bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Influence of internal climate variability on Indian Ocean Dipole properties
Authors: Ng Benjamin , Cai Wenju , Cowan Tim , Bi Daohua 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is the dominant mode of interannual variability over the tropical Indian Ocean (IO) and its future changes are projected to impact the climate and weather of Australia, East Africa, and Indonesia. Understanding the response of the IOD to a warmer climate has been largely limited to studies of individual coupled general circulation models or multi-model ensembles. This has provided valuable insight into the IOD’s projected response to increasing greenhouse gases but has limitations in accounting for the role of internal climate variability. Using the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble (CESM-LE), the IOD is examined in thirty-five present-day and future simulations to determine how internal variability influences properties of the IOD and their response to a warmer climate. Despite small perturbations in the initial conditions as the only difference between ensemble members, significant relationships between the mean state of the IO and the IOD arise, leading to a spread in the projected IOD responses to increasing greenhouse gases. This is driven by the positive Bjerknes feedback, where small differences in mean thermocline depth, which are caused by internal climate variability, generate significant variations in IOD amplitude, skewness, and the climatological zonal sea surface temperature gradient.
A multi-cellular 3D bioprinting approach for vascularized heart tissue engineering based on HUVECs and iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes
Authors: Maiullari Fabio , Costantini Marco , Milan Marika , Pace Valentina , Chirivì Maila , Maiullari Silvia , Rainer Alberto , Baci Denisa , Marei Hany El-Sayed , Seliktar Dror , Gargioli Cesare , Bearzi Claudia , Rizzi Roberto 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe myocardium behaves like a sophisticated orchestra that expresses its true potential only if each member performs the correct task harmonically. Recapitulating its complexity within engineered 3D functional constructs with tailored biological and mechanical properties, is one of the current scientific priorities in the field of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. In this study, driven by the necessity of fabricating advanced model of cardiac tissue, we present an innovative approach consisting of heterogeneous, multi-cellular constructs composed of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) and induced pluripotent cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs). Cells were encapsulated within hydrogel strands containing alginate and PEG-Fibrinogen (PF) and extruded through a custom microfluidic printing head (MPH) that allows to precisely tailor their 3D spatial deposition, guaranteeing a high printing fidelity and resolution. We obtained a 3D cardiac tissue compose of iPSC-derived CMs with a high orientation index imposed by the different defined geometries and blood vessel-like shapes generated by HUVECs which, as demonstrated by in vivo grafting, better support the integration of the engineered cardiac tissue with host’s vasculature.
Runx2 is required for the proliferation of osteoblast progenitors and induces proliferation by regulating Fgfr2 and Fgfr3
Authors: Kawane Tetsuya , Qin Xin , Jiang Qing , Miyazaki Toshihiro , Komori Hisato , Yoshida Carolina Andrea , Matsuura-Kawata Viviane Keiko dos Santos , Sakane Chiharu , Matsuo Yuki , Nagai Kazuhiro , Maeno Takafumi , Date Yuki , Nishimura Riko , Komori Toshihisa 
Published: September 2018

AbstractRunx2 and Sp7 are essential transcription factors for osteoblast differentiation. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the proliferation of osteoblast progenitors remain unclear. The early onset of Runx2 expression caused limb defects through the Fgfr1–3 regulation by Runx2. To investigate the physiological role of Runx2 in the regulation of Fgfr1–3, we compared osteoblast progenitors in Sp7−/− and Runx2−/− mice. Osteoblast progenitors accumulated and actively proliferated in calvariae and mandibles of Sp7−/− but not of Runx2−/− mice, and the number of osteoblast progenitors and their proliferation were dependent on the gene dosage of Runx2 in Sp7−/− background. The expression of Fgfr2 and Fgfr3, which were responsible for the proliferation of osteoblast progenitors, was severely reduced in Runx2−/− but not in Sp7−/− calvariae. Runx2 directly regulated Fgfr2 and Fgfr3, increased the proliferation of osteoblast progenitors, and augmented the FGF2-induced proliferation. The proliferation of Sp7−/− osteoblast progenitors was enhanced and strongly augmented by FGF2, and Runx2 knockdown reduced the FGF2-induced proliferation. Fgfr inhibitor AZD4547 abrogated all of the enhanced proliferation. These results indicate that Runx2 is required for the proliferation of osteoblast progenitors and induces proliferation, at least partly, by regulating Fgfr2 and Fgfr3 expression.
Studying the integrated functional cognitive basis of sustained attention with a Primed Subjective-Illusory-Contour Attention Task
Authors: Cowley Benjamin Ultan 
Published: September 2018

