bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The partner in late-life repartnering: caregiving expectations from an intergenerational perspective
Authors: Koren Chaya , Simhi Shiran , Lipman-Schiby Sharon , Fogel Saray 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACTBackground:Late-life repartnering among functionally independent adults, resulting in complex stepfamilies, has emerged with increased life expectancy, and is likely to develop further. It is perceived as a chance for renewal and autonomy, enabling a release from dependency on offspring, whereas caregiving is associated with dependency and becoming a burden on family members. Thus, the experiences of late-life repartnering and caregiving are opposites. Using a life course perspective, we explore partner caregiving expectations in late-life repartnering from the viewpoints of three generations in complex stepfamilies in Israel, a society characterized by collectivist alongside individualist familial norms.Methods:Using criterion sampling, we recruited 19 stepfamily units (38 families) of functionally independent persons who repartnered at the official retirement age or older and had offspring from a lifelong marriage that ended in widowhood or divorce. One-hundred-seven semi-structured qualitative interviews with older partners, their adult children, and grandchildren were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis was based on grounded theory principles and dyadic analysis adapted to families.Results:Two themes emerged: caregiving commitment and decision making. Issues included: influences of partner-caregiving history; chronic versus temporary caregiving situations; caregiving strengthening partner relationships and influencing stepfamily relationships, and moral dilemmas, such as what happens when fun – a motive for repartnering – is no longer possible. Could abandonment become an option?Conclusions:From a life course perspective, caregiving, as “on-time,” and late-life repartnering, as “off-time,” highlight the lack of norms and the need to establish normative behavior for caregiving in late-life repartnering in diverse cultural contexts along with its reservations.
Characteristics of neurocognitive functions in mild cognitive impairment with depression
Authors: Dong Hyun-Seok , Han Changsu , Jeon Sang Won , Yoon Seoyoung , Jeong Hyun-Ghang , Huh Yu Jeong , Pae Chi-Un , Patkar Ashwin A. , Steffens David C. 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACTBackground:Previous studies suggest that there is a strong association between depression and cognitive decline, and that concurrent depressive symptoms in MCI patients could contribute to a difference in neurocognitive characteristics compared to MCI patients without depression. The authors tried to compare neurocognitive functions between MCI patients with and without depression by analyzing the results of neuropsychological tests.Methods:Participants included 153 MCI patients. Based on the diagnosis of major depressive disorder, the participants were divided into two groups: depressed MCI (MCI/D+) versus non-depressed MCI (MCI/D−). The general cognitive and functional statuses of participants were evaluated. And a subset of various neuropsychological tests was presented to participants. Demographic and clinical data were analyzed using Studentt-test orχ2test.Results:A total of 153 participants were divided into two groups: 94 MCI/D+ patients and 59 MCI/D− patients. Age, sex, and years of education were not significantly different between the two groups. There were no significant differences in general cognitive status between MCI/D+ and MCI/D− patients, but MCI/D+ participants showed significantly reduced performance in the six subtests (Contrasting Program, Go-no-go task, Fist-edge-palm task, Constructional Praxis, Memory Recall, TMT-A) compared with MCI/D− patients.Conclusions:There were significantly greater deficits in neurocognitive functions including verbal memory, executive function, attention/processing speed, and visual memory in MCI/D+ participants compared to MCI/D−. Once the biological mechanism is identified, distinct approaches in treatment or prevention will be determined.
‘Restoring the person's life’: a qualitative study to inform development of care for people with severe mental disorders in rural Ethiopia
Authors: Mall S. , Hailemariam M. , Selamu M. , Fekadu A. , Lund C. , Patel V. , Petersen I. , Hanlon C. 
Published: March 2016

