bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Direct 1,3-butadiene biosynthesis in Escherichia coli via a tailored ferulic acid decarboxylase mutant
Authors: Mori Yutaro , Noda Shuhei , Shirai Tomokazu , Kondo Akihiko
Published: April 2021

The C4 unsaturated compound 1,3-butadiene is an important monomer in synthetic rubber and engineering plastic production. However, microorganisms cannot directly produce 1,3-butadiene when glucose is used as a renewable carbon source via biological processes. In this study, we construct an artificial metabolic pathway for 1,3-butadiene production from glucose in Escherichia coli by combining the cis,cis-muconic acid (ccMA)-producing pathway together with tailored ferulic acid decarboxylase mutations. The rational design of the substrate-binding site of the enzyme by computational simulations improves ccMA decarboxylation and thus 1,3-butadiene production. We find that changing dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and controlling the pH are important factors for 1,3-butadiene production. Using DO–stat fed-batch fermentation, we produce 2.13 ± 0.17 g L−1 1,3-butadiene. The results indicate that we can produce unnatural/nonbiological compounds from glucose as a renewable carbon source via a rational enzyme design strategy.
Author Correction: DeepTCR is a deep learning framework for revealing sequence concepts within T-cell repertoires
Authors: Sidhom John-William , Larman H. Benjamin , Pardoll Drew M. , Baras Alexander S.
Published: April 2021

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22667-2
Lifestyle-specific S-nitrosylation of protein cysteine thiols regulates Escherichia coli biofilm formation and resistance to oxidative stress
Authors: Barraud Nicolas , Létoffé Sylvie , Beloin Christophe , Vinh Joelle , Chiappetta Giovanni , Ghigo Jean-Marc
Published: April 2021

Communities of bacteria called biofilms are characterized by reduced diffusion, steep oxygen, and redox gradients and specific properties compared to individualized planktonic bacteria. In this study, we investigated whether signaling via nitrosylation of protein cysteine thiols (S-nitrosylation), regulating a wide range of functions in eukaryotes, could also specifically occur in biofilms and contribute to bacterial adaptation to this widespread lifestyle. We used a redox proteomic approach to compare cysteine S-nitrosylation in aerobic and anaerobic biofilm and planktonic Escherichia coli cultures and we identified proteins with biofilm-specific S-nitrosylation status. Using bacterial genetics and various phenotypic screens, we showed that impairing S-nitrosylation in proteins involved in redox homeostasis and amino acid synthesis such as OxyR, KatG, and GltD altered important biofilm properties, including motility, biofilm maturation, or resistance to oxidative stress. Our study therefore revealed that S-nitrosylation constitutes a physiological basis underlying functions critical for E. coli adaptation to the biofilm environment.
Genetic variation and population structure in China summer maize germplasm
Authors: Shu Guoping , Cao Gangqiang , Li Niannian , Wang Aifang , Wei Fang , Li Ting , Yi Li , Xu Yunbi , Wang Yibo
Published: April 2021

Maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm in China Summer maize ecological region (CSM) or central corn-belt of China is diverse but has not been systematically characterized at molecular level. In this study, genetic variation, genome diversity, linkage disequilibrium patterns, population structure, and characteristics of different heterotic groups were studied using 525,141 SNPs obtained by Genotyping-By-Sequencing (GBS) for 490 inbred lines collected from researchers at CSM region. The SNP density is lower near centromere, but higher near telomere region of maize chromosome, the degree of linkage disequilibrium (r2) vary at different chromosome regions. Majority of the inbred lines (66.05%) show pairwise relative kinship near zero, indicating a large genetic diversity in the CSM breeding germplasm. Using 4849 tagSNPs derived from 3618 haplotype blocks, the 490 inbred lines were delineated into 3 supergroups, 6 groups, and 10 subgroups using ADMIXTURE software. A procedure of assigning inbred lines into heterotic groups using genomic data and tag-SNPs was developed and validated. Genome differentiation among different subgroups measured by Fst, and the genetic diversity within each subgroup measured by GD are both large. The share of heterotic groups that have significant North American germplasm contribution: P, SS, IDT, and X, accounts about 54% of the CSM breeding germplasm collection and has increased significantly in the last two decades. Two predominant types of heterotic pattern in CSM region are: M-Reid group × TSPT group, and X subgroup × Local subgroups.
Sex and Tamoxifen confound murine experimental studies in cardiovascular tissue engineering
Authors: Blum Kevin M. , Roby Lauren C. , Zbinden Jacob C. , Chang Yu-Chun , Mirhaidari Gabriel J. M. , Reinhardt James W. , Yi Tai , Barker Jenny C. , Breuer Christopher K.
Published: April 2021

Tissue engineered vascular grafts hold promise for the creation of functional blood vessels from biodegradable scaffolds. Because the precise mechanisms regulating this process are still under investigation, inducible genetic mouse models are an important and widely used research tool. However, here we describe the importance of challenging the baseline assumption that tamoxifen is inert when used as a small molecule inducer in the context of cardiovascular tissue engineering. Employing a standard inferior vena cava vascular interposition graft model in C57BL/6 mice, we discovered differences in the immunologic response between control and tamoxifen-treated animals, including occlusion rate, macrophage infiltration and phenotype, the extent of foreign body giant cell development, and collagen deposition. Further, differences were noted between untreated males and females. Our findings demonstrate that the host-response to materials commonly used in cardiovascular tissue engineering is sex-specific and critically impacted by exposure to tamoxifen, necessitating careful model selection and interpretation of results.
Quantitative structure–activity relationship models for genotoxicity prediction based on combination evaluation strategies for toxicological alternative experiments
Authors: Yang Xiaotong , Zhang Zhengbao , Li Qing , Cai Yongming
Published: April 2021

