julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Extracellular spike waveform dissociates four functionally distinct cell classes in primate cortex
2019-02-01

Summary Understanding the function of different neuronal cell types is key to understanding brain function. However, cell type diversity is typically overlooked in electrophysiological studies in awake behaving animals. Here, we show that four functionally distinct cell classes can be robustly identified from extracellular recordings in several cortical regions of awake behaving monkeys. We recorded extracellular spiking activity from dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), the frontal eye field (FEF), and the lateral intraparietal area of macaque monkeys during a visuomotor decision-making task. We employed unsupervised clustering of spike waveforms, which robustly dissociated four distinct cell classes across all three brain regions. The four cell classes were functionally distinct. They showed different baseline firing statistics, visual response dynamics, and coding of visual information. While cell class-specific baseline statistics were consistent across brain regions, response dynamics and information coding were regionally specific. Our results identify four waveform-based cell classes in primate cortex. This opens a new window to dissect and study the cell-type specific function of cortical circuits.
Simultaneous Collaborative Mapping Based on Low-Bandwidth Communication
2019-02-01

Multi-robot systems have become interesting for many robotic applications like cleaning, mowing and search and rescue (SAR) scenarios. Most applications require a consistent common map, e.g. for exploration area coverage or for the surveying task itself. Especially in absence of WiFi and in case of an autonomously operating swarm, this becomes a difficult problem. Therefore, we propose a multi-robot mapping system based on 868 MHz radio frequency modules. While other approaches only manage to map key features or communicate coarse approximations of submaps, we achieve consistent and accurate maps by exchanging small incremental updates. This way, our multiple robots obtain shared knowledge about the commonly processed area.
Cold Storage of Platelets in Additive Solution: The Impact of Residual Plasma in Apheresis Platelet Concentrates
2019-02-01

Scientific Research Question: Platelet (PLT) transfusion is a standard therapy indispensable to contrast bleeding or hemorrhage. However, transmission of bacterial infection upon transfusion, which is usually caused by storage of PLTs at room temperature (RT), still remains the major drawback. In this scenario, cold storage may represent a suitable solution. For this reason, we investigated the impact of different residual plasma volumes in apheresis-derived platelet concentrates (APCs), stored at RT or 4°C, on PLT functionality and survival.
Phosphate-induced ORAI1 Expression and Store Operated Ca2+ Entry in Megakaryocytes
2019-02-01

Scientific Research Question: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) leads to impairment of renal phosphate elimination and thus fosters the development of hyperphosphatemia, which in turn triggers vascular osteogenic signaling eventually resulting in vascular calcification. Osteogenic signaling involves up-regulation of the transcription factor NFAT5, which consequently stimulates the expression of the serum & glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK1). SGK1 up-regulates Orai1, a Ca2+-channel accomplishing store operated Ca2+-entry (SOCE). Triggering of Orai1 dependent SOCE is a powerful mechanism activating blood platelets (PLTs) which increases risk of thrombo-occlusive formation. In this study we investigated a powerful SGK1 dependent stimulation of Orai1 expression by NFAT5 overexpression in megakaryocytes.
Abstract B039: Peptide-MHC-directed expansion of multifunctional antigen-responsive T-cells
2019-02-01

