bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Young children copy cumulative technological design in the absence of action information
Authors: Reindl E. , Apperly I. A. , Beck S. R. , Tennie C. 
Published: May 2017

AbstractThe ratchet effect – the accumulation of beneficial changes in cultural products beyond a level that individuals could reach on their own – is a topic of increasing interest. It is currently debated which social learning mechanisms allow for the generation and transmission of cumulative culture. This study focused on transmission, investigating whether 4- to 6-year-old children were able to copy cumulative technological design and whether they could do so without action information (emulation). We adapted the spaghetti tower task, previously used to test for accumulation of culture in human adults. A baseline condition established that the demonstrated tower design was beyond the innovation skills of individual children this age and so represented a culture-dependent product for them. There were 2 demonstration conditions: a full demonstration (actions plus (end-)results) and an endstate- demonstration (end-results only). Children in both demonstration conditions built taller towers than those in the baseline. Crucially, in both demonstration conditions some children also copied the demonstrated tower. We provide the first evidence that young children learn from, and that some of them even copy, cumulative technological design, and that – in line with some adult studies – action information is not always necessary to transmit culture-dependent traits.
Zooplankton Community Profiling in a Eutrophic Freshwater Ecosystem-Lake Tai Basin by DNA Metabarcoding
Authors: Yang Jianghua , Zhang Xiaowei , Xie Yuwei , Song Chao , Zhang Yong , Yu Hongxia , Burton G. Allen 
Published: May 2017

AbstractCommunities of zooplankton, a critical portion of aquatic ecosystems, can be adversely affected by contamination resulting from human activities. Understanding the influence of environmental change on zooplankton communities under field-conditions is hindered by traditional labor-intensive approaches that are prone to taxonomic and enumeration mistakes. Here, metabarcoding of cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) region of mitochondrial DNA was used to characterize the genetic diversity of zooplankton. The species composition of zooplankton communities determined by metabarcoding was consistent with the results based on the traditional morphological approach. The spatial distribution of common species (frequency of occurrence >10 samples) by metabarcoding exhibited good agreement with morphological data. Furthermore, metabarcoding can clearly distinguish the composition of the zooplankton community between lake and river ecosystems. In general, rotifers were more abundant in riverine environments than lakes and reservoirs. Finally, the sequence read number of different taxonomic groups using metabarcoding was positively correlated with the zooplankton biomass inferred by density and body length of zooplankton. Overall, the utility of metabarcoding for taxonomic profiling of zooplankton communities was validated by the morphology-based method on a large ecological scale. Metabarcoding of COI could be a powerful and efficient biomonitoring tool to protect local aquatic ecosystems.
Heterologous expression and characterization of functional mushroom tyrosinase (AbPPO4)
Authors: Pretzler Matthias , Bijelic Aleksandar , Rompel Annette 
Published: May 2017

AbstractTyrosinases are an ubiquitous group of copper containing metalloenzymes that hydroxylate and oxidize phenolic molecules. In an application context the term ‘tyrosinase’ usually refers to ‘mushroom tyrosinase’ consisting of a mixture of isoenzymes and containing a number of enzymatic side-activities. We describe a protocol for the efficient heterologous production of tyrosinase 4 from Agaricus bisporus in Escherichia coli. Applying this procedure a pure preparation of a single isoform of latent tyrosinase can be achieved at a yield of 140 mg per liter of autoinducing culture medium. This recombinant protein possesses the same fold as the enzyme purified from the natural source as evidenced by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The latent enzyme can be activated by limited proteolysis with proteinase K which cleaves the polypeptide chain after K382, only one The latent enzyme can amino acid before the main in-vivo activation site. Latent tyrosinase can be used as obtained and enzymatic activity may be induced in the reaction mixture by the addition of an ionic detergent (e.g. 2 mM SDS). The proteolytically activated mushroom tyrosinase shows >50% of its maximal activity in the range of pH 5 to 10 and accepts a wide range of substrates including mono- and diphenols, flavonols and chalcones.
The Impact of a Severe Drought on Dust Lifting in California’s Owens Lake Area
Authors: Borlina Cauê S. , Rennó Nilton O. 
Published: May 2017

