bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Release of Staphylococcus aureus extracellular vesicles and their application as a vaccine platform
Authors: Wang Xiaogang , Thompson Christopher D. , Weidenmaier Christopher , Lee Jean C. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractSecretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs), a process common to eukaryotes, archae, and bacteria, represents a secretory pathway that allows cell-free intercellular communication. Microbial EVs package diverse proteins and influence the host-pathogen interaction, but the mechanisms underlying EV production in Gram-positive bacteria are poorly understood. Here we show that EVs purified from community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus package cytosolic, surface, and secreted proteins, including cytolysins. Staphylococcal alpha-type phenol-soluble modulins promote EV biogenesis by disrupting the cytoplasmic membrane; whereas, peptidoglycan cross-linking and autolysin activity modulate EV production by altering the permeability of the cell wall. We demonstrate that EVs purified from a S. aureus mutant that is genetically engineered to express detoxified cytolysins are immunogenic in mice, elicit cytolysin-neutralizing antibodies, and protect the animals in a lethal sepsis model. Our study reveals mechanisms underlying S. aureus EV production and highlights the usefulness of EVs as a S. aureus vaccine platform.
Characterization of PIK3CA and PIK3R1 somatic mutations in Chinese breast cancer patients
Authors: Chen Li , Yang Liu , Yao Ling , Kuang Xia-Ying , Zuo Wen-Jia , Li Shan , Qiao Feng , Liu Yi-Rong , Cao Zhi-Gang , Zhou Shu-Ling , Zhou Xiao-Yan , Yang Wen-Tao , Shi Jin-Xiu , Huang Wei , Hu Xin , Shao Zhi-Ming 
Published: April 2018

AbstractDeregulation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway contributes to the development and progression of tumors. Here, we determine that somatic mutations in PIK3CA (44%), PIK3R1 (17%), AKT3 (15%), and PTEN (12%) are prevalent and diverse in Chinese breast cancer patients, with 60 novel mutations identified. A high proportion of tumors harbors multiple mutations, especially PIK3CA plus PIK3R1 mutations (9.0%). Next, we develop a recombination-based mutation barcoding (ReMB) library for impactful mutations conferring clonal advantage in proliferation and drug responses. The highest-ranking PIK3CA and PIK3R1 mutations include previously reported deleterious mutations, as well as mutations with unknown significance. These PIK3CA and PIK3R1 impactful mutations exhibit a mutually exclusive pattern, leading to oncogenesis and hyperactivity of PI3K pathway. The PIK3CA impactful mutations are tightly associated with hormone receptor positivity. Collectively, these findings advance our understanding of PI3K impactful mutations in breast cancer and have important implications for PI3K-targeted therapy in precision oncology.
Computer-aided discovery of a metal–organic framework with superior oxygen uptake
Authors: Moghadam Peyman Z. , Islamoglu Timur , Goswami Subhadip , Exley Jason , Fantham Marcus , Kaminski Clemens F. , Snurr Randall Q. , Farha Omar K. , Fairen-Jimenez David 
Published: April 2018

AbstractCurrent advances in materials science have resulted in the rapid emergence of thousands of functional adsorbent materials in recent years. This clearly creates multiple opportunities for their potential application, but it also creates the following challenge: how does one identify the most promising structures, among the thousands of possibilities, for a particular application? Here, we present a case of computer-aided material discovery, in which we complete the full cycle from computational screening of metal–organic framework materials for oxygen storage, to identification, synthesis and measurement of oxygen adsorption in the top-ranked structure. We introduce an interactive visualization concept to analyze over 1000 unique structure–property plots in five dimensions and delimit the relationships between structural properties and oxygen adsorption performance at different pressures for 2932 already-synthesized structures. We also report a world-record holding material for oxygen storage, UMCM-152, which delivers 22.5% more oxygen than the best known material to date, to the best of our knowledge.
Matrix stiffness controls lymphatic vessel formation through regulation of a GATA2-dependent transcriptional program
Authors: Frye Maike , Taddei Andrea , Dierkes Cathrin , Martinez-Corral Ines , Fielden Matthew , Ortsäter Henrik , Kazenwadel Jan , Calado Dinis P. , Ostergaard Pia , Salminen Marjo , He Liqun , Harvey Natasha L. , Kiefer Friedemann , Mäkinen Taija 
Published: April 2018

