bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neuroprotective effects of pifithrin-α against traumatic brain injury in the striatum through suppression of neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, autophagy, and apoptosis
Authors: Huang Ya-Ni , Yang Ling-Yu , Greig Nigel H. , Wang Yu-Chio , Lai Chien-Cheng , Wang Jia-Yi 
Published: January 2018

AbstractCortical and hippocampal neuronal damages caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI) are associated with motor and cognitive impairments; however, only little attention paid to the striatal damage. It is known that the p53 tumor-suppressor transcription factor participated in TBI-induced secondary brain damage. We investigated how the p53 inactivator pifithrin (PFT)-α affected TBI-induced striatal neuronal damage at 24 h post-injury. Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to a controlled cortical impact were used as TBI models. We observed that p53 mRNA significantly increased, whereas p53 protein expression was distributed predominantly in neurons but not in glia cells in striatum after TBI. PFT-α improved motor deficit following TBI. PFT-α suppressed TBI-induced striatal glial activation and expression of proinflammatory cytokines. PFT-α alleviated TBI-induced oxidative damage TBI induced autophagy was evidenced by increased protein expression of Beclin-1 and shift of microtubule-associated light chain (LC)3-I to LC3-II, and decreased p62. These effects were reduced by PFT-α. Post-injury PFT-α treatment reduced the number of degenerating (FJC-positive) and apoptotic neurons. Our results suggest that PFT-α may provide neuroprotective effects via p53-dependent or -independent mechanisms depending on the cell type and timing after the TBI and can possibly be developed into a novel therapy to ameliorate TBI-induced neuronal damage.
Canagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor, attenuates the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in a mouse model of human NASH
Authors: Shiba Kumiko , Tsuchiya Kyoichiro , Komiya Chikara , Miyachi Yasutaka , Mori Kentaro , Shimazu Noriko , Yamaguchi Shinobu , Ogasawara Naomi , Katoh Makoto , Itoh Michiko , Suganami Takayoshi , Ogawa Yoshihiro 
Published: January 2018

AbstractSodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, an antidiabetic drug, promotes urinary excretion of glucose by blocking its reabsorption in the renal proximal tubules. It is unclear whether SGLT2 inhibition could attenuate nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and NASH-associated hepatocellular carcinoma. We examined the preventive effects of an SGLT2 inhibitor canagliflozin (CANA) in Western diet (WD)-fed melanocortin 4 receptor-deficient (MC4R-KO) mice, a mouse model of human NASH. An eight-week CANA treatment attenuated hepatic steatosis in WD-fed MC4R-KO mice, with increased epididymal fat mass without inflammatory changes. CANA treatment for 20 weeks inhibited the development of hepatic fibrosis in WD-fed MC4R-KO mice. After one year of CANA treatment, the number of liver tumors was significantly reduced in WD-fed MC4R-KO mice. In adipose tissue, CANA suppressed the ratio of oxidative to reduced forms of glutathiones (GSSG/GSH) in WD-fed MC4R-KO mice. Treatment with GSH significantly attenuated the H2O2-induced upregulation of genes related to NADPH oxidase in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and that of Il6, Tgfb, and Pdgfb in RAW264.7 cells. This study provides evidence that SGLT2 inhibitors represent the unique class of drugs that can attenuate or delay the onset of NASH and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma, at least partly, through “healthy adipose expansion”.
Primate modularity and evolution: first anatomical network analysis of primate head and neck musculoskeletal system
Authors: Powell Vance , Esteve-Altava Borja , Molnar Julia , Villmoare Brian , Pettit Alesha , Diogo Rui 
Published: January 2018

AbstractNetwork theory is increasingly being used to study morphological modularity and integration. Anatomical network analysis (AnNA) is a framework for quantitatively characterizing the topological organization of anatomical structures and providing an operational way to compare structural integration and modularity. Here we apply AnNA for the first time to study the macroevolution of the musculoskeletal system of the head and neck in primates and their closest living relatives, paying special attention to the evolution of structures associated with facial and vocal communication. We show that well-defined left and right facial modules are plesiomorphic for primates, while anthropoids consistently have asymmetrical facial modules that include structures of both sides, a change likely related to the ability to display more complex, asymmetrical facial expressions. However, no clear trends in network organization were found regarding the evolution of structures related to speech. Remarkably, the increase in the number of head and neck muscles – and thus of musculoskeletal structures – in human evolution led to a decrease in network density and complexity in humans.
