bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Interacting ultracold atomic kicked rotors: loss of dynamical localization
Authors: Qin Pinquan , Andreanov Alexei , Park Hee Chul , Flach Sergej 
Published: January 2017

AbstractWe study the fate of dynamical localization of two quantum kicked rotors with contact interaction, which relates to experimental realizations of the rotors with ultra-cold atomic gases. A single kicked rotor is known to exhibit dynamical localization, which takes place in momentum space. The contact interaction affects the evolution of the relative momentum k of a pair of interacting rotors in a non-analytic way. Consequently the evolution operator U is exciting large relative momenta with amplitudes which decay only as a power law 1/k4. This is in contrast to the center-of-mass momentum K for which the amplitudes excited by U decay superexponentially fast with K. Therefore dynamical localization is preserved for the center-of-mass momentum, but destroyed for the relative momentum for any nonzero strength of interaction.
IL-22-producing CD4+T cells in the treatment response of rheumatoid arthritis to combination therapy with methotrexate and leflunomide
Authors: Zhong Wei , Zhao Ling , Liu Tao , Jiang Zhenyu 
Published: January 2017

AbstractT cells are key players in immune-mediated rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We previously reported that interleukin (IL)-22+CD4+T helper (IL-22+Th) cells and IL-22 critically control the pathogenesis of RA. Here we monitored circulating levels of different IL-22+Th cell subsets and measured plasma levels of IL-22, IL-17, and interferon (IFN)-γ in 60 patients with active RA following 12-week combination methotrexate (MTX) and leflunomide (LEF) therapy (MTX+LEF) and 20 healthy individuals. We found the frequencies of circulating IFN-γ−IL-17−IL-22+(Th22), IFN-γ−IL-17+(total Th17), IFN-γ+IL-17−IL-22+(IL-22+Th1) cells, and IFN-γ−IL-17+IL-22+(IL-22+Th17) cells, as well as the plasma levels of IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-γ to be significantly reduced in RA patients that responded to treatment, but not in non-responders. Reductions in plasma IL-22 level significantly correlated with percentage of circulating Th22 cells and the decrease of plasma IL-22 level correlated with the reduction of DAS28 in responders. Our data suggests that circulating Th22 cells and plasma IL-22 level play a detrimental role in RA. The combination MTX+LEF therapy, by targeting Th22 cells and reducing IL-22 level, relieves the immune defects and ameliorates symptoms of RA. This study provides novel mechanistic understanding of the pathogenesis of RA, which may promote a design of better therapies for RA.
MoVrp1, a putative verprolin protein, is required for asexual development and infection in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
Authors: Huang Lin , Zhang Shengpei , Yin Ziyi , Liu Muxing , Li Bing , Zhang Haifeng , Zheng Xiaobo , Wang Ping , Zhang Zhengguang 
Published: January 2017

AbstractEndocytosis is a crucial cellular process in eukaryotic cells which involves clathrin and/or adaptor proteins, lipid kinases, phosphatases and the actin cytoskeleton. Verprolin proteins, such as Vrp1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are conserved family proteins that regulate actin binding and endocytosis. Here, we identified and characterized MoVrp1 as the yeast Vrp1 homolog in Magnaporthe oryzae. Deletion of the MoVRP1 gene resulted in defects in vegetative growth, asexual development, and infection of the host plant. The ∆Movrp1 mutants also exhibited decreased extracellular peroxidase and laccase activities and showed defects in colony pigmentation, hyphal surface hydrophobicity, cell wall integrity, autophagy, endocytosis, and secretion of avirulent effector. Our studies provided new evidences that MoVrp1 involved in actin cytoskeleton is important for growth, morphogenesis, cellular trafficking, and fungal pathogenesis.
Holographic image generation with a thin-film resonance caused by chalcogenide phase-change material
Authors: Lee Seung-Yeol , Kim Yong-Hae , Cho Seong-M. , Kim Gi Heon , Kim Tae-Youb , Ryu Hojun , Kim Han Na , Kang Han Byeol , Hwang Chi-Young , Hwang Chi-Sun 
Published: January 2017