Aims.In low-income countries, care for people with severe mental disorders (SMDs) who manage to access treatment is usually emergency-based, intermittent or narrowly biomedical. The aim of this study was to inform development of a scalable district-level mental health care plan to meet the long-term care needs of people with SMD in rural Ethiopia.Methods.The present study was carried out as formative work for the Programme for Improving Mental health CarE which seeks to develop, implement and evaluate a district level model of integrating mental health care into primary care. Six focus group discussions and 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with service planners, primary care providers, traditional and religious healers, mental health service users, caregivers and community representatives. Framework analysis was used, with findings mapped onto the domains of the Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions (ICCC) framework.Results.Three main themes were identified. (1) Focused on ‘Restoring the person's life’, including the need for interventions to address basic needs for food, shelter and livelihoods, as well as spiritual recovery and reintegration into society. All respondents considered this to be important, but service users gave particular emphasis to this aspect of care. (2) Engaging with families, addressed the essential role of families, their need for practical and emotional support, and the importance of equipping families to provide a therapeutic environment. (3) Delivering collaborative, long-term care, focused on enhancing accessibility to biomedical mental health care, utilising community-based health workers and volunteers as an untapped resource to support adherence and engagement with services, learning from experience of service models for chronic communicable diseases (HIV and tuberculosis) and integrating the role of traditional and religious healers alongside biomedical care. Biomedical approaches were more strongly endorsed by health workers, with traditional healers, religious leaders and service users more inclined to see medication as but one component of care. The salience of poverty to service planning was cross-cutting.Conclusions.Stakeholders prioritised interventions to meet basic needs for survival and endorsed a multi-faceted approach to promoting recovery from SMD, including social recovery. However, sole reliance on this over-stretched community to mobilise the necessary resources may not be feasible. An adapted form of the ICCC framework appeared highly applicable to planning an acceptable, feasible and sustainable model of care.
The Cultivation of “Culture” in the Moroccan Amazigh Movement
Authors: Silverstein Paul 
Published: March 2016

In the opening sequence of a 2008 documentary,Ni Sauvage, Ni Barbare(Neither Savage Nor Barbaric), co-produced by Québecois and Moroccan television, the director Roger Cantin introduces his subjects over images of art, ritual, and nature that alternate between northern Canada and northern Africa:Fouad Lahbib is a painter from Morocco. He is Berber, he is Amazigh, he is an autochthon from North Africa. Florent Valiant is a singer from Quebec. He is Innu, he is Amerindian, he is an autochthon from North America. At first glance, they come from completely different cultures. Their ancestral lands are far apart, separated by an ocean; they don’t look at all alike. One people travels by rivers and through immense forests. The other lives with heat and drought. What do these two men, Fouad Lahbib and Florent Vallant, have in common? They belong to marginalized cultures whose extinction was precipitated, whose assimilation was desired, and whose language and customs were silenced. Were they really savages and barbarians? Or simply people who approach the world with a spirit of harmony, sharing, and solidarity? Meeting each other for the first time, Fouad Lahbib and Florent Vallant will learn with us how much all men are alike, wherever they may live.
Critical B-lymphoid cell intrinsic role of endogenous MCL-1 in c-MYC-induced lymphomagenesis
Authors: Grabow S , Kelly G L , Delbridge A R D , Kelly P N , Bouillet P , Adams J M , Strasser A 
Published: March 2016

AbstractEvasion of apoptosis is critical for tumorigenesis, and sustained survival of nascent neoplastic cells may depend upon the endogenous levels of pro-survival BCL-2 family members. Indeed, previous studies using gene-targeted mice revealed that BCL-XL, but surprisingly not BCL-2, is critical for the development of c-MYC-induced pre-B/B lymphomas. However, it remains unclear whether another pro-survival BCL-2 relative contributes to their development. MCL-1 is an intriguing candidate, because it is required for cell survival during early B-lymphocyte differentiation. It is expressed abnormally high in several types of human B-cell lymphomas and is implicated in their resistance to chemotherapy. To test the B-cell intrinsic requirement for endogenous MCL-1 in lymphoma development, we conditionally deleted Mcl-1 in B-lymphoid cells of Eμ-Myc transgenic mice. We found that MCL-1 loss in early B-lymphoid progenitors delayed MYC-driven lymphomagenesis. Moreover, the lymphomas that arose when MCL-1 levels were diminished appeared to have been selected for reduced levels of BIM and/or increased levels of BCL-XL. These results underscore the importance of MCL-1 in lymphoma development and show that alterations in the levels of other cell death regulators can compensate for deficiencies in MCL-1 expression.
The oncolytic peptide LTX-315 triggers immunogenic cell death
Authors: Zhou H , Forveille S , Sauvat A , Yamazaki T , Senovilla L , Ma Y , Liu P , Yang H , Bezu L , Müller K , Zitvogel L , Rekdal Ø , Kepp O , Kroemer G 
Published: March 2016