Mutagenicity exerts adverse effects on humans. Conventional methods cannot simultaneously predict the toxicity of a large number of compounds. Most mutagenicity prediction models are based on a single experimental type and lack other experimental combination data as support, resulting in limited application scope and predictive ability. In this study, we partitioned data from GENE-TOX, CPDB, and Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System according to the weight-of-evidence method for modelling. In our data set, in vivo and in vitro experiments in groups as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell experiments were included in accordance with the ICH guideline. We compared the two experimental combinations mentioned in the weight-of-evidence method and reintegrated the experimental data into three groups. Nine sub-models and three fusion models were established using random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and back propagation (BP) neural network algorithms. When fusing base models under the same algorithm according to the ensemble rules, all models showed excellent predictive performance. The RF, SVM, and BP fusion models reached a prediction accuracy rate of 83.4%, 80.5%, 79.0% respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) reached 0.853, 0.897, 0.865 respectively. Therefore, the established fusion QSAR models can serve as an early warning system for mutagenicity of compounds.
Inverse association between serum bilirubin level and testosterone deficiency in middle-aged and older men
Authors: Park Hye-Min , Kim Haeyoung , Lee Hye Sun , Lee Yong-Jae
Published: April 2021

Low serum bilirubin levels have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic syndrome. Testosterone deficiency could also contribute to increased risk of CVD and metabolic syndrome. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between serum bilirubin level and testosterone deficiency in 1284 Korean men aged 45 to 70 years. Serum bilirubin level was categorized into quartiles: Q1 ≤ 0.7, Q2 0.8–0.9, Q3 1.0–1.1, and Q4 ≥ 1.2 mg/dL. Testosterone deficiency was defined as level less than 8.0 nmol/L, as suggested by the position statement of International Society of Andrology. The overall prevalence of testosterone deficiency was 5.8% and significantly decreased with the quartiles from Q1 to Q4. Compared with the referent fourth quartile (serum bilirubin ≥ 1.2 mg/dL), the ORs (95% CIs) for testosterone deficiency was 2.29 (1.04–4.94) for the first quartile after adjusting for age, fasting glucose, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, leukocyte count, hemoglobin, smoking status, and alcohol intake. We found inversely graded associations of serum bilirubin level with testosterone deficiency. These findings suggest that low bilirubin level may be interpreted as a state of testosterone deficiency in middle-aged and older men.
Towards spatially resolved magnetic small-angle scattering studies by polarized and polarization-analyzed neutron dark-field contrast imaging
Authors: Valsecchi Jacopo , Kim Youngju , Lee Seung Wook , Saito Kotaro , Grünzweig Christian , Strobl Markus
Published: April 2021

In the past decade neutron dark-field contrast imaging has developed from a qualitative tool depicting microstructural inhomogeneities in bulk samples on a macroscopic scale of tens to hundreds of micrometers to a quantitative spatial resolved small-angle scattering instrument. While the direct macroscopic image resolution around tens of micrometers remains untouched microscopic structures have become assessable quantitatively from the nanometer to the micrometer range. Although it was found that magnetic structures provide remarkable contrast we could only recently introduce polarized neutron grating interferometric imaging. Here we present a polarized and polarization analyzed dark-field contrast method for spatially resolved small-angle scattering studies of magnetic microstructures. It is demonstrated how a polarization analyzer added to a polarized neutron grating interferometer does not disturb the interferometric measurements but allows to separate and measure spin-flip and non-spin-flip small-angle scattering and thus also the potential for a distinction of nuclear and different magnetic contributions in the analyzed small-angle scattering.
Interaction of surface pattern and contour shape in the tilt after effects evoked by symmetry
Authors: Sakai Ko , Sakata Yui , Kurematsu Ken
Published: April 2021

Integration of multiple properties of an object is a fundamental function of the visual cortex in object recognition. For instance, surface patterns and contour shapes are thought to be crucial characteristics that jointly contribute to recognition. However, the mechanisms of integration and corresponding cortical representations have not been fully clarified. We investigated the integration of surfaces and shapes by examining the tilt after effects (TAEs) evoked by the symmetry of patterns and contours. As symmetry in both pattern and contour evokes TAEs, we can directly measure the interaction between the two. The measured TAEs exhibited mutual transfer between the symmetry of the pattern (SP) and that of the contour shape (SS), i.e., adaptation by SP (SS) evoked TAEs when tested by SS (SP), suggesting the existence of an integrated representation. Next, we examined the interaction between SP and SS when both were simultaneously presented in adaptation. Congruent adaptors wherein their symmetry axes aligned evoked compressive interaction, whereas incongruent adaptors wherein the axes of SP and SS tilted to the opposite directions evoked subtractive interaction. These results suggest the existence of a cortical representation that integrates the properties of the surface and shape with suppressive interactions, which can provide crucial insights into the formation of object representation as well as the integration of visual information in the cortex.
In vitro evaluation of simulated stereotactic radiotherapy for wet age-related macular degeneration on three different cell lines
Authors: Vounotrypidis Efstathios , Hillenmayer Anna , Wertheimer Christian M. , Athanasiou Alexis , Siedlecki Jakob , Orth Michael , Ohlmann Andreas , Priglinger Siegfried G. , Wolf Armin
Published: April 2021

