bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Community Pharmacy Operations in Puerto Rico During the 2017 Hurricane Season: A Descriptive Analysis of Rx Open Data
Authors: Romolt Courtney E. , Melin Kyle , Hardie Kinaya Y. , Baker Sarah M. , Louissaint Nicolette A.
Published: December 2020

Objectives:

This article aims to: (1) describe the ‘Return to Open Pharmacy Operations’ in Puerto Rico following the hurricanes Irma and Maria in the 2017 hurricane season, and (2) compare the recovery rate (Return to Open Pharmacy Operations) during the 2017 hurricane season between the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the state of Florida.

Methods:

We performed a cross-sectional study of pharmacy operations in Puerto Rico utilizing Rx Open data for pharmacies in Puerto Rico during the 2017 hurricane season. To compare open rates of pharmacy operations over time in different contexts, we also analyzed Rx Open data for the state of Florida for Hurricane Irma.

Results:

Only 11.1% of pharmacies remained open in Puerto Rico 3 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall, and Puerto Rico pharmacy operations recovered slowly, at an average daily rate of 3.9% before reaching pre-landfall baseline operations. Puerto Rico pharmacy operations after Hurricane Maria recovered 10 times slower on average, compared to pharmacy operations in Florida after Hurricane Irma which reached baseline operations less than 1 week following Hurricane Irma’s landfall.

Conclusion:

Our results demonstrate the unique severity of Hurricane Maria’s impacts on Puerto Rico’s health system.
Galaxy spin direction distribution inHSTand SDSS show similar large-scale asymmetry
Authors: Shamir Lior
Published: December 2020

Several recent observations using large data sets of galaxies showed non-random distribution of the spin directions of spiral galaxies, even when the galaxies are too far from each other to have gravitational interaction. Here, a data set of$\sim8.7\cdot10^3$spiral galaxies imaged byHubble Space Telescope(HST) is used to test and profile a possible asymmetry between galaxy spin directions. The asymmetry between galaxies with opposite spin directions is compared to the asymmetry of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The two data sets contain different galaxies at different redshift ranges, and each data set was annotated using a different annotation method. The results show that both data sets show a similar asymmetry in the COSMOS field, which is covered by both telescopes. Fitting the asymmetry of the galaxies to cosine dependence shows a dipole axis with probabilities of$\sim2.8\sigma$and$\sim7.38\sigma$inHSTand SDSS, respectively. The most likely dipole axis identified in theHSTgalaxies is at$(\alpha=78^{\rm o},\delta=47^{\rm o})$and is well within the$1\sigma$error range compared to the location of the most likely dipole axis in the SDSS galaxies with$z>0.15$, identified at$(\alpha=71^{\rm o},\delta=61^{\rm o})$.
Data-driven development of the Meal-based Diet History Questionnaire for Japanese adults
Authors: Murakami Kentaro , Shinozaki Nana , McCaffrey Tracy A. , Livingstone M. Barbara E. , Sasaki Satoshi
Published: December 2020

FFQ, the primary method of dietary assessment in large-scale nutritional epidemiological studies, preclude an informed evaluation of the timing of dietary intake and meal-specific dietary intake. In this study, we developed the Meal-based Diet History Questionnaire (MDHQ), a self-administered questionnaire designed for estimating food and nutrient intakes for each meal type separately. The development was done based on a 16-d dietary record obtained from 242 Japanese adults. The MDHQ consisted of the three different parts, with a total of 196 items. Part 1 of the MDHQ asks about consumption frequency of generic food groups (n24) for each meal type: breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and night snack. Part 2 of the MDHQ asks about relative consumption frequency of sub-food groups within one of the generic food groups which are asked in Part 1. Combining information derived from Parts 1 and 2 enables us to increase the number of foods we can estimate efficiently but within a limited number of questions. Part 3 of the MDHQ asks about general eating behaviours, which are intended to use in a variety of ways during dietary intake calculation. A series of calculation algorithms for food groups, energy and nutrients was also prepared. Given that the MDHQ was empirically developed based on comprehensive information on actual food consumption, this innovative tool may be promising for future epidemiological research on meal patterns and time of day of dietary intake, or chrono-nutrition research. A rigorous evaluation of validity of the MDHQ is warranted.
Skeletal health, redox balance and gastrointestinal functionality in dairy cows: connecting bugs and bones
Authors: Celi Pietro , Kindermann Maik , Tamassia Luis F. M. , Walker Nicola
Published: December 2020

