bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Endothelial Caveolin-1 regulates the radiation response of epithelial prostate tumors
Authors: Klein D , Schmitz T , Verhelst V , Panic A , Schenck M , Reis H , Drab M , Sak A , Herskind C , Maier P , Jendrossek V 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe membrane protein caveolin-1 (Cav1) recently emerged as a novel oncogene involved in prostate cancer progression with opposed regulation in epithelial tumor cells and the tumor stroma. Here we examined the role of stromal Cav1 for growth and radiation response of MPR31-4 prostate cancer xenograft tumors using Cav1-deficient C57Bl/6 mice. Syngeneic MPR31-4 tumors grew faster when implanted into Cav1-deficient mice. Increased tumor growth on Cav1-deficient mice was linked to decreased integration of smooth muscle cells into the wall of newly formed blood vessels and thus with a less stabilized vessel phenotype compared with tumors from Cav1 wild-type animals. However, tumor growth delay of MPR31-4 tumors grown on Cav1 knockout mice to a single high-dose irradiation with 20 Gray was more pronounced compared with tumors grown on wild-type mice. Increased radiation-induced tumor growth delay in Cav1-deficient mice was associated with an increased endothelial cell apoptosis. In vitro studies using cultured endothelial cells (ECs) confirmed that the loss of Cav1 expression increases sensitivity of ECs to radiation-induced apoptosis and reduces their clonogenic survival after irradiation. Immunohistochemical analysis of human tissue specimen further revealed that although Cav1 expression is mostly reduced in the tumor stroma of advanced and metastatic prostate cancer, the vascular compartment still expresses high levels of Cav1. In conclusion, the radiation response of MPR31-4 prostate tumors is critically regulated by Cav1 expression in the tumor vasculature. Thus, Cav1 might be a promising therapeutic target for combinatorial therapies to counteract radiation resistance of prostate cancer at the level of the tumor vasculature.
Adaptive power-controllable orbital angular momentum (OAM) multicasting
Authors: Li Shuhui , Wang Jian 
Published: May 2015

AbstractWe report feedback-assisted adaptive multicasting from a single Gaussian mode to multiple orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes using a single phase-only spatial light modulator loaded with a complex phase pattern. By designing and optimizing the complex phase pattern through the adaptive correction of feedback coefficients, the power of each multicast OAM channel can be arbitrarily controlled. We experimentally demonstrate power-controllable multicasting from a single Gaussian mode to two and six OAM modes with different target power distributions. Equalized power multicasting, “up-down” power multicasting and “ladder” power multicasting are realized in the experiment. The difference between measured power distributions and target power distributions is assessed to be less than 1 dB. Moreover, we demonstrate data-carrying OAM multicasting by employing orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing 64-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (OFDM 64-QAM) signal. The measured bit-error rate curves and observed optical signal-to-noise ratio penalties show favorable operation performance of the proposed adaptive power-controllable OAM multicasting.
Low-dose add-on memantine treatment may improve cognitive performance and self-reported health conditions in opioid-dependent patients undergoing methadone-maintenance-therapy
Authors: Chang Yun-Hsuan , Chen Shiou-Lan , Lee Sheng-Yu , Chen Po See , Wang Tzu-Yun , Lee I. Hui , Chen Kao Chin , Yang Yen Kuang , Hong Jau-Shyong , Lu Ru-Band 
Published: May 2015

AbstractAn important interaction between opioid and dopamine systems has been indicated and using opioids may negatively affect cognitive functioning. Memantine, a medication for Alzheimer's disease, increasingly is being used for several disorders and maybe important for cognitive improvement. Opioid-dependent patients undergoing methadone-maintenance-therapy (MMT) and healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Patients randomly assigned to the experimental (5 mg/day memantine (MMT+M) or placebo (MMT+P) group: 57 in MMT+M, 77 in MMT+P. Those completed the cognitive tasks at the baseline and after the 12-week treatment were analyzed. Thirty-seven age- and gender-matched HCs and 42 MMT+P and 39 MMT+M patients were compared. The dropout rates were 49.4% in the MMT+P and 26.3% in the MMT+M. Both patient groups' cognitive performances were significantly worse than that of the HCs. After the treatment, both patient groups showed improved cognitive performance. We also found an interaction between the patient groups and time which indicated that the MMT+M group's post-treatment improvement was better than that of the MMT+P group. Memantine, previously reported as neuroprotective may attenuate chronic opioid-dependence-induced cognitive decline. Using such low dose of memantine as adjuvant treatment for improving cognitive performance in opioid dependents; the dose of memantine might be a worthy topic in future studies.
Robo1/2 regulate follicle atresia through manipulating granulosa cell apoptosis in mice
Authors: Li Jiangchao , Ye Yuxiang , Zhang Renli , Zhang Lili , Hu Xiwen , Han Dong , Chen Jiayuan , He Xiaodong , Wang Guang , Yang Xuesong , Wang Lijing 
Published: May 2015

