bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Applying systems biology tools to study n‐butanol degradation in Pseudomonas putida KT2440
Authors: Vallon Tobias , Simon Oliver , Rendgen‐Heugle Beate , Frana Sabine , Mückschel Björn , Broicher Alexander , Siemann‐Herzberg Martin , Pfannenstiel Jens , Hauer Bernhard , Huber Achim , Breuer Michael , Takors Ralf 
Published: May 2015

To smoothen the process of n‐butanol formation in Pseudomonas putida KT2440, detailed knowledge of the impact of this organic solvent on cell physiology and regulation is of outmost importance. Here, we conducted a detailed systems biology study to elucidate cellular responses at the metabolic, proteomic, and transcriptional level. Pseudomonas putida KT2440 was cultivated in multiple chemostat fermentations using n‐butanol either as sole carbon source or together with glucose. Pseudomonas putida KT2440 revealed maximum growth rates (μ) of 0.3 h−1 with n‐butanol as sole carbon source and of 0.4 h−1 using equal C‐molar amounts of glucose and n‐butanol. While C‐mole specific substrate consumption and biomass/substrate yields appeared equal at these growth conditions, the cellular physiology was found to be substantially different: adenylate energy charge levels of 0.85 were found when n‐butanol served as sole carbon source (similar to glucose as sole carbon source), but were reduced to 0.4 when n‐butanol was coconsumed at stable growth conditions. Furthermore, characteristic maintenance parameters changed with increasing n‐butanol consumption. 13C flux analysis revealed that central metabolism was split into a glucose‐fueled Entner–Doudoroff/pentose‐phosphate pathway and an n‐butanol‐fueled tricarboxylic acid cycle when both substrates were coconsumed. With the help of transcriptome and proteome analysis, the degradation pathway of n‐butanol could be unraveled, thus representing an important basis for rendering P. putida KT2440 from an n‐butanol consumer to a producer in future metabolic engineering studies.
Thermodynamic and Economic Analysis of a Coal Staged Conversion Utilization Polygeneration System
Authors: Zhang Rui 
Published: May 2015

AbstractCoal polygeneration systems are recognized as promising technologies for efficient and clean coal utilization. In previous coal polygeneration systems, coal was only used as a feedstock for gasification. The value difference between diverse constituents of coal is neglected. Based on an idea to utilize the different constituents of coal separately, a coal staged conversion utilization polygeneration system is proposed. In this system, pyrolysis gas and tar are first extracted through coal pyrolysis followed by char extraction. The tar is used for fuel‐oil production through tar hydrogenation. The char is gasified to produce syngas. Pyrolysis gas and syngas are mixed together to produce methanol and electricity. Process simulation of this system was established by using Aspen Plus. For comparison, a conventional coal polygeneration system based on entrained flow gasification technology and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis technology has also been established by using Aspen Plus. Simulation results indicate that the thermal efficiency and internal rate of return of the coal staged conversion utilization polygeneration system are higher, whereas the total capital investment and discounted payback period are lower than those of the conventional coal polygeneration system. The thermal efficiency of coal staged conversion utilization polygeneration can reach 51.16 % (lower heating value).
Phthalate esters in main source water and drinking water of Zhejiang Province (China): Distribution and health risks
Authors: Wang Xiaofeng , Lou Xiaoming , Zhang Nianhua , Ding Gangqiang , Chen Zhijian , Xu Peiwei , Wu Lizhi , Cai Jianmin , Han Jianlong , Qiu Xueting 
Published: May 2015

