bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Myopes have significantly higher serum melatonin concentrations than non‐myopes
Authors: Kearney Stephanie , O'Donoghue Lisa , Pourshahidi L. Kirsty , Cobice Diego , Saunders Kathryn J. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractPurposeExperimental animal models of myopia demonstrate that higher melatonin (Mel) and lower dopamine (DA) concentrations actively promote axial elongation. This study explored the association between myopia and serum concentrations of DA and Mel in humans.MethodsMorning serum concentrations of DA and Mel were measured by solid phase extraction‐liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry from 54 participants (age 19.1 ± 0.81 years) in September/October 2014 (phase 1) and March/April 2016 (phase 2). Axial length (AL), corneal radii (CR) and spherical equivalent refraction (SER) were also recorded. Participants were defined as myopic if non‐cycloplegic spherical equivalent refractive error ≤−0.50 DS at phase 1.ResultsNine participants were lost to follow up. Mel concentrations were measurable for all myopes (phase 1 n = 25, phase 2 n = 22) and non‐myopes (phase 1 n = 29, phase 2 n = 23). SER did not change significantly between phases (p = 0.51). DA concentrations were measurable for fewer myopes (phase 1 n = 13, phase 2 n = 12) and non‐myopes (phase 1 n = 23, phase 2 n = 16). Myopes exhibited significantly higher Mel concentrations than non‐myopes at phase 1 (Median difference: 10 pg mL−1, p < 0.001) and at phase 2 (Median difference: 7.3 pg mL−1, p < 0.001) and lower DA concentrations at phase 2 (Median difference: 4.7 pg mL−1, p = 0.006). Mel concentrations were positively associated with more negative SER (all r ≥ −0.53, all p < 0.001), longer AL (all r ≥ 0.37, all p ≤ 0.008) and higher AL/CR ratio (all r ≥ 0.51, all p < 0.001).ConclusionThis study reports for the first time in humans that myopes exhibit higher serum Mel concentrations than non‐myopes. This may indicate a role for light exposure and circadian rhythm in the human myopic growth mechanism. Further research should focus on younger cohorts exhibiting more dynamic myopic progression and explore the profile of these neurochemicals alongside evaluation of sleep patterns in myopic and non‐myopic groups.
County‐level Variation in Infant Mortality Reporting at Early Previable Gestational Ages
Authors: Goyal Neera K. , DeFranco Emily , Kamath‐Rayne Beena D. , Beck Andrew F. , Hall Eric S. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractBackgroundInfant mortality rate (IMR), or number of infant deaths per 1000 livebirths, varies widely across the US While fetal deaths are not included in this measure, reported infant deaths do include those delivered at previable gestations, or ≤20 weeks gestation. Variation in reporting of these events may have a significant impact on IMR estimates.MethodsThis retrospective analysis used US National Center for Health Statistics 2007–2013 data from 2391 US counties. Counties were categorised by US region, demographic characteristics, and state‐level fetal death reporting requirements. County percentage of fetal deaths among all 17–20 week fetal and infant deaths was evaluated using multivariable linear regression. County‐level characteristics were then included in multivariable linear regression to determine the associated change in county IMR.ResultsCounty percentage of deaths at 17–20 weeks reported as fetal ranged from 0% to 100% (mean 63.7%). Every 1 point increase in this percentage was associated with a 0.02 point decrease in county IMR (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02, 0.03). When county IMRs were recalculated holding the percentage of fetal vs. infant deaths at 17–20 weeks constant at 63.7%, results suggest that the predicted gap in county IMR between Northeast and Midwest regions would narrow by 0.45 points.ConclusionsVariable reporting of previable fetal and infant deaths may compromise the validity of county IMR comparisons. Improved consistency and accuracy of fetal and infant death reporting is warranted.
Effects of consistency between self and in‐group on children's views of self, groups, and abilities
Authors: Patterson Meagan M. , Bigler Rebecca S. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractChildren's developing views of self and in‐groups inevitably conflict at points during childhood (e.g., a girl who thinks of herself as strong encounters the gender stereotype that girls are weak). How are self and group views reconciled in such cases? To test hypotheses based on Greenwald et al.'s model of self, group, and attribute relations, children (N = 107; ages 7–12;M = 9 years, 6 months) were assigned to novel social groups, denoted by red and blue t‐shirts, in their classrooms. Across 3 weeks, children completed three novel tasks and received false feedback on personal and group task performance, producing a between‐subjects experimental design in which children received either consistent or inconsistent self and group feedback. Immediately after receiving feedback, children answered questions about the particular task. Finally, upon completion of all three manipulations, children completed measures of views of the self and novel groups. As predicted, children's views of the tasks, self, and groups were influenced by feedback. Unexpectedly, children viewed themselves as more similar to the in‐group than out‐group irrespective of feedback consistency. Furthermore, children developed in‐group biased attitudes, but these biases were largely unrelated to feedback.
Children's attentional breadth around their mother: Comparing stimulus‐driven vs. cognitively controlled processes
Authors: Bosmans Guy , Goldblum Emma , Braet Caroline , van de Walle Magali , Heylen Joke , Bijttebier Patricia , Santens Tara , Koster Ernst H. W. , De Raedt Rudi 
Published: July 2017