This research reflection examines the physiological links between redox balance, skeletal health and gastrointestinal functionality in dairy cows. With the increase in demand of animal products caused by the growth in human population, the dairy industry needs to develop and implement innovative strategies which are profitable, sustainable and cow friendly. Redox balance, skeletal heath and gastrointestinal functionality are three key physiological systems that are often seen as independent entities. In this research reflection we intend to stress that the antioxidant system, bone health and the microbiome are intimately intertwined. Antioxidants are crucial for the maintenance of redox homeostasis and optimal immune function. Optimal gastrointestinal functionality is important to maintain animal performance, health and welfare. In particular, the intestinal microbiome is increasingly seen as a driver of health and disease. Vitamin D metabolism is pivotal not only for optimal skeletal health, but in light of all the extra-skeletal effect of vitamin D, it is the foundation for optimal productive life. It makes sense to ask the question ‘how are redox balance and the microbiome involved in the modulation of bone health and immune function?’ In other words, are bugs and bones connected in dairy cows! The existing data available in the literature suggests that this might be the case. The characterization of the interactions between redox balance, skeletal health and the microbiome, will allow the development of a multisystem biological approach to refine nutritional interventions to improve dairy cattle health, welfare and productive longevity.
A topography of 21 phobic fears: network analysis in an epidemiological sample of adult twins
Authors: Kendler Kenneth S. , Aggen Steven H. , Werner Marlene , Fried Eiko I.
Published: December 2020

Background

Few factor analyses and no network analyses have examined the structure of DSM phobic fears or tested the specificity of the relationship between panic disorder and agoraphobic fears.

Methods

Histories of 21 lifetime phobic fears, coded as four-level ordinal variables (no fear to fear with major interference) were assessed at personal interview in 7514 adults from the Virginia Twin Registry. We estimated Gaussian Graphical Models on individual phobic fears; compared network structures of women and men using the Network Comparison Test; used community detection to determine the number and nature of groups in which phobic fears hang together; and validated the anticipated specific relationship between panic disorder and agoraphobia.

Results

All networks were densely and positively inter-connected; networks of women and men were structurally similar. Our most frequent and stable solution identified four phobic clusters: (i) blood-injection, (ii) social-agoraphobia, (iii) situational, and (iv) animal-disease. Fear of public restrooms and of diseases clustered with animal and not, respectively, social and blood-injury phobias. When added to the network, the three strongest connections with lifetime panic disorder were all agoraphobic fears: being in crowds, going out of the house alone, and being in open spaces

Conclusions

Using network analyses applied to a large epidemiologic twin sample, we broadly validated the DSM-IV typography but did not entirely support the distinction of agoraphobic and social phobic fears or the DSM placements for fears of public restrooms and diseases. We found strong support for the specificity of the relationship between panic disorder and agoraphobic fears.
Positional faithfulness drives laxness alternations in Slovenian
Authors: Becker Michael , Jurgec Peter
Published: December 2020

We analyse the distribution of vowel laxness and stress alternations in Slovenian nouns (for example in the nominative and genitive forms of the masculine noun [ˈjɛzik ~ jeˈzika] ‘tongue’), showing that stress shifts away from mid lax vowels in initial syllables. A stress shift of this sort is predicted by positional faithfulness (Beckman 1997). We show that this prediction is correct,contraMcCarthy (2007, 2010) and Jesney (2011). The productivity of the pattern is confirmed in a large-scale nonce-word task. Stress shift in Slovenian is a result of the markedness of mid lax vowels and, perhaps counterintuitively, faithfulness to laxness in initial stressed position.
Three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography for early detection of left ventricular dysfunction in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases
Authors: El Amrousy Doaa , Elgendy Esam , Awad Mohiee El-Deen , El Razaky Osama
Published: December 2020

Objectives:

To detect early left ventricular dysfunction in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease using three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.

Methods:

Forty obese children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease were included as group I. Another 40 obese children without non-alcoholic fatty liver disease of matched age, sex, and weight were included as group II. Forty healthy controls of matched age and sex served as a control group. Anthropometric measurements, laboratory investigations, and echocardiographic examinations including three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography were measured for all included children.

Results:

Abnormal lipid profile was detected in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Troponin I levels were significantly higher in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease compared to obese children without non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and to healthy controls. Three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography examination revealed a significant reduction of left ventricular global longitudinal strain, circumferential strain, radial strain, and area strain in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease inspite of normal left ventricular fraction shortening measured by conventional echocardiography. All strains were negatively correlated with the grade of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Conclusion:

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with subclinical left ventricular dysfunction. Three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography can be helpful in identifying early left ventricular dysfunction in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease even in the presence of normal left ventricular ejection fraction.
What works in the Socratic debate? An analysis of verbal behaviour interaction during cognitive restructuring
Authors: Pardo-Cebrián Rebeca , Calero-Elvira Ana , Guerrero-Escagedo M. Cristina , López-Gómez Aída
Published: December 2020

Background:

Cognitive restructuring is one of the most complex application procedures in psychotherapy. It is widely used by psychologists from different orientations. However, the guidelines on how to apply it do not usually have empirical evidence and there is a lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of change that explain it.

Aims:

The analysis of verbalizations that therapists emit during the Socratic method could help to better understand the functioning and strategies of effective debates.

Method:

In this study, specific verbal interaction sequences were analysed using observational methodology. The sample consisted of 113 Socratic questioning fragments belonging to 18 clinical cases, treated by behavioural therapists.

Results:

Among other findings, it was found that using questioning together with certain previous verbalizations directed the client’s response more effectively and those successful debates were characterized by using the aversive component in a frequent and contingent way.

