bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Applying UK real-world primary care data to predict asthma attacks in 3776 well-characterised children: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Turner Steve W , Murray Clare , Thomas Mike , Burden Annie , Price David B 
Published: July 2018

AbstractCurrent understanding of risk factors for asthma attacks in children is based on studies of small but well-characterised populations or pharmaco-epidemiology studies of large but poorly characterised populations. We describe an observational study of factors linked to future asthma attacks in large number of well-characterised children. From two UK primary care databases (Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Optimum Patient Care research Database), a cohort of children was identified with asthma aged 5–12 years and where data were available for ≥2 consecutive years. In the “baseline” year, predictors included treatment step, number of attacks, blood eosinophil count, peak flow and obesity. In the “outcome” year the number of attacks was determined and related to predictors. There were 3776 children, of whom 525 (14%) had ≥1 attack in the outcome year. The odds ratio (OR) for one attack was 3.7 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 2.9, 4.8) for children with 1 attack in the baseline year and increased to 7.7 (95% CI 5.6, 10.7) for those with ≥2 attacks, relative to no attacks. Higher treatment step, younger age, lower respiratory tract infections, reduced peak flow and eosinophil count >400/μL were also associated with small increases in OR for an asthma attack during the outcome year. In this large population, several factors were associated with a future asthma attack, but a past history of attacks was most strongly associated with future attacks. Interventions aimed at reducing the risk for asthma attacks could use primary care records to identify children at risk for asthma attacks.
Schizophrenia-related dysbindin-1 gene is required for innate immune response and homeostasis in the developing subventricular zone
Authors: Al-Shammari Abeer R. , Bhardwaj Sanjeev K. , Musaelyan Ksenia , Srivastava Lalit K. , Szele Francis G. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractSchizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder likely caused by environmental and genetic risk factors but functional interactions between the risk factors are unclear. We tested the hypothesis that dysbindin-1 (Dtnbp1) gene mutation combined with postnatal exposure to viral mimetic polyI:C results in schizophrenia-related behavioural changes in adulthood, and mediates polyI:C-induced inflammation in the subventricular zone (SVZ). Adult Sandy (Sdy, Dtnbp1 mutant) mice given early postnatal polyI:C injections displayed reduced prepulse inhibition of startle, reduced locomotion and deficits in novel object recognition. PolyI:C induced a canonical immune response in the SVZ; it increased mRNA expression of its toll-like receptor 3 (Tlr3) and downstream transcription factors RelA and Sp1. PolyI:C also increased SVZ Dtnbp1 mRNA expression, suggesting dysbindin-1 regulates immune responses. Dysbindin-1 loss in Sdy mice blocked the polyI:C-induced increases in mRNA expression of Tlr3, RelA and Sp1 in the SVZ. Dtnbp1 overexpression in SVZ-derived Sdy neurospheres rescued Tlr3, RelA and Sp1 mRNA expression supporting a functional interaction between dysbindin-1 and polyI:C-induced inflammation. Immunohistochemistry showed higher Iba1+ immune cell density in the SVZ of Sdy mice than in WT postnatally. PolyI:C did not alter SVZ Iba1+ cell density but increased CD45+/Iba1− cell numbers in the SVZ of Sdy mice. Finally, polyI:C injections in Sdy, but not WT mice reduced postnatal and adult SVZ proliferation. Together, we show novel functional interactions between the schizophrenia-relevant dysbindin-1 gene and the immune response to polyI:C. This work sheds light on the molecular basis for amplified abnormalities due to combined genetic predisposition and exposure to environmental schizophrenia risk factors.
