bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
In vitro study of the ecotoxicological risk of methylisothiazolinone and chloroxylenol towards soil bacteria
Authors: Nowak-Lange Marta , Niedziałkowska Katarzyna , Bernat Przemysław , Lisowska Katarzyna 
Published: November 2022

AbstractMethylisothiazolinone (MIT) and chloroxylenol (PCMX) are popular disinfectants often used in personal care products (PCPs). The unregulated discharge of these micropollutants into the environment, as well as the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer and reclaimed water in agriculture, poses a serious threat to ecosystems. However, research into their ecotoxicity towards nontarget organisms is very limited. In the present study, for the first time, the ecotoxicity of biocides to Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas moorei, Sphingomonas mali, and Bacillus subtilis was examined. The toxicity of MIT and PCMX was evaluated using the microdilution method, and their influence on the viability of bacterial cells was investigated by the AlamarBlue® test. The ability of the tested bacteria to form biofilms was examined by a microtiter plate assay. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was measured with CM-H2DCFDA. The effect of MIT and PCMX on phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production was determined by spectrophotometry and LC‒MS/MS techniques. The permeability of bacterial cell membranes was studied using the SYTOX Green assay. Changes in the phospholipid profile were analysed using LC‒MS/MS. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) values ranged from 3.907 to 15.625 mg L−1 for MIT and 62.5 to 250 mg L−1 for PCMX, indicating that MIT was more toxic. With increasing concentrations of MIT and PCMX, the cell viability, biofilm formation ability and phytohormone synthesis were maximally inhibited. Moreover, the growth of bacterial cell membrane permeability and a significantly increased content of ROS were observed, indicating that the exposure caused serious oxidative stress and homeostasis disorders. Additionally, modifications in the phospholipid profile were observed in response to the presence of sublethal concentrations of the chemicals. These results prove that the environmental threat posed by MIT and PCMX must be carefully monitored, especially as their use in PCPs is still growing.
Effect of metal/dielectric substrates on photopolymerization of BITh thin films
Authors: Hesami L. , Yang C. , Anwar E. , Noginova N. , Noginov M. A. 
Published: November 2022

AbstractWe have studied effects of metal–dielectric substrates on photopolymerization of [2,2ʹ-Bi-1H-indene]-1,1ʹ-dione-3,3ʹ-diyl diheptanoate (BITh) monomer. We synthetized BITh and spin-coated it onto a variety of dielectric, metallic, and metal–dielectric substrates. The films were exposed to radiation of a UV–Visible Xe lamp, causing photo-polymerization of monomer molecules. The magnitude and the rate of the photo-polymerization were monitored by measuring the strength of the ~ 480 nm absorption band, which existed in the monomer but not in the polymer. Expectedly, the rate of photo-polymerization changed nearly linearly with the change of the pumping intensity. In contrast with our early study of photo-degradation of semiconducting polymer P3HT, the rate of photo-polymerization of BITh is getting modestly higher if the monomer film is deposited on top of silver separated from the monomer by a thin insulating MgF2 layer preventing a charge transfer. This effect is partly due to a constructive interference of the incident and reflected light waves, as well as known in the literature effects of metal/dielectric substrates on a variety of spectroscopic and energy transfer parameters. At the same time, the rate of photopolymerization is getting threefold larger if monomer is deposited on Ag film directly and charge transfer is allowed. Finally, Au substrates cause modest (~ 50%) enhancement of both monomer film absorption and the rate of photo-polymerization.
Porcine placental extract increase the cellular NAD levels in human epidermal keratinocytes
Authors: Katayoshi Takeshi , Yamaura Nobuaki , Nakajo Takahisa , Kitajima Natsuko , Tsuji-Naito Kentaro 
Published: November 2022

AbstractNicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is an essential cofactor for numerous enzymes involved in energy metabolism. Because decreasing NAD levels is a common hallmark of the aging process in various tissues and organs, maintaining NAD levels has recently been of interest for the prevention of aging and age-related diseases. Although placental extract (PE) are known to possess several anti-aging effects, the NAD-boosting activity of PE remains unknown. In this study, we found that porcine PE (PPE) significantly increased intracellular NAD levels in normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs). PPE also attenuated the NAD depletion induced by FK866, an inhibitor of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT). Interestingly, only the fraction containing nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), nicotinamide riboside (NR), and nicotinamide (NAM) restored NAD content in NHEKs in the absence of NAMPT activity. These results suggest that PPE increases intracellular NAD by providing NAD precursors such as NMN, NR, and NAM. Finally, we showed that the application of PPE to the stratum corneum of the reconstructed human epidermis significantly ameliorated FK866-induced NAD depletion, suggesting that topical PPE may be helpful for increasing skin NAD levels. This is the first study to report the novel biological activity of PE as an NAD booster in human epidermal cells.
Identification of a TNF-TNFR-like system in malaria vectors (Anopheles stephensi) likely to influence Plasmodium resistance
Authors: Srinivasan Subhashini , Ghosh Chaitali , Das Shrestha , Thakare Aditi , Singh Siddharth , Ganesh Apoorva , Mahawar Harsh , Jaisimha Aadhya , Krishna Mohanapriya , Chattopadhyay Aritra , Borah Rishima , Singh Vikrant , M Soumya , Kumar Naveen , Kumar Sampath , Swain Sunita , Subramani Suresh 
Published: November 2022

AbstractIdentification of Plasmodium-resistance genes in malaria vectors remains an elusive goal despite the recent availability of high-quality genomes of several mosquito vectors. Anopheles stephensi, with its three distinctly-identifiable forms at the egg stage, correlating with varying vector competence, offers an ideal species to discover functional mosquito genes implicated in Plasmodium resistance. Recently, the genomes of several strains of An. stephensi of the type-form, known to display high vectorial capacity, were reported. Here, we report a chromosomal-level assembly of an intermediate-form of An. stephensi strain (IndInt), shown to have reduced vectorial capacity relative to a strain of type-form (IndCh). The contig level assembly with a L50 of 4 was scaffolded into chromosomes by using the genome of IndCh as the reference. The final assembly shows a heterozygous paracentric inversion, 3Li, involving 8 Mbp, which is syntenic to the extensively-studied 2La inversion implicated in Plasmodium resistance in An. gambiae involving 21 Mbp. Deep annotation of genes within the 3Li region in the IndInt assembly using the state-of-the-art protein-fold prediction and other annotation tools reveals the presence of a tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) like gene, which is the homolog of the Eiger gene in Drosophila. Subsequent chromosome-wide searches revealed homologs of Wengen (Wgn) and Grindelwald (Grnd) genes, which are known to be the receptors for Eiger in Drosophila. We have identified all the genes in IndInt required for Eiger-mediated signaling by analogy to the TNF-alpha system, suggesting the presence of a functionally-active Eiger signaling pathway in IndInt. Comparative genomics of the three type-forms with that of IndInt, reveals structurally disruptive mutations in Eiger gene in all three strains of the type-form, suggesting compromised innate immunity in the type-form as the likely cause of high vectorial capacity in these strains. This is the first report of the presence of a homolog of Eiger in malaria vectors, known to be involved in cell death in Drosophila, within an inversion region in IndInt syntenic to an inversion associated with Plasmodium resistance in An. gambiae.
Evaluation of physical health status beyond daily step count using a wearable activity sensor
Authors: Xu Zheng , Zahradka Nicole , Ip Seyvonne , Koneshloo Amir , Roemmich Ryan T. , Sehgal Sameep , Highland Kristin B. , Searson Peter C. 
Published: November 2022

AbstractPhysical health status defines an individual’s ability to perform normal activities of daily living and is usually assessed in clinical settings by questionnaires and/or by validated tests, e.g. timed walk tests. These measurements have relatively low information content and are usually limited in frequency. Wearable sensors, such as activity monitors, enable remote measurement of parameters associated with physical activity but have not been widely explored beyond measurement of daily step count. Here we report on results from a cohort of 22 individuals with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) who were provided with a Fitbit activity monitor (Fitbit Charge HR®) between two clinic visits (18.4 ± 12.2 weeks). At each clinical visit, a maximum of 26 measurements were recorded (19 categorical and 7 continuous). From analysis of the minute-to-minute step rate and heart rate we derive several metrics associated with physical activity and cardiovascular function. These metrics are used to identify subgroups within the cohort and to compare to clinical parameters. Several Fitbit metrics are strongly correlated to continuous clinical parameters. Using a thresholding approach, we show that many Fitbit metrics result in statistically significant differences in clinical parameters between subgroups, including those associated with physical status, cardiovascular function, pulmonary function, as well as biomarkers from blood tests. These results highlight the fact that daily step count is only one of many metrics that can be derived from activity monitors.
Addressing the dichotomy of fishing and climate in fishery management with the FishClim model
Authors: Beaugrand Grégory , Balembois Alexis , Kléparski Loïck , Kirby Richard R. 
Published: November 2022

