bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Predictors of poor-quality spirometry in two cohorts of older adults in Russia and Belgium: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Turkeshi Eralda , Zelenukha Dmitry , Vaes Bert , Andreeva Elena , Frolova Elena , Degryse Jean-Marie 
Published: July 2015

Abstract
Background:
Spirometry is an important test for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases, yet it is underused especially in older adults. Several predictors of good-quality spirometry in this age group have been reported, based mainly on in/outpatients of geriatric and/or respiratory units.

Aims:
This study aims to assess predictors of poor-quality spirometry in community-dwelling older adults from two primary care cohorts in Russia and Belgium.

Methods:
Spirograms from two population-based cohort studies in Russia (CRYSTAL) and Belgium (BELFRAIL) were assessed in accordance with the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) acceptability and repeatability criteria and grouped into good and poor quality. Multivariable analysis assessed the association of poor-quality spirometry with socio-demographics, functional dependency, physical and mental functioning and co-morbidities.

Results:
In all, 43.3% of the 522 BELFRAIL participants (84.71±3.67 years old) and 57.7% of the 605 CRYSTAL participants (75.11±5.97 years old) achieved all ATS/ERS acceptability and repeatability criteria. In both cohorts, those with poor-quality spirometry had lower cognitive function (mini-mental state examination (MMSE) ⩽24). After adjustment in multivariable analysis, MMSE ⩽24 had an odds ratio for poor-quality spirometry of 1.33 (95% CI=0.78–2.28) in the BELFRAIL and 1.30 (95% CI=0.88–1.91) in the CRYSTAL cohort.

Conclusions:
In community-dwelling older adults, including those over 80 years old, impaired cognition measured by the MMSE may not be an independent predictor of poor-quality spirometry. Further research is needed in this area, and spirometry should be used more often in older adults in primary care.
The highest-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn
Authors: Shimmura Tsuyoshi , Ohashi Shosei , Yoshimura Takashi 
Published: July 2015

AbstractThe “cock-a-doodle-doo” crowing of roosters, which symbolizes the break of dawn in many cultures, is controlled by the circadian clock. When one rooster announces the break of dawn, others in the vicinity immediately follow. Chickens are highly social animals and they develop a linear and fixed hierarchy in small groups. We found that when chickens were housed in small groups, the top-ranking rooster determined the timing of predawn crowing. Specifically, the top-ranking rooster always started to crow first, followed by its subordinates, in descending order of social rank. When the top-ranking rooster was physically removed from a group, the second-ranking rooster initiated crowing. The presence of a dominant rooster significantly reduced the number of predawn crows in subordinates. However, the number of crows induced by external stimuli was independent of social rank, confirming that subordinates have the ability to crow. Although the timing of subordinates’ predawn crowing was strongly dependent on that of the top-ranking rooster, free-running periods of body temperature rhythms differed among individuals and crowing rhythm did not entrain to a crowing sound stimulus. These results indicate that in a group situation, the top-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn and that subordinate roosters are patient enough to wait for the top-ranking rooster’s first crow every morning and thus compromise their circadian clock for social reasons.
Pleiotropy across academic subjects at the end of compulsory education
Authors: Rimfeld Kaili , Kovas Yulia , Dale Philip S. , Plomin Robert 
Published: July 2015

AbstractResearch has shown that genes play an important role in educational achievement. A key question is the extent to which the same genes affect different academic subjects before and after controlling for general intelligence. The present study investigated genetic and environmental influences on and links between, the various subjects of the age-16 UK-wide standardized GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) examination results for 12,632 twins. Using the twin method that compares identical and non-identical twins, we found that all GCSE subjects were substantially heritable and that various academic subjects correlated substantially both phenotypically and genetically, even after controlling for intelligence. Further evidence for pleiotropy in academic achievement was found using a method based directly on DNA from unrelated individuals. We conclude that performance differences for all subjects are highly heritable at the end of compulsory education and that many of the same genes affect different subjects independent of intelligence.
Identification of a multi-cancer gene expression biomarker for cancer clinical outcomes using a network-based algorithm
Authors: Martinez-Ledesma Emmanuel , Verhaak Roeland G.W. , Treviño Victor 
Published: July 2015

