bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A nanodroplet cell processing platform facilitating drug synergy evaluations for anti-cancer treatments
Authors: Kuo Ching-Te , Wang Jong-Yueh , Lu Siang-Rong , Lai Yu-Sheng , Chang Hsiu-Hao , Hsieh Jer-Tsong , Wo Andrew M. , Chen Benjamin P. C. , Lu Jen-Her , Lee Hsinyu 
Published: July 2019

AbstractTherapeutic drug synergism intervened in cancer treatments has been demonstrated to be more effective than using a single effector. However, it remains inherently challenging, with a limited cell count from tumor samples, to achieve potent personalized drug cocktails. To address the issue above, we herein present a nanodroplet cell processing platform. The platform incorporates an automatic nanodroplet dispenser with cell array ParaStamp chips, which were fabricated by a new wax stamping approach derived from laser direct writing. Such approach enables not only the on-demand de-wetting with hydrophobic wax films on substrates but also the mask-less fabrication of non-planar microstructures (i.e. no photolithography process). The ParaStamp chip was pre-occupied with anti-cancer drugs and their associate mixtures, enabling for the spatially addressable screening of optimal drug combinations simultaneously. Each droplet with a critical volume of 200 nl containing with 100 cells was utilized. Results revealed that the optimal combination reduces approximate 28-folds of conducted doses compared with single drugs. Tumor inhibition with the optimally selected drug combination was further confirmed by using PC-3 tumor-bearing mouse models. Together, the nanodroplet cell processing platform could therefore offer new opportunities to power the personalized cancer medicine at early-stage drug screening and discovery.
Exposure to maternal obesity during suckling outweighs in utero exposure in programming for post-weaning adiposity and insulin resistance in rats
Authors: George Grace , Draycott Sally A. V. , Muir Ronan , Clifford Bethan , Elmes Matthew J. , Langley-Evans Simon C. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractExposure to maternal obesity during early development programmes adverse metabolic health in rodent offspring. We assessed the relative contributions of obesity during pregnancy and suckling on metabolic health post-weaning. Wistar rat offspring exposed to control (C) or cafeteria diet (O) during pregnancy were cross-fostered to dams on the same (CC, OO) or alternate diet during suckling (CO, OC) and weaned onto standard chow. Measures of offspring metabolic health included growth, adipose tissue mass, and 12-week glucose and insulin concentrations during an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (ipGTT). Exposure to maternal obesity during lactation was a driver for reduced offspring weight post-weaning, higher fasting blood glucose concentrations and greater gonadal adiposity (in females). Males displayed insulin resistance, through slower glucose clearance despite normal circulating insulin and lower mRNA expression of PIK3R1 and PIK3CB in gonadal fat and liver respectively. In contrast, maternal obesity during pregnancy up-regulated the insulin signalling genes IRS2, PIK3CB and SREBP1-c in skeletal muscle and perirenal fat, favouring insulin sensitivity. In conclusion exposure to maternal obesity during lactation programmes offspring adiposity and insulin resistance, overriding exposure to an optimal nutritional environment in utero, which cannot be alleviated by a nutritionally balanced post-weaning diet.
Embodiment into a robot increases its acceptability
Authors: Ventre-Dominey J. , Gibert G. , Bosse-Platiere M. , Farnè A. , Dominey P. F. , Pavani F. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractRecent studies have shown how embodiment induced by multisensory bodily interactions between individuals can positively change social attitudes (closeness, empathy, racial biases). Here we use a simple neuroscience-inspired procedure to beam our human subjects into one of two distinct robots and demonstrate how this can readily increase acceptability and social closeness to that robot. Participants wore a Head Mounted Display tracking their head movements and displaying the 3D visual scene taken from the eyes of a robot which was positioned in front of a mirror and piloted by the subjects’ head movements. As a result, participants saw themselves as a robot. When participant’ and robot’s head movements were correlated, participants felt that they were incorporated into the robot with a sense of agency. Critically, the robot they embodied was judged more likeable and socially closer. Remarkably, we found that the beaming experience with correlated head movements and corresponding sensation of embodiment and social proximity, was independent of robots’ humanoid’s appearance. These findings not only reveal the ease of body-swapping, via visual-motor synchrony, into robots that do not share any clear human resemblance, but they may also pave a new way to make our future robotic helpers socially acceptable.
