bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the Chloroform-Based Pretreatment Method for14C Dating of Restored Wooden Samples
Authors: Liccioli Lucia , Fedi Mariaelena , Carraresi Luca , Mandò Pier Andrea 
Published: January 2017

AbstractAt INFN-LABEC (Florence, Italy), a new pretreatment for radiocarbon dating based on chloroform has been recently set up. This method aims to remove the synthetic resins used for artwork restoration, which otherwise could alter the original14C content. The present study characterizes the efficiency of the process when applied to wood. We have verified whether the effectiveness of the pretreatment depends on the number of extractions in chloroform. We prepared samples by applying different volumes of Paraloid B-72®, one of the most widespread products used in restoration, on poplar wood of known age. Contaminated samples were artificially aged in a climatic chamber. A fraction from each sample was collected before any treatment and after respectively 1, 2, 3, and 4 extractions in chloroform, and14C dating by AMS, the resin appears to be already removed after the first two extractions. Furthermore, the extracted mixtures of chloroform and possible removed Paraloid were measured by FTIR spectroscopy, the results of which confirmed the14C results. The efficiency of the pretreatment was also verified on historical wooden materials that had been previously restored. In these cases, a higher number of extractions is required, suggesting a careful approach when dealing with “real” artworks.
Globozoospermia and lack of acrosome formation in GM130-deficient mice
Authors: Han Feng , Liu Chunyi , Zhang Lianjun , Chen Min , Zhou Yang , Qin Yan , Wang Yaqing , Chen Min , Duo Shuguang , Cui Xiuhong , Bao Shilai , Gao Fei 
Published: January 2017

AbstractGlobozoospermia is a common reproductive disorder that causes male infertility in humans, and the malformation or loss of acrosomes is the prominent feature of this disease. Although the acrosome is thought to be derived from the Golgi apparatus, the detailed molecular mechanisms remain unclear. GM130 is a cis-side localized Golgi matrix protein,whereas the physiological functions of this protein remain elusive. Here we showed that inactivation of GM130-caused male infertility in mouse model. The primary defects were the absence of acrosomes, round sperm heads, and aberrant assembly of the mitochondrial sheath, which comprise the characteristic features of human globozoospermia. Further investigation indicated that loss of GM130 did not affect the secretion of pro-acrosomic vesicles, whereas the vesicles failed to fuse into a single large acrosome vesicle. Co-localization of the adaptor protein complex AP1 and trans-Golgi network (TGN) protein TGN46 was disrupted, suggesting that the malformation of acrosomes is most likely due to the defect in the sorting and coating of Golgi-derived pro-acrosomic vesicles. Thus, the GM130-deficient mouse provides a valuable model for investigating the etiology of human globozoospermia.
Temporal gradients limit the accumulation of neutrophils toward sources of chemoattractant
Authors: Chandrasekaran Arvind , Ellett Felix , Jorgensen Julianne , Irimia Daniel 
Published: January 2017

AbstractNeutrophil trafficking during inflammation is a highly orchestrated process, coordinating neutrophil recruitment, sterilization of the wound, and inflammation resolution. Although the chemotactic signals guiding neutrophil recruitment to sites of inflammation are relatively well understood, our knowledge of mechanisms controlling cessation of neutrophil recruitment and return to normal tissue physiology remains incomplete. To gain insights into these processes, we designed a microfluidic device with an array of chemoattractant reservoirs, which mimics the microenvironment in infected tissues, when multiple clusters of microbes are present. We monitored the temporal dynamics of neutrophil recruitment toward the chemoattractant reservoirs at single cell resolution, for 3 h. We observed robust neutrophil recruitment that reached a plateau after 1.5 h, despite the continuous presence of strong chemoattractant gradients around the reservoirs. The timing of the plateau was dependent on the geometry of the devices and was independent from the number of neutrophils. On the basis of these observations, we ruled out sub-population sensitivity, chemoattractant scavenging, and production of a self-limiting stop signal as potential mechanisms underpinning the plateau in neutrophil recruitment. We found a strong correlation between the temporal stabilization of concentration changes and the plateau in neutrophils recruitment. These results suggest that dynamic aspects of chemoattractant gradients are key for maximizing recruitment during the acute phase of infections and limiting the accumulation of neutrophils as soon as the infection is contained.
Identifying possible asthma–COPD overlap syndrome in patients with a new diagnosis of COPD in primary care
Authors: Baarnes Camilla Boslev , Kjeldgaard Peter , Nielsen Mia , Miravitlles Marc , Ulrik Charlotte Suppli 
Published: January 2017

