bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Edge co-occurrences can account for rapid categorization of natural versus animal images
Authors: Perrinet Laurent U. , Bednar James A. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractMaking a judgment about the semantic category of a visual scene, such as whether it contains an animal, is typically assumed to involve high-level associative brain areas. Previous explanations require progressively analyzing the scene hierarchically at increasing levels of abstraction, from edge extraction to mid-level object recognition and then object categorization. Here we show that the statistics of edge co-occurrences alone are sufficient to perform a rough yet robust (translation, scale and rotation invariant) scene categorization. We first extracted the edges from images using a scale-space analysis coupled with a sparse coding algorithm. We then computed the “association field” for different categories (natural, man-made, or containing an animal) by computing the statistics of edge co-occurrences. These differed strongly, with animal images having more curved configurations. We show that this geometry alone is sufficient for categorization and that the pattern of errors made by humans is consistent with this procedure. Because these statistics could be measured as early as the primary visual cortex, the results challenge widely held assumptions about the flow of computations in the visual system. The results also suggest new algorithms for image classification and signal processing that exploit correlations between low-level structure and the underlying semantic category.
Unraveling a molecular determinant for clathrin-independent internalization of the M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor
Authors: Wan Min , Zhang Wenhua , Tian Yangli , Xu Chanjuan , Xu Tao , Liu Jianfeng , Zhang Rongying 
Published: June 2015

AbstractEndocytosis and postendocytic sorting of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is important for the regulation of both their cell surface density and signaling profile. Unlike the mechanisms of clathrin-dependent endocytosis (CDE), the mechanisms underlying the control of GPCR signaling by clathrin-independent endocytosis (CIE) remain largely unknown. Among the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs), the M4 mAChR undergoes CDE and recycling, whereas the M2 mAChR is internalized through CIE and targeted to lysosomes. Here we investigated the endocytosis and postendocytic trafficking of M2 mAChR based on a comparative analysis of the third cytoplasmic domain in M2 and M4 mAChRs. For the first time, we identified that the sequence 374KKKPPPS380 servers as a sorting signal for the clathrin-independent internalization of M2 mAChR. Switching 374KKKPPPS380 to the i3 loop of the M4 mAChR shifted the receptor into lysosomes through the CIE pathway; and therefore away from CDE and recycling. We also found another previously unidentified sequence that guides CDE of the M2 mAChR, 361VARKIVKMTKQPA373, which is normally masked in the presence of the downstream sequence 374KKKPPPS380. Taken together, our data indicate that endocytosis and postendocytic sorting of GPCRs that undergo CIE could be sequence-dependent.
Highly porous Zinc Stannate (Zn2SnO4) nanofibers scaffold photoelectrodes for efficient methyl ammonium halide perovskite solar cells
Authors: Mali Sawanta S. , Su Shim Chang , Kook Hong Chang 
Published: June 2015

AbstractDevelopment of ternary metal oxide (TMO) based electron transporting layer (ETL) for perovskite solar cell open a new approaches toward efficient a unique strategy for solid state dye-sensitized solar cells (ssDSSCs). In the present investigation, highly porous zinc tin oxide (Zn2SnO4) scaffold nanofibers has been synthesized by electrospinning technique and successfully used for methyl ammonium lead halide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite sensitized solid state solar cells. The fabricated optimized perovskite solar cell devices exhibited 7.38% power conversion efficiency (PCE) with open circuit voltage (VOC) 0.986 V, current density (JSC) = 12.68 mAcm-2 and fill factor (FF) 0.59 under AM 1.5 G sunlight (100 mWcm−2) which is higher than Zn2SnO4 nanoparticle (η = 2.52%) based perovskite solar cells. This improvement is achieved due to high porosity of Zn2SnO4 nanofibers and high crystallinity of the nanofibers synthesized at 700 °C. These results are remarkably higher than reported perovskite solar cells based on such type of ternary metal oxide ETLs.
Pathophysiological role of microRNA-29 in pancreatic cancer stroma
Authors: Kwon Jason J. , Nabinger Sarah C. , Vega Zachary , Sahu Smiti Snigdha , Alluri Ravi K. , Abdul-Sater Zahi , Yu Zhangsheng , Gore Jesse , Nalepa Grzegorz , Saxena Romil , Korc Murray , Kota Janaiah 
Published: June 2015

