bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Species-energy relationships of indigenous and invasive species may arise in different ways – a demonstration using springtails
Authors: Treasure Anne M. , le Roux Peter C. , Mashau Mashudu H. , Chown Steven L. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAlthough the relationship between species richness and available energy is well established for a range of spatial scales, exploration of the plausible underlying explanations for this relationship is less common. Speciation, extinction, dispersal and environmental filters all play a role. Here we make use of replicated elevational transects and the insights offered by comparing indigenous and invasive species to test four proximal mechanisms that have been offered to explain relationships between energy availability, abundance and species richness: the sampling mechanism (a null expectation), and the more individuals, dynamic equilibrium and range limitation mechanisms. We also briefly consider the time for speciation mechanism. We do so for springtails on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Relationships between energy availability and species richness are stronger for invasive than indigenous species, with geometric constraints and area variation playing minor roles. We reject the sampling and more individuals mechanisms, but show that dynamic equilibrium and range limitation are plausible mechanisms underlying these gradients, especially for invasive species. Time for speciation cannot be ruled out as contributing to richness variation in the indigenous species. Differences between the indigenous and invasive species highlight the ways in which deconstruction of richness gradients may usefully inform investigations of the mechanisms underlying them. They also point to the importance of population size-related mechanisms in accounting for such variation. In the context of the sub-Antarctic our findings suggest that warming climates may favour invasive over indigenous species in the context of changes to elevational distributions, a situation found for vascular plants, and predicted for springtails on the basis of smaller-scale manipulative field experiments.
Activation volume in superpressed glass-formers
Authors: Drozd-Rzoska Aleksandra 
Published: September 2019

AbstractIn pressurized glass-forming systems, the apparent (changeable) activation volume Va(P) is the key property governing the previtreous behavior of the structural relaxation time (τ) or viscosity (η), following the Super-Barus behavior: $${\boldsymbol{\tau }}{\boldsymbol{(}}{\boldsymbol{P}}{\boldsymbol{)}}{\boldsymbol{,}}{\boldsymbol{\eta }}{\boldsymbol{(}}{\boldsymbol{P}}{\boldsymbol{)}}{\boldsymbol{\propto }}{\bf{\exp }}{\boldsymbol{(}}{{\boldsymbol{V}}}_{{\boldsymbol{a}}}{\boldsymbol{(}}{\boldsymbol{P}}{\boldsymbol{)}}{\boldsymbol{/}}{\boldsymbol{R}}{\boldsymbol{T}}{\boldsymbol{)}}$$
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. This report shows that Va(P) ≪ V#(P) for P → Pg, where Pg denotes the glass pressure, and the magnitude V#(P) is coupled to the pressure steepness index (the apparent fragility). V#(P) and Va(P) coincides only for the basic Barus dynamics, where Va(P) = Va = const in the given pressure domain, or for P → 0. The simple and non-biased way of determining Va(P) and the relation for its parameterization are proposed. The derived relation resembles Murnaghan - O’Connel equation, applied in deep Earth studies. It also offers a possibility of estimating the pressure and volume at the absolute stability limit. The application of the methodology is shown for diisobutyl phthalate (DIIP, low-molecular-weight liquid), isooctyloxycyanobiphenyl (8*OCB, liquid crystal) and bisphenol A/epichlorohydrin (EPON 828, epoxy resin), respectively.
Human primary endothelial cells are impaired in nucleotide excision repair and sensitive to benzo[a]pyrene compared with smooth muscle cells and pericytes
Authors: Kress Joana M. , Dio Lorella Di , Heck Larissa , Pulliero Alessandra , Izzotti Alberto , Laarmann Kathrin , Fritz Gerhard , Kaina Bernd 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThe endothelium represents the inner cell layer of blood vessels and is supported by smooth muscle cells and pericytes, which form the vessel structure. The endothelium is involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases, including the development of atherosclerosis. Due to direct blood contact, the blood vessel endothelium is inevitably exposed to genotoxic substances that are systemically taken up by the body, including benzo[a]pyrene, which is a major genotoxic component in cigarette smoke and a common environmental mutagen and human carcinogen. Here, we evaluated the impact of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE), which is the reactive metabolite of benzo[a]pyrene, on the three innermost vessel cell types. Primary human endothelial cells (HUVEC), primary human smooth muscle cells (HUASMC) and primary human pericytes (HPC) were treated with BPDE, and analyses of cytotoxicity, cellular senescence and genotoxic effects were then performed. The results showed that HUVEC were more sensitive to the cytotoxic activity of BPDE than HUASMC and HPC. We further show that HUVEC display a detraction in the repair of BPDE-induced adducts, as determined through the comet assay and the quantification of BPDE adducts in post-labelling experiments. A screening for DNA repair factors revealed that the nucleotide excision repair (NER) proteins ERCC1, XPF and ligase I were expressed at lower levels in HUVEC compared with HUASMC and HPC, which corresponds with the impaired NER-mediated removal of BPDE adducts from DNA. Taken together, the data revealed that HUVEC exhibit an unexpected DNA repair-impaired phenotype, which has implications on the response of the endothelium to genotoxicants that induce bulky DNA lesions, including the development of vascular diseases resulting from smoking and environmental pollution.
