bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A squalene synthase-like enzyme initiates production of tetraterpenoid hydrocarbons in Botryococcus braunii Race L
Authors: Thapa Hem R. , Naik Mandar T. , Okada Shigeru , Takada Kentaro , Molnár István , Xu Yuquan , Devarenne Timothy P. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractThe green microalga Botryococcus braunii is considered a promising biofuel feedstock producer due to its prodigious accumulation of hydrocarbon oils that can be converted into fuels. B. braunii Race L produces the C40 tetraterpenoid hydrocarbon lycopadiene via an uncharacterized biosynthetic pathway. Structural similarities suggest this pathway follows a biosynthetic mechanism analogous to that of C30 squalene. Confirming this hypothesis, the current study identifies C20 geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) as a precursor for lycopaoctaene biosynthesis, the first committed intermediate in the production of lycopadiene. Two squalene synthase (SS)-like complementary DNAs are identified in race L with one encoding a true SS and the other encoding an enzyme with lycopaoctaene synthase (LOS) activity. Interestingly, LOS uses alternative C15 and C20 prenyl diphosphate substrates to produce combinatorial hybrid hydrocarbons, but almost exclusively uses GGPP in vivo. This discovery highlights how SS enzyme diversification results in the production of specialized tetraterpenoid oils in race L of B. braunii.
3D-QSAR and docking studies of flavonoids as potent Escherichia coli inhibitors
Authors: Fang Yajing , Lu Yulin , Zang Xixi , Wu Ting , Qi XiaoJuan , Pan Siyi , Xu Xiaoyun 
Published: April 2016

AbstractFlavonoids are potential antibacterial agents. However, key substituents and mechanism for their antibacterial activity have not been fully investigated. The quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) and molecular docking of flavonoids relating to potent anti-Escherichia coli agents were investigated. Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) were developed by using the pIC50 values of flavonoids. The cross-validated coefficient (q2) values for CoMFA (0.743) and for CoMSIA (0.708) were achieved, illustrating high predictive capabilities. Selected descriptors for the CoMFA model were ClogP (logarithm of the octanol/water partition coefficient), steric and electrostatic fields, while, ClogP, electrostatic and hydrogen bond donor fields were used for the CoMSIA model. Molecular docking results confirmed that half of the tested flavonoids inhibited DNA gyrase B (GyrB) by interacting with adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) pocket in a same orientation. Polymethoxyl flavones, flavonoid glycosides, isoflavonoids changed their orientation, resulting in a decrease of inhibitory activity. Moreover, docking results showed that 3-hydroxyl, 5-hydroxyl, 7-hydroxyl and 4-carbonyl groups were found to be crucial active substituents of flavonoids by interacting with key residues of GyrB, which were in agreement with the QSAR study results. These results provide valuable information for structure requirements of flavonoids as antibacterial agents.
Production and characterization of tearless and non-pungent onion
Authors: Kato Masahiro , Masamura Noriya , Shono Jinji , Okamoto Daisaku , Abe Tomoko , Imai Shinsuke 
Published: April 2016

AbstractThe onion lachrymatory factor (LF) is produced from trans-S-1-propenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide (PRENCSO) through successive reactions catalyzed by alliinase (EC 4.4.1.4) and lachrymatory factor synthase (LFS), and is responsible for the tear inducing-property and the pungency of fresh onions. We developed tearless, non-pungent onions non-transgenically by irradiating seeds with neon-ion at 20 Gy. The bulbs obtained from the irradiated seeds and their offspring bulbs produced by selfing were screened by organoleptic assessment of tear-inducing property or HPLC analysis of LF production. After repeated screening and seed production by selfing, two tearless, non-pungent bulbs were identified in the third generation (M3) bulbs. Twenty M4 bulbs obtained from each of them showed no tear-inducing property or pungency when evaluated by 20 sensory panelists. The LF production levels in these bulbs were approximately 7.5-fold lower than those of the normal onion. The low LF production levels were due to reduction in alliinase activity, which was a result of low alliinase mRNA expression (less than 1% of that in the normal onion) and consequent low amounts of the alliinase protein. These tearless, non-pungent onions should be welcomed by all who tear while chopping onions and those who work in facilities where fresh onions are processed.
Imaging of Angiotropism/Vascular Co-Option in a Murine Model of Brain Melanoma: Implications for Melanoma Progression along Extravascular Pathways
Authors: Bentolila Laurent A. , Prakash Roshini , Mihic-Probst Daniela , Wadehra Madhuri , Kleinman Hynda K. , Carmichael Thomas S. , Péault Bruno , Barnhill Raymond L. , Lugassy Claire 
Published: April 2016

