bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clostridium difficile Infection Among Veterans Health Administration Patients
Authors: Young-Xu Yinong , Kuntz Jennifer L , Gerding Dale N. , Neily Julia , Mills Peter , Dubberke Erik R. , Olsen Margaret A. , Kelly Ciarán P. , Mahé Cédric 
Published: June 2015

OBJECTIVETo report on the prevalence and incidence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) from 2009 to 2013 among Veterans Healthcare Administration patientsDESIGNA retrospective descriptive analysis of data extracted from a large electronic medical record (EMR) databaseSETTINGData were acquired from VHA healthcare records from 2009 to 2013 that included outpatient clinical visits, long-term care, and hospitalized care as well as pharmacy and laboratory information.RESULTSIn 2009, there were 10,207 CDI episodes, and in 2013, there were 12,143 CDI episodes, an increase of 19.0%. The overall CDI rate increased by 8.4% from 193 episodes per 100,000 patient years in 2009 to 209 episodes per 100,000 patient years in 2013. Of the CDI episodes identified in 2009, 58% were identified during a hospitalization, and 42% were identified in an outpatient setting. In 2013, 44% of the CDI episodes were identified in an outpatient setting.CONCLUSIONThis is one of the largest studies that has utilized timely EMR data to describe the current CDI epidemiology at the VHA. Despite an aging population with greater burden of comorbidity than the general US population, our data show that VHA CDI rates stabilized between 2011 and 2013 following increases likely attributable to the introduction of the more sensitive nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). The findings in this report will help establish an accurate benchmark against which both current and future VA CDI prevention initiatives can be measured.Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;36(9):1038–1045
Ruralism, Masculinity, and National Identity: The Rambling Clerk in Fiction, 1900–1940
Authors: Bishop Nicola 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThis article examines the place of the literary lower-middle-class clerk in the English landscape between ca. 1900 and 1940. It draws attention to “clerical literature”—as typified in works by Arnold Bennett, H. G. Wells, and Shan Bullock—and, more specifically, a subgenre that signposts the emergent interest in getting “back to the land.” At the heart of this subgenre of “rambling fiction,” the male clerical protagonist not only engages with the natural landscape on a journey through rural England but also explores notions of masculinity, heritage, and national identity. By focusing on middlebrow works, largely those written by former clerks themselves, this article argues that clerks were pioneers in drawing connections between a re-masculating exposure to the great outdoors—necessary for suburban, domesticated, office workers—and an appreciation of a particular palimpsest of England's history. In doing so, the clerk helped to popularize the continued association of medievalism, the South of England, and the rural “idyll.”
Reading, Writing, and Initialing: Female Literacy in Early Modern London
Authors: Hubbard Eleanor 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThis article reopens the vexed question of how many women in early modern England could read by calling attention to the precise ways in which women marked, initialed, and signed legal depositions in late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century London. It shows that initialing and signing were closely correlated skills, and it argues that women who wrote their initials had begun to learn how to read. Using initials as a proxy for elementary reading literacy, it goes on to map female literacy in early modern London, showing that urban upbringings fostered female literacy and that reading literacy was far more broadly socially diffused than the ability to write. Changes in initialing patterns as women aged suggest that women found reading to be useful and relevant to their lives, and that literacy carried social prestige.
Caught between heredity and merit: the amir Qūṣūn and the legacy of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn (d. 1341)
Authors: Van Steenbergen Jo 
Published: June 2015

AbstractFrom medieval times until today ideas of heredity through lineage and of merit through slave status have jostled for pre-eminence as explanations for transitions of Mamluk royal authority. This article contributes to this debate through an analysis of events in late 1341 marking the transition from the reign of one of the sultanate's most successful rulers, al-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn, to that of his sons. This is achieved by focusing on the whereabouts of one of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad's most powerful agents, Qūṣūn al-Sāqī al-Nāṣirī, and on how this amir monopolized power in Egypt and Syria in such a way that his accession to the sultanate seemed inevitable. The article then demonstrates how things went wrong for Qūṣūn and how his failed attempt to obtain the sultanate triggered a Qalāwūnid dynastic succession practice that was to remain dominant for many decades.
Floods and armed conflict
Authors: Ghimire Ramesh , Ferreira Susana 
Published: June 2015

