bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Age-related Hearing Loss Is Strongly Associated With Cognitive Decline Regardless of the APOE4 Polymorphism
Authors: Morita Yuka , Sasaki Takanobu , Takahashi Kuniyuki , Kitazawa Meiko , Nonomura Yoriko , Yagi Chihiro , Yamagishi Tatsuya , Ohshima Shinsuke , Izumi Shuji , Wakasugi Minako , Yokoseki Akio , Narita Ichiei , Endo Naoto , Horii Arata 
Published: October 2019

Objective:
To examine the association between hearing impairment and cognitive decline and to identify possible risk factors for presbycusis.

Study Design:
Cross-sectional survey in prospective cohort study.

Setting:
University hospital.

Patients:
A total of 322 participants aged >60 years, for whom all the below data were available, were enrolled in the study. There were 168 females and 154 males with a median age of 71 years (range: 60–89 yrs).

Interventions:
PROST (Project in Sado for Total Health), a medical database in Sado island Japan, was analyzed.

Main Outcome Measures:
Data on pure-tone audiometry, mini-mental state examination (MMSE), polymorphism of apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4), diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, and alcohol consumption were extracted. Hearing impairment was defined as an average frequency between 0.25 and 8 kHz that exceeded 30 dB. Multivariate analysis was used to identify which of the above factors could predict the hearing impairment. Hearing threshold of each Hz was compared between the ApoE4 (+/+), (+/−), and (−/−) groups.

Results:
Among various factors, only low MMSE scores (<24) showed significant association with hearing impairment. There were no differences in the hearing threshold of all frequencies between ApoE status groups.

Conclusions:
Hearing impairment was associated with low MMSE sores, regardless of the ApoE4 status. If ApoE4 status would be a common upstream predictor for both the hearing and cognitive impairment, hearing threshold would be related to ApoE4 status. However, these results may suggest that hearing impairment may be causally related to the cognitive dysfunction, perhaps via the cognitive load mechanisms.
The Effects of Hemianopia on Perception of Mutual Gaze
Authors: Bowers Alex R. , Sheldon Sarah , Hecht Heiko 
Published: October 2019

SIGNIFICANCE
Individuals with left hemianopic field loss (HFL), especially with neglect history, may have greater difficulties than individuals with right HFL in judging the direction of another person's gaze.

PURPOSE
Individuals with HFL often show a spatial bias in laboratory-based perceptual tasks. We investigated whether such biases also manifest in a more real-world task, perception of mutual gaze direction, an important, nonverbal communication cue in social interactions.

METHODS
Participants adjusted the eye position of a life-size virtual head on a monitor at a 1-m distance until (1) the eyes appeared to be looking straight at them, or (2) the eyes were perceived to be no longer looking at them (to the right and left).

RESULTS
Participants with right HFL (n = 8) demonstrated a rightward error in line bisection but made gaze judgments within the range of normally sighted controls (n = 17). Participants with left HFL without neglect history (n = 6) made leftward errors in line bisection and had more variable gaze judgments; three had estimates of gaze direction outside the reference range. Four participants with left HFL and neglect history made estimates of gaze direction that were to the right of the reference range.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that individuals with left HFL, especially with neglect history, may have greater difficulties than individuals with right HFL in compensating for low-level spatial biases (as manifested in line bisection) when performing the more complex, higher-level task of judging gaze direction.
Interventions to Mitigate Cognitive Biases in the Decision Making of Eye Care Professionals: A Systematic Review
Authors: Shlonsky Aron , Featherston Rebecca , Galvin Karyn L. , Vogel Adam P. , Granger Catherine L. , Lewis Courtney , Luong My-Linh , Downie Laura E. 
Published: October 2019

SIGNIFICANCE
Cognitive biases, systematic errors in thinking that impact a person's choices and judgments, can influence decision making at various points during patient care provision. These biases can potentially result in misdiagnoses, delayed clinical care, and/or patient mismanagement. A range of interventions exists to mitigate cognitive biases. There is a need to understand the relative efficacy of these interventions within the context of eye care practice.