AbstractThe asthma–chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap syndrome (ACOS) remains poorly characterised. Our aim was to describe an algorithm for identifying possible ACOS in adults with newly diagnosed COPD in primary care. General practitioners (n=241) consecutively recruited subjects ⩾35 years, with tobacco exposure, at least one respiratory symptom and no previous diagnosis of obstructive lung disease. Possible ACOS was defined as chronic airflow obstruction, i.e., post-bronchodilator (BD) forced expiratory volume 1/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) ratio<0.70, combined with wheeze (ACOS wheeze) and/or significant BD reversibility (ACOS BD reversibility). Of 3,875 (50% females, mean age 57 years) subjects screened, 700 (18.1%) were diagnosed with COPD, i.e., symptom(s), tobacco exposure and chronic airflow obstruction. Indications for ACOS were found in 264 (38%) of the COPD patients. The prevalence of ACOS wheeze and ACOS BD reversibility was 27% (n=190) and 16% (n=113), respectively (P<0.001), and only 6% (n=39) of the COPD patients fulfilled both criteria for ACOS. Patients with any ACOS were younger (P=0.04), had more dyspnoea (P<0.001), lower FEV1%pred (67% vs. 74%; P<0.001) and lower FEV1/FVC ratio (P=0.001) compared with COPD-only patients. Comparing subjects fulfilling both criteria for ACOS with those fulfilling criteria for ACOS wheeze only (n=151) and those fulfilling criteria for ACOS BD reversibility only (n=74) revealed no significant differences. Irrespective of the applied ACOS definition, no significant difference in life-time tobacco exposure was found between ACOS- and COPD-only patients. In subjects with a new diagnosis of COPD, the prevalence of ACOS is high. When screening for COPD in general practice among patients with no previous diagnosis of obstructive lung disease, patients with possible ACOS may be identified by self-reported wheeze and/or BD reversibility.
Inefficient co-feeding transmission of Borrelia afzelii in two common European songbirds
Authors: Heylen Dieter J. A. , Sprong Hein , Krawczyk Aleksandra , Van Houtte Natalie , Genné Dolores , Gomez-Chamorro Andrea , van Oers Kees , Voordouw Maarten J. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractThe spirochete bacterium Borrelia afzelii is the most common cause of Lyme borreliosis in Europe. This tick-borne pathogen can establish systemic infections in rodents but not in birds. However, several field studies have recovered larval Ixodes ricinus ticks infected with B. afzelii from songbirds suggesting successful transmission of B. afzelii. We reviewed the literature to determine which songbird species were the most frequent carriers of B. afzelii-infected I. ricinus larvae and nymphs. We tested experimentally whether B. afzelii is capable of co-feeding transmission on two common European bird species, the blackbird (Turdus merula) and the great tit (Parus major). For each bird species, four naïve individuals were infested with B. afzelii-infected I. ricinus nymphal ticks and pathogen-free larval ticks. None of the co-feeding larvae tested positive for B. afzelii in blackbirds, but a low percentage of infected larvae (3.33%) was observed in great tits. Transstadial transmission of B. afzelii DNA from the engorged nymphs to the adult ticks was observed in both bird species. However, BSK culture found that these spirochetes were not viable. Our study suggests that co-feeding transmission of B. afzelii is not efficient in these two songbird species.
The RhoA/ROCK Pathway Ameliorates Adhesion and Inflammatory Infiltration Induced by AGEs in Glomerular Endothelial Cells
Authors: Rao Jialing , Ye Zengchun , Tang Hua , Wang Cheng , Peng Hui , Lai Weiyan , Li Yin , Huang Wanbing , Lou Tanqi 
Published: January 2017