AbstractMineral dust aerosols are responsible for some of the largest sources of uncertainties in our current understanding of climate change. Here we show that a severe drought is having a significant impact in one of largest sources of mineral dust aerosols of the U.S., the Owens Lake area in California’s southwest. Measurements of aerosol concentration (PM2.5 particle matter) in the Owens Lake salty playa show that the annual mean concentration of PM2.5 aerosol has been increasing steadily since the beginning of the current drought, with periods of high aerosol concentration increasing from 4 months in 2013 to 9 months in 2015. Interestingly, the PM2.5 aerosol concentration usually increases abruptly from less than ~0.05 mg/m3 to ~0.25 mg/m3. This occurs when saltation events break salt crusts produced by the efflorescence of brine in the salty playa. The brine is produced by either rainfall or runoff water. Based on this observation, we hypothesize that there is an upper limit of ~0.25 mg/m3 in the annual mean PM2.5 aerosols concentration in the Owens Lake basin that might limit the impact of mineral dust aerosols on climate. Indeed, the upper annual limit of ~0.25 mg/m3 has been nearly reached during the current drought.
Establishment of a Strong Link Between Smoking and Cancer Pathogenesis through DNA Methylation Analysis
Authors: Ma Yunlong , Li Ming D. 
Published: May 2017

AbstractSmoking is a well-documented risk factor in various cancers, especially lung cancer. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that abnormal DNAm loci associated with smoking are enriched in genes and pathways that convey a risk of cancer by determining whether smoking-related methylated genes led to enrichment in cancer-related pathways. We analyzed two sets of smoking-related methylated genes from 28 studies originating from blood and buccal samples. By analyzing 320 methylated genes from 26 studies on blood samples (N = 17,675), we found 57 enriched pathways associated with different types of cancer (FDR < 0.05). Of these, 11 were also significantly overrepresented in the 661 methylated genes from two studies of buccal samples (N = 1,002). We further found the aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathway plays an important role in the initiation of smoking-attributable cancer. Finally, we constructed a subnetwork of genes important for smoking-attributable cancer from the 48 non-redundant genes in the 11 oncogenic pathways. Of these, genes such as DUSP4 and AKT3 are well documented as being involved in smoking-related lung cancer. In summary, our findings provide robust and systematic evidence in support of smoking’s impact on the epigenome, which may be an important contributor to cancer.
The caterpillar fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, genome provides insights into highland adaptation of fungal pathogenicity
Authors: Xia En-Hua , Yang Da-Rong , Jiang Jian-Jun , Zhang Qun-Jie , Liu Yuan , Liu Yun-Long , Zhang Yun , Zhang Hai-Bin , Shi Cong , Tong Yan , Kim Changhoon , Chen Hua , Peng Yan-Qiong , Yu Yue , Zhang Wei , Eichler Evan E. , Gao Li-Zhi 
Published: May 2017

AbstractTo understand the potential genetic basis of highland adaptation of fungal pathogenicity, we present here the ~116 Mb de novo assembled high-quality genome of Ophiocordyceps sinensis endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Compared with other plain-dwelling fungi, we find about 3.4-fold inflation of the O. sinensis genome due to a rapid amplification of long terminal repeat retrotransposons that occurred ~38 million years ago in concert with the uplift of the plateau. We also observe massive removal of thousands of genes related to the transport process and energy metabolism. O. sinensis displays considerable lineage-specific expansion of gene families functionally enriched in the adaptability of low-temperature of cold tolerance, fungal pathogenicity and specialized host infection. We detect signals of positive selection for genes involved in peroxidase and hypoxia to enable its highland adaptation. Resequencing and analyzing 31 whole genomes of O. sinensis, representing nearly all of its geographic range, exhibits latitude-based population divergence and nature selection for population inhabitation towards higher altitudes on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
Long non-coding RNA PARTICLE bridges histone and DNA methylation
Authors: O’Leary Valerie Bríd , Hain Sarah , Maugg Doris , Smida Jan , Azimzadeh Omid , Tapio Soile , Ovsepian Saak Victor , Atkinson Michael John 
Published: May 2017

