bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Microvascular dysfunction in schizophrenia: a case–control study
Authors: Vetter Martin W , Martin Billie-Jean , Fung Marinda , Pajevic Milada , Anderson Todd J , Raedler Thomas J 
Published: June 2015

Abstract
Background:
Schizophrenia is a mental illness associated with cardiovascular disease at a younger age than in the general population. Endothelial dysfunction has predictive value for future cardiovascular events; however, the impact of a diagnosis of schizophrenia on this marker is unknown.

Aims:
We tested the hypothesis that subjects with schizophrenia have impaired endothelial function.

Methods:
A total of 102 subjects (34.5±7.5 years) participated in this study. This sample consisted of 51 subjects with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and 51 healthy subjects, who were matched for age (P=0.442), sex (P>0.999), and smoking status (P=0.842). Peripheral artery microvascular and conduit vessel endothelial function was measured using hyperemic velocity time integral (VTI), pulse arterial tonometry (PAT), and flow-mediated dilation (FMD).

Results:
Significantly lower values of VTI were noted in subjects with schizophrenia (104.9±33.0 vs. 129.1±33.8 cm, P<0.001), whereas FMD (P=0.933) and PAT (P=0.862) did not differ between the two groups. A multivariable-linear-regression analysis, built on data from univariate and partial correlations, showed that only schizophrenia, sex, lipid-lowering medications, antihypertensive medications, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol were predictive of attenuated VTI, whereas age, ethnicity, family history of cardiovascular disease, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, waist circumference, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), antidiabetic medications, antidepressant medications, mood stabilizers, benzodiazepines, and anticholinergic medications did not predict VTI in this model (adjusted R2=0.248).

Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that a diagnosis of schizophrenia is associated with impaired microvascular function as indicated by lower values of VTI, irrespective of many other clinical characteristics. It might be an early indicator of cardiovascular risk in schizophrenia, and might help to identify high-risk individuals.
Helix 8 of the angiotensin- II type 1A receptor interacts with phosphatidylinositol phosphates and modulates membrane insertion
Authors: Hirst Daniel J. , Lee Tzong-Hsien , Pattenden Leonard K. , Thomas Walter G. , Aguilar Marie-Isabel 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThe carboxyl-terminus of the type 1 angiotensin II receptor (AT1A) regulates receptor activation/deactivation and the amphipathic Helix 8 within the carboxyl-terminus is a high affinity interaction motif for plasma membrane lipids. We have used dual polarisation interferometry (DPI) to examine the role of phosphatidylinositdes in the specific recognition of Helix 8 in the AT1A receptor. A synthetic peptide corresponding to Leu305 to Lys325 (Helix 8 AT1A) discriminated between PIPs and different charges on lipid membranes. Peptide binding to PtdIns(4)P-containing bilayers caused a dramatic change in the birefringence (a measure of membrane order) of the bilayer. Kinetic modelling showed that PtdIns(4)P is held above the bilayer until the mass of bound peptide reaches a threshold, after which the peptides insert further into the bilayer. This suggests that Helix 8 can respond to the presence of PI(4)P by withdrawing from the bilayer, resulting in a functional conformational change in the receptor.
Consequences of Nosema apis infection for male honey bees and their fertility
Authors: Peng Yan , Baer-Imhoof Barbara , Harvey Millar A. , Baer Boris 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThe queens of eusocial bees, ants and wasps mate only during a very short period early in life and males therefore produce ejaculates consisting of large numbers of high quality sperm. Such extreme selection for high fecundity resulted in males investing minimally into their somatic survival, including their immune system. However, if susceptible males are unable to protect their reproductive tissue from infections, they compromise queen fitness if they transfer pathogens during mating. We used the honey bee Apis mellifera and investigated the course of infection of the sexually transmitted pathogen Nosema apis. We predicted that honey bee males are susceptible but protect their reproductive tissues from infections. We investigated the effects of N. apis infections on the midgut, the accessory glands and the accessory testes and quantified the consequences of infection on male survival and fecundity. We found that N. apis is able to infect males and as infections progressed, it significantly impacted fertility and survival in older males. Even though we confirm males to be able to minimize N. apis infections of their reproductive tissues, the parasite is present in ejaculates of older males. Consequently N. apis evolved alternative routes to successfully infect ejaculates and get sexually transmitted.
Transmission of scrapie prions to primate after an extended silent incubation period
Authors: Comoy Emmanuel E. , Mikol Jacqueline , Luccantoni-Freire Sophie , Correia Evelyne , Lescoutra-Etchegaray Nathalie , Durand Valérie , Dehen Capucine , Andreoletti Olivier , Casalone Cristina , Richt Juergen A. , Greenlee Justin J. , Baron Thierry , Benestad Sylvie L. , Brown Paul , Deslys Jean-Philippe 
Published: June 2015