Semen miRNAs Contained in Exosomes as Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
Authors: Barceló Maria , Castells Manel , Bassas Lluís , Vigués Francesc , Larriba Sara 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAlthough it is specific for prostatic tissue, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening has resulted in an over-diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) and many unnecessary biopsies of benign disease due to a well-documented low cancer specificity, thus improvement is required. We profiled the expression level of miRNAs contained in semen exosomes from men with moderately increased PSA levels to assess their usefulness, either alone or in addition to PSA marker, as non-invasive biomarkers, for the early efficient diagnosis and prognosis of PCa. An altered miRNA expression pattern was found by a high throughput profiling analysis in PCa when compared with healthy individuals (HCt) exosomal semen samples. The presence of vasectomy was taken into account for the interpretation of results. Fourteen miRNAs were selected for miRNA validation as PCa biomarkers in a subsequent set of semen samples. In this explorative study, we describe miRNA-based models, which included miRNA expression values together with PSA levels, that increased the classification function of the PSA screening test with diagnostic and/or prognostic potential: [PSA + miR-142-3p + miR-142-5p + miR-223-3p] model (AUC:0,821) to discriminate PCa from BPH (Sn:91,7% Sp:42,9% vs Sn:100% Sp:14,3%); and [PSA + miR-342-3p + miR-374b-5p] model (AUC: 0,891) to discriminate between GS ≥ 7 tumours and men presenting PSA ≥ 4 ng/ml with no cancer or GS6 tumours (Sn:81,8% Sp:95% vs Sn:54,5% Sp:90%). The pathway analysis of predicted miRNA target genes supports a role for these miRNAs in PCa aetiology and/or progression. Our study shows semen exosome miRNA-based models as molecular biomarkers with the potential to improve PCa diagnosis/prognosis efficiency. As the next step, further prospective studies on larger cohorts of patients are required to validate the diagnostic and/or prognostic role of the miRNA panel before it could be adopted into clinical practice.
Estimation of PM2.5 Concentrations in China Using a Spatial Back Propagation Neural Network
Authors: Wang Weilin , Zhao Suli , Jiao Limin , Taylor Michael , Zhang Boen , Xu Gang , Hou Haobo 
Published: September 2019

AbstractMethods for estimating the spatial distribution of PM2.5 concentrations have been developed but have not yet been able to effectively include spatial correlation. We report on the development of a spatial back-propagation neural network (S-BPNN) model designed specifically to make such correlations implicit by incorporating a spatial lag variable (SLV) as a virtual input variable. The S-BPNN fits the nonlinear relationship between ground-based air quality monitoring station measurements of PM2.5, satellite observations of aerosol optical depth, meteorological synoptic conditions data and emissions data that include auxiliary geographical parameters such as land use, normalized difference vegetation index, elevation, and population density. We trained and validated the S-BPNN for both yearly and seasonal mean PM2.5 concentrations. In addition, principal components analysis was employed to reduce the dimensionality of the data and a grid of neural network models was run to optimize the model design. The S-BPNN was cross-validated against an analogous but SLV-free BPNN model using the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean squared error (RMSE) as statistical measures of goodness of fit. The inclusion of the SLV led to demonstrably superior performance of the S-BPNN over the BPNN with R2 values increasing from 0.80 to 0.89 and with the RMSE decreasing from 8.1 to 5.8 μg/m3. The yearly mean PM2.5 concentration in China during the study period was found to be 41.8 μg/m3 and the model estimated spatial distribution was found to exceed Level 2 of the China Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) enacted in 2012 (>35 μg/m3) in more than 70% of the Chinese territory. The inclusion of spatial correlation upgrades the performance of conventional BPNN models and provides a more accurate estimation of PM2.5 concentrations for air quality monitoring.