ITGB1-dependent upregulation of Caveolin-1 switches TGFβ signalling from tumour-suppressive to oncogenic in prostate cancer
Authors: Pellinen Teijo , Blom Sami , Sánchez Sara , Välimäki Katja , Mpindi John-Patrick , Azegrouz Hind , Strippoli Raffaele , Nieto Raquel , Vitón Mariano , Palacios Irene , Turkki Riku , Wang Yinhai , Sánchez-Alvarez Miguel , Nordling Stig , Bützow Anna , Mirtti Tuomas , Rannikko Antti , Montoya María C. , Kallioniemi Olli , del Pozo Miguel A. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractCaveolin-1 (CAV1) is over-expressed in prostate cancer (PCa) and is associated with adverse prognosis, but the molecular mechanisms linking CAV1 expression to disease progression are poorly understood. Extensive gene expression correlation analysis, quantitative multiplex imaging of clinical samples, and analysis of the CAV1-dependent transcriptome, supported that CAV1 re-programmes TGFβ signalling from tumour suppressive to oncogenic (i.e. induction of SLUG, PAI-1 and suppression of CDH1, DSP, CDKN1A). Supporting such a role, CAV1 knockdown led to growth arrest and inhibition of cell invasion in prostate cancer cell lines. Rationalized RNAi screening and high-content microscopy in search for CAV1 upstream regulators revealed integrin beta1 (ITGB1) and integrin associated proteins as CAV1 regulators. Our work suggests TGFβ signalling and beta1 integrins as potential therapeutic targets in PCa over-expressing CAV1, and contributes to better understand the paradoxical dual role of TGFβ in tumour biology.
Comparison of Environmental Impact and Nutritional Quality among a European Sample Population – findings from the Food4Me study
Authors: Walker Christie , Gibney Eileen R. , Hellweg Stefanie 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThis study evaluates the relationship between environmental impacts and diet quality through several environmental and nutritional indicators, using data from over 1400 participants across seven European countries in the Food4Me study. Comparisons of environmental impacts and dietary quality were evaluated across country, gender groups, and dietary patterns. While there was clear variability within the different subsets, there were large differences observed in both dietary quality and environmental impacts between cultures, genders, and dietary patterns. Individuals abstaining from red meat consistently had lower impacts in combination with lower consumption of harmful nutrients (saturated fats, sodium, and sugars) while maintaining average intake of beneficial nutrients. A ‘best practice’ diet with low impacts, adequate nutrient intake, and low saturated fats, sodium, and sugars, was constructed from the sample and used as a benchmark. Recorded eating patterns were compared to this recommended diet. On average, intakes of sweets, meats, and drinks should be decreased and intakes of vegetables and cereals increased, at varying rates depending on country and gender. However, the study shows a large spread of eating patterns and recommendations for lowering environmental impacts and increasing nutritional quality vary greatly among individuals.
Metabolic Hydrolysis of Aromatic Amides in Selected Rat, Minipig, and Human In Vitro Systems
Authors: Bradshaw Peter R. , Wilson Ian D. , Gill Rachel Upcott , Butler Philip J. , Dilworth Clive , Athersuch Toby J. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe release of aromatic amines from drugs and other xenobiotics resulting from the hydrolysis of metabolically labile amide bonds presents a safety risk through several mechanisms, including geno-, hepato- and nephrotoxicity. Whilst multiple in vitro systems used for studying metabolic stability display serine hydrolase activity, responsible for the hydrolysis of amide bonds, they vary in their efficiency and selectivity. Using a range of amide-containing probe compounds (0.5–10 µM), we have investigated the hydrolytic activity of several rat, minipig and human-derived in vitro systems - including Supersomes, microsomes, S9 fractions and hepatocytes - with respect to their previously observed human in vivo metabolism. In our hands, human carboxylesterase Supersomes and rat S9 fractions systems showed relatively poor prediction of human in vivo metabolism. Rat S9 fractions, which are commonly utilised in the Ames test to assess mutagenicity, may be limited in the detection of genotoxic metabolites from aromatic amides due to their poor concordance with human in vivo amide hydrolysis. In this study, human liver microsomes and minipig subcellular fractions provided more representative models of human in vivo hydrolytic metabolism of the aromatic amide compounds tested.
