bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Recent progress in catalytic oxygenation of aromatic C–H groups with the environmentally benign oxidants H2O2 and O2
Authors: Ottenbacher Roman V. , Talsi Evgenii P. , Bryliakov Konstantin P.
Published: July 2020

Developing efficient approaches for the selective oxygenation of aromatic C–H groups has been a challenging goal, interesting from both fundamental and practical perspectives. Designing catalyst systems for the direct production of phenol from benzene holds significant practical promise; on the contrary, novel strategies for the late‐stage selective introduction of oxygen into aromatic rings of complex organic molecules could be useful for the synthesis of fine chemicals, including biologically active compounds. Another aspect of the overall picture is toughening environmental constraints, resulting in a steady increase in the number of catalyst systems relying on environmentally benign oxidants such as H2O2 and O2. Overall, today, the realm of selective catalytic aromatic C–H oxidations is developing rapidly. This review summarizes the progress made in homo‐ and heterogeneous catalyst systems of aromatic C–H oxygenations with hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen, achieved in the last decade.
Identification of Clinically and Pathophysiologically Relevant Rheumatoid Factor Epitopes by Engineered IgG Targets
Authors: Falkenburg Willem J. J. , Oskam Nienke , Koers Jana , van Boheemen Laurette , Ooijevaar‐de Heer Pleuni , Verstappen Gwenny M. , Bootsma Hendrika , Kroese Frans G. M. , van Schaardenburg Dirkjan , Wolbink Gertjan , Rispens Theo
Published: July 2020

Objective

Rheumatoid factors (RFs), which are anti‐IgG autoantibodies strongly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), are also found in other diseases and in healthy individuals. RFs bind to various epitopes in the constant (Fc‐) domain of IgG. Therefore, disease‐specific reactivity patterns may exist. This study was undertaken in order to develop a new approach to dissecting RF epitope binding patterns across different diseases.

Methods

We analyzed RF reactivity patterns in serum from patients with seropositive arthralgia, patients with RA, and patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) using bioengineered, natively folded IgG‐Fc targets that demonstrated selective RF binding toward several distinct regions of the IgG‐Fc domain.

Results

Rheumatoid factor responses primarily bound the Fc Elbow region, with a smaller number of RFs binding the Fc Tail region, while the Fc receptor binding region was hardly targeted. A restricted reactivity against the IgG‐Fc Tail region was associated with less positivity for anti–citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) and less arthritis development in arthralgia, whereas combined reactivity toward IgG‐Fc Tail and Elbow regions was associated with more arthritis development. Reactivity toward the IgG‐Fc Tail region was observed far more frequently in RA than in primary SS.

Conclusion

Bioengineered IgG targets enable serologic characterization of RF reactivity patterns, and use of this approach appears to reveal patterns associated with ACPA detection and arthritis development in patients with arthralgia. These patterns are able to distinguish RA patients from primary SS patients. This new methodology improves the clinical value of RFs and our understanding of their pathophysiologic processes.
The Sexual Ancestor of all Eukaryotes: A Defense of the “Meiosis Toolkit”
Authors: Hofstatter Paulo G. , Ribeiro Giulia M. , Porfírio‐Sousa Alfredo L. , Lahr Daniel J. G.
Published: July 2020

The distribution pattern of the meiotic machinery in known eukaryotes is most parsimoniously explained by the hypothesis that all eukaryotes are ancestrally sexual. However, this assumption is questioned by preliminary results, in culture conditions. These suggested that Acanthamoeba, an organism considered to be largely asexual, constitutively expresses meiosis genes nevertheless—at least in the lab. This apparent disconnect between the “meiosis toolkit” and sexual processes in Acanthamoeba led to the conclusion that the eukaryotic ancestor is asexual. In this review, the “meiosis toolkit” is rigorously defended, drawing on numerous research articles. Additionally, the claim of constitutive meiotic gene expression is probed in Acanthamoeba via the same transcriptomics data. The results show that the expression of the meiotic machinery is not constitutive in Acanthamoeba as claimed before. Furthermore, it is argued that this would have no implications for understanding the nature of the eukaryotic ancestor, regardless of the result.
Aorto‐cutaneous fistula from an infected ascending aorta graft resulting in massive hemorrhage after a Valsalva maneuver for a heavy weight lift
Authors: Triantafyllidis Alexandros , Paraskeva Aikaterini , Boulas Konstantinos A. , Nathanailidou Maria , Chatzipourganis Konstantinos , Hatzigeorgiadis Anestis
Published: July 2020

In the setting of an infected prosthetic ascending thoracic aorta, prompt and definitive surgical treatment is mandatory to avoid catastrophic bleeding complications.
The Application of a Y‐Modified Lanthanum Zirconate Flexible Thin Film for a High‐Performance Flexible Supercapacitor
Authors: Cao Yi , Tang Peiyuan , Han Yue , Qiu Wenfeng
Published: July 2020

