bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mature dendritic cell derived from cryopreserved immature dendritic cell shows impaired homing ability and reduced anti-viral therapeutic effects
Authors: Zhou Qianqian , Zhang Yulong , Zhao Man , Wang Xiaohui , Ma Cong , Jiang Xinquan , Wu Tao , Wang Donggen , Zhan Linsheng 
Published: December 2016

AbstractCryopreservation is critical in reducing redundant operations and also in quality control in dendritic cell (DC) therapy. Full maturation and efficient homing of DCs to T cell-region constitute a crucial aspect of DC immunotherapy; however, the in vivo migration and distribution pattern, as well as the anti-viral effect of DCs that matured from cryopreserved immature DCs (cryoim-mDCs) remain to be revealed. In the present study, we compared cryoim-mDCs with DCs matured from fresh immature DCs (fmDCs) in the aspects of phenotypes, in vivo homing capacities as well as the anti-viral therapeutic effects to further clarify the effect of cryopreservation on DC-based cytotherapy. The results showed that cryopreservation impaired the homing ability of DCs which was associated with the reduced expression of CCR7 and disturbed cytoskeleton arrangement. Moreover, the antigen-specific CD8+ T cell response induced by cryoim-mDCs was much weaker than that induced by fmDCs in both the spleen and liver draining lymph nodes, which provided reduced protection from viral invasions. In conclusion, cryopreservation is a good method to keep the viability of immature DCs, however, the in vivo homing capacity and anti-viral therapeutic effect of DCs matured from frozen immature DCs were hindered to some extent.
High-resolution short-exposure small-animal laboratory x-ray phase-contrast tomography
Authors: Larsson Daniel H. , Vågberg William , Yaroshenko Andre , Yildirim Ali Önder , Hertz Hans M. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractX-ray computed tomography of small animals and their organs is an essential tool in basic and preclinical biomedical research. In both phase-contrast and absorption tomography high spatial resolution and short exposure times are of key importance. However, the observable spatial resolutions and achievable exposure times are presently limited by system parameters rather than more fundamental constraints like, e.g., dose. Here we demonstrate laboratory tomography with few-ten μm spatial resolution and few-minute exposure time at an acceptable dose for small-animal imaging, both with absorption contrast and phase contrast. The method relies on a magnifying imaging scheme in combination with a high-power small-spot liquid-metal-jet electron-impact source. The tomographic imaging is demonstrated on intact mouse, phantoms and excised lungs, both healthy and with pulmonary emphysema.
Soil aggregation and aggregating agents as affected by long term contrasting management of an Anthrosol
Authors: Zhang Shulan , Wang Renjie , Yang Xueyun , Sun Benhua , Li Qinghui 
Published: December 2016

AbstractSoil aggregation was studied in a 21-year experiment conducted on an Anthrosol. The soil management regimes consisted of cropland abandonment, bare fallow without vegetation and cropping system. The cropping system was combined with the following nutrient management treatments: control (CONTROL, no nutrient input); nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK); straw plus NPK (SNPK); and manure (M) plus NPK (MNPK). Compared with the CONTROL treatment, the abandonment treatment significantly increased the formation of large soil macroaggregates (>2 mm) and consequently improved the stability of aggregates in the surface soil layer due to enhancement of hyphal length and of soil organic matter content. However, in response to long-term bare fallow treatment aggregate stability was low, as were the levels of aggregating agents. Long term fertilization significantly redistributed macroaggregates; this could be mainly ascribed to soil organic matter contributing to the formation of 0.5–2 mm classes of aggregates and a decrease in the formation of the >2 mm class of aggregates, especially in the MNPK treatment. Overall, hyphae represented a major aggregating agent in both of the systems tested, while soil organic compounds played significantly different roles in stabilizing aggregates in Anthrosol when the cropping system and the soil management regimes were compared.
Aggregation and Gelation of Aromatic Polyamides with Parallel and Anti-parallel Alignment of Molecular Dipole Along the Backbone
Authors: Zhu Dan , Shang Jing , Ye Xiaodong , Shen Jian 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe understanding of macromolecular structures and interactions is important but difficult, due to the facts that a macromolecules are of versatile conformations and aggregate states, which vary with environmental conditions and histories. In this work two polyamides with parallel or anti-parallel dipoles along the linear backbone, named as ABAB (parallel) and AABB (anti-parallel) have been studied. By using a combination of methods, the phase behaviors of the polymers during the aggregate and gelation, i.e., the forming or dissociation processes of nuclei and fibril, cluster of fibrils, and cluster-cluster aggregation have been revealed. Such abundant phase behaviors are dominated by the inter-chain interactions, including dispersion, polarity and hydrogen bonding, and correlatd with the solubility parameters of solvents, the temperature, and the polymer concentration. The results of X-ray diffraction and fast-mode dielectric relaxation indicate that AABB possesses more rigid conformation than ABAB, and because of that AABB aggregates are of long fibers while ABAB is of hairy fibril clusters, the gelation concentration in toluene is 1 w/v% for AABB, lower than the 3 w/v% for ABAB.
Fabrication of Self-Ordered Alumina Films with Large Interpore Distance by Janus Anodization in Citric Acid
Authors: Ma Yingjun , Wen Yihao , Li Juan , Li Yuxin , Zhang Zhiying , Feng Chenchen , Sun Runguang 
Published: December 2016

