bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Physiological and morphological responses of Leymus chinensis to saline‐alkali stress
Authors: Liu Binshuo , Kang Chunli , Wang Xin , Bao Guozhang 
Published: August 2015

AbstractIn this study, soil containing four different concentrations of salt was used to grow Leymus chinensis, which was sampled over 120 days between the beginning of spring and the end of fall. During this time, its physiological and morphological characteristics were analyzed. Maximal superoxide dismutase and betaine content were observed under moderate saline‐alkaline stress treatment (A3), and with increasing saline‐alkaline stress, there was a linear increase in the contents of Na+, proline, malondialdehyde (MDA), organic acids (OAs), catalase, peroxidase, soluble protein and total soluble sugar. However, the K+ content and the K+/Na+ ratio decreased significantly. Under saline‐alkaline stress, the K+, betaine, OA and soluble protein levels in the leaves were higher than those in the rhizomes, whereas the proline, MDA, protective enzyme and total soluble sugar levels in the leaves were lower than those observed in the rhizomes. The node density varied with increases in saline‐alkali stress, and each node index was maximal at A3. Under saline‐alkali stress, the rhizome biomass, leaf biomass and root–shoot ratio first decreased and then increased, whereas the change in root biomass showed a contrary tendency, and the specific root length increased gradually. There was a significant correlation between the root–shoot ratio, specific root length, and the physiological indexes. These results show that under different degrees of saline‐alkali stress, L. chinensis is likely to use a series of adaptive physiological and morphological responses; the physiological responses were primarily related to the allocation of biomass and energy, root length, and the allocation of biomass between the aboveground and belowground organs.
Vantage Sensitivity: Environmental Sensitivity to Positive Experiences as a Function of Genetic Differences
Authors: Pluess Michael 
Published: August 2015

AbstractA large number of gene–environment interaction studies provide evidence that some people are more likely to be negatively affected by adverse experiences as a function of specific genetic variants. However, such “risk” variants are surprisingly frequent in the population. Evolutionary analysis suggests that genetic variants associated with increased risk for maladaptive development under adverse environmental conditions are maintained in the population because they are also associated with advantages in response to different contextual conditions. These advantages may include (a) coexisting genetic resilience pertaining to other adverse influences, (b) a general genetic susceptibility to both low and high environmental quality, and (c) a coexisting propensity to benefit disproportionately from positive and supportive exposures, as reflected in the recent framework of vantage sensitivity. After introducing the basic properties of vantage sensitivity and highlighting conceptual similarities and differences with diathesis‐stress and differential susceptibility patterns of gene–environment interaction, selected and recent empirical evidence for the notion of vantage sensitivity as a function of genetic differences is reviewed. The unique contribution that the new perspective of vantage sensitivity may make to our understanding of social inequality will be discussed after suggesting neurocognitive and molecular mechanisms hypothesized to underlie the propensity to benefit disproportionately from benevolent experiences.
Predictors of help‐seeking behavior: Distinction between help‐seeking intentions and help‐seeking behavior
Authors: Nagai Satoru 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThe overall goals of this research were to: (a) examine whether help‐seeking intentions, subjective needs, depressive symptoms, and social support can predict actual help‐seeking behavior; and (b) clarify the moderating effects of social support on help‐seeking behavior using a longitudinal design. University students (N = 370) completed questionnaires that measured social support, subjective needs, depressive symptoms, and help‐seeking intentions during Time1, and questionnaires that measured actual help‐seeking behavior during Time2. Only subjective needs showed a positive effect on both help‐seeking intentions and actual help‐seeking behavior. Although depressive symptoms had a negative effect on help‐seeking intentions, they had a positive effect on actual help‐seeking behavior. Moreover, social support had a positive effect on help‐seeking intentions, and moderated the influence of subjective needs on actual help‐seeking behavior. Simple slope analysis indicated that subjective needs did not facilitate help‐seeking behavior among those with low levels of social support.
Trait databases: misuses and precautions
Authors: Violle Cyrille , Borgy Benjamin , Choler Philippe 
Published: August 2015

