bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Motor Performance But Neither Motor Learning Nor Motor Consolidation Are Impaired in Chronic Cerebellar Stroke Patients
Authors: Hermsdorf Franz , Fricke Christopher , Stockert Anika , Classen Joseph , Rumpf Jost-Julian
Published: January 2020

The capacity to acquire and retain new motor skills is essential for everyday behavior and a prerequisite to regain functional independence following impairments of motor function caused by brain damage, e.g., ischemic stroke. Learning a new motor skill requires repeated skill practice and passes through different online and offline learning stages that are mediated by specific dynamic interactions between distributed brain regions including the cerebellum. Motor sequence learning is an extensively studied paradigm of motor skill learning, yet the role of the cerebellum during online and offline stages remains controversial. Here, we studied patients with chronic cerebellar stroke and healthy control participants to further elucidate the role of the cerebellum during acquisition and consolidation of sequential motor skills. Motor learning was assessed by an ecologically valid explicit sequential finger tapping paradigm and retested after an interval of 8 h to assess consolidation. Compared to healthy controls, chronic cerebellar stroke patients displayed significantly lower motor sequence performance independent of whether the ipsilesional or contralesional hand was used for task execution. However, the ability to improve performance during training (i.e., online learning) and to consolidate training-induced skill formation was similar in patients and controls. Findings point to an essential role of the cerebellum in motor sequence production that cannot be compensated, while its role in online and offline motor sequence learning seems to be either negligible or amenable to compensatory mechanisms. This further suggests that residual functional impairments caused by cerebellar stroke may be mitigated even months later by additional skill training.
Technikaffinität und Fortbildungsinteresse von Auszubildenden der Pflegefachberufe: eine Onlinebefragung
Authors: Buhtz Christian , Paulicke Denny , Hofstetter Sebastian , Jahn Patrick
Published: January 2020

Hintergrund

Digitale und assistive Technologien nehmen eine prominente Rolle in der Diskussion um Lösungsansätze für die Herausforderungen der Gesundheitsversorgung ein. Für den Transfer in den Pflegealltag ist es erforderlich, Akzeptanz zu schaffen und Pflegefachpersonen in den Prozess der Digitalisierung des Gesundheitswesens zu integrieren. Allerdings wird im Rahmen der Pflegeausbildung bisher kaum Wissen für einen kompetenten Umgang mit Technologie vermittelt. Auch die zukünftige Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsordnung (Pflegeberufegesetz) unterlässt entsprechende Vorgaben.

Ziel

Die Online-Umfrage soll klären, welches Maß an Aufgeschlossenheit und Fortbildungsinteresse bei Pflegeschülerinnen und Pflegeschülern zu digitalen und assistiven Technologien vorhanden ist.

Methode

Eine Einladung zur Teilnahme wurde per E‑Mail an 277 Pflegeschulen in den neuen Bundesländern verschickt. Der Fragebogen wurde von der Forschergruppe entwickelt und vorab getestet.

Ergebnisse

Die Nutzung von Computern können sich 94,7 % der insgesamt 415 Befragten im Klinik- oder Praxisalltag vorstellen, die Nutzung von Tablets 61,9 % und die Nutzung von Smartphones 51,1 %. Je zwei Drittel schätzen ihre Aufgeschlossenheit zu Technologie als hoch und ihr Wissen diesbezüglich als niedrig ein. Der Aussage, dass ihnen Schulungen zum bedarfsgerechten Einsatz technischer Lösungen fehlen, stimmen 71,8 % der Auszubildenden zu. Dies geht einher, mit einem hohen Fortbildungsinteresse der Auszubildenden, das je nach angebotenen Thema, von 64,8–83,4 % der Befragten geäußert wird.

Schlussfolgerung

Der Bedarf und die Bereitschaft einer grundständigen Qualifizierung zu digitalen und assistiven Technologien im Rahmen der Pflegeausbildung – aber auch darüber hinaus – werden in dieser Befragung deutlich. Diese Kompetenzen müssen gezielt an einem praxisnahen Lernort („Future Care Lab“) vermittelt werden, nur so kann die digitale Transformation auf die Unterstützung qualifizierter professioneller Anwender aufbauen; andernfalls drohen langfristige Barrieren und Implementierungshindernisse.
Analysis of watermarking framework for color image through a neural network-based approach
Authors: Kazemi M. F. , Pourmina M. A. , Mazinan A. H.
Published: January 2020

In the research presented here, the general idea of watermarking framework is analyzed to deal with color image under a set of attacks through a neural network-based approach. It is realized in the area of transformation, especially with a focus on contourlet transform to address the proposed technique, as long as the bands of the suitable coefficients are accurately chosen. In summary, there is the logo information that is embedded in the edge of color image, while the Zenzo edge detector is correspondingly realized to handle the approach. In fact, the edge of the second subband is acquired, and subsequently, the capability of the above-referenced edge is calculated. A number of techniques are discussed to cope with the above-captioned watermarking framework through the new integration of contourlet transform in association with the multilayer perceptron to extract the logo information, appropriately. The approaches of the embedding and the de-embedding in case of learning algorithm of the aforementioned neural network through individual training data set are considered in the present research to carry out a series of experiments with different scenarios for the purpose of verifying the effectiveness of the proposed approach, obviously.
Annotated hypergraphs: models and applications
Authors: Chodrow Philip , Mellor Andrew
Published: January 2020