AbstractSelf-organized porous anodic alumina (PAA) formed by electrochemical anodization have become a fundamental tool to develop various functional nanomaterials. However, it is still a great challenge to break the interpore distance (Dint) limit (500 nm) by using current anodization technologies of mild anodization (MA) and hard anodization (HA). Here, we reported a new anodization mode named “Janus anodization” (JA) to controllably fabricate self-ordered PAA with large Dint at high voltage of 350–400 V. JA naturally occurs as anodizing Al foils in citric acid solution, which possessing both the characteristics of MA and HA. The process can be divided into two stages: I, slow pore nucleation stage similar to MA; II, unequilibrium self-organization process similar to HA. The as-prepared films had the highest modulus (7.0 GPa) and hardness (127.2 GPa) values compared with the alumina obtained by MA and HA. The optical studies showed that the black films have low reflectance (<10 %) in the wavelength range of 250–1500 nm and photoluminescence property. Dint can be tuned between 645–884 nm by controlling citric acid concentration or anodization voltage. JA is a potential technology to efficiently and controllably fabricate microstructured or hybrid micro- and nanostructured materials with novel properties.
Wnt Ligands Differentially Regulate Toxicity and Translocation of Graphene Oxide through Different Mechanisms in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Zhi Lingtong , Ren Mingxia , Qu Man , Zhang Hanyu , Wang Dayong 
Published: December 2016