AbstractThe relative influence of fishing and Climate-Induced Environmental Change (CIEC) on long-term fluctuations in exploited fish stocks has been controversial1–3because separating their contributions is difficult for two reasons. Firstly, there is in general, no estimation of CIEC for a pre-fishing period and secondly, the assessment of the effects of fishing on stocks has taken place at the same time as CIEC4. Here, we describe a new model we have called FishClim that we apply to North Sea cod from 1963 to 2019 to estimate how fishing and CIEC interact and how they both may affect stocks in the future (2020-2100) using CMIP6 scenarios5. The FishClim model shows that both fishing and CIEC are intertwined and can either act synergistically (e.g. the 2000-2007 collapse) or antagonistically (e.g. second phase of the gadoid outburst). Failure to monitor CIEC, so that fisheries management immediately adjusts fishing effort in response to environmentally-driven shifts in stock productivity, will therefore create a deleterious response lag that may cause the stock to collapse. We found that during 1963-2019, although the effect of fishing and CIEC drivers fluctuated annually, the pooled influence of fishing and CIEC on the North Sea cod stock was nearly equal at ~55 and ~45%, respectively. Consequently, the application of FishClim, which quantifies precisely the respective influence of fishing and climate, will help to develop better strategies for sustainable, long-term, fish stock management.
Cell-free synthesis of amyloid fibrils with infectious properties and amenable to sub-milligram magic-angle spinning NMR analysis
Authors: Lends Alons , Daskalov Asen , Maleckis Ansis , Delamare Aline , Berbon Mélanie , Grélard Axelle , Morvan Estelle , Shenoy Jayakrishna , Dutour Antoine , Tolchard James , Noubhani Abdelmajid , Giraud Marie-France , Sanchez Corinne , Habenstein Birgit , Guichard Gilles , Compain Guillaume , Jaudzems Kristaps , Saupe Sven J. , Loquet Antoine 
Published: November 2022

AbstractStructural investigations of amyloid fibrils often rely on heterologous bacterial overexpression of the protein of interest. Due to their inherent hydrophobicity and tendency to aggregate as inclusion bodies, many amyloid proteins are challenging to express in bacterial systems. Cell-free protein expression is a promising alternative to classical bacterial expression to produce hydrophobic proteins and introduce NMR-active isotopes that can improve and speed up the NMR analysis. Here we implement the cell-free synthesis of the functional amyloid prion HET-s(218-289). We present an interesting case where HET-s(218-289) directly assembles into infectious fibril in the cell-free expression mixture without the requirement of denaturation procedures and purification. By introducing tailored 13C and 15N isotopes or CF3 and 13CH2F labels at strategic amino-acid positions, we demonstrate that cell-free synthesized amyloid fibrils are readily amenable to high-resolution magic-angle spinning NMR at sub-milligram quantity.
Tcf12 is required to sustain myogenic genes synergism with MyoD by remodelling the chromatin landscape
Authors: Wang Sheng , Liao Yinlong , Zhang Haoyuan , Jiang Yunqi , Peng Zhelun , Ren Ruimin , Li Xinyun , Wang Heng 
Published: November 2022