AbstractCancer types are commonly classified by histopathology and more recently through molecular characteristics such as gene expression, mutations, copy number variations and epigenetic alterations. These molecular characterizations have led to the proposal of prognostic biomarkers for many cancer types. Nevertheless, most of these biomarkers have been proposed for a specific cancer type or even specific subtypes. Although more challenging, it is useful to identify biomarkers that can be applied for multiple types of cancer. Here, we have used a network-based exploration approach to identify a multi-cancer gene expression biomarker highly connected by ESR1, PRKACA, LRP1, JUN and SMAD2 that can be predictive of clinical outcome in 12 types of cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) repository. The gene signature of this biomarker is highly supported by cancer literature, biological terms and prognostic power in other cancer types. Additionally, the signature does not seem to be highly associated with specific mutations or copy number alterations. Comparisons with cancer-type specific and other multi-cancer biomarkers in TCGA and other datasets showed that the performance of the proposed multi-cancer biomarker is superior, making the proposed approach and multi-cancer biomarker potentially useful in research and clinical settings.
Hypoxia-induced autophagy mediates cisplatin resistance in lung cancer cells
Authors: Wu Hui-Mei , Jiang Zi-Feng , Ding Pei-Shan , Shao Li-Jie , Liu Rong-Yu 
Published: July 2015

AbstractHypoxia which commonly exists in solid tumors, leads to cancer cells chemoresistance via provoking adaptive responses including autophagy. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the role of autophagy and hypoxia as well as the underlying mechanism in the cisplatin resistance of lung cancer cells. Our study demonstrated that hypoxia significantly protected A549 and SPC-A1 cells from cisplatin-induced cell death in a Hif-1α- and Hif-2α- dependent manner. Moreover, compared with normoxia, cisplatin-induced apoptosis under hypoxia was markedly reduced. However, when autophagy was inhibited by 3-MA or siRNA targeted ATG5, this reduction was effectively attenuated, which means autophagy mediates cisplatin resisitance under hypoxia. In parallel, we showed that hypoxia robustly augmented cisplatin-induced autophagy activation, accompanying by suppressing cisplatin-induced BNIP3 death pathways, which was due to the more efficient autophagic process under hypoxia. Consequently, we proposed that autophagy was a protective mechanism after cisplatin incubation under both normoxia and hypoxia. However, under normoxia, autophagy activation ‘was unable to counteract the stress induced by cisplatin, therefore resulting in cell death, whereas under hypoxia, autophagy induction was augmented that solved the cisplatin-induced stress, allowing the cells to survival. In conclusion, augmented induction of autophagy by hypoxia decreased lung cancer cells susceptibility to cisplatin-induced apoptosis.
Synergistic High Charge-Storage Capacity for Multi-level Flexible Organic Flash Memory
Authors: Kang Minji , Khim Dongyoon , Park Won-Tae , Kim Jihong , Kim Juhwan , Noh Yong-Young , Baeg Kang-Jun , Kim Dong-Yu 
Published: July 2015

AbstractElectret and organic floating-gate memories are next-generation flash storage mediums for printed organic complementary circuits. While each flash memory can be easily fabricated using solution processes on flexible plastic substrates, promising their potential for on-chip memory organization is limited by unreliable bit operation and high write loads. We here report that new architecture could improve the overall performance of organic memory and especially meet high storage for multi-level operation. Our concept depends on synergistic effect of electrical characterization in combination with a polymer electret (poly(2-vinyl naphthalene) (PVN)) and metal nanoparticles (Copper). It is distinguished from mostly organic nano-floating-gate memories by using the electret dielectric instead of general tunneling dielectric for additional charge storage. The uniform stacking of organic layers including various dielectrics and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an organic semiconductor, followed by thin-film coating using orthogonal solvents, greatly improve device precision despite easy and fast manufacture. Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] as high-k blocking dielectric also allows reduction of programming voltage. The reported synergistic organic memory devices represent low power consumption, high cycle endurance, high thermal stability and suitable retention time, compared to electret and organic nano-floating-gate memory devices.
Two universal physical principles shape the power-law statistics of real-world networks
Authors: Lorimer Tom , Gomez Florian , Stoop Ruedi 
Published: July 2015

