bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Delayed discharges from a tertiary teaching hospital in Israel- incidence, implications, and solutions
Authors: Berger Gidon , Epstein Danny , Rozen Meital , Miskin Avigdor , Halberthal Michael , Mekel Michal
Published: November 2020

Objectives

The Israeli health system is facing high workloads with average occupancy in certain hospital wards of around 100%. Since there is a shortage of hospitalization beds in institutions for continuous, long-term care, transferring patients from the general hospitals’ wards is often delayed. This situation has many significant ramifications, to the waiting patients themselves, to other patients who are waiting to be treated and to the entire organization. In this study, we describe the phenomenon of the “detained patients” - its extent, characteristics, significance, and possible solutions.

Materials and methods

Rambam Health Care Campus is a tertiary medical center serving the population of the northern part of Israel. In recent years, the hospital management documents data regarding the “detained patients”. We reviewed hospital data of detained patients over a period of nine months. The data concerning adult patients awaiting transfer to an institution for continuous care, between May 2019 and January 2020, were obtained retrospectively from the computerized database of the social service.

Results

During the study period, 12,723 adult patients were discharged. Of those, 857 patients (6.74%) were transferred to one of the facilities providing prolonged institutional care. For that group of patients, median inpatient waiting time from the decision to discharge until the transfer was 8 days (IQR 6–14), translating to 10,821 waiting days or 1202 hospitalization days per month. These hospitalization days account for 9.35% of the total hospitalization days during the study period. The “detained patients” were hospitalized in internal medicine wards (32%), orthopedic (30%), and neurology/neurosurgery (26%) departments. At any given moment, about 40 hospitalized patients were waiting for long-term care facilities.

Conclusions

Health-care systems must adapt to the current patients’ case-mix to achieve optimal utilization of hospital beds and maximal operational efficiency. The number of long-term care beds should be increased, the coordination between general hospitals, health maintenance organizations and long-term facilities improved, and patients that may require long term care after the acute phase of their illness should be early identified and addressed. Meanwhile, establishment of organic units for waiting patients and reorganization of the hospital structure should be considered.
Remotely assessing tephra fall building damage and vulnerability: Kelud Volcano, Indonesia
Authors: Williams George T. , Jenkins Susanna F. , Biass Sébastien , Wibowo Haryo Edi , Harijoko Agung
Published: November 2020

Tephra from large explosive eruptions can cause damage to buildings over wide geographical areas, creating a variety of issues for post-eruption recovery. This means that evaluating the extent and nature of likely building damage from future eruptions is an important aspect of volcanic risk assessment. However, our ability to make accurate assessments is currently limited by poor characterisation of how buildings perform under varying tephra loads. This study presents a method to remotely assess building damage to increase the quantity of data available for developing new tephra fall building vulnerability models. Given the large number of damaged buildings and the high potential for loss in future eruptions, we use the Kelud 2014 eruption as a case study. A total of 1154 buildings affected by falls 1–10 cm thick were assessed, with 790 showing signs that they sustained damage in the time between pre- and post-eruption satellite image acquisitions. Only 27 of the buildings surveyed appear to have experienced severe roof or building collapse. Damage was more commonly characterised by collapse of roof overhangs and verandas or damage that required roof cladding replacement. To estimate tephra loads received by each building we used Tephra2 inversion and interpolation of hand-contoured isopachs on the same set of deposit measurements. Combining tephra loads from both methods with our damage assessment, we develop the first sets of tephra fall fragility curves that consider damage severities lower than severe roof collapse. Weighted prediction accuracies are calculated for the curves using K-fold cross validation, with scores between 0.68 and 0.75 comparable to those for fragility curves developed for other natural hazards. Remote assessment of tephra fall building damage is highly complementary to traditional field-based surveying and both approaches should ideally be adopted to improve our understanding of tephra fall impacts following future damaging eruptions.
T-S fuzzy systems optimization identification based on FCM and PSO
Authors: Ren Yaxue , Liu Fucai , Lv Jinfeng , Meng Aiwen , Wen Yintang
Published: November 2020

The division of fuzzy space is very important in the identification of premise parameters, and the Gaussian membership function is applied to the premise fuzzy set. However, the two parameters of Gaussian membership function, center and width, are not easy to be determined. In this paper, based on Fuzzy c-means (FCM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, a novel T-S fuzzy model optimal identification method of optimizing two parameters of Gaussian function is presented. Firstly, we use FCM algorithm to determine the Gaussian center for rough adjustment. Then, under the condition that the center of Gaussian function is fixed, the PSO algorithm is used to optimize another adjustable parameter, the width of the Gaussian membership function, to achieve fine-tuning, so as to complete the identification of prerequisite parameters of fuzzy model. In addition, the recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm is used to identify the conclusion parameters. Finally, the effectiveness of this method for T-S fuzzy model identification is verified by simulation examples, and the higher identification accuracy can be obtained by using the novel identification method described compared with other identification methods.
The effect of eye movements and cultural factors on product color selection
Authors: Wu Bo , Zhu Yishui , Yu Keping , Nishimura Shoji , Jin Qun
Published: November 2020