The influence of spatial frequency content on facial expression processing: An ERP study using rapid serial visual presentation
Authors: Tian Jinhua , Wang Jian , Xia Tao , Zhao Wenshuang , Xu Qianru , He Weiqi 
Published: January 2018

AbstractSpatial frequency (SF) contents have been shown to play an important role in emotion perception. This study employed event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the time course of neural dynamics involved in the processing of facial expression conveying specific SF information. Participants completed a dual-target rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, in which SF-filtered happy, fearful, and neutral faces were presented. The face-sensitive N170 component distinguished emotional (happy and fearful) faces from neutral faces in a low spatial frequency (LSF) condition, while only happy faces were distinguished from neutral faces in a high spatial frequency (HSF) condition. The later P3 component differentiated between the three types of emotional faces in both LSF and HSF conditions. Furthermore, LSF information elicited larger P1 amplitudes than did HSF information, while HSF information elicited larger N170 and P3 amplitudes than did LSF information. Taken together, these results suggest that emotion perception is selectively tuned to distinctive SF contents at different temporal processing stages.
Improved Tapaswini having four BB resistance genes pyramided with six genes/QTLs, resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses in rice
Authors: Das Gitishree , Rao Gundimeda J. N. , Varier M. , Prakash A. , Prasad Dokku 
Published: January 2018

AbstractRice, a major food crop, is grown in a wide range of ecological conditions and suffers significant yield losses as it is constantly exposed to a wide range of environmental and biotic stresses. The prevalence of different biotypes/strains has necessitated assembling of numerous resistance genes/QTLs into elite genotypes to confer a broader scale of resistance. The current study reports successful pyramiding of genes/QTLs that confer tolerance/resistance to submergence (Sub1), salinity (Saltol), blast (Pi2,Pi9) and gall midge (Gm1,Gm4) to supplement the four bacterial blight resistance genes (Xa 4,xa5,xa13,Xa21) present in Improved Tapaswini, an elite cultivar. The precise transfer of genes/QTLs was accomplished through effective foreground selection and suitable gene pyramids were identified. Background selection was practiced using morphological and grain quality traits to enhance the recovery of the recurrent parental genome. In the bioassays, the pyramids exhibited higher levels of resistance/ tolerance against the target stresses. The novel feature of the study was successful pyramidization and demonstration of the function of ten genes/QTLs in a new genotype. This success can stimulate several such studies to realize the full potential of molecular plant breeding as the foundation for rice improvement.
Bismuth Telluride nanocrystal: broadband nonlinear response and its application in ultrafast photonics
Authors: Jiang Guobao , Yi Jun , Miao Lili , Tang Pinghua , Huang Huihui , Zhao Chujun , Wen Shuangchun 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWe come up with a hybrid liquid exfoliation method to prepare bismuth telluride nanocrystals efficiently and cost-effectively. The nonlinear transmittance of the nanocrystals has been characterized with Z-scan technique, which can manifest its broadband saturable absorption behavior experimentally. The as-fabricated nanocrystals were integrated onto fiber end facet to form a fiber compatible nonlinear absorption device with optical deposition method, which was then used to modulate the fiber laser with different cavity configurations to deliver pulsed laser successfully. The noise-like pulse and dissipative soliton have been obtained with wavelength centered at 1562 nm and 1068 nm, respectively. These results confirm the effectiveness of the hybrid liquid exfoliation method to prepare bismuth telluride into nanocrystals, and the broadband nonlinear optical response and ultrafast photonics application potential of the nanocrystals.
Dispersion of the soybean root rot by Cycloneda sanguinea (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
Authors: Salgado-Neto Geraldo , Vaz Marcos André Braz , Guedes Jerson Vanderlei Carús , Muniz Marlove Fátima Brião , Blume Elena , Wilcken Carlos Frederico , Castro Bárbara Monteiro de Castro e , Plata-Rueda Angelica , Zanuncio José Cola 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe dispersion of pathogenic microorganisms consists of the transport of pathogens from their source to inoculate a new host. Agricultural and economic importance of the Soybean root rot justifies studying this disease, especially the role of insects as dispersers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the ladybird beetle, Cycloneda sanguinea Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in the dispersion of pathogens that cause Soybean root rot. Three pathogen species, Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) (Sphaeropsidales: Botryosphaeriaceae), Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC), and F. commune (Skovgaard) O’Donnell & Nirenberg were isolated from the midgut of ladybird beetles and cultured. Macrophomina phaseolina was identified by morphology while for the other two species, DNA was sequenced. The DNA extracted was amplified in the Internal Transcriber Spacer (ITS) region, sequenced and compared to voucher sequences deposited in the GenBank. Sequences of nucleotide ITS1-5.8 S were identified in the regions of rDNA-ITS4 ribosomal DNA. This is the first report of Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) (Sphaeropsidales: Botryosphaeriaceae), Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC), and F. commune (Skovgaard) O’Donnell & Nirenberg, being dispersed by C. sanguinea in Brazilian soybean fields.