AbstractThe study of complex networks has pursued an understanding of macroscopic behaviour by focusing on power-laws in microscopic observables. Here, we uncover two universal fundamental physical principles that are at the basis of complex network generation. These principles together predict the generic emergence of deviations from ideal power laws, which were previously discussed away by reference to the thermodynamic limit. Our approach proposes a paradigm shift in the physics of complex networks, toward the use of power-law deviations to infer meso-scale structure from macroscopic observations.
IRGM1 enhances B16 melanoma cell metastasis through PI3K-Rac1 mediated epithelial mesenchymal transition
Authors: Tian Linlu , Li Lixian , Xing Wenjing , Li Rui , Pei Chunying , Dong Xiao , Fu Yanran , Gu Changcong , Guo Xize , Jia Yulong , Wang Guangyou , Wang Jinghua , Li Bo , Ren Huan , Xu Hongwei 
Published: July 2015

AbstractMelanoma is one of the most aggressive skin cancers and is well known for its high metastatic rate. Studies have shown that epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for melanoma cell metastasis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying EMT are still not fully understood. We have shown that IRGM1, a member of immunity-related GTPase family that regulates immune cell motility, is highly expressed by melanoma cells. The current study aimed to explore whether and how IRGM1 may regulate melanoma cell metastasis. To test this, we modified IRGM1 expression in B16 melanoma cells. We found that over-expression of IRGM1 substantially enhanced pulmonary metastasis in vivo. In keeping with that, knocking-in IRGM1 strongly enhanced while knocking-down IRGM1 impaired B16 cell migration and invasion ability in vitro. Interestingly, we observed that IRGM1 enhanced F-actin polymerization and triggers epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) through a mechanism involved in PIK3CA mediated Rac1 activation. Together, these data reveals a novel molecular mechanism that involved in melanoma metastasis.
DNA barcode reference library for Iberian butterflies enables a continental-scale preview of potential cryptic diversity
Authors: Dincă Vlad , Montagud Sergio , Talavera Gerard , Hernández-Roldán Juan , Munguira Miguel L. , García-Barros Enrique , Hebert Paul D. N. , Vila Roger 
Published: July 2015

AbstractHow common are cryptic species - those overlooked because of their morphological similarity? Despite its wide-ranging implications for biology and conservation, the answer remains open to debate. Butterflies constitute the best-studied invertebrates, playing a similar role as birds do in providing models for vertebrate biology. An accurate assessment of cryptic diversity in this emblematic group requires meticulous case-by-case assessments, but a preview to highlight cases of particular interest will help to direct future studies. We present a survey of mitochondrial genetic diversity for the butterfly fauna of the Iberian Peninsula with unprecedented resolution (3502 DNA barcodes for all 228 species), creating a reliable system for DNA-based identification and for the detection of overlooked diversity. After compiling available data for European butterflies (5782 sequences, 299 species), we applied the Generalized Mixed Yule-Coalescent model to explore potential cryptic diversity at a continental scale. The results indicate that 27.7% of these species include from two to four evolutionary significant units (ESUs), suggesting that cryptic biodiversity may be higher than expected for one of the best-studied invertebrate groups and regions. The ESUs represent important units for conservation, models for studies of evolutionary and speciation processes and sentinels for future research to unveil hidden diversity.
Possible Signatures of Hominin Hybridization from the Early Holocene of Southwest China
Authors: Curnoe Darren , Ji Xueping , Taçon Paul S. C. , Yaozheng Ge 
Published: July 2015

AbstractWe have previously described hominin remains with numerous archaic traits from two localities (Maludong and Longlin Cave) in Southwest China dating to the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. If correct, this finding has important implications for understanding the late phases of human evolution. Alternative interpretations have suggested these fossils instead fit within the normal range of variation for early modern humans in East Asia. Here we test this proposition, consider the role of size-shape scaling and more broadly assess the affinities of the Longlin 1 (LL1) cranium by comparing it to modern human and archaic hominin crania. The shape of LL1 is found to be highly unusual, but on balance shows strongest affinities to early modern humans, lacking obvious similarities to early East Asians specifically. We conclude that a scenario of hybridization with archaic hominins best explains the highly unusual morphology of LL1, possibly even occurring as late as the early Holocene.
AtMYB12 expression in tomato leads to large scale differential modulation in transcriptome and flavonoid content in leaf and fruit tissues
Authors: Pandey Ashutosh , Misra Prashant , Choudhary Dharmendra , Yadav Reena , Goel Ridhi , Bhambhani Sweta , Sanyal Indraneel , Trivedi Ritu , Kumar Trivedi Prabodh 
Published: July 2015