Conclusion:

This study shows the most effective way to establish such an interaction in the Socratic method (following a style closer to Ellis’s argumentative debate), which entails relevant practical applications in therapy.
The Argumentative Steps in the Halakhic Give-and-Take Conversations in the Mishnah and Tosefta: A Method to Measure the Degree of Aggressiveness in the Conversations
Authors: SHEMESH-RAISKIN RIVKA
Published: December 2020

This article describes the argumentative steps in the halakhic give-and-take conversations in the Mishnah and Tosefta, which are two compilations written in Tannaitic language, the language that had been used in the first period of Mishnaic Hebrew. The argumentative steps in the conversations are examined, i.e., the connection between the arguments of the sages when they present their views in the conversations.

The analysis of argumentative steps in halakhic give-and-take conversations in the Mishnah and Tosefta is based on the model proposed by Muntigl and Turnbull (1998). This model has classified the four types of disagreement acts, which were found in naturally occurring conversations: counterclaim, contradiction, challenge and irrelevancy claim; and it also ranks the degree of aggressiveness of the acts. The study conducted by Blondheim and Blum-Kulka (2001) on a Talmudic text was also based on Muntigl and Turnbull's study.

The aim of this article is to try to assess the degree of aggressiveness of the halakhic give-and-take conversations in the Mishnah and Tosefta by means of an examination of the types of argumentative steps. The findings from these two compilations are compared to the findings of the two previous studies.
Attitudes toward death and death acceptance among hemato-oncologists: An Israeli sample
Authors: Kraitenberger Shlomit , Goldezweig Gil , Aviv Ariel , Shaulov Adir , Braun Michal
Published: December 2020

Objective

Hemato-oncologists are highly exposed to patients’ death and suffering during their daily work. The current exploratory and cross-sectional study examined death acceptance attitudes, in order to explore whether death acceptance attitudes are associated with fear of death.

Method

A convenience sample of 50 Israeli hemato-oncologists currently working in a clinical setting participated in the study. They completed the Death Attitudes Profile revised questionnaire (DAP-R), which examines levels of fear of death, death avoidance, approach acceptance, neutral acceptance, and escape acceptance. In addition, the hemato-oncologists reported on levels of exposure to patients’ death and suffering.

Results

A repeated measures MANOVA revealed significantly lower levels of neutral acceptance, compared with approach and escape acceptance. Path analysis for predicting fear of death by the other study variables revealed that death avoidance fully mediated the relationship between approach acceptance and fear of death as well as revealing a negative correlation between neutral acceptance and fear of death (higher neutral acceptance was related to lower fear of death). No associations were found between exposure to death and suffering and attitudes toward death.

Significance of results

In contrast to previous conceptualizations, the ability to adaptively cope with fear of death differed in accordance with death acceptance attitudes. Whereas neutral acceptance adaptively defended from fear of death, approach acceptance was associated with increased fear of death through death avoidance. As hemato-oncologists are highly exposed to patients’ death and suffering, and are required to make critical medical decisions on daily basis, these findings may have substantial implications for end-of-life care and the process of medical decision-making regarding the choice of treatment goals: cure, quality of life, and life prolongment. Further research is needed to investigate the role of death acceptance attitudes among hemato-oncologists.
Game-Informed Assessment for Playful Learning and Student Experience (Part II)
Authors: Pavlou Maria
Published: December 2020

The educational value of play has long been acknowledged. During recent decades, much attention has been paid to video games and the multifarious ways in which they can promote and enhance learning. My main objective in this study is to weave game principles, learning and the notion of playfulness into assessment principles, in an attempt to investigate how what I call ‘Game-Informed Playful Assessment’ (GIPA) can affect student learning and particularly students’ experienceoflearning. The GIPA was designed with a view to promoting students’ agency, autonomy, collaboration and playfulness, and was introduced in an undergraduate course on archaic Greek lyric poetry at a Greek-speaking university. My data was generated through in-depth interviews with ten of the students that attended the course. While the GIPA was favourably and even enthusiastically received by students, the research also brought to the fore several other issues that call for attention, such as the stress that innovative assessment may provoke in students and the readiness of students to be playful within an academic framework that typically contrasts serious work with playfulness and play in general.
The Relationship Between Crustal Architecture, Deformation, and Magmatism in the Coompana Province, Australia
Authors: Pawley M. J. , Dutch R. A. , Wise T. W.
Published: December 2020