An Ad/MVA vectored Theileria parva antigen induces schizont-specific CD8+ central memory T cells and confers partial protection against a lethal challenge
Authors: Svitek Nicholas , Saya Rosemary , Awino Elias , Munyao Stephen , Muriuki Robert , Njoroge Thomas , Pellé Roger , Ndiwa Nicholas , Poole Jane , Gilbert Sarah , Nene Vishvanath , Steinaa Lucilla 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe parasiteTheileria parvais the causative agent of East Coast fever (ECF), one of the most serious cattle diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, and directly impacts smallholder farmers’ livelihoods. There is an efficient live-parasite vaccine, but issues with transmission of vaccine strains, need of a cold chain, and antibiotics limit its utilization. This has fostered research towards subunit vaccination. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are crucial in combating the infection by lysingT. parva-infected cells. Tp1 is an immunodominant CTL antigen, which induces Tp1-specific responses in 70–80% of cattle of the A18 or A18v haplotype during vaccination with the live vaccine. In this study, human adenovirus serotype 5 (HAd5) and modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) were assessed for their ability to induce Tp1-specific immunity. Both viral vectors expressing the Tp1 antigen were inoculated in cattle by a heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimen. All 15 animals responded to Tp1 as determined by ELISpot. Of these, 14 reacted to the known Tp1 epitope, assayed by ELISpot and tetramer analyses, with CTL peaking 1-week post-MVA boost. Eleven animals developed CTL with specific cytotoxic activity towards peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) pulsed with the Tp1 epitope. Moreover, 36% of the animals with a Tp1 epitope-specific response survived a lethal challenge withT. parva5 weeks post-MVA boost. Reduction of the parasitemia correlated with increased percentages of central memory lymphocytes in the Tp1 epitope-specific CD8+populations. These results indicate that Tp1 is a promising antigen to include in a subunit vaccine and central memory cells are crucial for clearing the parasite.
Allostery and cooperativity in multimeric proteins: bond-to-bond propensities in ATCase
Authors: Hodges Maxwell , Barahona Mauricio , Yaliraki Sophia N. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractAspartate carbamoyltransferase (ATCase) is a large dodecameric enzyme with six active sites that exhibits allostery: its catalytic rate is modulated by the binding of various substrates at distal points from the active sites. A recently developed method, bond-to-bond propensity analysis, has proven capable of predicting allosteric sites in a wide range of proteins using an energy-weighted atomistic graph obtained from the protein structure and given knowledge only of the location of the active site. Bond-to-bond propensity establishes if energy fluctuations at given bonds have significant effects on any other bond in the protein, by considering their propagation through the protein graph. In this work, we use bond-to-bond propensity analysis to study different aspects of ATCase activity using three different protein structures and sources of fluctuations. First, we predict key residues and bonds involved in the transition between inactive (T) and active (R) states of ATCase by analysing allosteric substrate binding as a source of energy perturbations in the protein graph. Our computational results also indicate that the effect of multiple allosteric binding is non linear: a switching effect is observed after a particular number and arrangement of substrates is bound suggesting a form of long range communication between the distantly arranged allosteric sites. Second, cooperativity is explored by considering a bisubstrate analogue as the source of energy fluctuations at the active site, also leading to the identification of highly significant residues to the T ↔ R transition that enhance cooperativity across active sites. Finally, the inactive (T) structure is shown to exhibit a strong, non linear communication between the allosteric sites and the interface between catalytic subunits, rather than the active site. Bond-to-bond propensity thus offers an alternative route to explain allosteric and cooperative effects in terms of detailed atomistic changes to individual bonds within the protein, rather than through phenomenological, global thermodynamic arguments.
Predator odour but not TMT induces 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats that lead to defensive behaviours in conspecifics upon replay
Authors: Fendt Markus , Brosch Marcel , Wernecke Kerstin E. A. , Willadsen Maria , Wöhr Markus 
Published: July 2018

AbstractPredator odours induce defensive behaviour in prey animals such as rats. The present study investigated (1) whether laboratory rats exposed to predator odours emit 22-kHz calls which may have an alarming function and (2) whether playback of such calls induces behavioural changes in conspecifics. For this, Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to samples of fox and lion urine, as well as to the synthetic predator odour TMT. Despite that all odours induced defensive behaviour, only predator urine samples but not TMT were able to induce 22-kHz calls in a few rats. In a second experiment, naive rats were exposed to playback presentations of the 22-kHz calls recorded in the first experiment, as well as to phase-scrambled and frequency-shifted control stimuli. Low intensity playback presentations led to a reduction of locomotor activity during the presentation of the 22-kHz calls but not of the control stimuli. This effect was less specific under high intensity conditions. Taken together the present findings show that natural predator odours are able to induce emission of 22-kHz calls in rats and support the hypothesis that these calls have an alarming function.
