bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Crumpling-based soft metamaterials: the effects of sheet pore size and porosity
Authors: Mirzaali M. J. , Habibi M. , Janbaz S. , Vergani L. , Zadpoor A. A. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractCrumpled-based materials are relatively easy to fabricate and show robust mechanical properties for practical applications, including meta-biomaterials design aimed for improved tissue regeneration. For such requests, however, the structure needs to be porous. We introduce a crumpled holey thin sheet as a robust bio-metamaterial and measure the mechanical response of a crumpled holey thin Mylar sheet as a function of the hole size and hole area fraction. We also study the formation of patterns of crease lines and ridges. The area fraction largely dominated the crumpling mechanism. We also show, the crumpling exponents slightly increases with increasing the hole area fraction and the total perimeter of the holes. Finally, hole edges were found to limit and guide the propagation of crease lines and ridges.
Virus and host-specific differences in oral human herpesvirus shedding kinetics among Ugandan women and children
Authors: Matrajt Laura , Gantt Soren , Mayer Bryan T. , Krantz Elizabeth M. , Orem Jackson , Wald Anna , Corey Lawrence , Schiffer Joshua T. , Casper Corey 
Published: October 2017

AbstractHuman herpesviruses (HHV) establish lifelong latent infection and are transmitted primarily via shedding at mucosal surfaces. Each HHV causes a unique spectrum of disease depending on the infected individual’s age and immunity. We collected weekly oral swabs from young children and mothers in 32 Ugandan households for a median of one year. We characterized kinetics of oral shedding during primary and chronic infection for each virus. Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and HHV-6 were shed at high rates following primary infection. The rate of oral herpes simplex virus (HSV) shedding was lower overall, and children and mothers with chronic HSV infection had lower shedding rates than children with primary infection. CMV shedding rate and viral load were higher in children with primary infection compared to children with chronic infection, and even lower in mothers with chronic infection. HHV-6 shedding rate and viral load were similar between children with primary or chronic infection, but lower in mothers. EBV shedding rate and quantity decreased less dramatically in mothers versus children, with HIV-positive mothers shedding at a higher rate than HIV-negative mothers. Each HHV has a distinct pattern of oral shedding which depends partially on the age and immune status of the host.
Plane of nutrition affects the phylogenetic diversity and relative abundance of transcriptionally active methanogens in the bovine rumen
Authors: McGovern Emily , McCabe Matthew S. , Cormican Paul , Popova Milka , Keogh Kate , Kelly Alan K. , Kenny David A. , Waters Sinead M. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractMethane generated during enteric fermentation in ruminant livestock species is a major contributor to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. A period of moderate feed restriction followed by ad libitum access to feed is widely applied in cattle management to exploit the animal’s compensatory growth potential and reduce feed costs. In the present study, we utilised microbial RNA from rumen digesta samples to assess the phylogenetic diversity of transcriptionally active methanogens from feed-restricted and non-restricted animals. To determine the contribution of different rumen methanogens to methanogenesis during dietary restriction of cattle, we conducted high-throughput mcrA cDNA amplicon sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq and analysed both the abundance and phylogenetic origin of different mcrA cDNA sequences. When compared to their unrestricted contemporaries, in feed-restricted animals, the methanogenic activity, based on mcrA transcript abundance, of Methanobrevibacter gottschalkii clade increased while the methanogenic activity of the Methanobrevibacter ruminantium clade and members of the Methanomassiliicoccaceae family decreased. This study shows that the quantity of feed consumed can evoke large effects on the composition of methanogenically active species in the rumen of cattle. These data potentially have major implications for targeted CH4 mitigation approaches such as anti-methanogen vaccines and/or tailored dietary management.