AbstractSustained attention plays an important role in everyday life, for work, learning, or when affected by attention disorders. Studies of the neural correlates of attention commonly treat sustained attention as an isolated construct, measured with computerized continuous performance tests. However, in any ecological context, sustained attention interacts with other executive functions and depends on lower level perceptual processing. Such interactions occur, for example, in inhibition of interference, and processing of complex hierarchical stimuli; both of which are important for successful ecological attention. Motivated by the need for more studies on neural correlates of higher cognition, I present an experiment to investigate these interactions of attention in 17 healthy participants measured with high-resolution electroencephalography. Participants perform a novel 2-alternative forced-choice computerised performance test, the Primed Subjective Illusory Contour Attention Task (PSICAT), which presents gestalt-stimuli targets with distractor primes to induce interference inhibition during complex-percept processing. Using behavioural and brain-imaging analyses, I demonstrate the novel result that task-irrelevant incongruency can evoke stronger behavioural and neural responses than the task-relevant stimulus condition; a potentially important finding in attention disorder research. PSICAT is available as an open-source code repository at the following url, allowing researchers to reuse and adapt it to their requirements. https://github.com/zenBen/Kanizsa_Prime/.
Hybrid System of an Optical Nanofibre and a Single Quantum Dot Operated at Cryogenic Temperatures
Authors: Shafi K. Muhammed , Luo Wei , Yalla Ramachandrarao , Iida Kazunori , Tsutsumi Emi , Miyanaga Akiharu , Hakuta Kohzo 
Published: September 2018

AbstractRecent progress in quantum nanophotonics brings novel ways for manipulating single photons in various nano-waveguides. Among them, one promising approach is to use optical nanofibres (ONFs), tapered optical fibres with sub-wavelength diameter waists. Here, we develop a hybrid system of an ONF and a single quantum dot (QD) operated at cryogenic temperatures. We deposit a single colloidal CdSe QD on an ONF waist and observe emitted photons through the fibre guided modes. We systematically investigate emission characteristics for both the neutral exciton and charged exciton (trion) for one specific QD. We quantitatively show that the trion at cryogenic temperatures acts as an excellent quantum emitter for the ONF and QD hybrid system. The present ONF/QD hybrid system at cryogenic temperatures paves the way for quantum information technologies for manipulating single photons in fibre networks.
Meaning Guides Attention during Real-World Scene Description
Authors: Henderson John M. , Hayes Taylor R. , Rehrig Gwendolyn , Ferreira Fernanda 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIntelligent analysis of a visual scene requires that important regions be prioritized and attentionally selected for preferential processing. What is the basis for this selection? Here we compared the influence of meaning and image salience on attentional guidance in real-world scenes during two free-viewing scene description tasks. Meaning was represented by meaning maps capturing the spatial distribution of semantic features. Image salience was represented by saliency maps capturing the spatial distribution of image features. Both types of maps were coded in a format that could be directly compared to maps of the spatial distribution of attention derived from viewers’ eye fixations in the scene description tasks. The results showed that both meaning and salience predicted the spatial distribution of attention in these tasks, but that when the correlation between meaning and salience was statistically controlled, only meaning accounted for unique variance in attention. The results support theories in which cognitive relevance plays the dominant functional role in controlling human attentional guidance in scenes. The results also have practical implications for current artificial intelligence approaches to labeling real-world images.
A comparative analysis of approaches to network-dismantling
Authors: Wandelt Sebastian , Sun Xiaoqian , Feng Daozhong , Zanin Massimiliano , Havlin Shlomo 
Published: September 2018