A color is a powerful tool used to attract people’s attention and to entice them to purchase a product. However, the way in which a specific color influences people’s color selection and the role of their eye movements and cultural factors in this process remain unknown. In this study, to delve into this problem, we designed an experiment to determine the influence of specific colors on people’s product preferences by using an eye-tracking device, intending to identify the role of their eye movements and cultural factors. Based on the experimental data, a detailed influence path model was built to describe the effect of specific colors on product evaluations by an integrated moderation and mediation analysis. Our findings show that in the influence process, the effects of specific colors on product evaluations are mediated by eye movements. Additionally, cultural factors partly moderate the process as an influencing factor. The research findings from this study have important implications for user-centered product design and visual marketing management.
Somehow I always end up alone: COVID-19, social isolation and crime in Queensland, Australia
Authors: Andresen Martin A. , Hodgkinson Tarah
Published: November 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected social life. In efforts to reduce the spread of the virus, countries around the world implemented social restrictions, including social distancing, working from home, and the shuttering of numerous businesses. These social restrictions have also affected crime rates. In this study, we investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frequency of offending (crimes include property, violent, mischief, and miscellaneous) in Queensland, Australia. In particular, we examine this impact across numerous settings, including rural, regional and urban. We measure these shifts across the restriction period, as well as the staged relaxation of these restrictions. In order to measure impact of this period we use structural break tests. In general, we find that criminal offences have significantly decreased during the initial lockdown, but as expected, increased once social restrictions were relaxed. These findings were consistent across Queensland’s districts, save for two areas. We discuss how these findings are important for criminal justice and social service practitioners when operating within an extraordinary event.
Complex roles of cAMP–PKA–CREB signaling in cancer
Authors: Zhang Hongying , Kong Qingbin , Wang Jiao , Jiang Yangfu , Hua Hui
Published: November 2020

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is the first discovered second messenger, which plays pivotal roles in cell signaling, and regulates many physiological and pathological processes. cAMP can regulate the transcription of various target genes, mainly through protein kinase A (PKA) and its downstream effectors such as cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB). In addition, PKA can phosphorylate many kinases such as Raf, GSK3 and FAK. Aberrant cAMP–PKA signaling is involved in various types of human tumors. Especially, cAMP signaling may have both tumor-suppressive and tumor-promoting roles depending on the tumor types and context. cAMP–PKA signaling can regulate cancer cell growth, migration, invasion and metabolism. This review highlights the important roles of cAMP–PKA–CREB signaling in tumorigenesis. The potential strategies to target this pathway for cancer therapy are also discussed.
Mural classification model based on high- and low-level vision fusion
Authors: Cao Jianfang , Cui Hongyan , Zhang Zibang , Zhao Aidi
Published: November 2020

The rapid classification of ancient murals is a pressing issue confronting scholars due to the rich content and information contained in images. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been extensively applied in the field of computer vision because of their excellent classification performance. However, the network architecture of CNNs tends to be complex, which can lead to overfitting. To address the overfitting problem for CNNs, a classification model for ancient murals was developed in this study on the basis of a pretrained VGGNet model that integrates a depth migration model and simple low-level vision. First, we utilized a data enhancement algorithm to augment the original mural dataset. Then, transfer learning was applied to adapt a pretrained VGGNet model to the dataset, and this model was subsequently used to extract high-level visual features after readjustment. These extracted features were fused with the low-level features of the murals, such as color and texture, to form feature descriptors. Last, these descriptors were input into classifiers to obtain the final classification outcomes. The precision rate, recall rate and F1-score of the proposed model were found to be 80.64%, 78.06% and 78.63%, respectively, over the constructed mural dataset. Comparisons with AlexNet and a traditional backpropagation (BP) network illustrated the effectiveness of the proposed method for mural image classification. The generalization ability of the proposed method was proven through its application to different datasets. The algorithm proposed in this study comprehensively considers both the high- and low-level visual characteristics of murals, consistent with human vision.
Accuracy of dynamic navigation compared to static surgical guide for dental implant placement
Authors: Wu Dong , Zhou Lin , Yang Jin , Zhang Bao , Lin Yanjun , Chen Jiang , Huang Wenxiu , Chen Yonghui
Published: November 2020

Objectives

To compare the accuracy of dynamic navigation (DN) with a static surgical guide (SSG) for dental implant placement and the influence factors such as the experience of the surgeon and the implant sites.

Methods and materials

A total of 38 implants, which underwent the dynamic navigation,and 57 implants which underwent a static surgical guide were enrolled in the retrospective study. Coronal deviation, apical deviation, and angular deviation were compared between the DN and SSG groups, along with the different experience level of surgeons and implant sites in the DN group.

Results

There were no statistically significant differences between the DN and SSG groups, and the experience level of the surgeons and implant sites in the DN group. However, the apical deviation of the DN was slightly higher than the SSG group in the anterior teeth (P= 0.028), and the angular deviation of DN was smaller than the SSG group in the molar.