Abstract

To evaluate the distributions and health risks of phthalate esters in the main source water and corresponding drinking water of Zhejiang Province, the concentrations of 16 phthalate esters in water samples from 19 sites were measured from samples taken in the dry season and wet season. The concentration of the total phthalate ester congeners in source water ranged from 1.07 μg/L to 7.12 μg/L in the wet season, from 0.01 μg/L to 1.58 μg/L in the dry season, from 1.18 μg/L to 15.28 μg/L from drinking water in the wet season, and from 0.16 μg/L to 1.86 μg/L from drinking water in the dry season. Of the 16 phthalate esters, dimethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, di-(2-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate, di-iso-butyl phthalate, bis-2-n-butoxyethyl phthalate, and dicyclohexyl phthalate were present in the samples analyzed, dominated by di-iso-butyl phthalate and di-(2-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate. The concentrations of phthalate esters in the wet season were all relatively higher than those in the dry season, and the drinking water had higher concentrations of phthalate esters than source water. The phthalate ester congeners studied pose little health risk to nearby citizens. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:2205–2212. © 2015 SETAC
Accumulation of contaminants of emerging concern in food crops—part 2: Plant distribution
Authors: Hyland Katherine C. , Blaine Andrea C. , Higgins Christopher P. 
Published: May 2015

Abstract

Arid agricultural regions often turn to using treated wastewater (reclaimed water) to irrigate food crops. Concerns arise, however, when considering the potential for persistent contaminants of emerging concern to accumulate into plants intended for human consumption. The present study examined the accumulation of a suite of 9 contaminants of emerging concern into 2 representative food crops, lettuce and strawberry, following uptake via the roots and subsequent distribution to other plant tissues. Calculating accumulation metrics (concentration factors) allowed for comparison of the compartmental affinity of each chemical for each plant tissue compartment. The root concentration factor was found to exhibit a positive linear correlation with the pH-adjusted octanol-water partition coefficient (DOW) for the target contaminants of emerging concern. Coupled with the concentration-dependent accumulation observed in the roots, this result implies that accumulation of these contaminants of emerging concern into plant roots is driven by passive partitioning. Of the contaminants of emerging concern examined, nonionizable contaminants, such as triclocarban, carbamazepine, and organophosphate flame retardants displayed the greatest potential for translocation from the roots to above-ground plant compartments. In particular, the organophosphate flame retardants displayed increasing affinity for shoots and fruits with decreasing size/octanol-water partition coefficient (KOW). Cationic diphenhydramine and anionic sulfamethoxazole, once transported to the shoots of the strawberry plant, demonstrated the greatest potential of the contaminants examined to be then carried to the edible fruit portion. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:2222–2230. © 2015 SETAC
Predicting Hip Fracture Type With Cortical Bone Mapping (CBM) in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study
Authors: Treece Graham M , Gee Andrew H , Tonkin Carol , Ewing Susan K , Cawthon Peggy M , Black Dennis M , Poole Kenneth ES ,   ; for the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACT

Hip fracture risk is known to be related to material properties of the proximal femur, but fracture prediction studies adding richer quantitative computed tomography (QCT) measures to dual-energy X-ray (DXA)-based methods have shown limited improvement. Fracture types have distinct relationships to predictors, but few studies have subdivided fracture into types, because this necessitates regional measurements and more fracture cases. This work makes use of cortical bone mapping (CBM) to accurately assess, with no prior anatomical presumptions, the distribution of properties related to fracture type. CBM uses QCT data to measure the cortical and trabecular properties, accurate even for thin cortices below the imaging resolution. The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study is a predictive case-cohort study of men over 65 years old: we analyze 99 fracture cases (44 trochanteric and 55 femoral neck) compared to a cohort of 308, randomly selected from 5994. To our knowledge, this is the largest QCT-based predictive hip fracture study to date, and the first to incorporate CBM analysis into fracture prediction. We show that both cortical mass surface density and endocortical trabecular BMD are significantly different in fracture cases versus cohort, in regions appropriate to fracture type. We incorporate these regions into predictive models using Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios, and logistic regression to estimate area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Adding CBM to DXA-based BMD leads to a small but significant (p &lt; 0.005) improvement in model prediction for any fracture, with AUC increasing from 0.78 to 0.79, assessed using leave-one-out cross-validation. For specific fracture types, the improvement is more significant (p &lt; 0.0001), with AUC increasing from 0.71 to 0.77 for trochanteric fractures and 0.76 to 0.82 for femoral neck fractures. In contrast, adding DXA-based BMD to a CBM-based predictive model does not result in any significant improvement. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Short-Term Effect of Estrogen on Human Bone Marrow Fat
Authors: Limonard Eelkje J , Veldhuis-Vlug Annegreet G , van Dussen Laura , Runge Jurgen H , Tanck Michael W , Endert Erik , Heijboer Annemieke C , Fliers Eric , Hollak Carla E , Akkerman Erik M , Bisschop Peter H 
Published: May 2015

