bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The harsh microenvironment in infarcted heart accelerates transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells injury: the role of injured cardiomyocytes-derived exosomes
Authors: Hu Ming , Guo Guixian , Huang Qiang , Cheng Chuanfang , Xu Ruqin , Li Aiqun , Liu Ningning , Liu Shiming 
Published: March 2018

AbstractStem cell therapy can be used to repair and regenerate damaged hearts tissue; nevertheless, the low survival rate of transplanted cells limits their therapeutic efficacy. Recently, it has been proposed that exosomes regulate multiple cellular processes by mediating cell survival and communication among cells. The following study investigates whether injured cardiomyocytes-derived exosomes (cardiac exosomes) affect the survival of transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in infarcted heart. To mimic the harsh microenvironment in infarcted heart that the cardiomyocytes or transplanted BMSCs encounter in vivo, cardiomyocytes conditioned medium and cardiac exosomes collected from H2O2-treated cardiomyocytes culture medium were cultured with BMSCs under oxidative stress in vitro. Cardiomyocytes conditioned medium and cardiac exosomes significantly accelerated the injury of BMSCs induced by H2O2; increased cleaved caspase-3/caspase-3 and apoptotic percentage, and decreased the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax and cell viability in those cells. Next, we explored the role of cardiac exosomes in the survival of transplanted BMSCs in vivo by constructing a Rab27a knockout (KO) mice model by a transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) genome-editing technique; Rab27a is a family of GTPases, which has critical role in secretion of exosomes. Male mouse GFP-modified BMSCs were implanted into the viable myocardium bordering the infarction in Rab27a KO and wild-type female mice. The obtained results showed that the transplanted BMSCs survival in infarcted heart was increased in Rab27a KO mice by the higher level of Y-chromosome Sry DNA, GFP mRNA, and the GFP fluorescence signal intensity. To sum up, these findings revealed that the injured cardiomyocytes-derived exosomes accelerate transplanted BMSCs injury in infarcted heart, thus highlighting a new mechanism underlying the survival of transplanted cells after myocardial infarction.
Epigenetic modifiers promote mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism leading to enhanced differentiation of neuroprogenitor cells
Authors: Uittenbogaard Martine , Brantner Christine A. , Chiaramello Anne 
Published: March 2018

AbstractDuring neural development, epigenetic modulation of chromatin acetylation is part of a dynamic, sequential and critical process to steer the fate of multipotent neural progenitors toward a specific lineage. Pan-HDAC inhibitors (HDCis) trigger neuronal differentiation by generating an “acetylation” signature and promoting the expression of neurogenic bHLH transcription factors. Our studies and others have revealed a link between neuronal differentiation and increase of mitochondrial mass. However, the neuronal regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis has remained largely unexplored. Here, we show that the HDACi, sodium butyrate (NaBt), promotes mitochondrial biogenesis via the NRF-1/Tfam axis in embryonic hippocampal progenitor cells and neuroprogenitor-like PC12-NeuroD6 cells, thereby enhancing their neuronal differentiation competency. Increased mitochondrial DNA replication by several pan-HDACis indicates a common mechanism by which they regulate mitochondrial biogenesis. NaBt also induces coordinates mitochondrial ultrastructural changes and enhanced OXPHOS metabolism, thereby increasing key mitochondrial bioenergetics parameters in neural progenitor cells. NaBt also endows the neuronal cells with increased mitochondrial spare capacity to confer resistance to oxidative stress associated with neuronal differentiation. We demonstrate that mitochondrial biogenesis is under HDAC-mediated epigenetic regulation, the timing of which is consistent with its integrative role during neuronal differentiation. Thus, our findings add a new facet to our mechanistic understanding of how pan-HDACis induce differentiation of neuronal progenitor cells. Our results reveal the concept that epigenetic modulation of the mitochondrial pool prior to neurotrophic signaling dictates the efficiency of initiation of neuronal differentiation during the transition from progenitor to differentiating neuronal cells. The histone acetyltransferase CREB-binding protein plays a key role in regulating the mitochondrial biomass. By ChIP-seq analysis, we show that NaBt confers an H3K27ac epigenetic signature in several interconnected nodes of nuclear genes vital for neuronal differentiation and mitochondrial reprogramming. Collectively, our study reports a novel developmental epigenetic layer that couples mitochondrial biogenesis to neuronal differentiation.
Inhibiting PSMα-induced neutrophil necroptosis protects mice with MRSA pneumonia by blocking the agr system
Authors: Zhou Ying , Niu Chao , Ma Bo , Xue Xiaoyan , Li Zhi , Chen Zhou , Li Fen , Zhou Shan , Luo Xiaoxing , Hou Zheng 
Published: March 2018