With the rapid development of wearable electronics devices, there is increasing demand for the development of new flexible energy storage devices with high security, and this has become a hot research topic. Although flexible supercapacitors are considered to be high‐performance energy‐storage equipment because of their fast charging/discharging ability, long cycle life, good reliability, wide operating temperature range, and so on, there are still many drawbacks that need to be overcome. Herein, the La2Zr2O7 (LZO) thin film is synthesized as a new energy‐storage material by using a facile electrospinning method and calcination at low temperature. In addition, the mechanism of producing the flexibility of this film is determined by TG, IR, and XRD analyses. As previous studies have suggested that the charge storage of the LZO film can be attributed to the mechanism of oxygen intercalation, the Y element is doped into the LZO film to increase the concentration of oxygen vacancies. The changes in structural and electrochemical properties of La2YxZr2−xO3 (0≤x≤0.5) nanofibers (LNF‐x) with increasing Y content are studied carefully to obtain the best doping sample. The LNF‐0.1 sample shows the highest areal capacitance of 605.3 mF cm−2 at 2 mA cm−2, so a symmetrical flexible device is fabricated with LNF‐0.1 electrodes. This device has a high energy density (76.7 μW h cm−2 at 2 mW cm−2), good cycling stability, and excellent mechanical flexibility. This study thus provides a new research trend for portable and wearable electronics.
Unidimensional Approximation of the Diffuse Electrical Layer in the Inner Volume of Solid Electrolyte Grains in the Absence of Background Ions
Authors: Tarabanko Nikolay , Tarabanko Valery E. , Taran Oxana P.
Published: July 2020

In this paper we continue working on our theory of electrical double layers resulting exclusively from dissociation of a solid electrolyte, which we previously proposed as a medium for catalytic interaction between solid cellulose and solid acid catalysts of hydrolysis. Two theoretical unidimensional models of the inner grain volume are considered: an infinitely long cylindrical pore, and a gel electrolyte near a grain outer surface. Despite the model simplicity, the predictions for the cylindrical pore case are in semi‐quantitative agreement with literature data on electroosmotic experiments, adequately explaining high proton selectivity of sulfonic membranes, and decline of such selectivity at high background acid concentration. The gel model predicts less concentrated diffuse layer in comparison to electrolytes with impenetrable skeleton (e. g., sulfonated carbons). This suggests limited suitability of gel electrolytes as catalysts if a substrate cannot diffuse into the gel bulk and the reaction is thereby spatially limited to the near‐surface region, for example if a substrate is solid like aforementioned cellulose.
Culture and stress biology in immigrant youth from the prenatal period to adolescence: A systematic review
Authors: Haft Stephanie L. , Zhou Qing , Stephens Michelle , Alkon Abbey
Published: July 2020

Immigration patterns over the last two decades have changed the demographic composition of the United States; children are growing up in an increasingly multicultural environment. Immigrant youth may face culture‐related stressors and leverage culture‐related strengths across development that may influence their mental and physical health. Responses to early life stressors may differ across children at the level of stress biology, which can affect how they handle cultural challenges. However, there is limited research on culture and stress biology, which may be a mediator or moderator of culture's effects on immigrant youth. The aim of the present article is to systematically review research that examines the roles of both culture and stress biology from the prenatal period to adolescence in immigrant youth. Specifically, we review articles that examine how stress‐sensitive biological systems (hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system) and culture‐related constructs have been modeled together in immigrant youth. Based on these findings, we note remaining questions and recommendations for future research in integrating measures of cultural processes and stress biology in children.
Novel Preparation of Hemiaminal Derivatives with BPO andN,N‐Dimethylamides and Their Synthetic Use for (Aminomethyl)indoles
Authors: Nakamura Kohei , Togo Hideo
Published: July 2020

A novel preparation of hemiaminal derivatives bearing both an amide group and a benzoate group was carried out in good yields by the treatment of BPO inN,N‐dimethylamides under warming condition at 80 °C or irradiation with a mercury lamp. Further treatment of the obtained hemiaminal derivatives with indoles in 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propanol generated the corresponding C–C bonded indoles bearing an amide group in good yields. The formed indoles bearing an amide group were smoothly transformed into the corresponding indoles bearing an aminomethyl group.
A New Electrochemical Method to Detect Sunset Yellow, Tartrazine and Thiomersal in a Pharmaceutical Dose Using a Carbon Paste Electrode Decorated with Molybdenum Oxide
Authors: Penagos‐Llanos Johisner , García‐Beltrán Olimpo , Nagles Edgar , Hurtado John J.
Published: July 2020

This report allowed the detection of three substances using a carbon paste decorated with MoO2 (MoO/CPE). Tartrazine (TZ), sunset yellow (SY) and thiomersal (TMS) were analyzed for adsorptive voltammetry. The electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. TZ, SY and TMS were observed at 1.07, 0.80 and 0.95 V respectively. The detection limits (3*σ/m) for TZ, SY and TMS were 0.04, 0.06 and 0.10 μmol/L, respectively. The new analytical method was applied using pharmaceutical samples.
Exosomes derived from microglia exposed to elevated pressure amplify the neuroinflammatory response in retinal cells
Authors: Aires Inês Dinis , Ribeiro‐Rodrigues Teresa , Boia Raquel , Catarino Steve , Girão Henrique , Ambrósio António Francisco , Santiago Ana Raquel
Published: July 2020