AbstractThe development of digital holography is anticipated for the viewing of 3D images by reconstructing both the amplitude and phase information of the object. Compared to analog holograms written by a laser interference, digital hologram technology has the potential to realize a moving 3D image using a spatial light modulator. However, to ensure a high-resolution 3D image with a large viewing angle, the hologram panel requires a near-wavelength scale pixel pitch with a sufficient large numbers of pixels. In this manuscript, we demonstrate a digital hologram panel based on a chalcogenide phase-change material (PCM) which has a pixel pitch of 1 μm and a panel size of 1.6 × 1.6 cm2. A thin film of PCM encapsulated by dielectric layers can be used for the hologram panel by means of excimer laser lithography. By tuning the thicknesses of upper and lower dielectric layers, a color-selective diffraction panel is demonstrated since a thin film resonance caused by dielectric can affect to the absorption and diffraction spectrum of the proposed hologram panel. We also show reflection color of a small active region (1 μm × 4 μm) made by ultra-thin PCM layer can be electrically changed.
Focusing and alignment of erythrocytes in a viscoelastic medium
Authors: Go Taesik , Byeon Hyeokjun , Lee Sang Joon 
Published: January 2017

AbstractViscoelastic fluid flow-induced cross-streamline migration has recently received considerable attention because this process provides simple focusing and alignment over a wide range of flow rates. The lateral migration of particles depends on the channel geometry and physicochemical properties of particles. In this study, digital in-line holographic microscopy (DIHM) is employed to investigate the lateral migration of human erythrocytes induced by viscoelastic fluid flow in a rectangular microchannel. DIHM provides 3D spatial distributions of particles and information on particle orientation in the microchannel. The elastic forces generated in the pressure-driven flows of a viscoelastic fluid push suspended particles away from the walls and enforce erythrocytes to have a fixed orientation. Blood cell deformability influences the lateral focusing and fixed orientation in the microchannel. Different from rigid spheres and hardened erythrocytes, deformable normal erythrocytes disperse from the channel center plane, as the flow rate increases. Furthermore, normal erythrocytes have a higher angle of inclination than hardened erythrocytes in the region near the side-walls of the channel. These results may guide the label-free diagnosis of hematological diseases caused by abnormal erythrocyte deformability.
Fine mapping genetic associations between the HLA region and extremely high intelligence
Authors: Zabaneh Delilah , Krapohl Eva , Simpson Michael A. , Miller Mike B. , Iacono William G. , McGue Matt , Putallaz Martha , Lubinski David , Plomin Robert , Breen Gerome 
Published: January 2017

AbstractGeneral cognitive ability (intelligence) is one of the most heritable behavioural traits and most predictive of socially important outcomes and health. We hypothesized that some of the missing heritability of IQ might lie hidden in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region, which plays a critical role in many diseases and traits but is not well tagged in conventional GWAS. Using a uniquely powered design, we investigated whether fine-mapping of the HLA region could narrow the missing heritability gap. Our case-control design included 1,393 cases with extremely high intelligence scores (top 0.0003 of the population equivalent to IQ > 147) and 3,253 unselected population controls. We imputed variants in 200 genes across the HLA region, one SNP (rs444921) reached our criterion for study-wide significance. SNP-based heritability of the HLA variants was small and not significant (h2 = 0.3%, SE = 0.2%). A polygenic score from the case-control genetic association analysis of SNPs in the HLA region did not significantly predict individual differences in intelligence in an independent unselected sample. We conclude that although genetic variation in the HLA region is important to the aetiology of many disorders, it does not appear to be hiding much of the missing heritability of intelligence.
The sorting receptor Rer1 controls Purkinje cell function via voltage gated sodium channels
Authors: Valkova Christina , Liebmann Lutz , Krämer Andreas , Hübner Christian A. , Kaether Christoph 
Published: January 2017

AbstractRer1 is a sorting receptor in the early secretory pathway that controls the assembly and the cell surface transport of selected multimeric membrane protein complexes. Mice with a Purkinje cell (PC) specific deletion of Rer1 showed normal polarization and differentiation of PCs and normal development of the cerebellum. However, PC-specific loss of Rer1 led to age-dependent motor deficits in beam walk, ladder climbing and gait. Analysis of brain sections revealed a specific degeneration of PCs in the anterior cerebellar lobe in old animals. Electrophysiological recordings demonstrated severe deficits in spontaneous action potential generation. Measurements of resurgent currents indicated decreased surface densities of voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav), but not changes in individual channels. Analysis of mice with a whole brain Rer1-deletion demonstrated a strong down-regulation of Nav1.6 and 1.1 in the absence of Rer1, whereas protein levels of the related Cav2.1 and of Kv3.3 and 7.2 channels were not affected. The data suggest that Rer1 controls the assembly and transport of Nav1.1 and 1.6, the principal sodium channels responsible for recurrent firing, in PCs.
Ligand binding pocket of a novel Allatostatin receptor type C of stick insect, Carausius morosus
Authors: Duan Sahbaz Burcin , Sezerman Osman Ugur , Torun Hamdi , Birgül Iyison Necla 
Published: January 2017