Low energy stereotactic radiotherapy has been proposed for the treatment of neovascular age related macular degeneration. We investigated the in vitro effect of the radiotherapy on pericytes, retinal pigment epithelium and endothelial cells. Primary human retinal pigment epithelium cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells and human pericytes from Placenta were cultivated. In a pairwise protocol, one plate was irradiated at a dose of 16 Gy, while the second plate served as a non-irradiated control. Thereafter, cells were cultivated either in serum-free (non-permissive) or serum-stimulated (permissive) conditions. A life/dead assay, an XTT and a BrdU assay were performed up to 7 days after irradiation. No cell death occurred at any timepoint in any cell line after treatment nor in the control. Compared to the unirradiated controls, cell viability and metabolic activity were significantly reduced in irradiated cells in the XTT assay, except for non-permissive RPE cells. In the BrdU assay, proliferation was inhibited. While no cell death was detected in vitro, viability and proliferative capacity of all cell lines were significantly reduced. Therefore, it seems that low energy stereotactic radiotherapy inhibits angiogenesis without a direct induction of apoptosis but influencing microvascular function and stability.
High-fidelity and high-resolution phase mapping of granites via confocal Raman imaging
Authors: Polavaram Krishna C. , Garg Nishant
Published: April 2021

In physical sciences such as chemistry and earth sciences, specifically for characterization of minerals in a rock, automated, objective mapping methods based on elemental analysis have replaced traditional optical petrography. However, mineral phase maps obtained from these newer approaches rely on conversion of elemental compositions to mineralogical compositions and thus cannot distinguish mineral polymorphs. Secondly, these techniques often require laborious sample preparations such as sectioning, polishing, and coating which are time-consuming. Here, we develop a new Raman imaging protocol that is capable of mapping unpolished samples with an auto-focusing Z-mapping feature that allows direct fingerprinting of different polymorphs. Specifically, we report a new methodology for generating high fidelity phase maps by exploiting characteristic peak intensity ratios which can be extended to any multi-phase, heterogenous system. Collectively, these enhancements allow us to rapidly map an unpolished granite specimen (~ 2 × 2 mm) with an exceptionally high accuracy (> 97%) and an extremely fine spatial resolution (< 0.3–2 µm).
Development of a chiral HPLC method for the separation and quantification of hydroxychloroquine enantiomers
Authors: Xiong Xisheng , Wang Kun , Tang Tao , Fang Jinzhi , Chen Yijun
Published: April 2021

Hydroxychloroquine (2-[[4-[(7-Chloroquinolin-4-yl) amino]pentyl](ethyl) amino]-ethanol, HCQ), an effective anti-malarial drug, has been tested in the clinics for potential treatment of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Despite the controversy around the clinical benefits of HCQ, the existence of a chiral center in the molecule to possess two optical isomers suggests that there might be an enantiomeric difference on the treatment of COVID-19. Due to their poor resolution and the inability of quantification by previously reported methods for the analysis of HCQ enantiomers, it is necessary to develop an analytical method to achieve baseline separation for quantitative and accurate determination of the enantiomeric purity in order to compare the efficacy and toxicity profiles of different enantiomers. In this study, we developed and validated an accurate and reproducible normal phase chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the analysis of two enantiomers of HCQ, and the method was further evaluated with biological samples. With this newly developed method, the relative standard deviations of all analytes were lower than 5%, and the limits of quantification were 0.27 μg/ml, 0.34 μg/ml and 0.20 μg/ml for racemate, R- and S-enantiomer, respectively. The present method provides an essential analytical tool for preclinical and clinical evaluation of HCQ enantiomers for potential treatment of COVID-19.
The whole is greater than its parts: ensembling improves protein contact prediction
Authors: Billings Wendy M. , Morris Connor J. , Della Corte Dennis
Published: April 2021

The prediction of amino acid contacts from protein sequence is an important problem, as protein contacts are a vital step towards the prediction of folded protein structures. We propose that a powerful concept from deep learning, called ensembling, can increase the accuracy of protein contact predictions by combining the outputs of different neural network models. We show that ensembling the predictions made by different groups at the recent Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP13) outperforms all individual groups. Further, we show that contacts derived from the distance predictions of three additional deep neural networks—AlphaFold, trRosetta, and ProSPr—can be substantially improved by ensembling all three networks. We also show that ensembling these recent deep neural networks with the best CASP13 group creates a superior contact prediction tool. Finally, we demonstrate that two ensembled networks can successfully differentiate between the folds of two highly homologous sequences. In order to build further on these findings, we propose the creation of a better protein contact benchmark set and additional open-source contact prediction methods.
Intratympanic steroid therapy for Bell’s palsy with poor prognostic results
Authors: Inagaki Akira , Katsumi Sachiyo , Sekiya Shinji , Murakami Shingo
Published: April 2021

