bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Once-monthly paliperidone palmitate compared with conventional and atypical daily oral antipsychotic treatment in patients with schizophrenia
Authors: Kim Edward , Correll Christoph U. , Mao Lian , Starr H. Lynn , Alphs Larry 
Published: September 2016

ObjectiveThis analysis of the Paliperidone Palmitate Research in Demonstrating Effectiveness (PRIDE) study (NCT01157351) compared outcomes after administration of once-monthly paliperidone palmitate (PP) vs conventional oral antipsychotics (COAs) or atypical oral antipsychotics (AOAs).MethodsPRIDE was a 15-month study of 444 individuals with schizophrenia and a history of incarceration. They were randomly assigned to PP or to 1 of 7 commonly prescribed OAs. Primary endpoint was time to first treatment failure (TF). Event-free probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method; treatment group differences (PP vs COAs, PP vs AOAs, and PP vs oral paliperidone/risperidone) were assessed using a log-rank test. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. No adjustment was made for multiplicity.ResultsCompared with PP, risk for first TF was 34% higher with COAs (HR: 1.34; 95% CI: 0.80–2.25), 41% higher with AOAs (HR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06–1.88), and 39% higher with paliperidone/risperidone (HR: 1.39; 95% CI: 0.97–1.99). Incidences of extrapyramidal symptom–related adverse events (AEs) were 45.7%, 13.7%, and 10.6% in the COA, AOA, and oral paliperidone/risperidone groups vs 23.9% in the PP group. Incidences of prolactin-related AEs were 5.7%, 3.8%, and 3.5% vs 23.5%, and incidences of ≥7% weight increase were 11.4%, 14.9%, and 16.0% vs 32.4%.ConclusionsResults suggest a lower risk of TF but a higher rate of some AEs after treatment with PP vs COAs, AOAs, and paliperidone/risperidone. Deselection of specific OAs and low patient-compliance rates with OAs likely biased the safety results.
The double-edged sword of corporatisation in the hospital sector: evidence from Indonesia
Authors: Maharani Asri , Tampubolon Gindo 
Published: September 2016

