bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Task allocation in a cooperative society: specialized castes or age-dependent switching among ant workers
Authors: Iwasa Yoh , Yamaguchi Sachi
Published: February 2020

Some ant species have multiple worker castes that differ in body size; workers in one caste remain in the colony and those in the other forage outside the colony (caste polyethism). In other species, all workers engage in both tasks, but the younger workers remain in the colony and the older workers forage (age polyethism). Here, we ask which of these two is the most efficient for colony level performance when foragers suffer a higher daily mortality than workers in the colony and when the optimal worker size differs between two tasks. We studied two models: in the stationary colony model, the colony size and composition remain constant, and the amount of excess resources that can be used for producing reproductive individuals is maximized; in the growing colony model, all of the resources obtained are used for producing new workers, and the rate of the colony growth is maximized. In both models, we observed similar results: caste polyethism is more advantageous than age polyethism if the difference in mortality between the two tasks is small and the difference in the optimal size is large. In the opposite situation, the age polyethism is more advantageous.
Isotopic ratios of uranium and caesium in spherical radioactive caesium-bearing microparticles derived from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant
Authors: Kurihara Yuichi , Takahata Naoto , Yokoyama Takaomi D. , Miura Hikaru , Kon Yoshiaki , Takagi Tetsuichi , Higaki Shogo , Yamaguchi Noriko , Sano Yuji , Takahashi Yoshio
Published: February 2020

Spherical radioactive caesium (Cs)-bearing microparticles (CsMPs) were emitted during the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in March, 2011. The emission source (timing) and formation process of these particles remain unclear. In this study, the isotopic ratios of uranium (235U and 238U) and caesium (133Cs, 134Cs, 135Cs, and 137Cs) isotopes in the five spherical CsMPs (ca. 2 μm in size) sampled at 50 km west of the FDNPP were determined using secondary ion mass spectrometry and laser ablation-ICPMS, respectively. Results showed that the 235U/238U ratios of CsMPs were homogeneous (1.93 ± 0.03, N = 4) and close to those estimated for the fuel cores in units 2 and 3, and that the Cs isotopic ratios of CsMP were identical to those of units 2 and 3. These results indicated that U and Cs in the spherical CsMPs originated exclusively from the fuel melt in the reactors. Based on a thorough review of literatures related to the detailed atmospheric releases of radionuclides, the flow of plumes from the FDNPP reactor units during the accident and the U and Cs isotopic ratio results in this study, we hereby suggest that the spherical CsMPs originate only from the fuel in unit 2 on the night of 14 March to the morning of 15 March. The variation range of the analysed 235U/238U isotopic ratios for the four spherical particles was extremely narrow. Thus, U may have been homogenised in the source through the formation of fuel melt, which ultimately evaporating and taken into CsMPs in the reactor and was released from the unit 2.
Interactions between a Polygenic Risk Score and Non-genetic Risk Factors in Young-Onset Breast Cancer
Authors: Shi M. , O’Brien K. M. , Weinberg C. R.
Published: February 2020

Most gene-environmental studies have focused on breast cancers generally, the preponderance of which occur after age 50. Young-onset breast cancers (YOBC) tend to be aggressive and may be etiologically different. The goal of this analysis was to assess interactions between an established 77-SNP polygenic risk score (PRS) and non-genetic risk factors for YOBC. We constructed the PRS using a family-based study of 1,291 women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50 and their parents and unaffected sisters. We used conditional logistic regression to analyze interactions between the PRS and 14 established risk factors. In further analyses we assessed the same interactions, but for invasive cancer, estrogen receptor (ER) positive cancer and with broader inclusion of racial/ethnic groups. Results showed a decreased association between the PRS and YOBC risk for women who had ever used hormonal birth control (odds ratio [OR] = 2.20 versus 3.89) and a stronger association between the PRS and YOBC risk in pre-menopausal women (OR = 2.46 versus 1.23). Restricting the analysis to ER+ cancers or invasive cancers or using samples from all ethnic groups produced similar results. In conclusion, the PRS may interact with hormonal birth control use and with menopausal status on risk of YOBC.
Film-thickness-driven superconductor to insulator transition in cuprate superconductors
Authors: Jang Han-Byul , Lim Ji Soo , Yang Chan-Ho
Published: February 2020

The superconductor-insulator transition induced by film thickness control is investigated for the optimally doped cuprate superconductor La1.85Sr0.15CuO4. Epitaxial thin films are grown on an almost exactly matched substrate LaAlO3 (001). Despite the wide thickness range of 6 nm to 300 nm, all films are grown coherently without significant relaxation of the misfit strain. Electronic transport measurement exhibits systematic suppression of the superconducting phase by reducing the film thickness, thereby inducing a superconductor-insulator transition at a critical thickness of ~10 nm. The emergence of a resistance peak preceding the superconducting transition is discussed based on the weak localization. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show the possibility that oxygen vacancies are present near the interface.
Functional omics analyses reveal only minor effects of microRNAs on human somatic stem cell differentiation
Authors: Schira-Heinen Jessica , Czapla Agathe , Hendricks Marion , Kloetgen Andreas , Wruck Wasco , Adjaye James , Kögler Gesine , Werner Müller Hans , Stühler Kai , Trompeter Hans-Ingo
Published: February 2020