AbstractPARTICLE (Gene PARTICL- ‘Promoter of MAT2A-Antisense RadiaTion Induced Circulating LncRNA) expression is transiently elevated following low dose irradiation typically encountered in the workplace and from natural sources. This long non-coding RNA recruits epigenetic silencers for cis-acting repression of its neighbouring Methionine adenosyltransferase 2A gene. It now emerges that PARTICLE operates as a trans-acting mediator of DNA and histone lysine methylation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and immunological evidence established elevated PARTICLE expression linked to increased histone 3 lysine 27 trimethylation. Live-imaging of dbroccoli-PARTICLE revealing its dynamic association with DNA methyltransferase 1 was confirmed by flow cytometry, immunoprecipitation and direct competitive binding interaction through electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Acting as a regulatory docking platform, the long non-coding RNA PARTICLE serves to interlink epigenetic modification machineries and represents a compelling innovative component necessary for gene silencing on a global scale.
Antinociceptive effects of caloric restriction on post-incisional pain in nonobese rats
Authors: Liu Yue , Ni Yuan , Zhang Wei , Sun Yu-E , Ma Zhengliang , Gu Xiaoping 
Published: May 2017

AbstractCaloric restriction (CR) increases lifespan, retards physiological signs of aging, and delays a variety of diseases. Reduction of inflammatory response was proposed as one of the molecular mechanisms for how CR exerts beneficial effects. The present study investigated the effects of CR on postoperative pain in rats. Adult nonobese rats were divided into two dietary groups, an ad libitum fed group (AL) and a caloric restriction group (CR) that was provided with 60% of the food intake of AL rats. After 6 weeks, the effects of CR on pain behaviors and inflammation induced by plantar incision were examined. CR rats displayed significantly reduced nonevoked pain, mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia induced by incision, and showed decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum, peri-incisional skin tissue and ipsilateral spinal cord dorsal horn at 6 h and 24 h after incision. The analgesic efficiency of parecoxib and morphine, two agents widely used for the management of postoperative pain clinically, was reinforced by CR. Together, CR generates antinociceptive effects on postoperative incisional pain in rats, perhaps providing some improvement of QOL in patients with postoperative pain, and the beneficial effects may be attributable to the inhibition of excessive inflammation induced by surgical injury.
Altered balance of excitatory and inhibitory learning in a genetically modified mouse model of glutamatergic dysfunction relevant to schizophrenia
Authors: Sanderson David J. , Lee Aletheia , Sprengel Rolf , Seeburg Peter H. , Harrison Paul J. , Bannerman David M. 
Published: May 2017

AbstractThe GluA1 AMPAR subunit (encoded by the Gria1 gene) has been implicated in schizophrenia. Gria1 knockout in mice results in recently experienced stimuli acquiring aberrantly high salience. This suggests that GluA1 may be important for learning that is sensitive to the temporal contiguity between events. To test this, mice were trained on a Pavlovian trace conditioning procedure in which the presentation of an auditory cue and food were separated by a temporal interval. Wild-type mice initially learnt, but with prolonged training came to withhold responding during the trace-conditioned cue, responding less than for another cue that was nonreinforced. Gria1 knockout mice, in contrast, showed sustained performance over training, responding more to the trace-conditioned cue than the nonreinforced cue. Therefore, the trace-conditioned cue acquired inhibitory properties (signalling the absence of food) in wild-type mice, but Gria1 deletion impaired the acquisition of inhibition, thus maintaining the stimulus as an excitatory predictor of food. Furthermore, when there was no trace both groups showed successful learning. These results suggest that cognitive abnormalities in disorders like schizophrenia in which gluatamatergic signalling is implicated may be caused by aberrant salience leading to a change in the nature of the information that is encoded.
Fabrication-constrained nanophotonic inverse design
Authors: Piggott Alexander Y. , Petykiewicz Jan , Su Logan , Vučković Jelena 
Published: May 2017