AbstractMuscle stem cells (MuSCs) are essential for skeletal muscle development and regeneration, ensuring muscle integrity and normal function. The myogenic proliferation and differentiation of MuSCs are orchestrated by a cascade of transcription factors. In this study, we elucidate the specific role of transcription factor 12 (Tcf12) in muscle development and regeneration based on loss-of-function studies. Muscle-specific deletion of Tcf12 cause muscle weight loss owing to the reduction of myofiber size during development. Inducible deletion of Tcf12 specifically in adult MuSCs delayed muscle regeneration. The examination of MuSCs reveal that Tcf12 deletion resulted in cell-autonomous defects during myogenesis and Tcf12 is necessary for proper myogenic gene expression. Mechanistically, TCF12 and MYOD work together to stabilise chromatin conformation and sustain muscle cell fate commitment-related gene and chromatin architectural factor expressions. Altogether, our findings identify Tcf12 as a crucial regulator of MuSCs chromatin remodelling that regulates muscle cell determination and participates in skeletal muscle development and regeneration.
Regional sea-level highstand triggered Holocene ice sheet thinning across coastal Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica
Authors: Suganuma Yusuke , Kaneda Heitaro , Mas e Braga Martim , Ishiwa Takeshige , Koyama Takushi , Newall Jennifer C. , Okuno Jun’ichi , Obase Takashi , Saito Fuyuki , Rogozhina Irina , Andersen Jane Lund , Kawamata Moto , Hirabayashi Motohiro , Lifton Nathaniel A. , Fredin Ola , Harbor Jonathan M. , Stroeven Arjen P. , Abe-Ouchi Ayako 
Published: November 2022

AbstractThe East Antarctic Ice Sheet stores a vast amount of freshwater, which makes it the single largest potential contributor to future sea-level rise. However, the lack of well-constrained geological records of past ice sheet changes impedes model validation, hampers mass balance estimates, and inhibits examination of ice loss mechanisms. Here we identify rapid ice-sheet thinning in coastal Dronning Maud Land from Early to Middle Holocene (9000–5000 years ago) using a deglacial chronology based on in situ cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dates from central Dronning Maud Land, in concert with numerical simulations of regional and continental ice-sheet evolution. Regional sea-level changes reproduced from our refined ice-load history show a highstand at 9000–8000 years ago. We propose that sea-level rise and a concomitant influx of warmer Circumpolar Deep Water triggered ice shelf breakup via the marine ice sheet instability mechanism, which led to rapid thinning of upstream coastal ice sheet sectors.
Different states and the associated fates of biomolecular condensates
Authors: Ranganathan Srivastav , Liu Junlang , Shakhnovich Eugene 
Published: November 2022

Abstract
Biomolecular condensates are functional assemblies, which can enrich intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and/or RNAs at concentrations that are orders of magnitude higher than the bulk. In their native functional state, these structures can exist in multiple physical states including liquid-droplet phase, hydrogels, and solid assemblies. On the other hand, an aberrant transition between these physical states can result in loss-of-function or a gain-of-toxic-function. A prime example of such an aberrant transition is droplet aging—a phenomenon where some condensates may progressively transition into less dynamic material states at biologically relevant timescales. In this essay, we review structural and viscoelastic roots of aberrant liquid–solid transitions. Also, we highlight the different checkpoints and experimentally tunable handles, both active (ATP-dependent enzymes, post-translational modifications) and passive (colocalization of RNA molecules), that could alter the material state of assemblies.
Musical Training Enhances Categorical Perception of Speech in Preschoolers: Training Duration and Musical Program Matter
Authors: Yao Yao , Chen Xiaoxiang , Chen Fei , Zhu Jiaqiang 
Published: November 2022

Purpose:
Previous research has indicated the beneficial effects of musical training on speech perception in children. However, little has been known about whether musical training exerts transfer effects on fine-grained perception of linguistic pitch and time information. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different musical training programs and training duration on preschoolers' categorical perception (CP) of lexical tones and voice onset time (VOT) in Mandarin Chinese, which utilize pitch and time changes, respectively, to convey phonemic contrasts.

Method:
Sixty-one Mandarin-speaking children aged 4 years were randomly assigned to pitch-based musical training (carillon group), rhythm-based musical training (drum group), or handcraft learning (control group). Children completed the tests designed to assess their musical abilities, CP of lexical tones and VOT, IQ, and working memory at three time-points. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were conducted to evaluate the training-related effects in various tasks. Correlation analyses were used to infer the relationships between musical abilities and CP performance of speech.

Results:
The carillon group demonstrated advantages over the drum and control groups in music pitch processing and CP of lexical tones; besides, the drum group performed better in the music time processing and CP of VOT than the control group. Moreover, positive correlations were found between musical gains and improvements on CP of speech.