The contribution of microRNA-mediated posttranscriptional regulation on the final proteome in differentiating cells remains elusive. Here, we evaluated the impact of microRNAs (miRNAs) on the proteome of human umbilical cord blood-derived unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC) during retinoic acid (RA) differentiation by a systemic approach using next generation sequencing analysing mRNA and miRNA expression and quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteome analyses. Interestingly, regulation of mRNAs and their dedicated proteins highly correlated during RA-incubation. Additionally, RA-induced USSC demonstrated a clear separation from native USSC thereby shifting from a proliferating to a metabolic phenotype. Bioinformatic integration of up- and downregulated miRNAs and proteins initially implied a strong impact of the miRNome on the XXL-USSC proteome. However, quantitative proteome analysis of the miRNA contribution on the final proteome after ectopic overexpression of downregulated miR-27a-5p and miR-221-5p or inhibition of upregulated miR-34a-5p, respectively, followed by RA-induction revealed only minor proportions of differentially abundant proteins. In addition, only small overlaps of these regulated proteins with inversely abundant proteins in non-transfected RA-treated USSC were observed. Hence, mRNA transcription rather than miRNA-mediated regulation is the driving force for protein regulation upon RA-incubation, strongly suggesting that miRNAs are fine-tuning regulators rather than active primary switches during RA-induction of USSC.
Toxicological response of the model fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae to different concentrations of commercial graphene nanoplatelets
Authors: Suarez-Diez Maria , Porras Santiago , Laguna-Teno Felix , Schaap Peter J. , Tamayo-Ramos Juan A.
Published: February 2020

Graphene nanomaterials have attracted a great interest during the last years for different applications, but their possible impact on different biological systems remains unclear. Here, an assessment to understand the toxicity of commercial polycarboxylate functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (GN) on the unicellular fungal model Saccharomyces cerevisiae was performed. While cell proliferation was not negatively affected even in the presence of 800 mg L−1 of the nanomaterial for 24 hours, oxidative stress was induced at a lower concentration (160 mg L−1), after short exposure periods (2 and 4 hours). No DNA damage was observed under a comet assay analysis under the studied conditions. In addition, to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms behind the early oxidative damage induced by GN and to identify possible toxicity pathways, the transcriptome of S. cerevisiae exposed to 160 and 800 mg L−1 of GN was studied. Both GN concentrations induced expression changes in a common group of genes (337), many of them related to the fungal response to reduce the nanoparticles toxicity and to maintain cell homeostasis. Also, a high number of genes were only differentially expressed in the GN800 condition (3254), indicating that high GN concentrations can induce severe changes in the physiological state of the yeast.
Pan-cancer mapping of differential protein-protein interactions
Authors: Gulfidan Gizem , Turanli Beste , Beklen Hande , Sinha Raghu , Arga Kazim Yalcin
Published: February 2020

Deciphering the variations in the protein interactome is required to reach a systems-level understanding of tumorigenesis. To accomplish this task, we have considered the clinical and transcriptome data on >6000 samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas for 12 different cancers. Utilizing the gene expression levels as a proxy, we have identified the differential protein-protein interactions in each cancer type and presented a differential view of human protein interactome among the cancers. We clearly demonstrate that a certain fraction of proteins differentially interacts in the cancers, but there was no general protein interactome profile that applied to all cancers. The analysis also provided the characterization of differentially interacting proteins (DIPs) representing significant changes in their interaction patterns during tumorigenesis. In addition, DIP-centered protein modules with high diagnostic and prognostic performances were generated, which might potentially be valuable in not only understanding tumorigenesis, but also developing effective diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment strategies.
Embedding the intrinsic relevance of vertices in network analysis: the case of centrality metrics
Authors: Giustolisi Orazio , Ridolfi Luca , Simone Antonietta
Published: February 2020

Complex network theory (CNT) is gaining a lot of attention in the scientific community, due to its capability to model and interpret an impressive number of natural and anthropic phenomena. One of the most active CNT field concerns the evaluation of the centrality of vertices and edges in the network. Several metrics have been proposed, but all of them share a topological point of view, namely centrality descends from the local or global connectivity structure of the network. However, vertices can exhibit their own intrinsic relevance independent from topology; e.g., vertices representing strategic locations (e.g., hospitals, water and energy sources, etc.) or institutional roles (e.g., presidents, agencies, etc.). In these cases, the connectivity network structure and vertex intrinsic relevance mutually concur to define the centrality of vertices and edges. The purpose of this work is to embed the information about the intrinsic relevance of vertices into CNT tools to enhance the network analysis. We focus on the degree, closeness and betweenness metrics, being among the most used. Two examples, concerning a social (the historical Florence family’s marriage network) and an infrastructure (a water supply system) network, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed relevance-embedding extension of the centrality metrics.
Digital metamaterial filter for encoding information
Authors: Ahamed Eistiak , Faruque Mohammad Rashed Iqbal , Alam Md. Jubaer , Mansor Mohd Fais Bin , Islam Mohammad Tariqul
Published: February 2020

A new approach to controlling the flow of a plasmatic electron packet at the interface between metallic and dielectric layers is described. The proposed metamaterial structure operates in the optical frequency range and can be used as a digital processing filter. It exhibits two double negative resonances and one special passband region, while the existence of a metal-dielectric nano-tunnel enhances electromagnetic wave-metal interactions. The structural arrangement of this metamaterial coupled with the tunnel layer can effectively control the electric field and allows digital encoding of electron packets.
A universal reporter cell line for bioactivity evaluation of engineered cytokine products
Authors: Mock Jacqueline , Pellegrino Christian , Neri Dario
Published: February 2020