AbstractEstimating, understanding, and improving the robustness of networks has many application areas such as bioinformatics, transportation, or computational linguistics. Accordingly, with the rise of network science for modeling complex systems, many methods for robustness estimation and network dismantling have been developed and applied to real-world problems. The state-of-the-art in this field is quite fuzzy, as results are published in various domain-specific venues and using different datasets. In this study, we report, to the best of our knowledge, on the analysis of the largest benchmark regarding network dismantling. We reimplemented and compared 13 competitors on 12 types of random networks, including ER, BA, and WS, with different network generation parameters. We find that network metrics, proposed more than 20 years ago, are often non-dominating competitors, while many recently proposed techniques perform well only on specific network types. Besides the solution quality, we also investigate the execution time. Moreover, we analyze the similarity of competitors, as induced by their node rankings. We compare and validate our results on real-world networks. Our study is aimed to be a reference for selecting a network dismantling method for a given network, considering accuracy requirements and run time constraints.
Radiomics of US texture features in differential diagnosis between triple-negative breast cancer and fibroadenoma
Authors: Lee Si Eun , Han Kyunghwa , Kwak Jin Young , Lee Eunjung , Kim Eun-Kyung 
Published: September 2018

AbstractTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is sometimes mistaken for fibroadenoma due to its tendency to show benign morphology on breast ultrasound (US) albeit its aggressive nature. This study aims to develop a radiomics score based on US texture analysis for differential diagnosis between TNBC and fibroadenoma, and to evaluate its diagnostic performance compared with pathologic results. We retrospectively included 715 pathology-proven fibroadenomas and 186 pathology-proven TNBCs which were examined by three different US machines. We developed the radiomics score by using penalized logistic regression with a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis from 730 extracted features consisting of 14 intensity-based features, 132 textural features and 584 wavelet-based features. The constructed radiomics score showed significant difference between fibroadenoma and TNBC for all three US machines (p < 0.001). Although the radiomics score showed dependency on the type of US machine, we developed more elaborate radiomics score for a subgroup in which US examinations were performed with iU22. This subsequent radiomics score also showed good diagnostic performance, even for BI-RADS category 3 or 4a lesions (AUC 0.782) which were presumed as probably benign or low suspicious of malignancy by radiologists. It was expected to assist radiologist’s diagnosis and reduce the number of invasive biopsies, although US standardization should be overcome before clinical application.
Exogenous application of calcium to 24-epibrassinosteroid pre-treated tomato seedlings mitigates NaCl toxicity by modifying ascorbate–glutathione cycle and secondary metabolites
Authors: Ahmad Parvaiz , Abd_Allah Elsayed Fathi , Alyemeni Mohammed Nasser , Wijaya Leonard , Alam Pravej , Bhardwaj Renu , Siddique Kadambot H. M. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe present study tested the efficacy of 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) and calcium (Ca) for mediating salinity tolerance in tomato. Salinity stress affected the morphological parameters of tomato as well as leaf relative water content (LRWC), photosynthetic and accessory pigments, leaf gas exchange parameters, chlorophyll fluorescence and the uptake of essential macronutrients. The salt (NaCl) treatment induced oxidative stress in the form of increased Na+ ion concentration by 146%, electrolyte leakage (EL) by 61.11%, lipid peroxidation (MDA) 167% and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content by 175%. Salt stress also enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities including those in the ascorbate–glutathione cycle. Plants treated with EBL or Ca after salt exposure mitigated the ill effects of salt stress, including oxidative stress, by reducing the uptake of Na+ ions by 52%. The combined dose of EBL + Ca reversed the salt-induced changes through an elevated pool of enzymes in the ascorbate–glutathione cycle, other antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, catalase), and osmoprotectants (proline, glycine betaine). Exogenously applied EBL and Ca help to optimize mineral nutrient status and enable tomato plants to tolerate salt toxicity. The ability of tomato plants to tolerate salt stress when supplemented with EBL and Ca was attributed to modifications to enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, osmolytes and metabolites.
Electronic and Hydrogen Storage Properties of Li-Terminated Linear Boron Chains Studied by TAO-DFT
Authors: Seenithurai Sonai , Chai Jeng-Da 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIt has been extremely difficult for conventional computational approaches to reliably predict the properties of multi-reference systems (i.e., systems possessing radical character) at the nanoscale. To resolve this, we employ thermally-assisted-occupation density functional theory (TAO-DFT) to predict the electronic and hydrogen storage properties of Li-terminated linear boron chains (Li2Bn), with n boron atoms (n = 6, 8, …, and 16). From our TAO-DFT results, Li2Bn, which possess radical character, can bind up to 4 H2 molecules per Li, with the binding energies in the desirable regime (between 20 and 40 kJ/mol per H2). The hydrogen gravimetric storage capacities of Li2Bn range from 7.9 to 17.0 wt%, achieving the ultimate goal of the United States Department of Energy. Accordingly, Li2Bn could be promising media for storing and releasing H2 at temperatures much higher than the boiling point of liquid nitrogen.
Modified Bethesda system informing cytopathologic adequacy improves malignancy risk stratification in nodules considered benign or atypia(follicular lesion) of undetermined significance
Authors: Lee You-Bin , Kim Ji-Ye , Cho Haeyon , Hahn Soo Yeon , Shin Jung Hee , Lee Seung-Eun , Jun Ji Eun , Kim Sun Wook , Chung Jae Hoon , Kim Tae Hyuk , Oh Young Lyun 
Published: September 2018

