bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Enrichment of IFN-γ producing cells in different murine adipose tissue depots upon infection with an apicomplexan parasite
Authors: Teixeira Luzia , Marques Raquel M. , Ferreirinha Pedro , Bezerra Filipa , Melo Joana , Moreira João , Pinto Ana , Correia Alexandra , Ferreira Paula G. , Vilanova Manuel 
Published: March 2016

AbstractHere we report that lean mice infected with the intracellular parasite Neospora caninum show a fast but sustained increase in the frequency of IFN-γ-producing cells noticeable in distinct adipose tissue depots. Moreover, IFN-γ-mediated immune memory could be evoked in vitro in parasite antigen-stimulated adipose tissue stromal vascular fraction cells collected from mice infected one year before. Innate or innate-like cells such as NK, NK T and TCRγδ+ cells, but also CD4+ and CD8+ TCRβ+ lymphocytes contributed to the IFN-γ production observed since day one of infection. This early cytokine production was largely abrogated in IL-12/IL23 p40-deficient mice. Moreover, production of IFN-γ by stromal vascular fraction cells isolated from these mice was markedly lower than that of wild-type counterparts upon stimulation with parasite antigen. In wild-type mice the increased IFN-γ production was concomitant with up-regulated expression of genes encoding interferon-inducible GTPases and nitric oxide synthase, which are important effector molecules in controlling intracellular parasite growth. This increased gene expression was markedly impaired in the p40-deficient mice. Overall, these results show that NK cells but also diverse T cell populations mediate a prompt and widespread production of IFN-γ in the adipose tissue of N. caninum infected mice.
The degradation potential of PET bottles in the marine environment: An ATR-FTIR based approach
Authors: Ioakeimidis C. , Fotopoulou K. N. , Karapanagioti H. K. , Geraga M. , Zeri C. , Papathanassiou E. , Galgani F. , Papatheodorou G. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe dominance and persistence of plastic debris in the marine environment are well documented. No information exists in respect to their lifespan in the marine environment. Nevertheless, the degradation potential of plastic litter items remains a critical issue for marine litter research. In the present study, polyethylene terephthalate bottles (PETs) collected from the submarine environment were characterized using ATR-FTIR in respect to their degradation potential attributed to environmental conditions. A temporal indication was used as indicative to the years of presence of the PETs in the environment as debris. PETs seem to remain robust for approximately fifteen years. Afterwards, a significant decrease of the native functional groups was recorded; some even disappear; or new-not typical for PETs-are created. At a later stage, using the PET time series collected from the Saronikos Gulf (Aegean Sea–E. Mediterranean), it was possible to date bottles that were collected from the bottom of the Ionian Sea (W. Greece). It is the first time that such a study has been conducted with samples that were actually degraded in the marine environment.
The plasma miR-125a, miR-361 and miR-133a are promising novel biomarkers for Late-Onset Hypogonadism
Authors: Chen Yao-ping , Wang Ju , Zhao Kai , Shang Xue-jun , Wu Hui-qin , Qing Xing-rong , Fang Fang , Zhang Yan , Shang Jin , Li Hong-gang , Zhang Hui-ping , Guan Huang-tao , Zhou Yuan-zhong , Gu Yi-qun , Wu Wei-xiong , Xiong Cheng-liang 
Published: March 2016

AbstractCirculating miRNAs have been shown to serve as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers in cancers and other diseases. However, the role of plasma miRNAs in Late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) diagnosis is still unknown. Using Illumina HiSeq2000 sequencing at discovery phase, and then two-step validated by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays in verification phases. We verified that the expression levels of miR-125a-5p, miR-361-5p and miR-133a-3p were significantly altered in LOH group compared to the control group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) is 0.682, 0.698 and 0.765, respectively. The combination of three miRNAs showed a larger AUC (0.835) that was more efficient for the diagnosis of LOH. Among three miRNAs, miR-133a-3p had the best diagnostic value for LOH with 68.2% sensitivity and 77.3% specificity. Regression analyses show that miR-133a-3p level was negatively associated with the ageing males’ symptoms (AMS) scale. However, miR-361-5p level was positively associated with serum testosterone concentrations. In summary, plasma miRNAs are differentially expressed between LOH and healthy controls. We validated three miRNAs that could act as novel biomarkers for diagnosis of LOH. These miRNAs may be involved in the development of LOH. However, further large and functional studies are warranted to confirm our findings.
Kinetic characterization and regulation of the human retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 enzyme during production of retinoic acid
Authors: Shabtai Yehuda , Jubran Halim , Nassar Taher , Hirschberg Joseph , Fainsod Abraham 
Published: March 2016