AbstractHoping to improve their health system performance, many countries have corporatised their hospitals in the past 20 years. What this means for hospital performance remains as yet largely unknown. This study looks into the association of corporatisation and hospital performance in Indonesia. We apply panel data regression analysis to survey data on 54 public hospitals in East Java province. Our analysis suggests that corporatisation is associated with higher hospital income and expenditure, but fails to improve efficiency and equity. These findings suggest that hospital corporatisation policy in Indonesia should increase emphasis on efficiency and equity rather than on financial performance alone.
IL-13Rα2 uses TMEM219 in chitinase 3-like-1-induced signalling and effector responses
Authors: Lee Chang-Min , He Chuan Hua , Nour Adel M. , Zhou Yang , Ma Bing , Park Jin Wook , Kim Kyung Hee , Cruz Charles Dela , Sharma Lokesh , Nasr Mahmoud L. , Modis Yorgo , Lee Chun Geun , Elias Jack A. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractRecent studies demonstrated that chitinase 3-like-1 (Chi3l1) binds to and signals via IL-13Rα2. However, the mechanism that IL-13Rα2 uses to mediate the effects of Chi3l1 has not been defined. Here, we demonstrate that the membrane protein, TMEM219, is a binding partner of IL-13Rα2 using yeast two-hybrid, co-immunoprecipitation, co-localization and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. Furthermore, fluorescence anisotropy nanodisc assays revealed a direct physical interaction between TMEM219 and IL-13Rα2-Chi3l1 complexes. Null mutations or siRNA silencing of TMEM219 or IL-13Rα2 similarly decreased Chi3l1-stimulated epithelial cell HB-EGF production and macrophage MAPK/Erk and PKB/Akt activation. Null mutations of TMEM219 or IL-13Rα2 also phenocopied one another as regards the ability of Chi3l1 to inhibit oxidant-induced apoptosis and lung injury, promote melanoma metastasis and stimulate TGF-β1. TMEM219 also contributed to the decoy function of IL-13Rα2. These studies demonstrate that TMEM219 plays a critical role in Chi3l1-induced IL-13Rα2 mediated signalling and tissue responses.
Nonlinear spectra of spinons and holons in short GaAs quantum wires
Authors: Moreno M , Ford C. J. B. , Jin Y. , Griffiths J. P. , Farrer I. , Jones G. A. C. , Ritchie D. A. , Tsyplyatyev O. , Schofield A. J. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractOne-dimensional electronic fluids are peculiar conducting systems, where the fundamental role of interactions leads to exotic, emergent phenomena, such as spin-charge (spinon-holon) separation. The distinct low-energy properties of these 1D metals are successfully described within the theory of linear Luttinger liquids, but the challenging task of describing their high-energy nonlinear properties has long remained elusive. Recently, novel theoretical approaches accounting for nonlinearity have been developed, yet the rich phenomenology that they predict remains barely explored experimentally. Here, we probe the nonlinear spectral characteristics of short GaAs quantum wires by tunnelling spectroscopy, using an advanced device consisting of 6000 wires. We find evidence for the existence of an inverted (spinon) shadow band in the main region of the particle sector, one of the central predictions of the new nonlinear theories. A (holon) band with reduced effective mass is clearly visible in the particle sector at high energies.
An experimental phylogeny to benchmark ancestral sequence reconstruction
Authors: Randall Ryan N. , Radford Caelan E. , Roof Kelsey A. , Natarajan Divya K. , Gaucher Eric A. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractAncestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) is a still-burgeoning method that has revealed many key mechanisms of molecular evolution. One criticism of the approach is an inability to validate its algorithms within a biological context as opposed to a computer simulation. Here we build an experimental phylogeny using the gene of a single red fluorescent protein to address this criticism. The evolved phylogeny consists of 19 operational taxonomic units (leaves) and 17 ancestral bifurcations (nodes) that display a wide variety of fluorescent phenotypes. The 19 leaves then serve as ‘modern’ sequences that we subject to ASR analyses using various algorithms and to benchmark against the known ancestral genotypes and ancestral phenotypes. We confirm computer simulations that show all algorithms infer ancient sequences with high accuracy, yet we also reveal wide variation in the phenotypes encoded by incorrectly inferred sequences. Specifically, Bayesian methods incorporating rate variation significantly outperform the maximum parsimony criterion in phenotypic accuracy. Subsampling of extant sequences had minor effect on the inference of ancestral sequences.
Vaccination of domestic animals with a novel oral vaccine prevents Giardia infections, alleviates signs of giardiasis and reduces transmission to humans
Authors: Serradell Marianela C , Saura Alicia , Rupil Lucia L , Gargantini Pablo R , Faya Marcela I , Furlan Paulina J , Lujan Hugo D 
Published: September 2016

AbstractGiardia lamblia is a human intestinal parasite and one of the most frequent enteric pathogen of companion animals. Clinical manifestations of giardiasis, such as diarrhoea, anorexia, weight loss and lethargy, have been associated with Giardia infections in both domestic and farm animals. A few anti-parasitic drugs are routinely used to treat giardiasis, but re-infections are common and drug-resistant strains have already been reported. Unfortunately, efficient vaccines against Giardia are not available. Giardia undergoes antigenic variation; through this mechanism, parasites can avoid the host’s immune defenses, causing chronic infections and/or re-infections. Antigenic variation is characterised by a continuous switch in the expression of members of a homologous family of genes encoding surface antigens. In a previous report, we indicated that in Giardia, the mechanism responsible for the exchange of variant-specific surface proteins (VSPs) involves the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. From a repertoire of ~200 VSP genes, only one is expressed on the surface of single trophozoites; however, RNAi machinery disruption generates trophozoites that express the complete VSP repertoire. We also demonstrated that gerbils orally immunised with VSPs isolated from these altered parasites showed high levels of protection. Here we tested this vaccine in cats and dogs, and found that it is highly efficient in preventing new infections and reducing chronic giardiasis in domestic animals both in experimental and natural infections. Remarkably, immunisation of dogs in a highly endemic area strongly decreased the percentage of infected children in the community, suggesting that this vaccine would block the zoonotic transmission of the disease.
Dielectric relaxation and pinning phenomenon of (Sr,Pb)TiO3 ceramics for dielectric tunable device application
Authors: Huang Xian-Xiong , Zhang Tian-Fu , Tang Xin-Gui , Jiang Yan-Ping , Liu Qiu-Xiang , Feng Zu-Yong , Zhou Qi-Fa 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThe behavior of ferroelectric domain under applied electric field is very sensitive to point defects, which can lead to high temperature dielectric relaxation behaviors. In this work, the phases, dielectric properties and ferroelectric switching behavior of strontium lead titanate ceramics were investigated. The structural characterization is confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The high dielectric tunability and high figure of merit of ceramics, especially Sr0.7Pb0.3TiO3 (SPT), imply that SPT ceramics are promising materials for tunable capacitor applications. Oxygen vacancies induced dielectric relaxation phenomenon is observed. Pinched shape hysteresis loops appeared in low temperature, low electric field or high frequency, whereas these pinched hysteresis loops also can become normal by rising temperature, enhancing electric field or lowering frequency. The pinning and depinning effect can be ascribed to the interaction between oxygen vacancies and domain switching. A qualitative model and a quantitative model are used to explain this phenomenon. Besides, polarization and oxygen treated experiment can exert an enormous influence on pinning effect and the machanisms are also discussed in this work.
Identification of a novel sesquiterpene biosynthetic machinery involved in astellolide biosynthesis
Authors: Shinohara Yasutomo , Takahashi Shunji , Osada Hiroyuki , Koyama Yasuji 
Published: September 2016