Abstract

Bone marrow fat, an unique component of the bone marrow cavity increases with aging and menopause and is inversely related to bone mass. Sex steroids may be involved in the regulation of bone marrow fat, because men have higher bone marrow fat than women and clinical observations have suggested that the variation in bone marrow fat fraction is greater in premenopausal compared to postmenopausal women and men. We hypothesized that the menstrual cycle and/or estrogen affects the bone marrow fat fraction. First, we measured vertebral bone marrow fat fraction with Dixon Quantitative Chemical Shift MRI (QCSI) twice a week during 1 month in 10 regularly ovulating women. The vertebral bone marrow fat fraction increased 0.02 (95% CI, 0.00 to 0.03) during the follicular phase (p = 0.033), and showed a nonsignificant decrease of 0.02 (95% CI, –0.01 to 0.04) during the luteal phase (p = 0.091). To determine the effect of estrogen on bone marrow fat, we measured vertebral bone marrow fat fraction every week for 6 consecutive weeks in 6 postmenopausal women before, during, and after 2 weeks of oral 17-β estradiol treatment (2 mg/day). Bone marrow fat fraction decreased by 0.05 (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.09) from 0.48 (95% CI, 0.42 to 0.53) to 0.43 (95% CI, 0.34 to 0.51) during 17-β estradiol administration (p &lt; 0.001) and increased again after cessation. During 17-β estradiol administration the bone formation marker procollagen type I N propeptide (P1NP) increased (p = 0.034) and the bone resorption marker C-terminal crosslinking telopeptides of collagen type I (CTx) decreased (p &lt; 0.001). In conclusion, we described the variation in vertebral bone marrow fat fraction among ovulating premenopausal women. And among postmenopausal women, we demonstrated that 17-β estradiol rapidly reduces the marrow fat fraction, suggesting that 17-β estradiol regulates bone marrow fat independent of bone mass. © 2015 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Involvement of PRIP (Phospholipase C‐Related But Catalytically Inactive Protein) in BMP‐Induced Smad Signaling in Osteoblast Differentiation
Authors: Kotani Miho , Matsuda Miho , Murakami Ayako , Takahashi Ichiro , Katagiri Takenobu , Hirata Masato 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTPhospholipase C‐related but catalytically inactive protein (PRIP) was first isolated as an inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate binding protein. We generated PRIP gene‐deficient mice which exhibited the increased bone mineral density and trabecular bone volume, indicating that PRIP is implicated in the regulation of bone properties. In this study, we investigated the possible mechanisms by which PRIP plays a role in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, by analyzing the culture of primary cells isolated from calvaria of two genotypes, the wild type and a mutant. In the mutant culture, enhanced osteoblast differentiation was observed by measuring alkaline phosphatase staining and activity. The promoter activity of Id1 gene, responding immediately to BMP, was also more increased. Smad1/5 phosphorylation in response to BMP showed an enhanced peak and was more persistent in mutant cells, but the dephosphorylation process was not different between the two genotypes. The luciferase assay using calvaria cells transfected with the Smad1 mutated as a constitutive active form showed increased transcriptional activity at similar levels between the genotypes. The expression of BMP receptors was not different between the genotypes. BMP‐induced phosphorylation of Smad1/5 was robustly decreased in wild type cells, but not in mutant cells, by pretreatment with DB867, an inhibitor of methyltransferase of inhibitory Smad6. Furthermore, BMP‐induced translocation of Smad6 from nucleus to cytosol was not much observed in PRIP‐deficient cells. These results indicate that PRIP is implicated in BMP‐induced osteoblast differentiation by the negative regulation of Smad phosphorylation, through the methylation of inhibitory Smad6. J. Cell. Biochem. 116: 2814–2823, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
New challenges for syngas fermentation: towards production of biopolymers
Authors: Drzyzga Oliver , Revelles Olga , Durante‐Rodríguez Gonzalo , Díaz Eduardo , García José L , Prieto Auxiliadora 
Published: May 2015

