bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of physical activity on pulse wave velocity in elderly subjects with normal glucose, prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Metsämarttila Erja , Rodilla Enrique , Jokelainen Jari , Herrala Sauli , Leppäluoto Juhani , Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi Sirkka , Herzig Karl-Heinz 
Published: May 2018

AbstractCarotid-femoral pulse wave velocity ((cf)PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness, predicting cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized that the amount of physical activity (PA) is correlated with reduced arterial stiffness in Type 2 diabetic (T2D) subjects. 570 subjects from the 1945 Oulu birth cohort were included in the analysis. (cf)PWV was determined by a non-invasive applanation tonometry. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed and LDL and HDL cholesterol analyzed. PA was registered daily with a wrist-worn acceleration meter for two weeks. (cf)PWV values in subjects with impaired glucose metabolism (IGM) and T2D were higher than in normal glycemic subjects (P < 0.001). PA, fasting and 2 h glucose and HbA1c correlated significantly with (cf)PWV, but HDL or LDL cholesterol did not. The 2 h glucose, heart rate and alcohol consumption in T2D subjects had independent effects on (cf)PWV in multiple regression analysis. T2D and IGM were significantly associated to (cf)PWV. Interestingly, lipids did not have an additional effect on (cf)PWV. Subjects walking more than 10 000 steps/day had 0.2 m/s lower (cf)PWV than those walking less than 6000 steps/day. Presence of T2D, elevated heart rate and alcohol consumption in males were associated with increased aortic stiffening in elderly subjects.
Asymmetric hemisphere activation in tenderness: evidence from EEG signals
Authors: Zhao Guozhen , Zhang Yulin , Ge Yan , Zheng Yan , Sun Xianghong , Zhang Kan 
Published: May 2018

AbstractEmotions are processed asymmetrically by the human brain. Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) as measured by electroencephalographic (EEG) power in the alpha band (8–13 Hz), is a sensitive indicator of asymmetric brain activity in the frontal cortex. The current study aimed to analyze the frontal EEG asymmetries in terms of valence and motivational direction. We presented 37 participants with three film excerpts that were selected from the standard emotional film database to elicit three target emotions: tenderness, anger, and neutrality. Participants’ self-reports on their induced emotional responses and EEG signals were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that individuals displayed lower alpha power in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere when they were watching a tender film, indicating that tenderness was positive and related to approach motivation. In contrast, when watching an angry movie, participants showed higher alpha power in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere, suggesting that anger was negative and associated with withdrawal motivation. These findings help to link positive and approach-motivated tenderness with greater left hemispheric activation and state-anger with greater right hemispheric activation through the analysis of FAA.
High Redundancy as well as Complementary Prey Choice Characterize Generalist Predator Food Webs in Agroecosystems
Authors: Roubinet Eve , Jonsson Tomas , Malsher Gerard , Staudacher Karin , Traugott Michael , Ekbom Barbara , Jonsson Mattias 
Published: May 2018

AbstractFood web structure influences ecosystem functioning and the strength and stability of associated ecosystem services. With their broad diet, generalist predators represent key nodes in the structure of many food webs and they contribute substantially to ecosystem services such as biological pest control. However, until recently it has been difficult to empirically assess food web structure with generalist predators. We utilized DNA-based molecular gut-content analyses to assess the prey use of a set of generalist invertebrate predator species common in temperate agricultural fields. We investigated the degree of specialization of predator-prey food webs at two key stages of the cropping season and analysed the link temperature of different trophic links, to identify non-random predation. We found a low level of specialization in our food webs, and identified warm and cool links which may result from active prey choice or avoidance. We also found a within-season variation in interaction strength between predators and aphid pests which differed among predator species. Our results show a high time-specific functional redundancy of the predator community, but also suggest temporally complementary prey choice due to within-season succession of some predator species.
Profiling dendritic cell subsets in head and neck squamous cell tonsillar cancer and benign tonsils
Authors: Abolhalaj Milad , Askmyr David , Sakellariou Christina Alexandra , Lundberg Kristina , Greiff Lennart , Lindstedt Malin 
Published: May 2018