Autosomal DIPs for population genetic structure and differentiation analyses of Chinese Xinjiang Kyrgyz ethnic group
Authors: Guo Yuxin , Chen Chong , Jin Xiaoye , Cui Wei , Wei Yuanyuan , Wang Hongdan , Kong Tingting , Mu Yuling , Zhu Bofeng 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIn recent years, deletion and insertion polymorphisms (DIPs) were treated as a novel complementary tool with huge potential for forensic applications. In this study, we utilized 30 DIP loci to make a comprehensive research of allele frequency distribution and compute forensic parameters to evaluate the efficiency of forensic applications in the 295 unrelated healthy individuals of Kyrgyz group, and in addition, infer the genetic relationships between Kyrgyz group and 24 other previously studied groups. No significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium were observed at these 30 DIP loci. The combined power of discrimination and the combined probability of exclusion for all 30 DIP loci in Kyrgyz group were 0.9999999999989 and 0.9939, respectively. Furthermore, the results of the interpopulation differentiations, phylogenetic reconstruction, population genetic structure and principal component analyses suggested that Kyrgyz group had relatively close genetic relationships with Kazakh and Uygur groups. However, it was also important to stress that 15 loci were selected out from these 30 DIP loci using the method of selecting ancestry markers, which could be utilized for further ancestry inference study relatively.
Impact of viral upper respiratory tract infection on the concentration of nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage among Kenyan children
Authors: Morpeth Susan C. , Munywoki Patrick , Hammitt Laura L. , Bett Anne , Bottomley Christian , Onyango Clayton O. , Murdoch David R. , Nokes D. James , Scott J. Anthony G. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractViral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) predisposes to bacterial pneumonia possibly by facilitating growth of bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae colonising the nasopharynx. We investigated whether viral URTI is temporally associated with an increase in nasopharyngeal pneumococcal concentration. Episodes of symptomatic RSV or rhinovirus URTI among children <5 years were identified from a longitudinal household study in rural Kenya. lytA and alu PCR were performed on nasopharyngeal samples collected twice-weekly, to measure the pneumococcal concentration adjusted for the concentration of human DNA present. Pneumococcal concentration increased with a fold-change of 3.80 (95%CI 1.95–7.40), with acquisition of RSV or rhinovirus, during 51 URTI episodes among 42 children. In repeated swabs from the baseline period, in the two weeks before URTI developed, within-episode variation was broad; within +/−112-fold range of the geometric mean. We observed only a small increase in nasopharyngeal pneumococcal concentration during RSV or rhinovirus URTI, relative to natural variation. Other factors, such as host response to viral infection, may be more important than nasopharyngeal pneumococcal concentration in determining risk of invasive disease.
PDGFRA gene, maternal binge drinking and obstructive heart defects
Authors: Tang Xinyu , Eberhart Johann K. , Cleves Mario A. , Li Jingyun , Li Ming , MacLeod Stewart , Nembhard Wendy N. , Hobbs Charlotte A. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractObstructive heart defects (OHDs) are a major health concern worldwide. The platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) genes are known to have regulatory functions that are essential for proper heart development. In a zebrafish model, Pdgfra was further demonstrated to interact with ethanol during craniofacial development. In this article, we investigated interactions between variants in PDGF genes and periconceptional alcohol exposure on the risk of OHDs by applying log-linear models to 806 OHD case and 995 control families enrolled in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. The interactions between four variants in PDGFA and maternal binge drinking reached a nominal significance level. The maternal T allele of rs869978 was estimated to increase OHD risk among women who binge drink, while infant genotypes of rs2291591, rs2228230, rs1547904, and rs869978 may reduce the risk. Although none of these associations remain statistically significant after multiple testing adjustment and the estimated maternal effect may be influenced by unknown confounding factors, such as maternal smoking, these findings are consistent with previous animal studies supporting potential interactions between the PDGFRA gene and maternal alcohol exposure. Replication studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further elucidate this potential interplay and its influence on OHD risks.
