bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The mechanisms of crystal growth inhibition by organic and inorganic inhibitors
Authors: Dobberschütz S. , Nielsen M. R. , Sand K. K. , Civioc R. , Bovet N. , Stipp S. L. S. , Andersson M. P. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractUnderstanding mineral growth mechanism is a key to understanding biomineralisation, fossilisation and diagenesis. The presence of trace compounds affect the growth and dissolution rates and the form of the crystals produced. Organisms use ions and organic molecules to control the growth of hard parts by inhibition and enhancement. Calcite growth in the presence of Mg2+ is a good example. Its inhibiting role in biomineralisation is well known, but the controlling mechanisms are still debated. Here, we use a microkinetic model for a series of inorganic and organic inhibitors of calcite growth. With one, single, nonempirical parameter per inhibitor, i.e. its adsorption energy, we can quantitatively reproduce the experimental data and unambiguously establish the inhibition mechanism(s) for each inhibitor. Our results provide molecular scale insight into the processes of crystal growth and biomineralisation, and open the door for logical design of mineral growth inhibitors through computational methods.
Tissue-specific transcriptome profiling of Drosophila reveals roles for GATA transcription factors in longevity by dietary restriction
Authors: Dobson Adam J. , He Xiaoli , Blanc Eric , Bolukbasi Ekin , Feseha Yodit , Yang Mingyao , Piper Matthew D. W. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractDietary restriction (DR) extends animal lifespan, but imposes fitness costs. This phenomenon depends on dietary essential amino acids (EAAs) and TOR signalling, which exert systemic effects. However, the roles of specific tissues and cell-autonomous transcriptional regulators in diverse aspects of the DR phenotype are unknown. Manipulating relevant transcription factors (TFs) specifically in lifespan-limiting tissues may separate the lifespan benefits of DR from the early-life fitness costs. Here, we systematically analyse transcription across organs of Drosophila subjected to DR or low TOR and predict regulatory TFs. We predict and validate roles for the evolutionarily conserved GATA family of TFs, and identify conservation of this signal in mice. Importantly, restricting knockdown of the GATA TF srp to specific fly tissues recapitulated the benefits but not the costs of DR. Together, our data indicate that the GATA TFs mediate effects of dietary amino acids on lifespan, and that by manipulating them in specific tissues it is possible to reap the fitness benefits of EAAs, decoupled from a cost to longevity.
A Rift Valley fever virus Gn ectodomain-based DNA vaccine induces a partial protection not improved by APC targeting
Authors: Chrun Tiphany , Lacôte Sandra , Urien Céline , Jouneau Luc , Barc Céline , Bouguyon Edwige , Contreras Vanessa , Ferrier-Rembert Audrey , Peyrefitte Christophe N. , Busquets Nuria , Vidal Enric , Pujols Joan , Marianneau Philippe , Schwartz-Cornil Isabelle 
Published: April 2018