AbstractTissue and vessel wall stiffening alters endothelial cell properties and contributes to vascular dysfunction. However, whether extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness impacts vascular development is not known. Here we show that matrix stiffness controls lymphatic vascular morphogenesis. Atomic force microscopy measurements in mouse embryos reveal that venous lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) progenitors experience a decrease in substrate stiffness upon migration out of the cardinal vein, which induces a GATA2-dependent transcriptional program required to form the first lymphatic vessels. Transcriptome analysis shows that LECs grown on a soft matrix exhibit increased GATA2 expression and a GATA2-dependent upregulation of genes involved in cell migration and lymphangiogenesis, including VEGFR3. Analyses of mouse models demonstrate a cell-autonomous function of GATA2 in regulating LEC responsiveness to VEGF-C and in controlling LEC migration and sprouting in vivo. Our study thus uncovers a mechanism by which ECM stiffness dictates the migratory behavior of LECs during early lymphatic development.
Spin-lattice decoupling in a triangular-lattice quantum spin liquid
Authors: Isono Takayuki , Sugiura Shiori , Terashima Taichi , Miyagawa Kazuya , Kanoda Kazushi , Uji Shinya 
Published: April 2018

AbstractA quantum spin liquid (QSL) is an exotic state of matter in condensed-matter systems, where the electron spins are strongly correlated, but conventional magnetic orders are suppressed down to zero temperature because of strong quantum fluctuations. One of the most prominent features of a QSL is the presence of fractionalized spin excitations, called spinons. Despite extensive studies, the nature of the spinons is still highly controversial. Here we report magnetocaloric-effect measurements on an organic spin-1/2 triangular-lattice antiferromagnet, showing that electron spins are decoupled from a lattice in a QSL state. The decoupling phenomena support the gapless nature of spin excitations. We further find that as a magnetic field is applied away from a quantum critical point, the number of spin states that interact with lattice vibrations is strongly reduced, leading to weak spin–lattice coupling. The results are compared with a model of a strongly correlated QSL near a quantum critical point.
Asymmetric ommatidia count and behavioural lateralization in the ant Temnothorax albipennis
Authors: Hunt Edmund R. , Dornan Ciara , Sendova-Franks Ana B. , Franks Nigel R. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractWorkers of the house-hunting ant Temnothorax albipennis rely on visual edge following and landmark recognition to navigate their rocky environment, and they also exhibit a leftward turning bias when exploring unknown nest sites. We used electron microscopy to count the number of ommatidia composing the compound eyes of workers, males and queens, to make an approximate assessment of their relative sampling resolution; and to establish whether there is an asymmetry in the number of ommatidia composing the workers’ eyes, which might provide an observable, mechanistic explanation for the turning bias. We hypothesise that even small asymmetries in relative visual acuity between left and right eyes could be magnified by developmental experience into a symmetry-breaking turning preference that results in the inferior eye pointing toward the wall. Fifty-six workers were examined: 45% had more ommatidia in the right eye, 36% more in the left, and 20% an equal number. A tentative connection between relative ommatidia count for each eye and turning behaviour was identified, with a stronger assessment of behavioural lateralization before imaging and a larger sample suggested for further work. There was a clear sexual dimorphism in ommatidia counts between queens and males.
Detector-device-independent quantum secret sharing with source flaws
Authors: Yang Xiuqing , Wei Kejin , Ma Haiqiang , Liu Hongwei , Yin Zhenqiang , Cao Zhu , Wu Lingan 
Published: April 2018

