bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Telomere length is associated with oppositional defiant behavior and maternal clinical depression in Latino preschool children
Authors: Wojcicki J M , Heyman M B , Elwan D , Shiboski S , Lin J , Blackburn E , Epel E 
Published: June 2015

AbstractExposure to psychological stress and depression are associated with shorter white blood cell telomere length (TL) in adults, possibly via associated lifelong oxidative stressors. Exposure to maternal depression increases risk for future depression and behavior problems in children, and Latino youth are at high risk. Few studies have evaluated the role of exposure to maternal depression or child behavior in relation to TL in children. We assessed early-childhood exposures to maternal depression from birth to the age of 5 years and child behavior from ages 3–5 years in a cohort of Latino children in relation to child leukocyte TL at ages 4 and 5 years. Children who had oppositional defiant behavior at 3, 4 or 5 years had shorter TL than those without by ~450 base pairs (P<0.01). In multivariate analyses, independent predictors for shorter TL at 4 and 5 years of age included oppositional defiant disorder at 3, 4 or 5 years (β=−359.25, 95% CI −633.84 to 84.66; P=0.01), exposure to maternal clinical depression at 3 years of age (β=−363.99, 95% CI −651.24 to 764.74; P=0.01), shorter maternal TL (β=502.92, 95% CI 189.21–816.63) and younger paternal age at the child’s birth (β=24.63, 95% CI 1.14–48.12). Thus, exposure to maternal clinical depression (versus depressive symptoms) in early childhood was associated with deleterious consequences on child cellular health as indicated by shorter TL at 4 and 5 years of age. Similarly, children with oppositional defiant behavior also had shorter TL, possibly related to early exposures to maternal clinical depression. Our study is the first to link maternal clinical depression and oppositional defiant behavior with shorter TL in the preschool years in a relatively homogenous population of low-income Latino children.
Plasma protein biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease endophenotypes in asymptomatic older twins: early cognitive decline and regional brain volumes
Authors: Kiddle S J , Steves C J , Mehta M , Simmons A , Xu X , Newhouse S , Sattlecker M , Ashton N J , Bazenet C , Killick R , Adnan J , Westman E , Nelson S , Soininen H , Kloszewska I , Mecocci P , Tsolaki M , Vellas B , Curtis C , Breen G , Williams S C R , Lovestone S , Spector T D , Dobson R J B 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThere is great interest in blood-based markers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), especially in its pre-symptomatic stages. Therefore, we aimed to identify plasma proteins whose levels associate with potential markers of pre-symptomatic AD. We also aimed to characterise confounding by genetics and the effect of genetics on blood proteins in general. Panel-based proteomics was performed using SOMAscan on plasma samples from TwinsUK subjects who are asymptomatic for AD, measuring the level of 1129 proteins. Protein levels were compared with 10-year change in CANTAB-paired associates learning (PAL; n=195), and regional brain volumes (n=34). Replication of proteins associated with regional brain volumes was performed in 254 individuals from the AddNeuroMed cohort. Across all the proteins measured, genetic factors were found to explain ~26% of the variability in blood protein levels on average. The plasma level of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) MAPKAPK5 protein was found to positively associate with the 10-year change in CANTAB-PAL in both the individual and twin difference context. The plasma level of protein MAP2K4 was found to suggestively associate negatively (Q<0.1) with the volume of the left entorhinal cortex. Future studies will be needed to assess the specificity of MAPKAPK5 and MAP2K4 to eventual conversion to AD.
Take it or leave it: prefrontal control in recreational cocaine users
Authors: Morein-Zamir S , Simon Jones P , Bullmore E T , Robbins T W , Ersche K D 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThough stimulant drugs such as cocaine are considered highly addictive, some individuals report recreational use over long periods without developing dependence. Difficulties in response inhibition have been hypothesized to contribute to dependence, but previous studies investigating response inhibition in recreational cocaine users have reported conflicting results. Performance on a stop-signal task was examined in 24 recreational cocaine users and 32 healthy non-drug using control participants matched for age, gender and verbal intelligence during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. The two groups were further matched on traumatic childhood histories and the absence of family histories of addiction. Results revealed that recreational cocaine users did not significantly differ from controls on any index of task performance, including response execution and stop-signal reaction time, with the latter averaging 198 ms in both groups. Functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses indicated that, compared with controls, stopping in the recreational users was associated with increased activation in the pre-supplementary motor area but not the right inferior frontal cortex. Thus, findings imply intact response inhibition abilities in recreational cocaine users, though the distinct pattern of accompanying activation suggests increased recruitment of brain areas implicated in response inhibition. This increased recruitment could be attributed to compensatory mechanisms that enable preserved cognitive control in this group, possibly relating to their hypothetical resilience to stimulant drug dependence. Such overactivation, alternatively, may be attributable to prolonged cocaine use leading to neuroplastic adaptations.
Longevity factor klotho and chronic psychological stress
Authors: Prather A A , Epel E S , Arenander J , Broestl L , Garay B I , Wang D , Dubal D B 
Published: June 2015