AbstractDense fibrotic stroma associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a major obstacle for drug delivery to the tumor bed and plays a crucial role in pancreatic cancer progression. Current, anti-stromal therapies have failed to improve tumor response to chemotherapy and patient survival. Furthermore, recent studies show that stroma impedes tumor progression and its complete ablation accelerates PDAC progression. In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms associated with tumor-stromal interactions, using in vitro and in vivo models and PDAC patient biopsies, we show that the loss of miR-29 is a common phenomenon of activated pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs)/fibroblasts, the major stromal cells responsible for fibrotic stromal reaction. Loss of miR-29 is correlated with a significant increase in extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, a major component in PDAC stroma. Our in vitro miR-29 gain/loss-of-function studies document the role of miR-29 in PSC-mediated ECM stromal protein accumulation. Overexpression of miR-29 in activated stellate cells reduced stromal deposition, cancer cell viability and cancer growth in co-culture. Furthermore, the loss of miR-29 in TGF-β1 activated PSCs is SMAD3 dependent. These results provide insights into the mechanistic role of miR-29 in PDAC stroma and its potential use as a therapeutic agent to target PDAC.
Genetic drift of human coronavirus OC43 spike gene during adaptive evolution
Authors: Ren Lili , Zhang Yue , Li Jianguo , Xiao Yan , Zhang Jing , Wang Ying , Chen Lan , Paranhos-Baccalà Gláucia , Wang Jianwei 
Published: June 2015

AbstractCoronaviruses (CoVs) continuously threaten human health. However, to date, the evolutionary mechanisms that govern CoV strain persistence in human populations have not been fully understood. In this study, we characterized the evolution of the major antigen-spike (S) gene in the most prevalent human coronavirus (HCoV) OC43 using phylogenetic and phylodynamic analysis. Among the five known HCoV-OC43 genotypes (A to E), higher substitution rates and dN/dS values as well as more positive selection sites were detected in the S gene of genotype D, corresponding to the most dominant HCoV epidemic in recent years. Further analysis showed that the majority of substitutions were located in the S1 subunit. Among them, seven positive selection sites were chronologically traced in the temporal evolution routes of genotype D and six were located around the critical sugar binding region in the N-terminal domain (NTD) of S protein, an important sugar binding domain of CoV. These findings suggest that the genetic drift of the S gene may play an important role in genotype persistence in human populations, providing insights into the mechanisms of HCoV-OC43 adaptive evolution.
XI-006 induces potent p53-independent apoptosis in Ewing sarcoma
Authors: Pishas Kathleen I. , Adwal Alaknanda , Neuhaus Susan J. , Clayer Mark T. , Farshid Gelareh , Staudacher Alexander H. , Callen David F. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThere is an imperious need for the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of Ewing sarcoma, the second most prevalent solid bone tumour observed in children and young adolescents. Recently, a 4-nitrobenzofuroxan derivative, XI-006 (NSC207895) was shown to diminish MDM4 promoter activity in breast cancer cell lines. As amplification of MDM4 is frequently observed in sarcomas, this study examined the therapeutic potential of XI-006 for the treatment of Ewing and osteosarcoma. XI-006 treatment of Ewing and osteosarcoma cell lines (n = 11) resulted in rapid and potent apoptosis at low micro-molar concentrations specifically in Ewing sarcoma cell lines (48 hr IC50 0.099–1.61 μM). Unexpectedly, apoptotic response was not dependent on MDM4 mRNA/protein levels or TP53 status. Alkaline/neutral comet and γH2AX immunofluorescence assays revealed that the cytotoxic effects of XI-006 could not be attributed to the induction of DNA damage. RNA expression analysis revealed that the mechanism of action of XI-006 could be accredited to the inhibition of cell division and cycle regulators such as KIF20A and GPSM2. Finally, potent synergy between XI-006 and olaparib (PARP inhibitor) were observed due to the down-regulation of Mre11. Our findings suggest that XI-006 represents a novel therapeutic intervention for the treatment of Ewing sarcoma.
Understanding of sub-band gap absorption of femtosecond-laser sulfur hyperdoped silicon using synchrotron-based techniques
Authors: Limaye Mukta V. , Chen S. C. , Lee C. Y. , Chen L. Y. , Singh Shashi B. , Shao Y. C. , Wang Y. F. , Hsieh S. H. , Hsueh H. C. , Chiou J. W. , Chen C. H. , Jang L. Y. , Cheng C. L. , Pong W. F. , Hu Y. F. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThe correlation between sub-band gap absorption and the chemical states and electronic and atomic structures of S-hyperdoped Si have been extensively studied, using synchrotron-based x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), valence-band photoemission spectroscopy (VB-PES) and first-principles calculation. S 2pXPS spectra reveal that the S-hyperdoped Si with the greatest (~87%) sub-band gap absorption contains the highest concentration of S2−(monosulfide) species. Annealing S-hyperdoped Si reduces the sub-band gap absorptance and the concentration of S2−species, but significantly increases the concentration of larger S clusters [polysulfides (Sn2−, n > 2)]. The SiK-edge XANES spectra show that S hyperdoping in Si increases (decreased) the occupied (unoccupied) electronic density of states at/above the conduction-band-minimum. VB-PES spectra evidently reveal that the S-dopants not only form an impurity band deep within the band gap, giving rise to the sub-band gap absorption, but also cause the insulator-to-metal transition in S-hyperdoped Si samples. Based on the experimental results and the calculations by density functional theory, the chemical state of the S species and the formation of the S-dopant states in the band gap of Si are critical in determining the sub-band gap absorptance of hyperdoped Si samples.
Identification of the long non-coding RNA H19 in plasma as a novel biomarker for diagnosis of gastric cancer
Authors: Zhou Xiaoying , Yin Chengqiang , Dang Yini , Ye Feng , Zhang Guoxin 
Published: June 2015