Abstract Functional properties and antigen specificity of expanded T-cells are crucial for the efficacy of adoptive cell transfer-based therapies in cancer. Most current strategies involve nonspecific expansion of bulk tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, often providing growth preference to co-infiltrated virus specific T-cells and driving an exhausted phenotype of the expanded T-cell product.A potential way to resolve this challenge, is the use of artificial antigen-presenting scaffolds providing both an antigen specific stimulation through peptide-MHC interaction and additional the required co-stimulatory and growth signals through associated stimulatory molecules and cytokines. We have designed such antigen-presenting scaffolds; build on a dextran-polysaccharide, carrying both peptide-MHC and relevant stimulatory molecules. The artificial antigen-presenting scaffolds interacts specifically with T-cells based on recognition of the peptide-MHC molecule and effectively expand and functionally stimulate specific T-cells in a peptide-MHC-directed fashion, while leaving all other T-cell specificities untouched. Results from in vitro experiments have showed that antigen specific CD8 T-cells stimulated with these artificial antigen-presenting scaffolds express a less differentiated phenotype and low PD-1 expression, associated with high proliferation potential and enhanced antitumor effect in vivo. Furthermore, this expansion strategy provides a high frequency of multifunctional antigen specific CD8 T-cells expressing IFN-γ, TNF-α, and CD107a upon target recognition and provide improved cancer cell killing over IL2-driven expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Furthermore, the current strategy allows for simultaneous expansion of numerous different T-cell populations, required to generate T-cell products with broad recognition profiles based on the personal cancer-antigen and mutational profile. All of these characteristics are of significant importance for in vivo tumor cell killing following adoptive transfer of expanded T-cell products. Thus, the present strategy represents an optimized method for expansion of cancer-restricted T-cells for adoptive cell therapy. Citation Format: Vibeke Mindahl Rafa, Mona Bodenhöfer, Amalie Kai Bentzen, Tripti Tamhane, Marco Donia, Inge Marie Stentoft Svane, Søren Nyboe Jakobsen, Christian Schmess, Sine Reker Hadrup. Peptide-MHC-directed expansion of multifunctional antigen-responsive T-cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; Sept 30-Oct 3, 2018; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2019;7(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B039.
Platelet Lipidome and Lipid Induced Thromboinflammatory Actions are Influenced by the CXCL12-CXCR4-CXCR7 Axis
2019-02-01

Scientific Research Question: Hyperlipidaemia propagates thrombosis, while activation changes the intra-platelet lipidome. Platelet surface expression of the chemokine CXCL12 and its cognate receptors CXCR4-CXCR7 are elevated in coronary artery disease (CAD), having significant prognostic impact. Current aim is to characterize the influence of CXCL12-CXCR4-CXCR7 axis as a novel therapeutic strategy to regulate platelet-lipid association.
Platelet-leukocyte Complex Formation is Associated with, but Dispensable for Myocardial Ischemia Reperfusion Injury
2019-02-01

Scientific Research Question: P-selectin is an activatable adhesion molecule on platelets promoting platelet aggregation, and platelet-leukocyte complex (PLC) formation via PSGL-1 binding, respectively. Increased numbers of PLC circulate in patients with acute myocardial infarction and predict adverse outcome. Yet, their pathomechanistic significance remains unclear. In this work, we tested the relevance of P-selectin mediated PLC formation for leukocyte recruitment to sites of inflammation, and myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury in mice.
Combined Acquired Alpha- and Delta Storage Pool Disease in Endstage Renal Failure
2019-02-01

Background: Bleeding due to platelet dysfunction can result from congenital or acquired defects. The laboratory approach to identify the pathogeneses of acquired platelet dysfunctions is challenging, especially in pediatric patients. A combination of immunofluorescent microscopy (IFM), flow cytometry (FC) and luminoaggregometry (LA) may help establishing the right diagnosis.
Anti-Glycoprotein V Autoantibodies in Patients with Immune Thrombocytopenia
2019-02-01

Background: Platelet autoantibody (aab)-induced platelet clearance represents a major pathomechanism in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Evidence for clinical differences between anti-GP IIb/IIIa and anti-GP Ib/IX mediated ITP is currently accumulating. Glycoprotein (GP) V is a well characterized target antigen in Varicella-associated and drug-induced thrombocytopenia, but its relavance in ITP has never been investigated systematically.
Prediction of item familiarity based on ERPs
2019-02-01

A simple recognition task was used to investigate if the item familiarity of pictures can be predicted based on single trial ERPs during item presentation, to explore the possibility of using this property in a BCI application. Two experimental parts with equal learning phases but different ratios of old and new stimuli in a forced choice memory recognition test have been performed. We were able to predict item familiarity with accuracies above 70 % based on the ERPs elicited during item representation in both parts of the experiment. In some cases, the classification accuracy even exceeds the behavioral accuracy of the subjects. Usage of this property, for example in an education-oriented scenario, seems feasible in a BCI application.
Solar neutrino physics with Borexino
2019-02-01