The Coompana Province, located between the three cratonic blocks of Australia, is significant for understanding the Proterozoic assembly of the continent. However, the basement rocks are completely covered and poorly understood, and as a result reconstructions are poorly constrained. Recent collection of detailed geophysical data sets and a stratigraphic drilling campaign in the eastern Coompana Province is used to understand the crustal architecture and tectonomagmatic history of the region. A north to northeast trending grain represents a series of amalgamated 1618–1526 Ma tectonic belts between the Western and South Australian cratons. These belts are cut by a northeast trending, shear‐bounded corridor of thinned crust, intruded by voluminous circa 1150–1140 Ma granite plutons. The new data indicate two main stages of deformation between circa 1200 and 1140 Ma. Circa 1200–1170 Ma east‐west extension was pervasive, causing widespread partial melting, shallowly dipping layering, recumbent folding, and minor shoshonitic magmatism. Circa 1160–1140 Ma deformation was partitioned into the northeast trending corridor, which focused transfer and emplacement of voluminous A‐type magmas. The two stages represent a switch from pervasive to localized deformation, with accompanying changes in magmatic style. Early pervasive extension caused progressive melt extraction, producing small sheets. Subsequent shearing locally promoted melt reorganization in the lower and middle crust. This caused local changes in rock strength with the continued partitioning of deformation into the oblique corridor. The crustal‐scale structures disrupted the lower crustal MASH zones, mobilizing and focusing the voluminous magmatism.
Contamination of Medicinal Plants: Implications for Indigenous Health
Authors: Mazumdar Ria
Published: December 2020

A new study will trace the legacy of uranium mining on commercially available medicinal plants.
Tectonic Regimes Inferred From Clustering of Focal Mechanisms and Their Distribution in Space: Application to the Central Mediterranean Area
Authors: Scarfì L. , Langer H. , Messina A. , Musumeci C.
Published: December 2020

The study of the kinematics and stress field related to seismicity makes an important contribution to the understanding of tectonic processes. In this kind of analysis, a crucial issue is identifying seismically homogeneous areas, which implies data classification and cluster creation. We present an approach that combines unsupervised learning techniques in order to reveal patterns in the focal mechanisms data set. In particular, a combination of two popular clustering algorithms, that is, self‐organizing maps and Fuzzy C‐means, was applied to focal mechanisms of events located in the Central Mediterranean region, characterized by a complex geodynamic framework. The analysis allowed identifying eight groups of focal mechanisms and their spatial distribution in the crust, and revealing the tectonic style of key sectors of southern Italy and of the neighboring offshore areas. A compressive regime was found between the lower Tyrrhenian Sea and southeastern Sicily, whereas extension prevails along the Calabrian Arc and the southern Apennines. A NW‐SE transcurrent faulting between the Aeolian Islands and the Ionian Sea forms a transfer zone between these two domains.
Ocean Surface Connectivity in the Arctic: Capabilities and Caveats of Community Detection in Lagrangian Flow Networks
Authors: Reijnders Daan , van Leeuwen Erik Jan , van Sebille Erik
Published: December 2020

To identify barriers to transport in a fluid domain, community detection algorithms from network science have been used to divide the domain into clusters that are sparsely connected with each other. In a previous application to the closed domain of the Mediterranean Sea, communities detected by the Infomap algorithm have barriers that often coincide with well‐known oceanographic features. We apply this clustering method to the surface of the Arctic and subarctic oceans and thereby show that it can also be applied to open domains. First, we construct a Lagrangian flow network by simulating the exchange of Lagrangian particles between different bins in an icosahedral‐hexagonal grid. Then, Infomap is applied to identify groups of well‐connected bins. The resolved transport barriers include naturally occurring structures, such as the major currents. As expected, clusters in the Arctic are affected by seasonal and annual variations in sea‐ice concentration. An important caveat of community detection algorithms is that many different divisions into clusters may qualify as good solutions. Moreover, while certain cluster boundaries lie consistently at the same location between different good solutions, other boundary locations vary significantly, making it difficult to assess the physical meaning of a single solution. We therefore consider an ensemble of solutions to find persistent boundaries, trends, and correlations with surface velocities and sea‐ice cover.
Coupled Morphodynamics of River Bifurcations and Confluences
Authors: Ragno Niccolò , Redolfi Marco , Tubino Marco
Published: December 2020

Multithread fluvial environments like anastomosing and braided rivers are fundamentally directed by the continuous concatenation of channel bifurcations and confluences, which distribute flow and sediment among different branches that are reconnecting further downstream. A large number of theoretical, experimental, and numerical studies conducted in the last two decades have provided a clear picture of stability conditions for river bifurcations. However, most analyses are focused on the dynamics of bifurcations alone, ignoring the possible mutual interaction with downstream confluences. In this work, we study the morphodynamic equilibrium and stability conditions of a bifurcation‐confluence loop, where flow splits in two secondary anabranches that rejoin after a prescribed distance. Through the formulation of a novel theoretical model for mobile bed confluences, we show that the dominating anabranch (i.e., that carrying most discharge) is subject to an increase of the water surface elevation that is proportional to the square of the Froude number. This effect causes a decrease of the slope of the dominating anabranch, which acts as a negative feedback that increases the stability of the bifurcation‐confluence system. A linear analysis of the coupled model reveals that the stabilizing effect exerted by the confluence depends on the ratio between the length of the anabranches and the average water depth, independently of channel slope and Froude number. Ultimately, this effect is potentially able to stabilize the loop even when the sediment is mainly transported in suspension, a condition which makes the classic stabilizing mechanism (i.e., the topographic effect at the bifurcation node) practically ineffective.
Involvement of NMDA receptors containing the GluN2C subunit in the psychotomimetic and antidepressant-like effects of ketamine
Authors: Tarrés-Gatius Mireia , Miquel-Rio Lluís , Campa Leticia , Artigas Francesc , Castañé Anna
Published: December 2020

