bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Gender difference in spontaneous deception: A hyperscanning study using functional near-infrared spectroscopy
Authors: Zhang Mingming , Liu Tao , Pelowski Matthew , Yu Dongchuan 
Published: August 2017

AbstractPrevious studies have demonstrated that the neural basis of deception involves a network of regions including the medial frontal cortex (MFC), superior temporal sulcus (STS), temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), etc. However, to test the actual activity of the brain in the act of deceptive practice itself, existing studies have mainly adopted paradigms of passive deception, where participants are told to lie in certain conditions, and have focused on intra-brain mechanisms in single participants. In order to examine the neural substrates underlying more natural, spontaneous deception in real social interactions, the present study employed a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technique to simultaneously measure pairs of participants’ fronto-temporal activations in a two-person gambling card-game. We demonstrated higher TPJ activation in deceptive compared to honest acts. Analysis of participants’ inter-brain correlation further revealed that the STS is uniquely involved in deception but not in honesty, especially in females. These results suggest that the STS may play a critical role in spontaneous deception due to mentalizing requirements relating to modulating opponents’ thoughts. To our knowledge, this study was the first to investigate such inter-brain correlates of deception in real face-to-face interactions, and thus is hoped to provide a new path for future complex social behavior research.
The analgesic activities of Stauntonia brachyanthera and YM11 through regulating inflammatory mediators and directly controlling the sodium channel prompt
Authors: Meng Dali , Wang Lei , Du Jingnan , Chen Jianchao , Chen Chao , Xu Wei , Li Chunli 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe analgesic studies on Stauntonia brachyanthera, a traditional Chinese folk medicine used to treat headache, pains and inflammatory diseases in local areas, showed that the EtOH extracts (EESB) and the characteristic ingredient YM11 could significantly inhibit the acetic acid-induced writhing responses by 43.1% and 78.95%, and decrease the xylene-induced ear edemas by 48.9% and 21.4%, respectively. EESB could significantly increase pain threshold of mice in hot-plate test, but the effect of YM11 was not obviously. Further study in formalin test showed the inhibitory effect of YM11 in 2nd phase was more significant than that in 1st phase, revealed the peripheral analgesic activity of YM11. The ELISA and Western Blot analysis suggested that the analgesic mechanisms of YM11 were related to the inhibitions of the expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, and down-regulations of Nav1.8 protein in the left side of L4–6 DRG regulated by MAPKs, in which the levels of p-ERK, p-JNK and p-p38 were all decreased. In addition, the electrophysiological experiments indicated YM11 could reduce the Nav1.8 currents by 46.01% in small-diameter DRG neurons. Therefore, the analgesic activity of S. brachyanthera might be based on the regulation of inflammatory mediators and the directly control of the sodium channel prompt.
Reliable Multi-Fractal Characterization of Weighted Complex Networks: Algorithms and Implications
Authors: Xue Yuankun , Bogdan Paul 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThrough an elegant geometrical interpretation, the multi-fractal analysis quantifies the spatial and temporal irregularities of the structural and dynamical formation of complex networks. Despite its effectiveness in unweighted networks, the multi-fractal geometry of weighted complex networks, the role of interaction intensity, the influence of the embedding metric spaces and the design of reliable estimation algorithms remain open challenges. To address these challenges, we present a set of reliable multi-fractal estimation algorithms for quantifying the structural complexity and heterogeneity of weighted complex networks. Our methodology uncovers that (i) the weights of complex networks and their underlying metric spaces play a key role in dictating the existence of multi-fractal scaling and (ii) the multi-fractal scaling can be localized in both space and scales. In addition, this multi-fractal characterization framework enables the construction of a scaling-based similarity metric and the identification of community structure of human brain connectome. The detected communities are accurately aligned with the biological brain connectivity patterns. This characterization framework has no constraint on the target network and can thus be leveraged as a basis for both structural and dynamic analysis of networks in a wide spectrum of applications.