AbstractChronic psychological stress is associated with accelerated aging and premature morbidity and mortality; however, the biology linking chronic psychological stress and its maladaptive effects remains largely unknown. Klotho is a pleiotropic hormone that regulates the aging process and promotes better brain and body health. Whether klotho is linked to psychosocial stress or its negative impact in humans has not been investigated. To address this gap, we recruited 178 healthy women who were either chronically high-stress maternal caregivers for a child with autism spectrum disorder (n=90) or low-stress control mothers of a typically developing child (n=88). We found that women under high chronic stress displayed significantly lower levels of the longevity hormone klotho compared with low-stress controls (t(176)=2.92, P=0.004; d=0.44), and the decrease among those under high stress was age-dependent. In addition, high-stress caregivers who reported more depressive symptoms displayed even lower klotho levels compared with low-stress participants. These findings provide the first evidence that klotho levels are sensitive to psychosocial stressors and raise the possibility that klotho may serve as a novel biological link connecting stress, depression and risk for accelerated disease development. Furthermore, these findings have important implications for understanding the plasticity of the aging process and may represent a therapeutic target for mitigating the deleterious effects of chronic psychological stress on health and well-being.
The Effects of Visual Stimuli on the Spoken Narrative Performance of School-Age African American Children
Authors: Mills Monique T. 
Published: June 2015

Purpose
This study investigated the fictional narrative performance of school-age African American children across 3 elicitation contexts that differed in the type of visual stimulus presented.

Method
A total of 54 children in Grades 2 through 5 produced narratives across 3 different visual conditions: no visual, picture sequence, and single picture. Narratives were examined for visual condition differences in expressive elaboration rate, number of different word roots (NDW) rate, mean length of utterance in words, and dialect density. The relationship between diagnostic risk for language impairment and narrative variables was explored.

Results
Expressive elaboration rate and mean length of utterance in words were higher in the no-visual condition than in either the picture-sequence or the single-picture conditions. NDW rate was higher in the no-visual and picture-sequence conditions than in the single-picture condition. Dialect density performance across visual context depended on the child's grade, so that younger children produced a higher rate of African American English in the no-visual condition than did older children. Diagnostic risk was related to NDW rate and dialect density measure.

