bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Metagenomic and metabolomic analyses unveil dysbiosis of gut microbiota in chronic heart failure patients
Authors: Cui Xiao , Ye Lei , Li Jing , Jin Ling , Wang Wenjie , Li Shuangyue , Bao Minghui , Wu Shouling , Li Lifeng , Geng Bin , Zhou Xin , Zhang Jian , Cai Jun 
Published: January 2018

AbstractPrevious studies suggested a possible gut microbiota dysbiosis in chronic heart failure (CHF). However, direct evidence was lacking. In this study, we investigated the composition and metabolic patterns of gut microbiota in CHF patients to provide direct evidence and comprehensive understanding of gut microbiota dysbiosis in CHF. We enrolled 53 CHF patients and 41 controls. Metagenomic analyses of faecal samples and metabolomic analyses of faecal and plasma samples were then performed. We found that the composition of gut microbiota in CHF was significantly different from controls. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii decrease and Ruminococcus gnavus increase were the essential characteristics in CHF patients’ gut microbiota. We also observed an imbalance of gut microbes involved in the metabolism of protective metabolites such as butyrate and harmful metabolites such as trimethylamine N-oxide in CHF patients. Metabolic features of both faecal and plasma samples from CHF patients also significantly changed. Moreover, alterations in faecal and plasma metabolic patterns correlated with gut microbiota dysbiosis in CHF. Taken together, we found that CHF was associated with distinct gut microbiota dysbiosis and pinpointed the specific core bacteria imbalance in CHF, along with correlations between changes in certain metabolites and gut microbes.
Collagen Type 1 Accelerates Healing of Ruptured Fetal Membranes
Authors: Mogami Haruta , Kishore Annavarapu Hari , Word R. Ann 
Published: January 2018

AbstractPreterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM) is a major cause of preterm birth. Recently, extracellular matrix-directed treatment is applied for wound healing. Here, we used a pregnant mouse model to test the efficacy of collagen type 1 gel for healing of the prematurely ruptured fetal membranes. Although injection of PBS into the ruptured fetal membranes resulted in 40% closure, injection of collagen type 1 improved closure rates to 90% within 72 h. Macrophages of the M2 wound healing phenotype were entrapped in the collagen layer. In primary human amnion mesenchymal cells, collagen type 1 gels activated collagen receptor discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) to induce myosin light chain phosphorylation and migration of injured amnion mesenchymal cells. These findings define the mechanisms for matrix-directed therapeutics for pPROM.
Visual learning with reduced adaptation is eccentricity-specific
Authors: Harris Hila , Sagi Dov 
Published: January 2018

AbstractVisual learning is known to be specific to the trained target location, showing little transfer to untrained locations. Recently, learning was shown to transfer across equal-eccentricity retinal-locations when sensory adaptation due to repetitive stimulation was minimized. It was suggested that learning transfers to previously untrained locations when the learned representation is location invariant, with sensory adaptation introducing location-dependent representations, thus preventing transfer. Spatial invariance may also fail when the trained and tested locations are at different distance from the center of gaze (different retinal eccentricities), due to differences in the corresponding low-level cortical representations (e.g. allocated cortical area decreases with eccentricity). Thus, if learning improves performance by better classifying target-dependent early visual representations, generalization is predicted to fail when locations of different retinal eccentricities are trained and tested in the absence sensory adaptation. Here, using the texture discrimination task, we show specificity of learning across different retinal eccentricities (4–8°) using reduced adaptation training. The existence of generalization across equal-eccentricity locations but not across different eccentricities demonstrates that learning accesses visual representations preceding location independent representations, with specificity of learning explained by inhomogeneous sensory representation.