AbstractOrganic wastes are a suitable feedstock for the production of value‐added products that have been insufficiently exploited due to their complexity, which challenges their transformation by conventional procedures. Gasification and pyrolysis of organic wastes can reduce this complexity by producing syngas (CO plus H2 and other C1 gases), which can be used as a valuable commodity by catalytic conversion into chemicals. However, the high cost and susceptibility to poisoning of chemical catalysts have encouraged research on biocatalysts that convert C1 components of syngas into different multi‐carbon compounds. Nowadays, research on syngas fermentation is receiving much attention in order to enhance the productivity of microorganisms by remodeling their metabolism and by optimizing the bioreactor operational conditions. This review highlights the new technical achievements of pyrolysis as well as the new biotechnological uses of syngas for the production of bulk chemicals and biopolymers, discussing the major bottlenecks that challenge syngas fermentation. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
Perfect Matchings Avoiding Several Independent Edges in a Star‐Free Graph
Authors: Egawa Yoshimi , Furuya Michitaka 
Published: May 2015

AbstractIn Aldred and Plummer (Discrete Math 197/198 (1999) 29–40) proved that every m‐connected ‐free graph of even order has a perfect matching M with and , where F1 and F2 are prescribed disjoint sets of independent edges with and . It is known that if l satisfies , then the star‐free condition in the above result is best possible. In this paper, for , we prove a refinement of the result in which the condition is replaced by the weaker condition that G is ‐free (note that the new condition does not depend on l). We also show that if m is even and either or , then for m‐connected graphs G with sufficiently large order, one can replace the condition by the still weaker condition that G is ‐free. The star‐free conditions in our results are best possible.
The Cross‐Level Mediating Effect of Psychological Capital on the Organizational Innovation Climate–Employee Innovative Behavior Relationship
Authors: Hsu Michael L. A. , Chen Forrence Hsinhung 
Published: May 2015

