bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Co‐occurrence patterns in a diverse arboreal ant community are explained more by competition than habitat requirements
Authors: Camarota Flávio , Powell Scott , S. Melo Adriano , Priest Galen , J. Marquis Robert , L. Vasconcelos Heraldo 
Published: November 2016

AbstractA major goal of community ecology is to identify the patterns of species associations and the processes that shape them. Arboreal ants are extremely diverse and abundant, making them an interesting and valuable group for tackling this issue. Numerous studies have used observational data of species co‐occurrence patterns to infer underlying assembly processes, but the complexity of these communities has resulted in few solid conclusions. This study takes advantage of an observational dataset that is unusually well‐structured with respect to habitat attributes (tree species, tree sizes, and vegetation structure), to disentangle different factors influencing community organization. In particular, this study assesses the potential role of interspecific competition and habitat selection on the distribution patterns of an arboreal ant community by incorporating habitat attributes into the co‐occurrence analyses. These findings are then contrasted against species traits, to explore functional explanations for the identified community patterns. We ran a suite of null models, first accounting only for the species incidence in the community and later incorporating habitat attributes in the null models. We performed analyses with all the species in the community and then with only the most common species using both a matrix‐level approach and a pairwise‐level approach. The co‐occurrence patterns did not differ from randomness in the matrix‐level approach accounting for all ant species in the community. However, a segregated pattern was detected for the most common ant species. Moreover, with the pairwise approach, we found a significant number of negative and positive pairs of species associations. Most of the segregated associations appear to be explained by competitive interactions between species, not habitat affiliations. This was supported by comparisons of species traits for significantly associated pairs. These results suggest that competition is the most important influence on the distribution patterns of arboreal ants within the focal community. Habitat attributes, in contrast, showed no significant influence on the matrix‐wide results and affected only a few associations. In addition, the segregated pairs shared more biological characteristic in common than the aggregated and random ones.
Low abundant soil bacteria can be metabolically versatile and fast growing
Authors: Kurm Viola , van der Putten Wim H. , de Boer Wietse , Naus‐Wiezer Suzanne , Hol W. H. Gera 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThe abundance of species is assumed to depend on their life history traits, such as growth rate and resource specialization. However, this assumption has not been tested for bacteria. Here we investigate how abundance of soil bacteria relates to slow growth and substrate specialization (oligotrophy) vs. fast growth and substrate generalization (copiotrophy). We collected 47 saprotrophic soil bacterial isolates of differing abundances and measured their growth rate and the ability to use a variety of single carbon sources. Opposite to our expectation, there was no relationship between abundance in soil and the measured growth rate or substrate utilization profile (SUP). However, isolates with lower growth rates used fewer substrates than faster growing ones supporting the assumption that growth rate may relate to substrate specialization. Interestingly, growth rate and SUP were correlated with phylogeny, rather than with abundance in soil. Most markedly, Gammaproteobacteria on average grew significantly faster and were able to use more substrates than other bacterial classes, whereas Alphaproteobacteria were growing relatively slowly and used fewer substrates. This finding suggests that growth and substrate utilization are phylogenetically deeply conserved. We conclude that growth rate and substrate utilization of soil bacteria are not general determinants of their abundance. Future studies on explaining bacterial abundance need to determine how other factors, such as competition, predation and abiotic factors may contribute to rarity or abundance in soil bacteria.