Desiccation tolerance in bryophytes: The dehydration and rehydration transcriptomes in the desiccation-tolerant bryophyte Bryum argenteum
Authors: Gao Bei , Li Xiaoshuang , Zhang Daoyuan , Liang Yuqing , Yang Honglan , Chen Moxian , Zhang Yuanming , Zhang Jianhua , Wood Andrew J. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe desiccation tolerant bryophyteBryum argenteumis an important component of desert biological soil crusts (BSCs) and is emerging as a model system for studying vegetative desiccation tolerance. Here we present and analyze the hydration-dehydration-rehydration transcriptomes inB. argenteumto establish a desiccation-tolerance transcriptomic atlas.B. argenteumgametophores representing five different hydration stages (hydrated (H0), dehydrated for 2 h (D2), 24 h (D24), then rehydrated for 2 h (R2) and 48 h (R48)), were sampled for transcriptome analyses. Illumina high throughput RNA-Seq technology was employed and generated more than 488.46 million reads. An in-housede novotranscriptome assembly optimization pipeline based on Trinity assembler was developed to obtain a reference Hydration-Dehydration-Rehydration (H-D-R) transcriptome comprising of 76,206 transcripts, with an N50 of 2,016 bp and average length of 1,222 bp. Comprehensive transcription factor (TF) annotation discovered 978 TFs in 62 families, among which 404 TFs within 40 families were differentially expressed upon dehydration-rehydration. Pfam term enrichment analysis revealed 172 protein families/domains were significantly associated with the H-D-R cycle and confirmed early rehydration (i.e. the R2 stage) as exhibiting the maximum stress-induced changes in gene expression.
New 2-aryl-7,8-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-2-ium salts as potential antifungal agents: synthesis, bioactivity and structure-activity relationships
Authors: Zhu Lifei , Zhou Bohang , Zhang Bingyu , Xu Mingxuan , Geng Huiling , Zhou Le 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe title compounds can be considered as simple analogues of quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids (QBAs). In order to develop potent QBA-like antifungal agents, as our continuing study, a series of new title compounds were synthesized and evaluated for bioactivity against five plant pathogenic fungi by the mycelium growth rate method in this study. The SAR were also derived. The majority of the compounds showed good to excellent inhibition activity with average EC50 values of 7.87–20.0 μM for the fungi, superior to sanguinarine and cherythrine (two QBAs) and the commercial fungicide azoxystrobin. Part of the compounds were more active than commercial fungicides thiabendazole or carbendazim against F. solani, F. graminearum and C. gloeosporioides. Six compounds with average EC50 of 3.5–5.1 μg/mL possessed very great potential for development of new antifungal agents. SAR found that substitution patterns of the two aryl-rings significantly affect the activity. There exists a complex interaction effect between substituents of the two aryl-rings on the activity. Generally, the presence of electron-withdrawing groups on the C-ring can significantly increase the activity. These findings will be of great importance for the design of more potent antifungal isoquinoline agents.
Genomic signatures of adaptive introgression from European mouflon into domestic sheep
Authors: Barbato Mario , Hailer Frank , Orozco-terWengel Pablo , Kijas James , Mereu Paolo , Cabras Pierangela , Mazza Raffaele , Pirastru Monica , Bruford Michael W. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractMouflon (Ovis aries musimon) became extinct from mainland Europe after the Neolithic, but remnant populations from the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia have been used for reintroductions across Europe since the 19th-century. Mouflon x sheep hybrids are larger-bodied than mouflon, potentially showing increased male reproductive success, but little is known about genomic levels of admixture, or about the adaptive significance of introgression between resident mouflon and local sheep breeds. Here we analysed Ovine medium-density SNP array genotypes of 92 mouflon from six geographic regions, along with data from 330 individuals of 16 domestic sheep breeds. We found lower levels of genetic diversity in mouflon than in domestic sheep, consistent with past bottlenecks in mouflon. Introgression signals were bidirectional and affected most mouflon and sheep populations, being strongest in one Sardinian mouflon population. Developing and using a novel approach to identify chromosomal regions with consistent introgression signals, we infer adaptive introgression from mouflon to domestic sheep related to immunity mechanisms, but not in the opposite direction. Further, we infer that Soay and Sarda sheep carry introgressed mouflon alleles involved in bitter taste perception and/or innate immunity. Our results illustrate the potential for adaptive introgression even among recently diverged populations.