Engineered cytokine products represent a growing class of therapeutic proteins which need to be tested for biological activity at various stages of pharmaceutical development. In most cases, dedicated biological assays are established for different products, in a process that can be time-consuming and cumbersome. Here we describe the development and implementation of a universal cell-based reporter system for various classes of immunomodulatory proteins. The novel system capitalizes on the fact that the signaling of various types of pro-inflammatory agents (e.g., cytokines, chemokines, Toll-like receptor agonists) may involve transcriptional activation by NF-κB. Using viral transduction, we generated stably-transformed cell lines of B or T lymphocyte origin and compared the new reporter cell lines with conventional bioassays. The experimental findings with various interleukins and with members of the TNF superfamily revealed that the newly-developed “universal” bioassay method yielded bioactivity data which were comparable to the ones obtained with dedicated conventional methods. The engineered cell lines with reporters for NF-κB were tested with several antibody-cytokine fusions and may be generally useful for the characterization of novel immunomodulatory products. The newly developed methodology also revealed a mechanism for cytokine potentiation, based on the antibody-mediated clustering of TNF superfamily members on tumor-associated extracellular matrix components.
Metformin-induced suppression of IFN-α via mTORC1 signalling following seasonal vaccination is associated with impaired antibody responses in type 2 diabetes
Authors: Saenwongsa Wipawee , Nithichanon Arnone , Chittaganpitch Malinee , Buayai Kampaew , Kewcharoenwong Chidchamai , Thumrongwilainet Boonyarat , Butta Patcharavadee , Palaga Tanapat , Takahashi Yoshimasa , Ato Manabu , Lertmemongkolchai Ganjana
Published: February 2020

Diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are at an increased risk of complications following influenza-virus infection, seasonal vaccination (SV) is recommended. However, SV with trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) can induce antibody and type-I interferon (IFN) responses, and the effect of anti-DM treatment on these responses is incompletely understood. We evaluated the antibody response and IFN-α expression in individuals with and without type 2 DM (T2DM) following SV, and examined the effects on anti-DM treatment. TIV elicited sero-protection in all groups, but antibody persistency was <8 months, except for the antibody response to B-antigens in non-DM. T2DM impaired the IgG avidity index, and T2DM showed a significantly decreased response against H1N1 and H3N2, in addition to delaying and reducing haemagglutination-inhibition persistency against influenza B-antigens in DM groups treated with metformin (Met-DM) or glibenclamide (GB-DM). Following TIV, the Met-DM and GB-DM groups exhibited reduced IFN-α expression upon stimulation with whole- and split-virion influenza vaccines. Suppression of IFN-α expression in the Met-DM group was associated with a reduction in the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex-1 pathway and impaired IgG avidity index. Thus, single-dose TIV each year might not be suitable for T2DM. Our data could aid the development of an efficacious influenza vaccine for T2DM.
Asymmetric and Spiraled Genitalia Coevolve with Unique Lateralized Mating Behavior
Authors: Orbach Dara N. , Brennan Patricia L. R. , Hedrick Brandon P. , Keener William , Webber Marc A. , Mesnick Sarah L.
Published: February 2020

Asymmetric genitalia and lateralized mating behaviors occur in several taxa, yet whether asymmetric morphology in one sex correlates or coevolves with lateralized mating behavior in the other sex remains largely unexplored. While lateralized mating behaviors are taxonomically widespread, among mammals they are only known in the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). Males attempt copulation by approaching a female exclusively on her left side. To understand if this unusual lateralized behavior may have coevolved with genital morphology, we quantified the shape of female and male harbor porpoise reproductive tracts using 2D geometric morphometrics and 3D models of the vaginal lumen and inflated distal penis. We found that the vaginas varied individually in shape and that the vaginas demonstrated both significant directional and fluctuating asymmetry. This asymmetry resulted from complex 3D spirals and vaginal folds with deep recesses, which may curtail the depth or direction of penile penetration and/or semen movement. The asymmetric shapes of the vaginal lumen and penis tip were both left-canted with similar angular bends that mirrored one another and correspond with the left lateral mating approach. We suggest that the reproductive anatomy of both sexes and their lateral mating behavior coevolved.
Anticandidal and In vitro Anti-Proliferative Activity of Sonochemically synthesized Indium Tin Oxide Nanoparticles
Authors: Rehman Suriya , Asiri Sarah Mousa , Khan Firdos Alam , Jermy B. Rabindran , Ravinayagam Vijaya , Alsalem Zainab , Jindan Reem Al , Qurashi Ahsanulhaq
Published: February 2020

The present work demonstrates the synthesis, characterization and biological activities of different concentrations of tin doped indium oxide nanoparticles (Sn doped In2O3 NPs), i.e., (Sn/In = 5%, 10% and 15%). We have synthesized different size (38.11 nm, 18.46 nm and 10.21 nm) of Sn doped In2O3 NPs. by using an ultra-sonication process. The Sn doped In2O3 NPs were characterized by by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which confirmed the successful doping of tin (Sn) with Indium oxide (In2O3). Anticandidal activity was performed by standard agar dilution method using Candida albicans for the study. The minimum inhibitory/fungicidal concentration (MIC/MFC) values recorded were, 8 & >8 mg/ml for pure In2O3 NPs, 4 & 8 mg/ml for 5%, 2 & 8 mg/ml for 10%, whereas 1 & >4 mg/ml for 15% Sn doped In2O3 NPs, respectively. The topographical alteration caused by Sn doped In2O3 NPs on Candida cells, was clearly observed by SEM examination. A significant enhancement in anticandidal activity was seen, when Candida cells were exposed to (Sn/In = 5%, 10% and 15%). Moreover, we have also evaluated the impact of Sn-In2O3 NPs on human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT-116). The results demonstrated that Sn-In2O3 NPs (Sn/In = 5%, 10% and 15%), caused dose dependent decrease in the cancer cell viability as the low dosage (2.0 mg/mL) showed 62.11% cell viability, while 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, 32.0 mg/mL dosages showed 20.45%, 18.25%, 16.58%, and 15.58% cell viability. In addition, the treatment of Sn-In2O3 NPs also showed significant cellular and anatomical changes in cancer cells as examined by microscopes. We have also examined the impact of Sn-In2O3 NPs (5%, 10%, 15%) on normal cells (HEK-293) and the results demonstrate that Sn-In2O3 NPs did not reduce the cell viability of normal cells.
Development of the clinical candidate PBD-C06, a humanized pGlu3-Aβ-specific antibody against Alzheimer’s disease with reduced complement activation
Authors: Hettmann Thore , Gillies Stephen D. , Kleinschmidt Martin , Piechotta Anke , Makioka Koki , Lemere Cynthia A. , Schilling Stephan , Rahfeld Jens-Ulrich , Lues Inge
Published: February 2020

