bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Social context modulates digestive efficiency in greylag geese (Anser anser)
Authors: Frigerio Didone , Kotrschal Kurt , Fabro Carla , Puehringer-Sturmayr Verena , Iaiza Lara , Hemetsberger Josef , Mason Federico , Sarnataro Chiara , Filacorda Stefano 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn group-living animals, social context is known to modulate physiology, behaviour and reproductive output as well as foraging and nutritional strategies. Here we investigate the digestive efficiency of 38 individuals belonging to different social categories of a semi-feral and individually marked flock of greylag geese (Anser anser). During 9 consecutive days in winter 2017, when the ground was fully covered with snow (i.e. no grass or other natural forage available) and the accessible food was standardized, 184 individual droppings were collected and analysed to estimate the apparent digestibility of organic matter (ADOM). Lignin was used as an indigestible internal marker in the food and droppings. The digestive efficiency was higher in pairs with offspring as compared to pairs without offspring or unpaired birds. Furthermore, individuals with high ADOM were more likely to breed successfully in the following season than those with low ADOM. Our findings demonstrate that social status modulates digestive efficiency, probably via a chain of physiological mechanisms including a dampened stress response in individuals enjoying stable social relationships with and social support by their family members (i.e. their own pair-partner and offspring). Our findings underline the importance of the social network in modulating physiology, such as digestive efficiency, and ultimately reproductive success.
A novel alkaline protease from alkaliphilic Idiomarina sp. C9-1 with potential application for eco-friendly enzymatic dehairing in the leather industry
Authors: Zhou Cheng , Qin Hongliang , Chen Xiujuan , Zhang Yan , Xue Yanfen , Ma Yanhe 
Published: November 2018

AbstractAlkaline proteases have a myriad of potential applications in many industrial processes such as detergent, food and feed production, waste management and the leather industry. In this study, we isolated several alkaline protease producing bacteria from soda lake soil samples. A novel serine alkaline protease (AprA) gene from alkaliphilicIdiomarinasp. C9-1 was cloned and expressed inEscherichia coli. The purified AprA and its pre-peptidase C-terminal (PPC) domain-truncated enzyme (AprA-PPC) showed maximum activity at pH 10.5 and 60 °C, and were active and stable in a wide range of pH and temperature. Ca2+significantly improved the thermostability and increased the optimal temperature to 70 °C. Furthermore, both AprA and AprA-PPC showed good tolerance to surfactants and oxidizing and reducing agents. We found that the PPC domain contributed to AprA activity, thermostability and surfactant tolerance. With casein as substrate, AprA and AprA-PPC showed the highest specific activity of 42567.1 U mg−1and 99511.9 U mg−1, theKmvalues of 3.76 mg ml−1and 3.98 mg ml−1, and theVmaxvalues of 57538.5 U mg−1and 108722.1 U mg−1, respectively. Secreted expression of AprA-PPC inBacillus subtilisafter 48 h cultivation resulted in yield of 4935.5 U ml−1with productivity of 102.8 U ml−1h−1, which is the highest reported in literature to date. Without adding any lime or sodium sulfide, both of which are harmful pollutants, AprA-PPC was effective in dehairing cattle hide and skins of goat, pig and rabbit in 8–12 h without causing significant damage to hairs and grain surface. Our results suggest that AprA-PPC may have great potentials for ecofriendly dehairing of animal skins in the leather industry.
Domestication modifies the volatile emissions produced by male Queensland fruit flies during sexual advertisement
Authors: Pérez Jeanneth , Park Soo Jean , Taylor Phillip W. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractInsects commonly undergo substantial changes during adaptation for laboratory or mass-rearing environments (‘domestication’) that may have significant implications for inferences from laboratory studies and utility for biological control. We assessed the effect of domestication on the amount and blend of volatiles released during sexual calling by laboratory-reared Bactrocera tryoni males using colonies from three regions of Australia: Brisbane, Cairns and Sydney. For each region, volatiles released by males from a young colony (five or fewer generations) and an old colony (20+ generations) during sexual calling was compared. Males from old colonies released more volatiles than males from young colonies. All components of the blend were more abundant in one or more of the older colonies, although differences varied by compound and by region. To assess changes over generations, the young and old colonies obtained from Brisbane were sampled at 5, 12 and 15 generations (young colony) and 25, 35 and 38 generations (old colony). While the old colony remained unchanged, flies from the young colony released more volatiles at each sequential sampling episode, and became increasingly similar to the old colony. Increased volatile production during domestication may be an adaptive response to crowded rearing conditions in which males need to overcome a chemically noisy environment to be sexually successful.
Increased frequency of systemic pro-inflammatory Vδ1+ γδ T cells in HIV elite controllers correlates with gut viral load
Authors: Olson Gregory S. , Moore Sarah W. , Richter James M. , Garber John J. , Bowman Brittany A. , Rawlings Crystal A. , Flagg Meaghan , Corleis Björn , Kwon Douglas S. 
Published: November 2018