Hypergraphs offer a natural modeling language for studying polyadic interactions between sets of entities. Many polyadic interactions are asymmetric, with nodes playing distinctive roles. In an academic collaboration network, for example, the order of authors on a paper often reflects the nature of their contributions to the completed work. To model these networks, we introduceannotated hypergraphsas natural polyadic generalizations of directed graphs. Annotated hypergraphs form a highly general framework for incorporating metadata into polyadic graph models. To facilitate data analysis with annotated hypergraphs, we construct a role-aware configuration null model for these structures and prove an efficient Markov Chain Monte Carlo scheme for sampling from it. We proceed to formulate several metrics and algorithms for the analysis of annotated hypergraphs. Several of these, such as assortativity and modularity, naturally generalize dyadic counterparts. Other metrics, such as local role densities, are unique to the setting of annotated hypergraphs. We illustrate our techniques on six digital social networks, and present a detailed case-study of the Enron email data set.
Correction to: The weakness of weak ties for novel information diffusion
Authors: Larson Jennifer M.
Published: January 2020

Following publication of the original article (Larson Applied Network Science 2017), the author reported to publish a brief corrigendum in the original article;
Numerical simulation of a tuneable reversible flow design for practical ACET devices
Authors: Lijnse Thomas , Cenaiko Stirling , Dalton Colin
Published: January 2020

Alternating Current Electrothermal (ACET) micropumps are a well-documented flow induction and mixing method. This phenomenon has significant promise as a reliable microfluidic pumping method for high conductivity biofluids, such as cerebrospinal fluid, urine, or blood. Practical implementations so far have been limited by complex designs focused on maximized flow rates, typically in only one direction at a time. This paper describes a device geometry demonstrating, and quantifying for the first time, fully reversible flow, that is, going from 100% flow in one direction to fully symmetrical 100% flow in the opposite direction. This design incorporates multiple features targeted at practical fabrication and applications. The design enables fine-tuning of flow speeds via adjustable signal strengths in a unique manner compared to traditional ACET devices. A full numerical simulation of this device has been performed within this work. Additionally, this paper reports several methods for increasing usability of ACET devices, including proposing coatings to prevent electrolysis and increase flow rates without the risk of fluid reactions, manufacturing methods for ease of handling, and specific device parameters for implementation in microdevices. The development of an ACET device that can precisely and efficiently pump and extract fluids allows for new applications in integrated biological systems and monitoring devices.
Device free human activity and fall recognition using WiFi channel state information (CSI)
Authors: Damodaran Neena , Haruni Elis , Kokhkharova Muyassar , Schäfer Jörg
Published: January 2020

Human activity recognition (HAR) is a broad research area. While there exist solutions based on sensors and vision-based technologies, these solutions suffer from considerable limitations. Thus in order to mitigate or avoid these limitations, device free solutions based on radio signals like (home) WiFi, in particular 802.11 are considered. Recently, channel state information (CSI), available in WiFi 802.11n networks have been proposed for fine-grained analysis. We are able to detect human activities like Walk, Sit, Stand, Run (in the sequel, any human activity used for classification is capitalised, i.e. is denoted by its corresponding label. For example, “standing“ is denoted as Stand, the activity “sitting“ is denoted by Sit and so on), etc. in a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario and a non-line-of-sight (N-LOS) scenario within an indoor environment. We propose two algorithms—one using a support vector machine (SVM) for classification and another one using a long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network. While the former uses sophisticated pre-processing and feature extraction techniques based on wavelet analysis, the latter processes the raw data directly (after denoising). We show that it is possible to characterize activities and/or human body presence with high accuracy and we compare both approaches with regard to accuracy and performance. Furthermore, we extend the experimental setup to detect human falls, too which is a relevant use-case in the context of ambient assisted living (AAL) and show that with the developed algorithms it is possible to detect falls with high accuracy. In addition, we also show that the algorithms can be used to count the number of people in a room based on the CSI-data, which is a first step towards detecting more complex social behavior and activities. Our paper is an extended version of the paper (Damodaran and Schäfer, Device free human activity recognition using wifi channel state information, in: 16th IEEE International Conference on Ubiquitous Intelligence and Computing (UIC 2019), 5th IEEE Smart World Congress, Leicester, vol 16, IEEE, 2019).
The exterior Calderón operator for non-spherical objects
Authors: Kristensson Gerhard , Stratis Ioannis G. , Wellander Niklas , Yannacopoulos Athanasios N.
Published: January 2020