In clinical trials with early Alzheimer’s patients, administration of anti-amyloid antibodies reduced amyloid deposits, suggesting that immunotherapies may be promising disease-modifying interventions against Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Specific forms of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides, for example post-translationally modified Aβ peptides with a pyroglutamate at the N-terminus (pGlu3, pE3), are attractive antibody targets, due to pGlu3-Aβ’s neo-epitope character and its propensity to form neurotoxic oligomeric aggregates. We have generated a novel anti-pGlu3-Aβ antibody, PBD-C06, which is based on a murine precursor antibody that binds with high specificity to pGlu3-Aβ monomers, oligomers and fibrils, including mixed aggregates of unmodified Aβ and pGlu3-Aβ peptides. PBD-C06 was generated by first grafting the murine antigen binding sequences onto suitable human variable light and heavy chains. Subsequently, the humanized antibody was de-immunized and site-specific mutations were introduced to restore original target binding, to eliminate complement activation and to improve protein stability. PBD-C06 binds with the same specificity and avidity as its murine precursor antibody and elimination of C1q binding did not compromise Fcγ-receptor binding or in vitro phagocytosis. Thus, PBD-C06 was specifically designed to target neurotoxic aggregates and to avoid complement-mediated inflammatory responses, in order to lower the risk for vasogenic edemas in the clinic.
Icings and groundwater conditions in permafrost catchments of northwestern Canada
Authors: Crites Hugo , Kokelj Steve V. , Lacelle Denis
Published: February 2020

Icings are sheet-like masses of ice that form on the ground surface or in fluvial channels from groundwater seepage. Although the presence of icings in the landscape is known, few studies investigated their regional distribution and explored relations with terrain factors including permafrost and winter baseflow conditions. Here, we mapped the distribution of icings in a 618,430 km2 area of northwestern Canada from a stack of 573 Landsat imageries (1985–2017) and determined using hydrometric data the winter baseflow contribution to the total annual discharge of 17 rivers in the study area. The 1402 mapped icings occur preferentially at the foothills of heavily faulted karstic mountainous regions in the continuous permafrost. Winter baseflow and its contribution to annual discharge was lower in continuous permafrost catchments than in discontinuous permafrost but showed a general increase over the 1970–2016 period. As such, the distribution of icings appears to be sensitive to winter air temperatures and winter baseflow conditions and icings located at the southern boundary of continuous permafrost would be more sensitive to degrading permafrost and the predicted increase in winter baseflow.
An autosomal dominant ERLIN2 mutation leads to a pure HSP phenotype distinct from the autosomal recessive ERLIN2 mutations (SPG18)
Authors: Park Jin-Mo , Lee Byeonghyeon , Kim Jong-Heun , Park Seong-Yong , Yu Jinhoon , Kim Un-Kyung , Park Jin-Sung
Published: February 2020

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a heterogeneous inherited disorder that manifests with lower extremity weakness and spasticity. HSP can be inherited by autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, and X-linked inheritance patterns. Recent studies have shown that, although rare, mutations in a single gene can lead to multiple patterns of inheritance of HSP. We enrolled the HSP family showing autosomal dominant inheritance and performed genetic study to find the cause of phenotype in this family. We recruited five members of a Korean family as study participants. Four of the five family members had pure HSP. Part of the family members underwent whole-exome sequencing (WES) to identify the causative mutation. As the result of WES and Sanger sequencing analysis, a novel missense mutation (c.452 C > T, p.Ala151Val) of ERLIN2 gene was identified as the cause of the autosomal dominant HSP in the family. Our study suggests that the ERLIN2 gene leads to both autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant patterns of inheritance in HSP. Moreover, autosomal dominant HSP caused by ERLIN2 appears to cause pure HSP in contrast to autosomal recessive ERLIN2 related complicated HSP (SPG18).
Ru–Ni/Al2O3 bimetallic catalysts with high catalytic activity for N-propylcarbazole hydrogenation
Authors: Li Chenguang , Yang Ming , Liu Zhenjie , Zhang Zhenlin , Zhu Ting , Chen Xuedi , Dong Yuan , Cheng Hansong
Published: February 2020

The as-prepared 5 wt% Ru2.5Ni2.5/Al2O3 catalyst shows the best catalytic hydrogenation activity for NPCZ and the lowest hydrogenation activation energy.
Emerging investigator series: synthesis of magnesium oxide nanoparticles fabricated on a graphene oxide nanocomposite for CO2sequestration at elevated temperatures
Authors: Gunathilake C. A. , Ranathunge G. G. T. A. , Dassanayake R. S. , Illesinghe S. D. , Manchanda Amanpreet S. , Kalpage C. S. , Rajapakse R. M. G. , Karunaratne D. G. G. P.
Published: February 2020

MONP and MONP–GO sorbents exhibited relatively high CO2sorption capacity (2.79–3.34 mmol g−1) under elevated temperature conditions.
Modeling diffusion of nanocars on a Cu (110) surface
Authors: Sezginel Kutay B. , Wilmer Christopher E.
Published: February 2020

