bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A simple SDS‐PAGE protein pattern from pitcher secretions as a new tool to distinguish Nepenthes species (Nepenthaceae)
Authors: Biteau Flore , Nisse Estelle , Miguel Sissi , Hannewald Paul , Bazile Vincent , Gaume Laurence , Mignard Benoit , Hehn Alain , Bourgaud Frederic 
Published: December 2013

• Premise of the study: Carnivorous plants have always fascinated scientists because these plants are able to attract, capture, and digest animal prey using their remarkable traps that contain digestive secretions. Nepenthes is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with 120 species described thus far. Despite an outstanding diversity of trap designs, many species are often confused with each other and remain difficult to classify because they resemble pitchers or of the occurrence of interspecific hybrids.• Methods: Here, we propose a new method to easily distinguish Nepenthes species based on a SDS PAGE protein pattern analysis of their pitcher secretions. Intraspecific comparisons were performed among specimens growing in different environmental conditions to ascertain the robustness of this method.• Key results: Our results show that, at the juvenile stage and in the absence of prey in the pitcher, an examined species is characterized by a specific and stable profile, whatever the environmental conditions.• Conclusions: The method we describe here can be used as a reliable tool to easily distinguish between Nepenthes species and to help with potential identification based on the species‐specific protein pattern of their pitcher secretions, which is complementary to the monograph information.
Beef identification in industrial slaughterhouses using machine vision techniques
Authors: Velez J. F. , Sanchez A. , Sanchez J. , Esteban J. L. 
Published: December 2013

Accurate individual animal identification provides the producers with useful information to take management decisions about an individual animal or about the complete herd. This identification task is also important to ensure the integrity of the food chain. Consequently, many consumers are turning their attention to issues of quality in animal food production methods. This work describes an implemented solution for individual beef identification, taking in the time from cattle shipment arrival at the slaughterhouse until the animals are slaughtered and cut up. Our beef identification approach is image-based and the pursued goals are the correct automatic extraction and matching between some numeric information extracted from the beef ear-tag and the corresponding one from the Bovine Identification Document (BID). The achieved correct identification results by our method are near 90%, by considering the practical working conditions of slaughterhouses (i.e. problems with dirt and bad illumination conditions). Moreover, the presence of multiple machinery in industrial slaughterhouses make it difficult the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) beef tags due to the high risks of interferences between RFID and the other technologies in the workplace. The solution presented is hardware/software since it includes a specialized hardware system that was also developed. Our approach considers the current EU legislation for beef traceability and it reduces the economic cost of individual beef identification with respect to RFID transponders. The system implemented has been in use satisfactorily for more than three years in one of the largest industrial slaughterhouses in Spain.
Oeuvre muséale et patrimoniale du collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière
Authors: Dubé Philippe 
Published: December 2013

Paul-André Leclerc, directeur-fondateur du Musée François-Pilote à La Pocatière créé en 1974, a joué un rôle important dans le domaine de la patrimonialisation d’un héritage traditionnel qui a su magnifier le passé rural du Québec. Cette valorisation d’un temps révolu à travers le musée a eu tendance à figer en une image idéalisée « le bon vieux temps » qui vient filtrer tout regard curieux ou studieux voulant le scruter. C’est cette dimension qui est ici explorée à travers l’oeuvre muséale de l’abbé Leclerc qui a tenté de ressusciter une société qui n’est plus. Une vision tronquée est mise en scène dans son musée qui se veut la réincarnation d’un espace-temps définitivement disparu. Témoigner résume en quelque sorte le programme discursif du Musée François-Pilote. Nous pourrions définir son projet comme relevant d’une doctrine de la renaissance paysanne. Arrêter le temps qui file à toute vitesse ou comment pratiquer la contre-révolution avec son musée en réaction à un mouvement pourtant irréversible.
An apparent hiatus in global warming?
Authors: Trenberth Kevin E. , Fasullo John T. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractGlobal warming first became evident beyond the bounds of natural variability in the 1970s, but increases in global mean surface temperatures have stalled in the 2000s. Increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, create an energy imbalance at the top‐of‐atmosphere (TOA) even as the planet warms to adjust to this imbalance, which is estimated to be 0.5–1 W m−2 over the 2000s. Annual global fluctuations in TOA energy of up to 0.2 W m−2 occur from natural variations in clouds, aerosols, and changes in the Sun. At times of major volcanic eruptions the effects can be much larger. Yet global mean surface temperatures fluctuate much more than these can account for. An energy imbalance is manifested not just as surface atmospheric or ground warming but also as melting sea and land ice, and heating of the oceans. More than 90% of the heat goes into the oceans and, with melting land ice, causes sea level to rise. For the past decade, more than 30% of the heat has apparently penetrated below 700 m depth that is traceable to changes in surface winds mainly over the Pacific in association with a switch to a negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in 1999. Surface warming was much more in evidence during the 1976–1998 positive phase of the PDO, suggesting that natural decadal variability modulates the rate of change of global surface temperatures while sea‐level rise is more relentless. Global warming has not stopped; it is merely manifested in different ways.
Were global numerical weather prediction systems capable of forecasting the extreme Colorado rainfall of 9–16 September 2013?
Authors: Lavers David A. , Villarini Gabriele 
Published: December 2013