AbstractTrait‐based ecology has enjoyed increasing success, aided by the development of trait databases. However their reliability has hardly been tested. Sandel et al., in this issue, identified uncertainties in trait databases linked to missing species and variable sampling effort among species. This highlights the danger of using trait databases in a blind manner and the need for their thorough evaluation.
QTL analysis for cooking traits of super rice with a high‐density SNP genetic map and fine mapping of a novel boiled grain length locus
Authors: Li Yuanyuan , Tao Hongjian , Xu Jie , Shi Zhenyuan , Ye Weijun , Wu Liwen , Zeng Dali , Gao Zhenyu , Guo Longbiao 
Published: August 2015

AbstractHybrid rice has contributed substantially to the improvement of grain production worldwide, yet its poor cooking and tasting characteristics have long been recognized. In this study, 132 recombinant inbred lines derived from LYPJ were used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 12 cooking traits with the high‐density SNP linkage map recently developed by our team. We identified 17 QTLs on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11, which accounted for 7.50% to 23.50% of the phenotypic variations. A novel major QTL qBGL7 for boiled grain length was further fine‐mapped to an interval of 440 Kb between the two markers RM21906 and gl3 using a BC3F2 population. Two near‐isogenic lines with extreme boiled grain length, GX5‐176 and GX5‐101, could be directly used in improving cooking quality. We also identified a QTL for soaked grain width expansion rate, qSGWE6, in the Wx gene region on chromosome 6. The Wx differential regulation coincided with sequential variation between the two parents. Our work offered a theoretical basis for molecular breeding of high‐quality hybrid rice.
Synergistic Photobactericidal Activity Based on Ultraviolet‐A Irradiation and Ferulic Acid Derivatives
Authors: Shirai Akihiro , Kajiura Masato , Omasa Takeshi 
Published: August 2015

AbstractUltraviolet‐A (UV‐A)‐mediated bactericidal activity was enhanced by combined treatment with trans‐ferulic acid (trans‐FA, compound 1) or its derivatives. Derivative compounds 4 and 10 contain a phenyl group or an l‐tyrosine HCl tert‐butyl ester, respectively, linked to the carboxyl group of trans‐FA. Of the three compounds, 10 exhibited the highest synergistic activity in a photobactericidal assay based on treating Escherichia coli with a derivative compound and UV‐A irradiation (wavelength 350–385 nm). Inactivation of viable cells at a 4.9 J cm−2 UV‐A fluence increased from 1.90 to 5.19 logs in the presence of 10 (100 μm); a 4.95‐log inactivation was achieved with 10 (5 μm) and a 7.4 J cm−2 UV‐A fluence. Addition of antioxidants significantly suppressed photosynergistic bactericidal activity, suggesting that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the combined bactericidal mechanism. Flow cytometry revealed that combined treatment with UV‐A and compound 10, which showed the highest photobactericidal activity, generates an excess of oxidative radicals in bacterial cells. The bactericidal activity of compound 10 may be due to electrostatic interaction between the molecule's cationic moiety and the cell surface, followed by amplification of ROS generation in the cells.
Selective Activation of C=C Bond in Sustainable Phenolic Compounds from Lignin via Photooxidation: Experiment and Density Functional Theory Calculations
Authors: Zielinski (Goldberg) Morgan , Burke Luke A. , Samokhvalov Alexander 
Published: August 2015

AbstractLignocellulosic biomass can be converted to high‐value phenolic compounds, such as food additives, antioxidants, fragrances and fine chemicals. We investigated photochemical and heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation of two isomeric phenolic compounds from lignin, isoeugenol and eugenol, in several nonprotic solvents, for the first time by experiment and the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Photooxidation was conducted under ambient conditions using air, near‐UV light and commercial P25 TiO2 photocatalyst, and the products were determined by TLC, UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, HPLC‐UV and HPLC‐MS. Photochemical and photocatalytic oxidation of isoeugenol proceeds via the mild oxidative “dimerization” to produce the lignan dehydrodiisoeugenol (DHDIE), while photooxidation of eugenol does not proceed. The DFT calculations suggest a radical stepwise mechanism for the oxidative “dimerization” of isoeugenol to DHDIE as was calculated for the first time.
Arendt on the Crime of Crimes
Authors: Luban David 
Published: August 2015