AbstractA recent study demonstrated that advanced glycation end products (AGEs) play a role in monocyte infiltration in mesangial areas in diabetic nephropathy. The Ras homolog gene family, member A Rho kinase (RhoA/ROCK) pathway plays a role in regulating cell migration. We hypothesized that the RhoA/ROCK pathway affects adhesion and inflammation in endothelial cells induced by AGEs. Rat glomerular endothelial cells (rGECs) were cultured with AGEs (80 μg/ml) in vitro. The ROCK inhibitor Y27632 (10 nmol/l) and ROCK1-siRNA were used to inhibit ROCK. We investigated levels of the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein1 (MCP-1) in rGECs. Db/db mice were used as a diabetes model and received Fasudil (10 mg/kg/d, n = 6) via intraperitoneal injection for 12 weeks. We found that AGEs increased the expression of ICAM-1 and MCP-1 in rGECs, and the RhoA/ROCK pathway inhibitor Y27632 depressed the release of adhesion molecules. Moreover, blocking the RhoA/ROCK pathway ameliorated macrophage transfer to the endothelium. Reduced expression of adhesion molecules and amelioration of inflammatory cell infiltration in the glomerulus were observed in db/db mice treated with Fasudil. The RhoA/ROCK pathway plays a role in adhesion molecule expression and inflammatory cell infiltration in glomerular endothelial cells induced by AGEs.
Experimental investigation of the hydraulic and heat-transfer properties of artificially fractured granite
Authors: Luo Jin , Zhu Yongqiang , Guo Qinghai , Tan Long , Zhuang Yaqin , Liu Mingliang , Zhang Canhai , Xiang Wei , Rohn Joachim 
Published: January 2017

AbstractIn this paper, the hydraulic and heat-transfer properties of two sets of artificially fractured granite samples are investigated. First, the morphological information is determined using 3D modelling technology. The area ratio is used to describe the roughness of the fracture surface. Second, the hydraulic properties of fractured granite are tested by exposing samples to different confining pressures and temperatures. The results show that the hydraulic properties of the fractures are affected mainly by the area ratio, with a larger area ratio producing a larger fracture aperture and higher hydraulic conductivity. Both the hydraulic apertureand the hydraulic conductivity decrease with an increase in the confining pressure. Furthermore, the fracture aperture decreases with increasing rock temperature, but the hydraulic conductivity increases owing to a reduction of the viscosity of the fluid flowing through. Finally, the heat-transfer efficiency of the samples under coupled hydro-thermal-mechanical conditions is analysed and discussed.
The combined effects of sediment accretion (burial) and nutrient enrichment on the growth and propagation of Phalaris arundinacea
Authors: Chen Xinsheng , Liao Yulin , Xie Yonghong , Wu Chao , Li Feng , Deng Zhengmiao , Li Xu 
Published: January 2017

AbstractSediment accretion (burial) and nutrient enrichment occur concurrently in lacustrine wetlands, but the role of these two aspects of sedimentation on macrophyte performance has rarely been examined. Here, we investigated the concurrent effects of sediment accretion and nutrient enrichment on the growth and propagation of Phalaris arundinacea L. using a factorial sediment burial by nutrient addition experimental design. Regardless of burial depth, nutrient addition increased biomass accumulation, shoot mass ratio, the number of rhizomes, and the length of ramets and rhizomes. While burial had little effect on plant growth and propagation, it had an interactive effect with nutrient addition on belowground growth and ramet production. These results indicate that P. arundinacea is tolerant to burial, which allows it to grow in habitats with high sedimentation rates. However, the enhanced growth and propagation of P. arundinacea following sedimentation were primarily related to nutrient enrichment. This suggests that nutrient enrichment of sediments, which occurs in many lacustrine wetlands, increases the risk of invasion by P. arundinacea.
High Shear Stresses under Exercise Condition Destroy Circulating Tumor Cells in a Microfluidic System
Authors: Regmi Sagar , Fu Afu , Luo Kathy Qian 
Published: January 2017