AbstractRecent studies have demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regarded as useful tools for cancer detection, particularly for the early stage; however, little is known about their diagnostic impact on gastric cancer (GC). We hypothesized that GC-related lncRNAs might release into the circulation during tumor initiation and could be utilized to detect and monitor GC. 8 lncRNAs which previously found to be differently expressed in GC were selected as candidate targets for subsequent circulating lncRNA assay. After validating in 20 pairs of tissues and plasma in training set, H19 was selected for further analysis in another 70 patients and 70 controls. Plasma level of H19 was significantly higher in GC patients compared with normal controls (p < 0.0001). By receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.838; p < 0.001; sensitivity, 82.9%; specificity, 72.9%). Furthermore, H19 expression enabled the differentiation of early stage GC from controls with AUC of 0.877; sensitivity, 85.5%; specificity, 80.1%. Besides, plasma levels of H19 were significantly lower in postoperative samples than preoperative samples (p = 0.001). In conclusion, plasma H19 could serve as a potential biomarker for diagnosis of GC, in particular for early tumor screening.
Conservation of Olfactory Avoidance in Drosophila Species and Identification of Repellents for Drosophila suzukii
Authors: Krause Pham Christine , Ray Anandasankar 
Published: June 2015

AbstractFlying insects use olfaction to navigate towards fruits in complex odor environments with remarkable accuracy. Some fruits change odor profiles substantially during ripening and related species can prefer different stages. In Drosophila species attractive odorants have been studied extensively, but little is understood about the role of avoidance pathways. In order to examine the role of the avoidance cue CO2 emitted from fruit on behavior of two species with different ripening stage preferences, we investigated the CO2-detection pathway in Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila suzukii, a harmful pest of fruits. Avoidance to CO2 is not conserved in D. suzukii suggesting a behavioral adaptation that could facilitate attraction to younger fruit with higher CO2 emission levels. We investigated known innate avoidance pathways from five species at different evolutionary distances: D. melanogaster, D. yakuba, D. suzukii, D. pseudoobscura and D. virilis. Surprisingly, only DEET shows strong repellency across all species, whereas CO2, citronellal and ethyl 3-hydroxybutyrate show only limited conservation. These findings guide us to test recently discovered safe DEET substitutes and we identify one that protects fruits from D. suzukii thus providing a new behavioral strategy for controlling agricultural pests.
Bio-Inspired Aggregation Control of Carbon Nanotubes for Ultra-Strong Composites
Authors: Han Yue , Zhang Xiaohua , Yu Xueping , Zhao Jingna , Li Shan , Liu Feng , Gao Peng , Zhang Yongyi , Zhao Tong , Li Qingwen 
Published: June 2015