AbstractGenocide is the intentional destruction of a group as such. What makes groups important, over and above the individual worth of the group's members? This paper explores Hannah Arendt's efforts to answer that question, and concludes that she failed. In the course of the argument, it examines her understanding of Jewish history, her ideas about “the social,” and her conception of “humanity” as a normative stance toward international responsibility rather than a descriptive concept.
Authority, Nationality, and Minorities
Authors: Schwartz Alex 
Published: August 2015

AbstractProminent normative theories for accommodating minority national groups appeal to the value of national cultures and/or the psychology of group recognition. This article aims to show that an argument from political authority provides a better justification. Building on Joseph Raz's theory of authority, the article argues that members of minority national groups are disadvantaged in relation to their majority counterparts under standard democratic institutions; such institutions do not provide minority national groups with comparable access to the conditions for legitimate political authority. Constitutional arrangements for accommodating minority national groups—such as territorial self‐government or power‐sharing—are justified insofar as they might offset this disadvantage.
Polymorphisms in genes of the BAFF/APRIL system may constitute risk factors of B‐CLL – a preliminary study on a Polish population
Authors: Jasek M. , Wagner M. , Sobczynski M. , Wolowiec D. , Kuliczkowski K. , Woszczyk D. , Kielbinski M. , Kusnierczyk P. , Frydecka I. , Karabon L. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThe association of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of B‐cell activating factor (BAFF)/a proliferation‐inducing ligand (APRIL) system with B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B‐CLL) have been suggested, therefore, we investigated 20 SNPs of BAFF, APRIL, BAFF‐R, transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin‐ligand interactor (TACI), B‐cell maturation antigen (BCMA) genes and the risk and outcome of B‐CLL in 187 patients and 296 healthy subjects as well as ligand‐receptor gene × gene interactions. Although the obtained P‐values for all 20 SNPs did not reach statistical significance for this study (α = 0.003), the high value of the global chi‐squared statistic (χ2df = 38 = 52.65; P = 0.0586), and obtained values of odds ratio indicate that rs9514828 (BAFF), rs3803800 (APRIL) and rs4985726 (TACI) may be associated with the risk of B‐CLL. We observed that the B‐CLL patients with the genotype rs9514828CT/rs11570136AA were diagnosed with the disease 12 years later than the whole group of patients in this study.
Compressed‐sensing‐based content‐driven hierarchical reconstruction: Theory and application to C‐arm cone‐beam tomography
Authors: Langet Hélène , Riddell Cyril , Reshef Aymeric , Trousset Yves , Tenenhaus Arthur , Lahalle Elisabeth , Fleury Gilles , Paragios Nikos 
Published: August 2015