Parental age and gene expression profiles in individual human blastocysts
Authors: Kawai Kiyotaka , Harada Tatsuya , Ishikawa Tomonori , Sugiyama Rikikazu , Kawamura Toshihiro , Yoshida Atsumi , Tsutsumi Osamu , Ishino Fumitoshi , Kubota Toshiro , Kohda Takashi 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe epigenetic status of the genome changes dynamically from fertilization to implantation. In addition, the physiological environment during the process of gametogenesis, including parental age, may affect the epigenome of the embryo after fertilization. It is important to clarify the influence of parental age on gene expression in the embryo in terms of transgenerational epigenetics to improve the techniques currently used in assisted reproductive medicine. Here, we performed single-embryo RNA-seq analysis on human blastocysts fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection, including from relatively elderly mothers, to elucidate the effects of parental age on the embryonic gene expression profile. We identified a number of genes in which the expression levels were decreased with increasing maternal age. Among these genes, several are considered to be important for meiotic chromosomal segregation, such as PTTG1, AURKC, SMC1B and MEIKIN. Furthermore, the expression levels of certain genes critical for autophagy and embryonic growth, specifically GABARAPL1 and GABARAPL3, were negatively correlated with advanced paternal age. In addition, levels of transcripts derived from major satellite repeats also decreased as the maternal age increased. These results suggest that epigenetic modifications of the oocyte genome may change with parental age and be transmitted to the next generation.
Neuroprotection of the hypoxic-ischemic mouse brain by human CD117+CD90+CD105+ amniotic fluid stem cells
Authors: Corcelli Michelangelo , Hawkins Kate , Vlahova Filipa , Hunjan Avina , Dowding Kate , De Coppi Paolo , David Anna L. , Peebles Donald , Gressens Pierre , Hagberg Henrik , Hristova Mariya , Guillot Pascale V. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractHuman amniotic fluid contains two morphologically-distinct sub-populations of stem cells with regenerative potential, spindle-shaped (SS-hAFSCs) and round-shaped human amniotic fluid stem cells (RS-hAFSCs). However, it is unclear whether morphological differences correlate with functionality, and this lack of knowledge limits their translational applications. Here, we show that SS-hAFSCs and RS-hAFSCs differ in their neuro-protective ability, demonstrating that a single contralateral injection of SS-hAFSCs into hypoxic-ischemic P7 mice conferred a 47% reduction in hippocampal tissue loss and 43–45% reduction in TUNEL-positive cells in the hippocampus and striatum 48 hours after the insult, decreased microglial activation and TGFβ1 levels, and prevented demyelination. On the other hand, RS-hAFSCs failed to show such neuro-protective effects. It is possible that SS-hAFSCs exert their neuroprotection via endoglin-dependent inhibition of TGFβ1 signaling in target cells. These findings identify a sub-population of CD117+CD90+CD105+ stem cells as a promising source for the neuro-protection of the developing brain.
Nitrogen Fixation by Trichodesmium and unicellular diazotrophs in the northern South China Sea and the Kuroshio in summer
Authors: Wu Chao , Fu Fei-Xue , Sun Jun , Thangaraj Satheeswaran , Pujari Laxman 
Published: January 2018

AbstractDistribution of diazotrophs and their nitrogen fixation activity were investigated in the northern South China Sea (nSCS) and the Kuroshio from July 16th to September 1st, 2009. N2 fixation activities in whole seawater and <10 μm fraction at the surface were measured by acetylene reduction assay. Higher activities were observed at the East China Sea (ECS) Kuroshio and the nSCS shelf. The nSCS basin showed a low N2 fixation activity. The <10 μm fractions (unicellular diazotrophs) contributed major portion to the whole-water activity in the survey time, indicating that nanoplanktonic cyanobacterias were the major diazotrophs in the survey area. Daily N2 fixation rates of Trichodesmium ranged from 0.11 to 9.83 pmolNtrichome−1 d−1 with an average of 4.03 pmolNtrichome−1 d−1. The Luzon Strait and the ECS Kuroshio had higher N2 fixation rates of Trichodesmium than the nSCS shelf and basin. Calculated activities of Trichodesmium at most stations were moderately low compared with that of the whole-water. The contribution of N2 fixation by the whole-water to primary production ranged from 1.7% to 18.5%. The estimated amount of new nitrogen introduced by Trichodesmium contributed up to 0.14% of the total primary production and 0.41% of the new production in the Luzon Strait.