Cibinetide dampens innate immune cell functions thus ameliorating the course of experimental colitis
Authors: Nairz Manfred , Haschka David , Dichtl Stefanie , Sonnweber Thomas , Schroll Andrea , Aßhoff Malte , Mindur John E. , Moser Patrizia L. , Wolf Dominik , Swirski Filip K. , Theurl Igor , Cerami Anthony , Brines Michael , Weiss Günter 
Published: October 2017

AbstractTwo distinct forms of the erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) mediate the cellular responses to erythropoietin (EPO) in different tissues. EPOR homodimers signal to promote the maturation of erythroid progenitor cells. In other cell types, including immune cells, EPOR and the ß-common receptor (CD131) form heteromers (the innate repair receptor; IRR), and exert tissue protective effects. We used dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) to induce colitis in C57BL/6 N mice. Once colitis was established, mice were treated with solvent, EPO or the selective IRR agonist cibinetide. We found that both cibinetide and EPO ameliorated the clinical course of experimental colitis in mice, resulting in improved weight gain and survival. Correspondingly, DSS-exposed mice treated with cibinetide or EPO displayed preserved tissue integrity due to reduced infiltration of myeloid cells and diminished production of pro-inflammatory disease mediators including cytokines, chemokines and nitric oxide synthase-2. Experiments using LPS-activated primary macrophages revealed that the anti-inflammatory effects of cibinetide were dependent on CD131 and JAK2 functionality and were mediated via inhibition of NF-κB subunit p65 activity. Cibinetide activation of the IRR exerts potent anti-inflammatory effects, especially within the myeloid population, reduces disease activity and mortality in mice. Cibinetide thus holds promise as novel disease-modifying therapeutic of inflammatory bowel disease.
Response of microbial biomass and CO2-C loss to wetting patterns are temperature dependent in a semi-arid soil
Authors: Rui Yichao , Gleeson Deirdre B. , Murphy Daniel V. , Hoyle Frances C. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractOne of the greatest contemporary challenges in terrestrial ecology is to determine the impact of climate change on the world’s ecosystems. Here we investigated how wetting patterns (frequency and intensity) and nutrient additions altered microbial biomass and CO2-C loss from a semi-arid soil. South-western Australia is predicted to experience declining annual rainfall but increased frequency of summer rainfall events when soil is fallow. Agricultural soils (0–10 cm at 10 °C or 25 °C) received the same total amount of water (15 mL over 30 days) applied at different frequency; with either nil or added nitrogen and phosphorus. Smaller more frequent wetting applications resulted in less CO2-C loss (P < 0.001); with cumulative CO2-C loss 35% lower than a single wetting event. This coincided with increased microbial biomass C at 25 °C but a decline at 10 °C. Increasing nutrient availability decreased CO2-C loss only under a single larger wetting event. While bacterial and fungal abundance remained unchanged, archaeal abundance and laccase-like copper monooxidase gene abundance increased with more frequent wetting at 25 °C. Our findings suggest smaller more frequent summer rainfall may decrease CO2emissions compared to infrequent larger events; and enhance microbial C use efficiency where sufficient background soil organic matter and nutrients are available.
Achilles tendon compositional and structural properties are altered after unloading by botox
Authors: Khayyeri Hanifeh , Blomgran Parmis , Hammerman Malin , Turunen Mikael J. , Löwgren Annika , Guizar-Sicairos Manuel , Aspenberg Per , Isaksson Hanna 
Published: October 2017

AbstractTendon function and homeostasis rely on external loading. This study investigates the biological mechanisms behind tendon biomechanical function and how the mechanical performance is affected by reduced daily loading. The Achilles tendons of 16 weeks old female Sprague Dawley rats (n = 40) were unloaded for 5 weeks by inducing muscle paralysis with botulinum toxin injections in the right gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. The contralateral side was used as control. After harvest, the tendons underwent biomechanical testing to assess viscoelasticity (n = 30 rats) and small angle X-ray scattering to determine the structural properties of the collagen fibrils (n = 10 rats). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and histological staining (n = 10 rats) were performed to investigate the collagen and proteoglycan content. The results show that the stiffness increased in unloaded tendons, together with an increased collagen content. Creep and axial alignment of the collagen fibers were reduced. Stress-relaxation increased whereas hysteresis was reduced in response to unloading with botox treatment. Our findings indicate that altered matrix deposition relies on mechanical loading to reorganize the newly formed tissue, without which the viscoelastic behavior is impaired. The results demonstrate that reduced daily loading deprives tendons of their viscoelastic properties, which could increase the risk of injury.