Conclusion

Dynamic navigation can achieve accurate implant placement as well as the static surgical guide. Additionally, the experience level of the surgeon and implant site do not influence the accuracy of dynamic navigation, while the accuracy of DN seems higher than the SSG in molar.
Closing well: national and international humanitarian workers’ perspectives on the ethics of closing humanitarian health projects
Authors: Hunt Matthew , Eckenwiler Lisa , Hyppolite Shelley-Rose , Pringle John , Pal Nicole , Chung Ryoa
Published: November 2020

Project closure is a core feature of humanitarian action. However, how decisions to end projects are made, and how closure is planned and implemented, has implications for upholding ethical commitments, and can have positive or negative consequences for affected communities, local stakeholders, and humanitarian organizations and their staff. To better understand the ethical dimensions of closing humanitarian projects, we undertook an investigation of national and international humanitarian workers’ experiences.

Guided by interpretive description methodology, we conducted an exploratory qualitative study with two rounds of semi-structured interviews. Four national and five international staff of non-governmental organizations with experience of humanitarian health project closure took part. The participants had diverse professional roles and disciplinary backgrounds. All participants took part in the first round of interviews which focused on experiences and perceptions of ethics and project closure. Analysis of these interviews contributed to the development of a draft “ethics guidance note.” Five of the participants took part in the second round of interviews which focused on receiving feedback on the draft guidance note. We used constant comparative techniques and a recursive approach to data collection and analysis. In this article, we draw on both rounds of interviews to present findings related to how participants understood and experienced ethical responsibilities, challenges, and opportunities for humanitarian project closure.

We identified six recurrent ethical concerns highlighted by interviewees regarding closure of humanitarian projects: respectfully engaging with partners and stakeholders, planning responsively, communicating transparently, demonstrating care for local communities and staff during project closure, anticipating and acting to minimize harms, and attending to sustainability and project legacy. We present these ethical concerns according to the temporal horizon of humanitarian action, that is, arising across five phases of a project’s timeline: design, implementation, deciding whether to close, implementing closure, and post-closure.

This exploratory study contributes to discussions concerning the ethics of project closure by illuminating how they are experienced and understood from the perspectives of national and international humanitarian workers. The interview findings contributed to the development of an ethics guidance note that aims to support project closures that minimize harms and uphold values, while being mindful of the limits of ethical ideals in non-ideal circumstances.
Report of the Joint Meeting of the 6th Asian Congress on Environmental Mutagens and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society, Tokyo, November 18–20, 2019
Authors: Honma Masamitsu
Published: November 2020

The 6th Asian Congress on Environmental Mutagens (ACEM) was held at Hitotsubashi Hall, Chiyoda City, Tokyo on November 18–20, 2019, in conjunction with the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS). Ninety international delegates from Australia, China, Czechia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the UK, and the USA, along with 340 Japanese delegates and students, participated. During the conference, one keynote lecture, seven symposia, and one workshop were held under the theme of “Innovations towards Environmental Mutagen and Genome Research Originating from Asia.” In the general presentation, 34 oral presentations and 138 poster presentations were made, accompanied by lively discussions. The organizers would like to express their sincere gratitude to those who attended the conference and made it a great success.
Recently isolated lycodine-type Lycopodium alkaloids and their total synthesis: a review
Authors: Patil Shriniwas P.
Published: November 2020

Background

Since long back, several plants species belonging to family Lycopodiaceae or Huperziaceae are being traditionally used in treatment of diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and myasthenia gravis. In 1986, huperzine A, structurally lycodine type of alkaloid was isolated and established as potent acetylcholine esterase inhibitor. Hence, further, in pursuit of similar compounds, several hundreds of different types of lycopodium alkaloids have been isolated from different Lycopodiaceae or Huperziaceae plants species.

Main body

For few of these recently isolated alkaloids, the possible mechanisms of their biosynthesis have been proposed while few of them were tried for their laboratory total asymmetric synthesis. This review summarized lycodine-type Lycopodium alkaloids, whose isolation, biosynthesis, and total synthesis have been reported after 2000. It also includes structure–activity relationship.

Short conclusion

More than 40 lycodine-type alkaloids have been isolated and structurally elucidated since 2000. Their biosynthetic pathway suggested that they got biosynthesized from lysine, while structure–activity relationship established the structural requirement of lycodine-type alkaloids to possess potent acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity.
Minibatch least-squares reverse time migration in a deep-learning framework
Authors: Vamaraju Janaki , Vila Jeremy , Araya-Polo Mauricio , Datta Debanjan , Sidahmed Mohamed , Sen Mrinal K.
Published: November 2020

