bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of climate change and human activity on soil landscapes over the past 12,300 years
Authors: Rothacker Leo , Dosseto Anthony , Francke Alexander , Chivas Allan R. , Vigier Nathalie , Kotarba-Morley Anna M. , Menozzi Davide 
Published: January 2018

AbstractSoils are key to ecosystems and human societies, and their critical importance requires a better understanding of how they evolve through time. However, identifying the role of natural climate change versus human activity (e.g. agriculture) on soil evolution is difficult. Here we show that for most of the past 12,300 years soil erosion and development were impacted differently by natural climate variability, as recorded by sediments deposited in Lake Dojran (Macedonia/Greece): short-lived ( < 1,000 years) climatic shifts had no effect on soil development but impacted soil erosion. This decoupling disappeared between 3,500 and 3,100 years ago, when the sedimentary record suggests an unprecedented erosion event associated with the development of agriculture in the region. Our results show unambiguously how differently soils evolved under natural climate variability (between 12,300 and 3,500 years ago) and later in response to intensifying human impact. The transition from natural to anthropogenic landscape started just before, or at, the onset of the Greek ‘Dark Ages’ (~3,200 cal yr BP). This could represent the earliest recorded sign of a negative feedback between civilization and environmental impact, where the development of agriculture impacted soil resources, which in turn resulted in a slowdown of civilization expansion.
Alleviation of drought stress in Phyllostachys edulis by N and P application
Authors: Wu Zhi Zhuang , Ying Ye Qing , Zhang Yuan Bin , Bi Yu Fang , Wang An Ke , Du Xu Hua 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe aim of this study was to explore whether nutrition supply can improve the drought tolerance of Moso bamboo under dry conditions. One-year-old seedlings were exposed to two soil water content levels [wellwatered, 70 ± 5% soil-relative-water-content (SRWC) and drought stress, 30 ± 5% SRWC] and four combinations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply (low-N, low-P, LNLP; low-N, high-P, LNHP; high-N, high-P, HNHP; and high-N, low-P, HNLP) for four months. Plant growth, photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, water use efficiency and cell membrane stability were determined. The results showed that drought stress significantly decreased total biomass, net-photosynthesis (Pn), stomatal-conductance (gs), leaf-chlorophyll-content (Chlleaf), PSII-quantum-yield (ΦPSII), maximum-quantum-yield-of-photosynthesis (Fv/Fm), photochemical-quenching-coefficient (qP), leaf-instantaneous-water-use efficiency (WUEi), relative-water-content (RWC), photosynthetic-N-use-efficiency (PNUE), and photosynthetic-P-use-efficiency (PPUE). N and P application was found to be effective in enhancing the concentration of leaf N, gs, and Pn while reducing the production of reactive oxygen species under both water regimes. Under LNHP, HNHP and HNLP treatments, the decreases in total biomass, Pn, Chlleaf and Fv/Fm of drought-stressed were less evident than the decreases under LNLP. The study suggests that nutrient application has the potential to mitigate the drastic effects of water stress on Moso bamboo by improving photosynthetic rate, water-use efficiency, and increasing of membrane integrity.
New insights on basivenal sclerites using 3D tools and homology of wing veins in Odonatoptera (Insecta)
Authors: Jacquelin Lauriane , Desutter-Grandcolas Laure , Chintauan-Marquier Ioana , Boistel Renaud , Zheng Daran , Prokop Jakub , Nel André 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBeing implied in flight, mimetism, communication, and protection, the insect wings were crucial organs for the mega diversification of this clade. Despite several attempts, the problem of wing evolution remains unresolved because the basal parts of the veins essential for vein identification are hidden in the basivenal sclerites. The homologies between wing characters thus cannot be accurately verified, while they are of primary importance to solve long-standing problems, such as the monophyly of the Palaeoptera, viz. Odonatoptera, Panephemeroptera, and Palaeozoic Palaeodictyopterida mainly known by their wings. Hitherto the tools to homologize venation were suffering several cases of exceptions, rendering them unreliable. Here we reconstruct the odonatopteran venation using fossils and a new 3D imaging tool, resulting congruent with the concept of Riek and Kukalová-Peck, with important novelties, viz. median anterior vein fused to radius and radius posterior nearly as convex as radius anterior (putative synapomorphies of Odonatoptera); subcostal anterior (ScA) fused to costal vein and most basal primary antenodal crossvein being a modified posterior branch of ScA (putative synapomorphies of Palaeoptera). These findings may reveal critical for future analyses of the relationships between fossil and extant Palaeoptera, helping to solve the evolutionary history of the insects as a whole.
