bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Inertial Focusing of Microparticles in Curvilinear Microchannels
Authors: Özbey Arzu , Karimzadehkhouei Mehrdad , Akgönül Sarp , Gozuacik Devrim , Koşar Ali 
Published: December 2016

AbstractA passive, continuous and size-dependent focusing technique enabled by “inertial microfluidics”, which takes advantage of hydrodynamic forces, is implemented in this study to focus microparticles. The objective is to analyse the decoupling effects of inertial forces and Dean drag forces on microparticles of different sizes in curvilinear microchannels with inner radius of 800 μm and curvature angle of 280°, which have not been considered in the literature related to inertial microfluidics. This fundamental approach gives insight into the underlying physics of particle dynamics and offers continuous, high-throughput, label-free and parallelizable size-based particle separation. Our design allows the same footprint to be occupied as straight channels, which makes parallelization possible with optical detection integration. This feature is also useful for ultrahigh-throughput applications such as flow cytometers with the advantages of reduced cost and size. The focusing behaviour of 20, 15 and 10 μm fluorescent polystyrene microparticles was examined for different channel Reynolds numbers. Lateral and vertical particle migrations and the equilibrium positions of these particles were investigated in detail, which may lead to the design of novel microfluidic devices with high efficiency and high throughput for particle separation, rapid detection and diagnosis of circulating tumour cells with reduced cost.
Efficacy and safety of thrombopoietin receptor agonists in patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Wang Li , Gao Zhe , Chen Xiao-ping , Zhang Hai-yan , Yang Nan , Wang Fei-yan , Guan Li-xun , Gu Zhen-yang , Zhao Sha-sha , Luo Lan , Wei Hua-ping , Gao Chun-ji 
Published: December 2016

AbstractImmune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease characterized by increased platelet destruction and impaired platelet production. In this study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the efficacy and safety of thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) in primary ITP patients. Thirteen randomized controlled trials were included in this study, the pooled results of which demonstrated that TPO-RAs significantly increased platelet response (R) and durable response (DR) rates [risk ratio (RR): 2.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.01–3.82, P = 5.9 × 10−10; RR: 7.52, 95% CI: 3.94–14.35, P = 9.2 × 10−10; respectively] and that TPO-RAs significantly reduced the incidences of any or severe bleeding events (RR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.67–0.95, P = 0.013; RR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.27–0.99, P = 0.048; respectively). Moreover, our results indicated that there was a significant reduction in the proportion of patients needing rescue medications in the TPO-RA groups compared with the control groups (RR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.42–0.59, P = 2.0 × 10−15) and that the rates of any or severe adverse events were similar between the TPO-RA and control regimens (RR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.92–1.10; RR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.54–1.01; respectively). These findings demonstrate that TPO-RAs are an effective and safe second-line treatment option for primary ITP patients.
Disorder-induced topological phase transitions in two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled superconductors
Authors: Qin Wei , Xiao Di , Chang Kai , Shen Shun-Qing , Zhang Zhenyu 
Published: December 2016