Migration techniques are an integral part of seismic imaging workflows. Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) overcomes some of the shortcomings of conventional migration algorithms by compensating for illumination and removing sampling artifacts to increase spatial resolution. However, the computational cost associated with iterative LSRTM is high and convergence can be slow in complex media. We implement prestack LSRTM in a deep-learning framework and adopt strategies from the data science domain to accelerate convergence. Our hybrid framework leverages the existing physics-based models and machine-learning optimizers to achieve better and cheaper solutions. Using a time-domain formulation, we find that minibatch gradients can reduce the computation cost by using a subset of total shots for each iteration. The minibatch approach not only reduces source crosstalk, but it is also less memory-intensive. Combining minibatch gradients with deep-learning optimizers and loss functions can improve the efficiency of LSRTM. Deep-learning optimizers such as adaptive moment estimation are generally well-suited for noisy and sparse data. We compare different optimizers and determine their efficacy in mitigating migration artifacts. To accelerate the inversion, we adopt the regularized Huber loss function in conjunction. We apply these techniques to 2D Marmousi and 3D SEG/EAGE salt models and find improvements over conventional LSRTM baselines. Our approach achieves higher spatial resolution in less computation time measured by various qualitative and quantitative evaluation metrics.
Microseismic moment-tensor inversion and sensitivity analysis in vertically transverse isotropic media
Authors: Li Han , Chang Xu , Xie Xiao-Bi , Wang Yibo
Published: November 2020

Through the study of microseismic focal mechanisms, information such as fracture orientation, event magnitude, and in situ stress status can be quantitatively obtained, thus providing a reliable basis for unconventional oil and gas exploration. Most source inversion methods assume that the medium is isotropic. However, hydraulic fracturing is usually conducted in sedimentary rocks, which often exhibit strong anisotropy. Neglecting this anisotropy may cause errors in focal mechanism inversion results. We have developed a microseismic focal mechanism inversion method that considers velocity anisotropy in a vertically transverse isotropic medium. To generate synthetic data, we adopt the moment-tensor model to represent microearthquake sources. We use a staggered-grid finite-difference method to calculate synthetic seismograms in anisotropic media. We perform seismic moment-tensor (SMT) inversion with only P-waves by matching the synthetic and observed waveforms. The synthetic and field data sets are used to test the inversion method. For the field data set, we investigate the inversion stability using randomly selected partial data sets in the calculation. We pay special attention to analyze the sensitivity of the inversion. We test and evaluate the impact of noise in the data and errors in the model parameters ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]) on the SMT inversion using synthetic data sets. The results indicate that, for a surface acquisition system, our method can tolerate moderate noise in the data and deviations in the anisotropy parameters can cause errors in the SMT inversion, especially for dip-slip events and the inverted percentages of non-double-couple (DC) components. According to our study, including anisotropy in the model is important to obtain reliable non-DC components of moment tensors for hydraulic fracturing-induced microearthquakes.
Simultaneous inversion for S-wave velocity and density from the SV-SV wave
Authors: Zhang Feng
Published: November 2020

Knowledge of the S-wave velocity ([Formula: see text]) and density ([Formula: see text]) is essential for oil and gas reservoir detection and characterization. However, reliable recovery of both parameters, especially density, from the reflected PP-wave data is a difficult issue because this inverse problem is highly ill-conditioned. The reflected SV-SV wave is easier to process than the PS-wave, and it can provide better estimates of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] than the PP-wave because it is more sensitive to these parameters than the PP-wave. I have developed a simultaneous inversion for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] based on a modified approximation of the SV-SV wave reflection coefficient. The modified equation includes only two parameters (natural logarithms of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]) to be inverted, and it has high accuracy even at large incident angles and for strong impedance contrasts. I find that simultaneous inversion based on the modified approximation is well-posed when using data of small-to-moderate incident angle (20o–30o) and that the misfit function can be easily regularized. The new simultaneous inversion method is applied to an SV-SV wave prestack data set acquired from a 2D nine-component survey. The field data example demonstrates that the new method can recover stable and high-resolution density and S-wave velocity information, which can be used to investigate rock mineral composition, porosity, and fluid content.
Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in two longitudinal UK population cohorts
Authors: Kwong Alex S. F. , Pearson Rebecca M. , Adams Mark J. , Northstone Kate , Tilling Kate , Smith Daniel , Fawns-Ritchie Chloe , Bould Helen , Warne Naomi , Zammit Stanley , Gunnell David J. , Moran Paul A. , Micali Nadia , Reichenberg Abraham , Hickman Matthew , Rai Dheeraj , Haworth Simon , Campbell Archie , Altschul Drew , Flaig Robin , McIntosh Andrew M. , Lawlor Deborah A. , Porteous David , Timpson Nicholas J.
Published: November 2020

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation measures are likely to have a marked effect on mental health. It is important to use longitudinal data to improve inferences.

Aims

To quantify the prevalence of depression, anxiety and mental well-being before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, to identify groups at risk of depression and/or anxiety during the pandemic.

Method

Data were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) index generation (n = 2850, mean age 28 years) and parent generation (n = 3720, mean age 59 years), and Generation Scotland (n = 4233, mean age 59 years). Depression was measured with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire in ALSPAC and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 in Generation Scotland. Anxiety and mental well-being were measured with the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 and the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale.