AbstractDendritic cells (DCs) have a key role in orchestrating immune responses and are considered important targets for immunotherapy against cancer. In order to develop effective cancer vaccines, detailed knowledge of the micromilieu in cancer lesions is warranted. In this study, flow cytometry and human transcriptome arrays were used to characterize subsets of DCs in head and neck squamous cell tonsillar cancer and compare them to their counterparts in benign tonsils to evaluate subset-selective biomarkers associated with tonsillar cancer. We describe, for the first time, four subsets of DCs in tonsillar cancer: CD123+ plasmacytoid DCs (pDC), CD1c+, CD141+, and CD1c−CD141− myeloid DCs (mDC). An increased frequency of DCs and an elevated mDC/pDC ratio were shown in malignant compared to benign tonsillar tissue. The microarray data demonstrates characteristics specific for tonsil cancer DC subsets, including expression of immunosuppressive molecules and lower expression levels of genes involved in development of effector immune responses in DCs in malignant tonsillar tissue, compared to their counterparts in benign tonsillar tissue. Finally, we present target candidates selectively expressed by different DC subsets in malignant tonsils and confirm expression of CD206/MRC1 and CD207/Langerin on CD1c+ DCs at protein level. This study descibes DC characteristics in the context of head and neck cancer and add valuable steps towards future DC-based therapies against tonsillar cancer.
C151 in KEAP1 is the main cysteine sensor for the cyanoenone class of NRF2 activators, irrespective of molecular size or shape
Authors: Dayalan Naidu Sharadha , Muramatsu Aki , Saito Ryota , Asami Soichiro , Honda Tadashi , Hosoya Tomonori , Itoh Ken , Yamamoto Masayuki , Suzuki Takafumi , Dinkova-Kostova Albena T. 
Published: May 2018

AbstractNumerous small molecules (termed inducers), many of which are electrophiles, upregulate cytoprotective responses and inhibit pro-inflammatory pathways by activating nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (NRF2). Key to NRF2 activation is the ability to chemically modifying critical sensor cysteines in the main negative regulator of NRF2, Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1), of which C151, C273 and C288 are best characterized. This study aimed to establish the requirement for these cysteine sensor(s) for the biological activities of the most potent NRF2 activators known to date, the cyclic cyanoenones, some of which are in clinical trials. It was found that C151 in KEAP1 is the main cysteine sensor for this class of inducers, irrespective of molecular size or shape. Furthermore, in primary macrophage cells expressing C151S mutant KEAP1, at low concentrations, the tricyclic cyanoenone TBE-31 is inactive as an activator of NRF2 as well as an inhibitor of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated gene expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL6 and IL1β. However, at high inducer concentrations, NRF2 activation proceeds in the absence of C151, albeit at a lower magnitude. Our findings highlight the intrinsic flexibility of KEAP1 and emphasize the critical importance of establishing the precise dose of NRF2 activators for maintaining on-target selectivity.
Direct observation of high spin polarization in Co2FeAl thin films
Authors: Zhang Xiaoqian , Xu Huanfeng , Lai Bolin , Lu Qiangsheng , Lu Xianyang , Chen Yequan , Niu Wei , Gu Chenyi , Liu Wenqing , Wang Xuefeng , Liu Chang , Nie Yuefeng , He Liang , Xu Yongbing 
Published: May 2018

AbstractWe have studied the Co2FeAl thin films with different thicknesses epitaxially grown on GaAs (001) by molecular beam epitaxy. The magnetic properties and spin polarization of the films were investigated by in-situ magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) measurement and spin-resolved angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (spin-ARPES) at 300 K, respectively. High spin polarization of 58% (±7%) was observed for the film with thickness of 21 unit cells (uc), for the first time. However, when the thickness decreases to 2.5 uc, the spin polarization falls to 29% (±2%) only. This change is also accompanied by a magnetic transition at 4 uc characterized by the MOKE intensity. Above it, the film’s magnetization reaches the bulk value of 1000 emu/cm3. Our findings set a lower limit on the thickness of Co2FeAl films, which possesses both high spin polarization and large magnetization.
Impact of the griffithsin anti-HIV microbicide and placebo gels on the rectal mucosal proteome and microbiome in non-human primates
Authors: Girard Lauren , Birse Kenzie , Holm Johanna B. , Gajer Pawel , Humphrys Mike S. , Garber David , Guenthner Patricia , Noël-Romas Laura , Abou Max , McCorrister Stuart , Westmacott Garrett , Wang Lin , Rohan Lisa C. , Matoba Nobuyuki , McNicholl Janet , Palmer Kenneth E. , Ravel Jacques , Burgener Adam D. 
Published: May 2018