Each protomer of a dimeric YidC functions as a single membrane insertase
Authors: Spann Dirk , Pross Eva , Chen Yuanyuan , Dalbey Ross E. , Kuhn Andreas 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe membrane insertase YidC catalyzes the entrance of newly synthesized proteins into the lipid bilayer. As an integral membrane protein itself, YidC can be found as a monomer, a dimer or also as a member of the holotranslocase SecYEGDF-YajC-YidC. To investigate whether the dimeric YidC is functional and whether two copies cooperate to insert a single substrate, we constructed a fusion protein where two copies of YidC are connected by a short linker peptide. The 120 kDa protein is stable and functional as it supports the membrane insertion of the M13 procoat protein, the C-tailed protein SciP and the fusion protein Pf3-Lep. Mutations that inhibit either protomer do not inactivate the insertase and rather keep it functional. When both protomers are defective, the substrate proteins accumulate in the cytoplasm. This suggests that the dimeric YidC operates as two insertases. Consistent with this, we show that the dimeric YidC can bind two substrate proteins simultaneously, suggesting that YidC indeed functions as a monomer.
Competition among the attentional networks due to resource reduction in Tibetan indigenous residents: evidence from event-related potentials
Authors: Zhang Delong , Zhang Xinjuan , Ma Hailin , Wang Yan , Ma Huifang , Liu Ming 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThis study used the attention network test (ANT) to evaluate the alerting, orienting, and executive network efficiencies of attention related to indigenous residents who were born and raised until early adulthood in different high-altitude areas (2900-m, 3700-m, and 4200-m) at the same location (3700-m) where these residents had been living for approximately 2 years in Tibet. We further applied the event-related potential (ERP) method to identify the underlying neurophysiological basis. Based on the ANT, we found that, in the 4200-m residents, executive function was increased but the orienting function was decreased, and the executive and orienting network scores were oppositely correlated. The behavioral findings were supported by the ERP data, showing that the P3 amplitude changes indicated that the executive function was over-active under conflict conditions and that the N1 amplitude change indicated a decreased orienting function in the 4200-m residents. In addition, the changed P3 amplitudes were significantly correlated with intelligence performance across the residents only in the 4200-m group. The present study provided evidence for competition among the attentional networks due to high-altitude exposure in indigenous residents, and showed the existence of a threshold of the influence of high altitudes on attentional function in the brain.
An insight into intestinal mucosal microbiota disruption after stroke
Authors: Stanley Dragana , Moore Robert J. , Wong Connie H. Y. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractRecent work from our laboratory has provided evidence that indicates selective bacterial translocation from the host gut microbiota to peripheral tissues (i.e. lung) plays a key role in the development of post-stroke infections. Despite this, it is currently unknown whether mucosal bacteria that live on and interact closely with the host intestinal epithelium contribute in regulating bacterial translocation after stroke. Here, we found that the microbial communities within the mucosa of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) were significantly different between sham-operated and post-stroke mice at 24 h following surgery. The differences in microbiota composition were substantial in all sections of the GIT and were significant, even at the phylum level. The main characteristics of the stroke-induced shift in mucosal microbiota composition were an increased abundance ofAkkermansia muciniphilaand an excessive abundance of clostridial species. Furthermore, we analysed the predicted functional potential of the altered mucosal microbiota induced by stroke using PICRUSt and revealed significant increases in functions associated with infectious diseases, membrane transport and xenobiotic degradation. Our findings revealed stroke induces far-reaching and robust changes to the intestinal mucosal microbiota. A better understanding of the precise molecular events leading up to stroke-induced mucosal microbiota changes may represent novel therapy targets to improve patient outcomes.
Glucose-independent segmental phase angles from multi-frequency bioimpedance analysis to discriminate diabetes mellitus
Authors: Jun Min-Ho , Kim Soochan , Ku Boncho , Cho JungHee , Kim Kahye , Yoo Ho-Ryong , Kim Jaeuk U. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWe investigated segmental phase angles (PAs) in the four limbs using a multi-frequency bioimpedance analysis (MF-BIA) technique for noninvasively diagnosing diabetes mellitus. We conducted a meal tolerance test (MTT) for 45 diabetic and 45 control subjects stratified by age, sex and body mass index (BMI). HbA1c and the waist-to-hip-circumference ratio (WHR) were measured before meal intake, and we measured the glucose levels and MF-BIA PAs 5 times for 2 hours after meal intake. We employed a t-test to examine the statistical significance and the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) to test the classification accuracy using segmental PAs at 5, 50, and 250 kHz. Segmental PAs were independent of the HbA1c or glucose levels, or their changes caused by the MTT. However, the segmental PAs were good indicators for noninvasively screening diabetes In particular, leg PAs in females and arm PAs in males showed best classification accuracy (AUC = 0.827 for males, AUC = 0.845 for females). Lastly, we introduced the PA at maximum reactance (PAmax), which is independent of measurement frequencies and can be obtained from any MF-BIA device using a Cole-Cole model, thus showing potential as a useful biomarker for diabetes.