AbstractLTX-315 is a cationic amphilytic peptide that preferentially permeabilizes mitochondrial membranes, thereby causing partially BAX/BAK1-regulated, caspase-independent necrosis. Based on the observation that intratumorally injected LTX-315 stimulates a strong T lymphocyte-mediated anticancer immune response, we investigated whether LTX-315 may elicit the hallmarks of immunogenic cell death (ICD), namely (i) exposure of calreticulin on the plasma membrane surface, (ii) release of ATP into the extracellular space, (iii) exodus of HMGB1 from the nucleus, and (iv) induction of a type-1 interferon response. Using a panel of biosensor cell lines and robotized fluorescence microscopy coupled to automatic image analysis, we observed that LTX-315 induces all known ICD characteristics. This conclusion was validated by several independent methods including immunofluorescence stainings (for calreticulin), bioluminescence assays (for ATP), immunoassays (for HMGB1), and RT-PCRs (for type-1 interferon induction). When injected into established cancers, LTX-315 caused a transiently hemorrhagic focal necrosis that was accompanied by massive release of HMGB1 (from close-to-all cancer cells), as well as caspase-3 activation in a fraction of the cells. LTX-315 was at least as efficient as the positive control, the anthracycline mitoxantrone (MTX), in inducing local inflammation with infiltration by myeloid cells and T lymphocytes. Collectively, these results support the idea that LTX-315 can induce ICD, hence explaining its capacity to mediate immune-dependent therapeutic effects.
Acoustic trapping of active matter
Authors: Takatori Sho C. , De Dier Raf , Vermant Jan , Brady John F. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractConfinement of living microorganisms and self-propelled particles by an external trap provides a means of analysing the motion and behaviour of active systems. Developing a tweezer with a trapping radius large compared with the swimmers’ size and run length has been an experimental challenge, as standard optical traps are too weak. Here we report the novel use of an acoustic tweezer to confine self-propelled particles in two dimensions over distances large compared with the swimmers’ run length. We develop a near-harmonic trap to demonstrate the crossover from weak confinement, where the probability density is Boltzmann-like, to strong confinement, where the density is peaked along the perimeter. At high concentrations the swimmers crystallize into a close-packed structure, which subsequently ‘explodes’ as a travelling wave when the tweezer is turned off. The swimmers’ confined motion provides a measurement of the swim pressure, a unique mechanical pressure exerted by self-propelled bodies.
Spatial control of chemical processes on nanostructures through nano-localized water heating
Authors: Jack Calum , Karimullah Affar S. , Tullius Ryan , Khorashad Larousse Khosravi , Rodier Marion , Fitzpatrick Brian , Barron Laurence D. , Gadegaard Nikolaj , Lapthorn Adrian J. , Rotello Vincent M. , Cooke Graeme , Govorov Alexander O. , Kadodwala Malcolm 
Published: March 2016