Abstractγδ T cells predominate in the intestinal mucosa and help maintain gut homeostasis and mucosal immunity. Although HIV infection significantly alters these cells, what drives these perturbations is unclear. Growing evidence suggests that impaired intestinal immune function in HIV leads to chronic immune activation and disease progression. This occurs even in HIV controllers – individuals with undetectable HIV viremia without antiretroviral therapy (ART). We show that Vδ1+cells, a subset of γδ T cells described as being important in intestinal barrier function, increase in frequency in HIV-infected individuals, including HIV controllers. These cells resemble terminally differentiated effector memory cells, producing the pro-inflammatory cytokines IFNγ, TNFα, and MIP-1β upon stimulation. Importantly, pro-inflammatory Vδ1+cell frequency correlates with levels of HIV RNA in intestinal tissue but not in plasma. This study supports a model in which local viral replication in the gut in HIV controllers disrupts the phenotype and function of Vδ1+cells, a cell type involved in the maintenance of epithelial barrier integrity, and may thereby contribute to systemic immune activation and HIV disease progression.
Comparison Between Metabolic Syndrome and the Framingham Risk Score as Predictors of Cardiovascular Diseases Among Kazakhs in Xinjiang
Authors: Yang Wenwen , Ma Rulin , Zhang Xianghui , Guo Heng , He Jia , Mao Lei , Mu Lati , Hu Yunhua , Yan Yizhong , Liu Jiaming , Ma Jiaolong , Li Shugang , Ding Yusong , Zhang Mei , Zhang Jingyu , Guo Shuxia 
Published: November 2018

AbstractMetabolic syndrome (MS) and Framingham risk score (FRS) can be used for predicting the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Previous studies that compared FRS and MS have focused on high-income urban areas. This study focused on the comparison between FRS and MS when used in nomadic minorities in mountain areas. Moreover, an applicable tool for predicting the risk of developing CVD was identified. 2,286 participants who were recruited from the far west of China were followed-up for a median of 5.49 years. MS and FRS were compared in terms of their ability in predicting development of CVD using Cox regression and receiver operating characteristic curve. After each component of MS was appraised, its area under the curve (AUC) was 0.647. When age was included, the AUC of MS risk score increased from 0.647 to 0.758 (P < 0.001). After adjusting for age, the AUC of FRS decreased from 0.732 to 0.582 (P < 0.001). The association between CVD and each quintile of MS risk score that included age was more significant than that between FRS and CVD under the same exposed condition. In conclusion, MS risk score that included age may be a better predictor of CVD among Kazakhs.
Interplay between MexAB-OprM and MexEF-OprN in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Horna Gertrudis , López María , Guerra Humberto , Saénz Yolanda , Ruiz Joaquim 
Published: November 2018