This paper deals with the exterior Calderón operator for not necessarily spherical domains. We present a new approach of finding the norm of the exterior Calderón operator for a wide class of surfaces. The basic tool in the treatment is the set of eigenfunctions and eigenvalues to the Laplace–Beltrami operator for the surface. The norm is obtained in view of an eigenvalue problem of a quadratic form containing the exterior Calderón operator. The connection of the exterior Calderón operator to the transition matrix for a perfectly conducting surface is analyzed.
Do Urologists Really Recognize the Association Between Erectile Dysfunction and Cardiovascular Disease?
Authors: Li Dongjie , Li Xiucheng , Peng Emin , Liao Zhangcheng , Tang Zhengyan
Published: January 2020

Introduction

Erectile dysfunction (ED) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) share many common risk factors. ED could be a strong independent predictive factor of CVDs. Furthermore, the treatment of ED had been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular diseases. However, the association between ED and CVDs has been reported scarcely in the literature.

Aim

To investigate urologists’ perception, diagnosis, and treatment of CVDs in patients with ED.

Methods

The study was conducted as a prospective study from November 2018 through February 2019, including urologists aged 18–64 years. All participants completed a survey of the knowledge of ED via an online questionnaire platform in 7 WeChat groups of urologists. WeChat is the most popular multipurpose messaging and social media in China.

Main Outcome Measure

The main outcomes were the answers that urologists chose or filled.

Results

449 urologists were included. Most of participants (375, 83.5%) agreed that CVDs are associated with ED. Only 231 participants (51.4%) thought ED was an independent disorder. The awareness of the association between ED and CVDs is significantly higher among male urologists than their female counterparts. Although 378 (83.6%) participants believed that the progression of these 2 diseases was consistent, only 181 (44.9%) would do conjoined assessment of both CVDs and ED. In addition, most urologists only considered conventional treatment, such as psychological intervention (341, 75.4%) and phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) therapy (318, 70.4%) for their patients, whereas 339 urologists (88.3%) claimed that they would treat CVDs in patients with both ED and CVDs. 344 (76.6%) urologists showed some concerns over PDE5is.

Conclusion

Urologists’ assessment of CVDs in patients with ED was disappointing especially among young and female urologists or those working in underserved areas. Besides, the urologists’ treatments of ED were not updated, and their attitudes toward the safety and effectiveness of PDE5is for CVDs were not optimistic.
“Modernization” and Agrarian Development in India, 1912–52
Authors: Kumar Prakash
Published: January 2020

India's agrarian history has for the most part been cast within colonial and nationalist frameworks or in analyses of modernity and development in the South Asian historiography on both sides of the independence divide. This leaves plenty of space to discuss both the vast engagement of American actors with Indian elite formations and modifications to the agrarian projects contingent upon those interactions. A focus on the Americanist drive for agrarian modernization in India allows for exploring the distinct cultural location of modernization in a long-term perspective and its engagement with colonial “development.” A study of their mutual interaction gives insights into modernization's somewhat distinct itinerary on the subcontinent and provides specificity to the history of the otherwise spatially wider American intervention in global and inter-Asian contexts.
Remnants of native forests support carnivore diversity in the vineyard landscapes of central Chile
Authors: García Camila B. , Svensson Gabriella L. , Bravo Camila , Undurraga María I. , Díaz-Forestier Javiera , Godoy Karina , Neaman Alexander , Barbosa Olga , Abades Sebastián , Celis-Diez Juan L.
Published: January 2020

Carnivores play an important role in ecosystem functioning as apex predators. However, most carnivore species are threatened or have been extirpated in human-dominated landscapes. The Mediterranean region of central Chile is a biodiversity hotspot, but expansion of agricultural areas such as vineyards is degrading wildlife habitat. We estimated the species richness and composition of carnivore communities in remnant fragments of sclerophyllous forest-shrubland in the vineyard landscapes of central Chile to evaluate the effects of human disturbance at different spatial scales. We tested two hypotheses: (1) vineyard landscapes with higher levels of human disturbance support a lower diversity of native carnivores in fragments of remnant native vegetation compared to landscapes with larger areas of natural habitat, and (2) habitat specialists and generalists respond differentially to human influence at the habitat vs landscape spatial scale. We used camera traps at 12 sites across the study area and evaluated the impact of human disturbance indicators on the richness and detection frequency of carnivore species. We found that human population density negatively affected carnivore richness and was associated with a lower detection frequency of the Vulnerable guiñaLeopardus guigna. The presence of domestic dogs also had a negative effect on the detection frequency of the guiña and the two native species of foxes, the culpeoLycalopex culpaeusand South American grey foxLycalopex griseus. We conclude that protecting remnants of native forest in vineyard landscapes is crucial for carnivore conservation in central Chile.
A New Technique to Measure the Level of Interest Using Heartbeat-Evoked Brain Potential
Authors: Fuseda Kohei , Katayama Jun’ichi
Published: January 2020