The H7N9 influenza A virus infection results in lethal inflammation in the mammalian host via the NLRP3-caspase-1 inflammasome
Authors: Ren Rongrong , Wu Shuxian , Cai Jialin , Yang Yuqin , Ren Xiaonan , Feng Yanling , Chen Lixiang , Qin Boyin , Xu Chunhua , Yang Hua , Song Zhigang , Tian Di , Hu Yunwen , Zhou Xiaohui , Meng Guangxun 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe avian origin influenza A virus (IAV) H7N9 has caused a considerable number of human infections associated with high rates of death since its emergence in 2013. As a vital component of the host innate immune system, the nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat containing receptor, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a critical role against H1N1 viral infection. However, the function of NLRP3 inflammasome in host immunological responses to the lethal H7N9 virus is still obscure. Here, we demonstrated that mice deficient for NLRP3 inflammasome components, including NLRP3, caspase-1, and Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), were less susceptible to H7N9 viral challenge than wild type (WT) controls. Inflammasome deficiency in these animals led to significantly milder mortality and less pulmonary inflammation compared with WT mice. Furthermore, IL-1 receptor deficient mice also exhibited a higher survival rate than WT controls. Thus, our study reveals that the NLRP3 inflammasome is deleterious for the host during H7N9 infection in mice, which is due to an overwhelming inflammatory response via caspase-1 activation and associated IL-1 signal. Therefore, fine-tuning the activity of NLRP3 inflammasome or IL-1 signaling may be beneficial for the host to control H7N9 associated lethal pathogenesis.
A Novel Fabrication Approach for Multifunctional Graphene-based Thin Film Nano-composite Membranes with Enhanced Desalination and Antibacterial Characteristics
Authors: Hegab Hanaa M. , ElMekawy Ahmed , Barclay Thomas G. , Michelmore Andrew , Zou Linda , Losic Dusan , Saint Christopher P. , Ginic-Markovic Milena 
Published: August 2017

AbstractA practical fabrication technique is presented to tackle the trade-off between the water flux and salt rejection of thin film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membranes through controlled creation of a thinner active selective polyamide (PA) layer. The new thin film nano-composite (TFNC) RO membranes were synthesized with multifunctional poly tannic acid-functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets (pTA-f-GO) embedded in its PA thin active layer, which is produced through interfacial polymerization. The incorporation of pTA-f-GOL into the fabricated TFNC membranes resulted in a thinner PA layer with lower roughness and higher hydrophilicity compared to pristine membrane. These properties enhanced both the membrane water flux (improved by 40%) and salt rejection (increased by 8%) of the TFNC membrane. Furthermore, the incorporation of biocidal pTA-f-GO nanosheets into the PA active layer contributed to improving the antibacterial properties by 80%, compared to pristine membrane. The fabrication of the pTA-f-GO nanosheets embedded in the PA layer presented in this study is a very practical, scalable and generic process that can potentially be applied in different types of separation membranes resulting in less energy consumption, increased cost-efficiency and improved performance.
Evolution of the electronic band structure of twisted bilayer graphene upon doping
Authors: Huang Shengqiang , Yankowitz Matthew , Chattrakun Kanokporn , Sandhu Arvinder , LeRoy Brian J. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe electronic band structure of twisted bilayer graphene develops van Hove singularities whose energy depends on the twist angle between the two layers. Using Raman spectroscopy, we monitor the evolution of the electronic band structure upon doping using the G peak area which is enhanced when the laser photon energy is resonant with the energy separation of the van Hove singularities. Upon charge doping, the Raman G peak area initially increases for twist angles larger than a critical angle and decreases for smaller angles. To explain this behavior with twist angle, the energy separation of the van Hove singularities must decrease with increasing charge density demonstrating the ability to modify the electronic and optical properties of twisted bilayer graphene with doping.