PURPOSE
The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize the evidence relating to interventions for mitigating cognitive biases associated with clinical decision making by eye care professionals.

DATA SOURCES
Electronic databases (including Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO) were searched from inception to October 2017 for studies investigating interventions intended to mitigate cognitive biases in the clinical decision making of eye care professionals. This review was undertaken in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines.

STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
To ensure inclusion of all relevant literature, a wide range of study designs was eligible for inclusion, such as randomized controlled trials, nonrandomized trials, interrupted time series and repeated measures, controlled before-after studies, and qualitative studies that were a component of any of these quantitative study designs.

STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS
Two review authors independently screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles in duplicate, applying a priori eligibility criteria.

RESULTS
After screening 2759 nonduplicate records, including full-text screening of 201 articles, no relevant studies were identified.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF FINDINGS
Given that cognitive biases can significantly impact the accuracy of clinical decision making and thus can have major effects on clinical care and patient health outcomes, the lack of studies identified in this systematic review indicates a critical need for research within the area of cognitive bias mitigation for decision making within eye care practice.
Mechanism and site of action of big dynorphin on ASIC1a
Authors: Borg C.B. , Braun N. , Heusser S.A. , Bay Y. , Weis D. , Galleano I. , Lund C. , Tian W. , Haugaard-Kedström L.M. , Bennett E.P. , Lynagh T. , Strømgaard K. , Andersen J. , Pless S.A. 
Published: October 2019

AbstractAcid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are proton-gated cation channels that contribute to neurotransmission, as well as initiation of pain and neuronal death following ischemic stroke. As such, there is a great interest in understanding the in vivo regulation of ASICs, especially by endogenous neuropeptides that potently modulate ASICs. The most potent endogenous ASIC modulator known to date is the opioid neuropeptide big dynorphin (BigDyn). BigDyn is upregulated in chronic pain and increases ASIC-mediated neuronal death during acidosis. Understanding the mechanism and site of action of BigDyn on ASICs could thus enable the rational design of compounds potentially useful in the treatment of pain and ischemic stroke. To this end, we employ a combination of electrophysiology, voltage-clamp fluorometry, synthetic BigDyn analogs and non-canonical amino acid-mediated photocrosslinking. We demonstrate that BigDyn binding results in an ASIC1a closed resting conformation that is distinct from open and desensitized states induced by protons. Using alanine-substituted BigDyn analogs, we find that the BigDyn modulation of ASIC1a is mediated through electrostatic interactions of basic amino acids in the BigDyn N-terminus. Furthermore, neutralizing acidic amino acids in the ASIC1a extracellular domain reduces BigDyn effects, suggesting a binding site at the acidic pocket. This is confirmed by photocrosslinking using the non-canonical amino acid azido-phenylalanine. Overall, our data define the mechanism of how BigDyn modulates ASIC1a, identify the acidic pocket as the binding site for BigDyn and thus highlight this cavity as an important site for the development of ASIC-targeting therapeutics.Significance StatementNeuropeptides such as big dynorphin (BigDyn) play important roles in the slow modulation of fast neurotransmission, which is mediated by membrane-embedded receptors. In fact, BigDyn is the most potent known endogenous modulator of one such receptor, the acid-sensing ion channel (ASIC), but the mode of action remains unknown. In this work, we employ a broad array of technologies to unravel the details of where big dynorphin binds to ASIC and how it modulates its activity. As both BigDyn and ASIC are implicated in pain pathways, this work might pave the way towards future analgesics.
Insect galls thrive on salt stressed big sagebrush host
Authors: Wu Cindy T 
Published: October 2019