AbstractHigh performance nanocomposites require well dispersion and high alignment of the nanometer-sized components, at a high mass or volume fraction as well. However, the road towards such composite structure is severely hindered due to the easy aggregation of these nanometer-sized components. Here we demonstrate a big step to approach the ideal composite structure for carbon nanotube (CNT) where all the CNTs were highly packed, aligned and unaggregated, with the impregnated polymers acting as interfacial adhesions and mortars to build up the composite structure. The strategy was based on a bio-inspired aggregation control to limit the CNT aggregation to be sub 20–50 nm, a dimension determined by the CNT growth. After being stretched with full structural relaxation in a multi-step way, the CNT/polymer (bismaleimide) composite yielded super-high tensile strengths up to 6.27–6.94 GPa, more than 100% higher than those of carbon fiber/epoxy composites and toughnesses up to 117–192 MPa. We anticipate that the present study can be generalized for developing multifunctional and smart nanocomposites where all the surfaces of nanometer-sized components can take part in shear transfer of mechanical, thermal and electrical signals.
Voltage-gated Na+ Channel Activity Increases Colon Cancer Transcriptional Activity and Invasion Via Persistent MAPK Signaling
Authors: House Carrie D. , Wang Bi-Dar , Ceniccola Kristin , Williams Russell , Simaan May , Olender Jacqueline , Patel Vyomesh , Baptista-Hon Daniel T. , Annunziata Christina M. , Silvio Gutkind J. , Hales Tim G. , Lee Norman H. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractFunctional expression of voltage-gated Na+ channels (VGSCs) has been demonstrated in multiple cancer cell types where channel activity induces invasive activity. The signaling mechanisms by which VGSCs promote oncogenesis remain poorly understood. We explored the signal transduction process critical to VGSC-mediated invasion on the basis of reports linking channel activity to gene expression changes in excitable cells. Coincidentally, many genes transcriptionally regulated by the SCN5A isoform in colon cancer have an over-representation of cis-acting sites for transcription factors phosphorylated by ERK1/2 MAPK. We hypothesized that VGSC activity promotes MAPK activation to induce transcriptional changes in invasion-related genes. Using pharmacological inhibitors/activators and siRNA-mediated gene knockdowns, we correlated channel activity with Rap1-dependent persistent MAPK activation in the SW620 human colon cancer cell line. We further demonstrated that VGSC activity induces downstream changes in invasion-related gene expression via a PKA/ERK/c-JUN/ELK-1/ETS-1 transcriptional pathway. This is the first study illustrating a molecular mechanism linking functional activity of VGSCs to transcriptional activation of invasion-related genes.
Performance against implementation of digital backpropagation for high‐speed coherent optical systems
Authors: Parahyba V.E.S. , Reis J.D. , Ranzini S.M. , Schneider E.O. , Rosa E.S. , Simões F.D. , Diniz J.C.M. , Carvalho L.H.H. , Filho E.P.L. , Oliveira J.C.R.F. , Oliveira J.R.F. 
Published: June 2015

The trade‐off between transmission performance and hardware implementation in application‐specific integrated circuits of digital backpropagation (DBP) in coherent 32 GBd polarisation‐division multiplexing 16 quadrature amplitude modulation is analysed. The reach is optimised for different DBP implementations under constraints of 16 and 28 nm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology digital signal processing (DSP) area.
Fully transparent flexible dual‐layer channel Ga‐doped ZnO thin‐film transistors on plastic substrates
Authors: Han Dedong , Huang Fuqing , Cong Yingying , Huang Lingling , Zhang Yi , Shi Pan , Yu Wen , Zhou Xiaoliang , Liu Lifeng , Zhang Shengdong , Zhang Xing , Wang Yi 
Published: June 2015