AbstractGiven its high resistance, enhanced virulence, and high transmissibility, community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) pneumonia is highly associated with high morbidity and mortality. Anti-virulence therapy is a promising strategy that bypasses the evolutionary pressure on the bacterium to develop resistance. RNAIII-inhibiting peptide (RIP), as an accessory gene regulator (agr)-specific inhibitor, significantly restricts the virulence of S. aureus and protects infected mice from death by blocking the agr quorum sensing system. The protective effects of RIP on the neutropenic mice completely disappeared in a neutrophil-deleted mouse infection model, but not in the macrophage-deleted mice. This result confirmed that the in vivo antibacterial activity of RIP is highly associated with neutrophil function. Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs), as major leukocyte lysis toxins of CA-MRSA, are directly regulated by the agr system. In this experiment, PSMα1, 2, and 3 significantly induced neutrophil necroptosis by activating mixed lineage kinase-like protein (MLKL) phosphorylation and increasing lactate dehydrogenase release. The S. aureus supernatants harvested from the agr or psmα mutant strains both decreased the phosphorylation level of MLKL and cell lysis. PSMα1-mediated neutrophil lysis was significantly inhibited by necrosulfonamide, necrostatin-1, TNFα antibody, and WRW4. These results showed PSMα1 induced necroptosis depends on formylpeptide receptor 2 (FPR2)-mediated autocrine TNFα. Moreover, the neutrophil necroptosis induced by S. aureus was significantly suppressed and pneumonia was effectively prevented by the blockage of agrA and psmα expression levels. These findings indicate that PSMα-induced necroptosis is a major cause of lung pathology in S. aureus pneumonia and suggest that interfering with the agr quorum sensing signaling pathway is a potential therapeutic strategy.
The genomic and functional landscapes of developmental plasticity in the American cockroach
Authors: Li Sheng , Zhu Shiming , Jia Qiangqiang , Yuan Dongwei , Ren Chonghua , Li Kang , Liu Suning , Cui Yingying , Zhao Haigang , Cao Yanghui , Fang Gangqi , Li Daqi , Zhao Xiaoming , Zhang Jianzhen , Yue Qiaoyun , Fan Yongliang , Yu Xiaoqiang , Feng Qili , Zhan Shuai 
Published: March 2018

AbstractMany cockroach species have adapted to urban environments, and some have been serious pests of public health in the tropics and subtropics. Here, we present the 3.38-Gb genome and a consensus gene set of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana. We report insights from both genomic and functional investigations into the underlying basis of its adaptation to urban environments and developmental plasticity. In comparison with other insects, expansions of gene families in P. americana exist for most core gene families likely associated with environmental adaptation, such as chemoreception and detoxification. Multiple pathways regulating metamorphic development are well conserved, and RNAi experiments inform on key roles of 20-hydroxyecdysone, juvenile hormone, insulin, and decapentaplegic signals in regulating plasticity. Our analyses reveal a high level of sequence identity in genes between the American cockroach and two termite species, advancing it as a valuable model to study the evolutionary relationships between cockroaches and termites.
Activation of serotonin neurons promotes active persistence in a probabilistic foraging task
Authors: Lottem Eran , Banerjee Dhruba , Vertechi Pietro , Sarra Dario , Lohuis Matthijs oude , Mainen Zachary F. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThe neuromodulator serotonin (5-HT) has been implicated in a variety of functions that involve patience or impulse control. Many of these effects are consistent with a long-standing theory that 5-HT promotes behavioral inhibition, a motivational bias favoring passive over active behaviors. To further test this idea, we studied the impact of 5-HT in a probabilistic foraging task, in which mice must learn the statistics of the environment and infer when to leave a depleted foraging site for the next. Critically, mice were required to actively nose-poke in order to exploit a given site. We show that optogenetic activation of 5-HT neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus increases the willingness of mice to actively attempt to exploit a reward site before giving up. These results indicate that behavioral inhibition is not an adequate description of 5-HT function and suggest that a unified account must be based on a higher-order function.
Surface plasmon resonance extension through two-block metal-conducting polymer nanorods
Authors: Jung Insub , Kim Minkyung , Kwak Min , Kim Geonwoo , Jang Minsun , Kim Sang Min , Park Doo Jae , Park Sungho 
Published: March 2018