Primary sources and toxicity of PAHs in Milwaukee-area streambed sediment
Authors: Baldwin Austin K. , Corsi Steven R. , Lutz Michelle A. , Ingersoll Christopher G. , Dorman Rebecca , Magruder Christopher , Magruder Matthew 
Published: November 2016

Abstract

High concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in streams can be a significant stressor to aquatic organisms. To understand the likely sources and toxicity of PAHs in Milwaukee-area streams, streambed sediment samples from 40 sites and parking lot dust samples from 6 sites were analyzed for 38 parent PAHs and 25 alkylated PAHs. Diagnostic ratios, profile correlations, principal components analysis, source-receptor modeling, and mass fractions analysis were used to identify potential PAH sources to streambed sediment samples, and land-use analysis was used to relate streambed sediment PAH concentrations to different urban-related land uses. On the basis of this multiple lines-of-evidence approach, coal-tar pavement sealant was indicated as the primary source of PAHs in a majority of streambed sediment samples, contributing an estimated 77% of total PAHs to samples, on average. Comparison with the probable effect concentrations and (or) the equilibrium partitioning sediment benchmark indicates that 78% of stream sediment samples are likely to cause adverse effects to benthic organisms. Laboratory toxicity tests on a 16-sample subset of the streambed sites using the amphipod Hyalella azteca (28-d) and the midge Chironomus dilutus (10-d) measured significant reductions in 1 or more biological endpoints, including survival, in 75% of samples, with H. azteca more responsive than C. dilutus. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1622–1635. © 2016 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
Mobile base station with conformational selections for the network maintenance in wireless multihop infrastructure
Authors: Teng Rui , Li Huan‐Bang , Miura Ryu 
Published: November 2016

AbstractWireless multihop infrastructure (WMI) networks can provide essential support for information exchange and the Internet access, particularly during emergencies and in smart cities. However, limited network resources during emergencies may result in node energy depletion and network disconnection, leading to service failures to users in the WMI network. This paper aims to use mobile base stations (MBSs) to automatically form paths and spontaneously maintain network availability as a connected infrastructure. The problems to deal with are the limited information and resources for MBS to quickly construct efficient connections in a WMI network. We propose a bio‐inspired approach, which enables MBS to interact with the network based on insights from conformational selections in enzyme‐substrate binding. In analogy to selective binding of enzyme‐substrates, the proposed MBS approach uses selective pauses based on the traffic status of selective packet forwarding at appropriate positions, at which MBS is capable of sustaining WMI connectivity. The proposed MBS approach reduces energy consumption of base stations that have energy constraints and heavy traffic to handle, and it improves WMI network availability. Evaluation using packet‐level simulation reveals that the proposed MBS approach achieves up to 40% improvement for the availability of network as a full connected infrastructure.
Investigation of the profile of phenolic compounds in the leaves and stems of Pandiaka heudelotii using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector
Authors: Ifeanacho Mercy O. , Ikewuchi Catherine C. , Ikewuchi Jude C. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThe profile of phenolic compounds in the leaves and stems of Pandiaka heudelotii was investigated using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector. The leaves and stems had high flavonoids and benzoic acid derivatives content, and moderate levels of lignans and hydroxycinnamates. Twenty‐eight known flavonoids were detected, which consisted mainly of kaempferol (41.93% in leaves and 47.97% in stems), (+)‐catechin (17.12% in leaves and 16.11% in stems), quercetin (13.83% in leaves and 9.39% in stems), luteolin (7.34% in leaves and 7.71% in stems), and artemetin (6.53% in leaves and 4.83% in stems). Of the six known hydroxycinnamates detected, chlorogenic acid (80.79% in leaves and 87.56% in stems) and caffeic acid (18.98% in leaves and 12.30% in stems) were the most abundant, while arctigenin (77.81% in leaves and 83.40% in stems) and retusin (13.82% in leaves and 10.59% in stems) were the most abundant of the nine known lignans detected. Twelve known benzoic acid derivatives were detected, consisting mainly of ellagic acid (65.44% in leaves and 72.89% in stems), p‐hydroxybenzoic acid (25.10% in leaves and 18.95% in stems), and vanillic acid (8.80% in leaves and 7.30% in stems). The rich phytochemical profile of the leaves and stems is an indication of their ability to serve as sources of nutraceuticals.
Fault Diagnosis of Practical Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell System with Data‐driven Approaches
Authors: Mao L. , Jackson L. , Dunnett S. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractIn this paper, data‐driven approaches are applied to identify faults of a practical polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell system. Signal processing approaches are selected and employed to multiple sensor measurements, including methodologies reducing the dimension of the original dataset, and techniques extracting features. Both supervised and unsupervised techniques are applied in this study to investigate the robustness of the diagnostic procedure. Moreover, due to the fact that a series of features can be extracted from these sensors, the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique is applied to select features providing better diagnostic performance. Results demonstrate that with features selected from SVD, fuel cell system faults can be detected more effectively, and various fuel cell faults can also be discriminated with good quality. From the findings, conclusions are made and further work is suggested.