Conclusion
The results suggest the need for narrative elicitation contexts that include verbal as well as visual tasks to fully describe the narrative performance of school-age African American children with typical development.
Spatial patterns of agricultural expansion determine impacts on biodiversity and carbon storage
Authors: Chaplin-Kramer Rebecca , Sharp Richard P. , Mandle Lisa , Sim Sarah , Johnson Justin , Butnar Isabela , Milà i Canals Llorenç , Eichelberger Bradley A. , Ramler Ivan , Mueller Carina , McLachlan Nikolaus , Yousefi Anahita , King Henry , Kareiva Peter M. 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Deforestation is a major threat to biodiversity and many ecosystem services and is closely linked to agricultural expansion. Sustainability assessment of different agricultural products and policies requires an understanding of the impacts of land conversion resulting from shifts in demand or incentives for production. The prevailing approaches to estimating such impacts do not account for the spatial context of the transformation. This study shows how different patterns of agricultural expansion into forested landscapes can vastly reduce or exacerbate the total impact, suggesting that methods to measure sustainability should consider not only the total area but also where and how the landscape is converted.
Estimating the impacts of conservation on ecosystem services and poverty by integrating modeling and evaluation
Authors: Ferraro Paul J. , Hanauer Merlin M. , Miteva Daniela A. , Nelson Joanna L. , Pattanayak Subhrendu K. , Nolte Christoph , Sims Katharine R. E. 
Published: June 2015

SignificanceResearch shows how the potential services from ecosystem conservation can be modeled, mapped, and valued; however, this integrative research has not been systematically applied to estimate the actual impacts of programs on the delivery of ecosystem services. We bridge this divide by showing how protected areas in Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, and Thailand store carbon and deliver ecosystem services worth at least $5 billion. Impacts on carbon are associated with poverty exacerbation in some settings and with poverty reduction in others. We describe an agenda to improve conservation planning by (i) studying impacts on other ecosystem services, (ii) uncovering the mechanisms through which conservation programs affect human welfare, and (iii) more comprehensively comparing costs and benefits of conservation impacts.
Adaptive governance, ecosystem management, and natural capital
Authors: Schultz Lisen , Folke Carl , Österblom Henrik , Olsson Per 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Adaptive governance (AG) has been suggested as a suitable approach for ecosystem management in changing environments. It rests on the assumption that landscapes and seascapes need to be understood and governed as complex social–ecological systems rather than as ecosystems alone. We compared three AG initiatives and their effects on natural capital and ecosystem services. In comparison with other efforts aimed at conservation and sustainable use of natural capital, adaptive governance developed capacity to manage multiple ecosystem services and respond to ecosystem-wide changes and enabled collaboration across diverse interests, sectors, and institutional arrangements. Internal and external pressures continuously challenge the adaptive capacity of the initiatives.
Public health impacts of ecosystem change in the Brazilian Amazon
Authors: Bauch Simone C. , Birkenbach Anna M. , Pattanayak Subhrendu K. , Sills Erin O. 
Published: June 2015

SignificanceNature threads the very fabric of human lives in remote forest areas of developing countries. Unfortunately, we do not fully understand how ecosystem services (such as human health benefits) could be secured by conserving natural capital. Thus, we analyze a rich dataset on disease, climate, demography, land uses, and conservation policies in the Brazilian Amazon. Unsurprisingly, we find that the health dividends vary across conservation policies and are small relative to the overall burden of these diseases. However, interventions targeted specifically at preserving biodiversity (strict protected areas) generate health cobenefits. Thus, given a chance, nature does its part for human (health) capital, especially for the poor and politically voiceless.
Nazi indoctrination and anti-Semitic beliefs in Germany
Authors: Voigtländer Nico , Voth Hans-Joachim 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Attempts at modifying public opinions, attitudes, and beliefs range from advertising and schooling to “brainwashing.” Their effectiveness is highly controversial. We demonstrate that Nazi indoctrination––with its singular focus on fostering racial hatred––was highly effective. Germans who grew up under the Nazi regime are much more anti-Semitic today than those born before or after that period. These findings demonstrate that beliefs can be modified massively through policy intervention. We also show that it was probably Nazi schooling that was most effective, and not radio or cinema propaganda. Where schooling could tap into preexisting prejudices, indoctrination was particularly strong. This suggests that confirmation bias may play an important role in intensifying attitudes toward minorities.
Dynamics of the echolocation beam during prey pursuit in aerial hawking bats
Authors: Jakobsen Lasse , Olsen Mads Nedergaard , Surlykke Annemarie 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Many insects have evolved ultrasonic ears to detect and evade hunting bats, performing dramatic escape maneuvers in response to intense ultrasound. Presumably as a response, some bats broaden their echolocation beam in close proximity to insects to keep track of them at large off-axis angles. Here, we investigated if beam broadening is a general property of echolocation when hunting moving prey. The results show that emballonurid bats ensonify a wide area during pursuit, not by broadening the beam but by emitting high-intensity calls throughout pursuit. Thus, beam broadening is not a general property of echolocation, but we hypothesize that maintaining a broad acoustic field of view is crucial for all echolocators hunting moving prey.
Mapping fast protein folding with multiple-site fluorescent probes
Authors: Prigozhin Maxim B. , Chao Shu-Han , Sukenik Shahar , Pogorelov Taras V. , Gruebele Martin 
Published: June 2015

