bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comprehensive functional characterization of murine infantile Batten disease including Parkinson-like behavior and dopaminergic markers
Authors: Dearborn Joshua T. , Harmon Steven K. , Fowler Stephen C. , O’Malley Karen L. , Taylor George T. , Sands Mark S. , Wozniak David F. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractInfantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (INCL, Infantile Batten disease) is a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficiency in palmitoyl protein thioesterase-1 (PPT1). The PPT1-deficient mouse (Cln1−/−) is a useful phenocopy of human INCL. Cln1−/− mice display retinal dysfunction, seizures, motor deficits and die at ~8 months of age. However, little is known about the cognitive and behavioral functions of Cln1−/− mice during disease progression. In the present study, younger (~1–2 months of age) Cln1−/− mice showed minor deficits in motor/sensorimotor functions while older (~5–6 months of age) Cln1−/− mice exhibited more severe impairments, including decreased locomotor activity, inferior cued water maze performance, decreased running wheel ability and altered auditory cue conditioning. Unexpectedly, certain cognitive functions such as some learning and memory capabilities seemed intact in older Cln1−/− mice. Younger and older Cln1−/− mice presented with walking initiation defects, gait abnormalities and slowed movements, which are analogous to some symptoms reported in INCL and parkinsonism. However, there was no evidence of alterations in dopaminergic markers in Cln1−/− mice. Results from this study demonstrate quantifiable changes in behavioral functions during progression of murine INCL and suggest that Parkinson-like motor/sensorimotor deficits in Cln1−/− mice are not mediated by dopamine deficiency.
Electric field modification of magnetism in Au/La2/3Ba1/3MnO3/Pt device
Authors: Xiong Y. Q. , Zhou W. P. , Li Q. , Cao Q. Q. , Tang T. , Wang D. H. , Du Y. W. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThe La2/3Ba1/3MnO3 film is deposited in a CMOS-compatible Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate with the oxygen pressure of 10 Pa for investigating magnetoelectric effect. Bipolar resistive switching effect with excellent endurance and retention is observed in this Au/La2/3Ba1/3MnO3/Pt device. Through this effect, a significant nonvolatile change of magnetization is obtained in this device as well. The change of magnetization can be understood by the break and repair of the -Mn3+-O2−-Mn4+- chains induced by the electric field through the oxygen vacancies migration. The resistance and magnetization of the Au/La2/3Ba1/3MnO3/Pt device can be simultaneously manipulated by the electric field, which makes it to be a promising candidate for the multifunctional memory devices.
Memristive crypto primitive for building highly secure physical unclonable functions
Authors: Gao Yansong , Ranasinghe Damith C. , Al-Sarawi Said F. , Kavehei Omid , Abbott Derek 
Published: August 2015

AbstractPhysical unclonable functions (PUFs) exploit the intrinsic complexity and irreproducibility of physical systems to generate secret information. The advantage is that PUFs have the potential to provide fundamentally higher security than traditional cryptographic methods by preventing the cloning of devices and the extraction of secret keys. Most PUF designs focus on exploiting process variations in Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In recent years, progress in nanoelectronic devices such as memristors has demonstrated the prevalence of process variations in scaling electronics down to the nano region. In this paper, we exploit the extremely large information density available in nanocrossbar architectures and the significant resistance variations of memristors to develop an on-chip memristive device based strong PUF (mrSPUF). Our novel architecture demonstrates desirable characteristics of PUFs, including uniqueness, reliability and large number of challenge-response pairs (CRPs) and desirable characteristics of strong PUFs. More significantly, in contrast to most existing PUFs, our PUF can act as a reconfigurable PUF (rPUF) without additional hardware and is of benefit to applications needing revocation or update of secure key information.
Social penalty promotes cooperation in a cooperative society
Authors: Ito Hiromu , Yoshimura Jin 
Published: August 2015