Acute ketamine administration evokes rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant patients. However, ketamine also produces transient perceptual disturbances similarly to those evoked by other non-competitive NMDA-R antagonists like phencyclidine (PCP). Although the brain networks involved in both ketamine actions are not fully understood, PCP and ketamine activate thalamo-cortical networks after NMDA-R blockade in GABAergic neurons of the reticular thalamic nucleus (RtN). Given the involvement of thalamo-cortical networks in processing sensory information, these networks may underlie psychotomimetic action. Since the GluN2C subunit is densely expressed in the thalamus, including the RtN, we examined the dependence of psychotomimetic and antidepressant-like actions of ketamine on the presence of GluN2C subunits, using wild-type and GluN2C knockout (GluN2CKO) mice. Likewise, since few studies have investigated ketamine’s effects in females, we used mice of both sexes. GluN2C deletion dramatically reduced stereotyped (circling) behavior induced by ketamine in male and female mice, while the antidepressant-like effect was fully preserved in both genotypes and sexes. Despite ketamine appeared to induce similar effects in both sexes, some neurobiological differences were observed between male and female mice regarding c-fos expression in thalamic nuclei and cerebellum, and glutamate surge in prefrontal cortex. In conclusion, the GluN2C subunit may discriminate between antidepressant-like and psychotomimetic actions of ketamine. Further, the abundant presence of GluN2C subunits in the cerebellum and the improved motor coordination of GluN2CKO mice after ketamine treatment suggest the involvement of cerebellar NMDA-Rs in some behavioral actions of ketamine.
Natural selection on traits and trait plasticity in Arabidopsis thaliana varies across competitive environments
Authors: Palacio-Lopez Kattia , King Christian M. , Bloomberg Jonathan , Hovick Stephen M.
Published: December 2020

Interspecific competition reduces resource availability and can affect evolution. We quantified multivariate selection in the presence and absence of strong interspecific competition using a greenhouse experiment with 35 natural accessions ofArabidopsis thaliana. We assessed selection on nine traits representing plant phenology, growth, and architecture, as well as their plasticities.Competition reduced biomass and fitness by over 98%, and plastic responses to competition varied by genotype (significant G × E) for all traits except specific leaf area (SLA). Competitive treatments altered selection on flowering phenology and plant architecture, with significant selection on all phenology traits and most architecture traits under competition-present conditions but little indication that selection occurred in the absence of competitors. Plasticity affected fitness only in competition-present conditions, where plasticity in flowering time and early internode lengths was adaptive. The competitive environment caused changes in the trait correlation structure and surprisingly reduced phenotypic integration, which helped explain some of the observed selection patterns. Despite this overall shift in the trait correlation matrix, genotypes with delayed flowering had lower SLA (thicker, tougher leaves) regardless of the competitive environment, a pattern we have not seen previously reported in the literature. Overall, our study highlights multiple ways in which interspecific competition can alter selective regimes, contributing to our understanding of variability in selection processes over space and time.
Computational modeling of human reasoning processes for interpretable visual knowledge: a case study with radiographers
Authors: Li Yu , Cao Hongfei , Allen Carla M. , Wang Xin , Erdelez Sanda , Shyu Chi-Ren
Published: December 2020

Visual reasoning is critical in many complex visual tasks in medicine such as radiology or pathology. It is challenging to explicitly explain reasoning processes due to the dynamic nature of real-time human cognition. A deeper understanding of such reasoning processes is necessary for improving diagnostic accuracy and computational tools. Most computational analysis methods for visual attention utilize black-box algorithms which lack explainability and are therefore limited in understanding the visual reasoning processes. In this paper, we propose a computational method to quantify and dissect visual reasoning. The method characterizes spatial and temporal features and identifies common and contrast visual reasoning patterns to extract significant gaze activities. The visual reasoning patterns are explainable and can be compared among different groups to discover strategy differences. Experiments with radiographers of varied levels of expertise on 10 levels of visual tasks were conducted. Our empirical observations show that the method can capture the temporal and spatial features of human visual attention and distinguish expertise level. The extracted patterns are further examined and interpreted to showcase key differences between expertise levels in the visual reasoning processes. By revealing task-related reasoning processes, this method demonstrates potential for explaining human visual understanding.
Microfluidic droplet generation based on non-embedded co-flow-focusing using 3D printed nozzle
Authors: Dewandre Adrien , Rivero-Rodriguez Javier , Vitry Youen , Sobac Benjamin , Scheid Benoit
Published: December 2020

