julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation of right inferior parietal cortex causally influences prefrontal activation for visual detection
2017-10-17

Abstract For effective interactions with the environment, the brain needs to form perceptual decisions based on noisy sensory evidence. Accumulating evidence suggests that perceptual decisions are formed by widespread interactions amongst sensory areas representing the noisy sensory evidence and fronto‐parietal areas integrating the evidence into a decision variable that is compared to a decisional threshold. This concurrent transcranial magnetic stimulation ( TMS )‐ fMRI study applied 10 Hz bursts of four TMS (or Sham) pulses to the intraparietal sulcus ( IPS ) to investigate the causal influence of IPS on the neural systems involved in perceptual decision‐making. Participants had to detect visual signals at threshold intensity that were presented in their left lower visual field on 50% of the trials. Critically, we adjusted the signal strength such that participants failed to detect the visual stimulus on approximately 30% of the trials allowing us to categorise trials into hits, misses and correct rejections (CR). Our results show that IPS ‐relative to Sham‐ TMS attenuated activation increases for misses relative to CR in the left middle and superior frontal gyri. Critically, while IPS ‐ TMS did not significantly affect participants’ performance accuracy, it affected how observers adjusted their response times after making an error. We therefore suggest that activation increases in superior frontal gyri for misses relative to correct responses may not be critical for signal detection performance, but rather reflect post‐decisional processing such as metacognitive monitoring of choice accuracy or decisional confidence.
Genotypic diversity and environmental variability affect the invasibility of experimental plant populations
2017-10-17

The world is experiencing increasing climatic variability, an ongoing loss of biodiversity and a growing spread of invasive species. Previous experimental studies demonstrated that the invasibility of plant populations is reduced with increasing resident genetic diversity and is promoted by environmental fluctuations, but their combined effect has so far not been considered. In a growth chamber experiment, we tested whether the genotypic diversity of experimental populations of Arabidopsis thaliana (1, 3 or 6 genotypes) and temperature fluctuations affect population invasion by Senecio vulgaris , and how these factors interact. We found that genotypic diversity tended to increase the invasion resistance of experimental plant populations in terms of the biomass ratio between the species, and that temperature fluctuations strongly favoured Arabidopsis (biomass: +49%) over Senecio (–28%). However, there were no interactions between environmental fluctuations and genotypic diversity. Nevertheless, the magnitude of net diversity effects and transgressive overyielding depended on temperature conditions, indicating that increased environmental variability can influence diversity mechanisms. Our study shows that, although genotypic diversity and environmental variability did not interact, these two factors independently affected the invasibility of plant populations.
Double fluorescent labelling of a bipolar epithelial cell in vitro: The outer hair cell
2017-10-17

The double-barrel perfusion system, suitable for selectively staining a longitudinal section of the plasma membrane of an isolated bipolar epithelial cell, opens new possibilities for investigating cell labelling and intracellular vesicle traffic.
Comparison of Cenozoic surface uplift and glacial-interglacial cycles on Himalaya-Tibet paleo-climate: Insights from a regional climate model
2017-10-17

Abstract. Assessing paleo-climatic changes across the Tibetan Plateau and the underlying driving mechanisms provides insights for the natural variability in the Earth's climate system in response to tectonic processes and global climate change. In this study, we use a high-resolution regional climate model to investigate various episodes of distinct climate states over the Tibetan Plateau region during the Cenozoic rise of the Plateau and Quaternary glacial/interglacial cycles. The main objective is to compare climate changes during the Miocene-Pliocene uplift period with climate anomalies during the last glacial maximum and the mid-Holocene optimum, based on a consistent modeling framework. Reduced plateau elevation leads to regionally differentiated patterns of higher temperature and lower precipitation amount on the plateau itself, whereas surrounding regions are subject to colder conditions. In particular, Central Asia receives much more precipitation prior to the uplift, mainly due to a shift of the stationary wave train over Eurasia. Cluster analysis indicates that the continental-desert type climate, which is widespread over Central Asia today, appears with the Tibetan Plateau reaching 50 % of its present-day elevation. The mid-Holocene is characterized by slightly colder temperatures, and the last glacial maximum by considerably colder conditions over most of central and southern Asia. Precipitation anomalies during these episodes are less pronounced and spatially heterogeneous over the Tibetan Plateau. The simulated changes are in good agreement with available paleo-climatic reconstructions from proxy data. The present-day climate classification is only slightly sensitive to the changed boundary conditions in the Quaternary Quaternary. It is shown that in some regions of the Tibetan Plateau the climate anomalies during the Quaternary Quaternary have been as strong as the changes occurring during the uplift period.
Corrigendum: White Matter Changes-Related Gait and Executive Function Deficits: Associations with Age and Parkinson's Disease
2017-10-17

