bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cx26 drives self-renewal in triple-negative breast cancer via interaction with NANOG and focal adhesion kinase
Authors: Thiagarajan Praveena S. , Sinyuk Maksim , Turaga Soumya M. , Mulkearns-Hubert Erin E. , Hale James S. , Rao Vinay , Demelash Abeba , Saygin Caner , China Arnab , Alban Tyler J. , Hitomi Masahiro , Torre-Healy Luke A. , Alvarado Alvaro G. , Jarrar Awad , Wiechert Andrew , Adorno-Cruz Valery , Fox Paul L. , Calhoun Benjamin C. , Guan Jun-Lin , Liu Huiping , Reizes Ofer , Lathia Justin D. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractTumors adapt their phenotypes during growth and in response to therapies through dynamic changes in cellular processes. Connexin proteins enable such dynamic changes during development, and their dysregulation leads to disease states. The gap junction communication channels formed by connexins have been reported to exhibit tumor-suppressive functions, including in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, we find that connexin 26 (Cx26) is elevated in self-renewing cancer stem cells (CSCs) and is necessary and sufficient for their maintenance. Cx26 promotes CSC self-renewal by forming a signaling complex with the pluripotency transcription factor NANOG and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), resulting in NANOG stabilization and FAK activation. This FAK/NANOG-containing complex is not formed in mammary epithelial or luminal breast cancer cells. These findings challenge the paradigm that connexins are tumor suppressors in TNBC and reveal a unique function for Cx26 in regulating the core self-renewal signaling that controls CSC maintenance.
Microstructure and phases of deposited metal of SUPER304H steel under high temperature Persistent stress
Authors: Qi Yanchang , Wu Zhiquan , Zhang Xin , Ma Chengyong 
Published: February 2018

AbstractIn order to investigate the high temperature rupture property of deposited metal of SUPER304H steel, the high temperature tensile test was carried out, and the microstructure transformation of deposited metal of SUPER304H steel under high temperature persistent stress were studied. Most of the solidification subgrain boundaries dissolve. The effect of the high temperature enduring on the microstructure is not obvious. Temperature and time are the main factors that influence the change of microstructure. Under the action of high temperature stress, the corrosion resistance of austenite decreases significantly due to the occurrence of chromium deficiency. With the persistent stress of 200 MPa, the precipitated phase of deposited metal is Nb (C, N), M23C6, NbCrN phase, and a certain amount of alpha phase is precipitated in the deposited metal with a persistent stress of 78 MPa. The precipitation of M23C6phase is the main reason for the decrease of the corrosion resistance, especially the decrease of the corrosion resistance.
Clinical Translation of Tethered Confocal Microscopy Capsule for Unsedated Diagnosis of Eosinophilic Esophagitis
Authors: Tabatabaei Nima , Kang DongKyun , Kim Minkyu , Wu Tao , Grant Catriona N. , Rosenberg Mireille , Nishioka Norman S. , Hesterberg Paul E. , Garber John , Yuan Qian , Katz Aubrey J. , Tearney Guillermo J. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractEsophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is a widely used procedure, posing significant financial burden on both healthcare systems and patients. Moreover, EGD is time consuming, sometimes difficult to tolerate, and suffers from an imperfect diagnostic yield as the limited number of collected biopsies does not represent the whole organ. In this paper, we report on technological and clinical feasibility of a swallowable tethered endomicroscopy capsule, which is administered without sedation, to image large regions of esophageal and gastric mucosa at the cellular level. To demonstrate imaging capabilities, we conducted a human pilot study (n = 17) on Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) patients and healthy volunteers from which representative cases are presented and discussed. Results indicate that, compared to endoscopic biopsy, unsedated tethered capsule endomicroscopy obtains orders of magnitude more cellular information while successfully resolving characteristic tissue microscopic features such as stratified squamous epithelium, lamina propria papillae, intraepithelial eosinophils, and gastric cardia and body/fundic mucosa epithelia. Based on the major import of whole organ, cellular-level microscopy to obviate sampling error and the clear cost and convenience advantages of unsedated procedure, we believe that this tool has the potential to become a simpler and more effective device for diagnosing and monitoring the therapeutic response of EoE and other esophageal diseases.
Evaluation of the Heshang Cave stalagmite calcium isotope composition as a paleohydrologic proxy by comparison with the instrumental precipitation record
Authors: Li Xiuli , Cui Xueping , He Dong , Liao Jin , Hu Chaoyong 
Published: February 2018