Review of high‐risk features of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and discrepancies between the American Joint Committee on Cancer and NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines In Oncology
Authors: Skulsky Samuel Lamarre , O'Sullivan Barry , McArdle Orla , Leader Mary , Roche Muireann , Conlon Peter J. , O'Neill James Paul 
Published: November 2016

AbstractCutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a malignancy that arises from epidermal keratinocytes. Although the majority of cutaneous SCC cases are easily treated without further complication, some behave more aggressively and carry a poor prognosis. These “high‐risk” cutaneous SCCs commonly originate in the head and neck and have an increased tendency toward recurrence, local invasion, and distant metastasis. Factors for high‐risk cutaneous SCC include large size (>2 cm), a deeply invasive lesion (>2 mm), incomplete excision, high‐grade/desmoplastic lesions, perineural invasion (PNI), lymphovascular invasion, immunosuppression, and high‐risk anatomic locations. Both the National Comprehensive Cancer Network®(NCCN®) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) identify several of these high‐risk features of cutaneous SCC. The purpose of this article was to review the high‐risk features included in these guidelines, as well as their notable discrepancies and omissions. We also provide a brief overview of current prophylactic measures, surgical options, and adjuvant therapies for high‐risk cutaneous SCC. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Head Neck39: 578–594, 2017
Groundwater recharge in an arid grassland as indicated by soil chloride profile and multiple tracers
Authors: Huang Tianming , Pang Zhonghe , Liu Jilai , Yin Lihe , Edmunds W. Mike 
Published: November 2016

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that shallow groundwater in arid regions is often not in equilibrium with near‐surface boundary conditions due to human activities and climate change. This is especially the case where the unsaturated zone is thick and recharge rate is limited. Under this nonequilibrium condition, the unsaturated zone solute profile plays an important role in estimating recent diffuse recharge in arid environments. This paper combines evaluation of the thick unsaturated zone with the saturated zone to investigate the groundwater recharge of a grassland in the arid western Ordos Basin, NW China, using the soil chloride profiles and multiple tracers (2H,18O,13C,14C, and water chemistry) of groundwater. Whereas conventional water balance and Darcy flux measurements usually involve large errors in recharge estimations for arid areas, chloride mass balance has been widely and generally successfully used. The results show that the present diffuse recharge beneath the grassland is 0.11–0.32 mm/year, based on the chloride mass balance of seven soil profiles. The chloride accumulation age is approximately 2,500 years at a depth of 13 m in the unsaturated zone. The average Cl content in soil moisture in the upper 13 m of the unsaturated zone ranges from 2,842 to 7,856 mg/L, whereas the shallow groundwater Cl content ranges from 95 to 351 mg/L. The corrected14C age of shallow groundwater ranges from 4,327 to 29,708 years. Stable isotopes show that the shallow groundwater is unrelated to modern precipitation. The shallow groundwater was recharged during the cold and wet phases of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene humid phase based on palaeoclimate, and consequently, the groundwater resources are nonrenewable. Due to the limited recharge rate and thick unsaturated zone, the present shallow groundwater has not been in hydraulic equilibrium with near‐surface boundary conditions in the past 2,500 years.