Glaucoma is a degenerative disease that causes irreversible loss of vision and is characterized by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss. Others and we have demonstrated that chronic neuroinflammation mediated by reactive microglial cells plays a role in glaucomatous pathology. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles released by most cells, including microglia, that mediate intercellular communication. The role of microglial exosomes in glaucomatous degeneration remains unknown. Taking the prominent role of microglial exosomes in brain neurodegenerative diseases, we studied the contribution of microglial‐derived exosomes to the inflammatory response in experimental glaucoma. Microglial cells were exposed to elevated hydrostatic pressure (EHP), to mimic elevated intraocular pressure, the main risk factor for glaucoma. Naïve microglia (BV‐2 cells or retinal microglia) were exposed to exosomes derived from BV‐2 cells under EHP conditions (BV‐Exo‐EHP) or cultured in control pressure (BV‐Exo‐Control). We found that BV‐Exo‐EHP increased the production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines, promoted retinal microglia motility, phagocytic efficiency, and proliferation. Furthermore, the incubation of primary retinal neural cell cultures with BV‐Exo‐EHP increased cell death and the production of reactive oxygen species. Exosomes derived from retinal microglia (MG‐Exo‐Control or MG‐Exo‐EHP) were injected in the vitreous of C57BL/6J mice. MG‐Exo‐EHP sustained activation of retinal microglia, mediated cell death, and impacted RGC number. Herein, we show that exosomes derived from retinal microglia have an autocrine function and propagate the inflammatory signal in conditions of elevated pressure, contributing to retinal degeneration in glaucomatous conditions.
Partial‐volume modeling reveals reduced gray matter in specific thalamic nuclei early in the time course of psychosis and chronic schizophrenia
Authors: Alemán‐Gómez Yasser , Najdenovska Elena , Roine Timo , Fartaria Mário João , Canales‐Rodríguez Erick J. , Rovó Zita , Hagmann Patric , Conus Philippe , Do Kim Q. , Klauser Paul , Steullet Pascal , Baumann Philipp S. , Bach Cuadra Meritxell
Published: July 2020

The structural complexity of the thalamus, due to its mixed composition of gray and white matter, make it challenging to disjoint and quantify each tissue contribution to the thalamic anatomy. This work promotes the use of partial‐volume‐based over probabilistic‐based tissue segmentation approaches to better capture thalamic gray matter differences between patients at different stages of psychosis (early and chronic) and healthy controls. The study was performed on a cohort of 23 patients with schizophrenia, 41 with early psychosis and 69 age and sex‐matched healthy subjects. Six tissue segmentation approaches were employed to obtain the gray matter concentration/probability images. The statistical tests were applied at three different anatomical scales: whole thalamus, thalamic subregions and voxel‐wise. The results suggest that the partial volume model estimation of gray matter is more sensitive to detect atrophies within the thalamus of patients with psychosis. However all the methods detected gray matter deficit in the pulvinar, particularly in early stages of psychosis. This study demonstrates also that the gray matter decrease varies nonlinearly with age and between nuclei. While a gray matter loss was found in the pulvinar of patients in both stages of psychosis, reduced gray matter in the mediodorsal was only observed in early psychosis subjects. Finally, our analyses point to alterations in a sub‐region comprising the lateral posterior and ventral posterior nuclei. The obtained results reinforce the hypothesis that thalamic gray matter assessment is more reliable when the tissues segmentation method takes into account the partial volume effect.
Long short‐term memory‐based neural decoding of object categories evoked by natural images
Authors: Huang Wei , Yan Hongmei , Wang Chong , Li Jiyi , Yang Xiaoqing , Li Liang , Zuo Zhentao , Zhang Jiang , Chen Huafu
Published: July 2020

Visual perceptual decoding is one of the important and challenging topics in cognitive neuroscience. Building a mapping model between visual response signals and visual contents is the key point of decoding. Most previous studies used peak response signals to decode object categories. However, brain activities measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging are a dynamic process with time dependence, so peak signals cannot fully represent the whole process, which may affect the performance of decoding. Here, we propose a decoding model based on long short‐term memory (LSTM) network to decode five object categories from multitime response signals evoked by natural images. Experimental results show that the average decoding accuracy using the multitime (2–6 s) response signals is 0.540 from the five subjects, which is significantly higher than that using the peak ones (6 s; accuracy: 0.492; p < .05). In addition, from the perspective of different durations, methods and visual areas, the decoding performances of the five object categories are deeply and comprehensively explored. The analysis of different durations and decoding methods reveals that the LSTM‐based decoding model with sequence simulation ability can fit the time dependence of the multitime visual response signals to achieve higher decoding performance. The comparative analysis of different visual areas demonstrates that the higher visual cortex (VC) contains more semantic category information needed for visual perceptual decoding than lower VC.
Morphological, microscopic, and physicochemical studies of Diospyros montana
Authors: Khan Muhammad Tanveer , Azhar Iqbal , Shehzadi Naureen , Hussain Khalid , Parveen Sajida , Hanif Uzma
Published: July 2020