AbstractFrom 9–16 September 2013 significant portions of Colorado experienced extreme precipitation and flooding resulting in large socioeconomic damages and fatalities. Here we investigate the ability of eight global state‐of‐the‐art numerical weather prediction systems to forecast rainfall during the event. Forecasts were analyzed from initializations at 12 UTC 5 September to 12 UTC 12 September to determine when, and how well, the event was captured. Ensemble mean rainfall patterns initialized on 5 September (roughly 4+ day lead time) did not forecast the event's persistent nature; conversely, forecasts initialized on 9 September captured the rainfall patterns reasonably well, although with incorrect rainfall values. Accumulated rainfall forecasts improved when the region considered increased from a 0.5° area centered over Boulder to the entire state of Colorado. We conclude that the models provided guidance indicating a significant period of rainfall in Colorado from 9 September 2013, although not necessarily in the correct locations.
Comparative evaluation of physics‐based and statistical forecasts in Northern California
Authors: Segou M. , Parsons T. , Ellsworth W. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractWe perform a retrospective forecast test using Northern California seismicity for the period between 1980 and 2009. We compare 7 realizations of the short‐term clustering epidemic‐type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model, and 21 models combining Coulomb stress change calculations and Rate/State theory (CRS) to forecast seismicity rates in 10 day time intervals. We employ a common learning phase (1974–1980) for CRS models to ensure consistency, and we evaluate the forecasts with log likelihood statistics to detect any spatial inconsistencies and compare the total numbers of forecasts versus observed events. We find that: (1) ETAS models are better forecasters of the spatial evolution in seismicity in the near‐source region, (2) CRS models can compete with ETAS models away from the mainshock rupture, and for short periods after mainshocks, (3) CRS models with optimally oriented receiver fault planes perform better in the first few days after mainshocks, whereas mapped fault planes should be implemented for longer‐term forecasting, and (4) CRS models based on shear stress change calculations have comparable performance with Coulomb stress change models, with the benefit of lesser parameters involved in stress calculations. We conclude that physics‐based and statistical forecast models are complimentary to each other and that future forecasts should be based on statistical models for near‐source regions, and physical models for longer periods and distances. However, the realization of the CRS models involves a number of critical parameters (reference seismicity rates, regional stress field, and loading rates), which should be retrospectively tested to improve the predictive power of physics‐based models.
Copper Transport: Structural Biology
Authors: Flores Adrian G. , Pope Christopher R. , Unger Vinzenz M. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractCopper ions are essential for life because of their ability to support a number of cellular processes, ranging from respiration to the synthesis of connective tissue. At the same time, the redox and coordination chemistry of copper can be toxic to cells if the metal ion is not contained. Responding to this double natured property of copper, cells tightly regulate the movement and storage of copper ions. Recent years have seen tremendous progress in the structural determination of the proteins that carry copper ions across cellular membranes. Despite sharing a common function, copper transport systems are structurally very diverse and employ fundamentally different mechanisms to translocate copper ions across the bilayer. The simplest carriers are the copper transporters known ascopper uptake transporter(CTR) proteins. These small membrane proteins contain three transmembrane segments and assemble into homotrimers that form the functional units. CTR proteins are exclusively found in eukaryotes, where they mediate the cellular acquisition of copper through mechanisms that are only partially understood. Expulsion of copper from the cytoplasm and redistribution of intracellular copper into storage compartments or toward the secretory pathway is mediated by P1B‐type Cu(I)‐transporting ATPases, including Menkes and Wilson ATPases, whose malfunction results in debilitating diseases in humans. Compared to the more thoroughly studied P2‐type family of ATPases, Cu(I)‐ATPases are smaller, containing only 8–10 transmembrane helices. The presence of cytoplasmic metal‐binding domains and a helical pair preceding the structurally conserved six‐helix membrane core of P2‐type ATPases are distinguishing hallmarks of this subfamily of transport ATPases. Complementing the function of Cu(I)‐transporting ATPases in prokaryotes is the tripartite CusCFBA Cu+/Ag+‐H+antiporter that consists of the inner‐membrane transporter (CusA), a periplasmic adaptor protein (CusB), the outer‐membrane transporter (CusC), and a small copper chaperone (CusF), that is believed to load periplasmic copper into the efflux pump. Of the existing copper transport machineries, the Cus‐system is by far the most complex and structurally the best characterized. Nevertheless, many open questions remain about the mechanistic details that allow copper pumping. Taken together, the emergence of rich structural information on all the copper transport systems opens the article for rigorous future testing of structure–function relationships in these essential membrane proteins. Moreover, there is an emerging body of data demonstrating that platinum‐based anticancer drugs hijack copper transporters for cellular entry and exit, providing an important and unexpected additional dimension to the biology of copper transport systems.
Metals in Bacterial Pathogenicity and Immunity
Authors: Cavet Jennifer S. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract

Infectious diseases represent the second leading cause of death worldwide, most of which are associated with bacterial infections. Metals play a central role in the outcome of bacteria–host interactions. To control infections, in a process termed nutritional immunity, the immune system exploits both the need for bacteria to acquire metals in order to proliferate and the innate toxicity of metal ions. In response, pathogenic bacteria have evolved a myriad of metal‐sensing, metal‐acquisition, and metal‐detoxification systems that represent key virulence determinants. These systems offer attractive targets for the development of much needed novel antimicrobial agents as well as opportunities to exploit nutritional immunity. Here, the current understanding of the role of metals in host immunity is summarized. In addition, the strategies used by a model intracellular bacterial pathogen,
Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium, to adapt to metal stresses within the host environment are discussed.
Copper in Brain and Neurodegeneration
Authors: Liddell Jeffrey R. , Bush Ashley I. , White Anthony R. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractCu is an essential element for the brain. It is involved in neurotransmission and is required for several cuproenzymes of the brain. Cu deficiency and Cu excess are associated with Menkes disease and Wilson's disease, respectively, and the importance of Cu in the brain is amply illustrated by the severe neurological symptoms elicited by these diseases. Disruption of Cu homeostasis is also evident in complex neurodegenerative diseases and is implicated in their pathogenesis. Cu influences the regulation and aggregation of key Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathological proteins such as amyloid precursor protein, amyloid‐β, and tau. Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with a decreased Cu content of the substantia nigra, the brain region that is affected in the disease. Cu also promotes the aggregation of α‐synuclein, the predominant protein present in the characteristic Lewy bodies ofPDbrain, and huntingtin, found in inclusions in Huntington's disease. MutantSOD1is thought to have a toxic gain of function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, possibly caused by Zn‐deficientCuSOD1. Niemann‐Pick type C disease (NPC) is caused by mutations in theNPCgene, giving rise to impairedNPCprotein. Evidence suggests thatNPCmay be involved in Cu metabolism. The involvement of Cu in these diseases is highlighted by the efficacy of therapeutics targeting the redistribution of Cu. Cu ionophores such as clioquinol andPBT2bind endogenous Cu, transport it into cells and induce multiple cellular pathways. InAD, these ionophores likely sequester Cu bound to amyloid‐β plaques. Preformed bis(thiosemicarbazone)‐Cu complexes deliver exogenous Cu into the brain and induce similar pathways to the ionophores. These Cu complexes have shown efficacy in animal models of several neurodegenerative diseases, and the cellular pathways induced are being elucidated. These therapeutic outcomes, together with improved resolution of techniques for identifying Cu distribution in brain cells, are providing valuable new insights into the role of Cu in neuronal and glial cell homeostasis.
Molybdenum Cofactor Biosynthesis and Cross Talk with Iron–Sulfur
Authors: Bittner Florian , Mendel Ralf R. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract

The transition element molybdenum (Mo) is essential for (nearly) all biological systems, as it is required by enzymes catalyzing diverse key reactions in global carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen metabolism. The metal itself is biologically inactive unless it is complexed by a special cofactor. With the exception of bacterial nitrogenase, where Mo is a constituent of the FeMo‐cofactor, Mo is bound to a pterin, thus forming the molybdenum cofactor (Moco), which is the active compound at the catalytic site of all other Mo‐enzymes. Moco consists of a mononuclear Mo atom coordinated via a
cis
‐dithiolene moiety to the organic molecule molybdopterin. In eukaryotes, the most prominent Mo‐enzymes are nitrate reductase (NR), sulfite oxidase (SO), xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR), aldehyde oxidase (AO), and the mitochondrial amidoxime reductase. The biosynthesis of Moco is best understood in plants and humans and involves the complex interaction of six proteins in a process of four steps, requiring GTP, iron, magnesium, zinc, sulfur, ATP, and copper. While the last three steps occur in the cytosol, the first step was found to proceed in the mitochondria, where a specific ABC transporter, originally implicated in the maturation of extramitochondrial iron–sulfur proteins, is also involved in the export of the first intermediate of Moco biosynthesis to the cytosol. A deficiency in the biosynthesis of Moco has lethal consequences for the respective organisms because of the simultaneous activity loss of all Mo‐enzymes. Moco as released after synthesis is distributed to the apoproteins of Mo‐enzymes by Moco‐carrier/binding proteins. XOR and AO (but not SO, NR, and the mitochondrial amidoxime reductase) require the sulfuration of their Mo‐center by a Moco‐sulfurase enzyme in order to become active. Besides the mitochondrial ABC‐type transporter and the fact that some of the Mo‐enzymes and enzymes of step 1 of Moco synthesis depend on iron–sulfur clusters, a tight connection of Mo‐metabolism to iron–sulfur cluster synthesis results from recruitment of specific mechanisms that are typical for iron–sulfur cluster synthesis. Such mechanisms involve the mobilization of sulfur by desulfurization of free
l
‐cysteine in a pyridoxal‐phosphate‐dependent manner and subsequent formation of a Mo‐sulfur center on a scaffold domain before insertion into the respective apo‐target enzymes.
Phosphine‐Promoted Cyclization of Dicyclopropenones
Authors: Yang Jin‐Ming , Tang Xiang‐Ying , Wei Yin , Shi Min 
Published: December 2013

AbstractA novel phosphine‐promoted intramolecular cyclization of dicyclopropenones 1 has been described in this contribution. A variety of 2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐indene‐4,6‐diol derivatives 2 and hexahydropentalen‐2‐one derivatives 3 were obtained selectively in moderate to good yields under mild conditions through different phosphine‐promoted reactions.magnified image
Extreme climate, rather than population history, explains mid‐facial morphology of northern asians
Authors: Evteev Andrej , Cardini Andrea L. , Morozova Irina , O'Higgins Paul 
Published: December 2013