AbstractCirculating tumor cells (CTCs) are the primary targets of cancer treatment as they cause distal metastasis. However, how CTCs response to exercise-induced high shear stress is largely unknown. To study the effects of hemodynamic microenvironment on CTCs, we designed a microfluidic circulatory system that produces exercise relevant shear stresses. We explore the effects of shear stresses on breast cancer cells with different metastatic abilities, cancer cells of ovarian, lung and leukemic origin. Three major findings were obtained. 1) High shear stress of 60 dynes/cm2 achievable during intensive exercise killed more CTCs than low shear stress of 15 dynes/cm2 present in human arteries at the resting state. 2) High shear stress caused necrosis in over 90% of CTCs within the first 4 h of circulation. More importantly, the CTCs that survived the first 4 h-circulation, underwent apoptosis during 16–24 h of post-circulation incubation. 3) Prolonged high shear stress treatment effectively reduced the viability of highly metastatic and drug resistant breast cancer cells. As high shear stress had much less damaging effects on leukemic cells mimicking the white blood cells, we propose that intensive exercise may be a good strategy for generating high shear stress that can destroy CTCs and prevent cancer metastasis.
Trade-offs between driving nodes and time-to-control in complex networks
Authors: Pequito Sérgio , Preciado Victor M. , Barabási Albert-László , Pappas George J. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractRecent advances in control theory provide us with efficient tools to determine the minimum number of driving (or driven) nodes to steer a complex network towards a desired state. Furthermore, we often need to do it within a given time window, so it is of practical importance to understand the trade-offs between the minimum number of driving/driven nodes and the minimum time required to reach a desired state. Therefore, we introduce the notion of actuation spectrum to capture such trade-offs, which we used to find that in many complex networks only a small fraction of driving (or driven) nodes is required to steer the network to a desired state within a relatively small time window. Furthermore, our empirical studies reveal that, even though synthetic network models are designed to present structural properties similar to those observed in real networks, their actuation spectra can be dramatically different. Thus, it supports the need to develop new synthetic network models able to replicate controllability properties of real-world networks.
Antarctic ice sheet discharge driven by atmosphere-ocean feedbacks at the Last Glacial Termination
Authors: Fogwill C. J. , Turney C. S. M. , Golledge N. R. , Etheridge D. M. , Rubino M. , Thornton D. P. , Baker A. , Woodward J. , Winter K. , van Ommen T. D. , Moy A. D. , Curran M. A. J. , Davies S. M. , Weber M. E. , Bird M. I. , Munksgaard N. C. , Menviel L. , Rootes C. M. , Ellis B. , Millman H. , Vohra J. , Rivera A. , Cooper A. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractReconstructing the dynamic response of the Antarctic ice sheets to warming during the Last Glacial Termination (LGT; 18,000–11,650 yrs ago) allows us to disentangle ice-climate feedbacks that are key to improving future projections. Whilst the sequence of events during this period is reasonably well-known, relatively poor chronological control has precluded precise alignment of ice, atmospheric and marine records, making it difficult to assess relationships between Antarctic ice-sheet (AIS) dynamics, climate change and sea level. Here we present results from a highly-resolved ‘horizontal ice core’ from the Weddell Sea Embayment, which records millennial-scale AIS dynamics across this extensive region. Counterintuitively, we find AIS mass-loss across the full duration of the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; 14,600–12,700 yrs ago), with stabilisation during the subsequent millennia of atmospheric warming. Earth-system and ice-sheet modelling suggests these contrasting trends were likely Antarctic-wide, sustained by feedbacks amplified by the delivery of Circumpolar Deep Water onto the continental shelf. Given the anti-phase relationship between inter-hemispheric climate trends across the LGT our findings demonstrate that Southern Ocean-AIS feedbacks were controlled by global atmospheric teleconnections. With increasing stratification of the Southern Ocean and intensification of mid-latitude westerly winds today, such teleconnections could amplify AIS mass loss and accelerate global sea-level rise.
Photoluminescence quantum efficiency of Er optical centers in GaN epilayers
Authors: Ho V. X. , Dao T. V. , Jiang H. X. , Lin J. Y. , Zavada J. M. , McGill S. A. , Vinh N. Q. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractWe report the quantum efficiency of photoluminescence processes of Er optical centers as well as the thermal quenching mechanism in GaN epilayers prepared by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. High resolution infrared spectroscopy and temperature dependence measurements of photoluminescence intensity from Er ions in GaN under resonant excitation excitations were performed. Data provide a picture of the thermal quenching processes and activation energy levels. By comparing the photoluminescence from Er ions in the epilayer with a reference sample of Er-doped SiO2, we find that the fraction of Er ions that emits photon at 1.54 μm upon a resonant optical excitation is approximately 68%. This result presents a significant step in the realization of GaN:Er epilayers as an optical gain medium at 1.54 μm.
Quasi-one-dimensional density of states in a single quantum ring
Authors: Kim Heedae , Lee Woojin , Park Seongho , Kyhm Kwangseuk , Je Koochul , Taylor Robert A. , Nogues Gilles , Dang Le Si , Song Jin Dong 
Published: January 2017