Adulteration is the root cause of producing not only a chemically and pharmacologically inferior but also in some instances hazardous or poisonous drug. Despite availability of several techniques, microscopy and physicochemical analyses are the most practical approaches for crude drug authentication. Hence, the present study aimed to evaluate morphological, microscopic, and physicochemical properties of root, bark, leaf, and fruit of Diospyros montana Morphological properties were determined by sensory organs, whereas microscopic features of cross‐sections and powders were determined by light and scanning electron microscopy. The proximate and fluorescence analyses were performed using the standard guidelines. The physical examination of fresh, shade‐dried, and powdered material showed no significant change in color. The identifying cellular structures included cuboidal cork, pitted tracheids, scalariform, reticulate and spiral xylary vessels, and rosettes, raphide, and cuboidal calcium oxalate crystals. The stomatal number, stomatal index, vein‐islet and vein‐termination number, and palisade ratio in the leaf were found to be 293.91 ± 32.68 mm−2, 64.18 ± 3.42%, 22.00 ± 3.81 mm−2 and 38.40 ± 5.81 mm−2, and 3.85 ± 0.60, respectively. Total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash and sulfated ash of leaf (9.00 ± 0.50%, 1.67 ± 0.23%, 2.00 ± 0.22% and 14.50 ± 0.99%, respectively), foaming index of bark and root (111.11 ± 2.11), and swelling index of fruit (19.00 ± 3.45) were higher than the other parts. The powder of different parts showed characteristic colors in the daylight and UV light upon treatment with various regents. The plant was found to be rich in saponins, fibers, and flavonoids. The results of the present study may serve as identifiers of different parts of Diospyros montana.
How can we partner with electronic health record vendors on the complex journey to safer health care?
Authors: Sittig Dean F. , Ash Joan S. , Wright Adam , Chase Dian , Gebhardt Eric , Russo Elise M. , Tercek Colleen , Mohan Vishnu , Singh Hardeep
Published: July 2020

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology released the Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) guides in 2014. Our group developed these guides covering key facets of both electronic health record (EHR) infrastructure (eg, system configuration, contingency planning for downtime, and system‐to‐system interfaces) and clinical processes (eg, computer‐based provider order entry with clinical decision support, test result reporting, patient identification, and clinician‐to‐clinician communication). The SAFER guides encourage healthy relationships between EHR vendors and users. We conducted a qualitative study over 12 months. We visited 9 health care organizations ranging in size from 1‐doctor outpatient clinics to large, multisite, multihospital integrated delivery networks. We interviewed and observed clinicians, IT professionals, and administrators. From the interview transcripts and observation field notes, we identified overarching themes: technical functionality, usability, standards, testing, workflow processes, personnel to support implementation and use, infrastructure, and clinical content. In addition, we identified health care organization—EHR vendor working relationships: marine drill sergeant, mentor, development partner, seller, and parasite. We encourage health care organizations and EHR vendors to develop healthy working relationships to help address the tasks required to design, develop, implement, and maintain EHRs required to achieve safer and higher quality health care.
Contrasting impacts of the 8.2‐ and 4.2‐ka abrupt climatic events on the regional vegetation of the Hulun Lake region in north‐eastern China
Authors: Zhang Shengrui , Xiao Jule , Xu Qinghai , Wen Ruilin , Fan Jiawei , Huang Yun , Li Manyue , Liang Jian
Published: July 2020

Studies of the vegetation response to abrupt climatic events may provide valuable insights into assessing the impacts of such events under future global warming scenarios. Here we present a detailed record of regional vegetation change based on high‐resolution pollen records for the intervals 9000–7000 and 5000–3000 cal a bp from the Hulun Lake region of north‐eastern China. Our aims were to determine the regional expression of the 8.2‐ and 4.2‐ka events in north‐eastern China, especially their effects on vegetation composition. The results show that the response of the vegetation of the Hulun Lake region to the climatic cooling of the 8.2‐ka event was relatively minor; however, the 4.2‐ka event, which resulted in climatic aridification, resulted in pronounced vegetation degradation. We suggest that the specific characteristics of the 8.2‐ and 4.2‐ka events, together with their duration and the regional climatic background on an orbital time scale, were the main factors responsible for the contrasting vegetation responses. The strengthening and northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) tended to offset the cooling effect of the 8.2‐ka event on regional vegetation in the mid–high latitudes of East Asia; in contrast, the decrease in summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere and the southward shift of the ITCZ may have intensified the drought effect of the 4.2‐ka event in East Asia and the associated vegetation degradation. Under future global warming scenarios, both extreme cooling events and extreme drought events may cause a deterioration of the ecological environment; however, the resulting regional vegetation responses may be substantially different.
The Association Between Early Age‐Related Hearing Loss and Brain β‐Amyloid
Authors: Golub Justin S. , Sharma Rahul K. , Rippon Brady Q. , Brickman Adam M. , Luchsinger José A.
Published: July 2020

Objectives/Hypothesis

To analyze the association between early audiometric age‐related hearing loss and brain β‐amyloid, the pathologic hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Study Design

Cross‐sectional analysis of a prospective cohort study.