AbstractAngiotropism/pericytic mimicry and vascular co-option involve tumor cell interactions with the abluminal vascular surface. These two phenomena may be closely related. However, investigations of the two processes have developed in an independent fashion and different explanations offered as to their biological nature. Angiotropism describes the propensity of tumor cells to spread distantly via continuous migration along abluminal vascular surfaces, or extravascular migratory metastasis (EVMM). Vascular co-option has been proposed as an alternative mechanism by which tumors cells may gain access to a blood supply. We have used a murine brain melanoma model to analyze the interactions of GFP human melanoma cells injected into the mouse brain with red fluorescent lectin-labeled microvascular channels. Results have shown a striking spread of melanoma cells along preexisting microvascular channels and features of both vascular co-option and angiotropism/pericytic mimicry. This study has also documented the perivascular expression of Serpin B2 by angiotropic melanoma cells in the murine brain and in human melanoma brain metastases. Our findings suggest that vascular co-option and angiotropism/pericytic mimicry are closely related if not identical processes. Further studies are needed in order to establish whether EVMM is an alternative form of cancer metastasis in addition to intravascular cancer dissemination.
Interactive effect of microstructure and cavity dimension on filling behavior in micro coining of pure nickel
Authors: Wang Chuanjie , Wang Chunju , Xu Jie , Zhang Peng , Shan Debin , Guo Bin 
Published: April 2016

AbstractIn this study, interactive effects of microstructure and cavity dimension on the filling behaviors in micro coining were investigated. The results indicate that the filling ability is dependent on both the cavity width t and the ratio of cavity width to grain size t/d strongly. The critical ratio t/d for the worst filling ability increases with cavity width t and tends to disappear when the cavity width t increases to 300 μm. A polycrystalline filling model considering the friction size effect, effect of constrained grains by the tools, grain size, cavity width and ratio of cavity width to grain size is proposed to reveal the filling size effect in micro coining. A quasi in-situ Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) method is proposed to investigate filling mechanism in micro coining. When several grains across the cavity width, each grain deforms heterogeneously to ordinate the deformation compatibility. When there is only one grain across the cavity width, the grain is fragmented into several smaller grains with certain prolongation along the extrusion direction to coordinate the deformation in the cavity. This is different from the understandings before. Then the filling deformation mechanism is revealed by a proposed model considering the plastic flow in micro coining.
Fano resonance of Li-doped KTa1−xNbxO3 single crystals studied by Raman scattering
Authors: Rahaman M. M. , Imai T. , Sakamoto T. , Tsukada S. , Kojima S. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractThe enhancement of functionality of perovskite ferroelectrics by local structure is one of current interests. By the Li-doping to KTa1−xNbxO3 (KTN), the large piezoelectric and electro-optic effects were reported. In order to give new insights into the mechanism of doping, the microscopic origin of the Fano resonance induced by the local structure was investigated in 5%Li-doped KTN single crystals by Raman scattering. The coupling between the continuum states and the transverse optical phonon near 196 cm−1 (Slater mode) caused a Fano resonance. In the vicinity of the cubic-tetragonal phase transition temperature, TC-T = 31 °C, the almost disappearance of the Fano resonance and the remarkable change of the central peak (CP) intensity were observed upon heating. The local symmetry of the polar nanoregions (PNRs), which was responsible for the symmetry breaking in the cubic phase, was determined to E(x, y) symmetry by the angular dependence of Raman scattering. The electric field induced the significant change in the intensity of both CP and Fano resonance. From these experimental results, it is concluded that the origin of the Fano resonance in Li-doped KTN crystals is the coupling between polarization fluctuations of PNRs and the Slater mode, both belong to the E(x, y) symmetry.
Competing effect of spin-orbit torque terms on perpendicular magnetization switching in structures with multiple inversion asymmetries
Authors: Yu Guoqiang , Akyol Mustafa , Upadhyaya Pramey , Li Xiang , He Congli , Fan Yabin , Montazeri Mohammad , Alzate Juan G. , Lang Murong , Wong Kin L. , Khalili Amiri Pedram , Wang Kang L. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractCurrent-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in structurally asymmetric multilayers have been used to efficiently manipulate magnetization. In a structure with vertical symmetry breaking, a damping-like SOT can deterministically switch a perpendicular magnet, provided an in-plane magnetic field is applied. Recently, it has been further demonstrated that the in-plane magnetic field can be eliminated by introducing a new type of perpendicular field-like SOT via incorporating a lateral structural asymmetry into the device. Typically, however, when a current is applied to such devices with combined vertical and lateral asymmetries, both the perpendicular field-like torque and the damping-like torque coexist, hence jointly affecting the magnetization switching behavior. Here, we study perpendicular magnetization switching driven by the combination of the perpendicular field-like and the damping-like SOTs, which exhibits deterministic switching mediated through domain wall propagation. It is demonstrated that the role of the damping-like SOT in the deterministic switching is highly dependent on the magnetization direction in the domain wall. By contrast, the perpendicular field-like SOT is solely determined by the relative orientation between the lateral structural asymmetry and the current direction, regardless of the magnetization direction in the domain wall. The experimental results further the understanding of SOTs-induced switching, with implications for spintronic devices.
Determinants of emigration and their impact on survival during dispersal in fox and jackal populations
Authors: Kapota Dror , Dolev Amit , Bino Gilad , Yosha Dotan , Guter Amichai , King Roni , Saltz David 
Published: April 2016