Results

Depression during the pandemic was similar to pre-pandemic levels in the ALSPAC index generation, but those experiencing anxiety had almost doubled, at 24% (95% CI 23–26%) compared with a pre-pandemic level of 13% (95% CI 12–14%). In both studies, anxiety and depression during the pandemic was greater in younger members, women, those with pre-existing mental/physical health conditions and individuals in socioeconomic adversity, even when controlling for pre-pandemic anxiety and depression.

Conclusions

These results provide evidence for increased anxiety in young people that is coincident with the pandemic. Specific groups are at elevated risk of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is important for planning current mental health provisions and for long-term impact beyond this pandemic.
A Noncoding Variant Near PPP1R3B Promotes Liver Glycogen Storage and MetS, but Protects Against Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Kahali Bratati , Chen Yue , Feitosa Mary F , Bielak Lawrence F , O’Connell Jeffrey R , Musani Solomon K , Hegde Yash , Chen Yanhua , Stetson L C , Guo Xiuqing , Fu Yi-ping , Smith Albert Vernon , Ryan Kathleen A , Eiriksdottir Gudny , Cohain Ariella T , Allison Matthew , Bakshi Andrew , Bowden Donald W , Budoff Matthew J , Carr J Jeffrey , Carskadon Shannon , Chen Yii-Der I , Correa Adolfo , Crudup Breland F , Du Xiaomeng , Harris Tamara B , Yang Jian , Kardia Sharon L R , Launer Lenore J , Liu Jiankang , Mosley Thomas H , Norris Jill M , Terry James G , Palanisamy Nallasivam , Schadt Eric E , O’Donnell Christopher J , Yerges-Armstrong Laura M , Rotter Jerome I , Wagenknecht Lynne E , Handelman Samuel K , Gudnason Vilmundur , Province Michael A , Peyser Patricia A , Halligan Brian , Palmer Nicholette D , Speliotes Elizabeth K
Published: November 2020

Context

Glycogen storage diseases are rare. Increased glycogen in the liver results in increased attenuation.

Objective

Investigate the association and function of a noncoding region associated with liver attenuation but not histologic nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Design

Genetics of Obesity-associated Liver Disease Consortium.

Setting

Population-based.

Main Outcome

Computed tomography measured liver attenuation.

Results

Carriers of rs4841132-A (frequency 2%-19%) do not show increased hepatic steatosis; they have increased liver attenuation indicative of increased glycogen deposition. rs4841132 falls in a noncoding RNA LOC157273 ~190 kb upstream of PPP1R3B. We demonstrate that rs4841132-A increases PPP1R3B through a cis genetic effect. Using CRISPR/Cas9 we engineered a 105-bp deletion including rs4841132-A in human hepatocarcinoma cells that increases PPP1R3B, decreases LOC157273, and increases glycogen perfectly mirroring the human disease. Overexpression of PPP1R3B or knockdown of LOC157273 increased glycogen but did not result in decreased LOC157273 or increased PPP1R3B, respectively, suggesting that the effects may not all occur via affecting RNA levels. Based on electronic health record (EHR) data, rs4841132-A associates with all components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, rs4841132-A associated with decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and risk for myocardial infarction (MI). A metabolic signature for rs4841132-A includes increased glycine, lactate, triglycerides, and decreased acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate.

Conclusions

These results show that rs4841132-A promotes a hepatic glycogen storage disease by increasing PPP1R3B and decreasing LOC157273. rs4841132-A promotes glycogen accumulation and development of MetS but lowers LDL cholesterol and risk for MI. These results suggest that elevated hepatic glycogen is one cause of MetS that does not invariably promote MI.
Postsynaptic cAMP signalling regulates the antagonistic balance of Drosophila glutamate receptor subtypes
Authors: Zhao Kai , Hong Huilin , Zhao Lu , Huang Sheng , Gao Ying , Metwally Elsayed , Jiang Yuqiang , Sigrist Stephan J. , Zhang Yong Q.
Published: November 2020

The balance among different subtypes of glutamate receptors (GluRs) is crucial for synaptic function and plasticity at excitatory synapses. However, the mechanisms balancing synaptic GluR subtypes remain unclear. Herein, we show that the two subtypes of GluRs (A and B) expressed at Drosophila neuromuscular junction synapses mutually antagonize each other in terms of their relative synaptic levels and affect subsynaptic localization of each other, as shown by super-resolution microscopy. Upon temperature shift-induced neuromuscular junction plasticity, GluR subtype A increased but subtype B decreased with a timecourse of hours. Inhibition of the activity of GluR subtype A led to imbalance of GluR subtypes towards more GluRIIA. To gain a better understanding of the signalling pathways underlying the balance of GluR subtypes, we performed an RNA interference screen of candidate genes and found that postsynaptic-specific knockdown of dunce, which encodes cAMP phosphodiesterase, increased levels of GluR subtype A but decreased subtype B. Furthermore, bidirectional alterations of postsynaptic cAMP signalling resulted in the same antagonistic regulation of the two GluR subtypes. Our findings thus identify a direct role of postsynaptic cAMP signalling in control of the plasticity-related balance of GluRs.
An Irf6-Esrp1/2 regulatory axis controls midface morphogenesis in vertebrates
Authors: Carroll Shannon H. , Macias Trevino Claudio , Li Edward B. , Kawasaki Kenta , Myers Nikita , Hallett Shawn A. , Alhazmi Nora , Cotney Justin , Carstens Russ P. , Liao Eric C.
Published: November 2020