AbstractWe estimate the impact of large, catastrophic floods on internal armed conflict using global data on large floods between 1985 and 2009. The results suggest that while large floods did not ignite new conflict, they fueled existing armed conflicts. Floods and armed conflict are endogenously determined, and we show that empirically addressing this endogeneity is important. The estimated effects of floods on conflict prevalence are substantially larger in specifications that control for the endogeneity of floods, suggesting that treating natural disasters as exogenous phenomena may underestimate their impacts on sociopolitical outcomes.
Matched Backprojection Operator for Combined Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Tilt- and Focal Series
Authors: Dahmen Tim , Kohr Holger , de Jonge Niels , Slusallek Philipp 
Published: June 2015

AbstractCombined tilt- and focal series scanning transmission electron microscopy is a recently developed method to obtain nanoscale three-dimensional (3D) information of thin specimens. In this study, we formulate the forward projection in this acquisition scheme as a linear operator and prove that it is a generalization of the Ray transform for parallel illumination. We analytically derive the corresponding backprojection operator as the adjoint of the forward projection. We further demonstrate that the matched backprojection operator drastically improves the convergence rate of iterative 3D reconstruction compared to the case where a backprojection based on heuristic weighting is used. In addition, we show that the 3D reconstruction is of better quality.
Symbiosis with an endobacterium increases the fitness of a mycorrhizal fungus, raising its bioenergetic potential
Authors: Salvioli Alessandra , Ghignone Stefano , Novero Mara , Navazio Lorella , Venice Francesco , Bagnaresi Paolo , Bonfante Paola 
Published: June 2015

Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) occur in the rhizosphere and in plant tissues as obligate symbionts, having key roles in plant evolution and nutrition. AMF possess endobacteria, and genome sequencing of the endobacterium Candidatus Glomeribacter gigasporarum revealed a reduced genome and a dependence on the fungal host. To understand the effect of bacteria on fungal fitness, we used next-generation sequencing to analyse the transcriptional profile of Gigaspora margarita in the presence and in the absence of its endobacterium. Genomic data on AMF are limited; therefore, we first generated a gene catalogue for G. margarita. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the endobacterium has a stronger effect on the pre-symbiotic phase of the fungus. Coupling transcriptomics with cell biology and physiological approaches, we demonstrate that the bacterium increases the fungal sporulation success, raises the fungal bioenergetic capacity, increasing ATP production, and eliciting mechanisms to detoxify reactive oxygen species. By using TAT peptide to translocate the bioluminescent calcium reporter aequorin, we demonstrated that the line with endobacteria had a lower basal intracellular calcium concentration than the cured line. Lastly, the bacteria seem to enhance the fungal responsiveness to strigolactones, the plant molecules that AMF perceive as branching factors. Although the endobacterium exacts a nutritional cost on the AMF, endobacterial symbiosis improves the fungal ecological fitness by priming mitochondrial metabolic pathways and giving the AMF more tools to face environmental stresses. Thus, we hypothesise that, as described for the human microbiota, endobacteria may increase AMF innate immunity.
Deep-subwavelength imaging of both electric and magnetic localized optical fields by plasmonic campanile nanoantenna
Authors: Caselli Niccolò , La China Federico , Bao Wei , Riboli Francesco , Gerardino Annamaria , Li Lianhe , Linfield Edmund H. , Pagliano Francesco , Fiore Andrea , Schuck P. James , Cabrini Stefano , Weber-Bargioni Alexander , Gurioli Massimo , Intonti Francesca 
Published: June 2015