AbstractWith their merits of precise dating and sensitivity to climate changes, laminated stalagmites are an important terrestrial archive for reconstructions of paleohydrological changes. In particular, the Ca isotope composition (δ44/42Ca) of the Heshang Cave stalagmite has been documented to record a precipitation decrease during the 8.2 ka event in central China. As an extension, this study directly compares near-annual resolution δ44/42Ca data with an instrumental precipitation record to evaluate the fidelity of δ44/42Ca as a paleohydrologic proxy on annual to decade timescales. Over the period 1881–2001 AD, the δ44/42Ca values correlate significantly with both precipitation from a nearby weather station and the dryness/wetness index in the middle Yangtze River, with a stronger correlation on decadal smoothed data. These results clearly show that the δ44/42Ca ratio from stalagmites is an effective proxy for paleohydrological changes on a decadal timescale. More study is encouraged to refine understanding of stalagmite Ca isotope ratios and hydrological conditions and their application in paleohydrologic reconstructions.
A critical role of E2F transcription factor 2 in proinflammatory cytokines-dependent proliferation and invasiveness of fibroblast-like synoviocytes in rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Zhang Rui , Wang Lin , Pan Ji-hong , Han Jinxiang 
Published: February 2018

AbstractAs a transcription factor, E2F2 participates in regulation of numerous genes. To investigate the role and mechnism of E2F2 in RA, expression of E2F2 in synovial tissue was detected. Proliferation, invasion, and secretion of inflammatory cytokines were measured after E2F2 was knocked-down in RASFs by siRNA transfection. Induction of TNF-α, IL-6, and LPS on expression and nuclear translocation of E2F2, and signal pathways involved in the process were tested. ChIP was used to investigate direct binding of NF-кB to the promoter of E2F2, and E2F2 to the promoter of IL-6. The correlation between mRNA levels of E2F2 and IL-6 or TNF-α in secreted in supernatant of RASFs were also investigated. As a result, silencing E2F2 could inhibit the proliferation and invasion of RASFs. LPS, IL-6 can stimulate the expression of E2F2 in RASFs both via the NF-кB pathway, while TNF-α via the ERK pathway. TNF-α can facilitate the nuclear translocation of E2F2 and TNF-α can bind to promoter of E2F2, and then E2F2 can bind to the promoter of IL-6 directly. Significant correlations was found between levels of E2F2 and IL-6/TNF-α in synoviocytes of RA patients. Our findings indicate that E2F2 may play an important role in pathogenesis of RA.
Lizards ran bipedally 110 million years ago
Authors: Lee Hang-Jae , Lee Yuong-Nam , Fiorillo Anthony R. , Lü Junchang 
Published: February 2018

AbstractFour heteropod lizard trackways discovered in the Hasandong Formation (Aptian-early Albian), South Korea assigned to Sauripes hadongensis, n. ichnogen., n. ichnosp., which represents the oldest lizard tracks in the world. Most tracks are pes tracks (N = 25) that are very small, average 22.29 mm long and 12.46 mm wide. The pes tracks show “typical” lizard morphology as having curved digit imprints that progressively increase in length from digits I to IV, a smaller digit V that is separated from the other digits by a large interdigital angle. The manus track is 19.18 mm long and 19.23 mm wide, and shows a different morphology from the pes. The predominant pes tracks, the long stride length of pes, narrow trackway width, digitigrade manus and pes prints, and anteriorly oriented long axis of the fourth pedal digit indicate that these trackways were made by lizards running bipedally, suggesting that bipedality was possible early in lizard evolution.
Isolating, characterising and identifying a Cry1Ac resistance mutation in field populations of Helicoverpa punctigera
Authors: Walsh Tom , James Bill , Chakroun Maissa , Ferré Juan , Downes Sharon 
Published: February 2018