A new semi-supervised learning model combined with Cox and SP-AFT models in cancer survival analysis
Authors: Chai Hua , Li Zi-na , Meng De-yu , Xia Liang-yong , Liang Yong 
Published: October 2017

AbstractGene selection is an attractive and important task in cancer survival analysis. Most existing supervised learning methods can only use the labeled biological data, while the censored data (weakly labeled data) far more than the labeled data are ignored in model building. Trying to utilize such information in the censored data, a semi-supervised learning framework (Cox-AFT model) combined with Cox proportional hazard (Cox) and accelerated failure time (AFT) model was used in cancer research, which has better performance than the single Cox or AFT model. This method, however, is easily affected by noise. To alleviate this problem, in this paper we combine the Cox-AFT model with self-paced learning (SPL) method to more effectively employ the information in the censored data in a self-learning way. SPL is a kind of reliable and stable learning mechanism, which is recently proposed for simulating the human learning process to help the AFT model automatically identify and include samples of high confidence into training, minimizing interference from high noise. Utilizing the SPL method produces two direct advantages: (1) The utilization of censored data is further promoted; (2) the noise delivered to the model is greatly decreased. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model compared to the traditional Cox-AFT model.
Chemosensing of honeybee parasite, Varroa destructor: Transcriptomic analysis
Authors: Eliash Nurit , Singh Nitin K. , Thangarajan Starlin , Sela Noa , Leshkowitz Dena , Kamer Yosi , Zaidman Ilia , Rafaeli Ada , Soroker Victoria 
Published: October 2017

AbstractChemosensing is a primary sense in nature, however little is known about its mechanism in Chelicerata. As a model organism we used the mite Varroa destructor, a key parasite of honeybees. Here we describe a transcriptomic analysis of two physiological stages for the Varroa foreleg, the site of primary olfactory organ. The transcriptomic analysis revealed transcripts of chemosensory related genes belonging to several groups. These include Niemann-Pick disease protein, type C2 (NPC2), gustatory receptors (GRs), ionotropic receptors (IRs), sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs) and odorant binding proteins (OBP). However, no insect odorant receptors (ORs) and odorant co-receptors (ORcos) were found. In addition, we identified a homolog of the most ancient IR co-receptor, IR25a, in Varroa as well as in other members of Acari. High expression of this transcript in the mite’s forelegs, while not detectable in the other pairs of legs, suggests a function for this IR25a-like in Varroa chemosensing.
Subcortical Facilitation of Behavioral Responses to Threat
Authors: Vida Mark D. , Behrmann Marlene 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBehavioral responses to threat are critical to survival. Several cortical and subcortical brain regions respond selectively to threat. However, the relation of these neural responses and their underlying representations to behavior is unclear. We examined the contribution of lower-order subcortical representations to behavioral responses to threat in adult humans. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants viewed pairs of images presented to the same eye or to different eyes. We observed a monocular advantage, which indicates subcortical facilitation, for ancestral threats (snakes, spiders), but not for modern threats, positive images, or neutral images. In Experiment 3, we presented pairs of snakes or neutral images into the temporal or nasal hemifield. For snakes only, we observed a temporal hemifield advantage, which indicates facilitation by the retino-tectal subcortical pathway. These results advance the current understanding of processing of threat by adult humans by revealing the characteristics of behaviors driven by a lower-order neural mechanism that is specialized for the processing of ancestral threats. The results also contribute to ongoing debates concerning the biological generality of neural mechanisms for processing of complex, emotionally-relevant stimuli by providing evidence for conservation of lower-order neural mechanisms for processing of ancestral threats across both ontogeny and phylogeny.