AbstractWhy cooperation is well developed in human society is an unsolved question in biological and human sciences. Vast studies in game theory have revealed that in non-cooperative games selfish behavior generally dominates over cooperation and cooperation can be evolved only under very limited conditions. These studies ask the origin of cooperation; whether cooperation can evolve in a group of selfish individuals. In this paper, instead of asking the origin of cooperation, we consider the enhancement of cooperation in a small already cooperative society. We ask whether cooperative behavior is further promoted in a small cooperative society in which social penalty is devised. We analyze hawk-dove game and prisoner’s dilemma introducing social penalty. We then expand it for non-cooperative games in general. The results indicate that cooperation is universally favored if penalty is further imposed. We discuss the current result in terms of the moral, laws, rules and regulations in a society, e.g., criminology and traffic violation.
Down-regulation of HMGB1 expression by shRNA constructs inhibits the bioactivity of urothelial carcinoma cell lines via the NF-κB pathway
Authors: Huang Zhichao , Zhong Zhaohui , Zhang Lei , Wang Xinjun , Xu Ran , Zhu Liang , Wang Zijian , Hu Shanbiao , Zhao Xiaokun 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThe high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), which is a highly conserved and evolutionarily non-histone nuclear protein, has been shown to associate with a variety of biological important processes, such as transcription, DNA repair, differentiation and extracellular signalling. High HMGB1 expression has been reported in many cancers, such as prostate, kidney, ovarian and gastric cancer. However, there have been few studies of the function of HMGB1 in the malignant biological behaviour of bladder urothelial carcinoma (BUC) and the potential mechanism of HMGB1 in the pathogenesis of BUC remains unclear. Thus, in this study, we constructed plasmid vectors that are capable of synthesizing specific shRNAs targeting HMGB1 and transfected them into BUC cells to persistently suppress the endogenous gene expression of HMGB1. The expression of HMGB1, the bioactivity of BUC cells, including proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle distribution, migration and invasion and the effects of HMGB1 knockdown on downstream signalling pathways were investigated. Our data suggest that HMGB1 promotes the malignant biological behaviour of BUC and that this effect may be partially mediated by the NF-κB signalling pathway. HMGB1 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for BUC in the future.
Low Work-function Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxylenethiophene): Poly(styrene sulfonate) as Electron-transport Layer for High-efficient and Stable Polymer Solar Cells
Authors: Zhang Yong , Chen Lie , Hu Xiaotian , Zhang Lin , Chen Yiwang 
Published: August 2015

AbstractLow-work-function poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) modified with polyethylenimine (PEIE) was used as an electron transport layer (ETL) for polymer solar cells (PSCs). A thin layer of PEIE film was spin-coated onto the surface on the PEDOT:PSS films, thus substantially changing their charge selectivity from supporting hole transport to supporting electron transport. It was also found that the PEDOT:PSS/PEIE ETL exhibited higher interfacial contact, a more favorable active morphology and improved charge mobility. By virtue of these beneficial properties, inverted PSCs based on low-bandgap semiconducting photoactive layers achieved a notably improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.94%, superior even to the corresponding performance of devices with only a ZnO layer. Surpassing our expectations, compared with the extreme degradation of device stability observed when pure PEDOT:PSS is used, PEIE-modified PEDOT:PSS can considerably suppress device degradation because of the hydrophobic and alkaline nature of PEIE, which not only reduces the hygroscopicity of the PEDOT:PSS but also neutralizes the acidic PEDOT:PSS and thus prevents the corrosion of the ITO cathode. These results demonstrate the potential of PEIE-modified PEDOT:PSS for use as an efficient ETL in commercial printed electronic devices.
A comparative study of ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles synthesized from different aluminum salts for use as fluorescence materials
Authors: Wang Shi-Fa , Sun Guang-Zhuang , Fang Lei-Ming , Lei Li , Xiang Xia , Zu Xiao-Tao 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThree ZnAl2O4 samples were prepared via a modified polyacrylamide gel method using a citric acid solution with different aluminum salt starting materials, including AlCl3∙6H2O, Al2(SO4)3∙18H2O and Al(NO3)3∙9H2O under identical conditions. The influence of different aluminum salts on the morphologies, phase purity and optical and fluorescence properties of the as-prepared ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles were studied. The experimental results demonstrate that the phase purity, particle size, morphology and optical and fluorescence properties of ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles can be manipulated by the use of different aluminum salts as starting materials. The energy bandgap (Eg) values of ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles increase with a decrease in particle size. The fluorescence spectra show that a major blue emission band around 400 nm and two weaker side bands located at 410 and 445 nm are observed when the excitation wavelength is 325 nm. The ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles prepared from Al(NO3)3∙9H2O exhibit the largest emission intensity among the three ZnAl2O4 samples, followed in turn by the ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles prepared from Al2(SO4)3∙18H2O and AlCl3∙6H2O. These differences are attributed to combinational changes in Eg and the defect types of the ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles.
Novel Two-Dimensional Mechano-Electric Generators and Sensors Based on Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
Authors: Yu Sheng , Eshun Kwesi , Zhu Hao , Li Qiliang 
Published: August 2015