Abstract. Interest is a positive emotion related to attention. The event-related brain potential (ERP) probe technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest in dynamic stimuli. However, even in the irrelevant probe technique, the probe is presented as a physical stimulus and steals the observer’s attentional resources, although no overt response is required. Therefore, the probe might become a problematic distractor, preventing deep immersion of participants. Heartbeat-evoked brain potential (HEP) is a brain activity, time-locked to a cardiac event. No probe is required to obtain HEP data. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether the HEP can be used to evaluate the level of interest. Twenty-four participants (12 males and 12 females) watched attractive and unattractive individuals of the opposite sex in interesting and uninteresting videos (7 min each), respectively. We performed two techniques each for both the interesting and the uninteresting videos: the ERP probe and the HEP techniques. In the former, somatosensory stimuli were presented as task-irrelevant probes while participants watched videos: frequent (80%) and infrequent (20%) stimuli were presented at each wrist in random order. In the latter, participants watched videos without the probe. The P2 amplitude in response to the somatosensory probe was smaller and the positive wave amplitudes of HEP were larger while watching the videos of attractive individuals than while watching the videos of unattractive ones. These results indicate that the HEP technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest without an external probe stimulus.
Associations Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Endocrine, Autonomous and Psychological Stress Reactivity in Male Adolescents
Authors: Mücke Manuel , Ludyga Sebastian , Brand Serge , Colledge Flora , Pühse Uwe , Gerber Markus
Published: January 2020

Abstract. High stress burden during adolescence can have severe long-term health consequences. While some studies reported that adults with higher fitness levels show lower stress reactivity, research on adolescents is scarce. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to investigate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and physiological and psychological stress reactivity in male adolescents. Forty-three healthy, male adolescents aged 16–20 years underwent the Physical Working Capacity 170 bicycle ergometer test to determine cardiorespiratory fitness. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used to trigger a stress reaction, which was measured physiologically with changes in salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase concentrations, and psychologically using self-rated changes in state-anxiety. Under consideration of potential confounders, hierarchical regression analyses were calculated for each outcome. For cortisol and psychological stress reactivity, fitness did not significantly explain variance. However, 28% of variance in alpha-amylase reactivity were explained by fitness and sleep complaints [adjusted R2 = .28, F(2, 36) = 8.36, p = .001], with 16% of variance explained by fitness alone (β = −.41, p = .006). Accordingly, higher fitness was associated with lower stress reactivity of the autonomous nervous system in male adolescents. The promotion of cardiorespiratory fitness may therefore be considered an important factor in preventing negative health consequences of stress in this age group.
Martian Year 34 Column Dust Climatology from Mars Climate Sounder Observations: Reconstructed Maps and Model Simulations
Authors: Montabone Luca , Spiga Aymeric , Kass David M. , Kleinböhl Armin , Forget François , Millour Ehouarn
Published: January 2020

We have reconstructed longitude‐latitude maps of column dust optical depth (CDOD) for Martian year (MY) 34 (5 May 2017– 23 March 2019), using observations by the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Our methodology works by gridding a combination of standard (v5.2) and novel (v5.3.2) estimates of CDOD from MCS limb observations, using an improved “Iterative Weighted Binning.” In this work, we have produced four gridded CDOD maps per sol, at different Mars Universal Times. Together with the seasonal and daily variability, the use of several maps per sol also allows us to explore the diurnal variability of CDOD in the MCS dataset, which is shown to be particularly strong during the MY 34 equinoctial global dust event (GDE). In order to understand whether the diurnal variability of CDOD has a physical explanation, and examine the impact of the MY 34 GDE on some aspects of the atmospheric circulation, we have carried out numerical simulations with the “Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique” Mars Global Climate Model. We show that the model is able to account for at least part of the observed CDOD diurnal variability. This is particularly true in the southern hemisphere where a strong diurnal wave at the time of the GDE is able to displace dust horizontally as well as vertically. The simulations also clearly show the impact of the MY 34 GDE on the mean meridional circulation and the super‐rotating equatorial jet, similarly to the effects of the equinoctial GDE in MY 25.
Associations between sleep bruxism and (peri-)implant complications: lessons learned from a clinical study
Authors: Thymi Magdalini , Visscher Corine M. , Wismeijer Daniel , Lobbezoo Frank
Published: January 2020

Objective

To report and discuss the lessons learned from the conduct of a clinical study on the associations between sleep bruxism and (peri-)implant complications, the protocol of which has been pre-published.

Materials and methods

A single-center, double-blind, prospective cohort study with a 2 year follow-up was performed in the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), The Netherlands. Eleven adult participants were included, where an inclusion of 98 was planned. Sleep bruxism was assessed by multiple single-channel electromyographic (EMG) recordings. Main outcomes were biological and technical complications. Results of the study are presented alongside with comments on encountered difficulties.

Results

Insufficient participant recruitment and failed EMG recordings were encountered. The small sample size did not allow answering the study’s main aim, and was mainly attributed to the study’s protocol complexity. EMG recording failures were attributed to insufficient quality of the EMG signal and detachments of the electrode.

Discussion

The lessons learned from the conduct of this study can be used to design successful future clinical studies.

