bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Identification of BnaYUCCA6 as a candidate gene for branch angle in Brassica napus by QTL-seq
Authors: Wang Hui , Cheng Hongtao , Wang Wenxiang , Liu Jia , Hao Mengyu , Mei Desheng , Zhou Rijin , Fu Li , Hu Qiong 
Published: December 2016

AbstractOilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is one of the most important oil crops in China as well as worldwide. Branch angle as a plant architecture component trait plays an important role for high density planting and yield performance. In this study, bulked segregant analysis (BSA) combined with next generation sequencing technology was used to fine map QTL for branch angle. A major QTL, designated as branch angle 1 (ba1) was identified on A06 and further validated by Indel marker-based classical QTL mapping in an F2 population. Eighty-two genes were identified in the ba1 region. Among these genes, BnaA0639380D is a homolog of AtYUCCA6. Sequence comparison of BnaA0639380D from small- and big-branch angle oilseed rape lines identified six SNPs and four amino acid variation in the promoter and coding region, respectively. The expression level of BnaA0639380D is significantly higher in the small branch angle line Purler than in the big branch angle line Huyou19, suggesting that the genomic mutations may result in reduced activity of BnaA0639380D in Huyou19. Phytohormone determination showed that the IAA content in Purler was also obviously increased. Taken together, our results suggested BnaA0639380D is a possible candidate gene for branch angle in oilseed rape.
An increased duplication of ZRS region that caused more than one supernumerary digits preaxial polydactyly in a large Chinese family
Authors: Wang Bin , Diao Yutao , Liu Qiji , An Hongqiang , Ma Ruiping , Jiang Guosheng , Lai Nannan , Li Ziwei , Zhu Xiaoxiao , Zhao Lin , Guo Qiang , Zhang Zhen , Sun Rong , Li Xia 
Published: December 2016

AbstractPreaxial polydactyly (PPD) is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion and characterized by the presence of one or more supernumerary digits on the thumb side. It had been identified that point mutation or genomic duplications of the long-range limb-specific cis-regulator - zone of polarizing activity regulatory sequence (ZRS) cause PPD or other limb deformities such as syndactyly type IV (SD4) and Triphalangeal thumb-polysyndactyly syndrome (TPTPS). Most previously reported cases involved with no more than one extra finger; however, the role of the point mutation or genomic duplications of ZRS in the case of more than one redundant finger polydactyly remains unclear. In this article, we reported a family case of more than one redundant finger polydactyly on the thumb side for bilateral hands with a pedigree chart of the family. Results of quantitative PCR (qPCR) and sequence analysis suggested that the relative copy number (RCN) of ZRS but not point mutation (including insertion and deletion) was involved in all affected individuals.
Sonic horizon formation for oscillating Bose-Einstein condensates in isotropic harmonic potential
Authors: Wang Ying , Zhou Yu , Zhou Shuyu 
Published: December 2016

AbstractWe study the sonic horizon phenomena of the oscillating Bose-Einstein condensates in isotropic harmonic potential. Based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation model and variational method, we derive the original analytical formula for the criteria and lifetime of the formation of the sonic horizon, demonstrating pictorially the interaction parameter dependence for the occur- rence of the sonic horizon and damping effect of the system distribution width. Our analytical results corroborate quantitatively the particular features of the sonic horizon reported in previous numerical study.
Arctic megaslide at presumed rest
Authors: Geissler Wolfram H. , Gebhardt A. Catalina , Gross Felix , Wollenburg Jutta , Jensen Laura , Schmidt-Aursch Mechita C. , Krastel Sebastian , Elger Judith , Osti Giacomo 
Published: December 2016