AbstractMexAB-OprM and MexEF-OprN are Pseudomonas aeruginosa efflux pumps involved in the development of antibiotic resistance. Several studies developed with laboratory strains or using a few clinical isolates have reported that the regulation system of MexEF-OprN is involved in the final levels of MexAB-OprM expression. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the interplay between MexAB-OprM and MexEF-OprN in 90 out of 190 P. aeruginosa clinical isolates with an efflux pump overexpression phenotype. Regarding oprD, 33% (30/90) of isolates displayed relevant modifications (RM) defined as frameshift or premature stop, both related to carbapenem resistance. On the other hand, 33% of the isolates displayed RM in nalC, nalD or mexR, which were significantly associated with multidrug resistance (MDR), non-susceptibility to carbapenems, OprD alterations and strong biofilm production. Meanwhile, the RM in MexS were associated with presence of pigment (p = 0.004). Otherwise, when all the regulators were analysed together, the association between RM in MexAB-OprM regulators and MDR was only significant (p = 0.039) when mexS was the wild type. These data show the modulatory effect of MexEF-OprN on MexAB-OprM in a clinical population of P. aeruginosa. Further studies may contribute to design of novel molecules acting on this interplay to fight against antimicrobial resistance.
Purified Inactivated Zika Vaccine Candidates Afford Protection against Lethal Challenge in Mice
Authors: Baldwin Whitney R. , Livengood Jill A. , Giebler Holli A. , Stovall Janae L. , Boroughs Karen L. , Sonnberg Stephanie , Bohning Kelly J. , Dietrich Elizabeth A. , Ong Yee Tsuey , Danh Hoang K. , Patel Hetal K. , Huang Claire Y.-H. , Dean Hansi J. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn response to the 2016 global public health emergency of international concern announced by the World Health Organization surrounding Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks, we developed a purified inactivated Zika virus vaccine (PIZV) candidate from ZIKV strain PRVABC59, isolated during the outbreak in 2015. The virus isolate was plaque purified, creating six sub-isolated virus stocks, two of which were selected to generate PIZV candidates for preclinical immunogenicity and efficacy evaluation in mice. The alum-adjuvanted PIZV candidates were highly immunogenic in both CD-1 and AG129 mice after a 2-dose immunization. Further, AG129 mice receiving 2 doses of PIZV formulated with alum were fully protected against lethal ZIKV challenge and mouse immune sera elicited by the PIZV candidates were capable of neutralizing ZIKVs of both African and Asian genetic lineages in vitro. Additionally, passive immunization of naïve mice with ZIKV-immune serum showed strong positive correlation between neutralizing ZIKV antibody (NAb) titers and protection against lethal challenge. This study supported advancement of the PIZV candidate toward clinical development.
Closed-type pre-treatment device for point-of-care testing of sputum
Authors: Park Hyun-Ju , Woo Ayoung , Cha Jae Min , Lee Kyu-Sung , Lee Min-Young 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe procedures and protocols for the pre-treatment of sputum specimens, mainly used for the diagnosis of pneumonia, are complex, labor intensive, and require skilled specialists working in a biosafety containment laboratory because of sample infectivity. In this study, we developed the first portable, low-power pre-treatment device that carries out all sputum pre-treatment procedures (liquefaction, homogenization, dissolution, and inactivation) in an enclosed space. Designed to simultaneously employ chemical and mechanical dissolution in the enclosed chamber, this device eliminates the risk of transmission and improves the effectiveness of sputum dissolution and pathogen detection. This device is expected to allow for the pre-treatment of infectious sputum specimens outside of a biosafety containment laboratory. Used in conjunction with automated genome extraction and detection systems, this device should make the on-site diagnosis using infectious sputum specimens possible.
Rapid adaptation in phoretic mite development time
Authors: Schedwill Petra , Geiler Adrian M. , Nehring Volker 
Published: November 2018

AbstractStrong ecological selection can erode genetic variation and render populations unable to deal with changes in ecological conditions. In the adaptation of the phoretic mitePoecilochirus carabito its host, the burying beetleNicrophorus vespilloides, the timing of reproduction is crucial. Safe mite development is only possible during the beetles’ brood care; mites that develop too slowly will have virtually zero fitness. If the strong specialisation in development time leaves no room for standing genetic variation to remain, changes in beetle brood care are disastrous. Beetle brood care depends on temperature and is thus vulnerable to changing climate. Accidental host switches to another beetle species with shorter brood care would also have negative effects on the mites. Only sufficient standing genetic variation could allow mismatched mite lines to survive and adapt. To test whether such rapid adaptation is possible in principle, we artificially selected on mite generation time. We were able to speed up, but not to slow down, mite development. We conclude that there is enough standing genetic variation in development time to allowP. carabito quickly adapt to new host species or climate conditions, which could potentially lead to the evolution of new mite species.
Segmentation of the Proximal Femur from MR Images using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Deniz Cem M. , Xiang Siyuan , Hallyburton R. Spencer , Welbeck Arakua , Babb James S. , Honig Stephen , Cho Kyunghyun , Chang Gregory 
Published: November 2018

AbstractMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a complimentary method to measure bone quality and assess fracture risk. However, manual segmentation of MR images of bone is time-consuming, limiting the use of MRI measurements in the clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to present an automatic proximal femur segmentation method that is based on deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). This study had institutional review board approval and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. A dataset of volumetric structural MR images of the proximal femur from 86 subjects were manually-segmented by an expert. We performed experiments by training two different CNN architectures with multiple number of initial feature maps, layers and dilation rates, and tested their segmentation performance against the gold standard of manual segmentations using four-fold cross-validation. Automatic segmentation of the proximal femur using CNNs achieved a high dice similarity score of 0.95 ± 0.02 with precision = 0.95 ± 0.02, and recall = 0.95 ± 0.03. The high segmentation accuracy provided by CNNs has the potential to help bring the use of structural MRI measurements of bone quality into clinical practice for management of osteoporosis.
Impact of the secondary plant metabolite Cucurbitacin B on the demographical traits of the melon aphid, Aphis gossypii
Authors: Yousaf Hafiz Kamran , Shan Tisheng , Chen Xuewei , Ma Kangsheng , Shi Xueyan , Desneux Nicolas , Biondi Antonio , Gao Xiwu 
Published: November 2018

AbstractCucurbitacin B is a natural triterpene present in plants of Cucurbitaceae family, which are among the host plants for melon aphid, Aphis gossypii. In present study we characterized the effects of two cucurbitacin B concentrations on the biological parameters of adults (F0) and of juveniles and adults of their progeny (F1). The results showed that cucurbitacin B at 25 ppm significantly reduced the adult longevity and fecundity of both F0 and F1 generation. Exposure of F0 generation to 25 ppm though reduced the demographic traits of F1 including the intrinsic rate of increase r (day−1), generation time T (day), finite rate of increase λ (day−1), however, only net reproductive rate R0 (offspring/individual) decreased significantly. While 100 ppm reduced not only the longevity and fecundity of F0 generation but also the longevity of F1 generation. Fecundity of F1 was not affected by 100 ppm of cucurbitacin B, however, R0 (offspring/individual) and T (day) of F1 generation were lower than the control population. These results support the hypothesis that high contents of cucurbitacin B caused negative impact on melon aphid and could be used as a lead for classical selection of resistant varieties of plants that are main hosts for the melon aphid.
Intra-articular administration of IκBα kinase inhibitor suppresses mouse knee osteoarthritis via downregulation of the NF-κB/HIF-2α axis
Authors: Murahashi Yasutaka , Yano Fumiko , Kobayashi Hiroshi , Makii Yuma , Iba Kousuke , Yamashita Toshihiko , Tanaka Sakae , Saito Taku 
Published: November 2018

AbstractActivation of NF-κB signaling promotes osteoarthritis (OA) through the transcriptional induction of Hif-2α and catabolic enzymes. This study sought to examine whether inhibiting IκBα kinase (IKK) could suppress the development of surgically-induced OA of the knee in a mouse model. We employed BMS-345541 (4(2′-aminoethyl) amino-1, 8-dimethylimidazo (1,2-a) quinoxaline) as a selective inhibitor of the subunits of IKK. OA was created by resecting the medial collateral ligament and the medial meniscus in the knees of mice. The mice were then treated with an intra-articular injection of BMS-345541 (50 nM to 500 µM) or vehicle three times a week for 8 weeks. We found that the intra-articular administration of 500 nM and 5 µM BMS-345541 significantly suppressed OA development. In the BMS-345541-treated cartilage, there was a decrease in the phosphorylation of IκBα and the expression of Hif-2α, Mmp13, and Adamts5. In human articular chondrocytes, the IL-1β-enhanced expression of Hif-2α and catabolic factors were decreased by BMS-345541 treatment in dose-dependent manner. We conclude that the intra-articular administration of BMS-345541 at some concentrations may suppress the development of OA by downregulating signaling through the NF-κB–Hif-2α axis.
Functional recovery of a subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest following clear cutting in central China
Authors: Huang Yongtao , Zhang Xiao , Zang Runguo , Fu Shenglei , Ai Xunru , Yao Lan , Ding Yi , Huang Jihong , Lu Xinghui 
Published: November 2018