Most commercial microfluidic droplet generators rely on the planar flow-focusing configuration implemented in polymer or glass chips. The planar geometry, however, suffers from many limitations and drawbacks, such as the need of specific coatings or the use of dedicated surfactants, depending on the fluids in play. On the contrary, and thanks to their axisymmetric geometry, glass capillary-based droplet generators are a priori not fluid-dependent. Nevertheless, they have never reached the market because their assembly requires fastidious and not scalable fabrication techniques. Here we present a new device, called Raydrop, based on the alignment of two capillaries immersed in a pressurized chamber containing the continuous phase. The dispersed phase exits one of the capillaries through a 3D-printed nozzle placed in front of the extraction capillary for collecting the droplets. This non-embedded implementation of an axisymmetric flow-focusing is referred to non-embedded co-flow-focusing configuration. Experimental results demonstrate the universality of the device in terms of the variety of fluids that can be emulsified, as well as the range of droplet radii that can be obtained, without neither the need of surfactant nor coating. Additionally, numerical computations of the Navier-Stokes equations based on the quasi-steadiness assumption allow to provide an explanation to the underlying mechanism behind the drop formation and the mechanism of the dripping to jetting transition. Excellent predictions were also obtained for the droplet radius, as well as for the dripping-jetting transition, when varying the geometrical and fluid parameters, showing the ability of this configuration to enventually enhance the dripping regime. The monodispersity ensured by the dripping regime, the robustness of the fabrication technique, the optimization capabilities from the numerical modelling and the universality of the configuration confer to the Raydrop technology a very high potential in the race towards high-throughput droplet generation processes.
First-principles study of the ternary effects on the plasticity of $$\upgamma $$-TiAl crystals
Authors: Lee Taegu , Kim Seong-Woong , Kim Ji Young , Ko Won-Seok , Ryu Seunghwa
Published: December 2020

We studied the effects of important ternary elements, such as Cr, Nb, and V, on the plasticity of $$\upgamma $$
γ
-TiAl crystals by calculating the point defect formation energy and the change in the generalized stacking fault energy (GSFE) surface from first-principles calculations. For all three elements, the point defect formation energies of the substitutional defects are lower in the Ti site than in the Al site, which implies that substitution on the Ti site is energetically more stable. We computed the GSFE surfaces with and without a substitutional solute and obtained the ideal critical resolved shear stress (ICRSS) of each partial slip. The change in the GSFE surface indicates that the substitution of Ti with Cr, Nb, or V results in an increase in the yield strength because the ICRSS of the superlattice intrinsic stacking fault (SISF) partial slip increases. Interestingly, we find that Cr substitution on an Al site could occur owing to the small difference between the substitutional defect formation energies of the Ti and Al sites. In that case, the reduction of ICRSSs of the SISF partial slip and twinning would lead to improved twinnability. We discuss the implications of the computational predictions by comparing them with experimental results in the literature.
Urinary metabolic phenotyping for Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Kurbatova Natalja , Garg Manik , Whiley Luke , Chekmeneva Elena , Jiménez Beatriz , Gómez-Romero María , Pearce Jake , Kimhofer Torben , D’Hondt Ellie , Soininen Hilkka , Kłoszewska Iwona , Mecocci Patrizia , Tsolaki Magda , Vellas Bruno , Aarsland Dag , Nevado-Holgado Alejo , Liu Benjamine , Snowden Stuart , Proitsi Petroula , Ashton Nicholas J. , Hye Abdul , Legido-Quigley Cristina , Lewis Matthew R. , Nicholson Jeremy K. , Holmes Elaine , Brazma Alvis , Lovestone Simon
Published: December 2020

Finding early disease markers using non-invasive and widely available methods is essential to develop a successful therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease. Few studies to date have examined urine, the most readily available biofluid. Here we report the largest study to date using comprehensive metabolic phenotyping platforms (NMR spectroscopy and UHPLC-MS) to probe the urinary metabolome in-depth in people with Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Feature reduction was performed using metabolomic Quantitative Trait Loci, resulting in the list of metabolites associated with the genetic variants. This approach helps accuracy in identification of disease states and provides a route to a plausible mechanistic link to pathological processes. Using these mQTLs we built a Random Forests model, which not only correctly discriminates between people with Alzheimer’s Disease and age-matched controls, but also between individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment who were later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and those who were not. Further annotation of top-ranking metabolic features nominated by the trained model revealed the involvement of cholesterol-derived metabolites and small-molecules that were linked to Alzheimer’s pathology in previous studies.
Transcriptome analysis identified the mechanism of synergy between sethoxydim herbicide and a mycoherbicide on green foxtail
Authors: Song Tao , Chu Mingguang , Zhang Jianping , Wen Rui , Lee Jillian , Gossen Bruce D. , Yu Fengqun , Peng Gary
Published: December 2020