Methods

A cross‐sectional analysis was performed on 98 participants in a cohort study of hearing and brain biomarkers of AD. The primary outcome was whole brain β‐amyloid standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) on positron emission tomography (PET). The exposure was hearing, as measured by either pure‐tone average or word recognition score in the better ear. Covariates included age, gender, education, cardiovascular disease, and hearing aid use. Linear regression was performed to analyze the association between β‐amyloid and hearing, adjusting for potentially confounding covariates.

Results

The mean age ± standard deviation was 64.6 ± 3.5 years. In multivariable regression, adjusting for demographics, education, cardiovascular disease, and hearing aid use, whole brain β‐amyloid SUVR increased by 0.029 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.003‐0.056) for every 10 dB increase in pure‐tone average (P = .030). Similarly, whole brain β‐amyloid SUVR increased by 0.061 (95% CI: 0.009‐0.112) for every 10% increase in word recognition score (P = .012).

Conclusions

Worsening hearing was associated with higher β‐amyloid burden, a pathologic hallmark of AD, measured in vivo with PET scans.

Level of Evidence

3 Laryngoscope, 131:633–638, 2021
A prospective study on the long‐term outcome of prepubertal and pubertal boys undergoing testicular biopsy for fertility preservation prior to hematologic stem cell transplantation
Authors: Borgström Birgit , Fridström Margareta , Gustafsson Britt , Ljungman Per , Rodriguez‐Wallberg Kenny A.
Published: July 2020

Background

Few studies have reported the long‐term outcomes of prepubertal and pubertal boys undergoing testicular biopsy for fertility preservation (FP).

Procedure

This prospective longitudinal study examined 21 boys (aged 1.5‐14.5 years) who underwent testicular biopsy for FP prior to allogeneic (n = 20) or autologous (n = 1) hematological stem cell transplantation (HSCT) between 2003 and 2010. During counseling, pubertal boys were encouraged to produce a sperm sample by masturbation , while prepubertal boys were presented with surgical testicular tissue retrieval as an option for experimental FP. Clinical outcomes included postoperative complications, pubertal development, and sex‐hormone levels. Survivors approaching adulthood were encouraged to provide semen samples.

Results

Twenty boys, including 14 in prepuberty and six in early puberty (Tanner stage 2‐3), underwent open testicular biopsies. Two pubertal biopsies contained mature sperms, which were cryopreserved. Testicular tissue was vitrified in the remaining 18 cases. One pubertal boy (Tanner stage 4) underwent percutaneous testicular sperm aspiration and sperms obtained were cryopreserved. Postoperative complications (hematoma or infection) were rare. Overall, 14 boys survived >5 years (mean follow‐up after HSCT, 7.2 years) and 11 showed advanced puberty. Semen samples were provided by five boys and obtained sperm were cryopreserved from two. Individuals at adulthood had normal testosterone levels but subnormal testicular size, high follicle stimulating hormone, and low inhibin B and anti‐Müllerian hormone levels.

Conclusion

No long‐term risks were detected during continuous clinical follow‐up. Experimental testicular biopsies for FP were well accepted by the patients and families, despite the absence of methods to use prepubertal tissue for fertility treatment.
Ketamine mouthwash versus placebo in the treatment of severe oral mucositis pain in children with cancer: A randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial
Authors: Prakash Satya , Meena Jagdish Prasad , Gupta Aditya Kumar , Bakhshi Sameer , Velpandian Thirumurthy , Pandey R. M. , Seth Rachna
Published: July 2020

Background and aims

Oral mucositis (OM) is a common and distressing toxicity in children on chemotherapy. There are a limited number of safe and effective therapeutic options available for OM. Ketamine oral rinse has shown promising results in a few studies in adults. This randomized, double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial aimed to test the efficacy of ketamine mouthwash in reducing chemotherapy‐induced severe OM pain in children.

Methods

Children aged 8‐18 years with severe OM were randomized to a single dose of ketamine mouthwash (4 mg/mL solution; dose 1 mg/kg) or a placebo. A sample size of 44 patients was determined. Pain score (6‐point faces scale) was noted at baseline and 15, 30, 45, 60, 120, 180, and 240 min. The outcome variables were a reduction in pain score, need for rescue medications, and adverse events.

Results

The baseline characteristics were comparable in the two groups. The mean OM pain at 60 min decreased by 1.64 points (CI 1.13‐2.14) in the ketamine group and 1.32 points (CI 0.76‐1.87) in the placebo group (P = 0.425), with a group difference of 0.32 points. Rescue pain medication (at 60 min) was required in 13.6% in the ketamine group and 18.2% in the placebo group (P = 1.000). No significant adverse events were observed.