AbstractTailoring the electromagnetic field at the nanoscale has led to artificial materials exhibiting fascinating optical properties unavailable in naturally occurring substances. Besides having fundamental implications for classical and quantum optics, nanoscale metamaterials provide a platform for developing disruptive novel technologies, in which a combination of both the electric and magnetic radiation field components at optical frequencies is relevant to engineer the light-matter interaction. Thus, an experimental investigation of the spatial distribution of the photonic states at the nanoscale for both field components is of crucial importance. Here we experimentally demonstrate a concomitant deep-subwavelength near-field imaging of the electric and magnetic intensities of the optical modes localized in a photonic crystal nanocavity. We take advantage of the “campanile tip”, a plasmonic near-field probe that efficiently combines broadband field enhancement with strong far-field to near-field coupling. By exploiting the electric and magnetic polarizability components of the campanile tip along with the perturbation imaging method, we are able to map in a single measurement both the electric and magnetic localized near-field distributions.
Defective pollen wall contributes to male sterility in the male sterile line 1355A of cotton
Authors: Wu Yuanlong , Min Ling , Wu Zancheng , Yang Li , Zhu Longfu , Yang Xiyan , Yuan Daojun , Guo Xiaoping , Zhang Xianlong 
Published: June 2015

AbstractTo understand the mechanisms of male sterility in cotton (Gossypium spp.), combined histological, biochemical and transcription analysis using RNA-Seq was carried out in the anther of the single-gene recessive genic male sterility system of male sterile line 1355A and male fertile line 1355B, which are near-isogenic lines (NILs) differing only in the fertility trait. A total of 2,446 differentially expressed genes were identified between the anthers of 1355AB lines, at three different stages of development. Cluster analysis and functional assignment of differentially expressed genes revealed differences in transcription associated with pollen wall and anther development, including the metabolism of fatty acids, glucose, pectin and cellulose. Histological and biochemical analysis revealed that a major cellular defect in the 1355A was a thicker nexine, consistent with the RNA-seq data and further gene expression studies implicated differences in fatty acids synthesis and metabolism. This study provides insight into the phenotypic characteristics and gene regulatory network of the genic male sterile line 1355A in upland cotton.
Membrane proximal ectodomain cleavage of MUC16 occurs in the acidifyingGolgi/post-Golgi compartments
Authors: Das Srustidhar , Majhi Prabin D. , Al-Mugotir Mona H. , Rachagani Satyanarayana , Sorgen Paul , Batra Surinder K. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractMUC16, precursor of the most widely used ovarian cancer biomarker CA125, is upregulated in multiple malignancies and is associated with poor prognosis. While thepro-tumorigenic and metastatic roles of MUC16 are ascribed to the cell-associatedcarboxyl-terminal MUC16 (MUC16-Cter), the exact biochemical nature of MUC16 cleavagegenerating MUC16-Cter has remained unknown. Using different lengths of dual-epitope(N-terminal FLAG- and C-terminal HA-Tag) tagged C-terminal MUC16 fragments, wedemonstrate that MUC16 cleavage takes place in the juxta-membrane ectodomain stretchof twelve amino acids that generates a ~17 kDa cleaved product and isdistinct from the predicted sites. This was further corroborated by domain swappingexperiment. Further, the cleavage of MUC16 was found to take place in theGolgi/post-Golgi compartments and is dependent on the acidic pH in the secretorypathway. A similar pattern of ~17 kDa cleaved MUC16 was observed inmultiple cell types eliminating the possibility of cell type specific phenomenon.MUC16-Cter translocates to the nucleus in a cleavage dependent manner and binds tothe chromatin suggesting its involvement in regulation of gene expression. Takentogether, we demonstrate for the first time the oft-predicted cleavage of MUC16 thatis critical in designing successful therapeutic interventions based on MUC16.
Controllable Synthesis and Tunable Photocatalytic Properties of Ti3+-doped TiO2
Authors: Ren Ren , Wen Zhenhai , Cui Shumao , Hou Yang , Guo Xiaoru , Chen Junhong 
Published: June 2015