AbstractSecreted Slit proteins and their Roundabout (Robo) receptors act as a repulsive cue to preventaxons from migrating to inappropriate locations during the development of the nervous system. Slit/Robo has also been implicated in reproductive system development, but the molecular mechanism of the Slit/Robo pathway in the reproductive system remains poorly understood. Using a transgenic mouse model, we investigated the function of the Slit/Robo pathway on ovarian follicle development and atresia. We first demonstrated that more offspring were born to mice with a partial knockout of the Robo1/2 genes in mice. We next showed that Robo1 and Robo2 are strongly expressed in ovarian granulosacells. Apoptosis in granulosa cells was reduced when Robo1/2 were partially knocked out and this observation was further verified by in vitro Robo1/2 knockout experiments in mouse and human granulosa cells. We also found that ovarian angiogenesis wasenhanced by a partial lack of Robo1/2 genes. In summary, our data suggest that the Slit/Robo pathway can impact follicle development and atresia by influencinggranulosa cell apoptosis.
MICCA: a complete and accurate software for taxonomic profiling of metagenomic data
Authors: Albanese Davide , Fontana Paolo , De Filippo Carlotta , Cavalieri Duccio , Donati Claudio 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe introduction of high throughput sequencing technologies has triggered an increase of the number of studies in which the microbiota of environmental and human samples is characterized through the sequencing of selected marker genes. While experimental protocols have undergone a process of standardization that makes them accessible to a large community of scientist, standard and robust data analysis pipelines are still lacking. Here we introduce MICCA, a software pipeline for the processing of amplicon metagenomic datasets that efficiently combines quality filtering, clustering of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), taxonomy assignment and phylogenetic tree inference. MICCA provides accurate results reaching a good compromise among modularity and usability. Moreover, we introduce a de-novo clustering algorithm specifically designed for the inference of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs). Tests on real and synthetic datasets shows that thanks to the optimized reads filtering process and to the new clustering algorithm, MICCA provides estimates of the number of OTUs and of other common ecological indices that are more accurate and robust than currently available pipelines. Analysis of public metagenomic datasets shows that the higher consistency of results improves our understanding of the structure of environmental and human associated microbial communities. MICCA is an open source project.
Expression and purification of a single-chain Type IV restriction enzyme Eco94GmrSD anddetermination of its substrate preference
Authors: He Xinyi , Hull Victoria , Thomas Julie A. , Fu Xiaoqing , Gidwani Sonal , Gupta Yogesh K. , Black Lindsay W. , Xu Shuang-yong 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe first reported Type IV restriction endonuclease (REase) GmrSD consists of GmrSand GmrD subunits. In most bacteria, however, the gmrS and gmrD genesare fused together to encode a single-chain protein. The fused coding sequence forECSTEC94C_1402 from E. coli strain STEC_94C was expressed in T7 Express. Theprotein designated as Eco94GmrSD displays modification-dependent ATP-stimulatedREase activity on T4 DNA with glucosyl-5-hydroxymethyl-cytosines (glc-5hmC) and T4gtDNA with 5-hydroxymethyl-cytosines (5hmC). A C-terminal 6xHis-tagged protein waspurified by two-column chromatography. The enzyme is active in Mg2+and Mn2+ buffer. It prefers to cleave large glc-5hmC- or5hmC-modified DNA. In phage restriction assays, Eco94GmrSD weakly restricted T4 andT4gt, whereas T4 IPI*-deficient phage (Δip1) were restricted morethan 106-fold, consistent with IPI* protection of E. coliDH10B from lethal expression of the closely homologous E. coli CT596 GmrSD.Eco94GmrSD is proposed to belong to the His-Asn-His (HNH)-nuclease family by theidentification of a putative C-terminal REase catalytic site D507-H508-N522.Supporting this, GmrSD variants D507A, H508A and N522A displayed no endonucleaseactivity. The presence of a large number of fused GmrSD homologs suggests that GmrSDis an effective phage exclusion protein that provides a mechanism to thwart T-evenphage infection.
Effect of divalent Ba cation substitution with Sr on coupled ‘multiglass’ state in the magnetoelectric multiferroic compound Ba3NbFe3Si2O14
Authors: Rathore Satyapal Singh , Vitta Satish 
Published: May 2015