AbstractRift Valley fever virus, a phlebovirus endemic in Africa, causes serious diseases in ruminants and humans. Due to the high probability of new outbreaks and spread to other continents where competent vectors are present, vaccine development is an urgent priority as no licensed vaccines are available outside areas of endemicity. In this study, we evaluated in sheep the protective immunity induced by DNA vaccines encoding the extracellular portion of the Gn antigen which was either or not targeted to antigen-presenting cells. The DNA encoding untargeted antigen was the most potent at inducing IgG responses, although not neutralizing, and conferred a significant clinical and virological protection upon infectious challenge, superior to DNA vaccines encoding the targeted antigen. A statistical analysis of the challenge parameters supported that the anti-eGn IgG, rather than the T-cell response, was instrumental in protection. Altogether, this work shows that a DNA vaccine encoding the extracellular portion of the Gn antigen confers substantial—although incomplete—protective immunity in sheep, a natural host with high preclinical relevance, and provides some insights into key immune correlates useful for further vaccine improvements against the Rift Valley fever virus.
Flux-tunable heat sink for quantum electric circuits
Authors: Partanen M. , Tan K. Y. , Masuda S. , Govenius J. , Lake R. E. , Jenei M. , Grönberg L. , Hassel J. , Simbierowicz S. , Vesterinen V. , Tuorila J. , Ala-Nissila T. , Möttönen M. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractSuperconducting microwave circuits show great potential for practical quantum technological applications such as quantum information processing. However, fast and on-demand initialization of the quantum degrees of freedom in these devices remains a challenge. Here, we experimentally implement a tunable heat sink that is potentially suitable for the initialization of superconducting qubits. Our device consists of two coupled resonators. The first resonator has a high quality factor and a fixed frequency whereas the second resonator is designed to have a low quality factor and a tunable resonance frequency. We engineer the low quality factor using an on-chip resistor and the frequency tunability using a superconducting quantum interference device. When the two resonators are in resonance, the photons in the high-quality resonator can be efficiently dissipated. We show that the corresponding loaded quality factor can be tuned from above 105 down to a few thousand at 10 GHz in good quantitative agreement with our theoretical model.
Human kallikrein-related peptidase 12 stimulates endothelial cell migration by remodeling the fibronectin matrix
Authors: Kryza T. , Parent C. , Pardessus J. , Petit A. , Burlaud-Gaillard J. , Reverdiau P. , Iochmann S. , Labas V. , Courty Y. , Heuzé-Vourc’h N. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractKallikrein-related peptidase 12 (KLK12) is a kallikrein family peptidase involved in angiogenesis – a complex biological process in which the sprouting, migration and stabilization of endothelial cells requires extracellular matrix remodeling. To characterize the molecular mechanisms associated with KLK12′s proangiogenic activity, we evaluated its ability to hydrolyze various matrix proteins. Our results show that KLK12 efficiently cleaved the human extracellular matrix proteins fibronectin and tenascin, both of which are involved in the regulation of endothelial cell adhesion and migration. For fibronectin, the major proteolytic product generated by KLK12 was a 29 kDa fragment containing the amino-terminal domain and the first five type I fibronectin-domains, which are essential for regulating fibronectin assembly. We also demonstrated that KLK12-mediated fibronectin proteolysis antagonizes fibronectin polymerization and fibronectin fibril formation by endothelial cells, leading to an increase in cell migration. Furthermore, a polyclonal antibody raised against KLK12′s proteolytic cleavage site on fibronectin prevented the KLK12-dependent inhibition of fibronectin polymerization and the KLK12-mediated pro-migratory effect on endothelial cells. Taken as a whole, our results indicate that KLK12′s proangiogenic effect is mediated through several molecular mechanisms.
Micro-thermocouple on nano-membrane: thermometer for nanoscale measurements
Authors: Balčytis Armandas , Ryu Meguya , Juodkazis Saulius , Morikawa Junko 
Published: April 2018

AbstractA thermocouple of Au-Ni with only 2.5-μm-wide electrodes on a 30-nm-thick Si3N4 membrane was fabricated by a simple low-resolution electron beam lithography and lift off procedure. The thermocouple is shown to be sensitive to heat generated by laser as well as an electron beam. Nano-thin membrane was used to reach a high spatial resolution of energy deposition and to realise a heat source of sub-1 μm diameter. This was achieved due to a limited generation of secondary electrons, which increase a lateral energy deposition. A low thermal capacitance of the fabricated devices is useful for the real time monitoring of small and fast temperature changes, e.g., due to convection, and can be detected through an optical and mechanical barrier of the nano-thin membrane. Temperature changes up to ~2 × 105 K/s can be measured at 10 kHz rate. A simultaneous down-sizing of both, the heat detector and heat source strongly required for creation of thermal microscopy is demonstrated. Peculiarities of Seebeck constant (thermopower) dependence on electron injection into thermocouple are discussed. Modeling of thermal flows on a nano-membrane with presence of a micro-thermocouple was carried out to compare with experimentally measured temporal response.
Psychological Stress Deteriorates Skin Barrier Function by Activating 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase 1 and the HPA Axis
Authors: Choe Sung Jay , Kim Donghye , Kim Eun Jung , Ahn Joung-Sook , Choi Eun-Jeong , Son Eui Dong , Lee Tae Ryong , Choi Eung Ho 
Published: April 2018