White Matter Changes-Related Gait and Executive Function Deficits: Associations with Age and Parkinson's Disease by Sartor, J., Bettecken, K., Bernhard, F. P., Hofmann, M., Gladow, T., Lindig, T., et al. (2017). Front. Aging Neurosci. 9:213. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00213 In the published article, there was an error regarding the affiliation for Jennifer Sartor. As well as having Affiliation 1 and 2 she also contributed equally. The corrected affiliation appears above. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated.
Faculty Opinions recommendation of Incidence and Etiologies of Acquired Third Nerve Palsy Using a Population-Based Method.
2017-10-17

Importance: Among cranial nerve palsies, a third nerve palsy is important because a subset is caused by life-threatening aneurysms. However, there is significant disagreement regarding its incidence and the reported etiologies.Objective: To determine the incidence and etiologies of acquired third nerve palsy using a population-based method.Design, Setting, and Participants: All newly diagnosed cases of acquired third nerve palsy from January 1, 1978, through December 31, 2014, in Olmsted County, Minnesota, were identified using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a record-linkage system of medical records for all patient-physician encounters among Olmsted County residents. All medical records were reviewed to confirm a diagnosis of acquired third nerve palsy and determine the etiologies, presenting signs, and symptoms. Incidence rates were adjusted to the age and sex distribution of the 2010 US white population.Main Outcomes and Measures: Incidence and etiologies of acquired third nerve palsies. The secondary outcome was incidence of pupil involvement in acquired third nerve palsies.Results: We identified 145 newly diagnosed cases of acquired third nerve palsy in Olmsted County, Minnesota, over the 37-year period. The age- and sex-adjusted annual incidence of acquired third nerve palsy was 4.0 per 100 000 (95% CI, 3.3-4.7 per 100 000). The annual incidence in patients older than 60 was greater than patients younger than 60 (12.5 vs 1.7 per 100 000; difference, 10.8 per 100 000; 95% CI, 4.7-16.9; P < .001). The most common causes of acquired third nerve palsy were presumed microvascular (42%), trauma (12%), compression from neoplasm (11%), postneurosurgery (10%), and compression from aneurysm (6%). Ten patients (17%) with microvascular third nerve palsies had pupil involvement, while pupil involvement was seen in 16 patients (64%) with compressive third nerve palsies.Conclusions and Relevance: This population-based cohort demonstrates a higher incidence of presumed microvascular third nerve palsies and a lower incidence of aneurysmal compression than previously reported in non-population-based studies. While compressive lesions had a higher likelihood of pupil involvement, pupil involvement did not exclude microvascular third nerve palsy and lack of pupil involvement did not rule out compressive third nerve palsy. PMID: 27893002 Funding information This work was supported by: NIA NIH HHS, United States Grant ID: R01 AG034676
Kinematics, Exhumation, and Sedimentation of the North Central Andes (Bolivia): An Integrated Thermochronometer and Thermokinematic Modeling Approach
2017-10-18