Tyrosine Phosphorylation of the Pioneer Transcription Factor FoxA1 Promotes Activation of Estrogen Signaling
Authors: Yamaguchi Noritaka , Shibazaki Misato , Yamada Chiaki , Anzai Erina , Morii Mariko , Nakayama Yuji , Kuga Takahisa , Hashimoto Yuuki , Tomonaga Takeshi , Yamaguchi Naoto 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTThe pioneer transcription factor FoxA1 plays an important role in estrogen signaling by opening closed chromatin and promoting recruitment of the estrogen receptor to its target regions in DNA. In this study, we analyzed tyrosine phosphorylation of FoxA1 by the non‐receptor‐type tyrosine kinase c‐Abl. c‐Abl was shown to phosphorylate FoxA1 at multiple sites, especially in the N‐ and C‐terminal regions. Tyr429 and Tyr464 were identified as the major phosphorylation sites in the FoxA1 C‐terminal region. The phosphomimetic and nonphosphorylatable FoxA1 mutants were generated by glutamic acid and phenylalanine substitutions at these tyrosine residues, respectively. The phosphomimetic FoxA1 promoted the activation of estrogen signaling, whereas the nonphosphorylatable FoxA1 suppressed its activation. Stimulation with the epidermal growth factor, which activates c‐Abl, enhanced the activation of estrogen signaling. In contrast, the c‐Abl inhibitor imatinib reduced its activation. The phosphomimetic FoxA1 mutant showed a higher affinity toward histone H3 than the wild‐type. These results suggest that c‐Abl‐mediated phosphorylation of FoxA1 promotes the activation of estrogen signaling by inducing its binding to histones. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1453–1461, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Long Non‐Coding RNA Uc.187 Is Upregulated in Preeclampsia and Modulates Proliferation, Apoptosis, and Invasion of HTR‐8/SVneo Trophoblast Cells
Authors: Cao Chunyu , Li Jingyun , Li Jun , Liu Lan , Cheng Xiaoyan , Jia Ruizhe 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTAmong the preeclampsia‐related long non‐cording RNAs (lncRNAs) screened with a gene chip in our preliminary study, uc.187 attracted our attention because of its high conservation across different species and significant positive correlation with preeclampsia (PE). The literature and bioinformatics analysis suggested that lncRNA uc.187 might be associated with cell growth, invasion, and apoptosis. The expression of uc.187 in severe preeclamptic placentas (n = 31) and normal placentas (n = 18) was evaluated by real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). We constructed a silencing lentivirus vector (uc.187 siRNA) to explore the biological function of uc.187 in the development and progression of HTR‐8/SVneo trophoblast cells in vitro. Furthermore, we utilized CCK8 analysis, a transwell invasion assay, and flow cytometry to determine the role of uc.187 in the proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis of HTR‐8/SVneo trophoblast cells. The proteins related to proliferation (PCNA, Ki67), invasion (MMP‐2/‐9 and TIMP‐1), and apoptosis (caspase‐3, Bcl‐2) were evaluated with a Western blot assay. The results showed that there was an obvious upregulation of uc.187 expression in preeclamptic placental tissues. In addition, uc.187 silencing enhanced cell proliferation and invasion and reduced the cellular apoptotic response. Taken together, our findings suggest for the first time that abnormal expression of lncRNA uc.187 may lead to the aberrant biological behavior of HTR‐8/SVneo cells. Therefore, we propose uc.187 as a novel lncRNA molecule that might contribute to the development of PE and might represent a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for this disease. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1462–1470, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Computational Screening and Exploration of Disease‐Associated Genes in Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Jamal Salma , Goyal Sukriti , Shanker Asheesh , Grover Abhinav 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTAlzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease affecting large populations worldwide characterized mainly by progressive loss of memory along with various other symptoms. The foremost cause of the disease is still unclear, however various mechanisms have been proposed to cause the disease that include amyloid hypothesis, tau hypothesis, and cholinergic hypothesis in addition to genetic factors. Various genes have been known to be involved which are APOE, PSEN1, PSEN2, and APP among others. In the present study, we have used computational methods to examine the pathogenic effects of non‐synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with ABCA7, CR1, MS4A6A, CD2AP, PSEN1, PSEN2, and APP genes. The SNPs were obtained from dbSNP database followed by identification of deleterious SNPs and prediction of their functional impact. Prediction of disease‐associated mutations was performed and the impact of the mutations on the stability of the protein was carried out. To study the structural significance of the computationally prioritized mutations on the proteins, molecular dynamics simulation studies were carried out. On analysis, the SNPs with IDs rs76282929 ABCA7; CR1 rs55962594; MS4A6A rs601172; CD2AP rs61747098; PSEN1 rs63750231, rs63750265, rs63750526, rs63750577, rs63750687, rs63750815, rs63750900, rs63751037, rs63751163, rs63751399; PSEN2 rs63749851; and APP rs63749964, rs63750066, rs63750734, and rs63751039 were predicted to be deleterious and disease‐associated having significant structural impact on the proteins. The current study proposes a precise computational methodology for the identification of disease‐associated SNPs. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1471–1479, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Retracted: MiR‐892a Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Proliferation and Invasion Through Targeting CD226
