bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Steroidal[17,16-d]pyrimidines derived from dehydroepiandrosterone: A convenient synthesis, antiproliferation activity, structure-activity relationships, and role of heterocyclic moiety
Authors: Ke Shaoyong , Shi Liqiao , Zhang Zhigang , Yang Ziwen 
Published: March 2017

AbstractA series of steroidal[17,16-d]pyrimidines derived from dehydroepiandrosterone were designed and prepared by a convenient heterocyclization reaction. The in vitro anticancer activities for these obtained compounds were evaluated against human cancer cell lines (HepG2, Huh-7, and SGC-7901), which demonstrated that some of these heterocyclic pyrimidine derivatives exhibited significantly good cytotoxic activities against all tested cell lines compared with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), especially, compound 3b exhibited high potential growth inhibitory activities against all tested cell lines with the IC50 values of 5.41 ± 1.34, 5.65 ± 1.02 and 10.64 ± 1.49 μM, respectively, which might be used as promising lead scaffold for discovery of novel anticancer agents.
Ectopic expression of Arabidopsis FD and FD PARALOGUE in rice results in dwarfism with size reduction of spikelets
Authors: Jang Seonghoe , Li Hsing-Yi , Kuo Mei-Lin 
Published: March 2017

AbstractKey flowering genes, FD and FD PARALOGUE (FDP) encoding bZIP transcription factors that interact with a FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) in Arabidopsis were ectopically expressed in rice since we found AtFD and AtFDP also interact with HEADING DATE 3a (Hd3a) and RICE FLOWERING LOCUS T 1 (RFT1). Transgenic rice plants overexpressing AtFD and AtFDP caused reduction in plant height and spikelet size with decreased expression of genes involved in cell elongation without significant flowering time alteration in spite of increased expression of OsMADS14 and OsMADS15, rice homologues of APETALA1 (AP1) in the leaves. Simultaneous overexpression of AtFD and AtFDP enhanced phenotypes seen with overexpression of either single gene while transgenic rice plants expressing AtFD or AtFDP under the control of phloem-specific Hd3a promoter were indistinguishable from wild-type rice. Candidate genes responsible for the phenotypes were identified by comparison of microarray hybridization and their expression pattern was also examined in WT and transgenic rice plants. It has so far not been reported that AtFD and AtFDP affect cell elongation in plants, and our findings provide novel insight into the possible roles of AtFD and AtFDP in the mesophyll cells of plants, and potential genetic tools for manipulation of crop architecture.
In situ self-assembly of gold nanoparticles on hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates for influenza virus-sensing platform
Authors: Ahmed Syed Rahin , Kim Jeonghyo , Tran Van Tan , Suzuki Tetsuro , Neethirajan Suresh , Lee Jaebeom , Park Enoch Y. 
Published: March 2017

AbstractNanomaterials without chemical linkers or physical interactions that reside on a two-dimensional surface are attractive because of their electronic, optical and catalytic properties. An in situ method has been developed to fabricate gold nanoparticle (Au NP) films on different substrates, regardless of whether they are hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces, including glass, 96-well polystyrene plates, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). A mixture of sodium formate (HCOONa) and chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) solution was used to prepare Au NP films at room temperature. An experimental study of the mechanism revealed that film formation is dependent on surface wettability and inter particle attraction. The as-fabricated Au NP films were further applied to the colorimetric detection of influenza virus. The response to the commercial target, New Caledonia/H1N1/1999 influenza virus, was linear in the range from 10 pg/ml to 10 μg/ml and limit of detection was 50.5 pg/ml. In the presence of clinically isolated influenza A virus (H3N2), the optical density of developed color was dependent on the virus concentration (10–50,000 PFU/ml). The limit of detection of this study was 24.3 PFU/ml, a limit 116 times lower than that of conventional ELISA (2824.3 PFU/ml). The sensitivity was also 500 times greater than that of commercial immunochromatography kits.
Neuronal ELAVL proteins utilize AUF-1 as a co-partner to induce neuron-specific alternative splicing of APP
Authors: Fragkouli Apostolia , Koukouraki Pelagia , Vlachos Ioannis S. , Paraskevopoulou Maria D. , Hatzigeorgiou Artemis G. , Doxakis Epaminondas 
Published: March 2017