AbstractNormal superconductors with Rashba spin-orbit coupling have been explored as candidate systems of topological superconductors. Here we present a comparative theoretical study of the effects of different types of disorder on the topological phases of two-dimensional Rashba spin-orbit coupled superconductors. First, we show that a topologically trivial superconductor can be driven into a chiral topological superconductor upon diluted doping of isolated magnetic disorder, which close and reopen the quasiparticle gap of the paired electrons in a nontrivial manner. Secondly, the superconducting nature of a topological superconductor is found to be robust against Anderson disorder, but the topological nature is not, converting the system into a topologically trivial state even in the weak scattering limit. These topological phase transitions are distinctly characterized by variations in the topological invariant. We discuss the central findings in connection with existing experiments, and provide new schemes towards eventual realization of topological superconductors.
Macrophages Enhance Migration in Inflammatory Breast Cancer Cells via RhoC GTPase Signaling
Authors: Allen Steven G. , Chen Yu-Chih , Madden Julie M. , Fournier Chelsea L. , Altemus Megan A. , Hiziroglu Ayse B. , Cheng Yu-Heng , Wu Zhi Fen , Bao Liwei , Yates Joel A. , Yoon Euisik , Merajver Sofia D. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractInflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most lethal form of breast cancer. All IBC patients have lymph node involvement and one-third of patients already have distant metastasis at diagnosis. This propensity for metastasis is a hallmark of IBC distinguishing it from less lethal non-inflammatory breast cancers (nIBC). Genetic profiling studies have been conducted to differentiate IBC from nIBC, but no IBC cancer-cell-specific gene signature has been identified. We hypothesized that a tumor-extrinsic factor, notably tumor-associated macrophages, promotes and contributes to IBC’s extreme metastatic phenotype. To this end, we studied the effect of macrophage-conditioned media (MCM) on IBC. We show that two IBC cell lines are hyper-responsive to MCM as compared to normal-like breast and aggressive nIBC cell lines. We further interrogated IBC’s hyper-responsiveness to MCM using a microfluidic migration device, which permits individual cell migration path tracing. We found the MCM “primes” the IBC cells’ cellular machinery to become extremely migratory in response to a chemoattractant. We determined that interleukins −6, −8, and −10 within the MCM are sufficient to stimulate this enhanced IBC migration effect, and that the known metastatic oncogene, RhoC GTPase, is necessary for the enhanced migration response.
Non-binary Colour Modulation for Display Device Based on Phase Change Materials
Authors: Ji Hong-Kai , Tong Hao , Qian Hang , Hui Ya-Juan , Liu Nian , Yan Peng , Miao Xiang-Shui 
Published: December 2016

AbstractA reflective-type display device based on phase change materials is attractive because of its ultrafast response time and high resolution compared with a conventional display device. This paper proposes and demonstrates a unique display device in which multicolour changing can be achieved on a single device by the selective crystallization of double layer phase change materials. The optical contrast is optimized by the availability of a variety of film thicknesses of two phase change layers. The device exhibits a low sensitivity to the angle of incidence, which is important for display and colour consistency. The non-binary colour rendering on a single device is demonstrated for the first time using optical excitation. The device shows the potential for ultrafast display applications.
Prognostic Value of Bone Mineral Density on Curve Progression: A Longitudinal Cohort Study of 513 Girls with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: YIP Benjamin Hon Kei , YU Fiona Wai Ping , WANG Zhiwei , HUNG Vivian Wing Yin , LAM Tsz Ping , NG Bobby Kin Wah , ZHU Feng , CHENG Jack Chun Yiu 
Published: December 2016

AbstractOsteopenia has been found to occur in about 30% of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) patients. This study aimed to investigate its prognostic value on the risk of curve progression to surgical threshold. Newly diagnosed AIS girls (N = 513) with Cobb angle 10°–40° were recruited with follow-up till maturity. Bilateral hips were assessed with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Distal radius of a subgroup of 90 subjects was further assessed with high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT). 55 patients progressed to surgical threshold or underwent spine surgery at the end of follow-up. Cox model with osteopenia status performed significantly better than the model without (p = 0.010). Osteopenic patients had significantly higher risk of surgery (HR2.25, p = 0.011), even after adjustment for menarche status, age and initial Cobb angle. The incremental predictive value of osteopenia was, however, not statistically significant. In the subgroup analysis, cortical bone density was identified as a better marker to improve the sensitivity of the prediction, but requires further larger study to validate this finding. These consistent results of bone density measured at different sites suggest a systemic effect, rather than local effect to the deformed spine, and support to the link of abnormal bone density to the etiopathogenesis in AIS patients.
Local recording of biological magnetic fields using Giant Magneto Resistance-based micro-probes
Authors: Barbieri Francesca , Trauchessec Vincent , Caruso Laure , Trejo-Rosillo Josué , Telenczuk Bartosz , Paul Elodie , Bal Thierry , Destexhe Alain , Fermon Claude , Pannetier-Lecoeur Myriam , Ouanounou Gilles 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe electrical activity of brain, heart and skeletal muscles generates magnetic fields but these are recordable only macroscopically, such as in magnetoencephalography, which is used to map neuronal activity at the brain scale. At the local scale, magnetic fields recordings are still pending because of the lack of tools that can come in contact with living tissues. Here we present bio-compatible sensors based on Giant Magneto-Resistance (GMR) spin electronics. We show on a mouse musclein vitro, using electrophysiology and computational modeling, that this technology permits simultaneous local recordings of the magnetic fields from action potentials. The sensitivity of this type of sensor is almost size independent, allowing the miniaturization and shaping required forin vivo/vitromagnetophysiology. GMR-based technology can constitute the magnetic counterpart of microelectrodes in electrophysiology, and might represent a new fundamental tool to investigate the local sources of neuronal magnetic activity.
Simple reverse genetics systems for Asian and African Zika viruses
Authors: Atieh Thérèse , Baronti Cécile , de Lamballerie Xavier , Nougairède Antoine 
Published: December 2016