Conclusions

Among children on cancer chemotherapy with severe OM, ketamine mouthwash at a dose of 1 mg/kg did not significantly reduce OM pain. It did not decrease the need for rescue pain medications. Further research is warranted to test higher doses of ketamine for a clinically significant effect.
Psychological and behavioural responses to Coronavirus disease 2019: The role of personality
Authors: Aschwanden Damaris , Strickhouser Jason E. , Sesker Amanda A. , Lee Ji Hyun , Luchetti Martina , Stephan Yannick , Sutin Angelina R. , Terracciano Antonio
Published: July 2020

This study examined the associations between personality traits and psychological and behavioural responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Personality was assessed in January/February 2020 when the public was not aware of the spread of coronavirus in the USA. Participants were reassessed in late March 2020 with four sets of questions about the pandemic: concerns, precautions, preparatory behaviours, and duration estimates. The sample consisted of N = 2066 participants (mean age = 51.42; range = 18–98; 48.5% women). Regression models were used to analyse the data with age, gender, education, race, and ethnicity as covariates. Consistent with the preregistered hypotheses, higher neuroticism was related to more concerns and longer duration estimates related to COVID-19, higher extraversion was related to shorter duration estimates, and higher conscientiousness was associated with more precautions. In contrast to the preregistered hypotheses, higher neuroticism was associated with fewer precautions and unrelated to preparatory behaviours. Age moderated several trait-response associations, suggesting that some of the responses were associated more strongly in older adults, a group at risk for complications of COVID-19. For example, older adults high in conscientiousness prepared more. The present findings provide insights into how personality predicts concerns and behaviours related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Estimation of the enthalpy of formation for monosubstituted alkanes by 13C NMR chemical shift
Authors: Wu Yaxin , Tang Kai
Published: July 2020

The quantitative relationship between the 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shift and the enthalpy of formation of monosubstituted alkanes was studied, and a new approach for calculating enthalpy of formation was proposed. The experimental values of the enthalpy of formation of 64 monosubstituted alkanes were correlated with the parameters SCS (the sum of chemical shift), P3 (path counts of length three bonds), n (the number of C atoms), h[X] (the contributions of the substituent X to the ΔfH°(RX)), and the product of IPI(X) (the interaction potential index) and PEI(R) (the polarizability effect index). The regression results show a good correlation (R = 0.9998, S = 4.5 kJ/mol). Its stability and prediction ability were confirmed by the results of the random sampling method and the leave‐one‐out method. In this paper, the 13C NMR chemical shift and the enthalpy of formation of monosubstituted alkanes were associated quantitatively. The significance is not only to propose a new method to estimate the enthalpy of formation of monosubstituted alkanes, but also to establish a new method to understand the relationship between different properties based on a same molecular structure. Moreover, it provides a new approach for calculating a molecular difficult‐to‐test property parameter by means of another easy‐to‐test one.
On‐wafer thermomechanical characterization of a thin film polyimide formed by vapor deposition polymerization for through‐silicon via applications: Comparison to plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition SiO2
Authors: Fukushima Takafumi , Murugesan Mariappan , Bea Ji‐Cheol , Hashimoto Hiroyuki , Kino Hisashi , Tanaka Tetsu , Koyanagi Mitsumasa
Published: July 2020

Thin‐film polyimides were prepared by solvent‐less vapor deposition polymerization (VDP) from pyromellitic dianhydride and 4,4′‐oxydianiline at 200 °C for liner dielectric formation of vertical interconnects called through‐silicon vias (TSVs) used in three‐dimensionally stacked integrated circuit (3DICs). FTIR, synchrotron XPS, and TDS were employed for determining the imidization ratio, and in addition, the mechanical properties, coefficient of thermal expansion and Young's modulus, of the VDP polyimide were characterized on Si wafers. The VDP polyimide exhibited extremely high conformality, beyond 75%, toward high‐aspect‐ratio deep Si holes, compared with conventional SiO2 prepared by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The adhesion between the VDP polyimide and Si wafer was enhanced by an Al‐chelate promotor. Remarkably, the VDP polyimide TSV liner dielectrics showed much less thermomechanical stresses applied to the Si surrounding the TSVs than the plasma‐chemical vapor deposition SiO2. The small keep‐out zone is expected for scaling down highly reliable 3DICs for the upcoming real artificial intelligence society.
Adjusted multiple gases in the plasma flow induce differential antitumor potentials of plasma‐activated solutions
Authors: Nakamura Kae , Yoshikawa Nobuhisa , Yoshihara Masato , Ikeda Yoshiki , Higashida Akihiro , Niwa Akihiro , Jindo Takahiro , Tanaka Hiromasa , Ishikawa Kenji , Mizuno Masaaki , Toyokuni Shinya , Hori Masaru , Kikkawa Fumitaka , Kajiyama Hiroaki
Published: July 2020

We present a novel plasma system that can generate a plasma‐activated medium by changing the proportion of reactive gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen in the plasma flow. The correlation between the biological activity of plasma‐activated solutions prepared under multiple plasma gas‐flow conditions was evaluated. Mixed nitrogen, in addition to oxygen, in the gas flow is most powerful for producing plasma‐activated Ringer's lactate solution against antitumor effects on ovarian cancer cells as compared with oxygen or nitrogen alone. The antitumor effect of plasma‐activated solutions is controllable by the modification of the proportion of reactive gases (especially nitrogen and oxygen gases) in the plasma flow. These results suggest that the plasma flow conditions may be one of the candidates for the specifications of the plasma‐activated solutions to the therapeutic effect.
Mechanistic insights into antiretroviral drug‐induced liver injury
Authors: Pillaye Jamie N. , Marakalala Mohlopheni J. , Khumalo Nonhlanhla , Spearman Wendy , Ndlovu Hlumani
Published: July 2020