Involvement of Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel Member A1 activation in the irritation and pain response elicited by skin-lightening reagent hydroquinone
Authors: Tai Yan , Wang Chuan , Wang Zhihua , Liang Yi , Du Junying , He Dongwei , Fan Xiaoyan , Jordt Sven-Eric , Liu Boyi 
Published: August 2017

AbstractHydroquinone (HQ) is one of the most frequently used and effective skin-lightening products to treat skin hyperpigmentation disorders, including postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma and solar lentigines. HQ is also widely used in cosmetic products for skin whitening. However, HQ treatment can evoke substantial skin irritation, a side effect that remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that HQ is an activator of the peripheral irritant receptor transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channel member A1 (TRPA1). HQ failed to activate TRPV1, TRPV4 or TRPM8. HQ-induced TRPA1 activation was dependent on essential redox-sensitive cysteine and lysine residues within N-terminus of channel protein. HQ elicited Ca2+ influx in a subpopulation of mouse sensory neurons sensitive to the TRPA1 agonist, mustard oil. HQ-induced neuronal responses were significantly reduced by TRPA1 inhibitors, and reduced in neurons isolated from Trpa1-deficient mice. In mice, intraplantar injection of HQ at clinically relevant concentrations elicited both acute pain and persistent mechanical hyperalgesia which were almost completely abolished by TRPA1 inhibitors. These findings identify TRPA1 as a molecular target for HQ and provide insights into the mechanism of HQ-induced skin irritation. These findings also suggest that selective TRPA1 antagonists may be useful to counteract HQ-induced skin irritation.
Gaussian network model can be enhanced by combining solvent accessibility in proteins
Authors: Zhang Hua , Jiang Tao , Shan Guogen , Xu Shiqi , Song Yujie 
Published: August 2017

AbstractGaussian network model (GNM), regarded as the simplest and most representative coarse-grained model, has been widely adopted to analyze and reveal protein dynamics and functions. Designing a variation of the classical GNM, by defining a new Kirchhoff matrix, is the way to improve the residue flexibility modeling. We combined information arising from local relative solvent accessibility (RSA) between two residues into the Kirchhoff matrix of the parameter-free GNM. The undetermined parameters in the new Kirchhoff matrix were estimated by using particle swarm optimization. The usage of RSA was motivated by the fact that our previous work using RSA based linear regression model resulted out higher prediction quality of the residue flexibility when compared with the classical GNM and the parameter free GNM. Computational experiments, conducted based on one training dataset, two independent datasets and one additional small set derived by molecular dynamics simulations, demonstrated that the average correlation coefficients of the proposed RSA based parameter-free GNM, called RpfGNM, were significantly increased when compared with the parameter-free GNM. Our empirical results indicated that a variation of the classical GNMs by combining other protein structural properties is an attractive way to improve the quality of flexibility modeling.
Identifying the miRNA signature associated with survival time in patients with lung adenocarcinoma using miRNA expression profiles
Authors: Yerukala Sathipati Srinivasulu , Ho Shinn-Ying 
Published: August 2017

AbstractLung adenocarcinoma is a multifactorial disease. MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profiles are extensively used for discovering potential theranostic biomarkers of lung cancer. This work proposes an optimized support vector regression (SVR) method called SVR-LUAD to simultaneously identify a set of miRNAs referred to the miRNA signature for estimating the survival time of lung adenocarcinoma patients using their miRNA expression profiles. SVR-LUAD uses an inheritable bi-objective combinatorial genetic algorithm to identify a small set of informative miRNAs cooperating with SVR by maximizing estimation accuracy. SVR-LUAD identified 18 out of 332 miRNAs using 10-fold cross-validation and achieved a correlation coefficient of 0.88 ± 0.01 and mean absolute error of 0.56 ± 0.03 year between real and estimated survival time. SVR-LUAD performs well compared to some well-recognized regression methods. The miRNA signature consists of the 18 miRNAs which strongly correlates with lung adenocarcinoma: hsa-let-7f-1, hsa-miR-16-1, hsa-miR-152, hsa-miR-217, hsa-miR-18a, hsa-miR-193b, hsa-miR-3136, hsa-let-7g, hsa-miR-155, hsa-miR-3199-1, hsa-miR-219-2, hsa-miR-1254, hsa-miR-1291, hsa-miR-192, hsa-miR-3653, hsa-miR-3934, hsa-miR-342, and hsa-miR-141. Gene ontology annotation and pathway analysis of the miRNA signature revealed its biological significance in cancer and cellular pathways. This miRNA signature could aid in the development of novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.