Abstract(Ba/Sr)3NbFe3Si2O14 is a magneto-electric multiferroic with an incommensurate antiferromagnetic spiral magnetic structure which induces electric polarization at 26 K. Structural studies show that both the compounds have similar crystal structure down to 6 K. They exhibit a transition, TN at 26 K and 25 K respectively, as indicated by heat capacity and magnetization, into an antiferromagnetic state. Although Ba and Sr are isovalent, they exhibit very different static and dynamic magnetic behaviors. The Ba-compound exhibits a glassy behavior with critical slowing dynamics with a freezing temperature of ~35 K and a critical exponent of 3.9, a value close to the 3-D Ising model above TN, in addition to the invariant transition into an antiferromagnetic state. The Sr-compound however does not exhibit any dispersive behavior except for the invariant transition at TN. The dielectric constant reflects magnetic behavior of the two compounds: the Ba-compound has two distinct dispersive peaks while the Sr-compound has a single dispersive peak. Thus the compounds exhibit coupled ‘multiglass’ behavior. The difference in magnetic properties between the two compounds is found to be due to modifications to super exchange path angle and length as well as anti-site defects which stabilize either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic interactions.
Scaling for quantum tunneling current in nano- and subnano-scale plasmonic junctions
Authors: Zhang Peng 
Published: May 2015

AbstractWhen two conductors are separated by a sufficiently thin insulator, electrical current can flow between them by quantum tunneling. This paper presents a self-consistent model of tunneling current in a nano- and subnano-meter metal-insulator-metal plasmonic junction, by including the effects of space charge and exchange correlation potential. It is found that the J-V curve of the junction may be divided into three regimes: direct tunneling, field emission and space-charge-limited regime. In general, the space charge inside the insulator reduces current transfer across the junction, whereas the exchange-correlation potential promotes current transfer. It is shown that these effects may modify the current density by orders of magnitude from the widely used Simmons’ formula, which is only accurate for a limited parameter space (insulator thickness > 1 nm and barrier height > 3 eV) in the direct tunneling regime. The proposed self-consistent model may provide a more accurate evaluation of the tunneling current in the other regimes. The effects of anode emission and material properties (i.e. work function of the electrodes, electron affinity and permittivity of the insulator) are examined in detail in various regimes. Our simple model and the general scaling for tunneling current may provide insights to new regimes of quantum plasmonics.
How does public opinion become extreme?
Authors: Ramos Marlon , Shao Jia , Reis Saulo D. S. , Anteneodo Celia , Andrade José S. , Havlin Shlomo , Makse Hernán A. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractWe investigate the emergence of extreme opinion trends in society by employing statistical physics modeling and analysis on polls that inquire about a wide range of issues such as religion, economics, politics, abortion, extramarital sex, books, movies and electoral vote. The surveys lay out a clear indicator of the rise of extreme views. The precursor is a nonlinear relation between the fraction of individuals holding a certain extreme view and the fraction of individuals that includes also moderates, e.g., in politics, those who are “very conservative” versus “moderate to very conservative” ones. We propose an activation model of opinion dynamics with interaction rules based on the existence of individual “stubbornness” that mimics empirical observations. According to our modeling, the onset of nonlinearity can be associated to an abrupt bootstrap-percolation transition with cascades of extreme views through society. Therefore, it represents an early-warning signal to forecast the transition from moderate to extreme views. Moreover, by means of a phase diagram we can classify societies according to the percolative regime they belong to, in terms of critical fractions of extremists and people’s ties.
Motion and gravity effects in the precision of quantum clocks
Authors: Lindkvist Joel , Sabín Carlos , Johansson Göran , Fuentes Ivette 
Published: May 2015