AbstractSlope failure like in the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide is one of the major geohazards in a changing Arctic environment. We analysed hydroacoustic and 2D high-resolution seismic data from the apparently intact continental slope immediately north of the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide for signs of past and future instabilities. Our new bathymetry and seismic data show clear evidence for incipient slope instability. Minor slide deposits and an internally-deformed sedimentary layer near the base of the gas hydrate stability zone imply an incomplete failure event, most probably about 30000 years ago, contemporaneous to or shortly after the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide. An active gas reservoir at the base of the gas hydrate stability zone demonstrate that over-pressured fluids might have played a key role in the initiation of slope failure at the studied slope, but more importantly also for the giant HYM slope failure. To date, it is not clear, if the studied slope is fully preconditioned to fail completely in future or if it might be slowly deforming and creeping at present. We detected widespread methane seepage on the adjacent shallow shelf areas not sealed by gas hydrates.
Sex Differences in Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Carotid Plaque among Adults: A Population-based Cross-Sectional Study in Rural China
Authors: Zhao Wei , Wu Yanan , Shi Min , Bai Lingling , Tu Jun , Guo Zaiyu , Jiang Rongcai , Zhang Jianning , Ning Xianjia , Wang Jinghua 
Published: December 2016

AbstractAlthough the associations between carotid plaque and cardiovascular disease risk factors have been identified in previous studies, there is limited information on sex-related differences in factors associated with the development of carotid plaque. We aimed to determine sex differences in the prevalence of carotid plaque and associated risk factors in rural China. A total of 3,789 subjects aged ≥45 years without history of stroke or cardiovascular disease were recruited to the study. B-mode ultrasonography was performed to determine the presence of carotid plaque. The mean age of male subjects was greater than that of female subjects. In addition, there was a higher prevalence of carotid plaque in men than in women (50.1% vs. 35.5%; P < 0.001) irrespective of age group, education level, and presence of risk factors. Older age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and high concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were pronouncedly associated with the risk of carotid plaque in both men and women. These findings suggest that it is vital for physicians to be aware that conventional risk factors and other related factors are of equal importance among rural residents in China; patients should thus be treated accordingly so that reduce the burden of stroke and cardiovascular disease.
Social determinants of eyeblinks in adult male macaques
Authors: Ballesta Sébastien , Mosher Clayton P. , Szep Jeno , Fischl Kate D. , Gothard Katalin M. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractVideos with rich social and emotional content elicit natural social behaviors in primates. Indeed, while watching videos of conspecifics, monkeys engage in eye contact, gaze follow, and reciprocate facial expressions. We hypothesized that the frequency and timing of eyeblinks also depends on the social signals contained in videos. We monitored the eyeblinks of four male adult macaques while they watched videos of conspecifics displaying facial expressions with direct or averted gaze. The instantaneous blink rate of all four animals decreased during videos. The temporal synchrony of blinking, however, increased in response to segments depicting appeasing or aggressive facial expressions directed at the viewer. Two of the four monkeys, who systematically reciprocated the direct gaze of the stimulus monkeys, also showed eyeblink entrainment, a temporal coordination of blinking between social partners engaged in dyadic interactions. Together, our results suggest that in macaques, as in humans, blinking depends not only on the physiological imperative to protect the eyes and spread a film of tears over the cornea, but also on several socio-emotional factors.
Mesolimbic leptin signaling negatively regulates cocaine-conditioned reward
Authors: Shen M , Jiang C , Liu P , Wang F , Ma L 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe regulatory mechanisms underlying the response to addictive drugs are complex, and increasing evidence indicates that there is a role for appetite-regulating pathways in substance abuse. Leptin, an important adipose hormone that regulates energy balance and appetite, exerts its physiological functions via leptin receptors. However, the role of leptin signaling in regulating the response to cocaine remains unclear. Here we examined the potential role of leptin signaling in cocaine reward using a conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure. Our results showed that inhibition of leptin signaling by intracerebroventricular infusion of the leptin receptor (LepR) antagonist SMLA during cocaine conditioning increased the cocaine-CPP and upregulated the level of dopamine and its metabolites in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). We then selectively knocked down the LepR in the mesolimbic ventral tegmental area (VTA), NAc core and central amygdala (CeA) by injecting AAV-Cre into Leprflox/flox mice. LepR deletion in the VTA increased the dopamine levels in the NAc and enhanced the cocaine-conditioned reward. LepR deletion in the NAc core enhanced the cocaine-conditioned reward and impaired the effect of the D2-dopamine receptor on cocaine-CPP, whereas LepR deletion in the CeA had no effect on cocaine-CPP but increased the anxiety level of mice. In addition, prior exposure to saccharin increased LepR mRNA and STAT3 phosphorylation in the NAc and VTA and impaired cocaine-CPP. These results indicate that leptin signaling is critically involved in cocaine-conditioned reward and the regulation of drug reward by a natural reward and that these effects are dependent on mesolimbic LepR.
Brain network reorganization differs in response to stress in rats genetically predisposed to depression and stress-resilient rats
Authors: Gass N , Becker R , Schwarz A J , Weber-Fahr W , Clemm von Hohenberg C , Vollmayr B , Sartorius A 
Published: December 2016

AbstractTreatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains a pressing clinical problem. Optimizing treatment requires better definition of the specificity of the involved brain circuits. The rat strain bred for negative cognitive state (NC) represents a genetic animal model of TRD with high face, construct and predictive validity. Vice versa, the positive cognitive state (PC) strain represents a stress-resilient phenotype. Although NC rats show depressive-like behavior, some symptoms such as anhedonia require an external trigger, i.e. a stressful event, which is similar to humans when stressful event induces a depressive episode in genetically predisposed individuals (gene–environment interaction). We aimed to distinguish neurobiological predisposition from the depressogenic pathology at the level of brain-network reorganization. For this purpose, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging time series were acquired at 9.4 Tesla scanner in NC (N=11) and PC (N=7) rats before and after stressful event. We used a graph theory analytical approach to calculate the brain-network global and local properties. There was no difference in the global characteristics between the strains. At the local level, the response in the risk strain was characterized with an increased internodal role and reduced local clustering and efficiency of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and prelimbic cortex compared to the stress-resilient strain. We suggest that the increased internodal role of these prefrontal regions could be due to the enhancement of some of their long-range connections, given their connectivity with the amygdala and other default-mode-like network hubs, which could create a bias to attend to negative information characteristic for depression.
From a latent to a ‘strong’ soft power? The evolution of India’s cultural diplomacy
Authors: Mahapatra Debidatta Aurobinda 
Published: December 2016

AbstractIndia celebrated when in 2014 the United Nations adopted the 21st of June as International Yoga Day. In recent years India’s leaders have increasingly focused on its diaspora, multicultural ethos, and its ancient practices like yoga, through official campaigns and foreign visits. Particularly since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, there has been an increased activism to draw attention to and employ India’s soft power. The article traces the evolution of India as a soft power since its emergence as an independent country. It explores how this soft power has shaped India’s foreign policy and behavior. India’s soft power assets are not of recent origin, but there is an increasing activism to use those assets effectively. Has India evolved as a soft power? What are the characteristics of India’s soft power? How is India’s current political dispensation different from the earlier ones in applying soft power in foreign policy? The article addresses these questions by applying Nye Jr’s concept of soft power and aims to contribute to the debate on soft power by focusing on cultural diplomacy of a rising power. It demonstrates that though soft power resources, including culture, are not new, the increasing awareness and activism of India’s political class to use those resources to realize foreign policy goals is recent. The focus on soft power, particularly cultural diplomacy, and its use in foreign policy, has become increasingly visible in recent years. This article also argues that the increasing acceptability of its culture and values opens up possibilities for India to realize foreign policy goals. It will, however, be a daunting task for members of the Indian political class to use soft power effectively unless they address internal and external constraints. This article is published as part of a collection on soft power.
Cliff-edge model of obstetric selection in humans
Authors: Mitteroecker Philipp , Huttegger Simon M. , Fischer Barbara , Pavlicev Mihaela 
Published: December 2016

SignificanceCompared with other primates, human childbirth is difficult because the fetus is large relative to the maternal pelvic canal. It is a long-standing evolutionary puzzle why the pelvis has not evolved to be wider, thus reducing the risk of obstructed labor. We present a mathematical model that explains the high rates of fetopelvic disproportion by the discrepancy between a wide symmetric phenotype distribution and an asymmetric, “cliff-edged” fitness function. Only weak selection for a large newborn, a narrow pelvis, or both is necessary to account for the high incidence of fetopelvic disproportion. Because the regular use of Caesarean sections has reduced maternal mortality, the model predicts an evolutionary response of fetal or maternal dimensions, increasing the rates of fetopelvic disproportion.
Regional diversity on the timing for the initial appearance of cereal cultivation and domestication in southwest Asia
Authors: Arranz-Otaegui Amaia , Colledge Sue , Zapata Lydia , Teira-Mayolini Luis Cesar , Ibáñez Juan José 
Published: December 2016