Evaluating the importance of metamorphism in the foundering of continental crust
Authors: Chapman Timothy , Clarke Geoffrey L. , Piazolo Sandra , Daczko Nathan R. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe metamorphic conditions and mechanisms required to induce foundering in deep arc crust are assessed using an example of representative lower crust in SW New Zealand. Composite plutons of Cretaceous monzodiorite and gabbro were emplaced at ~1.2 and 1.8 GPa are parts of the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO); examples of the plutons are tectonically juxtaposed along a structure that excised ~25 km of crust. The 1.8 GPa Breaksea Orthogneiss includes suitably dense minor components (e.g. eclogite) capable of foundering at peak conditions. As the eclogite facies boundary has a positive dP/dT, cooling from supra-solidus conditions (T > 950 ºC) at high-P should be accompanied by omphacite and garnet growth. However, a high monzodioritic proportion and inefficient metamorphism in the Breaksea Orthogneiss resulted in its positive buoyancy and preservation. Metamorphic inefficiency and compositional relationships in the 1.2 GPa Malaspina Pluton meant it was never likely to have developed densities sufficiently high to founder. These relationships suggest that the deep arc crust must have primarily involved significant igneous accumulation of garnet–clinopyroxene (in proportions >75%). Crustal dismemberment with or without the development of extensional shear zones is proposed to have induced foundering of excised cumulate material at P > 1.2 GPa.
Highly efficient cellular cloning using Ferro-core Micropallet Arrays
Authors: Westerhof Trisha M. , Cox-Muranami Wesley A. , Li Guann-Pyng , Bachman Mark , Fan Hung , Nelson Edward L. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAdvancing knowledge of biological mechanisms has come to depend upon genetic manipulation of cells and organisms, relying upon cellular cloning methods that remain unchanged for decades, are labor and time intensive, often taking many months to come to fruition. Thus, there is a pressing need for more efficient processes. We have adapted a newly developed micropallet array platform, termed the “ferro-core micropallet array”, to dramatically improve and accelerate the process of isolating clonal populations of adherent cells from heterogeneous mixtures retaining the flexibility of employing a wide range of cytometric parameters for identifying colonies and cells of interest. Using transfected (retroviral oncogene or fluorescent reporter construct) rat 208 F cells, we demonstrated the capacity to isolate and expand pure populations of genetically manipulated cells via laser release and magnetic recovery of single micropallets carrying adherent microcolonies derived from single cells. This platform can be broadly applied to biological research, across the spectrum of molecular biology to cellular biology, involving fields such as cancer, developmental, and stem cell biology. The ferro-core micropallet array platform provides significant advantages over alternative sorting and cloning methods by eliminating the necessity for repetitive purification steps and increasing throughput by dramatically shortening the time to obtain clonally expanded cell colonies.
The equivalent internal orientation and position noise for contour integration
Authors: Baldwin Alex S. , Fu Minnie , Farivar Reza , Hess Robert F. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractContour integration is the joining-up of local responses to parts of a contour into a continuous percept. In typical studies observers detect contours formed of discrete wavelets, presented against a background of random wavelets. This measures performance for detecting contours in the limiting external noise that background provides. Our novel task measures contour integration without requiring any background noise. This allowed us to perform noise-masking experiments using orientation and position noise. From these we measure the equivalent internal noise for contour integration. We found an orientation noise of 6° and position noise of 3 arcmin. Orientation noise was 2.6x higher in contour integration compared to an orientation discrimination control task. Comparing against a position discrimination task found position noise in contours to be 2.4x lower. This suggests contour integration involves intermediate processing that enhances the quality of element position representation at the expense of element orientation. Efficiency relative to the ideal observer was lower for the contour tasks (36% in orientation noise, 21% in position noise) compared to the controls (54% and 57%).