All classes of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have been implicated to induce adverse drug reactions such drug‐induced liver injury (DILI) and immune‐mediated adverse reactions in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected individuals. Patients that develop adverse drug reactions tend to have prolonged stays in hospital and may require to change to alternative regimens if reactions persist upon rechallenge or if rechallenge is contraindicated due to severity of the adverse reaction. Diagnosis of DILI remains a huge obstacle that delays timely interventions, since it is still based largely on exclusion of other causes. There is an urgent need to develop robust diagnostic and predictive biomarkers that could be used alongside the available tools (biopsy, imaging, and serological tests for liver enzymes) to give a specific diagnosis of DILI. Crucial to this is also achieving consensus in the definition of DILI so that robust studies can be undertaken. Importantly, it is crucial that we gain deeper insights into the mechanism of DILI so that patients can receive appropriate management. In general, it has been demonstrated that the mechanism of ART‐induced liver injury is driven by four main mechanisms: mitochondrial toxicity, metabolic host‐mediated injury, immune reconstitution, and hypersensitivity reactions. The focus of this review is to discuss the type and phenotypes of DILI that are caused by the first line ART regimens. Furthermore, we will summarize recent studies that have elucidated the cellular and molecular mechanisms of DILI both in vivo and in vitro.
Local Structure of the Impurity Site in Nd:LaF3 by X‐Ray Fluorescence Holography
Authors: Stellhorn Jens Rüdiger , Hosokawa Shinya , Happo Naohisa , Hayashi Kouichi , Matsushita Tomohiro , Kawaguchi Noriaki , Yanagida Takayuki
Published: July 2020

The local structure around the dopant atom in Nd(8 mol%):LaF3 single‐crystal scintillator is analyzed by X‐ray fluorescence holography experiments in combination with a sparse modeling algorithm. The average local environment of Nd is reconstructed up to large distances of about 12 Å and confirms a substitution of La atoms with Nd with only small crystal lattice distortions. The experimental findings are substantiated by comparison with reference data from La holograms and with computationally generated holograms based on a model structure of the dopant site.
Constructing exact tolerance intervals for the exponential distribution based on record values
Authors: Guo Baocai , Zhu Naifan , Wang Wei , Wang Hsiuying
Published: July 2020

Recently, with the wide application of tolerance intervals (TIs), especially in quality management, the construction of TIs has attracted increasing attention. However, TIs applied to record data have not been well established as they have been for complete data. In many industrial stress tests, only record data are stored instead of complete data, which leads to the fact that the developments of methods based on record data are as important as those based on complete data. In this paper, we propose the exact two‐sided TIs for the exponential distribution based on record values from the frequentist and Bayesian perspectives. The accuracy of each type of TIs is quantified. The results show that the Bayesian approach is superior to the frequentist approach in terms of the accuracy. A real data example is used to illustrate the constructions and implementations of the proposed TIs.
A theoretical study of carbazole dimers: Does carbazole form an excimer that undermines the performance of organic light emitting diodes?
Authors: Lee Kyungeon , Kim Dongwook
Published: July 2020

Carbazole (Cz) dimers in various cofacial conformations, including staggered (Stg), anti, and syn, were explored by means of ab initio calculations at scaled opposite‐spin (SOS)‐MP2, SOS‐CIS(D0), and additional coupled cluster calculation levels. Similar to other π‐conjugated molecules, strong Cz excimers form in the syn conformation in both S1 and T1 states, leading to significantly reduced optical excitation energies. Upon excitation, the dimers in the Stg and anti‐conformations remain simple excited dimers, exhibiting similar optical energy gaps to those of the monomer. Being far more stable in the ground state, however, the Stg dimer is nearly isoenergetic to the syn dimer in the S1 state and even more stable in the T1 state. Given that the intermolecular interactions in the ground state are expected to govern the dimer conformations of Cz‐based materials in the solid‐state films of organic electronics, our results strongly demonstrate that the electronic excitation of Cz dimers do not necessarily lead to the strong excimer formation unless Cz molecules are forced to be arranged in the syn conformation.
Acceleration of catalyst discovery with easy, fast, and reproducible computational alchemy
Authors: Griego Charles D. , Kitchin John R. , Keith John A.
Published: July 2020

The expense of quantum chemistry calculations significantly hinders the search for novel catalysts. Here, we provide a tutorial for using an easy and highly cost‐efficient calculation scheme, called alchemical perturbation density functional theory (APDFT), for rapid predictions of binding energies of reaction intermediates and reaction barrier heights based on the Kohn‐Sham density functional theory (DFT) reference data. We outline standard procedures used in computational catalysis applications, explain how computational alchemy calculations can be carried out for those applications, and then present benchmarking studies of binding energy and barrier height predictions. Using a single OH binding energy on the Pt(111) surface as a reference case, we use computational alchemy to predict binding energies of 32 variations of this system with a mean unsigned error of less than 0.05 eV relative to single‐point DFT calculations. Using a single nudged elastic band calculation for CH4 dehydrogenation on Pt(111) as a reference case, we generate 32 new pathways with barrier heights having mean unsigned errors of less than 0.3 eV relative to single‐point DFT calculations. Notably, this easy APDFT scheme brings no appreciable computational cost once reference calculations are performed, and this shows that simple applications of computational alchemy can significantly impact DFT‐driven explorations for catalysts. To accelerate computational catalysis discovery and ensure computational reproducibility, we also include Python modules that allow users to perform their own computational alchemy calculations.
Coceth sulfate characterization by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Onzo Alberto , Acquavia Maria A. , Cataldi Tommaso R. I. , Ligonzo Mattia , Coviello Donatella , Pascale Raffaella , Martelli Giuseppe , Bondoni Marcella , Scrano Laura , Bianco Giuliana
Published: July 2020