Inhibition of casein kinase 1δ/εimproves cognitive-affective behavior and reduces amyloid load in the APP-PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Sundaram S. , Nagaraj S. , Mahoney H. , Portugues A. , Li W. , Millsaps K. , Faulkner J. , Yunus A. , Burns C. , Bloom C. , Said M. , Pinto L. , Azam S. , Flores M. , Henriksen A. , Gamsby J. , Gulick D. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractCircadian rhythm disruption is one of the earliest biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and there exists a bidirectional relationship by which dysfunctions in the circadian clock drive AD pathology and AD pathology drives circadian dysfunction. Casein kinase 1 (CK1) isoforms ε and δ, key circadian regulators, are significantly upregulated in AD and may contribute to AD pathogenesis. In the current studies, we have examined how inhibition of CK1ε/δ with PF-670462 (at 10 mg/kg, δ isoform selective, or 30 mg/kg, δ and ε selective) impacts regional Aβ and circadian gene expression in 10–13 month old APP-PS1 mice and nontransgenic controls. We have also assessed circadian, cognitive, and affective behavioral correlates of these neural changes. At baseline, APP-PS1 mice showed a short period, as well as impaired cognitive performance in both prefrontal cortex and hippocampus-dependent tasks. Both doses of PF-670462 lengthened the period and improved affect, whereas only the higher dose improved cognition. Further, PF-670462 treatment produced a dose-dependent reduction in amyloid burden – overall Aβ signal decreased in all three areas; in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, PF-670462 also reduced plaque size. Together, these findings support chronotherapy as a potential tool to improve behavior in AD.
5-Dodecanolide interferes with biofilm formation and reduces the virulence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) through up regulation of agr system
Authors: Valliammai Alaguvel , Sethupathy Sivasamy , Priya Arumugam , Selvaraj Anthonymuthu , Bhaskar James Prabhanand , Krishnan Venkateswaran , Pandian Shunmugiah Karutha 
Published: September 2019

AbstractMethicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a predominant human pathogen with high morbidity that is listed in the WHO high priority pathogen list. Being a primary cause of persistent human infections, biofilm forming ability of S. aureus plays a pivotal role in the development of antibiotic resistance. Hence, targeting biofilm is an alternative strategy to fight bacterial infections. The present study for the first time demonstrates the non-antibacterial biofilm inhibitory efficacy of 5-Dodecanolide (DD) against ATCC strain and clinical isolates of S. aureus. In addition, DD is able to inhibit adherence of MRSA on human plasma coated Titanium surface. Further, treatment with DD significantly reduced the eDNA synthesis, autoaggregation, staphyloxanthin biosynthesis and ring biofilm formation. Reduction in staphyloxanthin in turn increased the susceptibility of MRSA to healthy human blood and H2O2 exposure. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed the induced expression of agrA and agrC upon DD treatment. This resulted down regulation of genes involved in biofilm formation such as fnbA and fnbB and up regulation of RNAIII, hld, psmα and genes involved in biofilm matrix degradation such as aur and nuc. Inefficacy of DD on the biofilm formation of agr mutant further validated the agr mediated antibiofilm potential of DD. Notably, DD was efficient in reducing the in vivo colonization of MRSA in Caenorhabditis elegans. Results of gene expression studies and physiological assays unveiled the agr mediated antibiofilm efficacy of DD.
Mice depleted for Exchange Proteins Directly Activated by cAMP (Epac) exhibit irregular liver regeneration in response to partial hepatectomy
Authors: Sivertsen Åsrud Kathrine , Pedersen Line , Aesoy Reidun , Muwonge Haruna , Aasebø Elise , Nitschke Pettersen Ina Katrine , Herfindal Lars , Dobie Ross , Jenkins Stephen , Berge Rolf Kristian , Henderson Neil Cowan , Selheim Frode , Døskeland Stein Ove , Bakke Marit 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThe exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP 1 and 2 (Epac1 and Epac2) are expressed in a cell specific manner in the liver, but their biological functions in this tissue are poorly understood. The current study was undertaken to begin to determine the potential roles of Epac1 and Epac2 in liver physiology and disease. Male C57BL/6J mice in which expression of Epac1 and/or Epac2 are deleted, were subjected to partial hepatectomy and the regenerating liver was analyzed with regard to lipid accumulation, cell replication and protein expression. In response to partial hepatectomy, deletion of Epac1 and/or Epac2 led to increased hepatocyte proliferation 36 h post surgery, and the transient steatosis observed in wild type mice was virtually absent in mice lacking both Epac1 and Epac2. The expression of the protein cytochrome P4504a14, which is implicated in hepatic steatosis and fibrosis, was substantially reduced upon deletion of Epac1/2, while a number of factors involved in lipid metabolism were significantly decreased. Moreover, the number of Küpffer cells was affected, and Epac2 expression was increased in the liver of wild type mice in response to partial hepatectomy, further supporting a role for these proteins in liver function. This study establishes hepatic phenotypic abnormalities in mice deleted for Epac1/2 for the first time, and introduces Epac1/2 as regulators of hepatocyte proliferation and lipid accumulation in the regenerative process.