AbstractResearch on surface plasmon resonance coupling of metallic nanostructures is an important area in the field of plasmonics because distinctive collective optical properties can be realized that are different from the individual constituents. Here we report the localized surface plasmon resonance of hybrid metal-organic nanorods. Colloidal-dispersed Au-PPy nanorods were synthesized as a representative material using a modified electrochemical method, and the collective oscillation properties were systematically investigated by comparing these materials with pure Au nanorods. We observed the extended surface plasmon resonance of a hybrid system. The presence of doped-PPy segments on Au segments induced an enhanced coherent electric field due to the partial contribution of π-electrons on the PPy segment, which led to a red-shifted plasmon feature. Additionally, we demonstrated that surface plasmon resonance extension can be tuned by dopant anions, which demonstrates a way of tuning a dopant-induced plasmonic system.
MHC diversity and female age underpin reproductive success in an Australian icon; the Tasmanian Devil
Authors: Russell Tracey , Lisovski Simeon , Olsson Mats , Brown Gregory , Spindler Rebecca , Lane Amanda , Keeley Tamara , Hibbard Chris , Hogg Carolyn J. , Thomas Frédéric , Belov Katherine , Ujvari Beata , Madsen Thomas 
Published: March 2018

AbstractDevil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a highly contagious cancer, has decimated Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) numbers in the wild. To ensure its long-term survival, a captive breeding program was implemented but has not been as successful as envisaged at its launch in 2005. We therefore investigated the reproductive success of 65 captive devil pair combinations, of which 35 produced offspring (successful pairs) whereas the remaining 30 pairs, despite being observed mating, produced no offspring (unsuccessful pairs). The devils were screened at six MHC Class I-linked microsatellite loci. Our analyses revealed that younger females had a higher probability of being successful than older females. In the successful pairs we also observed a higher difference in total number of heterozygous loci, i.e. when one devil had a high total number of heterozygous loci, its partner had low numbers. Our results therefore suggest that devil reproductive success is subject to disruptive MHC selection, which to our knowledge has never been recorded in any vertebrate. In order to enhance the success of the captive breeding program the results from the present study show the importance of using young (2-year old) females as well as subjecting the devils to MHC genotyping.
Left Atrium Wall-mapping Application for Wall Thickness Visualisation
Authors: Sun Jing-Yi , Yun Chun-Ho , Mok Greta S. P. , Liu Yi-Hwa , Hung Chung-Lieh , Wu Tung-Hsin , Alaiti Mohamad Amer , Eck Brendan L. , Fares Anas , Bezerra Hiram G. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThe measurement method for the LA wall thickness (WT) using cardiac computed tomography (CT) is observer dependent and cannot provide a rapid and comprehensive visualisation of the global LA WT. We aim to develop a LA wall-mapping application to display the global LA WT on a coplanar plane. The accuracy, intra-observer, and inter-observer reproducibility of the application were validated using digital/physical phantoms, and CT images of eight patients. This application on CT-based LA WT measures were further validated by testing six pig cardiac specimens. To evaluate its accuracy, the expanded maps of the physical phantom and pig LA were generated from the CT images and compared with the expanded map of the digital phantom and LA wall of pig heart. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between physical phantom and digital phantom as well as pig heart specimen and CT images using our application. Moreover, the analysis was based on the LA physical phantom or images of clinical patients; the results consistently demonstrated high intra-observer reproducibility (ICC > 0.9) and inter-observer reproducibility (ICC > 0.8) and showed good correlation between measures of pig heart specimen and CT data (r = 0.96, p < 0.001). The application can process and analyse the LA architecture for further visualisation and quantification.
The effect of texture and grain size on improving the mechanical properties of Mg-Al-Zn alloys by friction stir processing
Authors: Peng Jinhua , Zhang Zhen , Liu Zhao , Li Yaozu , Guo Peng , Zhou Wei , Wu Yucheng 
Published: March 2018