AbstractWe show that motion and gravity affect the precision of quantum clocks. We consider a localised quantum field as a fundamental model of a quantum clock moving in spacetime and show that its state is modified due to changes in acceleration. By computing the quantum Fisher information we determine how relativistic motion modifies the ultimate bound in the precision of the measurement of time. While in the absence of motion the squeezed vacuum is the ideal state for time estimation, we find that it is highly sensitive to the motion-induced degradation of the quantum Fisher information. We show that coherent states are generally more resilient to this degradation and that in the case of very low initial number of photons, the optimal precision can be even increased by motion. These results can be tested with current technology by using superconducting resonators with tunable boundary conditions.
Low-dose memantine attenuated methadone dose in opioid-dependent patients: a 12-week double-blind randomized controlled trial
Authors: Lee Sheng-Yu , Chen Shiou-Lan , Chang Yun-Hsuan , Chen Po See , Huang San-Yuan , Tzeng Nian-Sheng , Wang Liang-Jen , Lee I Hui , Wang Tzu-Yun , Chen Kao Chin , Yang Yen Kuang , Hong Jau-Shyong , Lu Ru-Band 
Published: May 2015

AbstractLow-dose memantine might have anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic effects mechanistically remote from an NMDA receptor. We investigated whether add-on memantine reduced cytokine levels and benefitted patients with opioid dependence undergoing methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) in a randomized, double-blind, controlled 12-week study. Patients were randomly assigned to a group: Memantine (5 mg/day) (n = 53) or Placebo (n = 75). The methadone dose required and retention in treatment were monitored. Plasma tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were examined during weeks 0, 1, 4, 8 and 12. General linear mixed models were used to examine therapeutic effect. After 12 weeks, Memantine-group required a somewhat lower methadone dose than did Placebo-group (P = 0.039). They also had significantly lower plasma TNF-α and significantly higher TGF-β1 levels. We provide evidence of the benefit of add-on memantine in opioid dependent patients undergoing MMT.
Multiplexed Millimeter Wave Communication with Dual Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) Mode Antennas
Authors: Hui Xiaonan , Zheng Shilie , Chen Yiling , Hu Yiping , Jin Xiaofeng , Chi Hao , Zhang Xianmin 
Published: May 2015

AbstractCommunications using the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of radio waves have attracted much attention in recent years. In this paper, a novel millimeter-wave dual OAM mode antenna is cleverly designed, using which a 60 GHz wireless communication link with two separate OAM channels is experimentally demonstrated. The main body of the dual OAM antenna is a traveling-wave ring resonator using two feeding ports fed by a 90° hybrid coupler. A parabolic reflector is used to focus the beams. All the antenna components are fabricated by 3D printing technique and the electro-less copper plating surface treatment process. The performances of the antenna, such as S-parameters, near-fields, directivity and isolation between the two OAM modes are measured. Experimental results show that this antenna can radiate two coaxially propagating OAM modes beams simultaneously. The multiplexing and de-multiplexing are easily realized in the antennas themselves. The two OAM mode channels have good isolation of more than 20 dB, thus ensuring the reliable transmission links at the same time.
Analysis of the genetic basis of periodic fever with aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and cervical adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome
Authors: Gioia Silvio Alessandro Di , Bedoni Nicola , von Scheven-Gête Annette , Vanoni Federica , Superti-Furga Andrea , Hofer Michaël , Rivolta Carlo 
Published: May 2015

AbstractPFAPA syndrome is the most common autoinflammatory syndrome in children from Western countries. In spite of its strong familial clustering, its genetic basis and inheritance pattern are still unknown. We performed a comprehensive genetic study on 68 individuals from 14 families. Linkage analysis suggested a susceptibility locus on chromosome 8, but direct molecular sequencing did not support this initial statistical finding. Exome sequencing revealed the absence of any gene that was mutated in all patients. Exhaustive screening of genes involved in other autoinflammatory syndromes or encoding components of the human inflammasome showed no DNA variants that could be linked to PFAPA molecular pathology. Among these, the previously-reported missense mutation V198M in the NLRP3 gene was clearly shown not to co-segregate with PFAPA. Our results on this relatively large cohort indicate that PFAPA syndrome is unlikely to be a monogenic condition. Moreover, none of the several genes known to be involved in inflammation or in autoinflammatory disorders seem to be relevant, alone, to its etiology, suggesting that PFAPA results from oligogenic or complex inheritance of variants in multiple disease genes and/or non-genetic factors.
The pluripotency factor NANOG promotes the formation of squamous cell carcinomas
Authors: Palla Adelaida R. , Piazzolla Daniela , Alcazar Noelia , Cañamero Marta , Graña Osvaldo , Gómez-López Gonzalo , Dominguez Orlando , Dueñas Marta , Paramio Jesús M. , Serrano Manuel 
Published: May 2015