AbstractOptimal performance of nanophotonic devices, including sensors and solar cells, requires maximizing the interaction between light and matter. This efficiency is optimized when active moieties are localized in areas where electromagnetic (EM) fields are confined. Confinement of matter in these ‘hotspots’ has previously been accomplished through inefficient ‘top-down’ methods. Here we report a rapid ‘bottom-up’ approach to functionalize selective regions of plasmonic nanostructures that uses nano-localized heating of the surrounding water induced by pulsed laser irradiation. This localized heating is exploited in a chemical protection/deprotection strategy to allow selective regions of a nanostructure to be chemically modified. As an exemplar, we use the strategy to enhance the biosensing capabilities of a chiral plasmonic substrate. This novel spatially selective functionalization strategy provides new opportunities for efficient high-throughput control of chemistry on the nanoscale over macroscopic areas for device fabrication.
Stable topological insulators achieved using high energy electron beams
Authors: Zhao Lukas , Konczykowski Marcin , Deng Haiming , Korzhovska Inna , Begliarbekov Milan , Chen Zhiyi , Papalazarou Evangelos , Marsi Marino , Perfetti Luca , Hruban Andrzej , Wołoś Agnieszka , Krusin-Elbaum Lia 
Published: March 2016

AbstractTopological insulators are potentially transformative quantum solids with metallic surface states which have Dirac band structure and are immune to disorder. Ubiquitous charged bulk defects, however, pull the Fermi energy into the bulk bands, denying access to surface charge transport. Here we demonstrate that irradiation with swift (∼2.5 MeV energy) electron beams allows to compensate these defects, bring the Fermi level back into the bulk gap and reach the charge neutrality point (CNP). Controlling the beam fluence, we tune bulk conductivity from p- (hole-like) to n-type (electron-like), crossing the Dirac point and back, while preserving the Dirac energy dispersion. The CNP conductance has a two-dimensional character on the order of ten conductance quanta and reveals, both in Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3, the presence of only two quantum channels corresponding to two topological surfaces. The intrinsic quantum transport of the topological states is accessible disregarding the bulk size.
Graphene growth from reduced graphene oxide by chemical vapour deposition: seeded growth accompanied by restoration
Authors: Chang Sung-Jin , Hyun Moon Seop , Myung Sung , Kang Min-A , Yoo Jung Ho , Lee Kyoung G. , Choi Bong Gill , Cho Youngji , Lee Gaehang , Park Tae Jung 
Published: March 2016

AbstractUnderstanding the underlying mechanisms involved in graphene growth via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is critical for precise control of the characteristics of graphene. Despite much effort, the actual processes behind graphene synthesis still remain to be elucidated in a large number of aspects. Herein, we report the evolution of graphene properties during in-plane growth of graphene from reduced graphene oxide (RGO) on copper (Cu) via methane CVD. While graphene is laterally grown from RGO flakes on Cu foils up to a few hundred nanometres during CVD process, it shows appreciable improvement in structural quality. The monotonous enhancement of the structural quality of the graphene with increasing length of the graphene growth from RGO suggests that seeded CVD growth of graphene from RGO on Cu surface is accompanied by the restoration of graphitic structure. The finding provides insight into graphene growth and defect reconstruction useful for the production of tailored carbon nanostructures with required properties.
Immunomodulation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG)-derived soluble factors on antigen-presenting cells of healthy blood donors
Authors: Fong Fiona Long Yan , Kirjavainen Pirkka V. , El-Nezami Hani 
Published: March 2016

AbstractLactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) cells have been shown to promote type-1 immune responsiveness; however knowledge of immunomodulation of soluble factors secreted by LGG is limited. This is the first study to investigate whether LGG soluble factors promote a comparable immune responsiveness as the bacterial cells. Both treatments − LGG conditioned medium with (CM + LGG) or without (CM) LGG cells, in this study increased expression of several toll-like receptors (TLRs) in all studied cell types and antigen presentation-associated receptor HLA-DR in macrophages and “intermediate” monocytes; but decreased that of activation markers on monocytes and macrophages and production of IL-10, IL-12 and TNFα in macrophages. In co-culture with mononuclear cells, CM increased Th1-type cytokine profile but not as pronounced as CM + LGG. This study suggests that LGG soluble factors exert similar immunomodulatory effects as the intact cells, but cells may be required for optimal type-1 immune responsiveness polarizing capacity of this probiotic strain.
Reduction Impairs the Antibacterial Activity but Benefits the LPS Neutralization Ability of Human Enteric Defensin 5
Authors: Wang Cheng , Shen Mingqiang , Zhang Naixin , Wang Song , Xu Yang , Chen Shilei , Chen Fang , Yang Ke , He Ting , Wang Aiping , Su Yongping , Cheng Tianmin , Zhao Jinghong , Wang Junping 
Published: March 2016