The diffusion of nine “nanocars” is studied on a Cu (110) surface using molecular simulations.
Selective metathesis synthesis of MgCr2S4 by control of thermodynamic driving forces
Authors: Miura Akira , Ito Hiroaki , Bartel Christopher J. , Sun Wenhao , Rosero-Navarro Nataly Carolina , Tadanaga Kiyoharu , Nakata Hiroko , Maeda Kazuhiko , Ceder Gerbrand
Published: February 2020

By altering the thermodynamic landscape, metathesis enables the rapid and selective synthesis of MgCr2S4 thiospinel, a compelling Mg-cathode material that is laborious to make via traditional ceramic synthesis routes.
The occupied electronic structure of ultrathin boron doped diamond
Authors: Pakpour-Tabrizi A. C. , Schenk A. K. , Holt A. J. U. , Mahatha S. K. , Arnold F. , Bianchi M. , Jackman R. B. , Butler J. E. , Vikharev A. , Miwa J. A. , Hofmann P. , Cooil S. P. , Wells J. W. , Mazzola F.
Published: February 2020

Using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, we compare the electronic band structure of an ultrathin (1.8 nm) δ-layer of boron-doped diamond with a bulk-like boron doped diamond film (3 μm).
Hybrid quadrupole plasmon induced spectrally pure ultraviolet emission from a single AgNPs@ZnO:Ga microwire based heterojunction diode
Authors: Zhou Xiangbo , Jiang Mingming , Wu Yuting , Ma Kunjie , Liu Yang , Wan Peng , Kan Caixia , Shi Daning
Published: February 2020

In this work, a single Ga-doped ZnO microwire prepared with large-sized Ag nanoparticle deposition (AgNPs@ZnO:Ga MW) was utilized to construct a high-performance heterojunction diode, with p-GaN serving as the hole injection layer.
Entropic effect and residue specific entropic contribution to the cooperativity in streptavidin–biotin binding
Authors: Cong Yalong , Huang Kaifang , Li Yuchen , Zhong Susu , Zhang John Z. H. , Duan Lili
Published: February 2020

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed employing the polarized protein-specific charge (PPC) to explore the origin of the cooperativity in streptavidin–biotin systems (wild type, two single mutations and one double-mutation).
Bottom-up fabrication of the multi-layer carbon metal nanosheets
Authors: Hamoudi H. , Berdiyorov G. R. , Ariga K. , Esaulov V.
Published: February 2020

Self-assembly based building block approach for creating layered carbon–metal composite materials.
PPy nanoneedle based nanoplatform capable of overcoming biological barriers for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy
Authors: Yin Yanyan , Hao Yutong , Wang Ning , Yang Pengfei , Li Na , Zhang Xiaoyi , Song Yu , Feng Xuebing , Ma Weiwei
Published: February 2020

PPy nanoneedles based nanoplatform was capable of overcoming biological barriers for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy.
Bacterial cellulose-derived carbon nanofibers as both anode and cathode for hybrid sodium ion capacitor
Authors: Xu Jiaxin , Liu Zhanying , Zhang Fang , Tao Jie , Shen Laifa , Zhang Xiaogang
Published: February 2020

A hybrid sodium ion capacitor is constructed by the double carbon electrode, whose precursors are both from nanofibers of bacterial cellulose, showing a superior electrochemical capacitive performance.
Advances in biological conversion technologies: new opportunities for reaction engineering
Authors: Woodley John M.
Published: February 2020

Reaction engineering needs to embrace biological conversion technologies, on the road to identify more sustainable routes for chemical manufacture.
Trends and perceptions of choosing chemistry as a major and a career
Authors: Avargil Shirly , Kohen Zehavit , Dori Yehudit Judy
Published: February 2020

In many countries, the choice of a STEM career, especially in chemistry, is decreasing. A shortage of appropriately skilled workers can become a threat to any country's future achievements. Our research strives to understand behavioral trends and career choice factors related to personal and environmental themes. Building on the foundations of the Social Cognitive Career Theory, the research sheds light on prospective trends and retrospective perceptions of chemistry-related professionals in choosing chemistry in high school, as a career, and as a STEM occupation. To analyze the prospective trends in choosing chemistry, we used data curated by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics on 545 778 high school graduates. For the retrospective perceptions of choosing a chemistry career, we investigated three research groups (N = 190): chemists and chemical engineers, chemistry teachers, and third year undergraduate chemistry students. We found that choosing chemistry as a major and profession decreases from high school to higher education. Women tend to choose chemistry more than men at high school and university levels, and minorities tend to choose it more in high school but less in higher education compared to non-minorities. Task-oriented self-efficacy was the factor which contributed the most to chemistry career choice in all three research groups. The theoretical contribution is the unique SCCT application through the integration of both the prospective views on the behavioral theme and the retrospective views on the personal and environmental themes. Furthermore, we present new chemistry-related factors within the personal theme of this theoretical framework that can extend the SCCT framework.
Bioorthogonal mRNA labeling at the poly(A) tail for imaging localization and dynamics in live zebrafish embryos
Authors: Westerich Kim J. , Chandrasekaran Karthik S. , Gross-Thebing Theresa , Kueck Nadine , Raz Erez , Rentmeister Andrea
Published: February 2020

Live imaging of mRNA in cells and organisms is important for understanding the dynamic aspects underlying its function.
Fuel cell evaluation of anion exchange membranes based on poly(phenylene oxide) with different cationic group placement
Authors: Carlson Annika , Eriksson Björn , Olsson Joel S. , Lindbergh Göran , Lagergren Carina , Jannasch Patric , Wreland Lindström Rakel
Published: February 2020