AbstractPhotocatalysts show great potential in environmental remediation and water splitting using either artificial or natural light. Titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based photocatalysts are studied most frequently because they are stable, non-toxic, readily available and highly efficient. However, the relatively wide band gap of TiO2 significantly limits its use under visible light or solar light. We herein report a facile route for controllable synthesis of Ti3+-doped TiO2 with tunable photocatalytic properties using a hydrothermal method with varying amounts of reductant, i.e., sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The resulting TiO2 showed color changes from light yellow, light grey, to dark grey with the increasing amount of NaBH4. The present method can controllably and effectively reduce Ti4+ on the surface of TiO2 and induce partial transformation of anatase TiO2 to rutile TiO2, with the evolution of nanoparticles into hierarchical structures attributable to a high pressure and strong alkali environment in the synthesis atmosphere; in this way, the photocatalytic activity of Ti3+-doped TiO2 under visible-light can be tuned. The as-developed strategy may open up a new avenue for designing and functionalizing TiO2 materials for enhancing visible light absorption, narrowing band gap and improving photocatalytic activity.
Pharmacological Chaperones and Coenzyme Q10 Treatment Improves Mutant β-Glucocerebrosidase Activity and Mitochondrial Function in Neuronopathic Forms of Gaucher Disease
Authors: de la Mata Mario , Cotán David , Oropesa-Ávila Manuel , Garrido-Maraver Juan , Cordero Mario D. , Villanueva Paz Marina , Delgado Pavón Ana , Alcocer-Gómez Elizabet , de Lavera Isabel , Ybot-González Patricia , Paula Zaderenko Ana , Ortiz Mellet Carmen , Fernández José M. García , Sánchez-Alcázar José A. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractGaucher disease (GD) is caused by mutations in the GBA1 gene, which encodes lysosomal β-glucocerebrosidase. Homozygosity for the L444P mutation in GBA1 is associated with high risk of neurological manifestations which are not improved by enzyme replacement therapy. Alternatively, pharmacological chaperones (PCs) capable of restoring the correct folding and trafficking of the mutant enzyme represent promising alternative therapies.Here, we report on how the L444P mutation affects mitochondrial function in primary fibroblast derived from GD patients. Mitochondrial dysfunction was associated with reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitophagy activation and impaired autophagic flux.Both abnormalities, mitochondrial dysfunction and deficient β-glucocerebrosidase activity, were partially restored by supplementation with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) or a L-idonojirimycin derivative, N-[N’-(4-adamantan-1-ylcarboxamidobutyl)thiocarbamoyl]-1,6-anhydro-L-idonojirimycin (NAdBT-AIJ) and more markedly by the combination of both treatments. These data suggest that targeting both mitochondria function by CoQ and protein misfolding by PCs can be promising therapies in neurological forms of GD.
On the Formation of Nanobubbles in Vycor Porous Glass during the Desorption of Halogenated Hydrocarbons
Authors: Mitropoulos A. C. , Stefanopoulos K. L. , Favvas E. P. , Vansant E. , Hankins N. P. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractVycor porous glass has long served as a model mesoporous material. During the physical adsorption of halogenated hydrocarbon vapours, such as dibromomethane, the adsorption isotherm exhibits an hysteresis loop; a gradual ascent is observed at higher pressures during adsorption and a sharp drop is observed at lower pressures during desorption. For fully wetting fluids, an early hypothesis attributed the hysteresis to mechanistic differences between capillary condensation (adsorption) and evaporation (desorption) processes occurring in the wide bodies and narrow necks, respectively, of ‘ink-bottle’ pores. This was later recognized as oversimplified when the role of network percolation was included. For the first time, we present in-situ small angle x-ray scattering measurements on the hysteresis effect which indicate nanobubble formation during desorption and support an extended picture of network percolation. The desorption pattern can indeed result from network percolation; but this can sometimes be initiated by a local cavitation process without pore blocking, which is preceded by the temporary, heterogeneous formation of nanobubbles involving a change in wetting states. The capacity of the system to sustain such metastable states is governed by the steepness of the desorption boundary.
Mutual Information between Discrete Variables with Many Categories using Recursive Adaptive Partitioning
Authors: Seok Junhee , Seon Kang Yeong 
Published: June 2015

AbstractMutual information, a general measure of the relatedness between two random variables, has been actively used in the analysis of biomedical data. The mutual information between two discrete variables is conventionally calculated by their joint probabilities estimated from the frequency of observed samples in each combination of variable categories. However, this conventional approach is no longer efficient for discrete variables with many categories, which can be easily found in large-scale biomedical data such as diagnosis codes, drug compounds and genotypes. Here, we propose a method to provide stable estimations for the mutual information between discrete variables with many categories. Simulation studies showed that the proposed method reduced the estimation errors by 45 folds and improved the correlation coefficients with true values by 99 folds, compared with the conventional calculation of mutual information. The proposed method was also demonstrated through a case study for diagnostic data in electronic health records. This method is expected to be useful in the analysis of various biomedical data with discrete variables.
EGCG regulates the cross-talk between JWA and topoisomerase IIα in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells
Authors: Li Yuan , Shen Xin , Wang Xueming , Li Aiping , Wang Pengqi , Jiang Pan , Zhou Jianwei , Feng Qing 
Published: June 2015