In Bell’s palsy, electrodiagnosis by electroneurography (ENoG) is widely used to predict a patient’s prognosis. The therapeutic options for patients with poor prognostic results remain controversial. Here, we investigated whether early intervention with intratympanic steroid therapy (ITST) is an effective treatment for Bell’s palsy patients with poor electrodiagnostic test results (≤ 10% electroneurography value). Patients in the concurrent ITST group (n = 8) received the standard systemic dose of prednisolone (410 mg total) and intratympanic dexamethasone (16.5 mg total) and those in the control group (n = 21) received systemic prednisolone at the standard dose or higher (average dose, 605 ± 27 mg). A year after onset, the recovery rate was higher in the ITST group than in the control group (88% vs 43%, P = 0.044). The average House-Brackmann grade was better in the concurrent ITST group (1.13 ± 0.13 vs 1.71 ± 0.16, P = 0.035). Concurrent ITST improves the facial nerve outcome in patients with poor electroneurography test results, regardless of whether equivalent or lower glucocorticoid doses were administered. This may be ascribed to a neuroprotective effect of ITST due to a higher dose of steroid reaching the lesion due to dexamethasone transfer in the facial nerve.
Association of common TMPRSS6 and TF gene variants with hepcidin and iron status in healthy rural Gambians
Authors: Jallow Momodou W. , Campino Susana , Prentice Andrew M. , Cerami Carla
Published: April 2021

Genome-wide association studies in Europeans and Asians have identified numerous variants in the transmembrane protease serine 6 (TMPRSS6) and transferrin (TF) genes that are associated with changes in iron status. We sought to investigate the effects of common TMPRSS6 and TF gene SNPs on iron status indicators in a cohort of healthy Africans from rural Gambia. We measured iron biomarkers and haematology traits on individuals participating in the Keneba Biobank with genotype data on TMPRSS6 (rs2235321, rs855791, rs4820268, rs2235324, rs2413450 and rs5756506) and TF (rs3811647 and rs1799852), n = 1316. After controlling for inflammation, age and sex, we analysed the effects of carrying either single or multiple iron-lowering alleles on iron status. TMPRSS6 rs2235321 significantly affected plasma hepcidin concentrations (AA genotypes having lower hepcidin levels; F ratio 3.7, P = 0.014) with greater impact in individuals with low haemoglobin or ferritin. No other TMPRSS6 variant affected hepcidin. None of the TMPRSS6 variants nor a TMPRSS6 allele risk score affected other iron biomarkers or haematological traits. TF rs3811647 AA carriers had 21% higher transferrin (F ratio 16.0, P < 0.0001), 24% higher unsaturated iron-binding capacity (F ratio 12.8, P < 0.0001) and 25% lower transferrin saturation (F ratio 4.3, P < 0.0001) compared to GG carriers. TF rs3811647 was strongly associated with transferrin, unsaturated iron-binding capacity (UIBC) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) with a single allele effect of 8–12%. There was no association between either TF SNP and any haematological traits or iron biomarkers. We identified meaningful associations between TMPRSS6 rs2235321 and hepcidin and replicated the previous findings on the effects of TF rs3811647 on transferrin and iron binding capacity. However, the effects are subtle and contribute little to population variance. Further genetic and functional studies, including polymorphisms frequent in Africa populations, are needed to identify markers for genetically stratified approaches to prevention or treatment of iron deficiency anaemia.
Effect of slow-release fertilizer on soil fertility and growth and quality of wintering Chinese chives (Allium tuberm Rottler ex Spreng.) in greenhouses
Authors: Wang Cheng , Lv Jian , Xie Jianming , Yu Jihua , Li Jing , Zhang Jing , Tang Chaonan , Niu Tianhang , Patience Bakpa Emily
Published: April 2021

To avoid the negative impact of excessive fertilization on vegetable production, a decreased fertilization experiment was conducted in a multi-layer covered plastic greenhouse in 2017 to 2018. Treatments included no fertilizer (CK), traditional fertilization (TF), slow-release fertilizers (SRF), and decreased fertilization with slow-release fertilizers (DSRF). Results showed that the SRF and DSRF increased leaf length (13% and 8.3%) and chlorophyll content (7.1% and 8.2%) of Chinese chives compared to TF. Similarly, DSRF was found to increase the accumulation of dry matter accumulation of roots (22%) and the dry matter accumulation of shoots (36%) of Chinese chives. Flavonoid, soluble sugar, and soluble protein content were enhanced by 18%, 8.5%, and 4.6%, respectively, in DSRF compared to TF. Nitrate content of the SRF and SRFR decreased significantly by 26% and 35%, respectively. In addition, there was a significant increase in soil nutrient and enzyme activity in the middle and late harvest of Chinese chives under DSRF compared to TF, and there was a high correlation between soil nutrients and the quality of Chinese chives. The available P and total P content significantly differed among the different greenhouse soil samples, and this significantly affected the quality of Chinese chives. The content of available P and total P in greenhouse soil was 125.07 g kg−1 and 1.26 mg kg−1, respectively. Optimal quality was obtained. Hence, the application of DSRF promoted the growth of Chinese chives and improved soil fertility, thereby enhancing the productivity and quality of Chinese chives.
An association between fibroblast growth factor 21 and cognitive impairment in iron-overload thalassemia
Authors: Theerajangkhaphichai Wasan , Sripetchwandee Jirapas , Sriwichaiin Sirawit , Svasti Saovaros , Chattipakorn Nipon , Tantiworawit Adisak , Chattipakorn Siriporn C.
Published: April 2021