AbstractPlants synthesize secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, which play important role during various stresses for their survival. These metabolites are also considered as health-protective components in functional foods. Flavonols, one of the important groups of flavonoids, apart from performing several roles in plants have been recognized as potent phytoceuticals for human health. Tomato fruits are deficient in this group of flavonoids and have been an important target for enhancing the accumulation of flavonols through genetic manipulations. In the present study, AtMYB12 transcription factor of the Arabidopsis has been expressed under constitutive promoter in tomato. Transgenic tomato lines exhibited enhanced accumulation of flavonols and chlorogenic acid (CGA) in leaf and fruit accompanied with elevated expression of phenylpropanoid pathway genes involved in flavonol biosynthesis. In addition, global gene expression analysis in leaf and fruit suggested that AtMYB12 modulates number of molecular processes including aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, phytohormone signaling and stress responses. Besides this, a differential modulation of the genes in fruits and leaves is reported in this study. Taken together, results demonstrate that modulation of primary carbon metabolism and other pathways by AtMYB12 in tomato may lead to sufficient substrate supply for enhanced content of phenolics in general and flavonols in particular.
Eco-friendly carbon-nanodot-based fluorescent paints for advanced photocatalytic systems
Authors: Young Park So , Uk Lee Hyun , Lee Young-Chul , Choi Saehae , Hyun Cho Dae , Sik Kim Hee , Bang Sunghee , Seo Soonjoo , Chang Lee Soon , Won Jonghan , Son Byung-Chul , Yang Mino , Lee Jouhahn 
Published: July 2015

AbstractFluorescent carbon nanomaterials, especially zero-dimensional (0D) carbon nanodots (CDs), are widely used in broad biological and optoelectronic applications. CDs have unique characteristics such as strong fluorescence, biocompatibility, sun-light response and capability of mass-production. Beyond the previous green CD obtained from harmful natural substances, we report a new type of fluid-based fluorescent CD paints (C-paints) derived from polyethylene glycol (PEG; via simple ultrasound irradiation at room temperatures) and produced in quantum yields of up to ~14%. Additionally, C-paints possess a strong, UV- and visible-light-responsive photoluminescent (PL) property. Most especially, C-paints, by incorporation into a photocatalytic system, show additional roles in the emission of fluorescent light for activation of TiO2nanoparticles (NPs) and the resultant detoxification of most organic dyes, thus further enabling embarkation in advanced water purification.
Spatiotemporal neural network dynamics for the processing of dynamic facial expressions
Authors: Sato Wataru , Kochiyama Takanori , Uono Shota 
Published: July 2015

AbstractThe dynamic facial expressions of emotion automatically elicit multifaceted psychological activities; however, the temporal profiles and dynamic interaction patterns of brain activities remain unknown. We investigated these issues using magnetoencephalography. Participants passively observed dynamic facial expressions of fear and happiness, or dynamic mosaics. Source-reconstruction analyses utilizing functional magnetic-resonance imaging data revealed higher activation in broad regions of the bilateral occipital and temporal cortices in response to dynamic facial expressions than in response to dynamic mosaics at 150–200 ms and some later time points. The right inferior frontal gyrus exhibited higher activity for dynamic faces versus mosaics at 300–350 ms. Dynamic causal-modeling analyses revealed that dynamic faces activated the dual visual routes and visual–motor route. Superior influences of feedforward and feedback connections were identified before and after 200 ms, respectively. These results indicate that hierarchical, bidirectional neural network dynamics within a few hundred milliseconds implement the processing of dynamic facial expressions.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Three SAUR proteins SAUR76, SAUR77 and SAUR78 promote plant growth in Arabidopsis
Authors: Li Zhi-Gang , Chen Hao-Wei , Li Qing-Tian , Tao Jian-Jun , Bian Xiao-Hua , Ma Biao , Zhang Wan-Ke , Chen Shou-Yi , Zhang Jin-Song 
Published: July 2015