Irf6 and Esrp1 are important for palate development across vertebrates. In zebrafish, we found that irf6 regulates the expression of esrp1. We detailed overlapping Irf6 and Esrp1/2 expression in mouse orofacial epithelium. In zebrafish, irf6 and esrp1/2 share expression in periderm, frontonasal ectoderm, and oral epithelium. Genetic disruption of irf6 and esrp1/2 in zebrafish resulted in cleft of the anterior neurocranium. The esrp1/2 mutant also developed cleft of the mouth opening. Lineage tracing of cranial neural crest cells revealed that cleft resulted not from migration defect, but from impaired chondrogenesis. Analysis of aberrant cells within the cleft revealed expression of sox10, col1a1 and irf6 and were adjacent to cells krt4 and krt5 positive. Breeding of mouse Irf6;Esrp1;Esrp2 compound mutants suggested genetic interaction, as the triple homozygote and the Irf6;Esrp1 double homozygote was not observed. Further, Irf6 heterozygosity reduced Esrp1/2 cleft severity. These studies highlight the complementary analysis of Irf6 and Esrp1/2 in mouse and zebrafish and captured a unique aberrant cell population expressing sox10, col1a1 and irf6. Future work characterizing this cell population will yield additional insight into cleft pathogenesis.
4D formation of human embryonic forelimb musculature
Authors: Wilde Susan , Feneck Eleanor M. , Mohun Timothy J. , Logan Malcolm P. O.
Published: November 2020

The size, shape and insertion sites of muscles enable them to carry out their precise functions in moving and supporting the skeleton. Although forelimb anatomy is well described, much less is known about the embryonic events that ensure individual muscles reach their mature form. A description of human forelimb muscle development is needed to understand the events that control normal muscle formation and to identify what events are disrupted in congenital abnormalities in which muscles fail to form normally.

We provide a novel, 4D anatomical characterisation of the developing human upper limb muscles between Carnegie Stage 18-22 using Optical Projection Tomography. We show muscles develop in a progressive wave, proximal to distal and superficial to deep. We show some muscle bundles undergo splitting events to form individual muscles, while others translocate to reach their correct position within the forelimb. Finally, we show palmaris longus fails to form from early in development. Our study reveals the timings of, and suggests mechanisms for, critical events that enable nascent muscle bundles to reach their mature form and position within the human forelimb.
Asynchrony of ovule primordia initiation in Arabidopsis
Authors: Yu Shi-Xia , Zhou Lv-Wen , Hu Li-Qin , Jiang Yu-Tong , Zhang Yan-Jie , Feng Shi-Liang , Jiao Yuling , Xu Lin , Lin Wen-Hui
Published: November 2020

Plant ovule initiation determines the maximum of ovule number and has a great impact on the seed number per fruit. The detailed processes of ovule initiation have not been accurately described, although two connected processes, gynoecium and ovule development, have been investigated. Here, we report that ovules initiate asynchronously. The first group of ovule primordia grows out, the placenta elongates, the boundaries of existing ovules enlarge and a new group of primordia initiates from the boundaries. The expression pattern of different marker genes during ovule development illustrates that this asynchronicity continues throughout whole ovule development. PIN-FORMED1 polar distribution and auxin response maxima correlate with ovule primordia asynchronous initiation. We have established computational modeling to show how auxin dynamics influence ovule primordia initiation. Brassinosteroid signaling positively regulates ovule number by promoting placentae size and ovule primordia initiation through strengthening auxin response. Transcriptomic analysis demonstrates numerous known regulators of ovule development and hormone signaling, and many new genes are identified that are involved in ovule development. Taken together, our results illustrate that the ovule primordia initiate asynchronously and the hormone signals are involved in the asynchrony.
Monoterpenes alter TAR1-driven physiology in Drosophila species
Authors: Finetti Luca , Tiedemann Lasse , Zhang Xiaoying , Civolani Stefano , Bernacchia Giovanni , Roeder Thomas
Published: November 2020