AbstractZika virus (ZIKV), a typical example of a re‐emerging pathogen, recently caused large outbreaks in Pacific islands and the Americas, associated with congenital diseases and neurological complications. Deciphering the natural history, ecology and pathophysiology of this mosquito-borne pathogen requires effective reverse genetics tools. In the current study, using the bacterium-free ‘Infectious Subgenomic Amplicons’ (ISA) method, we generated and made available to the scientific community via the non-profit European Virus Archive collection, two simple and performing reverse genetics systems for ZIKV. One is based on an Asian ZIKV strain belonging to the outbreak lineage (French Polynesia 2013). The second was designed from the sequence of a low-passaged ZIKV African strain (Dakar 1984). Using the ISA procedure, we derived wild-type and a variety of specifically engineered ZIKVs in days (intra- and inter-lineage chimeras). Since they are based on low-passaged ZIKV strains, these engineered viruses provide ideal tools to study the effect of genetic changes observed in different evolutionary time-scales of ZIKV as well as pathophysiology of ZIKV infections.
Brain tissue banking for stem cells for our future
Authors: Palmero Emily , Palmero Sheryl , Murrell Wayne 
Published: December 2016

AbstractIn our lab we study neurogenesis and the development of brain tumors. We work towards treatment strategies for glioblastoma and towards using autologous neural stem cells for tissue regeneration strategies for brain damage and neurodegenerative disorders. It has been our policy to try to establish living cell cultures from all human biopsy material that we obtain. We hypothesized that small pieces of brain tissue could be cryopreserved and that live neural stem cells could be recovered at a later time. DMSO has been shown to possess a remarkable ability to diffuse through cell membranes and pass into cell interiors. Its chemical properties prevent the formation of damaging ice crystals thus allowing cell storage at or below −180 C. We report here a protocol for successful freezing of small pieces of tissue derived from human brain and human brain tumours. Virtually all specimens could be successfully revived. Assays of phenotype and behaviour show that the cell cultures derived were equivalent to those cultures previously derived from fresh tissue.
Serum soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor as a biological marker of bacterial infection in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Ni Wentao , Han Yuliang , Zhao Jin , Cui Junchang , Wang Kai , Wang Rui , Liu Youning 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe serum concentration of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) reflects immune activation. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the usefulness of suPAR for the diagnosis and prognosis of bacterial infections. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies reporting the detection of suPAR in adult patients with bacterial infections. Seventeen studies were selected from 671 studies. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of suPAR for diagnosing infection were 0.73 and 0.79, respectively, and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.82. Subgroup analyses revealed suPAR showed similar AUC values for diagnosing sepsis and bacteremia, but the AUC for differentiating sepsis from systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) was only 0.68. Elevated suPAR levels were significantly associated with a high risk of death, with a pooled risk ratio of 3.37 (95% confidence interval, 2.60–4.38). The pooled sensitivity and specificity for predicting mortality were 0.70 and 0.72, respectivfely, with an AUC of 0.77. Serum suPAR could be a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of bacterial infection, but it is relatively ineffective for differentiating sepsis from SIRS. Further investigation is required to evaluate whether using of suPAR in combination with other biomarkers can improve diagnostic efficacy.
Student Misconceptions and Vocabulary Mix-ups: Speech Science at the Nexus
Authors: Boyce Suzanne 
Published: December 2016

Purpose
The immediate purpose of this article is to describe how the meaning of terms used in the speech science classroom may conflict with different terminology used in ordinary conversation and in more specialized areas of practice. The ultimate aim is to enable teachers to head off these potential confusions when teaching speech science, and to consider such confusions when untangling wrong answers from students.