AbstractOxidized human defensin 5 (HD5OX), a Paneth cell-secreted antibacterial peptide with three characteristic disulfide bonds, protects the host from invasion by morbigenous microbes in the small intestine. HD5OX can be reduced by thioredoxin (Trx) in vitro, while the biochemical properties of the reduced linear peptide, HD5RED, remain unclear. Here, we first confirm that HD5RED does exist in vivo. Furthermore, we reveal that the recruitment of HD5RED to the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and to the anionic lipid A is lower than that of HD5OX and HD5RED is less efficient in penetrating bacterial outer and inner membranes and inducing membrane depolarization, which confers an attenuated antibacterial activity to HD5RED. However, due to its higher structural flexibility, the binding of HD5RED to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is markedly stronger than that of HD5OX. Consequently, HD5RED is more effective in suppressing the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α in LPS-stimulated macrophages by blocking the interaction between LPS and LPS-binding protein, thus suggesting that HD5RED might act as a scavenger to neutralize LPS in the gut. This study provides insights into the antibacterial and immunoregulatory effects of HD5RED and expands the known repertoire of the enteric defensins.
A critical role of mevalonate for peptidoglycan synthesis in Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Matsumoto Yasuhiko , Yasukawa Jyunichiro , Ishii Masaki , Hayashi Yohei , Miyazaki Shinya , Sekimizu Kazuhisa 
Published: March 2016

Abstract3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase, a mevalonate synthetase, is required for the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. However, the essential role of the enzyme in cell growth has remained unclear. Here we show that three mutants possessed single-base substitutions in the mvaA gene, which encodes HMG-CoA reductase, show a temperature-sensitive phenotype. The phenotype was suppressed by the addition of mevalonate or farnesyl diphosphate, which is a product synthesized from mevalonate. Farnesyl diphosphate is a precursor of undecaprenyl phosphate that is required for peptidoglycan synthesis. The rate of peptidoglycan synthesis was decreased in the mvaA mutants under the non-permissive conditions and the phenotype was suppressed by the addition of mevalonate. HMG-CoA reductase activities of mutant MvaA proteins in the temperature sensitive mutants were lower than that of wild-type MvaA protein. Our findings from genetic and biochemical analyses suggest that mevalonate produced by HMG-CoA reductase is required for peptidoglycan synthesis for S. aureus cell growth.
Population Attributable Risk Fractions of Maternal Overweight and Obesity for Adverse Perinatal Outcomes
Authors: MacInnis Natasha , Woolcott Christy G. , McDonald Sarah , Kuhle Stefan 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe objective of the current study was to determine the proportion of adverse perinatal outcomes that could be potentially prevented if maternal obesity were to be reduced or eliminated (population attributable risk fractions, PARF); and the number needed to treat (NNT) of overweight or obese women to prevent one case of adverse perinatal outcome. Data from the Atlee Perinatal Database on 66,689 singleton infants born in Nova Scotia, Canada, between 2004 and 2014, and their mothers were used. Multivariable-adjusted PARFs and NNTs of maternal pre-pregnancy weight status were determined for various perinatal outcomes under three scenarios: If all overweight and obese women were to i) become normal weight before pregnancy; ii) shift down one weight class; or iii) lose 10% of their body weight, significant relative reductions would be seen for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM, 57/33/15%), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP, 26/16/6%), caesarean section (CS, 18/10/3%), and large for gestational age births (LGA, 24/14/3%). The NNT were lowest for the outcomes GDM, induction of labour, CS, and LGA, where they ranged from 13 to 73. The study suggests that a substantial proportion of adverse perinatal outcomes may be preventable through reductions in maternal pre-pregnancy weight.