AbstractAnimals disperse in response to poor resource conditions as a strategy of escaping harsh competition and stress, but may also disperse under good resource conditions, as these provide better chances of surviving dispersal and gaining fitness benefits such as avoiding kin competition and inbreeding. Individual traits should mediate the effect of resources, yielding a complex condition-dependent dispersal response. We investigated how experimental food reductions in a food-rich environment around poultry-growing villages interact with individual-traits (age, gender, body-mass) in two sympatric canids, red foxes and golden jackals, to jointly affect emigration propensity and survival during dispersal. Sub-adult foxes emigrated more frequently from the food-rich habitat than from the pristine, food-limited habitat, while adult foxes showed the opposite trend. During dispersal, adults exhibited lower survival while sub-adults did not experience additional mortality costs. Although fox mortality rates increased in response to food reduction, dispersal remained unchanged, while jackals showed strong dispersal response in two of the three repetitions. Jackal survival under food reduction was lowest for the dispersing individuals. While resources are an important dispersal determinant, different age classes and species experience the same resource environment differently and consequently have different motivations, yielding different dispersal responses and consequences.
Proteasomes generate spliced epitopes by two different mechanisms and as efficiently as non-spliced epitopes
Authors: Ebstein F. , Textoris-Taube K. , Keller C. , Golnik R. , Vigneron N. , Van den Eynde B. J. , Schuler-Thurner B. , Schadendorf D. , Lorenz F. K. M. , Uckert W. , Urban S. , Lehmann A. , Albrecht-Koepke N. , Janek K. , Henklein P. , Niewienda A. , Kloetzel P. M. , Mishto M. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractProteasome-catalyzed peptide splicing represents an additional catalytic activity of proteasomes contributing to the pool of MHC-class I-presented epitopes. We here biochemically and functionally characterized a new melanoma gp100 derived spliced epitope. We demonstrate that the gp100mel47–52/40–42 antigenic peptide is generated in vitro and in cellulo by a not yet described proteasomal condensation reaction. gp100mel47–52/40–42 generation is enhanced in the presence of the β5i/LMP7 proteasome-subunit and elicits a peptide-specific CD8+ T cell response. Importantly, we demonstrate that different gp100mel-derived spliced epitopes are generated and presented to CD8+ T cells with efficacies comparable to non-spliced canonical tumor epitopes and that gp100mel-derived spliced epitopes trigger activation of CD8+ T cells found in peripheral blood of half of the melanoma patients tested. Our data suggest that both transpeptidation and condensation reactions contribute to the frequent generation of spliced epitopes also in vivo and that their immune relevance may be comparable to non-spliced epitopes.
Increased Risk of Psoriasis due to combined effect of HLA-Cw6 and LCE3 risk alleles in Indian population
Authors: Chandra Aditi , Lahiri Anirudhya , Senapati Swapan , Basu Baidehi , Ghosh Saurabh , Mukhopadhyay Indranil , Behra Akhilesh , Sarkar Somenath , Chatterjee Gobinda , Chatterjee Raghunath 
Published: April 2016

AbstractHLA-Cw6 is one of the most associated alleles in psoriasis. Recently, Late Cornified Envelop 3 (LCE3) genes were identified as a susceptibility factor for psoriasis. Some population showed epistatic interaction of LCE3 risk variants with HLA-Cw6, while some population failed to show any association. We determined the associations of a 32.2 kb deletion comprising LCE3C-3B genes and three SNPs (rs1886734, rs4112788; rs7516108) at the LCE3 gene cluster among the psoriasis patients in India. All three SNPs at the LCE3 gene cluster failed to show any association. In contrary, for patients with HLA-Cw6 allele, all three SNPs and the LCE3C-3B deletion showed significant associations. While, all five LCE3 genes were upregulated in psoriatic skin, only LCE3A showed significant overexpression with homozygous risk genotype compared to the non-risk genotype. LCE3B also showed significant overexpression in patients with HLA-Cw6 allele. Moreover, LCE3A showed significantly higher expression in patients bearing homozygous risk genotype in presence of HLA-Cw6 allele but not in those having non-risk genotype, demonstrating the combined effect of HLA-Cw6 allele and risk associated genotype near LCE3A gene. Integration of genetic and gene expression data thus allowed us to identify the actual disease variants at the LCE3 cluster among the psoriasis patients in India.
Comparison of DNA Quantification Methods for Next Generation Sequencing
Authors: Robin Jérôme D. , Ludlow Andrew T. , LaRanger Ryan , Wright Woodring E. , Shay Jerry W. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractNext Generation Sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool that depends on loading a precise amount of DNA onto a flowcell. NGS strategies have expanded our ability to investigate genomic phenomena by referencing mutations in cancer and diseases through large-scale genotyping, developing methods to map rare chromatin interactions (4C; 5C and Hi-C) and identifying chromatin features associated with regulatory elements (ChIP-seq, Bis-Seq, ChiA-PET). While many methods are available for DNA library quantification, there is no unambiguous gold standard. Most techniques use PCR to amplify DNA libraries to obtain sufficient quantities for optical density measurement. However, increased PCR cycles can distort the library’s heterogeneity and prevent the detection of rare variants. In this analysis, we compared new digital PCR technologies (droplet digital PCR; ddPCR, ddPCR-Tail) with standard methods for the titration of NGS libraries. DdPCR-Tail is comparable to qPCR and fluorometry (QuBit) and allows sensitive quantification by analysis of barcode repartition after sequencing of multiplexed samples. This study provides a direct comparison between quantification methods throughout a complete sequencing experiment and provides the impetus to use ddPCR-based quantification for improvement of NGS quality.
Integrated Metabolomics Study of the Milk of Heat-stressed Lactating Dairy Cows
Authors: Tian He , Zheng Nan , Wang Weiyu , Cheng Jianbo , Li Songli , Zhang Yangdong , Wang Jiaqi 
Published: April 2016

AbstractHeat stress (HS) damages the global dairy industry by reducing milk yields and quality, harming health, and damaging the reproduction of dairy cows, causing huge economic losses each year. However, an understanding of the physiological mechanism of HS lactating dairy cows remains elusive. Here, a metabolomics study using LC-MS and 1H NMR spectroscopy was performed to analyze the metabolomic differences in the milk between HS-free and HS dairy cows, and discover diagnostic biomarkers and changes in the metabolic pathway. A total of 53 discriminating metabolites were significantly up- or down-regulated in the HS group compared with the HS-free group (P < 0.05). These biomarkers were involved in pathways of carbohydrate, amino acid, lipid, and gut microbiome-derived metabolism. Comparing these potential biomarkers with previously identified HS candidate biomarkers in plasma, significant correlations between the levels of lactate, pyruvate, creatine, acetone, β-hydroxybutyrate, trimethylamine, oleic acid, linoleic acid, lysophosphatidylcholine 16:0, and phosphatidylcholine 42:2 in milk and plasma were found, indicating that the blood-milk barrier became leaky and the levels of these 10 biomarkers in milk can reflect HS-induced metabolomic alterations in blood. These novel findings can support more in-depth research to elucidate the milk-based changes in metabolic pathways in HS lactating dairy cows.
Splenic release of platelets contributes to increased circulating platelet size and inflammation after myocardial infarction
Authors: Gao Xiao-Ming , Moore Xiao-Lei , Liu Yang , Wang Xin-Yu , Han Li-Ping , Su Yidan , Tsai Alan , Xu Qi , Zhang Ming , Lambert Gavin W. , Kiriazis Helen , Gao Wei , Dart Anthony M. , Du Xiao-Jun 
Published: April 2016