AbstractMeasurement-device-independent entanglement witness (MDI-EW) plays an important role for detecting entanglement with untrusted measurement device. We present a double blinding-attack on a quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocol based on GHZ state. Using the MDI-EW method, we propose a QSS protocol against all detector side-channels. We allow source flaws in practical QSS system, so that Charlie can securely distribute a key between the two agents Alice and Bob over long distances. Our protocol provides condition on the extracted key rate for the secret against both external eavesdropper and arbitrary dishonest participants. A tight bound for collective attacks can provide good bounds on the practical QSS with source flaws. Then we show through numerical simulations that using single-photon source a secure QSS over 136 km can be achieved.
Higher leukocyte count predicts 3-month poor outcome of ruptured cerebral aneurysms
Authors: Yao Pei-Sen , Chen Guo-Rong , Xie Xue-Ling , Shang-Guan Huang-Cheng , Gao Jin-Zhen , Lin Yuan-Xiang , Zheng Shu-Fa , Lin Zhang-Ya , Kang De-Zhi 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIt is not fully established whether leukocyte can predict the poor outcome for ruptured cerebral aneurysms (CA) or not. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 428 patients with ruptured CA between 2010 and 2015. Patients’ demographic data, including gender, age, history of smoking, alcohol, hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, Hunt-Hess and Fisher grade, occurrence of hydrocephalus, aneurysm location, time to surgery, delayed ischemic neurological deficit (DIND) and peak leukocyte of blood test from day 1 to 3 after aneurysmal rupture were recorded and analyzed. In the multivariable analysis model, gender, Fisher grade, time to surgery and hydrocephalus were not relevant to poor outcome. However, Hunt-Hess grade, DIND and preoperative leukocyte count (>13.84 × 109/L) were significantly associated with adverse outcome. The respective increased risks were 5.2- (OR 5.24, 95% CI 1.67–16.50, p = 0.005), 6.2-(OR 6.24, 95% CI 3.55–10.99, p < 0.001) and 10.9-fold (OR 10.93, 95% CI 5.98–19.97, p < 0.001). The study revealed that Hunt-Hess grade, DIND and preoperative leukocyte count (>13.84 × 109/L) were independent risk factors for poor outcome of ruptured CA at 3 months. Higher leukocyte count is a convenient and useful marker to predict 3-month poor outcome for ruptured CA.
A Hyphenated Preconcentrator-Infrared-Hollow-Waveguide Sensor System for N2O Sensing
Authors: da Silveira Petruci João Flavio , Wilk Andreas , Cardoso Arnaldo Alves , Mizaikoff Boris 
Published: April 2018

AbstractFollowing the Kyoto protocol, all signatory countries must provide an annual inventory of greenhouse-gas emission including N2O. This fact associated with the wide variety of sources for N2O emissions requires appropriate sensor technologies facilitating in-situ monitoring, compact dimensions, ease of operation, and sufficient sensitivity for addressing such emission scenarios. In this contribution, we therefore describe an innovative portable mid-infrared chemical sensor system for quantifying gaseous N2O via coupling a substrate-integrated hollow waveguide (iHWG) simultaneously serving as highly miniaturized mid-infrared photon conduit and gas cell to a custom-made preconcentrator. N2O was collected onto a solid sorbent material packed into the preconcentrator unit, and then released via thermal desorption into the iHWG-MIR sensor utilizing a compact Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer for molecularly selective spectroscopic detection with a limit of detection (LOD) at 5 ppbv. Highlighting the device flexibility in terms of sampling time, flow-rate, and iHWG design facilitates tailoring the developed preconcentrator-iHWG device towards a wide variety of application scenarios ranging from soil and aquatic emission monitoring and drone- or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-mounted monitoring systems to clinical/medical analysis scenarios.
Potential Reporting Bias in Neuroimaging Studies of Sex Differences
Authors: David Sean P. , Naudet Florian , Laude Jennifer , Radua Joaquim , Fusar-Poli Paolo , Chu Isabella , Stefanick Marcia L. , Ioannidis John P. A. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractNumerous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported sex differences. To empirically evaluate for evidence of excessive significance bias in this literature, we searched for published fMRI studies of human brain to evaluate sex differences, regardless of the topic investigated, in Medline and Scopus over 10 years. We analyzed the prevalence of conclusions in favor of sex differences and the correlation between study sample sizes and number of significant foci identified. In the absence of bias, larger studies (better powered) should identify a larger number of significant foci. Across 179 papers, median sample size was n = 32 (interquartile range 23-47.5). A median of 5 foci related to sex differences were reported (interquartile range, 2-9.5). Few articles (n = 2) had titles focused on no differences or on similarities (n = 3) between sexes. Overall, 158 papers (88%) reached “positive” conclusions in their abstract and presented some foci related to sex differences. There was no statistically significant relationship between sample size and the number of foci (−0.048% increase for every 10 participants, p = 0.63). The extremely high prevalence of “positive” results and the lack of the expected relationship between sample size and the number of discovered foci reflect probable reporting bias and excess significance bias in this literature.
Up-conversion luminescence, temperature sensing properties and laser-induced heating effect of Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped YNbO4 phosphors under 1550 nm excitation
Authors: Wang Xin , Li Xiangping , Zhong Hua , Xu Sai , Cheng Lihong , Sun Jiashi , Zhang Jinsu , Li Lei , Chen Baojiu 
Published: April 2018