We present the most recent solar neutrino results from the Borexino experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. In particular, refined measurements of all neutrinos produced in the {\\it pp} fusion chain have been made. It is the first time that the same detector measures the entire range of solar neutrinos at once. These new data weakly favor a high-metallicity Sun. Prospects for measuring CNO solar neutrinos are also discussed.
Control of blood pressure and risk of mortality in a cohort of older adults: the Berlin Initiative Study
2019-02-02

Abstract Aims To assess whether blood pressure (BP) values below 140/90 mmHg during antihypertensive treatment are associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality in community-dwelling older adults. Methods and results Within the Berlin Initiative Study, we assembled a cohort of patients ≥70 years treated with antihypertensive drugs at baseline (November 2009–June 2011). End of prospective follow-up was December 2016. Cox proportional hazards models yielded adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of all-cause mortality associated with normalized BP [systolic BP (SBP) &amp;lt;140 mmHg and diastolic BP (DBP) &amp;lt;90 mmHg] compared with non-normalized BP (SBP ≥140 mmHg or DBP ≥90 mmHg) overall and after stratification by age or previous cardiovascular events. Among 1628 patients (mean age 81 years) on antihypertensive drugs, 636 exhibited normalized BP. During 8853 person-years of follow-up, 469 patients died. Compared with non-normalized BP, normalized BP was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (incidence rates: 60.3 vs. 48.5 per 1000/year; HR 1.26; 95% CI 1.04–1.54). Increased risks were observed in patients ≥80 years (102.2 vs. 77.5 per 1000/year; HR 1.40; 95% CI 1.12–1.74) and with previous cardiovascular events (98.3 vs. 63.6 per 1000/year; HR 1.61; 95% CI 1.14–2.27) but not in patients aged 70–79 years (22.6 vs. 22.7 per 1000/year; HR 0.83; 95% CI 0.54–1.27) or without previous cardiovascular events (45.2 vs. 44.4 per 1000/year; HR 1.16, 95% CI 0.90–1.48). Conclusion Blood pressure values below 140/90 mmHg during antihypertensive treatment may be associated with an increased risk of mortality in octogenarians or elderly patients with previous cardiovascular events.
Memory-guided microsaccades
2019-02-03

Abstract Microsaccades are overwhelmingly described as involuntary eye movements. Here we show in both human subjects and monkeys that individual microsaccades of any direction can easily be triggered: (1) “on demand”, based on an arbitrary instruction, (2) without any special training, (3) without visual guidance by a stimulus, and (4) in a spatially and temporally accurate manner. Subjects voluntarily generated instructed “memory-guided” microsaccades readily, and similarly to how they made normal visually-guided ones. In two monkeys, we also observed midbrain superior colliculus neurons that exhibited movement-related activity bursts exclusively for memory-guided microsaccades, but not for similarly-sized visually-guided movements. Our results demonstrate behavioral and neural evidence for voluntary control over individual microsaccades, supporting recently discovered functional contributions of individual microsaccade generation to visual performance alterations and covert visual selection.
Audiovisual Cartography: Established and New Multimedia Approaches to Represent Soundscapes
2019-02-04

Since the mid-1990s, sound has been discussed and used in multimedia cartography. There are four main variants of auditory map elements that have been established in the theory and practice of audiovisual cartography, i.e. abstract sounds/abstract sound sequences, speech, music and, especially, audiorealistic sequences representing so-called "soundscapes". In cartography, soundscapes are often addressed in large-scale representations. The term originates in multidisciplinary landscape research. Empirical findings of landscape research, and especially those of social constructivist landscape research, have shown the relevance of non-visual stimuli for people's individual impressions and meanings of the experienced landscape. Amongst the non-visual landscape dimensions, the auditory dimension is the most prominent one. As 3D cartography offers new methods and techniques of designing and experiencing highly realistic, incl. photo- and audiorealistic landscape representation, this discipline becomes more and more interesting for simulating and presenting multisensory landscapes and for presenting the results of empirical findings in landscape research. After an introduction to traditional means of audiovisual cartography and the relevance of auditory stimuli for social constructivist approaches of landscape research, a modern software-based method is presented which highlights the opportunity to imbed 3D sound data representing a location's soundscape into audiovisual 3D environments in Virtual Reality (VR). It is technically based on the cross-platform game engine Unity3D.
Dietary Niacin Intake Predicts the Decrease of Liver Fat Content During a Lifestyle Intervention
2019-02-04