AbstractAllatostatins (AST) are neuropeptides with variable function ranging from regulation of developmental processes to the feeding behavior in insects. They exert their effects by binding to cognate GPCRs, called Allatostatin receptors (AlstR), which emerge as promising targets for pesticide design. However, AlstRs are rarely studied. This study is the first reported structural study on AlstR-AST interaction. In this work, the first C type AlstR from the stick insectCarausius morosus(CamAlstR-C) was identified and its interaction with type C AST peptide was shown to be physically consistent with the experimental results. The proposed structure of CamAlstR-C revealed a conserved motif within the third extracellular loop, which, together with the N-terminus is essential for ligand binding. In this work, computational studies were combined with molecular and nano-scale approaches in order to introduce an unknown GPCR-ligand system. Consequently, the data obtained provided a reliable target region for future agonist/inverse agonist studies on AlstRs.
Males develop faster and more severe hepatocellular carcinoma than females in krasV12 transgenic zebrafish
Authors: Li Yan , Li Hankun , Spitsbergen Jan M. , Gong Zhiyuan 
Published: January 2017

AbstractHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is more prevalent in men than women, but the reason for this gender disparity is not well understood. To investigate whether zebrafish could be used to study the gender disparity of HCC, we compared the difference of liver tumorigenesis between female and male fish during early tumorigenesis and long-term tumor progression in our previously established inducible and reversible HCC model – the krasV12 transgenic zebrafish. We found that male fish developed HCC faster than females. The male tumors were more severe from the initiation stage, characteristic of higher proliferation, activation of WNT/β-catenin pathway and loss of cell adhesion. During long-term tumor progression, the male tumors developed into more advanced multi-nodular tumors, whereas the female tumors remain uniform and homogenous. Moreover, regression of male tumors required longer time. We further investigated the role of sex hormones in krasV12 transgenic fish. Estrogen treatment showed tumor suppressing effect during early tumorigenesis through inhibiting cell proliferation, whereas androgen accelerated tumor growth by promoting cell proliferation. Overall, our study presented the zebrafish as a useful animal model for study of gender disparity of HCC.
Culture adaptation of malaria parasites selects for convergent loss-of-function mutants
Authors: Claessens Antoine , Affara Muna , Assefa Samuel A. , Kwiatkowski Dominic P. , Conway David J. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractCultured human pathogens may differ significantly from source populations. To investigate the genetic basis of laboratory adaptation in malaria parasites, clinical Plasmodium falciparum isolates were sampled from patients and cultured in vitro for up to three months. Genome sequence analysis was performed on multiple culture time point samples from six monoclonal isolates, and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variants emerging over time were detected. Out of a total of five positively selected SNPs, four represented nonsense mutations resulting in stop codons, three of these in a single ApiAP2 transcription factor gene, and one in SRPK1. To survey further for nonsense mutants associated with culture, genome sequences of eleven long-term laboratory-adapted parasite strains were examined, revealing four independently acquired nonsense mutations in two other ApiAP2 genes, and five in Epac. No mutants of these genes exist in a large database of parasite sequences from uncultured clinical samples. This implicates putative master regulator genes in which multiple independent stop codon mutations have convergently led to culture adaptation, affecting most laboratory lines of P. falciparum. Understanding the adaptive processes should guide development of experimental models, which could include targeted gene disruption to adapt fastidious malaria parasite species to culture.
Treatment effects of lysozyme-shelled microbubbles and ultrasound in inflammatory skin disease
Authors: Liao Ai-Ho , Hung Chi-Ray , Lin Chieh-Fu , Lin Yi-Chun , Chen Hang-Kang 
Published: January 2017

