylic acid) and is cross-linked with in situ-developed Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Methacrylic acid (MA)-functionalized chitosan (CS) cross-linked with N,N-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBA), designated as cl–CS–p(MA), facilitates the stable dispersion of GO nanosheets, providing a proper solid matrix for the generation of well-dispersed in situ Fe3O4NPs. The methodology allows for the generation of numerous binding sites with an interconnected morphology, facilitating the rapid uptake of a cationic dye in significant quantity, e.g., methylene blue (MB), which is used as a model water pollutant. In this work, the structural architecture of cl–CS–p(MA)/Fe3O4NPs was characterized with multiple approaches, and the adsorption mechanism was revealed to be an electrostatic interaction. The synthesized nanocomposite showed significant recyclability and structural stability. Adsorption equilibrium was achieved within 20 min, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 2478 mg/g for MB, surpassing the values reported for any other adsorbents to date.
Author Correction: Reduced graphene oxide functionalized nanofibrous silk fibroin matrices for engineering excitable tissues
Authors: Zhao Guoxu , Qing Huaibin , Huang Guoyou , Genin Guy M. , Lu Tian Jian , Luo Zhengtang , Xu Feng , Zhang Xiaohui
Published: January 2019

After online publication of this article, the authors noticed an error in the Materials and Methods section in the manuscript.
Photoinduced semiconductor-metal transition in ultrathin troilite FeS nanosheets to trigger efficient hydrogen evolution
Authors: Zhou Gang , Shan Yun , Wang Longlu , Hu Youyou , Guo Junhong , Hu Fangren , Shen Jiancang , Gu Yu , Cui Jingteng , Liu Lizhe , Wu Xinglong
Published: January 2019

The exploitation of the stable and earth-abundant electrocatalyst with high catalytic activity remains a significant challenge for hydrogen evolution reaction. Being different from complex nanostructuring, this work focuses on a simple and feasible way to improve hydrogen evolution reaction performance via manipulation of intrinsic physical properties of the material. Herein, we present an interesting semiconductor-metal transition in ultrathin troilite FeS nanosheets triggered by near infrared radiation at near room temperature for the first time. The photogenerated metal-phase FeS nanosheets demonstrate intrinsically high catalytic activity and fast carrier transfer for hydrogen evolution reaction, leading to an overpotential of 142 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a lower Tafel slope of 36.9 mV per decade. Our findings provide new inspirations for the steering of electron transfer and designing new-type catalysts.
Author Correction: Dopamine-dependent prefrontal reactivations explain long-term benefit of fear extinction
Authors: Gerlicher A. M. V. , Tüscher O. , Kalisch R.
Published: January 2019

In the original version of this Article, the fourth sentence of the legend to Figure 1b incorrectly read “Note, that the group difference stemmed from significantly smaller CS+ evoked SCRs averaged across the whole test phase, but the speed of re-extinction did not differ significantly between drug groups (control analysis with stimulus (CS+, CS−) and trial (1–10) as within-, and group (placebo, L-DOPA) as between-subject factor: stimulus × group, F1,297 = 6.57, P = 0.02, partial η2 = 0.17; stimulus × trial × group, F1,297 = 1.32, P = 0.23; n = 35)”. The correct version states “F1,33 = 6.58” instead of “F1,297 = 6.57”, and “F9,297 = 1.32” instead of “F1,297 = 1.32”. These errors have now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article. The correct values were used in the statistical analysis and the errors do not affect the conclusions.
Multiscale core-periphery structure in a global liner shipping network
Authors: Kojaku Sadamori , Xu Mengqiao , Xia Haoxiang , Masuda Naoki
Published: January 2019

Maritime transport accounts for a majority of trades in volume, of which 70% in value is carried by container ships that transit regular routes on fixed schedules in the ocean. In the present paper, we analyse a data set of global liner shipping as a network of ports. In particular, we construct the network of the ports as the one-mode projection of a bipartite network composed of ports and ship routes. Like other transportation networks, global liner shipping networks may have core-periphery structure, where a core and a periphery are groups of densely and sparsely interconnected nodes, respectively. Core-periphery structure may have practical implications for understanding the robustness, efficiency and uneven development of international transportation systems. We develop an algorithm to detect core-periphery pairs in a network, which allows one to find core and peripheral nodes on different scales and uses a configuration model that accounts for the fact that the network is obtained by the one-mode projection of a bipartite network. We also found that most ports are core (as opposed to peripheral) ports and that ports in some countries in Europe, America and Asia belong to a global core-periphery pair across different scales, whereas ports in other countries do not.
Independent validation of induced overexpression efficiency across 242 experiments shows a success rate of 39%
Authors: Munkácsy Gyöngyi , Herman Péter , Győrffy Balázs
Published: January 2019