Laser-driven shock compression of “synthetic planetary mixtures” of water, ethanol, and ammonia
Authors: Guarguaglini M. , Hernandez J.-A. , Okuchi T. , Barroso P. , Benuzzi-Mounaix A. , Bethkenhagen M. , Bolis R. , Brambrink E. , French M. , Fujimoto Y. , Kodama R. , Koenig M. , Lefevre F. , Miyanishi K. , Ozaki N. , Redmer R. , Sano T. , Umeda Y. , Vinci T. , Ravasio A. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractWater, methane, and ammonia are commonly considered to be the key components of the interiors of Uranus and Neptune. Modelling the planets’ internal structure, evolution, and dynamo heavily relies on the properties of the complex mixtures with uncertain exact composition in their deep interiors. Therefore, characterising icy mixtures with varying composition at planetary conditions of several hundred gigapascal and a few thousand Kelvin is crucial to improve our understanding of the ice giants. In this work, pure water, a water-ethanol mixture, and a water-ethanol-ammonia “synthetic planetary mixture” (SPM) have been compressed through laser-driven decaying shocks along their principal Hugoniot curves up to 270, 280, and 260 GPa, respectively. Measured temperatures spanned from 4000 to 25000 K, just above the coldest predicted adiabatic Uranus and Neptune profiles (3000–4000 K) but more similar to those predicted by more recent models including a thermal boundary layer (7000–14000 K). The experiments were performed at the GEKKO XII and LULI2000 laser facilities using standard optical diagnostics (Doppler velocimetry and optical pyrometry) to measure the thermodynamic state and the shock-front reflectivity at two different wavelengths. The results show that water and the mixtures undergo a similar compression path under single shock loading in agreement with Density Functional Theory Molecular Dynamics (DFT-MD) calculations using the Linear Mixing Approximation (LMA). On the contrary, their shock-front reflectivities behave differently by what concerns both the onset pressures and the saturation values, with possible impact on planetary dynamos.
Detection of replicative Kashmir Bee Virus and Black Queen Cell Virus in Asian hornet Vespa velutina (Lepelieter 1836) in Italy
Authors: Mazzei Maurizio , Cilia Giovanni , Forzan Mario , Lavazza Antonio , Mutinelli Franco , Felicioli Antonio 
Published: July 2019

AbstractInformation concerning the pathogenic role of honey bee viruses in invasive species are still scarce. The aim of this investigation was to assess the presence of several honey bee viruses, such as Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV), Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV), Slow Paralysis Virus (SPV), Sac Brood Virus (SBV), Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV), Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV), in Vespa velutina specimens collected in Italy during 2017. Results of this investigation indicate that among pathogens, replicative form of KBV and BQCV were detected, assessing the spillover effect of both these viruses from managed honey bees to hornets.
Sub-Poissonian photon statistics in quantum dot-metal nanoparticles hybrid system with gain media
Authors: Wang Yujing , Ye Han , Yu Zhongyuan , Liu Yumin , Xu Wenbin 
Published: July 2019

AbstractIn this paper, we theoretically demonstrate the sub-Poissonian photon statistics in gain-assisted quantum dot-metal nanoparticles (QD-MNPs) hybrid system with nanoscale footprint. The gain media is introduced to reduce the dissipation of localized surface plasmons and consequently the quality factor of MNPs is improved by adjusting the gain coefficient. Simulated by finite element method (FEM), the Fano resonance is observed in the absorption cross section spectrum of the hybrid system. Considering MNPs and gain media together as a single mode cavity, the system is investigated within the framework of cavity quantum electrodynamics by fitting necessary parameters with FEM. The numerical results show that the coupling between QD and MNPs falls in strong coupling regime and zero delay second-order autocorrelation function g2(0) = 0.356 can be achieved with proper choice of gain coefficient. Moreover, the sub-Poissonian photon statistics can be maintained in a large variation range of gain coefficient and a certain degree of detuning between QD and cavity is allowed.