Authors: Jia Baoxing , Tan Ludong , Jin Zhe , Jiao Yan , Fu Yu , Liu Yahui 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTOur study is aim to investigate the influence of miR‐892a on proliferative and invasive activities of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells through regulating CD226 expression. QRT‐PCR was used to detect the expression levels of miR‐892a and CD226 mRNA in HCC tissues and adjacent tissues or HCC cells and normal cells whereas Western Blot was used to detect the CD226 protein expression in tissue and cell samples. Then HuH‐7 cell line was selected for following assays and respectively transfected with miR‐892a mimics, miR‐NC, Plenti‐GIII‐Ubc‐CD226, and Plenti‐GIII‐Ubc followed by qRT‐PCR assay to detect the miR‐892a and CD226 expression. The luciferase reporter assay was conducted to determine if miR‐892a directly targeted CD226 and then CCK‐8 assay, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and flow cytometry were used to detect cell proliferation, migration, invasion ability, cell cycle, and cell apoptosis. What's more, relationships between expression levels of miR‐892a or CD226 and overall survival (OS) or disease‐free survival (DFS) of HCC patients were investigated based on TCGA database. MiR‐892a was high‐expressed in HCC tissues or cells while CD226 was low‐expressed. MiR‐892a directly targeted CD226 and up‐regulating miR‐892a expression could promote proliferative, migrating, and invasive activities of HCC cells. Different expression levels of miR‐892a and CD226 both related to the prognosis of HCC. MiR‐892a promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cells proliferation and invasion through regulating CD226 expression. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1489–1496, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Study of heat–moisture treatment of potato starch granules by chemical surface gelatinization
Authors: Bartz Josiane , da Rosa Zavareze Elessandra , Dias Alvaro Renato Guerra 
Published: November 2016

AbstractBACKGROUNDNative potato starch was subjected to heat–moisture treatment (HMT) at 12%, 15%, 18%, 21%, and 24% of moisture content at 110 °C for 1 h, and the effects on morphology, structure, and thermal and physicochemical properties were investigated. To reveal the internal structure, 30% and 50% of the granular surface were removed by chemical surface gelatinization in concentrated LiCl solution.RESULTSAt moisture contents of 12% and 15%, HTM reduced the gelatinization temperatures and relative crystallinity of the starches, while at moisture contents of 21% and 24 % both increased. The alterations on morphology, X‐ray pattern, physicochemical properties, and increase of amylose content were more intense with the increase of moisture content of HMT.CONCLUSIONThe removal of granular layers showed that the changes promoted by HMT occur throughout the whole granule and were pronounced at the core or peripheral region, depending of the moisture content applied during HMT. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
Laboratory‐scale milling of whole‐durum flour quality: effect of mill configuration and seed conditioning
Authors: Deng Lingzhu , Manthey Frank A 
Published: November 2016

AbstractBACKGROUNDResearch was conducted to develop a laboratory milling procedure to make whole‐durum flour. An ultracentrifugal mill was evaluated by determining the effect of mill configuration and seed conditioning on particle size distribution and quality of whole‐wheat flour.RESULTSParticle size of whole‐wheat flour decreased as screen aperture decreased from 1000 to 250 µm; as rotor speed increased from 6000 to 18 000 rpm; and as seed conditioning moisture content decreased from 150 to 90 g kg−1. Feed rate during milling did not affect particle size distribution. Starch damage decreased as screen aperture increased; as rotor speed increased from 6000 to12 000 rpm; and as seed conditioning moisture content decreased from 150 to 90 g kg−1. Flour temperature varied with milling parameters but did not exceed 34 °C.CONCLUSIONAn ultracentrifugal mill configured with a rotor speed of 12 000 rpm, screen aperture of 250 µm, and seed conditioning moisture of 90 g kg−1 resulted in a fine whole‐wheat flour where 82% of particles were <150 µm, starch damage was 59 g kg−1, and flour temperature was below 35 °C. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry