bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intermodel Differences in Upwelling in the Tropical Tropopause Layer Among CMIP5 Models
Authors: Yoshida K. , Mizuta R. , Arakawa O. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe climatology of upwelling in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) in current climate simulations and in future climate projections is examined using models participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). Large intermodel differences in upwelling in the TTL appear in the current climate simulations. Model composite analysis and upwelling diagnosis based on the zonal momentum budget indicate that the intermodel differences in upwelling are controlled by meridional eddy momentum fluxes associated with tropical planetary waves and midlatitude synoptic waves. Future climate simulations indicate that upwelling changes in the TTL are significantly correlated with the upwelling in current climate simulations. Models with strong (weak) TTL upwelling in the current climate simulations tend to project strong (weak) upwelling enhancement in the future climate. The intermodel differences in the upwelling change arise from the same dynamical factors as the current climate cases. The contribution of sea surface temperature (SST) to the intermodel upwelling differences is examined by SST‐prescribed simulations in CMIP5. The contribution of intermodel SST differences to the upwelling is smaller than that of intrinsic atmospheric intermodel differences. The significant correlation of the tropical upwelling between the current climate simulations and the future changes appears to be independent of the target latitude range.
Multicenter validation of the flow measurement of classical monocyte fraction for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia diagnosis
Authors: Tarfi Sihem , Harrivel Véronique , Dumezy Florent , Guy Julien , Roussel Mikael , Mimoun Aguirre , Fenaux Pierre , Chapuis Nicolas , Solary Eric , Selimoglu-Buet Dorothée , Wagner-Ballon Orianne ,   on behalf of the Groupe Francophone des Myélodysplasies (GFM)
Published: November 2018

AbstractPeripheral blood monocytes include three subsets defined by CD14 and CD16 surface markers. An increase in the CD14++CD16− classical monocyte fraction ≥ 94% of the total monocytes was proposed to rapidly and efficiently distinguish chronic myelomonocytic leukemia from reactive monocytosis. The robustness of this assay required a multicenter validation. The flow cytometry assay designed to quantify peripheral blood monocyte subsets was implemented by multiple diagnosis laboratories in France. A nationwide survey was performed to evaluate its performance. All the 48 French laboratories answered the questionnaire, revealing that 63% use this assay routinely. Central blind reanalysis of 329 cytometry files collected from five laboratories demonstrated an excellent correlation in classical monocyte fraction measurement (r = 0.93; p < 0.0001). The cutoff value of 94% classical monocytes being the critical readout for diagnosis, we then compared 115 patients with classical monocytes ≥ 94% and 214 patients with a fraction < 94% between initial analysis and reanalysis. An agreement was obtained in 311 files. Finally, an overt diagnosis, available for 86 files, confirmed a good sensitivity (93.6%) and specificity (89.7%). This survey demonstrates the robustness of the flow assay with limited variability of classical monocyte percentage between centers, validates the 94% cutoff value, and confirms its sensitivity and specificity.
Inhibition of STAT5A promotes osteogenesis by DLX5 regulation
Authors: Lee Kyoung-Mi , Park Kwang Hwan , Hwang Ji Suk , Lee Moses , Yoon Dong Suk , Ryu Hyun Aae , Jung Ho Sun , Park Ki Won , Kim Jihyun , Park Sahng Wook , Kim Sung-Hwan , Chun Yong-Min , Choi Woo Jin , Lee Jin Woo 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe regulation of osteogenesis is important for bone formation and fracture healing. Despite advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms of osteogenesis, crucial modulators in this process are not well-characterized. Here we demonstrate that suppression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5A (STAT5A) activates distal-less homeobox 5 (DLX5) in human bone marrow-derived stromal cells (hBMSCs) and enhances osteogenesis in vitro and in vivo. We show that STAT5A negatively regulates expression ofDlx5in vitro and that STAT5A deletion results in increased trabecular and cortical bone mass and bone mineral density in mice. Additionally, STAT5A deletion prevents age-related bone loss. In a murine fracture model, STAT5A deletion was found to significantly enhance bone remodeling by stimulating the formation of a fracture callus. Our findings indicate that STAT5A inhibition enhances bone formation by promoting osteogenesis of BMSCs.
Evaluating metabarcoding to analyse diet composition of species foraging in anthropogenic landscapes using Ion Torrent and Illumina sequencing
Authors: Forin-Wiart Marie-Amélie , Poulle Marie-Lazarine , Piry Sylvain , Cosson Jean-François , Larose Claire , Galan Maxime 
Published: November 2018

AbstractDNA metabarcoding of faecal samples is being successfully used to study the foraging niche of species. We assessed the ability of two benchtop high-throughput sequencing (HTS) platforms, to identify a large taxonomic array of food items from domestic cats Felis silvestris catus, including prey and human-related food taxa (pet food and leftovers leaving undetectable solid remains in faeces). Scats from a captive feeding trial (n = 41) and from free-ranging individuals (n = 326) were collected and analysed using a cytb mini-barcode in independent PCR replicates on the Ion PGM and the MiSeq platforms. Outputs from MiSeq were more sensitive and reproducible than those from Ion PGM due to a higher sequencing depth and sequence quality on MiSeq. DNA from intact prey taxa was detected more often (82% of the expected occurrences) than DNA from pet food (54%) and raw fish and meat (31%). We assumed that this variability was linked to different degree of DNA degradation: The Ion PGM detected significantly less human-linked food, birds, field voles, murids and shrews in the field-collected samples than the MiSeq platform. Pooling the replicates from both platforms and filtering the data allowed identification of at least one food item in 87.4% of the field-collected samples. Our DNA metabarcoding approach identified 29 prey taxa, of which 25 to species level (90% of items) including 9 rodents, 3 insectivores, 12 birds and 1 reptile and 33 human-related food taxa of which 23 were identified to genus level (75% of items). Our results demonstrate that using HTS platforms such as MiSeq, which provide reads of sufficiently high quantity and quality, with sufficient numbers of technical replicates, is a robust and non-invasive approach for further dietary studies on animals foraging on a wide range of food items in anthropogenic landscapes.
Mycorrhizal fungal community structure in tropical humid soils under fallow and cropping conditions
Authors: Jemo Martin , Dhiba Driss , Hashem Abeer , Abd_Allah Elsayed Fathi , Alqarawi Abdulaziz A. , Tran Lam-Son Phan 
Published: November 2018

AbstractLittle is known to what extent soil biota, in particular, the mycorrhizae are altered through different fallow durations/types in tropical soils. We found that soil-N, -C, -Al, -K and -Ca contents significantly differed due to the fallow durations/types. Subsequently, the effects of fallow types and soil depths on the diversity, species richness and community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi were examined. A higher AM species richness was identified in the cropping than in forest fallow fields, suggesting a positive cropping feedback on the AM community composition. Distribution of the AM species was positively related to soil properties, specifically soil-pH, and soil-Pi, -Ca and -Mg contents. The soil properties conjointly accounted for 78.5% of explained variation in the AM community composition, signifying that the main factors altering the community structure under different fallow and cropping systems were the soil properties. Among the soil chemical characteristics, the soil-pH disclosed a significant explained variation in the AM community composition in the topsoil layer under the short fallow. Structural modeling equation to understand multiple predictive pathways that connect soil properties, fallow practices and AM community structures indicated that soil-C, -N and -Ca contents were highlighted as important factors influencing the AM community compositions.
Cell wall mannan of Candida krusei mediates dendritic cell apoptosis and orchestrates Th17 polarization via TLR-2/MyD88-dependent pathway
Authors: Nguyen Thu Ngoc Yen , Padungros Panuwat , Wongsrisupphakul Panachai , Sa-Ard-Iam Noppadol , Mahanonda Rangsini , Matangkasombut Oranart , Choo Min-Kyung , Ritprajak Patcharee 
Published: November 2018

AbstractDendritic cells (DCs) abundantly express diverse receptors to recognize mannans in the outer surface of Candida cell wall, and these interactions dictate the host immune responses that determine disease outcomes. C. krusei prevalence in candidiasis worldwide has increased since this pathogen has developed multidrug resistance. However, little is known how the immune system responds to C. krusei. Particularly, the molecular mechanisms of the interplay between C. krusei mannan and DCs remain to be elucidated. We investigated how C. krusei mannan affected DC responses in comparison to C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. glabrata mannan. Our results showed that only C. krusei mannan induced massive cytokine responses in DCs, and led to apoptosis. Although C. krusei mannan-activated DCs underwent apoptosis, they were still capable of initiating Th17 response. C. krusei mannan-mediated DC apoptosis was obligated to the TLR2 and MyD88 pathway. These pathways also controlled Th1/Th17 switching possibly by virtue of the production of the polarizing cytokines IL-12 and IL-6 by the C. krusei mannan activated-DCs. Our study suggests that TLR2 and MyD88 pathway in DCs are dominant for C. krusei mannan recognition, which differs from the previous reports showing a crucial role of C-type lectin receptors in Candida mannan sensing.