Abstract Niacin inhibits fatty acid flux from adipose tissue to liver, reduces hepatic triglyceride synthesis and increases hepatic lipid oxidation. Thus, niacin may have a role in the regulation of liver fat content in humans. We tested if dietary intake of niacin predicts change of liver fat content during a lifestyle intervention. To this end, we estimated the composition of diet from diaries of 202 healthy subjects at risk of type 2 diabetes undergoing lifestyle intervention comprising physical activity and diet counselling. Total-, subcutaneous- and visceral adipose tissue mass were measured by magnetic resonance (MR) tomography and liver fat content by 1 H-MR spectroscopy at baseline and after 9 months of follow-up. Among fat compartments, liver fat content showed the largest decrease (−32%, p &lt; 0.0001). High baseline niacin intake predicted a larger decrease of liver fat (p = 0.004). Subjects in the highest quartile of niacin intake at baseline also had the largest decrease of liver fat (1 st :−10%; 2 nd :−27%; 3 rd :−35%; 4 th :−37%). Among 58 subjects with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) at baseline, NAFLD resolved in 23 subjects during the lifestyle intervention. For one standard deviation increase in niacin intake, the odds ratio for resolution of NAFLD was 1.77 (95% CI, 1.00–3.43). High dietary niacin intake may have a favorable effect on the reduction of liver fat during lifestyle intervention.
Rare‐Earth‐Metal Pentadienyl Half‐Sandwich and Sandwich Tetramethylaluminates–Synthesis, Structure, Reactivity, and Performance in Isoprene Polymerization
2019-02-04

Abstract Targeting the synthesis of rare‐earth‐metal pentadienyl half‐sandwich tetramethylaluminate complexes, homoleptic [Ln(AlMe 4 ) 3 ] (Ln=Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Lu) were treated with equimolar amounts of the potassium salts K(2,4‐dmp) (2,4‐dmp=2,4‐dimethylpentadienyl), K(2,4‐dipp) (2,4‐dipp=2,4‐diisopropylpentadienyl), and K(2,4‐dtbp) (2,4‐dtbp=2,4‐di‐ tert ‐butylpentadienyl). The reactions involving the larger rare‐earth‐metal centers lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium gave selectively the desired half‐sandwich complexes [(2,4‐dmp)La(AlMe 4 ) 2 ], [(2,4‐dipp)La(AlMe 4 ) 2 ], and [(2,4‐dtbp)Ln(AlMe 4 ) 2 ] (Ln=La, Ce, Pr, Nd) in high crystalline yields. Smaller rare‐earth‐metal centers yielded preferentially the sandwich complexes [(2,4‐dmp) 2 Ln(AlMe 4 )] (Ln=Y, Lu) and [(2,4‐dipp) 2 Y(AlMe 4 )]. Activation with fluorinated borate/borane co‐catalysts gave highly active catalyst systems for the fabrication of polyisoprene, displaying molecular weight distributions as low as M w / M n =1.09 and a maximum cis ‐1,4 selectivity of 90.4 %. The equimolar reaction of half‐sandwich complex [(2,4‐dtbp)La(AlMe 4 ) 2 ] with B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 led to the isolation and full characterization of the single‐component catalyst {{(2,4‐dtbp)La[(μ‐Me) 2 AlMe(C 6 F 5 )]}[Me 2 Al(C 6 F 5 ) 2 ]} 2 . The reaction of the latter complex with 10 equivalents of isoprene could be monitored by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. Also, a donor‐induced aluminato/gallato exchange was achieved with [(2,4‐dtbp)La(AlMe 4 ) 2 ] and GaMe 3 (OEt 2 ) leading to [(2,4‐dtbp)La(GaMe 4 ) 2 ].
Direct visualization of the 3D structure of silicon impurities in graphene
2019-02-04