AbstractTopical microbicides are being explored as an HIV prevention method for individuals who practice receptive anal intercourse. In vivo studies of these microbicides are critical to confirm safety. Here, we evaluated the impact of a rectal microbicide containing the antiviral lectin, Griffithsin (GRFT), on the rectal mucosal proteome and microbiome. Using a randomized, crossover placebo-controlled design, six rhesus macaques received applications of hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC)- or carbopol-formulated 0.1% GRFT gels. Rectal mucosal samples were then evaluated by label-free tandem MS/MS and 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, for proteomics and microbiome analyses, respectively. Compared to placebo, GRFT gels were not associated with any significant changes to protein levels at any time point (FDR < 5%), but increased abundances of two common and beneficial microbial taxa after 24 hours were observed in HEC-GRFT gel (p < 2E-09). Compared to baseline, both placebo formulations were associated with alterations to proteins involved in proteolysis, activation of the immune response and inflammation after 2 hours (p < 0.0001), and increases in beneficial Faecalibacterium spp. after 24 hours in HEC placebo gel (p = 4.21E-15). This study supports the safety profile of 0.1% GRFT gel as an anti-HIV microbicide and demonstrates that current placebo formulations may associate with changes to rectal proteome and microbiota.
Metasurface-assisted orbital angular momentum carrying Bessel-Gaussian Laser: proposal and simulation
Authors: Zhou Nan , Wang Jian 
Published: May 2018

AbstractBessel-Gaussian beams have distinct properties of suppressed diffraction divergence and self-reconstruction. In this paper, we propose and simulate metasurface-assisted orbital angular momentum (OAM) carrying Bessel-Gaussian laser. The laser can be regarded as a Fabry-Perot cavity formed by one partially transparent output plane mirror and the other metasurface-based reflector mirror. The gain medium of Nd:YVO4 enables the lasing wavelength at 1064 nm with a 808 nm laser serving as the pump. The sub-wavelength structure of metasurface facilitates flexible spatial light manipulation. The compact metasurface-based reflector provides combined phase functions of an axicon and a spherical mirror. By appropriately selecting the size of output mirror and inserting mode-selection element in the laser cavity, different orders of OAM-carrying Bessel-Gaussian lasing modes are achievable. The lasing Bessel-Gaussian0, Bessel-Gaussian01+, Bessel-Gaussian02+ and Bessel-Gaussian03+ modes have high fidelities of ~0.889, ~0.889, ~0.881 and ~0.879, respectively. The metasurface fabrication tolerance and the dependence of threshold power and output lasing power on the length of gain medium, beam radius of pump and transmittance of output mirror are also discussed. The obtained results show successful implementation of metasurface-assisted OAM-carrying Bessel-Gaussian laser with favorable performance. The metasurface-assisted OAM-carrying Bessel-Gaussian laser may find wide OAM-enabled communication and non-communication applications.
NELFCD and CTSZ loci are associated with jaundice-stage progression in primary biliary cholangitis in the Japanese population
Authors: Nishida Nao , Aiba Yoshihiro , Hitomi Yuki , Kawashima Minae , Kojima Kaname , Kawai Yosuke , Ueno Kazuko , Nakamura Hitomi , Yamashiki Noriyo , Tanaka Tomohiro , Tamura Sumito , Mori Akira , Yagi Shintaro , Soejima Yuji , Yoshizumi Tomoharu , Takatsuki Mitsuhisa , Tanaka Atsushi , Harada Kenichi , Shimoda Shinji , Komori Atsumasa , Eguchi Susumu , Maehara Yoshihiko , Uemoto Shinji , Kokudo Norihiro , Nagasaki Masao , Tokunaga Katsushi , Nakamura Minoru 
Published: May 2018