Improved Resolution Optical Time Stretch Imaging Based on High Efficiency In-Fiber Diffraction
Authors: Wang Guoqing , Yan Zhijun , Yang Lei , Zhang Lin , Wang Chao 
Published: January 2018

AbstractMost overlooked challenges in ultrafast optical time stretch imaging (OTSI) are sacrificed spatial resolution and higher optical loss. These challenges are originated from optical diffraction devices used in OTSI, which encode image into spectra of ultrashort optical pulses. Conventional free-space diffraction gratings, as widely used in existing OTSI systems, suffer from several inherent drawbacks: limited diffraction efficiency in a non-Littrow configuration due to inherent zeroth-order reflection, high coupling loss between free-space gratings and optical fibers, bulky footprint, and more importantly, sacrificed imaging resolution due to non-full-aperture illumination for individual wavelengths. Here we report resolution-improved and diffraction-efficient OTSI using in-fiber diffraction for the first time to our knowledge. The key to overcome the existing challenges is a 45° tilted fiber grating (TFG), which serves as a compact in-fiber diffraction device offering improved diffraction efficiency (up to 97%), inherent compatibility with optical fibers, and improved imaging resolution owning to almost full-aperture illumination for all illumination wavelengths. 50 million frames per second imaging of fast moving object at 46 m/s with improved imaging resolution has been demonstrated. This conceptually new in-fiber diffraction design opens the way towards cost-effective, compact and high-resolution OTSI systems for image-based high-throughput detection and measurement.
Flux of the biogenic volatiles isoprene and dimethyl sulfide from an oligotrophic lake
Authors: Steinke Michael , Hodapp Bettina , Subhan Rameez , Bell Thomas G. , Martin-Creuzburg Dominik 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBiogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) affect atmospheric chemistry, climate and regional air quality in terrestrial and marine atmospheres. Although isoprene is a major BVOC produced in vascular plants, and marine phototrophs release dimethyl sulfide (DMS), lakes have been widely ignored for their production. Here we demonstrate that oligotrophic Lake Constance, a model for north temperate deep lakes, emits both volatiles to the atmosphere. Depth profiles indicated that highest concentrations of isoprene and DMS were associated with the chlorophyll maximum, suggesting that their production is closely linked to phototrophic processes. Significant correlations of the concentration patterns with taxon-specific fluorescence data, and measurements from algal cultures confirmed the phototrophic production of isoprene and DMS. Diurnal fluctuations in lake isoprene suggested an unrecognised physiological role in environmental acclimation similar to the antioxidant function of isoprene that has been suggested for marine biota. Flux estimations demonstrated that lakes are a currently undocumented source of DMS and isoprene to the atmosphere. Lakes may be of increasing importance for their contribution of isoprene and DMS to the atmosphere in the arctic zone where lake area coverage is high but terrestrial sources of BVOCs are small.