Method
Several examples of confusing terminology are discussed: Resonance, Constriction, Aspiration.

Conclusion
Students and teachers have a hard job of disentangling the terminology used in the communication disorders classroom. Teachers should be aware of these potential confusions and take steps to reduce or elucidate them.
Performance differences between electroacoustic and electric alone cochlear stimulation using complex tests in noise. A pilot study
Authors: Cantore Italo , De Nicola Carmen , Santandrea Alessandro , Carelli Gabriella , Valente Paola , Santandrea Lorenzo , Cantore Rocco 
Published: December 2016

Objectives:
Hybrid cochlear implants enable very interesting performances in bisyllabic words recognition, mainly in noisy conditions. In this paper, we studied patients with implants performing some very difficult timbric tasks in quiet and noisy conditions.

Methods:
We studied three adult patients with hybrid implants (group A-hybrid implants) and three adult patients with traditional ones (group B-traditional implants). We made the following tests (in quiet and noise): bisyllabic words recognition; voice kind recognition; common melodies identification and recognition; musical instrument identification and recognition.

Results:
Mean results in quiet: test 1: 35% A, 47% B; test 2: 92% A, 42% B; test 3: identification scores 88% A, 100% B, recognition scores: 37.5% A, 50% B; test 4 identification scores 50% A, 20% B, recognition scores 30% A, 20% B. As for tests in noise: test 1: 28% A, 46% B; test 2: 75% A, 25% B; test 3: identification 81% A, 87.5% B and recognition 56% A, 50% B; test 4: identification 60% A, 30% B and recognition 50% A, 20% B.