AbstractPsychological stress (PS) increases endogenous glucocorticoids (GC) by activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The negative effects of GC on skin barrier function under PS have been well-established. However, endogenous GC can also be active when cortisone (inactive form) is converted to cortisol (active form) by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type I (11ß-HSD1) in the peripheral tissue. Here, we evaluated the changes in 11ß-HSD1 and barrier function under PS. Elevated 11ß-HSD1 in oral mucosa correlated with increased cortisol in the stratum corneum and deteriorated barrier function. Expression of 11ß-HSD1 in the oral mucosa correlated with that in the epidermal keratinocytes. We further investigated whether barrier function improved when PS was relieved using a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) in patients with anxiety. Decreased 11ß-HSD1 and improved barrier function were observed after SSRI treatment. The collective findings suggest that elevated 11ß-HSD1 under PS increases the level of cutaneous GC and eventually impairs barrier function. PS-alleviating drugs, such as SSRI, may help to treat PS-aggravated skin diseases.
The association between skin auto-fluorescence of palmoplantar sites and microvascular complications in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Kim Jong Jin , Jeong Bosu , Cho Yongin , Kwon Mi-hyang , Lee Yong-ho , Kang Uk , Kang Eun Seok 
Published: April 2018

AbstractSkin auto-fluorescence (SAF) has generated broad interest about the prospects for non-invasive advanced glycation end product assessment and its direct interplay with the development of microvascular complications, but clinical application of the existing SAF measuring of non-palmoplantar sites in non-Caucasian subjects with dark skin type is still controversial. Here, we tested the diabetic complication screening performance of a novel SAF measuring system in Asian type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) subjects. A total of 166 Korean patients with T2DM were enrolled in this study and palmoplantar SAF was measured by a newly developed transmission-geometry noninvasive optical system. We found that transmitted SAF values of palmoplantar sites, 1st dorsal interossei muscles of the hand, in a complication group were significantly higher than in a non-complication group while no differences were observed between the two groups in reflected SAF of non-palmoplantar sites. The transmitted SAF values of palmoplantar sites were dramatically increased in subjects with multiple complications and were tightly correlated with the duration of microvascular complications. In conclusion, the SAF measurement in the palmoplantar sites with a non-invasive transmission-geometry optical system provided better microvascular complication screening performance compared to the SAF measurement of non-palmoplantar sites specifically in Asian T2DM subjects.
Springtime photoinhibition constrains regeneration of forest floor seedlings of Abies sachalinensis after a removal of canopy trees during winter
Authors: Kitao Mitsutoshi , Harayama Hisanori , Han Qingmin , Agathokleous Evgenios , Uemura Akira , Furuya Naoyuki , Ishibashi Satoshi 
Published: April 2018

AbstractA clear-cutting of canopy trees during winter often causes severe foliar damage during the following spring in forest floor seedlings of Abies sachalinensis, a typical shade-tolerant evergreen coniferous species. The maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II after an overnight dark adaptation showed a temporary decrease immediately before budbreak in 1-year-old shoots of A. sachalinensis seedlings grown under full sunlight in a nursery, suggesting “springtime photoinhibition” related to the phenology of evergreen coniferous species. In the field, a greater rate of canopy tree cutting during winter was associated with more severe photoinhibition in the following spring, immediately before budbreak, which subsequently resulted in a reduction in carbon gain in 1-year-old shoots, and consequently suppressed the growth of current-year shoots. Although photoinhibition under low temperature is a well-known factor to determine the survival rate of tree seedlings during winter in cool regions, the present study additionally proposes that the temporary increase in the susceptibility to photoinhibition in springtime i.e. “springtime photoinhibition” would be a constraint for the regeneration of coniferous seedlings especially when the canopy trees are removed during winter.
A Legionella pneumophila amylase is essential for intracellular replication in human macrophages and amoebae
Authors: Best Ashley , Price Christopher , Ozanic Mateja , Santic Marina , Jones Snake , Abu Kwaik Yousef 
Published: April 2018