AbstractTransition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), such as MoS2and WSe2, provide two-dimensional atomic crystals with semiconductor band gap. In this work, we present a design of new mechano-electric generators and sensors based on transition metal dichalcogenide nanoribbon PN junctions and heterojunctions. The mechano-electric conversion was simulated by using a first-principle calculation. The output voltage of MoS2nanoribbon PN junction increases with strain, reaching 0.036 V at 1% strain and 0.31 V at 8% strain, much larger than the reported results. Our study indicates that the length, width and layer number of TMDC nanoribbon PN junctions have an interesting but different impact on the voltage output. Also, the results indicate that doping position and concentration only cause a small fluctuation in the output voltage. These results have been compared with the mechano-electric conversion of TMDC heterojunctions. Such novel mechano-electric generators and sensors are very attractive for applications in future self-powered, wearable electronics and systems.
SELENBP1 expression in the prefrontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia
Authors: Udawela M , Money T T , Neo J , Seo M S , Scarr E , Dean B , Everall I P 
Published: August 2015

AbstractSelenium binding protein 1 (SELENBP1) messenger RNA (mRNA) has previously been shown to be upregulated in the brain and blood from subjects with schizophrenia. We aimed to validate these findings in a new cohort using real-time PCR in Brodmann’s Area (BA) 9, and to determine the disease specificity of increased SELENBP1 expression by measuring SELENBP1 mRNA in subjects with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. We then extended the study to include other cortical regions such as BA8 and BA44. SELENBP1 mRNA was higher in BA9 (P=0.001), BA8 (P=0.003) and BA44 (P=0.0007) from subjects with schizophrenia. Conversely, in affective disorders, there was no significant difference in SELENBP1 mRNA in BA9 (P=0.67), suggesting that the upregulation may be diagnosis specific. Measurement of SELENBP1 protein levels showed that changes in mRNA did not translate to changes in protein. In addition, chronic treatment of rats with antipsychotics did not significantly affect the expression of Selenbp1 in the cortex (P=0.24). Our data show that elevated SELENBP1 transcript expression is widespread throughout the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia, and confirm that this change is a consistent feature of schizophrenia and not a simple drug effect.
Allometric scaling, size distribution and pattern formation of natural cities
Authors: Li Xintong , Wang Xinran , Zhang Jiang , Wu Lingfei 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThere has been a strong interest in more cogent definitions on economies of scale to reveal general urban growth laws and to develop urban performance metrics. Unstructured data, including satellite images, will provide us with new sources to do so by defining cities as aggregates of human activities. Such a uniform definition on the basis of nighttime light clusters is more consistent and economically meaningful than administrative or official boundaries. In comparison with patterns of city systems found in traditional census data, we examined the allometric scaling, size distribution and fractal geometry of natural cities. It can be concluded from our empirical analysis on regional, country and continental scales that a super-linear scaling between lightness and area with a stable exponent across different low light threshold levels generally holds for natural cities. But Zipf’s Law does not always apply over the whole range of lightness thresholds. Furthermore, we build a model based on the simple geometric matching mechanism to reproduce the self-organized formation process of nighttime light patterns. The statistical properties including allometries, size distributions and fractal geometries generated by our model are in good agreement with empirical evidence. These findings have profound implications for understanding the effects of simple aggregation behaviour in primitive stages of city formation and the urbanization process.
Linking fecal bacteria in rivers to landscape, geochemical, and hydrologic factors and sources at the basin scale
Authors: Verhougstraete Marc P. , Martin Sherry L. , Kendall Anthony D. , Hyndman David W. , Rose Joan B. 
Published: August 2015