Conclusions

Adequate participant recruitment, effective EMG recordings, and a careful selection of predictor variables are important ingredients for the successful conduct of a longitudinal clinical study on the association between sleep bruxism and (peri-)implant complications.
A questionnaire study on the impact on oral health-related quality of life by conventional rehabilitation of edentulous patient
Authors: Shrestha Bidhan , Basnet Bishal Babu , Adhikari Galav
Published: January 2020

Purpose

This study aimed to determine whether complete dentures improve the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of edentulous patients, and to assess any associations related to age, gender, and OHRQoL.

Material and methods

Hundred edentulous patients who required conventional complete denture treatment were selected for this study. The following inclusion criteria were established: edentulous in both jaws with no previous history of denture treatment and no significant medical history. The patients were selected who satisfied the criteria associated with the class I prosthodoctic diagnostic index. OHRQoL of the patients were assessed twice, once pre treatment (at the first visit) and once post treatment (8 weeks post insertion of dentures) using an instrument called OHIP-EDENT-N. Significant differences in the OHIP-EDENT-N scores between pre treatment and post treatment were calculated using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. Gender differences were assessed using the Mann–Whitney test.

Results

After provision of new complete dentures, all domains of the OHIP-EDENT-N showed significant improvements except physical pain and social disability.

Conclusions

The results of this study indicated that conventional complete denture improved the OHRQoL of edentulous patients.
Use of biomaterials for sustained delivery of anti-VEGF to treat retinal diseases
Authors: Seah Ivan , Zhao Xinxin , Lin Qianyu , Liu Zengping , Su Steven Zheng Zhe , Yuen Yew Sen , Hunziker Walter , Lingam Gopal , Loh Xian Jun , Su Xinyi
Published: January 2020

Anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (anti-VEGF) have become the most common treatment modality for many retinal diseases. These include neovascular age-related macular degeneration (n-AMD), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and retinal vein occlusions (RVO). However, these drugs are administered via intravitreal injections that are associated with sight-threatening complications. The most feared of these complications is endophthalmitis, a severe infection of the eye with extremely poor visual outcomes. Patients with retinal diseases typically have to undergo multiple injections before achieving the desired therapeutic effect. Each injection incurs the risk of the sight-threatening complications. As such, there has been great interest in developing sustained delivery platforms for anti-VEGF agents to the posterior segment of the eye. In recent years, there have been various strategies that have been conceptualised. These include non-biodegradable implants, nano-formulations and hydrogels. In this review, the barriers of drug delivery to the posterior segment of the eye will be explained. The characteristics of an ideal sustained delivery platform will then be discussed. Finally, the current available strategies will be analysed with the above-mentioned characteristics in mind to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each sustained drug delivery modality. Through the above, this review attempts to provide an overview of the sustained delivery platforms in their various phases of development.
Revisiting the anchoring behavior in lithium-sulfur batteries: many-body effect on the suppression of shuttle effect
Authors: Fang Min , Liu Xinyi , Ren Ji-Chang , Yang Sha , Su Guirong , Fang Qin , Lai Jianzhong , Li Shuang , Liu Wei
Published: January 2020

We apply the state-of-the-art many-body dispersion (MBD) method to study the anchoring behavior in lithium-sulfur (Li–S) batteries, which is closely related to the notorious “shuttle effect”. Based on the experimental results of metal sulfides (FeS and SnS2), we find that the MBD method gives a more accurate prediction of anchoring mechanism compared with other van der Waals (vdW) inclusive methods. We systematically investigate the anchoring mechanism of two prototypal anchoring materials—Ti2CF2and doped-graphene systems. The many-body effect is found to play an important role on the reduction of anchoring behaviors, especially when the systems have large polarization and the vdW interactions predominate the anchoring behavior. Our work deepens the fundamental understanding of the anchoring mechanism, and provides a more accurate criterion for screening anchoring materials for suppressing the shuttle effect.
Distribution of metallic fission-product particles in the cladding liner of spent nuclear fuel
Authors: Clark Richard A. , Conroy Michele A. , Lach Timothy G. , Buck Edgar C. , Pellegrini Kristi L. , McNamara Bruce K. , Schwantes Jon M.
Published: January 2020

We have made observations of noble metal phase fission-product agglomerates and gaseous xenon within the fuel-cladding interaction (FCI) zone of a high-burnup UO2 fuel. The FCI is the boundary between the UO2 pellet outer surface and the inner wall of the oxidized Zr-liner/cladding of the fuel rod. These fission-product agglomerates are well known to occur within the spent fuel matrix, and although radionuclides have been reported by others, we reveal aspects of their speciation and morphology. That they occur as discrete particles in the oxidized Zr liner, suggests the occurrence of hitherto unknown processes in the FCI zone during reactor operation, and this may have implications for the long-term storage and disposal of these types of materials. As expected, the particle agglomerates, which ranged in size from the nanometer scale to the micrometer scale, contained mainly Mo, Ru, Tc, Rh, and Pd; however, we also found significant quantities of Te associated with Pd. Indeed, we found nanometer scale separation of the distinct Pd/Te phase from the other fission products within the particles. Often associated with the particles was concentrations of uranium, sometimes appearing as a “cloud” with a tail emanating from the fuel into the oxidized cladding liner. Many of the noble metal phase particles appeared as fractured clusters separated by Xe-gas-filled voids. Possible mechanisms of formation or transport in the cladding liner are presented.
Synthesis, characterisation and corrosion behaviour of simulant Chernobyl nuclear meltdown materials
Authors: Barlow Sean T. , Bailey Daniel J. , Fisher Adam J. , Stennett Martin C. , Gausse Clémence , Ding Hao , Krasnov Viktor A. , Sayenko Sergey Yu , Hyatt Neil C. , Corkhill Claire L.
Published: January 2020