AbstractThe sagebrush steppe is estimated to occupy 4.4 percent of the total land area in the United States. In this ecosystem, the most common sagebrush species in most areas is big sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata. Big sagebrush provide a common host for galling insects. We observed that even in salt stressed environments big sagebrush grow and galling insects use them as hosts. In this study we test the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in insect gall density on salt stressed big sagebrush compared to unstressed big sagebrush. To test this, we collected data from four salt stressed sage plots and four unstressed plots at Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in Othello, Washington during 2010. We report significantly greater average gall density on plants in salt stressed plots. We collected four types of galls (artichoke, white fuzzy, black fuzzy, smooth, and other) and observed no significant difference in the diversity of galls on sage in salt stressed plots compared to the control. Further studies are needed to understand why salt stressed sage show greater density of galls, why insect galls seem to thrive on salt stressed sage.
A large-scale assessment of lake bacterial communities reveals pervasive impacts of human activities
Authors: Kraemer S.A. , da Costa N. Barbosa , Shapiro B.J. , Huot Y. , Walsh D. 
Published: October 2019

AbstractLakes play a pivotal role in ecological and biogeochemical processes and have been described as ‘sentinels’ of environmental change. Assessing ‘lake health’ across large geographic scales is critical to predict the stability of their ecosystem services and their vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbances. The LakePulse research network is tasked with the assessment of lake health across gradients of land use on a continental scale. Bacterial communities are an integral and rapidly responding component of lake ecosystems, yet large-scale responses to anthropogenic activity remain elusive. Here, we assess the ecological impact of land use on bacterial communities from 220 lakes covering more than 660 000 km2across Eastern Canada. Alteration of communities was found on every level examined including richness, community composition, community network structure and indicator taxa of high or low lake water quality. Specifically, increasing anthropogenic impact within the watershed lowered richness mediated by changes in salinity. Likewise, community composition was significantly correlated with agriculture and urban development within a watershed. Interaction networks showed decreasing complexity and fewer keystone taxa in impacted lakes. Together, these findings point to vast bacterial community changes of largely unknown consequences induced by human activity within lake watersheds.Significance StatementLakes play central roles in Earth’s ecosystems and are sentinels of climate change and other watershed alterations. Assessing lake health across large geographic scales is therefore critical to predict ecosystem stability and lake vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbances. In this context, the LakePulse research network is tasked with a large-scale assessment of lake health across Canada. Bacterial communities are an integral and rapidly responding component of lake ecosystems, yet their large-scale responses to anthropogenic activity remain unknown. Here, we assessed the anthropogenic impact on bacterial communities of over 200 lakes located across large environmental gradients. We found communities to be impacted on every level investigated, indicating that human activities within watersheds cause vast bacterial community changes of largely unknown consequences.
Flexible coordinator and switcher hubs for adaptive task control
Authors: Cocuzza Carrisa V , Ito Takuya , Schultz Douglas , Bassett Danielle S , Cole Michael W 
Published: October 2019

AbstractFunctional connectivity studies have identified at least two large-scale neural systems that constitute cognitive control networks – the frontoparietal network (FPN) and cingulo-opercular network (CON). Control networks are thought to support goal-directed cognition and behavior. It was previously shown that the FPN flexibly shifts its global connectivity pattern according to task goal, consistent with a “flexible hub” mechanism for cognitive control. Our aim was to build on this finding to develop a functional cartography (a multi-metric profile) of control networks in terms of dynamic network properties. We quantified network properties in (male and female) humans using a high-control-demand cognitive paradigm involving switching among 64 task sets. We hypothesized that cognitive control is enacted by the FPN and CON via distinct but complementary roles reflected in network dynamics. Consistent with a flexible “coordinator” mechanism, FPN connections were varied across tasks, while maintaining within-network connectivity to aid cross-region coordination. Consistent with a flexible “switcher” mechanism, CON regions switched to other networks in a task-dependent manner, driven primarily by reduced within-network connections to other CON regions. This pattern of results suggests FPN acts as a dynamic, global coordinator of goal-relevant information, while CON transiently disbands to lend processing resources to other goal-relevant networks. This cartography of network dynamics reveals a dissociation between two prominent cognitive control networks, suggesting complementary mechanisms underlying goal-directed cognition.Significance StatementCognitive control supports a variety of behaviors requiring flexible cognition, such as rapidly switching between tasks. Furthermore, cognitive control is negatively impacted in a variety of mental illnesses. We used tools from network science to characterize the implementation of cognitive control by large-scale brain systems. This revealed that two systems – the frontoparietal (FPN) and cingulo-opercular (CON) networks – have distinct but complementary roles in controlling global network reconfigurations. The FPN exhibited properties of a flexible coordinator (orchestrating task changes), while CON acted as a flexible switcher (switching specific regions to other systems to lend processing resources). These findings reveal an underlying distinction in cognitive processes that may be applicable to clinical, educational, and machine learning work targeting cognitive flexibility.
Genomic features of BRDT binding sites in gene units suggest transcriptional partners and specific epigenetic landscapes to regulate transcriptional activity during spermatogenesis
Authors: Wang Li , Chepelev Iouri , Her Yoon Ra , Manterola Marcia , Berkovits Binyamin , Cui Kairong , Zhao Keji , Wolgemuth Debra J. 
Published: October 2019