Significance
Recent studies show that cultivation of wild and domesticated plants was a protracted process that developed across southwest Asia. However, there have not been sufficient data to evaluate whether cereal cultivation and domestication developed in parallel in all the regions or at different times. Our findings indicate that cultivation of wild cereal forms during Pre-Pottery Neolithic A was common only in specific regions such as the southern-central Levant. Domesticated-type cereal chaff (>10%) is found in southern Syria around 10.7–10.2 ka Cal BP but appears around 400–1,000 y later in the other regions. Regionally diverse plant-based subsistence during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic could have contributed to (if not caused) chronological dissimilarities in the development of cereal cultivation and domestication in southwest Asia.
Ideal charge-density-wave order in the high-field state of superconducting YBCO
Authors: Jang H. , Lee W.-S. , Nojiri H. , Matsuzawa S. , Yasumura H. , Nie L. , Maharaj A. V. , Gerber S. , Liu Y.-J. , Mehta A. , Bonn D. A. , Liang R. , Hardy W. N. , Burns C. A. , Islam Z. , Song S. , Hastings J. , Devereaux T. P. , Shen Z.-X. , Kivelson S. A. , Kao C.-C. , Zhu D. , Lee J.-S. 
Published: December 2016

Significance
Compelling evidence of various forms of nonsuperconducting electronic order in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors has fundamentally altered our understanding of the essential physics of these materials. However, it has been difficult to establish the nature of the quantum (zero-temperature) phases that compete and/or coexist with superconductivity. By studying high-quality crystals of YBCO using an X-ray laser and pulsed magnetic fields, we have established that the field induced charge-density-wave (CDW) order that arises when superconductivity is suppressed at low temperatures is incommensurate, unidirectional, and 3D-ordered. While disorder ultimately precludes true CDW long-range order, there does appear to be a sharply defined crossover field, which we associate with a transition to a nematic state with long-range orientational order.
Impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on land use and transboundary freshwater resources
Authors: Müller Marc François , Yoon Jim , Gorelick Steven M. , Avisse Nicolas , Tilmant Amaury 
Published: December 2016

Significance
The notion that sudden impacts on shared international waters can be detected and quantified, even in a war zone, is important to scientists and policy makers, who have been stifled in the past by inaccessibility to such regions and the consequent inability to collect relevant data. Our study uses satellite imagery of war-torn Syria, showing how conflict and migration caused sudden reductions in Syrian agricultural land use and water use. An unexpected effect of the conflict was increased flow in the Yarmouk River to Jordan, which nonetheless remains one of the world’s most water-poor nations. The study illustrates that conflict and human displacement can significantly alter a basin’s water balance with dramatic effects on the transboundary partitioning of water resources.
Casitas B-cell lymphoma (Cbl) proteins protect mammary epithelial cells from proteotoxicity of active c-Src accumulation
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Chandrani , Triplett Aleata , Bargar Tom , Heckman Carol , Wagner Kay-Uwe , Naramura Mayumi 
Published: December 2016

Significance
Casitas B-cell lymphoma (Cbl) family proteins are RING finger-containing E3 ubiquitin ligases involved in degradation of activated tyrosine kinases. Previous studies in Cbl-deficient models focused primarily on the consequences of persistent tyrosine kinase signaling resulting in uncontrolled cell activation and proliferation. In the present study, we provide evidence that, in the complete absence of Cbl family proteins, failure to turn over active tyrosine kinases induces irreparable breakdown of the homeostasis of the protein milieu in primary mouse mammary epithelial cells and triggers stress-mediated cell death. Thus, our data reveal that well-regulated removal of active tyrosine kinases is essential for cell survival, an aspect of Cbl family protein functions that has not been previously fully appreciated.
Concentrator photovoltaic module architectures with capabilities for capture and conversion of full global solar radiation
Authors: Lee Kyu-Tae , Yao Yuan , He Junwen , Fisher Brent , Sheng Xing , Lumb Matthew , Xu Lu , Anderson Mikayla A. , Scheiman David , Han Seungyong , Kang Yongseon , Gumus Abdurrahman , Bahabry Rabab R. , Lee Jung Woo , Paik Ungyu , Bronstein Noah D. , Alivisatos A. Paul , Meitl Matthew , Burroughs Scott , Hussain Muhammad Mustafa , Lee Jeong Chul , Nuzzo Ralph G. , Rogers John A. 
Published: December 2016