Abstract(-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a well-known cancer chemopreventive agent. The potential mechanisms include regulation of multiple molecules. Carcinogenesis in lung cancer is related to the imbalance of tumor suppressor and oncogene. JWA is a structurally novel microtubule-binding protein and is a potential tumor suppressor. DNA topoisomerase IIα is a nuclear enzyme that governs DNA topology and is usually highly expressed in many types of cancer. It serves as a target of anticancer drugs. In the current study, the regulation of JWA and topoisomerase IIα by EGCG and thereafter the mutual interaction between them was investigated. The results revealed that EGCG up-regulated JWA while decreased topoisomerase IIα expression in both human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and an NSCLC xenograft mice model. There was a negative correlation between JWA and topoisomerase IIα in NSCLC as well as in human NSCLC tissue specimens. Topoisomerase IIα overexpression reduced JWA at the translational level. Meanwhile, JWA-induced topoisomerase IIα degradation was regulated both in the transcriptional and post-translational level. Interestingly, JWA and topoisomerase IIα regulated each other in the cells arrested in G2/M. Furthermore, JWA and topoisomerase IIα synergistically affected NCI-H460 cells invasion. These results may serve a novel mechanism for cancer prevention.
Laser-induced thermoelastic effects can evoke tactile sensations
Authors: Jun Jae-Hoon , Park Jong-Rak , Kim Sung-Phil , Min Bae Young , Park Jang-Yeon , Kim Hyung-Sik , Choi Seungmoon , Jung Sung Jun , Hwa Park Seung , Yeom Dong-Il , Jung Gu-In , Kim Ji-Sun , Chung Soon-Cheol 
Published: June 2015

AbstractHumans process a plethora of sensory information that is provided by various entities in the surrounding environment. Among the five major senses, technology for touch, haptics, is relatively young and has relatively limited applications largely due to its need for physical contact. In this article, we suggest a new way for non-contact haptic stimulation that uses laser, which has potential advantages such as mid-air stimulation, high spatial precision and long working distance. We demonstrate such tactile stimulation can be enabled by laser-induced thermoelastic effects by means of physical and perceptual studies, as well as simulations. In the physical study, the mechanical effect of laser on a human skin sample is detected using low-power radiation in accordance with safety guidelines. Limited increases (< ~2.5 °C) in temperature at the surface of the skin, examined by both thermal camera and the Monte Carlo simulation, indicate that laser does not evoke heat-induced nociceptive sensation. In the human EEG study, brain responses to both mechanical and laser stimulation are consistent, along with subjective reports of the non-nociceptive sensation of laser stimuli.
Better you lose than I do: neural networks involved in winning and losing in a real time strictly competitive game
Authors: Votinov Mikhail , Pripfl Juergen , Windischberger Christian , Sailer Uta , Lamm Claus 
Published: June 2015

AbstractMany situations in daily life require competing with others for the same goal. In this case, the joy of winning is tied to the fact that the rival suffers. In this fMRI study participants played a competitive game against another player, in which every trial had opposite consequences for the two players (i.e., if one player won, the other lost, or vice versa). Our main aim was to disentangle brain activation for two different types of winning. Participants could either win a trial in a way that it increased their payoff; or they could win a trial in a way that it incurred a monetary loss to their opponent. Two distinct brain networks were engaged in these two types of winning. Wins with a monetary gain activated the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, an area associated with the processing of rewards. In contrast, avoidance of loss/other-related monetary loss evoked activation in areas related to mentalizing, such as the temporo-parietal junction and precuneus. However, both types of winnings shared activation in the striatum. Our findings extend recent evidence from neuroeconomics by suggesting that we consider our conspecifics’ payoff even when we directly compete with them.