AbstractTransgenic cotton expressing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been grown in Australia for over 20 years and resistance remains the biggest threat. The native moth, Helicoverpa punctigera is a significant pest of cotton. A genotype causing resistance to Cry1Ac in H. punctigera was isolated from the field and a homozygous line established. The phenotype is recessive and homozygous individuals possess 113 fold resistance to Cry1Ac. Individuals that carry Cry1Ac resistance genes are rare in Australia with a frequency of 0.033 being detected in field populations. RNAseq, RT-PCR and DNA sequencing reveals a single nucleotide polymorphism at a splice site in the cadherin gene as the causal mutation, resulting in the partial transcription of the intron and a premature stop codon. Analysis of Cry1Ac binding to H. punctigera brush border membrane vesicles showed that it is unaffected by the disrupted cadherin gene. This suggests that the major Cry1Ac target is not cadherin but that this molecule plays a key role in resistance and therefore the mode of action. This work adds to our knowledge of resistance mechanisms in H. punctigera and the growing literature around the role of cadherin in the mode of action of Cry1 type Bt proteins.
Dibutyl phthalate alters the metabolic pathways of microbes in black soils
Authors: Xu Weihui , You Yimin , Wang Zhigang , Chen Wenjing , Zeng Jin , Zhao Xiaosong , Su Yunpeng 
Published: February 2018

AbstractDibutyl phthalate (DBP) is well known as a high-priority pollutant. This study explored the impacts of DBP on the metabolic pathways of microbes in black soils in the short term (20 days). The results showed that the microbial communities were changed in black soils with DBP. In nitrogen cycling, the abundances of the genes were elevated by DBP. DBP contamination facilitated 3′-phosphoadenosine-5′-phosphosulfate (PAPS) formation, and the gene flux of sulfate metabolism was increased. The total abundances of ABC transporters and the gene abundances of the monosaccharide-transporting ATPasesMalKandMsmKwere increased by DBP. The total abundance of two-component system (TCS) genes and the gene abundances of malate dehydrogenase, histidine kinase and citryl-CoA lyase were increased after DBP contamination. The total abundance of phosphotransferase system (PTS) genes and the gene abundances of phosphotransferase,CrrandBglFwere raised by DBP. The increased gene abundances of ABC transporters, TCS and PTS could be the reasons for the acceleration of nitrogen, carbon and sulfate metabolism. The degrading-genes of DBP were increased markedly in soil exposed to DBP. In summary, DBP contamination altered the microbial community and enhanced the gene abundances of the carbon, nitrogen and sulfur metabolism in black soils in the short term.
Patterns of sexual size dimorphism in horseshoe bats: Testing Rensch’s rule and potential causes
Authors: Wu Hui , Jiang Tinglei , Huang Xiaobin , Feng Jiang 
Published: February 2018