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have examined mid‐facial cold adaptation among either widely dispersed and genetically very diverse groups of humans isolated for tens of thousands of years, or among very closely related groups spread over climatically different regions. Here we present a study of one East Asian and seven North Asian populations in which we examine the evidence for convergent adaptations of the mid‐face to a very cold climate. Our findings indicate that mid‐facial morphology is strongly associated with climatic variables that contrast the temperate climate of East Asians and the very cold and dry climate of North Asians. This is also the case when either maxillary or nasal cavity measurements are considered alone. The association remains significant when mtDNA distances among populations are taken into account. The morphological contrasts between populations are consistent with physiological predictions and prior studies of mid‐facial cold adaptation in more temperate regions, but among North Asians there appear to be some previously undescribed morphological features that might be considered as adaptive to extreme cold. To investigate this further, analyses of the seven North Asian populations alone suggest that mid‐facial morphology remains strongly associated with climate, particularly winter precipitation, contrasting coastal Arctic and continental climates. However, the residual covariation among North Asian mid‐facial morphology and climate when genetic distances are considered, is not significant. These findings point to modern adaptations to extreme climate that might be relevant to our understanding of the mid‐facial morphology of fossil hominins that lived during glaciations. Am J Phys Anthropol 153:449–462, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Endoscopic anatomy of the middle ethmoidal artery
Authors: Wang Liang , Youseef Ahmed , Al Qahtani Abdul Aziz , Gun Ramazan , Prevedello Daniel M. , Otto Bradley A. , Ditzel Leo , Carrau Ricardo L. 
Published: December 2013

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to describe the incidence of the middle ethmoidal artery and its anatomical nuances via an endoscopic endonasal approach.MethodsA cadaveric study was performed on 22 adult specimens. First, a frontal sinusotomy and ethmoidectomy were performed via an endoscopic endonasal approach in order to fully expose the anterior skull base. Subsequently, the lamina papyracea and the bone of the canals covering the ethmoidal neurovascular bundles were removed to identify the anterior, middle, and posterior ethmoidal arteries. Presence, laterality, and location of the middle ethmoidal artery were recorded.ResultsA total of 14 middle ethmoidal arteries were identified (10 right and 4 left), among 44 sides (22 specimens), accounting for an incidence of 31.8%. Bilateral middle ethmoidal arteries were found in 3 of 22 specimens (14%). Endonasal endoscopy features of the middle ethmoidal artery were noted.ConclusionThis is the first study assessing the anatomical features of the middle ethmoidal arteries from an endonasal endoscopic perspective. The findings of this research have clinical significance in guiding surgeries that involve the medial orbital wall, intractable epistaxis, and anterior skull base pathologies, as well as endoscopic endonasal surgeries.
Electron quantum optics in ballistic chiral conductors
Authors: Bocquillon Erwann , Freulon Vincent , Parmentier François D. , Berroir Jean‐Marc , Plaçais Bernard , Wahl Claire , Rech Jérome , Jonckheere Thibaut , Martin Thierry , Grenier Charles , Ferraro Dario , Degiovanni Pascal , Fève Gwendal 
Published: December 2013

AbstractThe edge channels of the quantum Hall effect provide one dimensional chiral and ballistic wires along which electrons can be guided in an optics‐like setup. Electronic propagation can then be analyzed using concepts and tools derived from optics. After a brief review of electron optics experiments performed using stationary current sources which continuously emit electrons in the conductor, this paper focuses on triggered sources, which can generate on‐demand a single particle state. It first outlines the electron optics formalism and its analogies and differences with photon optics and then turns to the presentation of single electron emitters and their characterization through the measurements of the average electrical current and its correlations. This is followed by a discussion of electron quantum optics experiments in the Hanbury‐Brown and Twiss geometry where two‐particle interferences occur. Finally, Coulomb interactions effects and their influence on single electron states are considered.
Mild Bioconjugation Through the Oxidative Coupling of ortho‐Aminophenols and Anilines with Ferricyanide
Authors: Obermeyer Allie C. , Jarman John B. , Netirojjanakul Chawita , El Muslemany Kareem , Francis Matthew B. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractUsing a small‐molecule‐based screen, ferricyanide was identified as a mild and efficient oxidant for the coupling of anilines and o‐aminophenols on protein substrates. This reaction is compatible with thiols and 1,2‐diols, allowing its use in the creation of complex bioconjugates for use in biotechnology and materials applications.