AbstractGenerally confinement size is considered to determine the dimensionality of nanostructures. While the exciton Bohr radius is used as a criterion to define either weak or strong confinement in optical experiments, the binding energy of confined excitons is difficult to measure experimentally. One alternative is to use the temperature dependence of the radiative recombination time, which has been employed previously in quantum wells and quantum wires. A one-dimensional loop structure is often assumed to model quantum rings, but this approximation ceases to be valid when the rim width becomes comparable to the ring radius. We have evaluated the density of states in a single quantum ring by measuring the temperature dependence of the radiative recombination of excitons, where the photoluminescence decay time as a function of temperature was calibrated by using the low temperature integrated intensity and linewidth. We conclude that the quasi-continuous finely-spaced levels arising from the rotation energy give rise to a quasi-one-dimensional density of states, as long as the confined exciton is allowed to rotate around the opening of the anisotropic ring structure, which has a finite rim width.
Simultaneous high-speed imaging and optogenetic inhibition in the intact mouse brain
Authors: Bovetti Serena , Moretti Claudio , Zucca Stefano , Dal Maschio Marco , Bonifazi Paolo , Fellin Tommaso 
Published: January 2017

AbstractGenetically encoded calcium indicators and optogenetic actuators can report and manipulate the activity of specific neuronal populations. However, applying imaging and optogenetics simultaneously has been difficult to establish in the mammalian brain, even though combining the techniques would provide a powerful approach to reveal the functional organization of neural circuits. Here, we developed a technique based on patterned two-photon illumination to allow fast scanless imaging of GCaMP6 signals in the intact mouse brain at the same time as single-photon optogenetic inhibition with Archaerhodopsin. Using combined imaging and electrophysiological recording, we demonstrate that single and short bursts of action potentials in pyramidal neurons can be detected in the scanless modality at acquisition frequencies up to 1 kHz. Moreover, we demonstrate that our system strongly reduces the artifacts in the fluorescence detection that are induced by single-photon optogenetic illumination. Finally, we validated our technique investigating the role of parvalbumin-positive (PV) interneurons in the control of spontaneous cortical dynamics. Monitoring the activity of cellular populations on a precise spatiotemporal scale while manipulating neuronal activity with optogenetics provides a powerful tool to causally elucidate the cellular mechanisms underlying circuit function in the intact mammalian brain.
An analysis of disease-gene relationship from Medline abstracts by DigSee
Authors: Kim Jeongkyun , Kim Jung-jae , Lee Hyunju 
Published: January 2017

AbstractDiseases are developed by abnormal behavior of genes in biological events such as gene regulation, mutation, phosphorylation, and epigenetics and post-translational modification. Many studies of text mining attempted to identify the relationship between gene and disease by mining the literature, but they did not consider the biological events in which genes show abnormal behaviour in response to diseases. In this study, we propose to identify disease-related genes that are involved in the development of disease through biological events from Medline abstracts. We identified associations between 13,054 genes and 4,494 disease types, which cover more disease-related genes than manually curated databases for all disease types (e.g., Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man) and also than those for specific diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease and hypertension). We show that the text mining findings are reliable, as per the PubMed scale, in that the disease-disease relationships inferred from the literature-wide findings are similar to those inferred from manually curated databases in a well-known study. In addition, literature-wide distribution of biological events across disease types reveals different characteristics of disease types.
Compact balanced bandpass filter using isosceles right triangular patch resonator
Authors: Liu Qianwen , Wang Jianpeng , He Yixuan 
Published: January 2017

A compact balanced bandpass filter (BPF) by using the isosceles right triangular patch resonator is presented. Stemming from the mode degeneration properties of the square patch resonator with single excitation located at its corner, the specific current distribution on this square patch resonator is investigated. Based on that, a new type of half‐mode square patch resonator named as the isosceles right triangular patch resonator is derived and proposed. Afterwards, resonant properties of the new patch resonator under different excitation forms are also investigated. Subsequently, balanced BPF has been implemented by adopting appropriate coupling structure among four isosceles right triangular patch resonators. Finally, to verify the design concept, a second‐order Chebyshev balanced BPF centred at 2.44 GHz with 3 dB fractional bandwidth of 6.15% is designed and fabricated. Good agreement can be observed between the simulated and the measured results.