AbstractNANOG is a key pluripotency factor in embryonic stem cells that is frequently expressed in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). However, a direct link between NANOG and SCCs remains to be established. Here, we show that inducible overexpression of NANOG in mouse skin epithelia favours the malignant conversion of skin papillomas induced by chemical carcinogenesis, leading to increased SCC formation. Gene expression analyses in pre-malignant skin indicate that NANOG induces genes associated to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Some of these genes are directly activated by NANOG, including EMT-associated genes Zeb1, Zeb2, Twist1, Prrx1 and miR-21. Finally, endogenous NANOG binds to the promoters of theses genes in human SCC cells and, moreover, NANOG induces EMT features in primary keratinocytes. These results provide in vivo evidence for the oncogenic role of NANOG in squamous cell carcinomas.
Regulation of Immunoproteasome Function in the Lung
Authors: Keller Ilona E. , Vosyka Oliver , Takenaka Shinji , Kloß Alexander , Dahlmann Burkhardt , Willems Lianne I. , Verdoes Martijn , Overkleeft Hermen S. , Marcos Elisabeth , Adnot Serge , Hauck Stefanie M. , Ruppert Clemens , Günther Andreas , Herold Susanne , Ohno Shinji , Adler Heiko , Eickelberg Oliver , Meiners Silke 
Published: May 2015

AbstractImpaired immune function contributes to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Disease progression is further exacerbated by pathogen infections due to impaired immune responses. Elimination of infected cells is achieved by cytotoxic CD8+  T cells that are activated by MHC I-mediated presentation of pathogen-derived antigenic peptides. The immunoproteasome, a specialized form of the proteasome, improves generation of antigenic peptides for MHC I presentation thereby facilitating anti-viral immune responses. However, immunoproteasome function in the lung has not been investigated in detail yet. In this study, we comprehensively characterized the function of immunoproteasomes in the human and murine lung. Parenchymal cells of the lung express low constitutive levels of immunoproteasomes, while they are highly and specifically expressed in alveolar macrophages. Immunoproteasome expression is not altered in whole lung tissue of COPD patients. Novel activity-based probes and native gel analysis revealed that immunoproteasome activities are specifically and rapidly induced by IFNγ treatment in respiratory cells in vitro and by virus infection of the lung in mice. Our results suggest that the lung is potentially capable of mounting an immunoproteasome-mediated efficient adaptive immune response to intracellular infections.
Genetic association study of circadian genes with seasonal pattern in bipolar disorders
Authors: Geoffroy Pierre Alexis , Lajnef Mohamed , Bellivier Frank , Jamain Stéphane , Gard Sébastien , Kahn Jean-Pierre , Henry Chantal , Leboyer Marion , Etain Bruno 
Published: May 2015

AbstractAbout one fourth of patients with bipolar disorders (BD) have depressive episodes with a seasonal pattern (SP) coupled to a more severe disease. However, the underlying genetic influence on a SP in BD remains to be identified. We studied 269 BD Caucasian patients, with and without SP, recruited from university-affiliated psychiatric departments in France and performed a genetic single-marker analysis followed by a gene-based analysis on 349 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning 21 circadian genes and 3 melatonin pathway genes. A SP in BD was nominally associated with 14 SNPs identified in 6 circadian genes:NPAS2,CRY2,ARNTL,ARNTL2,RORAandRORB. After correcting for multiple testing, using a false discovery rate approach, the associations remained significant for 5 SNPs inNPAS2(chromosome 2:100793045–100989719): rs6738097 (pc = 0.006), rs12622050 (pc = 0.006), rs2305159 (pc = 0.01), rs1542179 (pc = 0.01) and rs1562313 (pc = 0.02). The gene-based analysis of the 349 SNPs showed that rs6738097 (NPAS2) and rs1554338 (CRY2) were significantly associated with the SP phenotype (respective Empirical p-values of 0.0003 and 0.005). The associations remained significant for rs6738097 (NPAS2) after Bonferroni correction. The epistasis analysis between rs6738097 (NPAS2) and rs1554338 (CRY2) suggested an additive effect. Genetic variations inNPAS2might be a biomarker for a seasonal pattern in BD.