AbstractBRDT, a member of the BET family of double bromodomain-containing proteins, is expressed uniquely in the male germ line, is essential for spermatogenesis in the mouse, and binds to acetylated transcription start sites of genes expressed in meiosis and spermiogenesis. It has thus been postulated to be a key regulator of transcription in meiotic and post-meiotic cells. To understand the function of BRDT in regulating gene expression, we characterized its genome-wide distribution, in particular the features of the BRDT binding sites within gene units, by ChIP-Seq analysis of enriched fractions of spermatocytes and spermatids. In both cell types, BRDT binding sites were mainly located in promoters, first exon, and introns of genes that are highly transcribed during meiosis and spermiogenesis. Furthermore, in promoters, BRDT binding sites overlapped with several histone modifications and histone variants associated with active transcription, and were also enriched for consensus sequences for specific transcription factors, including MYB, RFX, ETS and ELF1 in pachytene spermatocytes, and JunD, c-Jun, CRE and RFX in round spermatids. Our analysis further revealed that BRDT-bound genes play key roles in diverse biological processes that are essential for proper spermatogenesis. Taken together, our data suggest that BRDT is involved in the recruitment of different transcription factors to distinctive chromatin regions within gene units to regulate diverse downstream target genes that function in male meiosis and spermiogenesis.
Tumour suppressor WT1 regulates the let-7-Igf1r axis in kidney mesenchyme
Authors: Bharathavikru Ruthrothaselvi , Slight Joan , Aitken Stuart , Petrovich Giulia , Charlton Jocelyn , Stancheva Viktoriya , Essafi Abdelkader , Pritchard-Jones Kathy , Hastie Nicholas D 
Published: October 2019

AbstractWilms’ tumour 1 (WT1) is a transcription factor and a tumour suppressor, essential for the development and homeostasis of multiple tissues derived from the intermediate and lateral plate mesoderm. Germline WT1 mutations result in the eponymous paediatric kidney cancer, genitourinary anomalies and in some cases congenital diaphragmatic hernia One common feature in Wilms’ Tumours (WT), is upregulation of IGF2 through genetic and/or epigenetic mechanisms. Recent studies have identified both somatic and germline mutations in microRNA processing genes (MIRPG) in WT. Whether these different epigenetic and genetic causes converge on common targets and the mechanisms by which they act are still unclear. WT1 is involved in RNA binding and regulates the RNA stability of important developmental genes. We now show that WT1 interacts with let-7 family of microRNAs, and the absence of WT1 results in reduced levels of mature microRNA in cell lines and kidney mesenchyme. As a consequence, let-7 targets, including Igf1 receptor (Igf1r), are upregulated in the absence of Wt1, thus confirming the presence of a WT1-let7-Igf1r axis. These findings suggest a possible mechanism by which WT1 mutations lead to WT, and reinforce the idea that the perturbation of the microRNA and IGF signalling pathways are important contributing factors in the aetiology of WT.
Epidermal green autofluorescence intensity is significantly associated with the serum levels of multiple cytokines of LPS-exposed mice
Authors: Li Yujia , Zhang Mingchao , Yang Zhaoxia , Ying Weihai 
Published: October 2019