Conclusions:
These results provide evidence that transfer effects occur in CP of lexical tones and VOT in preschoolers. Our findings highlight the selectivity of musical advantages driven by different components of training programs and suggest that long-term musical training could be a means of early speech rehabilitation in children with communication disorders.
Modeling disks and magnetic outflows around a forming massive star
Authors: Oliva André , Kuiper Rolf 
Published: November 2022

Context. Similar to their lower mass siblings, massive protostars can be expected to: (a) be surrounded by circumstellar disks, and (b) launch magnetically driven jets and outflows. The disk formation and global evolution is thereby controlled by advection of angular momentum from large scales, the efficiency of magnetic braking and the resistivity of the medium, and the internal thermal and magnetic pressures of the disk.
Aims. We determine the dominant physical mechanisms that shape the appearance of these circumstellar disks, their sizes, and aspect ratios.
Methods. We performed a series of 30 simulations of a massive star forming from the gravitational collapse of a molecular cloud threaded by an initially uniform magnetic field, starting from different values for the mass of the cloud, its initial density and rotation profiles, its rotational energy content, the magnetic field strength, and the resistivity of the material. The gas and dust was modeled with the methods of resistive magnetohydrodynamics, also considering radiation transport of thermal emission and self-gravity. We checked for the impact of spatial resolution in a dedicated convergence study.
Results. After the initial infall phase dominated by the gravitational collapse, an accretion disk was formed, shortly followed by the launching of magnetically driven outflows. Two layers can be distinguished in the accretion disk: a thin layer, vertically supported by thermal pressure, and a thick layer, vertically supported by magnetic pressure. Both regions exhibit Keplerian-like rotation and grow outward over time. We observed the effects of magnetic braking in the inner ~50 au of the disk at late times in our fiducial case. The parameter study reveals that the size of the disk is mostly determined by the density and rotation profiles of the initial mass reservoir and not by the magnetic field strength. We find that the disk size and protostellar mass gain scale with the initial mass of the cloud. Magnetic pressure can slightly increase the size of the accretion disk, while magnetic braking is more relevant in the innermost parts of the disk as opposed to the outer disk. From the parameter study, we infer that multiple initial conditions for the onset of gravitational collapse are able to produce a given disk size and protostellar mass.
Study of strange matter in STAR with express analysis
Authors: Kisel Ivan 
Published: November 2022

The STAR experiment provides a perfect machinery for studying strange matter for more than two decades. Recently, we developed the express procedure, which allows online monitoring of the collected physics data. The high quality of express calibration and reconstruction provides a unique possibility to run the express production and observe almost in real time strange particles including mesons, hyperons, resonances and even hypernuclei.The STAR Beam Energy Scan II program, including fixed target Au+Au collisions taken in 2018–2021, is particularly suited to study hypernuclei. Light hypernuclei are expected to be abundantly produced in low energy heavy-ion collisions. Measurements of hypernuclei production and their properties will provide information on the hyperon-nucleon interactions, which are essential ingredients for understanding nuclear matter equation of state at high net-baryon densities, such as inside neutron stars.With the heavy fragment trigger introduced for the 2021 data taking, we were able to run the express production at the STAR High Level Trigger farm. The collected data were suffcient to observe the decay process ofΛ5He →4Hepπ−with more than 11σ significance, measure binding energy as a function of hypernuclei mass, and study hypernuclei decay properties with the Dalitz plot technique.
Atrophodermia Pasini et Pierini bei einem 12-jährigen Mädchen – Fallbericht und aktuelle Literaturrecherche
Authors: Forster Anna-Maria , Plaza Tobias 
Published: November 2022

ZusammenfassungWir berichten von einer 12-jährigen Patientin, die sich mit scharf begrenzten großflächigen Hyperpigmentierungen an Stamm und Extremitäten sowie einer Borrelia burgdorferi-Infektion mit Gelenkbeschwerden vorstellte. Die histologische Untersuchung einer Hautveränderung war mit einer Atrophodermia Pasini et Pierini (APP) vereinbar. Therapeutisch wurden initial Doxycyclin, später intravenös Methylprednisolon und Methotrexat verabreicht. Differenzialdiagnostisch kam neben einer oberflächlichen Morphaea und Lyme-Arthritis eine progressive systemische Sklerodermie infrage.