AbstractIn this study, we investigated the possible involvement of Wnt signals in the control of graphene oxide (GO) toxicity using the in vivo assay system of Caenorhabditis elegans. In nematodes, the Wnt ligands, CWN-1, CWN-2, and LIN-44, were found to be involved in the control of GO toxicity. Mutation of cwn-1 or lin-44 gene induced a resistant property to GO toxicity and resulted in the decreased accumulation of GO in the body of nematodes, whereas mutation of cwn-2 gene induces a susceptible property to GO toxicity and an enhanced accumulation of GO in the body of nematodes. Genetic interaction assays demonstrated that mutation of cwn-1 or lin-44 was able to suppress the susceptibility to GO toxicity shown in the cwn-2 mutants. Loss-of-function mutations in all three of these Wnt ligand genes resulted in the resistance of nematodes to GO toxicity. Moreover, the Wnt ligands might differentially regulate the toxicity and translocation of GO through different mechanisms. These findings could be important in understanding the function of Wnt signals in the regulation of toxicity from environmental nanomaterials.
Peripheral blood gene expression profiles linked to monoamine metabolite levels in cerebrospinal fluid
Authors: Luykx J J , Olde Loohuis L M , Neeleman M , Strengman E , Bakker S C , Lentjes E , Borgdorff P , van Dongen E P A , Bruins P , Kahn R S , Horvath S , de Jong S , Ophoff R A 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe blood–brain barrier separates circulating blood from the central nervous system (CNS). The scope of this barrier is not fully understood which limits our ability to relate biological measurements from peripheral to central phenotypes. For example, it is unknown to what extent gene expression levels in peripheral blood are reflective of CNS metabolism. In this study, we examine links between central monoamine metabolite levels and whole-blood gene expression to better understand the connection between peripheral systems and the CNS. To that end, we correlated the prime monoamine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with whole-genome gene expression microarray data from blood (N=240 human subjects). We additionally applied gene-enrichment analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analyses (WGCNA) to identify modules of co-expressed genes in blood that may be involved with monoamine metabolite levels in CSF. Transcript levels of two genes were significantly associated with CSF serotonin metabolite levels after Bonferroni correction for multiple testing: THAP7 (P=2.8 × 10−8, β=0.08) and DDX6 (P=2.9 × 10−7, β=0.07). Differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched for genes expressed in the brain tissue (P=6.0 × 10−52). WGCNA revealed significant correlations between serotonin metabolism and hub genes with known functions in serotonin metabolism, for example, HTR2A and COMT. We conclude that gene expression levels in whole blood are associated with monoamine metabolite levels in the human CSF. Our results, including the strong enrichment of brain-expressed genes, illustrate that gene expression profiles in peripheral blood can be relevant for quantitative metabolic phenotypes in the CNS.
Implication of NOTCH1 gene in susceptibility to anxiety and depression among sexual abuse victims
Authors: Steine I M , Zayats T , Stansberg C , Pallesen S , Mrdalj J , Håvik B , Soulé J , Haavik J , Milde A M , Skrede S , Murison R , Krystal J , Grønli J 
Published: December 2016

AbstractSexual abuse contributes to the development of multiple forms of psychopathology, including anxiety and depression, but the extent to which genetics contributes to these disorders among sexual abuse victims remains unclear. In this translational study, we first examined gene expression in the brains of rodents exposed to different early-life conditions (long, brief or no maternal separation). Hypothesizing that genes revealing changes in expression may have relevance for psychiatric symptoms later in life, we examined possible association of those genes with symptoms of anxiety and depression in a human sample of sexual abuse victims. Changes in rodent brain gene expression were evaluated by means of correspondence and significance analyses of microarrays by comparing brains of rodents exposed to different early-life conditions. Tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of resulting candidate genes were genotyped and tested for their association with symptoms of anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) in a sample of 361 sexual abuse victims, using multinomial logistic regression. False discovery rate was applied to account for multiple testing in the genetic association study, withq-value of 0.05 accepted as significant. We identified four genes showing differential expression among animals subjected to different early-life conditions as well as having potential relevance to neural development or disorders: Notch1, Gabrr1, Plk5 and Zfp644. In the human sample, significant associations were observed for twoNOTCH1tag SNPs: rs11145770 (OR=2.21,q=0.043) and rs3013302 (OR=2.15,q=0.043). Our overall findings provide preliminary evidence thatNOTCH1may be implicated in the susceptibility to anxiety and depression among sexual abuse victims. The study also underscores the potential importance of animal models for future studies on the health consequences of early-life stress and the mechanisms underlying increased risk for psychiatric disorders.
Visual Context Enhanced: The Joint Contribution of Iconic Gestures and Visible Speech to Degraded Speech Comprehension
Authors: Drijvers Linda , Özyürek Asli 
Published: December 2016