AbstractWe modified the nondiagnostic/unsatisfactory category of the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology to inform cytopathologic adequacy to better stratify the malignancy risk. Malignancy rates from 1,450 cytopathologic specimens not satisfying adequacy criteria from April 2011 to March 2016 were calculated based on sub-classification of the nondiagnostic/unsatisfactory category and sonographic patterns using matched surgical pathology. Rates were compared with those of 1,446 corresponding adequate specimens from July to December 2013. Upon resection, 63.2% of nondiagnostic, 36.7% of unsatisfactory + benign, 72.5% of unsatisfactory + atypia (follicular lesion) of undetermined significance, 98.1% of unsatisfactory + suspicious for malignancy, and 100.0% of unsatisfactory + malignant cases were confirmed to be malignant on surgical pathology. In nodules with inadequate specimens, those with high suspicion sonographic patterns had a malignancy rate (93.2%) higher than the others (45.5%) (p < 0.001). Nodules with unsatisfactory + benign specimens had a higher malignancy rate (36.7%) than satisfactory benign specimens (14.3%) (p = 0.020). For atypia (follicular lesion) of undetermined significance, the malignancy rate of inadequate specimens (72.5%) was higher than that of adequate specimens (51.3%) (p = 0.027). Sparse cellular samples with a few groups of benign follicular cells should not represent a benign lesion. There might be value in qualifying atypia (follicular lesion) of undetermined significance cases less than optimal.
Viral infections in fire ants lead to reduced foraging activity and dietary changes
Authors: Hsu Hung-Wei , Chiu Ming-Chung , Shoemaker DeWayne , Yang Chin-Cheng Scotty 
Published: September 2018

AbstractDespite the presence of conserved innate immune function, many insects have evolved a variety of mechanical, chemical, and behavioral defensive responses to pathogens. Illness-induced anorexia and dietary changes are two behavioral defensive strategies found in some solitary insects, but little is known regarding the role of such behaviors in social insects, especially in ants. In the present study we examined if such reduced foraging activity exists for a social insect, the invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta, and its viral pathogen, Solenopsis invicta virus 1 (SINV-1). Virus-free fire ant colonies were split into two colony fragments, one of which subsequently was inoculated with SINV-1. Four food resources with different macronutrient ratios were presented to both colony fragments. SINV-1-inoculated colony fragments consistently displayed reduced foraging performance (e.g., foraging intensity and recruitment efficiency), a decline in lipid intake, and a shift in dietary preference to carbohydrate-rich foods compared with virus-free fragments. These findings provide the first evidence for virus-induced behavioral responses and dietary shifts in shaping the host-pathogen interactions in fire ants. The findings also suggest a possible mechanism for how fire ant colonies respond to viral epidemics. Potential implications of these behavioral differences for current management strategies are discussed.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Ultra-diluted Toxicodendron pubescens attenuates pro-inflammatory cytokines and ROS- mediated neuropathic pain in rats
Authors: Magar Shital , Nayak Deepika , Mahajan Umesh B. , Patil Kalpesh R. , Shinde Sachin D. , Goyal Sameer N. , Swaminarayan Shivang , Patil Chandragouda R. , Ojha Shreesh , Kundu Chanakya Nath 
Published: September 2018