AbstractAβ peptide that accumulates in Alzheimer’s disease brain, derives from proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) that exists in three main isoforms derived by alternative splicing. The isoform APP695, lacking exons 7 and 8, is predominately expressed in neurons and abnormal neuronal splicing of APP has been observed in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Herein, we demonstrate that expression of the neuronal members of the ELAVL protein family (nELAVLs) correlate with APP695 levels in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, we provide evidence that nELAVLs regulate the production of APP695; by using a series of reporters we show that concurrent binding of nELAVLs to sequences located both upstream and downstream of exon 7 is required for its skipping, whereas nELAVL-binding to a highly conserved U-rich sequence upstream of exon 8, is sufficient for its exclusion. Finally, we report that nELAVLs block APP exon 7 or 8 definition by reducing the binding of the essential splicing factor U2AF65, an effect facilitated by the concurrent binding of AUF-1. Our study provides new insights into the regulation of APP pre-mRNA processing, supports the role for nELAVLs as neuron-specific splicing regulators and reveals a novel function of AUF1 in alternative splicing.
Reduced graphene oxide composites with water soluble copolymers having tailored lower critical solution temperatures and unique tube-like structure
Authors: Namvari Mina , Biswas Chandra S. , Galluzzi Massimiliano , Wang Qiao , Du Bing , Stadler Florian J. 
Published: March 2017

AbstractNanohybrids of graphene with water soluble polymer were synthesized using ‘grafting from’ method. GO, prepared by modified Hummers’ method, was first reacted with sodium azide. Alkyne-terminated RAFT-CTA was synthesized by reaction of propargyl alcohol and S-1-dodecyl-S’-(α,α‘-dimethyl-α”-acetic acid) trithiocarbonate. RAFT-CTA was grafted onto the GO sheets by facile click-reaction and subsequently, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and N-ethyleacrylamide (NEAM) were polymerized on graphene sheets via RAFT polymerization method. The respective copolymers with different ratios were also prepared. The nanohybrids were characterized by FTIR, XRD, TGA, Raman, SEM, and AFM. Both SEM and AFM clearly showed rod-like structures for rGO-PNEAM. XRD showed a small peak at 2θ = 19.21°, corresponding to d-spacing ≈ 4.6 Å. In addition, the nanohybrids showed a very broad temperature range for the LCST in water between ca. 30 and 70 °C.
Acoustic effects during photosynthesis of aquatic plants enable new research opportunities
Authors: Kratochvil Helmut G. , Pollirer Michael 
Published: March 2017

AbstractMeasurements of photosynthetic processes in hydrophytes mostly involve photosynthometers, which capture the escaping gas for subsequent analysis The most common method to detect changes in the rate of photosynthetic processes is to count the series of escaping gas bubbles. The emerging bubbles are either simply counted or they are recorded using light barriers, which is very difficult because of their small size and often varying ascent rate. The gas bubbles generated during photosynthesis by aquatic plants produce distinctive sound pulses when leaving the plants. These acoustic side effects enable completely new and highly accurate measurements. The frequency and reaction time changes of the pulses caused by external influences are therefore accurately detectable. The precise time measurements enable registering and evaluating the curves as reactions to changes in physical or chemical environmental conditions. We show that such acoustic analyses open completely new research opportunities for plant physiology.
The receptor-like pseudokinase MRH1 interacts with the voltage-gated potassium channel AKT2
Authors: Sklodowski Kamil , Riedelsberger Janin , Raddatz Natalia , Riadi Gonzalo , Caballero Julio , Chérel Isabelle , Schulze Waltraud , Graf Alexander , Dreyer Ingo 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe potassium channel AKT2 plays important roles in phloem loading and unloading. It can operate as inward-rectifying channel that allows H+-ATPase-energized K+ uptake. Moreover, through reversible post-translational modifications it can also function as an open, K+-selective channel, which taps a ‘potassium battery’, providing additional energy for transmembrane transport processes. Knowledge about proteins involved in the regulation of the operational mode of AKT2 is very limited. Here, we employed a large-scale yeast two-hybrid screen in combination with fluorescence tagging and null-allele mutant phenotype analysis and identified the plasma membrane localized receptor-like kinase MRH1/MDIS2 (AT4G18640) as interaction partner of AKT2. The phenotype of the mrh1-1 knockout plant mirrors that of akt2 knockout plants in energy limiting conditions. Electrophysiological analyses showed that MRH1/MDIS2 failed to exert any functional regulation on AKT2. Using structural protein modeling approaches, we instead gathered evidence that the putative kinase domain of MRH1/MDIS2 lacks essential sites that are indispensable for a functional kinase suggesting that MRH1/MDIS2 is a pseudokinase. We propose that MRH1/MDIS2 and AKT2 are likely parts of a bigger protein complex. MRH1 might help to recruit other, so far unknown partners, which post-translationally regulate AKT2. Additionally, MRH1 might be involved in the recognition of chemical signals.
TIR/BB-loop mimetic AS-1 attenuates cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury via a caveolae and caveolin-3-dependent mechanism
Authors: Hu Yuanping , Zhang Meiling , Shen Xin , Dai Guoliang , Ren Danyang , Que Linli , Ha Tuanzhu , Li Chuanfu , Xu Yong , Ju Wenzheng , Li Yuehua 
Published: March 2017