PurposeThis study investigated whether and to what extent iconic co-speech gestures contribute to information from visible speech to enhance degraded speech comprehension at different levels of noise-vocoding. Previous studies of the contributions of these 2 visual articulators to speech comprehension have only been performed separately.MethodTwenty participants watched videos of an actress uttering an action verb and completed a free-recall task. The videos were presented in 3 speech conditions (2-band noise-vocoding, 6-band noise-vocoding, clear), 3 multimodal conditions (speech + lips blurred, speech + visible speech, speech + visible speech + gesture), and 2 visual-only conditions (visible speech, visible speech + gesture).ResultsAccuracy levels were higher when both visual articulators were present compared with 1 or none. The enhancement effects of (a) visible speech, (b) gestural information on top of visible speech, and (c) both visible speech and iconic gestures were larger in 6-band than 2-band noise-vocoding or visual-only conditions. Gestural enhancement in 2-band noise-vocoding did not differ from gestural enhancement in visual-only conditions.ConclusionsWhen perceiving degraded speech in a visual context, listeners benefit more from having both visual articulators present compared with 1. This benefit was larger at 6-band than 2-band noise-vocoding, where listeners can benefit from both phonological cues from visible speech and semantic cues from iconic gestures to disambiguate speech.
Estimating Subglottal Pressure From Neck-Surface Acceleration During Normal Voice Production
Authors: Fryd Amanda S. , Van Stan Jarrad H. , Hillman Robert E. , Mehta Daryush D. 
Published: December 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential for estimating subglottal air pressure using a neck-surface accelerometer and to compare the accuracy of predicting subglottal air pressure relative to predicting acoustic sound pressure level (SPL).

Method

Indirect estimates of subglottal pressure (P
sg
′) were obtained from 10 vocally healthy speakers during loud-to-soft repetitions of 3 different /p/–vowel gestures (/pa/, /pi/, /pu/) at 3 pitch levels in the modal register. Intraoral air pressure, neck-surface acceleration, and radiated acoustic pressure were recorded, and the root-mean-square amplitude of the acceleration signal was correlated with P
sg
′ and SPL.

Results

The coefficient of determination between accelerometer level and P
sg
′ was high when data were pooled from all vowel and pitch contexts for each participant (
r
2
= .68–.93). These relationships were stronger than corresponding relationships between accelerometer level and SPL (
r
2
= .46–.81). The average 95% prediction interval for estimating P
sg
′ using accelerometer level was ±2.53 cm H
2
O, ranging from ±1.70 to ±3.74 cm H
2
O across participants.

Conclusions

Accelerometer signal amplitude correlated more strongly with P
sg
′ than with SPL. Future work is warranted to investigate the robustness of the relationship in nonmodal voice qualities, individuals with voice disorders, and accelerometer-based ambulatory monitoring of subglottal pressure.
An MRI Evaluation of Patients Who Underwent Treatment with a Cell-Mediated Gene Therapy for Degenerative Knee Arthritis: A Phase IIa Clinical Trial
Authors: Cho Jung , Totterman Saara , Elmallah Randa , Kim Tae , Lee Bumsup , Mont Michael 
Published: December 2016

AbstractMultiple therapies have been developed to slow down the progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA), with the aim of avoiding or delaying TKA. One such potential method is cell-mediated gene therapy, which utilizes allogeneic human chondrocytes modified to express transforming growth factor-β1. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we evaluated patients who underwent treatment with this injection in a Phase II study and assessed structural changes in: (1) bone marrow edema lesions, (2) cartilage defect depth and surface area, (3) articular bone surface and osteophytes, and (4) meniscus structure and signal, as well as changes in (5) joint fluid, (6) periarticular inflammation, and (7) synovial inflammation. Twenty-seven patients (6 men and 21 women) who had late-stage OA were randomized 1:1 to receive a 3:1 mixture of nontransduced chondrocytes and genetically engineered chondrocytes, at doses of 6 × 106 cells (group 1) or 1.8 × 107 cells (group 2). MRI was performed at baseline (preinjection), and at 6 and 12 months postinjection. The whole-organ MRI score system was used to assess the aforementioned changes. Treatment was considered to be successful if patients experienced an improvement in or no change in their scores, indicating that the disease had not progressed. All patients in both cohorts individually demonstrated an improvement or no change in one or more of the assessment parameters. At 6 months, the low-dose cohort demonstrated worsening in mean scores in one parameter (bone surface and osteophytes), while the high-dose cohort demonstrated no worsening in mean scores. At 12 months, the low-dose cohort had worsening in the mean score in a subset of one parameter (cartilage signal intensity), and the high-dose cohort demonstrated worsening in mean scores in two parameters (bone surface osteophytes and periarticular inflammation). This is the first study to evaluate MRI changes in patients treated with this injection. These findings provide an impetus for further research on this topic, as well as a starting point for Phase III testing.
Scientific assessments to facilitate deliberative policy learning
Authors: Kowarsch Martin , Garard Jennifer , Riousset Pauline , Lenzi Dominic , Dorsch Marcel J. , Knopf Brigitte , Harrs Jan-Albrecht , Edenhofer Ottmar 
Published: December 2016