AbstractRensch’s rule, stating that sexual size dimorphism (SSD) becomes more evident and male-biased with increasing body size, has been well supported for taxa that exhibit male-biased SSD. Bats, primarily having female-biased SSD, have so far been tested for whether SSD allometry conforms to Rensch’s rule in only three studies. However, these studies did not consider phylogeny, and thus the mechanisms underlying SSD variations in bats remain unclear. Thus, the present study reviewed published and original data, including body size, baculum size, and habitat types in 45 bats of the family Rhinolophidae to determine whether horseshoe bats follow Rensch’s rule using a phylogenetic comparative framework. We also investigated the potential effect of postcopulatory sexual selection and habitat type on SSD. Our findings indicated that Rensch’s rule did not apply to Rhinolophidae, suggesting that SSD did not significantly vary with increasing size. This pattern may be attributable interactions between weak sexual selection to male body size and strong fecundity selection for on female body size. The degree of SSD among horseshoe bats may be attributed to a phylogenetic effect rather than to the intersexual competition for food or to baculum length. Interestingly, we observed that species in open habitats exhibited greater SSD than those in dense forests, suggesting that habitat types may be associated with variations in SSD in horseshoe bats.
Electrical terahertz modulator based on photo-excited ferroelectric superlattice
Authors: Ji Jie , Zhou Siyan , Zhang Jingcheng , Ling Furi , Yao Jianquan 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe transmission and dielectric spectra of ferroelectric STO/PT superlattice on Si substrate under simultaneous external optical and electric field were investigated and compared at room temperature. Results found that when with an optical field, the electric field realized an effective modulation on the transmission, which displayed a diode property. In addition, a comprehensive model combined with Debye relaxation and Lorentz model was used to analyze the dielectric spectra, variation of the soft mode with external field was put emphasis on exploring.
Listeners Experience Linguistic Masking Release in Noise-Vocoded Speech-in-Speech Recognition
Authors: Viswanathan Navin , Kokkinakis Kostas , Williams Brittany T. 
Published: February 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether listeners with normal hearing perceiving noise-vocoded speech-in-speech demonstrate better intelligibility of target speech when the background speech was mismatched in language (linguistic release from masking [LRM]) and/or location (spatial release from masking [SRM]) relative to the target. We also assessed whether the spectral resolution of the noise-vocoded stimuli affected the presence of LRM and SRM under these conditions.

Method
In Experiment 1, a mixed factorial design was used to simultaneously manipulate the masker language (within-subject, English vs. Dutch), the simulated masker location (within-subject, right, center, left), and the spectral resolution (between-subjects, 6 vs. 12 channels) of noise-vocoded target–masker combinations presented at +25 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In Experiment 2, the study was repeated using a spectral resolution of 12 channels at +15 dB SNR.

Results
In both experiments, listeners' intelligibility of noise-vocoded targets was better when the background masker was Dutch, demonstrating reliable LRM in all conditions. The pattern of results in Experiment 1 was not reliably different across the 6- and 12-channel noise-vocoded speech. Finally, a reliable spatial benefit (SRM) was detected only in the more challenging SNR condition (Experiment 2).

Conclusion
The current study is the first to report a clear LRM benefit in noise-vocoded speech-in-speech recognition. Our results indicate that this benefit is available even under spectrally degraded conditions and that it may augment the benefit due to spatial separation of target speech and competing backgrounds.
Age Differences in Voice Evaluation: From Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation to Social Interactions
Authors: Lortie Catherine L. , Deschamps Isabelle , Guitton Matthieu J. , Tremblay Pascale 
Published: February 2018

PurposeThe factors that influence the evaluation of voice in adulthood, as well as the consequences of such evaluation on social interactions, are not well understood. Here, we examined the effect of listeners' age and the effect of talker age, sex, and smoking status on the auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice, voice-related psychosocial attributions, and perceived speech tempo. We also examined the voice dimensions affecting the propensity to engage in social interactions.MethodTwenty-five younger (age 19–37 years) and 25 older (age 51–74 years) healthy adults participated in this cross-sectional study. Their task was to evaluate the voice of 80 talkers.ResultsStatistical analyses revealed limited effects of the age of the listener on voice evaluation. Specifically, older listeners provided relatively more favorable voice ratings than younger listeners, mainly in terms of roughness. In contrast, the age of the talker had a broader impact on voice evaluation, affecting auditory-perceptual evaluations, psychosocial attributions, and perceived speech tempo. Some of these talker differences were dependent upon the sex of the talker and his or her smoking status. Finally, the results also show that voice-related psychosocial attribution was more strongly associated with the propensity of the listener to engage in social interactions with a person than auditory-perceptual dimensions and perceived speech tempo, especially for the younger adults.ConclusionsThese results suggest that age has a broad influence on voice evaluation, with a stronger impact for talker age compared with listener age. While voice-related psychosocial attributions may be an important determinant of social interactions, perceived voice quality and speech tempo appear to be less influential.Supplemental Materialshttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5844102
History and destiny of an emerging early-type galaxy
Authors: Weaver J. , Husemann B. , Kuntschner H. , Martín-Navarro I. , Bournaud F. , Duc P.-A. , Emsellem E. , Krajnović D. , Lyubenova M. , McDermid R. M. 
Published: February 2018