AbstractAS-1, the TIR/BB loop mimetic, plays a protective role in cardiac ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) but the molecular mechanism remains unclear. The muscle specific caveolin3 (Cav-3) and the caveolae have been found to be critical for cardioprotection. This study aimed to evaluate our hypothesis that caveolae and Cav-3 are essential for AS-1-induced cardioprotection against myocardial I/R injury. To address these issues, we analyzed the involvement of Cav-3 in AS-1 mediated cardioprotection both in vivo and in vitro. We demonstrate that AS-1 administration significantly decreased infarct size, improved cardiac function after myocardial I/R and modulated membrane caveolae and Cav-3 expression in the myocardium. For in vitro studies, AS-1 treatment prevented Cav-3 re-distribution induced by H/R injury. In contrast, disruption of caveolae by MCD treatment or Cav-3 knockdown abolished the protection against H/R-induced myocytes injury by AS-1. Our findings reveal that AS-1 attenuates myocardial I/R injury through caveolae and Cav-3 dependent mechanism.
Role of Cyclooxygenase-2 on Intermittent Hypoxia-Induced Lung Tumor Malignancy in a Mouse Model of Sleep Apnea
Authors: Campillo Noelia , Torres Marta , Vilaseca Antoni , Nonaka Paula Naomi , Gozal David , Roca-Ferrer Jordi , Picado César , Montserrat Josep Maria , Farré Ramon , Navajas Daniel , Almendros Isaac 
Published: March 2017

AbstractAn adverse role for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in cancer epidemiology and outcomes has recently emerged from clinical and animal studies. In animals, intermittent hypoxia (IH) mimicking OSA promotes tumor malignancy both directly and via host immune alterations. We hypothesized that IH could potentiate cancer aggressiveness through activation of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) pathway and the concomitant increases in prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). The contribution of the COX-2 in IH-induced enhanced tumor malignancy was assessed using celecoxib as a COX-2 specific inhibitor in a murine model of OSA bearing Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC1) tumors. Exposures to IH accelerated tumor progression with a tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) shift towards a pro-tumoral M2 phenotype. Treatment with celecoxib prevented IH-induced adverse tumor outcomes by inhibiting IH-induced M2 polarization of TAMs. Furthermore, TAMs isolated from IH-exposed mice treated with celecoxib reduced the proliferation of LLC1 naïve cells, while the opposite occurred with placebo-treated IH-exposed mice. Finally,in vitroIH exposures of murine macrophages and LLC1 cells showed that both cell types increased PGE2release in response to IH. These results suggest a crucial role for the COX-2 signaling pathway in the IH-exacerbated malignant processes, and designate macrophages and lung adenocarcinoma cells, as potential sources of PGE2.
Renal Medulla is More Sensitive to Cisplatin than Cortex Revealed by Untargeted Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics in Rats
Authors: Zhang Pei , Chen Jia-Qing , Huang Wan-Qiu , Li Wei , Huang Yin , Zhang Zun-Jian , Xu Feng-Guo 
Published: March 2017