Monoterpenes are molecules with insecticide properties whose mechanism of action is however not completely elucidated. Furthermore, they seem to be able to modulate the monoaminergic system and several behavioural aspects in insects. In particular, tyramine (TA) and octopamine (OA) and their associated receptors orchestrate physiological processes such as feeding, locomotion and metabolism. Here we show that monoterpenes not only act as biopesticides in Drosophila species but can cause complex behavioural alterations that require a functional type 1 tyramine receptors (TAR1s). Variations in metabolic traits as well as locomotory activity were evaluated in both Drosophila suzukii and Drosophila melanogaster after treatment with three monoterpenes. A TAR1 defective D. melanogaster strain (TAR1PL00408) was used to better understand the relationships between the receptor and monoterpenes-related behavioural changes. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that, in the D. melanogaster brain, TAR1 appeared to be mainly expressed in the pars intercerebralis, lateral horn, olfactory and optic lobes and suboesophageal ganglion lobes.In comparison to the D. melanogaster wild type, the TAR1PL00408 flies showed a phenotype characterized by higher triglyceride levels and food intake as well as lower locomotory activity. The monoterpenes, tested at sublethal concentrations, were able to induce a downregulation of the TAR1 coding gene in both Drosophila species. Furthermore, monoterpenes also altered the behaviour in D. suzukii and D. melanogaster wild types 24 h after a continuous monoterpene exposure. Interestingly, they were ineffective in modifying the physiological performances of TAR1 defective flies. In conclusion, it appears that monoterpenes not only act as biopesticides for Drosophila but they can also interfere with its behaviour and metabolism in a TAR1-dependent fashion.
Geology and deformation of the Serbo-Macedonian massif in the northern part of the Athos Peninsula, Northern Greece: Insights from two detailed cross-sections
Authors: Neofotistos Petros Georgios , Tranos Markos Damianos , Heilbronner Renée
Published: November 2020

The Athos peninsula occupies the south-eastern part of the wider Chalkidiki peninsula in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is mainly built up by crystalline rocks belonging to the Serbo-Macedonian massif, traditionally constituting, along with the Rhodope massif, the Hellenic hinterland. According to the basic geological map of the peninsula, its northern part is mainly composed of marbles grouped into the Kerdyllion Unit, and biotite gneisses and two-mica gneisses grouped into the Vertiskos Unit of the Serbo-Macedonian massif, whereas the contact between the units is considered as a normal contact, although it has been re-evaluated as tectonic later on. Moreover, amphibolites and ultramafic rocks exist along with the previously mentioned rocks, making the geology and relationship between the two units much more complicated. Two detailed cross-sections and structural analysis permit us to revise the geology of the region concluding that the marbles, the amphibolite gneisses, formerly independent amphibolites, and the biotite gneisses belong to the Kerdyllion Unit that is strongly characterized by migmatization and anatexis, whereas the Vertiskos Unit is represented predominantly by two-mica gneisses that were not extensively, if at all, affected by these phenomena. Isoclinal folding and intense shearing with an overall top-to-the-S sense of shear resulted in the main fabric of the rocks and the mylonitic shear zone between the units. More importantly, the two-mica gneiss of the Vertiskos Unit is sandwiched between the rocks of the Kerdyllion Unit. We attribute both isoclinal folding and shearing to a Mesozoic tectonic event associated with an amphibolite facies metamorphism, leading to an Alpine reworking of the Serbo-Macedonian massif. This Alpine reworking continues during Eocene times with an ENE-WSW compression, giving rise to asymmetric to inverted folds, co-axially refolding pre-existing fabrics and structures. Our work strongly suggests that the overall structure and tectono-stratigraphy concerning the Vertiskos and Kerdyllion Units as well as the contact between them should not be based on the existence of the marbles, as traditionally followed up till now, but on the migmatization and anatexis processes that are almost absent from the rocks of the Vertiskos Unit.
Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection using immunochromatography among patients attending Tamboul Hospital in Gezira State, Sudan: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Mohmmed Elhassan Ali Noor Rawda , Mohammed Abdalla Wafaa , Abd Alla Ahmed Bakheet , Ibrahim Hashim Ahmed
Published: November 2020

Background: Helicobacter pylori causes a major health problem worldwide; more than half of the world’s population are infected with this pathogen. The diagnosis of the infection was initially made through invasive methods, but now non-invasive methods have been developed to make diagnosis easier. This study aimed to screen the presence of H.pylori antibodies and antigen among symptomatic and asymptomatic patients at Tamboul City in Gezira State.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tamboul city, Gezira State, Sudan between March 2016 and December 2019 to compare between antigen and antibody tests results used for diagnosis of H. pylori infection among symptomatic and asymptomatic Sudanese patients. Stool and blood samples were collected and analyzed for presence of antigen and antibodies to H. pylori using immunochromatography (ICT) cards.

Results: Serum and stool samples were collected from 100 patients; 50 were symptomatic and 50 were asymptomatic. In symptomatic patients, 18/50 (36%) were men (32; 64%, women) with mean age of 16.7±24.6 years. In this group, 35/50 (70%) showed positive results for stool antigen, while 30/50 (60%) were positive for serum antibodies. In asymptomatic patients, 19/50 (38%) were men (31; 62%, women) with mean age of 16.7±20.4 years. In this group, 18/50 (36%) were positive for stool antigen and 25/50 (50%) for serum antibodies. There was a significant association between antigen results and patient group (P=0.001), but there was an insignificant association between antibodies results and patient group (P=0.317). Age group, history of infected persons in the family, blood group, and previous treatment were all not associated with H. pylori infection (P≥0.05).