AbstractClassical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (c-BSE) is the only animal prion disease reputed to be zoonotic, causing variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans and having guided protective measures for animal and human health against animal prion diseases. Recently, partial transmissions to humanized mice showed that the zoonotic potential of scrapie might be similar to c-BSE. We here report the direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to cynomolgus macaque, a highly relevant model for human prion diseases, after a 10-year silent incubation period, with features similar to those reported for human cases of sporadic CJD. Scrapie is thus actually transmissible to primates with incubation periods compatible with their life expectancy, although fourfold longer than BSE. Long-term experimental transmission studies are necessary to better assess the zoonotic potential of other prion diseases with high prevalence, notably Chronic Wasting Disease of deer and elk and atypical/Nor98 scrapie.
Linking Precursor Alterations to Nanoscale Structure and Optical Transparency in Polymer Assisted Fast-Rate Dip-Coating of Vanadium Oxide Thin Films
Authors: Glynn Colm , Creedon Donal , Geaney Hugh , Armstrong Eileen , Collins Timothy , Morris Michael A. , Dwyer Colm O’ 
Published: June 2015

AbstractSolution processed metal oxide thin films are important for modern optoelectronic devices ranging from thin film transistors to photovoltaics and for functional optical coatings. Solution processed techniques such as dip-coating, allow thin films to be rapidly deposited over a large range of surfaces including curved, flexible or plastic substrates without extensive processing of comparative vapour or physical deposition methods. To increase the effectiveness and versatility of dip-coated thin films, alterations to commonly used precursors can be made that facilitate controlled thin film deposition. The effects of polymer assisted deposition and changes in solvent-alkoxide dilution on the morphology, structure, optoelectronic properties and crystallinity of vanadium pentoxide thin films was studied using a dip-coating method using a substrate withdrawal speed within the fast-rate draining regime. The formation of sub-100 nm thin films could be achieved rapidly from dilute alkoxide based precursor solutions with high optical transmission in the visible, linked to the phase and film structure. The effects of the polymer addition was shown to change the crystallized vanadium pentoxide thin films from a granular surface structure to a polycrystalline structure composed of a high density of smaller in-plane grains, resulting in a uniform surface morphology with lower thickness and roughness.
Nanodomained Nickel Unite Nanocrystal Strength with Coarse-Grain Ductility
Authors: Wu Xiaolei , Yuan Fuping , Yang Muxin , Jiang Ping , Zhang Chuanxin , Chen Liu , Wei Yueguang , Ma Evan 
Published: June 2015

AbstractConventional metals are routinely hardened by grain refinement or by cold working with the expense of their ductility. Recent nanostructuring strategies have attempted to evade this strength versus ductility trade-off, but the paradox persists. It has never been possible to combine the strength reachable in nanocrystalline metals with the large uniform tensile elongation characteristic of coarse-grained metals. Here a defect engineering strategy on the nanoscale is architected to approach this ultimate combination. For Nickel, spread-out nanoscale domains (average 7 nm in diameter) were produced during electrodeposition, occupying only ~2.4% of the total volume. Yet the resulting Ni achieves a yield strength approaching 1.3 GPa, on par with the strength for nanocrystalline Ni with uniform grains. Simultaneously, the material exhibits a uniform elongation as large as ~30%, at the same level of ductile face-centered-cubic metals. Electron microscopy observations and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the nanoscale domains effectively block dislocations, akin to the role of precipitates for Orowan hardening. In the meantime, the abundant domain boundaries provide dislocation sources and trapping sites of running dislocations for dislocation multiplication and the ample space in the grain interior allows dislocation storage; a pronounced strain-hardening rate is therefore sustained to enable large uniform elongation.
A Herpesvirus Specific Motif of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Polymerase Is Required for the Efficient Lytic Genome Synthesis
Authors: Narita Yohei , Sugimoto Atsuko , Kawashima Daisuke , Watanabe Takahiro , Kanda Teru , Kimura Hiroshi , Tsurumi Tatsuya , Murata Takayuki 
Published: June 2015

AbstractEpstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with several malignancies, including Burkitt lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. To overcome such disorders, understanding the molecular mechanisms of the EBV replication is important. The EBV DNA polymerase (Pol) is one of the essential factors for viral lytic DNA replication. Although it is well known that its C-terminal half, possessing DNA polymerase and 3’-5’ exonuclease activity, is highly conserved among Family B Pols, the NH2-terminal half has yet to be characterized in detail. In this study, we show that a stretch of hydrophobic amino acids within the pre-NH2-terminal domain of EBV Pol plays important role. In addition, we could identify the most essential residue for replication in the motif. These findings will shed light on molecular mechanisms of viral DNA synthesis and will help to develop new herpesviruses treatments.
Extrapolating Dynamic Leidenfrost Principles to Metallic Nanodroplets on Asymmetrically Textured Surfaces
Authors: Horne Joseph E. , Lavrik Nickolay V. , Terrones Humberto , Fuentes-Cabrera Miguel 
Published: June 2015

AbstractIn an effort to enhance our knowledge on how to control the movement of metallic nanodroplets, here we have used classical molecular dynamics simulations to investigate whether Cu nanostructures deposited on nanopillared substrates can be made to jump at desired angles. We find that such control is possible, especially for Cu nanostructures that are symmetric; for asymmetric nanostructures, however, control is more uncertain. The work presented here borrows ideas from two seemingly different fields, metallic droplets and water droplets in the dynamic Leidenfrost regime. Despite the differences in the respective systems, we find common ground in their behavior on nanostructured surfaces. Due to this, we suggest that the ongoing research in Leidenfrost droplets is a fertile area for scientists working on metallic nanodroplets.
Cytoplasmic nucleophosmin has elevated T199 phosphorylation upon which G2/M phase progression is dependent
Authors: Chan Narisa , Meng Lim Tit 
Published: June 2015

AbstractThe cytoplasmic mutant of nucleophosmin (NPMc) is found approximately in one-third of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases and is highly associated with normal karyotype. Whereas previous studies have focused on wtNPM in centrosome duplication, we further elucidate the role of NPM in the cell cycle by utilizing the increased cytoplasmic load of NPMc. Overexpression of NPMc causes increased phosphorylation of NPM on T199 and, to a lesser degree, S4. T199 phosphorylation is dependent on cdk2 but activators of cdk2 were not elevated. Upon inhibition of cdk2, NPMc-overexpressing cells demonstrate a greater G2/M phase arrest than wtNPM or GFP counterparts. However, the number of cells with 2 centrosomes did not increase concordantly. This suggests that the arrest was caused by a delay in centrosome duplication, most likely due to the inhibition of centrosome duplication caused by unphosphorylated NPMc. Overall, these results suggest that the phosphorylation of T199 is important in the mitotic progression of NPMc-expressing cells. This further supports the hypothesis that NPMc is associated with normal karyotypes in AML because the higher cytoplasmic load of NPM can better suppress centrosome overduplication which would otherwise result in unequal segregation of chromosomes during mitosis, leading to aneuploidy and other genomic instabilities.
Tier 2 Language Intervention for Diverse Preschoolers: An Early-Stage Randomized Control Group Study Following an Analysis of Response to Intervention
Authors: Spencer Trina D. , Petersen Douglas B. , Adams John L. 
Published: June 2015

Purpose
The first purpose of this study was to explore the use of a whole class, test–teach–test, dynamic assessment of narratives for identifying participants. The second purpose was to examine the efficacy of a Tier 2 narrative language intervention for culturally and linguistically diverse preschoolers.