Conclusion:
Patients with hybrid implants seem to have better results, mainly in noisy timbric tasks. This could be explained by the better quality of low frequency stimulation and could be an encouragement for further studies and a larger diffusion of this kind of implant in the future.
A statistical study of giant molecular clouds traced by 13CO, C18O, CS, and CH3OH in the disk of NGC 1068 based on ALMA observations
Authors: Tosaki Tomoka , Kohno Kotaro , Harada Nanase , Tanaka Kunihiko , Egusa Fumi , Izumi Takuma , Takano Shuro , Nakajima Taku , Taniguchi Akio , Tamura Yoichi 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
We present 1${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$4 (98 pc) resolution ALMA observations of 13CO(J = 1–0), C18O(J = 1–0), CS(J = 2–1), and CH3OH(JK = 2K–1K) molecular rotational lines in the central 1΄ (4.2 kpc) diameter region of NGC 1068 to study the physical and chemical properties of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and to test whether these GMC-scale properties are linked to the larger-scale galactic environment. Using the derived 13CO cube, we have identified 187 high-significance (&gt;8 σ) GMCs by employing the CLUMPFIND algorithm. The molecular gas masses of GMCs ($M_{\rm ^{13}CO}$), derived from the 13CO data, range from 1.8 × 104 M⊙ to 4.2 × 107 M⊙. A mass function of GMCs in NGC 1068 has been obtained for the first time at ∼100 pc resolution. We find the slope of the mass function γ = −1.25 ± 0.07 for a mass range of $M_{\rm ^{13}CO} \ge 10^{5}$ M⊙. This is shallower than the GMCs in the disk regions of the Milky Way, M 51, and NGC 300. Further, we find that the high mass cut-off of the GMC mass function occurs at $M_{\rm ^{13}CO} \sim 6 \times 10^{7}$ M⊙, which is an order of magnitude larger than that in the nuclear bar region of M 51, indicating that the more massive clouds dominate the mass budget in NGC 1068. The observed C18O(J = 1–0)/13CO(J = 1–0) intensity ratios are found to be fairly uniform (0.27 ± 0.05) among the identified GMCs. In contrast, the CH3OH(JK = 2K–1K)/13CO(J = 1–0) ratios exhibit striking spatial variation across the disk, with the smallest values around the bar-end (&lt;0.03), and larger ratios along the spiral arms (∼0.1–0.2). We find that GMCs with detectable methanol emission tend to have systematically larger velocity widths than those without methanol emission, suggesting that (relatively weak) shocks are responsible for the enhancement of the CH3OH/13CO ratios of GMCs in the disk of NGC 1068.
Differentiation of human induced pluripotent or embryonic stem cells decreases the DNA damage response
Authors: Mujoo Kalpana , Pandita Raj K. , Tiwari Anjana , Charaka Vijay , Chakraborty Sharmistha , Hittelman Walter N. , Horikoshi Nobuo , Hunt Clayton R. , Khanna Kum Kum , Kots Alexander Y. , Butler E. Brian , Murad Ferid , Pandita Tej K. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractGenomic integrity is critical for preservation of stem cell function and is, maintained through a robust DNA damage response (DDR) with systemized DNA DSB repair by either the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway or the homologous recombination (HR) pathway. To examine DDR during stem cell differentiation, human embryonic (hES) and induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells were exposed to DNA damaging agents and DNA damage signaling/repair measured. Differentiated cells displayed a higher frequency of residual DNA damage, chromosomal aberrations, cells with delayed γ-H2AX foci disappearance and a reduced number of RAD51 foci. Factors impacting DNA DSB repair by HR formed reduced foci in differentiated cells. The reduction in repairosome foci formation after DNA damage was not due to changes in HR protein levels, which were unchanged by differentiation. Differentiated cells also displayed a higher frequency of stalled DNA replication forks and decreased firing of new replication origins from transient inhibition of DNA synthesis by hydroxyurea treatment. In addition, we observed that differentiated cells exhibit a higher frequency of R-loops. A similar decline in DDR was observed as early stage mouse astrocytes differentiated into later stage astrocytes. Our studies thus suggest that DSB repair by homologous recombination is increasingly impaired during stem cell differentiation while the NHEJ pathway is minimally altered.
Deep sequencing of natural and experimental populations ofDrosophila melanogasterreveals biases in the spectrum of new mutations
Authors: Assaf Zoe June , Tilk Susanne , Park Jane , Siegal Mark L. , Petrov Dmitri A. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractMutations provide the raw material of evolution, and thus our ability to study evolution depends fundamentally on whether we have precise measurements of mutational rates and patterns. Here we explore the rates and patterns of mutations using i)de novomutations fromDrosophila melanogastermutation accumulation lines and ii) polymorphisms segregating at extremely low frequencies. The first, mutation accumulation (MA) lines, are the product of maintaining flies in tiny populations for many generations, therefore rendering natural selection ineffective and allowing new mutations to accrue in the genome. In addition to generating a novel dataset of sequenced MA lines, we perform a meta-analysis of all published MA studies inD. melanogaster, which allows more precise estimates of mutational patterns across the genome. In the second half of this work, we identify polymorphisms segregating at extremely low frequencies using several publicly available population genomic data sets from natural populations ofD. melanogaster. Extremely rare polymorphisms are difficult to detect with high confidence due to the problem of distinguishing them from sequencing error, however a dataset of true rare polymorphisms would allow the quantification of mutational patterns. This is due to the fact that rare polymorphisms, much likede novomutations, are on average younger and also relatively unaffected by the filter of natural selection. We identify a high quality set of ~70,000 rare polymorphisms, fully validated with resequencing, and use this dataset to measure mutational patterns in the genome. This includes identifying a high rate of multi-nucleotide mutation events at both short (~5bp) and long (~1kb) genomic distances, showing that mutation drives GC content lower in already GC-poor regions, and finding that the context-dependency of the mutation spectrum predicts long-term evolutionary patterns at four-fold synonymous sites. We also show thatde novomutations from independent mutation accumulation experiments display similar patterns of single nucleotide mutation, and match well the patterns of mutation found in natural populations.