Although numerous studies containing induced gene expression have already been published, independent authentication of their results has not yet been performed. Here, we utilized available transcriptomic data to validate the achieved efficiency in overexpression studies. Microarray data of experiments containing cell lines with induced overexpression in one or more genes were analyzed. All together 342 studies were processed, these include 242 different genes overexpressed in 184 cell lines. The final database includes 4,755 treatment-control sample pairs. Successful gene induction (fold change induction over 1.44) was validated in 39.3% of all genes at p < 0.05. Number of repetitions within a study (p < 0.0001) and type of used vector (p = 0.023) had significant impact on successful overexpression efficacy. In summary, over 60% of studies failed to deliver a reproducible overexpression. To achieve higher efficiency, robust and strict study design with multi-level quality control will be necessary.
Specific refolding pathway of viscumin A chain in membrane-like medium reveals a possible mechanism of toxin entry into cell
Authors: Volynsky Pavel E. , Nolde Dmitry E. , Zakharova Galina S. , Palmer Rex A. , Tonevitsky Alexander G. , Efremov Roman G.
Published: January 2019

How is a water-soluble globular protein able to spontaneously cross a cellular membrane? It is commonly accepted that it undergoes significant structural rearrangements on the lipid-water interface, thus acquiring membrane binding and penetration ability. In this study molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to explore large-scale conformational changes of the globular viscumin A chain in a complex environment – comprising urea and chloroform/methanol (CHCl3/MeOH) mixture. Being well-packed in aqueous solution, viscumin A undergoes global structural rearrangements in both organic media. In urea, the protein is “swelling” and gradually loses its long-distance contacts, thus resembling the “molten globule” state. In CHCl3/MeOH, viscumin A is in effect turned “inside out”. This is accompanied with strengthening of the secondary structure and surface exposure of hydrophobic epitopes originally buried inside the globule. Resulting solvent-adapted models were further subjected to Monte Carlo simulations with an implicit hydrophobic slab membrane. In contrast to only a few point surface contacts in water and two short regions with weak protein-lipid interactions in urea, MD-derived structures in CHCl3/MeOH reveal multiple determinants of membrane interaction. Consequently it is now possible to propose a specific pathway for the structural adaptation of viscumin A with respect to the cell membrane – a probable first step of its translocation into cytoplasmic targets.
Genome-wide transcriptome analysis to further understand neutrophil activation and lncRNA transcript profiles in Kawasaki disease
Authors: Ko Tai-Ming , Chang Jeng-Sheng , Chen Shih-Ping , Liu Yi-Min , Chang Chia-Jung , Tsai Fuu-Jen , Lee Yi-Ching , Chen Chien-Hsiun , Chen Yuan-Tsong , Wu Jer-Yuarn
Published: January 2019

Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common cause of acquired cardiac disease in children in developed countries. However, little is known regarding the role of transcriptomic targets of KD in the disease progression and development of complications, especially coronary artery aneurysms (CAA). The aim of our study was to identify transcripts affected by KD and their potential role in the disease. We enrolled 37 KD patients and collected blood samples along a comprehensive time-course. mRNA profiling demonstrated an abundance of CD177 transcript in acute KD, and in the intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)-resistant group compared to in the IVIG-sensitive group. lncRNA profiling identified XLOC_006277 as the most highly expressed molecule. XLOC_006277 expression in patients at acute stage was 3.3-fold higher relative to patients with convalescent KD. Moreover, XLOC_006277 abundance increased significantly in patients with CAA. XLOC_006277 knockdown suppressed MMP-8 and MMP-9 expression, both associated with heart lesions. Our result suggested that the increase of CD177pos neutrophils was associated with KD. Moreover, this study provided global long non-coding RNA transcripts in the blood of patients with KD, IVIG-resistant KD, or CAA. Notably, XLOC_006277 abundance was associated with CAA, which might contribute to further understanding of CAA pathogenesis in KD.
Biogeography of the Caribbean Cyrtognatha spiders
Authors: Čandek Klemen , Agnarsson Ingi , Binford Greta J. , Kuntner Matjaž
Published: January 2019