Method

A dynamic assessment was conducted with students from 3 Head Start classrooms. On the basis of the results of the dynamic assessment, 22 children were randomly assigned to treatment (
n
= 12) and control (
n
= 10) groups for intervention. Participants received a small-group (4:1), differentiated, narrative intervention for 15–20 min, twice a week, for 9 weeks. Interventionists used weekly progress monitoring data to explicitly focus on individualized narrative and linguistic targets.

Results
The treatment group showed significant improvement over the control group on proximal and distal measures of narrative retells, with large effect sizes. Group differences on a measure of children's language in the context of personal stories were not statistically significant.

Conclusions
This early-stage study provides evidence that narrative language intervention is an effective approach to improving the language skills of preschoolers with diverse language needs. Furthermore, the evidence supports the use of dynamic assessment for reducing overidentification and identifying candidates for small-group language intervention.
Longitudinal study of fingerprint recognition
Authors: Yoon Soweon , Jain Anil K. 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Fingerprint recognition, which is considered to be a reliable means for human identification, has been used in many applications ranging from law enforcement and forensics to unlocking mobile phones. Despite its successful deployment, the fundamental premise of fingerprint-based identification—persistence and uniqueness of fingerprints—has not yet been well studied, resulting in challenges to the admissibility of friction ridge evidence in courts of law. This study investigates the tendency of fingerprint similarity scores and recognition accuracy with respect to covariates characterizing properties of fingerprint impressions and demographics of subjects, including time interval between two fingerprints being compared in regard to the persistence of fingerprints. A multilevel statistical analysis is conducted with a longitudinal dataset of fingerprint records from 15,597 subjects.
Mapping the binding interface of ERK and transcriptional repressor Capicua using photocrosslinking
Authors: Futran Alan S. , Kyin Saw , Shvartsman Stanislav Y. , Link A. James 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is a critical enzyme that interacts with a wide range of regulators and substrates to control cellular functions. ERK interactions have been studied using a number of biophysical and biochemical techniques, which identified two docking domains on ERK used by almost all of its substrates and regulators. However, mapping the binding interface of a new ERK interactor with little prior knowledge of the binding mechanism remains a challenge. Here we show that the introduction of a photocrosslinking amino acid into the heterodimerization interface of ERK and its substrate, Capicua, allows for precise, amino-acid–level determination of the substrate binding site using tandem mass spectrometry. This study demonstrates the utility of photocrosslinking approaches for the determination of binding sites on kinases.
Structural insights into the assembly of the histone deacetylase-associated Sin3L/Rpd3L corepressor complex
Authors: Clark Michael D. , Marcum Ryan , Graveline Richard , Chan Clarence W. , Xie Tao , Chen Zhonglei , Ding Yujia , Zhang Yongbo , Mondragón Alfonso , David Gregory , Radhakrishnan Ishwar 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Gene transcription in eukaryotes is regulated by enzymes that posttranslationally add or remove acetyl groups from histones and render the underlying DNA more or less accessible to the transcription machinery. How histone deacetylases (HDACs), the enzymes responsible for deacetylation that are commonly found in multiprotein complexes, are assembled and targeted to their sites of action to affect transcription repression is largely unknown. We show biochemically and structurally how two key subunits of a conserved HDAC complex recruit multiple copies of HDACs into the complex in a manner that allows the enzymes to explore a large conformational space when the complex is targeted to specific genomic loci. This complex seems to be tailored for efficient deacetylation of nucleosomes that are situated far apart.
Archaeal actin from a hyperthermophile forms a single-stranded filament
Authors: Braun Tatjana , Orlova Albina , Valegård Karin , Lindås Ann-Christin , Schröder Gunnar F. , Egelman Edward H. 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Actin is one of the most abundant and highly conserved eukaryotic proteins, but the basis for the exquisite sequence conservation in actin is not known. In contrast, bacterial actin-like proteins display almost no sequence conservation and form very different filaments. We have examined the filaments formed by an actin-like protein in the third kingdom of life, Archaea, and although they only have a single strand, the strand is very similar to each of the two strands in actin. This gives previously unidentified insights into the divergence of archaea and eukaryotes.
Magnetic levitation of single cells
Authors: Durmus Naside Gozde , Tekin H. Cumhur , Guven Sinan , Sridhar Kaushik , Arslan Yildiz Ahu , Calibasi Gizem , Ghiran Ionita , Davis Ronald W. , Steinmetz Lars M. , Demirci Utkan 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Cells consist of micro- and nanoscale components and materials that contribute to their fundamental magnetic and density signatures. Previous studies have claimed that magnetic levitation can only be used to measure density signatures of nonliving materials. Here, we demonstrate that both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells can be levitated and that each cell has a unique levitation profile. Furthermore, our levitation platform uniquely enables ultrasensitive density measurements, imaging, and profiling of cells in real-time at single-cell resolution. This method has broad applications, such as the label-free identification and monitoring of heterogeneous biological changes under various physiological conditions, including drug screening in personalized medicine.
Intrinsic unfoldase/foldase activity of the chaperonin GroEL directly demonstrated using multinuclear relaxation-based NMR
Authors: Libich David S. , Tugarinov Vitali , Clore G. Marius 
Published: June 2015