AbstractAcne vulgaris is the most common skin disorder, and is caused by Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) and can induce inflammation. Antibiotic therapy often needs to be administered for long durations in acne therapy, which results in extensive antibiotic exposure. The present study investigated a new treatment model for evaluating the antibacterial effects of lysozyme (LY)-shelled microbubbles (MBs) and ultrasound (US)-mediated LY-shelled MBs cavitation against P. acnes both in vitro and in vivo, with the aims of reducing the dose and treatment duration and improving the prognosis of acne vulgaris. In terms of the in vitro treatment efficacy, the growth of P. acnes was inhibited by 86.08 ± 2.99% in the LY-shelled MBs group and by 57.74 ± 3.09% in the LY solution group. For US power densities of 1, 2, and 3 W/cm2 in the LY-shelled MBs group, the growth of P. acnes was inhibited by 95.79 ± 3.30%, 97.99 ± 1.16%, and 98.69 ± 1.13%, respectively. The in vivo results showed that the recovery rate on day 13 was higher in the US group with LY-shelled MBs (97.8 ± 19.8%) than in the LY-shelled MBs group (90.3 ± 23.3%). Our results show that combined treatments of US and LY-shelled MBs can significantly reduce the treatment duration and inhibit P.-acnes-induced inflammatory skin diseases.
The identification and molecular mechanism of anti-stroke traditional Chinese medicinal compounds
Authors: Liu Jia-Qian , Dai Shao-Xing , Zheng Jun-Juan , Guo Yi-Cheng , Li Wen-Xing , Li Gong-Hua , Huang Jing-Fei 
Published: January 2017

AbstractStroke is a worldwide epidemic disease with high morbidity and mortality. The continuously exploration of anti-stroke medicines and molecular mechanism has a long way to go. In this study, in order to screen candidate anti-stroke compounds, more than 60000 compounds from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database were computationally analyzed then docked to the 15 known anti-stroke targets. 192 anti-stroke plants for clinical therapy and 51 current anti-stroke drugs were used to validate docking results. Totally 2355 candidate anti-stroke compounds were obtained. Among these compounds, 19 compounds are structurally identical with 16 existing drugs in which part of them have been used for anti-stroke treatment. Furthermore, these candidate compounds were significantly enriched in anti-stroke plants. Based on the above results, the compound-target-plant network was constructed. The network reveals the potential molecular mechanism of anti-stroke for these compounds. Most of candidate compounds and anti-stroke plants are tended to interact with target NOS3, PSD-95 and PDE5A. Finally, using ADMET filter, we identified 35 anti-stroke compounds with favorable properties. The 35 candidate anti-stroke compounds offer an opportunity to develop new anti-stroke drugs and will improve the research on molecular mechanism of anti-stroke.
Default mode network deactivation during emotion processing predicts early antidepressant response
Authors: Spies M , Kraus C , Geissberger N , Auer B , Klöbl M , Tik M , Stürkat I-L , Hahn A , Woletz M , Pfabigan D M , Kasper S , Lamm C , Windischberger C , Lanzenberger R 
Published: January 2017

AbstractSeveral previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated the predictive value of brain activity during emotion processing for antidepressant response, with a focus on clinical outcome after 6–8 weeks. However, longitudinal studies emphasize the paramount importance of early symptom improvement for the course of disease in major depressive disorder (MDD). We therefore aimed to assess whether neural activity during the emotion discrimination task (EDT) predicts early antidepressant effects, and how these predictive measures relate to more sustained response. Twenty-three MDD patients were investigated once with ultrahigh-field 7T fMRI and the EDT. Following fMRI, patients received Escitalopram in a flexible dose schema and were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) before, and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment. Deactivation of the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) during the EDT predicted change in HAMD scores after 2 weeks of treatment. Baseline EDT activity was not predictive of HAMD change after 4 weeks of treatment. The precuneus and PCC are integral components of the default mode network (DMN). We show that patients who exhibit stronger DMN suppression during emotion processing are more likely to show antidepressant response after 2 weeks. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to show that DMN activity predicts early antidepressant effects. However, DMN deactivation did not predict response at 4 weeks, suggesting that our finding is representative of early, likely treatment-related, yet unspecific symptom improvement. Regardless, early effects may be harnessed for optimization of treatment regimens and patient care.
Improvements in steel cleanliness by tundish inertisation
Authors: Bannenberg N. , Harste K. 
Published: January 2017