Although an increased fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) level was related to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in metabolic syndrome patients, any association regarding FGF21 and MCI in thalassemia patients as well as mechanistic insight are questionable. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to investigate the prevalence and associative risk factors of MCI in thalassemia patients, (2) to evaluate the association between levels of FGF21 and MCI in thalassemia patients, and (3) to investigate brain FGF21 signaling in iron-overload thalassemia. Thalassemia patients were enrolled onto the study (n = 131). Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) was used to determine cognitive performance. Plasma FGF21 level was determined in all patients. Iron-overload β-thalassemic (HT) mice were used to investigate brain FGF21 level and signaling, the expression of synaptic proteins, and Alzheimer’s like pathology. We found that 70% of thalassemia patients developed MCI. FGF21 level was positively correlated with the MCI. Interestingly, brain FGF21 resistance, as indicated by increased brain FGF21 levels with impaired FGF21 signaling, was found in iron-overload HT mice. The reduced synaptic protein expression and increased Alzheimer’s like pathology were also observed. These suggest that FGF21 may play a role in MCI in thalassemia patients.
Publisher Correction: Ultrahigh-speed point scanning two-photon microscopy using high dynamic range silicon photomultipliers
Authors: Ching-Roa Vincent D. , Olson Eben M. , Ibrahim Sherrif F. , Torres Richard , Giacomelli Michael G.
Published: April 2021

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Synthesis conditions impact on Sr11Mo4O23 electroceramic: crystal structure, stability and transport properties
Authors: Miranda Carlos Darío , Villarroel-Rocha Dimar , Sapag Karim , López Carlos Alberto , Pedregosa José Carmelo , Alonso José Antonio
Published: April 2021

The synthesis temperature strongly impacts the physicochemical properties of Sr11Mo4O23.
Synthesis of a new ATN-type zeolitic imidazolate framework through cooperative effects of N,N-dipropylformamide and n-butylamine
Authors: Meng Qianqian , Wang Jiang , Shi Qi , Dong Jinxiang
Published: April 2021

ATN-[Zn(Im)2] is the first known example of a ZIF exhibiting a zeolitic ATN topology, which was prepared using the cooperative effects of N,N-dipropylformamide and n-butylamine.
Degraded Porphyra haitanensis sulfated polysaccharide relieves ovalbumin-induced food allergic response by restoring the balance of T helper cell differentiation
Authors: Liu Qingmei , Zhou Yu , Gao Yuanyuan , Shu Zhendan , Zhang Jun , Liu Hong , Cao Minjie , Liu Guangming , Sun Jinlyu
Published: April 2021

We previously described that Porphyra haitanensis sulfated polysaccharide (PHSP) maintains the balance of pro-inflammation and immunosuppression.
ZIF-8-porous ionic liquids for the extraction of 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propanol and water mixture
Authors: Wang Zenghui , Zhao Pingping , Wu Jimin , Gao Jun , Zhang Lianzheng , Xu Dongmei
Published: April 2021

Porous ionic liquids were employed for the extraction of TFP and water via a unique liquid porous structure and intermolecular interaction.
Crystal engineering and ferroelectricity at the nanoscale in epitaxial 1D manganese oxide on silicon
Authors: Gomez Andrés , Vila-Fungueiriño José Manuel , Jolly Claire , Garcia-Bermejo Ricardo , Oró-Solé Judith , Ferain Etienne , Mestres Narcís , Magén César , Gazquez Jaume , Rodriguez-Carvajal Juan , Carretero-Genevrier Adrián
Published: April 2021

A simple chemical method is developed to integrate a novel room-temperature ferroelectric Sr1+δMn8O16 hollandite-like oxide nanowire thin film in silicon technology. This original material shows a piezoelectric coefficient d33 value of 22 ± 6 pC N−1.
Multifunctional pathology-mapping theranostic nanoplatforms for US/MR imaging and ultrasound therapy of atherosclerosis
Authors: Gao Binyang , Xu Jinshun , Zhou Jie , Zhang Huan , Yang Rui , Wang Hong , Huang Jianbo , Yan Feng , Luo Yan
Published: April 2021

Schematic diagram of MPmTN exerting therapeutic effects precisely in vulnerable plaques based on their unknown pathological type.
A diamino-functionalized silsesquioxane pillared graphene oxide for CO2 capture
Authors: Thomou Eleni , Sakavitsi Viktoria , Angeli Giasemi K. , Spyrou Konstantinos , Froudas Konstantinos G. , Diamanti Evmorfia K. , Romanos George E. , Karanikolos Georgios N. , Trikalitis Pantelis N. , Gournis Dimitrios , Rudolf Petra
Published: April 2021

Study of the CO2 uptake performance of silsesquioxane pillared graphene oxide prepared with different pillar loading and way of drying.
Preparation of surface molecularly imprinted polymer and its application for the selective extraction of teicoplanin from water
Authors: Zhou Hao , Peng Kanlin , Su Yijuan , Song Xuqin , Qiu Jingli , Xiong Renping , He Limin
Published: April 2021

A novel surface molecularly imprinted polymer for specific absorbing teicoplanin in environmental water.
Correction: Copper–zinc oxide heterojunction catalysts exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic activity prepared by a hybrid deposition method
Authors: Montero José , Welearegay Tesfalem , Thyr Jakob , Stopfel Henry , Dedova Tatjana , Acik Ilona Oja , Österlund Lars
Published: April 2021