AbstractInflammation plays various crucial pathological and physiological roles, in which a number of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines are important mediators. It is of great scientific and clinical significance to search for non-invasive approaches for evaluating cytokine levels in the blood. Our previous study reported that epidermal green autofluorescence (AF) intensity of LPS-exposed mice is highly correlated with LPS doses. In our current study, we determined if epidermal green AF intensity is associated with the serum levels of various cytokines in the LPS-exposed mice. We found that both epidermal green AF intensity and LPS doses are significantly associated with the serum levels of key cytokines including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6 and IL-10. Both epidermal green AF intensity and LPS doses are also significantly associated with the pro-inflammatory factors including IL-2, IL-12(p40), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES/CCL5), as well as anti-inflammatory factors including IL-5 and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). Our findings have suggested that detection of epidermal green AF intensity may become first approach for non-invasive evaluation of certain cytokine levels in human body, which could profoundly enhance our capacity to evaluate inflammation levels for monitoring health state, disease state and therapeutic effects.
Structural insight into the formation of lipoprotein-β-barrel complexes by the β-barrel assembly machinery
Authors: Létoquart Juliette , Rodriguez-Alonso Raquel , Nguyen Van Son , Louis Guennaëlle , Calabrese Antonio N. , Radford Sheena E. , Cho Seung-Hyun , Remaut Han , Collet Jean-François 
Published: October 2019

ABSTRACTThe β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) inserts outer membrane β-barrel proteins (OMPs) in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. In Enterobacteriacea, BAM also mediates export of the stress sensor lipoprotein RcsF to the cell surface by assembling RcsF-OMP complexes. Although BAM has been the focus of intense research due to its essential activity in generating and maintaining the outer membrane, how it functions remains poorly understood. Here, we report the crystal structure of the key BAM component BamA in complex with RcsF. BamA adopts an inward-open conformation, with the lateral gate to the membrane closed. The globular domain of RcsF is lodged deep inside the lumen of the BamA barrel, binding regions proposed to undergo an outward and lateral opening during OMP insertion. Our structural and biochemical data indicate a push-and-pull mechanism for RcsF export upon conformational cycling of BamA and provide a mechanistic explanation for how RcsF uses its interaction with BamA to detect envelope stress. Our data also suggest that the flux of incoming OMP substrates is involved in the control of BAM activity. Overall, the structural insights gleaned here elucidate a fundamental biological process and suggest a new avenue for antibiotic development.
Signal-space projection suppresses the tACS artifact in EEG recordings
Authors: Vosskuhl Johannes , Mutanen Tuomas P. , Neuling Toralf , Ilmoniemi Risto J. , Herrmann Christoph S. 
Published: October 2019

1.AbstractBackgroundTo probe the functional role of brain oscillations, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has proven to be a useful neuroscientific tool. Because of the huge tACS-caused artifact in electroencephalography (EEG) signals, tACS–EEG studies have been mostly limited to compare brain activity between recordings before and after concurrent tACS. Critically, attempts to suppress the artifact in the data cannot assure that the entire artifact is removed while brain activity is preserved. The current study aims to evaluate the feasibility of specific artifact correction techniques to clean tACS-contaminated EEG data.New MethodIn the first experiment, we used a phantom head to have full control over the signal to be analyzed. Driving pre-recorded human brain-oscillation signals through a dipolar current source within the phantom, we simultaneously applied tACS and compared the performance of different artifact-correction techniques: sine subtraction, template subtraction, and signal-space projection (SSP). In the second experiment, we combined tACS and EEG on a human subject to validate the best-performing data-correction approach.ResultsThe tACS artifact was highly attenuated by SSP in the phantom and the human EEG; thus, we were able to recover the amplitude and phase of the oscillatory activity. In the human experiment, event-related desynchronization could be restored after correcting the artifact.Comparison with existing methodsThe best results were achieved with SSP, which outperformed sine subtraction and template subtraction.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate the feasibility of SSP by applying it to human tACS–EEG data.