AbstractAttentional processes in children are tuned toward their mother. It is unclear whether this is a cognitively controlled or more automatic, stimulus‐driven process. Therefore, 172 children (age 9–13) were assigned to either a cognitively controlled or a stimulus‐driven task measuring the breadth of their attentional field around their mother. Results demonstrated a narrower field around the mother for children completing the more stimulus‐driven task. Moreover, only for the stimulus‐driven task, this effect was linked with the interaction between children's age and self‐reported trust in maternal support. More trust was linked with a narrower attentional field around the mother in younger children, but with a less narrow field in older children. This resembles the expected age‐related shift toward increased autonomy and points at stimulus‐driven attentional processes.
Developing inland China: The role of coastal foreign direct investment and exports
Authors: Ouyang Puman , Yao Shunli 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe design of China's foreign direct investment (FDI) and export promotion policies has intrinsic elements not helpful with the original policy intent to generate spillovers to the wide Chinese economy. Applying panel estimation models to Chinese provincial‐level data for 1993–2008, we examine the impacts of China's coastal FDI and exports on its inland regions. We find that the coastal FDI has overall positive inter‐regional impacts, while the coastal exports do not. Cooperative joint ventures generate positive impacts, but little for wholly foreign‐funded enterprises and even negative for equity joint ventures. The inter‐regional impacts do not exhibit any significance and robustness across exporters' ownership status. We attribute these counter‐intuitive findings to the protectionist behaviours of state‐owned enterprises in equity joint ventures and the prevalence of processing exports.
Technical change and income inequality in China
Authors: Zhang Xun , Wan Guanghua , Wang Chen , Luo Zhi 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe purpose of this paper was to explore the inequality–technical change relationship. Different from earlier studies, we aim to gauge the impact of technical change on the overall inequality, not just a particular component of inequality. This is achieved by establishing that the labour share of income is negatively correlated with overall inequality as indicated by the popular Gini coefficient and by modelling the labour share of income as a function of technical change. The empirical model of labour share of income is estimated using 1978–2012 provincial panel data from China. The main estimation results show that technical change in China had been mostly capital‐biased. It contributed to the successive reductions in China's labour share of income and thus rapid rises in income inequality.
Persistent papilloma treated with cryotherapy in three dogs
Authors: Richman Austin W. , Kirby Allison L. , Rosenkrantz Wayne , Muse Russell 
Published: July 2017

BackgroundCanine papillomaviruses can affect the mucous membranes and skin of young, old and immunocompromised dogs. Most lesions regress spontaneously over a four to eight week interval; however, in some cases the lesions may persist or progress. Cryotherapy is used as a treatment for papillomavirus induced lesions in veterinary practice but there is limited published evidence regarding its use.ObjectivesTo describe the history, lesions and treatment outcomes of three dogs with persistent viral papillomas treated with cryotherapy.AnimalsThree client owned dogs.MethodsCanine viral papilloma lesions were treated with five to six freeze–thaw cycles using liquid nitrogen cryotherapy.ResultsAll lesions in each case resolved with cryotherapy treatment. Two cases required one treatment and one case required two treatment courses.Conclusions and clinical importanceThe apparent resolution of these papilloma lesions with cryotherapy suggests that this may be a useful treatment intervention for persistent canine papilloma lesions. Spontaneous resolution may still have taken place; consequently, large scale clinical trials are required to demonstrate unequivocally that this mode of therapy, as with other therapeutic modalities, is really effective in the treatment of canine papillomatosis.
Fixed-Order Controller Design for a High Speed Railway Vehicle
Authors: Türkay Semiha , Leblebici Aslı S. , Akçay Hüseyin 
Published: July 2017