Island systems provide excellent arenas to test evolutionary hypotheses pertaining to gene flow and diversification of dispersal-limited organisms. Here we focus on an orbweaver spider genusCyrtognatha(Tetragnathidae) from the Caribbean, with the aims to reconstruct its evolutionary history, examine its biogeographic history in the archipelago, and to estimate the timing and route of Caribbean colonization. Specifically, we test ifCyrtognathabiogeographic history is consistent with an ancient vicariant scenario (the GAARlandia landbridge hypothesis) or overwater dispersal. We reconstructed a species level phylogeny based on one mitochondrial (COI) and one nuclear (28S) marker. We then used this topology to constrain a time-calibrated mtDNA phylogeny, for subsequent biogeographical analyses in BioGeoBEARS of over 100 originally sampledCyrtognathaindividuals, using models with and without a founder event parameter. Our results suggest a radiation of CaribbeanCyrtognatha, containing 11 to 14 species that are exclusively single island endemics. Although biogeographic reconstructions cannot refute a vicariant origin of the Caribbean clade, possibly an artifact of sparse outgroup availability, they indicate timing of colonization that is much too recent for GAARlandia to have played a role. Instead, an overwater colonization to the Caribbean in mid-Miocene better explains the data. From Hispaniola,Cyrtognathasubsequently dispersed to, and diversified on, the other islands of the Greater, and Lesser Antilles. Within the constraints of our island system and data, a model that omits the founder event parameter from biogeographic analysis is less suitable than the equivalent model with a founder event.
Habitat management as a safe and effective approach for improving yield and quality of tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves
Authors: Li Jianlong , Zhou Ying , Zhou Bo , Tang Hao , Chen Yiyong , Qiao Xiaoyan , Tang Jinchi
Published: January 2019

Tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves are used to make the most widely consumed beverage globally after water. Therefore, the safety and quality of raw tea leaves are important indices for making tea and related products. Habitat management has been widely used as an environmentally friendly method to control pests in agroecosystems. To investigate the impact of habitat management on tea plantation ecosystems, a habitat management approach with intercropping was established. The function of habitat management on pest control was evaluated. Furthermore, metabolome and transcriptome analysis were applied to assay changes in quality-related metabolites. The habitat management approach was found to maintain arthropod biodiversity and develop natural arthropod enemies in the tea plantation. Therefore, the yield of the habitat management-treated tea plantation was increased. Metabolome analysis showed that epigallocatechin-3-gallate, the major catechin in tea leaves, has a significantly increased content in leaves of tea plants under habitat management compared with those in the control tea plantation. The content of L-theanine, the major amino acid in tea leaves, was not significantly changed in tea plants under habitat management. Furthermore, aroma compounds were more abundant in tea leaves from the habitat management-treated tea plantation than those from the chemical pesticide-treated tea plantation. Therefore, habitat management is reported for the first time as a safe and effective approach to improving the yield and quality of tea leaves.
Enhancement of superconducting properties and flux pinning mechanism on Cr0.0005NbSe2 single crystal under Hydrostatic pressure
Authors: Arumugam S. , Krishnan Manikandan , Ishigaki Kent , Gouchi Jun , Pervin Rukshana , Selvan G. Kalai , Shirage Parasharam M. , Uwatoko Y.
Published: January 2019

Superconducting properties of Cr0.0005NbSe2 (Tc~6.64 K) single crystals have been investigated through the temperature dependent resistivity (~8 GPa) and DC magnetization (~1 GPa) measurements. Further, the critical current density (Jc) as a function of applied magnetic field has been studied from magnetic isotherms. The vortex pinning mechanisms have also been systematically analyzed using weak collective pinning theory as a function of pressure. The Jc corresponds to the flux flow enhanced by the application of pressure due to increase of Tc and vortex changes. We found that the pressure is responsible for the spatial variations in the charge carrier mean free path (δl pinning). We find that core point pinning is more dominant than surface pinning which is caused by the application of pressure. In addition, Jc(H = 0) increases from 3.9 × 105 (0 GPa) to 1.3 × 106 (1.02 GPa) A/cm2 at 2 K as the pressure is increased from normal pressure to 1.02 GPa. The pressure dependence of Tc (dTc/dP) becomes 0.91 K/GPa and 0.75 K/GPa from magnetization and resistivity measurements respectively. We found that the pressure promotes the anisotropy nature, and decrease of coherence length and resulting in pathetic interface of the vortex core with pinning centers.
Physical characteristics not psychological state or trait characteristics predict motion during resting state fMRI
Authors: Ekhtiari Hamed , Kuplicki Rayus , Yeh Hung-wen , Paulus Martin P.
Published: January 2019