Rationalising drug delivery using nanoparticles: a combined simulation and immunology study of GnRH adsorbed to silica nanoparticles
Authors: Connell David J. , Gebril Ayman , Khan Mohammad A. H. , Patwardhan Siddharth V. , Kubiak-Ossowska Karina , Ferro Valerie A. , Mulheran Paul A. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractSilica nanoparticles (SiNPs) have been shown to have significant potential for drug delivery and as adjuvants for vaccines. We have simulated the adsorption of GnRH-I (gonadotrophin releasing hormone I) and a cysteine-tagged modification (cys-GnRH-I) to model silica surfaces, as well as its conjugation to the widely-used carrier protein bovine serum albumin (BSA). Our subsequent immunological studies revealed no significant antibody production was caused by the peptide-SiNP systems, indicating that the treatment was not effective. However, the testosterone response with the native peptide-SiNPs indicated a drug effect not found with cys-GnRH-I-SiNPs; this behaviour is explained by the specific orientation of the peptides at the silica surface found in the simulations. With the BSA systems, we found significant testosterone reduction, particularly for the BSA-native conjugates, and an antibody response that was notably higher with the SiNPs acting as an adjuvant; this behaviour again correlates well with the epitope presentation predicted by the simulations. The range of immunological and hormone response can therefore be interpreted and understood by the simulation results and the presentation of the peptides to solution, paving the way for the future rational design of drug delivery and vaccine systems guided by biomolecular simulation.
Transcriptomic analysis of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum BBMN68 in response to oxidative shock
Authors: Zuo Fanglei , Yu Rui , Xiao Man , Khaskheli Gul Bahar , Sun Xiaofei , Ma Huiqin , Ren Fazheng , Zhang Bing , Chen Shangwu 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBifidobacterium longum strain BBMN68 is sensitive to low concentrations of oxygen. A transcriptomic study was performed to identify candidate genes for B. longum BBMN68’s response to oxygen treatment (3%, v/v). Expression of genes and pathways of B. longum BBMN68 involved in nucleotide metabolism, amino acid transport, protein turnover and chaperones increased, and that of carbohydrate metabolism, translation and biogenesis decreased to adapt to the oxidative stress. Notably, expression of two classes of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), which are important for deoxyribonucleotide biosynthesis, was rapidly and persistently induced. First, the class Ib RNR NrdHIEF was immediately upregulated after 5 min oxygen exposure, followed by the class III RNR NrdDG, which was upregulated after 20 min of exposure. The upregulated expression of branched-chain amino acids and tetrahydrofolate biosynthesis-related genes occurred in bifidobacteria in response to oxidative stress. These change toward to compensate for DNA and protein damaged by reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, oxidative stress resulted in improved B. longum BBMN68 cell hydrophobicity and autoaggregation. These results provide a rich resource for our understanding of the response mechanisms to oxidative stress in bifidobacteria.
Diagnostic accuracy of salivary gland ultrasonography with different scoring systems in Sjögren’s syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhou Mingzhu , Song Shuju , Wu Shanshan , Duan Ting , Chen Letian , Ye Jingyi , Xiao Jun 
Published: November 2018

AbstractNoninvasive objective salivary gland ultrasonography (SGU) had been widely used to evaluate major salivary gland involvement in primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) and treatment responses. However, the evaluation score, diagnostic sensitivity, and diagnostic specificity significantly varied among clinical studies. We conducted this meta-analysis to assess the diagnostic accuracy of different SGU scoring systems using the American-European Consensus Group criteria. Of the 1301 articles retrieved from six databases, 24 met the criteria for quality assessment and 14 for meta-analyses. The pooled sensitivities were 75% (0–4) with I2 = 92.0%, 84% (0–16) with I2 = 63.6%, and 75% (0–48) with I2 = 90.9%; the pooled specificities were 93% (0–4) with I2 = 71.5%, 88% (0–16) with I2 = 65.4%, and 95% (0–48) with I2 = 83.9%; the pooled diagnostic odds ratios were 71.26 (0–4) with I2 = 0%, 46.3 (0–16) with I2 = 73.8%, and 66.07 (0–48) I2 = 0%; the areas under the SROC curves were 0.95 (0–4), 0.93 (0–16), and 0.94 (0–48). These results indicated that the 0–4 scoring system has a higher specificity and a less heterogeneity than other systems, and could be used as a universal SGU diagnostic standard.