Drivers of AR indifferent anti-androgen resistance in prostate cancer cells
Authors: Handle Florian , Prekovic Stefan , Helsen Christine , Van den Broeck Thomas , Smeets Elien , Moris Lisa , Eerlings Roy , Kharraz Sarah El , Urbanucci Alfonso , Mills Ian G. , Joniau Steven , Attard Gerhardt , Claessens Frank 
Published: September 2019

AbstractInhibition of the androgen receptor (AR) by second-generation anti-androgens is a standard treatment for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but it inevitably leads to the development of resistance. Since the introduction of highly efficient AR signalling inhibitors, approximately 20% of mCRPC patients develop disease with AR independent resistance mechanisms. In this study, we generated two anti-androgen and castration resistant prostate cancer cell models that do not rely on AR activity for growth despite robust AR expression (AR indifferent). They are thus resistant against all modern AR signalling inhibitors. Both cell lines display cross-resistance against the chemotherapeutic drug docetaxel due to MCL1 upregulation but remain sensitive to the PARP inhibitor olaparib and the pan-BCL inhibitor obatoclax. RNA-seq analysis of the anti-androgen resistant cell lines identified hyper-activation of the E2F cell-cycle master regulator as driver of AR indifferent growth, which was caused by deregulation of cyclin D/E, E2F1, RB1, and increased Myc activity. Importantly, mCRPC tissue samples with low AR activity displayed the same alterations and increased E2F activity. In conclusion, we describe two cellular models that faithfully mimic the acquisition of a treatment induced AR independent phenotype that is cross-resistant against chemotherapy and driven by E2F hyper-activation.
Ambient temperature and mortality due to acute myocardial infarction in Brazil: an ecological study of time-series analyses
Authors: Ferreira Letícia de Castro Martins , Nogueira Mário Círio , Pereira Ricardo Vela de Britto , de Farias William Cossich Marcial , Rodrigues Moreno Magalhaes de Souza , Teixeira Maria Teresa Bustamante , Carvalho Marilia Sá 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAmbient temperature may lead to decompensation of cardiovascular diseases and deaths by acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Little is known about this relationship in South American countries located in regions of a hot climate. This study aims to investigate the effects of ambient temperature on mortality due to AMI in six Brazilian micro-regions, which present different climates. We analyzed daily records of deaths by AMI between 1996 and 2013. We estimated the accumulate relative and attributable risks with lags of up to 14 days, using distributed non-linear lag model. Micro-regions that were closest to the equator did not show an association between temperature and mortality. The lowest risk temperatures varied between 22 °C and 28 °C, in the Southern region of Brazil and the Midwest region, respectively. Low temperatures associated with the highest mortality risk were observed in the same areas, varying between 5 °C and 15 °C. The number of deaths attributed to cold temperatures varied from 176/year in Brasilia to 661/year in São Paulo and those deaths attributed to hot temperatures in Rio de Janeiro amounted to 115/year. We showed the relative risk and the attributable risk of warmer and colder days in tropical regions. The estimate of the number of deaths due to climate, varying according to each area, is a way of bringing information to those responsible for health policies based on easily-understood measurements.
Contribution of cellulosic fibre filter on atmosphere moisture content in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing
Authors: Das A. , Muñiz-Lerma J. A. , Espiritu E. R. L. , Nommeots-Nomm A. , Waters K. , Brochu M. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractCellulosic materials are commonly used to manufacture the particulate filters used in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) equipment. An experimental approach has been used to calculate the moisture quantity and kinetics of sorption in a cellulosic filter at varying relative humidity (RH) levels. A prediction of the amount of moisture which can be theoretically held within a filter during storage before its use has been obtained. Subsequently, the quantity and the rate of moisture desorption which can be transferred into the build chamber during LPBF is presented. This work highlights the importance of filter storage and conditioning prior to use in additive manufacturing processing.
High-Throughput Automated Microscopy of Circulating Tumor Cells
Authors: Aguilar-Avelar Carlos , Soto-García Brenda , Aráiz-Hernández Diana , Yee-de León Juan F. , Esparza Miguel , Chacón Franco , Delgado-Balderas Jesús Rolando , Alvarez Mario M. , Trujillo-de Santiago Grissel , Gómez-Guerra Lauro S. , Velarde-Calvillo Liza P. , Abarca-Blanco Alejandro , Wong-Campos J. D. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractCirculating tumor cells (CTCs) have the potential of becoming the gold standard marker for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring. However, current methods for its isolation and characterization suffer from equipment variability and human operator error that hinder its widespread use. Here we report the design and construction of a fully automated high-throughput fluorescence microscope that enables the imaging and classification of cancer cells that were labeled by immunostaining procedures. An excellent agreement between our machine vision-based approach and a state-of-the-art microscopy equipment was achieved. Our integral approach provides a path for operator-free and robust analysis of cancer cells as a standard clinical practice.