Significance
Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems, wherein light focuses onto multijunction solar cells, offer the highest efficiencies in converting sunlight to electricity. The performance is intrinsically limited, however, by an inability to capture diffuse illumination, due to narrow acceptance angles of the concentrator optics. Here we demonstrate concepts where flat-plate solar cells mount onto the backplanes of the most sophisticated CPV modules to yield an additive contribution to the overall output. Outdoor testing results with two different hybrid module designs demonstrate absolute gains in average daily efficiencies of between 1.02% and 8.45% depending on weather conditions. The findings suggest pathways to significant improvements in the efficiencies, with economics that could potentially expand their deployment to a wide range of geographic locations.
Tet proteins influence the balance between neuroectodermal and mesodermal fate choice by inhibiting Wnt signaling
Authors: Li Xiang , Yue Xiaojing , Pastor William A. , Lin Lizhu , Georges Romain , Chavez Lukas , Evans Sylvia M. , Rao Anjana 
Published: December 2016

Significance
Methylation of cytosine bases in DNA is an epigenetic modification that influences gene expression. TET (ten-eleven translocation)-family dioxygenases catalyze conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and additional oxidized methylcytosines in DNA. Here, we show that both Tet3- and Tet1/2/3-deficient mouse ES cells showed impaired neural conversion, with skewing toward cardiac mesoderm. Genome-wide analyses showed that Tet3 mediates cell-fate decisions by inhibiting Wnt signaling. Consistent with these findings, Wnt signaling was hyperactivated in Tet1/2/3-deficient embryos, leading to aberrant differentiation of bipotent neuromesodermal progenitors into mesoderm at the expense of neuroectoderm. Our data demonstrate a key role for TET proteins in modulating Wnt signaling and establishing the proper balance between neural and mesoderm cell fate determination.
Resistance mutation conserved between insects and mites unravels the benzoylurea insecticide mode of action on chitin biosynthesis
Authors: Douris Vassilis , Steinbach Denise , Panteleri Rafaela , Livadaras Ioannis , Pickett John Anthony , Van Leeuwen Thomas , Nauen Ralf , Vontas John 
Published: December 2016

SignificanceAn old enigma in insect toxicology, the mode of action (MoA) of selective chitin biosynthesis inhibitors in arthropods, is resolved. Benzoylureas, buprofezin, and etoxazole share a MoA by directly interacting with chitin synthase 1. The finding that a single mutation confers striking levels of insecticide resistance against three putative different MoAs has important ramifications on resistance management strategies and rational use of insecticides against major agricultural pestsand vectors of human diseases. Our results also show that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gain-of-function mutations in single-copy genes of highly conserved target sites in arthropods provide opportunities for comprehensive insecticide resistance investigations across species boundaries and against several insecticide classes.
POWERDRESS and HDA9 interact and promote histone H3 deacetylation at specific genomic sites in
Arabidopsis
Authors: Kim Yun Ju , Wang Ruozhong , Gao Lei , Li Dongming , Xu Chi , Mang Hyunggon , Jeon Jien , Chen Xiangsong , Zhong Xuehua , Kwak June M. , Mo Beixin , Xiao Langtao , Chen Xuemei 
Published: December 2016

Significance
Histone deacetylases (HDACs) belong to a large protein family in plants, and little is known about how target specificity of each HDAC is achieved. We show that a paired SANT (SWI3/DAD2/N-CoR/TFIII-B) domain-containing protein, POWERDRESS, specifically acts with HDA9 to confer the deacetylation of histone H3 lysine residues at a set of genomic targets to regulate various biological processes. Our study elucidates the functional correlation between SANT domain-containing proteins and HDACs in plants.