AbstractOrganizational innovation climates have been found to be effective predictors of employee creativity and organizational innovation. As such, climate assessments provide a basis for useful organizational interventions in enhancing creativity and innovation. Researchers now call for better articulation of the motivational mechanisms that link social context to employee innovation. In responding to the above call, this study found that employee positive psychological capital (PsyCap) is more influential than organizational innovation climate on employee innovative behavior. With a large sample (N = 781) from 16 organizations and a cross‐level analysis, we examined the relationship between organizational innovation climate and employee innovative behavior with employee PsyCap as mediator. The results showed that both organizational innovation climate and employee PsyCap significantly affect employee innovative behavior, and more importantly, employee PsyCap fully mediates this relationship. The innovation journey is a challenging and risky one with many frustrations and discouraging moments from idea generation to idea implementation. The research results presented here imply that to be innovatively effective, organizations are advised to manage both social (organizational innovation climate) and psychological (PsyCap) resources of employees in enhancing employee innovative behavior. Other theoretic and practical implications are discussed.
Biomechanical gait features associated with hip osteoarthritis: Towards a better definition of clinical hallmarks
Authors: Meyer Christophe A.G. , Corten Kristoff , Fieuws Steffen , Deschamps Kevin , Monari Davide , Wesseling Mariska , Simon Jean‐Pierre , Desloovere Kaat 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTCritical appraisal of the literature highlights that the discriminative power of gait‐related features in patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) has not been fully explored. We aimed to reduce the number of gait‐related features and define the most discriminative ones comparing the three‐dimensional gait analysis of 20 patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) with those of 17 healthy peers. First, principal component analysis was used to reduce the high‐dimensional gait data into a reduced set of interpretable variables for further analysis, including tests for group differences. These differences were indicative for the selection of the top 10 variables to be included into linear discriminant analysis models (LDA). Our findings demonstrated the successful data reduction of hip osteoarthritic‐related gait features with a high discriminatory power. The combination of the top variables into LDA models clearly separated groups, with a maximum misclassification error rate of 19%, estimated by cross‐validation. Decreased hip/knee extension, hip flexion and internal rotation moment were gait features with the highest discriminatory power. This study listed the most clinically relevant gait features characteristics of hip OA. Moreover, it will help clinicians and physiotherapists understand the movement pathomechanics related to hip OA useful in the management and design of rehabilitation intervention. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 33:1498–1507, 2015.
Genetic loci that regulate ectopic calcification in response to knee trauma in LG/J by SM/J advanced intercross mice
Authors: Rai Muhammad Farooq , Schmidt Eric J. , Hashimoto Shingo , Cheverud James M. , Sandell Linda J. 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTThis study reports on genetic susceptibility to ectopic calcification in the LG/J and SM/J advanced intercross mice. Using 347 mice in 98 full‐sibships, destabilization of medial meniscus (DMM) was performed to induce joint injury. We found that joint destabilization instigated ectopic calcifications as detected and quantified by micro‐CT. We performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to map ectopic calcification phenotypes to discrete genomic locations. To validate the functional significance of the selected QTL candidate genes, we compared mRNA expression between parental LG/J and SM/J inbred strains. Overall, we detected 20 QTLs affecting synovial and meniscus calcification phenotypes with 11 QTLs linked to synovial calcification. Functional and bioinformatic analyses of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) identified functional classifications relevant to angiogenesis (Myo1e, Kif26b, Nprl3, Stab2, Fam105b), bone metabolism/calcification (Tle3, Tgfb2, Lipc, Nfe2l1, Ank, Fam105b), arthritis (Stab2, Tbx21, Map4k4, Hoxb9, Larp6, Col1a2, Adam10, Timp3, Nfe2l1, Trpm3), and ankylosing‐spondylitis (Ank, Pon1, Il1r2, Tbkbp1) indicating that ectopic calcification involves multiple mechanisms. Furthermore, the expression of 11 out of 78 candidate genes was significantly different between LG/J and SM/J. Correlation analysis showed that Aff3, Fam81a, Syn3, and Ank were correlated with synovial calcification. Taken together, our findings of multiple genetic loci suggest the involvement of multiple genes contributing to ectopic calcification. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 33:1412–1423, 2015.
Sampling considerations and assessment of Exetainer usage for measuring dissolved and gaseous methane and nitrous oxide in aquatic systems
Authors: Sturm Katrin , Keller‐Lehmann Beatrice , Werner Ursula , Raj Sharma Keshab , Grinham Alistair Robert , Yuan Zhiguo 
Published: May 2015

AbstractPre‐evacuated Exetainers are commonly used as measurement vials for the determination of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) concentrations in liquid and gaseous samples from aquatic environments. The impact of residual air in these Exetainers on measurement accuracy is assessed. Residual air pressure in commercially available, pre‐evacuated Exetainers varied between 0.071 ± 0.008 atm and 0.180 ± 0.031 atm in examined batches. This background contamination can lead to large errors when determining dissolved and gaseous CH4 and N2O concentrations particularly at low concentrations. A method for Exetainer pretreatment is suggested and verified, to reduce the residual CH4 and N2O. Vials are flushed (needle 30 G × 0.5″, 0.3 mm) with nitrogen gas (N2) for 5 min, which reduces the background CH4 and N2O concentrations to 0.092 ± 0.008 ppm and 0.016 ± 0.001 ppm, respectively, approximately 3–4% of their respective concentrations in air. To avoid an alteration of sample concentration by variable residual gas levels left during a pre‐evacuation step, liquid and gaseous samples are injected into the N2 filled Exetainers. For gaseous samples where large volumes of gas are available, Exetainers can alternatively be flushed with 100 mL of sampling gas. For gaseous samples, measured CH4 and N2O concentrations of standard gases were statistically identical to their known concentrations. For liquid samples, measured CH4 and N2O concentrations of liquid standard dilution series showed strong linear correlations with theoretically calculated concentrations (slope CH4: 1.04, slope N2O: 1.12). Sample concentrations remained constant over a minimum storage period of 6 weeks.