AbstractLegionella pneumophila invades protozoa with an “accidental” ability to cause pneumonia upon transmission to humans. To support its nutrition during intracellular residence, L. pneumophila relies on host amino acids as the main source of carbon and energy to feed the TCA cycle. Despite the apparent lack of a requirement for glucose for L. pneumophila growth in vitro and intracellularly, the organism contains multiple amylases, which hydrolyze polysaccharides into glucose monomers. Here we describe one predicted putative amylase, LamB, which is uniquely present only in L. pneumophila and L. steigerwaltii among the ~60 species of Legionella. Our data show that LamB has a strong amylase activity, which is abolished upon substitutions of amino acids that are conserved in the catalytic pocket of amylases. Loss of LamB or expression of catalytically-inactive variants of LamB results in a severe growth defect of L. pneumophila in Acanthamoeba polyphaga and human monocytes-derived macrophages. Importantly, the lamB null mutant is severely attenuated in intra-pulmonary proliferation in the mouse model and is defective in dissemination to the liver and spleen. Our data show an essential role for LamB in intracellular replication of L. pneumophila in amoeba and human macrophages and in virulence in vivo.
Innovatively Therapeutic Strategy on Lung Cancer by Daily
Drinking Antioxidative Plasmon-Induced Activated Water
Authors: Wang Chien-Kai , Chen Hsiao-Chien , Fang Sheng-Uei , Ho Chia-Wen , Tai Cheng-Jeng , Yang Chih-Ping , Liu Yu-Chuan 
Published: April 2018

AbstractMany human diseases are inflammation-related, such as cancer and those
associated with aging. Previous studies demonstrated that plasmon-induced activated
(PIA) water with electron-doping character, created from hot electron transfer via
decay of excited Au nanoparticles (NPs) under resonant illumination, owns reduced
hydrogen-bonded networks and physchemically antioxidative properties. In this study,
it is demonstrated PIA water dramatically induced a major antioxidative Nrf2 gene in human gingival fibroblasts which further
confirms its cellular antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. Furthermore,
mice implanted with mouse Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC-1) cells drinking PIA water
alone or together with cisplatin treatment showed improved survival time compared to
mice which consumed only deionized (DI) water. With the combination of PIA water and
cisplatin administration, the survival time of LLC-1-implanted mice markedly
increased to 8.01 ± 0.77 days compared to 6.38 ± 0.61 days of mice given cisplatin
and normal drinking DI water. This survival time of 8.01 ± 0.77 days compared to
4.62 ± 0.71 days of mice just given normal drinking water is statistically
significant (p = 0.009). Also, the gross
observations and eosin staining results suggested that LLC-1-implanted mice drinking
PIA water tended to exhibit less metastasis than mice given only DI water.
Comparison of an unsupervised machine learning algorithm and surgeon diagnosis in the clinical differentiation of metopic craniosynostosis and benign metopic ridge
Authors: Cho Min-Jeong , Hallac Rami R. , Effendi Maleeh , Seaward James R. , Kane Alex A. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractMetopic suture closure can manifest as a benign metopic ridge (BMR), a variant of normal, to “true” metopic craniosynostosis (MCS), which is associated with severe trigonocephaly. Currently, there is no gold standard for how much associated orbitofrontal dysmorphology should trigger surgical intervention. In our study, we used three-dimensional (3D) curvature analysis to separate the phenotypes along the spectrum, and to compare surgeons’ thresholds for operation. Three-dimensional curvature analyses on 43 subject patients revealed that the mean curvature of mid-forehead vertical ridge was higher for patients who underwent operation than those who did not undergo operation by 1.3 m−1 (p < 0.0001). In addition, these patients had more retruded supraorbital areas by −16.1 m−1 (p < 0.0001). K-means clustering classified patients into two different severity groups, and with the exception of 2 patients, the algorithm’s classification of deformity completely agreed with the surgeons’ decisions to offer either conservative or operative therapy (i.e. 96% agreement). The described methods are effective in classifying severity of deformity and in our experience closely approximate surgeon therapeutic decision making. These methods offer the possibility to consistently determine when surgical intervention may be beneficial and to avoid unnecessary surgeries on children with benign metopic ridge and associated minimal orbitofrontal deformity.
Computational Protein Design with Deep Learning Neural Networks
Authors: Wang Jingxue , Cao Huali , Zhang John Z. H. , Qi Yifei 
Published: April 2018