AbstractFriction stir processing (FSP) was used to achieve grain refinement on Mg-Al-Zn alloys, which also brought in significant texture modification. The different micro-texture characteristics were found to cause irregular micro-hardness distribution in FSPed region. The effects of texture and grain size were investigated by comparative analyses with strongly textured rolling sheet. Grain refinement improved both strength and elongation in condition of a basal texture while such led to an increment in yield stress and a drop in elongation and ultimate stress when the basal texture was modified by FSP.
Ti12C68: A stable T
h
-symmetry hollow cage
Authors: Ai Ling-Yan , Zhao Hui-Yan , Ma Hong-Man , Wang Jing , Liu Ying 
Published: March 2018

AbstractA stable T
h
-symmetry Ti12C68 cage was systemically investigated using density functional theory. The structure of Ti12C68 is a hollow cage with twelve TiC13 subunit of three pentagons and one hexagon. The calculated frequencies are in the range 95.1 cm−1–1423.9 cm−1. There are no imaginary frequencies, showing its kinetic stability. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the topological structure of cage-like Ti12C68 cluster was well maintained when the effective temperature is up to 1139 K. The natural bond orbitals analysis shows that the d orbit of Ti atoms form four σ bonds with the neighboring four carbon atoms in each TiC13 subunit playing an important role in the cluster stability. The molecular frontier orbitals analysis indicates that Ti12C68 cage has a narrow HOMO-LUMO gap with metal-like property. It would be expected to enrich the species of hollow metal carbide clusters.
Detecting and classifying lesions in mammograms with Deep Learning
Authors: Ribli Dezső , Horváth Anna , Unger Zsuzsa , Pollner Péter , Csabai István 
Published: March 2018

AbstractIn the last two decades, Computer Aided Detection (CAD) systems were developed to help radiologists analyse screening mammograms, however benefits of current CAD technologies appear to be contradictory, therefore they should be improved to be ultimately considered useful. Since 2012, deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been a tremendous success in image recognition, reaching human performance. These methods have greatly surpassed the traditional approaches, which are similar to currently used CAD solutions. Deep CNN-s have the potential to revolutionize medical image analysis. We propose a CAD system based on one of the most successful object detection frameworks, Faster R-CNN. The system detects and classifies malignant or benign lesions on a mammogram without any human intervention. The proposed method sets the state of the art classification performance on the public INbreast database, AUC = 0.95. The approach described here has achieved 2nd place in the Digital Mammography DREAM Challenge with AUC = 0.85. When used as a detector, the system reaches high sensitivity with very few false positive marks per image on the INbreast dataset. Source code, the trained model and an OsiriX plugin are published online at https://github.com/riblidezso/frcnn_cad.
The effect of decreasing permafrost stability on ecosystem carbon in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
Authors: Liu Wenjie , Chen Shengyun , Liang Junyi , Qin Xiang , Kang Shichang , Ren Jiawen , Qin Dahe 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThe objective of this study is to investigate the effect of decreased permafrost stability on carbon storage of the alpine ecosystems in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. During July and August 2013, we selected 18 sites in five types of permafrost (stable, substable, transitional, unstable, and extremely unstable) regions. We measured aboveground phytomass carbon (APC) and soil respiration (SR), soil inorganic carbon (SIC), soil organic carbon (SOC), belowground phytomass carbon, and soil properties down to 50 cm at same types of soils and grasslands. The results indicated that ecosystem carbon in cold calcic soils first decreased and then increased as the permafrost stability declined. Overall, decreasing permafrost stability was expected to reduce ecosystem carbon in meadows, but it was not obvious in swamp meadows and steppes. APC decreased significantly, but SIC and SOC in steppes first decreased and then increased with declining permafrost stability. Soil clay fraction and soil moisture were the controls for site variations of ecosystem carbon. The spatial variations in SR were possibly controlled by soil moisture and precipitation. This meant that alpine ecosystems carbon reduction was strongly affected by permafrost degradation in meadows, but the effects were complex in swamp meadows and steppes.
Social Contact Enhances Bodily Self-Awareness
Authors: Hazem Nesrine , Beaurenaut Morgan , George Nathalie , Conty Laurence 
Published: March 2018

