bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An outbreak caused by GII.17 norovirus with a wide spectrum of HBGA-associated susceptibility
Authors: Zhang Xu-Fu , Huang Qiong , Long Yan , Jiang Xi , Zhang Ting , Tan Ming , Zhang Qiao-Li , Huang Zhen-Yu , Li Yue-Huan , Ding Yao-Quan , Hu Gui-Fang , Tang Shixing , Dai Ying-Chun 
Published: December 2015

AbstractDuring the past norovirus (NoV) epidemic season, a new GII.17 variant emerged as a predominant NoV strain, surpassed the GII.4 NoVs, causing outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in China. Here we report a study of an AGE outbreak in an elementary school in December 2014 caused by the new GII.17 NoV to explore the potential mechanism behind the sudden epidemics of the GII.17 NoV. A total of 276 individuals were sick with typical NoV infection symptoms of vomiting (93.4%), abdominal pain (90.4%), nausea (60.0%) and diarrhea (10.4%) at an attack rate of 5.7–16.9%. Genotyping of the symptomatic patients showed that individuals with a secretor positive status, including those with A, B and O secretors and Lewis positive blood types, were sensitive to the virus, while the non-secretors and the Lewis negative individual were not. Accordingly, the recombinant capsid P protein of the GII.17 isolate showed a wide binding spectrum to saliva samples of all A, B and O secretors. Thus, the broad binding spectrum of the new GII.17 variant could explain its widely spread nature in China and surrounding areas in the past two years.
Dynamically reorganized chromatin is the key for the reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotent cells
Authors: Huang Kaimeng , Zhang Xiaobai , Shi Jiejun , Yao Mingze , Lin Jiannan , Li Jiao , Liu He , Li Huanhuan , Shi Guang , Wang Zhibin , Zhang Biliang , Chen Jiekai , Pan Guangjin , Jiang Cizhong , Pei Duanqing , Yao Hongjie 
Published: December 2015

AbstractNucleosome positioning and histone modification play a critical role in gene regulation, but their role during reprogramming has not been fully elucidated. Here, we determined the genome-wide nucleosome coverage and histone methylation occupancy in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and pre-iPSCs. We found that nucleosome occupancy increases in promoter regions and decreases in intergenic regions in pre-iPSCs, then recovers to an intermediate level in iPSCs. We also found that nucleosomes in pre-iPSCs are much more phased than those in MEFs and iPSCs. During reprogramming, nucleosome reorganization and histone methylation around transcription start sites (TSSs) are highly coordinated with distinctively transcriptional activities. Bivalent promoters gradually increase, while repressive promoters gradually decrease. High CpG (HCG) promoters of active genes are characterized by nucleosome depletion at TSSs, while low CpG (LCG) promoters exhibit the opposite characteristics. In addition, we show that vitamin C (VC) promotes reorganizations of canonical, H3K4me3- and H3K27me3-modified nucleosomes on specific genes during transition from pre-iPSCs to iPSCs. These data demonstrate that pre-iPSCs have a more open and phased chromatin architecture than that of MEFs and iPSCs. Finally, this study reveals the dynamics and critical roles of nucleosome positioning and chromatin organization in gene regulation during reprogramming.
Self-directed exploration provides a Ncs1-dependent learning bonus
Authors: Mun Ho-Suk , Saab Bechara J. , Ng Enoch , McGirr Alexander , Lipina Tatiana V. , Gondo Yoichi , Georgiou John , Roder John C. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractUnderstanding the mechanisms of memory formation is fundamental to establishing optimal educational practices and restoring cognitive function in brain disease. Here, we show for the first time in a non-primate species, that spatial learning receives a special bonus from self-directed exploration. In contrast, when exploration is escape-oriented, or when the full repertoire of exploratory behaviors is reduced, no learning bonus occurs. These findings permitted the first molecular and cellular examinations into the coupling of exploration to learning. We found elevated expression of neuronal calcium sensor 1 (Ncs1) and dopamine type-2 receptors upon self-directed exploration, in concert with increased neuronal activity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and area CA3, as well as the nucleus accumbens. We probed further into the learning bonus by developing a point mutant mouse (Ncs1P144S/P144S) harboring a destabilized NCS-1 protein and found this line lacked the equivalent self-directed exploration learning bonus. Acute knock-down of Ncs1 in the hippocampus also decoupled exploration from efficient learning. These results are potentially relevant for augmenting learning and memory in health and disease and provide the basis for further molecular and circuit analyses in this direction.
Atomically precise semiconductor—graphene and hBN interfaces by Ge intercalation
Authors: Verbitskiy N. I. , Fedorov A. V. , Profeta G. , Stroppa A. , Petaccia L. , Senkovskiy B. , Nefedov A. , Wöll C. , Usachov D. Yu. , Vyalikh D. V. , Yashina L. V. , Eliseev A. A. , Pichler T. , Grüneis A. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe full exploration of the potential, which graphene offers to nanoelectronics requires its integration into semiconductor technology. So far the real-world applications are limited by the ability to concomitantly achieve large single-crystalline domains on dielectrics and semiconductors and to tailor the interfaces between them. Here we show a new direct bottom-up method for the fabrication of high-quality atomically precise interfaces between 2D materials, like graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and classical semiconductor via Ge intercalation. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and complementary DFT modelling we observed for the first time that epitaxially grown graphene with the Ge monolayer underneath demonstrates Dirac Fermions unaffected by the substrate as well as an unperturbed electronic band structure of hBN. This approach provides the intrinsic relativistic 2D electron gas towards integration in semiconductor technology. Hence, these new interfaces are a promising path for the integration of graphene and hBN into state-of-the-art semiconductor technology.
Electron beam irradiated silver nanowires for a highly transparent heater
Authors: Hong Chan-Hwa , Oh Seung Kyu , Kim Tae Kyoung , Cha Yu-Jung , Kwak Joon Seop , Shin Jae-Heon , Ju Byeong-Kwon , Cheong Woo-Seok 
Published: December 2015