AbstractApproximately 10–20% of patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) progress to jaundice stage regardless of treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid and bezafibrate. In this study, we performed a GWAS and a replication study to identify genetic variants associated with jaundice-stage progression in PBC using a total of 1,375 patients (1,202 early-stage and 173 jaundice-stage) in a Japanese population. SNP rs13720, which is located in the 3′UTR ofcathepsin Z(CTSZ), showed the strongest association (odds ratio [OR] = 2.15,P = 7.62 × 10−7) with progression to jaundice stage in GWAS. High-density association mapping at theCTSZandnegative elongation factor complex member C/D(NELFCD) loci, which are located within a strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) block, revealed that an intronic SNP ofCTSZ, rs163800, was significantly associated with jaundice-stage progression (OR = 2.16,P = 8.57 × 10−8). In addition, eQTL analysis andin silicofunctional analysis indicated that genotypes of rs163800 or variants in strong LD with rs163800 influence expression levels of bothNELFCDandCTSZmRNA. The present novel findings will contribute to dissect the mechanism of PBC progression and also to facilitate the development of therapies for PBC patients who are resistant to current therapies.
Improving the Explosive Performance of Aluminum Nanoparticles with Aluminum Iodate Hexahydrate (AIH)
Authors: Gottfried Jennifer L. , Smith Dylan K. , Wu Chi-Chin , Pantoya Michelle L. 
Published: May 2018

AbstractA new synthesis approach for aluminum particles enables an aluminum core to be passivated by an oxidizing salt: aluminum iodate hexahydrate (AIH). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that AIH replaces the Al2O3passivation layer on Al particles that limits Al oxidation. The new core-shell particle reactivity was characterized using laser-induced air shock from energetic materials (LASEM) and results for two different Al-AIH core-shell samples that vary in the AIH concentration demonstrate their potential use for explosive enhancement on both fast (detonation velocity) and slow (blast effects) timescales. Estimates of the detonation velocity for TNT-AIH composites suggest an enhancement of up to 30% may be achievable over pure TNT detonation velocities. Replacement of Al2O3with AIH allows Al to react on similar timescales as detonation waves. The AIH mixtures tested here have relatively low concentrations of AIH (15 wt. % and 6 wt. %) compared to previously reported samples (57.8 wt. %) and still increase TNT performance by up to 30%. Further optimization of AIH synthesis could result in additional increases in explosive performance.
Prevalence and Associations of Illicit Drug and Polydrug Use in People Living with HIV in Vienna
Authors: Grabovac Igor , Meilinger Michael , Schalk Horst , Leichsenring Birgit , Dorner Thomas Ernst 
Published: May 2018

AbstractWe aimed to determine the prevalence of drug and polydrug use in people living with HIV in Austria for the first time for which a two center cross-sectional study was performed. Participants were recruited from consecutive patients during their regularly scheduled visits. In total 438 participants were included in the analysis. For this study we used paper-pencil and online-based questionnaires. The prevalence of illicit drug use was 60.5%; with cannabis use at 31.5%, nitrates at 31.5%, sildenafil/tadalafil at 24% and cocaine at 14%, being the most used substances. Use of more than one substance (polydrug) in drug users was 69.4% or 42.0% in the total study population. Younger age, male gender, and living in an urban area were associated with drug use. Moreover, drug use during clubbing and sex, HIV therapy non-adherence and younger age were associated with polydrug use. Drug users reported condomless sex in 42.4% and performing sexual acts they would not do sober in 44.1%. Results indicate a high prevalence of illicit drug use in PLWHIV in Austria. New research focusing on illicit drug use in PLWHIV should focus on the use of substances during sex and surrounding practices.
Distinctiveness in virological features and pathogenic potentials of subgenotypes D1, D2, D3 and D5 of Hepatitis B virus
Authors: Khatun Mousumi , Mondal Rajiv Kumar , Pal Sourina , Baidya Ayana , Bishnu Debasree , Banerjee Priyanka , Santra Amal Kumar , Dhali Gopal Krishna , Banerjee Soma , Chowdhury Abhijit , Datta Simanti 
Published: May 2018