AbstractEthylene perceived by a family of five receptors regulates many developmental processes in Arabidopsis. Here we conducted the yeast two-hybrid assay to screen for additional unidentified proteins that interact with subfamily II ethylene receptor ETR2. Three SAUR proteins, named SAUR76, 77 and 78, were identified to associate with both ETR2 and EIN4 in different assays. Interaction of SAUR76 and SAUR78 with ETR2 was further verified by co-immunoprecipitation and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays. Expressions of SAUR76-78 are induced by auxin and ethylene treatments. Compared with wild type, SAUR-overexpressing plants exhibit reduced ethylene sensitivity, while SAUR-RNAi lines exhibit enhanced ethylene sensitivity. Overexpressing the three SAURs partially complements the phenotype of subfamily II ethylene receptor loss-of-function double mutant etr2-3ein4-4, which has increased ethylene response and small cotyledon and rosette. saur76 mutation partially suppresses the reduced ethylene sensitivity of etr2-2. SAUR76/78 proteins are regulated by 26S proteasome system and larger tag increases their protein stability. These findings suggest that SAUR76-78 may affect ethylene receptor signaling and promote plant growth in Arabidopsis.
Inhibition of Mitochondrial Complex-1 Prevents the Downregulation of NKCC2 and ENaCα in Obstructive Kidney Disease
Authors: Zhang Yue , Sun Ying , Ding Guixia , Huang Songming , Zhang Aihua , Jia Zhanjun 
Published: July 2015

AbstractUreteral obstruction with subsequent hydronephrosis is a common clinical complication. Downregulation of renal sodium transporters in obstructed kidneys could contribute to impaired urinary concentrating capability and salt waste following the release of a ureteral obstruction. The current study was undertaken to investigate the role of mitochondrial complex-1 inhibition in modulating sodium transporters in obstructive kidney disease. Following unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) for 7 days, a global reduction of sodium transporters, including NHE3, α-Na-K-ATPase, NCC, NKCC2, p-NKCC2, ENaCα and ENaCγ, was observed, as determined via qRT-PCR and/or Western blotting. Interestingly, inhibition of mitochondrial complex-1 by rotenone markedly reversed the downregulation of NKCC2, p-NKCC2 and ENaCα. In contrast, other sodium transporters were not affected by rotenone. To study the potential mechanisms involved in mediating the effects of rotenone on sodium transporters, we examined a number of known sodium modulators, including PGE2, ET1, Ang II, natriuretic peptides (ANP, BNP and CNP) and nitric oxide synthases (iNOS, nNOS and eNOS). Importantly, among these modulators, only BNP and iNOS were significantly reduced by rotenone treatment. Collectively, these findings demonstrated a substantial role of mitochondrial dysfunction in mediating the downregulation of NKCC2 and ENaCα in obstructive kidney disease, possibly via iNOS-derived nitric oxide and BNP.
Solution-Processed Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Ultralow Driving Voltage and Very High Power Efficiency
Authors: Wang Shumeng , Wang Xingdong , Yao Bing , Zhang Baohua , Ding Junqiao , Xie Zhiyuan , Wang Lixiang 
Published: July 2015

AbstractTo realize power efficient solution-processed phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (s-PhOLEDs), the corresponding high driving voltage issue should be well solved. To solve it, efforts have been devoted to the exploitation of novel host or interfacial materials. However, the issues of charge trapping of phosphor and/or charge injection barrier are still serious, largely restraining the power efficiency (PE) levels. Herein, with the utilization of an exciplex-forming couple 4, 4′, 4″ -tris[3-methylphenyl(phenyl)amino]triphenylamine (m-MTDATA) and 1,3,5-tri(m-pyrid-3-yl-phenyl)benzene (TmPyPB), the efficient charge injection and transporting, barrier-free hole-electron recombination for the formation of the interfacial exciplex and elimination of charge traps of phosphors in the emissive layer are realized simultaneously, resulting in a turn-on voltage of 2.36 V, a record high PE of 97.2 lm W−1, as well as extremely low driving voltage of 2.60 V at 100 cd m−2, 3.03 V at 1000 cd m−2and 4.08 V at 10000 cd m−2. This report is the first time that the PE performance of s-PhOLED approaches 100 lm W−1high level, even superior to the corresponding state-of-the-art performance of the same color vacuum-deposited PhOLED (v-PhOLED) counterpart. We anticipate this report opens a new avenue for achieving power efficient monochromatic and white s-PhOLEDs with simple structures.