Mutational and phenotypic spectrum of phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency in Zhejiang Province, China
Authors: Chen Ting , Xu Weize , Wu Dingwen , Han Jiamin , Zhu Ling , Tong Fan , Yang Rulai , Zhao Zhengyan , Jiang Pingping , Shu Qiang 
Published: November 2018

AbstractPhenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency (PAHD), one of the genetic disorders resulting in hyperphenylalaninemia, has a complex phenotype with many variants and genotypes among different populations. Here, we describe the mutational and phenotypic spectrum of PAHD in a cohort of 420 patients from neonatal screening between 1999 and 2016. The observed phenotypes comprised 43.57% classic phenylketonuria, 33.10% mild PKU, and 23.33% mild hyperphenylalaninemia, with an overall PAHD incidence of 1 in 20,445. Genetic testing was performed for 209 patients and 72 variants including seven novel variants were identified. These included two synonymous and five pathogenic nonsynonymous variants (p.S36*, p.T186I, p.L255W, p.F302V and p.R413H). The most common variant among all patients was p.R243Q, followed by p.R241C, p.Y204C, p.R111* and c.442-1G > A. Variants p.R53H and p.F392I occurred only in MHP with 19.3% and 8.0% of the observed alleles respectively. The genotypes p.[R241C];[R243Q], p.[R243Q];[R243Q], and p.[Y204C];[R243Q] were abundant across all PAHD patients. The distributions of the null allele and the three defined genotypes, null/null, null/missense, and missense/missense, were significantly different between the cPKU and mPKU patients. However, no significant differences were found between mPKU and MHP patients, indicating that other modifier factors influence the phenotypic outcome in these patients. The data presented here will provide a valuable tool for improved genetic counseling and management of future cases of PAHD in China.
Craniofacial abnormality with skeletal dysplasia in mice lacking chondroitin sulfate N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-1
Authors: Ida-Yonemochi Hiroko , Morita Wataru , Sugiura Nobuo , Kawakami Ryosuke , Morioka Yuki , Takeuchi Yuka , Sato Toshiya , Shibata Shunichi , Watanabe Hideto , Imamura Takeshi , Igarashi Michihiro , Ohshima Hayato , Takeuchi Kosei 
Published: November 2018

AbstractChondroitin sulfate (CS) proteoglycan is a major component of the extracellular matrix and plays an important part in organogenesis. To elucidate the roles of CS for craniofacial development, we analyzed the craniofacial morphology in CSN-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-1 (T1) gene knockout (KO) mice. T1KO mice showed the impaired intramembranous ossification in the skull, and the final skull shape of adult mice included a shorter face, higher and broader calvaria. Some of T1KO mice exhibited severe facial developmental defect, such as eye defects and cleft lip and palate, causing embryonic lethality. At the postnatal stages, T1KO mice with severely reduced CS amounts showed malocclusion, general skeletal dysplasia and skin hyperextension, closely resembling Ehlers-Danlos syndrome-like connective tissue disorders. The production of collagen type 1 was significantly downregulated in T1KO mice, and the deposition of CS-binding molecules, Wnt3a, was decreased with CS in extracellular matrices. The collagen fibers were irregular and aggregated, and connective tissues were dysorganized in the skin and calvaria of T1KO mice. These results suggest that CS regulates the shape of the craniofacial skeleton by modulating connective tissue organization and that the remarkable reduction of CS induces hypoplasia of intramembranous ossification and cartilage anomaly, resulting in skeletal dysplasia.