AbstractA major difficulty in applying computational design methods to nanophotonic devices is ensuring that the resulting designs are fabricable. Here, we describe a general inverse design algorithm for nanophotonic devices that directly incorporates fabrication constraints. To demonstrate the capabilities of our method, we designed a spatial-mode demultiplexer, wavelength demultiplexer, and directional coupler. We also designed and experimentally demonstrated a compact, broadband 1 × 3 power splitter on a silicon photonics platform. The splitter has a footprint of only 3.8 × 2.5 μm, and is well within the design rules of a typical silicon photonics process, with a minimum radius of curvature of 100 nm. Averaged over the designed wavelength range of 1400–1700 nm, our splitter has a measured insertion loss of 0.642 ± 0.057 dB and power uniformity of 0.641 ± 0.054 dB.
Inhibition of Jak/STAT signaling reduces the activation of pancreatic stellate cells in vitro and limits caerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis in vivo
Authors: Komar Hannah M. , Serpa Gregory , Kerscher Claire , Schwoegl Erin , Mace Thomas A. , Jin Ming , Yang Ming-Chen , Chen Ching-Shih , Bloomston Mark , Ostrowski Michael C. , Hart Phil A. , Conwell Darwin L. , Lesinski Gregory B. 
Published: May 2017

AbstractChronic pancreatitis (CP) is a fibro-inflammatory disease leading to pain, maldigestion, and pancreatic insufficiency. No therapeutic options exist due to a limited understanding of the biology of CP pathology. Recent findings implicate pancreatic stellate cells (PSC) as prominent mediators of inflammatory and fibrotic processes during CP. Here, we utilized primary and immortalized PSC obtained from mice and patients with CP or pancreatic cancer to examine the effect of Jak/STAT and MAPK pathway inhibitionin vitro. The well-characterized caerulein model of CP was used to assess the therapeutic efficacy of Jak1/2 inhibitionin vivo. Treatment of cultured PSC with the Jak1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib reduced STAT3 phosphorylation, cell proliferation, and expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a marker of PSC activation. Treatment with the MAPK inhibitor, MEK162, had less consistent effects on PSC proliferation and no impact on activation. In the caerulein-induced murine model of CP, administration of ruxolitinib for one week significantly reduced biomarkers of inflammation and fibrosis. These data suggest that the Jak/STAT pathway plays a prominent role in PSC proliferation and activation.In vivotreatment with the Jak1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib reduced the severity of experimental CP, suggesting that targeting Jak/STAT signaling may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for CP.
Breed, sex, and litter effects in 2-month old puppies’ behaviour in a standardised open-field test
Authors: Barnard Shanis , Marshall-Pescini Sarah , Pelosi Annalisa , Passalacqua Chiara , Prato-Previde Emanuela , Valsecchi Paola 
Published: May 2017

AbstractA considerable number of studies have reported differences among dog breeds with respect to their genetic profile, cognitive abilities or personality traits. Each dog breed is normally treated as a homogeneous group, however, researchers have recently questioned whether the behavioural profile of modern breeds still reflects their historical function or if the intense divergent selective pressures and geographical barriers have created a more fragmented picture. The majority of studies attempting to assess and compare modern breeds’ personality focused on the evaluation of adult dogs where the potential effects of environmental/human factors on the dogs’ behaviour are hard to discern from their genetic heritage. In the following study, we aimed at investigating between- and within-breed differences in the personality of two-months-old puppies by direct behavioural observation of 377 puppies from 12 breeds. Results showed that there was no effect of sex, however both breed and litter, significantly affected all personality traits. Breed on average explained 10% of the variance, whereas the effect of litter was noticeably higher, explaining on average 23% of the variance. Taken together, our results suggest that breed does have some influence on personality traits, but they also highlight the importance of taking litter effects into account.
Operational lifetimes of organic light-emitting diodes dominated by Förster resonance energy transfer
Authors: Fukagawa Hirohiko , Shimizu Takahisa , Iwasaki Yukiko , Yamamoto Toshihiro 
Published: May 2017