Significance
New microbial source-tracking tools can be used to elucidate important nonpoint sources of water quality degradation and potential human health risks at large scales. Pollution arising from septic system discharges is likely more important than previously realized. Identifying these sources and providing reference levels for water quality provides a basis to assess water quality trends and ultimately remediate degraded areas.
21st century United States emissions mitigation could increase water stress more than the climate change it is mitigating
Authors: Hejazi Mohamad I. , Voisin Nathalie , Liu Lu , Bramer Lisa M. , Fortin Daniel C. , Hathaway John E. , Huang Maoyi , Kyle Page , Leung L. Ruby , Li Hong-Yi , Liu Ying , Patel Pralit L. , Pulsipher Trenton C. , Rice Jennie S. , Tesfa Teklu K. , Vernon Chris R. , Zhou Yuyu 
Published: August 2015

Significance
Devising sustainable climate change mitigation policies with attention to potential synergies and constraints within the climate–energy–water nexus is the subject of ongoing integrated modeling efforts. This study employs a regional integrated assessment model and a regional Earth system model at high spatial and temporal resolutions in the Unites States to compare the implications of two of the representative concentration pathways under consistent socioeconomics. The results clearly show, for the first time to our knowledge, that climate change mitigation policies, if not designed with careful attention to water resources, could increase the magnitude, spatial coverage, and frequency of water deficits. The results challenge the general perception that mitigation that aims at reducing warming also would alleviate water deficits in the future.
Critical waves and the length problem of biology
Authors: Laughlin Robert B. 
Published: August 2015

Significance
This paper invokes physical principles to answer the question of why pure reaction–diffusion ideas do not produce a satisfactory explanation of biological growth and form. Two ideas have been missing. One is that oscillation is necessary to achieve the necessary design stability and plasticity. The other is that the system must be tuned to criticality to stabilize the propagation velocity, thus enabling clocks to function as meter sticks. The larger significance is twofold: First, a fundamental piece of the machinery of life is probably invisible to present-day biochemical methods because they are too slow. Second, the simplicity of growth and form identified a century ago by D'Arcy Thompson is probably a symptom of biological engineering strategies, not primitive law.
Heat dissipation guides activation in signaling proteins
Authors: Weber Jeffrey K. , Shukla Diwakar , Pande Vijay S. 
Published: August 2015

Significance
As with their macroscopic counterparts, the moving parts of nanoscale protein machines grow hot while in operation. A portion of the energy biomolecules harness to perform meaningful work is always dissipated as heat into the surroundings. Here, we feature a methodology by which dominant dissipative trajectories can be extracted from detailed models of protein dynamics. In two important classes of signaling proteins [kinases and G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs)], we find that the regions of phase space in which heat is evolved are closely connected to the structural dynamics these proteins use to transmit signals. This schematic might be used to probe the true functional dynamics of biomolecules that drive a wide array of cellular architectures and ultimately sustain the steady state of life.
Large-scale evidence of dependency length minimization in 37 languages
Authors: Futrell Richard , Mahowald Kyle , Gibson Edward 
Published: August 2015

Significance
We provide the first large-scale, quantitative, cross-linguistic evidence for a universal syntactic property of languages: that dependency lengths are shorter than chance. Our work supports long-standing ideas that speakers prefer word orders with short dependency lengths and that languages do not enforce word orders with long dependency lengths. Dependency length minimization is well motivated because it allows for more efficient parsing and generation of natural language. Over the last 20 y, the hypothesis of a pressure to minimize dependency length has been invoked to explain many of the most striking recurring properties of languages. Our broad-coverage findings support those explanations.
Nucleotides regulate the mechanical hierarchy between subdomains of the nucleotide binding domain of the Hsp70 chaperone DnaK
Authors: Bauer Daniela , Merz Dale R. , Pelz Benjamin , Theisen Kelly E. , Yacyshyn Gail , Mokranjac Dejana , Dima Ruxandra I. , Rief Matthias , Žoldák Gabriel 
Published: August 2015