Context. The merging of galaxies is one key aspect in our favourite hierarchical ΛCDM Universe and is an important channel leading to massive quiescent elliptical galaxies. Understanding this complex transformational process is ongoing.
Aims. We aim to study NGC 7252, which is one of the nearest major-merger galaxy remnants, observed ~1 Gyr after the collision of presumably two gas-rich disc galaxies. It is therefore an ideal laboratory to study the processes inherent to the transformation of disc galaxies to ellipticals.
Methods. We obtained wide-field IFU spectroscopy with the VLT-VIMOS integral-field spectrograph covering the central 50′′ × 50′′ of NGC 7252 to map the stellar and ionised gas kinematics, and the distribution and conditions of the ionised gas, revealing the extent of ongoing star formation and recent star formation history.
Results. Contrary to previous studies, we find the inner gas disc not to be counter-rotating with respect to the stars. In addition, the stellar kinematics appear complex with a clear indication of a prolate-like rotation component which suggests a polar merger configuration. The ongoing star formation rate is 2.2 ± 0.6 M⊙ yr−1 and implies a typical depletion time of ~2 Gyr given the molecular gas content. Furthermore, the spatially resolved star formation history suggests a slight radial dependence, moving outwards at later times. We confirm a large AGN-ionised gas cloud previously discovered ~5 kpc south of the nucleus, and find a higher ionisation state of the ionised gas at the galaxy centre relative to the surrounding gas disc. Although the higher ionisation towards the centre is potentially degenerate within the central star forming ring, it may be associated with a low-luminosity AGN.
Conclusions. Although NGC 7252 has been classified as post-starburst galaxy at the centre, the elliptical-like major-merger remnant still appears very active. A central kpc-scale gas disc has presumably re-formed quickly within the last 100 Myr after final coalescence. The disc features ongoing star formation, implying Gyr long timescale to reach the red sequence through gas consumption alone. While NGC 7252 is useful to probe the transformation from discs to ellipticals, it is not well-suited to study the transformation from blue to red at this point.
Fluid nonlinearities effect on wake oscillator model performance
Authors: Kurushina Victoria , Pavlovskaia Ekaterina 
Published: February 2018

Vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) need to be accounted for in the design of marine structures such as risers and umbilicals. If a resonance state of the slender structure develops due to its interaction with the surrounding fluid flow, the consequences can be severe resulting in the accelerated fatigue and structural damage. Wake oscillator models allow to estimate the fluid force acting on the structure without complex and time consuming CFD analysis of the fluid domain. However, contemporary models contain a number of empirical coeffcients which are required to be tuned using experimental data. This is often left for the future work with the opened question on how to calibrate a model for a wide range of cases and find out what is working and is not.
The current research is focused on the problem of the best choice of the fluid nonlinearities for the base wake oscillator model [1] in order to improve the accuracy of prediction for the cases with mass ratios around 6.0. The paper investigates six nonlinear damping types for two fluid equations of the base model. The calibration is conducted using the data by Stappenbelt and Lalji [2] for 2 degrees-of-freedom rigid structure for mass ratio 6.54. The conducted analysis shows that predicted in-line and cross-flow displacements are more accurate if modelled separately using different damping types than using only one version of the model. The borders of application for each found option in terms of mass ratio are discussed in this work, and appropriate recommendations are provided.