Host Delivered RNAi, an efficient approach to increase rice resistance to sheath blight pathogen (Rhizoctonia solani)
Authors: Tiwari Ila Mukul , Jesuraj Arun , Kamboj Richa , Devanna B. N. , Botella Jose R. , Sharma T. R. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractRhizoctonia solani, the causal agent of rice sheath blight disease, causes significant losses worldwide as there are no cultivars providing absolute resistance to this fungal pathogen. We have used Host Delivered RNA Interference (HD-RNAi) technology to target two PATHOGENICITY MAP KINASE 1 (PMK1) homologues, RPMK1-1 and RPMK1-2, from R. solani using a hybrid RNAi construct. PMK1 homologues in other fungal pathogens are essential for the formation of appressorium, the fungal infection structures required for penetration of the plant cuticle, as well as invasive growth once inside the plant tissues and overall viability of the pathogen within the plant. Evaluation of transgenic rice lines revealed a significant decrease in fungal infection levels compared to non-transformed controls and the observed delay in disease symptoms was further confirmed through microscopic studies. Relative expression levels of the targeted genes, RPMK1-1 and RPMK1-2, were determined in R. solani infecting either transgenic or control lines with significantly lower levels observed in R. solani infecting transgenic lines carrying the HD-RNAi constructs. This is the first report demonstrating the effectiveness of HD-RNAi against sheath blight and offers new opportunities for durable control of the disease as it does not rely on resistance conferred by major resistance genes.
Arginyl dipeptides increase the frequency of NaCl-elicited responses via epithelial sodium channel alpha and delta subunits in cultured human fungiform taste papillae cells
Authors: Xu Jiao-Jiao , Elkaddi Nadia , Garcia-Blanco Alvaro , Spielman Andrew I. , Bachmanov Alexander A. , Chung Hau Yin , Ozdener Mehmet Hakan 
Published: August 2017

AbstractSalty taste is one of the five basic tastes and is often elicited by NaCl. Because excess sodium intake is associated with many health problems, it could be useful to have salt taste enhancers that are not sodium based. In this study, the regulation of NaCl-induced responses was investigated in cultured human fungiform taste papillae (HBO) cells with five arginyl dipeptides: Ala-Arg (AR), Arg-Ala (RA), Arg-Pro (RP), Arg-Glu (RE), and Glu-Arg (ER); and two non-arginyl dipeptides: Asp-Asp (DD) and Glu-Asp (ED). AR, RA, and RP significantly increased the number of cell responses to NaCl, whereas no effect was observed with RE, ER, DD, or ED. We also found no effects with alanine, arginine, or a mixture of both amino acids. Pharmacological studies showed that AR significantly increased responses of amiloride-sensitive but not amiloride-insensitive cells. In studies using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), responses to AR were significantly decreased in cells transfected with siRNAs against epithelial sodium channel ENaCα or ENaCδ compared to untransfected cells. AR dramatically increased NaCl-elicited responses in cells transfected with NHE1 siRNA but not in those transfected with ENaCα or ENaCδ siRNAs. Altogether, AR increased responses of amiloride-sensitive cells required ENaCα and ENaCδ.
Use antibiotics in cell culture with caution: genome-wide identification of antibiotic-induced changes in gene expression and regulation
Authors: Ryu Ann H. , Eckalbar Walter L. , Kreimer Anat , Yosef Nir , Ahituv Nadav 
Published: August 2017

AbstractStandard cell culture guidelines often use media supplemented with antibiotics to prevent cell contamination. However, relatively little is known about the effect of antibiotic use in cell culture on gene expression and the extent to which this treatment could confound results. To comprehensively characterize the effect of antibiotic treatment on gene expression, we performed RNA-seq and ChIP-seq for H3K27ac on HepG2 cells, a human liver cell line commonly used for pharmacokinetic, metabolism and genomic studies, cultured in media supplemented with penicillin-streptomycin (PenStrep) or vehicle control. We identified 209 PenStrep-responsive genes, including transcription factors such as ATF3 that are likely to alter the regulation of other genes. Pathway analyses found a significant enrichment for “xenobiotic metabolism signaling” and “PXR/RXR activation” pathways. Our H3K27ac ChIP-seq identified 9,514 peaks that are PenStrep responsive. These peaks were enriched near genes that function in cell differentiation, tRNA modification, nuclease activity and protein dephosphorylation. Our results suggest that PenStrep treatment can significantly alter gene expression and regulation in a common liver cell type such as HepG2, advocating that antibiotic treatment should be taken into account when carrying out genetic, genomic or other biological assays in cultured cells.