Construction, Expression and Evaluation of Recombinant VP2 Protein for serotype-independent Detection of FMDV Seropositive Animals in Egypt
Authors: Salem Reda , El-Kholy Alaa A. , Omar Omar A. , Abu el-naga Mohamed N. , Ibrahim Mohamed , Osman Gamal 
Published: July 2019

AbstractFoot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is one of the most devastating viral pathogens of cloven-hoofed animals. The detection of antibodies (Ab) against FMDV structural proteins (SP) using virus neutralization test (VNT) and liquid-phase blocking ELISA (LPBE) is the standard procedure in use for monitoring seroconversion in animals post vaccination, the prevalence of infection-surveillance, proving clinical cases and seronegative status of FMDV-free/naïve-animals prior transportation. However, due to variations within SP of FMDV serotypes, each serotype-specific Ab should be detected separately which is laborious and time-consuming. Accordingly, it is crucial to develop a sensitive, rapid, and accurate test capable of detecting FMDV-specific Ab, regardless its serotype. This study describes the heterologous expression of VP2 protein in E. coli, and its evaluation as a capture antigen in a simple indirect ELISA for serotype-independent detection of anti-FMDV Ab. Sequence analysis revealed that the VP2-coding sequence is considerably conserved among FMDV serotypes. The recombinant VP2 (rVP2), a 22 kDa polypeptide, was purified to near homogeneity by affinity chromatography under native conditions. Immunoreactivity of the rVP2 was confirmed by using a panel of positive sera including sera from animals vaccinated with the local trivalent vaccine and guinea pig FMDV antiserum, which is routinely used as tracing/detecting Ab in LPBE testing. The results obtained from the VP2-based ELISA were comparable to those determined by VNT and LPBE standard diagnostic assays. Specificity and sensitivity of rVP2 in capturing anti-FMDV Ab were 98.3% and 100%, respectively. The developed VP2-ELISA is proved reliable and time-efficient assay for detection of FMDV seropositive animals, regardless the FMDV serotype that can be implemented in a combination with VNT and/or LPBE for rapid diagnosis of an ongoing FMDV infection.
Noninvasive Sweat-Lactate Biosensor Emplsoying a Hydrogel-Based Touch Pad
Authors: Nagamine Kuniaki , Mano Taisei , Nomura Ayako , Ichimura Yusuke , Izawa Ryota , Furusawa Hiroyuki , Matsui Hiroyuki , Kumaki Daisuke , Tokito Shizuo 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThis study is the first report demonstrating proof-of-concept for a hydrogel-based touch sensor pad used for the non-invasive extraction and detection of sweat components. The sensor device was composed of an electrochemical L-lactate biosensor covered with an agarose gel in a phosphate buffer saline. When human skin contacts the agarose gel, L-lactate in sweat was continuously extracted into the gel, followed by in-situ potentiometric detection without controlled conditions. This novel type of sweat sensor is expected to enable the simple, non-invasive daily periodic monitoring of sweat biomarkers for advanced personal healthcare methods in the future.
A hybrid Forecast Cost Benefit Classification of diabetes mellitus prevalence based on epidemiological study on Real-life patient’s data
Authors: Sohail Muhammad Noman , Jiadong Ren , Uba Musa Muhammad , Irshad Muhammad , Iqbal Wasim , Arshad Jehangir , John Antony Verghese 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe increasing ratio of diabetes is found risky across the planet. Therefore, the diagnosis is important in population with extreme risk of diabetes. In this study, a decision-making classifier (J48) is applied over a data-mining platform (Weka) to measure accuracy and linear regression on classification results to forecast cost/benefit ratio in diabetes mellitus patients along with prevalence. In total 108 invasive and non-invasive medical features are considered from 251 patients for assessment, and the real-time data are gathered from Pakistan over a time span of June 2017 to April 2018. The results indicate that J48 classifiers achieved the best accuracy of (99.28%), whereas, error rate (0.08%), Kappa stats, PRC, and MCC are (0.98%), precision, recall, and F-matrix are (0.99%). In addition, true positive rate is (0.99%) and false positive is (0.08%). The regression forecast decision indicates blood pressure and glucose level are key features for diabetes. The cost/benefit matrix indicates two predictions for positive test with accuracy (66.68%) and (30.60%), and key attributes with total Gain (118.13%). The study confirmed the proposed prediction is practical for screening of diabetes mellitus patients at the initial stage without invasive medical tests and found effectual in the early diagnosis of diabetes.