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is characterized by a rapid increase in circulating platelet size but the mechanism for this is unclear. Large platelets are hyperactive and associated with adverse clinical outcomes. We determined mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet–monocyte conjugation (PMC) using blood samples from patients, and blood and the spleen from mice with AMI. We further measured changes in platelet size, PMC, cardiac and splenic contents of platelets and leucocyte infiltration into the mouse heart. In AMI patients, circulating MPV and PMC increased at 1–3 h post-MI and MPV returned to reference levels within 24 h after admission. In mice with MI, increases in platelet size and PMC became evident within 12 h and were sustained up to 72 h. Splenic platelets are bigger than circulating platelets in normal or infarct mice. At 24 h post-MI, splenic platelet storage was halved whereas cardiac platelets increased by 4-fold. Splenectomy attenuated all changes observed in the blood, reduced leucocyte and platelet accumulation in the infarct myocardium, limited infarct size and alleviated cardiac dilatation and dysfunction. AMI-induced elevated circulating levels of adenosine diphosphate and catecholamines in both human and the mouse, which may trigger splenic platelet release. Pharmacological inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme, β1-adrenergic receptor or platelet P2Y12 receptor reduced platelet abundance in the murine infarct myocardium albeit having diverse effects on platelet size and PMC. In conclusion, AMI evokes release of splenic platelets, which contributes to the increase in platelet size and PMC and facilitates myocardial accumulation of platelets and leucocytes, thereby promoting post-infarct inflammation.
Assessing the potential to combine attitude tracking and health campaign evaluation surveys
Authors: Hollier Lauren P. , Pettigrew Simone , Minto Carolyn , Slevin Terry , Strickland Mark 
Published: April 2016

Issue addressedOnline surveys are becoming increasingly popular in health research because of the low cost and fast completion time. A large proportion of online survey costs are allocated to setup and administration expenses, which suggests that conducting fewer, longer surveys would be a cost‐effective approach. The current study assessed whether the incorporation of a health campaign evaluation survey within a longitudinal attitudes and behaviours tracking survey produced different outcomes compared with the separate administration of the evaluation survey.MethodsData were collected via an online panel, with 688 respondents completing the combined survey and 657 respondents completing the evaluation‐only survey. Regression analyses were conducted to examine whether survey type was related to the campaign evaluation results.ResultsThose who completed the combined survey perceived the campaign advertisement to be more personally relevant than those completing the evaluation‐only survey. There were no differences in results relating to campaign awareness and reported behavioural change as a result of campaign exposure.ConclusionsThere were minimal differences between results obtained from combining an attitude/behaviour tracking survey with a campaign evaluation survey. Any priming or order effects were limited to respondents' cognitive responses to the advertisement.So what?The results suggest that health practitioners with limited resources available for tracking and evaluation research may be able to maximise outcomes by administering fewer, longer surveys.
Inflammatory and neuropathic cold allodynia are selectively mediated by the neurotrophic factor receptor GFRα3
Authors: Lippoldt Erika K. , Ongun Serra , Kusaka Geoffrey K. , McKemy David D. 
Published: April 2016

Significance
There are few effective treatments for chronic cold pain induced by tissue damage, nerve injury, or chemotherapeutic polyneuropathies. Here, we show that the specific artemin receptor, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family of receptors-α3, is absolutely required for injury-induced cold pain, and we show results of a specific transduction pathway that can be targeted selectively to treat cold pain.