AbstractPutting the recently adopted global Sustainable Development Goals or the Paris Agreement on international climate policy into action will require careful policy choices. Appropriately informing decision-makers about longer-term, wicked policy issues remains a considerable challenge for the scientific community. Typically, these vital policy issues are highly uncertain, value-laden and disputed, and affect multiple temporal and spatial scales, governance levels, policy fields, and socioeconomic contexts simultaneously. In light of this, science-policy interfaces should help facilitate learning processes and open deliberation among all actors involved about potentially acceptable policy pathways. For this purpose, science-policy interfaces must strive to foster some enabling conditions: (1) “representation” in terms of engaging with diverse stakeholders (including experts) and acknowledging divergent viewpoints; (2) “empowerment” of underrepresented societal groups by co-developing and integrating policy scenarios that reflect their specific knowledge systems and worldviews; (3) “capacity building” regarding methods and skills for integration and synthesis, as well as through the provision of knowledge synthesis about the policy solution space; and (4) “spaces for deliberation”, facilitating direct interaction between different stakeholders, including governments and scientists. We argue that integrated, multi-stakeholder, scientific assessment processes—particularly the collaborative assessments of policy alternatives and their various implications—offer potential advantages in this regard, compared with alternatives for bridging scientific expertise and public policy. This article is part of a collection on scientific advice to governments.
Assembly of long error-prone reads using de Bruijn graphs
Authors: Lin Yu , Yuan Jeffrey , Kolmogorov Mikhail , Shen Max W. , Chaisson Mark , Pevzner Pavel A. 
Published: December 2016

Significance
When the long reads generated using single-molecule se-quencing (SMS) technology were made available, most researchers were skeptical about the ability of existing algorithms to generate high-quality assemblies from long error-prone reads. Nevertheless, recent algorithmic breakthroughs resulted in many successful SMS sequencing projects. However, as the recent assemblies of important plant pathogens illustrate, the problem of assembling long error-prone reads is far from being resolved even in the case of relatively short bacterial genomes. We propose an algorithmic approach for assembling long error-prone reads and describe the ABruijn assembler, which results in accurate genome reconstructions.
On the role of water density fluctuations in the inhibition of a proton channel
Authors: Gianti Eleonora , Delemotte Lucie , Klein Michael L. , Carnevale Vincenzo 
Published: December 2016

Significance
Hv1, a voltage-gated proton channel, is an emerging pharmacological target implicated in many pathological conditions, including cancer and ischemic brain damage. We used the recently published experimental structure of Hv1 to generate structural models of relevant conformational states. Thermodynamic analyses of pore waters shed light on the molecular underpinnings of Hv1 druggability. We exploit this information to suggest possible optimizations of known inhibitors and identify a potential binding site located at the exit of the proton path. The resulting molecular picture paves the way for the discovery of novel Hv1 inhibitors and outlines a general approach for identifying druggable binding sites in ion channels.
Decentralization can help reduce deforestation when user groups engage with local government
Authors: Wright Glenn D. , Andersson Krister P. , Gibson Clark C. , Evans Tom P. 
Published: December 2016

SignificanceDecentralization is one of the most important innovations in environmental policy during the past 30 years. Despite the pervasiveness and large amounts of resources invested to implement these reforms, little is known about their environmental effects. Given worldwide interest in forest conservation, this lack of knowledge hampers efforts to improve the effectiveness of current policy initiatives. Using quasi-experimental methods, we find that the environmental effects of decentralization reforms depend on how the reforms affect the conditions for user groups to govern their forests. Our findings show that decentralization to general-purpose governments may be most effective in places where forest users take advantage of opportunities to engage with local politicians about forestry issues.