Purpose:This paper addresses the reconstruction of x‐ray cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) for interventional C‐arm systems. Subsampling of CBCT is a significant issue with C‐arms due to their slow rotation and to the low frame rate of their flat panel x‐ray detectors. The aim of this work is to propose a novel method able to handle the subsampling artifacts generally observed with analytical reconstruction, through a content‐driven hierarchical reconstruction based on compressed sensing.Methods:The central idea is to proceed with a hierarchical method where the most salient features (high intensities or gradients) are reconstructed first to reduce the artifacts these features induce. These artifacts are addressed first because their presence contaminates less salient features. Several hierarchical schemes aiming at streak artifacts reduction are introduced for C‐arm CBCT: the empirical orthogonal matching pursuit approach with the ℓ0pseudonorm for reconstructing sparse vessels; a convex variant using homotopy with the ℓ1‐norm constraint of compressed sensing, for reconstructing sparse vessels over a nonsparse background; homotopy with total variation (TV); and a novel empirical extension to nonlinear diffusion (NLD). Such principles are implemented with penalized iterative filtered backprojection algorithms. For soft‐tissue imaging, the authors compare the use of TV and NLD filters as sparsity constraints, both optimized with the alternating direction method of multipliers, using a threshold for TV and a nonlinear weighting for NLD.Results:The authors show on simulated data that their approach provides fast convergence to good approximations of the solution of the TV‐constrained minimization problem introduced by the compressed sensing theory. Using C‐arm CBCT clinical data, the authors show that both TV and NLD can deliver improved image quality by reducing streaks.Conclusions:A flexible compressed‐sensing‐based algorithmic approach is proposed that is able to accommodate for a wide range of constraints. It is successfully applied to C‐arm CBCT images that may not be so well approximated by piecewise constant functions.
Correlates of Vaccine-Induced Protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Revealed in Comparative Analyses of Lymphocyte Populations
Authors: Kurtz Sherry L. , Elkins Karen L. 
Published: August 2015

ABSTRACTA critical hindrance to the development of a novel vaccine againstMycobacterium tuberculosisis a lack of understanding of protective correlates of immunity and of host factors involved in a successful adaptive immune response. Studies from our group and others have used a mouse-basedin vitromodel system to assess correlates of protection. Here, using this coculture system and a panel of whole-cell vaccines with varied efficacy, we developed a comprehensive approach to understand correlates of protection. We compared the gene and protein expression profiles of vaccine-generated immune peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) to the profiles found in immune splenocytes. PBLs not only represent a clinically relevant cell population, but comparing the expression in these populations gave insight into compartmentally specific mechanisms of protection. Additionally, we performed a direct comparison of host responses induced when immune cells were cocultured with either the vaccine strainMycobacterium bovisBCG or virulentM. tuberculosis. These comparisons revealed host-specific and bacterium-specific factors involved in protection against virulentM. tuberculosis. Most significantly, we identified a set of 13 core molecules induced in the most protective vaccines under all of the conditions tested. Further validation of this panel of mediators as a predictor of vaccine efficacy will facilitate vaccine development, and determining how each promotes adaptive immunity will advance our understanding of antimycobacterial immune responses.
Capsule Switching and Antimicrobial Resistance Acquired during Repeated Streptococcus pneumoniae Pneumonia Episodes
Authors: Chang Bin , Nariai Akiyoshi , Sekizuka Tsuyoshi , Akeda Yukihiro , Kuroda Makoto , Oishi Kazunori , Ohnishi Makoto 
Published: August 2015

ABSTRACT

Streptococcus pneumoniae
colonizes the nasopharyngeal mucus in healthy people and causes otitis media, pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis. In this study, we analyzed an
S. pneumoniae
strain that caused 7 repeated pneumonia episodes in an 80-month-old patient with cerebral palsy during a period of 25 months. A total of 10
S. pneumoniae
strains were obtained from sputum samples, and serotype 6B was isolated from samples from the first 5 episodes, whereas serotype 6A was isolated from samples from the last 2. Whole-genome sequencing showed clonality of the 10 isolates with 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genomes. Among these SNPs, one single point mutation in the
wciP
gene was presumed to relate to the serotype switching from 6B to 6A, and the other mutations in
parC
and
gyrA
were related to fluoroquinolone resistance. These results suggested that an
S. pneumoniae
strain, which asymptomatically colonized the patient's nasopharynx or was horizontally transmitted from an asymptomatic carrier, caused the repeated pneumonia events. Phenotypic variations in the capsule type and antimicrobial susceptibility occurred during the carrier state. Hyporesponsiveness to serotypes 6B and 6A of
S. pneumoniae
was found even after vaccination with the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. After an additional vaccination with the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, opsonic activities for both serotypes 6A and 6B significantly increased and are expected to prevent relapse by the same strain.
Commutability of the First World Health Organization International Standard for Human Cytomegalovirus
Authors: Hayden R. T. , Preiksaitis J. , Tong Y. , Pang X. , Sun Y. , Tang L. , Cook L. , Pounds S. , Fryer J. , Caliendo A. M. 
Published: August 2015