AbstractNephrotoxicity has long been the most severe and life-threatening side-effect of cisplatin, whose anticancer effect is therefore restricted. Previous pathological studies have shown that both renal cortex and medulla could be injured by cisplatin. Our TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling) assay results further uncovered that medulla subjected more severe injury than cortex. In order to depict the underlying metabolic mechanism of spatial difference in response to cisplatin, in the present study, mass spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomics approach was applied to profile renal cortex and medulla metabolites of rat after receiving a single dose of cisplatin (2.5, 5 or 10 mg/kg). Eventually, 53 and 55 differential metabolites in cortex and medulla were screened out, respectively. Random forest, orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis and metabolic cumulative fold change analysis revealed that metabolic changes in medulla were more obviously dose-dependent than those in cortex, which confirmed the conclusion that medulla was more sensitive to cisplatin exposure. Furthermore, 29 intermediates were recognized as the most contributive metabolites for the sensitivity difference. Metabolic pathways interrupted by cisplatin mainly included amino acid, energy, lipid, pyrimidine, purine, and creatine metabolism. Our findings provide new insight into the mechanism study of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.
Infant frontal EEG asymmetry in relation with postnatal maternal depression and parenting behavior
Authors: Wen D J , Soe N N , Sim L W , Sanmugam S , Kwek K , Chong Y-S , Gluckman P D , Meaney M J , Rifkin-Graboi A , Qiu A 
Published: March 2017

AbstractRight frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry associates with negative affect and depressed mood, which, among children, are predicted by maternal depression and poor parenting. This study examined associations of maternal depression and maternal sensitivity with infant frontal EEG asymmetry based on 111 mother-6-month-infant dyads. There were no significant effects of postnatal maternal depression or maternal sensitivity, or their interaction, on infant EEG frontal asymmetry. However, in a subsample for which the infant spent at least 50% of his/her day time hours with his/her mother, both lower maternal sensitivity and higher maternal depression predicted greater relative right frontal EEG asymmetry. Our study further showed that greater relative right frontal EEG asymmetry of 6-month-old infants predicted their greater negative emotionality at 12 months of age. Our study suggested that among infants with sufficient postnatal maternal exposure, both maternal sensitivity and mental health are important influences on early brain development.
Adult hippocampal neuroplasticity triggers susceptibility to recurrent depression
Authors: Alves N D , Correia J S , Patrício P , Mateus-Pinheiro A , Machado-Santos A R , Loureiro-Campos E , Morais M , Bessa J M , Sousa N , Pinto L 
Published: March 2017

AbstractDepression is a highly prevalent and recurrent neuropsychiatric disorder associated with alterations in emotional and cognitive domains. Neuroplastic phenomena are increasingly considered central to the etiopathogenesis of and recovery from depression. Nevertheless, a high number of remitted patients experience recurrent episodes of depression, remaining unclear how previous episodes impact on behavior and neuroplasticity and/or whether modulation of neuroplasticity is important to prevent recurrent depression. Through re-exposure to an unpredictable chronic mild stress protocol in rats, we observed the re-appearance of emotional and cognitive deficits. Furthermore, treatment with the antidepressants fluoxetine and imipramine was effective to promote sustained reversion of a depressive-like phenotype; however, their differential impact on adult hippocampal neuroplasticity triggered a distinct response to stress re-exposure: while imipramine re-established hippocampal neurogenesis and neuronal dendritic arborization contributing to resilience to recurrent depressive-like behavior, stress re-exposure in fluoxetine-treated animals resulted in an overproduction of adult-born neurons along with neuronal atrophy of granule neurons, accounting for an increased susceptibility to recurrent behavioral changes typical of depression. Strikingly, cell proliferation arrest compromised the behavior resilience induced by imipramine and buffered the susceptibility to recurrent behavioral changes promoted by fluoxetine. This study shows that previous exposure to a depressive-like episode impacts on the behavioral and neuroanatomical changes triggered by subsequent re-exposure to similar experimental conditions and reveals that the proper control of adult hippocampal neuroplasticity triggered by antidepressants is essential to counteract recurrent depressive-like episodes.
Graph cuts segmentation based on multi‐dimensional features for the right ventricle in cardiac MRI
Authors: Lu Xuesong , Ma Shuang , Zhao Danqing , Liu Liman 
Published: March 2017