RIFS: a randomly restarted incremental feature selection algorithm
Authors: Ye Yuting , Zhang Ruochi , Zheng Weiwei , Liu Shuai , Zhou Fengfeng 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe advent of big data era has imposed both running time and learning efficiency challenges for the machine learning researchers. Biomedical OMIC research is one of these big data areas and has changed the biomedical research drastically. But the high cost of data production and difficulty in participant recruitment introduce the paradigm of “large p small n” into the biomedical research. Feature selection is usually employed to reduce the high number of biomedical features, so that a stable data-independent classification or regression model may be achieved. This study randomly changes the first element of the widely-used incremental feature selection (IFS) strategy and selects the best feature subset that may be ranked low by the statistical association evaluation algorithms, e.g. t-test. The hypothesis is that two low-ranked features may be orchestrated to achieve a good classification performance. The proposed Randomly re-started Incremental Feature Selection (RIFS) algorithm demonstrates both higher classification accuracy and smaller feature number than the existing algorithms. RIFS also outperforms the existing methylomic diagnosis model for the prostate malignancy with a larger accuracy and a lower number of transcriptomic features.
Embroidered Copper Microwire Current Collector for Improved Cycling Performance of Silicon Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries
Authors: Breitung Ben , Aguiló-Aguayo Noemí , Bechtold Thomas , Hahn Horst , Janek Jürgen , Brezesinski Torsten 
Published: October 2017

AbstractSi holds great promise as an alloying anode material for Li-ion batteries with improved energy density because of its high theoretical specific capacity and favorable operation voltage range. However, the large volume expansion of Si during electrochemical reaction with Li and the associated adverse effects strongly limit its prospect for application. Here, we report on the use of three-dimensional instead of flat current collectors for high-capacity Si anodes in an attempt to mitigate the loss of electrical contact of active electrode regions as a result of structural disintegration with cycling. The current collectors were produced by technical embroidery and consist of interconnected Cu wires of diameter <150 µm. In comparison to Si/Li cells using a conventional Cu foil current collector, the embroidered microwire network-based cells show much enhanced capacity and reversibility due to a higher degree of tolerance to cycling.
Multiple Approaches Detect the Presence of Fungi in Human Breastmilk Samples from Healthy Mothers
Authors: Boix-Amorós Alba , Martinez-Costa Cecilia , Querol Amparo , Collado Maria Carmen , Mira Alex 
Published: October 2017

AbstractHuman breastmilk contains a variety of bacteria that are transmitted to the infant and have been suggested to contribute to gut microbiota development and immune maturation. However, the characterization of fungal organisms in milk from healthy mothers is currently unknown although their presence has been reported in the infant gut and also in milk from other mammals. Breastmilk samples from healthy lactating mothers (n = 65) within 1 month after birth were analyzed. Fungal presence was assessed by different techniques, including microscopy, growth and identification of cultured isolates, fungal load estimation by qPCR, and fungal composition using 28S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. In addition, milk macronutrients and human somatic cells were quantified by spectrophotometry and cytometry. qPCR data showed that 89% of samples had detectable levels of fungal DNA, at an estimated median load of 3,5 × 105 cells/ml, potentially including both viable and non-viable fungi. Using different culture media, 33 strains were isolated and identified, confirming the presence of viable fungal species. Pyrosequencing results showed that the most common genera were Malassezia (44%), followed by Candida (19%) and Saccharomyces (12%). Yeast cells were observed by fluorescence microscopy. Future work should study the origin of these fungi and their potential contribution to infant health.
Coherent coupling between Vanadyl Phthalocyanine spin ensemble and microwave photons: towards integration of molecular spin qubits into quantum circuits
Authors: Bonizzoni C. , Ghirri A. , Atzori M. , Sorace L. , Sessoli R. , Affronte M. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractElectron spins are ideal two-level systems that may couple with microwave photons so that, under specific conditions, coherent spin-photon states can be realized. This represents a fundamental step for the transfer and the manipulation of quantum information. Along with spin impurities in solids, molecular spins in concentrated phases have recently shown coherent dynamics under microwave stimuli. Here we show that it is possible to obtain high cooperativity regime between a molecular Vanadyl Phthalocyanine (VOPc) spin ensemble and a high quality factor superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) coplanar resonator at 0.5 K. This demonstrates that molecular spin centers can be successfully integrated in hybrid quantum devices.