Abstract Quantifying mountain building processes in convergent orogens requires determination of the timing and rate of deformation in the overriding plate. In the central Andes, large discrepancies in both timing and rate of deformation prevent evaluating the shortening history in light of internal or external forcing factors. Geologic map patterns, age and location of reset thermochronometer systems, and synorogenic sediment distribution are all a function of the geometry, kinematics, and rate of deformation in a fold‐thrust‐belt‐foreland basin (FTB‐FB) system. To determine the timing and rate of deformation in the northern Bolivian Andes, we link thermokinematic modeling to a sequentially forward modeled, balanced cross section isostatically accounting for thrust loads and erosion. Displacement vectors, in 10 km increments, are assigned variable ages to create velocity fields in a thermokinematic model for predicting thermochronometer ages. We match both the pattern of predicted cooling ages with the across strike pattern of measured zircon fission track, apatite fission track, and apatite (U‐Th)/He cooling ages as well as the modeled age of FB formations to published sedimentary sections. Results indicate that northern Bolivian FTB deformation started at 50 Ma and may have begun as early as 55 Ma. Acceptable rates of shortening permit either a constant rate of shortening (~4–5 mm/yr) or varying shortening rates with faster rates (7–10 mm/yr) at 45–50 Ma and 12–8 Ma, significantly slower rates (2–4 mm/yr) from 35 to 15 Ma and indicate the northern Bolivian Subandes started deforming between 19 and 14 Ma.
Probing the local environment of the supernova remnant HESS J1731−347 with CO and CS observations
2017-10-18

The shell-type supernova remnant HESS J1731 − 347 emits TeV gamma-rays, and is a key object for the study of the cosmic ray acceleration potential of supernova remnants. We use 0.5–1 arcmin Mopra CO/CS(1–0) data in conjunction with HI data to calculate column densities towards the HESS J1731 − 347 region. We trace gas within at least four Galactic arms, typically tracing total (atomic+molecular) line-of-sight H column densities of 2–3× 1022 cm−2. Assuming standard X-factor values and that most of the HI/CO emission seen towards HESS J1731 − 347 is on the near-side of the Galaxy, X-ray absorption column densities are consistent with HI+CO-derived column densities foreground to, but not beyond, the Scutum–Crux Galactic arm, suggesting a kinematic distance of ∼3.2 kpc for HESS J1731 − 347. At this kinematic distance, we also find dense, infrared-dark gas traced by CS(1–0) emission coincident with the north of HESS J1731 − 347, the nearby HII region G353.43−0.37 and the nearby unidentified gamma-ray source HESS J1729 − 345. This dense gas lends weight to the idea that HESS J1729 − 345 and HESS J1731 − 347 are connected, perhaps via escaping cosmic-rays.
Functional Characterization of Rare RAB12 Variants and Their Role in Musician’s and Other Dystonias
2017-10-18

Mutations in RAB (member of the Ras superfamily) genes are increasingly recognized as cause of a variety of disorders including neurological conditions. While musician’s dystonia (MD) and writer’s dystonia (WD) are task-specific movement disorders, other dystonias persistently affect postures as in cervical dystonia. Little is known about the underlying etiology. Next-generation sequencing revealed a rare missense variant (c.586A&gt;G; p.Ile196Val) in RAB12 in two of three MD/WD families. Next, we tested 916 additional dystonia patients; 512 Parkinson’s disease patients; and 461 healthy controls for RAB12 variants and identified 10 additional carriers of rare missense changes among dystonia patients (1.1%) but only one carrier in non-dystonic individuals (0.1%; p = 0.005). The detected variants among index patients comprised p.Ile196Val (n = 6); p.Ala174Thr (n = 3); p.Gly13Asp; p.Ala148Thr; and p.Arg181Gln in patients with MD; cervical dystonia; or WD. Two relatives of MD patients with WD also carried p.Ile196Val. The two variants identified in MD patients (p.Ile196Val; p.Gly13Asp) were characterized on endogenous levels in patient-derived fibroblasts and in two RAB12-overexpressing cell models. The ability to hydrolyze guanosine triphosphate (GTP), so called GTPase activity, was increased in mutants compared to wildtype. Furthermore, subcellular distribution of RAB12 in mutants was altered in fibroblasts. Soluble Transferrin receptor 1 levels were reduced in the blood of all three tested p.Ile196Val carriers. In conclusion, we demonstrate an enrichment of missense changes among dystonia patients. Functional characterization revealed altered enzyme activity and lysosomal distribution in mutants suggesting a contribution of RAB12 variants to MD and other dystonias.
Implementation of a Novel Educational Course to Teach 3D Printing, Circuit Design, and Programming to PhD Candidates in Nigeria
2017-10-18