The liquid steel, in contact with the atmosphere during the casting, will pick-up oxygen and nitrogen ; its cleanliness will be spoiled.
It happens particularly on unsteady states such as ladle change or casting start. Completely closed tundishes previously argon flushed reduce this risk.
Tests have been performed at Dillingen to study results and conditions of this technology.
Antidiabetic Activity of Extract and Compounds from an Endophytic Fungus Nigrospora oryzae
Authors: Uzor Philip F. , Osadebe Patience O. , Nwodo Ngozi J. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractThe fungal extract as well as the 3 biosynthetic compounds, (S)-(+)-2-cis-4-trans-abscisic acid (1), , 7'-hydroxy-abscisic acid (2) and 4-des-hydroxyl altersolanol A (3) from the endophytic fungus, Nigrospora oryzae, isolated from Combretum dolichopetalum leaf were investigated for their antidiabetic potential.The antidiabetic activity was determined in alloxan-induced diabetic mice by monitoring their fasting blood sugar for 9 h.The extract and the compounds (1–3) significantly (p<0.001) reduced the fasting blood sugar of the diabetic mice.The present study has shown that the biosynthetic products of the endophytic fungus, N. oryzae, exhibited strong antidiabetic activity. It has further shown that endophytic fungi could be an alternative source of novel compounds for management of diabetes.
Heat-induced masculinization in domesticated zebrafish is family-specific and yields a set of different gonadal transcriptomes
Authors: Ribas Laia , Liew Woei Chang , Díaz Noèlia , Sreenivasan Rajini , Orbán László , Piferrer Francesc 
Published: January 2017

Significance
Fish exhibit remarkable sexual plasticity. However, the underlying mechanism of heat-induced sex reversal is still unclear. Here we first established the conditions for heat-induced reprogramming of sexual phenotypes in zebrafish through sex ratio analysis and gonad transcriptomics. Sex ratio response to heat was family-specific and resulted in masculinization. We observed two heat-induced gonadal transcriptomic profiles per sex in adults, among them neomales and, strikingly, females with an ovary but a “male-like” transcriptome. The latter indicates major transcriptomic reprogramming with preserved organ structure, an interesting observation in vertebrates. In all heat-treated juveniles, we also observed a male-like transcriptome. Overall, this study reveals novel lasting thermal effects on fish gonads, with practical implications for studying the effects of global warming in natural populations.
Reconciling fisheries catch and ocean productivity
Authors: Stock Charles A. , John Jasmin G. , Rykaczewski Ryan R. , Asch Rebecca G. , Cheung William W. L. , Dunne John P. , Friedland Kevin D. , Lam Vicky W. Y. , Sarmiento Jorge L. , Watson Reg A. 
Published: January 2017

SignificancePhytoplankton provide the energy that sustains marine fish populations. The relationship between phytoplankton productivity and fisheries catch, however, is complicated by uncertainty in catch estimates, fishing effort, and marine food web dynamics. We enlist global data sources and a high-resolution earth system model to address these uncertainties. Results show that cross-ecosystem fisheries catch differences far exceeding differences in phytoplankton production can be reconciled with fishing effort and variations in marine food web structure and energy transfer efficiency. Food web variations explaining contemporary fisheries catch act to amplify projected catch trends under climate change, suggesting catch changes that may exceed a factor of 2 for some regions. Failing to account for this would hinder adaptation to climate change.
Direct measurement of sequence-dependent transition path times and conformational diffusion in DNA duplex formation
Authors: Neupane Krishna , Wang Feng , Woodside Michael T. 
Published: January 2017

Significance
The transition path time in folding reactions—the time required to cross through the high-energy transition states—offers a powerful tool for studying folding mechanisms because it is uniquely sensitive to the microscopic motions along the transition paths that dominate the folding dynamics. We used transition path times to probe helix formation in nucleic acids and elucidate differences between the formation of canonical G:C and A:T base pairs. Stem-loop hairpins of the same size but increased G:C content had faster transition path times, revealing that the conformational diffusion coefficient determining the timescale for molecular dynamics was higher for formation of G:C base pairs than A:T base pairs. Such sequence dependence, not previously observed, reflects differences in the internal friction for reconfiguring the bases.