Bt cotton producing Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab does not harm two parasitoids, Cotesia marginiventris and Copidosoma floridanum
Authors: Tian Jun-Ce , Wang Xiang-Ping , Chen Yang , Romeis Jörg , Naranjo Steven E. , Hellmich Richard L. , Wang Ping , Shelton Anthony M. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractCabbage looper,Trichoplusia ni(Hübner) is an important lepidopteran pest on many vegetable and greenhouse crops, and some field crops. Although there are no commercial transgenic Bt vegetable or greenhouse crops,T.niis a target of Bollgard II cotton, which produces Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab. We expand on previous work that examined the effect of Bt crops on parasitoids using Bt-resistant lepidopteran populations as hosts. Cry1Ac/Cry2Ab-resistantT.nilarvae were used to eliminate host quality effects and to evaluate the direct effects of Bt cotton on the parasitoidsCopidosoma floridanum(Ashmead) andCotesia marginiventris(Cresson). These tri-trophic studies confirm that Bt cotton had no significant impact on development, success of parasitism, survival and adult longevity ofC.marginiventriswhen using Bt-resistantT.nifed on Bt cotton. Similarly, this Bt cotton had no significant impact on the development, mummy weight and the number of progeny produced byC.floridanum. Our studies verified that lyophilized Bt crop tissue maintained its insecticidal bioactivity when incorporated into an artificial diet, demonstrating that hosts and parasitoids were exposed to active Cry proteins. The egg-larval parasitoidC.floridanum, or similar species that consume their entire host, should be considered useful surrogates in risk assessment of Bt crops to non-target arthropods.
Rare Earth Elements Removal from Water Using Natural Polymers
Authors: Negrea Adina , Gabor Andreea , Davidescu Corneliu Mircea , Ciopec Mihaela , Negrea Petru , Duteanu Narcis , Barbulescu Alina 
Published: January 2018

AbstractAdsorption of rare earth metals, Eu (III) and Nd (III) was investigated on a new environmental friendly material, thiourea functionalized cellulose. Before usage, the synthesized material was characterized by Fourrier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The influence of adsorption parameters (adsorbent dosage, time, temperature and initial metal concentration) on adsorption capacity was investigated. Experimental data were fitted by using the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Simultaneously thermodynamic and equilibrium studies have been carried out using Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips isotherm. Maximum adsorption capacities were reached in 30 minutes at 298 K having the value of 27 mg/g for Eu (III) and 73 mg/g for Nd (III).
Effects on metabolic parameters in young rats born with low birth weight after exposure to a mixture of pesticides
Authors: Svingen Terje , Ramhøj Louise , Mandrup Karen , Christiansen Sofie , Axelstad Marta , Vinggaard Anne Marie , Hass Ulla 
Published: January 2018

AbstractPesticide exposure during fetal life can lead to low birth weight and is commonly observed in reproductive toxicology studies. Associations have also been found in low birth weight babies born from pesticide-exposed gardeners. Since low birth weight is also linked to metabolic disorders, it can be speculated that early life exposure to pesticides could increase the risk of becoming obese or developing diabetes later in life. We have analyzed potential long-term effects of gestational and lactational exposure to a low dose mixture of six pesticides that individually can cause low birth weight: Cyromazine, MCPB, Pirimicarb, Quinoclamine, Thiram, and Ziram. Exposed male offspring, who were smaller than controls, displayed some degree of catch-up growth. Insulin and glucagon regulation was not significantly affected, and analyses of liver and pancreas did not reveal obvious histopathological effects. Efforts towards identifying potential biomarkers of metabolic disease-risk did not result in any strong candidates, albeit leptin levels were altered in exposed animals. In fat tissues, the key genes Lep, Nmb and Nmbr were altered in high dosed offspring, and were differentially expressed between sexes. Our results suggest that early-life exposure to pesticides may contribute to the development of metabolic disorders later in life.