AbstractComputational protein design has a wide variety of applications. Despite its remarkable success, designing a protein for a given structure and function is still a challenging task. On the other hand, the number of solved protein structures is rapidly increasing while the number of unique protein folds has reached a steady number, suggesting more structural information is being accumulated on each fold. Deep learning neural network is a powerful method to learn such big data set and has shown superior performance in many machine learning fields. In this study, we applied the deep learning neural network approach to computational protein design for predicting the probability of 20 natural amino acids on each residue in a protein. A large set of protein structures was collected and a multi-layer neural network was constructed. A number of structural properties were extracted as input features and the best network achieved an accuracy of 38.3%. Using the network output as residue type restraints improves the average sequence identity in designing three natural proteins using Rosetta. Moreover, the predictions from our network show ~3% higher sequence identity than a previous method. Results from this study may benefit further development of computational protein design methods.
Individual and shared effects of social environment and polygenic risk scores on adolescent body mass index
Authors: Coleman Jonathan R. I. , Krapohl Eva , Eley Thalia C. , Breen Gerome 
Published: April 2018

AbstractJuvenile obesity is associated with adverse health outcomes. Understanding genetic and environmental influences on body mass index (BMI) during adolescence could inform interventions. We investigated independent and interactive effects of parenting, socioeconomic status (SES) and polygenic risk on BMI pre-adolescence, and on the rate of change in BMI across adolescence. Genome-wide genotype data, BMI and child perceptions of parental warmth and punitive discipline were available at 11 years old, and parental SES was available from birth on 3,414 unrelated participants. Linear models were used to test the effects of social environment and polygenic risk on pre-adolescent BMI. Change in BMI across adolescence was assessed in a subset (N = 1943). Sex-specific effects were assessed. Higher genetic risk was associated with increased BMI pre-adolescence and across adolescence (p < 0.00417, corrected for multiple tests). Negative parenting was not significantly associated with either phenotype, but lower SES was associated with increased BMI pre-adolescence. No interactions passed correction for multiple testing. Polygenic risk scores from adult GWAS meta-analyses are associated with BMI in juveniles, suggesting a stable genetic component. Pre-adolescent BMI was associated with social environment, but parental style has, at most, a small effect.
Enhanced performance of tin halide perovskite solar cell by addition of lead thiocyanate
Authors: Gao Fengqiang , Li Chunhai , Qin Liang , Zhu Lijie , Huang Xin , Liu Huan , Liang Liming , Hou Yanbing , Lou Zhidong , Hu Yufeng , Teng Feng 
Published: April 2018

The MASnI3-based PSCs with an efficiency of 6.02% was fabricated by incorporating 20 mol% of Pb(SCN)2.
Morphosyntactic Production and Verbal Working Memory: Evidence From Greek Aphasia and Healthy Aging
Authors: Fyndanis Valantis , Arcara Giorgio , Christidou Paraskevi , Caplan David 
Published: April 2018

PurposeThe present work investigated whether verbal working memory (WM) affects morphosyntactic production in configurations that do not involve or favor similarity-based interference and whether WM interacts with verb-related morphosyntactic categories and/or cue–target distance (locality). It also explored whether the findings related to the questions above lend support to a recent account of agrammatic morphosyntactic production: Interpretable Features' Impairment Hypothesis (Fyndanis, Varlokosta, & Tsapkini, 2012).MethodA sentence completion task testing production of subject–verb agreement, tense/time reference, and aspect in local and nonlocal conditions and two verbal WM tasks were administered to 8 Greek-speaking persons with agrammatic aphasia (PWA) and 103 healthy participants.ResultsThe 3 morphosyntactic categories dissociated in both groups (agreement > tense > aspect). A significant interaction emerged in both groups between the 3 morphosyntactic categories and WM. There was no main effect of locality in either of the 2 groups. At the individual level, all 8 PWA exhibited dissociations between agreement, tense, and aspect, and effects of locality were contradictory.ConclusionsResults suggest that individuals with WM limitations (both PWA and healthy older speakers) show dissociations between the production of verb-related morphosyntactic categories. WM affects performance shaping the pattern of morphosyntactic production (in Greek: subject–verb agreement > tense > aspect). The absence of an effect of locality suggests that executive capacities tapped by WM tasks are involved in morphosyntactic processing of demanding categories even when the cue is adjacent to the target. Results are consistent with the Interpretable Features' Impairment Hypothesis (Fyndanis et al., 2012).Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6024428