Head motion (HM) during fMRI acquisition can significantly affect measures of brain activity or connectivity even after correction with preprocessing methods. Moreover, any systematic relationship between HM and variables of interest can introduce systematic bias. There is a large and growing interest in identifying neural biomarkers for psychiatric disorders using resting state fMRI (rsfMRI). However, the relationship between HM and different psychiatric symptoms domains is not well understood. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether psychiatric symptoms and other characteristics of the individual predict HM during rsfMRI. A sample of n = 464 participants (174 male) from the Tulsa1000, a naturalistic longitudinal study recruiting subjects with different levels of severity in mood/anxiety/substance use disorders based on the dimensional NIMH Research Domain Criteria framework was used for this study. Based on a machine learning (ML) pipeline with nested cross-validation to avoid overfitting, the stacked model with 15 anthropometric (like body mass index, BMI) and demographic (age and sex) variables identifies BMI and weight as the most important variables and explained 10.9 percent of the HM variance (95% CI: 9.9–11.8). In comparison ML models with 105 self-report measures for state and trait psychological characteristics identified nicotine and alcohol use variables as well as impulsivity inhibitory control variables but explain only 5 percent of HM variance (95% CI: 3.5–6.4). A combined ML model using all 120 variables did not perform significantly better than the model using only 15 physical variables (combined model 95% confidence interval: 10.2–12.4). Taken together, after considering physical variables, state or trait psychological characteristics do not provide additional power to predict motion during rsfMRI.
Structural features distinguishing infectious ex vivo mammalian prions from non-infectious fibrillar assemblies generated in vitro
Authors: Terry Cassandra , Harniman Robert L. , Sells Jessica , Wenborn Adam , Joiner Susan , Saibil Helen R. , Miles Mervyn J. , Collinge John , Wadsworth Jonathan D. F.
Published: January 2019

Seeded polymerisation of proteins forming amyloid fibres and their spread in tissues has been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple neurodegenerative diseases: so called “prion-like” mechanisms. While ex vivo mammalian prions, composed of multichain assemblies of misfolded host-encoded prion protein (PrP), act as lethal infectious agents, PrP amyloid fibrils produced in vitro generally do not. The high-resolution structure of authentic infectious prions and the structural basis of prion strain diversity remain unknown. Here we use cryo-electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to examine the structure of highly infectious PrP rods isolated from mouse brain in comparison to non-infectious recombinant PrP fibrils generated in vitro. Non-infectious recombinant PrP fibrils are 10 nm wide single fibres, with a double helical repeating substructure displaying small variations in adhesive force interactions across their width. In contrast, infectious PrP rods are 20 nm wide and contain two fibres, each with a double helical repeating substructure, separated by a central gap of 8–10 nm in width. This gap contains an irregularly structured material whose adhesive force properties are strikingly different to that of the fibres, suggestive of a distinct composition. The structure of the infectious PrP rods, which cause lethal neurodegeneration, readily differentiates them from all other protein assemblies so far characterised in other neurodegenerative diseases.
Geometric Determinants of In-Situ Direct Laser Writing
Authors: Lamont Andrew C. , Alsharhan Abdullah T. , Sochol Ryan D.
Published: January 2019