SignificanceFast–protein-folding experiments and molecular-dynamics simulations can nowadays be compared on the same timescale. The comparison is limited by the lack of time-resolved structural information from experiment, which usually provides only information on global kinetics or stability. Structural data from microsecond folding experiments enables more rigorous testing of the detailed predictions available from simulations, which will in turn make future simulations more reliable. Here, we tackled this long-standing problem by measuring tertiary contact formation between three helices in a fast-folding protein. The folding of this protein is not as simple as it seems but matches up nicely with a long all-atom simulation trajectory that monitors multiple folding and unfolding events.
MPE-seq, a new method for the genome-wide analysis of chromatin structure
Authors: Ishii Haruhiko , Kadonaga James T. , Ren Bing 
Published: June 2015

Significance
The structure of chromatin is critical for processes such as transcription, DNA replication, and DNA repair. The most commonly used techniques for analyzing chromatin structure involve the use of enzymes such as micrococcal nuclease (MNase) and DNase I. These enzymes, however, have distinct characteristics that can at some times be an advantage but in other situations be a drawback. Here we describe methidiumpropyl-EDTA sequencing (MPE-seq), a method in which we use the chemical MPE-Fe(II) for the genome-wide analysis of chromatin structure. MPE-Fe(II) cleaves chromatin with minimal DNA sequence bias. Moreover, MPE-seq reveals noncanonical chromatin structures in active promoter regions that are not seen with standard MNase-seq conditions. MPE-seq provides insights into chromatin structure that complement the information gained from MNase-seq.
Successional dynamics in Neotropical forests are as uncertain as they are predictable
Authors: Norden Natalia , Angarita Héctor A. , Bongers Frans , Martínez-Ramos Miguel , Granzow-de la Cerda Iñigo , van Breugel Michiel , Lebrija-Trejos Edwin , Meave Jorge A. , Vandermeer John , Williamson G. Bruce , Finegan Bryan , Mesquita Rita , Chazdon Robin L. 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Although forest succession has been approached as a predictable process, successional trajectories vary widely, even among nearby stands with similar environmental conditions and disturbance histories. We quantified predictability and uncertainty during tropical forest succession using dynamical models describing the interactions among stem density, basal area, and species density over time. We showed that the trajectories of these forest attributes were poorly predicted by stand age and varied significantly within and among sites. Our models reproduced the general successional trends observed, but high levels of noise were needed to increase model predictability. These levels of uncertainty call into question the premise that successional processes are consistent over space and time, and challenge the way ecologists view tropical forest regeneration.
Dysplastic spondylolysis is caused by mutations in the diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter gene
Authors: Cai Tao , Yang Liu , Cai Wanshi , Guo Sen , Yu Ping , Li Jinchen , Hu Xueyu , Yan Ming , Shao Qianzhi , Jin Yan , Sun Zhong Sheng , Luo Zhuo-Jing 
Published: June 2015