Rationale

The anionic surfactants, among which are alkyl ether sulfates (AESs), are the most used class of surfactants in cleansing applications. The negatively charged head group of AESs is a sulfate moiety linked with a variable number of ethylene oxide units, i.e. a polyethylene glycol chain. The hydrophobic part of an AES is constituted by a linear alkyl chain of carbon atoms, generally obtained from natural fatty acids. Coconut oil fatty acids, including the sodium salts of coceth sulfate (CES) with chemical formula CxHy (OCH2CH2)nOSO3Na, are widely used as feedstock for AESs synthesis. CES is added to many cleaning products and detergents defined as non‐aggressive. Currently, no detailed structural information concerning the alkyl chain length x and, more importantly, the degree of ethoxylation n has been reported.

Methods

A commercial standard solution of CES was characterized by tandem mass spectrometry, employing direct injection into the electrospray ionization (ESI) source of a a linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer.

Results

Two series of oligomeric species, characterized by a C12 and C14 alkyl chains, i.e. [C12H25(OCH2CH2)nOSO3]− and [C14H29(OCH2CH2)nOSO3]− with n ranging from 0 to 7, were successfully identified. The interpretation of these data was very useful for CES identification in three commercial dishwasher cleaning products.

Conclusions

Direct injection MS/MS analysis of CES revealed a well‐defined molecular weight distribution and allowed the alkyl chain composition and the number of ethylene oxide units to be to identified.
Relationships among side‐scan sonar classified substrates and fish‐catch rates at multiple spatial scales
Authors: Parker Jerrod , Pescitelli Stephen M. , Epifanio John , Cao Yong
Published: July 2020

Physical habitat is crucial for structuring local fish assemblages. Understanding habitat structure is important for fish management and conservation. Herein, we assessed whether sonar‐derived substrate data could explain spatial variation in species‐catch rates. Using a side‐scan sonar, we mapped the substrates of two non‐wadeable rivers in Illinois, USA and conducted standardized fish surveys at 40 sites over a 3‐year period. We used four fish species from lentic and lotic guilds, with each guild represented by a large piscivore and small insectivore. For each of the 40 sites, we characterized substrate composition at five spatial scales (0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 km) and used linear regression to explain site variations in species abundance or biomass. We hypothesized that larger spatial scales would better explain the catch rates of large species, and that biomass would be better explained than abundance. The proportion of variance in fish‐catch rates, explained by substrate composition, varied greatly (0.02 ≤ adjR2 ≤ 0.74, mean adjR2 = 0.38) with respect to species, spatial scales, and predictors used. However, we did not observe a consistent relationship between body size and the most relevant scale. Species biomass was more closely related to substrate composition than was species abundance and the best models selected based on AICc reached an average adjR2 of 0.49 (0.25–0.74) across the four species, compared with that of 0.43 (0.20–0.64) obtained via the best abundance‐based models. We conclude that substrate data obtained using side‐scan sonar are useful for improving our understanding of river fish ecology.
Nestedness Temperature in the Agent-Artifact Space: Emergence of Hierarchical Order in the 2000–2014 Photonics Techno-Economic Complex System
Authors: Righi Riccardo , Samoili Sofia , Baillet Miguel Vazquez-Prada , Lopez-Cobo Montserrat , Cardona Melisande , De Prato Giuditta
Published: July 2020

In this work we represent a techno-economic complex system based on the agent-artifact space theoretical model. The objective is to structure a methodology to statistically investigate the presence of hierarchical order, as an emerging property of this system. To analyse the agent-artifact space, two statistical methodologies are initially employed. The first is a community detection method, employed with the objective to detect groups of agents that are likely to intensively exchange information within the considered complex system. The second is a natural language processing method, the LDA topic model, employed with the objective of identifying types of artifacts as technological subdomains through textual information that describes the activities of agents. After this initial part, we address the investigation of the structure of the agent-artifact space by estimating the involvement of each community in the detected topics. This is effectuated by means of a statistic that considers the information flow percentage of agents, the fractional count of activities, and the probability of agents’ activities to belong to topics. We then estimate the hierarchical order of the topics’ distribution in communities, by computing its nestedness temperature, which is adopted by studies on ecological systems. This statistic’s significance is finally evaluated with z-scores based on homogeneous systems. The case study is a system consisted of economic agents (e.g. firms, universities, governmental institutions) patenting in the technological domain of photonics. The analysis is effectuated over five time spans in the period 2000–2014. The observed values of nestedness temperature are proved statistically significant, which suggests that hierarchical order is an emerging property of the agent-artifact space.