Advanced active suspension systems has attracted considerable attention in modern railway vehicle designs in recent years. The purpose of the suspension is to attenuate the vehicle vibrations due to various rail excitations. With active suspensions it is aimed to improve the performance in some cases, while not making it worse in others. The performance-related objectives can be approximately translated in different norm bounds on certain transfer functions or impulse responses.
In this paper, a multi-objective problem is formulated as a non-convex and non-smooth optimization problem for a full-car railway vehicle modelled with seventeen-degrees-of-freedom (17 DOF) and excited by random rail inputs. The controller order restricted to be less than or equal to the passive system model order. For a range of orders, controllers are synthesized by using the HIFOO toolbox.
Mitochondrial Cochaperone Mge1 Is Involved in Regulating Susceptibility to Fluconazole in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
and
Candida
Species
Authors: Demuyser Liesbeth , Swinnen Erwin , Fiori Alessandro , Herrera-Malaver Beatriz , Verstrepen Kevin , Van Dijck Patrick 
Published: July 2017

ABSTRACT

MGE1
encodes a yeast chaperone involved in Fe-S cluster metabolism and protein import into the mitochondria. In this study, we identified
MGE1
as a multicopy suppressor of susceptibility to the antifungal fluconazole in the model yeast
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
. We demonstrate that this phenomenon is not exclusively dependent on the integrity of the mitochondrial DNA or on the presence of the drug efflux pump Pdr5. Instead, we show that the increased dosage of Mge1 plays a protective role by retaining increased amounts of ergosterol upon fluconazole treatment. Iron metabolism and, more particularly, Fe-S cluster formation are involved in regulating this process, since the responsible Hsp70 chaperone, Ssq1, is required. Additionally, we show the necessity but, by itself, insufficiency of activating the iron regulon in establishing the Mge1-related effect on drug susceptibility. Finally, we confirm a similar role for Mge1 in fluconazole susceptibility in the pathogenic fungi
Candida glabrata
and
Candida albicans
.

IMPORTANCE
Although they are mostly neglected compared to bacterial infections, fungal infections pose a serious threat to the human population. While some of them remain relatively harmless, infections that reach the bloodstream often become lethal. Only a few therapies are available, and resistance of the pathogen to these drugs is a frequently encountered problem. It is thus essential that more research is performed on how these pathogens cope with the treatment and cause recurrent infections. Baker’s yeast is often used as a model to study pathogenic fungi. We show here, by using this model, that iron metabolism and the formation of the important iron-sulfur clusters are involved in regulating susceptibility to fluconazole, the most commonly used antifungal drug. We show that the same process likely also occurs in two of the most regularly isolated pathogenic fungi,
Candida glabrata
and
Candida albicans
.
Disguised as a Sulfate Reducer: Growth of the Deltaproteobacterium
Desulfurivibrio alkaliphilus
by Sulfide Oxidation with Nitrate
Authors: Thorup Casper , Schramm Andreas , Findlay Alyssa J. , Finster Kai W. , Schreiber Lars 
Published: July 2017

ABSTRACT

This study demonstrates that the deltaproteobacterium
Desulfurivibrio alkaliphilus
can grow chemolithotrophically by coupling sulfide oxidation to the dissimilatory reduction of nitrate and nitrite to ammonium. Key genes of known sulfide oxidation pathways are absent from the genome of
D. alkaliphilus
. Instead, the genome contains all of the genes necessary for sulfate reduction, including a gene for a reductive-type dissimilatory bisulfite reductase (DSR). Despite this, growth by sulfate reduction was not observed. Transcriptomic analysis revealed a very high expression level of sulfate-reduction genes during growth by sulfide oxidation, while inhibition experiments with molybdate pointed to elemental sulfur/polysulfides as intermediates. Consequently, we propose that
D. alkaliphilus
initially oxidizes sulfide to elemental sulfur, which is then either disproportionated, or oxidized by a reversal of the sulfate reduction pathway. This is the first study providing evidence that a reductive-type DSR is involved in a sulfide oxidation pathway. Transcriptome sequencing further suggests that nitrate reduction to ammonium is performed by a novel type of periplasmic nitrate reductase and an unusual membrane-anchored nitrite reductase.