AbstractEcosystem functioning is largely dependent on the functional traits of its component species. Most of the previous researches on ecosystem recovery have mainly focused on taxonomic composition but less attention is concentrated on functional community composition. Here, we examine the dynamic trend of functional community composition along a recovery chronosequence following clear cutting in subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest. Results showed that with the process of recovery, the functional composition changed from a community with high specific leaf area (CWM_ SLA), leaf nitrogen concentration (CWM_ LNC) and leaf phosphorus (CWM_ LPC) but low leaf thickness (CWM_ LT) and stem tissue density (CWM_ STD) to that with low CWM_ SLA, CWM_ LNC and CWM_ LPC but high CWM_ LT and CWM_ STD. Functional traits of evergreen and deciduous species were significantly different in each stage. Light availability and soil phosphorus were the most important influencing factors during the recovery. Our study suggests that the subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest is gradually shifting from a resource acquisitive to a resource conservative assemblage, in which evergreen species will become more and more dominant. Any management or conservation planning upon the forest ecosystem should integrate this dynamic trend of functional change.
Curvature induced quantum phase transitions in an electron-hole system
Authors: Siu Zhuo Bin , Chang Jian-Yuan , Tan Seng Ghee , Jalil Mansoor B. A. , Chang Ching-Ray 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn this work, we study the effect of introducing a periodic curvature on nanostructures, and demonstrate that the curvature can lead to a transition from a topologically trivial state to a non-trivial state. We first present the Hamiltonian for an arbitrarily curved nanostructure, and introduce a numerical scheme for calculating the bandstructure of a periodically curved nanostructure. Using this scheme, we calculate the bandstructure for a sinusoidally curved two-dimensional electron gas. We show that the curvature can lead to a partner switching reminiscent of a topological phase transition at the time reversal invariant momenta. We then study the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang (BHZ) Hamiltonian for a two-dimensional quantum well. We show that introducing a curvature can lead to the emergence of topological surface states.
Valproate reduces neuroinflammation and neuronal death in a rat chronic constriction injury model
Authors: Chen Jun-Yih , Chu Li-Wen , Cheng Kuang-I , Hsieh Su-Ling , Juan Yung-Shun , Wu Bin-Nan 
Published: November 2018

AbstractValproate (VPA) is a well-known drug for treating epilepsy and mania, but its action in neuropathic pain is unclear. We used a chronic constriction injury (CCI) model to explore whether VPA prevents neuropathic pain-mediated inflammation and neuronal death. Rats were treated with or without VPA. CCI + VPA rats were intraperitoneally injected with VPA (300 mg/kg/day) from postoperative day (POD) 1 to 14. We measured paw withdrawal latency (PWL) and paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) 1 day before surgery and 1, 3, 7, 14 days after CCI and harvested the sciatic nerves (SN), spinal cord (SC) and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) on POD 3, 7, and 14. PWL and PWT were reduced in CCI rats, but increased in CCI + VPA rats on POD 7 and POD 14. VPA lowered CCI-induced inflammatory proteins (pNFκB, iNOS and COX-2), pro-apoptotic proteins (pAKT/AKT and pGSK-3β/GSK-3β), proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-1β) and nuclear pNFκB activation in the SN, DRG and SC in CCI rats. COX-2 and pGSK-3 proteins were decreased by VPA on immunofluorescence analysis. VPA attenuated CCI-induced thermal and mechanical pain behaviors in rats in correlation with anti-neuroinflammation action involving reduction of pNFκB/iNOS/COX-2 activation and inhibition of pAKT/pGSK-3β-mediated neuronal death from injury to peripheral nerves.
Spin-wave duplexer studied by finite-element micromagnetic simulation
Authors: Kim Sang-Koog , Park Hyeon-Kyu , Yang Jaehak , Kim Junhoe , Yoo Myoung-Woo 
Published: November 2018

AbstractWe conceptually designed a robust nano-scale waveguide structure suitable for potential use as a spin-wave duplexer that allows signal propagation only of selected narrow-band frequencies and duplex transmission in a three-port device comprising a receiver, a transmitter, and their common antenna. The waveguide structure combines three different arms and a circular ring, both made of nanostrip waveguides and a single magnetic material for reliably controllable propagations of spin waves. We attribute the observed duplex transmission of spin waves of narrow pass bands to scattering of spin waves by edge solitons placed at contact areas between the arms and the circular ring. This work proposes the first concept of nano-scale magnonic duplexers operating beyond GHz-frequency ranges.