Retinoic acid (RA) is an important regulator of embryogenesis and tissue homoeostasis. Perturbation of RA signalling causes developmental disorders, osteoarthritis, schizophrenia and several types of tumours. RA is produced by oxidation of retinaldehyde from vitamin A. The main enzyme producing RA in the early embryo is retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (RALDH2, ALDH1A2). In the present study we describe in depth the kinetic properties and regulation of the human RALDH2 (hRALDH2) enzyme. We show that this enzyme produces RA using in vivo and in vitro assays. We studied the naturally occurring all-trans-, 9-cis- and 13-cis-retinaldehyde isomers as substrates of hRALDH2. Based on the values measured for the Michaelis–Menten constant Km and the maximal rate Vmax, in vitro hRALDH2 displays the same catalytic efficiency for their oxidation. We characterized two known inhibitors of the vertebrate RALDH2 and determined their kinetic parameters on hRALDH2. In addition, RA was studied as a possible inhibitor of hRALDH2 and a regulator of its activity. We show that hRALDH2 is not inhibited by its oxidation product, all-trans-RA, suggesting the absence of a negative feedback regulatory loop. Expression of the Raldh2 gene is known to be regulated by RA itself, suggesting that the main regulation of the hRALDH2 activity level is transcriptional.
Memory characteristics of capacitors with poly‐GaAs floating gates
Authors: Roh I.P. , Kang N.S. , Shin S.H. , Oh Y.T. , Kim K.B. , Song J.D. , Song Y.H. 
Published: March 2016

The memory characteristics of a capacitor with polycrystalline gallium arsenide (poly‐GaAs) as a floating gate material have been evaluated, and compared with a capacitor using poly‐silicon (poly‐Si). The poly‐GaAs film with thickness of 100 nm was successfully grown on silicon at 250°C, using an arsenide beam flux, in a molecular beam epitaxy chamber. Based on the optical and electrical evaluation, this film appeared to have obvious poly‐GaAs. Here, the measured the memory window by comparing it to a conventional device with a poly‐Si floating gate, which showed it to have approximately twice the value of the poly‐Si. Based on these results, poly‐GaAs floating material can be considered to be a candidate for a wider memory window in scaled two‐dimensional flash memory.
Groove gap waveguide as an alternative to rectangular waveguide for H‐plane components
Authors: Berenguer A. , Sánchez‐Escuderos D. , Bernardo‐Clemente B. , Baquero‐Escudero M. , Boria V.E. 
Published: March 2016

A comparative study between groove gap waveguide (GGW) technology and classical H‐plane rectangular waveguide (RWG) technology is presented by evaluating their performance in the implementation of a narrow‐band filter at the V‐band. A filter with the same specifications has been manufactured and measured for each technology. Measured responses are compared and a re‐assembling robustness test is carried out. The GGW filter presents a better response and remains completely invariant to the re‐assembling process, which is shown to affect notably the RWG filter response. Remarkable low insertion loss of only 1.5 dB (cavities equivalent quality factor higher than 800) is obtained for the GGW filter.
Laterally coupled distributed feedback cascade diode lasers emitting near 2.9 µm
Authors: Hosoda T. , Fradet M. , Frez C. , Shterengas L. , Sander S. , Forouhar S. , Belenky G. 
Published: March 2016

Cascade type‐I quantum well GaSb‐based laterally coupled distributed feedback diode lasers emitting near 2.9 µm were designed and fabricated. Second order index grating with period of 825 nm was defined by e‐beam lithography and etched on both sides of 4‐µm‐wide shallow ridge waveguide. Anti‐/neutral reflection coated 2‐mm‐long devices that were solder‐mounted epitaxial side‐up demonstrated stable single frequency operation in a wide temperature range with output power of 13 mW at 20°C. Bragg wavelength temperature tuning rate was ∼0.32 nm/K.
High power eye‐safe Er3+:YVO4 laser diode‐pumped at 976 nm
Authors: Newburgh G.A. , Dubinskii M. 
Published: March 2016