A behavior-based drug screening system using a Caenorhabditis elegans model of motor neuron disease
Authors: Ikenaka Kensuke , Tsukada Yuki , Giles Andrew C. , Arai Tadamasa , Nakadera Yasuhito , Nakano Shunji , Kawai Kaori , Mochizuki Hideki , Katsuno Masahisa , Sobue Gen , Mori Ikue 
Published: July 2019

AbstractAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons, for which there is no effective treatment. Previously, we generated a Caenorhabditis elegans model of ALS, in which the expression of dnc-1, the homologous gene of human dynactin-1, is knocked down (KD) specifically in motor neurons. This dnc-1 KD model showed progressive motor defects together with axonal and neuronal degeneration, as observed in ALS patients. In the present study, we established a behavior-based, automated, and quantitative drug screening system using this dnc-1 KD model together with Multi-Worm Tracker (MWT), and tested whether 38 candidate neuroprotective compounds could improve the mobility of the dnc-1 KD animals. We found that 12 compounds, including riluzole, which is an approved medication for ALS patients, ameliorated the phenotype of the dnc-1 KD animals. Nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, most robustly ameliorated the motor deficits as well as axonal degeneration of dnc-1 KD animals. Nifedipine also ameliorated the motor defects of other motor neuronal degeneration models of C. elegans, including dnc-1 mutants and human TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa overexpressing worms. Our results indicate that dnc-1 KD in C. elegans is a useful model for the screening of drugs against motor neuron degeneration, and that MWT is a powerful tool for the behavior-based screening of drugs.
LC3-positive structures are prominent in autophagy-deficient cells
Authors: Runwal Gautam , Stamatakou Eleanna , Siddiqi Farah H. , Puri Claudia , Zhu Ye , Rubinsztein David C. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractAutophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process across eukaryotes that degrades cargoes like aggregate-prone proteins, pathogens, damaged organelles and macromolecules via delivery to lysosomes. The process involves the formation of double-membraned autophagosomes that engulf the cargoes destined for degradation, sometimes with the help of autophagy receptors like p62, which are themselves autophagy substrates. LC3-II, a standard marker for autophagosomes, is generated by the conjugation of cytosolic LC3-I to phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) on the surface of nascent autophagosomes. As LC3-II is relatively specifically associated with autophagosomes and autolysosomes (in the absence of conditions stimulating LC3-associated phagocytosis), quantification of LC3-positive puncta is considered as a gold-standard assay for assessing the numbers of autophagosomes in cells. Here we find that the endogenous LC3-positive puncta become larger in cells where autophagosome formation is abrogated, and are prominent even when LC3-II is not formed. This occurs even with transient and incomplete inhibition of autophagosome biogenesis. This phenomenon is due to LC3-I sequestration to p62 aggregates, which accumulate when autophagy is impaired. This observation questions the reliability of LC3-immunofluorescence assays in cells with compromised autophagy.
Passively Q-switched Ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on broadband multilayer Platinum Ditelluride (PtTe2) saturable absorber
Authors: Cheng Ping Kwong , Tang Chun Yin , Wang Xin Yu , Ma Sainan , Long Hui , Tsang Yuen Hong 
Published: July 2019

AbstractTwo-dimensional (2D) layered Platinum Ditelluride (PtTe2), a novel candidate of group 10 transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), which provides enormous potential for pulsed laser applications due to its highly stable and strong nonlinear optical absorption (NOA) properties. PtTe2 saturable absorber (SA) is successfully fabricated with firstly demonstrated the passively Q-switched laser operation within a Yb-doped fiber laser cavity at 1066 nm. Few layered PtTe2 is produced by uncomplicated and cost-efficient ultrasonic liquid exfoliation and follow by incorporating into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer to form a PtTe2-PVA composite thin film saturable absorber. The highest achieved single pulse energy is 74.0 nJ corresponding to pulse duration, repetition rate and average output power of 5.2 μs, 33.5 kHz and 2.48 mW, respectively. This work has further exploited the immeasurable utilization potential of the air stable and broadband group 10 TMDs for ultrafast photonic applications.