This paper aims to describe the need for a course that teaches open source principles, 3D printing, and programming to researchers in Africa. It also describes the implementation of the course in detail so that others may conduct similar programs. The primary goal of the “Open Labware: 3D Printing Your Own Lab Equipment” workshop organised by TReND in Africa (Teaching and Research in Natural Sciences for Development in Africa) is to help the development of local expertise and capabilities of researchers and teaching faculty in the area of Open Labware, capacitating participants to create their own scientific equipment, as well as repair existing ones.
cGMP-Elevating Compounds and Ischemic Conditioning Provide Cardioprotection Against Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury via Cardiomyocyte-Specific BK Channels
2017-10-19

Background: The nitric oxide–sensitive guanylyl cyclase/cGMP-dependent protein kinase type I signaling pathway can afford protection against the ischemia/reperfusion injury that occurs during myocardial infarction. Reportedly, voltage and Ca 2+ -activated K + channels of the BK type are stimulated by cGMP/cGMP-dependent protein kinase type I, and recent ex vivo studies implicated that increased BK activity favors the survival of the myocardium at ischemia/reperfusion. It remains unclear, however, whether the molecular events downstream of cGMP involve BK channels present in cardiomyocytes or in other cardiac cell types. Methods: Gene-targeted mice with a cardiomyocyte- or smooth muscle cell–specific deletion of the BK (CMBK or SMBK knockouts) were subjected to the open-chest model of myocardial infarction. Infarct sizes of the conditional mutants were compared with litter-matched controls, global BK knockout, and wild-type mice. Cardiac damage was assessed after mechanical conditioning or pharmacological stimulation of the cGMP pathway and by using direct modulators of BK. Long-term outcome was studied with respect to heart functions and cardiac fibrosis in a chronic myocardial infarction model. Results: Global BK knockouts and CMBK knockouts, in contrast with SMBK knockouts, exhibited significantly larger infarct sizes compared with their respective controls. Ablation of CMBK resulted in higher serum levels of cardiac troponin I and elevated amounts of reactive oxygen species, lower phosphorylated extracellular receptor kinase and phosphorylated AKT levels and an increase in myocardial apoptosis. Moreover, CMBK was required to allow beneficial effects of both nitric oxide–sensitive guanylyl cyclase activation and inhibition of the cGMP-degrading phosphodiesterase-5, ischemic preconditioning, and postconditioning regimens. To this end, after 4 weeks of reperfusion, fibrotic tissue increased and myocardial strain echocardiography was significantly compromised in CMBK-deficient mice. Conclusions: Lack of CMBK channels renders the heart more susceptible to ischemia/reperfusion injury, whereas the pathological events elicited by ischemia/reperfusion do not involve BK in vascular smooth muscle cells. BK seems to permit the protective effects triggered by cinaciguat, riociguat, and different phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors and beneficial actions of ischemic preconditioning and ischemic postconditioning by a mechanism stemming primarily from cardiomyocytes. This study establishes mitochondrial CMBK channels as a promising target for limiting acute cardiac damage and adverse long-term events that occur after myocardial infarction.
Lithologic Effects on Landscape Response to Base Level Changes: A Modeling Study in the Context of the Eastern Jura Mountains, Switzerland
2017-10-19

Abstract Landscape evolution is a product of the forces that drive geomorphic processes (e.g., tectonics and climate) and the resistance to those processes. The underlying lithology and structural setting in many landscapes set the resistance to erosion. This study uses a modified version of the Channel‐Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development (CHILD) landscape evolution model to determine the effect of a spatially and temporally changing erodibility in a terrain with a complex base level history. Specifically, our focus is to quantify how the effects of variable lithology influence transient base level signals. We set up a series of numerical landscape evolution models with increasing levels of complexity based on the lithologic variability and base level history of the Jura Mountains of northern Switzerland. The models are consistent with lithology (and therewith erodibility) playing an important role in the transient evolution of the landscape. The results show that the erosion rate history at a location depends on the rock uplift and base level history, the range of erodibilities of the different lithologies, and the history of the surface geology downstream from the analyzed location. Near the model boundary, the history of erosion is dominated by the base level history. The transient wave of incision, however, is quite variable in the different model runs and depends on the geometric structure of lithology used. It is thus important to constrain the spatiotemporal erodibility patterns downstream of any given point of interest to understand the evolution of a landscape subject to variable base level in a quantitative framework.
Interactions between magnetite and humic substances: redox reactions and dissolution processes
2017-10-19