The performance of an eye‐safe laser based on a Er‐doped orthovanadate (Er:YVO4) single crystal, diode‐pumped at 976 nm (4I15/2 → 4I11/2 transition) and operating at 1603 nm (4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition) with near diffraction limited beam quality is reported. A 10 mm long Er3+:YVO4 slab, cut with its c‐axis perpendicular to the laser cavity axis, was pumped in σ‐polarisation and lased in π‐polarisation. The laser operated in a quasi‐continuous wave regime with nearly 9 W output power, and with a slope efficiency of about 39% with respect to absorbed power. This is believed to be the highest efficiency and highest power achieved from an Er3+:YVO4 laser pumped in the 970–980 nm absorption band.
Compact full Ka‐band waveguide directional coupler based on large aperture array
Authors: Deng Xida , Wang Zhigang , Xu Kaida , Yan Bo 
Published: March 2016

A compact full Ka‐band waveguide directional coupler based on novel aperture array is presented. The broadband, good in‐band coupling flatness and excellent return loss are achieved by using the proposed novel aperture array in the common broad wall of two paralleled waveguides. For verification purpose, a prototype of the proposed directional coupler has been designed, fabricated and measured. The experimental results show that the return loss and isolation of the proposed coupler are better than 28 and 30 dB, respectively, and coupling strength varies from −20.35 to −19.23 dB over the full waveguide bandwidth. The length of the coupling region is only 8.5 mm.
Fractional‐N PLL with multi‐element fractional divider for noise reduction
Authors: Sanyal Arindam , Yu Xueyi , Zhang Yanlong , Sun Nan 
Published: March 2016

A novel technique to suppress quantisation noise in a ΔΣ fractional‐N phase‐locked loop (PLL) using a fine‐resolution multi‐element fractional divider is presented. The proposed technique suppresses noise uniformly over the entire frequency range. It is mostly digital and is applicable for both analogue and digital PLLs. The proposed technique with an eight‐element fractional divider can suppress the quantisation noise by 18 dB compared with a conventional fractional‐N PLL.
Performance analysis of free space optical communication in open‐atmospheric turbulence conditions with beam wandering compensation control
Authors: Raj Anthonisamy Arockia Bazil , Durairaj Padmavathi , James Paul Lancelot 
Published: March 2016

Among various atmospheric effects, beam wandering is the main cause for the major power loss in free space optical communication (FSOC) which cannot be resolved without incorporating the beam wandering compensation (BWC) control. To prove this prerequisite, a 155 Mbps data transmission experimental setup is built with necessary optoelectronic components for the link range of 0.5 km at an altitude of 15.25 m. A neuro‐controller is developed inside the field programmable gate array and used to stabilise the received beam at the centre of the detector plane so as to perfectly couple the power in the bucket to the optical detector. The Q‐factor and bit error rate variation profiles are calculated using the signal statistics obtained from the eye‐diagram. The performance improvements on the FSOC system due to the incorporation of BWC control are investigated and discussed in terms of various communication quality assessment key parameters.
Functional identification of a neurocircuit regulating blood glucose
Authors: Meek Thomas H. , Nelson Jarrell T. , Matsen Miles E. , Dorfman Mauricio D. , Guyenet Stephan J. , Damian Vincent , Allison Margaret B. , Scarlett Jarrad M. , Nguyen Hong T. , Thaler Joshua P. , Olson David P. , Myers Martin G. , Schwartz Michael W. , Morton Gregory J. 
Published: March 2016

Significance
Hypoglycemia is an important and frequently encountered complication of diabetes treatment. Here, we identify a subset of neurons located in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, activation of which is both necessary and sufficient to mediate adaptive counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia that return low blood glucose levels into the normal range. These neurons receive ascending input from neurons in the lateral parabrachial nucleus and in turn control blood glucose levels via projections to the anterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Together, this work identifies a previously unrecognized functional neurocircuit involved in glycemic control.
Spatial landmarks regulate a Cdc42-dependent MAPK pathway to control differentiation and the response to positional compromise
Authors: Basu Sukanya , Vadaie Nadia , Prabhakar Aditi , Li Boyang , Adhikari Hema , Pitoniak Andrew , Chow Jacky , Chavel Colin A. , Cullen Paul J. 
Published: March 2016