Understanding the physical and chemical properties of materials arising from nuclear meltdowns, such as the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, is critical to supporting decommissioning operations and reducing the hazard to personnel and the environment surrounding the stricken reactors. Relatively few samples of meltdown materials are available for study, and their analysis is made challenging due to the radiation hazard associated with handling them. In this study, small-scale batches of low radioactivity (i.e., containing depleted uranium only) simulants for Chernobyl lava-like fuel-containing materials (LFCMs) have been prepared, and were found to closely approximate the microstructure and mineralogy of real LFCM. The addition of excess of ZrO2 to the composition resulted in the first successful synthesis of high uranium–zircon (chernobylite) by crystallisation from a glass melt. Use of these simulant materials allowed further analysis of the thermal characteristics of LFCM and the corrosion kinetics, giving results that are in good agreement with the limited available literature on real samples. It should, therefore, be possible to use these new simulant materials to support decommissioning operations of nuclear reactors post-accident.
An integrated computational and experimental study to investigate Staphylococcus aureus metabolism
Authors: Mazharul Islam Mohammad , Thomas Vinai C. , Van Beek Matthew , Ahn Jong-Sam , Alqarzaee Abdulelah A. , Zhou Chunyi , Fey Paul D. , Bayles Kenneth W. , Saha Rajib
Published: January 2020

Staphylococcus aureus is a metabolically versatile pathogen that colonizes nearly all organs of the human body. A detailed and comprehensive knowledge of staphylococcal metabolism is essential to understand its pathogenesis. To this end, we have reconstructed and experimentally validated an updated and enhanced genome-scale metabolic model of S. aureus USA300_FPR3757. The model combined genome annotation data, reaction stoichiometry, and regulation information from biochemical databases and previous strain-specific models. Reactions in the model were checked and fixed to ensure chemical balance and thermodynamic consistency. To further refine the model, growth assessment of 1920 nonessential mutants from the Nebraska Transposon Mutant Library was performed, and metabolite excretion profiles of important mutants in carbon and nitrogen metabolism were determined. The growth and no-growth inconsistencies between the model predictions and in vivo essentiality data were resolved using extensive manual curation based on optimization-based reconciliation algorithms. Upon intensive curation and refinements, the model contains 863 metabolic genes, 1379 metabolites (including 1159 unique metabolites), and 1545 reactions including transport and exchange reactions. To improve the accuracy and predictability of the model to environmental changes, condition-specific regulation information curated from the existing knowledgebase was incorporated. These critical additions improved the model performance significantly in capturing gene essentiality, substrate utilization, and metabolite production capabilities and increased the ability to generate model-based discoveries of therapeutic significance. Use of this highly curated model will enhance the functional utility of omics data, and therefore, serve as a resource to support future investigations of S. aureus and to augment staphylococcal research worldwide.
Association of relative brain age with tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and genetic variants
Authors: Ning Kaida , Zhao Lu , Matloff Will , Sun Fengzhu , Toga Arthur W.
Published: January 2020

Brain age is a metric that quantifies the degree of aging of a brain based on whole-brain anatomical characteristics. While associations between individual human brain regions and environmental or genetic factors have been investigated, how brain age is associated with those factors remains unclear. We investigated these associations using UK Biobank data. We first trained a statistical model for obtaining relative brain age (RBA), a metric describing a subject’s brain age relative to peers, based on whole-brain anatomical measurements, from training set subjects (n = 5,193). We then applied this model to evaluation set subjects (n = 12,115) and tested the association of RBA with tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and genetic variants. We found that daily or almost daily consumption of tobacco and alcohol were both significantly associated with increased RBA (P < 0.001). We also found SNPs significantly associated with RBA (p-value < 5E-8). The SNP most significantly associated with RBA is located in MAPT gene. Our results suggest that both environmental and genetic factors are associated with structural brain aging.
Author Correction: A Novel 3D In Vitro Platform for Pre-Clinical Investigations in Drug Testing, Gene Therapy, and Immuno-oncology
Authors: Candini Olivia , Grisendi Giulia , Foppiani Elisabetta Manuela , Brogli Matteo , Aramini Beatrice , Masciale Valentina , Spano Carlotta , Petrachi Tiziana , Veronesi Elena , Conte Pierfranco , Mari Giorgio , Dominici Massimo
Published: January 2020