IMPORTANCE
Sulfide oxidation and sulfate reduction, the two major branches of the sulfur cycle, are usually ascribed to distinct sets of microbes with distinct diagnostic genes. Here we show a more complex picture, as
D. alkaliphilus
, with the genomic setup of a sulfate reducer, grows by sulfide oxidation. The high expression of genes typically involved in the sulfate reduction pathway suggests that these genes, including the reductive-type dissimilatory bisulfite reductases, are also involved in as-yet-unresolved sulfide oxidation pathways. Finally,
D. alkaliphilus
is closely related to cable bacteria, which grow by electrogenic sulfide oxidation. Since there are no pure cultures of cable bacteria,
D. alkaliphilus
may represent an exciting model organism in which to study the physiology of this process.
Drought Stress Results in a Compartment-Specific Restructuring of the Rice Root-Associated Microbiomes
Authors: Santos-Medellín Christian , Edwards Joseph , Liechty Zachary , Nguyen Bao , Sundaresan Venkatesan 
Published: July 2017

ABSTRACT

Plant roots support complex microbial communities that can influence plant growth, nutrition, and health. While extensive characterizations of the composition and spatial compartmentalization of these communities have been performed in different plant species, there is relatively little known about the impact of abiotic stresses on the root microbiota. Here, we have used rice as a model to explore the responses of root microbiomes to drought stress. Using four distinct genotypes, grown in soils from three different fields, we tracked the drought-induced changes in microbial composition in the rhizosphere (the soil immediately surrounding the root), the endosphere (the root interior), and unplanted soils. Drought significantly altered the overall bacterial and fungal compositions of all three communities, with the endosphere and rhizosphere compartments showing the greatest divergence from well-watered controls. The overall response of the bacterial microbiota to drought stress was taxonomically consistent across soils and cultivars and was primarily driven by an enrichment of multiple
Actinobacteria
and
Chloroflexi
, as well as a depletion of several
Acidobacteria
and
Deltaproteobacteria
. While there was some overlap in the changes observed in the rhizosphere and endosphere communities, several drought-responsive taxa were compartment specific, a pattern likely arising from preexisting compositional differences, as well as plant-mediated processes affecting individual compartments. These results reveal that drought stress, in addition to its well-characterized effects on plant physiology, also results in restructuring of root microbial communities and suggest the possibility that constituents of the altered plant microbiota might contribute to plant survival under extreme environmental conditions.

IMPORTANCE
With the likelihood that changes in global climate will adversely affect crop yields, the potential role of microbial communities in enhancing plant performance makes it important to elucidate the responses of plant microbiomes to environmental variation. By detailed characterization of the effect of drought stress on the root-associated microbiota of the crop plant rice, we show that the rhizosphere and endosphere communities undergo major compositional changes that involve shifts in the relative abundances of a taxonomically diverse set of bacteria in response to drought. These drought-responsive microbes, in particular those enriched under water deficit conditions, could potentially benefit the plant as they could contribute to tolerance to drought and other abiotic stresses, as well as provide protection from opportunistic infection by pathogenic microbes. The identification and future isolation of microbes that promote plant tolerance to drought could potentially be used to mitigate crop losses arising from adverse shifts in climate.
Dengue Virus Hijacks a Noncanonical Oxidoreductase Function of a Cellular Oligosaccharyltransferase Complex
Authors: Lin David L. , Cherepanova Natalia A. , Bozzacco Leonia , MacDonald Margaret R. , Gilmore Reid , Tai Andrew W. 
Published: July 2017