Significance
We identify a new role for bud-site–selection proteins outside of their established roles in regulating growth site determination, as components of a surveillance pathway that monitors spatial position during intrinsic and extrinsic morphogenetic stress and regulates a Cdc42p- and MAPK-dependent response.
Phase transitions in semidefinite relaxations
Authors: Javanmard Adel , Montanari Andrea , Ricci-Tersenghi Federico 
Published: March 2016

SignificanceModern data analysis requires solving hard optimization problems with a large number of parameters and a large number of constraints. A successful approach is to replace these hard problems by surrogate problems that are convex and hence tractable. Semidefinite programming relaxations offer a powerful method to construct such relaxations. In many instances it was observed that a semidefinite relaxation becomes very accurate when the noise level in the data decreases below a certain threshold. We develop a new method to compute these noise thresholds (or phase transitions) using ideas from statistical physics.
Invasive species triggers a massive loss of ecosystem services through a trophic cascade
Authors: Walsh Jake R. , Carpenter Stephen R. , Vander Zanden M. Jake 
Published: March 2016

SignificanceInvasive species represent a largely unquantified threat to ecosystem services. Although investment in the prevention of species invasions may sustain ecosystem services, these effects of invasions are rarely measured in monetary terms useful to decision makers. We quantify the economic damages of the degradation of an important ecosystem service, water clarity, caused by invasion by the spiny water flea. We find that the costs of restoring this service, US$86.5 million–US$163 million, are comparable with the willingness to pay for the service itself: US$140 million. This finding highlights the severity of invasive species’ impacts when their damages to ecosystem services are considered. Costs of invasive species’ secondary spread aggregated across many invasive species and ecosystem services may be large.
Suramin inhibits cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligases
Authors: Wu Kenneth , Chong Robert A. , Yu Qing , Bai Jin , Spratt Donald E. , Ching Kevin , Lee Chan , Miao Haibin , Tappin Inger , Hurwitz Jerard , Zheng Ning , Shaw Gary S. , Sun Yi , Felsenfeld Dan P. , Sanchez Roberto , Zheng Jun-nian , Pan Zhen-Qiang 
Published: March 2016

Significance
Interactions between E2 and E3 enzymes are key for ubiquitination, but whether such a dynamic association is susceptible to perturbation by small-molecule modulators remains elusive. By demonstrating that suramin can inhibit cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase by disrupting its ability to recruit E2 Cdc34, this work suggests that the E2–E3 interface may be druggable. In addition, suramin is an antitrypansomal drug that also possesses antitumor activity. Our findings have linked the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway to suramin and suggest additional biochemical mode of action for this century-old drug.
Origin of low sodium capacity in graphite and generally weak substrate binding of Na and Mg among alkali and alkaline earth metals
Authors: Liu Yuanyue , Merinov Boris V. , Goddard William A. 
Published: March 2016