AbstractDistinct clinical features of HBV infection have been associated with different viral genotype/subgenotype. HBV Genotype-D comprised of 10 subgenotypes, D1–D10, whose clinical implications still remain elusive. We investigated for the first-time, the virologic characteristics and cytopathic effects of four non-recombinant D-subgenotypes, D1/D2/D3/D5. Expressions of viral/host genes were evaluated in Huh7 cells transfected with full-length, linear-monomers of HBV/D-subgenotypes or pGL3-Basic vector carrying subgenotype-specific HBx. Intracellular HBV-DNA and pregenomic-RNA levels were high in D1/D2 than D3/D5. Expressions of PreC-mRNA and HBx were highest for D2 and D1 respectively, whereas PreS2/S-transcript was significantly reduced in D5. Increased apoptotic cell death and marked upregulation in caspase-3/Bax/TNF-R1/FasR/TRAIL-R1/ROS/MCP-1/IP-10/MIP-1β expression were noticed specifically in D2- and also in D3-transfected cells, while D5 resulted in over-expression of ER-stress-markers. D-subgenotype-transfected Huh7 cells were co-cultured with PBMC of healthy-donors or LX-2 cells and significant increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines in PBMC and fibrogenic-markers in LX-2 were noticed in presence of D2/D3. Further, Huh7 cells transfected with D1, in particular and also D5, displayed remarkable induction of EMT-markers and high proliferative/migratory abilities. Collectively, our results demonstrated that D2/D3 were more associated with hepatic apoptosis/inflammation/fibrosis and D1/D5 with increased risk of hepatocarcinogenesis and emphasize the need for determining HBV-subgenotype in clinical practice.
Voting Simulation based Agglomerative Hierarchical Method for Network Community Detection
Authors: Cheng Jianjun , Yin Xinhong , Li Qi , Yang Haijuan , Li Longjie , Leng Mingwei , Chen Xiaoyun 
Published: May 2018

AbstractCommunity detection has been paid much attention in many fields in recent years, and a great deal of community-detection methods have been proposed. But the time consumption of some of them is heavy, limiting them from being applied to large-scale networks. On the contrary, there exist some lower-time-complexity methods. But most of them are non-deterministic, meaning that running the same method many times may yield different results from the same network, which reduces their practical utility greatly in real-world applications. To solve these problems, we propose a community-detection method in this paper, which takes both the quality of the results and the efficiency of the detecting procedure into account. Moreover, it is a deterministic method which can extract definite community structures from networks. The proposed method is inspired by the voting behaviours in election activities in the social society, in which we first simulate the voting procedure on the network. Every vertex votes for the nominated candidates following the proposed voting principles, densely connected groups of vertices can quickly reach a consensus on their candidates. At the end of this procedure, candidates and their own voters form a group of clusters. Then, we take the clusters as initial communities, and agglomerate some of them into larger ones with high efficiency to obtain the resulting community structures. We conducted extensive experiments on some artificial networks and real-world networks, the experimental results show that our proposed method can efficiently extract high-quality community structures from networks, and outperform the comparison algorithms significantly.
Signal quality of simultaneously recorded endovascular, subdural and epidural signals are comparable
Authors: John Sam E. , Opie Nicholas L. , Wong Yan T. , Rind Gil S. , Ronayne Stephen M. , Gerboni Giulia , Bauquier Sebastien H. , O’Brien Terence J. , May Clive N. , Grayden David B. , Oxley Thomas J. 
Published: May 2018

AbstractRecent work has demonstrated the feasibility of minimally-invasive implantation of electrodes into a cortical blood vessel. However, the effect of the dura and blood vessel on recording signal quality is not understood and may be a critical factor impacting implementation of a closed-loop endovascular neuromodulation system. The present work compares the performance and recording signal quality of a minimally-invasive endovascular neural interface with conventional subdural and epidural interfaces. We compared bandwidth, signal-to-noise ratio, and spatial resolution of recorded cortical signals using subdural, epidural and endovascular arrays four weeks after implantation in sheep. We show that the quality of the signals (bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio) of the endovascular neural interface is not significantly different from conventional neural sensors. However, the spatial resolution depends on the array location and the frequency of recording. We also show that there is a direct correlation between the signal-noise-ratio and classification accuracy, and that decoding accuracy is comparable between electrode arrays. These results support the consideration for use of an endovascular neural interface in a clinical trial of a novel closed-loop neuromodulation technology.