AbstractEsterified drimane-type sesquiterpene lactones such as astellolides display various biological activities and are widely produced by plants and fungi. Given their low homology to known sesquiterpene cyclases, the genes responsible for their biosynthesis have not been uncovered yet. Here, we identified the astellolide gene cluster from Aspergillus oryzae and discovered a novel sesquiterpene biosynthetic machinery consisting of AstC, AstI, and AstK. All these enzymes are annotated as haloacid dehalogenase-like hydrolases, whereas AstC also contains a DxDTT motif conserved in class II diterpene cyclases. Based on enzyme reaction analyses, we found that AstC catalysed the protonation-initiated cyclisation of farnesyl pyrophosphate into drimanyl pyrophosphate. This was successively dephosphorylated by AstI and AstK to produce drim-8-ene-11-ol. Moreover, we also identified and characterised a unique non-ribosomal peptide synthetase, AstA, responsible for esterifying aryl acids to drimane-type sesquiterpene lactones. In this study, we highlight a new biosynthetic route for producing sesquiterpene and its esterified derivative. Our findings shed light on the identification of novel sesquiterpenes via genome mining.
The electron donating capacity of biochar is dramatically underestimated
Authors: Prévoteau Antonin , Ronsse Frederik , Cid Inés , Boeckx Pascal , Rabaey Korneel 
Published: September 2016

AbstractBiochars have gathered considerable interest for agronomic and engineering applications. In addition to their high sorption ability, biochars have been shown to accept or donate considerable amounts of electrons to/from their environment via abiotic or microbial processes. Here, we measured the electron accepting (EAC) and electron donating (EDC) capacities of wood-based biochars pyrolyzed at three different highest treatment temperatures (HTTs: 400, 500, 600 °C) via hydrodynamic electrochemical techniques using a rotating disc electrode. EACs and EDCs varied with HTT in accordance with a previous report with a maximal EAC at 500 °C (0.4 mmol(e−).gchar−1) and a large decrease of EDC with HTT. However, while we monitored similar EAC values than in the preceding study, we show that the EDCs have been underestimated by at least 1 order of magnitude, up to 7 mmol(e−).gchar−1 for a HTT of 400 °C. We attribute this existing underestimation to unnoticed slow kinetics of electron transfer from biochars to the dissolved redox mediators used in the monitoring. The EDC of other soil organic constituents such as humic substances may also have been underestimated. These results imply that the redox properties of biochars may have a much bigger impact on soil biogeochemical processes than previously conjectured.
Fine-tuning of amino sugar homeostasis by EIIANtr in Salmonella Typhimurium
Authors: Yoo Woongjae , Yoon Hyunjin , Seok Yeong-Jae , Lee Chang-Ro , Lee Hyung Ho , Ryu Sangryeol 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThe nitrogen-metabolic phosphotransferase system, PTSNtr, consists of the enzymes INtr, NPr and IIANtr that are encoded by ptsP, ptsO, and ptsN, respectively. Due to the proximity of ptsO and ptsN to rpoN, the PTSNtr system has been postulated to be closely related with nitrogen metabolism. To define the correlation between PTSNtr and nitrogen metabolism, we performed ligand fishing with EIIANtr as a bait and revealed that D-glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase (GlmS) directly interacted with EIIANtr. GlmS, which converts D-fructose-6-phosphate (Fru6P) into D-glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN6P), is a key enzyme producing amino sugars through glutamine hydrolysis. Amino sugar is an essential structural building block for bacterial peptidoglycan and LPS. We further verified that EIIANtr inhibited GlmS activity by direct interaction in a phosphorylation-state-dependent manner. EIIANtr was dephosphorylated in response to excessive nitrogen sources and was rapidly degraded by Lon protease upon amino sugar depletion. The regulation of GlmS activity by EIIANtr and the modulation of glmS translation by RapZ suggest that the genes comprising the rpoN operon play a key role in maintaining amino sugar homeostasis in response to nitrogen availability and the amino sugar concentration in the bacterial cytoplasm.
The Lattice Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation of Atomic Diffusion and Structural Transition for Gold
Authors: He Xiang , Cheng Feng , Chen Zhao-Xu 
Published: September 2016