Significance
The growing demand for energy storage urges the development of alternative cation batteries, which calls for a systematic understanding of binding energetics. We discover a general phenomenon for binding of alkali and alkaline earth metal atoms with substrates, which is explained in a unified picture of chemical bonding. This allows us to solve the long-standing puzzle of low Na capacity in graphite and predict the trends of battery voltages, and also forms a basis for analyzing the binding of alkali and alkaline earth metal atoms over a broad range of systems.
Vertical distribution of saithe (Pollachius virens) aggregating around fish farms
Authors: Skilbrei O. T. , Otterå H. 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
Floating fish farm installations attract a number of marine species, probably because they provide both shelter and excess feed from the cages. Saithe are by far the most numerous fish visitors to fish farms on the Norwegian coast, and may gather in large numbers beneath the cages, but detailed knowledge of their swimming behaviour is limited. This study examined the vertical movements and distribution of saithe equipped with acoustic transmitters at 15 fish farms over a period of almost 2 years. The saithe aggregating around fish farms displayed behavioural patterns reported from saithe elsewhere; diel rhytms in vertical distribution, reduced activity level at night and seasonality in swimming depth. Typical residence depth was from 25 to 50 m in summer and 60 to 90 m during winter. However, an anomaly was observed, as fish moved 10–20 m closer to the surface during mid-winter. The reason for this is not known, but may be associated with the use of artificial light to illuminate the fish farm sea cages. The fish were usually distributed through ∼100 m of the water column. In 38% of the observations, there was no apparent diel vertical migration pattern, but 46% of the data showed fish either moved up or down during the daylight hours. Interindividual and intersite variability, in preferred night-resting depth, is a possible explanation for the differing vertical migratory patterns. Fish also moved away from fish farms in daytime (16% of all observations), probably to feed elsewhere. The results suggest that saithe establish core residence areas close to fish farms.
Fishing for function: the use of biological traits to evaluate the effects of multispecies fisheries on the functioning of fisheries assemblages
Authors: Koutsidi Martha , Tzanatos Evangelos , Machias Athanassios , Vassilopoulou Vassiliki 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management claims that fisheries management should take into account the ecosystem processes; in that context, it is useful to examine the functional traits of fisheries assemblages. This can be a challenge in multispecies fisheries. We used 21 biological traits of 86 species to investigate the relationship between-species and trait composition and to identify species with rare functional traits. Combining these traits with two catch datasets from the eastern Mediterranean (Patraikos Gulf: small-scale fleet, eastern Ionian Sea: entire multispecies fleet), we investigated whether certain fishing tactics or gears tend to remove specific traits, using multivariate methodologies. Species and traits composition of the catches were related, but an important part of trait variability was not explained by species composition. Rare traits and trait combinations were found for important target or bycatch species. Differences in the traits composition of fishing operations were revealed both between fishing tactics (Patraikos) as well as gears and areas (eastern Ionian); hierarchical clustering and MDS indicated the distinction of purse-seine catches at gear level. SIMPER analysis by trait indicated associations of certain trait categories mainly with purse-seines (at gear level) and longline métiers and a trammel-net métier (at métier level). The identification of rare traits or their combinations can have significant management implications as overfishing of the species with these traits could result in altering assemblage functioning. It seems that the multispecies character of the benthic fisheries results in a balanced trait removal, while management should regulate the effects of purse-seine fisheries on the fisheries assemblage functioning. Further investigation of the functions that fishing may remove from the ecosystem could contribute to understanding the effects of fishing and reveal overlooked aspects useful for the improvement of fisheries management.
Is the problem list in the eye of the beholder? An exploration of consistency across physicians
Authors: Krauss John C , Boonstra Philip S , Vantsevich Anna V , Friedman Charles P 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
Objective Quantify the variability of patients’ problem lists – in terms of the number, type, and ordering of problems – across multiple physicians and assess physicians’ criteria for organizing and ranking diagnoses.
Materials and Methods In an experimental setting, 32 primary care physicians generated and ordered problem lists for three identical complex internal medicine cases expressed as detailed 2- to 4-page abstracts and subsequently expressed their criteria for ordering items in the list. We studied variability in problem list length. We modified a previously validated rank-based similarity measure, with range of zero to one, to quantify agreement between pairs of lists and calculate a single consensus problem list that maximizes agreement with each physician. Physicians’ reasoning for the ordering of the problem lists was recorded.
Results Subjects’ problem lists were highly variable. The median problem list length was 8 (range: 3–14) for Case A, 10 (range: 4–20) for Case B, and 7 (range: 3–13) for Case C. The median indices of agreement – taking into account the length, content, and order of lists – over all possible physician pairings was 0.479, 0.371, 0.509, for Cases A, B, and C, respectively. The median agreements between the physicians’ lists and the consensus list for each case were 0.683, 0.581, and 0.697 (for Cases A, B, and C, respectively).Out of a possible 1488 pairings, 2 lists were identical. Physicians most frequently ranked problem list items based on their acuity and immediate threat to health.
Conclusions The problem list is a physician’s mental model of a patient’s health status. These mental models were found to vary significantly between physicians, raising questions about whether problem lists created by individual physicians can serve their intended purpose to improve care coordination.