Comparison of four poly(phenylene oxide) membranes in an AEMFC and the correlation between performance, ionic conductivity and water flux properties.
Two-dimensional organic–inorganic hybrid Ruddlesden–Popper perovskite materials: preparation, enhanced stability, and applications in photodetection
Authors: Tian Xiangxin , Zhang Yongzhuan , Zheng Rongkun , Wei Di , Liu Jingquan
Published: February 2020

This review presents the progress of the synthesis, single crystal growth, enhanced stability, and applications as high-performance photodetectors.
Mechanistic understanding of pore evolution enables high performance mesoporous silicon production for lithium-ion batteries
Authors: Entwistle Jake E. , Beaucage Gregory , Patwardhan Siddharth V.
Published: February 2020

We show that the interconnectivity of silicon crystallites determines the final mesoporosity. Applying this mechanism to bioinspired silica enabled us to produce mesoporous silicon with a capacity of 2170 mA h g−1after 100 cycles.
A stable high-voltage lithium-ion battery realized by an in-built water scavenger
Authors: Chang Zhi , Qiao Yu , Deng Han , Yang Huijun , He Ping , Zhou Haoshen
Published: February 2020

A simple metal–organic framework (MOF) based in-built water scavenger can efficiently eliminate various hazards induced by water in lithium rechargeable batteries.
Kinetic model basis of ozone/light-based advanced oxidation processes: a pseudoempirical approach
Authors: Figueredo Manuel , Rodríguez Eva M. , Rivas Javier , Beltrán Fernando J.
Published: February 2020

Pseudoempirical modeling of the complex photocatalytic ozonation process.
Coupled electronic states in CdTe quantum dot assemblies fabricated by utilizing chemical bonding between ligands
Authors: Lee Yong-Shin , Ito Tatsuya , Shimura Kunio , Watanabe Taichi , Bu Hang-Beom , Hyeon-Deuk Kim , Kim DaeGwi
Published: February 2020

The formation of coupled electronic states (minibands) is demonstrated in CdTe QD assemblies fabricated by utilizing chemical bonding between ligands.
Thermoresponsive properties of poly(N-isopropyl,N-methylacrylamide) and its statistical and block copolymers with poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) prepared by B(C6F5)3-catalyzed group transfer polymerization
Authors: Li Jian , Mizutani Shunsuke , Sato Shin-ichiro , Narumi Atsushi , Haba Osamu , Kawaguchi Seigou , Kikuchi Moriya , Kakuchi Toyoji , Shen Xiande
Published: February 2020

B(C6F5)3-catalyzed GTP synthesis of poly(N-isopropyl,N-methylacrylamide) as a new thermoresponsive material.
Anthracene derivative based multifunctional liquid crystal materials for optoelectronic devices
Authors: Wang Yunrui , Fang Daqi , Fu Tianchen , Ali Muhammad Umair , Shi Yuhao , He Yaowu , Hu Zhao , Yan Chaoyi , Mei Zongwei , Meng Hong
Published: February 2020

A liquid crystal molecule with versatile properties, like the indicators of a clock, shows various applications.
Arrangement of water molecules and high proton conductivity of tunnel structure phosphates, KMg1−xH2x(PO3)3·yH2O
Authors: Matsuda Yasuaki , Funakoshi Kousei , Sebe Ryosuke , Kobayashi Genki , Yonemura Masao , Imanishi Nobuyuki , Mori Daisuke , Higashimoto Shinya
Published: February 2020

A fast proton conductor exhibiting high proton conductivity of 7.0 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 200 °C in a dry Ar gas flow was developed by designing water chains in a rigid tunnel framework.
D–π–D molecular semiconductors for perovskite solar cells: the superior role of helical versus planar π-linkers
Authors: Xu Niansheng , Zheng Aibin , Wei Yuefang , Yuan Yi , Zhang Jing , Lei Ming , Wang Peng
Published: February 2020

A thia[5]helicene based molecular semiconductor maintains π–π stacking, ensuring a large domain of molecular aggregates and a high hole mobility.
In situ formed graphene nanosheets enhance bidirectional electron transfer in bioelectrochemical systems
Authors: Li Zhuo , Hu Linbin , Fu Qian , Xiao Shuai , Zhong Liyang , Li Jun , Zhang Liang , Liao Qiang , Zhu Xun
Published: February 2020

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) possess great potential for simultaneous wastewater treatment and energy recovery.
In situ growth of free-standing perovskite hydroxide electrocatalysts for efficient overall water splitting
Authors: Li Shanlin , Ma Ruguang , Lu Yue , Pei Yu , Yang Minghui , Wang Jiacheng , Liu Danmin
Published: February 2020

Free-standing SnFeNi perovskite hydroxide-based electrocatalysts have been successfully prepared, demonstrating bi-functional activity for efficient overall water splitting.
An aqueous manganese–lead battery for large-scale energy storage
Authors: Huang Jianhang , Yan Lei , Bin Duan , Dong Xiaoli , Wang Yonggang , Xia Yongyao
Published: February 2020

A manganese–lead battery based on MnO2/Mn2+ cathodic reaction and PbSO4/Pb anodic reaction was demonstrated. With an optimized deposition behavior and high solubility of MnO2, high areal capacity (50 mA h cm−2) and energy density (187 W h L−1) can be obtained.
Correction: A high tap density perovskite NaTaO3 nanocrystal anode driven by pseudocapacitive conversion/intercalation hybrid mechanisms for advanced Li-ion/dual-ion storage
Authors: Yan Tong , Ding Rui , Ying Danfeng , Huang Yongfa , Huang Yuxi , Tan Caini , Sun Xiujuan , Gao Ping , Liu Enhui
Published: February 2020