ABSTRACT
Dengue virus (DENV) is the most common arboviral infection globally, infecting an estimated 390 million people each year. We employed a genome-wide clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) screen to identify host dependency factors required for DENV propagation and identified the oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) complex as an essential host factor for DENV infection. Mammalian cells express two OSTs containing either STT3A or STT3B. We found that the canonical catalytic function of the OSTs as oligosaccharyltransferases is not necessary for DENV infection, as cells expressing catalytically inactive STT3A or STT3B are able to support DENV propagation. However, the OST subunit MAGT1, which associates with STT3B, is also required for DENV propagation. MAGT1 expression requires STT3B, and a catalytically inactive STT3B also rescues MAGT1 expression, supporting the hypothesis that STT3B serves to stabilize MAGT1 in the context of DENV infection. We found that the oxidoreductase CXXC active site motif of MAGT1 was necessary for DENV propagation, as cells expressing an AXXA MAGT1 mutant were unable to support DENV infection. Interestingly, cells expressing single-cysteine CXXA or AXXC mutants of MAGT1 were able to support DENV propagation. Utilizing the engineered peroxidase APEX2, we demonstrate the close proximity between MAGT1 and NS1 or NS4B during DENV infection. These results reveal that the oxidoreductase activity of the STT3B-containing OST is necessary for DENV infection, which may guide the development of antiviral agents targeting DENV.

IMPORTANCE
The host oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) complexes have been identified as essential host factors for dengue virus (DENV) replication; however, their functions during DENV infection are unclear. A previous study showed that the canonical OST activity was dispensable for DENV replication, suggesting that the OST complexes serve as scaffolds for DENV replication. However, our work demonstrates that one function of the OST complex during DENV infection is to provide oxidoreductase activity via the OST subunit MAGT1. We also show that MAGT1 associates with DENV NS1 and NS4B during viral infection, suggesting that these nonstructural proteins may be targets of MAGT1 oxidoreductase activity. These results provide insight into the cell biology of DENV infection, which may guide the development of antivirals against DENV.
Lack of AcrB Efflux Function Confers Loss of Virulence on
Salmonella enterica
Serovar Typhimurium
Authors: Wang-Kan Xuan , Blair Jessica M. A. , Chirullo Barbara , Betts Jonathan , La Ragione Roberto M. , Ivens Alasdair , Ricci Vito , Opperman Timothy J. , Piddock Laura J. V. 
Published: July 2017

ABSTRACT

AcrAB-TolC is the paradigm resistance-nodulation-division (RND) multidrug resistance efflux system in Gram-negative bacteria, with AcrB being the pump protein in this complex. We constructed a nonfunctional AcrB mutant by replacing D408, a highly conserved residue essential for proton translocation. Western blotting confirmed that the AcrB D408A mutant had the same native level of expression of AcrB as the parental strain. The mutant had no growth deficiencies in rich or minimal medium. However, compared with wild-type SL1344, the mutant had increased accumulation of Hoechst 33342 dye and decreased efflux of ethidium bromide and was multidrug hypersusceptible. The D408A mutant was attenuated
in vivo
in mouse and
Galleria mellonella
models and showed significantly reduced invasion into intestinal epithelial cells and macrophages
in vitro
. A dose-dependent inhibition of invasion was also observed when two different efflux pump inhibitors were added to the wild-type strain during infection of epithelial cells. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed downregulation of bacterial factors necessary for infection, including those in the
Salmonella
pathogenicity islands 1, 2, and 4; quorum sensing genes; and
phoPQ
. Several general stress response genes were upregulated, probably due to retention of noxious molecules inside the bacterium. Unlike loss of AcrB protein, loss of efflux function did not induce overexpression of other RND efflux pumps. Our data suggest that gene deletion mutants are unsuitable for studying membrane transporters and, importantly, that inhibitors of AcrB efflux function will not induce expression of other RND pumps.

IMPORTANCE
Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern. In Gram-negative bacteria, overexpression of the AcrAB-TolC multidrug efflux system confers resistance to clinically useful drugs. Here, we show that loss of AcrB efflux function causes loss of virulence in
Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium. This is due to the reduction of bacterial factors necessary for infection, which is likely to be caused by the retention of noxious molecules inside the bacterium. We also show that, in contrast to loss of AcrB protein, loss of efflux does not induce overexpression of other efflux pumps from the same family. This indicates that there are differences between loss of efflux protein and loss of efflux that make gene deletion mutants unsuitable for studying the biological function of membrane transporters. Understanding the biological role of AcrB will help to assess the risks of targeting efflux pumps as a strategy to combat antibiotic resistance.