New generation of drug delivery systems based on ginsenoside Rh2-, Lysine- and Arginine-treated highly porous graphene for improving anticancer activity
Authors: Zare-Zardini Hadi , Taheri-Kafrani Asghar , Amiri Ahmad , Bordbar Abdol-Khalegh 
Published: January 2018

AbstractIn this study, Rh2–treated graphene oxide (GO-Rh2), lysine-treated highly porous graphene (Gr-Lys), arginine-treated Gr (Gr-Arg), Rh2–treated Gr-Lys (Gr-Lys-Rh2) and Rh2–treated Gr-Arg (Gr-Arg-Rh2) were synthesized. MTT assay was used for evaluation of cytotoxicity of samples on ovarian cancer (OVCAR3), breast cancer (MDA-MB), Human melanoma (A375) and human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cell lines. The percentage of apoptotic cells was determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The hemolysis and blood coagulation activity of nanostructures were performed. Interestingly, Gr-Arg, Gr-Lys, Gr-Arg-Rh2, and Gr-Lys-Rh2were more active against cancer cell lines in comparison with their cytotoxic activity against normal cell lines (MSCs) with IC50values higher than 100 μg/ml. The results of TUNEL assay indicates a significant increase in the rates of TUNEL positive cells by increasing the concentrations of nanomaterials. Results were also shown that aggregation and changes of RBCs morphology were occurred in the presence of GO, GO-Rh2, Gr-Arg, Gr-Lys, Gr-Arg-Rh2, and Gr-Lys-Rh2. Note that all the samples had effect on blood coagulation system, especially on PTT. All nanostrucure act as antitumor drug so that binding of drugs to a nostructures is irresolvable and the whole structure enter to the cell as a drug.
Inactivated rotavirus vaccine by parenteral administration induces mucosal immunity in mice
Authors: Resch Theresa K. , Wang Yuhuan , Moon Sung-Sil , Joyce Jessica , Li Song , Prausnitz Mark , Jiang Baoming 
Published: January 2018

AbstractTo improve the safety and efficacy of oral rotavirus vaccines, we developed an inactivated rotavirus vaccine (IRV) for parenteral administration. Since it remains unknown whether parenteral vaccination can induce mucosal immunity, we performed a comprehensive assessment of immune responses to IRV in mice with an adjuvant-free dissolving polymer MN patch or by alum-adjuvanted IM injection. We demonstrated that IRV induced the expression of the gut homing receptor LPAM-1 on T and B cells in spleen and mLN of vaccinated mice. MN patch IRV vaccination induced a slight Th1 phenotype while IM vaccination induced a balanced Th1/Th2 phenotype. In addition, a dose-sparing effect was seen for rotavirus-specific serum IgG and neutralizing activity for both vaccination routes. Our study is the first to show that parenterally administered IRV can induce mucosal immunity in the gut, in addition to strong serum antibody response, and is a promising candidate vaccine in achieving global immunization against rotavirus.
Large-scale aggregation analysis of eukaryotic proteins reveals an involvement of intrinsically disordered regions in protein folding
Authors: Uemura Eri , Niwa Tatsuya , Minami Shintaro , Takemoto Kazuhiro , Fukuchi Satoshi , Machida Kodai , Imataka Hiroaki , Ueda Takuya , Ota Motonori , Taguchi Hideki 
Published: January 2018

AbstractA subset of the proteome is prone to aggregate formation, which is prevented by chaperones in the cell. To investigate whether the basic principle underlying the aggregation process is common in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, we conducted a large-scale aggregation analysis of ~500 cytosolic budding yeast proteins using a chaperone-free reconstituted translation system, and compared the obtained data with that of ~3,000 Escherichia coli proteins reported previously. Although the physicochemical properties affecting the aggregation propensity were generally similar in yeast and E. coli proteins, the susceptibility of aggregation in yeast proteins were positively correlated with the presence of intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). Notably, the aggregation propensity was not significantly changed by a removal of IDRs in model IDR-containing proteins, suggesting that the properties of ordered regions in these proteins are the dominant factors for aggregate formation. We also found that the proteins with longer IDRs were disfavored by E. coli chaperonin GroEL/ES, whereas both bacterial and yeast Hsp70/40 chaperones have a strong aggregation-prevention effect even for proteins possessing IDRs. These results imply that a key determinant to discriminate the eukaryotic proteomes from the prokaryotic proteomes in terms of protein folding would be the attachment of IDRs.