Correction for ‘A high tap density perovskite NaTaO3 nanocrystal anode driven by pseudocapacitive conversion/intercalation hybrid mechanisms for advanced Li-ion/dual-ion storage’ by Tong Yan et al., J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, DOI: 10.1039/c9ta12205b.
Full-visible-spectrum lighting enabled by an excellent cyan-emitting garnet phosphor
Authors: Liang Jia , Devakumar Balaji , Sun Liangling , Wang Shaoying , Sun Qi , Huang Xiaoyong
Published: February 2020

Cyan-emitting Ca2YHf2Al3O12:xCe3+ garnet phosphors with a high photoluminescence quantum efficiency of up to 89.5% were developed for fabricating high color rendering warm-white LEDs.
Optimization and expansion of the Schiff base [Zn–Dy] unit to enhance the performance of single molecule magnetic materials
Authors: Zhao Zhi-Ying , Xu Hao-Hang , Chen Peng , Li Yu-Xin , Sui Yu , Sun Wen-Bin
Published: February 2020

The [Zn–Dy] units are bridged by double pyridine-based linkers with increasing length to form new dimers, combined with chemical modulation upon the Zn(ii) ions away from the spin center, which leads to enhancement of hysteresis loop up to 3.5 K.
Expertenkommentar – Zukunft der Versorgung spinaler Metastasen im Kontext molekularer Therapiestratifizierung onkologischer Erkrankungen
Authors: Riedmann Kristina , Jost Philipp J.
Published: February 2020

Spinale Metastasen tragen noch immer zu einem erheblichen Teil zur Tumor-assoziierten Morbidität und Mortalität bei. Es bedarf einer interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit aus chirurgischen, strahlentherapeutischen und onkologischen Disziplinen, um ein individuelles Therapiekonzept zu erstellen. Neben einer operativen und strahlentherapeutischen Versorgung spielen zunehmend molekulare Therapieansätze eine wichtige Rolle in der onkologischen Therapieführung. Molekulargenetische Diagnostik und daraus abgeleitete, neue therapeutische Therapiekonzepte sind Gegenstand spezialisierter Programme und klinischer Studien. Sie nehmen auch zunehmend Einzug in den klinischen Alltag im Rahmen interdisziplinärer molekularer Tumorboards, molekular stratifizierter Therapieentscheidungen und zielgerichteter Medikamente.
Expertenkommentar: Zukunft der operativen Therapie degenerativer Wirbelsäulenerkrankungen – Verantwortung übernehmen
Authors: Ryang Yu-Mi
Published: February 2020

Eine alternde Gesellschaft und eine steigende Inzidenz an degenerativen Wirbelsäulenerkrankungen muss ein Umdenken in unseren Köpfen bewirken. Massiv steigende OP-Zahlen, v. a. instrumentierter spinaler Fusions-Operationen an vorwiegend geriatrischen Patienten zeigen dies. Geriatrische Patienten benötigen eine besonders intensive medizinische Betreuung, idealerweise durch ein multidisziplinäres Team. Nicht nur die OP und die Nachsorge sind wichtige Bausteine für eine Reduktion der Komplikationsraten und ein gutes Outcome, sondern auch die präoperative Vorbereitung und Risikoabschätzung. Technische Innovationen (wie spinale Navigation, augmented/virtual reality und Robotik) können helfen, Ausmaß und Invasivität eines operativen Eingriffs so gering wie möglich zu halten. Register oder Big Data Analysen sowie flächendeckende Fortbildungsmöglichkeiten sind weitere Maßnahmen die Qualität der Versorgung von degenerativen Wirbelsäulenpatienten zu verbessern. Die Verantwortung hierfür liegt in unserer, aber auch in der Hand des Patienten.
Statistische Analyse des Neugeborenenscreenings
Authors: Kastner Marc
Published: February 2020

In Deutschland werden im Neugeborenenscreening praktisch alle Neugeborenen auf lebensbedrohliche Stoffwechseldefekte und endokrine Störungen getestet. Nur etwa eines von 1 000 Neugeborenen hat tatsächlich eine dieser angeborenen Krankheiten. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit für einen auffälligen Befund ist mit ungefähr 0,6 % ebenfalls gering, jedoch 6-mal so hoch wie die tatsächliche Erkrankungsrate. Der Bluttest zur Entdeckung der Zielkrankheiten hat mit mehr als 99% richtig-negativen Ergebnissen eine sehr hohe Spezifität. Die Sensitivität für ein richtig-positives Ergebnis ist nicht bekannt, da die Anzahl der im Screening übersehenen Erkrankten nicht systematisch erfasst wird. Die statistische Analyse mithilfe des Bayes-Theorems zeigt, dass ein falsch-positives Testergebnis bei vielen gesunden Neugeborenen zu einer hohen Fehlerquote führt. Der positive Vorhersagewert ist – trotz hoher Sensitivität und sehr hoher Spezifität des Tests – mit circa 15 % nur gering. Ein positiver Testbefund ist deshalb mit großer Vorsicht zu betrachten. Der statistischen Fehlerquote stehen die hohen medizinischen Erfolge und wertvollen Heilungschancen für die tatsächlich an einer angeborenen Stoffwechsel- oder Hormonstörung erkrankten Neugeborenen gegenüber. Dieser Nutzen wiegt sehr viel schwerer und rechtfertigt das bevölkerungsdeckende Screening aller Neugeborenen. Der negative Vorhersagewert ist mit über 99,99 % äußerst hoch. Ein negativer Testbefund bedeutet für das Neugeborene und seine Angehörigen also praktisch Gewissheit, dass keine angeborene Stoffwechselstörung vorliegt. Eine statistische Analyse des Neugeborenenscreenings gibt den Betroffenen eine nützliche Entscheidungshilfe, die Risikosituation besser zu verstehen und kompetenter mit ihr umzugehen.
Wine grape pomace flour in broiler diets effects growth and some meat characteristics
Authors: Reyes Paola , Urquiaga Inés , Echeverría Guadalupe , Durán Emerson , Morales María Sol , Valenzuela Carolina
Published: February 2020