Direct laser writing (DLW) is a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing technology that offers significant geometric versatility at submicron length scales. Although these characteristics hold promise for fields including organ modeling and microfluidic processing, difficulties associated with facilitating the macro-to-micro interfaces required for fluid delivery have limited the utility of DLW for such applications. To overcome this issue, here we report an in-situ DLW (isDLW) strategy for creating 3D nanostructured features directly inside of—and notably, fully sealed to—sol-gel-coated elastomeric microchannels. In particular, we investigate the role of microchannel geometry (e.g., cross-sectional shape and size) in the sealing performance of isDLW-printed structures. Experiments revealed that increasing the outward tapering of microchannel sidewalls improved fluidic sealing integrity for channel heights ranging from 10 μm to 100 μm, which suggests that conventional microchannel fabrication approaches are poorly suited for isDLW. As a demonstrative example, we employed isDLW to 3D print a microfluidic helical coil spring diode and observed improved flow rectification performance at higher pressures—an indication of effective structure-to-channel sealing. We envision that the ability to readily integrate 3D nanostructured fluidic motifs with the entire luminal surface of elastomeric channels will open new avenues for emerging applications in areas such as soft microrobotics and biofluidic microsystems.
Hope4Genes: a Hopfield-like class prediction algorithm for transcriptomic data
Authors: Cantini Laura , Caselle Michele
Published: January 2019

After its introduction in 1982, the Hopfield model has been extensively applied for classification and pattern recognition. Recently, its great potential in gene expression patterns retrieval has also been shown. Following this line, we develop Hope4Genes a single-sample class prediction algorithm based on a Hopfield-like model. Differently from previous works, we here tested the performances of the algorithm for class prediction, a task of fundamental importance for precision medicine and therapeutic decision-making. Hope4Genes proved better performances than the state-of-art methodologies in the field independently of the size of the input dataset, its profiling platform, the number of classes and the typical class-imbalance present in biological data. Our results provide encoraging evidence that the Hopfield model, together with the use of its energy for the estimation of the false discoveries, is a particularly promising tool for precision medicine.
Involvement of CTCF in transcription regulation of EGR1 at early G1 phase as an architecture factor
Authors: Sekiya Takeshi , Kato Kohsuke , Kawaguchi Atsushi , Nagata Kyosuke
Published: January 2019

Early growth response 1 (EGR1) is a transcription factor and regulates cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The expression of EGR1 is rapidly induced in response to several stimuli, and it activates the expression of downstream target genes involved in signaling cascades. EGR1 gene is also known to be transcribed in early G1 phase. However, the regulation of EGR1 transcription in early G1 phase is not clarified well. Here we found that CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF), a chromatin binding protein, is required to transcribe EGR1 gene at the onset of early G1 phase. We found that CTCF mediated the formation of higher-order chromatin structures among CTCF binding sites located in the EGR1 locus. Disruption of the CTCF-dependent higher-order chromatin structure using nuclease-dead Cas9 (dCas9)-mediated interference reduced the EGR1 transcription in early G1 phase. Collectively, we propose that CTCF has functional roles for the temporal expression of EGR1 in early G1 phase through regulation of higher-order chromatin structure organization.
Sex differences in early sensorimotor processing for speech discrimination
Authors: Thornton David , Harkrider Ashley W. , Jenson David E. , Saltuklaroglu Tim
Published: January 2019

Sensorimotor activity in speech perception tasks varies as a function of context, cognitive load, and cognitive ability. This study investigated listener sex as an additional variable. Raw EEG data were collected as 21 males and 21 females discriminated /ba/ and /da/ in quiet and noisy backgrounds. Independent component analyses of data from accurately discriminated trials identified sensorimotor mu components with characteristic alpha and beta peaks from 16 members of each sex. Time-frequency decompositions showed that in quiet discrimination, females displayed stronger early mu-alpha synchronization, whereas males showed stronger mu-beta desynchronization. Findings indicate that early attentional mechanisms for speech discrimination were characterized by sensorimotor inhibition in females and predictive sensorimotor activation in males. Both sexes showed stronger early sensorimotor inhibition in noisy discrimination conditions versus in quiet, suggesting sensory gating of the noise. However, the difference in neural activation between quiet and noisy conditions was greater in males than females. Though sex differences appear unrelated to behavioral accuracy, they suggest that males and females exhibit early sensorimotor processing for speech discrimination that is fundamentally different, yet similarly adaptable to adverse conditions. Findings have implications for understanding variability in neuroimaging data and the male prevalence in various neurodevelopmental disorders with inhibitory dysfunction.
CGRP-CRLR/RAMP1 signal is important for stress-induced hematopoiesis
Authors: Suekane Akira , Saito Yusuke , Nakahata Shingo , Ichikawa Tomonaga , Ogoh Honami , Tsujikawa Kazutake , Morishita Kazuhiro
Published: January 2019