Certain synthetic herbicides can act synergistically with specific bioherbicides. In this study, a sethoxydim herbicide at 0.1× label rate improved biocontrol of herbicide-sensitive green foxtail (Setaria viridis, GFT) by Pyricularia setariae (a fungal bioherbicide agent), but did not change the efficacy on a herbicide-resistant GFT biotype. Reference transcriptomes were constructed for both GFT biotypes via de novo assembly of RNA-seq data. GFT plants treated with herbicide alone, fungus alone and herbicide + fungus were compared for weed-control efficacy and differences in transcriptomes. On herbicide-sensitive GFT, sethoxydim at the reduced rate induced ABA-activated signaling pathways and a bZIP transcription factor 60 (TF bZIP60), while improved the efficacy of biocontrol. The herbicide treatment did not increase these activities or improve biocontrol efficacy on herbicide-resistant plants. An exogenous application of ABA to herbicide-sensitive plants also enhanced bZIP60 expression and improved biocontrol efficacy, which supported the results of transcriptome analysis that identified the involvement of ABA and bZIP60 in impaired plant defense against P. setariae. It is novel to use transcriptome analysis to decipher the molecular basis for synergy between a synthetic herbicide and a bioherbicide agent. A better understanding of the mechanism underlining the synergy may facilitate the development of weed biocontrol.
Temporal variations of 90Sr and 137Cs in atmospheric depositions after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident with long-term observations
Authors: Kinase Takeshi , Adachi Kouji , Sekiyama Tsuyoshi Thomas , Kajino Mizuo , Zaizen Yuji , Igarashi Yasuhito
Published: December 2020

We have measured artificial radionuclides, such as 90Sr and 137Cs, in atmospheric depositions since 1957 in Japan. We observed the variations in 90Sr and 137Cs, which were emitted from atmospheric nuclear tests and nuclear power plant accidents, due to their diffusion, deposition, and resuspension. In March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident occurred in Japan, and significant increases in 90Sr and 137Cs were detected at our main site in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. Our continual observations revealed that the 137Cs monthly deposition rate in 2018 declined to ~ 1/8100 of the peak level, but it remained more than ~ 400 times higher than that before the accident. Chemical analysis suggested that dust particles were the major carriers of 90Sr and 137Cs during the resuspension period at our main site. Presently, the effective half-life for 137Cs deposition due to radioactive decay and other environmental factors is 4.7 years. The estimation suggests that approximately 42 years from 2011 are required to reduce the atmospheric 137Cs deposition to a state similar to that before the accident. The current 90Sr deposition, on the other hand, shows the preaccident seasonal variation, and it has returned to the same radioactive level as that before the accident.
Amino acid torsion angles enable prediction of protein fold classification
Authors: Tian Kun , Zhao Xin , Wan Xiaogeng , Yau Stephen S.-T.
Published: December 2020

Protein structure can provide insights that help biologists to predict and understand protein functions and interactions. However, the number of known protein structures has not kept pace with the number of protein sequences determined by high-throughput sequencing. Current techniques used to determine the structure of proteins are complex and require a lot of time to analyze the experimental results, especially for large protein molecules. The limitations of these methods have motivated us to create a new approach for protein structure prediction. Here we describe a new approach to predict of protein structures and structure classes from amino acid sequences. Our prediction model performs well in comparison with previous methods when applied to the structural classification of two CATH datasets with more than 5000 protein domains. The average accuracy is 92.5% for structure classification, which is higher than that of previous research. We also used our model to predict four known protein structures with a single amino acid sequence, while many other existing methods could only obtain one possible structure for a given sequence. The results show that our method provides a new effective and reliable tool for protein structure prediction research.
Developmental asymmetries in learning to adjust to cooperative and uncooperative environments
Authors: Westhoff Bianca , Molleman Lucas , Viding Essi , van den Bos Wouter , van Duijvenvoorde Anna C. K.
Published: December 2020

Learning to successfully navigate social environments is a critical developmental goal, predictive of long-term wellbeing. However, little is known about how people learn to adjust to different social environments, and how this behaviour emerges across development. Here, we use a series of economic games to assess how children, adolescents, and young adults learn to adjust to social environments that differ in their level of cooperation (i.e., trust and coordination). Our results show an asymmetric developmental pattern: adjustment requiring uncooperative behaviour remains constant across adolescence, but adjustment requiring cooperative behaviour improves markedly across adolescence. Behavioural and computational analyses reveal that age-related differences in this social learning are shaped by age-related differences in the degree of inequality aversion and in the updating of beliefs about others. Our findings point to early adolescence as a phase of rapid change in cooperative behaviours, and highlight this as a key developmental window for interventions promoting well-adjusted social behaviour.
Siderite-based anaerobic iron cycle driven by autotrophic thermophilic microbial consortium
Authors: Zavarzina Daria G. , Kochetkova Tatiana V. , Chistyakova Nataliya I. , Gracheva Maria A. , Antonova Angelina V. , Merkel Alexander Yu. , Perevalova Anna A. , Chernov Michail S. , Koksharov Yury A. , Bonch-Osmolovskaya Elizaveta A. , Gavrilov Sergey N. , Bychkov Andrey Yu.
Published: December 2020