Room temperature continuous-wave excited biexciton emission in perovskite nanoplatelets via plasmonic nonlinear fano resonance
Authors: Chen Jie , Zhang Qing , Shi Jia , Zhang Shuai , Du Wenna , Mi Yang , Shang Qiuyu , Liu Pengchong , Sui Xinyu , Wu Xianxin , Wang Rui , Peng Bo , Zhong Haizheng , Xing Guichuan , Qiu Xiaohui , Sum Tze Chien , Liu Xinfeng 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBiexcitons are a manifestation of many-body excitonic interactions, which are crucial for quantum information and computation in the construction of coherent combinations of quantum states. However, due to their small binding energy and low transition efficiency, most biexcitons in conventional semiconductors exist either at cryogenic temperatures or under femto-second pulse laser excitation. Herein, we demonstrated strong biexciton emissions from CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets with continuous-wave excitation at room temperature by coupling them with a plasmonic nanogap. The exciton occupancy required to generate biexciton was reduced ~106 times in the Ag nanowire–Ag film nanogaps. The extremely large enhancement of biexciton emissions was driven by nonlinear Fano resonance between biexcitons and surface plasmon cavity modes. These results provide new pathways to develop high efficiency non-blinking single photon sources of biexciton (with spectral filter for biexciton), entangled light sources, and lasers based on biexciton states.
The role of PTB domain containing adaptor proteins on PICALM-mediated APP endocytosis and localization
Authors: Merthan Lisa , Haller Amelie , Thal Dietmar R. , von Einem Bjoern , von Arnim Christine A.F. 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
One hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the presence of amyloid plaques, which mainly consist of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage product amyloid β (Aβ). For cleavage to occur, the APP must be endocytosed from the cell surface. The phosphatidylinositol binding clathrin assembly protein (PICALM) is involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis and polymorphisms in and near the gene locus were identified as genetic risk factors for AD. PICALM overexpression enhances APP internalization and Aβ production. Furthermore, PICALM shuttles into the nucleus, but its function within the nucleus is still unknown. Using co-immunoprecipitation, we demonstrated an interaction between PICALM and APP, which is abrogated by mutation of the APP NPXY-motif. Since the NPXY-motif is an internalization signal that binds to phosphotryrosine-binding domain-containing adaptor proteins (PTB-APs), we hypothesized that PTB-APs can modulate the APP-PICALM interaction. We found that interaction between PICALM and the PTB-APs (Numb, JIP1b and GULP1) enhances the APP-PICALM interaction. Fluorescence activated cell sorting analysis and internalization assays revealed differentially altered APP cell surface levels and endocytosis rates that depended upon the presence of PICALM and co-expression of distinct PTB-APs. Additionally, we were able to show an impact of PICALM nuclear shuttling upon co-expression of PTB-APs and PICALM, with the magnitude of the effect depending on which PTB-AP was co-expressed. Taken together, our results indicate a modulating effect of PTB-APs on PICALM-mediated APP endocytosis and localization.
Supplementary frequency control in power systems via decentralised V2G/G2V support
Authors: Gamit Mitul , Shukla Akanksha , Kumar Rajesh , Verma Kusum 
Published: July 2019

One of the smartest evolution in the electrical power system is the integration of various renewable sources. It is an effective way to cater consumers growing power demands. The intermittency issues in renewable sources may lead to generation and demand imbalance. This imbalance creates various issues like frequency fluctuations, voltage variation, power quality problem and so on. This study proposes a method to reduce the frequency deviation. More the electric vehicles (EVs) in this system, then more the mobile storage devices for vehicle to grid (V2G). The charging/discharging rates of EVs are controlled as per the regulation signal coming from the system operator. The proposed scheme has been simulated using the frequency regulation data acquired from PJM. The proposed algorithm controls the total charging/discharging power based on the regulation signal and this is used to modify the charging/discharging rates of EVs. The result shows a better performance during grid to vehicle (G2V), at time 20:00 the regulation signal is −650 kW and it fully met by EVs. However, during V2G the performance is quite good, at time 08:00 the regulation signal is 800 kW and EVs meet only 180 kW due to less number of EVs for discharging.