AbstractOrganic light-emitting diodes are a key technology for next-generation information displays because of their low power consumption and potentially long operational lifetimes. Although devices with internal quantum efficiencies of approximately 100% have been achieved using phosphorescent or thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitters, a systematic understanding of materials suitable for operationally stable devices is lacking. Here we demonstrate that the operational stability of phosphorescent devices is nearly proportional to the Förster resonance energy transfer rate from the host to the emitter when thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecules are used as the hosts. We find that a small molecular size is a requirement for thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecules employed as phosphorescent hosts; in contrast, an extremely small energy gap between the singlet and triplet excited states, which is essential for an efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitter, is unnecessary in the phosphorescent host.
Oral Language and Listening Comprehension: Same or Different Constructs?
Authors: Language and Reading Research Conso  
Published: May 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to add to our understanding of the dimensionality of oral language in children and to determine whether oral language and listening comprehension are separate constructs in children enrolled in preschool (PK) through 3rd grade.

Method

In the spring of the school year, children from 4 states (
N
= 1,869) completed multiple measures of oral language (i.e., expressive and receptive vocabulary and grammar) and listening comprehension as part of a larger study of the language bases of reading comprehension.

Results
Initial confirmatory factor analysis found evidence that measures of oral language and listening comprehension loaded on two separate factors in PK through 3rd grade; however, these factors were highly correlated at all grades.

Conclusions
These results suggest that oral language and listening comprehension are best characterized as a single oral language construct in PK through 3rd grade. The implications for early identification and intervention are discussed.
Continuous use of low-dose warfarin for gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection: a prospective study
Authors: Harada Hideaki , Suehiro Satoshi , Murakami Daisuke , Shimizu Takanori , Nakahara Ryotaro , Katsuyama Yasushi , Miyama Yasunaga , Tounou Shigetaka , Hayasaka Kenji 
Published: May 2017

Abstract
Background and study aims Patients who receive warfarin usually require heparin bridge therapy (HBT) to prevent thromboembolic events during endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD); however, clinical evidence demonstrating the safety and efficacy of HBT during gastric ESD is limited. Conversely, warfarin can be continuously used as a substitute for HBT to endoscopic procedures which have a low risk of bleeding. This study aimed to clarify the safety and efficacy of continuous low-dose warfarin (LDW) for gastric ESD.
Patients and methods This was a prospective observational study at a single institution. A total of 22 patients who received warfarin between December 2014 and January 2016 were enrolled. The patients were treated with gastric ESD with a low dose of warfarin ( ≤ 4 mg) at approximately 1.6 – 2.6 of the international normalized ratio (INR) levels. Furthermore, we analyzed a total of 23 patients with HBT who underwent gastric ESD between January 2011 and November 2014.
Results The average of warfarin dose and the INR level on the day of gastric ESD in the continuous LDW group were 2.3 mg/day (range 0.5 – 4.0) and 1.87 (range 1.41 – 2.75), respectively. Two of the 22 patients (9.1 %) in the continuous LDW group and 5 of the 23 patients (21.7 %) in the HBT group had postoperative bleeding after gastric ESD. Although the postoperative bleeding rate in the continuous LDW group was lower than that in the HBT group, no significant difference was observed between the 2 groups (P = 0.414).
Conclusions Gastric ESD with continuous LDW as a substitute for HBT was feasible and may be acceptable.
Aggregation of thrombin-derived C-terminal fragments as a previously undisclosed host defense mechanism
Authors: Petrlova Jitka , Hansen Finja C. , van der Plas Mariena J. A. , Huber Roland G. , Mörgelin Matthias , Malmsten Martin , Bond Peter J. , Schmidtchen Artur 
Published: May 2017

Significance
The work summarized in this paper is based on the simple but unexpected observation that addition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or bacteria to human wound fluids leads to precipitation of protein aggregates, a phenomenon not observed in plasma. Using a broad mix of technologies ranging from biophysical, biochemical, and microbiological methods to fluorescence and electron microscopy, and from in silico modeling to studies on wound materials, we demonstrate here a previously undisclosed role of C-terminal thrombin fragments of about 11 kDa, involving LPS- and bacteria-induced aggregation and scavenging, facilitating clearance and microbial killing. Our findings provide a link between the major coagulation factor thrombin, innate immunity, and amyloid formation.