The segmentation of the right ventricle in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is a difficult task due to the blurred border and variable shape. To overcome these problems, an approach using graph cuts (GC) segmentation based on multi‐dimensional local features is proposed. The features are reduced by a principal component analysis, which are incorporated into the t‐link and the n‐link. Experiments are performed on 240 MR images from 16 patients. The segmentation results of the proposed algorithm are obtained using Gabor and histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) features, respectively. For Dice metric, the median value of using Gabor and HOG increases significantly compared to original GC from 0.8012 to 0.8174 and 0.8306 at end‐diastole (ED), from 0.6555 to 0.7021 and 0.7124 at end‐systole (ES). For Hausdorff distance, the median value of using Gabor and HOG decreases significantly compared to original GC from 12.88 to 12.33 and 11.82 mm at ED, from 17.20 to 12.75 and 13.41 mm at ES. The proposed method outperforms original GC depending on image intensity only. The segmentation errors of using HOG are slightly less than those of using Gabor.
Attitude change among U.S. adults after the Castro-Obama announcement: the role of soft power in agenda setting
Authors: Fullerton Jami , Kendrick Alice , Broyles Sheri 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe United States and Cuba made history in late 2014 by announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations. With the media coverage and social media content related to the announcements as a stimulus, this pre-post-study noted increases in U.S. adults’ levels of perceived knowledge, salience of attributes, as well as attitudes toward Cuba after the joint proclamations. Results suggest that media coverage and social media content played major roles in influencing both public knowledge of and attitudes toward Cuba as a country. These first- and second-level agenda-setting effects are positioned within the Model of Country Concept as an example of soft power. The power of international media to affect both cognitive and affective evaluations among the citizens of one country about the government and citizenry of another is discussed. This article is published as part of a collection on soft power.
Sediment supply controls equilibrium channel geometry in gravel rivers
Authors: Pfeiffer Allison M. , Finnegan Noah J. , Willenbring Jane K. 
Published: March 2017

Significance
Geomorphologists commonly assume that gravel-bedded rivers tend toward a “threshold” equilibrium state, in which the median-sized grains on the riverbed surface begin to move at the bankfull flood stage. However, here we show that this widely held assumption fails to capture a more fundamental pattern in river channel geometry. Our findings provide evidence that river channel geometry and grain size are inherently linked to the supply of sediment transported from upstream. Threshold channels may therefore simply reflect settings with low sediment supplies, while high sediment supply channels are adjusted to transport large volumes of material during bankfull floods. Thus, an understanding of sediment supply is key to interpreting, predicting, and restoring bankfull geometry in rivers.
Deep melting reveals liquid structural memory and anomalous ferromagnetism in bismuth
Authors: Shu Yu , Yu Dongli , Hu Wentao , Wang Yanbin , Shen Guoyin , Kono Yoshio , Xu Bo , He Julong , Liu Zhongyuan , Tian Yongjun 
Published: March 2017

Significance
Condensed matter physics owes much of its development to bismuth (Bi). It was the first metal with a Fermi surface that was experimentally identified. Many intriguing phenomena were first discovered in Bi, such as the large magnetoresistance and the propagations of microwaves. For over a century, Bi has been known to be diamagnetic. We have observed an unusual ferromagnetism in pure Bi samples after treatments under certain pathways of pressure and temperature conditions. The ferromagnetism is found to be associated with a surprising structural memory effect in the molten state and the ability for solid Bi to “remember” its liquid structural motifs. This structural memory effect may present an important route in defect engineering for creating materials.
Intensified agriculture favors evolved resistance to biological control
Authors: Tomasetto Federico , Tylianakis Jason M. , Reale Marco , Wratten Steve , Goldson Stephen L. 
Published: March 2017

SignificanceThe need for agricultural production to meet the food demands of a growing human population will require sustainable and acceptable pest management, such as biological control, across 11% (1.5 billion ha) of the globe’s land surface. However, the long-term viability of this ecosystem service can be threatened by the expansion and simplification of agricultural systems, which may facilitate the evolution of resistance by pests to their control agents. This study uses a national dataset to present evidence for the acquisition of resistance by a ryegrass weevil pest to its parasitoid wasp over the last 21 y. This resistance was not associated with differences in environmental conditions but rather is specific to the most commonly grown pasture grass species.