AbstractTransparent heaters have attracted increasing attention for their usefulness in vehicle windows, outdoor displays and periscopes. We present high performance transparent heaters based on Ag nanowires with electron beam irradiation. We obtained an Ag-nanowire thin film with 48 ohm/sq of sheet resistance and 88.8% (substrate included) transmittance at 550 nm after electron beam irradiation for 120 sec. We demonstrate that the electron beam creates nano-soldering at the junctions of the Ag nanowires, which produces lower sheet resistance and improved adhesion of the Ag nanowires. We fabricated a transparent heater with Ag nanowires after electron beam irradiation and obtained a temperature of 51 °C within 1 min at an applied voltage of 7 V. The presented technique will be useful in a wide range of applications for transparent heaters.
Superdiffusive motion of membrane-targeting C2 domains
Authors: Campagnola Grace , Nepal Kanti , Schroder Bryce W. , Peersen Olve B. , Krapf Diego 
Published: December 2015

AbstractMembrane-targeting domains play crucial roles in the recruitment of signalling molecules to the plasma membrane. For most peripheral proteins, the protein-to-membrane interaction is transient. After proteins dissociate from the membrane they have been observed to rebind following brief excursions in the bulk solution. Such membrane hops can have broad implications for the efficiency of reactions on membranes. We study the diffusion of membrane-targeting C2 domains using single-molecule tracking in supported lipid bilayers. The ensemble-averaged mean square displacement (MSD) exhibits superdiffusive behaviour. However, traditional time-averaged MSD analysis of individual trajectories remains linear and does not reveal superdiffusion. Our observations are explained in terms of bulk excursions that introduce jumps with a heavy-tail distribution. These hopping events allow proteins to explore large areas in a short time. The experimental results are shown to be consistent with analytical models of bulk-mediated diffusion and numerical simulations.
Exploring the automaticity of language-perception interactions: Effects of attention and awareness
Authors: Francken Jolien C. , Meijs Erik L. , Hagoort Peter , van Gaal Simon , de Lange Floris P. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that language can modulate visual perception, by biasing and/or enhancing perceptual performance. However, it is still debated where in the brain visual and linguistic information are integrated and whether the effects of language on perception are automatic and persist even in the absence of awareness of the linguistic material. Here, we aimed to explore the automaticity of language-perception interactions and the neural loci of these interactions in an fMRI study. Participants engaged in a visual motion discrimination task (upward or downward moving dots). Before each trial, a word prime was briefly presented that implied upward or downward motion (e.g., “rise”, “fall”). These word primes strongly influenced behavior: congruent motion words sped up reaction times and improved performance relative to incongruent motion words. Neural congruency effects were only observed in the left middle temporal gyrus, showing higher activity for congruent compared to incongruent conditions. This suggests that higher-level conceptual areas rather than sensory areas are the locus of language-perception interactions. When motion words were rendered unaware by means of masking, they still affected visual motion perception, suggesting that language-perception interactions may rely on automatic feed-forward integration of perceptual and semantic material in language areas of the brain.
Cytoplasmic hnRNPK interacts with GSK3β and is essential for the osteoclast differentiation
Authors: Fan Xiaoqin , Xiong Haiting , Wei Jinmei , Gao Xuejuan , Feng Yuan , Liu Xiaohui , Zhang Gong , He Qing-Yu , Xu Jiake , Liu Langxia 
Published: December 2015

AbstractOsteoclast differentiation is a complex and finely regulated physiological process that involves a variety of signaling pathways and factors. Recent studies suggested that the Ser9 phosphorylation of Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) is required for the osteoclast differentiation. However, the precise underlying mechanism remains unclear. We have previously identified the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNPK) as a putative GSK3β interactor. In the present study, we demonstrate that, during the RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation, the PI3K/Akt-mediated Ser9 phosphorylation of GSK3β provokes the nuclear-cytoplasmic translocation of hnRNPK in an ERK-dependent manner, enhancing the cytoplasmic co-localization and interaction of GSK3β and hnRNPK. We show that hnRNPK is essential for the osteoclast differentiation and is involved in several reported functions of GSK3β, including the activation of NF-κB, the expression of NFATc1 and the acetylation of tubulin, all known to be critical for osteoclast differentiation and functions. We find that hnRNPK is localized in the actin belt and is important for the mature osteoclast formation. Taken together, we demonstrate here the critical role of hnRNPK in osteoclast differentiation and depict a model in which the cytoplasmic hnRNPK interacts with GSK3β and regulates its function.
Pure spin-Hall magnetoresistance in Rh/Y3Fe5O12 hybrid
Authors: Shang T. , Zhan Q. F. , Ma L. , Yang H. L. , Zuo Z. H. , Xie Y. L. , Li H. H. , Liu L. P. , Wang B. M. , Wu Y. H. , Zhang S. , Li Run-Wei 
Published: December 2015

AbstractWe report an investigation of anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) and anomalous Hall resistance (AHR) of Rh and Pt thin films sputtered on epitaxial Y3Fe5O12 (YIG) ferromagnetic insulator films. For the Pt/YIG hybrid, large spin-Hall magne toresistance (SMR) along with a sizable conventional anisotropic magnetoresistance (CAMR) and a nontrivial temperature dependence of AHR were observed in the temperature range of 5–300 K. In contrast, a reduced SMR with negligible CAMR and AHR was found in Rh/YIG hybrid. Since CAMR and AHR are characteristics for all ferromagnetic metals, our results suggest that the Pt is likely magnetized by YIG due to the magnetic proximity effect (MPE) while Rh remains free of MPE. Thus the Rh/YIG hybrid could be an ideal model system to explore physics and devices associated with pure spin current.
Prenatal caffeine exposure induces a poor quality of articular cartilage in male adult offspring rats via cholesterol accumulation in cartilage
Authors: Luo Hanwen , Li Jing , Cao Hong , Tan Yang , Magdalou Jacques , Chen Liaobin , Wang Hui 
Published: December 2015

AbstractEpidemiological investigations indicate that osteoarthritis is associated with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and abnormal cholesterol metabolism. Our previous studies showed that prenatal caffeine exposure (PCE) induced chondrogenesis retardation in IUGR offspring rats. The current study sought to investigate the effects of PCE on male IUGR offspring rats’ articular cartilage and the mechanisms associated with abnormal cholesterol metabolism. Based on the results from both male fetal and adult fed a high-fat diet (HFD) studies of rats that experienced PCE (120 mg/kg.d), the results showed a poor quality of articular cartilage and cholesterol accumulation in the adult PCE group. Meanwhile, the serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations were increased in adult PCE offspring. We also observed lower expression of insulin-like growth factor1 (IGF1) and impaired cholesterol efflux in adult articular cartilage. Furthermore, the expression of cartilage functional genes, components of the IGF1 signaling pathway and cholesterol efflux pathway related genes were decreased in PCE fetal cartilage. In conclusion, PCE induced a poor quality of articular cartilage in male adult offspring fed a HFD. This finding was shown to be due to cholesterol accumulation in the cartilage, which may have resulted from intrauterine reduced activity of the IGF1 signaling pathway.
Observation of Bloch oscillations in complex PT-symmetric photonic lattices
Authors: Wimmer Martin , Miri Mohammed-Ali , Christodoulides Demetrios , Peschel Ulf 
Published: December 2015

AbstractLight propagation in periodic environments is often associated with a number of interesting and potentially useful processes. If a crystalline optical potential is also linearly ramped, light can undergo periodic Bloch oscillations, a direct outcome of localized Wannier-Stark states and their equidistant eigenvalue spectrum. Even though these effects have been extensively explored in conservative settings, this is by no means the case in non-Hermitian photonic lattices encompassing both amplification and attenuation. Quite recently, Bloch oscillations have been predicted in parity-time-symmetric structures involving gain and loss in a balanced fashion. While in a complex bulk medium, one intuitively expects that light will typically follow the path of highest amplification, in a periodic system this behavior can be substantially altered by the underlying band structure. Here, we report the first experimental observation of Bloch oscillations in parity-time-symmetric mesh lattices. We show that these revivals exhibit unusual properties like secondary emissions and resonant restoration of PT symmetry. In addition, we present a versatile method for reconstructing the real and imaginary components of the band structure by directly monitoring the light evolution during a cycle of these oscillations.
Buckling assisted and lithographically micropatterned fully flexible sensors for conformal integration applications
Authors: Maji Debashis , Das Debanjan , Wala Jyoti , Das Soumen 
Published: December 2015

AbstractDevelopment of flexible sensors/electronics over substrates thicker than 100 μm is of immense importance for its practical feasibility. However, unlike over ultrathin films, large bending stress hinders its flexibility. Here we have employed a novel technique of fabricating sensors over a non-planar ridge topology under pre-stretched condition which not only helps in spontaneous generation of large and uniform parallel buckles upon release, but also acts as stress reduction zones thereby preventing Poisson’s ratio induced lateral cracking. Further, we propose a complete lithography compatible process to realize flexible sensors over pre-stretched substrates thicker than 100 μm that are released through dissolution of a water soluble sacrificial layer of polyvinyl alcohol. These buckling assisted flexible sensors demonstrated superior performance along different flexible modalities. Based on the above concept, we also realized a micro thermal flow sensor, conformally wrapped around angiographic catheters to detect flow abnormalities for potential applications in interventional catheterization process.
Copy number variation and microdeletions of the Y chromosome linked genes and loci across different categories of Indian infertile males
Authors: Kumari Anju , Yadav Sandeep Kumar , Misro Man Mohan , Ahmad Jamal , Ali Sher 
Published: December 2015

AbstractWe analyzed 34 azoospermic (AZ), 43 oligospermic (OS) and 40 infertile males with normal spermiogram (INS) together with 55 normal fertile males (NFM) from the Indian population. AZ showed more microdeletions in the AZFa and AZFb regions whereas oligospermic ones showed more microdeletions in the AZFc region. Frequency of the AZF partial deletions was higher in males with spermatogenic impairments than in INS. Significantly, SRY, DAZ and BPY2 genes showed copy number variation across different categories of the patients and much reduced copies of the DYZ1 repeat arrays compared to that in normal fertile males. Likewise, INS showed microdeletions, sequence and copy number variation of several Y linked genes and loci. In the context of infertility, STS deletions and copy number variations both were statistically significant (p = 0.001). Thus, semen samples used during in vitro fertilization (IVF) and assisted reproductive technology (ART) must be assessed for the microdeletions of AZFa, b and c regions in addition to the affected genes reported herein. Present study is envisaged to be useful for DNA based diagnosis of different categories of the infertile males lending support to genetic counseling to the couples aspiring to avail assisted reproductive technologies.
Deciphering Genomic Underpinnings of Quantitative MRI-based Radiomic Phenotypes of Invasive Breast Carcinoma
Authors: Zhu Yitan , Li Hui , Guo Wentian , Drukker Karen , Lan Li , Giger Maryellen L. , Ji Yuan 
Published: December 2015

AbstractMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been routinely used for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. However, the relationship between the MRI tumor phenotypes and the underlying genetic mechanisms remains under-explored. We integrated multi-omics molecular data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) with MRI data from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) for 91 breast invasive carcinomas. Quantitative MRI phenotypes of tumors (such as tumor size, shape, margin and blood flow kinetics) were associated with their corresponding molecular profiles (including DNA mutation, miRNA expression, protein expression, pathway gene expression and copy number variation). We found that transcriptional activities of various genetic pathways were positively associated with tumor size, blurred tumor margin and irregular tumor shape and that miRNA expressions were associated with the tumor size and enhancement texture, but not with other types of radiomic phenotypes. We provide all the association findings as a resource for the research community (available at http://compgenome.org/Radiogenomics/). These findings pave potential paths for the discovery of genetic mechanisms regulating specific tumor phenotypes and for improving MRI techniques as potential non-invasive approaches to probe the cancer molecular status.
Pseudo-immortalization of postnatal cochlear progenitor cells yields a scalable cell line capable of transcriptionally regulating mature hair cell genes
Authors: Walters Brandon J. , Diao Shiyong , Zheng Fei , Walters Bradley J. , Layman Wanda S. , Zuo Jian 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe mammalian cochlea is a highly specialized organ within the inner ear. Sensory hair cells (HC) in the cochlea detect and transduce sound waves into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain. Studies of the molecular pathways regulating HC formation are hindered by the very sparse nature of HCs, where only ~3300 are found within an entire mouse cochlea. Current cell lines mimic certain aspects of HCs but lack terminal HC marker expression. Here we successfully “pseudo-immortalized” cochlear progenitor cells using the “conditional reprogramming” technique. These cells, termed “Conditionally Reprogrammed Otic Stem Cells” (CR-OSC), are able to bypass the senescence inherent to cochlear progenitor cells without genetic alterations, allowing for the generation of over 15 million cells from a single cochlea. These cells can be differentiated and up-regulate both early and terminal differentiation genes associated with HCs, including the terminal HC differentiation marker prestin. CR-OSCs also respond to known HC cues, including upregulation of HC genes in response to Atoh1 overexpression and upregulation of prestin expression after thyroid hormone application. Overall, we describe the creation of a HC line capable of regulated expression of HC genes that can easily be recreated in any laboratory from any mouse of interest.
Molecular Assembly of Clostridium botulinum progenitor M complex of type E
Authors: Eswaramoorthy Subramaniam , Sun Jingchuan , Li Huilin , Singh Bal Ram , Swaminathan Subramanyam 
Published: December 2015

AbstractClostridium botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is released as a progenitor complex, in association with a non-toxic-non-hemagglutinin protein (NTNH) and other associated proteins. We have determined the crystal structure of M type Progenitor complex of botulinum neurotoxin E [PTC-E(M)], a heterodimer of BoNT and NTNH. The crystal structure reveals that the complex exists as a tight, interlocked heterodimer of BoNT and NTNH. The crystal structure explains the mechanism of molecular assembly of the complex and reveals several acidic clusters at the interface responsible for association at low acidic pH and disassociation at basic/neutral pH. The similarity of the general architecture between the PTC-E(M) and the previously determined PTC-A(M) strongly suggests that the progenitor M complexes of all botulinum serotypes may have similar molecular arrangement, although the neurotoxins apparently can take very different conformation when they are released from the M complex.