AbstractFor the kinetic simulation of metal nanoparticles, we developed a self-consistent coordination-averaged energies for Au atoms based on energy properties of gold bulk phases. The energy barrier of the atom pairing change is proposed and holds for the microscopic reversibility principle. By applying the lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulation on gold films, we found that the atomic diffusion of Au on the Au(111) surface undergoes a late transition state with an energy barrier of about 0.2 eV and a prefactor between 40~50 Å2/ps. This study also investigates the structural transition from spherical to faceted gold nanoparticles upon heating. The temperatures of structural transition are in agreement with the experimental melting temperatures of gold nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 2 nm to 8 nm.
Palladium-catalyzed direct arylation and cyclization of o-iodobiaryls to a library of tetraphenylenes
Authors: Zhu Chendan , Zhao Yue , Wang Di , Sun Wei-Yin , Shi Zhuangzhi 
Published: September 2016

AbstractAryl–aryl bond formation constitutes one of the most important subjects in organic synthesis. The recent developments in direct arylation reactions forming aryl–aryl bond have emerged as very attractive alternatives to traditional cross-coupling reactions. Here, we describe a general palladium-catalyzed direct arylation and cyclization of o-iodobiaryls to build a library of tetraphenylenes. This transformation represents one of the very few examples of C-H activation process that involves simultaneous formation of two aryl–aryl bonds. Oxygen plays a vital role by ensuring high reactivity, with air as the promoter furnished the best results. We anticipate this ligand-free and aerobic catalytic system will simplify the synthesis of tetraphenylenes as many of the reported methods involve use of preformed organometallic reagents and will lead to the discovery of highly efficient new direct arylation process.
Building better lithium-sulfur batteries: from LiNO3 to solid oxide catalyst
Authors: Ding Ning , Zhou Lan , Zhou Changwei , Geng Dongsheng , Yang Jin , Chien Sheau Wei , Liu Zhaolin , Ng Man-Fai , Yu Aishui , Hor T. S. Andy , Sullivan Michael B. , Zong Yun 
Published: September 2016

AbstractLithium nitrate (LiNO3) is known as an important electrolyte additive in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. The prevailing understanding is that LiNO3 reacts with metallic lithium anode to form a passivation layer which suppresses redox shuttles of lithium polysulfides, enabling good rechargeability of Li-S batteries. However, this view is seeing more challenges in the recent studies, and above all, the inability of inhibiting polysulfide reduction on Li anode. A closely related issue is the progressive reduction of LiNO3 on Li anode which elevates internal resistance of the cell and compromises its cycling stability. Herein, we systematically investigated the function of LiNO3 in redox-shuttle suppression, and propose the suppression as a result of catalyzed oxidation of polysulfides to sulfur by nitrate anions on or in the proximity of the electrode surface upon cell charging. This hypothesis is supported by both density functional theory calculations and the nitrate anions-suppressed self-discharge rate in Li-S cells. The catalytic mechanism is further validated by the use of ruthenium oxide (RuO2, a good oxygen evolution catalyst) on cathode, which equips the LiNO3-free cell with higher capacity and improved capacity retention over 400 cycles.
Multifunctional 3D printing of heterogeneous hydrogel structures
Authors: Nadernezhad Ali , Khani Navid , Skvortsov Gözde Akdeniz , Toprakhisar Burak , Bakirci Ezgi , Menceloglu Yusuf , Unal Serkan , Koc Bahattin 
Published: September 2016