Control of Spin-Wave Propagation using Magnetisation Gradients
Authors: Vogel Marc , Aßmann Rick , Pirro Philipp , Chumak Andrii V. , Hillebrands Burkard , von Freymann Georg 
Published: July 2018

AbstractWe report that in an in-plane magnetised magnetic film the in-plane direction of a propagating spin wave can be changed by up to 90 degrees using an externally induced magnetic gradient field. We have achieved this result using a reconfigurable, laser-induced magnetisation gradient created in a conversion area, in which the backward volume and surface spin-wave modes coexist at the same frequency. Shape and orientation of the gradient control the conversion efficiency. Experimental data and numerical calculations agree very well. Our findings open the way to magnonic circuits with in-plane steering of the spin-wave modes.
Visual tool for real-time monitoring of membrane fouling via Raman spectroscopy and process model based on principal component analysis
Authors: Virtanen Tiina , Reinikainen Satu-Pia , Lahti Jussi , Mänttäri Mika , Kallioinen Mari 
Published: July 2018

AbstractMembrane fouling, i.e. accumulation of unwanted material on the surface of the membrane is a significant problem in filtration processes since it commonly degrades membrane performance and increases operating costs. Therefore, the advantages of early stage monitoring and control of fouling are widely recognized. In this work, the potential of using Raman spectroscopy coupled to chemometrics in order to quantify degree of membrane fouling in real-time was investigated. The Raman data set collected from adsorption experiments with varying pHs and concentrations of model compound vanillin was used to develop a predictive model based on principal component analysis (PCA) for the quantification of the vanillin adsorbed on the membrane. The correspondence between the predicted concentrations based on the PCA model and actual measured concentrations of adsorbed vanillin was moderately good. The model developed was successful in monitoring both adsorption and desorption processes. Furthermore, the model was able to detect abnormally proceeding experiment based on differentiating PCA score and loading values. The results indicated that the presented approach of using Raman spectroscopy combined with a PCA model has potential for use in monitoring and control of fouling and cleaning in membrane processes.
Contribution of prostanoid FP receptor and prostaglandins in transient inflammatory ocular hypertension
Authors: Yamagishi-Kimura Reiko , Honjo Megumi , Aihara Makoto 
Published: July 2018

AbstractWe explored the involvement of FP receptor and endogenous prostaglandins (PGs) in transient ocular hypertension (OH) induced by PGE2 or PGF2α in mouse eyes. PGE2 and PGF2α were topically applied to induce transient OH in Wild-type (WT) and FP-, EP1-, EP2-, and EP3-deficient (knockout [KO]) mice. To suppress endogenous PG production, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug nepafenac was applied topically before treatment. PGE2 and PGF2α induced significant OH in the WT, FPKO, and EP1–3KO mice compared to the control 30 min after instillation, and the increase in IOP at 30 or 60 min after instillation in FPKO mice was significantly higher than that in the WT mice. The effects of PGF2α on the increase in IOP were significantly weaker than those of PGE2, especially in EP1KO and EP3KO mice. Transient OH induced by PGE2 and PGF2α was significantly attenuated by nepafenac treatment in FPKO mice. Transient OH was induced by PGE2 and PGF2α in WT, FPKO, and EP1–3KO mice, which was enhanced in FPKO mice. This OH was significantly diminished by nepafenac treatment in FPKO mice, suggesting that FP receptor may have an important naïve physiological role in the eye, and could regulate IOP elevation during PG-associated ocular inflammation.