Humic substances (HS) are redox-active compounds that are ubiquitous in the environment and can serve as electron shuttles during microbial Fe(III) reduction thus reducing a variety of Fe(III) minerals. However, not much is known about redox reactions between HS and the mixed-valent mineral magnetite (Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>) that can potentially lead to changes in Fe(II)/Fe(III) stoichiometry and even dissolve the magnetite. To address this knowledge gap, we incubated non-reduced (native) and reduced HS with four types of magnetite that varied in particle size and solid-phase Fe(II)/Fe(III) stoichiometry. We followed dissolved and solid-phase Fe(II) and Fe(III) concentrations over time to quantify redox reactions between HS and magnetite. Magnetite redox reactions and dissolution processes with HS varied depending on the initial magnetite and HS properties. The interaction between biogenic magnetite and reduced HS resulted in dissolution of the solid magnetite mineral, as well as an overall reduction of the magnetite. In contrast, a slight oxidation and no dissolution was observed when native and reduced HS interacted with 500 nm magnetite. This variability in the solubility and electron accepting and donating capacity of the different types of magnetite is likely an effect of differences in their reduction potential that is correlated to the magnetite Fe(II)/Fe(III) stoichiometry, particle size, and crystallinity. Our study suggests that redox-active HS play an important role for Fe redox speciation within minerals such as magnetite and thereby influence the reactivity of these Fe minerals and their role in biogeochemical Fe cycling. Furthermore, such processes are also likely to have an effect on the fate of other elements bound to the surface of Fe minerals.
Rac1-stimulated macropinocytosis enhances Gβγ activation of PI3Kβ
2017-10-19

Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI 3-kinases) are regulated by a diverse range of upstream activators, including receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and small GTPases from the Ras, Rho and Rab families. For the Class IA PI 3-kinase PI3Kβ, two mechanisms for GPCR-mediated regulation have been described: direct binding of Gβγ subunits to the C2-helical domain linker of p110β, and Dock180/Elmo1-mediated activation of Rac1, which binds to the Ras-Binding Domain of p110β. We now show that the integration of these dual pathways is unexpectedly complex. In breast cancer cells, expression of constitutively activated Rac1 (CA-Rac1) along with either GPCR stimulation or expression of Gβγ led to an additive PI3Kβ-dependent activation of Akt. Whereas CA-Rac1-mediated activation of Akt was blocked in cells expressing a mutated PI3Kβ that cannot bind Gβγ, Gβγ and GPCR-mediated activation of Akt was preserved when Rac1 binding to PI3Kβ was blocked. Surprisingly, PI3Kβ-dependent CA-Rac1 signaling to Akt was still seen in cells expressing a mutant p110β that cannot bind Rac1. Instead of directly binding to PI3Kβ, CA-Rac1 acts by enhancing Gβγ coupling to PI3Kβ, as CA-Rac1-mediated Akt activation was blocked by inhibitors of Gβγ. Cells expressing CA-Rac1 exhibited a robust induction of macropinocytosis, and inhibitors of macropinocytosis blocked the activation of Akt by CA-Rac1 or lysophosphatidic acid. Our data suggest that Rac1 can potentiate the activation of PI3Kβ by GPCRs through an indirect mechanism, by driving the formation of macropinosomes that serve as signaling platforms for Gβγ coupling to PI3Kβ.
Search for Low Mass Dark Matter Particles with the CRESST Experiment
2017-10-19

It has been proven by several astronomical observations that dark matter exists, but no particle candidates have been observed yet. The CRESST experiment aims to directly detect dark matter particles elastically scattering off nuclei in CaWO4 crystals which are operated at mK temperatures. With nuclear recoil energy thresholds as low as 0.3 keV [2] and 0.6 keV [3], for the detector modules LISE and TUM40, respectively, CRESST is ideally suited for the detection of low-mass dark matter particles [5]. Additionally, the radiopurity of the crystals is another important factor for the detector performance. For a detailed understanding of the detector backgrounds, we simulate the radioactive contaminations of the TUM40 detector module with Geant4. The outcome of this simulation will be vital for the CRESST-III experiment. In this contribution, we discuss our results of the search for dark matter and dark photons achieved with the detector module Lise of CRESST-II. We will discuss the status of CRESST-III Phase 1 which started taking data in 2016.