Significance
Binding of nucleotides to proteins is arguably the most important regulation process in our body. How the signal of nucleotide binding gets transmitted through the protein eventually changing its conformation and function is, however, still a poorly understood process. In this study, we set out to investigate the energy balance within the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) of the heat shock protein of 70 kDa (Hsp70) chaperone DnaK. Using single molecule force spectroscopy and theoretical simulations, we were able to dissect the contribution of the individual subdomains of the NBD to the mechanical stability of the protein and identified how the mechanical hierarchy is modulated by nucleotide binding. Our results have immediate consequences for the signal transduction within the whole actin/sugar kinase superfamily.
Three types of rescue can avert extinction in a changing environment
Authors: Hufbauer Ruth A. , Szűcs Marianna , Kasyon Emily , Youngberg Courtney , Koontz Michael J. , Richards Christopher , Tuff Ty , Melbourne Brett A. 
Published: August 2015

Significance
Preventing extinction of small populations in rapidly changing environments is crucial to long-term preservation of diversity, because the creation of large reserves is often not feasible. An option immediately available to managers is bringing migrants in to increase size or improve genetic composition of populations at risk. We experimentally manipulate different types and combinations of migrants to evaluate which will be most effective in rescuing populations from extinction. We find that migration of numerous individuals can reduce the probability of extinction. However, migration of just a few genetically distinct individuals both reduces probability of extinction and dramatically increases fitness and population size. We suggest managers with limited conservation resources should prioritize genetic rescue over increasing demographic size for small populations.
Fork rotation and DNA precatenation are restricted during DNA replication to prevent chromosomal instability
Authors: Schalbetter Stephanie A. , Mansoubi Sahar , Chambers Anna L. , Downs Jessica A. , Baxter Jonathan 
Published: August 2015

Significance
Genome inheritance requires the complete resolution of all intertwines within parental DNA. This is facilitated by fork rotation and precatenation of the newly replicated DNA. However, the general importance and frequency of fork rotation in vivo are poorly understood. We find that the evolutionarily conserved Timeless and Tipin proteins actively inhibit fork rotation in budding yeast. In their presence, fork rotation appears restricted to hard-to-replicate fragile sites. In their absence, excessive fork rotation leads to damage accumulating in the replicated sister chromatids, especially at known yeast fragile sites. Therefore, fork rotation appears to be restricted to contexts where it is absolutely required for unwinding, and this restriction is required to prevent precatenation inducing excessive chromosomal fragility.
Pleiotropic age-dependent effects of mitochondrial dysfunction on epidermal stem cells
Authors: Velarde Michael C. , Demaria Marco , Melov Simon , Campisi Judith 
Published: August 2015

Significance
Mitochondrial damage can accelerate features of aging, including impaired tissue regeneration, but little is known about how aging and this damage interact to impair tissue renewal. We show that mitochondrial oxidative stress in the epidermis alters wound healing depending on age. Epidermal mitochondrial damage accelerated wound closure in young mice; however, in older mice, this damage limited epidermal cell proliferation and reduced epidermal stem cell numbers, leading to delayed wound closure. Our findings uncover a surprising beneficial effect of mitochondrial dysfunction at young age (accelerated wound closure), and a potential mechanism for the reduced epidermal regeneration at older ages (stem cell depletion).
Essential role for polymerase specialization in cellular nonhomologous end joining
Authors: Pryor John M. , Waters Crystal A. , Aza Ana , Asagoshi Kenjiro , Strom Christina , Mieczkowski Piotr A. , Blanco Luis , Ramsden Dale A. 
Published: August 2015

Significance
Nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) is a DNA double-strand break repair pathway required for development of the adaptive immune response, maintenance of cellular proliferative capacity, and the response to several commonly used cancer treatments. A major challenge faced by this pathway is that chromosome breaks can have dirty end structures, making them difficult to repair. We show here that two mammalian DNA polymerases have an unexpectedly pivotal role in helping resolve such ends. Each is proficient in different contexts and has a differing impact on repair fidelity. This work sheds light on how NHEJ has evolved to be flexible during repair and identifies two polymerases as critical for this process.