SignificanceSpondylolysis is a crack in part of a vertebra that occurs in 3–6% of the general population. The cracked vertebra sometimes slips forward over the vertebra below it, resulting in spondylolisthesis and lower-back pain. Although inherited spondylolysis has long been described, the genetic etiology of these disorders remains unclear. Studies of families with autosomal-dominant mutations provide a unique means to investigate the pathogenesis of spondylolysis, which can also be used as biomarkers, even during the asymptomatic period. This research identified two novel missense mutations in independent families that were located at the conserved Stas domain. Functional analyses demonstrated that sulfate uptake activities of mutant SLC26A2 were significantly reduced. This study suggests that the pathogenesis of chondrodysplasia is associated with dysplastic spondylolysis.
Rescaling of metal oxide nanocrystals for energy storage having high capacitance and energy density with robust cycle life
Authors: Jeong Hyung Mo , Choi Kyung Min , Cheng Tao , Lee Dong Ki , Zhou Renjia , Ock Il Woo , Milliron Delia J. , Goddard William A. , Kang Jeung Ku 
Published: June 2015

Significance
The combined study of experiments and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrates that metal oxide nanocrystals on graphene can be rescaled into atomic clusters. It is notable that the capacitance of 3,023 F per the mass of NiO, matching the measured capacitance of 2,231 per the total electrode mass, exceeds the theoretical gravimetric capacitance of 2,618 F available via ion-to-atom redox reactions. This approach thus provides a new pathway to realize full capacitance via ion-to-atom Faradaic redox reactions. Furthermore, assembly with a rescaled metal oxide positive electrode shows that further development of high-capacity negative counter electrode materials can pave a new route to address challenging energy storage issues.
Analysis of the size dependence of macromolecular crowding shows that smaller is better
Authors: Sharp Kim A. 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Cells contain 30–40% dissolved protein and RNA by volume. In vivo protein binding and stability might differ significantly from in vitro measurements. Crowding by the excluded volume of these macromolecules has been studied extensively by experiment and theory. When the crowding effects of macromolecules, water, and ions are treated on an equal footing, the effect is opposite to that commonly believed. Large molecules are less effective at crowding than water and ions. There is also a surprisingly weak dependence on crowder size. Molecules of medium size have the same effect as much larger macromolecules like proteins and RNA. These results require a reassessment of observed high-concentration effects and of strategies to mimic in vivo conditions with in vitro experiments.
Functional organization of the human 4D Nucleome
Authors: Chen Haiming , Chen Jie , Muir Lindsey A. , Ronquist Scott , Meixner Walter , Ljungman Mats , Ried Thomas , Smale Stephen , Rajapakse Indika 
Published: June 2015

Significance
We explored the human genome as a dynamical system. Using a data-guided mathematical framework and genome-wide assays, we interrogated the dynamical relationship between genome architecture (structure) and gene expression (function) and its impact on phenotype, which defines the 4D Nucleome. Structure and function entrained with remarkable persistence in genes that underlie wound healing processes and circadian rhythms. Using genome-wide intragene and intergene contact maps, we identified gene networks with high potential for coregulation and colocalization, consistent with expression via transcription factories. In an intriguing example, we found periodic movements of circadian genes in three dimensions that entrained with expression. This work can be broadly applied to identifying genomic signatures that define critical cell states during differentiation, reprogramming, and cancer.
CRISPR-based screening of genomic island excision events in bacteria
Authors: Selle Kurt , Klaenhammer Todd R. , Barrangou Rodolphe 
Published: June 2015

Significance
The development of Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated genes (CAS)–based technology for targeted genome editing has revolutionized molecular biology approaches, but significant and outstanding gaps exist for applications in bacteria, the native hosts of these adaptive immune systems. This study shows that CRISPR-Cas systems can be directed to target and delete genomic islands that are flanked by insertion-sequence elements and devoid of essential genes. Naturally occurring minor subpopulations harboring deletions in genomic islands were identified and readily isolated using CRISPR-Cas screening. Promising applications of this approach can define minimal bacterial genomes, determine essential genes, and characterize genetically heterogeneous bacterial populations.