Significance
Chaperones are integral components of the cellular machinery that assist protein folding and protect against misfolding and aggregation. A bottleneck in understanding how chaperones work is that the relevant functional states are too sparsely populated and dynamic to be observed using conventional biophysical methods. NMR is uniquely suited to detect and provide atomic resolution functional information on such “invisible” states. Here we quantitate the kinetics of the chaperone GroEL binding to a protein substrate that exists in a metastable equilibrium between the native state and a sparsely populated folding intermediate, under conditions where the GroEL-bound states are not directly observable. We show that in the absence of cofactors, GroEL possesses substantial intrinsic un/foldase activity that is mediated by hydrophobic interactions.
Integrated reactive nitrogen budgets and future trends in China
Authors: Gu Baojing , Ju Xiaotang , Chang Jie , Ge Ying , Vitousek Peter M. 
Published: June 2015

Significance
China is the world’s largest producer of reactive nitrogen (Nr), and Nr in the form of synthetic fertilizer has contributed substantially to increased food production there. However, Nr losses from overuse and misuse of fertilizer, combined with industrial emissions, represent a serious and growing cause of air and water pollution. This paper presents a substantially complete and coherent Nr budget for China and for 14 subsystems within China from 1980 to 2010, evaluates human health/longevity and environmental consequences of excess Nr, and explores several scenarios for Nr in China in 2050. These scenarios suggest that reasonable pathways exist whereby excess Nr could be reduced substantially, while at the same time benefitting human well-being and environmental health.
External Attachment of Acoustic Tags to Deepwater Reef Fishes: an Alternate Approach When Internal Implantation Affects Experimental Design
Authors: Johnson Matthew W. , Diamond Sandra L. , Stunz Gregory W. 
Published: June 2015

AbstractImplanting internal acoustic tags is often a preferred method for tracking fish; however, this procedure can present issues with respect to surgical incision that affect experimental design. This is particularly the case when testing for the effects of barotrauma, where the incision for an internal tag would inadvertently “vent” the fish, precluding an “unvented” or control treatment. The rise of barotrauma experimentation has increased the need for methods facilitating this design. Here, we develop and test a novel technique to externally attach acoustic tags, without causing the release of gasses from the fish's body cavity. In addition, this method does not require anesthetics, thereby allowing researchers to eliminate artifacts associated with sedation when trying to more accurately replicate “real‐world” fishery conditions. We used accelerometer/depth tags to provide information on how long an externally tagged fish would retain its tag in situ. Changes in acceleration or changes in depth were used as a proxy to determine whether the fish was alive or dead or had shed its tag. Results showed that 80% of the fish (n = 20) detected retained their tags for at least 48 h. Seventy‐five percent of the fish tagged retained their tags for at least 23 d. After 23 d, tags were shed periodically until day 49. Thirty‐three percent of fish tagged retained their tags until day 57, when the experiment was ended. The ability of these modified tags to stay attached for at least 23 d suggests that the technique would be successful for maintaining a balanced experimental design for measuring postrelease mortality or changes in behavior in deepwater fishes while eliminating artifacts typically associated with internal tag implantation.