AbstractYNbO4 phosphors with various Er3+ and Yb3+ concentrations were synthesized via a traditional high-temperature solid-state reaction method. Their crystal structure was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinements, and it was confirmed that the obtained samples exist in monoclinic phase. The Er3+ and Yb3+ concentration-dependent up-conversion (UC) luminescence was studied under 1550 nm excitation. By inspecting the dependence of UC intensity on the laser working current, it was found that four-photon and three-photon population processes were co-existent for generating the green UC emissions in the samples with higher Yb3+ concentrations. In addition, it was observed that the temperature sensing properties of YNbO4: Er3+/Yb3+ phosphors were sensitive to both Er3+ and Yb3+ doping concentrations. Furthermore, based on the obtained temperature response of the UC luminescence phosphors, 1550 nm laser-irradiation-induced thermal effect was studied, and it was discovered that the sample temperature was very sensitive to the doping concentrations of Er3+ and Yb3+ and the excitation power.
CD4 T cell autophagy is integral to memory maintenance
Authors: Murera Diane , Arbogast Florent , Arnold Johan , Bouis Delphine , Muller Sylviane , Gros Frédéric 
Published: April 2018

AbstractStudies of mice deficient for autophagy in T cells since thymic development, concluded that autophagy is integral to mature T cell homeostasis. Basal survival and functional impairmentsin vivo, limited the use of these models to delineate the role of autophagy during the immune response. We generatedAtg5f/fdistal Lck (dLck)-cre mice, with deletion of autophagy only at a mature stage. In this model, autophagy deficiency impacts CD8+T cell survival but has no influence on CD4+T cell number and short-term activation. Moreover, autophagy in T cells is dispensable during early humoral response but critical for long-term antibody production. Autophagy in CD4+T cells is required to transfer humoral memory as shown by injection of antigen-experienced cells in naive mice. We also observed a selection of autophagy-competent cells in the CD4+T cell memory compartment. We performedin vitrodifferentiation of memory CD4+T cells, to better characterize autophagy-deficient memory cells. We identified mitochondrial and lipid load defects in differentiated memory CD4+T cells, together with a compromised survival, without any collapse of energy production. We then propose that memory CD4+T cells rely on autophagy for their survival to regulate toxic effects of mitochondrial activity and lipid overload.
Myotube elasticity of an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse model
Authors: Varga Béla , Martin-Fernandez Marta , Hilaire Cécile , Sanchez-Vicente Ana , Areias Julie , Salsac Céline , Cuisinier Frédéric J. G. , Raoul Cédric , Scamps Frédérique , Gergely Csilla 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor system leading to generalized paralysis and death of patients. The understanding of early pathogenic mechanisms will help to define early diagnostics criteria that will eventually provide basis for efficient therapeutics. Early symptoms of ALS usually include muscle weakness or stiffness. Therefore, mechanical response of differentiated myotubes from primary cultures of mice, expressing the ALS-causing SOD1
G93A
mutation, was examined by atomic force microscopy. Simultaneous acquisition of topography and cell elasticity of ALS myotubes was performed by force mapping method, compared with healthy myotubes and supplemented with immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR studies. Wild type myotubes reveal a significant difference in elasticity between a narrow and a wide population, consistent with maturation occurring with higher actin expression relative to myosin together with larger myotube width. However, this is not true for SOD1
G93A
expressing myotubes, where a significant shift of thin population towards higher elastic modulus values was observed. We provide evidence that SOD1 mutant induces structural changes that occurs very early in muscle development and well before symptomatic stage of the disease. These findings could significantly contribute to the understanding of the role of skeletal muscle in ALS pathogenesis.
Hidden complexity in the ontogeny of sexual size dimorphism in male-larger beetles
Authors: Vendl Tomáš , Šípek Petr , Kouklík Ondřej , Kratochvíl Lukáš 
Published: April 2018