Conclusion: The frequency of H. pylori antigen was higher than antibodies in symptomatic patients, while the frequency of H. pylori antibodies was higher than antigen in asymptomatic patients.
Analysis of environmental migrants and their mental health in strengthening health systems
Authors: Herrán Keren , Biehler Dawn
Published: November 2020

Background: It is predicted that by 2050 more than 250 million people will have to relocate as a result of climate-related change to their home environment. The existential threat posed by anthropogenic phenomena such as forest fires, floods, sea level rise, drought, and intensified weather events (e.g. tropical storms) has caused a new type of migrant to emerge. Within academic literature, these migrants are referred to as climate migrants, environmental migrants, or eco migrants, among other terms. These individuals’ migration journey and this journey’s impact on their mental health is currently an understudied research area. This paper summarizes the mental health challenges climate migrants face via a narrative review.

Methods: Google Scholar was used as the main search database throughout May, 2020 until authors determined data saturation had been reached. Grey literature was also included. Sources were included if they focused directly on evaluating environmental migrants and their mental health experiences. Academic sources must have been peer-reviewed and published within the past 10 years. Information was coded and evaluated according to the three migration journey stages of before, after, and during relocation.

Results: Main findings include that the slow or sudden degradation of one’s surroundings can cause the onset of mental health disorders that are later exacerbated by challenges faced when migrating, such as lack of access to health services. Mental health challenges faced upon reaching destination communities consist mainly of social marginalization and disruption of social ties. Lastly, action items for health systems are outlined and the need for more research on the mental wellbeing of climate migrants throughout their migration journey is stressed. 

Conclusions: This review is an urgent call to policymakers, health professionals, and researchers to strengthen health systems by making them more climate resilient and inclusive towards environmental migrants.
Property valuation: tangible and intangible assets, business
Authors: Moshkarina Mariya , Kukukina Irina
Published: November 2020

The textbook contains theoretical and methodological materials and didactic units for evaluating real estate, machinery, equipment and vehicles, enterprises (businesses), intangible assets, tasks, case studies, tests and applications. Meets the requirements of the Federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation. To prepare bachelors in the areas of 38.03.01 " Economics "and 38.03.02" Management", analytical services of enterprises and specialists in property valuation.
Economics of a trade organization
Authors: Ivanov Gennadiy
Published: November 2020

The materials presented in the textbook are devoted to such business areas as trade. The article considers the specific characteristics of trade organizations specializing in the purchase and sale of food and non-food consumer goods, and distinguishes them from all other economic entities. Meets the requirements of the Federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation. It is intended for students studying in the fields of "Economics", "Management", "trade". It may also be useful for practitioners.
Potato growing
Authors: Uskov Aleksandr , Mozhaev Evgeniy , Uskova Lyudmila , Zakabunina Elena
Published: November 2020

The textbook covers the main topics related to the national economic significance, origin, distribution of potatoes; morphological and anatomical structure of potato plants. Features of potato biology by periods of growth and development, as well as its requirements for growing conditions are given. Technological methods of cultivation, the system of fertilization and protection from pests, diseases and weeds, seed production and varietal studies, the economy of potato production are presented. Meets the requirements of the Federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation for the preparation of bachelors. For undergraduate students studying in the field of "agronomy", as well as specialists in agricultural production.
Therapeutic physical culture for therapeutic diseases
Authors: Karaseva Tat'yana , Mahov Aleksandr , Zamogil'nov Aleksey
Published: November 2020

The textbook presents the content of the main sections of the course, as well as teaching materials for independent work of students. It is intended for full-time and part-time students of training areas 49.03.01 "Physical culture" and 49.03.02 " Physical culture for the disabled (adaptive physical culture)", studying the discipline"therapeutic physical culture".
Finance and credit. Modern concept
Authors: Bass Aleksandr , Burakov Dmitriy , Molchanov Igor'
Published: November 2020

The textbook covers the current state of Affairs in the field of financial relations. The most important generally accepted provisions of various concepts of Finance and the most relevant discussion aspects are revealed. Credit science and existing conceptual approaches to the opening of a significant, both socially and economically, category of "credit"are considered. Conceptual approaches to the formation and disclosure of the key provisions of the theory of credit and loan interest in the conditions of perfect and imperfect credit markets, as well as the theoretical foundations of the theory of credit and credit boundaries as the basis for ensuring financial stability are presented. Contains control questions for self-control, situational tasks, and tests. Topics of reports and home creative tasks (essays) are given. Meets the requirements of the Federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation. For master's degree students in financial and credit areas who study financial and credit disciplines. It can be used by teachers of higher educational institutions, and will also be useful for specialists and experts in the field of Finance and credit.