Context Grape pomace maybe useful in broiler diets as a source of low cost antioxidants. Aims The objective of this work was to determine the effect of including high concentrations of wine-grape pomace flour (WGPF) in broiler chicken diets on productive parameters and antioxidant capacity of the meat. Methods WGPF of white (WGPF-W) and red (WGPF-R) grape varieties were nutritionally and chemically characterised. Then, 120 broiler chickens were allocated to three isoenergetic and isoproteic feeding treatments: 0% WGPF (Control), 20% WGPF-W and 20% WGPF-R. Key results WGPF-W had no effect on bodyweight, daily weight gain, feed intake or feed conversion ratio (FCR). However, FCR was higher for WGPF-R treatment at the end of the study (Day 42). Meanwhile, breast meat from WGPF-R treatment had the highest content of ether extract (P < 0,05), followed by WGPF-W and by control treatment, due to the addition of higher amounts of soy oil to those diets with WGPF to ensure an isoenergetic composition. Breast and leg meat, respectively, showed greater antioxidant capacity (µM Trolox Eq/g) when WGPF-W (16.7 and 16.4) was fed, than the antioxidant capacity obtained for control (13.8 and 13.8) and WGPF-R (11.9 and 14.2) treatments. Conclusions Inclusion of 20% of WGPF-W increased antioxidant capacity of chicken meat by 17%, without decreasing productive parameters, provided the diets were made isoenergetic and isoproteic by adding soy oil. Implications The grape pomace flour could be useful in the diet of other animals.
Teenage swearing in the UK
Authors: Drummond Rob
Published: February 2020

This article describes the swearing practices of a group of young people aged 14–16 in the UK. The young people
are in a specific context – a Pupil Referral Unit catering for pupils who have been excluded from mainstream school. The study’s
narrow focus builds on existing knowledge by providing a level of precision in terms of speaker and context not usually found in
swearing research. 13 key words are examined in terms of meaning, structure, frequency, and use between genders.
Shit and fuck, as the most common terms, are explored in more detail, with use of the latter
compared to existing accounts based on the British National Corpus. Examining the swearing practices of this
group of people adds detail to our knowledge of a particular style of English, paves the way for future research into the
socio-pragmatic functions of teenage swearing, and helps us to better understand the linguistic behaviour of an often-marginalised
section of society.
A survey of FPGA design for AI era
Authors: Li Zhengjie , Zhang Yufan , Wang Jian , Lai Jinmei
Published: February 2020

FPGA is an appealing platform to accelerate DNN. We survey a range of FPGA chip designs for AI. For DSP module, one type of design is to support low-precision operation, such as 9-bit or 4-bit multiplication. The other type of design of DSP is to support floating point multiply-accumulates (MACs), which guarantee high-accuracy of DNN. For ALM (adaptive logic module) module, one type of design is to support low-precision MACs, three modifications of ALM includes extra carry chain, or 4-bit adder, or shadow multipliers which increase the density of on-chip MAC operation. The other enhancement of ALM or CLB (configurable logic block) is to support BNN (binarized neural network) which is ultra-reduced precision version of DNN. For memory modules which can store weights and activations of DNN, three types of memory are proposed which are embedded memory, in-package HBM (high bandwidth memory) and off-chip memory interfaces, such as DDR4/5. Other designs are new architecture and specialized AI engine. Xilinx ACAP in 7 nm is the first industry adaptive compute acceleration platform. Its AI engine can provide up to 8X silicon compute density. Intel AgileX in 10 nm works coherently with Intel own CPU, which increase computation performance, reduced overhead and latency.
Towards efficient deep neural network training by FPGA-based batch-level parallelism
Authors: Luo Cheng , Sit Man-Kit , Fan Hongxiang , Liu Shuanglong , Luk Wayne , Guo Ce
Published: February 2020

Training deep neural networks (DNNs) requires a significant amount of time and resources to obtain acceptable results, which severely limits its deployment in resource-limited platforms. This paper proposes DarkFPGA, a novel customizable framework to efficiently accelerate the entire DNN training on a single FPGA platform. First, we explore batch-level parallelism to enable efficient FPGA-based DNN training. Second, we devise a novel hardware architecture optimised by a batch-oriented data pattern and tiling techniques to effectively exploit parallelism. Moreover, an analytical model is developed to determine the optimal design parameters for the DarkFPGA accelerator with respect to a specific network specification and FPGA resource constraints. Our results show that the accelerator is able to perform about 10 times faster than CPU training and about a third of the energy consumption than GPU training using 8-bit integers for training VGG-like networks on the CIFAR dataset for the Maxeler MAX5 platform.
A routing algorithm for FPGAs with time-multiplexed interconnects
Authors: Luo Ruiqi , Chen Xiaolei , Ha Yajun
Published: February 2020

Previous studies show that interconnects occupy a large portion of the timing budget and area in FPGAs. In this work, we propose a time-multiplexing technique on FPGA interconnects. In order to fully exploit this interconnect architecture, we propose a time-multiplexed routing algorithm that can actively identify qualified nets and schedule them to multiplexable wires. We validate the algorithm by using the router to implement 20 benchmark circuits to time-multiplexed FPGAs. We achieve a 38% smaller minimum channel width and 3.8% smaller circuit critical path delay compared with the state-of-the-art architecture router when a wire can be time-multiplexed six times in a cycle.