Fully transparent dual‐layer Ga‐doped zinc oxide (GZO) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated on flexible plastic substrate by room temperature processes. The GZO thin films are deposited by radio‐frequency sputtering according to the variation of the depositing time in order to optimise the performance of GZO TFTs. The results show that dual‐layer GZO TFTs exhibit excellent electrical properties, mechanical flexibility and optical transparency. A saturation mobility μs of 350 cm2/V.s, a linear field effect mobility of 281 cm2/V.s, a threshold voltage VTH of 3.2 V, a steep subthreshold swing of 268 mV/decade, a low off‐state current value (IOFF) of 1.5 × 10−11 A and a high on/off ratio of about 108 were extracted. The TFTs also have admirable transparency with an average visible transmittance of 87.2%. These results indicate that GZO material is suitable for the next generation flexible displays.
Efficient UWB filter design technique for integrated passive device implementation
Authors: Saadi A.A. , Yagoub M.C.E. , Touhami R. , Slimane A. , Taibi A. , Belaroussi M.T. 
Published: June 2015

A new approach is proposed to act as an efficient design technique for the implementation of ultra‐wideband (UWB) bandpass filters in integrated passive device technology. The proposed design is based on two major original contributions. First, the use of hourglass filter theory which, to the best of authors knowledge, has not been applied yet to such technology. Then, the minimisation of the number of inductors involved in the filter circuit through the zigzag technique. Implemented in 0.18 µm CMOS technology, the designed filter exhibits excellent performances such as two finite tunable transmission zeros, enhanced selectivity, a bandwidth covering the entire UWB spectrum of 3.1–10.6 GHz, a stopband rejection better than 15 dB throughout frequencies below 2.7 GHz and above 11 GHz, a good matching better than 11 dB, a minimum mid‐band insertion loss of 1.8 dB and, finally, a sufficiently constant group delay. With these features and only 10 lumped elements, the proposed filter is one of the most promising compact filters for UWB applications.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing signaling molecule N-3-oxododecanoyl homoserine lactone induces matrix metalloproteinase 9 expression via the AP1 pathway in rat fibroblasts
Authors: Nakagami Gojiro , Minematsu Takeo , Morohoshi Tomohiro , Yamane Takumi , Kanazawa Toshiki , Huang Lijuan , Asada Mayumi , Nagase Takashi , Ikeda Shin-ichi , Ikeda Tsukasa , Sanada Hiromi 
Published: June 2015

Abstract
Quorum sensing is a cell-to-cell communication mechanism, which is responsible for regulating a number of bacterial virulence factors and biofilm maturation and therefore plays an important role for establishing wound infection. Quorum-sensing signals may induce inflammation and predispose wounds to infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa; however, the interaction has not been well investigated. We examined the effects of the P. aeruginosa las quorum-sensing signal, N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC12-HSL), on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 9 expression in Rat-1 fibroblasts. 3OC12-HSL upregulated the expression of the MMP9 gene bearing an activator protein-1 (AP-1) binding site in the promoter region. We further investigated the mechanism underlying this effect. c-Fos gene expression increased rapidly after exposure to 3OC12-HSL, and nuclear translocation of c-Fos protein was observed; both effects were reduced by pretreatment with an AP-1 inhibitor. These results suggest that 3OC12-HSL can alter MMP9 gene expression in fibroblasts via the AP-1 signaling pathway.
Understanding knowledge sharing in the Jordanian construction industry
Authors: Arif Mohammed , Mohammed Al-Zubi , Gupta Aman Deep 
Published: June 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to understand and facilitate more knowledge sharing (KS) among construction companies in Jordan. Sixteen cultural variables that affect KS were identified through self-administered questionnaires.Design/methodology/approach– Factor analysis was used to find possible relationships between the cultural variables for grouping purposes and to eliminate the cultural variables that do not affect KS. The results of factor analysis were further refined using a brainstorming session and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to prioritise the factors obtained through the factor analysis.Findings– Trust, management and communication were identified as the three most important factors, whilst communication was acknowledged as the least important factor.Originality/value– This research uses factor analysis and AHP to study the influence of cultural factors on KS. It develops a hierarchy of factors that affect effective KS within the Jordanian context. The paper investigated KS in-depth and highlighted the components that constitute KS in an organisation. Based on extensive literature review, this study found the relative importance of different factors that affect KS. The emphasis on trust was found to be more critical than the presence of a computer-based system. In addition, this is the first paper of this type to look at KS in the context of the Jordanian construction industry.