Pneumococcal Disease and the Effectiveness of the PPV23 Vaccine in Adults: A Two-Stage Bayesian Meta-Analysis of Observational and RCT Reports
Authors: Latifi-Navid Hamid , Latifi-Navid Saeid , Mostafaiy Behdad , Jamalkandi Sadegh Azimzadeh , Ahmadi Ali 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe efficacy of PPV-23 vaccine on outcomes of pneumococcal disease in adults still remains controversial due mainly to the lack of consistency between the results obtained from observational studies(OSs) and those obtained from randomized controlled trials(RCTs). As a consequence, the complexity in the structure of evidence available, in turn, generates a challenge for combining disparate pieces of evidence quantitatively. In this regard, we used a hierarchical Bayesian inference-based evidence synthesis of RCTs and observational data using a two-stage approach (in addition to a traditional random-effects meta-analysis) to examine the effectiveness of PPV-23 in adults. To this end, 21 studies were included involving 826109 adult participants. By a two-stage Bayesian meta-analysis, which was directly used for combining studies of different designs, the overall log OR (95% credible interval) for IPDs was −0.1048 (−0.3920,−0.0250), indicating a significant protective effect of the vaccination against IPDs. No significant effect of PPV-23 was found on all-cause pneumonia, pneumococcal pneumonia, and death from pneumonia, which confirmed the results obtained by a traditional method followed by stratified and sensitivity analyses. The estimated overall log OR (95% credible interval) was −0.0002 (−0.0241,0.0142), −0.0002 (−0.0110,0.0122), and −6.3912 × 10−5 (−0.0219,0.0131), respectively. The PPV-23 vaccine might be effective in preventing the most severe invasive forms of pneumococcal diseases, but not effective in preventing other clinical outcomes, in the adult population of 18 years and older.
Mineralogical and textural characteristics of nest building geomaterials used by three sympatric mud-nesting hirundine species
Authors: Papoulis Dimitrios , Tzortzakaki Olga , Avramidis Pavlos , Mentis Panagiotis , Lampropoulou Paraskevi , Iliopoulos George 
Published: July 2018

AbstractMany hirundine species construct their nests by carrying mud particles from adjacent areas. This study aimed to investigate for the first time the materials that mud-nesting hirundines choose for nest construction from a mineralogical and sedimentological perspective. For this purpose, we sampled nests of three sympatric species, namely the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), the Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) and the House Martin (Delichon urbicum), from southeastern Europe. Our results showed that all species tend to use clay minerals as a cement and especially smectite and illite and if these minerals are not present in the adjacent area, they use halloysite, kaolinite or chlorite. The amounts of clay minerals in the nests are generally low indicating that the studied species can accurately identify the properties of the nesting materials. Most of the non clay minerals that they use are the common, easily accessible colourless or white minerals with low specific gravity values such as quartz, feldspars and calcite. Grain size distribution analysis revealed that the amount of clay sized grains in the mud nests of all three species is relatively low, while the amount of larger grain particles decreases when the size of the non clay minerals is small. The Red-rumped Swallow showed an increasing preference for larger grain size particles and quartz, the Barn Swallow for finer grain size particles and calcite, and the preferences of the House Martin are in between the other two species. The three hirundine species present different nest building strategies and depending on the nest architecture, each of them seems to show preference for specific minerals and specific grain sizes.
Falling water ice affinity purification of ice-binding proteins
Authors: Adar Chen , Sirotinskaya Vera , Bar Dolev Maya , Friehmann Tomer , Braslavsky Ido 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIce-binding proteins (IBPs) permit their hosts to thrive in the presence of ice. The ability of IBPs to control ice growth makes them potential additives in industries ranging from food storage and cryopreservation to anti-icing systems. For IBPs to be used in commercial applications, however, methods are needed to produce sufficient quantities of high-quality proteins. Here, we describe a new method for IBP purification, termed falling water ice affinity purification (FWIP). The method is based on the affinity of IBPs for ice and does not require molecular tags. A crude IBP solution is allowed to flow over a chilled vertical surface of a commercial ice machine. The temperature of the surface is lowered gradually until ice crystals are produced, to which the IBPs bind but other solutes do not. We found that a maximum of 35 mg of IBP was incorporated in 1 kg of ice. Two rounds of FWIP resulted in >95% purity. An ice machine that produces 60 kg of ice per day can be used to purify one gram of IBP per day. In combination with efficient concentration of the protein solution by tangential flow filtration the FWIP method is suitable for the purification of grams of IBPs for research purposes and applications.