Ecotropic viral integration site-1 (EVI1) has a critical role in normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Since we previously identified high expression of calcitonin receptor like receptor (CRLR) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with high EVI1 expression, we here characterized the function of CRLR in hematopoiesis. Since higher expression of CRLR and receptor activity modifying protein 1 (RAMP1) was identified in immature hematopoietic bone marrow (BM) cells, we focused on calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a specific ligand for the CRLR/RAMP1 complex. To elucidate the role of CGRP in hematopoiesis, Ramp1-deficient (Ramp1−/−) mice were used. The steady-state hematopoiesis was almost maintained in Ramp1−/− mice; however, the BM repopulation capacity of Ramp1−/− mice was significantly decreased, and the transplanted Ramp1−/− BM mononuclear cells had low proliferation capacity with enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell apoptosis. Thus, CGRP is important for maintaining hematopoiesis during temporal exposures with proliferative stress. Moreover, continuous CGRP exposure to mice for two weeks induced a reduction in the number of BM immature hematopoietic cells along with differentiated myeloid cells. Since CGRP is known to be increased under inflammatory conditions to regulate immune responses, hematopoietic exhaustion by continuous CGRP secretion under chronic inflammatory conditions is probably one of the important mechanisms of anti-inflammatory responses.
Rapid Data Analytics to Relate Sugarcane Aphid [(Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner)] Population and Damage on Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)
Authors: Uchimiya Minori , Knoll Joseph E.
Published: January 2019

Sugarcane aphid [(Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner)] emerged in the United States in 2013 as a new pest infesting sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). Aphid population and plant damage are assessed by field scouting with mean comparison tests or repeated regression analysis. Because of inherently large replication errors from the field and interactions between treatments, new data analytics are needed to rapidly visualize the pest emergence trend and its impact on plant damage. This study utilized variable importance in the projection (VIP) and regression vector statistics of partial least squares (PLS) modeling to deduce directional relationships between aphid population and leaf damage from biweekly field monitoring (independent variable) and chemical composition (dependent variable) of 24 sweet sorghum cultivars. Regardless of environment, aphid population increase preceded the maximum damage rating. Greater damage rating at earlier growth stage in 2015 than 2016 led to an overall higher damage rating in 2015 than 2016. This trend in damage coincided with higher concentrations of trans-aconitic acid and polyphenolic secondary products in stem juice in 2016 than 2015, at the expense of primary sugar production. Developed rapid data analytics could be extended to link phenotypes to perturbation parameters (e.g., cultivar and growth stage), enabling integrated pest management.
Stereolithographic 3D printing of extrinsically self-healing composites
Authors: Sanders Polly , Young Adam J. , Qin Yang , Fancey Kevin S. , Reithofer Michael R. , Guillet-Nicolas Rémy , Kleitz Freddy , Pamme Nicole , Chin Jia Min
Published: January 2019

We demonstrate for the first time the direct stereolithographic 3D printing of an extrinsically self-healing composite, comprised of commercial photocurable resin modified with anisole and PMMA-filled microcapsules. The composites demonstrate solvent-welding based autonomous self-healing to afford 87% recovery of the initial critical toughness. This work illustrates the potential of stereolithographic printing to fabricate self-healing composites with user-defined structures, avoiding the need for extensive rheological optimization of printing inks, like in direct-write 3D printing. Importantly, this work also demonstrates the inclusion of microcapsules into 3D printing resins to incorporate additional functionality into printed composites, which could be adapted for applications beyond self-healing materials.
Controllable Tunneling Triboelectrification of Two-Dimensional Chemical Vapor Deposited MoS2
Authors: Wang He , Huang Chung-Che , Polcar Tomas
Published: January 2019

Tunneling triboelectrification of chemical vapor deposited monolayer MoS2has been characterized at nanoscale with contact-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin force microscopy (KFM). Although charges can be trapped on insulators like SiO2by conventional triboelectrification, triboelectric charges tunneling through MoS2and localized at the underlying substrate exhibit more than two orders of magnitude longer lifetime. Their polarity and density can be modified by triboelectric process with various bias voltages applied to Pt-coated AFM tips, and the saturated density is almost 30 times higher than the reported result of SiO2. Thus, the controllable tunneling triboelectric properties of MoS2on insulating substrates can provide guidance to build a new class of two-dimensional (2D) MoS2-based nanoelectronic devices.