Using a sample from a terrestrial hot spring (pH 6.8, 60 °C), we enriched a thermophilic microbial consortium performing anaerobic autotrophic oxidation of hydrothermal siderite (FeCO3), with CO2/bicarbonate as the electron acceptor and the only carbon source, producing green rust and acetate. In order to reproduce Proterozoic environmental conditions during the deposition of banded iron formation (BIF), we incubated the microbial consortium in a bioreactor that contained an unmixed anoxic layer of siderite, perfectly mixed N2/CO2-saturated liquid medium and microoxic (2% O2) headspace. Long-term incubation (56 days) led to the formation of magnetite (Fe3O4) instead of green rust as the main product of Fe(II) oxidation, the precipitation of newly formed metabolically induced siderite in the anoxic zone, and the deposition of hematite (Fe2O3) on bioreactor walls over the oxycline boundary. Acetate was the only metabolic product of CO2/bicarbonate reduction. Thus, we have demonstrated the ability of autotrophic thermophilic microbial consortium to perform a short cycle of iron minerals transformation: siderite–magnetite–siderite, accompanied by magnetite and hematite accumulation. This cycle is believed to have driven the evolution of the early biosphere, leading to primary biomass production and deposition of the main iron mineral association of BIF.
Purification, characterization and partial amino acid sequences of thermo-alkali-stable and mercury ion-tolerant xylanase from Thermomyces dupontii KKU–CLD–E2–3
Authors: Seemakram Wasan , Boonrung Santhaya , Aimi Tadanori , Ekprasert Jindarat , Lumyong Saisamorn , Boonlue Sophon
Published: December 2020

We investigated the properties of the low molecular weight thermo-alkali-stable and mercury ion-tolerant xylanase production from Thermomyces dupontii KKU-CLD-E2-3. The xylanase was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate, Sephadex G–100 and DEAE–cellulose column chromatography which resulted 27.92-fold purification specific activity of 56.19 U/mg protein and a recovery yield of 2.01%. The purified xylanase showed a molecular weight of 25 kDa by SDS–PAGE and the partial peptide sequence showed maximum sequence homology to the endo-1,4-β-xylanase. The optimum temperature and pH for its activity were 80 °C and pH 9.0, respectively. Furthermore, the purified xylanase can maintain more than 75% of the original activity in pH range of 7.0–10.0 after incubation at 4 °C for 24 h, and can still maintain more than 70% of original activity after incubating at 70 °C for 90 min. Our purified xylanase was activated by Cu2+ and Hg2+ up to 277% and 235% of initial activity, respectively but inhibited by Co2+, Ag+ and SDS at a concentration of 5 mM. The Km and Vmax values of beechwood xylan were 3.38 mg/mL and 625 µmol/min/mg, respectively. Furthermore, our xylanase had activity specifically to xylan-containing substrates and hydrolyzed beechwood xylan, and the end products mainly were xylotetraose and xylobiose. The results suggested that our purified xylanase has potential to use for pulp bleaching in the pulp and paper industry.
Global emergence and evolutionary dynamics of bluetongue virus
Authors: Alkhamis Moh A. , Aguilar-Vega Cecilia , Fountain-Jones Nicholas M. , Lin Kai , Perez Andres M. , Sánchez-Vizcaíno José M.
Published: December 2020

Bluetongue virus (BTV) epidemics are responsible for worldwide economic losses of up to US$ 3 billion. Understanding the global evolutionary epidemiology of BTV is critical in designing intervention programs. Here we employed phylodynamic models to quantify the evolutionary characteristics, spatiotemporal origins, and multi-host transmission dynamics of BTV across the globe. We inferred that goats are the ancestral hosts for BTV but are less likely to be important for cross-species transmission, sheep and cattle continue to be important for the transmission and maintenance of infection between other species. Our models pointed to China and India, countries with the highest population of goats, as the likely ancestral country for BTV emergence and dispersal worldwide over 1000 years ago. However, the increased diversification and dispersal of BTV coincided with the initiation of transcontinental livestock trade after the 1850s. Our analysis uncovered important epidemiological aspects of BTV that may guide future molecular surveillance of BTV.
Amiodarone inhibits arrhythmias in hypertensive rats by improving myocardial biomechanical properties
Authors: Nie Yifeng , He Yin , Han Dong , Liu Yuansheng , Li Xiang
Published: December 2020

The prevalence of arrhythmia in patients with hypertension has gradually attracted widespread attention. However, the relationship between hypertension and arrhythmia still lacks more attention. Herein, we explore the biomechanical mechanism of arrhythmia in hypertensive rats and the effect of amiodarone on biomechanical properties. We applied micro-mechanics and amiodarone to stimulate single ventricular myocytes to compare changes of mechanical parameters and the mechanism was investigated in biomechanics. Then we verified the expression changes of genes and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) related to myocardial mechanics to explore the effect of amiodarone on biomechanical properties. The results found that the stiffness of ventricular myocytes and calcium ion levels in hypertensive rats were significantly increased and amiodarone could alleviate the intracellular calcium response and biomechanical stimulation. In addition, experiments showed spontaneously hypertensive rats were more likely to induce arrhythmia and preoperative amiodarone intervention significantly reduced the occurrence of arrhythmias. Meanwhile, high-throughput sequencing showed the genes and lncRNAs related to myocardial mechanics changed significantly in the spontaneously hypertensive rats that amiodarone was injected. These results strengthen the evidence that hypertension rats are prone to arrhythmia with abnormal myocardial biomechanical properties. Amiodarone effectively inhibit arrhythmia by improving the myocardial biomechanical properties and weakening the sensitivity of mechanical stretch stimulation.