Tungsten-based Ultrathin Absorber for Visible Regime
Authors: Rana Ahsan Sarwar , Mehmood Muhammad Qasim , Jeong Heongyeong , Kim Inki , Rho Junsuk 
Published: January 2018

AbstractUtilizing solar energy requires perfect absorption of light by the photovoltaic cells, particularly solar thermophotovoltaics (STPVs), which can be eventually converted into useful electrical energy. Ultrathin nanostructures, named metasurfaces, provide an intriguing platform to develop the miniaturized solar energy absorbers that can find potential applications in integrated photonics, optical sensing, color imaging, thermal imaging and electromagnetic shielding. Therefore, the quest of novel materials and designs to develop highly efficient absorbers at minuscule scale is an open topic. In this paper, novel absorbers using tungsten-metasurface are developed which give ultrahigh absorbance over a wide frequency spectrum. The proposed designs are two-dimensional, polarization insensitive, broadband and are predicted to give better response under high temperatures ascribed to high melting point of tungsten i.e. 3422 °C. Amongst these designs, cross alignment is found optimum for tungsten, because it is impedance matched with the free space for visible spectrum. This cross arrangement is further tweaked by changing width, height and length resulting in 7 different optimized solutions giving an average absorbance greater than 98%. One, amongst these solutions, gave a maximum average absorbance of 99.3%.
Nature of spiral state and absence of electric polarisation in Sr-doped YBaCuFeO5 revealed by first-principle study
Authors: Dey Dibyendu , Nandy S. , Maitra T. , Yadav C. S. , Taraphder A. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractExperimental results on YBaCuFeO5, in its incommensurate magnetic phase, appear to disagree on its ferroelectric response. Ambiguity exists on the nature of the spiral magnetic state too. Using first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations for the parent compound within LSDA + U + SO approximation, we reveal the nature of spiral state. The helical spiral is found to be more stable below the transition temperature as spins prefer to lie in ab plane. Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction turns out to be negligibly small and the spin current mechanism is not valid in the helical spiral state, ruling out an electric polarisation from either. These results are in very good agreement with the recent, high quality, single-crystal data. We also investigate the magnetic transition in YBa1−xSrxCuFeO5 for the entire range (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) of doping. The exchange interactions are estimated as a function of doping and a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculation on an effective spin Hamiltonian shows that the paramagnetic to commensurate phase transition temperature increases with doping till x = 0.5 and decreases beyond. These observations are consistent with experimental findings.
Human brain functional areas of unitary pooled activity discovered with fMRI
Authors: Huang Jie 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWe report the discovery of human brain functional areas of unitary pooled activity (FAUPAs) using fMRI. A FAUPA is defined as an area in which the temporal variation of the activity is the same across the entire area. This dynamically unitary activity implies a perfect temporal correlation everywhere within the FAUPA for the activity-induced BOLD response, i.e., the corresponding Pearson correlation coefficient (R) is 1 for the BOLD responses of any two locations within the FAUPA. A novel method was developed to identify the FAUPA. In this study, nine subjects had a resting-state (rs) fMRI and a task-fMRI. FAUPAs have been identified for both rs- and task-fMRI, and their determination was objective and automatic, with no a-priori knowledge. The group mean of R was 0.952 ± 0.004 for the rs-fMRI and 0.950 ± 0.002 for the task-fMRI, showing the dynamically unitary activity within each FAUPA. For the finger-tapping (FT) task, the group-mean BOLD signal time course of the FT-associated FAUPAs in the primary motor cortex was almost perfectly correlated with the FT-induced ideal response (R = 0.9330, P = 1.8 × 10−56), confirming the association of the FAUPA with the task. A task-associated FAUPA may play the role of a functional unit for a particular neural computation.