Correction for ‘Copper–zinc oxide heterojunction catalysts exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic activity prepared by a hybrid deposition method’ by José Montero et al., RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 10224–10234, DOI: 10.1039/D1RA00691F.
Coiled coils 9-to-5: rational de novo design of α-helical barrels with tunable oligomeric states
Authors: Dawson William M. , Martin Freddie J. O. , Rhys Guto G. , Shelley Kathryn L. , Brady R. Leo , Woolfson Derek N.
Published: April 2021

Systematic de novo design of peptides that form α-helical barrels with functionalisable central channels with a range of internal diameters.
Topological quantum phase transition in the magnetic semimetal HoSb
Authors: Zhang J.-M. , Tang F. , Ruan Y.-R. , Chen Y. , Zhang R.-W. , Guo W.-T. , Chen S.-Y. , Li J.-P. , Zhao W. , Zhou W. , Zhang L. , Han Z.-D. , Qian B. , Jiang X.-F. , Huang Z.-G. , Qian D. , Fang Y.
Published: April 2021

The topological nature of electronic states in HoSb significantly depends on spin orderings (NM, AFM or FM spin configuration). Only the electronic band structure in HoSb's antiferromagnetic state is confirmed to be topologically nontrivial.
The “S” in ESG and international labour standards
Authors: Waas Bernd
Published: April 2021

The paper examines the importance of international labour standards for ESG reporting.
Generalized nonorthogonal matrix elements: Unifying Wick’s theorem and the Slater–Condon rules
Authors: Burton Hugh G. A.
Published: April 2021

Matrix elements between nonorthogonal Slater determinants represent an essential component of many emerging electronic structure methods. However, evaluating nonorthogonal matrix elements is conceptually and computationally harder than their orthogonal counterparts. While several different approaches have been developed, these are predominantly derived from the first-quantized generalized Slater–Condon rules and usually require biorthogonal occupied orbitals to be computed for each matrix element. For coupling terms between nonorthogonal excited configurations, a second-quantized approach such as the nonorthogonal Wick’s theorem is more desirable, but this fails when the two reference determinants have a zero many-body overlap. In this contribution, we derive an entirely generalized extension to the nonorthogonal Wick’s theorem that is applicable to all pairs of determinants with nonorthogonal orbitals. Our approach creates a universal methodology for evaluating any nonorthogonal matrix element and allows Wick’s theorem and the generalized Slater–Condon rules to be unified for the first time. Furthermore, we present a simple well-defined protocol for deriving arbitrary coupling terms between nonorthogonal excited configurations. In the case of overlap and one-body operators, this protocol recovers efficient formulas with reduced scaling, promising significant computational acceleration for methods that rely on such terms.
A scaling improved inner–outer decomposition of near-wall turbulent motions
Authors: Wang Limin , Hu Ruifeng , Zheng Xiaojing
Published: April 2021

Near-wall turbulent velocities in turbulent channel flows are decomposed into small-scale and large-scale components at y+<100 by improving the predictive inner–outer model of Baars et al. [Phys. Rev. Fluids 1, 054406 (2016)], where y+ is the viscous-normalized wall-normal height. The small-scale one is obtained by reducing the outer reference height (a parameter in the model) from the center of the logarithmic layer to y+=100, which can fully remove outer influences. On the other hand, the large-scale one represents the near-wall footprints of outer energy-containing motions. We present plenty of evidence that demonstrates that the small-scale motions are Reynolds-number invariant with the viscous scaling, at friction Reynolds numbers between 1000 and 5200. At lower Reynolds numbers from 180 to 600, the small scales cannot be scaled by the viscous units, and the vortical structures are progressively strengthened as Reynolds number increases, which is proposed as a possible mechanism responsible for the anomalous scaling behavior. Finally, it is found that a small-scale part of the outer large-scale footprint can be well scaled by the viscous units.
Birds respond to woodland type, soil and mesic gradients in heterogeneous woodlands at Dryandra
Authors: Fulton Graham R. , Lawson John
Published: April 2021

The vast clearance of forest and woodland for agriculture with the removal of more than 93% of the native vegetation has decimated the fauna of what is now known as the Western Australian wheatbelt. This clearing has been particularly severe on wandoo woodlands through the wheatbelt. In order to quantify the usefulness of what has been left, three native woodland types were surveyed for avian abundance and diversity, in a large heterogeneous remnant of old-growth woodland, at Dryandra. Birds were counted at 70 points along seven transects, through three woodland types: powderbark wandoo (Eucalyptus accedens), wandoo (E. wandoo) and a brown mallet (E. astringens) plantation. Greater abundance and species richness were detected in E. wandoo woodland, although this is thought to be related to the more mesic and productive low-lying contours of the landscape on which it is situated.
Central human B cell tolerance manifests with a distinctive cell phenotype and is enforced via CXCR4 signaling in hu-mice
Authors: Alves da Costa Thiago , Peterson Jacob N. , Lang Julie , Shulman Jeremy , Liang Xiayuan , Freed Brian M. , Boackle Susan A. , Lauzurica Pilar , Torres Raul M. , Pelanda Roberta
Published: April 2021

Significance

A better understanding of how central B cell tolerance operates in human B cells can lead to developing approaches that reduce bone marrow egress of autoreactive B cell clones and their burden in circulation. Using a human immune system mouse model, this study characterizes the phenotype of human autoreactive immature B cells undergoing central tolerance and shows that cells with a similar but more subtle phenotype are present within fresh human bone marrow tissue. Treatment of mice with a pharmacologic antagonist of CXCR4, one of the markers of central B cell tolerance, demonstrates CXCR4 is necessary to prevent autoreactive human and mouse B cell clones from egressing the bone marrow, thus contributing to the establishment of tolerance.
Lepidium latifolium (perennial pepperweed).
Authors: Stutz Sonja , Hinz Hariet , Parker Chris
Published: April 2021