AbstractSexual size dimorphism (SSD) is widespread among animals, but its developmental mechanisms are not fully undestood. We investigated the proximate causes of SSD in three male-larger and one monomorphic scarab beetles using detailed monitoring of growth in individual instars. Apart from the finding that SSD in all three male-larger species started to develop already in the first larval instar, we generally found a high variability in SSD formation among the species as well as among instars. Overall, sexual differences in developmental time, average growth rate, as well as in the shape of the growth trajectory seem to be the mechanisms responsible for SSD ontogeny in scarab beetles. In the third instar, when the larvae attain most of their mass, the males had a similar or even lower instantaneous growth rate than females and SSD largely developed as a consequence of a longer period of rapid growth in males even in cases when the sexes did not differ in the total duration of this instar. Our results demonstrate that a detailed approach, examining not only the average growth rate and developmental time, but also the shape of the growth trajectory, is necessary to elucidate the complex development of SSD.
Comprehensive Modeling of Multimode Fiber Sensors for Refractive Index Measurement and Experimental Validation
Authors: Apriyanto Haris , Ravet Gautier , Bernal Olivier D. , Cattoen Michel , Seat Han Cheng , Chavagnac Valérie , Surre Frederic , Sharp James H. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractWe propose and develop a comprehensive model for estimating the refractive index (RI) response over three potential sensing zones in a multimode fiber. The model has been developed based on a combined ray optics, Gaussian beam, and wave optics analysis coupled to the consideration of the injected interrogating lightwave characteristics and validated experimentally through the realization of three sensors with different lengths of stripped cladding sections as the sensing region. The experimental results highly corroborate and validate the simulation output from the model for the three RI sensing zones. The sensors can be employed over a very wide dynamic RI range from 1.316 to over 1.608 at a wavelength of 1550 nm, with the best resolution of 2.2406 × 10−5 RI unit (RIU) obtained in Zone II for a 1-cm sensor length.
Rapid isolation and enrichment of extracellular vesicle preparations using anion exchange chromatography
Authors: Heath Nikki , Grant Lois , De Oliveira Taiana Maia , Rowlinson Rachel , Osteikoetxea Xabier , Dekker Niek , Overman Ross 
Published: April 2018

AbstractExtracellular vesicles (EVs) have important roles in physiology, pathology, and more recently have been identified as efficient carriers of therapeutic cargoes. For efficient study of EVs, a single-step, rapid and scalable isolation strategy is necessary. Chromatography techniques are widely used for isolation of biological material for clinical applications and as EVs have a net negative charge, anion exchange chromatography (AIEX) is a strong candidate for column based EV isolation. We isolated EVs by AIEX and compared them to EVs isolated by ultracentrifugation (UC) and tangential flow filtration (TFF). EVs isolated by AIEX had comparable yield, EV marker presence, size and morphology to those isolated by UC and had decreased protein and debris contamination as compared to TFF purified EVs. An improved AIEX protocol allowing for higher flow rates and step elution isolated 2.4*1011 EVs from 1 litre of cell culture supernatant within 3 hours and removed multiple contaminating proteins. Importantly AIEX isolated EVs from different cell lines including HEK293T, H1299, HCT116 and Expi293F cells. The AIEX protocol described here can be used to isolate and enrich intact EVs in a rapid and scalable manner and shows great promise for further use in the field for both research and clinical purposes.
An Automatic Diagnosis Method of Facial Acne Vulgaris Based on Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Shen Xiaolei , Zhang Jiachi , Yan Chenjun , Zhou Hong 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIn this paper, we present a new automatic diagnosis method for facial acne vulgaris which is based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). To overcome the shortcomings of previous methods which were the inability to classify enough types of acne vulgaris. The core of our method is to extract features of images based on CNNs and achieve classification by classifier. A binary-classifier of skin-and-non-skin is used to detect skin area and a seven-classifier is used to achieve the classification task of facial acne vulgaris and healthy skin. In the experiments, we compare the effectiveness of our CNN and the VGG16 neural network which is pre-trained on the ImageNet data set. We use a ROC curve to evaluate the performance of binary-classifier and use a normalized confusion matrix to evaluate the performance of seven-classifier. The results of our experiments show that the pre-trained VGG16 neural network is effective in extracting features from facial acne vulgaris images. And the features are very useful for the follow-up classifiers. Finally, we try applying the classifiers both based on the pre-trained VGG16 neural network to assist doctors in facial acne vulgaris diagnosis.