AbstractHuman self-awareness is arguably the most important and revealing question of modern sciences. Converging theoretical perspectives link self-awareness and social abilities in human beings. In particular, mutual engagement during social interactions—or social contact—would boost self-awareness. Yet, empirical evidence for this effect is scarce. We recently showed that the perception of eye contact induces enhanced bodily self-awareness. Here, we aimed at extending these findings by testing the influence of social contact in auditory and tactile modalities, in order to demonstrate that social contact enhances bodily self-awareness irrespective of sensory modality. In a first experiment, participants were exposed to hearing their own first name (as compared to another unfamiliar name and noise). In a second experiment, human touch (as compared to brush touch and no-touch) was used as the social contact cue. In both experiments, participants demonstrated more accurate rating of their bodily reactions in response to emotional pictures following the social contact condition—a proxy of bodily self-awareness. Further analyses indicated that the effect of social contact was comparable across tactile, auditory and visual modalities. These results provide the first direct empirical evidence in support of the essential social nature of human self-awareness.
GABAa excitation and synaptogenesis after Status Epilepticus – A computational study
Authors: França Keite Lira de Almeida , de Almeida Antônio-Carlos Guimarães , Saddow Stephen E. , Santos Luiz Eduardo Canton , Scorza Carla Alessandra , Scorza Fulvio Alexandre , Rodrigues Antônio Márcio 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThe role of GABAergic neurotransmission on epileptogenesis has been the subject of speculation according to different approaches. However, it is a very complex task to specifically consider the action of the GABAa neurotransmitter, which, in its dependence on the intracellular level of Cl−, can change its effect from inhibitory to excitatory. We have developed a computational model that represents the dentate gyrus and is composed of three different populations of neurons (granule cells, interneurons and mossy cells) that are mutually interconnected. The interconnections of the neurons were based on compensation theory with Hebbian and anti-Hebbian rules. The model also incorporates non-synaptic mechanisms to control the ionic homeostasis and was able to reproduce ictal discharges. The goal of the work was to investigate the hypothesis that the observed aberrant sprouting is promoted by GABAa excitatory action. Conjointly with the abnormal sprouting of the mossy fibres, the simulations show a reduction of the mossy cells connections in the network and an increased inhibition of the interneurons as a response of the neuronal network to control the activity. This finding contributes to increasing the changes in the connectivity of the neuronal circuitry and to increasing the epileptiform activity occurrences.
Transient Radiation Imaging Based on a ZnO:Ga Single-Crystal Image Converter
Authors: Xu Mengxuan , Chen Liang , Yao Zhiming , Ren Shuqing , Zhang Yuying , Huang Feng , Ji Xu , He Chaohui , Zhou Leidang , Hu Jing , He Shiyi , Zhao Kuo , Ouyang Xiaoping 
Published: March 2018

AbstractA ZnO:Ga single crystal with an applicable size of φ40 × 1 mm was prepared using the hydro-thermal method. The crystal exhibits good crystallinity and scintillation properties with a 63.94-arcsec full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) in the X-ray rocking curve (XRC) spectrum, 8% luminous non-uniformity, emission at 389 nm in the X-ray excited luminescence spectrum, fast response and 5.5% BGO luminous intensity. Furthermore, an X-ray pinhole imaging system of nanosecond temporal resolution with a ZnO:Ga single-crystal image converter was established to diagnose the cathode electron emission spatial distribution of an intense current diode. Results for shutter times of 4 μs and 5 ns were obtained, which directly represent the cathode electron spatial distribution throughout the entire pulse duration and during a certain moment of the pulse, respectively. The results demonstrate that the large ZnO:Ga single crystal can diagnose the spatial distribution of cathode electron emission in an intense current diode with high temporal resolution and provide new solutions for high-temporal-resolution diagnosis of a pulse radiation field.