Tousled-like kinase 1 is a negative regulator of core transcription factors in murine embryonic stem cells
Authors: Lee Jina , Kim Min Seong , Park Su Hyung , Jang Yeun Kyu 
Published: January 2018

AbstractAlthough the differentiation of pluripotent cells in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is often associated with protein kinase-mediated signaling pathways and Tousled-like kinase 1 (Tlk1) is required for development in several species, the role of Tlk1 in ESC function remains unclear. Here, we used mouse ESCs to study the function of Tlk1 in pluripotent cells. The knockdown (KD)-based Tlk1-deficient cells showed that Tlk1 is not essential for ESC self-renewal in an undifferentiated state. However, Tlk1-KD cells formed irregularly shaped embryoid bodies and induced resistance to differentiation cues, indicating their failure to differentiate into an embryoid body. Consistent with their failure to differentiate, Tlk1-KD cells failed to downregulate the expression of undifferentiated cell markers including Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2 during differentiation, suggesting a negative role of Tlk1. Interestingly, Tlk1 overexpression sufficiently downregulated the expression of core pluripotency factors possibly irrespective of its kinase activity, thereby leading to a partial loss of self-renewal ability even in an undifferentiated state. Moreover, Tlk1 overexpression caused severe growth defects and G2/M phase arrest as well as apoptosis. Collectively, our data suggest that Tlk1 negatively regulates the expression of pluripotency factors, thereby contributing to the scheduled differentiation of mouse ESCs.
A ruthenium-based 5-fluorouracil complex with enhanced cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction action in HCT116 cells
Authors: Silva Valdenizia Rodrigues , Corrêa Rodrigo S. , Santos Luciano de Souza , Soares Milena Botelho Pereira , Batista Alzir Azevedo , Bezerra Daniel Pereira 
Published: January 2018

AbstractCombination of multifunctionalities into one compound is a rational strategy in medicinal chemical design, and have often been used with metallodrug-based compounds. In the present study, we synthesized a novel ruthenium-based 5-fluorouracil complex [Ru(5-FU)(PPh3)2(bipy)]PF6 (PPh3 = triphenylphosphine; and bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine) with enhanced cytotoxicity in different cancer cells, and assessed its apoptosis induction action in human colon carcinoma HCT116 cells. The complex was characterized by infrared, cyclic voltammetry, molar conductance measurements, elemental analysis, NMR experiments and X-ray crystallographic analysis. In both 2D and 3D cell culture models, the complex presented cytotoxicity to cancer cells more potent than 5-FU. A typical morphology of apoptotic cell death, increased internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, without cell membrane permeability, loss of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential, increased phosphatidylserine externalization and caspase-3 activation were observed in complex-treated HCT116 cells. Moreover, the pre-treatment with Z-DEVD-FMK, a caspase-3 inhibitor, reduced the apoptosis induced by the complex, indicating cell death by apoptosis through caspase-dependent and mitochondrial intrinsic pathways. The complex failed to induce reactive oxygen species production and DNA intercalation. In conclusion, the novel complex displays enhanced cytotoxicity to different cancer cells, and is able to induce caspase-mediated apoptosis in HCT116 cells.
Allele-specific repression of Sox2 through the long non-coding RNA Sox2ot
Authors: Messemaker Tobias C. , van Leeuwen Selina M. , van den Berg Patrick R. , ‘t Jong Anke E. J. , Palstra Robert-Jan , Hoeben Rob C. , Semrau Stefan , Mikkers Harald M. M. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe transcription factor Sox2 controls the fate of pluripotent stem cells and neural stem cells. This gatekeeper function requires well-regulated Sox2 levels. We postulated that Sox2 regulation is partially controlled by the Sox2 overlapping long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) gene Sox2ot. Here we show that the RNA levels of Sox2ot and Sox2 are inversely correlated during neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Through allele-specific enhanced transcription of Sox2ot in mouse Sox2eGFP knockin ESCs we demonstrate that increased Sox2ot transcriptional activity reduces Sox2 RNA levels in an allele-specific manner. Enhanced Sox2ot transcription, yielding lower Sox2 RNA levels, correlates with a decreased chromatin interaction of the upstream regulatory sequence of Sox2 and the ESC-specific Sox2 super enhancer. Our study indicates that, in addition to previously reported in trans mechanisms, Sox2ot can regulate Sox2 by an allele-specific mechanism, in particular during development.
Blimp-1/PRDM1 is a critical regulator of Type III Interferon responses in mammary epithelial cells
Authors: Elias Salah , Robertson Elizabeth J. , Bikoff Elizabeth K. , Mould Arne W. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe transcriptional repressor Blimp-1 originally cloned as a silencer of type I interferon (IFN)-β gene expression controls cell fate decisions in multiple tissue contexts. Conditional inactivation in the mammary gland was recently shown to disrupt epithelial cell architecture. Here we report that Blimp-1 regulates expression of viral defense, IFN signaling and MHC class I pathways, and directly targets the transcriptional activator Stat1. Blimp-1 functional loss in 3D cultures of mammary epithelial cells (MECs) results in accumulation of dsRNA and expression of type III IFN-λ. Cultures treated with IFN lambda similarly display defective lumen formation. These results demonstrate that type III IFN-λ profoundly influences the behavior of MECs and identify Blimp-1 as a critical regulator of IFN signaling cascades.
Chemicals released by male sea cucumber mediate aggregation and spawning behaviours
Authors: Marquet Nathalie , Hubbard Peter C. , da Silva José P. , Afonso João , Canário Adelino V. M. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe importance of chemical communication in reproduction has been demonstrated in many marine broadcast spawners. However, little is known about the use of chemical communication by echinoderms, the nature of the compounds involved and their mechanism(s) of action. Here, the hypothesis that the sea cucumberHolothuria arguinensisuses chemical communication for aggregation and spawning was tested. Water conditioned by males, but not females, attracted both males and females; gonad homogenates and coelomic fluid had no effect on attraction. Male spawning water, but not female spawning water, stimulated males and females to release their gametes; the spermatozoa alone did not induce spawning.H.arguinensismale spawning water also induced spawning in the phylogenetically relatedH.mammata. This indicates that males release pheromones together with their gametes that induce spawning in conspecifics and possibly sympatric species. Finally, the male pheromone seems to be a mixture with at least one labile compound (biological activity is lost after four hours at ambient temperature) possibly including phosphatidylcholines. The identification of pheromones in sea cucumbers offers a new ecological perspective and may have practical applications for their aquaculture.
Functional Brain Network Mechanism of Hypersensitivity in Chronic Pain
Authors: Lee UnCheol , Kim Minkyung , Lee KyoungEun , Kaplan Chelsea M. , Clauw Daniel J. , Kim Seunghwan , Mashour George A. , Harris Richard E. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractFibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic widespread pain condition characterized by augmented multi-modal sensory sensitivity. Although the mechanisms underlying this sensitivity are thought to involve an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory activity throughout the brain, the underlying neural network properties associated with hypersensitivity to pain stimuli are largely unknown. In network science, explosive synchronization (ES) was introduced as a mechanism of hypersensitivity in diverse biological and physical systems that display explosive and global propagations with small perturbations. We hypothesized that ES may also be a mechanism of the hypersensitivity in FM brains. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) of 10 FM patients. First, we examined theoretically well-known ES conditions within functional brain networks reconstructed from EEG, then tested whether a brain network model with ES conditions identified in the EEG data is sensitive to an external perturbation. We demonstrate for the first time that the FM brain displays characteristics of ES conditions, and that these factors significantly correlate with chronic pain intensity. The simulation data support the conclusion that networks with ES conditions are more sensitive to perturbation compared to non-ES network. The model and empirical data analysis provide convergent evidence that ES may be a network mechanism of FM hypersensitivity.
Pan-genome analysis of the genus Finegoldia identifies two distinct clades, strain-specific heterogeneity, and putative virulence factors
Authors: Brüggemann Holger , Jensen Anders , Nazipi Seven , Aslan Hüsnü , Meyer Rikke Louise , Poehlein Anja , Brzuszkiewicz Elzbieta , Al-Zeer Munir A. , Brinkmann Volker , Söderquist Bo 
Published: January 2018

AbstractFinegoldia magna, a Gram-positive anaerobic coccus, is an opportunistic pathogen, associated with medical device-related infections.F.magnais the only described species of the genusFinegoldia. We report the analysis of 17 genomes ofFinegoldiaisolates. Phylogenomic analyses showed that theFinegoldiapopulation can be divided into two distinct clades, with an average nucleotide identity of 90.7%. One clade contains strains ofF. magna, whereas the other clade includes more heterogeneous strains, hereafter tentatively named “Finegoldia nericia”. The latter species appears to be more abundant in the human microbiome. Surface structure differences between strains ofF. magnaand“F. nericia” were detected by microscopy. Strain-specific heterogeneity is high and previously identified host-interacting factors are present only in subsets of“F. nericia”andF.magnastrains. However, all genomes encode multiple host factor-binding proteins such as albumin-, collagen-, and immunoglobulin-binding proteins, and two to four copies of CAMP (Christie-Atkins-Munch-Petersen) factors; in accordance, most strains show a positive CAMP reaction for co-hemolysis. Our work sheds new light of the genusFinegoldiaand its ability to bind host components. Future research should explore if the genomic differences identified here affect the potential of differentFinegoldiaspecies and strains to cause opportunistic infections.
Navon’s classical paradigm concerning local and global processing relates systematically to visual object classification performance
Authors: Gerlach Christian , Poirel Nicolas 
Published: January 2018

AbstractForty years ago David Navon tried to tackle a central problem in psychology concerning the time course of perceptual processing: Do we first see the details (local level) followed by the overall outlay (global level) or is it rather the other way around? He did this by developing a now classical paradigm involving the presentation of compound stimuli; large letters composed of smaller letters. Despite the usefulness of this paradigm it remains uncertain whether effects found with compound stimuli relate directly to visual object recognition. It does so because compound stimuli are not actual objects but rather formations of elements and because the elements that form the global shape of compound stimuli are not features of the global shape but rather objects in their own right. To examine the relationship between performance on Navon’s paradigm and visual object processing we derived two indexes from Navon’s paradigm that reflect different aspects of the relationship between global and local processing. We find that individual differences on these indexes can explain a considerable amount of variance in two standard object classification paradigms; object decision and superordinate categorization, suggesting that Navon’s paradigm does relate to visual object processing.
Initial evenness determines diversity and cell density dynamics in synthetic microbial ecosystems
Authors: Ehsani Elham , Hernandez-Sanabria Emma , Kerckhof Frederiek-Maarten , Props Ruben , Vilchez-Vargas Ramiro , Vital Marius , Pieper Dietmar H. , Boon Nico 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe effect of initial evenness on the temporal trajectory of synthetic communities in comprehensive, low-volume microcosm studies remains unknown. We used flow cytometric fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess the impact of time on community structure in one hundred synthetic ecosystems of fixed richness but varying initial evenness. Both methodologies uncovered a similar reduction in diversity within synthetic communities of medium and high initial evenness classes. However, the results of amplicon sequencing showed that there were no significant differences between and within the communities in all evenness groups at the end of the experiment. Nevertheless, initial evenness significantly impacted the cell density of the community after five medium transfers. Highly even communities retained the highest cell densities at the end of the experiment. The relative abundances of individual species could be associated to particular evenness groups, suggesting that their presence was dependent on the initial evenness of the synthetic community. Our results reveal that using synthetic communities for testing ecological hypotheses requires prior assessment of initial evenness, as it impacts temporal dynamics.