We directly visualize the three-dimensional (3D) geometry and dynamics of silicon impurities in graphene as well as their dynamics by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. By acquiring images when the sample is tilted, we show that an asymmetry of the atomic position of the heteroatom in the projection reveals the non-planarity of the structure. From a sequence of images, we further demonstrate that the Si atom switches between up- and down- configurations with respect to the graphene plane, with an asymmetric cross-section. We further analyze the 3D structure and dynamics of a silicon tetramer in graphene. Our results clarify the out-of-plane structure of impurities in graphene by direct experimental observation and open a route to study their dynamics in three dimensions.
No evidence for a BRD2 promoter hypermethylation in blood leukocytes of Europeans with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
2019-02-04

Summary Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy ( JME ) is a common syndrome of genetic generalized epilepsies ( GGE s). Linkage and association studies suggest that the gene encoding the bromodomain‐containing protein 2 ( BRD 2 ) may increase risk of JME . The present methylation and association study followed up a recent report highlighting that the BRD 2 promoter CpG island (CpG76) is differentially hypermethylated in lymphoblastoid cells from Caucasian patients with JME compared to patients with other GGE subtypes and unaffected relatives. In contrast, we found a uniform low average percentage of methylation (&lt;4.5%) for 13 CpG76‐CpGs in whole blood cells from 782 unrelated European Caucasians, including 116 JME patients, 196 patients with genetic absence epilepsies, and 470 control subjects. We also failed to confirm an allelic association of the BRD 2 promoter single nucleotide polymorphism ( SNP ) rs3918149 with JME (Armitage trend test, P = 0.98), and we did not detect a substantial impact of SNP rs3918149 on CpG76 methylation in either 116 JME patients (methylation quantitative trait loci [meQTL], P = 0.29) or 470 German control subjects (me QTL , P = 0.55). Our results do not support the previous observation that a high DNA methylation level of the BRD 2 promoter CpG76 island is a prevalent epigenetic motif associated with JME in Caucasians.
Detection and Explanation of Spatiotemporal Patterns in Late Cenozoic Palaeoclimate Change Relevant to Earth Surface Processes
2019-02-04

Abstract. Detecting and explaining differences between palaeoclimates can provide valuable insight into climatic tipping points and a useful framework of information for Earth scientists investigating processes that are affected by climate change over geological time. We apply a combination of multivariate cluster- and discriminant analysis techniques to a set of consistently set-up high-resolution palaeoclimate simulations conducted with the ECHAM5 climate model. A pre-industrial (PI) climate simulation serves as the control experiment, which is compared to a suite of simulations of Late Cenozoic climates, namely a Mid-Holocene (MH, ca. 6.5 ka), Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 21 ka) and Pliocene (PLIO, ca. 3 Ma) climate. For each of the study regions (Western South America, Europe and Himalaya–Tibet and South Alaska), differences in climate are subjected to geographical clustering to identify dominant modes of climate change and their spatial extent for each time slice comparison (PI-MH, PI-LGM and PI-PLIO). The selection of climate variables for the cluster analysis is made on the basis of their relevance to Earth surface processes and includes 2 m air temperature, 2 m air temperature amplitude, consecutive freezing days, freeze-thaw days, maximum precipitation, consecutive wet days, consecutive dry days, zonal wind speed and meridional wind speed. We then apply a two-class multivariate discriminant analysis to simulation pairs PI-MH, PI-LGM and PI-PLIO to evaluate and explain the discriminability between climates within each of the anomaly clusters. Changes in ice cover create the most distinct and stable patterns of climate change, and create the best discriminability between climates in western Patagonia. The distinct nature of European palaeoclimates is mostly explained by changes in 2 m air temperature (MH, LGM, PLIO), consecutive freezing days (LGM) and consecutive wet days (PLIO). These factors typically contribute 30 %–50 %, 10 %–40 % and 10 %–30 % respectively to climate discriminability. Finally, our results identify regions particularly prone to changes in precipitation-induced erosion and temperature-dependent physical weathering.