L. latifolium is an erect, branching perennial native to southern Europe and western Asia. It was accidentally introduced into countries outside of its native range as a contaminant of seeds such as Beta vulgaris. L. latifolium exhibits a wide ecological adaptation to different environmental factors, tolerating a range of soil moisture and salinity conditions, which has allowed it to spread explosively in recent years in wetlands and riparian areas especially in the western USA. L. latifolium thrives in many lowland ecosystems and is extremely competitive, forming monospecific stands that can crowd out desirable native species and a number of threatened and endangered species. L. latifolium alters the ecosystem in which it grows, acting as a 'salt pump' which takes salt ions from deep in the soil profile and deposits them near the surface, thereby shifting plant composition and altering diversity.
Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus.
Authors: Janssen Dirk
Published: April 2021

Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) is a crinivirus that is non-circulative, semi-persistently transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. It multiplies in cucurbitaceous plant species but not inside its insect vector. The main pathways of CYSDV introduction and long-distance spread are through infected plants for planting. Short-distance spread is predominantly through viruliferous (infected) adults of B. tabaci. CYSDV is considered an 'emerging virus' and is increasingly recorded from a number of European, American and Asiatic countries. Infected cucurbit crops display yellowing symptoms on the leaves and this damage leads to an approximate yield reduction of 30-50% in Spain and Lebanon (Célix et al., 1996; Hourani and Abou-Jawdah, 2003). In Arizona, the outbreak of CYSDV in 2006 caused an estimated 60% reduction in marketable melon yield and a subsequent US$ 18 million loss (McGinley, 2008; James, 2011). CYSDV was added to the EPPO A2 List in 2004.
Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass).
Authors: Rojas-Sandoval Julissa
Published: April 2021

Genetics: The chromosome number reported for C. citratus is 2n = 40 (Flora of China, 2016). Reproductive biologyIn most places Cymbopogon citratus flowers very rarely or not at all. It mostly reproduces vegetatively (Oyen, 1999). Physiology and phenology: In China, C. citratus has been recorded flowering and fruiting during summer (Flora of China, 2016). Longevity: Cymbopogon citratus has a life-span of 4-6 years (Oyen, 1999). Environmental requirements: Cymbopogon citratus grows best under sunny, warm and humid conditions at elevations below 750 m, with mean annual temperatures ranging from 23°C to 30°C and mean annual rainfall between 2500-3000 mm. It is adapted to grow on a wide variety of soils types, but prefers well-drained soils with pH ranging from 5.5 to 7.5. However, this species has been recorded growing in Australia on clay soils with pH=9.6. It does not tolerate saline soils or frosty conditions (Oyen, 1999).
Euonymus fortunei (wintercreeper).
Authors: Kaufman Sylvan
Published: April 2021

A datasheet on Euonymus fortunei covering, as an economically important tree, its taxonomy, importance, silviculture, distribution, biology and ecology, uses, products and pests.
Flacourtia indica (governor's plum).
Authors: Florin Madeleine
Published: April 2021

A datasheet on Flacourtia indica covering, as an economically important tree, its taxonomy, importance, silviculture, distribution, biology and ecology, uses, products and pests.
Malvaviscus arboreus (wax mallow).
Authors: Rojas-Sandoval Julissa
Published: April 2021

A datasheet on Malvaviscus arboreus covering, as an economically important tree, its taxonomy, importance, silviculture, distribution, biology and ecology, uses, products and pests.
Combretum indicum (Rangoon creeper).
Authors: Datiles Marianne Jennifer
Published: April 2021

A datasheet on Combretum indicum covering, as an economically important tree, its taxonomy, importance, silviculture, distribution, biology and ecology, uses, products and pests.
Toxicodendron succedaneum (wax tree).
Authors: Rojas-Sandoval Julissa
Published: April 2021

A datasheet on Toxicodendron succedaneum covering, as an economically important tree, its taxonomy, importance, silviculture, distribution, biology and ecology, uses, products and pests.
Triumfetta rhomboidea (diamond burbark).
Authors: Areces-Berazain Fabiola
Published: April 2021

A datasheet on Triumfetta rhomboidea covering, as an economically important tree, its taxonomy, importance, silviculture, distribution, biology and ecology, uses, products and pests.
Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria).
Authors: Kaufman Sylvan
Published: April 2021

A datasheet on Wisteria sinensis covering, as an economically important tree, its taxonomy, importance, silviculture, distribution, biology and ecology, uses, products and pests.
A deep learning-based approach for direct PET attenuation correction using Wasserstein generative adversarial network
Authors: Li Yongchang , Wu Wei
Published: April 2021