ABSTRACT
Quantitative detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA has become a standard part of care for many groups of immunocompromised patients; recent development of the first WHO international standard for human CMV DNA has raised hopes of reducing interlaboratory variability of results. Commutability of reference material has been shown to be necessary if such material is to reduce variability among laboratories. Here we evaluated the commutability of the WHO standard using 10 different real-time quantitative CMV PCR assays run by eight different laboratories. Test panels, including aliquots of 50 patient samples (40 positive samples and 10 negative samples) and lyophilized CMV standard, were run, with each testing center using its own quantitative calibrators, reagents, and nucleic acid extraction methods. Commutability was assessed both on a pairwise basis and over the entire group of assays, using linear regression and correspondence analyses. Commutability of the WHO material differed among the tests that were evaluated, and these differences appeared to vary depending on the method of statistical analysis used and the cohort of assays included in the analysis. Depending on the methodology used, the WHO material showed poor or absent commutability with up to 50% of assays. Determination of commutability may require a multifaceted approach; the lack of commutability seen when using the WHO standard with several of the assays here suggests that further work is needed to bring us toward true consensus.
DDX60L Is an Interferon-Stimulated Gene Product Restricting Hepatitis C Virus Replication in Cell Culture
Authors: Grünvogel Oliver , Esser-Nobis Katharina , Reustle Anna , Schult Philipp , Müller Birthe , Metz Philippe , Trippler Martin , Windisch Marc P. , Frese Michael , Binder Marco , Fackler Oliver , Bartenschlager Ralf , Ruggieri Alessia , Lohmann Volker 
Published: August 2015

ABSTRACT

All major types of interferon (IFN) efficiently inhibit hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication
in vitro
and
in vivo
. Remarkably, HCV replication is not sensitive to IFN-γ in the hepatoma cell line Huh6, despite an intact signaling pathway. We performed transcriptome analyses between Huh6 and Huh-7 cells to identify effector genes of the IFN-γ response and thereby identified the DExD/H box helicase DEAD box polypeptide 60-like (DDX60L) as a restriction factor of HCV replication. DDX60L and its homolog DEAD box polypeptide 60 (DDX60) were both induced upon viral infection and IFN treatment in primary human hepatocytes. However, exclusively DDX60L knockdown increased HCV replication in Huh-7 cells and rescued HCV replication from type II IFN as well as type I and III IFN treatment, suggesting that DDX60L is an important effector protein of the innate immune response against HCV. In contrast, we found no impact of DDX60L on replication of hepatitis A virus. DDX60L protein was detectable only upon strong ectopic overexpression, displayed a broad cytoplasmic distribution, but caused cytopathic effects under these conditions. DDX60L knockdown did not alter interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) induction after IFN treatment but inhibited HCV replication upon ectopic expression, suggesting that it is a direct effector of the innate immune response. It most likely inhibits viral RNA replication, since we found neither impact of DDX60L on translation or stability of HCV subgenomic replicons nor additional impact on assembly of infectious virus. Similar to DDX60, DDX60L had a moderate impact on RIG-I dependent activation of innate immunity, suggesting additional functions in the sensing of viral RNA.

IMPORTANCE
Interferons induce a plethora of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), which are our first line of defense against viral infections. In addition, IFNs have been used in antiviral therapy, in particular against the human pathogen hepatitis C virus (HCV); still, their mechanism of action is not well understood, since diverse, overlapping sets of antagonistic effector ISGs target viruses with different biologies. Our work identifies DDX60L as a novel factor that inhibits replication of HCV. DDX60L expression is regulated similarly to that of its homolog DDX60, but our data suggest that it has distinct functions, since we found no contribution of DDX60 in combatting HCV replication. The identification of novel components of the innate immune response contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the complex mechanisms governing antiviral defense.