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Thickness-induced metal to insulator transition in Ru nanosheets probed by photoemission spectroscopy: Effects of disorder and Coulomb interaction
Authors: Ootsuki Daiki , Kodera Kenjiro , Shimonaka Daiya , Arita Masashi , Namatame Hirofumi , Taniguchi Masaki , Minohara Makoto , Horiba Koji , Kumigashira Hiroshi , Ikenaga Eiji , Yasui Akira , Uchimoto Yoshiharu , Toyoda Satoshi , Morita Masahito , Fukuda Katsutoshi , Yoshida Teppei
Published: January 2020

We investigated the electronic structures of mono- and few-layered Ru nanosheets (N layers (L) with N = 1, ~6, and ~9) on Si substrate by ultra-violet and x-ray photoemission spectroscopies. The spectral density of states (DOS) near EF of ~6 L and 1 L is suppressed as it approaches EF in contrast to that of ~9 L, which is consistent with the Ru 3 d core-level shift indicating the reduction of the metallic conductivity. A power law g(ε) ∝ |ε − εF|α well reproduces the observed spectral DOS of ~6 L and 1 L. The evolution of the power factor α suggests that the transition from the metallic state of ~9 L to the 2-dimensional insulating state with the soft Coulomb gap of 1 L through the disordered 3-dimensional metallic state of ~6 L.
Analysis of the polycystin complex (PCC) in human urinary exosome–like vesicles (ELVs)
Authors: Lea Wendy A. , McGreal Kerri , Sharma Madhulika , Parnell Stephen C. , Zelenchuk Lesya , Charlesworth M. Cristine , Madden Benjamin J. , Johnson Kenneth L. , McCormick Daniel J. , Hogan Marie C. , Ward Christopher J.
Published: January 2020

The polycystin–1 (PC1), polycystin–2 (PC2) and fibrocystin proteins, the respective products of the PKD1, PKD2 and PKHD1 genes, are abundant in urinary exosome–like vesicles (ELVs) where they form the polycystin complex (PCC). ELVs are 100 nm diameter membrane vesicles shed into the urine by the cells lining the nephron. Using MS/MS analysis of ELVs from individuals with PKD1 mutations and controls, we show that in addition to the well-described GPS/GAIN cleavage event in PC1 at 3048 aa and the proprotein convertase cleavage (PPC) event in fibrocystin at 3616 aa, there are multiple other cleavage events in these proteins. The C–terminal 11 transmembrane portion of PC1 undergoes three cleavage events in vivo. The absence of peptides from the C–terminal cytoplasmic tail of fibrocystin implies a cleavage event close to its single TM domain prior to loading onto the ELVs. There is also evidence that the C–terminal tail of PC2 is also cleaved in ELVs. Native gel analysis of the PCC shows that the entire complex is  > 2 MDa in size and that N–terminal GPS/GAIN cleaved PC1 and PPC cleaved fibrocystin ectodomains can be released under non-reducing conditions and resolve at 300 kDa. This paper shows that the three major human cystogene proteins are detectable in human urinary ELVs and that all three undergo post-translational proteolytic processing. Human urinary ELVs may be a useful source of material in the search for proteins that interact with the PCC.
Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress and Endogenous Antioxidants for Patients with Chronic Subjective Dizziness
Authors: Fang Zhigang , Huang Keer , Gil Chang-Hyun , Jeong Jin-Woo , Yoo Ho-Ryong , Kim Hyeong-Geug
Published: January 2020

As a neurotologic disorder of persistent non-vertiginous dizziness, chronic subjective dizziness (CSD) arises unsteadily by psychological and physiological imbalance. The CSD is hypersensitivity reaction due to exposure to complex motions visual stimuli. However, the pathophysiological features and mechanism of the CSD still remains unclearly. The present study was purposed to establish possible endogenous contributors of the CSD using serum samples from patients with the CSD. A total 199 participants were gathered and divided into two groups; healthy (n = 152, male for 61, and female for 91) and CSD (n = 47, male for 5, female for 42), respectively. Oxidative stress parameters such as, hydrogen peroxide and reactive substances were significantly elevated (p < 0.01 or p < 0.001), whereas endogenous antioxidant components including total glutathione contents, and activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase were significantly deteriorated in the CSD group (p < 0.01 or p < 0.001) as comparing to the healthy group, respectively. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor -α and interferon-γ were significantly increased in the CSD participants (p < 0.001). Additionally, emotional stress related hormones including cortisol, adrenaline, and serotonin were abnormally observed in the serum levels of the CSD group (p < 0.01 or p < 0.001). Our results confirmed that oxidative stress and antioxidants are a critical contributor of pathophysiology of the CSD, and that is first explored to establish features of redox system in the CSD subjects compared to a healthy population.
Genome-wide SNP identification in Prunus rootstocks germplasm collections using Genotyping-by-Sequencing: phylogenetic analysis, distribution of SNPs and prediction of their effect on gene function
Authors: Guajardo Verónica , Solís Simón , Almada Rubén , Saski Christopher , Gasic Ksenija , Moreno María Ángeles
Published: January 2020

Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) was applied in a set of 53 diploid Prunus rootstocks and five scion cultivars from three subgenera (Amygdalus, Prunus and Cerasus) for genome-wide SNP identification and to assess genetic diversity of both Chilean and Spanish germplasm collections. A group of 45,382 high quality SNPs (MAF >0.05; missing data <5%) were selected for analysis of this group of 58 accessions. These SNPs were distributed in genic and intergenic regions in the eight pseudomolecules of the peach genome (Peach v2.0), with an average of 53% located in exonic regions. The genetic diversity detected among the studied accessions divided them in three groups, which are in agreement with their current taxonomic classification. SNPs were classified based on their putative effect on annotated genes and KOG analysis was carried out to provide a deeper understanding of the function of 119 genes affected by high-impact SNPs. Results demonstrate the high utility for Prunus rootstocks identification and studies of diversity in Prunus species. Also, given the high number of SNPs identified in exonic regions, this strategy represents an important tool for finding candidate genes underlying traits of interest and potential functional markers for use in marker-assisted selection.
Promoting long-term inhibition of human fear responses by non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation during extinction training
Authors: Szeska Christoph , Richter Jan , Wendt Julia , Weymar Mathias , Hamm Alfons O.
Published: January 2020

Inhibiting fear-related thoughts and defensive behaviors when they are no longer appropriate to the situation is a prerequisite for flexible and adaptive responding to changing environments. Such inhibition of defensive systems is mediated by ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), limbic basolateral amygdala (BLA), and brain stem locus-coeruleus noradrenergic system (LC-NAs). Non-invasive, transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has shown to activate this circuit. Using a multiple-day single-cue fear conditioning and extinction paradigm, we investigated long-term effects of tVNS on inhibition of low-level amygdala modulated fear potentiated startle and cognitive risk assessments. We found that administration of tVNS during extinction training facilitated inhibition of fear potentiated startle responses and cognitive risk assessments, resulting in facilitated formation, consolidation and long-term recall of extinction memory, and prevention of the return of fear. These findings might indicate new ways to increase the efficacy of exposure-based treatments of anxiety disorders.
Sensorimotor Integration Can Enhance Auditory Perception
Authors: Myers John C. , Mock Jeffrey R. , Golob Edward J.
Published: January 2020

Whenever we move, speak, or play musical instruments, our actions generate auditory sensory input. The sensory consequences of our actions are thought to be predicted via sensorimotor integration, which involves anatomical and functional links between auditory and motor brain regions. The physiological connections are relatively well established, but less is known about how sensorimotor integration affects auditory perception. The sensory attenuation hypothesis suggests that the perceived loudness of self-generated sounds is attenuated to help distinguish self-generated sounds from ambient sounds. Sensory attenuation would work for louder ambient sounds, but could lead to less accurate perception if the ambient sounds were quieter. We hypothesize that a key function of sensorimotor integration is the facilitated processing of self-generated sounds, leading to more accurate perception under most conditions. The sensory attenuation hypothesis predicts better performance for higher but not lower intensity comparisons, whereas sensory facilitation predicts improved perception regardless of comparison sound intensity. A series of experiments tested these hypotheses, with results supporting the enhancement hypothesis. Overall, people were more accurate at comparing the loudness of two sounds when making one of the sounds themselves. We propose that the brain selectively modulates the perception of self-generated sounds to enhance representations of action consequences.
The Eupentacta fraudatrix transcriptome provides insights into regulation of cell transdifferentiation
Authors: Boyko Alexey V. , Girich Alexander S. , Tkacheva Ekaterina S. , Dolmatov Igor Yu.
Published: January 2020

The holothurian Eupentacta fraudatrix is a unique organism for studying regeneration mechanisms. Moreover, E. fraudatrix can quickly restore parts of its body and entire organ systems, yet at the moment, there is no data on the participation of stem cells in the process. To the contrary, it has been repeatedly confirmed that this process is only due to the transformation of terminally differentiated cells. In this study, we examine changes in gene expression during gut regeneration of the holothurian E. fraudatrix. Transcriptomes of intestinal anlage of the three stages of regeneration, as well as the normal gut, were sequenced with an Illumina sequencer (San Diego, CA, USA). We identified 14,617 sea urchin protein homologs, of which 308 were transcription factors. After analysing the dynamics of gene expression during regeneration and the map of biological processes in which they participate, we identified 11 factors: Ef-EGR1, Ef-ELF, Ef-GATA3, Ef-ID2, Ef-KLF1/2/4, Ef-MSC, Ef-PCGF2, Ef-PRDM9, Ef-SNAI2, Ef-TBX20, and Ef-TCF24. With the exception of TCF24, they are all involved in the regeneration, development, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and immune response in other animals. We suggest that these transcription factors may also be involved in the transdifferentiation of coelomic epithelial cells into enterocytes in holothurians.