Positron emission tomography (PET) in some clinical assistant diagnose demands attenuation correction (AC) and scatter correction (SC) to obtain high-quality imaging, leading to gaining more precise metabolic information in tissue or organs of patient. However, there still are some inevitable issues, such as imperceptible mismatching precision between PET and CT imaging, or plenty of ionizing radiation dose exposure in many after-treatment inspections. To cope with the abovementioned issues, we introduced a deep learning-based technique to achieve a direct attenuation correction for PET imaging in this article. Moreover, wasserstein generative adversarial networks and hybrid loss, including adversarial loss, L2 loss and gradient difference loss, were utilized to enforce the deep network model to synthesize PET images with much richer detail information. A comprehensive research was designed and carried out on a total of forty-five sets of PET images of lymphoma patients for the model training stage and test stage. Final performances analysis was totally based on our experimental outcomes, which demonstrated that the proposed algorithm has definitely improved the quality of PET imaging according to qualitative and quantitative study.
Bone metastasis segmentation based on Improved U-NET algorithm
Authors: Zhang Jingyi , Huang Mengge , Deng Tao , Cao Yongchun , Lin Qiang
Published: April 2021

Whole body bone scan image analysis is widely used in nuclear medicine to assist nuclear medicine physicians in the detection of bone metastases. At present, the analysis of whole-body bone scan images mainly relies on the manual reading of nuclear medicine doctors. The doctors, based on personal knowledge and experience, look for abnormal lesion locations and diagnose them by examining the whole-body bone scan images. However, this method is prone to misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. To solve the above problems, this study proposes an image segmentation method based on deep learning, which can automatically identify the location of bone metastases, so that doctors can make more accurate diagnosis. The Methods Attention mechanism was added to the jump connection of the original U-NET network to enhance the image feature selection. Experiments show that the algorithm in this study teaches traditional U-Net to show better results on the three indicators of MIoU Dice and MAP.
Credit evaluation with a data mining approach based on gradient boosting decision tree
Authors: Liu Zhenlong , Zhang Yuheng
Published: April 2021

In recent years, credit evaluation has become an issue of increasing concern for financial institutions. However, since most research focuses on the risk classification process, the problem of data imbalance is ignored. In real data sets, there are often far more users with good credit than users with bad credit, and the imbalance of data often easily leads to a decline in the classification performance of the model. Therefore, previous research is very limited in practical application scenarios. In this paper, we establish a new integration method for credit evaluation, which is classified into three steps: First, data preprocessing. Before inputting samples into the model, we take a series of preprocessing steps, such as missing data processing, data dimensionality reduction. Secondly, in view of the imbalance problem, the data is divided into multiple clusters using an unsupervised clustering algorithm, and the SMOTE method is used to generate minority samples in the clusters whose ratio exceeds the threshold. Finally, the GBDT2NN and Factorization Machine methods are integrated to classify the samples. In order to verify the effectiveness of this method, we use the Kaggle competition data set for verification. The results show that this method is better than other algorithms in the field of credit evaluation in terms of recall rate and AUC value.
Research on Ethnic Original Ecological Music Clustering of MFCC Based on HHT
Authors: Fu Qinjian , Lv Danju , Zhang Yan , Xu Haifeng , Yao Wang , Zi Jiali , Liu Jiang
Published: April 2021

In view of the characteristics of ethnic original ecological music and the limitation of human ear’s understanding of hearing. This paper presents a MFCC feature extraction method based on HHT transformation. In this method, the ethnic original ecological music signals were decomposed into several inherent mode functions (IMFs) by EEMD and Hilbert transform, in which the Hilbert marginal spectrum of each IMF was used to complete the feature extraction of HHTMFCC through the MEL scale filter. The experiment collected 13 kinds of original ecological music of ethnic minorities in Yunnan. Based on the feature extraction results of HHTMFCC, Kmeans clustering analysis method was adopted to compare and analyze the clustering effect of HHTMFCC. The experimental results showed that the HHTMFCC feature was 0.49 higher than that of MFCC in the Purity index, 1.2 lower than that of Entropy index, and 3% higher than that of F index. The experimental results show that the HHTMFCC features extracted from ethnic original music are better than the traditional MFCC features.
Research on Weighted Cluster Analysis Method of Panel Data
Authors: Ao Xiqin , Zhang Yiwen , Zhou Yinyin , Xu Deyu
Published: April 2021

Panel data is composed of three dimensions: object, index and time, it has no mature clustering algorithm because of its complexity and dynamic data structure. Two clustering methods for multi index panel data are proposed in this paper. These two methods are respectively weighted from the index perspective and time perspective, and on this basis, the two-step clustering method is used for clustering. Then these methods are applied to cluster analysis of regional economy. The empirical results show that these two methods can effectively complete the clustering of the research objects, and have their own emphasis on the feature extraction angle of the panel data.
Time Series Data Classification on Grassmann Manifold
Authors: Al-Samhi Waheeb , Al-Soswa Mohammed , Al-Dhabi Yunes
Published: April 2021

Time Series Classification has become one of the most challenging problems in many signal processing and machine learning applications, e.g., audio/video signal processing and EEG signal processing. We propose a novel method of extracting features from data for classification and representing data on a Grassmann manifold by parameterizing it using the autoregressive moving model (ARMA). Then we perform classification on these extracted features by training support vector machines (SVM), with appropriate kernels on the Grassmann manifold. We performed tests on several publicly available datasets. We found that an SVM with a proper kernel on the Grassmann manifold consistently performs better than an SVM using a typical Gaussian kernel that acts on the data in Euclidean space. Furthermore, we found that the Grassmann SVM technique overperforms the literature in some high-dimensional datasets, without the need for any other preprocessing techniques. This work demonstrates the power of data-based manifold techniques in improving the performance of existing algorithms.