AbstractMultimaterial additive manufacturing or three-dimensional (3D) printing of hydrogel structures provides the opportunity to engineer geometrically dependent functionalities. However, current fabrication methods are mostly limited to one type of material or only provide one type of functionality. In this paper, we report a novel method of multimaterial deposition of hydrogel structures based on an aspiration-on-demand protocol, in which the constitutive multimaterial segments of extruded filaments were first assembled in liquid state by sequential aspiration of inks into a glass capillary, followed by in situ gel formation. We printed different patterned objects with varying chemical, electrical, mechanical, and biological properties by tuning process and material related parameters, to demonstrate the abilities of this method in producing heterogeneous and multi-functional hydrogel structures. Our results show the potential of proposed method in producing heterogeneous objects with spatially controlled functionalities while preserving structural integrity at the switching interface between different segments. We anticipate that this method would introduce new opportunities in multimaterial additive manufacturing of hydrogels for diverse applications such as biosensors, flexible electronics, tissue engineering and organ printing.
Island building in the South China Sea: detection of turbidity plumes and artificial islands using Landsat and MODIS data
Authors: Barnes Brian B. , Hu Chuanmin 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThe South China Sea is currently in a state of intense geopolitical conflict, with six countries claiming sovereignty over some or all of the area. Recently, several countries have carried out island building projects in the Spratly Islands, converting portions of coral reefs into artificial islands. Aerial photography and high resolution satellites can capture snapshots of this construction, but such data are lacking in temporal resolution and spatial scope. In contrast, lower resolution satellite sensors with regular repeat sampling allow for more rigorous assessment and monitoring of changes to the reefs and surrounding areas. Using Landsat-8 data at ≥15-m resolution, we estimated that over 15 km2 of submerged coral reef area was converted to artificial islands between June 2013 and December 2015, mostly by China. MODIS data at ≥250-m resolution were used to locate previously underreported island building activities, as well as to assess resulting in-water turbidity plumes. The combined spatial extent of observed turbidity plumes for island building activities at Mischief, Subi, and Fiery Cross Reefs was over 4,300 km2, although nearly 40% of this area was only affected once. Together, these activities represent widespread damage to coral ecosystems through physical burial as well as indirect turbidity effects.
STYK1 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumor metastasis in human hepatocellular carcinoma through MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling
Authors: Wang Zhaowen , Qu Lei , Deng Biao , Sun Xing , Wu Shaohan , Liao Jianhua , Fan Junwei , Peng Zhihai 
Published: September 2016

AbstractSerine/threonine/tyrosine kinase 1 (STYK1) is known to be involved in tumor progression. However, its molecular role and mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. We evaluated the effect of STYK1 expression in HCC tissues and investigated the underlying mechanisms associated with progression. HCC tissues expressed greater levels of STYK1 than paired non-tumor tissues. Patients with HCC expressing low levels of STYK1 showed both, greater disease-free (p < 0.0001) and overall (p = 0.0004) survival than those expressing high levels of STYK1. Decreased expression of STYK1 was significantly associated with decreased cell proliferation, reduced migratory capability, and reduced invasive capability. Overexpression of STYK1 was significantly associated with increased cell proliferation, migratory capability, and invasive capability in vitro, as well as increased volume of tumor, weight of tumor, and number of pulmonary metastases in vivo. Furthermore, STYK1’s mechanism of promoting cancer cell mobility and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was found to be via the MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways, resulting in increased expression of mesenchymal protein markers: snail, fibronectin, and vimentin, and decreased E-cadherin expression. Our results suggest that STYK1 acts as an oncogene by inducing cell invasion and EMT via the MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways and it therefore may be a potential therapeutic target in HCC.