AbstractDespite the availability of multiple therapeutic agents, the search for novel pain management of neuropathic pain is still a challenge. Oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling are prominently involved in clinical manifestation of neuropathic pain. Toxicodendron pubescens, popularly known as Rhus Tox (RT) is recommended in alternative medicines as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic remedy. Earlier, we reported anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and immunomodulatory activities of Rhus Tox. In continuation, we evaluated antinociceptive efficacy of Rhus Tox in the neuropathic pain and delineated its underlying mechanism. Initially, in-vitro assay using LPS-mediated ROS-induced U-87 glioblastoma cells was performed to study the effect of Rhus Tox on reactive oxygen species (ROS), anti-oxidant status and cytokine profile. Rhus Tox decreased oxidative stress and cytokine release with restoration of anti-oxidant systems. Chronic treatment with Rhus Tox ultra dilutions for 14 days ameliorated neuropathic pain revealed as inhibition of cold, warm and mechanical allodynia along with improved motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) in constricted nerve. Rhus Tox decreased the oxidative and nitrosative stress by reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) content, respectively along with up regulated glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activity in sciatic nerve of rats. Notably, Rhus Tox treatment caused significant reductions in the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) as compared with CCI-control group. Protective effect of Rhus Tox against CCI-induced sciatic nerve injury in histopathology study was exhibited through maintenance of normal nerve architecture and inhibition of inflammatory changes. Overall, neuroprotective effect of Rhus Tox in CCI-induced neuropathic pain suggests the involvement of anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.
T cell immunomodulation by clinically used allogeneic human cancellous bone fragments: a potential novel immunotherapy tool
Authors: El-Sherbiny Yasser M. , El-Jawhari Jehan J. , Moseley Timothy A. , McGonagle Dennis , Jones Elena 
Published: September 2018

AbstractMultipotential stromal cells (MSCs) demonstrate strong immunomodulation capabilities following culture expansion. We have previously demonstrated that human cancellous bone fragments (CBFs) clinically used as viable allografts for spinal fusion have resident MSCs that exhibit T cell immunomodulation after monolayer expansion. This study investigated the immunomodulatory ability of these CBFs without MSC culture-expansion. CD4 positive T cells were induced to proliferate using CD3/CD28 stimulation and added to CBFs at different ratios of T cells per gram of CBF. A dose-dependent suppressive effect on T cell proliferation was evident and correlated with increased culture supernatant levels of TGF-ß1, but not PGE2. CBF-driven immunosuppression was reduced in co-cultures with TGF-ß neutralising antibodies and was higher in cell contact compared to non-contact cultures. CBF gene expression profile identified vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, bone marrow stromal antigen 2/CD317 and other interferon signalling pathway members as potential immunomodulatory mediators. The CD317 molecule was detected on the surface of CBF-resident cells confirming the gene expression data. Taken together, these data demonstrate that human clinically used CBFs are inherently immunomodulatory and suggest that these viable allografts may be used to deliver therapeutic immunomodulation for immune-related diseases.
Radial trunk-centred reference frame in haptic perception
Authors: Dupin Lucile , Hayward Vincent , Wexler Mark 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe shape of objects is typically identified through active touch. The accrual of spatial information by the hand over time requires the continuous integration of tactile and movement information. Sensory inputs arising from one single sensory source gives rise to an infinite number of possible touched locations in space. This observation raises the question of the determination of a common reference frame that might be employed by humans to resolve spatial ambiguity. Here, we employ a paradigm where observers reconstruct the spatial attributes of a triangle from tactile inputs applied to a stationary hand correlated with the voluntary movements of the other hand. We varied the orientation of the hands with respect to one another and to the trunk, and tested three distinct hypotheses regarding a reference frame used for integration: a hand-centred, a trunk-centred or an allocentric reference frame. The results indicated strongly that the integration of movement information and tactile inputs was performed in a radial trunk-centred reference frame.