Aquaglyceroporin PbAQP is required for efficient progression through the liver stage of Plasmodium infection
Authors: Promeneur Dominique , Mlambo Godfree , Agre Peter , Coppens Isabelle 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe discovery of aquaglyceroporins (AQP) has highlighted a new mechanism of membrane solute transport that may hold therapeutic potential for controlling parasitic infections, including malaria.Plasmodiumparasites express a single AQP at the plasma membrane that functions as a channel for water, nutrients and waste into and out cells. We previously demonstrated thatPlasmodium bergheitargeted forPbAQPdeletion are deficient in glycerol import and less virulent than wild-type parasites during the blood developmental stage. Here, we have examined the contribution of PbAQP to the infectivity ofP.bergheiin the liver.PbAQPis expressed in the sporozoite mosquito stage and is detected at low levels in intrahepatic parasites at the onset of hepatocyte infection. As the parasites progress to late hepatic stages,PbAQPtranscription increases and PbAQP localizes to the plasma membrane of hepatic merozoites. Compared to wild-type parasites, PbAQP-null sporozoites exhibit a delay in blood stage infection due to slower replication in hepatocytes, resulting in retardation of merosome production. Furthermore,PbAQPdisruption results in a significant reduction in erythrocyte infectivity by hepatocyte-derived merozoites. Hepatic merozoites incorporate exogenous glycerol into glycerophospholipids and PbAQP-null merozoites contain less phosphatidylcholine than wild-type merozoites, underlining the contribution ofPlasmodiumAQP to phospholipid syntheses.
Mechanisms controlling the impact of multi-year drought on mountain hydrology
Authors: Bales Roger C. , Goulden Michael L. , Hunsaker Carolyn T. , Conklin Martha H. , Hartsough Peter C. , O’Geen Anthony T. , Hopmans Jan W. , Safeeq Mohammad 
Published: January 2018

AbstractMountain runoff ultimately reflects the difference between precipitation (P) and evapotranspiration (ET), as modulated by biogeophysical mechanisms that intensify or alleviate drought impacts. These modulating mechanisms are seldom measured and not fully understood. The impact of the warm 2012–15 California drought on the heavily instrumented Kings River basin provides an extraordinary opportunity to enumerate four mechanisms that controlled the impact of drought on mountain hydrology. Two mechanisms intensified the impact: (i) evaporative processes have first access to local precipitation, which decreased the fractional allocation of P to runoff in 2012–15 and reduced P-ET by 30% relative to previous years, and (ii) 2012–15 was 1 °C warmer than the previous decade, which increased ET relative to previous years and reduced P-ET by 5%. The other two mechanisms alleviated the impact: (iii) spatial heterogeneity and the continuing supply of runoff from higher elevations increased 2012–15 P-ET by 10% relative to that expected for a homogenous basin, and iv) drought-associated dieback and wildfire thinned the forest and decreased ET, which increased 2016 P-ET by 15%. These mechanisms are all important and may offset each other; analyses that neglect one or more will over or underestimate the impact of drought and warming on mountain runoff.
Testing density-functional approximations on a lattice and the applicability of the related Hohenberg-Kohn-like theorem
Authors: França Vivian V. , Coe Jeremy P. , D’Amico Irene 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWe present a metric-space approach to quantify the performance of approximations in lattice density-functional theory for interacting many-body systems and to explore the regimes where the Hohenberg-Kohn-type theorem on fermionic lattices is applicable. This theorem demonstrates the existence of one-to-one mappings between particle densities, wave functions and external potentials. We then focus on these quantities, and quantify how far apart in metric space the approximated and exact ones are. We apply our method to the one-dimensional Hubbard model for different types of external potentials, and assess the regimes where it is applicable to one of the most used approximations in density-functional theory, the local density approximation (LDA). We find that the potential distance may have a very different behaviour from the density and wave function distances, in some cases even providing the wrong assessments of the LDA performance trends. We attribute this to the systems reaching behaviours which are borderline for the applicability of the one-to-one correspondence between density and external potential. On the contrary the wave function and density distances behave similarly and are always sensitive to system variations. Our metric-based method correctly predicts the regimes where the LDA performs fairly well and the regimes where it fails. This suggests that our method could be a practical tool for testing the efficiency of density-functional approximations.