Exogenously applied growth regulators protect the cotton crop from heat-induced injury by modulating plant defense mechanism
Authors: Sarwar Muhammad , Saleem Muhammad Farrukh , Ullah Najeeb , Rizwan Muhammad , Ali Shafaqat , Shahid Muhammad Rizwan , Alamri Saud A. , Alyemeni Mohammed Nasser , Ahmad Parvaiz 
Published: November 2018

AbstractEpisodes of extremely high temperature during reproductive stages of cotton crops are common in many parts of the world. Heat stress negatively influences plant growth, physiology and ultimately lint yield. This study attempts to modulate heat-induced damage to cotton crops via application of growth regulators e.g. hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 30ppm), salicylic acid (SA 50ppm), moringa leaf extract (MLE 30 times diluted) and ascorbic acid (ASA 70ppm). Cotton plants were exposed to different thermal regimes by staggering sowing time (field) or exposing to elevated temperatures (38/24 °C and 45/30 °C) for one week during reproductive growth stages (glasshouse). Elevated temperatures significantly induced lipid membrane damage, which was evident from an increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level in cotton leaves. Heat-stressed plants also experienced a significant reduction in leaf chlorophyll contents, net photosynthetic rate and lint yield. Hydrogen peroxide outclassed all the other regulators in increasing leaf SOD, CAT activity, chlorophyll contents, net photosynthetic rate, number of sympodial branches, boll weight and fiber quality components. For example, hydrogen peroxide improved boll weight of heat stressed plants by 32% (supra), 12% (sub) under glasshouse and 18% (supra) under field conditions compared with water treated plants under the same temperatures. Growth regulators, specifically, H2O2 protected physiological processes of cotton from heat-induced injury by capturing reactive oxygen species and modulating antioxidant enzymes. Thus, cotton performance in the future warmer climates may be improved through regulation (endogenous) or application (exogenous) hormones during reproductive phases.
Activation Stoichiometry and Pore Architecture of TRPA1 Probed with Channel Concatemers
Authors: Ye Wenlei , Tu Yu-Hsiang , Cooper Alexander J. , Zhang Zheng , Katritch Vsevolod , Liman Emily R. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe nociceptor ion channel TRPA1 detects a wide range of hazardous chemicals, including reactive electrophiles such as cinnamaldehyde, which gate the channel allowing Na+ and Ca2+ entry. TRPA1 assembles as a tetramer, with a central pore within which an aspartate residue (D918) determines Ca2+ permeability. Here, we report that introduction of histidine at this position, D918H, makes TRPA1 channels sensitive to block by nanomolar concentration of Zn2+ and can be used to functionally tag subunits in concatemers. Concatemers with increasing numbers of D918H subunits display increasing sensitivity to Zn2+ inhibition, indicating that the four side chains at position 918 of the tetramer directly coordinate Zn2+ and other permeating divalent cations. In the published structure of TRPA1, this requires a rearrangement of the pore region which may represent the true open state of the channel. Concatemeric channels containing subunits mutated to be insensitive to reactive electrophiles (C622S) could be activated by cinnamaldehyde when as few as two subunits contained intact ligand binding sites. Activation upon liganding of just two of the four possible subunits may represent an optimal strategy to rapidly and reliably detect noxious chemicals.
Understanding of metal-insulator transition in VO2 based on experimental and theoretical investigations of magnetic features
Authors: Zhang R. , Fu Q. S. , Yin C. Y. , Li C. L. , Chen X. H. , Qian G. Y. , Lu C. L. , Yuan S. L. , Zhao X. J. , Tao H. Z. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe metal-insulator transition temperature Tc in VO2 is experimentally shown to be almost the same as a magnetic transition temperature Tm characterized by an abrupt decrease in susceptibility, suggesting the evidence of the same underlying origin for both transitions. The measurement of susceptibility shows that it weakly increases on cooling for temperature range of T > Tm, sharply decreases near Tm and then unusually increases on further cooling. A theoretical approach for such unusual observations in susceptibility near Tm or below is performed by modeling electrons from each two adjacent V4+ ions distributed along V-chains as a two-electron system, which indicates that the spin exchange between electrons could cause a level splitting into a singlet (S = 0) level of lower energy and a triplet (S = 1) level of higher energy. The observed abrupt decrease in susceptibility near Tm is explained to be due to that the sample enters the singlet state in which two electrons from adjacent V4+ ions are paired into dimers in spin antiparallel. By considering paramagnetic contribution of unpaired electrons created by the thermal activation from singlet to triplet levels, an expression for susceptibility is proposed to quantitatively explain the unusual temperature-dependent susceptibility observed at low temperatures. Based on the approach to magnetic features, the observed metal-insulator transition is explained to be due to a transition from high-temperature Pauli paramagnetic metallic state of V4+ions to low-temperature dimerized state of strong electronic localization.